AN: I only own my OCs.

Michael: *glances around confused* What am I doing back here? It isn't a birthday request, and I am positive that I won't be seen for a while.

Authoress: *sighs* I...I guess I just need you here right now. It seems like I'm dealing with toxic people on the internet again and it is just so annoying having to do so.

Michael: *smiles and pulls closer* Don't worry. Their words do not affect you.

Authoress: *smiles back* I know. But I don't know how others will react to that sort of thing. I worry about them. I know I'll be fine. But, others might not be so lucky.

Michael: I see. Well, the best you can do is be here and keep posting within the rules as you have been. For now, let's watch Pandimala get through this.

Authoress: *laughs* Sure. Let's do that.

Chapter 2: Far From Home

Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.

The first thing I registered as I came out of recharge was that I was in less pain than I had been for the past three solars. A growl slipped through my vocals just at the thought of being stuck here. I needed to return to my Lord as soon as possible. But now, that was not going to happen for a while. Medical lockdowns were serious business. Outside of functionality, whatever systems were under the lockdown were inoperable. That meant that my t-cog and my wings were out of commission. No flying, and no transforming.

And then there was the glaring problem I had spent the last few solars studying. Vestium Major and the Galactic Alliance as a whole. While I had asked for everything that they had on the subjects to study, something told me that I didn't have everything. That was alright for now. Every ruler had their secrets and, unless they affected me or my Lord, I didn't care about them. What was worrying, however, was the strain in the Alliance that I could see just from the materials that I was given. Political differences and the strain that different conflicts, including our own, had placed on them was bringing the Galactic Alliance to a breaking point.

And I knew that the attack against me was not going to get hidden in a corner. Vestium Major had goofed up, and their enemies were going to see this as the weakness it was. It somewhat explained my question to Physis about why I was being asked, and not requested, to meet with the royalty. They were trying to cover for themselves and whichever bots had made the mistake of shooting me down. That was especially since I did follow all procedures in that situation.

Given the embassies that were on this planet, not all on the most friendly terms with the planet, then their enemies were most likely already sending envoys to this planet to get a statement about the attack from me. If they were planning on attacking Vestium Major, then the Decepticons would be valuable allies. Could they do without us? Most likely. However, Decepticon space governed much space that the other Alliance members didn't have advantage of, and we were powerful.

Another factor that I needed to bring in was the fact that many of these planets if they were hosting an Autobot or Decepticon, had access to that disaster that was the 'peace talks'. Something that the Decepticons had gotten out of that was that all of those viewers got to witness just how logical the Decepticons truly were…even in a state of betrayal as we faced. And all that didn't even include the reputation that my fellow Decepticons had built of our strength long before that. We took care of our own, and if Vestium Major didn't meet with me before those other planets spoke with me and made contact with Lord Megatron, we could be facing another war.

I would not allow my Lord to be used in such a way. But, I had to play this smart. With the advantage I had in meeting with the leaders of this planet, added to the precarious situation that they were in, then I had the power to make sure that the Decepticons came out of this in the right position. What that was, I wasn't sure yet. Most of that would be determined by how this talk with the royalty went along with my recovery here.

The sound of the doors opening caused me to turn as Physis entered. As he did, I noticed that he looked tense. Why did he look tense? "What's got your circuits in a bind?" I decided to just get out of the way. Sometimes, a good strategist knew when to avoid the main issue and when to attack it directly. This one needed direct questioning so that there was no misunderstanding.

"'Oh hi Physis. How's the weather? Did you recharge well?' I mean is small talk foreign to you?" Physis grumbled as he began to take his solarly scans of me.

I resisted the urge to roll my optics at him and instead just let out a small vent. "Not when you look like you are about to be blown to bits at any nano." I held still for a nano as he scanned the area that my t-cog was in. "So, care to share doc?"

There was the regular glare at my use of the term 'doc' which he was getting delightfully annoyed at before he spoke. "I have been asked that, if you are in fit enough condition after this exam, to ask if you are ready to meet with Lord Dawnbreaker and his family."

They were getting antsy. Something must have changed. Perhaps one of their political opponents was on their way? That would certainly be enough to worry them. However, they had to keep the choice in my field or their one hope of safety would be gone. I needed to keep my helm about me during this. In theory, I could create an ally out of Vestium Major for my Lord if this played out well. It would make the time I was away from him worth it. But, this was not going to be easy. I barely knew anything about Earth politics and how to make them.

Let alone ones on a foreign world that I started deeply studying three solars ago.

I knew that I couldn't keep them waiting long if what I suspected was true. They would be more willing to agree to my terms if they didn't have to watch out for what their political enemies were thinking as well. While I might be able to get other deals out of their enemies if they were here while we talked, I might not want to. So far, the royalty of Vestium Major had responded accurately and thoughtfully to the mistake that was made. They were appearing to be the ones I wanted to focus my efforts on. As I thought earlier, though, this meeting with the Royalty would either solidify that thought or remove it entirely.

That was especially given what I was supposed to do and planned on not doing.

"Well Physis," I started as he moved his scans to other areas that were damaged, "If you give me a clean enough check to go and talk with them, we might as well get this done with once we are done here."

My response caused him to stop for a nano and glance at me in surprise. "You would meet with them this solar?"

"Right after this exam if that is possible," I emphasized. I didn't want to wait until later. Sometimes, the best reactions were seen in surprise situations. I knew more about that than most.

The surprise in his optics told me that he wasn't expecting that. Good. I didn't like being predictable when I could help it. Chaos was not inherently a bad thing. I was coming to find that Chaos was a good tool to use when you wanted to get a good read off of someone. Chaos, and its influence, was what told me that Paul was only interested in his own goals, with no care for what I might want or any other futures… better futures.

A ding coming from Physis' scanner caused the mech to snap out of the surprise that I placed him in. Immediately, he stood and moved to the monitor that he used during all of my exams of late. There was no doubt in my processor that he was in contact with said royalty letting them know of my decisions. Well, I couldn't expect a complete surprise drop in of them. But, this ought to shake them up a little bit. Keep them off their game.

While I was willing to give them a chance, I was still nervous around them. Somebot under their command had ordered me shot down without checking the general comm line. There was a chance, though that was becoming smaller and smaller as I spent more time here, that they had shot me down on purpose. I needed to be aware of my surroundings while doing this. My Lord was expecting me home, and I could not disappoint him.

…Not again.

"All of my scans appear that you are fit enough to leave the medical wing. However, you are to take things easy for a few more solars. Nothing too strenuous for you. You will have some residual pains from the damage and repairs. If it becomes too much, you are to rest. It's a miracle that you are this healed. Though I guess you have seen a lot, given those medical records."

While I hadn't given them everything that I had ever taken as damage, the list that I had given Physis was enough to prove that I had taken a few hits in my existence and recovered. Of course, dark energon was kept clear out of that report. While I knew that the substance was coursing through my lines, it didn't appear on scans. I found this out on one of my first stops on this trip, where I allowed the neutral medic on Antilla to clean up some of my damage from that fight on Cybertron. I had been worried about him picking up the dark energon. However, he just did the exam and said everything seemed fine…for the state I was in.

I wasn't going to press about that anymore.

"So, it looks like I have a meeting to attend," I responded to that while pulling myself off of the med berth. While I was unstable at first, I soon found my pedes and nodded toward the medic. I figured that I was going to be escorted to their meeting chambers, whatever they called them here. This was it. The first step that would affect my plans going forward here on Vestium Major.

If I was being completely honest with myself, I was nervous about meeting with the royalty. While I knew that I was going to have the advantage at this meeting, there was one fatal flaw that I would be going into this meeting with, and I knew that it was going to hinder me. I had never been in this sort of formal meeting before. The closest I had personally been to all of that kind of stuff was the reports I would give to Lord Megatron. Even with those, which weren't anything near as formal as this was going to be, they were with my Lord and I felt at ease when speaking with him.

These were going to be strangers, and while I would keep up formalities as much as I was able to, I knew that I was going to bother some bots with how I was going to interact with the royalty. But, I had to remember that I was not here by choice. Their mistake was what forced me to stay here. If it wasn't for them, I would be only solars from arriving on Pyrovar. Instead, I was stuck here. I needed to make sure that is clear to them.

Without screwing everything up of course. How hard could it be?

When two larger bots suddenly stepped in, I could see that they were nervous about me. My only experience with other bots was the whole conflict on Earth and slightly on Cybertron along with the brief stops I made on this trip. Those two looked like they were close to the combiner heights that I had seen in training videos. Nothing to sneeze at here at all. Well, at least they were taking me seriously.

"Pandimala," I glanced at Physis as he motioned to the two bots. "These are Custov and Hazenspar. They will be escorting us to your meeting."

Us? "You're going to be there too?" I asked the medic as I continued studying the two bots I was just introduced to.

Custov and Hazenspar both looked like they would transform into the same type of hauler construction vehicle. With their size, they would have to be the ones that I used to only be the height of half a tire with just how massive those two bots were. Custov had the standard color that I would see on most Caterpillar vehicles on Earth while Hazenspar was black and red with yellow markings. Their optics were different colors as well, with Custov having dark red optics and Hazenspar having yellow optics.

In response to my question, though, Physis just gave me a 'really?' look before he finally answered me. "Of course, I am coming with you. I'm not sure how you have been able to recover so quickly, but I am not taking any chances with you. You might be physically ready for a meeting, however, I need to be on servo just in case something goes wrong. I haven't labored over your recovery this much just for something to go wrong now."

"Aw, I knew you liked me," I teased the medic as we followed Custov and Hazenspar out of the room. As we walked down the halls, I took advantage of the change in scenery to study just what was around me. I had been cooped up in that fragging room since I woke up and, while I understood the need to, seeing more of this planet was an opportunity that I was not going to pass up.

It was honestly amusing watching the stares of all of the different bots that we passed. I mean, I was a stunning bot, but they didn't have to stare that much? No, I knew that they were worried. While I did not doubt that details about me were being withheld from the citizens here, they had to be concerned that a Decepticon was currently on their planet. We didn't have the best reputation in the galaxies and, while I knew my Lord was working hard to change that, it would take time. I needed to be careful while I…was…

I found myself stopping as I stared out the glass walkway we had been moving on. Seeing this planet on my flight in had been enough to remind me of Earth. However, seeing the surface of the world, my spark felt an even deeper connection between Vestium Major and my old homeworld. Technology and organic life working together in such harmony made me feel like I was back there. Back taking my classes in high school, back to losing myself in my writing while also keeping up with my efforts with the debate team. Of all those nights when mom and I would crawl up on the roof and stare at the night sky. While it was daytime right now, I hoped that this planet allowed a view of the stars like Earth did.

The green leaves on the trees moved as they were caught up in the drafts of flight mode bots casually flying through the air, grass just as fragile looking as it did on Earth while bots moved about their solarly lives, and even the blue water of the lake as boats moved across its surface. I felt a tear roll down my faceplate and quickly wiped it away. This… wasn't the time for this.

"Pandimala, are you alright?" Physis asked.

Looking back at the three of them, I realized that they looked concerned. Guess I did just randomly stop there. Nodding, I rejoined them. "Apologies. Your planet is very beautiful." I gave as the only reasoning they were going to get from me for now.

Though, as we walked away from the scene, I felt a pang of sorrow. How had Cybertron looked before the war? Did it hold just as much beauty as Vestium Major did? Of course, I knew it hadn't had organic influences in it, but I was sure that Cybertron held a beauty all its own before the war tore it apart. While I knew that the war was necessary, my spark clenched in slight pain. With the Autobots running the planet now, I seriously doubted that the planet would return to that state. I could only anticipate the beauty that the Decepticon's new capital world, Pyrovar, would hold for those of us who would call it home.

I moved those thoughts to the back of my processor as the four of us moved into a new section of this palace…I think Physis called it Vorassus Palace. With the halls becoming more ornate in their decoration, I did not doubt that we were nearing the throne room of this place. Well, this would be it. More and more optics continued to glance at us as we neared the large doors that I assumed would lead to this throne room. This was it. I would soon learn what I needed to learn to determine if I should try to make an ally out of Vestium Major…

…or an enemy.

Grinchain's 1st P.O.V.

This was utter slag. It had been solars since the femme had got here. Solars. And she still hadn't asked for a meeting with sire and carrier. I wanted to meet her, ask her questions about being a Decepticon, and just make sure she saw me as a regular bot. But no. That last one wasn't going to happen. And since that last point wasn't going to happen, then the first two probably weren't going to either. The Decepticon would probably act like every other fragging bot did the nano they learned that I was fragging royalty. They would dodge my questions like they were afraid that sire and carrier would take their helm off if they even looked at me in the wrong way, let alone answer some of my questions. I wanted to know so much.

And given that this bot was traveling from the direction of Cybertron when my brothers fragged up, then maybe this Decepticon would have information about what happened during the last part of the fighting. It was a turning point in the fighting of their war, and the Decepticons must have been influenced by something on that small organic world to change in the way that they did…especially in such a small amount of time. The femme was my only hope of getting answers. With tensions in the Galactic Alliance with the stress that the Cybertronian Civil War had placed on the galaxies, then the femme might hold answers.

But, as I lay on my berth, I knew that the odds of that happening were slim. And I mean slim. Politics were all bots cared about when they came to meet with carrier and sire. And we creations were just tools for that. They couldn't risk answering my questions. It might tip the balance of whatever political games they were going to play. Or, as I thought plenty of times before, they would be terrified of getting my creators on their bad sides by talking with me. With how much time had passed since the femme had been reported to be awake, I had a feeling that I had lost my chance.

It wasn't fair!

A snarl left my vocals as I threw the stress relieving toy that Gyo had brought me the other solar. We were close enough that he felt I could use the toy to work out my frustration at all of this. But, the simple pliable sphere had done little to help me get over the sting of this.

When the sphere hit the wall next to my door, I jumped slightly as said door opened. There, standing in the doorframe, was my brother Seabreaker. While I wasn't surprised to see him, since sire had him 'watching' me for the past few solars, the serious look on his faceplate could only mean one thing. "The femme is ready?" I asked my brother as I stood.

I noticed a nervous look in his optics as he nodded. "Yeah, I guess she told Physis that she was ready for a meeting as soon as he cleared her. Sire has ordered us all to the throne room for this meeting."

As much as I wanted to meet the femme, I knew why my brother was nervous. It was on his orders, along with Firebrand's, that caused this mess to begin with. And sire would be informing the femme of the role the two of them played during this meeting. "Well, let's get to it," I responded to him before moving toward him. Once I was next to him, we walked out of my room and made our way to the throne room.

"Grin," I glanced sideways at my brother when he hesitated. Seabreaker might not like socializing with bots much, but he never hesitated like that. He was worried about how this was going to go. "I know you have been studying the Cybertronian conflict more than any of us have and so you would know this answer the best. Based on what you have studied, what can I expect the femme to demand as my punishment for this?"

While I wanted to let my brother know that everything was going to be alright with this…I wasn't sure about that. No sentient being in their right processors got on the bad side of a Decepticon…and that was especially when the Decepticon was following procedures. Firebrand and Seabreaker were probably not going to like what the femme demanded. "Honestly, depending on what she was doing when you both ordered her shot down, it could be bad. Not offlining bad, but bad enough where your chassis might be altered." At his worried look, I figured that I could try and lessen the blow. "But, that might not happen. Just be prepared for it. While only the DJD was known for torturing bots that were on their list or got in the way of their orders, the Decepticons are just so varied that anything could happen."

I might be younger than Sea, but at least he realized that I was going to know the most, out of us siblings, about what might happen with this femme. But, with my knowledge, I also knew that the femme might blow expectations out of the water. That was the difficulty in estimating the Decepticons that one might meet. They were so different from each other that you never really knew what you were going to run into.

"I'm moving Brand!"

As Seabreaker and I came to a merging hallway, I shook my helm as Lightbeam glared at our eldest brother, who looked in a foul mood as well. Guess the rumors I heard were true. He was not happy that our creators were putting any power in the femme's servos. And now that solar was here. My sister, knowing her, probably wasn't happy that she was being forced to attend this 'meeting' since she wasn't involved in anything that happened. Lightbeam didn't like listening to the rules and orders that our creators gave much. I would say not at all but she did agree with them about leaving the femme alone instead of letting me sneak in there. But, that was the extent of it. She almost made escaping the watch of our guards an art form and she knew almost every single exit outside of the palace.

"We just need to get this farce over with," Firebrand grumbled as we kept walking. "The fact that we are groveling at this femme's pedes is ridiculous." He then shook his helm. "Just wait until I tell Sharpstreak about this. His creators wouldn't put him through this if he was in this situation."

I rolled my optics at his complaining. Whenever things were going bad, Firebrand would run off to his buddy, who was here for triple-changer training. Sharpstreak was, like Firebrand, heir to his planet's throne. However, something that my sister and I agreed on was our dislike of the mech. Pova was not only a leading planet in the alliance as we were, but they were also close allies of ours during this time of uncertainty. However, given how Sharpstreak liked to act, then I was worried about what would happen when he started to rule Pova. He was a bully, and I hated how much Firebrand confided in the mech.

"That might not be the smartest move Fire," Seabreaker responded to my eldest brother's statement. "Given everything that might happen this solar, tensions will be increased in the alliance and we shouldn't be gossiping about it with other bots…despite our political alliance with them."

Firebrand glared at Seabreaker. "This would be an even better time to bring our allies in closer. I'm sure sire and carrier will understand that I am going to tell him so he can tell his creators. If this situation is as serious as everybot keeps implying it is, then we will need our allies."

Honestly, Firebrand wouldn't have a bad argument if it weren't for two things. Firstly, I knew that he wasn't taking this situation with the Decepticon as seriously as he should be. That much was painfully obvious and I knew that the Decepticon was going to see that in my brother as well. The second, and honestly most important part of that, was that while Pova was an ally of Vestium Major, Sharpstreak had his own goals and I wouldn't put it past the mech to give the information that my idiot older brother might give him to…less honest bots.

"That's assuming that aft won't spread whatever you tell him around like the pain in aft as he is," Lightbeam, Iussa bless my sister, did not have the same restraint that Seabreaker and I had when it came to my brother in his ability to be a pain in the aft himself.

A growl escaped Fire at that. "Say that again Lighty. Come on. See what I do."

While I knew my sister would more than love to take him on his offer, both were stopped from saying anything more as we opened the rear entrance to the throne room. Guess they were going to keep this argument between us…for now. First smart thing Firebrand has done during this whole situation from what I heard.

While I wanted to stand by Seabreaker during this, since he was going to need the support and he had shown that he deserved my support, I knew that sire was going to want to have Firebrand and Seabreaker next to each other, given that they were the two guilty parties in this. This way, when he informed the femme of this, they would be together so the femme knew that my sire had already spoken to them about this.

We all tensed as the doors to the throne room opened and the first ones in were Custov and Hazenspar. Was sire that concerned about the femme's reaction to everything that they had our two largest guards escort the femme, and Physis, to this meeting? Slag. I mean, I knew Decepticons were dangerous, but to have both of them here spoke volumes about how concerned we should be.

Authoress: *smirks* Oh, this has been so much fun! I can't wait to see how this all goes down.

Pandimala: *nods* Oh yes. However, I do enjoy the nostalgia that Vestium Major gives me. It reminds me so much of Earth that I keep losing myself in its sights.

Authoress: Good. That will help you get through the trying parts of all of this.

Pandimala:...What do you mean by 'trying parts'? *glances down at Authoress*

Authoress: Well, you do have a lot of work ahead of you. Do you think that is going to be easy? Plus you are still dealing with your stuff as well as all of this slag. That is all going to come to at least one head, if not more.

Pandimala: *grumbles* I hate it when you are right.

Michael: *laughs* I am going to love every click of this. *offers Authroess snacks*

Authoress: *takes snacks* Thank you!

AN: And here is the next chapter of the story! I hope you all have liked this so far. I had a lot of fun writing this, especially with the creations all meeting on the way to this audience with Pandimala. The fun I am about to have...Oh, I can't wait! Oh, and just for reference, I imagine that if Custov and Hazenspar had earth vehicle modes they would be Caterpillar 797s. So...pretty big.

Oh, and of course, I would never forget to give you the names of the next chapters! *whistles innocently*

Chapter 3: The Guide

Chapter 4: Little Things

Chapter 5:...(of course find out next time!)

That's all for now folks! I do appreciate your reviews, either when you review or you just say hi, and cherish each one of them. Until next we meet, TTYL! *jamming to Dragostea Din Tei by Feuerschwanz*