The men took their time to prepare more of their weapons, including a rocket, so they were ready to move once Optimus would give them the okay to push forward through the city. They all knew they were outgunned, to a point, but with the hope that the air force was on their way, they had to rely on each other and the other autobots. They at least were able to get pretty far into the city, but the central part was still some way away, and they knew it. And there were a lot more ships protecting that part of the city. With only a single rocket that could potentially destroy the pillar, they only had one shot at the moment.

"I don't suppose we will even get close enough to use this?" Eddie asked, holding up the rocket to show Robert. "Not only do we need to get closer, we need to get higher!" He shook his head and took a deep breath. "And we only have one shot."

"A single shot is all you are going to need," Barricade said confidently as he was listening to the man. "We can distract Sentinel, and you should be able to find a vantage point high enough to take the shot. But…you'll have to make sure it counts. We need to stop what they plan to do."

Robert nodded affirmatively. He looked ahead as he saw Optimus returning with the other autobots. "We have located a route through the city." He transformed and connected onto the trailer. "Let's roll!"

Robert and his men nod as they run over to Ironhide as he transformed back into the GMC and they climb inside quickly. The autobots speed away through the streets to make their way through the route that they had managed to scout out. Robert could not help but look out the window as he wondered where Saphira was right now. He did feel guilty that he had not been able to prevent Saphira from making a rash decision in running into the city. He knew that nothing would be able to change that decision. But he did hope to make it up to her and the autobots by ensuring they defeat Megatron and Sentinel Prime today.

Driving through the city, they knew they had some blocks away before they were in range. Regardless of that fact, the decepticons have not yet noticed them. Or at least, that is what they believe to be the case. They had to avoid a lot of the debris they pass by as they speed through the city. The autobots have taken notice of the bodies around the city, and the skeleton remains of those who have faced the blasts from the decepticons. It made them sit to their tanks knowing this has happened. To a point, they did allow this to happen, but it still made them feel bad this happened.

They turned down different streets through the city, slowly approaching the river as they went. Robert was happy that they were able to gain so much ground. However, he turned his head when heard the sound of something crashing out from the ground. He widened his eyes as he saw Driller, the same drill worm he had seen in Chernobyl when he and Lennox had travelled over there for a mission. And that was not long ago. Robert's had some nightmares of that thing.

"Woah! Look out, Optimus!" Robert shouts as Driller dug and weaved through the ground, and he hit Optimus's trailer. Optimus tried to hang onto the trailer as it swung hard to the right before snapping from him as it began to roll. "Holy shit!" Robert shook his head and hit the door lightly. "Get us away from that thing, Ironhide! It's going to eat us!"

With the trailer loose from Optimus, Driller remained intent on following Optimus down the street. It was still digging into the road and destroying it. He was lucky there was no sinkhole being formed because of the structural damage that the large, worm-like decepticon was causing. Though a sinkhole probably would not matter to the decepticon, it would just drill through it anyway. The autobots flee down the street knowing that they were at a slight disadvantage. Barricade himself had always disliked Driller, as he thought it was kind of creepy. But he hoped that they would be able to destroy it.

Though Driller came to a halt and opened at the top, bringing Shockwave out. He had clearly been watching the whole time, it would seem. He was amused by the fleeing autobots, and chanted some mockery at the autobots before he began to fire at the autobots. They weave to avoid being hit before they turn sharply, finding themselves driving towards a museum to take shelter in. Ironhide let Epps and his men out before the autobots transform, forming a quick protective perimeter in the museum.

"That is one scary ass decepticon!" Robert shouts, running away from the door as he looked back with wide eyes. "That thing scared the hell out of me back in Ukraine! And it still is as creepy as hell, man!" He took deep breaths with a shake of his head. "I dare hope Lennox will be here soon."

Ironhide huffed loudly in slight amusement. "We only just sent them the message, Robert. I think we have a bit of time before reinforcements arrive, punk." He walked over to the window, peering out with a frown. "But we are corner, and now the element of surprise has been blown."

Optimus nodded in agreement. "And they got my trailer. I need that flight tech! Shockwave can't hunt all of us at once." Optimus looked out the window briefly before looking back at the wreckers. "Wreckers, we need a diversion!"

Roadbuster smirked as he was very happy that he and the other wreckers were given some responsibility to distract Shockwave. "Hell, yeah! We are gonna bring the hurt to that ugly, decepticon! Let's get some, boys!"

Leadfoot chuckled as he followed Roadbuster out of the building. "Right behind ya!"

Topspin transformed before they leave the building to speed away. "Let's see how stupid this one-eyed freak is! And that creepy worm he has for a pet!"

Barricade rolled his optics as he listened to the wreckers while they leave them to distract Shockwave. "I dare hope they know to not underestimate Shockwave. Especially considering that Shockwave is not so easily defeated."

Optimus nodded. "They are, but they are the wreckers. They are capable and enjoy causing chaos that we would not do otherwise. I am sure you have felt the other end of their punches when you were with the decepticons."

The former decepticon grimaced. "Yeah…don't remind me…" He shuddered a little and looked out the window. "What do we do now? We lost the element of surprise! Shockwave must have been watching me even after he shot me down from the sky."

Robert was thinking of a plan at the moment and he looked out the window. He nodded as he seemed to be happy with what he was thinking. "Listen…" He turned to his men who stayed by Robert. "We're gonna circle around to that glass building…" He points out the window towards the tall tower, and the autobots following his gaze as he spoke about his plan. "And we're get high enough to make the rocket shot at the pillar. The 35 East Wacker will be within range from that building." He turned to the autobots with confidence. "And you guys need to draw their fire so we can sneak into that building to make the shot."

Optimus nodded affirmatively as he listened to the quick plan that Robert had come up with. "We will cover you. And I will attempt to retrieve my flight tech so I may provide cover from the sky." He looked at the man as they walk towards the door to leave. "We will make sure you get to that tower, Robert Epps."

"I will cover for you, Optimus," Ironhide offered, charging his canon in preparation to fight. "You can leave the covering of the human soldiers to me." Optimus smiled at the weapons specialist as he appreciated the offer. "Nobody is going to ever get passed me! Hmmph!"

"You got that right!" Wheeljack agreed affirmatively with a light chuckle. "You got get your flight tech if you can, Optimus. We will cover for you."

Optimus nodded as he prepared his weapon. "Very well. Let's roll!"

They run out into the street, the autobots were quick to begin shooting and covering for Robert and his men as they run down the street. It was now very clear that the decepticons have seen them. They did not know if Sentinel and Megatron have been informed yet, but it didn't matter. They had to move, and move quickly. Robert and his men did not look back as they did not want to see how many decepticons were chasing and shooting them. The wreckers had already left to create the distraction that they were tasked with, even though it might not work.

"Move, move, move!" Robert shouts as they run around the burning vehicles down the street. He glanced up to see how far they had to go before they would be able to reach the building. They had a few blocks to go, but they would not stop running. "Keep moving them legs, men! We are gonna beat their asses today!"

Barricade smirked a little as he overheard Robert's sentence. He shot at the decepticons nearby, and he already was landing successful kills. Optimus managed to move away and proceed to where his trailer had been left. With the wreckers now causing a ruckus to keep Shockwave focused on them, it was easier for Optimus to make his way through. He did have Sideswipe, Dino and Bumblebee back him up to ensure he reached the trailer without it being destroyed.

As Robert and his men run, Ironhide stuck by them, making sure to destroy any decepticon in their way. Several ships flee around the towers and made a beeline towards them. Ironhide just huffed, and fired his rockects at them, landing successful hits on their engines and watching the ships fall and explode upon impact. Ironhide grinned, pleased with himself, only to refocus as he shot another decepticon in the head.

Barricade, Ratchet and Wheeljack stuck with them as close as possible as well. They made their fair share of kills. Ratchet dove to use a building for cover and fired at two decepticons, hitting their abdomens, before Barricade shot at them and blasted their sparks. He watched the sparks explode and the bodies of the decepticons fall to the ground. He backed away and turned to follow Robert until they eventually reach the building.

When Robert and his men run into the building, they run for the stairs to begin making their way up. Being this tower had so many floors, they couldn't stop, even though their legs would burn as they race up the stairs. As they keep climbing the stairs, they would check to see if they were high enough to make the shot. But they did not start checking until they reached the tenth floor, but they kept going as fast as they could.

"How many more stairs must we climb, Epps?" Eddie complained as he took deep breaths as he climbed the stairs. "We have been climbing for five minutes without stopping!"

"Keep those legs moving, Eddie!" Robert snapped back at his friend in irritation. "We are almost at the right height, so don't worry! Just keep them legs moving!"

"Ugh! Alright…" The man was unhappy about having to climb the stairs, but he had no choice by to do that.

They keep running up several more stairs, and they were lucky that the decepticons were not actually looking into the building right now. They did not know what they would do if that were to happen. They would most certainly be very stuck if that did happen. And with the autobots being distracted, and Optimus retrieving his flight gear, they were somewhat on their own for the moment until they could do what they needed to do.

"Alright, we're finally high enough!" David shouts, running towards the windows.

"This is a mother, getting up here!" Eddie complained again, adjusting the rocket launcher that he was carrying.

Robert glanced over his shoulder with a frown. "Get your fat ass over here!" He gestured for him to get closer to the broken window, looking towards the East Wacker tower. "Set up the rocket! I can see our target! Be quick, because they're coming! The decepticons know we are here with the autobots!"

"I'm coming, Epps! I'm coming!" Eddie ran over to the window and stopped, taking the rocket launcher off his shoulder and began to prepare it to fire at the pillar. As he stood by the edge, looking out the window and seeing how high they were currently, he was a tad intimidated. "Oh god…"

Just as the missile was pushed into the barrel of the rocket, the whole building began to groan suddenly. The men look around in confusion until they began to feel movement. The walls shuddered as the center of gravity began to shift. However, looking out the building, Eddie looked down and he saw there were decepticons surrounding the building in fighters. And they were shooting at it, destroying the foundations of the building.

"Woah! They're shooting at the building!" Eddie shouted, and Robert ran over to look down in shock. "I guess we weren't that inconspicuous like we thought we were. They knew where we were. Where the hell are the autobots?!"

"Getting their asses shot at, most likely!" Robert backed away from the window as the building shifts slowly. "The building's falling!" He turned to Eddie who was panicking about this. "We still got a moment, so make your aim for that damn building and fire, Eddie!" Eddie was muttering stuff to himself at the moment as he knew he was not having a good day. He lifts the launcher in preparation to fire at the building, but it was already too late. The building was starting to fall faster. "Scratch that order!" He ran over to Eddie to pull him away from the window, making the man sigh in relief. "Take cover and grab onto something!"

The men forced their wall to hide behind the pillars. As the building fell, the furniture began to fall towards the glass. The men did not try to stop the furniture, they only pushed it away so they would not be hit. They could hear some of the tables already falling out of the building as the pull of the gravity was very strong, and there was nothing to stop them from falling. They watch water dispensers fall over and slide along the floor, and they remained bracing on the pillars of the office room.

Though the leaning of the building seemed to slow down enough that it felt like it stopped. They knew that they would not be able to relax since the building could keep falling at any time. They were just given a small amount of relief from the decepticons, as they probably thought they shot the building enough that they would not need to shoot it any further. They began to plan on how they would need to get out of here.

"I guess we should go back to the stairs and head back down?" David asked nervously as he leaned behind a pillar, looking at Robert nervously. "Oh, and by the way, great plan in making us run into a glass building! And we're all about to get our bodies filled with glass in a moment! Well done with that plan!"

"Shut up!" Robert was unimpressed by the jab from one of his men before he gasped as he spotted two of the decepticon fighters nearing the building. "We got incoming! Hide, men, hide!" They scurry to make sure that they were hidden from the sight of the decepticons, but they watch in case the decepticons would look from a different angle.

It was very tense in the room as the ships fly around the building, looking for any sign of the humans. They were not just checking one floor it would seem, they were checking all of them. Robert and the men remain down as the ships fly by, hoping that the decepticons would leave them alone after a bit of time so that they could escape from the building without dying. But with so many hanging around, it was unlikely. And they were right.

A decepticon climbed out from one of the larger fighters and jumped through the window. He had his weapon armed as he looked around the office. The decepticon chattered as he looked around the room, peering behind one pillar to find no one was hiding behind it. He hissed a little and began to walk around. Robert looked over at Eddie, and gestured for him to move the office chairs that were beside him. Eddie nodded, and pushed the office chairs out and let them go to let them roll down. The decepticon turned his head to look at the chairs in surprise. He had aimed at them at first, but realized the chairs were just furniture.

Robert used the opportunity to throw a grenade at the decepticon, and when it exploded, the decepticon knew they were there. "Run!" Robert shouts and his men covered him as they ran towards the other side of the office. The decepticon roared in anger and he began to chase the humans as they run from him, and shot at him. Robert and David shoot the windows, breaking the glass on the other side. "Jump out the window!"

They race to the windows and jump out. The decepticon did try to reach and grab them, but the men had got out just in time. The advantage of the building being on a slant was that they wouldn't be falling to their deaths. But as they land on the glass, they began to slide quickly down the building. Even though they wouldn't fall to the ground, they had to stop. They grab their handguns out and shot at the windows down in front of them to fall into another office.

They all fall into the room, and they land hard on the floor, and they began to roll. They all began to try and stop themselves as they were rolling and sliding quickly towards the other side of the room. And the windows on the other side were broken. The furniture in this office had already slid out and fallen onto the ground. And due to the floor being tile instead of carpet made it even harder. Several of the men were able to stop themselves by grabbing a cable, and a pillar, but Robert and several other men continue to slide.

Robert shrieked loudly, grabbed a cable as he saw he was sliding closer to the window. He held the cable tightly, pushing his feet out to try and stop himself, and he was just able to catch himself at the edge. Robert was forced to watch one of his men slide out to the ground below. Robert grimaced knowing he's lost another friend. He took deep breaths as he sat up in disbelief, knowing he just had his life flash before his eyes.

He glanced around to see that the other men behind him had managed to stop themselves. "Is everyone okay?!" His men shouted back at him that they were okay, though some were very unhappy with their situation. Robert looked down at the ground, and he saw Shockwave. He frowned as he watched as the decepticon turned his head and looked at Robert with his single optic. Robert just groaned in irritation. "This evil thing is looking at me!"

Eddie frowned at Epps. "Don't do this to us now, Robert! We all almost just fell off the building! We all could have become pancakes, like what happen to Paul just now!"

Robert did not have a chance to respond as he saw the giant drill worm burst out of the ground below. Robert groaned as Driller slithered over to Shockwave as its body turned and it destroyed the man cars that were lined up in its way. Robert watched in disbelief as he knew this thing was coming towards them, and he has already seen it in action before. He most certainly did not want that thing chomping on his rear, but this thing was being summoned by Shockwave.

"That drill thing is back!" Robert shouts, pulling himself up from the window. "We need to get out of here! Evac! Evac"

The men scramble to their feet and begin to push their way through the office to look for a way out. They no longer cared about shooting the pillar for the time being as getting out of this glass building was the only thing that they could focus on right now. Though as they were in the top half of the building, they needed to get a bit creative on getting out due to the fact the building was split in half. There were no stairs to go down.

Driller reached Shockwave's location, and the decepticon ordered the drill worm to destroy the building. It readjusted its drill blades before diving into the glass building and effortlessly cutting through the glass and foundation of the building. Any remaining people in the building would be mercilessly destroyed as Driller slithered through the building as its body twists and grinds through the building.

"There's no way out! The stairs are blocked!" David shouts as they run around the office, looking for a way out. "We're trapped, Robert! And that thing is drilling through the lower part of the building!"

Robert ran over to the window and looked out. He was very much afraid of the worm as he watched it dig into the building. "We need to move and find a way out!" He shook his head with a groan. "Why do the decepticons always get the good shit?!" He ran from the window as they desperately look for a way out. "We're about to get eaten people!"

Driller tore its spinning tendrils through the building, smashing the floors, the pillars and the windows as the decepticon coiled around the building. Driller extended its extra tendrils as the full body of the drill worm was coiled around the building. And it began to crush down on the building, making it shudder violently before the building began to fall again. The foundations were crushed, and the weight of the building could only follow gravity.

The men lose their footing as they roll along the ground again as they could no longer stand. They were able to slow themselves down a little as they grab hold of the pillars on the way down, but they were not able to due to the force of the building as it fell. The last of the furniture slid down and out of the windows, papers flew everywhere and they were barely missing live, electric wiring that was sticking out from the walls of the building. They kept trying to keep themselves from falling out of the building.

Though they could just see the rooftop of a nearby building, and it seemed like the tower was going to fall on that. With another crush, the men shout as the building jolts, and they caught themselves on some pillars as the building finally fell onto the other building. They were lucky that the building did not split again, but it was at a high risk of doing so. Though now that the building was braced on the other building, they began to climb down towards the stairs on the side of the building.

"We need to move!" Robert shouted as he could hear the drill worm begin to dig into the building again.

They climb down carefully and quickly to the pillars by the windows, and they drop onto the stairs carefully. The men would help each other, and they used the loose cables to help steady themselves as they reach the fire escape of the building. They were relieved to be out of the glass building, but they look back and they saw the drill worm still ripping through the building, but it seemed as though it had seen the humans. It roared at them as its tendrils tore through the building and slowly approached them.

Robert turned his head as he saw something approaching them fast. He widened his eyes and was relieved as he saw Optimus flying towards them. He had managed to reach his flight tech and put it on, and Robert could not be more happier to see Optimus right now. Especially as he and his men did not even know if they would even make it down from this building without that thing chasing them, and destroying the second building in the process.

"I'm coming for you!" Optimus shouted angrily as he flew towards Driller and the building, charging his canon. He noticed that Robert and his men were on the other building by the glass one, and he was relieved they were alive as he began to shoot at Driller.

Driller turned its head towards Optimus, and it tried to hit Optimus out of the sky. It lunged the tendrils at Optimus and the wings of his flight tech barely brushed against the metal skin of the drill worm. Optimus was not firing directly at the mouth of the decepticon though, he was shooting at the tendrils. He watched as his multiple blasts to the tendrils managed to blast through the metal, cutting them off from the drill worm's body.

He tilts his body slightly as Driller attempted to lunge at him with its mouth wide open, though Optimus avoided those jaws as they brush against his knees. Optimus turned and shot at Driller angrily, shooting through several more tendrils that were still holding onto the building, and trying to destroy it, and lunge at him. With a lot of the tendrils free from Driller's body, Optimus shot at the glass building, destroying what was left of it, before he dove straight into the building and shot at Driller.

Debris hit his mask as he dove through the building, through they barely made a scratch or a dent on the face plate. Using the momentum of his dive, he transformed his arms into his energon blades and sliced through Driller's neck, dropping the drill worm's body onto the ground, as he turned and flew away quickly. All of its tendrils that were left slipped off the building, falling onto Driller's face in a heap on the ground.

Optimus flew up by a crane, looking down at Robert for a moment before he lands on the crane to give some orders. However, he looked down at Shockwave who was looking at his pet angrily. He had not expected Optimus to swoop in and kill Driller at all. He looked up at Optimus as he charged his canon before he aimed it at Optimus and shot at him. It wasn't just a normal shot, his blast turned into multiple missiles that flew at Optimus and destroyed the crane as Optimus ran to jump off it to avoid being hit.

Optimus grunts as one of the missiles successfully hit one of his wings, sending him rolling into a nearby building that was once being built by the humans. He crashed through the half-built building, grimacing as debris hit his face and he felt cables wrap around his wings as he rolled through the building. When he fell onto the other side, his feet and wings became caught in the cables of another crane, causing him to hand from the crane and forcing him to rip at the cables. And there was a lot them, and with him swinging from the crane, it was difficult to reach up to pull them from his body.

"Optimus!" He looked down as he heard Roadbuster, and saw the wreckers down below.

"Wreckers!" Optimus shouted at them, acknowledging their presence as he was relieved they were already here.

"We're coming!"

Optimus watched as the three wreckers transform and begin to climb the building as quickly as possible. However, as they were climbing, Optimus was jolted with alarm. Mostly because he felt a sudden shift in his bond with Saphira. It was as if her blockage of the bond just fell away. However, he felt only pain. Terrible pain, and fear. Optimus widened his optics as the pain she was feeling was worse than he's felt from her before. And there was something else. He only just noticed it. The newer bond from something else. His sparkling. There was something wrong, and he knew it. Optimus grits his teeth upon feeling the pain, fear and grief from his sparkmate, and the odd, yet weak feeling, from his sparkling. Optimus knew that Saphira was in the clutches of the decepticons right now because of this. And she was left feeling nothing but this.

Just hang on a little longer, Saphira…my sweet gem…I am on my way…as soon I am freed from these ridiculous binds!