The secret to getting things done is to act.

-Dante Alighieri

-;-

Earth.

Birthplace of the human race; a species much like our own.

Capable of great compassion. And…

Great violence.

For in our quest to protect the humans, a deeper revelation dawns.

Our worlds have met before.

-;-

Ellie watched the events unfolding in Shanghai on her cellphone, the bustling around her all seeming a thousand miles away. Even though she and the rest of the team were currently at the Shanghai Airfield, it was an entirely different world that she was viewing through the small screen on her palm.

This was it.

Her first official mission out in the field with the rest of the NEST forces.

Taking a deep breath, she exhaled, doubling checking that she was wearing the appropriate uniform that she'd been given. It differed slightly from the main militias, where they wore either a dark green or black; she wore a black uniform with a white armband and a vest with a red emblem. It singled the mocha skinned woman out as the Medic of the team, and even though she knew that it was dangerous, she couldn't possibly think of that at the moment. She had to steady her nerves.

There would be bloodshed. Ellie knew that much about the war that waged between NEST and the Decepticons. It was cutting through their ranks ever so easily; terrifyingly so.

"You alright there, Ellie?" Graham asked as he passed by, clapping her on the shoulder gently.

"Yeah." She offered a wan smile in return. "Just trying to get my thoughts together."

Graham allowed himself a wry smile before nodding his head. "Yeah, we've all been there. It does get easier, though."

"Easier said for you, though." The mocha skinned woman pointed out. "I'm going to have to see people I know bleeding under my hands at one point."

"We've all done that, too." Graham returned before straightening as his name was called out. "I've got to get going; make sure everything and everyone is geared up. See you later."

Before Ellie could reply, the blond had already left, something else pulling his attention, someone else trying to ensure that everything was in place. She already knew that she wouldn't be on the same plane that everyone else would be on. She would be on Optimus' plane, making sure that nothing went wrong when he was to be dropped into the heart of the drop-zone. She would be the only one (next to Andy, who would be flying the giant aircraft), to make sure that she fulfilled her personal mission.

No pressure at all.

"ALRIGHT! EVERYONE BOARD! WE'VE GOT THE GO!" Lennox bellowed, gesturing everyone to get to their respective places. Whether it be in the choppers, planes, or various vehicles, everyone scattered, and Ellie quickly made her way over to the already waiting plane that held the Prime. As soon as she was on board, the back of the plane closed up, and she made her way over to the obvious seat that had been set up for her. A headset and a parachute awaited her, and she did as she'd been instructed to do. Grabbing the parachute, she made sure that it was securely next to her before flying through the harness, belting herself in and pulling on the headset. Immediately, she could hear everything going on.

Ratchet had really outdone himself on these headsets, she mused as the Chevy twins voices came over the frequency, taunting the Decepticons in a rather obvious manner.

"-this one is toxic spill. They had to evac the area for Search and Rescue. This makes six enemy contacts in eight months, so we have got to make sure this one does not get out to public eyes so make it tight." Will was saying curtly. Whether he was intentionally broadcasting or not, she didn't know, but it did bring some small sense of comfort to know that she had a way to make sure that everyone would be safe.

"Move out! Let's go!" she heard Marcus yell from his place with Arcee and the femmes.

"Alright Ironhide, we got echoes. We're close."

There was a moment of muted noise, and then there was the familiar sound of the mech transforming. It was fairly obvious that it was Ironhide who had transformed, too, considering that as soon as the sound of twisting metal stopped, there was a soft growl and then,

"He's here. I smell him."

"Elina."

The mocha skinned woman jumped at the unexpected tone coming from the Peterbilt parked next to her, and she felt her cheeks flush with some embarrassment.

"Yeah Boss?" she asked curiously.

"Do not worry needlessly. They will be fine." Optimus assured softly, though the very sound of his voice was enough to cause the metal of the plane to vibrate lightly. "All of the men out there have done well so far. I see no reason why it will not continue tonight."

"I'm just worried, is all." Ellie returned quietly. "This is my first time being out in the war like this, any war like this, as a matter of fact. I'm just feeling like there's more that I could be doing then just making sure that nothing goes wrong up here. Not that that's a bad thing or anything!" she babbled, feeling more and more like an idiot as she continued on.

A low chuckle came from Optimus, and her fears were momentarily soothed.

"Do not think that I am annoyed with you, Elina. I feel the same thing whenever I must leave my mechs out in the field for any length of time as well. It is one of our faults, as sentient beings. We worry about things that we do not possibly have any control over."

There was a more comfortable silence for a moment as Ellie digested this new information, and then she nodded reluctantly.

"I guess you're right. Thanks, Boss." She finally stated with a hesitant smile.

"You are most welcome, Elina." He rumbled in return before falling silent. Taking this as her queue, Ellie returned to listening in on the goings on that were happening on the ground.

"Oh no."

"What do we got?"

There was her uncle's voice, followed by Will's. There had to be something going on that wasn't good, because a moment later, there was a grim answer.

"Thermal ripple."

"Alright everybody. Be steady…we're right on top of him."

There was dead silence.

And then the sound of something exploding, transforming. Panicked yells echoed loudly into the headset, but Ellie found herself horrified, frozen to her seat as she frantically sifted through all of the voices that were now screaming. She couldn't hear anyone that she recognized.

Will's voice suddenly came through, but Ellie couldn't understand a word that the man was saying over the sounds of something heavy repeatedly hitting the ground and the sounds of gunfire.

"Panther One, requesting fire permission NOW!"

"We got a second Decepticon."

"Arcee! Target coming your way!" Will yelled hoarsely.

"I got 'im, I got 'im!" one of the Chevy twins said over the line.

"Like Pit you're getting away!" Ellie heard Chromia snarl. She could imagine the blue femme charging up her cannons and tearing after the mystery Decepticon already.

"Arcee! Flareup! Head him off!"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Already on it!"

Ellie listened raptly to the femmes, wondering who else was going after the second Decepticon. She hadn't heard anything from the other pair of twins, Prowl, or Ratchet either, and she wondered if they were alright.

"I screwed dat up. I'm okay. I'm alright." She thought she heard one of the Chevy twins grunt after the sound of metal scraping along cement filtered over the link.

"Dis is combat, man! Whats' wrong wit' you?" the other twin snapped over his brother muttering something about 'brainfreeze'.

"Bring in Sideswipe and Sunstreaker!"

A second later, Sideswipe's familiar curt voice could be heard, along with Sunstreaker's muttered curses that seemed to be highly insulting to his twin.

"Clear a path!"

"Damn, we're good."

Noises were blasting by at astronomical speeds, and it was difficult to tell if the Decepticon had been taken out or not, but judging by the tone that Sideswipe was boasting, the mocha skinned woman would say so.

But there was still the matter of the other Decepticon. There had been little speaking from Will's end of the fight, and it was beginning to unnerve Ellie. Around her, she felt the plane begin to bank, changing course in favor of going towards a different target.

"Air Support, we need Big Buddha delivered to drop now!" Epps ordered.

Ellie unharnessed herself and moved over to the controls mounted on the wall that she would be using to open the back of the plane. As Optimus started up his engine, she slammed her palm against the button that immediately began to lower the ramp that the Prime needed to drive off of into empty space.

"Drop in five. Four. Three. Two. One." She counted down, hearing her voice magnified over the headset. Waving to Optimus, the Peterbilt revved his engine and rolled off of the ramp. Ellie watched with some fascination as his blue and red painted form contorted in the air, freefalling towards the skyscrapers and highways that littered the ground below.

Andy moved the plane again, wheeling, beginning to move towards some other destination that only he knew, and Ellie retracted the ramp, the giant sheet of metal closing off her view of the carnage below.

"Autobots. I am in pursuit." Optimus joined into the myriad of voices that flowed over one another and mixed into a symphony of white noise that completely baffled the mocha skinned woman listening in. How did the guys manage to live with this kind of distraction while out in the field? This was near overwhelming for her!

"Pull over!"

There was a moment's hesitation, and then another loud screech of protesting metal, and the sounds of Autobots transforming.

"Punk-ass Decepticon." Ironhide snorted.

"Any last words?" Optimus asked dangerously.

"This is not your planet to rule. The Fallen shall rise again." Came an unfamiliar voice that caused shivers to run down Ellie's spine.

"That doesn't sound good." someone muttered in the background. Ellie couldn't quite tell who it was who had said it, however.

"Not today." Optimus promised.

A second later, a cannon fired.

-;-

There was a somber silence as the planes touched back down in Diego Garcia. Ellie automatically knew and understood that someone (or more) had died during the Shanghai operation.

"Autobot twins report to hangar three." Someone stated over the intercom. As to why, Ellie wasn't entirely sure, but at seeing the pair of the twins in the form of an ice-cream truck, it began to make sense. But as to why the pair of them needed to be an ice-cream truck for this mission, she hadn't a clue. They would have been fine as they were. But then again, it would also make it easier for her to add a couple more dents to the already dented surface for all the misery that the pair of those bastards had put her through since her arrival on the base.

Grabbing her gear, the mocha skinned woman carefully made her way off the plane, looking for all of the people on her mental list of friends and/or family. Even though she and her uncle were in a bit of a stalemate, it didn't mean that she wanted to see him dead, and as for everyone else…well, she just needed confirmation that they were okay.

But as the SRT came off the plane, Ellie's heart sank at seeing that there was no Michael or Grady or Lance or Jeff with the team. She could see Ryan helping Lex off the plane, the petite blond curled in on herself, Marcus and Eliza and Andy not looking much better. There was no doubt about who this mission had taken away from NEST.

Automatically, the mocha skinned woman moved to meet the exhausted looking small group, and at seeing the utterly defeated look in Eliza's eye, pulled the other woman into a tight hug. She could tell, had been able to tell, how close knit that the SRT was, and if the majority of the team had been taken out by this mission, it meant that an entire chunk of their family had been removed from them.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

The sound of a helicopter overwhelmed whatever the other woman said in return, and everyone paused in saluting the caskets being brought off the plane for a moment to see what was going on before going back to what they had been doing. Ellie remained next to Eliza and Marcus, offering her own support in what she could, joining them in saluting the men who had died during this part of the war. Unfortunately, Ellie had a gut instinct that was telling her that there would be a great number more before this war was won, and she couldn't help but feel tears pricking at her eyes as she wondered who would be taken away next.