Shane Freak
patreon
Chapter 815: Power Struggle
🕑 Added 2023-11-12 10:00:27 +0000 UTCTransformers Begin : Table of Content/Chapter List
XXX-----XXX-----XXX-----XXX
Autobot suffered the loss of three Autobots on the Sinai Peninsula, and this intelligence swiftly made its way back to New Iron Fortress City.
"It's Wrench's team again. They had sent back reports before while conducting mineral surveys in Egypt's territory and had spotted traces of two Decepticons."
The security officer of New Iron Fortress City, Ironhide, was the first to receive this report.
The ones reporting to him were the Cassettebots. After the return of Gold Beetle, the crucial intelligence-gathering task had been reassigned to them by Optimus Prime.
The Cassettebots typically collected information from the humans' internet. This time, they had come across some videos uploaded by humans, revealing what had happened just a few hours ago on the Sinai Peninsula— a battle between three Autobots and five Decepticon Vehicons.
From the videos uploaded by humans, it was evident that Wrench's team had encountered a formidable force of Decepticons. In the end, the Decepticons had lost two of their own but had wiped out all three Autobots.
The bodies of the fallen Autobots and Decepticons appeared to have been swiftly taken away by the Egyptian military, a windfall for them.
Many powerful nations in Europe, America, and even some Asian countries were willing to pay a significant sum or provide military aid in exchange for one or more alien corpses for research purposes.
Official authorities in Europe and America were quick to clean up the internet, erasing any videos related to the renewed conflict between extraterrestrials on the Sinai Peninsula.
However, the Cassettebots had managed to copy several videos before they were deleted. They arrived with these videos to meet Ironhide.
"What were these three fools thinking?"
Ironhide quickly watched the videos brought by the Cassettebots, and his face was filled with anger after viewing them.
Wrench had only arrived on Earth a few months ago as one of the Autobots. Not long ago, he had incited a group of Autobots to attack a medical center. As the security officer of New Iron Fortress City, Ironhide had imposed sentences ranging from a few years to decades on Wrench and his group, as per regulations, after the attack had ended.
However, after the awakening of Sentinel Prime, the former Autobot Leader had somehow learned about these Autobots and personally appealed to Optimus Prime. The current Autobot Leader had indeed granted his old mentor a favor.
Shortly thereafter, Wrench and his group were released. To prevent them from causing trouble again in New Iron Fortress City, Ironhide personally assigned Wrench to a team tasked with exploring mineral deposits.
They had expected him to behave for at least a while, but trouble had arisen in less than a month.
"These guys were explicitly told to wait for reinforcements. How did they end up on the southwest peninsula?"
According to the regulations, Wrench's team was supposed to be conducting mineral surveys in the remote areas of Egypt, southwest of the country, near the borders of Lyria and Suvira. Sinai Peninsula was hundreds of kilometers away from their designated survey area. Ironhide found it hard to believe that these Autobots had gone AWOL.
As a seasoned commander in the Autobot ranks, Ironhide had participated in numerous battles and possessed extensive combat and leadership experience. With his experience, it was clear that Wrench and his team, despite being outnumbered, had multiple opportunities to retreat from the battle before it escalated. However, these three seemed determined to fight the overwhelmingly larger Decepticon force.
The Autobots were far more divided than the Decepticons. Warriors like Ironhide, Sideswipe, Drift, and others remained fearless even when facing the Elite Warriors of the Skytiger Legion. However, the majority of Autobots were just ordinary Cybertronians before the Civil War erupted. They hadn't undergone the combat-oriented modifications that Decepticons had received.
While more Autobots had arrived on Earth over time, the majority of them were still civilians.
For instance, among the three Autobots involved in this incident, apart from Wrench, who was a warrior, the other two had only received some basic combat training.
They struggled against the three Decepticon Vehicons they faced. Unless there were compelling reasons from higher up, this battle should never have taken place.
Ironhide quickly understood the reason and couldn't help but curse inwardly for a moment.
After a while, he organized and re-edited the videos obtained by the Cassettebots, along with his concerns, and sent them to Optimus Prime.
Optimus Prime received the video along with Ironhide's report. After watching it, he shared Ironhide's concerns.
"It seems our previous partial advantage over the Decepticons has made many Autobots somewhat overconfident!"
This problem was very grave because the majority of Autobots were defenseless when facing Decepticons alone.
Fortunately, it wasn't too late to discover this issue. After a brief contemplation, Optimus Prime made a decision.
He quickly summoned his adjutant, Ratchet, and ordered him to have Ironhide's edited video distributed to all Autobots as a warning.
Ratchet received the order but hesitated, not leaving immediately.
He stood before Optimus Prime, appearing uncertain and hesitant, catching the attention of Optimus Prime, who was deep in thought.
"Is there something on your mind, Ratchet?"
After a moment's hesitation, Ratchet replied, "I was at Jack's research facility earlier, and while I was chatting with him, Sentinel Prime arrived and asked Jack to manufacture a batch of electromagnetic weapons for him!"
Optimus Prime's expression darkened once again!
Since his awakening, Sentinel Prime, his mentor, had been acting out of line. While he initially refused to reclaim power when offered, Sentinel Prime continued to regard himself as the leader of the Autobots. Not only did he challenge Optimus Prime's decisions during military command meetings, but his behavior in private was even more concerning.
Sentinel Prime had repeatedly overstepped Optimus Prime, inspecting New Iron Fortress City's preparations for war, military equipment production, and even military operations without notifying Optimus Prime.
What's worse, without informing Optimus Prime, Sentinel Prime had recruited his own private guard within New Iron Fortress City. Although there were less than ten Autobots who had enlisted in this Superior General's personal guard, this was still not a good sign.
After a prolonged silence, Optimus Prime asked, "Did jack agree?"
Jack was one of the top scientists in the Autobot ranks, and even Optimus Prime, the Autobot Leader, had to give him some leeway.
Ratchet shook his head slightly, "Jack declined for now, citing a shortage of materials. He hopes that Sentinel Prime will personally apply for the materials needed to manufacture electromagnetic weapons. This displeased Sentinel Prime."
Optimus Prime nodded without saying anything further.
Currently, New Iron Fortress City was still under his control. Thanks to more than two years of leadership, Optimus Prime had gained high respect among the first batches of Autobots to arrive on Earth.
It was clear that jack did not want to get involved in a power struggle between the two leaders. However, it was evident that power struggles were beginning to emerge within New Iron Fortress City.
"Teacher, what exactly do you intend to do?"
Optimus Prime recalled Sentinel Prime's recent actions and felt increasingly estranged from his mentor. In his heart, he carried a growing sense of unease.
Thunder listened intently. His current state was very similar to Forerunner's half a year ago.
The Decepticons were not as the Autobots depicted them, solely driven by destruction and madness, though that wasn't entirely incorrect.
However, Sun Cheng’s interactions with the Decepticons over the past two years had revealed that they shared many similarities with humans.
They too pursued progress, revered heroes and military accomplishments, and were keen to emulate and learn from knowledge and behaviors they deemed beneficial.
The distinction of humans from other animals chiefly lies in their ability to learn and accumulate wisdom from their experiences.
Under Sun Cheng's tutelage, Thunder, like Forerunner before him, began actively learning from the best examples around him.
This former Decepticon vanguard, now rapidly advancing in wisdom and strategy, could independently think through tactics and command teams.
A thought unimaginable back when he was Blackout.
After issuing his orders, Thunder quickly departed.
Sun Cheng didn't dwell further on this. Under Forerunner's management, Terindad Island had reached its potential, if not flourishing, given its mere dozen square kilometers.
With Forerunner handling the Black Market, he had been focusing on managing Base Two in the past months.
A year had almost passed since his battle with Lord Fallen.
Even the first African American president of the United States had been in the White House for over half a year. The relentless passage of time also signified the impending harvest.
For Sun Cheng and his forces, this was the case.
After nearly six months of construction, the first Explorer-class cargo spaceship was complete, undergoing segmental assembly, followed by outfitting.
This process was broadly similar to how humans built tens or even hundreds of thousands of tons of aircraft carriers.
However, with the presence of Decepticon engineers and technicians, the most challenging phases of construction, assembly, and outfitting could be completed in just two to three months.
After some testing, a medium cargo spaceship capable of transporting hundreds of thousands of tons would be operational.
This was one of the most anticipated harvests for Sun Cheng and his team in the coming months.
But the cargo spaceship was not the only fruit ripe for the picking at Base Two.
Several projects were also nearing their harvest season with the passage of time.
[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, without ads and support the work.]
XXX-----XXX-----XXX-----XXX
Next Chapter >>Chapter 816: The Season of Harvest
