Light peaked through the clouds, warming the sands of the desert below. Cacti, large and small, dotted the landscape. A lone mesquite tree stood tall, it's shadow long across the ground. Tigatron observed his surroundings, squinting his eyes when a harsh wind sweeps sand up. In the distance he could spot a mesa.
Once again he is grateful for the natural comfort he finds in his beast form. The others call it their alt forms, but he feels it is the reverse. At least for him. Their animal forms are so much better suited for Earth's climates. The animals they resemble literally made for this world. It is so much easier to clean dirt and grime from fur or feathers than mechanical joints.
He winces at the thought, reflexively shaking the excess sand from his fur.
"Do you see anything?"
Speaking of feathers...
Tigatron glances up at his friend, Airazor, who circles above, before taking one last look at the dunes. Moving on, careful not to sink into the shifting sand, he answered, "Afraid not. But, my scanners show that we are close. How about you?"
"No. I'm starting to wonder if- Wait! There!" She exclaims, diving down.
Tigatron picks up the pace, watching as she disappears behind a large boulder. Circling the boulder and other large rocks he finds her transformed and scanning an outcropping. Upon closer inspection he sees a dark hole beneath the outcropping.
Creeping closer, staying low to the ground, he pokes his snout into the opening. He sniffs the air. His foot shifts and the loose sand puffs up, causing him to sneeze. His nose twitches and he huffs, pulling his head back. Changing the subject he says, "It seems we've found the energon deposit."
Airazor tries to smother her giggles and tucks her hand scanner away. She returns to beast mode to protect herself from the energon's radiation. "It would appear so. Come on, let's go in and see how much is in there. The scanner is having difficulty pinpointing the extent of the deposit."
Tigatron hums in agreement, his optics drawn to the clouds. They were darker than they had been when they had first set out. The sun could no longer be seen, and the wind was picking up. He sneezed again. "Good idea. We must be quick, however. I don't like the look of those clouds."
Airazor nods, sending the darkening sky a nervous look.
One after the other, they descend into the hole.
Its a short drop. Activating their infrared, they look around. They were shocked by what they found. Instead of raw energon crystals-
"Well, well, well... It would appear your ploy worked, Tarantulas. Yessss."
Tigatron and Airazor transformed and drew their weapons on the Predacons. Tarantulas shot them with a beam from his new invention, a blaster designed to force bots into beast mode.
Tigatron shoved Airazor, taking the brunt of the blast.
"Tigatron!" She screamed. She ducked as another blast sailed over her head. There was nowhere to hide, the Predacons had cleared the cave of all debris, giving them no place to hide, forcing her to keep moving as both Megatron and Tarantulas fired at her and Tigatron.
Tigatron landed harshly on all fours, not having a moment to prepare himself for the transformation. His joints ached, but he forced himself to move to avoid being shot by Megatron's cannon. Leaping to the left, Tigatron prepared to tackle Megatron's legs. Airazor was keeping Tarantulas busy, expertly dodging the arachnid's blaster. She even managed to get a hit or two in. Megaton was tall enough that if he struck just right, Tigatron could knock the Predacon leader into his subordinate. Thus allowing the Maximals to escape.
He crouched, took aim, and leapt!
"PEE-SHOOOOW!"
"AAaaagghhh!"
Tigatron collapsed to the ground. His synthetic fur singed from the tyrannosaur's cannon fire. He panted heavily, his internal fans working overtime to cool his abused body. Part of his armour on his right leg was badly damaged. With a clang it fell to the floor, exposing wires and vital circuitry.
Tarantulas chuckled darkly, dragging a struggling Airazor to her comrade and dumping her next to Tigatron.
"You won't get away with this, Megatron." She grunted, glaring daggers at him. She twisted around in her binds, trying to claw at the webbing with her talons. "Optimus and the others will rescue us and kick your scaly butt."
The Predacon leader simply chuckled, as though she had told the funniest joke he had ever heard. He kneeled down and roughly grasped her chin in his clawed hand. "I'm counting on it, Maximal. Yeeesssss!"
He laughed again at her confused expression. She was so focused on what he had said, trying to figure out what he meant, that she no time to react when he bashed her feathered head with his dinosaur cannon arm.
"Noo..." Tigatron groaned, darkness creeping around the edges of his vision. His left optic sparked, causing static to flare up, blurring it further. "Airazor..."
.
.
Airazor groaned, blinking her eyes open. She hisses, wincing at the pain in her head. A crack in her cranial armour sparks, causing her to curl into herself. Or attempt to anyway. She tilts her head and looks down. She's tied tight in Tarantulas' webs. She squirms, testing the web's strength. Unfortunately, it remains strong. She groans again. "Oh, that's just great."
"Airazor? Are you awake?" Tigatron croaks.
Her head snaps up. She squawks in pain when her head hits the pole that holds them upright.
Tigatron waits patiently for her to regain her bearings. He closed his eyes to relieve them. The sparking in his left optic was worse when he opened it. Once the pain faded to an ache, she spoke. "What happened? Where are we?"
She studies the room. It is a square, barren room. The walls are made of material similar to the inner walls of the Predacon ship, the Darksyde. The floor however, was made of the same rock as the cave they encountered Megatron and Taranculas. Over their heads were two vents, currently closed. Aside from the vents, the only thing in the room was the pole they were tied to.
"Megatron… He-" Tigatron coughs. Sand and dust in the air irritating his systems. This is why he prefers the snowy tundra. "He captured us. Put us in here while we were unconscious. I do not know where we are exactly, but we are still in the desert.
Airazor hums in thought, mulling over what they know.
ssssssssssssSSSSSHHHHHH…
Her thoughts interrupted, Airazor looks up at the hissing sound. She instantly regrets it when sand, course and rough, pours down on her head. She coughs harshly, squeezing her optics shut. She tucks her beak into the webbing, trying and failing to hunch forward to protect her nostrils so she doesn't inhale the sand in and ruin her cooling systems. There's only so much debris her body can handle before it starts to cause problems.
Behind her, Tigatron doesn't fair any better. He violently coughs, his body trembling with the effort to rid itself of the irritating substance.
"What is this?!" Airazor yells. Her voice almost drowned out by the rush of sand.
Just as confused, Tigatron offers no explanation. Fearing what this situation could be though, he struggles in their binds. His hind legs scrape the stone floor, unable to gain traction in their awkward position. Catching on to what he's trying to do, Airazor struggles as well. She bites the webbing and shakes her head, trying to tear it.
Their efforts prove fruitless. Due to their previous injuries, they are slow and the sand… No matter how hard they try it invades their systems. The steady stream over their heads wedges the course substance into their open wounds. Tigatron's right leg becomes useless. Stiff, dead weight.
But that's not the worst of it. The young Maximals, so in tune with their beast mode instincts, are unable to stop their bodies from 'breathing'. They try, but their instincts flare up and panic, over riding their logical minds. It doesn't know they don't require oxygen to live, prompting them to attempt to breathe. This results in the sand entering their cooling systems, clogging their fans and scraping their insides with its jagged edges. Without their cooling systems their bodies begin to heat up.
This room, whatever it is made of, was designed to trap heat. The walls seem to bounce it off their metallic surfaces back at them.
"Ugghh… Tigatron?"
"Yes, Airazor?"
"How long have we been in here?"
He shakes his head. "I don't know."
The sand nearly completely covered them, reaching their chests. Their internal temperatures had risen to dangerous levels. The majority of their circuits were fried and other internal system were over heated.
"Do you think -koff- anyone is coming?"
Tigatron hesitated. He trusted their friends. He really did. He knew they wouldn't leave him and Airazor to die, not without trying to save them.
He trusted they were looking for them this very moment.
But it wouldn't matter. It was too late.
"No matter", he pauses, wheezing, "what happens", he twists his head, touching it to hers. The sand was to their chins now. "we will be… together."
She leans into his touch, her optics squeezed shut.
They remained in that position even as the sand continued to fall, burying them alive.