Forty-Five

...

"Kid, calm down-"

"Momma! I want my Momma!"

The six-year -old boy shoved Hound's holoform away from him as if he were Hercules. Merrick stumbled backwards, crying hysterically, face bright red like and streaked with salty tears. His eyes were frantic and his small body trembled as Bryce rushed to his assistance, coming up behind him and catching him before he fell into the dirt of the Andes Mountains.

No doubt the kid was terrified, Hound surmised. They were at war-a war a child had no right to be in the middle of. He deactivated the holoform and it vanished on the wind, and he towered above the humans, watching them carefully. Tessa and Cade gave him a look-fear consumed Tessa's eyes and rage burned within Cade's. Hound went over the situation in his mind, trying to feel again, trying to get his head around it...

It was happening. Again. Another war had breached this planet-taking not only its destiny as hostage, but its people as well. So many were against them, the entire world hated them and wanted them dead. Galvatron had done a nice job playing dead, and now he was alive and kicking, in a much more powerful place than Megatron had been: he had humans aiding him in their destruction, and he had an army. He'd convinced the world that Autobots were the enemy.

And then Lockdown...Hound wondered if he was gone for good. A tickling suspicion in his sparkchamber told him no-no, Lockdown wasn't out of the picture just yet. He'd wanted Optimus and Mira for a purpose and a reason. If Hound knew the bounty hunter type-and he was sure he did-then he knew Lockdown was coming back with hell on his heels. He would not be pleased that he was outsmarted by humans and Autobots-and he'd exact his revenge delicately.

This could be the end, he told himself. They all might well die here on this rock, as well as the humans. He could well be witnessing the rise of Galvatron and the extinction of this planet and its kind. The thought enraged him-must that madman destroy another world? Another people in his greedy pride? Shattered pictures of Cybertron fell into his memory-the memory of his precious family, his job, his life. Shattered and now lifeless. Gone.

Dead.

Optimus' comm went dead, and he switched it off. Obviously the boss was busy. Hound was itching for warfare; itching to slam some Decepticons-or whatever those prototypes were-together and rip out their hearts. He was ready to avenge his fallen brethren, stretch his legs, pump some steel. He could feel the rush waiting for him over the air-he could smell the dust of fallen buildings rush him. Heat boiled within his fueling tanks.

Merricks wails increased. They rang off the mountains surrounding them and struck the air like piercing knives. Struck Hound right in the spark. Part of him cursed Mira for leaving her sparkling to die in the mountains, but another part of him blessed her for fighting so hard for her family, her home. He knew she was important-knew she carried a great weight on her shoulders: not only was she fighting for her homeworld now; but she was fighting for him. She had as much passion for their lives as any of them did; she cared about their future and their home, their species. Genuinely she cared-genuinely she loved them. Genuinely she was them.

Hound briefly considered the idea of the Great War if Mira had been with them-would it have changed anything? Would her use of the Shield's power have done any good? No, he reasoned; she hadn't done anything that spectacular. It wasn't like she had changed the stars, no. She's just fought alongside them, risked her life a couple of times. But, she had done good-reasoned with a mad inventor, killed Sentinel Prime, stopped the sun Harvester in Egypt. Rescued Sam's brain all those years ago, or so he was told. Even had endured Cybertronian torture.

Perhaps she had done more than he imagined.

"Hello?" Slight vibrations tickled his foot, and he realized Bryce had rapped on his foot. He looked down, shifted his weight just slightly, train of thought evaporating. He squatted as much as his armor would allow and gave a look to Bryce.

"What's up, compadre?" He asked, "cigar" bobbing in his mouth loosely. He looked to Tessa, who had managed to calm down Merrick just slightly. They were seated on a hefty rock, Tessa holding the boy in her arms, his face nuzzled into her side as he cried. Hound remembered his daughter crying in his bonded's arms the day he left for the mission of Kaon, which would be the last time he'd see his precious girl. He had to look away to keep the memories suppressed.

"What're we doing? Sitting here like ducks?" He crossed his arms, "They need help."

"Obviously," Hound scowled at him, "I got orders, Bryce. Who's gunna watch you if I'm gone?"

"Watch us?" Cade interjected, storming their little conversation circle, "What are we, three? There's a mass apocalypse happening and you think we need watched?" He spouted off now, "Where were you when Mira and I were getting our butt's interrogated at KSI, huh?"

"Mute it, Cade," He pointed a huge finger at the inventor, "Mira made it more than clear that we're to keep ya'll out of this. She doesn't need any distractions, and I sure don't either. I'm not taking any of you down there without clearance, nosiree. I'd get court-martialed for the rest of the war."

"I can't believe it." Cade turned from him and motioned for Tessa to hand Merrick down to him. She obeyed, and Cade held the boy tightly, Merrick wrapping his arms around his neck. He grabbed Tessa's hand as she jumped down from the rock, and he motioned for her to come with him. She grabbed his blade and wrapped it around herself.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hound asked him roughly. They continued marching, the three of them, away from the flightship towards the way they'd come. "Cade!" he barked.

"I'm going to get a car and go get that Seed out of Bogota. I'm sure Mira's got her hands full, and she'd be here already if she'd gotten it to safety. You just be a big wuss and sit there and look pretty, Hound, and I'll get my hands dirty." He stopped and gave him a look.

"But don't come crying to me when Optimus comes and asks you where the heck you've been."

"Mira's gunna have your hide when she finds out you brought her kid into this." Hound shot a look to Bryce, "Am I right, or am I right?"

Bryce shrugged and scratched the back of his neck, "I dunno who I fear most: Optimus or Mira. Together they're like a tactical nuke. They both go off and we're screwed."

Hound sighed, rolling his optics. Cade continued to march with Tessa and Merrick, determined. Hound facepalmed himself, grumbling under his breath before taking a look at the warship. He wasn't about to go in there himself with those prisoners, no way. They were way too much weird for him to handle today. He considered Bryce's statement and sighed again when Bryce trudged off after Cade, hands in his pockets.

Frag you, Bumblebee. Frag you.

"A'right, a'right! Wait up, wait up-let's get this show on the road." He transformed down and hammered off after them, first picking up Bryce and then roaring on to meet Cade and the children. He swung his door open and the two kids hopped in, Cade swinging himself into the seat. He clicked all their seatbelts into place and groaned.

"If ya'll get squished, don't come crying to me about it."

...

"UGH!"

The wind left Mira's lungs as she went flying through the air, the door of a pickup truck sending her flying to what she assumed was a plate-glass window of a shop. She crashed into the object, falling backward, as diamond-like shards fell around her and tinked against the armor, spots dotting her vision. The impact scrambled her systems only briefly, her glasses buzzing with static before her eyes as they corrected. She hit the ground, sliding across the floor and into a table and chair set. Shoving the door off her body, she managed to get to her feet and dive out the window again as the femme chuckled down the street.

There was no sight of Savoy or Attinger, they'd split as she'd hoped they would. Joyce too was still MIA, and Sideswipe was managing to get up out of the rubble of a building he'd caved in. The femme stood between her and Sideswipe, and Mira still was struggling to piece together the very idea of a femme enemy-she'd only met one other femme, which had been Arcee. But she'd been Cybertronian and an ally.

This femme was the color of key-lime pie and yellow, with white pinstripes. She was small, about Arcee's size-Mira guessed she was motorcycle too, because she noticed the YAMAHA insignia among her other paintings and logos, and she was a racing bike too. How she came to exist Mira had no idea-she didn't think Joyce had made smaller femme bots...

The idea left her as she dodged a piece of concrete flying through the air. The femme had dodged it too from Sideswipe, and it crashed into the pavement and skidded into another car. Mira, now dripping with sweat to the point where she looked like she had showered, breathed hard. Her pulse pumped blood through her ears so hard she could hardly hear the femme speaking to her, survival laced her blood like it was built into the cells. Somewhere she remembered Optimus in her ear, barking at her to turn and run, but Keepers did not run. Nor did Generals.

Nor did Autobots.

"Nice moves there, sweets," the femme growled to Sideswipe, "But not nice enough." Sideswipe brought his weapon around and pumped off a few shots at her, but she roared forward, dodging each blast until she was on him, launching herself into the air before coming down on him, "Let me show you nice-"

"Hey, speedwagon!" Mira called out across the street, "Why don't you come and pick on someone of your own gender?" That sounded strange, and less than intimidating, but it was working, because the femme stopped. She then turned back to Sideswipe, rammed her elbow into his face, and send him skidding across the pavement. He collided with a lightpole and groaned. Mira's heart began to hammer as the femme stalked towards her, full out laughing now.

"Oh? You want to play, do you?" She stopped twenty feet from Mira, shaking her head, her ruby eyes flashing with rage and lust. Mira thought she was the most astounding being she'd ever seen-these prototypes actually could speak! Were...were sentient! How had Galvatron managed that one? "Give me the Seed and I'll make sure your remains make it home in little wrapped boxes, human. I give one chance for compliance."

"I'm afraid I don't do well with single chances," Mira looked up at her, the system frantically scanning the femme's body for any weakpoints. Behind the knee joints, the chest, the abdomen, of course the head...how was she going to reach any of those places? And in hand-to-hand? She was pea-sized compared to this femme!

"You won't be alive for any more." The femme snarled at her, taking half a step forward.

Mira's wrists ached. Absentminded of the armor, she flung her hands down to her sides and rolled her wrists. There was a startling shift of the armor, and she cast a look down to her wrists, which were alive with gleaming silver blades, pulsating with blue which was so bright it looked almost the color of stainless steel. She recognized this light, and she realized it wasn't light at all-it was Energon. Her eyes widened as the femme roared, lunging for Mira's body. She quickly dashed out of the way, not before swinging her left arm around to slice at the femme's arm.

The femme screeched, staggering forward before swinging herself around expertly. She placed her hand against the now blatantly displayed gash. Small bits of engine oil flowed from the wound, Mira guessing she had knicked an engine valve or pipe. She looked down to the blades again, and she examined them quickly-they looked just like Optimus' own...

"Slag, Optimus," she breathed.

The femme looked to her wound again, then back to Mira, placing a hand over the wound, "I'm going to kill you!" she screamed, "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get that fixed?!" She flung herself forward, barreling straight into Mira. Mira found herself flying through the air only briefly, to have her body snatched by the femme and yanked back towards her form. Mira lashed out, slamming one of the blades into the femme's wrist, and she immediately dropped her.

Mira hit the ground hard, as if she'd fallen forever. The pavement cracked around her. "Crap!" She rolled out of her indentation as the femme's hand collided with the earth in her place. Mira gaped at the apendage, then looked up, to see the femme staring in horror at her now handless arm. The blades retracted back into the armor, and Mira got to her feet. The femme was glaring at her now.

"You...you...maggot!" she exclaimed, "Look what you've done!" She thrust her foot forward towards Mira and slammed it into the earth, pieces of street kicking up on impact. Mira dived towards the sidewalked, bounced off the wall, and activated her thrusters. They rocketed to life and instantly she was in the air, headed towards the femme.

"Get back here!" The femme reached with her good hand towards the sky and grabbed at Mira, but fell away under the impact of Sideswipe's body now colliding with her. He tackled the femme to the ground, who violently began to counterattack with her one good arm. Mira hovered above their skirmish, Sideswipe working to pin the femme into the street. He finally managed to pin her hand-and what was left of the other arm-into the street with his knees. He seized her throat with his hands and began to chuckle.

"You'd be a babe if you weren't a 'Con," he tsked her and shook his helm, "Too bad you're a bad guy." Mira dropped to the ground beside the femme's head and initiated one of the blasters on her upper arm, bringing it around to level it at what would be the femme's temple. Her optics were wide and frantically scanning for any sign of attack, but Mira watched as Sideswipe began to press his claw-like thumbs into one of the wires of her neck. He looked at her and winked, "One of the main Energon pumps. If that shuts down she becomes a vegetable."

"Like our juglar vein," she ran her armored hand over the vein in her neck, and she shuttered, bringing the blaster up. She began to charge a shot.

"Bingo," Sideswipe chuckled. The femme lurched, him strengthening his hold, and he pressed his thumb deeper into the pump, "Finish her off, eh?"

"You'll...never..." The femme was gasping now, "Long...live...Galva..."

"That's enough chit-chat." Mira released the charge and Sideswipe released the femme's neck. The blast shattered the side of her face, and sent a pool of fluids streaming out of the gaping hole in her skull frame. It began to pool around Mira' feet. She looked up to Sideswipe, the blaster sank back into the armor somehow, and she rocketed towards the shop she'd abandoned Joyce in.

"Joshua!" She called for him, "Joshua!" Sideswipe's Corvette form rolled up beside her and he laid on the horn.

"C'mon, baldy! We gotta move!" His See-All screen was activated and Mira peered into the car, looking as three blinking triangles were swiftly moving in on him. She looked back to the shop and ran across the street, hurrying towards it. Grabbing for the knob, she found it locked.

"Joshua!" she screamed now, bringing her arm back and slamming her elbow into the front-window of the cafe. It shattered around her and she dove inside, skidding across the fragments of glass. She pushed aside chairs as a sinking, hot feeling penetrated her stomach. She found the staircase leading up to what she assumed would be an apartment upstairs and took them three at a time until she reached the top. Mira didn't hesitate, pivoted and rammed her foot into the door at the top of the stairs. She staggered through the frame as the door hit the ground.

"Joshua-"

"Hold it right there, Rambo."

She heard the familiar chambering of a black and gold Baretta, and found Savoy beside her. He scanned her form with his eyes and gestured to the suit with a waving hand, "If you please, Miss Terminator, the suit?"

Mira looked ahead to find Joshua on his knees, the canvas back clutched to his chest. He was dripping sweat, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth and his nose, and he was trembling as well as whimpering, but he did have that Seed. Attinger was behind him, his gun pressed into the man's temple, and he was glaring at her. She thought for a minute and powered down the suit, it folding and twisting and transforming back into the pendent hanging around her neck. It was warm to the touch.

...

Hound blew a stop sign.

Actually, he'd blown three of them.

They'd managed to make contact with Sideswipe, who explained he'd been with Mira, combating a female Decepticon. This had roused Cade's interest-so there were female Cybertronians? He'd pushed the idea away when Sideswipe announced that Mira had ran into a cafe looking for Joshua Joyce and the Seed and hadn't emerged. They also had bogies closing in on them.

Hound hadn't hesitated.

They just roared on like the tank they were, skidding around corners until they caught sight of Sideswipe, standing before a corner cafe, doing his best to see into a tiny window. Hound screeched to a stop, threw open the doors, and Cade stumbled out with the rest of them. He didn't waste time in transformation, and was soon standing with Sideswipe-whoever that was.

"It's two guys-one's old and the other has sunglasses," Sideswipe snorted, "A bad sense of fashion if you ask me but-"

"-Attinger and Savoy," Hound mumbled, "Grand. Just absolutely fraggin' grand." He looked down and then back at the buildings, "You humans get out of here-how long we got for bogies?"

Sideswipe shrugged, "I dunno, a few minutes? What do I look like?"

Hound thrust a finger down the street, "Get a few blocks away from us and we'll swing by and pick ya up when we get Mira."

"Hound, I-" Bryce interjected.

"OUCH!" All of them looked to the window, where there sounded like a struggle-they heard a few pieces of furniture fall over and then saw some shadows bouncing around the room. There was a squeal, and then a grunt, and then the sound of a high-pitched, male scream. After a few more grunts and what sounded like a hard thunk, Sideswipe and Hound shared a look.

"If we move in to get her, they'll probably kill her,"

"Probly?" Hound sounded disgusted, giving Sideswipe a I-can't-believe-your-that-stupid look, "They won't hesitate."

"Great," Sideswipe sighed.

"Like I said, absolutely fraggin' grand."