Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.

Authoress: So, this is going to be interesting.

Pandimala: *nods* I don't find myself agreeing with you often Authoress, but I think I do on this one. This is going to be very interesting.

Michael: *smirks* I don't care one way or the other. But, I did bring the snacks! *holds up a basket of fried pickles*

Authoress: *smiles* Michael, you are amazing...did I ever tell you that?

Chapter 3: The Guide

Seabreaker's 1st P.O.V.

My systems felt tense as the femme walked forward. I knew I had screwed up, but I felt fear deep in my circuits as I studied the femme closer. Her entire demeanor screamed power and anger and, thanks to my click of stupidity as well as Firebrand's, we were the targets of that anger and power. Of course, I knew she was strong. She had taken so many hits and yet she still survived the crash landing that she had. Honestly, even having Custov and Hazenspar here wasn't making me feel better.

While Grinchain was the expert on the Cybertronian Civil War out of the four of us, anybot worth their plating knew to never judge a Decepticon by their size. Their leader, Megatron, was enough for that to be true. While the mech was by no means small, he did have soldiers under him that towered above him in height and strength. That just went to prove just how efficient of a leader the mech was.

Now, there was a chance that I wouldn't be walking out of this room completely intact. That thought alone terrified me. Yet, thinking back to the mess the femme was in when she stood from that crash, I would be getting off easy if that was all that she did. While we didn't know what the femme was doing in this part of space, we had ignored the general comm frequency and just assumed the femme was refusing to answer us. While I knew that the frequency was rarely used, I still should have checked it. While Firebrand did share in the blame for this, I realized that I was the most responsible for this mess. Acting as the communicator for our patrol, it was my duty to check those comm channels…even if I wasn't ordered to do so.

"Greetings Lord Dawnbreaker of Vestium Major," the femme greeted us with a nod of her helm toward us. Strange. Most formal standings said one should give a full bow before the ruler of a planet, and kneel if they ruled over more than one, as sire did. However, this femme felt as if a nod of her helm was all she needed to do.

When I heard a scoff coming from Firebrand, my instincts kicked in and I immediately elbowed the mech. This was not the time to be instigating anything with the femme given why this meeting was being held. "Fire," I started to hiss at the mech, hoping the femme had not caught on.

However, the femme was, unfortunately for right now, the observant type. "No, let him say what he wants. If we can't be honest with each other during this, then this talk won't go well." She then focused her optics on my older brother. "Do you have something you wish to say?"

Of course, with the open invitation from the femme, Firebrand didn't feel like he needed to hold back. "Of course I do. Here you are, expecting us to cower before you when we have more important things to be dealing with. So we made a mistake. Everybot makes mistakes. We fixed you up. That should more than cover any slight we did. The fact that we are doing this infuriates me."

As my brother was ranting, I noticed that the femme was looking between all of us. Possibly gauging our reactions to his rant? I had a feeling that the femme was smarter than Firebrand was thinking she was and she was using this as a way to study us. But for what?

"I see. And, to a small extent, I agree with you," I know my optics about popped out of my helm when the femme answered him like that. "Bots make mistakes every solar. I have made plenty of them. However, every sentient being should know that, when one makes a mistake, one should make reparations for it. Yes, you repaired me. However, that was to avoid the consequences that would have rained down on you should I have offlined."

"Is that a threat?" Firebrand snarled. I could see our creators visibly aging as Firebrand argued with the femme. Lightbeam looked as bored as she normally did, and Grinchain looked like he wasn't far behind our creators.

However, the femme continued to surprise me when she just smirked. "Simply an observation. I have orders from my Lord to return to him, and the order to shoot me down caused a delay in my arrival to Pyrovar. And, until I am cleared to leave here by your medic, which given the results of my exam is quite some time away, then those who gave the order to have me shot down will keep repaying me for the time I am losing returning to my Lord." At this point, that smirk had turned into a neutral look. She then glanced at my creators. "Lord Dawnbreaker, I will assume that this meeting is to discuss the attack on myself and those responsible?"

My sire gave the femme a nod. "Yes,"

I felt like I should step forward and take responsibility now instead of waiting for my sire to speak. Something told me that the femme would appreciate that more than if I waited for sire to point me out. I noticed my sire flinch as I stepped forward; however, I was watching the femme. I knew that this was risky. As Grinchain had said earlier, Decepticons were known for being unpredictable. However, I had to go with what I felt was correct and this was it.

"Greetings, femme. I am Seabreaker, second creation of Lord Dawnbreaker and Seabreeze, and I am mostly responsible for the blunder that caused you to be shot down." I then gave the femme a full chassis bow and held it before continuing to speak. "I was in charge of the communications for the mission and failed to check the general comm line. It was a grave mistake that could have cost you greatly and I know that no amount of begging and pleading will make up for that. Regardless of how this talk turns out, I wish to truly express, however, just how sorry I am for being behind this mistake." The room was quiet for a nano and I was tempted to lift my helm. However, I knew that it would show more penance, which I did feel, if I kept my helm down and in a submissive form to the femme.

After a few clicks, the femme, who I realized I did not have a designation for yet, finally spoke. "While I expect there to be consequences for your failure to act appropriately in the situation," I flinched at how the femme started to speak. This was it. I should start getting used to, "I do appreciate you coming forward on your own and confessing this to me. It takes a strong character to admit when one is wrong, and an even greater one to be ready to accept the punishment for those actions. Lift yourself up," I did so as the femme continued to speak. I was surprised to see a smile on her faceplate. "My designation is Pandimala, and on that designation, I do accept your apology."

"Thank you," I responded to Pandimala before I moved to stand next to Firebrand once more.

As I did, though, I noticed that the femme had a thoughtful look on her faceplate, yet she did not say anything. Was she going over what I just said, or did my actions just now tell her more about what happened? "Lord Dawnbreaker," Pandimala moved to address my sire. I could still hear the respect behind the femme's vocals so I hadn't messed things up with my stunt. "Is it wrong for me to assume that more than just Seabreaker was responsible for the attack against me?"

Instead of sire answering the femme, carrier decided to speak on sire's behalf. "I am Seabreeze bondmate of Dawnbreaker, Pandimala, and you are correct. While Seabreaker was in charge of communication of the mission, our eldest and heir, Firebrand, was in charge of the entire patrol that called in the attack against you."

The room then went silent as Pandimala moved her gaze to where Firebrand and I were standing. If I had to hazard a guess, she was waiting to see if Fire would make a move on his own to apologize as I did. However, the femme was wasting her time. Firebrand was angry enough that this was happening, and that the femme was going to be given the right to delve out punishment to both Firebrand and me.

After a few clicks of silence, sire finally spoke up. "In regards to the punishments that they will be facing," He then placed his clasped servos on his legs before he continued. "They have been confined to the palace until this meeting and may continue being so depending on how this meeting ends. The two of them will also be grounded from their alt modes for the foreseeable future. Five hundred community service hours must be completed by each of them, and we are leaving the rest of their punishment in your servos."

It felt refreshing to see the surprised look cross Pandimala's faceplate, for the nano that it did, before she glanced between all of us. I guess sire could take a bot by surprise when he wanted to. Before then, the femme seemed to be the one in charge of this meeting. It was terrifying to see just how easily the femme stepped up when given the opportunity. "Very well," She started with one more glance toward Firebrand and me before she refocused on sire. "Firstly, I do not expect their confinement to continue. Being isolated from the world can cause more harm than good." She then paused for another nano before continuing. "Secondly, the two of them will not simply be grounded from their alt modes. Due to their attack against me, my t-cog and wings are in medical lockdown. Theirs should be as well until my lockdown is removed."

My wings tensed as the femme made that demand. To be on medical lockdown was not a light thing. Every function that required your t-cog would be unable to be used and that would put my brother and me in a highly vulnerable state. The only weapons we would have available to us would be those spares that we kept in our subspace. Now, we were going to have to get used to those since they would be our only defense.

"You can't be serious," Firebrand growled. He was furious right now. He used his flight times to hang out with his friends and this would seriously hinder that since he wouldn't be able to sneak out and fly with his t-cog on medical lockdown. Of course, I could see the femme's reasoning in this, even if my brother was not quite as enlightened as I was. "Taking away our t-cogs is,"

"You lost the chance to say anything when you didn't step forward," The femme's snarl shook me as she glared at my brother. If I offlined this solar, it was Firebrand's fault. "At least your brother realized that he was in the wrong in this. And what was that about taking away your t-cog? If you haven't noticed, your actions have cost me the use of mine until it is healed, along with my wings. Since I am going to be in this vulnerable state, as the ones responsible you should be as well."

When it sounded like Firebrand was going to say something else, I couldn't take it anymore and slammed my servo into his vocals. He needed to keep quiet while the femme was delegating our punishments. Right now, she was being very reasonable and I did not need him digging our family into a deeper hole than he already was. "Apologies for the noise. Please continue when you are ready," I spoke to the femme and hoped that she didn't get mad at me for shutting him up when she wanted him to speak earlier.

Relief flooded me when I saw that she looked amused, I was guessing at what I did before she continued over Firebrand's hacking and glaring at me. "Lastly," Wait, this was going to be it? "I am going to need a guide during my time here. Until my relationship with Firebrand improves, I don't think that he should be a part of this punishment for now." A chill traveled down my spinal strut when her optics seemed to focus on me. "So, I wish for Seabreaker here to be my guide."

Be her guide? It was one thing to accept my punishment from the femme since I had made this error. It was another thing entirely to be her guide. It was almost terrifying. Decepticons were known to be a completely varied sort of bots. You never knew what might happen, in meeting with a Decepticon. And now I was going to have to spend all of my free time showing one around, and possibly be alone with her.

What was clear from how she talked was that she was upset at being delayed from returning to Megatron. And our mistake caused that goal to be delayed. Getting in a Decpticon's way was not something bots endeavored to do. Hopefully, I would live through the next solars.

Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.

It was interesting to watch the reactions to my demand. Lord Dawnbreaker and Seabreeze seemed to relax as I spoke that. I knew the rumors that surrounded the Decepticons of course, and most of those held some truth in them. I could only imagine what sort of horrors they might have expected me to take in retribution for what they did. Honestly, I had thought about a few things on that first solar I was awake. Feeling so helpless, I had wanted their world to feel the pain that I was feeling at being delayed. However, as I continued to heal and read the material that I had asked for, I realized that I might have been brought here by fate to help.

This family was falling apart at the seams and the destabilization of such an influential family on this planet would only hurt the Decepticons in the long run. I needed to make sure that they were able to stay afloat before I left here. A stable ruling family would allow for a stable ruling planet that would be perfect for an alliance.

"And why aren't you making Firebrand join in on this?" The femme seemed to be studying me intently when she asked me this. Strange. When they had first walked in, she looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but here. I would say she was in a rebellious stage, but something wasn't fitting with that theory. I would have to have Seabreaker tell me more about her during our time together. "He shot you down too. Shouldn't he have to give up his time like you are making Seabreaker do?

"Firebrand there has the personality of dirt," I shot at the femme for her reasoning, causing an offended huff to come out of said brother before I continued. "So I doubt I would get much of anything out of him showing me around. Unless you are volunteering to step in as a second guide then I don't know why you are concerning yourself about this."

"Wait, that's an option?" I flinched slightly as the youngest mech spoke up. I hadn't expected him to speak up like that, and I may have just spoken too soon. When I came in, he had been studying me. From the look that he had kept in his glances, he almost looked like he was hiding desperation about something. What that something was, though, I wasn't sure of. However, there would only be one way to discover what that was.

Before I could respond to him, the femme helm-slapped the youngest mech before speaking. "This isn't the time for that Grinchain,"

"Don't ruin this for me Lightbeam," Grinchain hissed right back at her. I think they might have forgotten that I was here.

The femme, who I assumed was Lightbeam, let out a huff. "I almost forgot, you seem to like to jump into every single dangerous thing you can get yourself into. That's especially when it involves"

The growl that escaped the mech now identified as Grinchain reminded me of how I would act when my dad's distant relatives would stop by and badger my mom about the fandoms I enjoyed along with my extra-curricular activities after…after dad died. I honestly felt myself connected to the mech in that instant, though whether I would keep that up or not would depend on how this entire situation went.

"Like you're one to talk Beam, or are you going to tell those slagheaps you call friends,"

"Enough! Both of you!" Lord Dawnbreaker snapped at his two youngest. "We will discuss this later." He then turned to me. "Apologies for that, Pandimala. This is my only femme creation, Lightbeam," He motioned to the femme before he motioned to the mech. "And this is my youngest mech creation, Grinchain. They are twins and tend to bicker with each other often. Please pay them no heed."

That sounded like more than just sibling bickering. I had heard all of the different siblings on the Nemesis bicker before, and it wasn't nearly that aggressive. I would have to keep that on the back burner for now. However, the fact that Grinchain seemed so willing to talk to me, I was going to take the risk and add him to this guide time…if his creators approved. "Lord Dawnbreaker, if it is no trouble to you, I see no trouble in allowing Grinchain to switch on and off with his brother in being my guide. However, since he is being added on, I do reserve the right to have him stop acting as my guide at any point."

"Very well Pandimala," I could hear the mech aging as he answered me.

I couldn't blame him though.

This family was breaking, and I knew that breakage would affect my Lord and the possible alliances that we might make moving forward. I had already decided to pursue an alliance with them for the Decepticons but to do that I was going to have to work with them and get them ready. So far, they seemed like they would be easier to work with than the Autobots.

I mean, nobot could be that difficult.

Glancing up at Lord Dawnbreaker, I realized that I needed to get this meeting over with. That was especially as I started to feel an ache coming from my legs. I was going to have to get used to this recovery stuff. "This solar is not going to start it. We can start next solar. Have Seabreaker pick me up in the quarters that I will be staying in. I think I need to use this solar to recover a little longer. Is there anything else that we needed to discuss?" I figured I would open the floor up to him just in case there was something else.

However, I guess I made enough of a statement with how these talks went for Dawnbreaker to simply shake his helm. "No, I don't see anything we need to speak on right now. I will have Seabreaker and Grinchain relay any questions that aren't important to you from me, and we can set up another meeting to discuss anything of greater importance. Please go and recover some more." He then motioned to the medic. "Physis, if you would escort her to her chambers and give her another checkup before she goes into recharge." He then turned to the two larger mechs. "Custov, Hazenspar; you two are dismissed. Physis will be fine escorting Pandimala."

Physis gave a nod and moved next to me. He, of course, bowed while I gave Lord Dawnbreaker the same nod I sent toward him in my introduction before the two of us left the room. Once the doors shut behind us, and we made our way away, Physis glanced toward me. "That was unexpected. Just what is your angle?"

I glanced down at the medic and shook my helm. "Come now doc, if I gave away all of my secrets, this wouldn't be nearly as entertaining and beneficial for all of us as it is going to be. Just let things be. I know what I am doing."

A huff came out of Physis at that. "What you are doing is creating a time bomb that is going to implode in your faceplate. And you don't even realize it. Seabreaker might not be the worst choice between the four of them but Grinchain…and all four of them in general…aren't the easiest bots to get along with. Each for different reasons."

"Then tell me about them," I suggested as we kept walking. "Though I already have an idea about why two of them have issues." Firebrand was just a flying pile of scrap and Lightbeam seemed like the type to purposefully talk to bots who were suspicious, given the argument I just got to witness between her and her twin

"I can't," The mech answered honestly. We then fell into silence as he led me to my quarters.

And while I understood where the mech was coming from, I was nervous about not having more information on them. While the other two were not yet a part of this guide program, I needed to be ready to interact with them whenever I might have to. Getting this family whole again would be the first step in making sure that they would be ready for an alliance with my Lord.

Lord Megatron, if he were here now, would see the disunity in the family and immediately be hesitant about any sort of an alliance. It was too similar to our disunity on Earth the few times it cropped up. Fix the family, and any other problems that came up while I was here within reason, and then it would be simple for my Lord, or whoever he sent in his stead, to ally with Vestium Major, thus giving us an in with the Galactic Alliance.

And that would prepare us for any trouble Cybertron and the Autobots may give us in the future. I wasn't a fool. We needed allies, and quickly. This ceasefire would only last for so long before we would either need to meet for peace or be dragged back into fighting. Having strong and influential allies was the first step both sides needed to take to help when that moment arrived. And having an alliance with leaders who were a part of the Galactic Alliance would be a great step.

Though, I was going to have to be on edge. With the situation that brought me here, enemies of Vestium Major were going to do anything and everything within their power to sway influence with me. And, since I had decided to put in the work to create an Alliance with Vestium Major, I would not allow others to hinder my newest goal. As I did for the peace talks, I would give every effort that I could in making this work.

As we seemed to arrive at my room, I watched the medic punch in the door code so I would know it for later, before I followed him inside. The room was decently sized, given my size, and I also noticed that we were fairly close to the med bay that I had been in for the past solars. "Thank you Physis."

He gave me a nod back. "I'll return at nine hundred tomorrow for another check before you go about." He then started to give me a check-up as Lord Dawnbreaker told him to. "Just something to keep in processor femme," I glanced down at him as he scanned my legs. "Vestium Major is known for their specialization in training triple changers. Before the war on Cybertron, we trained many of their triple changers to control their snaps and learn about how to control their chassis. I have a feeling you can do the second just fine in normal circumstances. However, from the rate of recovery I am seeing, I would suggest you look into signing yourself up for those classes. They will help you recover your regular mobility once the medical healing is complete."

Triple changer training? And what the frag was a 'snap'? "I've never heard of a snap before doc. What are they?"

At my question, his optics darted up to meet mine. For a nano, he continued to stare at me in shock. "Nevermind. That is no longer a recommendation. All triple changers should go through the program to learn their limits and thresholds for anger. I'm going to be making it mandatory for your recovery."

"I need to travel to Pyrovar as soon as possible, Physis. I don't have time to take these control classes. I don't need them." This was ridiculous. I could control myself just fine. I didn't need this specialty training. If I had needed it, then Lord Megatron would have made sure that Blitzwing had given me that training.

However, he didn't seem to be backing down. "It is highly encouraged for triple-changers to take it. And a necessity if a group of bots who has one wishes to create any sort of alliance with a member planet of the Galactic Alliance. Vestium Major is the only planet within this space that is certified by the Alliance to give the training. So while you might not wish to do it now, you will have to if the Decepticons wish to ally with any Alliance planet later in time."

Frag it fine! I wasn't thrilled to do this. However, refusing now just to have to waste resources later on to do it would be counterproductive and my Lord would not be happy to hear that I had delayed this if he decides to pursue an alliance later in time. "Fine."

His smirk after I gave in caused me to vent slightly. Just because I had to do these classes didn't mean that I had to like them. "Glad we could see optic to optic on this. I'd say that you should be ready for the classes in about seven solars. Until then, focus on your recovery and try to keep any activities to a minimum if you can. Vestium Major has a lot to offer and I'm sure that Grinchain and Seabreaker will show you what they can. Until next solar,"

"Until next solar," I responded before the medic left.

As I sat alone in this room, I realized that I needed to look into the closest allies of Vestium Major. If I wanted this alliance to go through, then I needed to get as close as I could to Vestium Major's allies as well. From the little I looked up during my time in the med bay, the planets that were under Vestium Major were Ethos and Eternia. Each had its ruling system, and though each had a top-ranked leader like Vestium Major and the Decepticons did, I knew that each was going to have its differences. That was especially in the case of Eternia. While Ethos was a planet of children of Primus, Eternia was a planet ruled by organics. From what I understood, their embassy was a small town where their representatives and others who worked in the embassy lived in.

And from other planets in the alliance, I would need to look into both the close allies and the political opponents of Vestium Major. I needed to be as prepared as I could. So, I moved to the monitor in the room before starting to search. I was a strategist, and right now I needed to plan out my next moves for the benefit of my Lord.

Seabreaker: *panicking* What the frag? Am I going to live through this?

Authoress: *shrugs*

Seabreaker: *optics widen* What the frag is that supposed to mean?

Authoress: *smirks and takes a bite of a fried pickle*

Seabreaker: *pouts* Now that is just mean. *stares at pickle* And where did you get the pickles?

Authoress: I have friends on the other side!

AN: And here is the next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did! As for the content of the chapter, I'll admit that outside of work, one of the problems I had was surrounding the final punishment there. I couldn't decide who I wanted involved and I feel like I made the best choice in the end. Of course, Pandimala is going to be interacting with all four creations along with the many other beings that are currently on Vestium Major. Talk about a crash course in intergalactic manners...or not. I can guarantee that Pandimala is going to upset at least one being in a high position. The next chapter is going to start with her interactions here and I wouldn't want to miss it.

Speaking of next time, here are the names for the next chapters!

Chapter 4: Little Things

Chapter 5: Breaking Barriers

Chapter 6: ...(find out next time, though I will say that it is going to be juicy!)

Well, that's all for now. If you would like, leave a review or say hi in one. I appreciate all of my readers however and I send thanks to every one of you for keeping up with my stories! Until next time, TTYL! *listening to To the Bar by Cooper Alan*