ROH Chapter 10
Ratchet knew this particular human could be very dangerous when he had reason to be, so there was no way that the medic was going to underestimate Daniel. Ratchet was about to try to grab the ticked off salvage operator, and disarm him, when he found himself being grabbed by Ironhide, Starglide, and Bumblebee.
Both Jazz and Barricade were soon struggling to keep a solid grip on the ticked off human. Daniel wasn't about to be stopped that easily. He reacted quick as a cat to make sure that his right hand was free when the two mechs had grabbed him. Now he was stabbing at the joints in their fingers and wrists with his pocket knife trying to sever the wires so he could get loose.
"OWWW! You Primus damned pit spawned Slagging Glitch!" Barricade yelled in pain as Daniel finally hit one of the marks he was aiming for.
Unfortunately for Daniel, the target that he hit was Barricade's right hand, and Daniel was forced to drop his weapon as an excruciating amount of pain shot through his right hand.
"God-damnit! Lemme GO! I'm gonna rip the bastards head off and shit in the hole! I'm gonna use his fuggin head for a damned port a can! I'm gonna piss in his fuel tanks!" Daniel was yelling as he continued to struggle.
Ratchet wasn't too happy either. First, he couldn't believe that anyone would actually have the temerity to restrain him. Second, the threats that Daniel was yelling were getting just a little too serious for his liking.
"Barricade, take that slagging glitch somewhere and make sure that he sleeps it off! I don't want him on his feet for at least eight hours!" Ratchet ordered. "And you! You'd better be grateful that I'm not putting you in a coma until you get all of that caffeine and nicotine out of your system. . ." Ratchet's voice trailed off as he watched Daniel get free from Barricade's grasp.
The pain from having several wires in his right hand severed had forced Barricade to let the human go. The former Decepticon realized then that this wasn't one of the joking games that the crazed human had been playing with him. Daniel was serious, and he wasn't planning on stopping until this was settled!
Quickly reaching down to scoop up the dropped pocket knife with his left hand, Daniel wasn't aware that he'd just laid his hand open on the near surgically sharp blade. Even if he had been aware of it, he wouldn't have stopped anyway.
Jazz was about to try his hand at stopping the man, when Master Gunnery Sergeant Romero stepped forward and grabbed Daniel's hand in a reverse wrist lock. Painful and effective, the heavy weapons specialist wasted no time in forcing the ticked off salvage operator to his knees. Suddenly, the Special Forces veteran used his left hand to point an M-79 grenade launcher loaded with 40 millimeter SABOT rounds straight at Ratchet's face!
"Both of you break it up! NOW!" The man roared in a voice meant to be heard over the noise of the M-60 heavy machine gun that he usually carried.
Ratchet stopped struggling as he stared down the barrel of the human built weapon. A scan showed highly elevated vital signs in the man that was not only pointing a weapon at him, but also restraining his would be assailant with one hand. Ratchet knew the soldier meant business.
"Let him go, if he tries anything, he gets dropped!" MGy. Sgt. (Master Gunnery Sergeant) Romero told the bots holding the medic.
Ratchet continued to stare at the soldier pointing the grenade launcher at him as Starglide, Ironhide, and Bumblebee let him go.
Suddenly, Daniel's right fist came up as he hit the soldier right in the crotch. It was a low blow, but it was enough for Daniel to get loose. Getting his left hand free wasn't a problem as the soldier sank to his knees after the painful shot. Daniel moved fast. With his left arm still numb from being used as a conductor, he'd actually played possum until he could figure out a way to get loose.
Moving faster than anyone would have believed; Daniel began climbing up Ratchet's body like a monkey on crack. Ratchet wasn't about to react because he was still focused on the weapon that was still being pointed at him with an aim that was as steady as a rock.
Just then, the fight was broken up by an unlikely source, as Starglide swept Ratchet's legs out from under him, sending the medic sprawling out on the floor and his human antagonist sliding.
Quicker than a cat, Starglide had a plasma sword partially extended and pointed straight at Ratchet's face, her long range plasma cannon was pointed over at Daniel.
"The next one of you to move will only be able to WISH that I had killed you." She stated in a soft, but deadly tone that promised infinite worlds of pain.
"Whoa! Man, talk about skills! The Lady sure knows what she's doing!" Sgt. Epps said in admiration as he looked at the two sprawled out combatants.
"Oh yeah! She can deal with the best of 'em!" Jazz said with a grin.
"This is over, and it had better STAY over, or I'll see to it that BOTH of are stuck in either a med bay or a brig, even if I have to build it myself!" Starglide told the two of them.
Ratchet nodded his understanding. He'd known the femme for a long time, and he knew that while she was normally very easy going and slow to draw her weapons, he also knew that once she did pull out those weapons, she never bluffed and she never missed, and there was no way that he was going to challenge her on this.
Ratchet was about to say something when there was the monstrous roar of a plasma cannon being fired! Everyone looked around at where the cannon had been fired, fully expecting there to be nothing to be left of the salvage operator.
Daniel was climbing to his feet. He had completely ignored Starglide's warning not to move, and he was now ignoring her warning shot.
"That was the last warning you will receive Daniel. Do not think that just because you saved my life that I will not fire on you! I said this was over and I meant it." Starglide hissed in a cold rage.
"Oh, I know you meant it. And you're right, this is over, but if it ever happens again; all bets are off!" Daniel said just as seriously. "That's twice Bones! I told you before, there are two things you don't EVER fuck with, and that's my smokes and my caffeine. If there comes a third time, you'd better install some eyes in the back of your head and sleep with 'em open, cuz I'll tell ya straight out. I'm THE most vindictive son-of-a-bitch on this planet, or any OTHER planet! I ALWAYS get MORE than even and I've even been know to wait years for my revenge!" Daniel warned the medic as he walked past the still seething Starglide.
Daniel headed straight into the storage room to grab a Red Bull, and a couple of sandwiches from the small supply that was left.
In pure disbelief Starglide looked over at Barricade.
"Is he glitched or something? Was there even ANY fear in him?" She asked her creation in surprise, knowing that with the bond he shared with the human that he could answer the question.
"I seriously doubt it. He's not functioning with a full processor. Nearly a fourth of his brain has almost no function at all, and it happens to be the section that is responsible for emotional control and response. So, yes he IS glitched!" Ratchet answered grumpily before Barricade could reply.
Starglide rounded on the CMO who had just gotten to his feet, and stuck her still partially extended plasma sword into the medic's face.
"Do you mean to tell me that you KNEW his processing abilities were impaired, and you STILL provoked him? From what he said before he left, this is obviously NOT the first time that you've provoked him like that! You did so deliberately, KNOWING what the result would be, and you still did it! That is no different from damaging (Untranslatable Cybertronian) paintjob; you know good and well what the result will be. One highly enraged mech! If you are arrogant enough to think that you can do whatever you want to someone just because YOU think it's a good idea, then you fully deserve the damage that you get!" Starglide lectured the medic.
"It's for his own slagging good! Those energy drinks even have a warning on them, not to consume more than three per day, and he goes through more than a DOZEN in a single day! I've SEEN him do it!" Ratchet said in his defense.
"That is entirely beside the point; you KNEW that interfering in such a fashion would provoke him." Starglide said not letting the medic out of it so easily.
Everyone's attention at that point was drawn to the Master Gunnery Sergeant who groaned in pain as he finally got to his feet after being racked.
"Who's bleedin?" He asked spotting several large drops of blood on the floor as he was getting up.
Instantly five scanners were focused on every human in the vicinity. Four Autobots and one former Decepticon looked at one another in concern as they realized that none of the humans in the hallway were injured enough to lose any blood. That left only one. Five sets of optics turned to focus on Daniel as he came out of the storage room with a sandwich in his right hand and a Red Bull in his left.
"Where's the blood coming from?" Maigan promptly demanded of her uncle.
Daniel looked at her in surprise. "What blood?" He asked around a mouthful of sandwich.
"THAT blood!" Maigan said pointing to the floor.
"Beat's me. It ain't mine." Daniel said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Oh yeah? Then what's that all over your hand?" Maigan said angrily as she pointed at the blood still dripping from her uncle's left hand.
"Awww SHIT!" Daniel said just before he shoved the last of his sandwich in his mouth and transferred the Red Bull to his right hand.
Maigan grabbed her uncle's wrist and pulled his hand out so she could look at it. Everyone stared at Daniel's hand in shock at the deep slice right across the palm of his hand which was slowly filling with a chrome colored substance that was sealing off the wound and stopping the flow of blood.
General Mallory whistled through his teeth as he looked at the strange sight.
"Holy shit." Sgt. Epps said quietly as he too watched the unnerving scene.
"Man, now THAT'S wicked!" Capt. Lennox finally said.
Ratchet scanned the salvage operator to see if any tendons had been damaged by the injury.
"How the slagging pit did you manage to overload every nerve in that arm!" Ratchet angrily demanded after his scan.
Starglide instantly rounded on the salvage operator; her blue optics glowing nearly white in her outrage.
"You did that while repairing me didn't you? That's what you meant when you said that you'd hang on to that wire as long as you could, isn't it? Of all the irresponsible, unnecessary, and downright RECKLESS acts, I've ever heard of; that is the WORST! You knew that there was more help on the way! You even told me so yourself! So there was obviously no need to do something like that; risking limb and even your very LIFE to get my regeneration systems online, and for WHAT? So you could have bragging rights maybe, or did you get some type of strange pleasure out of the pain you endured? How do think I would feel if you had lost permanent use of that arm, or if you had died? Do you actually think that I could live with myself knowing, KNOWING that it had been for nothing? Please don't get me wrong I appreciate the lengths that you went to in order to save my life, but that was nothing short of recklessly GLITCHED!" Starglide said as she advanced towards Daniel with every word.
Daniel was forced to back up, not only to avoid being stepped on, which he thought was a distinct possibility, but also to maintain eye contact with the outraged femme.
Then Daniel held up his left hand in front of his face where the femme could easily see it, and wiggled his fingers.
"It still works. So no harm, no foul." Daniel said simply as he took a slug from the Red Bull.
"THAT'S your excuse?! Do you actually believe that to be sufficient justification for what you did?" Starglide demanded.
"You tell 'im Starglide! He deserves every bit of it!" Maigan encouraged.
"Oh, Thanks a LOT!" Daniel told his niece sarcastically.
"You're very welcome!" Maigan replied in the sweetest tone she could manage which brought chuckles from several of the others, especially General Mallory.
"I am telling him! And thank you, but, I am perfectly capable of handling this myself, and I don't want him trying to blame anyone else for this little attitude adjustment." Starglide said pleasantly before turning back to Daniel.
At this point Barricade leaned down and gently tapped Maigan on the shoulder. "Leave it alone. She's not fragged off yet, and trust me; that is NOT something you EVER want to see." Barricade warned quietly.
Starglide heard the warning from her creation, but decided to ignore it since he had spoken only as loud as needed for the girl to hear him. Instead, she kept her focus on Daniel.
"Well? I am still waiting for an answer!" Starglide demanded patiently while crossing her arms over her chest and staring down at the sole focus of her attention.
Daniel didn't say anything as he picked up his jacket and dug out his smoke. Once he'd lit one, he looked back up at Starglide.
"I said I'd give it my best shot, and I did. Nuff said." Daniel told her.
Thinking that would put an end to the confrontation, Daniel started to walk past her.
"Oh, no you DON'T!" Starglide said as she knelt down, reached out and grabbed Daniel and placed him firmly against a wall. Then she leaned forward until her olfactory sensor was nearly touching the human's nose, to make certain that she had his undivided attention.
"I don't care how glitched you pretend to be, or how impaired your processing ability really is. Because it's obviously not THAT impaired if you are able to conduct repairs on us as effectively as you have. Like it or not, your actions have consequences. They affect everyone around you, whether you realize it or not. The sooner you DO realize that and take heed to what can and will result from your actions the better off you'll be. Do you understand what I'm telling you?" Starglide said in a stern but polite tone.
Daniel appeared to actually consider the femme's words for a minute or two before he suddenly burst out laughing.
Starglide stared at the laughing junkyard owner for several seconds before she stood up and turned around to face Barricade.
"Why is he LAUGHING?" She demanded in disbelief.
"I have no idea, but I doubt you'll like the answer when you find out." Barricade answered cringing away from his mother's wrath.
Starglide whipped around and immediately resumed her previous position of nose to nose with the still laughing human.
"Would you care to fill me in on the joke? I could use something to laugh about myself you know." Starglide said pleasantly with a sweet smile on her face that did NOT reach her narrowed optics.
"Well, I couldn't decide whether to blow you a kiss or actually plant one on ya!" Daniel told her still laughing. "Anybody ever tell you that you're cute when you're angry?"
"Oh SLAG!" Four mechs said in unison as they waited for the devastating eruption of rage that they knew, just KNEW was about to ensue.
"What the hell's gotten into you?" Maigan demanded in shock when she heard that.
Starglide's optics had widened in disbelief when she heard the human's comment. She'd actually had to replay it in her processors several times to make sure she had heard and understood him correctly.
"Let me tell you something, you demented little being! I am NOT some pleasure bot to be used for your amusement, and I will NOT tolerate being treated in that manner! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?" Starglide finished in a barely controlled roar.
Daniel had stopped laughing and waited until she had finished speaking, before he spoke up.
"For future reference, if you don't wanna know what I'm thinking; don't ask! I ain't gonna lie about anything; it only causes problems later on down the line, and I rather deal with any problems right when they happen. Saves me the trouble later. And as for the rest of that. There is no way in hell that I'd EVER treat a woman that way, otherwise I wouldn't have told you about it, I'd have just DONE it! Now IF you're done chewing on my ass, I'd LIKE to find a place to grab some grub, and a spot to crash, before trying to deal with everything else that we've got sitting ahead of us." Daniel told her candidly as he slid out from in front of her and headed down the hall towards the lift.
Starglide stood up and reached both hands towards her head. It was obvious to everyone that she would have pulled her own hair out if she'd had any. She continued to stare after the human until he rounded a corner and was out of sight.
"Is he ALWAYS like that?" She asked the group in general.
"Yeah, pretty much. But one thing you'll never have to worry about is his honesty. I've seen it get him into more trouble than you'd believe, when a polite lie would have gotten him out of it. That's why I NEVER ask him how I look, because I know that I might not like the answer! He'll either say exactly what's on his mind, or he won't say anything, and he won't pull any punches when he says it either." Maigan told her plainly.
Starglide thought this over for several seconds as she replayed the entire series of events in her processors.
"Well, there IS such a thing as a little TOO much honesty, but at least it's an honesty that I can respect." Starglide finally answered.
Seeing that the problems were over for now, General Mallory turned to Maj. Atkins who had relieved Col. Anderson as the OOD.
"Why don't you get some men to set up a few conference tables in hangar six so that we can figure out where to go from here?" General Mallory told him.
Just then, Daniel came walking back around the corner, along with Sec Def Keller, Mrs. Keller, Agent Bannacheck, and Optimus Prime.
"There she is, but don't expect me to make the introductions, cuz she is NOT too happy with me right now." Daniel was saying.
Sec Def Keller turned on Daniel instantly.
"Son, just what in tarnation did you do now?" Sec Def Keller demanded in a no nonsense tone.
"Well, let's see. It all started because Ratchet thought that I'd had too much coffee, which there ain't no such thing. So he snatched it away from me, and crushed it. So I was gonna put a whupin on him to write all the way home about. Barricade grabbed me, I sliced his hand a bit to get loose, snatched up the pocket knife I dropped and started back after Ratchet, when one of the Joe's grabbed me, so I racked him a good one, got loose, without my knife this time, and went back after Bones. Then, when I finally get my hands on him, Starglide knocks him right out from under me. She did a pretty good job of putting a stop to the fight. So then, she tells us that it's over and for it to stay that way. I told her FINE! Then I gave Ratchet his last warning about pissing me off. I went and grabbed a new drink an' a sandwich from the storage room that Starglide was in when we were workin on her. I could hear her chewing Ratchet's ass out from inside for pissing me off to begin with. Then, when I came out, it was apparently my turn to get chewed out for using my hand as a conductor to get her repair systems online. She demanded to know why I did it, and then when I told her, she didn't like my answer. So she chewed me out some more. But I think the worst part happened last when she was probably almost done chewing me out. I wound up laughing my ass of because of a stupid thought, and she wanted to know about it, when I told her she got pissed all over again. I told her how it was and left, which was when I ran into you, so here we are." Daniel said matter of factly.
"And just what was it that you said to make her angry at you again? I DO believe you left THAT part out." Sec Def Keller demanded suspiciously.
"I told her that she looked cute when she's angry, and I couldn't figure out whether to blow her a kiss or give her one." Daniel said simply as he lit a smoke.
"Son, have you lost your ever lovin mind? Do you have ANY sense in that damned head of yours? Haven't you learned better than to pop off at a ticked off woman? Didn't your mother ever teach you better than that?" Sec Def Keller demanded angrily.
"Oh HELL! Here we go again!" Daniel lamented.
"You're damned right; here we go again! You're causing problems all over the place! Now you done a marvelous job of fixing these folks up like I asked you to, but if you keep causing trouble like this, you're gonna regret it. And I mean that!" Sec Def Keller told Daniel.
The salvage operator sighed tiredly as he shook his head and headed back to the storage room to see if there were still some sandwiches left. He was making his way through the group when General Mallory stopped him.
"I ever see or hear of you putting your hands on another soldier again, and I don't care WHO you work for, I WILL see to it that you're brought up on charges! Do I make myself clear?" General Mallory told him.
Daniel had had enough! He turned to look the General straight in the eye.
"Yeah. You've made yourself perfectly clear! So you'd better make DAMNED sure that none of your soldiers ever puts their hands on me again, cuz if they do, then if I'm gonna get locked up again, I'm gonna make DAMNED sure that it's worth it. This means that you or someone else will have to explain a funeral to the next of kin!" Daniel told the General in a soft tone that said he was deadly serious.
"Is that a threat?" General Mallory asked angrily.
"Nope. It's a God damned promise!" Daniel snarled quietly.
"Now you just hold up there a minute Boy! You're not gonna go around making threats to kill people! I'm NOT gonna tolerate it, ya hear?" Sec Def Keller said as he shook his finger in Daniel's face.
"Then he'd better not threaten me! Cuz I do NOT respond well to threats! And if you have anything else to say in the way of an ass chewing then you'd better save it for another time, cuz I've had more than a belly full today!" Daniel said as he turned around and shouldered past his boss and headed to the lift.
Secretary of Defense John Keller knew when people had reached their limit, and clearly Daniel had reached his a while ago. Sec Def Keller let the man leave, while he made a mental note to continue this later.
Several pairs of eyes and optics watched Daniel leave. When General Mallory heard the lift start up, he went over to the intercom and issued orders not to let the man leave the base or enter any restricted areas.
Optimus walked over to Starglide and the others taking care not to accidentally step on any of the humans, and requested a report from Starglide.
Not knowing just how far Optimus was willing to trust the humans, Starglide sent her report via data burst. She had been one of the bots sent to search for the All Spark, and she knew that she had detected its energy signature here on this world. She had been trying to triangulate that signature when the ship occupied by non native organics had collided with her.
After receiving this report, Optimus bowed his head and shook it sadly.
"I know about the All Spark being located here. Sadly it was sacrificed in an effort to save my life by killing Megatron." Optimus told her gently.
Starglide staggered back against the wall of the corridor as she processed the implications of what her leader had just told her.
"Then. Then there is no hope left for Cybertron is there?" She asked in shock.
Optimus shook his head in reply. He didn't say anything, because there was nothing that could be said. He remembered Daniel telling him about the possibility that the All Spark could be rebuilt, but there was no way that he was going to give any of his people a sense of false hope in case the salvage operator was wrong.
The look of despair that was written all over the femme tore at Maigan's heart. She walked over and placed her hand on the femme's leg to get her attention. When Starglide looked down at her, Maigan gathered her thoughts before she spoke.
"Cybertron is a world of robots right? Well, don't give up yet. If there's a way to fix it, we'll find it. Just give us some time okay?" Maigan told her in an effort to cheer the femme up just a tiny bit.
Starglide looked down at the earnest expression on the teen's face, and couldn't help but give her a light smile even though her spark wasn't in it.
That was when Maigan spotted her uncle's pocket knife laying on the floor. She walked over and picked it up, before turning back to look around at who ever might be in charge with all the VIPs in the hallway.
"So what happens now?" Maigan asked curiously.
"Well first, someone needs to go find that little slagger and put him to sleep!" Ratchet said irritably.
"SAY WHAT?!" Maigan yelled at the medic. "I don't care what you think about him, but my uncle isn't some stupid animal to be euthanized just because you don't like him! None of this mess would have happened if you hadn't tried to be a bad ass and throw your weight around and jack him for his last can of coffee! You started that fight and everybody here knows it!" Maigan screamed at the medic as she advanced on him with every word.
"I never said anything about killing him!" Ratchet retorted angrily.
"Call it a VERY bad choice of words then. Because you might as well have said 'shoot him like a mad dog'! Maybe you didn't notice, or care, but his back was killing him in there when we were working on Starglide. It probably doesn't mean much to you, but he does what he has to so he can get things done and get SOME enjoyment out of life." Maigan yelled at the medic hotly.
"I took that stuff away from him for his own good. Those things are gonna KILL him at the rate that he goes through them!" Ratchet shot back.
"Yeah? Well, he has a choice. Either use enough caffeine to kill a horse, or enough morphine to be so doped up that he can't even play one of his stupid video games! Considering that he HATES drugs; he uses enough caffeine to keep going until he drops! Then, maybe, just MAYBE he'll be tired enough to sleep through the muscle cramps that wake him up every fifteen or twenty minutes! After that, guess what? It would take him another couple of hours at least just to get back to sleep. He'd have to spend the rest of his life in bed just trying to get some rest. So, yeah, he over does it on the caffeine, and hides how much pain he's in, but I'd like to see just how well you deal with things after someone breaks YOUR back, or whatever it is you use for one!" Maigan shouted at the CMO before she turned away to go find her uncle.
"Really? Is that really the case, or is he just too reckless to care about his health? What about him using his hand as a conductor in a needless method of repairing her regeneration system? What was that?" Ratchet yelled back at the teen not willing to let the subject drop.
"Whether Daniel's actions were reckless or not is beside the issue here! You KNEW that your actions would provoke an incident similar to what actually occurred. And from his words afterwards, I would say that this isn't the first time you've done so. What did you do the last time Ratchet; throw a wrench at him in the manner that you're famed for?" Starglide said coming to the young teen's aid.
"No! I did NOT throw my wrench at him! That would have killed the little fragger! It was a couple boxes of tissues!" Ratchet grumbled in his defense.
Barricade winced visibly when he heard that, knowing how his creator felt about profanity.
"THAT will be the absolute LAST time you use that kind of language to me Ratchet! Or you WILL find yourself at the wrong end of my sniper cannon! And I suppose that you hit him in the head with those boxes didn't you?" Starglide demanded.
Ratchet stayed silent while he glared at the femme. He could see that this was going straight to the pit, and there was nothing he could do about it.
"The first one hit him in the back of his head; the second one hit him straight in the face!" Maigan informed her.
"Of course they did! But then, that's exactly what Ratchet is know for; his TEMPER! So now he's taken to provoking someone that has a total lifespan of less than two vorns. Just how many vorns of experience do you have as a medic Ratchet? Even were he to live ten times his normal lifespan, you would still have an advantage of several thousand times his experience! That means that you KNOW better! Even the oldest human on this entire planet would be considered freshly sparked by our standards, and you know it! Our sparklings aren't even allowed to leave our homes on their own until they've had several hundred human lifetimes of experience behind them! And for you to deliberately provoke one of them? What has gotten into you? Or should I even ask? Is it possible that you are jealous of the human's skill at repairs? That someone with the merest fraction of your vast experience might be considered better than you? Is that it?" Starglide said badgering the CMO.
"No, that is NOT the problem! That glitch had no reason to use his hand as a conductor the way he did!" Ratchet said in a futile attempt to divert the femme's wrath.
"I think that might be my fault." Ironhide interrupted quietly, sure that he would be regretting it soon.
"By what strange reasoning could Daniel's actions be considered YOUR fault?" Starglide demanded of her brother.
"I. I asked him to pull off one more miracle, like he did with Jazz and Barricade. He said he wouldn't make any promises, but that he would give it everything he had. I didn't mean for him to risk his life doing it." Ironhide said with a somewhat sheepish expression.
"That's because when my uncle gives his word, he keeps it, or you'll get one damned good reason why he couldn't keep it!" Maigan said in disgust as she turned back to leave.
Ratchet turned his attention to Barricade who was getting the wires in his hand spliced back together by Jazz.
"Just how much pain is he in?" Ratchet asked the former Decepticon.
Barricade frowned as he concentrated on the sensations that he was feeling from the human he had formed a bond with.
"No more than usual. Right now, he's mostly fragged off, disgusted and tired." Barricade finally answered.
"Well, look. I think it's been a very long day, and everyone just needs some time to calm down before we go any further with this." Sec Def Keller stated.
"In that case. I'll make sure that we have some sort of conference area set up in hangar six so that we can continue this tomorrow." General Mallory replied as the group started towards the lift.
Daniel had taken the lift that everyone had come down on, but that wasn't a problem. General Mallory simply led the group to an alternate lift. Much like the elevators on an aircraft carrier, these lifts were designed and built to move large and extremely heavy equipment. They were exactly like those on an aircraft carrier except that these were much larger versions.
Optimus couldn't resist the urge to scan the surrounding area to get some idea as to just how large the facility was. The readings he got nearly staggered him. Almost every one of the under ground hallways were large enough to accommodate even his size and bulk. As far as his scanner could reach through the surrounding bedrock, corridors, hallways, and rooms. All more than ample to provide living space for the much larger Cybertronians that might soon arrive.
"Just how far underground does this complex extend?" Optimus asked in surprised curiosity.
General Mallory had to laugh. He knew the place was huge. He had been the commanding officer of this base for three years now, and even he hadn't seen all of it. He knew that the vast underground complex was a true modern marvel of human engineering and ingenuity, on a par with Stonehenge or the pyramids; it was just a shame that few would ever know it.
"To be honest, I'm not actually sure. It'd take a team of surveyor's years to comb through all levels we have in this place. I've heard some of my men refer to it as an iceberg. Except that I think what's on the surface is actually closer to a layer of snow on top of an iceberg. I mean take a look at what is really on the surface. A dozen or so hangars, a few office buildings, the BOQ, (Bachelor Officers Quarters) the PX, ATC Tower, and an airstrip. I've been told that some levels extend downward almost two thousand feet! I will say this, though. I think there's enough room in this place to house everyone you've got coming and a whole lot more. PLUS, you could add maybe a quarter million people to this base and there would still be places that wouldn't get used! Each underground level is extended through out the entire valley, so we can actually house more population than the entire city of Las Vegas!" General Mallory said proudly.
"Well, I'll be damned! It looks like that odd young man was right; this is the perfect place to house 'em." Sec Def Keller said mostly to himself.
As the group rounded a corner to get to the alternate lift, they entered a long hallway that made jaws drop in disbelief.
"Whoa! You could hold a bunch of drag races in here!" Maigan exclaimed loudly.
"Oh, yeah! And when it comes time for our little rematch, you ain't gonna have that crazy little man doin the driving!" Jazz said with a wide grin as he turned to Barricade.
"What's the matter Autobot? Afraid he'll win this time?" Barricade asked with a huge grin of his own.
The two mechs continued their banter for a few minutes until Bumblebee joined the fray. The quick and nimble scout knew that he didn't have the top speed to match either of the two mechs that he'd raced against the previous morning, but he also knew that he had the acceleration that would let him easily take them off the line or coming out of a turn.
The banter wasn't as energetic or lighthearted as it might have been. All three of the mechs were dead tired. Bumblebee had been running nonstop for a total of twenty-six hours While Jazz and Barricade had been in stasis lock for more than six hours. Barricade was feeling better than Jazz due to replacing most of his energon from the fresh supply that Ironhide had brought for his sister.
Some of the soldiers were beginning to snicker at the light but competitive trash talk that was going on between the three mechs when the group reached the hangar.
Maigan looked around to see if her uncle was there. He wasn't hard to spot thanks to the group of MPs that surrounded him. The man was sitting slumped against the west wall of the hangar with his legs crossed in front of him. Maigan could tell that he was asleep or very close to it, and she quickly asked the three mechs to quiet down.
General Mallory took one look at the situation and frowned. While he definitely wasn't too happy with the way the salvage operator had been acting while on his base, he'd made sure that even his brig had been equipped with a cot for a prisoner to sleep on. Seeing the man trying to sleep on the floor against an uninsulated steel wall made the officer's blood pressure rise. General Mallory quickly walked over to the senior MP and got his attention.
"Is there some reason why you didn't show him to a bunk?" General Mallory demanded quietly after he'd pulled the man off to the side.
"Sir. With respect, you gave a direct order that he was not to leave or enter any restricted areas. Since this entire base is restricted, he stays right here!" The MP responded without hesitation.
Maigan knew her uncle couldn't stay in that position for long without getting super stiff in his back. She started over to wake him up, when she was blocked by one of the MPs.
"Detail, Dismissed!" General Mallory said simply, before Maigan could try to say anything. The MPs saluted and began to file out of the hangar.
Maigan got to her uncle's side and began tapping his shoulder to wake him up. It took her a few tries to accomplish this, since Daniel had been on the go for quite a while. When he finally did open his eyes, it took him more than a few seconds to get his bearings.
"Come on, you can crash in the BOQ here on the surface. They may stay vacant, but they're kept spotless." General Mallory told Daniel when he saw that the junkyard owner was awake.
Daniel didn't say anything. Instead he clenched his jaw, gritted his teeth and bent to his right. The move was emphasized by the loud series of cracking noises that emerged from the man's back as he forced his body into mobility.
Ratchet and several others noticed Barricade wince and grab his side at Daniel's move. Ratchet watched almost helplessly as Barricade imitated the human's movements as Daniel repeated the process to the other side.
There were various looks of revulsion and disgust as Daniel began popping various joints in his body. Most notably his neck, wrists, and ankles. Then when Daniel got to his feet, he managed to pop both of his knees in short order.
"Yo man! How the hell can you do that to yourself?" Sgt. Epps asked disgustedly.
Daniel gave a rueful chuckle. "It's ether that or try to get around without being able to move, and that don't work too well. I've tried it." Daniel said tiredly.
"Lieutenant Meyers, would you escort this man to the BOQ for me, and assign someone to stand watch on it, in case he needs anything." General Mallory instructed.
Although General Mallory had a good reason to have someone on watch, it wasn't the reason specified. There were dozens of classified areas on the base that could be accessed at any given time, and he did NOT want some civilian in any of those areas.
When Maigan turned and asked Bumblebee for her duffle bag, the yellow and black scout dug two of them out of a subspace compartment and offered them to the teen. Maigan took them both, and expressed her thanks.
"Come on Mikeala, we can stay with him." Maigan suggested with a nod of her head in the direction of her uncle.
"Um, he doesn't snore does he?" Mikeala asked hopefully.
"Nah! The only time I've ever heard him snore is when he falls asleep in a car, and even then it's only because he's only part way asleep." Maigan answered.
With her one doubt settled, Mikeala grabbed her duffle bag from Maigan and followed the girl and her uncle to the BOQ. While Mikeala hadn't really spent enough time talking with Daniel to decide if she liked the man or not, she did know that Daniel had been more than ready to rip agent Simmons a new one for something she'd already paid him back for. So she knew that Maigan's uncle wouldn't be leering at her, or making any remarks that she didn't feel like putting up with. Besides, she was really starting to like Maigan, because while the two teens had different fields of expertise, they did have a lot of the same tastes in fashion, music and other interests in common.
The Lieutenant led the three civilians to a Hum-V and got in.
"I got Shotgun!" Mikeala yelled happily as her sky blue eyes lit up at the thought of riding in the eight point six litre Diesel with enough torque and power to tow a tour bus.
Maigan couldn't help but laugh.
"You think this is cool, you should try riding in Ironhide sometime! I swear; he is the ULTIMATE truck! I just wish that I could talk him into going mudding just once!" Maigan said with enthusiasm.
"You're kidding me right? Why in the world would you want to take him mudding?" Mikeala asked in disbelief.
"You mean you didn't hear about what he did when Uncle Daniel peeled out in him when he was coming to pick me up?" Maigan countered.
"No, I didn't hear anything about that. Why what happened?" Mikeala asked turning in her seat so she could face towards Maigan.
"Ironhide ripped a HUGE pair of ruts in the asphalt!" Maigan answered with a huge grin.
Mikeala stared at Maigan for several seconds with her eyes and mouth wide open in surprise.
"No way! You full of it! You've got to be joking!" Mikeala retorted.
"Nope! Swear to god! Daniel even got chewed out by the gate guard for it when we got back." Maigan said with a grin.
"Oh no. After hearing that; we've GOT to talk him into it!" Mikeala replied.
Lieutenant Meyers looked over at Mikeala with the strangest expression on his face.
"Let me see if I understand this correctly. The two of you want to take an alien robot; that if he had been built here on Earth would be worth countless BILLIONS of dollars, and talk him into going mudding?! Am I missing something here, because that idea sounds TOTALLY insane!" Lieutenant Meyers interrupted.
"It may sound crazy, but not half as crazy as a huge monster of a truck doing a hundred miles an hour through a mud hole!" Mikeala replied instantly with a grin that would have done Daniel proud.
The officer just shook his head and kept driving to the BOQ. When the Hum-V pulled to a stop, the two girls jumped out while still plotting possible ways of talking Ironhide into something that they just knew would be as big a blast as any thing that was hit by BOTH of the big mech's cannons.
Daniel climbed out of the Hum-V and semi staggered into the BOQ. He found the first bunk he came to and flopped down on it exhausted.
"Unh UH! No WAY! You better at least get them boots off and get on your back! I am NOT going to listen to you groan all day tomorrow!" Maigan lectured her uncle while shaking the weary man to make sure that she was heard.
With a sigh of disgust Daniel sat up and pulled off his boots and socks. Then he took off his shirt, laid down on top of the blanket and went to sleep.
"Umm, I have a slight problem." Mikeala told Maigan in a whisper.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Maigan asked.
"Well, I brought something to change into after working, but I didn't bring anything to sleep in." Mikeala answered a little more than slightly embarrassed.
"Hey, no problem! I know my uncle, so I pack for just about everything. I've got a spare shirt that I can loan you." Maigan told her with a smile.
"A shirt?" Mikeala asked doubtfully.
In response Maigan held up a pair of XL, double X-Tall T-shirts that would hang down just below the knees on either of the girls.
"Where did you get T-shirts THAT big?" Mikeala asked not really believing the size of the shirts in question.
"You can thank my uncle for these; he's really a big softy. He just tries to hide it by acting like a jerk. He keeps a whole closet full of clothes for me so that when I come to visit, I've always got something to wear. Why do you think I only needed three suitcases for the whole summer?" Maigan informed her.
"Cool, this means I can actually grab a shower before bed." Mikeala replied.
"GREAT idea!" Maigan blurted.
The two teens quickly grabbed their toiletries and headed for the showers at the back of the BOQ. The shower stalls didn't have complete privacy, in that the walls were just barely five feet high, and were elevated a full eighteen inches off the floor. So the girls knew that if anyone came in, they would have to cover up. Mikeala pointed this out with some concern.
"Don't worry about it. Daniel's a light sleeper, any strange noise and he wakes up fast. That's probably why he picked the bed next to the door." Maigan told her.
The two girls made short, but thorough work of getting the grease and grime off, before heading to bed themselves, after making plans for a much better one in the morning.
Daniel opened his eyes to the sounds of the two girls chatting away merrily as they took a shower. A glance at the widow showed him that it was now morning. A look at his diving watch showed that the countdown timer he'd set, read fifty-one hours till landing. With a slight groan the salvage operator rolled off the bunk to land on his hands and knees. He used the bed to help him climb to his feet. Then he grabbed his cigarettes and lighter and stepped outside, closing the door behind him.
Mikeala had been about to make a run to her duffle bag to get something when she saw Daniel getting up. Wrapped in nothing but a towel, the girl froze in fright, while she watched Daniel head outside. As soon as the man left, Mikeala ran over to her bag and grabbed what she needed before heading back to finish her shower.
"Your uncle's awake." She informed Maigan.
"Don't worry about it, he'll just go outside and smoke until one of us goes and gets him to let him know we're dressed." Maigan told her without hesitation.
"That's EXACTLY what he did." Mikeala replied with a strange look on her face.
"Well, you got to understand. He grew up in a lot of institutions, so he never had any kind of privacy at all. So that's the ONE thing he makes sure not to mess with. If he'd seen you and the towel slipped, I can guarantee that he'd have come close to breaking his neck while turning around to give you back your privacy!" Maigan told her seriously.
"You're kidding me right? You're telling me that he wouldn't at least try to sneak a look?" Mikeala demanded skeptically.
"Nope! I know that for a fact, because he actually wrenched his back really bad one day and even had to go to the doctor to get checked out, when it happened to me. I was so embarrassed; I swear EVERYTHING must have been red as a beet. When I tried to apologize he told me to go away and do whatever it was I needed to do, and he wouldn't even look at me, even after I got the towel fixed." Maigan told her a little sheepishly.
"He just keeps getting weirder and weirder, the more I know about him." Mikeala answered.
"Yeah, he can be really strange sometimes, but he can also be a blast to hang with too. That's the reason I visit almost every summer." Maigan replied with a smile as she finished her shower.
The two girls didn't bother to rush through anything as they got dressed, but once they had; Maigan went to the door and opened it.
"The showers are all yours. There's some clean clothes on your bed, and some soap and stuff by the sink." She told her uncle.
Daniel turned to look at her. "Y'all both decent?" He asked her bluntly.
"Yes!" Maigan replied with a laugh while shaking her head.
Daniel walked in and saw at a glance that Mikeala was indeed dressed and fixing her hair before starting on her makeup. Daniel grabbed his clothes and headed to the shower room at the back of the BOQ.
Daniel cranked up the water and was happily surprised at the pressure. Blasting almost like a fire hose, the water was good and hot. The salvage operator took his time, and enjoyed a quality shower the likes of which was rarely available anywhere else.
After his shower, Daniel headed to the sink to shave. Looking over what had been left for him he had to shake his head in consternation. The pink disposable razor, he had no problem with, and while he hadn't been thrilled with the bar of Caress soap, there wasn't anything else so he'd used it anyway, but the salvage operator drew the line at the Skintimate feminine shaving foam. There was no WAY that he was going to go around smelling like a bouquet of flowers on a base full of soldiers!
Daniel wet his face down with hot water and started in with the razor. He knew that he'd end up with a truly nasty case of razor burn, but there wasn't any help for it. After he shaved, he got dressed and went to get his boots on.
Daniel walked back to the bed he'd slept on and started pulling on his boots. Then he looked over to see if the two teens were ready to go. When he did his eyes bulged and his jaw dropped. If anything the two were dressed even better than they had been for the trip to Red Lobster.
"You two are trying to get me sent to prison aren't you?" Daniel demanded after he got his wits back.
"No, why? What do you mean?" Mikeala asked him while Maigan burst out laughing.
"Cuz I KNOW I'm gonna have to kill somebody for staring!" Daniel retorted.
Both girls burst out laughing hysterically at that comment, because they knew right away that it was a testament to just how good they really looked.
Mikeala had dressed in a light blue denim shirt and ruffled mini skirt that matched her eyes, while Maigan was again dressed in black. A form fitting top and skintight slacks. Both girls were wearing spike heels, and looking like they belonged at a Hollywood gala.
Maigan pulled her friend to her feet, and both girls spun in a pirouette to show off their outfits.
"Well, what do you think?" Mikeala asked happily.
Maigan's eyes shot wide open at that question, knowing that her uncle was going to be dead honest with his answer.
"I think I'm gonna have to kill someone within the hour!" Daniel ground out.
That only made the two girls laugh even harder as they got ready to leave. When the trio stepped outside, there was an MP waiting to escort them back to the hangar, where the conference room had been set up.
During the drive, the MP kept glancing in the rearview mirror and giving Daniel a sly grin. Finally Daniel leaned forward and tapped the soldier on his shoulder to make sure that he had the man's attention.
"They're my nieces, and they're underage!" Daniel warned in a very soft deadly tone.
The MP nodded his understanding and thereafter kept his eyes on the road. The tense silence in the Hum-V was so thick that Optimus wouldn't have been able to cut with even his massively powerful blade.
When they walked in the hangar, they saw that several people had already arrived and were sitting around the conference table having coffee and pastries. No one said a word of greeting to Daniel, but the two girls received several salutations from some of the soldiers that had gathered and were waiting for the meeting.
All three headed for the table that was covered with refreshments. There was a huge one hundred and twenty cup percolator coffee pot filled with a premium dark roast, which immediately drew both Daniel and his niece. Mikeala opted for a tall glass of ice cold orange juice instead of coffee. Both of the girls ignored the doughnuts in favor of a toasted bagel smothered with cream cheese. Daniel, however did grab a couple of bear claws before he stared fixing his coffee.
Daniel started by grabbing a cup and dumping enough sugar in it to fill it a fourth of the way up. THEN he added the coffee. When Daniel finally took a seat at the table, he noticed that Col. Anderson was giving him a horrified look.
"Do you want some pancakes to go with that syrup?" The Air Force officer asked bluntly.
"No thanks. But I'll take half a pack of No Doze if ya got it." Daniel replied with a half grin.
It was everything the salvage operator could do to keep from laughing at the expression on the officer's face when he said that. Daniel knew that both his caffeine intake and his sugar consumption horrified his doctors, and while they practically begged him to slow down on the stuff, he never did.
Daniel had just finished his bear claws, and was on his third cup of caffeinated syrup when General Mallory sat down in the chair to his left.
"Now I'm beginning to understand why you were concerned about the possible murder charge yesterday. I didn't think women like that could exist without lots of help from an airbrush and plastic surgery! Do they ALWAYS go around looking like that?" General Mallory asked with a nod in the direction of the two girls who were standing off to the side talking with Jazz and Bumblebee.
"I don't know about the other one, but unfortunately, my niece sure does." Daniel answered.
"I've heard it before, but I never believed it until now, but they HAVE to be putting something in the water!" General Mallory said quietly.
"I know what you mean! I don't know what it is, but I can tell ya that I wish two things. That they had used it when I was a kid, and that they had stopped when SHE was a kid!" Daniel replied seriously.
The base commander burst out laughing at that comment.
"I just hope my little girl never decides to dress like that." Capt. Lennox piped up.
"Yeah, how old is she?" Daniel asked.
"She just turned four months old, and she'll already break your heart." Capt Lennox stated proudly.
"That means you got more trouble than I do! Because by the time she's that age, I can guarantee that the latest fashion will be a WHOLE lot skimpier and tighter than anything those two would even consider at this point!" Daniel told the Army captain honestly.
"Oh, MAN! I hadn't thought about that at ALL!" Capt. Lennox lamented.
"I'll be glad to loan you a crow bar or two if ya need it." Daniel told him with a grin.
"Crow bar NOTHING! I'm gonna be using that LRV you modified!" Capt. Lennox said seriously.
Both Daniel and General Mallory shook their heads with a chuckle, neither being able to blame the man.
That was when Daniel noticed Agent Bannacheck trying to get his attention by motioning him over. Daniel excused himself and went over to his boss.
"What's up, Boss Man?" Daniel asked candidly.
"Step outside with me for a minute." Agent Bannacheck told him. "Since, you're going to be doing repairs on any Autobots that might be injured, and Decepticon prisoners we might capture; I thought that you might need something that is more than able to get the job done. And since you LITERALLY buried your wrecker the other day. Well, we got you a couple of replacements." He continued as the two men stepped outside the hangar.
It was shaping up to be a hot day. The Nevada sun was already cranking the heat up to more then eighty degrees. Agent Bannacheck led Daniel around to the side of the hangar where there was still some shade.
There it was. Daniel's eyes bulged when he saw it. No WAY! He thought. There's no WAY he means THAT one!
"There they are, and here's the keys. Just remember that they're still U.S. Government property if you ever decide to quit." Agent Bannacheck said with a cocky grin as he handed Daniel the keys.
The wrecker was any junkyard owner's dream machine. At a cost of more than one million dollars, the huge triple rear axle Kenworth heavy equipment transport had been modified with tool boxes along the sides, hydraulic outrigger jacks to allow for heavy lifting to one side or the other, and was able to tow ANYTHING that could be driven on a road! With a lifting capacity of more than seventy five tons; there wasn't much that couldn't be done with the wrecker.
High gloss Satin black accented in highly polished chrome, the rig had been equipped with every type of aftermarket running light that was available. Daniel's jaw was on the ground and scooping up the desert sand as he looked at the wrecker in silent admiration. It was a full two minutes before Daniel could do anything but stare.
When he finally recovered enough of his senses to actually walk around the wrecker to examine it closer, he discovered the second wrecker.
Just as huge as the first and nearly identical except for one small detail. This big monster was equipped with a flatbed! Daniel shook his head in disbelief. He knew immediately that this one had to be a custom order, but how in the hell had they gotten it built this fast! Almost big enough to haul Optimus in his standard mode, the wrecker was just amazingly huge.
Unable to believe his eyes or the fact that the rigs were actually his to use, Daniel walked back to where Agent Bannacheck was standing with a smirk on his face.
"Those are HUGE!" Daniel said stupidly stating the obvious with his right thumb pointing back over his shoulder at the two wreckers.
"Yes they are." Agent Bannacheck replied. "Just don't beat 'em up too much, those things aren't easily obtained you know." He said holding up his right index finger to emphasize his point.
"Uh, Yeah!" Daniel answered with a dumbstruck expression.
Then the two men reentered the hangar where they saw that only a few people still hadn't arrived. Daniel resumed his seat after getting a fourth cup of coffee, when Maigan came over and sat on his right.
"Are you in trouble again?" She demanded instantly.
"Not yet, at least not as far as I know, why?" Daniel asked confused.
"Because I saw the Top Nacho drag you outside! So I KNOW that something is up. Now you can either tell me now, or you can tell me later, but either way, if you ARE in trouble, then you're in for one HELL of an ass chewing." Maigan stated hotly.
General Mallory choked on his coffee as he struggled to keep from laughing at the salvage operator's expense. It wasn't easy and the officer failed miserably.
Daniel gave the General a hard look before turning back to his niece.
"What's up is that the Boss was just delivering my new toys." Daniel replied smugly as he pulled out the keys to the massive wreckers and started attaching them to his key ring.
"What kind of new toys?" Maigan promptly asked with a skeptic expression.
Daniel just gave a half grin and shook his head, knowing that the curiosity would drive his niece nuts.
"What KIND of new toys?" Maigan demanded more insistently.
"So, General. Tell me, do you need any help with that OTHER little project you mentioned? I'll admit that I've never worked with anything of that . . . nature before, but I'm pretty good at figuring things out." Daniel said as he turned towards the officer.
General Mallory stared at the salvage operator as if he'd lost what was left of his mind, while the man's niece was repeatedly punching him in the shoulder to get him to answer her.
Both men started laughing when the girl began using both fists to try to beat her uncle into submission. It was when she finally hit him in earnest that Daniel gave in.
"OWWW! Damn! Ok I give! Geez! I got a pair of new wreckers." Daniel finally told her while he rubbed his shoulder where she'd hit him.
"A PAIR of tow trucks?! You actually expect me to believe that he pulled you outside to give you a PAIR of tow trucks?" Maigan demanded doubtfully.
"It's the truth! Here, look at the keys!" Daniel told her as he handed her his keys.
"Uh huh and where's the actual wreckers?" Maigan asked smugly expecting her uncle to hand her some excuse.
"Go outside and head around the right side of the building." Daniel said simply.
That was the absolute LAST thing she expected her uncle to tell her. Maigan stared at her uncle with a blank expression for several seconds before she jumped up to go see for herself. Maigan knew that her uncle wouldn't lie about something, but he HAD been known to pull some pretty strange practical jokes.
It was a full ten minutes before Maigan came back inside with a stupefied expression on her face. She came over and sat back down to see her uncle looking at her with the smuggest looking smirk she'd ever seen.
"Well, did they really give him a pair of tow trucks?" General Mallory asked as he leaned forward to look past Daniel at Maigan.
"They're HUGE!" She answered in quiet awe.
"Well just what kind of tow trucks are we talking about here?" The General asked interestedly.
"Kenworths!" Daniel answered grinning like a kid in a candy store with no one around.
"Do you have ANY idea how expensive those things are?" General Mallory asked surprised.
"Considering that I own a junkyard; YEAH I have a REALLY good idea about how expensive those things are. But when you consider that Optimus over there turns into a Peterbuilt, then it's obvious that I'm gonna need something that big if he ever gets messed up." Daniel answered emphatically.
Daniel, Maigan and General Mallory continued to discuss the wreckers for some time. In one of the far corners of the hangar; Optimus was having a far different type of conversation. He, Starglide and Barricade were discussing the ex-Decepticon's plans for the future.
"I haven't asked Barricade to join our cause, because I'm nearly certain that he would turn me down." Optimus told the femme.
"You're right. I would turn you down." Barricade interjected simply.
"What?! Why would you not be willing to join the Autobots now that you know the truth of what REALLY happened that awful day?" Starglide demanded in angry disbelief. "Are you so attached to the Decepticon cause that you would turn on your own family even after your so called friends tried to kill you?" She continued in the same tone.
"No. That's not it at all. I would be honored to fight along side my creator and her sibling, but I can not join the Autobots until I have repaid a debt that I'm not even sure CAN be repaid!" Barricade told his mother quietly in that deep voice of his.
"Do not misunderstand. That human is a strange one, and we are bound to each other for the rest of our lives. I didn't ask for this bond, nor would I have accepted it if given a choice, but the two of us ARE bonded whether we like it or not." Here Barricade couldn't help but give a dark chuckle. "I must say that I am starting to like him though. To be as fragile as he is, he is still as fearless as any mech I have ever fought against or fought beside. He has a keen wit, and a type of cunning that would make him a match for ANY Decepticon he runs into. His only problem is that he does NOT know when it's time to back down. But, honestly; I hope that there are a few MORE humans like him, because if there are, then the Decepticons are in for a VERY hard time of things." Barricade finished with a laugh that made the energon of the other two bots run cold.
Optimus had to reset his optics in surprise.
"You mean to tell me that you actually plan to let Daniel go into battle against the Decepticons? Are your processors damaged?" Optimus asked in disbelief.
Barricade had to laugh before he could respond. "Not at all. Think about this; Ironhide has fought beside humans, so he knows just how . . . resourceful they can be, but he still underestimated Daniel, didn't he? As arrogant as they are, any Decepticon he runs into will dismiss him as a threat entirely!" Barricade reasoned.
Optimus didn't say anything as he studied the former Decepticon thoughtfully. He knew that Barricade had a reputation as a tough and extremely deadly melee fighter, whose cunning and courage could never be questioned. The vicious mech had never been known for demonstrating a high level of intelligence however. Still, Optimus knew that Barricade was right; and the battle in Mission City had proved it. Any Decepticon that Daniel ran into WOULD dismiss him as a threat and concentrate their efforts on any Autobots in the area, which would leave Daniel, or any other human for that matter, free to act as needed.
Starglide was not so accepting of her creation's reasoning.
"Optimus, he can't possibly be right in this! Human bodies are incredibly fragile compared to ours; even when compared to that of a sparkling. Are we now going to allow these humans to suffer and die for our war? I don't care how glitched or annoying he is, Daniel does NOT deserve to be killed simply because his death might serve a purpose. . . . ." Starglide was saying when the Autobot leader interrupted her.
Optimus held up his hand asking her to wait while he gathered his thoughts.
"I'm not saying anything of the kind. What I AM saying, is that humans have fought beside us, and while it is true that some of them fell during the battle, it is also true that we lost one of our own as well as the losses that the Decepticons suffered. Scorpinock, Frenzy, Blackout, and even Megatron himself fell at the hands of these fragile bodied humans. Further, it was a human child, sparkling in our terms that brought Megatron down. This is their world Starglide. Would you have me tell them that they are not allowed to defend it? The humans here have welcomed us, and while they have asked us to remain a secret, it is not because they do not wish others to know about us, but rather it is that their government has wisely decided that they, as a whole, are not ready for the changes that we, or even knowledge of our existence could bring to this world." Optimus explained gently.
"We will be able to make a home for ourselves on this world, and it's possible that with help from the humans, we may one day be able to return to Cybertron and restore it to some semblance of life. If that day ever comes, I will gladly welcome it, but until that day arrives we will live here among the humans while we protect and guide them into a better future. One that will hopefully be brighter for all of us." Optimus continued.
"Wait! Did you just tell me that a human CHILD killed Megatron?! I find the thought that our war has engulfed another race to be abhorrent, but to find that you have allowed their YOUNG to become involved in it is FAR worse! How could you possibly have allowed a CHILD to become involved in a WAR? I along with everyone else who has ever fought beside you have come to expect better than that from you, Optimus Prime!" Starglide demanded angrily.
"Optimus wasn't given a choice. The boy had the only key to the location of the All Spark, and every Decepticon was under orders to retrieve it by any means necessary." Barricade piped up.
"If I had been given a choice in the matter, this entire world would never have been involved. I will say, that I told Sam to place the cube in MY chest to destroy the All Spark and me along with it. I was ready to give my life so that this world and the humans that live here might be spared." Optimus chuckled ruefully. "But Sam had other ideas. He ran to Megatron instead. I thought he was going to hand the cube over to him, but he used it to destroy Megatron, instead of me. This war has left me little choice in many things, Starglide. The war itself is something I would have avoided if it were possible." Optimus continued softly.
"My apologies Optimus. I should have known that you would never endanger lives needlessly. It's just that my creationary programs keep insisting that these humans be protected and cared for as if they were sparklings. Logically I know they're not, but still." The femme said quietly.
"I know. Both my leadership programs and my own creation programs are insisting the same thing." The Autobot leader said with a light smile.
Optimus was about to say more, but he didn't get the chance because Secretary of Defense John Robert Keller walked in at that moment.
"Is everybody here yet?" Sec Def Keller asked casually.
"You're late as usual, Boss Man!" Daniel yelled out jovially from across the hangar as he chugged away at a Java Russian.
Sec Def Keller walked over and gave the salvage operator a hard look.
"Now I thought you told me that Ratchet crushed the last one of those things you had. So where did you get that one?" He demanded with a hard look.
"That's easy! Maigan had Buzz Boy over there stash a bunch of 'em for us! Relax! This is only my second one today, so I'm not off to a very good start on these; I've usually had three to four by this time. The thing is, we don't have very many of to split between us, so I gotta go slow on 'em." Daniel replied with a grin.
"Are you gonna be startin anymore trouble with Ratchet over there?" Keller asked.
"I didn't start anything yesterday; HE did! He leaves my coffee alone, and I'll leave his head where it is. Otherwise, all bets are off, and I'll build a new BBQ Pit out of his metal skull!" Daniel said as his grin and friendly attitude vanished in an instant.
"Now see? There you go again with those damned threats! That's EXACTLY what I don't wanna have to deal with right now!" Sec Def Keller said irritably.
"Then don't tick me off by bringing it up." Daniel retorted.
Sec Def Keller let out a frustrated sigh of exasperation.
"Are we ready to get this meeting started? Is everyone here yet?" He asked as he looked around the hangar.
Six Autobots and one former Decepticon stepped towards the conference table. It wasn't actually one table, since there wasn't a single table on the planet that would be long enough to seat everyone. So there were several tables lined up end to end in the massive hangar. The humans involved at least were very glad that it was air conditioned.
Agent Simmons had shown up late the previous night. He'd had to bring several additional agents with him just in case Frenzy had tried anything during transport. Simmons hadn't been about to trust the spastic little bot as far as he could toss Optimus, but Keller had left specific instructions.
During the ride, Frenzy, Maggie, and Glen were using several laptops to create several false web pages that would only be accessed by someone who didn't have an IP address. The whole thing had been Glen's idea, and the trio was still at it at one end of the table. Sam had also been given a ride with the group, and was now sitting next to his girlfriend.
Everyone's attention was suddenly drawn to Frenzy when the little mech started laughing hysterically and spastically. Being about the only human who could understand the weird little mech, Daniel went over to him to see what was going on, but he wasn't the only one to be drawn towards the group.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Gee ockt! Tick, tick, tick. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Danger! Danger! Danger! Warning, Decepticons in trouble! Ha, ha, ha, ha!" Frenzy was laughing and chattering away at high speed as he used all four of his hands to type away at his keyboard.
"Are you INSANE?! They're never going to believe that!" Maggie insisted when she saw what the mech was adding to the special server that Glen had set up.
"You wanna tell me what's going on over here, when we're trying to get things settled so we can get this show on the road?" Sec Def Keller asked when he got close to the little troop.
"He's. He's creating fake web pages and adding in fictional and make believe creatures as if they were real! And he's claiming that the Decepticons won't know the difference!" Maggie answered disgustedly.
"Well just what kind of critters is he putting on there?" Sec Def Keller asked curiously.
"Some kind of giant sand worms out of some book, and something called a gelatinous cube; whatever that is. And I don't even want to mention what ELSE he's put in there." Maggie exclaimed in frustration.
Sec Def Keller looked around the room with a strange expression.
"Is there someone that can tell me what these things are, and just WHY he's doing whatever it is that he's doing?" He asked the room at large.
"Well I'm not going to quote any facts on the sand worms until I find out which ones he's using, but I only know one kind of gelatinous cube, and that comes from Dungeons and Dragons." Sam answered.
At that point Sam realized that he was getting a lot of weird looks from several people in the hangar.
"Ok so I played it with Miles as a kid, big deal!" Sam burst out in response to the strange looks he was getting. "A gelatinous cube, well think of a three foot tall block of green jello that happens to be alive and only eats metal. They're drawn to it like termites to rotten wood. It's like candy to 'em. And for something as big as a Cybertronian." The young man gestured at the various bots in the hangar. "They'd come from miles to join in on the feast!" Sam finished.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! Decepticons DINNER!" Frenzy cackled maniacally while still typing away.
Each of the Autobots, and Barricade had hit the web looking up the beast in question, what they found REALLY disturbed them.
"Do such creatures really exist?" Optimus asked in obvious concern.
"No. Their just things that were made up for some stupid game that a bunch of geeks like to play." Sam told them.
There were a lot of surprised looks from the humans in the hangar as all of the Cybertronians visibly relaxed on hearing that. There were even some sounds that were suspiciously like sighs of relief.
Sec Def Keller rounded on Sam instantly.
"Why don't you tell me just what's so damned bad about a chunk of jello that would make THEM nervous?" Keller demanded insistently.
"Like I said; they eat metal. You can't hear 'em coming, and they can move pretty fast when they're hungry. Putting one of them near a gelatinous cube would be like smothering you in steak sauce and standing you in front of a cage full of hungry tigers." Sam explained with a bit more confidence.
Sec Def Keller turned to Glen who was grinning at what Frenzy was doing.
"And he's setting these things up so that the Decepticons will think they're REAL?" Keller demanded in disbelief.
"Oh yeah! He even changed the aliens so that they prefer creatures with a high metal content to use as a host for their chest busters, and put their natural habitat as the Laurentian abyss!" Glen replied enthusiastically.
"And you think this will work?" Keller asked doubtfully.
"Even if it doesn't, it won't hurt to try. It's not like anyone else will ever find these web pages, they'll only show up for someone that doesn't have an IP address, so no one else will ever have to worry about it." Glen explained excitedly.
"Hey, the kid's got a point! The best weapon is one you don't have to worry about. If that little website of his even works on one of 'em, then that's one less that we'll have to deal with." Capt. Lennox said quickly.
Much as he had when Megatron was melting during the Decepticon attack; Capt. Lennox trusted his instincts. A few days earlier, he'd taken one look at the situation and realized that Sam had somehow gained a lot of information about the alien robots. Information that could only have come from the robots themselves; which meant that he'd made peaceful contact with them. While no one else had even tried. All of this had flown through the officer's mind in an instant, when he made his decision to back Sam. Capt. Lennox had earned both the trust and respect of the men that followed his commands, and it was that trust in their CO that had caused them to back him without hesitation. Somehow, something was telling the army captain that this just might give them an edge when they needed it.
"Son, if you think this actually has a chance then that's good enough for me." Sec Def Keller said with a nod of his head.
At that point Optimus stepped forward.
"I must ask if you will be able to issue an IP address for my Autobots to use so that they will not encounter this false information. I have some bots that might have what you would call a nervous breakdown over some of this information were they to believe it to be real." The Autobot leader said with serious concern.
"Oh sweet merciful Primus! I don't even want to THINK about how badly (untranslatable Cybertronian) would react to that! He'd never STOP glitching!" Starglide said in horror.
"Isn't THAT the slagging truth! He'd be trying to revamp this entire base's security to keep out creatures that don't even exist! And I'd be the one that would have to repair his burnt out circuits after he fries his processors!" Ratchet grumbled angrily.
Daniel was been shaking his head with a skeptical expression on his face.
"Dit. Dit. Dit, dit. Need more things!" Frenzy sputtered.
"You want MORE stuff to put in there?!" Daniel demanded in shock.
Frenzy was nodding his head enthusiastically as his top left optic swiveled over to look at the salvage operator. Suddenly Frenzy froze as all four of his blue optics focused on Daniel, or more accurately, the Java Russian in his hand.
"Fren. Fren. Fren-Frenzy have cof-coffee too?" The chrome Decepticon asked hopefully in a soft voice.
Daniel froze for almost a minute as he thought it over. Finally, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a Java Russian. Daniel walked over and was about to hand it to the little mech when he paused.
"Go slow on this thing, cuz it's the last one I got!" Daniel warned the hacker as he handed the coffee to him.
Frenzy wasn't the only mech staring at Daniel in complete stunned silence. Ratchet too was also in shock.
"What about a ghost?" Glen asked breaking the strange silence.
Frenzy's attention snapped to the human hacker as he started typing with only two of his four hands. The other two being occupied with his coffee. Within a few seconds, suggestions started flying hard and fast as everyone started thinking about anything and everything that might possibly scare an alien robot.
Giant sand worms from Frank Herbert's Dune, gelatinous cubes, ghosts, gremlins, modified creatures from the Alien movies, poltergeists, and even demons went into the website. With one exception, every Cybertronian in the room was staring at the humans in complete surprise while the impromptu brainstorming session went on. Few of them could believe their audios at just how fast such disparate group could come together to work on a project. Several of the MP's who hadn't even been introduced to everyone got involved.
Fifteen minutes after he'd asked for suggestions, Frenzy had added nearly two hundred fictional creatures to his website. Complete with biographical backgrounds and realistic looking photos. The only exception to that was the basilisk that had been suggested.
It was another forty five minutes before the meeting actually began.
Once everyone was seated, on top of large steel shipping crates in the case of the Cybertronians, Sec Def Keller rapped his knuckles on the table to get everyone's attention.
"There's not really any diplomatic way to put this, so I'm just gonna say it outright. How do we know the Decepticons won't be back, and how do we know that these two wont join them when they do?" Keller demanded in a no nonsense tone.
Barricade stood up from the crate that he was sitting on and looked the Secretary of defense straight in his eyes.
"I swear upon my honor and on the spark of Primus, that should the Decepticons return, that I will do everything in my power to defend both this world and those who live here, Autobot as well as human, and may the Matrix forever reject me should I violate this oath!" Barricade said clearly so that everyone could hear him.
While Sec Def Keller was frowning doubtfully at the black and white mech, every Cybertronian in the room was staring at him in open mouthed shock.
Optimus knew all about the oath of Primus. The most sacred and binding oath any Cybertronian could make, and there was even a record of what had happened to a bot that had once violated the oath. The bots resultant death had been gruesome and terrible to behold as Primus made his wrath known to all. Optimus had heard of many bots being threatened with the oath but each time the bot had backed down being unwilling to swear it. Now, for the first time in his existence, he'd finally heard someone other than a Prime that had actually sworn to it!
"And you expect me to just take your promise on that?" Keller asked the black and white mech skeptically.
Barricade said nothing as almost every Autobot in the hangar instantly jumped to Barricade's defense.
"Everyone, calm down and be quiet please! We cannot expect the humans to understand the severity of the oath Barricade just took. Give me a moment to explain it to them." Optimus told his fellow Autobots sternly.
"Just how serious is it? Because they're acting like he just swore right in front of God himself or something." Sec Def Keller asked.
"We have a record of what happened to one mech that violated this oath. I think it only fitting that you should see for yourselves what Barricade's fate will be should he break his vow." Optimus replied.
As the hologram flickered into existence, everyone could clearly see a rather large black and green mech in the center of the projection.
{"Fools! I lied when I swore the oath of Primus, so that I would be released. Now that I am free, nothing will stop me from taking control of this city, and making every last one of you into slaves for the foundation of my empire!" The black and green mech bellowed triumphantly.
Suddenly an expression of agonized horror filled the mech's features as his metallic body began to crumble into dust. The sudden decay progressed rapidly across the mech's entire body in a matter of seconds. The agonized screams of pain filled terror could clearly be heard by everyone. The rapid decay continued until all that was left was the slowly fading glow from the spark chamber that was left sitting on the ground.}
The hangar was filled with a heavy silence as Optimus deactivated his holographic projector.
"Just so you know, what happened to that mech defies all known Cybertronian medical science. There isn't any substance capable of destroying one of our frames that quickly." Ratchet spoke up in a thoughtful tone.
Barricade only chuckled. "Yes, I've seen that before. My creator over there showed it to me once, when she was teaching me about the concept of honor."
"You KNEW! You knew the consequences and you STILL swore that oath?!" Bumblebee demanded in shock.
Barricade only nodded his head in reply.
"According to him, that ain't the first time he's taken that oath." Jazz spoke up quietly.
As everyone turned to look at the former Decepticon for confirmation of this, the black and white mech spoke up.
"Jazz is correct. This is actually the third time I've sworn that oath! The first time was to avenge the deaths of my creators. The second time was to ensure that I would never endanger innocent lives in battle, and all of you witnessed my third oath to Primus." Barricade said simply.
"Ok, so we got the wrath of the robotic god making sure that you live up to your word. What about him?" Sec Def Keller asked offhandedly.
"Frenzy sw-swear to, to, to spark of Primus to too, and Ma- matrix reject me, me for breaking oath!" Frenzy stated as clearly as he could.
Author's notes: I finally figured out what makes those pit blasted plot demons tick! Reviews! So Please, please, PLEASE click that button and leave a few thoughts on this chapter and the story so far.
