A/N: Here we go again. I do not own Transformers.

The next installment of New Beginnings. Not sure how much more will be left. Anyways, hope you all enjoy, and thank you for all of the reviews, it helps my mood and it helps decide the story some, hehe.

Ty Blood Shifter for taking a look at this for me!

The White house had gotten the feed from the shuttle that was orbiting the planet at about the same time as the United States had made the worst mistake in history. It went to various persons on the congress and to the President, who was still going over them. Disbelief was clear in his eyes when he read that a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor was flying out in orbit. He was also reading about the other papers and listened to the recording that he was given. That they had warned said jet to identify himself, and when the pilot hadn't, the jet was shot down by an 'unknown source'. This had also made its way to the Secretary of Defense, who wanted to sweep this under the rug and fast. There didn't need to be anything getting out about a jet being shot from space. How had it gotten there anyways? The jets were made to fly high, sure, but not fly out of the planet. He knew this from his piloting years.

Skywarp and Thundercracker barely made their way underneath Starscream as he fell; both were using their thrusters on full to slow his fall and to not take them with him in his fall. The young bot was already transformed, apparently he had transformed before he had gone into stasis lock. Their thrusters got control of his and their descent, and it worked as they slowly started to lower to the ground, leveling out a few hundred feet from the ground, Skywarp was looking him over as they did, "TC, this doesn't look good,"

"I know, I can't imagine what had happened,"

"It looks like he was hit by one of those cannons that eradicated that Decepticon fleet,"

"Yeah it does, doesn't it?" Thundercracker looked over the wound a bit more, "Let's get him back to Optimus, he isn't going to be happy,"

"I can only imagine the entire area of Tranquility blown to pieces after this one," Skywarp sighed as they both started heading for where the base was.

"You're thinking too much about Megatron. This is Optimus we are talking about, 'Warp,"

Optimus was pacing back and forth, it was almost making the other Autobots and ex-Decepticons dizzy, and Barricade almost yelled out in frustration at the pacing, but held his tongue. They knew Optimus wasn't pleased, they could see it in his optics and if that wasn't enough, his face was contorted into a very deep scowl.

"Incoming Seekers: Designation, Skywarp, Thundercracker and Starscream," Soundwave droned out.

Frenzy and Rumble were both watching the sky for the downed Seeker, looking when Soundwave pointed. They spoke between each other quietly, whispering, hoping that their giant friend and playmate was ok.

The ground shook when the Seekers landed, both walking with Starscream in their arms, careful not to hurt him more as they rushed him into the building, even past Optimus, giving him a sorrowful look, headed for the medical bay. Ratchet was busy with working on a few things here and there when they burst through the door. He had heard that Starscream was injured, but really wasn't prepared for the sight before him. His jaw would have hit the floor if it could unhinge. Nostalgia took over him as he glanced at how beat Starscream was. It reminded him of that day… No. He cleared it from his memory, "Status," he demanded.

"He's pretty banged up, been unresponsive-" Thundercracker was cut off in mid sentence by Skywarp, "I think it was one of those cannons, he's got the same scorch marks as what had hit the other Decepticons in space,"

Ratchet's scanners immediately went to work on the body that was laid down on the berth. Immediately he found traces of the plasma that powered the beam, his face twisting into a grimace. Both of the other Seekers backed away, knowing better than to get into Ratchet's way. They knew of him being called Ratchet the Hatchet, and figured there was a damned good reason why.

"Leave," Ratchet spoke the one word, and in it they swore they felt him glaring at them. Both of them made their ways out quickly, almost tripping over Optimus who walked right past them and in, "I said – " Ratchet stopped midsentence, "Oh, it's you," he looked back to where he was working on Starscream. He hadn't noticed the saddened look on his leader's face, nor the dark scowl that came across it while he did his own examination of his Sparkling, "What is the assessment, Ratchet?" Ok, he really didn't miss the deep anger that came from his leader's voice that time.

"Well, I am still looking, but the Seekers said that it was a cannon that was used to shoot the other Decepticons before getting to Earth," Ratchet didn't look away from his work, "My scanners confirm traces of plasma," the medic was almost totally engrossed in hooking Starscream up to needed lines while he looked over his damage. Optimus didn't leave the room, only backed up while Ratchet looked to some computers, typing into them, glancing at Starscream then at the screens again, "His spark chamber is a little damaged. It's mostly all superficial, thank Primus," The medic started to explain as he worked, "He's in stasis lock because of the hit and the fall, but he should be alright,"

"How long?"

Ratchet dared to look away from his patient to look at Optimus. He knew that voice, and it was one to be feared by any Decepticon that cross the great leader's path, "Give me a few breems, Prime, I need to stable him out and bring him from stasis lock, I am still checking his processor."

Without another word, Optimus left the room. He didn't look at anyone else, or speak, only made his way to his office, where he sat down behind a rather large desk. He glared at the video phone that he knew he would be using. How to approach the new Secretary of Defense about this? This was a total breach of treaty between the Autobots and the government, and he knew the conversation wasn't going to go well. Deep down he wanted to yell at them, tell them they were wrong and to get them to shut down whatever it was that shot his sparkling from the sky. He was enraged, but needed his composure, "Secretary of Defense's office,"

"Secretary of Defense, Terry, please," Optimus spoke, trying to hide his anger as much as possible.

"May I ask who is calling, sir?"

"Optimus Prime," He deliberately didn't turn on the actual video, not right now, anyways. He had heard about these cannons before, but had chosen to ignore them. Until now. Now it had injured one of his own Autobots, his own sparkling for that matter, "Terry here," came a voice from the speaker on the video phone.

"Secretary," Optimus started. Terry hadn't ever had the joy of speaking to the Autobots. That was saved for the Autobot liaisons. He wasn't even sure why the leader was calling. He had heard his voice a time or two before, but never spoke to him, hell he never even saw him. He had heard stories about a really, really big robot, however, and the nervousness was in his voice when he answered the call.

"Y-yes, sir? What can I do for you Mr. Prime?"

"It's Optimus Prime – I want to talk to you about your cannons,"

"Cannons? What cannons?"

"The plasma cannons that one of my own had to break down in order to get more of our kind here. The kind that shot my sparkling from the sky!" He found it was getting harder to hold to his temper. It was obvious by how he was speaking.

"Y-you were responsible?" Garret Terry stopped himself quickly, "Please, calm down, Prime, I am not sure I follow,"

Well this SOD had to of been really blind or really stupid, or was just playing stupid. He snorted, "The facility that was attacked by a supposed Decepticon, I am sure you know of it Mr. Secretary,"

"Oh that place," Ok, he couldn't hide the fact he didn't know about it any longer, "You say it shot on of your Autobots from the sky?"

"No, I said it shot my sparkling –"

"Um, pardon my ignorance, but what exactly is a sparkling?"

"It's like a child in your terms," Who the hell was this rookie? "but that is beside the point, I am calling you and asking you nicely to disarm these weapons. It seems they are more of a hazard than a help,"

"They shot one of your kids?" Now the Secretary was getting it, at least Optimus hoped he was, "But they are used to shoot dangers from this planet before they get here,"

"I am aware of that, the Decepticons that did survive filled me in on the massacre that happened outside of the planet,"

"Decepticons? I thought they were all eradicated?" There was no compunctions on how he said that. This unnerved the Autobot leader.

"Yes, Decepticons, ex-Decepticons, in fact, but that doesn't matter, what we do with our kind is up to us, I don't feel it is fair for humans to be shooting other beings from the sky without prior treaty talks first, especially when it comes to Cybertronians. It's not how we do things."

"We were protecting ourselves from that threat, you need to understand, after Mission City –"

Optimus cut him off at the mention of what happened many years ago, "Did it ever occur to you that some of them might have been Autobot?"

"Well no, we tracked their signature. Specifically the one we attained through Megatron and Blackout,"

"And it didn't cross your mind that some of my men were using the signatures to cover up themselves as to avoid being shot down by Decepticons?" The heated words started to make the Secretary shy from the phone. He hadn't expected this to be an angry call, for all he knew, Optimus was a timid leader. This insinuation would also confirm as to why no other Autobots made it to Earth in the first place. Some, yes, were Decepticons, but some were indeed hiding their signatures mixing with Decepticons for the exact reason as not to be detected, or be granted safe passage through to the planet, "I want that plant shut down,"

"Please, Optimus, sir, you need to understand –"

That was when the camera light came on, and then the video flicked on and there sat the leader in his seat, glaring at the video feed, the link giving Optimus a direct look at the Secretary. The Secretary tried to smile sheepishly, "We can't just shut it down,"

"You can, and you will," Optimus hissed. He was in no mood to be told no. By anyone for that matter.

"This is a direct breach of the treaty set before the US government and the Autobots, do you understand this, Optimus?"

"I do believe it was my sparkling shot from the sky, not yours," Optimus went to hit the end call button, but stopped, "Don't make us use force," he quickly hit the button. Had he just threatened the US? Yes, yes he had, and now he wasn't sure if that was such a brainy idea. There weren't a lot of them and even fewer Autobots, and he knew deep down that this could cause an out and out war. He had never in his life been so rude or so angry towards the USA, but something drove him. It was the fact his sparkling was lying in stasis lock in the Medical bay, probably.

"Optimus!" A familiar caught the leader's attention from outside the doors, "I got here as soon as I heard!" William was standing in a tank top and blue jeans as Optimus opened the doors, "Come in, Will," he waved the small man in, "it seems news travels fast," The grim expression on the leader showed William that something was indeed wrong, "Something more happen than 'an F-22 shot from orbit'?"

"I just called the SoD and told him to shut down the plasma cannons,"

"You did what? They'll never go for that!"

"I know, I am not sure if it was the right thing to do, but what if other Autobots do want to come? Other Decepticons? I know very well that they wouldn't come to mean harm, I mean, they don't even have a leader anymore."

"It was an entire fleet of Decepticons that were shot down, you know that, Optimus, I don't think there are any left,"

"I believe that if there are more, they had backed to Mars and the Moon, perhaps the moons of Jupiter,"

"I hate to bust your bubble, Optimus, but your speculations are only that – Speculations. There hasn't been any word of any other Cybertronians coming anywhere near the orbit of Earth after that massacre."

Optimus regarded William deeply. He groaned inwardly, for he knew the human was right. He hoped that there were others out there. It was sad enough to realize that they really were the last of their kind, which was only a small handful, but to know was a whole separate ball of wax completely, "I don't want it shooting at the last sparkling we will ever have," Optimus looked down, somewhat ashamed of how he had been with the Secretary.

"I'm sure it will all blow over, big guy,"

Meanwhile, in the medical bay, Ratchet had still been working on Starscream. He was slowly bringing him back online from his hit, and had expected the youngster to flail out, but didn't expect to get hit in the process. He reached out, catching Starscream's other arm, "Starscream, calm down!"

"What? Where am I?"

"You're back at the base, Thundercracker and Skywarp retrieved you, did a good job since you didn't even hit the ground," Ratchet explained as calmly as he could, feeling Starscream relax under his grasp. As soon he was satisfied that Starscream was calmed, he let go. Starscream blinked a few seconds before realizing that he wasn't dreaming. It was Ratchet who was holding onto him, "What was that?"

"What was what, young one?"

"What shot me? What were those stupid squishies thinking?" Starscream growled, not only angry he had been shot, but also a little scared. Ratchet did a double-take on Starscream when he heard the Seeker call the humans 'stupid squishies'. No one had ever said anything that mentioned that word. Where had he come up with it?

"Starscream, can you tell me anything that happened?"

"Well, yeah, I was flying out by a space shuttle when I received a static message. I couldn't understand it so I didn't reply, and the next thing I know, I felt this excruciating pain in my wing before I realized I had been shot." He paused. As if remembering from a dream, "I – I know those cannons. I remember seeing them before," His voice trailed off as he tried to remember more, but only came up blank.

This was news to Ratchet. How could he possibly 'remember' the cannons? He hadn't ever been shot by them, at least as far as he knew. He gave Starscream an unreadable look, "Listen, you lie here, and I am going to go and get Optimus, he will want to know how you're doing, besides, you're not nearly ready to get up yet," Ratchet pointed a finger at Starscream's nose, who sank back on the berth and nodded. He did want to see Optimus. He wanted to tell him all that happened. He felt the link between him and his creator and silently slid tendrils of hope through them, and in the answer he got was definitely his creator and he smiled to himself as he relaxed on the berth.

I know Optimus was a little OOC, but wouldn't you be if someone shot your kid? Let's see how that goes.