Here is the first chapter of "Façades and Teritas". I apologize in advance if any character seems OCC. I never watched Generation 1 and I don't plan to. If anyone has, and I need to correct something, please tell me so I can make changes.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Transformers. I just play with them. I only own my OC's.

Time:

Astro-second = 1.258 Earth seconds

1 nanocycle/nanoklik = 10 seconds

1 cycle/klik = 60 nanocycles/nanokliks 120 seconds

Breem = 15 kliks 30 minutes

1 joor = 1.3 Earth days

Solar cycle/orn = 24 joor 31.557 Earth days

Vorn = 10 orn

Groon = 8 vorn

Orbital cycle = 12 groon 83 human years

Deca-cycle = 10 orbital cycles

Centi-cycle/Mega cycle = 100 orbital cycles

Meta cycle = 1,000 orbital cycles

Communication:

:: comm. link ::

- Bondmates/sparkmates -

~: creator/creation bond :~

: sibling bond :

~ spark twin bond ~

Thoughts/memories/flashbacks/dreams/singing

[symbiot/symbiot carrier]

Seeker Cant

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

The truth is a hard thing to find and is often offensive. It is as delicate as a snowflake, yet as strong as steel. Sometimes, it is out in the open and other times, it is hidden from view.

The truth is a light in the darkness. There are people who don't like the light. Many seek to cover it up with facades. Other seek to destroy it at its source.

Sometimes, you have to protect the light, covering it up and protecting it from those who would destroy it. Waiting for the right time when you can expose it and the truth can chase away the darkness in people's hearts.

Sometimes, pain can make you hide the truth … and it takes the right person, who values you and the truth you have, who is willing to take the time and energy needed to uncover the light.

If only there was someone willing to do so without selfish motives. Someone who cares enough about you to dig up the truth of who you are like buried treasure and treasure it like it were precious jewels.

If only there was someone who cared … about us …

… about me …

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Stardust walked out of the medbay, datapad in hand. Ratchet had given her homework about the basic anatomy of a ground-based Cybertronian. Ratchet had been teaching her about Cybertronian biology since her family arrived at the Autobot base.

Stardust and her brothers and sisters had been kidnapped from their homeworld as humans by a Decepticon named Shockwave and he turned them into Cybertronians as a part of a project for his leader, Megatron. She and her family were the sole survivors of the project and fled Shockwave's lab. They met some Decepticon Seekers who training them to fight and helped them get to Autobot land. Megatron caught up with them though, and fought to take them back and her older sister, Wing Saber, paid a hefty price. Wing Saber got stabbed in the shoulder by Megatron himself and nearly lost her arm and shoulder. Good news; she got to keep it. Bad news; she had a long recovery.

Thanks to Shockwave, each member of her family had special powers that they discovered when they escaped the lab. Bladestream, her older brother, had great speed and strength. He could shield their spark signatures to avoid detection. Ratchet suspected that he might also have telepathic abilities.

Stardust herself could not fight very well, but she could heal her family members if they got hurt.

Her younger brother, Jetstorm, could clone himself once and for a limited time, control the clone.

Her younger sister, Wind Dancer, could shapeshift into any animal that was her size or smaller.

For the longest time, they thought that Wing Saber had no powers at all, except for incredibly keen senses. Her senses of sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell were ten times as strong as the average Cybertronian. It wasn't until her family had almost reached Autobot territory that the Decepticons caught up with them and shot them with an energon cannon that they discovered Wing Saber's power; energy. Her sister's frame stored energy from energon and when they were in battle, anyone who shared a sparkbond with Wing Saber would have energy pushed through their bond from her and the abilities of her family members would be enhanced.

Unfortunately, this also leaves Wing Saber with severe energy drain and Ratchet had to put her on an energon drip and drug her to make her sleep so she could regain her strength.

Ratchet finally released Wing Saber last groon after keeping her in the medbay for vorn, but she had her shoulder and arm in a brace so that she couldn't move them. Ratchet said that once the shoulder joint healed, he could take the brace off and physical therapy can begin. Until the brace comes off, she can't transform or fly.

Stardust remembered Wing Saber's reaction to being turned loose. Her sister actually missed the grumpy medic and returning to the medbay to visit him; although she kept out of his way. She didn't talk to him much, but she kept hanging around him.

Stardust looked up to the medic and wanted to be like him. She hoped that she could one day join him in the infirmary.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a blur of cyan blue and dull gold crossed her path and she came to a halt with a yelp before she crashed into it. The blur kept walked and she turned towards it to find it was her sister, Wing Saber.

Every member of Stardust's family retained their hair and optic color when they were turned into Cybertronians. Wing Saber's hair was a dull gold and came down to her waist. Her hair had nine small braids accented with translucent cyan glass beads that started at her part, eight of them were pulled back into a ponytail that came in line with the tops of her audio receptors. The second braid from the front on the left side was left out of the ponytail and was left to hang down her chestplates. It was pinned out of Wing Saber's faceplates by a rosy pink rose about half the size of Stardust's palm, made of thin, lightweight metal. An old friend of the family back home used to call that braid Wing Saber's "warrior's braid".

Wing Saber's primary color was a bright cyan blue with thin ribbons of creamy white twisting over the curves of her armor; starting at her ankle joints, wrist joints, and wing joints, getting thinner as they spread over her armor. Tiny, soft rosy pink petals accented the creamy bands like petals on a pond, occasionally spilling onto the blue of her armor. The protoform underneath and her faceplates were a pale silver. Her optics retained their deep sapphire blue color. Her frame was a bit thick for a femme due to the energy stores.

Stardust on the other hand, had dark brown hair, which did not go more than few digits' width past her shoulder blades. Her optics were also dark brown. Her protoform was a few shades darker than Wing Saber's and Stardust was a bit taller, too. Stardust's armor was a dark blue with hues of pink, yellow, orange, green and blue, making her armor look like a nebula. Scattered across her armor were tiny speckles of white from which she earned her designation. Her frame was thinner than Wing Saber's.

Stardust sighed at Wing Saber's retreating figure, wings tense with suppressed emotion. Word got out the Wing Saber was the only one of the three Seeker sisters who could procreate and since she got out of the medbay, various mech had been trying to get her into their berths to participate in … inappropriate … activities. Wing Saber tries to avoid those mechs anyway she can and turn them down, but there are a few who won't take the hint.

Wing Saber could handle the racist prejudice most Autobots had against Seekers and could shut them up with a single sentence, but lewd jokes and sexy lingo was another matter entirely. Wing Saber never had a boyfriend or fiancé back on Earth and the only mechs she had ever been with were the Seeker twins, Dreadwing and Skyquake. Due to her recent maturity, she was still a virgin by most cultures on this planet.

If the bond Stardust had with her sister was anything to go by, Wing Saber was starting to get to the point where she was about to start bopping people. Wing Saber was notorious for not liking to be touched in anyway, so that constant groping wasn't going over well.

No one would do it in front of Ironhide or Bladestream, though. Ironhide banged a few helms together and Bladestream sent two bots to the medbay where Ratchet added more dents to their helms with a wrench. Prowl was pretty good about catching the offenders and giving them brig time, but it didn't stop the more persistent bots.

She shook her helm and continued to the shooting range on base.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

The shooting range was mostly quiet for this time of orn. There were only a few scattered bots in the range, a few of the minibots, a Praxian named Bluestreak, and Jazz. Stardust spotted the rest of her siblings in the back left corner shooting at targets and training drones with a large black mech called Ironhide.

She decided to go say hi to Bluestreak before Ironhide pulled her into training.

Bluestreak was one of the best snipers in the Autobot army. He was half Wind Dancer's age when Megatron bombed the city-state of Praxus. He was the only survivor. Bluestreak liked to talk and he could talk on and on and on about anything.

Bluestreak was a silver bot with royal blue stripes on his armor. He was a tad taller than Stardust.

Stardust came over to him and waited until he finished shooting and he was reloading his rifle before tapping him on the tip of his right wing.

Bluestreak jumped and turned to face the grinning femme Seeker.

"Primus, Stardust, warn me before you do that. Use your field to tell me you're coming."

"I did, you were probably just so focused on what you're doing that you didn't feel me coming."

"I have to stay focused. Someone could offline if I don't take out the Cons at the right time. Ratchet let you go early?"

"Yep! Just a test this orn. I got more homework, though. Not fun." She said, looking at the datapad she had been given before subspacing it.

"At least it can be done later." Said Bluestreak, picking up his loaded rifle and shooting a few targets. "How's Wing Saber?"

"She really wants the brace off. Ratchet plans on removing it at the end of the vorn."

"That's good. She really needs to fly again. A couple of friends of mine are experts on Seekers and they told me that Seekers need to fly ornly or they go stir crazy. I'm surprised she hasn't snapped at anyone yet."

"Wing Saber likes underground places," Stardust explained, "Back on the planet we lived on, there were many different caves and mines that the native life forms abandoned. Wing Saber liked to go in them and collect precious stones from inside them. She had a large collection back home." Stardust was careful to not mention that she and her family were once human. Only Optimus Prime's inner circle of officers knew the truth of her family's origins. Everyone else believed that the family had been born Cybertronian in a colony on an organic world. Prowl said it was best to keep it that way.

On top of it all, Bluestreak would likely blab about it unintentionally it the wrong bot.

"If she liked organic rocks, she might like Praxian crystals!" said Bluestreak, his wings fluttering with excitement. "Seekers love them! I have a few in my quarters. Wing Saber can have one, it might cheer her up! Wanna come to my quarters and pick one for her?"

Stardust opened her mouth to agree, but was interrupted.

"STARDUST!"

She turned around and found Ironhide glaring at her.

"Get your aft over here! You can talk later."

She turned back to Bluestreak. "Sure, Blue. Just let me finish with Ironhide."

"Okay, I'll see you in the rec room!" Bluestreak said, picking up his rifle again to shoot targets.

Stardust ran over to Ironhide. "Sorry, I had to say hi to Bluestreak."

"No pit stops when it comes to training. Say hello on your own time." Ironhide handed her an ion blaster. "Your mission; get the flag over there and take out the enemy as quickly and silently as possible." He turned away to correct her brother Jetstorm's stance and hold on his gun.

Stardust looked at the flag at the far end of the shooting range and saw the training drones activate. She sighed and prepared herself for a long orn.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Wing Saber as on one of the rafters above the hall near Ratchet's medbay, her right stabilizer swinging aimlessly over the side, her back pressed against a vertical beam. The medbay had become a safe zone for her. Bots avoided the medbay if they could simply because no one liked to tick off the CMO. Ratchet may make threats and swear up one side and down the other, but he cared about each bot in his care and he wouldn't let bots harass her.

Stardust had attached herself to the CMO, so Wing Saber tried to keep her distance knowing her sister was training to become a healer and Ratchet was teaching her, but part of her still wanted the grouchy old mech's attention, too.

Wing Saber sighed. She was lonely. Once more, she wished her mother was here just so that they could talk. Back on Earth, Wing Saber had a very strong relationship with her mother. There was very little they kept from each other. Every day, they would talk about anything under the sun. She was always there for her mother and her mother was always there for her.

Wing Saber missed her mother's constant reminders of her homework or daily duties around the house. She could be a bit over bearing, but Wing Saber would not let anyone harm her.

Wing Saber emitted a subconscious click of sadness, her wings dropping and her EM field drawing closer to her frame. Her mother was long gone. If Wing Saber was to return to Earth, every person she ever knew would be dead. The grandchildren of the babies she had known would be grown and having kids of their own. At least Wing Saber knew her mother was in a better place. Someday, they would meet again. It may be millennia down the road, but Wing Saber would see her mother again in heaven.

Mama… Wing Saber thought as she fought to keep coolant behind her optic shutters.

Pedefalls interrupted her thoughts. She looked up and down the halls, but there was no one there.

She expanded her field to try to locate what she could not see. She detected Ratchet is the medbay. He was moving around, but his pedefalls were deeper and heavier. The medbay was sound proofed, so his pede steps were detectable only by vibrations, not sounds.

Again, more pedefalls. Light, small, close together. There were two sets. The owners were two individuals with a single pair of stabilizers, not a single four-legged bot.

They were in the vents above, coming closer to her position. She was starting to detect their fields. She did not recognize them as anyone from the base. Just as Wing Saber was about to comm the Autobot security officer, Red Alert, the pede steps suddenly picked up their pace and she heard a thud before the vent grill she was under fell into her lap with a tiny bot right behind it, causing her to jump.

The tiny bot squirmed around for an astro-second before righting itself. It looked up at her with its red optics. Its optics widened and excitement and recognition.

"It's you! You're alright!" the tiny bot cried.

"Huh?" Wing Saber asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Don't you remember me? Me 'n my brother saw you in Shockwave's lab! Rumble liked you; Ravage, too! You felt like the Boss! The Boss would've wanted to keep ya!"

Oh! Right. Wing Saber did remember them. This tiny Decepticon and one like him fought on top of her chestplates before a cat kicked them off and took their place.

"Frenzy?" she guessed.

"Yes!" Frenzy cried.

A voice echoed in the vents above. "Frag it, Frenzy, quiet down! You're gonna get us-" a helm similar to Frenzy's peaked out of the vent, "- caught." He finished.

Frenzy was too excited to be bothered with his brother's scolding. "Look! It's her! It's her!"

Rumble looked at Wing Saber then back at his brother. "Yeah, so?"

"We can tell the Boss she's fine!"

"Soundwave wanted medical records, slag head! He didn't want us to make with anyone!" Rumble hissed.

"But she's right here! She's fine! Now we can find the other one! And he said not to make contact with the Autobots, not them! Look, she's not even an Autobot yet!"

"Soundwave is going to be so pissed when he finds out we've blown it! Get back up here before one of the Auto-freaks comes!"

Wing Saber's wings hiked up and her field colored with disapproval. She glared at Rumble like he was a small child.

Rumble visibly flinched under her gaze. Frenzy slowly turned to face the displeased Seeker.

The pitch of Wing Saber's voice lowered few notches. "What did you call them?"

Rumble got defensive and made the mistake of repeating the demeaning name, "Auto-freaks, but why do you care?"

"We … do not … call anyone names. Even our enemies. Hurling insults at each other is one thing, name-calling is another. Your designation is everything you are. You do not label your enemies something demeaning or insulting, even if that's how you perceive them."

"But they ain't no good!" Frenzy said.

"Have you lived with them?"

The cassette-former in her lap looked at his pedes. "No …"

"Then you can't say that is who they truly are. If you believe you are really better than them, act like it. Be honorable and respect your enemy."

"But they call us names, too!" Rumble protested.

Wing Saber shook her helm. "That doesn't make it right."

The two brothers shut up after that. If they continued to argue, the femme was going to keep chewing them out. She was a smart one, a thinker. Soundwave believed she and her brother were special. That reminded them of their mission; to get files on this femme and the triplechanger 'cause Soundwave wanted to make sure they were okay after the battle last groon.

"Why were you two here again?" Wing Saber asked.

A gun primed up on the ground below.

"That's just what I'd like to know."

Wing Saber suppressed an optic roll. Gears. That minibot was always stirred up trouble. He and a few of the minibots closest to him made no effort to hide their disdain for Seekers. They liked to make her sisters feel dirty and guilty for what they were, rile up Jetstorm into a fight that usually lands them all in the medbay, make Bladestream look like a traitor, and often made Wing Saber feel like an object the Cons used for sinful pleasures. What made it worse, was that Wing Saber could not hide her reactions. Her feelings and moods were always written on her faceplates.

"What do you what, Gears?" Wing Saber asked, her wings lowering like cat's ears in annoyance.

The red and blue minibot rolled over her question like she never said it. "I knew you were hiding something. Shockwave's creations are always loyal to him."

"How many times do I and your superiors have to tell you …" she trailed off for a nanoklik as she reached up to grab a retreating Frenzy by the scruff-bar located on the back of the neck. She would have grabbed Rumble, too, if her other arm wasn't in a brace.

"Oh, frag!" Frenzy whined. If she had been an Autobot, he would've fought his way out of her grasp, but liked the Seeker femme too much to save his plating and risk hurting her. Besides, it wasn't like he had anything to hide. His mission was innocent enough. The worst trouble he was going to get in was the fact he got caught.

"… I'm not a Decepticon? I'm neutral."

Gears smirked. "Wouldn't be the last time a neutral's worked for Megatron in secret, selling information to him. Your visit with the cassetticons proves I'm right."

Wing Saber bristled and tried to protest, but Gears primed his blaster up more. "Nuh, uh, uh!" he said, pointing him blaster at a vulnerable Frenzy, still grinning.

Wing Saber moved Frenzy out of his line of fire behind her chassis, only to hear a second and third blaster prime up. She looked down on her right and saw a green and gray minibot named Brawn pointing a loaded blaster at Frenzy. She looked over her left shoulder and saw an orange and purple minibot named Huffer, his blaster pointed at her wing.

Feeling threatened, Wing Saber slowly pulled Frenzy closer to her chassis, flaring her wings to appear bigger.

"Do you get this scrap all the time?" Frenzy asked, eyeing the end Brawn's blaster.

"The blasters are new." Wing Saber answered.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Seeker," Gears said, "You can either take your little friend and come down nice and easy. Or, we can knock you out and lock you up for resisting. You choice."

Wing Saber looked between the minibots. Due to the brace, she could not use her arm, which meant she had one arm free. But that same arm was holding Frenzy. The loss of that arm meant that her balance was off. It would be very risky to jump off the rafter while to avoid their blasters at such a close range and keep Frenzy safe. She slowly stood up. It was a risk she would have to take. She had trained with both servos tied behind her back before. She just never had another life in the balance, too.

"What is going on here?"

Five helms turned to see a black and white Praxian coming down the hall on the left. His door wings held high, his faceplates and EM field neutral. Out of all the Autobots, Prowl was the hardest for Wing Saber to read. She had to really search both the look in his optics and the feel his spark to gauge his thoughts.

Prowl looked at the minibots who were aiming live blasters at Wing Saber. He looked at Wing Saber, who was holding one of Soundwave's cassettes by its scruff-bar. The minibots were radiating hostility and Wing Saber was in turn, was defensive. Her wings hiked up high tension. The look in her optic said she would defend the cassette at all cost.

This would not end well.

"Why are you aiming live weapons at an unarmed neutral, Gears?" Prowl asked.

"This Seeker is conspiring with the Decepticons!" Gears shouted.

Prowl raised an optic ridge. "That is a tall accusation, Gears. It is unlikely that Wing Saber would work with the Decepticons."

"But she was with the cassette! That is proof enough!"

"There is a higher chance that the cassetticon fell through the vent above." Prowl stated calmly.

"She could have been waiting for him there!"

"Need I remind you that Wing Saber was raised on an organic planet and the only Cybertronian tongue she knew was Seeker Cant? She did not now any other language on our planet before Jazz came along. Wing Saber has since then acquired Iaconian and Kaonite. Although, Soundwave's cassettes know all three languages, I have evidence that proves that Frenzy's contact with Wing Saber is pure infatuation, not to gather intel. Stow your weapons or I will have you thrown in the brig for the intention to cause harm to a neutral under the Prime's protection."

"But sir-"

"Do not question your orders."

Huffer and Brawn reluctantly stowed their blasters. Gears looked at Prowl, then at his comrades, then at Wing Saber and Frenzy. He growled a bit before stowing his own. "My apologies, sir."

Prowl blinked. "I'm not the one needs your apology, Gears."

Gears growled and looked at Wing Saber and said nothing.

"If you have nothing more to say, Gears, I suggest you take your hostilities elsewhere."

"What about the cassette?" Brawn asked.

"Optimus and I will decide what is to be done about Frenzy. You are dismissed."

Brawn and Huffer took their leave and went down the hall parallel with the beam Wing Saber was standing on. Gears lingered a moment longer, just enough to glare and the Seeker femme with a look that said, "this isn't over".

It wasn't until the minibots were some distance down the hall before Wing Saber relaxed. Frenzy let out a noisy sigh.

Wing Saber looked over and noticed that Prowl was still standing in the hall.

"Thanks, Prowl." She said, quietly.

"Thank Red Alert. He alerted me of the trouble. If you had run, and I had found out later about it, or had you been injured, those three would have had more punishment than brig time."

"Okay, trouble's over. Can you put me down now?" Frenzy asked.

"Actually," said Prowl before Wing Saber could say anything, "bring him to my office. I'd like to know what he was going here in the first place."

With that, Prowl walked back the way he came.

Wing Saber ignited her thrusters and slowly descended back to the ground.

"Will you let me go?" Frenzy asked Wing Saber, giving her a puppy-eyed look. "They will do awful things to me!"

She raised an optic ridge at him.

Frenzy deflated, "I guess that's a no."

Wing Saber walked after Prowl, carrying Frenzy by the scruff-bar.

Wing Saber walked down the hall until the hall "T'd" and took the left branch which lead to the offices. Optimus's office was this biggest office at the end of the hall, with Prowl's on the left and Jazz's on the right. Ironhide's was next to Prowl's and Red Alert's was next to Jazz's, although the red and white security officer was almost never in it.

Next to Ironhide, was Ultra Magnus and Elita 1, the femme commander of a team entirely made up of femmes. Ultra Magnus was the commander of the Wreckers, who were the Autobot equivalent of Black Ops. Ironhide was the weapons specialist, Jazz was Optimus's third-in-command and chief spy/saboteur, and Prowl was the second-in-command and head tactician.

Ratchet's office wasn't over here in this wing because he wanted to be close to the medbay, thus his office is literally in the back of the medbay. His quarters were right next to the medbay for the same reason.

Frenzy was adopting a hard exterior as they neared Prowl's office. As Wing Saber entered the office, gone was the teenage, foulmouthed cassetticon. A hardened Decepticon had taken his place. She could feel Rumble in the vents above. Apparently, he was not leaving his brother.

Prowl was already seated at his desk. Optimus was standing to his left, Jazz was seated on the end of the desk, and Red Alert was standing behind Prowl on his right. Ironhide was leaving against the left wall with his arms crossed.

What surprised Wing Saber, was that Bladestream was here as well.

: What are you doing here? : she asked through the bond.

: Ironhide told me to come. Don't know why. : Bladestream said with a shrug.

"Wing Saber," Prowl said, "Give Frenzy to Ratchet, please."

Wing Saber cocked her helm. "Huh?" she said, just the door to the office opened and Ratchet walked in. "Oh." She held Frenzy out to Ratchet.

"Keep him. I don't need be trying to hold him down while I offline his weapons."

Wing Saber was a bit worried about how the Autobots were going to treat Frenzy.

Frenzy began to act like Ratchet was really going to hurt him.

"No, no, don't let 'im near me. Keep him away! Please, please!" he started to squirm, making things difficult for Ratchet.

Ratchet growled, "Hold still!" He grabbed Frenzy and pinned down his arms as Ratchet transformed one of his digits into a tiny cable and inserted it into a port in Frenzy's neck. Frenzy screamed and then became limp as his weapons systems went offline.

Wing Saber could sense Rumble's exasperation at his twin brother. Wing Saber pinched some sensitive wires at the base of Frenzy's neck near his shoulder. Frenzy sprang to life and cried out in actual pain.

"Ow ow ow ow, stop! It hurts!" He clawed at Wing Saber's digit's, but it did nothing more than scratch paint. When she didn't let go, he started cussing in Kaonite.

"Do not act like that." Said Wing Saber.

"Like what?" Wing Saber gave Frenzy a look that rivaled Soundwave's when the cassettes misbehaved.

"Fine." Frenzy said, crossing his arms.

Optimus addressed Wing Saber, "Wing Saber, please put Frenzy on the desk."

Reluctant to let the cassette go, she walked over to Prowl's desk and sat the tiny Con onto its surface and returned to Bladestream's side.

She watched as the Autobots asked Frenzy various questions about why he was here and he was here for. She lost interest in the interrogation and started tracing the pattern of the cream bands on her left wrist, her mind imagining the different shapes the pink petals made.

The petals reminded her of Kung Fu Panda, when Master Oogway died and the peach petals took him away. She was disappointed they never got to watch the third movie in the saga. She wondered if they made more. Maybe if they ever returned to Earth, they could find out and make a Kung Fu Panda marathon.

Prowl's voice snapped her back to reality.

She looked to see him looking at her with displeasure. All optics were on her. She felt her wings drooping.

"Yes…?" Wing Saber asked, confused by the expectant looks.

Optimus looked at Bladestream. Bladestream shook his helm. Prowl sighed. Jazz uncrossed legs. Ironhide shifted. Ratchet crossed his arms. Frenzy's optics darted from bot to bot. Wing Saber retracted her field. They were annoyed with her.

Optimus took a step forward. "Wing Saber, do you feel Frenzy is telling us the truth?"

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Almost as soon as Prowl started to interrogate Frenzy, Wing Saber's attention wavered. She tuned out the world entirely as she traces patterns on her disabled wrist.

Bladestream thought about bringing her attention back to what was going on in the room, but decided to leave her be.

Something was bothering her. It could just be the fact she was in a room full of people, but he didn't think that was right.

Ironhide was pinging him. :: Is she alright? ::

:: She is always daydreaming. Although her lack of concentration lately is bothering me. ::

:: She probably just needs to fly, youngling. Seekers don't do so well when they are cooped up. She seems to be doing pretty well, though. Hopefully Ratchet will take that brace off before she gets snappish. Ain't nothin' like an irritated femme. Her attention span should improve when she takes to the air again. ::

:: She misses home. ::

Ironhide nodded in understanding. :: Wind Dancer has told me a great deal about how much she liked nature. She must have been mighty fond of that organic planet. ::

Bladestream sighed. :: You have no idea. ::

The two mechs were drawn back to the activity in the room with Frenzy shouting.

"Because they feel like the Boss!"

Bladestream noticed that the tiny Con was getting frustrated. He seemed to feel as though he was running in circles and no one believed him.

"You expect us to believe that Soundwave is only interested in them because they feel like him?" asked Prowl.

Frenzy shook his helm. "He can explain it better. All I know is that those two feel just like he does. Maybe they're telepaths like he is, I don't know!" Frenzy threw his arms in the air in frustration and crossed them over his chassis.

Poor cassette. It was obvious to Bladestream that the little guy was being honest.

Optimus and Ratchet looked at each other then looked at Prowl. Prowl leaned on his elbows on his desk. They were probably talking over the comm. They looked at Ironhide. He shrugged.

"Bladestream, what is your opinion on this?" Optimus asked.

Bladestream stroked his beard. What he heard Frenzy saying resounded in his spirit. He did not detect any façades or any lies. The only thing Frenzy was trying to hide was the fact his brother was close by, hidden in the vents above.

As Bladestream thought about Optimus's question, the officers watched as the young triplechanger's optics changed from dark brown to gold.

Jazz was a little disturbed by the change.

- What's wrong, Jazz? - Prowl asked. Jazz was not nervous or unsure very often.

- Wing Saber's optics turned gold when ah found that crystal for ya. She asked if ah was picking it for meh mate. –

- Wing Saber is very observant. I'm sure there is a logical reason their optics change color. – said Prowl, sending a warm smile to his sparkmate.

Jazz grinned a bit. – Everythin' is 'bout logic ta ya, Prowler –

Prowl scowled at the nickname and turned his attention back to Bladestream. The young adult was deep in thought. After a good klik, he seemed to have reached his answer.

Bladestream addressed the officers. "I believe he is telling the truth. His optics do not hold a mask of deceit. Nor is there a fear of being found out. His arguments were spur-of-the-moment, but he stuck to his story and didn't change anything like he was trying to cover up something."

"Impossible!" Red Alert cried, "Cons are not capable of telling the truth!"

Bladestream shook his helm, "That statement is illogical. Decepticons may be prone to and have a history off lying, but it is not impossible for them to tell the truth."

"At least someone believes me!" said Frenzy.

Ratchet sent a private comm to Optimus, :: Optimus, I think I know why Bladestream and Wing Saber's optics change color. ::

:: What is it, old friend? ::

:: I'll tell you later. But I need to know if Wing Saber gets the same answer as Bladestream. ::

Optimus nodded. "Wing Saber, what is your opinion?" Optimus asked. No answer.

Prowl straightened in his chair. "Wing Saber." Wing Saber did not answer. Instead she traced the pattern of her paint job on her immobilized wrist.

Prowl frowned. "Wing Saber." He said, louder than the last time.

This got her attention. Her helm snapped up and she looked around the room. Her field contracted with nervousness and her wings slowly fell at the stares.

"Yes …" she asked tentatively.

Optimus looked to Bladestream. The young mech shook his helm. Wing Saber had not been paying any attention.

Prowl sighed in frustration. She should have been more attentive to her surroundings. Optimus stepped in.

"Wing Saber, do you feel Frenzy is telling you the truth?"

Wing Saber raised an optic ridge and cocked her head a bit. "About what?"

"Concerning his purpose here. Do you think he is telling the truth, or is he lying?"

Wing Saber looked at the cassette and the moment she and Frenzy got optic contact, her optics turned gold as well. Her field brushed against the cassette's and soon Frenzy squirmed under her gaze.

She gave her answer faster than Bladestream. She looked Optimus. "He's not lying," she said with confidence.

Ratchet spoke, "How do you know he is not lying?"

Optimus almost reprimanded the medic.

Wing Saber's wings were low with nervousness. Ratchet could already tell that the young femme's logic processor was locking up from the pressure.

The Seeker shook her helm, "I … I just … know. I … I can feel it. I can't sense a lie."

Wing Saber's cooling fans quietly kicked into gear to cool her frame. Her spark rate had increased. With her nervousness, her optics returned to sapphire.

Ratchet felt like the two had answered honestly. He looked at the Prime and nodded.

"Very well," Optimus said, "then I trust your judgement."

Red Alert just about had a panic attack right there. "WHAT?!" he cried.

Optimus ignored him. "Ironhide, please see to it that Frenzy makes it outside the base. His brother should follow."

"With pleasure, Prime." Ironhide said, picking up Frenzy up the scruff-bar.

"Hey!" Frenzy protested, "What about my weapons?"

Ratchet waved him off. "Soundwave can fix it. I will not have you turning your weapons on anyone here and making more work for me."

Frenzy complained loudly as Ironhide left the office with him in tow.

Optimus looked at everyone else. "The rest of you are dismissed."

The office quickly emptied, leaving only Jazz and Prowl. Wing Saber hung back a bit to see where Red Alert was heading. Seeing him go down the hall towards the center off the base, Wing Saber called out to him.

"Red Alert!"

The mech turned as she caught up with him.

"Do you have cameras in the vents?"

"No," he said, "I've tried to get cameras put in the vents, but bots tell me I'm being paranoid."

"Now might be a good time to get them installed. I think the cassettes are coming in through the vents."

Red Alert leaded forward and held out is servos. "That's what I keep saying! But no one listens to me!"

"Try asking again?" Wing Saber asked.

Red Alert paused. "Maybe…"

Wing Saber shrugged, "It's worth another try, right?"

"I guess so. They seemed to listen to you. If I say you said it, maybe they'll listen. I knew those cassetticons were getting in somehow!" he said, running off to the security room.

Wing Saber smirked and shook her helm. No doubt Red Alert is going to give Prowl a hard time about cameras in the vents.

Wing Saber frowned. What bothered her, was that Soundwave was interested in her and Bladestream. What did he want with them? She'd have to ask Bladestream what was said earlier when she tuned them out.

But right now she was low on energy. She needed energon and a nap. She went in the opposite direction towards the rec room to retrieve a cube and get to her quarters to nap.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Ironhide had not been very gentle in depositing Frenzy over the wall that surrounded the Autobot base. The black mech told him to get lost and shot at him a few times. Frenzy took off toward Kaon and Rumble soon joined up with him. They used their bond with Soundwave to ask for a ground bridge once they were out of jammer range.

When Soundwave sent the ground bridge, the twin cassettes returned to their places inside Soundwave's tape deck within his chest. Upon docking, all knowledge and memories that the cassettes had were seen by the silent mech.

As Soundwave viewed Frenzy's memories, he watched as Optimus asked the black and silver triplechanger and the cyan femme Seeker's opinions about Frenzy's innocence. He felt Frenzy's feelings about being under their stares. While the silent Con was a bit upset with rumble not getting the two Seekers' medical records ([sorry, Boss]), it did not really matter now. His suspicions about the blue femme's potential was correct. And the triplechanger passed with "flying colors".

They would get no training with the Autobots. There were no telepaths among them. He would need to establish dominance and earn their respect before he could train them properly. Megatron would not like it, but something told Soundwave that these youngsters were the key to ending the conflict between Optimus and Megatron. Soundwave had a feeling that the High Council wanted Orion and Megatron's friendship to end and with it, the Revolution. He told Megatron that day that going before the Council was a bad idea. But his stubborn friend went anyway. Megatron's growing thirst for power didn't help matters. He knew Megatron's spark still bled and longed for Optimus Prime, but his pride and hurt would not allow the gladiator to pursue the Prime.

It was highly unlikely the two Seekers would leave the shelter of the Autobot base, so he would have to wait. Wait for the right moment to establish his dominance as the highest ranking telepath. That opportunity would not come for a while.

As his symbiots rested, he began to plan.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

First chapter complete. Please let me what you think! *gives readers puppy-eyes*