Chapter 35-Panic
Katrina and Gina stood far apart from each other, with the girl standing in front of her friends to protect them. Jazz and Hound had already recovered and were helping Prowl to his feet.
"Pisces knew you Autobots would come for your friend, hence why I'm here." Katrina said, her large, muscular form eclipsing Gina's smaller body. "You aliens really are predictable, aren't you?"
"Guys get Prowl out of here!" Gina said. "She's mine!"
"Out of the question." Hound said firmly. "We're not leaving you behind."
"She ain't taking' no for an answer, Hound." Jazz said. "You're welcome to stop her if you want."
Katrina laughed at the exchange and crossed her big arms. "So you Autobots let a child fight for you? No wonder we're running all over you—"
Gina lunged forward in a great burst of speed and slammed her fist into Katrina's unprotected face. The punch hit with enough force to blow a man's head clean off his shoulders, and though Katrina's head remained in place, the blow still rattled her skull and sent her flying back into the hallway, smashing through an adjacent wall. Gina ran after her, ignoring Jazz and Hound's calls for her to stop.
"I suggest you three evacuate as soon as possible." Sara said. "Their battle will be incredibly destructive."
Sara followed after the two fighting inhumans, leaving the Autobots behind. Hound sighed and helped Jazz carry Prowl back through the hole they made.
"Why can't anything go according to plan for us?" He grunted.
"Welcome…to my world." Prowl rasped.
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Optimus, Ironhide and Trailbreaker were still fighting off the waves of talos that seemed to come from every nook and cranny of the base to engage them. The talos themselves were a bit faster and sleeker than the ones utilized by the military, and their weapons did more damage than the Autobots originally thought. Volleys of laser fire came at them in such amounts that Trailbreaker had to Powerlink with Undertone to raise a powerful shield to protect them.
"Those weapons…Prime, I think they're powered by energon." Ironhide said.
"OZ's handiwork no doubt." Optimus surmised.
"Optimus, my shields can only take so many hits." Trailbreaker said, struggling to keep his barrier up. Usually he was able to keep his barriers up for a lengthy amount of time, but the large platoon of talos shooting at them, followed by the tanks, APCs and gunships firing at them all at once was staring to put a strain on his stamina.
"That's fine, Trailbreaker, we'll handle it from here." Optimus said. "Lower the shields!"
Trailbreaker lowered the barrier and Optimus and Ironhide unleashed their firepower on the talos. Up in the sky, Skyfire was making short work of the gunships while also avoiding their heat seekers, leading them in a chase through the air. She would've taken out the gunships already were it not for the laser cannons shooting at her.
"Skyfire, could you please take out those damn choppers!" Ironhide yelled.
"I'm trying, but those laser cannons are freaking lethal!" Skyfire said, dodging a laser blast but getting hit in the wing by a missile instead. "Where the hell did they get the money to make these things?"
"Boss bot," Jazz called over the comm channel. "We've got Prowler, but he ain't lookin' too good. Oh, and Gina and Sara are fighting an inhuman."
Optimus came dangerously close to losing his cool. Another inhuman, just what they needed. "Trailbreaker, go support Jazz and Hound. Help them get out of there."
Trailbreaker nodded and raised his barrier, charging forward and bulldozing right through the defensive line. Optimus and Ironhide stood side by side, holding back the remaining talos that were steadily pushing closer.
"Optimus, what about Gina and Sara?"
"I'm afraid they're on their own. Unless they can get to the surface, they can't be bridged out." Optimus said. "For now, we'll have to trust in their strength."
"Prime, you've got incoming! I'm detecting three talos heading our way!" Comettor reported.
Optimus and Ironhide looked up to see three large shapes appearing right above them in a flash of light. Three talos emerged from their MASS teleportation sequence, and when they materialized, Optimus's eyes narrowed. He recognized those talos from Arcee's report.
"The Thrones." He growled.
The Thrones were OZ's top talos strike team, sporting a new line of talos wielding weapons powered by energon mixed with human technology. Arcee and Moonracer had fought against them several months ago, but they barely lasted against the advanced talos that operated almost as good as the Omega talos piloted by the children. Optimus could see why, eying the laser cannon the black armored Eins was sporting.
"Optimus Prime, the big Buddha himself!" Graham, pilot of the orange Zwei talos, grinned. "Finally, we're getting some action!"
"Tone it down, bro. At least try to make an attempt to act classy." Johann, the team leader and pilot of the black Eins, said. He pointed his laser cannon at Optimus and said, "Surrender, Prime. You're not getting out of this one in one piece."
"There's too much at stake to surrender to you and your band of terrorists, soldier." Optimus said and pointed his ion rifle at the Eins. "I'm not leaving until my friends are out of there safe and sound."
"Let's just kill them already!" Nena, pilot of the magenta Drei, growled and took out her laser pistols. "Cut off his arms and legs and cart him back to OZ and use the rest for scrap!"
"Whoa! Incoming!" Graham yelled.
Everyone looked up and saw a gunship falling towards them. The Thrones jumped apart as the helicopter crashed to the ground and skidded to a stop, rolling onto its side. Suddenly Skyfire warped right in front of the Drei and snatched her up, flying off into the sky with the talos.
"Nina!" Johann exclaimed.
"Let go of me!" Nina shouted, trying to break free.
"Not a chance, sister!" Skyfire lifted Nina high into the air before throwing her talos down toward the rest of the squad, causing her to slam right into the group of security talos right underneath them.
While the brothers were distracted, Optimus and Ironhide used this opportunity to charge at them. Graham was the first to react, quickly drawing his sword and blocking a strike from Ironhide's war axe. Johann cursed and activated the boosters on the Eins' legs, leaping back to get away from Optimus while firing his laser cannon at him.
Optimus deflected most of the blasts with his battle axe, not taking his eyes off the Eins. He wasn't leaving this base without his comrades, even if he had to fight every soldier on this base to do so.
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Back in the underground base, another furious battle was going on. Gina and Katrina crashed through a wall and into the garage where the vehicles were being kept, the debris they sent flying nearly hitting several people. The soldiers who were in the garage pointed their rifles at Gina, but Sara leapt through the hole and began hacking away at the men, cutting through their weapons (and limbs) with cold efficiency.
They rolled across the ground before Gina ended up on top, landing several punches for Katrina's face. Katrina kicked her off and grabbed the front grill of a nearby jeep, lifting it off the ground and swinging it at Gina. The girl destroyed the jeep with an explosive energy burst and jumped at Katrina, backhanding her across the jaw. Gina picked up a fallen car axel and smashed it into the woman's head, but was kicked in the chest.
"Stand down, girl. You're not winning this fight." Katrina said. Aside from her damaged uniform and a few bruises on her face, she was completely unharmed. Gina, in the meantime, already had several bruises along her body.
Gina replied with a kick to Katrina's knee that would've shattered a man's kneecap, but only made Katrina stumbled a bit before she kicked the girl in the chest again, throwing her back into the damaged jeep.
Katrina advanced towards Gina, but sensed something behind her and looked back to see a large APC flying right at her. She growled and destroyed the vehicle with a distortion halo, but Sara, who had thrown the APC, flew right through the flames and flanked Katrina. She yanked on Katrina's ponytail to pull her head back and used her other hand to take out a silver knife, stabbing it into the side of Katrina's neck.
Katrina's eyes widened as the pain registered and she roared in pure rage. She reached back to grab Sara and threw her into the air. Sara spun around and was hit by a powerful clothesline from Katrina as they slammed back into the ground, making the whole room tremble.
"S-Sara!" Gina coughed, pulling herself out of the wrecked jeep.
Katrina stood over Sara's damaged body and yanked the knife out of her collarbone to study it. "How the hell did you get this? I've taken tank shells head on and yet you've managed to make me bleed."
Sara weakly looked up at her. "Trade secret."
Katrina scowled and reached down to grab her, but at that moment a shadow fell over her. It was Gina, who was wielding a long, curved blade she transmuted with her distortion halo.
"Don't you dare touch her!" Gina roared and brought her diamond sword down onto Katrina's outstretched arm, the blade sinking into her flesh and completely severing the forearm completely.
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Skyfire and Nina grappled in the air as they flew above the base. The Seeker's plan was originally to swoop the Drei away from Optimus and Ironhide to give them some space to fight the other two and drop the girl far from the base, but Nina was struggling too damn much for her to fly properly. It didn't help that the talos was equipped with a knife that managed to cut into her armor.
"Stop struggling you little brat!" Skyfire growled.
"Not until you let me go, you rust bucket!" Nina growled, jerking her control sticks hard enough to make her console rattle in an attempt to break free. Eventually she managed to get one arm free and deployed her talos's arm blade from its holster. She stabbed the blade into Skyfire's side, making her yelp and lose her grip on the Drei.
"Slag!" She cursed, trying to catch the talos. Nina wasn't having it, as she had the Drei grapple Skyfire and wrestle with her in the air. They spun around uncontrollably before Skyfire finally threw the Drei to the ground.
Nina grunted as she landed hard on the ground and tried to get to her feet, but was forced to roll away as Skyfire landed right where she had been, wielding her plasma cannon. She cursed and brandished her energon laced blade, ready to fight the much taller Autobot if need be.
"You ain't gettin' past me, girl." Skyfire said.
"You're under the impression that you're fighting only me." Nina grinned.
Skyfire felt Comettor tugging at her mind and followed her instincts to roll away just as a laser beam slammed into where she was just standing. She landed unsteadily on her feet and looked back to see two large cannons slowly aiming at her as they rose from hidden compartments in the ground.
"God damn it." Skyfire grumbled.
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Johann gritted his teeth as he dodged a lightning fast swing from Prime's battle axe. He tried to get off a few shots on Optimus, but the Autobot leader deflected most of them. Cursing, Johann put his rifle away and drew his two swords, which were laced with energon to enhance their cutting power. Pisces had worked hard to upgrade the Thrones after their last battle with the Autobots.
Optimus spun his axe around to slam against the Eins' blades, knocking the talos back. Johann was working overtime to ensure that he did lose his machine's head, or worse, and took a glance over at Graham, who looked to be having a slightly better time fighting Ironhide.
The Zwei was the close combat specialized talos more suited for melee combat. The Zwei's huge buster sword was its primary weapon, and as the blade was enhanced with energon, it was a dangerous weapon in the hands of someone trained to use it. Ironhide, though able to hold his own in a scrap, was forced on the defensive against Graham's expert sword skills. Even in a talos his skill with melee weapons shined through.
"Come on, old timer! I thought you were some badass war vet who knew how to tussle!" Graham yelled.
"Shut it, you little bastard!" Ironhide growled. He swung at the Zwei's head, but the talos smoothly ducked under his axe swing and thrust forward with its buster sword. Ironhide jumped back, nearly getting impaled on the large blade, but Graham turned his forward thrust into a slash, dragging the first few inches of his sword across Ironhide's chest and left a small but deep gash in its wake.
"Graham, wanna switch?" Johann asked over their private channel. "Prime's got me dancing here and I can't get a shot in."
"Say no more." Graham grinned. "We switch on three?"
"On three." Johann agreed.
He switched targets from Optimus to Ironhide just as Graham targeted Prime, and the two brothers waited for a moment before shouting simultaneously, "THREE!"
The brothers attacked each other's opponents. Johann unfolded the Eins' powerful laser cannon from its right shoulder and fired a powerful blast at Ironhide, while Graham deployed several small drones called Fangs from the skirt of his talos, which all opened fire on Optimus. Both Autobots took heavy damage from the energon powered attacks, with Ironhide taking the brunt of Johann's attack to his right side and was sent crashing into the fallen body of a Gernsback talos. Optimus took several hits from Graham's Fangs and leapt back to avoid the drones, swinging his axe.
"Let's go!" Graham cackled, swinging his buster sword wildly at Optimus. Prime grunted as he deflected one of his sword strikes, but took three laser blasts to his right shoulder before slashing at the two Fangs peppering him with shots.
"Ironhide, are you alright?" He asked, kicking a Fang to the ground before swinging at another one that tried to get in close.
"Slag." Ironhide hissed, holding a hand to the sizzling burn where the beam had hit him. "Those guns are no joke."
"There's more where that came from." The Eins fired its cannon again, but Ironhide managed to dodge this time and took out his blaster to shoot back.
Optimus's body was covered in blaster burns from the Fangs flying around shooting him. The high tech drones were a new invention from OZ, controlled remotely from the Zwei's cockpit and were capable of targeting multiple points at once while sharing real time information. They were small enough that Optimus had a hard time hitting them and fast as well. He wasn't getting anywhere by trying to destroy them.
'Then I'll have to change it up to win this fight.' Optimus thought. Turning his attention back to the Zwei, he drew his ion rifle and took aim.
"Ha! You're gonna shoot me now?" Graham laughed and raised the buster sword. "I can take it!"
"You can, but can your brother?" Optimus questioned, switching targets from the Zwei to the Eins. He pulled the trigger and let an ion blast fly at the Eins' back.
"Bro!" Graham yelled, losing his joy. He pushed his Zwei to run at top speed and got between Optimus and the Eins. Raising the buster sword, the Zwei managed to block the ion blast, but the force of the attack caused it to stumble back.
Optimus rushed forward without hesitation. Graham saw him coming and slashed downwards, but Optimus was already swinging his battle axe horizontally, breaking through the Zwei's guard. Johann turned back just in time to see the glowing red blade of Prime's axe sink into the cockpit of the Zwei and nearly cut it in half.
"GRAHAM!" Johann howled.
Nina, who was still fighting Skyfire, turned and gasped in horror at the sight of Graham's talos being bisected. Prime's axe cut clean through the talos and the Autobot leader jumped back as the Zwei's reactor exploded, completely taking out the upper half of the talos, and its pilot with it.
Horrified and shocked by the loss of his best friend, Johann knew that the battle was no longer in his favor. Gritting his teeth, he fired his cannon at Ironhide to push the Autobot back before running away from the two Autobots.
"Nina, we're retreating!" Johann yelled into the comm.
"NO!" She roared, slashing and hacking at Skyfire to get to Optimus. "I'm not running away from these bastards! They killed him!"
"Damn it, Nina, that's an order!" Johann growled. All he got in response was Nina's hysterical screams of rage and sadness and he knew that trying to fight any longer was pointless. He pressed the return button on his console to call for a MASS evacuation. He felt the familiar pull of his body being transported away to someplace else and he vanished in a pillar of light along with his talos.
Nina, who was angrily attacking Skyfire with nothing more than an energon laced combat knife and nothing else, also felt the pull of the MASS device on her talos.
"No, no, I'm not leaving until I kill every last one of them!" Nina howled. She had no choice in the matter as she and her talos were teleported away from the battlefield, leaving the smoking remains of their comrade and friend behind.
Optimus watched the two Thrones teleport away and narrowed his eyes down at the remains of the Zwei. Loathed as he was to take a human life, he wasn't risking any of his friends' lives any more than they already were.
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Katrina's brain registered the pain of her severe arm for a second before she let out an enraged scream and spun her large body around, throwing a punch at Gina. Gina crossed her arms and took the brunt of the punch to her arms, the blow sending her shooting across the room and through a wall before she ended up in the entrance hall.
Gina hissed in pain as she felt several fractures in her arms. Her injuries were steadily healing but she knew that another hit lie that will shatter her arms like glass. But despite the pain she was satisfied at the damage she dealt to Katrina.
The uber inhuman in question was barreling towards Gina like a mad bull. Blood spurted from the stump of her right arm, but apparently Katrina paid it no mind as she was dead set on killing Gina. The woman smashed through everything in her path, even a couple unfortunate personnel too slow to get out of the way.
"Jinkies…" Gina groaned and spat out a glob of blood. She struggled to get to her feet, charging up a distortion halo with the hopes that it will at least slow the woman down.
But just as Katrina got close enough to her, a green blur flipped over Katrina's back to land in front of her. It was Sara, and she had changed her arm into its cannon configuration. Pointing her cannon directly at Katrina, Sara fired a laser bolt at the raging inhuman.
Now Katrina knew that as an uber inhuman, she was highly resistant to bodily damage. Nothing short of a kinetic shell could seriously damage her, or at least another inhuman of the same power level. Knowing this, she didn't try to dodge to protect herself from the attack.
Unfortunately she was unaware of a little weakness that all inhumans shared.
The laser blast hit Katrina's right eye and she stumbled from the blinding pain of the shot. The distortion halo she was generating grew unstable with the loss of her eye and began going critical. Sara leapt back and pulled Gina away as the energy build up finally reached critical levels and exploded, completely engulfing Katrina's body in a crackling ball of white lightning and blasting a massive hole in the floor.
Gina and Sara were blown back by the force of the explosion but remained unharmed. The blond coughed from the thick cloud of smoke filling the air before smirking at the spot where Katrina once stood.
"Disrupt an inhuman's distortion halo field and they turn into a living bomb." She said. "Pisces should have told her to wear protective goggles…the stupid bitch."
She laughed deliriously as Sara helped her to her feet and pulled her along. "Come, Gina, the others are waiting."
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The Autobots had managed to route most of the enemy after the Zwei's destruction and were still waiting for the girls. The flow of security personnel had stopped coming from the base for some reason and everyone was waiting to see if anything else was going to come at them.
"Did we beat them all?" Skyfire asked.
"Nah, we're not that lucky." Ironhide replied.
"I think the soldiers have something else to worry about besides us." Optimus said.
Suddenly the front of the complex exploded outward in a shower of stone and metal. The first to emerge from the wreckage was Trailbreaker, and behind him was Jazz and Hound carrying the wounded Prowl. A minute later, Sara appeared helping Gina through the hole as well.
"You all made it." Optimus said relieved.
"Let's go home." Gina said, looking just as haggard and exhausted as everyone else. "We got what we came for."
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Hollander was not a man who let his emotions run wild, but there were times where circumstances were too aggravating for him to remain calm and collected. This was one of those times.
Learning that a high ranking Skywatch agent not only exposed crucial secrets but also lead an extraterrestrial, one of their enemies no less, right to the front door of their secret military operations was something he still had a hard time comprehending. It was beyond treason!
Hollander marched down the long, quiet halls of the prison block towards the cell where the prisoner was being held. The two guards posted there stepped aside as he punched in the security code to unlock the door. When it clicked open, he entered the cell to confront the traitor.
Veronica Howard sat inside, strapped to a chair and still wearing the same dirty, dust-ridden clothes she had on a couple hours ago when she was captured. Ultimately, she looked no worse for wear aside from her disheveled hair.
"I suppose I should be grateful it wasn't Fredericks or Jackson that came to see me." Veronica said. "I don't think I could have handled those smug bastards—"
"Do you have any idea of what you've done?" Hollander cut her off with a growl.
"You're going to have to elaborate." She said.
"You conspired with an alien of all people to allow him access to confidential Skywatch information. Decades of classified, top-secret information that this organization has protected and you just let him waltz in and take what he wants!"
"I did what I had to because I was appalled at what Skywatch was turning into." Veronica replied, not the least bit intimidated by his rage. "Everything we've been doing in the name of "Terran pride" is just an excuse to make Skywatch into an army and justify defying the people who allowed us to remain active. We've gone rogue, Hollander, and now we're no different from those stupid anti-alien terrorists!"
"I'm doing what we're supposed to be doing in preparation for an anti-alien defense organization, preparing Skywatch to defend our world!" Hollander growled. "Look at how much damage their war has done to our planet! Thousands of people dead, humans and espers in an all-out war, the heart of Anea turned into a massive patch of solid metal—we need to end this war before Terra is conquered or destroyed!"
"Oh come off it, David. You're so deadest on fighting aliens that you're ignoring the real threat right next to you!" She yelled. "Harvey has his own agenda and Skywatch is going to be the one to take the heat."
"I already have Harvey and his associates under watch, Howard. I'm not fool." He said confidently. "He won't try anything under my nose."
"And yet you had no idea that he has Minicon bodies under his possession, did you?"
The silence she got in response was enough of an answer for her.
"Don't look s satisfied. Harvey and his crew have become crucial to Skywatch's mission and he's in too deep to betray us now." Hollander spat. "Right now, you are our number one threat, and once I deal with the Autobots, you're next."
"I'm so scared" Veronica sneered.
"You should be. Your Autobot friends just assaulted a Skywatch base and left dozens of people injured or dead in their wake." Hollander turned to the door. "They will be brought to heel…or destroyed!"
Veronica angled her hand upwards to flip him off as he left and the door shut behind him. Alone once more, Veronica sighed and her shoulders sagged. Now things were really going to heat up between the Autobots and Skywatch. She just hoped that the snake in the grass didn't strike with everyone distracted with each other.
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In his office, Hollander read over the damage reports from the base attack. It was as bad as he expected, and then some.
Apparently, on top of the Autobots attacking the base and leaving a trail of destruction in their search for Prowl, leaving several soldiers and other base personnel injured or dead (Doctor Arkeville among the dead) there were also two incredibly powerful espers who practically leveled the hangar and main hall fighting each other. That battle was probably what led to the majority of the deaths during the whole debacle.
'They won't get away with this.' Hollander vowed to himself. 'This means war, not just for them but for the rest of their filthy kind!'
He pressed a button on his desk and a holographic vid-screen appeared (a little gift from Harvey). After a few minutes, Harvey answered the call, his face appearing on the holo-screen. "You rang?"
"I'm sure you already know of the situation." Hollander stated.
"Of course I know. It's the talk of the town." Harvey said. "I always knew those Autobots were wild. They certainly pack a punch when they get serious, don't they?"
"Don't worry, I intend to hit back just as hard." Hollander said. "How many Death's Head units are online and combat ready?"
"About fifty, with ten more nearing completion." Harvey raised an eyebrow at the man. "Don't tell me you're actually planning an attack on them."
"I'm planning an arrest. As far as the President is concerned, this was an unprovoked attack from the Autobots. I'm acting in self-defense." Hollander replied. "And I need all the leverage I can get to turn this around in my favor."
Harvey was silent for a minute before a devilish smile spread across his face. "If it's leverage you're worried about, then how about this?"
The screen shifted and three pictures appeared on the screen. They were photos of three humans—children—the first humans who made contact with the Autobots and discovered the Minicons.
"The Autobots human friends. What about them?"
"They are the Autobots main weakness." Harvey said. "Let's face the facts, Hollander, our drones, while strong, won't last long in a prolonged fight against the Autobots or Decepticons. As advanced their AI and weapons are, it's no match against their sheer combat experience. Prime himself could even tear through a third of them before they can do any serious damage. We need something else to fall back on when things heat up."
It didn't take long for Hollander to realize what he was saying. "You aren't suggesting we take the children as hostages? That's a bit extreme even for me."
"Those children are powerful in their own way, Hollander, trust me. But think about it, if we capture them, we can force the Autobots to stand down without any fuss." Harvey said. "It's the perfect way to avoid open conflict, at least until we have the resources to surpass them."
Hollander wasn't very keen on involving civilian children in this, even if they were espers. Still, Harvey brought up some good points, and he'd be hard pressed to reject a possible solution to the disadvantage they have against the Autobots.
"Still not convinced? Then how about this?"
Harvey brought up a couple more pictures, these photos showing the oddest, strangest looking talos Hollander had ever seen.
"What is this?" He asked.
"Talos. Highly advanced talos utilized by the children you see before you using technology that doesn't exist anywhere else on Terra." Harvey smirked at the look on Hollander's face. "Do I have your attention now?"
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Annie and Brittany wearily watched yet another breaking news bulletin on the giant monitor of Times Square. Another major Decepticon attack on an ERD base that had led to several people on both sides being injured and dead.
"This is terrible." Brittany muttered while watching the news.
"This is sadly a common thing on the news these days." Annie said. "Megatron's stopped doing random attacks and now he's targeting specific locations known for anti-esper activity. He's milking humanity's stupidity for all its worth."
"And your friends can't do anything?" Brittany asked.
"Not with the Cons fielding espers like a freaking recruitment drive. Between that and having to deal with the government's whining, they've got their hands full.""
The girls walked down the semi-crowded street. Normally this part of the city was jam packed with people in the middle of the day, but with the growing number of Brotherhood attacks, even the city that never sleeps looked a bit barren, but only just. Fear was starting to take hold of the country and no one felt safe anymore.
"Bulkhead's been working over time helping Wheeljack and Ratchet assist the displaced espers. The government is still raising a fuss about the Autobots interfering with the Registration Act, but no one cares about that anymore." Annie sighed. "In the end, we're all screwed, so what's the point?"
"I'm sure things will get better, Annie." Brittany said, holding her girlfriend's hand. "You and the Bots have been through worse, I'm sure."
"Worse? I doubt it can get any worse than this." She replied. "And we hardly made it out in one piece in the past."
Brittany frowned and made to reply, but she tensed up upon hearing something. Her feline ears twitched at the sound of something far off in the distance and looked to the sky.
"What's wrong, Brit?" Annie asked.
Brittany's keen eyes spotted something in the sky and she cursed when she saw that it was heading right towards them. "Get down!"
The next thing Annie knew, the street they were on exploded from a rain of laser blasts being fired at them. People screamed and ran for cover, but several people were killed in the opening volley. Annie was blasted away from Brittany and lost her grip on Grindor's alt mode, quickly losing sight of him in the chaos. She landed on a car, cracking the windshield.
"What the hell is going on? Brit! Grindor!" Annie called out, looking around at the fleeing people. "Who the hell's shooting at us?"
She got her answer when a talos landed in the middle of the street. It was a tall maroon colored mecha wielding a large rifle in one hand that it pointed at Annie.
"I wouldn't try anything funny you little bitch." Nina snarled, her eyes red and dry from crying so much. "You're coming with me!"
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"I'm only going to say this once and only once, Gina," Penny said as she and Gina sat in the park. "Your body is amazing!"
"Penny, please don't." Gina sighed.
"No, I'm totally serious. You took a beating from an Uber just two days ago and you look good as new!" Penny exclaimed. "Honestly I'm just getting jealous now."
Gina rolled her eyes at her rival/friend. She had completely healed her wounds from her fight with Katrina. She was still a bit sore, but an inhuman's regeneration abilities were something to be admired and envied.
She looked over at Sara, who was kneeling next to a couple of flowers watching a little bee fly between them with a small smile on her face. Gina was glad Sara was enjoying some quiet time. Sara rarely had a chance to just sit back and enjoy nature.
"On a different note, how's Prowl?" Penny asked. "I heard he was really beat up."
"He's recovering in the Ark. He's in good hands with Ratchet and Lifeline overlooking him." Gina said. "Right now the Autobots are looking through the data Prowl managed to obtain, and it's not looking good. Optimus said that Skywatch could retaliate any day now."
Penny exhaled through her nose and crossed her arms. "Do you think we'll ever catch a break?"
"Don't ask questioned you don't want the answers to." Gina said.
Sara, who was done watching the bees and the butterflies fluttering around her head, stood up and turned back to the girls. Her eyes widened when she saw something coming at them.
"Gina, Penny, behind you!" She called out.
The girls spun around and saw a tall man in a dark green bodysuit sprinting at them at full speed. Just from watching the way he moved Gina could tell he was an inhuman and prepared to blast him away. But the man was faster.
He reached out and slammed a palm into her face before she could manifest a distortion halo effect, shattering her glasses and breaking her nose before throwing her into a tree with enough force to knock it over. Sara lunged at him with her energy blades deployed, but the man easily dodged her attacks before kicking her in the chest to knock her back. He jumped back and snatched up Penny by the arm before she could run.
"Let me go!" She screamed.
"Penny!" Gina prepared to charge the man, but paused when he raised a hand.
"Hold, girl." He said. "My name is Siegfried, and my superiors have requested your presence."
Gina took in the man's large frame and abnormally muscular form. "You're an uber."
"That I am." Siegfried said. "And unlike Katrina, I'm not stupid enough to underestimate you."
"Let her go." Gina commanded.
"Only if you agree to surrender. Should you or your friend continue your efforts to fight me, I'll break this girl's neck, then kill your friend before taking you anyway." Siegfried said it so confidently that it infuriated Gina. "This doesn't have to end in bloodshed. I know you're still sore from fighting Katrina and you're not at a hundred percent yet."
'He's right.' Gina thought, looking around and spotting several armed men and women around the park surrounding them. There was no way she could save Penny without getting her and Sara killed.
"Don't listen to him, Gina! Just run!" Penny shouted.
"Silence!" Siegfried growled.
"Penny, you know that's not an option." Gina said. "I'm not letting you die."
"But—"
"It'll be alright, Penny." She assured her and looked at Siegfried. "If I surrender, do you promise to let her go?"
Siegfried nodded.
Gina traded a glance with the distraught Sara and nodded. "Then take me to your leader."
XXXXXX
Darren and Brianna stood before Justine's grave in the little clearing they claimed as their own private sanctuary. As the weather grew colder, the leaves of the trees turned red and orange, turning the forest into a beautiful multicolored shade. It was one of the things Darren missed about Tranquility.
"I'm sorry I haven't been visiting very often." Darren said to Brianna. "Things have been…rough for me lately."
"I know. You don't have to apologize." Brianna smiled. "You know, you're very busy for a kid."
"You have no idea." He chuckled.
They stood in silence for a moment, just enjoying the calm atmosphere. Darren glanced over at Brianna, who looked sad about something. It was a strange expression for her to have, and he wondered if she was going through something.
"Bri, are you doing alright?"
She blinked at him before giving a weak smile. "I'm fine, Darren. I just have a lot of things on my mind right now."
"Trouble at home?" He guessed.
"You could say that." She said. After a few more minutes of silence, Brianna said, "Darren?"
"Yeah?"
"What's it like having parents?"
Darren looked at her, not expecting the question. "Excuse me?"
"Parents. What are they like?"
Darren struggled to come up with an answer for her. "Bri, I'm the last person to ask that. My parents are dead and I was raised by my older sister for most of my life."
"Well, what good memories do you have of them?" She asked.
"Bri, why are you asking me this?" Darren asked. "Don't you have parents too?"
"They're not my real parent. I was adopted, and my mom mostly takes care of my. My dad is…well, he's there. That's that." Brianna shook her head with a growing frown. "I'm so jealous of you. I'm jealous of Annie. And I'm especially jealous of Gina. You all have such wonderful families. You and Annie have each other and Debbie. Gina has a wonderful dad and a loving mom. And what do I have? Nothing? Just a girl who got herself killed because I didn't return her feelings."
Darren took a step toward her. "Brianna—"
"I have no real family, I don't even have a regular childhood. You people have so much love while I spent most of my life training to become a damn warrior!"
Brianna closed her eyes and looked away. "When I came to Tranquility, I didn't think I'd get too attached to it. But spending time with you, your friends…and Justine, it was the most wonderful time of my life. I actually felt like a real girl." She gave a shuddering sigh. "But now the dream is over, and I have to wake up now."
"Brianna," Darren said slowly. "What are you talking about? Are you in trouble?"
Brianna said nothing, but Darren could see tears running down her cheeks. Before he could do anything, Brianna opened her eyes, revealing that they were glowing with a familiar power.
"I'm sorry." Brianna said.
And then everything went white.
XXXXXX
It took the Autobots a while to properly assess the information Prowl gained, but what they learned wasn't good. OZ had dug its claws really deep into Skywatch and were most like the ones influence Skywatch's recent activities. This made the situation all the more volatile.
"That worthless piece of slag Hollander has a lot of brass bearings makin' demands of us!" Ironhide growled, slamming a fist into the table. "Especially after all the scrap he pulled behind everyone's backs!"
"Let's pay those bastards a visit and rip Pisces out of there ourselves!" Bulkhead roared.
"Calm yourselves, Autobots. Now is not the time to be acting rashly." Optimus said.
"He's right. We're on thin ice for attacking that base out of nowhere." Ratchet said. "If we didn't have concrete proof with us, I doubt the President would have bothered to listen to us."
"Any update on that end?" Hound asked.
"None so far, but according to Colonel Barnett, President Flagg is absolutely livid with Skywatch right now." Jazz said.
"For now, all we can do is wait for further developments." Optimus said. "Now let's focus on locating the Karaba base—"
Prime was cut off by an announcement from Teletran-1. "Alert: Incoming priority one call from Android Sara."
Optimus narrowed his eyes. "Put her through."
The call came through and Sara's face appeared on the monitor. Her normally stoic expression was panicked and scared, which immediately sent red flags up for everyone. "Optimus Prime, Gina has been kidnapped by an inhuman agent from OZ! Please, I need your help!"
"Sara, what hap—" Optimus got another call, this one from High Wire. "Sara, I'm getting another emergency call. Please, hold on."
High Wire looked just as panicked as Sara when he called. "Optimus, I've lost contact with Darren! I think something bad has happened!"
The final nail in the coffin came from Grindor, who delivered equally bad news. "We've got a problem here in NYC. Some talos just appeared and started shooting everything up before kidnapping Annie!"
"No…" Optimus despaired. OZ was already making their move…and they just hit the Autobots where they were at their most vulnerable!
XXXXXX
"Darren…"
Darren groaned, wincing a bit at the bright light in his face and blinked to get the spots out of his eyes. Something leaned over him and he realized that it was a girl, whose lap his head was resting on.
"…G-Gina?"
"Hey, Darren." Gina said. She helped him sit up. "Not how I wanted to see you again."
Darren looked over at her and cursed. Gina was covered in numerous restraints. Cuffs kept her wrists together, most likely adamantium, and she had a visor strapped to her face that obscured her eyes.
"My god, Gina, what happened to you?" Darren asked horrified.
"Pisces is what happened. That bastard sent an inhuman after me and threatened Penny and Sara. I had to surrender." Gina motioned to her cuffs. "They've got me locked up with adamantium cuffs and the visor is disabling my distortion halo. The whole cell is made of adamantium, so no punching out way out for me."
"Hold on, I'll get it off you." Darren tried to telekinetically break her bonds, but nothing happened. "Huh? My powers…"
"It's the collars."
Darren froze and looked to the far side of the cell. Annie sat there, looking no worse for wear aside from the small metal collar around her neck.
"Annie." Darren said coldly.
"Darren." She replied.
"The collars are the same as the inhibitor collars the ERD uses to inhibit esper powers." Gina said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Your powers won't work with these on."
"Shit." Darren hissed. "How did OZ even get us?"
"They sent a freaking talos after me." Annie said. "The crazy bitch shot up an entire street full of people to get to me."
"How did they get you, Darren?" Gina asked.
Darren hesitated to answer. When he did reply, his expression darkened. "Brianna."
"What?" Gina said.
"I was with Brianna by Justine's grave." He said. "We were talking and suddenly she looked so distress. Then she turned to me and opened her eyes…she's an inhuman, Gina."
Gina and Annie stared at him in shock, before the former scowled. "That bitch. I knew something was up with her! No wonder she wanted to get so close to us!"
"We need to get the hell out of here." Annie said.
"And how do we do that, Annie? We can't use our powers or call for help. We don't even know where the hell we are!" Darren snapped.
"Did you forget who my friends are?" Annie replied. "I left Grindor and Brit with specific instructions just in case something like this happened to me. Right now, all we need to do is wait until their message gets through."
Darren never thought he'd hear Annie willingly say wait in regards to their next course of action.
The doors of their cell opened up and the children were instantly alert as Pisces walked into the cell with Siegfried by his side.
"Welcome, children." Pisces grinned. "How nice to see you all again."
"Give us the cocky attitude when you erase a little girl throwing you around in a middle school like a ragdoll from history, Pisces." Gina said.
Pisces glared at Gina but maintained his composure. "I'm sure this is all very sudden, but rest assured that you aren't in danger. You're just here for insurance."
"Insurance…you're keeping us here as hostages?" Darren looked around at the cell.
"No," Gina growled. "This is Skywatch, isn't it?"
"Correct. This is Skywatch's HQ, the place where the magic happens. After your friend's little adventure, Director Hollander decided enough was enough. He's going to take care of the Autobots with his new army, and he needs you to stay their hand."
"The Death's Head drones won't last long in battle against the cybertronians. You know that." Gina said. "Even with Atlantian tech they'll still be outmatched in a prolonged fight."
"You've done your homework, Gina. You're right, but I need my enemies to wipe each other out to make my job easier." Pisces shrugged. "Shame, Hollander is a fine soldier, but not very introspective."
"You're a piece of shit, Pisces." Annie growled.
"And you are an insufferable little girl. You all are unholy little brats getting involved in things that doesn't concern you." Pisces sneered. "You three have been nothing but trouble to OZ, and I'll have it no more! Better to take you out of the picture so you don't screw things up like you did with the Headmaster Project."
"Your plan will self-destruct anyway, Pisces, regardless of our involvement." Darren said.
"Unlike Aries, I have eyes watching my back." Pisces smirked. "Now I have to get back to work in a few minutes. But before I leave, I must introduce you to a valued associate of mine."
Pisces stepped to the side and allowed another person into the cell. A girl, whom Gina recognized from the form fitting bodysuit and reflective helmet. It was the inhuman girl she fought against a few months ago!
"Pandora!" She snarled.
"Yes, that's her moniker for you, isn't it?" Pisces grinned. "But you all also know her by another name."
The girl reached up and slowly took her helmet off. Long golden hair fell down her back, and the children gasped when they saw her face.
"Children, say hello to my pride and joy—Brianna Ouronos, the world's first pure born inhuman," Pisces smug face turned to Gina. "And your genetic little sister."
Gina felt her entire world shatter before her eyes as she stared into Brianna's face. It was like staring into a mirror.
And so we get to the meat of the arc. Those similarities Darren noticed between Brianna and Gina earlier in the story was definitely not a coincidence. Nothing much to say about the next chapter other than it being a complete blood bath. Be sure to check out the official Transformers Titan website on WordPress. In the meantime, I'll be waiting for the chance to check out that abysmal WFC cartoon on Netflix (I hear that all the episodes save the final one are crap, but part of me still wants to check it out of curiosity). Thanks for reading, please leave a review, and I hope you all have a decent New Years.