PROLOGUE
--Mars--
Prowl stood in the center of what had once been Outpost Three, one of the Secret Order's five known bases. All around him were computers with wiped data, equipment that was obsolete... all in all, nothing of any note.
They had been too late. No doubt upon hearing of what had gone down at the Floating Fortress, the Decepticons stationed here had evacuated as soon as possible, knowing the Autobots would soon be at their doorstep.
Prowl grimaced to himself. If only they had come here a month earlier, then they would've been able to put a stop to the operations taking place here. After the defeat of the Heralds of Unicron, Prowl had approached Elita-One with the information recovered from Outpost One, the Secret Order's presence here on Mars being among it. However, Elita had larger concerns at the time, mainly regarding the whereabouts of Optimus Prime, and had Prowl postpone any endeavors concerning Outpost Three in favor of searching for Prime.
Well, a month had now passed. Optimus Prime was still missing and Mars had been abandoned. No progress had been made in either respect.
Prowl clenched his fist in anger. On the one hand, he shouldn't have been mad at Elita for prioritizing Optimus over all else. Not only was he their leader, but he was also Elita's sparkmate. It was only natural she would be concerned for him more than anything.
But at the same time, Prowl did not believe that one should let one's feelings for another get in the way of what needed to be done. He himself had made that mistake once, and he regretted it still to this day.
The mission came first. Everything and everyone else would have to wait.
Unfortunately, Prowl realized, not everyone shared that belief. In fact, in the past seven months, he had seen more and more relationships and strong connections form where there had been none for nearly a thousand years. He wasn't necessarily opposed to it -- after all, the war was over -- but there was still a lot more work to be done. And if others intended on getting in his way....
Prowl was broken from his thoughts when he heard someone approach him from behind. Turning around, he saw a black and gold mech standing in the doorway, arms folded over his chest.
"Crosswise," Prowl said. "You got my call."
"Evidently," his agent replied coolly.
Prowl decided to let the snippy remark slide. There were more important matters at hand. "What were you able to gather on Earth?"
"Not as much as I would have liked. All of the Machination bases I could find were abandoned. All data on their computers were either wiped or corrupted. Say what you will about humans, but they know how to cover their tracks."
"Not unlike the Secret Order," Prowl muttered with a grimace. "Were you able to find anything of note?"
Crosswise hesitated. "Nothing... concrete. I did come across some hidden labs with some... interesting equipment."
"Such as...?"
"Like, organic materials. Wood, bark, even tissue...."
Prowl raised an optic. "At a Machination lab? Why would they have those materials if they were trying to replicate us?"
Crosswise shrugged. "Beats me. I couldn't find much more beyond that."
"Interesting." Rubbing his chin, Prowl looked around the deserted room. Could Scorponok have some connection to the Secret Order? He had been the only Herald absent at the Fortress on Nimbus. Did the Order's hand reach as far enough as Earth and all that had went down there?
Perhaps there was more to this than he had realized.
Turning back to Crosswise, he said, "Continue your investigations on Earth but be prepared for future orders. I need to sort this out before I can even begin to figure out where to go from here."
"How can we go anywhere from here?" Crosswise asked. "We don't have any leads."
"Maybe not. But sometimes, in order to go forward... you have to take a few steps back."
THE GREATER GOOD
Part 1: Practice to Deceive
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