Chapter 28-Childhood's End
Despite the ever growing changes that are currently rattling the world, some things stayed the same even with war on the horizon.
There are still espers, people with strange abilities, feared and hated by many. Almost a million espers exist worldwide, and these days, many individuals followed two schools of thought in terms of dealing with the world they live in: one says that humans and espers can live together peacefully only if they put the effort into it. The other says that the two sides can never co-exist and believes that espers should take their rightful place at the top of the food chain.
Following the tragic events in Tranquility, espers all over the Osean Republic were being hunted down. The Osean government has made it their top priority to apprehend and detain any esper refusing to register with the Esper Registration Act. There are now entire camps full of espers being held in captivity, rebels who refused to bow down and be treated like criminals.
At the moment, government liaison Kati Sunderland was holding a press conference addressing the current state of affairs with all the chaos surrounding the registration bill.
"Good afternoon. I am Kati Sunderland, head of the Department of Superhuman Affairs and commander of the Esper Response Division. You've all seen the news on the passing of the Esper Registration Bill, so I trust we can get right down to business." Kati cleared her throat and began. "Any question first?"
She picked a reporter up front. "Ms. Sunderland, what is the President's reaction to what we've been seeing on the streets since the news broke?"
All over the country, from New York to Texas, riots blossomed in almost every major city. Espers violently lashed out and law enforcement was dispatched to quell the "threat" the espers posed to the public. Many people were seriously hurt or killed on both sides and the number of casualties rose when the ERD units got involved.
"As the president said in his statement, he hopes that people will remain calm and let the registration bill run its course. He understands the desire for answers, but violence is clearly not a solution here." She answered. "Next?"
"There are concerns about the treatment of espers in these containment centers, as well as the living conditions. Are you aware of them, Ms. Sunderland?"
"Most of the journalists in this room have been inside those centers, including yourself." She replied. "You all know first-hand that espers now under the government's watch are being treated with dignity and respect."
"And what about reports from Human Rights watch which claims—"
"I'm sorry, claims based on what? Secondhand accounts from widely discredited sources? I'm not going to respond to that." Sunderland said sharply. "The fact is, most of the espers in those centers are living in better conditions now than they were before they were being admitted."
"Ms. Sunderland, you say admitted, but most of them are being held against their will—"
"Next question please." She said coldly.
"Given that the nature of these riots were in response to the forceful apprehension of unregistered espers, will you be re-assessing the "apprehend or execute" order that's been in place since the announcement?"
"No. since the bill was passed, 30% of espers have rioted had announced their loyalty to Karaba. I understand the cause and effect of this situation, but detaining unregistered espers is to make sure the Brotherhood doesn't become a bigger problem than they already are." Kati said firmly. "There will be no indiscriminate shooting, no abuse of detained espers, and no unprovoked violence from the ERD under my watch. But we need to show that Osea will not be cowed by terrorists."
"Ms. Sunderland, could you provide your opinion on the interference of Autobots Arcee and Rodimus in the Tranquility Incident? Is there any friction between the ERD and the Autobots?"
"I can't say much on the incident itself, but I can say that relations between the Autobots and the ERD are perfectly fine. We both will continue to work together for the protection of this country and the rest of the world." She replied.
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"Funny, she never said that when she was screaming in my face." Barnett said.
He was watching the press conference with General Abernathy and neither man had said a word until now about the situation.
"This is getting ugly, Barnett." Abernathy said.
"Our country's tearing itself apart, and the Cons are barely lifting a finger." Barnett sighed.
"No sign of the Brotherhood?"
"No, sir. They're shielding they're position from satellites. Karaba hasn't made any moves on their own, and while I'd like to think it's to avoid open conflict with the ERD, I think they're just biding their time. Right now, they're just enjoying the show."
Abernathy gave Barnett his full attention. "Barnett, Osea is in a bad position right now. We have riots all across the country, espers being rounded up and imprisoned and there's friction between the Autobots and our number one defense against esper terrorists. Can I count on the Autobots not to make this situation worse than it already is?"
"I've already warned them, sir. Right now they're laying low until a Decepticon pops up. It's been a rough week for everyone."
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Sparkplug and Jolt watched the news with grim expressions, not liking what they were seeing and feeling a disturbing amount of déjà vu watching the conflict sprout across the country.
"I thought we left Cybertron to avoid problems like this." jolt said.
"Every planet has its own issues, Jolt. Sadly, Terra is no exception." Sparkplug said.
"He spotted Arcee walked past the room and ran after her. "Arcee!"
Arcee looked down at him and gave Sparkplug a tired smile. "Hey, Sparkplug."
"You look tired, Arcee. What happened?" He asked.
"Just got done with a shouting match at Prowl, who in turn just got out of a shouting match with the ERD's commander." Arcee said. "We were just barely able to keep them from arresting Darren for being involved with that scrap that went down in Tranquility."
"If the forced you, would you have handed him over?" Sparkplug asked.
"No." Arcee said, her voice hard. "I'd tear them apart before letting them put him in a cage like he's some animal."
It had been a very tense discussion between Optimus, Barnett and Sunderland. Though the ERD leader wanted Optimus to hand over Darren into ERD custody, Prime was budging on the matter. When she started accusing him of interfering in human affairs, he delivered some parting shots of his own, vaguely insulting her ability to rein her soldiers in. That started a completely new argument that General Abernathy had to cut short.
On paper, the Autobots and ERD were still tight. In reality, they were one incident away from going at each other's throats.
"How are the twins doing anyway?" Jolt asked.
"They're coping. Annie's doing fine, but Darren…he's in a bad place right now. Debbie just enrolled them in the Providence Institute in New York." Arcee said.
"New York?" Jolt said curiously. "Wait, they're moving?"
"Things aren't looking good for espers in Tranquility right now. Bulkhead's volunteered to stand guard at their house to make sure no one vandalizes it." She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "It's just one big mess, and it'll take a long time for Darren to recover from Justine's passing. Don't even get me started on Rodimus."
Sparkplug patted her leg to show his sympathy. "Stay strong, Arcee. We'll make it through this. For now, just try to stay strong for them, okay?"
Arcee nodded. "Yeah, I'll do that. Thanks, Sparkplug."
The two Minicons watched Arcee walk down the hall despondently with concerned looks.
"She doesn't look so good." Jolt commented.
Sparkplug nodded sadly. "You should see Optimus."
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The Providence Institute was one of the forefront safe havens for espers in Osea. Part school, part research institute, it was built to provide espers a safe environment away from the discrimination and violence they suffer from. Here espers were not only given an education, but also training with their powers to help them live somewhat better lives. This, on top of the in-depth research being made into espers and the meta-gene, made Providence one of the primary sources of information on the subject in the country.
Annie and Brittany stood in front of the main school building where they would be spending the next two years (and possibly more). Both girls had their bags in hand and just stood there staring at the place.
"That's a big school."
"Yup." Brittany agreed.
"I heard it used to be some dude's mansion." Annie said. "That might explain it."
Debbie walked up next to them, looking more nervous than her sister. "Okay, you kids ready?"
"Ready as we'll ever be, right Darren?" Annie turned to Darren, who stood silently next to her.
Darren was still wearing the bandages from his battle with Justine and his complexion was a bit pale. His face was dull, still recovering mentally from his experience. He didn't even show much life when he said his goodbyes to Gina.
"Hey there! You must be the new students."
Two men approached them, one of them a dark skinned Nipponese man who was very muscular with short brown hair and a clean shaven beard, and the other a pale skinned blond who looked like he came from big money.
"Welcome to the Providence Institute. The name's Kotetsu Murayama." The buff man greeted them with a smile. "I'm the school's physical education teacher."
"I can see why." Annie remarked, earning a laugh from Kotetsu.
"I'm Barnaby Wayne, history teacher." The blond man said, nodding to the children. "You three are the new students that Leesa told us about, right?"
"Yes, they are. Thank you for taking them in on such short notice." Debbie said gratefully.
"It's no problem for us. We're happy to have new espers here." Kotetsu grinned. "Now let's get you three situated before we meet the headmistress. Allow me."
Kotetsu reached down and picked up all of the children's heavy suitcases as if they were shopping bags. Debbie's eyes widened at the man's strength.
"Wow." She said. "You're strong."
"And durable. The benefits of being a walking tank." Kotetsu joked.
Kotetsu led the group towards the school, with Barnaby taking up the rear. Barnaby paused and glanced back at Bulkhead, staring at him for a minute before smirking and following the others. Bulkhead watched him go with his sensors until he was out of view.
"What was that about?" Bulkhead wondered.
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Sweat poured down Debra's head as she increased the range of her magnetic field across the valley she was training in. boulders, rocks, small animals, they were all lifted off the ground as Debra negated the gravity around them. She raised her hands and lifted the objects higher.
"The planet is my weapon." Debra chanted. That was the first thing her father taught her in regards to her powers. "Use the magnetosphere as an extension of myself. Don't force it, let it flow."
She felt the planet's magnetic field bend to her will. Power flowed into her body and surged throughout her physical form. The field grew stronger along with her concentration.
"Let it flow." She whispered.
There was a throbbing in her forehead but she ignored and tried to increase her field's power.
"Let it…flow!"
The pain in her head became too much to handle and she lost control. Instead of the field disappearing, Debra's sudden loss of control caused the gravitational field around her to increase, and everything within her sphere of influence was crushed to the ground. Debra cursed as dust filled her vision and she waved her hand to blow it away, revealing herself to be sitting in a deep crater three feet wide.
"Damn it, I thought I had it." Debra growled. "I thought this was going to be it."
"That was cool."
Debra screamed as a shadow fell over her and something landed behind her. She looked up to see Thundercracker, the blue Seeker, standing behind her.
"H-Hello." Debra cleared her throat and stood up. "You're Thundercracker, right?"
"That's me." Thundercracker nodded. He looked around at the crater she made. "What the hell happened here?"
"I was practicing my magnetic powers. I do exercises like this every day to perfect my control." Debra said. "Oh, did I get you by accident? I'm sorry!"
"No, but you certainly startled me." Thundercracker whistled. "And you do this every day?"
"Well, I usually practice with my dad, but he's always busy so that's rare. I like to train whenever I can, especially now that we might be seeing more action now." Debra was silent for a moment before asking, "Um, why are you here?"
"Didn't I just say—"
"No, I meant why are you here talking to me?" She asked. "Karaba may be in an alliance with the Decepticons, but I know you don't see us any differently from other humans."
"Eh," Thundercracker shrugged and sat down next to her. "If it's a choice between chatting with you, and hanging out with Skywarp and Starscream, I'll take my chances with you…no offense."
"None taken." Debra had seen what they were like. Skywarp was little more than a common thug in her eyes, and there wasn't anything to be said about Starscream that already hasn't been said.
"So this is your power, huh?" Thundercracker said, looking around at the level of destruction she caused. "Magnetism?"
"Yes, the same as my father's. It's rare for two espers to have the same power, so I'm seen as a special case in my family." Debra said. "I train a lot, but I'm nowhere near my dad's level."
"I beg to differ." Thundercracker smirked.
"No, seriously, there's a reason why the humans are afraid of him." She said. "You haven't seen my dad in battle before, like in a serious battle with explosions and stuff."
"Something tells me I'm going to get my chance soon." Thundercracker said ominously.
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On the Nemesis, Megatron and Dreyas watched footage compiled by Soundwave of esper concentration camps all over Osea. There were holding pens for unregistered espers who refused to follow the law, a step above actual prisons, though the guards patrolling the camps certainly made it feel like one.
"They say it's to keep espers from joining Karaba, to keep an eye on them, but all they did was ensure that more people join our cause." Dreyas said.
"Lesson one of starting a revolution: make your enemy do your work for you. All those camps are full of potential Karaba recruits writing for their liberation." Megatron said.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Dreyas asked impatiently.
"An opportunity. We have the upper hand and we must steps to maintain it. When we strike, it must not be just to free them, but to also send a message. To show espers all over the world that we are their heroes, not the Autobots."
Megatron pointed to Soundwave at the communications center. "I have Soundwave compiling a list of major containment camps in Osea, as well as some of the…lesser known esper camps in Yuktobania, Joseun and Xing."
"Leave it to the dictatorships to make our jobs easier." Dreyas smirked. "It'd be best to send join Brotherhood strike teams ahead to assault the target locations. Can I count on the Decepticons' support in the operation?"
"Of course, Dreyas," Megatron said. "We are allies after all."
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The Providence Institute was a very impressive place. Annie, Brittany and even the stoic Darren marveled at the school that felt more like a college than anything else. There was a main hall with two staircases, numerous outdoor and indoor classes, a gym, a basketball court, a freaking swimming pool, and a library. Seeing how extravagant everything was took some of the thing of leaving their hometown away. But before they could get the tour, they first had to talk to the headmistress and founder of Providence—Leesa Sumeragi.
Annie had already met Sumeragi of course, but neither had Brittany or Darren, so meeting her for the first time held a sort of significance to them. She was a world famous expert on esper biology and the meta-gene phenomena, and probably one of the foremost supporters of human/esper coexistence. This woman has seen and done a lot for espers, and it was kind of humbling meeting her for the first time.
"Darren Radcliffe, Annie Radcliffe and Brittany Cyan. One an esper from birth, the other two only recently awakened their powers this year." Sumeragi read their profiles and smiled at the three children, who were sitting in front of her desk. "You three have had an eventful year."
"You could say that." Darren said, his voice a bit scratchy from lack of use.
"I understand that things may be scary right now with the chaos caused by the Registration Bill being mandatory and the Brotherhood wreaking havoc across the world, so being an esper might feel like having a target painted on your back. But I want you three to know that Providence is a safe and stable environment for you to learn and grow as people and as espers. We can help you, but only if you'll let us." Sumeragi said.
"Thanks, Ms. Sumeragi." Annie said. "Honestly, if you hadn't visited me, I don't know what we would have done."
"It's no problem, Annie. Many of the staff here go out to scout for potential students looking for a chance to turn their life around. Barnaby is the best person for such a task, though I take to the field myself every once in a while." She said. "Barnaby's a psychokinetic, meaning that he's a telekinetic like Darren here, and a telepath like me. He periodically scans the minds of students and visitors to ensure that they're not malevolent or hiding anything that could be harmful to the school…like being friends with the Autobots."
Darren, Annie and Brittany froze, and Sumeragi smiled at them. "When I visited Annie, I picked up the stray thoughts of her Minicon friend before I left the house, so I quickly put two and two together. Not to mention Barnaby also picked up on the thoughts from your Autobot friend outside, Bulkhead I believe his name was."
Darren's expression turned guarded as he regarded Sumeragi with suspicion. "So now you know. What do you intend to do?"
"I've got nothing nefarious planned, Darren, so you can relax. Barnaby and I have both seen that you and Annie have been through a lot for children your age. More than most adults have gone through in their lifetimes." Sumeragi smiled at them. "And besides, I have two young heroes sitting before me!"
The children were still a bit wary of her now that she knew their secret, and Sumeragi tried to assuage their fears. "Listen, kids, I'm seriously not going to do anything to you. Darren and Annie here are basically a government secret, and if anything happened to you two, I imagine that the Autobots might come down hard on me."
"Some of them will, yes." Annie nodded.
"And as for Brittany, I'm sure you were told in good faith of keeping it a secret?" Sumeragi asked.
Brittany glanced at Annie before nodded. "Yeah, that's the gist of it."
"Rest assured, your secret is safe with me. I promise." Sumeragi said. "Right now, let's focus on getting you three situated into our school, yes?"
"That sounds great." Annie smiled.
"Perfect! I'll have Kotetsu show you around the school and then to your dorms. You can start classes Monday, so for now, just explore and get a feel for the place, and try to make some new friends while you're at it."
'Easier said than done.' Darren thought with a sigh.
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Yuktobania was the foremost country in Eastern Europa spearheading the region's aggressive stance against espers. As more explosive esper activations in the country grew, Yuktobania began cracking down on what they considered to be "security threats". All espers were said to be forcefully registered and entered into a "protective" government funded program that protects espers from public persecution and racial violence.
It couldn't have been more farther from the truth.
Laserbeak, clad from head to claw in stealth paint that hid his energon and heat signatures from any sensors, snuck into the facility the Decepticons had located just a week ago. It was painfully easy to infiltrate the place considering the facility was more focused on protecting themselves against ground based intruders and not air-based. There weren't even any energon detectors.
'Amateurs.' Laserbeak shook his head and studied the layout of the base.
The facility was surrounded by trees on three sides, with the back of the base leading deeper into the huge forests. Laserbeak could see several guards perched in trees here and there, although more than half of them were turned inward toward the base rather than defend it from outside threats.
Laserbeak flew deeper into the compound, catching sight of an air strip there, completely with over a dozen helicopters, although no fighter aircraft, as well as a machine park full of different types of tanks and armored personnel carriers. The talos were located in hangars bordering the air strip, were they were being refueled, with other units out patrolling the perimeter. There was a control tower for the air strip, several large concrete buildings including an obvious communication and command building, and over a dozen smaller, equally permanent buildings that were obviously barracks. One entire side of the base was dominated by several training grounds spread out over the entire side of the base. At this time of day, there were several platoons and fire teams working through them.
Here and there, as he flew closer, Laserbeak could see groups of soldiers marching about exercising and training. He noticed a few of them looked to be very young, teenagers in many cases, no older than twenty in some others. He spotted a girl in her late teens flying through an obstacle course. Another teenager boy changed into a giant bear at the command of his supervisor and began to perform some kind of strength building exercise, lifting and lowering a granite block like dead weight.
"Laserbeak, report." Soundwave said via their telepathic bond.
"Our intel was spot on. This place is an esper training camp for some kind of superhuman battalion for Yuktobaian military." Laserbeak said. "Half of these people are espers with offensive powers that were rounded up by the military."
"Are you recording everything?"
"Yeah, and luckily these morons were dumb enough to leave a bunch of Yuktobanian flags all over the place."
"Then we will move onto the next phase of the operation. Locking onto your coordinates."
Soundwave cut the link and not a second later a ground bridge materialized right in the middle of the camp. Megatron, Nightshade and the majority of the Decepticon ground team emerged from the portal, causing the normally battle hardened soldiers to suddenly fly into a panic as the most dangerous alien force in the world popped up right on their doorstep.
"Espers of Yuktobania, rejoice!" Megatron grinned, holding a sparking Keraunos in one hand. "Your liberators are here!"
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Doctor Alexei Phobos was the head of the Yuktobanian super-soldier program and the leading scientist for the Union's research into the meta-gene that granted espers their powers.
This entire program went against the League of Nations' mandate that forbid the use of espers in warfare as living weapons or soldiers. It forcefully inducted registered espers detained by the government and trained to be superhuman soldiers for Yuktobania.
Phobos knew that the world was becoming increasingly dangerous, and with threats like the cybertronians and Atlantians nipping at their heels, it was prudent to have a capable defense against such threats.
Following the formation of the Brotherhood, Yuktobania stepped up its esper soldier training program, knowing that it was only a matter of time before the unholy esper/alien alliance struck the iron fist of Yuktobania. And lo and behold, the time actually came.
Just not in the way they expected.
"What the hell is going on?" Phobos roared at his fellow coworkers. "How did they find us?"
"W-We don't know, sir!" One of the researchers in his department squeaked. "They just came out of hat portal and—"
"Get the talos and tanks out there now! We can't let them destroy all our hard work!" He shouted.
Everyone was running to and fro. Explosions rattled the entire base as the Decepticons destroyed all the mechanized forces come to fight them. The air strip was already being torn to shreds by the Razors. Megatron swung Keraunos and bisected three talos in a row. Nightshade's arrows tore apart for tanks. Soundwave's subordinates, Rumble and Frenzy, gored Yuktobanian soldiers left and right.
"My god, these creatures are ripping us apart." Phobos muttered in horror.
Why were they attacking this base? There was nothing here worth taking or destroying. Phobos looked around and noticed that the Cons weren't attacking the esper soldiers who were training in the yard. The cowards were simply cowering as their jailors were slaughtered before them.
"Cowards!" Phobos snarled. "Go and fight for your Motherland or I'll make sure your families suffer!"
Phobos marched out of the lab and headed for the command center where General Smirnov was sure to be directing the troops. They needed to contact the government for assistance, potential consequences be damned!
He only made it halfway to the command center before he was suddenly held in place by a strong pressure that brought him to his knees. Phobos grunted and tried to move, but he could only lift his head up. And when he did, his face turned pale and his eyes bulged in horror at the man standing before him.
Dreyas Lehnsherr stood there, eyes cold as he glared down at the scientist. "This doesn't end well for you."
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"Damn, Megs isn't wasting time." Ironhide said.
Another Decepticon attack on a foreign esper containment facility. The Brotherhood launched a surprise attack on a secret esper training facility in Yuktobania. A facility so secret that they didn't learn about it until Dreyas broadcasted his victory on the news—also implicating the nation in an illegal super soldier program. Yuktobania had a field day trying to explain that mess.
What was worse was that all the espers they liberated from the camp joined Karaba, thus increasing their numbers significantly. Now they, along with the Decepticons, were slowly being praised as heroes by several espers.
"Megatron is using the schism between humans and espers to gain Karaba more followers and appear as their hero." Optimus said to his Autobots. "This is one big propaganda ploy to gain the trust of the espers being demonized across the world."
"And it's working." Bumblebee said, looking at his datapad. "I'm checking out some esper-run social media sites and there's not a lot of good things being said about us."
"How bad is it?" Jazz asked.
"Let's just say it's the kind of stuff that'd put the flamers on 4chan to shame." Bumblebee replied.
"I don't know why you're all so surprised about this." Said Rodimus, who had been quiet up until now. "We're basically watching an entire race being rounded up and put into pens like animals."
"Rodimus, I know how it looks, but we can't interfere in human affairs. That's part of the treat—"
"I don't give a damn about the treaty! The Cons are beating us at our own game and we're just standing around with our thumbs up our asses!" Rodimus yelled. "These people are slowly being turned against us because we won't help them. How hard is that to understand?"
"Rodimus calm down." Tomahawk said as she grabbed his hand, but he shook her off.
"No, Rodimus, you do have a point." Prowl said, walking over to the flame covered Autobot. "Yes, Megatron is using our restrictions against us. He's making us out to be the bad guys because we're just standing by watching it all happen. But do you know why we're doing this, Rodimus?" Prowl shoved a finger into Rodimus's chest. "It's because we don't want to make Osea our enemy. We don't want any nation on Terra hunting us down or exiling us because we broke the conditions of the treaty."
"You say that so confidently, Prowl." Rodimus growled. "Go ahead, use that ice cold logic of yours to make me look stupid in front of everyone. But I'm not the only one who feels this way." Rodimus looked at Bulkhead. "Bulk, if they tried taking Annie, you'd fight them back, wouldn't you?"
"In a heartbeat." Bulkhead said without hesitation.
"It's the same for Arcee and Darren, and the Minicons. We should do something to show the espers that we're on their side." Rodimus said.
Optimus sighed. "Rodimus, I understand your concerns, I do, but we are in a precarious position right now. We can't afford to create conflict with Osea for the espers. This is what Megatron is trying to do, weaken our already shaky bond."
"So you're all just going to roll over and let this happen?" Rodimus growled.
"Settle down, kid." Ironhide tried to take his arm, but Rodimus threw his hand off.
"Don't touch me!"
"Rodimus, I don't like how things are going either, but in situations where we are torn between our feelings and our duty, sacrifices must be made." Optimus gave Rodimus a hard stare. "You of all people should know this."
Rodimus glared at Optimus before turning around and pushing past his friends to leave the room.
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The first week at the Providence Institute actually went pretty well for Darren, Annie and Brittany. They managed to ease into their classes easily enough, and living in the dorms wasn't too bad considering that Darren had a room all too himself while the girls were put together, much to their enjoyment.
Their classes consisted of regular subjects, the kind you would learn in any school, but they were also mixed with live training exercises as well.
Every day lunch there was a physical education class where students would practice with their powers based on their skill level. New espers just getting the hang of their powers required supervision as they practiced with their powers, which was usually done by teachers and older students. The campus had an entire section of the school grounds dedicated to safely training the students in learning the capabilities and limitations of their powers. And some of the older students even take part in combat training just to see what they could do with their abilities in a real fight.
Darren had no problem of course. Since meeting the Autobots, his telekinetic powers had been honed and refined drastically over the past year. Annie was still getting the hang of her powers, which still grew out of her control when her concentration lapsed. She lost a lot of shirts and pants to those sharp bone spikes sprouting all over her body. She needed to work on maintaining their growth so she didn't accidentally impale someone just by sneezing.
Annie stood in front of the target and held up her hands. Three bone claws emerged from her knuckles. It hurt, as usual, but Annie was getting used to the pain. Focusing on the target in front of her, Annie tensed her muscles and the bone claws shot out of her hands. They flew a couple of feet across the target range and managed to hit the target, but none of them hit the center.
"Damn." Annie grumbled.
"Hey, I think you did good. At least you hit the target this time." A girl a year older than Annie said. Her name was Dana Dane, a seventh grader with short orange red hair and freckles with blue eyes. She was Annie's training partner for the moment, and one of the first friends she made at the school.
"Yeah, but not good enough." Annie said and crossed her arms. She looked at her arms and frowned at the new spikes sticking out of her forearm. "I'm getting better at controlling their growth, but every time I try to do anything else things get out of control. My aim still sucks and I'm still repairing the holes in my wall from my last accident."
"These things take time, Annie." Dana said grinning. "At least you could still walk on two legs. I spent the first two weeks of my early esper days as a slithering pile of liquid metal."
"Besides, when you got here you couldn't even sleep without sprouting bones from your spine. I'd say your control is getting loads better." Dana said. "And your girlfriend is also getting the hang of that cheetah form of hers."
"Brit's not my girlfriend." Annie snapped, but didn't refute Dana's former statement. Providence had vast resources for safely helping its students train and practice with their powers. Large open areas for students with flashier powers, private areas for mental-based espers, blast proof chambers repurposed from nuclear bunkers for students with more…explosive powers. This place had it all.
Annie had never felt so at home before. Hundreds of espers her age and a surprisingly friendly and supportive atmosphere for anyone lost and afraid about their powers. Sure there was the occasional bully or mean girl here and there, but it wasn't too bad.
Dana was one of the first friends Annie made in her homeroom. She was an esper who could turn her body into liquid metal, which was actually pretty cool to watch. Dana used to be a cheerleader before her powers manifested, turning her body into an amorphous mass of liquid metal. In the span of two days, she lost her friends and her parents, and she spent several months walking around with silver skin and eyes. It took Dana a long time to learn how to mimic her old human appearance. Despite the hardships she faced, Dana still wore a smile, and she did her best to help the kids who were worse off than her.
However not everyone had gotten used to this change so quickly.
Across the field, a section of the training area belonged to the kids with psychokinetic abilities, mainly telekinetics. They were few and far in-between, but Darren had cemented himself a one of the school's strongest telekinetics. Right now he was sparring against another telekinetic named Julian, the grade's resident bad boy and rebel…and was winning terrifically.
"You know, Julian used to be the best telekinetic in our grade. Actually, I think he ranked first in the entire school." Dana said. "I had no idea your brother was this good."
"Well, he had a lot of practice." Annie smiled.
The purpose of the match was self-defense. Darren and Julian only had to defeat the other using their powers, no physical contact allowed. They tore up chunks of stone and earth to grow at each other, but it was clear that Darren was faster and stronger. He tore apart all of Julian's rock projectiles and counterattacked in a heartbeat.
'Where the hell did they find this kid?' Julian thought, raising a TK shield to block the rock bullets thrown at him.
Darren clenched his hands and turned the rocks into dust before charging at Julian. Julian tried to take him out with a telekinetic wave, but Darren slammed his fists into the ground and uprooted the ground from underneath Julian. Pushing on the stone slab, he threw Julian out of the ring and into the wall.
"That's game!" Kotetsu clapped with a grin. "Wow, Darren, that's three wins in a row. Didn't know you were this skilled."
"Thanks." Darren said, wiping his brow. "Are we done now?"
"Sure. Could you call up the next group, please?"
Julian coughed and got to his feet, glaring at Darren's back with hurt pride and embarrassment. Without thinking, he slammed his hand into the ground and sent a powerful telekinetic wave rippling through the ground towards Darren.
"Darren!" Kotetsu exclaimed and rushed to get Darren out of the firing line. Only he didn't need to.
Darren waved his hand as soon as the wave reached him and sent it rippling back at Julian. Julian cursed as he was flung into the air and Darren took hold of his body, slamming him face first into the ground and pinning him deep into the earth. Darren curled his fingers and an earthen hand lifted Julian into the air before slamming him back down. The impact knocked Julian out instantly.
"Holy crap." Dana blinked. "Didn't realize your brother was so…ruthless."
"He's been through a lot before coming here." Annie said sadly. "We all have."
XXXXXX
The esper containment camp located in Zona Arida was one of the largest government facilities in the country. It was built to hold enough espers to populate a town, and held enough supplies to support its occupants for an entire year. Many of the espers here were people who openly refuse to register their powers in open protest, and many were whole families. The amount of people who chose not to follow the mandatory registration was staggering.
Lieutenant James Madison was on watch duty monitoring the occupants. It was a slow day so far, nothing new there, and he spent his shift watching sports or the news on the portable TV someone was nice enough to lend the soldiers.
"Madison," His superior, Captain Williams, entered the room. "How are things?"
"Slow and quiet. Our "guests" are doing just fine down there." Madison said.
"Should I be concerned about how you said guests?" William said.
"I'm sorry, sir, it's just that putting Osean citizens in internment camps doesn't sit right with me." Madison said.
Williams sighed. "Look, you aren't the only one who feels this way, but we have our orders. Any esper who doesn't register is to be detained until further notice. The government's not taking chances anymore after all that shit went down in Dakote and New York." He said. "Remember that briefing Commander Sunderland gave us? Yuktobania had some super soldier program in the works before the Brotherhood trashed their base."
"I know that, but listening to Donney's racist comments is putting me on edge. All that moron has to do is say one wrong thing in the wrong place and we've got a revolt on our hands."
"Don't worry, you may be new to the ERD but we like to keep people like Donney on a tight leash. The last thing we all need is bad press." Williams said.
The entire base was rectangular shaped, with all the espers holed up inside. There were only two doors that were guarded by two Murphy units each and turrets mounted along the walls. Both the interior of the base and the area up to 100 miles was monitored around the clock, and if anything went wrong, reinforcements were expected from the Army base a couple miles away. So far, no one's made any attempts to start something, but to some people, the lack of activity was unsettling. It was the calm before the storm.
The distant sound of jet engines caught Madison's attention and he looked out the window to see the small form of a fighter jet circling high above the camp. "Captain, are they running any air drills today?"
"No…and that jet certainly doesn't match any Air Force specifications." Williams took up his binoculars and tracked the jet. As soon as he spotted that tell-tale purple symbol on the wing, he gave his orders. "Madison, call up the Army base. We've got a visual on Decepticon activity!"
He barely got the order out before a large explosion of light erupted from the center of the camp. Williams looked into the courtyard and his heart went cold upon seeing the massive form of Megatron appear from the dust, along with Nightshade and Dreadwing.
"Decepticons, it's time to do what we do best," Megatron smirked. "Liberate the oppressed."
XXXXXX
Optimus got word of the attack on the Zona Arida containment camp from Barnett, and that was only because of the energon signatures that were detected in the area. All attempts to contact with the facility or the Arm base near it were met with silence. Which meant someone was jamming the communications.
Optimus gathered up Ironhide, Arcee, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, and Hound to fight off the Cons, calling for a ground bridge before heading into the portal…and emerging into chaos.
The Autobots appeared inside the facility and saw the carnage the Decepticons left behind. The smoking remains of talos lay on the ground, and the turrets were smoking ruins. The watchtower command center was completely gone, vaporized by a fusion blast, and the blackened corpses of several ERD soldiers lay dead on the ground.
The espers were all unharmed, if not terrified of the battle that just took place, and were huddled along the length of the outer walls. Megatron stood in the center of the camp with a ground bridge open behind him.
"Ah the Autobots, come to enforce the oppressive rule of your Osean masters?" Megatron taunted.
"Stand down, Megatron." Optimus pointed his ion rifle at Megatron. "You're not hurting these people?"
"Hurting? Oh, Optimus, so misinformed. I'm just doing my part as the leader of the Brotherhood—liberating these espers from their prison." Megatron turned to the people watching them. "Do you see, espers of Osea? The Autobots have come to chase us away and put you back into your pens like escaped animals. They've made it very clear whose side they're on, and it's not yours!"
"That's enough, Megatron! Don't involve these people in our war!" Optimus yelled.
"They're already involved, Prime." Megatron said. "I come on behalf of the Brotherhood to free these people and guide them on the path to becoming the superior race on this planet, just as I've done back on Cybertron before you and your regime dragged us into this war. No longer will you be at the mercy of humans like the Human Front or the ERD who seek to beat you down like rabid animals. No longer will you have to fear the Autobots dragging you back to the government in chains! Join us, and we will give you the entire world!"
"That's it, I'm shutting him up." Cliffjumper pointed his rifle at Megatron, but suddenly a lightning bolt slammed into his weapon and blew the barrel apart. "What the hell was that?!"
The bolt was fired by a young teenage girl who was glaring at the Autobots. "I'm not going back into a cage again!"
"We're not putting you in a cage." Optimus said to her. "But if you join with the Decepticons, it will only—"
A large rock slammed into the back of his head, making him flinch. It was thrown at him by a geokinetic esper male who wave his hands and tore up more pieces of rock to throw. Bumblebee yelped as a glob of acid landed near his feet.
"Our own government put us in cages like animals!"
"We've done nothing to them and they'd still shoot us on sight!"
"I'm not letting my children stay in this hellhole any longer!"
"I'm don't hiding!"
"Down with the Autobots! Down with the President's dogs!"
"You're not taking us back, Prime!"
Screams, shouts and jeers were thrown at the Autobots, as well as some esper attacks. Cliffjumper almost raised his rifle, but Optimus forced his weapon down. Megatron stood calmly amidst the crowd of espers that slowly gathered around him. men, women, even children, all betrayed and demonized by their government for wanting to keep their secrets, for not being forced to register and essentially mark themselves for the rest of their lives. Everyone knew that the Autobots couldn't get involved without stepping on a few toes themselves, so they weren't much help right now.
"You see, Prime? You can't stop a revolution that has already started." Megatron laughed. "Come espers. Karaba awaits for you and offers you all asylum from the government laptops. Join the winning team!"
The Autobots couldn't fire at Megatron without hurting the civilians. And so they were forced to watch as the entire esper population of the camp entered the ground bridge one by one. When they were all gone, Megatron gave them a mocking grin.
"I'd advise you to keep your eyes and audials open for our next encounter, Autobots." He said. "The revolution will not be televised."
The ground bridge closed behind him, leaving the Autobots all alone in the smoking ruin of the camp. Cliffjumper's mouth opened and closed a couple of times before he finally managed to get some words out.
"What…what the hell just happened?"
"We lost, Cliff." Bumblebee sighed. "We lost hard."
Optimus said nothing, but he silently agreed with Bumblebee's statement. Megatron was going back to his roots, his knowledge of being one of the oppressed has allowed him to say just what the espers wanted to hear to get them on his side. This was now a war of hearts and minds, and Megatron was currently winning. And what was more troubling was that this was only the beginning of something worse.
Told ya shit was going to go downhill for our heroes. Now I am happy to announce that I have just landed a seasonal job up until January, which means that updates for all my stories will be slow (kind of). I've still got some already completed chaps of Devastation that have yet to be posted, so stay tuned for those in the coming weeks. But I might take a break to try to gain some ground with Mosiac, because I'm really slacking off in that story. Also, I've had some PMs about Deadscream's fate, so let me clarify that she will return. She's immortal guys, we've established this. It takes her time to recover from being vaporized but she'll be back again ready to frag shit up. Now, feel free to visit the official Transformers Titan website on WordPress. Thanks for reading, please leave a review, and Happy Halloween to you all!