Casualties of Hope, Part 2
As the lift descended, Windcharger almost jumped when a new alarm went off. It was the alert for Autobot City's transformation sequence.
"Well this is going to be interesting," said Windcharger as the lift stopped abruptly, shifted horizontally, then started spinning. The entire city was shifting to defence mode, increasing its fortifications and firepower. With his back against a corner, Windcharger held himself up with both hands pressing against the corner walls. He hoped he didn't end up lost somewhere deep within the internal workings of the city, trapped until the fight was over.
Without warning, Windcharger was tossed to the floor when the lift suddenly stopped. Jumping back to his feet, the Minibot began hitting the controls, hoping to get the lift moving again. When nothing happened, Windcharger realized he was stuck. Blast it, he thought, I need to get out of here and help the others!
With the city on lockdown, Windcharger knew he couldn't force the doors open. Instead, he eyed the escape hatch on the floor and hoped they were still accessible. Punching the controls the floor opened up, allowing the Minibot to jump through the hatch and escape his temporary prison.
Landing on top of a massive energon transfer tube, Windcharger found himself in a maze made up of pipes running in all directions, gears attached to various machines twitching as they rested, pistons pushing whole sections of the city's inner workings. He had no idea which way to go but he wasn't going to wait around here. He jumped on top of a row of pipes and then to a steel grate, making his way through the labyrinth of metal. I just hope the city doesn't transform again or I'll become a permanent part of the interior!
Above Autobot City, the Decepticons had complete domination of the sky. Scattered across the fortress, taking refuge behind anything that could shelter them from the onslaught above, the Autobots fought back. Hiding below a smashed-out window, lining up his sights on any Decepticon flying by, Mirage fought desperately to even up the odds.
The Decepticons were too fast for the city's defence cannons to shoot them out of the air. At the most, they kept the enemy at bay, preventing them from taking a foothold on the city's grounds. And despite his marksmanship honed over years of hunting, Mirage found his efforts almost pointless as the Decepticons didn't let up on their assault. "You'd think after all the turbofoxes I'd hunted I could at least down a couple of Decepticons!" he said to himself.
A loud metallic bang from behind made Mirage whip his rifle around, thinking the Decepticons had broken in. Aiming down the corridor he saw someone had busted through an air vent and was now lying on the floor. "Windcharger?"
"Sorry, I should have knocked," said the Minibot as he picked himself up, rushing to Mirage's side.
"I probably would have shot you," replied Mirage.
Leaning against the wall, on the other side of the window, Windcharger brought out his battle pistol and tried to get a view of the carnage outside. "Have you made contact with anyone else?"
"Ultra Magnus is trying to regroup our forces. When the Decepticons eventually break through, he plans on meeting them head-on," said Mirage in between firing into the air. "But honestly, it isn't looking too good for us."
Before the two Autobots could say anymore, their comlinks came to life as a panicked voice came over the airwaves. "If anyone can hear me, we're outside and pinned down!"
"That's Huffer," said Mirage before answering the transmission, "Huffer this is Mirage, are you outside the city?"
"Negative. Kup sent me and Bluestreak back before the slag hit the turbine. Now we're stuck behind the processing hub. They got us pinned down!"
Windcharger risked a look through the window and could see a group of airbourne Decepticons strafing the processing hub where Huffer and Bluestreak hid. "You're 30 clicks from us. Were in the base of the main observation deck. Make your way over here and we'll cover you."
Ending the transmission Windcharger and Mirage checked the power levels of their firearms. Once satisfied, they waited for the Decepticons to attack the processing hub again, hoping their efforts would be good enough to get their comrades to safety.
Slapping his comlink closed, Huffer turned to Bluestreak, "You heard them, they're not too far off. Get ready to burn rubber."
With chaos surrounding them, Bluestreak was trying hard to get it together, "I don't know if I can do it," cried the Autobot as he fired randomly at the Decepticons. "They'll gun us down before we make it."
"They'll gun us down if we stay here. Mirage and Windcharger got our backs, so if you want to stay here and waste ammo then be my guest. If not, follow me," Huffer got up, ready to make a run for it.
The processing hub the two hid behind rested on an elevated platform. Down below was a trench that extended to their destination but was full of sharp turns and corners. The Autobots would have to make their way on foot as the crooked path would slow anyone down in their vehicle mode.
Seeing how hesitant Bluestreak was, Huffer pressed the Autobot. "Hey, I don't want to do this either but are you coming or not?"
Bluestreak looked between the distance they had to travel and the menace in the sky, Unable to vocalize that he was ready, Bluestreak simply nodded that he was good to go.
The two Autobots waited for their chance, watching a pair of Seekers heading straight toward them. As the Decepticons got closer, laser fire struck one of the Seekers in his wings. When both Decepticons scrambled to get out of the line of fire, Huffer and Bluestreak jumped into the trench and took off running.
With the sky lit up, full of sporadic laser fire and explosions, the pair ran as fast as they could, knowing at any minute they could fall victim to the threat above. Halfway to their destination, Huffer and Bluestreak were spotted. Projectiles sprayed the wall just above their heads, forcing them to duck out of harm's way. "We're not going to make it!" yelled Bluestreak, overtaken with fear.
"Now's not the time to give up!" Huffer answered back as he pulled Bluestreak to his feet and pushed him forward.
The Seekers continued spraying laser bolts after the Autobots with each pass they made. Bluestreak gave up trying to shoot back as Huffer kept telling him to run. It felt like their destination was miles away. Every turn slowed them down, every projectile threatened to end their plight. Bluestreak feared they may run into a dead end. And if so then what?
"Bluestreak, watch out!"
Bluestreak felt himself shoved forward as an explosion went off inside the trench. Hearing the rockets approach before they made impact, Huffer pushed Bluestreak out of the way before jumping to safety. The two Autobots were unharmed by the blast but were now separated from each other as the walls of the trench had fallen in on itself.
Scrambling to his feet, Huffer began to climb up the pile of debris. He could hear Bluestreak screaming from the other side. The other Autobot had completely lost control and was shooting wildly into the air, "Hang on, Bluestreak. I'm coming!"
Bluestreak was firing at anything moving in the sky. His actions were so sporadic he missed everything he shot at. Spinning around as he followed a low-flying Seeker, he let loose with his rifle on full automatic.
To Bluestreak's horror, the Seeker escaped unscathed while Huffer, falling to his knees on top of the pile of debris, had taken the full blast from Bluestreak's rifle. With a confused look on his face and energon leaking from his chest, Huffer remained still for a few more seconds before his body collapsed and slid down the debris.
Shocked at what he had done, Bluestreak tried calling out to Huffer but the Minibot didn't answer. Bluestreak couldn't believe it. Moments before the attack, the two had been working together outside of Autobot City, making fun of each other as they had done for many years. Now not only had Bluestreak witnessed Huffer's death, he was responsible for it. With his hand stretched out, Bluestreak moved towards Huffer, wanting to see if he was still alive. But his fear reminded him that the longer he stayed out here, chances were he'd be next to perish.
Slowly Bluestreak backed off, stepping away until he started running again. Even if he survived today, even if this war was to end soon, Bluestreak knew he would never live this down. And most importantly, he hoped no one ever found out.