Tinman: Chapter 21Tinman "Chapter 21: First Energon"By Leah WoodNear the mountains From his vantage point, Barricade could see the dust kicked up by Soundwave and Ironhide's vehicle modes in the valley below. Barricade narrowed his quadruple optics in befuddlement. That Autobot was willingly following Soundwave and according to Soundwave he'd surrendered his cannons without a single shot from either one. All to preserve the lives of two insignificant, human flesh-bags? It didn't make sense. Why would that old slaggard surrender for such a stupid reason? He was going to get off-lined just to save them. Barricade could perhaps understand if the old
Tinman: Chapter 20Tinman "Chapter 20: Complete Surrender"By Leah WoodAt the rendezvous point When Ironhide finally found the rendezvous point out in the middle of a field, he didn't even bother stopping before he transformed and skidded to an earth-tearing halt right in front of the silent gray-blue Balkan MK6. The black Autobot glared down menacingly at the vehicle."So it's you."The surveillance vehicle broke apart at every seam, growing massive legs and arms. A blank face jutted out from where the engine sat flashing a red-orange visor. Slowly, the form rose up as Soundwave. The Decepticon straightened his back, standing erect as a pole
Tinman: Chapter 19Tinman "Chapter 19: The Terms"By Leah WoodBack at Autobot Headquarters It took nearly a half hour of chasing and a well-placed cannon shot from Bumblebee to finally stop Ironhide's obsessive search for tracks. Optimus literally had to shout the old mech out of his fixated state. Eventually, Optimus and Bumblebee managed to persuade Ironhide to head back to the airfield. The weapons specialist had spent the past thirteen hours incessantly pacing and checking the sensor monitors for any sign of Decepticons. The Autobots as well as Will had enough sense to keep out of his way during the entire time. Each hour that passed weighed h
Tinman: Chapter 18Tinman "Chapter 18: Decepticon Dynamics"By Leah WoodThough she stood no chance against Ravage's unyielding paws, Sara struggled to wriggle free and save her daughter. Her limbs thrashed, adrenaline fueling her already weakened body as she roared with maternal desperation."NO! MY BABY! MY BABY!" she shrieked in a voice so shrill Starscream could've been put to shame.Her eyes fixated down river, Sara spotted Annabelle's head poke up briefly and then disappear. Never in her life had she felt so helpless. Her baby girl was going to drown and she was unable to prevent it. Suddenly, out of nowhere the deafening roar of a fighter jet engin
Tinman: Chapter 17Tinman"Chapter 17: POWs"By Leah WoodAn hour after the capture Ironhide barreled down the country roads as fast as his engine could spin his tires. Panic, an often foreign sensation to the old Autobot, asserted itself violently into his mainframe. No matter how fast he plowed down the roads he couldn't seem to get to the Lennox farm soon enough. Something terrible had transpired; he could feel it in his cannons. It had to be Decepticons. No one else could've hacked into the Autobot communication channel and falsified Prime's voice but them. Somehow, deep in his Spark, hope tried to calm panic's stranglehold on him. Perhaps he woul
Tinman: Chapter 16Tinman"Chapter 16: Thieves in the Night"By Leah WoodA month later Barricade was just returning from a late night of chasing vehicles to pass the time on a lonely strip of highway when a deep rumbling from above caught his attention. Like bolts of metal lightening three jets screamed overhead, buzzing the disguised police cruiser.His auditory line filled with the gravely basso voice of Thundercracker, "Hey Cade! How's the scenery down there?"The police cruiser grumbled sourly in his engine, "It's about time you three showed up. What are you doing out in the open sky? Don't you know the humans and Autobots can pick up your sig