Justice League Transformers: the Beginning

Chapter 8: Scorponok Desert Battle

William and his team had been trekking for several hours. The city was now several yards away. His suit felt heavy, his muscles ached, his head was damp by his sweat, and he was down to his last few drops of water. All around his men were panting and breathing loudly, their bodies slouching and dripping liquid under the scorching sun. I can't wait to get home, he thought to himself.

Luckily, there was a water pump next to the cell tower nearby. The group stopped and began to refill. Epps filled his thermos up and dumped the contents on his head. William took a swig from his container and offered some to Mahfouz, Who took it and drank  what he wanted before handing it back.

"Let's hope this telephone works." Suddenly, something underground knocks over the cell tower. Donnelly looked over and saw it down. "What the heck was that?" Fig answers in Spanish. "English dude, English." Donnelly said. Behind Will a spiky tail was about to kill him, until Epps shouted and alerted everyone. "Whoa!" He screamed. They all started firing at the robot as it killed Donnelly.

He took Mahfouz by the hand. "Move!" He turned and ran.

They all ran towards the village. William saw several villagers watch them approach. Figueroa rolled down the hill with his gun in hand. "Everybody, get out of the way!" Epps yelled. Mahfouz shouted something in his language in a urgent voice, and the villagers begin to scatter, running into their homes and gathering the children as what appeared to be the town's defense came out with shotguns ready. A man with what appeared to be a rocket launcher came out and got behind some rock wall in preparation.

As they ran, William saw the scorpion-like robot grow nearer and nearer as the noise got louder and louder. When reached the edge of the village, he heard the noise. The familiar clattering and shifting of metal and gears, followed by the unwelcome sound of metal feet slamming down on the sand as machine charged at them. Several of the villagers gasped in surprise at the monstrous scorpion before them. William got behind some rubble as his men got behind cover and began to fire at the robot as it shot at them. Massive rounds bounced dug into the sand took large chunks off the stone building.

William helped Mahfouz duck around some shots. "Where's your papa?" he asked urgently. "Papa!" the boy cried. An older man, dressed in white attire, helped them inside. "Sir, I need a telephone!" he cried. The man looked at him. "Telephone!" William replied the same way. The man rushed to a table, opened the drawer, and handed him a small device. "Cellphone!" he said. "Thanks!" He leaned out of the doorway. "Keep that thing distracted!" he cried over to Epps, who nodded before firing at the robot's face, forcing it to block the blast, although it didn't stop it from stumbling back some.

After a hasty typing of numbers, William held the phone to his ear as Mahfouz and his father hid under some cover. "Hello?" he cried over the distant weapon fire. "This is a emergency Pentagon call!" "Do you hear-? This is a emerge-!" He cried as a window shattered close by, forcing him to hunch over to protect himself. He could hear the ongoing chaos outside.

Epps fired away, then moved to another area as his fellow soldiers, along with the villagers, worked to drive off the robot.

William's face scrunched as he growled. "No, I don't have a credit card!" he yelled angrily.

"Sir, the attitude is not gonna things up any bit at all," he heard the operator say in a thick accent rather calmly, much to his irritation. "I'm going to ask you to speak into the mouthpiece very clearly." William rushed out of the house, rifle in hand, while being sure to keep the phone out of the robot's site. I'm in the middle of a war! he yelled, pushing past a group of fleeing villagers. "It's... freaking ridiculous! He looked at the battle beside him, in awe at how much destruction was occurring. Explosions dotted the sand from stray rockets and ammunition. People were flying left and right. Debris was littering the ground. It was almost too much for him to take.