Ironhide couldn't see the jets, but his heavily assaulted audio sensors just made out their distinct roar bearing down on his position. The Autobot tried to focus, desperate to distinguish where the attack would originate. That's when his sight began to warp and distort, changing colors and twisting all shapes into dizzying vortexes. Ironhide's equilibrium was completely off kilter. He didn't even know where the ground and the sky were anymore as Soundwave's horrendous attack brought him crashing to his knees.

"Slag you to the Pit, Soundwave." he hissed, holding his head to vainly block out the sound.

Nearby, Soundwave made a slow circle around Ironhide, never diverting the amplifier on his helmet crest from the Autobot. Only when he stood beside Ravage's squirming, broken body did he relent.

Ironhide expelled a massive gust of relieved pressure from his vents when the sound finally stopped. His audio receptors rung terribly, throwing off his vision focus as well. Eventually, his whole body stopped vibrating long enough for him to relocate the Decepticon. Soundwave held Ravage in his hands, his visor scanning the broken drone repeatedly. The panther mech rattled gently, and then moaned when his master prodded his crumpled back legs. Without a word, Soundwave opened his chest compartment and placed his drone inside, facing Ironhide again.

The Autobot ground his jaw pistons as he rose up. Jet engines blasted loudly overhead and before Ironhide could blink Skywarp, Thundercracker, and Starscream landed gracefully in their bipedal forms, surrounding him. Ironhide's optics darted with caution, trying to keep his sensors locked on the four large Decepticons just in case they decided to attack from all sides. None of them made a move.

Starscream viewed the scene a moment, giving Barricade's still form a kick with his foot, "Worthless ground-roller."

"Barricade still functional." Soundwave proclaimed.

"Well he's worthless now." the jet Con spat focusing on Ironhide.

Skywarp had a maniacally pleased smirk on his face. "Look at that, the mighty Ironhide without a cannon on his arms."

Ironhide directed a nasty glare at the black jet. Of all the Decepticon Seekers, other than Starscream, he hated that teleporting slaggard the most—always disappearing and attacking from behind like a coward. Real mechs faced their opponents head on and didn't use dirty, underhanded tricks. He would truly enjoy ripping that glitch's wings off.

"I won't need cannons to beat you Decepti-bums." he growled.

Ironhide's gaze instantly directed to Thundercracker and the two humans locked securely in his chest cockpit. His sensors went wild, scanning both Sara and Annabelle through the glass several yards away. For the briefest instant Ironhide's spark throbbed, relieved his two charges remained alive and relatively unharmed. Now he just had to get them out of there without harming either one of them.

....

When Thundercracker transformed Sara and Annabelle were folded at a downward angle. Amazingly the transformation didn't crush them since the Seeker's cockpit didn't undergo any major shifting other than folding downward and sliding into the center of his chest. Sara held Annabelle tightly, bracing her feet against the metal "floor" so they wouldn't face-plant into the cockpit glass. She was about to curse the Con when through the glass she saw Ironhide standing before them.

The woman's heart lightened, a brief joy consuming her. But it was short-lived when she noticed Ironhide's missing cannons. Where were his cannons? Why were they missing? Then her heart thudded to the bottom of her chest cavity like a lead weight when she noticed how outnumbered her family guardian was. Four Decepticons against one Autobot—terrible odds.

"Ironhide Mommy! IRONHIDE!" Annabelle pointed excitedly. "Ironhide save us, Mommy!"

"Shh." Sara shushed her daughter, trying to hear the argument outside.

....

Ironhide's relief vaporized as his temper scorched the casing of his spark.

His bright optics flashed as his shoulders rolled forward menacingly, "YOU!" he took a step at Thundercracker, "Release them NOW and I'll let you leave in one piece."

Starscream immediately made his presence known, making a nasty screeching hiss, "YOU will address me, Autobot! Not my underlings."

Ironhide inclined his horned head, "I've complied with your demands so release Sara and Annabelle now!"

"You are in no position to order me, Autobot," Starscream sneered, "The flesh creatures are inconsequential. They've done their job of luring you here and making you disarm, now they are even more worthless."

The veteran Autobot knew exactly where he was going. A Decepticon like Starscream didn't just ignore things he deemed worthless, he dispatched them with no mercy.

Ironhide narrowed his optics disdainfully at the jet leader, "What, Starscream? Can't take me disarmed? You STILL need hostages?" Narrowing his blue optics, Ironhide let a small smirk cross his mouth, "I never recall Megatron needing hostages when facing one unarmed Autobot."

As the veteran predicted, Starscream lowered his head dangerously, null rays lit with a dull whine. Starscream never could take being compared to Megatron, especially when his former leader outshined him in every possible way.

"You'll pay for that you rusted scrap pile." he hissed.

Starscream didn't even have to vocalize his order. Skywarp bulled into Ironhide like a train, sending shudders clear into the ground when they collided. The black Autobot growled deeply, barring him off with both arms. Tearing up the ground with his feet, Ironhide suddenly bent his body backward, throwing Skywarp over his right shoulder. In an instant he turned on Thundercracker and grasped the Con's forearms. The cannons on Thundercracker's forearms lit up with heat, ready to aim them at any part Ironhide presented.

The black Autobot growled deeply, piercing the Con with the most dangerous look, a murderous gaze.

"RELEASE THEM!" he thundered, shoving the bigger mech back a step.

...

Sara screamed when Thundercracker and Ironhide became locked in combat. It was like experiencing a plane wreck mixed with a truck pile-up. The bang of metal on metal nearly shattered her eardrums as the fight began. Annabelle screamed in horror, bawling as every violent movement made them strike the cockpit interior. Sara could only hold her daughter close, hoping her body would shield her from the violent struggle.

"Please, Ironhide. Hurry." she pleaded too quiet to be heard amid the cacophony of battle.

.....

Thundercracker snarled and extended his battle claws, slashing at the Autobot and throwing him back a few steps. Before Ironhide could charge again, Skywarp landed a solid kick in his back, throwing him to the ground. Grunting in pain, Ironhide managed to roll onto his feet in a fighting stance, facing the blackish purple Con.

"Come on, Decepticon." he snarled, balling his metal fists.

Skywarp smirked and charged, claws flared. Readying himself, Ironhide squared up his body for a powerful punch straight at Skywarp's left optic, but just as the Seeker came inches from his strike he disappeared in a blur. Ironhide lunged forward, hitting nothing but air.

"Oh sla— Ironhide didn't finish his curse as Skywarp reappeared behind him and planted a boot straight across the back of his head.

His optics flickered only briefly as he stumbled forward. "Slaggard! Fight me like a REAL mech!"

Suddenly the Decepticon appeared in front of him again, smashing a fist into Ironhide's face, "Can I help it if you're too old and slow to catch me, Autobot?"

Leaping into the air, Skywarp transformed into his jet mode and Thundercracker followed suit, blasting up into the sky. The pair wheeled around in perfect sync, mere inches apart. In one choreographed swoop they dove toward the ground, and zoomed straight for Ironhide. Ironhide braced himself, but there was no way to dodge the jet Cons. They slammed into the Autobot with untold tons of force, gouging their wingtips into the plating under Ironhide's arms, and soaring upward, towing him between them. Ironhide's pain receptors erupted, crackling nastily as the jet wings, coupled with the weight of his own body, tore into his armor.

"Let's take 'im for a little ride, TC!" Skywarp cackled with glee, climbing high and fast.

Thundercracker laughed back, "I wonder if we can teach a ground bot to fly?"

Both jets rolled gracefully in a wide upside down arc, throwing Ironhide in a tight circle and cutting his armor even more.

"Aw, come on TC. He'll never learn how to fly unless we let him spread his own wings!" Skywarp shouted darkly.

.....

Sara was on the verge of panic seeing Ironhide being hauled into the sky by the two cruel jet Cons. If she didn't do something they'd kill him. Reacting instantly, she reached into the band of her jeans and pulled out the softball-sized rock she'd hidden. She shielded Annabelle's eyes, gripping the slightly pointed weapon.

"Let him go!" Sara rasped slamming the point of the rock into the glassy radar panel in front of her.

The screen cracked and the whole panel flashed with an electric charge. She grit her teeth and slammed the rock into the panel again, this time shattering the glassy "radar screen" She felt the entire cockpit contort and tense around her.

.....

Thundercracker suddenly flinched, falling back with a roar of pain. The blue Con's retreat pulled his wing out of Ironhide's plating. His wingman Skywarp spun off balance to bear all of the Autobot's weight.

"SLAG, TC! What's wrong with you?" the black jet cursed, unable to maintain a straight flight-path while carrying Ironhide.

Seeing his chance, Ironhide reached up and grabbed Warp's wing. Then, he reached around his back and gripped something under a panel in his back. Before Skywarp could react, Ironhide stuffed a rounded metal orb into the jet's cockpit. The Con tried to transform, but only got half-way before the orb flashed, coating Skywarp's top with a bluish white substance. The Con instantaneously froze in mid-transformation. His head was barely jutting from under his plating, but his visible optics widened at Ironhide.

"Liquid Nitrogen Bombs?" he rasped through a clenched, frozen mandible, "Soundwave said you were unarmed!"

The Con began to plummet and still Ironhide smirked into his optics, "They don't call me a weapons specialist just for my cannons, Decepticon."

Skywarp screamed falling straight for the mountains below, "SLAG YOU AUTOBOT!"

Giving a satisfied grunt, Ironhide turned himself around and pointed his body toward Thundercracker several hundred feet below. The jet was still hovering in midair but it wobbled disjointedly. Ironhide was on Thundercracker in an instant, one foot on each wing and a hand gripping his jet nose.

The blue Con grunted under the extra weight, trying to think straight amid the intense pain emanating from his cockpit. He wasn't sure what was causing the pain, but it hurt worse than anything he'd experienced over the past century. His equilibrium was all out of whack so maintaining his hover was a challenge in itself without Ironhide riding his alt form.

Suddenly, Ironhide clenched the edge of Thundercracker's cockpit and forced it open, tearing the glass and metal free. The Decepticon roared in agony and started to transform just as Ironhide fetched the two small humans out. Thundercracker rolled over, throwing Ironhide off of him. He tried to straighten himself out and fire at the offending Autobot, but his transformation stopped. A horrible pang shot down the length of his wings and chest. Thundercracker felt as if some of the mechanisms in his chest were being jammed by something. Somehow, he maintained his thruster control as he haphazardly tried to land his hunched aching form.

....

"AAARG! Those incompetent fools!" Starscream ranted, viewing the shift in the aerial battle above, "I guess if I want an Autobot terminated I have to do it myself."

He pointed a claw at Soundwave who was attempting some quick repairs on Barricade's badly damaged form. "Leave that worthless junk pile. We have an Autobot to offline."

Soundwave's hands were in the middle of a delicate soldering, "Negative."

"WHAT? You defy ME?" Starscream screeched, lifting his null ray.

"Proceeding to reassemble sensory mobility relays. Odds of survival high if I continue, odds..."

Starscream fired a shot near Soundwave's leg, "Does it look like I care what happens to that broken ground glitch? OBEY ME! I am your leader!"

The communications officer quickly finished his solder and stood up, "As you command."

In an instant both of them shot off into the sky.

....

Ironhide held Sara and Annabelle with both hands, relief smothering his Spark even though wind shrieked through his plating as the unforgiving ground yawed up at them. Every pathway in his mainframe flooded with sudden panic. He knew the impact in his robot form would inevitably kill both humans. They weren't going to die, not if he had anything to say about it. Quickly he shifted Sara and Annabelle to a particular spot on his upper arm.

"Hang on to me!" Ironhide shouted.

Sara closed her eyes and in an instant Ironhide transformed into his truck form, leaving her clutching the inside of his open door. With a quick slam the truck door shoved both girls into the safety of the cab. Sara gasped frenetically, rubbing panicked hands all over Annabelle's back and hair before lowering her eyes to the floor.

"Both of you move to the center of my cab!" Ironhide's voice commanded.

The woman couldn't move.

"Oh God, oh God..." she whimpered, realizing the inevitable crash-landing as the sky blurred outside the windows.

"Sara, MOVE!" Ironhide rasped with urgency.

Sara remained where she was.

Bulging like muscle, the seat rolled the females into the center of the cab.

Ironhide's deep voice lowered in a consoling way, "It's all right. I won't let anything happen to you."

The ground drew closer.

Sara's eyes widened when suddenly the entire cab began to rearrange itself around both her and Annabelle. Parts of the leather seat folded over and around them, encasing them in a tight padded box. Claustrophobia gripped Sara as the soft leather compressed them both until movement was not possible. Her heart raced as did her breathing.

Ironhide's voice came again, "Get ready!"

Time seemed to stall.

.....

Ironhide faced the ground with his "truck bed", trying to fall vertical and keep as much of him between the ground and his humans as possible. His undercarriage and back bumper shifted until a pair of thrusters formed. Though he couldn't truly fly with the thrusters they enabled him to slow his descent and maneuver in the air. Such thrusters came in handy when traveling through space, but were nowhere near the caliber of the Seekers' who were built for fast, aerial combat. Blue flame erupted in the thrusters as the unyielding ground loomed menacingly from below.

Suddenly, the distinct scream of a jet pierced the air and Ironhide spotted Starscream blasting toward him from below followed at a distance by Soundwave. The falling Topkick righted itself to face the dangerous F-22. Muzzle flash flickered from the jet, sending a hail of "bullets" and laser bolts straight into Ironhide's armor. Wincing as a few lucky shots pierced his tough hide, Ironhide opened a panel near his right headlight.

"COME ON, STARSCREAM YOU COWARD! LET'S SEE WHAT YOUR MAINFRAME LOOKS LIKE!" he bellowed, goading the Con.

Starscream barreled toward him at an unprecedented speed, his null cannons heating up for a death blow. When the Decepticon came within a few hundred yards of him Ironhide ejected another metal orb from the space near his headlight. Starscream's radar detected it and he tried to roll right, but the projectile exploded with a blindening flash. Starscream's radar suddenly went black, leaving him flying blind.

Screaming, the jet Con rolled away, just barely missing Ironhide with a last-ditch shot from his null ray. Ironhide scanned for Soundwave but he couldn't find the elusive Con.

But Ironhide didn't have time to think about the missing Decepticon. He repositioned his thrusters again, trying to slow his fall. He could feel Sara and Annabelle encased securely within his newly reformed cab. He'd bear the full brunt of the impact and none of the energy would transfer into the soft cushions surrounding his family. His thrusters helped, but not fully. Ironhide braced himself. With a mighty bang, the Topkick hit the ground, rolling wildly end over end across the ground, tearing up the dirt and denting the black plating until it came to a stop on its top several yards from the treeline.

....

Sara and Annabelle could feel the movement and hear the horrendous sounds of the crash. Both of them screamed, yet the impact didn't jar either of them nor harm them in any way. The soft black leather pressed them firmly in place until at last all movement stopped. Like a muscle relaxing, the leather retreated from them, allowing them to move. Yet, they were still encased in the protective cushy "box".

Annabelle was crying, trembling uncontrollably as was Sara. The shock of it was just oppressive. But, they were alive.

Eventually, Sara reached out with concern, patting the leather next to her, "Ironhide? Are you all right?"

Silence.

Sara slapped the leather harder, "Ironhide?"

Still no response.

Panic gripped the woman as she set Annabelle next to her, "Oh my God. Ironhide! Ironhide answer me! Are you all right?"

A deep groan filled her ears and she let loose a gust of a sigh. "Ironhide?"

"Oh...Primus." he rasped.

"Are you all right?" she asked even though his tone clearly indicated he was in pain.

"I hurt. Are you both all right?" he asked with concern.

Sara wiped tears from her face, "We're fine."

Slowly, the leather box unfolded and Ironhide opened his door, "Hurry. Before they circle around."

Shakily the two females crawled out of the upside down Topkick, which immediately transformed with great effort when they stood clear. Ironhide was on his side as he slowly propped himself up with his hands. Sara could see the massive dents and gouges in his plating as well as a luminescent glowing substance covering his sides.

Sara tried to touch him, but his hand barred her, "No. If that Energon touches your skin it will hurt you."

The woman immediately related the Energon to blood. Ironhide was indeed hurt and she wanted to help him. "Just tell me what I can do to help you."

Ironhide directed his optics at her and Annabelle, a faint smile crossing his face. His optics flickered. "Don't worry about me. I've been banged up worse than this."

"But you're hurt! Let me help you." Sara protested.

"No! Sara, if you want to help me, take Annabelle and run as fast as you can that way." he pointed into the trees.

"What? No! We won't leave you here. We're going together!" the woman objected.

Ironhide shook his great head, "If I go with you the Decepticons will follow. It's ME they want. They won't go after you if I stay here."

Still crying, Annabelle grabbed his forefinger with both hands, tugging vainly, "Come on Ironhide!"

The black Autobot smiled, as he would only do for Annabelle. His other fingers curled around the child, gently stroking her back.

"It'll be all right Annabelle. Go with your mother and run as far as you can. Can you do that for ole Ironhide?" he asked in his gentlest voice.

Hiccupping with a wet, red face, Annabelle nodded, "You...you come too?"

Ironhide's optics darted briefly to Sara, "I'll be right behind you, Annabelle."

Sara knew he was lying. He was going to stay and fight the Decepticons. She took Annabelle's hand and opened her mouth to speak, but Ironhide gently nudged them toward the trees with the back of his hand.

"Go! Run! Get as far as you can and don't you dare stop!" he urged, painfully rising to his feet.

Sara and Annabelle began running into the trees. Annabelle craned her head backward, slowing down.

"Come on Ironhide! Come on!" she called back.

But the big black Autobot just turned away, moving in the opposite direction.

"No! Wrong way! Wrong way!" the little girl shouted, trying to run back.

Sara retained her grasp on her daughter's hand, "No! Annabelle he said to run! We have to run!"

"Ironhide!" Annabelle shouted loudly.

....

Ironhide had to override his urges to follow them. Annabelle calling his name was enough to shred his spark right inside its casing. His optics flickered a moment but he set his jaw and faced the sky for his enemies. They would pay for what they'd done and he wouldn't let them get their hands on Annabelle and Sara as long as he was online. If it was HIM they wanted, they'd get him