Of course, none of the younglings understood that word. But they did understand the terror in their Prime's voice. They grouped together and watched in horror as the unnatural thing kept getting bigger and bigger as pieces settled into place. The Aerialbots scrambled behind the younglings, panic on their faces as they stared at the enormous mech that was revealed when the shifting pieces settled. The gestalt was enormous, towering far above them, and the younglings gazed slack-jawed at something they had no ability to truly comprehend.
"Autobots, scatter!" Silverstorm commanded.
At once, the younglings obeyed, transforming and skidding off as the gestalt laughed, its deep, rumbling tone mocking.
"Scatter, Autobots!" it crowed, peering around with gleeful orange optics. "But you can't get away!"
Silverstorm ran several steps away then launched himself into the air, hoping to distract the gestalt. It seemed to work, and he was very grateful for the Aerialbots and their training as he dodged a swipe from the giant hand. But the rush of wind that hit his wings made him a bit dizzy. He still wasn't good at flying in high winds because of too much sensory input. He spun off and flew higher then scanned the ground to see what his younglings were doing.
He was relieved and proud to see that they were holding their own despite being outnumbered. Sunstreaker's sword flashed as he fought a mech that was bigger than him, and Mirage had stationed himself on top of a ruined building and was firing his specialized arrows. A particularly nasty wave of electricity engulfed three mechs that were chasing Blurr, who was far too fast to be caught. Blurr spun around, waved at Mirage in thanks, then his own sword flashed out and he lunged at the downed Decepticons. Beachcomber and Red Alert were holding ground with Pipes using his own bow and arrows to fire into the group from ground level.
Before Silverstorm could take in any more, his wing sensors caught movement, and he rocketed upward just in time to dodge a swipe from the gestalt. It was getting frustrated by him, and that wasn't necessarily a good thing. He needed to keep it occupied, concerned with him and not his younglings. But he wasn't skilled enough to keep flying while he fought. His mind was already reeling from the air currents and he was starting to get very dizzy as he dodged another strike.
A cry distracted him, and he turned to see that Shockwave had stopped watching and had Silverbolt by his wing, trying to drag him away. The other Aerialbots were fighting a group of mechs and losing ground. Shockwave was trying to take them right out from under him! Anger burned in Silverstorm and he wondered what he could do.
When his wings sensed the air shift behind him as the gestalt prepared for another strike, he had an idea. Without a second thought, he dove down and headed for the tangled group of mechs, a large hand reaching for him to catch him. Silverstorm knew this would hurt no matter what happened, so he went all in. He hit Shockwave full force. Surprised, the Decepticon released Silverbolt with a yelp, and Silverbolt fell down from the force of the hit and stared behind his Prime. The other Aerialbots, who were struggling viciously, suddenly froze then hit the ground, flattening themselves as much as possible. The Decepticons were left stunned for a moment, and that was all it took.
The gestalt's hand swiped them aside, and it cried out in anger when it saw what it had done. Shockwave and Silverbolt tumbled across the ground, skidding hard as gravity slowed them down. Used to hitting the ground and pumped with the Cybertronian biochemical that was like adrenaline, Silverbolt rolled to his feet and bolted for the Aerialbots while Shockwave took a minute to recover his bearings.
"Is everybody alright?" he asked breathlessly.
"We'll be fine," Fireflight said.
"Little Prime!" the gestalt snarled as it zeroed in on him.
All of the fliers launched themselves into the air, dodging the giant hand as it came down. The ground shook at the impact, but the younglings kept fighting. Silverstorm scanned the battlefield as the gestalt began to straighten. Mirage had his knife drawn and was fending off a mech that was trying to climb up onto the building to stop the rain of arrows. The mech fell with a cry as the youngling slashed at his fingers. Mirage switched at once to his bow again and took aim as he pinged another arrow out of his quiver.
The twins were back to back, fighting two mechs who couldn't seem to get close enough to crush them. Beachcomber was down for the count, his arm sliced from elbow to shoulder. Pipes was dragging him away from the action to help him, and the two younglings were protected by Red Alert, Hound, and Seaspray. Blurr was also racing around, doing damage with quick, expert strikes to sensors that left the Decepticons dazed. Silverstorm felt a bubble of pride fill his spark at how well they were working together.
"Prime!" Fireflight barked. "Get your head out of the clouds!"
Silverstorm was startled, both by the shout and exactly who was shouting. But his wings, overstimulated and giving him wild readings, picked up the movement a split second too late. A hand closed around him and he screamed as he was squeezed.
"Let's see if you pop," the gestalt laughed.
"No!" Silverbolt screamed. "Aerialbots! Together!"
Several things happened at once. The Aerialbots dove toward each other as Shockwave laughed, and several younglings cried out when they saw their Prime trapped in the massive hand. But it was Silverstorm who saw what was really happening with the Aerialbots first. They were moving strangely, and it took his processor a moment to really take in what was happening.
"Gestalt!" he suddenly shouted. This time, the cry was pleased, relieved. "Gestalt!"
And it was true. For the second time, the younglings watched as a group of mechs transformed into one being. Taller than a small building, the five younglings were suddenly gone, changed into a giant mech that straightened and glared with bright green optics at Devastator. Their corresponding paint jobs, somewhat clashing on their individual forms, suddenly made sense as they turned into the white, orange, and blue striped armor of an enormous gestalt mech.
"Let him go, Devastator!" the Aerialbot gestalt roared, and it lashed out
Devastator released Silverstorm, who barely activated his thrusters in time to slow his fall. He hit the ground hard, staggered to his feet, and ran away from the giant feet of Devastator as he stumbled back from the force of the hit. He turned around and looked at the two gestalts, towering above them. They had a chance again.
"A gestalt," he said in wonder. "They're a gestalt."
"Don't get your hopes up. They won't last," Shockwave sneered as he stood up on trembling legs. "They're defective."
But as the two giants wrestled, Shockwave's sneer twisted into anger and confusion. The Aerialbots showed no signs of falling apart. In fact, it was Devastator that seemed to be struggling to stay together.
"Impossible!" Shockwave hissed. "They never last! Never!" He turned his angry optic on Silverstorm, who took up a defensive position. "How did you fix their defects? What have you done to them?"
"Besides treat them like they're mechs and not just experiments? No clue," Silverstorm growled.
A shrieking groan came from the giants, and Devastator screamed as the Aerialbot gestalt began to peel him apart. Shockwave watched with his mouth agape as Devastator was forced to unfuse in a slow, painful process that made the entire battlefield ring with horrified silence. Gears and metal screeched as they were forced back into their original positions. Devastator's scream turned into six howls of agony as they finally could no longer hold the gestalt form together.
"No!" Shockwave roared. "No, no, no! This is not fair! Why do they work now?!" He looked around then up at the Aerialbot gestalt as it turned its attention to him. And defeat flashed across his face.
"Decepticons! Retreat! Now!"
Silverstorm knew it meant something for Shockwave to call out a retreat when absolute panic broke out amongst the Decepticons. They were no longer cocky, and they raced each other to get away from the younglings and the gestalt. The six mechs who made up Devastator struggled up and staggered away, leaking coolant and blood in a trail behind them. None of them had escaped injury from the rough handling and forced transformation, and they didn't look back.
Shockwave was the last to retreat, and he narrowed his optic as he backed away. "You will regret this," he vowed.
Silverstorm said nothing, and Shockwave turned away and transformed into a sleek Cybertronian car. He raced off, and there was silence. Then the younglings began to make their way over to their Prime. Beachcomber leaned heavily against Pipes to stay standing, but his wound had been roughly welded together so he was no longer bleeding. Mirage stopped beside Silverstorm.
"Prime?"
"I just made myself an enemy," he said thoughtfully.
"Shockwave?" Sunstreaker asked.
"Yep."
"Why?"
Silverstorm looked at his younglings then turned and faced the gestalt towering above them. "Because they stayed together."
Activating his thrusters, he took off and flew over to hover in front of the gestalt's face.
"Can you understand me?" he asked.
"Yes, Prime," the gestalt answered, its voice different than all the Aerialbots. It seemed shy and nervous, shifting its weight nervously as its green optics took in the flier before it.
"Do you have a designation?"
"Yes. I'm Superion."
"Well," Silverstorm said. "Thank you, Superion, for saving me. Are you okay?"
"Damage to my arms. Stress from torsion. It should be relatively minor damage for the components. Best I've ever done actually. Usually my components fight each other, which causes me to split. I think I've finally figured out what I need to focus on to stay together."
"That's good," Silverstorm said. "Can you, um, unfuse if you want to?"
"It's easier to uncombine than to combine," Superion replied with a smile.
"Would it be rude of me to ask you to?"
Superion shook his head. "No. It's starting to ache to hold my components together. I would actually prefer to uncombine. Unless I'm needed?"
"You've done well," Silverstorm said. "You can uncombine if it's no trouble. I'll see you next time."
Superion tilted his head. "Thank you, sir. You might want to back up a bit."
Silverstorm flew back over to his younglings, who had listened with fascination as their Prime talked to a giant mech that seemed to have a personality unlike any of the Aerialbots. They were bewildered by what exactly a gestalt was, and even having seen two on the same day, they didn't know exactly what was going on. But if Silverstorm was so calm, they knew they had nothing to worry about.
Superion straightened and stretched his arms over his head then let out a long, slow breath and started to transform. Unlike Devastator's painful experience, it seemed as natural for them to uncombine as it was for the younglings to transform into their alt modes. As the body folded down and the components separated into the Aerialbots, the younglings all watched in amazement. And then there was no sign of Superion. It was just the five Aerialbots, looking dizzy and exhausted.
Silverstorm approached, the others behind him. "You guys okay?" he asked.
The Aerialbots backed away, looking wary, frightened, and embarrassed by what had just happened. Silverbolt's wings quivered with emotion as he stepped forward.
"We'll be okay. It's… We've done that before. Combining, I mean. It didn't surprise us."
Silverstorm shrugged. "Shockwave seemed surprised you stayed together."
Fireflight smiled tiredly. "We practiced a lot after we ran away. And I guess it paid off."
"Flight," Silverbolt scolded. "We need to agree."
"Do any of you actually object or are we just putting off talking about it?" Fireflight asked. "Because I'm all here right now and I can finally ask that. So answer me before I lose my grip on reality again."
The Aerialbots looked at each other. Then they lowered their optics to the ground.
"He's not interested," Slingshot grumbled, favoring his left side.
"On the contrary," Silverstorm said. "I'm interested in all my younglings. But if you don't want to talk about it, I won't make you."
"But we need to," Fireflight said firmly. "Besides, he knows about Superion now. He deserves an explanation." Fireflight limped over to Silverbolt, cradling his right arm against his chest like he was injured. "Bolt, please. No more hiding. He's the best thing that's ever happened to us. You said that yourself. It's time to talk to him. All of us."
Silverbolt sighed and nodded. "It's just hard to trust anybody besides you four."
"I know," Fireflight said. "But we need to try. Besides, Sling and I need medical attention."
Silverbolt nodded, straightened, and turned to Silverstorm. "We need to walk back, Prime. We can't fly right now."
"You could ride on our alt forms," Sunstreaker suggested. "Take your pick!"
"Except me or Beachcomber," Pipes cut in. "I've got to take Beachy back on me," Pipes said.
"Are you confident enough in your control?" Silverstorm asked the groundpounders that made up his team.
"Yes," Sunstreaker said.
"Definitely," Mirage said.
The others nodded their agreement. Silverstorm nodded. "Then let's get back."
"Yeah. We've got an explanation to give," Silverbolt sighed.
"I'd rather just talk," Silverstorm said, shrugging one shoulder.
The Aerialbots all smiled at him, and they relaxed a bit as they picked their transportation from their friends. Silverbolt took a deep breath and activated his thrusters. He'd watch the procession from the sky, just in case. Though he was pretty sure the Decepticons had been thoroughly thrashed and wouldn't return, he'd seen enough battles on Earth to know better than to assume.
When everybody was situated, he looked down. "Ready?"
"Ready!" came the unanimous reply.
They headed back toward their little pocket of safety, and Silverstorm reflected that he was about to learn a lot more about the Aerialbots and their past with Shockwave. The real question was if he was ready to hear what was sure to be a horror story. He wasn't sure he was, but he would. For the Aerialbots. And, he supposed, for Superion, too.