Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers

Gwen luvs dramione: I am happy for your suggestions and I might bring the bots into the story and you have to read to find out.

darkironprincess17: I am so happy that you love my story and that you continue to read and review. I am glad that you weren't disappointed by my chapter.

Now time for chapter 5

Koda had driven back up the hill to investigate the 'meteors' that had crashed into the hillside, her brother Ty following right behind her. What they saw shocked them. Standing on the top of the hill were two large bipedal figures that looked like they were each 20 feet tall. One was large, husky and black and had what looked like two large cannons its arms. The other was yellow and black and had what looked like a mask over its face.

Koda stopped where she was when she saw these two figures. She was shocked but not scared. Ty on the other hand was panicking. He was afraid of these two beings that stood before them. He tugged at Koda trying to get her to move but she just stood there looking at them. Sam then caught up to the siblings and looked at the two large beings in front of them. He was neither shocked nor amazed; he just focused on getting the two siblings out of there. Lennox then ran over to Sam and the others. Mikaela stayed back in the Jeep.

Then, the large black figure turned to face the humans that stood behind them. Sam looked at the large figure and listened to what it had to say. "Sam, Will, get Koda and Ty out of here now." Sam nodded and proceeded to grab both Koda and Ty by the arms. "Come on you two. I'll explain later, but now we have to get out of here." Ty went with Sam but Koda stayed put. "Sam, I know that this is dangerous, so please get my brother out of here." Koda then walked forward towards the two towering figures.

The two figures were ignoring the humans and proceeded to inspect the crater and what lay in it. Ironhide bent down and saw that the one in the crater was gravely injured. He then recognized just who it was. He recognized the being as one of his pupils. "Sideswipe… How? Where is Sunstreaker?" His optics lay on the motionless figure. He proceeded to scan the figure using a system that Ratchet had installed to check for a spark pulse. He found that Sideswipe had a faint pulse but he was unconscious. Ironhide knew that in case a medic was needed, Ratchet was at a nearby military base that worked with NEST. Optimus was also at the base on standby. He turned to Bumblebee. "Bumblebee, I need you to stay here with Sideswipe, and contact Ratchet. We will need his help."

Bumblebee went to Sideswipe's side and contacted Ratchet while Ironhide got up to inspect the other impact crater. As he turned around, he saw Koda staring up at him. Ironhide just looked at her, wondering why she had not left and was not afraid. Koda walked closer to him and was very calm. Ironhide kneeled down and spoke softly to her. "What are you doing here youngling? I told you to leave." Koda looked with a smile. "I knew that I recognized that voice. Did you not think that I knew that something was up with the Topkick and Sam's Camaro? I knew that something was being hidden from me but I didn't know it was something like this. Right, Will." She turned to face Lennox. "I knew that you guys were acting strange and I also knew that you knew Sam, so I thought that you were connected." She turned back to Ironhide. "I am also taking a guess at this but; I'm thinking that you're Ian Howard from the sound of your voice." Ironhide and Lennox were shocked.

Ty was standing next to the jeep with Sam and Lennox. "What are you talking about Koda? Are you saying that you know that thing?" Ty got out of Sam's grip and ran over to Koda. "Come on, let's go." Koda shook off her brother and walked right past Ironhide over to the crater. She spoke to Ironhide and the others but didn't look at them. "Look, I have no idea what is going on and no one needs to explain it right now but I feel like I need to help. I want to help." She looked over to Bumblebee and smiled. She nodded to him and then looked over to the body of Sideswipe. Koda then examined the body quickly and then looked over to Ironhide. "What's the main problem? Explain in simple terms if you need to." Ironhide proceeded to explain. "And so he has a weak spark."

Koda wanted to ask one more thing. "I want to know one thing about the two of you. What are your names?" Ironhide just looked at Bumblebee and nodded. "My name is Ironhide and that over there is Bumblebee. The one in the crater in front of you is Sideswipe." Koda just stood there smiling. "Ok, 'Ironhide', I want to help out Sideswipe. I'll do what I can. How about you go check out the other crater?" Ironhide looked to the young girl that stood at the edge of the crater, "All right, Shadow. Be careful.", and then headed for the crater that was down the hill.

Koda walked over to the motionless body of Sideswipe and wondered what she was going to do. She looked at Bumblebee and smiled. "Bumblebee, what do you think I should do?" Bumblebee was kneeling and looked to the girl. He played a sound clip through his speakers. 'Use the Force' Koda looked at him and laughed. "Ha ha Bumblebee. I see what you're getting at. But I don't know if I can do it. I used up a lot on you earlier." Bumblebee looked at her encouragingly and she nodded in his direction. "Ok, I'll give it a try." While all this happened, Lennox had brought Ty back over to Sam and Mikaela. Ty had decided to stay there to watch his younger sister. Ty and the others were surprised to see how calm and comfortable Koda was around Bumblebee and Ironhide.

As Ironhide walked a ways down the hill to the other crater, he noticed that there was more than one other crater. He then messaged Bumblebee on the internal communications. "Bumblebee, there is more than one crater down here. I am guessing that Sideswipe was being chased by a couple of 'Cons. Be careful up there. From the looks of things, these craters are empty. The enemy may have fled or they could still be in the area. Keep the humans close to you and protect Sideswipe." Ironhide checked around the craters and then headed back up the hill.

Koda was standing next to Sideswipe while Bumblebee gathered the rest of the humans over to the crater to keep them safe. Bumblebee kept his mask down and his cannon at the ready. Ironhide made it back up to the top of the hill and joined Bumblebee, both waiting for Ratchet to arrive. Ironhide turned to look at Koda. "Hey Shadow, what are you planning to do?" Koda looked at Ironhide and smiled. "Hey, I thought I only told you to use that name under military conditions." Ironhide gave the mechanical equivalent of a chuckle. "But these are military conditions." Koda then got back to what she was doing, explaining to Ironhide about her power and abilities. "So I am going to try to strengthen his spark by using my power."

Ironhide explained about what was going on with Sideswipe and Koda walked over to where Ironhide had designated Sideswipe's spark chamber and placed her hands on it. "Guys, I am going to need you all to stay back. This could get rough." Ironhide command Bumblebee to take the humans and stay back. Ironhide stayed close to Koda to protect her. He didn't want to leave any of the humans unguarded because the enemies may have still been around. Ironhide said one last thing to Koda. "Shadow, don't overdo anything and be careful with Sideswipe, he was a student of mine. I will also promise both of you something. No matter what, I will protect you." With that said Koda then closed her eyes and focused on her power. She was still a bit drained form earlier that day but she was still going to try.

"Ok, here goes nothing." She focused her energy into her palms and then a large energy pulse went through Sideswipe's body and out into the ground. The pulse was visible for a few seconds and then dissipated. Koda stood there momentarily and then she collapsed, unconscious. Ironhide caught her in his hand and brought her up to his chest. He walked over to Bumblebee and the humans and brought his hand down. Lennox took the unconscious girl and placed her on the ground. Ty ran up to his sister, scared. "What's happened? Is she going to be ok?" Lennox check on her breathing. "Don't worry; she's fine, just unconscious. She probably just used up to much of her energy." Lennox let Ty cradle his sister in his arms.

Ironhide went over to check on Sideswipe, to make sure his spark still had a pulse. He was surprised to find that Sideswipe had more than a pulse, he was awake. Ironhide spoke to Sideswipe in their native language. 'Sideswipe, are you awake?" Sideswipe just looked up at Ironhide who had lifted him so that his head rested on Ironhide's leg. 'Yes I am, but where am I? Last thing I remember was that I was being chased by a couple of Cons up in space. I was coming to where Optimus Prime's message said to go. And where is Sunstreaker?' Sideswipe tried to get up but Ironhide kept him down. 'Don't worry about that now. Right now you need to rest and wait until Ratchet comes. So stay put.' Ironhide then set Sideswipe down when he heard the sirens of an oncoming Search and Rescue H2 Hummer.

Ironhide got up as Ratchet transformed into his bipedal state. "Ratchet, took you long enough." Ratchet ignored the comment and walked over to Sideswipe's side. 'Hello there Sideswipe, it has been a long time has it not? Not on Earth for five minutes and you're already gotten yourself into trouble.' Sideswipe tried to move but then he cringed in pain. 'Don't move, you have been severely damaged and I need to fix you up. You're going to be ok. I will need you to go into stasis for now.' Sideswipe nodded and then went into stasis. Ratchet set him down when Ironhide wanted to call something else to his attention.

Ratchet got up and walked over to Ironhide and Bumblebee who were both kneeling around a group of humans. Ratchet recognized 3 of them as Sam, Mikaela and Major Lennox. But he did not recognize the young boy or the girl that lay unconscious in his arms. Ratchet questioned the two unknown humans to Ironhide and Ironhide proceeded to explain the situation they were in. "So these two were just, what the humans say, 'in the wrong place at the wrong time'. The girl is also the one that I informed you and Optimus about yesterday. Right now, she is in a condition that we are not too sure about. Would you be able to check her out?" Ratchet nodded in response. "I'll do what I can." Ratchet then bent down and took a hold of Koda and proceeded to scan her. Ty stayed close to them. Ratchet had a surprised look on his faceplates and was about to question Ironhide.

All of a sudden, the group noticed a couple of large figures heading up the hill. Ironhide, the war veteran, was the first to react. He took up a defensive position in front of Sideswipe. He ordered Bumblebee to protect the humans. Ratchet the transformed and ordered Ty to get in back with Koda. Lennox got Sam and Mikaela into the jeep and told them to drive out of there. They left the hilltop with Ratchet and Bumblebee behind them. Ironhide readied his cannons while Lennox got on his communications with the nearby base. "This is Major William Lennox of NEST team. We need a trailer and the big rig up to drop point. We got a couple of Decepticons making their way up the hill." Ironhide then told Lennox to stay back.

As soon as Ironhide could make out the figures, He knew who they were. "Well if it isn't Dead End and Swindle. Last I saw the two of you was at the Battle of Tyger Pax. You two ran off the battle field like cowards." Dead End was a small black Decepticon, about the size of Bumblebee. Swindle was slightly smaller than Dead End and was red. Swindle was the first to speak up. "Look Ironhide, we got no interest in you. All we want is Sideswipe over there and then we will leave this planet. So just hand him over and we'll be on our way." Deadend began to walk over to Sideswipe but then Ironhide fired off his cannon. "That was a warning shot, the next one won't be. Now leave." Ironhide knew that he could take the two 'Cons but he had to stay by Sideswipe because he was injured. He also needed to give the humans time to escape.

The two Cons knew not to mess around with Ironhide so they decided to retreat for now. Ironhide was relieved by that and gave the mechanical equivalent of a sigh. Then he turned around to face Sideswipe who had been in stasis. Lennox was by his side. He looked up to Ironhide. "Don't worry about it Hide. Optimus is on his way here with a trailer to pick him up." Ironhide shook his head before transforming. He popped out his driver side door and Lennox got in. Ironhide the spoke to Lennox through his speakers. "I'm not worried about him. I'm worried about Shadow and her brother." Lennox understood. Then they just sat there and waited.

Ratchet and the others had driven away from the danger of the hill and Ratchet had become the lead vehicle in the group. He was guiding the others back to the nearby military base. Ratchet knew that there was a plane ready to take them to their temporary base at the Hoover Dam. In the back of his alt form, the human Ty was standing over his sister to make sure that she was stable during the ride.

As Ratchet drove, his holoform appeared next to Ty. Ratchet can focus 100% on two things at once. Ratchet looked like a doctor. He had thin blonde hair and beard and looked to be in his late 40s, early 50s. He had the same blue eyes as Ironhide. He was wearing a white lab coat, black trousers and a gray button shirt. Ty was a little surprise but after all that he had seen today, the feeling diminished quickly. Ratchet did several scans on her but they still came back inconclusive. "I don't understand it. My scans can't determine if this girl is human or not." Ty just looked at Ratchet. "What do you mean? Are you saying that my sister isn't human? Are you crazy?"

"Calm down, I am only stating that my scans can not determine that at this time. I will need to do a full inspection of her back at base."

"'At base'? What do you mean?"

"Because of what you humans have seen, you must be kept under our protection from now on."

"Oh man." Ty then realize something. "I gotta call my dad." Ratchet looked at the boy. "May I inquire you about something? What is your name and relationship to this girl?" Ty answered. "My name is Tyson Ray. And that 'girl' is my younger sister." Ratchet then looked up from scanning Koda. "'Ray'? Are you by any chance related to Colonel Alexander Ray?" Ty was surprise that Ratchet knew of his father. "Yes, he's my dad." Ratchet wet back to checking over Koda but said one last thing to Ty. "Tyson, you should contact your father and tell him what has transpired tonight. And tell him that Ratchet said to meet us at the base." Ty nodded and then contacted his dad.

Koda POV

(Sideswipe and Koda do not know each others language yet in the strange space that they are in, they are able to understand each other but do not notice.)

Everything was really dark. I opened my eyes and I couldn't see anything. My body felt like it was floating and weightless. It was so dark, and then I saw a small glimmering light. I tried to go towards it but it kept on going further and further away. I stopped struggling to get it and continued to float there. I tried to look around to see who I was but there was no other source of light. "Where in the world am I? If I can call this the world." Then I heard a voice that was my own.

"W-Who is that?"

I decided to try and answer, it couldn't hurt. "I'm Dakoda Ray, but everyone calls me Koda. Who are you?" Then I heard a response. The voice was that of a male. He sounded like he was hurt because every time he talked, he would seemingly wince in pain, at least that's what it felt like. I somehow felt another presence next to me, but I couldn't see anything but that glimmer of light.

"I-I'm Sideswipe. K-koda is it? D-Do you k-know where we are?"

"I'm sorry but I have no idea where we are. Your name is Sideswipe, are you that bot that fell out of the sky?"

"F-Fell out of the sky? You mean when I entered the planet's atmosphere? How do you know about that?"

"I was there when it happened. I am a human. I was the one to try to help you by trying to, what Ironhide said, re-energize your spark."

"I-Ironhide? You know Ironhide?"

"Yes, he told me what to do. He said that you were one of his students. And… he also said that he was going to protect both you and me, no matter what."

"What? Ironhide said that? I guess he must have gone soft during the short time he has been on this planet."

"Yeah, Ironhide is kind of a softy. What happened to you anyways, Sideswipe?"

"I was being chased by Decepticons, the bad guys, and I was injured in a fight against Deadend and Swindle. I crash-landed on your planet. I was woken up, I guess by you, and then Ratchet looked me over."

"Yeah, that was me. I guess I used up too much energy and passed out. And who is Ratchet?"

"Oh, I guess you didn't meet him because you must have passed out before he came. Well Koda, it is nice talking to you. I felt lonely in this space but then I heard your voice."

"Ah, that's nice to say Sides. I am happy that I could chat with you. And, if your friends with Ironhide, then I guess you can call me by my nickname, Shadow."

"'Shadow', I like that name. Ok Shadow, do you know what we are going to do in this place?"

As soon as Sideswipe asked that question, the light went out and it was pitch black again. The feeling of weightlessness ceased and then I felt like I was falling.

Normal POV

Ty was sitting a room at the Wilson Air Force Base Hospital. In the room was his unconscious sister hooked up to machines. He had been unable to leave the base but he didn't want to leave his sister's side. He was still waiting for his Dad and older sister to arrive. He had tried to watch TV, but he couldn't take his mind off what had transpired the night before. He still couldn't wrap his head around it all. There were aliens and they were giant robots. And what's more is that his father was involved in hiding them from the public.

Ty looked over to his sister from the chair he was in. All of a sudden, he noticed his sister begin to stir. He got up out of his chair and ran over to her side. "Koda, are you awake?" Koda opened up her crimson eyes ever so slightly. She looked directly into her brother's eyes. "T-Ty, is that you?" Ty nodded his head and smiled at his sister. "Koda, I'm so happy your ok." Koda fully opened her eyes and proceeded to sit up and looked around. The first thing she said surprised Ty. "Where is Sideswipe? Where are Ironhide, and the others? And where am I?" Ty looked at his sister. "You mean the bots? They are all here at the base. You're in the base hospital. Don't worry, Dad's coming with Sky, they'll be here soon."

Koda looked down at the wires and tubes coming out of her body. "Ty, can you get the doctor and ask him to take these tubes and wires off of me?" Ty got up and left the room. When he came back, there was a doctor with him. He walked over and began to disconnect the machines attached to her. He looked over to Koda and smiled. "Well it's good to see that you have awakened Dakoda. I am Ratchet. The Chief Medical Officer." Koda looked at him. "So you're Ratchet. Sideswipe told me about you." Ratchet looked puzzled. "Sideswipe told you? How is that possible?" Koda looked to Ratchet. "I don't know how but we spoke with each other when I was unconscious." Ratchet was thinking. "That is very interesting." Koda was unsure of what he meant. "What are you talking about Ratchet?" Ratchet turned around to look at some read outs. "I'll explain more about these things later." Ratchet then left the room.

A little while later, Koda's father and sister arrived. Sky walked over to Koda and made sure she was alright. Their father came over to Koda with an apologetic look on his face. "I am so sorry Koda. I knew what was going to happen last night and I wanted to stop you from going out, but you were looking forward to the shower and I couldn't give you a reason not to go out." Koda looked at her Dad and smiled. "Don't worry about it Dad, I had a choice and I made it. I don't blame you." Her dad was happy from what his daughter has said and was just happy that she was alright. "Alright Koda. I know that you have been through a lot but you will have to go talk to them later. I am just happy that you're alright." Koda nodded, knowing who 'they' were. Then, a soldier walked in. "Sorry to disturb you but we need to speak with Colonel Ray." Colonel Ray got up and exited the room with the soldier.

Colonel Ray walked with the soldier to the main hanger that had been made the temporary operations while they were stationed at the base. Ray walked into the hanger and was welcomed into a small meeting by the soldiers and the bots. Lennox looked up and welcomed Ray. "Ray, how have you been? It's good to see you again." Ray shook Lennox's hand. "Lennox, it's good to see you too. So what is this meeting about?"

Lennox's face suddenly turned solemn. "Ray, I am sorry, but it is about your daughter, Dakoda." Ray looked at Lennox and then the other soldiers and then the Autobots. "What's going on?" Lennox explained. "She is thought to be a danger to everyone. We think that in the best interest to bring her back to base with us." Ray just thought that this was absurd, "What are you talking about?"

Optimus was the one to speak up. "Because of Dakoda Ray's seemingly inhuman abilities and several problems that have come up, Dakoda has been thought to be a risk to everyone around her and herself. It has also been experienced by Bumblebee, Ratchet and Ironhide of her 'ability'. Ironhide and Ratchet have also been unable to prove that she is even human. Ironhide has also expressed his concerns that she may have something to do with the Decepticons, because of her crimson eyes and the fact that she may not be human. It is in the best interest of everyone that she be detained for questioning immediately."

Ray looked at Optimus. "What are you saying? Koda is just an innocent teenage girl! She may have crimson eyes and a strange ability but she is not in league with the Decepticons!" Lennox tried to calm Ray down but Ray shook him off and got up. "Well I am not going to stand for this!" Lennox got up and stopped him. "Look Ray, this is out of our hands! The Joint Chief of Staff has made this decision along with Chairman Morshower and we can't change their minds! I already tried!"

Ray looked down, knowing that a decision made by Chairman Morshower was final and could not be changed. He didn't want to admit defeat but he knew there was no other choice. "Ok, I understand." He sat back down at the table, not ready to hear the answer to his next question. "So, what measures are going to be taken?"

Lennox didn't want to continue the bad news but he knew there was no other choice. "Look, Alex, we have to detain Dakoda until we can get everything cleared up. I've arranged it so that Dakoda will have a regular room and nothing like a cell. She will have limited access to the facilities but she will have access to places like the cafeteria, library, rec room and some other places. She will be under 24 hour watch by guards and a bot will be with her outside her room whenever she leaves it. She will also have to go through interrogations and several security measures. Also, when we escort her to base, she will be held in confinement with Ironhide watching her and she will be confined to her room for the first few days at base."

Ray knew that he wouldn't like the answer. He just accepted that this was the outcome and agreed. "Alright, I have just one more question. When are we to depart?" Lennox knew that this was hard on his friend and what he was about to say was going to make it harder. "Alex, it has been made a decision that you are not allowed to have contact with your daughter until her confinement is lifted. And we will be leaving in 12 hours. Also, because Tyson and Skyra have had contact with the Bots and our team, they also have to come to base with us. It would be best to bring those two home and pack up your things and Dakoda's as well. I don't know how long we are going to be there."

Ray nodded and then got up to leave, but then stopped. "Am I allowed to speak with my daughter just one more time before we depart?" Lennox wanted to tell him that her confinement had started and he wasn't allowed but he went ahead and allowed it. "Go ahead Alex." Then Ray left.

In Koda's hospital room, she had been chatting with Ty and Sky for a while. Then her Dad came in, he noted the guards that were stationed at the door. He walked up to his daughter, knowing that this would be the last time that he would see her in a while. "Hey there Koda, how are you doing?"

Koda looked at her father and smiled. "I'm doing ok." Koda then noticed the look of turmoil on his face and her smile faded. "What's wrong Dad?" Ray then began to cry. "I'm sorry baby, but a decision has been made by the higher ups and you have to go back to base with them. They believe that you are a threat and want to make sure that you are dealt with. I tried to stop them and change their minds but their minds are made up. Also, Ty, Sky and I will be unable to see you for a while but we are going to be going to base with you.'

Koda couldn't believe what she was hearing. She began to cry as well. She got up out of the bed and went over to hug her dad. She also hugged her brother and sister, saying goodbye. Then Ray left with Sky and Ty, signally the soldiers standing guard to enter the room. The last thing she heard her father say was "Please, don't hurt her and be gentle." Then the soldiers took out handcuffs and cuffed her hands together and said, "Dakoda Ray, you are under arrest."

So I hope that you like this chapter. Now the story is going to really start to involve the Autobots and this isn't the last that you will see of Dead End and Swindle, they'll be back, with reinforcements. Also, Sideswipe may be alone for now but Sunsteaker will be joining him soon enough.

R&R

~KRay~