"No, you are the first.. non-hostile.. of your kind we have encountered." Scarlett responds, tapping away at her tablet. "As to holding our own, I believe the Cybertronians we've encountered, if I said that correctly, have been isolated and short of supplies. Much like earlier today, they seem to want to avoid losses and damage."
"Of course they're isolated, if they were not, they would have overrun us during World War I." A voice says clearly, with a British accent (Cornish). A woman with dark hair and blue eyes enters behind Hawk and Scarlett. "Well now, aren't you lot just what the doctor ordered." She says, holding up a scanner of some type and beginning to walk down the stairs toward the main floor.
Hawk frowns. "Doctor Winters, you are not authorized to be here."
The woman waves off the concern. "General Hawk, I am attached to the JOE's, but I am not in your chain of command. I am here as part of the NATO Joint Operations Command on Extraterrestrials. As such, I don't require your permission to examine and interact with aliens." She continues down the stairs. "Now, if I heard correctly, you are the 'city speaker' for this group, and your group is composed of 'Autobots', and use that symbol. Fascinating. We'd identified several icons on the constructs, however, we were not sure what they indicated. The 'Decepticon' marking we took for a Military Insignia, as they seemed to be more heavily armed, while the 'Autobot' Insignia we took for a 'Logistics' or 'Support' variant, as they were less heavily armed. If the dichotomy is consistent across all your species, it seems unsurprising you lost the war." She reaches the floor, and begins to walk around the Autobots, with her scanner, not getting quite within arms reach.
The general grinds his cigar. "Very well, Doctor Winters, but if you end up a pasty red smear on the floor or wall, you're solely responsible for your pasty end." He nods to Redshift. "This is Doctor Talia Winters, I'm told she's highly intelligent, not that she shows it with such actions. She's also one of our experts on your... type."
"I am not an Autobot or a Decepticon. They are factions. We are Cybertronians and some of us were forced to make choices depending on circumstances. Wars take their worst toll on those who don't wish to have anything to do with either side.
How many Decepticons have you encountered and have you had a chance to uncover their names? It would go a long way towards knowing what we are dealing with if we're being forced to fight them".
As Winters pulls out her scanner, Skitter activates his own internal scanner to scan her scanner, curious what sort of information it might convey.
"I'm not sure I agree with you, Ula. The war took a pretty significant toll on the Autobot side. I've almost lost count of how many Cybertronians I've worked on."
Not really of course, but the humans seem fond of hyperbole.
"In a fight your very survival, neutrality isn't always an option."
Redshift nods.
"Indeed. When the view of one side is 'we want to destroy anyone who isn't like us,' and the view of the other side is 'we would like to live and not be destroyed,' the choice is clear. But we can engage in rousing philosophical discussions at another time."
To General Hawk, he gestures at both the ship and the remaining crew. "We have wounded, General. May we be allowed to see to them?"
Hawk looks at the wounded, and then nods. "Yes, but do not leave the bay until such time as we can have the policy wonks figure out what they want to do with you."
Dr. Winters smiles. "You may perform repairs on your allies, so long as you maintain a commentary on exactly what you are doing." She pauses, and looks at Hawk. "To ensure you're doing what you say you are, of course."
Hawk nods. "Not the ship though, until the wonks decide things, I'd like you to keep away from the heavy weapons."
Doctor Winters looks disappointed, but nods. "As you wish, General." She says, agreeably. Hawk and Scarlett head out, leaving the marines to guard the group and Winters to continue her observations.
Redshift sighs.
”The ship IS one of our wounded. It is very much alive and intelligent. Not in the same way as you or I, but aware and alive and in need of medical care, just the same.”
He looks at the Human with the scanner. ”May we at least make sure that it isn’t going to die from catastrophic trauma?”
The woman shakes her head. "General Hawk was very specific, no repairs on the ship until the State Department people make their decisions." Then she rubs the side of her nose with one finger, perhaps an itch or something. "However, if you need to get some repair parts from your ship, or some fuel or something to sit on, I can authorize that." She raises a finger. "Just no 'repairing'." She gives a tight grin.
Skitter nods. "I can work under those parameters." He looks around at the others. "How bad are you?" As soon as he can get some parts, he'll start doing his best to make sure nobody, Del'Tor included, is going to lose their spark.
"Scrapes and dents," Redshift replies to Skitter. "Minor damage. Nothing that requires immediate attention. See to the rest of the group first. I'll be fine."
The woman walks closer to Red, and pulls some goggles out of the pouch around her waist. Sliding them on, she looks at the large bot. "Looks like you have a 5 centimeter penetration on your torso casing, just under the left arm, posterior side casing. Looks like penetration from a thermal lance weapon, probably a hellfire missile or TOW anti-tank round. I can see power fluid buildup, but no ongoing leakage. I'd guess your secondary power lines were severed, and the automatic shut-offs engaged. You'll need new lines and an armor patch, at a guess." She rattles off. "I would avoid any heavy lifting until the repair is complete, if I'm correct about the damage, any heavy lifting could result in overstrain of your dorsal servo motors, due to lack of energy fluid, and result in damage to them."
Ula keeps her opinions about the war to herself based on the Autobots comments.
"I am fine, you want me to come aboard Del'tor with you Skitter to grab some parts?"
Skitter is impressed at the human female's analysis. She obviously knows her non-organics. "Wait here, Red. Ula and I will grab the parts."
Last thing we need is for him to pop a dorsal servo trying to help.
Repairs are done on Red, and surrupticiously, on Del'Tor, when they can be.
A few days later, representatives of the 'State Department' spend a few days interrogating the bots. This is annoying for most, but Chatterbox finally completely loses it as his paranoia circuit melts down and he ends up firing on his fellow cybertronians trying to escape the 'organic mechavores'. Fortunately he doesn't kill any of the humans, and several of the humans seem to understand, calling it 'post trauma stress disorder'. Oddly enough, Chatter's meltdown seems to reassure the humans that the cybertronians aren't as different from humans as they originally thought.
CB ends up going into a stassis lock (induced by Skitter after Red slams his head into a wall a dozen times). The humans insist on locking him away, for safety, of course. Dr. Winters will no doubt study him, but promises not to dissect him.
A couple of weeks after the meltdown, the State Department people leave, and then a week later, a new man comes to meet the cybertronians. He's an older man, with a hard jaw and stubble and glasses. He has two weapons, one under his arm and the other on his hip. He also smokes a cigarette. "Well, I'll be damned, they weren't kidding. So you overgrown toasters are real then. I'm Agent Jones, I'm your official 'liason' with the government. Apparently, President Wallace decided to grant you 'resident alien' status, although I think the alien part wasn't supposed to be quite so literal when the founders thought it up." He blows some smoke. "Basically, I'm here to make sure you're not treated too bad, and to make sure you understand your orders. Part of this deal is you'll agree to work under the Joes to help deal with these Deceptive cons. Don't go thinking I'm your nanny or nothing." He says with one hand up. "I just make sure you and the Joes are both on the same page, and report directly to the President if there's any issues. Now, none of us want issues, right? So, let's all just get along, and if any of you are feeling like going nutjob like the bike did, let me know ahead of time." He takes another puff. "Now then, any questions before I give you your first assignment?"
Hmm, I didn't realize we would be taking orders. Or sent on assignments.
"Agent Jones. Two questions off the top of my head. One, I would request permission from your superiors to allow us to repair our ship, at least to get it functional. Although Del'Tor doesn't feel pain, he is, in fact, sentient, and part of our crew. The better shape he is in, the better we can help.
Secondly, what is a nutjob? I can't decide if it sounds like a good thing or a bad thing."
"We offered to provide technology and training on its use, Agent Jones," Redshift says flatly. "We are not weapons to be targeted at a convenient pressure point and told to kill. If the terms of our asylum are presented to us formally for review and discussion, I'm sure myself and the rest of the crew would be happy to oblige in appropriate situations, but... How can I put this...?"
Redshift ponders for a moment.
[b]"How would you feel if we told you that in order to use our ship's lavatory, you must first bring us one metric ton of gold? Yes, I think that's an appropriately disproportionate response to that request."
"It's not that we are unwilling, don't misunderstand me," Redshift continues. "But a 'deal' in which we had no say is no 'deal' at all. Can you do something about that, Agent Jones?"
Jones rubs his chin. "Cityspeaker Redshift, I think you're looking at this the wrong way. You're not asking to use a restroom. You're asking for for the US to offer you protection from not just other factions on our planet, such as China and Russia, who would absolutely dissect you on capture in order to improve their tech base. You're also asking us to take on the risk of attack from your enemies, who already beat you in a war on your own world. Thus far, they've been attacking us, but infrequently. If we're harboring their enemies, they're going to be attacking us much more frequently. We'll be happy for the tech transfers, of course, and we'll supply you with supplies to repair your ship. However, you are extremely dangerous alien creatures, and we can't allow you to run around without supervision on our planet. So, back to your bathroom analogy, it's more like I asked you to hold an active nuclear device while I went to the little boys room, while my greatest enemy is lining up on you with a sniper rifle."
He nods at Skitter. "Not sure we have parts for that thing, but I think I can swing some raw materials if you can make parts. And a nutjob, in our language, is someone who's lost his mind. A crazy person."
"Your nations are fleeting, and your history shows that you should put them aside for the betterment of your planet," Redshift replies. "Against the greater galactic backdrop, they're meaningless, especially in the face of the Decepticons. You'd do well to put them behind you as a united Earth."
"But your point isn't lost," He continues. "And it's a fair one, given the circumstances. I do still think a formal agreement would be of benefit. Otherwise, what's the point of one?"
The man drops his nearly spent cigarette, and crushes it out with his foot. "We can't agree on how humans arrived on this planet, much less who should lead everyone. And besides, who said it wasn't formal? I'm just giving you the high points. I'm afraid I'm not a diplomat. I was a Force Recon, back in the day, got shot at from one end of the middle east to the other. I don't do legalese. I'm just telling you what the 200 pages of legalese boils down to." He reaches into his jacket, and pulls out a rolled up set of papers. There are a lot of them rolled up together. "This is your agreement, Scarlett will be here shortly to walk you through all the legalese and try to explain it to you." He lays it on the platform, where Red can look at the papers while standing up. Then he drops a small plastic device next to it. "It's on this thumb drive too, although you'll have to wait for Dr. Winters to build something to let you transfer it to your systems, as I was told."
Just then, as if he had summoned her, Scarlett comes in with her tablet. "Agent Jones, if you'll excuse me, I need privacy to discuss this agreement with the offworlders."
Jones nods, and tips his hat to the cybertronians before leaving the area.
Scarlett then clears her throat. "Weather you believe it or not, I am here in my capacity as a Lawyer, not as a GI Joe. Therefore, I will give you my best interpretation of this deal, and translate the legal language as best I can, Cityspeaker Redshift. Many terms may not have a meaning in your culture. Nothing that is said between us today, regarding this agreement or your ability to adhere to it, will be repeated to anyone, even my superiors. This is a concept humans call 'Client Confidentiality'. It means I can't be compelled to testify to anything you tell me while acting as your lawyer. However, if you tell me something that is illegal or violates our law or the agreement, I can and must withdraw as your council. I will inform you if and when that occurs, but will still be unable to say anything outside this room about what was said." She motions to the cameras, which are all now pointing at the ground, with their glowing little LED's off. "All surveilance has been discontinued. Now, if you'll permit me to go through the offer, before you ask questions, I think that might be best."
She then takes a seat on one of the chairs that has been left on the walkaround and begins going through the offer in detail. It takes nearly 6 hours.
Redshift looks the agreement over at computer speed, translating it for the rest of the group as necessary.
"If we have consensus on this agreement," he says to the others. "Then we should all provide our imprints. But only if we have consensus."
Skitter nods his assent. "They seem to be dealing in good faith. And we DO require help. I hesitate at us being attached to a military detail, merely because I have been studying a bit of Earth's history. It seems that some humans justifications for military action are... flimsy. But, the more allies we have to deal with Decepticons, and the more we can help THEM against the same threat, the safer this planet will be."
Ula reluctantly accepts the deal.
The next few days are busy as the Cybertronians are busy working on actually repairing the Del'Tor, and taking deliveries of raw materials. They don't have the resources to build replacement parts for everything on the Del'Tor, or that they'd want in a base, so they'll have to utilize a lot of Earth technology unfortunately.
About a week after the Joes clear out additional storage areas to convert into an Autobot Base, the trio are taken to an above ground hanger for a meeting with Dr. Winters.
The woman smiles as the group enters the hanger in vehicle mode. "Thank you for attending." She motions to an open area obviously big enough for the group to stand up. The hanger is about a third the size of the Del'Tor, although about a third of it is taken up with a C-160 and a bunch of curtained off frameworks. "As per the agreement, I'm now allowed to let you see what we have, so you can identify it." Several dozen soldiers are around the area, armed, although they are pointing weapons toward the curtained off areas, not the Cybertronians. Although they do seem to be watching the Cybertronians as much as they are the curtained areas.
At the doctor's words, several techs begin opening the curtains. Inside them you see, to your likely surprise, five Cybertronians!
The first is badly damaged, their left arm missing, and their spark chamber shattered. Their body is still partially coated with something that looks organic, like the stuff in the ocean, but it's dry. There is a faded Decepticon symbol on it's remaining arm.
The second is a massive warrior class Cybertronian bristling with weapons, and apparently in stasis lock. It has a lurid Decepticon symbol on it's chest.
The third is a red soldier class Cybertronian with a pair of Decepticon symbols on it's arms and another on it's chest and a final one on it's back. However, the symbols are red, not purple, and have been scraped until they are almost unrecognizable. This one also appears to be in stasis lock.
The fourth is a minicon birdbot, with obvious Decepticon symbols on it. Again, in stasis lock.
The fifth is a massive warrior class and heavily armed Autobot whose surface is gray and pitted in places, but seems to be in stasis lock, not destroyed. It has a sword on one hip, and a couple of other obvious weapons.
Skitter steps back involuntarily. "By the spark!" The legal form makes a lot of sense now.
The first bot, although it's hard to recognize him with all the damage, is a Decepticon known as 'Talon'. He was part of a group of elite enforcers called the 'Predator Squadron', led by a Decepticon called 'Skyquake'. They were fiercely loyal to Megatron, and a very deadly group. However, he appears to have been dead for a long time, much longer than should be possible, since Skitter saw him attack an Autobot base about 3 Esscycles ago (about 30 years). This bot looks like he's been dead for much longer than that (although Skitter would need to do a full exam to be sure).
The second bot is a Decepticon named Onslaught, he seems to be part of a team, but Skitter can't remember which one.
Skitter doesn't recognize the 3rd bot, but he does recognize the red Decepticon symbol as a Decepticon forced laborer symbol, basically a slave symbol. They use red because that's the autobot color, and most of their slave labor are either autobots or autobot sympahtizers.
The fourth bot is a minicon known as Laserbeak, who works directly for Soundwave.
The fifth bot is an Autobot known as Sabre. He was fairly new, only a few decades. Mostly did guard duty. Cold Forged, so a bit odd. Most warriors are staid and solid, but Sabre's like Chatterbox shoved into a Warrior frame, always hyperactive and going a mile a minute. Although at least he doesn't talk as much.
Ula looks at the bots, one by one.
"Don't recognize parts for brains over there, looks like his spark was punched out, so who cares."
"Oh, him. That's Onslaught, he's a Decepticon. A combiner, part of the Combaticon team. They'll be missing him, they won't be able to form that idiot Bruticus without him." Ula seems pleased.
"Never saw that one before, looks like an escaped slavebot. If the Decepticons see that symbol, they'll blast it first and never bother asking questions."
"Laserbeak, what the heck is it doing here. That means Soundwave is on Earth, they never get apart."
"Oh, Sabre. What a messed up bot, original spark was supposed to be a Scout, but they cold forged him into a Warrior body. Only hyperactive warrior I've ever seen. Hard to sneak past, but not over bright, and easy to distract. Especially if you have a few scraplets you can let loose in his locker..." Ula seems to be speaking from direct experience.
"Sorry, I was lost in thought trying to figure something out."
Skitter steps closer and starts commenting on the bots. "I'm pretty sure this one is Talon. Obviously a Decepticon. Part of a group called the Predator Squadron. He's nothing but spare parts now. But he's what had me confused. What I can't understand is the level of decomposition? I saw him not 3 esscycles ago, and yet he looks like he's been oxidizing for much longer."
He nods after Ula's description of the second. "Ahh, that's right, Onslaught. I'm glad he's off-line. The less capable the Decepticons are of forming Bruticus, the better."
"I don't think I've ever seen this bot before, but he is marked as a slave. Hmm, I think I might be able to get him up and running. He might make a decent ally. Most of the slaves the Decepticons used were either Autobots or sympathizers, though they were just as happy to enslave anyone they could find."
"Laserbeak. I had hoped never to see him again." He turns to the doctor, noticing the confused look on her face. "Don't be fooled by his size. He's caused more problems for the Autobots than almost anyone."
Skitter speaks up for Sabre. "Now, now. Sabre might be a bit odd, but he's a solid warrior. He should be able to provide us with a little needed firepower."
"Doctor, can you tell us where you acquired these robots?" He steps back over to the first one. "Especially, this one." He turns back to look at her.
"Oh, and one more thing. Please don't let anyone mess with those Decepticons. The last thing we need is even more of them to worry about." He shakes his head. "With your permission, we can activate our allies here. I imagine they could give us an edge we'll need, seeing how many Decepticons are actually on Earth already."
Redshift remains silent, for now, listening to the words of his comrades. He pays special attention to the words said about the Decepticons, noting the odds of a command-subjunctive unit such as Laserbeak is here without its parent unit are exceedingly small.
Over private comms, he asks Skitter one question.
::What would this Soundwave do to get Laserbeak back? I would ask Ula, but she tends to embellish.::
Skitter responds over the private channel: I'm not entirely sure. You're probably right that you won't find one without the other. But I'm not sure that they feel the loyalty or affection that you might expect from an autobot. Still, I imagine he would be angered by not having access to a valuable asset.
Redshift nods.
"I'd suggest we start with Sabre, then," he says. "Odds are, he can tell us about the other prisoner. And then, if our unknown friend, here, is safe, we bring him online. Consensus?"
Winters nods, and makes sure the video cameras are all running, and then lets Skitter have his way.
Skitter retrieves a few units of Energon, and then gives Saber a massive infusion of energon directly into his spark chamber, flushing the stasis lock.
"Oh, is that all that's required? Well, that does explain our lack of success reactivating them, we didn't know how to make Energon before." Winters comments, sounding fairly annoyed that it was so easy.
Sabre's dormant systems come slowly online, actuator shift, systems start to humm. Eyes half open and he steps forward, stumbling and falling to his knee. Catching himself he looks up seeming confused.
"Automatic..... Stasis Lock Removed......Where...? How.. long this time?"
He slowly gets up and takes in the area his hand straying to his blade.
"Explain.. this is not the Ark"
Redshift holds up both hands, showing them to be empty, and recites the Universal Greeting.
"Bah Weep Grahna Weep Nini Bong," he slowly recites, then moves one hand forward toward Sabre, producing a small Energon chip.
"I am Redshift, Cityspeaker of Helaxis, who was Hexalon, City of Light," he says. "These are my compatriots, Skitter and Ulastron. Behind you is our ship, Deltorus. These Humans are allies. You are Sabre?"
Sabre finds that his sword is not where it should be. Instead, it's locked under a steel band on a nearby platform.
Winters runs her scanner over Sabre's body from a few feet away. "Interesting, nannite systems online, looks like it's flushing it's systems after the lock, cleaning out the accumulated gunk in it's lubrication systems." She walks around the newly awakened Autobot. "You were found in a lava flow, you may have some circuit damage from the extreme heat. I cleaned as much of the volcanic rock from your outsides and insides as I could, it appears your nannites are clearing the rest. You should be careful for a few weeks, until they clean it all out. Until then, you might be stiff." She says, recording all the readings she can. "As to how long, that is difficult to say. The lava flow we found you in was created when Mount Saint Helens first erupted, roughly 35 to 40 thousand years ago. So a minimum of 35 thousand years. However, I can't say for certain how long you were in stasis lock prior to being dumped in the lava flow."
"Easy, big fella. We're here to help. And we aren't sure how long you've been in stasis." Skitter also holds up his hands showing he has nothing offensive on him. "It might help us help you if you can tell us anything you recall from before you went offline?"
Sabre looks back at his blade and then at the Autobots standing before him.
"35 thousand cycles minimum...? Who is in command here?"
He looks at the organic scanning him.
"I was on the Ark I with the others that escaped our home. Where are the other crew.....? There was a battle in Hyper-Warp, and call for all hands brace for impact....."
He places his hand to his head as though frustrated.
"We do things by consensus, friend," Redshift tells Sabre. "Each of us takes authority in the areas that we are most skilled. I for example have taken the role of liason with our Human friends. What is your strength?"
Sabre shakes his head.
"Consensus, so there is no chain of command."
He looks around the room seeming to take in as much detail as he can. He walks over to the other Cybertonians lined up.
"To answer your question. My name is Sabre, I am a Soldier, and Scout Reconnaissance....... These cons they were not on board.... Except this one."
He stops in front of the slave marked Bot.
"I believe he is Roadrage, he was rescued during the escape. I dont know if he decided to join us or not?"
In a lower concerned tone.
"Optimus would know for sure."
Skitter looks up in surprise. "If these two were on the ship with Prime, and they were preparing for a crash landing, it makes sense that Prime is somewhere on this planet as well!" He turns to the doctor. "Can you tell us more about this lava flow? And where it is?"
Redshift's voice takes on a quiet, reverent tone.
"The Prime is here? On this world?"
He nods in agreement with Skitter, holding his hand to his chestplate.
"We must find him. I... may have something of importance to discuss with him."
Sabre looks over at the others.
"Maybe but according to the human its been 35 thousand cycles plus. Depending on the damage to the Ark. The others may not be here. I am all for examining the area where I was found. But first I would like to know where these Cons were found,and are there more? Any others would be a threat. If by chance the Ark is still here then I would not want to lead them to it."
Skitter shakes his head sadly. "There are other Decepticons here. We have no idea how many. But, we have already encountered a few. It seems the humans have been plagued by them for some time prior to our awakening from stasis."
"Unlikely your ship is around the volcano. It erupted a few years ago, and we've scoured the area since then. Nothing has been found. More than likely, these two were ejected and landed in the volcano flow, or your Decepticons dumped them in the volcano caldera to dispose of them." She points to Laserbeak. "This one got hit by an anti-tank round in Fallujah about 6 months ago. It was attacking an allied convoy." She points to the badly damaged one. "That one took a 46 cm round from the Yamato at the Battle of Midway. We salvaged it a few years after the war, after we found footage of it attacking the Yamato after the war. We think they were attacking both sides to try to stir up the war even more than it already was." Then she nods to the heavily armed Decepticon. "That one was found on the moon in a crater, by Armstrong and Aldrin. We brought it back a few years later."
While the woman is talking, Skitter prepares to revive the other potential ally, and infuses the former slave with energon. Like Sabre, Roadrage shudders and wakes up slowly, systems coming back on line slowly.
Around the room, the guards suddenly raise shoulder fired rocket launchers, and red dots begin to dance over Roadrage's frame.
Dr. Winters takes two steps back. "I would strongly suggest disabling your weapons. First, you have insufficient energy to fire them more than once without placing yourself back in stasis lock. Second, you have fourteen shoulder launched LAW's targeting your spark chamber, each with an energon destabilizing warhead. Third, you have at least 3 Autobots who have agreed to shred your outer frame if you attempt to harm any of the humans in the room. Fourth, I've been touching and scanning your systems for over 2 years, so there's not really much on your chassis that I haven't already scanned to the micrometer. Fifth, there's a shaped charge on your back that will blow a five centimeter molten copper charge through your spark chamber if I press this button." She holds up the scanner and points to a blue button on the side of it. "Sixth, I'd rather talk than kill you. But, I certainly won't hesitate to kill you if you make me. Seventh..." She smiles. "...If you disable your weapons peacefully, I'm sure I can scare up some more energon and lubricant, your joints have to be having issues after all that time in stasis, I'm sure you'd much rather have an oilbath than a molten copper enema, yes?"
It takes Skitter a few cyclekals to access data on some of Dr. Winter's more obscure terms, particularly the 'enema.' But he can't help but laugh as soon as he does.
He holds up his hands, palms out, to Roadrage. Apparently, the 'rage' part is at least an apt description. "Easy, friend. No need to turn this into a scrap show. No one's gonna hurt you if you play nice." He chooses to omit that the organic is correct and that she has very little choice in this matter. He's also quite impressed at the ingenuity of the humans and the measures they have taken. They should not be underestimated.
"Let's all put our weapons down so we can talk like civilized sentients."