You're More Than Meets The Eye (William Lennox)

Chapter 5

You’d counted the days since you’d returned from Shanghai in your impatience. Thirteen. Thirteen days and the entire base had gotten restless, knowing that something was about to strike. That’s the NEST team for you though, always wary of danger. You’d been sitting on the roof of the barracks, your feet dangling off the edge, and the escape ladder beside you as you stared out over the horizon. You were bored beyond reason, and felt that you were quickly getting out of practice when it came to being out in the field. Thirteen days…

As if on cue, red lights began to go off around the premises, and loud sirens suddenly pierced the uncomfortable silence. Your heart dropped and instantly you were scrambling down the ladder with ease. The moment your feet touched the ground you were sprinting towards the headquarter hangar, pushing those confused soldiers out of your way.

“Riley! What’s going on?!” Familiar voices called as you sped by, but you didn’t stop to answer, you didn’t even turn. You had to get to Lennox.

You burst into the hangar from a side door to see hundreds of NEST operatives bustling around feverishly among the Autobots, and you directed your gaze to the scaffolding where Lennox stood barking directions. You scurried up the ladder and came up to Lennox’s side, the red lights and sirens still filling the large room.

 “What’s going on?” You breathed, and his concerned golden eyes met yours for a moment before looking away.

“There’s been a breech at Diego Garcia. The shard’s gone.” He spoke, his voice emotionless as he turned to the computer and began typing things into it. To the General, no doubt.

“What…?” The voice left you in a strangled manner, as if it had nearly been squeezed out of your throat involuntarily. “How?”

“Decepticons.” He responded curtly, and you nodded as he confirmed your worst suspicion.

You ran into the Autobots hangar with Lennox and Epps, close by.

“Major, we have an SOS from the Autobots! Multiple Decepticon contacts in motion. Vicinity, eastern United States, sir!”

The three of you clambered up the scaffolding to get a closer look.

“The Autobots are splitting into two teams sir, they’re not answering our calls and they’re headed to New York and Philadelphia.”

“Alright, full weapons deployment. Wheels up in 20 minutes!” Lennox shouted, and within moments you were already off grabbing your gear.

“C’mon, move it! Move it!” You shouted to the NEST operatives as you all headed to the air carrier. “Let’s go!”

It was silent in the plane as each of you sat staring at the ground. You vividly remembered the battle in Mission City where Megatron and Optimus fought, and where Sam had managed to destroy most of the All Spark. That battle often haunted your dreams as you watched your comrade’s die beside you by weapons you had no hope of defending against. You remembered the echoing of missiles and the constant sound of automatic weapons replaying on a reel in your head. That could happen again, and you knew that was what everyone was thinking. That same battle could happen again…

The phone rang, and you looked up to see Lennox adjusting his headset to take the call. “This is Lennox.” You watched him intensely, and saw as his expression fell and he lowered his head. He nodded, and took the headset off, letting it fall to the ground in disbelief. “Turn this aircraft around.” He spoke clearly to the pilot, who nodded, and banked a hard right.

“What happened?” You asked hollowly, knowing the news was nowhere near good.

Lennox shook his head once and ran his hands through his hair before responding. “Optimus Prime is dead.”