The room is quiet.
Too quiet.
Cliche much?
Steeljaw doesn't care.
One moment, both he and his brother are reading in their respective berths, in absolute silence, and the next, Steeljaw is losing his patience for some Unicron-forsaken reason.
"What's wrong now, brother?"
Steeljaw snapped to attention and looked up. To his surprise, Phantomjaw wasn't reading his data pad, which lay shut off beneath his claws. He was looking at him, piercing yellow optics glowing with a serious intensity.
"What are you talking about?" Steeljaw inquired, tilting his helm.
Phantomjaw scoffed.
"I know that you know what I'm talking about. Don't think I didn't notice how you reacted when Sandstorm reunited with his lover."
Steeljaw stiffened, clutching his data pad even tighter.
"Why do you…"
"Because it almost always goes back to your own long-lost love, brother. The major events that happened since the last time you saw each other connect back to that part of your past."
Silence followed, but only lasted a minute as there was soon a knock at the door.
"Steeljaw, Phantomjaw, are either of you in there?" Moonracer asked from the other side.
The brothers exchanged a look.
"Yeah, come on in," Steeljaw replied. The doors slid open, allowing their guest entrance.
"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Moonracer asked.
"Nothing that can't wait till later, I can assure you."
"Good!"
Moonracer turned away from Steeljaw to Phantomjaw.
"Mind if I borrow your brother for a bit?"
Shocking Steeljaw, Phantomjaw appeared to show genuine surprise at Moonracer's request.
Whatever Moonracer is planning, Phantomjaw has yet to make himself privy to, which in-turn unsettles Steeljaw.
"Sure," Phantomjaw simply said, turning his attention back to his data pad. "We can finish our talk later."
Moonracer's optics shifted between the brothers, but she didn't question either of them on what happened before she arrived. Knowing Steeljaw, it had to have something to do with his past, the one she and nearly everyone else barely knows about.
"Okay, I'll try not to keep him too long, then," Moonracer said, watching Steeljaw rise and approach her out of the corner of her optic, as well as taking notice of his slow, rigid movements.
She hoped that the news she had to share would cheer Steeljaw up.
.
. .
. . .
At first, Steeljaw was confused as to why Moonracer dragged him to their nearly fully repaired ship and stuck themselves in the bridge, along with their team-mates. Bumblebee seemed just as confused as him. Knockout and Starscream, not so much. Safe to assume the two of them are in the loop with Moonracer.
"Alright, what's going on?" Bumblebee questioned, eying Steeljaw.
"Don't look at me! I'm currently just as clueless as you are!" Steeljaw defended, placing a servo on a cocked hip.
"Bumblebee, Steeljaw, enough!" Moonracer intervened, putting herself between the bickering mechs. "Listen, I brought you two down here to tell you what we just learned!"
Steeljaw and Bumblebee settled down and turned to look at their team-mates. Seeing as they weren't about to engage in a fight, Moonracer came right out and said it.
"Octane knows of a planet that may be exactly what you're looking for!"
.
. .
. . .
Nothing eventful happened the next few days as Octane guided Wreck-Gar and the Daytrader to the planet he had in-mind since Moonracer and the others summarized what their objective was.
During that time, though, Steeljaw was perfectly invested in his work. Nobody could pull him away from his research and planning. Not even his own brother.
Except for Bumblebee.
Well, the yellow and black mech didn't so much as pull the blue/gray Lupicon away from anything. Rather, he just added another processor to the mix, for both personal and political reasons. The whole thing isn't exactly a mess, yet, but it is complicated, which can lead to it turning into a total trainwreck.
When they do reach the planet, though, Steeljaw's stress and anxiety is gradually replaced by shock and surprise, then joy and wonder.
The planet looked almost exactly like Earth, except for a few noticeable differences, made even more apparent as they entered the atmosphere and casually cruised across the sky.
For starters, it is smaller than Earth, and quite possibly younger, too, due to the lack of wildlife and natural formations. Dry land – which is mostly forest and grassland – outweighs a few large pockets of water by a landslide.
Granted, this is just a part of the planet that they are facing, and from a distance no less.
"Looks nice," Knockout commented. "Doesn't seem to be a dominant species…"
"Or any species for that matter," Starscream muttered.
"We still have to check, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hopeful," Bumblebee said. Expecting and dreading what's bound to come next, he looked over at Steeljaw. "So, what do you think?"
All optics and visors present settled on the blue/gray Lupicon.
"I agree with Knockout…" Steeljaw stopped. He spared Bumblebee a glance before turning his attention back to the new world below. "But it's not entirely my decision."
The blue/gray Lupicon vented and turned away from the view, looking from the Lieutenant, to Wreck-Gar and Slipstream, his team-mates, then back to the former.
"I'm going to need some extra input."
.
. .
. . .
A few hours later finds Steeljaw and his team-mates, as well as Fodder and a dozen Vehicons, in a large room in a secluded part of the ship, far away from sensitive equipment and the hustle and bustle of workers. Aside from the bots, the room also contains a bridge-portal meant for… less than legal purposes, which is where their current cargo has been timely sent through.
"You sure about this, Bee?" Jazz asked, having volunteered to assist with this part of the mission, where all the complicated politics and law enforcement come into play.
Suffice to say, Bumblebee is relieved to have another mediator around.
"I knew what I was getting into the moment Knockout started talking about it…" Bumblebee explained, wrapping a comforting arm around the tense red medic beside him. "And trust me, after all we went through…"
The yellow and black mech looked around and made it a point to focus on Starscream, Steeljaw, and Moonracer.
"I am not backing out now."
Jazz smiled.
"Alright, Bee. I trust you."
In a much quieter voice…
"I just hope this doesn't come back to bite us in the aft."
Only Steeljaw heard what Jazz said, but he didn't comment on it. If anything, he agreed with the mech.
Steeljaw is worried that this will all be for naught, and even if by some miracle it all works out, word is bound to get out, and trouble will follow, something he, for once, wishes to avoid.
The unmistakable hiss of stasis pods opening catches his attention, causing a whole new burst of worry to flow through him.
Yes, this was his idea.
Yes, having them around is an absolute necessity.
Doesn't mean he has to like it.
Soon, four very familiar mechs groggily exit the pods and step into view: a cobalt blue and dark gray Cervicon; a purple and gray Chompazoid with red detailing; a skinny mech with spiky purple plating, accompanied by a pair of color-matching mini-cons; and a rather colorful Insecticon with magenta, teal, and royal purple plating.
Once they came to their senses, they looked around, confused.
Until their optics landed on Steeljaw.
.
. .
. . .
"YOU?!"