Song: Aftermath – As Lions
Bolt stumbled out of the citadel a bit fazed as he still felt the rush of heat flare to his cheeks and chest. When Arcee and Megatron landed back on the Mistress' citadel grounds, he laughed a little to himself. He went into the ship and leaned against one of the chairs while Arcee stared at him.
"What did you do?"
The Vehicon made a so-so motion and shrugged, "I, um, got to tell Victorion's girls a little about your heroics on Velocitron and all that. They adore the stories."
The femme smirked looking at her sparkmate and then back at her dear cyberbiologist. "Yeah, they sure adored only the stories."
When he sat next to Moonhunter, he scoffed, "What, I can't meet new people? I can't love being with other bots than just you. No offense, of course."
"None taken," she giggled. "So, we got the relics and returned them to the Allspark. Last on our list is getting the Mistress of Flame to sign a peace treaty with us and go home."
They ignored Bolt's brief disappointment as they contacted Windblade. But to their shock, Windblade didn't seem all too happy with them.
"The Mistress of Flame wants a word with you outside of the Parliament building in Ember Basin. The Torchbearers and Highwind are coming up from the core to meet her there too. I don't know what you two did, but she's not pleased."
"Wha...what we did?! What the hell did we do?! We got the relics, defeated an invasive army, and saved everyone on Caminus!" Megatron exclaimed.
"I don't know but something about your prying about that medical facility really hasn't set well with her. I'll be there too to lessen whatever earful you might get. Don't wait for too long. She can get vindictive."
Once the commlink died, Arcee massaged her temples as Megatron looked up at the ceiling shaking his head. "No one seems to get it through their thick heads what we do for them outweighs a lot of our flaws."
Bolt gestured to the window. "Try telling them that personally. Then again, some people will always regard your flaws and wrongdoings until you die. Just how society works, even ask-"
"If you go there right now, I will throw you out of this ship," the warlord said with pause.
Arcee just placed her arm on her raised knee with a sigh. "Let's go see what the fire lady wants."
The ride above was filled with silence as they went through the under-city to the surface and navigated under the night sky lit up by Caminus' neighboring gas giant towards the large, towering Parliament outpost. When they landed, knowing they probably didn't need the transport anymore, they let a bot waiting for one take over, leaving the four to walk to the Parliament Plaza in front of the building itself. There near the entrance was the Mistress of Flame and Windblade. Another transport landed and the Torchbearers exited including the individuals of Victorion.
"Oh, hey girls!" Bolt waved excitedly. They waved back with their own greetings as the Vehicon fawned.
"What drives you the most to them, Bolt?" Arcee grinned, "It's just a curiosity."
He deflated a little with a grunt and answered, "They are beautiful warriors, and they combine into one big titan! What's not to like?"
Her expression only grew in smugness. "So, you like tough models like me and Megatron and-"
"Okay, okay, maybe it is a thing...maybe I do like bruisers, but I don't owe you any other explanation of what my likes and dislikes are. Focus on the Mistress of Flame's beef, for Primus' sake!"
Moonhunter rolled his optics at Arcee's side when suddenly, they heard the screech of a crosswing. Gizmo shot up from somewhere below the walkway and Highwind gave an aloof shout of glee as the creature flipped around and circled the area, finding a landing spot near the guard stations surrounding the building.
"Eh heh heh, Gizmo, you keep me young with your tricks! Good girl!" He laughed as he patted the side of her neck as she roared.
As they all met up with the Mistress of Flame, the leader instinctively looked towards Arcee and her posse first, stomping her Forgehammer's end down with a sneer. "Tell me, Arcee, is it just the Metal Heads I should worry about or is it you?"
The question threw off everyone, especially the femme herself. Victorion's components each looked at each other in disgust for such a comment while Highwind frowned, one of the few times anyone had ever seen him do so. He was the first to speak as well.
"Calling us up here just to berate a fellow bot? I would think someone in your position would have higher respect for those willing to help you," he chastised.
Pyra Magna nodded, "Mistress, with all due respect-"
"Quiet," the warm-colored femme snarled low. She still looked down upon Arcee the most. "How is it you learned of that facility in the first place? How did you know all about the Metal Heads to defeat them? I thought I could trust you, that I was wrong, yet you seem to be playing us like fools. How dare you!"
Bolt defended her immediately. "Hey, she told you how! You're just too egotistical to apparently remember it! She said we fought Metal Heads before, and we have! She said she heard about the facility, albeit through the wrong people, but still! You want to accuse her of something so you can look good proving Cybertronians are nothing but heathens!"
Windblade seemed conflicted as the Mistress of Flame growled back, "The Arisen is the only pure Cybertronian besides Solus Prime. The rest of you only take and destroy, and I was actually foolish into thinking you weren't. But if you want to prove it, fight me."
Arcee and Megatron exchanged worried looks before she peered at Windblade who was equally disturbed. Windblade gathered the courage to stand between Arcee and the Mistress when the latter pointed her hammer at the other.
"This isn't right!" The Seeker demanded, "You need to seek out true evidence and not just convict them of something they had no control over!"
"And yet you seemed to agree before that Arcee was wrong, about to throw her under without question when the events started building on top of each other," the Mistress said. "Don't pretend you're making up for it. And you, Arcee, you're corrupting my people, and I can't have that."
Tired of the accusations, Arcee stood her ground. "Fine, you want a fight? Let's go! If I win, you make peace with Cybertron and I prove my word here and now. If you win, we will never set foot on Caminus again and 'admit' we lied and brought the Metal Heads here to soothe your inability to believe you are wrong. Fair, my lady?"
The Mistress' jaws clenched as she twirled the Forgehammer while everyone else backed away. Arcee brought out her double-ended sword to make it even. She stared down the leader, not giving her any sign of weakness.
Suddenly, the Mistress of Flame lunged and brought down her hammer inches from Arcee, but the smaller femme twisted out of the way with her speedster ability before clashing with a secondary swing. She forced it down and sent a swift kick to her opponent's abdomen, making the Mistress back away for a second. Arcee ducked from another swing, blocking the fourth, and finally using the fifth attempt to jump on top of it and spring upward to get the jump on her. Although her blade technically missed its intended area, she left a gash on the Mistress' shoulder armor.
They maneuvered around each other like they were dancing until the Mistress managed to swing up instead of on the side like normal, sending the sword flying from Arcee's hand behind her and embedded into the ground.
"Sorry, Arcee, you're good...but not that good," the larger femme grinned, rotating her hammer ready to strike.
Right as she was about to hit the queen, Arcee shifted over it in a type of roll by grabbing the handle and using her momentum against the hammer's to counteract the movement. She sent a punch straight onto the Mistress' face to stun her and elbowed her arm in retribution. When the Mistress tried to grab her, she made an uppercut and backwards kick to distract her before sending her stumbling. The hammer was dropped, and Arcee used her pede to force it up and twirled it in her own manner as she took a battle pose.
"Looks like you dropped something. Solus would be ashamed," Arcee teased.
When the Mistress of Flame attempted to get the hammer back, Arcee threw it up and roundhouse kicked it to hit her head. The Mistress may have been bigger but she, of all people, had to know size wasn't everything. Arcee watched her grip her face as she grew enraged, but she didn't expect her to target high predicting Arcee's jump to avoid her. The motorcycle's leg was caught, and she was slammed down hard. It was enough for her to nearly get her head stomped on in the Mistress' bloodlust.
Arcee did several backflips trying to avoid the Mistress' pursuit of her, grabbing her double sword in the process. Once she had it, she ran at her opponent trying to stab at least one of the legs to gain the advantage. She was thrown off by an immediate fist to the chest which flipped her around midair and bounced her off the ground. She recovered but sent a glare at the Mistress.
Knowing the fight wouldn't end until someone got a good amount of damage in, Arcee took her chances and decided to get up and personal with the Mistress as the latter obtained her Forgehammer back. She swung around the instant attempted strike and leapt right at the Mistress. A flurry of fists was sent into her face until the other femme almost grabbed her. She climbed around her larger frame to get the opportunity to hit her some more.
"Get off of me!" The Mistress of Flame yelled, "Coward!"
Arcee merely scowled, "You would know the meaning of that word!"
The Mistress tried to reach behind to get her, but Arcee still kept out of reach. Repeatedly, she struck the Mistress with her size contributing to her advantage. Soon, the larger femme stumbled onto all fours, and Arcee took her target by surprise. Leaping down, she did a backflip right next to the Mistress and knocked her onto her back with her pede catching her chin. Arcee didn't wait for her to dare try something else when she struck the other leader as much as she could.
"Enough," Highwind said. When he was ignored, he tried again, "Enough now!"
Arcee continued beating the Mistress' faceplate as Energon scattered from each blow. Windblade stood with her servos to her mouth while half of Victorion's squad cheered for the Cybertronian to kick her ass.
Just then, Highwind stomped his own staff on the ground, bio lights pulsing brightly across his chassis as his optics lit up entirely. "ENOUGH!"
Gizmo flapped her wings on the platform upon hearing her master's rare anger. Then the rumbling of the city had everyone pause as Astro Zenith awoke in the distance. It was at that moment everyone, including Arcee, realized that Highwind was not just the solitary inventor of Caminus' core...he was a Cityspeaker. Astro Zenith made her way to Parliament faster than normal and roared at the fight below, making Arcee stumble back afraid and the Mistress of Flame to cower for once. When that made everyone silent awaiting what Astro Zenith would do now that she was awakened, Highwind merely turned to her and gave a pleasant laugh.
"Astro Zenith, my darling, how nice it is to see you again. Calm, calm."
All everyone ever knew of Astro Zenith was her inability to be controlled. Yet when she rose in anger and Highwind spoke to her, she obeyed. Even Windblade, who she would listen to rarely, was flabbergasted as Astro Zenith lowered to let Highwind touch her face gently.
"Highwind..."
"Now, now, Astro, we just needed to get their attention. No harm done, no need for violence. Stay," he said stroking her noseplate before leaving to walk up to Arcee. Astro Zenith didn't dare move from her spot, only made a small noise of recognition at the command.
He hooked the Mistress' arm with a divot in his staff and forced her upright, lightly bopping her on the head like an elder scorning a child. She winced but didn't dare say anything to him as he reprimanded her, "I expected better from you, Fiera. Always prideful but can't get the past out of your head. Now, get on with it and make peace, you idiot!"
The Mistress' bravado was practically gone as she shakily picked up her Forgehammer and took a few attempts to look Arcee in the optics despite the blood dripping down her mouth. "Forgive me, Arcee. I just wanted everything to be right and if something seemed too good to be true, well, I'm known for my brasher actions."
Arcee slowly nodded in agreement, "Don't worry, I get that way sometimes too. Megatron can vouch for that."
A small smile played on the Mistress' face until she was hit on the shoulder by Highwind. "You aren't done yet. Keep going."
"I-I, um, intend to keep my word," she said, straightening out back into the leader she was. "Arcee of Cybertron, you can consider yourself welcome here anytime. I think opening trade with Cybertron would be better than keeping ourselves isolated as we have done all these years. I suppose it never did us any favors denying that we had a problem of our own. And you can have this as well."
The Mistress of Flame produced a Radiant Core from her subspace before Windblade set up a data pad for recognition of unification. Signing it, the Mistress bowed as the Seeker handed it to Arcee with a smile.
"Sorry for...all that," Windblade said.
"It was bound to happen, I guess. Can't please everyone," Arcee grinned.
Astro Zenith let out a pleased growl as everyone around them cheered and the Mistress of Flame nurtured her bruises. Highwind was happy as ever, smiling as he pointed to his leader. "That'll teach her, eh?"
The Mistress groaned and tried to whisper, "Grandsire, please!"
"Grandsire?" Bolt laughed.
Highwind chuckled, "Helia is my great-great-grandniece. My great-granddaughter here isn't the brightest of the leaders, true, but I still love her deep down. She just needs to get off her pedestal occasionally, let ol' Highwind set her straight. She may be in charge, but she knows I won't let her get away with disrespecting our bylaws, having written several of them during my time in Parliament as the Representative of the Cityspeakers many eons ago."
Arcee peered between him and Astro Zenith. "You...you're Astro Zenith's original Cityspeaker! You retired? Why?"
"The Titan Wars, that mass grave in Titans Crossing, devastated us more than you know. Astro Zenith survived as one of the mightiest, but the war drew its darkest consequences. I knew if she stayed under my command, she would've hurt people...to protect me. I lost my ability to fly in battle, and she grew vengeful. I retired and isolated myself in the core to work solely on my inventions and left Astro Zenith to rest from her bloodshed. Fiera was only a young adult, barely out of her youngling stage when that happened; no doubt she told you about Obsidian, Astro Zenith's only offspring."
The Mistress pressed her cheek to slide against the head of her staff in shame. "I was sworn to protect Obsidian. I failed and Astro Zenith's trauma only worsened. That's why she refused to obey anyone. Windblade was the closest in personality to Highwind. While Obsidian was still alive, I pursued an operation to save the masses at the medical facility, and Decadance was one of my doctors. I fired her after she sabotaged the machines out of malice of Highwind killing her grandsire's titan and him in battle. She rallied against me with lies that hurt more people, so deranged to avenge a bot she hardly knew except that he was family. Now you know the whole truth."
Bolt shook his head, "It was a series of bad luck, huh? We've been down that road before-"
Megatron pressed a digit to his mouth while looking sternly at his former subordinate, shaking his head rapidly. Bolt immediately responded with a slicing motion against his throat to signal that he got the message and would remain silent. It was not the time to bring up the old wounds of Cybertron.
"We do what we can for the ones we love, good or bad," Arcee muttered.
"Indeed," the Mistress said calmly.
Arcee looked back at Highwind who interacted with the titan once more, laughing pleasantly as Astro Zenith bobbed her head with a noise of excitement. She muttered to Megatron on the side, "Contact Grimlock and tell him to send a space bridge in about an hour."
"As you wish," gleamed the warlord with utmost pride.
She watched as the Mistress came up to Highwind and was hesitant to talk to him. When he turned around, he embraced her to her shock, hugging her tightly. Arcee barely heard the apologies but could tell the Mistress was forgiven.
Later that night, Arcee sat on the edge of a walkway with Bolt behind her talking to Stormclash and Skyburst. Megatron had taken Moonhunter for negotiations with Highwind and the Mistress of Flame, giving Arcee a break in her duties to relax.
"Yes, I'll try and stay in contact. I have a vigorous job though so you might have to call me more so. Okay? Tell Pyra Magna I owe her for that. Yes. Uh-huh. Yes, okay, good-bye girls!" Arcee smirked back at him to which he shrugged, "They love me, what can I say?"
She laughed until her commlink went off. A dreaded voice that made her all but facepalm. "Arcee, I'm going to be needing those fire crystals for a client of mine. Meet me south of the city near the observatory, tell no one."
He ended the conversation fast, and she turned to Bolt with a pained expression. "Got to go."
"Go?" The Vehicon asked confused, "Where do you need to...? Oh...oh, well, just don't let him interfere with your objectives, Arcee. If anyone asks, I'll just say you went for a stroll. But we get caught, I cannot save you and you better own up to it! Got it?"
"Thanks, Bolt," she said before jumping off the walkway rails. Activating her wings, she glided towards the south end of the city as directed.
The observatory was massive with plenty of space to hide a shady deal and a Metal Head who didn't want to be found. She landed in its plaza and peered around for a sign of Silos' location.
"Are you Arcee?"
A mech with a few scars around his chest plating and arms walked up to her. He looked more concerned than strict, but she knew what he came for. She followed him to a secure balcony where the stars, a distant nebula, and the beautiful details of the gas giant Caminus orbited could be seen. It was a view she would kill to see from her home world. Standing at attention and gazing up at the same sight was the Rozarian-turned-Horaquan, ears and tail flickering among the warmth of the night.
"This mech beside you is the client. You can surrender the crystals to him, and he will take care of the rest," Silos said without looking at her.
Arcee did as she was told before leaning against the railing of the observatory. The mech left with his loot. Neither of them paid him any attention.
Captain Silos' golden orange eyes dilated as he peered around the sky seemingly recognizing a few stars lightyears away. His ears perked up when he focused on a big smudge in the far distance past the visible nebula. From what she knew of Earth astronomy, that was the Andromeda Galaxy.
"Is Rozaria in that galaxy? Do you miss it?"
Her innocent question made him blink for a second when he realized he had been staring a bit too long. "I...um, yes, Rozaria is in the second ring of the spiral, fourth planet from our binary stars, a blue and yellow orbiting each other. We orbit the outskirts of them. Kanjis neighbors us as the third closest to them technically though they are more dependent on the blue sun in terms of orbit."
Arcee peered at the galaxy so mysterious that she held a brief bout of wonder what worlds it held. Most all the cybernetic worlds and colonies she knew of were in the Earth dubbed "Milky Way" Galaxy, but Kanjis and Rozaria were the first planets recognized outside of Cybertron's planetary knowledge, at least what wasn't hidden intentionally.
"They say in an estimated four billion years our galaxy and this one will collide, scattering the stars like dust in the wind. We, of course, won't truly notice for a while because the ripples won't be dramatic at first, but it will be a sight for all time," Silos smirked to himself. When he peered at Arcee, she still stared at the sky. He coughed and added, "As for your question...if I miss my home...sometimes I do. I miss the lakeside views, the nature most of all."
Arcee bit her lip before hesitantly asking, "Did you have family?"
Silos' expression softened, more than he probably liked. "A long time ago. I had...a sister, two brothers, and my mother. My father passed away from an accident when I was younger, and I had just become an uncle when..."
She followed his gaze when it dwindled down to his hand briefly before he corrected himself to look back up at the stars and the Andromeda Galaxy. With a smirk to play off the brief reaction, he continued, "...well, I still don't regret too many of my decisions even if I had to give up something in return. They probably lived their lives fine without me. Who knows who else has spawned among them since."
Arcee made a small smile before getting serious. "Tell me something, Silos, you leaving your shop behind so willingly is kind of suspicious to me, not to mention you never refer to the Metal Head Leader by name. I still wonder if you haven't changed as you claim; how can I trust you?"
"If it matters that much to you, my shop was never a permanent residence. Besides, I have a friend of mine watching over the business on Velocitron. As for the Metal Head Leader, I hate that bastard's guts more than I hate everyone else. Their name is Malismar, a former Kanjian broker who sought power just like the rest of us. Tigressa granted their wish and turned them into a monster. Once I left, she disappeared, and Kor was lost across the dimensions, Malismar took control of the Metal Heads. Like Kor, I despise Malismar. Nothing but an unorthodox fool who doesn't know when to quit," he hissed.
Cracking her knuckles for emphasis, she laughed, "I can change that attitude really quick."
Silos broke his own malicious smile, "I have no doubts you would. Speaking of whom, the Metal Head Leader, and I prefer just to call them that, seems to be thinking of targeting Chaar next. With its leader and a few others the only threats, they think it will be an easy run. I say you take a trip there and disrupt their operation. Send them a message. I'll keep in touch as usual."
"Thanks, Silos, for everything," Arcee said.
The Horaquan captain shifted to lean with one elbow on the railing to face her, a smug expression on his face. "I wouldn't thank me yet. Until the Metal Heads are stopped, there's still a lot to do, plenty of stuff to steal as well."
She shook her head before standing upright, "We can't keep doing this. It violates everything I promise to those I help."
"Arcee, they are just objects. If these people valued anything, they would choose their lives over mere crystals. Life isn't replicable. Some have cheated it, as you can see, and some have withered away hoping to relive their glory. I have seen that happen more than you could fathom. If they cared, the loss of an object wouldn't even strike the surface of their problems. It's all I ask in return for the information, nothing more to it than that." He then sneered, "Are all Cybertronians this superstitious?"
"When it comes to the welfare of others, yes," she answered bluntly.
Silos chuckled low and resumed looking at the stars as if he expected something to change. But as Arcee could attest, sometimes it was just nice to see it as is among the little time of peace she had. She imagined the Metal Head wanted the same and under Tigressa, it would've been hard to achieve. That wasn't mentioning the agony the body went through under the virus' corruption.
After a minute of silence, Silos said quietly, "I suppose you must go, correct? I have nothing else I need from you and for the time being, it seems you don't need me either."
Arcee merely brushed off the attempted goodbye and gave him a brief nod before turning to walk away to contact Bolt. When she wanted to say one last thing, however, she turned back to find Silos gone. Since he probably considered his stay over welcomed, it wasn't much of a shock aside from him moving as fast as he did for one of his stature.
"Have a good night, Silos," she whispered, not that she expected him to hear her.
When she met back up with Bolt in their suite, the last day they were staying there, she noticed how frantic he looked digging through data pads set on the table.
"What are you looking for?"
"I thought Windblade gave me the cyberbiology scripts for Caminus, but I guess she never got around to it. Argh, look, can you stop by the Parliament building and see if you can get a copy of them? To have Caminus' complete cyberbiology texts would really help for the Hall of Records," he said.
Arcee rolled her optics before turning to walk back out the door. "Alright, I'll be back...again."
"Love you!"
Despite the slight delay in her plans to go home, she enjoyed the glide over. Parliament was still full of chatter about the previous fight with her and the Mistress of Flame. Several bots stopped and stared in awe at her while a few mocked her. She hardly cared.
Windblade's voice called out to her, "Hey, Arcee!"
"Windblade," she grinned.
The Seeker paused and took a second to speak her mind. "I never got to properly apologize for what I did. You know, the accusations and all that. I didn't know what the Mistress had planned when she summoned you here. That took me by surprise too. She's always been paranoid since I've known her, very brash indeed."
"It's alright," Arcee said, waving it off. "I once got accused of stealing the Matrix of Leadership before I joined the Autobots. Turns out it was Chromia's friend who did have a similar frame structure to me. That was a fun week."
"Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"
She peered towards the ground and then gained the idea from her initial objective. "You wouldn't happen to be able to get a copy of Caminus' known cyberbiology scripts, would you?"
Windblade snickered, "Bolt's request?"
"He likes the knowledge and loves sharing it among his job back home. You know how he is."
"Absolutely, follow me."
Parliament never changed and neither did its congress as the bots who manned the building still held opinions about her in their processors. Windblade paid them no mind as she went to the data clerk's office, a friend it seemed. The older femme there was helpful and held no ill will like her peers. The data pad received was loaded nearly to its maximum capacity with all the known fauna and flora of Caminus. A gift for a mad cyberbiologist whom Arcee hoped wouldn't go insane with all the information.
"Thank you, Rainstorm." She then addressed Arcee, "See, easy as taking candy from a sparkling. You just have to know the right people."
Arcee didn't expect to see Bolt, Megatron, and Moonhunter awaiting her outside as they exited Parliament with the data pad in hand. As she pet her Nitrotiger, she asked, "I take it it's time to go?"
Megatron nodded, "Grimlock wants us back on Cybertron."
"And I don't want to keep you any longer than you need to stay," a voice said behind him. The Mistress of Flame, Helia, and Highwind all came up to them with Astro Zenith overlooking them in the background. Helia slightly bobbed up and down in excitement upon seeing Arcee again, which the latter returned her greeting with a small wave and a smile.
Arcee gave the data pad to Bolt who clutched it like it was the most precious thing in the universe. He then let Highwind walk up to her from behind him as he older mech laughed, "You best be getting home, don't want your friends to worry about you any more than they probably do now. I thank you for not just saving Caminus but reuniting us."
The Mistress of Flame agreed, gripping her Forgehammer and smirking, "I never thought we needed you...but I see now I was wrong. It is that same attitude as the one I showed you that led Caminus nearly to starvation prior. We...I am sorry. I hope that the future of our relationship will be peaceful and now that the citizens of Caminus can rejoin the mother world again as they please, our morale and way of life will be able to grow again."
"You were doing what any leader would do, protecting what you loved and what you initially didn't want to change. I didn't mean to uproot that..." Arcee spoke softly.
"But it was a necessity, I see that now. Can you forgive a pessimistic leader such as myself and put in a decent word with the Arisen that I meant no disrespect."
"Consider yourself forgiven. Optimus doesn't harbor ill will towards anyone for doing what they were supposed to do."
A space bridge ignited to the side of her near Moonhunter and Megatron, and Arcee peered into its green energy with longing. With their run on Caminus coming to an end now that it was safe, she wanted to see Cybertron again as well as her friends.
Helia was the first to wave her off. "Goodbye! I hope you come and visit us again when its less crazy!"
Astro Zenith made a hearty rumble as her Cityspeaker and friend, Highwind, stomped his staff down as a form of clapping. Gizmo trilled and spread her four wings as if to wish them good luck. Moonhunter, however, became spooked and fled into the portal.
Windblade saluted them but Arcee managed to see in the far distance past her Silos' ship make for the sky. The only other person who noticed was Bolt as she looked back to see him track the ship until it exited Caminus' atmosphere. If Silos was going to meet her at Chaar, he better hope The Matriarch was not trigger-happy in the meantime.
Megatron and Arcee both waved at their Camien counterparts and walked into the portal after Moonhunter. Bolt almost forgot to go in right before the bridge closed looking over his new cyberbiology texts in the data pad he was given. He jumped through at the last second backwards.
On the other side, the Space Bridge Nexus awaited active and alert with Grimlock and Bumblebee each happy to see them. The former was in Dinobot mode and wagged his tail as he sniffed the Nitrotiger hiding near his clawed feet.
"I take it Moonhunter encountered a fellow cyber-animal over there?" The Dinobot leader chuckled.
"You can say that," Arcee said before she was swooped upon into a big hug by Bumblebee.
"Arcee, you are brilliant! First Velocitron and now Caminus! Perceptor is going to try and establish contact with them at once," Bee exclaimed excitedly, but then he put her down. "But, um, Perceptor has been tracking someone along the rim of our system. You might want to get with him about that. Oh, and don't mention the one called Road Rage. He's still recovering from nearly losing his hearing from the boisterous but overly nice femme on the other side."
All three bots laughed upon hearing that. As the Space Bridge Nexus was shut down to rest, the bots left for Iacon. The city itself was missed by them as they enjoyed seeing it in motion. Pyrohex and Ember Basin may have been beautiful, but Iacon always had a special place in their sparks. Nova Point seemed especially poetic.
Perceptor sat documenting his finds, occasionally rubbing his audio receptors like an unwanted itch. When he saw Arcee, he fused, "About time you three showed, there's a signal outside our system boundaries, foreign but on the move. Can't say it's coming towards us but at the same time, I can't say it isn't. Whatever it is, it hasn't reared until after you guys left for Caminus."
While he spoke, Arcee emptied all the Radiant Cores she got from Caminus and pushed them towards Haywire who sat adjacent to the scientist. Her advisor gave her an odd look, but she merely shrugged sheepishly. Scythe and Optimus appeared moments later as the team settled in.
"Well, whatever it is, we'll be ready if it interferes with our daily lives," Scythe said. "So, where to next?"
Megatron looked towards Arcee as the chosen leader and she gestured unsure before saying, "I think Chaar would be good to check up on. Have you heard from The Matriarch since she and Shockwave left?"
Optimus shook his head, "No. The Decepticon leader prides herself on keeping Cybertron out of Chaar's affairs. There are still some Decepticons that not only agree that the planets should be separate...but they blame us for ruining their chance, calling on retaliation. So far, The Matriarch does not wish to do so but if pressed, there's a chance she will relapse to appease them over helping us."
Bolt scoffed, "She's not stupid; that would cause another war. Brash as she may be, Matriarch is not going to kill everyone over half a working planet. We still have quite a way before Cybertron is fully functioning again."
"But considering what lengths I went to," the warlord interrupted, "I wouldn't put it past my previous followers or those with similar mindsets to attempt it. We definitely need to get Cybertron in Chaar's good graces soon or if someone does one day take over who isn't wise to learn history, they will repeat what I did, and it will be destructive just the same."
Perceptor laughed, "You make it sound like someone's going to have the brass to overthrow The Matriarch. The only way someone is getting that throne is either from you requesting it back or when that tank of a sparkmate Shockwave has dies of natural causes, in which case I would imagine Shockwave would take over instead of letting someone with the personality of Starscream rule."
Megatron grimaced, "I think you're over glorifying my role in the Decepticon faction. I didn't make it better when I was ruler."
"Yeah, but you actually got things done," Scythe argued. "Everyone cowered at your name, true; when you wanted something done right, you did it yourself which is why no one wanted you on the battlefield because once you stepped on the battlefield, it was guaranteed going to get deadly. Sure, there was a lot of infighting in the faction but that mostly happened when you were focused on something else and weren't there to monitor it. Starscream was only successful in doing some of the work because Soundwave wouldn't let him do what he initially wanted. Had Soundwave not bothered, I assure you that the Decepticons would have killed each other far faster than under anyone else's rule. That's also why no one could stand him. We'd rather be inferior and belittled by you than be metal shields to Starscream, and that's the cold truth right there. Ask any Decepticon."
Bolt nodded uneasily, "He's got a point. As cruel as you were, at least you knew what you were doing...up until the whole Unicron's blood thing. That's when you began losing it a little. Still, we agreed to ride or die with you to the very end. If worse came to worst, I would have chosen Soundwave as your successor, but he doesn't like to use his command oddly."
Arcee sighed, "I feel like stepping on Chaar is going to be like walking into a field of land mines. Half the bots there would rather kill me than talk to me even if Metal Heads decide to go there or not."
Bumblebee snickered, "Just have to choose your poison in that regard, Arcee."
Even if The Matriarch complied with what her objective was, Arcee knew there was no guarantee her Decepticons would play fair given she had been an enemy of theirs for a million years. They weren't just going to forgive and forget how many of their friends she had possibly killed. Then again, with The Matriarch neutral, she might stand a chance.
As the boys continued to discuss the Decepticons, Arcee just looked over one of the Radiant Cores curiously. Finally, she muttered, "I'm going to retire for today if that's okay with everyone."
A few of them grew silent but acknowledged her leave like Megatron tapped her servo to wish her well and Moonhunter who immediately got up to follow her while others didn't notice until it was pointed out to them. She took a bridge back to her palace in Crystal City, the night sky reflecting off its crystalline features as if the stars were within the city itself. She nodded to the guards, gave little to no orders to the palace staff, only hoping they had a chance to relax, and retreated to her chambers where she collapsed onto her berth. Funnily enough, Moonhunter nearly tripped over his own bed and fell sideways onto the cushion before closing his optics with a purr.
For nearly an hour, she didn't move, relishing the silence and the familiar scents of home. When a faint glow of blue outside her chambers pulsed and she saw it by instinctively opening her optics, she slowly sat up by her elbows and yawned.
"I would think you'd be," she yawned, "someplace else...besides here."
Moonhunter was dead in recharge as she maneuvered to peer into her living room where the Allspark of all people touched a statue depicting Micronus Prime with the edge of one of its rings but when it began to fall, the Allspark grew orange out of stress and nervousness before catching it by having it hover inches off the ground. It floated back up to its spot to Arcee's amusement.
"You know, you really need to make new friends. This is just embarrassing now," Arcee said crossing her arms.
"Your work on Caminus is admirable but the forces you berate will only accelerate their plans to match your determination. Soon, the events of the past will catch up with you. Be careful what you do."
She laughed, "Relax, I have everything under control."
That seemed to perplex the Allspark more than assure it. "Under control? The Horaquan, those creatures you call the Metal Heads, are far more advanced than mere monsters. It will only take a single mistake to prevent them from being stopped, a danger which you seem to be forgetting in your pride."
"You forget that I don't stop until I'm dead. I'll set everything right even if it kills me."
"I know," the Allspark grew disheartened, "but I still fear what is yet to come as do you. Be aware of all around you. Fate is never kind."
Arcee didn't reply to that but nodded as the Allspark vanished. She didn't hesitate to go back into recharge as she knew the travel to Chaar would be a long and difficult road if The Matriarch had any say in it. But with Megatron and Bolt by her side, she assumed the Decepticons wouldn't attack their former leader. Still, she slept even as she heard the boys enter her chambers and relax on the chairs after a hard week of working to unite Velocitron and Caminus with Cybertron. She could hear them muttering to each other but even that was tuned out in favor of dreaming.
The Mistress of Flame sat on her throne in her citadel pondering as Highwind showed off some of his gadgets to his overly thrilled great-great-grandniece, a kid always at spark. She could hear Astro Zenith wandering peacefully among the ocean in the core and for as long as she knew the titan, she was happier than being forced to rest in the crowded city above. At the same time, it could be simply that she was reunited with her Cityspeaker too.
Closing her optics, the Mistress kept her servos intertwined with her elbows on each of the arm rests. Her Forgehammer lay upright beside her chair, and Windblade stood at a table in the corner of the room reading over the reports of the Metal Head incident. The creatures had departed for good it seemed. She smirked a little as she remembered she sent the corpse of that monstrous bird-like Metal Head to a taxidermist in Pyrohex. She was going to display the creature in the courtyard of the Tower of Obsidian as a reminder of their victory. With her family together again and Caminus safe, she felt she could finally relax for once but then Windblade made a small grunt of confusion which caught her attention.
"Mistress, your security team just sent us a video file...from the old medical facility you had shut down," the Seeker said.
"What?" The leader scoffed, "That's absurd. No one would foolishly trespass there."
"Except...Arcee," she whispered in dismay, finishing the Mistress' sentence.
That made the larger femme nearly jump from her seat, grabbing her hammer as Pyra Magna and the rest of Victorion's individuals walked in. She stomped over, nearly pushing Windblade out of the way to see for herself Arcee wandering the halls. To her anger, the fire crystals, though abandoned in a rush, were...stolen.
The Mistress of Flame's bio lights burned bright in her silence. Even Highwind, who readjusted his goggles curiously, seemed to worry about what was going on in her processor. She slammed the Forgehammer's end on her floor and nearly put a dent into it.
"The lying, little heathen..." she growled, optics ablaze.
AN: What secrets lie in the Decepticon capital of the galaxy? Quite a few and not just about their leader. There's a whole new world to explore. Familiar faces will be everywhere. Will you remember them?