Meet the trine
Optimus tensed slightly when he walked into the throne room of the Wing Lord. He had been under the impression that he would be meeting with just one mech, but there were three fliers lounging together on a large piece of furniture that he couldn’t name. It was Vosnian in make, of course, and given how comfortable the three were on it, he could only assume that it was a simple couch or some such thing. There were predatory smiles on all their faces and he pushed away any misgivings that he had, striding across the floor and ignoring how sharply the brilliant crimson optics watched the sway of his waist as he went.
“You’ve been granted your audience, Prime. The Wing Lord would hear you speak.” One of them spoke up.
He wasn’t entirely certain that the one who spoke -was- the Wing Lord, but he wasn’t about to offend by asking such a thing. He let his optics rove from one to the next. All sharply silver, polished to a perfect gleam, the three each chose a different accent color to their crests and biolights. They were more or less, exactly what Ultra Magnus had warned him about when he mentioned that he wanted to speak to the Wing Lord about an alliance. They looked vain and dangerous.
Stopping a few feet from the three, Optimus went to one knee in front of them, extending his hands to show that he came in peace. Of course, unless they scanned him, they wouldn’t realize that his weapons system was off line as well, and they didn’t seem to be interested in doing that. When he chanced to look up, the one with the red accents was looking at him like he was some sort of dessert being offered up.
“Wing Lord. By now, you’ve surely heard about the civil war that is imminent. I’d like to avoid fighting, if its’ possible. And if it’s not, I would like to end it as swiftly as we can. That is why I have sought you out. The prowess of the Wing Lord is a thing often spoke of, and we would benefit from having you by our side.” Optimus spoke slowly, letting his vocals dip in octaves when he noted the faint tremble in the fliers wings. He had been told they were sound sensitive and he wasn’t above using this knowledge to his gain.
“What would -we- gain from coming to your side rather than staying neutral, or going to the other leader of this upcoming war. We have had requests from him as well, you know.” The one with blue accents narrowed his optics at Optimus.
“I’m afraid, at the moment, I can’t make you any promises. I don’t want to promise you something that I’m not sure of.” Optimus looked at the three of them, his optics flickering to the one with red colorations. “We are a small group, and I can only implore to your good nature. Megatron and I both want change, but I don’t agree with his methods of ruling and taking away liberties. Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.”
The three paused and looked at one another and Optimus could swear that he could -hear- the silent buzz of comms between them. Finally, the one in the middle, with purple highlights, stood up. His pedes clicked the floor as he strode forward, the sway of his movements as deliberate as the placement of his servos as they grazed along his sides and rested on his hips.
“You can promise us freedom then?”
Orion was a bit surprised by the pitch of the mech’s vocals, troubled when he registered them as younger than he initially thought. Not a youngling, but close enough to it that it worried him about pulling the three into the Autobot fold.
“As long as you stand by me, I swear by all that I am, that I will do everything in my power to ensure you remain free.” Optimus let his gaze slip from one to the other, resting on the red crested Seeker finally with a faint smile. “I will ask that you fight to the best of your abilities, but I will never ask you to enter a fight I would not enter myself.”
“Perhaps you should have been a politician.” The red crested one chuckled and stood up, disentangling himself from his partner. “I am Wing Lord Starscream. These are my trine mates, Thundercracker and Skywarp.”
The glyphs of their names all implied dangerous things and Optimus felt a shudder run up his spine as he nodded, not yet rising from his position.
“Well? Get up already.” Skywarp’s wings bounced and he grinned as he reached to pull Optimus’ arm. “If you’re going to be -our- leader, you can’t bow to Starscream too often or he’ll start preening all around instead of doing his job.”
“Don’t make us regret this.” Starscream stared at him even as Optimus rose up and towered over him, his wings trembling faintly.