Eleven
Breached Sanctuary
The steady humming of monitors was the only sound in the control room as Kina leaned back in the padded rolling chair. Everyone else was quiet because both Maggie and Glen were too absorbed in the task Kina had set them to, Riley was fiddling with the external cams, which were still not working properly, and Mark was standing silently over the three security guards they'd jumped upon their arrival. Lucas was also being unusually quiet over the radio, and Kina was contemplating on contacting him again. In the meantime, she settled for watching Stanton and Galloway alternate between bargaining and catching up together. In the back of her mind, she was also reviewing everything that had happened since they'd arrived. Something wasn't sitting right with her.
"Hey Riley," she said, swiveling in the chair to face him. "Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, sure, what?" he asked, two live wires in his hands as he tried to start a connection. "Whoever went at these did a good job," he grumbled as he pulled another handful of torn wires out from underneath the panel.
"You said that there were Blackbirds here. How did you even know what they were?" Kina asked, leaning forward a bit.
Riley stilled for a moment. "If you forgot already, Ari has this talent of acquiring passwords into illegal networks," he said, voice muffled by the panels. "She'll fork them over for the right prices."
"I actually didn't know that," Kina replied, leaning down so she could see Riley's form. "When did that start?"
"I dunno, one day she didn't have them, the next she did. Anyway a few of us, uh, went into the Pentagon network and found a file on them by accident," Riley said, his face briefly illuminating in blue light as he zapped two wires together. "Any effect on the cams?" he asked.
"Nope, keep trying," Maggie replied as Kina straightened and refocused on the camera that was orientated on Stanton and Galloway. The question of the Blackbirds was bugging her now. She frowned as she tried to recall some piece of information that Keller, Thayer, or someone important had told her a few months ago. Now it was really beginning to bother her…
"Engaging argument?" Mark asked his sarcasm still evident in his voice as he watched Kina's eyes stray back to the screen with Stanton and Galloway. He personally had never met the infamous Stanton, just heard somewhat unpleasant rumors about her that were circulating for months first in 2005 and then again in 2007.
"Not really, they're not arguing all the time. Just working it into their conversation," Kina replied, looking over at Mark. She studied his sour expression and asked, "Want to warn us all again of impending arrest or something like that?"
"Yes, but I wouldn't dare since the 'turbulence' we encountered coming in convinced me not to do so," Mark said, pointedly staring at her so that she knew he still blamed her for purposely jerking the plane and then blaming turbulence.
"I told Lucas I wouldn't start anything for the duration of the trip," Kina assured him, but he still shook his head.
"We both know that you will be ready to pounce on me for every little disrespectful statement on this trip the second it's over," Mark hissed crossly. He looked down at one of the three security guards and said, "You have to deal with Galloway, and I have to deal with her. Wanna switch commanding officers?"
"Nah, I'm good," one of the security guards replied. "Things have been a little crazy here since Galloway returned, but that doesn't mean that I want to switch officers."
"Just because I said I wasn't going to start something now doesn't mean that I'm not going to remember it for when I can do something about it," Kina warned.
"I just thought of something," Glen said suddenly, swiveling in his chair to face her. "I thought someone said that Roxbury didn't know about the Autobots, but he seems comfortable enough…"
"He lied to Tobias. He knew about them all along but just told Tobias that he didn't," Kina replied, and then she turned to face Riley's feet again. "Mackerson, it's just a couple of wires. What is the delay?" she asked.
"Everything is fixed now, something else is screwing up the cams," Riley snapped back, and Mark flinched. There was a scuffling sound as Riley pulled himself up and out from underneath the panels. He leaned over the monitors and began pressing commands in, but the monitors remained static. "How is it that the external cams are damaged but the internal ones are working fine…?"
Fzzt!
"I take that back," Riley said, sounding slightly stunned as he stared at the now static-filled screens. He peered at the three guards and said, "Any of you guys know what's up?"
"Technically the cams have been wired so that extra-terrestrials can't wreck them, trust me it wasn't easy to make it work that way," one of the guards offered, and Mark bent down to pull the man up to his feet so that he could work at the problem.
Kina on the other hand glanced at Whitmann to make sure he was still working on his assignment, which he was. The thing about the Blackbirds was bothering her now. It was a recent piece of information she'd gotten too because she distinctly remembered Chief Thayer talking to their guide about them. It was a couple of months ago, and Thayer had been invited to Edwards, California for a meeting or something like that. Since he hadn't wanted to go alone, he brought her along for the trip, which turned out to include a VIP tour of the NASA research center. It was fine at first, but then the man assisting their guide had started to become annoying. She'd been trying to get him to shut up when the guide was talking to Thayer about the Blackbirds, and at the time she'd assumed she hadn't missed anything important. Now she wasn't so sure.
"Everything has to be calibrated just right," the security officer explained as he adjusted the systems using a computer program, which appeared to be easier and safer than working with live wires. "Then you press this key…"
"Mark," Kina asked, turning to face him. He narrowed his eyes but nodded in acknowledgement. "Were you with me the one time I went with Thayer to the NASA research center in California?"
"No. If I had been with you for that long, I believe that I would have slipped into insanity long before now," Mark replied stiffly, evidently intent on making every conversation of theirs an argument. "It's a freaking miracle that I made it this far…"
"You can shut up now," Kina interrupted, briefly wishing that they were back on the C-17 so that she could knock some sense into him. It worked well last time. He was right. She couldn't wait for the trip to be over so she could knock him down a few pegs.
"I have a little knowledge on Blackbirds," the security officer offered. When she looked up at him, he said, "I do know that there are only two in existence, and that they're both in the NASA research center in California. We don't have any that's for sure."
Riley froze at the same time Kina reached the same conclusion. "Please tell me I just misheard you and that you really do have a Blackbird in your arsenal," he said, looking uneasily at the security officer.
"No, we don't," the officer repeated, looking back at Riley. "Where'd did you get that from?" he asked as he let Maggie fix one of the system connections.
Riley distinctly looked like he was about to be sick. "So, you're trying to tell me that there are no Blackbirds when I swear I saw three on the landing pad outside," he asked, trying to take this in calmly.
"Yeah…" the officer began as Kina sat up straight in her chair and began to reach for the walkie-talkie.
"I'm going to call Lucas and tell him to expect trouble," she said, but as she was about to press the button to establish a link, there was a faint crash, the noise reverberating through the steel walls. Everyone in the security room froze until the noise had subsided, and then Mark peered at Kina.
"I think that he's just figured it out," he said, and Kina almost lashed out at him for the obvious statement.
"Let's go. He'll probably need help," Kina growled, gesturing for Mark to follow her. "Mackerson, stay with the analysts." She ignored Riley's exclamation of indignation, and then left the security room altogether.
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Stanton broke off the conversation at the loud crash that echoed through the walls. Both she and Galloway immediately stood up a few seconds later, listening carefully. Finally she looked at him and asked, "What was that?"
"I don't know, but I bet I know who was involved," Galloway said, forcing himself to relax back in the chair. There was a moment of an awkward silence between them and then he asked, "What do you think it is?"
"I don't know, but I think it's going to be painful for both of us when we do find out," Stanton said. She raised an eyebrow and asked, "How does this sound? You resign, I'll take over your position and make sure that they stay deactivated or whatever the president wanted. Then you can leave and return to your duties as National Security Advisor while I'm stuck on some isolated base doing nothing…"
"Nice try. I wasn't born yesterday Toni. We both know you'd wait until the helicopter was barely out of sight before you got things running again. Who knows? You might even try to pull the 401st back together."
"You're safe about the 401st; only a general has the power to challenge an order from the Secretary of Defense. After being demoted, I no longer have such authority," Stanton coolly replied as she stood up. "Now, I don't know if you haven't noticed, but my, uh, aide wandered off again." She brushed off her uniform, still feeling grubby from the flight over, and then said, "We can talk some more in the morning all right?"
"I would feel better if we finished our conversation now," Galloway said, looking up at her. His eyes seemed to be trying to communicate something important to her, and he was starting to look desperate.
Stanton narrowed her eyes at him. "Galloway, we'll finish our conversation later. Now, I have to find Lansford," she told him, and then turned on her heel to leave.
"I thought you hated him," Galloway said suddenly, getting up from behind his desk and walking around to join her. "Or at least that's what you told me…"
"He's a pain, but I've learned to deal with it," Stanton replied as Galloway closed his office door and locked it. "That determined to finish catching up?" she asked as they walked away from office. The fire alarms hadn't gone off yet, so Stanton was making the risky assumption that nothing had been blown to bits yet.
"I guess you could say that," Galloway said, directing her towards a door at the end of the hall that would eventually lead to the outside. "Toni, I have to be honest with you about something…" he said casually, turning around to face her and put his hands up in a surrender position if necessary. The answer to the question was pivotal in whether he told her his admission or not…
She was fast; he had to give her that. The pistol was out in front of his face when he was done turning around. "What did you do now?" she hissed, and he could see her anger and hurt written plainly on her face. "What did you lie about? Spit it out before I help you," she snapped, her eyes flickering to something that was past his shoulder.
"It's not about you, it's about this facility," Galloway said quickly, but shut up when he saw her pull the hammer back. "Toni, I know this is a little ridiculous, but the Deceptic…" he began.
Pchow!
It took Galloway a few microseconds to realize that he was still standing, alive and in one piece. His heart was beating quickly as Stanton lowered the gun and focused on something beyond him. He turned around slowly and stiffly to find a little toy truck limping away, one of its back tires shot through. Another click encouraged it to move faster, and Galloway could only imagine the Banes girl's wrath when she found that he allowed the little guy to get hurt… even though he'd promised that nothing was going to happen. "What was that all about?" he demanded as Stanton lowered the pistol but kept it out anyway. He didn't blame her for pulling it out in the first place; if he were being questioned about a previous assassination attempt, he would've assumed that the questioner was about to attempt the same.
"It was getting on my nerves," Stanton replied coolly. "Now turn around, and walk to the hangars where the Autobots are. You can explain yourself there to them."
"Let me explain as I walk then," Galloway said, calmly obeying her order. He began walking, and he could sense her keeping an eye on his hands. "After I was rescued, I was taken to a US base in the Middle East for recovery. I accidentally found out that Starscream had taken refuge there as well, and he acted first by stopping me from escaping," Galloway explained as he slowly opened the door.
"Ah, he's still around? I thought he left years ago," Stanton commented sarcastically from behind him, quietly slipping the gun back into its holster without saying anything about it to Galloway. Maybe when he got off her nerves she would say something about it.
"He threatened to kill some military personnel if I didn't comply with his master's orders," Galloway explained, praying that Stanton would see reason in a few moments. "He and his cohort were dangling me some several hundred feet in the air, and were making a list of demands…"
"Captain Preston found herself in a similar predicament two years ago only the president's safety was the thing compromised," Stanton interrupted, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Yet you see her walking around alive and intact. I didn't think she bowed to Starscream's demands very much."
"Captain Preston was the one of the three people he was threatening to kill," Galloway said, frowning even though Stanton couldn't see it. "His master apparently wanted unrestricted access to Diego Garcia. Starscream and his buddy treated me like a rag doll until I complied with them…"
"You threw the Autobots up for grabs to save your own hide?" Stanton snapped, her sharp voice cracking like a whip and startling him badly for the second time that night… or morning at the rate they were going. "Starscream must have rattled you so badly if you're not thinking straight! Didn't you know that you could've easily radioed someone in the US for help afterwards?"
"Not all of us spend our time trying to figure out ways to outwit the higher power," Galloway snapped. "Also, if you plan on shooting something soon…"
Crash!
This time, instead of just noise, the whole hall shook violently. Galloway and Stanton braced themselves against the wall until the shaking had stopped. "Let's go," Stanton growled before breaking out into a run, Galloway behind her. "Does these sorts of thing always happen?" she asked as they rounded a corner. Emergency alarms blared in their wake, flashing red lights throughout the darkened halls.
"No, and listen! If you need to shoot something soon, do not do it over my shoulder again! I don't trust you that much!" Galloway said crossly as he ran a little faster just to keep pace. He wondered if he'd gained weight over the years he'd spent behind a desk; he was certainly feeling like it. Stanton on the other hand seemed like she was used to running around at a moment's notice. He had to figure out her secret.
"Nobody trusts me that much anyway," she said nonchalantly as she slowed slightly to let him catch up. "Hell, I'm just grateful that Keller didn't kick me out of the army completely," she added. She spared him a glance and she said, "For the record, I do not spend my time trying to outwit the higher power. I usually have more constructive things to do than that."
"Name five," Galloway shot back. This was not the time or place for an argument, and he knew that, but he had to finish what he started. "Five things that are considered acceptable and rational in the US military," he added for clarification.
"One, I keep in touch with old subordinates. Two, I work with Lansford on maintaining communication with the Pentagon. Three, I keep the Air Force at the base in line. Four, I help Admiral Benson stay organize, and then finally, I give help when it comes to dating. Benson is hopeless otherwise," Stanton said, slipping a little when the building rocked again. "Are they trying to bring the place down or something?"
"I do not know, Toni, I do not know," Galloway replied, running faster.
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As a paramedic, Rose Connelly knew how important each second was. Each second lost meant that it was going to be harder to bring a victim back from the brink of death. Speed was always of the essence.
But when Ironhide finally lashed out at the unseen threat, time seemed to slow down. Rose vaguely remembered swiftly retreating as a large crack appeared in the hangar doors and ceiling, only to be broken completely in the next barrage. Light flooded the decks outside as the emergency floodlights switched on, revealing a black aircraft halfway through its own transformation process. Ironhide, in full rampage, charged the aircraft with blazing weapons, Optimus right behind him. The aircraft however managed to transform in time to meet the assault.
Breathing hard and behind a crate, Rose glanced over at Tobias to see that he was firing on the silver Decepticon, Belroy at Tobias's back. Lucas, Gabriel, and Max had taken cover behind a series of crates, and Twitch or his crate was nowhere in sight. Lucas cast a look over at her, made eye contact, and then passed a pistol along the ground towards her. She snatched up the weapon, and checked to ensure the chamber was prepared. She looked up at Lucas, who had an alarmed expression.
"Watch your six, Connelly!" he shouted, gesturing frantically behind her.
Alarmed, she twisted around in time to see the grate that led to the air vents pop open, and a spider-like robot crawled out. It had miniature claws, spider-like legs, a nasty pair of prongs, and it looked mad especially with its magnified eyes. Rose scrambled backwards until she hit a wall, whereupon she pulled up the small pistol and aimed it dead center at the creature.
It didn't even see her. Seeing a more appetizing target in the Autobots, it scuttled off and climbed over the crates, calculating. Rose crawled to the crates to keep an eye on the apparent troublemaker as it made its way to the combating Transformers. Privately, she hated hiding like this when there was a battle to be fought and won, but at the moment, it was the best she could do until a better opportunity surfaced.
A flash of silver caught her eye. She turned in the direction of the color, and recognized the silver jet that was coming down from the dawn-colored sky. "Ratchet!" she screamed, leaping to her feet. She couldn't stop the Decepticon, but at least she could alert Ratchet to the threat behind him…
The medic, hearing her cry, turned instinctively in time to deflect Starscream's attack. Almost immediately after turning around at her cry, Ratchet jerked as though something had pricked him hard, distracting him from the oncoming Decepticon.
It was the spider-like Decepticon scuttling around Ratchet, Sideswipe and Jolt, nicking at them when it could. For a little troublemaker, it was being unusually daring. Rose glanced over to see that Max and Gabriel had fanned out, with Lucas still behind cover and Tobias gone. Black uniformed NEST officers had appeared at some point and were firing at Starscream, who was backpedaling from Jolt and into Sideswipe, seemingly rethinking his strategy at the same time. Arcee and her sisters had taken upon themselves to aid Prime and Ironhide with the black aircraft
She made up her mind. Praying that this wasn't the stupidest thing she'd ever done, Rose headed straight into the fray. If it was any comfort, she could see that NEST soldiers had also snuck up to join in, but on the other hand, they were trained professionals. Rushing into hazardous situations was part of the job description.
"Connelly! ARE YOU CRAZY?" she vaguely heard Tobias screech from somewhere. Yes, it had been a split-second decision, but she wasn't going to sit on the sidelines for this one. Since Tobias was never her boss in the first place, she had no real inclination or incentive to obey him. Besides, her first impression of him hadn't been favorable, and that factored in when it came to working with him.
Rose moved just as Sideswipe charged for Starscream, missing as the Decepticon took for the skies again. There was a loud rumble as Sideswipe willingly took the plunge into the ocean waters, soaking everyone on the decks. Rose aimed and fired, taking advantage of the fact that the little Decepticon had become momentarily distracted. She didn't see whether it got damaged or not because she looked up as Starscream took aim at the small collection of humans before him, planning to permanently remove them. She instinctively froze when she looked up at the gaping cannons that Starscream had locked onto her and the three NEST soldiers a little way behind her.
It was the twins who more or less evened the playing field.
Either Mudflap or Skids, each would blame the other later so no one would really know, had criticized the paint color of the other twin and started an argument over whose paint was better looking in the faint light of the early morning sun. While their comrades were fighting the real threat, they were fighting each other. Eventually it became a brawl that rolled out onto the real battleground, and Starscream, distracted with the humans and Autobots he was about to vaporize as vengeance for the humiliating loss at Jordan, didn't see the brawling twins. The final crash announced Starscream's and the twins' 'impromptu swim'.
The decks immediately grew eerily quiet after the Decepticon had vanished. Optimus was also no longer in sight as well as his opponent. Feeling drained, Rose sank to her knees as her weapon clattered to the ground, temporarily forgotten. She felt someone support her up from behind, holding her gently around the ribs to prevent her from falling over completely.
"Please someone tell me that the twins did not just end this," she heard Tobias say as he walked closer.
"The twins did just end this," someone said, earning a few snickers from his companions. Rose looked up to see that a few NEST soldiers were gathering by the edge of the ruined deck to peer down into the waters, hoping to catch a glimpse of the verdict of the battle under the waves. "Looks like they're not completely useless after all Ratchet."
"There is no need to remind me," a male voice behind Rose replied in a stiff manner.
Tobias came into her field of vision, and then he asked somewhat bluntly, "Out of curiosity Connelly, what the hell was going through your mind when you charged like that?"
"Knock it off Jackson," Belroy said, walking up behind his copilot. "Just because…"
"Galloway isn't going to be thrilled about this, but at this point, I could care less," Graham said, rubbing a dry shirt through his wet hair. "If he wants to make a fuss out of it, he can go help finish the battle underwater, and then complain. Then I'll listen to him."
"I will not go underwater even if that is what it will take to get you to listen," Galloway snapped, storming through the hangar doors. He scanned the scene before him. Ratchet was in lock-down, seeing that his hologram was sitting next to an unfamiliar woman and was supporting her. Jolt was helping Sideswipe up from the oceanic waters. Bumblebee was pulling two NEST soldiers from the water, although how they got there in the first place was beyond Galloway. Assorted men and women were standing there, some in NEST black, others in an unidentifiable gray. He felt like the parent who stumbled upon their teenage children having a forbidden party, the awkward moment where everyone turned to stare at the intruder.
"How could we miss it completely?" Stanton asked, breaking the silence as she walked around him. "I don't think you run fast enough to qualify for serving in the military," she said, glancing back at him as she strode forward into the disaster zone.
"Good thing that I'm not signing up!" Galloway shot after her, and then scanned the room for the highest-ranking officer. He had been too riled up after Jordan to remember where exactly he'd sent Major Lennox. Lennox was still in NEST, but just not on Diego Garcia at the moment. "Where's the leader, Prime?" he asked, looking around and finally realizing that the Autobot leader was nowhere in sight.
Poomf!
Everyone looked up to see a silver F-22 Raptor take to the skies, sheets of water cascading off the wings and creating a sort of glittering waterfall as the sun reflected off of the liquid. The Raptor took care to fly over the exposed humans on the decks, soaking them through. There was a second roar, and a black aircraft pierced through the water's surface and into the skies, moving significantly faster than the Raptor. Again the humans were splattered with water falling off of the aircraft.
"That must be some weird form of Decepticon humor," Graham muttered darkly as he took Belroy's cotton jacket in an attempt to dry his head off. When Belroy made a sound of irritation, Graham tossed him the soaked T-shirt from the first drying. "Get the point across the best way you can without actually killing humans."
"How rude, Starscream didn't even bother to say hello," Stanton said, brushing her damp hair aside. "He must've been too comfortable here and didn't want to go," she added as another wave washed upon the deck, Ironhide and Optimus both climbing out onto the deck. Water cascaded down both Autobots as they stretched to their full heights and Ironhide flexed his joints to ensure that all of the water was completely out. Rose was among the six people total who weren't soaked a third time; Ratchet had helped her to the side already and she was wrapped in one of the towels that someone had thought to fetch after the first soaking.
"I don't know why I bother," Graham finally said, tossing the soaked jacket over to Belroy, who scowled at the loss of a makeshift towel. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm wide awake now," he added as he approached Ironhide. Lucas was already standing near the weapons specialist; after the first round, he'd assumed it was safe to come out. Now he ducked his head away from Stanton's field of vision, the action going unnoticed by all except Tobias, who decided not to call him out on it.
Several rifles were raised as the hangar doors slammed open, and Stanton was mildly surprised to see her former pilot Kina Skye walk in with two soldiers behind her, one in NEST uniform the other in the gray that seemed to have appeared at some point.
"I can see it still took forever to get here even with a guide," Kina observed, eyeing the soaked personnel and taking in the few Autobots standing there. "But I suppose it's a good thing we were late."
"That's 'cause you didn't hire a professional," Tobias said, smirking. Behind him, the personnel were slowly dispersing while Ironhide went back to the edge of the deck to peer into the waters below.
"Tobias, we've only met five times before, and I've always wondered if you deliberately pick fights," Kina said in such a serious tone that Tobias thought it better to back off. Stanton looked back at the waters when there was another round of vicious swearing from the personnel, announcing the arrival of the twins from the waters below.
"Speaking of disagreements, Galloway, wasn't there something you were going to tell Prime?" Stanton asked in such a courteous tone that Galloway wondered if she took personal delight in tormenting people sometimes.
Galloway scowled at her as Optimus turned his attention to Galloway. Sensing an oncoming altercation, some personnel focused on getting dry instead of hanging around. The only nine who remained were Max, Gabriel, Lucas, Tobias, Rose, Belroy, and Kina with the two people with her. Gritting his teeth, Galloway turned back to face Optimus and said, "I am… sorry for, um, overreacting after Jordan. You were right I was wrong. I guess I'll go back to the United States and sort things out there…"
"I can only hope that this can serve as a reminder to your president that the Decepticons will not go easily," Optimus rumbled, and Stanton couldn't decide if she detected a hidden warning in his tone or not. She was exhausted.
"Either way, this place is now compromised… trip to the US anyone?" Tobias asked hopefully, and Stanton wondered how long it had been since he went home.
"I would say not by flight, but I have a 'suspicion' as you humans put it, that we will be going back that way," Ironhide grumbled as he kept the twins off to the side so that they could shake the water out without soaking any more humans.
"You'll have a better chance going in via ship; Keller just called," Lansford said, walking around the corner from the outside. He was holding a towel-wrapped bundle in a similar fashion one would hold a cat. "Wanted to say that he was aware of a C-17 sneaking out with a commanding officer who scared everybody by dropping off the map last night," he said, nodding respectfully to Optimus. "Also, he and Johnson, the current SecDef, want you back stateside, colonel. Something is making them jumpy in DC, and they think that you might've had a hand in it."
"I can swear upon my honor that I actually had nothing to do with whatever is going on in DC," Stanton replied sweetly. Lansford rolled his eyes at her expression but spoke again.
"Finally, this little guy is pissed off at you because you shot his wheel off," Lansford said, pulling back the towel to reveal a disgruntled little Decepticon. "He was that toy truck that we saw coming in," Lansford explained, angling the Decepticon so it and Stanton could see each other. "Claims he's defected to the Autobot side. Name's Wheelie."
Stanton leaned in slightly so that she and the Decepticon were almost touching. "If you're expecting an apology from me, I wouldn't count on it. You were getting on my nerves," she said after a few moments of expectant silence.
"I can see how that would've happened," Kina observed from her safe distance away from Stanton and the Decepticon.
"His name is Wheelie or something like that, and Miss Banes is going to kill me since I, ah, let him get injured," Galloway said, looking over Stanton's shoulder at the Decepticon. He sighed, and then said, "Captain Belroy." The man trotted obediently over, and Galloway said, "Find the Navy crews and see if they can get a top-class ship going for America by noon at the very latest."
"Sir!" Belroy replied, happy to be back on Galloway's good side again. He gestured for Tobias to follow, and the two men walked out of the hangar with Gabriel and Max close behind.
"Where is Twitch?" Lucas asked, momentarily forgetting that Stanton was still standing there. He grimaced as the colonel focused on him, and she smiled.
"I trust you have been well, Roxbury?" she asked politely, placing a hand on her hip and raising an eyebrow at her former captain.
"Never better," he replied, forcing his face to put on less of a grimace and more of a genuine smile. He looked at Lansford and asked, "Did Keller specify who was the missing CO? I'm pretty sure that I didn't have one on my team."
"How sure?" Kina asked curiously as behind her, Mark grimaced when he saw Stanton watching him.
"Sure-sure. I had asked Sergeant Wilson to check the profiles of all attendees so that I wouldn't pick a CO up by accident. We would definitely get into some kind of trouble by now if we did," Lucas said, reassuring her. He turned to see that Rose was standing up and beginning to leave the hangar as well. "Miss Connelly, if you require assistance…"
"No thank you, I'm fine," she replied as Ratchet's hologram vanished into thin air and the Autobot medic resumed mobility.
"Well, now that that is all sorted out, I say we get dry, and then prep for departure. I'm sleeping on the way home," Stanton said, Galloway nodding nervously as Optimus turned to check on his companions.
"Now who started this fight?" Ironhide demanded as he forcibly dragged the twins back to the hangar.
"Uh, I dunno… he did!" Skids said, immediately blaming his brother when thinking of the possible consequences.
"Did not! It wuz youh fault!" Mudflap shot back, taking a swing at his brother. In doing so, a bucket's worth of trapped ocean water was finally released and drenched the few humans left.
There were a few moments of silence from the humans as the twins began yet another argument. Then they left before any more water came down on them. It felt like being under a waterfall at some points.
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A/N: I did'nt know how to type out the twins' dialogue, so I gave it a shot. It should improve with future chapters.
