Chapter 10: What Started It All
As Mearing leads me away from the clearing, I struggle against her. I lose sight of Sparks, Brains, and Wheelie. She walks briskly through the forest, taking me this way and that. I hardly get a word out to her.
"Mearing! What is the meaning of this? What's going on?" I ask.
"What does it look like, you read the papers right? Project 472. Decepticons are gonna be on this area in a moment. Hurry it up! We're almost there!" I stop dead in my tracks and pull her back. I straighten my stance and look her in the eye.
"Charlotte Mearing, as your superior officer, I demand that you notify me at once where you are taking me to. This is an order that I want taken at this moment," I say professionally. There was definitely not written anywhere in 472 to drag Annie to a secret location. She isn't the only one that can be a bitch when she wants answers. She sighs, knowing she can't back down from an order. It'd look bad on her record.
"I had a feeling one of these days a Decepticon would get inside. So I had another secret hideout built. Only few know of it's existence, and even fewer know of it's location, including Simmons and Lennox. We are currently in, what was, northern Minnesota." She pulls me along again. This time I follow, but we keep talking.
"What happened to the other base?" I ask.
"Almost immediately after the video call ended, the Decepticons attacked the base. They have more than half of the civilians and taken a lot of our weapons. Them including Simmons," she says.
"What about the Autobots?" I ask.
"They are with us. We do not think the Decepticons know of the Autobots presence yet, and we would like to keep it that way." Mearing stops in front of a tall cliff in the side of a mountain. She puts her hand on the surface and a secret door opens up. She tosses me inside and follows afterward. A blue light scans us before the room lights up.
It's a big white room, and can count about forty cleverly hidden cameras. There are two spiral staircases that lead up to one platform at the end of the room. Up there, I think is a door.
"Come along, quickly," Mearing says. I follow her up the stairs and to the door. She throws them open easily and we walk in. The room opens up to even a bigger room; a large hangar. Computers and technology of all kinds are everywhere. It's like the one N.E.S.T used to have. We're on a catwalk, with people rushing past us. Down below, I see the Autobots stationed. I rush to the end of the catwalk and lean on the railing. There are computers and weapons everywhere. I see a big garage door at the end that is likely to be sealed tight.
"Emergency meeting!" Mearing announces. Everyone drops what their doing and gathers around below the catwalk. The Autobots all transform and stand, waiting for further orders. Mearing turns to me with a lower voice. "They are all yours." I nod and she steps back, away from me.
"It is obvious that now, we have to take action immediately. I've waited years and now it's time we fight back," I say.
"How can we do that? We lost a good majority of our weapons!" Major Neziri shouts up. "Our base was destroyed by a group of Decepticons! Their goal was to destroy the base! Now look at where we are! How can we defeat a whole army when we can't even defeat a small group!" I pause before answering.
"So this is how it ends? Being slaves to the Decepticons? Is that what you all want?" I ask calmly. No one speaks so I continue. My voice gets louder and more determined with every word. "We fight. We fight to the very last human. So help me, I will not give up my planet without a fight. Are you with me?"
Shouts ring throughout the hangar and I look at all the humans willing to help save what they lost. I resist a smile.
"How many humans are left?" I ask.
"A little over two-hundred." I hold back a wince. We've lost almost eighty percent of our population. I keep my head up. Mearing gives me a weary look. We're both thinking the same thing. "We did our best. The rest are either dead or captured."
"Major Razi, did you finish that Energon blaster?" I ask, spotting her in the crowd.
"Yes! I have the plans for the device right here," she says, taking a large scroll of papers from her jacket.
"Make as many as you can in a day. I don't care if they can't contain the Energon levels, I don't care if we use them too much that they'll explode, I just want them built to destroy Decepticons," I say. "Get to work on it now and take as many people as you want with you, trained or not." She nods, taking some of the other remaining scientists with her to another room .
"Did we save any of the vehicles?" I ask.
"The jet, a few tanks, and a submarine," Epps says from within the crowd. I'm relieved he isn't one of the captured, or even worse; dead.
"Prepare them," I tell him. He nods, taking a few soldiers with him to another room. "I need all who have trained in the military field or any kind, even medical or engineer, to stand up, everyone else sit down." A lot of shuffling goes around and I see our odds. About half of us are trained, the other half are civilians. I see children and elderly make up about ten percent.
"Mearing, get all the civilians to a safer location," I say. She nods. I turn to the crowd. "Follow Agent Mearing, she will help all civilians." In a matter of minutes, the room is only filled with about a hundred people.
"We stick with Project 472," I say and turn to Optimus. "And have the Autobots join us.
"I second the motion," Optimus says. We have a connection for a moment. My blue eyes meet his crystal blue optics. A spark goes between us; an understanding. In that slight moment, I feel as if I've absorbed all I can about him and his thoughts. I think it's likewise from him to me.
"Optimus, do you have the-" I'm cut off by Bumblebee who chirps to get my attention.
"Looking for this?" he asks. He holds out his hand and in his palm is a bunch of metal. You can see it's a miniature Energon blaster, but wires are sticking out this way and that. My prototype Energon blaster in the making. No one, but the Autobots know of it.
"You brought it?" I ask.
"Of course. You spent five whole days on that damned thing. You've made so much progress on this thing we couldn't just leave it," Bee says. I smile brightly.
"Thank you so much Bee," I say, giving him a peck on the cheek. I can hear the gears whirring in his helm and I giggle. Mirage looks at us carefully. "Hold on to that for me alright? We have a lot to do."
"So we have all agreed on this?" I ask. "No objections?" Everyone in the room nods. We're still in the big hangar eight hours later. We've all been working non-stop to perfect this plan. No, to conclude this plan, because let's face it no plan is ever perfect.
"Agreed," the Autobots all chorus in. I nod.
"Prepare for battle. We leave at midnight," I say. Everyone immediately is running around, trying to get ready. Soon, the hangar is only loitered with a few people. The Autobots are all standing in their primal forms, going over the plan again. "Are you all ready?"
"Hell yeah!" Sideswipe says, pumping his fist in the air. "I'm ready to kick some Decepticon aft!"
"Don't get too cocky, Sides," I say. "They've gotten stronger, and better. We're going to use all we have to take them on." Sideswipe waves me off.
"Be chill, it'll be fine." Fine. That's something that never happens, especially on a mission involving Decepticons and me. I don't tell them this though.
"I'll be preparing myself for this. You should all do the same. I want to finish up that weapon. It's not stable, but it'll have to do," I say. They all nod and I leave through one of the doors. I go into a room that is labeled "Weapons". I walk up to the sliding door and it opens automatically. Stepping inside, I think I died and went to heaven.
Thousands of weapons inside of different kinds and different time-periods. An entire wall is dedicated to blasters of different sizes and shapes. I carefully take one off the wall and hold it in my hands, examining the beauty. I look around and see a shooting area.
Going to it, I put on the earmuffs to protect my ears and goggles. I aim at the practice dummy and fire. I have to take a few steps back because of how powerful the weapon is in my hands. It might not be an Energon blaster, but it's still something I'd keep handy.
I put it in my back pocket where it fits perfectly. It's really small, almost unnoticeable. I start to examine the other weapons, marveling at the beauty at craftsmanship of them.
"Now how did I know you were going to come here?" I turn and see Mirage's holoform at the door with an amused smile on his face. I smile back, taking off the earmuffs and goggles. He notices the gun in my back pocket. "That is a mighty fine one you got there. Strong, but delicate. It reminds me a lot of you, Annie."
"It does seem like me, huh?" I say with a slight chuckle. Mirage is right, that gun is a lot like me. It's small, and maybe overlooked and underestimated by a lot. However, if you really got to try it out, you'd realize it has a lot more potential than you think. I notice the Energon prototype in his arms and realize I forgot it. Oops. He just puts it on a steel table.
I take the gun out of my pocket and examine it in my hands. Here I am, with a loaded powered weapon in my hand, and I am trained on how to use it. "God, how the hell did I find myself here?"
Believe it or not, I didn't always want to be part of an intergalactic war. When I was still a senior in high school, I wanted nothing more than to get out, to escape my little town of Treetop Valley and just go somewhere. At Treetop Valley, I never fit in. I was the outsider, the loner, the loser, etc. I just wanted to get out and find somewhere where I did belong.
Now I want nothing more than to go back to that little town, and have everything turn back to the way it was. I didn't realize how lonely it'd be in the world until I finally got out. Well in my defense, I've been caught in the middle of an ancient alien war for the past few years, so of course it'd be scary. Especially having to watch your back every second of the day to make sure the next second you aren't killed. I can't believe I have to ask myself now; what's it like not to always have a guard up? What's it feel like to not hear the whirring sound anymore and sleep in peace? Or have aliens in your mind telling you what to do/not to do.
"Hey, what's the matter? Are you crying?" I hadn't notice that I was tearing up until Mirage told me so. He holds me in his arms as I cry into his chest.
There's nothing more I wanted than a normal life again. No more huge responsibilities, or aliens shooting at my ass. I start to think back to when this all started. Six years ago...
Flashback
Before me stood a 32ft tall robot. It was a little silver, but more red and blue. It's shield covered most of it's face. Something about it made me think it was male. The robot looked around, as if searching for something.
"Holy shit." I hadn't expected that to come out. I didn't know how, but it had heard me. The robot turned and faced me. It's shield only allowed me to see it's gentle blue eyes. Or optics? My breath hitched in my throat as I waited to see what his next move was.
A large air force jet flew overhead. It then started to transform into a big mechanical robot just like the one in front of me. However, this one was completely different. This one was black with blood red eyes. It was about 28-30ft tall. It tried to jump on top of the other one, but it sprang into action.
The red and blue one grabbed it by it's chest plates and threw it; far. It ran after it making the ground rumble. I was knocked backwards and stumbled into my room, falling on my butt. A lot of lights around the neighborhood turned on and I could hear my parents freaking out. My mouth was agape. I quickly slipped on a jacket and sneakers. I climbed down to the ground from a tree next to my balcony and chased after it.
It was a crazy thing to do. My body moved on it's own and I couldn't do anything to stop it. All I did was let my mind guide my way.
My house was on a hill and we only had one next door neighbor, the other side was a forrest, which was where the fighting robots were headed. I could hear loud crashes of metal as I got closer. I ducked and swerved trees as I got closer and closer to the two robots, falling multiple times. Why did I have to be so clumsy? Finally, I hid behind a thick tree and looked out to see the two robots in close combat.
They threw punches at each other. The red and blue one was getting an upper hand. Finally, he turned his left hand into a blazing fiery yellow-orange sword and sliced it's arm clean off then his other arm turned into a canon, blasting the black robot in the chest. Then his arms both turned back to how they were before.
Overhead, I saw another jet flying and start to slowly form into another robot thing. By it's shining red eyes, it looked like it was coming after the red and blue one from behind.
"Behind you!" I screamed. I didn't know what compelled me to warn it, something just told me that it was the good guy. The red and blue robot turned in time to get hit in the face by the black one. Ouch, that looked like it hurt. The red and blue one stumbled back, but came back to give the black one a uppercut of it's own. I watched in amazement as the blue and red robot battled the black robot so gracefully. It was as if it were a routine and this were all just a show.
Finally with a blow from his cannon, the black one fell. I was going to cheer, but then the red and blue robot walked towards my hiding spot. I got into a ball form and stayed as still as possible, praying that he wouldn't see me. However, to my horror, he did.
"Come out, you have nothing to fear," he said. He had a deep voice that sent shivers throughout my body. I slowly retreated from my hiding space. He had lifted his face shield and I could see a better view of his face. His face was made out of metal, but made him look very much human-like. What caught my attention were the bright blue gentle optics that I could feel stare through me.
"What is your name?" He got down on one knee, trying to make himself less intimidating. I gulped.
"Annie, Annie Catalano," I said quietly. I wasn't sure if he heard.
"Where did you get the item you are wearing around your neck?" I glanced down at my necklace. It was shining brighter than usual.
"M-My great-grandfather gave it to me. He said that it would give me good luck," I stuttered. You would too if you were talking to a giant alien robot thing! Or maybe it's Japanese, well that could be an answer. How does it know English though? He didn't say anything, his face looked like it was lost in thought.
End of Flashback
The necklace! I almost forgot about it. I move my head from Mirage's chest and untuck the necklace from under my layers of clothes. All the memories start to float back to me.
What started it all...
"Annie?" I almost don't hear Mirage. It's time to end all this. Running out of the room and into the hall, I see Mearing. I run to her.
"I need a change of clothes," I say. She looks at me and nods. So with her help, I change into cargo pants, a black tank top, and brown combat boots. I tie my hair into a ponytail and put my gun in one of the millions of pockets the cargo pants can hold. I look at myself in a full body mirror.
If I look at a before and after picture of me from six years ago, I'd look so, so different. My hair used to be a very long and a dark chocolate color, and now it's grown only just past my shoulders and gotten even a darker chocolate color that it's close to black. My dull blue eyes have turned into bright blue ones, that I never thought would happen. I've only gotten thinner in the past six years; running from aliens does that to you; and I've gotten more muscular all around. My skin is no longer pale, but has a glow to it.
I changed physically in the past years, but I've also changed a lot mentally.
I know battle tactics now. I know how to use guns and other dangerous weapons that someone my age should not be able to know. I can think on my feet and calculate equations in my mind without a second thought. I know what it's like to lose someone I've known for a short-period of time, but feel as though they were with me forever.
I know all of this because of the necklace my great-grandfather gave it to me. This damn piece of stone has gotten me into so much trouble than I expected. And guess what? I wouldn't change one damn moment because I'm proud of what I've accomplished and who I am now.
I feel strong arms wrap around me. In the mirror, I see Mirage's holoform. I lean against him, feeling his muscular chest as I keep staring at my reflection.
"Are you alright?" he asks, softly kissing the top of my head.
"I'm more than alright; I'm ready," I say. "Can you help me try to attempt to finish building it?" He nods and we got straight back to where we left my prototype. We get to work immediately.
So this is like a half filler. I think next chapter is going to be much more interesting. I promise!
VanillaSnowdrops: thank you :) thanks for the review!
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I didn't think the cliffy at the end of the last chapter was too hard causee it seemed obvi to me, but maybe i'm just that good ;D lmao.
So this weeks question(s): 1) on a scale of 1-10 what do you rate this story?
2) (this is irrelevant lol) do any of you know where to get a cute blazer for under $50? If so can you give me the link? thanks!
WOW. thank you guys so much. KEEP SPREADING THIS STORY. I wanna each 100 reviews soon because wow. its 10 chapters and 75 reviews. you guys are amazing! I love you all so much!
until next week lovelies!
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