Chapter 38

=0=On a patio earlier in the day

Jason 'Jase' Daniels had just gotten off the phone to his father in New York City. His family were powerful and connected people. His father, James Daniels was a business man who was given charge of their sprawling family empire. James was tough, smart and rumored to be heading into politics if the election for mayor of New York played in the direction he wanted to go. Money would be no object and he'd been part of the political and social whirl there for decades with his wife and parents, helping conservative candidates win office all over the country.

He was owed.

Jason's grandfather was William Daniels, leader of the Senate Majority and a kingmaker in his own right. He'd been a loyal member of his party and had risen in the ranks until he was chosen to be the majority leader when they won back the United States Senate. He was big, larger than life, seemingly good natured but masked a deep burning desire for power and wealth beyond the vastness that he already commanded in a mannerly facade of pleasantness.

William Daniels wanted to be President of the United States.

The grandson, Jason was being groomed to make the trek upward by eventually running for office in their family's home state of Virginia. He was working to pad his portfolio and that included a highly leveraged stint as the State Department liaison for the Autobot brief. It would also allow them a window into the secretive world of the aliens, their technology and their doings here on Earth.

As he sat in his office going over his thoughts, a merc came to his door. "You better come quick," the merc said before he headed back out again.

Jason stared at the door, then rose to walk hurriedly outside just as sirens began to sound. For a moment a cold tidal wave of fear flashed through him. Were they under attack? What was going on? As he hurried outside he saw emergency vehicles driving madly onward heading in the direction of the Autobot Embassy. He ran to his SUV and when he was aboard, the vehicle gunned it.

He sat on the seat watching through the window as individuals ran toward the Embassy, some necessary and some drawn by the scene. They managed not to hit anyone as they pushed through the crowd. An Autobot was laying on the ground while another held his head.

Others were out and they didn't look happy. They had guns and were pointing them at the crowd who watched the show solemnly, moving back when the first responders arrived to assess what looked to him like some kind of car wreck. "What is this?" he asked.

The merc sitting next to him driving the vehicle, Lawrence Dobbs glanced at him. "It's our guys. They were driving around and when they saw Ironhide they decided to play chicken with him. He didn't get out of the way and they hit him. It doesn't look good."

They sat in the truck a moment, then Daniels jumped out to run for the scene. That was when others stepped forward with their guns. One of them had drawn on him, the one he would know later was Hound. He hadn't shown them fear. It was an attribute that he'd perfected over a lifetime of getting his way and showing that nothing scared him. Ever.

There were those that would say it was a bit psychotic to not know when to fear and act on it for self preservation. But he would tell them that sometimes you had to eat it to get your way. One of those times was now.

"I want to see to my men," he had said to Prime himself, noting a response in Prime to his gall. It was something that Prime didn't understand, his fearlessness, so he stored that bit of intel away for other encounters not so far from his favor as this one was.

Prime had said, "At the hospital or the morgue. This is our territory. You do not have permission to set one foot closer."

Considering things as they stood and the many variables that he didn't know yet and therefore couldn't control, he stepped back and walked to the ambulances to fill in the blanks about what had happened. Then the entire bot group walked into the Embassy to disappear, taking their wounded behemoth with them.

He sat on the chair in his office and considered the entire event from start to finish. They hadn't been told by him to do that thing but he'd ordered everyone to 'stir the pot'. This wasn't really what he had in mind but it would be a start, the first salvo shot over the bow of the Prime. He would see what Prime would tolerate, how he would defend himself and what would come of this event.

Then he picked up his satellite phone and called his father in New York City.

=0=Ops Center

Blaster had returned to the console in the command center to continue what he was doing moments ago. The entire garrison was deeply disturbed and perplexed. None of this made any sense. Then he noticed a light from a markered source. He toggled it, turned on the recording devices to get every word as he traced those getting the call.

Jason Daniels would be recorded, every last vowel and syllable. Blaster would listen in like he was ordered to do and he would find a lot of things out about Jason Daniels' character. First and foremost, he would find out that Jason Daniels hadn't any.

Given that the Autobots included mostly civilians from every walk of life possible, it was a given that shady characters would be included among them. They had mechs who were criminals once upon a time, gamblers, muscle for gangs, gangsters themselves, high caste misfits and all manner of individual imaginable.

There were scientists, gunmen, doctors, soldiers, sailor men and spies. There were kick ass femmes who didn't take no for an answer. They were as ready to fight with the boys as much as anyone else.

There were shopkeepers, librarians, high grade and gun runners, teachers, longshoremen and office drones. He, himself had been a broadcaster, 'The Voice' as he was called by his faction, the confidence out of the darkness of space and despair that kept things going when it all seemed lost.

The government had shut down the independent news outlets to keep their propaganda the only source for information for their brutalized and subjugated population. He was about the last free news source to end, running for his life when the orders came down to 'take him out'.

No matter the circumstances they had come from and had forged as an army over millions of years of warfare, they had rules. You never left anyone behind. You were loyal to your faction. You faced your enemies square on, not hiding behind their back or backstabbing them. Your ambitions were submerged into the well being of the greater good and the victory that they fought so tenaciously to bring about.

Weaseliness and sparkless ambitions seeking to be fulfilled no matter their effect on the greater good and stability of all that they battled for didn't last long in the Autobots. Prime didn't tolerate it and neither did the ranks. It was okay if you could fight but if you were a weasel you didn't last long.

Such was Jason Daniels.

He listened to the conversation, then reported it to Prowl as they waited for the word on Ironhide. He would do so with a slow burn in his tanks for revenge.

The difference between Jason Daniels and Blaster was Blaster wouldn't act on it.

It would be a long grim afternoon for everyone.