Author A/N:

Ugh ... real life sucks ...

Sorry for this delay, and short chapter, but I just started at a new job working 8-5, 5 days a week and it's killer. On top of that, my lap top finally got 'fixed' ... but every file I had (including all the chapters to this story) were deleted T.T Silly me for not backing up my files ...

I've reached that point where I could really use some reader ideas ... I have a few details in my head, but need help filling in the spaces in between. So, drop me a review or private message and I'll see what I can do! :D

Chocokoko: Tell me about it, they say "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" ... but they ain't got nothing on Sarah Lennox :P

Exactlywhat: Ah yes, Ironhide would so own each and every one of the drones XD

Mieschers: bwahahaha! I like being evil XP

Cybela: I'd like to bring Grandpa Ollie in again ... but we'll see how everything works out. In this story; no, Sarah's family has no clue Will works with the Autobots. The way I picture it all is a "Yes, there are giant ailen robots here, but that's all you need to know," sort of situation. The government is good at confirming things to the general public, but not actually giving any details. I figured it would be a matter of safety to both the 'bots and the humans working with them if haters and lovers both didn't know top secret details. (Plus, with all the time they put into keeping it 'top secret' I can't see N.E.S.T. as anything different :D) Sorry for the confusion -.-' Hopefully this cleared it up :)

Mytical-Mist-Devil: Thanks for your approval! It means a lot that so many people are honestly enjoying this story :D

Bumblebee'sGuardian: lol, Ironhide's impatience grows on everybody at some point ... I actually caught myself threatening to blow up my stubborn lap top with a cannon if it didn't start working -.-'

Botosphere: So many questions! So little time! ;) All will be revealed soon!

Silver Mirror: This was my favourite too! I was going to keep going, but then decided it was long enough ... and was feeling a little evil. Bwhahaha ... evil cliff hanger is evil! XD

Boducky: lol ... you gotta fight me for him first, I got him locked in my closet next to Bradley Johnston (check out Botosphere's stories for detail about him)

keacdragon: short and sweet, eh? XD Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

SunlightOnTheWater: Hey, better late than never, right? I know right? I'm so evil to that poor mech :S And I'd stop, but it's so much fun XD

Whew ... I am absolutely blown away by the amount of love you guys are showing this :) Thank-you, I really mean that, Thank-you.

Special thanks to my beta!

Disclaimer: I have absolutely no ownership over the Transformer franchise, this is meant to be strictly for entertainment purposes.

Optimus Prime gazed mournfully at the lifeless frames that were scattered over the Xantium. Ratchet had scanned every single one of them, hoping to find a trace of spark energy, but with no luck. Every single crew member of the majestic Ark had been extinguished long ago. He sighed heavily and walked across the metallic floor towards the ship's small, built-in infirmary where his companion was working.

The medic had thrown himself into his search once he realized no one could be saved. He had given Optimus a list of parts to search for, ordering him to sweep through the left side of the ship while he did the right. Optimus had done so without complaint, understanding the last thing the medic needed at that point was a hard time. They had spent the last couple days completing this sorrowful task, all the while searching for a blank protoform that would return Ironhide to normal.

So far, they had little success.

Optimus paused in the damaged doorway, watching as Ratchet fiddled with a control panel on the wall. He was muttering quietly to himself as he worked, causing Optimus to smile softly at the familiar scene.

"Did you get those parts loaded up?" the medic asked suddenly without turning from his work.

"Everything is ready to go."

Ratchet just sighed heavily and nodded, not once turning from the panel. Optimus stepped around a fallen berth as he moved to Ratchet's side.

"Any luck?"

"The ship is on its last drop of reserve power," Ratchet sighed. "The protoforms were kept in heavy storage, both to prevent damage should the ship crash, and to keep the enemy from finding them. Those security measures are so heavy we cannot simply force our way through; it's not hard to go through the system, but the lack of power makes it a slow process."

The added fact that they were running out of time was left unsaid. Earth's leaders had granted them access for this journey, on the condition they return in four days. So far, they'd been up here for three. Everyone had agreed that Optimus and Ratchet would only return with supplies that were immediately needed. The Ark wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, and it was more hassle than anything for the humans to go to the moon, so they figured the ship and remaining supplies were safe.

"How far along are you?" Optimus asked, just as a sudden whirl of old gears filled the room. Ratchet stood back, a smug grin on his faceplates, as the wall in front of them shifted with a protesting moan to reveal a dark, closet-like space.

Optimus chuckled lightly as Ratchet moved forward, his lights laminating the small room. There was only enough space for one mech to enter, so Optimus held back while Ratchet ducked in. Each of the three walls had shelves with a space for two protoforms in pod mode. Ratchet simply stared, heavy-sparked, as the lights revealed nothing but empty space. Every single one of the pods that should be there were long gone, used on some ailing mech, or stolen by the enemy.

'More like given to the enemy,' Ratchet thought bitterly, remembering that this was Sentinel's ship. The mere thought of the traitor who almost succeeded at killing one of his oldest friends made a hot anger stab through his spark. He bowed his head, willing the anger away, as he tried to formulate a plan for building a full mech frame from scratch.

"Ratchet?" Optimus asked quietly from outside, already guessing the room was empty by Ratchet's reaction. He moved up behind the green mech and placed a hand on his shoulder, silently offering his support. Ratchet just sighed heavily and turned to leave, when a flash of reflected light caught his optic. He knelt down, not daring to believe, and couldn't stop the relieved chuckle from escaping his voice processor at what he saw.

There, tucked in on the bottom shelf, was a gleaming, silver protoform pod. It had been knocked off its original perch and rolled to rest in the corner against the wall, a little banged up, but it was there. Ratchet grabbed it gently, allowing the moon's lack of gravity to aid him, as he backed out of the closet with his prize.

"It will need a few minor repairs," he said while doing a quick scan, "but once I upload Ironhide's CPU files, we should be able to transfer his spark without a hitch."

Optimus had a feeling of joy and hope running through his frame as he stared at the silver pod. He was about to open his mouth to say something when a ping informing him of an incoming message caught his attention.

::Jolt to Optimus::

::I'm here, friend, what is it?::

::We have a serious problem ...::

Ironhide woke slowly from his forced recharge. His processors were a little fuzzy and his scanners weren't picking up any signs of life, Cybertronian or organic. He slowly opened his eyes, but didn't move besides that, as he didn't want to alert any enemy that could be lurking nearby.

The first thing he noticed, after he activated his night vision, was that he was in a large cave with no natural light. Second, he was lying on his side, probably dumped by the drone once he was brought in. And, third, he hurt. The electrical current used to knock him out would've been enough to do the same to any of the others, and in his temporary smaller frame he really felt it. He fought back a moan as he scanned the cave one more time for any sign of Decepticons before slowly working his way to his feet.

He staggered over to the closest wall, one arm wrapped around his abdominal plating where the shock had been delivered, and sagged against it in the shadows as he went over the facts. He had been captured by the Decepticon drones, which meant at least one named Decepticon had to be nearby. He definitely was not on Diego Garcia anymore, which meant the other Autobots and backup were probably very far away. His communications and tracking systems were down, no doubt victims of the electricity. And, finally, the drones had removed the two rifles that were kept in his back space, and his other weapons systems weren't working properly, also due to the electricity.

'All and in all,' Ironhide thought dryly to himself as he leaned his head against the cave wall, 'I'm screwed.'

The sound of heavy metal footsteps on rock suddenly filled the humid air, causing Ironhide to tense. Despite the errors that were flashing through his processor he managed to extend one of his blades as his watched from the shadows. There were no obvious exits from his prison, so he wasn't really surprised when a large chunk of rock was rolled out of the way to allow a large mech to enter. The mech that entered, however, did surprise him.

"Tsk tsk," Bludgeon mocked, "Ironhide, where have you scurried off to now? I hardly think this is the time for games."

Ironhide bit back a growl, carefully ducking behind a rock as Bludgeon walked around the edge of the cave. The Decepticon's skull-like mask gleamed in the dim light like a child's nightmare as he moved closer to Ironhide's hiding spot. He was dragging the tip of one of his swords along the ground behind him, creating a bone chilling screech sound as the metal move over rock. Ironhide readied himself as the Decepticon came closer, a plan forming in his mind as he lifted his blade.

"We've got plans for you, little weapons master," the yellow and orange colored mech continued to taunt, "pity you won't know them, you'll be dead soon enou-ARG!"

Bludgeon jumped back in pain and surprise, holding one foot up for inspection. Ironhide had jumped from his hiding spot, just as Bludgeon passed it, and buried his blade deep in the Decepticon's ankle joint. It wasn't very serious damage, similar to a sprained ankle on a human. It would hurt, and slow Bludgeon down, but it wasn't life threatening, so Ironhide had to move.

He ran from the cave as Bludgeon shouted for the drones to recapture him. Using his reduced size to his advantage, Ironhide dodged most of them, slashing at the vulnerable points of those he couldn't. He wasn't a stupid mech when it came to his battles, despite what some of the others may think, he knew he was seriously outmatched here, so his first, and only, priority was escaping.

Using his small form to his advantage, Ironhide ran through the dark chambers, using his sensors that still worked to navigate towards the surface. He could hear Bludgeon cursing and snapping orders at the drones as they tried to locate him again, but Ironhide wasn't stopping. He turned down a long tunnel, smile on his face as he caught sight of natural daylight just around the corner. He would get out, figure out where he was, and then somehow get in contact with the others. He wasn't sure how long he'd been down there, but it had to have been long enough for the others to contact Prime and Ratchet.

He cursed and slid to a sudden stop as a large shadow filled the entrance of the tunnel. He pressed back against the rocky wall as two more drones joined the first one, standing guard at his only known escape. Ironhide could hear Bludgeon up ahead, no doubt the Decepticon had taken a different, shorter path to cut him off at the entrance, but Ironhide smirked as he heard the obvious limp in the mech's pace. Within seconds the large Decepticon stumbled into view. He seemed a little distracted, as if he were on his com with someone. Ironhide mentally went through a list of other possible Decepticons that could be working with Bludgeon. The list was short, but Ironhide had a pretty good idea of who it could be.

He could only pray to Primus he was wrong.

He cursed and slowly inched his way back as Bludgeon focused again and pushed one of the drones roughly, ordering it down the tunnel. He was still out of range of the drone's careful scanning, but that wouldn't last long. He stumbled suddenly as the wall behind him disappeared, looking back sharply to see a decent sized crack in the otherwise smooth surface. It wasn't big enough for any of the drones to take note of, but it was just the right size for Ironhide to squeeze into.

He was surprised to find that the opening extended back quite a way. If he had walked in straight his broad shoulders would have wedged him quite firmly between the rocks, so he moved forward at a slight angle, going deeper and deeper as the drone came closer. Just as the drone's silver foot came into Ironhide's view, the ground disappeared below him and he fell.

He landed with a frame-jarring splash on a slick, smooth surface. It was like being on one of those water slide things Annabelle was so fond of. The natural underground river had carved out a hollow tube, tall enough that he could sit upright, and wide enough that he had some elbow room. The water was moving quickly, and it wasn't long before Ironhide could hear the unmistakable sounds of falling water. He squinted as he came around a sharp corner and was greeted with a face full of natural light. The river exited the cave with a steep drop out into open jungle. He cursed and tried to grab onto something, but with no luck, and was quickly swept over the falls.

He kept his legs straight as he hit the water, and even with the aid of gravity, he still didn't touch bottom. He surfaced with a gasp and quickly swam to the shoreline, pulling himself up onto dry land and rolling onto his back. He laid there a minute while he tried to gather his thoughts.

'I suppose that's one way to get out,' he thought as he eyed the waterfall. He propped himself up onto his elbows as he looked around. The top of the mountain he just fell out of wasn't visible through the tree canopy overhead, and he was surrounded by dense jungle. The pool he landed in flowed on, becoming a river, and disappeared into the vegetation. He stood up slowly, rolling his shoulders as he tried to figure out what to do next.

"Now, now, weapons specialist," a dark, silky voice cut through the sounds of the jungle. Ironhide jumped and spun around. His movements were a little clumsy as the voice penetrated deep into his processor, slowly filling it like smoke. He caught a brief glimpse of red optics before his world went dark again. "There's no need for that, be still."

Mindwipe watched with satisfaction as Ironhide slumped to his knees, head bowed and arms loose, looking very much like a puppet that just had its strings cut. The nighthawk had been returning from a flight when Bludgeon had commed him and informed him of Ironhide's escape. His partner had told him he was guarding the main entrance and drones were searching the series of caves and tunnels, so he quickly landed and hid amongst the vegetation near the only other known opening. Sure enough, Ironhide had come tumbling out minutes later.

::Mindwipe to Bludgeon, I've got him::

::Are you sure? That fragger still has some fight in him::

Mindwipe smirked darkly as he caught sight of Ironhide's optics, glowing a faint red.

::I'm sure::

A/N:

... this isn't really much better in terms of a cliff hanger is it? ... Sorry! -.-' Next chapter may not be out for awhile ... new job is killer.

PS: Never let your mother 'help' you clean your room ... she will vacuum up all your plot bunnies thinking they are dust bunnies ... T.T