The battle was in full force; streaks of orange and purple light streaked across the ground beneath them. Decepticons huddled behind giant rocks as orange beams blasted away dirt and wore away rock, forcing them further beneath their barrier. Purple streams tore apart weaker earth metals as the Autobot line took shelter behind the human factory's outer buildings. Stray Decepticons danced around behind the Autobot lines, struggling to not get caught by the larger heavy hitters that carefully hunted them down.

Sideswipe grinned to himself, his processor preoccupied with the distant subtle changes of roaring jet engines and the occasional purple flash against the backdrop of dark night sky. His jetpack rumbled on his backstrut, warm and ready as he shifted his feet, eager to lunge into the sky but held back by more than just common sense. His yellow brother knelt beside him, hand-gun out and attention turned below, picking out targets amongst the dancing paint jobs and trapped Decepticons.

::He's heading in your direction,:: warned Red Alert, though he sounded preoccupied.

The red hellion grinned, relishing the thought of preforming his aerial stunt yet again. ::Jet Judo-ers ready!:: he announced over the comms, engine rumbling in anticipation.

His twin snorted beside him, keeping his optics on those below. ::Just make him get here.:: he snarled into the open channels, pouring his irritation over the line.

Their red and white younger brother snorted, but otherwise remained quiet. Sideswipe shifted again, his grin never wavering. His engine growled lowly as two Aerialbots swooped below the cloud line, a trine of coneheads on their tail. Red and black paint flashed in the light as they both turned tightly into a game of chicken, with the dumb coneheads hot on their afterburners in deadly pursuit. Like a vortex of vultures, they began their descent towards the ground, with Air Raid in the lead.

::Watch it!:: barked Skydive over the comms, though he was nowhere in site, ::Ease up there Air Raid!::

His response was a laugh. Sideswipe could hear other Autobots too, three down below closing in on Astrotrain.

::Sideswipe, on your left!:: warned Red Alert, snapping his full attention back to the sky. ::Jump... now!::

Sideswipe was already in the air, his optics searching for that flash of purple and black. He saw a flash of orange fire shoot through the air, blazing through the air and almost clipping his shoulder, before a familiar flash of purple suddenly exploded into it's place, right beside him. Sideswipe's arms shot out almost on instinct, hooking into the seeker's plating and swinging him right onto the Seeker's undercarrage. The lambo laughed, denta bared in a grin as he clung to the black and purple jet's chassis.

Shrieking a series of profanities, Skywarp twisted in midair, attempting to transform, but a well placed kick forced him back into auto-mode. Skywarp snarled loudly, engine rumbling and blazing to life. He rolled through the air, slicing through the dimensions and suddenly disappearing in a flash of purple and black. For an instant, Sideswipe felt his tank contents roll and gurgle with the sudden warp, but he clamped his jaw shut and clung on, smirking as his digits dug into the metal as the unknown winds of the strange dimension tore across Skywarp's frame, pulling Sideswipe backwards. In the next instant, Skywarp was back in the real world, rolling across the sky and into the clouds.

::-idiot!:: Sunsteaker snarled. ::Red, where did they-?::

::Raid, pull up! You're too far down-::

The world shifted again, as Skywarp rolled into yet another warp, this one taking them both over the Decepticon lines. A flash of teal paint and sharp wings told Sideswipe all he needed to know; the cowardly 'con had gone to the only mech who could possibly give him help.

"GET THIS AUTOBOT OFF ME!"

"Get him off yourself!" came a bass voiced response. "You were dumb enough to get that low and next to a hill!"

"GET HIM OFF ME, TC!"

"Do it yourself!"

Skywarp's engine rumbled loudly in displeasure, and Sideswipe felt the world shift as Skywarp threw himself into yet another warp. Sideswipe felt the alien winds tear at him, as his world exploded into a swirling vortex of purple and black. Not satisfied with his grip, he shifted around and tightened his hold on Skywarp's chassis, causing the seeker to shriek as the winds tore Sideswipe an inch backwards and caused the lamborghini's digits to dig into his chassis. Sideswipe grinned as he released his legs, feeling the howling winds tear at his knees and shins, and his grin only widened as his digits tore up more Seeker metal. He howled in pour joy, on the verge of letting go and getting lost to Primus knows where. It was exhilarating!

The world ripped apart, and Skywarp exploded, spinning, into the night sky, nose headed straight up. He pulled himself out of his upward climb, dragging his nose downward. Sideswipe realized what they were aimed for and his optics widened a fraction.

"I'M GONNA TAKE YOU WITH ME, AUTOBOT!"

"That's not my name!" Sideswipe said, semi-playfully, but his words were lost in the howling winds as they descended toward the Earth, hitting the edge of a slowly circulating vortex of seekers. They had entered the chicken zone. Far below them, the coneheads and Air Raid danced, Slingshot pulled along with him. Sideswipe realized instantly that he was in some deep trouble, but he clung on, his digits tearing up more metal from Skywarps chassis. He grinned, comming the Seeker.

::I can keep this up all day!:: he challenged, his grin rolling from his voice in waves. ::You're the one losing your armor!::

Skywarp seemed to hesitate, before he let out an angry roar. The Autobot was right. He was losing his armor. He growled angrily, fearfully, knowing deep in his processor just exactly how fragile his Earthen form was while roaring around at ungodly speeds in the air, but a thought caused his faceplates to twist into a smile. ::Then I'm going to take you with me!::

The red hellion's optics widened, but he clung on, pulling him up closer to the Seeker's chassis, so the wind sucked him to the mecha's side and somewhat unbalanced the Seeker. The jet corrected their flight, and they kept circling, growing increasingly closer to the ground. His digits jerked in their hold, more metal ripped and Sideswipe could feel the heat of the other's thrusters on his pedes.

Together, they plunged, as two of the Coneheads brought their little game to an end, breaking off. Ramjet remained, neck and neck with Air Raid. Slingshot had long since abandoned the vortex, following the two Coneheads back into the sky. Across the battlefield, Skydive executed a perfect maneurveur, dancing out of Thundercracker's reach and streaking across the stretch of factory below to watch the aerial stunt play out. Almost absentmindedly, he let loose a barrage of missiles on some unsuspecting Decepticon foe as he came around, transforming in mid air and hovering, watching his brother closely.

::Air Raid!:: he shouted, then paused, optics widening. ::FIREFLIGHT!::

Fireflight had noticed something they didn't; Skywarp joining the party. He entered the aerial death trap and came up level to Skywarp, paying no head to the ground quickly approaching. His sight was on Sideswipe, clinging to Skywarp. The air sucked him to Skywarp's side, and even if he wanted to escape now, it would have been impossible. Skywarp didn't even notice, growing closer and closer to the ground. Below, Air Raid broke off, and Ramjet slammed into the ground, his nose smashing against the ground and sliding, uprooting a line of unsuspecting trees. The black Eagle jet gave a cry of victory as he ascended, joining his increasingly worried brother. Raid frowned, before following Skydive's gaze to the two opponents below.

Sideswipe growled lowly, Fireflight's plan registering on his mind. He stubbornly clung on, growling over the comm. links at the Aerialbot. ::Get your aft out of here!:: he barked, grinning. ::I'll be fine!::

Fireflight pressed on, either heedless of Sideswipe's words or ignoring them, keeping pace with Skywarp as the ground came closer and closer. Sideswipe looked back at Skywarp, wondering if the stupid Decepticon would have the brains enough to pop himself out at the last moment, or if Fireflight did. These thoughts left him as the ground came closer, and Sideswipe grinned, his energon boiling in sheer unadulterated joy.

::Yeeeeeehaaaaaa!::

If any of the Autobots and Decepticons didn't know about it, they certainly did now. Sunstreaker rose from his perch overlooking the fight and his optics turned to the sky, his conversation with Red forgotten. The flickering red and white paint of Fireflight's chassis almost made him miss the cherry red of his brother, clinging to Skywarp's undercarriage. He jumped forward, but stopped as he reached the edge. His optics widened in realization.

::Sideswipe, let go!::

The shout echoed over all the Autobot's comm. lines. Somewhere down below, Optimus and Megatron paused, arms locked around each other. Megatron grinned while Optimus' optics widened.

::Sideswipe, let go!:: the Prime ordered.

::Skywarp!:: said Megatron, ::Don't let that Aerialbot near you!::

Fireflight had inched closer to Skywarp in their game of chicken, unbalancing the Seeker and forcing him to adjust to the other's close proximity. Fireflight wasn't paying attention; his sole focus was on Sideswipe. The red hellion noticed this, and he began to realize that if he stayed, so would Fireflight and so would Skywarp. They would all die together.

It was a snap decision, one which Sideswipe would never regret. He released one hand on Skywarp, and the wind snatched him up. His other hand was ripped away, unbalancing Skywarp majorly. The black and purple Seeker struggled to peel up, but his wings suddenly bent, and he let loose a shriek of pain. Sideswipe spun away from the crashing Seeker, twisting and struggling to let out his chute, but the ground was rapidly closing in. A flash of red and white flashed in the corner of his optic and he instinctively twisted around, landing squarely on Fireflight's backside. The Aerialbot's engine screeched as he gunned it, ascending back up into the sky.

A boom echoed behind them, as Skywarp rolled into a teleport, and spun across the sky over the Decepticon's heads, shrieking as his wing whirled around in the air behind him. He struck earth, sliding across it and ruining his remaining wing. His thrusters seemed to rear over his nose for a second, before it fell to earth, flipping him over onto his back. He remained that way, unmoving.

Sideswipe let out a hoot, fists in the air as Firefilght ascended, circling around. He ignored the admonishment of the other Autobots, patting the Aerialbot comradely on the nosecone.

::Thanks!:: he rumbled in a laugh.

Fireflight remained silent, the flick of his wing tips the only sign he head heard. Sideswipe would learn until much later, when they had gotten back to base, that Fireflight was injured earlier in battle by Skywarp, leaving him mute and otherwise unable to speak. His left optic was destroyed, his audio ruined, and both comm. lines twisted and torn out. When he thought back to what happened to Skywarp, it made him smile. The young flyer had gotten his comeuppance.