Give Hot Rod a Little More Time?

Having come out of his office, Orion Pax is carrying a few datapads with him that he's looking over, while the other hand holds a mug of heated energon. The mech is handling both items with care as he is still adjusting to his new frame as he tries to move it carefully down the hallway.
Arcee happens to be in the hallway when she spots Pax approaching in her direction. "Need a hand?" she asks helpfully. "You look like you're about to take up juggling."
"Maybe juggling, or have Wheeljack graft more arms to me." Orion offers with a small smile. "So I see you decided to stay here instead of running off to stay at the hotel." he says in a light tone. At least he's in a little better spirits than he was last cycle. "How are you adjusting?"
"Yeah, well, that situation was not quite as sustainable as I originally thought," Arcee admits. "Things have been going really well! Brought a new recruit to sign on and meet Prowl. Also found someone to teach me how to brawl melee-style, which I've been looking to do for some time." She puts one hand on her hip, looking mildly frustrated. "Can you believe, I have trouble finding mechs who will spar with me??"
"They know of your secret ninja abilities, Arcee." Orion offers in good humor as he continues to walk, allowing Arcee to tag along if she wants. "But if you found a teacher, it's no longer an issue, is it?" he starts to ask and then shrugs. "We took in another recruit a few cycles ago - her name's Ariel." There's a slight pause at the mention of the dancer, but he contuinues. "She was saying she needed assistance with training too." he admits, his lips turning into a slight frown. "Zeta seems to be quick to sign them up and send them off with minimal training." He pauses at one of the command stations and hands off a couple of the pads to the receptionist. "Make sure these get to Zeta and attach a note that I agree to the processing of criminal charges against Hot Rod." his statement comes with a shake of his head and a sigh.
Arcee walks along with Pax, nodding. "Ariel, hm? Haven't met her yet...my new sign-up is a miner by the name of Exodus. From Kaon, too," she notes. As Orion brings up Hot Rod, her cheerful mood evaporates instantly, leaving a worried expression. "It's finally come to that, has it?" she asks sadly. Back in the days of the uprising, when Arcee discovered that Hot Rod had an active warrant for his arrest, she thought nothing of it to immediately give him fair warning. But now, if Orion has finally given up on Rod, maybe it's just too late for him to change.
"I went to him last night." Orion admits. "I had to see it for myself. Nyon has turned into a Decepticon recruitment ground. He even had a Decepticon agent working as patrol in the city. When I confronted him about the supplies that he had just recieved from the Cons being stolen.. correction.. plundered from a Autobot ship, he didn't care, as long as it was in Nyon." Pax's hand crushes the datapad in his hand, pieces of the liquid crystal display falling to the floor, along with the remains of his mug, energon spilled to the floor. He doesn't recognize his own strength in this new frame and it shows. "Scrap!" he curses, and kneels down to start trying to clean up the pieces.
"Zeta wants him arrested on terrorism charges. Not only for accepting items from the Decepticons that were taken by force but allowing Nyon to be a fertle recruiting ground for the Decepticons. There.. was a lot of Con symbols down there. They may not actively be holding the city, but it would only take a token force to take them down. Zeta plans on sending in a force to take the city to prevent that from happening. I was hoping Zeta was wrong. That I could question him on his orders. And I couldn't. He was right. Hot Rod is as close to a Decepticon as any Con I've ever met."
Arcee startles a bit as Orion makes short work of a datapad without even trying particularly hard. "Oh, dear," she exclaims, which could very easily summarize the entire situation in general. "I just can't believe he's strayed so far from his original intentions, because when I first met him, he wasn't that way at all. I mean, he could understand /how/ the lower castes could be drawn in by Megatron, but he also seemed to understand why it's dangerous to stray too far into that line of thinking. And now he'll probably face an execution squad or something. What an idiot." She sounds almost like she's going to cry.
"I've done all I can to tell him not to go through with what he's done, Arcee." Orion at worst sounds.. disappointed. The large mech finishes cleaning up his mess and moves to dump it all in a rubbish bin. "He claims that the Senate and Zeta has given them no support, but that can't be true, can it?" he asks, confusion forrowing his features. "I've seen the reports. I mean, that's what Zeta promised, that we would all move forward together. That we wouldn't repeat the mistakes of the past." For a moment, it seems Orion wavers but then there's a firm shake of his head. "No, it has to be something else."
"Well, Rod has some crazy notions, but I have never known him to be a liar," Arcee notes. "So if he says that Prime and the Senate have forsaken Nyon for other polities then he is probably telling the truth. Question is, though, is that any good excuse to accept Decepticon 'help'? And the obvious answer is no."
"It's not that I think he's lying.." Orion admits. "But I think he's come to rely too much upon what has been supplied to him from his new-found friends, and let it get into his processors in more ways than he cares to admit. Though you are correct." Pax draws out an exhaust and shakes his head as he rises to his feet and dusts off his hands. "I should find a way to observe the situation for myself without the obvious calling of attention to myself."
"I'm not very good at sneaking, either, under most circumstances. But I'll bet someone from the Intel division could manage it." Arcee stands there looking saddened. "...Of course, once this hits Zeta's desk, he's probably not going to waste any time in picking him up. So further observation might not even be necessary."
Orion offers a tight smile. "Beaurcracy at it's finest. There's a reason why I did not take this information directly to Zeta." he responds. "It gives me time to make my own observations of the situation. And then if I need to go back and correct myself.. I'll be able to. But, I still have seen too much as it stands."
Arcee nods. "If...if he doesn't listen to /you/, then he isn't going to listen to anyone, you know," she notes. "He holds you in higher regard than anyone else. So if he doesn't change his mind pretty soon..."
"I know, Arcee. I know." As if Orion doesn't have enough going on, saving Hot Rod's hide is not supposed to be so high on the list, but Arcee seems to want to push it up there. "I'll see what I can do. Is there anything else I can help with?"
Poor Orion. Arcee knew she was stressing him out by bringing up Rod so much, but as completely stupid as Rod has proven himself to be, she's relieved that there may still be time for him to come to his senses. The warrant may be the nudge in the right direction that Rod needs. "No, that's okay." She manages a smile of encouragement. "...It's going to be fine, alright?"
Forever the optimist, even when all the chips are down, Orion nods his head. "Yeah, I think so, Arcee. Just make yourself at home. And no inviting guests over for wild parties." there's a chuckle before the mech finishes placing what was left of the pads where they needed to be. "I need to go take care of a few things. Have you found a roommate yet?" he asks. "I know it's tight quarters, so it's best to pick one now before you're assigned one later."
"Oh yes, my wild parties." Arcee only wishes she had that sort of life. "Hm...roommate situation, I'm still working that out." Maybe this Ariel might be interested, if she couldn't get her other choice interested in the arrangement. "Give me a call on the comm if you need anything, I'm usually around the base if not on patrol."
"Thanks, Arcee. I will keep it in mind." Orion promises before he returns to his office. So much more work to do still. The life of a commander is indeed a busy one.
Category:Autocracy