It wasn't long later that Pulse finally straightened up from Freeway who cautiously pushed himself upright and looked around him while flexing his arms and legs experimentally. He'd been damaged fairly substantially, but not enough that Pulse couldn't patch him up to a level that he could engage an enemy in.
As Freeway staggered to his feet, Pulse check the other three for any injuries before tending to himself, leaning against a nearby hoodoo as he did so.
Freeway approached Alex and Bill, Kickdown taking a step backwards so that he could kneel down beside the two of them.
"Is she ok?" Freeway asked quietly.
Alex nodded, "I think so. Thanks to you."
Bill looked up from where she'd had her head resting against Alex's chest and smiled gratefully at Freeway, "Thank you. You are just as good as I told you, you were."
Had Freeway been able to blush he would have done so rather violently, but since he couldn't, he settled for a casual shrug as he straightened up to his full height rather proudly, "Well, you know. I have to protect humans. It's nothing special really. I just –."
He was cut off by Bill pulling away from Alex and moving over to him where she promptly wrapped her arms around his large leg (which was all she could reach), his knee about the same height as her shoulders, and she hugged him tightly, ignoring the feeling of hot metal against her skin.
"Oh…" Freeway muttered, glancing down at Bill. Alex rolled his eyes and stood up, making gestures with his arms to tell Freeway to at least attempt to hug her back. The Autobot hesitated before leaning down and carefully patting Bill awkwardly on the back.
"How sentimental," Drag commented from where he was standing, arms folded, "Sorry to break up this happy moment but Deadlock could attack us again at any moment. You know he's virtually silent in his approach."
"He could have phrased it slightly better, but Drag is otherwise correct," Pulse looked up from where he was tending to his shoulder, "We had better get to the site before we're attacked again. The others have seen no sign of the Decepticons, so Reaper is keeping the majority of his attention on our area."
"I take it that guy, Deadlock, was one of the ones previously attacking this area?" Alex asked.
Torque nodded, "One of them, yes. All these flying Decepticons are silent and deadly, as stupid as they are."
"Spectre specifically," Drag agreed, "Although there was once apparently a Decepticon who was worse than him. Even more dangerous. Apparently he racked up the most Autobot kills we'd ever reported in only a few days. He is, and hopefully was, deadly. But he was last heard of on Cybertron and since then, he hasn't been in the spotlight for some reason."
"Lets just say we're glad Megatron didn't recruit him to Earth," Kickdown shrugged.
"Agreed," Pulse nodded, straightening up before testing his arm, flexing it in various places while he kept a hand on the shoulder. It seemed to make a few creaking noises, but otherwise held.
"That hurt?" Alex frowned up at him.
"Only when it happened. I disconnected my pain receptors internally so as to ignore it. Now they're back online, it merely, how would you humans put it…? I suppose you'd say it aches," Pulse nodded.
Alex raised his eyebrows and nodded too, "Cool," he didn't know what else he could really say to something like that.
"I wouldn't say it's cool," Drag put it, "Rather, when repairing, the area becomes hot due to the friction and –."
"It's a local colloquialism, you tin can," Kickdown rolled his eyes, "He doesn't mean it in the literal sense."
Drag frowned slightly then glared at him, "Whatever."
"Let's carry on our way then," Pulse said before the two Autobots could begin to squabble.
"Lets," Kickdown smirked at Drag who continued to give him the Autobot equivalents of dirty looks.
Pulse looked down to Alex and Bill, who, while no longer hugging him, was sticking close to Freeway, "How would you two like to travel?"
"I'll carry her," Freeway offered quickly.
"If that's ok with her?" Pulse nodded.
"Of course it is," Bill put a hand on Freeway's leg.
"Alex?" Pulse looked at him.
"It's not far, right? I can walk," Alex shrugged.
"If that's your wish," the largest Autobot indicated that Torque and Kickdown should take the lead while Freeway bent down and allowed Bill to climb onto his shoulder. She looked a little pained as she did so, probably a few bruises or pulled muscles, however she didn't say anything, pretending nothing was wrong.
Alex watched her closely as Freeway set off with Drag close behind him. Pulse waited for him to begin to walk, however Alex decided that he'd be left behind at his current pace as Pulse took a stride forward that was rather large, so began to jog along regardless of the high temperatures in the bottom of the canyon.
Pulse strode along side him, not only wanting to keep an eye on him for protection purposes, but to make sure Alex didn't overexert himself. Pulse knew a little about the humans and the way they and their organic make up worked, therefore was conscious of how the heat may affect Alex.
They walked, or in Alex's case ran, as a group for a fair way, going up and down inclines, through forests made up of the strange skyward reaching hoodoos, as well as cavernous gullies that even the Autobots were unable to see out of. The few trees in the area were similar to the rock features too, as they were tall and thin, mirroring the poses of the hoodoos. While Alex's gaze upwards was captivated by the rock formations all around them, the Autobots too had their eyes directed at the sky, however they were fair from admiring the local scenery.
Eventually Kickdown and Torque at the front of the convoy slowed their pace before coming to a halt and glanced behind them at the others.
"It's just over this rise in the ground," Kickdown indicated a fairly steep rocky hill in front of them with a flick of his hand, which Alex vaguely noticed only had four fingers, "I'm warning you now in case there's a welcoming party."
Torque gave a quiet grunt, "There'll be something, I'm sure. Freeway, you'd better take you human and move behind us."
The young Autobot nodded and made his way back to where Pulse and Alex were standing, Bill still secure on his shoulder.
"Ready?" Kickdown glanced at them.
"We're always ready," Drag responded, the lethal blades hidden above his hands slid out to their full extent and he brought them up into a defensive position to emphasise his point.
Kickdown nodded and set off up the hill as quickly as he dared, the others hurrying after him. Alex was forced to run a little faster now, and was trying to do his best not to pant too hard and look like he was about to pass out, especially since Pulse kept looking like he wanted to carry him. Maybe it was the sweat pouring off him that gave it away.
Up ahead Kickdown had reached the crest of the hill and Alex saw him visibly relax, there obvious being nothing waiting for them.
"Makes a change," Pulse muttered either to himself or Alex.
Alex just shrugged in case it was directed at him and sped up as much as he could to catch up with the other Autobots.
"Nothing here," Drag was saying to Torque as he approached, "No Decepticons and nothing special."
Torque was nodding, "No Decepticons are good, but we'll just have to scan the area to make sure. Hence where Pulse comes in."
"I'll begin to scan the area for anything that may be unusual, then check for anything that may be natural yet important to us," Pulse came up beside Drag.
"We'll help as much as we can, but otherwise camp out and keep a watch," Kickdown nodded.
Pulse nodded, "That would probably be the best idea, I need to focus and I'd rather not be attacked while doing so."
"Lets go then, while the coast is clear," Drag encouraged, setting off down the slope without waiting for anyone else. Torque rolled his eyes and hurried after him, leaving the rest of them to take their time.
Alex began to trudge down the rock beside Kickdown, vaguely disappointed that there hadn't been an amazing discovery awaiting them. Something like gold, silver, an alien spaceship. Anything. But there was just rock with a few trees and hoodoos. Nothing seemingly different to the rest of the huge canyon. But whatever was here the Decepticons obviously thought it important because Alex was sure they wouldn't be wasting their time at the bottom of an empty canyon.
While Kickdown and Freeway went over to a sheltered part of the clearing to sit down and talk, Drag and Torque split up and began to check the area, almost in a patrolling fashion. Alex hovered around, unsure where he should go as Pulse took up position in the middle of the area, his expression turning thoughtful as he began to slowly look around him.
Eventually Alex just decided to go over to one of the limber pines and slumped down against its trunk, wiping a hand across his rather sweaty face. He glanced across to Bill, but she seemed to be physically attached to Freeway. If only Alex had saved her life instead…
He sighed and closed his eyes, letting his mind wander all over the place as he listened to the sounds around him. He could hear birds, specifically a Stellar's Jay laughing its head off somewhere. The wind whistled eerily though the hoodoos creating an almost musical tune that vaguely reminded Alex of something that Jak had played once while driving along. He could also hear the Autobots moving around him, the sound of perfectly oiled joints and metal sliding over metal, as well as the crunch of rock as their weight caused light fissures in it.
He was vaguely aware of another sound after a while, which he at first put down to a change in the wind direction as it moved through the rock formations, however it appeared to slowly get louder, despite it still being faint. It also had a slight 'whumping' sound about it, as if there was something spinning at a high velocity through the hot air. It also sounded vaguely familiar, but not like Jak's music this time. It reminded him of home, where an air force base was just a little way down his road, where planes and helicopters often passed overhead. It especially sounded like a small helicopter, now that he thought about it. Maybe it was just a…