Picking at what skin remained around her wounds, Minnie looked up at the city scape. Dark smoke trailed up into the air. Wincing when she had hit a nerve, an actual human nerve not a robotic one, she turned and watched as a line of men walked towards the city limits. She watched as they walked past the guards and ran down the streets, every so often ducking into shattered buildings and crumbling alleyways.
Hearing a gun behind her she looked over her shoulders. "Miko! What the hell are you doing? Take that back!" Minnie exclaimed and ran after the teenager as she stupidly began to climb up a piece of fencing which a guard was not standing near to.
"Miko!" Jack and Raf appeared, even Fowler appeared beside them too.
"That girl," Fowler grumbled.
Minnie frowned. "We have to get her back." The three males nodded agreeing with her. They couldn't leave her out there. "Where'd she get the funky gun?" At this Fowler pointed over to the second tent. "She is so sneaky," Minnie commented. She had to hand it to Miko, she had smooth stealing skills.
"Well," Jack swung his arms loosely by his side. "Here we go." He darted forward with Raf and Minnie following closely behind. Scaling the fence was rather easy, landing in a crouch on the other side they looked around. Miko was not nearby, of course she'd immediately run off somewhere.
"How are we going to find her?" Raf asked.
"Where Bulkhead is, she'll be." Jack answered and peered around a building.
"Easier said than done. Where's Bulkhead?" Raf followed Jack as they crept down the street.
Minnie reached up and pressed the device in her ear. She still had it, and she was grateful of this. "Miko's in the city." She said quietly, there was a crackled reply. Jack and Raf looked at her. "One of them will find her."
——
No matter how many drones were shot or cut down, more appeared. Fighting alongside the humans, Optimus had to them all credit for their bravery. For they were all fighting with incredible bravery. With their help, the task of dispatching drones became easier. But despite the fact that working with them in this battle was becoming easier, the fight just seemed to get harder.
The centre of the city was where Megatron was no doubt trying to find Unicron. Optimus did not know what he was doing. This was different than the last scare of an awakening. There was no volcano which seemed to be the source. This was just a city, high sky touching buildings with shimmering glass windows, smooth streets and many, many citizens.
They had all split up into teams with the army. From each avenue they were all slowly closing in on the centre of the city, and Megatron's stronghold. Hearing the roar of engines, Optimus briefly looked up to see Starscream shoot ahead, on his tail were numerous jets which were firing at him. A small spark ignited on the Decepticon's wing, he dodged and ducked and swerved. Unsteadily he disappeared past some buildings. Starscream's earlier companion was nowhere to be seen. Soundwave was no doubt by Megatron's side, which was no doubt where Starscream was heading for now.
The mere thought of them three being in the same place at the same time seemed to spur him on. This needed to be stopped. This all had gone too far. Everyone seemed tired by this endless fighting. It needed to come to an end soon or a stalemate would appear. And that honestly wasn't something Optimus wanted to happen. Given the chance Megatron would send something their way.
Grabbing a hold of a drones arm, Optimus tugged backwards as it tried pulling itself free. All this resulted in was a painful groan of metal. Using his blade, Optimus sliced upwards, throwing the dismembered arm over his shoulder he took to shooting the flailing drone. He had honestly lost count with the number of drones he'd had to fight so far. Too many, way too many. Fighting like this just seemed like a waste of life. These drones ran into battle on the whim of Megatron, they didn't get anything out of it. Perhaps they'd get some misguided pride from surviving, but for that to happen; first they'd actually have to live.
With the way things were slowly turning out, not many drones were surviving, it was still such a waste of life. Despite them being enemies, even Optimus saw that so much loss in life was hard to bear. No one should be so blindly fooled into this battle. In his eyes it honestly wasn't worth it. What was the cause? To awake Unicron so he could effectively destroy the world, or attempt to again? Did the Decepticon drones, or even the key Decepticons themselves, honestly think that if Unicron did wake up he would keep them around?
Unicron, Optimus was sure, only looked out for himself and his goals. Looking up at the sound of rapid fire, he watched as the humans took down two drones. They were using specialised ammo which was designed to pierce through and damage the Cybertronian matter which was hiding underneath their armour. It looked excruciating.
Turning away from the humans, Optimus got barrelled backwards and lifted into the air. "Wonder how the humans will cope without their leader?" Starscream commented while readjusting his grip on Optimus's arms. Starscream had partially transformed so only his arms were present in his airborne mode.
"I do not lead them. They're leading themselves."
"Right to their deaths, it's rather dismal, isn't it?" Starscream asked. When he didn't get an answer he was about to comment again, only he screamed and let Optimus go. He had purposely shifted about so Starscream would readjust his grip, when he had, Optimus managed to position his hand upwards. Just as Starscream's attention was diverted to asking another pointless question, Optimus had fired off two rounds.
Falling back to the ground below, Optimus looked up. The fire on his wing had gone out, but it had destroyed most of it. There was a lot of damage done which couldn't be repaired. Being shot twice through the chest added to that. Crashing and skidding to a halt, Optimus looked up as Starscream's form crashed against numerous rooftops before trying to transform to see the extent of the damage.
He never managed to do a damage report because the army had taken to firing at him in his weakened state. Tanks shot up at him along with a few soldiers. Jets from above fired a few times as they passed him too. In reality, Starscream didn't stand a chance to fly back to the safety of Megatron's side. Optimus frowned and turned, blade rising to block an attack which was sent his way. He couldn't help but to think over Starscream's death, he highly doubted Megatron would pay much mind to it. He imagined he'd curse his idiocy and turn back to his suicidal mission of awakening Unicron.
——
"This is stupid." Minnie commented, they were sheltering in what used to be a café. "Where is she?"
Jack turned from the door and looked at her. "I honestly thought that finding Bulkhead would be easier than this." Minnie smiled sadly. They all hoped that once they had found the green wrecker that Miko would be with him. Only neither had happened. They hadn't found Bulkhead, and Miko was still missing in action.
"Perhaps we should go back?" Raf commented from the bar stool he was sitting on.
"I personally love that idea, but we can't leave her." Minnie stated. What friends would they be if they all up and left her in a warring city?
"The army are escorting anyone they come across back out of the city." Jack said, "They'll find us soon. Then we'll be escorted out."
"Maybe it's for the best." Minnie said while picking at her hand again. "I'll find her." She said while her finger tapped against a metallic bone in her finger.
"What?" Raf exclaimed. "No-"
"Look, we all know that when it comes to surviving this, I have more chance than you two. You two don't have any weapons, not a plan, nothing."
"And you have a plan?" Jack crossed his arms. "Would say about weapons, but you're covered there."
"I do actually." Minnie smiled happily. "Listen, if you stick to alleys and abandoned buildings you should be able to cover quite a wide ground. If you come across a Decepticon, hunker down and wait for it to pass. I'm not saying leave the city, although I should, but if Miko is in this area you two can find her."
"What about you?" Jack frowned.
"I'm going more into the city." Minnie said casually. "If Miko has made it further into the city, then really I'm taking responsibility here to find her." Pausing she stuffed her hands back into her pockets. "Any problems?" Jack and Raf shook their heads slowly. "Good luck then." Casually she hugged them both quickly before darting out of the building.
It was a hard task really, avoiding the army and Decepticon drones. If that weren't enough Minnie caught herself trying to point survivors in the right direction to the city limits. They needed to get out of here. Most of them looked at her like she was mad when she ran in the opposite direction.
Miko, wherever she was, she hoped she was safe. As Minnie travelled further into the city, it was more than clear to see that the city was becoming more destroyed as the streets passed. Minnie, despite not wanting to, was slowly losing faith in finding the young teenager.
Pulling to a stop, she leaned against her knees and breathed deeply. She had been running around for the past hour, she hadn't paused to rest. She wanted to find Miko and then she wanted to get out of the city. Looking up slowly she yelped and jolted back. Out of instinct she lifted up her arms, there wasn't so much pain anymore as they transformed. Frowning she slowly moved forwards. Shifting one arm back to normal, she reached out and placed her hand against the form in front of her.
Lowering her other arm she listened to the quiet clink of metal shifting back. Minnie's eyes looked over the lifeless form of Starscream. Out of all Decepticons to go down, she didn't know Starscream would fall. Sure, she knew he'd most likely have a nasty end. And it was more than clear that getting shot several times and then some was the nasty end which came for him.
Climbing up some rubble, Minnie crouched down and placed a finger against one of the bullet holes. She didn't know whether to class the gaping hole as a bullet wound, considering it was more than clear that the attack came from a tank. "Still warm, well, warmish." Minnie mused, which meant that she was slowly closing in on the Autobots who helped take Starscream down. She wasn't too up for crossing paths with the army, but she knew an Autobot would vouch for her. Although yes, she would likely be lectured to, but she could deal with that.
Jumping down she ran on. As she passed ruined buildings, and crushed cars, Minnie couldn't see how Miko would come this far. She may be silly, but she surely wasn't this silly. Minnie dearly hoped that even Miko could sense the danger of being this close to the battle.
"Hey!" Turning Minnie frowned, shaking her head she walked over to the teenager she was looking for. "Little help?" Minnie looked down at Miko. She had been trapped under some debris. Miko giggled sheepishly and looked up at her. "You came for me? Where's the others?"
"They're elsewhere looking for you." Minnie tilted her head to the side. "Shield your eyes." Lifting her arm up she shot at pieces of debris which weren't near her legs. Miko managed to kick the bricks and plaster off of herself. Springing up she looked at Minnie. She didn't look too pleased. Shaking her head she pointed down the street. "Move it, we're leaving." Minnie said seriously, Miko looked like she was about to contradict her, which only resulted in Minnie narrowing her eyes. "I mean it, move. I do not wish to leave you to run about in a city where you could possibly die. Move now, or I will drag you away." Minnie said deadly serious, Miko started to walk off. Minnie highly doubted Miko really understood the severity of this all. In some respects, that only irritated Minnie more than Miko's general running off.
"Woah," Miko said as the ground suddenly shook, turning the two of them looked up as a drone landed and looked over the form of Starscream. They were both still rather close, standing stock still they hoped it didn't look up. Only, that never happened. After clearly reporting back to Megatron that Starscream was dead, it looked up. "I think it thinks we did the deed, ya know?"
"No, I don't think it thinks that. Not unless you have a tank hidden in your pockets." Minnie looked over her shoulder. The drone took a step forward as they took several steps back. "I think it knows who we are so it's going to try and get us."
"By get you mean...?"
"Yup," Minnie turned sharply and pushed Miko to run. "Keep running! Head for the city limits, Jack and Raf are loitering around there-"
"What about you?"
"Miko, I'm covering your escape. I said I was taking responsibility to get you to safety, I am intending to stick to this. Now move! Keep moving, don't pause, don't stop, just keep running!" Minnie skidded to a halt and turned just as the drone's foot landed in front of her, looking over her shoulder Minnie smiled at the sight of Miko's form being far away. For once, she listened to someone. "Oh, you're much bigger up close. I'm like an ant." Minnie despaired and hung her head. Nodding slowly, she looked up it was still then, an oddly refreshing breeze blew past them. Minnie narrowed her eyes and jumped back as the drone decided to try and attack her.
There wasn't much chance she could take down a drone, not on her own anyway. Running through the drones legs she shielded her head as it turned sharply and shot down at the ground where she was moments ago. Dust and pieces of tarmac flew up. Ignoring the sharp hit of rough sidewalk and road, Minnie continued on running. She wasn't technical minded, but considering Starscream's wounds were still warm, the people who inflicted them on him were minutes ahead, if that.
As she passed the lifeless forms of Decepticon drones, Minnie spared them quick glances. Screaming when one got thrown in her direction, she skidded along the ground. Slamming her hands down, she ignored the ripping sensation of skin and looked up. It seemed the drone which was chasing her was going to go through any means possible to get her, or to effectively kill her. Pushing herself up she lifted her arm up. She hadn't shot anyone, or anything, except Knock Out and even then that was sort of through an accident.
"Woah," Minnie breathed out as she shot up at the drone, the recoil sent her stumbling backwards. Although her shot did hit him, the drone merely seemed to shrug her attack off. Minnie gave a sheepish grin, turned around and quickly scampered off. She could see now why techno-organics would be a failure in battle. Not enough fire power. Sure, her hit had scratched the drones paint job, but that wasn't really an attack as such. It didn't effect it at all, it kept charging after her. Minnie ran and shot over her shoulder every so often. If her attacks slowed it down, then she had more chance of finding help before it got her.
Skidding around a corner she jumped up and over a burnt out tank, she couldn't stop to see if anyone was still alive in the area. Jumping down she continued on, passing more crushed cars and burnt out buildings. Swinging around another corner she smiled lightly at the sight of people, the army right now seemed to be taking a small break.
"Hey!" She screamed and shot over her shoulder again when the drone practically crashed through the nearest building to get to her. The men noticed and took up arms. Minnie jolted about trying to duck out of the way of their gun fire. Not looking where she was exactly going she screamed when she got scooped up.
"Are you still able to fire?" Minnie opened an eye and looked up at Optimus, she nodded slowly and climbed up to his shoulder. Lifting up her arm she had a hard time of trying to concentrate her pathetic gun fire while with her other hand, clung onto him so she didn't fall.
——
(Edited: 18/August/2020)