Predatory

The Gala pt. 4

Several more rounds of Praxus hold 'em were played, and while the party around Aphelion's table had gotten completely drunk and out of hand, those around the table still had quite a few brain circuits left. 

Cobalt had continued to glare at "Cimmerian", for some reason the mech still hadn't gotten the word 'no' through his unusually thick skull. 

Rubyfire, the femme next to Aphelion, had gotten obscenely drunk, and was currently getting rather handsy with said mech. Aphelion himself didn't seem to mind, but after checking a gilded and overly ornate stopwatch, he gently pushed her off and whispered something into her audial that made her gasp in delight, then join the rest of the party.

"Right then," Aphelion's tone changed from warm and jovial, to serious in a sparkbeat. "Down to business."

Everyone's expressions changed to grim, and "Cimmerian" clenched his jaw. 

"Our current situation remains stable, neither the Autobots, or Decepticons have been alerted to our presence as of late-"

Several growls and mumblings were heard around the table, many bristled at the words 'Autobot' and 'Decepticon'. Jadestep cuddled closer into Cimmerian's side, he could feel her shudder at the thought of the 'vermin' as they were known in this circle.

"Yes, friends, I know that it is a disconcerting thought. But we must think about it. It is our duty to return the natural order to our beloved planet, and many more! For every shape has a purpose!"

"Every shape has a purpose!" Everyone chorused.

A stab of unease ran through Tarn's veins, though he didn't show it. 

"The Council has remained silent, I have not received any word from them in many many years. However, there is no need to fear. They are working diligently in the dark that we may once again see our world return to her former glory. We must be patient, and we must be wise. There is much division of our kind at present, and we must not allow this division to kill us all."

"Agreed, although I wish we could just kill them all now." Garnet added. He took a slow sip of his drink and glared into the glass. "Get this done and over with, I miss the golden ages when everything made sense and we didn't have to meet in the shadows."

"Me too, I miss the old cities and the peace. Though I can't say I miss the Senate." Cloudcover said, a small smile forming along her faceplate. She hadn't spoken much the entire game, though she was far from bad at poker. 

"Bunch of lily-sparked, dirty, one minded sons of-"

"Garnet, there will be no need to finish that sentence we are a cultured people that were not raised in sewers." Aphelion said sharply he eased himself back into his seat. "While I have not heard from them directly, I have heard this. One of their associates managed to slip into the Decepticon base, though I have yet to hear what they took-"

Aphelion stopped mid-sentence, and glanced around himself, before gesturing for everyone to lean in closer. 

"-though I hear it could be enough to wipe out the rebels once and for all!"

Small gasps were heard all around the table, some began whispering excitedly to one another.

"You mean," Cloudcover said suddenly. "We could go back to Cybertron? The real Cybertron? With everything back the way it was?"

Aphelion nodded, "Except with all of us as even higher in power than before, and no Senate to get in our way!"

Tarn inaudibly swallowed the ball of ionized high grade that was trying to come back up. Suddenly the two drinks he'd had tonight weren't at all sitting well in his chasis, and his entire body suddenly felt the need to change shape. Very quickly, and for at least a minute.

"That's wonderful news! I can't wait to rebuild my palace, on that beautiful cliff that former-senator Sentinel took from me all those years ago. I'm still angry about it. Good thing he's dead now, thanks to the Abbati Jury." Jadestep said thoughtfully. She took Tarn's servo and began to meticulously examine it, pulling his fingers apart and rotating it as she did so. "Whatever became of them anyway?"

"Well, they're the ones to infiltrated the Decepticon base, first of all. Second of all, I believe they have been finding those of our number who have been scattered to the winds whether through deployment or fear of the rebel forces." Aphelion replied, as a new drink was placed in front of him. "Anyway, now that business is underway, perhaps we should talk of something for light-sparked, eh? Cloudcover, I heard you recently built a new Opera house on one of your planets!"

"Oh, I did!"

Cloudcover went on to describe the new Opera House, christened the Red Veil. She was looking for an act to kick off opening night, but was having difficulty finding anyone who was truly good in the arts. It seemed that a four million year war was taking its toll on the art community. Who knew?

This kicked off a whole other conversation that reminisced about old Cybertron, when Aphelion paused mid-sentence. He swallowed hard, before rushing out of his seat and into the crowd of utterly wasted mecha.

Those occupying the table glanced at each other for a moment, before chalking his disappearance to his drink not sitting well with him. 

But the minutes stretched into an hour, and an hour into two hours. Tarn had grown so bored of the conversation he had taken to watching the trapeze artists performing in the vaulted glass ceiling. One had several long ribbons that flowed behind her beautifully, she seemed to fly through the air with all of the grace of a seeker, though they hadn't any wings (airialists were always grounders without altmodes, otherwise it would ruin their performance). They twirled, and spiraled and flipped as though it was easier than taking a short stroll, though he could see their faces were screwed up in extreme concentration. The longer he watched, the more he realized how similar the movements of airialism were to ballet. This made him think back to the conversation he had with Dreadflight many months ago before they had left Cybertron, and the excruciating training that happened for years behind the scenes. He wondered if the same was true for the airialists that were swinging from ribbons and trapeze bars... 

Suddenly, alarms blared, and red lights swathed the room. Tarn could only helplessly bear witness as the beautifully ribbon-ed femme's focus was lost, and she missed the bar by a scratch. She fell from the sky like a bird with clipped wings, before landing on a card table next to Tarn's with a sickening thump. Her biolights flickered once, then went out. Not long after, her energon began to pool around her head, and a terrible purple river began to trickle down the sides of the table. The room erupted into screams, guards began to rush into the room from side doors and tried to corral the crowds. 

Jadestep clung to Tarn for support, a servo pressed against her mouth in horror as she stared at the crumpled body of the airialist. He wrapped his arm around her to shield her from the view and he led her out of the party hall into the fresh outdoor air. 

"I would say that the party's over," Jadestep murmured, trying to make light of the situation. "I do hope Aphelion's alright." 

"I'm sure he's okay, though it was a rather selfish move of him to take leave and then leave us all for dead. What a gentlemech."

Jadestep chuckled at this, and looked him over again while biting her lip, "I don't suppose you're free tonight? But I seem to be having some trouble remembering how to get back to my hotel."

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Hello All! Guess who has been uploading extremely short chapters rather sporadically lately? I know they look pretty awful, but I'm trying to get the entire first draft of this book finished before the end of the school year, lofty goal I know, but I really want to start off summer break with a fresh slate! ;) So look forward to that, but don't hold me to it because I suck at deadlines. 

***IMPORTANT PLEASE READ THIS!!!! A NEW CHAPTER WILL NOT BE POSTED THIS SUNDAY!!!!!!! I WILL BE OFF ON HOLIDAY AND I WILL NOT HAVE TIME TO WRITE IT THIS WEEK. MY APOLOGIES!!!!************

Anyway, that's basically everything! Hope you all had a great week!

Thanks for reading!

Keep it classy! Make Good Choices! God Bless!

~swordsandroses