Author's Note

Well this will be my last update for a short while I'm afraid. On Friday I ship out to join my next ship. I'm flying to Los Angeles, CA to join MV Hyundai Singapore. I'm so excited, I'm flying to the United States. So I'll be on this ship for 4 months but I will finish writing this story and at some point I will finish it. I'll try to upload when I can but I can't make any promises as to when. However if you want to keep up to date on what I'm doing then check out my DeviantART account (Link is on my profile).

Until next time, enjoy.

Barnaby stared at the massive blade pointed at him. Then he saw the face of Optimus. It was full of anger and hate. Were Autobots dangerous? It didn't make sense, he thought they were compassionate to humans. Or so he was told.

"Please-please don't kill me" He begged.

"Then explain it to me" Optimus told him, his voice dripping with venom.

"Okay, but please can you move it that away?" Barnaby nodded to the blade.

"Only till I'm satisfied"

Barnaby knew not to disagree with a giant robot, let alone one pointing a blade close to his chest. He took a gulp then started to explain "It started a month ago. I've recently went to university to do my masters degree. But as you might know, it costs a lot to do it. Especially at Cambridge. I needed to find a way of getting the money I owe the loan company. So I got a job at the Home Office as a para-legal for one of the junior ministers. The pay should have covered it but then the salary was lowered. So I needed to find new funds then one day I get a letter from an anonymous person"

Optimus listened carefully. His sword unwavering.

"The letter simply said 'Need help to pay back the degree? Call this number and they'll help' and there was a phone number. I called it and it was Megatron who answered the call. He said if I could do him a favour he'd see to it that the Decpeticons would use their technology to wire money to my bank account in a way that would be unnoticeable"

Optimus retracted his sword. Barnaby sighed in relief.

"We have grown tired of the lies that have been said in the past few days. Will you do the honourable thing and admit your guilt in order to free an innocent man?" Optimus asked.

"No I can't. If Megatron finds out..." Barnaby locked up in fear.

"What happens if he does?"

Barnaby whimpered "My children. My two little girls"

Optimus had heard enough and dropped the charade and showed his compassionate side again.

"Know this, we will return to your family and ensure their protection. I will not allow Megatron to bring harm upon your children"

"Y-you will?" Barnaby was confused. He though that he was the Autobot's enemy.

"Yes, as long as you promise to do all you can to free Mr Rickers from prison"

"Y-yes, you have my word. Please help me. I've fallen into a trap and I can't get out"

Optimus stood up and left without saying a word.

Baines left Barnaby where he was and followed the Prime back towards the main control room.

"Thank you for that. I was finding it hard getting through to him" Baines said as he kept up.

"No need. Time is of the essence and I'll do what is required to help our friend"

"You know, you make a very good bad guy. You had me going for a minute"

Optimus smirked for a moment, but kept it to himself.

They carried on down towards the control room until from behind them they heard Barnaby shout at the top of his voice calling them. It sounded urgent and desperate. The two quickly made it back to Barnaby. His mobile was ringing. A simple sharp electronic ringing.

"Please I need to answer that call" He told them.

"Who is it?" Baines asked.

"I don't know. But nobody should be calling me at this time of night"

Baines darted over and quickly released the cuffs binding Barnaby to the chair.

As soon as he could Barnaby reached into his coat pocket and answered his mobile "Hello?"

He said nothing, just listened.

Baines and Optimus knew something wasn't right as every second that past the expression of dread fill Barnaby's face. He shuddered as he heard what was said to him. He made no reply. He just continued to listen. Then he hung up and still said nothing.

"Mr Barnaby?" Optimus spoke gently "Is something wrong?"

Barnaby slowly turned his head up "He's got them. He's got my two little girls"

Both Optimus and Baines were stunned. They guess the Decepticons might find out about what happened tonight, but they did not expect them to act so swiftly.

"Come with me" Optimus told him and showed him the way to the control room.

The three came into the control room with all the others wondering since when was Barnaby allowed to roam the place? They knew that Optimus had made a decision and no one decided to question his judgement.

Alarms blared out across the room before introductions could be made.

"Optimus, it's an incoming message" Ratchet called out but paused when he saw who sent it "It's from Megatron"

There was complete silence from everyone. Nobody knew what to say. A prisoner had just been released and now their most feared enemy was contacting them. What else could happen in such a short space of time?

"Play the message" Optimus ordered.

Ratchet typed on the keyboard and played a video file. The first thing to be seen was Megatron. His face filled the screen and his sinister voice filled the Autobot base.

"Optimus. Hope you are doing well. It would seem that you have taken something that belongs to me. Tell him if he does not returned to my side, then I will have no choice but to inflict plain upon his children. And to prove that I have them" Megatron stepped back from the screen and lifted his right arm and brought a cage into view. Inside the cage was two little girls, no older than ten years old. They clung to each other in there pyjama's and were too frightened to make a sound.

Barnaby saw the screen a collapsed to his knees and sobbed his heart out. Baines and June went over to him to console him in whatever way they could.

"Tell him to make the right decision, for their sake" The message ended.

"Ratchet, see if it is possible to locate his warship" Optimus ordered the medic.

Ratchet went to work trying to find out the location from where the transmission came from. But he didn't get anywhere at all.

"It's not possible, Optimus. The message was bounced across the human internet. It could take weeks to find out"

Raf checked the computers as well seeing if he could do it, but again no luck.

Baines watched this all, then his mind came up with a bright idea. Then he realized no one else had thought of it, which was weird.

"Hang on. Megatron talked to you directly through your mobile just a minute ago. Surely we could use that to pinpoint their position?"

Raf ran over to Barnaby and put he's hand out "Can I have your cell phone?" He asked in a way that wasn't a request.

Barnaby stopped sobbing when a ray of hope was presented. He got it out of his coat pocket and handed it over. Raf ran back over the the computers and pulled it a part and laid out the components on the desk. One part he was interested in was the SIM card. He took the SIM card and slotted it into the appropriate card reader and started to get to work. He brought up the call log and the most recent number wasn't a standard eleven digit number but rather many numbers, letters and symbols. Most likely a Cybertronian communication code that had been translated for the phone to receive messages.

"Well I've managed to decipherer the code" Raf explained to everyone "With this I should be able to write a virus and send it in a message. It should appear as an empty data packet but it should cause the warship's computer to resend it back to us. If it does then we should be able to get a fix on their position"

Baines was so impressed he could have grabbed the boy and given him a massive hug. But he settled for saying "Not bad Mr Esquivel"

"Raphael" Optimus addressed the young boy "Are you certain you can pinpoint their location?"

Raf looked up to the Prime "I'm not certain, but very sure it will work"

"That will have to do. Raphael proceed as fast as you can. Ratchet assist him"

Both didn't need to be told twice and got to work.

June led Barnaby over to sit down on the sofa to deal with the shock, her nursing skills kicking in as she assessed the man. His skin was cold and sweaty and looking pale plus the pulse rate was increasing though it was weakening. She sat with him and did what she could to try and resolve it. It wouldn't be life threatening but could cause problems later on. Just the act of sitting down and controlled breathing seemed to help so June decided it would be okay to make Barnaby a cup of tea to help him.

"Optimus!" Ratchet called out "It worked, we've located them. They are over the country called Uganda"

"Ratchet, open a ground bridge"

Ratchet entered the coordinates into the ground bridge control and pulled the lever down which activated the swirling wall of light that was the ground bridge portal.

"Autobots! Roll out!" The five Autobots transformed and charged through the ground bridge.

"Transport complete" Ratchet announced to the others.

Baines walked over to check up on Barnaby "Try not to fret. They'll rescue your kids, no shadow of a doubt"

"Is it always like this here?" Barnaby asked quietly, his hands shaking holding a mug of tea.

"Not always. It's like any other military base I've been too. Long periods of boredom punctuated with short bursts of excitement"

The ground bridge portal opened up in one of the many passageways of the Decepticons warship. The five Autobots burst through and transformed taking a defensive stance straight away and assessed the immediate threat. Luck was on their side as they bridged into an empty passageway with no Decepticons patrolling it.

"Autobots, the message was recorded from the bridge. It stands to reason the children will be held there" Optimus informed his team. All nodded in understanding and took off in the direction of the bridge. Arcee and Bumblebee ran on ahead taking point and scouting out hostile contacts. It was a case of run as fast as possible to the next point of cover, check, assess and run to the next point. The other three hung back and checked the rear.

They had determined they were well away from any vital or sensitive parts of the ship which would explain the lack of opposition. But that could only mean one thing. At some point they would come across them and they would in large numbers.

As Arcee and Bumblebee rounded a corner they did come across them.

"Autobots!" A Decepticon trooper shouted out to the other seeing Arcee stick her head around the corner, the trooper pointing for the others to see.

Arcee whipped her head back behind cover "Scrap" She cursed.

The troopers took up position all drawing their weapons ready for a fire fight. The Autobots crowded by the corner preparing to make their move. They couldn't afford to wait as two lives were on the line. They knew the drill, they didn't need to be told how to go about this situation. After centuries of war all of them knew how to get around the problem from experience.

Arcee ran across the corridor junction, laying down fire as she did causing the troopers to take cover. As Arcee got behind cover Bumbleebee did the same taking up the fire keeping the troopers pinned down. As he got to cover the both of them laid down covering fire as the larger Bot's came out of the cover and charged down to the troopers with Optimus taking the lead. Optimus fired as many shots to as many troopers as he could without breaking his stride. Bulkhead and Elita had to take pot shots as they could. Then the two scouts followed up the rear.

The Autobots came into striking distance of the troopers that had been pinned down the entire skirmish. Most were quickly disposed of by the larger three by blade, mace and blaster. But the bulk of the troopers were taken out in mere seconds under the unforgiving Autobot attack. The few that survived either retreated or were laid waste on the floor, left to suffer their injuries.

The Autobots advanced and didn't slow down. The moment they stopped gave the Decepticons the chance to regroup and launch a counter attack which could prove to be fatal to not only themselves but to the two young girls held hostage.

But they didn't stop, they didn't slow their advance as they mercilessly shot down and Decepticon they sighted. But soon they stopped coming across any more. No more Decepticons appeared as if they had all fled.

That could mean only one thing. They were falling back quicker than the Autobots were advancing to make time to set up an ambush. Where would the ambush happen wasn't hard to guess. Either just ahead of them, round the last corner leading straight to the bridge, or in the bridge itself.

Arcee and Bumblebee scouted ahead again to the next corner. They checked and their was no sign of any Decepticons. The ambush had to be in the bridge itself.

Optimus gathered his team "The Decepticons will no doubt put up a fierce defence. The children are at great risk of getting caught in the crossfire. Elita, when we storm the bridge your priority will be seeking the children and covering them straight away and to protect them till we can make our retreat. Everyone else will engage the Decepticons and hold them off for as long as possible"

The team accepted their orders and psyched themselves up for what was about to happen. They took up their positions by the door, Elita was right behind Arcee and Bumblebee, all with blasters at the ready.

Optimus counted down for the attack from three to one. On one it all kicked off. Arcee and Bumblebee lunged at the door and immediately set about shooting at the first Decepticon in their sights. Elita rushed in and visually swept the entire bridge in a fraction of a second. She found her target. The cage was placed upon a plinth set on display from the command post. The two girls trapped inside still hugging each at tightly as possible, scared for their lives. She sprinted the distance from the door to the plinth without any regard for her own safety. She moved so fast no Decepticon could get a shot at her. Her legs pounded the floor to get as much speed as possible. She ran the length of the walkway and got to the plinth and snatched the cage without breaking stride then with the cage secured she jumped off the walkway and ducked for cover. The whole thing from start to finish was only three seconds.

In those three seconds Optimus blasted troopers back as they came in their drones after coming away from their stations.

"OPTIMUS!" Megatron roared as he charged at the Prime, sword drawn for battle. Optimus responded by retracting his left blaster and drawing his left blade and raised it to block Megatron's first strike from above. Then Optimus used his strength to throw the warlord back, turning Megatrons back towards him, then he swung his sword which struck Megatron forcing him to the floor then blasted a trooper attempting to have a go at a sneak attack.

Bulkhead stayed by the door keeping it clear for the retreat while shooting down any Decepticon who made an attempt at retaking the exit.

The two little girls were screaming in terror at Elita, not knowing why the giant robot had snatched them from the plinth.

Elita tried her best to calm them down "I'm not going to hurt you" The girls still screamed for their lives. Elita needed to explain it as simply as possible. She pointed up on the walkway for them to see "Them, evil robots" The she pointed to herself "Me, good robot" It did the trick as the girls went silent, trying to comprehend what was said.

"I'm going to get you back to your father" She explained.

"Daddy?" The older of the two bravely asked.

"That's right I'm going to take you back to daddy" Elita made them understand.

Optimus kept Megatron at bay while the two scouts repelled the troopers. They had only been in for twenty seconds and reinforcements were immanent.

"Autobots! Fall back!" Optimus ordered.

Elita hefted the cage up and sprinted along the lower level and up the steps leading to the exit which the wrecker held open. She carried her passengers through the exit with Optimus and the two scouts holding back the remaining Decepticons as they retreated back with the rest of the team then all escape through the door and made a run for it. They were in their for a total of thirty seconds.

The team rushed away from the bridge through the corridors making as much distance between them and the Decepticons.

"Ratchet, open a ground bridge" Optimus ordered the medic urgently.

Within seconds a ground bridge portal opened right in front of them. They didn't hang around as they all ran through with the portal winking shut before any Decepticons could follow them through.

The others at the base waited anxiously for the team to come back through the ground bridge. First was Bulkhead followed closely by Elita carrying the precious cargo of the two little girls. Then the other three followed up with the ground bridge cycling down.

Barnaby saw the cage Elita held, his face was full of joy and elation as he jumped up and bounded down the stairs and towards where Elita was setting the cage down on the floor.

She prized the top of the cage off and reached in for the two girls. She set her palm flat for them to get on but they were still clearly nervous.

Elita gave them her most reassuring smile "Don't be scared, I don't want to hurt you"

The girls looked at each other then slowly crawled onto Elita's hand then were gently lifted up and out of their cage and set down next to it.

"Daddy!" Both cried out as say ran toward their father and the base was given the joy of the sight of parent and children reunited. Barnaby's two girls hugged him tight as they cried, the event of being held hostage was very traumatic for them.

June came down and quickly gave the two a quick check over for any injuries, but found none then led them up the stairs where they could sit down and recover from their ordeal.

Barnaby looked up to the Prime "I'll do all I can to help Michael. I can't thank you enough"

"The best place to start is to speak with the operations director at MI5. It was he who led us to you. He will change is statement if you tell him to do so"

"Don't worry, I will do that" Barnaby replied before shooting back to his children, he couldn't bare to be away from them for another moment.

He bounded up the stairs and crushed them to him on the sofa as he gave them reassuring words.

Elita stepped up close to the edge where the sofa was "If you want I can take them over to where they can be bedded down for the night, give them time to rest?"

He looked at his two girls. He needed to make calls now and get things rolling for Michael's release. It was the least he could could do for the Autobots.

"Okay" He then told his two girls "Now, you go with the nice robot. She will find you a place where you can sleep in piece without big nasty robots scaring you"

Elita laid her palms flat on the platform where the two girls could get on. They sat in the centre of her hands then Elita carefully carried them away down a corridor where extra sleeping area's for humans were located.

Their was an old room filled with stacked up army beds and covers and pillows ready to accommodate a small squadron of soldiers. Elita set the two down and got together a bed for each of them. She set them tight against each other in a corner. The girls took their shoes off and climbed into their temporary bed and settling down quickly. Elita laid down next to them using her body to form a fourth wall, closing them in. With her free hand she tucked them in one at a time and made sure they were comfortable.

"Sweet dreams you two. I'll keep you safe tonight. No evil robots will come and snatch you while I'm here" She reassured them again and watch as both quickly fell sound asleep. She smiled then slowly frowned. Watching them sleeping reminded her of watching over her own charge. He wasn't here, he was still locked up in prison. She couldn't bare being without him, not being their for him, to tell him all was going to be okay.

'Soon' She kept reminding herself. 'Soon, I'll have him back'.

That thought made everything feel better.