[Chapter 1]

Sand was thrown everywhere, and the earth shook violently. The few animals nearby heard the noise, felt the earth shake, and didn't hesitate to flee in fear. Everything was quiet for a few seconds, as the thing that had arrived from the skies was not moving. It continued to remain still.

ARRIVAL TO EARTH.

ESCAPE POD DAMAGED. UNABLE TO OPEN. MUST BE REPAIRED IMMEDIATELY.

Something inside of the shell growled, but the sound was not that of a feral beast. Perhaps a feral machine, a chainsaw let loose to ravage. The shell shook violently for a couple of seconds, the thing inside annoyed that it could not be released. But as it realized the struggle was not aiding its cause, it gave up with an angry whirr.

Time to play the waiting game.

"Alright guys, we're landing in 10 minutes! Prepare yourselves please!"

The barks from William Lennox was almost overheard by the roar of the aircraft, but no one was dumb enough to ask twice. Optimus Prime, Ironhide and Ratchet was wisely placed within a massive aircraft of their own, as they were all too big to fit in one.

"Are we all prepared for landing?"

Optimus Prime spoke from all of the speakers in the planes.

"Yes Optimus, we are all set to go in after the Autobots."

"Perfect. Now, I beg of you, please be careful, as we know not who this transformer belongs to."

"We promise. See you in the sandbox?"

"If you mean this Primus-abandoned desert, then yes, I will see you in the sandbox."

Will and the other soldiers snickered, and impatiently awaited the sight of the Autobots not so gracefully flying through the air. The 10 minutes passed slowly, before one of the suddenly cheered as they saw the three robots going through the air. It was a rather peculiar sight, to see them all having strings attached to them, as if they were helpless puppets, waiting for a master of some sort to guide them.

"Now!" Will yelled as he heard Optimus give him the signal from the earpiece on his head. The soldiers quickly formed a line, where they all jumped out of the rear end one by one. Will was last, as he was to ensure everybody had jumped before he. No one was missing, and he jumped after the rest of the soldiers. From the sky, he saw the three Autobots standing a couple of yards away from the massive escaping pod in the middle of nowhere. He was disturbed by the fact that even they kept their distance.

All of the soldiers gracefully landed on their feet, and did the required procedure to ensure that the parachutes did not break, or cause the soldiers trouble. As soon as that was done, the soldiers hurried to the Autobots' side, and kept low.

"Why are we so far away from it Optimus?" Will asked, and peeked at the pod far away from them.

"Because we are confused. It seemed that he or she have made no attempt to open the pod."

"Why?"

"We're suspecting he or she knows we're here, and would rather stay inside."

"So, we're playing the waiting game?"

"Playing the waiting game." Ironhide confirmed by his interruption. He eyed the pod cautiously, canons whirring with impatience, excitement and annoyance.

"When is this cowardly frag coming out!" he sneered.

"Isn't there some sort of identification number on it, to confirm our newcomer?" Will asked, and hoped that the answer would be yes.

"It was the plan, but it was only done to the youngest sparklings, of whom you know most did not make it, and few did. This one is not young enough for those kind of modern things." Ratchet replied, still staring at the pod.

"Guess it's all about the waiting game." Will muttered, and kicked some sand away in annoyance.

"For now, I am afraid so."

"Can we put up our tents?"

"Yes, ofcourse. You need shelter."

Will thanked the Prime, before he loudly began barking out commands.

"Alright men, gather 'round and put the tents up! The cars will get here as soon as the planes are able to find a place to land, so it might take awhile. Grab the tents from your bags, and let's go."

The soldiers were all a blur of motion as they all let go of their backpacks and searched for their temporary homes. Whatever that was needed to put up tents was in there, and the soldiers were split into teams of two of which they could sleep with. Will was the only one sleeping alone, as he was the only human officer in this mission.

Within a couple of hours, the sun had begun to set and the cars that were with the aircraft had arrived. Everybody knew that the desert was scorching hot in the day, and deadly cold in the night. Thus, was everybody looking forward to the fact that the cars brought a lot of firewood that was necessary for their food and to keep themselves warm. The Autobots had not moved from the spot they started at, desperately waiting for the visitor to come out of the pod.

After the soldiers had managed to get the tents up, and the fire running, Will went over to the Autobots.

"Are you sure that he's just not shy? Or the pod is broken?"

"That's nonsense William, a pod does not simply break as such."

"Sorry, I was just taking a wild guess. Everything can break, even you guys break!" he said, before one glance from Ratchet made him change his mind. "As a result of severe beatings or shots from guns."

Ratchet snorted, and returned his gaze upon the pod.

Will sighed, and turned around yet again. His watch was not until a couple of hours, so instead he went up to the campfire, were other restless soldiers could be found.

A quiet conversation was going on, but Will was too tired to join in, and instead found himself staring into the fire that raged before him.

"Officer, would you like some beans?"

Will looked to the soldier that had spoken to him, and recognized him as Nathan Anderson. He was a young and kindhearted soldier, and usually Will would think of these attributes badly, as it seemed that he was not one that could be harsh. But even with his kind heart, he managed to proudly defend his country.

"Sure Nate, thanks." Will said and smiled, before accepting the beans that Nathan gave him.

Another great thing about Nathan, was his cooking.

"I can only wish I could make beans this good!" Will grinned loudly, before trying to figure out ways to pass the time, as they awaited for the Autobot or Decepticon to come out of its shell.