Trials, Tribulations, and Transformations

XXIX - New Orders

00000

Rocky Mountains - Northwest Border of Denver - May 9th, 2011 - Monday, 7:00 am

"Wow," Miko said.

"Yeah, wow," Jack agreed. "Denver looks pretty amazing from this angle."

"It still gets me that this place was here, beneath the Rockies, all this time, and the Autobots had no idea."

Jack nodded. "They didn't know about the Cybertronian colonies either apparently."

"I know," Miko said, awe coming off her in waves. "I had no idea that Cybertronian colonized other planets."

"Neither did I. I wonder why Arcee never told me about it."

Miko's look became sad and foreboding. "Maybe something happened and they...just don't like talking about it."

Jack paused in thought. "Yeah...Arcee didn't let me on her past until it was literally staring her in the face."

Miko scowled. "That insane freak Airachnid."

Jack nodded. "Yeah, and quite possibly the most dangerous night of my life."

Miko bowed her head and rubbed her arms as though she had a chill. "Y-Yeah," she stammered shakily. "That was...that was something else?"

"You ok?"

"Y-Yes, it's just...knowing you went through all that...and how you came close to...and I had no idea…" Miko's breathing became hitched. "It hurts to even think about."

Jack walked over to Miko and placed a comforting arm around her shoulder. She leaned into him readily. "I'm alright Miko, Arcee had my back and Airachnid didn't so much as lay a claw on me. She failed…twice."

"Yeah," Miko said, burying her face in Jack's shoulder. "Boy, that was lucky."

"No kidding. And now, in less than 24 hours, the game has changed. Not one, not two, not three but ten!" Jack said with fierce joy. "Ten Autobots added to the fray!"

Miko laughed heartily. "I know!" She dried her eyes which were wet. Were those tears of sadness or joy? "I'm still geeking out about it! I mean, talk about Deus ex Machina!"

Jack looked at her. "The god in the machine?"

"Yup, where in Greek storytelling, a character just pops out of the blue to make everything right. Part of my cover story I fed to that security guard at that museum we broke into last year."

There was amusement in Jack's eyes. "So I've heard. You're smarter than you let on."

Miko's cheeks started to burn. "That's what Bulk said."

Jack smiled and he tightened his embrace. "And he was right."

Miko giggled. Then the sound of the base lift was heard and the couple turned to see someone emerge from it.

"Jack. Miko," Rewind said. "The boss needs us all in the briefing room right now."

Miko moaned in disappointment.

"We'll be right down Eject," Jack said. "Thanks."

Rewind groaned. "I'm Rewind."

00000

Autobot Base Alpha One - Briefing Room - 7:30 am

The Briefing Room, or the Command Center, was something to behold. Chrome Cybersteel walling. Massive computer screens, some of them holographic. And the groundbridge, fully-functional and updated, thanks to the groundbreaking Cybertronian tech accessible in this new base as well as the ingenious expertise of Chief Mechanic Perceptor, who managed to reconstruct the groundbridge and upgrade it in a few short hours.

And by morning, the new Autobot was up and running. Team Prime was officially back in the fray, along with a few new numbers.

The Twins, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, Front-Liners. The two reunited and together prove to be exponential and invaluable additions to Team Prime's Warrior regiment.

Perceptor, Chief Mechanic and Honorary Wrecker. The finest engineer among the Autobots and the age, as well as the most crack sharpshooter among the Autobots.

Wheeljack, otherwise known as Terror Jack among the Outer Rim. Seasoned Wrecker, Demolitions Expert and Engineer.

Blaster, Communications Chief, Data Expert, Hacker Extraordinaire, Spymaster, and Lieutenant of the Wreckers. If Optimus Prime is said to be the nemesis of Megatron, then Blaster is certainly and in every way the nemesis of Soundwave, the eyes and ears of the Decepticons. Plus, he has a better taste in music.

And then there are his personal subordinates, his cassettes or symbiotes, his minicon army, his most trusted soldiers:

Steeljaw, Hunter, Tracker and Scout.

Ramhorn, Heavy Artillery, Demolisher and a living battering ram.

Rewind and Eject, Infiltration, Search and Rescue, Espionage and Reconnaissance.

And finally, Jazz, Chief of Special Operations, one of Prime's lieutenants, and a Founding Member of the Autobots. A credit to the Autobots, notable for his unique sense of style, his optimism and unwavering loyalty to the Autobot cause as well as to his best friend, Optimus Prime.

And now all members and allies of Team Prime, Autobot and human, were present and accounted for, all anticipated and anxious to hear what the Prime has to say.

"Alright, alright," Jazz called out. "Let's all settle down now, we got big things to put on the table."

"What does that mean?" Miko asked.

"It means we got a lot to talk about little lady."

"Thank you Jazz," Optimus said. "Now, let us begin. Blaster?"

The Communications Chief typed at a massive keyboard at one of the main computers, and then the lights in the command center were dimmed and a multitude of holographic screens illuminated, showing numerous images, some of statistical readouts, various news articles, and photographs of certain persons of military, governmental or political background.

All of said content were apparently relevant to the activities of the nefarious organization known as MECH. And judging by the clear warrants of arrest for these certain persons and the clear decline in progress of operations, it was quite clear that MECH was in deep trouble.

"As you can see, due to events in the past 24 hours, MECH activities have declined substantially," Optimus said gravely as though he were delivering a weather report that was open to change. "And due to the present decommission of their communications, Decepticon activities have also been severely reduced. We would be foolish not to take advantage of this rare opportunity."

"You don't sound very thrilled Prime," Fowler said.

Optimus gave the Special Agent a tired look, not one who was exhausted but rather wary as though anticipating a great battle that was unavoidable. "We have been granted some much needed breathing room Agent Fowler, but I'm afraid we're not quite out of danger. I will say that I am not displeased for the setback of our enemies but we must remain cautious. It is often the time of peace when one is most vulnerable."

Jack frowned. He looks spooked. He felt something squeeze his arm and he looked down to see Miko, who had a rather apprehensive look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Jack whispered.

"Does Optimus seem spooked to you?" Miko asked in a hushed tone.

Jack's eyes widened by a fraction. She noticed too.

"Furthermore," Optimus said. "With our obvious increase in numbers and the acquiring of this fortress, we may now continue in our operations on earth with greater thoroughness and effectiveness."

"The question is," Ratchet said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Where did this fortress come from?"

"It stands to reason Ratchet that this craft landed or rather crash landed on earth eons ago and with the passage of time was covered over when the planet's plates converged, forming what we know today to be the Rocky Mountains."

"Craft?" Sideswipe said. "This...place is a ship?"

"Indeed Sideswipe, but I'm afraid its engines are out of order and as Perceptor has reported this morning, the base does not possess the adequate technology to repair it. Even if we could repair it, launching it is obviously impossible."

"Considering it is buried under a mountain of course," Perceptor said matter-of-factly. "And tunneling a path in the mountain for the craft to launch...well...we have neither the ordinance nor the time for that. And since we're right next to a densely populated city, launching a Cybertronian spacecraft would give us away." The Mechanic gave Agent Fowler a somewhat irreverent look. "Rather curious of what cover story you'd come up with for that."

Fowler was rather sheepish at the mechanic's comment. "That would be a new one."

"Moving on," Optimus said with a rather sharp tone. "The matter of who piloted this craft here and why is a moot point. For now, we move on to more immediate matters."

Jazz smiled. "Guardianship?"

Optimus nodded. "As you all know, any perceived to be our allies would be in danger and under threat by the Decepticons and MECH. Our human allies have remained under our watch for some time now. Three of which had guardians over them as they have lives outside of this base. But given the new additions, we were forced to take measures as we did not have the numbers to compensate for their protection. We had to provide them shelter in our previous base, at least until we were certain the danger has passed, but there are little signs of that happening soon."

Optimus gave Sideswipe a steely, commanding look. "Sideswipe, please step forward."

The red frontliner did as he was told. "Sir?"

"I am entrusting Sierra Krosney's safety to you."

There was a high-pitched gasp of surprise. It had come from the young lady with the red hair that was so named.

Sideswipe nodded with firm determination. "She'll be safe with me." He looked at her. "If she'll have me as her guardian."

Sierra stood up on the elevated platform with the rest of the human party, her hands covering her mouth. "Does...does that mean that wherever I go, he'll go? No matter what?" She stammered.

Optimus gave her a light smile. "Yes Sierra. Do you accept this arrangement?"

Sierra sniffled a bit and she smiled. "Y-Yes, I do."

Sideswipe grinned and he offered a hand for Sierra to step on to. Timidly at first, she did so. She then dropped to her knees and with tears in her eyes, she hugged Sideswipe's thumb.

Sideswipe was rather taken aback by this, as was Vince and Katie. But the red frontliner smiled and curled his forefinger around Sierra, returning the embrace.

"You should be proud," Katie said. "Siri never warms up to strangers so quickly."

"Is that right?" Sideswipe said happily.

Smiling, Optimus nodded and then faced another Autobot. "Sunstreaker, I am placing Katie Steinfeld in your care."

Sunstreaker turned and gave the blonde young lady a lopsided grin. "Think you can put up with me?"

Katie shrugged. "If I can put up with Ratchet, I can certainly put up with you."

Some of the Autobots and humans choked back laughter at that statement.

"I beg your pardon?" Ratchet grumbled, giving the girl a dirty look.

Katie smiled sheepishly. "I was only kidding."

Wheeljack laughed boisterously. "You'll learn not to crack jokes with the Doctor of Doom sweetheart."

"Doctor of Doom?"

His laughter lessening, Sunstreaker wiped at an optic before continuing. "We're going to get along just fine."

"Jonathan?" Optimus said.

Fowler's son nervously stepped towards the edge of the platform to address the Prime. "Y-Yeah?"

"Jazz will be your guardian."

Jon's anxious disposition immediately became ecstatic. "What?! Really?!"

Jazz grin was so wide it reached the bottom of his visor. "You know it." He looked at the boy's father, who looked rather shocked. "You're ok with that Agent Fowler?"

William Fowler exhaled sharply which seemed to indicate incredulousness. "You're the Spec Ops Chief right?"

"Last I checked."

"And Prime's Lieutenant?"

"One of them."

Fowler rubbed the back of his head. "And you can be spared just to guard my boy?"

Jazz's grin did not falter. "I'm very busy but I'm also a fast worker. So my schedule is as good as wide open, Chief."

Agent Fowler was almost at a loss. "And you're alright with it?"

"More than alright. I'll be happy to do it." Jazz turned to Jon. "How're your injuries kiddo?"

"Lousy," Jon said, rubbing his side. "But I'm recovering ok."

"Glad to hear it bud." Jazz turned back to Fowler. "How about you?"

Fowler tenderly massaged his backside. "Well, I'll put it like this: it's gonna be awhile before I can sit down again."

Jon gave his father a deadpan look. "You did carve out your bio-chip to keep MECH from following us."

Fowler sighed warily and leaned against the railing of the platform. "It didn't help much, they still got us."

"Hey hey, don't be like that," Jazz said in a comforting voice. "Sometimes it can't be helped and these things happen sometimes. What's important is that your boy is alive and well. And from this day forward, I won't let anything bad happen to him. You have my word as an Autobot."

Fowler smiled and there seemed to be the slightest bit of tears in his eyes. "I don't know how to thank you...for saving my son's life."

Jazz waved a dismissive hand. "You don't have to thank me."

"Yes I do." Fowler put a loving arm around his son. Jon smiled warmingly and would've returned the embrace if doing so did not cause him physical pain from his still healing wounds. "Jon is all I got left."

"I know exactly how you feel Fowler," Wheeljack said, his voice melancholy. "I got a wife and a little girl somewhere across the stars waiting for me."

The human party gave Wheeljack a funny look.

"What? Did you think we were just built or something?"

Raf sheepishly adjusted his glasses. "Well...I had thought that at first. But that was before I realized that you guys have what we humans call a soul or a spark as you call it."

Sari's eyes were shining, which Bumblebee became quite accustomed with when she was about to do something or ask some kind of question that would baffle even Ratchet.

"So Cybertronians can make babies?!"

The entire briefing room gasped at the audacity of the graphic question, except for Optimus whose optics widened by a fraction. Some of those in the room actually blushed, especially the Autobots.

They quickly got over the shock and reacted in their own unique fashion. Jazz laughed. Sideswipe as well. Sunstreaker simply shook his head with amusement. Ratchet's mouth was open with shock. Perceptor was clearing his throat. Arcee covered her mouth, trying to stifle her laughter. Bumblebee was covering his face. Optimus' mouth twitched, indicating that he was trying hard not to smile.

"Sari!" Dr. Sumdac cried looking scandalized.

Upon realizing what she had asked, Sari's face turned almost as red as the color of her hair. She bowed her head to hide her change in color.

"Did I really ask that out loud?" She whispered shamefaced.

"Don't be embarrassed Sari," Optimus said gently. "It's a reasonable question if a tad personal."

Ratchet scoffed as though the obvious had been stated.

"So...what are their names?" Fowler asked Wheeljack with genuine interest.

"Who?"

"Your wife and kid of course."

"Ah. My old lady's name is Quantama. And my baby girl's name is Strongarm, she's not much older than Bee."

"We should continue," Optimus said sternly. "This is important."

Wheeljack leaned over to whisper to Agent Fowler. "I'll tell you more later."

He then pulled out a small can of low-grade Energon and started drinking its contents.

"Yeah," Vince said with some eager but nervous anticipation. "I think I'm supposed to get a guardian too."

Optimus nodded. "Indeed. Vince, you will be placed in Wheeljack's care."

Wheeljack choked on his Energon, barely avoiding spitting it out and possibly getting it on any of the humans.

"Wh-What?!" Vince cried.

"What?!" Bulkhead shouted in disbelief.

Wheeljack chuckled sheepishly. "Uh Prime, I'm not sure I heard correctly but I could've sworn that you just said that I'd be in charge of this kid."

"You heard correctly."

Vince gripped the side railing of the platform, so hard that his knuckles turned white. "Optimus, you're not serious."

"I am Vince. Wheeljack is the only available soldier who can be spared for this task. And I believe he is the appropriate match for you."

"Can I ask just one thing?" Wheeljack said impertinently.

"Jackie…" Bulkhead said putting a placating hand on his friend's shoulder.

Wheeljack shoved it off.

"I flew halfway across the galaxy to come here because I thought you needed help, like very badly. And now that we're here, you're assigning a human sitting service? Am I understanding correctly Prime?"

Optimus' face was neutral and he answered in a severe but patient voice. "These humans are not excess baggage Wheeljack, they are invaluable allies to our cause, despite being so young. And they, including our newest numbers, are targets just as we are. It is not just the Decepticons and MECH who are hunting us now, but also shadow players within the United States government. Perhaps foreign powers are involved as well. The danger is far greater now than I anticipated, precisely why I had to take this dreadful chance in sending a distress message to all of you. Sheltering these humans and their families was a grim necessity. And now that our numbers have increased as well, assigning guardians must be a necessity as well. Do you understand?"

Wheeljack frowned but argued no further. "I guess. But...you want me to watch this boy? I'm not exactly guardian material."

"I thought much the same with some of my other soldiers, but they have risen to the task and have performed admirably. I'm sure you'll do the same Wheeljack."

Sheepish, the Wrecker rubbed the back of his head. "Well shucks."

Optimus turned to Vince, who was still rather rigid of this arrangement. "Do you find these terms acceptable Vince?"

"I guess so, but...this guy, he's just so...rough."

Optimus raised a brow at him.

Vince smiles nervously. "Yeah, I guess that is pretty rich coming from me."

"Indeed."

"What about Sari?" Miko asked. "Who will be her guardian?"

"For now, Bumblebee will have to manage them both."

"And what if he's in a position that he can't?" June asked with concern.

Optimus' voice dropped to a deeper pitch, indicating authoritative determination. "Then I will."

The entire room was left at a loss for words, at least for a moment.

"You?" Fowler said disbelievingly. "Isaac? Are you-?"

The Professor held up a hand. "It's alright Bill, Optimus and I discussed this beforehand. I agreed to it in the case that no one else is able to watch my daughter."

"But a big rig?" Fowler exclaimed. "A small girl and a big rig don't exactly mix."

Optimus cleared his throat as he rubbed his injured shoulder. "We will take measures to see to it that this arrangement does not attract unwanted attention Agent Fowler." Then his optics widened by a fraction as he forgot something. "Sari, if this can be arranged in a safe manner, do you agree to these terms?"

Sari's eyes shined. "Do I?!"

Nearly everyone in the room laughed. Ratchet had to bite his glossa to keep from smiling.

00000

Ratchet waited until the room was empty and when everyone was well away that he voiced the one burning question that kept his attention since last night.

"Optimus, when do you intend to tell her?"

"When I'm certain she's ready, Ratchet."

"Just be sure not to keep this from her for too long, if by some chance she finds out on her own, she may resent you for it."

Optimus sighed. "I'll be the one to tell her Ratchet. You must say nothing to her. That is an order."

Ratchet flinched. Optimus Prime very rarely had to make an order clear unless it was of tantamount importance.

The fate of entire worlds are at stake, this is most certainly of tantamount importance.

"I will say nothing," the good doctor said with obedient resolve.

Optimus nodded and placed an appreciative on his friend's shoulder. "Thank you."

Ratchet gave a tight smile. "I'm a doctor, keeping confidence is second nature to me." His look became serious. "Speaking of keeping confidence, I noticed you were nursing your shoulder earlier. Are you in pain?"

Optimus placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's acting up a bit, that's all."

"Then you should rest."

Optimus opened his mouth to protest, but Ratchet stopped him with a hand. "Doctor's orders."

Optimus blinked, then gave a good natured smile. "Very well."

"But before you go, we should decide if anyone else should be allowed to know. Sari certainly cannot shoulder this by herself. She will need someone to help her shoulder this when she learns the truth."

Optimus rubbed his chin. "Yes, she will. But for the sake of discretion, not too many."

"Yes, of course," Ratchet agreed. "Her father would have to know obviously."

"And Rafael, Sari and him have become quite...close. I believe he will help her shoulder this well."

"Anyone else?" Ratchet asked.

"Miko perhaps. Jack perhaps. But that will be all until we acquire a better handle on the situation."

Ratchet's voice took a grave turn. "And how will we do that? What could we possibly do to combat this Optimus?"

Optimus put a finger to his lips, telling the good doctor to keep his voice down. Ratchet bit back and remembered to keep silent.

The walls had ears after all.

Optimus' answer was stern and resolute. "We bide our time. We wait upon our Autobots. We will regroup and rebuild our forces. We will fight and we will win."

To be continued...