Chapter 7
When everything that had been below had gone and nothing else moved Optimus dropped down to the ground from his place underneath the bridge. Blue optics swept across the area that had been a battlefield only minutes ago. The concrete bore fresh scars and was frozen in several places. Truthfully Optimus wasn't quite sure what to think. He'd gotten the information about pokémon when he'd accessed the internet but he hadn't given them much thought. He doubted that any of them had given them the proper amount of thought.
The worlds population of pokémon and the relationship that the humans shared with them was something that was to be considered at a later date if the need to think about them was necessary at all. There was after all no telling what was going to happen on Earth while they were there. It had been their mistaken to not take them into consideration.
Optimus had been slightly horrified by the battle that had taken place between Sam, Mikaela, and the agents of Sector 7. While it wasn't anywhere near the level of fighting he'd experienced it was still bad. The humans had enslaved another living creature and were using them to fight. Optimus shuttered at the though of it but he also knew that he couldn't judge what the humans were doing by just watching a single battle.
It wouldn't be fair because it seemed like the pokémon had been willing and Sam had seemed almost pained by what he'd had to do. To their credit they had been fighting to protect Bumblebee. They had been fighting to do something that Optimus wouldn't let neither himself or his Autobots do.
And because he hadn't allowed it now both Bumblebee and the children were gone. Optimus blinked and let his optics sweep the area taking in the battle damage one final time. Optimus's head jerked slightly as he caught sight of something laying on the ground. Metal and glass.
There laying on the ground were the glasses that they needed in order to find the Allspark. Optimus bent down and with a surgeons touch picked up the old pair of specs. His gaze settled on the glasses for a moment before turning to look in the direction that Sector 7 had taken Bumblebee, Sam, and Mikaela. They now had the item that they so desperately needed but it had cost them something else.
Ooo
The room around them was soundproofed to the best of mankind's ability. There were no bugs, no recording devices, nor any echo's from outside. A president could sit in the conference room and spill government secrets and no one but the person he was talking to would ever know. At the moment the room was occupied by far less important individuals.
Tom Banachek voice was soft but serious as he spoke to the aged man in front of him. Keller found that he really didn't have any choice but to listen to what the man before him was saying. The briefcase that had been cuffed to Banachek's wrist was now sitting on a table wide open.
"You'll have to accept that there are many things that you won't understand right away sir. Some of these things will be more evident than others, and will likely require more of an explanation," Banachek paused for a moment before continuing, "Sector 7 is a special-access division of the government that was created under President Hoover. Our specialty is everything that doesn't fall under any other branch of government's jurisdiction or specialty. In the interests of time Mr. Keller I'll cut right to the case."
Keller blinked and waited for the bomb that was about to be dropped on his life.
"Aliens are real, sir."
Keller opened his mouth to ask a question but stopped himself. He had a feeling that many of the questions that were currently popping up in his head would be answered if he waited. Keller watched with anticipation as Banachek pulled an armored laptop out of his briefcase and turned it on. A series of various logo's flashed across the screen as the machine loaded.
"As you may remember NASA lost the Beagle Two Mars Rover a few years ago." Keller nodded his head. He remembered. "It wasn't. My division told them to report the mission a complete failure. It wasn't." Banachek typed rapidly on the computers keys for a moment before a fuzzy picture was pulled up on screen. "The Rover transmitted for thirteen seconds after touching the surface."
Keller watched as the picture on screen came to life. Red rock and sand dominated the screen for a few seconds before a large shadow fell over the picture. There was a brief glance of something large, slightly rectangular, and mechanic before the video cut out and the screen went blank. Banachek turned to look at the aged Secretary of Defense.
"Before the Beagle quit transmitting it sent back a single image. Do you recall what that final image was?" Keller nodded slowly, a little stunned.
"It's pretty hard to forget." Banachek nodded at Keller's reaction before pulling up a second image on the computer screen.
"This is the picture that our soldiers were able to get of the thing that attacked them in Qatar. We believe that they share the same exoskeleton." Keller found that he could only nod stupidly as he stared at the picture on the computer screen.
"We're not sure if it's the same one that attacked the Beagle but we do know one thing. It isn't Russian or Korean."
Keller swallowed hard as Banachek shut down that laptop and closed the shell. "Are we talking about an invasion?"
Banachek's tone was somber when he answered. "Mr. Secretary we don't know what we're talking about - yet. There is however a positive note - "
Keller interrupted. "A positive note?" The agent managed a small grin.
"We picked up a message from those rangers. Our people are trained to fight back even when we don't know what we're fighting against. These things can be hurt by our weapons, and they know it. It's why they shut us down. If we can't communicate then we can't coordinate against their next assault, when ever that maybe." Banachek slipped his laptop back into its case. "The president as authorized your department to assist us. We fear that their next strike may be coming sooner than we think.
Keller nodded at Banachek before he beeped for an aid. When the woman outside the room responded he began to bark orders. "Get word to out fleet commanders over the National Guard system. Tell them to turn our ships around and to come home pronto. No combat is to be engaged, there is to be no exchange of hostilities. Make sure that's understood."
Ooo
The room that Maggie Madison and Glen Whitman were being kept in was soundproof, though not to the extreme extent that the room Keller and Banachek had spoken in had been. Both Maggie and Glen rose from their seats as a cluster of agents burst into the room followed closely by Keller himself. Glen instantly started blubbering.
"Don't put me jail. Pleaser don't put me jail. Can we just call my grandma?"
Maggie gave Glen a look that he wouldn't have liked very much before turning her attention towards the agents. "Why are we here. what's going on and when can I call my lawyer and get my pokémon back?" Keller walked up to her.
"You don't need a lawyer and I'll see if we can get you your pokémon."
"Oh, I need my lawyer because I plan on suing a lot of people." Keller rubbed at his eyes for a moment.
"You're not going to sue anybody. You don't have time," Keller said, "because I'm making you my adviser and if we don't get moving then there's a very good chance that there won't be anyone to sue after everything's said and done." Despite still being angry Maggie shut her mouth. Keller watched her for a moment before his eyes moved to the still panicking Glen. "Who's he?" he asked.
Maggie didn't even bother looking in Glen's direction. At that moment she was ready to pretend that she didn't know him but sadly she did.
"He's my advisor." Though Keller found that doubtful he chose not to question it.
"He comes too." Keller said nothing more. He simply turned on his heal and exited the room. Maggie and Glen followed closely Glen wiping at his eyes. The agents said not a word as they walked though two of the slowed long enough to give the pair back their pokéball belts.
Ooo
The woods above Tranquility were quiet with only the sound of a few birds chirping as the hunted for their next meal or their next mate. A pair of Stantler moved into a small clearing before a sharp noise caused them to bolt into a cluster of dense foliage. Optimus hadn't meant to frighten the pokémon when he moved so that the glasses held in his hand were optic level.
Two narrow beams shot from his optic's and into the glass that made up the lenses of the glasses he held. The light of the beams and the marks on the glasses caused a three dimensional sphere to appear in the air a few feet away from his face. There sphere was a map of the world that they were currently standing on.
The detail of the sphere was great though that wasn't what held the Autobots attention. Their attention lingered on a single glowing point. Optimus blinked and the sphere seemed to focus closer on the single point until a body of water surrounded by land was visible.
"In terms of local measurement the Allspark is exactly two hundred and fifty miles from our current location. It is a distance easily traveled."
Jazz's response took seconds. "They have Bumblebee!"
"Bumblebee is a brave soldier who understands the risks that must be taken if we are to win this war." Optimus's words had started in Cybertronian and ended in English. "For the sake of patience and familiarity, we need to speak the language of what mat end up as our now home."
"Our new home?" Ratchet said, clearly bemused.
Optimus turned to regard the medic. "I have had time to ponder several outcomes of the events that may occur, and what I have decided is this. If we return the Allspark to Cybertron our war will likely continue. I presume that we would win eventually but not for a thousand more years. We have been fighting for so long that I can barley remember anything else."
With a sweep of one arm he took in their surroundings. Though organic the land around them was quiet and peaceful. "The chance to live a life outside of constant fighting lives here on this world. The madness ends today."
"How?" Jazz asked because he needed to know what Optimus had planned.
"When we reach the Allspark I will merge it with my spark."
Ratchet was appalled at his leaders words. "The energy within the Allspark will destroy you both."
"I will not allow the humans to become a casualty to our war. That is not our way. We fight to preserve life no matter how different it is from our own." Ironhide snorted and mumbled something that made Optimus shake his head and sigh.
"It is something worth dieing for." Other than Ironhide's grumbling about the planets native inhabitants there was silence. The group stood together for another moment before they began to transform into the vehicle's that would allow them to hide themselves from the humans that they were protecting.
"Autobots, roll out."
Ooo
The first rays of morning found themselves falling across the forms of three helicopters that were swiftly carrying the human cargo over the vast desert. Sam and Mikaela sat on one side of the helicopter's bench while Maggie and Glen sat on the other. All four of them were wearing advanced headsets that had told them nothing for a long time.
They were also giving each other weary and uncertain looks. Sam watched as the blond female across form him applies a small amount of makeup to her face. He had been half tempted at one time to try and start a conversation with the other members of the copter that he and Mikaela were in but the pounding ache in his head had stopped him.
His head had been hurting ever since he woken up in one of Sector Seven's black SUV's and hadn't stopped hurting since. In fact his whole body hurt. The echo of the battle that Spike and Simmons' Sneasel had fought still hadn't faded away and he wanted nothing more than to find a dark empty room and to curl up with Mojo and Clover and sleep until he couldn't sleep anymore. Sam knew he couldn't do that however because there was something important he had to do first. He had to find Bumblebee and his pokémon.
As it turned out Sector Seven had taken both his and Mikaela's belts when Simmons' Gengar had put them to sleep. Sam wasn't quite sure if he was pissed that they had been taken or nervous about his pokémon's reactions when he got them back. At the moment it seemed pretty fifty-fifty. Sam's eyes slid over the two people that were sitting across from him and Mikaela. He didn't know there names but he knew that there was a very good chance that they were all being taken in for the some reason.
Which meant that he was going to ignore his headache for the moment and attempt to make nice with them or at least ask them their names considering that they were almost in the same boat. The biggest difference was that they had their pokémon.
"This is awkward." Sam said and almost cringed at the stupidity of his words. While it wasn't what he'd actually meant to say it did manage to get the attention of the other passengers. Maggie looked up from her compact and regarded Sam and Mikaela from where she sat. When she next spoke there was no condescension in here voice because of their young age. Maggie remembered all too well what it was like to be a teenager.
"What'd they get you for?" she asked the pair. Sam though for a moment before replying.
"I bought a car and it turned out to be an alien robot." For all that Maggie reacted Sam could have just told here that they were there because they cheated on a math test.
"Why are you here?" Mikaela asked from her place next to Sam. Sam fought the urge to growl when she gave him another worried look. She'd been doing that since they'd woken up and Sam just knew that there were a thousand little question running around in her head. Questions that he was sure he'd have to answer eventually.
"We might have caught them hacking into Air Force One." Maggie said with a shrug.
"Huh." Was all the reaction that Sam had. He was already to used to the strange shit that was happening in his life to be amazed by much else.
Glen sniffed from where he was sitting before putting in his two cents. "I was just sitting at home watching CNN and playing video games. I shouldn't even be here."
Sam rolled his eyes. His reaction mirrored by Mikaela. "I'm Sam Witwicky." he said, reaching out towards Maggie with a single hand. Unlike her reaction to why they were there his last mane did get a reaction out of Maggie.
"Witwicky? You wouldn't happen to be related to an old captain named Archibald would you?" Sam nodded. "He was my great-great grandfather." As the sun rose into the sky it's intensifying rays struck gold off of Lake Mead, behind Hoover Dam.
Sam, Mikaela, and Maggie each sought a window to look out of while Glen stayed in his seat pouting over the entire situation. The three copters that had been flying towards their current destination for some time began to descend.
Ooo
Seven soldiers and a couple of agents stepped out of the first chopper. Lennox took in their surroundings and shook his head before turning towards Epps. "It doesn't seem to matter what we do. We still can't seem to get away from the freakin' desert."
Sam, Mikaela, Maggie, and a very reluctant Glen stepped out of the second copter while Keller, Banachek, and a very gaunt Simmons stepped out of the third. Lennox held his ground as Keller walked up to him. The two men shook hands.
"You did excellent work, Captain especially getting us that thermal image." Lennox shook his head and then nodded towards Epps. "Technical Sergeant Epps deserves the credit for that, sir. He was the one that got the image." Lennox squinted up at the sky and was unnerved to find that it looked exactly like the sky over Qatar.
"What about the gunship's, sir?"
"They're being fitted with sabot rounds now though it'll be hard to coordinate anything with communications down. The last thing we want to do is get civilian authorities mixed up with this." Keller said. The man then gesture towards the woman standing beside him. She didn't seem to be able to hold still for very long for she was shifting from one foot to the other as if she had too much pent up energy.
"This is Maggie Madison. She's one of our analysts and the man beside her is Glen Whitman her assistant." The word assistant seemed to snap Glen out of his rut for as soon as the word had left Keller's mouth his attention snapped towards the man.
"Assistant? Excuse me but I'm not her-" The rest of the chubby man's ramble went ignored by those present for they had more important things to focus on. Glen ended up having to catch up with the group because he hadn't noticed when they'd began walking away from him. The group was headed towards an art deco entranceway.
Mikaela slowed so that she could take a moment to admire the view of the lake that was being held back by the dam. As she was doing this something was climbing out of her purse, which had been returned to her but not he belt, and disappeared along the concrete and scrub.
Ooo
Frenzy scuttled under a barrier and worked his way into spaces that nothing but Joltik could traverse with ease. Finally Frenzy halted underneath a sign. SECTOR SEVEN ONLY! NO TRESSPASSING! LETHAL FORCE AUTHORIZED! Frenzy let out an electronic squeal that lasted no longer than a second. The code was to dense and brief to be picked up by any of the sensors nearby.
"Sector Seven located. Follow my signal - and bring my body."
Ooo
On a Air Force base not to far from Frenzy's current location an F-22 Raptor suddenly roared to life. The plane taxied off the end of a line of identical planes before turning onto the main runway. This caused confusion for those that were currently working in the nearby tower. There was no one among those present who knew who had requested or given permission for the plane to takeoff. Things would have been much worse had any of them been able to see that there wasn't a living person in the jets cockpit.
Ooo
On the edge of an Army pool a huge mine clearing vehicle rumbled to life. The vehicle had six wheels and was heavily armored. It also sported a large a large specialized device for finding mines that were hidden underground. There were no solders in the are to see the vehicle run over a section of the surrounding fence and roll onto the nearest highway.
Ooo
High above a city not at all far from tranquility a Military helicopter roamed the skyline. The copter banked suddenly and started heading north. It was a MH-43. Had Lennox or Epps been there to see the copter they would have recognized it with ease. For it was the same MH-43 that had attack their base in Qatar.
Ooo
A group of men and heavily muscled pokémon stood around a crushed cop car. A pair of Machoke were in the process of freeing said car from underneath a fallen wrecking ball. How the wrecking ball had fallen none of them know but they were thankful that no one had been in the vehicle when it had been crushed. At least not to their knowledge. A few of the less sensitive men had chuckled at the sight and thrown out a few bad jokes about the situation.
The chuckles and jokes turned into screams when the freed cop car turned into a towering bipedal shape with red eyes. AS the terrified workers and their equally terrified pokémon fled the area, Barricade bent down to pick up the small crushed body that had been laying beside him. Once the very last human and pokémon had fled Barricade transformed back into his police cruiser form. Lights and siren stilled, Barricade rolled out of the lot.
Ooo
At the base of Hoover Dam, a wheeled platform surrounded by agents and pokémon was being drawn into an access tunnel. A black and yellow mechanoid was tightly secured to the platform. This being was unable to escape no matter how hard it seemed to struggle. No one seemed to notice as the platform and its robotic prisoner disappeared into the dam.
Ooo
Sam and Mikaela were being ushered forward by Simmons and a small group of the man minions. They were soon joined by a tall man with a briefcase handcuffed to one wrist. Banachek at the two teenagers but said nothing.
"Get your damn hands off of me." Mikaela snarled at the agent that was pushing her forward. Sam was just as upset as the girl next to him though he didn't quite lash out like Mikaela. He didn't like the situation they were in and he didn't like where they were going.
He had a bad feeling and he wasn't sure if it was his empathy telling him something or if it was simply survival instincts. Simmons chuckled as the teens approached him.
"Hey kid," he addressed Sam, "I think we got off on the wrong foot. Are you hungry? Do you want anything to eat?" Sam snorted and gave Simmons a look that wouldn't have meant well for the man had Sam had Mojo with him.
"I want my car and my pokémon." Sam hissed through clenched teeth. It was Banachek who responded to Sam's requests.
"Son I need you and your friend to listen to me. Some really bad things have been happening for the past few days. People have died and there's a chance that even more people are going to be killed. We need to know everything you know so that we can try and stop these things."
Sam took a deep breath. Banachek was calm and had nothing bad planned for them. If he could find it within himself to be civil back to the man the chances were he'd be able to get at least their pokémon back. He was going to need Clover if they were going to meet up with the group he'd seen earlier and go into a crowded place.
"If you promise not to hurt him - my car, I mean and give us back our pokémon. That's the only way you're getting anything out of me." Banachek looked thoughtful for a moment before he nodded.
"Passive scans only. I promise and I'll see if I can get someone to track down your pokémon though it may take a few minutes."
Sam nodded a bit reluctantly before his eyes darted back to Mikaela and another thing popped into his head. "One more thing, though its not really for me. You gotta let her dad outta prison like for-ev-er." Sam couldn't help but smile a bit when he saw Simmons' face.
The other agent however wore a neutral expression. Mikaela's however wasn't. Mikaela was giving him a grateful smile. Sam found that he was able to smile back at her. A twinge on the very edge of Sam's empathic perception alerted him to the group that was coming up behind them. Sam really hoped that the agents managed to get him his pokémon back soon.
He wasn't sure how long he'd be able to stand so many people with the headache he still had from earlier. When the soldiers came into view Sam noticed that each one wore a grim look on their face (one that matched their emotions) and had very good tans.
"Ladies and gentlemen follow me. I'm afraid that time is of the essence." Banachek requested in a calm voice. The group said not a word as they were led into Hoover Dam. Sam recognized the large turbines from an old black and white movie that he'd once been forced to watch and stay awake for in class.
He had never expected to see them in person mainly because of all the other people that would have been there as well. As Banachek lead them through the large structure, Simmons was finally able to unburden himself of some classified information.
"Here's the situation so far. We appear to be facing war with beings that are far more technologically advanced than we are." He nodded at Sam and Mikaela.
"You're here because in one way or another you've all had contact with the NBE's."
"Like it or not that make you the world's foremost experts on the visitors. Age isn't what matters here. What matters is your individual experiences." Banachek said.
Epps looked uncertain. "NBE's?" he asked.
"Non biological extraterrestrials." Simmons said smirking. Try and keep up with the acronyms."
"Oh. Like CQ, Vector Delta those kind of acronyms?" Epps shot back chillingly.
"Maybe." Simmons replied and worried for a moment that he might have overstepped.
"They call themselves Transformers." Sam put in. He was going to do everything he could to kill the fight before it got started.
"They told you that?" Sam nodded a small smirk on his face.
"They told me a lot." A massive door loomed ahead of them. It wouldn't have looked out of place in front of an airline hanger- except it was underground. Banachek opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a woman carrying a pair of belts in her hand.
"Sir the belts you requested." Banachek nodded and thanked the woman before taking the belts from her. When she was gone he turned towards Sam and Mikaela.
"You're belts." The two teens eyed the belts for a moment checking pokéballs before taking them from Banachek and looping them around their waists. Sam noticed that the soldiers were glancing from them to Banachek trying to figure out what was going on and why their belts had been taken without actually asking. Sam was half tempted to tell them to ask Simmons but didn't.
"Now that that taken care of I want to warn you that you are about to see something that few people have ever seen before. Don't forget to breath." The door rumbled as it opened. Banachek wasted no time in leading them into the room beyond once the door had opened enough. Sam paused only long enough to let Clover out of her pokéball before following. It wouldn't be very long before he wished that he hadn't.
Oooo
Sorry that I'm a little late. I spent quite a bit of time last week at my friends house with her family and cleaning the basement so that I could move back into my room. Sorry for the lack of action but I promise that it is coming.
I'd have made this chapter longer but I'm supposed to be working on another fanfic this week and I really want to try and keep from falling too far behind. There might be some action next chapter though. I'll see you guys in a few weeks. Oh and I hope that you guys get to see DotM and if you have seen it I hope you enjoyed it. I myself loved it.
Oh and regarding Sam's headache. I'd imagine that by now it's more from stress than Spike's battle.
Pokémon
Simmons
Spook- Gengar
