Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: just my OC's & the plot.
HUNTERS MOON
Chapter 9: Speculations & Developments
NEST base command center, late afternoon:
"Okay..." Darren got everyone's attention as he pulled up the necessary data from his laptop, to the command center's main monitor: "Ladies and gents: meet Charles Elliot Barkiss. Former intelligence consultant to Whitehall; and for a number of years, one of MI6's best field agents"
"Figures" Lennox deadpanned as he folded his arms, "Had to be military"
"So what's the low-down on this dude?" Jazz asked as he studied Barkiss's profile photo
"Well for starters. He's what the British call 'old money', real old school: the son of the sixth Earl of Berkshire: and with the attitude and love of hunting to back it up. He was in line for the title, but due to some family scandal when he turned eighteen, mom and dad cut him outta his inheritance and pretty much disowned him. After studying political science at Oxford University (during which he acquired the nickname 'Chumley' by his closet friends), he showed up on Whitehall's radar, and was offered a job as an intelligence analysis, but he turned them down: shortly after he enlisted with the British Army, and did pretty well too; he only rose to the rank of Sergeant, but he came highly recommended by his supers. While based at Sandhurst he studied all kinds of combat and tactical know-how's. Everything from hand-to hand, demolitions, weapons and resources procurement, long-range sniping: and even hostage negotiation. When he turned twenty five Whitehall approached him again, and this time he accepted"
"So the guy's ex-British intelligence..." Epps sighed in frustration, "Wonderful" he sarcastically deadpanned.
"But why'd he go after Prime?" Bluebird thought aloud
"I'm getting to that..." Darren replied, as he brought up several new windows of data on the main monitor: "Barkiss was made a military and intelligence consultant for Whitehall's overseas operations: he stayed in that post for a few years before MI6 offered him a position as one of their filed agents"
"Field agent? As in, 007 kinda field agent?" Rosy asked offhand.
"Sort of," Darren replied offhand, "It was the 70s by then, and the cold war was starting to heat up in some places; both British and US intelligence were quite busy during that decade, and there were a number of top secret and above classified ops that Barkiss worked on first-hand. But in nineteen seventy eight, something went down during a probing op in Israel, and he went AWOL. MI6 looked everywhere they could think of, but he'd completely dropped off the radar; no one heard or saw him for over four years, until in 'eighty two, when a CIA operative working in Buenos Aries spotted him on the streets. It was then they found out what he was up to. Apparently, Barkiss had put his passion for hunting to profitable use as a poacher for hire; namely collecting rear specimens for privet collectors, zoos, or anyone who wanted an exotic status symbol. Several major wildlife crimes in Africa, India and the US have been attributed to him: but at every turn, when the local or international authorities tried to catch up to him, he slipped away and vanished... He kept this up over the course of the eighties and nineties: but in the run-up to the new millennium, he seemed to turn his attention from animals to technology. His Whitehall psyche-evaluation states that he was always good with computers, and had a particular knack for gadgets. But he seemed to take this to a whole other level when he went into the business of becoming a 'cyber-mercenary' for hire"
"Cyber-mercenary?" Epps raised an eyebrow
"Well, that's what some called him. He basically became a big-time jack-of-all-trades: everything from corporate espionage to selling weapons to terrorists; if you can afford his asking price, he'll deliver it to you"
"So someone commissioned him to kidnap Optimus?" Majestrix frowned
"Pretty much" Darren sighed, "And before you ask: I couldn't find any trace of him online (or otherwise): even with the data I peeked at from the CIA and Whitehall's central databases, there's nothing that even hints at where his hideout could be. So instead, I decided to try following the money; going on some data the CIA had on a job he did in South Africa back in '02, and working backwards through several 'major-yet-low-key' online fanatical brokers: who's activities were, shall we say, 'not entirely above board' . I found he has several accounts stashed away in Zurich, the Cayman Islands, and every other international tax-haven that prides itself on, 'customer discretion'"
"In other words, they don't ask questions" Sam thought aloud
"Correct, but in this case I didn't need to ask: the banks online security is pretty good but I managed to take a peek at Barkiss's financial transactions none-the-less. That however, turned out to be a dead-end; whoever paid him to nab Prime, must've paid in cash: cuz' I couldn't find any records of the money being transferred from anywhere else online"
"So we don't know where he his" Ironhide huffed
"Not necessarily," Darren explained further, "It seems Barkiss and his client agreed to pay via a deposit, because each of his accounts has received a massive pay-in, in only the last twenty four hours. All of which put together, adds up to over twenty five million dollars: and not five minutes before I came here, another major deposit was cashed in. This time seventy five million was paid straight into Barkiss's Zurich account, via the US Syn-Tech Industries Server, before being automatically divided into his other online accounts. In order to make the transaction via that particular server, Barkiss had to have been online somewhere in the country, so we know for a fact he hasn't left the US yet"
"But if the second payment has been made, that means Prime is no longer within his possession" Prowl pointed out
"I know..." Darren dropped his gaze in disappointment, "I tried to hack Barkiss's online profile by working backwards through the online paying-in system, but his online defenses are slippery; every time I sent out a probe-virus to try and pin him down, it got bounced around from server to server. I could go at it again with something bigger, but it could takes hours"
"Hours we don't have," Majestrix sighed, "...But, good work none-the-less Darren. And Witwicky," she turned her attention to Sam, who was sitting on his guardian's shoulder: "Far-stretched as it is, I agree with your theory. Something is going on that Galloway isn't being completely honest about. And when this is over, I intend to see this incident is investigated in full"
"But for now, we still have to find where Prime is being kept" Ironhide pointed out
"Okay: so if Barkiss's online activities point to him 'handing over the goods' that means his clients already have Optimus" Jeanie thought aloud, "But what gets me is the amount; I mean, one hundred million dollars? Whoever could afford that: must have some serious cash on hand, probably even more?"
"It's possible..." Sam thought aloud, as the cogs in his brain started turn yet again, "But it lends something else to the perspective of this whole thing" he frowned in thought.
"What are you talking about now?" Ravage twitched one ear in confusion, as he tried to 'read' Sam's thoughts as they bubbled up, one after the other.
"Okay; Galloway tells us to stay home while another team goes after Prime: a mercenary was hired to kidnap Prime (a mercenary, I may add: who somehow, 'knew' his biggest weaknesses), and whoever paid him has a very fat wallet. And has access to Cybertronian tech" Sam stated
Majestrix frowned dangerously at him: "...Are you suggesting that someone in the military is responsible for this?"
"Or higher up, most probably" Sam replied confidently
"That's a very ballsy assumption" Lennox stated
"Yeah but come on!" Firefly interjected, "If the tire fits, what else could it possibly be?"
"I have to agree" Prowl stated, "Not allowing us clearance to find and retrieve Optimus is very unusual, even for Galloway. And even if he doesn't know what's going on: someone could be going to great lengths to make sure this doesn't reach his attention"
"Galloway? Being used as a tool?" Miles raised a skeptical eyebrow, "On one level I can believe that: but he's always paid attention to detail with NEST. I don't buy him being kept in the dark, if something's going down behind closed doors"
"Unless he's part of it?" Mikaela suggested, "If he doesn't 'not' know about it: the only other logical explanation must be that he's in on it somehow"
"Which until we find evidence that proves or disproves otherwise, it's just a moot theory..." Majestrix stated, "So if the military, or someone attached to the military is behind my brother's kidnapping; that narrows our field of search down dramatically. There are only so many places you can hide a secret as big as Prime, with the readily-available resources at hand to keep him subdued and under our radar"
"It's a start," Darren agreed, "But even if I go knocking on every back door in the Pentagon's central database, someone's gonna figure out what we're up to, and we could get shut down" he explained, running his fingers through his hair; "We need a means by which only we can find him, that no one (no human) can possibly think of, something that goes beyond intercepting wireless signals and hidden online access codes...What do we have that could do that?"
"I might be able to help in that regard" Ravage smiled
Elsewhere:
This was starting to get worrying.
As Prime lay motionless, strapped tightly to the birth with the stasis collar around his neck cables humming slightly: the human scientists around him went about their work with due care and diligence. Listening in on bits and pieces of their conversations, Prime grew more and more concerned as they took notes on certain details of his body and weapons systems, measured parts of his armor; and when one of them said "do you think it will feel pain when we start the procedure?", he had pretty good idea of where this was going.
Suddenly, the birth began to slowly rise, and steadily tilt forward until Optimus was standing vertically on a small platform at the end of the birth. And while the scientists continued their work, Prime could now survey where he was.
It was underground military facility of some kind: and judging by the overall good, well-used condition of the place, it had been in use for quite some time. But something about it seemed vaguely familiar: the giant circular vault-like door that led through to an equally huge cylindrical tunnel at the far end of the hanger: rang a bell in the back of his mind. But as Prime raked his CPU to try and remember, he just couldn't seem to place it.
That's when he noticed Silas. On the other side of the tunnel, in another equally large hanger-like room: he could see Silas standing by the door, talking to someone who was standing out of view, but whose shadow was cast upon the concrete floor. Scanning the walls, floor and ceiling, a sharp buzz hit Optimus's processor like fingernails on a blackboard.
: No point in trying to look for any gaps, the whole place is comm-proof inside and out: a familiar voice squeaked over Prime's comm.
: Ratbat?! : Prime exclaimed, giving it his all to hold back any external look of surprise; it seemed to work, as no one paid him any attention: : Where are you?! :
: In your head, literally. Under you're helm, right up alongside the rear of your audio-scanner buffer: the tiny drone replied
: But how is it you are able to emit a signal without being detected? : Prime pressed him
: Uh, I'm jacked directly into you're processor? Duh! : The bat drone deadpanned, : In any case, the fleshies can't hear us, so we're okay for now:
: How did you get on me in the first place? :
: That was easy enough. When Barkiss sent out that message, Ravage knew you wouldn't refuse (what with Morri being in danger an' all), so he let me outta his chest compartment, told me to hitch a ride and see what went down; turned out Barkiss had quite the welcoming committee huh? Half-way through the chase I managed to climb up under you're helm and stayed put: been hiding here ever since:
: Do you know where we are? Where have they taken us? : Prime pressed him
: Some place called Hoover dam? Looks like some kinda military outfit if you ask me: Ratbat replied nonchalantly.
Prime's optics flew wide open in a mix of shock and disbelief, : ...They said this place was shut down...: he thought aloud.
: Huh? :
: The Pentagon. They promised us Sector 7 would be shut down! That this place would be put out of commission! : Optimus fumed.
: Well? I hate to burst you're bubble Prime, but these guys ain't calling themselves 'Sector 7': Ratbat corrected.
: What? : Prime blinked in surprise.
: While you were taking a long stasis nap, I've been listening in on a few things. These humans: they call themselves 'Project Broadsword'; some black-ops unit that seems to be into some pretty shady business:
: What kind of, 'shady business'? : Prime frowned
: Look down the tunnel, and tell me what you see: Ratbat stated.
Focusing his optics long range binocular-mode down the tunnel, Prime's confusion turned to silent alarm when he saw three offline Decepticons propped up inside some kind of a cylindrical machine at the opposite end of the hanger: with multiple interface cables plugged into their helms, and energon lines hooked directly to their pumps. Their armor had been completely stripped away, exposing the frame and vulnerable inner-mechanisms, which a team of scientists was busy vivisecting piece by piece; while the cons simply stared into space, with an empty lifeless expression in their optics. A slight chill ran down Optimus's spinal unit when his audio's picked up one of the scientist's saying, "this one's no use anymore, remove it's CPU and send the rest to processing: we might as well get a few weapons and some ballistic armor out of it".
: We need to find a way out of here: Optimus stated
: Ya think?! : Ratbat shuddered, : Look, I've been trying to figure a way out all day: but thus far, I got squat! The whole complex is comm-proof, every soldier in the place is armed with stasis-emitting weapons, and to top it all off, we're sitting right under a giant dam that's three and one-million cubic yards of solid concrete! Even my telepathic bond to my brother's can't get through that! :
: I can relate. I can just barely sense Elita on the other end of our spark-bond: Prime sighed, : She's alive, and I know she's trying to reach me, I can feel her; but somehow, we just can't seem to, connect:
: Look, I'm not trying to be a 'bummer'. But breaking outta here the old fashioned way's just not an option. Besides, when those weapons hit you and knocked you out, you took a pretty bad beating; I know you're real tough an' all, but honestly? I don't know if you could go another round in your current condition:
Prime passed an uneasy sigh, and closed his optics as he tried to think of something. : ... Tell me Ratbat, when we were in transit, did you detect how far the comm-jamming frequency extended outside this facility? :
: About a mile, give or take? ... Wait a sec: you want me to find a way out so I can contact NEST? No duh! But that's way easier said than done! :
: This, coming from one of Soundwave's drones? : Prime drolled in a deadpan tone.
Ratbat paused a moment, before replying, : ...Good point...Stay put, I'll try and figure something out as I go along. Just don't go getting any ideas okay? :
And with that, a small ping over the comm signified Ratbat had disconnected himself from Optimus's jack-port, followed by a tiny scampering sound next to his audio, as the tiny bat-drone climbed under the rim of Prime's helm, to the back of his neck: and after navigating his way under the huge panels and plates of armor, made his way down to Optimus's feet.
Cautiously peering out from under the outward ankle hinge-plate on Prime's left leg: Ratbat carefully watched the ebb and flow of humans as they hovered close to Optimus's massive form; with the well-trained optic of a spy, he studied each and every one with great care. For he knew he only had one chance to slip away unnoticed, and only the right human would be able to make that happen. After several minutes of patiently watching and scanning, Ratbat spotted one scientist that seemed to fit the bill: and better still, he had a cell-phone in his pocket.
As soon as the human got within about a foot of the armor plate, the drone scanned the cell-phone's design through the cloth of his lab coat: and in one smooth move, he activated the laser-cutter on the top of his head, cut a neat small tear in the lab coat; and without anyone noticing, the phone dropped from the pocket, only to be caught in the drone's wing-membrane, which he promptly stuffed up into a cluster of cables inside Prime's ankle. And in one quick move, Ratbat transformed himself into the cell-phone, and deliberately fell out from his hiding place.
"Hey, you dropped your phone" one of the other humans pointed to said cell-phone sitting on the floor; frowning in bemusement, the scientist picked up the device, but as he tried to place it back in his pocket, he suddenly felt the hole in the fabric. Sighing in frustration, he placed the disguised drone in his coat's breast pocket instead, and carried on with his work. "Hey, Red's got some preliminary specs for you to check over in unit G: be there in ten" one of the other scientists called out: "Sure thing: just gotta put some stuff away" the younger scientist replied.
As he watched the human leave his post, and make his way up a metal staircase to a raised platform on one of the upper levels of the hanger; Prime breathed a quiet sigh of relief, as his scanner spotted Ratbat in the scientist's pocket.
Even though he was hiding in a temporary altmode, Ratbat's audio's never missed a single detail. This base was tightly secured, more so than NEST: there were soldiers at every turn, armed with reversed-engineered cybertronian weaponry, and as the scientist made his way through a number of corridors and vaulted doors that needed access key-cards, passwords and access codes. Ratbat began to get the feeling that these humans had been in this 'shady business' for quite some time; they certainly didn't behave like amateurs or rookies fresh off the bat; these were seasoned soldiers: and even though his telepathic abilities were nowhere near Ravage's caliber, Ratbat could sense something was off about these humans. As if their thought patterns weren't 'normal' for this high level of vigilance: if anything, their mindset seemed almost out of place. But he didn't have time to wonder about it, as the scientist entered what sounded like a locker room, and the sound of a metal door swinging open could be heard right next to him. The scientist then removed the disguised drone from his pocket, and placed him on the top shelf of the locker: and after removing a few other items from the lower shelf: closed and locked the door.
Transforming back into drone-mode, Ratbat listened as he waited for the locker room to die down; and after a couple of minutes, the last person exited, and the locker room fell silent. Not wasting any time, he activated his head-laser yet again, and cut a small hole in the top of the locker. Carefully, he squeezed out, and ran along the top row of lockers, towards the ventilation system that ran parallel to the far-end wall. But as he approached, Ratbat suddenly noticed, what looked like a stasis field emitter around the frame of the vent; no doubt it was meant to be a bug zapper that specialized in eliminating any prying optics that would use the vent to get in or out, and as the device hummed away, it sounded like it could pack quite a few hundred volts.
"Frag!" the tiny bat cursed under his breath; looking around, there was only one way into the locker room, and that lead out into a busy corridor: even with his small size, there was no way he would go unnoticed, and with the air vent protected by a 'drone-zapper'. His options were practically zero...
...Until, Ratbat noticed the bathroom, and saw one of the toilet-stalls open...
He then remembered something he read online a while ago: about how plumbing and water channeling systems are mostly, if not all are connected, and that even waste disposal pipes led to open water after processing. Despite the fact he was inside a military complex, he was sitting right underneath one of the biggest man-made dams in North America; a dam that regulated the flow of the Colorado River. And if this base utilized the water of that river for its own basic needs, then it stood to reason that part of the plumbing system had to lead to a processing complex of some kind, and then out to join the rest of the river.
But reason be damned: the last thing Ratbat had in mind was to find his way out of here through a human sewage works. And as the thought of it made him cringe in utter disgust: he turned around, and opted to try and find another way out...
But then, it suddenly occurred to him. If he spent time trying to find another way out of here (time that Optimus didn't have): and in the meantime Prime was put through the chop-shop. And then the Autobots came, expecting to rescue their leader, only to find he'd been turned into guns, spare parts and who knows what else. How would he explain it?
But then, a much worse prospect came to mind. Who would take it harder? The rest of the Autobots; or Majestrix? Who would punish him more? The Autobot forces: or Megatron's twin sister?
The choice was a no-brainer: and with a disgruntled squeak, followed by a grumbling string of Cybertronian curses; Ratbat flew off the top of the end-locker, landed on the floor next to the bathroom, and using all his strength he pried the door open with his wings, squeezed through the gap, and flew to one of the stalls. As he eyed the (relatively clean) toilet basin with disgust, he shook his head with disbelief: "When this is over, I had better get a promotion for this!" he muttered miserably.
And so, without giving himself time to procrastinate: he jumped down onto the button and flushed; bounced off the button as if it were a diving board, and plopped into the basin. Swirling round and around as the water got sucked down: he shut his air-intakes, and held his proverbial breath as he got flushed down into the dark pipe.
Meanwhile, back at NEST:
"You WHAT?! Why didn't you tell us sooner that you'd sent Ratbat to tail Prime?!" Jetfire exclaimed angrily
"If he'd remained within my telepathic reach, it would be relevant. But when they took Prime they used a form of containment, or a jamming pulse of some kind that blocks my telepathy; in any case, I can't reach Ratbat. I can sense he's still alive, but there's something blocking him from me" Ravage explained, flicking one ear in agitation.
"I sense it too" Elita interjected, "Optimus isn't dead, but I cannot get through to him"
"Can you at least sense how far away he is?" Prowl asked
"Not exactly: I can only sense that he's somewhere north of here; and for some reason-...I keep getting the feeling he's somewhere, 'familiar'" Elita frowned in confusion.
"Familiar?" Ironhide raised a curious optic ridge: as did everyone else in the command center.
"I don't know: it could only be somewhere Prime has been before, because it does not seem familiar to me" Elita explained
Everyone paused a moment as they tried to make sense of Elita's words.
"Somewhere that's north, and is familiar to Optimus?" Lennox though aloud.
"Well? Aside from the Sierras: the only place I can think of Optimus has been to that's north of here is-"
"-Hoover dam" Mikaela realized
Everyone paused in uneasy silence.
"Whoa, hold up; the Sector 7 complex under Hoover dam was shut down: I oversaw the dismantling operation myself" Lennox interjected
"Yeah man," Epps concurred: "It could be somewhere else, right?
Glancing around the room, and looking into the eyes and optics of everyone concerned; the doubt that was present was hard for Majestrix to miss. And knowing their luck, what were the chances Epps was right?
"...Darren: is there any way to confirm that?" the Prima addressed the teen hacker.
Without wasting a second, Darren got right to work: "Give me a few minutes..." he replied offhand, as his fingers flew over the keyboard of his laptop. With his device still hooked up to the command center's main monitor, everyone watched as he accessed the Bureau of Reclamation's online site, back-hacked through a number of channels to reach the site's blueprints of Hoover dam, and all the online functions that linked the Pentagon's above-classified access to the site.
"Okay..." Darren thought aloud, as he kept his eyes glued to the data, as he read through window after window of information: "According to this, the base is officially designated as a sleeper-cell, with minimal skeleton crew on hand to make sure no trespassers come sniffing around"
"Seriously? That's all?" Roxy replied impatiently
"Apparently, it seems like-..." Darren stopped mid-sentence, frowning in concern as a particular piece of data caught his attention...
"What is it?" Prowl asked anxiously
"This doesn't look right. The Pentagon say's this place is supposed to be shut down; but according to the Bureau of Reclamation's power-management department: the power levels in dam's underground units have been spiking dramatically in the last ten months" Darren explained.
"So the place is being used again?" Jazz frowned
"Well the light's are on, so someone must be home. If the-
Darren paused again
"What? What is it?" Ironhide pressed.
"This..." Darren replied, as a satellite photo of Hoover dam filled up the main monitor: and right away, the long row of large black vehicles lining the road into the dam's lower levels caught everyone's eyes and optics.
"Those look like military transport vehicles" Sam said offhand
Lennox frowned as he studied the types of vehicles in the picture, and recognized them all immediately: "Armored, personnel, supplies; I'd say someone moved in alright"
"That's not all," Darren added, "This photo was shot only four months ago: and according to the digital logs of the satellite that snapped it, another ten convoys were observed entering the facility shortly after..."
As the pieces of information began to paint a picture of events: Majestrix's frown turned into a brooding scowl, as she got a pretty good idea of what these events might be: "...Blackshot!" she barked over the comm.
: Blackshot here:
"Have the Black Solstus prepped and ready for take-off within the hour. We're going to pay the Hoover dam a little visit..."
Sometime later, Hoover dam:
It was an hour away from sunset by the time Ratbat made it to the outside; with his strength all but utterly spent from surviving the torrent ride through the underground complex's water treatment plant (and then the dam's spillways): he had made it out in one piece: albeit, now riding the river's current like a dead leaf, as he tried to keep his head above water.
As the Hoover dam bypass came into view, Ratbat shook his head as his gyroscopic sensors rebooted themselves, and began trying to swim across to the river's edge. After snagging a rock with his wing and pulling himself up out of the water, he flopped down with exhaustion as he opened his air-intakes, and flushed puff after puff of air over his overheated systems.
"Never, again!" he panted sullenly.
Meanwhile, deep inside the underground facility; events were taking a different turn as Silas watched Prime from the high-vantage point of the base's command chamber. Behind him, some of his subordinates discreetly entered the room, and approached him cautiously.
"Report" Silas ordered
"The analysts are getting twitchy: the Ainsley boy has been making inquiries into the dams 'current's residents'" one of the gentlemen replied.
"...And?" Silas pressed
"Apparently Prime didn't come alone; one of the drone's stowed away on his person, and somehow found a way off the base. We're not picking anything up on the external scanners, so he must be running silent"
"Either way, He will, or has already, alerted the Autobots" one of the other gentlemen interjected, "In which case, it would be prudent to move up the timetable, and relocate to another facility"
"...Very well," Silas coolly replied, as he turned to face them: "Sound the order to evacuate; have all essential resources and personnel out within thirty minutes. And have the base's defense-system set to level ten, code: scorched earth. Not a single microbe of evidence is to be left behind"
"Right away; and the Insecticons?"
"Have the devices been fully fused to their CPU's?" Silas asked
"We finished only two minutes ago" one of the other gentlemen replied
"Then prime them for battle-mode: no doubt Majestrix will bring hell down upon our heads when she and the others arrive. So let's give them a proper welcome" Silas replied.
"But what about Prime? They won't stop until they get him back"
"No, they won't," Silas agreed in a somewhat reluctant tone, "Tell Red to put the final touches on the 'faulty stasis collar'. We have to give the illusion that they caught us off guard, but we can't put the other resources at risk by dragging the fight out"
"Understood sir. Will there be anything else?"
"Tell Arkeville and Rook to meet me in the ready room as soon as their done with their work. The second the Autobots shows up, alert me: then head to the evac-tunnels. I'll join you as soon as I know the Autobots won't follow us"
Back outside, Ratbat finally picked himself up, and looked at the giant bypass overhead. The buzz over his comm-line suggested he wasn't outside the jamming-pulse's range just yet; and with the base still in sight, it was possible they could detect him if he tried to call NEST.
But then he began to wonder: with the base so close to the bypass, remaining inconspicuous with a highway full of civilians well within range presented the problem of keeping powerful cybertronian jamming-pulses in check; least the civilian humans would eventually figure out that something was up, as to why there would be hardly any clear cell signals, if not a load of strange static on their cell-phones (and knowing how humans loved their cell-phones and other such gadgets, it was a no-brainer really).
Scanning the dam's external structure; Ratbat spotted the pulse-emitters at the top of the power plant: the whole dam itself was being used as a giant resonator to increase the range of the jamming-pulse over tenfold. "Clever..." Ratbat thought aloud, "But if they don't want anyone noticing the pulse, then that's got to mean-"
Sure enough, as he scanned the structure above, Ratbat's sensors spotted a narrow 'shadow' in the jamming-pulse's line of sight. Hidden under the bypass, was a row of pulse-dampeners, keeping the signal from interfering with all the cell-phone signals in the immediate area.
"Yes!" Ratbat smiled, "Now to get some altitude" he pumped his wings and took off, using the warm updrafts that were rising up from the gorge to gain as much height as he possibly could. When he approached the bypass, he made a bee-line for one of the pulse-dampeners, and landed parallel to the device; right in the middle of the pulse's 'shadow'. But no sooner had he landed and started scanning the airwaves for NEST's comm frequencies: a white-hot red laser missed his right wing by mere centimeters, forcing him to take off, and hover as he scanned for the source of the laser.
On the east side of the bypass; two human males dressed in black suits and sunglasses, were aiming a couple of, what looked like silver laser pens, right at him. One of them clicked a small button on the side his device: and this time, the laser that shot out burnt off the tip of Ratbat's left ear. With a panicked squeak the tiny bat-drone dropped back down into the gorge and flew into a small crack in the rocks, well out of the human's line of sight, but just barely remained within the pulse-shadow's range.
"Okay, plan B..." Ratbat thought aloud as he transformed back into his cell-phone form, and dialed the first cell-phone number he could think of.
Meanwhile, back inside the underground complex; Optimus began to wonder what was happening now. As a flurry of activity seemed to spontaneously erupt among the humans; they began to speed up a little: gathering stuff up, switching every device and computer terminal off, and calmly giving orders to one another.
If he didn't know better, Prime surmised that this looked like an evacuation in progress.
Where the Autobot's comming? Had Ratbat managed to get out and call for help?
But strangely enough, as he keyed into what they were saying; no mention of the Autobot's was heard: and judging by the pace they were moving at, it didn't sound or look like they were desperate or worried about being caught out...
This looked deliberate, as if they knew something was already coming...
Now wondering if something else was going on, Prime made up his mind to take things into his own hands. Incapacitated or not, he knew that he had to get out of here: and as he listened to the hubbub of activity around him; he watched, and waited for an opportunity to present itself...
At the same time, less than 100 miles south of Hoover Dam:
"How's it looking?" Majestrix demanded
"Thus far the stealth mode's holding up well: the local air traffic's not seen anything on their radar, and no reports of anything suspicious have been reported to local law enforcement" Novastar reported from where she was sitting at the main computer terminal.
: That's good: Darren replied over the open comm, : But Majestrix,. You do realize that soon as you make a move on the place, Galloway's gonna find out one way or another? :
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it Darren, for now; just keep an optic on things back there" Majestrix replied: "If Galloway or the Pentagon call: stall them for as long as you can; and if they do figure out what we're up to, pay close attention. I want to know exactly what they're reactions are"
: Copy that, Ainsley out: Darren replied as his end of the comm fell silent. At the same time, Lennox entered the bridge: "Ironhide and the other's are ready; we just need confirmation Prime is in there"
"If I know my brother, he's already outside" Ravage stated as he watched the Hoover dam come into view on the ship's long-range scanner. "The question is: what's keeping him?"
"For all our sakes I hope you're wrong" Lennox stated anxiously as he folded his arms
"I hope so too..." Majestrix sighed in equal anxiety.
At the same time, back at NEST:
Vzzzz-vzzzz-vzzzzz
"What was that?" Roxy looked around for the source of the sound
"What was what?" Darren replied
Vzzzz-vzzzz-vzzzzz
"There! Again! It sounds like a bee!" Roxy insisted
Looking away from his laptop, Darren couldn't figure out what the strange sound was at first, until he suddenly remembered: "Oh wait, it's my cell: I always keep it on silent when on duty" he sheepishly reached for his hoodie pocket and pulled out the device. With the words 'unknown caller' flashing on the tiny screen, Darren tapped the receiver button and pressed it to his ear; but no sooner had he drawn breath to speak, the unknown caller beat him to it, as a tiny panicked voice squeaked: : DARREN! DARREN do you receive me! :
"Ratbat?!" Darren exclaimed in surprise; everyone in the command center stopped and listened as Darren flipped his phone's loud-speaker on: "Where are you?"
: Underneath the Hoover Dam bypass, and being shot at by fleshies with laser pens! : the bat-drone squeaked angrily, : Put Ravage on! I need to relay my coordinates! :
"First things first: is Prime still alive?"
: I don't know: if he is, he won't be for long if the bots don't move their afts and get over here! :
"Already covered. Majestrix is leading a rescue team up there as we speak: they're less than a hundred miles from the dam"
: What?! ...: Ratbat blinked in surprise; of all the luck, the bots were already on their way? : But I don't see any military aircraft, or cybertronian jets:
"They're aboard the Black Solstus" Darren replied
: Oh...: Ratbat went wide-eye in amazement, : Well, patch me through to them! :
"Give me a minute..." Darren replied, as he hooked up his cell phone to his laptop, and made the necessary relay.
At the same time, aboard the Black Solstus:
"Mother, we have an emergency comm-patch from Darren: Ratbat's on the other line" Novastar stated.
Everyone on the bridge paused, and listened as Majestrix paced over to the main console, and flipped on the loud-speakers: "Put him on!" she ordered.
: Majestrix? Are you reading me? : The bat-drone squeaked
"We're reading you Ratbat: report" Majestrix stated
: Prime is in the dam, in one of the mid-levels of the underground complex. He's being held via a stasis collar and restraints; whatever you're gonna do to get him out, you better do it now! Cuz I don't know how long he's got left! :
"Alright. Stay put, we'll pick you up when we can" Majestrix replied
: Copy that; Ratbat out:
: All teams on stand-by, the mission is a go. Await my command, I'll join you down in the landing bay momentarily, : Majestrix ordered over the ships comm, before turning her attention to Novastar; "Keep an optic on their defenses; they'll be well covered inside that complex, and with the dam right overhead a full frontal assault's going to be tricky without collateral damage"
"Understood" Novastar nodded
"Lennox, come; we've got work to do" the Prima stated as she picked the Major up in one hand, and made her way down to the launch bay.
Way to take one for the team Ratbat! :D & is that an Autobot/Galloway bitch-off I see looming on the horizon?
Things are now getting tense :) Hope you enjoyed, and please remember to R&R on the way out ;)
Much love darlings!