Chapter 2: A Strange Meeting
Colonel William Lennox peered through the scope of his assault rifle, taking in every little detail he could see of their targets and memorizing them, from mannerisms down to personal insignias and tattoos. Fighting hostile Transformers had always been a pain in the ass; they could switch disguises faster than one could say "Transform!", and no one would even notice it was them until they were literally standing before the individual.
He still remembered the first time he had encountered a Decepticon. Back then, it was terrifying to fight one; the aliens were still a mystery, and most weapons barely did any damage to their armor until it was discovered that high-heat sabot rounds would do the trick with extremely satisfying results. Not to mention, they possessed weapons that could kill an entire platoon in a single shot, which made operations against them highly fatal.
But that was all in the past. Now hunting them had become a chore. Human weapons could finally destroy them with ease. And the KSI Assault Walkers, though unreliable, slow, and prone to getting wrecked within the first few minutes, served as good bait while ground troops went in for the kill. Twelve years of experience had taught Lennox that even someone as strong as Megatron could be vulnerable against focused fire.
Then again, they had always had a Prime to help them.
Lennox grimaced as memories flashed unbidden in his mind, of a time when everything was still peaceful and in order. A time when he would hitch a ride to a black GMC Topkick to their base in the National Health Institute because his motorcycle was in the repair shop, or when he would ask their grumpy medic for a prescription because he had acquired a cold and the resident doctor was being an asshole for telling him to simply drink water when his throat was sore as hell and he needed the medicine badly before they go to a mission the next day.
Their lives were perfect then. Dangerous, yes. And definitely weird on some days. But they were happy coexisting and fighting together. Then Chicago happened, the UN became assholes, and the alliance with the Autobots was broken and N.E.S.T. was disbanded. The last time he had seen Optimus, he and his team were bidding farewell before they relocated to the Grand Canyon. Lennox went back to his home afterwards, and spent the next five years in early retirement with his family. He had not heard anything of the Autobots during those years.
Then Hong Kong was attacked, and he learned what had happened.
He immediately pushed those thoughts away. He was on a mission, and he did not need the distraction. Now he was the leader of a multinational paramilitary group dedicated to hunting down hostile alien threats; he had orders to follow. But in the deepest recess of his mind, he could still feel the lingering guilt and disgust he had when he saw that footage of Leadfoot being gunned down. A little part of him died that time.
He must have spaced out because he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Sir? Are you okay?"
Lennox looked at the soldier. He could not be more than twenty years younger than him, but he had been fighting Transformers for over half a decade already.
Lennox blinked, then shook his head. "Yes, yes. I'm fine." He took a deep breath and focused on the mission once more. In a professional voice, he spoke to his earpiece quietly, "Alright team. We got four confirmed targets. Decepticons. Highly dangerous. Engage on my signal."
Off to one side, one of his team members snickered. "Decepticons? Why are we even referring to them by faction names? They are all the same."
Lennox did not know what prompted him to retort. "The same? No, they are not the same. One would see you as nothing more than an insect and crush you like a bug. The other would treat you as a friend and give you a ride back home if you ask nicely. If you still think and say that's both the same thing, consider yourself on probation. Am I clear?"
"I..."
"Am I clear?" Lennox emphasized it with an intense glare that made the soldier shrank back. He knew he would be reprimanded again if he kept saying his opinion and revealed his misgivings about their objectives, but he could not resist. Unlike his previous N.E.S.T. team, the Transformers Reaction Force, or TRF, were mostly composed of former Cemetery Wind members. They did not have the chance to interact peacefully with the Autobots, and many of them had families who died in Chicago. Naturally, the hatred was to be expected. But even so, he would not tolerate misinformation within his group.
"Yes, sir." With a grumble, the soldier turned away.
Satisfied, Lennox was about to return his attention to their targets when his earpiece suddenly crackled to life, and he scowled as a voice spoke: "Don't mind him, Jake. Lennox has always been a fan of the Transformers ever since they saved him and his teams' asses back in Mission City. You know how fanboys usually are."
"Shut it, Santos, and just do your damn job," growled Lennox. He never did like his field commander, and he knew the feeling was mutual. Their opinions on practically everything, from mission strategies to Transformers to politics and even football, were just too different that they could not see eye to eye.
"Just to inform you, sir, I already did," Santos said dryly. "You're the one who's busy watching our targets for the past ten minutes without saying anything. Now which one of us is not doing his job?"
Lennox bit back a retort he knew was coming and simply said, "Just be ready when I give my signal." With that he focused his attention on the building in front of him and waited.
The abandoned warehouse was large and decaying, with many holes on the roof and part of the east wall blasted off, probably in a battle. Boxes and scrap metal littered the room inside, but there was still enough space to hold the four Decepticons hiding within. From his vantage position on a vacant building fifty yards north, Lennox could see them milling about or sitting bored on the floor.
He looked at the largest of them: Motormaster. He was big, ugly, and looked like a brute. His vehicle mode, based on latest records that would probably be revised later if this mission ended in failure, was a black Kenworth truck he had apparently scanned from a car dealer shop, which was later destroyed by his crew. Accounted for more than a dozen cases of vehicular homicide, Motormaster was part of the top ten Wanted Transformers list in the TRF. From the reports of traumatized eyewitnesses, he had a habit of ramming civilian vehicles for no reason.
The next one on the list was Drag Strip, sitting with a bored expression. An underground racer who used a Koeniggsegg Agera Final as his vehicle mode, he was often hired by syndicates to win a race for them, which he always did... By cheating. All clients were then cheated too out of their winnings, and he would run away with loads of cash. Naturally, he had bank accounts: twenty of them.
The third target amused himself by bending steel pipes like they were pick up sticks. Wild Rider, wanted for over a hundred vehicular homicides and a Decepticon who often did crazy stunts that always broke the law of physics and gravity, he was a true psychopath who transformed into a Ferrari 488 GT3 and was feared even by his team mates for his unstable behavior. He was also a speedster whom no one had caught before, something Lennox was planning to change soon.
And last but not least, Dead End. Unlike the others, he was only wanted for a single crime: double murder. But he possessed the most peculiar case out of them; apparently, a mother and child had been trapped inside their burning house and Dead End arrived to save them. Unfortunately, they had both received third degree burns, so Dead End did the only thing he could think of at that moment: he killed them. His words when the police caught him in the act? Based on the files Lennox had been given, it was along the lines of, "They are going to die anyway. So why bother saving them?"
When he had finished reading the reports, Lennox came to the conclusion that most Decepticons had problems on the head, and the only sane ones were the Autobots, albeit with trigger-happy tendencies.
Four Decepticons, half of which were unstable. Stunticons, they called themselves. Only Dead End was arrested before, but he had escaped. The others had been operating in the southern US for the past six months, conducting theft and homicides. Many times they had eluded TRF's traps and ambushes. But not today; this time, they had a shoot to kill order.
For once, Lennox would be more than happy to oblige.
He checked the position of his strike teams one last time on the wrist computer he wore on his right hand, which displayed a map. Four groups in all; one led by him, a second under the direct command of Santos which also possessed control of the drones and Walkers, a third team near the entrance of the warehouse, and a fourth on the opposite side. They dared not bring more than what was necessary; if Megatron was lurking around, Lennox did not want the Decepticon leader to kill more of his men.
When he was sure that everything and everyone was in place, he spoke to his earpiece. "All units prepare to engage on my mark. Three, two, on—"
Lennox was cut off when a police siren blared throughout the vicinity. It came from a hundred yards to the left, and he quickly issued a hold fire order. Checking in that direction with his scope, he swore after identifying the source of that siren.
It was a 2017 Ford Mustang police cruiser. Sleek and freshly painted in dark blue and white, it picked its way between the tight alleys, driving in a leisurely pace. The car passed their location, and Lennox risked a glance to check its windows. It was heavily tinted, but that just confirmed his suspicion along with a single phrase in white letters etched on the side of the trunk.
To punish and enslave.
"Eyes and ears alert," he muttered in the comms, "Decepticon Barricade is on site."
Ever since the Battle of Chicago, they had been trying to hunt down the rogue enforcer. Barricade was one of the few who managed to survive, and it had been a top priority to have him captured; he was the only remaining high-ranking Decepticon officer at that time, and they could not risk him forming an army. Unfortunately, every time they try to ambush him, he would always get away. Not even Cemetery Wind was able to track him down in the following years, and he soon disappeared off their radar along with several of his lackeys.
When Cuba had declared that all Transformers were welcomed in their country, only then did they realize that Barricade hid there. By that time, they had more important matters to attend to as Transformer activity had started increasing, and they just let Barricade roam around, left to his devices. They did keep him under heavy surveillance in the event that he tried something, and for a time, he was rarely a nuisance. But when Megatron was reborn two years ago and rendezvoused with him, they kept a close watch on the police cruiser. He had been mostly silent since until now.
Barricade arrived at the warehouse's entrance and quickly transformed. At once, the Stunticons rose to their feet. Motormaster stopped pacing around and approached Barricade until he towered over him, growling. He was more than twice his height, but the enforcer did not seem intimidated. He simply stared with bright red eyes.
CIA had placed a tracker on Barricade complete with a voice recorder. Either by some sort of miracle or the Decepticon never cared much about being spied on, the tracker had never been removed. It helped them eavesdrop on his conversations with Megatron, and it was once again proving to be useful in a situation like this.
"You're late," growled Motormaster. He squatted in an attempt to get his eyes in level with the enforcer's. But despite this, they were still a few feet higher than Barricade's.
"I have to scout the area first before coming here," Barricade said simply. "This part of Detroit is always under close surveillance by TRF. I can never be too sure."
That unnerved Lennox for some reason. If Barricade knew they were watching them, why did he not inform Motormaster?
"You mean you're a coward," Motormaster chuckled. In a more serious tone, he said, "We already got what Lord Megatron asked."
"Show me."
Motormaster's chest slid open, and he took several odd things and dumped them at Barricade's feet. The Decepticon mostly blocked the view, but between a gap in one of his legs, Lennox caught a glimpse of what looked like books. With a frown, he continued listening to the conversation.
"Is this all of it?" asked Barricade as he picked up a particularly large book. It was almost the size of a church Bible.
Motormaster scoffed. "Are you kidding me? You could have us attack every library in this ugly country, but we'll never be able to steal all those books. Humans print them as fast they breed. Tell Lord Megatron that he can try, though, if he wants to." If Barricade was annoyed by that comment, he did not show it.
Lennox's frown deepened, and something in his memory clicked. Just a week ago, they had received reports that a library was robbed by Decepticons. When they had arrived, the building was already burning and all the guards were dead. A quick inventory told them that at least a hundred books were taken, and it seemed they had just found them. To him, it sounded strange that Decpticons would want to steal books. As far as he knew, they were not interested in anything but death and carnage.
"Fine. This will do," Barricade said at last, which brought Lennox back to focusing on the mission as the Decepticon began to stuff the books inside a compartment on his waist.
Whatever Megatron wanted, they would soon find out. Lennox muttered a single sentence in his earpiece: "Open fire."
At once, the TRF broke out of hiding and stormed the warehouse. From his vantage point, Lennox saw that Barricade did not look surprised; he had been planning to make the Stunticons as decoys all along.
Barricade quickly rolled out of a barrage of rocket fire and pushed Motormaster in its path, then transformed and drove through a weak section of the northern wall with maximum speed. "TRAITOR! You tricked us!" roared the Stunticon leader even as he was engulfed in a massive explosion. When the smoke cleared, he was kneeling on the ground, oozing Energon in various holes in his body, but still very much alive and pissed.
With another roar, he stood up and turned his arms into cannons, blasting the assault teams. Behind him, the rest of his team shot wildly as they retreated. A hole was blasted through the ceiling. On the ground, a dozen TRF soldiers lay dead.
"Santos, send a drone after Barricade. I want the rest giving us air support here. These guys are giving our boys one hell of a time." As Lennox watched, he saw Drag Strip transformed and shot past Motormaster, followed closely by Dead End. The soldiers dodged out of the way as the two Stunticons tore beyond them, escaping through a wide alley.
"Trackers!" Lennox quickly shouted. Several snipers posted in various locations sent confirmations, and very soon they heard the familiar beeping noises of two tagged targets. Lennox ignored them for now and concentrated on the battle below. Overhead, he heard the sound of a fleet of attack drones approaching.
Motormaster also noticed it. Cursing in Cybertronian, he dove out of firing range and transformed. Wild Rider had already ran away a minute ago, leaving his leader to his fate. It disgusted Lennox that Decepticons could do this to their companions without even the slightest hint of remorse, which only proved how the Autobots were leagues better than them; he never saw any of them, especially Ironhide, leave a wounded soldier behind, human or Transformer.
By the time the drones had arrived, Motormaster had already escaped, driving through the buildings' walls without stopping. Arriving at the road on the other side, he rammed a Walker in the legs and toppled it, then continued gunning his engines until he was finally out of sight.
Lennox swore and began assessing the damages and casualties. Out of a hundred TRF soldiers, 22 were dead and another two dozen were critically wounded. Their targets had escaped, again, and Barricade was off to report to his master. A Walker suffered minor damages, which was something to be thankful for; Joshua Joyce once chewed him out for losing twenty Walkers that cost billions of dollars and took six months to construct. But despite this, Lennox could not call the mission a success.
It was another failure, and nothing could change that.
With a sigh, he spoke to his earpiece. "TRF, stand fast. The mission is over. I want medics on site immediately." Then he tore off the earpiece in frustration and marched down toward the warehouse together with his team.
There he found the mecics tending to the wounded while more soldiers investigated the area for anything left by the Decepticons. It was not a permanent hideout per se, but there were signs that they had stayed here on more than one occasion; bent steel rods they had used to amuse themselves, makeshift bunk beds, a crate filled with empty oil barrels, and what looked like an ammunition box.
Santos was already waiting. Lennox scowled as the commander approached with a disapproving glare, resisting the urge to punch the man until he knocked out a few teeth. It was always like this; whenever a mission ended in failure, Santos would act as if he could have done a better job. Lennox did not doubt that, of course. However, he never trusted the man to show compassion at all if their target turned out to be a mere refugee—to Santos, all of them were his enemies.
They stood facing each other, ignoring the stares of their subordinates. Lennox was a few inches taller, but that did not deter Santos from glaring at him and speaking first. "That's five in a row now, sir. And here I thought you are a veteran when it comes to hunting them. I guess retirement has dulled your skills."
Lennox's right eyebrow twitched, but he kept his temper in check. It would not do for him to lose composure right in front of his men. "Failure is always to be expected in any mission, especially in cases like this one. But just because we failed a lot doesn't mean we will fail all the time. We just have to do better next time." In a lower voice that only the two of them could hear, he muttered, "I have done this for almost a decade now, asshole. That does not even count my tours in the Middle East where I spent seven years fighting Al Qaeda terrorists. So don't act as if you already know and have seen everything, you piece of shit."
With that, Lennox left him with nostrils flaring in anger and made his way to a scorched spot on the cement floor where soldiers were inspecting something. He doubted if Santos would do anything drastic in response to what he just said. He did not get provoked easily despite the fact that he liked doing the same thing, and Lennox was certain that Santos knew both of their boundaries as much as he did.
As he approached the soldiers, he noticed upon closer look that they were checking several books, some of which were burned. Barricade must have left it behind when they attacked, choosing to prioritize his hide rather than fulfilling Megatron's order to the letter. Curious as to what the Decepticon leader wanted this time, Lennox picked up one that was a little less damaged in the firefight.
He frowned as he flipped the pages and browsed the contents. He was never much of a bookworm, but he recognized this as a genealogy book, a historical record of various families around the world. It was mostly common in Asia and Europe because of their history, though the US also had records of their own. This one, from the looks of it, was European in nature. What it was doing in an American library, he had no idea.
The names were in alphabetical order, and by the time he reached the last pages, he found nothing that would interest Megatron. At least, to Lennox anyway. But just before he closed it in disappointment, his eyes fell on two distinct and familiar names that made his heart suddenly raced.
One was Witwicky, and he immediately thought of Sam. But that was expected of Megatron who had been killed once by him. However, he had not heard of him since the alliance with the Autobots was dissolved, so there should be no reason for the Decepticons to become interested in him again except perhaps for revenge, which was highly likely.
The second name, though. He was very familiar with it; in fact, the entire TRF was. But the fact that it was here, in a European genealogy book, confused him. And the more he thought about it, the more he got baffled.
The name was Yeager.
As I promise, here is the second chapter. :)
Regarding this chapter and Lennox's interaction with Santos, I was partly inspired by Alex of the Youtube channel Ragin Nation and his review about TLK. He mentioned that there was little to no tension between the two, which I strongly agree, and how he would have wanted them to come into blows. So I decided to incorporate that in my story. Here, as you've already seen in this chapter, there's more interaction between them, more tension. And I'm planning to make that worse as the story progresses. Personally, I thought of Santos as an anti-hero and expected him to have some sort of role in the movie. Instead, we got a really bland character with no purpose whatsoever other than to be just there. And I'm going to change that big time.
I also forgot to mention in my previous post, but there is another reason I rebooted the story. To put it simply, I'm planning to create a massive fanfic universe. No, not what Paramount wants to do with the franchise. What I mean is a shared universe. Think MCU or DCEU, but MUCH, MUCH bigger with dozens of franchises involved. And yes, I know it sounds weird and does not seem like it would fit with Transformers. But I really have these interesting ideas and plot bunnies that I want to turn into a story.
Unfortunately, I can't get into details without spoiling anything. However, if you have read the prologue thoroughly, you'll find that one particular franchise has already been referenced. Rest assured, though. This story is and will be STANDALONE. So there will be no major crossovers happening at this point. There are going to be minor references, but that's it.
One last thing. Optimus won't be appearing here, and neither will Quintessa. This story is grounded on Earth ALONE. So don't expect to see them here. They will, however, appear in the SEQUEL along with characters many of you may be familiar with, but you will have to wait until this one is finished.
With that said, thank you for reading and please review!
Until next time!
UPDATE: 4/22/21 Fixed typos and errors. Added a chapter title.
