Author A/N:
Yey! Another chapter, and my longest one yet :)
Some of you have probably notice my name change. I'd been meaning to do this for awhile now, but kept putting it off ... now it's done :D
Silver Mirror: I'm glad to hear it, it was tricky to find Decepticons to use as my 'bad-guys' that hadn't already been killed in one of the movies -.-'
Exactlywhat: Of course! You can't have a good Transformers fic without Ironhide blowing some 'Cons up XD I tried to keep this story different, it adds a bit of variety for the readers to enjoy ^.^
Mieschers: bwahahaha ... Ratchet finally has some solid blackmail on old 'Hide :3
Boducky: I actually cried in the theater when I watched it :( And it's rather fun to pick on 'Hide like this ... I may have to do it more often ;)
Cybela: Yey for being addicted to fanfic! :D I really enjoy Hide and Ratchet interactions, they work really well with each other ... I'm glad you feel I am giving them proper justice :)
Chocokoko: Yeah, that was my reaction when I looked up Bludgeon too ... but he really is a samurai Decepticon XD
Botosphere: lol, but who`s going to keep the twins in line if you send me darling Bradley (who, I will say, you may never get back again ... not that I would kidnap him and keep him locked in my closet or anything ... ;D) I actually entertained the idea of letting `Hide on the bed, but then I saw the size of my cousins bed (she`s 7 and a half), and with all the stuffed animals she has, there was barely any room for her :) I kinda pictured Annabelle`s to be like that too ... after all, she is spoiled by all her Autobot buddies ;)
mondaysnoon13: Awesome! I`m so glad you like it! :D I was so mad when they killed him off ... my favourite character too T.T And Mirage will be kicking around here and there, no worried about that ;)
Tsukimine12: Bee is one kick-aft little bot, I love having him around :D
Tomboy96: Same as mine ... a whole lot of people, and a whole lot of soul to go with them ... time spent with them is never boring ;)
SunlightOnTheWater: Grandpa Ollie is a hoot ... we`ve all got someone in the family that we can relate to him :D And Ironhide will have his shining moment! ;)
keacdragon: Here`s more for ya! Hope for like it :)
hummergrey: As awesome as fanfic is, reality still needs to apply to some level, so I`m glad this felt real to you, it really means a lot :) Hmmm ... dog-Ironhide drabbles ... :3
laureas: I still really enjoyed the movie, it was filled with some pretty kick-aft fighting :D Glad to have you here!
ALIENmantis: Here`s another day-brightener for you :) Is that the reason they killed him off (other than him being the next biggest threat besides Optimus)? That's heartbreaking ... T.T
And here we go! Bit more action happening now, things are going to start picking up :)
And special thanks to my beta for helping me smooth over the rough edges :)
Disclaimer: I have absolutely no ownership over the Transformer franchise, this is meant to be strictly for entertainment purposes.
Ironhide sighed deeply as the pilot called their final descent. He was still sitting on Ratchet's passenger seat, legs hanging out the open door so he could converse with both Ratchet and Bumblebee, who was sitting next to them in his alt form. The plane was taking them back to Diego Garcia, their temporary base until the one in Chicago was repaired, or they found a new one. The tropical island also provided the public with a comfortable distance from the Autobots until they became more used to with them.
Prime had called all the Autobots in for an emergency meeting as soon as the plane touched down. Ironhide had a sinking feeling it was going to have something to do with the return to the Arc, not just the drones.
"Legs in, Ironhide," Ratchet said as they plane bumped down, "we're gone as soon as the door opens."
Ironhide didn't respond, other than rolling his eyes, but turned to sit properly and close the door. Bumblebee gave a cheerful chip as the plane slowed to a crawl.
"I still don't see what all the fuss is about," he huffed as the plane's cargo doors slowly opened.
"There are still Decepticons out there," Ratchet said slowly as though he was speaking to a child, "and you're a bigger target than ever."
"It's a couple of drones," he growled as Ratchet and Bumblebee quickly exited the plane and drove towards the Autobot hanger. "Anyone of us could take them out in their sleep, the humans included."
"That's not the point, glitch head."
"Then enlighten me, medic, what the slag is the point?"
"The point," Optimus suddenly cut in as he moved forward, "is that there is still enemy activity, despite the lack of a known leader." He turned to face the other 'bots, who had formed a semi circle around him, as Ironhide got out and Ratchet and Bumblebee transformed. The young scout offered Ironhide a hand up so he was on a more comfortable conversation level.
"These drones are not programming themselves," Optimus continued, "someone is pulling the strings, and we need to find out who it is."
"There have been 3 drone sightings over the last three days," Jolt said as he activated a hologram map of the Earth. Three glowing points, one located in South American, and the other two in Central America. "The fourth was the one I encountered, here, just east of Chicago."
Only then did Ironhide notice the numerous dents and scratches covering the blue mech. As Ratchet said, nothing life-threatening, not even anything to see the medic about.
"It wasn't looking for a fight," Jolt continued, oblivious to Ironhide's look, "it tried to flee as soon as it detected me."
"Which is consistent with what the other drones have been doing," Sideswipe added, "it seems more like they're …"
"Looking for something?" Bumblebee said, quoting the line from some movie or another.
"No, not looking for something, I'd say more like … testing us," Sideswipe frowned as he tried to gather his thoughts. "They make a lot of noise; just enough to catch our attention, then disappear just before we get there."
Everyone fell silent for a few minutes, letting numerous theories play out in their processors.
"But … why?" Roadbuster finally asked.
"The obvious answer is that someone wants to see if another attack is worth it," Ratchet said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "The Decepticons are even more dangerous now since, they literally have nothing left to lose."
"They'll keep fighting until they are off-lined, and try to take down as many of us as they can," Ironhide, agreed from his place leaning against Bumblebee's thumb. He glanced at his Prime, noticing the small frown on his face plates.
"You think it's something more."
It was not a question, and Optimus sighed as he turned and met Ironhide's piercing gaze.
"I won't know for sure until we figure out who's behind this," he said, closing the conversation before it even started, "but that leads us to our next problem …"
"Would it really be wise for us to leave earth if the Decepticons are planning an attack?" Ratchet added, cutting in seamlessly.
"You are not seriously thinking of leaving me like this," Ironhide growled as he shifted his weight to stand straight, glancing between the two 'bots.
"It would be a temporary delay," Optimus reasoned, clearly seeing the fight that was brewing behind those blue, humanoid, eyes.
"Temporary or not, if it's going to be that big of a problem then you'd be better off with me back to normal to fight."
"We don't even know how long it will take your spark to settle into the new frame," Ratchet pointed out. "It took months for you to recover, it could take months again."
"And would you let me out to fight if I stayed like this?" Ironhide challenged. Optimus and Ratchet both remained silent, giving him an answer without needing to voice it.
"Exactly, so what difference does it make if I'm lying in the med bay or sitting on my aft here in command?"
"How much time do you need on the Arc?" Jolt asked suddenly, flinching slightly as Ironhide shot him a glare for interrupting.
"Like I said before, it all depends on what I find," Ratchet sighed. "There's no doubt that there are lots of parts up there, but I'm going to need more time to more time to assemble them in one place if I have to build a frame from scrap."
"What are the other options?"
"Every ship used to carry a couple of blank protoforms in storage for emergency purposes. It was a quicker solution simply to transport the spark and CPU of a severely damaged mech into a new frame rather than try to repair him. If we're lucky, the Arc may still have one or two on board somewhere, and we can use them."
"And if there isn't …?" Sideswipe asked.
"A new frame will have to be made completely from scratch," Ratchet said with a small frown, "and that would probably take twice as long, provided there are no interruptions."
Ironhide growled lightly and pinched the bridge of his nose, as though trying to fight off a headache.
"And you won't know that until you get up there. And the sooner you get up there, the sooner you get back, and the sooner we can deal with the Decepticons."
"We will go up tomorrow, as planned, on one condition …you are not to leave this island." Optimus said as he turned to face his weapons specialist.
"What? Come on, Prime, you can't be-"
"I am dead serious, Ironhide, unless the base is blown up under your feet and there is nothing left when we return, you will not leave."
Ironhide glared, biting his tongue to hold back the angry words sitting at the back of his throat.
"Any drone activity," Optimus continued with a glare of his own as he addressed everyone, "will be dealt with by the others, and if a Decepticon becomes known, we are to be contacted immediately, understood?"
A series of "Yes sir's" and "Understood" answered him, but Ironhide continued to glare.
"If the Decepticons attack this base," he said carefully as he caught Optimus' gaze, "I will become part of the fight."
"Ironhide-"
"That's the best I can offer you, Prime."
Optimus sighed heavily, but there was a small smile on his face as he nodded to the warrior.
"You wouldn't be you if you didn't," he agreed, "but I pray it will not come to that."
The next couple of days passed quickly at the base. The Wreakers had worked their magic on the remains of the Xantium to provide Optimus and Ratchet a suitable ship to carry them to the moon, and return with any parts they found. The launch had gone off without a hitch, and since then there had been no more drone activities. Ironhide almost wished there would be an attack, or something, to liven up the place. Will had returned to base with Mirage shortly before Ratchet and Optimus had left.
"He's to sit, stay, and be a good boy," Ratchet said with a completely straight face. Will had cracked up as Ironhide growled promises of bodily harm to the medic, but promised to help keep him on the island. Someone had even started a betting pool going on how long it would take Ironhide to crack and just ditch, but so far Will was winning.
Ironhide passed most of the time doing a full inventory of the weapons he was currently equipped with. Both arms transformed into cannons, his rarely used hidden blade came out of his wrist over the back of his hand, and two high-powered rifles were held in his back compartment. He had then spent the better part of one day on the shoot range, testing his aim and blowing off steam.
Two days after the ship left, he was beginning to feel bored. The others had tried to keep him entertained, but these peaceful times wore at his nerves.
Later that day, Will found him sitting in a swivel chair in one of the rarely used offices, absently pushing off the desk to keep up the spinning motion.
"How long have you been doing that?"
"'bout 30 minutes, why?"
"Ugh," Will moaned as he grabbed the back of the chair when it came into reach, "stop it, you're making me dizzy."
Ironhide just rolled his eyes, putting his feet up on the desk with a long sigh as Will leaned back against the desk.
"You okay?" he asked quietly, as though he was afraid his guardian would snap at him. Ironhide glared at him, but just huffed as he got up.
"Yeah, I'm just fragging fine," he commented as Will followed him out of the room, "so you can pass the word around and get the others to slag off."
Ironhide had grown used to the almost constant presence of his human charge at his side, with the result that Will was one of the few that could approach him right now without risk of bodily harm.
Will didn't comment, but he grabbed Ironhide's arm to lead him down another hall. Ironhide shot him a questioning look, but Will just smiled and kept walking. It was an open invitation; Ironhide just wasn't sure what he was being invited into. Finally he decided to follow, hoping it would be something that could keep him entertained for a while.
He followed his charge until they ended up in the N.E.S.T. garage for ordinary vehicles and watched as Will moved towards a couple of quads. He smirked slightly as the human grabbed a couple helmets and tossed one at him.
"They said stay on the island, and it's a pretty decent sized island."
Bludgeon fiddled with one of his long swords as Mindwipe stood at the mouth of the cave. The green mech turned to him with a smooth grin as Bludgeon, once again, voiced his frustrations.
"Mindwipe, Prime and the medic left two days ago, how long are we going to wait?"
"We wait until the Autobots have slipped into a false sense of security."
"If we wait any longer, they'll be back before we attack," Bludgeon growled and gripped his sword in an unconscious threat. Mindwipe merely waved him off and walked past him, deeper into the gloom of the cave. Bludgeon rolled his eyes, but reined in his temper and turned to follow.
"So when do we attack?" he asked again, halting as one of their scouting drones came into the cave. No words were exchanged, the drone merely nodded once, then turned to leave again. Mindwipe turned to face Bludgeon, matching grins on their faceplates.
"We attack now."
The ride around the island turned out to be a pretty decent experience. Ironhide had left the helmet behind, pointing out that nothing as primitive as a quad would have enough force to kill him, and he didn't have a brain to protect from concussion. Will just laughed as they tore out of the garage, racing away over the sands.
Ironhide found that he greatly enjoyed the feel of the wind through his hair. It added a kind of reckless excitement to the whole experience that brought a grin to his face.
The two of them didn't stop until they reached the opposite point of the island from the base. Ironhide wanted some alone time, and Will had given him with the best thing he could provide. It was a little worrying to Ironhide that the human had learned to read him so well, but he found that, in the long run, he didn't really care. Will had proven time and time again that he was a good soldier, and a good friend.
He gave a long, deep sigh as they turned off the quads and Will took his helmet off, simply enjoying the silence and view of the sun setting over the water.
"It probably won't be long until one of them notices you're gone," Will commented as he lazed against the handle bars.
"Probably," Ironhide agreed as he let some of the tension leak out of his frame. He turned off his comms and sensors, simply enjoy the silence. "Thank you, Will."
"I figured you could use something like this," Will said with a small smile, eyes never leaving the scene in front of them, "you've never been one to be baby sat or stay in one place for too long."
Ironhide just hummed quietly in agreement, then sighed as the sound of an approaching motor filled the air. Neither of the two quad riders turned to look as Sideswipe pulled up behind them. The silver mech didn't transform; he seemed content now that Ironhide was back under someone's supervision, but Ironhide shot him a glance.
"Exactly twelve minutes, it only took you guys twelve minutes to notice I was-"
-BOOM-
Ironhide was cut off midsentence as a loud explosion rocked the island, and a pillar of smoke rose into the air above the base. Sideswipe transformed quickly with a loud curse as the sound of Cybertronian jets and sirens filled the air. Six Decepticon drones flew through the smoke before peeling off into two teams of three. One group continued to fly straight, while the other turned back to launch another attack on the base.
::Calling all Autobots, this is Sideswipe, what the pit is going on?::
::Well, I thought that was obvious:: Jolt sent, sarcasm heavy in his words, ::it appears Decepticon drones are attacking the base::
::Well no shit Sherlock-::
::Guys, enough:: Mirage snapped, ::has anyone managed to locate Ironhide?::
::Yeah, I'm with Sideswipe::
::We're with Will on the opposite side of the island from you:: Sideswipe sent as he rolled forward on his wheels. Another whine from an approaching jet was all the warning the three males had before a second, separate rain of missiles came down on them. Ironhide and Will hit the dirt at the same time as two drones, both the same height as Sideswipe, landed.
::Good, stay there, we've got it covered here:: Mirage said as Sideswipe swung his blade at one of the drones. The other drone locked scanners on the two human figures and charged them
::I'm going to need backup over here! I got two drones atta-GAH!:: Sideswipe stumbled back as the drone took advantage of his divided attention and landed a hit to his shoulder. The silver mech growled as he drove forward to meet his enemy again.
"Will!" Ironhide shouted, gesturing to the nearby dusting of plant life as he transformed his arm into a canon, "get your aft to the trees!" He fired twice, hitting the drone in the leg before rolling out of the way of the stumbling frame.
"I'm not leaving you to fight that thing alone!" Will shouted back, but with a lack of any real weapon besides his handgun, he knew he didn't have much choice. He dodged with a yelp as the drone Sideswipe was fighting was thrown overhead, the silver mech following close behind.
"Slaggit, Will, I'll be right behind you,go!"
Ironhide watched with relief as his charge obeyed. The vegetation wouldn't offer much in forms of shelter, but it would be better than being out in the open. He shot again, hitting the same damaged leg and smirking in satisfaction as his enemy fell. He turned to fall back into the trees when a long, grey cord whipped forward and wrapped around his body, pinning his arms to his side. He struggled instinctively as the drone fought back to its feet and activated its engines.
"Sideswipe!" he roared as he was lifted sharply into the air, grunting in pain as the cords wrapped more tightly around him. The melee warrior turned his attention to the ascending drone and the weapons specialist in his clutches before rushing toward them, realization flooding over him like ice water.
::Guys! They're after Ironhide! I need back up over here now!::
Ironhide struggled against his bonds as the drone pulled him up and out of Sideswipe's reach. He cursed to himself and activated his blade, cutting through one loop of the cord. He was forced to grab the remaining cords to avoid falling back to the earth, and climbed up them reach the drone.
The drone, having noticed the weight shift of its prisoner's escape, growled loudly and flicked its wrist, causing the cords to crack like a whip. Ironhide cursed loudly as the momentum swung him towards the same cluster of trees he'd told Will to take cover in. He collided roughly with a tree trunk, grunting at the force of the blow before the drone was forced up again by an enraged Sideswipe.
Ironhide climbed back up, digging his blade into the exposed wiring of the drone's arm. He smirked as he pushed through metal and armour, causing the appendage to snap off just above the wrist. He quickly slashed at the drone's other hand as it made a grab for him before hauling himself up to the metal shoulder joint. He slammed his blade into armour again to keep his balance before transforming his other arm into a cannon and firing straight into shining red optics.
The blast took off a good chunk of its head, leaving only one cracked and flickering optic. The drone jerked back from the force of the blast and dropped several feet in altitude.
"Come on, pit slagger," Ironhide growled as he climbed down the drone's side, re-transforming his hand back to normal to grip while extending the blade over his other hand. He stabbed the drone's side, just level with its spark, and fired three times in quick succession, "you gotta do better than that if you want me."
He brought his legs up under his body in a mock crouch position before looking over his shoulder for a clear path, and jumped back, pushing off with his legs in a neat back flip. The drone was falling lifeless below him, and it was only then that Ironhide realized just how high up they had been.
'Huh, didn't really think that one out,' He thought dryly to himself as the ground rushed up to meet him. He closed his eyes and braced himself, silently praying that he'd somehow manage to hit the ocean and not the bright sand. He thought he heard the sound of shifting metal, but it was drowned out by the sound of air rushing past his ears. He let out a loud grunt of pain as something warm and metallic closed around his body, and was jolted roughly as the metallic something hit the ground and rolled twice before coming to a sudden halt.
He blinked, slightly dazed and sore as large metal fingers uncurled to reveal Bumblebee's worried face hovering above him. The yellow scout chirped in concern, but Ironhide smirked, a little wobbly at the edges, up at him.
"Nice catch, 'Bee," he said as he struggled into a sitting position, Sideswipe and Will quickly coming into view as Bumblebee gave out a shaky sigh sound.
"You glitch, were you trying to give me a spark attack?" Sideswipe growled as Ironhide stood up. "Do you have any idea what Prime and Ratchet would do to me if they came back and you were just a splatter on the sand?"
"You, what about me?" Will grumbled as Ironhide carefully scanned himself for any damage. "I'd be the one that would have to tell Sarah." He nudged the crushed frame of the fallen drone with his foot as Bumblebee let out an impressed whistle. "Only you could manage to take down a Decepticon like that and manage to walk away from it."
"It was just a drone, Will; if you had the proper weapons you could've done the same." Ironhide said as Mirage and Jolt approached.
"Yeah right, this is you we're talking about, stuck like-"
He was cut off as something small and round landed in the sand between them. Barely a second later, a loud hum filled the air as the grenade expanded. Will reacted and ducked behind the fallen drone as a bright white light and a sudden boom threw the closest Autobots off their feet. Ironhide flew backward until he collided roughly with the ground, optics displaying only static and numerous other sensors screaming errors at him. Something blunt slammed into his stomach, and Ironhide could just make out the outline of another drone before electricity filled his body, and he was forced off-line.
Will blinked through the tears in his eyes as the drone lifted Ironhide off the ground and quickly launched into the air. He shouted for the other Autobots, but Sideswipe and Bumblebee were still down, and Mirage and Jolt were just a few seconds too late.
They could only watch, helpless, as the single drone carrying a helpless Ironhide disappeared over the horizon.
A/N: Dundundduunn! Hate to leave you with a bit of a cliff hanger ... hopefully the next chapter will be out soon :)