chapter three
"Do you hear that?" Stringer demanded. The group fell silent, listening hard. Over the noise of the transport, they could hear another familiar sound – that of the F-22 Raptor engines as it flew overhead. Jones shrugged uneasily.
"Maybe the Air Force is going to give us a lift." he offered, but he didn't believe that any more than his comrades did. They could all feel it – the growing anxiety that something had gone horrifyingly wrong. Anna moved to the back of the transport, a military issue H1 Hummer, and peered out the back window. An odd sight greeted her eyes.
"We're being followed by two Lamborghinis and an F-22 that's flying way too low." she reported. "There's also –" she cut herself off. The police cruiser behind them wasn't that unusual. What was odd was the way the yellow Lamborghini was staying in between the Hummer and the police cruiser. Its red companion seemed to be tracking the F-22 as it kept a steady pace over the convoy. "Epps, get on the radio and ask Captain Lennox for a list of known Decepticons and their makes."
"On it." Epps said, his voice muffled.
"You think we're being followed?" Sing demanded, hefting his weapon.
"The highway is supposed to be clear, and F-22 pilots never fly below buildings." Anna pointed out. "If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say we're about to be attacked." She hesitated. Confined as they were to the Hummer, there really wasn't anything they could do. The Hummer was armored and well protected, but the thought really didn't reassure her. Right now their lived depended on the two Lamborghinis being friends of theirs, and Anna really didn't like those odds. She didn't like leaving her soldiers' lives in the hands of anyone other than herself.
At least she valued them.
"Lennox!" Epps called. "The captain says there are six 'Cons in the area and two Autobots. Our friendlies have taken on Lamborghini alt modes."
Anna nodded. "Ask him who the Raptor and police cruiser are."
Epps relayed the question, and suddenly cursed. "Starscream and Barricade, in that order." he told her. "He says reinforcements are on the way, so I'm assuming these aren't pushovers."
"Like I know?" Anna shot back. "You talk like I've met them or something!"
"Hopefully our reinforcements are heavy-duty ones." Jones said tightly. "There's a tank coming up on our right." O'Connell crossed himself. Epps flashed him a reassuring grin.
Something large exploded against the side of the Hummer, sending it rolling into the other lane of the highway before coming to a screeching halt in the ditch.
/----/
Sunstreaker and Sideswipe skid to a halt and transformed, standing guard over the fallen Hummer. Sunstreaker ran a quick check over its occupants while Sideswipe contacted Optimus. With a sigh of relief, the red Autobot realized all the soldiers were alive and relatively unharmed. Starscream had been messing with them, trying to draw the Autobots out into the open.
It worked. Now Sunstreaker was pissed off, and a pissed off Sunny was something even Ironhide tended to avoid.
"Starscream opened fire!" Sides transmitted to Optimus. "The transport has been wreaked, and we're in the process of being surrounded."
"Hold them off." Optimus ordered calmly. "ETA ten minutes."
"Slag it, Optimus, we don't have ten minutes!" Sunny bit out. Barricade had already switched back to mech form and was closing in fast on the vulnerable soldiers. Sunny activated his cannons and brought them to bear on the charging Decepticon.
But it wasn't him who opened fire. A much smaller weapon engaged from somewhere by his feet, and he could see the bullets slamming in to the more exposed wiring around the Decepticon's ankles. Barricade glanced down to see the source of his irritation, and Sunny blasted him backwards with one shot from his cannon. Sides twisted around to see who had fired the shots.
Sing stood calmly, his M16A4 trained on the shapes that were gathering around them. "I hate being shot at before I even make it to the battlefield." he bit out.
Epps was the next one out of the transport and up to his feet. His eyes immediately tracked up to Sunny and Sides, and he took an instinctive step back. "Man, oh man, Lennox wasn't kidding, was she?" he muttered, his eyes flickering from one Autobot to the other. "Please tell me you're the good guys."
Sides laughed. "We're the good guys." he assured the soldier. "They aren't." He pointed at the recovering Barricade. The Decepticon was staying well clear of Sides' weapons, waiting as his comrades joined him.
"We don't exactly have time for introductions." Anna snapped, helping Stringer and Jones get out of the transport. O'Connell was right behind them. "How long before more of your soldiers arrive?"
"Too long." Sunny said darkly.
"They're coming back again!" Sing shouted, his assault rifle swinging up to take a few more shots at Barricade and his new friend.
Anna made the decision. She hated it, but it was their only choice. They were too much of a target grouped together like this. "Split up! Epps, Sing – with me. Stringer, stay with Jones and O'Connell. Hook up on the southside interstate exit. Go!"
In a flash all six soldiers had ducked into the side alleys and attempted to evade their pursuers. Sunny quickly contacted Optimus again. "Prime! They're splitting up – two groups of three. Sides and I are going to cover them 'til they get far enough into the city."
Optimus grumbled something unintelligible. He understood the reasoning. In a similar situation, he probably would have ordered the same, but did Anna have to do the one thing that would make his job that much harder? He quickly started transmitting to the other Autobots with him. "Our turn to split up then. Ironhide, Jazz – lock on to Anna's signal and follow her. Ratchet and I will find the other three."
"Not a problem." Jazz quipped, as usual unable to take any situation too seriously. Optimus had missed that cheerful attitude for the two years it had taken Ratchet to repair Jazz's body before he could be brought back.
It had been a risk, but that risk had paid off.
"Come on, Jazz." Ironhide gunned his engine. "Let's see if you can still keep up with me."
"I'll always be able to keep up with you, lugnut!" And in a flash the two were gone, chasing each other even as they chased Annabelle Lennox and her soldiers.
"I wonder which one I'm going to wind up fixing this time." Ratchet grumbled good-naturedly.
Optimus just laughed.