Reckoning
Chapter 3 – Fulmination
Disclaimer: I don't own the Transformers. They officially belong to Hasbro and Takara. I'm taking them for a short spin.
The angry pounding on the door was the first sign something was wrong. Peeking out the window, the second was the black SUVs parked on the lawn. Armed feds swarming under the ship parked over the pasture was the third. Wait. Ship? Not the Knight ship.
Cade yanked a shirt down over his head, opening the door. "Tess, stay here," Cade he, stepping outside. Of course, Tessa followed, pajamas and all.
A woman in a business suit was staring up at him, not looking annoyed.
"Mr. Yeager, I presume?" the woman asked.
"Yeah," Cade said. "Who are you?"
"Charlotte Mearing, former Director of National Intelligence," she said, holding out her hand.
"And?" Cade asked.
"We're here to talk to the Autobot in charge," she said.
"Get off my property," Cade said.
"You have no right. . ."
"I have every right," Cade snapped. "Get lost, or I get the bots on your tail, or I'll run you off myself."
"Threats will not work with me," she said.
"I don't like you," Cade said. "You know, a little courtesy goes a long way. Besides, you're the one who helped dismantle NEST and recommended Harold Attinger's appointment to the CIA. I did my reading. You are so not welcome here. Get lost."
"Uh Dad, that's not way to talk to somebody who knows the President," Tessa said.
"Thank you," Mearing said.
"Sure," Tessa said. "But he's right. I'd leave if I were you."
"We're not leaving until we get an explanation," Mearing said. "There is another Cybertronian ship in orbit around Earth, and we have no idea if they're friendly or not. They won't respond to our attempts at communication."
"Can't say I blame him," Cade said.
"Him? Wait, you've been in contact with them?" Mearing asked.
"Maybe," Cade replied. "Ma'am, it's barely 6 a.m. Come back in a few hours when everybody's had breakfast. And coffee. Or their morning energon. Then we can talk."
"Fine," Mearing said. "We'll be back this afternoon."
Cade and Tessa watched as the feds headed back to their vehicles, and didn't move until they were gone. Tessa followed her father back inside, and he threw himself down on the couch.
"Want to tell me what that was all about? Another ship? Why is it parked over our field? And why didn't the bots come out?" Tessa asked.
"That ship is Autobot," Cade said. "Their commander is Optimus' brother."
"How do you know that?" Tessa asked.
"He showed up yesterday afternoon," Cade said. "Scared the hell out of me. Beamed down just like in Star Trek, with this big-ass hammer like Thor. His name's Ultra Magnus. He seems like he's decent. A lot more uptight than Optimus, or maybe he's just under a lot of stress."
"When were you gonna tell me, Dad?" Tess asked, sitting down beside him.
"Well, you know now."
88888
A big-ass ship parked out in the pasture, and even more Autobots checking out the place. The National Guard was out in full force, and the state patrol was keeping back the spectators. Just another fun day at Casa Yeager.
Tessa leaned against Bumbleebee's leg, the two youngsters observing a meeting they probably shouldn't have been watching. Her father, the Autobots Ultra Magnus and Prowl and the woman from that morning, Charlotte Mearing, were having an unfriendly discussion. The woman kept making demands which Ultra Magnus refused. And the one called Prowl was quoting something called the Tyrest Accord while Mearing stamped her foot in frustration.
And Ultra Magnus rammed the butt of his hammer into the ground, and the sound brought them all to heel.
"Put down your weapons," Ultra Magnus said. "I am Ultra Magnus of Cybertron, Lord High Protector of Cybertron, chief enforcer of the Tyrest Accord, and you are guilty."
"Guilty of what?" Mearing asked.
"You have no right to make any demands," Magnus said. "You broke the treaty. You let them desecrate the remains of the allies you allowed to be slaughtered," Magnus said. "Backward barbarian insects."
"Now wait just a minute," Mearing said. "And you can't just show up and start calling names and expecting us to bow down to you. That's what Sentinel Prime wanted. . ."
"Do not mention his name," Ultra Magnus said.
"Whatever," Mearing said. "Now, if you're willing to listen to reason. You need to move your ship away from the civilian population, where we can. . ."
"We're perfectly fine where we are, and I will not leave Cade Yeager. This human and his family are under my protection," Magnus said.
"Under what jurisdiction?"
"My authority as the enforcer of the Tyrest Accord, and my Prime," Magnus replied.
"Optimus Prime isn't here," Mearing said.
"I, as his brother, have the right to speak for the Prime," Magnus said.
"Then speak," Mearing said. "What is it you want, and what are these accords you keep mentioning?"
"It is the duty of myself and any remaining fellow enforcers to uphold the law that no Cybertronian technology should not fall into the hands of alien species. As that has occurred here on your Earth, any and all Cybertronian tech and data will returned to us. Failing that, it will be confiscated if you are uncooperative."
"You're threatening us?"
"You may take it that way as you wish, as a personal threat to yourself, human. I know who you are, and what you've done," Magnus said.
A nod was all it took for weapons to be leveled again on Magnus and the others, and Magnus pointed his hammer at Mearing.
"Magnus, calm down," Prowl said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I refuse to discuss this any further until a more reasonable individual is found," Magnus said. "Until then, you will leave Cade Yeager's property or we will force you from this place."
Mearing frowned, but common sense won out. She made the men stand down, and they made their way toward their vehicles.
"That was fun," Cade muttered.
"You humans have a strange sense of 'fun,'" Magnus said.
"It's called sarcasm, Magnus," Prowl offered.
"I know," Magnus said. "We're returning to the ship. Cade Yeager, if you require anything. . ."
"Just call me Cade, and gods, I need a beer," he said.
