The Good, the Bad and Starscream

Chapter 8: Loose Cannons

Silas was boiling inside of rage as he and the soldiers returned to their base. Not only had their location been discovered and their base destroyed, they had even lost the T-cog they had worked so hard to get. Not to mention the damage Project Chimera must have taken during the attack. If the damage was too great, they would have to start over with a new prototype.

"Men, examine the prototype and report the damages to me immediately," he ordered a group of technicians as they entered their ruined base.

They got to work immediately. While waiting for the results, Silas looked around the base. There were scorch marks and bullets lying everywhere on the floor. The substance called Energon, which they figured out about from various footage of the Transformers, was splattered on the floor several places, more from the prototype than the two attackers.

His gaze fell on the jeep, lying a few metres from the fallen prototype. It was lying on its side, also stained with Energon. It was the only jeep they currently had; all their other vehicles were helicopters and muscle cars. Silas preferred the jeep, as it was stronger and more durable than it looked.

"You," Silas said to a random soldier, "go check on the jeep as well! Report any damage to me!"

"Yessir!" the soldier saluted and went to the jeep immediately.

Silas looked from the jeep to the prototype and turned around, gazing at the night outside. This operation had gone so well and discretely. If only they had finished off the damn yellow bot when they had the chance, then the Autobots would believe it had been the Decepticons' work and taken it out on them. And then, they might have been able to complete Project Chimera in time to eradicate both sides...

"Silas," a soldier said, coming from the prototype. "The prototype has some damage to its chest area, but it appears to be repairable. All we need is a new T-cog and it can return to-"

"Silas!" the other soldier from the jeep shouted, interrupting his colleague and gaining Silas' attention instead.

"What?!" Silas growled, annoyed over the interruption. "Speak up!"

"The...the jeep..." The soldier didn't continue, simply pointed at the jeep a few metres away. As Silas laid eyes on it, he saw what the soldier had been trying to say.

The jeep used to be a dull grayish brown color, but now, it had suddenly changed colors; it had turned olive green with purple stripes along the base, even the windows had turned from clear to purple. Silas also noticed the Energon stains had disappeared from it, and it didn't seem like anyone had cleaned it up.

A rumble emitted from the jeep, as if the engine had turned on by itself. The soldiers all pulled forth their guns, including Silas, pointing it at the jeep. Something was about to happen.

Within a few seconds, the jeep broke into pieces, these pieces moving around with mechanical noises, rearranging themselves, until a robot stood on the floor. A small bot, probably about the size of the yellow Autobot named Bumblebee, but with a more square-shaped body due to his jeep mode. He was mostly olive green, but the windows on his chest, as well as his hands, feet and joints had a purple color, his head was black with a light gray face. On his face was a pair of large purple eyes with white pupils, focused on Silas. Also on his face was a mouth currently shaped in a smirk. He certainly didn't seem scared of the humans.

"Who are you?" Silas asked darkly. "State your business!"

"Relax, relax," the smirky bot said and held out a hand. "I'm not going to hurt you, Silas."

"You've heard of me?"

"Heard of you? I've been your personal choice of transport for more than ten Earth years! I know all about you and MECH, and I've helped you get where you needed to go during your missions."