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I do not own Transformers.
Chapter 4
Sideswipe wheeled forward a bit upon picking Erin out of the crowd of humans. He paused, hesitation visible in his visage. Erin could understand why, their last meeting had been less than ideal. She nodded, to him, which seemed to lighten his mood.
The silver mech returned Erin's nod but addressed Ironhide first, "Scaring the scrap out of the recruits yet? Or are you too busy getting you aft kicked by a little human?" His gaze returned to Erin.
"The femme only got lucky." The bulkier mech reasoned. "I won't go as easy on her next time."
The silver bot knelt to be closer to Erin's eyelevel. Everyone else seemed to be forgotten. "Sorry about last night. Are you alright? I was worried when you ran off." He gave a sincere look that made Erin think of a puppy asking to be let inside after it started to rain.
Erin nodded dismissively, "I'm fine, I just got the sense your brother did not want me around, so I left." She said plainly. This was at least a partial truth. She could remember how his glare could have bored holes into her and he was rather dismissive of her safety during the twin's little 'scuffle'. That is if he wasn't trying to hit her in the first place. The aching on her side screamed for her to say otherwise. Dodging around Ironhide must have woken up whatever bruising the had obtained from the yellow mech.
"I'm glad, really." He smiled and gave an unreadable look. In fact, Erin could not get much off him. The way he moved and expressed himself, outwardly it was readable like a neon sign, however, she had a feeling that he was far less obvious than one might assume.
"You could… make it up to me." Erin glanced at the street in front of her, an idea forming on how to make a lasting impression on both the soldiers and 'bots.
Sideswipe followed her gaze and a mischievous grin crossed his faceplates. "Hey Ironhide," his head beckoned to the cityscape behind him as he spoke to the mech, "How about I get a shot with her?"
"I never said I wanted her dead, aft-head! Why do you think I would let you lose on a recruit?"
"Cause I owe it to her." He looked down to Erin, "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."
"Why, how gentlemanly." She all but growled.
Sideswipe only seemed invigorated by her response. "Don't worry Ironhide, the femme can handle it."
"I. Said. No." The larger 'bot stood his ground under the pleading gaze of the younger 'bot.
"Ironhide." Erin interjected, "I'm not one to back down from a challenge." She said as softly as she could, so as not to sound demanding.
"Fine! If you want to join the scrap heap your second day here, be my guest." He barked back.
Sideswipe smiled and started wheeling into the street. "Arcee'll explain the rules."
The femme-bot sighed and shook her head. "This is not going to end well." She knelt to Erin and met her gaze. "You know he's one of the strongest warriors the autobots have, even Prime would hesitate to take him on."
Erin only smirked and nodded.
"Fine, it's your smelting day." She returned to a standing position on her one wheel and asked one of the soldiers among her for a weapon. She then handed it to Erin. "This is basically a really strong paintball gun. The splatters are traceable, so if you hit a vital spot, we'll know. Your objective is to find the dummy among the rubble, it will represent an injured teammate. Pull the dummy out of the marked perimeter without getting hit by Sideswipe, who will be acting as a decepticon. He'll be firing at you with both paint balls and bean bags. Although they are not deadly, the ammo still comes from his own blaster so if you get hit, you'll more than feel it. Get hit, and your considered dead. After rescuing the teammate, attempt to take Sideswipe out, not that you'll get that far." She threw the last part over her shoulder as she ushered the humans and Ironhide away from the street entrance. "Oh, and by the way, the field is set up with cameras, we'll be able to see whatever you do. Don't blame me if your utter defeat goes viral among the base."
Erin, not missing a beat, sprinted in, a plan already forming in her head as she took in her surroundings. Once she was past the first couple of buildings, she recognized how the 'city' was designed to look partially like a warzone. There were blasted buildings and charred cars littering the streets. Erin found Sideswipe standing in the middle of a large clearing. She hid behind an upside-down truck, one which must have once been a usable military vehicle. She counted the cars, estimated the distance between buildings, and observed Sideswipe's movements. She noticed how he would continuously glance to a certain area, by a building that had basically been torn in half with its rubble littering across the street. That must be where the dummy was. She continued to look around to see large pieces of concrete littering the ground, along with construction equipment. A boat was resting on a trailer near her. The buildings around them seemed to be practically empty. She spotted a couple of buckets and a twisted ladder. This training ground must have once been a usable area under construction, Erin mildly wondered what happened to it. She looked up to note the windows and ledges. The building behind Sideswipe was void of an exterior wall and scaffolding snaked its way up from the second floor. A plan formed in her head as she got ready to move.
She ducked away from the overturned truck and stealthily moved to the boat, hoping it had something of use. Silently, she climbed in, careful to avoid Sideswipe's gaze. Erin hoped that whatever scanners these 'bots possessed would not pick her up. Inside the small boat was a length of rope along with a life preserver tied to some thinner rope. Quickly, Erin gathered the rope up and removed the string from the white and red preserver. Erin jumped out of the board and headed to the truck that the boat was hitched to. She tied the rope to the grill and carried the other end ten yards to a tow truck while Sideswipe was turned away. The opened hood of the truck had given Erin an idea that might help her take down the silver mech. She ran the string through parts of the engine and tied it off to the other end of the rope. She jumped through the opening to the cockpit- since there was no door. Quickly, Erin started to hotwire the truck. She left a piece of concrete as a pin in-between the two components that would snap together and create the electrical current, making sure the piece was visible through the side window.
She headed to the end of the street, where a building sat with all windows blasted out. She quietly sneaked through one of the windows. The entire time she kept a careful eye on Sideswipe who slowly seemed to be getting bored. He was aimlessly wheeling around, searching for her. Erin had to remind herself that there may be more than meets the eye with him. He was secretly unreadable. Erin checked her sights through the rifle. The stone was visible to her if she stood at eye level. In between her and the truck was the window sill an army jeep, and a two lane street. She dropped her rifle and prepared for the rescue mission.
She headed through the building to the opposite side of the street, and saw her target laying, half buried in rubble. She grabbed one of the loose chunks of concrete and threw it across the street while Sideswipe was looking the other way. The noise caught his attention and he quickly wheeled over. Erin took the opportunity to jet in and out of the open area to be closer to her target. She hid back in an open-faced building before Sideswipe had a chance to turn around.
Erin prepared herself with another chunk of concrete in one hand. She quickly threw the concrete in a similar direction to the first one. Erin jumped out of her hiding place. She expertly tied the hands and feet of the dummy together and lugged it over her shoulders. She again disappeared through the building. The outside perimeter was marked by a series of small red flags. The weight of the dummy slowed Erin down, put she still managed to run it past the flags and drop the heap.
Snaking her way back through the rubble, she found her place back where she had left her rifle.
She saw Sideswipe investigating where the dummy once was. His glances were shooting in every direction. After a second he his hand transformed into what appeared to be a cannon.
Erin carefully aimed for the stone pin. A small pop sounded from her gun as the paintball successfully shot the rock away.
2 seconds
She trained her sights on Sideswipe's faceplates, ready to strike from her new position, practically under her wandering target.
Within a half second Erin let out two quick shots, the first one hit dead on in Sideswipe's left optic, the second almost missed its mark and only hit the corner of the other optic. It would be enough to momentarily blind him, however. Matching with Erin's timing, the rope snapped into sink with the quickly rotating engine and a boat adorned truck skidded directly behind Sideswipe. Blinded, he attempted to wheel back but tripped over the new mass. The second he began to lose his balance; Erin took the opportunity to leap from her hiding place. She used the window sill as leverage to leap up onto the jeep and again jump up, straight to the autobot as massive blades slid out of his wrists, waving around franticly for balance.
With an 'oof' she landed on his chassis and with one hand, desperately gripped his chest plating, and used the other to shove the rifle's barrel into the small opening at the bottom of his chest plating, pushing it straight in the direction of his center or 'spark' as they called it. Erin braced for the impact as they both came crashing down.
After a second, the dust began to settle and Sideswipe's optics seemed to clear. Erin did not move from her spot, waiting for realization to sink in for the silver 'bot. He stared down his chassis, an astonished look on his faceplates. Erin had beaten him.
A few long seconds passed before Erin took Sideswipe's stillness as a sign of surrender. She dislodged the gun and jumped off the 'bot, bending her knees with the impact of the ground. She walked towards the exit, only giving a sideways glance back at the still frozen autobot. "Thanks for going easy on me." She shot back before reaching an equally astonished viewing crowd. Several soldiers and autobots had joined the initial group and they were all staring at her.
She tried hard to calm her beating heart and quick pulse before the 'bot's sensitive scanners noticed.
Erin looked up to Ironhide and asked, "What's next, sir?"
He only needed a half second to recompose himself. "Impressive, Ms. Brook. However, against a 'con, you wouldn't have an opportunity for all that… flair." He glanced back at the other recruits, staring with mouths agape. "What are you weak-willed cog-suckers gawking at? Training ground one, double time!"
With Ironhide's thunderous voice snapping everyone out of their collective daze, the recruits fearfully ran to the designated location. Erin began to follow when she felt an odd tingling sensation overtake her body. She turned around to see a yellow autobot looming over her. Erin remembered his name was Ratchet, the chief medical officer of the autobots. His eyes flashed green for a second and Erin felt the strong tingling sensation again. Was he scanning her?
"What are you doing?" she raised an eyebrow, openly displaying her annoyance.
"Scanning to determine whether your mental processes are defective due to a head injury or plain stupidity." The intensity of the scan seemed to increase, making Erin dizzy and nauseous. "While you do show evidence of severe scarring and several healed bone fractures, including a couple to your skull, there is no evidence of permanent brain damage." He concluded, skill seeming unconvinced.
"Good to know." She stated sarcastically, stepping away to join the quickly retreating group behind her.
Ratchet looked up to face Ironhide, "What were you thinking letting the youngling take on Sideswipe?"
In the odd encounter with the medic, Erin had not realized that Ironhide had not left with the recruits and stood directly behind her. She suddenly felt claustrophobic sandwiched between the two giants.
"The youngling has tough struts. Besides, if things got out of hand, I would have intervened." He gruffly replied with a nod of confidence.
"Out of hand like Sideswipe unsheathing his blades against a recruit?" Ratchet questioned.
Erin snuck out from between the two bots and once again attempted a retreat to the other training field. This time she was stopped by none other than Sideswipe himself. He skated directly in front of her, an odd look in his optics that Erin couldn't name. It quickly disappeared, however, as a large grin overtook his faceplates.
"That was awesome," after a second of thought he added, "for a human."
"Thanks but I gotta get going." She was starting to feel rattled with all the giant feet surrounding her but did not want to show weakness. Erin scooted past the fascinated 'bot and finally made her way to rejoin her group.
She heard a transformation sequence and Ironhide barreled past her, throwing back a, "get a move on, human!". Erin chanced a quick glance back behind her. She saw Ratchet, walking in the opposite direction but looking back at her. The humans seemed to be speaking with Arcee. Sideswipe stood where Erin left him, watching her leave. She turned her head back and sped her pace towards the field.
She thought hard about Ironhide's words. Yes, she beat Sideswipe, but it took too much time. She was going to have to get stronger if she was ever going to face these cybertronians head on. That was all that mattered.