Hostile Territory

Written by: Okami

Chapter 11- Treasure

~

I'm always on my own
I can show a smile, it's not hard to do
I can have the strength to go on
But sometimes I wanna let go of everything

Lyrics: You're Not Alone_Escaflowne

~

Authors Note: I do not own Robots in Disguise. I do however own Alana and Suzuki, therefore they can not be used anywhere other than this fanfic without my permission.

Helpful Hints:

****** - Means a change in scenery, or from Autobots to Decepticons

~~~ - Means a change in point of view but the same scenery

* * - Indicates a comlink conversation

******

Snow fell gently from the sky, covering the rocky land below. Tall, sturdy trees loomed over the terrain, keeping an ever-watchful eye on the mountain's occupants.

"Wow," HighTower commented, taking in a deep breath of the crisp air. "It sure is beautiful up here."

"It's colder too," Grimlock added, hugging himself to keep warm.

"Come on guys! This way!" Wedge's cheerful voice echoed through the high mountain pass. When his teammates made no move to follow, he called after them again only louder.

"Shh," HeavyLoad hissed. "You'll cause an avalanche."

Wedge instantly covered his mouth then quietly motioned for his comrades to follow him. The team picked their way through rough terrain, following an invisible path towards their destination. They traveled for quite some time, resting only for a few moments before continuing.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" HeavyLoad asked, taking a seat on a fallen tree. He regretted the motion as soon as snow contacted his rear, sending more chills through his frame.

"Of course I'm sure…I think," Wedge replied confidently then trailed off into hesitation. Checking his coordinates in relation to the ones Tai supplied him, he did a double take then scratched the back of his neck.

"Is something wrong?" HighTower asked, stepping closer to his leader and friend.

"No…but these coordinates indicates that we should be standing right on top of whatever is emitting the signal," Wedge replied, looking down around his feet. "I guess we should start looking."

The Build Team searched for hours in the dense forest, frequently getting smacked in the face by low tree branches or getting plopped on by snow from heavy branches. Rocks were turned over, fallen trees were pushed aside, and even icy creeks were dug through.

"What exactly are we looking fo-" Hightower began but was cut off when he found his face full of snow. "Who put this here?"

"Who put what where?" Wedge asked, making his way over to his fallen teammate. He noticed a small black object protruding from underneath the snow, barely visible but large enough for an Autobot to trip over.

"What is that?" Grimlock inquired, leaning over HeavyLoad's shoulder to get a better look.

After a moment of discussion, Grimlock found himself digging around the object with his shovel. The ground was unusually hard and rocks kept putting small dents in his digging utensil. As hard as the action was, Grimlock was determined to carry out his order and unearth whatever Hightower had tripped over.

"I can't believe it," Wedge remarked upon seeing the uncovered item.

"This is incredible," HeavyLoad grinned.

"Whoa," Hightower whispered.

Grimlock heaved the heavy object out of its hole and placed it carefully on the snowy ground. He simply stared at it, no words forming in his throat as he gawked at what lay before him.

~~~

RoTor snickered softly as he watched the red Autobot fall face first into the snow; he heard Movor smoother his own burst of laughter as well. Clumsy fool, the helicopter Decepticon thought to himself.

The two robots watched with minor curiosity as the Autobots stood in a circle around something; then one began to dig. The hole became deeper and larger until the green Autobot had to stand in it in order to continue digging. The Autobot suddenly stopped digging and emerged from the crater, baring the treasure he had recently unearthed.

"Would ya look at that?" Movor commented, fixing his optics on the prize.

"Scourge will be pleased with this," RoTor added, opening his comlink and updating his leader about the new target.

After receiving orders to apprehend the target, the two flying Decepticons transformed and proceeded to attack the Autobots. They watched with glee as their foes scrambled for cover while at the same time trying to protect their recently uncovered treasure.

~~~

"HeavyLoad! Guard that stasis pod!" Wedge hollered at his yellow companion.

"Right!" HeavyLoad replied, dodging a flying missile and dashing in the direction of the pod. He managed to roll out of the way of a laser beam and grab the stasis pod in the process. Thankful that his armor was the thickest of the Autobots, HeavyLoad protected the defenseless protoform from further damage by using his own body as a shield. The sound of guns echoing throughout the secluded forest brought a previous problem to his thoughts; avalanche.

Looking up with wide optics towards the towering cliff, he regretted to see that snow had begun to slowly fall down the mountain; only a small amount but gathering quantity by the minute.

"If we don't get out of here soon we'll be buried under the snow!" HeavyLoad shouted to his commander.

Wedge glanced at the indicated cliffside and a grin spread across his face. "That's a great idea!" he announced, then begun firing at the snow covered mountain.

~~~

Scourge, seeing HeavyLoad distracted for a moment, took the opportunity to grab the stasis pod from the unsuspecting Autobot. As if to further the victory, he slashed HeavyLoad across the chestplate with his 'Sword of Fury', leaving a rather nasty gash.

"Decepticons! We got what we came for, retreat!" he ordered, preparing to roll out. A loud rumbling sound halted his departure as snow came crashing towards him, swallowing entire trees without loosing speed.

"Grab the pod!" MegaOctane shouted, lunging for the stasis pod which was now grasped harshly by his leader. The two Decepticons worked together for a moment in securing the pod, but the barreling snow launched it from their clutches.

~~~

HeavyLoad hauled pile after pile of snow and ice while Grimlock dug the Build Team out from under the avalanche. His thoughts kept drifting back to the stasis pod but he refrained from mentioning anything; Wedge had a strange glint in his optics that told him the situation was under control.

Daylight dimly shown down from above, indicating the group was close to the surface. The Autobots gulped in the fresh mountain air as they dragged themselves out from their tunnel. As they rested and regained some strength, a glowing circle appeared above them on a mountain cliff and out zoomed three bullet trains.

"Are you guys all right?" RailSpike asked, transforming in midair and landing near the Build Team.

"Yeah, we're fine," Wedge panted, resting his back against an exposed treetop. The avalanche covered the forest they were in so now it appeared as if only saplings had ever grown in the area.

"You look like you just took a pounding from Ruination," RapidRun commented, scanning over the tired Autobot group.

HeavyLoad glanced over at his leader and was surprised to see the latter walking confidently away from the group.

"Where are you going?" Midnight Express asked, beginning to follow the young leader. He was somewhat surprised to see Wedge stop, kneel, then start pushing away snow from the ground.

RailSpike opened his mouth to say something but only let it hang open; his optics now rested on the partially exposed stasis pod.

"How on Cybertron did you find that?" RapidRun asked, his voice slightly higher than normal.

Wedge grinned from audio receptor to audio receptor. "When Tai downloaded me the coordinates of the signal emitting from the pod, she also sent me a copy of the frequency. That allowed me to find the pod even after the avalanche had buried it."

The Autobots gaped at the young warrior, shocked by his quick thinking. Then, as one, they patted him on the back and heavily praised him. Wedge was flustered at first then allowed himself to feel proud of his accomplishment. Leading the way back to Autobot Headquarters, the young leader grinned broadly the entire way.