Previously...
"I'm going after him." Braedey claimed as he observed Gould's location and stood back up.
"You sure?" Simmons asked, concerned.
"Jasmine is the only thing I have left, Simmons." Braedey stated, picking up a shotgun before he then reforms it into a Cybertronian firearm. "I've lost my Autobot family. I'm not losing my wife too. I can be in Chicago in 15 hours."
"You're not going alone."
Braedey turned to his right and sees Epps leaning against a desk, with Ken and Jennifer standing a few feet away - clearly they had heard the conversation.
"Don't even try it, kid." Epps interrupted before Braedey could object. "We're going with. You're not the only one who wants revenge."
"Do you really think we let you go alone? After all that has happened?" Jennifer asked, her eyes dull and full of pain.
"You've not the only one going through this." Ken added.
Braedey hesitated for a moment; he didn't want to drag Epps and his teammates into this. But, after making a decision, he nodded his head curtly.
At was already sundown when they walk outside of the facility and towards Epps' Chevrolet Chevelle, and the four quickly made their plan for their departure to Chicago.
"I still got my NEST friends out there." Epps said to the three.
"They off the grid?" Jennifer asked. She glanced around their surroundings, watching as the other agents ran by.
"Yeah. Haven't seen them for a while." Epps replied to Jennifer. "But I'm gonna round them up, and we're gonna find your wife, and bring this guy in." He stated to Braedey as he grabbed the diver door's handle.
"Epps... Ken... Jennifer. I can't thank you all enough." Braedey thanked them appreciatively. "But... why are you helping me?" He asked, opening the passenger door.
"Cause that asshole killed my friends too." Epps replied, patting Braedey by the shoulder. "The Autobots were my family just as much as they were to you."
"As they were to us." Jennifer added, Ken nodding.
"Alright. Now let's go get that son of a bitch." Braedey declared.
Epps drove off of the base and headed for the highway. Braedey did not question where he was going, and they sat in companionable silence. After about 40 minutes in the car, Epps pulled up outside a rundown house that looked more like a shack than a house. A large man answered the screen door. They hug one another in that manly style, clapping each other on the back and gripping hands in what was a cross between a handshake and an arm-wrestle. Through the night, they picked up three more of Epps's old NEST friends, and they all got into their heavy duty trucks and continue to drive forth towards the North.
They eventually arrived at Chicago just as the sun was rising, and the sight that greeted them shocked every single one of them to the core.
"Oh, God..." Jennifer mumbled under her breath.
It was an apocalyptic scene: rubble littered the streets, and every now and then. Flames danced on debris, cars were flipped over and abandoned, dust covering the road in a thick layer.
Braedey looks and could see clusters of bodies clumped together. He never looked long enough to see if they were alive or dead. Braedey's eyes land upon on a small child crying for her mother, lost and alone in the crowd of broken people, her cries going unanswered. He could barely recognise the city in front of him.
"Wrong way!/ Get out of here!/ Go back!" The civilians screamed in despair, waving their arms frantically in a desperate attempt to stop the group. However, their pleas were ignored. Nothing could stop them.
Braedey then looks up. Up in the air, there were a hundreds of colossal Decepticon ships, positioned strategically. Tiny specks darted across the sky, and loud screams and explosions reverberated through the air. The cries and begs for the group to leave soon fade away, and the group was left with the horrific sounds of death as they drove into the city.
"By the AllSpark..." Braedey muttered softly.
The war room was filled with people simply trying to figure out only one thing: what in the world was happening within Chicago? Something big was happening right then and there. The Decepticons were there and had, essentially, taken control of the entire Chicago area. They had no other information, however, and it frustrated Mearing.
"There's a ring of alien ships around Chicago. Our high-level bombers were just knocked out of the sky." General Morshower stated. "They can't get through enemy air defences over the city. Our satellites have been jammed. We have no way to monitor the enemy's movement."
"Our NEST teams are on stand-down holding at Grissom Air Force Base." Lennox now informed to Morshower. "We're about ten minutes from the battle zone. We have Special Forces trying to gain access to the city, and infantry is staging at the perimeter."
"Excuse me. Excuse me." Simmons interrupted, now rolling into the room. "It doesn't make sense. Can't we get any eyes in there at all?"
"They keep shooting down our drones." Mearing answered quickly to him.
"They want us blind." Morshower added. "But we do have a couple of mini drones we're going to try."
"Besides that, whoever's manning these UAV drones, can we redirect them to Trump Tower? The kid, Martin, he's on his way to Chicago. Said some point man human op is there, FOR THE DECEPTICONS." Simmons remarked as he stared at the other people. "Listen, if I know anything, I know this. That kid is an alien BAD NEWS magnet."
Back in Chicago, the convoy of cars slow to a stop, and they got out. Braedey stared to look out at the heart of the city. The road ahead was blocked. They would have to continue the journey on foot. The inner city was worse than the outskirts. A train had derailed onto its side of the tracks, fire ablaze on it. Buildings were on the verge of crumbling onto the streets, and smoke wafts into the air through the haze. The sky had turned into sickening grey. The only signs of life were the few injured survivors who managed to escape the Decepticons, sprinting in the opposite direction of the city. They did not dare to look back.
Braedey took a step away from the car and followed the group. His boots crunch loudly against the gravel-like debris on the rails that ran through the streets. Jennifer and Ken quickly join his side, Jennifer's eyes full of distraught. She nearly burst into tears when she saw a group of children run by, wailing and shrieking in terror.
Epps ran ahead to asses the situation as he climbed up the wreckage of the building wall, staring out at the city. The former NEST Troops, Jennifer, and Ken, were armed to the teeth with assault rifles, handguns, knives, even their bulletproof vests. Though, they would perhaps be useless when fighting that many Deceptions. They were going into the city blind, defenceless against the enemy.
Thunderous roars fill the sky, catching the attention of the group. Three F-18 Hornet fighter jets flew over the city, just as two Deception Assault Carriers rise from behind a towering, cracked building slammed rounds of explosives onto the jets. Parts of the jets were blown away, left to burn as they crash into the ground before the third jet began to spin uncontrollably and smashed into the remains of the building. The two Assault Carriers withdrew their weapons and quickly retreated to another location.
"Gone..." Ken muttered.
"We came here to find her in the middle of all that?" Eddie gasped at the sight of the destruction before them.
"Are we really going out there, Epps?" Another soldier asked hesitantly.
Epps shook his head. "No one's going in."
Braedey armed his internal weapons. "If you're not, then I will. Sorry I brought you here guys." He then continued forward.
"Wh-What?" Jennifer echoed. "Braedey, no-!"
"Don't try and stop me." Braedey grunted.
"You're gonna get yourself killed, Braedey." Epps stated as he ran up. "Is that what you want? Is that what you want?!" Epps then turns Braedey around. "You came all the way out here to get yourself killed? Huh?"
"She's here because of me, Epps." Braedey spoke back firmly. "Ever since Optimus touched down on Earth and found me, she's been involved in all of this. I already lost most of my family today, I'm not losing anyone else. I never asked you to come, any of you! I just came to get my wife and to snap Gould's neck with my bare hands. You wanna leave? No one's stopping any of you! But none of you are stopping me from getting Jasmine back."
"Listen, if you go in that building, that's if she's still alive, there's no way you're gonna be able to reach her!" Epps stared back.
"I have to try, Epps!" Braedey shouted firmly, making his voice echo.
"INCOMING!" Eddie now yelled out.
Everyone within hearing range whirled around to face the incoming Decepticon Assault Carrier. Explosions erupt all around the group and survivors, bloodcurdling screams soon following. Braedey and Epps both topple to the ground, losing their balance as the Assault Carrier used its cannons to disintegrate a few humans right next to them, leaving nothing but skulls and bones.
"Get out of there!" Ken hollowed from a safe distance with the others. "Move!"
Braedey and Epps ran to their position away from the Assault Carrier, their hearts raced with trepidation as the screams around them started to fade. The Assault Carrier disintegrated a few more humans until it hovered above Braedey and Epps, forcing them to drop to the ground once more. The ship flipped itself to face the other way, nearly hitting the two humans on the ground. Its weapons withdrew from the front and swung down like a pendulum, ready to fire at will. The two humans had to cover their eyes to pervert debris from blinding them. Braedey and Epps clambered up into a sitting position, their eyes never leaving the Assault Carrier. They watched as it flew off to end the lives of the humans. Then, it spun around to face them. It had discovered them. As the Assault Carrier was about to disintegrate Braedey and Epps, loud gunshots rang out, each bullet piercing its side as it spun out of the control. Crashing into the ground, ship showered the street with sparks and dirt. Braedey and Epps covered their heads to avoid being hit by anything.
"What... just happened?" Jennifer wondered in confusion.
Braedey and Epps uncover their heads and watch as door of the ship was blown off, and a Decepticon Protoform growled and struggled to climb out, no doubt injured from the crash. Light vibrations now shook the ground, and a huge bronze bullet casing passes over Braedey and Epps' heads. They looked back and were sure they had seen a ghost. There, walking towards them, with a look of grim determination on his faceplate and armed with his blaster was the mighty leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime. Alive.
"We will kill them all." Optimus seethed, his optics glowing with anger at the sight of the ruin city.
The Deception now saw Optimus with shock optics and aims his blaster at him, but Ironhide then appears from behind Optimus and shoots his right pulse cannon directly at the Decepticon's weapon, destroying it.
"Too slow, Decepticon." Ironhide growled.
The sound of engines roared in the distance, and the group turned to see three armoured NASCAR Chevy Impala stockcars speeding down the road towards the Carrier, and they all transformed into their robot modes.
"Wreckers, kill it!" Leadfoot commanded. He transforms his right hand into a large hammer before bashing it into the Deception's head and grabbed its arm. Topspin and Roadbuster seized the Decepticon.
"This is going to hurt! A LOT!" Roadbuster jeered as he and Leadfoot ripped off the Decepticon's left am and leg while Topspin kept a tight hold on it, restraining it.
The Decepticon kicks Topspin in the faceplate with its last leg, only for Topspin to grab with his left hand and kick the entire leg off at the joint. Roadbuster laughed loudly as he and Leadfoot finished tearing the Decepticon apart, leaving it in wrecked scrap metal.
"That's gonna be all of you for what you've done!" Topspin scowled.
"For a bunch of engineers, they sure know how to fight dirty." Ironhide smirked at the Wreckers's performance.
"Your leaders will now understand. Decepticons will never leave your planet alone." Optimus stated, looking down at the humans below him. Braedey and Epps quickly stood up to their feet, staring up with shock and awe at his appearance. "And we needed them to believe we had gone. For today, in the name of freedom, we take the battle to them!" He proclaimed, pointing his finger at the city.
Braedey smiled as he then saw Bumblebee and the rest of the Autobot driving up towards them in their vehicle modes. The brunette looks on as they then slow down and transform into robot mode, looking down at them with looks of reassurance and smiles. Elita ran up and she hugged Braedey close to her, the brunette hugging her back. He then stepped back to smile at his Autobot family.
"Wait. I don't understand. I saw the Xanthium get destroyed back in Cape Canaveral!" Braedey realised as he looks to everyone. "How are you still alive?"
"Yeah, that's a good question. How?" Ken asked.
"The ship! We were never in the ship! We designed the damn thing, didn't we!" Roadbuster spoke up with his Scottish accent, ripping the deceased Decepticon's arm in two with his bare hands.
'We were 'idden in the first rocket booster to separate. Splashed down in the Atlantic, just as planned." Leadfoot added with his London Cockney accent before spitting out a piece of metal from his mouth. "We ain't going nowhere."
"So, you deceived the Decepticons into thinking you all died." Jennifer realised. "That's pretty sneaky."
"Yeah, no one's exiling us!" Brains added as he, Wheelie, and Ravage come up. Ravage runs towards Braedey, rubbing his head against him, Braedey patting his head.
"The Autobots are staying right here." Wheelie added in next. "We're gonna help you win this war."
"Great to see you, fellas." Braedey acknowledged.
"They're surrounding the city to make a fortress, so that no one can see what they're up to inside." Optimus said as he does a sweeping motion with his hand. "Our only chance is the element of surprise."
"I think I know just where to look. Optimus, Jasmine is being held hostage in the Trump Tower by that human betrayer, Dylan Gould." Braedey explained to the Prime.
Optimus nodded, and turned to address his fellow Autobots. "Autobots, Ratchet, Wheeljack and myself will divide from the main party. We will create a diversion in order to distract the Decepticons so Bumblebee and Braedey can get up to Trump Tower to get Jasmine."
It took a while, but the NEST team finally managed to get a view of Chicago through a remote control drone.
Unfortunately, their first view of the windy city was not very promising to say the least. Destroyed buildings, empty streets, and Decepticon vessels occupying the skies, the desolate sight took up almost every screen in the room. And there was not a sign of human life anywhere.
"Are you telling me that Braedey was heading into there?" Mearing whispered, her voice filled with shock and grief at the sight.
"Poor kid." Simmons sighed, shaking his head sadly. "Probably never got even close."
"Is it okay?" Braedey asked to Wheeljack, who is inspecting the Assault Carrier.
"Well, Optimus just barely missed the engine. Which is good in our case, but some of the wires are fried." Wheeljack answered. "And the weapon systems should be okay." It took a while for him to reroute the wires that were damaged. "Okay, that should do it." He stood back up and looked down at Braedey. "She's ready to fly." He declared.
Braedey smirked and climbed on top of the fighter and he saw Bumblebee walk up. "Bee, do you know how to fly this thing?" He asked, and Bee gives him the so-so hand gesture. "Alright. I guess '50-50' is gonna have to do."
Epps then comes up and gives Braedey a pistol. "Just in case. We're gonna be right behind, brother." He and Epps bro-hug each other before Braedey gets in the Decepticon fighter with Bumblebee.
"We'll travel on the ground." Jennifer called.
"All right, we're going in!" Epps ordered.
"Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!" Braedey declared.
The Autobots transform into their vehicle modes, just as the fighter soon takes off and Braedey clutches onto Bee as they shoot forward and take to the skies, going forth into the battlefield of Chicago, their rescue plan in motion, the Autobots also rolling out.
Meanwhile, up in Dylan's penthouse apartment, Jasmine sat in the couch, her hands on her stomach as she looked around in concern and worry of what's happening, all the while being very quiet and not wanting to say anything to cause any issues or disturbances.
As she sat down patiently and waits for whatever to happen, Jasmine heard something nearby. She got up and she looked through a nearby telescope to see Megatron and Sentinel talking to one another on Jewelers Tower, just as Starscream lands on the roof in robot mode.
"The city is secure." Megatron informed to Sentinel. "The humans cannot stop us."
"As the afternoon falls, the rest of the pillars will reach their launch position." Sentinel stated as he looked to the sun.
"This is the victory I have promised you so many years ago, where we remake and rebuild Cybertron together!" Megatron announced as he grinned, his shark-like teeth being shown.
Sentinel suddenly smashed Megatron's head against a statue. "I have deigned to work with you... that our planet may survive! I will never work for you!" Sentinel then rips off a piece of Megatron's helm. "And you would be wise to remember the difference."
After seeing this happen, Jasmine gasped as an idea popped in her head. All she has to do is to try and coerce the Decepticon warlord to intervene...
The Assault Carrier ship chugged up into the air, performing little bunny hops as Bumblebee worked out the controls. In what seemed like no time at all, the ship was now level with the balcony outside the penthouse in the Trump Tower. Braedey quickly jumped over the glass railing and shimmied inside the building. He gave a hand gesture to Bumblebee, telling him to get down and be ready. He took his position quickly, crouching behind a bar that was stocked full of alcohol.
"I'm sick of this. I'm just so sick of waiting." Gould huffed, opening his fridge to get a can of beer to relieve his stress.
Braedey then rolls out and fired a round, shattering the can in Gould's hand. Before he could react, Braedey now grabbed and smashed Gould's face right against the counter. He then pins him to the wall and holds him up.
"I'm gonna ask you this one time, you son of a bitch: where is my wife?! WHERE IS SHE?!" Braedey's yell echoed out, and this got Jasmine's attention as she looked in surprise.
Gould just chuckled through the pain. "You've got some balls."
"At least I got some, you traitor." Braedey snarled.
Jasmine runs into the kitchen to see Braedey, but she gets held back by one of Gould's bodyguards. The television on the wall breaks apart and transforms into Laserbeak who attacks Braedey, knocking him off of Dylan. The pair fumble around until Laserbeak lifts Braedey up and drops him over the balcony!
"BRAEDEY! NO! NOOO!" Jasmine cried out as she was held back.
Gould just sighed and wiped his lip. But then, an engine roar could be heard and they saw Braedey riding on the Assault Carrier, cocking his left arm into a rifle, and extending the other arm out. "JASMINE! COME ON!"
Jasmine saw him, so she stomps her foot on the guard and elbows his face before running at full sprint after Braedey. She leaped over the balcony, making it onto the nose of the ship and she fell straight into Braedey's open arm. They share a quick embrace before Braedey gently lowered her into the cockpit with Bumblebee, as Bee now primes the fighter's cannons, then Braedey deploys small missile pods from his shoulders and two huge cannons from his arms. Gould's eyes widen and he drops to the floor with everyone else as Bee shoots at the whole penthouse, Braedey also launching mini-missiles at them, making them dive for cover.
A mini-drone now flies in nearby to see what in the world is going on, just as Laserbeak knocked the drone right into the fighter's left engine before attacking Braedey. The force of their collision nearly knocked the pair of them off the ship, but Braedey managed to stay on whilst wrestling the vulture Decepticon, the Assault Carrier struggling to stay in the air with its engines failing. Inside the cockpit, an alarm began to sound rapidly and loudly, telling them that the engines were failing. Braedey and Laserbeak both fight against one another as the ship swerves and descends towards the ground without any control. The brunette now armed his Energon sword to strike at the vulture Decepticon, tearing right into his turbines and wings to prevent him flying away, then he grabbed Laserbeak's helm, and using inhuman strength, he ripped the 'Con's helm off and threw it away.
"Pop goes the vulture!" Braedey mocked before kicking Laserbeak's body off and watched it land in the ocean below.
The Assault Carrier was still spiraling out of control as it slammed into a neighboring building, causing debris and glass to slam into Braedey as he covered himself. They were falling fast.
"Everyone, hold on!" Braedey shouted, holding onto the cannon for dear life.
Bumblebee tries his best with the controls it the fighter slammed into a another building. The ship was moments away from crashing into the street below. Bumblebee managed to land the ship without crushing anyone, landing on the street with a force that vibrated the foundations of the surrounding buildings. The impact caused Braedey to let go of the fighter and fall off, rolling on the pavement, and stopped in the middle of the street. The ship trembled as it was dragged down the street, until it came to a stop, crashing to a building wall.
"Well, that happened." Braedey mused, groaning.
Meanwhile, Gould had gotten down to ground level after surviving from the bombardment of his whole penthouse, and he was yelling out to Megatron about their enemy still being alive.
"AUTOBOTS! THEY'RE ALIVE! THEY'RE HERE!" Dylan yelled.
Megatron heard Dylan's voice and with a snarl, he pounds the wall next to him. "Decepticons, defend the pillars! Raise the bridges! Find them!" He roared out, his voice echoing out across the city, all of the fighters all arming their weapons, the bridges now rising up to cut off any connection in.
Back at the crash, Braedey shook his head as he sat up, dusting himself off. He runs up to the fighter and helps Jasmine out of the cockpit, who was relatively unharmed. Braedey and Jasmine both kiss and embrace each other, both of them holding one another as tightly as they can.
"I'm sorry for not listening to you." She apologized sincerely.
Braedey shook his head. "You have nothing to apologise for, Jasmine. I should've been there for you." He sighed deeply, holding her close to him. "But none of that matters now. What matters now is you're safe. I got my wife back." Jasmine kisses his cheek in response.
Bumblebee now climbs out of the fighter's remains and he whirred to the two humans, pointing over to something approaching. Braedey and Jasmine both follow the Scout's gaze and they can see Optimus and the rest of the Autobots driving up to them. The Autobots broke out in formation, each pulling to a stop to surround the crash site. Epps and his men climb out and all of them aim their weapons at anything not friendly.
"You're crazy, you know that?" Epps remarked, walking up to Braedey. Braedey chuckled as they hugged each other.
Ken and Jennifer also ran up to Braedey and Jasmine, and they hugged each other. Ravage sprints in next and nuzzled his snout against her side, which Jasmine rubs it.
"Autobots, create a perimeter around the ship." Optimus commanded to the others as he walked up to Bumblebee while the others circled the ship. "What's our status?" He asked.
"The cat's out of the bag!" Bumblebee chirped out from his radio.
As the ex-NEST Troopers and Autobots now form a perimeter around the damaged Assault Carrier while check their weapons and ammo, Jasmine told them everything about the Decepticons' plan during her time as a hostage.
"So that's their plan all along... The Decepticons plan to use the pillars to cyberform Earth and turn it into a new Cybertron here, killing all of humanity in the process." Braedey summarised.
"Yeah." Jasmine nodded. "They've already gone and scattered the rest of the pillars all around the globe already. I don't know when Sentinel will activate the control pillar."
"I can't believe this." Cliffjumper fumed. "They're too obsessed of restoring Cybertron that they just can't accept the fact it's dead... and they'd take the life of another planet just to get what they want!"
"I guess that in Megatron's mind, why rule only one world when he can rule two." Braedey snarled.
"Despicable." Elita-One could only speak out.
"There's gotta be something we can contact NEST and tell them about this." Ken insisted.
Braedey shifted his gaze when he spots something. "Hey, is that ours?" He asked, pointing at something far from their position.
Curious, Epps turned to look at what Braedey was pointing at. It was a large, black, military drone, lying in the cracked mound. Sparks spit and hissed from its interior, dancing on the metal.
Epps' eyes light with recognition, and rushed over to it with Braedey and Jasmine quickly following behind. "This thing's a military UAV." He identified the drone. "Stone, check and see if it's still working."
Stone knelt down by the drone and scanned to see if the wires were still connected to the main powering system. He stood up with a nod. "Yeah, it's still got power." He announced in response.
Epps crouched down in front of the main camera, with everyone leaning in to listen. "Flight Control, do you copy?" He spoke strong and clear, clearing the dust and dirt off the screen. But the stillness of the camera made his demeanor falter. Becoming desperate, he lightly shook the drone. "Can-can you rotate? Can you do something?"
"I think we got something." A controller pilot now alerted the room, who was at the controls of the drone.
The people in the NEST Base immediately stopped what they were doing when they see something on the main screen. The footage was static at first, but then it showed Epps, Braedey, and Jasmine.
"It's Epps! We got Epps!" Lennox announced.
"The kid!" Simmons exclaimed in relief when he sees Braedey on the screen. "He's alive! He made it!"
"Something? Can you rotate?" Epps demanded on screen desperately. "Come on, man! Work! Work!" He urged, his voice echoed the room.
"Alright, turn the volume up on that!" Lennox orders to the individuals. "Pilot, see if you can rotate the drone's camera." The controller pilot acknowledged this and used the control stick to make the camera nodding "yes" to them.
"Yes, yes!" Epps cheered. "Okay, okay, okay! They can see us." He moved out of the way. "They see and hear us."
Braedey crouched down to the camera. "Lennox? Simmons? Mearing? Everyone at NEST. If you hear this message, Chicago is ground zero." He stated quickly. "My team and the Autobots are in the city, getting ready to mount an assault!" Everyone in the room was in shock when he said Autobots, and they are in Chicago.
"Autobots?! They're alive?!" Simmons questioned in shock.
"But... how..?" Mearing began, her also shocked as well.
Jasmine stepped in as Braedey stepped back on the screen. "Please, listen. Sentinel Prime is here and he has the pillars to his Spacebridge. They are on top of the Jewelers Building on the Chicago River. It's owned by Hotchkiss Gould Investments. The control pillar controls everything and is in the southeast cupola."
Braedey next knelt down beside her. "We have to destroy the pillar! they're going to turn Earth into a brand-new Cybertron." He added in. "Do you hear me? THEY ARE GOING TO TURN EARTH INTO CYBERTRON!"
"Give me a GPS on the building and on that drone! Let's go!" Lennox commanded, and a 3D map of the Jewelers Building appeared on the screen, and zoomed in on the southeast cupola where the control pillar is.
"Menstruate those coordinates." An analyst triangulated. "Shorten the kill chain."
"How are they still alive?" Mearing still questioned about the Autobots survival of the Xantium's destruction. "They were supposed to-"
"Mearing, none of that matters now!" Simmons interrupted Mearing, causing her to turn to look at him. "All that matters is that they're alive, and Braedey needs us, and we're gonna help them! You got that?!" Mearing was shocked and silent after that statement, but nodded. "We got to be able to see around that building from the ground." He decided. "Get NSA to send service specs for any cameras in that area. Maybe some are working." He ordered, and Dutch began typing the keyboard, working as fast as he can to gain access to any camera that are near the building. "Traffic lights. ATMs. Anything."
"Call everyone to the launch pads." Lennox commanded.
The three standing in front of UAV stared at the camera before sighing. They stood up, before stepping away from the drone.
"I hope they got that." Epps muttered, voicing everyone's thoughts.
Optimus crouched down by Epps and Braedey. "We need to move before the fighters spot us." He informed the humans as Sideswipe and Elita stood behind him. "Wait here until we scout a route ahead." He pushed himself back to his feet. "'Let's roll."
"Ratchet, cover high." Sideswipe called. Ratchet gave a firm nod before following.
"Ironhide, watch our backs." Elita-One ordered Ironhide, who nodded back, and brought out his energy cannons, keeping an eye out for anything in the sky or nearby.
The Ex-NEST Troopers drag crates of ammunition and weapons from the Autobots arrival and cracked them open before surrendering them.
"Any ideas to level the playing field?" Ken asked.
"Epps, you think we could use that rocket to shoot down the pillar?" Braedey now asked Epps, pointing at Mongo who's holding a MI36 AT4 rocket launcher.
"We're eight blocks away." Epps stated, looking up from the map in his hands. "We got to get closer to take a shot."
"Not closer. Higher." Hooch now corrected, pointing over to a tilted glass building, who stood on a fire-escape with his Milkor MGL Mk IL grenade launcher in his arms. "We need a clear line of sight."
"And it's across the river." Epps added in as everyone looked up at the building. "Gonna have a hell of a time trying to sneak up." He pointed out, looking over at everyone around him.
"We can manage." Jennifer replied smoothly. "Hasn't stopped us in the past, and it won't stop us now."
"We only got one shot." Mongo announced, holding up the one rocket, showing it off to everyone.
"One shot's all we need, Mongo." Braedey nodded firmly. "Let's make it count, and show the Decepticons who they're really messing with."
The humans all climbed into the Autobots' vehicle modes, the second they came back with a safe route to travel through, and they all drove off through the ruined streets of Chicago.