EPISODE I: SECRET ALLIANCE
�The chair recognizes Mr. William Connelly.�
He walked up to the podium. �Thank you, Mr. Chairman,� Connelly said.
Marissa Faireborne watched as the head of the Earth Defense Command began to speak. She knew exactly where this was going.
�I have to say, it�s been a few weeks since Rodimus Prime�s stunning performance here,� Connelly continued, looking very smug. �He almost had me fooled when he insisted that the Autobots were still needed on Earth.
�But we have not heard from him since. Apparently there was some �crisis� on Cybertron, one that he considered far more important than these hearings. This just proves how little regard the Autobots have for us. So I ask you, the distinguished members of the United Nations, to approve a motion.
�I want you to order the Autobots to remove themselves from our planet. Permanently.�
The chairman took no time in speaking up. �I understand your position, Mr. Connelly. Still, Rodimus Prime did make a point that their presence on this planet is a great deterrence against enemies.�
�Deterrence?� Connelly said, laughing out loud. �The EDC, due to my outstanding leadership, has become absolutely efficient. Not only that, I have made it the most powerful fighting force in the galaxy. I have a demonstration.�
He pulled out a small disc from his briefcase and put it into a projector. An imaged flashed on the wall: the title was �The Ultimate Defense Command.� The audience gasped.
On the screen was a robot the size of a Transformer. Not far from the robot were some targets.
Connelly began narrating. �As you can see, this new soldier is vastly improved upon our old human counterparts. It is totally automated, and only a few operators can control a whole army. Watch its ultimate fighting power.�
The robot faced the targets. It suddenly broke out into a sprint, moving at a high velocity towards the first one. The robot just hit the target, and it shattered into pieces. Running to the second target, it took out a sword. The target was sliced in half. Putting the sword away, the robot just stopped. It then held up its arms as both hands turned into laser cannons. They fired, completely vaporizing the last target.
�As you can see,� Connelly said as the projection went dark. �These new soldiers for the EDC are stronger, faster and more agile than our regular human soldiers. I have now decided to liquidate all human commandos from the EDC.�
�Mr. Connelly!� the chairman spoke up. �Are you serious?�
�Very serious, Mr. Chairman. It only takes a handful of technicians to control these ultimate soldiers.�
�But we�re talking about people�s jobs!� another UN ambassador said.
�People�s jobs can take a back seat when it comes to this planet�s defense,� Connelly said. �Even the Autobots would agree that these robot soldiers are more competent than any human.�
He made eye contact with Marissa Faireborne. �As I�m sure you will.�
�Cocky bastard,� Marissa said, under her breath. She knew that Connelly was talking directly to her, even if he was addressing the UN.
�Well,� Connelly said. �This concludes my presentation. I leave it in the hands of you, the United Nations. I�m sure you�ll make the correct decision.�
He left the podium and took his seat. The chairman took the floor. �Well then. This meeting is adjourned; the members will hold a vote on the current issue. These votes will be due in one week.�
Everyone murmured as they shuffled out. Marissa Faireborne, however, spoke to no one. She kept her eyes on William Connelly; she knew there was something sinister about him. Those robot soldiers were of Cybertronian technology; there wasn�t any way that they were developed solely by humanity. How did he obtain that technology?
Marissa moved her way through the crowd, making sure Connelly didn�t leave her sight.
�Get the hell out of here!�
�You�re nothing but trouble!�
�Why won�t you leave us alone?!?�
The crowd outside of Metroplex was growing in number each day, and each day they seemed even more vicious. Keeping the Autobot city clean from the countless paraphernalia thrown each day was becoming a full time job for the Autobots. Still, they refused to leave.
It had been a dark time for them. Omnicron had threatened to bring back Unicron by killing most of the Autobots on Cybertron. Fortunately, everything had been set right once again thanks to the efforts of Rodimus Prime. The victory was short sighted: the human population was becoming incredibly distrustful. Omnicron�s kidnapping had kept the Autobots from arguing their case with the United Nations.
Now the anti-Autobot cause had grown to astronomical proportions. There weren�t many humans left who supported them 100 percent. Of course, they didn�t care about public opinion. They cared about what was right and what was wrong. The fact was that the Decepticons, while dormant now, never stayed quiet for long. They would return; it was just a question of when.
So now they waited. In a week, the United Nations would decide whether they would stay or leave Earth, sealing the planet�s fate forever.
On the planet of Cybertron, Ultra Magnus was briefing Rodimus Prime on the recent UN meeting. He summarized the meeting completely, keeping in the important details. Rodimus was especially surprised to hear about the Cybertronian-like soldiers that Connelly had obtained.
�So what you�re telling me is that Connelly has gained some sort of access to our technology?� Rodimus asked when Ultra Magnus was finished.
�I�m not sure how he did it, but his new �soldiers� are nothing like any human technology I�ve ever seen.�
�Well, what can we do about this? Has Goldbug made any attempt to track Connelly? Figure out what�s going on?�
�I hear he�s got someone on the job,� Ultra Magnus said. �One of the best intelligence people in the business.�
�Who?�
Back in New York, Marissa Faireborne was making sure she kept William Connelly�s limousine in sight at all times. Intelligence being one of her specialties in the Army, she was easily able to tail the EDC director. Actually, this whole assignment the Autobots had asked her to do was quite invigorating. Marissa felt like she was back in the middle of the action once again.
Marissa Faireborne�s life had been a tumultuous one, full of hardships and victories. Born in 1981 in the town of Millville, she lived a relatively easygoing life until 1994. A terrorist organization known as Cobra had seized control of Millville and many innocents died. Her parents were among them.
After the US military organization GI Joe retook Millville from Cobra, the 13-year-old girl had no place to go. Suffering from extreme shock and amnesia, she had no recollection of her former life. One particular member of the Joe team felt a great sympathy for her, and took her under her wing. Her name was Corporal Alison Hart-Burnett, better known as Lady Jaye. She practically adopted the young girl, and named her Marissa after her mother. Later, when the GI Joe team was disbanded in 1995, Lady Jaye left the Army and married Chief Warrant Officer Dashiell Faireborne, known as Flint on the Joe team. The two adopted Marissa officially, and they settled down as a family in Washington DC.
During high school, the young Miss Faireborne did not fit in well with the other students. She did have much of a social life, but she was an outstanding athlete and exceptional student. Marissa was so outstanding in her studies that she was able to earn entry into West Point right out of high school. After four years, Marissa Faireborne graduated magna cum laude from the military academy and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army.
Her first assignment was to the intelligence division. Almost immediately she was given a mission to track a terrorist group called the Mahadan in the Middle East. They were responsible for several embassy bombings and had threatened that they held a nuclear device. The President was concerned that this may have been more than an idle threat, and wanted a well-trained group of soldiers to see if the Mahadan truly was a nuclear power.
During her mission, Lt. Faireborne�s fellow team members were killed in a firefight with the terrorists. Taken as a prisoner of war, she was questioned and only gave the terrorists her name, rank, service number, and date of birth. The Mahadan leaders themselves questioned her and then chose to execute her by firing squad. On the day of her execution, she was able to successfully escape from her cell and find the nuclear weapon. After searching thoroughly for any more devices, Marissa stole a radio from the communications room and contacted the authorities, giving the exact coordinates of the Mahadan camp. She escaped the camp with the nuclear device right before the Air Force bombed the Mahadan base, ending their threat forever.
Upon her return to the United States, Second Lieutenant Marissa Faireborne was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and regarded as a hero. The President himself commended Marissa for her bravery and valor. She was instantly promoted to the rank of Captain and was in command of an elite intelligence unit.
Near the end of the year 2005, the United States, as well as many other allied nations, decided to create a military organization whose sole purpose was to defend Earth against aggression. Working closely with the Autobots, they created the Earth Defense Command, an elite fighting force whose job was to protect the planet at all costs. The Autobots suggested that a human would become commander of the EDC to maintain human-Autobot relations. Captain Faireborne applied quickly, seeing this as a chance to help her nation as well as her planet. No other applicant even came close to being appointed.
So on January 1, 2006; Marissa Faireborne was named the first commander of the Earth Defense Command at the age of 25. Although relatively young, she was highly respected by both Earth and Cybertronian communities for her wisdom and leadership. For the next year she and the Autobots fought side by side against the Decepticon threat.
Then, only three years after her being named commander of the EDC, Marissa was replaced by William Connelly. The United Nations, who funded the Command, saw no need for the organization due to the absence of Decepticon aggression. Despite Optimus Prime�s warnings, they named Connelly the new �commander� and demoted Marissa to the duty of recruit trainer.
After the demotion, Marissa became increasingly suspicious of Connelly�s motives. The steps he used to downsize the EDC were swift and immense, with almost half the troops being laid off in the first year. One night she broke into his office to see if she could obtain any evidence to support her suspicions. Unfortunately, Connelly�s guards caught Marissa, and the EDC director fired her on the spot. Ever since then she had been without a job; Connelly had tarnished her image completely.
So when Goldbug asked her if she would tail William Connelly, Marissa happily accepted. She wanted to take him down personally. At the moment she was driving a rental car, keeping a safe distance between the limousine and her car. There was no way that Connelly or his two bodyguards could match wits with her in this field. Working for an Army intelligence unit gave her more than enough experience to not get caught.
The strange thing was that the limo was not heading to Connelly�s office. In fact, the car was heading east, out of New York City completely. Then, as she was wondering where he was headed, Marissa saw the limo take a familiar exit. She was even more intrigued at the vehicle�s destination. The only place worth visiting out that way was an old airbase, long since abandoned.
Sure enough, that was exactly where Connelly was headed. Marissa parked her car a mile or so from the air base and took out her binoculars. There was Connelly, getting out of the car as the two bodyguards got out as well: one from the back and the other from the driver�s seat. Fortunately, her binoculars were strong enough for her to read their lips.
�Okay,� Connelly was saying. �I�m going inside to talk to him. You two wait out here.�
�Yes, sir,� both bodyguards said in unison. Connelly stepped inside a nearby hangar while the guard who had driven turned off the car.
Getting out of her car, Marissa opened the trunk. Right after renting the vehicle, she stored her high-powered custom sniper rifle and a few other weapons here. Taking out the rifle and a laser pistol, she quickly loaded the rifle with a few non-lethal tranquilizer rounds. Aiming at the two clueless bodyguards, she dropped them both in a matter of seconds. Marissa put the rifle back in her trunk and started to run.
Seven minutes later, she was at the front door of the hangar. Connelly had not yet emerged from inside, and the bodyguards would be asleep for hours. Walking slowly and silently, Marissa took out a recorder along with a small microphone. Placing the mike up to the door, she listened and recorded the conversation.
�You should have seen them,� Connelly said. �Not one of those fools has a clue.�
�Then the systems are fully operational?� another voice asked. Marissa didn�t recognize it.
�Absolutely. The technology has done wonders for the Command. I almost wish we were using these robots to defend the world instead of�well, doing otherwise.�
Marissa couldn�t believe her ears. She knew Connelly was unscrupulous, but never once suspected him of megalomania. Still, he had just stated offhandedly that he was planning to use these new soldiers of his to take over. The old adrenaline kicked in, and Marissa felt her blood pumping at a mile a minute. One of the few things Marissa hated was a traitor, a wolf in sheep�s clothing. Reaching into her holster, she took out her laser pistol and slid open the hangar door.
�All right, both of you!� she cried. �Freeze! Hands behind your heads, and down on the floor!�
Connelly put his hands up, but his partner was nowhere to be found. The hangar was empty besides an old F-15 and some cobwebs.
�Where is he, Connelly?� Marissa asked. �I heard another voice, where�s your friend?�
Connelly only smiled. �Oh, Captain Faireborne, I�m afraid that you are in way over your head.�
�Shut up,� she snapped. �I�m a witness, I heard what you were saying. You�re never going to get any further than you are already. Now where is your friend?�
�Foolish fleshling,� the voice said. Suddenly, the F-15 began to change. Almost immediately, Marissa realized who Connelly�s partner was. She had seen old Autobot records of some of their fiercest enemies, and one of those enemies was standing before her with a gun pointed in her direction.
�Now,� he said. �What was this about �hands behind my head?��
�I know you,� Marissa said. �I thought you were dead.�
�Not likely,� Starscream answered. �I never stay down for long.�
TO BE CONTINUED