Chapter 5: Dam! That's a big cube!
Orianna P.O.V
The night had given way to a new day and we currently found ourselves in a helicopter enroute to Hoover Dam. Turns out we weren't the only ones the government had decided needed ''special attention'' due to our involvement with giant sentient alien robots.
Sharing the ride with us was another attractive woman, blonde and older than Mikaela but younger than I and Australian, so I naturally felt a connection with her. The other person was a stocky black American man named Glen. As we sat there speeding towards our destination the blonde girl, named Maggie, asked Sam, ''So, what did they get you for?''
Sam replied in a slightly sardonic tone, ''Bought a car. Turned out to be an alien. Who knew?''
Maggie simply nodded, as if that was a totally plausible reason to be sitting opposite her right now. Mikaela and I shared our small roles in the evening's events, and Maggie explained her role as a signals analyst who actually worked out how the bad alien robots, which we know knew to be called Decepticons, had hacked into the US military's defence system and stole sensitive information linked with the Allspark. I assumed that had something to do with where we headed right now.
I was impressed. She seemed barely out of University, or college. Glenn, as it turns out was even more technologically adept than she. After some further small talk, and some quiet moments of tired reflection, we each found ourselves staring out the windows as a massive concrete structure loomed into focus – Hoover Dam!
As we disembarked from the helicopter and were ushered towards what I assumed was the ''military front door'' to Hoover Dam, I took a moment to take in the sheer scale and immensity of the site before me. To say it was impressive would be a gross understatement. The thing that got me though, was all around us there were tourists milling about, taking holiday snaps, oblivious to the top-secret Government drama unfolding around them. /Ignorance truly is bliss/ I thought to myself.
As we walked along the concrete walkway that led to a heavily guarded door, I was aware of several soldiers in their military regalia saluting none other than John Keller, the US Secretary for Defence. This, it would seem, was a pretty big deal. I heard part of the conversation between Keller and the men and it seemed they were the ones responsible for gathering information, or intel, during the first alien attack on a military base in Qatar. They had also managed to use some sort of weapon to do damage to the Decepticons, which apparently all military craft were being fitted with now. I made a mental note to stick by those guys for the duration of our ''stay'' here.
As we walked along behind Secretary Keller, a familiar, yet unwelcome presence stepped up to block our path. Simmons. He and another guy, Bannacheck, I believe, began to speak to Sam and Mikaela as they attempted to follow Keller. Simmons seemed less aggressive than just a few short hours ago. /Bi-polar much?/ I thought to myself.
''Hey Kid. I think we got off to a bad start hunh. You must be hungry. You want a latte, ho ho, double venti macchiato?'' Simmons tried to butter up Sam.
Sam interrupted his placations, ''Where's my car?'' I felt a smirk spread across my face at the look of annoyance Simmons was fighting back.
Bannacheck tried to smooth things over, ''Son. I need you to listen to me very carefully. People can die here. We need to know everything you know; we need to know it now."'
I was about to intervene on Sam's behalf when he determinedly replied in a calm and rather authoritative manner, ''Okay. First, I'll take my car, my parents. Maybe you should write that down. Oh and her juvie record that's gotta be gone, like - forever.''
/What!? A juvie record? What had she done?/ I made a mental note to ask Mikaela later what had transpired in the car ride prior to the bridge fiasco.
Mikaela thanked Sam. A whole new emotion seemed to cross her face as she flashed him a dazzling smile. It would seem my comment to her in the alleyway may come to fruition after all, it would seem she was getting to know Sam a whole lot better.
Bannacheck, in a means to appease Sam and get the ball rolling, promised to discuss ''the car'' if Sam would come with him. We all followed suit, except for Simmons who paused to mutter something about an extortionist.
We had travelled deep down into the bowels of the dam. Simmons had now regained his composure and was explaining to us the ''situation'' and our involvement as we had had direct contact with NBE's. One of the formidable looking soldiers, Epps, I believe his name was, queried Simmons, ''NBE's?''
''Non- biological Extra-terrestrials. Try to keep up with the acronyms,'' Simmons replied with an air of smug hostility.
Banncheck continued, ''What you are about to see is totally classified.'' Despite the gravity of that comment, we still weren't prepared for what we walked into. There, frozen in stasis was Megatron and he looked like a nightmare.
Keller was taken aback as were the seasoned soldiers around him, ''Dear God. What is this?'' he asked incredulously as his eyes struggled to take in the sight before him.
Bannacheck went on to explain how he thought Megatron came to be on our planet, how our North Pole's gravitational field messed with his telemetry resulting in his crash landing and subsequent freezing in the ice a few thousand years ago and how he had been contained in this facility since 1934.
Simmons interrupted, ''We call him NBE 1''.
Sam countered, ''Sir, I don't mean to correct you on everything you think you know but that's Megatron. He's the leader of the Decepticons.''
Bannacheck once again took the narrative, ''Your great-great grandfather made one of the greatest discoveries in the history of mankind.''
I felt my jaw drop open slightly though I managed to keep my thoughts to myself. /Wow. An impressive branch to have in your family tree/.
Simmons took over once again, ''Fact is you're looking at the source of the modern age. Microchip, lasers, space flight, cars all reverse engineered by studying him… NBE 1… that's what we call it''. The last was said very pointedly towards Sam in the silent pissing contest they had both entered into.
At this Keller interjected, ''And you didn't think the United States Military might need to know that you're keeping a hostile alien robot frozen in the basement.''
Bannacheck replied honestly, ''Until these events we had no credible threat to National security"'.
Keller looked incredulous, ''Well you got one now!" and he stalked off. Something told me from the tone of Keller's voice and the barely contained seething contempt he held for these two that if we survived what was undoubtedly to come, Simmons and Bannacheck would be looking for new jobs.
It was then that one of the other soldiers spoke up, "'So why Earth?'' Glancing at his uniform I noticed his name was ''Lennox.'' He was a rather tall, rather handsome man. Come to think of it, looking at all the soldiers standing around, was it just me or were they all rather easy on the eye? /Perhaps it was a new military requirement/, I thought distractedly.
Sam once again retook the reins of the exchange, ''It's the Allspark.'' I reluctantly turned my attention away from the visual smorgasbord standing before me and tried to focus once again on the important issue at hand.
Keller, clearly confused, asked, ''Allspark? What is that?''
It was like watching a verbal tennis match and Sam, impressively, was holding his own.
Sam replied, ''Well they came here looking for some sort of cube looking thing. Anyway, Mr NBE 1 here, a.k.a Megatron, that's what they call him, who's pretty much the harbinger of death, wants to use the cube to transform human technology to take over the universe. That's their plan.''
Simmons looked at Sam with a rather serious look on his face, ''You're sure about that?''
''Yeah''. Sam paused taking in Simmons' reaction. Then, slowly, as though a light globe had been switched on, understanding dawned on Sam's face. He chuckled softly, ''You guys know where it is don't you?''
Bannacheck, stony faced simply said, ''Follow me.'' I threw Sam a quick ''thumbs up'' signal to show he had done well. He shot me back a quick smile of gratitude. We were then ushered off to another secret location.
My head was spinning with all of the information and the seriousness of the situation, not to mention the blow to the back of my head still stung like a bastard. We were taken into a room seemingly hollowed out of the stone underground, with a viewing window towards - The Allspark!
''Our crown jewel,'' Simmons introduced.
As we all stood there processing all of this top-secret information, Maggie cut through our thoughts. 'Wait, back up. You said the dam hides the cube's energy? What kind exactly?''
''Good question,'' Bannacheck commended. I shot my compatriot a quick smile. As we followed our ''Government tour guides further into the bowels of the military facility, I couldn't help but think silently to myself, /What the bloody hell have I gotten myself into?/. I began to subconsciously wish the others, especially Optimus, were here and I silently wondered how they were faring.
Optimus P.O.V
/So delicate/.
The glasses, obtained at a price, were delicately grasped in my servos, glinting in the first rays of dawn's glow. I stood on the platform of Griffiths Observatory inspecting them. I turned them over carefully in my massive metal hand, before whispering an impassioned plea to Primus, ''Please… let this work.'' The thought of Sam, Mikaela, Bumblebee and Orianna flashed through my processor. I had no idea where they were and or what had become of them and I felt a slight shudder ripple over my frame. /Do not think about that now, you have to focus/. Thankfully, Jazz's voice interrupted my morose thoughts.
''Fire it up Optimus'', he encouraged.
I held the glasses in front of me, hesitating as my spark seemed to stop pulsing momentarily. /If this didn't work../. Without further hesitation, I accessed the coordinates etched into the glasses. A holographic image of the globe indicating the location of the Allspark flickered before us. My spark began to beat again, and I relayed the location to my team. ''The code. The code on these glasses indicates the Allspark is 230 miles from here.'' Relief flooded my systems, but it was short lived.
Rachet intoned solemnly, ''I sense the Decepticons are getting ready to mobilise.''
Ironhide agreed, ''They must know it's here as well.''
Jazz's previous animosity towards my decision to abandon Bumblebee rose to the fore yet again, ''What about Bumblebee? We can't just leave him to die, become some human experiment!'' He stalked back and forth, like some caged Cybertronian turbo fox.
I cut in, my own frustration and temper starting to rise, 'He'll die in vain if we don't accomplish our mission!' Bumblebee is a brave soldier; this is what he would want.'' /Would he?/ the unbidden thought goaded me.
Ironhide stepped forward to question my directives. ''Why are we fighting to save the humans? They're a primitive and violent race.'' Once more his apparent disgust and distrust towards humans concerned me and I made a mental note to keep an eye on him.
''Were we so different?'' I turned my helm to challenge him. When it seemed Ironhide was dissuaded I pressed my point, ''They're a young species they have much to learn. But I have seen goodness in them. Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.'' I paused momentarily as I weighed my next words carefully. ''You all know there's only one way to end this war. We must destroy the cube! If all else fails, I will unite it with the spark in my chest.'' At this I opened my chest plates to reveal my pulsing blue spark. My life source.
The thought of my sacrifice horrified Rachet and he did little to hide the shock in his tone, ''That's suicide, the cube is raw power! It could destroy you both.''
My voice softened as I blinked my optics slowly, ''A necessary sacrifice to bring peace to this planet. We cannot let the humans pay for our mistakes.'' For a brief moment I was lost in thought. /I will not let YOU pay for our mistakes Sam, Mikaela and Orianna, I simply cannot/. Once again, my spark twisted thinking of what was happening to my newfound allies and my brave scout. The thought spurred me into action.
''It's been an honour serving with you all. Autobots, roll out!'' and leaping down off the platform, I led my team in a desperate race to find the Allspark, hoping against hope we would not be too late.