Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, they are owned by Hasbro. Any copyrighted materials used is the property of its respected owner. Good reading.

Ever since Iran's missiles tests, tensions have risen in the Gulf region. Increased flights from the Iranian Air Force along with the USAF and its long standing ally Saudi Arabia have made the airspace above the Persian Gulf more crowded. The aircraft of the U.S. Navy carrier USS Kitty Hawk patrol the airspace in the Gulf Of Oman. The Kitty Hawk has been re-assigned to support the USAF and Saudi aircraft and is steaming to the Persian Gulf.

Flying low over the waves of the Persian Gulf, a lone F-15 makes its patrol run. Planes from both sides crossing into international airspace is becoming commonplace. The jet flies ever closer to Iranian airspace, but is currently unnoticed. The F-15 Eagle dectects a small craft in the water and makes an intercept course. It roars over the small craft, and the craft's identity is confirmed as an Iranian missile boat. The aircraft getting ever closer to Iranian airspace catches attention from high above.

A pair of F-4 Phantom II jets of the Iranian Air Force have a fix on their low flying lurker. Both planes descend to an altitude just higher than the Eagle's. The F-15 makes an easterly heading and flies roughly parallel to the coast line. Both approach from behind and recognize the symbol on the F-15's wings, Saudi Arabian air force. Both F-4s lockon their radars onto the Eagle, but it still flies on its current easterly heading. The Iranian jets get ever closer until their target is almost at point blank range.

Without warning, the Saudi F-15 makes a split S maneuver. It turns over, dives sharply and reverses direction. The Eagle roars right underneath both Phantom IIs and ignites its afterburners. Both Iranian jets turn sharply, ignite their own afterburners and chase down the Saudi jet. After a half minute the F-15 shuts down its afterburners allowing the pair to catch up. Both F-4s catch up and re-establish radar lock on their adversary. The Eagle suddenly pulls up violently and loops behind the Iranian jets. Alarms ring inside both cockpits, which tells the pilots that their nemesis has them locked on its radar.

Both jets pull a hard turn and increase speed, but the Saudi F-15 is still right behind them. Another alarm sounds in their cockpits, MISSILE LOCK. Both Phantom II jets split up. The Eagle chases down the closest F-4 while the other F-4 turned hard and gets behind the F-15. The F-4 being chased makes another hard turn and fires off chaff. The Saudi jet roars right through the metalic flakes and retains its missile lock. The F-4 chasing the Saudi jet re-establishes radar lock and bears down on the Saudi.

Floating on the vast expanse of the Persian Gulf, the crew of the Iranian missile boat watches the arial ballet. The pilot of the chased Phantom II tries his hardest to shake off his pursuer. He turns hard, levels off and loops, but the Saudi Eagle is still on his tail. Yet another alarm rings in the cockpit, his heart sinks as he realises the F-15 has fired a missile. The missile speeds toward its target. The pilot fires off a couple of flares and pulls up hard. The missile ignores the flares and continues toward its prey.

The projectile impacts into the rear of the Phantom II and blows up both the engines. With the rear half aflame, the F-4 plummets into the Persian Gulf, its pilot failing to eject.

The pilot of the other Iranian jet has his eyes wide open at the horror of his wingmate being shot down. He regains his composure, and angrily chases the shooter. The Iranian gets a missile lock on the F-15 and fires off a pair of missiles. The Saudi jet turns hard back and forth, the pilot watches and can't beleive how maneuverable the F-15 is. His missiles are barely keeping their lock. The Saudi Eagle barrel rolls and turns even harder, this causes both missiles to break their lock and fly off harmlessly away. The Eagle dives and turns to avoid a burst from the F-4s cannon. The pilot pushes his jet to its limits but can't match his enemy's unparralleled maneuverability.

The Saudi F-15 gets behind the Iranian plane and fires another missile. Alarms in the cockpit alerts the pilot who fires off a few flares, and he throws the stick forward and dives his plane. He gains speed and pulls out of the dive, missiles still speeding toward him. The pilot makes some last ditch maneuvers, but is to no avail. The missile impacts and the F-4 Phantom II explodes in a violent fireball.

The crew of the missile boat stand in shock at the scene of both Iranian planes defeated at the hands of a single Saudi Arabian air force jet. One of the crewmen points to the port side of the boat. The Saudi F-15 Eagle is flying at wave top level, heading directly too them. A trio of missiles leap from its wings and bear down on the Iranian vessel. The crew run to their stations, but the missiles impact the boat before the air defence system fully activates. The resulting explosions rock the Iranian missile boat, and a fourth much larger blast rips the vessel apart.

The Saudi F-15 pulls up and increases its speed. In a near vertical clim, the jet slows down and levels off once it reaches the stratosphere.

"Objective acheived. I'm returning to base." The screechy voice says.

"Copy that, Starscream."

Walking north on highway 72 near South Pittsburg, a young woman reaches into her jean pocket and pulls out a cellphone. She checks the time, almost 4am. The clouds now cover the sky and a cool breeze passes by her. She shivers at the sensation, then her attention is drawn to an apporaching vehicle. She sticks out her thumb to see if the vehicle will stop and give her a ride. The pink coloured sedan drives by, and she puts her hand into her jacket pocket. She decides to stop at the town and looks for a motel. As she walks down the main street of the town a small car slows next to her.

"Hey babe." The passenger in the front seat says.

"Hey sweety, where you goin'?" Another passenger speaks.

She answers. "Just taking some fresh air."

The car stops and three men exit. They approach the young woman who has both hands in her coat pockets. Oh great, bunch of drunken scumbags. She says to herself. A firm hand grips her left arm and she turns to face its owner.

She quickly snatches her arm from the man's grip. "Treat all the girls you meet like that?"

"Hey babe, no need to be snappy at us. We mean no harm." The arm grabber replies.

He grips her left arm again, only much harder now. She grabs the person's wrist. Another of the men grabs her right arm and pulls it back. Her stress level shoots up drastically. The third drunken man grabs her ponytail and pulls back on it. She yelps at the sudden sensation of pain.

"Now thats no way to talk to gentlemen who just want to know you. You need some discipline my dear." One of the men says.

"Let me go a—holes!" The girl yells out.

Her head snaps to the side as a hand strikes her right cheek. The three mens' attention is broken by shinning lights. They lossen their grip on the girl as the high beam lights of a car blinds them. The girl decides to make a run for it,but one of the men quickly regains his grip on her right arm.

"She said let her go!" A voice yells out.

The high beams switch off, and the girl recognizes the vehicle, its the same pink coloured sedan that passed her on the highway. Two of the men approach the sedan while the third holds onto her.

"Who the hell drives a pink Mercury Marauder? Show yourself, flaming hero!" One of them shouts.

The sedan transforms infront of them all. The pink robot's eyes flash a bright blue and pulls out what looks like a handgun type weapon. The three drunks run to the small car and drive off quickly. The girl regains her composure and straightens out her clothes.

"Are you alright?" The pink machine asks.

"Yeah... I'm fine now. Thanks." The girl replies and walks away.

Elita One tilts her head to one side, wondering why she is just walking away. The Autobot transforms back into her vehicle mode and rolls next to the girl keeping the same pace.

"Those guys might comeback. I can give you a ride to somewhere more safe." Elita suggests.

The girl continues walking. "Umm, that won't be necessary. I'll be fine."

"Alright...just be careful." Elita says with concern, then drives off.

The young woman sits on a bed drying off her hair after having a shower. Her motel room isn't really fancy by any means, but its very clean and the room itself looks like it is being very well maintained. She turns on the room's TV and begins to get ready for bed. The screen shows the caption BREAKING NEWS, and the reporter announces that an air battle over the Persian Gulf resulted in two Iranian jets , and a Iranian missile boat destroyed by a Saudi Arabian air force figther jet has risen the tensions in the region to new heights. Hearing some noise outside she looks out the room's window. Its the same small car and its accompanied by a couple of full sized trucks. Oh crap! How did they find me? She thinks to herself. The girl quickly dresses herself up, and rapidly packs her backpack. She turns off the TV and the room's lights. She runs to the bathroom and opens the small window. The backpack is pushed trough first, then she squeezes herself through. The girl runs to the corner of the motel, peeking, she sees about ten individuals walking around. One of them yells out that he sees her, they get back into their vehicles and drive toward her. She takes off running at full speed.

The trio of vehicles catch up to her quickly. She runs down an allyway and exits to another street. Her heart beats so fast she thinks it might burst from her chest. The three pursuers still on her trail. She turns another corner, and stops suddenly as a car abruptly breaks in her path.

"Get in!" A female voice commands.

She enters the car's front passenger side rapidly. The pink sedan screeches its tires and drives off at full throttle. The vehicle chase goes through a few streets and ends in a darkened lot in what looks like a small industrial park. The pink sedan breaks hard and swings the rear end around so the front of the car faces the incoming vehicles. The door opens and the girl is thrown out. The small car and two trucks close in and block off the sedan's only escape route. The crowd of men exit and walk to the sedan and girl with hostile intent.

The Mercury Marauder transforms into robot mode. Elita One pulls out her blaster pistol and angrily stares down the mob before her. The girl on the ground simply looks on.

"GET LOST SCUMBAGS!" The Autobot femme commands.

The men pull out their own guns. The girl quickly takes cover behind the robot. Elita points her weapon toward the crowd and fires a couple of shots which impact the ground a couple of feet from the crowd. The men get startled and run back to their vehicles and drive off in fright.

"Pathetic." The pink machine says. "What is it with you and trouble?"

The girl looks on as the robot transforms back into a sedan. "...Thanks...again."

The car's front passenger door opens. "Come on, I'll give you a ride."

The girl walks slowly toward the sedan. "I won't hurt you, I promise." The car reassures.

"...kayyy." She sits in the seat, her backpack tightly held to her chest.

The pink Marauder heads east on highway 156, it's apporaching five am and the sun begins to rise. Elita's passenger just stares out the window, watching the mountains and the river pass by. The sedan pulls off the main highway and drives down another road that cuts through a tall pine forest. The sedan comes to a checkpoint, with an Autobot coming to the car. Two other Autobots stand guard at one of the bridge gates. The approaching Autobot, grey in colour and looks somewhat older stands infront of the sedan.

"Hi Elita. How was the drive?" The elder Autobot greets.

"Hello Kup. It was interesting to say the least. I gotta guest with me. She needs a safe place for a little while." Elita replies.

"I see that. Hello my dear. The name's Kup and I'm the security chief of this place." He happily greets the newcomer.

"Hiii..." Comes the tired voiced passenger.

Kup waves Elita in, and she drives over the bridge that crosses over the river below. Her passenger looks with awe at the awsome size of the city. Various Autobots go about their business, loading and unloading transport containers, others walking around, even a few going about in their vehicle modes.

"Don't worry, you're safe here. What's your name by the way?" The pink sedan asks.

"Lita." The girl answers.

"Well Lita, welcome to Autobot City.

Inside one of the massive storage areas, the Constructicons put the finishing touches on the containment tank. It holds all the liquid that was raided from the Pool Of Transformation on Traal. Mixmaster puts the scanner in the water, and all the readings confirm its purity. He shows the scanners results to Megatron who is standing nearby waiting for the tank to be finished. He nods in approval, another Constructicon, Scrapper, approaches the Decepticon leader and tells him the assembling proccess is complete. With a smirk, the Decepticon commander can now begin the next phase of the new strategy.

Walking out from one of the wash bays, Strascream feels much better, now that the colour scheme of the Saudi plane is washed off. The water drips from his body and the Seeker shakes his wings to get the water off of them. He walks into another room, where the fans and blowers dry him off.

A while later he meets up with his brothers who just step out of the infirmary after being repaired. The three decide to go to the mess hall and have some energon before they retreat tho their quarters for a long deserved recharge. Once at the mess hall they each grab an energon cube and sit at a near by table.

"Hey Starscream". TC says. "What ever happened to that armada of U.S. Air Force planes we scanned yesterday?"

"Their destination was a an airbase in the nation state of Saudi Arabia. Obviously, because of the heightened tensions in the region. I just came from there a few hours ago." The red Seeker answers.

"So we heard." Skywarp says. "We had our own scuffle with a couple of Autobots on our mission too Traal."

Stascream finishes his energon cube and leaves the mess hall. A minute later he is stopped by his brother Thundercracker.

"How long are you gonna keep doing this?" The blue Seeker queries.

"Do what?" The red jet retorts.

"Keep taking the abuse. With every hit, shot, and beating HE gives you, a part of you seems to...well...die. You're getting closer to the brink of insanity.." TC whispers but is cut off.

"What do you know of me!? You and Skywarp barely even speak to me anymore! My dealings with HIM are none of your concern!" The red jet snaps back.

"Of course Skywarp and I barely speak to you anymore, you threatned both of us. Me that time in Peru, you put the blame of the secret weapon's failure on me, and guess who Megatron took it out on...ME! Then you threatned to tell Megatron about me letting the Autobot jet destroy the weapon. Then you tried to use the space brige to get to Cybertron when you were exiled to a deserted island, Skywarp stopped you and you put your laser cannons to his face and threatned to shot him if we didn't let you go! What makes you think we can trust you!?" TC rebuttals.

"Everytime I was trying to bring down Megatron you and Skywarp never ONCE supported me! How do you think I felt!? My own brothers don't even stand with me whe I need them! What makes you think I can trust you two!?" Starscream throws back at TC.

"Leave me alone!" The red Seeker shouts, and continues on his way to his quarters.

Thundercracker slams his fist on the wall and walks to his own quarters.