Briley woke much too early the next morning to Blast tapping her on the forehead. "Yes?" she asked him softly so as not to wake Summer and Kinsey.
"Lennox called," the little robot said in an equally quiet tone. "Asked you to wake others and come to command."
"Got it," Briley said, placing him carefully next to her bed. Then she stood and dressed swiftly, glad she had taken a shower the night before. "Summer, Kinsey up!" she said, raising her voice to assure that she would be heard.
"Wha-?" Kinsey asked as she sat up slowly, red hair a disheveled mess.
"What for?" Summer asked. Summer was definitely a morning person and it showed.
"We're wanted in command," Briley explained.
"This can't be good," Summer said. "Give me fifteen minutes to freshen up and we'll go if it isn't a matter of life and death." Briley looked at Blast who swiftly shook his head and then she motioned for the blonde to go ahead. Summer vanished into the bathroom with a fresh change of clothing and Kinsey sat up with a groan.
"How can she be that chipper in the morning?" she asked, sounding not at all coherent. Briley just shrugged and walked to the door while Kinsey dressed and pulled her hair in a messy red ponytail. Summer was out of the shower, dressed, and had her blonde hair in a damp ponytail in almost fifteen minutes exactly and the girls strode into the main hanger to join the others.
"We just received some bad news," Lennox announced once he made sure everyone was present, Autobots and humans. "The last shard of the All Spark left from its destruction in Mission City was stolen by Decepticons and used to revive Megatron." Instantly a babble of voices broke out in angry protest.
Ironhide's rang out loudest of all saying, "We were told it would be protected."
"Well we aren't freaking alien robots," Kinsey yelled from her position on the floor. Lennox looked as if he would like to hide and Epps was looking just as angry as Kinsey as the yelling grew louder.
"ENOUGH!"
Briley's voice echoed through the instant silence that came after she yelled. Her eyes blazed with fury at their immaturity as they scanned the room, pinning everyone where they were. Arcee gave her a smile when her eyes passed the pink femme and Briley inclined her head slightly before turning back to look at all of them in general. "What's done is done," she said flatly. "And there's no one here that can undo it. What's important now is to find out where Megatron is head unless we already know that."
"We have nothing," Lennox said tiredly. "There were technicians up all night trying to find something but it's as if he has just vanished into thin air." Lennox didn't say that vanishing into thin air wasn't possible and neither did anyone else. After the information they had just been given nothing seemed impossible anymore.
"Let's think about this logically," Briley said in a calmer tone. "What would be Megatron's first goal once he came back?"
"Revenge," Ratchet spoke up from the back of the room. "He was never one to leave things like his colossal defeat alone."
"And who would be an easy target?" Briley asked, her voice getting softer as it went and she realized she already knew the answer.
"Sam," Optimus said almost breathlessly as they all came to the same conclusion. Instantly the whole base exploded into action with Lennox yelling orders left and right. In all the chaos a man dressed in a government suit came stalking up to them.
"I need to talk to you," he said.
"Later," Epps snapped, darting off to do what Lennox had just asked him to.
"I am here as a result of the Shanghai disaster so if you would mind letting me take-" the man tried again, looking even more annoyed as Lennox was drawn away by a soldier with an important question.
"Look, whoever you are-" Briley began.
"Galloway. I'm the new-" the man began pompously but Briley didn't let him finish.
"I don't care," she snapped sharply. "We are in the middle of a code red right now so you can get out of the way and we'll talk later."
"But-" the man began to protest.
"That was not a request," Briley said in a voice that could have frozen hell solid. Then she turned and stalked off, joining the convoy that left base in a cloud of dust, leaving a fuming liaison behind.
Author's Note: Thanks to MissShelz, Riptide2, and PJ-NCIS-TF-26 for reviewing the last chapter! Hope you enjoyed and I own nothing but my OCs