Title: Arrival

Rating: PG13 for Cybertronian swearing

Characters: Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Tracks, Prime, Ratchet, Ironhide, assorted humans

Setting: Movieverse

Summary: Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are twins - so why is this silver Corvette calling himself Sideswipe, especially with no Sunstreaker to be found?

The Autobots had gathered to welcome another of their forces to Earth, and the humans stood back a few meters to give them some room. When the silver mech stood tall from his protoform shell and slid forward on wheeled feet, they could see he had already integrated an alt mode into his form. The newcomer spoke to his comrades in their native language (couldn't really call it a native tongue, since they didn't have any), then approached the humans to introduce himself.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

:Tracks? Welcome to Earth.:

:Thank you, Prime. However... before I am introduced to the natives, I do have a request you may find odd.:

:Oh? Let's hear it, then.:

:I would like to take on Sideswipe's designation.:

:What!? Why?: Ratchet's outburst squealed in their audios, and Tracks inclined his head in the medic's direction.

:The twins were my friends, and as they fell in battle half a vorn ago, I would like to honour Sideswipe as best as I can. I feel that by taking his name, he will never truly die. Plus, if the Decepticons hear that 'Sideswipe' is here, they may be more wary of us all, knowing very well that where Sideswipe is, Sunstreaker is sure to follow.:

Ironhide sent a burst of harsh laughter, saying, :That will certainly toss a grenade into the Seeker's nest, won't it? I think even Starscream was terrified of meeting those two face-to-face.:

:Considering what the twins could do to a Seeker's wings, given half a chance, could you blame him?: Ratchet sent a burst of sorrow/regret/laughter at the many, many memories he had of the aftermath of past attacks on the Seekers by the twins.

:I have no objection, Prime,: Ironhide sent his agreement. :It would be quite fitting, I think.:

Ratchet sent his own approval. :If they did indeed fall, as Tracks saw, then doing what we can to keep their 'legend' alive can only help us. It will serve to make the Decepticons distrust their own reports, and as Tracks said, it will likely make the Seekers more wary of our forces.:

Prime sent a burst of agreement/approval/sorrow himself. :Very well then. Welcome to Earth... Sideswipe.:

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The tall silver mech crouched down slightly to meet the humans, his wheeled feet somehow keeping him steady.

"Greetings, you may call me Sideswipe."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o Two years later o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The Autobots again gathered to welcome more of their kind to this new home of theirs. This time there were more of them, and this time, they did not know if the ones they welcomed were Autobot or Decepticon. Repeated hails to the two protoforms had gone unanswered - not simply ignored, but unanswered, as Blaster could tell that the two were in fact receiving, as they responded to course changes sent to them.

Now they all waited, their human friends once again assembled behind them.

The two protoforms landed at the same time, carving deep identical gouges in the cold earth, and the 'bots seemed to be trying to peer through the smoke and flame to see who the new arrivals were. The sounds of transformation pierced the dust haze, then two tall, gleaming forms strode through the last of the smoke.

Two very large forms, one a brilliant scarlet, the other a golden yellow.

Once again, the sound of the Cybertronian language filled the air, squealing in pitches that made the humans wince.

The human allies whispered amongst themselves, and Sam nudged Mikaela, having noticed that Sideswipe was slowly rolling back, away from the rest of the Autobots, the silver mech almost making it seem like he was... trying to sneak away?

"TRACKS! You miserable, slag-sucking, scraplet-riddled, 'con 'facing little pile of fragging JUNK!" The tall red mech lunged at the silver one, who whipped around and transformed in a heartbeat, his wheels burning rubber against the pavement as he tried to escape.

'Tried' being the key word.

The red mech transformed also, and the male humans whistled and 'oooh'ed in appreciation as the scarlet Lamborghini tore after the silver Corvette, screaming curses, threats, and dire predictions of dismemberment.

The Autobots seemed to be watching something in the distance, and the humans realized that they could actually see the two vanished mechs. Some grinned, some laughed, some winced in sympathy, and some, like Ratchet simply sighed and shook their heads.

"Who... ok, who the hell was that?" Lennox finally asked.

The golden mech stepped forward and spared a short glance for the tiny humans on the ground.

"'That' was my brother, Sideswipe. He's currently beating the scrap out of that arrogant fragger Tracks, for the 'help' he gave us half a vorn ago." When that obviously wasn't enough to satisfy the puzzled humans, the gold mech grumpily continued. "We'd been in a rough battle, had half our programming scrambled, and as we got fixed up, Tracks generously offered to give us a copy of his starmaps. What he didn't mention was that he'd also put in a little program that would keep us going around in circles for vorns if we hadn't gotten it fixed.

"Then we get here and find out that he's even stolen Sides' name. I know he's feeling a little inferior because he isn't us, but that's going a little too far." The newcomer actually growled and crossed his arms, still staring at the distant dust cloud on the horizon. "Little fragger's been trying to get us back for painting him pink and welding him to the top of the Senate building for ages now."

The humans just stared.

The gold mech glanced down again. "Oh. I'm Sunstreaker, by the way. Hey Bro! Leave me some, will ya?" Sunstreaker shouted the last, transformed into a gleaming yellow Lamborghini, and raced towards his brother.

"Don't forget to bring back all his pieces, you stupid sparkling! I do not want to have to go hunting for plates and bolts, because if I do, I'll be taking them off you instead!" Ratchet yelled after the speeding twin, recieving a fishtail and an insulting beep of a horn in response.

Prime snickered, cutting it off into a cough as Ratchet snapped his head around to glare at his leader. "Yes, well, we should be getting back to base." He turned towards Ironhide. "Do we even have a brig that will hold those two?"

The weapons specialist grinned. "Nope. But just to make it interesting, I'll mark off an area of ground with some of that caution tape and tell them that's the brig. Then we'll give all the humans paintball guns..."