Fun fact! I'm at Uni now! And I don't have my drawing tablet, or any of my pieces I've done for this fic because I never thought to save them as JPEG's so I could actually open them on the laptop I took with me to the other side of the country. So... yay... Anyway, this just means I have had all the more time during freshers to write! And the pain in the ass that has been chapter 8 is finally done! (Though I'll likely add more in edits) Anyway, enough from me, on with the chapter! Hope you all enjoy!
Qatar July 2007
The base was in chaos, humans of every military rank either strewn across the ground in burnt, bloodied messes, or trying to escape the mayhem which had descended upon them with little to no warning.
The former Helicopter, now towering goliath of mechanical carnage was tearing through the fortifications of their base, devastating their vehicles without half a thought as it approached its target.
Blackout snarled as the humans useless ammunition continued to rattle against his platting, his deployer Scorponok was already taking out the remaining humans which stayed to foolishly fight from below.
It was easy enough breaking through the roof of the base to access its main systems, despite the shouting humans within, he reached down, snatching up what he could of the computer systems, and began the download process.
Not a moment later, something raced through his systems, his spark jumped, a virus, a powerful one that had just smashed through his primary defenses with the equivalent force of a combiners kick.
His systems were already going haywire, he felt things within him as they began to work too hard, everything working at triple the necessary level, straining everything, burning through his energon reserves.
How… how did the humans have a virus this powerful?! They shouldn't be this advanced!
Then, his vision was blocked by a message that opened itself.
A holographic image flickered into existence before his optics, a triangular shield, the crest decorated with three organic wings flaring out from the centre.
Then, it was replaced by a simple bobbing orb.
"Hello Blackout! Thank you for being a stupid tool and allowing our hacking prevention software to take root within your frame! You have three human minutes to leave this base before we shut you down and let you get carted off by the humans to be dissected!" A chirpy voice announced before the orb was replaced by a quickly dropping countdown.
He could already feel the virus working, but, as he tried to reopen the ports to access to collect the data he was seeking, he made a new discovery.
It was all gone, every scrap of data other than a painted image of an almost completely fisted servo, save for the middle digit.
Twenty seconds was already lost from the timer, the mission was a dud.
Now, it was just a matter of making sure that the voices threat didn't come to fruition.
How had it even knew it's designation?
He decided to question it later as he broke into a sprint away from the base, trampling a few burning husks of former vehicles, the squelch of human flesh under pede drowned out by his racing spark as he felt parts of his system run ever hotter.
The virus was going to cook him from the inside out.
His T-cog strained as his form shifted into its Helicopter form, rotors spinning far faster than usual due to the influence of the virus as he headed directly East.
He had only four seconds left when the countdown suddenly stopped, the virus all but disappearing, his form slowing.
He must have reached the exclusion zone perimeter.
His transformation was arduous, rotors straining as they folded down against his back strut, just as his pedes gave way, leaving his burning frame to collapse to the night cooled sand, had he landed in water, it would have evaporated in seconds, even now he could feel the sand beneath him beginning to liquify, turning to crude glass under his armour.
Then the shield appeared again, then was promptly replaced by a darker orb.
"Congratulations, you're alive, which means I won mine and my sisters bet. Oh, and do consider that little sample, a warning. Have a wondrous day you fucking piece of shit." A colder, smug voice announced, before the dark orb vanished from his view along with the countdown, returning his vision entirely.
He had to warn the other Decepticons on Earth.
They'd greatly underestimated the humans defences.
Las Vegas Strip, The Cosmopolitan
The normally blinding, famous lights of the Las Vegas strip were all off, the blazing sun out shining over all as it continued its merciless assault upon the land.
Despite this, the sweat upon the brow of one woman as she stood at the main entrance of the Cosmopolitan, was not from the heat, but out of trepidation, her fingers twitching in the need to fiddle with something to calm her nerves.
Taking a deep breath, she decided to bite the bullet, she'd been half summoned, half requested to come here, and with a shaking hand, pushed one of the many front doors open.
Immediately she decided that she was woefully under dressed.
The interior screamed wealth, style and grandeur she'd never seen in anything but the movies, all intricate architecture trying to out do each other piece in regards to glamour and sophistication.
Her torn, worn and stained jeans, slightly too small top and hair held back by a single old hair band, made her feel even more out of place than she had walking down the strip.
The foyer was mostly empty, but the eyes that did linger, lingered on her, her attire, with a glare akin to one would receive if they smashed a priceless antique.
"Heck hem. Ma'am, if you're going to gawk, you can do so outside." One of only three currently posted receptionists remarked, breaking the teenager out of her stunned state.
"Oh! Sorry! No I'm here for a meeting!" She answered back, reaching for her backpack, managing to draw the necessary papers as she approached the receptionists desk, offering them out.
They were snatched away by manicured to perfection nails, a sneer shot at her as the other two, younger receptionists sniggered and snorted behind their respective hands.
The sneer faltered however after only a brief glance at the papers offered, a choked splutter leaving the main receptionist as her gaze returned to the teenager standing before her once again. The sudden change caused the other two receptionists to pause, looking closer at the papers, only to pale despite their tanned faces.
The teenager shifted. "I received this in the post two days ago telling me to come here…" She was stopped by the head receptionist putting her own shaking hand up as the other placed the papers down so that she could instead reach for the intercom, tapping a few buttons hidden from view before leaning the mic towards her as a dial tone rang.
"One good reason why you're bothering us. Now. Before I have you fired for interrupting us right after a meeting." A voice snapped, their tone cold and unforgiving as an Antarctic winter.
"There's a… Miss Mikaela Barnes here… with paperwork…"
"That's all we need to know, send her up."
"O-of course! Right away Ma'am!" The receptionist waited for the other end to hang up before turning back to the teen. "To your left, top floor…." She gestured to the set of gleaming elevators. "You'll need this…" A key card was passed over to the teen, whom took with slight trepidation and concern at the sudden shift in the three women's personalities. "You'll need to swipe the card reader within the elevator to gain access to that level."
The conversation was over, she could tell, nodding, she walked over to the elevators and pressed the call button, ignoring the many doors that lead to both the resorts casino, and other such tantalising facilities she would never be able to afford.
The elevator took only a few seconds to arrive, the doors sliding open to welcome her.
Before she could enter, four men in black suits stepped out, speaking quickly in what she guessed was Chinese, that assumption boosted by their Asian appearances.
Two of the men were speaking especially rapid, whilst the other two seemed to be fuming slightly.
They didn't even acknowledge her presence as they walked around her and out of the building all together.
With the elevator now clear she stepped in, turning her attention to the slot on the side of the elevator just over the many floor buttons, sliding the card against it, a quiet ping answered her back.
Then, just below the card reader, a shifting of the gold plated metal slid away seamlessly, revealing a new button.
Pressing it after a moment's hesitation, the teen watched as the doors slide shut, and felt the sudden shift as the elevator shot upwards at an almost ear popping rate.
The ride ended almost as quickly as it begun, the doors sliding back open to revealing a sprawling suite.
She'd seen pictures of the rooms that the resort offered, but this was on another level.
Crystal chandeliers hung sparingly throughout the open plan living area, kitchen, dining room and from the glimpse she got from the corridor, some sort of private gym.
She had only just stepped out of the elevator when a voice called, their tone chipper, inviting and warm, unlike the cold, snappish tone she'd heard on the speaker of the intercom.
"Ah you've arrived! Good! Good! Oh, do stop standing there, you look like a lost child like that!"
How could she not stand frozen to the spot?
The woman whom had just come into view practically shone, the sweetheart neckline, dress she wore outshone all the chandeliers above them combined, studded with what looked like thousands of diamonds.
Given where she was, the notion of rhinestones as a cheap diamond replacement didn't exist.
The woman's hair was left to flow behind her, along with the slight train that the dress had, the black and white locks on opposite sides to the black and white of the dresses, creating an evident contrast, like a checkerboard.
"Dear, are you… Oh my! Give us a few seconds and we'll go change into something a bit more appropriate for casual conversation! We just finished off a meeting with a few officials from Beijing, so we're a little glammed up. Do help yourself to anything in the kitchen, you look famished!" The woman announced, waving her hand at the teen.
Then the woman was whisking herself away, the sweeping transparent half skirt which trailed behind fluttering like a calm sea.
Mikaela just stood there for another moment, trying to understand what had just happened.
There didn't seem to be anyone else around, who had the 'we' been that she'd been talking about?
Deciding to take up the woman's hospitality, she slowly approached the kitchen, everything about this place screamed 'enough to buy a third world country', and put her on an ever increasing edge.
She pried open one of the four massive fridges, and found herself gawking at the sight of not one, not two, but three entire roast turkeys which looked right off a food add.
Deciding that those were likely meant for another time, she reached lower down and plucked a simple green apple from a basket full of both reds and greens, the fruits chilled skin helping to ground the teenager in reality as she closed the fridge door and looked out from the kitchen.
What she found was a wall to wall view of Las Vegas, a bird's eye view of the entire strip.
If she looked down far enough.
Whomever had summoned her from her little garage in California, paid for their flight tickets and even ordered her to be picked up by a stretched hummer, Mikaela had the odd thought they were the type to of seen more money within their infant years than she ever would in her lifetime.
"Yah going to eat that or not? If not, put it back."
The cold tone snapped her back away from the stunning view, finding the woman again, this time she was dressed in comparatively casual clothing, given the fact that their previous attire looked like it belonged to the daughter of a diamond mine tycoon.
"Umm…" Her grip around the apple tightened slightly.
Suddenly, the woman's expression shifted, becoming welcoming again. "Oh don't worry about it dearie! Wren's just being a grump because one of the officials decided to make a… lecherous comment! Don't take it to heart, enjoy the fruit!" She chirped, before turning on one of her cork heels and practically strutting to the six seater, pure white leather sofa which sat perfectly opposite to the black mirror image.
After a moment of pause, the woman gestured to the black sofa with a flick of her wrist. "Sit… Aria's nagging at me to apologise, so, I'm sorry I snapped at you out of internal impatience." The cold tone announced, not looking at Mikaela, instead staring out at the Strip below.
Mikaela decided to remain where she was. "Is… I…"
The woman's head swung back around, facial features morphed into surprise, Mikaela swore she saw something tucked back under the womans' hair twitch. "Oh! How rude of us! So sorry there! We rarely properly introduce ourselves! We're Arien! I'm Aria and miss-snark-alot, is my dear sister Wren… we were born in the same body so we have to share." She chirped, but her lips shifted into a small frown as she shifted, wringing her hands together. "And… those officials decided to make some… very… dramatic accusations about us, so we'd rather not discuss it again today, I hope you understand?"
Mikaela nodded, picking up that she should probably try and ignore the fact she'd found herself in the… home? Of twin sisters who were more than a little attached.
Conjoined twins, she mentally corrected, a very extreme case of conjoined twins.
"But we didn't pay for everything to get you here just so you could listen to our story, we're here to talk about what you…" Wren then cut in, gesturing to the teen with grey painted nails which honestly looked sharp enough to pierce metal. "...and what you can do for us, in repayment." Aria then announced, gesturing to themselves.
Mikaela gulped, she knew it would be something like this. "You got my daddy out of prison, I guess it's only fair. What do you want me to do?" She enquired, before a new question entered her head. "Why me anyway? Why did you decide to bail my dad and not someone else? I'm just a high schooler who knows her way around an engine block better than my own boyfriend!"
One of the twins snorted, humour evident in their features, before it was replaced by a coy smirk as they leant closer to the edge of the sofa. "Mikaela, dear, we know from personal experience and knowledge that you're destined for far greater things than being a 'simple mechanic'." Aria announced, a spark of glee in those sea green eyes as the smirk grew wider.
Before she could make a remark about that, Wren took over the conversation from her twin. "For now, how we know that, is irrelevant, we brought you here because we need you to get something for us, from one of your history classmates. To be precise." They announced, pulling a picture out from their left pocket, handing it over to the teen. "I'm sure you are at least aware of his existence?"
Mikaela looked at the picture, she did recognise him, he was the kinda awkward teen she sometimes caught staring at her, he was weird in her books. "Yeah… I recognise him."
Arien nodded. "Good, he has something we need, a pair of glasses."
Mikaela gave them an odd look at that. "What's so important about a pair of glasses? It seems to me like you're loaded, why not just buy a pair?" She enquired.
A chuckle left the twin women, a soft smile forming as Aria responded. "Dearie, it's not the glasses themselves, it's the code imprinted on them, a unique code that we must get our hands on." She responded. "He has put them up for sale, but, we cannot simply buy them, we cannot link ourselves to the pair of glasses with any sort of digital transaction whatsoever, and us suddenly showing up at his front door with a wad of cash won't fly either. That's why we need you to perform the transaction for us, person to person. Tomorrow, he will use them in his history report, where he will likely try and sell them. That is when we want you to acquire them."
Mikaela was floored, but one thing stood out to her. "How… how do you know this? How do you know about the history report?"
Arien smirked, and tapped the side of their nose as Wren spoke. "That, is for us to know, and for us to tell you when you succeed. We do not wish to pressure you here, but, we must get that code, or else a lot of people may end up dead. Can we trust you with this?" The tone Wren used felt as serious as a heart attack as Mikaela tried to decipher her choices.
After a few minutes of mulling over everything, and everything she didn't know, she reached out her hand. "You promise I'll get a full explanation?"
Arien nodded, Aria responding. "Cross our two hearts and drown at the bottom on the deepest abyss." The words were joined by both of their hands crossing over each breast.
Mikaela sent them a look, asking if they really did have two hearts.
Arien just grinned. "Once you get the glasses, contact us, there's a Lake not far away from where you live, we'll have someone there to pick you up, we hear there's a party there, so one, don't lose the glasses once you have them, and two, well, have fun."
Their hands came together, and the deal was made.
Pentagon
Jamerson rocked on the balls of his feet, eyes trailing all around those present in the assembly.
He stood just to the left of the podium where the Sec Def was about to make his announcement to those assembled, regarding the Military base attack in Qatar.
"Hey, Jamie." One of his co-workers, Flint, he forgot his last name, called to him.
"Yeah? What is it?"
"I overheard some of the big wigs talking about this, apparently something seriously high tech attacked the base, like, sci-fi, half of them were calling the rumour fantasy, pretty weird huh? Apparently they don't want that part getting out yet. Oh there's something else…"
"Shhussh! He's here!" Jamerson cut over his co-worker, the man had a brilliant mind, but it was prone to wander and twist the things he'd heard, so his words always had to be taken with a pinch of salt.
The Secretary of Defence was indeed already speaking, and had been for a short while before he gestured for what they had to be played.
Jamerson listened in as the sound was played, it was strange, right out of a sci-fi movie, he gave Flint that, but then it abruptly cut off, after only a second or so.
"The signal, our specialists say, was then intercepted, and prevented, by a third party, mere moments after, the attack, to our knowledge, ceased, and any attempt to access the information stored in Qatar, is gone, wiped clean, by the third party group we can assume." He announced, his features showing his concern.
Whispering broke out among the analysts within.
"Sir! Do you have anything from the third party?" One man called from somewhere halfway up the room.
The Sec Def shook his head. "No, this third party somehow managed to sever every connection we had at the time, we have nothing to go on other than the fact that it happened, and that the original signal was not long enough to have the ability to completely wipe the entire system clean… We are dealing with something we have never seen before, and we must crack this code, swiftly. Before these two parties do anymore damage… you will all be split into teams, it will be your duty to this country to crack this code, and remove this threat to our systems… Dismissed." With that, he stepped away from the podium, and returned to the side, entering a conversation with Jamerson's father and a few other government officials of the higher brass.
Flint nudged his side again. "They were yappin' about how they think it could be either China or Russia… Maybe Japan, those guys are really advanced, maybe they've been keeping their real range of tech from us?"
Jamerson rolled his eyes. "Flint, please, let's just get back to work."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Jungle Boy."
Jamerson scowled at the nickname, he'd been 'graced' with it ever since returning from the Amazon after performing his 'miracle of survival' it had gotten him in the good books of the higher ups even more than before, and had helped him go up a few ranks over the past year and a half through hard work and determination, and not just the fact that his father liked the idea of him taking over his own place when he retired.
He'd long since moved on from the entire experience, yes he still remembered it well, but he no longer dwelled upon it, for all he knew, his saviours had already found a way back to their own time, or found a way to happily live with their new bodies somewhere on this planet, or maybe even beyond, they didn't exactly need oxygen anymore after all…
"Jamie! Earth to Jamie! We gotta go!" Flint declared, snapping him out of his revier.
Nodding, he quickly followed along with the rest of his team mates.
He broke off to slip into his desk, his gaze subconsciously going to the memory stick that he still used, the little light on the end still glowing as green as ever.
Cosmopolitan
The elevator doors slid shut behind Mikaela as Arien gave a final wave to the teens back.
Sighing Arien's head swiveled around to give Kia a firm look as the slightly older woman stepped out of her room, her clothing no longer the ruined suit she'd worn coming in not two minutes before Mikaela had entered the front lobby.
"You are a damn lucky thing she didn't spot all that blood, or the officials for that matter." Wren remarked.
Kia was leaning against the doorframe of her room, giving a shrug as a response. "Wasn't expecting her to get here so early amigo." She responded, pushing off the doorway and coming out into the main area, reaching back to run her fingers through the damp brown locks which now cascaded down her back further than they had earlier when they weren't leaving a wet trail behind them on the floor.
"But you knew we were hosting those officials, yet you still come waltzing in here, covered in blood and complaining about how you ran out of ammunition." Wren pressed, hands falling to their hips.
"Well at least she didn't bring a head as a trophy this time." Aria remarked to her sister.
"That's hardly something to be celebrated."
"Hey, at least I learnt my lesson and didn't hack the head off my target this time." Kia shot back, oblivious to the twins internal discussion.
Arien's expression was all Kia needed to know to understand that point was invalid.
"So… you seen Ira today?" Kia enquired, opting to change the topic.
The twins shook their head. "No, not since this morning, either she's still in her room…" Aria replied, before trailing off.
Wren took over. "Or she's getting plastered somewhere… it's not September so she's not at Oktoberfest yet…"
"Though that's never stopped her from going to Germany… or Ireland… or Russia…" Aria added, left hand scratching at the side of their head for a minute.
The sound of one of the doors down the corridor drew them to the sight of Ira half stumbling out of her bedroom door, rubbing at the side of her head which was currently an unruly nest of ginger locks. "Gah… would you all quiet down… I got a killer headache…" She grumbled, scratching at her side through her spaghetti strap pajama top.
Arien and Kia exchanged a look before Kia replied. "Serves you right for downing so much last night, looks like you finally discovered your alcohol tolerance…"
"It ain't a hangover! I damn well know what one of those are! I just hit my head… oww…" The woman grumbled, rubbing at the side of her head with a grumble. "Next time, I'm sleeping on the ground…" She remarked.
It took a moment for the two to realise what the third member of their group meant. "Ohh! You banged your bipedal form's helm when you fell from your perch back around six this morning… seriously though, are you trying to become a Bat or something? You were hanging upside down too." Aria commented, regarding the holoform a second time.
Ira huffed and straightened, letting off a quick curse as an attempt to run her fingers through her hair got them stuck. "I wanna be wide awake for when we get to meet the bots, so, I'm oversleeping, duh, then I won't be so tired!"
Arien rolled her eyes. "Ira, studies even in this reality and time have proven that that doesn't work, sleeping more only means that your body expects even more, and so makes you more and more tired for longer periods of time."
There was a long beat of silence before Ira huffed and stormed past them towards the kitchen. "Hungry." She remarked as she threw open one of the fridges and she pulled out a bowl of salad, a pot of Nutella and a chunk of roasted steak left over from the night before, balancing them as she kicked the fridge door shut with her foot and went back into her room, kicking that door closed behind her as well.
With that discussion closed, Arien turned back to Kia as Wren enquired. "You disposed of the bodies right?"
Kia nodded with a smirk. "What's wrong? The little Chica not have faith in my abilities? Of course I got rid of the evidence!" She exclaimed, waving the two off as she walked towards the gym. "It's why my suits ruined, the wood chipper decided to spit out of both sides!"
Arien felt themselves turning a bit green around the cheeks. "TMI, Kia, TMI." Aria muttered, deciding to go and lay down for a bit so their stomach would stop rolling itself into knots.
Hopefully you all enjoyed this chap, movies starting to kick off, and by all the fires of hell are the Harpies going to let the plot take it's course. Until next time!
Moon
