Chapter 101: The Return
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:: I gotcha!:: Bee wrapped my arms around his neck as the damaged aircraft was blown open and water quickly began to fill the capsule.
Fear began to overcome as my brother guided us out of the sinking ship into a large of body of water and brought us up to the surface.
"Bee!" I breathed and slapped my arms wildly against the water to keep myself afloat. "W-What's happening?!"
He grabbed hold of my arms and pulled me against him to calm me. ::If you're cool then I'm cool, then we're cool.::
I shook my head frantically and thrashed about when a small wave of water splashed into my face: "Nothing is cool! This isn't cool! I don't even know what's going on! Why are we in the ocean? Where is everyone-where's dad?! I can't see-wait!"
Before I could finish, Bee wrapped his arms around me and pulled me back under the water.
I squeezed him as he glided through the water. I've always had a fear of Earth's oceans. I find them quite interesting yet terrifying at the same time. The large bodies of water can stretch for miles into a dark abyss. Even after roaming the planet for eons, humans have barely explored 5% of their ocean!
That's 95% of unexplored areas and undiscovered sea animals! Who knows what weird looking deep sea creatures are hiding down there? I've seen some of them on the internet and they are not the friendliest looking!
What if there's some dinosaur sea creatures that the humans thought went extinct still living down there?! Or what if there's a 50 foot octopus that can go invisible?
I closed off my vents and squeezed my optics shut to refrain from facing my fears as he continued to swim.
It wasn't long before we reached shore.
"Bee," I huffed once he pulled us both to the surface and guided us over to a steep hill. "Now can you-Bee!"
::There's no time!::
I reached out and dug my fingers into the Earth, attempting to pull myself out of the water. "Well maybe if you told what's going on then maybe-"
Suddenly, an open servo was thrust in front of my face. "We ain't got time for any questions, sunshine! We gotta go now!"
With the help of Bee, I was able to reach up and latch onto the offered servo. Roadbuster gripped onto my other arm and hauled me out of the water before turning around to help my brother.
"Thanks."
Slowly, I rose to my feet and shook my body to rid excess water. As I wiped my face, I turned to face the other bots as they began to emerge from the ocean with their equipment. I was relieved to see Boomer riding on Jazz's shoulders as he pulled himself out of the water.
I circled around and gaped as I took in our surroundings. We were on some type of rocky coast surrounded by tall hills and overgrown plants.
"W-Where are we? What happened? Um...dad?" I sent the big mech a confused glance as he passed by. I stepped over the small sea life that washed up on shore and hopped over steep rocks to catch up with him.
"Dad?"
He paused and turned to face me.
"What's going on?" I questioned, searching his blank stare for an answer.
He was silent for a moment before he replied, "There is no time. We must go now."
"Wait," I watched as he stepped past me and began barking orders to the bots.
Did he just ignore me?
"Dad," I stumbled forward to catch up with him and placed my servo on his arm to get his attention. "Please tell me what's going." I pleaded softly.
He paused in his stride, his shoulders sagging slightly as he released a heavy sigh through his vents.
Without turning around, he said, "Ride with me on the drive then we'll talk."
I nodded even though he didn't see me.
I was gonna get some answers.
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Sam
"Run!"
"Wrong way!"
"You're going the wrong way! Go back!"
"Get outta here!"
Blood curling screams filled my ears as we slowly passed through the terrified crowds of citizens. Many had collapsed in the middle of the road in tears and violent sobs while others continued to flee even though they were nearly half a mile away from the city. Some even stood on top of damaged cars and just watched the invaders wreak havoc across their home, their expressions haunted and traumatized.
Ignoring the distress and warnings to go back, we continued forward into the city, determination burning deep within.
As we were driving, I noticed a little girl huddled under a bridge with her father protective wrapping his arms around her. Her face was covered with tears, dirt and blood as she clung to her father, yelling out unintelligible
words.
She reminded me of Liza. My little sister. He missed that playful little girl. He missed his brother Bee. His missed his friend, Optimus. He missed all the Autobots. Now they were gone because his race wanted to be so inconsistent and selfish.
Just before they left, Sam saw a new side of Liza that he had never seen before. He witnessed her anger and determination. He saw her fight her brother. Though with Bee being the more experienced soldier, he was able to calm her down a bit but she was having such an emotional breakdown that IronHide had to get involved.
He couldn't do anything but watch as IronHide carried her to the platform over his shoulder. By the way she limply hung from his shoulder, she had seemed to given up but he could her cries from down on the ground,
He could hear her pain and betrayal. He cried with her and it took everything in him to not run up and hug her again. He just...he wanted her back.
With a heavy sigh, I laid my head against the window and drowned out the chaos occurring outside the car.
She didn't even get to spend enough time with Carly. I know after Mikaela left me and refrained from having any contact with us, she began to have trust issues but I wanted Liza to know that Carly was the one. She wasn't gonna be hurt again. I wanted them to build a close relationship.
Now nobody is here to pester or bother me throughout the day. Other than my mom, who's gonna call me Sammy? Who else is gonna cheer me up on my moody days? Who am I gonna celebrate the holidays with?Who's gonna steal my parents attention and make them forget about me with their little adorable face and charm?
The Autobots are dead and Carly is....no, she has to be alive. I still believe she is. She has to be.
"Sam." Epps softly called as he pulled over, frowning at the horrendous sight in front of us.
I stepped out the car and slowly began walking towards destroyed city, refusing to acknowledge the collapsed buildings and the clothes scattered across the empty roads. A group of kids ran past us and I couldn't help but have sympathy for them.
My breath hitched in my throat as a drone shot past us towards the city only to be gunned down by the surrounding alien aircraft in a matter of seconds.
"We came to find her in the middle of that?"
"Are we really going out there, Epps?"
"I'm not going in there."
Hearing their hesitation made me lose some hope but I was determined to find her even it meant being caught in the middle of giant alien ships hovering across the city.
"No one's going in."
Taking a deep breath to steady my nerves , I bravely pressed forward. "I'm going in. With or without you, I'll find her."
"You're gonna get yourself killed, Sam! Is that what you want?" Epps demanded.
I ignored him and continued forward even though I didn't stand a chance.
"Is that what you want? Huh? Listen to what I'm saying!" A hand gripped onto my bag and I angrily swung around to face Epps. "She's here because of me. Do you understand?"
I pulled away from him and continued forward even more determined.
"Listen, if you go in this building, that's if she's even still alive, there's no way you're gonna be able to reach her!"
"What do you suggest I do?" I questioned, turning back around to face him. "Want me to just sit around and hope a miracle will come?"
The retired N.E.S.T solider shook his head as he stared directly in my eyes. "It's over." I could see the fear and regret in his expression. "I'm sorry, but it's over."
I stubbornly shook my head in denial and headed for the city once again. "No."
Suddenly a ship came flying towards us. "Whoa Whoa Whoa! Incoming!"
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Liza
I watched in silent horror as the Wreckers pulled the Deception out of the ship and pulled him apart, limb by limb.
However, I refused to show my fear and kept my expression blank as we approached the group of humans. "Sam!"
The human quickly picked himself up off the ground and turned to face us, his mouth agape. "B-Bee? Liz? You-" He stepped towards, his mouth opening and closing in shock. "W-What happened? I saw your ship blow up!"
"The ship," Roadbuster stated, stepping towards him. "We were never in the ship! We designed the darn thing, didn't we?"
"We were hidden in the first booster rocket to separate. Splashed down back in the Atlantic, just as planned." Leadfoot explained as he tossed the head of the Decepticon aside before spitting on it. "We ain't going nowhere."
Must be nice knowing about the 'secret' plan before being exiled from a planet.
"Yeah, no one's exiling us." My gaze dropped down to the mini-bots on top of a car.
"The Autobots are staying right here. We're gonna help you win this war!" Wheelie spoke confidently as he proudly stuck out his chest.
T-The war? Scrap!
I looked around and took in the brave expressions of the bots and humans surrounding me. They were ready and determined to win.
And I...I'm not ready. Am I ready? I've been training for a little over a year although part of it was delayed but was it enough? Would I be able to defend myself if danger was to come?
I glanced nervously at my father as he began giving out orders and breaking down the battle plan.
Would he let me fight?
If Bee could fight in the war, surely he would let me fight, right? I mean I know Bee is experienced, much older than me and has his own set of skills but...okay maybe this isn't a good idea.
I mean everybot had to have their own battle at some point but this didn't seem anything like a testing situation. I'm sure any of those Cons in that city wouldn't even give you a chance to blink before firing.
I didn't want to play the defenseless little girl and go hide somewhere in some random building while the others were risking their lives to save this selfish planet. It wouldn't be right.
I wanted to help but I've never been in a battle before. I didn't want to get in the way and distract them or have them constantly worry about me. I didn't want to be the cause of their death.
Wait but they can't...I can see the future! I would know if they were at risk at of getting hurt or dying! And I can fly! I can easily escape danger if I need to!
Taking a deep breath, I returned back to my normal form and made myself as unnoticeable as possible.
I was going to help defend my family whether they wanted me to or not.
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