Sari stealthily stalked her way through the Autobot base, hiding behind pillars and rocks from anyone who might see her. She opened the door to the medical center, ducking under the beds. A recovering Black Arachnia sniffed audibly.
"Hello, Sari..." She said, smelling the human, who proceeded to pop up over the side of the bed and shush her. Ducking back under the bed, she dashed for the far door, entering Ratchet's private quarters.
"Yeah? Oh-ho! He didn't. He didn't! Yeah, me too. Yeah. Same time next cycle? Alright, bye." Ratchet deactivated the comm circuit, and turned around to see a grinning teenage girl staring at him.
"RATCHET AND ARCEE SITTING IN A TREE, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" She leaped backwards, dodging a paralyzing magnetic blast, and quickly scurried up onto Black Arachnia's bed waving her arms frantically.
"Base!" she called, "BASE! You can't do anything now or you'll risk hurting a patient!" Ratchet grumbled, glaring at her. After a moment, a small smirk appeared, and he went back to his quarters. "Sorry I had to use you for protection..." She told Black Arachnia.
"Hey, if we'll call it even for the time I kidnapped you, then I'm good." She responded weakly, her body still dealing with the mutation caused by Waspinator.
"Oh, you were a bad guy then. Now you're not." She stated, matter of factly, sitting down in the crook of the spider-bot's neck, leaning an elbow on her shoulder. "No hard feelings."
"SARI!" Bumblebee called from the living room. "YOUR HOUSE IS ON TV!" She rushed out, knowing her father had no reason for a press release to be going on, and skidded to a halt near the couch, hopping onto Bumblebee's lap. The image she saw was distressing to say the least, Sumdac Tower surrounded by military forces.
"The image you see," The reporter spoke, "Is Sumdac Systems, the company that has brought so much growth and development to Detroit and the leader of the robotics development revolution, under quarantine by the United States military. Long denying any willingness to develop military technology, Isaac Sumdac is now being accused of building an incredibly powerful weapon in secret. The government has given him an ultimatum: either divulge all details of his weapon to the government, or submit to military police and have it confiscated." Tears were welling up in Sari's eyes as she shook her head.
Optimus stood up from his chair, and moved to leave. "I'm going down there. Jazz, you come with me. Bulkhead, let Ratchet know what's up." Sari got up from her seat on her boyfriend, and stood beside the Prime.
"I have to go with you. I know my dad is innocent."
"I do too, Sari, but I don't know much about how your military works, do you?" She shook her head, wondering where he was going with this. "We don't know what lengths they're willing to go to. I don't know if you noticed, but your dad has the force field up. I've been granted a diplomatic status by your government, and I have a legitimate concern outside of friendship to be there and demand answers. That's the only link to my home. I promise I'll give you all the information I get, but promise me you will stay here." He held up a hand to keep her from speaking as he thought for a moment. "And let me see your servos so I know you're not crossing them." He soon added. Sari held up her hands, and nodded.
"I promise...I just...I'm worried about my dad...why wouldn't he call me when-" She paused mid sentence and whipped out her cellphone. "No answer..." She sighed, slumping back to the TV area.
"Cheer up, kiddo," Jazz told her, transforming. "He's probably just busy thinking up away outta this mess, y'know?" She smiled weakly at him.
"Thanks, Sensei..." She climbed back up on Bumblebee's lap, staring at the screen in distress. Ratchet soon came out of the medical center, and stood behind them.
"Sari, if there is anything I can do to help you through this... Let me know, alright?" He told her, walking around the couch to sit next to Bumblebee. Black Arachnia came out with her battery, hanging from a transformer-sized IV stand, giving her an intravenous energy drip, and took a seat as well, as Bulkhead took Optimus' chair.
"Sorry I'm not feeling better." Black Arachnia said, turning from the screen to Sari, and back. "What better way to sneak him out of there than a fake Decepticon attack?"
"I appreciate it, but...That would just give us more trouble...He's been held captive to help the Decepticons before, and they might think he was actually working with them at that point..." Black Arachnia nodded, frowning, as Optimus and Jazz rolled onto camera.
"I am Optimus Prime. Who's in charge here?" He asked, looking around. A decorated officer stepped forward.
"Commander Derek Ichabod." He answered, introducing himself. "What brings you down to this part of town?" He extended a hand, smiling amicably. Optimus offered his finger for the commander to shake, before motioning to the top of the tower.
"As you may know, I've been given the position of the Autobot Diplomat to your government. That is the only way home, on the top of the tower. Your actions are disrupting our ability to communicate with and return to our home."
"I'd love to help you, Optimus, I really would. I guess you saw the news?" He took off his hat, wiping the sweat from his brow as Optimus nodded. "Honestly, I'm a big fan of all you've done here. Followed what goes on with you pretty closely. Unfortunately, I'm not at the top of the chain of command, and I'll be in real hot water if I don't get that weapon. Honestly, I don't think he even knows why we're here. The moment we rolled up, he turned on his force field."
"Well," Jazz said, looking around at several tanks in the area, and a large group of armed soldiers, "can you blame him?"
"Look, Isaac is a close friend of mine. I know he would never build a weapon."
"I'm not allowed to say much..." The commander said, turning away, his head low. "But we've been misquoted...we never said he built anything." He walked away to the tent they had set up as a base of operations, Optimus' optics wide with realization. Several men in suits were watching him very closely.
"Jazz, head back, and open a comms channel once you're at the base. Make sure you're not followed." They both transformed, and Optimus left to sit in the Burgerbot parking lot.
Jazz sped down the roads, keenly aware of the black helicopters following him. He transformed into robot mode, grabbing the edge of the overpass, and swinging under it, transforming back into a car as he landed, immediately taking a turn behind a building, weaving through structures to keep himself concealed, finally making it home. He tapped his helmet, opening the channel to his boss.
"I'm at the HQ, Prime. Uh-huh. oh...oh, I see. I'll let her know." He walked over to the assembled group, all eagerly watching tv for new developments.
"Why did you guys leave?" Sari demanded. "That guy looked like he was gonna give up! What did you guys say to him?"
"Chill, girl, chill. We found out what they're after."
"Well, what is it what weapon do they think my dad made?"
"Turns out, they don't. They don't want anything he made, cuz he didn't make one. But as far as that commander's bosses are concerned...he raised one." Her eyes went wide, and she bolted for the door, Bumblebee heading her off.
"Get out of my way, Bee. I have to do this." She told him sternly, though her voice was wavering.
"I know." He transformed, opening his door. "Get in. I'm not letting you go alone."
"I'm coming too." Said Bulkhead, shifting to his alt-mode, as Jazz did the same. They all approached the tower together, and Sari climbed out of Bumblebee, weaving through the military personnel until she saw the commander in question. Guns were trained on her, though she showed no trace of fear.
"What do you think you're doing?" She asked calmly.
"Girl, you shouldn't have come here...I really didn't want this mission to succeed." He whispered, genuine sympathy on his face quickly being overridden by stoic intensity. "Sari Sumdac, we are hereby taking you into custody. If you resist, we will have no option other than to use deadly force."
"Only if you and I can talk in private." She told him. He nodded, spotting a troop transport that hadn't been around before. He placed handcuffs on her, and walked inside with her, telling his men to move out back to their base.
"Alright, so, this is Bulkhead?" He asked, unlocking her cuffs.
"Uh, yeah, hi..." The bot replied, nervously.
"Look, I'm NOT happy with what they sent me here to do, and I want to get you out of this, but we need time to think. Bulkhead, just keep going where everyone else is heading."
"Right."
"Now, Sari..." He sat on the bench across from the one she had taken. "I really hope you have a plan."
"Why should I need one? I have rights, don't I?" He sighed, shaking his head at her.
"You were never registered as an American citizen, and the higher ups have been researching day and night to figure out if you're a citizen of Cybertron. Technically, you don't have any rights. The government is going to either force you to work for them, or dismantle you to figure out how to make more weapons."
"More? I'm not a weapon. I'm a girl!" she snapped angrily.
"Right, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that...Look, you put us in a bad situation. Now I have no choice but to bring you in. I'm sorry." He stared at her, deep sadness in his eyes. She transformed, shifting to her robot mode. Taking out her cellphone, she called up Bumblebee's comm channel.
"I'm on the convoy's tail, Sari. Me and Jazz are both following you. What's the situation?" He asked. His hopes faded as she explained to him what she'd learned. "Oh, man...I guess we're out of luck then...Also, Optimus is really mad that you broke your promise...and your dad's force field is down. He's giving an interview, stating that the government took you..."
"Bumblebee...I don't know how this is going to end, but I doubt it'll be pretty."
"I know, but we're in it together."
"Yeah..." She pulled her locket out from under her dress, looking at it, smiling sadly.
"What's that?" Commander Ichabod asked. She held it up to him, and his eyes went wide.
"You know, we might just have a way out of this after all..."
