AUTHOR'S NOTE

To all my loyal readers, thank you for your continued support! I have had various favorites and reviews for this story, I just hope you all have enjoyed it thus far.

WARNING for this chapter. It is quite dark as is my style of writing. I always wished Bay would have been slightly darker in his direction, but I guess he wanted to keep it 'family' friendly.

Also, don't forget to R and R if there is something you like/dislike.

I'll try and keep the chapters coming! I am excited about chapter 13! I have a lot of thoughts on its content, so I'll try and have it out at my earliest.

Chapter 12: Backlash

Flakes of snow drifted lightly from the sky landing elegantly on the tiny village of Gar in Russia below. The cold wasn't unseasonable for that time of year. The ninety or so residents of the isolated community anticipated a frosty winter, and were well prepared for the harsh weather.

Late afternoon darkness had started to weave through the town as the old brick houses radiated a warm orange glow. Smoke escaping the chimneys that drifted thickly into the sky.

A remote little house sat nestled amongst a forest of leafless trees, blanketed in a thick layer of snow. A small patch of clearing served the purpose of growing crops, but the winter snow had completely covered any sign of the cultivated soil.

A young family sat around the dinner table. A typical couple with two children of their own: a boy aged 5 and a girl aged 3; timid children with bright blue eyes and silky brunette hair. The couple always wanted to start a family in a small town, away from the major cities of the country.

The family held hands as they sat at the dinner table, bowing their heads in quiet prayer. The winter season reduced their normal spread of food; the seasonal weather required a rationing of provisions. A factor the adults already well anticipated, preserving ample food for the family in their previous harvests.

The fireplace crackled as the falling snow settled upon the small windows of the room. Before the father could mutter the routine 'Amen' after a minute of silent prayer, a loud crack burst outside the house startling the family from their seats. The sound would not be unusual during an intense thunderstorm, or if rockets were being tested in a nearby army barracks, but neither of those were ever characteristics for the area.

The four curious at the abnormal noise, left their meals rushing to the generous sized front lounge-room window. The adults took point, opening the large drapes to gaze outside. Particles of dust and cobwebs fluttered from above the drapes, floating down to the floor.

The young children scrambled from behind their parents, gently tugging at their clothes for a chance to look outside as well. Mum and Dad stared outside, gaping their jaws at the extraordinary sight. A large sphere alight in flames soared across the sky. Their bewilderment soon switched from wonderment to crippling horror as they realised the fireball was heading straight for their town.

Little voices bellowed behind them, yelling their wishes to look outside the window. The adults quickly dropped the drapes and grabbed their children, one for each parent. They hoisted their fragile kids into their arms and sprinted for the basement.

Seconds after the father slammed the basement door shut and scattered down the stairs with his son in his hands, a deafening collision rumbled outside the small house. The foundations shook and cracked, glass objects topside smashed from the impact as the children began to wail in fear.

A moment passed, nothing but dead silence as the terrified young family curled together in the dark basement. The smell of mould infected the small room, the surrounding bricks moist and eroded with age. The father handed his son to his wife, bravely creeping up the basement steps to the main room of their house.

Hands trembling, he gripped the rusty old handle, slowly pushing the wood door as it creaked open. He took a step out, eyes widening in shock. He lifted his head to the sky, which was now completely visible from inside the living room. A huge gaping hole ran across from the eastern side of the house to the western. A straight line had cut right through the little abode.

The man continued to step further through his shattered house, tears forming in the side of his eyes at the rubble that was his home. Snow now began to fall coldly upon his shoulders as he stood gawking at the damage.

An eerie noise whispered behind him. He held his breath at the sound of the loud deep bellow. He listened intently, the unnatural noise becoming clearer and closer. He quickly scrambled to a nearby couch, taking refuge behind its fabric.

The man's heart petrified in terror as an enormous metal monster paced into view, its massive metal feet drowning into the thick layer of snow as it stepped. Red eyes blazed in its head, bulky steel covering the alien's metal limbs.

The metallic terror trod ignorantly pass the severed house, his back turned to the anxious human that hid behind him in perfect silence. The man breathed a preemptive sigh of relief as the monster began to leave the area.

A loud high pitched shriek broke through the relieving silence. The young boy had wandered away from his mother in search of his father. Standing at the front of the open basement door, he screamed at the large metal monster in the foreground.

The beast turned swiftly to locate the noise, scanners pinpointing the source. It looked down at the small human with cold red optics of a ruthless killer.

The father looked on in horror as the metal giant gleamed at his son. He leaped forward from behind the couch, sprinting frantically to grab his child and run him away from the impending danger.

A deep sinister voice howls to itself, "No witnesses."

Before the man could cradle his son in his arms and wisp him away, the alien took aim pointing his forearm towards the humans. A bright glow illuminated from the circular opening where a hand once was, streaming out a fusion canon blast.

No one would ever build on that patch of land again; the scattered remains of scorched bricks a reminder of the young family that once lived there.

Half way across the world, the trials and tribulations of the day started to take its toll on the energy drained Autobot. Every fibre, every nerve ending, every circuit, that intertwined themselves around Optimus' metallic body longed for a lengthy recharge.

What Optimus anticipated as a routine day turned into a nightmare of calamity. It had taken hours to subdue all the infected human members of NEST and organise adequate sleeping quarters for the dozens of tranquilized bodies.

Mudflap and Skidz eagerly volunteered to haul all the unconscious humans to the metal stretchers setup in one of the holding warehouses on the base. Optimus suspected a few of the contusions on the human bodies were the result of the idiotic twins accidentally dropping their shipment whilst attempting to carry five or six of the comatose victims at one time.

Optimus had been so distracted in ensuring the human members of his team were adequately protected from further damage that he neglected to monitor the NEST headquarters intel panels. It slipped his logic circuits that all the primary IT personnel had been in the faction of infected. Optimus held himself responsible for being unable to organise infiltration crews earlier.

Due to the effects of the infection within the base, NEST lacked the numbers to organise sufficient defence teams to investigate the simultaneous worldwide attacks of Decepticons. It took hours for the American Military to assessable adequate replacements to accompany the various Autobots assigned to different sites across the globe. By the time most of the teams arrived at their destination points, the destruction had already reached climax and any sign of a Decepticon force had departed.

The Autobot and his unfamiliar human comrades arrived in the early hours of dawn in Sydney, Australia. The monumental harbour of the city lay in ruins by the ravaging efforts of an unidentified Decepticon.

Optimus scanned his optics around the devastation; the harbour bridge blown to pieces sinking to the bottom of the bay waters; fires still blazed across the inlet; scattered bodies lay lifeless around the piers and beneath the rubble. The once peaceful seaside now a pit of scorched ruins.

He cursed the Decepticon who inflicted the horrific suffering and carnage.

A crowd of civilians were gathered around the bayside. They worked effortlessly with authorities digging through rubble searching tirelessly for survivors. Optimus and his team had arrived by military cargo plane at the nearby airport, traveling by automobile to the scene of destruction.

Optimus felt it was honorable to look upon the battlefield with his visual sensors rather than remain hidden in the shadows. It wasn't until moments after he had transformed into his cybertronian form and caught the attention of nearby civilians that he would regret unmasking his alien presence.

A male human, hands bloodied through vigorous digging through the piles of cement and debris, observed the NEST team's covert arrival in the concealed side streets leading to the harbour. His eyes fumed with anger at the sight of the large robotic member of the team.

"You!" the man screamed from almost twenty five metres away; pointing his index finger directly at Optimus. "You should not be here! All this…" he continued to bellow circling his arms at the demolished bay, "…is your fault!"

Optimus stood firm, emotions unwavering at the allegations of the infuriated human who began to march towards the position of the team. The soldiers raised their guns in reaction to the aggression.

"Get the fuck off our planet! You are not welcome here!" The man began to charge towards Optimus, American soldiers cutting short his advances. Using their weapons as a barricade, they heaved forcefully at the livid human delivering a stern warning, "Back off! Go back to your business!" The man did not relent.

Optimus attempted to reason with the civilian, "Please..." but his deliberation fell dead as he peered across the harbour to see a crowd of people beginning to group around the piers. The bellowing of the single human had attracted too much attention, and now the NEST team was at great risk from the irrational emotions of an angry mob. Optimus ordered his team vacate the area immediately. A few soldiers would remain as scouts to ensure the area was cleared of any alien threats.

Drifting silently in the bay waters, a black Alfra Vico Marino 52 yacht concealed its alien form silently watching the conflict. The vessel relished in the destruction it had inflicted on the disgusting bioforms and the anguish it caused the pitiful Autobot leader.

The Decepticon replayed in its memory processors the splintering cracks of the human bones it crushed, their terrified screams as his arsenal melted their flesh, the melody of buildings collapsing from the powerful explosions of the robot's rockets. This mission was the most entertaining the twisted robot had had in over a year.

Thunderblast watched as the NEST team fled the scene; smirking at thecowardly Autobot who would turn tail and run from the likes of puny fleshlings. Consulting his communication link, he sent out an encrypted message:

::: SEND MESSAGE :::

Designation: Thunderblast

Location: Sydney, Australia.

- Lord Megatron, mission successful -

Returning to headquarters in the cargo planewould take another several hours. Usually for Optimus, the travel time would involve lengthy exchanges between his cybertronian comrades, or the human members of NEST, specifically Major Lennox would be the most talkative. However, with the strangers that temporarily replaced the regular members of the team, Optimus was left to his own devices.

The truck sat quietly in the darkness of the cargo hold. The room lacked any windows to allow light or glance outward at the over passing landscapes below. Optimus shifted his concerns to his human team and their recover progress.

The leader had already received several messages from his Autobot crew who had traveled to their assigned provisions, all reports resulting in the same state of affairs. Overwhelming destruction, devastated civilians, and no sign of the enemy.

Guilt chocked at the Autobot leader, a thick hand twisting its cold fingers around his spark. The Decepticons were extracting vengeance upon the human race, and the Autobots proved today that they were incapable of preventing their revenge.

Optimus' logics suspected that this time, there was no end game for the Decepticon attacks. The scale of destruction served no other purpose but to cause carnage and devastation. The spiteful robots now wanted to watch the Earth burn.

He began to convince himself that he let his attachments on Earth cloud his judgment. If the Autobots were unable to prevent attacks by the Decepticons against the humans, then there served no benefit for the people of this planet to offer the robots refuge on their planet.

His spark sunk further inside itself. Regret and anguish clawing deep into his mind. Optimus buried his need to scream in pain; the guilt of failure engraving itself on his soul. His punishment would await him in death; when his spark returned to the matrix from whence it came.