The mech seemed annoyed and shook his head at the ground while Castiron seemed disappointed in himself.
"Fine, I'll make do with what I have." The mech said before his arm transformed into a torch. "The other one would have been much better for these wounds.." he said and as he saw Skywing react added, "But this works just as well, it might just be a little longer." He looked over Shard then glanced back at the two. "You two, get. I have work to do. Oh, and introduce him to Firestrike." Castiron nodded and him and Skywing walked out. They walked off in silence and Skywing looked up at Castiron.
"Why do you seem upset?" Skywing said and Castiron shrugged. "Are you trying to impress that grumpy mech?"
"Well, I kinda have too..." he said and sighed a short sigh. "His name is Ratchet, and he's my mentor."
"Oh." Skywing said.
"I'm an engineer, but I want to be a medic." Castiron continued. "Here, I can be, but I'm a pretty bad apprentice."
"Well, everything takes time." Skywing said and Castiron again shrugged.
"Yeah, I guess so. I'm not sure, I may quit." He said and Skywing shoved him.
"And I might be a four wheeler. Come on, if you want it, stick with it." He said and they made it back to the main room.
"Ha, alright. I guess you're right." Castiron said, then remembered what he was supposed to do. "Oh scrap. Come on, I'm not sure if Firestrike is here, but she might be."
"Right, who is she?" Skywing asked as he followed Castiron. They took a turn down a hallway.
"She's our leader." Castiron said as he lead Skywing through the dimly lit corridor. "Firestrike was the first to break away from the Replevin when she realized that they were beginning to become corrupt. It was around the time Megatronus started to come around and talk."
"Megatronus?" Skywing repeated as a chill went through his wings.
"Yeah. Him. At first, he'd say a few words, have a drink, and then be gone. Then he got a little louder, stayed a little longer. His bad influence was like an infection on many of the bots there, but Firestrike wouldn't stand for it. She called him out. Said he was speaking deception on all of them. He'd get them killed. On the contrary, she almost got herself killed that day. But she escaped with the help of others that agreed with her. They split off creating the Gridlock, the Replevin hated it. They fought, that is until the two leader, Firstrike and Octane, made a deal. They created rules to keep us both alive, that way we wouldn't self destruct. After that, we always attacked each other silently. Both only agreed to stay hidden from the Guilds. Even Firestrike says they're corrupt." They got to a door and Castiron opened it. Inside, it was dark, a computer was on and gave off some light.
"What's so wrong with the Guilds?" Skywing asked. Castiron opened his mouth to answer, but someone else beat him to it.
"They hold the high status bots on a silver pedestal, while they force the lower class to work hard until they're sparks fade away." They two mech turned to see a femme. She was taller than the both of them with wide shoulders. Her colors where a stunning orange and red along with perfect silver. Her eyes were fiery red and pitch black, burning like coals through Skywing. "They forget them. And none of us can interact, unless in the name of collecting data... Castiron, who is this?" Firstrike asked without her stare even twitching away from Skywing.
"Madam Firestrike, this is Skywing. He was born early this morning. His partner is the femme that's currently in stasis lock." Firstrike seemed to relax and leaned on her hip as she placed her hand on her hips.
"A newbie, huh? Well it's nice to meet you." She said then shifted her weight and crossed her arms. "Where are you from?"
"Uh, Iacon, um, ma'am." Skywing shuddered out as he continued to look awe struck by the femme.
"Iacon bot. Where do you stand on the scale?" She asked and Skywing seemed confused, then Castiron helped him out.
"He's a C.I." he said and Skywing nodded his head.
"Investigator? Nice. You could come on handy then..." Firestrike's voice faded as she then moved to the computer. "If you came here to chat, I'm more than willing to do so. Otherwise, leave. I have work to do." She didn't say it rudely, but rather, passively.
"Of course. Ratchet just wanted me to introduce him to you. We will get out of your way now." Castiron held up in hand in a salute stance. Firestrike responded with a simple nod causing Castiron to relax. Firestrike then went to face the computers. Skywing glanced at what was on the screen: plans. He became interested and almost asked about it. That is until Castiron made a sound of clearing his throat. Skywing then looked over at Castiron and he gestured that they needed to leave.
"Good bye, Firestrike." Skywing said giving her a nod and headed towards Castiron. They quickly left while the door quickly closed.
"Don't ask." Castiron said sharply as they walked down the corridor.
"Ask what?" Skywing asked with a touch of confusion in his voice. But with slight understanding as well.
"You're going to ask what was on the computer screen." He answered as he looked slightly down as walked. "Don't. Even Ratchet doesn't know. It's on a need-to-know basis. And Firestrike is the only one who needs to know."
"Hm..." Skywing furrowed his brows and looked to the ground. Castiron glanced suspiciously at him but didn't say a single room.
"I'm going to go see if Ratchet needs anything." Castiron finally said as they returned top the main room. "You should go back to your investigating. The Guilds watch newbs closely, more so than older bots." He said as he bit a hand on his shouldered. "Careful out there." He then turned and walked back to the infirmary.
A/N: Sorry for being gone for so so long! Life and crap. Still kinda rough but also very busy. I'm involved in my school a lot. So I'll try to be like Alex Hamilton and write like I'm running out of time. Tbh tho, the next few chappies will kinda be filler. Just bear with me. I'll try to make it all enjoyable! Thanks for sticking around!
