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Peruvian Valley, Central Andes – Inside Abandoned Mine

Being excessively cautious was not something Bumblebee usually did. That was something Prowl did, or even Prime, but now, now things had changed. He had his guard down the last time, but that would not happen again. From the holster on his hip the small espionage expert drew his laser pistol and pressed further into the darkened mine. Once more his optics adjusted to the low light that was barely trickling into the depths. Sooner or later there would be none leaving Bumblebee alone in total darkness. Oh Primus please let my lights work.

At Prowl’s short, curt reply Bumblebee huffed. The least the black and white could do is show a little bit of concern, but we were talking about Prowl here…epically cold Prowl. With a shake of his head Bumblebee pressed forward.

A short while later and there was nothing…at least nothing he could see physically. The yellow mech stopped suddenly the sound of his intakes the only thing breaking through the utter silence. He didn’t know which was worse; not seeing or only hearing himself.

“Okay, Bee. You can do this. There’s nothing in here that’ll hurt you. He’s not here. None of the ‘Cons are.” Mentally psyched to move on, Bee took one hesitant step but stopped once more. “It’d probably help if I turned on my lights.” With a shaky chuckle the headlights adorning his chest lit casting a bright glow throughout the shaft he was now standing in. Nothing. As in no mineral deposits, no humans and certainly no ‘Cons. He breathed a sigh of relief and opened his comm link with Prowl.

>>”Nothing in the second shaft. I’m movin’ on. Hopefully I’ll be able…”<< Bee cut himself short as his scanner began to pick up something in one of the lower cambers. Unfortunately from his location he could not determine if it was something that was occurring naturally or if it was something else. >>”…my sensors are picking up something. Not sure what it is. I’m gonna go and check it out.”<<

Peruvian Valley - Central Andes Mountains

Silverbolt was taken aback by Prowl shaking his hand it wasn’t often that prowl got tactile with his welcoming gestures. He hadn’t earned the nickname the autobot Shockwave for nothing usually cold and aloof even more so than Silverbolt himself. The tall autobot listened as Prowl outlined the details for his mission in the valley aerial recon and he’d have a passenger the diminutive Rewind even smaller than Bumblebee who he’d caught a glimpse of vanishing into the darkness. Prowl finished up with his briefing it just left him with one question but he kept it to himself for when Rewind wasn’t in audio range to ask Prowl that particular question it wasn't the thing to question a superior officer in front of the troopers.

The Aerialbot turned and called out to his smaller colleague “hey Rewind let’s get this show on the road, not sure how long this cloud cover is gonna last” he transformed into his alternate mode a sleek B1 bomber his wings where outstretched his access hatch to his cockpit. “Might be a little cramped in there but I’ll try to make your flight as smooth as possible” it sounded corny even Silverbolt thought that but he was covering up his nerves flying even at low altitude was still enough to set his nerves jangling but he was focusing on keeping Rewind safe.

Peruvian Valley - Central Andes Mountains

Rewind wasn't too far away when Prowl called for a change of plans. The tiny archivist jogged back over to notice that Silverbolt had arrived. The assignment was practically the same as the one before, except this was in the skies. Which...was preferable actually. Rewind had no wish to accidentally run into some of Earth's non-humanoid lifeforms.

"Understood, Prowl," was the archivist's short reply.

"Right!" he said to Silverbolt as the Aerialbot commander transformed into his alternate form. The diminuitive archivist climbed up into the cockpit and settled into the seat. An aerial point of view would speed mapping the area along significantly. Although, it would make seeing humans on foot a tad harder. But...hopefully there wouldn't be any around.

"All set, Silverbolt. Up, up, and away!" Rewind said in his usual cheer.

Peruvian Valley, Central Andes - Outside Abandoned Mine

Prowl nodded at his two subordinates as both Silverbolt and Rewind accepted their new orders without any questions, at least none that were audible, anyway. While the tiny archivist seemed eager and ready to get going quickly, the military strategist sensed a bit of apprehension in the Aerialbot Commander’s demeanor. The flying mech clearly had something on his processor but was for some reason keeping it to himself. At first, the black and white considered simply leaving it alone but then thought the better of it. If any member of his team had a legitimate question regarding the mission then they should speak up so that there would be no misunderstandings of what was to be expected of each mech.

Before Prowl could say anything, Silverbolt had moved away and transformed into his B1 bomber mode while Rewind wasted no time in climbing into the cockpit. Regardless, the strategist wanted to make sure that the Autobot flier was good to go and thus he approached the Earthen jet with a look of seriousness on his faceplate. There was no room for error here. So, any uncertainty, no matter how minute, needed to be addressed.

“Silverbolt,” Prowl said as he stood over the B1 bomber. “Before you transformed you appeared to have a question for me, but you remained silent. Is there something on your mind that you wish to discuss or are you fully ready to commence with your assignment? It is important that we are open and honest with one another if this mission is to succeed. Therefore, speak now with any questions that you may have as it might be too late to do so later.”

As the black and white dealt with the Aerialbot Commander’s unwillingness to ask a simple question, Prowl received Bumblebee’s latest transmission from within the mines, indicating that the yellow minibot had detected something unknown beyond the second shaft. Opening his private comm line, the military strategist sent a simple response: >>”Proceed with caution, Bumblebee. If you find something, report back to me immediately.”<<

Peruvian Valley, Central Andes - Outside Abandoned Mine

Silverbolt heard Prowl ask him about his unspoken question “wasn’t important it won’t impair the mission in anyway” the doubts however minor where not relevant to the success of his mission brief.

The Aerialbot commander was looking forward to testing his engines and his alt mode as he throttled up it took him a couple of hundred metres to get airborne he wasn’t sure if Rewind hadn’t been shaken to pieces by the rough makeshift runway as his undercarriage left the ground the incessant rattling and shaking stopped. His wheels lifted up just before the tree line the trees bent and swayed as his frame’s backwash brought a rush of air past them. As soon as he was airborne his large wings spread further to their maximum width to encourage lift at the slow speeds he’d be flying. His heading was set for the end of the valley “So Rewind what’s best for you to get the maximum camera coverage if I fly wing tip to the floor or upside down?” the Aerialbot commander demonstrated the manoeuvres he wanted to get the right angles for the archivist before they started mapping the valley.

He banked gently at the end of valley putting himself in a holding pattern his wing tips creating air vortexes as the cool air met the on rushing hotter air rising from the ground. Silverbolt hit an air pocket his frame shuddered but made only minor adjustments unlike his early flights where he’d over compensate for everything from crosswinds to turbulence. As a back up to Rewind Silverbolt started to calibrate his own sensors for terrain mapping work.

“Let me know when you’re ready to start videoing the terrain”

Peruvian Valley - Central Andes Mountains

Rewind wondered why they hadn't taken off yet when he noticed Prowl walking over to the them. Curious, the tiny archivist listened as Prowl addressed the Aerialbot commander. The diminutive Autobot was about to encourage Silverbolt to go ahead and just ask his question when the Aerialbot quickly replied and launched them both into the air.

Rewind had hurriedly braced himself for the bumpy takeoff. Only now did he relax. He much preferred to be on his own two feet. The tiny archivist soon refocused on the task at hand when Silverbolt performed the angles that he could fly for maximum coverage. Flying upside down definitely gave him the widest view, but there were extra factors that he would have to calculate.

"Fly wingtip to the ground around the perimeter of the valley, then upside down straight up the middle. That should let me formulate a holographic map of the entire valley. I'll let you know if we need to do a few more passes over certain sectors."

Rewind stored away the videos that he'd recorded recently - Howlstike's decapitated body, and the like - into the archives and created a new databank for Earth locales. Once those preparations were complete, Rewind braced himself again for the sideways tilt.

"All set, Silverbolt! What were you going to ask Prowl?" Rewind added in a conversational tone.

Northern Inca Settlement Ruins

It was a brief over the comm link discussion before whatever Freeway found demanded a face to face conversation and reflection on ideas, or at least possible translations to the glyphs that both Autobots had discovered. He was still unsure of what it was they were looking for. For the most part, their orders were to find a potential landing space for the Ark 22. But the fact that his sensors triggered activation of the secondary objective, to locate information regarding a specific energy signature. That search lead the pair to what appeared to a settlement for a moderate sized number of terrans, whatever it was they looked like, and was literally soaked with the radiation signature they had been hunting for.

The ranger knew full well that did not mean that the entire area was completely saturated with ore. It was probably more likely that there was a very small quantity of potentially refined crystal that had been left somewhere undisturbed to contaminate the region. It was rather impressive really, abhorantly impressive but impressive never the less. The fact that these creatures, primative or not, would leave such raw power behind in whatever flight they may have taken. It harkened back to the start of the current Cybertron Civil War.

Nova Strike placed his excavated tablet down upon a recently unearthed stone top. He knelt down into the leaf litter and reactivated his duster, blowing clear another square of exposed dirt along the stone wall where his initial trenches had been dug. He retracted the duster and placed his palm down on the dirt next to the stone that was embedded in the ground where his tablet currently lay. His optics zoomed in briefly at the edge of octagon still partically buried in the soil.

His fingers traced the smoothly cut material edge as his sensors locked onto the approach of Freeway, carrying something. He straightened his posture as his partner finalized crossing over the ruined threshold of the building base that Nova currently occupied. His own readings immediately confirmed, at least partially, that what the blue throttlebot carried was the source of the radiation that pervaded the localized region. The ranger flicked off a chunk of dirt from one of his fingers, allowing it to sail over the natural cover of the living fence of tree. He then began to rub at his chin as his optics darted from the crystal to the tablet.

"So we've found a fragment of this mysterious Ore that Prowl and Magnus wanted. But so far we don't have a lot of evidence that they knew anything beyond its a Crystal that has a glow." Nova pushed himself to full height and allowed his optics to glance over the lower brush towards the direction where Prowl and Bumblebee had gone to explore. "If Rewind was with us, we'd be able to do a detailed mapping and excavation of this area. But given that he's off with the others, guess we're on our own in creating our own hypothesises."

A silent whir of his internal servos caused Nova's optics to activate hidden zoom in features. He began to detect scrapes and other marks that represented potential manipulation. "Well its pretty obvious that this thing is probably a holy relic of some kind to the original inhabitants. If that is the case, then we'll probably find information around the Temple site."

Nova stepped back and acidently bumped into one of the trees that had made its home in the heart of the building. The ranger momentarily lost his balance before grabbing onto the organic life form to steady himself. However his efforts caused the tree to bend down in an unnatural angle creating massive pressure into the earth. Seconds later the tree trunk wobbled and caused the ground around the stone octagon to fragment, crack and crumble. Then the trunk fell to the ground with an echoed crash as its leaves and branches smashed into the grove on the other side of the settlement wall only a few meters away. The roots were entangled around the stone octagon and drew the column from the wounded earth.

The dust began to swirl and settle as the stone octagon landed on the ground with a muted thud. The tablet a meter away, chipped further but otherwise unharmed. "Umm..." Nova paused briefly as he released the dislodged tree trunk and allowed it to rest on the ground. "Or we can umm look underground."

Arriving at where Nova Strike was Freeway took an opportunity to analyse the crystal. It was certainly emitting radiation which was the cause of the faint glow. He had heard that certain forms of radiation were very damaging to organic life and Freeway wondered if this crystal had caused any deaths, “If we're talking primitive culture here and humans are pretty damn primitive then I guess they had no idea what this crystal really was, didn't bother to do any scientific analysis and treated it like an oddity,” as Nova Strike pointed out it was probably a holy relic to them, “Worshipping a chunk of glowing crystal? Poor humans must have been confused when that did nothing to help them whenever they needed it,”

Freeway watched impassively as Nova Strike then knocked over a tree and the stone tablet in an effort to steady himself, “Oh don't worry it wasn't your fault that you lost balance it was clearly the planet's gravitation field going through a random morphing,” he said with a snicker, “You're a ranger? Aren't you guys meant to be super good on your feet?”

Moving over to inspect the damage that Nova Strike had done to the ancient temple, “Smooth, Sparky,” he then went to the stone octagon and picked it up. It seemed to be a well craft object, someone had clearly taken their time over though it was weather worn once crisp edges had been gently rounded, “So if the crystal was important, why would it be out here? Surely someone would have wanted to keep it safe, even when the civilisation fell someone must have seen value in it,”

Northern Inca Settlement Ruins

Nova Strike delievered an iced stare at the smaller mechanism. He said nothing regarding his abilities, particularly due to his failure to adjust his own gyroscopes for the magnetic fields of the planet before leaving the ship. Internally he made the necessary adjustments and retuned his sensors back to the task at hand. "It happens." Was his only response. Even the best racers, sport stars or rangers had their more embarrassing moments.

Turning his attention back to the artifact that had been dislodged, Nova Strike knelt down and placed the index and middle finger of his left hand onto the dirt crusted granite octagon. Gingerly he pulled off a clog of dirt and mud that caked the surface of the artifact and flicked the mass over his shoulder and absently towards Freeway. A few more clots were pulled away to reveal a faint scarlet hued representation of the crystal that the Throttlebot held, carved into the stone.

"Maybe they didn't get a chance to take it with them." Nova Strike retracted his wrist again and activated the powerful dust blower to begin cleaning off the rest of the artifact. "Maybe the radiation from the Crystal was too much, melted them to organic sludge or something. You know what prolonged exposure can do to us after all, and these organics are decidedly weaker metal."

A larger piece of the puzzle was now uncovered, a pile of muck, roots and rotten leaves splattered across the stone wall and uprooted tree trunk. The image was badly weathered as if battered by successive floods, rains and other corrosions had eaten away at the once vividly detailed picto glyphs. "I can't make heads or tails of these marks." Several chuncks had been rendered blank due to the invasion of tree roots that had assailed it for centuries.

The Ranger rubbed at his chin briefly as he looked back at Freeway. "I doubt either of us can read ancient human. But it looks to me like they believed this thing to be the representation of their deity... Proof for your theory. But I don't recognize any glyphs that could possibly mean refinement." Nova Strike stood up to full height and let his arms rest at his side.

"Well, its not like this is our specialty. But even as it stands and its up to us, we may as well bring Prowl into the loop. Its not as if we haven't accomplished a minor confirmation of the side objective. Though it also begs the question as to whether this crystal idol is made from local sources." He gave a commanding smirk to the smaller Autobot. "I nominate you for the first report in. I got the data to sort and prepare for transmission. Besides Freeway, I am sure Prowl would absolutely tolerate your witty reporte."

“I don't think the radiation would have melted them into organic sludge, it certainly hasn't done so to anything else in the area, I'm no xeno-biologist but all those plants look to be just fine,” Freeway said taking a look at the various trees and brushes around them, “We'd probably have to capture an organic lifeform and put it near to the stone for a prolonged period of time before finding out the effects it has but I'll leave that up to someone like Perceptor to carry out,”

Freeway took a look at the tablet that Nova Strike was holding which had various human glyphs on it. It was clearly quite old, “We should probably bring all this stuff with us back to Prowl when we move on, not that Prowl will do a better job of figuring out what it is but he'll be able to pass it onto someone who can do that. You're right it'll take someone with the right programming to understand all of this,”

Nova Strike of course volunteered Freeway to make the call back to Prowl, the robo-chicken. At least with his communications equipment he was used to being the messenger, “Okay, I'll call Prowl and report but you do the reporting in person when we get back,” he said to Nova Strike.

He opened up a secure signal to Prowl and transmitted, “This is Blue Squad calling Red Horns, Blue Squad calling Red Horns. Come in, Red Horns,” said Freeway pretty pleased with his improvised call-sign for Prowl, “We have identified a source of radiation in the area. Some kind of refined crystal, our scanning data is being transmitted now. We found it in some ancient human ruins along with various iconography and writings. We believe it might have once held religious significance to the humans who once lived here. We'll upload the pictures of these to you now. If we got anyone in our ragtag team of misfits who can decipher all of that then good luck to him,”