Chapter Twelve:

The Battlegrounds of Chicago

It was two o’clock in the morning the next day when they arrived in Chicago, Illinois. It was desolate, the witching hour of the city. Two teams had gone inside, ready to wake up people and evacuate. The next two teams were setting up defenses for when the Decepticons arrived. Daniel and Jacob had been sent with them, but only to watch. No one wanted them getting in the way.

The first thing that needed to be done, was that the Autobots had to choose a new form, to properly blend into their environment. “We must do all that we can to avoid being seen by other humans” Optimus Prime ordered, “I do not desire to cause panic.” The remaining soldiers stayed with the Autobots to make sure their choosing process went smoothly. Ratchet was the first one to choose his new form. He wanted to represent his occupation effectively, being the Chief Medical Officer, and chose a clean, white, Type II Ambulance, with red streaks across the sides, and the familiar red cross symbols. Ironhide had come across a GMC Topkick pickup truck, with fading red paint, and mud coating the bottom edges. He admired the sturdiness of its built, and the power it represented, and decided to scan it as his ALT mode. Jazz wanted a sleek, fast, and cool vehicle for his new form. He searched high and low for something that suited him, until he came across a white, slim, Audi R8, and scanned it. Finally, Optimus Prime stumbled across a red, gleaming, Western Star 5700 truck. It looked as if it was brand new. He decided that it would do, and scanned it.

Bumblebee and Taylor searched the streets for a suitable form. Bumblebee was surprisingly picky, and spent a lot longer time than anyone else. “I just…Can’t find one I like!” he complained. “I understand that you’re going to be stuck with this form for a while, but you’ve gotta pick up the pace! As soon as Team Charlie and Delta start getting civilians up, you’re putting yourself at high risk of being seen” Taylor hissed. Bumblebee groaned. “I know, I know!” “Hey, what about that one?” Taylor recommended. She pointed around the corner and down the other street they were currently on, and spotted a yellow, Volkswagen Beetle GSR, with thick, black stripes all the way down the front. Bumblebee stared at it for a moment. “It’s yellow” Taylor added, “Your favorite color.” “Yeah, but…” Bumblebee objected, “It doesn’t look very fast.” Taylor sighed irritably. “Look, it’s the only car we’ve come across this morning that’s yellow and it’s an inconspicuous model! I doubt you’re going to get it both ways with some flashy racecar.” Bumblebee bit his lip. That’s what he wanted: A racecar. Bumblebee looked down at Taylor, then made a hesitant look. Taylor shrugged, unable to give him any more advice. She was only anxious to get moving. Finally, Bumblebee sighed. “Fine. Maybe in the future I’ll be able to scan something better” he said, bitterly. “It’s your choice, Bee. Go for it.” Slowly, he walked over to the beetle, and concentrated his focus. Blue lasers came from his optics as he scanned the car. His body naturally began to change as he was doing this. He grew doors on his back as to look like wings, the red glowing veins etched throughout his decal disappeared into a pastel yellow, and the front chassis of the model became his feet. He breathed a sigh of relief when he finished, and transformed into his alt mode. Sure enough, he was identical to the Volkswagen beetle next to him. “Hmm,” Taylor could hear his voice coming from the radio, “It’s a bit more roomy than I thought it would be.” Taylor chuckled. Bumblebee’s driver seat door opened, and she hopped in. She put her hands cautiously on the steering wheel. His interior had gray, cushiony seats, with a pull back window on the roof. Finally, the Volkswagen symbol that would have been there before, was replaced with a silver metal etched Autobot symbol. Bumblebee’s turned on his engine and roared to life. “Alright, Bee, it’s time to join the rest of the team! Let’s roll out!”

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Traffic became extremely heavy in Chicago. Everyone was up and in their cars as soldiers did their best to direct them out effectively. Taylor was standing around, watching the commotion. She was dressed in a bulletproof vest, and had a assault rifle over her shoulder. Bumblebee, in his ALT mode, was parked close by. Taylor listened closely in the wind for the sound of roaring jets swooping down on them. The rest of the Autobots  sat silently behind him, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. It wasn’t easy considering all of them chose very flashy models as their ALT mode. But it was irrelevant considering they DID choose ordinary car models. Just then, the commander ran up to the General. “General, they’re coming fast, one mile and closing” said the commander. “Soldiers! Prepare for assault!” said Lennox, “aim for the weak points in between the shoulders and thighs! Stop them from getting to the nuclear plant!” The soldiers aimed their weapons for the sky as they heard jet engines soaring closer. “Autobots! Transform!” Optimus Prime commanded. Prime, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Ironhide, and Jazz all transformed into their robot modes and fired up their weapons. The remaining civilians were, needless to say, freaked out by this and only caused them to cram faster into the buses.“I guess you were hopin’ that all the humans would be gone before we had to reveal ourselves” Ironhide speculated. “Nothing ever works entirely as planned, Ironhide” Optimus Prime replied. Suddenly, Jazz shouted, “We got incoming!” The Autobot’s right hands switched to missile launchers as they saw the terrifying aircrafts soared towards them. They fired at the planes, almost immediately took out the propelling engines. A couple of the Decepticons transformed into their robot modes, crashing to the ground, and aggressively advancing towards them.

As the commotion accelerated to a million all around her, Taylor felt a buzzing in her back pocket. She put her hand in it to find her phone was ringing. The caller ID read “Spike.” Taylor quickly answered it. “Spike, I’m kind of busy right now, what’s wrong?” The other end was blasting out panting breath. “Carly! She…She’s here!” “What? Carly!?” Two Decepticon jets flew past in the sky above her, missiles flying into a couple buildings. Taylor front flipped out of the way and ducked behind a pile of sandbags. “She went to a college in Chicago for an interview. She called me just now, and before I could tell her what was happening, I heard her scream and the line went dead!” Spike explained. Taylor growled, anxiously. She looked around, watching for Decepticons then asked:

“Did she mention where she was?”

“She said she was near the Chicago Theater.”

“Alright Spike, stay calm. I’m going to see if I can track her down. Stay where you are and don’t. move! There are Decepticons everywhere.”

“Okay…”

She snapped the phone lid shut and shoved it back into her back pocket. “Bumblebee!” she cried. Bumblebee quickly appeared a few seconds later, his blaster drawn, looking up in the sky cautiously. “What’s up?” he asked.  “I’m going to need you. I’ve got a rescue mission. Transform!” Taylor ordered. Bumblebee obeyed, nodded, and transformed into his alt mode. She hopped in and powered on his GPS system. “Start moving. We don’t want to be a sitting target” Taylor warned. Bumblebee’s engine roared and sped forward.

Taylor adjusted the comm link in her ear and pressed it.

“This is Knightingale. We’ve got a situation. We have a missing civilian on 175 North State Street. Bumblebee and I are going in” she informed, while pressing in the address to the Chicago Theater.

“Negative,” she heard a baritone voice say, “It’s too dangerous. You cannot be allowed on the battlefield.”

Taylor growled, annoyed. She took a deep breath, and said firmly, “Sir, I can handle myself. I am not helpless. Twenty earth-years of being human is not nearly enough to make me forget my experience in battle.”

There was a moment of silence.

“I believe her Prime; and I promise, I will protect her with my spark” Bumblebee added.

Taylor smiled. She loved that she could still count on him.

Finally, Optimus said, “Request granted. Bumblebee, rendezvous with Knightingale, and head to the coordinates.”

“Affirmative. On my way.”

A few seconds later,  Bumblebee stated. “Got it! The ‘Chicago Theater’ structure is about two cycles away.” “Alright, let’s roll.”

“So, just like old times?”

Taylor grinned.

“Just like old times.”

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

“Uh oh. We’ve got company” Bumblebee announced. Taylor turned around and looked into Bumblebee’s back window. She could see two vehicles approach, one was a police car with his sirens on, and another was a large, camouflage green construction vehicle with a large wrecking ball sitting on its back. “Okay, definitely not right” Taylor stated, nervously, “No patrol car would be pulling us over at a time like this, and that other one wouldn’t be in use to pursue us.” “Gotta be Decepticons. What do we do?” Taylor wasn’t sure. She had forgotten that she was once Bumblebee’s commanding officer. He relied on her for orders. “There’s no way you can fight them both…” Taylor thought out loud. “Then we’ll have to make this mission a quick one” said Bumblebee, “We’re approaching the theater. I can let you out to investigate and I can distract them until you find our missing civilian.” “That would be the best plan in this scenario” Taylor thought, “Make it so.” “Just promise me you’ll be careful. You’ve got a gun, right?” Taylor checked and felt the cybertronian blaster strapped securely to her back. “Yes.” “Alright, then let’s roll out.”

Bumblebee sped to a halt in an intersection, skidding around in a 180 degree turn, opened his driver seat door, and flung Taylor out. Taylor rolled forward and back on her feet. Bumblebee transformed into robot mode and drew his giant, red, energon sword and shield, his back turned to her. As Taylor ran to duck and cover behind a piece of debris, Bumblebee taunted, “Hey! Decepti-creeps! You looking for me?” The Decepticons growled and ran towards him, one with the wrecking ball as a chained, spiked mace, and the other with sharp saw blades. Bumblebee ran down the road on the left, and they quickly followed him. Taylor poked her head out of her hiding spot. “Stay safe, Bee” she whispered. Then, she jumped out, and ran towards the Chicago Theater.

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Sorry for the delay! I was feeling ill and forgot to post! Merry Christmas and enjoy your Holiday!