Chapter 404: Black Bird

While Sun Cheng was still troubled by the discovery made by the Pioneer at the National Air and Space Museum, in the city of Duluth, northwest of St. Louis County, Minnesota, in the United States, a team of Autobots had also fallen into distress because of him.

"... My Leader, what do you think of the credibility of this intelligence?"

Seeing the data flickering in Optimus Prime's eyes finally fade, Ironhide, Sideswipe, and Ratchet, who had been waiting on the side, all crowded around. The first to speak was Ironhide, who had suffered a setback at the hands of the Decepticons not long ago.

Optimus Prime frowned; he seemed to be contemplating the credibility of the intelligence as well, so he did not reply to him immediately.

His gaze fell upon the metal disc, no larger than his own finger, or rather, on the Decepticon insignia on the disc. After nearly a minute of silence, this Autobot Leader looked at Bumblebee.

"Bumblebee, what do you think?"

As soon as he spoke, even the impatient Ironhide suppressed the urge to continue questioning and turned to look at Bumblebee instead.

Most creators are fair, so sentient beings, whether human or Cybertronian, have never been perfect from the moment of their birth.

The Autobots are no exception; during the era of Sentinel Prime's rule, the cruel methods the Autobots used against Decepticon prisoners were once even bloodier than their own.

As for other things like greed or seniority, they had plenty of those too; they were no more civilized than humans.

For a long time, Bumblebee's status within the upper echelons of the Autobots had been rather awkward.

Although he had gained Optimus Prime's trust and was appointed as one of his four lieutenants, because he was too young and his personality did not appeal to the conservative faction, and because he was responsible for intelligence gathering, he rarely had the opportunity to display his martial prowess on the front lines.

All these factors mixed together, resulting in Bumblebee's current awkwardness.

Optimus Prime valued him highly, even intending to groom him as a candidate for the next generation of Autobot Leaders, but he could never gain the approval of the majority of the Autobots' core leadership.

Ironhide and the others were relatively better, as they were fellow lieutenants to Optimus Prime just like Bumblebee, and they had much more contact with him than others did.

Autobot Warriors known for their pride, stubbornness, or willfulness—like Sideswipe, Roadbuster, and Mirage—as well as main combat teams like the Targetmasters, Wreckers, and Aerialbots, looked down upon Bumblebee's conduct of securing military merit through intelligence gathering to be appointed as a Leader's lieutenant, and naturally, they were far from convinced by him.

Bumblebee looked up at Optimus Prime, and seeing the other nod at him, he began to organize his thoughts.

He was the most excellent spy and intelligence officer among the Autobots. Although Bumblebee had appeared to be doing nothing while staying in Duluth for the past half-year, the truth was that besides protecting Sam, he was also using this identity to collect intelligence on the activities of humans and Decepticons within the United States.

His vocal system had malfunctioned, but that did not mean Bumblebee was unable to express his meaning.

Soon after organizing his thoughts, he tapped his temple lightly, and a young mechanical voice immediately sounded in the minds of all the Autobots present.

"... My Leader, this is the first time I have seen the Decepticon who transmitted this intelligence to us, so I cannot obtain more information from his identity... However, in the last war, I dealt with the Cassette Corps many times. Although Frenzy did not die at my hands, I saw his remains with my own eyes and can confirm that he had already died in that war... Therefore, it is certain that this 'Frenzy' we see on Earth now should be a brand-new resurrected body..."

Bumblebee was using a type of Short-frequency Local Communication capability, generally used on the battlefield for Commanders and subordinates to arrange emergency tasks and exchange combat situations when separated by more than several kilometers; using it here was somewhat overkill.

However, since his vocal system had never been repaired, Optimus Prime and the others understood this.

"... Considering our lack of knowledge about this resurrected 'Frenzy', I cannot make an accurate assessment of him... However, regarding the 'Onslaught' mentioned by the Decepticon, I think we should all be familiar with him..."

Optimus Prime nodded. "The Commander of the Decepticon Legion's Combaticons; we have dealt with him many times on the battlefield. He is a very difficult Decepticon, and we have suffered many losses at his hands in the past..."

Ironhide touched his chest silently; he had fought Onslaught during the civil war and had nearly been pierced through the chest by a shot, losing his life on the battlefield.

"... An ambitious man who is conceited and unwilling to be subordinate to others. Onslaught may not be as insidious and cunning as Starscream, but he is clearly not like Soundwave and Shockwave, who have absolute loyalty to Megatron..." Bumblebee paused slightly for a moment before continuing to elaborate on his views within the short-frequency channel: "... So I suspect that after the Battle of Las Vegas, because of Megatron's death, the interior of the Decepticon Legion must be in chaos. Shockwave was left on Cybertron by Megatron; without him coming forward to suppress everything, given Starscream's cunning and Onslaught's conceit, they are very likely to turn against each other to vie for power after Megatron's death... I believe Onslaught and Frenzy might want to use our hands to eliminate Starscream and completely destroy Megatron's remains..."

"As for whether Soundwave and Shockwave have already set off for Earth, I think this piece of intelligence should be credible. The Guerrillas had already reported the news of Soundwave's disappearance, and Shockwave is indeed gathering troops; perhaps they will arrive on Earth before long!"

"As for the last piece of intelligence, please forgive me for being unable to interpret it. My understanding of Megatron is very limited, and I do not know if he has a teacher. As for what the 'Matrix of Leadership' is, I have no intelligence regarding it either. Therefore, I feel the credibility of this intelligence is not high!"

It must be admitted that with only a small amount of intelligence, Bumblebee's analysis was quite reasonable.

"Your analysis is good!"

Optimus Prime smiled and nodded at him in approval. He was not used to a talkative Bumblebee, but he had indeed discovered that he was a rare junior among the younger generation of Autobots who balanced steadiness and martial prowess, which was why he had promoted him out of turn many times.

But the smile quickly faded, and the Autobot Leader's brow furrowed again.

Optimus Prime was an Autobot Warrior who rose during the two Cybertronian Civil Wars, climbing the ranks through military merit to become the confidant and student of the former Autobot Leader, Sentinel Prime.

However, he had not held the position of Leader for very long.

Near the end of the second civil war, seeing the Autobots defeated on the field, with the high-spirited Decepticon Legion having captured all territory except for the Autobot headquarters, Iacon, and with Shockwave gathering heavy troops to surround Iacon, Optimus Prime was entrusted with the task at a critical moment and appointed by his teacher, Sentinel Prime, as the new Leader of the Autobots.

Counting it up, it has only been a little over a hundred years since then.

Following the accident and disappearance of his teacher, Sentinel Prime, while personally escorting a batch of Energy Pillars vital to the Autobots to a secret base on a satellite of Cybertron, Optimus Prime lost more than just a teacher; he also lost many of the highest-level secrets that had been passed down from generation to generation among Autobot Leaders since ancient times.

Therefore, he did not know if Megatron truly had a Prime teacher as mentioned in the intelligence.

Nor did he know what the Matrix of Leadership was, or if it truly existed.

Because the intelligence he possessed was so scarce, this young Leader, who shouldered the fate of all Autobots, had to remain silent for a short time before giving his instructions.

"... Regardless of whether Onslaught and Frenzy have betrayed the Decepticon Legion and decided to stand on their own, or if they revealed this intelligence for other purposes, since we have received it, we need to prepare a response strategy!"

"I will immediately issue a warning to the White House and urge the humans to strengthen their military forces near the Mariana Trench. Considering that humans have never been able to fully trust us, this request may not be taken seriously. Therefore, Ironhide, I will also request the Pentagon to let you lead a team to stay in Guam temporarily, so as to patrol the Mariana Trench at any time to prevent any accidents! I have to wrong you!"

For a long time, the United States government, or rather the arms dealers and consortia behind the United States government, had wanted to obtain more advanced military technology and alien technology from the Autobots.

It was a pity that Optimus Prime had always refused to provide technology to the United States government, so the unpleasantness between the two sides had increased as casualties continued to appear during their cooperation.

Then, after Ironhide and the others failed their raid on Severodvinsk not long ago, the conflict between the two sides was intensified for the first time. Optimus Prime hoped to stop cooperating only with the United States and instead contact all human national forces globally to fight the Decepticons together.

The Americans naturally would not agree; they once again demanded that the Autobots provide them with advanced technology from Cybertron and threatened to expel the Autobots.

While both sides knew they could not leave each other for the time being, although it could not be called a falling out, things were very unpleasant.

After some haggling, a new supplementary agreement was finally barely reached.

The supplementary agreement stipulated that the Autobots were not allowed to contact any country other than the United States; even if the task required it, they could only contact other human countries through the United States.

At the same time, they needed to send more Warriors to strike at the Decepticon forces lurking on Earth under the joint command of both sides.

In exchange, the Americans agreed to establish a brand-new cooperative management department on the basis of the original NEST. The new department had higher authority and could be directly responsible to the Pentagon and the White House, without having to accept the management of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as before.

The United States government also made concessions, allowing the Autobots to use more overseas U. S. military bases when necessary, but they needed to accept the supervision of the U. S. military during their use.

Clearly, this kind of behavior, similar to surveillance, was difficult for some hot-tempered Autobots to accept, which was why Optimus Prime gave this reminder.

Ironhide's brow furrowed slightly, but he did not say much and nodded heavily.

It was true that he had a short temper, but he could endure it for the sake of the mission.

As a veteran elite Warrior, Ironhide still had considerable influence among the Autobots.

Seeing that he had acquiesced without speaking, others who were somewhat dissatisfied with humans in their hearts could only temporarily suppress their resentment and listen patiently to Optimus Prime's arrangements.

"Bumblebee, you continue to stay by Sam and the others' side. Since the Decepticons have kept this line open, regardless of whether they have other intentions, Sam and the others cannot afford any mistakes... You need to ensure their safety more diligently; I will have Jolt go over to assist you."

Bumblebee hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement.

Having stayed in Duluth for over half a year, he was actually getting a bit tired of it and often wanted to return to the front lines of the fight against the Decepticons as soon as possible.

It was just that, over the past half year, he had indeed built a deep bond with his new human friend, Sam, and with his safety under threat, Bumblebee could not leave.

"... Very well, regarding Soundwave and Shockwave, I will contact Cybertron as soon as possible; if it is confirmed that they have left, I will order Ultra Magnus to lead the Wreckers and the Aerialbots to rush to Earth for reinforcements!"

"As for the teacher of Megatron mentioned in the intelligence, as well as the Matrix of Leadership..."

Optimus Prime paused, then said decisively: "Regardless of whether the intelligence is true or false, in any case, I will personally lead a team to investigate it!"