Warning: gore, again. Battle scene. My girl is a killing machine soooo…. Also there is a little cursing.
Also thank you so much, Goku275, for the wonderful comment! I always love and appreciate your guys comments.
Two planes sat stationary, lifeless, unlike the three other machines coming with us. Unlike last time, Ironhide will not be joining us, to his disappointment. Mirage will be.
He thought he was being so sneaky by giving me glares when I 'wasn't' looking. The latest one made my hackles bristle and pupils turned into slits. The black part of my eyes were nearly invisible and the silver around them most prominent.
Luck seemed to be on my side as the twins were joining us again. Thankfully. Because if I had to be stuck with that red overgrown work bench without either bot, I couldn't promise Mirage would walk out of the plane. Something about him just made my blood boil and energy coursing to my finger tips. It didn't help the second time I'd met the bot, he decided to make some rude and nasty comments.
Anyway, onto loading up everyone.
The ramp to the outdoors closed behind me as I was the last up the ramp. I couldn't help the small jump I did in reaction. Sides in his vehicle form rolled slightly towards me, the only one yet to be secured by a net.
Not a sound came from him. Nothing needed to. Our connection helped semi-calm my nerves. But when the plane start to shake and move, all Hell was close to breaking loose. Why did I agree to this? I'm stuck in a small confined place.
Three of the humans inside finally got him locked into place and went to the seats on one side of the plane. I didn't follow. Instead, I took roost by Sides front driver side tire and tired to control my erratic breathing. There weren't any humans on this side, making it semi-private.
Sides leaned towards me but the net prevented him from touching me. "Azar, what's wrong?" his voice was quiet, just for me to hear.
At this moment, the plane lurched softly to a stop causing me to pathetically yelp. "Oh." Sides murmured to himself before doing something with the connection. I felt a tug like before Sides had shocked me and snapped my gaze towards his windshield. The mech giggled and did the same thing again. "It's alright. Hold onto the netting so you don't go sliding when we take off."
I hesitantly listened to him and gripped the netting where it connected with the ground. The death machine lurched again, this time pulling me slightly towards Sunstreaker.
Even without a window, I could feel we were now moving, quickly and gaining speed as well. The plane shuttered a little bit, the engines whirling louder and louder. Their sounds hurting my ears. I covered them after letting go of the netting and curled slightly in the ball.
This wasn't the worst of it though.
It started to head up towards the sky, the ground no longer touching its tires. Once tilted up at a high enough degree, my feet began to slide with little to no traction on the metal. I immediately lashed out and grasped the netting once more, feeling heat rush to my cheeks that the twins just saw that. "I told you to hold on," Sides teased.
His engine made a strange, deep sound, like a laugh. This one was different though compared to the others I've heard… and it sounded nice.
A puff of smoke swirled in front of me after a quick exhale. "I hate planes," I grumbled and already wanted off of this thing.
Sometime later, humans started to undo the straps holding down the three bots. Wait, what are they doing? We haven't landed yet nor were we near the ground, nowhere close. Nonetheless, I moved out of the way and stood near the closed ramp.
Sides was the first to be undone. Said mech rolled forward as much as he could in such a small space and looked like he was stretching his axels or something.
Then the ramp to my left started to lower… Are we jumping out?! Eh, at least it'll get me out of this thing. Plus, just like William said: I have wings. A smirk graced my lips as I watched the soldiers take off the netting on the other two.
Wind rushed in, drowning out most of the noise of the craft and blew my hair every which way. The red Lambo slightly turned to me once the ramp had fully lowered. "You ready?!" he called over the wind and revved his engine.
The smirk etched into my lips only grew larger. I said nothing to him and took leap out of this flying death machine. My wings furled tightly to reduce wind drag as I headed in a near ninety degrees dive towards the earth.
Behind me, Sides followed me out after giving me a safe enough distance and transformed as well. I couldn't help the smirk on my face as the air blew past me as I fell gracefully. It felt relieving to be diving back into battle, ready to take on every soldier and superhuman in the Jasper base.
Both of the other bots in the plane rolled out into the open sky. All three kept their distance from each other, including me until they activated their parachutes. Though the pieces of cloth only seemed to just slow them down some.
Me, on the other hand, didn't have one and had something much better. My wings slowly unfurled and tilted to eased me to level with the land and cause little stress on the appendages.
Since Sides had been the first out of three bots, he touched down before them in a designated area. Other personnel had landed, including William and Robert. They, at least, had half a brain cell to move off to the side and give the descending mechs a safe place to land.
I touched down some paces away from the two humans and stretched a few tight muscles. My calves the worse ones since I stayed crouched next to Sides that entire ride, not risking any movement.
All three landed in a timely manner just as other humans were falling the same way they were. One of them had to narrowly dodge Sunstreaker moving towards me. In reaction, I let loose a deep growl, meant as a warning and glared at the idiotic human.
Once realizing what I had done, I flared my wings in irritation and grumbled under my breath. Stupid connection. If it wasn't for it, I wouldn't be here… Shit, I wouldn't be here. That was the truth.
Never mind that, there were more pressing matter on hand at the moment.
Sunstreaker knelt down in front of me and looked like he wanted to touch me but reframed from doing so. Probably smart for the time being. "How did you fare the plane ride?" His voice level and quiet, ensuring no one could hear besides the two o-make that three of us.
My brows immediately lowered in reaction to show my displeasure of riding in there. "I'd rather ride in one of your car modes for a day straight then go in one of those things again." I hissed on the word 'things' to clearly emphasis the hatred I felt for the planes.
The red twin chuckled lowly at my misfortune after kneeling and timidly ran a finger between my horns. My hair had to be wild looking from diving but it didn't matter to me.
To my right, someone dare mutter something under their breath. Something on the line of fleshaphilia. Rage surged through me to my finger tips as I wiped my head to face the person, or should I say bot, to uttered that word.
Our eyes met and his disgusted expression flashed away. In return, an emotion I knew all too much about: fear. He intelligently lost eye contact with me and moved away, like a coward, or someone who knew they couldn't defeat their enemy. But I wasn't done with him just yet. He needed to learn a lesson and stop messing with my twins… Did I just say my twins? Freaking connection! Screwing with my thoughts.
Flames licked at my hands and arms as I released an ounce of energy. My feet swiftly carried me towards the other mech in red, eyes locked onto his body as he tried to evade me.
"Azar!" William's voice carried out just enough for me to hear. My head wiped around to face the man, locks following the rapid movement. "We have bigger fish to fry," he noted. Right, we're on our way to another Jasper base with mostly innocent kids.
Both the twins stared at me a little confused at the sudden rage then glance over to Mirage. The two's expressions dropped quicker than a pen. Scowls grew on their faces. Sunstreaker rolled towards the bot but William whistled for our attention. "Seriously, you three? Keep your heads on straight and let's get this over with."
Instead of feeling embarrassment from William having to snap me out of it, I felt the anger from the situation. I cut off the energy flowing to the fire at my finger tips and moved over to the human in charge. Sides and Sunstreaker followed silently, still seething. A drop of it could be felt over the connection, surprising me.
But I made it barely any of my attention. William was right, we had bigger fish to fry. And I yearn to burn some Jasper soldiers.
Humans had no sense of being quiet, even if they tried to. This group was worse than the last and the Autobots with us were doing better than them. I will give credit where credit is due, Mirage was the quietest out of all of us, not including me.
Two or three of the soldiers had a nick-knack for stepping on every large stick in their path. Why did I ever agree on letting humans help me with this task? This is probably the reason why I kept getting the dread feeling in my stomach. Right… that.
It had been sitting there for the entire time, never acting up or fading away.
Through the bush and dense foliage, the generic gray walls of the building appeared. Even though William was leading us, I flared my wings out to alert the other behind me to stop and reached out to put a hand on the man's shoulder.
He stopped from my touch and tilted his head in my direction. The male didn't need to say anything since I could easily read the question adorning his face. I dipped my head to alert him we had arrived.
Heat and cold battle in my chest, wanting to be the first to be release and used to kill. Oh, there was going to be a blood bath tonight, er today. Whatever the time is.
William got to work speaking with a small group of six, to ensure they remembered the plan. Those soldiers seemed to be the first out into the battle field. Strange he wasn't sending me first.
A wave of nausea washed over me, nearly making me stumble while standing still. My eyes closed in reaction and I shook my head to rid of the random feeling. Don't start up now. Ratchet did tell me not to entirely worry about it, since it wasn't being caused by the connection. But that didn't stop my uneasiness of the situation.
The soldiers the captain was talking to began sneaking over towards the building. I was a bit disappointed that he didn't send me to do the first killing but nonetheless.
Time ticked by as we slowly moved a tiny bit closer to watch what they were doing. My claws itched to be used as an urge to kill overwhelmed my senses. All I had to do now was wait, impatiently.
Jasper soldiers patrolled around the building with at three visible Decepticon's on guard. Though they did seem a bit preoccupied with talking to one another. Lazy, tin can's that can't do anything right. Ha, that sounds a lot like someone I know. Never mind that.
Places like this shouldn't be this guarded with this many soldiers. Even if they couldn't afford to lose any future murders, they didn't want to waste resources guarding the place. But I guess my presence has made a difference, in a bad way.
Three of our people were facing the building, guns raised and swiftly making their way to blind spot among camera's and guards. The others were treading carefully backwards and watching their friend's backs.
A pair of Jasper soldiers rounding the blind corner, took a couple steps towards William's men before noticing them. Before either one could utter a sound, spikes of ice pierced their chests. Their bodies fell forward but unable to completely touch the ground.
Many eyes landed on me, including William and Robert. The latter looking both interested and horrified at the same time. "What?" I asked innocently with a sweet smile.
They only shook their head, still in shock, and returned to paying attention to the matter at hand. Two of the soldiers had gotten over their horrified emotions and place some sort of explosive on the way. Seriously, that'll alert the entire building to our position. Not very smart.
The captain turned back to me after receiving a nodded. "You ready to rush in and get those kids out?" A smirk replaced the sweet smile and that was all he needed. He signaled to the others behind us before motioned to the six.
Seconds past as the six divided into two groups on each side of the explosives. Then all Hell broke loose.
Debris rained from the shattered wall. Dust covered most of the soldiers entering the building. Jasper soldiers and Decepticons whipped towards the explosion, guns at the ready but we charged first, at least I did.
With a roar, I rushed into the soon-to-be battle field. Talons digging into the semi-soft dirt, grasping for traction as I continued to surge forward.
Sounds of gun fire ranging out into the forest, bullets almost hitting their target and sometimes friendlies. Idiots. The three Cons in sight shot at me and struck the ground next me, sending dirt flying. But their reign of terror didn't last longer than five seconds as our own force charged into battle.
Even with the growing battle around me, I peered over my shoulder and watched in slow mo as the twins tore through two Cons like butter. Energon splatter the ground, creating a hazard for any unfortunate human.
Sides caught me staring and smirked at me with a wink. If I wasn't running into the Jasper facility, I'd have half a mind to scoff. Instead, I dodged an enemy holding a pocketknife and easily snapped his neck. My eyes quickly found the red twin once more as I stood over the body for just a quick second. His brows were raised and in return, I gave him a smirk and took off once more.
Once on the inside, I was harshly met with bullets and teargas which make quick work to burn my lungs. The former weapon pierced my hide a few too many times to count. Two of the six humans William sent in were no longer moving as the rest did their best to hold the front.
Walls of ice formed in front of William's soldiers, protecting most of them from bullets. One took the time to nod their head in thanks but I wasn't done.
Fire blazed to life along my forearms and hands, dripping off the limbs and touching the concrete flooring. I sent a stream of flames at a group hunkering behind a wall to our let.
Once it made contact with the first victim, they were set ablaze, most likely causing first degree burns already. The fire swiftly spread to the rest of them. A couple had enough brain cells to stop, drop, and roll but I was in control of it.
Their screams echoing through the hall, almost drowning out the gun fire outside. More bullets flew past me, a couple hitting various, non important areas. I summoned fire to head straight at the offenders and struck my targets. They as well tried to stop their impending doom until their final breath.
William's, now, four soldiers stopped firing and stilled once the last person went down. But I was on a mission, there was no time to chat with them.
I began a simple trot down the right hall way where there was a larger amount of soldiers. In my wake, crimson blood blotted the near white concrete flooring and followed me even after running into more humans.
Two of them rushed me with more pocketknives and tried to stab me. One was successful, leaving a nasty gash from my shoulder to the middle of my callor bone. They quickly realized their mistake and tried to escape. Of course, I couldn't let that happen.
My talons dug deep into their unarmored shoulders as I pulled them back into the fight. They twirled around to face me and raised their weapon to strike me once more.
Pain sprung up in the sliver of spaced between my spine and where my wing connects. That didn't stop me from head butting the soldier in my grasp, hard, with the beginning of my horns. They stumbled back, giving me the open opportunity to slash my claws across his throat, effectively killing them.
Now, my attention was drawn back to the human behind me. With a simple flare of my wings, I sent them flying into their buddies to our seven o'clock position. Their body smashed into two of them, bring those two down with them. Yet, my job was far from over. They weren't dead, yet.
Hundreds of gallons of water swelled and splashed behind me after I turned to face them. The living soldiers paled at the sight and did the best thing for themselves: flee.
One of my fangs poked out and glinted in the limited light. The water surged forward, effortlessly missing me and striking the humans. I controlled it to lose its size but not it's mass, creating high amounts of pressure until their chests caved in.
Once they were dead, I drew in the energy and pressed onward.
The walls and ceiling around me swirled for a long dangerous moment, making my balance completely off. I scrambled to steady myself but it was no use. My right shoulder slammed into a wall and head followed less than a second later.
All of my injuries were jarred in the moment, drawing a painful cry from my lips. The knife was still lodged in a dangerous place, close to my lungs. Said organs burned with each intake and exhale from the teargas and now possible puncture. Gods, Ratchet is going to have a hay day with me when I get back.
Painfully, I reached behind me with the help of my other limb and tore the blade out. A sob escaped my lips as I sat there against the wall, panting and wheezing for oxygen. Of course it had to be serrated and holding some of my flesh.
Blood poured from the wound, spilling down my back and onto the floor and staining it more. My body ached from the bullet holes, teargas, and gashes but I had to push forward.
Everything still spun, disorientating me as my only grounder was the wall. Okay, yeah, I'm going to have a little chat with Ratchet about these weird little stunts because man, they're annoying.
Some crucial time circled passed as I stumbled weakly to my feet. Agony raced through me as I took quiet steps, on the search for those kids. But an idea hit me. It would give me the perfect upgrade to help anyone in my way.
Since I was injured the shift between this form into my larger, frightening one drew whimpers and tears from me. Once over though, I released a roar that echoed through the halls and instilled terror to anyone still in here. The spikes on my back rattled and clinked against each other from the roar. I continued on my way, easily taking down any Jasper soldiers in my way.
Gun fire rang through the building, signaling a battle. Exhilaration raced through my veins as I turned the corner to find seven enemies firing down the hall to their left. None of them faced me, leaving them completely vulnerable to kill.
I lunged at the nearest one, my larger form pushing them into two others. The four others stopped after seeing me and started to fire at me. Bad move on their part. My wings unfurled and sent two crashing into the wall to the right. The other two were squished against the wall to the left, struggling to get free. I made quick work of them by slashing their throats and dealt with the three underneath me, using ice to stab them.
The last ones groaned as I stalked up to them. To give them a little mercy, I pierced their chests with two long icicles, ending them quickly.
To my six-thirty o'clock position, there was the sound of guns reloading. I wiped around to face the attacker only to find William and four soldiers standing there. The former staring at me with wonder and terror in his eyes. He let his gaze roam my form, reminding me he hasn't seen this form yet. "Any luck?" I questioned to break the deafening silence. Even my voice sounded different, deeper with a grumble/growl to it.
William cleared his throat and shook his head. "Uh, n-not yet. What's, what's with the new get-up?" My brows furrowed.
"It's easier to kill in this form, especially with the needed… weapons," I stated and flexed the double set of claws on my hands. His eyes moved over my shoulder then they widened. Huh?
"Watch out!" At the same moment, danger buzzed in my head. But it was too late.
Even with the amount of adrenaline rushing in my veins, I still felt the familiar pain of bullets piercing my back. It barely fazed me in the heat of the moment. My lungs wheezed while I stood there, unmoving after the Jasper soldier empty the rest of clip into me. Luckily, it was a small amount but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.
With a calculated turn, I faced them slowly. Blood dripped down my back, tail, and legs, coloring the floor red. Complete fear covered the human's face as we stared at each other for a few moments; their last few moments in life.
A roar rattles my ribs and spine spikes. My talons clicked against the concrete, scrambling for traction. Some sort of predatory instinct swallowing me. I lunged.
My body smashes the human down to the ground. Bones broke under the pressure and weight, forcing cries of agony to escape them. I slashed my double set of claws along their armored stomach, easily cutting through their protection.
More blood pooled around us, now including the human below. Their hands scratched and smacked anywhere they could in a poor attempt to fight me weaponless. I took a hold of an arm yanked as hard as I could in this position. A satisfying pop and snap made its way to my ears. They screamed in agony and fought harder, yet knowing they couldn't escape.
For the fun of it, I spat a glob of acidic venom in their face. It melted swiftly through the cloth and goggles covering their face. Their screams grew louder in volume. Then I snapped out of it, remembering that I had an audience behind me. Shit.
I killed the human quickly to shut them up before returning to my full height, covered horn to talon in blood. Without turning my body, I partly turned my head to glance behind me and cringed.
Every single soldier stared at me in horror. Two had their guns pointed me, hands shaking horribly, and the barrels unable to stay on my form longer than a second. What had I done…?
William was the first to snap out of it and send his men down the hall they were using as cover. His eyes were glued onto me though, and lingered a little longer than I'd like on my talons. He was the first out of the two of us to leave, going after his men.
My chest blazed with pain, the teargas still affecting me with the help of a stab wound and multiple bullets holes. Adding a few extra to the list of reasons on why Ratchet's going to weld my aft to the ceiling.
Above all the physical pain, the way those soldiers looked at me hurt the worse. That was the opposite of what I wanted and strived for while working with them. Even with this all, the connection shone through and gave me some sort of reassurance to continue.
A sigh escaped me. There was no time to waste. We had been here long enough with no sign of finding the kids. I marched onward, down the hallway their path connected to.
At the end of this semi-long hallway, I spotted a familiar door. Did I finally find? Just after William left. Great, fantastic. Here I was, covered in blood of both myself and enemies with five to ten year olds who haven't seen the nasty side of Jasper.
I didn't waste any time pulling the sealed door open. The sounds of children crying and screaming in terror reached my ears. Some begged for their parents or sibling or home, to be out of this scary place.
The holding block Jasper had them wasn't large compared to the ones I've seen but there had to be at least thirty kids here. About three to a cell which left a few empty on the second level.
Time to get to work.
Wails of terror rung out in the cell block as stepped up to the first prison-styled room. I flinched, knowing it was me causing their fear, and felt tears welling in my eyes. "Don't be scared, please. I'm here to help and get you out." My quiet voice could be barely heard over their sounds.
One screamed out monster. My heart stopped. I had to get out of there and I did. But my feet couldn't keep me up right for long. I slid across the floor just outside of the room. Tears pour down my face, an unstoppable force.
Through my blurry vision, I spotted William at the end of the hall that connected to the one I went down. Said man stopped once he saw me and raised his gun, either thinking I was going to attack or something attacked me. But if I had to choose one, it would be the former.
He and his men slowly approached me, two still had their guns aimed at me and the others pointing into the room. "Don't shoot, it's the kids," I stated and got back to my feet. Everything ached, including my mind.
His shoulders sagged and he released a relieved laugh. But once he saw the look on my face, he opened his mouth to say something. It was too late, again. I was halfway down the hallway, finally leaving this place once and for all.
The male called after me to stop me but it went to deaf ears. I had enough mental torture and just wanted to go back to base and probably hide.
On the outside of the building, it wasn't looking any better than the blood bath I left in my wake. There were a few extra Decepticon bodies lying about with a lot of Jasper soldiers as well.
All the bots on our side looked in good shape besides a few scratches. Nothing that Ratchet can't fix.
Sunstreaker first noticed my form. His eyes widen in what I thought was worry. The mech rushed over to me in a manner that seemed very unlike him. But my mind was somewhere else and I paid him and his brother no attention.
Well until Sides scooped me off of the ground and held me eye level with him. Not a single emotion appeared on my face as I stared blankly behind them.
At his touch, the connection reacted weirdly and sent a shock through my systems. It jarred all of my wounds, drawing a cry from my lips and more tears fell. "Azar? What happened? What's wrong?" Sides questioned and caress the side of my face, probably touching someone's blood. I didn't answer and continued to stare emotionless at the ground.
When he brought himself into my line of sight, I looked down at him but not truly at him. This worried him even more as he skimmed his warm fingers over the gash alongside my shoulder and callor bone. I didn't react though, somehow not feeling the pain.
Everything else was a blur until the sight of the plane. We were on an empty air strip somewhere in Texas near our last battle. Our two rides waiting for us to get on. Sides had carried me the entire way, trying to get some sort of reaction or sound from me, only to fail, completely. Every time a tear fell though, he quickly wiped it off. A caring action that I would've smiled at him for if I wasn't in this state of mind.
Since we had to get on the plane, Sides had to set me down and wait to load up. I didn't stay though and treaded up the ramp without a word to them.
My gaze stayed on the gun metal grey and black flooring of the plane as everyone returned to their spots. No humans dared to come onto my side of the plane and sat on the other side. I must have been a sight for them. There was blood still all over me. Though, by now it was drying and flaking off.
Throughout the plane ride, the twins tried to get a sound out of me but I hunkered down in a corner and said nothing. How could I be so stupid to let my guard down? I was nothing but a monster, a killing machine, created for death and destruction. No one could love me neither did I deserve love.
Since the three bots weren't in critical condition, Ratchet picked me first to be dealt with. And boy, was he not happy with me. "What did I tell you Azar?! I understand a few injuries as you seem to be very accident prone but you're littered with bullet holes and two nasty gashes." He sounded nearly enraged of my actions and wounds but the tone of his voice didn't scary me.
Not a word or sound escaped my mouth as he carried me over to the Med. Bay. The twins tried to follow but William hauled them off.
When I said nothing, Ratchet became a little suspicious and held me eye level with him. His eye saw my blank expression and silently questioned why. Again, I said nothing to him and stared down at the ground.
The mech got me to the hangar and began to patch me up. "Primus, Azar, what in the all spark did you do?!" He continued to make small questions and comments like that to get me to speak. Yet, he got not a single thing.
After wrapping the last bullet hole, he stood in front of me, arms crossed, and a serious expression like he was the boss. "Azar, what happened? And why do you look so… dead?" Nothing. "Midnight." His voice now a warning yet it did nothing in his favor. He leaned down to be head level with me and tilted my head up to look up at him. "What's the matter?"
Finally, I had enough of his bickering. "Shut up!" I snapped and acted like I was going to bite his finger. He took the warning and moved his hand. His expression changed from worry to a look of 'really?'
"Okay." Was all he said as he moved away to put his stuff back. My mouth hung open in shock, not at my actions but his. That was so unlike him.
He turned around to face me. I regained my posture and opened my wings to fly over to my perch, ready for him to tell me not to. But he said nothing and walked out without another word or glance in my direction. That struck deep and tears pooled in my eyes freely.
What had I done? Usually he would-stop it! It doesn't matter. He'll go talk to William and learn of what happened. Then he'll definitely be scared of me and think of me as a monster. Everyone out on that battle field does now. How could they not?
Even though it shouldn't, his action hurt. I painfully took to the air and flew over to my perch before curling up in the blankets. They had been washed and smelled of lavenders.
I couldn't stop the sobs even if I wanted to.