Shane Freak
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Chapter 476 - The Beginning of a Fierce Battle (Part 2)
🕑 Added 2023-08-20 05:57:11 +0000 UTCTransformers Begin : Table of Content/Chapter List
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Having entrusted an important mission to Prowl, Optimus Prime watched as he departed.
Optimus Prime himself had to confront a troublesome issue. He needed to privately dispatch Autobots to patrol the Mariana Trench area, and he had to communicate and explain this to Sound Nest and, more importantly, to the United States.
This was clearly not something that could be easily brushed aside!
As anticipated by Optimus Prime, when Colonel William, who was in charge of the Sound Nest division's daily training and missions, learned about this matter from his own mouth, the smile that had been on his face disappeared instantly.
He remained silent for a while before replying gravely, "...Old friend, while I would like to help you, this matter is beyond my jurisdiction now. I need to report it immediately to the Joint Chiefs of Staff... Optimus Prime, it seems you've made a big mess this time!"
Ever since the failure of "Operation Dawn," which was planned by Sound Nest to infiltrate the North Dovinsk military port and eliminate the Decepticons that might be cooperating with Russia, a crack had appeared in the alliance between the Autobots and the United States government.
The United States government, particularly the military and major arms manufacturers, had long coveted the advanced technology held by the Autobots. The voices from Washington demanding Autobots' cooperation or threatening to expel them from Earth hadn't ceased.
After the failure of "Operation Dawn," while the voices of non-cooperation from Washington were temporarily suppressed, the hostility of the United States military-industrial complex towards the Autobots was visibly transforming into malice at an alarming speed.
A military plan specifically designed to counter Autobots and Decepticons, named "Operation Tomb Wind," had been approved as a special supplement to the new year's U.S. military budget. This special force, distinct from the "Sound Nest division," would consist entirely of U.S. military personnel and was meant to take the first step in the covert construction of a force capable of countering Autobots and Decepticons when they threatened "United States interests."
The United States' actions didn't stop at this point. Thousands of the finest U.S. military and technological researchers who had leaked from the Seventh Sector had been assembled by subordinates of the military-industrial complex's research institutions and top-tier weapon labs. Dozens of Decepticon corpses, killed by Autobots, had been secretly exhumed from their original graves and sent to several top U.S. weapon labs and company facilities for research.
During this process, a new material development company named "KSI" gained favor with the U.S. military, and it was allocated a Decepticon corpse for research.
With such a noticeable shift in Washington's attitude towards the Autobots, when William Major's report was relayed to Washington by the Joint Chiefs of Staff responsible for Sound Nest, President Cheney, who was about to face re-election, immediately became furious.
"Damn it, what do these aliens want? Is the cooperation agreement we signed just toilet paper?"
Even though the news reached the United States late at night, the White House's encrypted phones kept ringing one after another, causing chaos in The Pentagon and intelligence agencies. Countless employees who had already left work were recalled to headquarters for overtime.
This included the Secretary of Defense and several cabinet members; they were all urgently summoned to an internal meeting at the White House.
Inside the oval meeting room, Cheney, who was wide awake and not showing any signs of sleepiness, sat together with his Secretary of Defense, cabinet members, as well as a few aides and advisors. The atmosphere in the room was heavy, with almost everyone wearing frowns or deep in thought, exchanging whispers with one or two others nearby.
"What do these extraterrestrial machines really want?"
After a while, Cheney was the first to break the silence, his tone unmistakably ill-tempered. He didn't even treat the Autobots as equals to human life anymore.
Secretary of Defense Voight put on a pair of reading glasses, sharing Cheney's sentiment. He had only a few months left in his term.
The principle of "new emperor, new ministers" wasn't just understood by the Chinese; every time a new U.S. president took office, their first order of business was to clean out the White House, the cabinet, and intelligence agencies, replacing existing officials with their own loyalists.
Rubbing his temples, Voight looked down at the documents in front of him, avoiding making eye contact, "...The information from Sound Nest says that Autobots received unexpected intelligence while tracking the stolen All Spark fragment in b-14 district. The Decepticons are attempting to use it to revive Megatron."
Voight could be considered one of the loudest voices in the United States advocating an alliance with the Autobots.
Unfortunately, he understood the power and influence of the U.S. military-industrial complex. So, when facing the shift in public sentiment towards the Autobots, Voight hadn't attempted to resist.
Gabriel, the Secretary of State and the spokesperson for the U.S. military-industrial complex, coldly snorted in response, "These damn foreign Invaders are getting more audacious by the day. They refused to share technology with us before, and they even refused to let us study the Decepticons they killed... Now, they're disregarding even our agreements. I think we can't just let this slide!"
Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, didn't engage with him. After reading the file in his hand, he furrowed his brows and looked at the National Intelligence Director a few seats away, "... Is it confirmed that the b-14 district stolen fragments were taken by the Decepticons?"
The United States had over a dozen intelligence agencies, and the National Intelligence Director was the head responsible for coordinating and managing them all, nominated and appointed directly by the president.
This National Intelligence Director was currently a former Deputy Secretary of State, someone who had previously served as the U.S. ambassador to Iraq and had the necessary skills to coordinate the various intelligence agencies.
When the All Spark fragments stored in the b-14 district were stolen, a joint effort by seven intelligence agencies, including the FBI, National Security Agency, National Reconnaissance Office, and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, had been made to track them. The intelligence gathered had ultimately been centralized under the current National Intelligence Director, John.
Seeing all eyes turning towards him, National Intelligence Director John nodded slightly.
"The fragment was stolen by a mechanical creature resembling an American lion. The intelligence provided by the Autobots, who are assisting in our investigation, identifies this creature as Ravage, a member of the Decepticons' intelligence agency, the Cassette Legion. He's like the one who attacked us before, Frenzy!"
Gabriel's face immediately darkened. His animosity towards the Autobots was well known in Washington.
So, even though John felt displeased, his diplomatic skills prevented him from showing any impatience, "Our intelligence personnel, radars, and spy satellites cannot track a mechanical creature that can run at speeds exceeding six hundred miles per hour on the ground, fly, and dive underwater. Hence, we cannot verify the authenticity of the intelligence provided by the Autobots!"
With that, he gently placed the file he was holding on the desk in front of him and tapped it lightly.
Voight couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He was glad he had exchanged opinions on Autobots and Decepticons with John when they dealt with each other before.
Otherwise, if people like Gabriel continued to wreak havoc, once they drove the Autobots away, the United States would be left to face the threat of the Decepticons on their own.
Clearly, the current United States didn't possess that capability.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Pace clearly understood the implications in John's words. Adjusting his glasses, he suggested, "I propose sending a delegate to negotiate with the Autobots in Diego Garcia. However, let's not forget the tragedy in Las Vegas... We can't afford to lose Megatron's corpse. I suggest temporarily restoring the original patrol formation near Guam. The expenses can be covered by the special naval budget."
Gabriel obviously wasn't willing to let the Autobots off so easily and was about to continue fanning the flames.
President Cheney, however, suddenly interrupted him, "... Las Vegas... Well, fine, but the Navy will definitely have objections. This is something you, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, need to handle!"
The mention of the Las Vegas tragedy that Pace had brought up immediately snapped Cheney out of his anger.
The war between Autobots and Decepticons in Las Vegas had resulted in the loss of over a thousand U.S. soldiers, dozens of fighter jets, and countless other equipment.
Although the incident involving extraterrestrial life would be permanently classified, it had become a major stain on Cheney's term. He couldn't shake it off.
And this stain reminded Cheney of the power gap between the United States, Autobots, and Decepticons.
Considering that his term was ending in less than half a year, he eventually suppressed his anger and decided to leave this trouble to the next president, who might become the first black president in U.S. history, to solve.
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Next Chapter >>Chapter 477 - The Beginning of Fierce Battle (End)
