Transformers Fan Fiction ❯ Cover Me ❯ The Return of Red Alert ( Chapter 3 )

Cover Me

By Black Dragon Queen

Font Index:

“Speaking”

`Thinking'

“-Radio Transmissions-”

“Cybertronion”

Chapter Three: The Return of Red Alert

The drive back was quiet…

Very quiet…

Bumblebee lead the small groups of disguised Autobots down the dusty road towards their base in quiet trepidation. The stony silence from his superiors was quite nerve racking and `Bee only found himself in front of the group because he was continually increasing his speed to get away from all the strain. The tense silence from his teammates just did not make any sense. `Everyone should be happy, right?' he thought, concerned. `Our missing comrades are coming here. One of them even made it already, so what the heck is with the grumpy atmosphere?'

Deciding to get some sort of answer fromsomeone, `Bee eased up and waited until he was alongside the EMT unit and slowed his speed to match that of the larger vehicle. He ran a quick scan over the four-wheeler and could tell by the actual steam rising from the radiator that the Medbot was not a happy truck.

“-Um,-” `Bee transmitted cautiously, unsure of the reception he would get. “-I suppose it was lucky that there was those rescue vehicles searching for that lost hiker, huh?-”

Silence answered him and as 'Bee was ready to accept the fact that there wasn't going to be a response from Ratchet, there was a sudden connection.

“-No.No it was not,-” Ratchet muttered as they moved onward.

`Bee stared at the long stretch of gray road as he pondered Ratchet's abrupt reply. “-Um, and why is it--”

“-Two words `Botling:-” the other interrupted.

There was a sudden blare behind them and `Bee was so startled, that his tires spun wildly as he fishtailed off the road. The youngest `Bot was completely taken by surprise as he suddenly found himself in the dirt while the other's all ramble by.

“-Air. Horn.-” the medic finished miserably.

There was a chuckle from Iornhide as he slowed momentarily next to `Bee's crash site. “You okay there?” he asked the dazed car.

`Bee groaned as he shifted gears and made his way back onto the pavement. “It's alright. It's alright. Baby, it's alright,” the old song flittered across the airwaves.

“AHHH! ALERT! There is someone attempting to take over unit Bumblebee's radio signal!” the new vehicle shouted as it began to weave across both lanes of the empty highway as if he were dogging invisible energy blasts. “Take cover!”

Optimus sighed as he moved beside the red Chevrolet Avalanche, the golden fire chief shield reflecting the Earth's sun off the panicking truck's side panels and directly into the bigger trucks optics. “Red Alert, those sounds Bumblebee is broadcasting are just different radio programs that the humans send out for entertainment,” he explained in exasperation. “It would help if you research the Earth's World Wide Web for a few hours when we reach headquarters; especially for you to learn their languages.”

Red Alert sighted as he finally fell back into formation. “I do apologies Optimus Prime,” the Autobot sighed. “You say that Megatron is dead and that the Decepticons are dispersed, however I do not think that I can feel at ease anytime soon.”

Optimus chuckled. “It is a lot to process, I will give you that,” he conceded and the now four trucks and one lone car, who was feeling very short at the moment, continued in down the sun baked highway, avoiding the occasional tumbleweed that blew into their path.

“Hey RED!” Ironhide's voice suddenly boomed from behind them. “Just how in the name of Primus did you get separated from your unit anyhow?”

“Slaggingflying rocks!” Red thundered right back. “You wouldn't believe how much space junk we encountered!”

“Silence” Optimus ordered forcefully. “We still do not have a secure line of communication yet and while the Decepticons have fallen back, they are still out there. We'll debrief at headquarters.”

Ironhide and Red Alert slowly began to hang back at the reprimand and `Bee took this opportunity to increase his speed and make his way next Optimus. “-Why is it that I don't have many save files of Red Alert in my memory banks?-” he asked the young leader over their privet com.

“-That's because the rest of us tried to keep you away from the more… disturbing influences in the ranks,-” Optimus explained to the bewildered `Botling.

`Bee thought about this momentarily as he scanned through all of his missions data. “-But I did have that job with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker,-” he replied puzzled, “-and they're the ones I always here everyone complaining about.-”

The large rig's frame momentarily shook to his very axle. “Trust me,” Optimus told him, “that was not one of the better missions.”

`Bee mulled over this information, but soon Ironhide pulled alongside them and the small Camaro allowed the subject to be momentarily set aside as the two conversed. It was quite bothersome to be shadowed by the two large trucks and Bumblebee wished that they would get out of the way and let him go on ahead. That, however, was something he knew was not going to happen, at least not anytime soon. Sometimes he really hated the fact that the other were always protecting him. Always treating him like some fragile creature made of the purest Energon simply because he was one of the few remaining adolescents. Their constant shielding was starting to become so irritating that `Bee was spending most of his days at Sam's school under the ruse of watching the boy, just to get away from the adults!

Just looking at the formation that the older Autobots had immediately fallen into only fuelled his resentment at their defensive positions. Optimus and Ironhide were flanking him on either side, speaking to each other over his roof, and he had Ratchet covering his rear. Even the new `Bot, Red Alert was taking point right ahead of him, his larger frame blocking `Bee in behind him. `Bee was surrounded on all sides and the entire situation was becoming utterly ridiculous! He was a warrior himself for crying out loud! He had fought deadly battles right along side these mothering `Bots and he had managed to come back alive time and again. So why was he constantly being smothered?

`Bee sighed dejectedly as, “stuck in the middle with you,” played over his radio once.

Only the fire unit cast an inquisitive ping over his comm. link before falling silent once more and the others didn't even stop in their conversation, which Ratchet had joined once a question regarding supplies arose.

Sometimes it just did not pay to leave one's garage.

Sam was roused out of a fitful doze by the distinctive sound of tires on gravel and immediately bounced off his bed and bolted for the door; both anticipating and dreading the coming conversation with the Autobot leader. As he threw the door open wide, Sam's eyes automatically roamed the lanes for his friends, wondering if they had managed to finally reunite with some of their comrades or if he had to somehow find a way to keep Ironhide from making the long trip down to Huston for some NASA butt kicking. He could only hope that Lennox would be willing to siphon the GMC's gas when the truck went into recharge.

He finally caught sight of a red SUV slowly rolling down the road and was instantly on the alert as he spotted the shield of the fire department on the door. His first thought was that the cabbie had kept his promise and alerted the authorities leaving him wondering if he should hide somewhere, before he finally just stopped and looked at the car. The fact that the said SUV was covertly peering in and around the various buildings was just one of the many signs that this was not a normal car. It now was obvious when he looked closer, that this was no one familiar with the base. This brought him to his second worry: was this or was this not an Autobot? Of course it could be possible that this was an Autobot and he had just somehow missed meeting up with the others. But then again, as Sam knew very well, the Decepticons just loved to imitate the vehicles of authority figures. Barricade for example; then there was that helicopter.

`What was his name?' Sam wondered absently as he watched the fire marshal SUV move from building to building. `Wasn't it Blackhawk, or something stupid like that?' The truck suddenly stopped, then turned around and Sam ducked back into a building. `Aw who cares? I've got bigger problems, like a potential Decepticon raid and the Autobots out on recon…' Sam peered out of the grimy door window and watched apprehensively as the red truck slowly began to pass him. `Why did I leave my gun in my room?' he bemoaned silently as the truck stopped almost directly in front of him. `CRAP!' Sam held his breath and waited for the mech to suddenly shift and start attacking buildings when he noticed something out of the ordinary.

Quietly wiping some of the dust off the glass, he tried to get a better look at the truck or more specifically at the symbol on the truck's door. There was something off about it and Sam desperately tired to put his finger on it as he fearfully watched for what the truck would do next. He squinted at the gold seal and it was only as the truck began to pull away that he was able to figure it out; there was a red Autobot symbol smack dab in the middle of the shield. Sighing in relief, Sam finally made his way out of the shadow and towards the roaming truck, raising his arm in greeting. The red vehicle froze in the middle of the lane, as Sam approached and the boy soon came to a stop right in front of the vehicle's bumper.

“Hi,” he greeted cheerfully. “I'm glad that another Autobot has finally arrived. My name's Sam-”

The piercing shrill of an air horn abruptly echoed throughout the compound and momentarily rendering the seventeen-year-old boy completely deaf with the strength of the blare. Sam blinked in surprise at the sudden resounding ring that blared throughout his head, as the truck swiftly turned bumper and, with squealing tires kicking up a cloud of dirt and small rocks that correspondingly pelting the now shocked Sam, the red fire truck took off back the way he came like a bat out of hell. Sam gapped at the now empty space in front of him in complete disbelief.

“Ok, well nice to meet you… I think.”

“Do you think it was wise to allow Red Alert to scope out our new `home' on his own?” Ironhide asked his now worried leader as the sound of the increasingly familiar horn reached their audio sensors.

“I'm beginning to think it wasn't…” Optimus admitted mournfully as he slowed down to a near crawl absolutely dreading what Red Alert had found “threatening” this time.

Ratchet pulled alongside the other two and sighed, as the small red dot on the horizon slowly got larger and larger. Soon they were all watching as the red fire tuck nearly broke the sound barrier as he careened towards them. “What do you think has him riled up this time?” Ratchet asked amused.

“Search me,” Optimus groaned and released a small burst of air in the equivalent of a sigh as he finally came to a complete stop and just stared at the red blur. “We'll just have to wait and see.”

“Think he saw a prairie dog?” Ironhide's smirk was evident in his voice.

“Now `Hide, I'm sure that being on a new planet is very trying for Red; especially since he hadn't had time for research before landing,” Optimus scolded.

“Can't we just offline him for a few days until we're all prepared for his paranoia?” Ironhide suggested hopefully.

“If I'm not allowed to offline you for your love of destruction, then I'm certainly not offing Red Alert for his idiotic, schizophrenic paranoia,” Ratchet told him firmly. “One would think that of the two, you to be the bigger threat.”

“What? At least I limit my barrages to `Cons!”

“And cactus',” Optimus added on helpfully from the back ground.

“He, on the other hand, is a friggin calamity on wheels!” Ironhide finished angrily.

As the two continued to argue, Bumblebee had slowly started backing up as he realized that the oncoming truck was nearly upon them and still wasn't slowing down. “Um,” the yellow Camaro turned his wheels and gently made his way off pavement and out of the line of incoming fire as the other three continued to rant at each other. “Guys, you may want to move…”

“Optimus!”

Red's voice loudly resonated through their audio receivers and halted Ironhide in mid-rant with an irritated sigh. The other trucks then turned and gasped as they finally realized that they were right in path of what could be a rather nasty collision and in a panic they scrambled to evade the oncoming nut. The SUV suddenly hit a dip in the road and was launched upward into the air at what must have been no less than hundred and forty miles per hour. `Bee watched in amazement as the new mech shifted forms mid air and landed directly onto a now transformed Optimus, slamming the leader down to the ground hard.

“Everyone take cover!” the red `Bot continued as he activated his weapons and began a perimeter sweep, intent on protecting their leader. “There's been a security breach at HQ! We must retreat and form a countering battle plan. ”

Ironhide shifted and wandered over to the two on the ground, smirking as he looked down at the still freaking Red Alert who had shoved Optimus' faceplate flat into the dirt.

“Red…” Optimus tried. “Red… Alert… RED ALERT!”

“Hey Red,” Ironhide called down somewhat cheerfully. “You know that you're suffocating our leader?”

As Red Alert halted surprise, Ratchet took the opportunity to march over and forcefully yanked the maniac off Optimus. Tossing Red aside without any consideration for where the red truck actually landed, he immediately began an interior scan of Prime's air valves.

“You ok?” he asked concerned, totally ignoring Red's indignant squawking at his rather rapid displacement. Optimus' only reply was a hacking cough.

“What is Red Alert's title anyway?” `Bee finally asked the grinning Ironhide as the large gunner watched the three freaking `Bots with undisguised glee.

“Security,” he answered cheerfully.

`Bee stared at the three arguing in the distance. “Of what?”

Ironhide turned his wide grin to the smaller vehicle as he explained his rather bizarre, cryptic statement with another just as equally obscure: “us.”

`Bee mentally blinked a few times flabbergast as he finally shifted out of car mode and tried to process the information. “What?” he finally found his voice box. “What do you mean `us'?”

“Red Alert,” Ironhide was now grinning like a maniac, a look usually reserved for his enemies' right before he blew them into tiny little pieces of Cybertronion scrap metal, “is our head Chief of Security.”

`Bee gapped, astounded as he turned and stared at the red `Bot, who was currently flailing his arms as he tried to convince the other two that they were most definitely under attack and that they had to figure out a way to recapture their base of operations. “We're doomed.”

“Yup,” Ironhide agreed happily just before falling over laughing at `Bee's flat response. This finally succeeded in finally drawing attention of the other three Mechs and Ratchet shook his head in disbelief at the sight. Bumblebee looked down at the prone gunner, who was hugging his middle in mirth, before daring to approach and cautiously poke him with a foot.

“Was it really that funny?” he asked in confusion.

“'Hide!” Ratchet finally made his way over. “You're going to overheat! And I'm not bringing you back online until you can control yourself with some amount of dignity.”

“Oh no,” Ironhide moaned. “Primus forbid that you would be willing to forsake your duty and deprive the world of my bright, shiny personality!” he moaned dramatically.

Ratchet glared down at the black truck. “I think the world will live,” he deadpanned.

Ratchet's remark was the last straw and `Bee started to finally laugh himself at Ironhide's pole axed expression. Even Optimus' shoulders twitched with contained laughter.

“Could someone please take the threat of invasion just a little bit more seriously?” Red Alert finally cried out, actually stomping his foot in childish frustration.

Optimus hid a snicker as the red `Bot turned a furious glare towards him. `Could you act anymore like a sparkling?' He shook his head slightly at his decidedly un-leader like thought and he shoved his mirth into a very deep corner of his conscience. “Um,” he started, stating his words very slowly. “Did you confirm a Decepticon presence in our base?” he finally managed to ask.

“Worse,” Red Alert scowled at the still chuckling bots, “it seemed to be that of a native.”

The others finally held their laughter in check and managed to look at their security chief in feigned, rapt attention. “What do you mean?” Ratchet asked.

“A native Earthling that seemed to be of higher intelligence than the `Vul-ture' that we had seen earlier.”

“Who knew those things could catch fire so easily?” Ironhide smirked and Ratchet was quick to whack him on his massive, but according to the Medbot, empty head.

“We saw them earlier when we found my alt mode,” Red Alert continued doggedly, despite the small scuffle. “You called them, `humans'.”

The others now were staring at the Security Chief in surprise as Optimus immediately turned towards their base and activated his scanners. “What was the situation?” he asked as he examined the horizon for any standard Earth cars knowingly belonging to the few humans who worked with them.

“One lone subject confirmed,” Red Alert reported, going into full solider mode. “Exited one of the smaller structures and made initial contact with me.”

Ironhide crossed his arms and gazed at the smaller bot. “And did you do a standard recording of what the human said?”

Red Alert looked shocked for a moment before finally scowling. “No, I didn't. Slag it!”

“There's no need,” Optimus finally interrupted, his optics zeroing in on the small figure that was just cresting a hill and looking down the road at the four very visible giant robots in the distance. “It's Sam,” he announced calmly.

There was a sudden cloud of dirt as `Bee immediately returned to vehicle mode and peeled down the asphalt toward the direction of the base and his appointed charge. Optimus waved the floating Earth particles away from his intake valves as he watched the yellow car attempting to break the sound barrier himself to get to his human. “Red Alert,” he finally managed in an authoritative tone as he turned to the now puzzled officer. “You really need to read those reports I e-mailed you.”

“Yeah,” Ironhide agreed behind them as the large truck tried to cough out the clogging dirt. “Before ya get more trigger happy than me and shot a possible comrade.”

Sam let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the familiar yellow sports car parting from its companions and careening towards him. Waving happily, Sam tentatively made his way down the small, yet steep slope and waited by the back road for the car to pull alongside him. Shifting immediately, Bumblebee grinned down at his friend and lowered a hand for Sam to clamber up on, momentarily closing his hand around his friend in an imitation of a hug.

“Great to see ya buddy!” Sam smiled. “Miles missed you today you know.”

“You mean missed his chance to show me off in front of the jocks,” Bee chuckled at his friend.

The human placed the back of his hand against his forehead in feigned exasperation. “Oh what ever shall I do? You've discovered my ulterior motive of using you as nothing more than an object to make pea brained jocks envious and gain even more lethal tendencies towards me and my friend!” Sam pretended that he was going to faint before snickering and throwing up his arms in surrender. “All right. All right, you caught me. He just wanted to show you off.”

“Indeed,” `Bee smirked down at him. “You must come to the conclusion that you can never hide anything from me Sam.”

Sam heaved a spectacular sigh, but smiled nonetheless. “So what are you? My mother or something?” he smirked.

“No,” `Bee replied. “I believe your mother is a bat wielding maniac that would put Ironhide to shame with her courage.”

Sam groaned in mortification. He could not believe that that story managed to make the rounds of all of his friends. He had begged Mikaela not to reveal the amount of insanity that she had witnessed that night they were searching for the glasses but apparently, it was not to be and Sam fought desperately to try and change the subject. “So I see you have a returning comrade,” he asked, hoping against hope that he wouldn't put his foot in it and insult what could be potentially one of `Bee's good friends.

“Apparently,” `Bee responded as he finally stood and made his way into the main hanger that served as the Autobot's main debriefing room, slash med bay, slash armory, slash everything else sans barracks.

Sam was silently contemplating his next words as his guardian set him down on the massive table. “So…” he trailed off unsure. “He seems… nice…”

`Bee let out a very human like snort to show what he thought of that statement. “He's slagging insane, you mean,” he announced calmly as he moved some of the data pads to the side so Sam didn't have to crawl over them to get to his seat.

“Oh thank God- I mean Primus, that I'm not the only one to think so,” Sam smiled as he pulled over a lone human sized chair and plopped down into it. “What was his problem, anyhow? Did I scare him or something?”

`Bee shook his head as he sat down on one of the giant steel boxcars the Autobot's were temporarily using as makeshift chairs till they managed to build their own. “Don't know. Never met him before today,” `Bee admitted. “Though according to Ironhide, he's the Autobot's head Chief of Security.”

Sam stared flabbergasted at the now relaxing mech. “You're kidding.”

`Bee shrugged his shoulder plates. “I'm just stating what `Hide told me.”

Sam shook his head in astonishment when the sound of the other Autobot's reached his ears and he and `Bee turned towards the entrance awaiting the just arrived mechs.

“Sam!” Ironhide called out. “Good to see ya! Any good fights lately?”

Sam shook his head at Ironhide's now standard greeting. The large mech was always hassling him about getting even with the dip, Trent ever since that outing with Lennox right before the end of summer. It had ended with Trent trashing talking `Hide as he preened over his own, as `Hide called it, “soulless pile of rusted bolts”. However, Sam's sole focus was currently on the new, red `Bot that was hovering just behind the entering group, staring at him with a look of what, Sam couldn't tell.

Sam tentatively held up his hand once more and gave a small wave. “Hi… again.”

The red mech shifted from foot to foot as Optimus moved out of the way and allowed the newcomer to get his first, complete view of a human up close. They stared at each other, neither one sure just how to handle the situation. Sam swallowed anxiously, wondering if he should start running for cover and glanced at Bumblebee, hoping to get some sign of what it was that he was suppose to do next. He was surprised when he saw from the corner of his eye, the new `Bot giving Optimus the same, pleading look. Glancing at `Bee, he could see the formerly relaxed pose had since shifted to a tense awareness as both watched for the red `Bot's next move. The others, however, seemed unruffled about the whole thing as they made their own way towards the scattered crates, intent on a little relaxation after such a harrowing afternoon.

“Uh,” the `Bot started after a long pause. “Hej. Jag heter Röd Larma. Trevligt att träffas.”

Sam boggled for a moment before turning to Bumblebee and the other `Bots utterly confused. “That doesn't sound like the Cybertronion I've heard you speak before,” he declared bewildered. “What did he say?”

“That's Swedish you malfunctioning electrode,” Ratchet smirked, ignoring Ironhide's renewed spurts of laughter. “You're in the wrong providence!” and then repeated his conclusion once more in the whirls and clicks that Sam instantly recognized as their native speech.

Optimus shook his head slightly, amused before giving Red Alert an encouraging nod.

The fire truck shifted uncertainly before scanning his increasing data banks for the correct phrases. “Hell-o. O. O. I am. M. M. Red Alert. Ert. Ert.” The bot stuttered. “Please Se. Se. To meet Eet. Eet you. You.”

Sam gave `Bee a disbelieving look before turning back to the frustrated Autobot. “Um, nice to meet you… Red Alert. My name is Sam Witwicky.”

The `Bot nodded sharply once before moving quickly towards the far wall and the different design ideas the group had tacked there for possible improvements to the base. “There's no security towers on any of these,” he announced sourly, his bad disposition desperately trying to hide his embarrassment.

“Well now that you're here, we can fix any holes in our defense,” Optimus replied, ensuring he replied in English for Sam's benefit. Red Alert puzzled as he worked on his translations and seemed surprise at the praise before finally making his way back to the table where the others were now crowded around. `Bee scooted over, giving the new `Bot room to park himself on his boxcar.

“Well, now that all the introductions are taken care of,” Ironhide announced. “How about you explain what happened to you and how you ended up separated from your unit.”

Red Alert nodded and with hesitant and faltering English began to tell his tale.

To Be Continued