Fandom: Transformers G1
Author: gatekat, ultrarodimus on LJ
Pairing: Axe/Dai Atlas/Titanus, Wing/Tradewinds
Rating: PG-13
Codes: Slash, Historical Setting, Knights of Light
Disclaimer: The authors are only playing with their own twisted muses. Transformers belong to Hasbro. Fandom-side, check the inspirations page (gatekat-fics .livejournal 290 .html). We draw from a ton of amazing stories and authors you should read.
The cyber-kitten: (gorechick .deviantart art/Kitty-Jazz-90551785)

Kneeling to the Sword 22: The Smoldering Embers of War
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Vanguard sat behind his desk, wings pulled as close to his back as he could get them, waiting for Demeter to answer his summons. He had news for the small Knight, news no Knight, and especially no Daoshi, ever wanted to hear. One hand tightened slightly on the edge of the datapad he was holding, containing all of the information he had been able to collect.

The door opened a few kliks later to admit her, the rich brown psudo-fur covering her tail and part of her frame was fluffed out in distress. She'd heard in his tone very clearly that something was terribly wrong. One glance at the Seeker told her he wasn't angry, so she leapt up to the desk top to speak with him more on optic level. "What happened, sir?"

"We have received some... disturbing news," Vanguard replied, looking solemnly at the smaller femme. "It is about Stiletto."

Her long fluffy tail twitched. "Imprisoned?"

Her Initiate wasn't mellow, but he hardly had a temper either. His most dangerous trait out in the real world was an inability to back down from protecting someone he viewed as a victim. She knew before she watched him leave that it could get him in trouble out there, but that was also part of the point of a walkabout.

Vanguard slid the datapad across the desk toward her. "He was in the city of Tarn when there was an outbreak of violence. Stiletto was caught in the crossfire, trying to save another mecha. He was killed."

Deep brown optics dimmed and shuttered for a moment, only the very tip of her tail showing any movement that she was even functioning.

"Who has his frame and weapons?" she asked after a lingering moment.

"His weapons were taken as trophies by those who deactivated him. They have either taken his frame or disposed of it somewhere in the depths of Tarn." Burgundy armor ruffled slightly. "Flame of Justice must be retrieved; his frame as well, if it is possible."

"Tracer code?" she asked quietly, falling back on thought patters far older than her current function.

"The last location given by his locator beacon is on the datapad. Once you are close you should be able to pick up the low-power signal it will broadcast for a vorn after deactivation," the Sovereign replied. "Your Great Sword will lead you to his, once you are close enough for them to contact each other." White optics took in the small microbot before him as he gauged her reaction. "You may take any other Knight or Knights you choose with you to help, as long as they are agreeable."

She nodded, digesting the information on the datapad as her tail shivered with emotion. "I will ask Dai Atlas and Axe. They are better suited than most to fly into a war zone."

"They have the experience and the armor for it." Vanguard nodded. He handed her a credit stick. "This will give you access to the Citadel's funds, if it is necessary."

She took it and nodded, placing both stick and pad in subspace. Her manner finished shifting to a hard one much more suited to Dai Atlas than the playful creature he knew her to be.

"We'll leave as soon as we've prepared, fueled and convinced Wing not to follow," she told him. "Is there anything else?"

"All the information we have is on the datapad." Vanguard twined his fingers together. "I wish you success in bringing Stiletto's frame and weapons home."

"We will," she said firmly, her tail flicking in determination. "Thank you, Sovereign," she added softly as she jumped to the floor and transformed to trot out on all fours. ::Dai Atlas, Axe.:: she pinged them. ::I have a retrieval mission I would ask you to join.::

::Retrieving what?:: Dai Atlas came back, though his tone indicated he'd already agreed.

::The frame and weapons of my Initiate, Stiletto.::

::What happened?:: Axe asked, his attention drawn away from the bookfile he'd been reading. ::What city was he in?::

::Tarn. Caught in a riot trying to protect those there,:: she sighed, both angry and proud. ::It's an active war zone. No Wing. Let's keep it to former military.::

::We'll be ready within the joor,:: Axe replied. ::And yes, Wing stays here.::

Putting aside the bookfile, the black and gold mech nudged at the white jet drowsing on his lap. Wing blinked up at him, but obligingly moved off his lap onto the couch.

"What's going on?" the white jet asked, watching Axe walk toward the supply cabinets.

"We're going on a mission with Demeter," he answered, his tone dark. "You are not coming."

Wing sat up on the couch. "I'm not? Why not? Where are you going?"

"We are going into a war zone and you are not," Dai Atlas' rumble from the balcony as he entered was a deadly serious as Wing had ever heard him. "We have the armor and training to make it back without an extra corpse."

The young mech inclined his helm, settling back on the couch. He was well aware of the amount of armor on his frame. "Point made. I'll behave." Wing watched the two bigger mechs. "Why are you going, though? What happened?"

Axe paused and reached a gentle hand out to brush his mate's arm as the larger mech passed him on the way to the berthroom to pack. "Stiletto was caught in an uprising. Demeter's asked for our assistance in bringing his remains and weapons back. I don't expect it'll be a clean mission. Or a quick one. Not where he ended up."

Wing's armor tightened to his frame. "Stiletto is deactivated?" He chewed on that for a moment. "It's getting more and more dangerous outside the Citadel... I can see why you don't want me along."

"Good," Axe relaxed with relief. "Yes, it is. More dangerous, more desperate and far closer to the war we saw as inevitable on our walkabout. It won't be much longer before it finds the leader it's been looking for. I only hope we're ready when that happens."

"Worse than any force the raiders have ever fielded. I don't even want to think about it." Wing shuddered. "You'll be all right?"

"There's nothing Cybertron can throw at us that we haven't faced before," Axe promised. "We'll be back."

Relief made Wing's armor fluff back out. Even though he knew his creators were experienced warriors, he was still nervous about them going into battle.

::Wing?:: Tradewinds pinged him. ::Are you going?:: Real distress echoed in the shuttle's vocals.

::No, I'm not going,:: Wing reassured his lover. ::It's too dangerous; I don't have the armor or the experience.::

The sound across the come was utter relief. ::Who is? That little turbofox is not going alone, is she?::

::Dai Atlas and Axe are going with her. They're the most experienced warriors in the Citadel, and they have the best armor for going into a combat situation.:: Wing settled where he was, watching the two big mechs packing.

There was a long pause. ::Are they in their quarters?::

::Yes. They're packing, getting ready to leave. Demeter should be here soon, too,:: Wing replied.

::I'll be over in a breem,:: Tradewinds told him. ::Have them stick around, if they try to leave before I get there?::

::Will do,:: Wing chirped, ruffling his armor. ::Though it looks like they'll take a while longer to get everything together.::

There was another pause. ::Where are they going?::

::They didn't say, and I haven't heard anything from anyone else yet. But wherever it is, it's an active conflict zone.:: Wing shrugged, even though he knew Tradewinds couldn't see it.

::That doesn't narrow things down that much,:: Tradewinds replied quietly.

"Who are you chatting with?" Axe asked over his shoulder.

"Tradewinds," Wing replied. "He was asking if I was going with you; he's very relieved that I'm not. And he's wondering where you're going."

"Tarn, at least to start with," Axe replied now that he was confident that Wing wouldn't follow. "That's his last known location and where he deactivated. We won't be so out of contact this time," he added with a slight smile. "We can comm to chat when things are calm, and we'll be back as soon as we retrieve everything."

Wing perked up. "I'm very glad to hear that." ::They're going to Tarn... That's where Stiletto deactivated.::

::Deactivated ... I'm sorry,:: Tradewinds murmured.

::They're going to retrieve his frame and his weapons,:: Wing added, one wing shifting.

Everyone fell silent for the remainder of the breem until Tradewinds' engines approached and he set down on the balcony. "May I come in?" He called out politely.

Axe looked up. "Come in."

"Axe, Wing," he nodded to the two he could see. "Is your mate here?" he focused on the black and gold Knight.

"Yes," Dai Atlas responded from the berthroom.

"Would you come out for a moment," the shuttle shifted uneasily. "I'd like to speak with you both."

Dai Atlas was drawn out by curiosity as much as by the request. Both Axe and Wing looked at the shuttle curiously, the black and gold Knight exchanging a puzzled look with Wing before turning his attention back to Tradewinds. "About what?"

"I've heard enough around here to know you're both aware of how bad it's getting out there," Tradewinds shifting his wings before offering a datapad and cred stick to Axe, as the closer of the pair to him. "These are my contacts and the debts you may collect in my designation if you need them, and credits to back whatever the Order has authorized."

Axe's optic ridges went up in surprise as he accepted the datapad and the credit stick. "Thank you... but why?"

"You mean the world to Wing," Tradewinds said simply. "Tarn may be in better shape than Kaon or Trypticon, but it's still bad. Corruption is nearly complete. You'll need to be able to call in favors or bribe the right mecha to get anywhere. I can always earn more credits and favors. You can't be replaced."

"Thank you," Dai Atlas grunted, though there was a softness to the sound.

Wing bounced over to pounce on Tradewinds, hugging him tightly. "Thank you," he whispered, earning a smile that melted into pleasure. To everyone who saw it, that thank you and hug from Wing was what made all he'd handed over worth it.

"Anything for you," Tradewinds murmured with a kiss to Wing's crest. For the first time, Dai Atlas truly began to believe he meant it.

Axe smiled at the two of them, carefully putting the credit stick and the datapad in his subspace. He and Dai Atlas returned to their preparations while Tradewinds tugged Wing to the couch to sit and talk quietly.

SxSxSxSxSxSxSxSx S===================S SxSxSxSxSxSxSxS

"Of course it was dumped in one of the few places we're more disadvantage than advantage," Dai Atlas grumbled to the microbot in his cockpit as they navigated the treacherous airspace of the lower levels, headed ever farther deeper. "You'll get to him a lot faster than we can once we're on the right level."

"Just get me as close as you can," she rumbled lightly. "I'll find what's left of him."

Axe muttered something rude under his breath, flipping on his side to avoid getting snagged on a protruding edge. His glossy black paint already bore a few scuffs from near-misses in the tight spaces. A petro-gull screeched insults at him as he got too close to its nest. "Those who deactivated him clearly did not want anyone to find him."

"I have doubts that they're the ones to dump him. If he perished in a riot they wouldn't have bothered to hide the remains," Dai Atlas grumbled as he opened fire with long-absent alt-form weapons to clear a path large enough for him down the garbage congested path to the next level. "It saves money to make bodies just go away, rather than properly deal with them."

Demeter hissed in anger, her long, thick tail lashing back and forth as she watched the dot on the display that was their target.

"You have a point. But that doesn't make this any less aggravating." Axe slid sideways slightly to avoid another sharp edge, following his mate's path as closely as he could.

"No, it doesn't," Dai Atlas agreed. "I believe he is on this level."

"Going any lower would be a nightmare," the black and gold Knight observed, eying the passages to the lower levels. "I have my doubts that we would be able to fit any lower."

"Not without using a lot of firepower," Dai Atlas agreed as his flight leveled out, homing in on the signal. "I'm just glad that Titan has an apartment here. We can recharge in safety and we don't have to worry about Stiletto's remains while we look for Flame of Justice."

"And he's got it so well secured we don't have to worry about anyone or anything breaking in," Axe agreed. He let out a growl as a chunk of debris fell from somewhere above, clanging off his chassis. "When we find Flame of Justice, we find Stiletto's killers."

"And Primus can sort them out," Demeter growled with another lash of her tail.

"You find him, we'll be up here until you have a better idea where he is?" Dai Atlas suggested as they came to a stop over the beacon, though it only got them within a block of their target.

"Will do," she nodded and transformed, well aware that her long-legged canine form was better suited to this hunt. Dai Atlas lowered as close as he dared to the pile of bodies, debris and old buildings that was the current dump site from above. He opened his cockpit and watched her jump out before lifting up to join his mate in providing her cover from above, such as they could.

Scores of small red optics glinted at them from the shadows, revealing the presence of dozens of turbo-rats. Metal claws skittered over other metal on all sides. Most of the scavenger mechanimals remained in the shadows, but some particularly bold specimens eased out into the open, closing in on Demeter despite her greater size.

Axe growled softly, blowing a hole through one of the turbo-rats. The rest scuttled back into the darkness, glaring balefully but remaining at a distance. "And watch out for pests," the black mech called down to Demeter.

"My jaws are still good at snapping them in half," she yipped back and set her nose to tracking the familiar scent attached to the beacon that was pinging at her.

"It's what earned her designation," Dai Atlas chuckled. "She cleared barracks of pests when she wasn't scouting."

"I'm less worried about the four-legged vermin than I am about the two-legged variety," Axe retorted, one wing twitching. "A body-pile like this is bound to attract scrap dealers and fuel leeches."

"I know," Dai Atlas rumbled, scanners active and searching for any signs of activity beyond Demeter and the turbo-rats as she worked her way out of their sight and into the darkness of the jumbled parts of bodies, buildings and goods that no one wanted to pay credits for.

Turbo-rats scuttled out of the way as something moved in the shadows, optics lighting up a sickly venom-green. "Well, well, what have we here?" A mecha eased into view, old fluids staining his armor, helm cocked to one side, regarding the long-limbed turbo-fox. His armor was patchwork, seemingly pieced together from whatever had been handy. One hand held a wicked-looking serrated blade, used for cutting frames into smaller pieces and cutting out parts.

"More trouble than you can handle," she growled back, her brown optics glowing towards maroon as she challenged the gutter-mech.

The scavenger's grin was more smirk than anything else, and he tilted the hand holding the knife. "I wonder how much your parts will go for... Or that furry hide of yours." He advanced a step closer.

With a snort Demeter transformed and drew her short swords. Despite the gruesome, unstable and uneven ground, her frame was relaxed. "A good deal more than your spark will."

The patchwork mech paused. Then, taking in the size of the femme he faced, that sickly grin reappeared. "Scrawny little glitch-mouse like you can't damage me." He advanced on her, optics glinting with anticipation.

She was relaxed, confident in her ability to fight and to judge her opponent and that this one was fundamentally harmless to her.

The mech didn't even bother to try to hide his intentions. He just charged her, thrusting the knife toward her midsection, trying to impale her with one strike. Unfortunately for him, he had never encountered a Knight before, or anyone other than fellow scavengers or the mecha who bought the scavenged parts from him. He had no idea how to fight a creature with military grade reflexes, armor and training.

With a smooth leap to the side she slashed out at his leg in a move drilled into every young Initiate as the place to start disabling an opponent. Letting out a cry of surprise and pain, the mech stumbled, slashing out wildly and with no aim at all. Hobbling on his wounded leg, he tried again to strike her.

Demeter grinned with a feral expression that was far more act than truth and moved in to slice the control cables of his other leg at the hip joint before dancing away.

The scavenger-mech cursed vilely, collapsing onto the heap of bodies. He floundered for a long moment, eying the microbot with considerably more wariness than before. This was not what he had been expecting. "You wretched little piece of slag!"

"So, now comes the interesting question," she sauntered up, remaining just out of his reach. "Just how much do you want to live?"

Spitting a few other foul phrases, the scavenger managed to push himself at least partially upright. Glaring at Demeter, he slunk back into the darkness.

"Ten credits says he falls victim to another scavenger within two joors," Axe called down from above.

"He's of more use to me alive," she growled and stalked after him, knocking the scavenger onto his back with a swift kick. "You know pit well why anyone like me would be down here," she glared down.

The mech bared fuel-stained denta at her. "What the Pit do you want from me?" he snarled, clutching his knife defensively. "You go your way, let me go mine, and we're all happy."

"I have energon and fixing your legs that says you'd rather help me find my friend's remains," she cocked her helm at him. "Because we both know Axe is right. You won't last two joors with your legs like that."

Green optics narrowed at her. "You would repair me if I help you find one body in all of this mess."

"And his parts," she nodded.

The scavenger regarded her for a long, silent moment, glancing up at the two much larger mecha circling overhead. Finally, he grunted assent. "You have an image of the frame I'm going to be looking for?"

Demeter nodded and brought up a holo of her Initiate taken less than a vorn before he left the safety of the Citadel. She set the small projector, something she didn't care if she lost, on his chest before she knelt to make short work of soldering the cut cables back together. "Remember, there's energon ... or parts ... in it for you when I get him back."

The mech regarded the image for a few kliks, taking in the lines and angles of his armor. "The blades I haven't seen, but that frame, I have. The rats were chewing on him when I came across his remains. Once I can walk, I'll show you."

"I know where the swords are," she nodded and focused on repairs, making quick work of the clean cuts.

The mech watched her warily, every so often glancing up as the sound of powerful engines echoed down. His hand tightened on his knife, but he showed no inclination to use it. He would much rather get out of this with his spark still in his frame. He sent commands to his legs when she stood, palming the projector as she moved, half surprised they seemed to be functioning again.

"Where are his remains?" Demeter asked, her tone expectant.

Testing his legs to make sure they would respond the way he wanted, the scavenger climbed to his pedes. "This way." He walked off across the piled bodies, his dull patchwork armor almost blending into the shadows. The sound of his pedefalls helped track his progress. Overhead, the circling triple changers followed as best they could, keeping away from obstacles while keeping their sensors on the scavenger as Demeter padded after him in her four-legged alt.

Her nose suddenly snapped up with a deep intake. ::He's close.::

The scavenger stopped next to a pile of debris a short distance away. "There he is."

Stiletto's frame was crumpled against the wall, his chestplate warped and blasted open from the shot that had extinguished him. The gaping wound showed the clear marks of scavenging by the swarms of turbo-rats lurking just on the edges of the shadows. There were no signs that the scavenger-mecha had started stripping his frame yet, likely dumb luck from the mass of bodies that had arrived all at once. Glowing points of light in several different colors announced that glow beetles had infested the frame, going after bits of energon-rich metal.

"Energon, credits or parts?" Demeter asked. ::Can either of you get here or do I need to drag him into an open area?::

"Credits aren't worth much down here," the mech grunted, shifting from pede to pede nervously as Axe descended slowly, checking the clearance. "Energon. Parts. Those are what're actually worth something."

::I might be able to get down... Though getting back out might be a bit of a challenge,:: Axe replied after a moment.

::I'm quite strong enough to move him to where Dai dropped me off,:: she assured him as she took a cube of energon from her subspace and offered it to the scavenger. "Knights of Light are good to their word."

Warily, the mech accepted the cube, retreating a few steps as he took a long drink of the liquid energy. Green optics flared in surprise at the quality. It was far better than anything he'd had in a long time.

::It would probably be a good idea,:: Axe confessed after a moment of thought and calculations. ::Where he is right now is too cramped for me to be able to maneuver well.::

::Then I'll be out in a moment,:: she told him before grabbing Stiletto's shoulders and heaving with far more strength than her tiny frame would have indicated. Progress was walking backwards, slow and awkward, but not truly straining for her frame.

The scavenger had an incredulous look on his face as he watched the tiny femme dragging the lifeless frame that was considerably larger than she was. Making a note to avoid underestimating other small mecha, particularly those carrying swords like hers, he faded back into the shadows and disappeared entirely.

Axe had already transformed and touched down at the place where Demeter had been let out of Dai Atlas' cockpit. The big black and gold Knight stood in the most open spot he could find, to make sure he had the room to take off again once he had Stiletto's frame. He watched as Demeter dragged, tugged and yanked the gray from where it had fallen towards him, nearly as amazed as the scavenger had been at her strength.

~Amazingly strong for her frame size,~ Axe commented to his mate, one audial spike twitching slightly. He shifted his weight ever so slightly, entirely too aware that he was standing on layer upon layer of bodies.

~Yes, her class always are,~ Dai Atlas was deeply amused despite the situation, memories of watching other microbot and minibot scouts showing off passing to his mate until she'd dragged Stiletto close enough for Axe to pick up.

~It was always amusing to watch when someone underestimated them and got their skidplates handed to them for it,~ Axe snickered in response. He gently lifted Stiletto's grayed frame, scooping up Demeter in the process. Once he was sure he had a firm hold on both, the black and gold Knight ignited his turbines, lifting off and out of the tight space to find a spot where he could transform without getting snagged on something.

The flight back to Titanium's apartment in Tarn was silent, everyone occupied by their own thoughts and the pressure by their Great Swords to retrieve their fellow now. By the time they landed they were all ready to evict the wildlife from Stiletto's frame, clean up and head out to quiet their Great Swords.

Axe placed Stiletto's frame down on the table in the apartment's kitchen area, retrieving a large, empty energon container to keep all the critters that were infesting the fallen Knight's frame from getting loose. The black mech frowned into Stiletto's ruined chest, watching the beetles moving around and hearing the skittering from under other armor panels.

He and Dai Atlas watched as Demeter went to work, her nimble little hands moving fast to grab, extract and toss the beetles into the offered cube.

"Our hands might be too big for this," Axe commented after a moment, lifting one of his own for emphasis.

"It's okay," she told them, tossing another beetle into the cube. "I'm good at getting into little spaces. We all have our skills."

The beetles crawled over each other in the cube, their shells glowing every color of the spectrum.

"Wing will want those," Dai Atlas chuckled.

Glitch mice tried to skitter out of her way, deeper into Stiletto's circuitry as she carefully opened more and more of his frame up. As Demeter reached under a mass of systems after another beetle, a set of sharp teeth latched onto her hand, revealing the presence of a turbo-rat.

An equally sharp yip, more of surprise than pain, and Demeter twisted her hand to grab the creature who'd bit her and yanked it out. "I don't think he'll want this," she growled, uncertain what to do with the much larger beastie.

Axe took hold of the creature, eying it as it hissed and snapped at him. "No one would want this thing." He walked out onto the balcony and tossed it over the rail, watching for a moment as it clawed at the air, then turned and walked back inside. Demeter was already back at work, unconcerned by the bite wound.

"I'll need another cube for the glitch-mice," she commented as she caught one.

"Right here." Axe brought over another empty cube. "The glitch mice we can release back into the lower levels... They're harmless. The same for the beetles, unless Wing wants to set up a habitat and keep a few."

Dai Atlas considered the cubes and pinged Wing's comm.

::Yes?:: Wing replied after a moment. He'd been in the middle of his orn's chores, pausing to respond to the call.

::We've retrieved Stiletto's frame and now have quite a collection of glow beetles and glitch mice. Do you want them, or should we release them back into the lower levels?::

::Not the glitch mice, but maybe a half dozen of the beetles. I'll set up a habitat for them and have it ready by the time you get back.:: Wing's chirr carried clearly through the comm. ::I'm not picky about shell color.::

::We'll bring you a variety,:: Dai Atlas chuckled. ::We'll looking forward to coming home soon. The difficult part is over.::

::I'll be very eagerly waiting for you to return,:: Wing replied, trilling softly before the connection was closed.

"He does want a few of these, I take it." Axe nabbed a beetle trying to crawl away across the table, its shell matching the color of Dai Atlas' optics.

"A half dozen or so, any colors," the blue giant chuckled with a nod. "No mice though."

"Then you have something to do while I clear out the frame," Demeter teased them, dropping another glitch-mouse into the cubes of them. "We're going to dump them back in the lower levels before leaving?"

"I like this one." Axe showed his catch to his mate, tilting it so the deep red shell caught and reflected the overhead lights along with its own internal glow. "And yes, we'll dump the mice back into the lower levels when we go after Stiletto's swords." He deposited the red beetle in a smaller container, putting the container aside.

"It matches my optics," Dai Atlas chuckled. "We'll need a blue one, and yellow-golden, purple and another red then."

"You two are so cute when it comes to that little flutter-bot you adopted," Demeter laughed, the pile of beetles growing by several more.

"We've got quite a selection." Axe glanced at the glowing cube. Spotting a blue one, he scooped it out and put it with the red. ~Let's go clean up, love... We can sort beetles while Demeter takes her turn.~

~Mmm, works for me,~ he purred, cleaning up not his only intention. "Yip if you need us. We're going to get the lower-level stench off."

"Have fun," she grinned at the pair as another beetle landed in the cube.

"We intend to," Axe replied with a grin, sauntering in the direction of the washracks. Gleaming blue optics flicked in Dai Atlas' direction.

SxSxSxSxSxSxSxSx S===================S SxSxSxSxSxSxSxS

Several joors later found the trio back in Tarn's underworld, following the pull of their own Great Swords as the blades reached out to Stiletto's Flame of Justice. It was leading them to a different level, a level that had all the looks of being an active war ground. All three Knights were carrying their weapons openly as a warning to potential attackers. This was one place that size and military bearing went a long way towards not being challenged. Unlike Demeter, Axe and Dai Atlas looked like they could take on anyone and pound them to scrap.

And that they were quite willing to do so.

"Close," she growled from Axe's shoulder, her Dancer in the Sun's forest green gem glowing brightly, the entire blade crackled with energy in its desire to save its kin.

Shady-looking mecha watched them warily from the sides of the road and the alleys between the buildings. Armor edged in rust and scarred from innumerable fights flared slightly. Battered but functional weapons were carried openly by clusters and gangs of mecha skulking through the shadows.

"I feel it," Axe murmured back, the amethyst jewel in Sentry of Balance's hilt pulsing with purple fire.

Dai Atlas simply nodded, trusting that is all three weapons were in agreement, then they were going the correct direction.

There was movement ahead of them. Mecha began moving out of the concealing darkness into view, forming a barrier across the street ahead of the three Knights. The gang members were heavily armored, but not to military standards. They all carried weapons; rusted blades, vibro-weapons, energy blades, and blasters. In the lead was a heavily-built mecha with mottled gray and dull green armor, a tank or some other kind of heavy vehicle. His face bore a permanent-looking sneer, and the jeweled hilt of Flame of Justice thrust up over his shoulder, the gleaming jewel, normally a molten lava red, looked dull. The blade was crudely wrapped in wire and slung across the gang leader's back.

Axe's armor bristled slightly, one hand tightening on the hilt of his short sword. On his shoulder Demeter snarled and leapt to the ground with a smooth landing, both short swords unsheathed.

"That," Dai Atlas pointed to the Great Sword on the gang leader's back, "was a mistake to claim."

"Who says?" the gang leader sneered at him. "You two strangers and your little pet? Stupid mech got in our way, and he paid the price for his interference. I had the right to take whatever I want off his twisted corpse."

A snarl started low in Axe's chest. "That mech was our comrade. His weapons are not yours. Return them."

"Or we'll take them from your twisted copse," Demeter growled, well aware of the larger mechs' battle readiness behind her. Privately she smiled, knowing they'd all but ignore her once the giants began to move.

"You and what army? If you haven't noticed, you're outnumbered and surrounded." The gang leader swept out an arm, indicating what appeared to be at least a couple of dozen mecha, maybe more, who had come out of the shadows and alleys to surround the three Knights. Two of them, clearly the leader's lieutenants or enforcers, carried Stiletto's short swords in their massive hands. "Once your handlers have been dealt with, I'll take their weapons and maybe keep you as my personal pet." A sickening leer appeared on the mech's face.

"Come try," Demeter smiled back, her expression one of smug pleasure.

A ripple of anticipation ran through the surrounding gang, accompanied by a mutter and the sound of weapons being lifted. Axe eyed them, armor puffed to make himself look even more intimidating, drawing his own short swords from their sheaths. The gang paused for the briefest of moments upon seeing the gleaming blades, short swords to their wielder but easily as long as the smaller mechas' entire frames, then they seemed to take reinforcement from their own numbers, and the muttering resumed.

There was another slight pause as Dai Atlas let out a rumble of pure anticipation, his field and frame flaring with excitement as he drew his short swords, a pair even larger than his mate's, and turned to put his back to Axe.

"Take them," the gang leader ordered, and the surrounding mecha surged forward.

With a roar Dai Atlas responded with a sweeping outward slash of both his blades, clearing the mecha within reach of their existence in their frames.

There were even more mecha than anticipated; clearly more had been hiding in the shadows. Axe let out a deep snarl as he lashed out, taking off several helms with one slice, bringing his other blade down to cut a larger mecha cleanly in half from left shoulder to right hip. The mech's shocked optics stared up at him for an instant before the bisected body fell to the ground and vanished under the crush of charging gang members.

The gang leader stood back with his lieutenants, watching with a dark expression on his face as his subordinates were cut down. The two giant mechs didn't just look military, clearly they were military or former military. He couldn't even see the small femme anymore.

A sharp pain in his left leg just before it stopped responding drew his attention down to the dark brown micro-bot femme that had slashed through the control cables and wiring in a single smooth move. He bellowed in rage as his leg collapsed under him, and he grabbed at the closest mecha to steady himself. "You slag-sucking, glitching little whorebot!"

Gang mecha actually flinched back a bit as Axe reached over his shoulder to draw his ax, the razor-sharp blades backed by all the power in the black and gold mech's upper frame cutting right through three mecha without stopping. The return stroke caught a lunging heavy frame with the top of the ax shaft, crushing in the side of his helm.

Nearby Dai Atlas had stepped forward to him himself more room, enough for gang members to get behind him ... just in time to have their helms removed when the giant spun in a wide circle with blades flashing.

Demeter laughed, intentionally mimicking her alt-mode yip as she leapt up to slash at the leader's face, only enough to mar it, not cut it in half. Her other short sword slashed into his shoulder armor.

The gang leader's expression was ugly as he drew a nasty-looking vibroblade and lashed out at her. Trying to stand on only one working leg, he took another swing, trying to gut the midget who dared to try and bring him down. "You'll pay for that!"

While one lieutenant tried to support his leader, the other brandished the stolen short sword and lunged at her. For all his gang-level skill, he wasn't used to tackling such small targets, and never ones with the built up and highly trained reflexes that a military scout turned Knight of Light had to display. She leapt up again as she dodged the short sword and took off the mech's hand with one clean swing.

Helmless and bisected frames were beginning to pile up, some of them being crushed underpede by the other gang members or the two giants. Axe brought one pede down hard, metal crunching as a twitching mecha cut in half at the waist was put out of his misery.

With gang members going down by the multiples with each swing, they soon began to thin out and those left were understandably wary of getting within physical range of the giants.

Axe's gin was almost feral as he eyed the remaining gang members. "Who's next?" He shifted his grip on his ax, the sharp blades glittering wickedly. The gang mecha eyed him warily, taking in the fuel and vital fluids liberally spattered over Axe's frame.

"Bring down that little whorebot!" the gang leader screamed furiously to the closest mecha, jabbing his vibroblade in the direction of Demeter as she danced about the three leaders, slashing here and here with no intent to kill quickly, if at all.

"Good luck!" Dai Atlas laughed as he lunged for the nearest gang member to himself. "You killed her student. She's going to make it slow."

"Shut your intake!" the gang leader spat in Dai Atlas' direction. "Kill her! Bring me that furry hide!"

~Doesn't know when to quit, does he,~ Axe commented privately, splitting another gang mecha's helm in two vertically with his ax.

~Obviously,~ Dai Atlas chuckled, watching in amusement as the minor members shifted after what seemed to be easier quarry. ~Wonder how long it'll take them to realize she's just as dangerous as we are?~ he added as her first slash decapitated the first gang member to close on her.

~Not until her blade's about halfway through their necks,~ the black and gold mech retorted. ~Everyone always underestimates the small mecha.~ He unleashed a kick, sending another mech slamming backward into a wall, stunning him and leaving him in a limp heap on the ground.

~Sometimes even other small mecha,~ he grinned and grabbed a mech who turned his back to go after Demeter and threw him as far as he was able, more than willing to watch the former scout deal damage at every turn.

~And microbots tend to be the most underestimated of the small mecha. The general impression is that something that small can't be that dangerous.~ Axe's chuckle was evil as he brought down another gang member, the remaining members of the gang breaking and running in panic. Not many were left alive, and very few were unwounded.

The gang leader's scream of rage echoed off the buildings, his optics blazing with utter fury. One hand lifted as if to grasp the hilt of the Great Sword slung over his back. The molten-fire red gem flickered and flared, causing all three others to snarl in outrage to their bearers.

"Don't you dare," Demeter's snarl echoed the Great Swords' as her short swords were sheathed. She reached up to draw Dancer in the Sun, a blade only the length of an average mecha' arm but crackling with power as it drew on her very spark.

"What's to stop me?" he sneered at her, bracing himself as best he could with only one working leg. The gang leader eyed her as she drew her Great Sword, taking in the energy crackling along its blade.

"Give us the Sword!" Axe's roar echoed off the walls, startling the surviving gangsters and the wary mecha watching from a distance.

The sound hadn't even faded when she lunged, Great Sword over her helm. With a single motion she cleaved the leader in two, cleaning missing Flame of Justice still on his back.

There was utter silence from the surviving gang members, those who hadn't fled, as they stared at their leader's bisected frame. Shocked optics went from the graying frame to the tiny femme, trying to accept what they had just witnessed.

Axe stalked forward, ignoring the grayed frames underpede, picking up Flame of Justice and removing the wire. The blade had not been well cared for since the death of its bearer; grime was building up in the glyphs engraved the length of the blade and around the hilt jewel. Scuffs and scrapes marred the shining metal, making it look dull and battered. Carefully setting Flame of Justice on his own back, against Sentry of Balance, Axe collected Stiletto's short swords, keeping a wary optic on the surviving gang lieutenant, who was too stunned by what happened to his leader to do much more than stare.

Dancer in the Sun was set in its brackets on Demeter's back, her frame still crackling with soft blue-green spark energy. She managed not to look as weak as her companions knew she must be as she leveled dark brown optics at the last gang leader. "That is what happens when you challenge a Knight of Light," she pointed at the devastation around them. "You may defeat one. Those who follow will not be so easy to kill."

"And we will not stop until our fallen comrades are avenged," Dai Atlas rumbled. He leveled a glare at the surviving lieutenant, a look that had made miscreant soldiers tremble in their plating. "You do not wish to encounter us again," he promised.

"We have what we came to retrieve. Let's get out of here," Axe said more quietly to Demeter as he knelt and offered a hand for her to climb onto. She nodded and accepted the offer without hesitation, only just managing to keep her frame from trembling from the drain Dancer in the Sun had inflicted on her.

The Lieutenant mumbled something as the giants turned away and powered up to lift off, headed back to Titanium's apartment and a much needed shower and recharge. The flight back to the Citadel could wait until then.