Desperation

"Autobots! They're alive! They're here! They're alive!"

Terra could hear Dylan's voice echoing through the city as they stepped down from the ship. Bumblebee's landing had been particularly rough at best, but she was no longer focused on anything else but getting Carly and Sam to safety. Oh. There was also the matter of killing Dylan.

"Sam!"

They turned and Epps and several other soldiers rushed up. Epps smiled when he saw Terra.

"Long time, no see." he said.

She smiled a little. "Epps."

Sam gestured to something at the side while Terra moved to the ship, leaning against it a little. Carly caught this and frowned, barely listening to Sam talking with the others. She placed a hand on Terra's shoulder and the woman tensed a little before looking at her. Now that Carly got a good look, Terra seemed to look weaker than before.

"Terra, are you okay?" she asked.

Terra let out a weak sigh and Carly noticed she was holding her abdomen now. She moved Terra's hand and noticed a clean hole had pierced through her jacket. She pulled it open and saw that it went clean through her body. Her eyes widened and she turned Terra's shoulder gently, noticing that the back of her jacket was soaked in blood.

"Terra..." she gasped. "Oh my God."

Terra winced and swallowed thickly before smiling. "It went through. I'll be fine."

"Terra, you're going to bleed to death if we don't - " She cut herself off and noticed the calm smile on Terra's face. " - But that's what you wanted all along, isn't it?"

Terra sighed. "We have more important things to deal with now, Carly." She paused and looked at her. "Do you believe in God?"

"Yes."

"If such a being exists...how do you think He will punish me?" Terra asked, staring out into the ruined city.

Carly looked stunned. She felt tears threatening to burst. "God doesn't punish people, Terra. God forgives."

Terra closed her eyes. "After what I have done, I know that I don't deserve such benedictions," she said, sadly. "But all I can do is hope for it."

"That wasn't your fault. They made you do it."

"I still did it regardless."

Carly didn't know what to say.

"We need to get working on saving this city," Terra continued, wincing a little. "Please, do not say anything about my present condition. Especially to Sam."

Carly nodded her head sadly.

Sam was speaking into a military UAV, informing Mearing of the plan and Carly joined in.

"Please listen. Sentinel Prime is here and he has the pillars to his Space Bridge!" she said, into the small camera. "They're on top of a building on Chicago River. It's owned by Hotchkiss Gould Investments. Now, the pillar that controls everything is in the southeast cupola."

Sam nodded in agreement. "You've got to destroy the pillar. You have to shoot down the pillar or they're going to transport Cybertron here, do you understand? Do you understand?"

Once that was taken care of, Sam stood up and pointed toward the pillar that would activate them all. "Hey, think we could use that rocket to shoot down the pillar?" he asked.

Epps squinted and made a frustrated sound. "We're eight blocks away. We got to get closer to take a shot."

Hooch pointed at a building nearby. "Not closer. Higher." he told them. "We need a clear line of sight."

"And it's across the river," Epps pointed out. "Gonna have a hell of a time trying to sneak up."

Mongo reached into a case and pulled out an RPG round. "We only got one shot."

"One shot's all we need." Sam assured them.

oOo

The Autobots and humans made their way through Chicago toward the location when the ground started shaking. Without her goggles, Terra couldn't determine the precise source, but she had a feeling that she knew what was coming - the Decepticon Shockwave and his pet.

Sure enough, the serpentine, metal form of the Driller burst forth from the ground, sending everyone scattering into a building. They watched as Shockwave stepped out of the cockpit mounted on the creature and readied his cannon. So far, it looked as though he didn't see or care for where they went.

"That is one scary-ass Decepticon!" Epps cried, in a hushed voice.

Optimus held his cannon close. "They got my trailer. I need that flight tech." he growled. He turned to the others. "Shockwave can't hunt all of us at once. Wreckers, we need a diversion."

Roadbuster nodded. "Let's get some!"

"Listen, we're gonna circle around to that glass building," Epps told them all, "And we'll get high enough to make the rocket shot while you guys draw his fire. Let's move!"

Que offered his urban combat prototypes to them while Terra took a moment to sit down. She stayed out of sight while she gathered some wrappings from her jacket and began to bind her waist. Carly noticed her disappear behind a pillar and moved around the corner.

"Terra, do you need help?" she asked.

"I have a epinephrine auto-injector in my jacket." Terra told her. "Go ahead and take it out."

"A what?"

"A syringe of adrenaline..."

Carly looked surprised, but did as she said and removed the syringe. She pulled the plastic cap off and offered it to Terra. "I kept these things with me in case a soldier or two needed them." she explained. "I never thought I would be the one who needed them instead. Hah...I was so arrogant, wasn't I?"

Carly made a face at that.

Terra stabbed the syringe into her neck and injected the fluid. Her eyes suddenly widened and she let out a small gasp.

"Oh...that worked." she gasped.

She quickly made her way back to the others and they all started rushing out into the city. Brains and Wheelie were tagging with Shockwave making his way closer. Terra glanced back at them and quickly rushed over, taking the small robots into her arms before she set them in an alleyway, out of sight from the giant Decepticon.

"Stay here." she said, quickly.

"Wait, what?" Wheelie cried.

She rushed off to follow the others before they could protest.

oOo

Sam led the soldiers through the building and high enough so that they were level with Sentinel Prime's pillar.

"Come on, we're high enough!" Sam cried.

Eddie panted heavily, exhausted. "This is a mother getting up here!"

"Come now, Eddie." Terra urged, pushing him. "You can do it."

Epps grabbed Eddie by his bullet proof vest, tugging him toward the location he needed to be. "Get your fat ass over here!"

Decepticon ships were passing the building and it was only a matter of time before they discovered what the humans and Autobots were planning. It took only a few minutes of setting up the rocket before the entire building began to shake violently beneath their feet. They held out their arms for balance and looked around at the sound of gunfire.

"What the hell?" Sam cried.

"The building! They're shooting at the building!" Hooch shouted, peering out of a window.

Eddie leaned on the rocket launcher. "This is not a good idea."

Sam looked at him in disbelief. "What?"

"This is not a good idea!" Eddie grunted. "This building is unstable."

Sam shook his head. "Listen, stop for a second. If we don't do what we came to do, it doesn't matter, we all die, right?" he told him. He pointed out to the domed building where Sentinel was standing with the pillar. "That's your target. Come on, man! Let's do this!"

Eddie aimed the rocket launcher with a groan. "I don't even care if the building collapses. I'm having a heart attack anyway."

Terra looked up at the sight of a Decepticon ship approaching. "All of you, hide!" she commanded.

They saw the ship and took cover behind several support pillars, just as a Decepticon protoform jumped through the building. It snarled and paced around the room, seeking them out. Carly nearly uttered a sound, but Sam clasped a hand over her mouth. Terra looked toward them from her hiding spot and gestured with a flick of her head. They didn't seem to understand and she pushed a rolling chair out, letting it slide backwards from the slowly tilting building. It seemed to distract the Decepticon for a moment as it watched the chair go.

"Go, go." Epps hissed.

They started running and the Decepticon let out a fierce shout in Cybertronian before shooting at them. Epps and the soldiers offered cover fire while they scattered toward the windows.

"Shoot the glass! Jump out the window!" Epps shouted.

No one had time to even consider how insane the idea was and just took shots at the glass, jumping right from the window. They slid down the collapsing building, struggling to gain some form of traction. One of the soldiers tumbled further from the building, plummeting to his death below.

"Sam, I can't stop!" Carly screamed.

Terra struggled to grab at the windows, but her hands slid uselessly against the glass.

"Shoot the glass!" Epps screamed.

Every soldier took shots at the glass, shattering windows and falling through them. Once they were back inside the building, they continued to fall, hitting pillars and various furniture; they were stumbling toward the opening that the Decepticons had created with their guns. Carly nearly fell through, but Stone grabbed her arm before she did.

Terra winced and barely made out the sound of metal grinding against metal. She looked out and spotted the Driller leveling its massive jaws with the building.

"All of you, move now!" she shouted.

"The hell was that?" Eddie cried.

Terra helped him onto a fire escape. "Shockwave and his pet."

"It's even got an uglier Decepticon?" Epps yelled. "We have to evac!"

Below them, Shockwave uttered the command and the Driller dove forward, tearing through the building while they struggled to get out. It was most fortunate, Terra observed, that Optimus arrived, wearing his flight tech as he took shots through the Driller's body.

"I'm coming for you!" Optimus shouted.

Terra watched the sight of Optimus surging through the Driller, but Sam's horrified voice turned her attention to the sky, where Cybertron was already starting to appear.

"It's starting!"