A billion thanks to Bee4ever, who has effectively become my source of perfect words for weird stuff, if you haven't read her work, particularly 'Life's a Gas' Do it. Now. And a billion more to FireRose, who smacks me for my occasionally horrifying mis-use of grammar.
Seriously, who teached me how to spoke? I dunno! Either way:
Chapter 98 - Assignments
(SPOV)
Sideswipe was bored. He and Bee were doing their level best to behave, but Sides wasn't so much a scout as a... okay, scout around for a little while in order to find the people he needed to kill. Simple as that.
Except it seemed they'd done too good a job. Nobody showed up for him to kill.
Boring.
::. Optimus calling Bumblebee and Sideswipe.:: the Prime sent calmly.
Ooh! That was a change.
::. Sideswipe responding.:: he sent back immediately.
::. Bumblebee responding!.:: the scout chirped excitedly.
::. Please rendezvous at headquarters for potential assignments.:: Optimus sent calmly.
Potential assignments.
Scrap, that'd beat aimlessly driving around in the hopes of spotting a con or something to report! Sides immediately sped up, turned a few times and sped toward their latest headquarters, Bumblebee hot on his bumper moments later.
They pulled in and transformed, looking at Optimus excitedly.
"Bumblebee, Sideswipe," Optimus nodded to them regally. Sideswipe couldn't help but admire the regality of the Prime, even when he was covered in slime, mud and Ratchet only knew what else that regality stayed the same. "I pray that I have not erred in not informing you of our discussions of you previously, however I did not wish to raise your hopes needlessly."
"But now you're gonna spill! What were you talking about!?" Bumblebee chirped excitedly.
Optimus visibly bit back a smile at the scout's enthusiasm.
"I do not profess ownership of you, however translations only allow the term of 'loaning out.' You are, as always, free to decline." Optimus rumbled calmly.
Which was blasted courteous of the bot. Sideswipe grinned to himself.
"So what's the mission Prime?" he grinned.
"For that, I direct your attention to Director Matteer," Optimus rumbled calmly. Sideswipe nodded cautiously and looked at the human standing beside Will.
All of the bots looked at him.
"Oh, that's me now?" the older human stated in surprise. "Ah. Right. Um..."
"Problem?" Sideswipe asked calmly.
"Well, I dunno, how the hell am I supposed to give you two potential orders?" the human snorted.
"Our Prime has seen fit to allow you your say," Bumblebee told the man patiently. "Which means that Prime likely agrees with the potential missions, but still gives us the ability to say no. Say it." the scout finished with a shrug. Sideswipe nodded in agreement.
"Well, in the interest of co-operation between our two units, I've been needing a couple of spies lately." the human stated in a rather self-deprecating manner, Sideswipe promptly looked at him in interest. "Anyway, currently I have a rather... testy... situation in Kazakhstan. At present, I don't know if the situation can be resolved peacefully or if shit needs to be blown up, and frankly that's annoying the hell out of me. Time is an issue." the man began in earnest, he began pacing slightly.
Sideswipe couldn't help but grin.
He and Bee were perfect for that kind of situation.
"Now, I know it's probably not the most ideal for me to send you two out with human agents..."
"Hey, if the humans can do the talking, and accomplish anything with the talking fine," Sideswipe grinned. "If shit needs blowin' up I'm your bot!" Bumblebee was nodding avidly beside him. "With all due respect, Director, let's cut to the chase. You want some backup with serious firepower close by for your agents, so that if the scrap gets scattered the only thing you need to worry about is a bit of cleanup."
"Exactly!" the Director hooted. "Here's the only thing, I'm terrified of sending you out with your hopes up of blowing shit up and going home with still-hot cannons!"
Sideswipe waved that away patiently.
"Better the chance to blow shit up than standing around on your tires waiting for nothing to happen!" Bumblebee stated cheerfully.
"Oh! Well in that case," the Director grinned. "First off, please allow me to welcome you to the ranks of the contract branch of CIA. At which point you now call me Barry, and I brought these for you." he opened his briefcase and pulled out a couple of licence plates.
"We've got those already," Bumblebee frowned.
"What, licence plates? No doubt. However you do not have these licence plates, thereby stating that you are under my jurisdiction and allowed to speed. Anywhere."
Sideswipe stared at the little piece of metal in the man's hand for a moment before that statement clicked in.
"Wait, those are licences to speed!?"
"Anywhere!?" Bumblebee howled.
"With great power, comes great responsibility," Optimus cautioned them gently.
"Huh? What's the point of being as beautifully built as you lot if you don't get to open it up every now and again?" Barry asked curiously.
"I like him!" Sideswipe grinned to the Prime.
"Without a doubt," Optimus snorted. "Regardless, I expect you to carry yourselves with the proper comportment of Cybertronians."
Which was Prime for don't blow shit up... until it's necessary, then blow everything up!
Bee was bouncing beside him as he grinned viciously.
"When do we leave?" he demanded through that grin.
"Your plane leaves in three hours," Barry stated calmly, looking at his watch. "I took the liberty of hiring a carrier for you two, if I may ride with you to the airport I will introduce you to the Agents currently in charge of this investigation."
Bumblebee was transformed the next second, idling toward Barry with his door open. Sideswipe saluted Prime before transforming himself.
Optimus was smiling tolerantly at them as they drove out. Yeah. The Prime knew how to treat his unit. And this was going to be a treat!
The drive to the airport was a quick one, Sideswipe onlined his holoform and walked to stand with Barry.
"Director," a man in a suit nodded, another beside him.
"Daniel, Jackson," Barry nodded to the men. "Luck is on our side, please allow me to introduce you to Bumblebee and Sideswipe, they will be your backup on this mission."
"Er..."
"Codenames?" the other asked curiously.
"Designations," Sideswipe stated calmly. "It is best that the majority of humans do not try to pronounce our names, slowing them down, or speeding them up changes the meaning."
"You got us Autobots for backup!?" the younger man demanded with a broad grin. Sideswipe nodded to himself, he and Bee would likely get along quite well. He turned to the more sober looking man.
They eyed each other for a long moment.
"So if we screw up you're there to blow it up to kingdom come?" the man asked firmly.
"Or drive you away from the mess at the speeds our non-sentient counterparts can only dream of," Sideswipe nodded sternly.
They eyed each other again.
"You chose that form, or was it chosen for you?" he asked, nodding toward Sideswipe properly.
"I chose that form," Sideswipe stated calmly.
"You got good taste in forms," the man smirked. "So what kind of destruction are we talking, one building at a time or do you think you can take out one then level the complex?"
Sideswipe gave the man a vicious grin.
"A warning shot, is far more sporting," he growled through that grin.
"Jack," the man grinned, offering his arm.
"Sides," Sideswipe replied with a smirk, threading his arm through, the man trusted him well enough. This was going to be fun.
(BPOV)
"How do I give you the signal to blow shit up?" Danno asked curiously. Bee had been driving for three hours now, they were getting close, and the conversation had naturally turned to tactics.
"Well, we'd rather not blow the place up with you in it." Bumblebee shrugged.
They rolled through the gates, and Bee began scanning in earnest. There was a power signature here, but it was blocked. Armed humans were everywhere, but their weapons weren't gonna do much more than nick his paintwork. Not too bad then.
"I got a bad feeling about this," Jack muttered.
"Bee how's your holoform conversion?" Sideswipe muttered.
Bee grinned. That was a brilliant idea, he quickly onlined a holoform identical to Danno and lowered Danno's seat. Hiding the human.
"Jack, Danno, close your eyes," he commanded quietly.
"What're you guys doing?" Jack asked curiously.
"For as much time as we've spent with our sister Kae, we have learned of her human instincts," Sideswipe explained quickly. "If you feel something is wrong, your bodies will remain with us, while our holoforms of you will enter. You will control their movement and speech, we will take care of the solidification."
"That's brilliant!" Jack muttered, Bumblebee could hear the man's grin.
"Close your eyes," Sideswipe added with a smirk.
"That, is so cool," Danno stated cheerfully through the holoform, he turned and looked at himself. "Whoa!"
"Be careful doing that," Bumblebee stated cheerfully. "Even bots freak out when they see themselves through their own eyes at a different perspective."
"How the hell can I still feel things? I'm a hologram!" Jack stated curiously.
"Holoform," Sideswipe corrected cheerfully, pulling into the place they were waved. "Stuff's happening, explain later?"
"Done," Jack nodded, getting out of the car.
"Initiating headquarter's uplink," Bumblebee murmured to Danno. "No worries about wires, we can see everything the holoform does."
"Cool," Danno murmured.
The two human's holoforms walked up to the doors and entered.
Danno surreptitiously scanned the area. Bumblebee did it in earnest. He felt Danno's shock at suddenly knowing the position of every weapon in the room.
::. Poker face dude.:: Bee snorted, delicately guiding the holoform to continue walking at Jack's shoulder before Danno took over again.
Seamless.
::. That is fucking awesome.:: Danno thought.
Bee smirked slightly and hushed himself in the background, watching the goings on as Danny stayed at Jack's shoulder. He contacted Jolt, updating their status and listening to the technician's updates.
The two humans spent a decent amount of time trying to calm the situation down, imploring that the weapons be put away, they were unarmed, after all.
The uplink came into full effect finally.
::. Bumblebee to Danny and Jack, poker faces, the uplink is fully activated, Director Matteer is on the line.::
::. Thank god, I want his thoughts.:: Jack thought.
::. You got 'em.:: Barry's voice stated flatly.
(MPOV)
Barry walked into the entrance bay.
He looked nervous.
I looked at him curiously.
"New advancements in technology and spying," he stated flatly. I snorted.
"You'll like this one then," I told him cheerfully as my Optimus strode toward us. Barry heaved a breath and followed me as I jogged lightly toward communications central.
"Do we get to do something fun?" Jolt called out curiously.
"Situation Reports?" Optimus rumbled calmly.
"Jetfire is currently over Egypt, coasting on the thermals apparently. The femmes are patrolling. Bumblebee reports they are almost in position, everyone else is at base." Jolt immediately reeled off.
Barry looked rather stunned at that.
Optimus remained quiet, as he always did.
Waiting.
Barry looked rather antsy about that.
"Hush," I murmured, nudging my shoulder against his arm. "When something happens, Jolt will report it within seconds."
Barry calmed slightly.
Sure enough.
"Bumblebee initiating full audio-visual uplink," Jolt reported aloud.
The screens came alive.
"Situation update, playing pre-recorded happenings during uplink time."
Barry began grinning slightly as the visual perspectives on two screens were labelled with Jack and Danny's names.
"Holoform conversion?" I asked calmly, looking at my Optimus.
He nodded calmly. I nodded and watched the screens.
"Means?" Barry murmured beside me.
"Bee and Sides made their holoforms look like Jack and Danny, your agents are still within their vehicle forms and controlling the holoform's movement and speech."
::. Bumblebee to Danny and Jack, poker faces, the uplink is fully activated, Director Matteer is on the line.:: Bumblebee's voice called out calmly.
Barry jumped about a foot in the air.
"Voices not activated outside of the holoforms. It's a voice in Danny and Jack's mind," I added softly. Barry nodded.
"Thank god, I want his thoughts," Jack thought, his patterns immediately translated for us, courtesy of Sideswipe.
Barry straightened.
"You got 'em," he called out flatly.
"You up to date?" Danny asked... thought flatly, allowing Jack the freedom to continue with the conversation in front of him.
"Just watched the past ten minutes," Barry called out worriedly. "Your thoughts?"
"They're holding something in reserve," Jack stated flatly. "Give me a few minutes, I want to know what it is."
The man in front of Jack smirked.
"Come, come see why you are going to deal with us, at our price." he turned and the two men were roughly escorted into a back room.
I saw an enormous, glowing sphere.
"Scrap," Optimus rumbled softly.
"That's a Soaeletron!" Jolt exclaimed.
"Information?" Jack asked worriedly.
"It is an energy creator," Optimus rumbled immediately. "Essentially, a miniaturized sun within a gravity well. Highly volatile, highly dangerous, those we created on Cybertron required a mind to be connected to it at all times to maintain level balances. In the correct hands it proved to be an invaluable power source, in the wrong hands it is a devastating weapon. Bumblebee, please initiate full scans.
"Do you have a recommendation as to a course of action?" Barry asked intently, looking at my Optimus. I couldn't help but smile slightly.
"I do not have enough information at this time, if those men intend to use that device as a weapon, I would suggest Bumblebee and Sideswipe confiscating it," Optimus rumbled firmly. "I am unsure as to it's radiographical footprint, and how it will affect your people."
"Jack, Danno, play the game," Barry ordered, nodding to Optimus.
"What the hell is that thing?" Danno snorted. "Somebody's science project?"
"This, is our most recent weapon," the man smirked. "We call it the end of the nuclear race, the end of the nuclear stalemate."
"Judging by Bumblebee's scans that one has grown powerful enough to level a city," Jolt added intently, scanning the readouts.
"Director?" Danno thought worriedly.
"Get every inch of information you can out of them," Barry stated intently. "If they look like they're even thinking of turning that on and firing it, I want every arrest you can manage, and I want that thing wherever Optimus feels it will be safest."
I smiled as my Optimus jumped slightly, looking at the Director curiously.
"You have far more information on that thing than I do, if it's a Cybertronian piece of equipment in our hands, that's your business, if humankind sorted out how to build it I want every piece of advice you can give me and the rest of the world on how to use it peacefully," Barry stated flatly, looking at him.
"Done," Optimus rumbled intently, looking at the screens again. "Bumblebee, Sideswipe, tactical report, do you require backup."
"Better get Jetfire in the air," Sideswipe stated firmly after a moment. "You don't mess around with a soaelatron in the area."
"Prime calling Jetfire-" Optimus started.
"Already on m' way," Jetfire rumbled immediately, sending his own visual scans. A third screen popped up, everything he could see and scan. "No offence, I couldn't help overhear soaeletron. This is serious scrap if the humans are building them now."
"Agreed," my Optimus rumbled seriously. He glanced at Barry again, and noted the man listening intently to his own men. He nodded and looked at me. "Kae, see if you can access any memories of the soaeletron from Mico, and cross reference them with the potential damage to your own frame."
That was a brilliant idea.
"Say it in Cybertronian," I commanded softly, scrambling for a pen. Jerry idly passed me pen and paper, and Optimus leaned intently toward me.
Sunseed generator,∂ he rumbled softly. Immediately, the symbols dancing in front of my eyes went crazy.
§Be careful with this, spark child,§ Mico's voice whispered directly into my mind. §This causes great damage, and greater to your carbon frame. It must be properly controlled, contained!§
I wrote her observation down quickly, continuing to write the information she passed before my eyes.
"Jetfire in position," my grandfather reported.
I began paying attention to the conversation again.
"So, where'd you come up with it?" Jack asked curiously.
"It was a gift from god to my mind," a rather haggard looking man stated in a dreamy tone. The men smirked at him, then turned their backs, facing Jack and Danno again.
I looked at the man's eyes. It couldn't be.
"Danno, give me a better look at the crazy man's eyes," I snapped out.
The agent's eyes flicked to the man for a moment, before focusing on the men in front of him again.
"Jolt, back up, freeze frame," I snapped out.
There, on the screen, was a man that was playing the game to the best of his ability.
"Kae?" Barry snapped at me.
"Protocol one, get him out of there," I hissed.
"The crazy guy?" Danno thought curiously.
"He's not crazy, he's drugged, he's been tortured, but he's not crazy. Facial recognition, Jolt, test against the name 'Joseph Iliac Geraldine.'"
"It can't be!" Barry choked.
A small screen winked to life in front of me.
Time had not done him any favours, but it was him.
"Code Red, get him out of there!" Barry snapped out the next moment. "I repeat, code red, get our man home!"
"Yes Sir," Danno and Jack immediately snapped out.
"One more thing?" Jack asked cheerfully.
"Go ahead," Barry nodded intently.
"So what do you intend to do about this?" Jack demanded finally, gesturing to the soaeletron.
"Why, I do believe I'm going to rule the world, I just thought your CIA director would like the heads up," the man stated cheerfully.
"That's it!" Barry snarled. "Blow that shit up!"
"Bumblebee Sideswipe, initiate manoeuvres Alpha five, scan for any additional prisoners, innocents, women and children." Optimus commanded sternly. "Jetfire, are you prepared to transport the soaeletron?"
"Now yer talkin!" Jetfire shot back, anyone could hear that grin.
"Yes Prime!" was immediately shouted back through the speakers.
"I see," Jack stated in a soft, grave tone, turning to walk away. "Message received, we'll pass that along."
"It requires only one to pass a message," the leader stated with a smirk. He drew a gun and shot Jack in the back. Right in front of Danno.
"Right about now, don't you think?" Sideswipe stated mildly.
"I do believe so," Bee stated with a grin. "Objections Prime? Barry?"
"He shot my man!" Barry howled.
"Nah, I'm good," Jack snorted. "Ow, out we get."
I couldn't help but grin as Bumblebee obviously took over Danno's holoform.
"Well, that was a terrible move." my little brother stated cheerfully. The men were gaping at him, no doubt he'd morphed his holoform back to his own appearance. "Mr. Geraldine if you please?"
The dreamy eyed man immediately snapped into focus, sprinting for Bee.
The two of them promptly booked it out of there.
"Bumblebee, last scan, anybody we gotta worry about?" Sideswipe snarled, from his perspective, we saw Bumblebee's holoform wink out as he transformed and stood, Joseph Geraldine running to join Danny and a rather pale looking Jack.
"Negative, let's get to it," Bee smirked.
I couldn't help but smile as the two of them promptly began blowing shit up. Sideswipe was giggling slightly as he did. Bumblebee continuously scanned the area, glancing at the humans standing huddled and shocked, and the armed guards running for dear life.
Jetfire landed, straight through the roof.
"Oh now that is stylish," Sideswipe shouted.
"Really? A bit blunt if yeh ask meh," Jetfire stated cheerfully. "Jetfire reporting soaletron retrieved, en route to thirsty lake."
"Thirsty Lake?" Barry demanded.
"Aye, Ol' Gouger and I used to take care o' these things, vorns ago, around the time Ratchet was toddlin' about in 'is hatchling frame come tae think o' it. Gouger built the safe enclosures for the devices, and I transported 'em. Permission tae carry on?"
"Granted," Barry squeaked.
"Granted," Optimus confirmed with a snort. "I will, however, be mentioning that to Ratchet."
"Hagh! He knows his age!" Jetfire laughed. "Righ' Jetfire to Gouger!"
"Gouger responding, now what do you want?"
"Need you to hustle up a soaeletron enclosure Gouge," Jetfire sent with a grin. "Quick now, 's only so long I can stay in the air with it."
"Hagh! Fine! Take the northwest tunnel, I'll be finished by the time your slow aft makes it here!"
I looked at Barry to see the man desperately trying not to laugh.
"Bumblebee, Sideswipe, status report," my Optimus rumbled intently.
"Hold up-" Sideswipe stated, anyone could hear that grin. "Bee, three!"
"Two!" Bee snorted.
"One!" they chorused, letting off a barrage of slow moving shots, they transformed in a hurry, burning rubber as the grav-controlled plasma shots drifted inexorably toward the buildings.
"In in in in in in in!" Bumblebee howled at the humans, his doors popping open. They scrambled into his car form and Bee took off, hot on Sideswipe's bumper.
Rear facing cameras showed the entire complex blowing up.
It was a rather extraordinary explosion. Sideswipe was howling with laughter as he drove back the way they'd come. Bumblebee was scanning everything.
"Quick quick quick Kae what's the human phrase for this?" Bumblebee shouted with a broad grin.
"I came, I saw, I conquered?" I called out curiously.
"Nah, we dined, and we dashin'!" Sideswipe hooted. "Metal to the pedal Bee!"
Optimus looked like he was fighting to not laugh at the two of them.
"Director, was there anything further?" he rumbled with a ghost of a grin on his face.
Barry looked around at the screens, at me, Jolt, Optimus and the tech crew.
"You lot, did not see me jumping around in glee," he stated sternly.
"We what?" Will asked curiously.
Barry promptly began hooting with laughter, bouncing around on the catwalks.
"That. Was. AWESOME!" he howled.
Optimus began snorting, I covered my mouth to see the two of them at it.
"Right, so can I beg and plead of you lot to give us the low down on this soaeletron thing?" Barry demanded with a broad grin.
"Of course," Optimus rumbled calmly, nodding. "If your man can re-create the situation in which he built it, it is a human created technology. I strongly discourage you from using it as a weapon, however."
"Do I get to ask why?" Barry asked wide eyed.
"Not controllable," Jolt grunted. "it doesn't have firing capabilities, it just blows up, and vaporizes everything in it's path. Uhh..." he looked pensive for a moment.
"What?" Barry demanded in a shocked tone.
"Trying to compute a good damage parallel," Jolt frowned. "Think..."
"There is no parallel, it would be simpler to show them," Optimus rumbled gently. Jolt nodded. My Optimus straightened, lightly touching his temple. "Bringing up archived data, soaeletron, Delta twelve-five."
I covered my mouth with a hand as a miniaturized city grew in the open space. It was a beautiful city, soaring arches and parks...
There were a few flickers in the centre of the city, then, then the centre simply vanished, a growing wave of empty, torn, destroyed space.
"We got lucky," Optimus rumbled flatly. "when we learned of the attack we evacuated the city. When the soaeletron blew, it took only the saboteurs and seven thousand holoforms."
"And the city," I whispered. Optimus looked down at me and nodded sadly.
Barry shuddered.
"Power unit it is," he stated flatly.
"Bumblebee reporting," Jolt stated quickly, looking up.
"Prime! Director!" Bumblebee's voice called out immediately. "Geraldine says there's another!"
"Another?" Barry stated flatly.
"Another whatever you wanna call it!" Geraldine shouted. "For gods sake Director, if you have any friends at the Pentagon call them! We need to get it immediately!"
His face showed up on the screen.
"If you shoot me for ever creating that thing I won't blame you," the man stated hoarsely. "But for Christ sake get it out of the hands of those maniacs!"
"I thought those were the heads!" Jack shouted.
"No! They were puppets, this has nothing to do with the east, the one that... guy? Pulled out through the roof was my prototype. MECH wanted to see what it did in the hands of terrorists and put it on the market, they threw me in as the broken inventor bonus."
"Do you have a location?" Barry demanded.
"No," Geraldine whispered hoarsely.
I covered my eyes with a hand and began walking.
"Kae?" my Optimus asked worriedly.
"It'll take too long to retrofit the drones with the proper scanners," I stated flatly, walking for the doors. "Jetfire is still en-route to Thirsty Lake and we need eyes in the sky now." I plugged my iPod into one ear as I reached the doors, without a doubt Optimus would want to continue the impending argument.
::. Kae, you killed yourself last time you used the flight deck.:: he rumbled flatly, right on cue.
"Ratchet re-programmed my pack to give me a readout of my vital signs and you know it," I informed my guardian calmly. "And the Fallen is dead."
::. How does that factor in?.:: he demanded irritably.
::. Because I was using the gravitational forces against him.:: I stated in exasperation ::. The gravity destroyed my systems, not the flight deck itself.::
::. You destroyed your neural network.:: Ratchet stated flatly.
"So I won't build such a big deck, I'm going drone size, not fighter," I informed my mentor, striding into the med-bay. Ratchet glared at me for a moment before nodding, handing me my pack.
::. I'm not going to go out of my way to kill myself, beloved.:: I informed my Optimus gently ::. I still have things to do.::
::. Like what?.:: he asked in a worried tone.
::. Well, marrying you is rather high on my priorities list, in case I haven't informed you of that lately.:: I told him with a smile, striding into the entrance bay and beginning to connect to the flight deck. ::. Ah crap, do you mind coming and grabbing your cannon? I don't want to leave it in the middle of the bay...::
::. Take it with you.:: he stated patiently ::. I do not wish you unarmed.::
I looked at the cannon for a long moment and snorted.
::. Love, you realize that your cannon is over three times my size?.:: I sent in amusement.
::. ... True...:: my Optimus snorted. I heard his footsteps resounding through the corridors the next moment. "However I do not wish you unarmed."
"I'm not!" I laughed, building myself a bi-pedal frame and reaching for my guardian. I caught his shoulders and pressed a kiss to his jaw.
With that alone he looked like he was struggling to not smile.
"Communications," he ordered me gently.
"I'll be so close contact with you you'll be tempted to tell me to shut up," I laughed at him, striding to the doors and beginning to transform exo into a flight frame. Twin engines fired up and I was in the air.
::. Right, which continent are we talking?.:: I sent immediately.
::. Europe.:: my Optimus sent the next moment.
I nodded and tightened the frame around myself, scanning the airspace and staying well away from the other aircraft, in minutes, I was screaming across the ocean.
(OPOV)
Optimus watched with worry close to his spark as his Kae blasted into the air, she was correct, of course, they needed eyes in the sky.
He just wished it wasn't his spark-mate that had to do it. When she was out of sight, he turned and strode back into communications.
::. Right, which continent are we talking?.:: Mikaela's voice asked calmly.
"Mr. Geraldine, do you have a continent to narrow down the search?" Optimus rumbled immediately.
"Europe," the man immediately stated, looking somewhat more relieved. Optimus passed that to his spark-mate immediately. Barry was deep in conference with his contacts at the pentagon, and General Moreshower was on the line, waiting.
"Is Kae going to be in the air soon?" he asked worriedly.
"She is already in the air," Optimus rumbled with a frown.
"We can't spot her." Instantly, Optimus was far more worried. She couldn't have already crashed!?
::. Kae!?.:: he sent in instant terror.
::. What!? What's happening? Who's hurt? What's wrong!?.:: her voice immediately demanded.
::. General Moreshower cannot find you on the radar.:: Optimus sent flatly.
There was silence from her for a long moment.
::. So you scare the hell out of me with the tone that generally indicates the world is about to end because General Moreshower can't spot me on the radar!?.:: his Kae demanded irritably. ::. Of course he can't find me! I'm below 500 feet staying away from that jet aircraft!.::
Five hundred feet!? She could hit something that low!
::. Optimus, there is nothing but birds at five hundred feet above the ocean.:: she sent flatly.
Oh. Right...
::. Sorry Kae.:: he sent quietly.
::. You're going to age yourself worrying so much.:: she sent to him in amusement ::. I'm going to get weird looks if I'm walking down the aisle to meet a man with grey hair at the alter.::
Optimus snorted in amusement, then jumped. The humans were shooting incredulous looks at him.
"We're talking potential mass terrorism and you snort!?" Barry demanded.
"No, Kae's teasing him again," Jolt immediately piped up in a defensive tone.
Barry rolled his eyes and nodded, turning back to the screens.
"Right, I'm entering European airspace," Mikaela's voice reported the next moment.
"How did you get over there that fast?" Moreshower demanded.
"I flew."