Disclaimer: I do not own the character Ghost. Decepticongirl6 formerly known as Autobotgirl6 used that name originally from her story "The Truth About Transformers". It's a good read if anyone is in for a good adventure.

Author's Note: This chapter is going to be darker and more graphic in nature due to the fact that this is a war, not a picnic down the block, that's happening here. So fair warning, battle violence and blood is the only reason I rate my stories T although later on there will be something far more evil and sinister…. So be warned.

Chapter 10

Little feet pounded against the scorch marked floor of the once pristine ship known as the Maximus. Aethelgythe had been running in circles for a while, trying to find a familiar face she could trust and be safe with. So far, this side of the ship was utterly abandoned with the exception of an occasional Autobot or Decepticon corpse littering the hallways. Twice now she had nearly slipped and fallen on spilled energon from fallen warriors and to say that the youngling was panicked would be an understatement.

She was frightened and longed for her father's comforting presence and gentle touch. He would make all the monsters and scary things go away. She cried out when she tripped over something in one of the darkened hallways. When she saw what it was she screamed and scrambled up to run some more. It was a severed arm…

In a blind panic, she picked a direction and ran for all she was worth, vents heaving in an attempt to compensate for the changes in her body temperature as her overworked systems screamed, for rest. There were lights blown out in some parts of the hallways and in other areas, sparks and wires rained down from the ceiling, creating shadowy illusions.

She stopped for a moment at a slightly familiar corridor junction as her little chest heaved from all the running, when out of the shadows a hand grabbed her from behind, pulling her back out of sight from any prying optics. Another hand was clamped firmly over her mouth, muffling her screams.

A familiar voice whispered in her right audio receptor.

"Shh…kid, it's me."

"Ghost?"

She bristled when Ghost pulled her even closer by way of a response. She only did that when danger was nearby.

"Don't move… and stay quiet he can't see us."

She did as she was told, practically holding her breath she was so scared.

Aethelgythe's optics, widened in stunned terror. To their left, a Decepticon cat like predator thing was stalking closer towards them. Ghost had her invisibility field activated and it currently had the two of them cloaked.

Her body tensed when the cat thing stared straight at their hiding spot and growled, metal plates lifting on its back in a show of aggression.

Had it seen them?

Her body was locked in place, her optics not even blinking as it sniffed the air for a moment before glaring one more time at their shadowy corner before continuing on, its clawed feet clink-clink-clinking down the corridor.

That had been close…too close.

Ghost was like a second mother to Aethelgythe. It didn't matter to the youngling that Ghost was the offspring of Megatron. As a matter of fact, she was the only one out of the Autobots who could approach her without fear or worry. The other Autobots were still wary of her, always afraid that she might give in to her past blood-thirsting nature. There was a time when Ghost was one of the worst decepticons, killing without regret. Aethelgythe was too young to understand much about war. So one day she noticed Ghost looked sad and that she was in a foul mood.

Flashback

"Don't go near her, she doesn't want to talk to anyone, just leave her alone," one Autobot had warned her. She ignored the warning, strolled right up to the ex-con and hugged her legs before tugging on one of her hands to get her attention. Ghost looked down at her with something akin to annoyance but that expression soon melted away at what Aethelgythe said next.

"I don't want you to be sad. It's okay to cry you know. I think you're beautiful and you'd make a good mommy."

Ghost burst into tears as she scooped Aethelgythe up and hugged the child. It was one of the most wonderful things anyone had ever said to her before. She had been a mother once but her father, Megatron, had killed both her mate and her offspring all because she had loved. From that day forward, Ghost was like a mom to Aethelgythe and kept a careful eye on her.

End Flashback

Ghost turned the cloak off and spun the youngling around to look at her.

"Listen carefully…I need you to run straight to the escape pod room. Ironhide will be meeting you there, okay? Now get going!"

Ghost followed her for a short while until a small group of decepticons spotted them.

"RUN! I'll hold them off!"

Prime's youngling did as she was told and ran for all she was worth until the sounds of battle had faded. She slowed down and tried to regain her bearings. Now that areas of the ship were damaged, it was harder for her to recognize her surroundings since she'd never seen her home so changed before. She picked a hallway she thought was the right one and continued on her way, hoping it would lead her to her intended destination.

Aethelgythe smiled when she heard the sound of her guardian's voice nearby. She must be going the right way! She slid to a stop at the sight that soon greeted her optics. Ironhide was injured but still fighting off a bunch of Decepticons who were cowering behind a barrier made out of wreckage. They all ceased firing when she appeared. Ironhide turned to see her and frowned.

"Get out of here! RUN!"

She shook her head defiantly and shot him a glare of her own.

"I'm not leaving you alone like this!"

The ring-leader of the Decepticon group stepped forward. He walked proudly, both wings shone in the artificial light as he advanced ever closer to his fallen prey.

"Well, well, well…what do we have here? One Autobot rust bucket, and his little brat."

"Starscream…" Ironhide growled his annoyance by way of greeting.

"Looks like we've finally beaten the great Ironhide! And so easily too… why if your little pit-spawn hadn't appeared you might have had a better chance at beating us. Getting too rusty in your old age?"

He aimed his gun from Ironhide to the youngling and stalked closer to her. She felt frozen with fear at the sick, demented, predatory expression on his faceplates…and at his optics. This guy scared her and she could tell he was one of the more intelligent invaders.

"Leave her out of this," Ironhide's voice had a dangerous edge to it.

"Mute it, you slagging trash compactor…I just want to look."

After a moment of studying her, he turned suspicious, ruby red optics on the weapons specialist.

"She doesn't look a thing like you. Who is her father?"

"Wouldn't YOU like to know?" Ironhide countered with a feral snarl.

"Tsk, tsk…temper, temper. We really should teach you some manners. How about we take this youngling from you and torture her in front of your fading optic sensors?"

He continued on in gruesome detail about all the ways they could torture her. She shrank down into a ball. Ironhide soon roared in outrage and pummeled Starscream into a hasty retreat. He then pelted his enemies with gunfire once again and told her to run. Aethelgythe listened this time and ran. Gunfire came close to hitting her but she kept going. She heard Starscream shout, "Stop shooting you morons! Don't hit the kid!"

Much to her surprise, Ironhide caught up, scooped her up in one massive arm, and ran with her the rest of the way to the escape pod room. There weren't many places to hide and all escape pods had already been jettisoned to get some civilians off of the ship before the fight started. He shoved her into a dark corner behind a crate and she remained still and quiet.

Ironhide aimed his guns at the door and waited. A few minutes later, the winged crew of miscreants returned with their wing commander. She watched horrified as they shot Ironhide and sent him crashing to the ground before he had a chance to fire. Starscream raised his gun about to finish her hero off.

"NOOOO!"

She ran out, placing herself between Ironhide and the gun. She was shaking she was so scared, but she didn't care, she just didn't want them to hurt him anymore.

Starscream seemed pleased that she appeared and lowered his gun while Ironhide struggled weakly to pull Prime's daughter back but failed due to his injuries and weakened condition. Starscream talked a lot and his voice was annoying. When he started talking about how they were going to kill Ironhide in an agonizing way, it sparked fury within the young spark and she leaped for Ironhide's fallen gun and fired a couple of times in their direction. One shot went wild and the other miraculously hit Starscream in the wing. He jerked his head back and shrieked very loudly, no wonder they called him Starscream…

"Seize her!"

Ironhide reached his hand towards her and said "no!" as she struggled to get free from her captors but they were far bigger and stronger. Once she was out of the way, Starscream shot Ironhide and he fell, bleeding energon everywhere. She screamed and cried and continued her useless struggling. Just before they were going to take her away, Optimus Prime and his troops stood blocking their exit.

"Put the youngling down!"

They wisely complied and Aethelgythe took the opportunity to run back to Ironhide. She reached a shaky hand out and gently shook him trying to wake him. She continued to cry, believing that he was dead and began screaming for Ratchet. He came running as soon as he heard the child yelling for him and he brought two helpers along to see what the trouble was. She backed away from the scene, her mind going numb to everything as she watched Ratchet instruct the two helpers on how to help stabilize Ironhide. Bright, glowing energon pooled out from his broken and beaten body. She shook her head, unable to process what she was seeing. Soon, she was scooped up and carried off and away from the disturbing sight. She looked up to see it was her father. Her lip quivered and tears began leaking from her optics as she looked into his weary face.

"He…he was so still. And there was so much energon. Is he…is he dead?"

Optimus smiled wanly at that and shook his head.

"Ironhide is too stubborn to die. He won't, especially since he still has you to care for."

"Good."

She leaned wearily against her father's battle worn chassis and then noticed something.

"Father you are bleeding!"

Optimus looked down at himself to see the smeared energon his child was indicating.

"That's not mine."

That's when Optimus's keen optics saw the tear in his child's arm. A steady flow of energon was leaking out of the wound and it was getting all over Optimus's chest.

"Sweet Primus!"

Those were the last words she heard before she offlined into stasis...

When she awoke, she was laying curled on her father's chest. He had been watching his child resting peacefully ever since Ratchet repaired her.

"Father…I want to see Ironhide."

"He needs his rest, so perhaps later."

"Okay," she tiredly rested her head back down.

"Rest my sweetling, you've been through much today."

"Are the bad guys gone?"

Optimus chuckled at the innocent question.

"Yes, they are gone. It's safe again. Just rest, Ratchet says you need it."

She closed her optics, too fatigued to argue.

The second time she awoke she was screaming and crying, her father had been trying his best to wake her from the nightmare.

She latched on to Optimus in a hug, shaking with fright.

"Father…they…they killed him. They killed Ironhide. His blood was everywhere and all the Autobots were dead but me and they were coming for me next! There were pieces of people everywhere!" She wailed pitifully as the nightmare slowly began to fade from her memory banks.

"Shhh…it's alright my dear one. They are gone, Ironhide is doing well, and the Autobots are still very much alive. It was only a bad dream, my daughter."

Optimus continued to soothe his distraught child until she slowly slipped into recharge again, lulled by his comforting voice, his brilliant presence, and the powerful thrumming of his spark. Nothing bad would ever get her while her father was holding her.

It was a long time before little Aethelgythe felt brave enough to sleep apart from her father. The nightmares constantly plagued her in recharge but her father was patient and very loving. He held her and watched her sleep, waiting for the signals that would tell him his child was suffering another accursed nightmare. Why did his precious child have to suffer so? She was still so young and innocent to have to be introduced first-hand to the horrors of their war. He had hoped she would be shielded from such things until she reached the appropriate age and maturity level.

Sadly, it was not to be so.

Aethelgythe got her first real taste of war.

On the nights that Aethelgythe didn't want to recharge, her father would tell her tales of their people's past, about noble and valorous deeds, about how good would always conquer evil. His stories comforted her and made the bad guys seem less scary. Soon she was able to recharge peacefully without any more bad dreams.

Ever since the attack on their ship, Optimus and the elder Autobots felt it would be wise to begin Aethelgythe's training early so that she knew at least basic combative skills in the event that the cons ever returned.

When she got the news she jumped up and down in excitement and tackled her father's legs in a hug she was so excited. She raced off to tell Bumblebee and when word reached the twins audios they all decided to celebrate. Soon it was decided that during the course of her training they would have a prank war. Bumblebee and Aethelgythe were a team versus the twins. Surprisingly, Optimus and the elder bots had nothing to say to this, most likely relieved that the youngsters were aiming their mischief at each other rather than at them.

Ratchet made her go to the med-bay for a checkup before she could start training.

He looked pointedly at her and growled, waving a wrench threateningly.

"You better be here when I get back!"

He left the room for a moment and she considered leaving, not too thrilled about an exam.

Before she could hop down from the table, Ratchet walked right back in with a smile on his face.

"Now, where were we?"

"An exam," Aethe stated flatly.

"Ah yes, thank you."

Ratchet gave her the exam and when it was over, she all but ran from the med-bay. She wanted to get this training on the road.

Aethelgythe was doing well with her training although there were times she had difficulties. Prowl and Ironhide reassured her and told her that it took practice and that no one ever got it perfectly the first time. She learned how to use a standard pistol first since it was by far the easiest to learn. Prowl taught her simple strategies to remain unseen and undetected if there was a decepticon nearby as well as how to shake one off of her trail if it was hunting her.

Not only that but she discovered something most exciting one day. A small knife like blade slid from her arm, much like the sword her father had. She showed him and he couldn't help but lift her up into the air and nuzzle her affectionately. He was proud of his daughter's progress. She was a fast learner and Prowl himself had praised her for that.

Soon, Aethelgythe couldn't help but focus on the prank war and she and Bumblebee got the twins good. So good in fact, that one of the twins, Sunstreaker decided to ditch his brother in the hopes of making an alliance with the enemy. He got Bumblebee to join him, completely changing the course of the war.

"You traitor, Sunny!"

"What? I chose the WINNING side for once!"

"We could have won if YOU hadn't been such a slagging coward!"

Sideswipe crouched down and draped an arm over Aethelgythe's shoulders.

"Don't worry, we can totally take the both of them!"

"Bumblebee…why? I thought we were the perfect pair!" Aethelgythe cried still shocked her partner had betrayed her.

"Don't take it personal, Aethe! It's just business."

"I'll still be the Prank Master, you just wait!" Aethe shouted defiantly with a smile on her face.

It was this very game that taught her the meaning of betrayal…

There was soon going to be another decepticon attack. Optimus had a trusted ship-mate take his daughter to a designated safe zone. However, the female ship-mate had other plans.

When Aethelgythe realized that she was being kidnapped she screamed and cried at the top of her vocal processor for help. Some Autobots heard and came running. The evil witch swore and sprinted, soon meeting up with a small band of decepticons. When Optimus Prime heard that his child had fallen into decepticon hands he raced to save her.

Both factions stood at a standstill with weapons aimed at each other. Many of the Autobots were livid and snarled the word "Traitor" at the femme that had taken Aethelgythe to her father's enemies. She smirked evilly back at them. Words were exchanged between parties, Optimus Prime doing his best to negotiate the release of the youngling whose identity for the moment was kept secret. There was a reason why he had kept Aethelgythe with Ironhide on many an occasion. Some Autobots had even at first believed that the youngling belonged to the trigger happy weapons specialist. They were stunned to learn the truth.

"Follow us and she dies!"

Soon the Decepticons began dragging her away, the Autobots helpless to do anything.

She kicked and screamed, doing her best to escape, trying to remember everything she learned in her training. She almost got free but someone hit her over her head and told her that if she kept up the fuss, she would hurt far worse. This merely invoked louder screaming and double efforts to get free. Knowing this would be her only chance to get away from them, the knife slid out from her arm and she aimed to plunge it in the throat of the decepticon currently holding on to her. The evil femme traitor caught her small arm mid-strike and in one cruel move, ripped the growing weapon from off of her arm, eliciting a pain-filled shriek followed by tears and whimpers.

It hurt so badly.

Aethelgythe hated feeling so small and helpless. She felt ashamed that she wasn't able to defend herself or free herself.

Optimus looked devastated. They locked optics for what would most likely be the last time, and he spoke to her through their bond.

Listen carefully, little one. Whatever you do, DO NOT tell them who you are! They will kill you if they know…I love you. We will come for you, I swear it!

They disappeared from view as she was dragged further away.

Soon something heavy collided with the side of her little helm and the youngling knew no more.

TO BE CONTINUED!