Even though Ross knew where Banner was, he didn't send anyone to capture him right away; instead, he deployed surveillance personnel and decided to let it sit for the moment.
He had more important matters to deal with—namely, reporting back to his superiors.
If he could persuade his boss and withstand external pressure, then he would reveal everything to them. But if they really stripped him of his command over the lunar project, then Ross wouldn't remain blindly loyal.
He would quietly wait for the crisis to unfold, and by then, all the preparations and arrangements he had made would look like foresight.
If things turned out the way William predicted—killing a large number of Decepticons and cleaning up the mess—then a promotion wouldn't be out of the question.
Just imagining being awarded the rank of three-star lieutenant general, or even qualifying for five-star general status, made Ross feel warm and fuzzy inside.
So, after his debriefing, even though he was indeed relieved of his position as commander of the lunar expedition, he merely snorted coldly, knowing that those guys didn't have what it took to demote him any further.
After all, many of the powers he held had been personally granted by Director General Benjamin Arthur and the Pentagon. He muttered quietly, "We'll see about that," and returned to his coastal base in New York.
Upon arriving at the base command center, Ross's subordinates, seeing he wasn't showing any signs of frustration, also settled down.
"Bring up Stark's mansion on the screen."
"Understood, sir."
The image quickly appeared on the large monitor. "Can we confirm Bruce Banner is in the mansion?"
The assistant shook his head. "We were concerned Stark might have anti-surveillance systems, so we didn't deploy any reconnaissance drones, just to be cautious."
Ross thought it over, then nodded. "Go on."
"Yes, sir," the assistant replied cheerfully, relieved that Ross hadn't blamed him. "After receiving your intel, we began investigating everything related to that mansion. Surprisingly, we quickly found that at around 5 a.m. this morning, Store No. 11 in New York delivered two different breakfast combos to the mansion.
Miss Pepper, Stark's assistant, wasn't at the villa, and the portion sizes were definitely intended for adult males. So we can at least confirm that there are two adult men staying in the mansion. As for the servants," the assistant shook his head, "I don't believe any servant would splurge on a $300 breakfast, nor would they have the clout to get a Michelin three-star restaurant to deliver takeout at five in the morning."
"Heh, well said," Ross nodded with satisfaction. Only Stark would pull something like that off. "Keep a close watch."
Having already been relieved of one position, Ross was in no hurry to apprehend Banner now. He didn't want to risk igniting a major battle before the Decepticons made their move, thereby drawing all attention and scrutiny to himself.
If they actually captured the Hulk, that would be fine, but if they failed again, that would mark the beginning of real trouble.
Four days passed in a flash. Apart from personally receiving the arriving Optimus Prime team and twenty Kingsman members, Ross stayed quietly at the base the entire time, watching as the space shuttle returned with Nemesis Prime and five energy pillars whose functions were still unknown to the Americans.
Upon seeing Nemesis Prime on the screen, Ironhide, Jazz, Ratchet, and Bumblebee looked excitedly at Optimus Prime—only to notice that his expression was a bit strange.
There was excitement and joy, but his brow soon furrowed.
He was remembering how, four days earlier, William—who rarely visited Kingsman bases—had suddenly shown up in a sports car, asking to see him specifically.
The first thing William had said was, if any Autobot wanted to destroy Earth in order to save Cybertron, as the leader of the Autobots, which side would Optimus Prime choose?
Optimus didn't ponder for long. Despite the curiosity and anger in his heart, he firmly replied that he would stand with humanity and Earth. The Autobots had never harbored traitors.
But William, ignoring Optimus's expression, continued, "I'm certain there's a traitor among the Autobots, because Megatron, Starscream, and Grindor were all killed by me. Their bodies are in my possession as we speak."
"By the AllSpark," Optimus was so shocked he forgot his anger and the subject of traitors. "Including the Fallen, that means both leaders of the Decepticons were eliminated by you?"
William smiled and shrugged. "From Megatron's memory, I learned about his dealings with Nemesis Prime. So tell me, Optimus: as the former leader of the Autobots, what would you do if your mentor, Nemesis Prime, wanted to destroy Earth?"
"I…" After a long hesitation, Optimus finally said, "It is a fundamental rule of the Autobots never to destroy a planet with living beings. If what you say is true, I will personally take care of Nemesis Prime.
But if what you're saying is false, then our alliance ends here."
"Very good," William smiled and nodded. "Soon, a Kun-class jet will take you to the U.S., where you'll be temporarily under the command of General Ross. Of course, until it's confirmed whether Nemesis Prime is a traitor, you have the right to do what you think is right. But when it comes to Decepticons, I assume eliminating them on sight is still okay?"
"Yes, Lord Devonshire," Optimus nodded. "Autobots show no mercy to enemies."
So now, seeing that the Americans had really brought Nemesis Prime back, Optimus turned to Ross, who was standing on the platform, and said, "If you plan to wake Nemesis Prime, let me be the one to see him."
Ross, who was still wondering what the Decepticons' next move might be, was surprised by this and asked, "This Transformer is called Nemesis Prime? And why do you want to revive him?" After thinking for just a few seconds, Ross asked in surprise, "This Transformer is an Autobot, not a Decepticon?"
"Yes," Optimus nodded. "He is Nemesis Prime, former leader of the Autobots, my teacher—Cybertron's Einstein."
"A scientist?" That word immediately piqued Ross's interest. "So that's why the Decepticons wanted to bring him back to Earth?"
"This…"
Ross noticed Optimus's hesitation and knew he was on to something. "Tell me, Optimus. Nemesis Prime is being transported to New York as we speak. This concerns the lives of thousands of civilians and even the fate of Earth."
Instead of answering, Optimus asked, "You say Nemesis Prime was brought back to Earth as part of a Decepticon scheme—what's your proof?"
Ross was momentarily stunned. He didn't actually have direct evidence; most of his conclusions were based on things William had said, followed by his own deductions based on how events unfolded.
After selectively recounting what had happened in relation to the lunar mission, Optimus quietly organized his thoughts. He too began to suspect that the moon landing had been too rushed and too goal-driven.
It felt as if the entire objective of reaching the moon had been to bring back Nemesis Prime and the energy pillars.
But even that didn't prove that Nemesis Prime was a traitor—it only indicated that the Decepticons wanted him. After all, Nemesis Prime had invented the space bridge, and only he could activate it.
Clearly, the Decepticons had made a very calculated move, because no one could say for sure right now whether Nemesis Prime had actually betrayed them. And Optimus couldn't abandon the idea of waking up his former mentor—the former leader of the Autobots—based solely on William's words without any evidence.
"I want to see Nemesis Prime."
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