The moment Crackle had called them all to the air, the ranks of Seekers knew they were in for a world of hurt. The despair was palpable, as his voice sharply called them all to hover. There was no sing-song quality in the Seeker Commander. He wasn't a push over, and he knew what he was doing as far as leading went, much to the annoyance of certain few.

And if his orders were shirked, Crackle's wing mates were proving to be quite happy to correct the problem. Especially when it came to a certain arrogant, rusty teal Point Leader. Quickfall wasn't very pleased. In fact, he was probably more displeased than Crackle was.

The acting Wing Leader's trine followed his every move in the air, as if the Wing was still in a Care Center. It was annoying, and almost degrading, and the three young Seekers knew that the others were increasingly annoyed with their inability to work together. And perhaps that was what led to the snap.

All Skywarp and Thundercracker knew, was that one moment they were working through the drills that Crackle called to them, each twitching from exertion and a slew of other emotions, and the next, Quickfall snagged their wings and pulled into alt mode, racing off. "What the slag? TC? What's he doing?"

Thundercracker had hesitated just as long as Skywarp had, but they both moved to follow their supposed Point Leader as he called out angry commands to them to follow. "I don't know, Warp. But he's going to get us in trouble." And yet, they followed, barely catching up to him, if only to figure out what he was planning.

Quickfall lead them on a jerky flight path. He seemed to follow the other trines, who were continuing their laps through the city. His orders were haphazard and snappy, and both Thundercracker and Skywarp balked at some of the maneuvers he wanted to bring them through. "He's not seriously trying to do advanced flight patterns, is he?"

"TC? We should break off." And really, they should have. There was no way, with Quickfall at the helm, that they would pull off the kinds of things he wanted them to achieve here and now without far more practice than they'd thus far had as a trine. Certainly not without trust.

When Crackle caught up to them, the punishment would be severe. The each knew it. Even if they did break off now. That thought wasn't appealing.

They corkscrewed around a spire, nearly colliding with one of the other trines, who flared their wings and screeched over the comm. lines. "Quickfall, land immediately!" Crackle's voice was pure anger now, sounding all the world like Commander Strands. Still, Quickfall led them on, his frame vibrating with violence that the two on his wings had never seen before. Quickfall was an aft, but he was a powerful aft. One that, when enraged, could easily take on more mechs than could usually be counted.

"All units, all units!" that one was over Decepticon broadband link, and the mech sounded panicked. "Autobot infiltration! I repeat, Autobot infiltration!"

"All Wings, attack direction Delta!" Crackle came over the comm. line once more. In a brief moment, Quickfall, Thundercracker and Skywarp were suddenly behind Crackle and his trine, the Wing acting as if they hadn't expended any effort in keeping up. "Quickfall, you and your trine will follow my orders without question, or I will shoot you down myself. Understood?"

There was no verbal reply from Quickfall, but his posture belayed his misgivings. They followed in the Wing's vapor trail as shadows, and turned the direction each other Wing was now headed. There was a visible plume of smoke rising up, fiery and black. "Scrap, TC. Did you just get a flash of Vos?"

"This isn't Vos." Kaon would never be Vos. Still though, Thundercracker couldn't deny the odd feeling that struck his spark as they raced toward the confrontation. It was familiar. "Watch yourself, Warp. This is the first time there's actually a battle going on that we've actively participated in. Who knows how it's going to pan out."

"You too, TC," Skywarp inched closer to the blue Seeker, ignoring the angry flip up from Quickfall.

There were Autobot fliers. Far bulkier than Seekers, and nowhere near as fast, but built with enough power and stamina to be quite a challenge for a trine. They met the Seekers half way to the battle zone, colliding and grappling with them. Many of the dueling mechs went into freefall and disappeared into the mess of buildings below. "All Wings, break off formation. Keep your wits and may your aim be true," Crackle called as he too, vanished into the depths, a bulky fuchsia flier locked around his wings. His wing mates split almost immediately, the orange and yellow diving to accompany his Wing Leader while the tri-colored one sped off for a piece of the battle.

Weaponry peppered the skies. As did shouts, and screams of pain, bellows of anger and the general sounds of war. Thundercracker pulled in close to Skywarp, avoiding being shot through the fuselage. In front of them, Quickfall dived, and they followed sharply, spinning.

That was when the three of them realized that there was an enemy tailing closely behind them. Pale blue with canary yellow streaks, the flier was fast. About the size of a Seeker with almost the right build. He followed their every move, firing pot shots at them. "Scrap, TC, we gotta shake this guy!"

"Quickfall, bank right!" Thundercracker called out automatically. The Seeker did exactly the opposite, signaling for a lazy left. Skywarp made an affronted sound, loud enough to be heard by Thundercracker and probably Quickfall himself. The enemy scoffed over the broadband lines, and rammed into Thundercracker, who squawked as he tumbled toward the ground. "Warp, becareful!"

"Not leavin ya, TC!" Skywarp shifted from alt mode and latched on to the flier, with a snarl. The mech shifted into his root mode as well, glaring and grunting as Skywarp slashed into his seams. "You're slagged!" he growled, heavy handedly grabbing a pale wing and pushing down as hard as he could. The two of them went into freefall.

"You're out matched, 'con!" the mech replied, almost creepily blank faced.

"Says the idiot taking on a Seeker trine," Skywarp spat back. He struggled though. The mech had one Pit of a grip!

"Don't look like no trine, to me," the mech returned. He really could have been a Seeker. But what Seeker would have allied with the Autobots? No self-respecting one, for sure. He appeared about to say more, but was cut off by blue and black claws at his neck cabling.

"What would you know about it?" a new voice, deadly and dark, and tantalizingly familiar asked. But the black Seeker didn't have time to ponder. In a split moment, the enemy's neck was slashed, and Skywarp was pulled away, regaining lost height in altitude.

The Seeker's wings twitched even as he shifted to alt mode once more. Skywarp felt himself following the command before he could process the fact the enemy was now in the depths, most likely dead. They were flying a moment later, Thundercracker rushing from somewhere to take the second wing spot. Once they realized just what had happened, they were stunned.

The Seeker before them was none other than the tri-colored mech they remembered from the Care Center. His orders were called clearly and briskly, and they could do nothing else but follow, especially when once more, an Autobot appeared on their tails.

They banked, angling low to pass under a bridge and flipped over it in a U-turn, the white and red Point Leader ramming their follower as he shifted to root mode. Thundercracker and Skywarp flew past, doubling back with weapons onlining. "Holy frag," they both said in unison, shifting to root as well. Their impulses were to assist the Seeker, who took a heavy hit to his left wing, but they were transfixed, watching as the Seeker's fiery optics narrowed.

He latched onto the enemy, a black and white Praxian flier. And flipped around, exposing the Autobot's back to a passing Seeker who was chasing a duo of fliers himself. The stray shot caught the Praxian in the wing joint, causing him to cry out. The Seeker dropped him, hovering a moment, taking in the surroundings, before shifting back to alt and bolting back into the fray, leaving Thundercracker and Skywarp where they were.

"Follow my lead," they both jolted with the sound of a new voice. They glanced at each other a moment in question, before shrugging and following the Seeker.

S/N: So. I can't believe it's been over a year since I've updated anything. I wish I could say I took that time to better my writing ability, but alas, it didn't work out that way. This portion was written on the fly, so I apologize for how choppy or confusing it may be. I've forgotten my own pattern with this story. =/ At any rate, I hope you enjoyed reading this piece.