Please note that these characters belong to their original creators as do any songs used in this fiction, not me, this is just my take on what might happen enjoy and let me know what you think.

also i am still trying to fix any mistakes that i might have missed in past chapters (i.e spelling, grammar and so on)

The miles passed far more slowly than Sam wanted them to, it seemed as if the world was adding distance between him and his detestation just for the fun of it. At least Simmons had done a good job of keeping any kind of law enforcement of his and Bumblebee's back as they raced across the country. Sam scanned the road ahead and found that the rout had been mostly cleared of traffic, "wow, simmons really did a good job with the local cops" thought Sam as he passed a police car that was sitting by the side of the road. Both he and Bumblebee watched as it grew more and more distant behind them "he didn't even start his engine" commed Bumblebee "I hate to say it but we owe simmons a big thank you after all this is finished" replied Sam. Soon they were passing the half way point between the college campus and tranquillity and Sam started counting down the miles that remained between him and his home town.

Back in Autobot city one human voice could be hared above all others, Epps was taking out his frustration on a punching bag hung in the gym as he cursed Galloway's name in way's that no human had ever done before. With each the punch Sargent thought of how Galloway had slithered his way into the places of power, how he had poisoned the minds of the people around him, how he had whispered half truths and full blown lies to good people. Epps hated to think that such a man had gained a strong standing among people he had respected since he joined the military, people who regularly made decisions about the lives of his fellow soldiers, people who were now taking advice from a man who was only out for him self. It made Epps burn up inside, he was a proud man who had fought along side others he considered closer than family because he believed in his country and in the people who represented it. But now he was having doubts about the people that he had taken an oath to serve, if they could be so easily swayed by men like Galloway then had he really been serving the interest of his country or men who would sell out the very people he had sworn to protect for their own interests. This thought cause Epps to hit the punching bag with such force that it knocked it clean off it's hook.

For a moment the Sargent stood there breathing heavily, not form execution but from holding back his growing anger. A reflection caught his attention through the window, Ironhide was pacing back and forth as he waited for Lennox to return from the com center. The look of worry that covered the weapon specialist face told more than an hours worth of conversation could have, like everyone there he knew what was at stake and how delaying was placing the lives of others in danger. As Epps watched his friend, no brother, he realized that he was growing less and less trusting of the people who commanded him and his fellow soldiers. The Autobots had come to this world looking for the source of life for their people and when it had been destroyed they chose to remain and help protect the people of this world from the danger of the Decepticons. Not because they were ordered to by some government but because they knew it was the right thing to do. They had come to respect the human race and treat them as equals even when some of the people on this world didn't deserve such respect. For Epps it was clear that they were brothers to him just like the rest of his unit was, all of them had gone into battle and faced death together that was something very important to Epps.

The Sargent had leaned that someone's true charter was only revealed when they were forced to make the hard choices in life and choosing to fight and save the people fighting next to you when the whole world goes to hell was one of the hardest he had ever seen. But it was something the Autobots had never shied away from the moment they had meet them, they had not only fought along side his unit they had put them selves in harms way to protect his unit from the worst of the incoming fire, even to the point where the Autobots had been seriously hurt and had been dragged away from the fighting by Ratchet.

They had earned his respect and he theirs, the bond between them had been forged in battle and now it looked far stronger than the oath he had taken to follow the orders of faceless commanding officers who were far from the fighting and dying, far form the screaming of people he knew and trusted with is life, people who had shed blood and precious metals for the safety of the countless innocents. Even though these thoughts went against everything he had been taught over his years of service Epps found him self becoming more and more settled with them, the only things that really mattered in all this were the family that he had forged in battle and his sworn duty to protect the people of the united states and now the world. As Epps watched Ironhide wear a hole in the ground on which he was pacing the Sargent made the decision that his first loyalty should always be to his brothers both human and Autobot, even if that meant disobeying a direct order for the president him self.

The door to the com room flew open as Lennox stormed out, the orders handed to him by Galloway were being crushed in his hand like they were the man's throat. It had taken him more than an hour to reach anyone and then even longer to plead his case to them, unfortunately the Major had only managed to sway the opinion of a few people the rest remained firmly convinced that Galloway was right and that they should not waist resources on this information. The lives of millions rested in the hands of these men and they were being lead around like sheep by Galloway and his views. Lennox tried to calm him self as he approached Optimus Prime, he wanted to be level headed when he broke the news not full of rage at his superiors. As Lennox drew closer to the Autobot leader his face gave Optimus the answer before he had a chance to speak "they said no they believe galloway's assessment of the situation and have ordered you not to leave this base" said Optimus. Lennox just nodded at the Autobot leader as he spoke "I'm sorry optimus, you deserve better than this, you put your lives on the line every time the decepticons show up, you given us perfect intel in the past, but galloway has everyone convinced that the decepticons wont make an attack unless it's against the autobots directly" Lennox voice showed his inner anger at the way the government was treating the Autobots.

"do not be angry will" said Optimus "you race is still so very young, many need time to grow and understand" "but that won't happen with people like galloway leading them down the wrong path for their own ends will it" said Lennox anger rising in his voice once again. Optimus crouched down so that he could speak to the Major face to face "they have the right to choose will even if it's the wrong choice, if we deny them that then we are no better than the decepticons or galloway". Lennox hated that Optimus was always so forgiving towards people who wouldn't do the same in his situation, at least once he wanted the leader of the Autobots to loose his temper and yell about how stupid those people were being, at least then he could have joined in and let off some steam. "well you'd better inform bumblebee and sam about all this, with any luck we can get there before anything bad happens, I just hope that after all this someone finally starts to realize that galloway is only out for his own interests and gets rid of him before he causes any more trouble" said Lennox as he headed over to one of the waiting planes.

Optimus got to his feet and watch Lennox start barking orders about unloading the plane, "give your species time will, your race is so young yet there are people like you already among it's number, with time your whole race may find this strength of charter and move past their differences" though Optimus. Now the time had come to break the news to Sam, he knew that the young Autobot would not wait for them to drive to tranquility and would probably try deal with the Decepticons even though he knew it was a trap. Optimus activated his com system and contacted Sam "sam I have some bad news for you, the government has suspended our access to use of air craft for the moment as well as further troops, they believe there is no threat at this time and do not want to waist the resources with out further information from their own sources". There was a deathly silence that unnerved even Optimus, then as if out of nowhere Sam's voice spoke clearly back across the com "thanks for letting me know optimus, you guys should stay where you are for the moment, we're almost to tranquillity now and you'd just be wasting your time trying to get here, just see if you can get a transport ready to pick us up when this is over, I want to get my family and friends somewhere safe when were done and optimus, when everybody's safe remind me to have a word with the president about why the military allowed the lives of his citizens to be put at risk on the advice of one man".

Once more Optimus heard the same determined tone in Sam's voice, it seemed that with every new challenge the young Autobot was sounding more and more like a Prime. "all right sam I'll do what I can at this end about arranging transport for you all and I'm sure that when this is over the president will want to talk to you about what's happened" commed Optimus. Sam responded quickly this time and said "I'll com you when this is over optimus, tell everyone there thanks for all they've done" and Sam closed the com link. Optimus brought a hand to his worried brow and said "good luck sam, I pray to primus that you don't need it".

The moment Sam closed the com link to Optimus he opened a new one to Bumblebee "we're all there is bee, the government has decided that they wont send help because they don't think the threat is real". Bee replied "we should be able to manage if we can control the tempo of the fight from the beginning, just remember that the decepticons are expecting us and most likely have a few surprises set up". Bee was right, they would both have to bring their "A game" if they wanted to survive this. As the exit to tranquility approached both Autobots activated their scanners searching for their opponents, almost instantly they found four energon signatures in the local area. Three were close to the Witwicky home while one was in transit to tranquility and had many miles to cover before it could cause any damage. The one signal that was moving seemed to be traveling in a strange pattern, some times it followed a road while other times it simply headed off rod through the worst country. It was only when the signal increased it's height that Sam realised it was in the air. "it looks like we have three decepticons on the ground and one in the air bee" commed Sam "yes I see it too, but it's strange I thought that the air unit would have been the first on the scene not the last" replied Bumblebee.

Sam tried to get a more detailed scan of the air born Decepticon but it's power readings were unusually low, so low in fact that he lost it for a second. Then it reappeared again having changed it's flight pattern completely "is this guy on some kind of search pattern or something?" asked Sam over the com "it's not like any I've ever seen sam" replied a confused Bumblebee. The Autobot scout had never seen any Decepticon fly like this, though it seemed to be heading in the general direction of tranquility the signal seemed to make random changes in direction for no reason at all. "we can't wait any longer bee we need to take care of the ground units before that one gets any closer" commed Sam "yeh we can deal with him once the others are out of the way" agreed Bumblebee. So both Autobots raced at full speed towards Sam's home and the Decepticon trap, ready for the fight of their lives.

High above Soundwave watched emotionless, the Decepticon commed the units in tranquility and said "autobots are entering target zone, still no confirmation of the human sam witwicky, units one and two are to draw off the autobots, unit three is to wait for the boy to approach his house, be warned there is a human air asset in the area, destroy it should it become involved in the fighting, all hail lord megatron", three com signals beamed back from the ground all saying the same thing "all hail lord megatron".