Cough, cough, cough!
Rumlow hacked violently, picking his discarded weapon from the rubble. Throughout the battle, he had deliberately hovered on the fringes, letting the true S.H.I.E.L.D. agents absorb the brunt of the assault. When he saw the bombs falling, he had quickly scrambled to find shelter and narrowly escaped the blast. The loyal agents, however, were not so lucky; they were either blown to pieces or buried alive under tons of debris.
He took out his communication device and found it was dead. "Damn it! I need to find a place with a signal to report the situation to Minister Pierce!" After cursing under his breath, Rumlow limped away from the smoldering ruins of the base entrance.
Because of the Decepticon's initial EMP attack, most of the S.H.I.E.L.D. base's defense facilities were destroyed. Coupled with HYDRA's deliberate sabotage from within, Starscream's invasion encountered surprisingly little resistance.
The Decepticon second-in-command blasted a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent into a cloud of ash with a single shot and said with sneering sarcasm, "Humans are such a weak and incompetent race. They're so powerless, they can't even mount a proper resistance!"
Nick Fury, who was still stationed next to the cryo-stasis chamber holding Megatron, heard the sounds of fighting getting closer and closer, and his face became increasingly grim. After weighing the dire pros and cons, he turned to the agents beside him. "Bring me the charges. I want to blow this alien to kingdom come. The enemy cannot be allowed to get it."
The HYDRA agents exchanged uncertain glances, not knowing how to proceed.
Bang!
There was a sickening thud of something heavy making impact, and Nick Fury crumpled to the ground before being kicked into a dark corner.
"Just knock him out and say it was a sneak attack!" a HYDRA agent wearing a monocle said, throwing away the wooden board in his hand. The other HYDRA agents all nodded, approving of their bold compatriot's method. "Okay, now let's move this big robot out of here together," another HYDRA agent suggested.
Suddenly, the agent wearing the monocle walked towards the wall, waved to the other HYDRA members, and said, "Goodbye, everyone!" He then walked directly into the solid wall and vanished.
"Am I seeing things? Did Kahn just disappear?" one agent asked in disbelief.
"It seems so," another replied, dumbfounded.
Just as the HYDRA agents were reeling from what had just happened, Starscream, along with his retinue of Decepticon soldiers, stormed into the chamber where Megatron was being held. When the HYDRA agents saw the enemy approaching, they raised their weapons and opened fire on the Decepticon leader.
Starscream merely scratched the spot on his chassis where the bullets had harmlessly pinged off and raised his cannon-equipped arm. Bang! In the violent explosion that followed, the HYDRA agents were either killed or severely injured, all of them losing their ability to fight. It is worth mentioning that the person with the fewest injuries was Nick Fury, who had been knocked unconscious before the real carnage began.
Starscream came to stand before the frozen form of Megatron and said in a deeply respectful tone, "My Lord, I am here to free you." He then fired a precise blast, shattering the ice that had imprisoned the Decepticon leader for decades.
Megatron's optics flared to life. His massive mechanical body stirred, shattering the remaining ice that clung to his frame. He raised his arms, first violently pressing Starscream to the ground, and then systematically destroyed all the freezing devices and research equipment around him.
"Starscream," Megatron's voice was a low, menacing growl, "you have kept me waiting for a very long time."
Starscream didn't dare to refute the accusation. Lying pinned on the ground, he could only say, "My Lord, I have finally rescued you!"
"Hmph!" Megatron kicked Starscream aside and issued his orders to the other Decepticons. "Watch this place for me. I am going to get the Allspark!"
"Yes, my Lord!" Several Decepticons began to move to other parts of the base to eliminate any humans who were still resisting.
Outside the base at this time, Tony had just arrived and was talking to his good friend, Rhodey. "Rhodey, when will the military arrive? It looks like the Hoover Dam has already been taken over by aliens."
"The air force should be here any minute, but the ground forces will take some time. Your news came too suddenly. We are already operating at top speed!"
In the distance, the roar of fighter jets cutting through the atmosphere could be heard. Tony looked over and saw that they were military aircraft. "You guys are pretty reliable, after all."
When the military support arrived, Tony no longer hesitated and rushed toward the Decepticons positioned outside the base. After getting closer, he fired two small missiles from the waist of his armor, hitting two of the Decepticons with perfect accuracy. The missiles first emitted a powerful electric shock and then exploded. The two Decepticons immediately lost their ability to move. This was the latest weapon Tony had designed in his spare time the previous night, based on the Cybertronian characteristics that Ratchet had described. It could effectively paralyze a Decepticon's motor functions.
The military fighter jets also engaged with several Decepticon jets. With the advantage in numbers, they could still resist for a while.
In the air, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Quinjet finally arrived. The tail hatch of the fighter opened, and Optimus Prime and several other Autobots stood on the ramp, observing the battle below.
"Autobots, attack!" After shouting the rallying cry, Optimus Prime leaped down first, followed by Bumblebee, Ironhide, and Jazz. Jazz had only arrived at Tony's laboratory that morning, as his landing location on Earth had not been close to New York. As for Ratchet, he was a technician and was responsible for logistics; he would not participate in frontal combat.
Optimus Prime landed directly on a Decepticon, impaled it with the energized sword that extended from his arm, and tore the Decepticon in half while still in mid-air. Finally, Optimus Prime landed on the ground in a standard superhero landing pose, and the moment he stood up, he stabbed his blade through another rushing Decepticon.
Bumblebee was struggling with a Decepticon, but Jazz quickly joined the fight, and together they helped Bumblebee defeat the enemy. Ironhide was similar to Optimus Prime; although he couldn't take down a Decepticon with just one or two moves, he could still handle these Decepticon soldiers with relative ease.
"We are one step behind the Decepticons. We must get in there quickly and retrieve the Allspark before they do!" Optimus Prime said to the other Autobots, then quickly ran towards the base entrance.
The base was now in utter chaos. Nick Fury was unconscious, Crossbones Rumlow had run away, and the huge facility was completely leaderless. Tony walked through the wreckage of the base and couldn't help but complain, "This place is as messy as a vegetable market. How did an organization as big as S.H.I.E.L.D. end up like this?"
After dealing with another Decepticon soldier, Jarvis's voice rang out. "Sir, there's a survivor."
Following Jarvis's guidance, Tony found the unconscious Nick Fury in a corner of the ruins. "He must be a high-ranking official. We can ask him where the Allspark is. Searching like this is too slow." Tony took a syringe from a compartment in his armor and stabbed it directly into Nick Fury's neck. As the stimulant was injected, the unconscious Nick Fury's eye suddenly snapped open.
Just as Tony was about to ask him a question, the newly-awakened Nick Fury took out his pistol and emptied the entire magazine at him.
"Hey, hey, hey! Soldier, you're shooting at the wrong person! I'm not the enemy!"
"Tony Stark?" Nick Fury recognized Tony's voice. "Why is it you?" As soon as he had opened his eye, he had seen an iron man standing in front of him. He had subconsciously thought it was an invading enemy and had opened fire directly.
"You still recognize me! Then tell me, where is the Allspark?"
At this time, Jarvis reminded him, "Sir, based on a voice comparison, this person is the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. who spoke to you earlier."
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