Your War, Our Battle

by Crystal Prime

When three friends who view each other as siblings go to the Botcon being held in Jasper, Nevada, they get more than they bargained for. How will they fair in the world of the TV series known as Transformers: Prime?

10. Team Building

A/N: Well, this chapter took me forever in a day. But it is my longest chapter yet in any story I have ever written at a length of 18,155 wotds. I hope the length and the content will make up for the insane amount of time it has taken me to write this update.

I deeply apologize, I have several other writings I have been working on, including new stories that won't be released yet and my novel, and have been busy with work. Mostly though, I blame my distraction of watching a favorite anime of mine and playing games. And the case of writer's block I have struggled with.

Anyways, thanks go to Sci-Fifan95 for going over everything and helping me whenever I am stuck. :D

Hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 10: Team Building

~Wednesday, July 25, 2012~

"You know what we haven't done in a while," Stormbreaker said as she leaned against the wall next to where I was typing on a console.

"What?" I asked, typing away with our brother watching over my shoulder.

"Play Escalation on WFC," she said.

I couldn't keep the grin off of my face.

"We won't need the game when we're done here," Pathbreaker said.

"What?" Stormbreaker asked.

"We are currently in the process of creating a simulation that mimics Escalation," I said. "Complete with destroyers and every known type of Decepticon faced during the war. Same increased difficulty with each wave idea and having to replenish ammo and such with points."

"What is the point of it?" Ratchet asked from his station next to mine where he was aiding me in the programming.

"No point really, though it could be considered training," I said. "It's for fun. And it is done." I leaned back in my seat and grinned up at my brother.

"Shall we test it out?" he asked, walking over and picking up a weapon he had specially designed for our course. He tossed it to me as I stood and I caught it easily.

"Of course," I said, putting the initial clip into the weapon.

"Count me in!" Stormbreaker called.

"If anyone comes by, they are welcome to join us as well," Pathbreaker told Ratchet, tossing a bow to our sister designed for this course. There was a special ammo depot programmed right next to every ammo depot that gave her arrows.

After getting one for himself, Pathbreaker led the way into the simulation chamber. Once the three of us were inside, I keyed in the code to activate our new program. As we stood in the middle of the room, it transformed around us.

The setting was pretty much just like the one in Escalation in War for Cybertron. We included the bridge overhead with the debris on it. Spawn points, where the enemies would be entering the area from, were included and so were the ammo depots.

In the middle of the room was a structure with a room on the ground floor with ammo depots and a grenade depot as well. The second floor was outside of the structure and there was a bridge that we could extend to connect it to the group of rooms on one side of the map. There was a third floor, up only a little bit from the second floor, that we would have to open the door to. Inside were some weapon depots where we would be able to exchange our weapons for other ones, as well an ammo depot where we would be able to restock on clips.

On one side, there were no doors, but just behind the bridge going across the top of the map, commonly referred to as 'our spot' in the game, a structure was attached to the wall and extended out, effectively blocking about half of the bridge from fire in one direction, also blocking our own shots in that direction from that half of the bridge. This structure held two floors of rooms. The ground floor held an ammo depot, a grenade depot and a weapon depot.

To reach the next floor we would have to open a door by using points or by hacking it-our chosen ways to open doors. Behind the door was a hallway ramp system and half way up was a depot with what was effectively a healing gun. We set it up so each hit we received the program kept tabs on the 'points of health' we have lost. The gun would restore the points a little at a time. The enemy weapons would give us a small shock when they hit and would also take away our health points. The gun's use would be to keep us in the game longer-if we chose to use it.

The top floor had a couple weapons depot and an ammo depot. One of the weapons in it was a Scrapmaker, one of our weapons of choice whenever we had played the game. The other was a Nucleon Charge Rifle, a sniper rifle that wasn't in the game, but described to me by Arcee as being a better sniper than my Energon Battle Pistol. Naturally I had wanted to try it out, so we programmed it into the map.

On the opposite wall was a series of rooms both on the ground floor and on a second floor. The ground floor rooms were accessible from the start, but there were doors we would need to open to reach the upper floor and a few doors to open to have access to every room. In one of the rooms on the upper floor was the control panel for the bridge.

The bridge at the top itself spanned from the wall with the series of rooms to the other wall with only the one structure on it. Half of the bridge was bare of anything, but the structure behind it gave cover from one direction and if we stood close to the structure we would be safe from shots from the other direction, though we also couldn't shoot anything from that far back. There was also a spawn point at the end of the bridge that we had it set so only certain types of enemies could spawn out of it and only starting after the third wave of enemies.

The third of the bridge directly after the first half was out in the open where we could shoot to or be shot at from either direction. This third also contained large pieces of debris which we could use for cover from one direction or the other, but not both. There was a small spot where one bot could stand and have cover from both sides where the debris overlapped the place covered by the structure, but it was still prone to attack from the second floor in the structure across the way.

The last two-ninths was pretty much a death trap. It was covered on both sides by structures and the debris in the previous third made it a difficult spot to get out of without taking flight. There was an enemy spawn point on the end with the same parameters as its opposite counterpart. It was pretty much a spot one would want to avoid. It gave great cover from everywhere else, but being a box at a spawn point had earned its title as the 'bad spot'-what I thought of it as.

There was a spawn point directly underneath the half of the bridge that had nothing on it. There was also one in each room of the structures that would activate whenever the room it was in was opened to us. There was also a spawn point taking up almost the entire walls perpendicular to the walls with structures along them.

After the map fully formed around us, I pressed the key to start the simulation. I readied my weapon, counting my extra clips I had.

"Should we go up to our spot?" Stormbreaker asked.

"Nah, not yet," Pathbreaker said. "We'll go after the first couple waves."

"Sounds good to me," I said, watching the counter count down to when the first wave would begin.

When the wave started, I looked around as we waited for the enemies to start spawning. It wasn't long before a horde of small spider-like bots with only six legs instead of eight started running at us. A squad of the most common Decepticon troopers also spawned throughout the round, a few at a time. The spiders were so easy we didn't even waste ammo on them, instead opting to step on, kick or use our melee weapons on them while we shot the troopers down.

There was a ten second period between waves for us to reload on ammo, health and put into any doors we wanted to. During the first ten second break we all replenished our ammo and we went to open the door on the side of the map with the structures all along the wall. Our points combined only got half way since we had to use a total of a hundred and fifty to replenish our ammo. The door that would lead to the Scrapmaker and Nucleon Charge Rifle we decided would be hacked to enter. It would save us points, but also meant we had to hack it during a round or very quickly.

"I am gonna get to hacking the door," I said as our countdown neared zero. "You two will watch my back, right?"

"Of course we will," Pathbreaker said, inserting a new clip into his default gun, a variety of the Neutron Assault Rifle.

"We got your back," Stormbreaker said, grinning.

I nodded and we darted back across the way to the single structure on the opposite side of the map. The countdown to the next wave hit zero just as I ran over the pile of debris half way across and enemies spawned almost immediately. I ducked a few shots on the way and kicked a couple spiders out of the way. As soon as I reached the door, I started hacking.

"Alright, I'm starting the hack," I reported as my siblings took up defensive positions behind me.

"We got you," Stormbreaker said.

As I worked on hacking the door, I heard several spider get squashed by my siblings and troopers try to take them out while getting downed rather quickly. I was about half way through the hack and a quarter of the way through the wave when we heard one of our fellow bots enter the map from the spawn point.

"I'm going to see who it is," Pathbreaker said. "Stay with Shade', sis." He ordered before I heard his footsteps heading away from us.

"You know…" Stormbreaker started, pausing as she brought her bow to bear on a trooper I couldn't see. "...it would be easier to just wait until we have the points."

"Where's the fun in that?" I asked as I worked. "This is more exciting. Besides, we're still early enough hacking isn't a death wish and it gives me practice."

"I'd rather we go to our spot," Stormbreaker said and I heard her violently kill a few spiders. "Why'd you have to put the spiders?!"

"Oh come on, they're harmless," I said, smiling to myself as I heard her growl at a group of four as she squished them one by one. "They're the least of our worries. Not even worth the single bullet it takes to kill them."

"Yeah well, they're annoying," Stormbreaker grumbled, shooting a trooper with her bow.

"What are annoying?" I heard Arcee's voice ask as a spider that had gotten by my sister suddenly exploded into light right next to me.

"These spiders! Ugh!" Stormbreaker said, sounding rather frustrated.

"Don't worry, they quit spawning when we reach wave six," I said.

I heard Stormbreaker growl again and Arcee gave an amused "hm."

"How are you doing on the hack?" Pathbreaker asked as he and Arcee took up defensive positions-Arcee near Stormbreaker and my brother taking cover next to the door back outside.

"Almost there," I said. After a few more minutes I was done. "And done."

"About time, we're down to just spiders," Stormbreaker said.

"Well when we have more points we can now get our second weapons," I said.

"For now, we will be going to our spot," Pathbreaker said. "Would you care to join us Arcee?"

"Where is your spot?" Arcee asked as my siblings replenished their ammo and I started squishing the remaining spiders. They decided to let me have them since I didn't get any other kills this wave.

"It's up there," I said, pointing to the bridge above us. "The best cover is up there and we can also see the whole map. In the game it has always been where we survive the longest during the later waves."

"Especially during the later waves," Stormbreaker said.

"Sure, why not?" Arcee said. "Beats being the only one staying down here. How do we get up there?"

"We fly," Pathbreaker said as I stepped on the last spider. "One of us can give you a ride."

"I'll do it!" Stormbreaker volunteered, transforming into her jet mode.

I chuckled as Arcee climbed on top of my sister. I transformed as well, having no need to replenish anything, and flew ahead of my siblings and Arcee to our spot to claim a position. I stood right next to where there would be cover from both sides, as I liked being able to move back and forth between our main area and the other third of the bridge we used.

"So what enemies are in wave three?" Stormbreaker asked once we were all a top.

"Troopers and spiders are still present," I answered, watching the countdown. It was on five.

"Cloakers and Rocket Troopers also start spawning this round," Pathbreaker said. "I will watch this spawn point next to us. But if I miss any, feel free to shoot them."

"You put a spawn point right inside your spot?" Arcee asked.

"It makes it more interesting," Pathbreaker said, shrugging.

"Especially since the enemies that spawn there are Rocket Troopers," I said. "Not paying attention can cost ya."

"Sounds fun," Arcee said as the countdown hit zero.

~Area 51, Southern Nevada, Normal PoV~

Admiral Hackett walked down a corridor with Agent Fowler. They were heading to meet a man who could potentially aid with their mission.

"Are you sure he will be willing to cooperate?" Fowler asked, voicing his skepticism. "I doubt Stark will work with us if he thinks we've stolen his tech."

"We haven't stolen his tech, Agent Fowler," Hackett replied. "And I have no doubt he will notice the technology we will be showing him isn't made by human hands. He will understand the threat."

"But will he understand that not all of them are enemies?" Fowler asked.

"That's why you are here, Agent Fowler," Hackett replied. "You brought the files on them?"

"I did," Fowler said. "Though I am not convinced allowing him to know of the seeker's history as human is wise."

"Tony Stark is a genious, Agent Fowler," Hackett said. "And no doubt he will have contact with the Autobots at some point. You said yourself that the three have no qualms about telling their allies the truth about their past. He will find out on his own if we do not tell him. And he might be able to help us develop a better way to protect humans from the effects of Energon."

"Understood, Admiral," Fowler replied. "In that case I will go set up. I will speak to you whenever you decide the time is right to tell Stark."

"Of course Agent Fowler," Hackett replied.

The two parted ways and Hackett continued on the way to the briefing room they had Tony Stark waiting. When he arrived, the guards outside allowed him inside and he couldn't help but be amused by the staredown going on between the two men sitting at the table.

"Mr. Stark I don't think you understand the threat we are dealing with," Theodore Galloway, National Security Advisor to the president, said.

"No you don't understand," Stark replied. "I am not building you weapons. Especially not if you won't even tell me what we're dealing with."

"That's classified information," Galloway said.

"I believe I will decide what Mr. Stark will be told, Mr. Galloway," Hackett said, making his presence known. "Who the hell let you in here?"

"I am the president's advisor, I go where I wish," Galloway countered, standing.

"And we've been warned about you," Hackett said, not being intimidated. "All you want is weapons of mass destruction. That is not why Mr. Stark is here. Now make this easy and leave the building or my men will escort you out."

"We wouldn't be in this pickle if your friends weren't here," Galloway said, grabbing his jacket.

"You have a right to your opinion, sir," Hackett said. "But this is my debriefing room and I make the decisions what happens in my task force. The Autobots have made it clear we are not to use their technology for weapons. We are not recruiting Mr. Stark to subdue that arrangement."

"It's a mistake if you ask me," Galloway said, making his anger clear. "One day they're gonna turn on us."

"Your concern is noted," Hackett said. "Now are you leaving or do we have to throw you out like Captain Lennox did when you tried to subdue his mission in Egypt?"

Galloway bristled visibly. "Just so you know, I will have the Captain court martialed for that."

"Sure you will," Hackett said as Galloway was pushed out of the room by the guards.

"The president will hear about this!" Galloway called from the hall just as a young man in military garb walked into the room.

"So," Stark said, bringing the admiral's attention to him. "If I am not here to make weapons, which I do not do anymore, then why am I here?"

"You are here to help us make better ways to keep our men from being hurt," Hackett replied. "It's all about defense, not offense. You would be a great asset to our mission. We face a special kind of enemy. One that requires special kinds of allies."

"I'm not agreeing to anything until you tell me what it is that Galloway wouldn't tell me," Stark replied.

Hackett looked at Stark for a moment, analyzing him. He then motioned toward the door. "If you would follow me, Mr. Stark, all will be revealed," he answered.

~Simulator, Autobot Base, Outskirts of Jasper, Nevada, Shade's PoV~

"Cloaker about to shoot at you," I said. "Your ten o'clock, sis."

Stormbreaker backed up on the bridge just as a Plasma Cannon shot whizzed by where she had been peeking over the edge of the bridge to shoot at an enemy underneath our bridge.

"Rocket on our left," Pathbreaker reported.

I looked over in time to see him gun down a rocket trooper in vehicle form just as Arcee kicked the helm off of another rocket trooper. I smirked a bit even as I gunned down the third one that had spawned there.

"How many are left in this wave?" Stormbreaker asked, firing an arrow into the helm of a cloaker.

"Nice shot," I said, looking at the fallen cloaker before it dissipated. "As for your question, I am not sure. It looks like they are still spawning." As I spoke, I aimed my Nucleon Charge Rifle I had gotten between waves at a rocket trooper on the ground.

"I think we're getting close to the point limit of this wave," Pathbreaker said as I took of the helm on the rocket trooper.

"I definitely like this gun better for sniping," I commented as I backed up to reload.

"We have a few in our armory," Arcee said.

The rest of the wave went pretty fast. When it was just down to the spider bots scurrying around, we killed all but one. I ran around distracting the spider while the others replenished their ammo and Stormbreaker got a Subsonic Repeater to try out.

After they got all of what they needed, Pathbreaker took over distracting the spider by kicking it lightly with his pede. While he did that, I went and replenished my own ammo as well as depositing my points in the next door we wanted to open. After I was done with that, my brother stomped on the spider and the four of us returned to our spot.

"This is fun," Stormbreaker said, a grin on her face. "It's been so long since we've done something just to do it."

I grinned back. "It has," I said. "It's nice to just kick back, relax and shoot some virtual butt instead of real butt."

"I never had the time to relax before," Arcee said. "Not since the war started."

"We'll have to fix that," I said, glancing up at the timer to see how many microkliks were left until the fifth wave started. It would start in about two microkliks.

"Definitely! We all need to relax sometimes," Stormbreaker said, checking the ammo on her weapons despite having just reloaded.

Arcee smirked. "And shooting virtual 'Cons is relaxing," she said.

"And here I thought making new weapons with me was relaxing," Pathbreaker joked, his voice set in a dry deadpan.

"That's relaxing, just not in the way this is." Arcee smiled.

"You say that like hanging out with me is inferior to shooting fake Decepticons," my brother observed, faceplate blank, but with smiling optics.

The blue and pink femme pretended to shrug indifferently. "Well, sometimes people just can't compare to a video game."

"I feel so wanted," Pathbreaker drawled.

I glanced over at the others and smiled to myself as I listened to my brother and Arcee banter. I had noticed them getting close to each ever since they had been stuck in the Antarctic with Optimus. I wasn't sure exactly what it would mean in the future, but I was happy that they were getting close. I also found it uncanny how similar it was to the banter they shared in Pathbreaker's old story he was writing before we ended up here.

"What's so funny?" Stormbreaker asked as I broke into chuckles as she stepped up next to me.

I pointed toward our brother and Arcee. "Them," I said. "Remind you of anything?"

Stormbreaker glanced over to our two fellow Autobots and then looked back at me with a grin. "How much you want to bet they end up together, like he was going to do with his character in FC?" she asked.

I gave her a flat look, well as flat as it could get with amusement written all over my face. "I do not bet on other's relationships," I answered.

Stormbreaker shook her helm, laughing. Whether she was laughing at my poor attempt to not show my amusement at her prediction or at the fact our brother and Arcee's banter was quite humorous was up in the air.

My thoughts were interrupted when the wave started with a number of seekers flying in, one of which went directly for doing a bomb drop on our location. I quickly dodged as Pathbreaker shot it down before it got much further than where I had been standing.

I switched to the automatic weapon I had started out with and fired at one of the four other seekers that had spawned right off the bat. They were all too close to use the Nucleon Charge Rifle as it was better for long distance, where I would have enough time to aim. A few shots hit the wings before I landed a shot on one of the wings, tearing it off the seeker's body. I smirked to myself as the seeker plummeted toward the ground, exploding in a shower of light as it hit the ground below the bridge.

"Up, up up," I heard my brother say and I looked over just as a seeker exploded into light just short of where he was standing. "Why do they always go after me?"

"Because they think you look tasty," I said, grinning as my statement sent Stormbreaker into a laughing fit, causing Arcee to have to shoot the Rocket Trooper behind her so it didn't take her down in her laughing fit.

"You realize you basically just called your own frametype cannibals, right?" Pathbreaker deadpanned.

I grinned as I looked over the map to see where the other enemies were. I was just switching to my Nucleon Charge Rifle when an explosion behind me knocked me off my pedes and over the edge with a bunch of flailing limbs.

"Whoa!" I said, transforming before I hit the ground and immediately flying back to the bridge, dodging several bullets and being hit by a few, sending small electrical shocks through the areas I was hit.

"That was very graceful of you," Pathbreaker commented on my very ungraceful fall.

"Oh shush," I said, glaring at him, though my mouth twitched in an amused smile. "I was snuck up on."

I looked around to make sure there were no more immediate threats in the form of Rocket Troopers spawning in our spot or Seekers spawning in the map. When I found none, I turned and looked through the scope on the Nucleon Charge Rifle. I found a disturbance in the air that was clearly a Cloaker and shot. I missed the 'Con's helm, but I did hit its shoulder, taking down the cloak before firing another shot as it attempted to flee. The second shot hit right next to where the spark would've been and the Cloaker fell, exploding into a shower of light.

I looked up in time to see a Seeker spawn across the map and then aimed my weapon at it. I patiently waited as I lined up a shot directly where its helm was hidden beneath armor and then fired. The bullet pierced the armor, but didn't quite reach the target, merely slowing the Seeker's progress as it straightened out from being knocked out of balance. I waited until I had a second shot lined up in the same spot and then fired again, taking the Seeker down before it could get close enough to cause any problems.

I looked around my scope just in time to hear the door to the simulator open below our bridge. I turned my helm, poking it over the edge to see who was entering. Below were Jazz and Prowl, Prowl not looking entirely happy, which probably meant Jazz had dragged him into this. I grinned to myself and then shot a 'Con that was running toward the two mechs.

"We got more company," I reported. "Cover me while I go fetch them."

"Will do, sis," Stormbreaker answered.

With that settled, I flung myself over the edge of the bridge, holding onto the edge so I swung beneath it. I landed a little heavier than I had intended and stumbled off of the destroyed tank that had served as my landing spot.

"Omf!" I let out as I face-planted on the ground.

"That was the most graceful landing ever!" I heard my sister call from above.

Jazz's laughter reached my audios as I got up and brushed myself off, knocking the swarming spiders away from me as my fellow Autobots laid down covering fire from above. My wings twitch to show my displeasure at the teasing and if I were still human I would've been blushing, instead my cooling fans kicked on a notch.

"I apologize for interrupting your session," Prowl said.

I waved him off. "Nah, we were hoping to be joined," I said. "Arcee's joined us a few waves ago. We're all up in our spot. I came down to give you a lift."

"Why do we need a lift?" Prowl asked, his doorwings shifting ever so slightly, a subtle sign that he did not like the idea that a lift would require physical touch.

"Our spot is up there," I said, pointing up before pausing to grab the Trooper that had ran up beside me to attempt a physical confrontation. I turned, slamming the Trooper into the tank beside me before shooting its helm off with my default weapon. "I can transform and you can ride on top of me. I would not want to make you uncomfortable. If you wish to stay on the ground, you can, but I recommend joining us."

"Ah'll join ya," Jazz was quick to say.

With that I transformed and waited for Jazz to climb on before slowly flying around to head back up. I fired a couple missiles from my alt mode at a group of 'Cons that had been heading our way, taking them out as Jazz grabbed Prowl's servo to pull him up with us. Since I had not been expecting him to do that, I wobbled, tilting to the side Prowl was on.

"Jazz!" I heard Prowl say. "This is not a good idea."

"Oh come on, Prowlers," Jazz grinned. "It saves her a second trip."

I grumbled slightly as I forcibly straightened back out, thankful that Jazz had a good grip on Prowl and flew up to the bridge. Once I was above the bridge I rolled to drop Jazz unceremoniously onto the bridge, consequently dropping Prowl as well, ending with Jazz on top of the poor mech.

"Sorry, Prowl," I apologized. "Jazz is just too heavy."

"Are you calling me fat?" Jazz asked with mock hurt as he got up, helping his friend up as well.

"Maybe," I said, smirking as I transformed and landed. I felt something hit my helm and looked to see a dead stun grenade hit the floor of the bridge.

"Don't call Jazz fat, it's not nice," Stormbreaker said, servos on her hips.

"He's the one who decided I could carry both him and Prowl at the same time," I deadpanned.

"Ya did," Jazz pointed out.

"It would've been wise to inform both her and myself of your plan beforehand," Prowl stated, checking his weapon over in order to understand it. "You are lucky I didn't shoot you."

Jazz placed a servo over his spark in mock hurt. "Prowlers! I'm hurt that you would shoot meh!" he said.

Prowl's doorwings twitched. "Don't call me that," he said. "My name is Prowl, not 'Prowlers'."

I gave Prowl a sympathetic look as I turned to return to sniping. I took up a position on my belly right next to the debris, resting the end of my Nucleon Charge Rifle on the edge of the bridge. I moved my aim until I found a Rocket Trooper running around on the ground. I lined up a shot on its helm and was about to pull the trigger when it fell.

"Hey!" I protested. "I had a perfect shot on that guy!" I pouted over at the others.

Jazz grinned, proving that he was the obvious culprit with the gleam behind his visor. "Sorry 'bout dat!"

"No you're not," Pathbreaker said matter-of-factly.

Jazz grinned and I just rolled my optics as my sister laughed. I couldn't help but chuckle when Stormbreaker suddenly grew awkward when Jazz walked over to join her in fighting in her area. It wasn't hard to tell she had developed some sort of feelings for the mech and wasn't sure how to react to them. In a way, I was a bit jealous of them, having bots they could potentially have a future with. But I didn't dwell on it; if I was meant to be with a bot, I would find one.

Meanwhile, I aimed my rifle at another virtual Decepticon and shot their helm off.

~Storage Area 23, Area 51, Southern Nevada, Normal PoV~

Admiral Hackett waited about ten feet away from the door between the room they were in and the hallway on the other side. He stood a few feet away the remains of Decepticons that filled the room. While they were prevented from making weapons out of their findings by the treaty with the Autobots, they studied the technology in hopes of furthering other aspects of technology—environmentally safe cars and general advancements that would wreak less havoc on the environment while at the same time be more efficient.

Hackett was waiting for Tony Stark to finish his examinations of the remains. Every now and then the former weapons engineer would make a comment about the kind of technology he was looking at. After several minutes Stark walked back over toward Hackett.

"You need to tell me where all this came from, because it is clearly not made by humans," Stark said. He waved his hands at the remains. "A lot of this is more advance than even my technology, so I can't even accuse you of stealing my tech. So spill it big guy. What's your secret?"

"I am sure you heard about the incident in Shamsi back in 2007," Hackett said, watching Stark for his reaction.

"Yeah, I did," Stark said. "A giant robot crashed right next to it. It took out several U.S. soldiers and the government covered it up, made it look like an asteroid hit the center of the base."

Hackett nodded. "That was a crashing alien from another planet," he reported. "A Decepticon sent to scout our world to see if it was useful. He's now sitting behind you."

Stark looked back at the remains of the Decepticon with his usual detachment, then back at Hackett. "Let me guess, they found something they wanted and more arrived."

Hackett nodded. "More Decepticons arrived and on their tail the Autobots arrived," he said. "At first we thought they were enemies as well. Until they saved a squad of soldiers from a Decepticon strike on their camp."

"That's the second time you've mentioned Autobots," Stark said. "Who exactly are they?"

"If you would follow me to the debriefing room, we will explain everything to you in more detail," Hackett said, already turning to head out the door.

Stark looked like he might protest being taken to another room, but he shrugged and followed behind. He could just hack into their database and find out anything Hackett didn't tell him. He wouldn't agree to anything until he knew what he was being asked to do.

Hackett led Stark through numerous halls until he reached the debriefing room Agent Fowler had gone to set up. When he led the genius into the room, Agent Fowler was struggling with a projector, trying to get it to work.

"In the name of Uncle Sam's beard, work!" Fowler growled and smacked the projector.

"I don't think that's gonna fix it," Stark commented off-handedly as he looked around the room.

"Now I understand why Ratchet is always grumbling about our tech," Fowler said. "It never works right."

"Is everything ready to debrief Mr. Stark?" Hackett asked.

"As soon as I get this thing to work," Fowler said, adjusting a couple things on the projector. He set it down and it started to work before dying. "For Lady Liberty's sake! Is it too much to ask for a new projector?!"

"Here, let me see it," Stark said, walking over. He picked up the projector and tweaked a few things before setting it back down and pressing the 'on' button.

The projector whirled to life and displayed an image on the white screen Fowler had set up in front of it. The image was of a file on the Autobots, detailing a report about first contact.

"So what am I looking at here?" Stark asked, leaning against the table the projector was sitting on. He picked up a pen and started clicking it like a child who couldn't sit still during class.

"This is the report filed by then Second Lieutenant Lennox back in 2007, when the Autobots saved his squad from a Decepticon attack," Fowler answered.

"His squad was stationed in Shamsi to help locate and take out the threat that arrived a few weeks before the Autobots arrived," Hackett said. "They were returning from patrol when a Decepticon by the name of Dead End attacked them."

"Lennox lost two of his squad before a large blue and pink robot by the name of Arcee," Fowler started to continue the story.

Fowler pressed a button on a remote and the image changed to show a picture of Arcee locked in combat with Dead End, taken by Corporal Epps at the scene. Stark blinked at the image and the obvious differences between Arcee and Dead End that looked distinctly like gender differences.

Stark tilted his head at the image, still blinking. "Do they have genders? Because I know of no men with hips and a chest like that. Well, besides Obadiah. At least on the chest part. Always told him to lose weight."

"Yes, Mr. Stark," Fowler replied, ignoring Stark's other comments. "They have genders. There are currently three female Autobots on Earth and eleven male Autobots on Earth."

Stark blinked for a moment. "But they're robots," he said. "Robots don't have gender."

"As stated previously, they are aliens from another planet," Hackett pointed.

"And they prefer the term 'autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron'," Fowler supplied. "It's not a good idea to call them robots to their faces."

Stark stared for another moment at the picture, specifically Arcee, before turning toward Fowler—he seemed to have experience with them. "Do they, you know, make babies?" he asked.

Fowler coughed and looked a little awkward. "Well, uh, that's not really something I have asked the bots," he said, envying Hackett's ability to look unphased. "But presumably, they have the ability. Their race has been around longer than the Earth itself."

"Huh," Stark said, looking thoughtful.

"We've gotten off track here, Mr. Stark," Hackett pointed out.

"Oh yes, please continue," Stark answered.

"The fight itself only lasted a few minutes," Hackett noted, pointing out the timestamp on the picture and then the one taken at the end of the fight. "Dead End wasn't much of a threat to Arcee."

"She a good fighter, then?" Stark asked.

Hackett gave him a flat look. "Very."

"After Arcee saved Lennox's squad, we made first contact with the team," Fowler picked up from where he had left off. He changed the picture to show the six Autobots that had made up the team back then. "Ever since we have had a tentative alliance with them and we even have experienced three years hearing nothing from the Decepticons. During that time the Autobots mostly searched for resources to sustain themselves and aided us in advancing some of our technologies."

"I recall you saying they wouldn't allow you to make weapons with their technology," Stark commented, looking at Hackett curiously.

Hackett nodded. "It is part of our agreement," he said. "Idiots like Galloway are always trying to get them to budge, but Optimus Prime refuses. He believes giving us their weapons will do more harm than good."

"Who's Optimus Prime?" Stark asked.

"Their leader," Hackett answered, nodding toward the image of the Prime. "He was the one who agreed to helping develop some of our technology, and refuses to allow us to examine most of theirs."

"Well, I can't blame him there," Stark said.

"I can't say that I do either," Fowler replied. He turned to the screen and clicked a button to show a picture of the Nemesis. "Recently the Decepticons have become more active and the Autobots have foiled their plots a number of times since their re-emergence. They have suffered loss in protecting Earth from this threat, but their team has also grown in recent months." The picture changed to show the fourteen current residents.

"Wasn't there a red one before?" Stark asked, analyzing the photo.

Fowler nodded and changed the photo to show Cliffjumper's file. "His name was Cliffjumper," he reported. "He was lost a few months ago when the Decepticons reared their ugly heads from wherever they were hiding. He was a little hot headed and a good fighter. Unfortunately he had a habit of jumping into things without backup. Ultimately that habit got him captured and killed by Starscream." He switched the picture to show the Decepticon seeker.

"In Megatron's absence, Starscream has been running the Decepticons," Hackett explained. "He is unpredictable, which makes him a dangerous foe. It is unknown why he laid in silence those three years."

"Can I get a head count of who we'll be working with and who is our enemy?" Stark asked. "If I'm to help with anything, I will not be kept in the dark."

Hackett and Fowler shared a look before Fowler looked back at Stark. "We anticipated that, so I took the liberty of creating dossiers," Fowler answered. "We'll start with Optimus Prime, the leader of the bunch."

Fowler changed the picture to show the file on Optimus. "Optimus Prime is a steadfast leader and from what I can tell, all of the Autobots under him admire him. He inspires the kind of loyalty that would have you jumping off a bridge if he asked it, if only because there would be something there to catch you or he wouldn't ask it of you."

Fowler played a clip of Optimus in one of the skirmishes. It was clear that Optimus did his best to be sure no bot under his command came into anymore harm than necessary.

"He's led the Autobots through the war since the beginning and eventually led them here when the Decepticons began to threaten our planet," Hackett added. "He's proven to be very determined to keep our planet from suffering the same fate as Cybertron."

"What happened to Cybertron?" Stark asked.

"It was ravaged by war and can no longer support life," Fowler replied. "Optimus has made it clear he does not intend to allow that to happen to us. It is part of the reason he refuses to allow us access to their weapons technology."

"I noticed those corpses seemed to be stripped of some of their technology," Stark said. "I'm assuming that's their doing."

Hackett nodded. "Before being shipped here, the Autobots salvage what they need and remove anything that could be turned into a weapon," he replied. "With such limited resources they can use, they have to get certain supplies anyway they can."

"None of them seem particularly happy about cannibalizing their fellow Cybertronians," Fowler said. "Even if they are evil."

Fowler changed the picture to show the file on Arcee. "You saw Arcee earlier," he said. "She's significantly smaller than some of the others, but she's no less deadly to the enemy."

He played a clip, showing Arcee in the simulator and her score was shown in the top left corner. The score was nearing nine thousand and going up as each second passed be. She moved swiftly and gracefully with a deadly precision that Stark couldn't help but admire.

"A femme of few words, she gets the job done without question, and gets it done well. She was partnered with Cliffjumper before he was killed, and was hit hardest when he passed. She is guardian to Jackson Darby, a civilian who got caught up in the mix when he and Rafael Esquivel witnessed a battle between the 'Bots and 'Cons." He switched the picture to one of Jack riding on Arcee's motorcycle form into base.

"You guys have civilians involved in this? Children?" Stark asked.

"The Decepticons assumed they were allies of the Autobots when they witnessed the fight," Hackett answered. "Optimus feels it best to keep the children under their protection. If the Decepticons went after them, they would be helpless."

"Besides Jack, there is also Rafael," Fowler said, displaying a picture of Raf looking concentrated on a laptop. "He's a lot like you, Stark, minus the womanizing. He provides a lot of technical support for Ratchet, since he has problems with the human technology filling their base. At twelve, I would say he is quite impressive."

"His guardian is Bumblebee, the team scout," Hackett added as Fowler put up a picture of the yellow and black mech with Raf sitting on his shoulder.

"While Arcee is a bot of few words, Bumblebee doesn't speak at all, that we can understand," Fowler provided. "For good reason. The poor kid got his voicebox ripped out back during the war by Megatron himself. It was damaged beyond repair and Bumblebee only speaks in beeps and whistles because of it. Only the bots and Rafael can understand him. The warrior in training has more than proved himself in battle, you gotta wonder why he hasn't been promoted." Fowler played a clip of Bumblebee taking on a whole squad of Vehicons by himself before being backed up by a larger mech that was mostly an army green.

"The big guy is Bulkhead," Hackett supplied as Fowler paused the clip and zoomed in on Bulkhead.

"Bulkhead and I don't always see eye to eye," Fowler explained. "When I first learned of the kids' involvement, he went as far as to break the telephone to keep me from taking them into custody. He's the first to admit he's no rocket scientist, but what he lacks in brain power, he more than makes up in brute strength." He paused to play a clip of Bulkhead pummeling a larger Decepticon, coming out of the match on top. "He is guardian to the last of the civilians who have become involved, Miko Nakadai." A pictured appeared of Miko with a guitar in her hands.

"Miko, from what I understand of Optimus and Fowler's reports, is the reckless one of the bunch," Hackett supplied. "Often running after the bots through the Ground Bridge and right into the middle of a battle ground. Despite this, the Autobots have done a considerable job to keep her from harm. Though all attempts to keep her in base seem doomed to failure." A clip played of a purple and silver female with wings trying, and failing, to catch Miko before the young girl disappeared through the Ground Bridge.

Fowler paused and zoomed in on the femme, who looked slightly panicked about Miko's determination to join the fray. "One of the Autobots newest additions, Shadebreaker is often the one to first notice Miko trying to follow her guardian into battle," he supplied.

"She is one of three interesting cases among the Autobots," Hackett supplied. "But we will cover them last, as they will take a bit more explaining." He looked at Fowler, who nodded and changed the picture to show a red and white mech with a crest on his helm.

"The science aspect is covered mostly by Ratchet," Fowler said. "The medic of the team, he can be tightly wound and is known for throwing wrenches and having a terrible bedside manner. He brings his a-game when the situation calls for it, but he is mostly in a supportive role."

Fowler played a clip of Ratchet working in the medbay, repairing some damage done to one of the bots. Stark could see what he had meant when he said the doc has a terrible bedside manner as the mech didn't seem to have much sympathy for his patients.

"Recently, the Autobots have added a set of twins to their team, known as Sunstreaker and Sideswipe," Hackett reported.

Fowler changed the picture and showed a picture of a red mech side by side with a yellow mech. The red mech had a huge grin plastered on his face while the yellow seemed to have an eternal scowl. "They are quite the mischievous pair, known for their pranks," Fowler said. "Despite their immaturity off of the battle field, on it they are quite the force to be reckoned with. They're frontliners and I certainly wouldn't want to be on their bad side." A clip played of them tearing up a battlefield just on their own.

"You called them twins?" Stark asked.

"I believe Ratchet described them specifically as split spark twins," Fowler answered. "I'm not entirely sure how that makes them different from regular twins."

Stark bit the end of the pen he held in thought.

"Next on the line up is Ironhide," Fowler said, bringing up a picture of an all black mech. "Their Weapons Specialist, Ironhide maintains the armory and knows every weapon inside and out. He packs a punch on the battlefield and is one of the most intimidating members of Optimus's team. He is not one you want to aim a weapon at."

A clip was played of Ironhide on the battlefield. His favorite weapons seemed to be a couple large cannons mounted on his arms and at one point in the clip he ripped one of the larger Decepticons in two with his bare hands.

"Prowl is Optimus's second-in-command and a very strict law enforcer," Hackett continued as Fowler changed the picture to show Prowl's file. "He's by the book down to the dots and is a very capable soldier."

"Prowl runs almost entirely on logic," Fowler said. "If something is too illogical, he'll crash." He played a clip of Prowl freezing and falling over as some of the other bots hovered over his fallen frame. "It's like an overrun computer with a glitch in its system. Ratchet has said that his logical center is overdeveloped, causing this glitch that causes him to crash when faced with extreme illogicalness."

"Jazz is the sabotage expert," Hackett said as the picture changed to that of the saboteur. "He's also quite a good spy."

"I wouldn't want him to have cause to blackmail me," Fowler said. "He's a reliable soldier. He likes to speak in a southern accent, though if he drops it that's when you know it's gotten serious. He's fun-loving and Prowl's polar opposite. Despite this, the two seem to be very good friends. He's also one of the best soldiers I've ever met."

A clip played of Jazz casually talking with the other bots. It was clear he was one of the more cheerful bots and to Stark it appeared that he was hitting on one of the femmes. The femme he was hitting on said something and Jazz burst into laughter before the clip changed.

"The next one on our list is a mech named Wheeljack," Hackett explained as Fowler played a clip of Wheeljack working on something before it exploded. "He is known for having his first prototype of anything explode."

"If he invented a pen, it would explode," Fowler put in. "As the Autobot's inventor, it is wise to stay out of his lab while a project is underway. He's created a number of useful gadgets for the Autobots, sometimes aided by the mech named Pathbreaker. The Autobots are equipped with personal shields created by Wheeljack and Pathbreaker. I have heard numerous recountings of other inventions the mech has created before, during and after the war on Cybertron."

"He will likely be one of the ones you work with most if you agree to join our alliance," Hackett stated, looking at Stark.

"Springer is the next," Fowler said, changing the picture to one of the green triple changer. "He's a Wrecker, same unit as Bulkhead and Ironhide. The Wreckers are like the U.S. Special Ops. They operate separate from the chain of command, but they have declared loyalty to Optimus Prime. Unlike Bulkhead and Ironhide, however, Springer is not always easy to be around. Especially if there is a femme nearby. On a number of occasions, he's suffered harsh words and punishments, because many of his crude comments made about one of the femmes on base are sometimes viewed as a threat to unit cohesion."

A clip played where Springer was clearly hitting on Arcee, with the femme looking none too pleased about the mech's attempted advances. After a couple sentences, a black mech walked by, slapping Springer on the back of the head as he passed. He shared a greeting with Arcee before continuing on his way.

"That black one wants to make babies with her," Stark commented. A thoughtful look crossed his face, and he asked, "How do they make babies?"

Fowler looked momentarily confused before rolling his eyes, dragging a hand down his face.

"Outside of his personal issues, Springer is a good soldier and he gets the job done when no bot else can," Hackett said, rerouting the conversation to G-rated instead of R-rated. "He's reliable on the battlefield."

"Just don't let him near your girlfriend," Fowler said, humor in his voice.

"The next three we are about to tell you about are unique cases," Hackett continued.

"We've all taken to calling them the Breakers," Fowler commented as he brought a picture with a large all black mech standing center, the one who had slapped Springer in the back of the head. On the mech's left stood Shadebreaker and on his right stood the femme Stark had seen Jazz hitting on earlier. All three had wings on their backs, though the mech appeared to have wheels as well.

"So what's so unique about them?" Stark asked, gnawing on his pen before picking up a notepad and scratching something on it.

Hackett and Fowler shared a look before looking back at the nonchalant billionaire genius leaning against the table.

"What makes them so unique, Mr. Stark," Hackett explained. "Is that they used to be human."

Stark paused in whatever he was doing to look up. "Wait, what? How is that even possible?" he asked.

"We don't know," Fowler said, bringing up a picture of the three's holoforms, the only representation they had of the bots' former selves. "Ratchet has said nothing like it has happened before. Energon is poisonous to humans; it kills if one is exposed to it too long. Somehow, when these three were exposed to it, instead becoming ill and dying, they changed."

"It's the second time a human has been affected by Energon," Hackett reported. "In the first case, the soldier became ill within two hours of contact and died within a week. That was only a splash. These three practically swam in it. Our concern—and one of the reason we are recruiting you, Mr. Stark—is that it'll happen again and with no definitive answer on if it affects everyone the same, we'd rather not risk it at all. We are hoping to develop a way to protect our soldiers or anyone who may come in contact with Energon."

Stark nodded. "I can see your concern," he said. "What else can you tell me about these three?"

"We mentioned Shadebreaker earlier," Fowler said, bringing up a picture of the femme apparently snapped while she was fighting in some kind of simulated battle if the scattered light was any indication. She had a rather large hammer out, having apparently smashed the virtual enemy with it.

"Not much is known yet about her previous life, but she isn't one to hide things," Hackett supplied. "In fact one of the reasons we chose to inform you of her past as a human is because she made it clear she wouldn't deny it nor would she make up a fake story if she were asked about her origins."

"What we do know is that she considers her fellow Breakers as siblings despite them not having any real familial connections," Fowler continued the thought. "She can be very quiet at times, while at others being the most talkative of those present. She took longer to learn than the others, but she is a capable fighter now that her training is over. She is also learning how to be a medic from Ratchet, though I have not heard how that is going."

"She is very protective of her fellow bots, especially her sister," Fowler continued before playing a clip.

In the clip, Springer was trying to make an advance on the blue femme, moving closer to the bot before being cut off by Shadebreaker. Stark almost felt bad for the mech at the sight of the anger on the purple femme's face as she pointed a finger at the mech. Her interruption brought on an argument between the two that made it clear they hated each other. The argument had to be broken up by Prowl before the two glared at each other and parted ways.

"Her sister in arms is named Stormbreaker," Hackett moved onto the next member of the trio as Fowler changed the photo to one of the blue femme with a big grin on her face. "She has also proved to be quite the capable fighter, though she prefers long range to close quarters, utilizing an Energon bow with a variety of arrows."

A clip played of Stormbreaker using her bow in a battle. She did appear to be quite effective with it and Stark noticed that some of the arrows exploded while others seemed to have a different effect. One type seemed to disable an opponent long enough for Shadebreaker, who was next to her, to easily snipe their heads off.

"She can disable just about anything electronical," Fowler put in. "She's also a bit of a goof ball at times and has aided the twins in a few pranks. I've also heard she spends quite a bit of time in the bots' library alongside her sister."

"The last member of the Breakers is Pathbreaker," Hackett said as a picture was brought up of the mech clearly hard at work on a weapon of some kind. "He's the heavy weapons specialist."

"This mech carries the two most powerful weapons I've seen a single bot carry at a time," Fowler stated, bringing up a picture of Pathbreaker holding up his Nucleon Shock Cannon. "With double-layered armor and an arsenal that would send chills up anyone's spine, he's a walking tank. Like Ironhide, he's not one I would point a gun at unless I had a death wise."

"Pathbreaker is also a bit of an inventor," Hackett added. "He is known to be working on several weapons upgrades and possibly a few all new weapons."

"Over time he has become Arcee's new partner in arms," Fowler said, bringing up a video of the two.

The two were locked in battle with the Decepticons, working side by side to take the other side down. It was clear that they made a good team, covering each other's blind spots and it was like each one knew where the other would be most of the time. When the Decepticons were taken care of, the two bots met up and started speaking.

"Further proof that he wants to make robo babies with her," Stark commented with a completely straight face. Then his face became mildly displeased. "Still wondering how they would go about that."

Hackett sighed longsufferingly and motioned for Agent Fowler to continue with the debrief.

"The Breakers are a formidable force in battle," Fowler said, bringing up a video of the three in battle alongside Arcee, Bumblebee and Optimus. "They work together well and watch out for their fellow Autobots." In the video, it was easy to see how all of the members of the team were watching out for each other.

"Any one of the Autobots would be a formidable foe to anything we could dish out," Hackett pointed out. "But together, they would be impossible to defeat. They're much better equipped to fight the Decepticons than we are."

"Alright, that's all of the bots," Fowler said, changing the picture again to show the picture of the fourteen Autobots. "Do you have any questions?"

"Yeah, just a couple," Stark answered. "Those last three, they had wings but none of the others appeared to have any. None that looked like they would actually work anyway."

"That's because the two femmes are what are called seekers," Fowler replied. "They have the ability to fly utilizing their airborne alternate modes. Pathbreaker is a triple changer, as is Springer—they also have the ability to fly as well as having ground based alt modes on top of their airborne ones."

Stark hummed in acknowledgement.

"What is your other question?" Fowler asked.

Stark looked at him. "Is there anyway we could get a couple of them in here so I can ask them how they make robot babies?"

This is going to be a long day, Hackett thought to himself, trying not to sigh.

~Simulator, Autobot Base, Jasper, Nevada, Shade's PoV~

"Brute below us," I pointed out, looking over the edge at the large simulated Decepticon. "Which means the ammo room is probably safe, anyone else need ammo?"

"I'm running low," Ironhide said.

"That's cause you've been hogging all the kills," Stormbreaker pouted.

"Not all of 'em," Jazz said, grinning as he glanced over at the scoreboard.

"I need ammo as well," Pathbreaker said, switching out to his last clip.

"Go," Arcee said. "We'll keep the brute busy." She checked her clip and then hopped over the edge of the bridge.

I blinked down at her before shaking my helm. "Crazy femme," I commented. I was thankful she didn't make a habit of straying from our spot.

I laid down covering fire with the others while Arcee kept the brute busy so it didn't go after those going after ammo. We had made it to wave nine and most of the bots had joined us by now. Ironhide and Bulkhead had joined us in the sixth wave with Wheeljack joining us the next wave. Bumblebee has just joined at the beginning of this wave. Needless to say our spot was getting pretty crowded.

"I think next time we all participate we are going to have to use a different tactic," I said, not looking away from my scope as Wheeljack stepped over me to get a good shot on a seeker before it could bomb us. "It is crowded up here."

"No kidding," Stormbreaker said before shooting an arrow through the helm of the very shotgunner that I had been about to shoot.

"Kill steal," I told her before searching for a new target.

"I shot him first," Stormbreaker stated.

I glanced over at her with a pout before turning back to my scope.

It was only a short time before the others returned. After they got back, Stormbreaker, Bumblebee, Wheeljack and I went to replenish our own supplies. On the way back to our spot, I stopped to give Arcee a lift back up.

"Just give me a sec," Arcee said, dodging to the side as the brute swung its hammer down at her.

I waited, watching as Arcee made her way behind the brute as the large mech turned its attention to me as I backed up. I felt shots whiz past me as the other enemies tried to shoot me only to be shot down by our teammates up above. Arcee landed a fatal blow on the brute's back with her arm blades and jumped back out of range of the explosion the brute caused when dying. The explosion took out two cloakers that had apparently standing too close to it.

"That's the second brute down this wave," I commented. "Not too shabby."

"This reminds of the Battle of Iacon," Arcee said as she climbed on top of my alt mode. "Except there were a lot more brutes and a lot bigger enemies there."

"Sounds like a story I might like to hear," I said as I began flying us back to our spot.

"Maybe I'll tell you sometime when we're not being shot at," Arcee answered.

We made it back to our spot and Arcee jumped onto the bridge before I transformed and landed on it. I took my sniping position back up next to the debris, keeping my wings flat so they weren't a good target and also wouldn't get kicked by anyone trying to get around me.

The wave only lasted a few more minutes. We had already taken down most of the wave's point budget before Arcee took out the brute she had been distracting. After that most of what had been left were cloakers, shotgunners and a seeker, all of which didn't stand a chance against our team of ten.

"This is just too easy," Ironhide said, checking his clip in his gun.

"It'll get harder as the waves progress," Pathbreaker noted as he readied his own weapon for the coming wave.

"We made it to wave fifty in the game before with just Path' and I," I commented. "So we made sure to make it harder than in the game, at least starting this next wave."

"It also makes it easier when we are using this spot," Wheeljack pointed out. "Perhaps next time we can fight down there." He pointed down toward the ground.

"That could be fun, especially if all of us are participating again," Stormbreaker answered, readying an arrow as the timer counted down to zero.

Almost immediately when the wave started, about ten rocket troopers spawned in the spawn point next to us and several seekers spawned as well. I pretty much ignored anything spawning on the ground as I focused on sniping the seekers out of the sky before they could do a bomb drop.

"Sis, watch out!" Stormbreaker called and I looked up to see a seeker about to bomb the spot I was laying.

I knew I wouldn't have time to line up a shot to take it out, so I rolled away. I barely got out of the way in time and watched as my brother leapt over me to take the seeker out with his swords. Once hit, the seeker went careening into the wall behind the bridge, exploding in a shower of light.

"That was close," I commented, tone calm as if it was a normal thing to be rolling out of the way of bombs.

"Maybe you shouldn't lay still," Stormbreaker said as Arcee helped me to my pedes.

"I'm alright," I said. "But I am tired of laying there."

As the other took out the remainder of the first wave of seekers and rocket troopers, I found myself a new spot. I chose to stand where the debris overlapped the wall behind us and looked over the debris. I was open to being shot from the side toward the back or any rocket troopers spawning at the other side of the bridge, but Bulkhead was covering the side of the bridge behind the debris, where the structure didn't block, so I trusted him to shoot anything that shot at me.

As I turned my sights to the enemies on the ground, satisfied that we wouldn't have to worry about anymore seekers for a few more kills, I heard the door to the simulator open. In response, several of the enemies started heading toward the door and I started picking them off, sniping off their helms as they ran into my sights.

I heard a deep war cry and then searched out the source. The first of the heavy gunners were stepping into the fray, followed shortly by the second. The heavy gunners were one of the two largest of the enemies we had faced so far, including this wave. They were as tall as the brutes, but slimmer and each carried a large, four barrelled Ion Displacer, which were quickly turned on the bot who had entered the room.

"Springer! Up here!" Bulkhead call out and I groaned.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Springer called back.

"Except when it comes to leaving my sister and friend alone," I muttered to myself where no one could hear, wings twitching. Why did it have to be him?

It wasn't long before the sound of transformation had me looking over my shoulder as Springer landed next to Bulkhead.

"The party has arrived," Springer said, hefting a weapon he likely picked up from the simulator arsenal right outside.

I rolled my optics and turned back to my sniping. Maybe if I just ignored him, it would be like he wasn't even there..

"Hey sweet cheeks, what do you say we stand together as we shoot the 'Cons?" I heard Springer say.

Arcee was about to respond when I turned and fired a shot next to Springer's helm, causing Jazz to duck underneath it. I probably should've made sure no one was standing in the way.

"No flirting on the battlefield," I said, glaring at the mech. "Unless you want to be shot."

Springer glared right back. "Shoot at me again, I dare you," he said. "I don't need no sniper wannabe telling me what to do. I will flirt with Arcee if I want to."

"Take a step toward either of them. I dare you," Pathbreak said, voice hard as stone as his cobalt optics stared coldly into Springer's light blue ones.

"Alright, alright, break it up," Ironhide said, stepping in between Pathbreaker and Springer. "We are also not here to hear you three bicker. Springer, go over and help Bulkhead cover the rear, Shadebreaker and Pathbreaker, you stay on this side of the bridge with the rest of us. Kapeesh?"

"Yes sir," Springer, Pathbreaker, and I all said and I moved to find a new sniping spot as Springer went back over to where Bulkhead was, while my brother stepped out more into the open to get clear shots as some enemies.

"Ya nearly shot me," Jazz pointed out when I joined him and my sister where they were positioned.

"I am sorry," I said sincerely. "I should've looked before I shot."

"'Cee can take care o' herself, ya know," Jazz pointed out as I took aim at the back of a brute who was running the other way, likely to a spot where he could shoot rockets at us.

"I don't want to deal with him hitting on her or my sister," I said. "You do the same when you catch him hitting on Storm'."

Jazz was silent a moment. "Touche," he said before turning to shoot a rocket trooper as a few spawned next to us.

"Wait, what?" Stormbreaker asked, clearly not being aware of Jazz's defense of her when she wasn't around.

"Nothing, sis," I said. "I'll tell you later."

I felt her optics on me for a few moments before she replied. "Ok," she said, seeing that I wasn't really in the mood for talking about it.

"Watch out!" Ironhide called.

I looked up in time to see a seeker flying toward us, clearing doing a bomb drop. I leapt out of the way, but miscalculated my jump and fell of the bridge. I felt someone catch my wrist and looked up to see Prowl as he pulled me back up. I sighed, thankful that Autobots looked out for each other.

"Thank you, Prowl," I said, nodding to him as I stood.

Prowl nodded his acknowledgement before returning to shooting the 'Cons.

As he did that and I went back to my new spot with the others, my brother took the seeker down with a burst from the Scrapmaker he had picked up several waves back. I ignored the rain of light as I searched the skies for anymore seekers in order to take them out before they became a problem. I found a couple, but both were taken out before I had a chance to shoot, so I returned to the ground troops.

The brute was still running around, clearly not able to decide where the best spot to fire at us was. I frowned in concentration as I focused on him, but not so much that I couldn't sidestep the shots being fired by the heavy gunners up at us. As Ironhide, Jazz, and my siblings focused fire on the two heavies, I focused on shooting the brute's back whenever it was visible. I noticed I wasn't the only one, but didn't bother to see who else was shooting it. It didn't matter who would get the kill in the end.

As we all focused on the big guys, the others focused on the little guys and keeping the bridge and sky clear of annoyances such as rocket troopers and seekers. After several clips, the heavies and brute all went down at around the same time. Once that was done, I checked my ammo and found I only had two clips left.

"I'm going for more ammo, anyone else need to join me?" I called.

"I need ammo, I never reloaded last round," Arcee replied.

.:I need some as well,:. Bumblebee said, checking his own weapon.

"I'll go over first, to make sure the room is clear," Pathbreaker said, placing a fresh clip in his Scrapmaker. "The big guys might've respawned in there."

"I'm going too in that case," Ironhide said, walking over to him. "If they're all in there, you'll need back up."

Pathbreaker shook his helm. "If they're all in there, I'm coming right back," he said. "One is easier to evacuate."

I rolled my optics. "Just don't get shot so much you are kicked out of the wave," I told him.

"I won't," Pathbreaker answered and transformed before flying toward the room we got ammo from.

I watched as he went into the ammo room and then turned to see if I could shoot anything while we waited for the all-clear. I shot a seeker out of the sky as it tried to follow my brother, not about to let him have to deal with more than he needed to.

"All clear," Pathbreaker reported a few minutes later as he landed back on the bridge. "But I would make it quick."

"Got it," Arcee said as I nodded.

I transformed and allowed Arcee and Bumblebee to climb on. It was easier to carry these two than Jazz and Prowl, since Arcee was much lighter and Bumblebee balanced his weight so that he wasn't weighing down one side more than the other. It still wasn't as fast a trip as if I was only carrying one of them, but I was the only flyer currently in need of ammo.

When we made it to the room, it was empty except for a cloaker that had apparently stayed when my brother left the room. Arcee quickly took it down as she and Bumblebee took up defensive positions while I got a few clips from the ammo depot. We took turns like this until a heavy started walking in the room from the stairs.

"Might want to hurry up there, 'Cee," I said, backing up slightly so I could use the wall as cover. "We got a heavy coming in."

"Just one moment," she said, doing something to the ammo depot.

.:What are you doing?:. Bumblebee asked, glancing over his shoulder at Arcee.

"You'll see," Arcee replied.

Her tone made me feel like she was about to blow something up, but I didn't have time to wonder as I shot a few shots off at the heavy to slow it down.

"We don't have all day, Arcee!" I said, glancing around when I heard the roar of another heavy from somewhere on the map. When I was satisfied it wasn't in or near the room we were in, I fired at the one that was again.

"Almost got it," Arcee said and I heard some clanking from the depot before a final click and clunk. "Got it."

I looked over in time to see Arcee picking up a rocket launcher that had apparently dropped out of the ammo depot. My wings twitched upward in surprise and I gaped for a moment before shutting my mouth. I continued to blink in surprise as Arcee hefted the large weapon and fired a shot off at the heavy, blowing it up along with a couple surrounding cloakers that had apparently been coming up by it.

.:Whoa,:. Bumblebee said.

"I did not realize you could do that with ammo depots," I said, surprise still evident in my voice.

"Now you know," Arcee replied with a smile, strapping the rocket launcher to her backplates. The weapon was almost bigger than she was. "Let's get back to the others before the next one decides we're good targets." As she spoke, she started for the door, walking past me as I still stood stunned.

I heard her footsteps stop and turned to see why and almost panicked when I saw the brute standing in our way.

"Well, if it's not one thing," I said, wishing I had a heavier weapon than the ones I did.

.:Will a rocket work on their front?:. Bumblebee asked as Arcee reached for the heavy weapon holstered on her backplates.

Before Arcee even had the chance to bring her rocket launcher to bear to find out, the brute stumbled forward, and a large sword pierced his chest before it was pulled back out.

"I'll...kill...you!" the brute called out, turning to show us a sparking back, which I promptly shot despite it already being about to blow.

"Really?" Pathbreaker asked as the brute died and points were added to my score. "I save you and you steal my kill."

I couldn't help the guilty, non-apologetic grin that formed on my face. "I couldn't resist," I said. "Everyone has stolen my kills during this."

"I'm not talking to you for ten seconds," Pathbreaker said in a deadpan, turning away and transforming. "Come on, Arcee, I'll give you a lift."

I shook my helm at him, chuckling to myself as the two headed back. "Come on, 'Bee," I said, transforming into my alt mode. "Best not wait to see if the next one will spawn here."

It was a short flight back to our spot where we rejoined the others in picking off the simulated Decepticons from above.

~Area 51, Southern Nevada, Normal PoV~

"So," Agent Fowler said, turning the slideshow off after giving Stark a rundown of their enemies. "Will you join us?"

Stark looked at Fowler and then at Hackett with his usual disinterested expression. "On one condition," he said. "I get to meet them today."

Fowler and Hackett shared a look before Fowler spoke again.

"Mr. Stark," he said. "It will take time to arrange for a meeting. We still have to go through all your paperwork to get you cleared."

"So...we leave at three?" Stark asked, spreading his hands out in question, looking unmoved by Fowler's statements of paperwork.

"Did you not hear me?" Fowler asked.

"Two then?" Stark asked.

Fowler gave an exasperated sigh and facepalmed. "No, Mr. Stark," he said.

"So what? Four? Five?" he asked. "I'm not agreeing unless I get to meet them today."

Fowler grumbled to himself. "Fine," he said. "We leave in a few hours."

Hackett looked between the Autobot's liaison and the super genius before focusing his gaze on Stark. "Is that always how you ask for things?"

Stark shrugged. "It always works, why change it?" he replied.

Fowler sighed. "It's going to be a long day," he muttered.

~Simulator, Autobot Base, Jasper, Nevada, Shade's PoV~

The time following when I stole my brother's brute kill was followed by a childish game of stealing each other's kills. No one seemed inclined to put a stop to it either, I guess probably because it was clear we were having too much fun. We had reached wave fourteen doing so to each other and not even Optimus, who joined us a couple waves ago, seemed inclined to stop our fun. The twins seemed to be doing their own kill-steal competition.

I glanced over to see where Pathbreaker was aiming and then aimed my Nucleon Charge Rifle at his target. With a carefully aimed shot at the simulated Decepticon, I took out its helm, effectively stealing my brother's kill.

Without stopping to see if he was looking at me, I switched my aim to a seeker that was flying in. In a kill-steal competition or not, I still needed to make sure we didn't get bombed from above anymore. It was now much too crowded in our spot to be able to dodge from the small explosions. Perhaps bringing everyone onto our bridge wasn't the best idea.

"Hey!" I said in protest as the seeker was sent careening by a shot not my own. I pouted over at my brother as he reloaded his weapon. All I got was a grin for my effort at pouting over my stolen kill.

I smiled as I shook my helm and returned to my sniping. I paused in my aiming to sidestep a shot fired off by a cloaker that had gotten off a shot before being shot down. It seemed that particular model liked aiming for me as the seekers liked aiming for Pathbreaker. Every shot fired off by a cloaker I ended up having to take a couple steps to the side or backwards to avoid.

When I saw the cloaker go down by Arcee's shot, I was about to go look through my scope again when I heard my brother's voice and looked over to see him giving Arcee a flat look.

"You just stole my kill," he stated matter-of-factly.

Arcee smirked. "Well, if you were a better shot, you'd have claimed that kill already."

"Touche," Pathbreaker replied.

I couldn't help the chuckle I let out as I returned to my scope to find a new enemy to snipe down. I lined one up in my sights and fired at it, frowning when it transformed at the exact moment my shot it and effectively nullifying what would've been a headshot. I fired at it again, feeling grateful that at least there wasn't the glitch where transforming made them completely immune to damage like in the game that inspired this simulation. The second shot took it down and I glanced over my scope in time to see my brother steal one of Arcee's kills.

"That one was already almost dead," Arcee said, glaring at my brother though I could tell it wasn't a serious glare.

"Sorry, what? I can't hear you over how bad a shot you are," Pathbreaker commented dryly.

Arcee's glare intensified briefly before she returned her attention to the enemies below.

From there it was mostly a competition between Arcee and Pathbreaker to see who could steal the most kills from each other. I merely shrugged and went back to just sniping whatever enemy I could get in my sights long enough to fire a shot before someone else killed it. I almost felt left out, but considering the fact I ended up stealing several of the twin's kills-disrupting their own game-I could live with it.

About three-quarters of the way through the wave, Pathbreaker moved to stand next to me in order to get a good shot on the Decepticon Arcee was shooting. I glanced over at him as I reloaded my rifle.

"Having fun with your girlfriend?" I asked, a tone of teasing in my voice and a grin on my face.

My brother rolled his optics. "She's not my girlfriend," he said.

"Did Ah hear dat right?" Jazz asked from the other side of me. "Pathbreaker has a girlfriend?"

"No, you didn't hear that," Pathbreaker answered, face carefully stoic.

I giggled before I realized it. "Yes he did," I said, grinning.

Pathbreaker turned to give me an unreadable look. "I don't claim what's not mine."

I looked at him, surprised at his seriousness. I had just been teasing him and I knew he knew that.

Before I had long to ponder it, my brother turned back to shooting at enemies. It was clear that the conversation had reached a good ending point and I wasn't one to press in these matters, so I let it drop, turning my own attention to the enemies below.

The wave lasted for another half hour before we finally killed the last of the enemies for the wave.

"We've made it to wave fifteen," I observed, looking around as we all jumped from the bridge to scatter to various ammo depots.

"It's pretty easy with everybot joining in," Pathbreaker said. "Remind me to program it to become harder as more bots join."

I nodded. "We do want it to be challenging," I agreed.

We got our ammo and then the four of us who could fly helped everyone back to our spots. We really pushed the timer for the next wave to begin, so we pretty much stayed where we landed. I ended up taking position behind the debris, facing what we considered to be the back of the map.

"Be ready," my brother said. "This wave will be interesting."

I smirked to myself, knowing what he was talking about. We had programmed it to spawn at least three destroyers this wave, maybe more depending on how quickly we managed to take them out. Destroyers were one of the largest bot frames known to exist. Their alternate mode was a large tank, though it was set that they wouldn't use that for there wasn't enough room, and in bot mode they stood at two hundred feet, four times Optimus's height.

We waited a few seconds into the wave before it was decidedly too quiet as the enemies had yet to spawn.

"It's too quiet," I said, wondering if that meant we would get a destroyer right off the bat.

I climbed up on top of the debris, ignoring the warnings to be careful from my siblings. I stood on the top, looking out across the empty map for any sign of the enemy.

"Where are they?" I wondered out loud as I looked around.

It was barely a moment after I asked that that the enemy made themselves known. I wouldn't have even seen them if it weren't for the stream of Nucleon Shock Cannon blasts that were now flying through the air right toward me.

"Oh! Destroyer! Destroyer! Destroyer!" I called out as I dived for cover behind the debris I was standing on just in time not to be vaporized. Granted in the simulator I would just be knocked out, but being hit by that in real time, there'd be nothing left.

"Destroyer, destroyer," Springer mocked and then started laughing. "You sound so pathetic!"

I glared at him, but Pathbreaker beat me to retaliating.

"That's it," he said. "I'm through with you. You are banned from our spot." To emphasize he even tossed Springer over the side of the bridge.

Silence reigned on the bridge, the only sound being Jazz and Stormbreaker taking out the rocket troopers that had decided to spawn on our bridge, as everyone looked at Pathbreaker in surprise.

After the silence reigned for about a minute, Optimus ordered some of the bots to go down with Springer to provide him some backup. Thankfully he allowed everyone to choose whether to stay up here or go to the ground floor. He also didn't make us allow him to return to the spot, likely seeing how his taunting me and hitting on the other femmes was harming our teamwork. I mean, my brother just threw him off the bridge, that definitely qualified as bad teamwork.

"Jazz, Stormbreaker, keep the bridge clear of rocket troopers," Optimus ordered after everyone had gone to their respective new posts. "Shadebreaker, keep an optic on the skies and take down any seekers before they have a chance to bomb us or the squad below."

I nodded and turned my optics to the skies.

"Everyone else on the bridge, focus fire on the destroyer and provide cover fire for the ground team," Optimus continued.

As the others did their respective tasks, I took aim at a seeker coming in from the back and shot it down. I then turned my attention to the front of the map where I saw three more seekers coming in. Glancing down at the destroyer, I saw that it was stomping a foot, which meant it was about to send a stream of nucleon shots.

"Watch out guys!" I called. "It's about to fire its Nucleon!"

I moved back enough where I was safe from the shots and then aimed quickly to take down two of the seekers that were incoming. The third one transformed and dropped to ground level before I could fire off the shot. I glared in the general direction of the seeker now out of my sight before looking for anymore in the skies. I shot down a couple more coming from the side and back, but couldn't seem to relocate the one that escaped.

"Did anyone get that seeker that avoided me?" I called down to the ground team.

"No worries, kid," Ironhide called back. "I took him down when he tried to ambush us."

I nodded in understanding before returning my focus to the skies.

~Two Hours Later, Autobot Base, Shade's PoV~

"That last wave was the longest wave in that entire simulation," Stormbreaker observed as we were all now just relaxing in the Rec Room.

"It's cause it takes so long to down the destroyers," I said from where I was sitting crosslegged on the floor, back against the wall. "And we programmed it to have at least three regardless of the amount of points achieved before the first and second go down."

"Eh, it was alright for something the sniper wannabe helped create," Springer said, tone condescending.

I glared over at him, but turned away to glare at his reflection in the blank tv screen. "You're not worth being offended over," I said.

"Alright now, don't start this again," Ironhide said. "Will you two ever get along?"

"Not as long as she keeps getting between me and Arcee or Stormbreaker," Springer said.

"I don't need to get in between you," I said. "There's already a solid wall of Vibranium there. It's just annoying listening to your crudeness."

"I'm annoying?!" Springer growled, glaring daggers at me.

"I said, don't start this again," Ironhide said, holding Springer back from getting closer. "If you two can't get along then one of you go elsewhere."

"I vote Springer leaves the rec room," Stormbreaker piped in.

"I second that," Arcee said, mostly ignoring Springer's presence.

.:Sorry, Springer, but I agree with them,:. Bumblebee beeped.

"Fine!" Springer grumbled and stomped out of the room.

"Wow, you two really don't get along," Sideswipe observed.

"Nope," I agreed, popping the "p" as I leaned back against the wall. "Anybody wanna do anything? It's been boring since we got out of the simulator."

"Come to think of it, there hasn't a single alert today," Sideswipe said. "I wish the 'Cons would do something so we could go kick their afts." He flopped backward dramatically, brushing Sunstreaker's shoulder in the process.

"Hey! Watch the paint, idiot!" Sunstreaker growled at his twin.

"Hey! I'm not an idiot," Sideswipe countered.

I sighed, shaking my helm as the two twins started bickering back and forth. At least their bickering was in good fun. I tuned them out and was actually starting to drift into a nap since no one really suggested anything to do, or if they did it was after I had inadvertently tuned everyone out.

I was just about in recharge when the proximity alarm started blaring. Since I had slowly tuned everything into background noise, the loudness of the alarm startled me and I fell slightly sideways before catching myself.

"Huh?" I said, blinking a moment before my systems came out of their shutting down mode. "Who's coming to visit at this hour?" I wondered.

"The kids maybe?" Stormbreaker asked.

"No, it's Wednesday," Arcee said. "They're going to something called church tonight."

My wings twitched slightly. I was slightly jealous of the kids getting to go, even if Miko didn't really want to go. "Must be Agent Fowler," I said, getting to my pedes. "Wonder what's up."

Arcee was the first out the door, and I allowed Stormbreaker to go out before me and I followed, Ironhide behind me. The others who had been in the Rec Room—Bumblebee, the twins and Bulkhead—also followed.

When we reached the Ops Center, Optimus and Ratchet were already there and the security camera's feed was showing on the main screen. Agent Fowler's helicopter was landing on the pad on the roof of our base, confirming my thoughts that it was most likely Fowler. After it landed it was only a few moments before our liaison stepped out of the helicopter, followed by Admiral Hackett, the man we had met who spoke about S.H.I.E.L.D.

I wondered if they had discovered some important information about MECH and had to share it in person. My thoughts were interrupted when a third man stepped out of the helicopter behind them. I blinked in surprise, focusing my optics on this third person, wondering who he was. When I recognized him, my wings twitched upward in surprise.

"Hey, that looks like Tony," Stormbreaker commented, voicing my thoughts.

"You know that guy?" Arcee asked.

"Know of him," I corrected. "He is a well known person among we nerds back in our home reality. Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man. He's a super genius and a superhero from the Marvel comic books. I had no idea he was an actual person in this reality."

"I wonder if he really is Iron Man," Stormbreaker wondered.

"Who is Iron Man, though?" Ironhide asked.

"As I said, a superhero," I said. "Basically goes around saving people and kicking bad guy butt. Much better at it than your average human."

"Hmph," Springer huffed. "He can't be that great."

"I didn't say you had to believe it," I said flatly, looking at Springer. "Besides, we don't even know if he is Iron Man in this reality, or just a super genius."

"You may determine that later," Optimus said. "Now, we must greet our visitors."

I looked up as the elevator dinged to announce its arrival on the upper level of the Ops Center. Agent Fowler walked out first, followed by Stark with Hackett taking up the rear. I watched Stark as he took off his sunglasses, curious about his presence and also curious to know whether or not he really was Iron Man. If he had the arc reactor that was said to be powering the thing keeping shrapnel from his heart, his suit kept the glow from it hidden very well. I would not know without scanning him or him showing it willingly and I was not keen on scanning him with no reason to.

"Agent Fowler, Admiral Hackett," Optimus greeted the two familiar faces.

"Optimus," Fowler nodded his own greeting.

"What's up? Who's the new guy?" Bulkhead asked.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Tony Stark," Fowler introduced as Stark stepped up to the railing and looked at all of us. His gaze paused on me and my sister, though I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"He's going to be working with our science division for the most part," Hackett supplied. "He's being put on the project to study the effects of Energon on humans and how we can best protect our troops from them in the case we may encounter it. As such, the team will be required to work closely with your team's medic, Ratchet, if that is acceptable to you all."

"Psh," Ratchet said. "To do so would require the ability to house the team here." He said, waving his servo as if to wave the idea off. "We do not have the room for anymore of our people to be able to stay here, and there are no rooms suitable for human use."

I raised my servo. "We could expand the base," I suggested. "We'll have to do so anyway for the hangar, why not add onto the rest at the same time?"

"There's always the possibility that more Autobots will come to Earth, following Optimus's message just as we were," Ironhide said. "When that happens, this base will no longer be big enough as it is."

"That could be costly, but I can see what I can get the higher ups to agree," Fowler said. "We'll have to come up with some blueprints. You bots have anyone who could help with that?"

"Bulkhead was a construction worker before the war," Optimus stated. "He will have a good idea how big the areas for we Autobots will need to be."

Stormbreaker raised her servo.

"Yes, Stormbreaker?" Fowler said.

"If we expand the base, can we make suggestions for things to be added on?" she asked.

"We can take some, but I can't guarantee anything," Fowler replied.

Optimus nodded. "When will you need these requests?" he asked.

"By the end of the week would be ideal," Fowler said.

"I will have my team give any requests to Prowl," Optimus said.

"Must we allow them to work so closely with us?" Ratchet grumbled lowly.

"While you may not always view the humans in high esteem, Ratchet," Optimus said, looking at my teacher. "Their concerns are understandable. And I am sure our seeker trio would agree that it is in everyone's best interest if we see to it humans can be protected from the effects of Energon."

I nodded in agreement and I saw Stormbreaker do so as well out of the corner of my optic.

"Even considering the fact we were a freak accident, anyone else would've likely died if they had a similar incident," I said. "I'm still amazed we didn't." My wings twitched very slightly to show my frustration at not understanding why we had turned from that spill.

"That too is a mystery I would like to understand," Fowler said. "It would help to not only be able to prevent our boys from dying from Energon exposure, but also to be sure they won't change if they get covered in it."

"While the odds of your soldiers changing are astronomically slim, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to develop a defense against Energon's effect on the human body," Ratchet said, sounding more resigned than anything.

"In the meantime, we would like you to acquaint Mr. Stark with how you do things around here," Hackett said. "He wanted to meet you all before he started working with us. I trust we can trust you all to handle it properly."

Optimus nodded. "Very well, I will have one of my team give him a detour and introduce him to everyone," he said before looking at those of us present. "Any volunteers?"

My servo went straight up, even before my sister started enthusiastically jumping with her servo up and calling out to pick her. I shifted a wing slightly as if to hide her.

"Shadebreaker, Stormbreaker, since you two are both so eager, you two will give Mr. Stark his tour." Optimus said, looking at us.

"Yes!" Stormbreaker cheered.

Stark raised his eyebrows, his signature half grin, half indifferent shrug on his face. "Usually, I have to actually do something to make women have that reaction."

I couldn't help it, I broke into laughter at the very Tony Stark comment he made. Well, it made sense he would say it, but what made it funny enough to laugh so much was the expressions on everyone else's faces. My sister found it humorous as well as she stood there with a large grin on her face.

"What's so funny? If I said that you'd be shooting at me," Springer said, looking rather unamused.

"That's cause you're you," I said, sobering and glaring slightly at Springer. I held my servo out to Stark. "Now, if you excuse us, we have a tour to start." I paused as Stark climbed into my servo and I brought him up to sit on my shoulder. "Have a good day everyone who is not Springer."

With that, I walked off with Stark on my shoulder and a grinning sister bounding next to me. I glanced over at Stark. "I didn't actually ask you if you wanted a ride or to walk," I said. "I apologize."

Stark just shrugged as he settled on my shoulder. "Not the first time I was carried off by a woman. She was taller than you. Terrifying, since she was human."

I looked at him with a raised optic bridge. "I will ignore the absurdity of that statement and move on," I stated.

Stormbreaker chuckled beside me. "What? Is it too illogical for you?" she asked, grinning.

"Hey, it would've made Prowl glitch," I said in defense. "Besides the sheer impossibility of a human being taller than me as I am now, it would've had to been an alien of some sort."

"Hm," Stormbreaker hummed in thought.

"Anyway, we are straying way off topic from something that was probably a joke," I said.

"You are," Stark agreed. "It's all quite amusing, but aren't we on a tour."

"Oh right!" Stormbreaker said. "I wonder if Path' would want to meet him."

"He's probably in his lab," I said. "And I think Wheeljack is in his too. Best stay away until after an explosion. We'll start downstairs. 'Jackie seemed really excited about something when we got out of the simulator."

"Uh oh, maybe we should stay away from the labs," Stormbreaker said. "Excited 'Jackie equals a big boom."

"We'll probably find him in med bay later...again," I said, shaking my helm. "And to think his successes actually outnumber the explosions."

"Wheeljack's the inventor, right?" Stark asked.

"Our explosive inventor," Stormbreaker said, grinning as we arrived at the elevator. "He blew up his entire lab once and was cleaning out ash an entire day."

We stepped into the elevator and waited for it to take us down.

When we reached the lower level, we walked out into the hallway. We took him to the library first, since it was on one end of the base's current layout. We then took him to the Rec Room followed by the Safe and the War Room. We didn't take him into the War Room, as we weren't sure if we were allowed to yet, nor did we take him into the Wash Racks. Not only were we the opposite gender as him, but he really didn't need to see them, so if he were to see them a mech would have to show him.

"And that's pretty much it for this level," I said, looking upward. I hadn't heard an explosion yet, would it be safe to show him the labs?

"Yup," Stormbreaker said, nodding. "The library's the best part. And the simulator in the Safe is really fun." She grinned.

Stark smiled. "I'd like to see if I could hold my own in there someday," he said. "But hey, can I ask you two a personal question?"

"Sure," I said, tilting my helm to look at the man sitting on my shoulder. "Depending what it is we may even answer." I grinned.

Stark chuckled. "I heard you used to be human, is that true?" he asked.

"Yeah," Stormbreaker answered. "We're still trying to figure out what exactly caused our change."

"There is no known logical reason why we didn't die when that Energon spilled on us," I explained. "I've been working on figuring it out on the side of my medical training and all evidence points to Energon being deadly to humans."

"Yet for us, we changed into Cybertronians instead of dying," Stormbreaker said. "The question is why?"

"If we find that answer, we might understand why we're even in this universe," I said, looking ahead thoughtfully. "We were born in a different reality, one where all this, and you as well, is just fiction. Whatever brought us here and the reason why we changed instead of dying are connected, I believe. Maybe it's not all that important, but I would feel a lot better knowing."

"I see," Stark said, not looking affected at all by what I'd said. I felt him shift on my shoulder to lean on his hands. "Perhaps I can help with that alongside my work."

"A super genius like you helping me figure it out?" I asked. "We'll find the answer in no time then." I grinned over at him and he shook his head.

We took him back up to the next level and showed him around the rest of the base aside from the labs. When we were done, we still hadn't heard an explosion from Wheeljack's lab, but we figured we could at least stop by our brother's lab, since he didn't reinforce the walls after all. So we went there first, getting in easily since I always made sure I knew the security code in case of emergency.

"Why do you get to know the code, but not me?" Stormbreaker whined as I punched in the code.

"Because you will press a button that will inevitably take us all to an alternate dimension where Decepticons are the good guys and Autobots are the bad guys," I said, a tone of teasing coloring my voice.

Stormbreaker pouted, but I could see the humor written on her face. "Well, I can't deny that," she said. "I love pressing buttons." She said, grinning.

I chuckled as the door opened and we walked in. The lab looked about the same as the last time we had entered it, but there were more projects being worked on than before and a couple ones looked completed. Our brother was at his work table, running tests on a scrap of metal without looking up. Arcee was with him, testing out how a custom weapon fit in her servos.

"Hey, you two!" Stormbreaker said happily, bouncing over to them. "Whatcha working on?"

"Seeing if my new rifle is the same size as it was in the blue prints," Arcee said, looking down the weapon's sights before examining its side.

"And I am testing this metal to see if it will make good battle armor," he replied and then watched as the substance he dripped onto it melted the armor a bit. "And that would be a no."

"I'd say so," I said. "Imagine how uncomfortable melted armor would be." My wings twitched to show my discomfort at the idea. "Hey, did you get any ideas about our food tasting Energon?"

"I have some processing over there," Pathbreaker said, pointing to a beaker of pinkish blue liquid. "It's not ready yet and not sure if it's a success either." At this point, he noticed the man sitting on my shoulder.

"Oh, this is Tony Stark," I said, introducing them. "And this is our brother, Pathbreaker, and our friend, Arcee. Tony's gonna be working with us to find a way to protect the humans from the effects of Energon."

"Good plan," Arcee said. "Would help to make sure other humans don't end up like you three."

Pathbreaker nodded in agreement. "We certainly would welcome your help," he said. "I haven't much time to work on it myself." He glanced around his lab.

"I see that," Stark said, looking around, taking in the numerous weapons and other projects in the room. "So, you make weapons." He observed.

"I do, though only weapons for we Autobots. We need every advantage we can get against the Decepticons," Pathbreaker said. "But Optimus is also pretty strict about sharing our technology and I don't blame him. Humans are quite self-destructive."

"Well, in the end, Cybertronians can be as well," I said. "I mean, thanks to Megatron's war-mongering Cybertron is no longer inhabitable."

"But our planet is healing, very slowly," Arcee said. "It will be a great cycle when it's finished repairing itself."

"Wait," Stark said. "The war destroyed the planet, but you still believe you'll see it restored?"

We all nodded.

"Cybertron is ravaged by war, but before they left Cybertron, Optimus met Primus," Arcee explained, helping Stark from my shoulder so he could stand on the table. "Primus told Optimus that he would lead the Autobots back to Cybertron and into an era of peace."

"I fully believe that it will come to pass, and I'm far from the only one who thinks in the same way." I piped in. "I believe in Optimus and I believe that there will be a day when we can all live in peace."

"Until then we will be doing our best to help make that dream a reality," Stormbreaker said.

"And Storm' already has a crush on a bot here," I said, teasing heavy in my tone as I indicated my sister.

"Guilty as charged," Stormbreaker said, not ashamed at all about her crush on Jazz. This caused Arcee to raise her optic ridges slyly, but she made no comment.

"Which brings me to a question no one else will answer," Stark said. "How you make robot babies?"

Our reactions were instantaneous. Arcee and Pathbreaker just stared blankly at the man, expression almost exactly alike, while I face-palmed and my cooling fans kicked on at a low enough level that no one would even notice it. Stormbreaker had a completely different reaction, which was to laugh at my reaction.

"Oh my gosh! Your face!" she laughed, pointing at me.

I sighed heavily, shaking my helm at both my sister and the human standing on my brother's work table.

Before we reacted more, we were interrupted by the sound of an explosion.

Well, at least it saved us from actually having to answer Stark's question. That was not a topic I really wanted to revisit until I had a mate, if I ever had a mate.

Not only that, but I don't think my brother would ever want to discuss this subject with Arcee in the room.

—

The credit song for this chapter is going to be We're in this Together by Nine Inch Nails, the trailer song for the Avengers. www .youtube watch?v=X2II7TDEAps