Chapter 12

(A/N: In Chinese culture, you offer a gift with both hands. Also: I'm sorry for not explaining this before, but here are some military terms, albeit American, you should know: 'CO' means 'Commanding Officer', 'Angels 3' is referring to altitude in terms of thousands like 'angels 3' would be three thousand feet. And a Bradley and a Stryker are American Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFV))

I looked down at Taiyang Xeng Hua, once my little cousin, now not so little. He looked up at me with his wrinkled brown eyes as we spoke.

"We offer this gift to you as a gesture of goodwill and justice," I said, grabbing the Union prisoner and then 'offering him' with both of my hands behind his back as I ushered him forward.

The police captain looked at him with a cold hatred as did everyone else. Knuckles were cracked and knives were brandished. The sole prisoner took a step back and looked up at me, pleading with his eyes, asking me to take him away from them. I shook my head in response. No dice, pal.

"Get this filth into an evac ship under armed guard," he ordered two nearby officers, who then moved forward to take him.

"Why the fuck should that piece of shit take up space?! Shoot him!" A man nearby yelled. Others roared similar jeers and cries of 'execute him!'. I looked down at the frightened man. I cleared my throat rather loudly. Everyone less than seven feet tall looked up at me.

"I agree that this man should pay for his crimes, but I wouldn't advise executing him without a trial." I said, offering my two cents. My 'advice' ended up angering people. Rachel sighed as she regenerated a four-year-old boy's leg that had been shot by a stray bullet in the fighting. His mother happily thanked Rachel.

"Fuck trials!" Someone shouted with others shouted similar sentiments. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. Well, what did I expect? Everyone to agree with me? The crowd started to move towards him until the police started holding them back as the aforementioned officers ushered the prisoner towards the evac shuttle.

"Make sure he's away from everyone else," Taiyang ordered as the crowed pulled him back. He watched prisoner hang his head in shame as he was jeered. I caught Tai say something about hoping he gets 'shanked in prison'. To this I wanted to say, on account of Yaz possibly being former Union that that particular sentiment wasn't right to say. However, I swallowed my apparent virtue signalling and said something else.

"I request that we speak privately, Captain." I said, trying to sound as noble or at the very least as adult as I could

XXX

"Yeah, I think he's trying a bit too hard on trying to sound mature." Julian commented, emphasizing on 'bit'. Rufus Weller scratched his chin as he thought.

"In a way, he's kind of acting like his predecessor." Weller commented as well. Yasamin looked at John's prone form as it lay. His veins were glowing a bright blue and his hands were starting to turn into metal. How long would the change occur until it was complete, she wondered? It could be weeks or months.

XXX

As soon as I spoke, something strange happened. A Vanguard fighter jet flew over my head about five hundred feet over us with what looked like tracer rounds coming after it. At once everyone that wasn't eight feet tall took cover. At first, I wanted to as well, but then remembered that small-arms can't kill me, except if it's a bazooka or an Aamor-piercing round. Who can forget nukes? Nukes kill too, no matter what happens.

The fighter jet flew down the street with something chasing it. It didn't look like any fighter I'd ever seen before. If anything, it looked kind of like a drone or something. And of course, it looked like that guy was in trouble. I frowned as I thought. I had wings right? So, obviously I could fly. But, they were jet wings.. Hmmm. What else could I do.

That was when my HUD informed me of quite possibly one of the coolest, but also strangest things you could do.

::Current form configuration allows user to transform into vehicle mode:: As if reading my mind, it showed an image of me turning into a fighter jet and then back. I grinned as I realized that essentially I was the sentient version of a Robotech fighter! Heck yeah!

I stepped back as I bowed, making sure I didn't step on anyone as I spoke.

"I apologize, Captain. But, I must cut our discussion short. I shall leave the rest of my fireteam here to guard the evac point. I will return shortly, I promise." I apologized. The simulated version of my now-older cousin blinked as he struggled just what I was going to do and probably how I was appearing disrespectful. Again: my adoptive mother was Chinese.

I then turned around while giving an order to Rachel.

"Caretaker, you're in charge for the moment. I've gotta' go save a flyboy." I told her as I walked away from the crowd. I made sure that enough distance was between them and myself before I stood in the middle of the street, bodies and wrecked spider-tanks around me as a grim reminder of war. I closed my eyes and thought hard on transforming. I heard robotics pulse and click and felt my head go into my chest, my arms folded as did my legs into my body. My eyes opened and I found myself hovering off of the ground.

::Vehicle mode engaged. Would you like a tutorial?:: My HUD asked me.

"Sure," I said.

::When in vehicle form, your speed is many times that than when you are walking in bipedal form. However, your vehicle form's speed is equal to that of the particular vehicle form you have chosen.:: My HUD informed me, showing me a video while it taught me. It showed a robot running with the speedometer showing that he was running at twenty-five miles an hour. The vehicle, a fighter jet it looked like, could go up to mach 5 as it flew through the sky. I smiled- or rather 'felt' that I smiled as it showed me how to fight in combat.

XXX

"Looks like he just found out he could transform, and he's a fellow pilot to boot!" Weller said, happily. Chase shrugged.

"I dunno. Kind of remains to be seen. It takes a while to master piloting a jet, much less a walker. I had to go through some years at an Academy just to learn how to fly." The ex-fighter pilot commented.

"Perhaps, when this is over, and after we have John settled in, you could possibly train him?" Weller asked. Julian looked at him in shock. Weller shrugged as he pointed John's vehicle form as seen by 'Caretaker'.

"That's his form when he's done changing in several or more months' time. If anything, I can think of no better teacher than you since you have such a stellar aviation combat career."

"Had," Chase reminded him. Weller's happy smile fell. "Right," He said, nodding.

"So, he's abandoning his team to save a Vanguard fighter that either was or wasn't shot down during battle?" Yaz asked. "I think that's noble in and of itself, but you don't just abandon your team at the drop of a hat." She commented. Chase had to wonder about it. He remembered being chased by a Union drone during the battle, weaving through New York streets to evade it as he tried to lose it. He remembered using the side of a building as soon as the drone was a bit behind him and wasn't able to see him, using it as a sort of cover and had his fighter hover. Then, when the drone was past him, he came out and took it down. He also remembered saluting an old man in a wheelchair as a sign of respect.

Then, the thought occurred to him, hitting like lightning. What if he had been over John's head in the simulation.
"Well, this changes things a bit." He said, quietly to himself as he rubbed his head. In the real world, nobody saved him. In the simulation: it was probably John... or not. Hopefully not. Well, it would be kind of cool to be saved- gah, this shit was just just too confusing!

XXX

I've flown in video games before: stuff like Ace Combat, and some other flight simulation games. But this? This was totally different. I flew down the street in my new form, trying to figure out the controls of my new form.

"Pause simulation!" I shouted right before I crashed into a building again. Strange, my voice sounded like it was coming from my vehicle mode's speakers. The simulation paused. I wondered how to go about this. How? How do I do this?! How do I use my cannons? Or machine guns? Or missiles?! Heck, how do I find that one jet that flew past me with that drone right on his tail?!

The world around me froze. I floated in mid-air as I tried to think about what to do."How the frick do I do this?!" I muttered to myself.I then heard Rachel's voice ask on the team channel. "John, did you just pause the simulation?"

"One: radio discip-" I started to say before I got interrupted.

"I'm your ex, not a soldier!" She roared at me.

"Vait, vat?!" I heard Theory say on the communications channel. Shoot, I forgot to ask how they were! I also forgot to tell them how our first engagement went.

"Not now, Theory!" I told him.

"Yo, your ex is on our team?" Iron-Jack asked.

"His ex' is also the team medic and can swing a big wrench!" Rachel warned with a menacing tone. There was silence before someone spoke.

"Um, Caretaker-san." Asuga cautiously said. "Can you not yell over our team communications channel? Over." Asuga asked. I made a private channel for us both.

"What's up?" I asked her. She scoffed in response.

"What do you mean 'What's up?' What's wrong with you? First, you go up to that cop and act weird, then you see that jet and run away from us-from me (again, mind you) and now you pause the program after you turn into a fighter jet?! What gives?!" She asked. "And you're leaving me again!" She shouted at me.

"Rachel, this is a hard time for me too, okay? It's been around a year since-" I paused as I was hesitant to speak of it. She and I didn't had mutually agreed to never speak of it around others. I'm sure that Stinger would mind his Ps and Qs if he knew what's best for him. I heard the last kid that asked wound up going. "Since she died and two years since Jordan died. I found out yesterday that I'm in the future and that I'm in someplace in Indiana, far west of Martin." I told her.

"Rache," I started to say and sighed.

"Martin's gone. Everything east of Detroit is under Union control. Our hometown's gone, Washington's gone, Boston's gone... and New York's been gone for four years!"

"WHAT?!" She shouted in shock.

"Hell, I found out last night that my Dad died twenty years ago from throat cancer, my Mom died in a robbery, and everyone else in my family got killed in New York!" I told her as my voice rose."That cop that I talked to? That's Taiyang! That's my little cousin that I left behind the day I came here to this hellhole of a future!" I told her.

"Wait... little Tai?" She asked, remembering how she once came over to our house when Mom's side of the family came over for a holiday. She got a good dose of Chinese culture that day and met a bunch of my favorite cousins.

"Yep, little Tai." I happily told her, remembering how I introduced Taiyang to cartoons when he was a little kid. I recalled how I played toys with him while our parents all talked and the teenagers played games or drank soda, or something.

"He looked s," She paused to find the right word. "-Old." She said in disbelief.

"What do you expect? It's been fifty-three years!" I told her, nonchalantly.

"But, what about me?! You left me! I tried so hard just to talk to you after that night!" She told me.

"You don't think I know that?! I was grieving! My sister died because I snuck out of the damn house just to-" I paused during my rant, realizing that someone may be listening in. "Y'know what? How about this: When we get out and we see eachother, whenever that may be: we talk about it, okay?" I told her. There was a pause.

"Fine, but why are you a jet?" She curiously asked.

"I think we can also transform into vehicles," I answered her matter-of-fact.

"Are you serious?!" She shouted at me in disbelief.

"I am, actually." I told her. Man, if I was in robot mode, I'd be grinning. I transformed back into a robot. Oh come on! I'm like fifty-feet in the air. I activated my wing's thrusters, having myself hover in the air.

"Why are you chasing after that drone?!" She asked in exasperation.

"Because it's chasing a Vanguard fighter! Besides, my grand-nephew's a fighter-pilot... or was." I said, also wanting to shrug as well as break the news about my other family.

"Oh," She said and then "Wait, what?!"

"So, hear me out: remember my brother's ex-girlfriend? Ma'isha?" I asked.

"The whore that shares my last name but isn't family? Yeah!" She scoffed, sounding like she was crossing her arms.

"That's surprising language from you," I told her. I never remembered her saying 'whore' ever.

"My Mom uses it when she thinks I'm not listening along with my Dad." She explained.

"Ah," I said, in realization and then continued. "Anyhoo, I remembered that she had a kid about seven months into Jordan's deployment. She was cheating on him for about two months before that, but I'm sure that Jordan didn't know about the kid when he got deployed." I explained.

"You're telling me you have family that's still alive?! And that Jordan had a kid?!" Rachel asked for clarification. I nodded in response and then added.

"I think my grand-nephew is still alive, but I'm not sure. I met someone who talked as if he was alive." I told her.

"What's his name?" She asked, worried.

"Julian, Julian Chase. He was fighting in the same battle we're in a simulation of right now. The official story is that he crashed. I'm not sure if he survived or not, but I got into this simulation because of it." I told her.

"How do you know this?" She asked with a bit of skepticism.

"I saw Julian earlier, Rache... he looked just like him." I told her with emotion in my voice. She didn't answer as I spoke, remembering how close my brother, sister, and I were. "Do you have any idea how much it means to me? Knowing that my brother had a son? Or Jordan having a grandson?" I told her. I felt liquid come out of my eyes."He was the best brother I could ever ask for, and the fact that he had a legacy means too damn much to me." I told her as my voice broke.

"Julian Chase, right?" She asked with skepticism

"Yeah," I angrily answered, knowing what she was going to say.

"It says he got-" She started to say, obviously reading what the simulation had on Chase. I cut her off with my rather irritable response.

"Shot down- yes! But, I met someone who talked like he was still alive!" I corrected her. She sighed, angrily.

XXX

Yasamin Madrani pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's like I'm listening to a married couple argue," She muttered and then her head rose as soon as John mentioned someone 'talking like Julian was alive'. She rolled her eyes and sighed, knowing what she had said then was going to bite her back someway in some shape or form.

"Can I talk to him, Doctor? Please? Explain things a bit? This is getting annoying and a bit-" The ex-Union pilot paused to find the right word. "Intense," She wasn't looking forward to the waterworks when Chase crashed, she really wasn't. That, and she hoped to Allah he wouldn't see anyone get dissolved by nanotech... then again, this was a historical simulation, so there. To be honest, who made this stupid thing?!

"Yeah, I'd like to talk to him. Tell him what went down that day." Chase admitted and then thought. "Not only that, but I want to clear up this whole 'grand-nephew' thing. As much as I want him to believe he has someone out there... I don't think he should believe a lie." Chase confessed.

"I'm of a different opinion," Weller started to say. "He needs to find out for himself. We'll tell him after he comes out of his session, deal?" Weller offered.

"What about when..." Julian started to say and his image licked his lips. "What about when I crash? Can I meet him then? Will that do?" He asked. The ESU director looked at him with a guilty look in his eyes.

"Are you sure?" He asked for clarification. Julian nodded, though he dreaded seeing, much less reliving that fateful day.

"Yeah," Chase said, nodding as he looked away. "That'll do." He added.

XXX

"If it says he's dead, he's dead!" Rachel told me. By now, I had turned to face her as we spoke. The world frozen around us with Stinger looking between us like we were insane.

"I have to know!" I shouted at her.

"You said 'don't be surprised if someone you saved turned out to be dead,' remember? And 'if someone got killed, they're alive? Does that ring a bell?" She reminded me. I sighed at this.

"Rache, you know how much I loved Jordan and Jan! You know how much I grieved!" I told her.

"Sad enough that you'd push away your girl?" She told me rhetorically. "Sad enough that you'd push away your friends and what family you had left?" She kept asking. "Sad enough that you got sent to the hospital no less than twenty times over the span of a year?! Do you know how much I grieved for you when you disappeared?! You disappeared three months ago for me!" She shouted at me as she pointed to herself. "And all I could think of was how guilty I was over how I couldn't fucking help you because you kept pushing me away!"

XXX

"Jeez, she's just laying it into him." Chase commented with a grimace. Yaz nodded and then looked at Doctor Weller.

"If the other children ever come here or when we finally transfer over to Anvil, can we please make sure that they don't kill each other?" Yasamin asked with a small hope it would be requested.

Weller nodded. "Of course!" He told her, smiling. "Besides, I think John deserves a second chance with a family." He said almost to himself. Chase and Yasamin looked at him and then at eachother, then back to Weller with a shocked expression.

"I'm not saying I'm adopting him, just that-" Weller started to say in his defense and then muttered 'Never mind' in defeat.

"So, he's staying with us?" Chase asked for reassurance. On the plus side: new blood! On the downside: a thirteen year old kid with a rare alien condition of turning into a biological version of a killer robot!

"For the foreseeable future, though I'm in talks with Colonel Marin over whether or not he should be transferred to Anvil to be with his his fellow youngsters from 2019 along with ourselves when the time comes." Weller confessed.

Yaz thought about it and clutched the pendant on her neck. Memories of her family life back in Iran came to mind. "I can't make any promises, but I'll do what I can if you will it." She told the scientist honestly. Her father-figure nodded.

"Happy you agree, little bird." He told her. The scientist looked at Chase for his response.

"So long as he doesn't confuse me for his brother, I'm down." Chase said and then shrugged."On the other hand, I'm interested in learning more about my doppelganger... and I never met someone that could turn into a robot, which is kind of cool, but also scary." He added.

"Chase, we both have our minds get transferred into a Holon practically every day." Yaz reminded him.

"Right, right." Chase said, nodding. "He's not wrong, actually. Turning into a robot that can transform into a car or a plane or a boat, or something is pretty.. uh-" Weller started to say as he thought. "Was the term 'cool'?" He wondered aloud.

"That term's outdated, Doc." Chase reminded him.

XXX

"Look, just let me go help that plane, do what I can... and I'll come back as soon as you say that you need me, alright?" I offered. I heard her sigh.

"Fine!" She angrily spat. "But come straight back when we need you!" She told me. I nodded. "I promise... by the way, tell Stinger that you're in charge until I get back." I told my ex after promising her. "And tell him not to tease the cops over the Lakers and the Celtics." I joked.

XXX

"How about the Celtics and the Knicks?" Chase jokingly asked the screen in front of them as he grinned.

"He can't hear you, Chase." Weller told him.

"I'm just teasing," Chase confessed.

"We know," Yasamin told him, flatly.

"In all honesty, though. I have my money on Manchester United." Weller admitted. Yasamin snorted a laugh. Manchester United was a football team. The Celtics and the Knicks were American basketball. She was much more of a track and martial arts person herself. She looked at John's profile. Well, he pretty much did gaming, table-top gaming, music... well, he did do paintball as well... Close Quarters Combat? Seriously? This kid was thirteen and some- She then corrected herself. Her people's old enemies: the Greeks, or more accurately the Spartans, trained their children as young as six or five for combat. It had been done before. It was going to be interesting sparring with him if he so wished. Of course, she'd lay down some ground rules. Or rather, Doctor Weller would.

XXX

"I will, just come back when you can, got it?" She told me with a laugh.

"Yes, ma'am." I told her.

I unpaused the simulation with a command. I then decided to transform back into my fighter jet mode and ascended to about angels 1 and then pointed my aircraft down to see if I could see the same fighter as before. Either I was starting to get the hang of it or all those times playing video games and flight simulators helped out immensely.

I hovered my jet form over the city to see where they were, if I could find them. I found my target: weaving through the streets with that bandit on his six. I mentally grinned. I had one or two ways of doing this. I engaged my thrusters towards the target and my HUD lock the drone. I wondered if I could fire machine guns or energon cannons? Ah, screw it!

"GET SOME!" I shouted with glee as I opened fire on my enemy, blue bolts of death heading towards the drone as I sped towards it. I made sure to adjust my angle as I sped towards it. The first few salvos missed it.

"CRAP!" I roared as I now found myself chasing the drone that was chasing my new ally, falling behind them both. I tried to keep pace with it, dodging through the streets. I had a lock on him at least!

I fired rapidly at the target in front of me. These drones weren't like planes: some kind of boom with three wings. Whatever designed this was going for some kind of strange look, I'll give him or her that. Plus, it's super annoying when it dodges.

After about twenty shots, I finally got a hit! Though, I'm pretty sure many a building was damaged. Guess what's coming out of my allowance? Everything. Shoot. Was hoping to buy my first car with that money too... if it still exists in the first place.

The drone got hit right where its tail-pipe should've been. Of course, it went right through the drone, making it explode. Note to self: one-shot-one-kill if you can. I then saw the fighter it was chasing was gone. I stopped flying forward and transformed, hovering as I looked around. Where'd he go?! Did I shoot him down by accident?! I turned around as I heard something behind me. A Vanguard fighter was in front of me by about three yards with its machine guns aimed right at me. My HUD warned me of a target-lock. I froze as I raised my hands in surrender.

"Easy, pal." I said, deciding to raise my volume. You could hear me from the street now, over the cacophony of battle.

"I don't want to hurt-" I said as I zoomed my eyesight in on the cockpit. "-you," I croaked as I saw whom was aiming his guns at me. The in-simulation version of Julian Chase, my grand-nephew, was sitting in the cockpit of his fighter, wearing a whitish-blue armored flight suit with a helmet on. He looked kind of scared as he aimed at me. I gulped. Oh, I hope no one's laughing at me right now... and I sure hope Doc Weller or Yaz isn't seeing this.

XXX

Back in the real world, all eyes turned to Chase whom now had his fist over his mouth in horror, his eyes wide with shock. Weller's jaw dropped and Yaz glared at the holographic image of Chase next to her as if he was at fault.

"Well, this is awkward." Weller announced with shock clearly written on his face. "H-How did it happen in reality?" She asked for clarification as she looked at him skeptically. Chase told her what happened in great detail for a fighter pilot. She nodded, impressed and looked back at the footage.

"Just so we're clear, I'm not going to kill you if you kill him in there." She told him. "He nearly lost an arm already," She told him.

"Which he didn't lose in the real world," Weller reminded her.

"I know, it's just that it felt and sounded painful," She told her father-figure.

"Of course, this is just a simulated virtual reality record/game of the worst battle in North American history." Weller reminded them both.

"No kidding," Chase told him, having a different phrase in mind and then looked back at the livestreaming feed."Don't shoot him, he's just a kid. Don't shoot him, he's just a kid." Chase whispered, hoping for his simulated self to hear.

XXX

"Uh... did you have that?" I asked, pointing at the drone. The pilot that was the simulated version of my grand-nephew tilted his head at me in shock. His mouth was so wide a swarm of flies would catch it. He then shook his head and focused.

"This is First Lieutenant Julian Chase of the Vanguard: Identify yourself." He said with a firm tone as his jet's speakers' crackled.

"Sargent Rocker, sir, of the Star League Defense Forces 103rd Special Operations Battalion!" I said, my wing's thrusters holding me up as I stood at attention in mid-air.

I saw Chase raise his eyebrows.

"Pardon?" He asked, trying to understand what I was saying.

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" I asked.

"Granted," He said warily.

"I'm from off-world, sir. My team and I were sent to help your people out, sir." He said. I saw him bite his lips as he wondered what to do. "I think I saw you earlier when that bandit was chasing me," He said to me, jerking a thumb back. I nodded.

"Half of them, yes. I won't tell anyone if you won't." I said, raising my eyes suggestively. He blushed at his kill being shot down.

"Where's the rest of them?" He asked.

"The other half of my unit is meeting up with a Mech squadron somewhere else in the city, sir. I trust their good judgement." I said, honestly. "Permission to attach myself to your wing, sir? I'll withdraw if the rest of my team needs me." I told him, almost pleading like a child. I saw the in-game version of Chase blink and then turn off his speakers. From his lip movements, it looked like he was contacting Anvil base or someone else. His eyes blinked and he nodded, having a firm expression.

"Alright, you're on my wing. Tune in to my frequency:" He said, before giving me the frequency. "But, just so you know: When she orders everyone to RTB, that's 'Return to Base' in human military language, you go back to Anvil Operations Base at-" He then said the coordinates for it. "Understood, Sargent?" He asked. I nodded.

"Yes, sir!" I said, firmly and with a smile. At the very least I got to fly alongside a family member in a video game again! Been awhile since I did that.

I followed Chase's lead and patched into his squadron's channel. We flew through the city as he spoke.

"Razzle! Chaser! Where are you? My bandit got downed by a new friend. He's with me. Over." I heard Chaser say to his wingman.

"Chaser! Razzle! I'm over by the Seawall! I think I lost mine-ah screw it!" Razzle said.

"Razzle! This is Rocker. Chase's 'new friend', call-sign 'Rocker. We're on our way. Over." I told her over the squadron channel. I looked at Chase in my robot form.

"'Divide and conquer time'?" I asked, grinning. Jordan used it all the time when we were playing flight simulators. Chase's face looked at me in shock at first and then grinned. For a brief moment, I didn't see First Lieutenant Julian Chase, but Jordan Daniels grinning right at me.

"You read my mind," He said back. I laughed. It was like playing with Jordan all over again.

"Chaser: Rocker. I call dibs on Razzle's bandit! Over." I told him as we split up by now, I transformed back into vehicle mode.

"You're on!" He answered.

XXX

"HOLY-!" Theory shouted as he got the news.

"WHAT?!" Asuga yelled as well.

"Yeah, I saw the boss fly over me and it looked like nothing I'd ever seen before. Break. But my HUD says it's some kind of fighter craft. Over." Stinger told them over the team communication channel.

Marcus 'Iron-Jack' Jackson paused as he thought about it. Such a concept seemed too good to be true. Their conversation was interrupted as they heard their new 'teammates' behind them.

"You three okay? You sound like something bad just happened." An young woman's voice crackled through speakers. They spun around to face their new allies. Three mechs towered over them on back-bent mechanical legs. Their arms had machine guns attached with their 'shoulders' having missile launchers. The pilots inside wore gray helmets.

"Ja, ve are fine, mein herr. We just discovered some news." Theory said, speaking for him. The team had voted unanimously that Theory should be their team leader as he took the initiative. Marcus, in his opinion, would've but, he had been raised to believe that there would always be someone better than him.

Iron-Jack sighed as he looked at his mechanical hands, imagining them in their original color: black. That, and he wondered about how Detroit was these days, along with his Mom, his older brothers and sisters, his cousins and aunts and uncles, everyone back home. As for his Dad? He was killed in Detroit about four years ago."The other part of our team has made contact with the enemy. They're alright, but-uh, surprisingly enemy resistance is considered medium, considering small-arms fire doesn't penetrate us." He reported.

"Yeah, I'd also watch out, if I were you. Since all of you are robots, you're probably going to get hacked." The squadron leader told them. Theory scoffed at this with a dismissive hand.

"Oh, please! Our firewalls are strong enough to resist just about anything! If anything: we'll be hacking them!" Theory said, grinning.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were nothing but a bunch of young punks." The squadron leader told them. His IFF identified as 'Scorcher'. His teammates were 'Tempest' and 'FNG'. Tempest was a good-looking woman. FNG looked to be fresh out of Walker school, if he had to guess by the nickname.

"Alright, let's move out. You three are going to serve as our forward infantry, if that's fine with you. I just spoke with our superior over at Anvil. She says that you're with us for now, but you're going to come back to base with us when it's over." Scorcher told them with a firm and grizzled tone.

"Right," Theory nodding as he affirmed Scorcher's order.

"There's an infantry squad just down the street, we'll link up with them there." Scorcher ordered.

"Vat about the nanotech?" Theory asked, curiously. So far, none had been sighted near their position.

"You can't fight nano-tech, kid. You can only run from it." Scorcher told him in a harsh tone. Iron-Jack saw his new teammate-and-friend freeze as he considered the man's words. Scorcher and FNG went ahead of them. Asuga volunteered to go ahead of them all.

Marcus Ferrus Jackson, or 'Iron-Jack' as he liked to be called, thought for a moment about it all: Nanotech dissolved folks, right? Or rather 'disassembled' in Theory's words. The kid was German and was probably a genius, if his current attitude, knowledge, and personality were anything to go by. Germany had a lot of geniuses, then again, every nation had their own geniuses in one shape or form. Then, there were the laborers and the heavy-lifters, the common-folk and, of course, the middle-class. People like him and Dad.

The Detroit native sighed. The memory of the biggest man he was proud to call 'father' brought tears to his eyes. It was hard to offend the man, in all honesty: except if you threatened his wife and five kids. Dad had done time in the Corps as a SAW gunner. Afterwards, he joined the cops and became a part of Detroit's SWAT team. Of course, he wasn't supposed to talk about it. Dad had gotten shot plenty of times, but he always came back swinging and kicking. But, a cop's salary wasn't shit. All those hospital bills kept piling up because Dad always made sure he was the first to get shot. He didn't know why, but every so often, he made sure that he got himself shot. There wasn't a single season in which he wasn't shot, much less a month or a week!

Most folks would've given up after enduring so much pain, but Dad kept coming back for more to show the world that he could endure. But the reason why was simple: because he protected others, always putting them before himself. Of course, the cost was high as Mom always shouted at him about what would happen if he got shot and he only came back on Judgement Day.

Dad was the reason why he himself wanted to go into the Corps. But the problem was: he was too damn short! Five feet and a few inches tall, and he was all skin and bones! Dad was six-foot-five and stories abounded of how he lifted whole four-door sedans off the ground. He remembered how he and the rest of his five brothers would always try to overpower Dad as they wrestled only for Dad to lift them all off the ground themselves with his arms as he laughed. His reminiscence was interrupted when he heard Asuga on the team channel.

"Team, Scorcher, Asuga." Asuga's voice began in a calm manner. "Inquisitive: why is there just one squad-" She paused to take a deep breath before exploding with rage-"STANDING AGAINST A WHOLE TANK PLATOON AND AN INFANTRY PLATOON TO BOOT?! WHO WAS IN CHARGE OF DEPLOYMENT?! MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER WAS A CHUI-I DURING THE WAR AND EVEN HE COULD DEPLOY MORE PEOPLE A LOT BETTER THAN THIS!"

"Well, shit." Iron-Jack said. Asuga pretty much admitted to having family during World War II... not that it..well, it kind of mattered. A lot of folks in the nations involved had family or were actually there during said war. Of course, those veterans were dying off now, sadly. It was always sad when an entire generation died.

He turned the corner just to see what she was talking about. Surprise, surprise: she was down a block or two already... and sure enough, though the range of his own zoom function wasn't that great, he could see the column... and the platoon. Except, it didn't look like a platoon, but more like a whole damn company! Also what was that purple shit way behind those Union soldiers?! Where'd that come from?! Then he realized what it actually was.

"OH FUCK!" He exclaimed ignoring radio protocol. He thought about changing his radio channel to the squad down the street.

::Radio channel changed to that of nearby Vanguard units: Frequency 19.14::

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE! NANO-TECH! THERE'S NANOTECH! GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. Theory was half-way between him and Asuga with those Striders going past him.

"What?! WHO IS THIS?! HOW'D YOU GET ONTO THIS FREQUENCY?! WE'RE PINNED DOWN OVER HERE!" Someone shouted annoyed.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE NOW! NANOTECH'S DOWN THERE! I CAN SEE IT!" He roared to them all on and off the frequency.

XXX

Theory looked at Iron-Jack as he roared in a loud voice about nanotech being down the street. He looked down and zoomed in as well. The Vanguard infantry squad was down there by itself. Why that was was anyone's guess. Things must've been really hectic that day when they deployed. He also had to guess the world hadn't seen a true World War in a really long time. Either technology had advanced to the point where nobody needed large armies that numbered in the millions/ tens of millions or the economy sucked so bad for everyone that they had to make do. Either way: a squad facing down a platoon plus a tank platoon? Not the best of ideas. Even if their cover was just two cars together and a robot machine gunner.

Theory looked down and saw nothing but the oncoming column. Then he saw the purple 'smoke' as soon as he zoomed in. Oh schiesse! That's what it looked like!

"Asuga! Transform and get those men out of there! Now!" Theory ordered, remembering how their leader transformed into a fighter-jet. Asuga paused and turned around, then cursed in Japanese.

"What do I transform into?!" She shouted as she ran down towards them.

"I don't know! Anything you can think of! JUST THINK IT!" Theory roared as he ran.

XXX

Asuga grunted as she closed her eyes.

"Transform! Transform! Transform!" She hissed to herself. She heard robotics pulse and her limbs and head folded into her body. She soon found herself hovering down the street at eighty miles per hour, though her point of view was really close to the ground. She whooped.

"It worked! It actually worked!" She yelled onto the team channel.

XXX

Theory laughed like a madman. It was true! They really could turn into something with vehicles."Iron-Jack! You're with me! Think you can turn into something with guns?" He asked, looking at Iron-Jack, whom shrugged.

"I dunno, but I'm going to find out." Iron-Jack said to him with an excited but nervous tone. Both closed their eyes and concentrated. When Theory opened his eyes, he found himself hovering off of the ground and whoooped, though it sounded like he was talking through a car's stereo.

"This is fantastisch!"

"Aw, man! I'm not a Bradley or a Stryker! This sucks!" Iron-Jack roared in disbelief. Theory turned his vehicle form to Iron-Jack.

"Aw, what are you complaining about? You look fine! You just need a gun or two, plus some mods and..." He paused as he spoke. That sounded like a great idea!

"Would either of you mind telling us what's going on? We're confused over here." Scorcher said weirdly.

"Did they all just transform into hover-cars and a bike?!" The FNG shouted in shock.

"We'll explain if you're alive after this! We'll take care of the enemy, you'll just slow us down!" Theory told them through his car's speakers. The two car-robots then sped down the street. Now sounded like a good time to play some good German opera music for the moment.

XXX

"Their bodies can turn into vehicles?" She asked aloud.

"That is when the Reformat process is complete, Colonel." One of the little bastards said, matter-of-fact.

"All Cybertronians, and their subsequently independent colonists, can reconfigure their bodies into tools, weapons, vehicles, and mechanical versions of organic wildlife, in essence and layman's terms: animals." Another added for clarification. She blinked.

"That's..." She said, shaking her head. On the one hand, they just found out what could possibly help turn the tide in the war! Combine them with genlock and- she stopped thinking such a thought. No. Genlock was one thing. She had been waiting four years for a full platoon and all she got was a single squad as Doctor Weller was by himself with little staff that had his intellect. His so-called 'Weller test' only produced as much as seven candidates including the Union defector and Chase, one of her own subordinates. The others were a hacker, a cook, and a ranger specialist, whom had been awarded the highest medal that could be bestowed upon him by the President herself!

This was just insane! She asked for a full platoon of Genlock pilots and she got just a squad. Now, she may or may not be having a squad of teenagers from 2019 turning into alien robots thanks to these little pulos! Unbelievable! Her thoughts were interrupted when the screaming started.

XXX

Asuga sped towards the Polity infantry squad and transformed right as she got there, her legs sliding as she did so. Her metal feet skid along the pavement, marking both in the process. Twin long, parallel streaks appeared as she slid up to the humans who looked at her in shock.

"Get out of here!" She roared at them as they looked at her.

"There's nanotech coming from down the street! I've got orders to get-" She started to say and looked up as they looked at her. Her expression fell. There was a crashed car at an intersection up ahead. A father, mother and their daughter were crouched next to the car's front with the parents' shielding their child. They looked Asian... what nationality, she couldn't tell and didn't care But, she did for their lives.

"Run back, now!" The Japanese cyborg roared. Just then, she noticed something else in front of her. She looked up to see the robot that acted as the squad machine gunner started to twitch and then its optics started to turn red as it turned its gun towards her. She aimed her own energon cannons at it and fired rapid shots. The thing fell and then she felt something struggle. She grunted as she clutched her head.

::Alert: Hacking attempt failed! Firewall successfully repelled enemy hacking attempt:: She looked at the enemy column in angry. Those bastards tried to hack her?! She shook her head. Never mind that!

The avatar of the cyborg looked between the infantryman that looked at their destroyed machine in shock to the family. she made her choice. She couldn't save everyone, but she could save as many as she could.

She grabbed two of the soldiers by grabbing their collars and held them under one arm and then bolted over to the family of three just as the enemy was about to reach them. It looked like the father was about to reach for something in his pocket. What it was she didn't care, she just had to get someone: the mom, the dad, or the girl? She was a girl, so either the mom or the girl. She felt the girl was a good choice.

"Sorry about this! Sorry!Sorry!Sorry!" She apologetically yelled as she sped over to them. The mother and father looked in horror as the father produced a leather object that looked like some kind of badge.

"NO!" The father shouted dropping what he had to grab his daughter as she in turn grabbed the girl clear off her feet. Her eyes drifted over to the object as it landed, her eyes widened as she saw the now-familiar symbol of the Union, something that Stinger had shared with them! The father was a fucking spy!

The daughter screamed for her father and mother under her other arm as Asuga roared and roundhouse-kicked the traitor in the head. The man fell to the ground with blood coming out of his wound.

"That's for your betrayal!" She yelled in Japanese before speeding back up the street, running as fast as she could.

"Put me down! put me down! I want my Mom and Dad!" The teenager roared.

"What the hell did you do to our clown?! What the fuck are you doing?!" The infantrymen shouted. She ran as fast as she could, though the weight was kind of pulling her down, despite her strength. Time slowed as she saw her teammates ahead of her, speeding towards her. They transformed mere yards in front, gesturing for her to run faster as they yelled. Iron-jack turned his arms into energon cannons and fired at whatever was behind her. The Striders behind them were coming down at slow pace.

::Warning! Enemy nano disassemblers detected!:: Her HUD informed her. She tried to run, and heard the girl scream. Then, she felt something engulf her as she ran through it all. She stopped as she found herself engulfed in the nanotech. She closed her eyes as she tossed what she thought were the three people that she carried. Hopefully, her team would catch them. She felt them surround her. She waited for death and then nothingness... or perhaps awakening in the infirmary of Anvil base, her new home away from home. Perhaps, Colonel Marin could contact what's left of her family? See if they're okay and if anyone missed her?

XXX

Iron-Jack and Theory stood in shock as the wall of nano-tech came forward like a snake about to eat its prey whole, creeping forward like a spider. They watched in horror as Asuga was consumed by the nano-tech cloud, its purplish evil haze engulfing her.

"NEIN!" Theory shouted. Just then, they saw three figures being tossed out like garbage. Their eyes widened in horror as they saw the human forms: a young girl judging by the clothes that dissolved before them and two soldiers, also by the uniforms and limbs that twitched as they faded from existence. Whatever screams they had were lost to the wind and to God. Theory didn't know what to think. He heard about such technology before, but to see it happen before him... it was worse than anything he ever heard or read of!

"OH MY GOD!" Iron-Jack shouted in horror. Then, it came for them before they could turn and run.

XXX

Asuga opened her eyes to see that she was standing in the street with the smoky wall of nano-tech pushing forward far ahead. Her teammates looked at her and blinked. She blinked at them as well. None of them looked hurt at all!

"How?" She asked, dumbfounded and looked at herself.

:: Diagnosis: Cybertronian forms are inherently immune to Earth-based nano-disassemblers:: Her HUD informed her. She blinked. But... the girl? And the soldiers?! And the...? She looked at her teammates for answers, tears falling from her optics.

"Where are they?!"

She yelled at them, looking at them with a sad look.

"Where's who?" Iron-Jack asked, scared of what she was saying.

"The girl and those two soldiers I grabbed! I tossed them over to you!" She yelled at them with a look of panic. Theory shook his head as Iron-Jack whispered 'Oh, shit'. She shook her head in response.

"Asuga," Theory started to say. "They dissolved as they came out." The German sadly explained. His blue optics became solemn as he spoke, along with his now-quieted voice.

"The nano-tech got them," Iron-Jack confessed with an equally sad look. Asuga gasped and fell to her knees.

"No," She started to whisper and repeated it as she punched the ground. Each hit making the pavement crack as her 'nos' became louder and angrier.

"NO! NO! NO! NO!" She roared as she pounded the ground with her fists and then screamed into the sky, a loud-high-pitched noise that shattered windows and distorted the now-distant nano-tech cloud. She turned around in rage at where the father and mother had been placed. The cyborg blinked as she realized that the parents were gone. The whole family was gone. She had pity on the mother and daughter but not on the father.

"Asuga! We can mourn later. But right now: we must avenge their deaths!" Theory roared as his arms transformed into cannons before turning his attention to the enemy."Autobots! ATTACK!" He roared as he opened fire, killing three of the Union bastards at once, dissolving heads and blowing holes in chests.

"OORAH!" Iron-Jack roared as his heavy cannons opened fire, a loud deafening boom that shook the area around them, taking down a spider-tank. One of the soldiers used a strange-looking gun and fired. It had no effect on any of them. But, one of their cannons did with a terrifyingly violent effect.

XXX

Colonel Marin saw what had happened with Asuga and tried to suppress her tears. A child her age dying while she held her and not even knowing it. The old woman shook her head. Many learned firsthand what happened with the nano-tech or 'smoke' as it was called sometimes. Most of Miranda Worth's original squad died that day. She was then placed in a squad with Leon Kozky and Jodie Brennan with Lieutenant Kozky leading the group.

Now that she thought about it, Brennan strangely had the exact same eye-color as these children. She made sure to do a background check on him and his family pedigree, see if he wasn't a missing child himself. It didn't look like it to her, but she had to be sure.

(A/N: Just so you all know: I've decided to make someone from the Vanguard an unknowing Autoborg. I've thought about it for awhile and it seemed like some, if not all, of these kids should have family that's still alive as well as how cool or scary it would be if an adult found out he was an Autoborg! I hope you enjoy the rest of your day/night!)