At first I felt real stupid for not trusting Hot Rod enough to tell him who I really am. But I realized that I valued his friendship too much to risk losing it. Even though I am a dog to him. Actually he did call me 'an Autobot's best friend', like humans say 'man's best friend'. So that means I am his real friend, even as a dog.
I never really told Prime about our encounter. As a daughter I can keep at least one secret from my dad, right? He'd probably suggest I wouldn't do that again. Or maybe he'd be very mad, I wasn't gonna find out just yet.
About a year later something happened that made me very glad that most Autobots were unaware of my true identity.
It was a lovely day today. Nice warm and lot's of sun. I got Ironhide to take me hiking in a forest about an hour away from Autobot-city. Prime was too busy dealing with several ambassadors and Bumblebee was with Spike on one of the moon bases so he was the lucky one.
When we were almost there Prime contacted us to check out a power plant near our current location. There had been a '911' call from employees about a Decepticon attack and so the Autobots were alerted.
Within five minutes we were there. We were still out of site behind a bushy hillside in the forest edge where the plant was located.
"Take your dog-form, just in case," Ironhide told me as we sneaked as close to the edge of the forest as we could.
"Let me go to have a look," I suggested. "I can get closer without being seen. You kinda stand out between the green trees and bushes." (with him being red you know)
"Well, I don't …."
I had already disappeared between the leafs.
"Better stay unseen!" he hissed after me.
I sneaked through the bushes, up the low hill and peeked through a gap in the leafs. I had a clear view of the plant from the side. Everything seemed quiet. There was no visible damage to the plant from this point of view.
Then I heard the sound of a jet engine getting closer fast. I looked up. Through the canopy I saw Starscream descending towards the plant. Close to the ground he transformed and landed gracefully on his feet just within my view.
From behind the buildings Megatron appeared and walked up to him. "Oh my, this is serious…" I whispered to myself.
I quickly made my way back to Ironhide when I heard more jets approaching.
"I guess you heard the jets?" I said.
He nodded. "I've already contacted Prime. Backup is on the way."
"Megatron's there too!"
"Don't worry, Prime is coming along as well."
Out of the blue two Decepticons landed behind us. The ground trembled when they touched down. Ironhide grabbed his gun and pointed it at Skywarp and Thundercracker.
I showed them my teeth and gave them an threatening roar, but they weren't impressed by me at all. Couldn't blame them…
"Well, well, what do we have here?" Skywarp said.
"If it isn't the old time Ironhide!" Thundercracker sneered.
"Get out of here, quickly!" Ironhide mumbled at me, knowing we wouldn't stand a chance against the two of them.
I hesitated for a sec. Could I just leave him at the mercy of these two?
He urgently gestured me to take off with his hand. Prime was on his way… Ironhide would be alright… I hoped… So I decided to take off and keep an eye out.
"Hey, grab the dog!" Skywarp told Thundercracker.
I didn't think there was any way he could possibly catch me since I was most manoeuvrable. And the I could quickly disappear between the trees. What I hadn't expected was a lasso in his arm, made of some kind of wire that gave off a shock that stunned me as soon as I felt it tightening around my neck.
When I woke up I still had the lasso tied around my neck and found myself in a large hall with equipment I'd never seen before. The metal wire lasso had been welded onto the metal plates that covered the wall. I tried to pull myself free without much success.
I looked around… where was Ironhide? And where were the Decepticons for that matter? Had they hurt him?
Then the door opened and Thundercracker walked in.
"Showtime, doggy!" he smirked and jerked the wire off of the wall. There was no way I could offer any resistance against the force he used to drag me with him. Maybe if I had practiced more on larger animal-forms like Tyrannosaurus Rex I had seen on Discovery…
I shut my eyes against the bright sunlight as we came outside so I didn't see what was going on right away. Thundercracker gave a firm tug to the lasso that made me fall on my face – even with four legs.
"Back off Prime, or your dog dies!" I heard and when I looked up I stared right into the barrel of Megatron's canon. That thing sure looked huge from this close range. He looked down on me with those shimmering red eyes and the most evil smirk I'd ever seen.
I swallowed a lump down my throat and glanced at Prime quickly to see where he was and what the situation was.
Prime had obviously come to stop Megatron and his Decepticons from stealing energy at the power-plant. But with me and Ironhide… he had a trump card against Prime and the Autobots.
"It's just a dog, Megatron, you have to do better than that," Prime bluffed. "You shouldn't have shot Ironhide, you could have had more luck holding him hostage. You know you're way out numbered, don't you?"
Where was Ironhide, Megatron could use him too, right? I looked around and saw him laying against the wall of the building we had just came out off.
'Why did Megatron shoot Ironhide if he could have used him against you?' I asked Prime in his mind.
'He freed the humans that work here,' he replied. 'Don't worry, we will get you out of here safely.'
Megatron smiled mischievously. "Just a dog? You seem to be pretty fond of your dog. We have been watching you, Prime."
Oh no… a shock shot through my mind and body. Did he know who I was?! I sensed Prime had the same thought on his mind.
"I'm sure you will value this life as much as that of any human on this planet." He powered up his canon and I could see a pink tingling light deep in his barrel, ready to shoot out with all it's power.
(man, I hope nobody is gonna think funny about that one….ahum)
"You take this dog anywhere, like it's your best friend. And so do some of your Autobots. They grow on you, those animals, don't they?"
Were they stupid?! They hadn't ever seen me transform? That was plain luck if they hadn't. How had they been watching us? I hadn't sensed any spark and even Decepticons have a spark.
I bet he wasn't going to reveal that kinda information. But he didn't have to… maybe I could search his mind…
So I did. Man, what I sensed in his mind… I can't describe it all, but it gave me the chills. I did find out he had used the satellites in Earth's orbit. Hopefully he didn't notice my presence, he did seem a bit distracted for a moment.
That was the break Hot Rod had been waiting for and he raced off of the roof of the building behind Megatron. He smashed into Megatron's shoulder and the arm with the canon. Before he touched the ground he transformed to his robot-mode and shot both his lasers at Megatron at such a close range that had to leave some kinda damage.
Thundercracker let go of the cable around my neck to shoot Hot Rod away from Megatron. I quickly took advantage of that and dashed towards Prime and the others. That was the moment they had been waiting for and as soon as I had passed Prime they opened fire.
"I'll kick your exhaust off of this plant if you don't back off right now!" Megatron screamed at Prime and then he noticed Thundercracker was standing empty handed.
"You just try your best, Megatron!" Prime transformed and speeded towards him, ready take him on for battle.
Megatron grabbed Hot Rod - who was still shooting Decepticons and trying to get to Ironhide to get him out of there - the moment he came within his reach. As if he weighed nothing more than a rag doll he swung the young Autobot towards Prime in an attempt to stop him.
Prime launched himself off of the ground using the thrusters just behind his bumper and transformed to jump over a falling Hot Rod and get a clear shot at Megatron. He in his place dodged the shot and charged Prime.
As I watched from a safe distance their hands clashed together and they both tried to overpower the other. In the meantime the Autobots kept shooting at the Decepticons to keep them away from the fight and the Decepticons did the same to the Autobots for the same reason but hoping for a different outcome of course.
This was the first real battle I actually witnessed and I was impressed by the power display.
Of course Prime and the Autobots won. They sent Megatron and the Decepticons home with enough damage to keep him quiet for a few weeks.
Later that day Prime did take me aside to tell me I'd better not try anything like sneaking up to Decepticons ever again. I wasn't in my dog-form, cause we were just the two of us.
"You've seen what they can do. Do you have any idea what only one shot of Megatron's cannon can accomplish?" As he said that he pointed his finger at me.
I shrugged my shoulders "I could sense it…" I said and looked up to him with half an eye.
"You may be able to control mechanical life forms so every now and then, but Megatron is some piece of work. Be careful with him, he won't grant you a second chance if you mess up. Do you understand?"
"I could search his mind for information," I told him with sparkling eyes. "He spied on us using the satellites orbiting Earth!"
"You entered his mind with yours?!" He gave me a stunned look and for a moment I thought he was gonna faint. "The guy is MAD, Alyx!"
"Yeah," I grinned. "I noticed that."
He crossed his arms across his chest. "Please don't try that again!"
"I did find out about the satellites…" I gave him a broad smile.
He let out a sigh. "Yes, I must agree, that is very valuable information and I'm glad you found out about that."
"So you're not angry?" Big eyes and cute smile.
He knelt down on one knee. "Of course I am angry… I'm furious." He could say that in a way that was very calm, but at the same time most urgent. "But most of all I was afraid I would loose you right there."
Okay, that did it… I probably was a rebellious teen and it was normal I would go against his rules – as he had adopted me as his daughter and I adopted him as my dad – but I knew he just wanted to protect me.
"I'll be more careful…" I tilted my head a bit and held my arms out to give him a hug. "I wish I was a bit bigger so I could give you a decent hug!"
His fatherly anger faded quickly. He picked me up in his hands and held me close to his face so I could give him a hug.
"You're the best dad a girl could wish for!" I whispered.
