Ep. 1 - The House of Stone and Light - Closed - Finis

[Dart]

Dart didn't lift her gaze off the dirt until he had finished his tirade. Her shoulders shifted, her hands came to rest on her lap. Then she slowly creaked back to rest against the wall. A long stream of air sighed past the corner of her lips. Her optics half closed. She sretched her fingers; trying to shake out some of the tension that had filled her frame until the sounds settled around her.

"Sorry. I promise, I wasn't trying to talk down to you, sir. I wouldn't have, it happens to me all the time, I don't like it either. Just- just had to repeat what I was going to say when we're done with this, you know?" the courier admitted. "That's all. Stick it into my head for later. I have to do that, sir, it's just me. Part of my job. Words, I'm supposed to hear once and remember."

The courier's spoiler rattled once in the dark. Now she took a gulp of air in the silence, held it. Her nose was still focused on the drifts of air eddying around the cave, she was sniffing warily once again, watching. "I know, I mean... No. Trust me, I know exactly how my ranks work. I've failed enough to understand that, sir."

Dart lifted her chin and this time the scruffy femme simply gazed out into the dark. Her blue optics didn't blink, just... held a quiet, resigned expression. "I dunno if they'd sympathize with me, but that's not why I did it. They never have to care or know that they would have died, and they probably won't, and that's- that's all right. It's me, not them, you know?"

She paused and a small, wry smile curled the corner of her lips. Then a faint chuckle. "I still have to explain what happened. I'm- I'm sort of banking on the fact that if they didn't want to come down here themselves, they'll be working on their story too."

[Deleted]

Maximus scoffed.

He straightened, stretching his frame as upright as he could manage. The great rent that divided his midriff groaned in protest, and he laid his hand over it again. The damage was not bleeding fresh fuel at least - lines had automatically sealed and redirected flow as best they were able to, despite the fact that chunks of them were simply gone. It dripped however, into itself and onto his legs; the seals were far from perfect.

He backed into the other wall, his gaze turned outwards to the entrance of the cave again. When he hit it he sank into a crouch, knee joints and guards flexing to absorb the weight. He laid his rifle across them, his finger still next to the trigger.

"You explored the length of the canyon by foot, found nothing, returned," he said coldly. "It's nearly three hundred damn miles long. Of course you went off-radar and out of radio range during that time. The Autobot went too deep to ground to be found. I've heard every imaginable excuse out there, from soldiers and guards both. I'd buy that. Let the Vehicons work out their own explanations."

[Dart]

Outside, the water was finally growing still. The water was settling itself back into glass again, and the stars had returned to the reflection. Engine roar was replaced by the soft sounds of the night. The breeze ruffled the grass and brush, and the buzzing cicadas somewhere up the river had started up again, a high-pitched noise that sounded more mechanical than natural, as if it was a tv screen hissing static.

Dart was still focused on the scuffed sand just outside. If the Vehicons had actually come down here, it would have been obvious - well, maybe not. Use the river to travel, that's what she would have done herself; gone to the shallows and trotted along that way. She wondered if they had found the body. Maybe not, if the water had shifted it at all; she doubted they wanted to come down and patrol the canyon by foot.

The courier's spoiler clicked slightly downwards at the dismissive sound from the mech. Her nose pulled her away from the open mouth of the cave and back to him. She watched his hand settle to his flank, winced slightly, and then could not help the quick sniff. Nothing new. That was better. So was rifle across his knees, swung away from her.

She was surprised when he spoke, though and turned back to listen.

His tone. The courier accepted it. She hadn't even known why she'd opened her mouth to offer anything, except she'd wanted to explain herself. Maybe it had been the look on his face for that one moment, that flash of fear from someone was far more experienced than she was. It was knowing you had been chased to ground and there was no where left to go, to escape, it was --

For your sake.

Not many mechs had said that to her for the last few years. Okay, two. This mech and one other. Wait, no, three, but that was Megatron telling her don't touch Dark Energon, and yeah, that was a different kind of 'for your sake.'

Dart looked over at the big mech. "Yes sir," she said. "Explored the length, found nothing and returned - of course I went out of range and radar. You went to ground, and I lost you." She repeated his words solemnly, and started to tuck her hands behind her back. Well, then she clonked them against the rock wall behind her and sheepishly set them back on her lap.

"If you'd buy it, then I'll absolutely go with that," she said. "It totally just- no one to blame, but the terrain."

The courier cocked her head and offered the mech a quick smile. "Thank you. I like that story better myself."

It only lasted a few moments before her expression shifted into concern once again.

"Do- do you think they'll come back. I mean, would you expect them to keep sweeping tonight? Could our avatars be picked up on some system of theirs, sir? I honestly don't know how that really works in this sort of situation."

[Deleted]

"They'll be back," said Maximus.

He spoke flatly, with certainty. "At their speeds they'll be able to scan the full length of this canyon within an hour, ninety minutes at the most. Common procedure would then be to turn back and make another sweep, or else to begin a more in-depth grid search. They'll be searching for radar traces, visible tracks, debris. Anything that will give an indication as to our position. Or else the location of our wreckage."

The big mech hunkered over, his elbows resting on his rifle. He rubbed his chin with his thumb, his optics narrowed.

"That's a patrol, so they will likely remain on station until they are due to report in," he said, half to himself. "At that point they'll either retreat back to the Con ship, back to a prior waypoint to await transport via a ground bridge, or else remain on station until another patrol arrives to replace them. That last one will depend on just how critical an objective they consider my destruction to be - or how important they consider the task of retrieving you."

He eyed her. "So? Just how crucial to the Decepticon cause are couriers these days? What are the chances of a fresh patrol being sent out to locate and collect you, if you were considered missing?"

[Dart]

The courier was obviously listening intently to him, nodding. She was a creature of the ground, no matter how much she'd been around fliers most of her days. His comments on their actions made sense, and she eyed the ground outside of the cave and winced a little to herself.

At least they just didn't want to come down here. She couldn't see them walking any distance down the river. What they were hoping for was that he'd dropped somewhere and shut down.

"Wreckage would be my main worry," she admitted to him. "If they find that, that gives them a starting area to search from. Honestly, the thing to do is stick to the water and use that to travel on. I do- I do that a lot, back home. Doesn't leave much behind you, and harder to track by scent, sir..."

Dart trailed off and sat quietly for a long moment. Her spoiler lifted slightly up; she just kept her gaze forward outside. For once, she didn't turn and look at him. Her shoulders had curled slightly, she shifted her weight, her legs tucked under herself. She stared out the door and watched the glimmer of the stars along the water.

"Honestly?" she said finally, "I think yours is the more critical objective than retrieving me. I- I don't think I'm- we're crucial at all. Outdated function and all that."

She chuckled a little. "If I'm missing, I better find my own way home, I don't see my Commander driving around to put out lost turbo-hound posters on phone poles. Or offering a reward to a patrol if I'm found."

It was obvious she'd gone to poking fun at herself, but there was an uncomfortable edge to it. Dart was doing her best not to look up at him, just focusing on the water outside; finally she let a soft puff of air trickle past her the corner of her lips. "Darnit. I was really hoping I'd get to use the water a few more times before tomorrow, sir."

[Deleted]

Maximus grunted. "They're taking advantage of the cover of night to conduct their search, assuming I'm doing the same to escape. We leave this cave, we risk detection. If I could be certain there were other caves like this further down the river we could use to take shelter from their radar, I'd leave. Since I'm not, we stay."

The big mech fell into a moody silence.

He glanced at the entrance of the cave. Their prints lay thick across the sand, softened by the wind. Maximus watched the water flow past, lapping against the beach. His frown deepened, and he absently brushed his thumb across the worn handle of his rifle.

"Just so I know," he said. His red optics turned back to her. "If you do start to overheat again by inaction, as you did before - what's the worst that will happen? How long do you have until chemicals bake, critical systems begin to cook themselves?"

[Dart]

Again, it made sense. Dart traveled by night constantly, be it in car mode or running. Part of it was that it was simply cooler at night, and much quieter. It was also much easier to dismiss something like her on a distant rise as some figment of your imagination, a tree, or some statue made out of wicker that a bunch of very drunk people would be lighting on fire. Maybe even modern art.

The courier snorted out a little puff of air and then looked thoughtful. "I'm not sure," she told him honestly. "Last time I went down and overheated... um, I'd been shot up pretty bad. I was down, but it was desert too. I was really lucky, someone came to find me. I don't think I would have made it."

She trailed off and sighed. "Even though we're in the shade, it's pretty hot. Night helps, and the breeze helps, standing and moving helps, and the water made a huge difference, sir. Eight hours seems about my limit in a place like this before it starts to warn me. After that, it gets worse quick. Maybe- maybe twelve at the absolute maximum. Absolute. I have a feeling it might be less than that."

"As for the worst that would happen, I think I'd be frying through most of my systems before I go down and pass out. I have a feeling the generator would be first on that list, sir. If I stay stationary..."

She trailed off and sighed. "It's got some nice advantages, really - well, for my job and the terrain here. I just usually don't sit still too often."

[Deleted]

Satisfied, Maximus nodded. "All right. So at least we know if your holoform gets glitchy, your systems are overheating to the point where an imminent system failure is to be expected. That gives us a warning."

He paused. "Glitchier, that is. Hm."

His gaze went distant as he mulled it over. He ran his hand over his jaw. Belatedly, he seemed to remember the fuel that stained his fingers; he quickly caught himself and wiped it off in annoyance. "Eight hours. Twelve at the most. Probably less. Which means we - our avatars - had better reach this Ranch and a functioning radio before then. If we don't, our only options are to sit tight and let you fry, or else stick our heads out of this cave and risk being detected by a fresh patrol. Or the Vehicons could have given up and left the area by then. We have no idea what the next twelve hours could bring. And yet everything hinges on them."

The big mech shook his head in disgust. "It wasn't that long ago I used to sit still a lot. Starting to miss it."

[Dart]

Dart couldn't help laughing. "Glitchier," she agreed, and settled back against the wall. She shifted her weight and finally ended up on her hip with her legs tucked off to her left, bracing herself by flattening her palm on the floor. The water had dried on her, leaving a thin film of dust once again over her black and grey plating, hazing out the scratches and signs of little upkeep. "I'm really delighted it's doing as well as it is to be honest. I've used it here and there but never around people, I guess. I was so thrilled to pick up a pine cone, sir. Today's just been..."

A wistful smile. "Something special. I know, that's weird, isn't it. But I'm- ah, rambling, that too. I'm hoping that there's another option, like let me get up and pace a little, something, anything. Even a little movement's better than none at all. For now though, I'm fine. I'm hoping the home stretch is closer to the Ranch, for sure."

Dart shook her head. "I forget how long going slow takes," she admitted. "I'd have trotted there easily if I could run it."

"I do it when I can," she told him. "Sitting still. I watched the sun come up this morning over the canyon from the viewpoint up on the rim. Absolutely gorgeous, so quiet, no one else up there. The stars tonight are just amazing. No lights to interfere."

She settled a little more over her hip; and had her nose angled to catch any breeze that moved through the confines of the cave. It still smelled of fuel in here, so it was easier to search for something else and concentrate on that; smell of water and plants. "If you ever get a break, sir, there's some really good places to sit that I know in the States. I mean, if you like natural architecture like this."

"I mean, you must, if you built spaces like this?" she suddenly asked, with a bit of honest amazement. "I mean, not... like this exactly, but spaces that weren't buildings?"

[Deleted]

"Hm. Some," said Maximus. He spoke slowly, with reluctance, but some of the coldness had left his voice.

He went quiet for a moment. When it seemed as if he would say no more, he abruptly lifted his rifle from his knees and leaned it up against his shoulder. The big weapon settled into place with a 'thunk', and he wrapped his arm loosely around it.

"I built more monuments than anything, but spaces like this too," he said. He glanced around the cave. "The entire landscape was a work of architecture, to a degree. You learned how to design with it, around it. I only did that for a short time though. Then the war began."

He stared out the entrance, his gaze critical. "I wasn't expecting to find these kinds of similarities between home and here. If there are more places like this around the continent, I'll have to get out more. If I do get a break. We'll see."

[Dart]

Dart didn't interrupt the that silence. When he seemed lost in thought, she didn't fill the the quiet between them with empty chatter. She simply settled a little more and her spoiler unclamped off of her back and finally lifted; the tips peered over her shoulders. They didn't rattle, nor was she strained or tense with them pricked forward as far as they would go.

The only thing she did was shift her legs slightly but it was more of a instinctive motion than a deliberate one. At the thunk though, she glanced up, tilted her chin, and then shifted her weight onto her hand a little more.

"I think it's neat to hear the similarities. Earth is full of all these places," Dart said. Her accent drifted over her words; nothing jarring, but it had a softness to it on certain words, a bit of a clip to it on others that was unfamiliar. "Like the Grand Canyon. I can think of a lot off the top of my head. California had a lot. Devil's Tower in Wyoming. Red Rock in Nevada, that's beautiful. You should go."

"Monuments?" she echoed, and looked up at him with interest.

[Deleted]

Maximus nodded again.

"Yes," he said. His gaze had gone distant. "Spires, obelisks, archways - memorials. To commemorate historical events. Or the dead. Most of them are gone now."

This time, his silence was more drawn out. Water trickled in the cave, and quietly swept down the river. At least the sound of jet engines had faded into the distance, swallowed by the night sky. For now.

Eventually, the big mech shifted back off his feet. He set his back to the wall, his rifle resting on his shoulder. Moonlight outlined the debris lodged in his chassis. Though the rent edges of his plating scraped around it, it was likely one of the few things that stemmed the flow of gore from ruptured internals. That was likely the reason why he had not simply torn it out.

"You should power down for now," he said. His words were clipped again, his expression neutral. He didn't turn his optics from the beach. "Wait out the night. Conserve power for your holo generator. I'll keep watch. We'll return full function to our avatars at the first sign the humans have roused from sleep."

[Dart]

The courier inclined her head slightly. She too had let her nose be drawn back towards the outside during the silence, lost in her thoughts as much as he had been. What he had spoken of, this was a different type of architecture, the sort that- well, buildings were art, of course, but not... art?

It took a calculating, exact outlook, a preciseness to build things, she knew that. Pyrotech was an architect, yes. He was an excellent one. He made solid structures. Elegant ones. He looked at a place like the Grand Canyon and was instantly coming up with fortifications and ways to blast it to create bridges.

Never with the eye of an artist. Nor with the spark of one either.

She glanced up at the big mech now, as he braced himself against the wall, rifle at the ready. A bit of wary concern crept up; Dart had not shut down this close to another mech in a long time. In fact, she often made a point of finding some quiet place to do so, out of the way, but... even then, she was always twitchy, jumpy - keyed into the sound and scent.

He was hurt, and he was exhausted. Dart didn't even ask if he wanted her to take a watch. He would have said no, she figured, and she understood. She respected the fact that there was no way on Earth - ha, yes brain, I see what you did there - that he'd trust her to alert him. Which made perfect sense. Also, to her infer that he could not do it- insulting. Mechs were mechs about that sort of thing sometimes. That was universal.

A nod. "Yes sir," she said. Like the avatar back at the tent, she settled down slowly into the same position, on her side, arms across each other, chin on the back of her hands. Her nose was aligned with the open front of the cave. "Understood, conserving power, wait out the night."

Her optics dimmed but did not shutter. She was silent though, even when the wind rattled the clumps of brush. Simply watching out into the dark.

"Vantage," Dart murmured after a long while had passed. "Vantage, Washington. The state, not the United States Capitol. It's not a grand monument, by Cybertronian standards. But I think you'd like the way it looks at sunrise, sir. Trail's steep and it's tough but... it's well worth it. I- go by it every chance I get."

With that, she shuttered her optics, blew out air in a soft, quiet huff, and was obviously powered down.

[Deleted]

Her last remark drew an intake of air from the big mech seated across from her.

"Vantage," he murmured.

It was the last word he spoke for the rest of the evening.

The night passed quietly, without event. Twice more the sound of jet engines streaked high overhead, the boom and vibration of them thundering down between the canyon walls. But both times the Vehicons continued onwards without stopping, leaving nothing but wind and blowing sand in their wake. Eventually the dust would calm and the ripples on the river's surface would disappear, and the tranquillity of the lagoon would restore itself like a disturbed sheet. Soon, drowsy insects trilled in the silence.

Maximus did not move once during the night. He remained seated where he was, his back to the wall and his rifle against his shoulder. His red optics stayed fixed upon the entrance of the cave, never moving. By the time the moon had slipped below the horizon and the first pale wash of light and colour touched the eastern sky he was perfectly motionless, save for the steady drip of fuel from his side to the sand beneath him. As the hours passed a faint coat of dust settled over him, greying out his battered armour.

A crisp chill had entered the air inside the cave when the big mech finally spoke.

"Courier."

The words were quiet, hoarse. There was a cough. "Courier... Dart. Wake up. It's nearly dawn. The humans have been stirring."

[Dart]

The first time those jet engines had roared, Dart had been insantly on line and aware. It was a set of survival skills that had been drilled into her; sounds that were out of place among the quiet of the meant danger. Like the mech, she never said a single word, but she waited and watched, her spoiler rising ever so slightly to hackle up and over her shoulders.

It surprised her though. She hadn't expected to be able to rest so easily. The second time they swooped over, she dragged herself out of places and once again watched; but it was even easier to drift back off line once the stars stopped dancing on the stirred-up lagoon. Wasn't surprising; as long as it wasn't pointed at you, it was a whole lot easier to let yourself rest when someone else had a gun and could use it.

Even she could admit she was completely caught out when he spoke. Again, out of place, and she was on-line before she could even quite remember where she was or who it was. It was automatic to twist and sit up; even more so to start to tuck her legs up and get to her feet. "Sorry sir," she instantly apologized, utterly contrite. When Pyrotech went from Courier to Dart, it meant business, ugh. "I'll be right in, sir, I didn't hear you--"

Dart caught herself and ducked her helm, huffed in a small burst of air. The cool of the evening and the morning had helped keep her systems fairly stable, but she knew- the heat climbed fast here. Deserts and arid areas were like that, especially on clear nights. The smell of fuel bounded back in an instant, as did the realization that she was not in Oregon, no.

Dart looked over at the mech with a confused blink, and immediately stretched out her nose towards him for a careful sniff, sorting through the smell of injury and pain. She inclined her head and then shook herself with a soft rattle of plating. She steadied herself on her hip, forced herself to stay seated. "Oh... oh. Little out of it, sir. Forgot where I was for a minute."

The courier then rubbed the back of her hand across her optics; scrubbing. Her spoiler flicked and lifted; she stretched slightly and then tucked herself back into a sit. "Have they?" she murmured. A glance outside to where the stars had faded and the pale pink and peach of dawn was touching the stone. "It's early. That's good though. We can break down the camp and reload and move before it gets too warm, I hope."