chapter five
Ironhide was pleasantly surprised to have a peaceful trip back to the base. They didn't even draw that much attention from the human vehicles that were still on the highway. They made for an odd sight, but the presence of soldiers in the bed of his alt form kept too many people from questioning things too seriously. They pulled into the base – a human military base that had been adapted for their purposes just outside of Tranquility, where Bumblebee lived with Sam and Mikaela. The yellow mech was already there waiting for them, with his two human charges and their sparkling standing by him. Ironhide always wondered what Sam's son thought about the Autobots. He usually never spoke a word while he was on base, although according to Mikaela he wouldn't shut up at home.
Perhaps they intimidated him. Who knew?
They all came to a halt just inside the gates and a couple of human soldiers shut them. It was only mildly surprising to find Will Lennox already there, approaching them with concern in his eyes.
"Sunny, Sides, and Jazz got back about five minutes ago." Will said, coming to stand in front of Optimus. "We were worried."
"No need." Optimus assured him. He resumed his mech form, and after unloading their human companions, the others followed suit. "As you can tell, there was no damage done to any of us." He glanced behind him, drawing Will's attention to Anna, who was standing by Ironhide as she silently took everything in. Will sighed in relief.
"Thank you."
"It was a pleasure."
"Is anyone but me wondering why the Decepticons would send that many soldiers after a few humans?" Jazz asked suddenly. "I mean, no offense to you guys or anything, but you weren't even properly armed. One or two 'Cons could have taken you out easily."
"None taken." Epps said calmly. "I didn't think about it then, but he's got a point. We weren't supposed to have true support until we reached South Africa. We were vulnerable."
"Perfect time to attack." Anna added quietly.
Sing groaned. "Why can't they at least wait until we're at the battlefield?" he muttered under his breath. "At least then it's a fair fight."
O'Connell shook his head. "How many times do we got to say it, Sing? If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck."
"Yeah, and the only unfair fight is the one you lose." Stringer added with a grin. Sing rolled his eyes.
"So sue me for trying to be diplomatic." he shot back, but he was smiling.
"How did you wind up on this team?" Optimus asked, taking a sudden interest in the young man. Sing shrugged.
"I'm here to balance out shoot-first-ask-questions-later Lennox." he said dryly. Anna just laughed at him. Optimus couldn't help but notice Ironhide had that look on his face. He was finding Anna more and more interesting the more he learned about her.
"I think we need a round of introductions." Optimus said, kneeling down so he was closer to their level. Not surprisingly, two of the soldiers took automatic steps back. "I am Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots. This is our scout, Bumblebee; my first lieutenant, Jazz; our weapons specialist, Ironhide; our medic, Ratchet; and the twins Sunstreaker and Sideswipe."
"But you can call us Sunny and Sides for short." Sides said cheerfully.
Anna took a step forward, drawing attention to herself. "You know who I am." she said calmly. "The other lady here is Ashley Stringer – I guess you could call her our medic. She's the only one who knows how to work the first aid kit." Stringer shot her a dirty look. Anna simply laughed and continued. "This is Michael Epps, you guys know his dad. There's David O'Connell, Brian Jones, and the diplomat on our team is Kim Sing." She shrugged. "We all go by our surnames. Makes it easier to remember everyone."
Optimus nodded. Jones and O'Connell were the two to step back at his approach.
Stringer spoke up. "Who were those guys that attacked us?" she asked. "Other than Decepticons."
It was Ratchet that responded. "Starscream is the leader of the Decepticons now, has been ever since Sam killed Megatron." Sam calmly scratched at the back of his head and made it a point to look anywhere but the new group. Apparently he didn't care for that kind of attention. Anna almost smirked. "Barricade, Blackout, and Soundwave are Starscream's more loyal supporters."
"What about that bug?" Epps demanded.
Jazz laughed. "Scorponok is a drone attached to Blackout." he said. "Wherever he is, you can be sure Blackout ain't far behind, and vice versa."
Anna nodded thoughtfully. "Good. At least I know who I need to turn into massive piles of scrap metal." she muttered under her breath. At Stringer's look, she added, "What? Sing isn't the only one who takes being randomly attacked personally. I like having at least some sort of a warning."
"The enemy only attacks at two times." Stringer reminded her with a laugh. "When you're ready, and when you aren't."
"Still doesn't mean it doesn't piss me off."Anna shot back. "I remember Murphy's laws – I taught them to you." She turned to Will. "So what's our orders now?"
"For now?" Will sighed. "It would be safer if you stayed on the base. The Decepticons won't let this one go very easily. You'll get your chance to fight them again."
"Am I the only person who has a problem with this?" Jones demanded, sounding more than slightly panicked. "I mean, come on! This isn't normal!"
"Talking cars bother you?" Bumblebee asked, amusement plain in his voice.
"No – talking cars that transform into massive alien robots bother me!" Jones shot back.
O'Connell shook his head. "Breathe, Jones." he ordered the older man. "Later, we can all freak out. Right now, we need to be calm."
"Calm. Right." Jones took a deep breath. For a moment, he did appear to be calm, but Anna knew that wasn't going to last. She glanced over at Optimus.
"Don't take it personally." she advised. "He freaked out when he found out I was going to be leading his team."
"Gee, I wonder why?" Will muttered.
Optimus couldn't help but laugh. After all, this kind of banter he was well acquainted with. "Get some rest, all of you. Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day."