"Ironhide, come on! Let me go with you! I won't cause any trouble!" She begged profusly, latching herself to the front of my hood and squishing her face up into my windshield. "Pleassseeeee?"
"No, I can't take you. You might get harmed." I responded, pulling into the large C-130 cargo plane that was taking us to Sydney. A Decepticon had been spotted there and the N.E.S.T team was rolling out to deal with this new threat. I'll never forget the look on her face as the ramp to the plane began to rise. Her mouth was pulled into a frown and her eyes held sadness, but only for a moment. In a flash of anger she stormed off, back into the hanger.
"Relax Ironhide, recharge before we get to Sydney." Optimus said, settling himself down on his alt-form's many tires. Seconds later the only noise that could be heard was the soldiers breathing as even they took Optimus' advice and settled down for 'sleep'. Why were humans so loud? Did they not realize that I could have tracked them anywhere just by their breathing? It was annoying, their respitory systems are far to underdeveloped. I obeyed though, shutting all systems down and waiting for the signal that would precede our decent into Australian airspace.
"N.E.S.T air is now descending, estimated time to landing ten minutes." The pilot intoned over the intercom, preceding the slight bump that told of the plane's engines slowing slightly. i ran a complete systems check over myself. Cannons were in good conditions, no flat tires. I was ready to roll. The plane rolled to a stop on the runway, the tires smoking slightly.
"Autobots, be alert." Optimus ordered, going out first. I follwed, Ratchet close behind. Lennox and his men kept a tight perimiter around us, guns held firmly in their hands. I sent out a signal sonar, a feature that Autobots had. It would search for any other Cybertronian signature and report back the results.
I analyzed the signal as it reutrned, it showed a large Decepticon presence near the eastern edge of the city. I passed the information onto Optimus, following him with the soldiers in tow behind us. The signal became stronger as we progressed deeper into the city. Finally, the strength was through the roof.
"He's close Optimus, he's very close now." I whispered, my tires crunching the ground underneath.
"Ironhide, there's nothing here." He responded, cycling his vents to release his anger.
"One of Megatron's tricks perhaps?" Ratchet pondered. He had a point, with the power that Megatron had taken from the Cube he might have been able to cause a decoy signal with a strength like this. A strength storng enough to fool Autobots.
"But why?" Lennox asked, hopping out of me to gaze around the vacant lot we had pulled up to. The sound of the ocean could be heard, a constant in this variable of a world. against what I wanted to do I began to relax. If there was no Decepticon we wouldn't fight. For a being that was formed to fight and fight well I did not like to take lives.
"If we're here, there's only Bumblebee back at base..." Optimus mused, shifting slightly. I thought about this. With us being here, there's almost no protection at base. Alisha was at risk! We had to get back.
"He's going to attack the base, that's why he drew us out. He's going to do something at the base." I said, voicing my thoughts. There was an intense storm of swearing from Lennox and quickly seconded by Epps.
"Back to the plane. Now!" He commanded, leaping back into me as the rest of the Autobots took off at high speed. The airplane hadn't refuled by the time we arrived, and we had to wait a maddening hour and a half before we could leave. Unlike our trip down here we were alert and ready to attack at any moment. Time seemd to pass far to slowly, the minutes becoming hours and the seconds becoming minutes.
"Ironhide get ready to rock and roll." Lennox said, bringing me out of my systems check. Two days had passed, it had taken us roughly twelve hourse to get to Sydney, another half a day to figure out that the Decepticon wasn't in Sydney and another twelve hours to get back here. The plane rolled slowly, the ramp extending at an aggonizingly slow rate. I gunned forward as soon as we recieved the all clear.
The base was in shambles, the small guard that had remainedwere milling about aimlessly. Massive pot holes, the kind that comes from our feet when we engage in a battle, were littered up and down the runway. But what held my attention was the fact that Sam and Mikaela were examining a girl, who was bleeding profusely from a cut to her forehead.
"RATCHET!" I yelled, running closer to make my own inspection. I slipped my fingers underneat her her gently and lifted her up. She flopped over in my hand. Ratchet came up a few seconds later.
"Oh Primus. She eeds to get to the med bay, now!" He cursed, then he sent out his medical laser to tell us exactly what was wrong. He passed the information along to me over out iternal COM link. A broke collarbone and some fractured ribs. I set Alisha down on the massive concrete slab that served as Ratchet's operating table. As he bagan to work on her I watched from behind him.
"Ironhide, I know you're concerned but right now that isn't helping." He said over his shoulder. I left with a huff, walking out into the sun. Usually the warmth of this palnet's sun soothed my nerves but today it did nothing. With a grunt I sunk down against the side of the building and let my regret wash over me. I could have kept her safe. She wouldn't be sitting in there. It was my fault.
"It was none of your fault, Ironhide. We never expected a Decepticon attack." Optimus said, laying a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at the Prime, despretely trying to believe him but to no avail.
"But Optimus she asked me if she could come with us, if she had she would have been so much safer." I replied, voicing my regrets.
"What happened, happened. Don't agonize over what you could have done, think about what you will do." Optimus responded, trying to impart some sage advice to me.
"I will go rip that fragging Decepticon into multiple pieces and melt his slaggy body over a hot fire and -" I growled, letting my anger wash over me. It empowered me, made me feel strong. Alisha's face entered my mind though, her smile and the way she would laugh. My anger vanished in a second.
"Ironhdie, you can see her now. She's stable." Ratchet called out from the hangar. I hurried into the med bay, looking down at Alisha. During the time i was absent Ratchet must have had a hospital bed brought down for her. She gave a weak smile at all of us, Optimus had followed me, and laughed slightly.
"Well, I guess this means I get to go with you now."