All's Fair In Love And War.
Chapter Ten.
Sam felt herself forcibly turned by Bumblebee and Barricade as they took hold of one of her arms each and took off running. She didn't resist, just ran too, because she decided if they were all running, there must be something more to worry about than her lack of combat experience. As soon as they realised this they released her grip, but made sure she didn't drop behind.
They didn't get too far before running into the rest of the New Decepticons, still fighting more of the Autobots, and some of the original Decepticons who agreed with the truce were fighting by the Autobots' sides, and Sam took the opportunity to take a quick look around.
Prowl and Optimus were both fighting with the big purple one eyed mech, while Ironhide and Ratchet were keeping the black truck-mech occupied. The mech Barricade had attacked earlier was still lying where he'd dropped after being thrown at Swindle, and Ramjet was still moving, but not succeeding in his attempts to get up. Sam couldn't help wondering just what the Twins had done to him, or whether it was Barricade's missiles that had caused most of the obvious damage to the battered Conehead.
Astrotrain hadn't managed to flee too far before the Twins, who must have still wanted a fight, and Knockout, one of the Decepticon medics, engaged him in battle, and Blitzwing, now in robot form, was also backing away, (but in a different direction) from the assembled Combaticons, who seemed to be…making the mech equivalent of a human pyramid?
For Swindle and Brawl had stood, and Onslaught was leaping to land atop them, and then Vortex and Blast Off were jumping up too, but the tank, jeep and the two winged ones were also transforming, not into vehicles or robots but what appeared to be…limbs? Feet formed on the two bottom ones, and a previously invisible seam split to reveal hinged areas that functioned as knees. Similarly, the two upper ones sprouted hands from their own altered forms, Blast Off's from his tail, Vortex from out of his helicopter mode's nose. They somehow attached themselves to Onslaught's own changing form. Both 'arms' also cracked open part way down and bent on previously-hidden hinges to create elbows, and as Onslaught's own form shifted to create the torso, a head emerged from the top.
Blitzwing looked over towards Sam and laughed. "Sam, meet Bruticus!" he shouted.
Sam gulped, not actually necessary, but it was a left over remnant of her time as a human, and she had only been mechanical for a few months. "I'd rather not," she remarked to Barricade, Knockout, and her Autobot friends.
"No, you don't Sam," Knockout remarked. "His demeanour is unpleasant, and his manner is rude."
The robot formed by the five combined mechs was huge, bigger even than Astrotrain, and looked over at Sam, with that simple motion seeming to loom over the small femme, who looked at the others to see what they thought they should do. The giant robot turned at the waist, lifted a foot, and put it down, quite clearly heading their way.
Optimus turned his head quickly to look at Bumblebee as he grappled with his opponent. No words were spoken, and it took just a second, but Sam guessed it was a pre-arranged signal, or had happened before, because Bumblebee said "We need to get Sam away. Barricade, may I suggest you and I ride ahead, Cliffjumper and Mirage bring up the back, and Sam drives in the middle?" At Sam's confused expression, he said "Two in front, you behind, two behind you. Looking a bit like a number five on a dice, Sam."
"Okay," Sam said. He noticed Barricade and Bumblebee were already in position, and swiftly moved to his assigned place, with Mirage and Cliffjumper bringing up the rear. Knockout and the Twins had gone into car form and were already heading off to try and delay the huge mech.
"Mirage, how far does your disrupter extend?" Bumblebee asked, eyeing Bruticus warily, who was definitely heading their way. Sam spotted Knockout, Windcharger, Hound, Soundwave, and Dead End moving to attempt to intercept Bruticus.
"I can see what you're asking and I'm sorry to disappoint," Mirage said. "I'd have to ride on Sam and that's not fair. Or her on me. Either way, if we were seen vanishing, it would raise suspicion. If we have to switch to robot form, I could hide her by taking hold of her for a short time, but it's highly energy intensive to use and I've used it three times today already, and I'm not sure how long it would last for a fourth time, especially to conceal two."
"Time to go!" Barricade said. Bumblebee didn't even waste time replying, and he and Barricade pulled away. Sam drove behind them, ignoring suggested driving distance safety advice, and keeping no further back than six inches from the two cars ahead of her, and Cliffjumper and Mirage were close behind her too.
Bruticus roared as he saw them leave, and as he moved forwards to try and catch them, Astrotrain suddenly converted and blasted into the sky, as Blitzwing, unable to fly with a holed wing, nonetheless pursued, first in robot form and then converted back into tank mode, moving at an unexpected speed that didn't seem to fit his bulky vehicle form.
"Scrap!" shouted Cliffjumper. "If he carries on at that speed he'll be up our tailpipes in no time!"
"Looks like the Twins are still ready to fight, and they're moving to intercept, by the look of it," Mirage noted. Indeed, when Sam chanced a look in her rear view mirror, she could see the two cars, one red and one yellow, should be able to reach Cliffjumper's rear before Blitzwing would.
Blitzwing suddenly fired over them. "He missed!" Sam said, then felt the ground tremble beneath him, and saw Barricade and Bumblebee showered with dirt and stones, and felt some of it hit her.
"No, he didn't!" Barricade replied, he and Bumblebee skidding to a halt. "He's trying to slow us down and block us off, and for that, he doesn't need to hit us, just the ground over which we need to travel." Sam also stopped, and when she saw the crater ahead caused by the tank shell, she saw Barricade's point. All Blitzwing needed to do was to make the ground ahead impassable or difficult to navigate, and they'd be slowed down enough for Bruticus to easily catch them up at best, and completely trapped and at everyone's mercy at worst.
Bumblebee and Barricade converted to robot form, and Sam, Mirage and Cliffjumper followed suit, deploying their weapons and trying to back away. The Twins were now trying to attack Blitzwing, but his armour was making their job harder. He sent another shell over their head, and Barricade said "We've got to stop that gun. Everyone, we all fire in turn. Me, Mirage, Sam, Bumblebee and Cliffjumper, in that order. Aim to shoot inside the barrel if you can, if we can blow up, or even stop up the turret, it should stop him firing. His armour means anyone else's attacks except mine and Mirage's, elsewhere on his body are unlikely to cause any damage. Same goes for Bruticus, he's heavily armoured too!"
Sam glanced over at where Bruticus was trying to stomp on the combined Autobot/Decepticon team who were trying to stop his advance, saw Soundwave release his Cassettes, Hound throwing up holograms in the ground and in the sky, and Dead End, Windcharger, and Knockout driving around him in an attempt to distract and disorient him. In the sky there was an aerial battle going on between the Command Trine and Thrust against Astrotrain. Although there were more of them, he was bigger, and it seemed he, like Blast Off, had a second mode that could go into space. He was soaring up higher and higher, and Sam suspected he was planning to loop over and down to cut them off again.
As Barricade fired at Blitzwing, Sam refocused her attention on their own opponent. Blitzwing quickly seemed to work out their strategy, pointing his gun barrel to either side of them so they couldn't get a straight shot at him, and cratering the ground around them. "Let him get in a few more shots, and then run in robot form, we can pick our way around the craters which will slow him up in either form with his bulk," Barricade said. "Thank Primus he can't fly with that damaged wing! Sam, you go in the middle again, he won't want to risk hitting you, so if we stay close, we can protect you, and being close to you will hopefully stop him firing at any of us!"
"But Sam, if you get a chance, make for the Autobot Base as fast as you can!" Bumblebee said. "We'll run as much interference as we can in that situation. Hopefully, that won't be necessary." They backed off, one by one, checking for craters as they did so, as both Blitzwing and Bruticus got closer. Soundwave's flying Cassettes were flying around Bruticus' head, firing lasers, but Rumble and Frenzy were apparently just backing off.
"Why are Rumble and Frenzy not shaking things up with their piledriver arms?" wondered Mirage aloud.
"Probably because it would shake things up for us, too, and Blitzwing's shelling has already made moving around in this area dicey," Barricade said. "If we get far enough away, they probably will, another good reason to get moving in the next few minutes. Right now, our presence is hampering their ability to fight!"
Bumblebee spoke up. "Mirage? Do you think you have enough energy to cloak Sam long enough to slip between the craters?"
"I'm afraid not," Mirage said. "I just checked and it wouldn't even hold for me, let alone both of us."
Bumblebee sighed in frustration, it wasn't Mirage's fault, and he wasn't blaming him, but it would have been a good solution. "Okay then, Barricade, could you and Mirage hold Blitzwing at bay while Cliffjumper and I start leading Sam between the craters? Follow up but have our backs?" The two nodded, Barricade moving to flank Mirage, and both firing one after the other in quick succession.
"Barricade, distract him while I switch to my few armour piercing rounds? Mirage said. "Why didn't you use those before?" Sam asked, genuinely curious.
"It takes a few minutes to switch to, check, and calibrate them," Mirage explained. "Time we haven't had. My normal missiles are usually sufficient, but against those two, my normal missiles will do nothing."
Barricade began shooting at Blitzwing as requested, and Sam joined in, to give Mirage the required time. Barricade threw her a look and did not protest, but as soon as Mirage gave a thumbs-up to indicate his readiness, Barricade said "Tail off your attack as if you're running out of ammo, Sam, and then get behind us."
"We'll go slightly ahead to test how stable the ground is. The moment we give the okay, Sam, come as fast as you can," said Bumblebee. Sam did as requested, slowing and stopping her firing, and then slipping behind Mirage and Barricade. She watched as they fired, saw Blitzwing holed once, and then again, as Mirage's armour piercing rounds did their work. Bruticus was now way too close for Sam's liking despite the efforts of their allies; he would catch them up in just a few steps. Frenzy and Rumble were flanking him, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw firing at his face, but it seemed to barely slow him down, and Sam strained her audios, waiting for Bumblebee's call. She didn't realise the significance of the sounds of jets getting closer, didn't realise anyone was approaching at all, until she head a muted pop, felt herself grabbed by the arms, and hoisted up as her captor flew straight up in the air.