Chapter 897: Gathering Storms of War (Patreon)

Transformers Begin : Table of Content/Chapter List

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In Africa, there exists a remarkable nation, Djibouti, renowned as the "Sentinel on the Oil Route." This reputation is owed to its strategic control of the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, the gateway connecting the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. Every year, nearly one-third of the world's shipping traffic passes through this vital route to reach destinations worldwide.

However, such a pivotal location naturally attracts the maneuvering of great powers.

In reality, despite being a sovereign nation, Djibouti, known as the sentinel on the oil route, is dotted with military bases established by other major nations under the guise of "supply depots."

Among these, the most substantial is undoubtedly the Lemmonier U.S. Military Base.

Lemmonier is the largest U.S. military base in Africa, situated southwest of the Djibouti International Airport. Originally, it was used by the French Foreign Legion.

After the events of 9/11, due to counter-terrorism requirements, the United States successfully negotiated the "lease" of this base through a series of political maneuvers. It was then used to deploy joint special operations forces of the United States Marine Corps.

Subsequently, due to the ongoing wars driven by the United States in the Middle East, the importance of this base became increasingly pronounced.

By the year 2003, Lemmonier had transformed into the sole permanent U.S. military base in Africa.

The base spans over 500 acres and includes facilities such as runways, hangars, command centers, munitions factories, transportation maintenance stations, training grounds, recreational facilities, and more.

After many years of operation, Lemmonier has become a crucial strategic stronghold for the United States in controlling the Middle East, East Africa, and North Africa regions.

It also serves as a vital command center for the U.S. Military Africa Command. Therefore, when the Autobots began to assert themselves in Africa, Lemmonier was among the first to feel the pressure.

A video conference was initiated as a result.

Within a conference room at Lemmonier Base:

A white-haired General, adorned with stars on his shoulders, sat with several staff members and another General in a circular meeting room.

These individuals occupied one side of the round table, while the other side remained vacant. However, on the wall opposite them, several LCD screens were arranged, each displaying the image of one or more participants.

This was a video conference initiated by the U.S. Military Africa Command. The participants on the other end were all located within the United States, representing various entities including the White House, the Department of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the Air Force Intelligence Agency.

"...Ladies and gentlemen, in recent times, we have uncovered some troubling intelligence regarding activities within Africa."

"While it's true that we've had substantial intelligence about extraterrestrial activities in Africa for quite some time, our interests in the region have been limited, and its distance from the continental United States has led Washington D.C. to adopt a default posture similar to that of South America."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of many individuals on the LCD screens changed, with none looking more displeased than Hill Walker, the Director of the CIA.

To claim that the United States has turned a blind eye to the Decepticons' encroachment on South America was a blatant falsehood.

Since its inception, the United States has considered the entire Americas as its sphere of influence.

Beginning in the late 19th century, following the conclusion of the Civil War, the United States began to exert its influence and capital in Central and South America. Over the course of a century and a half, they gradually gained control over the economic and political destinies of all the nations in the Americas.

However, all of this began to change a few years ago.

Decepticon Frenzy suddenly infiltrated South America, and as a result, the situation in South America gradually slipped out of the control of the United States day by day.

When the United States eventually noticed, it was already too late.

At that time, due to consecutive attacks by the Skytiger Legion on the mainland, the U.S. Navy had suffered heavy losses both in the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, briefly losing its ability to militarily intervene abroad.

Faced with no other option, they had to rely primarily on military aid, with CIA subversion and instigation as secondary tactics.

As a result, due to the mismatch of information, much of the military equipment they provided as aid ended up in the hands of warlords under Frenzy's control and some small South American countries.

The CIA suffered severe losses, with all the secret bases it had established in South America over the past half-century being completely dismantled. A large number of spies trained and cultivated by the CIA were apprehended, and even several hundred elite operatives dispatched from the United States disappeared shortly after entering South America.

Later, as the U.S. military strength was gradually restored, they attempted to send special forces into South America to gather intelligence and gauge Frenzy's control over the continent.

However, a nuclear submarine carrying special forces personnel was mysteriously sunk before it could approach the coastline. Similarly, a transport helicopter filled with special forces soldiers, still dozens of kilometers away from the coast, was hit by anti-air missiles from an unknown source, resulting in significant casualties.

Even some members of the Hawk Faction, who had boasted of using satellites to detect alien bases in South America and subsequently using nuclear weapons to obliterate them, eventually ceased their bravado after a series of earthquakes suspected to be underground nuclear tests within South America.

Following a series of failed attempts by the CIA and U.S. Military to probe South America, the United States government reluctantly accepted the reality that South America, which it had spent over a century cultivating into its backyard, had now become firmly entrenched within the sphere of influence of extraterrestrial forces.

And now, this matter was being brought up again, causing some members of the Hawk Faction to become restless.

"General Yakol, I recall that you previously mentioned that the primary actors in the Africa region were Autobots, and those Machines had been relatively peaceful, correct?" Pride was a buff the United States had acquired since the end of the Cold War, causing the elite and ruling classes to become accustomed to an attitude of superiority, even in the face of more formidable extraterrestrial beings.

However, it was evident that not every Autobot was as willing to befriend them as Optimus Prime.

General Yakol, the commander of the Africa Command, was not pleased with this accusatory tone. "Sir, I'm not an Autobot, and if I understood their intentions, I wouldn't have initiated this video conference voluntarily."

He turned to the newly elected African-American president, his expression grave. "Mr. President, our National Security intelligence operatives stationed in various locations across Africa have reported significant Autobot activities. They've departed from their previous stance of only operating in remote and desolate areas and have engaged in conflicts with many African tribal militias, as well as the police and military."

"What troubles me most is that intelligence suggests Autobots have resorted to using lethal force against local inhabitants, much like the Decepticons."

"I must solemnly warn you and all those here at home that these changes in Autobot behavior lead me and my colleagues to suspect that the turmoil we witnessed in South America may soon repeat itself in Africa. We may find ourselves compelled to once again abandon Africa."

As he concluded his statement, a heavy silence fell over the conference room.

All present felt a growing sense of unease, realizing that the dark clouds of war, named as such, were beginning to loom ominously in the skies above Earth.

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