"It really is a beautiful home, isn't it, Judy?"
"It certainly is. I just hope our Sam can afford a place like this on his own one day, instead of relying on a benefactor..."
Judy paused, noticing a small detail on a side table. She walked over to the display shelf and picked up a framed photograph.
"Oh! Is this Carly?"
"Where? Let me see."
"Right here, come take a look."
Hearing his parents discuss Carly so casually as if they owned the place, Sam quickly stepped in to redirect the conversation.
"I thought you weren't arriving until next week... September 21st, Dad. That's the date you gave me."
"It was an accident, really," Judy murmured, admiring the photograph in her hands. "Your father was driving like he was on a racetrack."
"What?"
"You were the one rushing me!" Ron protested. "You kept saying how much you missed Sam and wanted to see him as soon as possible—"
"Ahem?" Judy shot Ron a stern glare, and he immediately quieted down.
"Sam, she is absolutely gorgeous, and so charming," Judy set the photo back down, taking a breath before asking, "So where is she?"
"She's at work."
"Ah, what a shame. I suppose we'll have to meet her this evening then."
"So, how is the job search coming along?"
"Huh? Oh... great," Sam suddenly remembered why he had been heading out the door thirty minutes ago, jumping to his feet. "I have an orientation interview this afternoon! I need to get going."
"There are plenty of sights to see around here if you want to look around," he added quickly. "There's the monument, the open-air pavilion, the museums..."
"Oh, right! Carly actually works at one of the private museums nearby. If you want to drop by, I can call ahead and set it up..."
"No, no," Judy waved her hand. "For a first meeting, it should be proper. We didn't bring a gift for Carly yet."
"That's completely fine..."
Talking as they walked, the family headed down to the semi-underground garage.
Yet as the garage door rolled open, Judy's warm expression instantly cooled.
"Sam... what does this car transform into?"
Parked inside was an older yellow Camaro featuring twin black racing stripes along the hood. The familiar chassis instantly brought back unpleasant memories.
"Are you still mixed up with those giant robots?"
"No! Absolutely not!" Sam denied it immediately. "I mean, this car doesn't transform into anything! It belongs to a collector, it just needs a little mechanical work to run smoothly."
"Carly bought it for me for cheap."
"Good," Judy's expression softened slightly as she walked a circle around the vehicle. "It looks nice. Very much like Bumblebee."
She added quietly, "Assuming Bumblebee is even still on our planet."
Sam cast a guilty glance at his mother, choosing not to answer as he quickly opened the driver's door and climbed inside.
He knew that if he stayed to chat any longer, he would slip up.
Following the defeat of the Fallen, Sam had been placed under Bumblebee's protection once again.
However, it was no longer an absolute escort, but an on-call response.
When Sam didn't require an escort, Bumblebee handled secondary assignments across the sector.
Coincidentally, today was one of those days when Bumblebee was out on active patrol.
Far across the ocean, at an illegal nuclear facility...
Swirling dust kicked up across the desert plains, forming dense clouds as if a sudden sandstorm had swept through the sector.
Through the rising roar of heavy engines, a convoy of polished vehicles cut through the haze.
Leading the column was a long-nose semi-truck painted in bold red and blue, followed by several sleek sports cars, including three custom-built race cars.
Seeing such high-performance vehicles in a remote desert was unusual enough, but a closer look revealed something even stranger: every single driver's seat was completely empty.
A ghost convoy.
The sudden arrival caught the outer guard post completely off guard.
A few armed guards holding rifles looked toward the approaching column before turning to their squad leader.
"No clearance records on file," a guard wearing sunglasses and a beret called out into his radio. "Unidentified vehicles. Set up a roadblock!"
"Understood. Stop the lead unit!"
Before the checkpoint could deploy barriers, a red Ferrari 458 accelerated sharply, cutting past the lead semi-truck.
Before the guards could level their rifles, the red sports car transformed mid-stride, shifting into a streamlined red warrior.
Shhhk—
The warrior deployed twin curved blades from his forearms, glaring down at the terrified guards.
"Stay down! Don't move a muscle!"
Facing an alien warrior beyond their ability to fight, the guards quickly dropped their weapons and laid flat on the dirt.
The red warrior was Dino, an Autobot who had arrived on Earth recently.
While the Ark had drifted in outer space, the Autobots had not remained idle.
Beyond the initial vanguard—the Aerialbots, the Wreckers, and Hound—numerous Autobot refugees had landed on Earth over the past two years.
Dino was one of them.
Agile and skilled in close-quarters combat, Dino was a fierce fighter whose martial skill matched even Drift's precision. Naturally, his tendency to strike dramatic poses during a fight was equally pronounced.
Much like the scene unfolding now.
While the guards huddled on the ground, Dino twirled his arm blades with practiced flair, dropping into a low stance like a praying mantis waiting to strike. His crimson paint stood out vividly against the dusty terrain.
In truth, Dino's original name had been Mirage; he had adopted his current title after arriving on Earth to match local radio designations.
With the outer checkpoint secured, the main Autobot convoy led by Optimus Prime passed through without slowing down, driving straight into the heart of the facility.
Before long, a series of heavy explosions rocked the distant structures, sending a column of fire into the sky.
BOOM!
"Target cleared. Mission complete!"
Seeing the plume of smoke, Dino shifted back into his Ferrari form and sped off down the road.
Under the Autobot strike, the illegal nuclear facility was reduced to rubble within minutes.
Optimus Prime had chosen a direct, physical solution to clear the threat.
Using Autobot warriors against local human factions seemed like a misuse of strategic power, making it difficult to see why the Autobots agreed to handle such dirty work.
Yet circumstances were shifting in unpredictable directions.
Since the battle in Egypt, Earth had undergone massive changes.
Global energy scanners now monitored major population centers, while long-range defense systems designed by Wheeljack scanned the upper atmosphere to track Decepticon signals in real time.
Yet even the most thorough surveillance network had blind spots.
Because of this, Optimus Prime frequently led his team to investigate suspected Decepticon sites.
The illegal facility was simply one such location.
As Optimus Prime maintained, "Their proposal is logical. They are our allies, and by helping our allies resolve internal human conflicts, we prevent humanity from destroying itself."
Yet absolute power often invited tactical overreach.
Commanding the Autobots as a strategic asset, the United States government had every incentive to leverage their alien allies to advance its global standing.
The Autobots' agreement to secure a sovereign base at Diego Garcia after the defeat of the Fallen had come at a cost.
The government was adept at using external assets for its own ends.
Over the past three years, the Autobots had carried out numerous covert strikes where human forces never stepped onto the field, yet the host nation reaped the geopolitical benefits.
While this approach seemed to conflict with Optimus Prime's long-standing policy of non-interference, ongoing survival pressures and internal council advice had gradually altered his command strategy.
Under his leadership, the Autobots functioned as a covert task force, executing global missions assigned by their human allies while searching for Megatron's remaining forces.
"Autobots, move out to the next objective."
"Copy that, Prime," Leadfoot responded, towing a crushed pickup truck behind his heavy frame. "I love a good fight. I take back what I said earlier—this planet is really growing on me!"
As Optimus Prime led his team toward their next target, a massive armada glided smoothly into the outer reaches of the Solar System, light-years away from Earth.
"At last... we arrive."
Inside the bridge of the Nemesis, Skygnaw looked out through the viewscreen at the familiar blue planet below.
After three long years, he had returned.
To Skygnaw, three years away felt like a significant span of time.
First, I need a clear picture of the current situation on the ground.
Skygnaw turned toward the tall frame standing behind his throne.
"Shockwave, have you established contact with Lord Megatron?"
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