Thank you all for waiting. Like I said, I won't have much time to write new chapters because of schoolwork and job. So enjoy this new chapter.
Chapter 20: Convoy
It has been three days since the whole incident with Wheeljack and the fake one, Makeshift. After that, Mikaela and Miles had went back home via GroundBridge. Since they left, it has gotten a bit quiet and boring in the base. The only other human in the base is Rafael. Miko and Jack hasn't arrived yet. And with Rafael playing video games with Bumblebee, Sam had decided to hang in the control room and build a house of cards, something that he sometimes does whenever he's bored out of his mind. He's in deep concentration as he builds his house of cards.
"After three years, I'm finally going to beat my record." Sam spoke to himself as he is about to put the last card. "I just have to be real careful and try not to-"
"Prime!"
And the house of cards collapses at the loud, booming voice. Sam gasped in horror as he saw all his hard work go down the drain. "Frag!" He cursed.
"Prime!"
Sam growled and stomped his way to the giant monitor with a pout. "What is it that you have to yell so loud?" He asked grumpily at Fowler.
"Where's Prime? I need to speak with him. It's urgent."
Sam sighed aggravated as he ruffled his hair. "Fine, I'll go get him. Optimus! Fowler wants to have a word with you!" Sam yelled in the same manner like Fowler when he yells.
"Thank you." Fowler mumbled, can't tell if Sam was mocking him or not.
Moments later, Optimus arrived at the control center, along with Arcee. "Special Agent Fowler? To what do we owe-"
"What else? 'Cons!" Fowler interrupted. "I chased them off with some hard ordnance, but not before they blew me out of the sky."
Sam sniggered quietly as he continues to work on his house of cards again while listening. "Again?"
"They tried a smash-and-grab for the DNGS."
"The...whatsit?" Arcee repeated in confusion.
Dynamic Nuclear Generation System, AKA, DNGS." Fowler pressed a button to show the Autobots a metal crate that is securely strapped down from inside his cargo hold. "It's a prototype energy source I'm porting to the coast for testing."
Ratchet snorted. "That's absurd. Why would Starscream bother with such primitive technology?"
"I'm guessing to make a big fat primitive weapon of mass destruction. If this baby were to melt down, it would irradiate this state and the four next door."
Rafael looked at Sam nervously. "Uh... Did Agent Fowler say what state he was currently in?"
"I'm a sitting duck here, Prime. I need you to spin up your bridge and send the DNGS to its destination before the 'Cons come back for it."
"I'm afraid that sending a volatile device through a GroundBridge is out of the question. If there were to be an accident during its transmission, the radiation of which you speak could propagate through the vortex and harm all 50 states... And Beyond." Optimus announced gravely.
"You got any better ideas?"
Optimus, Bulkhead and Bumblebee are in the forest where Fowler was shot down in their vehicular mode. After they had transported the DNGUS inside Optimus' trailer, Fowler went to Optimus' driver seat. He rubbed his hands in glee as he gets the chance to drive the giant robot. Just as he put his hand on the wheel, Optimus stopped him.
"Ah-ah, no need, Agent Fowler. I will handle the driving."
Fowler removed his hands and looked away with a pout. "It's gonna be a long trip." He grumbled under his breath. With that said, the Autobots started their engines and drove off.
Back at the base, Ratchet and Rafael are keeping track of the cargo, while Sam is rebuilding his house of cards. He has already finish building it, all he needs is one last card to break his record. He was about to put the last card until...
"Hey, Sam."
Sam jumped when an arm was wrapped around his waist. As a result, his cards all collapsed again. And once again, he stared in horror. He slowly turn to the owner of the arm that caused this and it's revealed to be Jack. His face went from horror to angry. "Run." He told him with a menacing tone.
"What?" Jack was confused and a bit frighten by the look and tone Sam's giving him. He looked at the table and saw cards scattered all over it. That's when he put two and two together. "Sam, I..."
"Run." Before Jack could even get a head start, Sam jumped on him, making the two fall down with Sam sitting on Jack's back. He then grabbed Jack into a headlock and began giving him a painful noogie. "Damn it, Jack! Don't you know how hard I work to make that? I was about to break my record."
"Really?" He remembered Sam only had five cards up. He chuckled. "Wow. You must really suck on it." That comment only made it worse for him as Sam tighten his hold around Jack's neck. Jack cried out in pain when the noogie became even harder. Strangely enough, this treatment is making him slightly aroused.
"Would you boys cut it out!?" Ratchet yelled. "We have trouble."
That got them to stop. Sam removed himself from Jack and ran to join Miko, who has arrived at the same time with Jack, and Rafael. "What's happening?"
"It seems that the Decepticons are tailing after them. But I'm not detecting any Decepticons signal." Ratchet informs him. "They must be utilizing a cloaking technology."
There are five mysterious green sports cars surrounding Bulkhead in a circle, and a helicopter right above them. One of the sports cars went ahead and got in front of Bumblebee. Bee went to the left, the other follow suit, blocking him. Fowler checked the rearview mirror and saw another sport car draws level with Optimus' cab, and a masked human aims a gun at Fowler.
"Pull over!" The human demanded.
"Well, I'll be dipped!" Fowler exclaim in surprise, seeing that their enemy is human, not Decepticons.
"Our assailants are not Decepticons - they are human." Optimus informs everyone.
"Human?!" The boys gasped in surprise.
"Oh, please. Taking on our 'Bots? They're roadkill!" Miko proclaim with confidence.
From the helicopter, there is a man with short white hair who appears to be in his late 30's or early 40's, has a very muscular chest, and has scars on his nose and on his left side of his forehead. "Gentlemen... Stop their engines." As soon as he gave the order, the masked human besides Optimus began to fire.
"Autobots, maintain your cover and apply minimal force. Disarmament only."
Bumblebee knocks one of the cars, flipping it over, but another drives up alongside Optimus. One of the masked goons climbs onto Optimus and starts attempting to sever the trailer.
"Prime! Bear right!" Fowler instructed.
Optimus began to shake off the man that is severing the tailer and bumping the car next to him. He was able to knock the car right off the mountainside road, but the man that severing the trailer was able to hold on, and continue to sever the trailer. Seeing as how the other one hold on, Fowler carefully climbs out and grabbed the goon by the shoulder and pull him over the road.
"You're gonna tell me everything I want to kno-" Fowler watched as the goon was hit by a tree before he could get any information. He walked back to the driver seat and put on his seatbelt.
"I do hope you take better care of the DNGUS than you do your captives." A voice said through the walkie-talkie.
Fowler grabbed his walkie-talkie and looked over the window to see a helicopter above them. "Special Agent William Fowler here. Identify yourself!" He demanded.
"I am Silas. But of greater consequence to you, we are MECH. Fair warning - we will be helping ourselves to your device, even if it means inflicting casualties."
"Is that so? Tell me, Si, what's the price for a DNGS these days?"
"What makes you think we intend to sell it, Agent Fowler? There's a war brewing between the new world order and the newest. The victor will be the side armed with most innovative technology."
Fowler looked at the rearview mirror and saw a goon with a gun aiming at the trailer. He fired three shots of small explosive device and blew the lock of the trailer. That caused the trailer's back door to open, revealing the DNGS. The same goon got out and slowly walked to the hood of the car, so that he may grab the DNGS.
"So, Si... You think MECH has all the most radical tech?" Fowler asked, smiling so smugly.
As soon as he finished asking, Arcee suddenly jumped out from inside the trailer in her motorcycle mode and landed on MECH's car. She flips their car, causing it to explode with the other one from behind.
"Definitely not civilian drivers." Silas' pilot commented.
"Later, Si." Fowler smirk as he disconnected the radio link.
"Agent Fowler, do not take your "Silas" lightly. Megatron preached the very same ideology before plunging Cybertron into the Great War that destroyed our world." Optimus scold Fowler lightly.
"Optimus, prepare to initiate Phase 2. Five miles ahead, to the South, you will reach the rendezvous point." Ratchet instructed.
"Five miles ahead, to the South, you will reach the rendezvous point." Soundwave relayed the communication he intercepted to Starscream.
"So, the Autobots are outside the confines of their base... and sound otherwise engaged." Starscream thought out loud with amusement. "Which means they will never see us coming. Find them... And scrap them!" He turn to the Vehicons behind him
"Yes, Lord Starscream."
"There's our destination point." Fowler pointed at the tunnel ahead.
"Autobots, keep a tight formation."
Arcee jumped off the road and landed next to the train, with the Autobots following behind them and MECH cars. The Autobots drove into the rail tunnel and Bulkhead seals off the incoming end so MECH won't be following them in the tunnel. Bumblebee transform in his robot form and jumped on top of the boxcar and gave a few tap on the door.
Silas saw that they went inside the tunnel and smirk to himself. "Tactical error - only one way out." A short time later, they and the train emerge from the other end of the tunnel, and Silas continues to follow the Autobots. As luck would have it, the Vehicons takes this opportunity to appear. Silas saw this and left uneasy, thinking that they have called reinforcements.
"Air support?" Fowler asked. "Ours or theirs?"
One of the Vehicons fired their missile on the convoy, which very much surprised Silas. "Military fired on one of their own?"
The Autobots made a quick turn, but Optimus' trailer is shaken loose and explodes. The pilot let out his breath that he was holding in relief.
"Sir, I'm not reading any radiation. The DNGS didn't melt down."
"No...it did not." Silas said in suspicion.
The Decepticons have the Autobots corned and transformed and landed on the ground, ready to fight.
"Agent Fowler, I'm afraid that if you and we are to survive, it has become absolutely necessary to drop our cover." The Autobots transformed in their robot form, with Optimus holding Fowler in his hand looking a bit sick right now.
From above, Silas watches them in amusement as he recalls a certain memory from long ago. "So, at last we meet again, visitors." He began to look for a certain person, but he is nowhere with them. "Perhaps he's back at their hiding place."
"Remain here." Optimus placed Fowler in a nearby rock.
"Will do."
"After a long road trip, it feels good to get out of the car, stretch my legs, and kick some tailpipe!" Bulkhead remarked as the Autobots and Decepticons began to duke it out.
"Sir, if the DNGS wasn't in the truck..."
"Yes, that." Silas pressed a button to contact Fowler. "Special Agent Fowler, you lead a charmed life, waling among titians."
"Come on down. I'll introduce you."
"In good time. But at the moment, I'm too busy wondering how the DNGS might have vanished into thin air without a trace."
At this, Fowler begins to remember what they did with the DNGS. It started when Bumblebee was lightly tapping on the boxcar. The door open, revealing a soldier wearing a different type of military uniform. On his left shoulder, there was an insignia of a upside-down triangle with a bull skull, and above the skull says NEST. The NEST soldier looked up and saw Bumblebee waving him a hello.
The trailer lowered down to reveal Arcee with the DNGS. She carefully passed it down to Bulkhead. He then pass it to Bumblebee, in which he gently placed it inside the boxcar. The Autobots resume their position and acted as if nothing happened.
"Now if you excuse me, I have a train to catch."
Fowler watches in horror as the helicopter went to catch up to the train. "Prime! Silas got wise to Phase 2!"
"I understand." Unfortunately, before he could do anything, the Autobot leader takes a tree trunk to the face and falls off a nearby cliff and into unconsciousness.
Back at the base, the kids begin to panic when they found out that Optimus is knocked out and Silas is going after the DNGS.
"Optimus is down!"
"MECH's gonna grab the DNGS. We need to think of something, quick."
"You mean like a Phase 3?"
"Okay. Come on, think. All right, if MECH wants the DNGS, they have to get on that train."
"What if we get on board first? You know, run some human-on-human interference?" Miko asked excitedly.
"Absolutely not!" Ratchet denied.
"Yeah, that would be suicide." Jack agreed.
"Hello, the United States of Meltdown! Lives are at stake!" Miko tries to argue.
"Yes - Yours! You want me to not only bridge you into a confined space, but one traveling at 90 miles per hour? I can't even count the number of ways that can go wrong – mass displacement trauma, twisted limbs, metal burn!... Well, maybe not the last one. Regardless, it is nearly impossible to fix GroundBridge coordinates on something moving at that speed."
"Would it help is we had access to the train's coordinates?" Rafael asked as he displayed the coordinates on the screen.
"Well..."
Back at the train, Silas has already caught up with the train. "Immobilize the." He orders one of his men. Silas already suspects that there are some guards guarding the DNGS. The goon aimed at the train and fired a small device. The device latch itself on the train and sends out an electric shock on all trains, shocking the NEST solider into unconsciousness.
Luckily for Jack, Miko and Sam, they arrive inside the boxcar after the electric current through the GroundBridge. They open the door and saw MECH helicopter are landing on top of the train.
"Raf, MECH's landing on top of the train." Jack tells Rafael over his phone.
"In about 20 seconds, you're gonna come to a fork. Brace yourselves." Rafael warned them as he types in various commands.
Just as the helicopter was about to land, the tracks changed and the train went to a different direction, knocking the helicopter right off. Though the pilot wast quick to regain control of the chopper.
"What happened?" Silas immediately asked.
"Hacker." The pilot answered before he pressed a button. "Former hacker." He corrected himself.
On the monitor and Rafael's laptop, a virtual bomb appeared on the screen and exploded, causing the systems to fry up.
"And what have I been saying all along about Earth's technology? But does everyone listens to the medic? No."
On the second try, the helicopter lands atop the carriage the Dingus is in, and the MECH guys start cutting through the carriage roof. The three kids watch in dismay as the roof is being cut open.
"Huh? So, what'd that buy us? 10 seconds?"
"Raf is losing his touch."
Not far away, the Autobots continues their fight with the Vehicons. Optimus finally comes around and spotted the train and Silas' helicopter. Optimus' optics went wide when he somehow felt Sam's presence in that train.
On board the train, Jack and Miko each pick a "weapon" of choice to face the MECH goons. Appropriately, Miko happens to take an axe, like she did to face Soundwave's tentacle, while Jack takes a fire extinguisher, like he did during the Scraplet infestation.
Sam took a note to that and giggled to himself. He became serious when the ceiling fell open. As soon as he spotted three MECH goons, he managed to jump high and knocked all three goons off the train to their untimely deaths. Sam soon came face-to-face with the helicopter. He unsheathe his Angel Blade, the weapon he forged before Cliffjumper's death, and pointed at Silas, who was watching from inside the helicopter.
"What's wrong, Silas? Afraid to face a kid?" Sam taunts him.
Silas had a weird expression on his face. As soon as he spotted Sam, he was first surprise, and then he was smiling almost happily. "I finally found you after 17 years, S-" He stopped mid-sentence when he spotted another boy attempting to climb up the roof. "Another boy?" He looked at Sam and then Jack. "Then, which one is..."
"Sir..."
Silas looked over his window and saw Optimus transforming into his vehicle mode and chasing after them. "Retreat." Silas growled. The pilot nodded and took off.
Sam jumped back inside the boxcar and the three kids looked out from the side door, watching as the helicopter retreating.
"Whoa. You're pretty fierce." Miko commented at Sam as she hung on Sam's arm to prevent from falling off.
"First rule of combat: Never leave the enemy with the spoils." Silas grabs his gun and fires a missile, taking out the tracks ahead of the train.
"Ratchet, MECH blew the train tracks. You need to bridge us out of here - the soldiers, too." Sam spoke into Jack's phone desperately.
"We've lost access to the train data! I can't bridge you back without your coordinates! Optimus, Jack, Miko and Sam are on that train, and MECH has blown the tracks."
Fear rush into Optimus' spark at the thought of Sam killed in the crash. "I'm on my way!" Optimus drove faster in attempt to reach to Sam and save him from his untimely death.
"Maybe we should jump?" Miko suggested.
"At 90 miles an hour?"
"It's the impact or the meltdown. Take your pick."
What were we thinking, volunteering for this?"
"Next time, you need to do a better job of talking us out of these situations."
Sam face-palm at Miko's words. "That's what he's been doing to you all this time." He mumbled.
Miko brushed him off and looked back at the train. "We can buy ourselves another few seconds if we're in the back of the train, right?"
"Sam..." Jack walked slowly to Sam. "At least we're in this together."
"Hey, what about me?" Miko asked, her question is left unheard from the boys. "Damn lovebirds." She scoffed.
Sam looked at Jack for a bit before he placed the phone over his ear. "Raf, this is important! Make sure Bulkhead gets Mr. Teddy."
"Don't read the will just yet." Miko remarked as she pointed at Optimus who just passed by.
Once Optimus reached to the train's level, he transforms back into his robot form and grabs the front of the train. With great struggle, he was able to put it to a halt in the nick of time. He walked back to the boxcar and was relieved to see Sam alright.
"Are you alright, Sam?" Optimus asked, lowering down his hand so that Sam could hop on.
"Never been better." He reassures as he jumps on the awaiting hand and later sat on Optimus' shoulder.
"Hey! What about us!?" Miko yelled from the boxcar, looking a bit offended that Optimus never asked about them.
"Huh? Oh, I didn't see you kids there."
Miko humph at him and crossed her arms. "That's just cold right there."
Everyone looked up when they heard the chopper noise and saw Silas' chopper hovering over them. "Well play, visitor. But MECH still has home-field advantage, and we will find a way to level that playing field - even if we have to open you up to see what makes you tick." He threatens, looking at a scan of Optimus in his monitor. Silas' eyes landed on Sam who was sitting on Optimus' shoulder and smiled, knowing who exactly who that boy is. "Make sure you take care of the boy on your shoulder. I would like to have a proper reunion with him." He gave a signal to his pilot to leave.
Silas looked back at Sam for one last time before smiling. "I told you I would find you, Samuel. Even if it took me almost 17 years to do so."
Optimus watches the helicopter disappear in the horizon before looking back at Sam. What Silas said before about having a proper reunion with Sam only made him want to protect Sam even more. And for some strange reason, it felt as if Silas knew Sam by the way he was talking about Sam. With that strange information, he make sure he never comes across MECH or Silas ever again. His spark can't bear to lose Sam again.
Optimus, are you and the children... intact?" Ratchet asked with worry and in fear.
"Sam and I are intact, Ratchet. Crisis averted."
Before Ratchet could ask about Miko and Jack, he heard the angry yells from Miko through the comm-link, saying that how mean he is for forgetting about the two. He chuckled at the antics the kids are making. He became serious when Optimus continued.
"But the world in which we live in is a different one than previously imagined. One which has spawned its own Decepticons... In human skin."
I'm really sorry it took a month to update this story. I was planning to finish this last week, but I got distracted by playing the new Pokemon X & Y that came out last week. It's so addicting, I never had time to finish writing this chapter.
So with the new Pokemon games, and schoolwork and work, updates will be slow, so please, bear with me and be patience for the next chapter. If you find that I have been going slow for the next chapter, PM me or put it in a review about it and I will start writing, or finishing, the next chapter. Oh, and for those who have the new Pokemon game, would you like to trade Friend Code? That is, if you want to. I haven't finish Y yet, and I plan to play X after I finish Y.
So review, and be patience for the next chapter, unless if I'm taking my sweet time and ask for the new chapter. I will try to work on it. Thank you all for waiting for this chapter.