Authors Note

Hello again. I know you have been just been dying for an update but as I warned it would be awhile. I have had a very interesting week. The highlight had to be when I crashed my motorbike. Don't worry I'm not in a hospital or anything I got on my feet almost straight away. I only got a bruise. The road was wet and covered in oil so my bike slid out from under me and I slid to the side of the road and I was so lucky to have not been hit by a car as I slid along the tarmac. You can view the damage on my deviantart account.

Now with two more exams over and done with which I believe I have passed, I now have slightly more available time. However this will be devoted to other tougher subjects so once again it will be awhile to the next chapter.

But for the meantime, enjoy.

A small white Ford Transit minibus pulled up outside the hotel early in the morning. The stratus clouds were still covering the entire sky over London giving a gloomy feel. The driver of the minibus got out and walked around the front and slid open the side door so the passengers could get out. The first few were the three children followed by June and Fowler. The others to follow them were the holograms of all the Autobots save for Ratchet who elected himself to stay at the base in case the Decepticons decided to attack. They were all quickly ushered into the hotel before people would notice them. Waiting for them inside the hotel foyer was Baines wearing his uniform. Optimus' hologram approached him with a hand outstretched wearing a fairly tidy suit with plain red tie.

"Admiral" He greeted.

"Optimus" Baines returned.

"How is Michael?"

Baines shook his head "Not very well. He hides it well but if he continues to beat himself up, I worry he will fall into a state of depression"

Elita came to stand by Optimus' side "Can we see him?"

"I don't think you all can, but you two shouldn't be a problem. I'm sure it'll cheer him up a little bit to see you"

Baines led the holograms of Optimus and Elita toward the lift as the other were led off to a lounge to wait.

The three rode the lift to the fourth floor staring at the closed door.

"Have you made any progress in finding out about why this tribunal is happening, Admiral?" Optimus asked.

"No real idea. I've got contacts looking for the real reason. You see the problem about Michael is when it involves him, nothing is ever clear cut. Their could be many reasons as to why. My people have never let me down before so I'm confident we'll find the true answer"

"I think it would be a fair to surmise that you are not just a Rear Admiral. I'm I right?" Optimus asked.

Baines turned his head slowly to face Optimus "Something like that" Was all he said.

The doors slid away to reveal the corridor. Baines led them down till they were at the door of Michael's room. Baines knocked on the door and waited. The door unlocked and was opened by Michael who was standing their in his day to day uniform with the top button of his shirt undone and with no tie and looking very depressed. It took him a moment to realise who the two with Baines were, but when he did his face lit up. He quickly stepped aside to let them all in. Michael closed the door and the four of them gathered around in the centre of the room.

"How have you been?" Elita asked.

Michael just shrugged. Elita came close to him and gave him a hug, she put her hand behind the back of his head and held him there for a moment. "You're going to be fine. Try not to worry about it" She said.

"I'll try" He said as she led him go.

"Michael" Optimus started "If you wish, I will be more than happy to speak to the panel and give my opinion of you to them"

"Thanks, I think I could do with all the help I can get"

"Right, get your tie on and smarten yourself up" Baines told him.

"Yes, sir"

Michael did up the top button up and retrieved his black silk tie from the bedside table and did it up in a full Winsor knot, then completed it all of with his merchant navy tie clip. "Well?" He asked.

Baines looked at him for a moment "I so don't like the merchant navy's uniform, but it will do I suppose"

Baines went over to the wardrobe and got out two white caps. His one had the anchor and the crown while the one he gave to Michael was a simple gold anchor symbol, both with a gold oak leaf on the crest while Baines had the full oak leaf pattern on the peak.

"Let's do this" Baines said. All four headed for the door.

In one of the conference rooms their was two set of tables set out parallel to each other with three chairs behind one and number of others behind the other while set perpendicular to the two was a small table half way between the two and set to one side as a witness box. And to the opposite of the witness box was a row of chairs for selected people to sit and watch the proceedings. The gloomy skies were seen through the large, tall modern windows, filling the room with natural light.

The children, June, Fowler and the holograms of Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee were sat waiting for things to start, though Miko was struggling the hardest to remain quiet. The double doors behind the table with a number of chairs opened up and Michael and Baines walked in followed by the holograms of Optimus and Elita. The two holograms went to sit with the others as Michael and Baines took their seats behind the table on the side closest to the others taking their caps off and placing it to their left.

The doors opened again and a man in a grey suit carrying a fake leather briefcase shuffled in and quickly took his place at the opposite end of the table. He didn't look at everyone staring at him, knowing full well of the glances being directed at him. Michael had never seen the man before but Baines was trying recognise the man, but couldn't.

"And you would be?" Baines asked the new arrival.

The man looked back nervously "R-Robert Barnaby. Home Office legal advisor. I-I am here to represent the Home Office" He stuttered knowing the man he was speaking to was a senior high ranking officer in the Royal Navy. Baines just nodded slightly.

Barnaby wasn't an imposing looking man. Average height, not athletic in anyway, in his late thirties and wearing glasses and the years of constantly working in an office was clearly visible by his posture.

The doors opened again and in walked in three men. All three were wearing uniform from each branch of the British armed forces. The first was the Major-General Simmons followed by the representative of the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. They stood behind there seats and everybody got up as the three sat down then everybody followed suit.

The Major-General looked around and addressed everyone "I'm sure you all know why we are here today so I won't bother repeating it. However as far as everyone outside of this building is concerned we are here for an employment tribunal" He looked at Michael and motioned for him to stand. Michael did as he was told and stood up facing the panel.

"Just for the record I must ask that you are Michael James Rickers?"

"Yes, sir" Michael replied.

"Looking at your file I see that you are now a cadet deck officer in the merchant navy. Do you wished to be addressed as Cadet Rickers?"

"Whatever makes you happy" Michael said. His tone suggesting something else which the Major-General picked up on.

"That is yes, sir and don't you forget it" Simmons shot back. The two stared at each other for a moment. Michael gave in "Yes, sir. Sorry… sir" He said clearly not being sorry.

"Rear Admiral Baines" Baines stood up as his name was called.

"Before we proceed with this tribunal I take it you are Cadet Rickers legal aid? Also do you have anything you wish to say before we begin?"

"No, General" Baines replied and sat back down.

"And you Cadet Rickers. Do you have anything you wish to say?"

"No, sir"

"This is how it will go. The reprehensive of the Home Office, Mr Barnaby will ask questions to yourself and others and the same goes for Rear Admiral Baines. However the three of us on the panel may have questions of our own. At the end we will confer and weigh up the arguments put forward and go from there. So to not waste any more time I think we shall get started. Mr Barnaby?"

Mr Barnaby stood up "Thank you. I would like to start with a cross examination of Mr Rickers"

Michael again stood up and walked around to the table that was serving as a witness box and waited for the questions.

Mr Barnaby looked at Michael and gave him an odd smile "Mr Rickers. I want you to answer as fully and as truthfully as possible"

"I wouldn't have it any other way"

"Good. I want to go back a few months. Now were you asked for your assistance by the Home Secretary?"

"Yes"

"And what did he ask?"

"In short a highly classified file had been stolen and up to that point in time the file had not been successfully recovered. So after becoming so desperate to find it they turned to me to recover it"

"And what was your decision at first?"

"I declined because I haven't been on the grid for over a year and I didn't want to do that again"

"But you did take the job on in the end. Why?"

"Well it was either that or be deported back to the South Atlantic. I'm sure most people would have done the same"

"Ok. As we know from the report made after that you had indeed located the file and it had been reported that you had in fact had the file in your possession. So this leads me to my next question. If you had recovered it, then why is it that you never returned it?"

"Because I destroyed it"

"Why?"

"Quite simple really. The information contained in that file was secretly obtained from the Americans. The Americans are our closest ally and let's be honest Britain just doesn't hold as much political power as it used to with the emergence of the economies of China and India, so Britain could really use all the allies it can get. It was my opinion that should the Yanks had discovered that we had been able to gain such highly classified intelligence they might decide to cut ties with our nation. And with the current economic crisis the world is in at the moment we just absolutely cannot afford that. So that is why"

"But right do you have to decide on such matters?"

"I was acting in the best interests of this nation and of the States as well. Somebody had to do something before it got really out of hand"

Barnaby took a moment to gather his thoughts. He pulled out a sheet of paper from his briefcase and waved it at Michael "This here is a list of everything contained in that file, not that I need to show you, so can you explain for the panel what was in that file?"

Michael looked at the three expecting an answer "It contained just about all the intelligence that the United States government had on the Autobots. Just about everything save for the location of there base"

"And did this have any bearing on your decision to destroy the file?"

"Yes" Michael answered flatly.

"Would you care to elaborate?"

"After the whole incident that brought me to the Autobots in the first place, it was the first time in a very long time where I felt safe. They had my back and they looked after me and helped me recover from the injuries I had sustained. For a lack of a better word they have become like a family to me"

"And like most people they will do anything for their families"

"Yeah, you could look at it like that. The likelihood that the Decepticons would have gained something from that intelligence was high so in my opinion the destruction was the best option"

"Ok. So we can establish that your intensions were of good nature and not an act against this country?"

"Right"

"Ok" Barnaby put the piece of paper away and took a moment to again gather his thoughts for the next line of questions. "So we have discussed the nature to what happened to the file itself and we will touch on that later on. For the moment I want to ask about the methods you had employed to retrieve the file"

Barnaby once again took out a number of sheets of paper "What I have here are police statements. First of all there are witnesses that describe a man of similar appearance of you entering a nightclub in Soho and seriously injuring the owner of the nightclub. And it goes on that you had entered a known drug den and again you assaulted another man" He put the paper down "Care to explain?"

"I used my usual methods for gathering intelligence"

"Beating people up?"

"Look, when the Home Secretary ask for my services, he knew full well about how I operate. I have nearly always take the hard approach as the people I usually deal with aren't ones you will give information away so easily" Michael said with an air of confidence. He had nothing to hide as it was known to everyone he could be terribly brutal when he needed to be.

"Ok, now just before we move on to other aspects of how you… gain your intelligence as you put it. I want to ask you about what happened to one person in particular"

"Who?"

"A former intelligence officer called Jason Hadfield"

Michael eyes and the eyes of Baines, June, Fowler, the children and the Autobots opened wide and hushed gasps were heard. Michael couldn't believe it. It was believed that Jason Hadfield had been wiped clean from the records after Michael had been order to execute him. Michael and the others were clearly seeing a massive set up, a trap. A trap that even Michael might not even be able to escape.

The odds for Michael getting through without any problems just went through the floor.