It would be morning soon. He could sense it.
It had taken an entire orn for Ironhide to make the journey back to Kaon. Darkness still prevailed when he rolled up to the security gate, although the sky was already beginning to get lighter and the stars had begun to fade. Ironhide's paint glinted dully underneath a light coat of sand.
The two Vehicon guards did not even verify the black mech's identity. They knew him by sight, and simply lifted the barrier.
Foolish, Ironhide thought, driving past the purple mechs. They were supposed to check, whether or not they recognized him. It was for security reasons. What if he had been an impostor? Then anyone could have infiltrated the base.
But Ironhide was not concerned with that now. The fact that he had returned after such a long absence and the guards had not even asked where he had been only made things easier for him. He knew he would be debriefed, but it would be better if it happened inside the base than outside of it.
He drove by a few other Decepticons wordlessly, heading to the hangar where he would usually go after a mission. It was located inside his faction's main base, just outside Kaon itself but well within the city limits, which extended a few kliks beyond the city in all directions.
Ironhide did not normally venture into the depths of Kaon, unless an assignment required it, simply because there was no reason to. He spent most of his free time on the base, or the outskirts of it, where he could train or relax without being bothered by anyone.
Most mechs knew to leave him alone, especially if he looked overtaxed, unless they needed something important. It was no different now, and when Ironhide finally pulled into the hangar, the only mech to approach him was Shockwave. The others were doubtlessly curious—they had known that Ironhide's last mission was only supposed to take two orns—but they kept their distance, watching from wherever they happened to be.
The weapons specialist rolled to a stop, waiting to be told where to go. "Ironhide, reporting."
"Report to bay 9," Shockwave instructed him. "Have you notified command of your presence?"
"Negative," Ironhide responded. "My communications systems are offline."
"I see. Report as ordered and wait for further instructions. I will notify command."
"Understood." Ironhide pulled forward, turning toward the proper bay as Shockwave stepped aside.
How ironic, the weapons specialist thought, that the mech currently in charge was the very same one he was supposed to have met in Tarn.
Actually, it was not that ironic. Shockwave, Starscream, and Ironhide were considered to be of the same rank despite their different functions, and they were the highest ranking mechs besides Lord Megatron himself. With Ironhide missing in action, one of the other two would have taken on his duties. It would have more likely been Starscream, since he was usually stationed at this base and Shockwave was not, but the scientist may have been put in Starscream's place if the air commander had more pressing duties to attend to.
Still, under the current circumstances, it felt odd to receive orders. Ironhide was normally the one giving orders here.
But he did as he was told, pulling into the bay and parking. He did not transform, since he was not sure how long he would need to wait.
He would be glad to get all the dirt and grime off his alt mode. Not only could he feel it, but he could see it in the reflective surface of the wall. His usually clean armor was dented and scratched, and not a single panel was free of dust or sand. Even his headlights were dim, their light partially obscured by a very fine layer of dust. He turned them off, resting for a moment.
It seemed like a lot of time was passing, but that was fine with him. He did not even resist as the far away sounds of the base slowly lulled him closer to recharge.
"Commander Ironhide."
Ironhide almost startled at the sound of someone calling his designation from behind him. Then he transformed, turning to see Barricade waiting a short distance away from where he had parked.
"I will be debriefing you," the black and white mech said. "Are you ready to do it now, or do you require medical attention first?"
"Let's do it now." Ironhide responded, wanting to get the debriefing over and done with. He knew he needed medical attention, but he could go to the med bay afterwards and tend to his own injuries. They were not severe enough to require the attention of a medic—his own knowledge of first aid would be more than sufficient.
"Very well. Come with me."
Barricade turned toward the door that led further into the base. Debriefings usually occurred in the interrogation room, simply because it allowed for privacy from the lower ranks and it was already set up for video and voice recording. It also minimized distractions, which made it easier for some mechs to recall important details.
Ironhide walked behind the smaller Decepticon, exiting the hangar and then heading down a long hallway. Barricade gestured toward the interrogation room, probably out of habit since Ironhide already knew where it was. The black mech stepped inside, followed by Barricade.
Barricade closed the door, then moved to the table as Ironhide sat down. The enforcer pulled up another chair and sat across from Ironhide.
"All right, Commander," Barricade started. "You know how this goes. I ask you some questions, you answer them fully, and then we're out of here. You'll have the remainder of the orn to yourself for diagnostics, medical attention, or rest."
"Understood."
"Good. Let's get started." Barricade clasped his hands together on the table's surface. "I know you know this, but standard procedure says I have to ask it anyway."
"Of course."
"What was your mission?"
"I was sent to Tarn," Ironhide answered, "to meet with Shockwave and a few others."
"All right. Then what happened?"
"Then... I was crossing the Badlands, into neutral territory, and hit an explosive device."
"Do you remember what happened after that?" Barricade prompted him.
"Not immediately after," Ironhide replied. "I was incapacitated for some amount of time. I remember coming online afterwards, and being unable to get up. I powered down to save energy. That was when the Autobots found me."
"How many Autobots were there?"
"Four of them. The yellow scout, Ultra Magnus, Bulkhead, and Ratchet."
"How do you know that if you were in power-down?" Barricade asked.
"I was awake then. My scanners alerted me when they arrived."
"All right." The enforcer leaned back, getting a little more comfortable. "So do you remember them taking you to Iacon?"
Ironhide paused. "How do you know I was in Iacon?"
"It was not hard to deduce it," Barricade quickly explained. "It is their center of operations."
"It is," the weapons specialist acknowledged. "I didn't see much of it. Just the med bay, brig, and one of the hangars."
"So they gave you medical care?"
"Yeah. They probably had to, or I would have permanently offlined while in custody."
Barricade raised an optic ridge at that. "Are you saying they saved your life?"
What? Ironhide had not thought of it exactly that way... "I suppose they did."
"And how did they treat you otherwise?"
"They kept me restrained most of the time. Eventually put me in the brig. I don't know what they were going to do after that. One of them came and talked to me, but that was all."
"Do you know which one?" Barricade asked.
"Jazz, their head of intelligence."
"What did he have to say?"
"Not much," Ironhide responded, shifting in his chair. "Said he wasn't there to interrogate me. Told me about the landmines, like I didn't already know."
"Like you didn't already know what?"
"That they were ours. I knew it after I hit one."
Barricade focused on him a little more closely. "And how does that make feel?"
"I kind of feel like they shouldn't have been there," Ironhide freely admitted, not trying to hide the slight hint of accusation in his voice.
"Starscream must have made a mistake," Barricade offered. "You know how he can be."
"Yes, I do." Not that it helped any.
"I think everyone does." Barricade chuckled, then got back to being more serious again. "Will you have any problems working with him from now on?"
"That depends if he can stop acting like a glitch-headed drone."
The black and white Decepticon laughed at that, finding Ironhide's statement particularly amusing. "We both know there's not much chance of that happening."
Ironhide snorted through his vents. "Yeah. Who am I kidding?"
Barricade just smirked. "Well, I think I've got what I need for now. Is there anything else you'd like to mention before we finish up?"
"Not at this time," the black mech replied.
"All right. Then you may be dismissed."
Ironhide got up, letting himself out as Barricade stayed behind to compile his report. The Decepticon enforcer always liked to finish those right away.
Heading for the wash racks, Ironhide silently contemplated what was going on. His processor seemed to be on a hundred different things as he thought about what had happened, what was happening, and what might happen, and all of the variables that could be involved. It was too much to think about, but he could not stop it.
The invasive thoughts persisted even when he found himself in the wash racks. As he cleaned the dirt and road grime off his armor, his focus remained elsewhere.
It got a little better by the time he was done. Maybe it was just that sense of familiarity, but Ironhide felt somewhat relieved to have one thing back to normal.
The black mech stepped out into the empty hallway. It was already late afternoon, about time to go to the med bay and take care of anything he needed to take care of with regard to his systems and physical condition. He was definitely low on energon now, and it would be unwise to ignore it any longer.
Ironhide transformed into vehicle mode, simply because it would be a bit easier to move around in, and then he headed for one of the med bays.
On his way there, the base was relatively quiet. He heard a few mechs talking about some mission on Trypticon Station, so apparently many of them were somewhere near there but on the planet's surface. Ironhide did not really care about it.
What he did care about was who he noticed roaming the halls at that moment—Megatron.
The lord high protector had his back to him, but he undoubtedly knew that Ironhide was there. Ironhide continued on like he had been, not doing anything out of the ordinary.
Megatron turned around when he heard the weapons specialist getting closer. The silver mech greeted Ironhide with a wave of his hand. "Ironhide."
Ironhide transformed, standing before his leader as would be expected. "Lord Megatron."
Megatron smiled broadly. "Shockwave informed me of your return, and I must say that we are very pleased to have you back."
Ironhide only nodded, not sure what to say or even if Megatron was telling the truth. Now was not the time to try to find out—Ironhide had yet to repair his weapons, and he would be almost defenseless if things got out of hand.
Megatron continued, "I trust that Barricade notified you that you will be given the remainder of the orn off?"
"Yes, he did."
"Excellent! Because tomorrow, I have an assignment for you."
"An assignment?" Ironhide questioned.
"Yes. Starscream and I have other matters to attend to," Megatron explained. "I was going to give this assignment to Shockwave, but now that you're here, you can resume your normal duties. Shockwave will remain in Kaon for a few more orns to assist you while you readjust, and he will also be working with you on this assignment."
"Understood. What is the assignment?"
"Well, we captured an Autobot medic just a few orns ago."
"Is that so?" Ironhide replied, wisely giving no indication that he might know the mech.
"Indeed," Megatron said, watching the black mech closely. "You see, we originally intended to negotiate for your return, but Prime informed us that you had already escaped."
"Then why is the medic still in custody? He's not even warrior class..."
Ironhide realized it was the wrong thing to say as soon as he said it. Megatron leaned over him menacingly, his tone dropping an octave. "Are you questioning my authority, Ironhide? Should I be concerned that your time with the Autobots has adversely affected you?"
"Of course not," the weapons specialist responded with more confidence than he felt.
"Good, because it would be unfortunate to lose such a valuable asset." Megatron straightened. "Now, Barricade has been unable to procure much useful information from our Autobot prisoner. See to it that your interrogation yields better results."