I am sure some people will say that this chapter is a bit short. But I did not want to get you all impatient. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and be sure to review!
(Nighttime, America, Unknown Location)
It was the dead of night around an old, abandoned shipyard. The only noise were the sounds of animals nearby, the moving of the wind blowing against stone, grass, metal and water. But, that slowly began to change as moving cars started to drive in, with Apache helicopters flying above them. All vehicles were armed and so were their occupants. As they neared the port, the vehicles spread out into a parameter, blocking any escape routes, with the helicopters hovering overhead, ready for action. From the cars, armed men began coming out, weapons raised and ready to kill.
Amongst them was a grey-haired man, clearly the leader of this group. He spoke to several operatives near him. "Take squad 7 to cover the left flank, squad 2, cover the right. All other squads will move down the center." James Savoy of Cemetery Wind said. The two operatives nodded and lead their respective squad towards their ordered position.
Meanwhile Savoy began contacting the helicopters above. "This is Leader, calling Striker 1. Any visuals?" Savoy asked through his comm.
Above in one of the helicopters, the pilot spoke. "Negative sir, no visual on-wait." The pilot paused when he noticed something new on his screen. "I'm detecting an energy signature in the warehouse up ahead. Confirmed Cybertronian!"
At that moment, the said warehouse exploded, startling the operatives. From the dust, Jetfire came running out, axe at the ready and missile cannon activated. Without wasting a second, the former Decepticon fired a rocket, destroying one of the cars and sending the men nearby flying. Savoy managed to dodge the debris as he took cover behind a broken car. As some of his men began firing on the fleeing Jetfire, Savoy began giving out orders.
"All operatives, the target is moving. Return to vehicles immediately. Strikers, keep your sights on target and pursue. Remember, this one is a flyer, so get anti-air weapons ready!" Savoy ordered as he headed back to the car, followed by the other operatives. Meanwhile the helicopters had already begun to pursue Jetfire.
Jetfire cursed as he fired another rocket. "Damn humans…" He muttered as he tried to transform while under fire.
He had just begun to take off when rockets struck his back. From the helicopters came a barrage of bullets and rockets, while soldiers from the vans fired FM-92 Stinger missiles. He could feel his wings being blown off and one of his thrusters destroyed, forcing Jetfire to make a crash landing. With no other choice, Jetfire transformed again back into his robot mode. As the helicopters moved in Jetfire raised his axe. Targeting the nearest chopper, the ancient Seeker swung his weapon, cutting off its tail. The pilots screamed as they violently crashed into the ground, consumed in flames.
Despite that, the rest did not halt their assault. "We got a fighter!" One soldier cheered in glee, not at all bothered by his comrades' deaths.
"All units switch to armor-piercing rounds." Savoy ordered as he loaded his rifle. Some operatives used grenade launchers, launching barrages of explosive rounds that struck Jetfire. The Apaches doubled their efforts as they joined their comrades on the assault.
Jetfire continued fighting back, but was starting to falter under the human's relentless assault. By the time they halted, he was missing his left arm, the lower part of his right leg, and sparks could be seen over his body, as well as energon leaking out of his body.
Letting out a gasp, Jetfire used his axe-cane to support himself. "Blasted humans, no honor whatsoever." Jetfire cursed to himself.
Deeming that Jetfire could no longer fight back, Savoy casually walked closer towards the Seeker, his men ready to deliver the killing blow. "Not bad, Decepticon." Savoy commented mockingly.
Growling at the human, Jetfire responded, "I'm an Autobot, stupid meatbag."
Savoy snorted, "If so, why you attack us?" He asked.
"You think I'm an idiot?" Jetfire snapped. "Lord Prime told us that we were being hunted…by you humans!" He then played a message from Optimus.
"This is Optimus Prime to all Autobots! Cease all contact with humans! I repeat, cease all contact with humans! We are being hunted! Lay low and stay hidden, stay together. Do not let the humans find you!"
Once he was done playing the message, Jetfire continued. "You attacked Autobot City! Killed so many of us. Well, if you want to take me, then you'll be joining me!"
With that, Jetfire sprung up, axe raised, preparing to bring it down on the human. Startled by the Seeker's bold move, Savoy started to back up as his men prepared to fire. But suddenly, a projectile appeared and fatally struck Jetfire in the chest. The impact caused the elder Cybertronian to lose his axe and fall back on his back with a grunt.
From the nearby waters, a grey Cybertronian arose, his face wearing a cannon that slow slid back to reveal his green optics. The human operatives backed away as the Cybertronian walked up towards Jetfire. Said Seeker managed to look up to see his shooter, narrowing his optics. "You…I know you. The mercenary, Lockdown." Jetfire grunted.
"I'm honored that I am known by an ancient Seeker such as you, Jetfire." Lockdown said as he stood above him. "However, you're just like the rest of them. Autobots, Decepticons, like little children. Always fighting, making a mess out of the universe. Then I've got to clean it up."
As he spoke, Lockdown's right arm changed into a menacing looking hook. "If you value your life, old timer, then you'll tell me what I want to know." Lockdown said as he leaned forward. "Tell me where Optimus Prime is."
Jetfire stared at Lockdown for a moment. As if he would sell out Optimus or the other Autobots. As a last act of defiance, the ancient Cybertronian spit energon in Lockdown's face, causing the mercenary to back up a little. "Never" Jetfire said.
And with that, Lockdown plunged his hook arm right through Jetfire's chest. The ancient Seeker gasped in pain. But rather than go down like that, Jetfire managed to grab his axe, and swung it at Lockdown, The Seeker struck the mercenary in the face, hard enough to leave a large cut on Lockdown's left cheekplate. Though annoyed by that, the mercenary was undeterred as he simply put his foot on Jetfire's chest, and with violent pull, ripped out Jetfire's spark. His optics flickered for a few seconds as the last of his life slowly began to fade away, the ancient Seeker, Jetfire, landed on the ground lifelessly with a soft thud. "Never is already here." Lockdown replied.
With Jetfire now dead, Lockdown walked away, crushing the Seeker's spark. "He's all yours." Lockdown said to Savoy, before transforming into his vehicle mode and speeding off. Savoy smirked sinisterly as he contacted his superiors about another Cybertronian going down.
None of them, however, noticed the pink Ducati 848 motorcycle standing on a nearby hill. After a few seconds, it's headlights lit up, a driver appearing, and then drove off away at top speed.
(Abandoned Airport)
As he worked on another project, a communicator that would not attract the attention of the humans, Autobot inventor/scientist, Wheeljack, could overhear the argument between Ironhide and Jazz, with Ratchet standing nearby. The other occupants, Sideswipe, Jolt and Mirage, were watching the perimeter, though were listening to the conversation a little.
"Calm down, Ironhide. Going gung ho an't going to help the situation." Jazz ordered the taller mech.
Ironhide growled in aggravation. "I can't take any of this slag anymore!" Ironhide bellow, causing the ground to rumble a little. "We've been on the run for three years, and have not once done any drastic counter. How much longer are we going to have to keep running with our afts in the air?"
Jazz glared at the weapon specialist, not the least bit intimidated. "You remember Optimus' orders. Avoid human contact at all cost. Right now, humanity thinks all of us are the enemy, attacking them would just increase their fears." Jazz retorted. "Our best bet to survive is to keep moving from state to state, searching for survivors and Optimus."
Jazz's words made Wheeljack think back to the past three years. Ever since the battle of Chicago, humanity had begun to fear Cybertronians, both Autobots and Decepticons. With pressure building up from both the population and congress, the President had to dissolve NEST and the treaty with the Autobots. Despite that, the Autobots were granted asylum, and as more began to arrive, they started to settle on the former NEST base, Diego Garcia. While Autobot City as it was called was being built, the Autobots also built a base in Grand Canyon, given permission to mine the energon deposit there. For a while, things begin to settle down.
But that changed three years ago. From the CIA, a new black ops unit called Cemetery Wind was born. Officially, Cemetery Wind was supposed to hunt down Decepticons, but also targeted the Autobots too. There first act was staging a full scale assault on Autobot City and the Grand Canyon base, half a year after Chicago. Unprepared, the Autobots stood no chance against the armed humans' assault, with many being killed right away. With no means to contact the U.S Government, Optimus ordered the Autobots to scatter and go into hiding. Many Autobots managed to make it through the Ground Bridge before it was destroyed. Omega Supreme, AKA the Ark, took off with the hatchlings found in Africa, as well as the Wreckers, the Twins, Elita-1 and Chromia. Wheeljack personally destroyed any copies of the space bridge he had been working on, as well as any Autobot technology he could not bring. Better they be destroyed then used against them.
So, for the past three years, the Autobots had been on the run from Cemetery Wind, as they hunted down both them and Decepticons. Some had tried surviving on their own, while a few had managed to form small groups and hold out, hence the current situation. Jazz and the others had been moving from county to county, hiding in abandoned towns, factories and facilities, all the while searching for other Autobots and Optimus.
Ironhide growled, looking like he wanted to attack the lieutenant. It was then that Ratchet came in and broke the fighting. "That's enough you two, fighting amongst ourselves won't do any good in solving our current situation. Let's wait for Arcee to return from her scouting trip." The senior medic said as Ironhide and Jazz backed off from one another.
Ironhide's anger was understandable. The weapon specialist was not known for running away from a fight. The fact that the humans had turned on them, after the Autobots sacrificed everything, their own planet, just made him angry. Plus, Ironhide's current behavior because there had been no contact from the Ark since the attack on Autobot City. That included his sparkmate, Chromia, who had been on the ship.
It was at that moment that the same pink motorcycle came driving towards the Autobot group. As she neared the mechs, Arcee transformed halfway before coming to a halt before the taller Cybertronians. Sideswipe, Jolt, Mirage and Wheeljack joined the four as they listened to what Arcee found.
Sadly, she had no good news as the pink femme shook her head. "Jetfire is dead." Arcee reported sadly. "I got there too late to help before he was killed." The femme finished.
Hearing the Seeker's death did not do good for the Autobots' morale. Ever since he was revived after the Fallen's death, Jetfire worked hard to atone for the crimes he caused during his time as a Decepticon. Most notably, he had fought valiantly during the battle of Chicago, facing against squadrons of Decepticon flyers and bringing them down with great determination. To hear of his death was greatly disheartening for the group, as they hadn't found any other surviving Autobots the whole month.
"That makes the fifth one this year." Ratchet lamented.
Mirage nodded. "It seems like the bastardos are becoming more adapt in locating us. We'd had best be ready to move soon." The red mech commented.
At that moment, Wheeljack's communicator sprang to life, startling the Autobots. Static filled the air as distorted voices could be heard. The inventor ran up to the device and tried to strengthen the signal. The others soon joined him, surrounding the table. "Is it an Autobot?" Sideswipe asked.
"Has to be, this communicator was designed to lock onto Autobot frequencies. Now give me a sec while I try to get a fix on the signal." Wheeljack replied.
After a few minutes, the signal began to clear up. A voice could be heard. "…Hound here…attack…Cemetery Wind…need…assistance…Bumblebee…Drift and Crosshairs..."
"Hound? I haven't heard from him since Autobot City." Ironhide said in surprise of hearing the Autobot Commando's voice.
"And did he say Bumblebee?" Arcee asked.
"Drift and Crosshair are with him, too." Jolt added.
Jazz looked at Wheeljack. "Can you pinpoint their location?" Jazz asked the inventor.
Wheeljack typed in a few commands into the device. "It's not solid, but they're about two miles west from here. Looks like an abandoned factory." Wheeljack said.
"Okay, Arcee, help Wheeljack pack up. Something tells me we'll be looking for a new hideout. The rest of you, we've got Autobots to save!" Jazz ordered as he and the others transformed and headed out, hoping they were not too late.
(With Bumblebee's Group)
"Move your afts in gear, bots!" Crosshairs shouted as he fired several shots at their pursuers.
Beside him, Drift had his swords out, deflecting rockets. "I'm detecting several enemy helicopters heading towards us." Drift said as he sliced through another rocket.
:Let's move deeper into the factory! They won't risk chasing after us in closed spaces!: Bumblebee said through the comm-link as he dodged some projectiles.
"Hound, get your fat ass moving!" Crosshairs shouted towards the commando, who was running up to them.
"Shut yer trap, Crosshairs." Hound yelled, not even flinching when a rocket hit him in the back. "I an't that slow!"
The group of four made it inside one of the buildings, not bothering to turn on the lights, as it would attract Cemetery Wind. They stayed quiet as they listened to the sound of Apaches whirling overhead, searching for them. Using their scanners, the Autobots could tell that the operatives on the ground were hesitant of moving forward, as going into tight spaces would give the Autobots the advantage.
"Let's try to find another exit, then we can slip past them." Drift suggested, getting nods of agreement from the others. As they were about to move, a voice made them pause.
"I know you're in there…Bumblebee, was it?" A voice speaking through a loudspeaker said. "This is Sergeant Brandon J. Khendsovan. You might not know me, but I was a part of NEST before leaving." Brandon added.
The name made Hound frown. "I know him. The bastard defected when we caught him selling weapons to terrorists." The commando muttered in disgust.
"Why don't you surrender, Bumblebee. You're outnumbered and surrounded." Brandon continued. "After all, you don't want anything to happen to your friend's family, right?" He asked, sinisterly.
Bumblebee froze, memories coming back to him. Three years ago, when Cemetery Wind had attacked Autobot City, Bumblebee was with Sam and Mikaela, parked near Mikaela's owned vehicle repair station at the time. Their infant son, Daniel Witwicky, was being cared for by his grandparents, Sam's parents, when Cemetery Wind appeared. Their vehicles had surrounded the station and they were speaking with Sam and Mikaela, demanding the whereabout of any Autobots, saying that all Transformers were illegal. Bumblebee had only realized how bad these people were too late, when the soldiers got into a fight with the couple, and guns firing started. Quickly transforming and smashing aside several Cemetery Wind vehicles, Bumblebee could only look on in horror as he stared at the bodies of his best friend and his wife, in a pool of their own blood. Even though the yellow bot wanted nothing more than kill the operatives, he knew that he was outnumbered and that fighting would just endanger innocent bystanders. So, with a heavy heart, Bumblebee was forced to flee, though not before calling the hospital so that Sam and Mikaela's bodies could be found and given proper burials. The next few weeks after that, Bumblebee made sure that David and Sam's parents were safe before eventually heading out to find other Autobots.
Now, hearing these men, no, these monsters, threatening Sam's remaining family caused anger to rise in Bumblebee's spark. The fact that they planned on murdering an innocent child like Daniel, who couldn't have been more than two years old right now, only caused Bee's fury to rise. This was something the other Autobots noticed. "Oh, Bee. Don't listen to the ass. He's just trying to bait you!" Crosshairs hissed.
Unfortunately, Brandon's next words were, "We will kill them, as they are charged with treason for siding with alien threats. Though, my superiors might want us to bring in the baby, Daniel, right? After all, we'd always need new recruits."
That had been the last straw. Sliding down his mask, Bumblebee broke through the factory walls, plasma cannon ready. With a roar, the yellow bot shot down two nearby Apaches. The remaining Apaches flew in towards the mech, followed by the Cemetery Wind cars. Bumblebee did not let up, as he kept firing plasma bolts at the oncoming attackers, and a few rockets too.
"Aw slag" Crosshairs cursed as he drew out his machine pistols and joined Bumblebee.
"Though to be fair, threatening innocents is unacceptable." Drift commented as he joined his comrades. Behind him, Hound came charging out, roaring alongside his triple barrel mini-gun.
"Take that, bitches!" Hound yelled as he mowed down three black vans. An Apache tried to take a shot at the Autobot, only to be brought down when Drift cut off its tail rotor.
Seeing this, the remaining Apaches flew higher and remained at a safe distance before continuing to lay down fire on the Autobots. Meanwhile the vans had begun doing zig zags around the Autobots, avoiding being hit while at the same time firing back. Though the various smoke stacks and buildings limited their maneuverability, they also made good cover for them too. In a few minutes, the Autobots were soon pinned down as Cemetery Wind moved in for the kill. But that changed when an explosion unexpectedly occurred, hitting one of the vans from behind, sending it tumbling through the air before violently hitting the ground. Several more vans were hit and another Apache went down.
"Autobots, attack!" Jazz yelled as he transformed and opened fire with his shied blaster. Ironhide soon joined him, followed by the others. Mirage and Sideswipe dealt with the vans, using their blades to slice them apart, while Ratchet and Jolt focused on the Apaches. Ironhide fires his rocket cannons that destroyed one van on contact, and sent another flying. He and Jazz began making their way towards the four Autobots.
"Ha, ha! Reinforcements are here!" Hound cheered as he helped Drift, whose left leg had been hit by an RPG rocket.
Jazz stood beside Crosshairs, firing alongside the paratrooper. "We got your transmission! Just glad we managed to make it here on time." The lieutenant said.
"Damn good timing too! Otherwise we might be nothing but wrecks!" Crosshairs replied.
Bumblebee ignored all this as he scanned the battlefield, looking for the van that Brandon was in. Eventually, the yellow mech spotted the vehicle heading away from the battle. With a growl, Bumblebee transformed and gave chase.
"Bee! Where ya going?!" Ironhide roared as the scout drew off. The weapon specialist quickly transformed and drove after the yellow bot.
"Bugger lost his slagging processor!" Crosshairs cursed as he finished off the last van.
Back with Bumblebee, said mech had finally caught up to Brandon's van, all the while ignoring the grenades and bullets fired at him. Activating his stealth force, Bumblebee opened fire on the black car. Eventually, the van made a hard, stiff turn due to the fire it was taking. That gave Bee a chance to transform before delivering a powerful kick to the van. The blow sent the vehicle flying before crashing hard on the ground, skidding a few seconds before coming to a stop. The impact also damaged the engine, causing flames to leak out.
Bumblebee slowly made his way towards the crashed van, keeping his optics opened for any movements. That's when one of the back windows was broken, glass flying everywhere as a fist stuck popped out. Slowly, it was followed by a man wearing a black ski mask and torn up and bloody Cemetery Wind uniform crawled out. He was clearly in pain if the coughs and grunts were any indication. Though the man's face was obscured, the noise he was making was enough for Bumblebee to identify him as Brandon.
Shifting his right arm into his signature plasma cannon, Bumblebee slowly raised it towards the crawling man. With a cold glare in his optics, Bumblebee said, "Hasta la vista, bitch" And fired. The last thing Brandon saw was a plasma bolt flying out of Bee's cannon towards him. The projectile struck him, taking him and the van up in flames as the vehicle exploded.
As the smokes from the flames reached the sky, Bumblebee stared on apathetically. He did not seem to even notice Ironhide, who had caught up and transformed. Placing a hand on the yellow mech's shoulder, Ironhide asked, "Bee, what the slag was that all about?"
The weapon specialist got no response from Bumblebee, saved for the yellow mech to brush his hand off. Without a word, Bumblebee transformed and drove off to regroup with the others. Ironhide kept his optics on the scout, a look in them saying that Ironhide had a feeling of what caused Bumblebee to become so ruthless right now. He then turned his attention back to the burning van, noticing the scorched corpse sticking out of it. Eventually Ironhide transformed into his alt mode and left.
And there you have it, folks! I hope none of you are too angry about Sam and Mikaela's fate, but I couldn't really think of what else to do with them. As for Jetfire, I do like the guy, don't get me wrong. But out of all the Autobots, I believed he was the better choice to kill off.
