Hello, I'm back. Sorry for the hiatus. My dog dies a couple months ago and I haven't been too motivated to write again until recently. I'll try to give you another update sooner.

Chapter 34

The battle had finally ended. There were forty seven casualties, including Wheeljack. Prowl stated they were lucky, a bold statement in the face of such disaster. Mech's only objective seemed to be keeping N.E.S.T at bay, suppressing any movements but not lining up directly for a kill. Most of the deaths were caused by Hardshell, the insecticon. Skywarp only fought for what seemed to be entertainment, warping behind the line of soldiers to pick one up, crush him curiously, and warp away; then repeating the action every few minutes, laughing as he did so. Wheeljack was offlined after breaking the defensive line to engage the seeker one on one. The green con simply warped behind him an tore off his helm. It was at that moment when he stopped all advances and moved to the entrance of the facility, easily entering while the troops were retreating.

All materials in the facility were accounted for and, considering the involvement of Mech, all cybertronian-based weapons were counted. Erin was promptly made to return her new blade under the feigned excuse that it needed to be analyzed for structural effects from the battle. Erin knew better than to argue. By the next day, most of the soldiers, her and the twins included, were sent home.

Erin, Sideswipe, and Sunstreaker flew back with only Prowl- since Ironhide stayed behind- and the body of Wheeljack. Tarps covered the mech's lifeless frame, wrapping over and under his helm to keep it in place as the plane banked. Stacked equipment lined the walls, giving the mechs limited space to rest their backs in bi-pedal mode. While normally, Erin would leave her seat to walk among her cybertronian companions, she stayed in the same place since take-off. The only sound for the duration of the flight was the plane's engines. Everyone was too distracted by their own thoughts or mourning to utter a word.

In Erin's head, she was reviewing the battle with Skywarp. The seeker had been beyond unsettling, making her lose confidence in her own abilities. Though, the twins were right, she had managed to damage both the seeker's optic and shoulder before her plan was enacted to offline the freak. Yet there was still something that didn't settle right with her about the situation, but there was so much that happened, it was hard to go through it all.

The drone? It had obvious deception origins and was most likely sent to observe the battle, as if trying to learn something. Erin initially wondered whether it was sent to retrieve the batteries during the commotion, but the small creature would not be large enough to carry them. It didn't warn Skywarp of their trap though it should have had seen them carry out the plan. So, what was it for? Did it only watch Skywarp, thus not being around to see the trap until it was too late? Sending it ahead to locate the batteries and guide the seeker there would have been a wiser option. If there was one thing Erin did not like, it was not knowing.

However, Erin thought with a start, there was something strange about what the crazed seeker said. When he had Sideswipe in his clutches, he talked about Shockwave- the famed ruthless decepticon scientist- needing another pair of twins. The looked over to her own set, what could Shockwave want with them?

Finally deciding to unstrap herself from the seat, she got up and headed to the twins. Sideswipe was in his alt mode, something he did when he didn't want Erin to know he was watching her. He'd make a terrible spy. Sunstreaker was working on his armor. Some of the dents already seemed to be healing away, others would need to be seen by Ratchet once they returned. Sunstreaker seemed to be sanding away at the edges of scratches, smoothing them over.

"Hey guys," she started, trying to sound more conversational, "do you have a minute?" She was rather stiff with the whole sympathy thing, but she wanted to give them an opportunity to turn her away, if they were still upset over losing a comrade.

Sunstreaker looked down at her, subspacing his materials. "What is it, squishy?" he asked.

Sideswipe transformed to kneel in front over her. "We always have time for you, Rin." He said, still sounding exhausted from the previous day.

"It's about Skywarp." She warned, carefully watching their expressions turn serious. "He said Shockwave needed another pair of twins. Do you have any idea what the cons could be doing?"

The twins looked at each other, their optics flickering, showing quick communication over their bond. Then, Sunstreaker looked back to her. "The cons are always up to something, we'll take it as it comes. Nothing to worry about." To show he was done with the conversation, he pulled out a cloth and started wiping at dust that had accumulated around his pedes, completely ignoring the half-finished sanding job on his chassis.

Erin, however, was not taking that as an answer. She stepped forward and put her hand over Sunstreaker's servo, gripping the cloth. The mech pulled it back towards his chassis, but she followed, getting in his personal space, one foot lifting herself up on his leg.

Sunstreaker shuttered his optics for a second in surprise. Normally, Erin would let him be the one to engage in any physical contact, for fear of upsetting him. But that apprehension had been fading away.

Looking at him straight in the optics, she stated firmly, "Don't think you can lie to me that easily, and don't brush me off. Look at me in the eyes and say you're not worried about this."

She waited for a moment, challenging the mech to speak out. Honestly, she wasn't sure whether he would lash out at her. Afterall, her organic hands were on him and his temper could flare at any moment. However, she stood her ground.

After a long second passed, Sunstreaker lowered his servo and sighed. "Fine, you win, squishy."

Satisfied, Erin moved back to give the mech some space, but she found a large arm sweep around her and guide her down to sit on the yellow thigh she had been standing on, a servo resting against her back. The soldier stiffed in surprise as she sat on Sunstreaker's leg like a child. Sideswipe crossed his legs together and sat across from Erin. Both mech's helms moved in close so they could whisper. Even after a year of knowing them, Erin still felt intimidated by the sheer size of them looming over her.

"First off," Sunstreaker stated, "you owe us something."

Erin cringed, they had her in a corner there, she did say she'd share the identity of her suspect. "Promise me if I tell you two, you won't do anything rash."

Sideswipe raised his servo, "Scout's honor, now spill it."

"I'm serious."

"So are we." Sunstreaker responded, optics narrowed to thin slits.

Erin looked around, Prowl was in clear view, though he seemed preoccupied, there was a chance he could be listening in. Erin motioned her head towards the Second in Command.

The twins looked as if they were about to argue, but Sideswipe muttered, "Fine. But we're talking as soon as we land."

At least that bought her some time. The twins were reliable in a pinch, but they were too reckless. She'd rather handle the situation on her own. "For now, share what you know about Shockwave and whatever he wants with twins."

Sunstreaker spoke up, "Honestly, we know about as much as you do. Split spark twins are fraggin' rare, most mechs would meet Primus before seeing a pair of twins." He stated. "Apparently, before the war, it was common practice for twins to be studied and some even experimented on. That was put on hold when the fighting broke loose, scientific study shifted to weaponry. Shockwave might have something planned, or he's just bored and wants to see how we tick." Sunstreaker was surprisingly nonchalant concerning the treatment f his kind. He normally preferred bursts of emotion, usually rage, when covering such personal topics.

Erin saw this as a chance to press further. "Have you heard of any that might have survived so far? Skywarp insinuated Shockwave has already been experimenting on twins."

"There are two other's we've heard of." Sideswipe chipped in. "Twins are pretty famous if you can't tell." He added with a quick wink. "A pair of neutrals we knew of called Jetstorm and Jetfire disappeared during evacuations a couple vorns ago. And there is a decepticon set, seekers named Skyquake and Dreadwing." He paused, optics widening, then flinched hard. "Sunny…" he muttered, staring at the ground.

"Don't call me that." He grumbled in response, tensing nevertheless at his brother's shift in mood.

Erin had to strain to hear what the former gladiator said next. "Didn't Skywarp seem a bit familiar?"

Sunstreaker's optics mirrored his brother's. "You don't think…"

Both mechs fell silent. Erin eyes both of them closely before prompting them to speak again, "What?"

Sideswipe locked optics with his brother. "Skywarp did have a similar frame to Skyquake. And remember what he said, about being able to warp 'now', as if he couldn't before?"

"You mean Shockwave experimented on him?" Erin added, trying to fill in whatever they were not saying.

Sunstreaker muttered back, "But what does him being a twin have to do with warping? And where was Dreadwing?"

The silver mech shuttered his optics. "Wherever he was, he's offline now."

This was getting into territory Erin knew she didn't entirely comprehend. "How likely is it that was Skyquake?" She asked, hoping for better confirmation.

"Honestly, I don't know." Sideswipe said, shaking his helm in dissatisfaction. "We'll have to tell Prowl, though." He added, "And maybe Ratchet will have some answers."

"Yeah, maybe." Sunstreaker said.

Regardless of the truth, one fact was in Erin's mind. The twins were at risk.

Starscream scowled at the data pad before him, optics focused on the small organic creature his drone had been focused on. After watching the video four times, he still couldn't believe this was the creature that had caused him problems in the past and continued to do so.

Silas planned on making her a spy for both Mech and, by extension, the decepticons. That plan fell through quickly. Two of his three mighty insecticons were, according to Hardshell, offlined due to a the combined efforts of the famed gladiator twins and this pathetic human. Then, Starscream himself was left to witness the destruction of his own scientifically enhanced Seeker. The drone had been meant to allow Shockwave to study Skywarp's progress. Instead, it showed how a pathetic little organic maimed Starscream's mighty warrior.

The de facto leader of the decepticons watched as the human's hands moved, showing some kind of secret message to the silver and yellow mechs. He already tried comparing it to different forms of human sign language, but they couldn't translate what was said. The result was obvious, though. The other N.E.S.T soldiers and autobots never seemed to use this way of communicating.

Starscream reeled at the thought. This was either a new technique brought on by N.E.S.T, or the twins and this human were in some kind of close partnership. As impossible as it sounded. Though, perhaps he could turn this in his favor. He finally had a way of getting to them, and advancing his plans. He would need to find everything he could on this Erin Brook.

The sound of pede steps alerted Starscream to Shockwave's return. In his servo, he carried a measly two barrels of what appeared to be gasoline. The seeker shuttered at the sight. Because of Skywarp's failure, they would be forced to continue surviving off the dark filth produced by the planet's inhabitants. Still, they couldn't go without refueling, and what Shockwave brought back wouldn't last the two of them more than a day.

"Is that really all you could find?" the seeker snapped.

Shockwave appeared unfazed, his expressionless faceplates giving away nothing. "Until our forces grow, it is illogical to take more than would be noticed by the humans." He titled his helm and continued, "It is also illogical for me to go on such simple retrieval excursions, when I should be in my lab."

"Well, if you haven't noticed, there is not much for you to work on now, is there? Besides, I'm busy too.: he complained. "Our human allies are such a pain."

"Mech has not offered any benefit to the decepticon cause." Shockwave stated. "It is illogical to continue."

"You're right." Starscream conceded. "Since Silas exposed his own identity in the failed capture of the autobot twins, his resources have significantly dwindled. And it seems their firepower can't hold up to the autobots either. It may be time to cut ties with them." Pushing that thought away for the moment, he added, "But no matter, this is a populous planet, and there are many others to exploit, at least until our plans come together." He grinned, processor working. Perhaps, he could even capture some of Mech's resources before blasting Silas to dust.

56 was tired. The effects of the long mission were weighing on the agent. Countless sleepless nights were spent doing research for division. And as the autobots upgraded their securities and record concealment, it became nearly impossible to gather data. It took weeks to crack each code, having to constantly receive algorithm updates from base. But in all honesty, 56 did not want to leave. It was easy not to get attached during short missions, but after months outside the confines of division, 56 felt free. No beatings for stepping out of line, no training in interrogations. 56 always hated division; ever since childhood. The agent could remember sitting on a small bed with 55, 25, 34, and 14; a blanket over their heads and a flashlight between them. They imagined what they would do if they ever escaped from division. 25 wanted to play basketball professionally. 34 wanted to hack into bank accounts and steal a bunch of money, and live on his own island… with a pet tiger, of course. They were only kids at the time, they could dream whatever they wanted. But, eventually they grew up. The only freedom they would ever find would be in death. Still, being so far from division, the agent could imagine, just for a moment, that the shackles were gone. 56 really did not want to leave.

While the new security measures made the agent's job more difficult, it also extended the mission. The only reminders of the hell awaiting back home were the infrequent messages sent through 34. The most recent one brought the temporary nature of the mission to the forefront.

-We have a reason to believe an individual has discovered your identity. Kill them, make it look like an accident. -

A single picture accompanied the message. It was the very soldier 56 had been keeping a close eye on. This individual displayed both natural and hard-earned talent. The agent even considered recommending recruitment. The only reason why 56 held off, was to spare the specialist the life of an agent. But 56 was an assassin.

It was time to get back to reality.