Minus 3 Hours, 27 Minutes

Sideswipe shifted uncomfortably on the rocky surface, but was careful not to disturb Sunstreaker. His twin was leaning against his back and had finally fallen into a deep recharge... Well, as deep of a recharge as either of them ever did when they were out on a mission.

But Sideswipe could not recharge.

For the past week or so, Sideswipe had been plagued with anxiety. It was a constant, nagging presence in his spark that persisted regardless of what he was doing. When he had first felt it, he had worriedly asked Sunstreaker what was wrong, sure that the feeling was coming over the sparkbond. But his brother insisted he wasn't anxious, and that he was not worrying about anything in particular except busting some Decepticon helms. And all the yellow twin felt on his side of the bond was Sideswipe's reaction to the emotion.

Most of the time, Sideswipe was able to push the feeling away, shunting it to the side like he did when Sunstreaker's emotions ran too hot. But when he tried to relax, the feeling came back with a vengeance. And when Sunstreaker fell into recharge, the apprehension that Sideswipe felt was overwhelming.

Worse, the feeling had only grown stronger since he'd first felt it.

He'd put up a block a few times just so he could get a few hours of recharge, but both brothers hated doing that when they were out in the field. If they were attacked while they were recharging, it was better to have the bond at least partially open.

So Sideswipe left the bond open, and let Sunstreaker recharge.

Sideswipe offlined his optics, trying once more to get at least an hour of recharge.

It seemed like only minutes had passed since Sideswipe had offlined his optics when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Up and at 'em, boys."

Sideswipe's battle systems powered up, but he avoided lashing out at Ironhide. He felt Sunstreaker come online just as suddenly with a subtle tensing of cables and an alertness over the sparkbond. Sideswipe raised his helm and looked up at the red mech over him. "Already?" he asked quietly.

"You've had four hours," Ironhide replied, and leaned down to pat him on the shoulder again. "We're moving out in ten minutes. Fuel up and be ready to go." With that, the commander moved down the line of resting mechs.

Sideswipe arched his back, stretching out kinked cables and flaring his plating slightly. When he turned, he saw Sunstreaker looking at him with a small frown. "What?" Sideswipe asked.

"You didn't recharge at all, did you?" Sunstreaker asked in return. His words held an accusatory tone.

Sideswipe shrugged and took a ration cube from his subspace. "I got about an hour, I guess," he said truthfully. He sipped at his ration, then rolled his optics when Sunstreaker continued to stare at him. "I'll be fine. My energy levels are high enough for what we're doing."

With a huff, Sunstreaker pulled out a ration for himself and knocked half of it back. "Promise me you'll go talk to Ratchet when we get back if you're still feeling... whatever that is," he said.

Sideswipe frowned into his ration. "If I do that, and tell him what I'm feeling, he's gonna send me for another psych assessment," he growled. He flicked a glance at Sunstreaker. "You know he will, and that means you'll have to go, too."

Sideswipe had been through two of those already, and Sunstreaker had been through four. In every case it had been horrible: being forced to talk about feelings and motivations and slag like that with someone other than their brother. All of their sessions had gone so poorly, in fact, that after the last one they both had a note put in their files saying that if one of them got a psych referral, they both had to go.

The threat of being sent for a psych assessment because of Sideswipe set Sunstreaker back for a moment, but then he shook his helm. "It's bothering you, so it's bothering me," he said firmly. "I'll gladly go if it means you'll feel better."

Sideswipe stared at Sunstreaker for a moment. "You're that worried?" he asked. When Sunstreaker nodded, Sideswipe gave him a lopsided smile. "All right. Fine. I promise I'll talk to Ratchet."

That earned him a curt nod from his brother, and Sideswipe turned his attention back to his ration. He tried to figure out how he could tell Ratchet about the disturbing sensations he'd been having without being given a psych referral.

They finished their rations in silence. Now that Sunstreaker was awake, the nervousness that Sideswipe felt in his spark had dulled slightly. But it was still there, drifting across the sparkbond as if it was coming straight from Sunstreaker.

Maybe talking to Ratchet wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Minus 32 Minutes

This deployment had been a rough one.

Their mission had been to venture deep into Decepticon territory and make their way towards a huge stockpile of energon that the Autobots' scouts had discovered. Both sides desperately needed the fuel, but it seemed like the Decepticons had not been aware of the riches in their own territory. So the Autobot unit was escorting three large hauler mechs with trailers to collect the energon and spirit it away. They had reached the pickup point with little trouble, but for some reason their path back to friendly territory was rife with Decepticons.

With the convoy-class mechs in vehicle mode, speedy and stealthy they were not. Their mission on the return trip was to ensure that any Decepticons who did see them did not live long enough to get word back to their commanders about the Autobots moving through their territory. The last thing the Autobots needed was for Decepticon reinforcements to swoop in and steal the energon back... And probably kill all the Autobots in the process.

For being a fairly simple escort operation, they had encountered enemy fire a disturbing number of times. That, combined with the strange anxiety he felt in his spark constantly, had put Sideswipe on edge.

He was so keyed up that he was the first one to notice the glint of sunlight on metal in a tower above them. Sideswipe tapped Ironhide on his shoulder, and silently pointed up at the tower.

High in the tower was a mech. He was standing in the void where there had once been a window, looking out over the city. He gave no sign of having seen them yet, but there was no way he'd miss seeing them if they moved from their current position.

Sideswipe thought it was a shame they didn't have Bluestreak with them. The sniper could have taken out the sentry cleanly, with no chance for him to get off a distress call. Sideswipe was a fairly good shot, but nowhere near as good as Bluestreak. None of the mechs that had come with them would be able to make that shot at this distance.

Trailbreaker brushed Ironhide's arm, then pointed up at another tower. A second mech stood in that tower, at about the same level as the first sentry they'd seen.

Ironhide frowned up at the mech in the first tower, then then the second. Then he lowered his optics and looked around them. They had been making their way past several bombed-out buildings, and debris covered the ground in every direction. This area of the city had once been a hub for the sciences, from medical and metallurgy research to applied weaponry and theoretical physics. They were carefully picking their way through the rubble so as not to disturb any dangerous items that may have been blasted out of one of the surrounding buildings.

After considering the mechs they'd spotted in the towers, Ironhide turned to the group, and flashed a few hand signals. Sideswipe, deploy jammers. One on each tower. Sunstreaker, provide backup. Deploy both, then we will engage.

Trailbreaker waved to get Ironhide's attention. Two Decepticons: probably not alone.

Ironhide nodded resolutely. Guessing: many Decepticons, in sentry line across our path. Need to remove all quickly. He looked around at the team once more, then gestured for Sideswipe and Sunstreaker to move out.

Sideswipe grabbed two jamming devices from one of the haulers' trailers, and he and Sunstreaker crept out into the open.

For all of their bright colours and flashy antics, the twins were fairly good at stealth. Their time on the streets of Kaon before the war had given them something like an extra sense of when they were being watched, and how to move silently and without being seen. Sunstreaker led the way, his helm swivelling constantly as he scanned the towers surrounding them before making any movement, while Sideswipe followed, always looking in the opposite direction of his brother. They crept from rubble pile to overhang, dashing through open areas as silently and as quickly as they could.

After they had moved several hundred meters towards the first sentry, Sideswipe crouched down behind the wreckage of a huge machine, and sent a nudge across the sparkbond. /I'm close enough here./ Sunstreaker nodded and settled into a crouch.

As Sunstreaker provided a lookout, Sideswipe fitted one of the jammers into a harpoon, and loaded it into his weapon. /Whenever you're ready./ Sideswipe nodded at Sunstreaker.

Sunstreaker hefted a piece of rubble in his hand, took a look at where Sideswipe was going to place the jammer, and nodded at Sideswipe. Then he threw the rock in the opposite direction as Sideswipe took aim.

They'd practiced this many times over the years, and everything landed perfectly. The shot from Sideswipe's weapon was almost inaudible at any distance thanks to the silencer, but the harpoon holding the jammer lodged itself in the tower wall with a distinct metallic clink. At the same time as the harpoon hit the wall, the rock that Sunstreaker threw landed some distance away.

The brothers watched carefully as the sentry's attention was drawn towards the clatter of rock on rubble, then they waited another minute for him to decide that it was nothing. With a nod at each other, the brothers snuck to the next tower.

This one did not go as planned. The rock that Sunstreaker threw fell to the ground at just the right time, but when it landed, it made practically no noise. Upon hearing the clank of the harpoon striking the tower, the sentry looked down, saw the blinking jammer, and immediately hollered a warning to the first sentry.

"Slag it all!" Sideswipe muttered as he switched weapons, but Sunstreaker was close enough to take the mech out with his pulse rifle.

However, the damage was done. From a dozen surrounding towers, a cascade of alarms went up, and their shelter was hit with a barrage of laser fire.

The twins ducked behind a block of rubble. "A square kilometer of nothing but shattered glass and metal, and it had to land on the only squishy thing around," Sideswipe groused without malice.

Sunstreaker peered over the edge of their shelter, then ducked back down as bits of concrete showered down on them. "The team's providing cover. Let's go."

They made a mad dash back to the team, dodging enemy fire as the transport team peppered the Decepticons. Sideswipe hated these types of fights; he preferred to fight one-on-one, or even three-on-one, with his fists. Not ducking and covering every few seconds as they took pot shots at each other.

One of the haulers, Piston, was a horrid shot, so he was keeping tabs on the Decepticons. He called out each one that the team downed; fortunately it seemed like the 'Cons had not left their best shooters to guard this area.

"Three left!" Piston called after several minutes. "And none of them look like air frames."

"Thank Primus for small favours," Sideswipe muttered. He leaned out to try and catch a glimpse of the 'Cons, but he couldn't see any from where he was.

Sideswipe shifted positions so he was beside Trailbreaker. The larger mech was staring fixedly up at one of the towers. "Piston," Trailbreaker said, "keep an optic on that tower. The sentry there just vanished. He might be switching floors."

"Got it," said Piston. After a minute, he added, "I think they've all started switching positions. We're getting fire from floors they weren't on before."

The team hunkered down behind the rubble, peering out to try and catch a glimpse of the remaining Decepticons. "They're staying behind cover, taking cheap shots at us from the windows," Ironhide growled. "We could be here all day doing this."

"Are we sure they can't get a message out?" Trailbreaker asked, ducking back behind his chunk of metal as another barrage of shots rang out.

"Jammers are holding," Ironhide said. "Unfortunately, that means we can't call for help, either."

Sideswipe leaned out again quickly and surveyed the towers around them. The Decepticons had the advantage of height, and the ability to move between floors of the buildings. Getting a bead on any of them was going to be challenging. Plus, there was the danger that one of them might make a run for it to get out of range of the communication jammers.

Nudging Sunstreaker with his elbow, Sideswipe gave him a grin. "I think it's time I paid these 'Cons a little visit, don't ya think?" he asked.

"What are you –" Sunstreaker started to ask. Then he swore as Sideswipe lurched out from behind their cover.

In two strides, Sideswipe launched himself into the air, jetting towards the opening closest to where he had seen the sentry. Below him, Sunstreaker ran forward, his optics focused on the other two towers as he provided bursts of fire to cover Sideswipe's brief flight.

Fortunately, the rest of the team got the idea quickly, even if the last thing Sideswipe had heard from Ironhide before he'd activated his jetpack was a very inventive curse. The team added to Sunstreaker's cover fire, filling the air with bright bolts from their rifles.

Sideswipe cut the power to his jet pack as he reached the first building, turning pedes over helm as he flipped through the broken window and landed gracefully on the floor.

/Knock it off with the stunts, Sides./ He could feel Sunstreaker's irritation at him through the bond, almost obscuring the anxiety that had been bothering him all day. /I just saw one of them two floors directly above you. I don't think he saw you come in./

/Got it./ Moving with a speed and grace belied by his size, Sideswipe quickly climbed the stairwell in the middle of the tower. He paused against a wall, listening closely. A moment later he heard the crunch of pedes on broken plasteel.

Spinning around the corner, Sideswipe aimed his weapon and fired, shooting the Decepticon sentry right through the spark. Earlier in the war, Sideswipe might have warned the 'Con and let him turn around so that he wouldn't have had to shoot him in the back. Earlier in the war, Sideswipe might have wondered what his designation was, or how long he'd been with the Decepticons. Earlier in the war, Sideswipe might have stared down at the mech he'd just killed and felt a tiny stab of regret.

Those days were long gone. Sideswipe stepped over the greying frame on the floor and surveyed the scene outside.

Even though he knew where Sunstreaker was, he couldn't see his twin. The rest of the team was also fairly well-hidden, although the convoy trailers were easy to spot. /Where next?/

/Second tower to your right. He's three floors below you, so you should have no problem getting in there unseen./ Sunstreaker's directions were sent with the image of another barrage of cover fire designed to draw the sentry's attention away from Sideswipe.

Another jump, another burst of power from his jetpack, and Sideswipe swooped into a gaping hole in the side of the next tower. He paused, listening, and plainly heard the mech below him cursing quietly as the Autobots showered his hideout with fire.

The stairs in this tower were partially collapsed, but Sideswipe quickly picked his way down what was left of them. The level he emerged on was almost completely gutted, and he saw the Decepticon as soon as he landed on the floor.

The green and black racer was firing his rifle blindly down into the area below him, staying hidden behind what remained of the outer wall. He fired until his clip was empty, then he fumbled in his subspace for a new clip.

The 'Con turned his helm when he heard Sideswipe's pedes scrape against the floor. He had time to yelp "Wait!" before Sideswipe's rifle punctured his helm, then his spark.

Sideswipe took the clip from the mech's hand and stuck it in his own subspace. /Two down, one to go. Where next?/ Crouching next to the dead sentry, he looked down at Sunstreaker's hiding spot.

/Don't know. I think the last one's hiding./ Sunstreaker's annoyance was palpable. /Ironhide's sending Trailbreaker out to me. He's signaling that we might need to sweep the towers. Get down here so I don't have to play host mech for you./

/All right. Don't let the last one tag me./ Stepping out into open air, Sideswipe let himself free fall for a few meters before activating his jetpack to slow his descent to the rubble-covered ground below. He could see Trailbreaker picking his way across the square, heading towards where Sunstreaker was crouched behind a huge chunk of plating.

A moment after he fired his jetpack, Sideswipe felt an overwhelming surge of fear over the spark bond. It felt like the worry he'd been sensing for the past week, except this time the feeling was almost one of panic... Of time running out, or a last chance slipping away.

Sideswipe's concentration faltered, and he plummeted the last few meters to the ground as his jetpack cut out.

/Sides!/ Sunstreaker's alarm felt familiar and almost comforting compared to the terror that Sideswipe was being inundated with. /Are you all right?/

Sideswipe lifted his helm, and his optics unerringly found Sunstreaker. His brother had stood up from his hiding place behind the remnants of a strange-looking machine. He stared at Sideswipe, his concern plain in his expression. Sideswipe struggled to his knees, shrugging off the pain from the scrapes and dents he had just sustained, and he reached towards his brother. "Sunny..."

"Look out!" Sideswipe turned his helm at Trailbreaker's voice, but whipped it back forward when he caught motion out of the corner of his optic. "Grenade!"

A round object bounced off the machine Sunstreaker had been sheltering behind, and landed at his pedes.

"Sunny!" Sideswipe lurched to his pedes and took two steps towards Sunstreaker. "Move!"

Sideswipe heard an anguished scream in the distance. It sounded like his designation, but all of his focus was on Sunstreaker. He had to get to his brother. Sideswipe shook off the hand that had fallen on his shoulder as it held him back from getting to Sunstreaker. "Let me go!" he rasped. "Sunny!"

But then Sideswipe faltered, clutching at his spark. It throbbed in his chest, sending pulses of terror and panic directly to his processor, and he fell back down to one knee.

Ahead of him, Sunstreaker took a step backwards from the grenade before turning to run.

A moment later, Sideswipe's optics and audials were assaulted by the flash and roar of the grenade's detonation.