Chapter 206 Different Choices (Patreon)

Transformers Begin : Table of Content/Chapter List

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As soon as Cheney entered his office, he noticed that besides his secretary, CIA Director Michael Hayden was also waiting there.

"Director Hayden, why are you here too?"

The presence of the CIA director in his office immediately made Cheney aware of the seriousness of the situation.

In the United States, the president holds great power, although subject to limitations by Congress. However, this does not mean that anyone can treat the president as a puppet and disregard his authority without his orders.

So, unless he arrived with an urgent contact from the Moscow embassy, no one in the White House would dare to summon a government official without informing him.

Sure enough!

Director Hayden's expression was grim. He bowed slightly to Cheney, who was still a bit sleepy, and said, "Mr. President, there is an urgent contact from the United States Embassy in Moscow. Just an hour and a half ago, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry secretly visited Ambassador Boyan and conveyed that the North Dvensk Shipyard in Russia was attacked, and a Typhoon-class ballistic missile nuclear submarine was stolen..."

"Ah..."

Cheney had just sat down and taken a sip of the hot coffee his secretary had prepared for him. He never expected such explosive news to come out of his mouth.

In an instant, Cheney, startled, spewed out the coffee, narrowly missing Director Hayden, who was standing across from him.

"Cough... cough..."

The violent coughing startled the secretary who was waiting nearby. She hurriedly approached with concern and gently patted his back. "Mr. President... Mr. President, are you okay?"

"I... I'm fine... Sorry..."

Cheney gulped down two mouthfuls of the fresh water that Director Hayden had poured for him, suppressing both the discomfort in his throat and the shock in his heart.

After finally stopping the coughing, he no longer worried about politeness. Looking at Hayden with a face full of astonishment, he asked, "Are you sure about this, Director? You're saying Russia lost a ballistic missile nuclear submarine? What day is it today, April Fool's Day?"

"I'm afraid it's true, Mr. President!"

Director Hayden, still wearing a stern expression and with a slight quiver in his mustache above his lips, continued, "After Dmitry left Ambassador Boyan, even he doubted the authenticity of the information. He commissioned a military officer to inquire about the situation. We urgently contacted several intelligence personnel embedded in the Russian Ministry of Defense and the North Dvensk Shipyard. It can be confirmed that Russia has indeed lost a submarine. However, Dmitry also admitted that the submarine was not equipped with any weapons, especially nuclear warheads!"

Cheney nodded, which explained why Michael Hayden appeared in the White House. The personnel responsible for gathering intelligence were undoubtedly agents and spies from the CIA.

However...

Frowning, President Cheney rubbed his temples and incredulously said, "A lost nuclear submarine? Has the Russian Navy really declined to such a level? So, my dear Director, can you tell me who stole Russia's submarine? I know about the Typhoon-class; although it's not comparable to our Ohio-class, it's still a monster with a displacement of over 20,000 tons. Who would have the capability to steal it? Indians? Chinese? Vietnamese? Or North Koreans?"

Clearly, he was not entirely uninformed. The countries Cheney mentioned had all shown great interest in Russian submarines and had been waving money around, attempting to make purchases!

"Mr. President, the problem is much more serious than you imagine!"

Director Hayden's gaze turned to the file folder on the table in front of Cheney. He had just been about to look at the documents when he was startled by the sudden report, causing some coffee to spray onto them, resulting in him pausing his reading.

Now, prompted by his gaze, Cheney reluctantly picked up the file folder that he had dirtied. Overcoming his disgust, he opened it and began reading the unaffected documents inside.

Soon, his face began to darken.

After spending about three to four minutes reading all the documents in the folder, President Cheney's face had turned completely grim.

"Decepticons? Those damn robots again!"

Angrily, he slammed the file onto his desk and stared fixedly at the black-and-white picture displayed at the top of the document. Cheney looked furious, grinding his teeth in hatred.

Hayden naturally knew why he looked like that.

Because the black-and-white picture clearly captured a figure that made the upper echelons of the United States uneasy.

Decepticon warrior—Frenzy!

Just a week ago, the NEST team had located a hiding place of the Decepticons within the United States.

After obtaining approval, the NEST team was authorized to take action.

The elite force, composed of over a thousand battle-hardened veterans from various branches of the U.S. military, along with dozens of Apache combat helicopters, hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles, and a few high-ranking Autobot warriors, headed to the abandoned nuclear missile silo in Savoche County, Colorado, where the Decepticons had been spotted.

The battle ended in a very short time, unlike the simple and efficient one that took place in Tucson over a month ago.

However, the battle in Savoche County inflicted severe damage and heavy losses on the newly established NEST team.

Two Reaper drones crashed, dozens of armed Apache helicopters, dozens of M1A2 main battle tanks, and infantry vehicles were systematically destroyed, nearly five hundred soldiers perished, and the rest were almost all injured, with less than two hundred expected to recover and live a normal life.

Even the Autobots lost a high-ranking warrior in the battle in Savoche County.

Without a doubt, that Autobot named Mudflap should have also fallen into the hands of the Decepticons.

And the robot that caused such devastating losses to the NEST team was none other than the Decepticon—Frenzy.

After the conclusion of the Savoche County battle, due to the heavy losses suffered by the NEST team, the NEST program was basically in a "halt for reevaluation" stage.

The White House, Capitol Hill, and the military could not accept such heavy losses. The person in charge of the NEST team, Major William, was temporarily suspended and investigated, and Cheney sent a White House Chief of Staff named Galoway to negotiate with the Autobots.

He hoped to use this opportunity to obtain more concessions from the rigid and inflexible Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, such as opening up more Cybertronian technology to the U.S. government to arm the U.S. military and arms manufacturers.

Unfortunately, Optimus Prime's attitude was even more firm than he had imagined.

The Autobots refused to open up more Cybertronian technology to the U.S. government. They even forbade the U.S. government from continuing research on the bodies of Megatron and Blackout that had been confiscated.

President Cheney was originally very dissatisfied and angry with this. He even considered ending the NEST program and forcibly expelling the Autobots from Earth.

However, from the current perspective, this was clearly not a good choice.

There were still many evil Decepticons lurking on Earth, and even Frenzy, who had caused significant damage to the U.S. government multiple times, had not been eliminated.

He had audaciously attacked the U.S. Sector Seven research facility before, and even stole an abandoned U.S. nuclear missile silo.

And now, he had once again extended his reach to other countries on Earth and stolen a nuclear submarine from Russia.

Countless thoughts raced through President Cheney's mind, and he quickly came up with a plan.

The NEST program had to continue. The United States needed the power of the Autobots to completely defeat all the Decepticons lurking on Earth.

So, at least until the Decepticons were completely defeated, they couldn't turn against the Autobots.

"However, this might also be an opportunity..."

A sudden thought crossed his mind, and President Cheney squinted his eyes.

As the hawkish president who led the United States into the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, he was always thinking about how to lead the country to global dominance.

Now, it seemed that he had found a great opportunity.

After organizing his thoughts in his mind, Cheney suddenly raised his head and looked at Director Hayden, who was waiting quietly in front of him. He smiled and said, "Director Hayden, it seems you'll have to stay a little longer!"

He then turned to his secretary and said, "Go, summon the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State. It seems we need to disclose some intelligence about the extraterrestrial visitors to NATO and our allies!"

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Next Chapter >>Chapter 207 Battle Robot (Part 1)