Adult-FanFiction.org : Cartoons

Face Thy Fears	By : Scienceteacher Category: Transformers > G1 > Crossovers Views: 2674 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Do not own the Transformers, am not making anything from this story.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
Illegal Access

Sitting on top of the ridge overlooking the sprawling base, the cloaked Seeker quietly sorted through the copious amounts of data she’d copied and downloaded. To her joy, she found out that the Autobots were extremely repelled by the sadistic style of torture that the Decepticons used. She scanned through the Autobot doctrine of allowed interrogation techniques and didn’t find any that were totally repulsive to her morals. So the Autobots would be the faction she’d end up siding with. Well, when she decided to decloak and reveal herself that is. For now, she was more than happy being Red Alert’s personal ‘ghost’.

A cloud of dust was moving her way. Locking her optics on it, she focused in and made out what was causing it. A fire engine was lurching up the steep slope. His wheels spinning as he careened towards her.

Realizing that this was Red Alert’s ex, SunSpot merely moved to the side and let the speeding mech pass her location. Turning, she watched him curiously as he turned too sharply and ended up flipping. Dirt and rock chunks were thrown high in the sky as the flipping fire engine transformed in mid-air. He continued to roll uncontrollably for a bit longer before coming to rest against the base of a short cliff. He lay there groaning for several Earth minutes, not even trying to move.

She couldn’t resist, she moved closer. Studying his energon tear streaked face as he started sobbing inbetween his groans of pain. The strong mech was distraught.. Completely devastated.. He talked to himself as he sobbed.. The unseen Seeker catching every word… Her spark shattering as she listened.

He’d gone to Red Alert while she’d been busy hacking. He’d taken a gift. Got down on his knees and begged the mech to forgive him.. To at least talk to him.. To understand that he hadn’t abandoned him.. Had kept searching for him until the Autobots forced him to stop.. Forced him to return to duty… He loved the mech with his entire spark.. Had even considered off-lining himself in order to join Red when he had believed he was dead.. Life had no meaning for him without Red..

Red Alert had spurned him coldly. Had kicked him out of his office and told him that he never wanted to lay his optics on him again. Said that he was nothing more than a back-stabber who had abandoned him… Left him to suffer as a captive for the rest of his life… But Red had claimed that Primus himself had seen his plight. Had given him the means by which to escape… Had given him the true security he’d never had before.. So he didn’t need Inferno.. Didn’t want Inferno…

Invisible tears streaked down SunSpot’s face. She was the ‘means’ that Red Alert had spoken about. And because of her he didn’t think he needed or wanted Inferno anymore. She hadn’t wanted to cause another mech this kind of emotional pain. And eventually Inferno would know she was the one to take his bond mate. He’d hate her.. He’d totally hate her.. And he’d hate the offspring she’d eventually produce.

Inferno slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position. Leaning against the cliff face he stared up at the cloudless sky. The dust on his battered face streaked heavily with his tears. “Primus! Primus you knew I searched for him! Why didn’t you let ME find him?! Why didn’t you lead me to him?!” he screamed to the empty sky. His voice hoarse and distraught as he begged the silent god for answers… “Please Primus.. Please tell me how to get his forgiveness for my failure… Please..” he pleaded.

Hearing his plea, the Seeker governed by Primus chewed her lip in anxiety. Was Primus giving her a chance to help this mech? But if she helped him smooth things over with Red Alert, then Red might throw her away as his spark mate. Then she’d have no one. But maybe… Maybe just being forgiven by Red Alert and eventually learning to be friends again would be enough for the mech? Then he wouldn’t hate her so much when she revealed herself for what she was..

But how? How to go about this? She studied the distraught and sobbing mech as he continued to plead with Primus. He was leaking a lot of energon from the damage caused by his accident. His meta not fully into reality since he wasn’t even noticing. Perhaps he was in a similar mental state as Red Alert had been when she found him? Perhaps he could also be convinced that Primus had sent a ghost to him? Feeling a strange sense of confidence flow through her, the Seeker boldly made contact with him. Her shyness staying hidden as she spoke in the security of her invisibility…

“Primus hears you,” she said softly.

Inferno stopped sobbing for a second, swearing that his audios had picked up a female voice. He didn’t want anyone to see him like this.. He was pathetic and useless.. Just like Red had said earlier in the day.. Scanning around him, he relaxed when he didn’t pick up anything. He was alone in his grief.. Just him and Primus..

“Inferno, Primus hears you,” she said a little louder.

He stiffened at her second statement. His optics scanning wildly as he pulled out his weapon. He knew his audios had picked it up that time. There was someone or something nearby! Powering up his weapon, Inferno dared to speak. “What… Who.. Where are you?” he asked warily.

Seeing his weapon power up, SunSpot threw full power to her forward shields. She knew they’d hold for at least one direct blast. She’d just have to teleport away before he hit her with another round. But perhaps she should take the weapon away from him? It’d been safer. For some strange reason, now when she played ‘the ghost’ – her shyness didn’t affect her… Didn’t limit her actions anymore.. It was as if she was playing a character.. A bold and confident character.. Teleporting next to him, she snatched his weapon out of his hand and threw it over the side of the ridge. “You do not point weapons at Primus’s messenger,” she chastised him in her soft voice.

As his weapon was sent flying over the ridge, Inferno rolled away from the invisible being claiming to be Primus’s messenger. Staggering to his feet, he found himself backed into a corner. His back armor tight against the cliff face.. No where to run… He scanned with all available sensors – nothing! Not even Mirage could hide so completely! “Are.. are you a ghost?” he stammered, his blue optics wide in both fear and shock.

SunSpot studied the terrified mech. His reaction so typical of a Cybertronian… “Yes,” she simply answered.

His entire chassis trembled in fear of the supernatural. Like most mechs, the sparks of the off-lined were terrifying… Unwelcomed…They could take one’s functioning chassis over.. Make a mech do terrible things.. Wedging himself tighter against the rock, he felt totally helpless to this ghost.. “Wh… what do you want?” he stammered in fright.

“You called to Primus. He sent me,” SunSpot answered. She cocked her invisible head, curious to see how he’d take it.

Primus sent her?!? Primus had heard him?!? Responded to him?!? Inferno was speechless in shock. His systems heating up in response to his emotional overload… Breakers began to flip.. He crumpled to the ground as his system protections forced him to shutdown.

As the red mech crumpled to the ground, SunSpot opened her optics wide in amazement. These Cybertronians just could not handle the thought of ghosts and spirits! She considered how she should progress from here. Deciding it’d be best to continue the conversation in a different location, she wrapped her arms around the unconscious mech and teleported to a heavily forested location just a few Earth miles from the base.

-----

Inferno reactivated slowly. As his surroundings came into focus he quickly realized that he was not where he had been when he had shutdown. Scanning the tall trees around him with all available sensors, he found nothing.

“It’s good you’ve reactivated. I’m sorry I scared you,” the disembodied female voice said softly.

Fighting down his rising terror, Inferno promised himself he wouldn’t shut down in terror like that again. She hadn’t possessed him.. Hadn’t hurt him.. Perhaps she was friendly? “Uh, that’s ok..” he stammered. Still a bit nervous about talking to a ghost… Shakily, he sat up.

“I know you’re hurt because Primus gave Red Alert the means to escape on his own, and he now thinks he doesn’t need you,” the ghost told him.

Tears filled the mech’s optics. She knew his deepest angst.. His deepest pain.. But she said that Red Alert just ‘thought’ he didn’t need him anymore. She didn’t say that Red didn’t need him. So was there a chance? A chance the rift between them would one day close? “Red still needs me?” he asked, the hope adding strength to his voice.

SunSpot sighed, how could she put this? Give him the hope of friendship but not necessarily love? She thought for a few moments before answering. “In the future, he may not realize it, but he will.”

There was a chance?!? Elation filled his core. “Will he forgive me?! Will we get back together?!” he asked the emptiness around him.

She thought quickly, she couldn’t give him the direct hope that Red would ever take him back. But she could give him a reason to befriend her when she revealed herself to the Autobots. Make him understand that she would be willing to help smooth things out between the two mechs. Perhaps he and Red could at least become friends again? “Primus will send another to him, Inferno. But what will happen when those two bond is beyond the experience of this dimension. His new mate will need you.. Welcome you.. Help Red to forgive you..” she answered softly. She hoped it’d give him hope.. A reason to befriend the ‘Primus-sent mate’..

A downcast look quickly replaced the hope that had been on his face. Primus would give Red Alert a new mate.. He would never be Red’s mate again.. But the ghost said the new mate would need him.. Would want Red to forgive him.. Did this mean that there was hope for a relationship as a threesome instead of a pair?!? Would the new mate be willing to have that kind of relationship? Not be jealous of Inferno’s past with Red? Could he himself stand the thought of watching Red bond with another? But if the new mate was sent by Primus – how could he refuse?!? “Will the new mate let me have a relationship? With him and Red?” he asked, the hope returning to his voice.

SunSpot considered that question as she scanned Inferno’s chassis, even as she blushed at the thought. Could she ever bond with this mech? This mech who loved her spark mate with all of his spark. He was a rather handsome mech, and from the personnel files she knew that he was an honest, protective and brave Autobot. Perhaps… Perhaps when she got to know him she could.. He would protect Red’s sparklings with his life… Treat them as his own.. As long as he had the hope that eventually he could convince Red to take him back. To have Red’s new mate welcome him with open arms.

She gulped down the butterflies flying through her core as she considered bonding with another other than Red Alert. She’d have to face that problem in the future; right now the two mechs weren’t even on speaking terms – much less interested in a threesome relationship. She couldn’t guarantee that Red would even consider that idea. So perhaps she’d never have to face it? But she had to give this mech the hope that the idea would at least be considered. “Perhaps, you are a good mech. An example of everything Primus holds dear. Yes, eventually you might convince the mate sent by Primus to let you in their quarters. To stand beside them,” she said softly. She hadn’t given him a direct answer to his question, but perhaps the hope of it would be enough.

Inferno beamed, there was a chance! This mech that Primus would send would be willing to listen to him. To get to know him… To help Red forgive him… Maybe even allow him in their quarters. But how would he know which mech it was? Which mech he needed to become good friends with? “How will I know if it’s the mech sent by Primus?” he asked.

SunSpot smiled, she would have another friend when she decloaked and faced the Autobots. Yes, she’d have to one day cycle consider if she could truly bond with him. But he’d be happy if she’d just help Red forgive him. Get Red to even talk civilly to him. “Look for a mech of the purest gold and the lightest of wings,” she said softly and teleported away.

“Ghost?” Inferno asked. There was no answer. The ghost was gone… Back to Primus her master.. He fixed her last words in his meta.. Determined to make the Golden mech his friend.. Just as soon as he met him..

-----

(2 days later…)

“Hold on, let me get this routine check rolling,” Prowl said as he grinned at his bond mate. Waiting for the mech to get off his lap, he leaned forward to the console and punched in a few codes. Pausing for a second, he waited until the master panel came up, then he keyed in a few more commands.

“Done yet?” Jazz grinned mischievously as he sat on the edge of Prowl’s desk and peeled some more of his armor off. He was more than thrilled to wait for a second. Heck, he was just happy he’d talked the workaholic into taking just a teensy-weensy break.

Prowl glanced over at him, his grin widening as he hurried to finish the rest of the commands to the computer. Heck, he’d be sitting here twiddling his thumbs while he waited for the results of the system scan and check anyways, might as well have a little ‘fun’ while he waited. This late in the night, there were few others in the building besides him, so chances are they’d never get caught. And perhaps it’d keep Jazz happy for a few day cycles. The mech was forever whining that Prowl wasn’t giving him the attention he deserved…

Jazz couldn’t help it, he started playing a rather sensuous song that he had on his ipod. Connecting it through his own speaker system, the room soon filled with the enchanting melody. A little ‘mood’ music was always perfect for when he finally talked Prowl into giving him some….

The mech glanced over at him again as he finished keying in the rest of the commands. His bond mate was such a flake. Always playing some kind of music, and always had a reason he thought that he should. Yes, truly his bond mate was a bit of a flake, but this is part of what he loved about the mech. Jazz kept things exciting to be sure. Chuckling, Prowl swiveled his chair so that he could properly view his little private ‘strip show’. He did so love this mech; Even though they were truly polar opposites in personality.

Now that he finally had Prowl’s full attention, Jazz was on a real roll. Straddling his bond mate, he gave him a lap dance even as he stripped off the mech’s own armor…….

------

“Mmmmm, now that was a good ‘break’ don’t ya think?” Jazz asked softly as he watched Prowl reboot. The lowered lights in the office glinted off his mate’s helm, making him even more handsome than normal, Jazz thought. Stroking the mech’s cheek, he enjoyed the warm press of their naked circuits as they lay on the floor pressed tightly against one another.

His brilliant blue optics reactivated, brightening in their intensity as he focused on Jazz. Smiling, he took the mech’s sweet lips again. Their glossas met, dancing together as they engaged in a passionate kiss. Their engines revving to higher rpms as their systems reacted to the increasing emotional state of the two mechs.

Suddenly, the computer started beeping frantically. Instinctively, Prowl started to jump up to see what the alert was all about. But Jazz grabbed him and forced him back down on top of him. “Can’t it wait a little longer? Isn’t going anywhere, and Red’s back, so no one’s breaking into anything,” he said as he took Prowl’s lips again.

At first Prowl relented, but the darned beeping alert stayed on. Sighing in disgust, he stood up and walked over to it. “Freagin thing’s probably gotten locked up in it’s defrag cycle again,” he grumbled as he punched in a few commands to bring up the alert log.
“Vector Sigma… What in Primus’ name?...” he began to mumble under his breath as he saw the log.

“What is it?” Jazz asked curiously. He still wasn’t bothering to get up off the ground, maybe if he continued to lay there half-naked, Prowl would take another short break.

Narrowing his optics, Prowl entered a few more commands then waited for a second. “Entire main frame’s been backed up and downloaded,” he grumbled.

Jazz shrugged, “So? Just someone making sure to protect our afts. Nothing major.”

Prowl looked over at his bond mate. The mech could be totally clueless sometimes. “I’m the only one besides Prime with the authorization and passwords to do this. And neither one of us did this one,” he flatly stated. He began to get his armor back on, even as he punched in a few codes to try and find out who’d done it. His frown deepened as his search continued.

Groaning because he knew he wasn’t going to get anymore for now, Jazz stood up and started putting his own armor back on. “So who was it?” he asked.

Grinding his jaws, Prowl couldn’t believe what the computer report was telling him. “The entire mainframe’s been hacked into, copied and downloaded,” he growled, glaring at the computer screen, not really believing it could’ve happened.

“Slag? Really? But not even the best hackers in the entire Autobot military could hack into our main frame. That’s what you told me,” Jazz said. He walked over to Prowl’s side and leaned over to read the computer report log for himself. Sure enough, the entire main frame had been accessed and ‘backed up’ onto some type of exterior source. Jazz felt dread feel his core, for the main frame on this particular base contained some of the highest classified information in the entire network. “Did the hacker get into the classified stuff?” he asked.

Prowl keyed in a few more commands, the sinking in his core continued to increase as he read the report. “Slag it! They got into everything,” he grumbled in total disbelief.

“And it looks like it happened almost two day cycles ago,” Jazz noted.

Putting his helm in his hands, Prowl groaned, “How in Vector Sigma did they do it – and we freagin’ never noticed?!?!”

“Well, looks like we’ve got some bad news for Prime when he gets back today, huh?” Jazz said, still looking at the report and not believing it had happened.

“But how in the heck did they do it Jazz? This system’s beyond secure from off base tampering!” Prowl growled. He didn’t like the unexpected, especially when it dealt with the most sensitive of Autobot data.

“So they can’t access from off-base, must mean they did it on-base,” Jazz stated the obvious. “But from where?”

Prowl thought hard about that question, for a hacker to have gained access so completely and without anyone noticing, they had to have been linked directly to the mainframe itself. But, slag it! That was located in the most secured region of the building. And there’d been no reports of intruders. Did they have a spy who’d infiltrated their ranks?!?! But who? “Slag it Jazz, I think we’ve got a con spy hiding amongst our ranks. That’s the only explanation,” Prowl grumbled.

Jazz nodded, “Guess we need to start by getting a log printout of all the mechs who’d entered that secured room.”

“Yes, and then interrogate each and every one of them,” Prowl sighed. He hated suspecting his own mechs, but that was the only feasible explanation…..

-----

So Many Clues

“Hey Prime, can I talk with you?” Hound asked as he poked his head into the office.

Glancing at Ultra Magnus, Prime nodded for the scout to join them. The big blue mech moved over to the next chair, so that the smaller green mech could sit down.

“So how was the trip?” Hound asked politely.

The blue mech leaned back, not able to keep his grin from spreading a little more as he glanced at his red bond mate. “It was very, relaxing, thanks for asking,” he answered. His experienced optics could see the tell-tale darkening of Optimus’s shade. He’d learned long ago how to read the mech’s emotions, even though Prime hid behind the security of a mask. He was still amazed that such a strong leader still had a touch of self-consciousness about baring his face, and his emotions, in public. But it made Prime that much more special to him.

Prime nodded his agreement to Ultra Magnus’s answer. Turning his attention back to the scout, he studied the green mech. Hound never came by just for ‘small talk’, whenever he sought Prime out it meant that he’d run across something that would eventually cause the Autobots some trouble. “So what did you find?” he simply asked.

Knowing that the ‘small talk’ was over, Hound began to explain just why he was here. “Well, Prime, I noticed these footprints in the dirt on base. They weren’t from any Autobot I know about.”

“What were they from?” Ultra Magnus asked. He lifted one of his optic ridges a bit as he studied the scout.

“Appear to be some sort of Seeker-model, but they weren’t the standard type at all,” Hound shrugged.

Optimus was intrigued, leaning forward he put his elbows on the top of his desk and rested the chin of his facemask on his hands. “Not the standard? What was the difference?”

“Well, from their size difference, I’d say this Seeker is only about three-quarters the size of the standard models. And the thruster was shaped like a thin rectangle, not the standard round. Also, from the depth of the footprint, this Seeker weighs a fraction of what a standard one weighs..”

Ultra Magnus and Prime shared a glance. “Well since we don’t have any Seeker models in our ranks, it’s got to be the cons. Think they’ve built a new type?” Magnus mused.

Prime nodded, “Wouldn’t surprise me at all.” Shifting his optics back to Hound, he asked, “So where’d you spot the tracks and where were they headed?”

“That’s the problem. Spotted them right next to this building, and they were headed straight to the front door. I talked with security, but they saw nothing,” Hound reported.

Optimus’s optics widened a little bit, this was not good, not good at all! “So when did you spot them?” he asked.

“Two days ago. Haven’t spotted any since,” Hound reported.

As the green mech left the two Commanders, the tension could be felt in the room. “Do you think they were testing the new model? Perhaps he’s got cloak capability like Mirage had?” Ultra Magnus asked Prime.

The red mech nodded, his core filling with dread. If the cons had some kind of new ‘cloaked Seeker’ it meant a heap of trouble for the Autobots. He could only hope they only had the one.

A knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts. Ultra Magnus leaned over and opened it. Prowl strolled in, and from the look on his face, he had even worse news than Hound had….

-----

“Vector Sigma, could it get any worse?” Ultra Magnus grumbled after Prowl finished giving them his report.

Optimus agreed with his statement fully. The Autobots were sure going to have problems now that the cons had built this Seeker. “So, we’ve got a smaller-type Seeker, with cloak, that can access and hack into our main frame with ease. But even with cloak, how in the heck did he so easily gain access to the room where it is? It’s the most secure area on base!”

Prowl and Ultra Magnus shrugged, neither one could answer that question.

“But he’s got all of our data now, even the highest level of classified data was copied,” Prowl added. He truly dreaded what the cons might do now.

“Well, apparently he came and went and hasn’t been back to sabotage anything yet,” Ultra Magnus noted. He sank back further into the chair, trying to force his tense systems to react a little bit. He knew all too well the danger the Autobots were now in.

“Well at least our Security Chief’s back. Inform Red Alert to heighten security levels at all our installations, I doubt that Megatron will wait very long before he uses that information to design another attack,” Optimus ordered as he nodded to Prowl.

“Yes sir!” Prowl said as he flew out the door…

---

“Hey Prime, can I come in?” Ratchet asked as he poked his head in the door.

Looking up from his paperwork, Optimus nodded and motioned for the medic to have a seat. Leaning back, he took a break from his paperwork. The stress over the last few days since he’d found out that their main frame had been accessed, was really starting to get to him. He just hoped that Ratchet hadn’t noticed. “So what do you need to talk about Ratchet?” he asked. He hoped it wasn’t himself, because he really wasn’t in the mood for a maintenance check.

“Red Alert,” Ratchet simply answered.

Prime’s optics widened a little bit. From all reports he’d heard, the mech had almost handcuffed his own aft to the Security Center and had buried himself in his work. It was very typical of the mech. Granted, he’d also heard that Red Alert had broken up with Inferno, but bond mates sometimes did break up, so that wasn’t that unusual either. “So what seems to be your concern about him?” he asked.

Ratchet leaned back and crossed his arms. “He’s been avoiding me, and avoiding the standard medical check after captivity,” he stated flatly.

Now that was highly unusual since the Chief of Security was an absolute stickler for following procedure, but perhaps he just had so much work to catch up on? Especially with all of the bases now on high alert! But the medical check didn’t take that much time. “Well, just go grab his aft, you’ve done it before,” he replied; although the vision of Ratchet dragging a rather unwilling Red Alert into the med bay was very humorous indeed.

“Tried that, he just got me hooked into a card game; pretended like I was an old chum of his,” Ratchet answered.

Now that was highly unusual, considering that the two had previously barely gotten along. Optimus was getting a little concerned now. Perhaps the captivity had caused another one of Red Alert’s notorious glitches to occur? “I’ll go talk with him on Thursday. I’ll make sure he’s in the med bay no later than Monday, ok?” he offered.

Still not liking the wait, Ratchet grudgingly nodded his agreement and left the office.

------

“Have you seen any cons on base Spot?” Red Alert asked the empty office. His optics continuously scanned the security monitors, looking for any hint of cons, and hint of danger..

“No Chief,” came the soft reply from the disembodied voice. Since her primary networks were always on alert, she knew she’d spot any con activity near her location.

He relaxed slightly, “So the cons aren’t planning to attack this base?” he asked. If anyone could find out what the cons were up to, it was his personal ghost.

“No Chief,” she responded. She’d kept an audio on the Decepticon frequencies; they were still trying to sort out whatever happened on that ship. Since Red Alert had been ‘rescued’ during the glitches, they were blaming the Autobots. The current theory was that the Autobots now had some type of master infiltration/saboteur flyer model and had used that ship to ‘test’ if out.

On the other hand, she’d also been keeping tabs on the encrypted Autobot frequencies. She knew that all the bases had gone on high alert since their main frame had been hacked into. The Autobots were in the belief that the cons had some super secret infiltration Seeker model that they’d tested out on this base.

She couldn’t help but smile, for both camps were so, so, wrong. It was an ‘outside’ mech who’d done it. It was a Guardian who stood on the outside of their war, looking in and learning their greatest secrets. It was a shy Seeker who was trying to follow Primus’ bidding and planning to begin a third faction of Transformers. The new faction that would be strong enough that both sides would leave them alone, that would exist in peace, but always train for war.

Biting her invisible lip, she looked up at the ceiling. She still wished she had her grandmother by her side, to tell her if she was doing the right thing.

Red Alert held his hand out to the emptiness of his office. He felt the invisible fingers of his one true friend curl around them. Walking to the backroom of his office, he lay down with the security of the ghostly arm lying on top of him. “Thanks Spot, thanks for watching our backs. Those cons are sneaky bastards,” he mumbled as he deactivated.

SunSpot stayed for a few more minutes. Once she was sure that he was in full defrag cycle, she stood up. She needed to start studying the Prime of this dimension, for Primus wanted her to replace the used up crystal in his matrix – with a new one. So she had to know what she was going to face, had to make up a plan…

Teleporting out of the Security Office, she made her way to Prime’s quarters…

----

Not Quite a Ghost

Ultra Magnus ran his fingers up his bond mate’s side, enjoying the feel of his warm living metal under them. His optics scanning in the infrared spectrum, his mate’s chassis danced in shimmering multicolored shades as he slowly cooled down from the overload. The big blue mech shifted. Turning on his side, he put his arm over his deactivated mate and went back through his memory banks.. Remembering.. Reliving the past...

Yes, it had hurt him almost as deeply as it had hurt Optimus when Elita One had been offlined those many vorns ago. For Elita was Ultra Magnus’s sister. And only a few pieces of her had ever been found after the explosion. The two mechs had always been best friends, and they had turned to each other for support in their grief. For many vorns they had remained merely platonic friends, neither having ever truly been interested in mechs in that way before. But that one day cycle.. That one glorious day cycle that they had realized that there was more than just friendship there. They’d been a tight-nit couple ever since. And Ultra Magnus was sure that his sister would look down on the situation in approval. She didn’t want either one to ever feel lonely. And together, now, they never were. He sighed wistfully, wishing his sister was still functioning. For even though that would mean he’d probably still be single, he knew that it was truly Prime’s fantasy to have her back at his side again.

Lifting his optics from the dancing heat patterns of his mate’s chassis, Ultra Magnus scanned the rest of the silent room. The pitch blackness of their quarters, lit up in the infrared spectrum, and if a mech was sensitive enough he could even make out the slight variations in air current temperatures. The mech had developed this talent long ago as a young soldier on the front lines. As the soldier usually assigned to night cycle duty, it was to one’s advantage to utilize infrared to the fullest.

His optics caught something odd as he glanced over the far wall. Some type of shimmering in the infrared realm. Focusing in on it, he kept his optics glued to the oddity. It just seemed like the wall’s metal was just a tad off temperature in that particular location. Slightly odd, but perhaps there were some circuits in use within it, causing a heat difference. He was still on guard because of the new Decepticon Seeker running around, but he knew that cloaking didn’t hide a mech’s radiated heat, and all mechs radiated heat. So he felt confident that they were alone.

Rubbing his fingers lightly on Prime’s abdominal armor, Ultra Magnus relaxed as he shifted his optics back to his mate’s chassis. Yes, even with the cloaked Decepticon Seeker somewhere around, he knew that there were some places that were secure. And this was one of them. So, deactivating his optics, he went into his defragmentation cycle.

SunSpot relaxed as the big blue mech moved his optics elsewhere. She knew he’d been scanning the room in infrared, but being a stealth Seeker, she wouldn’t radiate a typical heat signature. But she had still felt the slight anxiety of being spotted as his optics had settled on her exact location, like he was able to somehow see her. He’d stared at her location for what seemed like astrohours, his expression that of a wary, battle-hardened solder. Even though she knew he couldn’t detect her, the intensity of his optics made her want to shrink back.. To hide.. She didn’t fully relax until the powerful mech drifted off into defrag.

She’d been standing there for over an Earth hour, watching in silence as the two powerful mechs had gone through their pleasurable bonding play. In a sense, it had been beautiful to watch. For it was obvious that the two were as deeply connected as her grandparents were. And though it was quite disconcerting to witness her ‘grandfather’ in this dimension bonding with a mech, it was still beautiful. As their moans and gasps had filled the room with the music of pleasure, strange sensations flowed through SunSpot’s nets. A strange longing to feel Red Alert doing the same to her… His hands flowing over her nets… His circuits plunging into hers.. Making them one.. Just as Prime and Ultra Magnus connected and with a combined yell of total ecstasy – they went limp in overload.

Was that how it would be when Red Alert was finally whole again? Both his spark and chassis fully repaired from the damage the con torture had done to him. When he found out she was a functioning femme, would he still want to plunge his circuits into hers? Connect with her… Share his spark fully with her.. Would she feel the same intense pleasure as was so obviously felt by the two powerful mechs that she had silently watched?

Rubbing her fingers lightly against her carbide leg armor, SunSpot contemplated the differences that there would be when she finally fully bonded with Red Alert. Unlike these two mechs, or any mechs of this dimension for that matter, she would get pregnant from the act. New life and new sparks would be created and grow while bathed in the life-giving energy of her secondary cores. Six Earth months later, she would get the urge to build.. As the new sparks within her became strong enough to live on their own… To separate from her and become sparklings.. She’d attended enough sparkling births to know what would occur. She didn’t fear it.. She longed for it to be her own.

But after they were sparked, the new sparklings went through a period of growth, of maturing. They were not ‘born’ fully capable. It took many Earth years of developing and training. And each generation from the original Matron; Raptor – took enough longer to fully mature. They were defenseless during this time. So mature Earth mechs and/or Cybertronian mechs had to raise them, protect them, and train them. This is why SunSpot had to learn about these Autobots. Had to figure out how to join them.. Make them understand and accept that she was completely alien to them, but was a friend..

Along with this, she had to figure out how to get the matrix from this Prime. To replenish its power source without revealing to this dimension’s mechs the true reason that Primus had forced her into his service. For this was the doctrine of the Earth mech Seekers… This was their greatest secret.. Their greatest power.. And the war-torn Cybertronians could never know. For then they would crave to harness this power. To use it in their war… And this was against Primus’s commandment.

She was very intrigued by this dimension’s Optimus. Raptor had always told her that each dimension she visited seemed to have counterparts of the same Cybertronians. And though there were slight differences among them, you could find just as many similarities. This Optimus also seemed to have the same self-conscious issue with the facemask as her own grandfather had. And many other personality traits were also identical. She had observed him intently from afar for several Earth weeks now. She had combed through all the records pertaining to him from the data she had copied from their mainframe.

This Prime was as tragic as he was heroic. Losing his first bond mate to a battlefield explosion.. Never to find more than a few fragments of the once strong and calm femme who had led the femme ranks. After many vorns, he had finally accepted her death, and her own brother had become his second bond mate. Together they led.. They were strong, thoughtful leaders. Not prone to rash decisions.. To costly mistakes..

Coming out of her contemplations, she silently watched as Ultra Magnus shut his optics off and fell into defrag next to Prime. Sliding silently closer until she was right next to their berth on the side Prime was on, SunSpot stared down at him. Her expression one of familial love and respect, for even though this Prime was not exactly her grandfather – he was this dimension’s counterpart to that great mech. Strangely, she felt that familiar connection to him as she scanned his still chassis. Standing over him, she probed him with her scanning sensors. She could sense the weak pulsing of the depleted matrix within his chest. It seemed to almost beckon her. The crystals within her port knee responding to its nearness, its need.

He reminded her so much of her grandfather; the only male mech who had ever held her in his arms while she had cried as a youngster, the mech who took her in and treated her as his own daughter. She wanted to lie down next to him, to curl up against him, to pretend that she was still at home. Tears welled up in her swirling optics. She wanted so much to touch her grandfather, to connect, to be back in her family.

Without thinking she held her hand over his cab, the sensations of the Matrix calling to her overriding her meta’s caution. This was what Primus bid her to do.. To connect with the Matrix.. To restore it.. This was her grandfather.. Her fingers came down lightly against his armor, the Matrix responding….

Optimus sensed something.. Something wasn’t quite right. The Matrix within him seemed to pulsate oddly, sending strange waves of sensations through his grids. He reactivated but kept his optics off, pretending to still be in defrag as he listened intently with his audios. He heard the slightest of scrapes on the floor. The lightest change of the air flow in the room… Someone or something was in here, right now.. The Matrix was reacting to its presence, warning him of danger. His hydraulic pressure went up, his whole chassis preparing for action at the first command.

He felt the lightest of touches on his cab. Bursting into action, his arm swung with a blur, grabbing the arm that the hand was attached to. Right as he moved his optics reactivated, seeing nothing but thin air. A high-pitched surprised yelp filled the air as his fingers closed tightly on the unseen attacker. And suddenly, he felt nothing; the cloaked attacker had simply vanished.

“Prime, what happened?” Ultra Magnus asked as he automatically leapt up from the berth and landed on his feet. His battle processor scanned the dark room for danger.

Turning the lights on, Optimus looked down at his hand. He had what appeared to be glittering golden flakes on his fingers. “I do believe the cons’ new cloaked Seeker is getting bolder. I think he was going to assassinate me,” he mumbled as he rubbed his fingers together while he considered this development.

“Vector Sigma! How in the heck did he get in and out of here?!” Ultra Magnus said as he checked the door and its electronic lock to see if they’d been meddled with.

“I’m pretty sure he’s got teleport as well as cloak, that’s the only way he could’ve gotten out of my grip,” Prime replied. “I didn’t even see a heat signature, and his arm had no warmth radiating,” he finished.

“I sensed something wasn’t right earlier, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Sloggers, the bastard must’ve been standing there watching us the whole time.. Crap!” Ultra Magnus was now pacing slightly. He really hated being up against a well-trained infiltrator that was outsmarting them at every turn. And if the bastard had managed to assassinate Prime?!.... He didn’t even want to think of that.

“Well, we do have a clue now as to why we can’t spot him. It will be interesting to see what Perceptor can find out from this paint I scraped off him.” Optimus laid back down after he’d wiped the shards onto a towel and set them carefully down next to their berth. This Decepticon was going to be a hard one to catch and off line. He just hoped they’d do it before any of them were off lined….

----

“Prime, this is highly unusual,” Perceptor muttered as he scanned the samples. “The molecular structure of these polymers and the carbon matrix that they are attached to….”

“Just give us the general gist Perceptor, please!” Ultra Magnus grumbled. He was becoming more and more stressed over this new con. Now the slogger was even after Optimus! He didn’t want to hear specifics about structure and polymers that he wouldn’t understand anyways. He wanted to hear how they could catch the infiltrator!

Perceptor transformed and looked at the two ground mechs. “Basically this paint is completely alien in origin. I’ve never seen anything like it. It seems to be able to absorb radar, instead of deflecting it. And there are no metal ions, just a carbon matrix. Extremely unusual.”

“So what does this mean? Where’d the cons get this?” Optimus asked. The insinuations weren’t good. If the cons had found a species willing to supply them with these specialized materials, they could build an entire division of Seekers that the Autobots would be defenseless against.

“This is not Decepticon nor Autobot technology, I have no idea where they got it from. As far as my research indicates, there are no known sources for this in the known Galaxy.” Perceptor rubbed his head and shrugged. He was totally fascinated by this, and couldn’t wait to see if he could replicate it.

“Great, so now we have a Decepticon Seeker built out of completely alien technology! Could this get any worse?” Ultra Magnus asked as he rubbed his helm in anxiety over the whole situation. Visions of an entire contingent of Seekers that they couldn’t detect filled his meta with dread.

“Let’s just hope they only have the one,” Optimus said as he patted the big mech’s shoulder. He knew that it really bothered Ultra Magnus terribly that this infiltrator now seemed to have a focus on him. They’d have to take turns defragging now, the other keeping watch. Because the infiltrator seemed to be spooked off when Prime had suddenly grabbed him, it seemed that he was more of a stab-you-in-the-back type of Decepticon. As long as one of them was activated and alert, he doubted the infiltrator would chance confrontation again.

“Prime?! Thank Primus I found you!” Prowl exclaimed as he ran into Perceptor’s lab. He was out of breath, and from the look on his face, something was very, very wrong..

“What is it Prowl?” Optimus asked.

“One of our patrol’s was ambushed, only one of them escaped!” Prowl reported. He seemed to be trembling more so than he should normally do under the circumstances. The normally deadly calm mech was frazzled by something.

“Who was captured?” Ultra Magnus asked. He and Prime exchanged a glance, to be captured by the cons was a horrible way to go.. Very, very few EVER made it back.

Prowl straightened, “Sideswipe, Bluestreak and….” His voice broke as his engine choked, “…and Jazz!” he couldn’t keep the tears from welling up in his optics.

“Sloggers, I’m sorry Prowl,” Optimus said as he pulled the smaller mech to him. To lose one’s bond mate to the cons was far worse than losing them to battle. You knew they’d go through torture so sadistic that an Autobot couldn’t even fathom it, before they were finally, and brutally off-lined.

The strong officer broke down and began to sob. Ultra Magnus, Prime and Perceptor looking at each other in dismay, for it was a rare mech that ever came back functioning after the cons got hold of his aft….

----

The Source of the Trouble
“Prime, could I talk to you in private?” Hound whispered to him. The rest of the officers at the meeting didn’t hear the scout’s whisper as they discussed what they could do. They had many cruisers patrolling the sector, trying to find their missing comrades, but so far no luck. And as the days had turned into weeks, hope was waning that they’d ever be found.
They all knew what horror the captured Autobots were going through... The rapes... The sodomy... The sadistic pleasure of the Decepticons as they made them scream and writhe in agony… The officers were distraught inside as they knew they’d probably never find them again. And because of this, the mechs would live in torment until they off-lined. Red Alert was the only one in history to ever escape after so long... ever to return in one piece... there was little hope for the new captives...

Optimus nodded silently to the scout, his optics full of sorrow as he forced himself to accept that he’d most likely never see the three energetic Autobots again. As soon as the meeting was over, Hound followed him into his office and carefully shut the door.

“I’ve found more tracks, and they seem to be concentrated in a certain part of the base,” Hound reported.

Sloggers! The damned infiltration Seeker was back. Prime wanted to groan in dread at the news. Did he not already have enough stress to deal with?!?! “Where are they concentrated?” he asked Hound.

“Around Security Headquarters, they seem to be going in and out at leisure, almost like the Seeker is based there,” Hound reported.

The sheer amount of the strange thruster prints had really shocked him. He suspected the Seeker’d been using that area for more than just a few weeks.
Prime frowned. Then he realized that with the capture of the three Autobots, he’d forgotten to go have that talk with Red Alert about the medical check. Ratchet was going to kick his aft the second he remembered it too! Well, seemed like a good excuse to go talk with Red Alert and scope out his office…

-----

“Spot, could you find them if I asked you too?” Red Alert asked as he paced the room and watched the monitors.

“Um, I think so,” she said softly. She had seen the three missing Autobots on enough occasions, to be able to get a visual lock on them and teleport to them. But she’d barely been able to rescue Red Alert, how would she rescue three?!?! She was nothing but a pathetic spy, a hacker... She was no true fighter, no matter how much training she’d had.

“Hmmmm,” Red Alert mumbled as he rubbed his chin. In a sense, he knew he should send his ghost to them. Save them from some of the horrors he’d endured. But on the other hand, they were some of the back-stabbers who’d written his aft off. Left him there to rot.. And if he sent his ghost to them, she wouldn’t be here to watch his back.. Sighing, he didn’t say anything more on the issue.

“Red Alert, I need to talk to with you,” Prime’s voice came over the intercom.

A little startled as to why Optimus would come up here without an appointment, Red Alert let him in. He felt those nervous butterflies in his core. Those fears that he’d somehow screwed up his job and would be reprimanded – or worse.

Optimus strolled in and took one of the chairs. He scanned the office. But nothing seemed amiss. It all looked the same as it always had. But suddenly, the Matrix within him reacted. It pulsed dully, as if trying to wake whatever little energy was within it. A little confused at first, Prime soon realized that it was reacting the same way that it had when the Decepticon Seeker had tried to assassinate him. Like the Matrix was trying to warn him of danger. Priming his system for action, Optimus kept a wary optic on his surroundings. “I’m sure you’ve heard that we’ve had problems with an infiltrator Red,” he said.

Red Alert gulped, he’d screwed up, so totally screwed up! As security it was his job to make sure that no one infiltrated the base, no one! “Um, yes Prime, we’ve, um, done all we can,” he assured Optimus.

Prime was really beginning to feel that they were being watched. Had the Decepticon infiltrator linked himself with Red Alert? Was something glitched in the Autobot’s meta? “You realize that this infiltrator managed to hack into our system without a problem. They’ve gotten access to our most sensitive files.”

Rubbing his hands nervously, Red Alert nodded. But his ghost had said there were no cons on base and she’d know wouldn’t she?! She’d protect them, she’d protect him..

Optimus stood up; he was going to get to the bottom of this. Somehow it involved Red, he was sure of it. “I want you to go have that medical check-up tomorrow, no excuses,” he ordered. He watched Red Alert’s reaction, the mech did seem very nervous. But the mech just simply nodded to his order.
Leaving Security Headquarters, Prime radioed Blaster. If the Decepticon spy had attached himself to Red Alert, then he’d have an Autobot spy attached to the same mech. He wished that he had Mirage for this job, but that mech had been captured ages ago. Now officially listed as ‘off lined’ in the record books, but at least they had Blaster here. He’d just recently come back from that outpost, and was thrilled to be back in the land of radio signals!
------

“Why didn’t you tell me there were cons on base!? Why didn’t you?!” Red Alert shrieked to the empty office as he paced back-and-forth. His entire chassis trembled in both anger and fear. Anger that Spot hadn’t told him, and fear that the cons might capture him again.

“There weren’t,” came the soft answer.

He turned in the direction that the disembodied voice came from. “Then who did this…?” his optics widened at the same time as he asked the question. He remembered how easily she had hacked the cons’ main frame. She must’ve been the one to hack the Autobots’ main frame. “You hacked it – didn’t you?!” he demanded to know.

“Well, you wanted to know who was after your job. I had to learn the personnel,” the ghost replied. Red could almost feel her shrug.

“So there are no cons around here?” Red Alert asked. He was far more worried about the cons capturing him again, than the fact that the ghost had hacked their system. After all, Spot was his spark mate wasn’t she?

“No,” came the simple answer.

Red Alert smiled and plopped himself on the couch. It was so good to have a ghost for a mate, you could trust them. He felt her sit down next to him, her invisible hand on his leg. He thought about the missing Autobots again. Knew exactly what they were going through. Guilt spread through him. He had the means by which to at least locate them. But if he sent her, then he’d be defenseless. True, they were back-stabbers like the rest of the mechs, but did they deserve to suffer as captives? Suffer like he had?

“Spot, could you locate the captured mechs?” he asked the empty room.

She squeezed her hand on his leg. “Yes, I think so,” she answered quietly. She really didn’t want to go back into the violence of the Decepticon faction. Face the true agony of war. But if he asked, she would go…
Red Alert expected that answer. The same answer she’d given day cycles before.

“How long would it take you to find them and then return with a report?” he asked.

SunSpot thought about it. Referring to her data she’d snagged from the cons about all of their bases, she did a quick calculation. “Well, if they’re kept together it would take me about five-to-seven day cycles depending on which installation they’re at. But if they’ve been separated... well...” she answered softly.

“So worse-case scenario it could take up to twenty-one day cycles to locate them all and return with a report?” Red Alert said glumly. He didn’t want her gone that long. He wouldn’t have her here to protect him.

“Yes, um, do you want me to find them?” SunSpot asked. She didn’t want to, but if it would please him…

“Thanks for offering… I just... I just don’t want to be alone that long...” Red Alert replied. He looked down in shame... Shame at being too weak to be alone... But Primus had sent her to help him, not others...

“I could locate them one-at-a-time,” SunSpot asked helpfully.

“Let me think about it – ok?” he answered. After all, they’d abandoned him to his fate.. Perhaps this was Primus’s plan to pay them back?

“You know, they’ll find out when they examine you tomorrow. You can’t delay it any longer…” her voice said softly.

He shuddered a bit, but he knew she was right. “I still don’t want it,” he said softly, almost pleading with her. She understood… She had seen…

“I know Red, but you need the circuitry replaced or you’ll have to explain it. Tell them what happened to you…” she said softly as she rubbed his leg.
He felt his anxiety level rise. She was right, he had to be ‘whole’ or he’d have a lot of questions to answer. And he didn’t even want to think about his captivity, much less discuss it. So, laying down on the couch he grudgingly allowed his invisible spark mate to take off his abdominal armor and finally finish his repairs.

Unseen, an Autobot sat in the room under a desk. He had been conveniently placed there by a visiting Smokescreen. His optics widened in shock over all he had heard and what he was seeing. Apparently Red Alert had actually brought this spy onto the base, and seemed to really believe that the spy was on their side. The spy could even find their lost comrades – but Red Alert was refusing. It was very confusing indeed. Why would Red Alert of all people believe the hacker, hear her supposed offer of help, and refuse to demand that she go and find them?!? Prove that she wasn’t a con spy! Or perhaps it was just a ruse on her part? For she hadn’t offered to ‘rescue’ them – just to ‘find’ them… A con spy would have the knowledge of where they were being held. It would be easy for her to use this information to make it appear she was on the up-and-up. But if they were deep in con territory, rescue would be near impossible anyways... Plus, the spy had also been in Prime’s quarters, perhaps even planning to assassinate him! And what was Red trying to hide? Why was the cloaked spy opening his abdominal cavity?

Blaster watched in silence as the mech’s protective armor was completely removed by the invisible hands of the spy. Even though he wasn’t a medic, it was obvious what the mech needed to have replaced. Red Alert didn’t have any bonding circuits in him! Blaster was both appalled and intrigued by this. What had happened to the mech’s circuitry? Why didn’t he want it? What degrading mental torture had those cons forced upon him?! He continued to silently watch as the invisible spy completely rebuilt the mech’s bonding grid.

“There, all done,” she said softly as she began to latch his armor back into place.

Red Alert shifted, still very uncomfortable with the sensation of being ‘whole’ again, for now he could be raped again. “Um, Spot, if you don’t mind, I really don’t want to test the grid, ok?” he asked in a slightly pleading tone.

Finished with his armor, she hesitantly brushed his lips with hers. “That’s fine, I understand. You know that,” she said softly.

A wave of relief washed over him. She still didn’t think of him as somehow less of a mech because he was afraid to bond! Wrapping his arms around the ghost, he brought her tighter to him. His lips locking tightly against hers with a passion he hadn’t shown before. For she was truly the only mech who really understood, really accepted him for all his faults…
Relaxing back into his office couch, Red Alert deactivated his optics and went into defrag. He was safe… His ghost would always watch over him... No one would ever get the chance to stab him in the back again...

As he went limp, SunSpot clicked off her cloak briefly. Her energy levels were getting depleted, so she’d need to teleport away to recharge in the sun for a few hours. Looking down at her golden arm laying across Red Alert’s chest armor, she smiled wistfully. It looked so – right… Running her fingers lightly across him, she bent over and lightly kissed his lips before she teleported away.

Unseen under the desk, Blaster had to cut off his vocalizer as the Seeker disappeared. He’d been amazed when she’d de-cloaked. The golden Seeker was so obviously built for frontal line air supremacy, and absolutely beautiful as well! How in the heck Red Alert had run across the likes of her was beyond comprehension. Either she was playing the mech for all he was worth, or she was truly bonded to him for some strange reason. But those dual insignias of both bot and con on her wings were the most disconcerting thing about the situation. Was she a con? Or a bot? Was she an assassin for hire....? Just what in Primus name was she?!?!
Transforming quietly and slipping out of Security Headquarters, Blaster made his way to Optimus’s private quarters…..
----
- 10
- 11
- 12
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Face Thy Fears