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The flurry of movement always excited Shalon. She had already updated her flyers and all she needed to do was provide the intel and give the go ahead. Most of them would be paired in twos and jumping from the small bomber planes that would keep at a higher altitude, from there they would infiltrate the camps, get the prisoners ready for transport, and then run like hell to help get them to the transports while keeping from getting shot up by the enemy. It was the roughest of jobs, but Shalon like it because she was helping helpless people who had been caught between a very nasty war in the Realm.
Her teams were assembled in the ready room off from the tarmac and Aura just commed her to tell her that the intel was waiting for her to brief her teams. She finished putting on her black trench coat that had all kinds of hidden compartments that she loved to hide her weapons in although this mission she would use her ring and blades more, but she would need her pistols just in case and she liked having them because they were light weight and easy to carry. Her armor was light weight so that she could access her flight equipment and she was eager to see the expressions of the mechs that were going since they had never experienced their technology before. It was always fun to watch their faces as her armor came to 'life'.
"Hey Shalon."
"Hey Kiki."
"Allie is going to let me ride gunshot with her team so that I can go. I am so excited. It has been almost a year since I was captured and been in the field."
"You're sure that you can handle it? I mean if you're riding then Allie is going to expect you to gun for her when they make their run."
"I know, and I have been working with the psychologist with it. I'm ready, besides if I had to go back at then I would rather be on Allie's team anyway. She always makes sure that we come back together so I know she'll take care of me."
"Well, good luck. I'm sure that I will see you at the end since Allie's always the last one to make her run."
"Yeah, I will see you on the ride back I suppose." Both femmes hugged as Megatron walked over to Shalon.
"Hey baby!" Shalon greeted. She reached up and kissed his cheek plate as Kiki blushed and brushed by the couple to head to her team.
"Are you coming with us?" Shalon asked.
"Yes, but Allie is separating all the leaders on different ships. She says it is safer that way so if one is shot down we don't lose all our leaders on one ship."
"Well, I will not be with you, but I do know that you will probably ride on Allie's ship."
"Oh, why?"
"Because she would probably kill Optimus. She doesn't like to place mates together because she says one always get possessive or dominating over the other and it distracts the couples from their jobs. But if you are riding with Allie, then I will see you at the end of the mission." Shalon was jumping up and down with excitement and Megatron was happy for her. She was beautiful on the black with her face painted in black camouflage and her hair pulled back in a long full ponytail.
"Well, I have to go. I have to brief my teams. I'll see you on the tarmac."
"God luck." Megatron said quietly. Shalon looked at him and he could see the desire and longing in her eyes. He was not one for affection in public, but he gave in and gave her a gentle kiss before pulling away and letting her go to her teams. His optics followed her to a small door just off the tarmac until she was completely out of his sight.
"She'll be fine. She is one of my best warriors and she is very good at her job." Aura came up to stand next to Megatron. "The warriors that are coming with us are being briefed right now. I'm sure Soundwave will send you all the intel. I will be riding along as well, but I won't be handling the guns on this trip. Allie won't let me since I am carrying. I had to fight just to be on the ship but she said I can assist with artillery."
"Allie can sure get everything going quickly." Megatron commented as he looked around the tarmac filled with people doing their jobs, loading gear and artillery into the transport ships. The ships were similar to some of their technology but Megatron noticed a big difference. They seemed to use a crystal like substance to power them. The energon was for their living while the crystals were used for machinery.
"It's different isn't it?" Optimus commented quietly to the war lord.
"It certainly is. It reminds me of Cybertron just as the war was breaking out." Megatron said as he remembered his mechs getting ready for raids and then the bombings over Kaon and Praxis.
"It does to a certain degree. We were destroying our world. Here they are trying to save lives." Optimus spoke quietly wondering what his brother was thinking.
"So you admit that you were part of the destruction as much as we?" Megatron said as he looked at his brother, his rival.
"We both were and you know it. Optimus said quietly. "Is it worth it?"
"If it means not going back to slavery, not going back to being nothing then yes." Megatron said.
"But you rose up even before the war as our Lord High Protector. You would not go back so was it worth creating a war?" Optimus said.
"Optimus you know what it was like with the senate so why ask. They were going to replace me because they couldn't control me. I chose not to be a pawn like you."
"You destroyed the senate, Megatron so why keep fighting?" Optimus stated. "Our mechs are tired. They want families and there are so few left. I know I want to be here with Allie, but as long as you are on earth I will never have that, so is it worth it? Would you be willing to give her up for conquest?"
"Who says I have to give her up?" Megatron countered. "So far, it had worked for you."
"Yes, but you have officers now expecting sparklings, one who has three, which is highly rare in our culture, so what do you think that they want? To be away from their mates, to not be there to watch their families grow, I don't think so."
Megatron just stared at Optimus for a moment. "What are you saying, Prime? That you want to call a truce, a treaty? You want to negotiate for peace? My mechs would be the losers in this peace and we know it."
"Not if we were to give up earth and come here. We could start over." Prime said it so quietly that Megatron had to strain his audial receptors to hear him. Optimus had already moved on. He was riding with his weapons specialist, Ironhide and they were on a different transport. The twins were staying put because Optimus feared that they would jeopardize the mission. Out of his team, Soundwave was going to take Com's place at the communications board as Allie put it, Barricade and Thundercracker would be on the transport with Optimus and Ironhide while Starscream and Skwarp would be with him. It would definitely be interesting to see how his mechs responded to a femme leading them.
The tarmac was an enclosed area that reminded Megatron of a ship's docking bay. He found it interesting how ships were stored below the tarmac, the platform on a converter system, where the floor would open up and then another floor would elevate up with ships ready to go. They had a tight operation going and Allie took care of each and every warrior on her teams. He could see where she and Sentinel Prime would but helms and it would be interesting if Sentinel was the one who messed with the gate.
"Are you sure that you want to leave the twins?" Aura asked Allie as she was watching the transports being loaded from her office window overlooking the tarmac.
"Yes, I don't want any more soldiers on the ground than necessary. They can stay here and help set up the hangar for refugees." Allie said. She loved those twins but they had a penchant for getting into trouble and she could not take any chances with this being a rescue operation. "I want this to go as smooth as possible. We've run this type of rescue operation before just not quite as large as this operation will be. The hardest part will sequencing the runs, but I have looked over your plans and they look solid. Thank you for all the work, Aura. I do appreciate it." Allie looked at her longtime friend. "Are you sure you want to go? I mean, if we have ricochet fire, then you could very well be put in danger."
"I'll be fine. It's early yet, and you have made sure that I am not with my mate even if he doesn't like that."
"I know, but I need everyone focused on their jobs not worrying about their mates. He will understand and you will appreciate each other better." Allie said. "Is the roster been made?"
"Yes, but things could change depending on injuries and how the operation goes."
"I agree so don't post it just yet."
Allie left her office to finish overseeing each of the teams. She had already contacted Ultra Magnus and he informed her that Sentinel was still on Moon base 5. She had requested that Magnus watch him without knowing Sentinel knowing because she could not shake the feeling she had, but until she could get close enough to read him she would have to put it on the back burner. The gate was being repaired. That was all that mattered and it would give Optimus and Megatron a chance to talk peace.
Allie walked over to the Mia as she was supervising the loading under Aura.
"Hey, we will have plenty of artillery for each transport. Aura had already outfitted them with the guns. Ohm the mechs laughed because they're amused by the fact that we use the older types of guns for this mission. I explained that we were looking to use them more as a preventative than to inflict any type of real damage. I don't know if they got it or not." Mia looked at Allie for a moment before going back to her data pad.
"Do you think that they will be okay helping us? I mean we are basically throwing them into our lives. I know that Hide can take it, but some of the seekers? And Barricade? I don't know if it is a good idea or not, and you know that we are taking flack concerning the twins. Raynie has already come to me expressing their displeasure."
"I know, and if we needed ground troops I would send them in a spark beat, but I can't use them on the transports and I have already explained that to them. I mean Bumblebee is not going either, but he is not causing a ruckus about it." Allie sighed as she looked over the tarmac. "We have made so many memories in this place." She said to herself and Mia laughed.
"we have had many crashes on this tarmac and I fear that we may have a few more before this operation is over." Mia said as she laughed.
"Don't knock it. It may be ours that crashes." Allie stated as she shared in the laughter with her colleague and friend. "You never know and I do have a reputation of being the last in because I like to know that everyone is out before I make my run."
"Yeah, but I hope you have told your mate that." Mia laughed at Allie's sour expression.
"No, but I will tell him so he won't worry." Allie smiled. "You be careful Mia. Don't take any unnecessary risks, okay?"
"I won't and you don't either. I know how you do crazy things when put in difficult situations so no unnecessary risks yourself." The femmes hugged each other. It was one of the rare occasions that the femmes would show any affection in public, but Allie didn't care what others thought of her because she needed the touch and affections from her comrades. It was through touch that her empathic abilities flourished but she had to be careful since too much could trigger serious dilapidating processor aches for her. It was the price of being both organic and robotic. Already she had had one on the Diego Garcia base before coming home and it had scared Optimus and Ratchet because she had refused any pain killers because they seemed to prolong the effects of the processor ache; but how could she explain that the only way to stop it was to completely close her off from any contact with sentient beings. This mission would be hard on her because of the suffering that she would pick up on from the refugees, but it would be worth the ache to free the prisoners.
