Lego owns Bionicle and the name Ketongu. Hasbro owns Transformers. Galem owns the characters: Tali, Ava, Amber, Iris, Diego, Alyan, Adhira, Valera, and Kasar.

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Chapter 12: Escape

Tali felt her heartlight twist at the sight of the injured Paradox and silently prayed he would hold on for them to rescue him. Shifting her gaze away from the drying blood, she caught sight of movement from the corner of the screen and turned her head slightly to see one of the Cons leaving the room. "Where is that Con going?" She asked, everything in her raised at high alert.

Slash's optics widened as he spotted the Makutacon on the screen. 'KillShot'. Slash thought. He had only seen this Makutacon once in battle and as he later found out he was lucky to have not been spotted, otherwise he never would've made it out alive. From what Slash had read up on this Makutacon, KillShot had the highest kill count out of all the Makutacons anyone on his dad's current team had faced thus far. Scarily enough, KillShot had been a very popular assassin before the exile. With both careers added up, KillShot's kill count so far was 587.

Slash's optics widened further when he lifted his head and turned to the sound of metal screeching on stone. The door had opened once more, a single orange eye gazing menacingly at them. Slash's liarkbeat sped up as he saw the eye in the distance, immediately realizing that they needed to leave now or risk getting killed.

Without a second to waste, Slash quickly transformed into his plane form, which was big enough to fit Ops, Tali, and War Machine on. "Jump on"!

War Machine had also spotted the eye, and noticed that it was drawing closer towards them. So close that if he didn't provide a long enough distraction, they may not make it out at all. Plus he had heard how dangerous KillShot was, and wasn't too threatened by him. 'After all, this con ain't the only one who's good with a firearm'. War Machine thought. War Machine quickly pointed all four of his guns, the one he was carrying, his Cordak Blaster arm, and the machine guns on his shoulders, at the approaching foe.

"I'll take him, go now"! War Machine shouted.

"Be safe!" Tali cried as she immediately boarded Slash's vehicle mode. "Ops!" She yelled, snapping her fiancé into action.

Ops quickly jumped onto Slash's plane mode. "Go"! Ops shouted, not wanting to find out how close KillShot was.

Slash obliged almost immediately, blasting off into the sky, Ops and Tali holding on tightly to his plane mode as he did so.

War Machine fired off all of his weapons the second he heard his nephew take off, hoping that projectiles from four weapons would be enough to keep him occupied. But KillShot was quick, rolling away behind a large concrete rock and perfectly dodging the bullets, also managing to fire a single bullet from his advanced machine-pistol, the bullet hitting War Machine's Cordak Blaster arm. Upon making impact, the bullet made a small explosion, causing sparks to fly from the now useless weapon.

War Machine rolled to his left, behind the wall left to the entrance, then let out a sigh as he gazed at the damaged Cordak Blaster. 'Not this again'! War Machine thought.

KillShot smirked darkly upon spotting his opportunity, then tossed a grenade in War Machines direction before firing three bullets in the direction of the flying Slash, all of them heat seeking bullets. The bullets worked as both a weapon, and a distraction as War Machine turned back into the doorway quickly, in hopes of shooting and stopping the bullets, only for the bullets to pass by as the grenade exploded in front of War Machine. The explosion was powerful enough to knock War Machine a few feet away, onto his back.

War Machine groaned as he rose to his feet and ran off as fast as he could, shrapnel embedded into his side. Seeing as he was one of the tougher Toabot's in regards to sucking up pain, he would be able to pull said shrapnel out of himself later. Besides, he figured that Slash, Tali, and Ops were far enough away to properly escape. That, and he needed to get news of the coming attack to the others ASAP, and since this shrapnel would make it too dangerous to transform, this was going to be a long run.

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Just as the three had gotten a few miles away, Ops turned and spotted three small bullets coming their way, which was fortunate in their case as anyone else would've probably either overlooked this or not spotted this at all. All of his life, Ops had been trained by his dad, Optimus Prime, to look out for small things like this with caution. 'Time to put that and my aiming to good use'. Ops decided, before pulling out his dad's Ion Blaster and firing quickly at the bullets, easily hitting two.

Reacting to his movements, Tali turned, following his line of sight, and quickly shot at the third bullet with her gold and blue bow. But unlike the other two bullets, this one had a little sinister trick. For the second that her arrow made impact with the bullet, it separated into several, pointed, smaller bullets. Ops spotted this and immediately tackled Tali to the exposed floor in Slash's roofless plane mode. Ops had managed to tackle his fiance just in time for the bullets to miss them. Unfortunately, one hit another target, a wall exterior that would transform into a leg in Slash's Toa form.

"AGH, son of a glitch"! Slash exclaimed as he felt the wound bleed intensely and burn from the air whooshing past it.

Ops heard the exclaim, and peeked over a bit quickly, then ducking back into the interior of Slash's plane mode upon spotting the wound. "Oh Frag"!

As that third bullet and Slash's wound, and him and Tali nearly dying had just proven, it was that this Makutacon was definitely not to be underestimated. After a stunt like that, Ops couldn't predict what other tricks KillShot could possibly have up his sleeve. But whatever it was, Ops just hoped that they would still make it out alive.

At that moment, Tali caught sight of a red bullet coming fast towards them, the red paint over the bullet indicating that it was an explosive bullet. Knowing she would not have time to stop it, she yelled out in warning, "Slash, watch out!"

But before Slash had had any time to react, the bullet made impact with one of Slash's thrusters, exploding and damaging the thruster. Though he would eventually repair it, there was definitely no use for it now. Slash felt his liarkbeat quicken as he lost control of his vehicular form, said form spiraling out of control as it descended towards the forest farther below them.

"HOLD ON"! Slash screamed.

Ops gripped an interior control panel as tightly as he could, fighting against the strong draft of air that tried to snatch him, also gripping Tali's shoulder tightly. Though his grip on her might have seemed too harsh in any other circumstance, Ops was desperate to keep both himself and his fiance alive. Tali also gripped tightly into what she could grab of the panel, determined not to let go, but after several minutes, she could feel her grip slipping and fighting it to the point that she thought the bones in her hand would break wasn't helping either.

"Ops! I'm slipping!" Tali cried, not even bothering to hide her panic.

Hearing her cry, Ops wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer with one arm, holding onto the panel desperately with the other arm as he shouted over the deafeningly whooshing air: "Just hold on to me"!

Tali clung desperately to Ops, digging her fingers into the seams of his armor plates to get a better grip as the wind continued to threaten to tear her away. Terrified, she closed her eyes and turned her head towards Ops while silently trying to tell herself it'll be okay, therefore, she did not see the bullet coming at them until it struck her right side.

"AAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!" She roared in pain and shock.

Ops noticed the small explosion of blood from the corner of his optic, and turned his helm to her in fear. "TALI"!

Ops was afraid enough that Tali had been hurt via a bullet in her side. What made the matter all the more terrifying to him, was the fact that he had no idea how deep the bullet were, or if said bullet were a hollow point that had exploded and spread metal chucks inside of her. Immediately Ops tried to think of a way to help Slash land in a way that wouldn't be so harsh as to further damage Tali, or kill all three of them.

"Guys, brace for impact"! He heard Slash shout, only causing Ops to try and think faster. 'Come on Ops... THINK'!

"Ops..." Tali's voice groaned weakly as she clutched his arm, her concentration slipping from the pain.

As Ops gazed at Tali, he noticed her bow and remembered an arrow Billy had helped him had of course given Ops this net to use in only the most dire of situations as it normally took Billy an hour to create each of these sorts of arrows. Now definitely seemed like the right time to use it. Maybe if he aimed it in the right direction, he could make a safety net for Slash to land in, preventing a much harsher impact. The impact would be a little harsh regardless, but at least this solution gave them a better chance at survival.

"Tali, give me your bow, quick"! Ops shouted over the wind, hoping Tali had heard him as they probably only had a few seconds before they hit the ground. Though Ops wasn't entirely sure of that, the world spinning too quickly for him to see clearly enough, he figured that it would be best not to take any chances.

Wincing at the pain, Tali reached back as carefully as she could, grabbed her bow, pulled it out and handed it to him, her lungs burning for air.

Ops took the bow quickly, then waited for Tali to grab onto the console once more before removing the self made arrow from a slot in his back and loading it into the bow. Ops then activated the magnets in his feet, said feet magnetizing onto the floor inside of Slash's plane mode as he stood up and aimed between the two nearest tree trunks only five seconds away. Ops took a breath and released the arrow, allowing it to fly.

The arrow divided into four sharp spikes, a soft net expanding between them as each spike embedded themselves into either tree. Deciding not to take any further chances, Ops snatched Tali into one arm and pressed a button on his right shoulder before jumping off and holding Tali gently close in both arms. A parachute emerged from an opening slot in his back, allowing them both a slow descent towards the grassy ground below the couple.

spotting the net just in time, Slash transformed quickly out of his plane mode, hitting the soft net before bouncing off of it and rolling backwards onto his feet. Slash immediately let out a sigh of relief as he stood to his full height. They had just been shot at by one of the most dangerous Makutacons in history and somehow made it out alive. Slash wasted no time on bowing his head and thanking God for allowing their survival in such circumstances.

When the couple landed safely near the net, Tali gasped and nearly doubled over in pain as she clutched her side. The pain was indescribable, worse than anything she had every felt before and it made it impossible for her to breathe correctly.

Noticing Tali's pain, Ops gently laid her up against a tree and gazed into her eyes as he assured her: "Hey, you're going to be OK, alright? I'm here with you, and I won't leave your side". Though they would probably have other things to worry about later, Ops was certain that they would be alright for now.

Tali looked up into Ops's optics weakly and managed to smile and nod, at him. He was right. Everything was going to be okay. They were going to be okay. They had been through worse. Everything was going to be okay. Now, if only she could stop feeling like she was dying already.

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Killshot smiled darkly as he watched Slash's plane form fall into the forest, into what would surely be his death. This dark smile quickly changed into a frown hen three seconds had passed without an explosion of shaking of any trees. Sure, they shook a little, but in no way that indicated a killing impact. The only explanation from this was that at least one of them had survived. KillShot growled angrily. Not only had War Machine escaped him, now there was a Toa, an Autobot, and another Toabot that had somehow survived as attack from him, something that was normally very rare.

KillShot angrily pressed a finger to his earpiece then and spoke: "They're hit sir, but War Machine retreated. Probably to get back to his base".

Xanthium's voice responded almost immediately: "Never mind him for now. He will never get back in time. Are the other three targets dead"?

KillShot glared once more into the forest. "No sir".

Xanthium's next order, immediately turned KillShot's glare into a sickening grin: "Then make it so".

"With pleasure".

KillShot quickly reloaded his gun as he walked closer towards the forest, his sickening grin still plastered on his specially made Akaku. No way were those three escaping him now. Just as much as there was no way that the Makutacon assassin would underestimate his targets this time. This time, those three would die. As to how KillShot would make that happen, he would just try to think creatively once he reached them. For now, he would hunt his prey.

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Biomarvel740: Optimus Prime is owned by Hasbro. Also, War Machine is named after the Marvel character. Not sure if I've mentioned that before. Ops taking a breath before firing his arrow is a reference to Arrow Season 1, which is owned by CW and DC .

Galem: this is getting tense.

Biomarvel740: Indeed it is, and it's only going to get worse.

Galem: oh great. :(

Biomarvel740: Yep. (looks to the readers) But what did you all think of the chapter?

Galem: please leave us a review or pm either of us if you have any questions or suggestions.

Biomarvel740: We thank you all for reading-

Galem: and please...

Biomarvel740 and Galem: Have a God-blessed day! XD :D