Temerity

Part 7-Data

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers. They belong to Hasbro and Takara. I am merely taking them for a short spin.

"Sometimes solutions aren't so simple,

Sometimes good bye's the only way."

--Shadow of the Day, Linkin Park

Temerity-Unreasonable contempt of danger; extreme venturesomeness; rashness.

Two full days on Earth and Kup already found himself on duty. Sort of. He offered to give Epps and Lennox a ride into Tranquility for their midday meal. Everyone else was either out on patrol or flat-out refused, like the twins, who, Sideswipe said, had "better" things to do. Kup hoped "better" didn't involve trouble, but knowing that pair, they were probably up to something that would land them in confinement, and he didn't know if the base had a brig yet or not. If there wasn't, he'd see to it they soon had one, because they would probably need it.

And he'd managed to get away from base a few hours early that morning to find a suitable Earth mode, and he was sporting the latest version of something called a Toyota Tundra extended cab, in light blue. Lennox approved, although Epps told him he could've chosen something flashier. Functional worked for him, always had.

"So today's the big day. I hope 'Hide's happy," Lennox said, making no pretense of driving. "I bet being without one of his cannons is pretty traumatizing."

Epps groaned. "I heard Ratchet say something about not putting him under?"

Kup laughed, which was still disconcerting, hearing a disembodied voice inside a vehicle.

"Epps, I wouldn't put it past ol' Hatchet," Kup said.

"Hatchet?"
"His nickname. Don't say it within his hearing. He doesn't like it," Kup said.

"Who gave it to him?" Epps said.

"The twins," Kup replied.

"How is it you guys manage to have a pair of twins running around?" Epps asked.

"Ratchet can explain it," Kup said.

Epps shot Lennox a look. Yeah, right, he mouthed.

"Speaking of Cybertronian mysteries, what's the deal with Blue, Jazz and Prowl?" Lennox asked.

"Hey, I don't wanna know if something funky is going on there," Epps said.

"Epps, shut up," Lennox said, rolling his eyes.

"Blue's like a little brother to those two," Kup said. "He was the only survivor of the attack on the Crystal City. Not even the Guardians could stop it. Rumor had it an Autobot scientist turned traitor, giving the Decepticons access to his work, if they would provide him with the materials necessary for his. . .research. But no one could ever prove it because the branch of the Academy there, of course, was destroyed in the attack."

"One survivor? Out of how many?" Lennox said.

"Almost two million."

"My God. . .how?"

"It was called a displacement warhead," Kup said. "Warps space and sends the matter in the area occupying the warhead to another location. It only took one. Dropped the city into chaos, then the Decepticons attacked. It was one of our first big losses of the war. Prowl was with the civilian security forces then, and Jazz was still only a special ops agent, not the head of the division. Prowl found Blue under some wreckage. He didn't talk for a long time, and since he didn't remember much of anything before the attack, he was given a new designation befitting his personality--Bluestreak. Once he got better, he never shut up. He lived with Prowl for a while, when he was still going through counseling. Then Prowl got promoted to Optimus' second in command, and Jazz took him because at the time, he was still underage, at least for our species. The instant he was old enough, he joined the security forces."

"What was your job before the war?" Lennox said.

"I headed up the security forces for the whole planet," Kup said. "I was actually Prowl's boss."

"An entire planet?" Lennox said, impressed.

"Yeah--we had terrorists and criminals just like you do here--not big enough for the military to handle, but still a threat. Prowl was a Peacekeeper, kind of a mix of one of your beat cops and detectives, if I understand your system right. They patrolled and investigated, but it was more than that. Some also settled disputes, which was what Prowl did."

"How did those two meet?" Lennox said, wanting to know more.
"They knew each other before the war. Prowl arrested Jazz more than once," Kup said. "The first time or two I know it was just by chance, but after that, Jazz would just put himself in Prowl's way to drive him nuts. They eventually developed a pretty good friendship."

"Speaking of friends, when is Hot Rod getting out of the med bay?" Lennox said, frowning at Epps when he groaned.

"Few more days, if the repairs go as planned," Kup said. "Lad wants out of there bad, believe me. Not that I can blame him."

-----

Prowl stared at the data pad in his hand. The uplink with the Ark and downloading the data Prime wanted took most of the morning, and now it was well past midday.

"We have a problem," Prowl said.

"What?" Jazz asked.

"Take a look at this," Prowl said, handing the silver mech a data pad.

"It's encrypted. Want me to try and break it?"
"I've tried. And if I can't. . .you're welcome to give it a go, and yes, I ran it through the Ark's processor twice and even tried the shuttle," Prowl said.

"Let me try and work my magic Prowler," Jazz said.

Prowl clapped his friend on the shoulder. "Good luck," he said. "Want some energon?"

Jazz nodded, then turned his attention back to the data pad. They'd get what Prime wanted. It would take time, but he was sure he could crack the encryption.

-----

Hot Rod was counting the hours until his next round of repairs. He wasn't relishing the thought of being put under again, but he trusted Ratchet. There weren't too many beings he trusted anymore. Not that he wanted to share that bit of information with anyone, but it was the truth. He wasn't even sure if he trusted himself, given circumstances. He hated how he felt, the doubt the worst of all. If he couldn't trust himself, who could he trust? And on the other side, who trusted him? Kup, always had, probably always would. And Prime. That gave the young Autobot pause. Prime still trusted him even though he'd gone after Ironhide, which was a hazy memory. If Prime was willing to give him a chance, maybe he could believe in himself.

But self-doubt was the least of his worries. There were unanswered questions he couldn't answer, others he wouldn't.