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Freeway was spending his time on the road tuning his systems into the local Earth frequencies. They were all encoded of course some more so than others. Various signals across the EM spectrum contained either audio or visual data. There were a lot of them. Some were too faint to be useful coming from too far away for the signals to carry but even so there was just so much communication everywhere. The public ones were the easiest to crack open and would be useful for studying the Human culture, other ones were clearly military and required a little more effort to decode but once he had done it the first time it became easier. The good news was that there was no mention about any giant robots having been sighted, so that hopefully meant their arrival had gone unnoticed.

The path that Nova Strike was picking out for them was probably the best he could manage but it was hardly suitable for either of their forms, what Freeway was craving right now was a proper roadway but unfortunately his prayers to Primus were left unanswered as Nova Strike then suggested a further off-road excursion, “As long as the terrain doesn't get any rougher otherwise I'm going to have to transform,” though his ground clearance was at least higher than Nova Strike's, “Lets hope the artificial construct doesn't have too many of the local inhabitants around. I'd rather not run into them until we've had more opportunity to study what they're like. Though they're probably as disgusting as any other form of organic life, trust me you don't want to know how they produce more lifeforms!” the Throttlebot said regreting going through some of the various broadcasts around already.

Transmission for Prowl

>>Silverbolt here reporting for duty are the Aerialbots required for your mission or are we to remain on standby?<<

Central Peruvian Valley: Northern Shores - Ruined Temple

Nova Strike's progress was stopped by a thick grove of broad leafed trees arranged around a rather large boulder. Their roots interwoven under and around the imposing rock of ignious material made simply ramming the impediment impractical and probably damaging. For a quarter of a pictosecond the Ranger considered converting into combat mode and using his primary weapon to clear the overgrown cobbled road. As swiftly as the idea came it was rejected. Their target was close, probably over the next rise. For him to use the primary turret would not only incenerate the roadblock but probably destroy half the countryside... including the structures up ahead.

His sensors poured over the terrain east to west, trying to find the path of least resistance through the jungle vines and broad leaf trees. It was impractical throughout. To get to the target, the small river tributary and the river itself to either side of the structures he had detected earlier were impassible in vehicle form. Bridges were either washed out, rotted through or not built to handle the weight of two Cybertronians. The other fork in the road met with a similar roadblocks or obstructions.

"Looks like our little drive has come to a brief end Freeway," Nova's tone was less than surprised. They were in a jungle after all, vehicle forms were at natural disadvantages here. Without a command the Autobot transformed into robot form with a rapid spin. Faster transformation than many of his model contemporaries had given him advantages on the tracks throughout Nova Cronum and even the underground Polyhex circuits.

"Rest of the way on foot. Its not too far and I don't detect any mobile life signs. Maybe a Jungle Beaver, but no primates." With that Nova side stepped through a crown of trees, carefully pushing branches out of his path as to not snap them with careless motions. He did not need to leave evidence of his presence. After all less details of their visit the less inqueries of the indiginous fauna. From what he had heard of from Bumblebee, the local dominant species were fairly curious by nature and unable to resist a good mystery. He just wished he had made the time to actually do an image search of these curious inhabitants.

The trek through the thick grove and underbrush was without trial and brought Nova Strike and his partner to the edge of a crumbling stone wall. An impressive construction, or at least the segment still visible from the undergrowth, was at least a meter thick and lacked adhesives or other sorts of construction materials that would typically be used in this sort of fortification. Beyond his position he directed his sensors to the center of what he approximated to be a rather moderate sized surrounded space. Perhaps a small city or military fortification. Nova would need more details before he made that determination.

As his sensors mapped the region a small algorthym flashed acrossed his H.U.D. Almost immediately his optics narrowed towards a steep stepped artifical hill covered in vine, moss and other flora he could not readily identify. The signal itself, however, was recognizable. It was similar, by at least 69% degree of probability to the energy signature that Prowl had insisted their sensors be attuned to. "Ya know little partner. I think we may have found evidence of one of our first objectives. Its somewhere in this settlement, but I can't narrow it down beyond possibly that hill in the heart of the fortification enclosure. Signal is faint, and degraded by local radiation sources." He stopped briefly before placing a hand on the smaller mechanism's shoulder. "Guess you're up. Try not to break anything too old. Don't want to give local investigators a reason to linger in this valley."

With that he gave a light shove to push Freeway forward towards the Pyramid. "I'll check the perimeter for possible traces of this energy signature."

Peruvian Valley, Central Andes - Outside Abandoned Mine

Once the diminutive archivist had gotten out of the driver’s seat of the Nissan GT-R police car, Prowl was able to return to robot mode, his panels and gears shifting into place. The military strategist listened as Rewind warned Bumblebee to be careful, citing an incident where human miners were trapped underground for 69 Earth days before being rescued. Of course, the black and white had already alerted the yellow minibot about instability in within the old tunnels. So the cassettebot’s cautionary tale, while certainly told for the right reasons, only served to delay things if not to reinforce the police-bot’s own warning.

“Rewind’s correct, ‘Bee,” Prowl interjected, not letting any irritation show through. “Like I said before, get out at the first signs of any instability.” The black and white then moved passed the others and towards the entrance of the abandoned mine where he stopped and crouched down slightly. The wooden boards that covered the opening were only nailed into place, enough to keep a mere human out but definitely not enough to prevent a Cybertronian from entering. Within a few astroseconds, Prowl had grabbed a hold of each board and carefully ripped them away, discarding the half rotted wood to one side.

“There,” Prowl said as he stood to his full height once more. “The entrance is clear for you, Bumblebee. Now, let’s get started.....” the military strategist’s words trailed off as he received a transmission from Silverbolt on board the Guardian. It seemed that the Aerialbot Commander had finally awakened from his CR nap and was requesting permission to bring his squad down planet side. Prowl opened a comm line back as he stepped away from the mine entrance in order to give the yellow scout room to enter.

>>”Good to hear from you, Silverbolt. I assume you are operating at full capacity again. If that is the case, then you are ordered to rendezvous with us down here on the surface to provide air support. However, we only require your services for the time being and NOT the rest of your team. Having five jets flying around the Peruvian Valley would draw far too much attention from the locals. You alone will suffice. Once you have bounced down to my position, I will provide further instructions. I’m sending my coordinates to you now.”<<

Peruvian Valley - Central Andes Mountains

The wooded area was completely over grown grey fox’s scurried around the vegetation while in the tree’s Mantled Howler Monkeys bounded from tree to tree looking for food. The peace and quiet was shattered as the bounce from the guardian was completed the white light faded and what was left was the red, white and gold form of Silverbolt. The Aerialbot commander rose to full height out his crouched position his pale blue optics took in everything, he’d heard about Earth its strange organic creations the huge mountain ranges. He turned slightly and saw the same grey foxes that not 3 cycles earlier where scavenging for food where retreating into the undergrowth at pace. He stirred himself from his wonder and started to walk it wasn’t a long journey to where Prowl was.

Prowl and the small minibot Bumblebee came into view as the Aerialbot emerged from the tree line making his way over to Prowl “Taking an interest in the locals architecture Prowl” a hint of amusement in his voice the Aerialbot commander came to a halt a short distance from the pair as not to tower over the pair. He waited for the pair to finish their business his head swung around still in awe of the planet he found himself on looking up he saw the sky he found himself wondering what it would feel like to fly through the clouds.

Peruvian Valley, Central Andes – Outside Abandoned Mine

It was if Bee was standing on the edge of Hell itself. He knew there was nothing in the mine except possible mineral deposits and energy sources, but he still had an overwhelming feeling of dread. Come on Bee, you can do this. It’s just a mine shaft nothing more. He tried to convince himself. It didn’t last long as his attention was drawn toward Rewind as the small archivist sent his regards. Bumblebee flashed a reassuring smile and a small nod. “Thanks Rewind. I’ll do my best. And don’t worry I have no intention of getting trapped in there.” I hope.

Bumblebee watched Rewind’s retreating form for several moments before his gaze fell on the still sealed off shaft. While he stared silently Prowl set into motion and quickly, but very carefully, removed the wooden planks and placed them off to one side of the entrance. Subconsciously Bee took a step back and away from the opening. That same feeling of dread washed over him once again drawing a slight shiver. I can do this. It’s not…I can do this.

“Alright. I’ll keep my communicator tuned in.” With a deep intake the minibot took a slight step forward and then crouched down so he could take a quick glance around. The only light filtering into the empty space came from the small opening that Prowl had just unveiled…beyond that was total darkness. Once he was sure there was nothing he could slip or fall on Bee swung his legs around and cautiously slipped inside. He adjusted his optics in order to compensate for the darkness and pressed forward. “Wish it wasn’t so dark in here.” He said aloud to himself. In reality he wanted nothing more than to turn around and head back to the ship. The darkness…the eerie feel of the vacant location…reminded him of his stay in that interrogation chamber. ‘Welcome to my torture chamber’ that’s what the sign said above the door. Another shiver raked over his body as he took one last look at the open entrance from over his shoulder.

>>”Okay, Prowl. There’s nothing in the first chamber. I’m moving in further. I’ll keep you informed.”<<

By the time that Nova Strike finally called a halt to their rough road expedition the road had almost ceased to exist, “Next time we are going to have to do better orbital analysis of our terrain before choosing our vehicle forms an excursion,” said Freeway as he transformed into his robot mode. He wiped some of the dust and mud off his blue paint. He was fine with getting dirty unlike Wideload he wasn't terribly vain but preferred it if people had as few reasons as possible not to make fun of him.

Moving through the trees was difficult enough thankfully following Nova Strike made that an easier task. Nova was a much bigger Transformer and essentially made the path for Freeway to follow, “I just hope none of these humans come across our tracks, they'll be wondering what on Cybertron or should that be Earth made them,” he grinned at his quick turn in wit.

As they moved forward Freeway was still scanning the various radio communications, he picked up one on an Autobot bandwidth too. Even though it wasn't for him he was tempted to de-code it but he guessed it was probably from Prowl, possibly just a routine report back to the ship, if it was anything urgent Prowl would let them know.

“Tell me if you spot any humans, despite our disguises I suspect they might start asking questions like “How did this awesome sportscar get halfway up this pyramid in the middle of nowhere?” would be pretty awkward to answer,” Freeway climbed over the wall and moved towards the pyramid. His radio scanner was good at telling him if humans were in the local area but it still took his optics and audio sensors to tell if they were getting close. Attention to detail though was something he was good at otherwise he would have probably been blown up by now by making a mistake on one of his own traps.

Climbing the pyramid, Freeway became aware of just how sophisticated Human engineering must have been in constructing this. It was clearly an old structure though just how long along it had last been maintained was anyone's guess. That it was still standing suggested it was safe to go up though a little part of Freeway's mind reminded him that the Humans who built had probably never envisaged a two ton robot walking up it, “Any idea what I'm actually looking for up here or have you sent me on a wild petro-rabbit chase?” he radioed Nova Strike, however he suspected that there definitely was something there due to the slightly degraded quality of the radio signals he was receiving. Something was causing a bit of interference.

Peruvian Valley, Central Andes - Outside Abandoned Mine

The bright shaft of light that shot down from the sky drew Prowl’s attention away from Bumblebee for a brief moment. The military strategist knew that it was just the Aerialbot Commander bouncing down from the Guardian and thus he paid the newest arrival little concern, at least until the yellow minibot was well on his way into the mine. The black and white returned his attention to the small scout and nodded as ‘Bee stated that he would keep his communicator open. “Good luck in there.”

Once Bumblebee had disappeared into the dark tunnel, Prowl turned his gaze over to the approaching Autobot flier, whose comment was a poor attempt at small talk. “I take an interest in everything when the security of my team is concerned, Silverbolt,” the strategist said in a serious tone as he stepped in and shook the Aerialbot leader’s hand. “It's good to see you back on your feet again, and just in time. This mission is a simple one, but still very important nevertheless. We are scouting for the location of our future Earth base or Autobot City if you prefer. Freeway and Nova Strike are searching the northern end of the valley, while Bumblebee, Rewind and I are here in the southern region. Currently, we are exploring this mine that the humans have long since abandoned. What we need now is someone to fly aerial reconnaissance to give us a better overall picture of the valley. That’s where you come in.”

Prowl paused for a moment, considering another option he now had available to him. With six Autobots currently on the ground, the teams could now be divided up evenly and the strategist knew the perfect partner for the Aerialbot Commander. “Rewind, change of plans. I want you to team with Silverbolt and help him conduct surveillance from the skies. Since you are small enough you should have no problem riding within the cockpit of his jet mode. As you have done here on the ground, I want you to record and document everything you see from the air. We need a clear view of the entire valley. Construct a detailed map as you go so that we may use it to better navigate across this harsh terrain. A lot of these trails are not on any human map, and thus we must construct our own. Make note of any human presence that you detect and relay their coordinates to me at once. Is that understood?”

The black and white then turned his attention back to the Aerialbot leader. “Silverbolt, you and Rewind will be our optics in the skies. Stay low and within the confines of the valley, itself. Avoid human detection at all costs. There are some low lying clouds in the area which should provide you with the necessary cover if you suspect that you've been spotted. When you’re finished surveying the lower regions, you may head to higher elevations and continue your observations. Are there any questions?” Prowl glanced from Silverbolt to Rewind and then back again before continuing. “If not, get a move on. Time is off the essence. Good luck to you both.”

Prowl then received Bumblebee's communication from within the mine and gave a simple reply to the minibot: >>"Understood."<<

Northern Inca Settlement Ruins

Nova Strike pressed his fingers down into the relatively soft soil, allowing the grains of rotting vegetation to flow through his splayed hands to join the gently trowled mounds of earth. His sensors flowed through each scoop, pouring data into his systems, his refined data banks began filtering out the information that was required for the mission and filing the entire body into data bursts that would be transmitted at the appointed time or by command of Prowl. Personally, the ranger found the task to be a complete waste of his rather valuable talents and time. Then again, being assigned to Optimus Prime's former command had not exactly been all that exciting for him anyways. "Soil analysis. The sort of work for a scientist, not a ranger," Nova's voice was low and pointed with the tediousness of the task he had been assigned.

Surface scouting, decidedly not one of his more favorite past times. He dug his fingers deeper into the earth's soil once again, pausing briefly as the tips of his right index digit struck the side of something solid. A simple grumble he patched into Freeway's communique frequency, in time to hear the smaller mechanism ask what exactly it was they were supposed to be hunting for. "Got to admit it Shortstack, I am not to sure what it is we're looking for. All I know is its got something to do with that energy signature Prowl wanted us to scan for."

His left hand retracted into its wrist compartment. A soft click extruded a small air blower, the kind used to uncover mines and other boobie traps left by Decepticon defenders on more hostile worlds. He flicked it on and began dusting the artifact he already begun to uncover. "Probably going to be some sort of crystal. Red or Blue or something. Not really sure, never seen this stuff before." With a puff of dust and debris the artifact was cleared from the muddled ground. A tug at one of the roots caused a large chunk of clinging to the face of what appeared to be a plaster mural.

The ranger's optics narrowed as he began recording as much data as his sensors could comprehend. "Hey Freeway, I am sending you a visual. Some sort of holy relic or whatever. Its that radiated thing on that carved pedistal I am transmitting now." Nova transmitted the fragmented and damaged image. It was incomplete, a pair of bipedal weapon holding figures, one on each side of the alter with a broken wedge cut through the heart of the alter itself. Only the base of what could have been an idol, and an elbow were visible.

“Shortstack? Shortstack?! I might be short but I'm not a stack, Sparky,” said Freeway testily, he did not enjoy having any kind of nickname. He climbed further on up the pyramid seeing if there were potentially engravings or art on the stonework that might potentially show up anything useful about this culture. There was some but a lot of it was to do with their religion, he climbed further up, “We probably should have brought some scanning equipment with us instead of just relying on a ranger's sensors. Your sensors are good for tracking Decepticons not for geological surveys and energy analysis. As my sensors, well lets just say if tracking things down is what Prowl wanted then he needed the moldy green Throttlebot, not the dashing blue one,”

Freeway got near to the top of the pyramid, close enough to take a peep over the top of it, he did not want to risk going to the very top and being spotted by any near by Humans. Nova Strike then sent a visual over to him of whatever he had discovered, “Yep, that's definitely looking some kind of something. Don't move anything, we might be able to learn more about it from the Human art surrounding it. I know they are primitive but even they must have some kind of story about how they found it and why they held it in such high regard,”

Though he was by no means a scholarly Autobot, Freeway knew that keeping the crystal in its context would help them understand what the Humans knew about it. That information could be useful in them learning about it, “Of course what would be really useful is if we had some kind of science-bot with all kinds of sensors who could tell us within five seconds exactly what it is. I'll come to you, two heads are better than one on a brain teaser like this and the view from up here isn't going to win the Must See Sight for Solar-3 Award,”

Peruvian Valley, Central Andes – Inside Abandoned Mine

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

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

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

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

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

Peruvian Valley - Central Andes Mountains

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

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

Peruvian Valley - Central Andes Mountains

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

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

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

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

Peruvian Valley, Central Andes - Outside Abandoned Mine

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

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

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

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

Peruvian Valley, Central Andes - Outside Abandoned Mine

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

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

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

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

Peruvian Valley - Central Andes Mountains

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

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

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

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

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

Northern Inca Settlement Ruins

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Northern Inca Settlement Ruins

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Peruvian Valley, Central Andes - Outside Abandoned Mine

Prowl watched as Silverbolt took to the skies with Rewind secured inside his cockpit, having shrugged off the military strategist’s query, claiming that it was nothing important and promised that it would not affect the mission in any way. “I certainly hope not,” the black and white muttered to himself as he shook his cranial unit at the Aerialbot Commander’s unwillingness to share whatever concerns or doubts he may have. The analyst then regarded the open entrance to the mine where Bumblebee had disappeared into before attuning his scanners to the surrounding region outside.

So far there were no signs of humans nearby, and that was a good thing. However, that could also change at a moment’s notice so vigilance was paramount in this situation. Prowl knew that this was, for all intents and purposes, a mere scouting assignment, that while important was still simple enough to execute. Of course, even a scouting mission could diverge into something far more complicated if the teams were discovered by either members of the native population or by members of the opposing faction. Both groups needed to be avoided at all costs.

As Prowl slowly pushed into the trees of the surrounding forest to help extend the reach of his scans, he received a communique from Freeway along with a transmission of data that the throttlebot and his ranger companion had compiled while investigating the northern regions of the valley. They had apparently detected a radiation source that proved to be emanating from a very familiar crystal ore, the same unrefined ore that Perceptor already had a small sample of and was currently studying in his lab on board the Ark-22. That sample had been much harder to procure if memory served, but at least now they appeared to have access to a bit more of the unknown substance. Now, if they could only successfully stabilize it, they would have all the energy to power not only a new Earth-bound city but also the Autobot war machine and thus even the playing field if the Decepticons had already succeeded in refining the new ore for themselves.

Prowl opened a secured comm line to both Freeway and Nova Strike:

>>”Understood, data received. Good job, both of you. Secure the crystal ore in a protective container and handle it with care. It is not as stable as it may appear to be. Perceptor already has a small sample of this same substance up in his lab. He’s been trying to figure out how to refine it into a new energon that would give us increased power. The ‘Cons have already been experimenting with this stuff and it apparently contributed to the destruction of their old base. As for the ancient writings, they are curious but ultimately not as important as the ore, itself, and whether or not there is more in your area. It is logical to conclude that primitive humans would mistake such a crystal as something god-like. They simply lacked the technology to truly understand what they had. I doubt that their writings would provide us with any added knowledge, but I will have someone on the Ark-22 take a look at them once our mission is completed. For now, however, continue scouting the area for more crystal samples. In the meantime, I will have Silverbolt and Rewind do a fly over at your coordinates and provide you with a detailed map of the ruins. With their assistance, you should hopefully be able to pinpoint and excavate more deposits of the ore if there are any. Coordinate with them once they arrive overhead and keep me apprised of your progress. Prowl out.”<<

Cutting his comm link with “Blue Squad”, Prowl opened another secured channel with the Aerialbot Commander and his tiny pilot, who were currently in the skies above:

>>”Silverbolt, Rewind, this is Prowl. I need you to do a fly over at the following coordinates ASAP. It is the location where Nova Strike and Freeway are currently scouting amongst some ancient human ruins at the northern end of the valley. They’ve located a new ore that has the potential to provide us with enough energy to power our future Autobot City. Conduct a thorough aerial survey of the area and provide Nova and Freeway with a detailed map. This will aid them in locating any further crystal deposits that may still be the region. Is that understood?”<<

With the coordinates sent, Prowl returned his attention to the region surrounding the abandoned mines, keeping his scans focused on any possible human intrusions while he waited for further word from Bumblebee.

Inca Settlement Ruins

Nova Strike tapped a small blue metal armor plate just above a triforce shaped triangle on his left wrist. The armor plate disengaged its magnetic locks and rose ever so slightly before retracting to a small raised brace at the top of two hidden tracks. Within the newly exposed area a black onyx polished surface immediately rose to fill the void left by the thick armor covering.

The ranger's optics darted from his wrist over to Freeway as the smaller communications Autobot specialist began his report to Prowl. It wasn't exactly the stuff of combat legends, or the sort of story that left a legacy, but at least it was one step closer to completing a mission he had been given. Quietly, Nova returned his attention back to the sensor readings he had been compiling for a larger more complete data burst back to the Ark scientists as well as Rewind when the time came and the archivist was within range.

Effortlessly and without pause the blue warrior's fingers dashed across the computer terminal within his arm. His fingers pressed holographic nodes adding compressed data before finally adding his own theories to the possible connection between the locals and their glowing green rock. As he worked his audio receivers opened up to the coded frequency that his team had agreed to utilize for this operation. Freeway's report was short and to the point, well maybe that was a bit of a stretch, but at least it managed to convey personal concerns regarding the potential linkage they had discovered.

Prowl, on the other hand, lived up to the verbose acceptance of the information from a tactical perspective and rejected the potential link. Nova couldn't blame the strategist, the posibility that the primative organics of this world could refine such a power source and yet not detect the radiation that it was emitting was laughable. However, Nova Strike maintained that the link was different beyond a technological standpoint. Perhaps by investigating the writings on the settlement walls, tablets or other alters and surfaces, could unlock the very details that they sought regarding the potential deposits of these ores.

Nova was not about to interject himself into the potential argument between Freeway or Prowl regarding that particular hypothesis. Instead Nova Strike finalized one of the more robust encryption codes he had been given privy access to and attached it to the compressed data burst. At the mention of Silverbolt being added to the operation, Nova Strike began to loose a smile. Perhaps now they had the means to find more dedicated sites for mining of these ores.

Nova Strike activated a simultanious link with the Aerialbot Commander and the Archivist that he was escorting. "Nova Strike to Silverbolt. Glad to hear you are back to operational status, though flying semi solo. I am sending you and your passenger a complete compressed data packet of the readings and text we've collected down here. If we can get a translation from Rewind and combine that with the maps Prowl requested, we might be able to dig out the original vein."

As Nova Strike sent his communique, he heard the orders from Prowl regarding the securing of the artifact. "Great, and I forgot my radiation proof lead box back on the Guardian." He turned to face Freeway and the glowing artifact. "Any ideas on how to load this thing up without damaging it or turning our inner electronics into Silicate Soup?"

<Got that, Red Horns. Blue Team will report when we have something else to report. Out> Freeway said finishing his mission report to the Autobot tactician, “Honestly using my name, you think he had never heard of using call signs?” he said to himself still he had to admit that if there were Decepticons in the area they probably would have noticed their arrival by now so it was probably safe to communicate without the need for call signs.

“So we'll have those hot-shot fly-bots on station if we need them, I'm sure they'll be a great use in mining. I always said that fly-bots needed to do some real work to keep their feet on the ground,” Freeway smirked, the Aerialbots had their uses of course, they had proven themselves good at scouting in the sky but it wasn't quite the same as having to infiltrate behind enemy lines on the ground, Freeway knew he was never able to turn tail and flee at mach four.

An idea did occur to Freeway about the question posed by Nova Strike, “Still Silverbolt might provide us with a solution to our problem. The Aerialbots can travel in space, yes? That means they have radiation shielding to protect themselves from stellar radiation. Maybe they'll be able to carry this thing without getting all melty? As for protecting it in transport we can pack it in some of this mud then use my laser to bake the outside of the mud into a crust so we have a safe way for moving it,” Freeway was well versed in the uses of mud as Wideload had learnt on several unfortunate occasions.

Peruvian Valley, Central Andes – Inside Abandoned Mine

Bumblebee sent a nonverbal acknowledgement to Prowl as he pressed deeper into the mine shaft. He ran his hands lightly over the surface of the rock using them as guides as he moved toward his intended target. The lights coming from his headlights seemed to become absorbed into the inky blackness of the shaft. It was actually very eerie. What if the hunger of this darkness was not satiated with the illumination coming from his headlights? Bumblebee shivered at the thought.

Several minutes longer and several meters further and his sensors began to pick up that same reading from earlier. “Finally.” He breathed. Bee took a step but stopped when he heard the tell-tale sound of shifting rock. “Uh oh.”

The minibot attempted to leap away, but the floor was faster. The rock beneath his feet crumbled sending him down into a dark abyss below. “NOO!” Bumblebee hit the ground hard, landing on his right shoulder dislocating it. He let out a low hiss as he grabbed it with his left hand.

Bee rolled onto his back and offlined his optics. He waited trying to will the pain in his shoulder to ease. It didn’t work. “Nice going, Bee. Your first assignment since…ugh!” He removed his left hand from his shoulder and slammed his balled fist into the ground, hard. “Prowl is gonna kill me. Or worse, reprimand me in that stoic tone while Ratchet beats me senseless with his favorite wrench.”

“Okay. I can’t lie here and sulk. Gotta…” With a grunt he lifted himself up into a sitting position and at the same time onlined his optics. “Aw man. Lights are out.” He ran his hand over his headlights and felt the jagged edges of what used to be glass. He had hoped he wouldn’t need to resort to night vision, if only to conserve some energy, but it seemed that it was his only option.

The entire area was bathed in a sickly green hue as his optics switch over to night vision. Bumblebee took several moments to take in his surroundings. Unfortunately, there was nothing. No exit, no way to climb back up through the breach he fell through and nothing of any use. Upon his second sweep he caught a glimpse of something that, to him, seemed out of place. “What is that?” He questioned.

His left hand back to gripping his shoulder, Bumblebee carefully stepped over the debris that had fallen into the pit along with him. Once he was close enough he ran a scan, the readings showing up clearly on his HUD. “It’s coal.” Bee ran his hand down the length of the wall. “Oh wow. Maybe I won’t be talked to death by Prowl.” A broad smile worked onto his faceplate as he opened up a commlink with the black and white.

After several long agonizing moments Bumblebee’s smile dropped. There was nothing. Not even static.What happened? The minibot raised his head and looked to the hole in the ceiling while he ran a diagnostic on his communicator. “Aw slag. Must’ve been damaged in the fall.” He spun around in place trying to find some way of either communicating with Prowl or to find a way out. Neither panned out.

The sound of rocks being crunched underfoot drew his attention back down and into the pit. It was dark. Primus not now. Not here. In one last desperate attempt to get help, Bumblebee cried out hoping the tactician would hear. “HELP! PROWL! ANYBODY!”

Peruvian Valley, Central Andes - Outside Abandoned Mine

Prowl continued to busy himself with scans of the surrounding area, keeping a careful lookout for any human intrusions that could stumble upon their little scouting mission. So far, so good. There was nothing to report and that suited the logic-driven mech just fine. However, with his primary focus on scanning and analyzing the immediate area, the black and white had almost forgotten about Bumblebee until his internal chronometer alerted him that the minibot’s check-in was long overdue. It certainly seemed a bit strange that the minibot had not checked back in to update the military strategist on his progress and/or potential findings. It was very possible that ‘Bee had simply forgotten or had lost track of time while searching through the tunnels, but that was still unlike him. A more logical conclusion was that something bad had happened.

Taking no chances, Prowl opened a comm line to the yellow scout as he approached the mine entrance:

>>”Bumblebee, this is Prowl. I haven’t heard from you in three breems now. What’s your status?”<<

There was no immediate response from the minibot as only static came back across the shared channel. Logically, there was one of two explanations. First, Bumblebee was too deep inside of the mine for a transmission to reach him or two, the scout’s communicator was damaged. If the second option was the case, then it was also logical to assume that ‘Bee, himself, was damaged, as well.

>>Bumblebee, this is Prowl! Can you hear me? Report at once!”<<

The strategist’s second attempt at contacting Bumblebee was just as unsuccessful as his first attempt. The black and white then knelt down at the entranceway and peered inside. “BUMBLEBEE! Can you hear me!!” The sound of his voice echoed into the dark tunnel, but he got no response back, at least nothing that his audios could pick up. Standing back to his full height, Prowl set his scanners on high and attempted to penetrate as deep into the mine as possible. The results showed nothing. The mineral ores that comprised the rock acted as a shield, only allowing scans to permeate so far in, and ‘Bee was apparently well out of range.

Prowl had no choice now. He had to determine what had happened and since the rest of the scouting team was preoccupied with other matters, the logical decision was for Prowl to enter the mine and find Bumblebee on his own. Of course, there was the small problem of how he would fit inside, but he already had a solution for that.

The black and white took a step back and transformed into his Nissan GT-R police car mode. Instantly, his human avatar, dressed in a policeman’s uniform, appeared in the driver’s seat. In this form, Prowl should be able to drive into the mine with just enough room to make clearance overhead and to both sides. At least that’s what he had determined visually with his optical sensors. He just needed to go slow to avoid unsettling any of the surrounding rocks and thus causing a cave in.

Easier said than done, Prowl thought as he opened up a comm line to the rest of the scouting team to inform them of what he was doing:

>>”Everyone, I’ve lost touch with Bumblebee. I’m heading into the mine shaft to locate him. It’s probably nothing but a busted transmitter, but if you don’t hear back from me within four breems assume that means we’re in trouble and will require assistance. I’m sending the mine’s coordinates now just in case. Until then, just carry on as previously ordered. Prowl out.”<<

With his message sent, the police car carefully rolled forward into the mine, disappearing into the dark void.

Inside Abandoned Mine

Prowl’s headlights were set on high which illuminated the darkened pathway ahead. He drove at a steady pace for almost a full breem, making sure not to strike the sides of the tunnel as he went deeper and deeper into the empty mine. It was a very tight fit, but his sensors alerted him of any outcroppings along the walls so that he could try and avoid such obstacles and thus maintain the integrity of the shaft.

“Bumblebee! Where are you?! Are you okay?!” Prowl’s vocals echoed all around him and throughout the mine, itself. At first he heard nothing, but then a cry for help echoed back to him. It was the yellow scout and he was clearly in distress. “I’m coming, Bumblebee! Just hang on!”

Picking up the pace slightly, the police car continued forward for several more meters until his headlights revealed a deep hole in the tunnel floor ahead of him. Prowl stopped several yards from the edge of the pit, not wanting to get too close and risk the surrounding earth giving way. Unable to transform due to the extremely tight confines around him, the black and white decided that it was best to send his holomatter avatar out to see if Bumblebee was down in that hole as the minibot’s pleas for help seemed to echo everywhere and therefore was difficult to pinpoint his exact location. Unfortunately, opening his doors was also impossible due to the close quarters and thus a little ingenuity was in order.

Prowl’s avatar vanished from behind the driver’s seat and immediately reappeared in front of the police-modified Nissan GT-R. The wonders of modern holomatter projectors, the strategist thought as his consciousness looked out through the eyes of the faux officer. The avatar then walked towards the edge of the hole and peered down into the blackness below. There wasn’t much he could see except for a slight metallic glimmer that might just be an Autobot.

“Bumblebee, can you hear me?! Are you down there?!” Prowl’s avatar called out, hoping to get the response he was hoping for. Of course, if ‘Bee was down there, it would be a real chore to get him out without risking the rest of the tunnel floor collapsing and trapping both of them within the mine. If that happened they would be stuck until one of the other members of the team came looking for them.