Chapter 137 – Weapons Master's Niece
(IPOV)
Ironhide looked around himself irritably. The Dires were in the city, somewhere, hiding out. And he was sitting on his aft in the headquarters.
The humans were being far, far more annoying than usual.
House arrest.
Fagh.
Mikaela was allowed to go anywhere she Primus well pleased still.
For the first time that he could remember, he was suddenly irritable with his niece.
She was a bot now, the rules should apply to her, too.
Mikaela chose that moment to walk through the entrance bay doors, dropping her concealment and shaking her head irritably.
Soaking wet.
Ironhide couldn't help but feel mildly vindicated about that. Until he heard her muttering.
"Stupid motherfucking gods forsaken salt water and sand. Salt water and sand!" she grumbled to herself, she waved her arms in the air and flinched. Ironhide was running toward her the next second. Her spark was humming in pain.
"Niece!" he rumbled worriedly.
"Ironhide, thank Primus," Kae stated flatly. "I need your help, we need to get back out there, the Dires decided that seeing as I'm the only bot out there at the moment, tackling me into the edge of the bay was a brilliant idea. 'Hide you gotta come out with me." she caught his shoulder and turned, walking back toward the doors.
"Why didn't you call for backup?" Ironhide demanded blackly, dragging his niece toward the wash bay instead.
"Ironhide I don't have time for a fragging shower!" Mikaela snarled. "They've got sand in their joints too, we gotta go get them while they're there!"
"Why didn't you call for backup!?" Ironhide snarled back at her.
"The water shorted my comm!" Mikaela snarled irritably. "Primus only knows how they managed to sneak up on me. Little slaggers!" she snarled, gesturing angrily and flinching again. Ironhide could hear the sand grinding in her systems.
::. Ratchet! Optimus!.:: Ironhide sent quickly ::. Kae's got sand in! We need exec decisions now!.::
The sound of footsteps getting quickly to the entrance bay began echoing through the headquarters. Ratchet was beside them the next moment.
"How the scrap did you get sand in your joints!?" he demanded blackly.
"I made the fragging mistake of transforming while they were tackling me," Mikaela grumbled irritably. "Now can we go!?"
"You're not going anywhere," Ratchet growled at her as Optimus strode toward them.
"Try and stop me!" she snarled at them, turning and striding toward the doors.
Director Stilson decided to wander in.
"And where do you think you're going?" the man sneered at her with a grin. Mikaela was on all fours the next moment.
"Back out to protect your worthless hide! Back out to protect my birth race in the event you don't remember, and seeing as you've kindly made sure my backup isn't allowed to come back me up," she snarled at him. "I'm going back out to go make sure that the bots that would kill you as soon as look at you don't. Alone.You got a problemwith that!?"
Ironhide looked at his niece proudly, and the human with disgust as he leaked lubricants on the floor.
Mikaela summoned a cloth from subspace and tossed it to the man.
"Clean yourself up and get out of my way," she snarled. She stood, and anyone could see the agony in her motions. She strode to the entrance bay doors and made to transform.
She made it halfway to her alt form before screaming in agony.
Ironhide ran toward her, catching her as she automatically returned to her root mode.
At a loss, he dragged her to the wash bay, inwardly cringing at the pain he was causing her as she moved. But outwardly, he couldn't allow it to show, his niece needed maintenance.
Now.
The Dires would have to wait.
Ironhide snatched up the pressure washer wand with his binder cables and began blowing the high pressure stream of water against her.
"Transform niece," he commanded sternly, blasting the water over her joints.
Kae looked at him for a second and obeyed.
The second her joints opened, he blasted water into them, hopefully getting the sand out. Water in joints was bad, but sand in joints was worse.
The sheer amount of powdered stone collecting on the floor was horrifying.
Mikaela finally made it to her alternate land form, and began transforming back. Her joints were screaming in protest. Literally. The screeching scream of metals being abused.
But she never said a word, transforming back and forth as Ironhide blasted water into her joints.
He'd never be able to bring himself to be irritable with her again.
Ironhide scanned her, the sand was gone. But so were her lubricants.
He strode to the fill station and snatched up an injector full of oil.
Kae was following him, grimacing as she moved.
Now wasn't the time to be polite, Ironhide jammed the injector into her fill point, flooding her systems with the lubricants.
Kae was moving the next moment, working the lubricants back into her systems.
"Let's roll," she commanded sternly, already striding to the doors with Ironhide hot on her heels.
"Mikaela!" Optimus rumbled behind them.
They both turned to look at him.
"There are three Dires looking to raise hell in our territory," Mikaela growled. "They forced me into a retreat, that's not going to stand!"
She took three quick steps and transformed into her air form, using her forcefields to get clear of the building before blasting her engines.
Ironhide was following after her quickly, tracking her co-ordinates.
::. Is this working yet!?.:: Kae demanded over the primary.
::. Good to hear your voice again, co-ordinates!.:: Ironhide rumbled sternly. He nodded firmly as she immediately sent him her last known co-ordinates for the cons.
::. For Primus sake Mikaela! You just had ten pounds of sand removed from your joints and you're back out again!?.:: Optimus demanded angrily.
::. I told you love, they forced me to retreat, that's not going to stand.:: Mikaela growled.
Ironhide pulled up to the river, a deserted bank. Mikaela was already striding the length of the river, scanning.
"They're not here," she snarled softly. "Where the pit have they disappeared to..."
"Give me a replay," Ironhide commanded sternly.
Mikaela piped her logs to him as she continued scanning.
Ironhide watched as she scanned the area, the ground came toward her and she shifted into her land mode, driving along the river.
Three vehicles converged on her, just as an energon signature registered on her sensors. One transformed and made to tackle her in her alt form.
She was half transformed when he hit, even at the speed she was transforming, no wonder the sand had got into her joints.
Ironhide winced at her readings as she began tearing into them, her pain levels were far too high for proper fighting. He watched with grim satisfaction as she held her own. Three against one with sand in her joints.
She threw one into the sand, hard, if it didn't have sand in it's joints Ironhide would be shocked. The three kept coming at her, Ironhide looked around at the disturbed sand and noted where the fighting had truly happened. Mikaela took to the air again, scanning.
Actually, it was a wonder she was doing it. No doubt the three cons had retreated themselves, even damaged herself, she'd done one scrap of a list of damages to them.
::. Come on Kae, let's get back.:: Ironhide rumbled irritably. It was the last thing he wanted to do, but her joints were going to be scrapping raw for the amount of movement she'd done with the sand in her joints.
::. Absolutely not.:: Kae snapped. ::. I want to know how those bastards got the jump on me mid-scan!.::
::. Come off it niece!.:: Ironhide commanded sternly ::. You did enough damage to them that they're going to think twice before even showing themselves again, now get back to base, your joints are clean but they're gonna be scrapping rubbed thin at this point. They're gone.::
He transformed and drove back toward their headquarters. Pissed off.
No doubt by the time they got back, they'd be under even stricter house arrest.
Will's superiors were complete idiots sometimes.
Kae landed a few moments after he drove into the Entrance Bay, striding after him.
She looked as pissed off as he felt.
"Fucking salt water, fucking sand, fucking comm, fucking house arrest, fucking politics," she muttered as she strode into the bay. Ironhide transformed and began pacing the length of the bay again, spinning his cannons irritably.
"Mikaela!" Optimus bellowed at his femme.
"Don't start, don't you even start with me!" Mikaela snarled, pacing beside Ironhide.
"Engaging the Decepticons-" Optimus started.
"She didn't," Ironhide growled. "They ambushed her, look at her scrapping damage reports, her comm shorted or we wouldn't be here, we'd be chasing those bastards off this scrapping planet!"
Director Stilson emerged, looking like he was thinking of going round two.
"I wouldn't," Ironhide snarled at the man. "And seeing as I wouldn't, I would highly suggest you leave before you 'accidentally' get under foot!"
The man paled and ran to hide behind Major Lennox.
"As you can tell, Director," the major stated calmly, looking over his shoulder at the man. "The bots don't take well to being cooped up. Ironhide, status report?"
"Kae got ambushed on the ground," Ironhide rumbled angrily. "They got sand and salt into her joints. She did a fair bit of damage to them, but not enough to keep them in place for the rest of us to deal with them. They're gone again."
Mikaela snarled to herself, her wings flashing into blades and back again.
Ironhide could sympathize as his cannons whirled agitatedly.
Optimus leaned against the wall tiredly, reaching up to touch his brow irritably.
"What were you doing on the ground, Kae?" he asked wearily.
"I wanted to get my tires on the surface, see if I could sense anything through the ground," Mikaela grumbled. "What's the sense of stoneseeking if I'm not on the ground?"
That made sense.
Ironhide continued to pace beside her.
"Thanks for getting the sand out of my joints," she added as they passed each other again. They turned.
"You've done the same for me," Ironhide rumbled.
"Mm." she shrugged.
::. Jolt, are the sensors picking anything up?.:: she asked with her usual patience with the tech.
::. N...no... sorry...:: Jolt murmured over the primary. Mikaela synced her processors irritably. Ironhide could sense Jolt feeling somewhat wary, scared regardless.
::. I'm not angry at you, Jolt.:: Mikaela sighed silently.
Ironhide felt the Tech's relief and nodded to himself. She deserved to be Prime. She knew how to deal with them all.
::. But...:: Optimus murmured over the Primary.
::. How do you figure there's a 'but' in there?.:: Kae murmured. The way she always had.
::. There's always a but.:: Ironhide rumbled.
::. Oh come off it.:: Kae snorted. ::. If they - aw scrap...::
::. What?.::
::. Kae?.:: Optimus rumbled worriedly.
::. They caught me in the air, they were waiting for me to come to ground. There's no way I should have missed their sensors pinging mine. How the PIT did I miss their sensors?.::
::. 'Cause they used a key!.:: Jolt howled ::. Kae! Need your logs! NOW!.::
::. Jolt what?.:: Kae asked in shock, piping her logs to him regardless.
A key.
The equivalent to the Decepticon's version of the evening post. In five days, they'd have every frequency the Decepticons used.
The two of them paced for an hour, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe and Bumblebee got into the entrance bay and looked hopefully at Optimus.
Prime simply shook his head tiredly, reaching up and rubbing his brow again.
Sideswipe growled to himself and began pacing beside Ironhide. Bumblebee crossed his arms, glaring at his chest and leaning against the wall beside Sunny.
Another hour of pacing.
Ratchet walked into the bay, watched Kae for a long moment and sighed irritably, leaning against the wall beside Prime.
"This is ridiculous!" Bumblebee finally shouted. "I'm a scout, I should be scouting!"
Director Matteer drove in, parked, got out of his vehicle and looked around at them with astonishment in his eyes.
"What are all of you doing here?" he demanded incredulously. "I just got a report of a skirmish on the river front and you're standing around in here!?"
"No, we are pacing," Ironhide snapped half-sparkedly.
"The President has decided that it is best for us to remain in our headquarters at all times," Optimus rumbled blackly.
"He what," Barry demanded flatly.
"The President has-"
"I heard you the first time, rhetorical," Barry waved irritably. "I just came in here to ask if Bee and Sides would mind watching my agents' backs on a dirty job. If you'll excuse me, I have a President to cross-examine."
He got back in his car and drove out again.
"Nice to know at least one human is on our side," Ironhide grumbled.
"Oi!" Will called up irritably.
"Two."
"Dozen, every human in this complex is on your side," Will grumbled.
"Thirty six humans on our side, fine." Ironhide grumbled.
They began pacing again. Even Will was pacing now.
An hour later, a fuming Barry drove back into the Hangar.
"President doesn't know what the fuck is going on," he snarled. "He thought Kae was in the skies, somebody's fucking with you lot. Prime, trade you, I've got a few agents on their way to try to figure out who's screwing with you. Can I borrow Sunstreaker Bee and Sides?"
"By all means," Optimus rumbled in a relieved tone. "Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, objections?"
"Gimme co-ordinates! Point the way, I don't care, we're already there!" Bumblebee immediately chirped, pushing himself off of the wall as Sideswipe initiated a rapid weapons check beside his brother. The three of them transformed, idling to Barry.
"Don't bother with campfire," Barry snorted. "Usual meet place." he jerked his thumb to the door.
The three bots were immediately burning rubber, getting out of headquarters.
"It's safe to say you lot can get back to your regular schedules," Barry stated flatly. What a treasure the human was. "With the provision you watch your backs, if the Decepticons decided to hack the government again, they're luring you into another god's forsaken trap."
Ironhide watched in amusement as Mikaela nodded irritably, rubbing her shoulder.
Barry looked up at her worriedly.
"Ah crap," he muttered. "They already sprung a trap, didn't they."
"They're mine," she growled softly. The hangar promptly looked worriedly at her as she strode toward the doors again.
"Mikaela!" Optimus barked.
"If it's the last thing I do I'm going to find those bastards," she growled.
"You'd better stop her," Barry muttered. Ironhide fairly ran to get in front of her.
"You're not goin' anywhere niece," he growled at her. Kae leaned down and caught his optics.
"Try me," she snarled softly.
Alright then.
Ironhide wound up a damned good punch and caught her square in the chest plates.
Her armour squealed in protest as she slid across the floor to Optimus' feet.
She was on her own feet in seconds, charging him.
Oh scrap.
Thank Primus, Optimus had her in his arms the next moment.
"Don't make me shut off your motor controls," Optimus snarled at her.
"You wouldn't dare!" Mikaela snarled right back at him, batting him away. Or trying, Optimus stayed right there.
"You are distracted Mikaela!" he rumbled sternly.
"Noted," she snarled.
"If you want to have it out, fine!" Optimus snarled, he spun her in his arms and had her on the floor again.
That never worked for long, Mikaela had him on his back in moments. The rest of the bots scrambled to get the humans out of the way as Optimus got Kae back on the ground again, pinning her down as she snarled in rage.
The hangar stood in shock. She was still struggling, struggling hard. That wasn't like her, at all.
"I am going to rip the miserable chambers from their chests!" Mikaela shrieked, throwing Optimus off of herself.
She really threw him. Oh Primus.
There was murder in her optics.
That left only one thing to do.
Ironhide brought his cannons fully online, aiming for her.
Mikaela strode toward him, snarling in rage.
There was murder in her optics.
"Get the murder out of your optics, niece, I swore to you, remember?" Ironhide growled flatly. "Don't make me kill both of my Primes in a single day."
He aimed for her spark.
"Stand down, Ironhide," Mikaela snarled.
"There's murder in your optics, niece, and if it don't leave, one of us is dying today." he snarled softly. Sometimes it was the only way to get through to them. "You gonna kill your uncle because a couple of 'cons scratched your paint?"
Mikaela stared at him and collapsed.
Ironhide knelt in front of her and pulled her against his chest. She began keening against him. Gently, he reached for her spark with his own, caressing her chamber.
She allowed him in, and he touched her spark.
Firsthand, he saw the stress she had been dealing with, being awake for what she still perceived as two weeks was wearing on her, on top of shifts in Med-bay, taking the meetings with the Directors, supporting Optimus through his own insecurities, and then scout duty, because for the past two orn she had been the only one allowed out of base.
For Primus sake she wasn't even a vorn old yet!
"Of course," Ironhide rumbled irritably. He promptly wound his arms a bit more tightly around Mikaela, lightly cuffing her helm. He looked up at the unit irritably.
"What?" Chromia demanded worriedly.
"Once again, we're faced with a Prime who insists on bearing the weight of the world unaided." Ironhide snorted, he looked at Optimus. "What the scrap do you think we're here for, youngling? No wonder your mate just snapped."
(OPOV)
Optimus glared down at his mate.
"Why, the scrap, have you been sheltering me?" he rumbled angrily. Mikaela looked up at him irritably.
"What, you mean the way you did me as a human?" she demanded sternly.
Optimus looked up at the heavens and snorted.
"Our positions have well and truly switched," he snorted, sitting down in the slowly gathering group of mechs. He looked around for a moment and snorted again. "It never occurred to you that I have been trained over several vorns to attend to these tasks? That your presence is what makes my duties bearable? I do not need you to do it for me!"
Mikaela looked at him irritably.
"What?"
"You do realize that I have been trained since I was a youngling-"
"You're still a youngling, either species," Ironhide rumbled blandly. Mikaela whacked him lightly.
"Not the point, fine, you realize that I've been trained from my hatchlinghood to attend to these duties? I'm not pissed that they scratched my paint, I'm pissed that they're planning to do it again!" Mikaela snarled softly. "Bumblebee, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe are already out there, and you lot have been cooped up for so long that I have no doubt our headquarters is going to be deserted in five breem. It doesn't stop, and I can't stop."
Optimus watched worriedly as her face jerked slightly, looking at the wall the way she tended to do when someone was comming her.
"Great, and now airforce one wants an escort overseas," she groaned. She looked around at headquarters and dropped her head to rest on his shoulder for a long moment.
"Prime calling Jetfire," he rumbled out immediately.
"Yes Prime?" Jetfire asked cheerfully, wandering into the entrance bay from the corridors. "Do I get to go out again?"
"Will you escort Airforce one overseas in Kae's stead?" Optimus rumbled worriedly. "She has been running herself ragged."
"Aye, and I'll be taking me air-scout duties back after that," Jetfire nodded with a vicious grin. "The vacation's been nice, granddaughter, but it's your turn."
His beloved Kae sagged in his arms, and he felt firsthand her abject relief. Optimus nuzzled his mate's neck gently.
"We are strong together," he rumbled gently.
"How the pit do you lot do it?" she moaned.
"We have you to keep us energized," Ironhide snorted, rubbing her back. "We've also had several vorn to get used to full orn duties. I onlined in a world where our sun-cycle is an orn. Primus sake niece, you're usually so patient when you're taking a shot, why are you so impatient to serve?"
Optimus' spark lifted as Kae snorted.
"My human side is showing again," she muttered at a passing attempt at irritability.
"We've all got our little glitches," Ironhide teased her gently. "Me for example, I have this terrible habit of aiming for my Primes."
Kae reached out and whacked him gently.
"Thanks for caring, uncle," she murmured with a small smile.
Ironhide laughed softly and rubbed her back again before heaving himself to his feet.
"All due respect, Optimus," he rumbled calmly. "You and Kae had best stay in for the next little bit. The rest of us, no less than two together out there."
"Agreed," Optimus nodded calmly. He rose and gently lifted his Kae into his arms. She looked at him warily.
"You're imprisoning me in Med-bay, aren't you?" she demanded tiredly.
"We weighed the amount of sand you carried in here," he rumbled patiently. "You are going to stay in the med-bay until your spark father says otherwise."
"OPTIMUS!" Will was bellowing the next moment.
"Status report!" Mikaela commanded automatically.
"Cons! They've crippled a plane!" Will shouted.
Kae was on her feet the next moment.
"Mikaela!" Optimus shouted at her. "They're trying to draw you out!"
"I know that! Grandfather is already escorting Airforce one!" Mikaela shouted. "Co-ordinates! I'm not engaging the Cons, I'm going after that plane!"
Optimus nodded sternly.
"Auto-bots! Roll out!" he roared as the major shouted out the Washington airport.
Kae was already running, out the doors and blasting into the air.
(MPOV)
Optimus lifted me into his arms, I sagged into him, I knew I was bad off when I wasn't protesting being carried.
"You're imprisoning me in Med-bay, aren't you?" I demanded of him. Well, at least I could work on the jeeps with my holoform...
"We weighed the amount of sand you carried in here," my Optimus rumbled patiently, "You are going to stay in the med-bay until your spark father says otherwise."
Fair enough.
"OPTIMUS!" Will was bellowing the next moment.
Fuck.
"Status report!" I commanded automatically.
"Cons! They've crippled a plane!" Will shouted. FUCK.
In an instant I was on my feet.
"Mikaela!" Optimus shouted at me. "They're trying to draw you out!"
"I know that!" I shouted. "But Grandfather is already escorting Airforce one! Co-ordinates! I'm not engaging the Cons, I'm going after that plane!"
My Optimus nodded sternly.
"Auto-bots! Roll out!" he roared as the major shouted out the Washington airport.
I was already running, out the doors and blasting into the air.
::. General Moreshower! Where's the clear airspace!?.:: I practically shouted on the comm.
::. They're getting out of your way! Just break the fucking windows!.:: Chris barked back. I nodded and flashed my engines to their full power. Mach three in moments.
I saw the plane before they could ever hope of seeing me. I slowed drastically and snapped a levitation field around it, forming it around the damaged wing and returning their airfoil.
::. Civilian pilot this is Archangel Prime.:: I snapped out over the frequencies ::. I've got your wing, prepare to land!.::
::. Thank fucking god!.:: the pilot shouted.
::. DCA which runway?.:: I snapped out.
::. Archangel we are clearing all runways, Runway five is already clear.:: flight control snapped out.
::. Civilian pilot-.:: I started.
::. Mack.:: the man snapped out.
::. Mack, I'm gonna scratch your paint, if you want to tell your passengers to stay calm and assume the crash landing procedures, this is gonna be a bit rough.::
::. Duly noted.:: the man snapped out. I listened grimly as the announcements were being made over the plane's speakers. I finally matched his speed and transformed, getting in underneath of him.
I saw them at the same time they saw me.
But I was busy holding a plane in the air.
::. Optimus, the Dires are in the middle of the fucking airport!.:: I practically shouted over the primary.
::. We are en route!.:: Optimus rumbled immediately.
::. Keep them there Kae!.:: Ironhide added sternly.
::. Yeah, Uncle? Kind of holding a jumbo jet up at the moment.:: I snapped at him.
::. Oh scrap.::
They began firing on me. That did it.
::. Mack, do me a favour, put your landing gear down.:: I commanded sternly.
::. Yes Ma'am.:: he snapped out.
::. Good, switch to auto-pilot.:: I stated calmly.
::. But...::
::. I can't override your manual control, but I can override the auto-pilot.:: I informed him calmly ::. I need control of the plane Mack.::
I felt the auto-pilot switch on and nodded grimly, reading the plane's data. They'd just taken off. Full fuel tanks.
Fine.
I fired it's engines up a bit more and circled the airport.
Coming down toward the Dires.
Wait for it.
Fuel dump.
Right on them.
They fired at me again, and lit the fuel I'd casually doused them with.
Hah.
Alright. Landing.
::. Mack.:: I called out ::. Get ready to brake hard!.::
Fifteen feet in the air I reversed the thrust on the engines.
::. HOLY FUCK!.:: Mack began shouting. I rolled my optics and extended my temporal fields, giving the plane double it's wingspan. The plane practically floated the last few feet to ground. The tires touched and I released the plane, skidding along the ground beneath it for a moment until it was fully passed over me. I was on my feet the next second, forcefield on the wings, I braced myself and let it drag me for twenty or so feet, wirelessly, I shut the engines down.
::. Air tower, get a tow on that plane, get it out of here!.:: I commanded, turning and taking off after the offending cons.
"Round two!" I bellowed at them.
The three charged me, cannons coming online.
Fuck that.
Blades formed across my back, I looked into the optics of my opponents and for the first time, drew those blades.
There was murder in those optics.
Out of the corner of my optic there was movement, but there was no time for that, a fine edge of plasma extended along my blades.
I held their optics as their cannons began to fire.
They never got the chance. In seconds, I had sliced through their weapons. A rapid spin, my blades an extension of myself I cut through their murderous sparks. My blades returned to my back, ready to be drawn again in a second if I needed them. I turned to face the movement that I had seen.
Optimus, Ratchet, Ironhide and Prowl stood stock still.
Staring at me.
What?∂ I asked curiously. ∂They started it.∂
(OPOV)
Optimus ran through the Entrance bay, hot on his Kae's heels.
Until she was in the air. He could hear her barking out questions and orders as his beautiful Kae's engines blasted full power, driving her through this planet's atmosphere at an incredible pace.
Ratchet, Ironhide and Prowl were fast behind him.
::. Ratchet, Prowl, take point!.:: Optimus commanded.
Sirens blared and lights flashed as the emergency vehicles sped ahead of him. The traffic cleared.
Not fast enough.
::. Optimus, the Dires are in the middle of the fucking airport!.:: Kae practically shouted over the primary.
::. We are enroute!.:: Optimus rumbled immediately.
::. Keep them there Kae!.:: Ironhide added sternly.
::. Yeah, Uncle? Kind of holding a jumbo jet up at the moment.:: Kae snapped back.
::. Oh scrap.:: Ironhide growled. There was a roadblock ahead, this was ridiculous.
The four of them transformed, running past the cars, they needed to get to Kae.
The road cleared, they transformed, burning rubber to the airport.
Finally, finally, the lot of them transformed and fairly jumped the fence, pounding toward Kae's last co-ordinates.
"Holy scrap," Ironhide rumbled flatly.
Optimus watched in terror as his Kae charged three fully armed, battle ready cons. But a second later, those cannons made to fire.
Except they were exploding, shrapnel flying around them.
Then, deathly silence.
Three cons were flat out on the ground.
Kae sheathed her blades and straightened, battle ready as she turned to them.
For the life of him, Optimus couldn't stop staring.
He automatically knew that he wasn't the only one. His senior officers and the enforcer stood stock still beside him.
What?∂ Mikaela asked curiously. ∂They started it.∂
That did it.
Ratchet began glaring irritably, Prowl crossed his arms, only his optics showing his amusement.
Ironhide was snorting back his laughter for all he was worth. Mikaela looked at them for another moment before turning. She strode quickly to the plane. She looked at it with a frown.
"Stand clear of the door!" she bellowed, shook her head and carefully dug into the plane's fuselage, peeling the door off.
A panicked, terrified human almost fell to the ground.
She caught him.
"For Primus sake calm down, they're dead!" Mikaela commanded in exasperation, lightly transferring handfuls of humans to the ground. "Whope, no, go that way." she added, carefully blocking the group from running toward the engines.
"Archangel!" a man wearing pilot's stripes bellowed. "They're gonna blow!"
"What are?" Mikaela asked calmly.
"The engines! We have full fuel tanks-"
"No you don't, I dumped your fuel on the guys who shot at you," she stated calmly. "Evacuate the plane, absolutely, stop panicking! That's how people get hurt!"
"Archangel the systems are overloading!" the pilot shouted at her. Mikaela whipped around and stared at the engines for a moment in shock.
"OPTIMUS!" she bellowed.
He was already running, the bots hot on his heels. The four of them tore out their own doors, immediately collecting humans and carrying them to the ground.
"Quickly quickly," Prowl was muttering, it did a spark proud.
In short order they had the plane evacuated.
"HUMANS! THIS WAY!" Prowl bellowed, backing away carefully from the plane at a pace the humans could easily catch up with.
Optimus observed the majority of the humans looking intensely relieved as they ran toward the enforcer, in minutes the three hundred and forty were standing crowded around him, well away from the plane.
"Engaging Temporal Forcefields!" Prowl called out immediately.
They all watched in relief as a field extended around the grouped humans. Shielding them. Mikaela turned and glared at the engines, scanning them even as Ratchet did.
"I don't get it! I shut the stupid things down!" she complained to her mentor.
"Mm, it looks like the Dires decided to turn them back on again just before you tore them apart," Ratchet stated flatly. He dug into the fuselage for a moment and sliced a few wires. The engines powered down again. He nodded to himself.
"That's got it," he stated calmly as Mikaela nodded.
"Did you really have to tear 'em apart that good?" Ironhide snorted.
"Their chips are intact," Mikaela shrugged.
"Mmnph, good enough," the weapons master snorted, turning to stride toward the downed cons. Ratchet was immediately striding to the humans.
"Is everyone alright?" he demanded, scanning them. He turned and looked up at the sun, "Kae, you'd best take over shielding them, they're overheating," he stated flatly.
Optimus watched proudly as Kae carefully strode to Prowl's side and knelt down, extending her wings over the humans. He turned to survey the scene fully, wondering where the emergency aid humans were.
Ah, there they came. Police men, ambulances, fire trucks, ah, and Will, the soldiers were coming as well.
Good.
"Major," Optimus nodded, kneeling carefully down to look at the man.
"Sit Rep?" the major asked quickly, nodding to him respectfully.
"Three Dires, the same that attacked Kae earlier," Optimus rumbled calmly. "At present, all humans have been evacuated from the plane. Ratchet, injuries?" he added, looking at his medic.
"Scans show the humans are still afraid, a few in shock," Ratchet reported stoutly. "The older are suffering from the heat, but that is being minimized by Kae's wings."
"Kae, damage reports?" Optimus rumbled, looking at his mate.
"The Boeing 797 has massive damages to the starboard wing caused by a blast from the Dires, additional damages are six places in the fuselage, five inflicted for the purpose of evacuating the passengers, one to re-shut the engines down. Runway seven is scratched and dented all to hell, which is my fault, I forgot how heavy my footsteps are... mmm... oh, and I scratched my paint. Again." she added, rolling her optics.
Beneath her wings, a couple of the humans were chuckling softly. Will nodded and began taking care of the details.
Optimus nodded to himself and rose, turning to join his Weapons Master.
He summoned the downed cons' memory chips and began scrutinizing them.
There was work to be done.