General Morshower banged the table,
"Combatant Commands are now at DEFCON 1."
General Lark crossed his arms,
"Approximately 200 Decepticons are now in hiding. Energon detectors have been triggered as far away as South America and China."
Morshower's assistant looked up,
"The U. N. Just received an encrypted audio file. They say it's from the leader of the Autobots."
On their large screen, Sentinel's voice could be heard,
"Defenders of Earth. We have come for your natural resources to rebuild our damaged planet. When we have transported all we need, we will leave your world in peace. For such peace to exist, you must immediately exile the Autobot rebels you have harboured. Nonnegotiable. Renounce the rebels. We await your reply."
Will clenched his fist in anger. Morshower sighed,
"Colonel Lennox, status on Mynx?"
Will looked over at him,
"Mynx is in recovery, she received severe burns to her arms and a head injury, Kaitlyn Simmons and Autobot Jolt are working on her right now,"
Morshower clenched his fist,
"I'm sorry Will. We have no choice,"
Will looked down,
"I understand, sir."
𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐭
The two civilians were with Director Mearing, Mearing glanced at the two,
"We will debrief both of you on the way,"
Sam winced,
"Yeah, I really don't see how I can be of any help. I mean, you guys seem pretty busy. We could just do this another time, I think. Ow!"
Amethyst glanced at him in concern as she briefly looked at the object on his wrist.
"I have underestimated you at every turn."
They looked back at Mearing,
"Yeah, well, my older sister taught me everything she knows,"
Mearing sighed,
"I am sorry about what happened to your sister. But, you can help us as she would want to. You warned us that they were using humans. And you knew that Sentinel was the key."
Sam looked up in confusion,
"What?"
Mearing nodded,
"We are seeing the Autobots, they are being sent away and I want you to help us win this war,"
"Who am I? Hey, you're the expert. I'm just a walking security risk- ah- ah!"
Mearing frowned in confusion,
"Are you okay?"
Amethyst quickly grabbed his shoulder and smiled at Mearing,
"Yeah, Sam's just a little nervous, that's all. Right Sam?"
Sam nodded,
"Y-Yeah,"
Mearing's aide came rushing up to them,
"Director, the Pentagon's calling in fifteen."
Mearing nodded and took the call. Sam and Amethyst shared a concerned look until they heard their names being called. The two turned to see Alexandra and Rosalyn rushing up to them,
"Sam!"
Sam smiled nervously at the two girls,
"Hey! What are you two doing here?"
Alexandra crossed her arms,
"We are sticking by you until this battle ends,"
Rosalyn smirked and nodded,
"Yep! You are stuck with us, Sam. Where is my cousin?"
Sam smiled nervously at them,
"She's with my parents, I wanted to make sure they were being protected so I sent Rover and her with them,"
Rosalyn slowly nodded,
"Okay,"
They turned to the television as it was being broadcasted that they were sending the Autobots off the planet. They all gasped and Sam immediately stormed over to Mearing,
"What? They can't do this. You gotta tell them. They can't do that. These are our allies. The Autobots fought for us. They fought with us!"
Alexandra nodded,
"They have been keeping us safe!"
Mearing narrowed her eyes at them,
"No they haven't. Look around you. Mazikeen Witwicky is critically injured, she almost died saving an Autobot's life, they have kept us in the dark. They may be your friends, but they are a threat,"
Rosalyn glared at her,
"Not all of them are!"
Mearing stared at her,
"You are only a soldier. Remember that."
Alexandra grabbed Rosalyn's arm, and Amethyst stepped forward while Sam held her back.
𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐚, 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞
Barricade yelled out in pain and skidded to a halt at the side of the highway. Athena and Bluestreak immediately stopped. Athena got out of Bluestreak and ran over to Barricade,
"Barricade!"
Barricade grunted,
"Something is wrong, something is very wrong,"
Bluestreak immediately activated his holo-form and ran over to them,
"What is it?"
"Mazikeen is in pain. She has been injured,"
Athena frowned in concern,
"What? How bad? I'll call Will!"
"No! Do not call anyone!"
Athena frowned,
"Why the fuck not?"
Barricade slowly turned his engines back on,
"Something bad happened. I am unsure what. But we need to hide,"
Athena frowned,
"Hide?"
Bluestreak grabbed Athena's hand,
"Okay, let's go,"
Athena frowned,
"But what about Maze?"
Bluestreak shook his head,
"Maze will handle it. She always has. But she told Barricade and I to protect you and your unborn sparklings. I care about you, Aura, and I will do everything in my power to keep you safe,"
Athena blushed and Barricade rolled his optics,
"Alright love birds. Let's get going. Aura, is there anyone you know that can help us?"
Athena smirked,
"Hell yeah I do. I got two people,"
Barricade finally turned on his holo-form so he was driving,
"Who?"
Athena laughed,
"Well, we are close to Florida, so we are going to make a pit stop first, then I'm taking you boys to LA!"
𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐬
Jazz sighed as they drove to the airship,
"I can't believe this,"
Tex looked at his dashboard,
"Will mom be alright?"
Jazz wrapped his seatbelt around him softly,
"Yes, she will be,"
They spotted Epps in his uniform and beeped at him, Epps glanced over and waved with a sad expression on his face,
"One day, Jazz, I know you will come back,"
Jazz chuckled,
"I will,"
Epps sighed,
"So long, old friend,"
He watched as they slowly loaded up and heard his name being called. He turned and laughed,
"Well, if it isn't the youngest Witwicky!"
Sam laughed and grabbed his arm,
"Hey! What are you doing here? I thought you joined the air force!"
Epps laughed,
"I retired from the Air Force. Can you let my hand go? What the hell was that? Now I just consult to run interference for them."
They turned to see Leadfoot staring at a mechanic,
"Well, you're not helping!"
Epps chuckled,
"No more combat and aliens shooting at my ass. I got a dream job."
Sam laughed,
"Great to know,"
Alexandra sighed,
"But the Autobots are being forced out,"
Epps sighed,
"I know, I can't believe it either. Hey, where's Mynx? I thought she woulda been here to see them off and put up a fight,"
The kids all looked down and Epps frowned,
"Sam, what happened to Mynx?"
Amethyst finally stepped up,
"Maze was attacked by Sentinel, got her arms burnt and she got a bad concussion, she's still in coma,"
Epps narrowed his eyes at her,
"Do I know you?"
Amethyst smirked and shrugged,
"You knew my mother,"
"And whose that?"
"Sharon, my name is Amethyst Sharon Black-Epps,"
Everyone gasped at the revelation and Sam's eyes widened,
"What? You never told me that, Susan,"
Amethyst smirked at him,
"Now, where's the fun in that?"
Epps chuckled,
"Well, this is a pretty good surprise, huh. Now. Is Mynx going to be alright?"
Alexandra sighed,
"Kaitlyn is still working on fixing her up, Jolt helped her a lot earlier before they started getting deported,"
Epps sighed before nudging the three friends,
"You go say your goodbyes, I already had mine,"
Sam slowly walked up to Optimus,
"Optimus?"
Optimus looked down at Sam,
"What your leaders say is true."
Sam frowned as Optimus sighed,
"This was all my fault. I told them whom to trust. I... was so wrong."
Sam shook his head,
"That doesn't make it your fault. It just makes you human for a change."
Optimus looked down at him,
"Remember this. You may lose your faith in us, but never in yourselves."
Sam winced as the mechanics of the watch squeezed him again,
"I need to know how you're gonna fight back. I know this is strategy, I know you're... you're coming back with reinforcements, something, I know there's a plan. You can tell me. No other human will ever know."
Optimus sighed,
"There is no plan."
Alexandra stormed up to Optimus and pointed a finger at him,
"No. You listen to me Prime! My cousins sacrificed their lives for all of you so many fucking times! You don't get to give up!"
Sam put a hand on his cousin's shoulder and looked up at Optimus,
"If we just do what they want, how are we gonna live with ourselves?"
Optimus knelt down in front of the two,
"You are my friend, Sam. You always will be. But your leaders have spoken. From here, the fight will be your own. And Alexandra...I thank you for your companionship over the years. I hope you know I cherished every interaction,"
Alexandra wiped her eyes and looked away before going back. Rosalyn appeared next to Sideswipe and Sunstreaker,
"You two alright?"
Sideswipe sighed and lowered his servo and she climbed onto it,
"We are sorry, Rose, we can't stay."
Sunstreaker sighed,
"We wished we could...but we can't,"
Rosalyn shook her head,
"It's not fair! You guys have Maze...you have me too!"
Sideswipe chuckled and patted her head,
"Don't worry, we will meet again,"
Sunstreaker smirked and winked at her,
"We still have our paintball score to settle,"
Rosalyn chuckled softly and sighed,
"Just...stay alive for me?"
Sunstreaker smiled and nodded his head,
"We will Rose, don't you worry about us, we can take care of ourselves, just watch over our sister for us? And be careful,"
"Do you feel pain from her right now?"
Sideswipe sighed,
"We did when she got shot. And we will when she wakes up. Just tell her we stayed fighting for her...and you,"
Rosalyn sighed and hugged him,
"I love you both,"
Sunstreaker and Sideswipe shared a look and hugged her back as carefully as they could,
"We love you too,"
They set her down and left. She joined back with Sam, Alexandra, Amethyst, and Epps as they were soon joined by Seymour Simmons,
"Years from now, they're gonna ask us. Where were you when they took over the planet? We're gonna say, we just stood by and watched."