The Power Within - Transformers Prime (2)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I gasped at that, recognizing the name immediately. It was a name that popped up a lot in my mom's journal. "Silas. He invented that project when he was still in the military. When he was still going by Leland Bishop." I didn't have to look around to sense everyone's surprise.

  Fowler nodded. "I guess the former Colonel Bishop wanted it back."

  Bumblebee buzzed something, which Arcee nodded to. "Yeah, I thought Silas was paste."

  "So did I."

  I did too. The relief I felt from getting justice for my mom's murderer immediately slipped away as the news sunk in. Silas was still out there, still able to wreck more havoc... And he could find me. He knew who I was, all he had to do was a little digging. If he found me, then he'd also find the others and the Autobots and-

  "Agent Fowler," Ratchet's voice cut through my slight panic. "Even if he were alive, are you suggesting that Silas has allied MECH with the Decepticons? I hardly doubt Megatron would entertain such an idea!"

  "Why not?" Jack spoke up. "The human-Bot alliance works for us."

  "Most of the time." Arcee muttered.

  I could hardly follow the conversation. The news of Silas being alive still rang around in my head. I felt someone's gaze on me and looked up to see it was Optimus. There was sympathy and a bit of grief on his face, along with a slight anger. I remembered my mom knew the Autobots before Silas got to her, so hearing that her murderer was still alive affected the Prime too. But I mostly saw his concern, which made me look away. I didn't want to seem weak, but the news was hard to swallow.

  Finn stepped forward, his limp evident. "Can we focus on what was stolen? I've heard of it, but what is Project Damocles exactly?"

  "Damocles is a particle beam cannon," I explained, remembering what I read in my mom's journal and in some classified military documents I was technically not allowed to see. "It's so powerful it can slice into the Pentagon like slicing through a cake or give everyone on Mount Rushmore a new hairstyle, all from a satellite in orbit."

  Fowler nodded at my explanation. "It's the work of a madman. Ingrid Beckett shut it down and it was in lock up ever since. Until now. In Megatron's hands, it's a threat to anyone anywhere on the planet with pinpoint accuracy at the flick of a switch."

  "How do we counter that if they already have the satellite?" Finn asked.

  "The Cons may have the satellite, but they can't use it without the interface code," Fowler replied. "Ingrid made sure Silas wouldn't be able to activate it after he went rogue and she did that damn well. The only existing copy is stored on the secured servers at headquarters in Colorado."

  "We must keep the code out of Decepticon hands at all costs." Declared Optimus and he turned to the ground bridge.

  "It's roll time!" Bulkhead exclaimed, turning to follow when Ratchet cut him off.

  "Ep, ep, ep!" The medic called. "I have not yet cleared you for active duty, nor are you ready to roll."

  The wrecker growled at that, but I shifted my attention to Agent Fowler. "You're going to have to evacuate that base in Colorado. With the Bots on scene, the Cons won't be far behind."

  "Right," He pulled out his phone and made the call. Ratchet fired up the ground bridge to  coordinates Finn gave him for the Colorado base while Miko and Jack ran over to the human computers to set up the comm link. The Autobots raced through the ground bridge and disappeared. Almost immediately, on the main screen, their icons were surrounded by those of the Cons.

  "The Decepticons have proceeded us," Optimus confirmed. "We must secure the command center."

  I started pacing, chewing my lip as my nerves got the best of me. I still couldn't believe Silas was alive. How did he cheat death when my mom couldn't? He didn't deserve to have a second chance to ruin lives and he sure as hell shouldn't be given the chance to work with Megatron to endanger even more lives. The thought made my stomach twist and I tried to calm down, but it was harder than ever. My mom's murderer escaped his doom and is now on another level in harming others.

  Why couldn't he just stay dead? Why couldn't I have this one relief?

  Someone put their hand on my shoulder, stopping me from pacing. I turned to see it was Finn, despite him still recovering from his injuries, standing there with an understanding look on his face. I rubbed my arms, trying to expel my nerves.

  "I don't like this," I muttered so that the others wouldn't turn their attention to us.

  "I know," He said, voice low as well. "But there's not much we can do. The Autobots are on the scene, they'll take care of things. You know what happened the last time they encountered Silas; I'm sure Optimus won't let him walk away the second time."

  I shook my head. "Optimus has a strict rule against harming humans."

  "Silas is hardly human, and he hurt you. Optimus' rule sure as hell doesn't apply to that monster."

  An urgent beep came from my phone, causing me to frown and pull it out of my pocket to see what was wrong. I had a series of different alerts on my phone, this one reserved for more serious situations. When I read the alert, my eyes widened as I realized what it meant.

  "Ratchet!" I exclaimed, startling the medic.

  "What's wrong?" He asked, slight annoyance in his tone, but I paid no attention to it.

  I held up my phone. "A new satellite is in orbit, one with a super high energy reading and that reading keeps on getting higher. They launched Damocles!"

  "But- but that's impossible." He sputtered, turning to his computers and typing furiously.

  "They must be able to control it from the base in Colorado," I said. "It's powering up, getting ready to fire-" Another alert came up, as urgent as the last. "They fired! In the middle of nowhere in Colorado!"

  Ratchet stabbed at the comm button. "Optimus, the Decepticons have launched Damocles and it is in play!"

  His last word barely left his mouth as the base's main computer flashed red.

  Damocles made its mark.