Chapter 13 - Hillside

''There's no way ever that I'm gonna fit down there!'' Galaxy exclaimed, gesturing loosely at the large mine entrance.
''Of course you can!'' Rifle piped cheerfully. ''Remember when you squeezed into that ventilation shaft back on Cyber-''
''DON'T! Remind me.'' She said, with a visible shudder, cutting the much smaller Autobot's sentence off.
They eyed up the hillside once more. This can't be the entrance to the Autobot's hideout, can it? Galaxy thought with a slight sour edge.
''I'll go in first. Scout ahead, see if there's anything of danger down there.'' Rifle stated eagerly.
''Yeah, you do that. I ain't going anywhere anytime soon.'' The large mechanical female grunted, folding her large arms across her chest.
Rifle gave a small electronic chirrup and darted off into the darkness. Always so excited to explore a new planet, whether it's in pieces or not. She grumbled mentally, wondering why she'd been paired with the excitable intel officer in the first place.


A leaping bound over a derailed mine cart full of rock and Rifle stumbled to a halt at the edge of a sheer drop. Three blue lenses peered carefully over the edge and into the black abyss below, the final resting place of the rest of the track that had been sheered off instead of continuing across the the large gap and vanishing off down one of the many tunnels opposite. He took another step toward the edge and kicked a rock into the hole. He tracked it for about half a mile down then lost sight of it, the all-consuming darkness overpowering his powerful optical sensors. Soon after losing sight of it, he heard the faint click of the rock hitting something in the distance, something, he assumed to be the ground. He hoped. He sidled around the tattered edge of the pit, spied some sturdy looking out-crops and indentations in the carved wall and lept into action, thin metallic fingers gripping and latching onto the small jutting portions of rock as he swung and bounced and shimmied across to the otherside. He took one final leap of faith and just barely landed on solid ground, his thin arms windmilling as he sought for his balance. Balance found, he froze, lenses darting from side to side, top to bottom. No signs of danger.

Or at least of the Decepticon variety, anyway. A lunge forward and he landed roughly, all semblence of previous perfect balance crashing down with him. He looked up and spied a neat marking on the wall of the tunnel that branched off to the right and downwards. He focused on it, the image becomming clearer. To anyone else, it would look like some kids had carved some kind of graffiti onto the rock surface. There were enough discarded tools laying around. But to Rifle, it looked like a variation on a familiar symbol, one that he himself bore on his chest plates; the insignia of the Autobots. He scrambled to his feet and darted forward, into the tunnel. Skittering around and over fallen debris, Rifle made his way downward, following a small signal. The signal was getting stronger with each step he took. The tunnel widened dramaticaly and opened out into a small chamber. Rifle slowed his pace to a stop and peered around at his new surroundings. The chamber wasn't man-made. The domed chamber walls bore a pattern of carving he recognised all too well. This chamber was created by the hands of a mechanical being who could think for himself.

Two more tunnels lead off in different directions opposite him. Sensing no one in the chamber but himself he proceeded. Only to have his trajectory cut short by a large set of feet slamming down infront of him. The tall crane stood menacingly before him, a deep, scarred purple mask insgnia stamped on his chest plates. Still donned in his military green, Hookshot glared down at the small Autobot. Rifle had no idea where the Decepticon had come from, but right now that wasn't an immediate issue. The Constructicon was between him and his planned route, and he wasn't about to give up the search for Raid and Flashpoint, especially after the distress signal himself and Galaxy had picked up soon after the first transmission that was sent out to them.
''Going somewhere, short stuff?'' Hookshot sneered.
Having been knocked off his feet by the sudden impact of Hookshot's abrupt landing, Rifle scrambled to his feet, mind a whirl. He'd been in situations like this before. It was one of the major cons of being in the intel group. Be prepared for more trouble than you can handle. His section commander had told him when he first joined. You never know when and where a Decepticon may attack. So far, Rifle had been attacked on every single mission he'd undertaken. How he'd managed to survive with his Spark and every other part of his body intact for so long, he still had no idea.

Breaking the ensuing train of thought before it even entered the station, he ducked out of the way, narrowly avoiding a massive alloyed fist as it slammed down hard into the spot where he'd been standing. Rolling to his feet, he darted off around Hookshot, skittering, sliding and darting about as the transformed crane tried to stamp on him. Hookshot let out a growl of frustration. Small targets were hard to hit with projectile attacks, but stamping on them just seemed nigh on impossible, when it should have been easier. Hookshots foot slammed down again, massive cracks spidering out from the area of impact before a large hook forged of an alloy not found on Earth slammed into the ground a scant few inches from Rifle's heel. The Autobot gave an electric shreak of dismay and darted between the Decepticon's feet, one of the two tunnels in his sights. It was slowly, but surely, dawning on him that it was his small size and his nimbleness that had kept him alive for so long, a pair of traits he'd always taken for granted. He heard a series of familiar clicks from behind and immediately dived for cover, landing behind a pile of old, discarded mine carts and steel girders. Projectiles ricocheted off the native metals as Hookshot unleashed a barrage of rounds from his small arm mounted gun.

Rifle pulled out his own arm mounted guns and returned fire. The much smaller rounds pounded into Hookshot's armour with all the force of a common house fly flying into a window. Hookshot laughed off the return attack and ceased fire as he strode forward to where Rifle was hunched. The mine carts were sent flying off to the side along with the girders when a massive hand came down and dislodged them un-ceremoniously revealing Rifle. Hookshot made a grab fro him and Rifle flinched back, going into a sprint, racing off down the narrow tunnel behind him. Hookshot lunged forward and slammed into the chamber wall, his arm sliding into the tunnel, hand outstretched and fingers grabbing for the Autobot who was already well out of reach and racing down the tunnel without a glance backward. A howl of anger and dismay was the only thing that chased him down the tunnel.


Hookshot withdrew his arm from the tunnel entrance and stood upright once more. This wasn't good. An Autobot had escaped him and was heading towards the Decepticon's base. He may have been small, enough even for Roadtrain to handle with ease, but who knew what kind of back-up he had with him? Best not to dwell on that one... Hookshot thought to himself and looked up at the tunnel he'd come from. There was no way he was getting back up there. He looked around. The largest tunnel lead the long way round. If he was quick enough, maybe he could get back to base before the Autobot found it. He took off down the wide tunnel as fast as he could go, hoping that Rifle would succumb to a pitfall of some sort.

Turning the final corner, Hookshot slid to a halt. In the chamber he'd just entered, stood a by no familiar metallic bipedal shape. Rifle slowly looked up at Hookshot who was now grinning down at him. He took a step toward the Autobot, paused momentarily, then pulled back his left fist and lunged Toward Rifle, right hand outstretched. Rifle misread Hookshot's actions and mistook the pull back for a punch. Never underestimate a Constructicon. No matter how thick they seem. The miserable mental comment occoured just as quickly to him as his legs reacted, springing him to the side at an awkward angle. He landed roughly just as a splayed hand landed on the spot he'd just been occupying. His attention momentarily distracted, Hookshot's left fist unfurled and plunged forward, grasping Rifle and lifting him from the ground. Everything turned upside down when Hookshot stood. The pressure that now enveloped Rifle's slim body doubled and a dull pain registered. A sadistic, growling laugh from Hookshot and Rifle's vision fizzed with faint static. Then the topsy-turvy surroundings shuddered, debris falling from the roof of the large, domed chamber.

A thick-set figure landed gracefully amongst the tumbling rubble, straightening in the chaos to reveal its full height, something not easily achieved in the current environment of the new situation. Blue lenses pierced the settling rock dust and a large hand shot forward, gripping the crane arm attatched to Hookshot's back, another hand shooting out and gripping the Decepticon arm that bore Rifle, squeezing hard. Hookshot let out a yelp, and tried to pull away, but failed. Metal buckled, Rifle was let go and Hookshot cried out in pain as his crane arm was bent backwards, out of shape. His hand spasmed as delicate circuits became crushed under the pressure of the buckling armour. Fighting through the haze of pain, Hookshot brought up his free hand and slammed his fist into Galaxy's chest plate. The awkward blow was enough to merely enduce a light dent in her deep armour, but enough to anger her more. The femme Autobot growled something under her breath and relinquished her grip, though it was only temporary. She pulled back, then came back at him before he could react. Galaxy slammed into him and sent him rolling hard across the chamber. He slammed into the wall and the angry red faded from his lenses. She looked down and at Rifle who lay sprawled on the ground.

''You okay, lil' man?'' She queried.
''I've said it once, and I'll say it again; It damn good to have a partner three times the size of those trying to kill you.''
Galaxy grunted something and leaned down to set him gently back onto his feet. Albeit slightly unstable once upright, Rifle managed to keep his balance.
''How'd you get down here anyway?'' He asked, brushing off some rock dust from his person.
Galaxy gave a slight shrug.
''Brute force and ignorance.''
''The usual way, then.'' Rifle replied light heartedly.

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