I think Wednesday or Thursday will usually work out for me. Thanks for all of the patience and support; getting reviews and trading emails is a blast.
I can't post both chapters at the same time tonight; I have to go to a Japanese House event after I get this one up. So if in the very worst case: that I can't get the second up before tomorrow afternoon, please forgive me and enjoy the cliffhanger!
I still don't own them, I still don't profit from them, and yet I still love them. Transformers are just that awesome.
I do apologize if I've butchered an innocent Latin adjective in the name of fanfiction.
"…We would like to extend our friendship and protection to the people of this planet, and hope that we can create a peaceful coexistence while we remain on your world."
Methuselah Prior
"Well what the devil are you blokes doing here?" Hiller's blunt response launched Optimus into a much abridged summary of events, for which Simmons considerately spun his SUV around and opened the back to use as a seat. With a proper audience, the Supreme Commander discoursed from the desperate launch of the Allspark into space, to their pursuit of the Decepticons to Earth, to the Allspark's destruction in the hands of one Sam Witwicky. Shocked glances took on an awestruck expression as everyone re-evaluated the young man in their company. Uncomfortable from Optimus's praise and the attention of his nation's leaders, Sam immediately found the ground very interesting.
"Thus you must see why we are here." The giant blue and red Autobot again seized everyone's attention with a grave tone. "The Decepticons will likely continue coming to Earth in search of their leader as well as the Allspark. Now that Megatron is destroyed we can count on them flocking here both to exact their revenge and to make their bids for Decepticon leadership. Even if we could escape Earth's atmosphere under our own power, which none of us here can, doing so would leave humankind in considerable danger from attack."
"But what do you want us for?" asked the Secretary of Homeland Security, puzzled. "You've certainly disguised yourselves well enough to blend in, and our firepower hardly compares. You've shown your intentions to fight the good fight whether we know of or support you. What benefit do you see for opening relations with the American government?" She stared up at him keenly, worriedly awaiting a reply from her perch with her colleagues in the tailgate of the black SUV.
There was a quiet groan of burdened metal as Optimus slowly shifted his weight from one side to the other, considering his response. "There are… practicalities, of such a relationship. We do not wish to disrupt life on your planet, but where there is fighting, there will be disruption. I would like to be able to warn you of that danger, if possible. We cannot always avoid collateral casualties when there are so few of us. There are other reasons, as well." He paused for a moment in thought, shaking his head as he began again.
"My people have been scattered amongst the stars for eons, searching for the Allspark, and fighting this war. Most Autobots abandoned Cybertron for the search, leaving only a few to stand guard over a dead planet which can never be revived. The Decepticons will converge on this world, of that I am sure, so I have sent out a call for all remaining Autobots to make their way here also. There are many faces, not seen in millennia, we would like to meet again, but many we will not. When we have gathered here, on this tiny world, and finished this terrible war, I believe the remains of our race would do better to create a new home, in the company of a young, vibrant species, than to make the empty trek back to the slag-blackened shell of our homeworld."
As when one is faced with frightening in-laws who suddenly appear and announce "We're moving in!" there are several diplomatic ways to react and many more less-so. Sam was by now numb to the sweeping Autobot declarations that brought him to his posterior as often as their thunderous footsteps. He spent the next moment merely adding Optimus's mysterious power to turn anything into a captivating speech onto his considerable "Things to Ask Bee About Later" list, joining such worthies as "Where does your arm-cannon go when you're a car?" and "How do you ask where the bathroom is in Cybertronian?". Said list had somehow doubled in length since his arrival in Nowhere's Left Nostril, Nevada despite the difficulty involved in defining the length of a thought, which are generally agreed to lack dimensions entirely.
Moving on.
Secretary Keller was surprised, but managed to keep his peace. He tried to compose his thoughts and questions in a diplomatic way, noting to himself to have Maggie get him a lunch date with Optimus- off the record. He needed a better idea what exactly they had in mind before he started making any kind of arrangements.
"Did you say millennia?! How old, exactly, are you?" Secretary Hewitt was wide-eyed and looking rather faint, gripping the edge of the tailgate under her for support.
Whatever Optimus had expected, it wasn't that. "That is a very long computation," he paused, head tilted downward, audios clicking and reversing direction every few seconds. His optics flicked around as if focused on something moving around before lifting his gaze back to the tense woman. "My age is roughly one hundred and forty thousand Earth years. A more precise conversion would take some time." His intonation was perfectly neutral; he didn't understand the pertinence of the question. He was, however, willing to exercise patience. Humans clearly placed importance on different things than he.
That fun fact jarred every human present, even the unflappable Sam, whose eyebrows took a vacation to his hairline. Tom Banachek, who had loitered forgotten beside the parked vehicle, took on an alarmed frown and moved to stand by Simmons, who was uncharacteristically speechless.
Just as everyone else was about to open their mouths and say something in response, the whine of an engine was heard and a small, white vehicle jostled into the light of the midnight meeting.
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teh blumchenkinder expressed interest in that I'm currently building a Wing Zero Endless Waltz Custom model. I'll post a link to pictures when it's finished in all its mechtastic glory.
Oh snap! Would you look at the time? I'll just have to leave you with that one for a while.
Go hit that little blueish button so I have something nice to come back to!
