(Sorry if I confused you Autobotally45, Sentinel shot the human spy cameras on the island.)
A day later and things were hardly calming down. Carrier Strike Group Thirteen circled the island at a same distance, awaiting further orders. The massive supercarrier USS Woodrow Wilson consisted of three F-18 squadrons, eight CSA (Common Support Aircraft) for electronic warfare and early warning, and that didn't even include the massive amount of firepower the Wilson could deliver on its own. Trailing alongside of it were ten support ships including a Ticonderoga class missile cruiser, two Los Angeles attack submarines, and three Arleigh Burke class missile destroyers. It was most advanced and deadliest fighting force in the oceans and it usually won its battles through sheer intimidation.
But Lennox knew that wasn't going to intimidate Sentinel in the slightest. He was called to the White House Situation Room where the President, Chief of Staff Galloway, National Security Advisor Mearing, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Morshower, and Deputy of Homeland Security Mitchell among many others. They all sat discussing what to say when Sentinel contacted them in the next few minutes. Lennox was supposed to advise them but he had yet to be asked a single question.
"How could the Autobots and Decepticons be fighting for God knows how long and just suddenly become allies?" asked the President.
"Maybe they were planning this the whole time. Just waiting for the right opportunity for something like this." suggested Galloway. Lennox tried to mask his disgust. This guy gave stupidity a bad name.
"With respect sir, how does two factions agree to kill each other for a certain amount of time then just stop and be friends again?" asked Morshower, shooting Galloway's theory to pieces.
"They're alien machines General. Who knows what kind of religious or political motivations they could have," shot back Galloway.
"Colonel Lennox, you're the only person who spent time personally with Sentinel. What are your thoughts about him?" asked Mearing. All eyes in the room turned towards him. Lennox was prepared for something like this but it didn't mean he liked having the spotlight on him.
"I only spent a few days with him and my impression is that he is stubborn. He does not take no for an answer and he is the only Autobot I have ever met who hates humans," said Lennox.
"Did he tell you this?" asked Mitchell.
"Not in so many words but I could see it in his eyes. Every time he looked at me, he was disgusted," answered Lennox. That did not bring any comfort to anyone in the room.
A White House aide came rushing in and whispered something to the President. "Optimus Prime is contacting us," the President said after the aide left. Everyone turned to the wall mounted viewscreen as footage of Optimus Prime's upper half appeared.
"Mister President, I have Sentinel Prime here to speak with you," said Optimus. The Autobots stepped aside as Sentinel stepped into view.
"Sentinel Prime, my name is…" the President tried to say before being cutoff.
"I know who you are human and I'm not intimated by your pathetic boats circling my home," Sentinel said bluntly. Now the President and his staff would see firsthand how much easier it was dealing with Optimus.
"You can understand our concern. You have the Decepticons, most if not all of them on that island and instead of attacking them, you grant them amnesty?" asked the President.
"I wouldn't expect your kind to understand," said Sentinel. Probably not exactly the kind of talk the President was used to hearing in his usual negotiations.
"We understand that you are harboring the world's most notorious fugitives along with most powerful weapon on the planet. Your new AllSpark," said Mearing.
"The Cube isn't a weapon of mass destruction though in your limited intellect I can see why you don't understand that," spat Sentinel. This was not going very well.
"I thought we were allies Sentinel? We gave you your island and this is how you repay us? With insults and colluding with the Decepticons?" asked the President.
"I am not colluding. I ended the war between the Autobots and Decepticons," said Sentinel.
"Good for you. Now if you want to stop another war from occurring, hand over the Cube and Megatron." said Galloway.
Sentinel busted up laughing. "You humans have a strange sensor of humor."
"No joke Sentinel. We're not just going to allow you to hold the most powerful weapon on Earth to use at your leisure along with the most notorious mass murderer in human history," said the President.
"So you're giving me the choice of handing them over to you or you'll unleash your military upon us," Sentinel said.
"I would prefer for this not to get violent. I am sure we can work this out," pointed out the President.
"You've made your threats now I'll make my own. You will send your floating machines away and never contact me again. Refuse these conditions or your people will never know peace again," threatened Sentinel. The screen turned to static, Sentinel was finished talking to them.
"So much for the diplomatic solution," Mearing muttered to herself.
"I recommend a full tactical strike Mr. President and blow them all to kingdom come," said Galloway.
"With all due respect not all of the Autobots agree to this," said Lennox.
"Oh really. I didn't see them convincing Sentinel to change his mind," spat Galloway. Epps was right, this guy is an asshole.
"The Autobots aren't the problem, it's Sentinel. They're just following his orders and I know from speaking with a few of them that they aren't happy about all of this," said Lennox.
"And that helps us how? If they are stilling willing to carry out Sentinel's orders, it doesn't change anything. If a soldier disagreed with his orders and carried them out anyways, does that make him any less culpable?" pointed out Mearing.
"Thank you everyone for you recommendations. But I'll need some time before we do anything," said the President.
Sentinel made sure he was alone with Megatron before they planned their next move. "The humans are certainly taking their time in attacking," said Sentinel. He knew that fleshlings would attack. The whole situation was manipulated to force their hands. That was why Sentinel allowed their spy devices to see the arrival of the Decepticons and the Cube. If they attacked the humans now, the Autobots would question and possibly challenge Sentinel's orders. But if the humans attack first, that won't be a problem. Nothing unites anyone better then a common foe.
"Perhaps we can make that choice for them," smiled Megatron, obviously already having a plan.
Later that night, the Carrier group continued their patrol. Only now, several marble-sized Decepticons moved along the hull of the ships. They move patiently inside, often taking hours just to move through one level. One by one, they reach vital computers and controls on each ship. They jacked themselves into cables and wires, hacking into the ship systems without being seen. By the morning, the Decepticons had complete control over the ship and not a single person knew otherwise.
Captain Remar of the USS Woodrow Wilson found himself in quite possibly the worst situation since the Cuban Missile Crisis. At least the media was kept in the dark, for the moment. It only takes one leak before every news station has 24 hour coverage of this. Right now all he could do was wait until the President came to a decision. "Sir, CIC is reporting a problem." said the XO, holding the intercom phone.
Remar took it. "Go ahead."
"Sir, our AWAC in the area has gone silent. They're still on radar but I can't raise them on any frequency," reported the Communications Officer.
"Have Eagles 1 and 2 intercept and visual inspect it," ordered Remar, referring to the two F-18s already in the air.
"I already tried sir. I can't raise them. In fact I can't seem to pick up anything," said the Communications Officer.
"Sir, my screen just went dark! We just lost our GPS feed too!" said the Helmsman.
"What?" was all Remar got out before the alarms went off all over the ship. "Who's doing that?"
"Sir, every missile we've got just armed themselves. They're targeting the island!" said the Weapons Officer.
"Shut it down!" ordered Remar.
"I can't! I'm locked out of the controls," said the Weapons Officer.
Outside, Remar looked on in disbelief as the Wilson fired every missile tube it had. The escort vessels fired their missiles as well. "Dear god."
Air Raid patrolled the skies above the island, keeping the occasional eye on the human vessels. Things had never been so tense among the Autobots. Working with Decepticons and the humans appeared to be mounting for a possible attack. Morale was low and a lot of them were starting to wonder whether leaving NEST was the right thing to do. But Air Raid believed in Sentinel, he had never steered them right before. His accomplishments outweighed all other Primes that came before him.
He nearly gasped when he saw the human ships firing hundreds of missiles at the island. There was no way he could stop them. "This is Air Raid to all Autobots! The humans just opened fire! They'll impact in less then thirty seconds!" he radioed in.
Optimus almost didn't believe Air Raid's message until his optics picked up the hundreds of missiles raining down from the sky. "Everyone inside!" he yelled. Autobots and Decepticons alike transformed into their vehicle forms and rolled into the underground entrance. Except Starscream and his Seekers who flew off into the sky.
Optimus was the last one in the blast doors slammed shut behind him. A second later the ground shook from the missile impacts above ground. Despite the damage, the walls and ceiling held. The Autobots worked hard to make sure their tunnels wouldn't collapse short of a volcano erupting next to them.
Everyone assembled into the lowest chamber, waiting for Sentinel to make his decision while the others talked amongst themselves.
"What happened?" asked Wheeljack.
"Your beloved humans just tried to kill all of us," snapped Shockwave.
"No, it couldn't have been. Could it?" asked a confused Ratchet.
"Who else could have done Autobot?" growled Barricade.
"I have a few ideas," said Ironhide, glaring at the Decepticons.
"You truly are a waste of metal. If it wasn't for Optimus, you would have gotten yourself killed long ago," mocked Shockwave.
Ironhide threw the first punch, catching Shockwave in the chin. But the Decepticon spun around and backhand Ironhide with his arm cannon. The blow knocked him back. They charged again, only to both get hit by a flying hammer. It stopped in mid-air and flew back to the hands of its owner Ultra Magnus. "If anyone wants a confrontation, you're welcome to face me," he said. The threat worked with both fighters backing away. Optimus was slightly grateful and somewhat disappointed with Magnus. He always did use force on almost anything but that was who he was, a soldier.
Megatron's voice snapped Optimus back to his discussion with Sentinel. "We should launch a full retaliatory strike. Make the humans suffer for this!"
"No! We don't know what happened. We should…" Optimus explained before Megatron interrupted.
"Wait for what? For your humans to come up with some lie to cover up murdering us all?" snapped Megatron.
"We should wait until we have all the facts," said Optimus.
"We have the facts Prime. Air Raid confirmed that the missiles came from the human fleet. They have clearly made their intentions known and now I will make mine. Megatron, contact Soundwave and tell him to cripple those ships. Shockwave, summon your driller and have it create a tunnel to the surface," said Sentinel, giving out various orders.
With their mission accomplished, the miniature Decepticons disconnected themselves from the consoles and began moving off the ships. No one is the wiser as the bots all drop into the sea.
Lennox was with Morshower when he got the news. An Army Captain came running into the General's office. "General, STRATCOM just detected numerous missile launches from the Wilson Carrier Group. They're attacking the island."
"What?" yelled Lennox.
"The hell is Captain Remar doing? The President hasn't made a decision yet." said Morshower. He picked up his phone. "Get me the Woodrow Wilson on the line now…Since when? Why am I just hearing about this now? Find the problem and fix it."
"What was that all about sir?" asked Lennox.
"We've lost all communication with the Carrier Group," answered Morshower.
"Don't tell me you don't know! I don't care if you have to rip this entire ship up to find out but figure out what happened! And get SOUTHCOM back on the line!" yelled Remar to an unfortunate Lieutenant that delivered a report from the CIC. The Captain felt he had every right to be angry, his fleet may have just started World War 3 with a bunch of alien robots. A second later, every electronic device on the bridge shut down.
"EMP attack successful. Human vessels disabled," reported Soundwave. The Autobots and Decepticons stood on the beach, watching the powered down ships from afar.
"Cybertronians, secure the ships. I want the humans to vacated immediately." said Sentinel.
"What for?" asked Warpath.
"I have someone special in mind and I want them all to witness it," smiled Sentinel.
"With all due respect Sentinel, this is wrong," said Optimus.
Sentinel turned to his pupil, angered by the blatant questioning his orders in front of the others. "I've heard your arguments Optimus and I've already made my decision. The humans will pay for what they've done here,"
"No," said Optimus, absolutely stunning everyone on the beach including Sentinel.
"What did you say?" Sentinel asked in a whisper.
"I'm sorry old friend but I can't go along with this," said Optimus. Sentinel turned away for a moment and then suddenly lashed out, drawing his shield and hitting Optimus in the head. The blow caught Optimus completely by surprise, knocking him to the ground. Sentinel drew his sword and slashed Optimus's JetFire parts off.
"Optimus!" yelled Ironhide, rushing to help his friend. Magnus tackled him to the ground.
"No, don't!" said Magnus, though the look on his face said he was just as horrified and stunned as Ironhide was from Sentinel's attack.
"You forget your place Optimus. Blatantly disobeying an order at a time of war is treason," said Sentinel, holding his sword up to Optimus's head.
"Sentinel please stop," begged Ratchet.
"Be silent. All of you!" Sentinel yelled at the Autobots. He turned his attention back to Optimus. "If you were anyone else, I would have you executed. But I cannot overlook this. I hereby strip you of your rank and title. And banish you from the rest of our kind,"
Sentinel grabbed him and hurled Optimus off to the side. "Sentinel, please. Don't launch the attack," pleaded Optimus.
"You've become so lost Optimus. You care too much for these fleshlings even when they try to kill you. Don't ever come back to us until you learn to prioritize your own race over them," said Sentinel.
Optimus lowered his head into the sand, as if losing all his mental strength. Bumblebee quickly rushed to his side. "Leave him. We have work to do," ordered Sentinel. Bumblebee shook his head no, refusing to leave Optimus's side. "Fine then, join him in exile too,"
Magnus lifted Ironhide up. "Go to him. He's going to need you now," Magnus said, indicating Optimus. Ironhide looked at Warpath whose head was lowered in shame. Ironhide shook his head and walked over to Optimus.
"The rest of you, begin your attack!" ordered Sentinel.
The crew on the Woodrow Wilson's flight deck were stunned when Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp came crashing down. Everyone scattered to cover as the three were joined by Air Raid, Silverbolt, and Breakaway.
"Remember we need them all alive," said Air Raid, directing his comments to the Decepticon Seekers.
"The humans should have fired their weapons at you," spat Starscream before transforming and flying towards another ship. Thundercracker and Skywarp soon joined him.
A few minutes later Sentinel and the rest of the Transformers all arrived on the Carrier, climbing the side of the hull. Sentinel walked up to the windows of the bridge and pointed his Rust Cannon at the humans inside. "Humans, you will vacate this ship within fifteen minutes of your Earth standard minutes!" he yelled.
He turned and pulled out the Cube, charging it up.
Ironhide watched the battle from the beach. Truthfully, it wasn't a battle at all. The Autobots and Decepticons easily established dominance over the powered down ships. They were forcing all the humans into lifeboats.
"Optimus, we can't do anything now but we have to get to mainland and find Lennox. Hopefully, we can do something to stop this from getting any worse," said Ironhide. Optimus kept starring down at the sand, his old spirit seemingly crushed.
"Now humans, it is time to recognize your betters," said Sentinel, activating the AllSpark. The blast effect wasn't that big but it wasn't supposed to be. Instantly, the aircraft carrier began to change into a massive three hundred foot tall transformer.
"Behold, Omega Supreme!" yelled Sentinel on top of the massive Transformer's shoulder. Omega lifted its hand up and brought down on a missile cruiser, crushing it in half. It then turned and reached into water, lifting up a Submarine up like it was nothing. Supreme ripped it in half.
"In the name of Primus, how are we going to stop something that powerful?" Ironhide asked himself as the massive Transformer laid waste to the rest of the human fleet.
(Magnus's magnetic hammer was based on Thor's hammer just like the one used by Magnus in the Animated Series. But of course, this one can't control the weather. I originally planned on Optimus being exiled in the last chapter but pacing wise, it just didn't feel right. Hope you enjoyed and please review.)