"Listen," Galloway grabbed a bearded man in front of him, asking in broken, local dialect:
"I... where am I? What country is this?"
The bearded man instinctively raised his hands. He looked at Robert and asked tentatively, "America?"
"America? No, no, no," Galloway waved his hands frantically. "Not there! That's where I came from!"
"What about you guys? Do you know?" He turned to the other men standing behind the bearded local.
The men looked at each other, then shook their heads in unison.
"Hell!"
"Does anyone know where the hell this place is? There's sand everywhere!"
"Oh, right. There are camels and donkeys, too."
"Seriously, why are there donkeys in the middle of a desert..."
---
*Beep... Beep...*
"Hello? Hello?"
Inside the NEST command center, the General, unwilling to listen to any more of Galloway's rambling, slammed the receiver down. He turned to the officers in the room and explained:
"That was our dear friend, the advisor to the President, Mr. Galloway."
"I've heard of him. Not a very likable guy. Sounds like he's having a bad time?"
The General shrugged, unbothered. "Maybe. It's his first time on a military operation; it's understandable he's struggling."
"Anyway," the General shifted gears. "Still no contact with William and his team?"
"Apologies, General Lennox," a communications officer stood up to report. "The satellites over that sector are completely down. We are trying every available frequency and mode."
"That's strange," Lennox muttered, rubbing his head in confusion.
"William's team is equipped with the latest, cutting-edge quantum communication gear, yet we can't even establish a basic link."
"And even if we can't reach William, how did Galloway manage to get a signal out from the middle of that godforsaken desert?"
---
Outside the city of Aqaba, the bombardment continued.
Even though Skygnaw was only attacking casually, the sheer pressure forced Bumblebee and the twins to flee in a desperate, chaotic scramble. Missiles detonated just outside the car windows. For Leo, who had never experienced such a visceral level of danger, his legs were shaking uncontrollably, and sweat poured down his forehead like rain.
"God, please, I'm begging you! We're going to get blown to bits!"
Mikaela gripped the door handle as the car swerved violently. "Shut up, Leo!"
"Please, quit screaming!" Sam chimed in.
"Just throw him out of the car!"
"Please, let me live! Don't let me die..."
After listening to the whining for a moment, Simmons finally reached his limit. He pulled out his taser and spun around, aiming it at Leo's neck.
"Try this on for size, kid!"
*Bzzzt!*
The car fell into instant, blissful silence.
"You... why would you do that to him?" Sam looked back at Leo, who was spasming on the seat, and stammered in shock.
"Because it had to be done," Simmons holstered the taser and fastened his seatbelt again. "Always yapping and panicking. I couldn't take it anymore."
"What do we do now?" Mikaela asked.
"We have to split up," Simmons leaned his head out the window, scanning the sky. "Otherwise, none of us are making it out of here."
"How are we supposed to split up?"
"Follow my orders, kid."
Once he saw the aircraft finish launching its volley of missiles and glide past them, Simmons shouted, "Use the smoke for cover! Now, go!"
All three cars slammed on their brakes, disappearing into the thick cloud of dust kicked up by the explosions. Simmons hurriedly kicked his door open.
"Bumblebee, you escort Sam and get to William. I'll take the twins and lead this Decepticon—Skygnaw—away."
"I'm going to find Optimus?"
"Right. You get to those soldiers. Leave this to me."
Simmons then reached over and yanked Leo out of the back seat. "Come on, kid. I need an assistant."
"No! Why me? I can't do this!"
"Do you have the heart to see a pair of lovers in the heat of passion forced apart?"
"Fine," Leo muttered. "You're right. It's best not to split them up right now. Based on the operas I've seen, that always leads to something terrible happening."
"Get in that car, kid," Simmons walked toward the green Mudflap. "An old bachelor, a patriot who got tossed aside, but becomes the last line of hope in a time of crisis."
"Come on, get ready to be driven by a master!"
As Simmons grabbed the wheel, Leo scrambled into the passenger seat.
Simmons looked at him, confused. "What are you doing?"
"I don't know how to drive. Let the other twin follow us."
"You tasered me! You attacked your own man, you owe me this!"
"Whatever, kid." Simmons looked forward and stopped arguing. The Decepticon was banking around and flying back toward them.
"He's here! He's here!"
"Relax, kid. I'm a pro."
*Vroom!*
Simmons stomped on the gas, leaving a trail of dust in their wake.
He hadn't been lying—his driving skills were top-tier. As a former high-ranking agent of Sector 7, Simmons possessed a wide arsenal of professional-level skills. But due to his classified history, he had been relegated to running a fast-food joint after Sector 7 was disbanded, unable to use his real talents to make a living.
The two hatchbacks roared as they swerved and dodged, eventually driving deep into a quarry. The assault ship above seemed to lose interest, or perhaps they had actually managed to shake it off; either way, it vanished from view.
"I... I think we lost him..."
Inside the car, Leo's face was deathly pale, his mouth working silently.
"That's just what you think," Simmons yanked the steering wheel, driving deeper into the quarry.
After the intense chase, the bodies of Skids and Mudflap were caked in a thick layer of sand and grit. Usually, the two were obsessed with their appearance, but neither said a word. Clearly, they understood the gravity of the situation.
"That's strange..." Simmons stopped the car, staring at the machinery scattered around the quarry—an ore loader, a concrete mixer, and a red excavator. The vehicles seemed completely out of place. "Why would this equipment be here?"
This was a quarry, not a construction site.
"Kid, stay here. I'm going to go check it out."
*Vroom.*
Suddenly, just as Simmons stepped out of the car, thick black smoke began pouring out of the rear ends of the three construction vehicles.
"Oh, shit!"
Simmons gasped. He saw the massive Decepticon insignia plastered on the side of the mixer.
Before he could dive back into the car, a 92-type loader and a massive yellow crane drove up from behind them.
The five construction vehicles slowly circled until they had the four of them trapped in the center.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." Leo stepped out of the car, seeing the escape route cut off.
"Kid," Simmons stared unblinkingly at the five Decepticons, wondering what they were about to do. "Have you seen that classic action movie from a few years back? The one with Doug Cockle?"
"No, why?"
"Our situation right now is almost exactly the same as in that movie."
"Really? How did that movie end?"
"A lot of people died."
Under the watchful eyes of Simmons and Leo, the five vehicles stopped and began to transform.
*Clank.*
Simmons's pupils dilated. Just as he reached to pull Leo to safety, the twins behind them also began to transform.
"My brother, it's our time to shine."
Assessing the disparity in power, Skids spoke up with misplaced confidence.
"Absolutely, my brother." Mudflap also struck a battle pose, looking eager to fight.
But they were celebrating too early. The five construction vehicles didn't transform into one elite warrior and four grunts as they had expected. Instead, they extended mechanical tubes and cables, locking onto one another.
A new, massive Decepticon formed: the ore truck, mixer, excavator, and loader became the limbs, while the crane formed the torso and head.
"Crap, it's Devastator," Skids tapped his head and stowed his weapons. "Brother, we might need to avoid his edge for a bit."
"Avoid his edge?" Mudflap looked at his own size, then up at the thirty-meter-tall Devastator. He nodded. "You're right, my brother."
The thirty-meter-tall Devastator crawled on the ground like a small mountain. Five conflicting consciousnesses warred within his mind, forcing him to abandon the high-level weapon system—a vortex cannon capable of releasing 10,000-degree heat beams—and instead rely on the shredder built into his neck.
He followed the single consensus shared by all Constructicons: Destroy anything that does not belong to the Decepticons!
Devastator possessed immense power and a formidable chassis, but his sluggish, clumsy nature was a fatal flaw. The endless internal fighting in his brain severely hampered the effectiveness of his Elite-class combat potential.
Yes, the cloned Constructicon squad only had the strength of Elite-class warriors when combined into Devastator.
Swinging a head larger than Skids and Mudflap combined, Devastator opened his colossal mouth. Like a vacuum cleaner, he unleashed an unparalleled, terrifying suction force.
Instantly, the entire quarry was swallowed by flying sand and crashing rocks.
---
On the other side, Bumblebee sped quickly toward Lennox and his team, carrying Sam and Mikaela.
Just six hundred meters from their destination, dozens of fighters appeared in the sky, while over a dozen vehicles drove toward them from the ground.
Leading the main Decepticon force, Megatron had finally arrived.
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