KATNIP: Thanks! Glad you're still enjoying. :D

DISCLAIMER: Transformers and all related characters belong to their respective owners. Mark Savoy and Alexis Tanner belong to me of course. And a new addition here: Mira Savage belongs to Mrs. Andromeda Prime, who I thank for allowing me to borrow! :D Go check out her awesome story "The Uprising of Extinction" if you get a chance, it's awesome! :D

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CHAPTER 56
The Battle of Dallas: Part 2

Mark was on his feet when the chaos started, his head shooting up as it happened. He quickly felt Coulton grab his arm, and drag him back. He felt the cold metal of the gun he'd dropped pushed to his temple as the pretender stared around. "You heard Lord Galvatron," Cyclonus hissed as he looked at him. "Give the boy back to me, I can get him out of here faster."

Coulton stared at Mark, and then began to drag him forward. The boy's eyes frantically searched the sky for Strafe, for rescue. But so far, he saw nothing, and that terrified him more than anything. He watched as he was dragged towards Cyclonus, preparing for this all to begin again. But a terrifyingly familiar roar cut them all off. "What on Cybertron IS THAT?" Cyclonus's optics stared up in horror.

Coulton's eyes shot back towards the back of the building just in time to dodge the incoming blaze of fire, dragging Mark back with him. Mark's eyes looked up as he saw Grimlock, his fangs bared, snarling at Coulton. "GRIMLOCK!" Mark screamed. "You came for me, you guys really came for me."

"Let him Mark go!" Grimlock snarled as Coulton yet again placed the gun against the temple of Mark's head. "Me Grimlock kill you!"

"You can't do anything without taking him with me," Coulton stated, cocking the pistol. "If you leave peacefully, we promise to keep him alive," As Mark tried to jab at him, Coulton smacked him against his head with the gun. "Stop squirming you little fragging-!"

Before Coulton could say anything more he was backhanded as Strafe at last landed. Coulton slid violently across the rooftop, Mark falling from his grip in the process. The Dinobot quickly scooped Mark into his hand, holding him close to his chest as he began to hover in the air. "You Coulton, saying?" Grimlock asked, smoke coming from his nose now. "You Strafe, get him Mark to Autobots!"

Cyclonus turned to strike at Strafe, but was immediately hit by a line of flame. He shrieked slightly, backing up towards Coulton as Strafe began to fly away. "You idiot! Don't let him make off with the boy!" He shouted as Mark looked at him smugly and waved. "Frag it all! If Lord Galvatron knows we lost him!" He felt himself picked up by the singed Decepticon with a huff. "What are you doing!?"

"Retreating! Unless you want to lose the human and be barbecued!"

Grimlock let out a roar of primal fury as Cyclonus leapt off of the building, flying quickly. A thick line of fire following him with every step, and a very angry Grimlock chasing after them. Meanwhile Mark groaned, relief in his eyes as Strafe landed on the ground, lowering him just as a familiar figure approached. "Dad!" Mark shouted, tears streaming down his face.

"Mark!"

As Hound transformed, he scooped Mark up into the biggest hug he could give. For a moment, the old war mech felt his body quiver as he took in the fact that Mark was there, he was safe, they had him. "It's alright son," Hound whispered as Mark let all of his stress out in tears. "I gotcha now, yer safe and sound. And they're never touching you again," He stared up at Strafe. "Thank you, I owe you."

And for the first time, Mark was surprised to hear a Dinobot other than Grimlock speak. "It me Strafe's pleasure," Strafe saluted slightly, looking at Mark. "Him Mark, kind to us Dinobots. Him Mark, OK in me Strafe's book."

Hound held him there for what felt like an eternity, relief showing through the bond. But after several moments, the commando set his foster son onto the ground, rubbing the tip of his nose. "Primus, did Coulton and Galvatron do this to you?" He asked, noting the bruises and cuts that by now lined his body, to which Mark nodded. "I'll fragging kill them, give me the chance and I swear I will."

Mark turned his head as two cars joined them quickly, a Ferari, and a Corvette. As the door to said Ferari opened, he let out a sigh of relief, seeing that Alexis had exited him before Mirage and Sideswipe both transformed. "MARK!" She shouted as they ran, meeting half way as Mark took her into his arms. "I'm so glad you're okay, even if you look like hell."

"I'm fine," Mark muttered. "What are you doing here?"

"They needed a distraction, so Mirage and I did a little handiwork," Mark grinned a little as she motioned to the gun over his shoulder. "Oh, and I kinda came here to kick some butt. Y'know, a little of that too." She stated bluntly.

Hound shook his head, and pointe to Sideswipe. "Not happening, you two are leaving with Sideswipe, immediately," Mark turned to Hound, opening his mouth to argue. "Don't look at me like that, Markus Franklin Savoy. You've been hurt enough, and I'll be slagged if they come after you again," Mark clenched his teeth slightly.

"I'm not missing out on the action!" Sideswipe stated. "I'm with the kids, we're in the throng of it. If we flee we're sitting ducks-."

"They're kids!" Hound shouted. "I barely got Mark back, and I already lost a son to this war. I don't... I don't need to lose another," He looked at Mark with optics full of fear.

Mark saw the look of despair and frowned quietly. He knew how Hound felt, he knew that the mech was scared. But he also knew he wouldn't be in the throng of this if he wasn't meant to do SOMETHING. "Dad," Mark began, stepping forward, and resting his hand on his leg. "I know, I know... But I've got to fight, I don't have a choice. I mean look around us, is there any way out that won't mean we have to?" Hound was silent. "I promise, I'll stay safe."

Hound was silent, but he knew that Mark was right. For the moment, they were all soldiers, and that included Mark. But at least now he was there, he could protect him, keep him safe. Because Primus knew that he'd die for him any day of the week. "Alright," Hound finally relented. "You two can fight, but you stick behind me! You hear me!?" He looked at Mark with a firm look in his eyes. "You stick to me and Sideswipe, and if you even think about running off-."

"Alright," Mark nodded. "I get it."

As they began to move out, Hound stopped Mark from following. He looked at him with optics filled with love, and then spoke. "No matter what happens out there. I love you, son," Mark smiled a bit. "I am so honored to be your father," He told him. "Remember that."

"We're gonna get out of this alive, dad," Mark told him calmly. "But I love you too," He added. "And I don't think you're anywhere as honored as I am to be your son." He paused a moment. "Thanks for coming to get me."

"Always, Mark," Hound told him. "Always."

And with that, father and son rushed to catch up with their friends, with Mark picking up a fallen pretenders weapon along the way. He tensed slightly, rushing up to Alexis, and taking her hand. Inside, he could only hope against all hope that what he told Hound would end up being true.

...

Lennox groaned as a blast landed just near him, covering his eyes from the ash and soot with his arm. This whole battle had already gone to hell, long before it started. While some of the NEST troops had managed to help some civilians to safety, the air still smelled of death, and blood. "Colonel," Lennox looked up as one of their best and brightest soldiers, Mira Savage made her way over to his cover behind a car quickly. "The other Autobots just got word that Mark Savoy has been secured, the Decepticons lost their leverage."

Lennox sighed in quiet relief, at least they now had taken away what the Decepticons had over the Autobots. And for that matter, at least the boy they had all come to enjoy the presence of was now safe for the moment. "Make sure that no one gets too cocky about this," Lennox replied. "We may have gotten Mark back, but now Galvatron's going to be even more pissed off."

Mira nodded her head cautiously, peering over the car. Three "vehicons", as the Autobots called them, were hunting their group, or so she guessed. Most of them ignored the downed bodies of their comrades. "Think we should open fire on them?" Mira questioned. "We've already lost a good chunk of the forces that were in our group. But I still think we can take them."

"We don't have a choice if we're going to merge back in with group B," Lennox shook his head. "On the count of three," Lennox turned to the rest of their group, about ten others behind a downturned bus, and held up three fingers. "One," He breathed. "Two," One finger down, the footsteps were coming closer. "Three!" This time, he shouted.

As the soldiers ran from cover, they fired off a volley of shots, managing to take down one of the vehicons. The others spun around, firing off a volley of shots as Lennox turned around, and fired at one of them repeatedly. "Lennox!" Mira shouted, looking over at him. "Come on, we have to move!" She insisted, shaking her head. "Epps's group will be here any minute!"

Lennox turned, and began to rush forward, looking over his shoulder. The rubble around Dallas made it hard to navigate, but after going through this three times, Lennox felt like a pro. He kept his hand on Mira's back, pushing her forward, and firing over his shoulder again. Mira, however, managed to spin around as well, firing off several more shots, one of which seemingly pierced the spark of the right vehicon. "Nice shot!" Lennox muttered, sliding out of the way of yet another shot.

"Lucky shot," Mira muttered. "Oh no," She added.

As Lennox turned his head, he noticed the line of vehicons that were now headed their way from the opposite side. He gritted his teeth, this was definitely not what he wanted to see. It was almost as though for each drone they took down, fifty more took their place. "Prime!" Lennox grabbed the attention of Optimus, who turned briefly from exchanging blows from Galvatron nearby. "There's too many of them! We might have to fall back if Epps doesn't-."

The sound of a missile grabbed Lennox's attention his eyes shooting up as three whizzed through the sky. Most of them crashed into the center vehicon, but the other two blasted apart the chest of several adjacent ones as a wave of jets flew through the sky. "Somebody looking for me?" Lennox turned his head as Epps, and more of the NEST forces made their way down the street. "Sorry we're late to the party. I was calling in a favor from a few buddies of mine."

"You have buddies willing to fly into this?" Mira asked in surprise.

"No one wants another Chicago," Epps shook his head, and looked around at their forces. "This is all we got now?" Lennox nodded his head. "Aw, man. I don't like these odds so much anymore," He grumbled under his breath.

"Too late to turn back now," Lennox shook his head. "Go down fighting, or not at all."

Lennox loaded up his gun once again, looking at Epps with a fist held out. The man didn't even hesitate to fist bump him as all three rushed to join the remainder of the NEST Forces. Lennox didn't like the odds either, even with more NEST forces on there way (they had figured slowly moving them into the city would be easier than all at once), they would only number somewhere around six hundred, against however many the Decepticons had. And at this point, they'd already lost somewhere around ninety fellow soldiers had already gone down.

He wouldn't give up though, he refused to give up. As he thought back to Sarah and Annabelle, and the unborn child that Sarah had revealed to be on the way only a month prior. He'd make his way back to them, just like he had all three of the other times, that he silently swore to himself. And so, he picked up his pace, charging into what may very well be the final fight of his life. But it didn't matter to him, like it had never mattered before, these Decepticons would not have his planet, or his home.

Meanwhile, Optimus's attention returned to Galvatron. The mech was more powerful, and more agile than Optimus remembered. And combined with his anger from the news he'd received from Coulton and Cyclonus, it was a dangerous combination. "Why go through so much trouble, Optimus? For such a measly little insect?" Optimus dodged again, and swung his blade down. "He was even the son of a common enemy!"

"Because, Galvatron, he is a friend, a loved one," Optimus told him calmly. "This is a concept, I have come to understand that you will never grasp. But I implore for you to heed my words." He watched as Galvatron's left arm slowly transformed into a sword now, deflecting his strike. "I will never betray the people of this planet, nor truly abandon them. Not Mark, not the humans of this city, nor anyone else."

"And here I thought last time you'd finally tired of them," Galvatron sneered. "Pity, I suppose this means you will have to die with them."

As the Decepticon warlord swung his blade inches from his face, Optimus ducked. With a sharp kick to the mech's ankle, he grunted and slammed forward into the Decepticon's chest. "The only one who will fall upon this day," Optimus began stabbing Galvatron in the right side of his chest. "Is you!"

Growling in pain, Galvatron snarled. "We shall see, Prime."

And so, as the blade was removed from him, Galvatron struck hard. Neither would break from their resolve, nor would they stop until this ended. One way or the other, they were determined to end this here and now.