Chapter Twenty-Six

...

"You've been indemnified!"

Attinger threw aside the cuffs as Joshua had them cut off him, Savoy, and the other guard. JOshua wondered if the man was on the verge of some type of mental breakdown, or a heart attack much less. He was red-faced almost to the point where it looked permanently discolored, and he was spitting out orders like some type of drill sergeant.

Joshua ordered that Galvatron be readied for public testing-Galvatron, his precious Galvatron! After years of hard work, research, labor, and money, he'd finally done it! His specks from the two heads gathered from the contract with Cemetery Wind had earned him the perfect amount of information for constructing such a creation-he had done it, he'd actually done it!

He wasn't anywhere near public testing, as he'd protested to Attinger, but the man had simply not cared-he'd indemnified KSI and Galvatron, as well as Stinger. They were prepping the machines to intercept the Autobots now. As they walked by the windows on the first floor, Joshua spotted the Pagani and the Freightliner already departing swiftly.

Something within him dropped, probably his stomach, and he's suddenly regretted that $250 sushi lunch he'd eaten earlier. But then again, nothing of his had ever failed before, so this couldn't be that bad.

At least he hoped it couldn't.

...

As soon as Bumblebee had stepped out of KSI, the Autobots transformed down, and they began fleeing the city. Optimus had told Mira over a private communication link that he had a hunch they would not be alone, that KSI would be using those prototypes faster than he would've preferred. So, they'd agreed to go mobile, and get out of the city.

Just at the outskirts, Optimus' sentiments had proved right.

A fast approaching Freightliner cab-over semi, a flashy silver and black model, roared up behind them on the interstate, in no time at all. Mira wondered if they'd been indemnified by Cemetery Wind-certainly Joshua wouldn't hand over his prototypes that quickly, especially to the military. Then she wondered if they'd done all the required testing to see if their prototypes wouldn't blow up in their faces.

She hadn't seen the Freightliner, but she recognized the Pagani roar up past the semi. She had opted to ride with Hound, to cover the rear should there be any need. Optimus had immediately objected, stating that Bumblebee take the humans out of the city.

"I do not need to worry about you with KSI right behind us," Optimus' voice was stern on the radio, filtering into the Hound's cab, "You need to be out of the city, and out of-"

"We're staying," Mira stated simply, sticking her head out the window now to look at the Freighliner, which roared on mechanically, making its way down the freeway and swerving by civilian vehicles. The Pagani was weaving in and out of traffic, quickly approaching. She looked ahead, to see Drift slide to intercept the Pagani from going ahead, both cars slamming the brakes with a screech and falling into the ditch. "Drift!" Mira panicked. She looked to the radio, where Optimus continued.

"Get her out of there, Hound! Follow Bumblebee and bring them to safety!"

Mira grabbed the E-Brake and pulled back hard, Hound not stopping, put plugging on. He got the idea, however, when she hollared back, "No! We stay and fight, you can't hold them alone!"

Without thinking, grabbed the Baretta from her waistband and swung it around, grabbing hold of the seatbelt with her right hand to keep her from falling out the window. Pinching an eye shut as hair flew across her face, Hound still roaring down the highway as Bumblebee rocketed ahead beside her, she took aim and fired off a round at the Freightliner. Her firing continued, the bullets ricocheting off the semi, until the unthinkable happened.

It shattered into a million pieces, the pieces forming together like a trail of particles, swerving and moving and wiggling like some type of serpent. It twisted and moved sleekly through the air, before she noticed two hands and a head began to form out of the particle wave, until the body finally began to take shape. The robot, now entirely complete, rocketed to the ground, hand slamming into a nearby Honda which had braked hard, a blade ripping through a truck on the other wrist. He looked up at her, as Hound had stopped, and roared madly, his eyes icy and desperately wicked. Her heart froze.

"What is that?" Hound protested, shifting the vehicle into drive before roaring back down the road, flying through his gears quickly, "It looks like Pit!"

She wrinkled her brow, fell back into the seat, and tucked her hair behind her ear, "I don't know," she checked the mirror and found him fast approaching, and she watched as Optimus braked, whirled around and almost tossed his alternation form into a wreck, and squealed his tires in reverse gear. Drift, Crosshairs, and Bumblebee all dodged traffic, Bumblebee rocketing forward, Drift and Crosshairs roaring to a stop and whipping around a few yards past Prime.

"Bumblebee!" she interjected quickly, "Get Merrick out of here, right now!" The radio quirked and hissed in replied, only to have him spin his tires and continue on, away from the scene. She grabbed the E-Brake again and jerked back, this time Hound coming a stop, skidding out on the freeway. She popped the latch and hustled out of the Defense vehicle to get a better view, rushing to a nearby car that the being had tossed aside recklessly.

"MIRA!" Optimus boomed, the being coming ever closer. He instantly began his transformation, throwing a finger at her in point, "Crosshairs, Drift, defend Mira! I will intercept the KSI machine!" Both cars spun their tires, now coming off road at her, as a barrage of gunfire erupted from the street towards all of them.

This sent Mira flying to the ground, rolling farther down the hill of the ditch until she was at the edge of the cornfields. Curling herself into a ball to defend her head, the bullets began colliding with metal. She unfolded her body to see Crosshairs standing before her, returning fire to the untransformed Pagani, his arm shielding her body, as well as his foot.

"You are entirely insane!" He barked at her, "Completely screwloose, Mira! You could've gotten yourself killed!"

"The cars-the people-"

He glared at her, "They're dead!"

Getting up, she bolted back for the street, and stopped behind a wrecked vehicle. In the distance she saw Bumblebee had stopped, and she could almost make out the forms of the other humans unloading from him. Her heart hammered like a brass band within her chest, watching as Optimus engaged the other mech in hand-to-hand, a fiesty compilation of mixed martial arts, until he pulled out his wrist blade and stuck it into the mech's chest.

"You have no sou1!" Optimus screamed at him, his voice shrill and heavy with warfare. The other being's spark chamber-a gaping yellow and orange hole in his chest-at away the blade as if it were paper Mache. This caused her to gasp, and she ducked again when the Pagani skidded to a stop beside her cover, extending a mini-gun from the fender. Mira screamed, rolled under the car, and covered her head as the bullets littered the air from where she had just been crouching.

"That is why I have no fear!" the other mech returned, his voice uglier than Megatron's. His voice startled her-Joyce had programmed them to speak? With AI? This panicked her, and she rolled over on her stomach to watch him, both their feet making pot-holes just feet from her place on the asphalt.

The Pagani roared away, in the opposite direction, Crosshairs and Drift following it back towards the city. Hound pursued them as well, leaving her and Optimus alone in the littered freeway with this robotic character who could speak. He was supposed to be controlled by KSI, but his fluid movements and his amazing ability to match Optimus-which no man-made and controlled machine could ever do-told her otherwise. The Shield resting against her chest was burning as if on fire, her skin long since numb to the feeling. Something here was not right at all, and she would know what.

A strong uppercut to Optimus' chin plating sent sparks flying as metal collided with metal, sending the leader staggering back a few feet, only to return with a wide right jab and then a round-house. The being eluded both, then lowered and charged for Prime's midsection. Optimus pivoted at the right moment, slamming an elbow into the being's spine, sending him rocketing to the ground-

-and directly at Mira's cover.

She screamed, scrambled from beneath the car, and bolted away from the vehicle. Running hard and fast towards the direction of the city, she heard the bots continue to go at it, metal screeching on metal in protest. She could feel the heat of their sparks almost, could sense the sparks skittering on the ground as the metal caused friction against itself. Her blood pumped so fast within her ears she thought for a minute she would drown in it.

"Behind you, Mira!" Optimus hollared at her, defensively. She whirled around to see the being soaring towards her, obviously from a tough defensive maneuver from Optimus. She ducked out of the way, down into the ditch again, the heels of her boots cutting into the earth. Pushing herself up, she grabbed the Baretta again from her waistband and fired a shot into the mech's face, them bouncing off with a glance. He growled, extended a hand towards her and sweep it horizontally, as if clearing a chessboard. She ducked, hit the ground, then picked herself up as he came back again, this time his talon-like fingers piercing the earth beside her. Mira gasped, came up short, as he rolled onto his stomach, now supporting himself by his knees and hands in the earth. He sneered at her, sending her a staggering step backwards, and locked eyes with her.

"Keeper of the Shield," he snarled demonically, "if only you did not serve such a high purpose. Then I would sink my fangs into your flesh and devour your soul." This surprised her, Mira raising her brows at such a comment-she'd never heard that one before. And he knew her-this thing knew who she was, and for a moment she wondered if KSI was controlling him.

But his optics were a burning scarlet color, like most Decepticons, but held depth-intelligence, not like that of a man-made machine, but that of a Cybertronian. Burning rage and hatred were seeded there, like cold cement. Mira found in them the deepest of evils, an evil more strong than Megatron's, a hatred more severe. It seized her for a moment, tossed her stomach to her feet, and rendered her knees to a trembling, quaking mess. That was, until she realized who she was: she was General Mira Lennox, Keeper of the Shield of the Matrix of Leadership. She would not let him fear factor own her, and she met his statement with icy coldness in her own voice.

"And if only you were not a machine, I would rip your heart out." This surprised him, and he would've chuckled, except Optimus seized the back of his head with a strong hand and tossed him aside with a growl of exertion. The being snarled, shoved Optimus aside and knocked him down with a punch to what would be the ribcage, and he swiped a burning car away from him.

"I am not intimidated by a human femme," he jested wickedly, "I am Galvatron, lord of the Decepticons, master of darkness! I fear no one!"

That statement was familiar as well. Optimus rebutted the comment with one of his own, "You are lord over nothing!" He swung another jab at Galvatron, and ducked the mech's high punch. Mira skittered out of the way as concrete fell from Galvatron's hands when he pulled his hand from the earth after catching himself.

Mira sought refuge behind a silver Cadillac SUV, wincing and grimacing as parts and grunts and groans hammered on overhead, Optimus now mere feet from her place. He twisted and ducked and attacked, using all his upper body strength. Mira had realized she was trembling, and reached up for the Shield as she always did when she was panicked. It was warm, almost whirring; she could feel the thrumming in the inner working of the artifact. She looked towards the city, and her eyes widened.

"OPTIMUUUUS!" She screeched, as if bloody murder was on the horizon.

He had no time to react. Then, suddenly, and explosion rained down sparks, fire, parts, and screams around her. Optimus was instantly forced to his knees, arms outstretching, screaming in agony, a decently sized hole emblazoned in his chest. His chest began to spark and fizzle, and he fell backwards, into the front of Mira's car, just before she dashed out of the way of the incoming-paralzyed-body of Optimus Prime. She was thrown by the impact a few feet, colliding with the cable median in the middle of the freeway, the cables digging in her back, hips and shoulders before using the tension in them to push her away with a rough and ungraceful smack.

Pushing herself up, she jerked her head to get her curls, now frizzy and disheveled, out of her face. Her heart seized and her stomach came up to her throat, but she pushed it back with his name erupting from her lips, at first hoarse, "Optimus," she tried, scrambling to her feet and practically launching herself towards him.

Galvatron was already gone, roaring down the freeway. She watched him go, until there was a pickup in wind speed behind her. She didn't care, and ran towards Optimus, skidding on the loose asphalt and debris until she graciously bumped into his wrist to stop herself. He moaned quickly, his body and clicking and quirking, and he turned his head to her, giving her a dazed and half conscious look.

"Get...out of..." he reached over his torso with his other hand to use a fingertip to touch her chin gently, "...get out of here..." he managed, directing his attention to the horizon before him, "Lockdown..."

"I can't just leave you here," she said shakily, attempting to keep her voice in control and steady, "can you move, Optim-?"

He glared at her, "I said get out of here, Miriam! Right NOW!" His tone charged her with surprise, and she took half a step back, her hands releasing from the armor of his wrist. He instantly looked apologetic and then asked her quietly, "Please," he asked graciously, "I cannot lose you again. Go, now."

Mira checked over her shoulder as she heard hyperdrives squealing in release. the earth trembled, as did the air as it whipped around, as if a tornado was brewing in the atmosphere. Instead, she turned full face and found the sky entirely eaten by the biggest ship she perhaps could even begin to fathom. It was black, like night, with a glowing central hub-probably the bridge, with pillars extending towards the sky, which she assumed to be engines.

But, that was not what terrified her. What seized her soul in an iron fist was the figure walking towards them, the humanoid looking form of Lockdown, his face mostly transformed-a green shield his features, with Cybertronian writing and code littered about it. It drew back quietly, until he stopped a few feet before them, staring at her as if she were pure and utter wealth. Heat flared as he looked back to Optimus.

"I feel sorry for you, Prime," he said in a mocking sympathy, "Your allegiance to these humans," she shook his head, bringing his right hand to rest upon his knee, "is most troublesome. The trouble with allegiance to a cause, is that the cause always betrays you, and stabs you in the back-right into the heart."

Optimus, struggling to stand to Mira's right, was unable to move from his downed position, "Who has sent you?" Optimus snarled at him, his optics demanding an answer. Mira moved back half a step, grabbing onto the extended door of the Cadillac, just in case she was going to faint, which she knew she wasn't.

Lockdown gave her a lock, and then directed his statement to Prime, a chuckle tickling his throat, "Where do you think you came from?" His voice was like smooth, black velvet, trimmed and dipped in poison; seemingly hypnotic, "humph. You think you were born, heh?" He scoffed, "No..." He stood now, looking to Mira again, his eyes dropping her resolve instantly as he seemed focused on one part of her, and that one part only, as if the rest of her didn't exist:

The Shield.

"...no, you were built." The way he said it, so decretory, knocked her back. Her fingers wrapped around the frame, keeping her upright, but her shoulder muscles strained and protested. She staggered forward into Optimus' arm, resting against the back of his elbow, almost peeking out behind it as if she were hiding from Lockdown. The Shield had all but silenced now, and was an icy emblem, cold and dead.

Lockdown chuckled, "...And your creators want you back." He began to pack up, extending an arm towards Optimus, and then chuckled at her, "I hope you were not expecting to stay on this planet long, femme. You, you are coming with me." Then, in one swift motion, he slid his visor back down, and charged for her in a stride.

Mira pushed herself off Optimus' arm, dashing for the ditch. She didn't even make it off the asphalt before a thick hand wrapped itself around her torso, plucking her from the ground as if she were a ragdoll. Lockdown was not that large, nor was he tall, but he was tall enough to render her powerless in his hands. He held her snugly, before lifting her so she could see him face to face. Mira thrashed violently, tossing her body in every direction, pounding her fists into his hands for release-which she knew would not come. Tears had erupted from her eyes as she heard the calls coming down the freeway, the screams from Bryce, Cade, and Tessa.

And Merrick.

"Lockdown," Optimus stated behind him, extending a hand forward, pleading, "You're fight is with me," his hand instantly clenched into a tight fist and he slammed it into the earth, creating yet another pothole, " let her go!"

He chuckled, "My fight is with whoever I am charged to find," he looked to Mira, who had stopped and was panting at him, glaring through her fallen curls. The screams behind them grew louder and louder as her heart pounded hard, continually, as if it were a time-bomb counting down the minutes before its explosion, "and I am charged to find you, Optimus Prime, and your artifacts. The femme comes with us, and she will be staying for a long time." He chuckled at her, giving her a slight, sarcastic, wicked smile, "a long time indeed."

He used the other hand, pointed to Optimus, and signaled something with a remote connection, because the release-hatch detached a dropship from the main vessel, it rocketing to life and surging for them in a rapid sound of fueled hyperdrive. It dropped into a hover beside Lockdown, extending a hatch, which Lockdown moved towards.

"MOM!" The cries were clear now, as Merrick and the others came into plain sight. Mira looked over her shoulder, Lockdown stopping for a moment to glane and snort, then continued his saunter towards the dropship. It prepared firing systems, and Mira was all but screaming panic at the boy, who would not stop. "MOMMA!"

She put up her hands and pointed at the boy, "No! No, stay back!" She was sobbing now, clawing at Lockdown's hands for release, "Cade, grab him! Please!" She then whipped a look to Lockdown, "Please, he's my son! Have mercy, please! He's my son!" He would hear nothing of it, and stepped into the machine.

"MOMMA! NO! COME BACK, MOMMA!"

She sobbed now, "Merrick, MERRICK!" Lockdown prepared the doors to close, Mira listening to the machine configure. There was a sharp pop, and she saw the guns fire anchoring units into Optimus, a net cyberforming around him. The ship began to rise, and she screamed now, louder if possible, her voice richoeting off her lungs and searing pain through her throat and sinus, piercing even her own ears, "I love you, I love you so much! It's okay...Momma will be back!" The door closed with a sealing release of air, and the tension left her body, as if in shock. Lockdown was seated now in his seat, flipping switches and sending commands. He released her, her sitting on his knee. She could see them ascending upwards, Optimus in tow, trapped within the net. Her heart shattered, as if ripping in two, and her body froze over with shock as she watched Cade wrap his arms around Merrick and pick him up from the pavement, eyes on the ship.

"You humans," Lockdown began with a disgusted snort, "you and your false promises. You have ignited a hope in your creation that you will not be able to fulfill. Very unwise."

She just glared up at him, watching as the earth was swallowed when the dropship came to home base within the hatch doors. They closed with a resounding clang, and the earth as she knew it was gone...

...she was in an entire new ballgame, now.