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Shuttle Longevity: Passenger Cabin

Slingshot glanced up to the hulking power that was Ultra Magnus. Immediately the ills that were flashing through his processors were filed away into a protected compartment at the back of his data tracks. He did not bother to salute, if had then they would know something was amiss. It wasn't as though the Aerialbot was scared; only an idiot or Air Raid wouldn't be terrified at the prospect of going up against a banished Prime. Instead he turned his attention to Skydive and the strategist's habitual knack for being obnoxious. "But of course Mr. Fearless Leader's Pet. I expect to be on call at all nanoseconds of the chronometer just to escort a heavily armed luxury boat through friendly territory."

He looked towards the cockpit. He could make out the bulky broad shoulders and telling curves of a digging shovel that manned the visible tactical station. "At least they managed to bring someone capable of holding their own in a fight. If you want to bother someone about your vaunted tactical prowess skipper, perhaps Scoop or that Blindeye guy is more your speed." He waved over his shoulder as he sharply turned the corner and disappeared behind a privacy screen that lead to the personal cabin space of regular crew members that served at Magnus's leisure.

Unfortunately, before he could disappear completely, Jazz emerged from the forward compartment. It was a sickening optimism that oozed from the counter intelligence officer that nearly finished off whatever control Slingshot had managed to establish over himself. He pivoted on his step and returned to face the cabin once more. Slowly his optics took in the sight of the other Aerialbots and the various soldiers that had been called from orbit to provide support for their assault on the Fallen and his veritable fortress of doom.

The accomplished racer placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and caused the sniper to snap from a distant reverie and return to reality. "Of course you want me to fly this bucket. It’s like you can count on any of those ground pounding mud hoppers not to fly us into the side of one of these mountains." His voice as serious as he could make it though just beneath the surface his mind shouted in defiance, what makes you can count on me not to send us to the all spark earlier than they can? Slingshot shrugged off Jazz and glared towards Silverbolt. "At least it gets me out of the way, ain't that right Silverbolt?"

As Slingshot disappeared through the hatchway to the bridge, Nova Strike could not help but look up from his own dark musings. His optics did not settle on the huff of the Aerialbot or the method to his departure. It just wasn't his place to intercede on how that particular squadron functioned or at least managed the drastic difference in personality quotients. No, the Ranger focused instead on emergence of Prowl and Magnus as they appeared from the depths near the rear of the vessel. He did not pay close attention to their conversation as he boarded. In fact he chose to tune it out and concentrate on various combat algorithms that would be necessary in the coming engagement.

As the two were joined by Silverbolt and Jazz, Nova caught the sight of the holographic master scout and gave a simple nod of acknowledgement. He did not wave but instead tilted his head just enough to offer Hound a seat next to him where the scout could stretch out a bit and at least gather his own thoughts. "That's a good question Jazz." Nova Strike commented, the smirk of confidence long gone to be replaced by the battle hardened veteran that had made marks on countless fronts. "There was little to no true information that could be offered to or from Prowl at the time of the initial recall order. In fact, I had hoped that you and the rest of the conclave onboard would be willing to enlighten us."

It was at this point that Ultra Magnus took his place at the head of the compartment, Prowl and Silverbolt to his left side. “To all of our new arrivals, Rewind, Hound, Freeway, Bumblebee, Nova Strike and the Aerialbots as well as Prowl, welcome onboard the Longevity… though I wish it had been under better circumstances that we would reunite. I look forward to reading your reports at another point in time; however those will have to wait until we are advanced better fortunes.”

With a slight of his hand a small black rectangular box with a series of toggles appeared in the palm. He raised the produced digital controller and pointed it at a medium sized inverted pyramid shape hanging in the center of the cabin. He pressed the central toggle and allowed the invisible beams to do their work and activate the advanced briefing holographic display. “Hardhead, Hex and Hot Rod, all three of these distinguished Autobots have been currently usurped by the powerful influence of Fallen, with Hot Rod currently being host to the banished Prime.” The images of the three Autobots appeared and began to rotate slowly. Beside each of their original forms the altered states, retrieved from the combat recorders of two of his personally trained non comps… and in case of Hot Rod a third altered form, began to rotate counter clockwise.

“These are the current effects of the influence the Fallen has thrust upon our comrades.” He pressed the center toggle on the controller again and the image flipped to the recorded battle in Korea. The reason for displaying such a wonton act of brutality, perhaps it was to prepare them for the ferocity in which their comrades would resist them. But Magnus remained silent as the images of the large green rounded barrel shaped mechanism was engaged by a much smaller individual. It was as if a prey animal were set upon by the fiercest predator from Galbona. The image burst into static and then to nothing before the holographic image flipped to another image that had been loaded into the briefing matrix.

The image that was loaded was a wire frame of the battle zone where they expected to have the engagement confined. As the wire frame image, hued in green and copper, began to rotate slowly against the grain of the laser display a small tremor began to reverberate from the base of the deck. The image of Ayers Rock flickered twice as the vibrations intensified before stabilizing as the subtle change in gravitational forces were offset by the inertial dampeners of the shuttle. Magnus ignored the changes and highlighted several small portions along the map. The first two were arrows sweeping in along projected courses away from the sandstone formation. Each one represented one of the two shuttlecraft and their different approaches to the Autobot insignia on the map marked Point K.

Along the flight path labeled by a single triangular marker that represented Longevity, there was a divergent path that swung nearer to the rock before heading back to towards the rally point. The instance was fairly clear that the divergence was there should the need for a recon flight be required. Magnus left that call for a later moment. He allowed the strike team to study the map in detail. The roads leading to and from the Australian National Park were highlighted in yellow lines as human foot paths in the region were marked with fragmented yellow lines and dashes. He allowed Prowl the chance to study each elevation and detail of the topographical features laid out by the three dimensional representation.

Quietly he activated the intra ship communications. He sent a request for Ratchet to join the conference in the passenger cabin. The medic would have expedited the repairs on Bumblebee with incredible haste and professional ease; at least that was the hope. There were other reasons to which Magnus wished to have the doctor on hand. They were about to delve into uncharted territory. Magnus pushed the thought to another avenue and allowed it to develop while he waited for Ratchet to arrive.

In the meantime he turned his attention to the prospects at hand. “As it stands now there are five targets that require removal from this complicated battlefield. Four of them are emissaries or support units. Counted among this number are Hardhead and Hex as well as two Decepticons Dragstrip and Dark Ride. Each one represents a possible spark key, required to fulfill the perverse ritual that our fifth target is attempting to complete. Hot Rod has been possessed by the detached spark or spirit of the Fallen and has been not only physically altered but potentially subsumed by the more powerful entity. From what has been witnessed and what has been recorded in the archives… he is capable of not only incredible strength and endurance but is also capable of bending space time to his will.” He allowed the assessment to linger. It was damn accurate given what had initiated this gathering and pending assault, the attack on his ships had come without warning and without evidence of technological intervention. No, the only logical explanation was that it was an innate ability of the corrupted one.

By now Prowl had been given time to review the files and absorb any thing that had been left out of the reports Magnus had provided. The files even included the use of the synthesized sedatives that would be used on the victims, though Ultra Magnus held his own reservations about the plan. In fact, as he stepped back and allowed Prowl to take the front of the cabin and outline his own plans and deployment figures though the concerns and plans of the medical staff had also been integrated in the strategist’s briefing, Magnus made his way to the side where Ratchet would most likely emerge. This was a desperate mission, and that was probably an understatement. He just hoped beyond the darkest of hopes that he would not have to make that call to those in orbit.

Shuttle Longevity - Passenger Cabin

“No problem, ‘Bee. Glad I’m here to help,” Hound replied to the minibot’s thanks as he assisted the injured mech up the ramp and into the awaiting shuttle. The green scout guided Bumblebee by the imposing forms of Ultra Magnus and Prowl as the two high-ranking officers discussed the situation. Hound overheard something about the Fallen. So, the rumors were true and there really was a demigod threatening their very existence. Joining forces with the Decepticons was another comment Hound's audios caught wind of, one that he didn’t really feel comfortable with. However, he was not in charge and trusted Magnus and Prowl’s discretion on the matter. Just as long as they were all careful around their sworn enemies perhaps this temporary union could work. Or it could backfire in the Autobots’ faceplates.

“You know, ‘Bee, I’d rather have Ratchet’s bedside manner, too. He would certainly be more tolerable than teaming up with the ‘Cons and trying to work with any of them, “ Hound whispered to the yellow minibot in a worried tone. “But I guess we don’t have a choice if we’re to defeat the likes of a demigod.”

Hound then led Bumblebee into Hold One where the Combat Casualty Care Unit was set up and the Chief Medical Officer and his associates were busy readying their equipment for the upcoming battle. “Hey, Ratchet! I got your first patient here. Bee’s shoulder got messed up on our scouting mission. Nothing too serious, but it still needs your expertise to be fully functional again.”
_________

Once Skydive had moved on to relieve Jazz of his piloting duties, Smokescreen returned his attention to the communications console. Even though they had arrived to pick up Prowl’s team, the rallybot didn’t want to miss any messages from the other shuttle that had been dispatched or even a signal from the Ark-22 in orbit. Smokey was no Blaster, of course, but he did take the position seriously and hoped that he was doing an adequate enough job. The comm line was calm with only some static coming in over the assorted frequencies as he checked them. It seemed almost like dead space out there. A sign of things to come? Maybe, but the Autobots would go down fighting if that was, in fact, their destiny.

Smokescreen then felt a gentle pat on his shoulder plate. He looked up to see Jazz walk past him, heading into the passenger cabin. The diversion expert seemed confused at first but then quickly remembered that he and Jazz were supposed to relinquish control of the shuttle’s cockpit to the Aerialbots once they had arrived. I can’t believe I forgot about that, Smokey thought as he shook his cranial unit. His memory lapse had likely been caused by his preoccupation with Tracer’s well being. It was something he would have to learn to suppress for the time being if he was going to have any chance of surviving this mission.

The rallybot finally stood from his chair and gave an appreciated nod to the other Aerialbots present before following Jazz into the passenger cabin. Once at the rear of the shuttle, Smokescreen remained standing beside the music-loving mech as the scouting team entered the craft. The red and blue racer stepped aside as Hound helped Bumblebee into Hold One. Smokey gave them both a curt nod before they entered Ratchet’s domain. ‘Bee had looked better, but at least it was only his shoulder that was damaged. The rallybot wondered what could have happened that would cause such an injury. Smokey decided to remain silent as striking up a conversation now would only delay Bumblebee from getting the medical attention that he needed.

Instead, Smokescreen stood fast next to Jazz as the Special Ops Director asked Ultra Magnus what the plan was. Hopefully, there was a plan or at least some semblance of one. Thankfully, it wasn’t the rallybot who had to come up with a strategy as that area of expertise belonged strictly to Prowl. Unfortunately, something told Smokey that his own area of speciality would soon be called upon, placing him in the line of fire. Well, at least it would keep his mind occupied on something other than the troubled femme that was waiting for him back on the Ark.
_________

“Thank you, Jazz,” Prowl responded to the Special Ops Director before following Ultra Magnus to the front of the passenger cabin where the new Autobot leader laid everything out for the strike team. The images of the Korean encounter were brutal to say the least, and it had been the first time the military strategist had seen them. The ferocity of the heralds and of the Fallen, himself, was unparalleled. This threat was truly greater than anything they had encountered before. Even if Optimus Prime was still with them, a victory was not a guarantee. It was becoming quite clear that the supernatural elements to these beings could not be ignored. Logically, there had to be something more here than a mere glitch or malfunction.

Still, Prowl remained focused on devising a strategy, even if it was only a preliminary one at best right now. He had to include the Decepticons into his plans, as well, but who knew exactly how they would react or if they would even cooperate at all. They could very well have their own plans that they wished to follow. Therefore, anything the black and white came up with would be somewhat tentative until both sides could unite and agree on one cohesive offensive.

As Prowl studied all of the files Magnus had given him, he noticed the sedatives option. It seemed like a worthwhile try, but who knew if the heralds would even react to such devices. Still, there were few options when dealing with forces such as these. Nothing could be discounted outright, but one thing was certain. The Fallen and his heralds were a much stranger force together than apart. If they were going to have any chance of defeating these beings then they would have to be separated. There was no way around it.

Once Ultra Magnus had finished his briefing, the Autobot leader stepped aside and allowed Prowl to take center stage. The military strategist’s logic center had analyzed everything, including the supernatural possibilities but not necessarily accepting them as fact. The grid map of the region was barren with the exception of Ayers Rock, the only significant intrusion on an otherwise flat survey chart. This gave them very few places to hide, if any.

“Thank you, Commander Magnus,” Prowl began as he nodded towards his superior before returning his attention to everyone present in the passenger cabin. “Now, I know that this is a lot to take in. I, myself, have just been brought up to speed on everything since I was not present for most of what has transpired in orbit. This Fallen creature had taken our friends and threatened our very existence. We will defeat him and get our comrades back. The question, of course, is how will we do that? The answer I feel lies in the tried and true tactic of divide and conquer. We must separate these heralds from not only Hot Rod but from each other. Individually, they should be easier to take down even with their increased strength. With Hot Rod alone, our strongest warriors will engage him and should at least have a fighting chance to beat him.”

Prowl paused for a moment as he approached the holographic grid map which showed the Uluru region in detail. “Unfortunately, as you can all see, the area has few places to take cover. We will be exposed and out in the open. Therefore, we must all be very careful and on our guard. Once we land, we will meet up with the Decepticon forces who may already be on the battlefield when we arrive. I know that this is something none of us are looking forward to, but we must work with the ‘Cons against this common foe. Otherwise, we may all find ourselves one with the Allspark. Now, once we are on the ground we need to surround Ayers Rock and contain Hot Rod and his minions. We will remain at a safe distance from the Rock, about a mile or two out. I doubt the Fallen will try and escape. He ‘invited’ us down here, after all. Furthermore, I suggest that we use whatever vehicon troops are present as cannon fodder or a 'mech shield' of sorts to help protect us from a surprise attack. Of course, that will only work if the ‘Cons are agreeable to such a suggestion. Logically, it makes the most sense since vehicons are easily replaceable and can be mass produced.

“Now, once we have contained them, we need to draw the heralds away from Hot Rod. To do this, we will need to create multiple diversions at four opposing ends of the outer perimeter. I can think of only one mech here that can accomplish this goal.” Prowl’s words trailed off as his optics fell directly onto the Autobots' diversionary tactician. “Smokescreen, this is your area of expertise. Since you are only one ‘Bot and multiple diversions are required, you will need to put together a small team to help you. Think you can handle that?”

“Of course,” the rallybot spoke up from the rear of the cabin. “I got it covered, Commander Prowl.”

“Good,” Prowl continued. ”If anyone wishes to volunteer to join Smokescreen’s diversion team, you are welcome to do so. The risks are high but they will be necessary if we are to succeed.”

“I volunteer,” Howlstrike growled out suddenly from the back of the cabin, wasting no time to get in on the action. The vengeance-fueled former Predacon stood from his seat and addressed the military strategist. “I’ll help Smokes and so will Blindside here,” Howl added looking down at his new found friend. “Won’t you buddy?”

“Um, okay, well, it seems you have your first two team members,” Prowl responded, looking over at Smokescreen, who seemed less than enthused at having the ex-Predacon working directly with him. The rallybot reluctantly nodded before sparing a glance at Howlstrike and Blindside, giving them a friendly smile, if not a slightly forced one.

“All right, time to move on,” Prowl said as he cleared his vocalizer. “Once the heralds are isolated, we will surround each of them. Again, I suggest using vehicons as cannon fodder. The idea of using a sedative to incapacitate the heralds has been raised. I feel this will be the best bet for rescuing our comrades. While they are overwhelmed by vehicons, another mech can get in close and administer the shot. I suggest a high dosage to ensure the heralds are completely knocked out.

“While the heralds are being taken care of, the biggest and strongest of us will attempt to surround and attack the Fallen. His ability to teleport and bend space/time will pose the greatest challenge. Hot Rod will need to be tricked into appearing where we want him to if we are going to stop him. The mechs who aid in this part of the operation will face the highest risks. Again, it is for the betterment of the Cybertronian race so volunteers are welcome. We can attempt to use a sedative on Hot Rod, but even if we get close enough to administer it the dose will likely fail due to the immense power he possesses. If that is the case then my only suggestion is spark extraction. Whatever power has taken over the cavalier it needs to be removed, torn out if necessary. It could be the only way to save us all from annihilation.”

Prowl paused again to allow what he just said to sink in. The military strategist looked around the cabin, expecting to see shocked expressions on many mech’s faceplates. The black and white’s gaze ended on the Chief Medical Officer. “Ratchet, I trust you have an extractor with you just in case?” Not waiting for an answer, Prowl returned his attention to the Autobot leader. “Commander Magnus, that is my initial strategy. Of course, the ‘Cons present an additional challenge that could affect my plan of attack. Aspects may need to be changed or adjusted once we are in the thick of things. I turn the floor back over to you for anything you wish to add, sir.”

Shuttle Longevity - Passenger Cabin

Skydive couldn't help but overhear Prowl's ideas. It would make sense to half way listen in so there would be a deeper understanding once the plan was put into action. However, this plan seems to be missing several pieces. It is totally possible Prowl was having troubles wrapping his processor around the Fallen. Against better judgment, he decided to join the conversation.

"I hope you don't mind my interruption Ultra Magnus, Prowl, and Silverbolt but I might have a few ideas to add to what I heard of Prowl's thoughts. In order to have a better chance for a divide and conquer, we might want to bombard them with artillery. Not too long after the shelling, there could be some strafing runs with us, whoever is on the Serenity, and the Seekers assuming there are Seekers. The idea, in hope, is confusion especially if the strafing runs are coming in from different angles. One problem with the shelling might be whatever portal abilities Fallen has at his disposal. My other concern is we are assuming they are gathered together waiting on us. The land may be open but traps could still be waiting. We don't know how long they've been at this location so it is totally possible they've got defenses. If we have the opportunity, scouting ahead would be wise. As for the Vehicons, I doubt they would last a cycle or two against the heralds. Vehicons don't last long against normal Cybertronians so be even less against these super powered mechs. I know we want our friends back in one piece if at all possible but with your mentioning of spark extraction, we may have to go to the extremes with the heralds as well to the point of stasis lock."

Skydive knew this move could be dangerous since it is similar to what Fireflight tried to do. Hopefully they will remember Skydive's abilities as a strategist and will take any ideas for this upcoming encounter.

Shuttle Longevity - Interior

Blindside listened to Veneer speaking to him with a clenched sadness in his spark. He kept it out of his faceplate with some effort but it was still there. Veneer had this small issue of his worries being infectious despite some of Blindside's best efforts to let them roll off. Searching for any way to break through the haze of darkness, a certain particular solution came to mind. It was a little mean. Ok, maybe more than a little, but the mischievous part of Blindside could hardly resist.

>>"Of course I'll be safe Vee. Stop worrying. It's just Hardhead that I'm going up against! You know, the Hardhead with the big guns that used to be one of our heaviest hitters? Yeah. That Hardhead. So no worries, it'll be a snap,"<< Blindside said with the hint of a grin on his face. He let there be a pause. Not too long, otherwise Vee would completely flip out.

>>"Just kidding, Vee,"<< Blindside assured - except that he wasn't kidding - >>"I'll probably get stuck on aerial support. You know, bombing runs from high up above."<<

Blindside left the communication to Veneer open while he awaited a response. However, it was his companion Howlstrike that captured his attention next.

“Interesting," Howlstrike finally replied in a low tone so that once again only Blindside could hear him. “This bloodthirsty and vicious persona that you are trying to convince me of doesn’t seem to match your outward appearance. Maybe you should consider changing your alt mode into something more akin to a beast. After all, there are plenty of predatory animals on Earth to chose from that could aid your more ferocious side. I can even help you if you like."

Blindside grinned and leaned over to Howlstrike. "And give up my wings? That's a tough sell, Howl. Real tough. There's nothing quite like flying." Blindside seemed to have finally gotten through to Howlstrike, which, honestly, surprised the blind tactician a little bit. Maybe he had picked up some of Veneer's persistence somewhere along the way. Maybe Blindside's people skills hadn't degraded as much as he thought they had being cooped up in a medical bay for so long. Not that he had minded terribly. Vee had been there after all.

You know, maybe I was wrong about you, Blindside," Howlstrike cautiously admitted, placing his right arm around the tactician’s shoulders like an old friend.

"Oh yeah?" Blindside replied with a wry smile.

“If you really are as savage as you claim then we’ll get along just fine on this little mission. Of course, if you’re not, well, at least you won’t have to actually see me as I tear you to shreds for lying. Heh."

Blindside's smile fell flat as he considered if Howlstrike were actually serious or not. It made Blindside wonder if there was a certain standard of savagery that Howl had in mind or...would any amount do...or...? Blindside broke off his pondering as Howlstrike's grin grew wider.

“Kidding!"

"Pfffft, hahaha! Oh man, you had me going!" Blindside chuckled lowly. It occurred to the blind mechanoid that this was probably karma getting back at him for his vicious little prank on Veneer. Ah, well. He did deserve it. Blindside slung his own arm around the former Predacon's shoulders amiably. Blindside was rather pleased to have made a new friend. Not that this particular choice in a friend was going to make him very popular with the other Autobots, but he didn't particularly care about what anyone else thought.

Blindside turned his attention over to Prowl as he began to speak up, having had noted the congregation of authority figures a while ago. Work together with the Decepticons, divide and conquer...diversions. It was sounding like a sound battle strategy if one that was a little hard to swallow for most Autobots. Blindside had no qualms about working with the Decepticons if it was mutually beneficial. The tactician really expected no less of Prowl.

“Good," Prowl continued. ”If anyone wishes to volunteer to join Smokescreen’s diversion team, you are welcome to do so. The risks are high but they will be necessary if we are to succeed."

“I volunteer," Howlstrike growled out suddenly from beside Blindside. The tactician blinked - a reflex left over from when he possessed optics - in surprise and looked at his new found friend. As the former predacon rose from his seat, Blindside unslung his arm hastily so that Howl could rise unfettered. “I’ll help Smokes and so will Blindside here," Howl added looking down at his new found friend. “Won’t you buddy?"

"Oh. Oh, yeah! I'd love to help!" Blindside called from the rear of cabin with a wave of his hand. Blindside spared a 'glance', meaning he just turned his head in Smokescreen's general direction and looked at the mech using his sonar capabilities. The rally bot didn't look too enthused about having them along for the ride, but he still smiled at them. Blindside supposed Howlstrike got this kind of treatment...most of the time.

As the ex-Predacon sat back down next to the disabled tactician, Blindside gave him an affectionate clap on the back, before leaning in and speaking in low tones once more, "Well, I guess that should get us closer to Hardhead. I'll be glitched if he doesn't look to thrilled to be working with us though," Blindside shook his head and let out a sigh, "Ah well, doesn't matter as long as we get our shot at Hardhead."

Blindside tilted his head toward Howlstrike as a thought occurred to him. "Oh, and I can 'see' just fine by the way," Blindside added air quotations for effect on the word see, "You don't have to worry about me getting blown up by a bomb I didn't see coming. Just to let you know."


"Hey there little buddy."

Who? Rewind looked up to see a ginormous Autobot towering over him, casting a rather formidable shadow on the tiny archivist's small frame. Rewind's optic ridges shot up as he slowly looked vertically into Railway's face. Oh. Rewind let the much larger mech take the broken drone with little resistance, still a little stunned by the sheer size of the mech standing next to him.

"What's a little guy like you doing down here trying to carry things twice your size?"

"Hi big guy," Rewind finally managed, regaining some of his composure. This guy probably turned into something ridiculous like a jumbo space jet or some kinda of armored carrier or-or something! Actually...this guy was kind of familiar...Rewind decided to answer the mech while he tried to place him.

"Ah, well, Hound was helping 'Bee inside and no one else was around, so I just thought I'd do my part. You know," Rewind glanced backward as the bay doors shut, and he felt the little upward jerk that meant they were on their way. To the Fallen. Fun. At least it would be one hell of a documentary if they all lived through this! First hand footage of the Fallen! For the archives! "So, ah, you ready to-"

Rewind suddenly snapped his fingers and pointed at the hulking mech beside him. "You're Railway! Terror of the tracks! Right? Your alternate mode is a locomotive engine right? I'm not sure if I have audio files of your transformation sequence. Sure, I've got others...but...you mind transforming for me real quick? For the Archives. Please?"

Before Railway could answer him one way or another, Prowl began to speak, discussing their plan of attack. Rewind wasn't quite sure where he fit into things, but he resolved to go wherever Chromedome went. If only to keep the mnemosurgeon from doing something stupid like trying to make up for lost time acting like Optimus Prime. Rewind didn't need Chromedome doing any stunts.

Shuttle Longevity - Cabin

Jazz leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed as Prowl began to dig into Magnus' reports and devise a series of strategies. Smokescreen soon strolled in from the pilot cabin and stood alongside the counterintelligence officer. The black and white mech gave the diversions expert a small nod before returning his focus to that of Ultra Magnus and Prowl as the strategist began discussing variable options to take.

"Plan sounds pretty whack there Prowlie," Jazz said as he spoke up from his silence against the doorframe, "but it's the best thing we've got so far in terms of a set strategy. Wonder what kind of plan our new 'Con friends are cooking up... We've got a large enough strike force to take on each member of the Fallen's groupies and still have a few hands to spare here and there. Primus only wonders how large of a team 'Cons are bringing along."

---

Rewind suddenly snapped his fingers and pointed at the hulking mech beside him. "You're Railway! Terror of the tracks! Right? Your alternate mode is a locomotive engine right? I'm not sure if I have audio files of your transformation sequence. Sure, I've got others...but...you mind transforming for me real quick? For the Archives. Please?"

Railway turned to the tiny archivist almost in shock. Was this little guy an old fan or something? Nah it wasn't that. If he had been one of Railway's gladiator fanatics then he would have been able to recognize him a lot sooner than he managed to do.

"Transform? Never really been asked to do that for anybody before... But sure, why not?"

Railway set the broken medical drone down onto the cold earth and stepped away from the shuttle. When he found what he figured to be a clear enough area in the base camp Prowl's team established to shift in to his alt mode, he glanced back over to the small cassettebot to make sure he was paying attention.

"Ready?" The train-former asked as he readied himself to change form.

BWAAA KRRCHHT TCK TCK KRCCHTT

Railway sat in his vehicle form for about 10 earth seconds before quickly shifting back to his robot mode.

"Didya get it? How'd it look?" He asked as he walked back to the shuttle's opened door, picking up the medical drone Rewind wasn't capable of carrying on his own.

Shuttle Longevity: Bridge

Scoop tapped in the transfer commands into his tactical terminal with a swift ease of practice and familiarity. He proceeded to set the primary guns terminal into standby mode as he rose to assume the center chair. With all command officers no longer on the bridge, it fell to the infantry mechanism as the next highest rank to take over command of the central cockpit well until someone of superior authority returned. As he sank into the extraordinary large chair he was able to catch a glimpse of the Aerialbot pilot, Slingshot, as he entered into the chamber with a rather brisk and omnipresent huff.

"Something the matter Slingshot?" Scoop questioned with a touch of concern that was the ease of his voice. He did not know the ace very well, in fact he rarely served with any proximity to the Air Forces of the Autobot cause. But at least that gave him the advantage of a free perspective to the plight of the smaller flier and that offered him reprieve against the knowledge that he was sitting in a position he rather not have been forced to claim.

For Slingshot's part, the Aerialbot spared a brief glance over to the central chair and gave an acknowledging nod. "Something the matter? When isn't somethin' the matter? Ol' fly by ground decided to get worked up over a simple comment I made regarding some incident involving Fireflight. Now I am the bad guy?" The sniper snapped back the chair that had previously housed the maneuverable frame of Jazz, it crashed against the railing that separated the helm and navigation from the Captain's Well. "How's the scrap that fair anyways?"

The infantryman busied himself with keying in the tactical codes to complete the console transfer from the primary tactical terminal to his current position. His audio receptors absorbed the tirade of the small flier with an earnest interest, for it would be a sin against Primus himself to truly ignore a fellow Cybertronian in dire need of a shoulder to cry on or at the very least a hint of sympathy. He found himself at a loss for words of comfort. Particularly as he did not know the full details of the incident of which Slingshot spoke of. And judging by the defiant scowl on the flier's face he doubted that he would receive an unbiased account at this juncture anyways. "Slingshot," he began with a calming voice intended to at least sooth the ruffled feathers of the sniper. "I do not pretend to know the sentiments or actions that took place during your mission to Earth. But I can safely assume that whatever happened, your commanding officer was not directly implicating fault upon you."

"How the scrap would you know anything about Silverbolt." The sniper snapped back as he plucked the tumbled chair from the floor and returned it to its railings. He twisted it into position and plopped down. "He's a tyrant. Never believes a word I say. I bring some levity to a serious situation and then try to bring some brighten a somber mood, and I get my head bitten off. I swear he's worse than that Decepticon Hun-Grr." He spun around and began typing away at the helm commands. The coordinates were already entered into the system which made the over all process easier to begin.

Scoop shook his head. So this was the volatile nature of the smallest Aerialbot member. It reminded him of a herd of Tqua'd Predators. The smallest one was usually the loudest and most proud, and would have to be in order to survive in such environments. A most common trait that evolved throughout the galaxy. "This reminds me of a story from the Fifth Letter of Prima to the Lord of Vector Prime."

"No offense, but I am not really interested in all that scrap about Primus or Vector whatsit." Slingshot released a sigh as he settled onto the thruster controls and activated the manual piloting column. "Though I appreciate the offer."

Scoop nodded and gave a short smile. "Any time Slingshot. I hope one day I can help you as I am sure you will help others. In the meantime, let us be on our way. Lift off towards Point K. Full available speed."

Slingshot did not look back to the command well, his fingers tightening around the column as he pulled back on the stick. The ship's engines ignited and thrusters forced the vessel off of the ground. From his support monitor he could play witness to the flames of super heated exhaust scorching the soggy mud, burning it into clay channels and scurrying foot prints. Evidence of the terror that had been caused by the greed of the Autobots and the necessities of war. The ship shuddered as a wave of turbulence and wind buffeted the vessel but the flier expertly adjusted the helm. He steered the shuttle in a corkscrew loop upwards to gain altitude in order to clear the mountains that sheltered the valley. "We're clear, may as well tell Prowl to activate his little toy before we're out of range."

"Indeed," Scoop toggled the intership communications link with the passenger cabin. "Commander Prowl. We have cleared the valley. Requesting permission to transmit activation sequence to shield and holographic generators."

Shuttle Longevity: Passengers Cabin

Magnus absorbed the entirety of the plan proposed by the chief strategist. It was simple enough on the surface but he knew all to well that small numbers would be pushing their luck to the most absolute extremes. Experience alone had proved that the possessed Cybertronians had elevated ferocity quotients and aggression levels that were off the charts of even the most battle crazed Decepticon. Though to some deep dark place in his spark, the anticipation of this particular battle began to blaze.

The suggestions of Skydive floated through his audio receptors, adding to his own assimilation of the battle plan. Most of the ideas would have been sound under normal circumstances, but as it stood these were anything but. "Right now we lack the available resources to provide a sustained artillery bombardment of the site in question Skydive. In addition to that, I am loath to endorse a tactic of that nature that would destroy a planetary monolith. Particularly one that is revered by the global populace. Cosmetic damages are inevitable, I will concede that point outright. But they too are repairable. But a full scale artillery bombardment may reveal our presence on this planet far sooner than I am ready to allow."

He turned his attention briefly to the three nearly silent Autobots, Getaway, Hound and Nova Strike. Combined with Scoop, Prowl, Jazz and Railway, they would provide Magnus with his primary support in this operation against the disgraced spark of the Fallen. While the cons would undoubtedly bring forth their own horde against the bastard, it still looked like a seemingly impossible long shot of odds. "In order to conceal our numbers as much as possible from the Fallen, Railway and Scoop will provide as wing men to my vehicular approach. The others will be concealed in my carrier form until appropriate launch coordinates are reached."

"Hound, there should be at least a basic replacement for your holographic gun in the stores. Equip yourself with the correct data and link information as well. You will serve as the cloak for the others. Silverbolt, you and the Aerialbots will launch ahead of our landing at Point K. You will provide escort and air support to the ground teams. Rules of engagement apply, no fatalities on either side. If your team's assistance is required, I leave it to you on your deployment orders. Use your digression as to how you approach the main battle."

He paused briefly as he glanced over towards Nova Strike. "Nova, you are to provide rapid ground assistance should the other teams request reinforcements. Your speed will be a valuable asset and I trust you can cover the distances required in order to accomplish this role." He returned his gaze to the representation of the coming battlefield. He did not allow protests to the orders. Changes could be made later as could redeployment once the Serenity linked up with the battle group from Longevity. But in the meantime, he required the flexibility that Nova and Getaway could provide.

(OC: Once Prowl hits the activation codes and brings our little cloak shield online, we're heading in mass to Australia. Prepare for battle and do not hesitate, cause we're in for it deep.)

Modnote: Please do not use name Megatronus when referring to the Fallen.

Shuttle Longevity - Passenger Cabin

Prowl stood silently as Skydive provided his own two cents into the strategic briefing. However, due do the duration of his ideas, it was more like one hundred credits. Regardless, it appeared that Bluestreak’s penchant for talking non-stop had bled into the Aerialbot, as well. Just how many chatterbots were there in the Autobot ranks anyway, the black and white thought, not allowing any sign of his inward musings to escape through his visage. Instead, he redirected his attention to Jazz as the Special Ops Director described Prowl’s initial plan as being “pretty whack”, whatever in the universe that meant. It sounded like a compliment so the military strategist took it as one and gave the white mech a nod.

The black and white analyst then returned his focus to Ultra Magnus as the City Commander assimilated all of the ideas he had heard and determined the best course of action to take based on the available information. Prowl listened intently as the Autobot leader rejected Skydive’s suggestions before laying out his own plan of attack against the Fallen, himself. It was a sound tactic if not a more direct assault rather than trying to draw the Fallen out into the open like his heralds. In all actuality, it would be difficult to do so even with said heralds and in retrospect would require greater numbers to defeat each one than Prowl had initially calculated. His logic center was having a difficult time determining the best course of action due to the seemingly supernatural elements of the situation. Ordinary mechanoids could be brought down with smaller numbers and by normal means, but “possessed” beings were another matter entirely.

That didn’t necessarily mean that the diversionary strategy was no longer a viable option. On the contrary, diversions would likely be key if any mech was going to get close enough to do any kind of damage to the heralds. However, it was becoming more and more apparent that Smokescreen’s work was going to be cut out for him and all those that would partake in diverting the heralds’ attentions. It was still important to separate the Fallen from his supporters and take them each on one by one. Regardless of their power, the heralds were weaker apart then they were together.

Once Ultra Magnus had finished speaking, Prowl gave the City Commander a respectful nod of approval before his attention was drawn away by Scoop’s request over his comm line. >>”Copy that, Scoop. I’m on my way. I’ll transmit the codes, myself.”<<

Shuttle Longevity - Bridge

With his response sent, the military strategist wasted no time in heading to the bridge of the shuttle where he found the orange mech ready and waiting. Peering out of the forward windows, Prowl could see that they were high above the valley now. Leaning down over Scoop’s shoulder, the black and white entered the appropriate codes and then transmitted them to the various holographic emitters and shield generators that had been appropriately placed at different coordinates on the surface.

Within astroseconds, the Peruvian valley beneath them disappeared and was immediately replaced with a new mountain range that would conceal the future site of Autobot City and hopefully prevent any further incursions into the region by nosy humans. “There, that should do it,” Prowl said with a slight smile as he gave Scoop a pat on the shoulder plate. “That should protect our investment here until we return.”

Shuttle Longevity - Passenger Cabin

Prowl then re-entered the passenger cabin and approached the Autobot leader. “Commander Magnus, the hologram emitters and shield generators have been activated. The valley is secured until such time as we can continue what we have started here.” The military strategist paused for a moment before locking his optics to those of the City Commander. “Sir, it seems that logical thinking will not be enough when dealing with a demigod. We will have to think outside of the box if we are going to succeed. That means that we will have to adjust our plans and strategies while in the thick of battle in order to stay one step ahead of these beings. I still feel that diversions will be key here, but on a grander scale than I had initially proposed. We need to separate the heralds and attack them en mass if we are to have any chance of surviving this. However, there will be casualties. Sacrifices will have to be made for the greater good. There’s just no getting around it, I’m afraid.”
_________

Howlstrike had sat back down once he was done volunteering himself and Blindside for duty on one of the diversion teams that Smokescreen was in charge of. The disabled mech seemed happy with the responsibility even though it was going to be a very dangerous job. However, as the blind Autobot then pointed out, it would get them closer to Hardhead which was the whole point to begin with.

“That’s exactly why I volunteered us,” Howlstrike said to Blindside, confirming the obvious. “And I don’t really care if Smoke-bot over there is happy to be working with us or not. We have a job to do and we’re going to do it. I never needed many friends before and I don’t need many now.” The ex-Predacon paused a moment before glancing over at Blindside, flashing him a toothy grin. “Present company accepted, of course.”

Howlstrike then listened as the disabled ‘Bot pointed out that he could “see” just fine and wouldn’t get blown up by a bomb or blasted by a stray laser. There was absolutely no reason to worry. “Who said I was worried? I can still fight even after you’re blown to bits. Heh. Just so you know.”

Finally, the green and black hunter leaned back in his seat and casually overheard Ultra Magnus as he outlined plans of his own. It mattered little to Howlstrike as said plans did not involve him directly. The tracker knew what his part in all this was and therefore he had little interest in what the others were doing. Just as long as Howl got to take down Hardhead and make the green herald pay for what he had done to him, that’s all that mattered to the former Predacon.
_________

The words of Ultra Magnus ran deep into Smokescreen’s cranial unit as he tried to process everything that was being said. The situation was dire. There was no doubt about it. As the rallybot listened to the City Commander’s own plan of attack he realized that it would take more than mere smoke and mirrors to divert the heralds’ attentions. It would take multiple teams to draw them out into different directions in order to isolate them. Once the smaller teams succeeded in bringing them out into the open, the rest of the Autobot and Decepticon forces could move in to attack from all sides. Before that, though, those diversion teams would be at great risk and could ultimately end up as scrap before all was said and done.

Of course, Smokescreen knew the risks involved. He knew them before he had even boarded the shuttle and left Tracer behind on the Ark. This was what she had been afraid of. Smokey risking his spark and possibly not coming back. But he was an Autobot and he had to be there for his comrades no matter what. Otherwise, there would be nothing to go back to. Still, the rallybot couldn’t help but wonder if they were fighting a losing battle. Would any kind of conventional strategy or weapons have any affect on these beings? Or would they just shrug them off as futile attempts made by a race of mechanical warriors who had, up until now, been fighting each other in a neverending civil war?

Smokescreen set those questions aside as he took a seat next to Blindside and strapped himself in. The shuttle had taken off and they were on their way to possible oblivion. The diversion expert looked over at the disabled mech and Howlstrike who was seated on the opposite side of him and smiled. “So, you guys really sure you want to volunteer for this duty? We’re likely going to have to use ourselves as bait, you know. It’s not too late to back out if you want. I'll completely understand. I could always recruit a few ‘Cons to help me assuming, of course, that they’d be willing to.”

“We’re positive,” Howlstrike responded with a growl in his vocals. “We’re not cowards. We can handle whatever is required of us. Just as long as Blindside and myself get to go after Hardhead. That’s all we want. Got it?”

“Um yeah, sure,” Smokescreen agreed. “Hardhead’s all yours. No problem!”

“Good,” the former Predacon grinned. “Glad you see things our way. heh.”
_________

Hound perked up at the sound of his name being called out by Ultra Magnus. The City Commander alerted him to the fact that there was a spare hologram gun somewhere in storage and that he would serve as the cloak for the others during the attack on the Fallen. “Yes, sir, Commander Magnus, sir! I won’t let you down!” The green scout responded with a respectful salute before lowering his arm to his side. His job was going to be an important one and he was happy that his skills would come in handy against the cosmic demigod and the possessed heralds that followed him. Hopefully, the holographic images would provide adequate cover for everyone involved. Of course, there was always the possibility that the Fallen would be able to see right through such illusions. After all, they were talking science versus the supernatural. Anything was possible.

Hound waited patiently for Ultra Magnus to finish his strategic briefing before he headed off to the shuttle’s storage locker where he quickly found a replacement hologram gun for the one he had previously lost on the scouting mission. At this point, the green scout wished he was still on that assignment. He had at least gotten to interact with some humans even if it was just to scare them off with some monstrous apparitions. It was unfortunate that the Earthlings had blown up the site, and Hound still worried that some of the humans may have been hurt or even killed in the explosion. There had been no time to investigate further and thus the hologram specialist simply assumed the best outcome as it was better than to assume the worst.

Once the hologram gun was secured on his person, Hound found a seat in the passenger cabin and strapped himself in. As the shuttle flew towards it’s destination, the green scout thought not only about the lives of his fellow possessed comrades that he hoped to save but also of the countless human lives that would be saved, as well, if they were successful in stopping the apocalypse. After all, who said the Fallen would stop with just eradicating Cybertronians? The whole universe was at stake here. It was all or nothing.

Shuttle Longevity – Hold One – Combat Casualty Care

The arrival of Bumblebee broke through that damned silence that had fallen over the hold. None of its occupants would admit, but the two mechs’ arrival was a welcome change.

Ratchet had quickly delegated Bee’s repairs to Axle who was in obvious need of a distraction.

“Slag…” Ratchet shot up from his crouched position and slapped his hand against the cabinet he was supplying. The CMO placed his free hand on his hip and leaned heavily onto the one still on the cabinet. “Just got a call from Magnus. He’s running his briefing now.” Shaking his head Ratchet picked up the container he was offloading and placed it onto a shelf.

Across the hold Axle had turned around to face the CMO and Veneer. “How long do you think you’ll be?” Was Axle’s query. “Ouch! Hey! That stung, Doc.” Bumblebee looked up at Axle as the field medic turned his attention towards his superior. “Sorry, Bee…” Axle apologized.

Ratchet raised a hand and pointed directly at the field medic who reared back slightly. “How long will I be? You got that completely wrong. You’re coming with me.” He motioned to the door.

“B…but what about Bumblebee?” Axle motioned to the little yellow scout on the slab in front of him. Ratchet rolled his head and gestured to Veneer. “Veneer can handle a shoulder repair.” Ratchet waved Axle toward him. “You came up with this so called diversion tactic so you’re going to help me explain it.” Ratchet placed a hand on the medic’s back and began to push him the rest of the way toward the door.


He stopped for a moment and looked back to Veneer, who stood in the middle of the hold confusion written all over his face. “Veneer! Snap out of it! Get to work on Bee’s shoulder, and when he’s done send him back out to the passenger cabin.”

The nurse shook himself out of his stupor and nodded. “Yes, Sir. Of course, Sir.”

Satisfied that his orders were received and would be performed quickly, Ratchet nodded and shoved Axle through the doors.

Passenger Cabin

Not long after leaving the makeshift med bay both Axle and ratchet arrived at their destination. The door slid open at their arrival allowing them to slip inside.
Ratchet glanced to his side where Ultra Magnus had planted himself and stepped closer filling the gap between the two.

With his arms crossed over his chest and a deep scowl on his face Ratchet stood by patiently and listened to everything Prowl was presenting. A lot of it he already knew, but most on board hadn’t been brought up to speed.

From the corner of his optics Axle spotted Ratchet watching the black and white intently. When he was bored with that view the field medic turned his attention to the bot Prowl was currently addressing….Smokescreen.

A frown formed on Axle’s face as he watched the diversionary tactician gladly accept his assignment. He chided himself mentally for overreacting, if only in his mind. After all Smokescreen was the best they had. If anyone could pull off such an elaborate diversion it was the former rallybot. Axle forced a half smile and sent a stiff nod in Smokescreen’s direction.

With Smokescreen’s task assigned, and his first two volunteers revealed Prowl moved on. Ratchet’s arms tightened around his chest as he watched Howlstrike stand up and eagerly accept the job of taking down one of their own.

"Ratchet, I trust you have an extractor with you just in case?"

Prowl’s observations caused Ratchet to loosen his arms slightly. His optics brightened before he took a step forward. He was quickly halted by Axle’s hand. “Please, Ratchet.” The CMO lowered his voice and leaned toward the black and green medic. “I’ll use it on that cold sparked prick before I use it on any one of our mechs.” Axle shook his head and ran his hand down the length of his face.

Hold One – Combat Casualty Care

Bumblebee let out a chuckle, trying not to jar his shoulder too much from the movements. “Okay, that was pretty funny, Veneer. Where did you hear something like that?” The nurse smiled and shook his head gently. “A friend told it to me.” He placed a hand against the socket and slowly pulled. The smile that had been on Bee’s face vanished the instant his arm was pulled.

“I’m sorry. I know it hurts but I need to set it back in the joint.” He grabbed hold of the minibot’s upper arm and braced himself. “I need to do this fast. This way…” *SNAP* Bumblebee shrieked and suddenly slumped. “I’m really sor…” Before Veneer could finish his apology Bee lazily raised a hand and stopped him. A small weak smile formed on his face as he looked up at the nurse. “It’s….it’s okay. I’m just glad….it’s over. Heh.”

Veneer released the smaller mech’s arm letting him slip down completely onto the slab’s surface. “Hang out for a bit, at least until the pain is bearable, okay?” Veneer flashed Bee a warm smile and patted his hand. “Sure thing, doc. Thanks a lot.” Bee smiled. “Oh, I’m definitely no doctor. I’m just a nurse,” Vee chuckled.

Bee’s face contorted in thought. “Well you could’ve fooled me.”

With another pat to Bee’s hand Veneer took his leave stepping toward the back of the hold. His comm had chimed and he didn’t want to miss anything Blindside had to say.

>>"Of course I'll be safe Vee. Stop worrying. It's just Hardhead that I'm going up against! You know, the Hardhead with the big guns that used to be one of our heaviest hitters? Yeah. That Hardhead. So no worries, it'll be a snap,"<<

Okay, maybe not that. A deep frown formed on Veneer's visage as he prepared to tell Blindside just what he thought of the idea.

>>"Just kidding, Vee,"<< Blindside assured - except that he wasn't kidding - >>"I'll probably get stuck on aerial support. You know, bombing runs from high up above."<<

Unbelievable. >>”I really believe you’re attempting to kill me, Side.”<< Veneer released a heavy sigh as he set to work taking inventory. >>”I know you’re looking forward to helping out, preferably on the battlefield, but aerial support is just as important.”<< He paused in his work as he added…>>”And I prefer it…”<<

Growing quiet Veneer resumed his work. If he couldn’t be with Blindside in person then he’d settle with being with him through their comm link….whether or not either spoke made no difference to him.

Peruvian Valley - Autobot City: Village of the Stone Skull Serpent

Wood splinters littered the small courtyard enclosed by the crumbling wall of mud brick in the haphazard oblong in the center of the village. Toppled trunks of trees, thick swaths of uprooted bramble and brush underneath added further evidence of the tumult that had come to pass ever so recently. Deep impressions in the soil, scattered across the courtyard in two distinct sizes with smaller smaller more organic prints, were filled with rotting vegetation and dried mud adding to the cementing ascetic of permanent reminders of the world's natural fury. Yet in the heart of the deeper depression near one of the broken walls, new growth of vines and smaller shoots were slowly starting to push through the leaf litter and thin shells of white... the other reminder of the world's mercy and ability to adapt.

Small nearly transparent fractals of ice slowly descended in random patterns on invisible strings. Frozen droplets of water danced on the soft wind that came down from the surface of the over hanging glacier that loomed only a hundred meters away. After a few moments of flight, a slight breath from the west would take hold of the thin wafers and send them tumbling again and again. Colliding with one another before gravity once again asserted its hold upon them to draw them down towards the heart of the village.

Huffer swore again as he brushed off another layer of frost and snow from the exposed panel to the shield generator portion of the moderately sized device that had been summoned from the Ark 22's cargo hold earlier that day, before communications had been lost due to an unknown glitch in the system. The smaller engineer had to admit, at least at first inspection, Prowl had ordered an ambitious plan. Cloak the entire valley in a giant physically tangible shield that was literally disguised as a part of the Andes Mountain Range by powerful holographic generators built into the shield projectors. But where Prowl saw a grand strategy that was possibly successful, Huffer found the entire situation an unconditional mess.

Huffer pulled out a small power pack from the generator and tapped it against the thin layer of frost that was building up on the exposed circuitry. He slid the cell into a portable recharging station that hung around his waste then busied himself with the rest of his examination of the generator.

Huffer pulled an overloaded chip from the holographic projector of the generator and set it down in the small but growing patch of snow that was building around his feet. He reached into his wrist compartment and flipped through a series of replacements that he had stored there for just such a repair. After finding the necessary component he slid it back into place with a soft click that was muffled and engulfed by a brief howl of a frozen biting wind from the nearby glacier. Once the diagnostics were complete and the small issues resolved, he replaced the newly charged cell into the generator and sealed the panels. A secondary scan confirmed everything was in working order.

A brief sigh and a long stretch was soon joined by another low grumble. Huffer shook his head as he turned his optics back towards the edifice of granite. On the far side of the glacial lake, nestled in a small confined block canyon, was a spray of black soot that stained the cracked wall's surface. Evidence that confirmed Prowl's horrific report of the capabilities of the humans when scared. The engineer's features only hardened when he followed the cracks of the stone face down to the gunmetal gray door frame that was being installed over the rough craggy entrance to the mines. Built by the Construction Patrol to act as yet another disguise, it would look as though it had been originally part of the mountain. Huffer knew better. When completed the massive retractable doors would be able to withstand a great deal of punishment, even to the extent of bracing against an orbital bombardment for several hours without buckling.

The engineer wiped a smudge of lubricants from his features before he reached into a satchel that hung loose at his side. He fumbled briefly inside the synthetic fiber bag before his actuators came to rest on a small rectangular box encased in a thin protective translucent polymer. He pressed his thumb onto the central scanner to bring the sensor to life and then plugged it into the side of the holographic shield generator.

As the sensor went about its newly assigned task, updating the projectors with more realistic images and files with regards to the surrounding region, Huffer leaned back against the crumbling wall. The engineer allowed his processor to wander back to the earlier partition of the day. He grumbled as the memories of only hours before returned to the forefront of his memory. The laborious hours he had spent clearing rubble from the blasted mouth of the mines. Stone, dirt, minerals, and other materials had been excavated due to the efforts of the fleeing humans and their last ditch effort to... well Huffer had no idea as to what the real intent had been. Perhaps their last act of desperation had been devised to possibly strike back at the demons that had attacked them. Again, that was a philosophical debate better left to those who were of a higher pay grade. All that had mattered was the removal of the rubble to the site at the base of the hill in which he had presently rested.

Along with the portable Matter Reconditioner, another tool that had been brought down from the Ark 22 before the terminated communications link, Huffer had established a small construction yard of sorts near the abandoned Village of the Stone Skull Serpent. Currently the machine was taking in a large quantity of the rubble into its foundry, metals were separated and the rest of the rock was transformed into a extra dense and incredibly tough concrete. Large blocks of concrete had been cast at the base of the hill, each weighing nearly two tons, and were labeled according to their future positioning in the foundations for the construction house.

As the Reconditioner worked, Huffer had turned his attention to repairing and modifying the shield projectors that protected the valley. With the generator back to full functionality on its temporary power cells, Huffer stepped past a frozen freshly carved stream that had carved a new path through the village square. He crossed the courtyard and made his way to the step pyramid structure that was showing signs of recent reconditioning. A freshly poured concrete block, rapidly hardened, had been set at the base of the ancient temple to reinforce one of the crumbling flanks.

The Pyramid Temple in the heart of the Village of the Stone Skull Serpent, Huffer's optics slowly took in the magnificent skill required in the construction of such a magnificent structure. It reminded him of some of the buildings back on Cybertron, ascetically pleasing, sturdy and functional. A pang struck his processor as memories of his homeworld flooded his mind.

A few minutes passed before the memories faded away and Huffer was able to pivot back towards the Matter Reconditioner, the hover sledge and the road below the village. His optics took a moment to trace the broken cobbles back towards the gritty maw of the broken mine entrance. The extracted metals from the rocks had already been installed into a door frame, and blocks of concrete and stone had already been set up towards the furthest entrance to the canyon itself in the shape of a octagonal building. It would serve as an makeshift repository of materials that would be excavated down the line. But

Huffer jumped down to the road and made his way to the edge of the sledge. It from that vantage point where he caught a glimpse of the four members of the Construction Patrol. They had worked to excavate most of the rubble from the mine entrance, which they had done with a respectable aplomb. Huffer had served as transport of material to the Matter Reconditioner more often than not, particularly given his superior strength and more adaptable alternative mode. When he was not pulling hauling duty, he was directing traffic and finalizing various scans and placements for micro charges.

"Takedown," Huffer called over a secured interlinked communications frequency. "Status report on the mining charges. We need to ensure that opening is large enough. I want it big enough to fit the 22 if need be. Knowing the Wheeljack and the others, My engines have probably already been put through the wringer and are in dire need of set down time for repairs."

Mine Entrance

"We are getting down deeper every cycle. I took the liberty of downloading as much information I could find about the geological make up of this area. This area is full of different minerals and metals with this yellow stuff which the humans call gold being a major part of it. It doesn't suit our needs too well unless you want things to shine but it does conduct electricity somewhat decent. It is way too soft to be used for much and we have lot tougher materials on the Ark to use or manufacture. I still wonder what would drive the organic creature to sacrifice himself for this mine. I'm not sure if I'll understand these primitive creatures."

"Yeah, Takedown, at least Groundpounder doesn't have to worry about destroying stuff down here. So far it is all we are doing with this digging."

"Ha ha, Neutro, very funny. You do have a point though that there is little to be concern about down here with the hologram generators operational. The only thing I've been seeing are some ancient drawings and organic structural remains of long dead humans and other things. A part of me wonders if this was a burial site at one time."

"What I'm looking forward to is the grand design of our new base here. It will probably take a megacycle or two for us to get the basic structure up and going so hopefully high command will be understanding. It isn't like we got a lot to work with here on this mud ball of a planet."

Takedown looked back at where all the dirt was piled at and being sorted. He shook his head knowing this is going to be a very long process to get anything looking functional. His only hope is Ultra Magnus is busy with other things.

"Come on guys, we need to work on this faster. We've got enough dirt and materials to fill a small shuttle and only a kilometer into the mountain."

Peruvian Valley - Andes Mountains

In a flash of white light, Kup was transferred from his place aboard the Guardian to the terran landscape that would also serve as their newest base of operations on this erstwhile little blue orb. Kup wasn't really sure about the whole idea of setting up bases on worlds with sentient life, but given that this planet had drawn the attention of Megatron himself as well as some of his most fanatical lieutenants, he didn't really see a lot of better options. Rocks and hard places. Oh well. At least the tyrant was gone. Now they just needed to sweep up the rest of the trash.

Kup looked around. He had to admit, this was a pretty remarkable planet, landscape wise. He hadn't seen mountains like these in a good long while. It made him want to go for a long drive. As for the base itself, well, they hadn't exactly had the chance to make a whole lotta progress. Still...

>>"Hey. Kup here. Calling whatever Autobots oversee this mess. What's a guy gotta do t'get a progress report around here?"<<

Peruvian Valley - Andes Mountains

Before Bluestreak had a chance to deliver any kind of long winded response to Kup’s latest comments, the chatterbot was whisked away in the bounce beam and moments later deposited in the carefully hidden Peruvian valley down on the Earth’s surface. The trip was jarring, as always, but the gunner managed to keep his footing, only gripping the old timer’s shoulder plate for a brief astrosecond or two before letting go as his equilibrium recalibrated itself.

“Definitely quicker, but more nauseating,” Bluestreak muttered aloud, not caring who overheard him. Glancing around the immediate area, the chatterbot saw that they were standing on a dirt roadway with trees all around them. This was certainly a very different environment than the desert landscape they had recently spent a long day enduring. “Well, I see a lot of trees and no sand in sight. At least that’s a step in the right direction. Heh. And the weather seems a lot cooler if not a bit on the moist side. Still better than that blasted desert. More places to hide around here, too, if need be. Hopefully, the 'Cons will never find this place, but you never know.”

Bluestreak then activated his external scanners to search the area for signs of Cybertronian life just as Kup attempted to contact anyone via his comm line. “I thought there was supposed to be some kind of settlement down here. I’m not picking much up except some foundations and the ruins of an ancient human village not far from here. There’s also a lake at the bottom and... oh wait....I’m picking up Autobot signatures. Four of them, no, five of them! Yeah! They’re just down this path a ways near the base of the mountain. I’m also reading some kind of tunnel system within the rock, maybe a mine. I’m not sure. My sensors can only penetrate so deep before the signal breaks up. Anyway...”

The dark blue and silver gunner wasted no more time and began walking down the dirt roadway in the direction of the Autobot signatures. “Come on, Kup, let’s go see what we can do to help. Clearly this settlement seems to only be in the early construction phase. So, with us here maybe things will start moving along faster now. Heh.”

Peruvian Valley: Autobot City - Village of the Stone Skull Serpent

It had been well over an hour since the last transmission and request for a status update had been sent and the response received. He had readily agreed to give the Construction Patrol the extra time to clear requisite debris from the narrow entrance of the mine's main shaft and to establish more secure placements for the micro charges that were being set at the same time. During that period newer arrivals to the site had appeared at their side of the blocked mountain pass that separated the valley from the mountain range as a whole. As part of the newest batch of reinforcements the Autobot Build Team, one of the Guardian's elite engineering quartet, had arrived to bolster their work force. While their numbers had been few, their presence had been more than welcomed by the members of the Construction Patrol and thus were able to expedite their work. In under the second hour of labor, the construction teams had managed to secure the explosives and clear large portions of the rubble caused by the humans last ditched effort to thwart...

Further additions to the team of Autobot Engineers had been that of the Throttlebots, the high speed couriers and scouts of the Autobot forces. This unit was comprised of only one member of the team that was remotely useful to his efforts, that of Wideload, Huffer had dispatched Rollbar, Searchlight, Chase and Freeway to begin mapping the valley as a whole... an operation that had been postponed by a redeployment order of scouting team. It quietly vexed the engineer as to why they had been deployed to the valley rather than the likes of Grapple or Hoist or even the eccentric and often catastrophe causing Wheeljack. Still he did not reject their help outright, and a detailed map was necessary for when he was ready to begin phase two of construction.

Huffer toggled a small activation trigger on a command tablet that he held in his left hand. A small alert told him the tablet had activated and thus brought it to optical level. A string of information flowed swiftly across the screen in amber pictographs of Cybertronian text. The engineer's optical ridges furrowed briefly as he filled in the data to appropriate engineering formulas and sent the revised charge mixture down to the micro explosives that had already been placed. As they reconfigured their mix, Huffer opened a general communication frequency to those in the valley. "Alright, clear the mine entrance... Link up back at the Village of the Stone Skull Serpent... Takedown, get your team out of there, Wedge, Gridlock, you better follow suit. Don't want to hear any of you yelping in the next ninety astro seconds about dents and scrapes."

The small engineer lowered the pad briefly and turned his gaze over towards the lake that rested prominently in the heart of the valley. At its edge two construction vehicles, a single hauler and a large crane with massive cables submerged under the nearly still surface. It took only a moment for him to dredge up the coordinates on the topographical scans as well as the reports from the earlier survey. Hightower and Heavy Load had positioned themselves approximately where the smallest of the Ark 22's auxiliary shuttle craft had sunk after being struck by lightning.

A click form the chronometer on his tablet broke his supervision alerted Huffer that his times limit had been exceeded. He thumbed off the alert and set the data slate on the hover sledge and turned his attention to the dirt road that connected the two sites. A counted to seven and soon spotted the familiar forms of the six engineers who had finished setting the explosives in the mine entrance. Wedge was bringing up the rear and gave swift thumbs up telling Huffer that the blast area was now clear.

A brief smile crossed Huffer's lips as he returned a slight nod to the engineers. He reached over to the sledge and picked up a small cylindrical device and positioned it his right palm... the red plunger at its top. Another transmission of warning went out across the localized Autobot Frequencies and after a series of confirmations and all clears, Huffer pushed the red plunger on the detonator down to its lowest position.

Muted thuds, thumps and explosions echoed through the valley, causing birds to take flight. Rock, dust, ash and debris erupted from the mine entrance. The granite stone face fractured and fragmented before pieces of it collapsed in a controlled fashion. As the other Autobots arrived at the entrance of the village, Huffer stood in quiet admiration of the first step of the first phase of construction of an Autobot Colony. This would be the first of its kind colony to be constructed in recent memory. The question that dogged Huffer since the beginning of his efforts loomed high above him even now, could they keep such a massive undertaking secret long enough so they could complete it.

Peruvian Valley: Village of the Stone Skull Serpent

Another wave of charges detonated from deeper within the confines of the mines, causing a spire of rock dust and smoke to belch from the enlarged fractured maw of what had once been a narrow human cut mine. Splinters of stone, fragments of rock and materials showered out across the lake shore line like a vomiting geyser. Those pieces of shrapnel pelted the surface of the water and cut out smaller grooves in the sand before toppling into the broken breaks. Larger boulders plowed through the shrubs and bushes, gouging out new pathways through the underbrush before they too smashed into the water line.

As the dust began to settle, Huffer instructed Wedge and the rest of the team to begin running scans on the matter reformation device, to ensure the electromagnetic pulses nor the vibrations as a result of the shock wave had damaged the machine. Once the readouts were confirmed, he slid his data slate into a small storage compartment on his right hip before stepping further down onto the narrow still muddy path of cobbles and loose muck that lead to the lake shore and the mine beyond. "Alright, that went according to plan... first time for everything I suppose," the minibot engineer muttered to himself as he rested his left hand on the hover sledge.

"Lets get down to the entrance before our luck decides to change direction again. Reinforce the cavern, Wedge?" Huffer turned to the Assistant Chief Engineer of the Guardian with a brief nod.

"Whats up?" The larger hauler stepped over the stone wall and made his way next to the minibot. "Even you had to love the fire works display. Come on Huffer, crack a smile, just broke ground on our first new base in a astro cycle."

Huffer nodded only briefly. "A base on an alien world Wedge. Its not Cybertron... and no matter what we do here, it'll never be Cybertron." Huffer stepped forward as the rest of the Construction Patrol headed back towards the mines, the dust cloud now beginning to thin. He looked back up towards the taller engineer. "In the meantime, we have our work cut out for us..."

He looked back at the blackened metal frame that had outlined the fractured stone. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us. The blast door frames are unharmed, have to give credit to the members of the Construction Patrol for the placement of those explosives. A second positive today," his voice was low and barely taking note that Wedge was still standing just behind him. Finally he shrugged his shoulders and raised his volume again. "We'll take the excavated materials and use them to build external structures. Should cut down on the materials we'll need to import later. Takedown's team can work on stabilizing the interior and reinforcing the mine. Perhaps even carve a few deeper lines to allow for easier access to the raw minerals and fuel veins..."

As he issued the orders to the two team leaders, his comm system beeped alerting him to an in coming communique. From whom, Huffer couldn't tell but was fairly certain the frequency was short range and was not extreme priority. Which meant two things, the source itself was nearby thus avoiding the comm jamming effect of the shield generators and two it wasn't Prowl. Huffer stepped back closer to the sledge and activated the comm. "... Kup? What brings you to our little neck of this rock?" He paused briefly as he absorbed the small information the old warhorse had imparted. "A status update? We recalled a few engineers... Beyond that, better to deliver the grim news in person. Even with these Jammers, I don't trust that the lines aren't going to leak through at some point."

Peruvian Valley

Explosions were happening somewhere close by. Fortunately, they didn't have the telltale kickback of munitions fire, so Kup didn't get overly antsy. Of course, there was always that .01% chance that the 'Cons had beaten them here and there was now another battle taking place but...nah. Not too likely.

"Yeh. Reminds of those plants on Centaris VII. Y'know Ironhide wandered into a batch of these green 'n orange plants and you'd like t've thought his plating was gonna melt off. Had to spend two full orns in a CR chamber. Nasty stuff. Just kilometers of the stuff. Couldn't wait t'get off that assignment, kid."

“Come on, Kup, let’s go see what we can do to help. Clearly this settlement seems to only be in the early construction phase. So, with us here maybe things will start moving along faster now. Heh.”

"Yeah. For sure," Kup said, following after the chatterbot. "Sounds like someone needs a solid kick in the aft."

He wasn't sure. But as a general rule, it was good to assume that someone in your general vicinity could benefit from a solid kick in the aft. And as they continued to walk, a transmission came in giving him a good idea as to who.

>>"... Kup? What brings you to our little neck of this rock? A status update? We recalled a few engineers... Beyond that, better to deliver the grim news in person. Even with these Jammers, I don't trust that the lines aren't going to leak through at some point."<<

Kup smirked. Huffer. He mighta known. Pulling out his cygar as the two Autobots walked along, he loaded the device with a fresh charger pack and activated it, taking a long drag. Mmm...couldn't beat that.

Still, it was a bit too early for "grim news". This place looked like they'd barely started clearing themselves a spot to recharge much less wage any kind of successful offense against the Decepticons and their inevitable attempt to subjugate this planet.

>>"Huffer, heh heh, well, it's been an age. Yeah, never can trust these glitchy comms. Better to talk Bot t'Bot. Bluestreak n'I should be on your position in about half a klik.<<

In Kup's world, just about everything could be measured in kliks. Time. Distance. Margins of victory.

In other words, they'd be there shortly.

Peruvian Valley -- Dirt Road

The initial explosions somewhere down the path made Bluestreak pause for a brief moment. While it didn’t sound like laser fire, it could’ve been from rocket detonations or something similar. Were the Decepticons there? Had they somehow found them? Or had the Fallen returned and followed them there? All possibilities were unlikely, but the chatterbot drew out his weapon and brought it to bare just in case. Glancing back at Kup, Blue saw immediately that the old timer was not concerned at all by the explosions. That made the Autobot gunner ease up on his rifle and relax a bit.

“Probably just demolitions, huh?” Bluestreak commented as he put his weapon back into subspace storage. “I guess I’m just a little jumpy especially considering everything we just went through with the Fallen and all. I mean you never know right? Better safe than sorry. Heh. At least we don’t have to deal with those crazy green and orange plants you mentioned. Sounds horrible. I can’t imagine being stuck in a CR chamber for two full orns. That’s a long time. But, at least good ol’ Ironhide was okay. I don’t think there’s any plants like those down here on Earth, at least not from what I’ve read about this place. We should be fine.”

More explosions erupted from the mountain side, drawing Bluestreak’s attention away from the old warhorse. Rock and debris flew into the air further down the dirt road, most of which was aimed towards the lake at the base of the valley, but not all. “Wow, what the slag are they doing down there? I thought they were supposed to be building a base not destroying everything.” Blue then overheard Kup say Huffer’s name. “Oh, so Huffer’s in charge, huh? Great, we get to work for Mr. Sunshine, himself. Should be fun.”

Just then a large stray boulder hurled its way over the tops of the trees, heading right towards the pair of Autobots. “Look out, Kup!” Bluestreak shouted as he swiftly took aim and fired one of his shoulder-mounted missiles, striking the boulder and blowing it to pieces in mid air. Fragments rained down around them, the chatterbot putting up one hand to shield his optics. “That was close,” the dark blue and silver mech commented, looking back at the old timer. “You okay, Kup? Nothing broken?”

The Autobot gunner brushed himself off and let out an irritated groan. “I’m going to have to have a word with Huffer regarding construction site safety protocols. A nice looooooong word...or two. Well, maybe more than two. It’ll be a discussion, a nice calm and respectful discussion that may last a while.” A while would be an understatement.

Peruvian Valley--Dirt Road

“Probably just demolitions, huh? I guess I’m just a little jumpy especially considering everything we just went through with the Fallen and all. I mean you never know right? Better safe than sorry. Heh. At least we don’t have to deal with those crazy green and orange plants you mentioned. Sounds horrible. I can’t imagine being stuck in a CR chamber for two full orns. That’s a long time. But, at least good ol’ Ironhide was okay. I don’t think there’s any plants like those down here on Earth, at least not from what I’ve read about this place. We should be fine.”

Heh. A little jumpy? Kup had seen scraplets that were less jittery. But this was foreign territory, so Kup could forgive the kid more than a little bit of extra caution. After all, there was no telling what a mech like Huffer could see as the best way to keep a project of this size moving.

"Yeh. Just take it all in, Blue. I've been t'worse places in my day. Y'know, there was this one time that-"

But before Kup could get any further in his recollections, the sound of demolitions explosions rocked the air as well as the surrounding terrain.

“Wow, what the slag are they doing down there? I thought they were supposed to be building a base not destroying everything.”

"Yeah, heh. You and me both, kid.

Kup just smirked at Bluestreak's mention of Huffer being "Mr. Sunshine" and took another long draw from his cygar. The old-timer was pretty sure he'd been referred to by monikers like that more than a time or two in his day. Or worse. Even so, he hadn't really expected to be dodging debris within his first breem back down on this weird little rock. What kind of operation was Huffer running anyway? And how had a guy like Ultra Magnus sanctioned it?

“That was close. You okay, Kup? Nothing broken?”

"Too close for my comfort, lad. But I'm fine," Kup said, brushing some debris away from his shoulder plates. "I've survived a lot worse than the likes of Huffer and an itchy button-pushin' finger. Let's-wait, there's the little gearshaft now."

Peruvian Valley: Village of the Stone Skull Serpent

Takedown watched with his crew as the charges went off. Usually when one uses charges it is to destroy something. In the right actuators, they can be tools of building and construction. This is one of those times since regular digging would have take way too long and there isn't anything to be protective around. He listen to Huffer's opinion about building on this planet instead of rebuilding on Cybertron. Takedown knew his team would agree with Huffer and a part of him did as well. Problem is Cybertron is in no shape to house the race of Cybertronians again and the rebuilding process would be costly. Their superiors believe this planet is worth saving from the Cons so it is their job to make the base which they can be station at on a more permanent basis. It would make a lot less bounce trips which almost every Autobot will appreciate. Takedown shakes his head as he heard the new orders from Huffer and the mention of Kup.

"We've got a good start to raw materials from our earlier excavation. This addition will be put to use as well. As for further down, it will be dug with care and whatever resources we get to be used for reinforcement. We'll make sure the tunnels are strong enough to take almost any pounding if we ever get hit. They will also be big enough to accommodate the likes of Ultra Magnus or even Jetfire. Huffer, try to keep any non-engineer types out of the way if at all possible. We don't need anyone slipping or getting their old servos jammed down here."

With his last statement, Takedown heads to rejoin his group down the tunnels.

Peruvian Valley - Near the Mine Entrance

Bluestreak was relieved when Kup said he wasn't hurt with only some debris that was easily wiped off of the old timer’s shoulder plates. The talkative gunner smirked when Kup mentioned having survived far worse than Huffer and his itchy trigger finger. That was no doubt true as this wasn’t even a war zone but a construction site that was clearly in serious need of safety inspections. The dark blue and silver mech was about to say something when Kup interrupted him and pointed down the path to where Huffer was standing.

“Gearshaft is right,” Bluestreak began as he walked ahead of Kup and towards the minibot engineer. “Hey, Huffer!” The gunner shouted, waving his right arm in the air while approaching the smaller mech. “You should really be more careful when you blow slag up. That big fraggin’ boulder almost crushed us both! Thankfully, I shot it out of the sky just in time. Now, I know you sent out a warning before, but by the time we received it the explosions had already happened. Not to mention the transmission wasn’t real clear. So, I don’t know if this valley is creating any kind of comm interference, but it needs to be addressed and fixed ASAP before anyone else almost gets hurt or worse. I mean someone could’ve been killed. Construction site safety should be of paramount concern here, you know? There are a lot of hazards that can lead to injury or death. Explosions are only one such hazard, falls are another, but I can provide you with a list of more if you want.”

Bluestreak stopped talking for a moment, a rarity, and let out a deep sigh. “Anyway, nice to see you again Huffer. Kup and I are here to help out, so smile a little will ya,” the chatterbot added as he gave the minibot engineer a hearty pat on the shoulder. “Just bare in mind that we want to avoid being crushed by any more stray flying rocks. Okay? Maybe I could do a thorough inspection of the site and give you my feedback. Sound good?” The dark blue and silver gunner smiled before looking further down the path towards the mine entrance which was now blown wide open. The entryway seemed large enough to fit an entire ship inside. “Now, you guys are going to shore up that big hole right? We don’t need anybody getting trapped in a cave-in."

Peruvian Valley: Village of the Stone Skull Serpent

Huffer watched as small thin wisps of dust and white smoke laced with ash drifted over towards the glacial lake that dominated the center of the valley. By now the natural winds of the Andes Mountains were properly filtered through the surrounding shield generators, a courtesy of his most recent upgrade to the grid's software. The soft mutter of foot steps in the still soggy ground was punctuated only by brief stirring of trees over head as the spooked avian creatures began to come from hiding to investigate the invaders to their once quiet domains.

The small construction engineer allowed his mind to drift ever so slightly towards the once majestic cybernetic world that was known as Cybertron. The towering metal spires that reached towards the heavens, collecting stellar radiation to power the massive industrial juggernauts of the Heights or Nova Cronum, slowly faded into and out of his memory as hie watched Wedge and Rollbar plod through the mud towards the mine entrance that had been recently excavated. Huffer pushed the unbidden memory back into a segregated buffer file, there was no time to wither and linger about life on his beloved home world. There was work to be done, and if there was work, there was precious little processing power he would have idle that would allow him to slide back into that large swath of melancholy.

As Takedown plodded off towards the construction site, Huffer could not help but grunt in a brief notion of annoyance. Not at the fellow engineer per say, but in the fact that he was the last one still standing in the secured section known as the Village of the Stone Skull Serpent. And that meant that he was stuck playing hauler yet again. While the Matter Reconfiguration Device was on an anti gravity sledge, which theoretically meant it was supposed to be weightless, Huffer knew differently. There was still mass, and while the sledge hovered over the ground, it still required exerted force to move the bulk as well as more force to stop it.

The minibot transformed into his cab form and backed up to the sledge. An automated tractor activated from the rear of his cab and pulled the sledge into a locked position thus coupling the engineer with the sled. Huffer shifted gears into a lower position and proceeded down the steep decline onto the main cobbled path that circled the glacial lake, at least mostly... binding several as of yet unexplored villages or temple complexes. Slowly he turned the corner and shifted gears yet again to stabilize the camshaft and transmission as it adjusted to the additional pull required on the rear axles.

After a ten minute drive, Huffer pulled into the cleared box canyon where the entrance of the mine had once stood carved roughly into the mountain. He pulled to a stop near the feet of Bluestreak and Kup as the two Autobots emerged from the opposite side of the cobbled path. The engineer released a large hiss of hydraulic pressures, causing his traction motor to shift the energies it had generated during his slow drive from the village to the work site, into his reserve batteries. Then another hiss followed as he released the tractor coupling on the sledge and transformed into robot form.

He had not gotten to his full diminutive height when he was forced to bear the brunt of a rather expected yet unwelcome vocal bombardment. It was almost relentless, to hear about blasting protocols, recommendations for new procedures or whatever else the merchant had to say on the subject. For Huffer, it was par for the course. He released a heavy sigh and slumped his shoulders before stealing a quick glance over at Kup for a reprieve... but found little.

Finally Bluestreak came up for energon, and Huffer took advantage. "First off Blue, if I had been warned that someone was bouncing down to this site, I would have sent new materialization coordinates out of the potential danger zones. Secondly, we are well within established construction protocols... particularly involving excavation of a site before we can start building. Thirdly... well thirdly will come up when I think of whatever it is I have to add to it." He rubbed the back of his head to force out a brief crick that had developed as he looked up to the larger Autobot gunner.

"Frankly, we're lucky the whole thing worked. If we had missed on one point, or even a billionth of a percent, we'd have ignited the coal deposits underneath the site. If that happened... well then the possibilities for tectonic shifts and further drawing attention if not worse." He pivoted on his heel and headed over to the Matter Reconfiguration Device. With a flick of his wrist he opened one of the lockers placed horizontally on the sledge that supported it. He reached in with both hands and began rummaging through the tool box. "So you can see, we had everything under control... For the most part."

A few seconds later he returned from the tool box holding an excavation tool. He spun it around his fingers twice before he dropped it into Bluestreak's hands. "You seem to have energy to spare though. You see those drainage trenches near the burnt out remains of that human camp? That area has to be cleared out and those trenches need to be expanded before we can lay a more stable foundation." He looked up at Kup and shook his head. "The rock here is pretty dense, made more difficult by the element the Humans call Gold that perforates much of the geology of this region. So building under ground itself may prove to be more trouble than its worth."

Huffer shrugged as he looked passed the officer towards the lake as High Tower and Gridlock continued their salvage operations. "I don't like this place Kup. It doesn't fit with what we know of these humans."

Peruvian Valley--Near the Mine Entrance

Kup nodded absently at Bluestreak's technical and safety concerns as he laid them out to Huffer. All pretty common sense stuff. He was sure Huffer would get to it all. He was known for quite a few things in the Autobot ranks but laziness wasn't one of them.

"Yeh. We don't exactly wanna go tearin' up this planet any more'n we have to, an' hopefully everything we do can be fixed whenever we decide to move on."

"I don't like this place Kup. It doesn't fit with what we know of these humans," Huffer said.

Kup took another drag from his cy-gar, looking out over the lake just like the smaller mech was doing. Kup didn't really pay much attention to Huffer's stated dislike of the area. What did Huffer like? It usually wasn't much.

"Eh. What's to like? A mission's a mission. We go where Megatron and his cronies try to do their damage an' keep 'em from doin' it."

Still, all that being true, there could be something in particular that had crawled in Huffer's craw that Kup might need to make a note of for later.

"But...just for the sake of...whatever...what exactly is it that y'don't like about this place? What doesn't fit?"

Peruvian Valley – Near Mine Entrance

Kup’s remarks hadn’t fallen on deaf audios before Huffer began giving his response to Bluestreak’s little tirade about construction site safety protocols. It was true that they should do as little damage to the Earth as possible so that when they did eventually move on this world could be put back to the way they had found it. Of course, that meant the Decepticons needed to be defeated here. Otherwise, this planet and its native inhabitants would suffer a fate similar to the many other worlds that had reached Phase Six.

Bluestreak acknowledged Kup’s words with a simple nod as Huffer’s retort drew his attention away from the old timer. The orange and blue minibot went on to defend his ability to operate a safe work zone for all mechs, blaming the slight mishap earlier on not knowing that someone was bouncing down. The construction engineer maintained that they were well within previously established safety protocols and that everything was under control. Beyond that, Huffer did admit that they were very lucky it all went off as well as it did, citing that if there had been one tiny miscalculation, things could’ve gone very wrong.

“Well, of course, it could’ve gone wrong,” Bluestreak interjected as he quite often did. “Any kind of construction project of this scale could have any number of problems or potential dangers lurking where you least expect it. That’s why I offered to do a thorough inspection and provide you with a report. There could be things that were overlooked. Now, heh, I’m not saying you’re not a professional, Huffer. But even professionals can miss things. It never hurts to have a second pair of optics take a look around.

“As far as not knowing we were coming down, I was under the impression that you were expecting us. Regardless, Kup did comm you the moment we arrived which was before the explosions took place. So, you know, there was that forewarning.” Bluestreak stopped for a moment and smiled as Huffer walked away and retrieved an excavation tool from a storage locker. The minibot then returned and handed it to Bluestreak. “What’s this? Looks strange,” Bluestreak inquired as he inspected the tool held in his actuators. “I’m not familiar with this device. Of course, I’m not an engineer or even a construction worker. So, pardon my ignorance.”

The chatterbot then turned his cranial unit to one side and peered over at the area that Huffer was talking about. Bluestreak could clearly make out the remains of the human encampment along with the trenches that needed to be expanded. “I see what you’re talking about, Huffer. What the frag happened down here before? Looks like that camp got blown up.” The Autobot gunner paused for a brief astrosecond and glanced back down at the excavation tool before looking over at Huffer once more. “Will this small tool be enough to help me clear that area and make those trenches bigger? I mean, I could use my bare hands to get rid of the debris from the camp. However, a nice big excavating machine that I could drive would make more sense and be a lot faster especially when widening those trenches, don’t you think? Of course, you’re the expert, not me, so if you think this handheld device will be enough then I’ll give it a shot.”

Peruvian Valley – Near Mine Entrance

Swerve rematerialized from the orbital bounce with a sickening lurch of his molecules. Ugh. It had been a while since his last orbital bounce. Didn’t feel so awesome. In fact, it felt terribly not so awesome. The red minibot pushed through some terran foliage and staggered out into a more open area. He spotted Kup and some others not too far away.

Waddling over to them, Swerve shoved the datapad at Kup, wiggling it around when the old codger didn’t immediately snatch it away. “Hey there, Kup! New marching orders from Mags,” Swerve chirped managing to finally recover a little bit from his bounce sickness. “Oh, and guess what I heard fro Mags! Pretty juicy tid bit, I’d say.”

Before letting Kup get a word in edgewise, Swerve pressed on, “Optimus Prime is back in town! Yep, the big ole red and blue bot we know and love. By the way, where was he? Seems like he’s been gone for a while or something. Prowl sure acted like it. Grimlock didn’t seem to care though. What’s with that? I mean, Mags also said something about psychological issues maybe? I didn’t really understand. I mean, just how long has Prime been gone?” Words tumbling from Swerve’s vocal processor like a veritable waterfall, he paused after his last query to allow Kup an astrosecond to answer. He was feeling generous and wanted some answers.

Peruvian Valley: Near Mine Entrance

Huffer paused for a moment as he scowled at Bluestreak as he held the excavation rod upside down. If the motormouth had activated the tool... well it would have added to an already messy work site. He looked up at Kup only briefly before he snatched the excavation rod out of the gunner's hand and spun it around so that the energy emitter was pointed to the still moist soil. He then drove the emitter end straight into the dirt until the device sunk approximately half a meter down.

His left thumb toggled a red switch that brought up a holographic graphing display that allowed him to properly target the appropriate angle and depth he desired for the initial cut. With his right thumb he typed in the distance and width of the beam he required and allowed the buried end of the emitter to adjust to the new settings. "Honestly Bluestreak... if you can't figure out how to use a Photon Shovel, there is little even Chromedome can do for you." He curled his fingers around the two T handles at the top of the shovel and squeezed the triggers.

Immediately a bright crimson beam erupted from the ground and rose until it was approximately half way up the device's handle, where it was stopped by a metallic refractive shield. He pushed the device forward ever so slightly and watched as the soil was tilled to either side of a new trench that dove down the half meter. It was a quarter meter wide, with the excavated soil effortlessly rolling to either side of the cut ground.

He deactivated the tool and extracted it from the ground and then handed it back to Bluestreak. "It won't work against those boulders though, so you'll still have to get your actuator's dirty. Put the boulders and excavated rubble into the matter reconstitution trough when you're done with each trench. Should give us enough to lay a solid hyper concrete foundation and then some."

The small engineer groused and grumbled as he pointed to the device that rested on the hover sledge on the far end of the box canyon on the cobble stone path that lead up towards the first of the shield generators. He then further explained the dimensions to the Autobot Gunner, which would ensure an accurate clearing and would probably take the ex-merchant at maximum twenty minutes to accomplish... if he did not stop to regale Huffer about stories of days gone by where he actually sold one of these tools before the war, oh wait that was the big risk from Kup. Still Huffer knew there was some life long tale that would be told while Bluestreak worked to clear the area.

Thus before he could be dragged into a fruitless conversation outright, Huffer returned his attention towards the new site commander. "Aside from the fact that this isn't Cybertron? Or that there is soft partially liquefied silicates that get into every actuator, scanner or sensitive area? Or that its temperatures and climates are literally forced together in some haphazard way? You've read the reports from Prowl's initial scouting party right? This entire valley screams artificial..." Huffer paused briefly as he dug up his own summary of the reports he had been able to acquire from the Guardian's archives. "But that's not what really bugs me. I've seen some of these pyramids they've got around here. Approximately five of them. Each one of them with a supporting village or outpost though the engineering designs are incredibly similar. And by similar I mean almost identical. Little to no variation in their construction."

Huffer then knelt down and stuck his finger into the muck and created a very rough outline of the valley. At the center he create a representation of the glacial lake at its heart and a few wavy lines representing small streams and creeks that fed it. He then plunged his finger into five different points along the edge of the representation of the valley. And while not exactly matching up in terms of distance from the lake, they did form a rather compelling shape. One was at the foot of the largest glacier that some how did not intrude further into the valley, though it possibly had already engulfed some of the surrounding village. Another was deeper within the tropical forest while the next was in the hills surrounded by a near alpine environment. The fourth was the Village of the Stone Skull Serpent and the fifth was an outpost.... perhaps, located near a thermal outcrop of obsidian, basalt and pine. At the heart of the five pronged shape was the lake, and at its bottom a larger temple as if it was the main place of worship or gathering. Or perhaps there was more to it than even that.

The engineer stood up and flung a wad of collected mud back over his shoulder and dusted his actuators as clean as he could get them. "There's a greater design or work present in the lay out of this valley than the humans were capable of some thousand years or two ago. And I bet if Beachcomber were here, he'd set these constructions as even older. The mine shaft alone is incredibly advanced by those standards... and of course there is evidence of that mysterious Ore that Perceptor was obsessing about." He paused and looked up at the elder Autobot and shook his head. "Its a bad sign Kup. It just doesn't add up, and when things don't add up... there is typically catastrophe on the horizon."

It was at that moment that a brilliant flash caused Huffer to wince and reflectively shield his optics. A second passed and the effects of the unexpected Bounce dissipated to reveal a familiar and... well less than productive face. "Swerve."

He barely heard much of what the fellow minibot said when he began addressing Kup. Registering only key bits and pieces regarding Optimus Prime and possible return. That news alone made everything else irrelevant, even some of his concerns about the site that had been chosen as a new Autobot Colony. He watched Kup's expression for a brief moment after Swerve handed the security officer a data slate with new orders from Ultra Magnus himself.



"Something the matter Kup," Huffer asked as he could easily read a new wave of concern fall upon the vestige of the old warhorse.

Peruvian Valley – Near Mine Entrance

Bluestreak felt more than a little embarrassed when Huffer snatched the photon shovel out of his hands and then demonstrated just how easy it was to use. The chatterbot wasn’t a construction oriented mech, not by a long shot, but it seemed simple enough to operate. The device did look a little familiar to something the former merchant may have sold once but didn’t really know what it did exactly. Of course, that was a very long time ago and this particular tool might be a newer model and thus different in some aspects. Still, the dark blue and silver ‘bot felt like a real idiot even though he was far from one.

“Well, don’t I feel like Blot trying to find his own aft section,” Bluestreak said with a chuckle, trying his best to brush off the feeling of stupidity that had consumed him. He took the photon shovel back from Huffer once the minibot was done with his demonstration. “I think I’ve seen tools like this before, but they were a little different. Old models, I guess. Sorry for the dumb question. I just didn’t want to misuse it and considering I was holding it upside down, had I not asked for help I would’ve likely sliced my own faceplate off. Not good. Heh. Also, I’m assuming that this photon shovel’s settings can be adjusted so it can move a greater amount of soil, correct? After all, a half meter isn’t that much to excavate at one time even for a human.” The chatterbot stopped for a moment and upon closer examination of the shovel realized that he already had his answer. “Yeah, looks like it can move a lot more. Good. That should work....”

The Autobot gunner was then cut off as Huffer further explained to him that the tool would not work on the various boulders around the area in question and that there was a matter reconstitution trough at the far end of the box canyon. That’s where all the rubble and other debris from the destroyed human encampment could be disposed off. After the orange and blue minibot finished up by detailing the exact dimensions the expanded drainage trenches needed to be, Bluestreak opened his big mouth again.

“Okay, sounds good. I’ve got this, Huffer, don’t worry. I won’t let you down. I’ll just start by first making those trenches wider as you said before then clearing everything away including all that human stuff they left behind. No worries!” Bluestreak stopped again, realizing that Huffer had turned his attention away from the talkative gunner and back over to Kup, who was the new site commander. The minibot went on about how the whole valley seemed very artificial in its design and that the humans weren’t capable of such a feat especially thousands of years ago. Huffer drew a rough diagram in the muck on the ground as he explained his theory, also mentioning that there were signs of the mysterious ore that Perceptor was studying.

Holding the photon shovel in one hand, Bluestreak used his other to stroke his chin guard in contemplation. “So, you think that maybe there’s a Cybertronian influence in these designs, Huffer? That’s very interesting, but don’t sell these humans short on what they are capable of. I’ve done a little bit of research on this planet since I arrived and humans have managed to build wondrous, not to mention huge, structures even back thousands of years ago. I mean, just look at those pyramids in Egypt. Those are....”

The chatterbot was cut off again as a bounce beam hit the ground nearby, revealing the form of Swerve. The red and white minibot quickly approached Kup and began talking, revealing that Optimus Prime had been found. “Wait, really?! They found Prime? Wow, that’s great news!! I wasn’t stationed here on Earth at the time he disappeared, but from what I heard he went missing during a massive explosion at the former Decepticon headquarters. No body was ever recovered, so there was always the real possibility he would return. As far as psychological issues are concerned, that's news to me. Regardless, this is still great for all of us! Our leader is back and now we can really take it to the 'Cons and defeat them once and for all!!”