Chapter 2

Wow! 8 favs and 10 follows for the first chapter of this story? You guys are awesome! :D I never thought this will be popular. :)

And so, here is the second chapter.

WARNING! This is the most saddest chapter I have written so far. Hopefully, it won't make you cry. But that's why it is under Tragedy/Drama category isn't? Also, this is my first time writing an action sequence so please forgive me if it's a bit boring. Also, starting from now, I'm going to post my answers to the reviews. Please read it at the end of every chapter in all my fanfics.

Anyway, on to the story!

N.E.S.T. Base, Washington D.C.

Ratchet was walking along the hallway when he noticed something odd.

Where is Lennox and most of the soldiers? He thought as he looked around for them. Stopping by at the target range, he saw Crosshairs shooting at some of the dummies.

Approaching the paratrooper, Ratchet asked him. "Crosshairs, do you know where's Lennox and most of the team?"

The green mech sighed in annoyance. "You know, you're the second bot to ask me that. And this is the second time I'm going to answer it. Lennox was called in a few hours ago. They needed most of the team deployed in Afghanistan. Something about a terrorist group using our tech."

"Wait. Why didn't they included some of us?" Ratchet said with a frown.

Crosshairs shrugged. "Dunno. You better ask them when they returned. And don't bother asking Big Boss either, he and some of us have a mission too. As for Bumblebee, he left to some unknown location. Hound is currently following him now."

That's odd, he thought. Why would Lennox and Optimus have missions all at the same day? Then he sighed. Nah, maybe I'm just paranoid. I think I'm getting too old.

"Alright. If something comes up, I'll be at the med bay." Ratchet said as he started to leave. Crosshairs merely grunted before resuming his practice.

As he exited the door, he noticed Drift leaning against a wall with his arms crossed, staring at the floor with a pensieve look.

"You can feel it too." The former Decepticon stated.

Stopping in his tracks, the medic turned around to look at him. "What do you mean?" He said, confused.

"Optimus leaving on a mission with three of our best fighters. Lennox and most of his team being deployed in a country far from our base." Then Drift looked straight at his optics. "This is not merely a coincidence. Something is about to happen. Something bad." He said cryptically before uncrossing his arms and walking away.

"I think we are all getting paranoid..." Ratchet muttered before returning to the med bay.

4 hours later...

Ratchet has just finished arranging his medical tools when he heard Wheelie and Brains screaming outside the door.

"Ratchet! Ratchet! Open up! There are lots of mean looking people outside the base!" The toy monster truck screamed.

"Yeah! They are demanding Optimus' whereabouts from the OIC." Brains added.

At this, the medic quickly dropped his tools and opened the door.

"Where are they?" He demanded.

"They are at the entrance. All N.E.S.T teams that stayed here are also there with the Wreckers, Drift and Crosshairs." Wheelie said.

"Alright, climb on my hand and hold on." Ratchet said as he held out his hand to the floor. Immediately, the two drones climbed and perched on his shoulder. Then, they got to the entrance quickly to find all of their comrades facing a group of people.

"Let me ask you guys again, why do you want to see Optimus Prime?" The OIC demanded to a man wearing dark shades.

"Because our superiors wants to. Now tell us where the big bot is!" The man said forcefully as his team prepared to enter the base.

"Not so fast, asshole!" OIC growled as Ratchet approached them.

"What's the meaning of this? Didn't you know it's illegal to enter a military base without proper documents?" The medic said sternly.

"And who might you be?" The man frowned. This made Ratchet and the OIC looked at each before returning their gaze to the agent.

"I am Ratchet, Chief Medical Officer of the Autobots and second-in-command to Optimus Prime." Ratchet declared with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Ah! I see. Well, my name is James Savoy and these guys behind me are the Cemetery Wind."

"Then you're an ass if you think you could just barge your way inside our base. Now, show me some documents or else I will call General Morshower himself." OIC growled.

"I don't think the general can't help you with this." The agent sneered as he finally handed a letter in the OIC's hands. Crouching beside him, Ratchet and the soldier both read it with increasing disbelief.

"We are being disbanded for harboring hostile threats?! What kind of bullshit is this?" The OIC yelled as he threw the letter on the ground.

Savoy merely shrugged. "How should I know? I'm just following orders. Though I won't be surprised. After all, these guys caused the deaths of thousands of people." He pointed to the Autobots, who gave him a deadly glare. Then he smirked. "Now, is that good enough? You have the President's seal in there. You can't disregard it." He said smugly.

"Then why didn't you guys gave this to us while our commanding officers, Optimus Prime and Lt. Col. Lennox, are here?" Leadfoot growled suspiciously as the rest of the Autobots and N.E.S.T. soldiers muttered their agreement.

The agent raised his eyebrows. "How should I know that those two will leave today?" He said smoothly.

Leadfoot just grumbled inaudibly. However, as Ratchet was about to speak and protest again, a lot of things immediately happened.

First, all of the Autobots received a distress message from Optimus Prime himself.

"Calling all Autobots! We are under targeted attack! Cease all contacts with the humans!"

Noticing the Autobots shocked look, the OIC asked them. "Guys, what's the problem?"

Ratchet looked at him with a horrified expression. "Optimus is under attack!" He said.

"WHAT?!" The OIC cried in shock. As these were happening, a radio from the other group crackled to life.

"Team Alpha to Team Bravo, we got the Prime and his team cornered. But they are fighting back hard. Requesting back up immediately." As soon as all of them heard this, all hell broke loose.

Savoy, cursing his soldier's stupidity, quickly barked one order before running for cover. "Kill them."

The OIC, realizing this was a complete set up, yelled. "OPEN FIRE!"

At once, both groups open fired on each other. Gunfire and rockets soon covered the entrance as the N.E.S.T. soldiers, Wreckers and Crosshairs emptied their guns on the other group.

"Ratchet!" The OIC yelled as he fired shots after shots from his M16 assault rifle. "You guys need to go!"

"What about you?! We can't just leave you here!" He said as he fired a barrage from his submachinegun.

The soldier shook his head. "Whoever these guys are, they really want Optimus and the rest of you dead. You gotta escape and find him before it's too late!"

"But we can't leave all of you to your deaths!" Ratchet protested as he saw their human comrades getting killed. However, Crosshairs spoke.

"He's right, Ratchet! If we can escape, there's a chance that these guys will follow us. And Optimus needs our help! It is obvious that this is a distraction in order to capture him."

"That's right. Besides, we are soldiers, Ratchet! We can't let our comrades die! Now go!" The soldier said as he threw a grenade near a group of agents, killing them instantly.

Looking around in sadness at the humans that are willing to die for them, Ratchet realized the truth in his words. He nodded to the soldier one last time and shouted over to Leadfoot and Drift. "Wreckers! Drift! Cover us!"

At once, Drift transformed to his helicopter mode and fired multiple salvos of rockets. The Wreckers then switched to their vehicle modes, enabling all of their guns and rockets to fire simultaneously.

"Quick! To the back exit!" Crosshairs yelled as he provided suppresive fire to the fleeing medic. However, due to the commotion of the battle, they didn't noticed that Wheelie and Brains had fallen on the floor.

"Ow!" Brains moaned as he grabbed his broken leg in pain.

"Come on, buddy! We need to hide!" Wheelie said as he tried to drag his best friend away from the firefight.

"No! You go ahead without me!" Brains told him.

"But why?" Wheelie protested.

Grabbing the monster truck by his shoulders, Brains bonked him on the head.

"Use your head, man! Of the two of us, only you have a car mode. You can escape easily, unlike me. Besides, my leg is injured. I'm just a burden."

"B-But..." Wheelie said sadly.

"No more buts! Go find Sam and Lennox and tell them what happened here! Maybe they could find out who ordered this. Now go!" Brains said before shoving Wheelie and standing up. He hopped quickly to a secure position before taking out his tiny shotgun. Looking back one last time at his friend, Brains mouthed "Go!" before starting to fire at some of the agents.

Nodding sorrowfully at his best friend, Wheelie transformed and drove away towards safety.

Meanwhile, as he neared the exit, Ratchet immediately transformed into his alt mode and drove fast followed closely by Crosshairs, Leadfoot and Roadbuster. Drift, still in helicopter mode, provided air cover while Topspin was now in his robot mode. Suddenly, the blue Wrecker's left leg was blown apart by a rocket, making him fall on the floor and groan in agony.

Seeing his comrade's situation, Ratchet was about to go back when Crosshairs stopped him.

"No! Don't!" The paratrooper said through the comm link.

"But we need to help him!" The medic argued.

At this, Topspin answered. "It's no use. By the time you got here, I'm already dead. We must minimize the casualties, Ratchet. Too many of us have already lost their lives. Drift, go with them now. I'll hold them off for as long as I can. Find Optimus and the others. 'Til all are one, my friends..." He murmured before the comm link went dead.

In the distance, the Autobot chopper swerved to the right and approached them quickly as they retreat while the blue Wrecker stood up valiantly despite his injuries. He looked one last time at his friends before returning his gaze towards his enemies and emptying his entire arsenal in a blaze of glory.

I really hoped I didn't made anyone cry! xD

And, that's it for now. I'll try to update as soon as I can. But I got to finish the next chapter of "Xion's Awkward Questions" first, so I guess you guys will have to wait for a bit. But don't worry, it won't be long. Anyway, here are the answers to your reviews.

To InfiniteNugget: Thanks for your reviews! I included the ones from AoE since this takes place two years after DotM. And I wanted to expand their relationship to the other Autobots. As for your question, unfortunately, no. I don't know if you have read it, but there's a graphic novel for DotM. And in that novel, Skids and Mudflap were killed by Sentinel Prime after he shot Ironhide. So I'm kinda using that in this story.

To SamN5: Thanks for your support! I'll try to update regularly.

To janamaria. church. 1: Thanks for liking this story! Please check my other fanfics too and see if you will also like them. :)

Guys, please don't forget to Read & Review! :)

Until next time!

A sneak preview of Chapter 3

Lt. Col. William Lennox and his team looked around in vain for an escape route. But they couldn't find one.

They were surrounded.

Outnumbered.

Outgunned.

Suddenly, a cold laugh was heard.

"Nice to finally meet you, William Lennox." Then the voice paused before continuing.

"My name is Silas, and I'm the leader and founder of MECH."