A plateau in the center of the mountains was cordoned off by police tape, with officers guarding the area to ward off trespassers. Eventually, a black SUV drove up, Agent Branson walking over to the sheriff.
"Alright, what did you call me for?" he asked.
"Well, Agent, that's what I was hoping you'd tell me," the sheriff answered, leading Branson past the tape. "At first there was a noise complaint, then there was a giant boom I felt all the way in the city, and when one of our guys came up, he found… that."
The area they stood in was once a mine, and some of the shafts were still open. But what drew the men's attention was the giant hole right before them, going down into one of the caverns. On the other side of the hole was a crane, and it seemed to be pulling something out.
"I understand why you'd be curious about the hole, sheriff," observed Branson, "but what's the crane for? Did equipment fall in?"
"That's the second thing I called you about."
As the sheriff finished, the crane lifted up its cargo: a large, metal hand, frayed wires suggesting it had been torn off an equally large wrist. Agent Branson was speechless for a moment, then his expression hardened.
Chapter 18: Getting Shafted
Six hours earlier…
The Dinobots trudged through the woods, eventually discovering a clearing full of abandoned buildings.
"What kinda place is this?" asked Swoop, stretching his wings as he landed.
"Looks like some sort of native structures," replied Slash, traversing the buildings curiously. "But why isn't anyone in them?"
"Dunno, but that means nobody's here to see us," said Scald, looking up at Grimlock. "The Energon's somewhere below, but I don't see a way of getting to it."
"Hey, guys!" called Slash, the other three walking over to find the velociraptor reading from some sort of rectangular plate. "According to this, this place was once a mine. A lot of holes are already in the ground, so it's just a matter of finding Energon in them."
"Hey, the humans are being helpful for once," remarked Grimlock, leading the group onward.
They found a mineshaft that was fortunately large enough to fit their dinosaur modes, and the quartet ventured inside. Slash led the way through the cramped tunnels, snout to the ground as she sought out the precious minerals. Every step the Dinobots took shook the ground around them, rocks clattering off their shells.
"I'm feeling really claustrophobic right about now," commented Swoop, but was ignored.
They managed to reach a much wider "hub," giving them room to return to robot mode. From there, they got to digging for Energon.
At the Decepticon's base, Solon was reporting to Megatron and Starscream.
"There's an old mine close to our base," he stated, presenting some images. "It closed down whenever the Depression hit, and since then it's been a tourist attraction. I think there might be some Energon around there, and since nobody's around to see us, it'll be the perfect crime."
"You sound so certain that there's Energon in the mine, yet there's no tangible proof," said Megatron, rubbing his chin. "I won't devote all my resources to what could be an empty mine."
"We still need all the Energon we can to get the Prevalent space worthy, master," advised Starscream. "I will investigate, if only to humor my ward-"
"You've done enough, Starscream," interjected Megatron, raising a hand up. "I'll put together a taskforce."
And he stood up and walked away. Solon could see Starscream's disdainful expression, but knew better than to comment.
Above the mine, a ground bridge portal opened, and the Decepticons walked out. First was Mosstone, glancing disinterestedly around the area. Then came Smashface, pounding his fists together in anticipation. Lastly, from above, came Jetfire and another jet. This was Skywarp, a purple and black seeker whose stasis pod Jetfire had discovered.
The jets landed down, Skywarp looking around the area. "Keep a good lookout," she advised. "If any humans try to interfere with our search, you know what to do."
She smirked as she finished this, Smashface laughing loudly. As they looked around, the bruiser spotted footprints in the dirt. "Hey, boss, I've found some footprints here. You wanna bet someone else found the same score we did?"
"I'm positive someone else has," said Skywarp, placing her hands on her hips. "But we aren't gonna let them find it first, are we?"
"Not a chance," said Mosstone, following the footprints. She eventually reached a mineshaft, transforming to gauge how well her vehicle mode would fit. "It'll be a tight squeeze getting in there."
"Then go in," retorted Skywarp, as the digger grumbled into the mines.
"Is it wise to send her in alone?" asked Jetfire. "She could be up against a much larger force."
"She's not a real Decepticon, therefore, I'd say she's more expendable than us." She shrugged nonchalantly as the group waited.
Inside the mine, Scald had fired her water cannon at the wall, loosening up enough rock to reveal a rich vein of Energon behind it. Grimlock pounded his fist into the cave wall, causing an Energon crystal to break free. Before it hit the ground, Swoop caught it.
"Easy, guys. One wrong move with this stuff and we'll all be fossils."
"Nobody finds your dinosaur jokes funny, Swoop," retorted Scald.
Slash was about to comment how she found it funny, but was cut off as she heard something. The sound of a vehicle driving their way; she gestured to the others, who instantly stopped talking and turned the same direction.
A digging vehicle drove in, before transforming into a Cybertronian. "Looks like you've found my Energon," she sniffed. "I'll take it off your hands for you."
"Like hell you will," growled Grimlock, body parts already shifting as he began to transform. "Dinobots, let's show our friend who's in charge here."
As the tyrannosaurus charged towards Mosstone, she sidestepped him, instead choosing to target Slash first. The smallest Dinobot was knocked back by her punch, but quickly began attacking back, sharp claws keeping Mosstone at bay. While she was distracted by Slash, Scald came from behind and used her cannon to whack Mosstone in the back of the head.
While she struggled to regain her senses, she noticed Grimlock's open maw in front of her, sparks forming in the back of his throat.
Skywarp's HUD picked up an incoming comm from Mosstone, deciding to open it.
"Mosstone, repo-"
She never got to finish her sentence before a loud noise threatened to short out her receptors. Whoever was down there must've had a flamethrower (which would be dangerous around Energon crystals).
"Yeah, hi, you wanna give me some help here?"
"I thought you could handle this on your own," replied Skywarp.
"I never said that! You just sent me down here on my own, and now I got these four-"
The next noise was a loud roar, a roar which nearly made Skywarp spring a leak in fear. "I'll be there in just a moment."
Checking the coordinates of Mosstone's transmission, she focused on the location before shutting her eyes. With a vip, she opened them again to find herself facing down the Dinobots. Fear gripped her frame the moment Grimlock turned her direction, letting out a low growl in her direction.
"Thanks for the assist!" called Mosstone, who was currently holding back Slash and Swoop. "Any idea what to do here?"
"You keep digging, I'll deal with them!" the Seeker ordered, right as Grimlock shot flames in her direction.
She was slammed into a wall, narrowly vipping away before another burst of flames could hit her. Ending up behind Scald, she sent a kick to her back that threw off the aim of her hydro cannon, blasting the wall instead of Mosstone. She then noticed Slash approaching from behind, smirking as she instead teleported behind her, grabbing the smallest Dinobot by the neck and hoisting her up.
"Hey, Grimlock!" she shouted. When the Dinobot leader looked her way, Skywarp pointed an arm cannon at Slash's head. "Call off your attack dogs or she gets it."
Grimlock transformed to robot mode, his emotions unreadable. He glanced from the Decepticon, to the huge wall of Energon Mosstone had unearthed. He pulled out his blaster, declaring "Why don't you stop talking and do it already?"
Skywarp snickered, sneering down at her captive. "What a cruel mentor you have. He's just gonna let you die."
But Slash was smiling. "No," she retorted. "He's just smarter than you."
Skywarp's optics widened as she saw Grimlock take aim at the Energon, quickly teleporting away before his finger squeezed the trigger. Above the cave, she found Smashface and Jetfire still waiting, grabbing the former and yanking him into the air.
"C'mon, guys, time to leave!" she shouted, as Jetfire reluctantly flew after her.
"But what about Mosstone?" he called towards her.
The explosion of the mines answered his question. Skywarp placed a foot on his shoulder, and the trio teleported back to base.
Grimlock's vision buzzed for a good minute after the explosion, just operational enough to signal to a worried Slash he was okay. Swoop and Scald also looked banged up, but they could still walk okay. Grimlock's blaster was irreparably damaged, so he made a mental note to have it melted down in case they needed the spare metal.
And then there was Mosstone. She lay in a mangled heap at the edge of the cave, barely functional, her left hand hanging on by just a single frayed wire. Grimlock got to his feet, producing a sword from his back as he approached the wounded mech, but Slash stopped him.
"She doesn't have a badge," she said, pointing out Mosstone's lack of insignias. "What if she's being forced by the Decepticons to work for them?"
Grimlock grunted, sheathing his sword before opening his comms. "Arcee, there's a damaged neutral at these coordinates. You might wanna check her out. Not in that way, of course, you are married." This made Slash snicker, and Grimlock couldn't help but join in. "But yeah, better get here fast before humans show up."
With that transmission ended, the Dinobots made their escape.
At the Decepticon base, Skywarp, Smashface, and Jetfire approached Megatron, who was in the process of cleaning his fusion cannon.
"Why haven't you brought me any Energon?" he demanded. "And where is Mosstone?"
"We did find Energon," answered Skywarp, much less confident in front of Megatron, "but we encountered resistance from the Dinobots, s-sir. And, uh, Mosstone. It…" she looked down, doing her best to look remorseful. "It was my fault. She pushed me away from the explosion before it could get to me. Her sacrifice will… will not be forgotten."
Megatron's grip on the cleaning tool was so tight it threatened to snap. "So not only have you lost the Energon, but you lost one of our own?" He lifted the cannon up, reattaching it to his arm. It pulsed with energy as he marched up to the Seeker.
"S-Sir, I… I don't understand. She's j-just a neutral, is-isn't she?" She shrank back as she suddenly found herself staring down the cannon's barrel.
"She was as much a Decepticon as you or I!" shouted Megatron, who looked ready to fire the cannon before his senses kicked in and he lowered the arm. "Get out of my sight before I regret sparing you."
Skywarp gladly did so, teleporting somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, as Jetfire and Smashface wisely ran away. The former entered the mess hall, finding Bonecrusher enjoying an Energon cube.
"If we have the means to produce Energon here, why are we searching for it underground?" he asked.
"Our current goal is to procure enough of the stuff to return to Cybertron," answered the wolf. "But as of now, we can't fuel the ship and ourselves with just these reserves." He then looked over at Jetfire to speak with him properly. "So, how are you enjoying your stay here?"
"It's… a lot to take in," Jetfire answered honestly. "Megatron seems very extreme in his methods."
"He just wants a united Cybertron, after the last war nearly tore out civilization asunder."
Jetfire wanted to rebuke this claim, but having been frozen for several million years, he couldn't. So he instead grabbed his own cube and sat down to enjoy it.
A ground bridge portal opened within the mine, Quatrei and Evac stepping through, discovering the critically damaged Mosstone within.
"She has several fluid leaks and great damage to her arm, but it should be survivable," the latter observed, the former transforming to crane mode to lift her up. "Be easy with her, we don't want to make her condition worse."
"I'm being as careful as I can," Quatrei replied, just as they heard the sounds of approaching vehicles. "Scrap, those are human vehicles!"
Evac stepped aside to let her drive through, although the ride was bumpy enough that the few wires keeping Mosstone's hand attached came loose, and it lay in the dirt.
The present
"Any idea what that is?" asked the sheriff, gesturing to the hand.
"Obviously some form of advanced robotics system," answered Agent Branson. "I'll call a truck to have it taken to a secure location."
"How do we explain what's happened here, Agent?"
"The mine was built on top of a sinkhole, and it finally collapsed," he said. "If the press have any further questions, direct them to this number."
He handed the sheriff a card before walking back to his SUV, climbing in and turning to his aide. "Call a truck to pick up the hand, and then send a message to Doctor DeCobray. I want him to take that thing apart and tell me exactly what it's made of and what it came off of."
The aide nodded and began carrying out the calls, while Branson stared ahead at the road. The explosion in the mountains, the attack on the military base, and now this, all within a span of two months. It couldn't be a coincidence. Starting the vehicle, he drove off, unsure of what would come next.
Apologies for the long wait, I had this chapter finished for about a month yet never posted it. Life's been getting in the way of me writing (and publishing), but now that I have the chance to put this out there, I will. Also, Rise of the Beasts was pretty good, and the finale of Earthspark was somewhat rushed, but I enjoyed it still.
Next time: A new Decepticon is freed, forcing Solon and Vertebreak to work with the Autobots to have her contained.