Transformers Prime: Dark Side of the Moon

Chapter 5: Hidden History, Future War

"We move among humanity, and most of the time no one realizes that we are there. We hide in plain sight. It makes sense that the humans with whom we have most closely allied ourselves would adopt our methods ..."

The sign on the gate outside the nondescript guard building read "Trespassers will be shot." It wasn't on the main road, but people drove by it every day. They were ordinary citizens who never gave it so much as a second glance or the slightest thought. Had they done so, they might have wondered why it was that something so relatively mundane looking was surrounded by not one but two twelve-foot fences, with concertina wire running along the top of the interior fence. To the general public, this was any ordinary Air Force Base out in the middle of Nevada.

Then again, they might not have. America had been in a state of perpetual alert for over a decade. Orange security signs were permanently posted outside tunnels or at bridges. Armed soldiers on guard might have been part of day-to-day life in downtown Tel Aviv, but they were never a part of the suburban American landscape prior to the beginning of the twenty-first century. Now they were a common sight everywhere from airports to train stations to, in some cases, shopping malls. So it was entirely possible that civilians would have shrugged their shoulders and thought, Sign of the times, that something as benign as some government human services building required additional protection. After all, terrorists would attack anything that left itself open, and so maybe everything had to be guarded indiscriminately.

Indeed, the only thing that might have gotten a reaction from any passersby would have been the gorgeous cars that always pulled pass the gate and promptly waved through by the guards. At most, though, they would have speculated that government payrolls needed to be trimmed if someone working in a low-level HHS job could afford fancy cars.

Once he was moving down the access road and was safe from the prying eyes of humans—or at least humans who might be stunned by the sight of a car turning into a robot—Mirage shifted into his preferred form, stretching his arms and legs as if he had been cramped inside a large suitcase, continuing to blare Biggie Smalls out of his speakers. Sideswipe, Bumblebee, Wheeljack, Arcee, and Strongarm were ahead of him down the road, having returned from a mission, and were likewise changing into their upright robotic bodies. They walked toward huge hangar doors, passing V-22 Osprey and Blackhawk helicopters, the sorts of vehicles that were not exactly standard issue in a government HHR building. Then again, if the Autobots were not capable of providing services for humanity's health, who was?

Bumblebee heard the roar of an approaching motorcycle and turned to see Lennox rolling up. Lennox got off the motorcycle as Arcee transformed.

The Top Secret Air Force Base was essentially New Cybertron. In the following 5 years 7 new Autobots have arrived on Earth.

"All right, guys. This is how you do a Decepticon head kill shot", Sideswipe said. Two soldiers with automatic rifles aimed directly into Windblades eyes. She took a defensive pose with her sword, before activating her turbines on her wings.

"Yet you forget the Decepticons succeed in deception," she said. "Not bad response time, slick," she said to them. 
"Hey Arcee, Hey Bee," she said waving to them.

"Ultra Magnus, Novastar, and Strongarm, report to bay 23," Ratchet said on the loudspeaker.

"We've got some company, Bee," Arcee said. When Bumblebee didn't respond, Lennox chuckled. "Wish my voice box  was damaged."

"Senator," came an angry female voice, "I suggest you remember that when the NSA needs funding, they call me." The voice was accompanied by a staccato clicking of heels, and seconds later a severely dressed woman strode across the floor with a phone pressed against her ear. She sported thick black glasses, and her hair was tied back. Bright red lipstick stood out against her pale complexion. She was wearing a gray pantsuit, blue shirt, and necktie. If she had looked any more severe, she would have come with a whip, silk ropes, and a safety word.