Chapter 2: Lose a Friend

2034 CE

Washington, D.C., the United States, Earth

The elevator was descending deep underground. In a reflection of this, the spirits of General Mike Franklin, Colonel William Lennox, and Former Secretary of State Alexis Thi Dang were also sinking into the pits of their stomachs. They stood uneasily in the elevator, shifting around uneasily. They had been called for a meeting with the new President of the United States, Alexander Holt. Alexander Holt had ran on a campaign calling for American exceptionalism and the policy of strengthening America to become part of the intergalactic community. Normally, the people would have preferred to create an organization that represented the entire planet. However, relations between nations and organizations like the United Nations had been strained Constanza-Dang Papers. Shortly after Earth had agreed to cooperate with the Autobot-led government on Cybertron in 2030, President Gabriella Constanza and Secretary of State Alexis Thi Dang made several documents public. These were documents pertaining information about the Earth Federation. It was with the release of these papers that humanity came to a horrifying conclusion: the governments of the world were collaborating with these gigantic aliens for over a decade behind the backs of the people.

Shortly after the Third Cybertronian War, nicknamed the "Armada War," a collaborative effort was established between Cybertron and Earth. In 2010, American scientists came upon an advanced Autobot forward operations base in the caves of Lincoln, Nebraska. Once peace was established on Cybertron, Optimus Prime had felt it appropriate to consolidate ties between Earth and Cybertron. The upper echelon of the United Nations Security Council came to the conclusion that the public was not ready to know that they were not alone in the universe and the decision was made to create a special, top-secret organization to help the Cybertronians. Thus, the most secret organizations of the planet collaborated to form the Earth Federation. Politicians, Scientists, and specially contracted laborers were brought to develop not only Energon Mining and Cybertronian Residential areas on Earth called "Cyber Cities," but also developed joint Earth-Cybertronian colonies on the Moon, various asteroids, and even on Mars. Then came the Fourth Cybertronian War, the "Powerlinx Battles." Earth faced invasion after invasion from alien forces and somehow the government managed to keep it all under wraps. The breaking point was the Energon Grid. As the Constanza-Dang Papers revealed, the frequency of invasions and the heightened need for security caused more and more individuals to support informing the public of the truth, most notably Alexis Thi Dang and Doctor Brian Jones. Ultimately, the Energon Grid was made as a shield on Earth to protect it from alien invasion. Throughout the night sky, red protective beams shone through the dark. As Alexis was lost in thought in the elevator, she remembered that hectic press conference with the United Nations in 2020.

"Dr. Jones, we're ordered to never leak any confidential material!" Alexis scolded.

"Yes but, Alexis, we almost didn't even get the grid up in time! Earth came this close to being destroyed!" Dr. Jones replied, pinching his fingers to show how close Earth came to damnation. He glanced nervously at the curtain that led to the UN Stage. They could hear idle chattering of the news reporters and politicians. "They… They need to know."

"Dr. Jones." Alexis asserted. "You go out there and you give them the best cover story you have. Or else there will be no helping your studies, your son, or your planet." It hurt Alexis to be this harsh, but she considered herself the voice of reason even if proper reasoning was harsh. It reminded her of back when she was in school with two certain idiots who enjoyed playing around and shirking their work. Dr. Jones looked at Alexis and sighed, and walked past the curtain on to the stage.

Televised across the world, Dr. Jones took his position behind the United Nations podium. He looked into the crowd nervously. He quickly took a swig of water from the bottle on the podium and looked back at the crowd. He gulped and cleared his throat.

"Uh-" Before he could get a sentence out, the microphone made a loud screech as it adjusted to the audio levels. It lasted for about two seconds before stabilizing. Dr. Jones noticeably jumped at the noise.

"Uh, I am Dr. Brian Jones of the United Nations Special, uh, Sciences Committee." He said, struggling to remember the official public title he held. "In regards to the red, uh, lights in the sky all over the planet a few hours ago, we are unclear as to why the phenomenon occurred. I, uh…"

Come on, Brian! You thought of protecting the Earth with a giant shield and didn't expect anyone to question it!? Jones thought to himself. Well, yes, of course! Because I didn't expect the Federation to want to remain with their secrecy even in times of need like these! He defended himself from himself

"Uh… The scientists in the lab think that its… uh…." Jones stumbled.

Come on, Brian, THINK!

"Uh… It's the work of….Global Warming." He finally sputtered out. A moment of silence came upon the crowd in bewilderment. Dr. Jones looked embarrassed at the crowd. The silence lasted much longer than it should have. "Uh, anyway, that's just what the preliminary reports are saying so, uh, don't put too much stock into that-" Dr. Jones said quickly, picking up the water bottle and casually sidestepping away from the podium towards the curtain. He could feel Alexis' eyes of anger from where he was standing. "Thank you all for coming!" And with a laugh, Dr. Jones paced back into the room behind the curtain. Alexis looked angrier than Jones could feel.

The world never did get their answer, did they? Alexis thought to herself. It became such a commonplace that eventually people just accepted it. And then when the war left Earth, we didn't use it again. She continued to think about the past. How after the Powerlinx Battles and after Earth sent what it believed to be all of its remaining Energon reserves to the war effort in space, the United Nations decided that maintaining an organization to keep relations with the Autobots was more risk that reward. Despite the vast amount of Energon found in the ruins of Jungle City, the United Nations dissolved the Earth Federation. All records of the Cybertronian relations with Earth was to be locked away.

Funny how things work out.

After the Fifth Cybertronian War, there was no more covering up. Optimus Prime and the Autobots revealed themselves to the public sector. A fleet of Decepticons had filled the skies of the planet. Portals opened up in the sky, showing every human a dark, black hole that threatened to destroy their reality. By the end of the conflict, Colonel Mike Franklin was sent as a ambassador to Cybertron. A human was at the negotiation table for the peace treaty, for God's sake!

Alexis worked closely with the new President, Gabriella Constanza. President Constanza had expressed that she wished there was a more uniform way to secure relations with the Transformers. And with that, Alexis told her of the secrets of the Earth Federation. President Constanza, with all her good intentions, released the documents to show that Cybertronian-Human relations was not unnatural, but a constant in recent human history. Constanza intended to get public support on the documents to propose the recreation of the Earth Federation on a larger scale to the United Nations whom she worked closely with.

That wasn't the effect the Constanza-Dang Papers had.

The people already had a mistrust in the government, but their trust was blown out of the waters with the reveal that the governments of the world had been lying to them for decades. The idea of globalism sharply lost public approval. In democracies across the world, candidates that called for the consolidation of power for their one country and less for the world rose to power. Among these was President Alexander Holt.

And just as the thought of Holt came to Alexis' mind, the elevator opened into the dark conference room. Across the conference table, sitting in his suit, fingers interlocked to support his stern head, was President Alexander Holt. Alexis and General Franklin walked into the room. Upon entering, they noticed other men sitting at the table. Most of them were members of congress or members of the cabinet, including Secretary of State Tarzan Chameleon who replaced Alexis. Standing to the side of Holt was the Secretary of Defense, General Joseph Colton. As they approached the table, Franklin saluted his superiors.

"General. Former Secretary." Holt acknowledged them. "I need your help."

"How may we be of assistance, Mr. President?" Alexis asked, scared to hear the answer. Holt looked up at her.

"We need any information you two may have to help us catch ourselves an alien." As Holt said this, General Colton activated the screen behind him, showing live footage of light-orange helicopter. Franklin's eyes widened. He couldn't help but let out a horrified and surprised breath containing one word:

"Evac."

Lennox Heard them at the Same time with a look of Concern on his face.