Darkness rising

No Way Back

Darkstriker's eyes scanned over the horizon as he and his team neared their target. He was leaning out of the open door of the cabin, with only his grip on the holding bar fixed above the door keeping him planted to the helicopter that's transporting them. He wasn't with Airachnid on this particular mission. Instead, Silas had paired him with a small group of soldiers and provided them with a fully armed UH-60 Black Hawk for transport.

He didn't understand why Silas decided to do this. He and Airachnid would have been more than enough to handle this mission, but he didn't question the orders he was given.

"Alright, we're gonna go over this one more time." Darkstriker announced. As he turned to face the rest of his team.

11 soldiers in total, excluding him. All of them wore the standard MECH uniform, along with bullet resistant vests and utility belts which were filled with tactical equipment. All of them were armed with assault rifles.

"We're gonna infiltrate this military airfield that serves as a testing ground for experimental military vehicles." Darkstriker explained,"Our mission is to infiltrate the airfield and steal the data regarding a secret experimental hypersonic aircraft. Anything and everything from schematics to data gathered from tests, stuff like that." He then looked up,"You all with me?"

The soldiers nodded.

"Good." Darkstriker turned to look out of the cabin again,"We should be close now."

"Target in sight! ETA 5 minutes!" The pilot suddenly announced.

"That's our cue." Darkstriker commented as he looked out, watching the airfield appear on the horizon.

…

Raf and Miko were chilling at the Autobot base. June was at her shift, so she couldn't accompany them, and the Bots were out, either patrolling the city, or scouting for Energon or Decepticon activities. Even Ratchet and Tailgate weren't at base. Both Miko and Raf were bored, with the Japanese teen retiring to play video games on her phone, while Raf opted to work out some of the homework he had.

All of a sudden, the computer terminal of the Autobot base started beeping as the screen displayed a notification informing about the incoming call from agent Fowler.

Raf immediately sprang up on his feet, connecting his laptop to the Autobot computer terminal and receiving the call.

"Prime!" Agent Fowler called out.

"Uh, Optimus isn't here at the moment, Agent Fowler." Raf answered quickly.

"Wha- are there anybody else at the base?" Fowler asked

"None at the moment."

"Damn it!" Fowler cursed. His eyes widened once he realised what he did, and looked sheepishly at Raf. "Uh, um-"

"It's okay agent Fowler. I've heard worse from Ratchet when he gets frustrated." Raf said.

Fowler looked like he was contemplating his life choices for a moment before straightening his face. "Anyways, if Prime or any of the Bots get back at base, please inform them that there has been a sighting of Jack. I've been informed about Airfield 00 being attacked by a group of unknown assailants."

"By 'Airfield 00', you mean the airfield that the military uses to test out their secretly developed specialised aircrafts?" Raf asked.

Agent Fowler was startled. "Yes, but….. how did you know? That site is a very well kept secret."

"I like to surf around the net sometimes." Raf responded with a sheepish smile.

Agent Fowler sighed. "Ever heard of 'classified information', kid?"