The Start of Something Interesting...

[lastonepercent]

The day was calm, with no recent Decepticon attacks, and none suspected to be incoming for some time.  The cons were too busy licking their wounds from the last battle, one that the Autobots had decidedly come out ahead on.  The celebrations had gone on long into the night and the recreation room was already a mess.

Thus, it was the perfect chance for a lone Autobot to slip casually outside.

Mirage had no shift currently scheduled, so he was free to spend his time as he pleased.  He certainly made no move to hide his departure, greeting his comrades in the halls on the way out, but the box in his hands remained unopened despite any passing curiosity.  It was quietly shifted into subspace before long, and  the former noble shifted into alt mode just as smoothly when he reached the doors.  Despite the completely inappropriate earthen race car mode, the mech had little trouble self-adjusting before driving off into the forest covering the mountain, for business unknown...

Comments

[lastonepercent]

"Likely."

Closing long fingers around the cube, Mirage reluctantly slid his hand out of the tarp to bring the cube to his lips for a deep draught-

Oh.

Oh.

He tilted his head back, switching from drinking to gulping it down like a starving mech - which he practically was, engine running hard and fast with half-frozen fuel lines. It wasn't real warmth that spread through him as the energy hit his fuel tank, but it was good enough.

[cliffjumper]

Cliffjumper was actually mostly stuck staring at the energon in the remaining cube shift around as he tilted it from side to side. His the valve in his tank is opening and closing, a muted, clicking demand for attention, but he was quite caught by the glittering slide of the liquid, and wasn't exactly sure what it was he was hearing.

Not with the noise of Mirage throwing back energon like he was staring distracting him, as well as the colour of the energon, the noise of the wind outside on the tarp, the faint heat trapped between him and Mirage and the pressure of the rock up against the bottom of his feet...

[lastonepercent]

Mirage didn't stop until he'd drank the entire thing down, going so far as to disperse the cube for the last joule of energy it provided.

Rather crude, and smacking of desperation in the best of circumstances, but Mirage could hardly care at this point.

Optics flush with the renewal of energy, Mirage vented a heavy sigh of relief before slumping back down against Cliffjumper. His engines kicked up a notch, reenergized enough to try pumping out more heat.

[cliffjumper]

"Hey--- don't fraggin'--- here," grumbling and squirming under Mirage's weight, Cliffjumper twisted around to push the second cube at Mirage. That he should probably drink it got lost somewhere in the slower processing of the cold creeping in, even with their little bubble of vague warmth helping stave it off.

How long had they even been sitting here..?

Longer than he'd thought, Cliffjumper noted as he focused on the chronometer on his HUD, which was more terrifying than if it'd been shorter and it just felt like longer.

"Drink that too and sit the slag up straigh---" cutting himself off, Cliffjumper scowled at the covered opening, hand tightening around the gun he'd pulled out far earlier and forgotten about at some point.

Had that been something..?

He was pretty sure it had.

[lastonepercent]

Mirage vented heavily for a moment, simply enjoying the primitive pleasure of being fueled. He slowly sat back up, easing off Cliffjumper while eyeing the offered cube, honestly tempted-

But the sounds of Cliffjumper's system were increasingly obvious, and he nudged the cube back toward the minibot.

"I said get two out for us both, not just for me. Drink it."

[cliffjumper]

The push of the cube against his side almost distracted him, because energon, but he was sure he'd heard something, so instead he pushed it away, optics narrowing.

"Shhhhh! I can fraggin' get... uh, get some later. There's somebody---" Waving his gun towards the opening, enough to start to unravel their "cosy" parachute-blanket cover, Cliffjumper stumbled determinedly to his feet.

[lastonepercent]

"No, Cliffjumper, now," Mirage hissed, only to let out a quiet shriek when Cliffjumper slipped out of the tarp, letting in a wave of cold and chill. He futilely clutched the tarp around him, temperature plummeting.

"C-Cliffjumper Why?" he moaned, utterly betrayed.

"There is nothing out there!"

[cliffjumper]

"Fraggin' scrap, Mirage, I'm pretty slaggin' sure there actually---"

"Is, yeah!"

The tarp was ripped away, and Cliffjumper fired even as the leg Vortex had thrown out caught him in the side, sending the minibot flying across the relatively small cavern and slamming into the wall.

Whatever noise he'd made beyond the clatter as he hit the rocky wall was smothered by the loud clang and the shriek of a second blaster, ending with Cliffjumper on the floor of the cave.

... he needed to... his fingers twitched once in an attempt at reaching his gun, but he was fighting against the angry inexorability of stasis lock - his frame had had enough, and Cliffjumper didn't have enough concentration to understand the damage report flickering at him on the HUD.

He'd just have to hope it wasn't anything bad...

When Breakdown nudged the downed mini from the cave's opening while Vortex aimed for Mirage, Cliffjumper didn't move, and there was a faint trail of energon crawling across the frozen ground before it slowly started to crystallize.

[lastonepercent]

"Cliffjumper!" Mirage jerked under the tarp, watching in a dazed sort of horror as the minibot's senses proved right in the worst way possible.

"Shoulda paid more attention, Autobot," Breakdown huffed smugly, leaving Cliffjumper's downed frame where he lay.

"Don't even move. He's totally scrap."

Mirage groaned, not even the flare of battle-alarms and fear for Cliffjumper was enough to break entirely through the fog the cold had cast over him.

The gun pointing at his center mass didn't help.

[cliffjumper]

Maybe the reason the war had gone on for so long was at least one side's tendency to not check if their kills were actually kills. Though, admittedly, a stasis-locked frame suffering under the effects of low energon and injured to boot probably wasn't the best frame of reference for checking a kill or not.

Which was probably why, when the Autobots that had been on the mission the trip had been for came on the cave a bit later, Bee and Jazz thought they'd had to report a(t least one) casuality at first.

Luckily, Cliffjumper wasn't offlined.

Just very, very cooled down and stasis-locked.

Not that it in any way felt particularly fun coming back online, even if what he was slammed with first thing wasn't a scrolling list of injuries and an angrily blinking fuel gauge warning.

No, just a scrolling list of repaired injuries and a full tank.

It still took over a breem to properly boot up and get everything in order, and he came online in confusion (couldn't figure out why things were fixed) and flailingly ready to attempt to defend himself (both stuck on his last aware moment and 'DECEPTICONS').

"Mirage!" Jolting upright, Cliffjumper almost fell of the berth, barely keeping on it by pure reflex of grabbing the edge and First Aid being close enough to dart up to the circuit slab and pull him back.

"Where's---"

"Not here," First Aid said quietly, voice warm with sympathy as he shook his helm, "there'll be a debriefing later. For now... how do you feel?"

Cliffjumper just stared. How the frag could the slagging medic ask him how he felt?!

[lastonepercent]

Mirage was very, very lucky they wanted him alive.

He couldn't really resist as they hauled him out of the cave and onto the ship - the moment he pulled him outside, his systems began to crash from the sharp increase in cold. He blacked out in the snow, and came back online minutes later, dumped in a cell on board.

It would have been short work to deal with him while he was offline, or while he was still back in the cave, for that matter. For a long while, he didn't even care: it was so warm.

His senses began to come back right about the time they arrived at the Decepticon base; enough so that Mirage could start preparing himself. Dazedly activating the subroutines that Jazz had written himself would hide away and block off vital Autobot intelligence from attempted hacks or Soundwave's probing. For a while, at least. He'd been captured in the past, and would probably be captured again, provided he survived the interrogation.

Decepticon intelligence was aware of both his mod and his status of Special Operations Agent, if not his rank in the special subdivision, after all.

...But as he was quick to learn, it was news to him that they were aware of his previous primary function as well.

And intended to use it.

[cliffjumper]

He should've insisted Mirage shut up. He should've talked with Mirage over the comm. for frag's sake, not talking out loud so the Cons could've easily heard!

It didn't matter that Prowl, Prime and Jazz had all in various ways after the debriefing pointed out that given his cooled-down state it wasn't strange he'd acted and reacted as he that.

Cliffjumper still felt he ought to have done things differently, and better.

If he had, maybe Mirage wouldn't have been captured.

Of course, if he had, he might have actually been dead too - but he might have been able to nail one of the slagging Decepticreeps before they got him, too!

---

Intended to use it, indeed. If nothing else to deprive the Autobots of the sort of help a priest could give, but they'd take advantage of it as much as they could first.

"I would suggest you cooperate, Autobot. It'll keep you alive longer," Megatron said coolly, eying the slim former noble mostly for hints of what he knew the mech had been.

And that "for longer" wasn't "forever". When they were done, or thought they might lose control of the situation, well...

[lastonepercent]

The only thing that could possibly be worse than being shoved in front of Megatron himself, was facing Soundwave and his mental probing.

...Or Vortex, but. Well.

Mirage could work with this. The longer the Warlord had reason to keep him alive, the better.

Blinking golden optics and straightening his struts, gathering as much dignity as a prone and chained mech could, Mirage did what most Autobots would find unthinkable: be inclined his helm in a faint bow.

"While you may have so succinctly pointed out our opposing allegiances, my duty to all Cybertronians remains intact."

He laced the words with accents, formal titles and glyphs of Old Cybertronian, the harmonics of his voice slipping from 'snobbish' Towers to the unconscious regalia of the priesthood. For all appearances, he sounded sincere.

Mirage spread his bound hands as far as he was able, stubbornly determined to wear the energon chains with as much grace as he had once worn the finest of silk mesh.

"What spiritual needs can this humble Priest of Primus assuage for your mechs, Warlord of Kaon?"


If Megatron wanted a Priest, he would get one. And eventually regret it, if Mirage had anything to do with it.

[cliffjumper]

Mirage's changing dialect and choice of words was at first met with simply a little tilt of Megatron's helm, though as Mirage continued to speak, an upper optic ridge arched.

And rose higher with every word, Megatron's expression going from faintly threatening to dryly... amused?

At least there wouldn't be much time spent threatening Mirage to cooperate. For now, anyway.

"Indeed. Your willingness to provide proper care for the children of Cybertron is duly noted, Flame of Cybertron." Megatron's smile wasn't even pretending at the courteousness his words were - it was all teeth, diamond-razor sharp.

"And while we'll discuss a proper rite of sanctuary in due time, for now, given your admirable graciousness, it will be enough for you to tend to the individual needs of the mechs here. You'll be provided accomodations, of course." Another sharp, not-really-amused smile.

Mirage might actually be surprised to find his cell would turn out to have been equipped better than would normally be provided, but it would, indeed, be a cell.

[lastonepercent]

Despite the falsely courteous tone, Mirage kept his expression pleasantly neutral and abiding. The use of one of his (many) proper titles prompted another bow of the helm.

"Of course. I would be glad to oblige any Cybertronians in need."

You may have destroyed the Senate, Megatron, but the High Priest of Primus once had to smile in their faces and work with their often ridiculous demands. Somehow without breaking his vows.

If he could avoid triggering Megatron's temper, he felt he might be able to survive.

"I hope I will be able to accommodate them all."

He'd simply have to be crafty, as he had no intentions of providing Megatron will a full rite of sanctuary. It was what the other Decepticons might ask for that was in question...

Being in a cell was expected; being in a semi-comfortable cell was a pleasant surprise. He'd have to see if he could get away with asking the guards for the barest of religious supplies, since he was sure to be there for a while at least.

[cliffjumper]

Ratchet's final evaluation was that there'd be no lingering complications from his and Mirage's stay on Earth's freezer - no medical complications, anyway. Cliffjumper's worry, expressed as increased irritability and frustration when they didn't get Mirage back quickly, was certainly a lingering "complication".

He'd said during the debriefing that he was pretty sure the Decepticreeps had been aiming for Mirage specifically a few times by now, and while no one said anything beyond 'we'll look into it', he'd absolutely caught the glance Prime, Jazz and Prowl had directed at each other.

Bee didn't tease, so at least he could vent at his friend when he needed to - except he wasn't sure Bumblebee actually knew about Mirage being a priest, and since that was part of the reason he was... concerned, he couldn't even say everything.

It wasn't just about his crush on the fragging noble, after all, and he refused to go talk to Tracks about it, even if he knew the 'priest' part!

[lastonepercent]

Mirage was surprised how quickly it started.

Oh, there were the usual gawkers and gloaters, of course. That happened any time there was a Autobot prisoner, which only got worse when there was someone of any meaningful rank involved. Mirage, being a spy, was used to the particular brand of hate directed toward 'sneak-thieves' like himself.

But with his new 'rank' and title apparently open knowledge among the 'cons - and Megatron's dubious 'protection', since he was wanted alive and functional...

Well, they couldn't do more than throw things, and Frenzy and Rumble quickly got told off by the guards for it. A few Combaticons and Stunticons came by to stare - the Stunticons, he assumed, because were war-born, had never even seen a Priest of Primus. The Combaticons...Vortex made him nervous, but he could almost swear he heard Brawl murmuring a butchered version of a prayer under his breath.

Odd.

Mirage calmly kept himself seated in the center of the cell, meditating and maintaining his energy for the inevitable moment when someone worked up the struts to get let in the cell.

...Then Thundercracker showed up.

[cliffjumper]

"Why the frag ain't we doin' anything!?" Cliffjumper growled, throwing his hands up in the air as the door closed behind him and Bumblebee. Bee didn't just at the outburst, just grimaced and shrugged.

"You know these things take time, sometimes... but," holding up a hand when Cliffjumper whirled around, mouth already open and vocaliser clicking, Bee frowned, "but Megatron's being weird about an exchange or anything this time around, yeah. And you know if we can't get him to agree to some sort of hostage negotiation, planning any rescue is gonna take time."

Cliffjumper fairly hissed and muttered something about how they couldn't be sure Mirage wouldn't crack - or wouldn't willingly hand information over, and he just shook his helm.

He knew Cliffjumper didn't actually mean that, not as a serious accusation considering the worry he could easily tell was right there underneath the frustration (and part of the reason that caused it). Cliffjumper's temper and paranoia just got the better of him sometimes.

"Don't worry, it'll be okay. You'll get to make eyes at him soon enough," Bumblebee said with a grin which only turned into laughter at Cliffjumper's yell - even when he had to dodge a datapad thrown at him.

[lastonepercent]

For a long moment, the Priest and the mildest member of the commanding Trine stared at each other. The Seeker seemed to be making a decision - probably to be the first to actually approach spy for something resembling a rite.

"...Welcome to my humble abode. What can I do for you?" Mirage smiled faintly, spreading his hands out.

"Can it." Thundercracker snapped, motioning to the guard. Letting out a long-suffering sigh, the guard unlocked the door and closed it again after the blue jet stepped inside.

From his spot seated on the floor, Mirage resisted the urge to move away or flinch. He didn't really think Thundercracker would be the type to attack a prisoner...

"Well. Let's see what you got."

"...Anything specific?"

Thundercracker snorted, sitting himself down on the floor with a huff. Mirage attempting to overpower him wasn't a worry - the spy was much to lithe to do much damage to a Seeker directly in front of and aware of him.

"Something basic."

Well then. Perhaps Thundercracker had been the one to draw the short wire. Inclining his helm gracefully, Mirage dimmed his optics and began a very basic, simple Rite of Tranquility.

[cliffjumper]

Mirage would've nearly reached to the end when the air just outside of the cell's door twisted with a hum, and Skywarp appeared - he'd have warped right into the cell if he wasn't expressly forbidden to do just that.

He might have ignored it anyway, but he'd had no indication that Thundercracker was in danger. The other Seeker had just consistently been rebuffing his pokes over the comm. for well over a breem now!

"---the frag is takin' so slaggin' long..." huffing, Skywarp kicked the wall beside the door, golden optics narrowing with definitive focus at the scene in front of him, "... huh, apparently you ain't a fraud or anythin'. I suppose Megatron'll be happy for that!"

Skywarp's laughter, then, wasn't particularly nice, but then that was basically Skywarp's default state.

[lastonepercent]

Mirage only twitched from his spot on the floor at Skywarp's arrival, voice barely hitching - and he certainly didn't stop. The meditation for any rite was deeply distracting.

And apparently, being involved in a rite and falling under it's effects was distracting as well, because the blue seeker's reaction was even less that Mirage's, not even moving at Skywarp's appearance or kick to the wall.

...Or maybe completely ignoring Skywarp was Thundercracker's default reaction. Impossible to tell immediately.

Ailerons flicking, Thundercracker cracked a red optic open, helm tilting back toward his trine mate.

"Seems that way. Now sit down and shush. I might actually be enjoying this."

[cliffjumper]

Skywarp sighed - a long, loud and definitely rude burst of static before he actually did take a seat on the berth in the cell with all the relaxed familiarity as if it was a proper room or his own berth.

"Fine, fine, whatever you say, TC." Waving a hand in the air, Skywarp eyed Mirage narrowly but there wasn't actually any easily readable emotion. Just a stare before he sat back, stretched his spread legs out, and crossed his arms over his cockpit.

Basically taking up as much space as possible while doing as asked and not quite disturbing Mirage and Thundercracker's little goings-on.

[lastonepercent]

Not quite was apparently just enough.

While Thundercracker looked grumbly for a moment, Mirage only continued his incantations at a stubbornly persistent pace, droning out the noise from the jet's careless entrance.

Slowly, the both of them resettled, Thundercracker's twitchy wing flaps relaxing back into a less defensive position. Mirage was oblivious, but Skywarp would probably be at the correct angle to catch their content little twitches.

Simply sitting there would even be enough to potentially begin to calm even a interrupting bystander...

[cliffjumper]

If he'd left the moment he felt the energy settle, he wouldn't have been affected, but he was staying, he told himself, to make sure the Autobot didn't do anything funny.

And maybe because it was nice to see Thundercracker so slagging relaxed.

But yes, that meant Skywarp ended up drawn into it as well, though remaining with a strangely attentive stare at Mirage, regardless of the easing tension from the rest of the Seeker's chassis.

[lastonepercent]

Slowly, over long minutes, the chanting song faded out. Most ended more abruptly or naturally; but the rites of Tranquility or Peace were gentle in every aspect, up to their very conclusions.

Mirage fell silent, and remained in his seated pose, even after gold optics relit properly. Thundercracker took longer to come out of it, shaking his helm with a grumble that sounded forced.