Notes: Thanks to ShiningGalaxy with much of her help during the first part of the chapter, but after able to watch the movie twice myself, I was able to finish it. I had this chapter up once already but deleted and now reloading it with some new stuff added.
Chapter 1 – Retribution
Much of Chicago was now destroyed with many of the inhabitants' dead, dying or still running for their lives. But the Autobots were alive and in the city. They were providing cover for Sam to rescue for Carly and that tipped the scales into the favor of the good guys. Many former NEST officers, under the command of Epps, knew it was almost a suicide mission to try and rescue Carly, which was before the Autobots came up behind them and protected them by a Decepticon.
It was an incredible shock to be proven wrong, seeing the Autobots still alive. Anyone could see they were ready to kick some major Decepticon butt. Epps was very happy to see them and it showed when he gave them a big smile. It also gave him the courage to stand up to his fears and go into the city to stop the Decepticons. The Autobots only had one plan on their minds, destroy the Decepticons and stop Sentinel Prime from completing his quest of bringing Cybertron to Earth. Optimus wasn't really head set on rescuing Carly but he knew Sam did and for that, he was going to give the man cover to rescue her.
As Bumblebee went to help Sam rescue Carly and the other Autobots continue with their element of surprise, another small group of people arrived, at the opposite end of the city. Two large pick up trucks pulled up stopping in front of fallen debris. The two were in an odd color of gray almost as if there was dark paint bleeding into gray. It was anyone's guess as to why they were like that.
A female passenger of one of the trucks, dressed in dark clothes, stepped out. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a braid. Lucky for her she wasn't one of those types to get headaches often from the length of her hair. Her baby blue eyes stood out from her entire look.
With a look around, she gave a horrified look, heart dropping into the pit of her stomach. "We're too late!" No more than twenty feet in front of her were remains dead bodies. How as that possible? Bodies didn't decay to bones in just under a week. And the siege to Chicago was only a week ago.
"We're not too late," a male gruff voice answered as he stepped out of the other truck, going straight to the woman. "Jennifer," he started, grabbing her shoulders. "We all knew coming here there was going to be a major disaster. Right now our main goal is to get into the middle of the city and stop Sentinel Prime from activating the spacebridge. Saving Earth is the only thing we should be concerned with. Yes, there are dead bodies everywhere, but I warned you there would be."
"I know… but…"
Another man stepped out of the second truck. "Will you two stop!" the man growled. He had a rough voice, but not as rough as the other one.
The man touching Jennifer's shoulders growled. He then turned back to Jennifer. "Now, get yourself to safety and stay out of sight. I don't want you to end up like this…" He indicated to the bones scattered everywhere."
"What made that?" she asked.
"Energy blast that wipes out everything, including blood." The man from the other truck replied.
Jennifer shivered, giving a sad look to the remains. "I'm sorry…" she whispered.
"Jennifer," the man touched her shoulders once again, giving them a gentle squeeze. "This is not your fault. This is the fault of Gould and we have to stop him. Remember he threatened you."
Jennifer's baby blues turned to the man before her. Her eyes hardened. "He'll pay for that," she sneered.
"That's what I want to hear. Now, take cover and whatever you do don't let any Decepticons see you. Your daughter needs you." Stepping away, the man climbed back into the truck and both vehicles drove off into the debris, being careful not to touch any of the remains on the ground.
Jennifer looked at the remains. "I promise, your deaths will not be left in vain. You will be avenged." She then looked where the trucks disappeared. "You think I'm going to stay put? You have another thing coming. I didn't risk my daughter's life for nothing."
With the decision in mind, she rushed off, with the determination to get her own revenge. Revenge for her husband. Revenge for being forced to work for a jackass named Dylan Gould.
Shockwave was making big work of the sky scrapper made of glass. It had former soldiers of NEST, Sam and Carly. Using his driller, Shockwave had the driller destroy the top part, sending it collapsing into the next building. The building already had partially toppled over from Decepticons blasting the central area, trying to flush out Sam and his team.
Optimus Prime flew in with his FlightTech, after retrieving after Shockwave knocked his trailer off of him. Thanks to his comrades, he was able to get to his FlightTech and then cornered Shockwave. From the way the Decepticon was attacking the building, he knew Sam was in there. He had to do something. Seeing from the corner of his optic, he caught a glimpse of the humans getting to safety. With a relief, he turned his full attention on Shockwave, on the intent of killing him. The FlightTech was given to him from Jetfire during the battle with the Fallen in Egypt.
The upper hand for Optimus was short lived when Shockwave shot at Optimus, sending him flying into a crane of cabled wires. The force of the blow caused Optimus to be completely tangled and could not get himself free. He was also dangling upside down. This wasn't good. Both arms were indisposed, preventing him from firing his gun at the cables to break loose. He was going to have to wait until either a Decepticon found and decided to finish him off or his comrades came to his rescue. He hoped it was the latter. He didn't have to wait long before he saw two the Wreckers arrive.
"Wreckers!" he yelled.
"We'll save you Optimus!" one of them shouted.
From the distance, Optimus could hear distant screaming from humans and his warriors shouting out commands. He wished he could help them but he was stuck. "Damn it," he muttered. "They need me and I'm stuck here." He did not notice the rather large shadow above him on the top of the crane.
Just as he became stuck, a shadow appeared from top of the crane. A low snarl came from the shadow but went silent when he could see two of the Wrecker Autobots heading towards the crane. So the two saw Optimus get tangled.
"Hang on Optimus!"
Optimus looked up to see Roadbuster now on top of the crane, heading towards him. "I'll get ye out," shouted Roadbuster in his Scottish like accent.
"Those Decepti-jerks are going to pay." On the other side of Optimus was Leadfoot, heading towards him as well. "Sentinel is going to pay!"
"Sentinel is mine!" Optimus growled. "He will pay for his betrayal."
"I still can't believe he killed ole' Ironhide," complained Leadfoot. "He's an Autobot."
"Not anymore!" Roadbuster intervened as he fired his gun, blasting one of the cables.
Optimus felt the first cable let go, releasing away from his leg. That felt better. The cable was beginning to rub against the exposed wires, energon lines and other vital parts of his leg and if they were to stop working, he would be in deep trouble. At the same moment he felt his leg loosen, Leadfoot fired a blast, breaking another cable, releasing one arm.
The shadow above, hissed. It was taking too long to free the Autobot commander loose. He pulled out his gun, ready to fire.
"Let me do it," a whisper came up to him.
The figure turned to see another figure approach. "I thought you were dealing Sentinel."
"Prime wants him. You know that." With that said, the second figure pulled out his gun and fired. The first shadow wanted some of the action and he did the same as well. Both guns were set on a wide birth to release Optimus in a hurry.
The Wreckers shielded their optics as showers of blasts came from somewhere above them. Optimus snapped his head away, feeling the heat of the blasts. But that was not all he felt. In a blink of an eye all cables were completely loose from his body and he began to fall.
"Optimus!" both mechs yelled at once.
With quick action, Optimus was able to see one cable was still attached to the crane. Grabbing for it, he was able to get a grip and have his body facing the proper way. Seeing Optimus hanging on the cable for dear life, the Wreckers dropped to their knees, grabbing at the cable to pull with all their might, until Optimus was able to brace himself on the crane. Once getting his grip, his two Autobot companions dropped the cable to help him up onto the machine.
"Where did those shots come from?" asked Leadfoot.
A sudden sound from above caught the attention of the Wreckers. The two looked above them to the top of the crane.
Leadfoot suddenly gasped.
"By the life of Primus…" Roadbuster breathed.
Seeing something had the Wreckers attention, Optimus looked up. "This can't be? Impossible…"
Two large shadowed figures loomed above the three Autobots. Though the sun blocked much of their view, they could tell from the outline of the silhouettes, they were Transformers and not just any ole' Transformers, they were Autobots. But how was that possible? They were both dead. When the fight was over, there was going to be a whole lot of explaining to do.
Once Optimus was out of the picture… or thought to be, things began to go wrong for the Autobots. The element of surprise was now gone. Sam was able to kill Starscream it nearly costed him his if not for Lennox there to help him. But unfortunately for them, Starscream took off into the air to try and escape and if it weren't for Bumblebee, both would have lost their lives.
Seeing Bumblebee was still alive, it was a shock to Lennox but he was overjoyed. But now wasn't the time for celebrations, work had to come first. Leaving Sam and Carly, knowing they were safe, Lennox left to rendezvous with the rest of his team and inform them of the great news. It wasn't long before the message was relayed back to Washington of the news, which relieved everyone.
Soon after Lennox left Sam and Carly, who took refuge in a flipped car, Bumblebee was taken hostage. But he wasn't the only one. Que, Ratchet, Sideswipe and Dino were also taken captive. The battle no longer was going well for the Autobots with Optimus out of the picture. It was anyone's guess in how the tables were turned but one thing was fore sure, it did not bode well for the Autobots. Decepticons were conquers and often did not often take prisoners. Of course it didn't help when Dylan Gould was there and demanded there was to be no prisoners.
"Bumblebee!" Sam shouted. He wanted to help his friend, but Carly grabbed his arm.
"Sam! It won't do any good," she replied, her English accent heightening the words. They both watched in horror as his favorite Autobot was tossed to the ground with the other prisoners.
The Camaro turned at the sound. This was it for him wasn't it? No more trips to the lake or watching Sam make out with his girlfriend on his hood. No more long drives when Sam wasn't busy or he wasn't helping NEST. Those were truly enjoyable moments and those were what flashed through Bumblebee's memory banks.
"We should make an example to the humans," Barricade grinned, suddenly. He had seen Sam and recognized him from five years ago.
"Agreed," Soundwave nodded, he was not paying attention to the humans below.
Barricade looked at the captured Autobots, pegging out, which one should be the demonstrator. He grabbed Que, yanking him away from the other four. "Any last words Autobot!" he sneered as continued to push Que towards Soundwave.
"Please," Que pleaded. Not realizing Soundwave was already lifting his gun to kill the smart Autobot. "Don't kill us. I mean can't we talk about this like rational Cybertonians? We can give you anything you want. I beg of you…"
Barricade laugh. "Pathetic."
"Autobot…" Soundwave replied as he fired a shot at Que. "…Terminated!"
The nearly dead Autobot dropped to his knees, feeling the pain of his missing circuits while others were vastly shutting down. This was not the end he wished for. Barricade laughed again as he aimed his weapon, blasting the Autobot's head into tiny pieces of scrap metal. The rest of the Autobot body, crashed to the ground, shaking the ground.
"No!" Sam yelled. He went to rush forward but Carly again stopped him from moving.
"Sam!" Carly demanded. "There's nothing you can do for them!"
"But…" Sam felt tears well up in his eyes. He then remembered he had another bomb device. He pulled out it and went to activate it, but it wouldn't. Damn! It was damaged while he was trying to stop Starscream.
Barricade looked at the young man and laughed. "This is so perfect." He looked at the other Autobots and was quick to grab Bumblebee. "Hey boy!" he called. "I'll give you the honor of watching me wipe this Autobot myself." Barricade aimed his gun at the Camaro's head.
Soundwave glanced from his comrade down below to the two humans, seeing them for the first time. It was quite amusing, watching the human try and force his way from the other human, wanting to try in vain to save his precious Autobot.
"I'm so going enjoy this," Barricade grinned. "For nearly five years you've been a thorn in my afterburner. Not anymore." Barricade looked down to see the young man. "And you Samuel Witwicky, will see my triumph moment of glory as I blast away your favorite car."
Bumblebee looked at Sam, seeing tears fall down the man's face. Carly too was crying. Bumblebee continued to remember all the good times the two shared. He was even there for the young man the day Mikeala left him. But now the memories were about to end. Bumblebee braced himself for his death as Barricade began to slow pull the trigger of his gun.
Up above, a large shadow arrived on large building. The building had holes blasted through it, but it was still standing pretty strong. "Oh no…" he whispered, seeing the dead smart Autobot on the ground with no head. His head turned to Bumblebee who was about to have his memory banks blown away as well. "Bee…"
"Not on my watch you Decepticon scum!" another shadow appeared, growling. "You will die by my hands for the death of my friend." He pulled out his gun and fired, but his aim wasn't the greatest.
"Say goo…" A sudden blast from out of nowhere shot Barricade's gun out of his hand.
Bumblebee glanced to Barricade at the sound of the blast and at the last moment, ducked just as it hit Barricade's hand. Now was his chance! He turned just in time to see Barricade look around, wondering who the hell just fired. Soundwave too looked around. Sam and Carly gasped in shock. What was going on?
Seeing the two Deceptions were distracted, the Camaro swung his body around, activating his gun. He turned his rage onto Soundwave who was still distracted to where the blast came from. So far no one looked above to see two smirking Transformers above them.
"Well I'm going to go and help Optimus," one shadow said. "You can stay and help the others."
The other shadow grunted his reply and waited. It was time to reveal himself. The second shadow then turned and left the scene.
"YES!" Sam yelled in joy. His car was saved. "Get him Bumblebee!"
Sam watched in interest as Bumblebee attacked Soundwave, blasting him quickly through the torso, killing him right there on the spot without any remorse. But who saved Bumblebee? As Soundwave crashed to the ground, dead, another blast was fired from above, hitting Barricade in the chest. Bumblebee looked up to the sky at the same moment another blast hit Barricade right in the chest.
"Stay the hell away from my friends!"
Barricades optics widened in horror before all light faded and he fell to the ground dead.
"That will teach you, you Decepti-scum!"
"HOLY SHIT!" Sideswipe shouted as he looked up, eyes widening in surprise.
Sam gasped in total disbelief. "But I thought…"
Dino looked up. "Ironhide!"
"But how?" asked Ratchet as he stepped over to Que. He was saddened at the loss of his friend.
There standing above him stood Ironhide, guns aimed downward. He had one leg bent, stepping on top of the ledge of the building. The other leg rested on the roof. He then jumped from the building to jump to the next and then back until he reached the ground. The two buildings were being used like steps.
As the Autobot landed, Sam smiled. "Ironhide!" he smiled. "Good to see you!"
"We saw you destroyed by Sentinel's rustic canon," Sideswipe gasped in disbelief.
Ironhide titled his head. "Believe it or not, but that wasn't me. I was taken captive and a Decepticon me replaced me. Guess Sentinel wasn't informed of that plan. Now, let's hurry up and stop the slaggin' traitor."
"What about Optimus?" asked Ratchet. "We saw him get thrown."
"The Wreckers and myself rescued him. Optimus' FlightTech was a damaged a little and they currently trying to get it operational again." Ironhide walked forward to what was left of Que. Kneeling on one leg, Ironhide touched the Autobot. "Rest in Peace, old friend. Your death has been avenged."
He then stood and looked at the Autobots around him. "Now, lets move. I still have the element of surprise. Prime will be the one who will stop Sentinel. He wants the rest of us to stop the spacebridge from opening."
"How can we do that?" asked Sam.
"Destroy the pillar," Ironhide explained.
"But that could destroy Cybertron if it's already activated by the time we get there," replied Ratchet.
"The safety of this world is what Optimus is concerned with."
"But Ironhide," Sideswipe started. "The humans banished us because of Sentinel. He betrayed us. The humans can't trust us if they think it may happen again."
"And that's preciously the reason Optimus wants the pillar destroyed. We now have to prove to the humans we are trustable and do that is to save their planet," Ironhide countered. "Now, are you going to disobey a direct order from our leader?"
No Autobot said anything more.
"Good. Now, let's get moving," Ironhide smiled smugly. "Also one more thing… we have an ally as well. Someone else who we all thought was dead."
"Really? Who?" Ratchet asked as he fiddled with his gun.
With a smirk Ironhide turned.
"He's not going to tell us," answered Dino with a shrug. "Same old 'Hide."
Sam smiled as Carly walked up to him. "Ironhide?" The said Autobot turned to the young man. "I want you to meet Carly. You never got a chance to meet her."
"Ah yes," Ironhide smiled, leaning down to the woman. "It's a pleasure." His optics blinked. "And you're more attractive too."
Sam began to blush at those words. The Autobots would never change for their bluntness.
Carly gave a gentle smile. "Well thank you. I've never had a compliment from a Transformer before."
Ironhide stood back, transforming, showing he was as a grey truck with a metal plate covering the front.
"What the?" blinked Sam. "What happened to your normal color?"
A chuckle came from truck. "Jennifer gave me a facelift so I could sneak in without being notice. Don't worry, it's only paint able to wash off."
"Who's Jennifer?" asked Carly.
"The lady who rescued me and she was being held against her will from Dylan Gould. He too held me prisoner."
"Dylan!" Carly gasped. "I don't believe it."
"I'll explain everything later. Now let's move!" Ironhide then moved out.
The Autobots transformed. Carly and Sam climbed into Bumblebee as Ironhide began to take the lead. High above the sky a Cybertroian ship was flying around destroying other ships piloted by Decepticons. No one knew Brains and Wheelie were on that ship, creating all sorts of havoc.
Flying over the city now with his FlightTech repaired, Optimus looked to the sky to see Cybertron was beginning to appear through the spacebridge. "No. I can't let this happen…" He shook his thoughts and continued flying where he could see the spacebridge energy beam. "But it's a sacrifice worth dealing with to protect this planet and the people here."
Right at the control pillar, Sentinel stood, on the ground, Dylan smiled in triumph. If only he knew he had made a pact with the devil. Anyone against the Decepticons knew they wouldn't keep up with their end of the bargain. They would either take humans as slaves or kill them all, that is if they were to survive the transition of Cybertron being in Earth's orbit.
"SENTINEL!" Both Dylan and Sentinel looked up.
Optimus aimed his gun as he flew down, firing down at the pillar. He was now beyond angry. Never in his life had he felt so much anger before. His own mentor betrayed him, betrayed all the Autobots and what they stood for. Now he wished he never activated him or even ever found him.
Dylan gasped in horror as the pillar dropped. "Nooooo!" He jumped out of the way just in time. The pillar was still active, but was currently turned off.
Optimus dropped his FlightTech and attacked Shockwave, who was standing on the ground. Shockwave was distracted from the fallen pillar to realize Optimus was behind him. Optimus pulled out his sword, stabbing Shockwave in the chest, ripping it up, right through his head, killing him instantly. Sentinel watched from above and was not impressed. He then jumped to the ground, landing in front of a very pissed off Autobot leader.
"Betrayal ends here!" Optimus said as he got himself in a fighting position, aiming his energon sword at his mentor.
"I taught you well Optimus Prime," Sentinel said as he stood back up. "I did this to save the Transformers."
"No! You did this for your selfish needs. You probably were the one who sent Megatron after the All Spark in the first place, weren't you."
"Indeed, I am," Sentinel said as he then attacked Prime. Optimus dodged the attack and attacked back with his leg, knocking Sentinel a few feet… well a few feet by Transformer terms. While the two began to fight, Dylan slowly got up from his position. He was wounded from jumping. He had to reactivate the pillar. He began to slowly make his way over to the pillar.
"Dylan!" Sam yelled as he ran up towards the man, arriving on the scene. He jumped at the man, knocking him over. "You're not going to get to that!"
Dylan looked up to see Sam. "Well Hello Sam. The pillar will reactivate and the saviour of our planet will be upon us."
"You're crazy!" Sam hissed. "If you think the Decepticons will honor the bargain, you are more delusional than I thought. They don't stick with bargains, they break them."
Dylan kicked Sam to the ground and then tried to make a break for the pillar to turn it back on. Sam wasn't phased too much as he got back to his feet and wrestled Dylan back to the ground, punching him in the face. All the while the two were getting closer to the control pillar.
Carly watched as the two men fought and then Optimus and Sentinel fight. At one point with the Transformers, Carly saw Optimus' arm get sliced off. This was not a good sign. She suddenly looked past the two fighting Transformers to see something slowly moving on the ground. It was Megatron. With carefulness, she made her way over to him.
"So you're just going to sit here and let Sentinel dictate your every move?" she taunted. She had to try and do something to help Optimus.
"In a short bit, Cybertron will be here and the Decepticons will rule."
Carly got closer to the wounded Decepticon. "Yeah, with Sentinel as the leader."
"No!" Megatron roared. "I can crush you, fleshling."
"For what price? All you're going to be is Sentinel's bitch!"
Megatron growled and moved his hand to attack the woman, but he stopped. Staring at her, he could see she wasn't afraid of him. And why should she? He was wounded and his pride was gone. Sentinel belittled him. The supreme ruler of the Decepticons was no longer him. He slowly got to his feet, moving away from the woman to see the fight between Prime and Sentinel.
He failed to notice the two men also fighting. He looked up just in time to see the energy beam reactivate and Cybertron was visible once again. "Cybertron will be mine!"
Over by the humans, Dylan smiled in triumph again. He had a smug look at Sam. "See Sam, I will always get what I want. I'll be the liaison for the humans to the Decepticons."
"You really think that is what would have happen?" Sam snapped as he wasn't paying attention to the battle with Sentinel. "They brainwashed you. You're a complete lunatic, if you believe that! You'll just be another slave to the Decepticons… a puppet, bending to their will. Yeah, you will live all right. Only long enough to see everything you love destroyed."
Dylan got to his feet kicking Sam in the stomach. "And you will suffer greatly for trying to interfere!"
Sam collapsed to the ground, after sliding across the ground, away from the pillar, wind completely knocked out of him. He tried to gasp for breath, but for several moments, he could only take labored quick breaths, not even able to get a full breath into his lungs.
"Sentinel will destroy the Autobots and he will save the humans!" Dylan sneered as he approached Sam, leaving the pillar unprotected.
"Is that so!" a woman seethed.
Dylan had no time to turn to the voice before a woman's leg came out, kicking him in the back of the knees. He collapsed to the ground. An unexpected sharp pain shot through his knees as a sickening crack came from both knees. His body bent forward, heading touching the ground as tears came to his eyes.
Sam, finally able to get his breathing, looked up to see a woman dressed in dark. He was about to ask who she was, but she continued.
"Good! You deserved that," she snapped. "For threatening the life of my daughter!"
Seeing that the close was clear and all humans were away from the pillar, the Transformer in the shadow thought it was now time to stop the endless nightmare. He fired a shot just as Ratchet and Bumblebee were suddenly approaching.
Not far off Sentinel, Bumblebee and Ratchet waited. They couldn't do anything while Sam was attacking the human but now the humans were away from the pillar so now was their chance. But just as Ratchet pulled out his gun and fired, a blast was already fired. Bumblebee saw the shot was going towards the pillar and he knew he had to protect Sam. The shards were going to go everywhere.
The battle between Optimus and Sentinel stopped for a single moment. NO!" Sentinel screamed as the pillar was completely destroyed, sending Cybertron into a whirlpool of collapsing into itself.
Sentinel saw Ratchet and rushed towards him, kicking him. "I will kill you like I did to your friend!"
Ratchet ignored the comment to jump to his feet to aim a punch to Sentinel, but Optimus, who only had one arm, blocked Sentinel's attack. The attack caused Optimus to collapse to the ground, in too much pain. Optimus felt extreme pain from the severed arm, but there was nothing more he could do.
At that same moment the shadow who shot at the pillar came into perfect view walking towards the scene. He saw the humans arguing. "The spacebridge will never be activated again!"
Sentinel looked up to the voice. "I don't remember you!"
Optimus looked up and breathed in relief. He made it. Ratchet and Bumblebee both gasped. How was that possible? He died five years ago. But it was true. There standing in front them was… JAZZ!
"It will never be used again!" Ironhide said as he came around another corner.
"NO!" Sentinel shouted. "You're supposed to be dead!"
"Supposed to be is right," Ironhide smiled. "But thanks to not being informed, you actually kicked an imposter of me."
The humans stopped their squabbling to see what was going on. Sam stared in shock on who was beside Ratchet. How could this be? Ironhide AND Jazz were both alive? The woman with Dylan turned back to the man. "Your allies are getting thinner now and soon it will be over for you!"
Ironhide looked down. "Jennifer!" he blinked.
Sam turned away from the woman to look at Ironhide. "Jennifer?" he inquired. "She's the one who saved you," he said to himself.
Jennifer ignored Ironhide as she then kicked Dylan in the side, sending him falling into the payment. "That's for holding Ironhide prisoner you damn bastard! I will make sure you feel the same pain you put on others!" She stormed up to him, punching him the face, totally knocking him out.
Sam gawked at the woman. She was more pissed off than he was. What triggered her anger? Wait! Didn't she say something about threatening her daughter? That would explain the anger. No one should ever threaten the lives of another's family.
Just then another Transformer came out from nowhere. "Sentinel!" he yelled. "You will never lead the Decepticons!"
Optimus and Ironhide turned in time to see Megatron attack Sentinel, damaging Sentinel quickly since he wasn't expecting him. Sentinel then kicked Megatron towards Optimus.
Megatron slumped to one leg and looked at Optimus. "Prime… let's call a truce." The mech was damaged in the head and in the three years since the attack in the desert, he was never able to get himself repaired.
The mere sight of Megatron was disgusting Optimus. The Autobot commander took his sword and jammed it down on the Decepticon leader. "Never, will I sign a peace treaty with you. You kidnapped one of my own and replaced him!" With an action no Autobot ever thought to see from Optimus, he was quick to grab his sword, yanking it up, tearing Megatron's head completely off this body. How did Optimus have the strength to do that with only one arm, it was anyone's guess.
"That's the way to do it!" Sentinel rejoiced.
Optimus sneered as he dropped Megatron's memory core. He then pulled out his sword, slamming it right into Sentinel's body. "And there is no way I'm going to stand here with the likes of you."
"This…" Sentinel started slowly as his death was coming, since Optimus sliced him through the spark. "Was only to save the Transformers…"
"No," Optimus said, dropping his sword. "It was for your own selfish greed…"
Sam gasped in shock. This was the first time he saw Optimus this upset. Just then all the other surviving Autobots; Dino, Sideswipe, Leadfoot, Topspin and Roadbuster arrived.
"Decepticons terminated," Topspin announced, using a common phrase from Soundwave.
Ironhide turned away, looking at Jennifer, displeased. She turned towards the Autobot. "Do you think I was just going to stand on the sidelines while you went into battle, risking your ass?" she asked, baby blue eyes blazing. Her blonde hair was still pulled in the braid but some strands were now hanging out. "Think again. This battle wasn't just for you Autobots. It was for the justice of us humans too."
Optimus bent to one knee, in pain, hearing everything the woman said. "I couldn't quite agree more," he said, vocal processor slightly labored. "This battle was for lives of this planet and getting retribution for our fallen comrades."
As Optimus spoke, the military officers from NEST slowly walked onto the scene at the same time the former NEST officers did as well. Ratchet rushed over to his leader, to assess the damage. He was hoping he could repair the damage, but he would need several parts. Perhaps the remains of the Transformers, dead around the city would be able to help him with getting the parts needed.
Lennox looked around. "It's going to take years to clean this mess." He looked at Jennifer. "And you are?"
Jennifer looked at Lennox and recognized him. "You and my husband worked together three years ago until his death in Egypt."
"Egypt?" blinked Lennox. It then suddenly hit him. "You're Jennifer Lapin! Lieutenant Daniel Lapin's wife!"
"Lieutenant?" Ironhide was now confused. "So that's why you offered to help me to escape. You wanted to get back for the death of your husband."
"Yes," Jennifer said. "Also to protect my daughter. Ironhide, you knew Dylan was black mailing me into holding you in Hoover Dam."
"Hoover Dam?" Ratchet looked up from seeing what he could do for Optimus. "Wasn't that place shut down?"
"It was," Jazz responded.
"It's a long story," Ironhide explained. "And one I'm sure you all wanting an explanation for. Considering you thought I was dead only to return a few days later."
"Not to mention Jazz," Ratchet said. "Your body…"
"Let's just say Dylan found my body and saw my spark was still active. He and his Decepticon allies put me back together and has been using me as a slave in Hoover Dam for the past five years."
"Let's leave the explaining for later. For now, we need to get out of the city," Optimus said, satisfied with Jazz's answer, for now. "Colonel, can you have Que's body transported back to Washington?"
The other Autobots too nodded, also satisfied. At least their friend was alive and that was what counted most.
"Optimus, you know NEST headquarters was half destroyed, hence why you were all were supposed to have been banished."
"Why not Area51?" asked Carly, interrupting. "It's under military rule. I'm sure you guys could be sent there for the time being."
"No." Optimus answered. "I will not subject myself to anymore US military aide. They were the ones…"
"Correct me if I'm wrong," Jennifer interrupted. "But wasn't it our beloved President who sent you away?"
Optimus sighed. "It was…"
"Then…" Jennifer stepped away from the unconscious man. "Your beef is with him, not with the army. Besides, didn't you guys just finally proved the US wrong for what the Decepticons wanted? I know three years ago when you were discovered, people kept saying if you left so would the Decepticons. Well that's wrong! They didn't leave and you did. In fact you guys were supposed to have been killed by a Decepticon. How did you escape that?"
"We anticipated Starscream's attack," Sideswipe answered. "And with that, there was another bunker no one ever knew about. When we launched the bunker separated, sending us back to the ground."
"I know the perfect place for you guys to go," Lennox snapped his fingers. "There's an abandoned air strip in Maine. We can take you there and get the repairs done."
"That will suffice," Optimus nodded as he felt his systems now wanting to shut down so repairs could be made. It was a safety protocol on the Autobots for when they were under too much damage to shut down to protect the other vital systems.
"Optimus!" Sideswipe blurted as he saw his commander begin to fall.
Ratchet was swift to catch the Autobot leader, but was barely able to hold him up from the force of the fall. "Damn," Ratchet muttered.
"What happened?" insisted Lennox.
Ratchet looked at the Colonel. "Optimus' safe mode has been activated. He's now gone into stasis to protect the rest of his vital systems from being damaged. He will not reactivate until he's fully repaired."
Jennifer looked at Optimus. "Well that makes sense."
"Bumblebee," Ironhide commanded. "Take Sam and Carly out of here and begin rounding up the survivors into one area."
"Short time ago," Jennifer interrupted. "I found a small office building. It's only about three stories high and it wasn't damaged."
"Jazz, take Jennifer and have her show you where the building is. Bumblebee, follow Jazz. Dino, you go with them as well. Ratchet, look after Prime while the rest of us begin to help with the clean up efforts until help can get us out of here."
"Ironhide," Lennox interrupted. "Perhaps those who came with Sam can help with the human survivor operation. They are, after all, civilians now."
Epps looked at his former commander. "That's an idea. I may be a former US officer, but I have no jurisdiction to be part of the city clean up."
Epps turned to his men. "Listen up guys! We're going to help the Autobots by rounding up the surviving citizens and getting them into one location."
"You're also going to have to deal with getting them food and water," Lennox continued.
"Why not go and raid the destroyed markets and whatnot to get what you need?" suggested Leadfoot.
"Those places are owned by people," Lennox protested.
Jennifer stepped to the army officer. "And what of them? Most of Chicago is in ruins and probably many of the shop owners are dead. It's only just for food and water. It's not like we're giving the humans clothes, though we may have to do that too until some arrangement can be made. And I'm sure the President will want a full report on the battle here. This city is going to have to either be evacuated or people continue to live here but in homes that are not destroyed. Besides Red Cross would donate free food anyway… so we're just giving them a hand."
Lennox sighed. He knew the woman was right. And these were desperate times. Who knew how long it would take for help to arrive. It could be days before anyone were to send in reinforcements and in the meantime the people in the city needed to be looked after.
"You have a point. Take what you can and ONLY what you need. Food, supplies, perhaps clothing but only the essentials and nothing more!" Lennox caved.
Jennifer nodded. "If you want I can make an inventory list of what is taken."
Lennox shook his head. "That's not necessary. Just do what you have to do."
Jazz transformed and opened his door to allow Jennifer in. Bumblebee too transformed, allowing Sam and his girlfriend to climb in. The two Autobots carefully rode away, not wanting to hit anything. It was going to be a long recovery operation One where Lennox was not looking forward to working with. Five years ago, Decepticons had attacked Mission City, another city but it wasn't as destroyed as Chicago. It only took one year to get the rumble cleaned up, but the city was still being rebuilt and now the government was going to have to rebuild again.
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