AN: Another chapter! Been wanting to do this for a long time, baby!
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Mr. Sumdac sat and nodded away as he thought over everything Bumblebee and Cliffjumper explained. It was shocking to say the least, but he wasn't the type to freak out. Even with such a giant discovery such as this. No, he was a scientist, he welcomed this.
What he didn't welcome was war. That was something he could live well without. He couldn't make technology that even assisted in such causes. But some far off alien war was even worse and tainted the joy of this discovery. But the sad thing was, his family and his worker, his worker's family, were now connected to it, whether they liked it or not.
So, when it all boiled down to what would be said next, Mr. Sumdac answered with, "I understand everything."
""You do?"" The others asked, way too surprised by his calm answer. It was still underwhelming, truth be told.
"What more can I say? You're clearly here to protect us from these Decepticons through no fault of your own. My only issue is the involvement of those two, they're children," he pointed at Jack and Sari, "They shouldn't be involved in this."
"We really don't have a choice, dad," Sari told him lowly, "They saw our faces, our place, for all we know, they could be tracking us on our phones."
Jack had to pause and release a heavy sigh at her statement. He was texting his mother just at this moment. He's hoping this was the biggest elaborate prank in his life, but he knew that would somehow be a fantasy at this point. He decided to add, "yeah, as much as I'm not too excited about it, I'd rather they watch our backs then not."
"I know and I understand. That's why we need absolute assurance that they will be safe under both our watches," Mr. Sumdac told the Autobots.
"With our lives. It's what we do," Bumblebee assured, Cliffjumper nodding at his statement. Combined with the looks they gave him and the sincerity in their bright blue eyes, Sumdac was convinced in their resolve. He feels he has a good grasp on their character, especially after what was said.
"Excellent. Now I want to meet this so-called Optimus Prime of yours," Mr. Sumdac told them, eager to learn more about the Autobots and their species. First thing he would see is why they were so… akin to humans.
Bumblebee looked at Cliffjumper and she shrugged before asking, "You free tonight, Mr Sumdac?"
Outside, Arcee lowered her rifle and spoke on her comm, "Prowl, they're bringing him in."
"Make sure it's just him," Prowl put an emphasis on "just" and further said, "As stated, he may actually be beneficial rather than another liability. I want to make sure at least one thing can go right on this planet."
"Understood," Arcee stayed in position until the group took off. In that short amount of time, she wondered what the cons were up to. They had a lot of room to play with this planet and she didn't like them being quiet. Especially with Starscream around.
XXXXX
"And we're all okay with this? I just need some reaffirming from all of you," Stated an absolutely flabbergasted Fowler, his disapproving gaze locked on Soundwave as she was actually plugged into their computer, "We're literally giving them untapped access to our supercomputer."
"In exchange for vast amounts of knowledge," Powell argued back, considering this a small price to pay in favor of knowledge from the stars, "they've already provided with some upgraded forms of communication and information relays. You're too jumpy, Fowler."
"You consider them trustworthy already?" Fowler asked him in a stunned voice before he glared at Soundwave's direction. He swore he felt her gaze briefly flicker to him, like a weight that suddenly came over his back, "And she hasn't even said anything, not once."
Starscream let out a slight gasp and gave Fowler an offended glance, "Just so you know, she has a speech impediment. Very sensitive about it too," she turned to the scientist with a slightly hurt look, "Tell me, Powell, is the rest of your kind so… empathetic?"
"Usually more so," Powell said dryly, giving Fowler a light glare, and making the soldier roll his eyes. He walked up to Starscream and asked, "were you able to find anything on those criminals?"
"Soundwave is currently sorting through the evidence, but they should come into view soon enough," Starscream told him, giving him a pleased look. Fowler, unlike Powell, was off putting by it and quickly made his way to his commander.
They were inside what could be described as a boxed dome and used a key card to enter the fortified structure. Once in and the door sealed, he spoke, "Sir, this is crazy. Why are we doing this? They literally have deception in their names."
"Oh, I'm fully aware, Fowler," Simmons began, swirling a glass of fine scotch in his hand, "what, did you think I was born yesterday?" He moved an empty seat back and said, "Here, sit down, seat's empty."
Fowler took a seat and sighed out his frustrations, fingers on the bridge of his nose, "Sir, why are we doing this?"
"Play the fool and beat the fool," Simmons told him after taking a sip of his drink, "They're giant robot women from outer space with god knows what at their disposal. Here, look at these," the commander handed him a paper file and watched Fowler's reaction as he opened it. He nodded as he saw Fowler become visibly stunned. And Mortified, "humanity isn't as blind as the world, and apparently beyond, thinks we are."
The files displayed a few images captured from deep space. In more remote places and from those images came glimpses. Glimpses of a few planets with life. And had life. One of the images showed a planet being completely scorched by ships.
"My star spangled god…" muttered Fowler as his eyes lingered on the image.
"Considering we have no idea of the ballistics these robotics amazons are packing, save for those," Simmons shamelessly pointed at Soundwave's chest, a crude joke to lighten the less than bright mood, as he leaned back and put his feet on the desk, "I'm not looking for the US of A to end up like that, let alone the world."
"So we're essentially being held hostage?" Fowler finally summarized, shaken to his core by that image. He felt incredibly foolish for speaking up the way he did earlier. As much as he didn't want other worldly nations snooping around US government bases of operations, he sure as hell didn't want some war of the worlds on this scale.
"For the time being, at least until we get to know exactly what we're dealing with these Cybertronians," Simmons stated as he glared at the smiling Starscream. "For all we know, this may not even be them. Or maybe this is a small fraction of what they could do. Who knows, as of now, it doesn't matter. What does matter is getting the upper hand. And tell me, who knows technology best and the other guy who knows women best?"
"Is that a trick question?" Fowler questioned, genuinely perplexed by what was asked.
"Isaac Sumdac on robots and me for the latter. Come on, you're an agent, use this, eh?" Simmons pointed at his head while Fowler nodded, doing his best to not roll his eyes at his commander's light antics, "like I said before, we just pretend to be submissive before we take the upper hand."
"And then?"
"And then we're gonna blow these giant freaks to hell. What else?" Simmons said as a smirk creeped on his face, Fowler following soon after, "Now tell me… Scotch? Or Whiskey?"
Fowler's brow furrowed for a moment before he took two shot glasses, "Both."
Outside, Soundwave was taking some rather interesting notes. Some locations looked to be blocked off or not appearing even on the human satellite feeds. In fact, a few feeds were under a sort of lock. That wouldn't sit by her, especially not with the major major companies. Sumdac Industries looked particularly interesting...
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Mr. Sumdac looked around the base as the Autobots were all gathered around him and couldn't help but take in the sight of two things. One, of course, were the Autobots themselves, all indeed in the form of giant metal women, like one of those sci fi movies that Sari always dragged him to watch when he could. It wasn't overwhelming simply due to the fact he met Bumblebee and Cliffjumper beforehand. Second was the technology augmented to the base. It was… actually underwhelming, but given that they were rebels, it made sense. He decided not to say anything about it to avoid coming off as rude to these visitors-and-protectors of Earth. His gaze ended upon the most imposing form, Optimus Prime. Despite Her stature, she radiated wisdom and kindness, especially as she spoke.
"It's good to meet you in person, Mr. Sumdac. I am Optimus Prime," She kneeled down to get better eye contact with him.
"So they told me, it's such an immense honor," Isaac greeted back in kind.
"Much better form of warm welcome, I'd say," Ironhide chuckled, nudging Bumblebee as she said that. He rolled his eyes, but he couldn't agree more.
"You do me the honors," Optimus told him, "especially considering how much Sari has told me about you. You're quite the scientist," She told him, making Mr. Sumdac's smile widened. Being told that before held much weight when he started his career and still does to this day. But being told that by a robotic alien with most likely more complex parts was something else entirely.
"So, what will you do?" Mr. Sumdac turned to see Prowl staring him down with her arms crossed, Arcee at her side and polishing what he assumed was her rifle. And he was correct.
"Well, help you of course," Mr. Sumdac answered the police woman, still assured of their good faith, even despite the little bit of intimidation on Prowl's part, "you are here to help us, so I may as well help you."
Sari fist pumped and gave Prowl a smug smirk, "Now, what do you say, officer?"
Prowl said nothing and merely kept her scrutinizing gaze locked on Mr. Sumdac, analyzing him. She wasn't impressed, but so far no warning signs were on in her head, for now at least. Arcee not having to intercept him at all before he came there was a good sign.
"Think we could get some better gear?" Cliffjumper asked as she jabbed a thumb at the monitors.
"A new outfit that's more in season is definitely appreciated, human," Added Teletraan-1, eager to join in a conversation about her parts, "The sleeker and newer, the better."
"May I remind you two that he just came here," Ratchet lightly scolded the two for their lack of manners.
"Actually, that sounds like a splendid idea," Mr. Sumdac replied as he walked over to inspect their machinery more closely, "I'm not sure if I'll be up to your preferred standards, but it'll definitely be an improvement over this. Tell me, did you have to work with outdated military hardware?"
"I've never felt so stiff and limited in my life," Teletraan-1 immediately answered in a shamed tone, "Please get this tacky jumble of wires blocks off of me, doc."
"I think she's gonna like him," Sari muttered to Bumblebee, making him snicker a little and nod in agreement.
"Keep in mind," Prowl slowly eased her way in between Mr. Sumdac and Teletraan-1, much to the computer's very audible irritation, "while better equipment would be appreciated, you'll be working under strict supervision. Nothing personal, we're just not keen on exposing one of our prime defenses too much."
"And the moment's ruined," the little girl groaned with Bumblebee nodding.
"Of course, I wouldn't want to disrespect your privacy," Mr. Sumdac told her, fully understanding despite the less than friendly tone. Then he turned to Optimus and asked her, "Tell me, how soon would you like me to upgrade your base?"
Optimus stroked her chin masked, "How soon are you available?"
Mr. Sumdac only smiled.
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"Hey, Bumblebee?" Cliffjumper suddenly asked while they were driving alone, the only light aside from their headlights being the very visible stars and light galaxy colors in the sky, "you're actually from an alternate timeline right?"
"Nah, I just made that up for scraps and giggles," he jokingly answered with a light deadpan as he came beside her, not really needing to mind the lanes since they were so out in the middle of nowhere, "what can I say, I'm Cybertron's best liar."
"Starscream would split open your fuel tank if you said that in front of her," mumbled Cliffjumper before she grumbled louder, "I'm serious though. Come on, you can tell me." The rebel was not fond of being lied to in any shape or form. She wanted some further type of confirmation, especially before she went on with her questions.
"I mean it. I'm not from whatever reality this is," Bumblebee reaffirmed to her before he added a complaint, "isn't my explanation intricate enough to at least break some doubt?"
"I mean, you've got the sincerity," Cliffjumper told him, "okay, then I gotta ask, what was I like in your timeline? I was totally cool, right? This question has been on my mind for the past few sols now."
"One of the coolest," Bumblebee immediately told her. He started remembering everything he did during the war, the stories he heard, his mark on team Prime, on Arcee, "Cliffjumper was crazy in a good way and he got the job done. He was a total warrior to his core and it was tempered by his good spark."
"So my badassery transcends reality?" Cliffjumper smugly chortled, though she didn't sound surprised to hear this, "Frag yeah, I knew it."
"Oh, but there were some embarrassing moments here and there," Bumblebee wasn't going to let her get a big head now. And remembering those times where Cliffjumper got a little ahead of himself still put a bit of laughter in him.
"Well, hold on, not every Cliffjumper is exactly like me," she didn't miss a beat in doing her best to keep her pride in complete tact, "I mean, there's only one and only pure me."
"Yeah, you are special," Bumblebee subtly jabbed and she knew it. She could hear the smirk in his voice saying that.
"Says the mech," Cliffjumper grumbled, making Bumblebee laugh a little, "So, what was everyone else like? Arcee, was she less of a cold chrome bitch?"
"Tone it down will you, she's not that bad," Bumblebee lightly scolded before he took a moment to think, "At least I hope. But my Arcee was kind of cold too, at first. But for a painful reason."
"Painful? How painful?" Cliffjumper, depending on what Bumblebee told her, would feel like a real piece of scrap depending on what he told her.
"I don't really think it's my place to say, but… it's death related," he answered somberly. It wasn't helping that he was talking to Cliffjumper about this either.
"Oh," She mumbled and clicked her tongue, "Well, that and Prowl, I guess I can give Arcee some sympathy," she quickly added at the end, "if that's the case."
"Yeah," Bumblebee still had to keep reminding himself things were so different. If he had to choose, he'd much rather her be the way she is because she's just like that instead of the traumatic repeat of the past. Especially for the future.
Cliffjumper could feel the unease wash over them and cursed herself for bringing down the mood. She to move on to another topic and spoke after some prolonged silence, "So, your place also had more mechs? A total rod fest, right?"
"Rod fest?" Bumblebee questioned.
Cliffjumper almost made a sound on the verge of coughing before she asked Bumblebee, "How old are you?"
"Younger than you, so do better," he playfully shot back.
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The following day, Bumblebee and the Autobots watched as the Sumdac robots worked under their creator to outfit Teletraan-1 with surprising speed and accuracy. The tech he was importing almost looked similar to tech found on Cybertron before the war broke out. And he wasn't bringing in small amounts either. This was far more advanced than the Earth should've had, even to the human governments. On the other side, Goldbug was practicing with her stinger and firing at different targets.
He glanced to his right side, noticing Prowl took very brief pauses on her Tactical Evaluation Pad to watch the robots and Mr. Sumdac, especially him, with a poker face. He doubted it was anything less than scrutiny. He decided to try and be his usual warm self to start an opening conversation with her, asking, "So, how do you feel about Earth?"
"Primitive, but sufficient for operations," a curt and robotic response with no eye contact. She clearly wasn't interested in talking, especially with them.
"Right," Bumblebee was barely off from drawling that out and continued to try, "so-"
"Keep your optics on Goldbug, I'm heading out," She didn't so much as hesitate and walked out.
Once she was off, Goldbug managed to use the radio and say with a grin, "She's a maneater," in the form of a song. Those few seconds proved to be a lapse of judgement and she struck a target marked not shoot, severely souring her score.
Ratchet, walking in with some tools, gave her a dull look, "focus on the targets, not your witty comments, please," she set down the materials and turned to Bumblebee, "and you're better off just letting our officer be. She'll get used to you... eventually," she wasn't too sure about that last part and it was apparent in her speech.
Bumblebee nodded and watched Goldbug practice with her stinger. He started thinking about the alternate powers the others had and wondered aloud, "Do they all have some special tech in them?"
Ratchet heard him, "Hm?"
"Just mumbling," Bumblebee responded. He thought for a second and spoke up, "I gotta say, She's got a cool toy," on cue, Goldbug chained to targets at once.
"She's always had it. For the most part we all have a few upgrades here and there," Ratchet told him before surmising, "you're already finding an interest, aren't you?"
Bumblebee clicked his tongue and nodded as he watched Goldbug chain some more electricity, "I might be, what's a bee without a Stinger after all?"
"Good. Remember what I told you earlier?" Ratchet asked him and started to think. She didn't give him a moment, simply telling him, "I talked with Mr. Sumdac and he told me he'd be willing to help me outfit you with something more useful other than concussive blasters."
"So you could give a super jetpack and super powered laser cannon?" Bumblebee asked half jokingly.
"Let me emphasize that we can upgrade you… within reason," Ratchet deadpanned before smirking at him, "But, I recommend not limiting yourself too much."
Bumblebee smiled and went back to focusing on watching Goldbug zap the last of the targets. Needless to say, he had an actual idea of what could be done.
"Uuugh!" Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Goldbug turned to see Sari walk in with Prowl, both Cybertronian and human with sour expressions on their faces, "Rules this, rules that, why don't you code in some personality into our software."
"That's not how it works," Prowl managed to strain out before turning to Bumblebee, speaking a tad more calmly, "She wanted a companion and since you're clearly not busy, you can watch over her home with…. Goldbug."
"House party!" Goldbug shouted with a song and a light jump of excitement, only to shrink under Prowl's gaze.
"Sweet, I can actually talk with the Bee twins!" Sari guffawed with a mixture of alleviation and excitement.
Bumblebee chortled as he and Goldbug came beside the little girl, "Bee Twins?"
"I like it!" Goldbug gave both Sari and Bumblebee thumbs up as they left Ratchet and Prowl alone.
The officer, once the trio were nicely out of earshot, folded her arms and turned to the medic, "So, you're considering giving him upgrades?"
"Prowl…" Sighed Ratchet, "it's nothing too big and I think he's proving himself quite trustworthy as it is," she understood where her teammate was coming from, but she trusted Optimus and herself too. Despite it being a few days, she was willing to lend him that trust given his sincerity on and off the field. And it helped that he always stayed in sight of another Autobot. One small step up from his basic firearms wouldn't be that risky.
"My problem is how cushy you're treating him. One backstory and a few small missions is enough to earn it? Do you know many sites and plans would've been compromised with that thinking?" Prowl asked her, "Maybe he's not an agent, maybe I am being paranoid. Or maybe I know better, I have experience with that."
"More than me?" Deadpanned Ratchet, now folding her arms.
"My point being," Prowl continued, "We just need to be careful. Not let him get comfy until we're all absolutely certain where his loyalties are."
"Fine," Ratchet had given it a moment of thought and she wasn't wrong in being suspicious. Supposedly good bots have turned out to be frauds and worse. It was definitely wise to err on the side of caution, even with bots like Bumblebee, "I understand. I'll give it some more time. But, if he continues this, he'll get the stinger sooner rather than later."
"Thank you," Prowl was somewhat satisfied with that. She knew if anyone understood her best, it would be Ratchet.
Meanwhile, Mr. Sumdac had taken a break to further inspect groundbridge technology. After seeing in action the first time, he nearly had a heart attack out of sheer scientific joy upon seeing the technology in action, so much so he nearly forgot the purpose of him being there. From the looks of it to Bumblebee, Sari, and Goldbug, it may happen again.
He muttered to himself as he gave it a close examination, "So fascinating, it breaks the very known laws of physics and-"
He was cut off from his musings by Sari, who asked, "Uh, hey dad. You on break?"
"Ah!" Mr. Sumdac was startled enough to jump and hit the back of his head on a part of the gate, making him stumble. The others winced before he was facing them, nervously laughing, "e-excuse me. I was about to get back to work. Why?"
"I'm heading back to our place with the Bee Twins," She pointed to the two scouts who waved and grinned, "and we're gonna need to use that."
In a few seconds, as Mr. Sumdac was stepping back, the machine activated thanks to Teletraan-1 before she cheerfully called him over, "Damn right break time's over, I need your magic hands and tech pronto!"
Mr. Sumdac gulped and quickly walked while telling Sari and the others, "Okay, well you and the Autobots watch yourselves! I'll be back home soon!"
"Alright, have fun!" Sari told him as she led the scouts in the groundbridge, while saying, "This thing is so cool."
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As his plateless car pulled up to the Sumdac residence, Fowler had to shake off the feelings of self doubt that wiggled in the back of his head. What humanity was up against, what they were doing, what he was doing, what more could he do. The pressure that weighed upon his shoulders was ungodly.
But he would make do. He straightened his tie and stepped out of the car with his head up high and an air authority. All he needed to do was talk with Mr. Sumdac himself and get the ball truly rolling for operation "Iron Maidens". That was the only thing on his mind as he rang the bell, "Hello? Who will the Sumdac family be addressing today?"
"US government business, I'm agent Fowler and I need to speak with the big man himself," he answered, even flashing his badge in front of the monitor.
The voice told him, "One moment please!" and he nodded, crossing his arms as he decided to pass what he assumed would be a short amount of time by admiring the Sumdac house.
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"I'm ready for the wild ride!" Goldbug was eager and stepped forward to the enlarged mechanical bull as she watched Bumblebee ride it, though it could barely be called that.
The mech was laughing and shouted out, "Ah, this thing is awesome, I love it!" As he swung to and fro, finally managing to set his butt down on the back before it bucked forward and nearly threw him forward, "question though, why does he have this!?"
"I honestly have no clue!" Sari laughed out as she watched Bumblebee flail around.
The merriment was cut short as a robotic butler called out to them, "Sari, we have company on the front entrance. A government man too!"
"What?" Sari muttered.
Then Goldbug added, "Nani!?"
"What's happening!? All I see are glimpses of shock!" Bumblebee shouted as he now at the dynamic finish portion of the bull ride and thus was forced to hang on for dear life as the bull went absolutely livid.
"Everyone hang tight," Sari shouted with a bit of flair, "I'm making a call!"
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"What, is he coming from the top floor ala the stairs?" Fowler muttered as he kept waiting well over fifteen minutes and was getting a little annoyed. The sooner this meeting was over, the better, especially with the cons still at the base.
He was about to grumble some more with some colorful language until he heard the thickly accented voice of Sumdac on the comms, "Hello?"
"Mr. Sumdac, good to finally see you," Fowler said as he turned to the monitor, "sorry for the surprise visit, I'm sure you're busy, but this is an urgent government matter. That we need to discuss in private," his tone was more grave by the last sentence and Mr. Sumdac gulped at the last part.
He didn't have a clue on what the government would exactly want from him, but he was aware of what it might be about. However, he nodded and said, "I understand entirely. Please, by all means, come in."
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Sari carefully listened from the corner of a hallway as Fowler and her father talked. They knew about Cybertronians and we're looking for them… but that wasn't the worst part of it, much to Sari's horror.
"As of now, we're working with the Decepticons," Fowler told him as Mr. Sumdac was slowly looking at the same files Simmons showed him, "and we were interested in your help for our search. Our endeavor to protect Earth."
"This is… terrifying," Mr. Sumdac muttered. He was now pale and breaking out in a light cold sweat. He set the files down and straightened himself out before going on, "I… need to think about this. I have other obligations at the moment and need to gather myself, gather my nerves, as well."
"I understand," Fowler told him. In truth, he was a little upset by the other obligations statement since the Earth should obviously be top priority. But considering the obvious reaction of the scientist and who he is, he wouldn't voice it, "We'll keep in contact with you, Professor Sumdac."
"Thank you. My assistant will escort you out," A robotic butler came to the agent's side as he said that, "Have a good day Mr. Fowler."
"You too," He muttered as he warily watched the eager and smiling robot, "Watch the claws there, metal man."
"Certainly!" The robot replied as he followed him out.
Once the elevator was heard going down, Mr. Sumdac practically melted in his seat as Sari came running out, "Dad, holy scrap, this is really bad!"
"This is," Mr. Sumdac breathed out, still shocked by that image of the planet burning, "Sari, do the Autobots know?"
Sari shook her head, "No, and we're telling them!"
"Sari, I don't think that's a good idea. How can we be sure we can tell them?" He asked as his mind lingered on the image.
"Dad, please trust me on this. They protected me and Jack while the cons tried to nab us. You see what they're like, please," Sari pleaded. She knew it wasn't the Autobots in the wrong for a fact. And now the cons were being backed by humans too. This wasn't the time for doubt, it was the time for nothing but action.
Mr. Sumdac looked into the eyes of his daughter and saw how convinced she was, how absolutely sure she was that the Autobots were on their side. He thought back to his brief interactions with them, including their leader. After nearly half a minute, he said, "Okay."