It seems that some people are looking at this story. "Say hi, I like it when people say hi." - Aaron Mahnke. Well for the few of you reading this, thanks. I am up to chapter 4 on my computer and chapter 5 on my physical notebook. Its just how I write and look over what I have done. Chapter 4 has been almost completely re-written compared to the first draft, which makes chapter 5 odd to write when I have to begin from a different chapter 4. Oh well.

Chapter 2

I was looking at a luxury Sikorsky helicopter that landed before me, but it had been retrofitted for military use. From the looks of it she'd seen her fair share of action. I climbed inside, along with the still unnamed man, strapped myself in the leather seat, and put on the headset that was hanging nearby. "Ms. Marshall," A voice came through the noise of the engines taking us off the ground. "I am Agent Grant and flying us is-"

"Agent Luna." A feminine voice interrupted him. I looked around me for the owner of the voice and next in the cockpit, but found nobody but Agent Grant and I. "I will be your awesome chauffeur to the combat area today. Please sit back and relax." Luna continued on with a small laugh at the end.

"Ahem…" Grant cleared his throat. "As you can see Agent Luna is a cybertronian. She… it… whatever, is going to debrief you on the current situation en route to remote command. ETA will be about 2 hours." With that he seemed to mute his headset and lean against the window while closing his eyes. You have to get wherever you can, I guessed.

"As Agent Sleepy said, we should arrive at the remote command station in about 120 minutes. If you check the pocket on the side of your seat you should find a tablet with all the information you will need. If you need any clarification with information, I would be happy to help and if you need a drink or food, steal Grants. It's located in the seat pockets next to him." Once again Luna let out a small laugh.

I began to read the tablet and had everything understood in about 20 minutes. It was a simple escort and extraction of an unnamed VIP already in their protection, but if not prepared correctly it could turn into a nightmare. "It looks like a standard transfer from ground to air transport. Why are you needing my help on this and why so suddenly?" I already knew that the transfer point was in a bad location. It was an easy area to pin a large group down due to the trees and hills that surrounded the runway. A capable group could easily hide a few hundred soldiers.

"As you can see on the topographic map, the area of transfer is a nightmare scenario yet we have to do it there since the VIP owns the land and is the most secure in the nearby area. He already has his own security forces, but due to paranoia and threats from the local political parties, he didn't want to take any chances." That was a reasonable answer for anybody looking to escape. Luna continued her explanation. "We need you to mark out any probable areas for snipers or locations where small groups could hide. As for why so suddenly, well as I said before…paranoid." With that explained I answered with a simple, "OK" and began to mark on the maps where I could see avenues of attack along with notes. The rest of the trip went quietly as my notes got longer and longer with the constant hum of the engines.

Before I knew it Agent Luna interrupted my thoughts. "Attention please," her voice sounding like a bubbly stewardess. "We are approaching our destination and will starting our landing soon. Please secure all personal items, place you tray tables up, and your chairs back into the upright position." Agent Grant just groaned out of annoyance while straightening himself up. "We should be touching down in about 5 minutes" Luna voice switching back to a more professional tone. "The tablet you have should be taken with you for easy sharing of information and it looks like your liaison is awaiting your arrival." I looked out the window to see a man in uniform at attention, but his eyes looked at me with annoyance. "We thank you for flying HCPMC airlines and we hoped your flight was enjoyabl-"

"For god's sake Luna!" Grant fumed. "We don't have time for this!" There was a brief moment of silence until Luna started to laugh as Grant groaned. "We have to get to our station, but it was nice meeting you." He shook my hand and opened the door. I quickly gathered everything I needed and stepped out on the tarmac.

"I hope to see you again!" Luna spoke over her own engines as they began to take off and fly to wherever they needed to be. I did a quick wave and then turned to face the young looking officer.

"Ms. Marshall, if you would follow me closely and wear this ID card, we do not have much time." He held out a badge on a lanyard for me and as soon as I took it he turned on the spot and started to walk briskly towards a building. I took in my surroundings as best I could, noticing large groups of fatigue and tank top wearing soldiers and then a small amount of more "professional" ones all near a single building that we were going towards. "We're here." The young officer said. "Go inside and talk to Captain Barlow. I will wait here until you are done." I just continued through the door and saw a small room filled to the brim with boxes, computers, and people. I shuffled around all the obstacles and people towards a woman with an air of confidence and was also ordering everyone else around.

"Excuse me, Ma'am?" I said with a respectful tone and volume to match.

"Huh?" Was the reply I got followed by a sideways glance. "Who are you?"

"Debra Marshall Ma'am. Reporting in as counter-sniper support for the mission." I gave a salute and straightened my posture.

"Marshall… Marshall…Ah!" At this she turned herself towards me. "You are the former sniper to help with this mess of a transfer." She gestured at the entire room. "I don't think you can be of much help with what limited time is left, but-" I didn't let her finish as I gave her my tablet opened on all my notes. "Oh…" She looked at it for a bit and then yelled. "Chief Wells!" I heard a yelp, chair falling, and a sound of boots slamming down on attention. A smaller male officer stood straight as a board holding a salute. "I need you to transfer all the data on this and give it to the people needed." He quickly turned around, dropped, and got to typing. After just about a minute I saw a screen change with all my notes on it.

The officer from before got back up. "C-c-captin Barlow! I have all the data you requested and the local security forces have been alerted to the new changes!" Captain Barlow just answered with a nod as he sat back down.

"Good work Ms. Marshall," Barlow said as she handed the tablet back to me. You may return back home after the operation, we will contact you later." She turned back around and got back to directing her men. I just stood there dumb founded for a moment. My job was done and I was useless again. I couldn't accept this, I had to do something to make my worth known so I straightened my posture again and put on my best face.

"Captain Barlow" Her head turned back to me. "I would like to request more detailed information of the area to better help." I was just met with a questioning look. "Details are my speciality and the more I have, the better I can do my job." My look was firm as I stared straight into her eyes and she smiled.

"Wells!" Once again a flurry of motion from the officer. "Give Ms. Marshall the raw photos from Agent Luna." A quick moment later I saw that I had files sent to the tablet. "If you find anything else, find Chief Wells or myself. Transfer begins in an hour. You may go now." I did a quick salute and hurried outside. I had made my case and now I was determined to do everything I could to prove my worth. Once outside the young officer just pointed to a shaded picnic table.

"If you need anything, just ask." Was all he said and stood where he was. He could use a lesson in manners, but from his point of view I was just a babysitting job. I just sat down and started to go over the thousands of high quality images. I knew that cybertronians had advanced opticals, but the level of detail was astonishing. I had a full view of the hills and I could zoom in down to individual clumps of grass with clarity. Exploring the area was time consuming as the time limit was getting closer and closer. With 10 minutes left I spotted a small spring that was hidden against a hill and trees. I flagged the officer over and showed him the picture. "That looks like the tiny pool the locals like to throw coins in for good luck." He said with disinterest.

"Where does the water come from?" I ask with uneasiness.

"I think it comes from the cove's small tunnels from the other side of the hills. It's a popular spot to swim and relax." I didn't want to hear about tunnels giving access from a blind side to a potential scouting site. I brought up the photos and confirmed my fears of possible access. I stood up quickly, ran into the command building, and weaved my way to Captain Barlow.

"Captain!" I said slightly out of breath. "I believe to have found a spot for concealment of intel gathering or even entry to the area." She grabs my tablet and starts to look it over. "If that spring is fed by the tunnels on the opposite side, it is very possible to stick a camera into the hole feeding the spring. If the tunnels are big enough for a few people, then a whole unit could hide in there."

Barlow's eyes go wide. "I need live footage of area E6, low altitude, pointing at that spring NOW!" She looks at the main screen as the camera's view begins to lower and zoom in. It gets closer to the spring and we all realize that the flow has stopped. "Wells, Marshall, keep us informed of any changes. Everyone else, with me!" They all ran out the door with a variety of weapons and all were silent, but the typing sounds of Chief Wells. I stood in my spot trying to observe any changes.

"Local security has been informed and a few men will be on camera soon." Wells said with confidence and soon I saw 2 men walking and pointing at the small spot in the hillside. A moment later it all disappeared in an explosion. The ground shook a little after starting the young Wells. "Captain, confirmation of explosives being used. Locals have been informed. Please proceed with caution!" I kept watching intently as the smoke cleared. There was some blood on the ground right before a now large entrance. Figures began to walk through the smoking hole holding rifles, RPGs, and machine guns. "I have a visual of the enemy. RPGs and machine guns are present. Please be careful Susan…" I briefly wondered who Susan was until there was a large flash and a smoke trail.

"Wells! Get down!" I yelled as I ran towards him. He was frozen to his chair as the rocket flew at our building. I had just got to him when the explosion blew the front door off its hinges. We both got pushed forward about 5 feet as I landed on top of him. He groaned in pain as I got myself off of him and looked around the room. The front had partially collapsed, most of the screens were cracked or broken, and sparks were everywhere. My hearing was a constant hum, but I was trained to get going. I began to drag the young Wells away to the back where I could see a stronger section of the building. It took a few minutes and my hearing cleared up to sounds of shouting, gun fire, metal creaking, and a loud beeping. I headed towards the beeping and saw a phone with a damaged screen. I pressed the green button to answer as was met with a loud yell.

"WELLS! Are you ok?!" It was Captain Barlow. "What happened?! Where are you?!"

"Captain!" I yelled back. Partly because my hearing was still off and partly to calm her down. "He is alive, but unconscious. I have him in a stronger section of the building."

"Thank you Marshall…" Her breaths calm down a bit. "The situation is not good. At least 20 men have come through the springs' entrance and pinned us down. We haven't lost anybody yet and taken out a few of them, but it is slow going. I need you to move Chief Wells to safety an-" A loud swoosh sound cut her off. "Shit! Incoming rocket! I repeat, incoming Rocket!" I dropped the phone and ran to cover Well's body. All I hear is a loud explosion nearby, lots of heat and pressure, then blackness.