AN: Thank Curse for this - she drug me off to see Bumblebee, and THAT got everyone kicked back into gear. There's only two chapters left, folks - hopefully I'll be able to finish this thing before February is over.
the long game
Sing has to say – this is not how he wanted to spend his Saturday.
Bee catches up with him, and he jumps into the passenger's seat, the cube held securely in his arms. Bee slams the door shut and burns rubber down the road. Thankfully, there are no other humans out besides the mercenaries and the team. The last thing they need is collateral damage.
Someone opens fire on them from above.
Sing curses. "Who the hell is that?!"
"Blackout." Bee says tersely. ::Where the hell is the bug?::
::Back with Megatron.:: Bluestreak says. ::Looks like he's helping to keep the team busy. Mirage is heading your way to deal with Blackout. All you'll have to worry about is the humans. Looks like they're trying to blockade the street about six blocks down.::
::Screw them, then.:: "Hold on, Sing – this is gonna be a bumpy ride."
/-/
Back at the edge of the city, the fight begins in earnest.
The drones surge forward, weapons at the ready. Prowl, Jazz, and Hound meet them head-on. Starscream stands just behind Megatron, watching and assessing.
One might think that, being down three members, that the ops team would be at a bit of a disadvantage, especially once the human mercenaries from Sector Seven come into play. As Autobots, they should be cautious of hurting humans, a primitive race that should be deserving of protection. That should, at the very least, slow them down and make them easier for the drones to corner.
Yeah. Right.
One of the mercenaries manages to aim an RPG at the team, only to have the weapon shot out of his hands by the sniper. As the weapon skitters across the ground, Hound turns around, grabs the mercenary, and tosses him into his companions hard enough to send three of them skidding two blocks down the road. In the same motion, he grabs the jeep and throws it at the nearest drone.
With a battle cry, the human ops team charges the mercenaries, effectively distracting them from the mechs. The human team pushes the mercenaries further back into the city, away from the mechs and their battle.
Prowl and Jazz seem to come to the unanimous decision to leave the drones to Hound (not that he needs the help) and charge straight at Megatron and Starscream. Starscream immediately tries to take to the air, only to have Prowl grab his ankle and throw him into the nearest drone, neatly shattering it.
Megatron steps to the side, laughing. "These are just phase one! The true beauty of the AllSpark is in phase two! Barricade!"
Prowl and Jazz exchange looks, weapons at the ready. ::Ya killed 'Cade, right?:: Jazz asks.
::Shattered his spark chamber.:: Prowl confirms dryly. ::So I have no idea - ::
Barricade steps out of the nearest alley. Jazz goes completely still. "Th' hell?"
::Um, Prowl? Should I shoot it?::
::No, Blue. I have this.:: Prowl takes a step forward. Barricade still looks like himself – somewhat. His frame has been given the most basic of repairs, just enough to keep his energon from completely draining out. His spark chamber has been repaired, but barely. Through the cracks, Prowl can see the flickering glow of a newspark.
Okay, he might actually be sold on the whole AllSpark thing now.
Still, those optics are blank. Nothing of the mech Prowl knows is behind them. This is just a drone. A freaky as all hell drone, but still a drone.
Megatron gets tired of waiting. "Barricade – destroy him."
"Prowl!"
"Help Hound. Barricade is mine."
/-/
Despite the best efforts of Mirage, Blackout still manages to get in a few good hits on Bumblebee.
Sing can practically feel the mech's fury at that. Over the comms, he can hear his own team shouting words of encouragement and orders at each other, and his grip on the Cube tightens.
"We need to ditch this thing fast." he says quietly. "I need to help my team."
"You and me both." Bee says darkly. He swerves again, making Blackout's shot go wide. A car behind them explodes, taking out the windows in a nearby office building. It's a miracle the collateral damage isn't any worse than it is. "Still – this thing is just a hair more important." Another shot almost hits him. Bee curses. ::Dammit, Mirage, you're supposed to keep him off my ass!::
::I'm not Blue, and he's needed with the others.:: Mirage says testily. ::Deadshot is set up on the outskirts of the city – if you can get that far, he'll make damn sure Blackout stops where he is.::
::I hope he's ready. I'm coming in hot.::
::I'm ready for you.:: Deadshot says. ::I even have backup.::
Sing frowns. "Backup? What kind of backup?"
"We'll find out soon enough." Bee says. "Hold on tight!"
Sing braces himself as they fly towards the city limits. He has just enough time to see metal legs in front of them as Bee comes to a screeching halt, spinning on his wheels to avoid losing control.
Something loud explodes over them. The shot knocks Blackout out of the air, sending him crashing into a nearby building. The resulting explosion is enough to shatter even more windows and set off half the car alarms in the city.
Sing is really, really glad they evacuated.
He gets out of Bee as the small mech transforms back into his robot form. Bee grins at the new arrival.
"Hey, Prime – did you miss us that badly?"
Optimus Prime stands there, smoking gun in one hand, another mech to his left and Deadshot to his right. Prime offers the scout a small smile. "I thought I told you guys not to break things." he says mildly.
"You're the one who exploded Blackout." Bee points out. "Hey, would you take this for us? I think the team could use a hand."
Prime kneels down to Sing's level, and Sing hands him the Cube. As soon as Prime takes it, it glows for just a minute.
Optimus has to reset his optics. "Do you know what this is, Bumblebee?"
Bee shrugs. "We have an idea – we know what Megatron thinks it is. Doesn't really matter what it actually is."
Optimus just nods and tucks the Cube away into a compartment in his arm. "Let's circle around the city. I don't want to cause any more damage than we already have."
