I wake up with a jolt in a strange room. I slowly begin to panic thinking that I've been kidnapped.
"Hey, easy Kat. You need to calm down." I turn to my left and see Sam sitting on the edge of the bed I'm in.
"What happened? Where are we?" I ask as I swing my legs over the edge getting dizzy from the quick motion.
"Careful." Sam says as he helps me sit up properly. "We're still at the base. You passed out after..." He stays silent for a moment. I remember seeing the ship blow up but anything after that is a blur. I sit there in silence with Sam before asking how long I was out.
"You were out for a few hours." I nod my head as I place my hands on my lap noticing bandages on my left wrist up to my knuckles.
"I wrapped your wrist for you. That Decepticon managed to draw out some blood. I'm guessing that's why you passed out." I nod my head sitting in silence again. I just can't believe their gone.
"Listen. Epps and I are going to Chicago. We managed to trace the call and Dylan is holding Carly captive in Trump Tower." I nod my head.
"You don't want me to go do you?" I ask in a melancholy tone.
"No. I want you to come with me. Dylan needs to pay for killing everyone. For killing Optimus, Jazz, Ironhide, Bee." I look up at him clenching my hands into a fist. I look him directly into his eyes with determination.
"Let's get my sword before we go. Que made that for me before I left N.E.S.T and I'm gonna kick Dylan's ass with it." Sam smiles at me before helping me out of the bed. I manage to stand on my own without falling or using Sam for support.
"Let's go. Epps is waiting for us downstairs." I nod before following him out of the room and down two flights of stairs. When we reach the bottom, people are running around everywhere trying to collect all the data they can. I ignore them as Sam and I walk out of the base towards Epps.
"I see your feeling better." Epps says as he begins to walk to his car. I smile but say nothing. "I still got some N.E.S.T friends out there. I'll round them up, we'll find your girlfriend, we're gonna bring this guy in."
"Why are you helping me?" Sam asks. I look at him questionable. I thought he already knew why.
" 'Cause that asshole killed my friends, too." Epps says as he opens his door and gets into the driver's seat. I open the passenger door and climb into the back as Sam sits in the front. The drive to Epps friends was filled with nothing but silence as the sun began to set. I spent the entire ride looking out the window remembering each and every single moment I had with each and every Autobot. But three in particular stood out more than the others.
"Alright Katana, your doing great."
"Your advancement into the language is astounding." I smile up at Optimus and Ratchet as I finished reading the passage they gave me in Cybertronian.
"Well I have some amazing teachers." Ratchet chuckles softly as Optimus gives me a small smile. I stare at them in shock for this is out of character for them. I rarely get to see them this happy. At that moment I didn't care at all. We just continued our lesson until I had to prepare for our next mission.
"Bee, that's not how that goes." I say as I watch the black and yellow bot struggling to place my sofa in the living room. He had the legs of the sofa in the air as the back laid on the floor. "Just flip it over so the feet touch the floor." He slowly lifts it up making sure to not damage it. I smile at him when he gave me a thumbs up after putting the piece of furniture properly in its place. I walk down the stairs and head over to Bee, who's crouched near the corner.
"Thank you for helping me move my stuff. Still hard to believe you managed to get in." he makes a few noises before picking me up and littering my face with kisses.
"Bee, stop. That tickles." I laugh as he continues to attack me with kisses.
I storm out of the room exhaling roughly catching the attention of Jazz and Sideswipe.
"Are you alright Kitty?" Sideswipe asks a bit intimidated. It was rare for them to see me angry since I always looked calm and happy around them.
"It's nothing. Just got into an argument with Mearing." I say as I cross my arms over my chest.
"What did she do this time?" Jazz asks. I look down at the floor as I sigh.
"Mearing told me that I was government property. Property that should be maintained and kept in check."
"Hey don't listen to her. She has no idea what she's talking about."
"Yeah, besides a pretty lady like yourself shouldn't worry about what others say about ya." I look up at them and smile softly. "See, there's that beautiful smile." Jazz says as he bends down to my height.
"Thanks guys." I say smiling wider.
I shake my head not wanting to bring back any more memories. I continue to look out the car as we pass by a small white town house with people waiting by their truck. They quickly get their truck started and begin to follow us. The sun begins to rise as we pass by a Motel with another truck. The ride to Chicago will take a few days if we don't make any stops. Time passes as our third day on the road begins to end.
"We had a signal earlier." Epps says as he throws his phone onto the dashboard. "It's not working." I cross my arms looking down at my lap as I began to think. 'Things in life happen for a reason. It's a test of the mind and soul. So what's the point of this test? Well what ever it is, I want it to end.' I eventually closed my eyes and fell asleep.
"Katana wake up. We're here." I slowly open my eyes and stretch out as much as I can. I look out the window noticing the city completely destroyed. Some people are still trying to leave on foot, others have just given up and are sitting on the ash covered floor. We had to maneuver out the way of burning cars and any pedestrians walking out of the city.
"This is a national emergency broadcast. Chicago has suffered a massive attack."
People start to yell at us, saying to turn back. I look away from the window and down to my lap. I shake my head before looking trough the windshield seeing multiple Decepticon ships flying above the city. We finally enter a small part of the city that's a couple miles away from the tower. Epps parks his car next to some piles of rocks for cover. We all get out and stare at the destruction around us.
"In all my life since this war started. I've never seen so much death and destruction." I say as I see clear liquid and scattered clothes on the floor. Out of nowhere, children run out and away from the city trying to get to the exit. I bring my hand to my heart as tears threaten to spill from my eyes. We continue to walk until we reach a railroad crossing sign. Epps climbs up a broken staircase looking through the window of a demolished building. I look up at the sky when I hear the sound of jets passing by. As fast as they came, they were shot down by Decepticon fighter jets.
"We came here to find her in the middle of all that?"
"Are we really going out there, Epps?" I look behind me to see his friends looking skeptical.
"I'm not going in there."
"No one's going in." I stand there looking at Epps before sighing.
"Your right. No one is going in." I grab a gun from one of Epps friends, slinging it around my shoulder. "I am. With or without you, I'll find her. She's in this mess because of me."
"I'm coming with you. It's my fault to. I didn't do anything to save her." I nod my head as I begin to walk towards the tower not caring how long it will take.
"You're gonna get yourselves killed. Is that what you want? Is that what you want?" Epps yells out to us. "You came all the way out here to get yourselves killed? Huh?" Epps voice gets louder. I feel him tug on my arm making me turn around and pull myself out of his grasp. "Listen to what I'm saying." He says holding me by the shoulders.
"She's here because of me. Because of us. Do you understand?" I raise my voice at him as I shrug his hands off and continue to walk as I pull Sam next to me.
"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!"
"Then we'll find a way. But I'm not gonna stop until I do." Sam gets out of my grasp and turns around to face Epps. I stop and turn to watch what happens.
"What do you suggest we do?"
"It's over. I'm sorry, but it's over."
"No." I ball my hands into fists as my hair goes in front of my eyes. A bright blue glow emitting from my right hand. "It's not over 'till we're all dead, and that's not happening on my watch."
"Incoming!" I hear one of Epps friends scream out. I look behind us to see one of the Decepticon fighters shooting at us. We begin to run away but it sets off some sort of explosion that made us fall to the ground but it killed the people next to us. We quickly get up and run again only to throw ourselves to the floor as the fighter hovers over us. It goes in reverse before taking aim at us, only for it to be shot down into a building. I lay on my stomach confused before hearing large footsteps behind us. I slowly turn around and look up as my eyes widen in shock. Tears start to brim the corners of m eyes.
"Optimus." I say bellow a whisper as he walks closer and cocks his gun making a shell fall out.
"We will kill them all." I slowly stand up and look back to the Decepticon as it tries to escape.
"Wreckers, Kill him!" One of them yells out as they grab the con and start to tear him apart limb by limb.
"This is going to hurt! A lot!" One then starts to laugh maniacally.
"Your leaders will now understand. 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 points in the direction of the tower. I look behind him as more cars come out of the smoke and debris. I see Bumblebee driving towards us and begins to transform. I begin to walk towards him before breaking into a full on sprint. After he transforms, he jogs a bit before bending down on one knee with open arms. I run into him, hugging the bot as tight as I could. I grab his face with both hands looking into his blue eyes before leaning in to give him a kiss. After a few seconds I pull away as tears stream down my face.
"I thought I lost you forever."
"You can't get rid of me that easily." He says with a recording of my voice. I smile happily at him, thankful that he's back.
"We saw your ship blow up!" I turn around to look at Sam as Bee stands up with me in his hand.
"The ship! We were never in the ship! We designed the damn thing didn't we?" The green wrecker responds as he continues to tear apart the con.
"We were hidden in the first booster rocket to separate. Splashed down back in the Atlantic, just as planned." The red wrecker speaks as he drags the cons head and throws it to the side. "We ain't going nowhere."
"Yeah, no one's exiling us." I turn my head to Epps' car to see Brains and Wheelie.
"The Autobots are staying right here. We're gonna help you win this war." Bee places me back down on the floor next to Sam before stand next to Optimus.
"They're surrounding the city to make a fortress," Optimus says pointing behind us. "so that no one can see what they're up to inside. Our only chance is the element of surprise."
"I think I know where to look!" Sam looks up at Optimus before walking towards the fighter jet. After explaining to Optimus our situation, Sam gets on top of the jet and calls Bee over.
"So, you can fly this thing, right?" I stand on the floor with my arms crossed, looking between the two. Bee lifts up his arms in a slight shrug before shaking his right hand in a maybe motion. "What is that..." Sam then does the same motion to Bee. "What is that? What is that? So-so?" Bee then shrugs as he moves to the side a bit. "So you so-so can fly this. That feels terrible." I sigh as Bee somehow manages to get in the small jet. I get on top, holding on for dear life as Sam speaks to Epps before getting on the opposite side. Bee starts the jet making me close my eyes as my right hand digs into the metal. 'Why did I agree to do this?' After the jet gets stable I open my eyes slowly and watch as buildings burn and crumble into dust. We quickly approach Trump Tower near the lower pent house where they are keeping Carly. I hand Sam his gun before giving him a quick nod.
"Go safe my cousin-in-law." He smiles at me before jumping off and into the penthouse. Bee starts to slowly descend as we watch from down below.
"Where is she!" I hear Sam yell. I look up waiting for the right moment to move up. I hear crashes and gunshots before seeing Sam thrown over the ledge by the bird Decepticon and Carly calling out for him. I stick my hand out and catch him as he falls, pulling him up onto the barrel of the turret on the jet. I signal Bee to rise up as I get my gun ready. When we are at level with the building Sam calls out to Carly making everyone turn around. She quickly back hands the guy holding her, getting out of his grasp. She then began to run to us, jumping of the ledge and into Sam's arms. I smile before turning to the cockpit.
"Light'em up Bee!" I say as I begin to fire the gun into the building with Bee. Something gets thrown into one of the engines making the jet go down. I lose my balance for a moment before turning to Carly.
"Get in the cockpit with Bee." She nods and quickly gets inside. I turn to face Sam to see that damn bird trying to strangle him. I grab it by the neck and hold it's body down with my own as best as I could.
"Sam! It's head. Put it near the turret! Now!" Sam stumbles forward but grabs its head and holds it in front of the barrel.
"Bee, now!" We scream out in unison as the damn bird tries to break free. Bee shoots the bird making it finally go limp. I quickly get off and hold onto Sam and the jet for dear life. We scream out as we get closer to the floor. The jet began to spin and go upside down making us slip and fall to the ground. The drop wasn't to high but it felt like it was as we rolled to a stop. The jet then crashes into the ground, taking pieces off and flinging them everywhere. I slowly get up and hold my head trying to regain my balance. I slowly began to limp to the ship making sure Carly and Bee are alright but Sam beats me to it. Carly opens up the hatch and jumps out into Sams arms
"Sam. You found me."
"I'd follow you anywhere." I smile at the two before helping Bumblebee out of the small jet. When he gets out, he immediately scoops me up into his arms making small beeps and whirls. I chuckle slightly before hugging him back.
"The wars not over yet." I say as I pull away. He brings his hand up to his shoulder allowing me to sit on it like old times. He stands off to the side with his cannon out looking out in the distance. Carly and Sam stand looking in the same direction as Bee waits for the others to show up. When everyone gets here I tell Bee to put me down. At first he doesn't but quickly complies and brings me down. I walk over to Epps, Sam and Carly ready for our next course of action.
"What is that? Is that us?" Sam says pointing off to the side. We all run to the object trying to figure out what it is.
"It's a military UAV." I say as we get closer.
"Stone, check and see if it's still working." Epps calls out to his friend.
"Yeah, still got power." We quickly get to the front of it hoping it could see us.
"Flight Control, do you copy? Can... Can you rotate? Can you do something? Come on, work! Work!" Epps tries to clean off the lens only to smear the dirt and dust. The UAV starts to rotate making Epps happy.
"Yes, yes! Okay, okay, okay. They can hear us." Epps moves out of the way letting me and Sam get near it.
"Chicago is ground zero, do you understand?" I say before moving so Carly can speak.
"Please listen. Sentinel Prime is here and he has the pillars to his space bridge. They're on top of a building on Chicago River. It's owned by Hotchkiss Gould Investments. Now the pillar that controls everything is in the southeast cupola." She moves so Sam can speak again.
"You've got to destroy the pillar. You have to shoot down the pillar or they will transport Cybertron here, do you understand?" We step away from the drone and face towards Optimus for the next part of the plan.
"We need to move before the fighters spot us. Wait here until we scout a route ahead. Let's roll." Optimus then runs ahead of us with the rest of the Autobots behind him.
"Ratchet, cover high." Sideswipe points to the medic before following the Prime. I look over to Epps and the others seeing that they brought a rocket with them.
"Hey, think we could use that rocket to shoot down the pillar?" I ask as I get closer to them.
"We're eight blocks away. We got to get closer to take a shot." Epps tells me.
"Not closer. Higher. We need a clear line of sight."
"And it's across the river. Gonna have a hell of a time trying to sneak up." Epps replies to his friend.
"We only got one shot." Someone shots.
"One shot's all we need." Sam says looking at everyone. We all start to run to our destination but get stopped by Shockwave. We change direction and head into one of the buildings with the Autobots following behind us.
"That is one scary-ass Decepticon!"
"Shouldv'e seen him up close." I says as we come to a stop.
"They got my trailer. I need that flight tech." Optimus pulls out his cannon and stares in the direction of the con. "Shockwave can't hunt all of us at once. Wreckers, we need a diversion!"
"Lets get some!"
"You got that right!" They leave the building with smiles on their faces.
"Listen, we're gonna circle around to that glass building." Epps points to a tower not far from our location. "And we'll get high enough to make the rocket shot while you guys draw his fire." He then points at the remaining Autobots. "Let's move!"
"Wait a minute!" I turn around to face Que. "I'm not letting you go out there without my urban combat prototypes." He places a few things on the floor in front of us.
"We got to go, Que!"
"Come on!"
"They're great inventions for kicking ass!" He says as he bends slightly. I smile before pulling out the katana sword he made me.
"Thanks but I already got one." His face lights up seeing it is being used.
"What are these?" Epps picks up a bomb looking object and hands it to me.
"Those are boom-sticks. Armed in 30 seconds." I nod and place it in my back pocket just in case I need it. "Grapple gloves, for climbing."
"Thanks Que." He goes outside to help his team mates as we make a run for the glass tower. I jump over fallen items trying to get there as fast as I can. I grab Carly by the wrist and pull her along with me trying to help her balance with her thin heels. I'm surprised she hasn't hurt her ankle yet. We make it to the building trying to find the stairs.
"Epps, this way!" Sam shouts as we all follow him. We run up multiple flights of stairs before reaching the level where we can get a clear shot.
"Set up the rocket." Epps says as we get close to a window. "They're coming!"
"Weapon status?" I yell out to who ever has the rocket. Sam and Carly come up behind me pointing at where the control pillar is.
"There, the building with the dome." I nod my head before helping out the others and getting the rocket ready. I stand behind a desk in the building getting ready to cover but it starts to rumble making me lose my balance.
"The building!" I shout out to everyone. The room starts to slant making it hard to stand up straight. I end up falling on my side managing to stay still.
"They're shooting at the building." I turn around making sure everyone is okay.
"This is not a good idea."
"What?" Sam asks confused.
"This building is unstable.
"Listen, stop for a second." Sam gets up and goes over to the rocket. "If we don't do what we came to do, it doesn't matter, we all die. Right? That's your target. Come on man!"
"Nice pep talk Sam." I say sarcastically as I get on my hands and knees before standing up completely.
"I don't even care if the building collapses." Epps comrade says as he raises the rocket to his face taking aim at the building with the pillars. "I'm having a heart attack anyway." The floor shakes violently making things fall to the ground.
"The building is going over!" Someone screams out. I stand with my right leg slightly bent and firmly placed on the floor and my left leg behind me acting as some sort of support.
"Hang on!" I scream out as more object begin to fall as the building leans more and more. Eventually the desks and water gallons fall to the ground and slide across the floor. I land on the floor with a thud when a desk knocks me off my feet.
"Katana!"
"I'm fine. Keep your hands up!" I scream out as I slowly begin to slide. I look around and find that Sam is behind a beam with Carly clinging on to him for dear life. The building stops moving but the office supplies around us continues to fall. I manage to get to a beam before a desk almost ran over me.
"It's okay! It stopped!" Epps calls out from somewhere.
"Guys, Look!" Carly points towards the broken windows. Some of those Decepticon ships are heading our way.
"Everybody hide!" I scream out as I push myself closer to the pillar. I lean slightly to the side to see where the ship was. It stopped at the end of the glass on the other side from me. Sam and Carly are hiding behind a filing cabinet that lays on the white beam. Out of nowhere the Decepticon jumps out of it's ship and crashes through the window causing glass to fly every where. It lands behind the beam that Sam is behind but on Carly's side. I silently curse as I hide back behind my pillar. I take out my katana and use it's blade like a mirror to keep an eye on the con. I see its blurry figure cock its gun as it looks around the room trying to find us. The con gets closer to Carly as it stalks through the room. I turn the blade and see Epps blurry figure taking something out from his pocket. I see a green ball that fits perfectly in his hand and it hits me.
'He's got a grenade.' I smile as I place my sword in front of me waiting for the right moment to pass. A loud bang and sparks fill up the room as the grenade explodes hopefully near the con.
"Run!"
"Cover fire!" I quickly turn around and away from he pillar and charge at the con as our teammates fire at it.
"Kat!" I hear Sam call out to me as I run past him. The bullets fly past me as I hold my sword with both hands and slice at the Con but it moves making me miss and slice off its arm instead.
"Shit." I curse out as I quickly turn around and doge its hand from grabbing me. I notice everyone running in the opposite direction, towards the glass. The con tries to take another swipe a me but I roll out of the way and slice at its leg making it fall over. Once its down I place my katana back in its place before sprinting to the other side of the building.
"Shoot the glass! Jump out the window!" Epps screams out. His friends then began to shoot as they ran, weakening the windows in front of them. I pick up my speed and cross my arms over my face as I jump through the glass and out into the open. I land hard onto the windows underneath me and slide down the building behind everyone. Sam and Carly begin to freak out and try to grab onto anything they could.
"Shoot the glass!" I scream out to them as we get closer and closer to the edge of the slanted building. Epps and his friends begin to shoot underneath them making the glass weak enough to break with their weight. Eventually one by one everyone falls into the whole and into the building again. I brace myself as I went through the broken window, falling on my back before sliding downward again. The momentum makes me roll across the floor, making it difficult to stop myself. Nothing blocks my path as I quickly approach the edge of the building. I quickly take out my sword and stab it into the ground trying to stop myself from falling. I get dangerously close to the edge as my sword finally stops me from sliding. Half my body hangs out of the window making some shards of glass to stab into my legs.
"Is everybody okay?" Epps calls out from besides me.
"Define okay." I say as I pull myself away from the ledge.
"What the hell was that?"