Author Note: Many thanks for your review, Major Simi. And thanks to all those who put me on their favorite and alert lists.

Here's the next instalment. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

– chapter three –

Crosspoint

It was early-afternoon by the time they touched down on Nellis Air Force Base. Because of the black-out, they had no chance to call ahead to order a car being readied for them. It thus took about half an hour to find a suitable ride and maps, along with directions to Hoover Dam. "Damn that black-out," Sam grumbled once they were on their way. "It'd be easier with GPS."

"But we acquired a method of transport, Colonel Carter," Teal'c pointed out.

Sam sighed. "You're right. Still." She accelerated and smoothly slid into line on the highway. Next to her, Daniel rustled through the maps. She sent him a sideway glance. "Don't tell me we're on the wrong track and should have used the one further up."

"What?" he said, distracted. Seeing her glare, he hurried to say, "No, no, we're fine. Just follow this route and we'll get to Hoover Dam sooner or later."

"Daniel!"

He held up his hands. "Joking! I'm only joking. Sorry!" He glanced out of the window. "Seriously, that's the right track. Just keep going."

"Woe betide if we don't arrive at our destination," Sam warned.

He sighed. "We will, Sam, we will. Trust me."

They drove in silence then. Without a working radio due to the black-out, there was no music for some background noise – nor for some news – and they had long since finished discussing their findings in Tranquility. Time passed by quickly anyway, for Sam had to concentrate on the traffic. It wasn't as busy as on their return route to the airport in California but still busy enough. Eventually, when they had just left Las Vegas' busy traffic behind and the highway narrowed to a two-track, they were almost the only ones on route. The last two or three cars left the highway within five miles and then they were truly alone.

That was when Daniel announced, "Only about five more miles to Hoover Dam."

"At least something," Sam replied, weary. Concentrating for more than half an hour on traffic had nearly robbed her of her last energy reserves.

They didn't even make a quarter of the distance when a strange convoy – consisting of several Chenowths Desert Patrol Vehicles, two racing cars, a black monstrous pick-up, a Search & Rescue hummer and a semi with flames on the sides – appeared on the oncoming lane. A convoy was nothing to wonder about, but there were armed soldiers on the roof of the Chenowths, looking around and aiming skywards, as if fearing they were being followed by aircraft. But most estranging was another curiosity.

"There appear to be no drivers in some of those vehicles," Teal'c remarked. Sam and Daniel had a closer look – and truly, they saw two of the five civilian vehicles seemingly driving out of their own power.

Shocked and surprised at the same time, Sam braked hard, and they came to a stop just when they passed the convoy. All three got out of the car to stare after the vehicles that were quickly gaining distance, they were driving this fast.

"Sam?" Daniel asked, sounding anxious at the thought of losing sight of the convoy. "Should we follow them?" From the questioning look Teal'c sent her, he seemed to be in agreement with this idea.

Only Sam hesitated. Out of habit she pulled out her cell, wanting very much to call General O'Neill for input, but she still did not get a signal. "Dammit," she mumbled to herself, unsure of what to do now. Should they trail a convoy with seemingly driverless civilian vehicles, or should they go ahead as planned and head toward Hoover Dam to check out Sector Seven? For maybe the first time in her time with the Air Force she wished she wasn't the commanding officer on a mission and having to call the shots.

Daniel seemed to notice what was wrong. He came around the car and stood in front of her. "Sam," he said, his tone imploring, "if these… cars are the aliens we're looking for, we cannot let them get away. Hoover Dam has stood at the same place for 75 years. It will remain there. But these… aliens are gaining distance as we speak, and without radio, radar or whatever tracking technology available these days, we'll lose them."

"Daniel Jackson is correct, Colonel Carter," Teal'c chipped in. "Now that we know where these aliens are, we need to tail after them."

With two thirds of the team voting for following the convoy, Sam couldn't but agree. "All right, we give chase."

"Great!" Daniel hurried back around the car and got in, the other two mirroring his actions. "If I'm not mistaking, they were heading toward the city. Let's head back and see about finding them once we get there."

They rushed back the way they came, Sam always cutting it at the edge of the speed limit. She didn't know whether they even had a chance of catching up with them again, but it was worth a try. Besides, if push came to shove, she could rely on General O'Neill to set things right with authorities; after all, they were investigating for the Pentagon, sort of.

Contrary to their expectations, the convoy was easy to find again. "Do you think what I think?" Daniel asked when they had to slow upon noticing a congestion ahead.

"If you mean that this doesn't feel like a normal traffic accident, then yes, I'm thinking the same," Sam replied.

Teal'c didn't respond to the question but said, "There appears to be damage on the lower street level as well." Daniel craned his neck to see from where he sat on the passenger seat but Sam couldn't check it out lest she wanted to cause another accident.

Thankfully, the traffic was still rolling albeit slowly. When they drove by a burning shell of a minibus, Daniel whistled. "Okay, definitely not natural."

"I cannot but agree," Teal'c said.

They continued on in silence for a few moments, then Daniel pointed. "Get off the highway." Sam sent him a questioning glance but did as directed, even though she would have driven on if it had been her choice.

Before she got to ask him why he'd made her change directions, she saw it: Not far in front of them she recognized the convoy by the soldiers on the roofs of the Chenowths; the convoy had halted. "Sam?" Daniel warned.

"I see it," she replied and pulled over, coming to a stop on the curb approximately four blocks away.

"What now?" he then asked her in surprise. His expression clearly told her he hadn't counted on stopping this far away – or stopping at all.

"Now we go check out what they're doing," Sam replied, grabbed her ID and got out. Both her teammates scrambled to follow her.

As usual with a metropolitan, there were a lot of people in the streets, either going about their business or chilling in cafés. Apparently, they were in a sort of shopping mile for in-between the cafés there were shops of every kind, the offers ranging from clothing via tools to specialized food stores. Neither member of SG-1 had an idea what the convoy was doing here. The more they were surprised when they saw a soldier rush out of one of the shops, his hands full with equipment.

Sam squinted against the sunlight. "Aren't those shortwave radios?" she asked rhetorically.

"Looks like it," Daniel nonetheless answered, shading his eyes from the sunlight to get a better view.

"Why would they acquire outdated equipment?" Teal'c asked.

Sam started in the direction of the convoy. "The blackout must be larger than just local. Shortwave communication appears to be exempted."

They ran into a group of loudly chatting teenagers when crossing the first intersection which slowed down their approach drastically. Once on the other side, they saw the convoy head further down the street, bringing more distance between them. Sam swore under her breath. Daniel suggested, "Let's head back to the car to follow them." Sam nodded and they turned around.

Soon after, they were once again in pursuit. They didn't get far.

For one, almost in front of them, a fighter jet, a F-22, came barreling down the street, pulling up skyward only feet in front of them, making Sam hit the brake hard on reflex. Secondly, a tank appeared from left at the next intersection and turned onto their street, effectively blocking it.

Thirdly, the F-22 took a U-turn and was heading back to where the convoy had come to a halt. Sam saw green smoke rise from up ahead, recognizing it as a way to point the pilot into the right direction. The problem was – the jet didn't appear to be friendly: Sam could clearly see the null ray cannons primed and ready to be released at a second's warning when the jet flew over them.

Adrenaline started rushing through her. With the scene identified as apparently hostile, Sam switched to autopilot from years in service; she got out of the car and immediately started issuing orders at the passers-by to leave the area as fast as they could. Naturally, people either didn't hear her or chose to ignore her warnings. A couple of teenage boys even flipped her off. She didn't have time to worry about them anymore, though, for in the very next moment, the street up ahead exploded when the F-22's missiles struck close to the convoy.

The shockwave pulled her off her feet, despite her not being at the center of the detonation. All around them, windows broke and glass shards rained down on the street. Sam reflexively covered her head with her arms. People started screaming in panic and pain.

When the worst of the aftermath was over and the dust started to settle, Sam carefully lifted her head to assess the situation. She found both Daniel and Teal'c right next to her in similar positions. The Jaffa was already starting to get up while Daniel shook his head as if to clear it, blinking a bit in confusion. "What the hell was that?" he muttered.

"Daniel Jackson, Colonel Carter," Teal'c said, catching their attentions.

Sam climbed back onto her feet and looked into the direction the Jaffa pointed – down the street. The Chenowths were more or less in scrambles, but that most likely wasn't what he wanted to show them.

It was a black robot, approximately the size of Nick's giants as soon as it had stood up to full height. And close-by to it, Sam could discern a second, yellow robot crawl across the street. "Oh my God…" she breathed. Next to her, Daniel stared speechlessly.

The tank down the street started moving toward the robots and fired several times. She ducked out of reflex, quickly looking around to assess her possibilities. Due to civilians running away from the blast zone, she at first had some difficulties seeing anything at all, but eventually, she could discern that the soldiers that came with the convoy were taking cover behind the scrambled Chenowths or street rubble. The silver sports car and Search & Rescue vehicles were quickly closing in on the tank though. The black robot changed into the black monster pick-up and drove down the street after the other two cars. The tank fired again and should have hit the pick-up's windshield dead center, but the car shifted forms again. Sam could only stare at the robot performing a somersault with the help of what appeared to be two massive cannons, one each attached to the robot's arms, before returning fire. The other two vehicles started changing into robots as well, and all three robots attacked the tank which too changed into a robot. The Search & Rescue robot amputated one of the tank robot's arms with a huge saw which came out of its arm. That and the shots from the other two robots eventually felled the tank robot.

What the hell is going on here? she wondered, already in motion toward the scene of battle. She needed a weapon and she needed it fast, and the only current place she'd find one were the soldiers from the convoy.

Crossing by the felled tank robot, the Search & Rescue robot suddenly shouted something like "Megatron" and "retreat". Just a moment later, another robot, much more alien in design and taller than the ones she'd seen so far, stepped into the scene from a by-road. The smallest robot, the silver sports vehicle, immediately took up the battle against the newcomer.

Sam noticed two things in one: The smaller robot stood no chance against the large one and she had the feeling it knew, yet that it tried nonetheless told much about that robot's standing among its comrades. It was very much what every senior officer would do for their team when a situation got dire. Which made her wonder just what kind of robots they were. If they had something akin to the US military hierarchy, these robots had to be a really advanced species.

Her musing got interrupted when said silver robot got pushed aside by the big alien robot, landing at the opposite side of the street – right in front of her. She stopped before colliding with the robot, her mind already looking for a way around it and out of harm of the big alien that was marching toward them. The silver robot started getting up, groaning, and briefly met her eyes. "Get outta here!" it implored in a surprisingly heavy, indefinable accent but otherwise clear English. Then the robot swiftly got back to its feet and charged its opponent head on.

She had seen many strange things on even stranger planets during the years she had worked for the SGC. But the fight in front of her made all her previous experiences insignificant. Despite the size difference, the silver robot was agile and sidestepped or blocked most of his opponent's blows, making the big alien angry; Sam could see the snarl getting more and more furious.

Eventually, the big alien succeeded in grabbing the silver robot, jumped into the air and flew off. Until they were out of view, she saw the captured one continued shooting at its opponent. Sam hoped she'd see the silver robot again; she wanted to talk to it and learn all she could. But something told her there would be no other meeting.

"Sam!" Daniel shouted.

She turned around. He was running toward her, now that the immediate danger of the big alien had disappeared with it flying off.

"Are you all right?" he asked as soon as he was at her side.

"Yes." She nodded. "I'm just fine. What about you and Teal'c?"

Daniel gestured over his shoulder. "We're fine too. Helped a few people back on their feet to make a run for it. Teal'c's been carrying an elderly lady to someplace safe." He took a deep breath of air. "What about you? I about had a heart attack when you started charging toward the battle."

That reminded Sam of her original purpose. "Sorry, but I have to help. I'll try to get to the soldiers."

Daniel gave her a rueful smile. "Military through and through." He patted her shoulder. "Be careful."

She sent him a smile in response. "Thanks, Daniel. You two too."

"Of course. See you later then." He turned around and hurried back from where he came, urging people to get up and follow him to someplace safer.

Sam too turned around and continued heading toward the mangled Chenowths.

Author Note: I realize that in the 2007 Transformers movie it said the battle took place in Mission City. However, even though I am a stickler to canon, I am also a stickler to real locations and place names, preferring using them if possible. With Tranquility it was relatively easy to cover up the fact that I used Fresno for the movie city Tranquility – simply because there is a village/small town close to Fresno which is called Tranquillity. But Mission City posed a problem. I even watched and rewatched the 2007 movie again and again to find more geographical hints where exactly Mission City might be located.

In the end I chose Las Vegas to be Mission City – simply for the following reasons: First, Roberto Orci (one of the two script writers) said they "toyed around with the idea of ending the first movie in Vegas". Secondly, in the novel to the movie, the convoy was headed for Nellis Air Force Base and explicitly named Las Vegas as well. Last but not least, even though Las Vegas downtown is 33 miles from Hoover Dam and Will Lennox said Mission City is located 22 miles away, he could still have meant Las Vegas because its neighboring cities Whitney and Henderson are approx. 22 miles away from Hoover Dam. Politically they might not count as suburbs, but when looking at the map, they appear as parts of Las Vegas, not cities in their own rights. Besides, their relative sizes compared to Las Vegas eliminate them from the list of possible Mission City locations, leaving Las Vegas as the only option really.

Additionally, hypothetically, 'Mission City' might be the military code name for Las Vegas because of Nellis Air Force Base located in the north of the city and with the Nellis Air Force Range not too far away either. But like I said, that's purely hypothetic.