Disclaimer: I do not own GoBots nor its characters. Just this strange plot.

Author's note: Uhh, let your mind go where ever it needs to for certain parts of this chapter. I have to be vague to keep this fic at a rating suitable for this site, otherwise, I'd have to move it to a certain 'other' fanfic site. ;P

The hallway to Leader-1's office felt longer than usual. Sure Aurora had used it a few times while she was in command of Command Center One, but this felt different. Leader-1 didn't speak a single word along the way. As he reached his door, he opened it and beckoned Aurora to enter first with a gesture of his hand. She did as requested. Leader-1 followed her in and once the door shut, he shoved her against the nearest wall with his own body and his lips met with hers in a rough, primitive desire of emotions that the esteemed Guardian Commander never knew he had.

Though stunned and totally surprised at his actions, Aurora quickly grasped the meaning of it all and turned the tide. She wanted it too...BAD, but the opportunity never presented itself...until now. Never breaking lips, she swung her weight into the larger jetbot until he banged against the next portion of the wall. Once in a more movable position, she snaked her hands along his chest and pinned him back to the wall whenever he tried to squirm free. These pent up emotions had to be released or neither would function properly. Within a moment, the two broke their lip lock enough to speak.

"I have no idea what I did wrong, but if this is the punishment, maybe I should challenge you more often, hmm?" Aurora replied in heavy breaths.

"It's not over...yet." Leader-1 softly replied while using a leg to destabilize her and send both of them crashing to the floor below. A large, rather audible smack resounded through the entire Command Center.

"No...it's...not...but...I'm...flying...this...round." Aurora gasped as she flipped out from under him, turned, and pinned him to the floor with her own body atop him. He wasn't going anywhere unless she let him.

on the bridge...

"Are we under attack?!" Scooter yelled as he hit the floor and hid behind his chair.

Turbo manned the guns and looked around for a target. "Only if you tell us Scoot! What's the scanners saying?"

Nick and A.J. were already there. "Nothing on screen Turbo."

"That didn't sound like it came from outside. It seemed more directed from within the Command Center." Matt stated.

"Maybe a prisoner break?" A.J. asked.

"We'd better go check. Scooter, A.J. stay here. Turbo, Nick, follow me!" Matt directed.

As they were about to draw past Leader-1's office...

"Maybe we should inform Leader-1? If it is a break, he's gonna want to know and we might need his help." Nick added. Turbo and Matt nodded. As they were about to knock, there was another loud clang and the sound of something falling.

"Okaaayy, I don't think it's one of our Renegade prisoners. But, I'm not sure everything's alright in there either." Matt commented.

"Goodness, Aurora's got guts to stand up to him. He must be REALLY mad." Turbo added.

inside...

Aurora's internal sensor detected those present just outside the door. "Leader-1, we have company outside." she whispered between breaths. "Quick! Yell at me!"

"But I...uhh...yeah...AND FURTHERMORE, IF YOU EVER TRY THAT AGAIN---" Leader-1 struggled to yell while fighting the urge to laugh. The mere fact of them being potentially busted in a rather compromising situation actually proved rather comedic to the normally stoic couple. For both, it was something of an excited rush.

Outside the door, Matt, Nick, and Turbo looked at each other. Turbo shrugged. "Told ya. All's fine. They can handle each other. Afterall, they ARE commanders." he replied as he grew disinterested and returned to the bridge. Nick followed.

Matt hesitated. "Handle each other...hmm...somehow I wonder...naaahhh!" he murmured to himself before following the other two back to the bridge.

"Okay, Mr. Naughtybot, they've left. Close call." Aurora laughed as she moved off the pinned male Guardian, stood, and brushed herself off. "You really need to work on your hand-to-hand combat skills more, Leader-1. If I, a mere ladybot, can pin you down, what's that say for you in active combat against bulky male Renegades?" she commented.

Leader-1 slowly got to his feet as well and looked about. His office was in shambles. "Only you Aurora. Only you. Bulky male Renegades are blasted before they are even an arm's length to me. They don't move very fast and make for easy targets. Now, I have extra work to do. I need to get this place picked up." he muttered.

"Who started all this hmm? Mr. Letswaituntilaftertheworktodo."

"You gave me a charge I couldn't shut off. And I have NO IDEA where it came from. Please do NOT argue with me in front of others. Otherwise, they could end up getting a front row seat to all this." Leader-1 chuckled.

"Guess we won't need that trip to see the Last Engineer afterall. I think we can handle this 'little' subject all by ourselves." Aurora purred as she plucked off a couple of papers that had embedded themselves upon the back of the Guardians 'great' leader. "I don't think you want to wear these. Just doesn't look right." she laughed.

"Well, when I get into my work, I REALLY get into my work. But ahhh, these...are not going to be so easy to remove." Leader-1 spoke as he noticed a few rather large black streaks across several portions of his body.

Aurora looked at her own body and sure enough, there were a few light grey ones upon her own. "This....could be a problem. We don't have time to get a quick buff and polish and wax isn't going to take these out."

"Maybe the others won't notice? Just say they've been there all the while?"

"And how well have those lame excuses worked for you before?" Aurora teased.

"Never. But I'm desperate here. We gotta have something...some sort of rationale."

"We'll simply wing it. Play it by audio receptor."

"You're in the lead. I'm not the greatest at no-plan plans." Leader-1 stated while picking up some of the flung papers, files, disks, and other components. Aurora helped and within moments they had his office at least in semi-decent order. "Xemon would probably mark points off if he inspected this place, but since he's not here..."

Both jetbots laughed as they left the office. "Leader-1, be serious. You just gave me one heckuva yelling back there. Neither of us are supposed to be happy about it."

"Did I ever tell you I barely passed theatrics in the Academy? Faking and lying just aren't in my nature."

"Eeeesh, and I thought the great Leader-1 was able to handle any situation. Fine...live and learn from one of the best then." Aurora said as she quickly switched from a laugh to one very serious, upset Guardian officer and stormed off ahead of him.

"Leave it to a lady." Leader-1 commented to himself before sighing and trying to get all the 'excitement' out of himself as well. "Guess, there's work to do!" he continued...trying to get back into his trademark work mode.

On the bridge, nobody said anything. All remained quiet and composed and followed whatever instructions and tasks directed at them. Aurora departed for her own ship to give an update to her crew as to the status of the misson and their soon-to-be roles in it.

But a couple hours later, when Leader-1 was about to return to his office...there was a makeshift bumper sticker across the front of his door. It read, 'When this office is a rockin', don't come a knockin'.' Leader-1 shook his head in defeat and blushed in a sort of GoBotic way. He certainly had trained his crew, including the humans, VERY well.

In the skies high above the Himalayan range...

Snoop flew with all sensors on. She had passed the Austrian Alps with little to show for it. Disappointed and desperate to please her commander, she flew on. Instinct was telling her to fly towards the next large mountain range. As she drew nearer the mountain known as K2...one of her sensors detected metal...of a GoBotic nature.

Everest South base camp...

Proximity alarms sounded all over the Star Ray's bridge.

"INCOMING RENEGADE, AURORA!" Jazzmin yelled.

"Inform the Command Center NOW!" Aurora shouted back.

"Already done!" Spinner announced. She had already typed in the warning via the ship's systems.

Aboard the Command Center, Leader-1 charged onto the bridge upon Scooter's hasty call via his internal communicator. He typed in a response to the Star Ray's computer. "INTERCEPT, AURORA!"

Not even a second later, the form of a sleek black jet shot away from the Star Ray and went vertical with full blast of her thrusters. Speed and altitude mattered.

Snoop detected the Guardian speeding towards her. "Well, well, there ARE Guardians here. They didn't ALL leave. Cy-Kill will be pleased to learn of this." she murmured to herself as she ignited her thrusters to maximum, turned in a sharp arc, and shot away from the vicinity as fast as her frame would allow her.

Aurora had just detected the Renegade on her internal sensors and was moving to intercept when the signal suddenly dropped off. She knew what it meant. Swearing to herself, she peeled off and returned as fast as possible to the waiting Guardians. Leader-1 would NOT be pleased with this new development.

Upon her arrival, she entered Command Center One and briefed those aboard of the bad news.

"We've lost the element of surprise. Guardians, the time to act is NOW. We can't wait. Aurora, I want the Star Ray in flight about an hour out from us. Take out ANY Thruster or Renegade and I mean take them out. No survivors . If there are, be sure they can't function. No enemy can get within our perimeter or even find it."

"Roger, Leader-1!" Aurora replied as she departed to get her end of the plan in action.

With the sounds of the Star Ray's engines igniting in the background, Leader-1 continued. "Matt, you and Scooter continue formulating Operation Lightning Strike. Turbo, get this Command Center ready for a full scale assault. All weapons loaded and accounted for and that includes all bombs and incenaries. "

"What are you going to do, Leader-1?" AJ asked.

"I need to work a certain Renegade prisoner. If she doesn't give me Cy-Kill's location, I'll have no choice but to use the Brain Stormer. We don't have time to waste on her now. Standby, Matt and Scooter, should that method be required."

"You got it, Big Guy!" Matt exclaimed with a thumbs up.

At that, Leader-1 took off for the prisoner quarters.

Elsewhere...

Snoop arrived at the volcano and flew straight in without converting. She nearly flew into Spike and Bad Boy who were standing guard at the entrance.

"Geeesh, get the number of that over-accessorized jet. You'd think she was running from a fire or something." Bad Boy snarled.

"Nah, probably just another boogieman. She's such a parnoid bot." Spike added.

Inside, Snoop converted and slowed down just before smacking into Cop-Tur. He actually stood firm and helped the jet stop, thus preventing an impact with their Renegade leader, Cy-Kill.

Nearly out of breath, Snoop relayed the information. "Cy-Kill, there ARE Guardians here!"

"Where?"

"I was over the Himalayan range when I detected one as well as GoBotic metal components."

Cy-Kill rubbed his chin in thought. "Hmmm...GoBotic components. Either those are the remnents of our missing Thruster or Renegade Comrades, or some Guardian ships slipped through to Earth already. Did you get and ID of the Guardian you detected?"

"No Cy-Kill. As directed by you, I did not want to risk myself nor the mission. But the Guardian's approach was too fast to be mere foot rockets. It had to be a jet form."

"Jet form...eh? Cop-tur, access the list of the current active Guardian jets known to frequent Earth."

"Yes, Cy-Kill." Cop-tur replied as he sat himself down at a nearby console.

"Cy-Kill?"

"Yes, Snoop?"

"What if it was that female black jet from before? She might not be in the listings."

"Good assumption Snoop! Hadn't thought of that. I bet it was! With Leader-1 gone, she'd want to avenge her boyfriend. Cop-tur! Forget that request. I want you, Bad Boy, Spike, and you too, Snoop, aboard two Thrusters, NOW. It's time to send this Guardian ladybot to meet her boyfriend in the scrapheap of has-beens. Bring me pieces of her lifeless carcass as a souvenier. And, it'll be yet another Guardian Commander lost in their ranks. A two for one special!" Cy-Kill replied as he broke into a maniacal laugh.

Prisoner Quarters--Command Center One

Leader-1 approached quietly and calmly despite his rising nerves and tension. Crasher was quick to acknowledge his presence.

"Ahh, so the esteemed Commander FINALLY returns. Took you long enough Guardian. So what was all that noise all about earlier hmm? Was it my comrades mounting an attack on your worthless hides?"

Leader-1 hid his slight embarrassment. Apparently that little office incident resounded all the way to the depths of the prisoner quarters. How careless had he been!? But, that was not of importance at this time. "It is not of your concern, Renegade. Now, have you made a decision or must I utilize less voluntary methods?"

"Depends."

"On what? I gave you my terms."

"Yes, but that was before those." Crasher replied as she pointed to the black streaks upon his chassis. "I am NOT stupid, Guardian. I KNOW where those came from. I may be a Renegade, but I am also a female. Besides, you are terrible at hiding truths. I read your reaction before you even spoke a response."

Crasher's brilliant deduction of the previous event threw Leader-1 off his guard. He became defensive despite himself. "My personal business is none of your business, Renegade."

"Oh but it is! I'm NOT going to be one of your leftovers, Mr. NotsoGoody Two Wings. For all I know, you might have a whole harem of those disgusting do-good Guardian ladybots back on GoBotron."

Leader-1 was fast losing both his temper and his patience. Time was NOT of the essence and his plans were unraveling at the seams. He had to keep the seams from splitting any further or risk losing precious Guardian lives. "Look, I tried to negotiate with you, Crasher. Apparently, that is no longer an option. I'll give you one last chance. Answer me directly. Where is Cy-Kill's location!?"

"I'll tell you nothing Guardian."

"Fine. I gave you a chance Crasher. I hate to do this, but you give me no other alternative. Such a pity." Leader-1 spoke before stepping away from the cell and hitting the comm panel button. "Scooter! Matt! To the prisoner quarters now."

{On our way, Leader-1} Matt replied.

Leader-1 grabbed a neural lock and restraining bolt from a nearby compartment.

Aboard the Star Ray...

"Aurora, multiple incoming bogeys. Un-cloaked Thrusters!" Jazzmin announced.

"Here they come...just as we guessed they would. Good thing they are not using their Stealth Devices. Stupid fools. We have our orders, no enemy is to penetrate this perimeter. We have to hold this position at all costs. Spinner, lock and load! Jazzmin, engage the activation sequence for our stinging tail. I'll head out and see if I can draw them off and away and keep them from using their Stealth Devices. Fire at will...just make sure I'm out of the way first."

"Acknowledged Commander!"

And with that, Aurora once again, converted to jet mode and rocketed out of her ship.

to be continued...