Hello dear readers, guess what? I'm back from beautiful Hawaii! No Ado, here's the chapter :D

Chapter 156 - Sentences

(MPOV)

"Community Service!?" Sentinel demanded the second we were back in headquarters, "What the scrap am I supposed to do for fifty orn of community service!?"

Three months, a surprisingly short amount of time, the majority of damage Sentinel had managed was cosmetic. Base was... mostly repaired. The more surprising? It had only taken the human courts that long to sentence him. No human casualties was remarkably handy, Gouge had cheerfully traded me ten pounds of raw diamonds for oil and energon, asking if I wanted something better than the shiny rubble.

I'd just about fainted at the diamonds, not one of them less than a karat. His view of decent amount and mine? Drastically different. Two pounds covered the fines, I hid the other eight away. You never knew when you'd need an extra eighty million dollars...

I stared at Sentinel and began laughing, he and Optimus both looked at me quite irritably at that.

"Mikaela, I do not believe this is the time for laughter," Optimus rumbled irritably.

"Sentinel what was your favourite thing to do on Cybertron?" I asked in amusement.

"Teaching," the older bot grumbled, crossing his arms. "That does not solve my problem, these humans want me to provide service, what service am I supposed to provide!?"

Oh. So I'd have to spell it out for them, then.

"Okay, did they specify what community you were supposed to provide service for?" I smiled at him. His optics dimmed slightly. I already knew.

"...No..."

"And what do you think of the advancements our human scientific community have made so far?" I asked placidly.

"What advancement? They still believe that there is only one dimension," Sentinel grumped. I crossed my arms and canted my head to the side in amusement.

He stared at me for a long moment before I could practically see the click in his processors. The grin on his face was completely worth it.

"How?" he demanded.

"Give me a day or two to hammer it out with the President and the UN. However I believe that a symposium made free to every teacher, scientist, physicist and mathematician, regardless of nationality, any who desire to bring their learning up to date with the universal standards hosted by the great Sentinel Prime, would be a rather productive service, don't you?" I smiled at him.

Sentinel turned to Optimus.

"By your leave?" he asked with a grin.

Optimus snorted and nodded.

Sentinel promptly caught me in an enormous hug, planting a solid kiss on my forehead.

I laughed and patted his back.

"Right, so with that being the case, give me a couple of days to hammer out the details, in that time I would suggest that you familiarize yourself with what humans have managed to figure out so far." I smiled at them. "Now, if you two will excuse me, I have some liaising to do."

The two male Primes grinned as I walked past them, headed for communications central.

"Kae!" Jerry shouted, "I was wondering if we'd have to go find you! There's been a change in plans!"

"What change?" I asked worriedly.

"It's okay, you've got five hours, but the UN meeting is changed! They want you to join them in Switzerland!"

"And the President?" I asked worriedly.

"He was actually wondering if you wouldn't mind helping out with the transportation," Jerry stated with a frown.

"He knows the rules?" I demanded.

"Proper fuel and no aides jacking off in your bathroom," Jerry nodded.

"Alright, get Moreshower to clear me some airspace," I nodded calmly. "And please inform the President that I shall come pick him up, but I do need numbers and rendezvous co-ordinates."

Jerry grinned and spun to the console, rapidly punching in the right calls.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Jerry again, Kae says it's a go, but she needs to know where she's picking up the President and how many people are coming," Jerry stated quickly. I heard a massive breath of relief on the other end of the line.

"Oh thank god, we've got a skeleton of five, but if she can manage ten we'd really appreciate it!" Cole's voice called out with a sigh.

Jerry looked at me. I nodded.

"Ten it is," Jerry grinned, "Now where is she picking you up?"

"We're already at DCA," Cole groaned. "Can you believe that Airforce one broke down!?"

"Airforce one isn't an autobot, and it's not serviced by Ratchet, so yeah, I can totally believe that it broke down," Jerry snorted.

"Yeah yeah, showoff. Have you got an ETA?"

I glanced at my chronometer.

"Knowing Kae, she's gonna be there as fast as General Moreshower can clear the Airspace," Jerry snorted.

"Brilliant, if Kae's there give her an enormous hug for me?" Cole sighed.

"Dude, you mean her holoform right? I can't even get my arms around her wrist," Jerry snorted, I patted his shoulder with my finger with a smile. He promptly hugged my finger. That wasn't what I'd meant. Ah well. It was sweet regardless.

"Oh! There you go Cole, I just hugged her finger," Jerry laughed.

"I'll be there soon, although judging by the number of flights in the area at the moment I may be arriving by land," I stated with a small frown, looking at the radars.

"You're the best Kae, see you in a bit!" Cole called out cheerfully. The line went dead.

Jerry was flying the next second.

"This is General Moreshower."

"General, we need some airspace for Kae to get to DCA then off to Switzerland," Jerry reported quickly.

"Very well," Chris stated with a frown. "Tell her that if she takes off in ten minutes, climbs to fifteen thousand and does that trick of hers landing in the grass she's already clear."

"Got it General!" I called out quickly. "Later boys!" I turned and jogged to the doors to Communications central. "Path Path Path!" I shouted, jogging down the corridor as the three humans not already walking along the wall scrambled to the yellow lines.

Optimus poked his head out of central worriedly.

"Change of plans, I'm headed to Switzerland, no emergency," I called over to him.

"Do you wish me to come?" he rumbled quickly, following me to the entrance bay.

"No, that's alright, but can I borrow the flight deck?"

"By all means," he rumbled with a nod, I quickly thrust a hand into it and transformed it, Optimus helping me remove his weaponry from it.

"Thank you beloved," I smiled at him, quickly integrating into the deck and shifting it so I could carry it unencumbered.

He pressed a quick kiss to my lips and sent me off with a playful shove.

I laughed and thanked the soldiers scrambling to open the bay doors for me and strode into the sunlight. My comm fully came online and I quickly tuned to Moreshower's frequency.

::. General Moreshower this is Archangel waiting for liftoff..: I called out calmly.

::. In seven minutes, how the hell do you do that?.:: the General asked with a snort.

::. That's easy, my clothes answer to my beck and call.:: I snorted.

There was laughter on the other end of the line as I bounced on my toes slightly.

::. Alright, liftoff in ten, nine, eight...:: General Moreshower started counting down for me, I grinned and fired up my boosters, holding myself to the ground by sheer force of will.

::. One!.:: he called out.

I released the brakes and shot seven hundred feet into the air in seconds, idly transforming and fully firing my engines. I was screaming along at fifteen thousand feet in moments, which meant I'd be showing on the radar right along...

::. How the hell did you get there that fast!?.:: General Moreshower demanded.

::. You mean without breaking the windows?.:: I asked with a laugh.

::. Yes.::

::. Temporal forcefield catapult throws me seven hundred feet into the air before I even have to turn my engines on, of course they're already online, so blasting them to full power brings me just shy of Mach one in under fifteen seconds.::

::. Whoaaaaa...:: one of the techs muttered softly.

::. Which brings me to my encore, permission to land at DCA?.:: I asked cheekily.

::. Granted.:: General Moreshower snorted. ::. Civilian air base knows you're coming. Over and Out.::

I laughed and lightly swooped down to my normal landing patch of grass, transforming and landing a bit more heavily than I usually did.

I looked down at my feet, about a foot below the surface.

"Oops," I muttered.

"Okay, now I see why you're always landing in the grass there and not the tarmac," Jamie my civilian airport escort laughed at me.

"Yeah well, my bad," I snorted, literally unearthing my feet.

"That wasn't as graceful as you usually manage, what's up?" Jamie asked amicably, driving beside me as I walked toward the hangars.

"I brought the flight deck so that I can transform a bit bigger," I shrugged. "Of course that's an extra two tons, so... yeah."

"Oomph, two tons!?" Jamie demanded.

"Yeah, I forgot to up my booster thrust to account for it," I snorted.

"How the hell are you walking around with two tons on your back, how much do you weigh!?" Jamie demanded.

"Jamie! It's not nice to ask a lady her weight," I laughed at him, "But at the moment I'm weighing in at eleven ton."

"Oh god please don't step on me," Jamie howled.

"Dude, why do you think I made you lot put that fence up?" I snorted.

"Makes so much more sense, here I thought you were just being territorial over your special patch of grass," Jamie snorted.

"Nope, that's my 'you stand there when I'm landing you're gonna go squish' grass." I snorted, lightly stepping onto the tarmac and transforming into a passenger jet. "Which terminal am I going to this time?"

"Airforce one, special right?" Jamie laughed, driving ahead of me at the pace we'd finally agreed on. "Are you gonna want a tow out this time?"

"Have I ever?" I snorted.

"Hey, courteous to ask," Jamie laughed.

"True, thanks for the meet Jamie," I grinned. He waved and sped off as I pulled into the hangar. Backing up. Just to show off.

I extended the ladder to the waiting group of men and onlined my holoform.

"Welcome to Archangel flight I sure as hell don't need a number," I grinned at the top of the steps. "Due to our last minute flight orders please let me be the first to tell you to board as quickly as you possibly can, it doesn't do to have you lot standing around when we're refuelling. Safety and all that."

"What kind of flight attendant are you?" one of the few strangers demanded. I snorted and winked my holoform out.

"Flight attendant nothing, I'm the plane, you gonna argue with the plane?" I asked cheerfully. "Chop chop people, if we're in the air in half an hour I don't have to divert around the storm front moving in from the north."

"Um..." a youngish man muttered, wheeling forward in his chair.

"Oh, oops, sorry," I stated quickly, onlining my holoform beside him. "How are your nerves?" I asked.

"Dead from the hips down and made of steel everywhere else," the man stated cheerfully.

"That's good to hear, don't worry about holding tight, I got you," I laughed, delicately levitating him beside my holoform and bringing him in to the cabin. "Right then, pick a chair, any chair." I grinned.

"Oh... that one," he grinned.

"Last question, do you wanna sit in that chair or stay in yours?" I asked cheerfully.

"Don't I need to pick a different spot for that?"

I snorted and receded the chair back into my frame, bringing up wheel locks for him.

"So cool..." the man moaned.

"Why thank you," I laughed, gently releasing him from the field as he eagerly made to wheel himself into his spot. I turned and gestured the men boarding to the seats.

"Um... which..." Cole started quietly.

"You lot are big boys, I don't need to tell you where to sit," I snorted. The last boarded and I half-closed the door. Men seated themselves and I stood at the front. "Alright, good afternoon Mr. President, Mr. Secretary..." I nodded to each man in turn, using facial recognition to identify each of my passengers. "Unfortunately this afternoon we're going to be flying unescorted, if your plane was operating properly I'd be the one escorting you. So I know you all know how to fasten your seatbelts-"

"You're not constrained by the airline safety board, but you're still going to give the speech?" wheelchair man demanded with a laugh.

"Different speech, pay attention," I grinned at him. "Right, you'll notice that I do not in fact have any emergency exits. I am the plane, so I can very much guarantee that my engines aren't going to fail. Currently there's no radio-chatter saying that we're being targeted, however that's never a guarantee that somebody's not going to fire on us."

Gregory the wheelchair man leaned forward, nodding intently.

"So a quick run through," I stated, my voice turning truly serious. "As you know by now, I am a sentient, Autonomous Robotic Organism, formally human. I'm a transformer. I've currently chosen this form for your comfort during the flight, however with the wider cabin size it means I've decreased my speed and manoeuvrability. Should we come under attack I will be transforming around you to tighten up the space for an attempt at outrunning our attacker. During that please keep your hands and feet as tightly tucked against your seat as you can, and please use the seat belt harnesses the second they appear. Technically I can put them on you, but in the middle of transforming that's actually a lot harder than it looks. If you feel that you are uncomfortable with the idea of me transforming around you, or that you're not going to be up to the stress I'm going to ask you as kindly as I can to disembark." I stated calmly.

"Well that's mighty courteous of you," the Secretary grinned at me.

"Thank you, any takers? I'm sure as hell not going to let anybody call you chicken, watching your plane disassemble and re-assemble thirty five thousand feet in the air is rather shocking." I added with a small smile. "For the rest of you, the seatbelt sign is now on."

There were several shaking heads, Greg was grinning.

"Alright," I smiled at the men buckling their seat belts.

"What happens if we can't outrun?"

"Good question. In the event that I can neither outrun nor deflect our hypothetical attacker, I will be separating myself from the secondary frame I'm using at the moment. It will be formed around you and will enter a controlled drop. The second that I am free of the secondary frame I will be able to engage our hypothetical hostiles head on. Your cabin, like I said, will enter a controlled drop, should you come to land on solid ground a cloak will surround you, sending a direct GPS distress call to the Auto-bots. If you land in the water you will then be in control of a somewhat crude submersible, again, sending a distress signal to the Auto-bots, but you will be capable of going underwater fifty feet and continuing on your way." I finished calmly.

"That's brilliant!"' Greg howled.

"Greg, seeing as you're the resident navy boy, I'll be putting you in charge of piloting the submersible," I smiled at him. "We'll be in radio communications the entire time during our hypothetical emergency. So final call, any who wish to disembark while we're still on the ground, now's the time."

"I'm in!" Greg called out cheerfully.

A chorus of nodded agreements and a final couple of seatbelts clicking into place and I nodded, winking my holoform out and closing the door properly.

The fuel lines disconnected, and the area around me cleared.

"DCA Control this is Archangel requesting clear airspace," I called out calmly.

"Archangel you are clear to taxi to runway five, liftoff in ten minutes." Control called out calmly. I nodded and lightly moved out of the hangar, bringing my engines online the second I was clear and taxiing to the runway.

I waited, calmly going over the flight plan and running through the communications. Taxi to the start of the runway. Final checks, cleared.

"Gentlemen, liftoff in thirty seconds," I announced over my speakers, bringing my engines slowly up to speed. I began to feel the pent up energy I so loved, the feeling of being ready to jump out the gates at a moment's notice.

Three... two... one...

I released the brakes and shot forward, blasting my engines to full power for a moment before dialling it back, I didn't need to shoot to mach one in moments.

But the fact that I only used half the runway to get into the air was always good for a laugh. Greg was cheering in my cabin.

"What on earth are you on about?" the President demanded with a laugh.

"Did you not just see that!? She used barely half the runway to get into the air, and she's not even flying full power at the moment!" Greg hooted. "It's official, I'm spoiled for flying in another plane. Archangel is gorgeous!"

"Why thank you," I laughed, onlining my holoform even as I climbed higher into the air and got onto the right track. "Right, just so you lot know, there's a wicked tail wind three hundred feet above us right now, it's going to be a bit bumpy getting into it, but the second we're flying in it we'll hit Switzerland in three hours."

"Three hours!?" the General Secretary demanded.

"Yep," I nodded cheerfully. "So I don't know if you lot want a movie or a quick nap or whatever, if you decide you want the movie, just call don't shout, I can hear your heartbeats at the moment."

"Oh, oops, sorry," Greg stated in a normal voice.

"No big," I shrugged.

"Kae," the President stated calmly. "I was hoping to discuss a bit of politics with you in private."

"Of course, care to join me in the cockpit?" I asked with a smile.

The man grinned and unbuckled his seatbelt, his bodyguard rose with him.

"Oh relax Cody," the man laughed.

"Sir, I'm supposed to make sure the area is clear," Cody stated firmly.

"By all means," I smiled, gesturing him along. "But in my defence, I'm already dealing with a nightmare of public relations as it is, killing you guys is a headache I do not need."

Cody stared at me in shock then hesitantly, nodded.

"Now then," the President smiled, settling down into the co-pilot's seat. "Cody, go, sit, catch a nap, god knows you've deserved it."

The man nodded gratefully and made a quiet retreat, I closed the door.

"Kae," Obama stated seriously. "How much shit has been stirred up?"

"How so?" I asked calmly, settling my holo down calmly in the pilot's seat.

"With Sentinel being sentenced to community service, I got that report and almost fainted, what the hell is he supposed to do to service the community?" the man groaned, burying his face in his hands for a moment. "I mean come on, are we really going to make a thirty-eight foot auto-bot weed gardens and clean graffiti off of buildings!?"

I laughed softly.

"Okay, it started to stir up some shit, but I believe I've come upon the solution to the problem," I smiled. "Which if I can convince you to agree with me, I would appreciate your support on our proposed service."

"Thank god, lay it on me," the president grinned.

"Well, Sentinel was Cybertron's Einstein, so to speak," I began calmly. "But he is first and foremost a teacher. The courts did not specify precisely which community he was to service."

The president's eyes widened and began to gleam with excitement.

"So what you're saying is that our resident massively brilliant auto-bot teacher..." he trailed off excitedly.

"Is actually quite excited to hold free seminars to any and every mind that wants to be brought up to date on the universal standard of physics, mathematics, astronomy... everything but weapons technology he is willing to teach." I smiled. "And we're talking several million years of learning on the table."

"Brilliant!" the man exploded, bouncing on my seat and grinning from ear to ear. "That's absolutely brilliant! Of course you're going to have to tell him to at least initially look a bit reluctant to do it, we need to satisfy the public that he's being forced to do something as punishment, but Kae that's brilliant!"

"I'd rather hoped you'd say that," I grinned. "So may I ask for your support?"

"You've got it!" the man laughed.

"So what else is on the debating table?" I asked with a laugh, leaning back comfortably.

"Oh, let's see, heads up the 'Brotherhood of Man' is starting to get rather vocal, they're screaming for your blood in particular," the man stated seriously.

"Mine?" I asked calmly.

"Because you were human, and now you're a bot, they believe that the human race is going to be converted into a robotic slave race." the man rolled his eyes, even as I did. He frowned for a second and looked at me warily.

"Fat chance," I snorted. "First off it takes an insane amount of time and energon to bring even one bot online. My coming online as a bot was due to extenuating circumstances, I would have died if I had not. I also have several million bots to bring out of dormancy on Cybertron and a current shortage of Energon to fuel them with, the last thing we need is a further population explosion."

"Good to know," the man nodded. "But watch your backs regardless, Sabre has been kind enough to infiltrate the brotherhood for me, he said to tell you that the brotherhood seems to be developing weapons to disable you lot at a disturbing pace."

I frowned.

"Disturbing pace for our... sorry, your race tends to mean they're cannibalizing Cybertronian technology."

"Indeed, if they are in cahoots with the Decepticons they're keeping it really quiet," the man stated firmly. "It's actually to the point that I'm worried about Sabre, I might need you or one of the Auto-bots' holoforms to meet up with him at some point, if he's infiltrating an enemy with Decepticon firepower I may just be sending our mutual friend on a suicide mission."

"Mmm," I nodded seriously, I thought for a long moment. "I'll have to discuss it with Optimus, but I think Mirage, he is quite adept at concealing himself from Decepticons, and they'd get along well."

The president nodded.

"Final thing on my docket at any rate is actually a great deal closer to home, the girls keep asking when you and Optimus are going to come for dinner," he smiled.

I laughed softly.

"We'll sort out a date, probably once Sentinel is settled into his seminars." I smiled.

"Done," the man grinned, he looked around the cockpit. "So do you just make it look like a cockpit, or could a person actually fly you?"

"You remember the fuss that started up when Optimus and I were recharging, right before the Kortes Dam collapsed?"

The man nodded.

"I got really lucky that I'd trained a few pilots to fly me," I groaned. "That was the only sleep I got during that entire campaign."

"That was a five day campaign all told," the president stated flatly. I nodded. "That. Sucks."

"And blows," I snorted. "Because not only was I running quarter power, but it's taken me until now to re-sync my sleeping cycles with my husband's."

"You have my absolute sincerest sympathies," Obama groaned.

"Don't worry about it," I chuckled, patting his hand. "The plus of Cybertronian cycles on earth is that we generally have a couple of three hours silence every night to actually see each other."

"That would absolutely kill Michelle and I," Obama groaned.

"Mm, don't worry about it," I laughed softly. "Our souls are literally intertwined, so if the worst happens, we'll be able to stay together after death."

"So sad, and sweet, and sad," the man sighed.

I laughed and checked our co-ordinates.

"Alright, we'll be there in two hours, I'd suggest you catch a nap," I smiled at the President. "You can stay here if you want, or go back into the cabin. It's probably safer in there, just in case we're fired on."

The man nodded.

"Are you alright?" he asked seriously.

"I have plenty of high grade fuel, and I'm not due for another recharge for another twenty hours or so," I smiled. "Right now I can't guarantee that I'll be very good company, I'm going to be meditating for a little while."

The president grinned and rose.

"Oh!" he stated at the door, I turned my holoform to look at him. "I was wondering if there's any chance we could get your guys' help rebuilding Chicago, after all. The Mayor and safety boards have been running themselves ragged."

"How so?" I asked curiously, turning to look at him fully.

"They keep coming across sinkholes, and wretched waterpipes, and destroyed foundations," Obama groaned. "And the kicker is that now, they can't even tell if it was damage the Decepticons caused or if the buildings were faulty to begin with!"

I smiled. He stared at me.

"The wreckers have been waiting for you to say that," I told him gently. "As for the sinkholes, I'll see if Gouge will be willing to enter the area, he's one of the most skilled stone listeners in this galaxy."

The president beamed at me and returned to the cabin.