Disclaimer: Transformers © Hasbro! OC, & plot © me!
Author's note: Thanks for the reviews, I appreciate the feedback, as you see from this chapter I DID listen. :) and I know some of you readers want me to write some more, Believe me, I am because those blasted plot demons won't leave me alone.
As Optimus transformed in to his Peterbuilt mode Daniel could only stare with a really
big and stupid looking grin plastered on his face, "Now THAT"S a Big Rig!" Daniel said in obvious admiration. Sgt Epps and Capt. Lennox had to smile at the comment even though they had fought and bled beside their rather large friends, as well as having spent the last three days getting to know the Autobots, they were still impressed with the Autobots as well.
"Hey! How are you fixed for communication?" Sgt. Epps asked Daniel, always thinking of the important things.
"HAH! Dual CB's and half dozen police scanners, I can keep track of damn near anything that goes on in this town. I'm on CB channel 13, you might want to use that and standard CB lingo in case one of those bad one's is monitoring the military frequencies" Daniel replied with a slight hint of smugness.
"That is actually a sound idea. Any Decepticons in the vicinity would tend to monitor those frequencies first, and very few of us, Autobot and Decepticon alike would be able to monitor ALL of the frequencies that humans employ." Optimus interjected.
Clearly impressed at the quick thinking of what most people would take to be an uneducated junk man, Sgt. Epps had to smile. "But why channel 13?" he asked more than a little puzzled.
"Because no one wants to have anything to do with the number 13, so they don't use it. Therefore there won't be anyone to over hear anything we say."
"I Got ya." Sgt. Epps nodded with a smile as he headed toward a truly bad ass looking Camero and got into the passenger side, Capt. Lennox was driving since rank does have its privileges.
As the perfectly maintained but still older styled custom Rig headed toward the front gate, Daniel pulled his wrecker in behind it. In his rear view mirror Daniel saw the Hummer built search and rescue pull in after him and the Camero taking the rear guard position.
This is one hell of a weird little convoy. Daniel thought to himself as he watched eight Deuce and a half military trucks loaded with troops take up flanking positions to the rear of the apparently civilian vehicles. As they passed one of the troop transports Daniel spotted the hardware that the men were packing. Holy shit! Those are 40 mm. M-79 grenade launchers, and the have nothing but Sabot Rounds! These guys are ready for 'War of the Worlds' Literally! Daniel knew then that when they got where they were going, he was most likely to be in very deep shit since the US Govt. was obviously going to want to know everything he knew, where he got his information from, how he found out about them, who he had told, and what could he prove, that is if they didn't just lock him up and melt the key. Because they sure as hell wouldn't throw it, away on the chance that someone might find that key someday.
The troops in the back of the trucks were giving him the usual weird looks that he always got when he had his wolf with ridding with him, but he was used to that, even though he still got a kick out of it. They were nearing the outskirts of Mission City when Daniel grabbed the CB mike.
"Break on one three, Break on one three, Junk Man to Fly Boy got your ears on?"
(Clear channel 13, Fly Boy this is Junk Man, can you hear me?)
Laughing at the handle that the salvage operator had given to him Sgt. Epps immediately
Responded "That's a big 10-4 Junk Man, read you wall to wall and tree top tall. Come back." (I hear you loud and clear, what do you want?)
"I'm gonna have to break for a choke and splash here pretty quick, and since we got no bugs on the glass or bears on the ass, this'd be a good time for it." Daniel stated in a genuine Texas drawl.
(I need to stop at a convenience store for some gas and food, and since there is little to no traffic, cops or otherwise, this would be a good time to do so.)
"10-4 Junk Man just pick your poison, Fly Boy out." Sgt. Epps told Daniel over the CB and then he told Bumblebee what was going on so he could relay the information to the others.
Daniel signaled to pull in to the next filling station, which was a Shell station, and pulling straight up to the diesel pumps, he jumped out, and swiping his card with one hand uncapped the front tank with the other, and began filling that one. Next, he uncapped the rear tank and walking around to the other side of the pump swiped his card again and began filling up the second tank.
With both fuel tanks now being filled, he walked into the store and headed straight for the section of the cooler containing the energy drinks. Using the front of his shirt as a makeshift basket Daniel started by grabbing three each of the Java Monster Russians, Mean Beans, and Loca Mocas. He also snagged three twenty-four ounce can of Full Throttle, before grabbing a one-liter Mountain Dew. Then he grabbed a pair of large Starbucks Mocha Frappaccinos, and using his teeth to tear the plastic off the first one held his shirt in his mouth while uncapping it. Switching his shirt back to his left hand he then downed the coffee in one long drawn out swallow. Now holding both his shirt and the empty bottle in his left hand, he quickly walked through the store grabbing four one-pound bags of Richter's Beef Jerky, half a dozen Slim Jims, and a one pound bad of Nacho flavored Doritos. Approaching the register, he dumped his haul onto the counter and telling the clerk to scan the empty Frappaccino bottle twice and add a carton of Marlboro Reds in a box, he tore open the second one and downed it in the same speedy manner as the first.
"Uh, these aren't normally sold as a package like this." The clerk told him, referring to the bags of jerky.
"I know, but they usually average about forty bucks a package when you sell 'em piece by piece, so how bout a price of forty-five bucks sound?" Daniel asked trying to be fair.
"I'll have to call and ask the manager." She said picking up the phone. As the clerk was explaining the situation to her manager, Daniel looked outside to see just how antsy the military troops were getting. They were obviously not too happy with the delays, but what the hell, they were working on taxpayer dollars after all.
"The manager said forty-five is fine." The clerk told him.
"Good. Ring 'em up cuz I'm in a bit of a rush." Daniel replied.
Leaving the store with his snack attack from hell, Daniel checked the pumps.
Seeing that there was twenty-one gallons on the first one and nineteen gallons on the second one, Daniel decided that it would do. Holding his swag in one hand and hanging up the nozzles with the other Daniel make short work of closing up his tanks and getting back in his truck to hit the road.
Ironhide was worried knowing that most salvage yard owners were reputed to be alcoholics, so Ironhide scanned the contents of Daniels shopping bags, what he found disturbed him even more than if he had found the human version of high grade energon.
"PRIMUS IN A PIT!" Ironhide yelled in Cybertonian over a secure link to Ratchet,
"This crazy human plans on sucking down enough caffeine to kill a HERD of horses!" Ironhide wailed in near panic as the wrecker was pulling back onto the road with him firmly in tow.
Concerned Ratchet quickly scanned the wrecker's interior with his far more sensitive scanners, then horrified at his discoveries, he scanned the wrecker's driver.
Finding that the human had already consumed far more caffeine than was healthy, and was still chugging it down, Ratchet decided to contact him. Accessing the web Ratchet quickly downloaded the CB nomenclature and put it to use.
"Break on one three, Ratchet to Junk Man, you got your ears on?"
"That's a big 10-4, Ratchet come back." Daniel replied without hesitation.
Since there was no way to put such things in to acceptable CB slang, Ratchet got right to the point.
"You're drinking a LOT more caffeine than any two people would consider wise. Would you mind slowing down on it?" Ratchet asked trying to be diplomatic about it.
"Hey! There are three things you do NOT lecture me about, and those are in no particular order, caffeine, nicotine, and sugar! Just about anything else is open to discussion." Daniel shot back without even bothering to use the CB slang.
Seeing that this was a topic that would set the volatile human off again, Ratchet decided to opt for discretion and let the subject rest until they got back to Hoover Dam.
Realizing that Ratchet wasn't going to keep nagging at him Daniel went back to his third Java Monster, and beef jerky, occasionally handing a chunk of it to the wolf in the back seat.
Daniel was finally getting full by they time they rolled up to Hoover Dam. The little convoy was checked, cleared, and then directed straight into the NBE 1 chamber.
Daniel lit a smoke and hopped out of the cab and motioning for the wolf to stay put he began unhooking Ironhide from the tow bar. Seeing Ratchet coming up to him, he asked where they were going to put Barricade, without pausing the process of disconnecting the chains hold Ironhide in place.
As he approached the strange little human, Ratchet did a thorough scan and was stunned by the results. He reset his scanners and tried again. In disbelief, he scanned the cab of his truck and found that all nine of the Java Monster cans were completely empty, and that he was now working on the first of the Full Throttles. Ratchet was dumb struck.
He would have sworn later that his processor had shorted out for a brief moment as he tried to analyze the implications of what this meant. Just to be absolutely certain he scanned the weird little man again, with the same results, vital signs were slightly elevated but well within normal range!
This human has a higher tolerance for caffeine, than Ironhide has for packing cannons! No wonder he is so aggressively hostile! Ratchet realized distressingly.
Neither Daniel nor Ratchet noticed the approach of Agent Simmons, who ever a stickler for rules, regulations, and protocols, immediately demanded a full report and briefing.
"OK, I want to know what that is on the tow truck there, who you are, and why Ironhide had to be brought back on a junked out tow truck that looks like it should have been crushed years ago!" Simmons demanded angrily gesturing at each subject in turn.
Pulling a four-foot Gorilla bar out of its appointed spot on the back of his wrecker, Daniel turned to answer this blow hard with an attitude.
"Well on the back of MY wrecker, looking like he's been through a blender is Barricade, who got that way trying to stop some jackass named Megatron from killing every last person on earth, I am Daniel, the salvage operator, that saved his life, and Ironhide had to be towed back here because he pissed me off, and I busted his big ass down a little with a crow slightly smaller than this one!" Daniel said casually holding up his weapon of choice for the man to see.
"Yeah, and in addition to taking Ironhide down and forcing him to be towed or crawl back, he clocked me pretty good too. So do us ALL a big favor and don't piss him off." Sgt. Epps said with a slight grin as he rubbed the still sore and large knot on the side of his head.
Seeing that all of the Autobots, along with the members of the Special Forces Teams were giving the newcomer a very wide berth, and were definitely not eager for a second encounter with the crow bar wielding stranger, Simmons decided, for once, that discretion was the better part of valor.
"Good enough for me." He said beating a hasty and somewhat fearful retreat.
Hearing that strange sound behind him to his right, Daniel turned to see Bumblebee sitting on the ground and shaking in uncontrolled laughter. Shaking his head at the laughing yellow mech, Daniel turn to Ratchet.
"So, where are we going to resurrect Frankenstein's creation?"
