Chapter 149 - Betrayal
(BPOV)
"We've got to break this case down," Simmons stated with a frown, the humans were pacing. "What we have here is an astronaut epidemic."
"MIA, dead, died in a car accident, Killed, DOA, Car accident," Carly muttered, staring at the pictures on the wall. "What is with these guys? They can fly into outer-space but they can't drive a car?"
Bumblebee looked up at another knock on the door, Carly flinched slightly to go answer, but acceded the glance Bee shot at her.
"You're turning this into a bad habit," she murmured to him.
"Don't want you in the line of fire," Bee murmured.
Carly rolled her eyes at him and walked toward her bedroom instead.
"Procured your information Witwicky," a man stated through the crack in the door.
"Thank you Bruce," Sam stated calmly, he made to close the door, but Bruce stuck his foot in.
"Now..." Bruce stated wheedlingly. Sam looked at him. "You let me see one right now, one time." Bruce stated quickly.
"Quick?" Sam muttered
"Very." Bruce nodded.
Sam closed the door and unlocked it, and the older human was allowed into the room. The second Bruce laid eyes on him, you could just see the envy.
Well, way better than the revulsion most humans had when they looked at him. Dutch and Simmons were eyeing the man suspiciously.
"Right, Lunar Reconnaissance orbiter," Sam began muttering. "Says NASA launched it in 2009, say forensics show Wang may have messed with the code preventing it from mapping the dark side of the moon..."
"Fucking Awesome," Bruce stated, looking up at him. Bumblebee couldn't help but preen a bit at that.
"They infiltrate us, intimidate us, coerce us to do their dirty work and once they're done, doosh, double tap to the cerebellum." Simmons stated musingly.
Standard Decepticon tactic, that they were utilizing humans though...
"So humans are working for the Decepticons," Sam stated flatly.
"I don't think this is about the Decepticons looking for something, on the moon, I think it's about something they wanted to hide." Simmons stated.
Bruce was still walking around him, staring.
"Come to daddy," the man stated cockily. Really? He was at least twenty times the man's size and he wanted to pick a fight? Important things being discussed. Really!? Maybe that Decepticon scrambled the man's circuits or something... brain... what'd the humans call it? Concussion.
Bee waved a finger at the man, he was rather busy listening to the conversation at hand.
"Come on throw down," Bruce stated with a grin, throwing a few rather unstable kicks at him. His sister could take this guy down with a finger! That wasn't the best example, his sister's holoform...
"Did you eat a lot of paint chips when you were a kid?" he played the soundbyte incredulously.
"He's a freak," Simmons stated, Bee almost snorted, but he started his systems up anyway, evidently Bruce wanted him to show off, he clapped his battlemask over his face.
A bit dramatic, yes, but if one is to show off, one must do it properly.
"Hah! Like it?" Bruce asked, assuming what Bee could only assume to be a threatening stance.
See who broke whose bluff first. He half onlined his cannon, making it glow the way Ironhide did sometimes.
Not that the humans could really tell the difference.
He gave a slight lunge and lightly knocked the human down. Bruce looked terrified for a moment until Bee started poking him with his cannon.
Then he started laughing, protesting that he was ticklish.
Actually, he kinda liked this human, he grinned and receded his battlemask, continuing to poke the human as he laughed.
"Sir!" Simmons called out irritably. "We're having a pretty high level alien intel confab here that I don't think you're cleared for errand boy."
'That was kind of uncalled for,' Bee thought irritably as he shut his systems down again, he'd actually been having fun with the human
Regardless, Bruce rolled to his feet.
"Yeah, you're right," the man stated, walking toward the door. "It's a bitchin' robot." he added.
Well, that was nice of him, even as he got out of the apartment he was thanking Sam.
"Yo I'm smoking over here!" Brains called out, transforming the second the door closed. "Downloading missing Russian cosmonauts. Turns out the Soviets cancelled a manned mission to the moon. The moon! In 1972! and two of the cosmonauts went into hiding in America! And I just found them alive!"
"We gotta go find them," Simmons stated flatly. Over the Primary, Bumblebee called for backup and heard Sunny and Sides' immediate responses.
"You're a genius Brains," Wheelie added.
"Sam!" Carly called out. She strode out of her bedroom again. "We need to get to Dylan's party, remember?"
"Carly I-" Sam started.
Uh oh.
Carly frowned at him.
"The auto-bots and the military can't handle this on their own?" she demanded flatly.
"We're gonna keep him safe," Bumblebee chirped softly. Carly turned and looked at him. "Carly, I know you're scared, and I know you're not ready to lose another male to battle, but we're not gonna let him anywhere near the danger. On my honour as an auto-bot."
Carly breathed deeply.
"One time deal," she stated softly.
"I'll come next time," Sam murmured. Carly nodded. Bumblebee began slowly transforming, driving to the freight elevator behind the humans.
Right on time, Sunny and Sides pulled up in the alleyway.
"You're going to keep him safe?" she demanded of the cars.
"She dares doubt us?" Sunstreaker demanded.
"A simple yes would suffice," Sideswipe snorted to his twin.
Carly nodded and got into the car her boss had given her. Bee didn't like it, he wasn't certain why, it wasn't like he could get an energon signature from it, and it was kind of a nice car.
He just didn't like it.
Carly drove away, and Sam watched her go.
"The warrior's path is a solitary one," Simmons stated calmly. "How the hell did she afford that car?"
"Her boss," Sam stated flatly.
"Rich bastards, I used to hate 'em, now..." Simmons shrugged and led Sam to his own non-sentient car.
Which Bee found somewhat irritating, Sam was supposed to be under his guardianship, but then, no human, nothing to get in the way of him transforming.
They drove to a pub, and waited.
Fragging curb duty.
Simmons was bragging about his man, which Bee could understand, he was quite proficient at working with computers. For a human.
The humans went inside, and Bee sat on his tires. He knew what the humans were eventually going to find, he just needed them to find it.
(MPOV)
The waiting was always the hardest part.
I sat at my workbench in the med-bay.
Waiting.
Sentinel strode in, and sat down beside me for a long moment.
::. Testing encrypted private comm.:: he sent calmly.
::. Frequency received.:: I replied quietly.
::. May I ask a favour?.:: he murmured, glancing at me. I looked at him patiently. He glanced over his shoulder and pulled a beacon from his subspace. ::. Will you take this out of the city, to a place of good cover?.::
I nodded and accepted the beacon. Before he rose, I shot him a curious look. Over our platonic connection, he sent me the wordless sense of his intentions.
I smirked and rose, striding beside him to the entrance bay and folding into my Optimus' form.
Having something to do, was far better than the waiting.
(BPOV)
Sam was walking toward him with an agitated pace.
Wow. That was fast.
"Bumblebee, the Decepticons want Sentinel," Sam immediately stated. "The Soviets, they have pictures of the ship from nineteen fifty-nine, you guys have five pillars, the Decepticons have hundreds."
Bumblebee immediately got onto the primary.
::. All call, Sam's already got the evidence.:: Bumblebee sent. ::. The humans know the Decepticons are going to come for Sentinel.::
::. Your humans are remarkably efficient.:: Sentinel replied patiently. The older Prime sent his co-ordinates, the twins taking the lead as Sam scrambled into the passenger seat.
They were off.
Bumblebee couldn't help but smirk slightly, easily keeping up with the twin Lamborghinis, after all, his sister had made doubly certain that he had plenty of energon. They parked again, and Sam got out to pace.
::. I am ten minutes behind Sentinel.:: Optimus sent over the Primary with a frown.
::. Traffic?.:: Bumblebee sent innocently, locking on to the older Prime's signature. "Optimus is ten minutes behind us," Bee called out to the humans. Sam flipped his cellphone open and called the director. Sentinel drove past, and Sam scampered back to the passenger seat.
"Mearing," Sam started. "I've just picked up Sentinel, Optimus is ten minutes behind we're coming to NEST now."
Bee hacked Sam's phone. Jazz would expect nothing less.
"Mr. Witwicky I thought I made it clear to you that I did not want you calling this phone," the woman's voice stated somewhat irritably.
"Listen, the whole thing has been a setup since the beginning," Sam stated hurriedly. "The Decepticons wanted Optimus to find Sentinel because only Optimus could revive him."
"But we have the space bridge." Mearing stated in an incredibly calm tone.
"Mearing you have five pillars, I just learned that they have hundreds," Sam stated in clipped tones. "You're doing exactly what they wanted you to do, what do you need me to say to you? The Decepticons are coming for Sentinel Prime!"
(WPOV)
Announcements rang over the intercom.
"We have an energon alert, energon detected on the DC parkway."
NEST was in an uproar. The Decepticons were coming for Sentinel. Bumblebee, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were escorting him back to base. No doubt Mearing would be arriving soon, that was a liability.
Ironhide roared out of the entrance bay, en-route to back up the scout and twins.
Will was everywhere, checking papers, barking orders.
Jolt's voice rapped out updates in his earpiece every few minutes, and Will found himself grateful once more for the efficiency of Optimus' technician.
He only repeated himself when Will needed him to, often doing so before Will even had to ask him to. When this was finished he was going to have to ask him how he knew it.
Men were rushing into the med-bay, collecting their suit harnesses and staying only long enough for Ratchet's holoform to give their adjustments a once-over and a nod.
Organized chaos.
Will ran out to the entrance, hearing Jolt's update.
Bumblebee, Sides and Sunny had taken one con down on the parkway, Ironhide and Sideswipe two more in the city.
Sentinel was two minutes away, Optimus ten.
Finally, he spotted the familiar shapes, Sentinel's Panther firetruck, Ironhide's Topkick, Bee's Camaro and Sunstreaker's Lamborghini.
Sam got out of Bumblebee's form, even as he hurried his men along, waving the bots into the hangar as they rolled at high speed.
"Lennox!" Sam's voice called out.
"Go go go!" Will shouted, he turned to look at the boy.
"We got Decepticons everywhere," Sam reported breathlessly.
"I've got my whole team deployed looking for 'em," Lennox informed the panicking kid immediately. "Ironhide!" he shouted. The bot immediately began transforming. Crap, he looked like he'd taken damage already, that was a bad sign. "Protect Sentinel, get him locked up inside!"
It'd give the bot time to get to Ratchet for a quick once over and patch up, too.
"Consider it done," Ironhide rumbled immediately.
Sentinel was transforming as well, which was somewhat strange, but Will didn't really have the time to think about it.
"You gotta guard him because he's the key to the whole thing," Sam reported quickly.
"Indeed I am," Sentinel stated quietly, slowly rising to his feet. The only thing running through Will's mind though? They didn't have time for showtoons. They had a battle coming and everyone was reminiscing!?
"What you must realize my auto-bot brothers, was we were never going to win the war."
Wait. WHAT!?
Lennox could feel it coming, he didn't like it, he didn't like that bot's tone.
"For the sake of our planet's survival a deal had to be made... with Megatron."
He spun around, drawing a cannon.
No.
No this wasn't happening!
There was a flash of light, and a burst of fire ran straight through Ironhide. Right through his chest.
No.
No not him, not his dearest friend...
NO!
Will was shouting, bellowing himself hoarse. Not him, NO!
"Get Back!" Will shouted at his men.
"Sentinel, no, don't, please! What have you done?" Ironhide begged. He was rusting, his hands, his cannons... not him, Ironhide was the soldier, the stubborn pillar of strength in the hardest battles.
"I hereby discharge you from duty," Sentinel stated coldly.
He shot Ironhide again, the explosion rocking the base.
There it was, the moment of frozen time. The moment that your life is the most threatened.
But he'd promised.
Will ran, dragging Sam with him as the boy shouted out for Bumblebee. The little scout was letting off his own shots, getting out of the danger. Sentinel switched cannons and was firing shots at his men now, anyone caught with that beam disappearing in a pile of smouldering bones.
"Fall back!" Will roared. "Rally all NEST forces back to the base! Come on, Come on!" he shouted at Sam, dragging the boy to safety.
He was a soldier, that was his duty.
But on the edge of his vision, a pile of red dust scattered in the wind.
The bastard hadn't even left enough of Ironhide for a decent funeral.
"Alright we do not have enough men!" Will bellowed as they ran. "Do not engage Sentinel!"
He caught sight of Mearing and tried to stop her.
"Stand down!" the woman shouted at him, shoving her way past.
"Director!" he shouted, running after her.
"Hey! Sentinel! What is going on, what do you think you're doing?" the woman demanded.
"I am a Prime!" Sentinel roared. "I do not take orders from you!"
"Director Mearing," Will stated as reasonably as he could. "We can't fight him, let's go. We have to go."
"Now, return what belongs to me!"
The woman followed him, looking numbly at the destruction as Sentinel made his way to the vault and tore it's door off.
Skids and Mudflap were there the next moment, attacking. Another flash of light, a few more shots and the twins were rusting as well.
In a matter of minutes, the rogue Prime was driving from the base, Will stood in silence, watching Optimus driving in, listening to Director Mearing placing the blame squarely on the bot's shoulders. He watched as Mikaela landed through a hole blasted through the roof, immediately going to her mate.
Then, Will watched as Mearing shut up, watching in silent shock as Optimus dropped to his knees amidst the wreckage, grief etched in every line of his form.
The medics were running everywhere, tending to the men whose bodies actually remained. Very few of them, far more were simply piles of smouldering bones.
Mikaela was beside her mate the next moment, bearing the weight of his shaking form.
"The grief comes later, my Optimus," she barked sternly. "Rally the bots, I'm going after Sentinel."
"No," Optimus snarled, straightening and lurching to his feet again. "He is mine to deal with."
Without a backward glance, Optimus was running to the doors, flashing into his alt-mode and screeching out.
"Evacuate the base," Mikaela... no... that wasn't Mikaela anymore. In that posture, with that tone. Archangel was commanding now. "Jolt, initiate emergency protocols, full evacuation and lockdown. Get the data into the off-base servers. Auto-bots await rendezvous co-ordinates."
"Sam," Will barked. The boy looked at him in terror. "Get your loved ones and get out of the city." Will growled. Sam nodded and took to his heels, gone the next moment.
Five hours, in five hours the world was in chaos. Decepticons riddled the streets. Buildings were on fire. The auto-bots were in retreat.
They were at war.