Original A/N: At 6,572 words, this chapter is done! :D I really hope you guys enjoy it. I worked really hard on it and enjoyed writing it very much.

New A/N: I finished the rewrites for this chapter yesterday after the previous chapter's rewrites. I didn't get a chance to post the updated version, however. So now I am doing so, even though today is the day to work on Across the Galaxy, after writing on my novel anyways. There are a number more changes to this chapter than the last one. I changed a few minor details, like the name of the Cybercat and Shade's optic color. Kudos to anyone who pays attention enough to know what the other changes are. ;) More kudos if you're new and you know what's been changed. Though if new people can figure it out, that means I need to work on it some more to make it flow more.

Also, another change I am pointing out is the name of the black mech in the story previously known as Pathbreaker. We decided collectively that that name didn't really fit Sci's character at all. We had originally used it because it was the best fitting name we could come up that ended in "breaker", since we had started calling ourselves the "Breakers". But we decided his character name should coincide with his OC, since his character in this story is aesthetically the same character as his OC in Fate Calls. There will be some differences between the two for obvious reasons, but yeah. So Pathbreaker is now known as Shadowstreaker.

So in the coming chapters I have yet to finish rewriting, thus am not posting the changes quite yet, remember these differences: The Cybercat is now Topaz, not Freedom, Shade's optics are now orange, we don't leave our stuff behind in the car and Pathbreaker is now Shadowstreaker. Also, pay no mind to the current plot holes and contradicting story bits. Those are being fixed as we speak. Due to the rewrites, there are some minor and some major details in following chapters that will be changed, done away with or added.

I have not outright pointed out all of the changes, so feel free to read through and see what else is different. ;)

Also this chapter is now upwards of eight thousands words long. :D

Author's Replies:

Jayna Prime: Glad you liked it sis. :)

Sci-Fifan95: Indeed lol. Glad you liked it. :D

Plagueblood90: My spellcheck says differently. Plus I reread it and found nothing wrong. So yeah. Glad you enjoyed it though. What's wrong with long chapters? I love long chapters. :D The game is a foot, huh? Left? Or right? lol

Laeila Tsukiyomi-Storm: Glad you like it. Me? Give up writing? :o *gasp* Of course not!

Mikaela the Cat: Thanks! Glad you like. ^.^

Sailor Shinzo: Thanks. Wait no more as an update is here! *grin*

Catty: Thanks! :) Update is here!

Vivian Hale: Lol. I am glad you enjoyed the first chapter. ^.^

KayleeChiara: Yeah, Sci is a tally. Lol. Glad you liked it.

And now! The continuation of Your War, Our Battle. :D Enjoy, now with updates. ;)

Chapter 2: Complications

~Tuesday, April 24, 2012~

"So," Jay said. "What's the plan?"

"Hunt down this little girl some Energon for one," I said, petting the Cyberkitten lightly as she lazed on my lap. "The lack of it is starting to affect her." We had all noticed the dimness her optics had taken on during her time with us.

Sci nodded. "We don't want her to kill over, true," he said. "But where are we supposed to find Energon?"

"I don't know, but we have to do something for her," I said.

"Well then," Jay said, getting to her feet. "Let's go. Sitting here and debating about it won't find the little girl Energon."

"True," Sci and I said at the same time. The three of us shared a look.

"We did it again," Sci said.

"Indeed," I said.

We gathered our stuff before leaving, coming to the decision to check out of the hotel before leaving. We weren't sure how long it would take us to find Energon for the Cyberkitten and we didn't want to pay for days when we weren't here. We had to sneak the kitten out like we did when we brought her in. Once everything was once again in Jay's car, we headed out.

"So any idea where we're going?" Jay asked.

"No clue," I said.

"No idea," Sci said at the same time.

"I guess we'll just keep driving until we find something, then," Jay said.

We drove through the part of town we needed to in order to reach the highway that would take us out of town. Once we were on the highway and out of town, the scenery was simply a vast desert with some tall cliffs littering the place. As we turned a curve, I noticed a cliff that was in the same shape as the one the Autobot base resided in.

"And to think, we may have just passed the Autobot base," I said.

Jay grinned. "It'd be pretty sweet if we had caught one of them coming out or going in," she said.

"If we are in the Prime reality," Sci said. "It's possible we're in a different one."

"I have reason to believe we are in Prime," I said.

"What reason is that?" Jay asked.

"Well," I said. "When we were at KO Burger, when I went outside for a brief moment I thought I saw Jack, but only for a very brief moment."

"Interesting," Sci said.

"Indeed," Jay and I both said.

We continued the drive through the desert, not really knowing where we were

going or how we would know when we reached there. We kept our eyes peeled though for anything out of the ordinary, not really sure what we were looking for. How did one find Energon without the equipment to do so with? It was hard to say for sure. We knew what Energon looked like, but we didn't know how to find it.

~Two Hours Later~

"Guys, I don't think this is working," Jay said.

"No, it's not," Sci and I both said.

We had been driving around for two full hours now, not always staying on the road. Whenever it was clear, we drove off the road to go search other places. We figured we wouldn't locate Energon alongside the road, or if we did it probably wouldn't be a good sign. We had moved very far from where we had passed what we had thought could be the Autobot base. We figured they must not have picked up on the Cybertronian signature of the Cyberkitten yet, considering we weren't being followed or stopped.

"And I'm getting hungry," I said. "We inconveniently forgot to wait for our pizza."

"I wonder who will pay for that," Sci said.

"We're gonna have to stop anyway," Jay said. "The engine is smoking."

"Again?" I asked incredulously. "We just had it fixed!"

"Let's try to get in that parking lot," Sci said. "That way the car won't be in the way."

"I'll try," Jay said.

She made the honest effort of pushing the car to drive into the parking lot. Unfortunately, it stopped moving before we got there. So, to get it out of the entranceway, Jay remained in the driver seat to steer while Sci and I got out and pushed it along. It wasn't easy, but we managed to get it in a parking spot after a lot of pushing and a couple people coming out and helping.

"Oh my gosh cars are heavy!" I breathed, leaning against the back driver side door.

"They tend to be," one of the men who helped push it to the parking spot said, looking amused.

"This reminds me of the time Mom and I broke down on Route 23 back in Ohio," I said. "We had to push that car too…"

"This is the second time this car has broken down," Jay grumbled, getting out of the car.

"In the past two weeks no less," Sci said.

"Stupid car," I said and if I weren't so tired and hungry, I would've kicked the tire.

"Lenny here can take a look," the man who spoken before said. "He's good with cars."

"Thank-you," we all said at the same time, causing the man to shake his head.

"In the meantime, why don't you come inside," the man suggested. "You all look hungry."

As if his words were a cue, my stomach growled. So we agreed and followed the two men who weren't Lenny inside after I fetched our kitten as Jay grabbed our money. They didn't inquire about the strange mechanical cat thankfully. We learned that the one who had spoken was named Bill and he was the owner of this restaurant we had found ourselves at. The second guy who wasn't looking at our car was Jimmy and he was apparently the head chief, but didn't say much. Apparently, they had thought he was a mute for a while. But he did speak once in a great while. Apparently it made the other cooks nervous, but they did their job well, otherwise they would be fired.

We sat down at a table and were given menus to order off of. We just each got a burger and fries with some water to drink with it.

"What about your little pet?" Bill asked. "It looks hungry."

"Oh she doesn't eat anything you could give her here," I said. "We're actually out this far because we are searching for what she does. The less you know about that, the better."

"I see," Bill said. "Your food will be ready in a little bit."

We nodded and then he left to give our order to the cooks. We were silent as we waited, not wanting the other patrons to overhear us talk about our situation. A couple of people, two teenaged boys came in and sat in the booth behind where Jay and I sat. They started a conversation, but it wasn't interesting to me so it didn't give me anything to focus on. At least, until they mentioned something very interesting.

"Hey man, do you know anything about glowing blue crystals?" one of the boys asked his friend.

The three of us reacted immediately to this sentence. We shared a look, sitting up a little straighter.

"Glowing blue crystals?" the boy's friend asked. "There is no such thing."

"I'm serious!" the first boy said. "If you go north up the road from here for about ten miles and then leave the road to the right, go into those canyons there you'll see what I'm talking about in a cave that's there."

"You're crazy man," his friend said. "I ain't doing that."

We ignored the rest of the conversation as our food arrived. We all had come to a silent agreement, we were going to go up the road ten miles and go to that canyon. A life depended upon those glowing blue crystals, which sounded to us to be Energon.

I reached over and rubbed our Cyberkitten behind the ears, noting as she purred slightly, but made no other indication she enjoyed the rub. I frowned, looking at my food and then back to the kitten. I sighed and then turned to my food and began eating it. I ate slowly, not really feeling all that hungry knowing the kitten was starving. My appetite had gone down greatly knowing that while I was eating, she was still starving.

Soon, I told myself.

We were about halfway through our meal when Lenny came in, wiping his hands off on a rag. He walked over to our table and we looked up at him.

"So what's the verdict?" Sci asked.

"There was a leak in your coolant tank," Lenny said. "I patched it up and refilled your coolant, so it should work just fine now."

"Thanks," Jay said.

"Um, could I get a to-go box?" I asked. "I'm full."

"Yeah, me too," Jay said.

"Make that three," Sci said.

"Sure thing, I'll tell Chef to get you some," Lenny said.

"Thanks," I said.

A few minutes later we handed over our payment for our food and the repair job along with a tip. We packed our leftovers in the to-go boxes and then went out to the car, kitten in hand. We left, heading in the direction we now knew we could find Energon in. Sure enough, ten miles north of the restaurant was a canyon to the right. After making sure no one would see us, we turned off the road and drove into the canyon. After a few minutes of driving through the canyon, the terrain became too rough for the car and we had to get out and leave it behind.

"Where is this cave supposed to be?" Jay grumbled as we climbed over some rocks.

"I dunno, but we need to find it," I said, glancing at the Cyberkitten that Sci was carrying.

"Hey look," Sci said.

We did. And we didn't like what we saw. While we had found the cave, that was not all we found. It appeared that the boy from the restaurant was not the only one who had found this Energon. Decepticons now littered the open area beyond the rocks we were climbing over. They were carrying out Energon from a cave in the rock wall to the right, which meant we were clearly in the right place. Unfortunately that also meant that it would be that much harder to get the Energon for our Cyberkitten friend.

"Ok, one of us is gonna have to go get the Energon," I said. "I am usually quite good at going unnoticed."

"You're not going alone," Jay protested.

"We'll all go," Sci said. "We just need to hide the kitten so they don't find her and offline her."

Jay and I nodded.

"Right," I said.

We moved backward, heading back to the car we had left behind. When we just close to the edge of the rock cropping, we moved to the bottom of the rocks and Sci set the kitten down in a nook just big enough to fit her in. I went back to the car and fetched a container we could put some Energon in. We then made the trek back to the Energon mine and surveyed the scene from a hiding spot just on that edge of the rock cropping.

"How many Cons do you see?" Jay asked.

"I see at least fifteen," I said, counting the Cons just outside the cave.

"And a couple snipers, but they aren't looking this way," Sci said.

"Plus any in the cave," I said.

"Looks like they're just getting started," Jay said.

"I think we should try to get some out of that cube that's on the ground over there," I said, pointing to a cube of Energon that sat by the cave entrance. "I think it's our best bet."

"Seeing as how it's the only one we can reach," Sci said. "I think you are right."

We snuck through our rocky hiding place until we knew we had to leave the safety of our cover. We waited until the Cons all had their backs to us before we darted to the next logical hiding spot. We ducked behind the large boulder that was about a fourth of the way to our intended destination just before a Con looked our way. We remained ducked underneath, hesitant to even look out from our new hiding spot for a couple minutes. When we did look out, we found the coast clear again and breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Our next cover was about ten feet away and our path would take us in the line of sight of one of the snipers. We had to time our dash right as well as be quick about it. We each waited, preparing for the dash as Sci watched the sniper to know when we were clear as we watched for other Cons on the ground. The moment our coast was fully clear, we dashed out from our hiding place and ran as fast as we could. By the time we ducked behind the stack of Energon cubes we knew we couldn't scale, I was out of breath and panting heavily. We took a few moments to regain our breath and rest in preparation for our next dash.

We had the cover from the stack of Energon cubes for about fifteen feet, so we had that length without having to worry about being seen. At least unless a Con decided to look behind them for whatever odd reason. Our next dash brought us to a line of boulders that provided our cover for about ten feet. After that we had one more dash until we reached the Energon cube we had our eyes on. By now, a couple more cubes had joined it, but it hadn't been stacked yet, which was good luck on our part.

"Are we clear?" I asked, looking around as we peeked out from our hiding place.

"Looks like it," Sci said.

"Let's go," Jay said, pushing me slightly forward.

We moved toward the Energon cubes, keeping low to the ground and moving as fast as we could. When we reached them, we ducked behind one as a Con passed, setting a cube down on top of one of three cubes we were by. Instead of leaving, the Con simply turned and began talking with another Con, his back to us. We shared a look, knowing we couldn't just wait around as our position left us easily spotted if a Con bothered to look. There was also the very real fact we had a starving Cyberkitten waiting and the fact that they could pile more cubes at any moment.

"Ok, we can't wait," Jay said. "Let's get the Energon and get out of here."

We nodded and then moved to get the Energon. We were already by a cube with nothing on top, so we just had to figure out a way to get some out. In the end, we decided that Jay and Sci would lift me to the cube, since I was shortest so they could potentially get me higher than we could get Jay. Each boosted me up by a foot, getting me to where I could just scoop some Energon into the container I had brought.

"Come on, sis," Jay said.

"Got it," I said, closing the container as tightly as I could.

They were helping me back to the ground when the Con on the other side suddenly

took a step back, knocking over the cube we had just stolen from. We all fell over, me landing hard on my back. Luckily, the container didn't burst open or get lost in the process. Unfortunately, we weren't the only things that fell from the bump. The cube fell over as well, covering all three of us in the blue liquid. I hissed a little in pain as we got to our feet, flinging the substance off us.

"Not good," Sci and I said at the same time.

"Move!" Jay whispered urgently and we darted behind the nearest cube just before a Con walked up and reached for the fallen cube.

We breathed a sigh of relief when the Con walked away with the half empty cube without seeming to notice us. Ignoring the pain from the Energon, which was poison to humans if fanfictions were correct, we dashed back to the cover of the line of boulders. Once in our better cover, we wiped off as much of the Energon as we could as we made our way back to the other end. Our trip was slower, because we had to try to ignore the effects of having Energon spilled on us, but we eventually made it back to the rock cropping, thankfully without being seen. At that point, we made as much of a beeline as we could back to the Cyberkitten.

When we made it back to the Cyberkitten, we picked her up and got in the car, Jay driving off in a direction away from the Decepticons. By now, the Energon we hadn't been able to wipe off was gone from our skin, though our clothes were still covered in it.

"Does Energon evaporate?" Jay asked.

"I didn't think it did," I said, giving our Cyberkitten the Energon we had stolen. She began eagerly lapping it up and I breathed a sigh of relief when her optics shown brighter to show that she was getting her energy back.

"From what I understand it is poison to humans," Sci said.

"That would explain why I'm in pain," Jay said.

"Just find somewhere we can hide," I said. "There's no sense in trying to drive all the way to town while in pain. I doubt it would end well."

A half hour later we were quite far from the Cons and there had been no sign they had followed us. We had left the canyon area and came to a different canyon valley. The Cyberkitten had finished off the Energon, a testament to how badly she had needed it. She was ok now though, her optics glowing bright yellow as

they had when I had first found her.

"It's getting late," Jay said. "I'm gonna pull over."

"Good thing we have camping supplies," I said as we stopped.

We got out and went to begin setting up, but I froze when a burst of pain flooded through my body. I was vaguely aware that my siblings seemed to be in pain as well and that there was a faint glowing coming from our key chains just before I passed out.

~The Next Day, Midday~

~Wednesday, April 25, 2012~

The first thing I was aware of when I came to was that I was still in pain, though it wasn't as bad as it had been. I was also aware of the feeling of something liking my face. Another thing I noticed were warnings flashing before my eyes that did nothing but confuse the hell out of me.

"Crys," Jay's voice reached my ears, though it sounded a bit different, more metallic somehow. "Crys, wake up."

I grumbled and opened my eyes, expecting to see my sister hovering over me with an annoyed expression since I wasn't waking up very fast. However, instead I was met with the sight of a metallic face with blue optics. Confused, I sat up and held my head. I paused at the feel of metal and looked at my hand, finding that it was made of metal. Displays showed up in my vision, telling me things about my hand and particles on it that I didn't need. It made it hard to focus.

"What?" I asked. "What happened?"

"Not sure," Jay said.

"We just woke up to find we're giant robots," Sci said. "Cybertronian presumably. I have seen a number of what appears to be Cybertronian lettering translated to English."

"Weird," I said, staring at my hand and the information sprawling across my vision about it. "You would think getting Energon spilled on you would slowly kill you, not change your species."

"I noticed our key chains were glowing just before we all passed out," Sci said.

"They did that just before we found ourselves here as well," Jay said. "Maybe they are the cause of it."

"For what purpose though?" I asked. "I mean, obviously, the passing out was from the pain, but why are we here?" None of the information sprawling across my vision was telling me anything about that.

"Who knows?" Sci asked. "Why has any of this happened to us?"

"Good point," I said and reached down, petting the Cyberkitten, who meowed at me before purring.

Our appearances were tremendously different now that we were no longer human, as one would expect.

Sci was the tallest still, now standing at forty-five feet, appearing to be built for battle. His armor was completely jet black. He had wings on his back and wheels on his pedes, leading us to believe that he was probably a triple-changer with both an air mode and a ground mode in addition to his bipedal mode. His optics were the same cobalt blue as his eyes were as a human and shone brightly. For all intents and purposes, he looked exactly how I had pictured his OC from his story, Fate Calls, would look like, minus the symbols on the side of his helm.

Jay was the middle in height again, just like when we were human. She stood at twenty eight feet and her armor was mostly dark blue, though there were some lighter blue accents on some of her parts. She also had wings on her back, but no wheels, which meant she would only have an air alt mode and no ground vehicle. There were runes on her wings, painted in silver, but I couldn't tell you what they said either. It was easy to see she was a femme, as she just had that look about her. Her form was a lot curvier than Sci's was, which would be expected. Her optics were an icy blue color and shone brightly.

From them I learned that I stood at twenty four feet, leaving me the shortest. My armor was mostly a royal purple in color, though I had some silver on my chest armor, arm armor and leg armor. The silver parts of my armor shifted shades as I moved, which I found awesome. I had wings on my back, which also had some of that shade-changing-silver, and no wheels, so like Jay, I would be able to have an air alt mode, but no ground alt mode. I was not as curvy as Jay, though she said it was easy to tell I was curvy, but my armor hid much of said curves. My optics were tiger orange and they shone brightly as the others' did. I also discovered that I had what appeared to be a pouch on the right side of my hip and when I looked inside I found what appeared to be two different kinds of grenades and a type of mine. But we weren't that concerned with what our weapons systems were as of yet.

"So," I said, trying my best to ignore all the information still scrolling across my vision. How did I turn that stuff off? "What are we going to do now? It's not like we can go back to town and say 'Hey can anyone direct us to some flying vehicles? We need to blend in.'"

"No," Sci agreed. "Going back to town isn't an option."

"I think we should rename ourselves," Jay said, grinning. "We're obviously not human anymore, our names don't really fit anymore. We also need to name our Cyberkitten friend."

"I got a name for her," I said, petting the kitten that was curled up on the hood of the car. "If you guys like it."

"You're the cat person, sis," Jay said. "Whatever you name her, I'm sure it's great."

"You are the one who found her," Sci pointed out. He was looking around our surroundings, appearing not to be paying attention, though I knew he heard us just fine. "Rightfully, she's yours."

"I suppose," I said, quite content with that as I rubbed her behind her audios.

"So what's the name?" Jay asked cheerfully.

"I thought I'd name her Topaz," I smiled as the kitten purred and stretched out her fronts paws.

"Sweet," Jay said.

"Good name," Sci agreed.

"I think you should go by the name of your OC," Jay said. "You do share her shade changing uniqueness."

"Shadebreaker?" I asked. I grinned. "I like it. What about you guys?"

"I kinda like the name Stormbreaker," Jay said. "That, or Skybreaker."

"Hmm, I think Stormbreaker sounds better," I said.

"I agree, it fits you better," Sci said.

"Stormbreaker it is then," Jay said. "What about you Sci?"

"Shadowstreaker," Sci said. "The name fits for my build."

I paused a moment, looking at the black mech with a raised eyebrow. He seemed to be falling into a seemingly emotionless state, which meant he was beginning to lean on logic quite a bit. It was a troubling sign.

"Sweet!" Jay…Stormbreaker…said. "I like it!"

"It's fitting for you and your personality as well," I said, crossing my arms and narrowing my eyes at the information still flowing by my vision.

We were silent for a few moments before any of us spoke again.

"So what now?" Stormbreaker asked.

"Well, we can start by getting used to our new bodies," I said.

"True," Shadowstreaker said. "We are not used to being Cybertronian."

There were emotions bubbling beneath the surface of my focus and I knew there were for my siblings as well. That was why I gave us a task to focus on, that way maybe we could hold together long enough to at least partially process through them without anything exploding. How long it would work, I wasn't sure, but it was worth trying until we figured some things out. So I did my best to push the emotions I felt down for the time being and focus on keeping my balance. Survival first, emotions later.

Stormbreaker nodded and stood up. Shadowstreaker and I also stood up. We then spent the next several hours familiarizing ourselves with our systems, trying to figure everything out. I discovered that if I thought hard enough about how I was functioning then my systems would run a self-diagnostic. Through my accidental trigger of said event, I discovered that I was running on a half full tank of Energon. In other words, I was what was considered malnourished. A couple minutes and a stumbled through explanation of how I had run the diagnostic later, we discovered that my siblings had the same problem. I supposed that made sense.

We also discovered that when it came to adapting to a dramatic change in size, Shadowstreaker was the most adept. He took mere minutes to get to where he didn't stumble around, but Stormbreaker and I fell a lot for much of those hours before we regained our sense of balance. I couldn't tell you how many times I face-planted in the meantime. If Cyberkittens could laugh, I was sure Topaz would be laughing at all of us by now. We would've tested our weapons systems, but we decided that it would be a waste of Energon. Speaking of which…

"What are we going to do for Energon?" I asked. "It's not like we can go back and steal some more from that cave. The Decepticons have their villainess hands in it already. We can't go so easily unnoticed now that we aren't tiny compared to them. Or even get to the other canyon unnoticed."

"Maybe we can find some around here," Stormbreaker suggested.

"It's worth trying," Shadowstreaker said.

"I agree," I said.

We got some of our stuff, things that were more sentimental than anything and anything with information of the Autobots, from the car and put it in my compartment of grenades, before I picked up Freedom and held her to my chassis. I rubbed gentle circles on her helm as we began walking around. We made sure to stay in the canyon area, to avoid being seen by any humans. It was getting dark when we came to a cave, which we decided to use as shelter, at least for now. Unfortunately, there appeared to be no trace of any Energon and a quick diagnostic showed that I was down to forty five percent on Energon. I assumed it was a similar case for my siblings.

"We should get some rest," Shadowstreaker said. "We'll continue our search in turns tomorrow."

"Sure," I said, yawning as I stretched a servo above my head.

I found a spot and laid down on the cold rock surface. Freedom curled up next to me and Stormbreaker and Shadowstreaker both chose spots not too far from us. We took turns keeping watch during the night, Stormbreaker volunteering the first shift and Shadowstreaker volunteering for second. Each shift would last for three hours of the night, allowing us each to get ample sleep, or recharge I guess.

~The Next Day~

~Thursday, April 26, 2012~

"Alright, who's gonna go search first?" Stormbreaker asked.

"I will," I volunteered.

"Alright," Shadowstreaker said. "Make sure you return in an hour, whether or not you find anything."

"Will do," I said, giving him a salute.

"Alright, when you get back, I'll take over the search," Shadowstreaker said. "And Storm', you can have last search."

"Gotcha," Stormbreaker said.

"Alright, see you in an hour," I said.

I walked away from our cave and went in a direction we hadn't come from on foot. It would be quicker if we had alt modes and could fly over the canyon and search. But since we didn't, we were limited to searching where we could walk. I knew it limited us greatly, but we couldn't be too concerned with that at the moment. Our main focus was seeing about finding Energon. I did wonder if we could possibly just make our way to the Autobot base, but they probably wouldn't be too happy to find unknown bots at their door unannounced. Also, it was too big of a risk that someone would see us and we knew that wouldn't go over well with the government.

I sighed as I climbed over some boulders that seemed to be merely large rocks to me now. It was a struggle to make the climb in this unfamiliar body and it was made more frustrating by the warnings that sprawled across my vision telling me what I already knew about my Energon levels and about the unstable surface I was climbing.

There were so many things to consider that I wasn't sure how we would get by if we remained out here indefinitely. For one thing, we now needed Energon to survive. It wasn't like one of us could simply use the now abandoned Audi as an alt and drive to the base. Even if Shadowstreaker, since he is the only one who can have a ground mode, did do so, it might not actually solve our problem.

"Why can't things just be simple?" I sighed before something caught my optics.

Something shiny was sticking out of the sand. I paused and looked at it momentarily. Curious, I walked over and bent down to retrieve it, but before I could wrap my fingers around it to pull it out of the sand a shot zoomed right by me and hit the sand.

~Normal PoV~

"Back off Con!"

The bot's reaction was instant. They jumped back several anos and threw their servos up in the universal sign of surrender. Their wings twitched back and drooped down in their fear that Optimus could sense through the Matrix.

It was a femme, if Optimus was correct in his observations, though her armor seemed almost designed to hide the fact. He wasn't entirely sure, however, if it was to provide a bit of extra protection or if it really was to hide her status as a femme. Her armor was mostly purple, but had silver markings and when he watched closely he could see that the silver changed shade as she shifted on her pedes as if ready to move away at any time. Her orange optics had been sparkling in curiosity before, but now they were full of wariness.

She looked unsure of herself and as if she wasn't sure how to react, but when she spoke, she sounded fairly confident in her words.

"Whoa! I'm no 'Con," she said and though her tone held confidence that what she said was true, there was a waver in them that made her unease apparent. Her fear had died down slightly upon seeing them, but she wasn't calm quite yet. "Shouldn't you double-check those things before shooting?"

Optimus observed as her wings flared out behind her with her indignation and he noted immediately the lack of an identifying marker on them. She, indeed, was not a Decepticon, or else she was undercover as a neutral, but he doubted it. There were no neutrals in this system.

Her wings drooped behind her then and began shaking, her panic rising suddenly. The Matrix informed him of the unease and unsureness she felt. She was panicked and had no idea what she was doing or what her wings were telling them. Why she wouldn't know, he wasn't sure, but the Matrix hadn't steered him wrong yet.

"Bulkhead, assuming an enemy may just make an enemy out of a possible ally," Optimus told Bulkhead. He turned to the new bot. "I apologize, many seekers joined Megatron at the beginning of the war. It is rare to find a neutral, especially out here."

"Don't worry about it," the femme said, lowering her hands down and standing nervously. "I understand completely." Her fear softened again to a mere unease.

"I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots," Optimus said, deciding to start with introductions. "This is Bulkhead and Bumblebee." He motioned to his companions with each looking suspicious and friendly respectively. "Might I ask who you are?"

"I am Shadebreaker," the seeker said. "I am…well it's kind of a long story who I am." She rubbed the back of her helm awkwardly. "I'm just trying to find some Energon, not cause you any trouble." Her wings twitched into a defensive position before drooping again.

"Perhaps we can be of help," Optimus said.

"I dunno, I still don't trust her," Bulkhead said, not bothering to lower his voice. "How do we know you're not a 'Con trying to get into our base to spy on us?"

Shadebreaker's wings flared out again and her expression became frustrated. "Why in the world would I do something like that?" she asked, sounding indignant. She seemed offended by merely the thought of doing something a Decepticon would do.

"Because you're a 'Con," Bulkhead said.

Her wings twitched and Optimus could sense her frustration growing and underneath that there was pain.

"Bulkhead, step down," Optimus said, holding a servo out to his subordinate and friend. He looked at the femme as Bulkhead grumbled. "Bulkhead brings up a good point." He watched as the femme suddenly changed from defensive to unsure. "What can you do to help my comrades believe you mean us no harm?"

The femme seemed to consider her options for a few moments before her shoulders sagged. "I don't know," she said honestly. "Unless there is a way to allow you to see into my brain, I don't know."

"Brain?" Bulkhead asked, causing the femme to twitch a wing and get a look of realization that she had misspoken.

The three mechs shared a look at the oddly human word. None of them were sure what it meant that she used something so human to describe her processor.

"There is a way," Optimus said carefully. "But you must be completely sure you wish it to happen. We Autobots do not typically use it as it is more a Decepticon tactic of interrogation." Of course, the Decepticons had a much more cruel and painful way of going about it.

The femme visibly shook at his words, but she straightened herself out and looked Optimus is the optics. "I do not know what I could say to convince you I am not a 'Con. If this will prove my innocence and acquire help for my brother and sister then I will do it." She seemed to be steeling herself. "Regardless of what happens to me, their safety is my concern."

Optimus glanced to Bulkhead, who now looked like he was regretting that things had come to this. He understood what it meant to be willing to lay down one's life for their brothers and sisters. Bumblebee had a look of concern on his face, and a sense of sympathy for the femme came across the guardian-ward bond he shared with Optimus. This was the same way they had initially discussed what had happened when the youngest mech had lost his voice box before Ratchet could rewire his vocs so he could at least talk in his current way of speaking. He knew how it felt and it wasn't necessarily a pleasant experience.

Optimus took a step forward. "It will not be pleasant," he said and placed a servo on the shaking shoulder joint of the femme when he grew close enough. He noticed easily how small she was. She was shorter than most grown femmes he had come across and she seemed to realize that he dwarfed her in size for he sensed how intimidated she was. He allowed the Matrix to send some comforting feelings through the touch. "You don't have to do it."

Shadebreaker took a deep breath and concentrated on the comforting feeling of the Prime's actions rather than on her own emotions. She then looked up, wings tilting downward in what the Prime recognized as a sign of acceptance.

"But I do," she said. "I cannot give proof I am not a 'Con. I cannot say or do anything that would make your friend over there trust me besides make my secrets known." She shifted under his servo, clearly anxious over it. "I do not know what this entails, exactly, but I know that I would put up with anything if it leads to something that'll help my siblings. The odds of us surviving on our own are minute. We'd probably overcome it, but I am not willing to bet their lives on that."

Optimus searched her optics for a sign that she wasn't really willing to do this, or that she was merely trying to get this to happen in order to fragment his processor. But neither in her optics nor through the current connection through the Matrix could he find any sense of ill-will. He only found resolve to do whatever it took to ensure the safety of those she cared about. He inwardly sighed, but outwardly he merely nodded his acknowledgement.

"Wait, you're not seriously going allow this femme access to your processor, are you?" Bulkhead asked from behind him.

The femme's wing twitched in the same way Bumblebee's doorwings did when he was feeling indignant. "I am not going to invade his mind, I'm letting him invade mine," she said defensively. She turned away and crossed her servos. "As if I could even invade a Prime's brain anyway! I'm the one who's vulnerable here! It's none of my business what goes on in his mind." She pointed at Optimus without even uncrossing her servos.

It was then Optimus saw how unnerved she was about him being in her processor. She was putting up a brave front because she felt it was the only way she could gain help for her siblings, but she was scared.

.:I think you offended her, Bulk,:. Bumblebee sounded almost amused.

"Uh," Bulkhead said, looking unsure of how to react to the femme's outburst. It was true that she was the one who was most vulnerable, clearly having had no experience with such things and being at a complete disadvantage in this situation in general.

"I will only search enough to confirm your innocence," Optimus promised, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly, having never moved it even when she had turned away. "I will be as gentle as possible, you have my word."

"I appreciate that," Shadebreaker said, looking sideways and peeking up at him. "What do you need me to do?"

"Hold out your servo," Optimus said, holding his free servo out toward the femme.

The seeker looked at him as if trying to decide what he was telling her to do and hesitated before uncrossing her servos and offering one to him slowly, holding it palm up.

Optimus walked her through how to allow him access and what to do if she was uncomfortable with where he strayed. His intention was only to go far enough back in her memories to ascertain whether or not she was a threat, but there was the possibility of him getting lost and it was up to her to keep him in the right area.

When he connected to her, he was careful when entering her processor. He knew it caused her discomfort regardless, but he tried to do all he could to avoid it causing her pain. He was shocked to find that she had previously been a human, one from another reality at that, and was nearly barrelled over by the overwhelming emotions she held, barely kept in check ever since the change happened. Pain. Loss. Fear. Confusion. A struggle to understand what this all meant for her life, for her siblings. Above all was the deepest desire to make sure her siblings came out of this alright, regardless of what happened to her. They had all lost a lot by being ripped away from their home.

The overwhelmingness of it all almost made it difficult to pull back, but Optimus was stronger than that. He also knew that he wouldn't help her any by staying in her processor, there was nothing he could do from there. So he pulled back before he could delve any deeper into her past and the source of the pain she carried around, for he sensed that it went further back than merely the recent.

He took a step back when he disconnected, but kept a servo on the femme's shoulder until she steadied herself from the disorientation the disconnection caused her. She was looking away from him and he sensed that she was afraid to look. It made his spark sad, having an idea of what was probably going on in her processor even as he turned to inform the others that she was not a threat and he would explain further later. Then he turned back to the femme.

"We can help you, if you will let us," Optimus said.

"Any help you could give us would be greatly appreciated," she told him politely. Her voice sounded oddly controlled for what had just happened. She seemed to have shrunk into herself, as if afraid of breaking otherwise.

"Well then," Optimus said. "Lead the way." He wouldn't press her to speak right now. She needed time to process what has happened to her in the last cycle.

She did, though paused to find out what it was in the sand. It turned out to be an arm of a Decepticon.

"A severed limb?" she said in bafflement and then looked around. "It doesn't look like a battle took place here."

"It may have been here a while," Bulkhead said.

Shadebreaker shrugged and then tossed the arm with barely any reaction. She was still recovering from the sync and wasn't really thinking all that much, processor sore from the intrusion.

Shadebreaker remained silent from there as she led them and none of the mechs felt there was a need to fill the silence with words. It was several kliks before they came to a cave and the seeker led the way inside.

"Hey guys," Shadebreaker said. "I'm back."

"With company," an all black mech said.

Optimus took in the appearance of the two she referred to as her siblings. There was the mech, who stood six mechanos shorter than the Prime, making him the closest to his height of those present. Just a glance at him was enough to know that the mech was built for battle, though Optimus knew he would require quite a bit of training before he would be able to properly fight. From the presence of both wings and wheels, the mech was a triple-changer. The mech looked at each of them in turn with a blank, analytical look, but Optimus sensed no threat from him.

Then there was the femme, whose optics reminded him of Elita. Like Shadebreaker, she was a seeker. She stood just under Bumblebee's height and her armor was blue and light blue. She was sitting with a Cyberkitten in her lap, but was watching him and his Autobots warily and sending her sister questioning looks.

"This is…." Shadebreaker started to introduce the Autobots to her siblings.

"You're Optimus Prime," the femme said, grinning, pointing at Optimus.

Optimus was surprised to find that the femme knew who he was and I sensed the worry now emanating from Shadebreaker. He had known they knew about the Autobots from his trip into the femme's processor, but the femme had carefully treaded around revealing that bit of information out loud. He wasn't sure why she was cautious of revealing what they knew, but he sensed there was a reason.

"So…" Stormbreaker said after a moment of awkward silence. She was looking at the purple seeker. "You went out to find Energon and bring back Autobots."

Shadebreaker rubbed her helm awkwardly, clearly not knowing what to say or how to explain what had happened.

"We picked up your signals and came to investigate," Optimus explained, taking a step forward. "Your sister here explained your situation and we wish to offer you help."

Stormbreaker looked at Shadebreaker, who appeared to be uneasy. She seemed to sense that something was bothering her sister, but she didn't press.

"Help would be appreciated," Shadowstreaker said, bowing his helm slightly.

Optimus commed Ratchet for a Bridge, telling him to prepare med bay. It wasn't long after that that a Ground Bridge activated and the three Autobots escorted the three former humans through it and into their base.

~Autobot Base, Shade's PoV~

As soon as we were on the other side of the Ground Bridge, we were ushered to the med bay and the white and red mech there, Ratchet, ran scans on all of us.

"Your Energon levels are dangerously low," he said. He sent me a hard look. "Yours even more so. Any lower you'll be in stasis."

I rolled my optics at the annoyance in his tone. We just got here and already he's annoyed with us. I figured my levels would be lower, seeing as how I had been the one running around in search of Energon. Add the stress of the sync, as Optimus had called it, and I wasn't surprised I was more in danger of starving than the others. How I was still standing was anybody's guess. Pure stubbornness, I supposed.

Ratchet practically shoved cubes of Energon into our servos as he continued to run medical scans on us, mumbling to himself as he typed some info on the computer. He didn't neglect to give Topaz some as well, of course. As we were drinking our Energon, Bulkhead and Bumblebee ended up having to leave to help Arcee with something.

As Optimus and Ratchet discussed something across the med-bay, my siblings turned to me.

"Ok, sis, something's up with you," Stormbreaker said. "You've been silent since you returned with the 'Bots."

"What do you think is up?" I asked, tone unintentionally snappish. I didn't even realize that my snap had caused the two Autobots to turn just enough to check on us. "Within two days, our vacation that was supposed to allow us to relax has turned our entire worlds upside down. We've lost everything…"

"Sis…" Stormbreaker started, but I held up a hand.

"Let me finish before you say anything. I cannot deal with anything if I do not get it out," I said, tone angrier than I wanted it to be. "We've lost everything except for each other. Not only that, but we lost our humanity and now have to adjust to bodies and a culture completely different from our own. I don't even know what my wings are communicating right now!" I pointed to my wings that were shifting position with every emotion flowing through me. "And I feel like shit because I know I'm not the only one who lost a lot in this, in fact, you two have lost more than I have and that ticks me off!"

"Everything happens for a reason." Shadowstreaker pointed out.

"No duh, Sherlock!" I snapped, glaring at him. "But that doesn't make it any easier!"

"Hey! Don't snap at him! It's not his fault!" Stormbreaker snapped, pointing at me, causing me to back up a step and look down, trembling with the emotion roiling through me.

"Enough! What is snapping accomplishing?" Shadowstreaker spoke up from his silence.

"Nothing," I sighed heavily, standing awkwardly as I considered what had just happened. I had snapped at my siblings and that was unacceptable. "I am sorry. I didn't want to snap at you." My wings twitched.

"I am sorry as well," Stormbreaker said. "The loss of all of our friends and family has affected us all."

"Yeah," Shadowstreaker said as I crossed my arms, mind wandering slightly, but not enough to not hear them. "But the only way we'll get through this is together. If one of us could do it alone, then we all wouldn't be here."

"I don't know if I'd say we lost them," I said, speaking my thoughts outloud. At my siblings' looks of confusion I expanded on that, holding my hands out to motion them. "I mean, they're not dead. Optimistically, we'll see them again. Maybe things won't be the same…" I held my arms slightly out and looked down at myself to indicate our new predicament. "But it could happen. As long as we hold onto hope, we have not truly lost them."

"From the mouth of the one who fears losing the most," Stormbreaker said, looking a bit proud of my viewpoint. "But that doesn't make it easy either."

I shook my head in agreement. "No, but it's something," I shrugged. "And I decided a while back to start looking on the optimistic side. Every time I don't we end up arguing. Like we just did."

"Too true," Shadowstreaker agreed on that. "Realistically, it is unlikely."

"Realistically this is impossible," Stormbreaker said, waving a hand to indicate our predicament this time.

"Anything's possible with God," Shadowstreaker pointed out.

"And that's my point," I said. "We may yet see them again. Does that make all of this easier? Heck no. But we're here. And we're together. That means we can support each other when one of us is about to fall."

"And anyone who wants to hurt one of us really better watch their backs now," Stormbreaker grinned. "Especially if you're their target, sis."

My wings twitched upward. "Especially if it's any of us, actually," I said, placing my hands on my hips. "If you think I wouldn't kick just as much ass as you two, you got another thing coming."

"A sure sign your emotions are a mess," Stormbreaker said. "You cursed."

"Meh," I waved her off, pouting slightly, a little upset with myself for that slip up.

"We are here together and will protect each other," Shadowstreaker said.

"Amen," Stormbreaker said.

Because I knew neither of them would initiate it and because I needed one, I pulled them both into a hug. "Group hug time," I said.

Stormbreaker gave a long suffering sigh and I was sure Shadowstreaker was rolling his eyes. Neither pulled away, however, and we stood in a group hug for a good minute before parting and I felt like we were a little more complete than we were at the beginning of the conversation. Little did I know that feeling of completion was a trine bond being established between the three of us.

"Now, Ah'm tired, so Ah'm goin' ta sleep," I said, moving to a berth, my accent showing with my tiredness.

"You mean recharge," Stormbreaker said, having a cheeky grin on her face.

"Yeah, yeah," I said, sticking my tongue out at her before climbing on the berth and curling up on my side.