The hole in the side of the mountain was a dark one: pitch-colored and intimidating to even beings of our impressive stature. It was almost mouth-like in appearance, jagged rock surrounding the now-scorched opening; the picture compounded with the splintered remains of several pine trees that had the poor sense to grow in the way of a Decepticon who wanted passage. It was a strange notion to think that the place could be alive, but there was no getting around the fact that the only way into the shaft looked disturbingly like the maw of some horrible monster that wanted to swallow us whole.
Less than a day ago the place had been nothing more that a useless hole, abandoned by humans for its supposed lack of resources. However, in the wake of this sort of destruction, it had become apparent that it had not truly been barren of energy. After all, that was the only reason that the Decepticons would see fit to appear in such a desolate place. Ultimately, it was little more than good fortune that the shaft itself had been out of the way of the humans, since it was apparent that the Decepticons had been in no mood to play around. At least, that is what I was able to infer from the blast marks that were, no doubt, directly from Megatron's rather impressive cannon.
I suppose that the energy there must have been quite rich if it was so important to get inside. But by this time, the mine shaft was once again empty, the Decepticons had gotten what it was that they needed and had vacated the place in favor of returning to their headquarters, no doubt to gloat over their 'victory'. It wasn't as if we hadn't tried to stop them, no. We received a transmission from our human allies that there was some sort of strange activity in the mountains, but this was relayed to us much later then we would normally be alerted. There were few humans that lived in that general area, and it had taken more than five hours for the disturbing noises and copious amounts of smoke to catch the attention of a single man that had happened to be traveling through on a lesser-used road.
And so it was, by the time we became aware of possible Decepticon activity we were already too late. Of course, as the leader of the Autobots, it was still my duty to go check these situations out. It is our responsibility, after all, to protect this planet and its inhabitants regardless of whether or not anyone was directly hurt. I called a brief meeting of the Autobots, telling me fellow soldiers that it was already likely we would be unable to stop the raid that was no doubt already in the process. I told them that this mission would likely be little more than a short investigation into the amount of damage that was caused and assist in repairing the area should it be in need of such.
I then asked for volunteers to come with me.
When Ratchet, Jazz and Ironhide all raised their hands, it was expected. Should we need to repair anything there was no better than our medic, Ironhide would provide arms and heavy artillery should we run into any trouble on the way there and back, and Jazz… well he was Jazz. It was a classic set up, despite the fact that Prowl gave what could only be described as a glower when Jazz had volunteered to place himself into even a fraction of potential danger. To be honest, it was almost humorous how protective Prowl was of his bondmate, but this was, of course, something I'd never share. I was beginning to wrap up the brief meeting, intending to leave immediately when one more voice spoke up.
"I would like to go as well, Prime."
That did surprise me. For a second or so, I stared at the large 'bot.
"Are you sure Skyfire?"
The shuttle looked at me with the same face that I'm sure I'd worn just a little bit ago, before nodding slowly as though he was just as surprised to hear himself saying it. He shifted uncomfortably under my gaze, even though he was the largest one in the room at the time. He opened his mouth once more, and paused again as though he were searching his central processor for the proper way to explain himself.
"I believe that it is time to become useful Prime, sir. I… I know that I have done little more than stay at the base and use up your energon… I've been useless. I'm sure that I can at least assist in repairs and damage control… After all, I'm an Autobot now too… and…"
It was very apparent just how uncomfortable that Skyfire was. However, he felt bad enough that he wanted to do something that was helpful, and I wasn't about to turn him down- especially seeing how much effort it took for him to merely say how he felt about the whole situation.
"Alright, you will come with us then." I nodded, noting the shocked faces of my comrades. None of them had expected the normally-quiet scientist to ever volunteer to go on an assignment. For the most part we all believed that he would ever-remain a pacifist, especially since he'd defected from the ranks of the Decepticons. There was the constant threat of being a target for their anger at his betrayal.
When Skyfire visibly stiffened in response to their faces, however, I knew that it was time for the five of us to leave before the twins said something to offend the poor, put-out 'bot.
"Alright. Prowl?," He turned from the spectacle of Skyfire for a moment, to nod at my request "You are going to be in charge while I am away. That means that everyone here must listen to what you say." I looked pointedly at the twins for a moment before continuing. "And Wheeljack, there will be no dangerous experiments while Ratchet is gone either. You remember what happened last time."
The inventor made a strange noise; a cross between disappointment and embarrassment, no doubt remembering what had happened the last time he'd tried to create something while Ratchet had been away. He'd been immobile for more than thirteen hours when the medic had finally returned. Ratchet had been so irate he'd almost refused to repair the poor 'bot. Surely it had been an unpleasant experience, but I knew that nothing short of utter humiliation would keep Wheeljack from fiddling with something-or-other in our absence. Wheeljack gave a short nod in my direction as conformation as Jazz, Bumblebee and the twins chuckled at him. Ratchet rolled his optics and Prowl gave another one of his patented glares and a sharp grunt that effectively cut the laughter short.
"Autobots, roll out!" It was all I needed to say for the five of us to get on the road.
When we arrived we found the place as I described earlier; a mess. There were broken trees littering the ground and the opening to the mine shaft had been blown away, leaving a hole large enough for even a gigantic Cybertronian like Skyfire to enter with ease.
The first order of business was to scope out the damage done to the inside of the mine shaft. The Decepticons had been careless in widening the entrance though, which meant that the place could be extremely unstable. It would be unsafe for more than one of us to enter the hole, lest we rattle the place enough to bring it down upon our heads. This, I of course, explained to the other four. They all nodded in understanding, and then for the second time I asked for a volunteer to go inside and check the area out. And somehow, impossibly, I was surprised again when Skyfire offered to.
"Skyfire, this could be very dangerous, you know. That mine could collapse at any time, it's structural integrity has been quite damaged."
He nodded at my advice, but I suppose that it went in one audio and straight out the other. He was one determined 'bot after all. I supposed that it would be okay, after all the Decepticons were apparently all gone at this point, otherwise we would have been attacked by now. However, he felt the need to explain why he would be the best Autobot for the job and I let him. He was a scientist after all, and he'd prepared a response that would set the other's minds at ease on the subject.
"After all, Optimus, sir, I am the largest one here. If the shaft were to fall on me, I would be the most likely to survive the cave-in. I'm thick-plated anyway, for space flight. Not to mention that since I'm so tall I would be able to see the ceilings better with my high beams, perhaps I could procure more information as a result."
The other three listened intently to his brief speech, and though I'm sure that Ironhide and Jazz didn't appreciated being called 'small' by-proxy they could think of no argument against the shuttle. I returned the nod that he had given me earlier and gave a small 'shrug'.
"You know that you have nothing to prove to us Skyfire. You are a very valuable 'bot. Your scientific research has certainly benefited us already…"
"Yes sir, I am aware, but I would like to do this."
"…Alright Skyfire. I trust that you will find any pertinent information that there is to be found," I wasted no time handing him a blaster rifle. "Though I would like you to take this with you, I know that this place seems fine… but safety first."
He took the rifle from me without a word and turned, heading into the mine without a second glance.
I watched him go, knowing that he would do his best to prove his worth.
"Alright then, the rest of will survey the damage outside of the mine, then." The four of us began looking around, picking up the larger pieces of metal that he been stripped away from the mine's original entrance, making sure to be gentle with the already-fragile trees. There were few words between us as we worked.
That, I supposed, is how we heard the tiny sound of a gun being fired somewhere deep inside the mine. I immediately straightened, turning to the other three.
"Did you all hear that?"
"—Way aheada 'ya Prime!" came the reply from Ironhide as he pulled out his weapons and charged towards the cave with all the grace of a deranged wild animal. 'Imma comin' 'ya big shuttle-lug!"
Ratchet and Jazz exchanged concerned looks for a moment before following him, and I brought up the rear.