Traitor

Chapter Four

Barricade tensed as he saw the seven mismatched vehicles, led by the flame-patterned Peterbilt truck, round the corner, turn to face him, and convert to bipedal form.

Optimus spread his arms, showing that he had no weapons out. "Barricade, we do not wish to fight you, we wish only to talk." Optimus stated. He was careful not to get within range of Barricade's extending blade-arm.

Barricade's response was non-verbal, but noisy, shooting at Optimus with his laser cannons. Optimus tried to dodge, but Barricade's reflexes were fast, and Optimus took two hits. He was glad that he had relatively tough armour. Reluctantly, Optimus powered up his own cannon, and Ironhide joined him.

Both Ironhide and Optimus shielded Cliffjumper, Bumblebee, Prowl, and Mirage, although only Mirage and Cliffjumper began firing. Optimus and Ironhide set their weapons on a low setting and shot as well, to distract Barricade from firing at the smaller Autobots. Ironhide, whose armour was tougher even than Optimus', approached, to make himself the bigger threat, and thus the one Barricade fired at most.

Although Ironhide's armour was heavy duty, he was surprisingly agile considering his mass and size. More than one Decepticon had paid the price for underestimating the speed at which Ironhide could move when needed. He dodged about, still protecting his smaller comrades while avoiding as many shots as he could.

Ironhide decided that he might have to go in closer and fight Barricade hand-to-hand, because Barricade had sensitive head-antennae sensors that would soon detect that his cannons were on a low setting, which might mean he'd transfer his attentions back to the smaller Autobots and Ratchet, who were positioned behind he and Optimus. Ironhide did not relish the thought: Barricade's blade-arm and hydraulic hands could crush and rend even his armour seriously enough to do quite a lot of damage.

Luckily for Ironhide, it did not come to that, for Barricade seemed so agitated that he appeared to be relying on optical data rather than his sensor net: at any rate, it was Optimus and Ironhide he continued firing at. Cliffjumper and Mirage had both decided to concentrate their fire on Barricade's ankles and knees. After a while, their efforts were rewarded: Barricade's left knee gave way, as he fell to the ground, but continued firing.

Prowl sent Mirage a data burst. "That would help if you could do your stuff and get behind him." said Prowl.

"I'll get down to it." Mirage said. Prowl took over from Mirage, firing to keep the Decepticon's attention off Mirage, who, using Ironhide's legs as cover, activated his light disrupter, and shimmered into invisibility. Mirage crept quietly, and managed to creep round behind Barricade without being detected.

He waited, watching for what Prowl had databurst to him, something that was obvious if you knew it was there. Then Mirage spotted what he was looking for, cunningly disguised, difficult to see unless you were looking for it. Staying invisible, he quietly crept forwards, then quickly darted forwards, using his hand to strike a particular spot on Barricade's back, then moving off in case Barricade was able to react before what he had done took effect.

Barricade swung one arm back in a grab, but then his optics shuttered and dimmed as the push Mirage had given Barricade's offline button took effect.

As Mirage shimmered into view, and Barricade sank into limp immobility, Ratchet moved forwards.

"Come here, Mirage, I need your help here. You can help repair this knee you and Cliffjumper disabled."

Mirage nodded, as everyone but Cliffjumper (who kept watch) powered down their weapons, and Mirage moved over to assist the medic.