OK, this might be a little filler chapter...but oh well. The Autobots make an apperance!!

Thanks to:

Mic Mov: Lol, I know right. I was trying to get him in character and I thought it would be good for him to have a bit of action all on his own. W00t next chapter is the Pretender chapter! You guys will know what they look like as humans. =D

Chapter Nine

Meeting with NEST

"Hang on, Sam. We're almost there." Bumblebee said through his radio as they approached a seemingly abandoned hanger. It was huge, but as they got closer the brunette boy realized that it was just for disguise.

As soon as they reached the abandoned hanger Bumblebee activated some sort of signal, letting them pass through the security gates. Then, when Sam thought they were going to enter the abandoned hanger, they drove right passed it.

"Wha? Wait, where are we going?" Sam asked, still relieved for the fact that Rowan had stopped grumbling in Bumblebee's trunk. He had been the most annoying pain in the ass demonic…being the brunette boy had ever met!

"You'll see. Like I said, we're almost there." The yellow scout replied through the radio once again. He had happily begun talking when Ratchet said that he could use his regular voice through a special program installed on the radio. There were still a few kinks that the Autobot medic needed to work on for Bumblebee to have full use of his vocal processor once again.

"Ok, Bee. I trust you." He sighed, missing his Kai. It was weird calling her 'Kai', but somehow he figured that it fit. He didn't know how…but it just did.

About ten minutes later they turned onto a dirt road and about five minutes after that they saw several humans in the distance. Sam blinked, obviously misinformed. There weren't several humans…there were hundreds! Multiple hangers were in use for various reasons and there were dozens of transport vehicles – avian and terrain alike. Bumblebee sent off a private message before Sam was greeted by a familiar face.

"Hey! Sam! Whatcha doing here?" said the familiar African American man that the brunette boy knew as Robert Epps.

"Epps! My man!" Sam exclaimed once the Camaro pulled to a stop. He jumped out of the car and shook hands with the military officer before pulling back and sighing in distaste, his nasty look directed towards Bumblebee's rear end.

"Hey…why hasn't Bee transformed yet?" Epps asked as the car pulled alongside the two humans.

"Oh, you'll see. Trust me." he said as they reached the main part of the NEST headquarters. As soon as they passed through the giant double doors a brunette man by the name of Will Lennox approached them, somewhat happy to see Sam.

"Hey, Sam! I got Bumblebee's message…where's this demon guy?" Lennox said with confusion. Epps looked at them with a strange look on his face, but just continued the other two without saying anything.

"He's in Bee's trunk." Sam smirked as said Autobot popped the trunk. Almost immediately Rowan began squirming around and muffled curses could be heard as he tried to speak through the duct tape.

"Whoa!" both Epps and Lennox cried as they jumped away from the trunk. Sam just sighed in annoyance as he dragged the bound bat demon out of the trunk so Bumblebee could transform back into his bipedal mode. Several booming footsteps appeared as four familiar Autobots and two unfamiliar ones appeared.

"Hey Optimus! Ratchet, Ironhide, Jazz…and 'bots that are unfamiliar! I'm Sam Witwicky." Sam greeted as he dragged the bound winged demon behind him.

"Sam. It is good to see you again. Bumblebee has informed us of your current situation, but he was unclear as to why you are here." Optimus' voice reverberated through the hanger. Rowan turned his head irritably before he let out a little squeak, eyes growing big as he took in the hulking mass that was Optimus Prime.

"Well, it's a long story." He replied as Bumblebee held his palm out for the boy and his 'prisoner of war' to climb onto. Rowan's wings twitched in anger as he was manhandled, but he was eventually handed to Ironhide for safe keeping.

"So, you guys know that Elle and I went to her world. Ok, so it turns out that the Resistance, or whatever it's called, is mostly made up of younger people who don't really know how to fight. Elle, now known as Kai because she had to change her name, is teaching them about elemental control, but we need more people to help…which is where you guys come in. This guy," and with that he jerked a thumb over to Rowan, "can teleport between the worlds. We need NEST's help, but the decision is totally up to you guys if you want to help." Sam explained, sucking in much needed air.

"Optimus. Skids and Mudflap, are due to arrive in two days while Arcee, Chromia, and Flare-Up are due to arrive in eight days. I don't see why we can't help them if we leave Jolt and Sideswipe here to help NEST." Ratchet commented as he stroked his chin. It was a habit that he picked up from Earth's culture.

Ironhide grunted and Jazz nodded in agreement. He had a thing for the little silver haired Princess; he was very protective of her ever since she saved his life when Megatron was going to kill him.

"I shall think upon the matter and talk it over with Chairman Morshower. It is required if we wish to help you and…Kai." Optimus rumbled as he nodded his head.

"Ratchet… you have permission to show our guests the Pretender protoforms." Optimus relayed to the yellow-green Autobot medic. Ratchet nodded, hurrying off to a side hanger off of what appeared to be their Medical Bay. Bumblebee, who was about to follow the medic, suddenly froze when an Australian…or was it a New Zealand? – came rushing into the main hanger.

"Galloway is on his way! He's here to meet the Autobots!" the man with the odd accent exclaimed. As soon as the words left his mouth both Lennox and Epps blanched, both paling drastically.

"Oh no. Hey…Rowan is it? How do you feel about someone knowing about the Youkai?" Lennox asked, quickly motioning for Sam to rip the tape from the demon's mouth.

"You little teme! How dare you tie me up!!" he immediately exclaimed as he started struggling again.

"Hey…hey! Quiet!" Sam shouted, flicking the winged male on the forehead. "Lennox, who is Galloway?" the brunette boy asked as Optimus paused in his communications with the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff.

Suddenly, the hanger was in pandemonium as Galloway arrived. Sam still didn't know who he was, but he had a feeling that he wouldn't like the older man.

"Galloway…is our Liaison trainee. If all goes well then he'll be promoted to full Liaison. Joy." Lennox explained as he rolled his eyes. Apparently the brunette male didn't enjoy communicating with the stuffy male that appeared outside the hanger.

"I want to see them. Where are these overgrown alien robots?" a stuffy voice sounded as he walked into the hanger. He looked around with distaste and when he finally spotted Optimus Prime, who was the largest Autobot in the hanger, his lip curled back in obvious disdain.

"Mr. Galloway. I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. We are Autonomous Robotic Organisms from the planet Cybertron." The great leader said, voice reverberating through the hanger.

"Yeah, yeah. I heard that. Now who're the rest of you?" Galloway said in a bored voice. He looked in his nails as Ratchet reappeared from the Medical Bay, obviously disgruntled at being disturbed from his original mission.

"I am Ratchet. I am the Chief Medical Officer of the Autobots." Ratchet introduced himself as he scanned the disgruntled human. He scoffed, not liking what he scanned. The medic motioned for Bumblebee to follow him, but Optimus sent a private link explaining that he had to introduce himself first.

"Name's Bumblebee. I'm a scout." Bumblebee introduced himself shortly. Since none of the other Autobots stepped forward, Optimus took it upon himself to introduce the rest of his men.

"This is Ironhide, my Weapons Specialist." Optimus introduced the great black cat like Autobot as he snorted gruffly.

"Jazz, my Second in Command." Jazz grunted as he nodded his head. Sam could see that nobody liked this new male.

"Sideswipe, warrior and assassin." Sideswipe merely tilted his head in greeting as he shifted from one wheel to another. Now that the brunette teen looked close enough he realized that the silver Autobot had wheels in place of where his feet would have been. It was actually cool.

"And Jolt, assistant medic to Ratchet." The blue bot hesitated before he nodded his head in greeting. Apparently the blue Autobot was shy.

"Wait, wait, wait. Who're they?" and that was the point where Galloway pointed to Sam and Rowan, who were still seated in Bumblebee's hand.

"I – ah – am Sam. Sam Witwicky." Sam introduced himself. Rowan, who sat next to him, turned to him and gave him a strange look. He jerked his head down to the annoying human and raised his eyebrow. Sam returned the look and shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah? What about bat boy? The freak in the leather?" and that was when Rowan's energy started fluxuating.

"Release me." the bat demon hissed and Bumblebee had no qualms about snapping his restraints. Rowan flew towards the human, who ducked and screamed like a little girl, while the bad demon landed in front of him.

"Who are you calling a freak? And bat boy? So not a good insult." The dark haired male demon calmly hissed as his eyes flashed. His power over shadows took over and they gathered around him, making strange and horrible shapes around Galloway. He stumbled back, whimpering like a baby as he tried to scramble away.

"Ah, ah, ah. Not good to run from shadows. They can always find you." He casually said as he stalked towards the quivering form.

"Who are you…what are you?" the whimpering human asked as he screwed up his face as if he were going to cry.

"Name's Rowan. I'm a demon…and your worst nightmare." He hissed as his fangs extended with a quiet 'shnk' and his eyes started to flicker again. His energy fluxuated and it seemed like he was glowing.

"Eek…" Galloway squeaked before his eyes rolled into the back of his head. He fainted, landing flat on the concrete of the hanger. Once he made sure that his job was done he turned and flew back to Bumblebee.

"So, what are we waiting for?" and with that he, Sam, and Bumblebee followed Ratchet to the Medical Bay where the Pretender prototypes were being stored. While those four did that, Optimus continued his communication with Chairman Morshower.

"So, what exactly is going on Optimus? Is it a…Decepticon…attack?" the Chairman asked through the computer. They were able to communicate via a secure line, but the Chairman was not allowed to see the Autobot Leader's face.

"No…I believe that was Liaison trainee Galloway meeting one of…the other kind." Optimus replied thoughtfully. He was still not sure whether or not he would tell the Chairman that the demons actually existed. Either way, Galloway would have to report back…and if Optimus didn't respond quickly enough then there might just be panic.

"The other kind? What exactly is this 'other kind'? Another race of aliens?" the Chairman was not nasty about his questioning. He was truly curious. About the other races and species in the galaxy.

"Chairman Morshower. What I am about to disclose to you is of the utmost importance. This is as, if not more, important than our secrecy as Autobots." Optimus began, shuttering his optics as he silently asked for Ell – Kai's forgiveness.

"Do you remember reading in the Mission City reports of a young woman who was captured along with young Bumblebee?" at the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff's nod the Autobot leader continued.

"She is known to humans as a 'demon'. Her race co-exists along with humans except in a sort of alternate reality to yours. She comes from said alternate reality called the 'Makai'. She is of no harm to humans since she has lived among you for more than two years." The great leader's voice reverberated through the hanger.

"And she's a…demon, you say? Will she harm humans if provoked? What of her kind?" the Chairman asked, clearly intrigued at what Optimus had to say.

"Her kind is called the 'Youkai'. She has sworn to protect humans, like the Autobots, but as far as I know the Youkai are forbidden to cross the boundaries of realities. The girl, now known as Kai, is actually the Princess of the Youkai. This is where my request comes into play. Kai is my friend and ally. She saved Jazz's life in mission city as well as saving Sam's life. Her home world is currently fighting a civil war…and if Kai's side looses then the Youkai may very well breech the boundary and try to enslave Earth." Optimus explained, cycling his vents. The action reminded the humans of a sigh.

"…Who is leading the other army? And what is your request?" the Chairman seemed to be full of questions, but the Autobot leader didn't mind.

"Her father… Chairman Morshower, I humbly request this action as a comrade." Optimus paused as several of the humans stopped what they were doing. All eyes were on the great Autobot leader, including the now conscious Galloway.

"Princess Kai needs our help."

Several minutes passed and the only sounds were the cycling of the Autobots' vents, the beeping of the computers, the buzz of conversation on the other end of the communications – the Chairman must have been talking with the President since he was also listening in on the conversation - and Galloway's shouts of denial. Finally a voice that was not the Chairman's responded.

Optimus let out a great cycle of his vents that could have passed as a sigh of relief. The President had spoken and it echoed through the NEST base amidst the cheers of excitement.

"Then she shall have it."