I'm soooo sorry about the extended time I took to release this chapter! I've had a lot of issues with class this semester with the financial aid and whatnot.(Plus I got addicted to Archeage) No excuses though, I can't keep ya'll waiting! Here's the rest of the battle with a bit of a teaser ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, as much as I wish it were true. Amy and Kayla are MINE! :)

On with the show!

As soon as I had heard his voice a wave of terror struck me. Not all of it was my own though, I could feel Jazz's worry as I started to scramble behind the nearest wall. I looked to where the voice had chimed but I didn't see anything... Oh, no.. no there! On the top of the Pyramid I could barely make out his silver shape clinging to the peak, a triangular con on the other side of the peak with him. I lunged for the wall and pushed myself against the cool, dirty stone.

I couldn't face those red eyes again, those evil, red optics that hungered for blood and revenge. I still could feel his gaze on me that day he died, our eyes locked and a feral snarl adorning my face. I knew he'd remember me and that's the last thing I needed at this time.

Goosebumps rose up my body and I panted from stress. I needed to stay hidden, I needed to stay away from him and close to the humans.

Epps stood next to me, his gun at his side as he stared at something in the distance. I was about to ask what he was staring at and to yell for him to hide when I felt it. Distant popping noises could be heard and the ground shook slightly, as if miniature explosions were going off.

Epps turned to me then, his body set into battle mode, eyes hard. His mouth formed into a grim line as he finally spoke with an air that commanded obedience. "Follow me, Amy."

The drive to stay hidden was unrelenting, but I willed my mind to calm. I knew better than to ignore or defy orders from a seasoned soldier... if I wanted to live. I held my breath and released it slowly before nodding to him. Together, we jogged out from our hiding spot and to the rest of the soldiers who were crouched around stone debris. I pulled myself around behind the few feet of stone wall left so I couldn't see Megatron. Epps called to one of them "How many we got?"

The soldier responded "About 13 of them."

Epps snarled and backed up as he held his gun defensively "This ain't good. This ain't good." He caught sight of Lennox standing next to one of the pillars, looking out at the transforming decepticons. "We're about to get our asses whupped!"

Lennox's shoulders tensed as he turned around and stalked back towards Optimus' body. "Bravo-Charlie, kneel!"

At his command, the small set of soldiers with him gathered around as best they could and knelt onto the sand, eyes to their commander. Lennox knelt with them, holding his rifle pointed up and a hand on the ground to steady him. I knelt down in the sand next to Kayla, who was standing next to Optimus' head, her eyes focused on the incoming cons with a short glare.

"All right, those decepticons are searching for Sam. Whatever he has, he thinks it'll bring Optimus back to life, so our mission is to find him and get him to Optimus."

Lennox adjusted his footing to look at the rest of his men "We're gonna draw fire from the left flank. I need a scout group."

Ironhide stepped forward over us easily, changing something with his guns "I'm leading." The triplets followed his lead silently. Ironhide transformed into his alt mode and awaited orders, the triplets surrounding him with their blasters loaded.

Lennox nodded to the mech "Go up through the middle with Arcee and Ironhide!" When a group of his men followed he continued "All right, when you see the precious cargo, I want you to pop green smoke and come back through those pillars." He pointed to a set of pillars to our left "We'll have an ambush set. All right? Let's go. Move out!"

'Hoorah!" The men cheered as one.

I backed up against Optimus and pulled Firefly out of it's case at my hip, I would be ready to defend my friends, this time.

'Just be careful, sweetspark. Stay near Prime.'

I kept my gaze on the scene before me, watching as the cons stalked around the town looking for Sam. I knew he was out there somewhere, I just hoped he was safe.

Kayla transformed her hand into a blaster and followed Ratchet to stand about a hundred feet from Optimus, setting themselves between his body and the cons.

She planted herself at Ratchet's feet and glared ahead, determined to keep Amy out of the danger as best as she could. Even from the large distance they had, she could still make out Cybertronian language as they snarled and spat commands to one another.

One con in particular drew her attention to the furthest section of the town as it seemed to parade about the premises. She stared for a moment longer until it's body turned and she rolled her eyes when she realized who it was.

A light shove came from beside her and she glared at the offending yellow finger's owner, but his optics were set on the incoming Decepicons. "I see that glare. Do not engage unless I am injured."

Kayla pat his finger with her left hand "With how many of them are out there, I doubt I'll have to wait long."

Ratchet seemed to bristle lightly at her words and scoffed "They're just Vehicons. I'd be surprised if they managed to scuff Ironhide's chassis."

Kayla shook her head "Tell that to the soldiers. They're going to be squished!"

Ratchet grunted "Then they shouldn't get underfoot." His optics turned to her face and he frowned "Stay out of Starscream's sight, I'm sure he will remember you."

Kayla shrugged, a small smile gracing her lips "No problems there. Though, just in case, do you have any earplugs?"

I crouched before Optimus' body with Firefly held lightly in my shaky, clammy hands. I was scared, that much was obvious. I was worried about Elita1 and her sisters, about the soldiers that were putting themselves before giant aliens. The incoming Cons chattered and growled in their language as they stormed the battlefield, shooting anything that moved and even some that didn't. Decepticons were advancing fast, causing the soldiers and Sideswipe on the front lines to begin falling back. They had taken down four of the thirteen bots by themselves, but more were coming, and they had even nastier looking weapons.

Kayla had left with Ratchet to guard the road where they had last spotted Sam and Bee, leaving me alone with the fallen leader.

Well, I say that, there was one other person with me. A bulky soldier with a gruff face, a large cannon, and a walkie talkie stood by Optimus' shoulder. His brown eyes scanned the battlefield with trained precision. He doesn't count though, he hadn't spoken at all for the past few minutes. He just stared straight ahead with a glare.

He made me slightly uncomfortable with his silence and I shifted uneasily on my toes as I crouched in the sand. Thankfully, I could feel Jazz in the front of my mind as he paid attention to the surrounding chaos. It made me feel a bit better knowing I had three sets of eyes on the horizon.

Bits of debris and sand were kicking up into my eyes and surrounding us as the Cons fired upon the humans. Their screams and shouts coupled with the harsh Cybertronian language had me looking every which way except towards them. Every so often I would catch a glimpse of a cowboy hat, or a shard of yellow racing to fallen allies.

That was when something caught my attention. Close to the edge of the town, a con was aiming at something on the roof of a building. It fired a few rounds at the target, then launched some sort of explosive round. As the sand rose up from the explosion, I caught sight of the tiny figures of Sam and Mikaela as they ran for their life.

My mind raced as I thought of possible scenarios in which I could be of some use. Unfortunately, none of them seemed to be very helpful or smart. I did the next best thing. "H-hey... um..."

The man next to me shifted his gaze from me to where I was pointing. His glare hardened and he nodded to me before raising his radio "This is Second Lieutenant Wireman. Major, we've spotted the kids at 4 O'clock."

He released the button and kept his eyes on the last place we saw Sam and I shivered. I hoped they were alright. I toyed with the split second thought that raced across my mind. To run to them with guns blazing and eyes wide but... That was easily tossed aside by Jazz.

I could feel his exasperation at me as he sighed "Ya ave a much more impor'nt job. Deter Cons from attackin Prime an help wave down Sam."

I knew it was true, but I couldn't help but feel there was more I could be doing than sitting and waiting. I sighed at his words and glanced back to where I last saw the children with a heavy heart. "Please be okay."

Kayla growled as she ripped open the soldier's shirt with bloodied hands. In her mouth was a roll of bandage that she continued to tear pieces from as she patched up men left and right. Her adrenaline was pumping and her breathing harsh as she struggled to keep herself from throwing up. Being a mechanic and working on Cybertronian bodies was one thing, but seeing human blood was making her head spin. Unfortunately, she was the only person in range that could double as a human medic. Once the men she saw were patched, they would be sent further into the back of the lines to where Amy and the true medics were at.

She roughly pushed the man on his side and spat the bandage from her mouth as her hands expertly cinched the wound on his shoulder. The man groaned in pain as she pulled the wrapping tighter so she could tie it off. Once she finished, she bit the bandage off from the roll and hissed "Get em' out of here! Go!"

His combat buddy lifted the smaller man and helped drag him away towards the back end of the combat, towards Amy and the other human medics. Kayla wiped the sweat from her brow and took a deep breath to calm her nerves as she looked back to Ratchet.

He was her cover, firing at the stray cons that had decided to come near them. His metal body was covered in dust and bits of blue Cybertronian blood from opposing Vehicons. Thankfully, he was still unharmed. Kayla smiled slightly as he turned to meet her gaze and he seemed to tense at the shoulders before shuttering his optics and nodding.

Kayla's heart stuttered a bit and she shook her head. No time to be having a teenager moment.

A yell pierced the air and Kayla's hairs stood on end as she turned to face the incoming soldiers. Lennox was in the front as he ran down the hill with his men behind him. He raised his voice as much as he could, though it just barely rang over the explosions. "Fall back! Fall back!"

Ratchet shifted uneasily and powered up his blaster once more. His comm link opened up and he pointed "Ironhide, up the middle!"

Ironhide's alt form roared to life to Kayla's left and took off down the clearing with Arcee, Chromia, and Elita1 at his sides. Lennox was about 50 feet out before he cried "Ironhide, move it!"

The men in his truck bed braced themselves and Lennox waved to his men "Let's go! Go, go!"

The Arcee and Elita1 split from Ironhide's right and rear ends to charge a lone con to their right. Arcee fired first from her hand cannon, hitting the silver con in the face and causing it to rear back in an agonized cry as it grabbed at it's faceplates. Elita1 growled and fired her own cannon into the con's stomach. Metal flared up into an angry red before it melted its stomach plating and ate away at it's internal circuits.

Ironhide continued into the battlefield and dropped the men in his bed off behind a pillar. He continued off with Chromia and Arcee on his tail out of Kayla's sight. Glancing back to Ratchet, she was surprised to see he had moved closer to her with his optics to the charging form of Ironhide.

He stopped before her and knelt, extending a handout for her "Let's fall back with them." Kayla nodded and climbed into the offered hand with a sigh of relief. Her panic seemed to subside minutely as she sat in his protective hand. Ratchet glanced behind himself as he made short work of the retreat "We need another plan."

When the first soldier had arrived, my hands had flown to my mouth in horror. There was so much blood, so much chaos. The Lieutenant next to me scowled even deeper, if it were possible, and pointed the soldiers to a small shack the medics had taken as their base.

Behind me, the medics shouted tossed whatever they were doing at the time to the side as they called out to one another. Soon, there were screams of pain and more shouts as more soldiers were brought in.

I stood there with my teeth ground and my eyes locked in the directed I had last seen the kids. We needed help, we needed Optimus.

The next few soldiers that were brought back had their injuries bound in a crude fashion as they hobbled to the medic tent. If they could even walk.

My mind whirled as I sat there behind Optimus' shoulder. I needed to do something to help, even if it had been years since I had anything to do with the medical field.

I turned to help out the medics when a shot fired close to us. Too close. The explosion kicked up sand into my eyes and I crouched back into Optimus' frame with a frustrated grunt. Jazz seemed to shift in my mind as his focus changed to me.

'Are ya okay?'

I breathed out of my nose and held Firefly close to my chin as I curled up to the body and let loose slow pants. "Yeah... yeah I'm okay. Just... ARG! Fuckin cons!" I spat angrily and, with the burst of adrenaline fueling my emotions, rolled out from behind the massive arm. Was Wireman okay as well? I rounded Optimus' head and immediately went into action. The man lay on his side as his body jerked with pained movements of breathing. Blood was starting to pool in the sand around his hips.

I stalked forward with purpose and dropped to my knees beside him to analyze his wounds. His body was burned badly around his face, neck, and arms. His clothes were torn to bits, though the armor seemed to mostly stay intact. The worst wound was the leg, his left leg, was twisted into an odd angle. I doubted it was even still attached by much more than muscle.

My chest clenched in fear as I hastily applied pressure to just above the knee. My strength wasn't enough though, I needed something to cinch it with, and fast! His life was escaping my grasp quickly, he needed blood.

I turned my head to the medics in the building and shouted at the tops of my lungs "HEY! HEY I NEED HELP!"

My voice came out much louder than I was used to and it even surprised me through the adrenaline haze. Not a moment later, a medic stepped from around the doorway and glanced to me. His mouth dropped lightly and he called something back to the men in the room as he rushed to my side. The medic took out a proper belt and tied it securely around the wounded leg with a quick motion.

I moved quickly to Wireman's face and tapped him between the eyes to get his attention through the undoubtedly thick layer of pain "Hey, we're going to get you to safety. You're going to be okay, alright?"

His face contorted into pain and he gasped for air instead of answering. I started to hope that his ribs hadn't been broken as well, with as much trouble as he was having breathing. The medic grabbed his left side and I grabbed the right to haul him upwards quickly and to the small room. Inside wasn't what I expected, there wasn't much room to move about and the medics were bouncing quickly from patient to patient.

We laid Wireman on the closest pad and then I was ushered out just like the other soldiers that had brought their combat buddy in. As I exited the building I saw a helicopter flying close by and could hear yelling "We got Jordanians!"

Lennox's voice was close "We got help!"

I breathed a sigh of relief. We might actually win this fight and not just 'scrape by'. I glanced back up to the aircraft and smiled... just as the damn thing blew up.

I watched in slow motion as the chopper fell to the ground, and behind it, stood my worst fear. Blood red eyes locked onto mine and I fell backwards in fear. He knew I was here, and now, he's coming for me.

Kayla flung herself into the nearest wall and covered her face with an arm as the dust flew around her angrily. The cons were coming closer despite how hard the humans fought, and it was only a matter of time before they were to be overrun. Ratchet knelt beside her and shot over the top of the wall with a frown. Where were the kids?

Just then, his comm blared to life from Ironhide "We've got Sam! Here's the location, providing cover fire." A coordinate pushed it's way into the minds of all the Autobots and they knew what to do.

Ratchet slid a foot back and glanced down to Kayla, who was still covering her mouth and nose bitterly. He pushed her with a finger towards the back of the fighting "Sam is making his way up through the middle of the battlefield. I need you to get to Optimus and provide cover fire there if we need it."

"What about you?" She growled. Kayla didn't like the thought of Ratchet having to face off the remaining 6 cons.

He shook his head and glanced once more behind them "I'll be fine. Go."

Kayla glared through the dust at him and frowned "You had better be." She turned from him and jogged to the resurrection point.

Ratchet nodded as she disappeared then turned back to his destination. He locked his cannon and growled, he was not going to let any through. They were not to touch a hair on the human's heads.

Megatron's eyes held me in place, and my own for him. There was no mistaking the recognition in those bloody pools as he sneered, bringing a hand up and curling his fingers into a fist.

"I've found you, fleshling."

Panic ripped through my chest and my legs trembled as I tried to find a way out, somewhere to run and hide. Jazz was screaming in my head to run, but my body refused. I felt as if I was going to retch from the stress of merely standing within a hundred yards of him.

I finally took a step backwards, but that was the push he needed. He kicked his thrusters on, and with a mighty leap, landed before me. His feet touched down mere yards from me and he crouched to grab me. Adrenaline burst through me then, and I took off through his legs and away from the tent and Optimus. The only thing going through my head was saving the other humans from this fate.

'Jump left!'

My body immediately followed the order, just barely dodging Megatron's hand as it flattened the sand where I just was.

'Duck!'

I did so again without hesitation as his hand made a swipe at my head. I skid around the corner of a building and had him crash into the side, knocking him off balance. I took my chance as I felt Jazz help my movements. Turning, I walked backwards as Jazz helped me aim Firefly. I fired at the shoulder that had just knocked into the building.

The shot blew off the remaining armor and he snarled in anger. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to gloat as he began the chase again.

'Jus keep on roundin those corners. He can't keep goin like tha!'

My breathing became erratic as I gasped for the needed air. "Neither can I!"

Kayla watched warily as Sam climbed Optimus' chest plates weakly. Sam had just died from an explosion, or so everyone had thought. Not five minutes later, he had come back to life with renewed vigor and a strange object in his hands and started to climb the leader's corpse.

Much to her relief, Ratchet had come back from the front lines with nothing more than a dent on his shoulder and more Con energon on his chassis.

Ironhide had come back with Ratchet, carrying an unconscious Arcee in his alt mode's bed and the other two femmes following closely. Everyone came back in one piece, except for Amy. Kayla chewed her lip as she glanced around once more, not seeing the smaller woman.

With a yell, Sam plunged the device into Optimus' chest with both hands. Instantly, his optics opened and his systems powered on with enough force to raise the tarp covering him. Sam scurried off Optimus as he slowly sat up with a groan.

Elita1's optics glew brightly as her spark mate woke from his grave, her face shed the worry and stress. She covered her spark chamber with her smaller hands and smiled. Kayla sighed in relief for the blue sister, one that Elita1 missed entirely.

Optimus stayed kneeling and looked to Sam graciously "Sam, you returned for me."

Suddenly, Optimus was knocked back to the ground as a portal opened up and a smaller mech jumped onto his back. The offending con growled as he pushed Optimus' face into the sand.

He grasped the floating Matrix of Leadership from the air and smiled evilly before disappearing in the same fashion as he appeared. "My Matrix!"

I backed up cautiously, my heels touching the wall as I found myself cornered. Megatron stood before me with that lopsided smirk, he knew he had me now. Jazz had become silent, my exhaustion taking it's toll on the both of us as the adrenaline rush faded out.

Megatron stepped one pede into the small alley I was in, his energon dripping from the small bullet holes I was able to put into his shoulder and chest.

His chuckle rumbled my stomach "Trapped are we, insect?"

I snarled in return, I wouldn't let him see my fear anymore. "Why are you chasing me? What do you want from me?!"

His head turned to the side momentarily as if he were pondering something, then his gaze flicked back to me "You do have the right to know, even if you won't live to keep the knowledge."

I lump formed in my throat and I swallowed. Just having him mention it so easily reminded me of what I was against. A giant heap of living metal in a humanoid form. I pressed myself against the cold stone and kept my gaze locked on his mouth as he began to speak. I needed to find another way to...

He pressed his servo into the sand before me and sneered "The Fallen had forseen my death. As much as that already grates on my nerves, he prophesied it would be by a fleshie's hands."

He spat the words in my face and his hand clenched the sand "You."

My blood stopped cold. He took advantage of my shocked state as his servos came around my form and he laughed. "I'll enjoy killing you instead!"

His thrusters kicked on once more and we were in the air. I screamed at the top of my lungs in fear, hoping someone would possibly hear me. Megatron flew through the air with ease as he spiraled around the great pyramid before us. Just before he landed though, another spec in the sky grabbed my attention.

It's Optimus! He's flying!

Optimus flung himself into Megatron, knocking the silver mech off course and smacked the servo I was in. Megatron snarled in rage as his servo opened up and dropped me roughly on the pyramid as he passed by. I automatically curled up and threw my hands over my head and cried out once more. I rolled down the pyramid away from the sound of battle, an explosion wracking the top and shaking the massive structure.

When I finally stopped rolling, I registered pain on the right side of my head and my ribs burned like fire. I was too afraid to move, too afraid to worsen my situation. So instead, I tightened my hold on my body and pushed myself into the wall.

Jazz's presence prodded me 'Yer ok, darlin. Relax and Prime will come get ya.'

I released a breath I didn't know I was holding and shivered. Megatron was after me because of something a dumbass old can told him I would be his downfall. How? I don't see how a tiny thing like... my mind halted.

'He knows you're going to change.' Jazz growled.

I bit my lip "Impossible... How could he get his hands on that bit of information?"

I could feel Jazz shrug at that 'It could 'ave been Soundwave and his minicons...' He waited a bit, allowing me to process the information before he pushed 'In any case, we need ta get ya outta here.'

I unfurled myself slowly from the fetal position. I waited for the pain to come in waves, but all I got was dull throbs and I sighed. No broken bones, thankfully. I contemplated how I was going to get down. I slid myself on my hind end and dropped to the next ledge, where I did the same again.

A few minutes later a dark figure landed beside me, bracing itself against the stone with an easy hand. Optimus' optics drank in my form with a gentle gaze. After a moment, he asked "Are you okay, Amy?"

My voice shook and goosebumps took over my arms "I- I think so?" My head shook "No, scratch that. I'm not okay. Megatron is trying to kill me... me specifically!"

Optimus lowered his hand for me to climb on and he grunted "No harm shall come to you, Amy Fischer. Megatron won't be coming back for a while."

Kayla sighed in relief as Optimus landed before them, Amy in his large hand. He let Amy down gently into the sand in front of Kayla and was immediately surrounded by the bots.

Kayla wrapped Amy up into a tight embrace and laughed "You're really okay!" Kayla pushed the girl back to arm's length and brushed hands on ether side of Amy's face before smiling wide, her voice wavering "I was so worried, girlie!"

Amy embraced her back as tight as she could but her legs gave out and they both toppled to the floor. Only then did Kayla feel the wet tears against her shirt as Amy trembled. Kayla pulled Amy's head to the side and brushed her fingers through her best friend's hair comfortingly. "It's alright, You're safe now."

A yellow pede appeared before the girls and Kayla smiled. Ratchet watched Kayla comfort Amy for a moment, then fixed his gaze upon the smaller woman. His scanners saw increased blood pressure, bruises forming on her sides, a fractured rib, and a nasty bump on the head. Much better than what he was expecting. He allowed the two females a moment alone.

I've never felt this way before, scared and elated. Optimus and the others had been relocated into the new base, Kayla and myself now have a permanent residence there, and... my heart leapt into my chest. Today was the day.

We had completely moved into the base in three days, and by 'we' I mean the bots and Kayla. I wasn't allowed to do any kind of heavy lifting until my ribs healed. Jazz was moved into a room that will be meant for just us. It was large for human standards, one large Cybertronian bed, or berth, was placed in the left side of the room. On the right side was a bot sized bathroom. Again, I say that, it's just a shower and a mirror with polish and a buffer. What tickled me most was the fact that both the shower and the bed had the human sized variants with them. The human bed came out from underneath the berth and the human shower head was on the opposite side of the wall as the large one.

Optimus stood before me with Elita1 beside him smiling gently. His optics were soft as he knelt down to my level and smiled. He brought out the Matrix of Leadership from his chassis and it floated to me slowly. I held my hands before me and it hovered over them, twisting and turning as it cast it's silver light across my palms.

My breath caught as I felt the power radiating from the small device. When I looked to Optimus he nodded to the door gently. He never said anything and that was oddly fine for me, for I had nothing to say. I doubted I could even form a coherent sentence.

Elita1 opened the door gently and smiled at me "Good luck."

I breathed out shakily as I walked into the dark room. The door closed behind me.

The matrix cast a silvery glow around the room as I made my way to the berth. Jazz's body glistened as the scant light played upon his sharp curves. I let go of the Matrix at the base of the ladder and started to climb. It stayed beside me, following me up to the top before I grabbed it again.

I walked around his pedes to his chest. I let out a breath "Are... are you ready?"

'Always.'