Jennifer Shepard took the stairs two at a time, heading back to MTAC, the rest of them only a few steps behind. Inside MTAC was controlled chaos as the technicians monitored the incoming attack. "Talk to me, what have we got?" Jenny caught the headset that was tossed to her and put it on as she started barking orders. "Call the main gates, have them sound the alarms and evacuate everyone they can from the yard."
One of the technicians yelled over his shoulder as he was relaying the information to the gate staff. "The SecNav online for you, ma'am."
"On the screen, and get me Morshower. NOW!" It was the first time they had truly heard the woman scream at them, and they scrambled to comply. The SecNav's face came up on the screen, but it was distorted and full of static.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, that's as good as we can get with the interference."
She nodded, but didn't comment as she turned her full attention to pleading for the safety of her people. "Sir, we're the target of the incoming attack, we need immediate assistance. We don't have the weaponry necessary to defend ourselves."
The interference caused the SecNav's voice to waver in and out of pitch, giving him an odd timbre. "I'm sorry, Director Shepard. Even if we knew for sure that you are correct, we still have to focus our attention to protecting the President and the other..."
Frustrated, she interrupted. "You don't understand, sir. We've been fighting them for two days. A Decepticon attacked one of my teams out in the field yesterday, and four of them infiltrated the Navy Yard and attacked us here at Headquarters this morning."
"What? Why?"
A new figure joined him on the screen with the answer. "Because we missed a piece in the debris and now they are the only thing between it and the Decepticons." Morshower turned his attention to Shepard. "You've got to protect it all costs. Megatron and his followers will stop at nothing to get control of that artifact. As of now, that is your only mandate, do whatever it takes to protect it. Our friends are on their way, along with trained soldiers, but the Decepticons will reach you first."
To punctuate the point, the frightened woman monitoring the radar called out. "First wave of incoming targets is onscreen. ETA two minutes."
Jennifer turned to Gibbs. "Take your team and get out of here. We'll hold them off as long as we can. Abby and Ducky, you both go with them"
"Director, no, we can't leave you here." Gibbs looked to the figures on the screen for support. "We need to stick together." Behind him, McGee and the rest of them were nodding in agreement; even Sacks who was turning an unhealthy shade of grey at the thought of facing anything remotely like what had been in the lab. Only Abby wasn't fully in agreement as she reminded them of a major fact.
"Tim's a target too. That thing transferred alien knowledge into him."
"Do it Jethro, that's a direct order." The staring match only lasted a few seconds because deep down he knew she was right. Protecting that artifact and the knowledge it apparently contained was for the greater good. He grabbed McGee's arm as he headed for the door, the rest of them falling in behind.
"DiNozzo and David are out in the Yard somewhere. We've lost contact with them."
Jenny yelled back at him, "try and meet up with them in the Yard. Otherwise, they'll have to catch up with you later, now go."
Gibbs, McGee, Ducky and Abby with the two FBI agents in tow only made it half way down the stairs when the first blast hit the building. The skylight shattered as they dropped, covering their heads. Screams from the squad room brought Gibbs back to his feet. Smoke was filling the room, limiting visibility as he felt more than saw Ducky stumble past him, down the rest of the steps. At the bottom of the stairs was a young woman from the legal department, a stack of file folders scattered and blood splattered on the ground next to her. Ducky gave her a passing glance as he stepped over her to move on to the next victim. Gibbs saw immediately why the doctor did not stop to help her, as a large piece of glass had made her death instantaneous.
"Get McGee and Abby down to the garage now." Gibbs made sure Fornell heard him before he followed Ducky into the smoky haze. Behind him he heard McGee protesting.
"We can't just run away, there's got to be some way to stop them."
"Yeah, by getting you the hell away from here. It's you they're after, so come on." Sacks played the guilt card well, to devastating results as McGee paled and staggered at the implication. Fornell cursed under his breath at his agent as he and Abby grabbed McGee and tugged him towards the exit. They made it almost to the back stairs before being blown back by another blast. This one, unlike the first, seemed to come from inside the squad room itself. As the dust settled, they were looking up at a tall robot, standing in the middle of the room. McGee pushed Abby behind him as he recognized the Decepticon symbol on its chest. Fornell saw his actions and assumed correctly he was again facing a bad robot, instinctively pulling his woefully inadequate weapon to protect his charges.
The loud laugh reverberated throughout the building and froze the survivors scrambling to escape. "You humans think you can stop Megatron? You will beg for your deaths before I am done with you. Insects, all of you are no more than insects to the power of the Decepticons." To prove his point, he reached out and flicked Jenny off the mezzanine balcony. Even in the chaos, the sound of bone snapping could be heard when she bounced off an overturned desk before hitting the floor.
"Director!" Cynthia's scream got them moving again and they watched in horror as Megatron swatted the screaming woman, flinging her against the far wall. A blood smear marked her path as she slid limply to the floor. By now, Jenny was vainly trying to push herself upright, one arm held tightly against her chest. One of the agents nearest to her helped her move backwards, trying to gain distance between the agency's director and the attacking alien robot none of them knew how to respond to.
Three more metallic figures could be seen, their flight paths putting them on a collision course with the smoldering building. Those who were still mobile instinctively moved back against the relative safety of the walls. The three landed, flanking the larger robot. The smallest of the three had a spider-like appearance and bowed to Megatron as the other two crouched down, prepared to defend him. The humans that had been in MTAC hoped that their behavior meant help was on the way.
"Give me the human. Give me the human who has touched the Allspark and I will let the rest of you live." To prove his intentions, Megatron punched his fist down through the floor, opening a hole into the ceiling of the lower floor. As the agents on that level attempted to flee, he reached down and grabbed one of the men. Gibbs vaguely recognized him as one of the recent transfers from the Hawaii office. The man struggled, attempting to escape before Megatron flexed his fingers. It was over in an instant and Megatron tossed the body aside. He reached down again, but there were no survivors within his reach. He blasted down through another two levels of concrete and steel with his ion cannon and met an old foe. "Hello, Ratchet."
The Autobot was helpless to defend himself. The energy blasts that rocked the building moments earlier had buckled the temporary supports he had installed after the first attack and the only thing holding the main joists of the building together was Ratchet himself. He had wedged himself into place alongside the elevator shaft, supporting the twisted metal, while one leg was pressed against the outer wall that threatened to buckle inward. If he moved at all, the combined weight of the building and the Decepticons would level the structure. Megatron stared at the smaller robot before stamping his foot down hard on the weakening floor. Ratchet strained, but held his ground. The spiderbot used the distraction to scurry up what was left of one of the outer walls, where he could observe the human's reactions undetected.
Amused, but growing bored, Megatron returned his attention to the humans he had trapped in the squad room. "One human is all I require and the rest of you will live to see another day."
"Another day, when you use the knowledge to destroy the rest of the world, right?" Gibbs stepped forward to challenge the leader of the Decepticons. Behind Megatron he saw the running forms of DiNozzo and David desperately trying to climb over the wreckage that once was their headquarters.
"Easy or hard, your choice human." As the battle of wills raged on, the small spiderbot watched and waited. Humans were so predictable; he knew they would work so hard not to look at the one with the knowledge. There he was, the one they surrounded but would not look at. He skittered across a twisted remains of what was once the frame of the skylight for a closer look. The vibration, the hum of the Allspark was there, so muted he would have missed it without all his focus on the search. The human was not much to look at. He did not have the military bearing of the older one facing Megatron, or the muscular build of many of the others, but there was something in him the Allspark had seen so he was cautious in his approach. Three humans surrounded the man, a woman dressed in odd clothing and two men, one light skinned and one darker. Off to the side, the human doctor struggled to save another one of the pathetic life forms. This amused the spiderbot, as he considered himself a doctor of sorts and he was now ready for his patient.
A silent signal was sent to Megatron. He pointed behind Gibbs as the robotic doctor dropped down onto McGee, simultaneously knocking his three protectors to the ground. "He has been discovered." Gibbs turned to defend McGee but was brushed to the side with no effort by Megatron. The two smaller Decepticons moved forward to prevent anyone from attempting to help him. The spider held McGee's head still and leaned closer to his struggling form.
"Probie!" DiNozzo made it past the debris and rushed towards his fallen partner, Ziva a few seconds behind him.
Gibbs struggled to his feet, trying to stop him. "Tony, no." The warning came too late as one of the Decepticons guarding them reached out and grabbed DiNozzo, throwing him against Ducky, both of them landing in a heap on the floor. Ziva was able to stop quick enough to hide behind an upended desk, undetected.
Four legs of the robotic spider held McGee's arms and legs tightly while two more clamped down on his head as the last two legs poked and prodded at him. A compartment opened on his chest and a small metallic worm dropped down onto McGee's chest, wriggling and squirming its way to his face. Anticipating the target, McGee clamped his mouth tightly, his eyes frantically looking around, begging for help. A sudden hit against the side of his face momentarily stunned him and metal claws pried his jaw open. His cry of pain became one of horror before becoming the sound of choking as the apparent probe filled his throat.
Abby started screaming and it took both Fornell and Sacks to hold her still as one of the Decepticons aimed his weapon, the threat obvious. Fornell pulled her head down onto his chest, blocking her view much to Gibbs' relief. Ducky did his best to restrain the semi-conscious DiNozzo on the other side of the horrifying tableau.
"No!" The rumbling and anguished cry came from below as Ratchet tried desperately to reach his charge without the building coming down around all of them. Above him the humans watched as McGee's throat bulged from the invader. The bulge disappeared and McGee began to convulse, a small amount of blood trickling out of his right ear.
The corner Jenny Shepard had found herself in was the only one with an unobstructed view to the Southwest sky. As she and the agents pinned down with her watched the assault on McGee, a grouping of specks in the sky drew her attention. She knew the discussion between Galloway and Morshower had continued long after the signal had been lost in MTAC and wondered absently who had won. She decided they would know soon enough. Either those specks were Autobots coming to help, or since Galloway thought NCIS was so unnecessary, they were long range missiles targeting them to eliminate the problem another way. The third option of more Decepticons was one she refused to even thing about.
McGee went limp as the worm-probe climbed back out of his mouth. It returned to its port on the chest of the Decepticon holding Tim down. The medical spiderbot began to gesture wildly as it projected images in the air above McGee's body. Images of the team, of college days, of Tim's childhood flashed by in a blur, not slowing down until the images changed to the alien symbols he had been writing on the autopsy room walls earlier in the day. The humans who recognized them were terrified what the secrets would reveal to the aliens, while the rest of the humans were confused.
Even those without knowledge of the alien physiology could tell Megatron was pleased by the discovery. "The knowledge of the Allspark is eternal, even when placed within a biological membrane. Now, doctor, open the membrane and remove what we need."
Alien knowledge or not, none of the humans liked the sound of that. When one of the many limbs of the spiderbot opened to reveal a long sharp blade, they liked it even less.
"We will slice open the membrane and squeeze out what we need." The robot tightened its hold on McGee's limbs and pulled, obviously enjoying the pain it was causing as he cried out weakly, too exhausted after his encounter with the probe to make more than a token effort to defend himself.
Still pinned by the debris and the agents determined to protect her, Jenny watched as the specks in the sky grew larger. Their shapes were now visible and with some relief she could tell they were not missiles. They were either Autobots coming to help or Decepticons coming to finish them off. She squinted, watching, looking for the symbol that would tell her if her agency and her people would survive the next few moments.
Still hidden, Ziva watched for an opening. The desk that hid her was Balboa's' and she had stealthily removed both his SIG and his back-up weapon. Well armed, she stepped out and opened fire at the blade arcing down at McGee's head. Between her skills and her close proximity, by the time the magazines were empty, the blade was on the floor. The familiar sound of gunfire shook the rest of the agents free of their shock and they attempted to defend NCIS from their attackers. It was an effort doomed to failure, but the few seconds it distracted the Decepticons was enough.
A red laser focused on the wide chest of Megatron. With a roar of fury his leg rockets fired, propelling him into the air to meet the oncoming robot. The red and blue robot was larger than Megatron but they seemed evenly matched as they collided in the air above the building. Several smaller robots arrived seconds later and immediately engaged the remaining Decepticons as fires broke out in what was left of the squad room from the leg rockets of Megatron.
There were times to stay and fight and there were time to retreat, and the distraction from the attacking Autobots gave them cover to escape. Even as the call for evacuation came from the Director, everyone was already moving in the direction of the exits, grabbing those too injured to move on their own.