The sound of sparring, mechanical grunts, and light-hearted insults filled the air. Wheeljack was barking orders. Jolt was losing a one-on-one to a much larger ex-Decepticon named Dreadhook. Leandro had just finished speaking with Cade and was seated on the hood of Bumblebee, deep in thought.
Then suddenly—
A metallic hand shot up. It was Scanklore, a sleek silver-and-blue recon bot rebuilt from old Cybertronian surveillance drones.
"Hold up! I'm picking up something! A signal... old frequency... ancient Cybertronian. It's not Decepticon."
The training yard went still. Every bot turned.
Wheeljack rushed over, optics flickering.
"Patch it into my HUD. Now."
Leandro stood up, eyes narrowing. A soft frequency hum echoed from Scanklore's chest. A few sparks glitched, static fuzzed…
Then came the voice.
Deep. Rough. Heavy with weight and memory.
> "If you are receiving this message… it means I am still searching for what remains of the AllSpark. The war… is not over. Not truly."
Military vehicles screeched to a halt outside the junkyard. A low-flying tactical chopper circled overhead. From the side path behind the house, Colonel William Lennox and his strike team advanced—alert, armed, and ready.
The moment they entered visual range of the bots, rifles were raised.
All the Transformers on Leandro's team froze.
Wheeljack's shoulder cannon whirred to life. Ironhide tensed. A few former Decepticons like Dreadhook and Blackbite deployed hidden armaments.
Then—Leandro stepped forward, calmly, but with steel in his gaze.
He stood directly between the soldiers and the bots, raising one hand.
Leandro said, cold and controlled:
"If you open fire, we will respond... and I promise you, it will be far more brutal. You humans... always the traitors when it comes to the Autobots."
He took a step closer.
"They fought for you. Bled for your cities. And you abandoned them. Hunted them. Now you show up pointing weapons again?"
Lennox scanned the yard.
It was huge, with towers of scrapped cars and makeshift shelter.
But what truly stunned him was the sight of Autobots and ex-Decepticons... standing together. Peacefully. United.
He muttered under his breath,
"A war zone… and they're living together?"
Cade Yeager walked up beside Leandro.
Arms crossed, tone flat.
"If you're nervous, I get it. I was too. But this kid? He did the impossible."
From the back, Tyler whispered to Noah, grinning faintly:
"That guy… Leandro? Damn. Calm, sharp, fearless. I like his style."
Leandro locked eyes with Lennox.
"You came with guns. Again. Just like always. You claim to side with the Autobots. But when it matters… you let them fall. You didn't protect them. You never really cared."
His voice rose slightly, anger breaking through the calm.
"And now, you show up, treating their home like a battlefield."
Lennox hesitated—then slowly lifted one hand.
"Lower your weapons. That's an order."
His soldiers glanced at each other, confused, tense—but obeyed. Rifles went down.
Lennox stared at Leandro.
"I didn't come here to start a war, Leandro. But trusting former Decepticons…"
Leandro cut him off. Firm.
"Don't trust them. Trust the choices they made."
Cade nodded, backing him up:
"And trust him. He's not just some college kid. He's a leader."
🔥 Backyard – Moments After the Weapons Were Lowered
Lennox stepped forward, slowly approaching Leandro.
The tension had lowered, but the air still felt heavy. The bots remained alert.
Ironhide kept his optics locked on the military soldiers, arms folded but primed to strike.
Lennox said calmly:
"Leandro. I need to speak with you. Privately. Now.
If you're really not a threat, then help me understand what the hell you're planning."
Leandro opened his mouth to reply—
But Noah stepped in, raising his hand between them.
Noah:
"With all due respect, Colonel… we intercepted the signal first.
Which means it's under our jurisdiction. Priority falls on us."
Lennox narrowed his eyes.
"Us? Who exactly is us, Olarte?"
That's when Tyler Reeve strolled forward, a calm grin on his face.
He casually pulled out a silver-black metal badge, gleaming under the morning sun — emblazoned with a sharp symbol.
G.I. DIVISION.
Tyler, still smirking:
"Ghost Intelligence. We're the people assigned to watch everything the public's not supposed to know exists.
Since Chicago. Since Egypt. Since Cybertron fell."
Noah added firmly:
"Our job is to monitor and act on any Spark-based threat.
That signal from Optimus? It's in our hands now."
Lennox stared at the badge, then at both of them. He didn't speak at first. Then, with visible skepticism:
Lennox:
"So now the future of Earth is in the hands of two twenty-something ghost agents with access to giant alien weapons?"
Tyler chuckled.
"Relax, Colonel. We haven't taken over the Pentagon… yet.
Just this scrapyard and a few sarcastic robots."
Leandro stepped between them. His tone was calm but strong.
"If either of you wants to talk, then you talk right here. In the open.
Because everyone here — human or not — is done being lied to.
Done being used. And we won't be pawns again."
Lennox exhaled, long and slow. He looked around. At the bots.
At the former Decepticons standing beside the Autobots.
And at Leandro — calm, clear-eyed, and unflinching.
This wasn't a boy anymore.
This was a leader.
While Leandro, Lennox, Tyler, and Noah gather around a glowing holographic map projected by Wheeljack, Cade Yeager glances at Bumblebee from the corner of his eye.
Their gazes meet.
Cade gives a subtle nod toward the quieter corner of the yard.
Bumblebee picks up on it immediately.
He stands, his movements smooth and just a bit sleeker than before—his new frame, refined and polished under Leandro's care, gleams faintly in the sunlight.
He walks slowly to a pile of discarded tires and takes a seat with a metallic creak.
Cade follows, dragging an old reversed chair behind him and sitting down across from his old friend.
Cade gives a half-smile.
"You've changed, Bee. Shinier than the last time I saw you."
Bumblebee doesn't speak, but his optics brighten slightly—a gesture Cade understands well.
Then, from his chest speaker, comes a familiar movie quote:
📻 "I missed you too, partner."
Cade chuckles softly.
"Man, it's been a while. After you left Earth looking for Optimus, I figured… that was it. But then you show up again—through that kid."
He motions subtly toward Leandro, standing confidently amid the group of high-ranking agents.
"Where'd you meet him?"
Bumblebee looks up at the sky for a moment, then slowly activates a small projector from his shoulder.
A flickering image appears: a dark warehouse, low lights, and a young Leandro cautiously reaching toward Bee's dim spark.
📽️ "He heard me. When no one else did."
Cade falls silent, staring at the image for a moment before nodding slightly.
"He's good. Got that… unspoken thing. I saw your eyes when you looked at him—you trust him completely."
Bumblebee tilts his head and replies through another movie quote:
📻 "I'd follow him anywhere."
Cade's lips curl into a quiet smile.
"Then so would I. If you believe in him, I'm with you. All the way."
The two of them sit in silence after that—no words needed.
In the distance, Leandro's voice can be heard giving firm instructions to the others as the holographic map zooms in on an unknown location.