Will hadn't been able to get any information from Ratchet. The medic had gone right back to work after Will left. Will found him self walking with Epps out side the base. "Why are the Autobots so difficult to get information from today?" Will asked. Epps laughed.
"They're never easy ta get info from unless they want ta tell ya," Epps joked. Will sighed with a smile on his face as they continued walking. Not far from them, Optimus, his sister, and Ironhide were talking. Optimus said some thing, and the other two laughed. "Looks like nothing's wrong after all."
"Looks like you're right," Will replied. An alarm sounded from inside the base, causing each Autobot and human to run inside.
"A Decepticon signal's showed up. They're not far from here," a soldier said. Optimus nodded, and those told they would go left. Optima refused to say behind, so the group of Autobots going were the leader twins, Sideswipe, and Ironhide.
It was an area of the town that was deserted long before. Several years ago by the look of it. The buildings were run down and planets were growing over many of them. People had gotten up and left. A few of the doors were still open. Toys, wrappers, and other things like these were sitting in yards just like they had been left all that time ago. It felt like a ghost town, and sent a shiver up Optima's frame. "Where are the Cons?" Optima asked.
"They're here. Trust me," Ironhide replied. A shot was fired, almost hitting Optimus, and each Autobot transformed. The humans loaded their guns before splitting into groups. Several humans for each Autobot. "Ready femme?"
"Trust me. I'm ready," she replied with a smirk. Just like her brother, a mask slid forth covering the lower half of her face. Her mask also had an added feature. A visor covered her optics so her entire face was protected. Optimus' mask fell into place as well with a slight click. He nodded to her before going in different directions. An engine was heard over head. "Optimus, behind you!" A Con lept at the Autobot leader, but received a fist to the face. The Decepticon fell to the ground. He got to his feet firing a blast at Optimus, but missed as the bigger dodged.
"Eat blade Con!" Sideswipe called slashing out. The Con side stepped, and kicked Sideswipe in the aft. "Ah! I'll get you." Optima punched the Con in the face then landed a hard kick to his side.
"My name's Pulse!" He cried out as he hit the grond face plates first. He fired a shot that hit Sideswipe in the face, sending the silver mech down temporarily blind with shattered optics. Optima growled before kicking Pulse hard. Pulse's neck snapped back before he narrowed his red optics and attacked. Optimus jumped in front of his sister, taking the blow of the short dagger him self. It lodged it self between the slits in his grill. He growled before taking out his own swords. Pulse's optics went wide before he ducked and lunged at Optima, taking her down with him. He punched her in the side multiple times, before a shot hit him in the shoulder. He hissed in pain before jumping at Ironhide. The black mech blocked with narrowed optics.
"Never touch Optimus, or Optima again," he warned before bringing both servos down on top of Pulse's head. A crunch sounded through the air. Ironhide threw Pulse off of him, sending the Con into a building. A scream echoed through the air. It froze each Autobot in their tracks. Pulse brought a fist down on the house. The scream returned. Optimus roared before running at Pulse. He punched Pulse hard. Hard enough to shatter his optic. Pulse scrambled away, only to be caught by the only femme in the area. She kicked him hard in the jaw. Using a shard of metal, which was later discovered to be part of Optimus' armour, he stabbed her in the leg making her fall to the ground in agony. Two of the Autobots were down, proving that while he still needed practise, Pulse wasn't an amature. He had't taken down the two strongest fighters though. Ironhide fired shot after shot, each time hitting the mark. Small slivers of Pulse's purple armour flew through the air. Optimus had left the fight to look for the source of the screams. Ironhide walked over to the bleeding Con. "You didn't listen when I warned you. Never touch either of those two. If ya do, you'll deal with me," Ironhide hissed before his servo met Pulse's face plates once again. Pulse scrambled to his pedes and limped off.
Ironhide walked over to where Optimus was. The Autobot leader was on his knees. He had one arm across his grill, while he held some thing carefully in the other. Ironhide could see the Energon dripping from Optimus' arm and grill. "What do you have Optimus?"
"A little girl," Optimus replied and moved slightly so Ironhide could see. The little girl looked to be three or four years old. Her hair was black in colour. She had light brown skin and chocolate eyes. Her eyes were locked on Optimus, with a smile lighting her face.
"Daddy," she said so softly that neither Autobot picked it up. Optimus stood slowly, wincing as he reached his full height. He stood hunched over slightly. The girl's eyes fell to the Energon dripping from Optimus' arm. "Daddy hurt."
"What did you call me?" Optimus asked. Ironhide had recoiled at the girl's words.
"Daddy," the girl answered. She hugged his thumb which had been positioned to keep her from falling. Optimus looked to Ironhide briefly.
"Ironhide, comm Ratchet. Tell him to come and bring Bumblebee," Optimus ordered.
"I can carry Optima, and Ratchet can guide Sideswipe," Ironhide said back.
"I'm not sure how well I can walk right now," Optimus said causing Ironhide to nod getting the message. Ironhide stepped away calling Ratchet. Optimus looked back at the little girl. She looked a little thin, even for a girl her age. She smiled up at him, and he gently rubbed her back with his finger. He smiled back at her as his mask retracted. "What's your name?"
"Emma," she replied. She jumped when the sound of engines met her ears. "Don't leave me Daddy." Ratchet and Bumblebee transformed. They looked over the damage before Ratchet sighed.
"Ironhide, you help Optimus. Bumblebee, you carry the Optima back to base. I'll get Sideswipe back to base," Ratchet ordered. He saw Emma sitting in Optimus' servo, but chose to say nothing. Bumblebee carefully lifted Optima while Ratchet helped Sideswipe up. They started towards base.
"Emma, I can't carry you right now. My friend Ironhide will have to," Optimus said softly. Tears filled her eyes, but she nodded and gave Optimus' thumb another hug. Optimus handed her to Ironhide, before draping an arm over Ironhide's shoulder. The black mech then wrapped his free arm around Optimus' side. He held Emma close to his spark to make sure she was safe.
Med bay was off limits to any one who wasn't Ratchet, Optimus, Optima, or Sideswipe. Ratchet made that clear. He stood by Optimus' side at the moment. He scanned the leader, checking how bad he was hurt. He sighed. Sideswipe could wait. Optimus was the worst off at the moment, simply because of how much Energon he was losing.
Ratchet picked up a laser cutter tool, and carefully cut Optimus' grill. Optimus groaned slightly, since Ratchet had just given him some thing to dull the pain and it hadn't started working yet. Ratchet then carefully removed the cut piece and set it aside. He pulled the dagger out that Pulse had left in. He welded the sliced Energon line closed. That would do for now since Optimus wouldn't lose any more Energon.
Optima's repairs had been similar to Optimus' where Ratchet removed the shard of metal from her leg, and welded any cut wires back together. He also welded the metal of her leg back to together. It would take a little while for it not to hurt when she walked, but he would be able to release her later that day. Ratchet moved off to work on Sideswipe.
Emma sat in Ironhide's servo. She wouldn't let him put her down. He'd had Will try to coax her down, but that hadn't work. She said she was waiting for her dad to come and get her. Emma looked up at Ironhide with tear filled eyes. "Is Daddy okay?"
"Ratchet'll take care of him. He'll be fine," Ironhide replied. He managed to keep his tone calm and kind instead of annoyed. There was no point in getting angry at the little girl. "Other than your dad here, do you have a family?"
"They're dead," she replied. She already knew what it meant. She'd seen it. She jumped slightly as the door opened to reveal Ratchet.
"They're fine. Optima and Sideswipe can leave Med bay in a few hours. Prime's going to stay for a day or two though," he informed. Many of the Autobots, and a couple of humans were waiting there. "Ironhide, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure." Ironhide stood and followed after Ratchet, not bothering to even try to put Emma down knowing such action would be useless.
"Ironhide, can you explain to me what happened?"
"Yep. Some Con by the name of Pulse attacked us. I threw him, and this girl screamed. Prime found her, and she called him 'Daddy'. He couldn't just leave her there," Ironhide replied. Ratchet nodded.
"What's your name little girl?"
"Emma," she replied softly.
"You can go see him now," Ratchet told her. She smiled up at them both with a smile that melted their sparks.