Author's Note:
I have completely rewritten the chapter 47-50 and will gradually publish them. The changes will push some of the development, that readers who has read the old chapters are aware of. This looks to turn into a longer interlude in the story where we get a look into Torment and his connection to Torrent and the Organization. But don't worry. We will return to Thundercracker and Skywarp. They are not forgotten, and they will be refered to now and then.
Torment is perched at the top of the building straight across from the Joint Investigation Unit's headquarter and looks at his target through the telescopic sight on his sniper rifle.
Click. Click. Click.
He adjusts the sight carefully before he begins to pull the trigger and prepares to shoot, but gets disturbed when he receives a heavily encrypted message from the Organization's supreme leader.
He narrows his optics displeased, when the brief loss of his concentration causes him to miss out on the perfect chance to kill the Joint Investigation Unit's Director of Intelligence when Prowl and his escort, unaware of the threat, enters the military grade transport that waits for them on the landing platform on the roof of the Joint Investigation Unit's headquarter and which is ready to fly them to Iacon where they have a formal meeting with the Senate's Supreme Council.
So close...
He lowers his weapon and watches darkly as the transport takes off before he reads the content of the message, and his mood darkens further.
Your next mission is to eliminate what remains of the leaders of the syndicate. They have completed their part of our plan and are no longer needed.
Hardkill, Pummel and Quickpoint are kept in isolation at the highly secure Qan prison in Praxus.
Sidewire is temporarily held in isolation at Iacon detention center, from where he awaits transport to the highly secure Tigan prison in Altihex.
Gale-force and Havoc are already kept in isolation at the highly secure Tigan prison in Altihex.
Torrent is kept in isolation in the detention center within the Joint Investigation Unit's headquarter in Praxus, and he is to remain unharmed.
Do whatever is necessary to eliminate them before they can reveal vital information about the Organization.
When this mission is completed, I want you to go to Retrograde's complex in the desert outside Kalis and destroy the 46 datapads with a white square, that are located inside her laboratory.
Report back when both missions have been completed.
Torrent.
His nemesis.
The animosity between them goes all the way back to the incident with the famous investigative journalist that Torrent foolishly had fallen for.
He had suggested to kill the blue seeker, but Torrent had been strongly against it and their disagreement had escalated into a fierce physical fight that he had lost. And thus, Torrent and his insane cronies, who were leading the Organization's financial department, did what they were specialized in and the famous blue seeker simply disappeared without a trace.
Time had gone by, their plans were starting to slowly come together, and then enforcers had discovered one of the syndicate's breeding facilities.
Senator Highline, the Organization's founder and supreme leader, had just been elected as Vice President of the Senate when it happened and could do nothing to stop the founding of the Joint Investigation Unit, that was created to investigate and put a stop to the criminals that were running the breeding facility.
The Joint Investigation Unit's Director of Intelligence turned out to be skilful in his work and as more and more facilities were discovered, the funding to the Joint Investigation Unit was gradually increased to stop what later turned out to be an extensive network of hardened criminals. In the public known as the syndicate.
It had filled him with an immense glee to watch while Torrent's hard work slowly got decimated by the authorities until Retrograde had informed them that a certain blue seeker had been among the freed slaves.
Their fierce disagreement had resurfaced and this time Highline had ordered him to locate and kill the blue seeker.
But he failed in doing so.
The blue seeker had vanished without a trace and was impossible to locate.
Their animosity have only grown since then and has become a burning hatred, and that hatred flares within his spark at the memory of their latest meeting.
Of the ultimate betrayal.
Why did he allow Torrent to manipulate him into accepting the warp-gate technology?
He should have known, that Torrent only did what he did as a means to take control over him.
It became painfully clear when he woke from the surgery with an explosive device on his spark chamber.
Because of his negligence, he and his extensive network of tactical operatives, who are placed in vital key positions in the society, have become slaves and are forced to obey Torrent if they want to remain alive.
All of his painstaking work to ensure, that there are loyal employees at the political top in every city state, who are ready to implement the Organization's political goals when the society collapses, is now in the hands of a lunatic.
Torrent may be the one who has devised the Organization's strategy to overthrow the society, but it requires a skilled tactical mind to implement it without fatal errors. And if Torrent believes that he and Highline can implement their political goals without Torment and his specialists working at their peak efficiency, then they will soon realize their mistake.
It only takes one tactical error in judgment to reveal the Organization's sinister plan to overturn the existing society.
He packs away his rifle and turns his gaze towards the outline of the Qan prison in the far distance while a dark cruel smile plays on his lips.
This he will enjoy.
Autopsy Report:
Adult Form Protocol.
Coroner: Blitz.
I performed an autopsy on the frame of Retrograde at the Department of Coroner.
City State: Kalis.
Date: 04-06-23-1839.
From the anatomic findings and pertinent history I ascribe the death to: Fatal spark failure of natural cause.
Other conditions contributing but not related to the immediate cause of death: No.
Anatomic Summary: The deceased is a 3493 years old female carrier who has died from a sudden and unexplainable fatal spark failure after she underwent an acute surgery to treat a gunshot wound near her spark chamber.
I. Frame is intact without any sign of decomposition.
II. Surgical wound in the center of her chest. Sealed entry wound near the location of her spark chamber. Spark chamber is intact. Surrounding wiring shows damage equivalent to that which is seen at a fatal spark failure.
III. History of Bipolar Disorder.
IIII. Toxicology Report: N/A.
IIIII. Microscopic Report: Nothing that indicates, that the cause of death isn't natural.
Additional information: The Joint Investigation Unit has requested an extensive examination of the deceased's processor to gain knowledge of the deceased's outlier ability. The Ethical Council has approved the request. Report will be sent to Senior Investigative Officer Topkick when it has been completed.
Athena unlocks the automatic doors and walks into Retrograde's laboratory.
She places the autopsy report on the surgical table and leans against it with a deep frown while her thoughts wander.
It is still hard to understand that Retrograde and all of her vital information is gone. If they had arrived twenty minutes earlier, then she would have had a chance to ask the outlier the necessary questions they desperately need the answers to.
Now she can only hope that Hotspot gets a useful breakthrough in his research, but it will take time and in the meanwhile the victims are left to suffer.
Victims like Thundercracker and through their association Skywarp too. She can easily imagine the psychological pain Skywarp is going to suffer, when the black and purple seeker finds out what has happened to his beloved.
So many innocent lives have been destroyed and relies on them finding a solution.
She opens one of the cabinets to pack down its content into boxes, but makes a muffled startled sound when a rough hand suddenly closes over her mouth and she is forced back against a large strong frame.
"What a pleasant surprise."
Her analytical mind rapidly assesses the situation, and she remains calm while she slowly turns her head and looks up at her assailant and gets an idea of what she is dealing with.
His field is completely void of any emotion and she shudders when his cold, intelligent and appraising optics stare deeply into hers.
A trained killer.
She has to act swiftly if she gets a chance to escape.
His lips curve into a smug smile while they study each other and she feels how his other hand begins to slide along her midsection and down between her legs, where its digits leisurely begins to circle around her valve cover.
"It seems like you like what you see." He remarks with a glint in his merciless optics and she blushes in shame, when she reluctantly realizes that he is right.
Her spark is pulsing rapidly, but not solely from fear while his strong masculine scent overwhelms her processor and fills her with arousal.
"I wonder..." He slowly removes the hand from her mouth, but keeps the other between her legs with a firm stimulating pressure against her valve cover, "...will you willingly let me take you before I kill you, or will you fight me while I claim your valve."
She twists free from his grip and runs towards the door.
It is her only chance.
"If it has to be like that." Torment sighs exasperated and teleports in front of her.
It all happens so fast, that Athena doesn't have the time to understand what's happening before she brutally is slammed against a cabinet and his lips claims hers in a hard passionate kiss.
"You don't look like the usual JIU employee." Torment murmurs against her lips and groans with sexual arousal while he swiftly scans her frame for integrated weapons.
To his surprise there are none and he frowns.
"I'm not an JIU employee." Athena whispers against his demanding lips, and she kisses back in a desperate attempt to appease him, while her spark pulses so rapidly with fear that it feels like it is about to burst, "I am a psychiatrist and have been hired to investigate Retrograde's outlier ability."
Her words combined with the genuine fear in her optics brings him out of his lustful haze and Torment curses himself.
She is an innocent civilian.
He lowers her gently to the floor and Athena looks confused up at him.
Is he letting her go?
"Where are the datapads that were stored here?" He asks her seriously when his thoughts return to the reason for him to be there.
"In a laboratory in Praxus." She answers him calmly, now even more confused, "We hope they can help us to find a way to help Retrograde's victims."
A noble cause.
Retrograde had been fanatically loyal to Torrent and it had filled him with great pleasure when he had executed her on Highline's order.
The world is better off without her horrendous ability.
He gets an idea while he studies the psychiatrist.
Maybe...
He rapidly analyzes his options and makes a decision.
"There are 46 datapads with a white square among them, that contain some highly sensitive information. If you have the time, look at them, but don't tell anyone about them."
"How do you kn-..."
Athena doesn't get the chance to finish her question before he vanishes in a mist of purple, and she stares at the empty air where he had been just a moment ago.
A teleporter.
Skywarp's ability.
But how?
She is still filled with arousal from their intense interaction, and a small part of her regrets that she didn't give in to her lust and let him take her.
A hysterical laughter that borders towards insanity leaves her when she shocked realizes, that she actually is disappointed that he didn't follow up on his threat of raping her.
That she actually hopes to see him again.
What's wrong with her?!
He is a killer!
And for some reason he let her live.