Warning spoilers in this chapter so if you haven't seen Transformers 3 yet don't read on. I am sorry for not mentioning about the spoilers in my summary or before the prologue.

Here is chapter1, sorry it took a while I wrote the chapter once but didn't like it so I rewrote it. I decided to give the two men from the prologue names because they are playing a pivotal role in this chapter. Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer; I don'town any of the transformer merchandise or characters except for David, Strobe, Beth and Aiden Amersham who are my OC's.


Chapter 1

The hunt.

Aiden Amersham was exhausted by the time he got home; he wasn't prepared for the news he'd just received regarding his sister, Beth which added to the stress he was under. He reached for a glass and a small bottle of sparkling water and sat at the table massaging his forehead with his fingers. They had been separated as children when their mother left them on the door of an orphanage after their father had died and their mother had remarried. They were adopted out to separate families but kept in contact with each other secretly. Now Beth was missing in Chicago.

He couldn't tell his wife about what happened at work because he worked for an organisation who were operating illegally and that frustrated him. He dreaded the thought of going in the next day and facing the manager of the organisation, and there would have to be an investigation and a cover up, which would mean a massive hunt for the robot. Aiden ran his fingers through his brown curly hair and shuddered at the thought. He didn't want to come face to face with that thing again especially in the woods, if that was where it went. His wife knew something was bothering him, and when the children were in bed she made a coffee and sat at the table with him hoping he would say something, but neither of them said anything. A little later the young man went to bed early and drifted into a restless sleep.

Strobe was lost, cold and wet from the dew and a heavy mist was hanging in the air bringing an eerie silence into the forests on the Virginian mountains. She rested where she was a bit longer and remained on constant alert; the Autobot femme had no idea Megatron, Barricade or Starscream were dead nor Sentinel Prime and she expected one of them to jump out of the mist any minute. Strobe hoped that somebody was receiving her signal and she'd soon be out of this dreadful situation, in the mean time she had no other choice except to sit tight and wait for them to come. The Autobot spy thought about the events that took place yesterday and wondered if it was prudent to let them live, she couldn't believe how vicious such a tiny species could be and resented their very existance. Strobe was low on energon but she had to get to the Autobots as quickly as possible so she onlined her systems and watched as data crossed her HUD revealing the extent of the damage. It was better news then she thought and decided to carry on with her journey.

It was five o'clock in the morning when Aiden finally gave up on having any more sleep, the escaped robot and his sister were playing heavily on his mind. He stumbled downstairs and into the kitchen where he fixed himself up a coffee. Millie, their two year old Labrador retriever trotted into the kitchen and sat next to her master. He looked down at her, smiled and patted her on the head,

"We'll go for a walk soon, Millie," he said gently.

Aiden and Millie pulled up into the car park at the woods just down the road from their house. The grass was wet from the dew and the first leaves of Autumn to fall on the ground were slippery. Millie waited for Aiden to lock the doors of their pick up, her tail wagging excitedly and followed him into the woods. Every now and then she would trot off the path and disappear into the mist but she'd always come back again. Aiden walked through the woods slowly, his hands tucked into the pockets of his denim jacket, his head hang low. It was very quiet in the forest, almost an eerie silence as if the flora and fauna were waiting for the storm to break. At times Aiden felt like somebody was watching him, he just put it down to the surreal events of yesterday but when Millie behaved in an unusual manner for her he was a little more worried. In the distance he could just make out the silhouette of a vehicle, a jade green and black vehicle. He stopped in his tracks...what was a vehicle doing out here? Millie looked up at him, the whites of her eyes showing and whined. Aiden patted her on the head,

"Easy girl," he said gently, more for himself than her.

The young man wondered what he should do, maybe somebody was lost and needed guiding out of the woods onto a road, maybe it was somebody waiting for some unsuspecting early morning walker to attack them and rob them or maybe...no...surely it couldn't be that thing which escaped. Aiden reluctantly moved forward, warning bells ringing in his ears. He walked up to the vehicle reprimanding himself for being so stupid, its engine was ticking over adding to Aiden's fear. He rubbed the dew off the glass to see if anybody was inside the vehicle,

"Hello, anybody in there?" he called, "Are you okay?"

"Go away!" Strobe's feminine voice hissed roughly.

To hear a car talking was the last thing he expected and he took a step backwards in fright, tripped over a stone jutting out of the ground and fell into a muddy puddle. He lifted his hands out of the mud, hung them beside him and shook the mud off. Mille barked ferociously at the vehicle and then looked at Aiden. The stunned man stood up and put a lead on the dog,

"Let's go, Millie," he said, Aiden turned to the car, "I don't know who or what you are but you look suspicious here so if you don't want to be discovered I suggest you move away, this path will get busy soon"

Strobe pulled away, she felt a little guilty for scaring the man, but he was involved in her imprisonment and she didn't want to see the squirmy little human again, he was untrustworthy. Aiden couldn't get himself to his car quick enough, his heart was pounding as he checked over his shoulder every now and again to see if it was still there, his heart jumped into his mouth when he discovered it had disappeared, and he quickened his pace. The path seemed to twist and turn only to reveal more trees, his feet would not go quick enough and he had to stop frequently for Millie who had disappeared off the path. Aiden was relieved to see the car park with his pick up parked where he left it.

Aiden looked toward the path he'd just come from, rays of sunlight were shining through the mist, spot lighting the forest flowers in warm sunlight. He opened the door to his truck and allowed Millie to jump in before running around the other side and getting in himself and tearing out of the car park. His wife was feeding their baby and he startled both of them as he burst through the door. The baby looked around, voiced her protest and went back to her feed,

"Are you alright?" she asked,

"Fine," he said as he walked to the bathroom to take a shower and try to calm down.

Strobe took off along the path in the opposite direction to Aiden as quick as she could, which wasn't that quick at all due to the slippery ground under her wheels. She heard the sound of gun shots,

"Now what!" she growled out loud, a deer which was grazing looked up and watched her for a while and then went back to grazing near its mother.


The Autobots ascended from the underground floor of NEST where they had laid the fallen Autobots. Bumblebee turned around when he realized that his leader wasn't following him,

"Optimus," he called gently.

Prime looked at his new second in command, his optics full of grief for the best friend who had died in such a horrific manner,

"I'll be up in an orn," he just about managed to croak.

Bumblebee respectfully left Prime and walked up the tiny stairs slowly, his head hang low, his wings drooping. A green arm wrapped itself around his shoulder and pulled him into the chest of the medic. Optimus Prime walked up to where the remains of his best friend lay, he fell to his knees and let his head fall onto the berth where Ironhide was laying. No more would they be fighting side by side, no more would they share conversations in his office about the good ol days on Cybertron. It was gone! All he had were shattered dreams and a broken spark as company. Optimus could no longer hold the emotion in, warm tears flowed down his face as he leaned against Ironhide's berth and cried. Ratchet could hear Optimus Prime, he discreetly closed the door so that the Autobot leader could be left to grieve in peace.

The Autobots had put the last few bits together at the base from the destruction caused by Sentinel Prime, they had now settled into their posts but everybody both Cybertronian and human alike were struggling with the empty spaces and holes in their hearts and sparks. Ratchet looked around the NEST base, there were memories of Ironhide everywhere. The old bracket which was left on the floor from where it had fallen was still there; the medic smiled and shook his head, the old weapons specialist never was any good at coming to him for regular maintenance. Optimus Prime appeared from the undergound level and looked around at the Autobots, they needed something to give them hope because at the moment there wasn't much hope at all. Ratchet looked at Optimus,

"Prime, what about Strobe?"

"We will rescue her," Optimus replied silently,

Will looked up at Prime, "Who is Strobe?" he asked,

"She's an Autobot femme who went missing at the beginning of the civil war, she has just turned up on earth," Prime replied,

Ratchet stepped forward, "The trouble is we don't have an exact location on her and she has activated her emergency beacon,"

Mirage looked up at Optimus hopefully, "Are we talking about Strobe who…?"

"Yes we are Mirage," Prime replied,

"Well count me in on the rescue mission, I knew Strobe very well she was great to work with,"

"We will help you locate your friend on the energon detection," Will replied,

"Thank you Major William Lennox," Prime replied.

Suddenly an air of excitement blew through the base, most of the mechs in NEST knew Strobe except possibly the wreckers. Bumblebee looked at Mirage, "I'll come with you," he said,

"Good idea Bumblebee, two are better than one," Mirage replied,

"Two are better than one for what?" a female's cold voice called out. The comm. link on every Autobot pinged,

"I'll deal with her," Prime said.

He turned around and faced Charlotte who was now walking along the catwalk on the back wall,

"I do not like that woman," Robert growled, "And I never will,"

William looked at her wondering how she was going to get to the Autobots this time. It was always the same, she comes in, says her piece and leaves with Wiliam cleaning the mess. Optimus Prime walked up to the catwalk, he saw Simmons standing next to her and nodded at him,

"Charlotte Mearing we have received an emergency beacon from an Autobot femme who appeared on earth,"

"What do you mean appeared on earth and what is a femme?" she asked,

"A femme is a female Autobot and we don't know when she arrived on earth or how long she has been here for," Optimus Prime replied.

Charlotte stood there glaring at him coldly, this was not what she wanted to hear, "Optimus Prime I would expect you to have a better handle on which Autobots are arriving and where they are landing. If Autobots are going to start arriving willy nilly then I will have to seriously consider your right to live on this planet,"

"I wouldn't have said that," Simmons hissed in her ear,"

Optimus lowered himself so that Charlotte's face was inches from his, "You may want to remember Miss. Mearing," Prime retorted, "That we have left planet earth before and we can leave again if we have to. But mark my words the Decepticon threat may not be over," he stood up straight with his hands on his hips,

Ratchet stepped forward, "Miss Mearing may I remind you that we saved your planet from destruction on three occasions," he snipped

Charlotte looked at him, "And may I remind you that you are here by invitation only,"

William glared at her, this was beginning to turn ugly. Ratchet was about to say something else but Prime signalled with his hand to calm down. The medic stood where he was with his arms crossed over his massive chest,

"We are making preparations now to rescue her, I have two Autobots ready to go ahead of us to find her," Optimus said.

Charlotte turned her glare upon William and then she turned back to Optimus. She looked at him silently for a moment, "Fine then," she replied sharply and turned back to William, "You go with them and I want a report of everything that is happening. There is to be no further damage to civilisation of any sort and now other human contact. The less people now about you the better,"

"Oh I think the cat's already out of the bag with that one," Sideswipe snarled,"

"Yeah ages ago," Skids snipped.

"I mean it!" Charlotte replied in a deathly tone and left.


Aiden made his way into work, he drove through the heavy rush hour traffic his mind on the Autobot who'd escaped and his brush with her in the woods. He parked his car at the back of the car park and got out. The gaping hole left by the robot was now being filled in but he could still make out movement inside and it looked like a hive of activity. He walked into the command area where they were holding Strobe and up to David, who was talking with some soldiers,

"I want nothing left unturned," the blond man barked, "We have to find it and remember this mission is to be kept under wraps,"

"Yes sir, we'll do everything we can to find it,"

"What's going on?" Aiden asked David,

"Aiden, how are you?" David asked, "We're hunting for that robot and bringing it back,"

"What if it won't come back?" He asked fearing the next answer,

"We'll kill it!" David snarled sadistically.

Aiden's heart sank, "I think we should think about this carefully," he said,

"Oh do you now?" David snarled,

"Yes I do," Aiden replied, "I believe she has something to do with Chicago, I don't know what but if we kill this thing that's out there we could cause more trouble if anybody finds out,"

"Well nobody is going to find out, are they Aiden?" David replied angrily, he narrowed his eyes, "Remember what happened to the last person who crossed me," he warned.

"Daid let's think this through that is all I'm saying, it's better than what we're doing now, we're acting on knee jerk," Aiden implored his boss desperately,

"Is that so," David sneered sarcasm dripping off every word, "Hey everybody Aiden here thinks we're acting on knee jerk," everybody looked at him.

David walked out of the command area with another man, while he was out a friend of Aiden's approached him, "I think you're right," he said, "But be careful, that man has lost his marbles, he's dangerous," Aiden looked at him, he'd need help to stop this from happening but who?

Aiden went back to David, "I'm having nothing to do with this," he said.

David placed the last round into his rifle, "You're too late, you're involved right up to your neck. You know too much and I will not let you leave here alive if it comes to that,"

Aiden looked at David, his stomach was in knot and his heart pounding in his chest. He looked around at the men gearing up for the hunt, "Whatever that thing was it never harmed us," Aiden yelled,

"It threatened us!" David yelled back stabbing his finger in the air toward Aiden, "It's dangerous look at what happened in Chicago,"

"I know what happened in Chicago David, my sister was there and now she's missing," Aiden yelled back,

"Then that's all the more reason to do this, it's revenge my friend," David said as he patted Aiden's shoulder,

"I'm not after revenge, I just want to make sure we do things right," he said quietly,

Aiden turned on his heels and walked out of the building, behind him he heard a rifle click, "Go any further Aiden and I'll shoot you," David yelled hostilely,

Aiden paused for a minute and then walked on his eyes closed waiting to here the rifle go off...but it never did,

"Dave, we're ready," a deep voice yelled across the room sending the man into a flurry of action.

"Okay, men. Is everybody clear on what we have to do?"

"Yes sir," they all replied and then they piled out of the building and into waiting vehicles.

Aiden walked back to his pick up and unlocked the door. David pulled up in a humvee, "If you leave you will lose your job,"

"Then I'll send in my resignation," the young man retorted and tore out of the car park.

He pulled up outside his house, his three year old came running down the path with her arms open wide, "Daddy," she cried,

"Hello darling," Aiden said as he lifted his daughter up. His wife stood at the front door puzzled with his early arrival. Aiden walked up to her and kissed her on the cheek,

"Honey I have to go to Chicago to try and find my sister," he said as he strode up the stairs missing every second step, "There was some trouble at work, I need you to take the kids and stay with your mother,"

"What happened?" his wife asked,

"I can't tell you," he replied,

"But...,"

"Don't argue," he snapped, her face fell and a frown formed on her forehead,

"Are you in some kind of trouble," she asked,

"Yes...no..., look just leave and stay with your parents. Promise me you'll do that. I will contact you when it is safer," he said as he hugged her, she played wit his tightly curled hair, on the back of his head,

Alright," she relied reluctantly, "If it means that much to you,"

"Yes it does," he replied quickly as he headed downstairs again,

"Mummy what's happening," their three year old asked but the question went unheard.

On his way out his mobile phone rang,

"Mr. Aiden Amersham?" a voice asked on the other end,

"Yes," he replied,

"My name is Lieutenant colonel William Lennox and I'm ringing you up on Beth's request. She is in hospital in a stable condition," Aiden let out a sigh of relief,

"Alright, thank you for letting me know," he replied and picked up a pen and paper, "Yes okay. Great thanks. I'm on my way now,"

"Who was that?" his wife asked,

"A Lieutenant Lennox, Beth is in a hospital in Washington. Somebody is going to meet me at the airport and take me to see her,"

"Okay be careful," his wife replied as she kissed him and watched him leave before packing her own bags and the children and leaving.


Strobe had driven a fair distance but she could feel her energy diminishing rapidly. The words of the human as he was fleeing from her rang through her processors and she looked for a place to hide which would make her blend in with the surroundings a bit more. At each turn she made she was met with more of the leafy road snaking its way through the countryside antagonizing the femme's frustration; she was beginning to really despise this planet and wondered what Optimus Prime saw in it. The inhabitants were violent, the environment was claustrophobic and she was alone. Finally the femme came across a car park with more vehicles parked in it, Perfect!" the femme thought to herself, she pulled into the car park and drove into the last parking space between two smaller cars. She shut down her unwanted systems again keeping her signature on and her emergency beacon going in the hope that her rescuers were on their way.

In the distance she could hear the sound of dogs barking and men yelling or calling out to each other arousing the jade green femme's curiosity. The men crept through the trees slowly in pairs looking around for evidence of the robot being there. It was getting warm and one pair stopped so that one of them could take a swig of cold water from his flask. The sunlight was shining through the leaves and dancing on the ground as they walked. He looked at his partner,

"This is a waste of time, if it's an alien from another planet it's probably long gone,"

"I know," the other one replied, "If you ask me Aiden was right,"

"You don't want to let David hear you say that, the man's a bit passionate about this and won't let anybody get in his way. We'd better keep going,"

Reluctantly they carried on through the woods, one of them spotted a car park, "Let's go down there," one of them said,

"Oh and what are we going to say, hey people have you seen an eighteen foot robot walking through here?" the other one replied sarcastically.

There was a rustle in the undergrowth, "Ssshh!" the first one said and aimed his rifle at the direction he thought it was coming from. A fox trotted out from the undergrowth on her way back to her den, the two men lowered their rifles and continued down the hill toward the car park. They looked at every vehicle in the car park without being too suspicious. One of the men noticed the jade green and black Nissan SUV tucked in a corner and walked toward it. Strobe heard the footsteps approaching her, her HUD showed symbols of the humans being there and she hoped they were owners to one of the vehicles on either side of her. One of them walked around her dragging his fingers along her side, it felt warm to touch but that was nothing unusual, it was in full sunlight. Strobe fell back on her experience as a Cybertronian spy, she remembered how Mirage taught her how to be stealthy and remained quiet as the men continued to look her over. He saw the strange symbol on her radiator grille,

"Hey look at this," the man called out to her partner as he ran his fingers over her symbol, Strobe cringed with disgust at the feel of his sweaty fingers on her body,

"What you got?" the other one asked as he took big strides toward her,

"What do you make of this?" the man walked around to where his partner was standing and studied the symbol, he shrugged,

"Probably some gimmicky thing that's in vogue at the moment. It's just a regular vehicle," he looked around, his eyes squinting in the sunlight, "There's nothing here let's keep going,"

If Strobe were human she'd have heaved a sigh of relief, that was too close for comfort; the femme couldn't leave the car park there was too much human activity, and to drive out driverless would bring attention to herself; especially as they were now looking for her. She'd have to wait until evening when all was quiet before she moved again.

Optimus Prime stood near the group of humans and Autobots who were on their way to find Strobe. Mirage knew her better than any of the others and he knew she'd push herself to the limit. Prime suggested Ratchet should go as well as he was receiving the emergency beacon which would give them some idea of the direction to go in. The convoy left NEST in the dead of night and drove through the streets, in the direction Ratchet was going in.


Aiden arrived in Washington and he was greeted by Dutch who was standing in arrivals with a placard with Aiden's name on it. Aiden headed straight toward the middle aged man,

"Hello, are you Dutch?" he asked with his hand out,

"Yes, are you Aiden Amersham? Vhere vould you like to go to? Zhe ospital to see your sister?" Aiden had trouble understanding the accent,

"Yes please," he replied eagerly.

Dutch drove through the streets of Washington while Aiden took in the sights. He wondered if his wife had left the house and tried to ring her,

"Hello, you've reached Aiden and Sara..." he quickly hang up and put his phone away. He thought about ringing her on her mobile but not here, not now. He looked out of the window again, the sun was shining brightly and th sky was a crystal blue with fluffy white clouds floating across the blue expanse. The trees gently blew in the breeze which was refreshing. The window was down on the black SUV, and Aiden's arm was rested on the door, his curly hair was dancing in the wind. Aiden felt himself relax for the first time in hours and the problems of the robot and David felt a long way off.

"Good flight?" Dutch asked,

Aiden turned to him, "Yes it was thanks...thanks for meeting me and taking me to Beth,"

"No vorries," Dutch replied.

He pulled up under the foyer of the hospital and dropped Aiden off, he put the car in gear and then turned to the young man,

"Ving me vhen you need picking up, ere's my number,"

Aiden bent down and looked at Dutch, "Thanks," he said.

He walked up to the reception desk, behind it sat a plump elderly woman who Aiden assumed would be late sixties. She looked very prim and proper in a white polyester blouse and hair which looked like she'd just come out of the hairdresser. She looked at him over her glasses,

"Can I help you love?" she asked in a dulcet tone,

"Uhm...yeah...I'm looking for Beth Amersham, I'm her brother," she took in the young man who was holding a laptop in one hand and a bag hanging off his shoulder. His curly hair looked a little unruly and a deep brown color matching his chocolate brown eyes.

"It looks like you've just got off a plane," Aiden smiled, "She's in room 111, just along this corridor here," the old woman smiled,

"Thanks," Aiden replied and walked toward her room.

Beth was sitting against a pile of pillows, her brown curly hair still matted with dried blood and her face bruised or stitched. Her left hand was attached to a drip and her right hand was laying across her belly. She heard the sound of somebody walking in and opened her eyes,

"Hi," she just about managed to croak,

"Hi Beth how are you," Aiden asked as he leaned over her to kiss her on the cheek,

"Been better," she replied, "The doctor said I was lucky to escape,"

He held her right hand, "It was terrible Aiden, so much devastation and carnage, loads of people were killed," she cried, "I've never seen anything like it,"

"Ssshhh," Aiden said, "I saw some of it on the news, Beth you're going to be fine," he tried to reassure her as he wiped the tears from her face.

Aiden looked around the room, it was the usual cream colored walls with an apricot colored blind which was rolled down to keep the sun off Beth. All the usual equipment you'd expect to see in a hospital was behind her bed and her name was written on a white board with the doctor's name underneath it. He pulled up a chair and sat next to his sister,

"Are they looking after you okay?" he asked her,

"Yes," she sniveled.

On the table above her bed was a box of tissues, he pulled one out and handed it to her, "Sorry," she said, "I'm not much fun at the moment"

Aiden shrugged, "It's okay," he replied quietly and looked down at the floor.

Beth looked around at him, she noticed his quiet demeanor and wondered what was wrong. Even though they were twins their personalities were so different; he was noisy and always in for a bit of fun whereas Beth was more serious and tended to keep to herself a bit. The first time she'd met the Autobots Sideswipe had taken it on as his duty to bring her out of her shell, and it seemed to be working,

"Where are you staying?" she asked,

"I saw a hotel back up the road, I was going to book in there,"

"You can stay in my place," she said, "I have an apartment just down the road,"

"Thanks Beth," he said,

She smiled and lay back on the pillows, "Listen, thanks for coming," she said,

Aiden hesitated a moment, she looked at him, "Aiden," she said, "Are you okay? You seem a little quiet,"

Aiden didn't want to bother her with his problems, he could sort it out himself, "Nothing," he replied, "I'm just tired,"

Beth looked at him, "Liar," she pushed, "You're in trouble,"

Aiden looked at her, "Not now Beth," he begged, "Not when your like this,"

"Aiden," Beth said quietly, "Remember when we were younger and separated, we promised each other we'd be there no matter what. Aiden you've always been there for me, look you're here now, now let me help you,"

Aiden sighed as his thoughts went back to David and Strobe. He looked up at Beth, "I am not in trouble but there is something troubling me and it is bizarre and crazy and I don't know who can help,"

"Try me," Beth replied,

"No Beth if I tell you then you'l be in trouble too,"

"Aiden," Beth said, " I can look after myself, if you're in trouble I know people who can help you somehow,"

A nurse walked in, "Beth needs some rest now sir," she said as she picked up Beth's chart from the bottom of her bed.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow," he said as he kissed her goodbye,

"Remember what I said," Beth said, "Oh and in that drawer are the keys to my apartment,"

Aiden took the keys on the keys out of the drawer and left her room. He didn't realize which keyring he was holding until he got to her front door. He looked at the small yellow rectangular keyring with a scripture reference for Proverbs 3: 5-6 written across it in black. Aiden smiled she had such a strong faith, much stronger than his and he envied her for it.

Beth's apartment was everything Aiden expected it to be; neat, organised and airy. The walls were a cream color with cornflour blue curtains and furnishings, it was a studio lounge with two bedrooms, a bathroom and a laundry coming off from the main living area. She had a veranda which had two outdoor chairs and a small table tcked in a corner and bamboo lanterns. Aiden stepped out onto the veranda, he looked down at the traffic and people busy going about their business. In between two roofs he could make out the white dome of the White house which stood out against the color of the early evening sky. Aiden walked back inside nad noticed a picture of himself and Beth on the wall as young children, neither were smiling but they didn't have much to smile about in those days. The young man took a glass from the cupboard and went to the fridge for an ice cold bottle of sparkling spring water and walked back out onto the veranda to enjoy the view a little more. He leaned on the wall of the veranda and ran his hand through his curly brown hair, it had been quite a day. Aiden wondered what his wife was doing, she didn't know he didn't have a job anymore, and that was how he wanted it for now. The less she knew the safer she'd be.

His mobile rang out a cheerful tune, Aiden went to answer it,

"Allo Aiden, vhere are you? Do you need to be picked up?" Dutch asked,

"No, I'm at my sister's apartment, she gave me the keys to get in,"

"Fine fine, ave you eaten?"

Now that Dutch suggested eating Aiden realized how hungry he was; he hadn't had anything to eat since he got off the plane, "No," he simply replied.

"Then my friend and I will bring some for you,"

"Thanks," Aiden replied again.


It was late evening when the last car had left the car park, Strobe brought her systems online and followed the last vehicle out. She switched on the headlights and took offr through the woods again. Strobe wanted to push on all through the night, to get as far away from the humans hunting her as possible. She wasn't anticipating the severe thunderstorm building up and she hadn't checked her energon reserves lately. It was going to be a long and difficult night for the femme.

Ratchet and the others continued the drive through the countryside. The light was decreasing rapidly now and the roads were getting clear, the Autobots didn't mind this at all it made their job easy. The medic noticed that the beacon had changed its last position and it was in actual fact moving toward them, "That's right Strobe keep coming this way," he thought to himself. The medic calculated the rendezvous with Strobe to be in approximately twelve hours, that is if everything went okay, experience told him that rescue missions never ran smooth.

The weather deteriorated overnight, heavy rain started to fall onto Strobe, she was getting tired again and her energy reserves were starting to run low. She couldn't hear the sound of the hunters anymore and assumed that they'd returned back to their base because of the weather. She needed to hide somewhere from the bad weather, and desperately searched the environment around her. Strobe was hoping to have been out of the forest by now but without her navigation system she was totally lost. A bolt of lightning struck nearby closely revealing an area of thick bush and trees ahead in its stark light. The femme raced toward it just as hail started to fall and crawled into the thick undergrowth where she watched the storm rumble on.

Optimus Prime sat in the main command area and waited to hear from Ratchet. Charlotte had opted to stay in the NEST base so that she could hear first hand any updates from William and Robert. There was a real element of mistrust between the blond woman and the Autobots who resented her choosing to stay there. With William and Robert gone the other humans that were there had very little to do with her and the Autobots carried on at their posts not really paying the National intelligence director any attention. Ratchet radioed Optimus,

"Any news?" he asked the medic,

"No sir, she's been on the move, but she's still now. We've stopped for a while, it is late, William and Robert need to rest, and bad weather has closed in,"

"Okay, keep me posted," Optimus replied,

"Will do, Prime. Ratchet out," Charlotte overheard the conversation and looked at Prime but he offered her no information it was a conversation between himself and Ratchet which she was not privy to.

The morning couldn't come quick enough for the Autobots and as soon as first light came they set off. Ratchet's main concern was for Strobe but he was also aware of the humans who were with him and would soon be needing refreshment from their day's travel yesterday. The Autobots weren't the only ones to set off bright and early, David had also left early and was back on the hunt for Strobe. Many of the men he'd taken with him were now beginning to wonder if they were on a wild goose chase but they weren't prepared to challenge David at all.

Strobe awoke from her recharge but she was weaker than she'd ever been since she'd escaped. The forest was still and quiet after the storm the night before and it smelled of wet vegetation. The early morning sunlight played on the drops of water hanging off the trees and they would tickle as they dropped onto her armor and run down her body. The jade green and black femme stayed where she was and drifted back into recharge. Meanwhile the hunters were closing in on her, and the Autobots weren't that far behind either. Ratchet checked for her beacon again, it was still going and she hadn't moved since last night, he stopped at a dirt track and turned onto it,

"Where are we going?" Bumblebee asked,

"The beacon is suggesting she's around here somewhere," Ratchet replied,

"Uhm...Bee," Will said a little uncertainly, "It looks a little muddy down here, you guys may want to consider your bi pedal modes so you don't get bogged,"

The Autobot convoy stopped transformed, awry smile appeared on Sideswipe's face as he thought of his brother's comments if he were to see what they were about to walk through. They slowly trudged through the wet vegetation, there was an incline with a wide path making it easier for the Autobots to walk along,

"Do we have to get up there?" Mirage asked,

"Yes," the medic replied,

"Well then let's get too it," Bumblebee replied.

In the meantime the two men who had found Strobe the day before had just reached the crest of the hill and they were making their way down the other side except this time they had a dog with them. The said dog, a hound was sniffing his way through the undergrowth and picked up a strange scent. He stayed on that scent moving faster,

"Quick," first man said, "He's onto something,"

The hound was approaching the place where Strobe was laying, and howled near the undergrowth. David looked up from his position and so did William and Robert,

"I thought I saw a sign back there which said "No hunting," Robert said,

"Yeah so did I," William replied, "Question is who is hunting and for what?"

They heard somebody talking on a two way radio, "Keep it there and be careful it is dangerous. It won't think twice about killing you,"

"Yes sir," the voice replied,

"I didn't like the sound of that one little bit," Robert said to William.

William turned to Ratchet, "I think you're femme is in trouble," he advised the medic.

"With who? I thought there were no Decepticons left,"

"Not Decepticons, humans," Robert snarled.

Strobe felt something prodding her in her chest, stirring her from her recharge,

"Gotcha!" a voice snarled at the femme.

She went to transform but one of the men who had never seen the Cybertronian before shot her knocking out her emergency beacon. Strobe looked at him, her sapphire optics glaring at them sadistically,

"You've made a big mistake," she rumbled deeply.


Uh oh! Now what!

Update coming soon.