Transformers: Casualties of Hope, Part 3
"I can't see them, can you?" from his position, Windcharger had seen Huffer and Bluestreak jump into the trench but lost sight of them in the chaos.
"There, I see Bluestreak," said Mirage as he watched the Autobot pull himself up onto the mezzanine outside the window.
Windcharger and Mirage poured on the suppressive fire as Bluestreak ran towards them and jumped through the window, taking cover with the others. "Where's Huffer?" asked Windcharger, looking desperately for any sign of the other Autobot.
Trying to regain his composure, Bluestreak didn't look up to answer, "They got him. I couldn't save him..."
Windcharger sank back down to the floor under the window. After slamming his elbow against the wall in anger, he looked at Mirage, "They're going to pick us off one by one if we don't regroup with the other Autobots. We need to hit them back hard if we're going to make a difference."
Mirage agreed, "I haven't been able to reach Ultra Magnus. I don't know if he's within communication range but regardless we need to find him."
"Maybe they got him too," said Bluestreak hopelessly.
Windcharger was growing impatient. He wanted to act yet the Decepticons had already thrown the Autobots into complete disarray. As he fought to remain calm, his comlink picked up a transmission, "To any Autobot who can hear me, please respond."
Windcharger couldn't tell who the caller was over the sound of battle. "This is Windcharger, identify yourself."
"It's Wheeljack. I'm by myself at the central armoury. Is anyone else with you?"
"I'm with Mirage and Bluestreak. We're west of the processing hub. We're trying to regroup with Ultra Magnus. Any word from him?"
"Negative. Listen, you're not too far from me. We need to defend our munitions or we're as good as dead. If you guys can get over here then I have something that will stop the Decepticons dead in their tracks once they break through."
Without power cells for their firearms, Windcharger knew the Decepticons would make short work of the Autobots. "We're on our way, Wheeljack. Just hold tight."
As Windcharger ended the conversation, Bluestreak was waving his hands up in protest, "Hey, you don't speak for all of us. I don't want to go back out there. I almost had my head taken off!"
"And yet you're still alive," said Mirage with contempt in his tone. "Too bad Huffer can't say the same."
Windcharger knew Bluestreak wasn't the bravest Autobot to ever serve but he was still one of them. And whatever Mirage was getting at didn't matter right now. "We can't stay here, Bluestreak. If we do we'll have nothing to fight the Decepticons with once they break through. So you with us?"
Bluestreak was hesitant. "Sure, whatever you say."
"We can't wait any longer," interrupted Mirage as their position was taking more punishment. "We have to get moving, let's go."
Taking off down the hallway, all three Autobots ran down a chaotic route of twists and turns while alarms echoed through the corridors and explosions shook the fortress down to its foundation. Constantly reminding themselves that it was a different route to the armoury, the Autobots weren't used to navigating through the city while it was in fortress mode. They hoped they wouldn't have to double back or find themselves lost.
As the trio turned a corner, they saw a sealed door ahead of them. "Please tell me we can open that!" said Bluestreak.
"We have a bigger problem," said Mirage, inspecting the door's controls. "On the other side of these doors is supposed to be a bridge connecting to the east sector."
"What do you mean 'supposed to be'?" asked Windcharger.
"When the city transforms, the security system locks all the doors and retracts all connecting bridges. There's no other way to get us across without going outside."
"Oh great now what?" complained Bluestreak.
"We have no other choice," said Mirage. "We need to get over one way or another. Let's pry the control panel and try hacking the controls, see if that can get us across."
Mirage struck the edge of the control panel with the butt of his rifle, trying to open it and expose the circuits within. After a few strikes, the panel was bent outwards enough to allow the Autobots to rip it off the wall.
Bluestreak began rewiring the circuits to bypass the security measures and unlock the door. While they waited, the Autobots tried to remain calm as explosions continued to shake the fortress. They wondered if the fortress would hold out long enough for reinforcements to arrive. But no matter what, they remained hopeful, knowing it was all they had to keep them going.
"I think that did it," said Bluestreak nervously, hoping his efforts were futile.
After a few tense seconds, the doors slid open and revealed the extended bridge with another set of doors down at the other end. The battle outside raged on, visible through the bridge's windows, threatening to smash through at any moment.
"Keep your heads down," said Windcharger, rushing over to the other side. "Come on, Bluestreak. We got to unlock this door too!"
Bluestreak followed as Mirage stood next to an exposed window, allowing the others to work on getting them through while he kept watch. As they had done previously, the Autobots forced the control panel open and began hacking the internal circuitry again.
"We got company," said Mirage as he spotted a couple of Decepticons zeroing in on their position. The Autobots hit the floor as laser bolts flew through the windows, spraying the inner walls of the bridge and even ricocheting dangerously close to all inside.
Mirage rushed to the opposite window to return fire, chasing the Decepticons away for the moment. "I'll hold them off. Just get that door open."
"You're going to need a hand, buddy," said Windcharger as he was about to join Mirage in defending the bridge. Then as Bluestreak was about to make the final connection, the circuit board sparked and caught fire as two of its wires made contact. The bridge started to retract back inside the fortress.
"Holy Heterodyne!" yelled Bluestreak as everything shifted and the entrance sealed itself closed. Windcharger and Bluestreak had to keep stepping away from the other doors as the floor slid back into the wall. If the Autobots remained inside the bridge, they would be crushed once it pulled itself inside the fortress.
Mirage didn't let his guard down and continued firing at anything flying by, "Better figure something out or we're jumping through the windows to escape."
"I'm not going back out there!" Out of options and panicking, Bluestreak raised his rifle and shot the panel's exposed circuitry.
An explosion knocked Windcharger and Bluestreak down as the exit to the bridge slid open. Bluestreak's brazen actions worked as the electrical discharge from his rifle overloaded the security systems. Dazed, Windcharger looked up and saw that the explosion hadn't originated from the exposed control panel, instead it came from behind.
"Mirage?" Windcharger could no longer see the other Autobot. On the other side of the bridge, one of the walls was smashed in where Mirage had stood, decimated by a powerful burst of energy. Whatever was left of Mirage lay among the wreckage. The two Autobots had no choice but to make their way off the bridge and leave their friend behind. Soon the bridge had drawn back as much as it could, with the debris from the explosion preventing it from retracting completely inside the fortress. That's when Bluestreak grabbed Windcharger's shoulder and whispered, "It's Megatron!"
From the narrow opening where the bridge should have sealed shut, the two Autobots could see the Decepticon leader down below, giving orders to his warriors as smoke drifted from his fusion cannon. Windcharger grew furious as the reality sunk in, another friend had been killed, and by none other than Megatron.
When the Minibot realized Megatron hadn't seen him, Windcharger dropped his pistol and ripped Bluestreak's rifle from his grasp. He knew Bluestreak's weapon carried far more firepower than his and had a better chance of killing Megatron, so long as he hit him in a vulnerable spot.
With the back of Megatron's head in the rifle's scope, Windcharger fought to keep still and his aim steady as his finger applied pressure to the trigger—