Betrayal.
Summary: When Humanity tries to double-cross their Cybertronian guests, Sam is forced to make a difficult choice.
Rating: Probably T, but M for safety.
Disclaimer: The canon characters used here are not mine, but belong to Dreamworks/Paramount. Such original characters as I may use in here to move the story along are mine.
A/N: This evolved from a bunny from ReflectionsOfReality. Some of the ideas contained here are ones author MeowthTwo and I worked on together.
Betrayal.
Prologue.
Forty-three years after the events of 'Revenge Of the Fallen.'
Sam and Bumblebee had come to see the Ark's transport shuttle take off. It had been a long few years, the human boy reflected. This would be the Autobot shp's second-to-last trip from Earth, taking the last group of displaced people, wannabe colonists and pioneers, and livestock to an uninhabited world that was theirs to colonise, explore, and tame.
Sam was, to be perfectly honest, relieved, for despite constant pressure, the Cybertronians had refused to hand over their technology to humanity. Even the technology used to power their ships could be easily turned into a weapon, and neither side were willing to give such technology to a species so warlike that they could either exterminate themselves more efficiently, or, worse, create a new enemy for both sides. Getting away from Earth for good would relieve the tension between the Cybertronians and the increasingly irritated human world leaders.
"We will transport groups of humans and livestock to planets suitable for colonisation. We will monitor them and intervene if insurmountable problems arise," Optimus had stated. "We will give aid if it is needed, but we will not give your species a technology they are not yet advanced enough to use wisely. You will likely find it yourself eventually, and we can only hope that the wisdom and discipline required to make such a discovery unaided will prevent you from misusing the technology."
Several groups of people had chosen to live on another world. Some of the Inuit and native American population had chosen to live as their ancestors had, on a land that would be untainted by technology and the modern world. On these planets they would not have to face being run off their land as the technologically-advanced humans encroached further and further, corrupting their youngsters and poisoning the land and waters they lived on. Several religious groups, such as the Amish, had also chosen this route, their way of life already threatened by the lure of technology on their youngsters.
Three such worlds had been located and offered to those on Earth who wished to move, solving some groups' problems and easing the world's overpopulation problem in one. The Ark would visit Earth one last time after this, before taking those humans who wished to share one of the two worlds selected by each faction of Cybertronians as their own, with them.
Desperation and necessity had eventually driven Starscream to seek some sort of peace, for Megatron had disappeared after the battle with the Fallen and, so far, he had not returned. When Optimus had put forward the idea of finding two new worlds, one for the Autobots and one for the Decepticons, Starscream had jumped at the chance. Being at war with the Autobots and the humans, on a human controlled world almost drained of its resources, left Starscream and his followers existing on the bare minimum of fuel they could steal, or find and refine into energon.
A temporary truce had been agreed to, a truce, Sam reflected, that Optimus was hoping would last beyond retrieving the Decepticon vessel Nemesis and helping take it and the Decepticons who had reached Earth to their new world. Optimus was hoping tolerance might blossom into some sort of trust, and hoped trade and diplomatic ties might bind the two sides to each other while allowing both sides to keep their identities and run their own planets as they each saw fit. So far very few humans had asked to live with the Decepticons, and the few who had asked had been flatly refused. Starscream might tolerate humans for the treaty, but it didn't mean he had to like them.
Sam raised his hand to his neck, where a small fragment of a metal that had originated far from Earth hung from a chain, resting against his skin. He had found it in Egypt, where The Fallen had died, and kept it as weird sort of trophy, and a reminder of what corruption by power could do, even to a Prime. It was, Sam thought, important to remind himself that even though he had the power of the AllSpark within him, he should not allow it to go to his head. The first clue he had had was when he stopped physically ageing at twenty-five. The second was when he began producing sparklings while sitting with Optimus and Ironhide, who were wishing for young to raise.
He raised his hand as Optimus and Ironhide, having checked everybody due for that flight was on the transport shuttle that served to take people to and from the Ark, hanging somewhere in orbit around Earth, boarded and the hatch retracted and the door shut. As the transport lifted off, Sam waved until the transport was out of sight. He guessed it would be several months before they had deposited their latest load on their chosen planets and then they would return to pick up himself, Bumblebee, and Soundwave, whom had requested that his continued presence not be revealed to the humans. He did not trust them, he had said, and so as far as the humans knew, Soundwave was already on the Decepticon-owned world.
As Bumblebee folded back down into his alt, Sam climbed in, whistling, and they headed for their large house, something Sam had purchased with the money from the interviews he was now able to give to various magazines and publishing houses and cable stations that asked for them. He had also used the money from his book, 'Living with Autobots' to get flying lessons, have a hangar and runway built, and purchase a plane both he and Bumblebee could fit in. Although Sam had continued with his college studies, and had used his qualifications to secure a job at NASA, the revenue generated from the world's interest in his association with the mechanical race from Cybertron allowed him a lifestyle that exceeded his monthly salary.
He got into the house he had had adapted to make the rooms big enough for Bumblebee to stand up in, with the furniture he'd had made to seat Bumblebee and other similar-sized Autobots, and climbed up to his own platform - bedroom in the room, which contained furniture but allowed him to talk to Bumblebee without shouting. He poured himself a glass of water and sipped it, talking to Bumblebee about their plans to join Optimus, Ironhide and his friends on Autobot New Cybertron, where several humans of his acquaintance were waiting for him, including the six children he had had with Mikaela, who was also there, waiting for him and Bumblebee.
Afterwards, he went to bed and slept soundly.
Had he known what the leaders of the Earth's countries were talking about, the betrayal they were prepared to commit, he might not have slept as soundly as he did.