Re: TRANSFORMERS: RESOLUTE
Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 10:46 pm
PART 76
The Ark.
INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM HUMAN LIASON WALTER BARNETT
When the human’s face appeared on Teletraan-1’s monitor screen, Optimus Prime’s optics instantly zoomed in on the perspiration beading off his forehead.
“Greetings, Agent Barnett. You seem... troubled.”
“I am er, troubled! We’ve got power outages up and down the west coast, a nationwide gas shortage, and giant robot sightings everywhere from Portland to Albuquerque! What’s going on, Prime? I’ve got the President breathing down my neck demanding to know what the heck you’re going to do about this mess!”
“Agent Barnett, I apologize for the disruption that the Decepticons are causing to your way of life. Rest assured that my Autobots and I are working diligently to rectify the situation.”
“Excuse me...? What kind of robo-call response was that, Prime!?” Barnett fumed. “I need specifics! I need to know exactly how you’re going to dismantle these... these... Decepticons, and more importantly—when are you planning on getting off your rear to do it?”
Optimus Prime put his knuckles down on the console and leaned forward into the monitor. “At approximately twenty-one hundred hours, I will be leading a team of Autobots out into the Pacific Ocean to liberate the Blackrock offshore drilling platform from the clutches of the Decepticons. I advise your military to withdraw to a safe distance... there will be fireworks.”
“Now we’re talking, Prime! About how many troops are participating in tonight’s raid?”
“I haven’t decided on that as of yet, Agent Barnett. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to. Teletraan, end transmission.”
“Prime, now wait a minute now, I-“
Optimus sighed as Barnett’s image disappeared from the screen.
“Do you think that was wise, Prime?” questioned Prowl. He had entered the room a few seconds ago and overheard the tail end of the conversation between the two.
“I see no reason to keep our plans from our human allies.” Optimus replied.
“I can think of two,” countered Prowl. “One, their organization still hasn’t been properly vetted. Two, despite being aware of the terrible danger that their planet is in, they’ve yet to provide us with one drop of fuel to help save it.”
“The human’s political structure is far more complicated than ours ever was... even at the height of our civilization. We’ll get the fuel they promised us eventually. We must be patient with them, Prowl. It’s not their fault that we’re here.”
“Both Hound and Mirage have reported in.” Prowl said, switching the subject. It had suddenly become clear to him that he was getting nowhere with it. Prime just wasn’t going to listen. At least not in the way Prowl wanted him to.
“Hound has located Hauler.”
“Where is he?”
“The Constructicons are holding him in a cave near the Space Bridge. Scrapper has him separated into pieces.”
Optimus Prime made a fist. “Those monsters... what do you think they plan on doing to him?”
Prowl thought for a moment. “Knowing Scrapper, I’d say it’s unlikely he’s planning on making Hauler a part of the Space Bridge like he did poor Bumblebee. He doesn’t like to do the same thing twice. My guess is that he’s either going to try to integrate Hauler into their combined form or-“
“They’re going to convert him into some kind of weapon to use against us.”
“Right. A sadist like Scrapper wouldn’t pass up the opportunity.”
“And what did Mirage report?”
“Same thing as yesterday,” Prowl sighed. “Cubes go over the Bridge, Megatron receives warriors in return. If things keep going at this rate, we’ll be overrun in a matter of weeks.”
“It won’t come to that, Prowl. Wheeljack’s new Energon purifier is a success. Within a few hours we’ll have the fuel we need to strike back at the Decepticons.”
“Good. I’ll start drawing up the strike teams immediately.” Prowl said, pulling out his datapad. “Oh, and one more thing. Grimlock’s been asking to meet with you all day. What do you want me to tell him?”
“Tell Grimlock that I’ll meet with him now,” replied Optimus.
“Ya might wanna postpone that, chief.” Ironhide said, rushing over from the repair bay. “Our Decepticon guest is ready to spill his guts!”
(to be continued)
The Ark.
INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM HUMAN LIASON WALTER BARNETT
When the human’s face appeared on Teletraan-1’s monitor screen, Optimus Prime’s optics instantly zoomed in on the perspiration beading off his forehead.
“Greetings, Agent Barnett. You seem... troubled.”
“I am er, troubled! We’ve got power outages up and down the west coast, a nationwide gas shortage, and giant robot sightings everywhere from Portland to Albuquerque! What’s going on, Prime? I’ve got the President breathing down my neck demanding to know what the heck you’re going to do about this mess!”
“Agent Barnett, I apologize for the disruption that the Decepticons are causing to your way of life. Rest assured that my Autobots and I are working diligently to rectify the situation.”
“Excuse me...? What kind of robo-call response was that, Prime!?” Barnett fumed. “I need specifics! I need to know exactly how you’re going to dismantle these... these... Decepticons, and more importantly—when are you planning on getting off your rear to do it?”
Optimus Prime put his knuckles down on the console and leaned forward into the monitor. “At approximately twenty-one hundred hours, I will be leading a team of Autobots out into the Pacific Ocean to liberate the Blackrock offshore drilling platform from the clutches of the Decepticons. I advise your military to withdraw to a safe distance... there will be fireworks.”
“Now we’re talking, Prime! About how many troops are participating in tonight’s raid?”
“I haven’t decided on that as of yet, Agent Barnett. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to. Teletraan, end transmission.”
“Prime, now wait a minute now, I-“
Optimus sighed as Barnett’s image disappeared from the screen.
“Do you think that was wise, Prime?” questioned Prowl. He had entered the room a few seconds ago and overheard the tail end of the conversation between the two.
“I see no reason to keep our plans from our human allies.” Optimus replied.
“I can think of two,” countered Prowl. “One, their organization still hasn’t been properly vetted. Two, despite being aware of the terrible danger that their planet is in, they’ve yet to provide us with one drop of fuel to help save it.”
“The human’s political structure is far more complicated than ours ever was... even at the height of our civilization. We’ll get the fuel they promised us eventually. We must be patient with them, Prowl. It’s not their fault that we’re here.”
“Both Hound and Mirage have reported in.” Prowl said, switching the subject. It had suddenly become clear to him that he was getting nowhere with it. Prime just wasn’t going to listen. At least not in the way Prowl wanted him to.
“Hound has located Hauler.”
“Where is he?”
“The Constructicons are holding him in a cave near the Space Bridge. Scrapper has him separated into pieces.”
Optimus Prime made a fist. “Those monsters... what do you think they plan on doing to him?”
Prowl thought for a moment. “Knowing Scrapper, I’d say it’s unlikely he’s planning on making Hauler a part of the Space Bridge like he did poor Bumblebee. He doesn’t like to do the same thing twice. My guess is that he’s either going to try to integrate Hauler into their combined form or-“
“They’re going to convert him into some kind of weapon to use against us.”
“Right. A sadist like Scrapper wouldn’t pass up the opportunity.”
“And what did Mirage report?”
“Same thing as yesterday,” Prowl sighed. “Cubes go over the Bridge, Megatron receives warriors in return. If things keep going at this rate, we’ll be overrun in a matter of weeks.”
“It won’t come to that, Prowl. Wheeljack’s new Energon purifier is a success. Within a few hours we’ll have the fuel we need to strike back at the Decepticons.”
“Good. I’ll start drawing up the strike teams immediately.” Prowl said, pulling out his datapad. “Oh, and one more thing. Grimlock’s been asking to meet with you all day. What do you want me to tell him?”
“Tell Grimlock that I’ll meet with him now,” replied Optimus.
“Ya might wanna postpone that, chief.” Ironhide said, rushing over from the repair bay. “Our Decepticon guest is ready to spill his guts!”
(to be continued)