Sam and Carly stepped out of the downed ship with Bumblebee standing with his blaster shown ready to engage any hostiles that threatened them. The rest of the Autobots had received his homing signal to get a pin on his location. The convoy of classy vehicles had driven towards his location and soon they were parked in front of the three. Epps and the rest of the humans stepped out and greeted Sam and Carly as Sam noticed something on the corner of his eye, the down drone.
"What is that? Is that us?" Sam asked Epps as they shook hands.
"Yes. That's an unmanned military drone" Epps replied as they walked towards it.
An ex-soldier stood in front of it and wiped the glass on it as he checked to see if they had power. He saw a green light beep and he knew that they had power.
"We got power" he said.
Epps and Carly rushed over to it as he squatted in front of it.
"Can you see us? Can you rotate? Can you move?" he asked.
On the other side of the screen, the operators and top officials monitoring the situation broadcasted the feed of the drone.
"It's the kid" Simmons said as he was the first to catch a glimpse of what was going on.
"Witwicky" Mearing said smugly.
"Can we get a reaction on that drone?" Lennox asked.
The drone pilot rotated the camera of the drone, showing Sam and the others that they were there.
"Good, they can hear us"
Sam took center stage as he spoke to the drone.
"Chicago is ground zero do you understand? Chicago is ground zero, do you understand?"
Carly would then take over as she had vital information to share.
"Sentinel has the pillars on a building owned by Hotchkings global investment. The control pillar is located in the southeast coupler" she said.
"You have to destroy the pillar or they'll bring Cybertron here, do you understand?" Sam hammered.
"Cy- what?" Mearing said confused.
"Give me a GPS on that building and that drone. Let's go!" Lennox ordered as the analysts got to work.
"Mensurate those coordinates. Shorten the kill chain" said an analyst before they would display the coordinates of the drone and the building on the screen.
"Got is. Guys on the tarmac, five minutes" Lennox said rushing out of the room to get ready for the mission at hand.
The Autobots would transform and hold a small briefing on their next phase of action.
"The Decepticons probably know that we're here. Bridges were being raised as we drove here so time is of the essence" Optimus said.
"They raised the bridges to limit our access points to where they are" Jet said.
"The roads that lead to the pillars are probably heavily guard. They must have bulked up security on those routes" Ironhide said.
"We have no choice then" Ratchet said.
"We need to scout out roads we can follow. Pick the least guarded one and then we make our move. Time is of the essence" said Prime.
"You heard the boss, we move out in five" Sideswipe commanded.
"Jet, Ironhide, we'll need you on this" said Prime.
"Roger that" the two chorused.
"We need to move before the fighters spot us" Optimus said to the human group. "Stay here until we scout a route ahead"
"Ratchet, Jetstream. You two, cover high"
"Let's roll" Optimus said with the small team done checking their gear and ready to move out.
Bee, Dino, Que and the Wreckers all stayed back waiting for the others to return.
The bots would begin to move through the city stealthily, minding where they stepped and how they stepped so that they wouldn't draw attention to themselves. Ratchet and Jet would identify a building tall enough for them to get a good view of the area and sturdy enough to accommodate both of them.
"We've spotted a building we can use as a vantage point. We're heading there now" Jet said.
"Primus be with you" Optimus said.
The two would veer off to the right leaving Prime, Sideswipe and Ironhide to press forward. Ironhide and Prime moved with unexpected grace, their movements displaying high levels of agility as they moved from street to street. Sideswipe being the smaller bot and primarily a scout, was in front. He was swiveling around on his tires as he gave the bigger two the go ahead to proceed forward. They worked like a well-oiled machine, moving from one side of the street to the other and took cover behind buildings. They moved in a zig-zag pattern from left to right as they pushed on.
Ratchet and Jetstream on the other hand had made it to their desired building. The road there was treacherous as the two were constantly scanning for fighters patrolling the skies and almost ran into a group of Decepticons. With their smart thinking, Ratchet threw a garbage can into an alleyway distracting the group as they made it to the building. Lucky for them, there were skyscrapers around to cast tall shadows over the building and give it a sense of obscurity and cover for any of the ships that would be flying about. They climbed up stealthily as they slowly made it to the roof top. They quickly moved into position and laid down flat on the rooftop to blend in. Jet had his battle mask out as it would improve his vision while Ratchet looked around with his machine gun ready to fire if he spotted something off.
"Alright Optimus, we're in position" Jet radioed in.
"Good" he replied.
"What do you see?" Ironhide asked.
Ratchet is covering you guys and watching out for anything up ahead you might not see. I'm currently scanning roads for a clear path to the pillars" he reported.
"Hit us up when you got something" Sideswipe said.
"Will do. Over and out" Jet replied.
He would begin to scan around as he plotted a course towards the building Sentinel was on. He had to look for the safest and shortest route. They didn't' want to run into trouble while driving.
"Hold your position" Ratchet said sharply, causing the bots to halt their movement.
A Decepticon would fly over the ship from the right not spotting, Optimus, Ironhide and Sideswipe as they hid safely behind two buildings.
""Great work Ratchet" Sideswipe praised him.
"That could have ended badly" Optimus added.
"Guys, there's a road on the left I can't really see. Buildings are blocking my visual. Mind if you check it out?" Jet asked. That was the final piece to the route he was plotting.
"Affirmitive" Ironhide responded as the three began to move again.
Meanwhile, Sam, Carly, Epps and the crew were making their final checks on the gear they brought. Sam and his chick were sitting in the hood of Bumblebee as the rest of the bots parked in alleyways trying not to draw attention while they waited for the five to return.
"Hey, you think we can use that to shoot down the pillar?" Sam asked after seeing the rocket for the RPG they brought with them.
"We're eight blocks away. We have to get closer for a shot" Epps answered.
"Not closer. Higher" Hooch said as he would point towards the tall damaged building. "We would need a clear line of sight"
"And its across the river. Gonna have a hell of a time sneaking up there" Epps said.
"We only got one shot" Mongo said as he held the rocket.
"One shot is all we need" Sam said confidently.
"We got to be able to see around that building from the ground. Get NSA to send service specs for any cameras in that area. Maybe some are working. Traffic lights, ATMs. Anything" Simmons instructed as men got to work on making it happen.
ON the tarmac, all remaining NEST forces assembled themselves, including Brian. The were all geared up and ready to go as Lennox stood in front of them ready to give a rousing speech to stir their hearts for battle.
"Listen up. You want to hit back? We're gonna have to wingsuit in. It's the only way to get close. I can't promise anyone a ride home, but if you're with me, the world needs you now" Lennox said.
The crowd was meet with silence before Babyface spoke up.
"I'll find my own ride home, sir"
"Who else?"
People began to lift their voices as they volunteered to willingly go. Brian had a silent prayer to make it home in one piece. This was supposed to be his last week before retirement but things didn't go as planned.
"General Moshower, requesting divisionary action to the south of the city. We're coming north and low, you guys drive them to the east" Lennox said before boarding an Osprey.
Back in the city, the Autobots had returned and their route had been planned out. It was go time, things were about to get really fiery.
"Alright guys, our routes been planned out. We're headed straight into the heart of things. If you ain't man enough for it, now's the time to say so" Jet said before transforming and revving his engine.
He was going to take point on this mission and lead the way he had mapped out. The humans weighed their options and evaluated what was at stake and made their choice. Sam and Carly rode in Bee while Epps and his guys used their cars. It was go time.
Jet revved his engine three times, sounding the final alarm before they departed. He had Bumblebee, Dino, Sideswipe and the Wreckers behind him then Epps and his guys, Wheeljack, Ratchet, Ironhide and Prime completed the convoy. The Lexus LFA wasted no time in getting a move on as the convoy of cars was on the move. Their movement was quick and calculated; there was no room to waste time. They needed to be quick and decisive as the Cons could be on to them at any moment.
The bots drove to through the city and was nearing their destination as planned, But things were about to change.
"Autobot victory, Autobot victory" Brains chanted while riding aboard Roadbuster as the bots weaved through the decimated roads full of debris and burnt cars.
As they drove, the Autobots began to detect something, somethingĀ big and coming for them from underground.
"Autobots, prepare to engage!" Optimus warned over their comms.
From beneath the ground, Driller shot up, hitting Optimus' trailer and disconnecting it from.
"It's Shockwave!!" Ironhide announced over their comms.
"Move, move, move!!" Sideswipe spurred everyone as they all kicked it up a gear.
Sam and Carly, as well as the rest of the humans were all in shock at the size of the Decepticon. Shockwave would emerge from within his pet, cursing the Bots in Cybertronian as he prepared his cannon for combat. The Bots hauled ass and rendezvoused in a Church. With their position compromised, it was only a matter of time before they would be hit by a swarm of Decepticons.
Jet pulled into the Chapel fist as the rest of the bots followed. He transformed while in motion as he would roll to his feet, his cannons and machine guns were already primed to go.
"They got my trailer. I Need that flight tech" Optimus said as his shotgun whirred. "Shockwave can't hunt all of us at once. Wreckers" he said turning to them. "We need a diversion"
"Let's get some" Roadbuster said, ready to face Shockwave.
"You got that right" Leadfoot chipped in.
"Time to piss him off" Topspin added.
"We have to move quickly. The Decepticons are on to us" Ironhide said urgently.
"We'll hold them back and let the Wreckers get to Shockwave. Once they've drawn his attention and lead him away from my trailer, I'll go get my flight tech. I trust you all to be able to hold your own while I'm gone" Optimus said.
"We've done that time without number. We'll be fine" Ironhide responded.
Optimus nodded as they put their plan into motion.
"Jetstream, Sideswipe, on me. We're going to hold them down in front. Bumblebee, Dino, Que, cover the sides!" Ironhide ordered.
"Ratchet, you're with me. We'll cover the Wreckers as they make their way out of here" said Optimus.
Ratchet nodded and moved out with Optimus as the rest of the bots moved into position except Que.
"Wait a minute. I'm not letting you go out there without my urban combat prototypes" he said hesitantly as he got out his inventions.
"We gotta go Que! Come on" Sideswipe said before rolling off. The Decepticons were in bound already.
"What are these?" Sam asked.
"These are boom sticks. Armed in thirty seconds. Grapple gloves, for climbing" Que said as he gave some to Sam.
Ironhide, Jetstream and Sideswipe came out to the front of the church to meet a group of Decepticons and two devacons making their way towards the Church. Without a second to lose, the three opened fire on them, drawing their attention towards them and not the Wreckers who were about to leave.
Bee, Dino and Wheeljack covered the east side, battling their own group of decepticons. Prime and Ratchet covered the west, rolling out onto the road as they battled a Devacon and four decepticons on a rooftop. The humans made a plan to head over the to the big glass building with Jet overheard just before he went out. The humans made their move just as the Wreckers began driving towards Shockwave, under the cover of Optimus and Ratchet.
"Move, move! Move, move! Go, go, go!" Optimus said to both the Wreckers and the humans as he laid down heavy fire on the Devacon whilst Ratchet supported.
Things were getting intense already, and this was just the start.