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Peruvian Valley: Lake Shore Road

Nova Strike's optics pierced the darkness as if such a state of being did not truly exist. Which, if one thought about was an accurate statement regarding darkness. Rarely was there anything where light truly did not exist... well maybe Megatron was the exception to that observation, but Nova Strike was not a philosopher nor a scientist. Such theories were better left to them. Still his interests were better served in observing the humans as they clamored out of the first three vehicles. Each one carrying some sort of tool or device that would soon be employed to destroy the obstacle that now laid upon the switchback road.

Most of the dozen or so individuals were now swarming the fallen timber, devising any means and methods to remove it as swiftly as possible. The others in the further back trucks remained sheltered from the glacial bite of the winds tumbling down from the mountain tops. Two of them, a slender figure who had stepped off the embankment and continued to stare into the wild, and a middle sized individual were the only two of the group who were not involved in the operation directly.

It meant that two figures were not distracted with tasks, which translated to a tougher affair for Nova to move into position. Still it was nothing new for the Ranger. Creeping around the Pyramid of Kaon, now that was a difficult challenge especially with the likes of Soundwave on duty. But humans were not even equipped with the rudimentary devices such as inferred vision or X-Ray sensors. Passing in the dark meant he would have to be quiet.

Thusly Nova pushed in a small armor panel over his left breast plate and slid it open. Quietly a small dispenser extracted and dropped two small canisters into his waiting palm. Replacing the panel over his compartment, Nova Strike pushed the two smoke canisters onto his right wrist magnetic stripe. Carefully he pushed back the brush he was using for cover and stepped down to the next level of the roadway. He remained exposed briefly as he readjusted his position putting himself between the convoy and the lake shore proper. The switchback was only a few dozen meters away from the main path leading to where Prowl and the others were exploring, and judging by the vibrations now echoing through the ground, their time was shorter than initial estimates.

Activating his targeting computer, Nova Strike painted the range and firing solutions for his attack on the convoy. A brief acknowledgement script scrolled across his HUD as his solutions were logged and sent to his main combat systems. It was from their optic in the sky, Silverbolt with an acknowledgement of their previous agreement.

From what little Nova had learned regarding these primitives, they still harbored superstitions. He pulled both smoke canisters from his wrist magnet and depressed their activation studs. Red rings of light flashed under each thumb as he fired them at the two selected locations, book ending the convoy just below the road. The two canisters detonated with a muted pop, drowned out by the roar of the motorized saws set to feast upon the upended tree. Soon black gray snakes of mist coiled through the trees and underbrush, slithering along the grounds devouring the land as it advanced. Each moment ticked away and the serpents grew in strength and ferocity binding each of those outside in a noxious unholy fog.

A few bouts of coughs soon echoed and replaced the clatter of the motorized saws as they fell to the ground or were lodged in place deep within the wood. Nova took that as a sign to further his advantage. As a female voice cried out over the din, demanding that the frightened cowards of men under their employ to get back to the task at hand, Nova Strike rapidly activated his right holster. Out sprang a silver sphere. Reaching up he plucked it from the air and depressed the toggle to activate the timer.

He pulled his arm back and launched the sphere straight into the side of the mountain just beneath the upturned roots. The micro seconds evaporated and the sphere swirled open at its base. Three lamps emerged from its iris and began to flash in brilliant white, turning the smoke laced air into a vibrant cloak of impenetrable mist.

The clatter of equipment echoed through that region of the valley as the men dropped to their knees and began praying for forgiveness from ancient gods long bereft of lordship over these lands. Their prayers were soon answered as a bolt of lightning soon struck from the heavens, carving a jagged scar of burning wood and molten slag of the lodged tools as it raced towards the ground. It was enough to break the bravado of many of those who had already felt ill at ease in tampering with the valley of the gods. Many began to break cover and head to their vehicles, the rear guard already beginning a retreat back up towards the mountain pass.

Another bolt came down from the heavens, stabbing the earth just above the path. Dirt and rock, broken limbs and burnt leaves rained down upon the lead trucks. Those who had not fled, unafraid of the wrath of gods who had long ago abandoned these lands began to buckle. A natural phenomenon perhaps, they could not be sure and they were not likely to take the chance. The lead escort accelerated and plowed straight into the downed tree trunk with hopes of driving the weakened structure in two. The front end crumpled, a third bolt struck the road near the two trucks holding the workers who had not demanded to evacuate. Its electrical fingers tore through their electronics causing their lamps to go dark though none were hurt.

Another bolt from Silverbolt missed wide, perhaps an adjustment just in case the convoy had managed escape the first round of blockade movements. Unfortunately whatever the reason had been, the bolt of electricity drove straight into the slope where Nova Strike was taking cover. The resulting explosion of earth and wood, super charged with power, vaulted the ranger from the bounds of gravity. End over end he spun before the planet's invisible tendrils reached up and reclaimed what it mastered.

Nova Strike plunged into the lake with a large splash, sending waves across the body of water and a spout of water that soon rained down upon the damaged convoy. He did not witness whether or not the humans were going to withdraw though he doubted that with the damage he had detected they would risk further just by staying in the sights of such a paranormal disturbance. Still the ranger sank into the water, his arms folded across his chest, thumping his shoulder plates in annoyance.

Peruvian Valley: Lake Bottom

Nova Strike plummeted down into the depths of the high altitude lake, its temperature just barely above the hydrogen dioxide liquid compound. Its waters thick with nutrient rich sediments coming down from the mountains glaciers that fed the great body, causing a low level of visibility for even the most hardened of tracking Autobots. As he fell the Ranger collided with a pair of dislodged logs that had fallen in how ever many eons before, causing him to grunt in pain with each impact.

Nova Strike came to a rest in a thick ridge of mud and sediment at the foot of a large drop off cliff that lead up towards the surface of the lake. A thick cloud of sediment exploded in a mushroom around his body as he plowed into the bottom and was soon mixed with bits of debris from the shore depths; stones and pebbles, tree branches and downed clumps of leaves, along with other relics from centuries of prior civilization. It was under this pile that Nova Strike remained. His mind still functional as his internal systems desperately rerouting circuitry around damaged and burnt out junctions and wire clusters. Damage received by the electrical impact and his own close proximity to the explosion.

After a few moments, his chronometer had been reset so the real time displacement was unknown, Nova began pushing carefully at a large saturated log. Slowly he began to dislodge himself from the muck and push the heavy weight off of his left leg. With a final grunt of pain and excursion, as well as a tap into his emergency fuel reserve, Nova Strike was able to force the five meter long piece of timber off to the side and free his mobility.

A quick diagnostic confirmed that he was still functional, albeit not necessarily at full capacity. The ranger activated his light beams located on his chest plate and the torch on his left wrist. Silt in the water hung around him like an impenetrable cloud, turned brownish white as the spears of his illumination systems were reflected back off of each particle.

Nova's sensor systems automatically switched over from the isothermal and inferred detection grids to the more appropriate sonar package. It was primitive by most standards given that most environments the ranger went to battle were not necessarily under a body of liquid... though sometimes they ended up in such a condition. A swift set of pings immediately painted a picture of his new underwater universe.

The cliff before him was sheer and appeared to almost be polished smooth. No footholds nor cracks or crevices for which to use in order to help him climb back to the surface. Nova's sonar image painted the picture of rock formations to the south, to where Prowl and team had been stationed on the far side of the lake. And though they were on the surface and he under water, at least heading in that direction could possibly expose a way out into freedom.

Still his image was incomplete. There were still pits and voids within the sonar image that could not be explained away by distance or obstruction. There were regularly spaced mounds of stone or hills of, well from his perspective artificially constructed features. His memory flashed back to the tablet that he and Freeway had had Rewind translate. It spoke of a holy city, a temple that provided protection against the kings of the netherworld. An interesting coincident.

"Nova Strike to surface team," he linked to Silverbolt, Prowl and the others. "Currently enjoying the local Vehicle Submersion Washing Station. Unable to get to surface by entry vector. I will head south east towards your direction, hopefully I will locate an easier road up to the sky. On another note. Transmitting sonar map attachment for further analysis." He packaged the data he had acquired and burst it to those capable of receiving and directly handling the information. He kept the link open as he started advancing in the dark, hopeful that he would arrive at the surface soon so he could further dissuade the human incursion into the valley.

Freeway looked at Rewind and Bumblebee, “The humans are coming this way, right? Well we need to make sure that they don't find us or even the merest trace of us and the mine, I got a plan and it involves blowing something up. Now I'm not one of those mechs who thinks that explosives is the answer to everything I'm just saying that if a problem can't be solved by explosives then its not the sort of problem we should be getting involved with,” he grinned at his joke waited for everyone to laugh and when it became apparent no one was going to do so continued on,

“I can used some precisely shaped explosives to collapse the entrance to the mine, if we then camouflage the rubble with mud hopefully the humans won't be able to find it. We'll have to do this quick though, we really don't want the humans to be even in earshot of the bang or else they'll be wondering in the slag pits caused it. Once the humans are gone then we can simply return and remove the rubble if we want to explore it further. If I plant the explosives correctly it won't have caused too much damage to the mine,” the Throttlebot hoped he was getting his calculations correct, he was having to do it very much on the fly based off his previous experiences.

“I'll need you guys help though to place all the bombs around and wire them up. It'll go a lot quicker with your help anyway,”

Peruvian Valley, Andes Mountains - Outside Abandoned Mine

Prowl waited patiently by the treeline for Rewind and the injured Bumblebee to join him. Time was of the essence as a human convoy was in the vicinity and could arrive at their location within astroseconds. However, it was not the diminutive duo that reached him first, but the sabotage expert, Freeway. Thankfully, the Throttlebot had the sense to comm the military strategist that he was approaching in order to avoid an unintentional laser blast from a startled Prowl. At least someone around here uses their processor.

Once Freeway had arrived near the treeline, the black and white listened to his update on Nova Strike's attempt to stale the humans as well as the questions regarding the mine and the yellow scout’s wellbeing. “Bumblebee will be fine, Freeway. His shoulder will require at least a field medic’s attention. If we’re not able to get Axle down here then we’ll either have to patch him up ourselves or bounce him back to the Guardian. However, as long as humans are in the area, a very visible bounce beam would be unwise. Therefore, one of us will have to play medic and hope that will be sufficient.

“As for the mine, ‘Bee found a cavern that is potentially large enough to house the Ark-22 with room to expand. More data needs to be collected before a determination can be made whether our search is over or not. Another scouting team will need to be sent in to not only check out the cavern more thoroughly but to also reinforce the mine tunnels as they are very unstable and could collapse. Of course, that can only be achieved once the human issue is resolved.”

Prowl's attention was drawn away from the saboteur as he received a message from Silverbolt followed shortly thereafter by one from Nova Strike. Opening a comm line, the military strategist responded to the Aerialbot Commander first:

>>”Understood, Silverbolt. Am I to assume that the lightning strikes I just heard was your doing, as well? If so, then good job. Continue to keep an optic on the humans and send me regular updates of their progress towards the mine.”<<

Prowl then switched frequencies to address the ranger and his water logged situation:

>>”Nova Strike, I presume by your statements that you are currently at the bottom of the lake? Be careful and try to surface as soon as possible to avoid your circuits getting waterlogged. I have also received your sonar map. Good work. I will review in due time.”<<

Cutting him comm line, the black and white returned his attention to Freeway, only to find that the Throttlebot had moved over to talk to Bumblebee and Rewind. Seeing as through the humans were sufficiently delayed for the time being, Prowl saw no reason to hide within the trees just yet and quickly followed the saboteur over to the others’ position. The strategist listened to Freeway’s suggestion to collapse the mine entrance utilizing small explosives in an attempt to hide the mine from the humans. It was an interesting idea, but one that would not work exactly in the way the Throttlebot wanted.

“There is one problem with your idea, Freeway,” Prowl responded before anyone else had a chance to. “The humans already know the location of the mine. The road leads right to it. Even if the entrance is collapsed and covered over, they will know it’s here and begin excavating the site to gain admittance, possibly using explosives of their own. All we could hope for is to delay their progress.” The black and white paused for a moment as he moved past the other mechs and knelt down to inspect the mine entrance more closely. “Still, a delay, even a short one, is better than nothing at all. At the very least, it would give us some time to consider a way to get rid of them.”

Prowl then stood back up and returned to where Freeway, Bumblebee and Rewind were standing, glancing down at the tiny trio. “However, I don’t think explosives will be necessary. After all, there’s more than one way to collapse a cave.” The military strategist turned away from his scouting team and faced the mine entrance once more. “Take cover you three. Now! That’s an order!” Once his subordinates were well out of harm’s way, Prowl aimed one of his shoulder mounted missiles directly at a spot located several yards above the mine. His logic center then calculated the projected pattern of debris that would fall, sufficiently covering the entrance without causing damage to the tunnels within the mine.

At the next crack of lightning overhead, Prowl launched a single rocket directly at his intended target, striking the cliff face above the mine entrance and causing the anticipated rock slide. The strategist then turned and rushed towards the treeline where he expected the others had already retreated to. Within moments, the mine was sealed with a considerable amount of debris that should more than delay the humans if not deter them from their endeavor entirely.

Peruvian Valley: Andes Mountain Range - Lake Bottom

"Acknowledged Prowl," Nova responded with a slight burble through his intake filter mask that covered much of his face plate. His optics adjusted to the murk and sediment that still hovered in the ice cold lake bottom water. Before him lay great depths of an ancient riverbed that had long ago been enveloped by the lake waters of the glaciers above. It was a watery road that serpentine through a deep bowl of a tiered valley, choked by rubble from the terraces above.

The slope was sharp and steep leading towards the banks of old, and its declination slippery with lake mud and smoothed stone. Nova Strike plodded along, one optic carefully recording his march towards what his sonar had registered as an artificial highway of cut stone that ran parallel to the riverbed. Approximately half way from his initial cloud of dust where he had landed and to the bottom of the lake bed, Nova began to register clearer structures on his passive sensors. Clearer being relative given the signal was distorted due to the refractive properties of the water. Still he knew they were there, though he could not tell if they were natural formations or artificial like much of the lake appeared to be or at least concealed.

Logging the spots along the trek down, Nova continued further towards the bottom. Upon coming to a marker stone, at least he hoped it was a marker stone as there were no recognized markings. He turned towards the last known location of Prowl's group and began following the remaining stones towards a spindly looking formation a few dozen meters ahead.

Nova pushed off the lake bottom and propelled himself over a small underwater chasm that looked to be a gully cut out by the ancient glacier melt water. The pressure of the millions of tons of water pressing down on him kept him low to the sediment, but it gave enough to allow him to cross the gorge without much issue. He tapped into his link with the orbital location satellite briefly to confirm he was headed in the proper direction.

A short circuit in his link immediately caused him to alert status. Rapidly activating his self diagnostic systems, Nova Strike began to discover that water had already begun to seep into his internal systems. A result of the damage received when the lightning bolt struck before him, either that or the impact on the lake floor. Whatever the cause it did not matter. Nova calculated he had perhaps a half hour at most before vital circuits were affected. He quickened his pace towards the Prowl and the others.

“slag”

Silverbolt’s aerial lightning bolt assault had gone perfectly until he hit a pocket of turbulence which threw his calculations off by what was millimetres but by the time it hit the ground it could be up to 10 meters off target.

>>”Sorry Novastrike hit turbulence!”<<

As he swung around still keeping his optics on the humans who where currently running around like petro rabbits being chased by Grimlock. The mental image made Silverbolt chuckle to himself as a message from the ground came through

>”Understood, Silverbolt. Am I to assume that the lightning strikes I just heard was your doing, as well? If so, then good job. Continue to keep an optic on the humans and send me regular updates of their progress towards the mine.”<<

Regaining his composure Silverbolt replied to Prowl

>>”Yes sir. Currently the humans are scurrying around like Unicron himself is chasing them”<<

Silverbolt’s frame vibrated again as he hit another air pocket the Aerialbot commander cursed silently as he continued to patrol the area.

Peruvian Valley: Lake Shore Road

"We have trespassed in the haven of the gods."

Another voice cried out as the clatter of an idle motorized saw falling to the cobbles was drowned by the echo of the sonic boom from heavenly power impacting the ground around them. First the unearthly fumes that rose from the soil beneath their feet, obstructing vision to only a meter or so around them, had caused them to stir in uncomfortable anxiety. Then came the flashes of divine wrath. And fear gripped the team and caused them to tremble. But it was the bursts from the obscured stars, the heavens cloak that broke many of their will and defiance, for they were of deep belief in the legends of old.

"The gods are angered, our presence offends them. Swiftly we must flee else we incur more wrath and ire." A worker called as he leaped down from one of the covered vans and began to run back towards the pass. He shoved passed others who were already trying to evacuate the scene, and fell to the ground as he passed the rear light of the last security vehicle... a smoldering hole exploding from his left shoulder along with a fountain of crimson blood that soon returned to stain his jacket with a circular splatter.

Smoke coiled from the medium length barrel, a singular depleted casing clinked on the partially cut trunk of the fallen tree. Mai held one corner of her short cut skirt up in her hand, exposing a great deal of thigh and a hidden holster strapped to just above a slender strap that guarded her more personal ventures. She held her weapon forward, pointed with an inhuman accuracy towards the fleeing miner. Her expression was unreadable, neither afraid nor happy that she had at last been able to display some of her more charming gifts. Calmly she lowered her revolver and shook her head briefly.

"Tsk tsk," Anikara stepped out of the cone of distorted light as the last bolt of lightning subsided in the distance. He held a small kerchief around his nostrils to shield his olfactory cells from the irritants caused by the mystic fogs that now intermingled with the sawdust. "Scared by a natural phenomenon caused by large bodies of water in land locked valleys. You should be ashamed to call yourselves miners... let alone men." He lowered his kerchief.

He walked down the line of stopped workers, looking at each of them in the eye with a scowl that caused them to turn away in shame. "Heathen gods, destroyed and abandoned long ago by Pissarro himself." Anikara stooped down once he reached the sight of the coward who was wounded and bleeding profusely. He flipped the man over so that the wound was in the dirt and he lay on his back as the final strobe coursed through the final stretch of road. "I am surprised you of all people would be so easily swayed."

The employer pressed the damaged shoulder into the rocky soil causing the man to scream in pain and beg for forgiveness for his moment of weakness. But still Ani pressed harder into the flesh, the injured man's garment quenching its thirst upon his blood. The screams of the man caused the others to back off from the escort vehicles and head straight towards the fallen log. Soon the man's screams echoed through the valley, causing local fauna to stir in the unseen depths of night. The sounds faded as the ground drank upon his crimson juices and his struggles ebbed until he lay still.

Anikara wiped his shoe on the cleaner portion of the corpses jacket before his steeled eye glare caught two men frozen in surprise, disgust and terror. "Get this coward off the road. Leave him in the bushes for his gods to collect and covet if they so choose." He pivoted on his heel and began a slow walk towards the partially cleared obstacle. "The rest of you. Remove that immediately. I do not want to repeat myself again."

It took nearly an hour to remove the rest of the fallen tree from the road. Once cleared, the convoy recalled its passengers and began again down to the lake shore road. A slow crossing over the switchback absorbed another few minutes... for caution was no longer a primary motivator. Fear had gripped many of those who were employed by Anikara. Fear of the gods who they believed to have offended by entering this sacred valley, and fear of Mai and Anikara. They moved swiftly to make up time that had been lost.

Mai tucked her revolver back into her holster along her thigh, after replacing the spent bullet with a fresh one. "I trust your example has proven most effective Ani?"

Anikara flicked open his briefcase and began to thumb through a few contracts. "Most assuredly," he responded pretending not to notice that Mai's dress was higher than it should have been, exposing a touch more flesh than intended... or perhaps as intended. But Anikara had to focus on matters that now revolved around the matter of his coming fortune. Sex would have to wait until such operations were underway. "Restoring their fear in me, it will serve me well in the long term... provided these natural events do not continue. Pagan gods, such mystic nonsense that only uneducated fools believe. It is like believing in goblins and trolls from the Europeans."

"Some myths do have a basis in facts, no matter of how distant or remote." Mai pulled her dress down and smiled softly, not giving a hint of her disappointment that her invitation had been rejected. "Do not discount such stories of old Ani. There could very well be something here we do not understand. But even if that is so, I do believe that once we find this mine and the sight of the first vein, such fears will be overcome."

Ani smirked as he pulled out the contract of the man who had died in a flight of terror. A moment of review soon saw the contract be torn in half. Dead was dead, and those that died a cowards death did not deserve remembrance. He tossed the parts of the contract into a trash bag destined to be used as kindling when the need for fire arose. "Be that as it may, we are an hour's drive from the mine. And soon we will be able to put to rest these fairytales and restore the great wealth I have so long sought."

Mai nodded her head in acknowledgement, though her mind wandered to the moments before the paranormal occurrence. She remembered a large figure hidden in the trees, a stone golem that appeared to watch each movement they made on the road. Whether it was a statue or some deity trying to warn them that their presence was unwelcome... Mai could not say. Even with that uncertainty, Mai believed she would find more answers upon reaching their destination and establishing camp. Of course she would also find her own form of entertainment while the work commenced.

Peruvian Valley, Central Andes Mountains - Outside Abandoned Mine

Rewind stayed by Bumblebee's side, helping him as well as he could when Freeway moved over to the diminutive pair and began discussing ways to impede the humans' progress. Collapsing the mine with explosives was definitely one route to go. But before the archivist could respond, Prowl interjected with his own modified plan. Rewind took cover with Freeway and Bumblebee as Prowl collapsed the entrance to the mine.

"Well that should delay them for a little while at the very least," Rewind commented.

The archivist received a copy of the sonar map that Nova Strike had sent from his aquatic locale and filed it away in the Archives for later reference. The beauty of knowledge was that one never knew when it would come in handy again. Rewind frowned. What if collapsing the entrance wasn't enough? From what he'd gleaned of the human race, they could be persistent to a fault when it came to greed. They might need to prey upon the humans' superstition.

ACCESSING INTERNAL DATABASE...

SUPERSTITIONS: HUMAN...

REGIONS: SOUTH AMERICA...

MATCHES: 113...

Rewind quickly scanned through the matches, discarding those that were beyond their power to replicate or too small to be of any consequence. This left the archivist with a few more suggestions for the team. Scanning for any signs of the human convoy and seeing none, the diminutive cassettobot moved out of cover and jogged back over to Prowl. Rewind surveyed the collapsed entrance approvingly.

"Prowl, I checked the Archives for some other actions we could take to scare the humans away. Some insects, especially in swarms, have been said to possess evil powers. For Peru...I believe its the dragonfly. We could also try playing back a compilation of voices. Whispers and laughter and sobbing. I could edit it together easily. It would only take me a few seconds. Also...humans mistake strange lights in a natural setting for spirits of the dead at times."

"We could create the atmosphere to steadily wear down their nerves and then ram it home with one last 'act of god' to scare them off," Rewind suggested.

Freeway looked at what Prowl was going to do, it actually made more sense than using their time to carefully plant explosives to ensure the tunnel's collapse. It was quicker and simpler and Prowl's aim was good enough to bring the entrance of the tunnel down, “Sure blow it up with one of your missiles. Saves me some explosives for later. A win-win situation!” since resources were finite whilst planet-side Freeway would much rather keep his explosives for more urgent situations, “Lets just hope we won't need a spare missile for anything in the future,”

Freeway listened to Rewind's plan to scare the Humans away and nodded thoughtfully, “I like the idea, good to play a prank on these Humans, play on their superstitious nonsense. Take them to the brink of being frightened off and then push them over the edge. Entirely harmless to them of course and it'll allow us to resume our activities until they work up the courage once more to venture out here,”

There was only one problem that the Throttlebot could see with the plan, “We just have to make sure that none of the Humans see us when we're pulling this off. We need to be far enough into the jungle that they won't see any giant robots or out of place vehicles around here,”

Peruvian Valley - Mine Entrance

The convoy turned around a blind bend in the road between a crooked gnarled tree trunk that flowed over the canopy and disappeared into an elevated thicket just above on the incline of a sheer cliff. The hard polished wall of hewn stone laid quietly in the shadows of two buttresses of rock and loosed earth that was dotted with the sparse dispersal of trees and shrubs that typically made up a scrubland beyond the tree lines of mountains. In spaces of the earth and garbled rocks that lined the northern buttress pieces of worked stone appeared though hidden by shadow and bush. Tree roots obscured many cut pillar fragments and evidence of years of worship generations ago. The solid rock face was deformed in small portions through ice and water as erosion, hewn eyes of dragons wore away to memories and shadows of their former glory.

In between the two slopes a solid face of a third mountain dove deep towards the lake below. A shallow depression, the remains of an ancient glacial bed, had been carved out between the three flanks a cul-de-sac as if a basin of the a prehistoric waterfall of ice and snow. At the base of the falls a pile of fallen rubble, perhaps they were remains of the old falls... but not likely. This region had been scoured from top to bottom in the historical days of conquest and conversion. Bones of last stands and heads of spears were strewn across the hill side reminders of those dark days. Above the slide debris was a broken over head piece stone, shattered along the sides that could have been the origins of the debris below.

The whine of the worn brake pads echoed through the small space between the three cliffs and a sharp slope that lead down towards the bank of the lake lined with sharp glacier rubble. Three of the five wagons came around passed the two lead Humvees and parked to the left a mound of rubble that stacked up against the steep wall of the vein. Men began to pour out of the canvas wagons followed by a series of crates and duffle bags tossed along the side of the road nearest the wall. Foremen, the surviving foremen, began bellowing to the workers to start erecting the tent city that they would soon call home for the next month.

Anikara reached above his head and toggled the lamp embedded in the ceiling of the vehicle in which he rode as the driver and navigator emerged into the chilled night air. He shivered briefly as a gust of wind came down from the glacier above but made the effort to ignore his discomfort. The door closed behind them allowing a brief respite from the arctic gusts that were forced down from the peaks of the mountains above. Slowly Ani released a held breath and allowed himself to deflate a little as he pulled his briefcase up from the rear passenger floor. The locks flipped open with a snap as the headlamps of all of the vehicles began to bathe the cul-de-sac in an eerie orange yellow glow. Before the windshield the mound of rubble taunted him, like a crusted wound that never fully healed. Deep down he knew what he sought existed, it had to. He had invested a great treasure of reputation and the government coffers into this expedition, although it had been billed as a historical dig in another part of the mountain range.

He rustled a scrolled piece of parchment that had been recovered from his briefcase. Gently he unraveled the ribbon that secured it and rolled it open. Small letters of Spanish script scrolled across the middle binding folds of the scroll, just underneath a rough sketch of the crude mine entrance, the simple Spanish label penned it the 'Temple of Gold, the stone of Gods'. Anikara had been the first to decipher the cypher just below. A mine untapped by the greed of Pissarro, not even he knew what was still left after his ancestors had been forced from the lands. But what he did know, if his plan worked and if he had managed to gain the immense wealth that was promised, he would be able to restore the rightful place of his people... or at least himself.

"This the place?" His voice hung in the air as he glanced over the parchment at the GPS Screen embedded in the dashboard.

"It would appear so." Mai uncrossed her slender legs and pressed her palms down across her skirt to smooth out the wrinkles movement had caused. She pulled open the door to the vehicle and slid out into the brisk night air. "Course that map is over three hundred years old, if not older."

Anikara carefully replaced the seal back around the trunk of the scroll and slid it carefully back into his protected case. A discovery of a life time, untold riches that remained untapped, all left to his care. He cocked a wry grin as he followed suit. He threw his arms up into the darkened sky and took in a deep draught of air, just as the first droplet of ice cold water splattered against his nose. "Just what we needed." He cursed to himself as he glared over at the rubble heap. He then turned his stare to the disembarking miners he had hired. "You three, get the tent up now. Before this weather turns for the worst."

As the team broke from the main expedition, Mai walked towards the rubble pile. The droplets of water began to tumble down more steadily as she knelt next to the rocks. She placed her hand across the surface of one of the boulders as a bolt of natural lightning coursed through the cloud cover overhead. The single droplets soon multiplied into a full rain that began to drench the surroundings.

Her fingers traced along the boulder surface again, this time as rain water began to flow through fractures in the rock. Her eyes examined the surrounding boulders in a waning hope to find some weathering on the stone or at least a build up of flora. She found none. While it was not necessarily suspect, it was still a peculiar occurrence lest the slide had happened recently. Mai pushed herself up from the now muddy boundary she was studying and began to walk towards the furthest edge of the slide. Underneath a broken limb of a tree she noticed something glinting out by the headlamps of the final escort as it pulled to a stop.

Two gentlemen, one armed with a rifle the other an umbrella emerged from the truck and made their way towards the distracted woman. "Madam, you should return to the trucks until the tents and camp is set up. You will catch your death of cold out in this torrent." He stepped forward with a squat splash of boot into standing water upon the clay of the earth.

"It is hardly a torrent Mr. Sandoval." She quipped back as she shrugged off the offer of the umbrella for cover. She reached into the thicket and pulled out a fragment of statuary. A blocky face, angular and incomplete. She brushed off a chunk of moist earth from a horn on its crown. Rain began to pour more heavily washing the half of the angular horned face. She shook her head briefly before she looked over into the depths of the forest as if scanning the ink black of the raining night to find the silent sentinel that she had seen on the road in the mountain pass.

"Mai!" Anikara's voice echoed through the basin in between curses at the mud and the ruining of a pair of hundred dollar loafers.

Turning in the mud she flipped the fragment in her hand and palmed the throat of the umbrella. A snap of her wrist relieved Sandoval of his cover. "Do not wait in this rain for too long." She said with a wink of her eye and a sideways smile. Mai chuckled briefly and departed from the edge of the rubble field towards the hastily erected tent as the first field generator came online with a pair of solar LDS Lamps replacing the pale glow of the headlights of the trucks. "You called my dear Ani?"

"Indeed I did," Anikara said as he knelt down over a piece of scorched rock that had been recovered from the base of the mound. He did not pay attention much to the marks on the stone itself, although it caused the eyebrow to rise from his female companion. Instead he was focused dead on the center of the exposed core of the rock. Glints of yellow gold, pale in the light of the lamps reflected briefly. "Its here. Just like the scrolls said. Drawings of this convergence of the range, the fault that leads down to the lake and through the pass we followed, everything matches the descriptions by Pissarro's expedition."

"That is promising. Now all that needs to be done is to find this entrance."

Anikara rubbed his chin briefly. "Indeed, and this storm will make our investigation a touch more difficult."

Mai closed the confiscated umbrella and gave it a shake to remove the last bits of water. "It is getting late. Perhaps a retirement to our beds, once they are established, would do us all a bit of good. It has been a long journey, and there is a long day ahead of us in the search, with the coming of dawn."

Anikara nodded in agreement and stood in time to catch the fragment that was tossed in his general direction. "What's this?"

"No idea, I am a mercenary not an archeologist. Found it along the edge of the slide." Mai walked up and pressed a finger on his lips and carefully pulled a crimson nail down to his chin. She smiled briefly. "I figured you would be more interested in more physical investigation than researching your fate in some ancient tome this night." She pressed her lips to his briefly before she pushed herself away and disappeared into the first tent that had been secured.

Anikara gave a smirk before he rubbed the lipstick from his mouth. He turned the fragment in hand until the ruined half of an angular face emerged from the wet stone. "This may be just as entertaining." He spoke quietly to himself as he retired into a separate tent just on the border of the tree line.

Peruvian Valley, Central Andes Mountains – Outside Abandoned Mine

Bumblebee had remained close to both Freeway and Rewind as the trio took cover while Prowl collapsed the mine entrance. Once that task was complete they emerged and began determining effective ways of directing the group of humans heading in their direction away.

The pain in Bee’s shoulder seemed to dull to just a rather annoying throb which made it a bit easier to concentrate on their current situation.

His head lifted as he listened to Rewind’s suggestion. It was a good one. “I like Rewind’s idea,” he said with a smile while looking in the smaller ‘Bot’s direction. “It’s indirect and it won’t harm the humans, save for their pride. But that’s a price I’m willing to pay in order to get them out of here and out of harms way.”

Bee stood up from the stump he was using as a seat and looked around at the others. His gaze stopped on Prowl. “Sir, I’d like to stay for a bit to see this through. Afterwards I’ll head back up to the Guardian for repairs.” Deep down Bee already knew that Prowl would hear nothing of it and send him back up. But there was no reason why he couldn’t at least try.

Peruvian Valley, Andes Mountains - Outside Abandoned Mine

As the rain began to fall and more lightning flashed overhead, Prowl turned to see the damage caused by his rocket. The mine entrance was covered and sealed by the controlled landslide. That should at least keep the humans at bay for a time, but depending on what type of equipment they had brought with them the natural barrier might not keep them out for as long as needed. Still, the military strategist was satisfied for the time being.

Prowl’s attention was then drawn down to Rewind, who presented the idea to utilize sound and light effects to scare off the humans. It was a good one and might have the desired effect on at least some of the natives. Freeway and Bumblebee both agreed that the plan had it’s merits and the strategist was quick to concur, as well. “Your idea is a valid option, Rewind,” Prowl said to the tiny archivist. “However, I’m afraid it may take more than that to scare away all of the humans. The ones in charge of their operation will likely show more intelligence than those that follow them and thus not be so easily swayed from their ultimate goal, whatever that is. Still, begin your compilation of sound effects and let me know when your are finished.”

It was then that the black and white noticed the headlights of the humans’ vehicles. The convoy had apparently gotten past the downed tree and made up for lost time. “Slaggit!” Prowl exclaimed to the others. “The humans are almost on top of us! Head deeper into the jungle now before we’re spotted!” The military strategist lead the way, leaning forward as he carefully pushed his way through trees and branches. Prowl did his best not to damage anything around him too severely as he didn’t want to leave an obvious pathway directly to them. Before long the jungle gave way to a small clearing which was approximately fifty feet away from the mine entrance and just enough distance to avoid detection by the humans.

“Okay, this should be a good place to hide for now where we can still monitor the situation,” Prowl whispered to his team as he turned his attention back towards the direction of the mine, activating his external scanners and infrared sensors. The strategist watched as the natives arrived and began setting up shop, quickly erecting tents to in order to take shelter from the increasing downpour and dangerous lightning. “There’s more of them than I had hoped for. This seems to be a serious operation they are undertaking, which will make it more difficult for us to get them to simply abandon everything. We’re going to need more than sound to scare them off. We’re going to need something more real or least the appearance of something real.”

As Prowl’s processor went into overdrive, he began calculating all of the variables of the given situation. It quickly became apparent that even if these humans were successfully scared off, they would likely come back at some point later to finish the job. Furthermore, even if these particular ones didn’t return, others would eventually venture here and possibly stumble upon Autobot City. The risks were simply too great and if Prowl had anything to say about it, he’d find someplace else to put their future base. Unfortunately, there weren’t many other suitable options nor was there enough time or resources to orchestrate another scouting mission elsewhere. Therefore, the entire valley, or at least a good portion of it, would have to be hidden from prying eyes in order to avoid discovery in the future.

“All right, team, listen up!” Prowl whispered as he looked over at Freeway, Bumblebee and Rewind. “I’m calling in reinforcements along with additional equipment and supplies from the Ark-22. Once they are down here we should be in a better position to get rid of these annoying natives and protect this entire area from further intrusions. Until then, Rewind, compile those sound effects like I asked you to. They’ll be a good start to unsettle the humans until help arrives. The rest of you remain hidden and observe. ‘Bee, I’ll have a medical drone brought down to fix your damaged shoulder, so your request to remain on planet is granted.”

With his orders given, Prowl opened up a secured comm line to the other two members of the team:

>>"Nova Strike, Silverbolt, this is Prowl. What are your current statuses and positions? The humans have reached the mine entrance so keep a safe distance to avoid detection. I am also calling in reinforcements from the Ark. Expect a shuttle craft to arrive in a few breems."<<

Once the communique was sent, Prowl opened another channel to the Ark-22 and sent a private message to the one mech that might just be able to salvage the situation and help scare off these pesky Earthlings once and for all.

Peruvian Valley, Andes Mountains - Jungle Clearing

Both Bumblebee and Freeway voiced their approval of Rewind's idea, making the diminutive archivist give both of them a grateful and appreciative look. Of course, the final decision was up to Prowl, but soon he too voiced his approval. It was a start to driving these humans out of the valley at the very least.

Rewind nodded as Prowl ordered him to go ahead with his plan of compiling a medley of sound effects. He had already begun the process when Prowl cursed. The tiny archivist jumped and glanced about for the humans. Seeing the headlights, he scurried quickly after Prowl and into the jungle clearing.

Once there, Rewind turned back toward the humans' camp and activated infrared sensors. He shuffled through some of the foliage to get a better visual and began to record the humans' movements. It would get the archivist some footage of human interactions so they could better integrate with the humans if or when that time came. Plus, it also allowed the group of Autobots some surveillance on the humans.

The archivist flicked his optics in Prowl's direction once the black and white mech began speaking to them, keeping the camera on the side of his head focused on the human camp, receiving two visual data streams at once. It was a bit disorienting, but Rewind had managed it before.

"Until then, Rewind, compile those sound effects like I asked you to. They’ll be a good start to unsettle the humans until help arrives."

Rewind had been editing the sound clips together in the background, separating them from their respective videos. He had also been referencing the Archives, on what little else he had on human superstitions and looking over frequencies and sound patterns that organics in general found unsettling. In just a few astroseconds, he had compiled a loop of over one hundred different sounds, overlapping some and adding in pauses for effect.

The archivist loaded the file onto a data slug. He tried to keep the amount of data to a bare minimum, using only what was needed. Not everyone had a light-matrix data storage system in them. Walking over to Prowl, Rewind offered the data slug to the strategist.

"Done," he whispered, "That should thoroughly unnerve the humans. It's on a three breem loop. I can sneak over there and play it, but one of you could play it too. I put it on this data slug in case you wanted to do that, Prowl."

Peruvian Valley - Bottom of the Glacial Lake

A glint of tempered cybertonium steel lanced from the dark and bored deep into the founding step of a high carved stair. There it latched into the face of the saturated yet solid stone. It was soon bathed in a pale filtered light as two spears poured through the murk and stirred up sediment. A set of black fingers wrapped around its hilt as bubbles settled around the blade.

Turbulence he says.

Nova Strike muttered to himself in thought as he pulled up on his field knife as he made an assent out of the lake bottom basin. The blade slipped briefly before solidifying its hold in a deep crevice of the stair. A few pieces of rubble floated down passed the Autobot as he resettled his grip and resumed his climb up towards the top of the central pyramid that claimed the heart of the lake. With another surge of energy and effort, Nova pulled himself to the top of the first step of the tall stair. Again he activated his sonar and waited until the ping returned to paint a more complete picture of his location.

As the first sound effects returned, Nova was able to reorient himself again towards the southern edge of the lake. A sonar painted topography map uploaded to his internal HUD over his left optical sensor and began giving him a more detailed route towards where Prowl and the others had set up camp. Unfortunately the map was not entirely complete. It gave Nova Strike the representation of the Pyramid he currently stood, as well as the ruins of what could have been elevated walk ways leading to and from the site. Though given what the Ranger had already experienced under the frigid water came as little surprise. What drew his interest was a gap in the sonar reflection.

Nova Strike's communication assembly chose that moment to activate, breaking his current train of curiosity. "I am wet!, I am cold and I am wet! Does that work for a status report sir?" He knew his snarky response was not exactly the sort Prowl wanted to hear, but then again Nova really didn't feel much like pleasantries of privilege and rank. Still he had a job to do, and he was not the ranking member of the party. He took a moment to calm his voice before proceeding. "Apologies. A more accurate description would be to say that this lake show signs of being a recent development. Last four hundred years, probably as early as two hundred years old. Looks like a bunch of artificial structures in the center. At least I think its artificial, I have not seen natural stone worked with such skill before... except on Gavaba. Living stone, who knew?"

Nova knelt down and forced his blade from the rock face. He spun it around and then tightened his fingers around the form fitting hilt. "What gets me Sir, is the sonar readings I am getting... particularly underneath your location, approximately north of your position and down several meters." He paused as he placed the blade on the magnetic holster strip. "I'm no Beachcomber, but it looks like some sort of sonic seep. I am getting nothing on sonar..."

He paused again this time he shook his head, allowing the exhaust and gas build up in his joints to vent. "Beyond that I have nothing to report. I am currently trying to find a way out of this maze of ruins and underwater ridges."

Shuttle Craft - Skies above Peruvian Valley, Andes Mountains

The ride through Earth’s atmosphere was a bumpy one but transpired without incident. Hound hoped that his piloting skills had been more than proven now that they were beyond the half way point to their intended destination. It was night in the Western Hemisphere, but the green scout kept the shuttle’s exterior lights off in order to avoid detection by the human authorities. Light was not necessary to see where they were going as the craft’s infrared sensors showed the way quite nicely. That and the ship’s navi-computer would ensure they did not crash into anything or anyone.

As they approached the Peruvian valley, Hound took note of the dense cloud cover over the region and the electrical storm that was raging beneath it. Prowl had not mentioned in his communique that there was bad weather in the area. Perhaps he did not think it was important enough or perhaps he had just forgotten. Either way, the storm presented a slight obstacle in their travel, but not an insurmountable one. “Everyone hold tight,” the scout said to the Aerialbots in a firm tone. “There appears to be a storm beneath us. There’s no way around it as it’s too large. So, we’ll just have to go down into it. No worries, but this might be a rough ride.”

Hound kept a firm grip on the controls and slowly guided the shuttle down into the clouds below. At first, the craft passed calmly through the dense obstruction but that quickly changed as lightning flashed all around them, shaking the shuttle violently in its wake. Hound managed to keep the vessel steady as they finally emerged beneath the cloud cover and into the open rain storm, itself. The winds were strong this high up, creating intense turbulence that rivaled even the shuttle’s entry through the planet’s atmosphere. “We’re almost there, guys, just hold tight a little longer!”

Maybe bouncing down would’ve been a better idea, Hound thought to himself as he struggled to keep the shuttle on course. The light beam could’ve been easily masked by all this lightning. Perhaps Prowl isn’t has smart as he thinks he is. The green scout shook himself from his thoughts and quickly checked the coordinates that the military strategist had provided. They were just over a mile away from the specified location and seeing as there were humans in the vicinity, it would be a good idea to set down here and then traverse the rest of the way on foot. “Okay, I’m about to set us down now. Get ready for...”

KaBOOM!!

There was a flash of brilliant light followed by the loud explosive sound of thunder that filled the cabin, almost causing Hound’s audio receptors to burst. The shuttle jerked abruptly to the left as flames erupted on the right side followed by a sudden surge of electricity through the main console. “Slaggit!” The scout shouted as he pulled back just in time to avoid his own systems being overloaded. The various lights and screens on the console flickered before going out all together. Hound attempted to bring power back online, but the circuits were completely fried. The damage appeared to be too extensive for a quick fix.

“Um, guys, we have a problem!” The scout shouted back to the Aerialbots as he reached down and pulled the emergency lever that manually released the locks on the side hatch. “The shuttle is dead in the air and we’re going down hard. Since you guys can fly, get out now while you still can! I’m going to stay to try and guide the shuttle down into the lake to avoid any human casualties! Wish me luck!”

Hound then turned around and strapped himself in, assuming the Aerialbots would abandon ship before it was too late. Grabbing the controls, the scout used all of his strength and managed to steer the shuttle around towards the lake at the base of the valley. Once that was accomplished, he opened an emergency comm line to Prowl:

>>”May day! May day! This is Hound with the Aerialbots! Our shuttle has been struck by lightning and is dead on arrival. We’re going down and should impact the lake in about.....”<<

The transmission was cut short as the shuttle slammed hard into the surface of the lake. The force of the impact propelled Hound’s cranial unit forward before it snapped backwards, striking the headrest of his chair. He immediately became dizzy before his optics grew dark and blackness consumed him. Water then began to quickly fill the shuttle through various cracks in the forward window as well as through the open side hatch. Within minutes, the small craft had sunk below the water's surface.

Peruvian Valley, Andes Mountains - Jungle Clearing

Prowl gazed down at the diminutive archivist as he offered the military strategist a data slug containing the requested sound effects. The black and white was very impressed by just how fast the cassettebot had done his job. Now, if only every other ‘Bot was just as quick and efficient, the war would be won already. “Excellent, Rewind, but I’m too big to sneak back over there and maintain cover while playing your sound file. You’ll have to do so, yourself. Just remember to make sure you aim the sounds in such a way that they echo off of the cliff face and throughout the surrounding trees. That way the humans will not be able to ascertain where exactly they are coming from. Otherwise, we’ll going to have to find another hiding place if we’re discovered. Understood?"

The military strategist then received a response from Nova Strike. The ranger sounded none too pleased with his current predicament, but managed to maintain a sense of civility in the face of his watery environment. Nova also mentioned the discovery of ancient structures at the bottom of the lake along with the lack of sonar readings just north of Prowl’s position. Perhaps the ranger was picking up the vast underground cavern Bumblebee had found earlier or maybe it was something else entirely. It was not of paramount concern at the moment. Getting rid of these humans was of primary importance. After that, they could continue investigating the region.

>>”Understood, Nova Strike. I will send someone down to help you...”<<

Prowl’s message was suddenly interrupted as Hound’s distress call came in over his comm line. The scout and the Aerialbots had found themselves in a load of trouble judging by the frantic sound of the green mech's vocals. The communique then ended abruptly before the channel went to static. Prowl immediately tried to raise Hound but received no response back. “Of course, why wouldn’t there be a problem with something as easy and simple as landing a shuttle?” The military strategist muttered to himself before opening another comm line:

>>”Nova Strike, Silverbolt, we have a situation. The shuttle carrying Hound and the Aerialbots has crash landed in the lake. The automated emergency beacon on board should be sending out a signal shortly. Lock on to it and converge on the craft’s location to render assistance. Be mindful. Besides our comrades there is sensitive equipment in the cargo hold including a med bot. All must be retrieved and handled with care. I will be heading down to the shoreline momentarily to lend a hand, as well.”<<

Cutting his comm line, Prowl looked over at the yellow minibot and saboteur. “Bumblebee, stay here and keep an optic on Rewind. Let me know if his recordings have any affect on those humans. Freeway, you’re with me.” Wasting no further time, the black and white turned and headed out of the clearing, assuming that the throttlebot was close behind. Moments later, Prowl came upon a small dirt pathway that lead down an incline towards the lake’s edge. The trail was only as wide as two humans standing side by side but at least it was better than trying to walk through thick underbrush. As more lightning arched across the skies above, the military strategist detected the shuttle's emergency beacon and carefully traversed the tight, uneven terrain towards his destination.

Shuttle Craft - Skies above Peruvian Valley, Andes Mountains

Air Raid sat quietly in his seat, thinking about the mission coming. There was not much to think of, it was possibly one of those old scouting missions, expect that this one also involves being robots in disguise, hiding the fact that they are robots from the humans. And that, would probably not change anything about the mission, it just requires them to stay in alt mode all the time.

Hound alerted them that they are closing in into a storm. Obviously the storm should not be a problem, i mean, he said he's trained...right? so he should be as good as us (the aerialbots) in doing this Air Raid thought. However, once lightning had struck the shuttle, Air Raid was no longer sure about that.

Hound told them to get out the shuttle while he could try to "land" into the lake "I knew you made the wrong decision when you chose to pilot the shuttle..." Said Air Raid as he stood up from his seat. Even though a part of the ship was on fire the shuttle craft's systems didn't completely stop working, the doors could still be opened, and Hound was able to use the emergency lever and open the side hatch. Sadly, they could not like...piggy back Hound along with them, so they had to leave him in the ship. "Good Luck Hound, try not to die..." said Air Raid as he transformed and left the ship.

Skies above Peruvian Valley, Andes Mountains

Air Raid flew in the opposite direction of the shuttle, and started to descend away from the storm. His speed didn't quite mach the Shuttle's speed. It looked like the that the shuttle is going to crash land, as it moved very fast. Hound seemingly had no control whatsoever on the ship. "Let's hope that Hound gets the ship to..crash "safely" on the lake" Said the Aerialbot. However it seemed that that is not happening.

Air Raid watched as the plane crashed at the lake. But the crash made the read and white bot feel uncomfortable. "Dammit Hound, i knew i should have been the pilot!" shouted Air Raid. "Look, i don't care what you are going to say, but i have a bad feeling that things didn't go so well with Hound. And if my feeling is right then someone's gotta be there to help him" The red and white aerialbot immediately steered and flew towards the ship's direction.

The Lake

The Ship was completely underwater. And it is possible that the whole ship is now filled with water. Air Raid never heard that Hound was a good swimmer. The flying bot dived into the lake before transforming back into his robot mode. There were little cracks in the windows and the hatch was open, which allowed water to enter. The ship;, filled with water, continued to sink into the bottom the lake. Air Raid entered through the open hatch. He had to get Hound out of there before the ship hits the bottom.

Shuttle Craft - Skies above Peruvian Valley, Andes Mountains
"First of all, last I knew, Hound, you weren't Prowl nor Silverbolt. I'll be slagged if I let you go down with this shuttle craft all by yourself. Second, we don't leave a mech stranded."

Skydive holds onto whatever he could to brace himself. When the shuttle crashed, he was thrown around but remained online. Thankfully the cargo was carefully secured.

The Lake
After the water came into the shuttle, Skydive got up and noticed Hound being offline. Skydive picked up Hound and hefted him up on a shoulder. Then he walked over dragging the mech who didn't have any reason to pilot the shuttle and made sure the cargo survived. Everything looked fine but won't be if it stayed down here too much longer. As Skydive went towards the blown hatch, he saw Air Raid and waved him over to help with Hound. He then sent a private communication to Air Raid.

>>We need to get Hound out of here and then come back for the equipment. From a quick glance, it looked like it survived but won't be too functional if we let it sit down here for too long. Hound should have let you and I pilot the shuttle. We are the pros after all.<<

Peruvian Valley, Central Andes Mountains - Jungle Clearing

“Excellent, Rewind, but I’m too big to sneak back over there and maintain cover while playing your sound file. You’ll have to do so, yourself. Just remember to make sure you aim the sounds in such a way that they echo off of the cliff face and throughout the surrounding trees. That way the humans will not be able to ascertain where exactly they are coming from. Otherwise, we’ll going to have to find another hiding place if we’re discovered. Understood?"

"You got it, Prowl!" Rewind replied cheerfully. The tiny archivist put away the data slug, having the compiled sound file in his head. Maybe that was what Blaster talked about when he said he had a song stuck in his head. He ought to look that up once he had a chance. As it currently stood, Rewind ducked through some of the foliage and slipped through the underbrush toward the human camp.

A damp, broad leaf slapped Rewind in the face as he tried to navigate the dense undergrowth. The diminutive cassettobot wiped the moisture away from his optics and grumbled internally. He had read somewhere that some rainforest floors were spare and bare when it came to undergrowth, the dead leaves and decomposing organic matter forming a nice fertile bed for the colossal trees that populated the entire forest.

That was clearly not the case here. It was hard going for the little Autobot. He wasn't big enough to simply bypass the plants by stepping over them. Carefully but steadily, Rewind finally made his way near the human encampment once more. Now. Where to broadcast...Rewind scanned the surrounding area. Working with Blaster had at least afforded the tiny archivist some knowledge of acoustics.

There, the cassettobot thought as he spied a hidden spot near the cliff face.

Unfortunately, there was quite a bit more of this planet's flora in between him and it. Taking a moment to plot out his course, Rewind pushed forward as stealthily as possible. Steeljaw wouldn't have any problems slipping through the undergrowth. He seemed to just melt away, and - for being such a vibrant hue - that was fairly impressive. Ramhorn would just smash through this, which is exactly he wouldn't be doing it.

Carefully stepping over a decaying tree branch, the tiny archivist wondered what Chromedome was doing up in the Guardian. He had left the mnemosurgeon in deep recharge cycle in their habitation suite. He hadn't exactly planned for finding the decapitated body of Howlstrike or being called away on assignment. Rewind hoped that Chromedome wasn't worrying about him.

After much tedious and careful movements forward, Rewind finally reached the spot where he planned to broadcast from. It was nearly impossible to find a way through that didn't involve snapping some twig or branch. Thankfully the jungle floor was damp, so the dead leaves didn't rustle.

Here goes nothing... Rewind thought as he sat down and began to play the sound compilation. Slowly and faintly, a low pulsing beat just barely perceptible began to echo off of the cliff face. The sound reverberated in between the trees, growing more incessant. The beginning of the sound clip was designed to prey upon the human's hearing; it was just at the lowest range of their perception.

It was almost enough to unnerve the archivist. Almost. Soon the sounds would begin to grow strange, odd and bizarre, still keeping in time with the subconscious bass pulse. Rewind only hoped it was enough to unsettle the humans. The archivist opened up a comm link to Prowl.

>>"Alright, we're a-go over here, Prowl."<<

The Lake

Air Raid didn't notice that Skydive has remained in the shuttle and he was surprised to see him in it now. He soon received a transmission from Skydive, confirming that the fellow Aerialbot was fine, but that green bot was not.

>> Alright, but we are gonna need the rest of the aerialbots to help to get all the cargo out<<

The red and white bot helped Skydive in carrying Hound. They got out of the ship, and dropped Hound at the lake-shore. "I am staying here to check on Hound, you and the rest of the bots go and pick up the crago" Said Air Raid, he then sent a transmission to the rest of the aerialbots.

>>Hey Guys! we are going to need some help carrying all the cargo; who knows how heavy it is! And we are going to need you Fireflight! you are the strongest between us.<<

Peruvian Valley: Bottom of the Lake

Nova Strike collided with the face of the pyramid as a concussing burst of pressurized water exploded all around him, dredging up literal tons of sediment and archeological debris. Bubbles thick with mud and stunned fauna blanketed every surface of the pyramid and the blue armored ranger as he sank to the base of the third step. A few bits and fragments of the pyramid face, cracked by his sudden impact into an intricate spider web, tumbled down and pelted his armor.

The ranger groaned briefly as he rubbed the back of his head, desperately trying to get the surges out of his processor. "Oh sure," he muttered to an unknowingly open transmitter. "Lets hear the obvious." He groaned again as he switched his position and forced himself off his feet. Visibility was now zero as the sediment hung in the icy water filled basin.

Nova Strike shook his head as his processor finally began to show signs of clearing. He pulsed his sonar twice in order to paint a more solid picture of the crash site, which was not too far and on the other side of the Pyramid towards the gorge and ancient road. The result of such an impact had to have destroyed much of the artifacts down there, or at least left a sizable scar that would make Rewind's job of cataloging them all the more difficult.

He shook the thought away. "Alright Prowl. I've got them on sonar. I can get to them in a few moments, let us hope the Humans on the surface didn't notice the... what was the expression they used? Tubular Waves?" He cocked a smirk as he transformed into vehicle form.

Immediately his tires extended small micro spikes from their surfaces to aid him in his traction. He switched over to the primary electric engine and shot forward into the unseen murk of the lake bottom. Seconds passed and the pyramid surface gave way, almost too abruptly, sending the ranger off into the hydrogen oxide medium. The tires spun a few moments longer before he locked them into position and forced open his left driver side door. Immediately his direction was changed, and with a thankful praise of his stern and powerful Cybertronian design that allowed such a maneuver without losing a door or being subject to the intense pressures of water, Nova Strike was able to turn his approach towards the remains of the paved cobles of the sunken highway.

Sonar pinged again, informing him that the surface was close, as was his destination. He activated his wheels again and bounced before spinning and lancing down towards the wreck of the Autobot shuttlecraft.

Sunken Shuttle

Slingshot did not remember much of the crash. He did not hear the orders to jettison, nor did he recall when the cabin had filled with water. A cracked tactical panel told much of the story for him. A result of the first explosion, a lightning strike most likely, had overloaded his tactical display. The turbulence had caused him to lurch forward and crash his temple into the overloading console, thus sending the Aerialbot into a bout of unconsciousness.

A muted pounding came from the port side, slowly rousing the stubborn flier, for which he immediately regretted. In the fore of the cabin, the other three members of his squadron were attempting to take care of the pilot responsible for their current predicament. As Slingshot's optics began to slowly turn on, a surge of pain gripped his frontal processor and diodes. "Sure... take care of the green guy, ignore the wingmech," he muttered to himself with a sound of resignation. He knew what the others thought of him, he knew they considered him worthless and a waste of energon. After all, that was exactly what he was. Best save the guy who has some value first before rescuing the trash flier who was also a pseudo member of the Aerialbot's squadron.

The ground support specialist resigned himself and leaned back briefly before attempting to raise to his feet only to find his attempt to be rendered more complicated than he suspected. Apparently during the crash one of the over head support beams dislodged and had crashed across the tactical consoles. Which in turn meant it had come to rest across Slingshot's legs leaving him pinned in his seat.

The pounding began to grow.

Slingshot attempted to worm his fingers underneath the fallen beam, not wanting to distract his teammates from the more important operation of securing Hound and the other supplies that they had been ordered to bring down. Finally he managed to get the palms of his hands under the beam. With the first sound he made that was audible he gave a grunt of exertion as he poured his strength into the process of dislodging the object that blocked his extraction. It failed to budge.

The pounding grew louder.

Slingshot struggled again and again. Pouring as much strength as he could muster into the beam, desperate to dislodge it and himself. The coming sounds of impending doom grew in his mind. Some organic creature, it had to be. An organic creature with the taste of cyberganic flesh. His imagination began to rove wild as he squirmed. Slowly a panic began to grip him as a bolt from the hinge of the airlock door popped from its housing. It circled twice before bubbling down onto the top of his head... "Umm, Guys... We're about to have company! GUYS!" The door began to warp inwardly and the other hinge buckled.

The hull began to creak and groan under the assault from outside. Pressurized holds breached with muted explosions, leashing a flood of water into the sections of the ships that had managed to survive. Fractures along the airlock began to appear as the door warped again, this time with the distinct imprint of a fist. Brightly lit bubbles soon followed as small spines of energized plasma crept through the damaged door and severed the last two hinges.

"GUYS... GET ME OUT OF HERE!!! SCRAP IT!!!" Slingshot bellowed, ignoring his pride as the door bent backwards.

The door warped one final time before the deadbolt gave way with a burbling snap. Slingshot let out a yelp of panic as the door began to drift slowly down towards the waterlogged deck. As the column of bubbles failed and thinned a shadowy figure slowly began to emerge from the looming gloom. A five fingered hand reached out through the wall of escaping gases and pressed down on the frightened Aeiralbot's shoulder joint then gave a reassuring pat.

"You scream like a Stunticon Slingshot." A calming voice broke through the struggling mechanism's audio receptors causing the flier to pause.

As soon as his struggling flail ended, Slingshot was able to register the source of the voice. He turned his head slowly around to take in the sight of the broad shouldered Ranger. "WHAT THE?!?! In the name of Primus...."

"Yes yes," Nova Strike emerged from the thinning barrier of bubbles with a smirk of satisfaction on his face. "I am the son of a glitch who came to your rescue. Course if you don't want my help, then I am sure the other members of your team would be more than willing to accept what I offer."

Slingshot said nothing choosing instead to growl impatiently. He waited as the ranger activated his wrist mount torches and cut the beam straight down the middle, around his lap area. The obstruction fell to either side, and the Aerialbot was finally freed. "I suppose you expect a thank you."

"Not at all Flybot. Just following orders..." Nova Strike pivoted on his heel towards Skydive and the others. "Besides your panicked screams were more than enough."

Slingshot was about to rebuke the ranger when he noticed that there were other optics on him. "Fine have it your way Ranger. But this isn't over."

"Whatever you say Slingshot." Nova Strike stopped at the foot of the forward command cabin where the others were attempting to get Hound to safety. "Well 'Diver, long time no see. Never expected to see you or your squad down in the deep blue. Still that doesn't matter. I hear you got cargo that needs unloading. Leave the medic to me, After this recent display of skilled flying, I don't want to take any more chances with that particular piece of cargo. Though I suppose I do have to give thanks to you guys and your piloting, there is a nice slope of rubble I can get out by. The rest of your team should focus on getting that equipment out."

Nova Strike pivoted on his heel and made his way towards the cargo hold of the shuttle craft. "Oh before I forget, I am sure you are aware that there is an entire human company up on the surface. And I am pretty sure they are further on edge after hearing that lake monstrosity waken. Try to play that up as you make your extraction. Keep unseen but try to be as Dirge like as you can." He proffered a glance to Slingshot who was still rubbing his sore wrists. "Of course, that is if you think you can actually act out of character for once."

With that Nova Strike disappeared into the rear of the shuttle and made his way through the toppled crates to the secured section of the hold. Carbon fiber netting held several large pieces of equipment firmly against the bulkhead of the downed space craft. Thankfully the emergency water proofing material had deployed over the space and adhered to the instruments, or the entirety of Prowl's plans would have gone up in a geyser of water.

Carefully the Ranger stepped over one of the generators and reached down into a gap set in between one of the shield generators and the field holographic projectors. His fingers tapped in the dark briefly before they landed on a small cube like box. With a ginger care, Nova Strike withdrew the box from the space between the industrial appliances and jumped back into the clear.

With the pressures now equalized within the ship to the waters of the depths in which it was submerged, there was little struggle for the powerful hydraulic pistons to force the giant rear loading hatch down to form a ramp. Nova Strike held the box close to his chest and then transformed into his vehicular form, the box emerging in the front passenger seat. Once again micro spikes appeared on the treads of his tires, his engine revved with a burble of water emerging into the swirling sediment that slowly cascaded into the exposed hold.

Nova activated his sonar again to full active and plotted his route towards the shore. Once he was satisfied that his path would not suddenly drop out from under him, he switched to automatic guidance and pealed out of the sunken cargo hold. As soon as his tires hit the soft mud of the lake bottom, the spikes extended further to offer maximum traction, he then swerved to the left and down into the gash in the Earth caused by the fallen craft's not so soft landing.

Peruvian Valley: Sunken Shuttle

The entire event that found the Autobot shuttle at the bottom of the lake was almost surreal. Fireflight observed the tension and intensity of his fellow aerialbots as atmospheric discharge struck the craft. He focused on the rapidly approaching body of water and how it slammed into the forward viewer as they collided with it. He gave his full attention to the high-pressure beams of water that shot into the crew space through numerous hull breaches.

Fireflight even smiled at a distressed fish that swam into the cabin and right by his optics as the last remaining oxygen in the shuttle was replaced by lake water. It wasn’t until Nova Strike forced his way into the shuttle that the daydreaming bot regained full awareness and released himself from his flight chair. Alas, with Hound and Slingshot already attended to, Fireflight took to the one task that remained at hand. A transmission from Air Raid confirmed that his decision was a sound one. >>I'm headed to the cargo bay now Air Raid. Just let me know where you want this stuff.<< Allowing himself a grin as he responded.

The empty headed aerialbot reached the cargo bay just as Nova exited through the rear bay door. Pulling a shield generator and holographic projector from the bulkhead and taking each under an arm, the bot started aft. With a soft muddy step, Fireflight trudged out into the murk, humming to himself as he climbed toward the lakeshore.

The Lake

"This has become a royal mess. Flyers should be the only pilots if given the option. Oh well, time to go for another swim."

As Skydive goes back in, he sees Slingshot and Nova coming out of the lake up the mud path.

"It is good to see you out of the shuttle, Slingshot. I apologize for not getting to you earlier but Hound is out and you seemed to be functioning a bit more then him. Anyways, it looks like you got the help you needed through Nova. After you two unload what you are carrying, we'll need to see what else we can salvage. I'm doubting the shuttle itself is salvageable at this current moment. We would need someone like Hoist and our other engineer friends to help get it out."

Skydive then continued his way down the lake path and back to the shuttle. He saw Fireflight coming his way with a couple of things and gave his fellow Aerialbot a nod. A few meters later, he got to the back hatch which was left open and grabbed a couple more containers.

Peruvian Valley - The Lake

Hound was not in a good condition, so far he is alive, but he was without any conscious. Air Raid sent a transmission to all the bots around the area.

//Luckily Hound is not dead, but he is in comma and still requires medical attention. Primus knows what will happen if he doesn't see a medic soon. Nova Strike, any idea of Prowl's whereabouts? Is there a medic there? we will need to somehow transport Hound there.//

Peruvian Valley: Glacial Lake - Northern Shore

Nova Strike pulled down his accelerator as soon as the reflection of sound reached his sensitive receptors. His tires struggled briefly in the muck before the spikes dug deep enough to hit a more stable pavement of the submerged highway leading towards the broken cliff face and upturned rock, sediment and mud that formed the ramp leading towards his salvation. As his speed rose, two pillars began to crack along the road side. Both a half dozen meters tall of solid granite, and both damaged by the impact of the shuttle landing hard into the water. The swells and dives of the surface water above, roiling and rolling through the artificial currents finished what the Autobots had inadvertently started.

As the warnings reached his receptor, the pillars lost their battle with the swells and broke at their middle spans. They collapsed, turning on their axis as they dove towards the lake bottom. The ranger exploded passed both as the plowed through the stone pavement, destroying much of the artificial key stones and collapsing the ground underneath in a fountain of mud and burbling gases.

Nova Strike did not look back at the destruction of his discovery, though he knew well that destruction was not entirely complete or totally accurate. He turned his wheels in a serpentine motion as rocks from slides on the surface began to tumble down the gaping wound left in the earth. Boulders, smaller pebbles, all accelerated due to gravity and angle, pelted the reinforced armor of the Autobot ranger, though critical damage was mercifully avoided as he neared the surface.

Slingshot emerged from the waters and reverted to robot form. Landing next to Skydive and Air Raid with a scowl etched on his face, a large white cylinder cradled across his left shoulder. "You two suck, you realize that right?" He set the device down in the mud with an audible squish. The ground support operative folded his arms across his chest and gave them both a stern glare. "You two just had to leave me in that blackened aquatic hell for the actuators of Primus knows what. Just so you could save your hulls?"

He stepped back one pace before heading over to where Prowl was emerging from his trail leading towards the human basecamp, and where Hound had haphazardly been lain. "Do you two have any idea what I was just put through? Alone in the dark, and the..." He paused realizing he was just giving the two fliers more fodder for future mockery. A wave of his hand he sat down next to Hound. "Forget it. At least that ranger, whatever his name is, isn't above helping those left behind."

"So any idea where Silverbolt is cowering? I'd like to get this mission over with as soon as possible. Its a waste of talents bothering with these organics."

As the last word escaped Slingshot's vocorder, the surface of the lake exploded as a bolt of lightning pierced the heavens and crashed straight into the water. The concussion wave of the blast and the rolling vibrations of thunder, tore through the woods and caused the tulle fog to expand, thickened by steam.

A second later the surface fractured and churned. Spears of light lanced from the depths only to extinguish as soon as they breached the surface of the water. The roar of the engines were lost by the rolling echo of thunder. Nova Strike spiraled in the air twice before landing upon the sandy beach of the lake shore. A quick application of his brakes caused him to skid, his rear fish tailing briefly, sending a wave of mud cascading across the grounded fliers.

"Whoops. Sorry bout that gentlemechs." Nova apologized, stifling a smile in his transformed state. Without preamble he stretched out his doors and reverted to robot form, a large cube remaining behind where the base of his vehicle form had once been.

Fresh water poured from his interior, and rain water pounded the mud cast that had cloaked him during his travels under the waves. Streams of sediment flowed to pool in the puddles around his feet. "I trust I didn't miss all the fun." Once his sensors cleared him of obstructions, water clear from his internal systems, he reached down and tapped a small toggle on the cube surface.

Two panels slid back from the top of the surface to reveal a pair of thin yet durable tires. Moments later further panels retracted and portions moved into position to form a Cybertronian All Purpose Off Road Cycle. A moment later the vehicle transformed into robot form, its singular visor tinted blue in the darkness. Spears of lightning showing a large red cross emblazoned across its breastplates. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency." It asked in a slightly monotone voice.

"Well then I suppose you should have a look see at Hound over there. Doubt its anything more than a knock on the head, but one never knows. Soon as he's up and running we'll locate Prowl and find the others in this expedition."

Peruvian Valley, Glacial Lake - Shoreline

Following the dirt path to the end, Prowl finally emerged from the forest and stepped out onto the shoreline of the lake. His optics scanned the vicinity and immediately took note of the Aerialbots, or at least some of them, along with Nova Strike and Hound who were already on the beach. They appeared a bit water-logged, but otherwise seemed no worse for wear. Except for the green scout, of course, who was unconscious and lying flat on his back, an observation confirmed by Air Raid’s informative comm line.

Approaching the scene, the military strategist shook his cranium from side to side, unbelieving that the very mech he needed to scare off the humans could now be out of commission for who knows how long. Letting out a sigh, Prowl knelt down next to Hound and looked him over from top to bottom. “All right, I’ll take it from here, Air Raid,” the black and white said as he pulled out a medical scanner and waved the device slowly over the scout’s inert form. After a few brief astroseconds, the readings came back in the green. All systems were functioning within normal parameters if not optimal. “Well, he’s not in a coma,” Prowl remarked as he placed his left hand along the back of Hound’s cranial unit, feeling a decent sized dent. “He just bumped his head which in turn scrambled his circuits. He’ll be fine.”

The strategist then gazed down into the scout’s optics, which began to flicker slightly as though they were trying to turn back on. “Hound! Can you hear me?! It’s Prowl! Hound! HOUND!! Wake up!!” Prowl gave the green mech a hard slap across the faceplate. The sudden strike caused Hound to grab his superior’s arm in one swift motion as his optics came to life all at once.

“What! What happened!?” Hound exclaimed as he looked from Air Raid to Prowl. “Where am I?”

“Relax, Hound,” Prowl responded, removing his forearm from the scout’s grasp. “You’re on the shoreline of the lake you just crashed into. The Aerialbots got you out. You remember crashing, don’t you?”

“Yes,” the hologram specialist replied as he rubbed the back of his head and slowly started to sit up. “I remember we were struck by an atmospheric discharge. Crashing the shuttle into the lake was all that I could do to avoid any potential human casualties. But then I blacked out...”

“That’s correct and now you’re here on dry land,” Prowl interjected as he placed a steady hand on the green mech’s shoulder plate, keeping him in a sitting position. “Take it easy. Don’t get up too fast.”

“Yes, sir,” Hound replied as he glanced over at the others who were dragging the equipment from the shuttle’s cargo hold onto the beach. “Was anything damaged? Were they able to get everything out?”

“I’m not sure yet. I just arrived here, myself, but being as the shuttle landed in water I’m hoping that the equipment is okay, or at least fixable if something was damaged.” Prowl then looked over at the salvaged hardware before returning his attention to the scout. “In the future, however, it might be best to just let a flier, you know, do the flying. Only a suggestion.”

“I guess,” Hound said as he felt the need to defend his piloting skills. “Although, not even an Aerialbot could avoid a lightning strike. Also, with all due respect, perhaps it would’ve been a better idea to simply bounce down here. After all, the storm would’ve made a perfect cover for the bounce beam.”

A frown became etched on Prowl’s faceplate, causing Hound to cringe slightly. The military strategist didn’t like to be second guessed, but the scout’s counter suggestion had merit. “Perhaps,” the black and white said as he stood to his full height, extending a hand down to assist the green mech in getting up.

“Thank you,” Hound said as Prowl pulled him to his feet. “My head’s starting to feel better now.”

“Good, glad to hear it,” the strategist replied just as the medical drone moved over to their position at the bequest of Nova Strike. “You’re services aren’t needed here,” Prowl began to say as he was about to wave the mechanism off before remembering that there was another member of the team that still required medical attention. “Although, Bumblebee has a damaged shoulder which will need fixing as soon as possible. Hound, take the med-bot up to his location. Just follow that pathway over there through the forest and up to a clearing. That’s where I left Bumblebee. Be very quiet and careful as there are humans not far from that location. Rewind is in the vicinity, as well, trying to scare the natives away with sound effects. However, I’m certain we’ll need more than just strange noises to get rid of them. That’s why I called you down here. I need you to use your hologram gun to provide a visual scare to go along with the audio one. Think you can manage that?”

Hound cracked a smile and nodded. “Sure thing, sir. Anything in particular you want me to manifest?”

“I don’t really care just as long as the humans are gone in the end,” Prowl said with impatience. “Use your best judgment.”

“Understood,” Hound responded as he turned and slowly walked towards the dirt path, still feeling a bit dazed from the hit on his head. The scout paused for a moment before glancing back at the medical drone. “You coming?” The small bot nodded before quickly catching up to the green mech. “You know, maybe I’ll have you fix the back of my cranium once your done with ‘Bee. I’d rather not walk around with a big ol’ dent in my head the whole time.”

“I can do that,” the drone responded in a monotone voice as it followed Hound off of the beach and into the forest.

With both Hound and the med-bot well on their way to the clearing, Prowl opened a comm line to the yellow minibot and the even smaller archivist: >>"Rewind, Bumblebee, I'm sending Hound up to your location with a med drone. Once everything is secured down here, the rest of us will join you."<<

Cutting the comm link, Prowl then turned his attention over to the Aerialbots and Nova Strike. “I’m glad to see that you are all in full operating condition. Has all of the equipment been salvaged from the sunken shuttle and, more importantly, is everything in working order?”