Chapter 364: Autobots Attack (Part 2) (Patreon)

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"The NEST will not be disbanded!"

After a long silence, Major William spoke up.

Captain Robert paused the movement of rubbing his cheek wound and glanced at the "Sea Stallion" helicopter not far away. "Maybe."

Savage County, Colorado has become a taboo in the hearts of every NEST soldier, and the fierce battle to besiege Decepticon "Frenzy" has even caused more than half of the surviving US soldiers to suffer from "post-war psychological syndrome."

But there is no way. The blow that the battle in Savage County brought to the fledgling NEST was too heavy.

If we only look at the equipment losses, the losses of the US military in Savage County are naturally not as tragic as in the Battle of Las Vegas.

They only lost two Predators, 30-40 Apache helicopters, several armed Black Hawk helicopters, and more than 100 tanks and infantry vehicles.

However, more than 700 soldiers were killed, and the blow to the US military was heavy.

It should be noted that every selected US soldier in the NEST is either a veteran who has served in the Middle East for more than five years, or a special forces soldier who has been strictly trained and transferred from the Green Berets, Delta Force, and Navy SEALs. It is not an exaggeration to say that every soldier is the elite backbone of the US military.

It can be imagined how heavy the loss in Savage County is for the US side. NEST has become the focus of Washington's debate for some time. It has even been rumored several times that it may be disbanded.

If it were not for Optimus Prime's subsequent self-blame, personally leading the Autobots to join forces with NEST to eliminate two groups of Decepticons that were captured, and even made some concessions, leaving the remains of the four Decepticons to be dealt with by the United States government, I am afraid that the existence of NEST is still an unknown.

The helicopter's cabin was quickly opened, and a middle-aged white man wearing gold-rimmed glasses jumped out of the cabin with the support of a black-suited assistant.

"It seems that we have a big trouble!"

Captain Robert muttered softly.

Major William also frowned visibly when he saw the newcomer. The middle-aged white man who had just come down from the helicopter was named Galloway. He was the chief of staff of the White House and a member of the Core, the inner circle of the current US president's advisers.

However, if a list of Washington politicians who are most opposed to the cooperation between the US government and the Autobots is really drawn up, Galloway's name will definitely be on the list, and he will rank very high.

"Major, it seems that you don't want to see me very much!"

As soon as Galloway and his assistant walked to Major William and Captain Robert, the former sneered and saluted them. With his head held high and a victorious look on his face, he said arrogantly, "Hmmph!"

Major William looked at him calmly and said in a flat tone, "No, Chief Galloway!"

He knew that the other party was deliberately making trouble. Because of the special nature of the NEST unit and the relationship with the other party's consistent position, Galloway was confronted with various obstacles by him on several visits to the temporary base in Nevada before NEST was relocated to Diego Garcia Island.

Now, it can only be said that the tables have turned.

"Hmph..."

Galloway snorted twice, tilted his head to the assistant beside him, and the latter immediately took out a pass document from his briefcase and handed it to him.

Then, Galloway held the document with one hand and raised it directly in front of Major William, saying coldly, "This is a special authorization document from the President. Can I enter the base now?"

Without waiting for his reply, he directly stuffed the document into Major William's hand and walked straight into the base.

Major William did not stop him this time, but he still picked up the document that was forcibly handed over to him and checked it. After confirming that there was a signature from the President and the seal of the White House Office, he put it away.

"How much trouble do you think he will cause?"

Captain Robert asked in a low voice, leaning in.

"I don't know!" Major William shook his head, looking worried as he watched Galloway walking away, "But one thing is certain, he is not here for a good reason!"

After speaking, the two of them looked at each other tacitly and quickly chased after him.

"Major, Washington's patience with your robot friends is getting shorter and shorter!"

After glancingat Major William and Captain Robert who were following him, Galloway sneered and said, "The Savage County incident has caused too much damage to our military. The public opinion is very negative about the cooperation between NEST and the Autobots. I have already submitted a report to the President, suggesting that the cooperation between the two parties should be re-evaluated."

"What do you mean?" Major William asked in a deep voice.

"I mean, it's time for the Autobots to leave!" Galloway said coldly, "They are not our allies, they are just alien creatures that happen to be on our side. We don't need to rely on them to protect our country. We have our own military and our own weapons."

Major William's face became cold. "The Autobots have been our allies for many years. They have helped us many times. They are not just some alien creatures. They are our friends."

Galloway sneered. "Friends? Do you know what their ultimate goal is? They want to find the AllSpark and use it to rebuild their own planet. They don't care about our country or our people. They are just using us. And you, Major, are just a pawn in their game."

Major William's face became even colder. "I am not a pawn. And the Autobots are not using us. They have proven their loyalty to us many times. They have sacrificed themselves for us. And we will stand by them, no matter what."

Galloway laughed mockingly. "You are just a sentimental fool, Major. You don't understand the bigger picture. The Autobots are a threat to our national security. We can't trust them. And we don't need them. It's time for them to leave."

Major William's fists clenched. "I will not allow that to happen. The Autobots are our allies, and we will stand by them. If you try to force them to leave, you will have to go through me first."

Galloway's eyes narrowed. "Is that a threat, Major?"

"It's a promise," Major William said firmly.

Galloway sneered and turned to leave. "We'll see about that, Major. We'll see."

Major William watched him go, his face grim. The situation was getting worse. The government was turning against the Autobots, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He knew that he had to find a way to convince the government to change its mind, or the Autobots would be forced to leave, and the consequences could be disastrous.

After a moment of silence, Major William finally gave up on defending the Autobots and stood up straight, saying "Yes-sir."

"Very good!"

Seeming satisfied with his attitude, Galloway stopped targeting him and instead scrutinized his face for a moment before turning around and walking towards the base.

"The President sent me here to inspect the recovery status of your 'Sound Nest' troops and to see whether those aliens are behaving. This is to consider whether to continue assigning tasks to you!"

"Please rest assured, in the past few months, our Sound Nest troops have been supplemented by personnel from the army and the Marines. Apart from some weapons and equipment that have not yet arrived, our strength has already been restored to almost the same level as before."

Naturally, Major William chose to say the good things first, but in reality, the situation of the Sound Nest troops after reconstruction was very bad. Although they had received some supplements from the army and the navy, the quality was not as good as before.

However, these were still acceptable, but now the most troublesome thing was that during the siege of Frenzy in Savage County, almost all of their equipment was lost in the final explosion, and except for some individual equipment that has been approved by the Pentagon's logistics bureau, all other requested equipment and military aircraft have been temporarily withheld by the Ministry of Defense under the pretext of needing further research.

As a result, the soldiers of the Sound Nest stationed on Diego Garcia Island now have to use the weapons and equipment left by the Marines who were previously stationed there even for their daily training.

Galloway listened carefully to his introduction, occasionally interjecting a word or two, but most of the time he did not express any opinion.

In the end, Major William, who was not as politically savvy as a politician, took the initiative to mention the current plight of the Sound Nest.

Unfortunately, Galloway seemed to have not heard anything and just kept urging, "Please show me around the base first!"

"Okay!"

An open-top Hummer was brought over, and he himself acted as a tour guide, taking Galloway and his entourage, as well as Captain Robert, for a tour of the military base that used to belong to the United States Navy. After more than an hour, they finally stopped in front of a clearly newly constructed building.

"...Director Galloway , this is the communication center for the remote Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting. We use a dedicated military satellite for encrypted transmission, which can effectively ensure the confidentiality of the meeting!"

The Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting is the direct agency responsible for reviewing and approving the actions of the Sound Nest troops. It is composed of the Minister of Defense, the Chief of Staff of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and is directly responsible to the President.

Under normal circumstances, the Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting is rarely held.

Major William remembered the last time it was held was after the Battle of Savage, when the Sound Nest troops almost suffered a total defeat, causing a shock among the United States high-level officials.

Since then, the Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting has not been held again.

The newly built communication center for the Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting on Diego Garcia Island has only been opened experimentally for a few seconds.

Galloway was interested in touring the communication center for a while, and then suddenly asked, "Major, why didn't we see your alien friends in the base just now?"

"Uh..."

Major William hesitated for a moment before answering, "Optimus Prime feels very guilty about our losses in Savage, so he has been personally leading a team of Autobots to investigate any intelligence related to Frenzy in the past few months. In addition, Ironhide and Sideswipe are also chasing other Decepticons who have infiltrated Earth... As for Bumblebee, he is currently in the United States protecting a friend of his!"

As soon as the words were spoken, Captain Robert knew it was going to be bad.

Sure enough, Galloway, who had already shown a slight smile on his face, immediately turned dark at the words.

He almost walked over to Major William in one step, and roared at him through gritted teeth: "Dereliction of duty, Major, this is a serious dereliction of duty!"

Although Major William was almost sprayed in the face with spittle, he could not respond in any way, because he knew that it was indeed a dereliction of duty.

When Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots, first contacted the United States government, most of the decision-makers, including intelligence agencies, the Pentagon, and the White House, were strongly opposed to placing the Autobots in the United States because of the brutal events in District Seven and Las Vegas.

Therefore, after the establishment of the N.E.S.T. unit, they were temporarily placed in the sparsely populated former nuclear test site in Nevada.

Later, they even reluctantly chose the important naval base of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean as the residence of the N.E.S.T. unit, far away from the United States mainland. After the arrangements were completed, they almost immediately notified the Autobots and N.E.S.T. to leave.

It can be said that since the beginning of the cooperation, the decision-makers in Washington have been dealing with the Autobots with fear and distrust.

Although the establishment of N.E.S.T. was to eliminate the more aggressive and brutal Decepticons, the United States government also wanted to use it to manage and supervise the Autobots and even achieve complete control.

Now, Galloway is one of the politicians in Washington who trusts the Autobots the least. When he heard Major William, the person in charge of N.E.S.T., report that the Autobots, who were supposed to stay on Diego Garcia, were wandering around the world, and some were even still in the United States, he exploded like a powder keg!

He continued to reprimand them with ugly words.

Especially when he mentioned that he was going to send Major William to a military court, Captain Robert, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but interrupt his anger.

"Director Galloway... we admit that there are indeed some problems with the management of the N.E.S.T. unit, but there is no other way... You should know that the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, cooperated with us in order to unite the power of humans to eliminate the evil Decepticons that threaten the peace of Earth. But the equipment we applied for has not been approved, and only some individual weapons cannot be put into battle... Perhaps the Autobots also saw this and chose to hunt down the Decepticons alone..."

Despite his rough appearance, Captain Robert had a much higher emotional quotient than Major William.

After Captain Robert finished speaking, although Galloway still didn't give them a good face and even coldly snorted at Major William, his attitude softened again.

After a long silence, Galloway finally spoke slowly.

"...Regarding the rearming of N.E.S.T., I will bring it up to the President when I return to Washington... The President actually sent me here for this matter..."

He gestured, and his entourage, who had been following him closely, immediately stepped forward and handed over a stack of pictures from the briefcase they carried with them.

Major William glanced at the bulging briefcase in his hand. Obviously, there were things other than these dozen or so pictures inside.

He returned a military salute and then took the pictures.

Captain Robert also leaned in to look, and the two of them changed their expressions at the same time.

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Next Chapter >>Chapter 365: Autobots Strike (End)