A/N: This is going to be essentially an entire rewrite of Your War, Our Battle. Or, simply, an alternate universe to it. I *needed* something I could write during times I am struggling to write on YWOB. So I decided to take Sci's advice and start a version of the story without the cause of the emotional turmoil, which is how to handle Stormbreaker when it brings up the trauma part of my friendship with her irl counterpart so heavily in a not-so-therapeutic way. A lot of people get positive results from writing out their trauma, but I'm at a stage where the point Storm' and Shade' are at are hurting me more than it is helping me. And while I'm working on moving out of that stage, my mind cannot even comprehend how to start the next chapter right now. Yet, here I am, writing an entire prologue in one morning. Granted, it took, like from 7 all the way noon, but it's more progress than I've done on anything in a long ass time.

For those who follow YWOB, no, this does not spell the end of YWOB anymore than the gapping chasm between updates has. My goal is to write on the existing YWOB as I can. That's why this is a new story and not just replacing the chapters. However, it is not very conducive right now to my ability to write anything at all nor conducive to my mental health during a time where I need my mental health to be improving, not stagnate or taking backward steps. I need my mental health to take interviews and put in applications and try to fit into a new job where I can hopefully thrive for a change.

Also, I know, I know, I have other stories I could go to. IAPA is still in progress, so is ATG and I have a Naruto story and an Undertale story I posted the first chapters too and I never continued. Muses are fickle things, you see. I was really devoted to YWOB. This seems to be my work around my slump. Hopefully it means I can also work on other works as well. That's the idea anyways. Life is still busy. I still have several other things to do as well. But we got progress on something. After having an update take almost a year and then the next take a year and a half almost, I needed to do something to get started actively writing again.

I hope you enjoy this iteration! I did entirely change the beginning of the story. I went a different route in how things start and, honestly, I'm a lot happier with this beginning. It's so much better. I've learned so much about writing and story-telling than I knew back when I first started YWOB and my other stories. I think this is the first beginning I've ever felt proud of. I hope you like it half as much as I do!

Prologue: The Escape

Alert! Escape in process. Experiment number 60184 has escaped its containment cell.

"Which one's that one?" Skywarp asked Thundercracker.

Thundercracker sighed as he got to his pedes. "Does it matter? We both know what will happen if we don't respond."

Skywarp groaned, throwing his hands up even as he moved to follow his brother.

Repeat. Experiment number 60184 has escaped its containment. Security personnel to intercept at Sublevel Delta Subsection B.

"That's near the space bridge, isn't it?" Skywarp asked.

"Indeed," Thundercracker said. "We won't make it in time without your warping ability."

"Too bad Shockwave disabled it so we couldn't just leave ourselves," Skywarp said, semi-sarcastically.

Despite this, they both transformed and began flying through the corridors, bypassing several Insecticons along the way that were also headed toward the escaped prisoner.

Once they reached the level where the experiment was being held, they didn't stop, following blast marks and remains of offlined Insecticons to the large room that contained the space bridge. As they entered the room, they transformed, taking in the carnage around them.

"Was one experiment really powerful enough to do all this?" Thundercracker wondered. "I thought only the weaker ones were even kept on this level."

"That's because that's true," a voice said from behind him and Thundercracker had to hold in a groan of annoyance.

Skywarp and Thundercracker were all but pushed aside to let a large femme past them. The femme stood taller than both of them by a few meters and looked more like a beast than a bot even in her bipedal mode, with massive wings and a long tail that ended in three massive spikes. Her optics held a ferocious glint as they surveyed the damage and fallen Insecticons.

"She had help," the femme, Ser-ket if Thundercracker's memory served him, said.

"Help?" Thundercracker asked. "But the alarms did not go off until she was out of her containment cell."

"Clearly that means someone inside helped her, you imbecile," Ser-ket spat viciously, tail swishing as she spun and towered over him. "You are lucky I know where you were or I would assume you'd gotten bold and had done so yourself." She spun back around and sauntered away. "Too bad you weren't faster. Maybe if you had proven yourself useful, Shockwave would've rewarded you with a glorious form like mine."

Thundercracker and Skywarp shared a disgusted look behind her back. They decided to be safe and not point out the fact she hadn't been fast enough to prevent the escape either.

"In any case," Ser-ket said. "Shockwave's not going to be happy about this when he returns and we better have some answers when he does. Check on the survivors, see what they know."

"What about you?" Skywarp asked, annoyed to be commanded around like some underling by one of Shockwave's pets.

"I'm going to check the security footage, see what it reveals," Ser-ket said and then walked away.

Of course, Thundercracker thought in annoyance. Ser-ket would take the easy job that was all-but guaranteed results in order to look her best to her wonderful master who bestowed upon such a wonderful gift. Well, she could have Shockwave's favor. Thundercracker didn't care for it and he certainly didn't want to be turned into some experiment.

"Come on, I'm sure they need medical care," Thundercracker said to his fuming brother, nudging the slightly smaller seeker on the shoulder a smidge to get him moving.

"Yeah, yeah," Skywarp said, clearly annoyed. He followed Thundercraker anyways, though.

Despite their annoyance, neither seeker found it within themselves to be overly concerned about the days events as they tended to wounds and spoke with the not-quite fallen. As far as they were concerned, a prisoner escaping Shockwave was a good thing. So long as that prisoner still had their mind about them, at least.

"Where are we going?" I asked the bot I was lagging behind as we walked through some sort of tunnel. It was hard to keep up between his massive size compared to mine and the fact I was limping and every movement felt like pain. Nothing entirely unfamiliar to me even before all of this.

"Some place familiar," the mech replied as he sorted through a box he had pulled out of seemingly nowhere. He pulled a cube of glowing purple and blue liquid out and paused long enough to pass it down to me. "Here, drink this, it will help build what Shockwave could not account for in his conversions."

I made a face at it, not taking it. "What is it? How am I supposed to know I can trust you?" I asked.

"Strange thing to ask a mech who just rescued you from the ones who were torturing and experimenting on you," the mech said, though he sounded more amused than offended.

"Can you blame me for being wary?" I asked. "I was snatched from a burning building by a bot who then stripped me of my humanity and, thus, everything I've ever known and loved. How can I not be cautious of anyone after that? You haven't even told me your name. Or where you are taking me."

"All fair points," the mech said. He turned, putting the box away except for the cube he had offered me and then knelt down so we were closer to eye level. "My name is Vector Prime."

I felt the appendages on my back shift, the ends of what could possibly some kind of metal feathers splaying a little, before settling again as I stared at him from behind my visor. I recognized that name as well as I had recognized Shockwave when I had first laid eyes on the mech that had snatched me.

"Why would the Guardian of Space and Time bother rescuing me?" I asked him, not sure how to process this information.

Vector merely smiled gently. There was something almost wistful and forlorn in his optics. Regret was swimming in them for a moment before it disappeared and he shook his helm. "You will know in due time, Little Wing."

I just gave him a disgruntled look. "I'm not a little kid you're talking to about an inappropriate subject," I told him dryly.

Vector chuckled at that and my appendages—I was fairly sure they were wings of some kind—twitched in annoyance that it seemed like he wasn't taking me seriously. "Perhaps not," he conceded. "But I'm still not going to tell you yet."

I huffed a little bit. "Whatever." I said as we started moving again. "And the drink?"

"Energon," Vector replied. "Mixed with some nanobots from my systems and minerals needed for your system to recover. They will not do the full job, but they will go a long way into helping you get healthy. As it is your frame is very fragile and missing a lot of key minerals. This will give your system a boost in starting to be able to create what it's missing."

"And what then?" I asked, taking the cube when he passed it to me this time.

"And then I take you to bots who can help you," Vector replied. "And who, I believe, you will be able to help as well."

"Hmm," I hummed, looking at him in suspicion. "And why not continue to help me yourself?"

Vector sighed lowering his helm slightly before looking back at me. "I'm no medic, Little Wing," he said. "You need a medic to get you to proper health."

"Very well," I said and then downed half of the cube in one go. "Where am I going?"

"A place where you're familiar with," Vector replied as we stepped into a large room with many different doorways, each marked with different Cybertronian symbols.

As I looked around, I recognized a few of the symbols from when I somewhat taught myself how to write in English with the characters, but I didn't know enough to know what any of them said. I focused instead on taking in the layout and the architecture of the room. The ceiling, if it even really was ceiling, was an endless scroll of space and between the doorways were flashes of different images going by too fast for me to decipher at the moment. Perhaps I could've deciphered them at a time I wasn't in the middle of survival mode, but I doubted I would ever be back here.

"Earth," Vector said as we came to a stop one of the doorways.

I looked at him and then stared at the doorway as the symbols around it began to glow.

"Not yours, of course," Vector went on. "I'm sure you understand why you can't return to the Earth you came from."

"No Autobots?" I asked. "Transformers really isn't real in the universe I grew up in."

"Indeed," Vector confirmed.

Well darn, I thought to myself and then focused on downing the rest of the cube he'd given me to distract my mind from going down a rabbit hole before it was safe to do so. Get to where I'm going first. Emotions later, when I'm somewhere safe to recover. That's how I survived all my near death experiences where I had any modicum of control in it.

"I will see you again, Little Wing," Vector said as I passed him the empty cube. He stopped me before I turned to go and then passed me a smaller box than the one he'd pulled out earlier. "This has a few more doses of what I just gave you. Take one a day until it runs out on top of what the medic will provide and you will be in top shape in no time."

"Ok," I said. "You'll understand if I run that through the medic."

"Naturally." Vector said.

I paused. "...How do I…?"

Vector chuckled lightly and then walked me through how to put things into my subspace and remove them from it as well. He had me do so a few times until he was sure I'd remember.

"Oh, and one more thing," Vector said. He reached over and put his hand on the back of my neck. He dug his fingers in.

"Acchhssss," I hissed in pain and started to flinch and move away, but his other hand came and held me in place.

"There," Vector said as he pulled his hands away.

"A little warning, my god, geezus on a cheesestick," I said, rubbing the back of my neck where it was clear he'd pulled something from.

"My apologies," Vector said. "But we can't have Shockwave tracking you to the Autobot base after the trouble I went through to get you out." He showed me a tiny little chip between his fingers.

"Yeah, well, next time, you ought to be more gentle, or give warning at least," I reprimanded him. If he hadn't been a literal giant compared to me and a literal Prime I might've stomped on his foot had I any less self control in that moment. "That hurt like hell."

"My apologies," Vector said. "I tried to avoid your nerve wires, but my fingers aren't exactly small."

"Fair, but still," I said. "Geezus. I'm going now." I started walking toward the open portal.

"Goodbye, Little Wing," Vector said.

Despite my annoyance with the mech for small things, and especially that last thing, I gave him a wave. He had saved me, after all. That was something that warranted gratitude.

"Thanks for the rescue, see you whenever," I said. I turned just before the portal and gave him a dramatic bow before stepping backwards into the portal.