Newer World Order

Chapter 7: Big Badda-Boom

"It's a shame we can't use any of this footage in our documentary series," the camera guy said, leaning forward and staring at the monitors as the battle raged on.

"Some of it might be declassified eventually. We'll just have to wait for it." Tenesha shrugged. "The interviews we get after the team comes back should be interesting, though."

Sierra nodded, but had most of her attention on the feed from Smokescreen's optics and her occasional glances at the other monitors. On the feed from Arcee's optics, Smokescreen shifted back into his vehicle mode and raced across the pavement toward one of the guys in powered armor. The guy noticed him a split-second before Smokescreen plowed into him and knocked both legs out from under him.

"Boop!" Smokescreen laughed as the man tumbled through the air and then slid across the ground. Sierra burst into laughter.

"Hmm." Tenesha cocked her head. "Took me a moment to remember where I'd seen one of those cars before. It looks like the one you had in the game everyone was playing a couple weeks ago."

"Yeah." Sierra chuckled. "The Grotti X80 Proto. When I mentioned it was my favorite car in the game, Smokescreen used it as his vehicle mode. Not sure how he did it. I thought they had to scan real vehicles, but I guess he built a 3D model or something." She blushed. "Well, however he did it, I thought it was really sweet."

"Ah. You two are, uh ...?"

Sierra wondered if she should keep quiet about it, but then she decided to let the cat out of the bag. Her parents would find out about it sooner or later, anyway.

"Yep."

"Interesting. I wonder how many centuries old he is."

"I never asked him." Sierra shrugged. "He's young compared to most of the others, and his personality is a lot like most of the guys I go to school with, so it never really occurred to me. Uh, I mean, guys other than Vince and the clods who hang out with him."

Tenesha grinned. "Still haven't gotten your hostility toward him out of your system, even after you spent a few hours kicking his ass all over Los Santos?"

"Like I told him when he was begging me to stop, I'm barely getting warmed up. Next time I run into him while I'm in the game, I'm gonna have a field day until he gives up and logs out." She returned her attention to the screens and found one centered on Khalilah. Three of the Decepticon defectors had just arrived on the scene to bring Khalilah back to the base for repairs.

"It's still burning through her," one of them muttered. "Slower than before, but it hasn't stopped."

"You'd better cut it out, then," Khalilah said. "Before it melts through something vital. Just core it like an apple."

"Ratchet and Knockout should be able to handle that." One of the Vehicons slid his arms under her. "They have all the tools they need to ..."

One of the other defectors appeared to notice something off-camera and spun toward it. On another screen, one of the men in powered armor aimed his cannon at Arcee's back -- and she hadn't noticed him. The Vehicon darted behind her, then just stood there and waited, shielding her with his body. She glanced over her shoulder at him, gasped, and grabbed his arm. She yanked him to the side just as the MECH guy fired, and the projectile grazed his shoulder and ricocheted into the sky.

Arcee turned toward the dude in the powered armor, snarled, and charged him. He and several of his buddies opened fire on her. She leaped and darted back and forth and dodged all of the shots before cocking her right leg back and punting the guy who'd shot at her straight into a stack of shipping crates. He slammed into them hard enough to scrape them across the ground and leave a dent when he collapsed. Arcee plucked her scaled-up, lever-action shotguns off her hips and pointed them at the others.