Ch. 191

This was it. Instinct. But it was more than just that simple rush of adrenaline and terror; it was self sacrifice. In all the whole of his lifetime, it had been about himself and his vanity. This past collection of months had changed him and cultured within him an ideal that was being born in this moment, in this instant. This was it. This was what it was to be an Autobot.

Knockout roared with everything he had as he yelled out in a clear and unwavering voice.

"NO!"

Shockwave faltered and turned, giving the red mech the opportunity he had been seeking. Knockout leapt from the ledge, from his only cover, and snarled as he used his shock prod to deflect frantic plasma blasts from the drones below. Bumblebee's optics widened and he whirled, glaring as he latched onto Shockwave's ped that dug into his back and twisted, forcing the larger mech to the ground. Two against this small fraction of the army? No problem.

Knockout slammed hard onto the helm of a drone and crushed it beneath him as he landed, his faceplates glaring hard as he focused on not just rescue, but elimination. He drove and impaled his prod into two more and used them as a shield and battering ram. Thirty-five minus three. Only thirty-two to go.

Bumblebee scrambled to his peds as he watched most of the drones converge on Knockout. The medic was moving fast, crushing two more Vehicons into scrap with his makeshift battering ram, but the numbers against him wouldn't take much to overwhelm him.

Bumblebee buzzed loudly and transformed out his left blaster, firing down on a Vehicon that was trying to sneak up behind him. Twenty-nine left.

Knockout scowled when he tugged hard to free his shock prod from the scrapped and mangled Vehicon mess he had driven it into, "A little busy here!" a hard wrench freed the weapon and he swung wide, slamming the prod into four drone helms and ducking when an Insecticon tried to grab him.

Oh, this was perhaps going to be a bit harder than he thought. This sour little piece of information was quickly confirmed when another Insecticon snuck up behind him and grabbed him by a wheel, wrenching him from the fight and tossing the smaller mech back roughly. It was an unfortunate injury to Knockout's pride and vanity but he was rewarded with some pleasure in the act when his chassis smashed into two more Vehicons. If he was counting correctly, as three of the drones' helms he had slammed his shock prod into had still not gotten back up, then he and Bumblebee only had twenty-three soldiers and Shockwave to deal with. Shockwave.

The medic scrambled to his peds. His red optics scanned the battle zone as his yellow companion shot another Vehicon down and dove to avoid the swipe of an Insecticon. A quick rush of purple making its way to the command console at the front of the lab caught his attention and he scowled when he saw the science officer rush the controls, most likely calling for assistance. If he did, the location would be completely overwhelmed. There would be no way he and Bumblebee could escape with the kids. Slag, the children, too.

Knockout transformed and revved his engine as hard as he could, tearing through the various explosions and blaster fire that very nearly sent him flying. His wheels kicked up showers of dirt and debris but his journey hardly lasted more than a few seconds before one of his wheels popped loudly, the one that had been grabbed by the Insecticon, and he began to spin out of control.

The red mech skidded, throwing his emergency brakes on and turning to face Shockwave's lab console. He transformed and rolled, taking out his prod once more, and ran as fast as he could towards the purple mech, slamming his weapon down in an attempt to strike his opponent. Shockwave moved at the last moment, forfeiting the use of his computer console as it sparked dangerously, so he could aim his cannon at Knockout. The medic smirked at the costly risk the Decepticon was making as he twirled his shock prod up and smacked the cannon away before it could fire, the blast hitting an Insecticon in the back.

Shockwave didn't dare scowl, but his optic did brighten as he lashed out with a sharp fist, "Your talent is wasted on their side, Doctor," he huffed, more irritated with the smaller mech's quick dodge than his defiant sneer, "Do you really believe the Autobots will win after all we have done to them?"

Knockout cackled, "Screamer set us up to win," he goaded as he blocked another lash with his prod, "All this other stuff in between is just exercise to us."

The purple mech charged his weapon again, this time intentionally aiming away from the medic and towards Bumblebee some distance away, whose back was to the pair as he fired down the best he could on a few Insecticons who had taken to the air. Knockout snarled, thrusting his prod his forward to shock the Decepticon, but Shcokwave's servo suddenly came down and grabbed the weapon, wrenching the smaller mech forward. He slammed his still charging cannon into Knockout's helm and crushed him painfully against his damaged console, a deep rumble of satisfaction coming from his chest plate as he watched him collapse.

"Pitiful," he mused, "Your need to protect the Autobot's life has severely cost you this sad excuse for a rebellion, Doctor."

Knockout winced as he stared up at the now fully charged cannon in his faceplates and scowled. He didn't have time to process what this moment even meant before a terrible shake began to ripple through the chamber. No. Not again.

A Vehicon stumbled and pointed out into a deeper section of the cave, "Sir!" he shouted, "It's the fourth generator! It must have hit a volcanic pocket! This whole area is starting to sink!"

Shockwave's single optic flashed and he powered down his cannon, directing the last of his troops, "Keep the Autobots away from our project," he ordered, "move the tanks, now. Use emergency protocol seven," he turned his attention back to Knockout, humming lowly, "Do not think yourself lucky."

The red mech stood on trembling legs and smirked, "Funny, I was about-"

Another vicious shake tore into the chamber relentlessly, sending both mechs to the ground. Bumblebee whirled and beeped, ducking out of the way as a large boulder fell from the ceiling and crushed an Insecticon he had been fighting. He wheezed, turning to look at Knockout as he yelled that they had to get out of the area.

Knockout scrambled up again and ran to the scout, "I can't drive! Run, go, go! Transform, I'm right behind you!"

Bumblebee nodded and ran ahead, transforming and clearing a quick path when a drone tried to intervene by ramming into the Vehicon. Knockout didn't look back. He tried his hardest to run with the yellow mech. His wheel was shot, he'd do more damage trying to escape in vehicle mode. And it was a good thing he wasn't driving anyway. As they made their way back into the tunnel out of this chamber, his optics spotted two small forms hiding in the shadows.

"Jack?! Raf?!"

He didn't wait for the children to respond. Knockout's sharp servos snapped them up from the ground and he growled through gritted dentals as he ducked and dove out of the way of falling debris.

"You two had only ONE order to follow!" he snarled, keeping the pair close to his chest plate, "Or maybe it was two! You just had to let me find 'Bee, that was it! Why are you even in here?!"

Jack ignored the red mech, looking to Raf, "Quick, what's the level at now?"

Raf whimpered, "The core temperature on generator four is nearly at 87% failure! I can't slow the overheat down now!"

"You said you could contain the tremors!"

"Well I can't do that now that it's passed the critical threshold! This one had the most problems when they scrapped it together; it's a design flaw!"

Knockout felt his peds hitting the dirt harder. Another hard shake rattled the cave walls around them. Bumblebee was just ahead, lighting the way as more rubble came crashing down. They were on the right track. Just a little while longer.

"Raf," Knockout yelled over the chaos, "what's the readings on generator four's energon casing?!"

The boy trembled as he pressed commands on his tablet, "The energon is boiling! Six cracks located," he looked up worriedly, "It's gonna explode!"

Bumblebee beeped loudly from up ahead, telling them they didn't have much time left. His tires squealed as he used a boulder to make a jump and transformed back into robot mode. They were close to the exit of the cave but the lack of light from outside said something dangerous. A collection of rocks had caved in just ahead, stealing freedom from the group.

Jack's eyes widened in the near darkness and he gripped onto Knockout's servo tightly, "The exit's blocked!"

Knockout growled, "Not for long! 'Bee, keep running! We're gonna ram it!"

The scout whirled in agreement and shrieked loudly, pushing his motor as hard as he could. The red mech roared with him. They needed every last bit of raw strength they had to get out. A deep rumble within the cave shook them again and as the last of the tunnel disappeared, the pair slammed into the wall of boulders blocking their path. The mechs broke through in a shower of sparks and stone and fell to the ground as a bright and fiery inferno bellowed out from behind them. Bumblebee tackled into Knockout as quick as he could move, the pair barely avoiding the explosion and as the lasting embers finally fizzled out so did the last of their strength. The mechs collapsed, both panting, and Knockout rested the children on his chest plate, not caring in the slightest when they began to move around.

The red mech was too tired to glare, "I told you..." he murmured, pulling an arm up to set over his optics, "that I was in charge..."

Jack smiled weakly and patted Knockout's chest plate, "Yeah, 'Bee should've told you. We're part of the team. Where you go, we go, too."

The medic snorted lightly, turning slowly to look at the scout beside him. Bumblebee didn't bother looking back. Instead, he gave a thumb's up and wheezed lowly, just happy the four of them had survived.