Chapter 7

Zero’s shot was so powerful that it blasted a robot with one hit. That was without using the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. Not even cultivators like Luo YingLong could withstand a hit on the point of death. The robot exploded and Gando descended from above. The Valkyrie stepped onto a blue robot. The progressive blade stabbed downward but missed the robot and slid off from its armor, igniting a string of flares.

“That is a first generation Decepticon that came from space. It’s the leader of this group and possesses much tougher armor. Take down the other robots instead!” A troop yelled. They had obviously realized the transforming mecha belonged to neither the Decepticons nor Autobots. The identity of the new party were still unknown to them but the strength they had shown that rivaled the robots gave them hope.

The blue robot displayed its superiority over the other Decepticons as it turned around and seized the Valkyrie’s foot. It smashed the Valkyrie to the ground.

“Do you think EOT is so easily defeated?” A stream of electricity burst out from the Valkyrie’s other foot. The armor that withstood the progressive blade was fragile as paper in the presence of this electricity. It sliced through the armor without friction. The control sticks danced madly under Gando’s hands. His hands had nearly disappeared from sight due to their speed and sparks occasionally flare up.

What was even more stunning were the movements of the Valkyrie. Its hands pressed on the ground and pushed it up several meters. The Valkyrie mounted on the top of the blue robot. Hundreds of missile openings were exposed over all areas of the Valkyrie and all aimed at the blue robot’s chest.

“Go to hell! All fire!” Gando shouted. The guided missiles, reaction missiles, micro missiles all blasted onto the blue robot from such a short distance. The explosions enveloped both robots and a large area around them. Several robots within the area were blasted away.

Zheng and his party rose to nearly two thousand meters above. Kampa’s rapid fire RPG began to roar. This was also a future sci-fi weapon. Its size and weight limited the user to one with a big and strong body. The RPG compressed and shot air in opposite direction to reduce the force of recoil. Kampa also enhanced his body enough to use the weapon at will.

The RPG turned the battlefield into a sea of fire nearly instantaneously. Dust and dirt blew up over ten meters in multiple places. The unlimited ammunition nature of the weapon kept the explosions happening without a pause. It wasn’t until the Valkyrie flew out in its jet mode did Kampa slowed down.

The troops were stunned by what they saw. American troops were proud of their technology and mechanical militarization before the appearance of the Transformers. They were at the top of the top among all the armed forces in the world. However, that changed when the Transformers came with more advanced, more powerful weapons. Their numbers increased at a horrifying rate. They had bodies that were extremely difficult to take down. They could wipe out an army of tanks with under a hundred robots. And now one small robot and a strange flying device destroyed these Transformers in under ten minutes.

Team China were not relieved despite destroying this group of Decepticons with ease. The strength the Decepticons displayed was nothing to overlook. Just a few dozen of them had depleted over 80% of the Valkyrie’s energy. They could rely on the American military to resupply the ammunition but only Zheng could recharge Qi.

Furthermore, the Valkryie’s energy storage unit was much larger than their Dragonshard necklaces. What would happen if the other members came under attack by so many Transformers? What would happen if the Transformers came in numbers over hundreds? Everyone’s face looked terrible from just the thought of this possibility. The Sky Stick descended onto the troops. Zheng discussed with Xuan and HongLu on the way then walked off the Sky Stick.

The troops came up to them. A colonel held out his hand to Zheng and said. “Andrew Roosevelt. We thank you for the aid that prevented the annihilation of our regiment. Which division do you belong to?”

Zheng said. “Ahem. You can call us Terminators… Let us leave this place first. Many robots are approaching from the city.”

The psyche scan detected nearly three hundred robots of all sizes coming to them from the city. Most of these robots did not possess the ability to transform and many only two to three meters in height. These were probably newly created robots under the AllSpark’s power. However, there were also a hundred that could transform. The sky and land were taken by these varying vehicles. There were over ten jets, ten helicopters, and many tanks, firetrucks, vans and other cars. The scene from the psyche scan was magnificent.

The colonel shouted to his troops and gave orders to the lieutenants. “Do you have any plans? Care to come with us to Shelter 7? The nearby civilians are migrating to the shelter. Your firepower will be able to cover the migration.”

Zheng looked to his team then turned back to the colonel and accepted the request. Gando stayed inside the Valkyrie while the rest of the team sat on the Sky Stick. This alloweed them to fight back or run if the robots caught up to them. Three hundred robots were not a joke.

Fortunately, the robots stopped chasing after reaching ten kilometers beyond the city. The human party had long left the area by the time they arrived. They looked over at the robots in the distance then entered the mountain under the sight of the robots.

“Megatron seized the AllSpark from the boy. The Autobots were no match for him and he left with the AllSpark. A few days later, a robot uprising stormed New York. All mechanical objects turned into deadly robots under the power of the AllSpark. You thought those three hundred robots in the city were a lot? There were hundreds of thousands in New York on that day. The AllSpark’s power spread from New York and our fighter jets, tanks, and other weapons turned to robots. Only these old tanks are not affected by its power. We wouldn’t have lost so fast otherwise…”

Lan confirmed there were no robots in the area via psyche scan, so Zheng came down from the Sky Stick. He built up rapport with the colonel to gain information on this world. The colonel obviously valued team China and told everything he knew.

Zheng frowned. “It sounds like only a week has passed since the battle over the AllSpark. What happened to the Autobots?”

The colonel smiled bitterly. “Who knows? Perhaps they have died. Or perhaps they have turned into Decepticons. Humans no longer place our hope on them. All the major and middle size cities in the U.S. have been destroyed. Robots swarmed all modernized cities throughout the world, Japan, China, India, Europe, and even the drilling rigs in the Middle East have turned into robots… Extinction to humans is near.”

The party climbed over a hill that wasn’t too steep. A valley came into sight. Tents were set up throughout the valley. This was Shelter 7.

Shelter 7 might not sound too bad but the fact was it was a refugee gathering area. The American military stationed ten thousand men here plus seventy ancient tanks. There were no jets, no computers or any other mechanical objects.
Zheng followed the colonel and the thousand troops into the base. Xuan had sent him message that he had come in contact with the commander of the base using the identity people from the future.

“People from the future… we came from 2077 through a time machine. This war between Transformers and humans lasted tens of years. Our technology advanced and so did the Transformer’s. The two parties came to a stand off. We are the special soldiers the government sent back in time.” Zheng said what they had planned.

The ten officers in front of him looked shocked. It was clear that they were hesitating and suspicious, yet also excited. One officer said. “The future government only sent the few of you? What result will it achieve? What technologies have you brought back? Weapons? Time machine?”

Another officer asked loudly. “Which country are you from? Why is there only one Russian and so many Asians?”

Zheng looked to his teammates then said. “Uh. Have you watched any sci-fi films on human vs robots in the future? I am referring to regular robots.”

A black officer replied. “I have seen the Terminator, which mentioned people in the future travel to the present to protect an important person who will become a leader. You don’t happen to have the same goal of protecting a future leader?”

Zheng laughed. “How could that be. An individual’s effect in a war that determines the survival of the species is negligible. Our team’s mission is to change the future. The Terminator is similar to our future. Humans reached the brink of extinction but we survived and counterattacked. Our population is very small in the future. The twelve of us are big enough to form a sizable special group. Furthermore, the Earth is riddled with wounds. What do you expect such a future to give you?”

The oldest officer of the group nodded. He was a major. “That is how I see our future. Although not surviving but wiped out by the robots. Seeing you here lets me know that humans have not given up hope… This is great. I just have a few questions. What country are you from? The races in this group seems skewed. And why does the government believe the twelve of you can rival the Transformer army?”

Zheng scratched his head. “There are no countries in the future. All humans band together in order to fight the robots. As to why our races are skewed… I haven’t considered it. We were selected based on our strengths. Perhaps Asians are better suited for time traveling. On the second question, don’t you think humans can evolve after fighting such a long war?”

Zheng looked around and found a tin cup. He grabbed the cup then gave it a light grip. The cup crushed inward. When he opened his hand, what was left of the cup was only powder. It seemed as though a mysterious force corroded the cup. The officers couldn’t utter a word after watching this scene. They didn’t see any trick from Zheng or perhaps this trick was beyond their understanding.

Zheng’s story sounded inconceivable. However, if what he said was true, they were the final straw the American government could cling onto. Team China also brought back technologies beyond Earth’s current technological level. The Sky Stick, the Valkyrie, the rapid fire RPG were all evidences that they came from the future. The officers transmitted their information to Shelter 1 as soon as possible. It was the most complete military base of America.

“Your mechanical equipment are future tech but I would still advise you to leave the Sky Stick behind. The AllSpark’s power reaches every place. If the Sky Stick turned into a Transformer in the air, you will have nowhere to run…”

The message regarding team China caused a stir among the higher ups of the American government. They immediately ordered Shelter 7 to escort team China to Shelter 1 with half their troops. Zheng refused this order. That wasn’t to say he refused to head to Shelter 1. Xuan and HongLu both had intentions to meet the government higher ups. It was nearly impossible for them to find the AllSpark in such a world without the aid of the American government and military while being attacked by robots.

What he refused was being escorted by several thousand troops. Their power without jets or tanks was limited. Furthermore, marching with several thousand troops came with a higher risk of being detected by the robots. They would be in danger if the a few hundred robots came at the same time. It was better to just fly over using the Sky Stick. Team China could easily take on robots in groups of less than a hundred.

The American government showcased its bad habit again. A group of so called researchers wanted to inspect the Sky Stick, the Valkyrie, the RPG. They also firmly proclaimed the rest of the team were hiding future techs, one of them being an energy shield. The thousand troops were witnesses to the energy shield. And so came the request for team China to leave the Sky Stick behind given the excuse that they might be affected by the AllSpark. Zheng refused firmly. The higher ups might have given other orders as the researchers left disappointed after seeing Zheng’s stand.

“Funny. Taking a bite off everything is probably a trait of the American government. I suspect similar things will happen in Shelter 1.” Zheng found it both funny and irritated.

Kampa laughed. “Every country is the same. They are of course interested after seeing our weapons and equipment. If we seized or destroyed the AllSpark, the country with the biggest power is going to be the boss when humans rebuild their society. The same thing will happen whether we are in the U.S., Russia, or China. Everyone’s going to get their hands on our technology at the first chance. The only thing stopping them now is their need for our powers.”

Kampa was rational with his words. It might be due to him being the only Caucasian in team China. He did not see things with China’s interest in mind. The rest of the members nodded as they listened. Ethics did not apply when things concerned the whole country. A country would do everything for its prosperity, even murders.

Zheng said. “You’re right. The Chinese have a saying of hiding your wealth. We have now showed our wealth under bright daylight. The question becomes when will the American government show their claws to rob us. Haha. We aren’t scared though. Our target is the AllSpark. Their first priority is to destroy the Decepticons. Once we finish our mission and return, they won’t even have the chance to rob us… Let’s go. To Shelter 1.”

Team China left Shelter 7 on the Sky Stick. They traveled through a desolate land. Occasionally, they would see small armies escorting civilians toward Shelter 7. The American government was exceptional in this respect for putting their citizens above everything. Corruption existed in the government but government workers still valued the citizens. Whether it was for the people’s support or they actually respected people was a different question. American government workers were better than those who couldn’t even be bothered to put on an act as they stepped over their citizens…
Anyway, Zheng was focused on controlling the Sky Stick. The map he obtained showed that the distance between Shelter 1 and Shelter 7 was a quarter the length from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. That was pretty far enough. They had to fly over several major cities.

“It looks like the cities aren’t safe anymore. I don’t know how many Decepticons came from space. But the AllSpark can create over a hundred thousand powerful big robots once its power spreads over a whole city. Smaller robots such as TVs, fridges, computers, washers might even reach millions… Where have these robots gone?” HongLu frowned.

Team China carefully approached a major city on the way. Lan easily obtained the information within the city via psyche scan. The whole city was in a silence. There was not a single living human, only several hundred robots of varying sizes and street animals. Interestingly, the robots did not wipe out the animals.

Xuan nodded. “In the original plot, the Transformers possessed a civilization much more advanced than the civilization of Earth. They can mask radar scans. They can cut off human connection and control to satellites and other mechanical objects. All they have to do is kill every human on the way and mask the satellites from humans, or even just send the first generation Transformers to destroy the satellites in order to conceal their traces while they migrate.”

HongLu and Xuan met eyes with each other. HongLu affirmed. “If we are right, the AllSpark is located within their gathering places. That is the only reason for the robots to gather and defend a place. Now, the key is how do we find this location? Furthermore, how do we face the tens of millions of robots there? I don’t believe our strength can rival an army of over a thousand robots. They are not the half orcs you fought in the previous movie.”

Zheng smiled. He knew HongLu had been asking Zero about Xuan’s past during these days. He did not look well after hearing Xuan’s plan in the Lord of the Rings. It wasn’t until after he entered Transformers did he calmed down… Or more precisely, after he saw Xuan again.

(I just hope they don’t get into any conflicts. But HongLu has been with the team for several movies. Xuan isn’t someone who gets mad. As long as he realizes HongLu will not do any harm for the team, he probably won’t scheme him. However, HongLu isn’t a weakling. He can probably deduce Xuan’s plan if it isn’t anything unimaginable.)

Xuan ignored the taunt in the last sentence. He frowned and muttered. “It looks like that thing is required to take care of the problem.”

“That thing?” Zheng’s ears stood up. He yelled without a second thought. “Xuan! I know you are thinking of something new. Speak it! F*ck. If I hear a no, I will smash the sword at you!” He drew Tiger’s Soul out of the Na Ring, and along with it came the white mist.

Zheng had grown a deep hatred to this tone of talking by Xuan. He didn’t feel much before. As long as the plan was good for the team, it didn’t matter that he became a piece of the plan. He would just curse Xuan after the fact. However, in the last movie, Xuan included his own death as part of the plan. It was a fake one but it could also be a real death… So Zheng was enraged and had to get Xuan make it clear.

HongLu sneered. “What else can it be? That thing can only be… nuclear weapons. You’re planning to get the password to the nuclear weapons from the American government, right?”

Xuan nodded. “The situation is pretty simple. Humans have nuclear weapons but are scared to use them. The robots have no fear of nuclear radiation. The AllSpark’s location hasn’t been confirmed. So even if they were to wipe off a large number of the robots, the AllSpark can create them back as long as it existed. Robots aren’t worried about the environment while humans feared for the destruction of the Earth. I am certain the U.S. hasn’t used nuclear weapons yet.

However, we are different. We don’t need to live in this world. So once we get the password to the nuclear weapons and find the location of the AllSpark, we can drop ten nuclear bombs before searching through an annihilated city. The Transformers possess intelligence and came from a higher level civilization so they are aware of the power of nuclear weapons. If the humans learned of the location of the AllSpark, they couldn’t be certain that humans will not use nuclear weapons. There’s definitely something that can defend against nuclear weapons, at least over the AllSpark…”

HongLu pulled a strand of hair and interrupted Xuan. “I get your plan. You are going to do this in Shelter 1. We know the habits of the American government. They will want to get their hands on our equipment. They can’t put us under house arrest since this is a time of crisis. However, they will find various reasons or straight up steal our equipment. During this time, you can steal the control over nuclear weapons through the computer or other methods. I know you are proficient with computers. So it isn’t difficult for you. What I am curious about is how are you going to find the AllSpark?”

Xuan wasn’t irritated at HongLu in the least bit. He turned to Gando instead. “Are you scared of dying?”

Gando lost his mind for a second. Then he shouted like when someone stepped on the tail of a cat. “How can I not be scared of dying!? Are you threatening me with one of your plans? F*ck! Don’t treat me like Zheng. Even if I have to risk my life, I, I… I can at least run.” Gando was going to talk back but he wasn’t Zheng. After struggling for words, he was scared of Xuan’s plans and could only say he was going to run.

HongLu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He could see that Xuan had deep influence over this team. It wasn’t possible for him to overthrow Xuan’s authority. Furthermore, Xuan did possess the skills, although slightly below him. He had thought of everything Xuan planned and had a backup plan that Xuan didn’t think of.

Xuan continued talking to Gando. “Not a plan. There are two places we need you. One, the Valkyrie can search through the U.S. in the shortest time to find the gathering place of the robots. The first task is for you and Zheng to split up and search the U.S. Lan can go with Zheng and scan each city. Though you are going to need to shoot a few missiles at the cities. The robots will all come out seeing that you are also a robot. If there are a lot of robots gathered in the city, they are going to attack you.”

Gando breathed out and said. “That isn’t too dangerous. The electric jet system gives the Valkyrie higher speed than the Sky Stick. So I just need to lure the robots out and see which city has the most?”

Xuan shook his head. “The electric jet system can get you away in an instant. The true danger isn’t from the robots… It’s the power of the AllSpark. Even a car will turn into a Transformer, not to mention a robot. If the AllSpark is truly in the city, and the Valkyrie gets near, you being inside the Valkyrie…”

Gando couldn’t utter a word. He opened his eyes wide and stared at Xuan, seemingly lost and frozen in place.

The time was dawn when team China arrived at Shelter 1. Everyone let out a sigh of relief upon seeing this base because it was a modernized military base. There was a complete airport and barracks. The civilian tents were separated from the rest. A modern research building was guarded. And best of all, there were high tech weapons such as the newest Apache attack helicopters and tanks that hadn’t been turned into Transformers. A few helicopters took off as the Sky Sticks appeared in the distance. The two parties had communicated in advance so the helicopters guarded the Sky Sticks until they reached Shelter 1.
Shelter 1 was located on a flat plain the mountains. A river flowed through this plain. So there were way more troops and civilians stationed in this shelter. Basically all the civilians that survived in the surrounding cities had gathered here. The population approximated two millions, crowding this spacious plain.

The United States was one of the leading countries prior to the catastrophe of Transformers. Despite 99% of its cities were destroyed, the reserve stockpiled by the federal government and those remained in the smaller cities and towns could feed several million people for a period of time.

Still, distress overtook the government officials. It wasn’t limited to just the U.S. though. The U.S. suffered the heaviest damage, almost wiped out. New robots were being created in other countries rendering all high tech weapons useless. While the number of robots increased, humans were dying off without the same replenishment. Computer calculations estimated the time before human extinction was approximately one year.

The end is nigh for the human species… was nothing more than a false prophecy at any other time. It would only appear in fictions, movies, or games. Our concerns regarding extinction were only worries in regard to the environment, to nature, and to nuclear weapons. Even the most pessimistic person would not believe that date to come in a year. However, the countdown had started in reality.

Team China’s appearance was especially important in this situation. If what they said was true, then humans did not walk down the path of extinction as predicted. Humans rose from a disadvantageous position until they stood on even field with the robots. Time machine was invented in under a hundred years. Some politicians sighed as they realized war was the force behind technological advancements.

Team China disembarked from the Sky Sticks. A thousand troops surrounded the airport. A political figure and ten researchers with white hair rushed to the team. An man at least half a century old grasped Zheng’s hand and said. “You come at the right time. We are grateful… The citizens of America thank you. People of the world thank you.” He dragged Zheng toward the modernized building.

Zheng smiled bitterly as he looked back. The researchers fenced around the Sky Sticks like people that had been starved. Xuan acted heartlessly. He handed a bag to Zero. Zero then opened it up and put the two Sky Sticks into the bag in front of everyone. He folded the bag like a handkerchief. He didn’t give it back to Xuan and instead put it into his shirt pocket.

“Spatial…” The researchers were dumbfounded as they pointed at Zero. “Spatial technology! Have humans of the future reached the applications of spatial technology already? How is this accomplished? Special materials that can cause a change in the electromagnetic field?Or space compression?”

The researchers clung onto Zero. The rest of the team quickly went over to Zheng.

The old man’s face twitched, but he immediately pulled himself together and put on a smile. “Let’s go to conference room first. We can leave the discussion on technologies for later. I think no one wants to delay any longer. Every second we lose is at the cost of the lives of tens of thousands of people and the same number of increase for the robots. Frankly, I wish for you to wipe out the robots as soon as tomorrow.”

The old man tried to snoop information from them but Zheng was experienced at derailing the conversation. The politicians didn’t get anything out of him by the time they reached the building. The group entered the conference room and Zero was finally freed from the researchers.

On the other end of Shelter 1, a few dozen people were anxiously staring at a screen that showed an X-ray. A corridor that team China walked by just then was under the scan of an X-ray machine. It would show whether they were humans or robots in disguise.

“No issues. They are real humans, every one of them. Their bodies are beyond impressive. The weakest one in the group is still at least twice stronger than our best soldier. And I don’t know how to describe their leader… They really are humans from the future. Humans that have evolved.”

Despite claiming to be sent from the future, the government was cautious of team China due to their sudden appearance. The thing was, if team China from their future to save the Earth, then some things had to be given access to them. These things were the last hopes of humans. Therefore, the government must know whether they were humans, and furthermore, humans that weren’t controlled by the Decepticons.

“They can’t be. Our civilization is built on the infinite energy of the AllSpark. Our form of life is a cycle of robot, energy, and reconstruction. Humans are a species based on genetics. We have no research nor prior contact with this species as you are the first similar species we have met. Thus, we could not have obtained a method to control humans. Megatron is a tyrant who only knows to destroy everything. He will never cooperate with humans.” A voice sounded next to the old man’s ears.

The old man finally let out a sigh of relief. He put the headset back into his pocket then walked into the conference room. “My apologies to keep you waiting. Let us now start the discussion of putting an end to the catastrophe brought by the alien robots.”

There were a total of sixty people including politicians, military officers, researchers, and other related personnels from the U.S. Team China only had twelve people but everyone was looking at them with hope, doubt, hesitation, and contempt.

The old man said. “Ahem. I was the vice president of the U.S., Andrew Roosevelt. I took office after the previous president died in the catastrophe… The current statistics of the U.S. is 13 million survivors spread over from Shelter 1 to Shelter 9 and some smaller towns. We have 1.2 million soldiers. However, only Shelter 1 still possesses a small quantity of heavy equipment and mechanical weapons. Out current situation is not promising. Most countries in the world are at a similar state to the U.S… Humans have come to the final line before extinction. Director of the National Security Agency, please brief on our situation.”

He turned to a tough looking middle age man. The man saluted and said. “Yes. Mr. President. The only reason the Decepticons haven’t come to wipe us out is because they have other priorities on hand. We have no way of defending an attack from them. There are only 100 thousand soldiers stationed in each base from Shelter 3 to Shelter 9. Their military equipment are extremely outdated. They only had the oldest tanks and lacking in heavy firearms. No air support. No access to satellite information. Nothing. Their defense is nothing more than a piece of paper to the Decepticons. One slight poke and it will break open. Shelter 1 and Shelter 2 are our hopes. We retained a lot of armed vehicles and air weapons. But these are not enough to fight the stronger Decepticons. They also had the advantage of numbers. My advise is to use nuclear weapons. It is the only way to save humans from extinction.”

The director of NSA was dressed in a military uniform and spoke with the tone of people from the military. He was nearly shouting by the end of his words.

The politicians and officers debated. Quite a few were agreeing to using nuclear weapons, but they were not the majority. Almost none of the politicians agreed with it.

“Gentlemen, calm down. We have talked with other countries the last time and unanimously agreed we should not use nuclear weapons. If the U.S. started this trend, all countries in possession of nuclear weapons will begin to bomb cities containing robots. When such time comes, we would have no need for a countdown. As we know, ocean water can isolate objects from the power of the AllSpark. So nuclear submarine aren’t affected but that also means a large quantity of nuclear weapons still exist. Let us hear what the future warriors have to say. I believe they will show us the light.” Roosevelt sighed.

Xuan stood up before Zheng got to talk. “First. It is impossible for twelve people to fight all the robots in the world. Our strategy is to find the location of the AllSpark and destroy it. Once the robots lose their source of energy, we can either fight an attrition war or use a limited amount of nuclear weapons. The survival of humans is guaranteed after we killed the majority of robots. So the first task is to find the AllSpark. We can not accomplish this task by ourselves. We need help from the military and government. Secondly, our weapons are also mechanical objects and have the risk of turning into Transformers, which will lower our strength by a large margin. In order to prevent this from happening, we need to know the reason of why the mechanical objects in this place haven’t been converted. Is it due to the electromagnetic field of this place?”

All sixty people turned to the president. The old man hesitated. He silently looked over team China before he sighed. “Follow me. They are the last hope of humans. They protected us from the power of the AllSpark. I think the answer you want lies in them.”