𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄
'𝖽𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗆 𝗈𝗇, 𝗍𝗈𝗆𝗈𝗋𝗋𝗈𝗐 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝗍𝖺𝗄𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖺𝗐𝖺𝗒'
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𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐎𝐁𝐎𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐃 across the country at unreal speeds, Chicago became overrun by Decepticons. The city had become a warzone, growing increasingly worse within the last twenty-four hours, with no one able to enter or leave.
It was safe to assume the pillars were spread out across the globe by the time they reached the outskirts of the city, but with that, they also were confident that the control pillar was being kept in the city.
That was their only chance at winning this with the numbers stacked against them, and their element of surprise was an even greater advantage since both their previous allies and Decepticons believed they were all offlined.
⁖ Drone, dead ahead. ⁖
Elita was quick to point out their open comm as they reached the entrance of the city.
The Prime fired at the flying object, everyone watching as it crashed into the street with a short explosion. The roof of the drone had been blown off, revealing the struggling Decepticon inside.
As they got closer, they could hear the screams of humans directly beside it. By pure luck, It was Epps's team as well as the one human who was saddest to see their death: Sam.
Optimus cocked his cannon, stepping forward stoically, "We will kill them all."
The triplets reached the scene first, being at the front of their group.
Chromia ripped the mech from his seat in the drone, her elder and younger sister shooting him straight through his chassis to offline him.
The astounded humans gaped at the Autobots who they previously believed to be dead.
"Your leader will now understand that Decepticons will never leave your planet alone. And we needed them to believe we had gone. For today, in the name of freedom, we take the battle to them!" Optimus never was too good at expressing what he felt, but this proved that he was just as resentful of being suddenly turned against despite their warnings. He too, as time went on, shared a similar distrust with humankind as they continued to jeopardize his team.
Bumblebee approached Sam, his sparkmate and bitlet lingering a few steps behind. The boy held an expression of disbelief as he stared at the scout, "I saw your ship blow up."
Eclipse transformed carefully to not hurt Nova. If she pressed her seats back and the bitlet laid down, she could fit inside. It was only for their long travels since Nova was not old enough for an alternative mode.
"We were never on it." Eclipse clarified shortly before Bluestreak popped up behind her.
"We were hidden in the first booster rocket to separate. Then we splashed down back into your Earth's ocean." The blue mech explained, full of energy, "The 'cons are our problem to handle, and we've dealt with them long enough to see obvious traps like that."
Sam looked at the Bluestreak as he gave a short nod at his words, not quite knowing who he was given that he was recently awoken.
Optimus got back onto the topic at hand, "They're surrounding the city to make a fortress so that no one can see what they're up to inside. Our only chance is the element of surprise."
Surprising everyone, the Witwicky boy stated, "I think I know where to look."
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"𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 thing right?" Sam questioned Bumblebee, standing on top of the crashed drone that seemed to be in relatively working order, even after they forcefully shoved the roof of it back on. They'd just have to hope that it stayed there.
Bumblebee shrugged, swaying his servo from side to side causing the femme to snicker.
"What is that supposed... What is that? So-So?" He copied Bee's servo movements mockingly, "So you so-so can fly this? That feels terrible."
"Would you rather I fly?" Eclipse offered with a teasing tone, "I'm quite the pilot."
Sam stared at her for a moment, and she could practically see his mind coming up with all the ways she would probably fly like a maniac before he pivoted toward the scout, "Alright, Bee, I have full faith in you." They both laughed.
"See you soon, Bee." Eclipse waved, wishing him luck in her own way, "Don't crash." Poor mech hadn't flown anything since Cybertron.
"Yeah, yeah... Thanks for the reassurance."
"I love you~" She offered in response to his sarcasm causing him to chuckle.
He shortly pressed his forehelm to hers, "Love you too."
The scout then repeated the action to the bitlet in her arms, "Love you too, Novie."
He trudged toward the drone, smiling as Nova beamed behind him, "Love you, Sire!"
Bumblebee gave a short wave as he climbed into the seat of the drone as the other Autobots left, his optics watching Eclipse holding the femmeling as she ran down a different path than the bots. She was going to try to avoid it all for the safety of Nova but stick close behind as they pathed the way.
He closed the top of the drone with Sam climbing on top, ready to rescue Mikaela.
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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐌 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐒 they traveled through the city with caution. There was no room for mistakes, having to shoot down every Decepticon or drone who spotted them along the way before they could report their existence.
The Autobots leading the way were like a distant thunder, just around the corner as the winds of uncertainty grew stronger.
Each explosion was like lightning crashing down, each rumble shaking the floor beneath her pedes from the ricochet of gunfire every time they shot someone down a reminder of the storm they were entering.
The skyscrapers she weaved in and out of were tall, just barely revealing the darkened sky that hid the sun.
She followed their path, shielding Nova's optics from the fallen they left behind in pools of blue.
Eclipse rounded another corner, spotting the group that had come to a short stop.
Nova had been the one to spot the scout standing on top of the crashed drone in the street, Mikaela and Sam standing beside it. She whirred, causing Eclipse's optics to follow her line of sight.
Bumblebee mimicked the whirr, causing the bitlet to squeak happily as he walked over.
Their greeting was short lasting as Sam and Mikaela walked over to Epps, the three surrounding a shot-down drone. Only it wasn't one of the Decepticons' drones, but one of the many that the humans had sent in that didn't make it very far.
Everyone hovered around while still keeping an eye or optic on their surroundings. The sounds of the storm still occurred in the distance, others closer than others. By no means were they safe.
Epps stood in front of the camera of the device, "Flight control, do you copy? Can you rotate? Can you do something?" When there was no response, he continued in hopes someone would hear on the other end, "Come on man, work! Work!"
Everyone's hopes lifted just a little higher when the machine rotated slightly, signaling there was someone there watching the live camera feed.
"They can see us!" Epps moved out of the way to let Sam and Mikaela through to explain what was happening. They were now the military's only source of information on what was transpiring inside the city.
"Chicago is ground zero. Do you understand? Do you hear us?"
Sam is pushed out of the way by Mikaela who hurriedly spoke to the camera and whoever might be watching, "Sentinel Prime is here and he has the pillars for his space bridge. They're on top of a building on the Chicago River. It's owned by Hotchkiss Gould Investments. Now, the pillar that controls everything is in the southeast cupola."
Sam came back in over her shoulder, "You've got to destroy the pillar. You have to shoot down the pillar or they're going to transport Cybertron here. Do you understand?"
Optimus spoke up after the instructions to the humans were given, interrupting a conversation between the soldiers present, "We need to move before the scouts spot us."
They wasted no time, ducking into a building to hide out in the meantime. They had to take a moment to strategize before they continued any further, and it was better to not do so while out in the open.
A good thing too because they all went silent as a Decepticon went passed with an echoing stomp.
"That is one scary-ass Decepticon." Sam uttered fearfully once the mech was gone, referring to Shockwave.
Eclipse knew of Shockwave after hearing of some pretty fatal battles from other Autobots on Iacon. She only knew that he was one of the Decepticons' deadliest assets, a highly intelligent scientist with quite good defensive skills.
"They got my trailer, I need that flight-tech." Optimus said as he peeked out over one of the windows, catching the sight of his trailer.
Eclipse's optic-ridges furrowed, "When did you lose that?"
"Prime got it snagged during the mission at Chernobyl." Jazz explained for him, giving the mech a look. Optimus never was too good at keeping an optic on multiple things. He had been so focused on the Ark's piece that his own valuables were taken right from him.
He didn't have time to take it back until now when he needed it.
"Shockwave can't hunt all of us at once. We need a diversion." Optimus got back on task, dismissing his honest mistake.
Bluestreak raised his servo above his helm, "Oh! I can!"
They all turned to the younger mech as Optimus nodded, giving him the confirmation to proceed.
"They won't know what hit them." He smirked, causing Mirage to ruffle his helm in a teasing manner for his excitement. He was quickly shoved off in response.
Epps ran toward his team, "Listen. We are going to circle around, and we'll get high enough to make the rocket shot." He then pointed at the Autobots, "While you guys draw his fire. Let's move!"
Wheeljack waved his servos to stop the humans, "Wait a minute! I am not letting you go out there without my urban combat prototypes." The femme and black and yellow mech shared a look, the urgency to get out of there making them antsy about the delay.
"We've got to go, Wheeljack. Come on."
Wheeljack batted his servo at them dismissively as he dropped his prototypes in front of the humans, "Oh please! They're great inventions for kicking aft!"
"Eclipse," Called Jazz, standing beside Optimus, "You should take Nova and hide." His voice was unwavering and certain, determined to make sure she didn't argue with him on this. The two in charge seemed to already have agreed on this plan.
She looked over to Bumblebee who glanced at the femmes before nodding, thinking of the bitlet's safety, "I think he's right... I can go with."
Optimus shook his helm, "Bumblebee, you're needed here. Sam needs your protection."
The scout's door wings hung at the answer he received. Eclipse was able to handle herself, but being alone with a bitlet in a warzone made him nervous. Anyone could see that.
That was when Sideswipe took a step forward, "I'll go with them and scout ahead so they can get somewhere safe."
Bumblebee visibly relaxed upon hearing the proposition that Optimus and Jazz agreed to.
He turned her way, pressing his forehlem shortly to the both of them, "I'll see you soon... Stay safe."
"Same goes for you." She replied, watching as Bluestreak went zooming out of the room in his alternative-mode, Bumblebee and the others following after shortly.
"Ready?" Sideswipe asked her as he cocked his cannon at his side.
What she wanted to answer was no but nodded her helm anyway.
Then she watched him leave too. He wasn't going far, simply a few dozen feet in front of her to assure a safe path, but she was alone with Nova all the same.
The storm clouds were rolling powerfully, taking over the sky as she weaved in and out of the streets, a crackling rumble of thunder sounding with every step her pedes took.
She held Nova closer, trying so hard to hold her helm down to her chassis to shield her optics from anything going on around her.
Eclipse knew how she felt. To see war for the first time was something that would never leave you, her optics flashing with memories of the one dreaded night of her past.
Her helm slowly tilted up at the red flames that danced across her vision, skyscrapers engulfed in flames, many collapsed already into rubble on the ground.
A gust of wind blew against them from overhead as Eclipse waited around a corner for Sideswipe to finish off the drones on the other side.
She craned her neck as jets and planes pass overhead endlessly. Her frame jolted with every loud explosion, sending her spark through a loop over and over.
Eclipse spun around the corner as it went silent, running the way he had gone.
However, one of the drones still flickered with life so she wasted no time raising her cannon with her free arm.
The fumbling of her servos got increasingly worse, unable to stop the shaking.
Her steady arm shot the drone with no hesitance, continuing on her way as the ground shook beneath her pedes. The whimper in her audio receptors hadn't gone unnoticed, only pushing her to go faster to get Nova out of there.
But there was a sharp crack, the swelling clouds rumbling as someone else came around the corner.
In darkness brewing, Eclipse sharply turned into the broken doorway of a building, her back pressed against it.
An unsettling breeze sent shivers down her back, and every bit of warmth was chased away as she heard his steps.
The deadly calm came as she went completely still, holding Nova so tight that she didn't dare move a limb.
She felt the cracks of debris under his pedeing as he walked by, his presence so familiar but horrifying all the same with the curtain stakes.
Her helm carefully peeked around the edge, seeing that the figure had passed by.
With caution, the femme stepped out from her hiding spot. The cold set in as her helm veered left, then right.
But then a vengeful, commanding boom sounded down the street as the Decepticon was thrown back against the wall.
Sideswipe came right after, cannon pointed at Megatron's raging figure as he looked their way, "Go!"
No one had to tell her twice, the rain beginning to fall as she sprinted back into the building. It was either that or back into the middle of a warzone with her path now compromised.
The femme slammed open the door to the staircase, her pedes barreling up with no care for where the actual human-sized steps were.
Nova's cries became blended with the pouring rain, unceasingly hitting the glass on the windows. She could do nothing but shush her, assuring that Sideswipe had it handled.
She climbed floor upon floor, the skyscraper reaching so high that she had lost count long ago.
The raging storm outside along with the faint echoes of their fighting echoed up the staircase before she kicked up the rooftop door upon reaching the top floor.
Her helm looked over her shoulder-plate, backing away from the door now that they were a safe distance. She bounced the bitlet slightly, trying to calm her amidst the raging storm.
However, the darkness had already crept to the rooftop, peace driven away as she felt Nova being tugged away from her.
The femme held tight, turning to find a flying mini-con with his claws latched onto the bitlet's arm.
Eclipse turned on her magnetizers as her grip became slippery from the rain, both fighting for possession of the smaller bot crying out.
The tug continued, and her patience grew thinner, one of her servos letting go and transforming into a cannon. She shot Laserbeak with no hesitance, forcing him to finally let go.
The force at which they were pulling and his sudden release caused her to go flying backward into the doorway.
Her form was kicked back forward by the Decepticon leader who just reached the top, Laserbeak snatching Nova from her grip as she fell onto her chassis.
Eclipse scrambled to her pedes, spark sinking into her tanks as her servos flew in front of her to grab her stolen femmeling.
As her optics met the barrel of a cannon, she was forced to stop all of her movement.
Nova's cries became the only sound to match the nearby thunder, filling her audio receptors hauntingly as she slowly stood up.
A sight she never wanted to see was Megatron holding her squirming femmeling in his arms, cannon pointed her way so she couldn't reach her without being shot.
The rain pouring down had turned to white noise, her entire world slowing down as she shakily asked, "What do you want?" She raised her servos.
"This seems familiar, Eclipse." He tsked, knowing just how defenseless he had her.
Megatron chuckled indignantly as he pressed his pede powerfully on top of her, the femme groaning on the ground despite her efforts to not show her pain. She couldn't sit up, her sword out of reach once more.
"You've always been naïve, Skywing. But never weak. I have never been able to find your weakness... until now." His optics flickered over to the sparkling still standing there frozen in time.
Megatron hummed, "Does it remind you of something?" But all she could focus on was Nova pushing against his arms that powerfully held her to his side.
"That's what will be the death of you."
Skywing smiled. It was weak and small, made up of all she could muster, but as her optics faded from blue to grey there was a smile on her faceplate. A smile that lasted long after she was offline, terrorizing Eclipse for eons to come.
"Please." Eclipse pleaded, wishing to primus that history would not repeat itself as Nova's heterochromia optics bore into her own.
"Look at you begging." He reveled, enjoying every bit of this. He had backed her into a corner gaily.
*Walk backward.
Eclipse masked her surprise as Sideswipe spoke through a commlink, making sure the bot in front of her suspected nothing.
Her pedes slowly inched backward, causing Megatron to scowl, "Stop moving!"
Her spark practically leaped from her chassis as he pointed his cannon at the femmeling threateningly, but she kept going.
"It's me you want, not her." Eclipse uttered, stepping through the doorway.
From the corner of her optic, she noticed the red mech standing off to the side; however, she didn't dare look at him in order not to give him away.
"So come and get me."
Megatron took her words to spark, stomping toward her furiously.
Sideswipe waited until the mech was right in the doorway before jumping out in front of the femme, taking ahold of his cannon with one arm before latching his servo onto Nova's arm with the other.
The red mech pushed them back outside, both fighting for possession of the sobbing bitlet while also pointing the cannon away from him.
Eclipse raced forward to help him, optics set on the femmeling, but was stopped as Laserbeak flew in front of her. His wings blocked her view of the battle outside.
The femme ripped her sword out from behind her in a fit of anger, bringing the blade back down on the mini-con trying to latch his claws onto her, "Get the pits out of my way!"
"Take her away." Megatron called out, Laserbeak only then managing to fly above her and latch onto the metal of her upper back.
She could do nothing but let the force take her down, dropping her sword as he dragged her over the staircase railing. Her arms scrambled for a stop as they fell through the open space between the stairs.
Her servos reached out next to her, crashing against the cement as she attempted to latch onto something, anything while falling down the countless floors.
Eclipse finally threw herself to the side, his claws forced to let go as she crashed through the railing and landed on a set of stairs.
On the rooftop, the two mechs pushed against one another, backed against the edge.
Sideswipe scrambled for a way to win this. Shooting him wasn't an option given he could potentially hit the squirming femmeling.
He chose the latter of his options, and the blade of his arm appeared as he spun around to press his back against the chassis of Megatron. With both of their sides to the edge, pedes fighting against the slippery rooftop to remain in place, his blade reached across to forcefully apply pressure to the arm holding on tight to Nova.
A pained groan left the Decepticon leader's intake as he was forced to drop her, happening to be over the ledge of the tower.
Sideswipe's blade disappeared and he threw the mech out his way. He spun around and fell to his chassis, catching her arm over the edge before she could fall further.
His optics met her fearful ones, her tiny servos grasping his own as tight as she could.
Meanwhile, Laserbeak flew back up to seize the femme once more but was unexpectedly grabbed by the neck.
The raging femme slammed him against the wall at full force with no care for the pained screech that echoed in the stairwell.
The storm of emotions inside of herself was on full display as she slammed him into the wall again. And again. And again. And again.
It wasn't until he was barely moving, more convulsions than anything else did she throw him to the stairs in front of her.
Her spark ached of a carrier whose bitlet was taken from her, and a swirling hurricane of distress built up unleashing at once as she slammed her pede down onto his helm.
Sideswipe pulled Nova's dangling figure up, flinging her behind himself. He stood to his pedes, gesturing with his helm to go toward the open doorway as he spoke softly to her, "Be a speedster and run over to your carrier."
Nova began to, but she had only taken a few steps before the red Autobot rushed forward. She watched with wide optics as his blades knocked Megatron's cannon up, the shot flying up into the sky instead of hitting her.
"No one is leaving." Megatron snarled, shoving the Autobot out of his way to move toward her frightened figure witnessing everything happen.
"Close your optics, Nova!" She heard one of her many uncles say, promptly doing so as Sideswipe came up behind Megatron and brought down his blade on the exposed wiring of his arm.
She peeked open her optics, and the first thing she saw was the fallen arm sparking slightly in a pool of blue a few feet in front of her.
But she was quick to shut them again as she heard the sound of metal clashing together.
Nova knew they were fighting but did as she was told.
Listening to it was possibly the worst part, her bitty imagination scaring as much as hanging off the side of the skyscraper moments ago.
Had her optics been open, she would've seen them backing each other toward the edge, unknowing of the femme racing as fast as she could up the stairwell.
"You and your brother were always a pain in my aft in this war." Megatron's voice echoed hauntingly in her audio receptors over the pounding rain. She knew he wasn't talking to her, but it scared her all the same.
"Shame that he's offline, I wanted to be the one to put an end to the both of you." There was very clearly vanity in his tone, proud of every bit he was saying and any pain he inflicted.
His words poked just the right buttons on the red bot who shouted, "Don't speak of my brother!"
Nova instinctively opened her optics as Megatron dove toward her, shrieking back as his much bigger figure towered over her own.
It was then that history repeated itself once more.
Sideswipe dove to protect her, his blade swiping forward, but Megatron had predicted this outcome, planned it even. He spun around to catch his blade, throwing him forcefully back.
The mech fell backward, his pedes wavering to steady themselves, but the water-covered rooftop caused him to slip off the edge before he had the chance to stop himself.
His servos latched onto the edge, holding on tightly to the slippery surface.
Nova watched his helm begin to pop back up as he hastily attempted to pull himself up, knowing of how little time he had to do so; but she could do nothing as Megatron got there before he could.
He reached down, latching his servos onto the mech's neck and pulling him up. Pained wheezes sounded from his open intake as he was held up over the edge, his optics glancing down at the street hundreds of feet below.
"A brave hero to save the day. Willing to give your life..." Megatron squinted his optics with a sinister grin, "Why is that?"
Sideswipe merely glared at him, the cold blue of his optics contrasting the fiery red of the mech holding him.
He looked past him, spotting the femmeling watching from afar. Her servos were held up to her chassis, clueless about what to do. There was nothing she could do, a reality they all had to learn at least once in their lives.
He strained his vocal processors, fighting against the tight grip trying to silence him, "Look... away... Nova."
"To save her?" His servo squeezed harder, "Or..."
Sideswipe watched as his dermas curled into a sickening smirk, voice lower to a mocking whisper, "Because you have nothing else to live for?"
His faceplate faltered from its confident façade, causing the mech to chuckle. Something about those words caught him so off guard. Not once had he ever said them out loud, and hearing them was forcing him to accept that... that's exactly his reality.
"Let me tell you a secret then if that's the case."
Megatron leaned in close, so close that the bot could feel the coldness of the side of his helm on his own. His expression hardened, not wanting to hear anything this mech had to say but could do nothing to fight it.
His voice was a haunting whisper in his audio-receptors, his words like a dreaded echo he wanted to hear long before now, "Sunstreaker is alive."
Eclipse had appeared in the doorway of the stairwell in time to see the look of horror on his faceplate and the frightened Nova who couldn't allow herself to turn her helm before Megatron let go.
"Sideswipe!" She screamed as his as his figure fell, Megatron waiting only a moment before firing down at him to make sure the outcome turned out the way he wanted. To entertain his deranged self in knowing that the only bot who knew of Sunstreaker's current situation of being held hostage, who believed he was offlined until now, was offlined without a chance to go save him.
Eclipse's expression twisted into one of fury as she took her sword from the floor. She used her pede to push Nova into the stairwell, shutting the door afterward before rushing forward.
Megatron smirked to himself, not turning around until the last moment when he was quick to catch her arm, dodging under it and twisting the limb so she shakily held the blade behind her. Her other arm was clutched, held behind her like the other to leave her defenseless.
"You continue to let others offline for you." He squeezed harder on her wrist, the femme crying out as she was forced to let go of her sword.
"You continue to be weak." He spat as it clattered to the ground into one of the puddles begging to form.
Their audio receptors perked up upon hearing the door creak open, Eclipse unable to turn around to see though she could practically picture the small helm of Nova peeking past to see if her carrier was okay.
The haunting voice of the Decepticon leader holding her still sounded from above her, "Shall I kill you in front of her like I did to Skywing?"
Her tanks twisted sickeningly, a look of dread overcoming her faceplate.
"Watch her carrier offline, but this time I'll be sure to kill her right after. Can't have another scraplet like you."
Eclipse couldn't let the horror that plagued her for eons happen all over again. Putting Nova through what she did wasn't an option.
She took a deep vent before twisting herself under her arm, a pained scream barely bit back as she felt her left arm dislocate in the process, the frame beneath bending out of place. But she used the momentum of her twist to kick her leg up, slamming it against his chassis to knock him away from herself.
The femme wasted no time in running toward the door, scooping up Nova with her uninjured arm currently sparking with snapped cables soaked in blue as she ran down the stairs.
"You can't run away from me forever, Eclipse!" His voice yelled after her, echoing down the stairwell filled with the sound of her pedes stomping down.
"I will find you and I'll watch your optics go grey just like everyone you've cared about when I killed them!"
But she didn't turn back, determined to get Nova and herself out of there.
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Listen, I've had this planned since like star-crossed...
the author will take no questions at this time... thank you.
signed, mik who is sorry for the horror I just wrote
{5008 words }