Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, no matter how wonderful they are.

:comlink:

/telepathy/

Previously-"Wassup Prowl?", asked Jazz, confused by his friend's behaviour

"It's Shadowblaster...my brother's mate. If she is here, then that means he is as well"

"You have a brother?,"asked Sunstreaker and Sideswipe in unison

"Yes...yes I do. His designation is Barricade and...he is a Decepticon"

24 March 1986, The Ark...

"You have a brother and he's a 'Con?"

"I do believe that is what I just said"

The Autobots could not believe it. Strait-laced, law-abiding Prowl had a brother that was a Decepticon and no-one knew. It made them all wonder what secrets their other comrades had kept from them.

"Why didn't you say anything earlier Prowl? We may have been able to convince him to join us", Optimus enquired

"Well sir, no one ever asked. As it is, Barricade never would have joined us. When Shadowblaster joined the Decepticons, Barricade left the enforcers as well and followed her"

"I assume they were both enforcers. What happened?"

"Well Prime, as you know, before I joined the Autobots, I worked as a law-enforcer in Praxus. Shadowblaster and my younger brother did as well. That femme was one of the best in the force. She was my partner at the time. That's how my brother met her. Their incessant flirting was rather irritating, but I could tell that they loved each other and I was happy for him. Before the trouble began, he told me he wanted her as his spark mate. Not long after, a high-ranking member of the Cybertronian council was murdered. All evidence pointed to one of our own having committed the murder. Shadowblaster was accused not long after. She denied it...said she was framed. Our superiors found that there wasn't enough to convict her, so they stripped her of her rank and exiled her from Praxus. When Barricade said he was going after her, he was told that if he went, he would not be welcomed back. When he heard, he killed our superior officer and left anyway. When Praxus was attacked by the Decepticons, both she and Barricade were there. They killed so many of our old comrades. I do love my brother, but I will never understand why he left me behind. We were all that was left of our family"

"I'm sorry Prowl"

"Its fine Optimus, I came to terms with it long ago"

Optimus sighed before turning back to the rest of the Autobots, wondering if perhaps any of his fellow Autobots knew anything about the Decepticons that they had failed to mention. Skyfire had already told him about Starscream and Omega Supreme had talked about the constructicons.

" Does anyone else here know anything about these Decepticon femmes?"

"Do you remember the stories about the destruction of Vos Prime?, "asked Ironhide, removing himself from the group

"Yes Ironhide, I have heard about the Decepticons destruction of the Seeker city"

"It wasn't the Decepticons, Prime"

"What exactly do you mean Ironhide?"

"Let me tell you a bit of a story Prime. Believe me...it's something I'm not proud of and it has haunted me ever since."

"Of course, go ahead"

I served under the Cybertronian Council and Sentinel Prime. I was young then. It was the early years of the war and the Decepticons had been increasing their attacks and the Cybertronian council was getting desperate. They sent an emissary to Vos, hoping that they would assist us in the war against the Decepticons. The Vosian leaders refused to help. Said they wanted to stay neutral. Didn't want to get involved in the 'ground-pounder's'war. Their refusal did not sit well with the council"

" So you're saying the seekers were neutrals? What could the council possibly have done that changed that?"

" The council called us to the Council Chambers in Iacon one day…said they had a special mission for us and that we were to be led by Sentinel. The council told us that they had evidence that the so-called high seekers were conspiring with the Decepticons and that they were storing weapons to use against Iacon. With their particular abilities, they could decimate the city, so the council told us that they needed to be eliminates. We were not to leave any alive. Said the femmes were just as dangerous. Poor Sentinel, he was a good bot but believed everything the council told him. We were no better"

Optimus Prime and the other Autobots remained silent, waiting for Ironhide to continue.

"About a thousand of us entered Vos, all separately as Neutrals, our faction symbols removed. We later met at the rendezvous point outside the Golden Citadel under the cover of darkness. Sentinel led us into the citadel. Once we were in there, we did as ordered, killed all the seekers there mechs, femmes, every single one that we came across. The imperial family was the first to die. One of the last rooms we came to were the ones belonging to the Air Commander and his mate, Skysythe and Windwhistler. We broke down the doors. Skysythe was there waiting for us, his mate was there behind him with two sparklings. They were so young Optimus, so small, barely newborns. Skysythe went down fighting…never stood a chance. His mate was offline before Skysythe hit the ground. Her spark extinguished the moment his did. The sparklings died not long after….suppose that without their creator's sparks to support them they couldn't survive. It was an absolute massacre"

" I'm sorry Ironhide…"

" I'm not finished yet…just as we were about to leave the room, we heard a noise. After a bit of searching we found a seekerlet femme, barely out of sparklinghood. She saw everything…saw us offline her creators and younger co-creations. I have never seen such hate and despair in one so young. Anyway, Sentinel thought there had been enough death that night, thought that if we took the femme back to Iacon, she could be raised there and become a valuable part of the Autobot forces. Probably would have been better if she hadn't lived. The Cybertronian council said they would take it upon themselves to teach her"

"Even as she grew, she refused to learn the Autobot ways, " Ironhide continued, seemingly pained by his memories, " she fought back…and when she did, she was punished. The councilors used electro-whips oh her wings, hoping to beat her into submission. It never worked…her will was too strong. I hate to think what other torture they put that femme through. One day though, I had enough. She had matured enough to be able to fly on her own, so when I was assigned to take her back to her rooms one day, I purposely left them unlocked. She escaped that night. Didn't see her again after that. Didn't know whether she lived or not. I assume she did though as a great many councilors started dying in the following years. I regret what I did every day of my life. If we hadn't have listened to the council the seekers would not have joined the Decepticons"

" Why Ironhide….why the massacre….that is never what the Autobots stood for"

" The council was corrupt Optimus, thirsty for power and wealth. They had long stopped caring about the welfare of the population. We were just used to further their self-centred goals"

" Well that has changed now Ironhide….there will be no going back to those days. Not as long as I still have a spark in my chassis. So you set the seeker free?"

"Yes. She is here on Earth and if I fear she will be the one to kill me just as she has all those that were at the Vos massacre"

" What is her designation"

" I will never forget the designation of that one for as long as my spark pulses…Nitrofire"