Another snippet
Title: The Road to Hell
Rating: PG-13
Warning: none
Summary: Sequel to In the Line of Duty , Alone, Reunion, Snipe Hunt
Ratchet returns to base after releasing Frenzy, and the Autobots contact the LAPD
A/N - Another very short bit while I pack for the weekend. Also started another mini-series starring Barricade and Bee, but I've got to get ready for work, and I'm not going to have time to type it up, so you'll probably see it Monday.
x-x-x
“Optimus, the little slagger’s escaped!” Ironhide roared as the stomped into the control room, Bumblebee trailing behind.
“No, he hasn’t,” Ratchet said quietly from behind them. All heads turned to stare at the dust-covered medic. “I let him go.”
Silence.
“You WHAT?!”
“Ironhide, calm down!” Optimus ordered. “Ratchet, I think you have some explaining to do.”
The medic met his optics squarely. “No, I don’t. The situation was morally unacceptable. You wouldn’t address the problem, so I did.”
“You disobeyed a direct order.”
Ratchet ignored that. “Freedom is the right of all sentient beings, remember? Or maybe you should start adding ‘except for the ones we don’t like’ to the end, Prime!”
“Sometimes operational security infringes on personal freedoms. You know that,” Optimus tried to reason with the furious medic.
“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, I understand that. But how long until it becomes ‘the needs of my people outweigh the needs of yours.’ In fact, how many times has that already happened? Are we really so different from-“
“Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare compare us to that Decepticon scum!” Ironhide interrupted savagely.
“Easy, Ironhide. We’re not trying to enslave anyone, Ratchet. We’re doing our best to protect both ourselves and the people of this planet. And you may have compromised that by taking a skilled enemy hacker out of the jamming field, potentially allowing him access to our systems!”
“I drove him out of the state before I turned him loose,” Ratchet muttered defensively.
“Where, Ratchet?”
He gave a defeated sigh. “Los Angeles. I gave him back to Barricade. Frenzy found some reference in a police database when I turned off the jamming equipment, and we found Barricade hiding in the precinct parking lot.”
A moment of dead silence. “You could have been killed!” Ironhide exploded, “And we wouldn’t even have known what happened to you!”
Ratchet looked a bit guilty at that.
“At least we know where Barricade is,” Optimus mused. “We may be able to gain the human police’s aid in keeping track of those two. If nothing else, they need to be notified of how dangerous Barricade is. Ironhide, come with me. We need to do a little planning.”
Bumblebee followed Ratchet out of the room, catching up to the medic outside the medbay.
“Something’s still bothering you,” Bee observed quietly.
“It’s nothing,” grunted Ratchet.
“It’s bothering you an awful lot to just be nothing.”
Ratchet was quiet for a moment. “Sometimes I wonder what we’re fighting over. This war has destroyed everything we sought to keep, everything they wanted to control… what’s left?”
“We fight to protect this planet, now. To keep the Decepticons from enslaving their world, like they tried to enslave ours.”
“And that worked out so well, for Cybertron, didn’t it.” Ratchet sat on the edge of an exam table. “Bee, he was afraid of me.”
“Frenzy?”
“No - there was a police officer in the parking lot. He knew what I was, and he was afraid of me.”
“Barricade must have lied to him; skewed his perception of the Autobots.”
“Maybe. But I don’t think he had too. A lot of people died in Mission City, people who had no part in our war, and it was as much our fault as the Decepticons’. We choose to take the Allspark into the city, and they died because of it.” He paused. “In some ways, I think the humans have as much reason to fear us as they do the Decepticons. Maybe- Bah, forget I said anything, youngling. You should be getting back anyway; Sam’s probably looking for you by now.”
x-x-x
“What can we do for the Army today, Captain?” The old police chief waved Lennox in. “Please, sit.”
“Actually, I’m not here on behalf of the Army,” Lennox said, settling into a chair. “What do you know about the… incident… at Mission City?”
“That depends. The official bullshit, or the giant alien robots that turn into cars?”
Lennox leaned forward. “The alien robots, sir.”
The chief eyed the young officer over steepled fingers. “What about them, Captain?”
“One of the factions, the ones who are trying to protect our planet, asked me to speak with you. The Autobots have reason to believe that two Decepticons are hiding in LA. They’re both extremely dangerous, and I strongly caution you not to approach them.”
“Then what do you want?”
“Help keeping tabs on them, for both your protection and ours. Keep the Autobots informed of their movements-“
“Track the dangerous alien robots, for the other dangerous alien robots. I rather think not, Captain. Besides being a gross misuse of police powers and an unnecessary danger to my men, I’m not entirely convinced of your Autobot friends’ intentions.”
“Sir, you should know that one of the two is masquerading as a -“
“Police interceptor. Yes, I do know. The other’s a radio with a bad case of ADD. They’ve made no trouble since arriving. In fact, they’ve done quite the opposite.”
“They’ve killed people. Both of them.”
“They were soldiers, Captain, in a time of war. We were, I understand, holding their leader hostage. Any crimes they committed were war crimes and out of my jurisdiction. If a legitimate authority wishes to pursue them for any such crimes, they will, of course, have our full cooperation.”
“Sir-“
“Don’t bother. Pass a message along to Optimus Prime for me.” He leaned across the desk. “Tell him to mind his own damn business.”
Rating: PG-13
Warning: none
Summary: Sequel to In the Line of Duty , Alone, Reunion, Snipe Hunt
Ratchet returns to base after releasing Frenzy, and the Autobots contact the LAPD
A/N - Another very short bit while I pack for the weekend. Also started another mini-series starring Barricade and Bee, but I've got to get ready for work, and I'm not going to have time to type it up, so you'll probably see it Monday.
x-x-x
“Optimus, the little slagger’s escaped!” Ironhide roared as the stomped into the control room, Bumblebee trailing behind.
“No, he hasn’t,” Ratchet said quietly from behind them. All heads turned to stare at the dust-covered medic. “I let him go.”
Silence.
“You WHAT?!”
“Ironhide, calm down!” Optimus ordered. “Ratchet, I think you have some explaining to do.”
The medic met his optics squarely. “No, I don’t. The situation was morally unacceptable. You wouldn’t address the problem, so I did.”
“You disobeyed a direct order.”
Ratchet ignored that. “Freedom is the right of all sentient beings, remember? Or maybe you should start adding ‘except for the ones we don’t like’ to the end, Prime!”
“Sometimes operational security infringes on personal freedoms. You know that,” Optimus tried to reason with the furious medic.
“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, I understand that. But how long until it becomes ‘the needs of my people outweigh the needs of yours.’ In fact, how many times has that already happened? Are we really so different from-“
“Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare compare us to that Decepticon scum!” Ironhide interrupted savagely.
“Easy, Ironhide. We’re not trying to enslave anyone, Ratchet. We’re doing our best to protect both ourselves and the people of this planet. And you may have compromised that by taking a skilled enemy hacker out of the jamming field, potentially allowing him access to our systems!”
“I drove him out of the state before I turned him loose,” Ratchet muttered defensively.
“Where, Ratchet?”
He gave a defeated sigh. “Los Angeles. I gave him back to Barricade. Frenzy found some reference in a police database when I turned off the jamming equipment, and we found Barricade hiding in the precinct parking lot.”
A moment of dead silence. “You could have been killed!” Ironhide exploded, “And we wouldn’t even have known what happened to you!”
Ratchet looked a bit guilty at that.
“At least we know where Barricade is,” Optimus mused. “We may be able to gain the human police’s aid in keeping track of those two. If nothing else, they need to be notified of how dangerous Barricade is. Ironhide, come with me. We need to do a little planning.”
Bumblebee followed Ratchet out of the room, catching up to the medic outside the medbay.
“Something’s still bothering you,” Bee observed quietly.
“It’s nothing,” grunted Ratchet.
“It’s bothering you an awful lot to just be nothing.”
Ratchet was quiet for a moment. “Sometimes I wonder what we’re fighting over. This war has destroyed everything we sought to keep, everything they wanted to control… what’s left?”
“We fight to protect this planet, now. To keep the Decepticons from enslaving their world, like they tried to enslave ours.”
“And that worked out so well, for Cybertron, didn’t it.” Ratchet sat on the edge of an exam table. “Bee, he was afraid of me.”
“Frenzy?”
“No - there was a police officer in the parking lot. He knew what I was, and he was afraid of me.”
“Barricade must have lied to him; skewed his perception of the Autobots.”
“Maybe. But I don’t think he had too. A lot of people died in Mission City, people who had no part in our war, and it was as much our fault as the Decepticons’. We choose to take the Allspark into the city, and they died because of it.” He paused. “In some ways, I think the humans have as much reason to fear us as they do the Decepticons. Maybe- Bah, forget I said anything, youngling. You should be getting back anyway; Sam’s probably looking for you by now.”
x-x-x
“What can we do for the Army today, Captain?” The old police chief waved Lennox in. “Please, sit.”
“Actually, I’m not here on behalf of the Army,” Lennox said, settling into a chair. “What do you know about the… incident… at Mission City?”
“That depends. The official bullshit, or the giant alien robots that turn into cars?”
Lennox leaned forward. “The alien robots, sir.”
The chief eyed the young officer over steepled fingers. “What about them, Captain?”
“One of the factions, the ones who are trying to protect our planet, asked me to speak with you. The Autobots have reason to believe that two Decepticons are hiding in LA. They’re both extremely dangerous, and I strongly caution you not to approach them.”
“Then what do you want?”
“Help keeping tabs on them, for both your protection and ours. Keep the Autobots informed of their movements-“
“Track the dangerous alien robots, for the other dangerous alien robots. I rather think not, Captain. Besides being a gross misuse of police powers and an unnecessary danger to my men, I’m not entirely convinced of your Autobot friends’ intentions.”
“Sir, you should know that one of the two is masquerading as a -“
“Police interceptor. Yes, I do know. The other’s a radio with a bad case of ADD. They’ve made no trouble since arriving. In fact, they’ve done quite the opposite.”
“They’ve killed people. Both of them.”
“They were soldiers, Captain, in a time of war. We were, I understand, holding their leader hostage. Any crimes they committed were war crimes and out of my jurisdiction. If a legitimate authority wishes to pursue them for any such crimes, they will, of course, have our full cooperation.”
“Sir-“
“Don’t bother. Pass a message along to Optimus Prime for me.” He leaned across the desk. “Tell him to mind his own damn business.”