Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.

Authoress: *sleeping*

Grinchain: *leans toward Pandimala* So, does she do this often?

Pandimala: *shakes helm in amazement* She doesn't do it enough, even when she should. Let's let her be for now. I'll take the spark of whoever tries to wake her up before she is ready.

Grinchain: *suddenly very nervous* I see.

Chapter 5: Breaking Barriers

Seabreaker's 1st P.O.V.

I was going to be alright. Steady intakes. Everything was okay. I would be online by the end of the solar. Grinchain had survived his first guide session with Panidmala; there was no reason to think I couldn't do the same.

Except he didn't almost offline her when they met.

I shook out those thoughts from my processor as I walked down the corridors toward said Decepticon's room. This was going to be okay. I just had to keep having positive thoughts. That was it. Positive thoughts to get me through this. She didn't seem as angry by the end of that talk with my creators as she was initially. I just had to be honest with her, like I was during my apology. She seemed to appreciate that. Yeah. I could do that.

My energon went cold as I stared at the femme's door. Nope. I couldn't do this. Maybe I could go and get into another fight with Firebrand? Get set back another solar. While Grinchain had training this morning, I'm sure that carrier and sire would find somebot else to show her around.

"You okay there?"

I about jumped out of my plating when Pandimala's voice suddenly came out of nowhere. Focusing on the door that was now open, I gulped slightly when I saw that she was standing there. How didn't I notice her open the door? Frag, she could offline me, and I wouldn't have a clue.

It was then that I realized that I didn't answer the femme. "Ye…Yeah, I'm fine," I got out before motioning toward the exit. "You ready to go?" Thankfully, I had that extra solar to think of some places to go. Grinchain had also sent me the two places they had seen, though they had only gone into Teklan Hall.

"Sounds like a plan. Do you have somewhere in processor to start?" She asked as I started to lead us.

Nodding, I brought out a letter sire wanted to be delivered to the Ethosian Embassy. "Sire asked if I could drop this off for Lord Oryax at the Ethosian Embassy. While we can't tour the embassy, I figured you would like to see the place. Then, I thought we could go to the Marina Market. Many local and visiting vendors gather there during the mid-solar and sell their wares to locals and visitors. They are well placed between the two embassies. After that, we can see if we can't try visiting the Eternia Embassy, though that might depend on what you want to do with that. Lastly, if we have time, I wanted to show you some of the walking trails that bots use. Grin mentioned earlier that you might like that."

When she looked confused, I tensed. What did I mess up on? "What do you mean about the Eternia Embassy? Is there some special way to visit them?"

Oh, that was right. She hadn't been here before. She wouldn't know about the challenge they gave to bots who visited. "The labac, the leading race on Eternia, have a challenge that we mechano-based beings can try once every thirty solars. Since we have soliforms, they challenge us to see how long we can mingle among them unnoticed. It doesn't matter what species we try to hide as, as long as we are near within two meters of their height. They consider it training for their people to see if they can spot us hiding. But, no bot lasts more than two solars. Since we can't eat or sleep, that usually gives us away."

A shiver traveled down my backplates at the smirk that came to Pandimala's faceplate. What the frag was that for? "Two solars, huh? We should save that embassy when I have more time to stay there. I think I can manage at least two solars."

While I was hesitant to do so, I had to doubt the femme. Decepticons weren't exactly known for blending in with their soliforms. Honestly, they were some of the worse ones at the challenge. Sunstorm tried when he was visiting and only managed to last two cycles before he was called out. And that was about average for Decepticons. I think the one that lasted the longest was the one called Skywarp when he visited and set the record for two solars. But, the next closest to him after that was his brother Thundercracker, who lasted three cycles.

Drove the labac crazy that Skywarp was able to hide for that long. A Decepticon could do a lot of damage in two solars. The fact that Skywarp was known as one of the more unstable bots made that even more terrifying.

After that, the conversation fell silent as I led the way to our first stop. The Ethosian Embassy. I wasn't sure how this would go. While I was taking her there because I had to deliver this message to Lord Oryax, I knew that the femme would eventually want to go there. In ancient history, Ethos had been a colony planet of Cybertron. They broke away from Cybertron long before the troubling history Cybertron had now started to come to be. However, when trouble began to arise from Cybertron, Ethos turned to us and offered to be a subsidiary planet of Vestium Major. Of course, that was on condition that they maintain their sovereignty. My grandsire, of course, agreed to this as his first decision as Lord.

The Alliance was gaining notoriety then, and my grandsire knew we needed allies. Not many, but we needed various allies to become a balanced force in the Alliance. So, Ethos became our first ally. And since that solar, the leaders from both sides were close to each other. While I did not open the note from sire to Lord Oryax, I suspected sire was filling the mech in on our current situation with Pandimala. Now that we had met with her, and she had her first outing with Grinchain, the other solar, sire should have gotten the information he needed to update our allies. I didn't doubt that he had a separate messenger heading toward Emperor Thav at Eternia Embassy as we spoke with an almost identical message to mine.

"You alright there?" I jumped and turned to see Pandimala staring at me with a concerned look. "You looked lost in thought, and while I appreciate that, I was curious about the decorations going up. What are they for?"

Shaking my helm to get back in focus, I looked around and realized that we were in Caribate Square. As the central meeting place in Tocania, Caribate Square hosted many events throughout the stellar, and this was one of the larger ones we hosted. "We are getting ready for Advancement Fair." At her blank look, I realized I would have to explain a little more. "The Advancement Fair is a large celebration of innovation and culture that we hold once a stellar. Representatives from Vestium Major and other planets across the cosmos gather here on Vestium Major to show their latest works in multiple fields."

Thankfully, the femme got what I was saying. "Okay, and then they share their cultures and advancements. I've been to similar celebrations on…before." That was weird. Why wouldn't she share where she went to these celebrations?

Shooting her down probably didn't help.

No. No negative thoughts. I had to keep focused. "There are going to be a lot of visitors arriving on Vestium Major over the next few solars," I explained to Pandimala. "So we might have trouble getting around downtown later on. Let me know if you see somewhere you want to visit so we can get to it this solar."

She smiled and nodded. "Will do, but I think where you picked out will be just fine."

As we made our way through the crowd, I felt relief. So far, I hadn't screwed this up yet. That was a huge relief off my wings that I didn't think I would have. How I got through our initial talk, I still didn't know, but getting through this solar would be even more challenging. I didn't have sire, carrier, or any of my siblings. I had myself. That was it. Glancing to where the guard that should have been following me was supposed to be, I let out a small vent when I realized he wasn't there. Honestly, our guards kind of sucked at their job. Pandimala wasn't even trying to do anything yet, but they couldn't keep up with us through the crowds.

And it explained how Lightbeam kept getting away from them.

Catching a silvery glint in my vision, I focused again and saw we had arrived. While Ethos and Cybertron hadn't had connections for billions of stellars, they still had that same fascination with silver that Cybertronians had in their construction. At least bots on Ethos were more humble about how they used it than Cybertron was. Or at least how it was before their civil war. "We're here—the Ethosian Embassy."

When Pandimala simply raised an optic ridge, I felt nervous again. Just what was she thinking? "Shiny."

That was it? That was all she had to say about the embassy? However, I wasn't going to question her about it out loud. "Let's get through the security check so we can make sure we get as much done as we can." Slag, was that too demanding? Decepticons, from what I knew, didn't like to take orders from others. She might take that as an order!

"Do they share what they learn about you from their scans?" Pandimala asked as we got in the queue line.

Shaking my helm, I motioned to one of the machines they used to scan bots. "No. They will keep a record for their files but take oaths not to reveal what scans might pick up." Why was she asking this? Did she have some super weapon built into her that would set off security? I didn't even think to ask her that, and I was just put into a separate line from Pandimala, so I couldn't keep talking without causing a disruption. And that would only serve to upset bots in line. No. I just needed to remember that if she visited any other embassy.

Pandimala's line was moving faster than mine, so there were a few bots ahead of me when it was her turn. So, I watched as she walked into the machine. It was easy to see that some bots were tense as the machine started its scan. I had a feeling that those bots had already guessed that she was the Decepticon that was here on the planet.

That I got shot down.

When a confused look appeared on the security officer with her, I started to panic. Oh, slag, please don't be something dangerous. Please! As I began to walk into my machine, I felt even more panicked when I saw a medic going over to Pandimala's station.

Slag.

Thankfully, my scan didn't take long, and I was soon motioned inside. Once I was, I turned and was about to go to Pandimala's line. However, I was surprised to see her walking over to me. What the frag was that about? I wanted to ask her, but I just motioned to the main reception desk because I was on thin steps with her. A strange look flashed across her face before she nodded and motioned for me to take the lead.

It didn't take us long to walk over, and once we stopped, the mech behind the desk looked up. "Prince Seabreaker. Do you have an appointment?"

I shook my helm. "No. I have a message from Lord Dawnbreaker that he wishes delivered to Lord Oryax as soon as possible."

"You have good timing," I about jumped out of my plating when Lord Oryax's voice came from beside me. "I was just about to leave with Ambassador Credax to see the preparations for the Advancement Fair." When did he get here? I had assumed I would deliver this note so the bots here could send it back to Ethos. I didn't realize that Lord Oryax was here.

Did sire summon them?

I could ask sire about that during my debriefing about this solar. For now, I handed out the message while I bowed. "Lord Oryax, a message from my sire." Once he took the note from me, I rose and was about to ask to be excused when I noticed that Lord Oryax was studying Pandimala, and she was studying him. Slag! I needed to introduce them to each other. "Lord Oryax, this is Pandimala. She is a Decepticon who is a guest of my sire's."

When Pandimala raised an optic ridge at my description of her, I worried. Did she want me to say exactly how she became my sire's guest? Or should I have used a different introduction for her?

"A guest of Lord Dawnbreaker's? In that case, it is a pleasure to meet you, Pandimala." Lord Oryax greeted the femme.

It took my processor a nano to remember how she greeted sire when she first met him to realize that she might not properly greet Lord Oryax. "I'm sure that note you were just given will explain my presence here." She then tilted her helm slightly toward Lord Oryax. Slag! She used the same way she greeted sire to greet Lord Oryax! If we got out of this without Pandimala ending up in a holding cell, I would thank Iussa from now until the nano my spark stopped pulsing. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Lord Oryax.

I was on edge as Lord Oryax raised an optic ridge at her. "Quite the unusual greeting, femme. Is it one you use often?"

My spark felt like it would stop right now when Pandimala raised an optic ridge and smirked. "Outside of Lord Megatron, I see no being as higher than myself. Unless they prove themselves less, I will always view any being as my equal."

No bot moved after she finished her response. What was going to happen? Also, with how she answered him, it made me think. How did she view me? Since I was partially responsible for her getting shot down, I felt I was pretty low-ranking in her optics.

"Just like I would expect any self-respecting Decepticon to respond!" We all jumped as Lord Oryax said that with a laugh. "If you have the time, I would like to meet with you."

Surprisingly, that threw Pandimala off. She stared at Lord Oryax for a few nanos before she seemed to pull herself together. "We may have to use a proxy to set up that meeting. I am to start training once I recover a bit more. However, I would be glad to meet with you."

Lord Oryax grinned at that. "I'll make arrangements through Lord Dawnbreaker and the medic in charge of you." I was surprised when the Lord didn't ask Pandimala why she was in recovery. Of course, I knew he would find out in the note sire sent for him, but it was obvious that Pandimala and Lord Oryax were hitting a friendship off quickly. I wasn't sure how it happened, but I wouldn't complain.

"Physis would appreciate that," Pandimala responded. When Lord Oryax's optics widened at the name of her medic, I noticed Pandimala smirk a little. She was trying to get a reaction out of him? "For now, though, I think Seabreaker and I have taken enough of your time for the solar. Plus, he promised to show me Marina Market and a femme can't say no to a shopping trip."

"Then I hope the next time we meet will be as fortuitous as this one," Lord Oryax agreed before turning to me. "Thank you for getting me this, Seabreaker. Go and enjoy your solar." And with that, Lord Oryax and Ambassador Credax left.

Since everybot still seemed shocked about that crazy exchange, I motioned for Pandimala to follow me to the exit. Thank Iussa that she did. Once we were outside and headed toward the market, I glanced up at Pandimala and saw that she was deep in thought. What could she be thinking about? Was she worried? Should I ask if she was alright? No. We weren't close enough for that.

Thankfully, the city transport had a stop at the marina, so what would have been a cycle walk only ended up being a five-click ride. And even better, Pandimala seemed to be in her thoughts so I could take the ride peacefully. Even now, as we walked toward the market, Pandimala was thinking. Maybe I should have been more worried. What could she be thinking about that had her that distracted? "Um…Pandimala, we're here."

She shook her helm at my voice before glancing at the open-air market. "Wow, this place looks amazing! Come on, let's go!" I flinched as Pandimala grabbed my servo and pulled me along with her in her excitement.

After that nano, the rest of our trip to the market was a blur of running around. Pandimala seemed to be trying to hit all the vendors as soon as possible. Was she worried that we wouldn't come back? Honestly, if Pandimala wanted to come here when I was her guide, I'd let her. We had a lot of fun, and even though it was starting to get dark, I didn't feel like time had passed. I didn't do…, friends. Was this what having one was like?

No. I couldn't think of myself as her friend. I didn't deserve to have her as a friend.

Friends didn't have other friends shot down.

A loud vent escaping Pandimala was my only warning before I felt her open servo slap the back of my helm, sending me forward slightly. This had to be it. I shouldn't have…, "Get out of your fragging helm Seabreaker."

I flinched when she said that. What the frag did she mean? "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I mean. You have been so easy to read all solar, but I wanted to give you a chance to get out of your thoughts. That was obviously a mistake on my part." Pandimala lectured. "Look, I get it. Spending time with me after what happened had to make you nervous. Trust me when I say I understand what you are going through. Believe it or not, you all aren't the first to shoot first and ask questions later. You are just handling it better." She then let out a laugh. "I've been trying to get you to relax all fragging solar, and all you keep doing is closing yourself in more. What happened to the stand-up bot I saw while meeting with your creators? There was none of this self-doubt. None of this prolonged hesitation. Thoughts, yes, there were plenty of those back then. But none of this bull-slag that you have been showing!"

"I…" My processor felt numb as the femme yelled at me. She…she was mad that I was still upset that I shot her down? Did I end up in some strange hallucination?

"Sure, you shot me down. But you regret it and are paying for the trouble you caused me. I reached an agreement with your creators about your punishments, and nowhere in there did I say I would stay upset with you. Nowhere did I say that I would take more punishment from you later. Unless I've somehow mistranslated the word 'guide,' you shouldn't be expecting me to give you a hard time. If that were the goal, I would have made Firebrand a part of this instead of you."

My optics felt frozen on the femme when she said that. She just said that she would have had Firebrand instead of me if she wanted to cause us problems about what we caused. "Why not?" I croaked out. Tears fell from my optics as I tried to process everything she said. She had been shot down for no reason on my and Firebrand's orders, and she was acting so different from what we thought.

I flinched when she quickly moved forward and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. A hug? "Because holding a grudge is the largest waste of time I can find if the being who hurt me already apologized. You apologized. So, we can start over."

We… could start over? "We can?"

She nodded. "Of course, we can. Neither of us knew each other when I got shot down, and the best way to move past that is to get to know one another. That was what I was trying to do this solar, though that seemed to backfire on me a bit." When she said that, I felt like a weight was lifted from my spark. A weight that I didn't even know existed until this nano.

"Can we try again?" I asked her, feeling more confident than I had all solar. My worry about what Pandimala might do made me miss out on having a fun solar with the femme. If I was going to fix this, I needed to take the first step as I did during that meeting with my creators.

Pandimala backed up, and I squashed down a bit of worry as she did. Pandimala wouldn't do anything like that. I understood her better than I did with my thoughts from earlier. "Definitely," Pandimala said as she held out her servo.

Taking her servo in mine, I smiled as we shook. Despite everything that happened, I had a chance to be her friend, and I wasn't going to waste it. "Thanks for this chance Pandimala."

I was going to say more when I suddenly got a private message from Lightbeam. "Code Sideways. In the woods, two clicks north of the Marina Market. -Lightbeam."

Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.

Something happened. And, for the first time this solar, I was sure Seabreaker wasn't in his thoughts. I would admit that it was hard not to say something to the mech earlier, but I wanted him to use that processor of his to realize that I wasn't on some vengeance streak against him. Honestly, even if I wanted to do that, I would need to be on his good side to help broker this Alliance I wanted between his sire and Lord Megatron. But I wasn't. I just wanted to know the mech that showed so much promise.

And while this solar didn't go exactly like I hoped it would, I learned some things from the mech and met Lord Oryax of Ethos. Reading about the giant mech was one thing, but meeting him personally was fun. While he obviously expected decorum, he also understood different cultures. He knew that I would not give the proper greeting to him. But he wanted to hear my explanation of it. How he asked me reminded me of Swindle asking me about my loyalty back on Earth.

Of course, learning that bit about the Eternia Embassy was especially nice. I knew I could wipe Skywarp's record easily.

But neither of those issues were here and now. Seabreaker had suddenly tensed and looked worried. "Is everything alright?" I asked the mech, who I hoped would start relaxing around me.

To my surprise, he shook his helm and looked toward the woods we were next to. "We need to make a small detour." He said as he started to move toward the woods. As I followed him, he explained. "About ten stellars ago, a bot called Sideways visited Vestium Major and hit it off with that group of bots my sister spends time with. She felt something was off with him, so she sent me a private message with her location attached. I went, and the mech was a trader who kidnapped high-value bots and sold them off to the highest bidder, whether that was a bot's family or not. I helped her fight him off until the guard came. We captured him, and he is currently on one of the Alliance's prison planets."

"Sounds like a real piece of work." I cut in with a shiver. Sideways was a designation I was familiar with from my past life. An aspect of Unicron that caused chaos to run rampant in the Armada universe, he was not a mech I wanted to meet here. At least they had been able to stop him and capture him.

"He was." Seabreaker agreed. "After that solar, though, Light and I agreed that she would send me a Code Sideways whenever she felt uncomfortable at one of her parties. Unless I have to get the guards involved, I ask no questions and tell nobot about what might happen." He then motioned forward. "She sent me one, and she isn't far from here. If you don't mind, as long as we don't involve the guards, can you keep this between us?"

Being from Earth and living as a teenager, I knew the draw to private parties. While I never went to any myself, the few friends I did have went to some, and they would tell many fun stories. Mom even told stories about when she would sneak out to parties when she was my age. And, from the sound of this, they were taking precautions, so I could agree. That was especially since they would involve the guards if needed. "I promise." But then I remembered some observations I had made the other solar with Grinchain and Seabreaker this solar that concerned me. "Speaking of your guards, though, they don't seem well trained."

Seabreaker winced at my call out before he let out a vent. "Sire and carrier try. They don't want us to go out without protection, but they want to respect our privacy the best they can. So, they have us followed. However, the bots they pick aren't the best, or they would have been hired into the military, and we can lose them pretty easily if we want to. We lose a couple even when we aren't trying to."

"I noticed,"

The sound of voices coming up caused us both to stay silent as we moved closer. Since there wasn't an exact reason behind this call for help that Lightbeam sent, we didn't want to jump in blasters charged. We needed to see what the situation was like first. Even as we walked closer, and I could hear the crackling fire, something felt wrong. Something in my lines was almost pulsing as we moved closer. What the frag was that?

When we broke the tree line, the six bots there turned to us with nervous looks. Of course, I wasn't sure whether they were worried about getting caught, my arrival…or even both. "Seabreaker, you following me now?" Lightbeam spoke up.

So, either the message was by accident, which I doubted, or she wasn't entirely sure about it and just wanted her brother here, just in case. If it was the second option, I was more impressed with the femme than I was before. "No, I was just showing Pandimala around a bit, and we heard you all. Came to see what was going on."

At his mention of me, all the optics in the clearing turned to me nervously. Shaking my helm, I leaned against the tree I was next to. "Does it look like I give a scrap about what you all do? Just act responsibly, and I won't say anything." But, if we were right, one of the bots here might not be acting correctly.

A salmon and red colored mech who looked like he was a six-wheeled hauler of some sort shrugged his shoulders. "Seems chill enough. I'm Glein, you know Lightbeam, obviously," He motioned to an orange and brown two-wheeler mech. "That's Giro," Next was a smaller scout model mech, "Topad," A green and blue watercraft mech, "Filan," And finally, he motioned to a green and orange seeker mech, "Coyode. This is his first night with us, along with you two. He was bringing out some energon for all of us to try." Glein then looked to Coyode. "Do you have enough for them as well?"

My instincts practically screamed at me to stay on the defense around Coyode as he shrugged. Lightbeam was right. Something wasn't right with this mech. I'd have to be careful around him. Right now, he had no reason to suspect that we were here for any other reason than we said. "Always carry extra with me. Never know when I need to make a new friend." A chill went through my systems as he talked. Yes, something was off here.

As the rest of us sat down, Glein helped Coyode pass out cubes of the 'energon.' However, even before mine was handed to me, something wasn't right. Different additives would change the energon color and leave behind residue. I had seen this during my time on the Nemesis on Earth. However, the amber coloring with silver shimmers was suspect at best. That color, while excellent for human alcohol, was rarely a good thing for us. Starscream had mentioned before that he had to get used to drinking bourbon in his soliform because most energons that were that color would hurt us.

And with that in processor, I didn't hesitate to start a scan of the energon as soon as it was handed to me. Thankfully, none of the others seemed to be drinking theirs, though if I had to guess, that was because they were waiting for some signal they all had. That should give me the time I would need. "Well, now that everybot has their cube, I say we should let our unexpected guests drink first," Coyode spoke up with a motion toward us. The conniving gleam in his optics made me on edge. Something wasn't right.

But I needed to play along. So, I raised the cube toward him as if I was giving thanks to him for providing before I moved the cube closer to me. Thankfully, just as the cube neared my lips, my scan returned. Quickly, I moved the cube away with a snarl. I wasn't sure what this mech was trying for, but it would not stand! "Nobot drink this." I ground out before I stood and turned to Seabreaker. "Get the guard. Nobot leaves here until this is figured out."

"What, is my energon not good enough for you?" Coyode growled.

Motioning to the cube in my servo, I answered him. "I wouldn't give two slags if this was cheap low-grade if it was given in good faith. Energon infused with a sulfur gallium cocktail on the other servo could be seen as a declaration of war to the wrong optics."

My instincts took a complete turn when the shocked look appeared on the mech's faceplate. Did he really not know what was in it? "That's not possible. The only thing I added to it was some chromate to prank everybot. Change their colors a little. I'm not going to mess with that slag. Somebot's framing me!"

He was serious. Immediately, I glanced around at the others sitting here. Outside of Seabreaker, who had been with me, and Coyode, who was clearly showing signs of telling the truth, anybot else here could be responsible. Giro and Lightbeam looked too shocked to be trying to hide anything, so they were out as well. That just left Glein, Filan, and Topad. The three of them looked nervous about something. However, I doubted that they were all in on it.

Thankfully, there was going to be an easy solution to this.

"Everybot, stay calm," I stated slowly as I looked around. "The guards are on their way, and memory viewing through a patch will reveal who is responsible for this. For those who are not guilty, I do recommend getting into the habit of scanning any drink you may take, even if it is from a friend. If you don't watch that drink during the entire process it was made, then you scan that slag. Only accept a drink from somebot you trust with your very spark. Nothing less. It is one of the first lessons I learned as I got older, and it is something you all should have."

I had to keep focused. This situation was too close to the time when I had been drugged. It was honestly the reason I scanned every fragging drink I took. I wasn't so bad on the Nemesis once we got rid of Thrust, but I did it every so often. The habit went into full force when I was with the Autobots, so when I returned to the Nemesis, I scanned all energon I got when I was not inebriated unless it came from Lord Megatron.

Given what happened this solar, I was glad I was still in the habit.

"We don't have to listen to her," Topad growled as he started to move.

Before I could respond, Lightbeam took off a wing blade and held it up toward the mech. "Maybe not, but you do have to listen to me. We are all staying here until this gets figured out." She then glanced toward me and gave a slight nod.

Not long after, the guard arrived and started to do field patches. I volunteered to go first and, not to my surprise, given the circumstances, Coyode went next. It showed him adding the chromate, which was fine given the effects, but it didn't show anything else added by the mech. Once he was done, he moved to stand next to me as Seabreaker took his turn. "You suspected it was me at first."

Well, I wasn't going to hide it. "Yes."

"Why?" He questioned. "I understand the others. I'm the foreigner that only Glein knows, and so an attack like this, in their optics, would have a higher chance of being committed by me. That was especially since I provided the energon. But you're a foreigner as well. Why did you suspect me?"

Time to be honest. "Honestly, it was a few factors. As you just pointed out, you provided the energon. Statistically, that gave you the best chance at altering the energon, as you did. Just not how I suspected. Secondly, your excitement for your prank read as tense for something to do with the energon. Thirdly, as I am sure you suspect, Seabreaker and I did not end up in that clearing by accident. Lightbeam sent Seabreaker a message saying that she was concerned about something. Didn't say what, but it put us on edge as we arrived at the party."

"That makes sense," He admitted.

"Release me right now!" The two of us glanced up as the guards restrained Topad. I guess the bad bot was an already-established member of her group.

Honestly, these bots weren't bad. A little too laid back, yes. But they were just your average bots. Now I needed to ask Grinchain why he seemed so against them. Topad was a bad bot, but the others appeared to be good friends to Lightbeam. And just from that conversation with Coyode, he would also make a good friend. A great friend even.

And given the events of this solar, I was sure they would all practice more caution in the future. They could make it a tradition to make it feel less awkward to new bots. I'd have Seabreaker suggest it to Lightbeam.

Speaking of said femme, I focused on Lightbeam as she approached me. "I wanted to say thanks. You saved us a lot of trouble catching him. I should have been more careful."

"You should have been," Her helm jerked up to focus on me as I responded. "From what I have heard, you always sneak out and disregard everything your creators tell you. While I don't mind sneaking out, you do so with a blatant risk to yourself." I could see her about to argue with me, so I held up my servo. "Let me finish. I don't mind bots going off and having fun, but you are going about it incorrectly. Look at what happened this solar. Your brother is on the same lockdown that I am. What would have happened to you if we were further away than we were?"

As we stood silently, I could almost see her thoughts pass before her optics. "I didn't think about it like that," She eventually spoke up.

"What would have happened is that we would most likely not have made it on time," I emphasized, just in case she didn't make that conclusion. Fixing this family so they could negotiate with Lord Megatron meant that I also needed to fix these problems. "At the very least, that drink would have damaged you. At worst…well, I'm sure you can imagine what might have happened to you. You have a good set of friends here. Coyode even seems like he will make a good friend. Would you like my advice on what to do so you and your creators will be happy?"

"I doubt they will budge," She huffed.

At that, I raised an optic ridge. "I've found I can be pretty persuasive. That is especially since I just saved you. They may listen to me a little more. However, I won't act unless you agree with my plan. So, would you like my advice?"

Her optics studied me for a few nanos before she nodded. "What do you think?"

"Introduce your friends here to your creators. If your friends agree, even have them undergo a comprehensive background patch. That should clear up any fears your creators may have about them…and that may have helped us in the situation this solar," I started. "At that point, have your creators assign them as your guards, each taking a turn. While that means that one of them will have to abstain from the festivities each time you have one of these parties, you won't have your creators practically glued to your backplates, and they will have no reason to mistrust the bots you are around."

Her optics widened in surprise as I proposed my idea. It would make both parties happy, and if I suggested it, this would help more than I could see now. "I'll ask the mechs next solar when I see them about the patch. If they agree, then go for it. Tonight showed me that they may have had a point about some of what they have been saying." She then went to walk back to her friends. However, before she made it too far, she turned back to me and smiled. "And Pandimala? Thanks." I gave her a nod in return.

The rest of the time went by in a blur. Questions were asked, and after a trip back to the castle, Seabreaker led me to my room with the promise to make sure Grinchain showed me a good time next solar after the chaos this one had been. Laying in my berth, I let my processor catch up to me. This solar had been more exciting than I thought it would be. However, my time here had only begun, and I was bound and determined to make the most of it.

Authoress: *walking around half-awake* Where the hell did the kitchen move to?

Grinchain: Should we tell her she has been walking around in a circle for the past five clicks?

Pandimala: *shakes helm* No, we need to let her come out of it fully.

Seabreaker: *walks in* Is that Authoress?

Lightbeam: *comes out from hiding around the corner* No one else could be that terrifying, even in half-recharge.

AN: And here is the next chapter! I hope you have all enjoyed it! This time, we get poor Seabreaker showing Pandimala some new places. Well, as best as he can without panicking himself into spark failure. Thankfully, Pandimala snaps the mech out of the self-induced panic he put himself in. The Decepticon reputation strikes again. It won't be the last time, that's for sure. Thankfully, things seem to be going alright. That was especially since she ended up meeting another planetary leader. Thankfully, Lord Oryax has enough experience with Decepticons to realize they aren't going to bow to other leaders but their own. Honestly, he's probably surprised he got the nod instead of a smart remark. We also find out that Dawnbreaker is gathering his allies. Something on the horizon that he sees, perhaps?

And then we get to the mess with Lightbeam. Pandimala does not take spiking drinks lightly and will ensure those bots have that same thought ingrained into their processors. And yet, this wasn't a coincidence. There are plays in motion that will come to the front sooner or later.

For now, though, I give you the names of the next chapters!

Chapter 6: Iussa

Chapter 7: The Eternia Embassy

Chapter 8: ...(Find out next time!)

This is it, folks! Again, thank you for taking the time to read this through! If you want to review or use a review to say hi, then be my guest. Until next time we meet, though, TTYL! *watching another riveting episode of Criminal Minds*