Hello Dear Readers! Here is another chapter for you! I hope you find it exciting. Feel free to comment whether you like more action, drama, smut, or a healthy mix of the three.
Thank you to my wonderful reviewers; (Guest) and KayleeChiara! I know the last update was short, but thank you for sharing your thoughts! We are almost at 200 reviews!
Chapter 33
Erin woke to a loud horn billowing a short distance away. Initially, she scanned her surroundings, but all was secure. It had to be, she was safely inside Sideswipe's cab. The blanket had fallen to her lap, tangling with her legs. She couldn't see anything outside the cab, as all the windshields were completely dark.
Under her, she could feel Sideswipe shift ever so slightly, and the faintest hum that showed him to be alive picked up as he regained consciousness. Slowly, the windshields began to lighten, revealing the clearing where they slept and men moving about beyond the trees.
Blinking slowly, she stretched, her hands feeling the roof of Sideswipe's cab.
Said mech's voice came to life over the radio. "Good morning, sweetspark." Though his smile was not visible, it was clearly audible.
Ever so slightly, Erin began to blanch. She knew she was leading him on, in a way. But she did feel incredibly well rested, and that would technically benefit both her and their team. Still, she felt guilt and embarrassment churning in her belly.
"Morning, Sideswipe." She muttered.
Whatever the mech was going to say next was interrupted by what Erin could only see as a giant pair of legs approaching. She recognized Wheeljack stop just short of the twins. Sunstreaker quickly transformed and faced the mech.
"Need something?" he asked roughly, crossing his arms.
The older scarred mech shook his helm. "Ironhide noticed you missing and thought you two were up to no good."
The yellow 'bot took a short step forward. "Why don't you tell Ironaft to mind his own fraggin' business? Besides, do you really think would do anything risky now? Here?" Despite his demeanor, Sunstreaker had a point. Though at times they could be less than responsible, when lives were at stake the twins had the tendency to get their priorities in order.
The white warrior was unfazed. "Save it for the insecticon, Sunstreaker." He waved the younger mech's aggression off. "Just what were you doing out here anyway?"
Erin could not see the former gladiator's faceplates, but she could imagine the challenge in his light blue optics. His voice was low and oddly defensive. "It was crowded, so we moved for some extra space to recharge. Is there a problem with that?"
Wheeljack didn't reply. Instead, he glanced down to Sideswipe's alt mode, his optics zeroing in on Erin before lighting with surprise. "Specialist Brook?"
Erin cringed, having hoped Sideswipe would have had the foresight to darken his windshield again to conceal her. Instead, she pushed the blanket off her and climbed out of Sideswipe's cab. The mech quickly transformed behind her, holding the comforter in his servo a moment before tucking it into his subspace.
Wheeljack gave her a confused, even concerned, glance before switching his attention to the twins. He spoke in the familiar clicking and whirring of Cybertronian. Luckily, the dialect was Tarnian, so she could understand some of what he said. The first statement was difficult, but the word 'frag' was included twice.
Sunstreaker quickly responded, using the same dialect, but in what Erin had always assumed to be an accent. She could understand the second half of what he said, "None of your fragging business, rust-sucker."
Wheeljack straightened himself, his patience waning. "… recharging… human." The bits and pieces Erin could understand spelled out enough of what this argument was about. Wheeljack wanted to know why Erin was sleeping with the twins, and they were being defensive.
The white and yellow mech's voices were getting louder as they stood only feet from the each other, challenge sparking in their optics. Erin lost track of whatever they were saying as Sideswipe quickly stepped alongside his brother, joining the argument against the senior mech.
Seeing that things were about to come to blows, Erin stepped forward and raised her voice, "Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, step back!" Both mech's shot their optics towards her and she took the opportunity to step in front of them and face Wheeljack who took a massive step back to give her room.
"Wheeljack, yes, we were not in our designated areas last night, but it was my fault, not theirs." She explained quickly and firmly, meeting his optics with a direct glare.
He blinked in surprise. "You understood what we were saying?"
"I got enough to tell these two," she motioned her head towards the twins, "would rather be argumentative than give a straight answer." Continuing, she said, "The truth is that I held them up so we could study the interior maps we were provided. By the time we finished, everyone else was recharging. Rather than wake the others while going back to our berths, we stayed out here. It was my idea." She added somewhat challengingly, "If you have a problem with that, feel free to report us to Prowl."
Wheeljack regarded her for a moment before sighing. "There's no problem, kiddo. But you should get ready, our shift starts soon." The mech then gave one last glance towards the twins before turning away and returning to the camp.
After making sure he was out of audioshot, she turned towards the twins. They didn't challenge her lie, but she could tell they seemed upset. Erin did not regret it, though. The other autobots never seemed to trust the twins, so she'd rather take the fall for something so minor than deal with any suspicion against them.
She gave them a look which meant 'drop it' and stepped towards the camp, hearing the mechs' pede steps behind her. They went their separate ways, each getting their respective food/fuel and gearing up for the next shift.
While getting ready, Erin caught Ironhide eyeing her with a mixture of concern and disapproval. Wheeljack must have told him how he found her and the twins. She briefly wondered whether the white mech held the same suspicions the weapon specialist had. She knew she shouldn't have indulged Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, but she was just acting in a way that felt right to her, and what was wrong with that?
Erin met back with the twins during the morning debriefing. There, they learned that there was no suspicious activity since their arrival and energon sensors around the perimeter had yet to be set off. The trio made their way to the interior of the energy facility. Erin had already picked out the best patrol route- with approval- which gave them quick access to the two potential targets of any raid. If the insecticon were to come, she suspected he would most likely strike the storage vault, since the materials would be easier for a creature like that to scent, according to Sunstreaker.
Once again, during their patrol, the twins seemed uncharacteristically on task. They remained in pace with her, glancing around for any signs of movement. She heard them report over the open comms in a professional, non-antagonizing manner. Even their optics stayed bright, signaling that neither of them were chatting over their bond or searching the internet.
Oddly enough, Erin found herself to be the one who was growing impatient. She felt as if she was out of the loop on something and it made her uncomfortable. Not that the twins owed her any type of explanation, of course.
They consumed their meals within the halls, not leaving their posts. Even that was done in silence. That awkward, uncomfortable feeling Erin held had only been growing. Something was off, and she felt determined to figure out what it was.
Staring at the half eaten sandwich in her hand, she casually asked, "Is everything alright? You guys seem quiet today."
The mechs glanced at each other before turning to her. Sunstreaker scowled. "What do you mean, squishy? Isn't this what you want while we're working?"
She looked the two of them up and down. "But this morning you were unusually tamed as well. Sideswipe, you're never this quiet. And Sunstreaker, you didn't even polish yourself today." She quickly backtracked, raising her hands instinctively. "Not that you look bad" she added quickly, "it's just uncharacteristic."
The yellow mech, however, didn't erupt on her for the comment. Instead, he briefly glanced down at his frame and crossed his arms over his chassis, showing his discomfort.
The prickles of irritation from embarrassment and confusion erupted into a scathing sensation. Finally, she snapped, jumping to her feet and pointing an accusing finger at the mechs. "I never asked for you guys to act differently! Just tell me what's wrong." All focus on the mission was lost, her primary objective had become the twins. "Why are you guys keeping me out?" she added weakly. "First, you wake me in the middle of the night, then you are quiet all day today. I know something's up."
Sideswipe straightened himself, looking at her square in the eye. "We aren't the ones keeping you out." His tone was void of his normal lightsparked demeanor.
Erin flinched. "Is this about how I won't tell you who I think the spy is?"
"No." Sunstreaker replied coolly, giving his twin a harsh glare.
"It does bother us," Sideswipe elaborated, sounding more subdued, "this is a risky situation for you and we want to make sure you're ok." His optics grew apologetic. "I didn't mean to snap, Rin, we know you have your reasons for keeping this to yourself. In truth we just thought acting more… professionally, would make things easier on you."
Shoulder's slumping, Erin glared at the two before her. "There is absolutely no reason for you to do that." Though, it explained why Sideswipe was so adamant about her not sleeping in the tent. Everyone seemed like a threat to them at the moment. They were trying to protect her from whomever she would name as a suspect.
Sunstreaker opened his mouth for what would surely be a biting retort, but he was cut off by a distant popping sound. The trio lifted their heads in unison, listening as a voice came on over the comms.
:Attack near the north entrance! It's not a-: Wheeljack's voice was quickly cut off as the symphony of battle erupted, echoing down the halls.
Erin braced. Instinct told her to run to the aid of her companions, but the three of them were the last line of defense. If the cons got the facility's materials in their servos, they would become dangerously more capable. And with greater resources, there were increased changes of further recruitment from whatever far reaches the war's survivors had ended up. The soldier dropped her meal and looked over to the twins, a question in her eyes, 'How was Wheeljack?'
Sideswipe answered, "His comm's down. He's probably been hurt."
The distant popping sounds morphed into more recognizable gunfire as the cries of combatting men become audible. The battle was nearing.
Erin motioned with her head for the mechs to follow, they knew where the enemy was approaching from, so they had the advantage to set up an ambush. Erin headed towards a corridor too small for the mechs to fit. The insecticon would scent her easily and she didn't want to alert it to the presence of her partners. Just on the other side of the hall, the twins stood in wait, out of sight, their optics glowing nearly white.
Over the shared comms, Ironhide's voice came up, :Retreat! All forces pull back! Factory guards,: he addressed the trio, :exit through the south side immediately! He's at the north entrance!:
The sound of tearing metal alerted them to a breach in the facility. The con was inside.
Erin glanced at the twins, and saw determination in their optics, surely reflecting her own. They had their orders, but they knew what it would mean if the cons got hold of the facility's materials. Besides, they had taken on three insecticons before, they knew how to handle one. Erin would get behind it, taking advantage of its wide shoulders in the comparatively narrow halls. She could use her new blade to slice at its ankles, aiming for sensitive, yet vital components. She would quickly get out of the way as Sunstreaker got low and attacked just below the chassis, knocking it off balance. Then, Sideswipe would swing around and stab his blades through the top of its shoulders, aiming for the energon lines that bring vital lifeblood to its helm.
All gunfire ceased as steady pedesteps echoed down the hallway. Erin listened closely, judging the distance of their target. No matter which direction it was headed, the insecticon had to cross through that hallway.
Something sounded off about the timing and intensity of each step. She had listened to the twins walk through the hallway and knew how the insecticon's steps would sound in comparison. It was a lumbering beast, but the sound she heard was more controlled.
Erin dropped to the ground, placing her ear against the cold floor, and raised a fist to catch the twin's attention. Something was wrong. She listened and felt the vibration. Whatever was coming was heavy, more so than the insecticon should have been. Her eyes widened, this was not the insecticon. She looked up to the twins, quickly signing to them 'wrong target'.
The being was nearly upon them, it was too late to retreat. Sunstreaker raised his servo, signing 'analyze' to her. There would be a short moment between the con passing her and coming upon the twins, she would only have those precious seconds to see what they were facing.
She heard the con turn the corner into the hall where they were hiding adjacently. Suddenly, the rhythm of steps ceased and in a single moment, she heard a pair of pedes at the other end of the hallway, between her and the twins. Erin turned, staring in horror at the massive being that just appeared. There was a displacement of air that blew loose strands of her hair back.
Shock nearly overcame her objective but she forced herself to focus. Tall, forty five feet at least, had to crouch in order to avoid the ceiling. A pair of protrusions from the back appeared to be wings folded over themselves; this was a seeker. Even with the wings being compacted, they nearly spanned the entire width of the hallway, so mobility was limited. The legs were thick, built solid like Sunstreaker's, there would be little to no weakness there. The chassis was also heavily armored as well as the back. Thinnest part was the arms which had exposed circuitry around the joints. Then she noticed the scent. It was coppery and familiar.
The green seeker turned, only a moment passed before its optics landed on Erin.
"Oh, another one." He stated, a terrifyingly delighted smile spanned his faceplates.
Something dropped from one of his servos, hitting the ground like a metal boulder, but Erin did not let her vision drop from the target. Without any warning, he disappeared. Then, she felt a rush of air directly behind her. It wasn't until then did she see the twins leave their hiding spot, barely having enough time to stand since the infiltrator appeared. She saw the panicked look on their faceplates. This was not the fight they were expecting.
Erin whipped around to the source of the breeze and saw a massive servo, already engulfing her. The grip around her entire body was like a vice, she could barely breathe. Something hot soaked her clothes and rubbed against her skin. She knew what this was. The servo was coated in blood. A wave of nausea hit her as she felt herself being lifted high in the air. Metal shifting around her led the soldier to finding herself face to faceplates with the most deranged grin she'd ever seen.
The seeker chuckled loudly, the sound vibrating through Erin's bones. "These things are so much fun to play with."
Acting on instinct, Erin found enough leverage to unsheathe her weapon. She'd only have one shot to prevent the increasing pressure from crushing her. Bracing herself, she activated the energon blade and sliced at the top digit that rested over her shoulder. The seeker raised it just enough for Erin to squeeze out of his grip. Not allowing him time to react, Erin launched herself at the mech's faceplates, aiming a stabbing blow for the corner of an optic. She felt metal give way as energon coated her weapon.
Knowing a servo was likely aimed for her, she kicked herself back and out of the way, falling fast. For a moment, her heart seemed to stop, but before she could even take a breath, she was cradled against a silver chassis. A flash of yellow passed as Sunstreaker rammed himself against the seeker's green legs. It was just enough force to make him take a step back.
Sideswipe wheeled back, out of reaching distance as Sunstreaker quickly followed. Without a moment to spare, Erin blurted out, "He's too big for the hallway and his arms are the weakest point."
After the moment of shock faded away, Sideswipe smiled over her. "It's about time we take on another seeker."
Out of the corner of her eye, Erin saw the metal object that the decepticon had dropped. It was the helm of Wheeljack, his optics half opened.
The green mech stood, his helm tilted to the side so as to not hit the ceiling, holding a servo up to his damaged optic. He laughed, digits curling tight around the injured area as if to extract even more pain. "I like this one. I want to keep it." He stated, smiling down at her.
Erin shivered in Sideswipe's arms as the mech took a defensive step back. "Sweetspark," he whispered, "you should hang back, we have experience with his kind."
Narrowing her eyes, she shakily answered back, "You know I won't."
The silver mech gently placed her down, sighing, "I know, but it was worth a try."
No one in the party took eyes or optics off the con as he laughed to himself.
"Sideswipe." Erin caught the mech's attention long enough to sign, :Distract:.
Her partner nodded as he and his brother slowly inched around the hall, trying to find the most advantageous angle. Erin moved behind Sunstreaker, hoping to lose the seeker's attention. Then, after the mech's made their move, she could follow up unseen.
"So," Sideswipe started, "what's a nice big mech such as yourself doing here?"
The green seeker perked, "Oh, Shockwave asked me to pick up these battery things." He pointed down past the three Team Prime members to the end of the hall, "They're supposed to be that way, have you seen them?" The deranged mech seemed to actually be attentive in this conversation, his previous attack completely forgotten.
Sideswipe and Sunstreaker glanced at each other before the silver front liner continued, "No, we haven't seen them."
"Oh, too bad. I guess I'll have to offline you, then. I'm Skywarp by the way, can you guess why?" the mech disappeared and Erin felt the telltale displacement of air behind her. Whipping around, she found herself before the seeker who crouched low with a servo reaching for her. "I can warp now!" he said in elation.
Erin rolled back before she could be grabbed again as Sunstreaker kicked the servo away and brought his elbow down on the green mech's lowered helm.
The seeker only lost balance for a moment before standing tall again, but he hit his own helm on the ceiling, causing chunks to break and hit his shoulders. He brushed the dust off, casually.
Sideswipe tried to take advantage of the distraction to strike at the mech, but his blades hardly pierced the con's thick armor. The green mech quickly disappeared then reappeared behind Sideswipe, grabbing him easily.
"Or," the seeker added, "how about I take you to Shockwave? He needs another pair of twins for his work."
With his back turned towards her, Erin took the moment to snap her fingers to get Sunstreaker's attention. He reluctantly tore his optics from his brother for a mere moment, only to see what Erin had planned. She signed to him, :Boost, arm: and pointed to herself.
The yellow mech nodded and picked her up, holding her in one servo as he launched an attack, free servo transforming into a cannon. He used the bend in the seeker's leg as a launching point to jump up and wrap his arms around the con's neck. Erin felt herself thrust onto a broad green shoulder. Using one hand for balance as the mechs thrashed about, she readied her weapon and found a seam just large enough for her blade. With a hard thrust, she jammed it in and felt the internal circuitry give way. Releasing her grip on the mech, she use her hand to activate the extending function on the blade, causing it to dig deeper into the mech's shoulder.
The seeker howled in pain as his arm dropped, giving Sideswipe his freedom. As the con staggered, Erin lost her balance and fell down the mech's front, her arms desperately reaching for something to steady herself. Instead, she once again found herself in Sideswipe's arms. He smiled briefly at her as he wheeled back. Erin could hear shots from Sunstreaker's cannon but there seemed to be little affect on the con.
Looking up, Erin saw Skywarp reach around and grab Sunstreaker with his remaining arm and pry the mech off him. Sideswipe quickly dropped Erin on the ground and slid to his brother's rescue, aiming for the mech's vulnerable faceplates with his blades. He managed to slice into the blinded side but the seeker seemed hardly phased, throwing Sunstreaker against Sideswipe, causing both of them to tumble over the ground.
Erin glanced between her mechs and the enemy. He was injured and leaking, but his stamina didn't waver. The twins, on the other hand, were already covered in dents and venting heavily. Hitting Skywarp with random attacks wouldn't help anybody. They needed to regroup. "Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, fall back to location 1!"
The mechs glanced over to her, their optics screaming 'no retreat', but they quickly came to their senses and headed towards her. Sideswipe scooped her up and transformed around her. Each millisecond of that weightless feeling seemed to extend on before the silver mech hit the ground, wheels already turning.
Taking advantage of the seeker's large size, they were able to quickly lose him as he struggled to keep up in the narrow halls. Suddenly, he was directly behind them again, warping with a servo outstretched. The twins managed to skid out of the way and around another corner. Just as they reached the end of that hallway, the seeker once again warped behind them.
"Turn left!" Erin commanded, recalling her study of the maps. "Right, now!" she called again. "Back on the main path." She added. The twins followed her orders, taking one more turn to come across the blast doors that led to the fusion chamber. Erin jumped out of Sideswipe's alt before he could fully stop and she ran to the control panel. "Sideswipe, can you get us in?" she asked him, hearing the approaching steps of the seeker. It was only a matter of moments before he turned the corner and was within firing range.
Without a word, the silver mech kneeled down as wires extended from his digits, clasping onto the panel. Within moments, red lights flashed and an alarm sounded. The doors creaked open slowly at first but Sunstreaker quickly jammed his arm in and pushed them to move faster. Finally, they could use the secure room as a base. Before the seeker turned the corner, they had closed the first set of blast doors, leaving them in a decontamination room that led into the fusion chamber. Not taking any chances, Erin decided to retreat further to their main objective; thus allowing them to better protect it and themselves. As the second set of doors closed, Erin could hear banging beyond their shelter, as well as the hard pinging of gunfire. Hopefully, the walls were thick enough to dissuade an immediate breech. However, they wouldn't hold out for long. There were protective covers around the edges of the doorways, but they were still weaker than the doors themselves. Once the con realized this, it would only be a manner of time before he made it through.
Erin only had a second to take a breath before her mind went to work, trying to figure a way out of their situation. They could be rescued by whomever survived outside, but they might not have the firepower to take on the unhinged seeker. There were no other exits so a fight was the only option. The soldier looked around her surroundings. The ceilings were high, with enough room for even Skywarp to fully stand. At the center was a spiraling metal mass, the fusion generator, which sat powered down. At the base were what Erin assumed to be the batteries. They were encased in acrylic with toxin warnings in clear view. While they had been assured that this entire plant should be safe for humans to walk around without biohazard gear, it was still in an experimental stage and nothing was guaranteed. The thought of it made Erin nervous.
Continuing her search, she looked up at the scaffolding that encompassed all of the rounded walls of the room, minus the door way. Bridges extended from these ledges out to the fusion generator every few stories. Sunstreaker had to duck under them as he walked further into the room. And near the ceiling, was ductwork. The vents appeared to be large enough to fit a human, at least when crawling. Erin could use them to escape, but that would mean leaving the twins behind.
She looked over at them, as their optics glanced between the door and their surroundings, doing their own appraisal of the room. Her duty was not to protect the twins and logic told her to escape and report all events to Prowl directly, but she couldn't will herself to do it. She would stay and fight alongside them.
Instead, she pulled out her data pad to activate her comm link with Prowl. The mech's crisp voice was immediately heard through the ear piece, 'Specialist Brook, where are you and the twins?'
"We came across the enemy, and are barricaded in the fusion chamber, requesting reinforcements." She replied.
'Why didn't you follow the order to retreat!' the Second in Command's voice sounded strained with what Erin guessed was a mixture of frustration and worry.
"We didn't make it out on time," she made up quickly, "are you able to offer support?"
'Backup is fifteen minutes out, do you think you can hold out until then?'
If N.E.S.T had to bring in outside forces, even soldiers who were not privy to their secrets, then the scene outside must have been worse than she thought. "I don't think so, how many hostiles are out there?"
'A seeker, who entered the facility, an insecticon, and three dozen human forces, Mech.'
Erin's eyes widened and the looked at the equally shocked faceplates of the twins, Mech and the cons were in league. "Understood, sir. We'll try to last till back up arrives."
'Good luck, soldier.'
Erin closed the comm link, frustration rising. Of course Mech was involved with this. Did they know the autobots would be there? Or were they after the batteries as well? If it was the former, that would mean someone had informed them, and it couldn't have been Adam. That would make her even more of a suspect. Yet, she had an alibi planned. Once she received her new weapon, she never let it leave her side, at least until they were on the plane; trusting Prowl put some kind of surveillance hardware on it. Therefore, he would know she hadn't contacted anyone with vital secrets.
But there was no time to worry about that, she could hear the seeker working at the door and it was likely they wouldn't last fifteen more minutes, let alone the time it would take for the 'bots to actually retake the facility. She had to focus her thoughts on the enemy before her.
There had to be a reason Skywarp didn't just use his abilities to warp in and out of the facility. Was his skill, in fact, not warping but some kind of speed power? No, Erin dismissed the thought. She would have felt the resulting draft, and the seeker showed no sign of entering or exiting a running position. The displacement of air she experienced was unique. If he warped, wouldn't it make her think of something spontaneously expanding, pushing everything else out of the way? But this wasn't what she felt. Instead, it seemed as if the natural airflow faced a violent change in direction by a new object suddenly appearing in the space. This was intensified by the lack of barrier where he originated. Meaning, his warping ability caused him to enter inside a space, rather than push his way into one. This difference was small, yet significant. If that was the case, the seeker may have some weaknesses with this warping ability. Perhaps he only warped where he could see. That would explain why he didn't warp around the corner during the hallway chase, only from one end straight to the other. There was a chance he did this to avoid any obstacles. Perhaps he would get stuck somewhere if he didn't know where he was warping. Or, he couldn't warp through certain objects. If his ability pushed him through spaces, he'd basically explode out of said object. But if his form appeared both inside and throughout a space, his body would become integrated into the object. Erin had no idea how just warping through air must affect the mech, but it would explain his odd mannerisms. As if warping was affecting his processor by constantly bombarding it with molecules from the air, wearing him down. If so, his internal circuitry may be just as damaged, explaining the need for such thick armor, to protect what he had left.
The soldier thought to herself, We don't have the space or firepower for a direct assault, but we may be able to turn his abilities into a weakness. Not taking any chances of being overheard, Erin began signing. :Plan, distract and trick.:
:How?: Sunstreaker responded
:Sideswipe, lead away. Enemy see: using their own alphabet, she spelled, :i.n.s.i.d.e:, then switching back to full words, added, :ten minutes, set trap: she pointed to the scaffolding around them and spelled out :c.u.t o.p.e.n s.p.a.c.e.s,: then, :Sideswipe lead enemy back, no see i.n.s.i.d.e, w.a.r.p i.n trap.:
The yellow mech eyed her hard, she was asking his brother to risk both their lives. :You sure?: he asked.
The fact was that she wasn't. The entire plan depended on her theory being true. It was also likely the seeker chose the hard way in to entertain his sick mind. For all she knew, he could get bored and suddenly warp into the room at any moment. Nevertheless, there was little else they could do. Erin nodded and looked questioningly at Sideswipe, the message was clear, was he ready for this danger?
The silver mech stood confidently. There wasn't any time left to argue, they needed to enact her plan as soon as possible. They would have to hope the seeker being half blinded and partially lame would give the former gladiator enough of an edge to stay online.
Sideswipe went over to the interior panel, activating it. The first set of doors opened and the mech silently pointed at two buttons, one for closing each door. They would have to get the timing perfect. She would have to start closing the doors before Sideswipe opened the other set, there had to be enough time for the seeker to see inside the fusion chamber. And Sideswipe would need to find a way to escape past Skywarp.
Sideswipe turned and looked at both his brother and Erin, nodding to each in turn. Taking a nervous breath, Erin pressed the button to close the doors. Within a second, Sideswipe started opening the second one, darting to hide against a wall until the last possible moment. As one opened and the other closed, Erin saw the seeker's red optics, looming high up. She braced herself, ready for him to warp inside, past Sideswipe. But just as the seeker's grin grew triumphantly, Sideswipe skidded around, and jumped, reaching an arm up to flick the seeker on the nasal plate and swerve around him.
"I didn't know seekers could be so slow!" the silver mech taunted.
The green con did his best to turn around in the cramped space. "I'll enjoy tearing you apart first!" he spat with both excitement and venom. Giving chase, the seeker clumsily tried to navigate the hallways, impeded by his size.
Erin waited until she was sure they were far enough away to turn to Sunstreaker. "I'm going to cut the supports for the scaffolding. You bring it down so it stretches across the room."
Without waiting for a response, Erin climbed the stairs and aimed her blade for wherever metal bolts held the structure to the wall. Each cut was effortless with such a weapon, but time was not on their side and she had a lot of work to do. Deciding not to cut every bolt, she went for every other, hoping that would provide enough give for Sunstreaker to pull the structure down. While they worked, blaster fire and the sounds of metal on metal echoed down the hall.
"He's fine." Sunstreaker called to her, having obviously seen the worry in her eyes.
It was terrifying, being the one to decide to put Sideswipe at risk, in fact, both were in danger. She didn't want to think of what would happen should the seeker catch Sideswipe.
As the structure below her feet began to wobble, Erin felt a sensation of vertigo. "Is that enough?" she asked her yellow teammate while beginning her descent.
Said mech started pulling on the scaffolding, the metal in his grip crushing under the pressure. Just as Erin hit the ground, it began to give way, creaking towards the center of the room. A chunk, still attached to the wall, broke away from the mass, while most of the metal began to crumble under the unsupported weight. When Sunstreaker had finally lowered the metal structure, it leaned against the core of the room, covering half of the once open space. Sunstreaker hurried across the room to pull down some pieces of metal that still clung to their original position. Before he finished, Erin activated her comm, "Sideswipe!" she called, "Get your aft back in here."
By the time Sunstreaker finished laying out the trap, Sideswipe's roaring engine was clearly audible.
Erin stood ready at the door. She had to time it just right for Sideswipe to enter without the seeker seeing the new layout of the room. Blinking her eyes closed, she listened, knowing the mech's speed and pattern of movements by heart and combining that with her memory of how quickly the massive blast doors closed, she prepared for what might be the one action that separates them from either death or success.
Finally, she found the right moment, and slammed her fist on the button. A flash of silver burst past the closing passageway, which sealed a second later. Sideswipe nearly crashed into the litter of metal bars and staircases before he abruptly stopped. Erin stood against the wall, ready to attack wherever the seeker appeared. The twins got ready as well, optics trained on what was once the open space large enough for the con.
Then, as the seeker's footsteps stopped right outside the door, nothing happened. He didn't try to tear open the door, nor did he warp inside. Not wanting to be caught off guard, Erin stayed ready, senses alert for anything that spelled danger. Then, she realized something. If the seeker needed to see a room in order to avoid getting stuck his surroundings, he would need to see any people in there as well.
Taking a shaky breath, she called to the twins, "Don't let your guard down."
In turn, they looked at her, confused. Erin responded by motioning with her hands for them to speak. Sideswipe was the first to realize what she was saying, responding with, "Alright." Sunstreaker followed suit, giving a quick but clear, "K."
A massive displacement of air preceded a bloodcurdling scream. Erin saw the seeker, entirely impaled by the scaffolding. The largest chunk, which leaned high against the fusion reactor, was stuck throughout the mech's abdomen. Energon flowed freely from wounds there, as well as both legs and one arm. The seeker collapsed on the ground, moaning with immense pain.
Not waiting a moment, the twins attacked, aiming for the openings in the seeker's armor left by the trap. None of the wounds were deadly, meaning they had to open them enough for the seeker to slowly leak out. The green con tried thrashing at his opponents, but that only seemed to worsen his agony.
Erin, seeing a strong likelihood of being crushed, pulled out her pistol and took aim for the still open optic wound. Her shot opened a new flow of energon while the twins continued to dig furiously at the seeker's armor, taking him apart piece by piece.
Eventually, the green body started to convulse as too much energon was spilt and the light from the seeker's optics faded away.
There was a moment of pause where the trio processed what they had just done, feeling the gruesome death on their hands and servos. Erin dropped to her knees, legs too shaky to hold herself up. The twins slouched, their fans roaring, vents loud. The white from their optics began to darken into their respective blue tones. No one said anything to the other, but all cast glances around, appraising their teammates' conditions. No one seemed seriously injured, but Erin's heart couldn't stop beating franticly.
Buzzing to life, Prowl's voice took over her comm link, "Reinforcements have arrived," he announced, "we're going to aim for the facility. What's your status?"
The soldier found it interesting how to mech started with good news, as if convincing himself that there was hope and the three Team Prime members hadn't already been eviscerated. Erin answered, "The internal threat has been offlined." She should have offered to join the counter assault, but the three of them were too mentally and physically drained to be of any use. They'd watched their comrade's helm roll across the floor, seen and even been smeared with the blood of their allies, and risked losing each other for the chance to survive to the next day, all while staring into delighted, crazed optics.
Distantly, Erin heard the distinctive popping noises of gunfire. The soldier closed her eyes as her anxiety rose. It wasn't right, it was too much for her. She'd never been trained to fight such creatures, at least not substantially, in her mind. She didn't belong there. And there was something distinctly wrong with how she felt. Her duty should have been self-preservation once the mission went south, but she failed at that. Instead, she risked herself for the sake of the twins, beings who weren't even human. Yet, the thought of losing them seemed immeasurable.
"I don't think I can keep doing this." Ern muttered to herself aloud.
She heard shifting metal, as if the twins had both flintched.
"What was that?" Sunstreaker snarled behind her. The soldier could hear him moving behind her. After she refused to answer, he pushed on, "Just what the frag do you mean by that, squishy?" His fists audibly clenched. Erin turned her head to see not anger, but frustration in his optics.
"Sunny." Sideswipe tried to placate his brother with a servo on the shoulder but the yellow gladiator brushed it off.
"Don't call me that." He snapped to his other half before turning back towards Erin. "I want to know what she has to say."
Anxiety boiled in Erin's veins. Her breath was rapid, as her heart could not seem to pace evenly. I one swift motion, she stood and turned towards the mech. "I mean exactly what I said, I don't know what the fuck I'm even doing here!" she responded with far more passion than she'd anticipated. Why was he the one getting upset anyway? She waved her hand towards the deceased seeker, "How am I supposed to fight that?" she asked exasperated.
Sideswipe looked at her, confused, "What do you mean, Rin? You've been training with us for months and you've fought decepticons before."
Sunstreaker interjected before Erin could reply, "I'm not going to stand by and let you sell yourself short. We offlined the guy, so what makes you think you don't belong here?" Though his optics were strong with challenge, his frame remained slumped with exhaustion.
If Erin hadn't been so upset, she would have found their blindness amusing. Were they really so distracted by their feelings for her that they couldn't see she was unable to take on such titans? "You two are god-damn fucking giants, and you could've easily been scrapped by that thing!" she shouted, as if yelling would drill the point into their helms. She dropped her arm, exhaustion seeping into her muscles. "I'm just a human, I can't do anything here." She dropped her head. "If you wanted to crush me, you could've done so at any time but you didn't, that's the only reason I've survived so far." She added, eyes blazing, "And last time we fought the cons, I was nothing but a burden." Looking up to Sideswipe, she muttered, "and you got hurt because of me." Erin looked down again, too tired to continue. Instead, she dropped onto her butt and rested her head on one knee. "And if anything went wrong today, and you got hurt, that would have been on me as well."
There was barely a moment before Sunstreaker said, "Squishy, look at me." While he spoke steadily, Erin could hear just how much he was restraining his own emotions. Nevertheless. She ignored his demand. "Squishy." The mech repeated, temper rising. After a pause, he shouted, "Primus damn it, Erin!" Here name leaving the front liner's vocalizer was enough to shock her out of her stupor and get her to listen. She glanced up and saw Sunstreaker with a servo planted firmly over his chassis. "Do either of us look hurt to you?" he asked, voice softening. The two mechs had a few dents, but otherwise, they seemed tired more than anything. Erin stayed quiet so he continued, "Any mech who comes out of a fight against a seeker is lucky to survive." He stated firmly, "It was your plan that kept us online and led us to victory."
Erin glanced over to Sideswipe, whose smile was marred by genuine concern. "But," she said, "I had to risk your lives to do it. Doesn't that upset you?" she asked.
Sunstreaker was about to respond but Sideswipe stepped forward and kneeled down to place two digits gently on her shoulder. The silver mech smiled at her, "Any plan would have been risky." He responded. "Besides, other 'bots would've thrown us into the fray without a second thought, if only to get some time to escape themselves." His optics shot over to the air ducts she had been eyeing before. He knew what she had been thinking. "But," he added, "you came up with a plan that gave us all the best chance of survival." Off where Erin was looking, there was a shimmer of darkness passing through light.
"Don't forget," Sunstreaker added in a more subdued tone, "you made the first moves that handicapped the bastard."
Erin, however, wasn't listening anymore, her focus caught by something above them. Whatever it was seemed to shift in the shadows where a grate separated the ductwork from the rest of the room. Erin raised a fist, signaling for the mech's attention. They followed her line of sight, pausing as a pattering noise sounded above them.
"Drone!" Sideswipe shouted.
Sunstreaker raised his blaster and shot at where the air duct met the neighboring wall. The entire unit creaked and sagged without the support. The noise moved away from where he blasted, and headed to where the unit curved around to another part of the rounded wall. At that point, all three Team Prime members had mid-range weapons out and firing towards any possible exits or supports. The entire unit fell away from the ceiling and crashed down over the remains of crumpled scaffolding. Sideswipe quickly jumped over to the scene, pedes turning from wheels to a normal boot-like shape so he could tread over the uneven ground. With one blade ready, he tore at the thin metal, revealing a sparking little creature that looked like nothing more than scrap metal.
"Offline." Sideswipe reported back.
"Con?" Sunstreaker asked, surely already knowing the answer.
The silver twin nodded, picking up the remains. "Ratchet will want to examine both frames." He stated, throwing their latest victim next to the offline seeker for a crew to pick up.
Erin's eyebrows creased. What kind of valuable information had the cons gained? Afterall, knowledge was more valuable than any form of currency.