Chapter 10

"I can't believe those idiots!" shouted Miko the tenth time.

The normally exuberant Asian had been fuming since the debriefing last night, allowing none in her presence a chance to properly absorb the information. Jack leaned against the wall while thinking things over, not bothering to stop the girl mid-rant. Karai had just exited the shower and changed into training shirt and pants, sitting crossed-legged on one of the beds. Raf and Sunny were out helping June dispense medical supplies while Fowler and McCloud were dealing with the usual military politics. The Autobots were setting things up in their new base while no doubt devising a strategy to strike back against the Decepticons.

"I mean," Miko continued, "do they know who they're dealing with?! Silas is as bat-slag insane as any of the 'Cons. The second he's done helping us, he'll stab us all in the back and take all the scrap for himself!"

"I'm fairly certain," Jack sighed, "that the generals are well aware of Silas' potential betrayal and are taking precautions to prevent that. From a civilian point of view, siding with a terrorist is nothing short of insane. That much is true. But it's the fact that they know who they are dealing that Silas and M.E.C.H. are here."

"What are you on about?"

"Think about it," Karai offered from her side of the barracks. "Right now, they're pretty much at war with the Decepticons, more specifically Cybertronians. Who better to consult about a means to properly combat Cybertronian weaponry than the people who studied the stuff? I mean, they've managed to present a clear and present danger to both 'Bots and 'Cons. Now's not the best time for them to get picky about who they call 'friend.'"

"But that still doesn't make any sense!" she continued to protest. "If they wanted Silas' crap, than why not blow the slag out of them and take it for themselves?"

"Because they don't know how to use it?" Karai shrugged. "Not that it's impossible to learn. The three of us learned it easily enough, so I doubt that a bunch of highly trained soldiers would have too much trouble. Maybe Silas offered them something in exchange for letting them help. Either way, we've got bigger things to be worried about than who the military chooses to get cozy with. Aside from the fact that they now have a fortress and some mad scientist on their team, now the Decepticons have a dragon, or some Cybertronian equivalent."

"Who wants to bet Shockwave and the 'dragon' are connected?" Miko asked. "I don't even want to think about what he'll do to military if the 'Cons sick him on them. Not to mention we still don't know where Ironhide, Smokescreen, Chromia, are and Optimus is being held by the 'Cons in their fortress. What are we gonna do about that?"

"All we can do, right now, is wait for Ultra Magnus to come up with a plan."

Miko scoffed, "Who put him in charge, anyway?"

"He's the only one with the skill to lead Team Prime until we can get Opitmus back. I don't like him anymore than you do, hell, I don't even trust him, but just the like the military, we don't have the luxury of being picky about our friends right now. Come on, let's go join in the meeting with the others." She turned to Jack, "You coming?"

Without a word, he pushed himself off the wall and followed the two of them to hanger where the Autobots had taken refuge. Ratchet still remained at the Harbinger to activate a ground-bridge when they needed one. He had yet to locate their three missing comrades and was frantically trying to infiltrate Darkmount's surveillance systems to get a location on Optimus. He had taken the news about as well as one would expect, refusing to abandon the fallen Decepticon warship until their leader was found. No matter the risk to himself that the Decepticons might locate him.

Crossing the landscape of Fort Bragg, the odd trio attracted suspicious looks from the personnel stationed at the base. While Miko maintained a friendly, approachable, yet fierce, air, Jack and Karai offered no such comfort. Their stern features warded off any attempts to approach them while causing some to move out of their way as they approached the hanger. The doors were closed as the Autobots were likely in deep discussion. Karai tried knocking before opening the doors herself.

Arcee and Bumblebee were setting up things in the hanger when the humans arrived.

"Where's Bulk?" asked Miko.

"He and Wheeljack are helping Ultra Magnus guard his ship," Arcee explained. "With things as tense as they are, the Commander feels they shouldn't leave anything to chance when dealing with the human military. And to think, the 'Cons and M.E.C.H. didn't give us enough to worry about."

Jack noted the bitterness in her tone and understood it, even if it hurt a little; communications between Autobot and human had all but broken down. He'd even caught a few suspicious glances from the latest Autobot arrival. He knew they had more to do with how he'd come to know about Optimus's capture. It would be a lengthy discussion later but right now they more urgent matters to deal with. With that, he spoke next, "Have you decided on any plans regarding Darkmount?"

"We've been talking," Arcee replied. "But the Commander doesn't want any information on that stuff reaching beyond Autobot audio receptors."

"In other words, he doesn't trust us," Karai noted. "In my case, I don't blame him, but I thought he'd at least include these two in on his plans. I mean, you did tell them about the Primes and the Horsemen, right?"

*It hasn't come up,* whirred Bumblebee, which Arcee translated.

Jack's frown deepened as he found himself leaning against another wall and thinking to himself. He'd tried to reestablish the link with Optimus, only to receive nothing in return. He concluded that the Prime was trying his best to keep his attempts at contact a secret and so he ceased his attempts to reach him. But being left out of planning an escape on Darkmount didn't sit well with Jack, nor did with Miko if the deep scowl on her face was anything to go on. He decided it would be best if he simply waited and spoke with the Commander himself.

"Going somewhere?" asked Karai.

"Out," was the only response as he left the four of them to themselves. He was certain he could feel sadness radiating from Arcee, her optics no doubt on his retreating form. But things were growing more and more complicated with each piece of this puzzle being revealed. He wondered just how long it would be before this War between Autobots and Decepticons spilled over into a three-way conflict with humanity thrown in the mix. That is, he thought, if it hasn't already.

He found himself in the medical wing of the fort, where the wounded were being treated; the lucky ones who'd somehow escaped to a far enough radius to not be vaporized. Scanning the rooms, he eventually found the office his mother had been set up in while she treated the soldiers. Knocking on the door, he opened it and found her going over medical reports. She looked up and smiled, waving him inside. It seemed like she could use a nice distraction from it all.

Her ponytail was raised so that all of her hair was pulled back, the dark marks under her eyes revealing she'd barely gotten any sleep.

'So this is war?' thought the raven-haired teen. 'This is what is does to people? Slowly drains the life from all involved until nothing's left.'

Even though he realized almost immediately the toll the War had taken on the Autobots, Jack knew he'd almost never felt personally affected until now. There had been times, such as when he feared Arcee had been slain by Megatron, twice, when his mother had nearly been killed by Airachnid, and when Sunny had been taken from him. Those were moments where he felt like nothing had changed, that this power he currently wielded meant nothing. Even now, he was feeling it, that nothing he did mattered unless he got stronger.

"Jack?" came the concern of his mother's voice. "Is everything alright?"

"No," he replied. "Nothing's right, it's all wrong. How did it go so wrong?"

"I don't know, honey," June sighed. "I wish I knew, then we might be able to fix it somehow. We just have to keep hoping that the Autobots find a way to rescue Optimus and destroy that damn fortress. It'll work out in the end, Jack. I know it will."

"Glad to hear you're so confidant. I'm not so sure anymore. It seems like no matter how hard they try, the 'Cons will always gain some kind of upper hand. Almost makes fighting seem pointless."

"Jack, you don't believe that any more than I do," June insisted sternly. "The night's darkest just before the dawn and we have to keep fighting until the dawn comes. If not for yourself, then do it for Sunny. She watched her parents get killed by some bandit, but she never gave up because she had you. And I know my son is the kind of father who will always inspire his daughter to believe in something."

"You almost sound like Optimus," Jack chuckled.

June laughed a little herself, "I guess those speeches are infectious."

"Anything I can do to help?"

"Let me find something," she smiled, looking more lively than when he'd first entered. Maybe that was the relationship between a parent and their child; to inspire that child and feed off their energy so they could pass it on to others.