Pretender Chronicles
A War for Cybertron/Fall of Cybertron/Transformers Prime Fan Fiction
By daywalker03
Chapter 5: Those Shoes
(Flashback that takes place during Crisscross)
Mae was riding along a dusty trail on Teal, with Butch and Turq following them at a safe distance when her cellphone chimed and the helmet AI told her of an incoming call. "Answer," she responded and the voice of Agent Johnson was heard.
"Afternoon Mae. Hate to disturb you, but I've heard that someone calling himself Silas has been seen playing with some rather large toys; the kind that don't seem to like to be treated as puppets," he said brusquely. "I've also read your vaguely worded, yet informative, report on your friends' encounter with MECH, so I know you're aware of what sort of toys he prefers."
Mae grimaced and pulled off to the side of trails before responding, "Yeah, I know MECH, and "Silas". Did some digging after the incident in question and found out he's really Colonel Leland Bishop; apparently, he took offense at being told one of his pet projects was "too dangerous" to be put into use and went renegade. There's more to it, but I'm sure you get the idea."
Mae could have sworn she heard Johnson grimace over the phone as he commented, "Why does that not surprise me after what I read in your report? Of course, there is a little package here on my desk that you may want; apparently someone found a sticky, web-like substance in the forest in one of the national parks and the Forest Service got involved. Where should I send it?"
Mae felt a tightening in her gut when she heard that and said, "Send it to Ma, with a note to keep it out of reach of the young ones. If she's involved, my friends will definitely want to know."
"Consider it done, Mae. I take it you have some idea who is involved with MECH, then?" Johnson remarked. "Whoever it is, they sound downright creepy to me, and you haven't even said a name, which is fine by me; the less I know about your friends and their enemies, the better, for reasons I'm sure you understand."
Mae smiled as she answered, "Yeah, you don't want to know what this one has done, and even if you did I probably wouldn't tell you; she's something that makes the nightmares that people have about creatures like Salcha seem like downright pleasant experiences." Mae shuddered as she thought again about what Arcee had found in the ship that Jack had bravely blown up as Butch laid a hand on her shoulder to help her steady herself.
After extracting a promise from Mae to provide a report of the incident, even if somewhat sterilized, Johnson terminated the call. Butch looked at her and asked softly, * What did he want this time, Guardian? / When she didn't answer right away, he said, * Is it MECH again? Or someone else this time? /
* Sweetspark, it's worse than just MECH; Silas has apparently joined forces with Airachnid for some unknown purpose, / She replied, fighting to control her rage at the boldness of the human. * No, not unknown; Airachnid wants Jack and MECH wants a replacement for Breakdown. She'll try to take Jack from 'Cee and let MECH haul her off for their twisted research to enhance humanity. But how will they get the two of them to come willingly? /
Butch shook his head and said, * I don't know, but we better get back to Jasper and start looking for them before they have a chance to put any kind of plan into action. /
Mae said, in English, "I want you to head to Omega One and let the others know about this; I will begin searching for them since I know Jack and 'Cee's habits best. Let me know if you find out anything I could benefit from knowing that Optimus or Ratchet come up with."
"Okay, I will do that," Butch said as he got on Turq and drove off.
Mae sat down on Teal and started off toward Jasper. Once back on the main road, Teal said, * If I remember correctly, Jack said he went inside of Airachnid's ship briefly. Is it possible that the internal systems recorded an image of him when he did so? /
Mae thought about that and replied, * It's possible and if Airachnid was able to recover the black box, as humans call it, she would have a means of searching for him, though it would take Silas to make her aware of that, no doubt. Why? /
* Think about it, Mae. How do you get someone to come to you if they wouldn't otherwise come? You bait the trap you want them to walk into, / Teal answered as she turned herself toward the hospital where June worked.
* Those⦠/ Mae growled as Teal accelerated to just under the speed limit. * They're going to go after June and use her as bait to draw Jack and 'Cee to them. Let's hope we get there in time to stop them. /
Just then, she got a call from Butch over their private channel. * Jack's been grounded because June heard he was street racing. We both know it was just the couple of times and he hasn't done it since 'Bee got reprimanded for it, but Arcee has to be in two places at once, and we know how that will work out, / he said.
Mae grimaced and replied, * Thanks for that; pass this on to Optimus. Silas is going to snatch June as bait to draw in Jack and Arcee; I'm heading to the hospital to see if I can prevent it, but if I can't, I will have to do what I can to keep things from going too far south, if you get my drift. I will not require backup; repeat, no Autobot backup. June will be scared enough with two giant robots, as well as whatever predicament she's in as the bait, and we don't need to make a possibly bad situation worse. /
Mae could sense Butch wanting to argue, but he finally said, * Understood, Guardian. I don't like it, and neither will Optimus, but you're right and I'm sure he knows it. /
Mae said with a smile, * Yes sweetspark, he knows to trust my judgment on things like this. Now, be a good sparkling and tell him what I told you. / Mae could hear his chuckle as he broke the connection.
Just before Teal reached the hospital, Optimus called them. "Mae, be very careful; we don't need MECH figuring out you're any different than a normal human, especially if Airachnid is anywhere nearby when you make contact."
"Understood, and I will be extremely cautious around them," she said as she pulled in next to June's red car. She got off Teal and walked around the car and caught a scent. "No. We're too late, Teal." Not only did she smell the exhaust of the van that had been used to snatch June, she also saw that June's purse was laying on the ground where she had dropped it when she was knocked out.
Mae picked up the purse and carried it into the hospital and told the night shift nurse what she surmised had happened; the nurse took it gratefully and promised to make sure June got it when she saw her, then made sure that Mae promised to be careful with getting June back. Mae ran out to Teal and got on and the two of them started hunting.
* Mae, there are several abandoned factories in the same quadrant you are that would be an ideal hiding place for MECH. I will send you their coordinates momentarily, / Ratchet said as they cruised along. As the data arrived, Mae noted what appeared to be a weak Energon signature traveling toward one of the locations.
* Ratchet, I think I've found them; it looks like Arcee and Jack have taken the bait and are closing in on the site as well. I will have Teal drop me off a distance away and travel the rest of the way on foot; it's going to be the easiest way to handle this, as I don't want them to see Teal, / Mae told him.
* Understood Mae; may Primus protect you, / he replied as she pulled over next to a fenced in area. She stripped off her vest and loincloth and pulled on the same gear she would if involved in an FBI raid; a form fitting bodysuit and black sunglasses, which she was using to conceal the use of her eyes as an infrared viewing system. She did not take any weapons, as she did not plan to need firearms, due to her better than human physical conditioning. She carefully climbed over the fence and dropped to the ground, scanning for heat signatures in the area she had just entered.
Over in the abandoned cement factory, she could hear the gunfire that no doubt signified that MECH had seen Arcee and hoped that they were either lousy shots, or were precise enough to target areas away from where any actual harm could befall Jack; she knew that he wouldn't want to leave his partner for any longer than he had to to locate his mother and rescue her, since doing so would leave her at the dubious mercy of MECH.
Mae easily made her way through the abandoned lot she had entered and was soon climbing over the fence into the cement factory; she took a careful look.around, raising her glasses briefly to get an undistorted view of her surroundings before lowering them again. She kept to the shadows, trusting any of the shadow creatures that might be there to aid her in remaining concealed from the humans scattered throughout the factory grounds. She heard Jack calling out for his mom and looked up. What she saw made her Energon boil and freeze at the same time; hanging from one of the highest spots in the factory, wrapped in a partial cocoon of synthetic webbing, was a woman that she immediately knew was June Darby; Jack's mom.
* The nerve of that femme.. / she thought as she moved swiftly through the shadows to where the poor woman was dangling. * Teal, are you getting this? / she asked cautiously over their private frequency.
* Yes. Be extremely cautious; shr is no doubt very close to where you are, and we don't need her catching you and cutting that webbing to spite Jack and Arcee, / Teal replied with an angry edge to her transmitted vocalizations.
* I will; don't you do anything rash, as that will be just as dangerous for us and them as my doing so, / Mae pointed out, not really needing to, but wanting to make sure her other half remembered it. She heard an amused huff from the other end, then the channel went dead. With that settled, Mae got to work climbing up the tower that Jack's mom was dangling from as quietly as she could manage without possibly alerting the spider-con of her presence. As with her trip this far, she felt the presence of friendly Others that were more than willing to assist her without question, so she was soon in a position to observe the coming fireworks.
Mae didn't have long to wait; Jack had found his mom, with a not so subtle hint from Airachnid, and was quick to climb up to attempt to help her. Unfortunately, the spider-con had other ideas and trapped Jack hand in some webbing to torment him with the threat of her torturing June; it took every bit of restraint that Mae could muster for her not to react as she heard Airachnid say "Agonizing, or excruciating?"
Waiting out of view of Airachnid, Mae was able to see and hear what was going on elsewhere on the property, so she wasn't surprised when Arcee came driving up some of the pipework to tackle her nemesis; as the two of them traded blows, Mae carefully climbed the rest of the way up and was in position when the catwalk extension that June was dangling from dropped. Jack saw her and stared, not sure if he was seeing things or not.
"Jack, is that your mom in the webbing?" Mae asked as she prepared her climbing ropes for the tricky rescue that she would need to do.
"Yes; how did you find us? Arcee couldn't get a message through because"...
"Silas was generating some kind of interference field that blocked her transmissions," she finished for him. "The creep knows too much already, and even if he gains nothing tangible out of this "alliance", he gains more knowledge about Cybertronians that he can use against our friends," she continued. Looking over the edge, she called down to June. "Ms. Darby, I'm Mae Franklin, Federal Bureau of Investigation. I'll get you down safely, but you need to stay as still as possible; that webbing won't hold much longer."
After June's initial shock at meeting the Autobots had subsided some, she looked around the base that Jack had brought her to and noticed two additional Autobots and two humans standing with them. "Jack, who are they and why didn't Optimus introduce them as well?" she asked as they walked over.
Jack said, "Do you remember the female FBI agent that was at the factory last night?" When his mother nodded, he continued, "This is FBI agent Mae Franklin, her brother Butch, and the two Autobots are Teal and Turq, their partners."
Mae smiled and spoke, "Hello again June; the reason Optimus didn't introduce us is that Teal and Turq aren't officially part of his team. Butch and I have known about Teal and Turq longer than we've known about the others and generally the four of us act as unofficial support for them rather than as direct members of the team. It's easier for us, since we work for a different branch of the government that isn't supposed to know about them." When she saw June's puzzled look at that, she explained, "Our boss knows some things, but we have to be cautious about what we pass on, since not everyone that sees my reports understands the concept of security as we do, and if they got too much detail, it would get back to the Decepticons, which as I'm sure you've guessed wouldn't be good for anyone."
June slowly nodded then smiled shyly as Teal knelt down and extended her servo. "I'm sorry we didn't make it in time to stop those men from abducting you, June. Mae's boss contacted us about a potential situation that existed, but we didn't realize the extent of the situation until after they had already acquired you," Teal said seriously.
June blinked in surprise, but reached out and clasped the offered servo in appreciation for the sentiment. "Thank you, Teal. I've never had an experience like that before and it's not one I would like to repeat, if it can be helped," she replied nervously.
Teal smiled and replied, "That is why Arcee has been assigned to Jack; to protect him from the Decepticons. Since you now know of our kind, she will also be protecting you when she can." June let go of the massive servo after giving it a gentle squeeze, then watched as Teal stood and Turq took her place.
She smiled at the massive Autobot and was surprised when he extended a massive servo and ever so lightly touched her forehead with an extended digit. He smiled back at her and said, "You seem to accept that we are real, but aren't entirely sure how creatures like us can survive on your world without being seen." As she nodded, he went on, explaining to her about the T-cog that each Cybertronian possessed and how it enabled them to adopt the shape and appearance of any native vehicle that they were able to scan.
Jack watched his mother interacting with Turq and smiled despite the oddness of the situation. "He really seems to know what to say to calm her, doesn't he," he remarked to Mae, who was standing next to him watching as well. "She's taking this all pretty well considering what could have happened last night."
"Yes, Jack, but the bad things didn't happen," Mae replied tartly, which caused Jack to turn toward her. "I wasn't going to let anything happen if I could help it; I've seen too many kids go through that in my time with the Bureau, and it's never a good experience for them when it happens. As for what Turq is doing, he's slightly better at doing that than Teal is, simply because he doesn't have her combat experience to sidetrack his thinking in a given situation."
