Chapter 4-The Enemy Below part 1
Deep under the Pacific Ocean, an Osean submarine was making a routine sweep of the area. Ever since the dolem incident a week ago, the military powers of the world became more vigilant of strange or unearthly occurrences and events. They banded together to keep an eye out not just for Decepticons, but also other alien sightings to report to the ARA.
As a result of this, powerhouses like Osea and Yuktobania built secret military installations all over the world. Ground troops and talos were always ready to be deployed within a moment's notice. Surveillance drones and military aircraft watched the skies around the clock, while battleships and submarines patrolled the world's oceans. No one, especially Nippon, wanted to a repeat of the dolem nightmare.
Inside the sub, all was calm as it could be in a military deep sea vessel. The crew were at this stations, while the admiral made his rounds in his assessment of the crew. Coming across the sonar team, he noticed one of the officers gazing at a picture of a young boy instead of the radar screen.
"That your son, lieutenant?" The admiral asked curiously.
"Oh! Y-Yes sir!" The officer quickly put the picture away to salute the admiral, earning a chuckle.
"At ease, son." The admiral smiled, patting him on the shoulder.
"Sorry, sir. I was just thinking of my wife and son." The lieutenant smiled at the photo of his boy. "I can still hear him going on and on about the Autobots. He really looks up to them as heroes."
"Well, sometimes it takes real heroes down here, looking at a radar, keeping the oceans safe." The admiral said and began walking away. Then a beep from the sonar made him stop in his tracks.
"Sir, we got incoming bogeys!" The lieutenant called out, pointing to the multiple blinking dots on the radar screen. A large cluster of heat signatures were getting closer to the sub. "And they're coming in fast!"
"What? What could be coming at us this deep?" The admiral asked.
"I don't know, sir, but four of them look almost…human!"
Within seconds the heat sigs were inching closer and closer to the submarine and the admiral called for evasive maneuvers. "Brace for impact!"
Everyone went quiet as the bogeys reached their position, and the sub was suddenly rocked violently from something large impacting it. There was a metallic screech and a hiss as the armored hull was torn open.
"Containment breech! We're taking in water!" Someone shouted as water flooded in.
The admiral's breath caught in his throat as he heard people screaming down the hall. Hacking and dying gurgles could be heard as the water around his ankles turned red with blood.
"My god." He gasped and ran to the comm-station to send out an SOS. He barely had time to get the message out before a tall figure walked up behind up, raising a sharp blade.
Blood splattered over the picture of the lieutenant's son as the crew were massacred one by one. No one could hear their screams as the sub sank to the bottom of the dark, murky depths.
XXXXXX
"I need some orange juice." Walter Barnett groaned, rubbing his face.
It was late in the evening at the ARA building at the League of Nations headquarters in New York. Most of the personnel had gone home for the night, but Barnett stayed behind to finalize the report on the dolems for General Abernathy and the rest of the Department of Defense. On his desk was a newspaper that still talked about the Edo hostages and the events they suffered from.
Barnett trudge over to the fridge in the break room and searched for the tangy juice that kept his motors running. He wasn't a coffee person, preferring to spend his mornings tasting something other than stale coffee.
"Orange juice again, Mr. Barnett?" A lovely voice chuckled. "Really, couldn't you just have coffee like us normal people?"
Barnett glanced behind him and smirked. "Coffee only keeps you up for a few hours, Elisa, and my body needs to be running 24/7 when dealing with the Autobots. It's a lot more nutritious too."
Elisa Sampson, a secretary at the ARA, shrugged, tossing her strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder. She was a lovely young woman who was a classic beauty, with long curly hair that reached her shoulders and a voluptuous form that her professional blouse and skirt only accentuated. She also had the brains to match her beauty, and her wit earned her a place at the rather odd staff at the ARA.
"Working with the Autobots must be a stressful job." Elisa said, pink lips smiling softly. "I imagine they're a handful that'll give your gray hairs."
"They're not all that bad. Sure dealing with a faction of giant robots is stressful, but it's no more hazardous than listening to politicians rant about deporting espers from the country. Just don't stand near their guns." He smiled.
"I'll keep that in mind." She replied. "Say, have you heard about that submarine that sunk in Ceres Ocean?"
"Yeah, a nuclear sub attacked by an unknown enemy force in Europian waters. Not an ideal situation for Osea." Barnett frowned. "Any information on the incident?"
"Nothing, the Navy has no clue as to how the sub was attacked, who attacked, or how such a fast attack was possible at those depths." Elisa said. "Some officials are pointing their fingers at the Decepticons, but after the Edo incident, most people are a bit hesitant to immediately blame the Cons."
"A nuclear sub sunk at the bottom of the ocean unprotected is a nation's worst nightmare." Barnett sighed.
"I know I'm asking a lot here, but is it possible for you to have the Autobots retrieve the plutonium from that sub?" She asked.
"I can put out a suggestion to General Abernathy to give the Autobots the green light to investigate the area, but I doubt the top brass is going to let the Autobots near it." He said. "Decepticons or not, with plutonium involved, a bunch of aliens handling radioactive materials is going to make a lot of people nervous."
"That's a shame." Elisa's full lips pouted at the reply. "Because if someone doesn't retrieve that plutonium soon, then we'll have a crisis on our hands."
XXXXXX
The Deep Sea Discovery, or DMD, was a marine biology research station located inside an underwater trench as far as 1200 feet in the Pacific Ocean. It was a feat of engineer, a host of pressurized domes connected by tubes built along the sea floor to act as an on-site station and lab for scientists and biologist to live and work in.
Wheeljack wasn't the type of mech to stay underwater for long amounts of time. It didn't interest him as much as it did some other Autobots, and there wasn't much to really do with his hands. Still, being invited to the DMD was surprising, but he didn't pass it up. Being this far underwater was a new experience not many people got to have.
The Autobot and his little Minicon partner, Liftor, exited the ground bridge seconds before it was gone. The dome they appeared in was just large enough for Wheeljack to fit in, and thankfully the floor held his weight. Wheeljack gave a little wave for the staff that paused for a moment to look at the two cybertronians in their midst, while Liftor looked around nervously.
"Autobot Wheeljack and Liftor?" A young woman with fair eastern features walked up to them. "Welcome to the DMD. I'm Akiko Nagita, head of the research team for this facility."
"Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Nagita." Wheeljack said cheerfully. "Thanks for inviting us down here. I've never actually been down this far underwater before."
"Really?" Akiko grinned.
"Yeah, never really found the whole marine warfare thing interesting. Seaspray would kill to be in my shoes here." He said.
"Um, Ms. Nagita…" Liftor started.
"Please, just call me Akiko." She said.
"Akiko, um, this place is safe, right?" Liftor asked nervously. "Like, we aren't in danger of the dome bursting or anything?"
"We're always in danger as long as we're down here, Liftor. But don't worry," Akiko gave him a calming smile. "As long as you follow the guidelines, things will go smoothly. That's why we have evacuation procedures and the like."
Liftor wasn't entirely convinced, but he was willing to give her the benefit of a doubt. Wheeljack knelt down over Akiko to talk to her better.
"Thanks for inviting us here, Akiko, but if you don't mind me asking…why exactly are we here?" Wheeljack asked. "We're not exactly marine biologists."
"Well…we called you here for something a little more in your field, to be precise. I won't spoil the surprise, but one of my colleagues believed that having you along might give us some answers."
"Here it comes…" Liftor muttered.
"Will you be able to fit through the doors?" She asked.
"Yeah, just some partial transformations should get me through." Wheeljack said. "Be glad you didn't invite Optimus down here."
Akiko smiled at his quip and escorted the pair over to the sliding doors in the next dome over. Akiko swiped her ID card and entered the room, with Liftor following. Wheeljack had to get on his hands and knees and compress his shoulder armor to his body in a partial transformation to fit through the hatch. It was a tight squeeze, and made quite a sight for the scientists who watched a partially formed car push himself into their research chamber.
Once he was through, Wheeljack changed back and stood up, allowing Akiko to introduce the reason she called them down to the heart of the ocean.
"Wheeljack, Liftor, this is the reason the DMD was formed down here. The heart of all our research." Akiko pointed to the large pool in the middle of the chamber, where numerous scientists in odd looking dive suits poked and prodded at their source of study.
It was a ship. A very odd looking ship. The thing looked about as large as a modern F-35 fighter, but its construction was streamlined and curved for aerodynamics. Wheeljack noted how its armor looked like tightly compressed bone, with a thin layer of…something covering it. The engineer within him flared up and he took a step towards it.
"Akiko, what am I looking at?" Wheeljack asked.
"It's a transport…for use underwater. And it came from right here. It was too heavy to move, so the DMD was built around it, once the images from the undersea drone were confirmed to be real." Akiko answered, smiling a bit at the Autobot's reaction. "It was an almost unanimous decision to request for you two to come here and give us a fresh look on how to go about studying it."
"If you guys think that it's alien, then…I don't know. I've never seen a craft like this." Wheeljack replied. He wanted to take a step closer, but didn't want to overstep himself.
"This doesn't even look that old to be an Arian vehicle." Liftor said, forgetting his nervousness for the moment as the technician in him took over. "Who built it? What does it use for fuel? Does it have a control stick or some other-?"
"Whoa, whoa, we don't have answers to most of those, because we've…" Akiko shrugged. "Actually, we've been totally unable to get inside of it."
"And Osea is heading this project?" Wheeljack questioned.
"No, the DMD is a joint project between Osea and Nippon in a bid to utilize geothermal energy as a viable power source. This was discovered by accident, and we've been working together for a while trying to determine if it's alien…or not." She replied. "In fact, it was Nippon that suggested we have an Autobot on site to give us a hand in studying it."
"Well, I'm not one to turn down an invitation like that." Wheeljack cracked his knuckles and grinned down at her. "So where do we start?"
XXXXXX
"Sir, we've located the ship."
"They haven't moved it?" A deep voice asked.
"No sir. They've built a research station around it. There is a light military presence, but no signs of heavy weaponry we should worry about."
The owner of the voice hummed and rubbed his chin. It was do or die, right now. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry.
"Send the Tiger Sharks out. Attack once, then disengage. We'll let the water pressure deal with them."
"Yes, sir."
There was no need to be excessive. Down here the humans had no friends. He needn't bloody his hands when the sea could do it for him. It was a fitting punishment for a race who treated their world with such disgrace.
XXXXXX
Wheeljack didn't think that this underwater excursion would be such a fruitful experience, but here he was, studying what had to be an Arian craft of some kind. Still, something was off about it all. He had seen Arian vehicles before, and they weren't as…fantastical as this.
He sat inside the pool in the research lab where the ship was being held. He ignored the stares of Osean and Nipponese scientists as he poked and prodded the outer layer of the ship to gauge what materials it used in its construction.
'The surface of the craft feels like shark skin, smooth from nose to tail and jagged coming back. Hell, it even looks like a shark's skeleton, or more specifically bone cartilage.' Wheeljack thought. He pushed on the craft's surface and felt it give in slightly to the pressure he exerted on it. 'It bends when I poke it, so it's flexible. All these openings…they're like air intakes in fighter aircraft.'
Wheeljack tapped his chin and stood up, poking his head out of the water and walked over to the scaffolding where Akiko stood.
"What's the diagnosis, doc?" She asked smiling.
"Well, it's definitely a high speed craft. Those openings along its frame are to take in water and push it out through intakes at the other end. Essentially, it flows within water, instead of pushing against it, and leave a minimum wake." Wheeljack said.
"And as for what it is?" Akiko inquired.
"We don't know." Liftor said, climbing out of the pool. "It might be Arian, but scans show that it's only about a year old. This thing was recently built, but it might have some damages that made it inoperable."
"So it isn't Arian." Akiko said, just to be sure.
"Nope, but it's definitely not human either." Wheeljack said and looked at the craft. "And something tells me that it's not alien either."
Before they could continue, red lights started flashing in the domes and alarms began sounding, causing the DMD personnel to panic and run every which way, confusing Wheeljack and Liftor.
"What's going on?" Liftor asked Akiko.
"That's…that's the collision alarm." Akiko muttered, clearly puzzled. "I've heard it before, during the drills."
"I take it you're not scheduling a drill today?" Wheeljack said.
"No, I wouldn't be as concerned if it were." She replied and glanced out the sealed window to the dome. It didn't take long for her to spot a large, cylindrical object shooting through the water at high speeds. "Holy shit, that's a torpedo!"
"It's a what?!" Wheeljack looked up at the dome and saw the torpedo heading straight for them. "Oh scrap!"
"Attention all areas! We have a torpedo inbound! Stop whatever you're doing and begin immediate emergency evac procedures! To repeat…"
"Akiko, where's it heading?" Wheeljack asked.
"T-Towards the power generators! It's the biggest heat source down here." She answered. "I need to get to the air lock!"
"You won't make it. That doesn't look like a normal torpedo and the explosion from the generators will cause the cliff we're under to break apart and fall on the station. I can get you all out safely if you just listen to me!" Wheeljack switched his comm to the local channel and prayed that his signal could be heard. "Wheeljack to Teletran, I need a ground bridge on my position stat!"
Wheeljack didn't get a reply back, or if he did, he didn't notice as the torpedo hit the power generators in the dome near the rear of the station. The entire section exploded in a powerful shockwave that rippled through the water, followed by a brief burst of flames and a rumble that made the entire area shake. The nearest two domes were also destroyed in the pressure wave that followed, their shells breached and water rushing in through the shattered composite hulls. The technicians and security teams that were heading to the damaged areas to seal the tubes off were killed by the pressure wave that destroyed their only means of escape and drowned within the next few minutes.
The blast wave from the explosion reached the cliff face that the station was sitting under and caused the rock to break apart like glass. The cliff began to break apart and crumble, large boulders falling slowly onto the domes and smashing through them with ease despite the lack of gravity pulling them down. Everyone within the main dome watched in horror as they fell upon the station, the largest crashing right on top of them. At that moment, the ground bridge appeared next to Wheeljack.
"Everyone get into the portal! Hurry!" Wheeljack urged them.
"Wait, the craft! We can't leave it!" Akiko shouted.
Liftor grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the bridge. "We're all about to die, woman! It'll survive getting a bit wet!" He yelled and they disappeared into the ground bridge.
The DMD personnel scrambled to get down to the portal, but the water had already reached Wheeljack's knees as the dome started to fill up. Wheeljack had to pick up a few stragglers struggling to swim through the water and toss them into the bridge. He knew there were other people in the rest of the station, but there wasn't any time to get them before he was swallowed up by the water too.
"Slag, I'll be crushed by the water pressure down here!" He growled. Giving a silent prayer to the people still trapped in the other areas, Wheeljack ran into the ground bridge and closed it behind him as the entire station flooded with water.
He missed the oddly shaped ship that was watching the tragedy happen before speeding away into the darkness of the ocean's depths.
XXXXXX
"I don't think I need to tell you how bad this is, Prime." Prowl told Optimus upon entering the command center without as much as a "hello".
"Good evening to you too, Prowl." Optimus said, staring at the main monitor. "I understand that the only DMD personnel that survived are the ones standing in the same chamber as Wheeljack when the torpedo hit. Do we have any more intel on that?"
"Wheeljack was mainly concerned with evacuating the humans at the time, but he said that the torpedo didn't look like a regular armament used by submarines or battleships." Prowl said, looking at the news reports of the mass deaths. "Things are frosty between Osea and Nippon right now. Both sides are blaming each other and things might hit cold war territory is something isn't done."
"Our biggest lead to this tragedy is that ship that Wheeljack was called down to study." Optimus said. He brought up photos taken by Liftor. "An undersea vehicle built to streak through the water like a marine fighter jet that is constructed of materials similar to shark skin and cartilage."
"Never seen an Arian vehicle like this one." Prowl remarked.
"Wheeljack doesn't think it's Arian. It was too new to be that old. That ship was recently made, and he suspects that someone doesn't want either us or the humans to learn about it." Optimus turned to Prowl as he said this. "And he believes those very same culprits are the ones who built that ship."
"That's a big assumption." Prowl replied. "Does he have proof to back it up?"
"He wants to go out looking as we speak. I'm coming along, and you are too."
"You, Prime?"
"I believe that the attack on the nuclear submarine and the attack on the DMD are connected in some way, and I want to prove it." Optimus turned the screen off and walked to the door. "We can use the Ark's escape shuttle to search the sunken crash site where the submarine was attacked. It's strong enough to withstand the water pressure."
"I don't recall Agent Barnett giving us the go ahead to go near there." Prowl pointed out, though he didn't refute Prime wanting to go along.
"Time is of the essence. There's a chance war could break out between Osea and Nippon over nothing, while a third party has weapons grade plutonium in their possession. I will not be caught up in human politics this time."
XXXXXX
Twenty minutes later, and Optimus had taken Prowl, Jazz, Ironhide and Wheeljack along in one of the Ark's escape shuttles and took it to the Pacific Ocean, where the first attack on the submarine was reported. Having arrived at the coordinates, the shuttle dived into the ocean, quickly sinking deep underwater towards the undersea trench where the submarine was supposed to have landed.
"I can imagine the scrap that Barnett is going to give us when we get back." Jazz whistled.
"Maybe if they hurried up instead of curtailing we wouldn't be sneaking behind their backs." Ironhide said, piloting the ship through the darkening waters. "I don't care about human politics when there's a war goin' on."
"We can apologize later if we cause any trouble, but time is of the essence." Optimus said. "Wheeljack, how close are we?"
"We're almost on top of the crash site now." Wheeljack said, looking at the shuttle's custom-made radar.
Ironhide maneuvered the shuttle as delicately as he could, keeping an eye on the ship's energy readings to make sure they were in the green. The shuttle was strong enough to withstand reentry, and it could easily dive deep to levels where the water pressure would be dangerous for most undersea vessels, but it never hurt to be careful. Anything could happen in the ocean.
"Okay, we're at the location." Wheeljack told the.
Prowl looked outside and only saw darkness, even with the shuttle's lights on. "I can't see a thing. Wheeljack, run a scan for any radioactive materials that might have…leaked from…"
Prowl trailed off as he saw the pale, bloated body of a woman in a navy uniform slowly float past the window. Then a man. And another man. Optimus and Jazz also went quiet as they saw human bodies floating right past the shuttle like seaweed in an unsettling display. There had to be at least a dozen bodies still floating around in the area already.
"I think we've found the place." Ironhide said quietly.
Optimus took a deep breath to calm himself before having Ironhide lower the shuttle further down to the ocean floor, where he submarine was sitting on a trench mostly intact, with two large gashes along its hull. Jazz grimaced when he spotted what had to be the body of the sub's captain caught on a coral reef growing near the sub, seeing a bloody gash along the man's chest.
"I can tell this mission is going to be depressing." Jazz sighed.
"I'm scanning for plutonium." Wheeljack entered some commands into his console and looked at the radar. He ran a grid scan of the area to search for a possible trail they could take, but the results he got back weren't good. "Nothing."
"Nothing?" Prowl repeated, frowning. "What do you mean nothing?"
"As in there's nothing I can detect. No radiation, but fallout, nothing." Wheeljack replied.
"If the plutonium did leaked out from the sub, we'd be swimming in irradiated water by now." Optimus narrowed his eyes as he made a realization. "The plutonium didn't just fall out of the submarine. It was stolen."
"Stolen…by the people who attacked it?" Ironhide said.
"There's a good chance of that after seeing this with my own eyes." Optimus turned to Wheeljack. "Wheeljack, Jazz, you're coming with me to take a closer look at the crime scene."
"Copy that, boss bot." Jazz said.
Before they disembarked into the water, Wheeljack outfitted the three of them with personalized shield generators around their bodies. Though water pressure wasn't too big a danger for them, they were extremely slowed by the water resistance, and the shields would decrease that resistance somewhat to allow them to move at least a fraction faster. Once they were read, Ironhide opened the airlock and the trio dived out into the cold, dark waters.
'It's so cold and dark…was this what their last moments were like?' Optimus thought as they swam toward the submarine. He did his best to ignore the bodies still floating around them as they reached the sunken wreck.
Wheeljack ran his hand along the jagged tear along the sub's hull. It had definitely been torn open by something designed to rip into heavy armor. The cut was clean, with signs of something extremely hot being used to pierce the metal.
"Whoever did this had something hot enough to cut into the armored hull of a submarine." Wheeljack said.
"This far down underwater?" Jazz said.
"Comes to show what we're dealing with." Optimus remarked. He was about to take a look inside the wreck when he got a call from the shuttle. "Prowl, what's wrong?"
"Sensors are picking up something heading our way at high speeds." Prowl said. "You three need to get back to the shuttle, now."
An energy bolt slammed into the side of the ship, rocking it violently to the left. Optimus and the others took out their weapons as multiple dark shapes surrounded them. The light of the shuttle's lights reflected off metallic armor as the humanoid beings came into focus. They were almost as large as Optimus, and they were covered in armor.
"What are they?" Jazz asked.
"They look like golems, but they're made for underwater movement." Wheeljack observed, keeping his blaster trained on the closest ones.
"Analyze them later, Wheeljack. They're going on the offensive!" Optimus said.
The golems shot forward at the Autobots like bullets, shooting energy beams from their hands. Optimus swam forward and grabbed the nearest one, shoving its ion blaster into its chest and letting off two blasts that destroyed its torso. One golem tried to run him through with an energy blade in its arm, but Jazz bisected it with his vibro-blade while Wheeljack took care of the others with his gun.
"They're fast!" Wheeljack grunted as he tried shooting the golems down. It wasn't easy to hit them as they swam through the water like sharks despite their large size.
"Prime, get back to the ship! Ironhide can take care of them with the shuttle's weapons!" Prowl yelled through the ship's speakers.
Prowl and Ironhide were nearly thrown out of their seats as another energy blast hit the ship and nearly capsized it. Optimus looked up and saw three dark gray ships hovering above them. They were triangular in shape and moved through the water with the ease of a great white shark. They surrounded the shuttle and one of them opened up to allow over two dozen small humanoid figures to swim around and surround the Autobots. Optimus got a good look at some of them and saw that their hands and feet, which were exposed, were webbed…and sported greenish blue skin.
"This…took a rather unexpected turn." Optimus admitted.
XXXXXX
The mysterious "fish-people", as designated by Jazz, allowed the three Autobots to board the shuttle before escorting them under heavy guard to an unknown location. Ironhide tried to contact the Ark, but found that they were being blocked.
"Don't bother. I've been trying that since the others got back into the shuttle." Prowl said and leaned back in his seat. "They're jamming us with something very powerful. These guys came here prepared."
"No doubt the bastards were watching the sub for some time now to see if anyone would come sniffing around." Ironhide growled, glaring at the ships surrounding them. "Think we can make a break for it under a smokescreen?"
"Don't try it." Optimus said. "They're positioned in a way that they can light us on fire if we try anything hostile."
"Let's all just remain calm and try not to piss off the mermaids." Jazz said, leaning back in his seat. "Let's see what these people want with us."
"What could a bunch of aquatic primitives, who are probably mechanophoic, want with us? Show us they're vast undersea villages made of corals?" Ironhide grunted, but as the group swam past a towering underwater mountain, he went quiet as he saw their destination. The other Autobots too were also shocked into silence.
It wasn't a primitive village like Ironhide believed-it was an actual city. Resting atop an impossibly massive metallic plate built along the ocean floor, which, by Wheeljack's mental estimates, had to be 1.2 km long, was a full-fledged metropolis that looked surprisingly modern, or close to it as possible. Prowl magnified the images seen and saw men, women and children swimming through what could've been described as an undersea version of New York.
The people were humanoid in form, but they all had fish-like skin and aquatic features such as fins and webbed digits on their hands and feet, wearing loose-fitting clothing. The people would stop and gawk at the massive (for them) Autobot shuttle that was escorted through the city above them.
"This is unreal." Jazz said. "This was down here this whole time?"
"It appears so, Jazz. And from the looks of it, they're more advanced by the humans by a large margin." Optimus said.
He thought back to the massive golem that attacked him and his team during one of their Minicon hunting missions. The machine was fully operational and sported the same markings as the golems that attacked them, so it wasn't hard to realize that they were built by the same race.
The armed escort brought the Autobots to the side of the tallest building in the city. They forced the Autobots to dock, and then disembark from the shuttle, with the humanoid golems standing guard with their weapons ready. Jazz looked at the stern faces of the small humanoids that surrounded them and tried to make a joke to clear the tension.
"As cliché as this sounds," Jazz began, smiling nervously. "Could you take us to your leader?"
"You're right, alien," A firm voice said from the hangar doorway. "That is cliché."
Another person walked into the chamber. He was a very muscular and strong-looking man, with dark blue skin and fins on the back of his forearms and shoulder-blades. He had dark gray eyes and long silver hair. The man wore a more ornate form of the armor that soldiers were wearing, possibly hinting at a high ranking position. Prowl was immediately on guard as he studied this newcomer's expression as he looked up at the Autobots without fear.
"General Killian," A soldier saluted his commanding officer. "Apologies for the commotion, but we found them snooping around the submarine. They-"
"I know what they are." The man named Killian said, studying the Autobots with a shark-like gaze. "Rotate with the next squad, Ohm. You're relieved of your duties for today."
"Thank you, sir." The soldier saluted again and quickly vacated the hangar with his unit. Once they were gone, Wheeljack cleared his throat and stepped forward.
"Greetings, um…merpeople. We are the Autobots, and we apologize for intru-"
"We know what you are, alien. We've seen the news. And we were aware of you long before those hairless apes even had an idea of your presence on Terra." Killian said.
"The abandoned city." Optimus said. Killian smirked.
"Come with us. You should be just small enough to fit in the throne room. My queen wants to speak with you, and it's not wise to keep her waiting." Killian nodded to the golems and they ushered the Autobots through the hangar doors and onto a large elevator lift built for robots around the golems' size.
As they were taken to the upper levels of what they assumed were the palace, the Autobots noticed that the interior of the buildings were full of air, despite the city being submerged. The water pressure hardly seemed to bother the inhabitants or cause any strain on the buildings' construction despite the currents and strong tides. Wheeljack was inwardly gushing at the architecture of this place, though Prowl and Ironhide were more wary. Optimus, however, remained calm. It was best to make no hostile movements in this situation.
The lift took the Autobots to the very top of the palace, where they finally came to a stop at the throne room. Like the rest of the city, the throne room was breathtaking. It's walls were bright blue with marble statues standing beside two large doors leading to the hallway. The floor had a beautiful tiled mural of the earth and sea intertwined in a yin/yang pattern. The grandest display was the throne itself, and the woman sitting on it.
"Presenting Queen Tyr Aquarion of Atlantis!" Killian announced and bowed low. Out of respect, Optimus, Jazz, Prowl and Wheeljack also bowed a bit, though Prime had to pull Ironhide down.
Queen Tyr was a beautiful woman with mostly blue skin with green mixed in along her arms and back. Her silver hair was held back by a modest-looking crown of seven jewels-an emerald, a sapphire, topaz, amethyst, ruby, diamond, and a pearl. Her dress was thin and hugged her body, with a deep cut on her chest and slits up the bottom to leave her toned legs bare. In her hand was a tall golden trident with a sapphire stone in the center of the three prongs.
"So you are the famous Autobots the humans revere as heroes." Queen Tyr said, her indigo eyes scanning each Autobot from top to bottom. "I must say, aside from Prime, you don't look as tall as you do on television."
"I'm afraid that human television has a way of making us seem grander than we really are." Optimus said respectfully. "Since you already know me, let me introduce my team. This is my tactician, Prowl; my special operations officer, Jazz; my security officer, Ironhide, and my engineer Wheeljack."
"Welcome to Atlantis, Autobots. I am Queen Tyr, ruler of this wonderful nation you see around you, and this is my military advisor and minister of defense, Killian Galdra."
"A pleasure." The way Killian said it made it clear he thought it was anything but a pleasure.
"Now that we have introductions out of the way, let's get down to business." Tyr said, her eyes narrowing. "What were you doing sneaking around the borders of our kingdom?"
"We did not know we were in your territory, your grace." Optimus said. "We were investigating a disaster that occurred in these waters a week ago."
"You speak of the submarine that trespassed in Atlantian territory." Tyr said.
"Yes," Optimus nodded. "I take it you know of it."
"I ordered that submarine to be sunk." She revealed.
"Why would you do that? They weren't hurting anybody!" Ironhide exclaimed.
"As I said, that submarine was trespassing in our territory, and we exercised our right as a sovereign nation to defend our borders." She replied. "And I don't need a lecture on how to defend my people from an alien who couldn't even save his own world."
Ironhide growled, but Optimus shot him a glare to make him stand down. "Your grace, as much as I disagree with your actions, what's done is done. However, this will only spark retaliation against from the humans of the surface. Attacking an Osean submarine and stealing its plutonium-"
"We did not steal plutonium, Optimus Prime." Tyr said firmly.
"Yet the missiles were stripped of their warheads." Prowl said.
"Are you accusing us of lying, alien?" Killian growled.
"I'm only making an observation." Prowl continued, staring right at Killian. "Your forces attacked the sub, sunk it, and now it's missing its nuclear payload. It's not hard to make the assumption."
"You piece of-"
Tyr slammed her trident on the floor and a metallic burst echoed throughout the chamber. Killian and Prowl went quiet as the queen glared at them both.
"You two will speak calmly or not at all." She hissed. "I will say this once, and only once, Optimus Prime. We did not steal any plutonium. What use would we have for nuclear weapons when our technology is more advanced than the humans?"
"I understand, your grace, but I'm afraid that the humans above will not. More will come down here, and it'll only be a matter of time before a submarine discovers this city." Optimus said. "This situation will spiral out of control if measures aren't taken to at least keep things from escalating to war."
"And what would you have me do?" She asked.
"Introduce your kind to humanity. Show the world that you mean no threat and air your grievances with the nations of the surface world." Jazz suggested. "It's the best way to get your message out there."
"You want me to grovel at their feet and beg them not to retaliate?" Tyr growled.
"No." Optimus firmly said. "Stand before them as a queen."
Tyr leaned back in her throne and thought on his words. "I will…consider it, Optimus Prime. Return to the surface, and tell your leaders of what transpired here. Pray that I come to a decision before the humans do anything…rash."
"Thank you, your grace." Optimus bowed and led his team out, with the golems escorting them back to the elevator lift.
Prowl leaned in towards Optimus and said, "I think we may have just started an international incident, Prime."
"Then that means we're doing our job." Jazz joked, earning a glare from Prowl.
XXXXXX
Later that day, Queen Tyr retreated to the war room, where she spoke with Killian and the other three members of her council. Though Atlantis was ruled by a monarchy, the king or queen was aided by four constables who oversaw the nation's military, economy, science, and health. The queen was currently meeting with the constables to discuss their next move regarding the incident with the Autobots.
"We should have killed them on the spot." Typhos, the constable of science, growled. "Those aliens think highly of themselves to just waltz into our territory and demand answers of us."
"And risk starting a war with the Autobots? Typhos, think for once in your life!" Dyranna, the minister of economy, said. "We may be more advanced than the humans, but that pales in comparison to the cybertronians."
"Doesn't mean he isn't right, though." Killian said.
"You shouldn't be talking, Killian. This all started because you attacked that submarine!" She growled. "Didn't you promise us that nothing would happen? Seems like quite the opposite is happening!"
"Don't question my action to defend our nation from intruders, Dyranna!" Killian replied angrily. "They were dangerously close to one of our outposts, I had to act. At least I'm doing something other than sitting at this table pointing fingers!"
"That's enough." Tyr commanded. The constables went quiet immediately and turned to their queen, who was contemplating something. "Attacking the Autobots without provocation would only invite disaster upon us. We can't act rashly now that the humans will soon know of our kind."
"Are you…really suggesting that we heed the words of Optimus Prime, your grace?" Killian asked with wide eyes.
"It bears the most merit. We are in a position that could decide whether we make peace, or wage war." Tyr said, looking at Killian. "I take it you have something to say to that, general?"
"Your grace, forgive my impudence, but the humans will respond the only way they know how…with violence! They sail their weapons across our seas, pollute our oceans, and demonize members of their own kind just for having different genes." Killian said strongly. "How long will it be before they come down here seeking to annihilate us and pilfer our technology, our science? The remnants of our ancestors!"
"Exactly!" Typhos exclaimed. "We must prepare ourselves and position our forces to destroy the humans, and their alien comrades before they can muster up a counterattack!"
"But if we can reach a diplomatic solution, then we won't even need to fight." Dryanna said.
"What say you, Gawain?" Tyr asked her constable of health and welfare.
Gawain, a slender man with predominantly green skin, a trait common in the city of Lemuria, rested his chin on his fingers and sighed. "The humans are known for being violent, but I believe that if we extend a hand of friendship, any moves made against us will be blamed on the offenders. We must try diplomacy first before resorting to war. That is how we have always done things."
Killian and Typhos glared at Gawain, but Tyr nodded and stood up. "I will deliberate on a decision, constables, but it may take some time. This is a serious matter."
"We understand, your grace." Killian said, though he had a feeling he wasn't going to like the verdict.
XXXXXX
Later that night, Tyr stood in the main hall looking out the window at the vast city before her. Atlantis and its people, the merfolk, were all that was left of an age when the creatures of the land and sea were highly advanced in all fields from science to medicine. A time when the vast cities were scattered across the supercontinent that once dominated Terra's landscape. The merfolk's technology, science, robotics, it was all passed down from the survivors of the natural disaster that nearly destroyed all life on the planet.
Atlantis was an empire that spanned the seven seas, with colonies reaching the deepest part of the ocean that the sunlight could touch. Their bodies were adapted for air and sea, and they could withstand pressures that could kill a human. That's not even counting the certain number of merfolk that could control water in all its forms, beings that the humans had dubbed espers.
Tyr was confident in her people's ability to defend themselves, but humanity outnumbered them by population, and they had weapons of mass destruction that could easily cause collateral damage without even hitting their target. Tyr's expression darkened when she thought of the Decepticons, those vile conquerors who would burn this planet to cinders in their war. So many enemies above and below.
"Mother?"
Tyr turned to see her two children, Finn and Astrea, entering the hall. She smiled at them and welcomed them into her arms.
"We heard about the Autobots." Finn, her firstborn and crown prince, said. "Is everything alright?"
"Things are…a bit tense, but nothing serious has happened yet." Tyr sighed. "But we don't know how to go about this. Fight them or talk to them?"
"You know what father always said," Astrea smiled. "Trust your instincts. What do you want to do?"
Tyr thought about it for a moment. "Do as the Autobots once did. Reveal ourselves to the world and extend a hand of friendship to show that we mean no harm."
"And I will be there with you as crown prince, mother." Finn said.
"My children…" Tyr smiled and hugged them both. They were all she had left of her husband, a man who was the soft voice to her loud roar. It was difficult raising them while being queen, but she was proud that they had grown up to be good people.
They were why she wanted to fight. To protect them, her people, and their way of life. What she did next could decide if Atlantis became a world power, or an enemy of humanity.
XXXXXX
"So you're telling me that you actually met a race of merpeople who live in an underwater society that has been hidden from mankind for thousands of years?" Barnett looked up at Optimus and Prowl with an incredulous expression.
"That's the gist of it." Prowl said.
"If you didn't have video evidence, I would've thought that you needed a circuit-board change, Prime." He sighed. "This is going to be fun to report to the president."
"I've suggested to the queen that she officially reveal herself to the world and make an appeal to explain her actions against Osea, but I'm not entirely sure if she will accept my offer." Optimus said. "They were very hostile to us at first glance, only a step below how they feel about humans."
"Prime, what about the plutonium? Do you know if they have it?" Barnett asked.
"No, we didn't locate the plutonium. Queen Tyr admitted to attacking the submarine, but she professed no knowledge of the theft nor of the attack on the DMD station." He replied.
"So she says." Prowl crossed his arms. "She could just be lying to our faces for all we know."
"Prowl's right. The president wants some answers, among others things from you, and with this discovery, things might get hotter before they cool down." Barnett took out his phone. "I'm going to report this to General Abernathy, and in the meantime, is there any way you can contact the atlantians again?"
"I don't think we'll need to, guys." Jazz said and pointed to the Teletran terminal. "Look."
Optimus, Prowl, and Barnett looked at the monitor and saw that it was on a human news network. It was a breaking news coverage with the blub "Atlantis Exists!" on the bottom. Optimus and Prowl shared a look between them.
"If I had hair, it'd be turning gray by now." The tactician sighed.
XXXXXX
The League of Nations was a global organization of world leaders formed in the aftermath of the Gulf War as a way for nations to settle disputes diplomatically and provide aid to smaller countries that couldn't help themselves. Whenever there was a threat to global security, be it a growing warlord or an alien invasion, it was the League who were the first on the scene to give a little warning before revealing the big guns.
And since the League of Nations was such a large and powerful international organization, it was the first place Queen Tyr visited to announce the arrival of her people.
In the World Assembly, an emergency session was being held as Queen Tyr, and her son, Prince Finn, stood before the representatives of the member nations of the League of Nations to announce their people to the world. If they knew of the reactions the world was having, they did not show it, though one could guess they were well aware of the effect they were having.
"We, the merfolk, have lived alongside mankind for thousands of years. There was a time where we have coexisted with humanity as equals, but the cataclysm that brought about the Void Century had caused great damage to both our civilizations. As humanity recovered from the disaster and regressed into a feudal society due to the lack of advanced science and technology, we have survived within the world's oceans, hidden from human eyes." Tyr said to the leaders gathered before her. "This is because we are well-aware of how you humans treat those that are different from you, those that don't look and act like you. Let me make it clear that we will not tolerate such closemindedness.
"You all are well aware of the submarine sinking at the bottom of the Pacific, and I will admit to ordering an attack on the vessel. This was done in the fear of being discovered by a military submarine that posed a danger to our territory. It does not excuse the loss of lives lost, but I was only doing what I thought was the best course of action at the time." She continued. "Optimus Prime suggested that I come to you as a queen to declare ourselves to the world, and that is what I'm doing…along with issuing an ultimatum. No military submarines shall enter Atlantian territory without explicit permission from this day forth. Failure to comply will lead to the extermination of such vessels and the execution or imprisoning of all those onboard, should they respond with fierce resistance."
"So not only do you admit to attacking an Osean submarine unprovoked, you threaten us as well? Who gave you the authority to make such demands?" Yelled the Osean representative.
"I am the queen of Atlantis. I am the supreme authority of my people." Tyr said.
"We do not recognize such a nation!" Growled the representative of François.
"I don't care if you recognize me or not. Atlantis exists, we exist, and these are my demands. If you can't accept that simple fact, then there is nothing more to speak about." She replied.
"And what about the DMD deep sea station that was also attacked by an Atlantian craft?" Asked the Nipponese representative. He did not shout, but his tone was hard. "And the plutonium warheads that was stolen from the sunken submarine?"
"I have no knowledge of the stolen plutonium, and as far as I know no attack was done on the underwater station. Whether you believe me or not, I don't care, for that is my truth." Tyr said. "Just remember that we do not want to start a war or initiate violence, but we will defend our sovereignty, as is our right!"
The room erupted into a cacophony of angry yells and demands, not taking kindly to this sudden nonhuman making outrageous demands of them. If this was their reaction, then one could only imagine the reaction the meeting was getting from around the world. Tyr and Finn walked past them and out into the building's lobby, where Optimus's holomatter avatar stood with Barnett.
"Optimus Prime." Tyr greeted him politely.
"Queen Tyr." Optimus nodded back, and looked to Barnett. "This is Walter Barnett. He is the Autobot liaison for the government and an agent of the ARA."
"It's a pleasure." She said to the man and turned back to Optimus. "I took your advice to heart and stood before the world, taking a big risk on behalf of my people. I've already issued my demands and they act as if I've declared war on them. I do not want to fight, but if they stand against me, I will finish what they started."
"Your grace, please, this is not the way to do it." Barnett said, warily eying Finn, who stood close to his mother with his muscles tense, ready for action. "I can make a few calls, get you to talk with the President himself, but this is a wrong way to start things off."
"We are just showing the world that we will stand strong and not be bullied by other nations for our origins or our appearance." Finn said firmly, glaring at Barnett. "If they want a war, then we'll give them war. Just know we won't be the ones to start it."
"As someone who has seen the cost war will take upon a planet, I implore you to stay and allow us to negotiate." Optimus pleaded. "The world is dangerous enough with the Decepticons involved. Think of how this will effect Atlantis."
"It's because of Atlantis that I'm doing this. Don't lecture me on the costs of war while you're still in the midst of fighting one!" Tyr growled, gripping her trident tightly. She pushed past the two men. Finn gave them a quick nod before following his mother.
"That could've gone worse." Barnett groaned.
"It's not over." Optimus said. "We need to stop this before it escalates."
The minute Tyr and Finn left the building, they were swarmed by reporters asking a myriad of questions. Fortunately, Finn was quite adept at crowd control and he easily pushed the weaker humans aside to give them some space.
"What now, mother?" Finn asked.
"Now we wait and watch. I'll have the other cities stay on high alert for any suspicious activity. If the humans will offer talks of their own accord, then we're getting somewhere." Tyr said.
As they walked towards their ship, a woman clad in black watched the royal pair from an alleyway. She wait for them to get close enough before snapping her fingers-and the ship exploded.
Tyr and Finn were knocked back by the explosion, though they only got a few light burns from the flames. Tyr quickly got to her feet and raised her scepter (she had left her trident back at Atlantis to keep it safe).
"What is this?! Are we under attack?" She shouted.
The black-clad woman clapped her hands together and created a dozen little glowing balls before tossing them at the royals. Finn saw them before his mother and moved to protect her the only way he could.
"Mother!"
Optimus drove around the corner in vehicle mode and transformed just as the queen and prince were engulfed in a huge fireball that made the ground rumble. People screamed and ran as Optimus looked in horror at the scene.
"No!" Optimus shouted. He glanced across the street and saw the woman with the black coat running away, catching a glimpse of short blonde hair and goggles before she vanished. Memorizing her face, Optimus called Ratchet. "We need an immediate medical evac, Ratchet. We've got possible fatalities!"
XXXXXX
It didn't take long before news of the tragedy reached Atlantis. Princess Astrea learned of the attack on her mother and brother from her bodyguard, Kiani, who consoled her as she broke down on the spot. the council immediately convened in an emergency session to learn more about the incident.
"This is a disaster!" Gryphon, Tyr's half-brother and advisor, growled, slamming his fist on the table. "Those bastards will pay!"
"Gryphon, be still. We don't even know who was behind the attack." Dryanna said.
"Of course we know who did it. The humans." Killian entered the room. "I've just gotten a report from one of our drones. An esper was sighted fleeing the scene of the crime, most likely a hired assassin."
"The humans were so hurt by the noble words of our queen that they'd dare attack her and the prince in broad daylight." Gryphon scowled and turned to Killian. "Where are the bodies?"
"The Autobots were already on the scene and had taken the queen and prince. More likely, if they're alive, they'll be kept as hostages."
"Animals." Typhos growled.
"It's clear that the humans would rather annihilate us than make peace. If war is what they want, then war is what they'll have!" Gryphon announced.
"Gryphon, only the acting ruler has the power to declare war." Gawain said.
And Princess Aspen isn't of age to be coroneted, nor is she prepared. Besides, my dear niece if…grieving." Gryphon sighed. "As my sister's only living relative, I shall take the throne as king interim until the princess is of age. We don't have time now that the humans have made their move."
"What do you have planned, Lord Gryphon?" Killian asked.
"What else? We must retrieve the bodies of the queen and prince. We do not know if they're still alive or already in critical condition, but we must get them into water quickly." He said. "That is our first priority."
"We can have Cannon search for them. He knows the human world better than all of us." Dryanna said. She saw Killian scowl a bit, but Gryphon nodded.
"Good idea. Send the man at once."
"And what is our second priority?" Asked Typhos.
"We marshal our forces and activate the war machines. This attack is an act of war upon Atlantis, and shall not go unpunished." A dark look fell upon Gryphon's face. "We will wipe the humans and cybertronians off the face of Terra and finish this fight that they started!"
God that chapter was hard to finish! Sorry for the extra long wait, I was working on an original fantasy fic for fictionpress nd got a bit caught up in it. And yeah, things did get crazy in this chap, huh? Humans are not the only intelligent life native to Terra, and the merfolk are more than a match for them. And the Autobots are caught in the middle as per usual. The next chapter might take a while to get out, but stay tuned, because that's when the action will start! Be sure to check out the official Transformers Titan website on wordpress (directions to the link are in my profile). Thanks for reading, and please leave a review.