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bonesofether · 6 years

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Sides of a Storm

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Chapter #1: Programming Introductions

He had helped save the world from alien robots that had been determined to destroy Earth and turn all of its inhabitants into ash. His car, which had started out as a cheap Camaro from a used car lot, was an alien robot that could transform at will. He had even faced down the malicious leader of the Decepticons and lived.

And yet a simple Programming course threatened to be the end of him yet.

Sighing, Sam looked over the pages of his textbook for what seemed like the hundredth time, paying close attention to highlighted parts. He had gone out of his way to buy a used copy of the book, wanting to take advantage of the fact that previous students had done a bit of work for him. Not to mention that a used copy was a little cheaper.

In the other room, Sam could hear Leo talking excitedly with two of his friends about the alien robots that were still on Earth and the problems that this “Robowarrior” guy was giving them. Finding no answers in the midst of all the highlighted, programming code gibberish, Sam grumbled in frustration and began to flip through the pages rapidly. He wasn’t getting anywhere with this, but he knew someone, a former classmate from high school, that could help him out.

Or, with enough bribing, might even do the work for him. Sam just wasn’t sure if he wanted to risk it.

“Still working on that Programming homework?” Leo called from his makeshift computer lab.

“Yeah.” Sam sighed and flipped the book shut. “I’m going to go find Sophie and get her help. She understands this stuff way better than I do.”

“Sophie?” Leo poked his head around the doorway. “You mean the blonde with the lip piercing? Didn’t you say you went to high school or something with her?”

“Yeah. She and I are in this Programming class together,” Sam explained as he crammed his book and small folder with his homework papers into his backpack. “She’s a total tech head. I’m surprised you guys haven’t asked her to work overtime for you.”

“Uh, I already asked her, bro,” Leo muttered, glancing away. “She stared at me like I was speaking Swahili. Turns out she’s also a total hermit.”

“I don’t know if I’d go that far. She just...likes to keep to herself.”

“Yeah, well, if you don’t return, I’m not sending a rescue party in after you.”

Walking briskly down the dorm hallway, shrugging under the weight of his backpack, Sam couldn’t help the small grin on his face. Mikaela had texted him this morning, wishing him a good day and how she missed him already. Of course, Sam missed her, too. He had wanted her to come with him to college, but Mikaela had refused. She had explained that she had to help her father out and work at the garage that he was managing now. And while Sam understood, it didn’t make the being thousands of miles apart any easier.

Nearing the dormitory building, Sam jogged the last bit across the green grass of one of the campus yards. He hoped that Sophie remembered him. Sure, they’d spoken some in the Programming class they shared, but it had been little more than polite conversation. And they hadn’t exactly been the best of friends in high school.

At least he’d been able to get her phone number and dorm room number.

Arriving at the door, Sam double-checked to make sure that the number was correct. Then, trying to seem as casual as possible, he knocked on the door. In the middle of the third knock, the door swung open and Sam found himself being glared at by his Programming 110 classmate.

“Uh, hey,” Sam said weakly, his composure faltering a little.

Sophie continued to frown back at him, then raised an eyebrow.

“Sam?” she asked, scrunching up her nose.

“Yeah. Sam Witwicky. We share that Programming class together, remember?”

“Yes. I remember. We had that class yesterday.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s right.”

Sam trailed off and the two stood there in silence for a couple minutes before Sophie gave Sam an expectant look. She was still holding the door halfway closed, and was thoroughly confused as to why her former high school classmate had sought her out.

“So, uh… What do you want?” she asked impatiently.

“Oh, right!” Sam said. He hesitated briefly, but decided he had to at least ask. Maybe he should have texted before he showed up. “You remember how you said I could ask for help with my homework if I needed it?”

“Yeah. I was kind of expecting you to ask for help on something like the midterms or final.”

“Well, my degree isn’t in IT, you know,” Sam muttered, running through his fingers quickly. “And...yours is.”

Sighing and rolling her blue eyes, Sophie nodded and stepped aside, opening the door completely. She motioned for Sam to come inside, kicking a small pile of clothes under her bed as she went. Muttering something under her breath and combing back her bleached blonde hair with her fingers, Sophie began to move aside textbooks and papers on the college provided computer desk.

“So what’re you having problems with?” Sophie asked without looking up.

“Just the homework.”

Stopping and then slowly looking over at Sam with an incredulous gaze, Sophie started to say something, then fell quiet. She tried again, but still couldn’t find the words she was looking for. Finally, though…

“You mean the introduction to Programming 110? The absolute basics of the basics?”

“Yeah. And before you say anything, this is why I’m getting a degree in the Political Sciences field.”

“Fortunately for the rest of us.”

Giving Sophie a frustrated look, Sam decided not to comment on what had just been said and instead fished his textbook and folder out of his backpack. He had been expecting this, more or less. Sophie had always had a rather frictional personality, even with those that she called friends. At least she was willing to help him, and he certainly couldn’t complain about that.

The hangar was practically alive with commotion and orders being given on the overhead speakers as the massive C-5 Galaxies were being loaded. Decepticons had been spotted in Shanghai, and N.E.S.T. and the Autobots had to move fast to neutralize the threat before the Decepticons did any more damage.

Peering down the sight of his modified M16A4, Major Lennox gave the grip a testing squeeze. Ever since they had started engaging Cybertronian enemies, their weaponry had, understandably, gotten a major overhaul. The assault rifles hadn’t been excluded, and were now augmented with high-powered impact rounds that were supposed to penetrate Cybertronian armor. Even then, though, Lennox had seen some Decepticons shrug the shots off like they were little more than a tickle.

A loud crash that rattled through the hangar, quickly followed by two arguing voices, snapped Lennox out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Mudflap and Skids bickering, each trying to hit the other with pieces of scrap metal that they had managed to procure. Though he couldn’t hear everything that was said, Lennox was able to figure out that the twins were upset about being an ice cream van.

“Hey, where’s Prime?” Mudflap yelled, noticing Lennox.

Glancing around, the Major started to respond, but was cut off when Skids interrupted.

“Yeah. We wanna’ know why we gotta’ be some scrappy-looking ice cream truck.”

“Well-” That was as far as Lennox got.

“We wanna’ be something faster!”

“If you two went any faster,” Ironhide interjected steely, walking over to the squabbling twins, “we might mistake you for annoying gnats and blast you both.”

“Hey, hey, cool the cannons there,” Mudflap said quickly, holding up his hands as he and his sibling backed away. “We were just asking. Ice cream truck sounds good for us, though.”

Despite Mudflap’s words, the moment the twins were out of earshot of both Ironhide and Lennox, they appeared to resume their bickering. Ventilating an exasperated sigh as he shook his helm, Ironhide looked back to Lennox. The Major was watching the two squabbling Autobots with a doubtful gaze, then scoffed and grinned up at Ironhide.

“Do those two ever stop arguing?”

“Not that I have ever seen,” Ironhide grumbled, glancing over at the two. “I wouldn’t be surprised if those two have been arguing since the day they were created.”

“And yet they’re twins,” Lennox commented lightly, looking down the sights of his assault rifle once more.

“Don’t remind me that there’s two of them.”

The jet ride was fortunately smooth enough, even with the turbulence that the storm that had started to brew over Shanghai. The inside of the jet had been relatively quiet, too, with the only real noises being the creaking of the jet along with idle chit chat amongst the soldiers. The Autobots, however, had been almost completely silent, and only spoke when spoken to.

Lennox glanced around at the soldiers, mentally hoping that they all made it through the fight. They all knew what Decepticons could do, and some had even seen the devastation first hand. Decepticons didn’t view humans in the same light that Autobots did. To Decepticons, humans were little more than insects that were in the way. Yes, they were living, but they were numerous and without individuality. There was rarely a second thought given when a Decepticon ended a human life.

“Sir?”

Pulled out of his thoughts, Lennox looked over at the soldier that had spoken up. It was one of the newer recruits, one of the soldiers that, for now, hadn’t seen what Decepticons could do firsthand. Nonetheless, Lennox recognized the soldier as being one of the men that had readily volunteered. They’d been incredibly proud of the N.E.S.T. emblem that they now wore on their uniform, but there was no mistaking the obvious nervousness that was written on the young man’s features.

“Williams,” Lennox replied with an acknowledging nod. “What is it?”

“These Decepticons… We’re looking at two, right?”

“Two have been confirmed. There could possibly be more. That’s why we’re bringing our own bots to the playing field.”

Lennox grinned and motioned to where Ironhide and Sideswipe were parked in the C-5. Both Autobots had been chained down for their own benefit, so as to keep them from rolling around as the C-5 flew around. Williams looked over at the two Autobots, then gave Lennox a wary smile before sighing and slouching back in his seat. The Major watched them for a few moments before looking down at the floor beneath him. He was probably just as nervous as the recruit was, but he was better at hiding it.

With a short burst of static, one of the pilots spoke through the overhead speaker, announcing that they were entering Shanghai airspace. Lennox took a deep breath and focused, gathering up his composure as he looked up to address the rest of the soldiers. Despite how nervous he might be, he wasn’t about to let it show through.

“All right, boys,” Lennox stated firmly. “This is what we trained for and what you’re here for. It’s time to go Decepticon hunting.”

After about forty-five minutes of Sophie trying to explain the basics of programming to Sam, he realized that while she was speaking English, he hadn’t understood a word of what she’d said. Given the fact that she was repeating herself and giving Sam an exasperated look, he safely guessed that she was realizing the same thing. He’d be lucky to pass the class with a C at this rate.

“Are you sure you need this class as a prerequisite?” Sophie asked, looking over the pages of Sam’s textbook. “Could you maybe take something else? Like...something easier?”

“What would be easier than this? My advisor said this was a ‘guaranteed A’.”

“Well, technically it should be…,” Sophie commented, trailing off. She picked up one of Sam’s homework papers and glanced over the answers that he had scribbled down. After a moment, she grimaced before setting aside the paper. “But your advisor may have been stoned when they told you that.”

“Great,” Sam muttered, thunking his head down on his textbook. “I’m never going to graduate thanks to this one class.”

“Like hell you’re not. You’re passing this class if I have to drag you kicking and screaming. I just can’t promise you an A.”

The brief thought of Sophie dragging him down the hallway to his Programming class while he kicked and screamed crossed Sam’s mind, and he had to stifle a snicker. It also reminded him that Leo had managed to rope him into going to a party that evening. While Sam still wasn’t sure how and why he had agreed to go, he knew he was going, nonetheless.

Then a thought crossed his mind.

“Hey, you want to go to a party?” Sam asked suddenly, looking over at Sophie.

There was a long pause of Sophie staring back at Sam, and then she began to break into a fit of muffled giggles. The giggling eventually became full blown laughter, and Sophie had to fan herself to keep the tears at bay. When she finally composed herself, Sam was giving her a very unamused look and was now leaning back in his seat with his arms crossed.

“Are you serious?” Sophie gasped through the last bits of her giggles.

“Yeah. Yeah, I am. I’m supposed to go with my roommate, but ten bucks says that he leaves me to fly solo and I don’t really want to be stuck around a bunch of people that I don’t know.”

“So, why did you agree to go in the first place?”

“Because he asked me to.”

“So back out.”

“I can’t really do that. He’d never let me live it down and may I remind you that he is my roommate.”

There was a pause, then Sophie gave Sam a level, narrow-eyed look.

“I’m not going to pretend to be your girlfriend.”

“What? No, no, no!” Attempting to brush off the sudden outburst, Sam leaned back in the chair as coolly as he could manage. “Besides, I have a girlfriend, remember?”

“I’m trying to forget. I can’t believe you’re still with Mikaela.”

“Why don’t you like her? What did she ever do to you?”

“I don’t have a problem with her,” Sophie replied with a quick shrug. “She was just always one of those popular and pretty girls. I...was not. I don’t know what she sees in you.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“And she knows how to hotwire vehicles. I do not.”

“So you’re jealous?”

“That. And I’m afraid she might steal my car.” Sophie stopped, then grinned at Sam. “Do you still have that sleek Camaro? You know, the yellow one with the black stripes?”

Bumblebee.

Sam sighed inwardly. He missed his friend, but he hadn’t really had a choice. The college campus forbid first-year students from having vehicles. Nonetheless, he still felt bad about leaving Bumblebee behind.

“Yeah, but I had to leave it at my parents.”

“Aw, bummer.”

“But I couldn’t even though I wanted to. First-year students can’t bring their own vehicles, remember?”

“Oh, yeah. Such a bullshit rule.” Sophie shook her head. “You still should have tried to sneak it in. How do you know your parents aren’t out doing donuts or dragging main in it?”

The idea of his parents doing anything more than 5 miles per hour in a school zone while driving Bumblebee was foreign enough to be on the line of pure hilarity. Sam couldn’t help but snicker as he shook his head. To their credit, though, his parents had promised to take care of Bumblebee and let him out for a drive when needed.

“I’m pretty sure they’re leaving my car alone.”

“I don’t know. I know I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off a car like that.” Sophie was digging around underneath her bed as she spoke, obviously looking for something. “Where are-hey! There they are!”

Sophie then hoisted up a pair of combat boots, grinning as though she’d managed to catch a wild animal.

“Are those even safe to wear?”

“Ha, ha. You’re hilarious,” Sophie grumbled, setting aside the shoes. “Fine. I’ll go to this party, simply because you’re bound to get yourself into trouble and there’s probably going to be free alcohol.”

“Aren’t you kind of an aggressive drunk?”

“Maybe,” Sophie replied with a shrug.

“And weren’t you also one of the star rugby players at our high school?”

“Yeah,” Sophie answered with a smug grin.

“So I’m going to have an aggressive drunk, ex-rugby player as a party friend?”

“Do you want me to go or not?”

Sam just sighed and nodded, already beginning to wonder if he’d made a very big mistake.

In a matter of mere minutes, the construction site had been turned into a war zone that had been utterly destroyed. Debris still smoldered as ash and smoke flitted around in the air while soldiers helped carry the wounded or dead back to transport vehicles. Optimus watched with a somber gaze as two soldiers helped a wounded comrade limp to a waiting jeep, but his thoughts were on the cryptic warning that one of the dying Decepticons had given.

The Fallen.

Frowning, the Prime turned his attention back to the Decepticon’s corpse. The message had been cryptic enough, and Optimus knew that whatever the Decepticons were preparing for was only going to put more strain on the alliance between the humans and the Autobots. It was both frustrating and disheartening that as things got worse, it seemed that communications and cooperation broke down.

“You’re awfully quiet.”

Ironhide’s voice brought Optimus out of his thoughts, and the Prime glanced over at the weapons specialist. He recognized the concerned expression that Ironhide was giving him, and Optimus ventilated a short sigh as he turned his attention back to the Decepticon corpse. He had to do something to keep the human-Autobot alliance strong in the face of the oncoming threat.

“I need to speak with Sam Witwicky,” Optimus finally answered, walking back to the landing area that N.E.S.T. had designated for the C-5s.

“The boy?” Ironhide queried, sounding surprised. “What for?”

“I fear that the alliance we have with the humans is about to be tested,” Optimus answered, gazing out at the Shanghai skyline. “Sam has worked with the Autobots before, and he knows, better than most, of our resolve to help the humans. The humans in power, however, do not. The Autobots are going to need help in convincing those humans of our resolve, and I believe that Sam can help.”

Snorting slightly in muted derision, Ironhide looked back to where the C-5s were landing. Personally, he thought it would be far better to have someone with more experience, such as Lennox or Epps, speak to the humans that were in power. And if they still wouldn’t listen, then perhaps their minds would change if they were left to face the Decepticons alone even once.

But Prime was insistent that the humans needed their help, and Ironhide wasn’t going to argue.

“Alright, gentlemen,” Lennox called out as he walked up to the two Autobots. “We’re packing up and shipping out. The clean up crew is coming in and you know how picky they can get. If we’re lucky, we’ll be back at the base in time for lunch.”

“So long as you’re not cooking, Major, I’ll call it good,” Williams commented as he walked by.

“Very funny, recruit. Keep it up and you’ll be on janitorial duty for a week,” Lennox replied with a grin. Despite his threat of clean up duty, the Major was glad that the recruit had made it through the fight with only a few cuts and bruises.

Watching as Williams darted off, Ironhide shook his helm. He still didn’t understand the humans’ fascination with insulting each other’s ability to cook. It seemed rather infantile to him, but it kept the humans in good enough spirits. So, as odd as it may have been, Ironhide supposed the banter had its place.

Now to see if Sam would be willing to once more take up his place in assisting the Autobots again.

#my writing #bayformers #tfoc #ironhide #fanfiction #writing #maccadam #transformers

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