Author's Notes: After ten thousand years abroad, I return! I have much to catch up on, people to respond to and of course things to do in the real world! But I wanted to put something up here as it has been some time! Kind of on the shorter side, but no big deal, I shall have even more to upload at the end of the week.
In this chapter we see how poor Hoist intends to handle the Dinobot presence as they approach the final days of this whole Decepticon drama. And then we check in on Steeljaw, who is led by the mysterious Voice to an ancient powerful artifact… Probably not great!
It's great to be back with all of you again! Please follow, favorite, and drop a comment to share what you think! And as always, enjoy!
Part 10
Dinobot Drama and Steeljaw's Fun Forest Frolic
Location: Rescue Academy
Hoist
So, this was his life now. Hiding in a storage closet. Compared to the outside world beyond the storage closet, it wasn't too bad a gig. But as was his current mood, beside unyielding fear, he felt guilty as heck.
Every member of the team was still doing their jobs, braving the Dinobot world that had become their base in the past week. Even some of the Decepticons had volunteered to help the cause. Chop Shop was going to be Groundbridged out to Australia to infiltrate the hostile Con base on their behalf. Putting his own safety on the line just to collect intel and sabotage where he could. Or had that already happened? He didn't know, because one of the Dinobots had sauntered into the Groundbridge hub where Hoist was helping, and he booked it. So now, the storage closet.
He felt worthless. Why couldn't he just not care like everyone else? Wedge was indifferent to Grimlock and the rest of the Dinobot squad patrolling the halls. Medix was just annoyed by their large chaotic presence. Then there was Hotshot and Whirl, who were enchanted every time one of the massive beasts even talked or picked their fangs. Of course, that was Whirl and Hotshot. They would be impressed with a collapsing building or any similar type of disaster. But then what about the Burns? They were specks compared to the Dinobots, but none of them were scared, save for maybe Graham, who appeared borderline unnerved by them. That unnerve aside, his fear still didn't stop him from doing his job or helping people.
Hoist groaned. Maybe he could, just, try not to look at them when they shared a space.
Of course, that was a hard task, since they took up so much of whatever space they occupied. And this would be the tenth time Hoist had tried to talk himself up to just getting over his fear with a go get 'em attitude. And if going by his current position, in a closet, was anything to go by, the most recent attempt had gone about as well as the other nine.
"Whirl is looking for you, Hoist." The surprisingly gentle tone of Secundus informed him. Hoist tried not to yelp in response to the all-encompassing voice.
"Don't tell her I'm here please." Hoist begged.
Secundus hummed at that. "I will not. But they do require your expertise regarding spaceship technologies. Chop Shop is reporting on the escape ship the Decepticons are constructing. They need to inform him on the best strategy to sabotage it."
Hoist groaned again. Spaceship tech was his strong suit. He was sure Professor Boulder and Graham could handle it themselves. They could even drag Doc Green in if they really needed to. But, he had a feeling Boulder was trying to get him back in the game somehow. And here he was in the company of mops feeling sorry for himself. He could ask Secundus if the Dinobots were in the room where they needed him, but he already knew that would be a big yes. The Dinobots appearing wherever he went seemed to be the new and twisted comical life sentence gifted to him by the Universe's cruel irony department.
"Hoist…" Secundus said, interrupting his brooding, "I worry this next update will alarm you, but I feel it would alarm you more if I said nothing."
Well, that was ominous. Hoist in-vented hard, then released. "Hit me."
"In addition to Whirl searching for you, Sludge is as well."
Sludge… Who was- Recollection hit Hoist like Hotshot tended to when he wasn't paying attention on patrols. Sludge was one of the Dinobots! Why would THEY be looking for him? They did have a keen sense of smell, or they did according to Hoist's research.
Professor Boulder had suggested learning more about them. He said it would take away some of the mystery. The only thing it did was scare Hoist more. He got to learn about HOW they became Dinobots. He was now having flux nightmares about the faceplateless Decepticon named Shockwave he read about. Most nightmares involved Shockwave botnapping him from the Academy and turning him into a Dinobot too. In short, the research didn't help.
The monstrous ped steps brought Hoist out of his terrifying flashback and into the even more horrifying reality. Cornered in a supply closet, stalked by a Dinobot.
"Where are ya, little bot?" Came the muffled voice of one of them. Sludge. Yeah, he remembered this one. When he was hiding in the storage cabinet in the Commons room. This one actually listened to his plea not to threaten the Decepticon Clampdown…
It must have been his size, or he was in Dinomode, because from the alarming sounds from the other side of the door, it sounded like Sludge was smashing into every wall or idle cart in the hallway. Then the commotion outside ceased and the steps stopped right in front of the supply closet. Hoist's tunnel vision started to set in. Yep, they could smell him, and probably hear him with how much he was shaking. Well, maybe he would faint before the Dinobot smashed down the door.
Silence stretched on. Hoist trembled, waiting for the inevitable. The door would rip off its track, and those fangs would be tearing at his plating. Goodbye Earth. Primus, here he comes.
There was a knock on the door. "You alright in there, little bot?"
"P-please don't come in." Hoist begged. If the Dinobot listened to his request before, maybe he would again.
More long silence before the reply. "Well then, how I'm supposed to bring ya back to your teachers? They need ya for some sort of, somethin' about an engine, or tearing?"
Hoist in-vented hard, rolling that in around his mind. "Engineering?"
"That's the one!" Sludge said victoriously. "Your green teacher said you was smart and needed to help."
So, this was Professor Boulder's doing. That checked out. Hoist knew for a fact his presence was not a requirement. But Boulder was trying to get him out of this Dinobot rut. "I can't help. I'm sorry. I just can't."
"Cuz of us?"
Hoist wasn't sure, since there was a door in the way, but Sludge sounded hurt. Well, now he felt terrified and guilty. Then terrified all over again, because if he hurt a Dinobot's feelings, there was no way they weren't going to eat him for it. "It really isn't anything personal." Hoist tried to promise. "This is all me. I've been scared of Dinobots from the moment I heard about them… You. Then I read about how you got turned into Dinobots, so now I'm afraid of Shockwave, and I don't even know what the guy looks like…"
"I was scared of Shockwave for a long while too," Sludge explained very matter of factly.
Hoist stopped staring at his peds and instead turned up to the door. The simple confession should have been obvious, but it surprised him. He hadn't really considered a Dinobot fearing, well, anything. Even the bot responsible for turning them into Dinobots. Sludge continued in spite of Hoist's failure to respond. "Yep. I think all of us was pretty scared and confused at the start. Then we was just mad. For a long time we was mad. Boss was the maddest. Then Snarl second. Snarl would say I was stupid for saying this, but he's still real scared of Shockwave. But ya know, I kinda got tired of bein' mad. And then the treaty happened, so not like we can kills Shockwave no more. I hada chance to tell Shockwave what he done was wrong, and I kinda just, left my anger with him. Do that make any sense? Snarl says I ramble stupid."
"It, makes a lot of sense." Hoist promised. "That was, a really mature thing for you to do. It's not stupid at all."
"Thanks!" Sludge said, and the merry tone suggested the smile the door concealed. "I figured, if you had the same chance to talk to what you was scared of, you could move on too."
Was it that simple? Admittedly, in the course of this conversation, he had kinda forgotten he was talking to a Dinobot. And, it wasn't like Sludge was transformed ALL the time. He was just a bot, who was changed into something against his will. That wasn't his fault. It wasn't any of their faults. Had they lost friends because of what they were turned into? What would Hoist ever do if his friends left because they were scared of him?
He reached for the door, and on a last second decision, he just shut his optics. He heard the door slide open. He felt for the edges of the doorframe so he wouldn't stumble out of the supply closet.
"Now that's smarts!" Sludge's voice praised, no longer muffled by the barrier that was between them before. "Make's my idea just stupid by comparison…"
Well, now Hoist was curious. What had Sludge concocted to keep Hoist's fears at bay?
He took the risk and peeked one optic open. He was greeted with Sludge, with what was probably a tarp used for a car, draped over his helm. It didn't reach very far down, ending at his waist. If he had just cut holes in the tarp for his optics, he would have elicited the image of a bad Halloween ghost.
The ridiculous situation managed to pull a laugh out of Hoist. That did explain why he heard so much fumbling in the hall. Had Sludge been wearing this get up even when looking for him? Not exactly well thought out, but extremely well meaning. "You, didn't have to do that for me."
"It workin' though?" Sludge asked.
As a matter of fact, it was. Maybe because the scene was so ridiculous it canceled out the intimidation of Sludge's massive body. "Yeah, it actually is."
From under the tarp, Sludge struck a triumphant pose with both hands on his hips. "Then Boss was wrong! This wasn't the dumbest thing I ever done!"
Hoist wasn't sure where the newfound confidence inside himself was coming from. But he reached out to take Sludge's hand to lead him down the hall accident free. He managed to shepherd Sludge back to the Common's room with no trips or walking into wall incidents. And there they were. The rest of the Dinobots, all sat on the couches they had basically claimed. Hoist felt the fear rising again. But he had walked all the way down the hall and Sludge hadn't killed him… Not even by accident. So, the worst hadn't happened. Chances are, they wouldn't happen at all. He also realized he was gripping Sludge's hand still, now very tightly. He was holding onto a Dinobot.
"Hoist!" Whirl had jumped up out of nowhere, successfully scaring out his previous fear. So, yay?
She rushed over and scooped Hoist up into a crushing hug. "You got over your fear of Dinobots! I knew you could do it!"
Hoist managed to squeeze out from her servos. "I didn't… I just, talked to Sludge about things I hadn't thought of before. Plus, Professor Boulder said he needed me. I need to help the team, fear or no fear."
"Spoken like a true Rescue Bot." Said Boulder. In all the commotion, Hoist hadn't even seen him. He was standing amongst the other professors, Quickshadow and Brushfire, all gathered around the monitors with Chop Shop's status blinking on screen. So far, it appeared they had everything under control. So, this really was just about getting him out of hiding. He wasn't exactly mad about that fact.
"You look like an idiot, Sludge." Grimlock informed him.
Sludge, still under his tarp, gave a confident laugh. "Worked didn't it? Who's stupid now?"
"Not like we was winnin' any smarts competitions before." Swoop offered with a shrug.
Grimlock waved Hoist over. "Hooks, ya should have said somethin' before!"
On stiff peds, Hoist started to move towards the couches, Whirl holding onto him along with Sludge. Though Sludge would probably trip if he didn't grip onto someone. A few steps away, Hoist hesitated. Grimlock smiled at him. "We ain't gonna bite. Besides your group hiring us, you're a kid, and we don't hurt kids. We're brutes, but we ain't monsters."
"Thanks." Hoist muttered. His Spark was still pounding, but now he felt, guilty? He wasn't sure. "I didn't say anything, because I was worried, I would offend you."
The group gave a very hearty laugh at that. "Trust me, kid," Grimlock continued to snicker, "We's a hard group to offend. Me personally probably would be to dim to get most insults you sling my way."
"Still…" Hoist vented. "It, really isn't you guys. You've helped us loads so far. I could have at least explained why I was acting so weird."
"We're used to it." Snarl said with a shrug. "Big chassis horror abominations. Loads of others run screamin' too."
Snarl most likely meant to be assuring, but it only made Hoist feel worse. He couldn't imagine living like that every day.
"He found out about Shockwave too." Sludge added. It appeared to be all the context the group needed.
"Yeah, can't blame ya, kid," Grimlock said. "It was pretty fragged up. But, we was all messed up in the helm before even meetin' Shockwave. So old one eye can't take all the credit."
Hoist found himself chuckling. Hotshot was right. Grimlock was kind of funny.
With his Spark somewhat settled, Hoist started for his professors, hesitating only to pull the tarp off Sludge. "How can I help, Professor?" Hoist volunteered. He kept his voice on the low side. Quickshadow was talking very seriously to Chop Shop over the encrypted commlink.
Boulder rubbed his lower jaw hinge. "Hm. Well, Chop Shop has told us a lot about what we'll be dealing with. The ship the Decepticon's are constructing will not be sufficient for long range travel, or even orbit. As much as they have damaged Earth, we can't have them taking off in a thing like that either…"
"He'll have to sabotage it then." Hoist jumped right in. "That is, if he gets the chance to do it without getting caught."
"The booby traps may be the better thing to focus on." Heatwave intoned. "We have Boulder and Graham covering the ship. But Chop Shop has clocked at least ten buried land minds around the entrance of the cave, and thankfully, there was one left on a worktable, so we know their schematics."
Hoist brightened as Boulder handed him the data pad with the bomb blueprints. He studied them, running over the math a few times in his mind before speaking up again. "Yeah, these would be devastating even for larger bots to stumble into. I should be able to deactivate them. But…" He turned, and saw the Dinobots watching his back. "I'll need larger bots to break the connections once we're closer."
Grimlock smiled. "You're the boss, Hoist. Just tell us what to smash and we'll get it done."
And that was about the time he tuned back into Quickshadow reprimanding Chop Shop for something. It was hard not to listen in. Quickshadow was getting visibly frustrated. "And please, before you activate the commlink, you need to make sure the coast is clear. Despite my spy frequency's impeccable design, you can't be too reckless, as you have been. It's not a matter of if but when you will get caught if you carry on disregarding my advice."
/Not even here a day and ya already signing me off as a gona? Good to know ya think so highly of me./ Chop Shop snickered, further proving Quickshadow's point he was not exactly taking this seriously.
Hoist caught Quickshadow rolling her optics. But Brushfire beat her to the next question. "How's the local area lookin'?"
/Eh, looks like a desert./ Chop Shop admitted.
Brushfire cracked a smile in the face of his dead pan delivery. "That she is, mate. But that makes the place just one spark away from goin' up in flames. So be careful with the blasters."
/Anything for a pretty Shila!/ Chop Shop agreed merrily. /I'll ask the blokes here ta hold off on tha celebratory gunfire./
Quickshadow groaned. "I see I have lost your retention."
/Don't get yourself all bent out Quicks. Not like I even have my gun. You insisted I leave it behind./ He grumbled.
Quickshadow looked like she was refraining from palming her faceplates in frustration.
"I believe we went over this. A few times, if my memory doesn't betray me. If our groups end up clashing before you have dropped your cover, your fellow Decepticons would expect you to use that gun, against us. I would rather avoid the whole potential tragedy."
/You Autobots make everything so complicated.' Chop Shop complained. 'Just make sure nobot drops it. Same with my instrument!/
"Both are well taken care of." Quickshadow huffed a vent. "Whatever keeps you focused on the mission."
Whirl leaned into Hoist. "He let me watch over the instrument, but only because I kind of begged him." She whispered excitedly. "I mean, I can't play it right, and it's bigger than me all folded out, but It's still really cool… Now last I saw the big gun, I think Hotshot was, eyeing it." She admitted as the reality of that slowly dawned on her. Hotshot wasn't here with them…
Hoist turned to her in horror. "Oh Primus, who left him alone with it?"
Location: Cocklebiddy Cave Australia
Steeljaw
His plans were so close to fruition he could almost reach out and grasp them. And not a moment too soon, because he had truly grown tired of holding out this charade and maintaining this ridiculous company. He reminded himself it would all be worth it in the end. But now, he had to take a brief respite from his plans of taking command of Earth, and instead satiate his other engagements. Namely, one to a constantly nagging but apparently powerful interdimensional being.
The mysterious disembodied Voice had gone quiet for a time, but then returned with gusto, blaring the location of some relic Steeljaw needed to find. Apparently, the fate of existence depended on it. The Voice's use of dramatic language aside, Steeljaw was interested to say the least. He always assumed he was destined for greatness, so the fact this force sought him out was not totally surprising. He figured he could pencil in some time to get involved in whatever the Voice was scheming. Of course, the promise of power worthy of the Primes was not too shabby either.
"Where you going?" the ever-nosy Minicon Needler asked, catching him before he got any closer to the Groundbridge. He had tried to remain unseen amongst the loitering riffraff that made up their party. But rumor was spreading that Needler had a literal six sense regarding anybot approaching his inventions. Steeljaw was starting to give that rumor some merit.
Of course, Needler would catch him. Steeljaw had just hoped he wouldn't notice until after he had gone through the portal. "Scouting for more Energon is all." Steeljaw explained, after erasing any trace of his annoyance for the bot questioning him in the first place.
"Again?" Needler scoffed. His puny chassis was still standing in the way of the Groundbridge. "Your worthless olfactory snoot ain't worked so far. Why will it work now?"
Steeljaw refrained from growling. "I'm not ready to admit defeat just yet. I figure a farther location may be just what it will take."
Needler seemed far from convinced. Not that he was suspicious. Steeljaw didn't read that in the small Con's scowl. This was all about somebot using 'his' Groundbridge without Glowstrike or Saberhorn browbeating him to do so. Steeljaw switched up his strategy. "I assume, time is limited. The ship is still not ready. And every moment is a step closer to the Autobots torturing our location out of Clampdown. If we luck out and I find Energon, all problems are solved. Hunger included." He made sure to add while giving the place over Needler's tanks a sorrowful glance.
That did it, finally. Needler rubbed his lower frame with a bitter grumble. Steeljaw was sure his inner alarms were blaring in the background of his HUD, like it would be for most others. They had been forced to endure even stricter Energon rations, ever since half of their remaining stores had been stolen from. Glowstrike and Saborhorn never did catch which Con was responsible for the theft. And though Steeljaw was loathed to waste Energon, destroying those stores were an integral part of his plan moving forward. It put even more pressure on Glowstrike and Saberhorn and made growing animosities towards them unavoidable. Truly unfortunate, for Glowstrike and Saberhorn.
"Fine. Just don't fraggin' get captured too. Primus knows I hear the bosses fighting enough as it is."
"Thank you for your understanding, brother." Steeljaw said with a humble nod. Needler went to finish activating the Groundbridge for him, still not liking anybot but him touching it. "Why here?" He asked of the coordinates Steeljaw had already set it for. The coordinates the Voice had instructed him to travel to.
Steeljaw gave a playful smile. "Just a lucky feeling."
"Good, then don't come back without Energon. I won't be able to activate the Bridge after two more start-ups. That's how bad it is Jaws."
"I wouldn't be able to face the team if I come back empty clawed again." He promised. He was sure he could scrounge some Energon scraps. After, he procured the power he was promised, of course.
He walked hurriedly through the Groundbridge before anybot else was summoned by the noise. It collapsed behind him, almost catching his tail. Needler must have deactivated it faster to save fuel. They must truly be that desperate for Energon. A shame.
Smiling, Steeljaw carried onward. But his good mood was short lived.
He had arrived at the exact opposite of where he and his cohorts were camped. Lush green forests with squawking organic life hidden amongst the foliage. The wet ground greedily sucked him down forcing him to shake himself loose. Damp humidity clung to his chassis. The moisture was so thick he wasn't sure if he was in a forest or under the planet's ocean. A true organic's paradise. Steeljaw hated it.
'You are here at last.' The voice echoed in his audios, so loud it startled him.
Steeljaw composed himself, even though it was only him and the invisible presence. "My apologies. I do have other duties besides you. Now, where can I find this oh so important item of ancient power?"
'Forward.'
Cryptic, but Steeljaw didn't argue. He cut his way through the organic thicket, cursing the whole way. In addition to the humidity, and the Earth plant life, the region was mountainous. Just fragging perfect. He had to trudge uphill for the entire duration of the journey. There was not one instance he could utilize his vehicle mode. Because of course this couldn't be easy in any way. Even his small shoulder mounted flamethrower failed to help much, having a hard time catching the dripping wet foliage. It must have also just rained. Fragging wonderful.
"Am I close?" Steeljaw snarled at the air. But the energy shift was enough to answer his question. Even the organic vermin that called this region home stopped their incessant chirps and buzzes as he arrived at the top of a final steep forested hillside.
The local humans had marked this place, but apparently not for a while. Vines had taken over the once cleared stone pathways and long steps that led up from the other side of the peek. Carved statues with what Steeljaw assumed to be human characters lined the overgrown walkways. Dilapidated little buildings sat in the center of the space. A moss-covered human looking statue welcomed him. It's small hands clasped in front of them, organic optics closed, helm bowed in reverence. Steeljaw couldn't wait to see similar submission from the fleshier kind of human, mostly when facing him.
'Within the temple.' The Voice directed.
Steeljaw looked down the small path. He could hardly tell the dilapidated human structures apart enough to pick out which one was 'the temple' but he assumed it was the largest in the middle. This structure, along with most others, was crafted from the material Steeljaw's inner translator read as 'wood.' The byproduct he thought the large trunked foliage came from. It looked absolutely feeble in strength, rotting away in places or being actively eaten by tiny organic pests. He already knew it was flammable, going by his near constant need to get through similar vegetation with his flamethrower.
The roof of the human 'temple' was in far better condition. Long sloping ends with overlayed tiles made of some sort of fired dirt. Though it all looked horrifically brittle, it maintained itself better in the Earth's fickle weather conditions. It also could be considered beautiful. Each tile crafted in a deep blue pigment and lovingly laid one over the other by human hands.
"No little humans coming to interfere?" He looked about the sacred place. The wind whistled through the trees and flimsy temple doors.
'The last of its caretakers lay behind you.'
Steeljaw turned. Across from the temple and under a thick tree sat a small stone monument carved with more human text. Ah. He got it. "Hm, a shame." He said of the grave with a good deal of indifference. "Though I suppose it makes this a lot less complicated." He wouldn't have to swat any humans out of his way. Their feeble lifespan took care of the problem for him before he even got here.
He got his claws under the tiled roof of the temple and ripped it from its wooden supports. The tiles smashed behind the temple wherever they fell. Steeljaw peered inside through the open maw he had created. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to see. Maybe just a Cybertronian weapon taking up the entirety of the human shelter. Instead, he found an altar. It appeared to have been taken care of with great reverence before the human caretaker had keeled over.
A statue of a human female stood as the center point of the altar, the depiction of a blazing sun at her back. The wooden walls behind her were painted with primitive images of giants knelt down, handing what appeared to be a staff to the outstretched arms of the humans. The same depicted staff was held aloft by the sun wielding statue. The weapon stuck out, because it was the only part of the statue not made with stone or Earth metal. It was a Cybertronian construction.
"This is it?" Steeljaw grumbled, because he was unable to hide his disappointment. He had expected something, grander. He reached in with two claws and retrieved the item that was small enough to be a denta pick.
The device activated in his fingers. The metal shifted, unfolding to a more appropriate height. Within moments, the item had become a grand staff standing a helm taller than Steeljaw. He twisted it in his grasp, examining its intricate detail. It was definitely ancient Cybertronian in nature, but that was all he could identify. "What is it?"
'A Spark Fuser.' The Voice explained. 'Its purpose is to take two separate Sparks and smash them together into a world destroying level of raw power. It is capable of absorbing other sources of power too, creating a less impressive level of influence. It still has some energy left from the last time it was used. But it will have waned in all this time… Only one like me can use its full power. And it is integral to releasing me from the dimension I currently linger within.'
"Hm." Was all Steeljaw said to that. As weak as the Voice claimed it to be at the moment, he could plainly feel the power within his grasp. "When not fusing Sparks, what can it do?"
'Wield it before something you want destroyed.'
Steeljaw cocked an optic ridge at that direction. He scanned his surroundings, finding a massive rock perfect for the task. He aimed the staff at it. 'Will it destroyed.' He narrowed his optics at the boulder. He imagined it reduced to rubble.
The staff buzzed in his claws; the flowing energy so vast it startled him. Then the charge of light exploded from the end and smashed into his target. And soon his imagined image became a reality. The boulder was zapped into dust, doing twice the damage then what he had seen Megatron's arm canon capable of. He could only describe the feeling he was experiencing as giddiness. The energy he felt had halved, the power it contained drained considerably from that last blast. "How do we go about charging it?"
'There is no need for you to trouble yourself with this task.' The Voice insisted. 'All I require you to do, is place the staff within a working Groundbridge, and even with its diminished power, it shall be enough to release me.'
Steeljaw wasn't keen on that plan. He had just gotten this strange artifact after all. He wasn't ready to part with it. "I worry the Groundbridge we have back at base may not be up for the task." He admitted as convincingly as he could. "It was thrown together with scrap after all. Allow me to assure the portal I have access to is up for the task."
Silence. He hoped the Voice was considering it. 'Very well. I will locate another portal capable of taking on this monumental undertaking. Until then, protect the staff with your life.'
Steeljaw failed to respond to that. He fiddled with the device until it started to fold back into itself. It stopped at the human sized version, and he subspaced it away. He could work with this.
To justify this little venture to the others, Steeljaw sniffed out an Energon deposit not too far away. He trudged back through the forest. At least he was traveling downhill this time. He located the Energon. A small deposit hidden away in a shallow cave being consumed by the local rock formations after who knows how long it had been left here.
He liberated a sizable chunk from the cave wall, then made sure to keep his distance as he blew up the rest. He couldn't have his team coming back to it. His plans required a starving and angry crowd of Cons after all. They would come back and assume the Autobots had sabotaged them. Steeljaw would have to play up how close he had come to capture this go around. He blasted a few trees around the area and scuffed his armor to really drive home the ruse.
Weighed down with Energon and his interdimensional prize, he pinged Needler for an emergency pick up. He rushed through the portal, as panicked and disheveled as possible. But he also wore a proud smirk, carrying the Energon front and center. To say he became the center of attention very quickly was an understatement. Those in the cave zeroed in on the large chunk of Energon with hungry optics. Some even cheered Steeljaw's success. He smiled at the praise bashfully and hurried past the grabby crowd.
"Needler! Is Glowstrike around? I found Energon, but we may have the Autobots to contend with! Time is of the essence!"
Needler soon joined the group gawking at the large Energon crystal. "Main entrance, but leave that here. I need at least half to refuel the Groundbridge."
"Frag you!" Another bot snarled at Needler's demand.
Needler whipped around to face off with the jeerer. It turned out to be a massive brute that could probably step on Needler by accident and not notice. That didn't stop the scrappy Minicon from snapping right back. "Hey slag for brains! You ever have a Groundbridge backfire in your faceplates because there ain't enough Energon in the damn tanks? NO? Then shut up!"
"I'll settle this little scuffle," Steeljaw said with a well-meaning chuckle. "All Energon goes to the refinery. Glowstrike's rules after all." He made sure to remind everybot who's rules were keeping them from silencing their starving tank's alarms before he headed for that very place.
"Yeah, just reminding everybot I built that refinery too!" Needler snapped to his back.
Steeljaw hurried to dump off the Energon and find either Saberhorn or Glowstrike. He didn't bother trying to locate Thunderhoof. He was probably off sulking. He found the two (current until he enacted his plans) leaders of their hoard by the mouth of the cave. The sight gave him pause, as there was a Con with the two who he didn't recognize. A large red bot who even stood a helm above Saberhorn was smiling and chatting up the two leaders. Curious, Steeljaw slunk closer. "Good news, Glowstrike!" Steeljaw announced merrily during a break in the conversation. "I located a small deposit of Energon. But we should act fast… There were Autobots in the area who may find it if we idle," he proposed, and motioned to the scuffs in his armor.
Steeljaw could already tell he was believed, even before they saw his 'proof.' All his staging was probably overkill.
Saberhorn barreled off from their little meet and greet, probably intending to go secure the Energon himself. On his way, he gave Steeljaw an affirming pat on the servo. "Good work, Steeljaw!" He praised before vanishing down the tunnels headed for the Groundbridge.
Steeljaw smiled. It was good to be appreciated.
But focusing up, he found the large Bot that dwarfed Glowstrike's size and build. In fact, Steeljaw surmised this was a Combiner, going by first glance and extra optics. "Thank Primus you made it back to us, Steeljaw." Glowstrike said. She motioned to the casually leaning crimson bot. "We located this newcomer not far from base. And not a klik to soon. Our scouts also spotted Autobot activity along the coast nearer his location. He could have been lost to us."
Steeljaw looked up, finding the still grinning Con in his sights. "Truly, luck is on our side this cycle. Welcome to the team, brother. I'm Steeljaw. This band of rebels' little Energon scout."
"Chop Shop." The newcomer greeted with a winning smile and thick accent. "A right pleasua, mate. And this here's Stomp, Kicker, Taka, Righty, Framework, and Helm." He introduced, shaking each limb as he named them and ending with a firm pound on his chest plate and a somewhat more playful tap on his own helm. So that confirmed Steeljaw's theory that this was a Combiner. Good, they didn't have one of those.
Steeljaw's audio receptors twitched. He heard something odd just at that moment. It wasn't the Voice for once. This was quieter, something else. What-
Realization made him hesitate, taking in the newcomer. Then he smiled to play off his odd behavior. "Good to meet you all! How about I show you around, if our esteemed leaders haven't done so already."
Chop Shop matched his enthusiasm. "Would lova tour, Mate. It's just good to see Cons again."