After the Chernobyl incident, Optimus was as quiet as ever, the only thing he said was that he wanted to know how this got into human hands. After that, he didn't say a word on the plane back or when they drove back to N.E.S.T HQ. They met up with the rest of the Autobots as we turned into the base as the NEST announcer made some quick announcements.
"All arriving Autobots, in pan training and debriefing in fifteen minutes. Dino, report to bay 23. Sideswipe, bay 37 for weapons assessment" he said.
Jetstream drove past Wheeljack as he engaged Ironhide in a conversation not really in the mood for any conversations until Mearing and her entourage walked in chit-chatting on her phone. For her to be here, he knew they might be in some trouble and the way Lennox was looking confirmed my suspicion.
"Senator I suggest you remember that when the NSA wants funding they call me. When the CIA is gonna take out a target, they ask for my permission. And when the President wants to know which members of Congress are politically vulnerable in terms of, let's say undiscovered criminal conduct, I'm the number he dials." she said as her personal assistant dropped sneakers for her to wear in place of her heels.
"U.S Agencies say that they have been monitoring the blast. But if, in fact, this was a covert military strike, no nation has yet claimed responsibility" a Newscaster from a television set said as Mearing and her people walked passed it and to the Colonel.
"CIA is up my ass about this mystery raid in the Middle East. So, it's time to come clean. Was your unit involved?" she asked him as they walked towards Optimus.
Just at that moment, Jetstream decided to transform, rising in height.
"Ah... I'm not sure, ma'am" he answered with an unsure tone.
In a bay next to them, Bumblebee and some soldiers carried out some drills. "Alright guys, this is how you do a Decepticon head kill shot" a soldier said.
Two soldiers went down ropes and landed on his shoulders and pretended to fire their weapons. They then jumped to the ground landing on their backs and pointed their guns at Bee's head as he was now in a squatting position.
"As Director of National Intelligence, I'm really a fan of intelligent answers" she said.
"I can't tell you definitively. These Autobots are like teenage kids. They like to sneak out of the house every once in a while" he answered.
"Colonel Lennox, are you in command or are you not?"
"Yes, ma'am I am. I-"
She turned around quickly and interjected. "Stop with the ma'am. Enough with the ma'am. Do I look like a ma'am?" she said arrogantly.
"No, ma'am. Ye-Yes, ma'am. Yes" he said unsure of what to say. They soon came up to Wheeljack and Ironhide standing next to some Apaches.
"This gun is my perfect invention, Ironhide" He said as he handed him a blaster known as Heavy Iron.
"Right" he replied checking out the weapon.
"Oh good! You're here!" Que said seeing Mearing. "Me name's, Que. I do hope you have answers for him. I've never seen him so upset" he added as they walked towards Optimus as more Autobots began making their way there.
Lennox and Mearing walked up to Optimus who remained in his vehicle mode with the fuel cell placed on a table in front of him.
"Optimus, you remember Charlotte Mearing? Our Director of National Intelligence?" Lennox asked.
"He's in a bad mood. He's-a not talking to anybody today" Dino said with his arms folded.
"You're right about that, didn't utter a word on the plane home" Jetstream added.
"What is this, the silent treatment?" Mearing asked.
"We've seen that, and this is not that" Ironhide said.
"Definitely not" added Que.
"This is worse" Ironhide said walking up to Prime. "Prime! Make something of yourself" he said bumping him on the top of his cab.
The cab of Prime moved up aggressively shooting up steam.
"He's pissed" he added.
Optimus' parts moved around clanging into one another as they all fell into place at once as he came down to Mearing's level to look her in the eye. At this point, everyone had eyes on them.
"You lied to us. Everything humans know of our planet we were told had been shared. So why was this..." he pointed at the cell. "..... found in human possession" he pointed in the direction of the rest of them.
"We were on the dark on this also. It was Director only clearance until now" she said. "The bag" she said to her aid.
"Which bag?" her aid answered confused at which bag as she held ten different bags.
"Here Miss Birkin. Green Ostrich! My God.." she said annoyed. "This is a secret few men knew, and fewer still remain alive" she said as she pulled out a file from the bag.
"Allow me to please introduce to you two of NASA's founding mission directors..." Three men walked in with black suits. "... and astronaut Dr. Buzz Aldrin..." she said walking to shake his hand. "....one of the first two men to step foot on the moon. Sir, Optimus Prime" she said introducing the Autobot leader.
Optimus stood up straight now.
"From a fellow space traveler, it's a true honor" Buzz said in awe of them.
"The honor is mine" Optimus said humbly.
"Our entire space race of the 1960's, it appears, was in response to an event" Mearign said.
"Our astronauts investigated a crashed alien ship. No survivors on board" said one of the NASA officers.
"We were sworn to secrecy by our Commander in Chief" said Buzz.
"A total of thirty five people knew the real plan at NASA" said the other officer.
"Soviets managed to land unmanned probes. Somehow they must have picked up that fuel rod" said the first officer.
"We believe the Russians deduced the rod was a fissionable fuel assembly, they believed they had it mastered and tried to harness it at Chernobyl" Mearing explained.
"We landed six missions in all. We took hundreds of photos and samples. We locked them away forever when the moon program was shut down" said the second officer.
"Well, did you search the crash vault?" Ironhide asked.
Ironhide's words them caught them by surprise.
"The ship's name is the Ark. I watched it escape Cybertron myself. It was carrying an Autobot technology which would have won us the war. And...… it's captain" he narrated.
"Who was it's captain?" Mearing asked.
"The great Sentinel Prime. The technology's inventor. He was commander of the Autobots before me. It's imperative that I find it before the Decepticons learn of it's location. Our Autobot spacecraft has the ability to get there. And..... you must pray it's in time" said Optimus.
Mearing nodded understanding the severity and urgency of the matter.
"How comes I never heard of it?" asked Jet.
"We kept the plans of the Ark a secret. A total of thirty Autobots knew of it's existence. We could not take any chances knowing that one of you could beat it out of our men" Ironhide answered.
"I see" Jet said nodding.
"It was an honor to meet you all, but now I must go" Prime said to Buzz and the officers.
"We understand" said Buzz.
"Tell the Wreckers to ready the ship for take off. Ratchet, Jetstream, let's roll" Prime said as he began to transform into his vehicle form.
"Sweet, I get to go" Jet said as he turned into his Lexus LFA form.
The three of them sped out of the base heading towards the Xantium launch site at the Kennedy Space Center.
"The ships ready for take off" Roadbuster said as he, Leadfoot and Topspin stood before their leader. The Xantium was in the background already set to take off. The group stood outside the NASA building as the humans were running diagnostics to make sure nothing happened during take off.
"Excellent, Ratchet and I will join you shortly" said Optimus.
"What about me Optimus?" Jetstream asked as he wasn't assigned to do anything yet.
"Yes. Since you can transform into an aircraft, you will be escorting us to the moon just in case we run into any trouble"
"Roger that" Jetstream said with a nod.
Optimus went into the Xantium with Ratchet as Jetstream, waited in his Harrier form on a runway.
"Xantium cleared for take off in three...… two...… one..." said the NASA announcer as the engines of the ship kicked in.
The spacecraft blasted off and Jetstream was to follow shortly.
"Alright Jetstream, you are clear for take off" said the announcer.
"Roger that" he replied.
His engines spooled up before flames shot out propelling him forward. He picked up speed quickly and he was soon in the air and was hot on the Xantium's trail.
"Jetstream, how is it looking out there?" asked Ratchet.
"Everything's looking okay from here" he answered.
"Good" Optimus said.
"Autobots are on their way to the moon as we speak" Lennox told Mearing.
"That's good to hear. Keep me posted on the situation" she said.
Jet stream caught up with the ship as they made their way to the moon. The humans had asked them to land at a rover base established on the moon not too far from the Ark. Rovers were going to accompany them to the ship as they would use their lasers to cut through the ship to create an entrance for them.
"Xantium approaching Tranquility Base" Optimus radioed in.
"You're go for landing" replied the ground base officer.
The ship landed at the base with a probe not to far from them and rovers already en route to the Ark.
"Coming in for a landing" Jet said as he pulled up at the base.
He transformed and landed with a roll as his car parts emerged once more and had his head lights on. He was soon joined by Optimus and Ratchet who had left the Xantium, with the Wreckers staying back for safe keeping.
"Ratchet, Jetstream, let's roll" Optimus said and soon all three where on the move heading towards the Ark.
Jetstream got a little distracted by the rovers on the move but returned his focus to the mission at hand after falling behind in pace. They moved at jogging speed as they came up to the Ark in no time. Now this was where the rovers came in. They moved in on the Ark and began to use their lasers to cut through the damaged metal panels of a wall. Within minutes they were finally through and the three Autobots entered the ship.
"We're entering the Ark" Optimus said across his radio keeping them informed on their whereabouts.
"Damn, it must have been a battle" Jetstream said seeing the amount of damage inflicted on the ship and the amount of dead Autobots.
"You have no idea" Ratchet said.
The three used their lights to illuminate the area as they moved towards the crash vault in search of the pillars. At last they arrived and Optimus hit a button as a hatch opened up revealing Sentinel holding on to the control pillar as four more hovered up around him.
"Wow, Sentinel" Jet remarked.
Ratchet did a quick scan on him to check for any sign of life.
"His levels are faint" he said as he stretched out his arm to take hold of the command pillar. "He locked himself away to guard the pillars"
"Sentinel" Optimus said holding him in his arms. "You're coming home, old friend"
"I'll go check the Xantium for anything we can use to transport him" Jet said.
"You do that" Prime said with Jetstream running out of the Ark and transforming to his Harrier form with a backflip as he did a vertical take-off.
"I'll check around for any signs of life and more pillars" Ratchet added.
Jetstream soon retuned with a makeshift stretcher which they used to transport Sentinel and the pillars back to the ship. This time, he was in his bot mode.
"We have located five pillars and Sentinel Prime. We are returning to Earth now" said Optimus.
"Roger that" the ground base officer answered.
At last, the cogs were put in motion and the wheels of destiny had begun to spin. This was the beginning of a battle that would change their lives forever.