Ep 2 - Highway Trinkets (Closed)
Nov 1, 2014 3:04:22 GMT -5
Post by Feldspar on Nov 1, 2014 3:04:22 GMT -5
Set: Episode 2, Week One, Day Four (subject to change if need be!)
Evening was falling over the North Coast of California.
The last rays of a misty sunset turned long stretches of forest on the rugged hills dark red. Fog was rolling in, settling down for the night as it slipped into the long dips between the rises of terrain. The landscape was a maze of narrow valleys and sharp canyons. Steep hills rose up from the bands of sand that curvetted along the coastline. This part of the state was sparsely populated; houses dotted here and there along the the winding grey ribbon of U.S. Route 101.
It was an old highway. 101 had been established in 1926, and it showed. It went back to a time where roads were built around the curves and lifts, where they moved with the landscape. At the time of their creation it had been far faster to move with the land and save the blasting and digging to when there was absolutely no other choice. There wasn't the massive earth moving equipment of modern times that could clear miles in a day.
In the highway's heyday it had taken the brunt of traffic. Since I-5 had been built with a straight shot through the Pacific Northwest, many small towns had completely disappeared. Others barely hung on through the summer tourist season and then shut their doors completely in the winter; an economy based entirely on trinkets, t-shirts, and flip flops.
Tonight it meandered quietly past a set of cliffs that plummeted to a bare stretch of pale sand. Huge boulders framed the shoreline in places, appearing to have been tossed down randomly just off the shore. Waves lapped quietly, breaking white on the crests as they rippled up on the beach. The tide was going out, revealing more and more sand every few minutes. Driftwood twisted along the far reaches of the beach, soft grey and brown, the bark peeled back by years spent in salt and sand.
There was the tang of brine. Plovers skittered along the shoreline in the fading light, grabbing a last few morsels up before they retreated to their roosts.
It was here that the reports had brought up what the mechs were following.
An Energon deposit was buried down among those sharp, rocky cliffs.
Well, there had been one, but the Decepticons had likely cleaned it out entirely. No activity. It was cold, and had been for months.
However... there was always the possibility though that they'd left something behind or missed a vein or two in their hurry to clear the site as quickly as possible. That alone made a mission like this worthwhile. Even one thin thread would more than make up for the time spent.
A flier could reach this awkward section of beach far easier than a vehicle could.
Carbine's canine mech partner was also the reason he'd been picked for this search. The huge rocks and dips had been known to throw off some scanners. The vegetation didn't help either. This terrain was more suited to a smaller, more agile frame with the ability to get under the trees, between the boulders... and clamber up and through the wet stones while searching for any scrap the Decepticons might have left behind.
Evening was falling over the North Coast of California.
The last rays of a misty sunset turned long stretches of forest on the rugged hills dark red. Fog was rolling in, settling down for the night as it slipped into the long dips between the rises of terrain. The landscape was a maze of narrow valleys and sharp canyons. Steep hills rose up from the bands of sand that curvetted along the coastline. This part of the state was sparsely populated; houses dotted here and there along the the winding grey ribbon of U.S. Route 101.
It was an old highway. 101 had been established in 1926, and it showed. It went back to a time where roads were built around the curves and lifts, where they moved with the landscape. At the time of their creation it had been far faster to move with the land and save the blasting and digging to when there was absolutely no other choice. There wasn't the massive earth moving equipment of modern times that could clear miles in a day.
In the highway's heyday it had taken the brunt of traffic. Since I-5 had been built with a straight shot through the Pacific Northwest, many small towns had completely disappeared. Others barely hung on through the summer tourist season and then shut their doors completely in the winter; an economy based entirely on trinkets, t-shirts, and flip flops.
Tonight it meandered quietly past a set of cliffs that plummeted to a bare stretch of pale sand. Huge boulders framed the shoreline in places, appearing to have been tossed down randomly just off the shore. Waves lapped quietly, breaking white on the crests as they rippled up on the beach. The tide was going out, revealing more and more sand every few minutes. Driftwood twisted along the far reaches of the beach, soft grey and brown, the bark peeled back by years spent in salt and sand.
There was the tang of brine. Plovers skittered along the shoreline in the fading light, grabbing a last few morsels up before they retreated to their roosts.
It was here that the reports had brought up what the mechs were following.
An Energon deposit was buried down among those sharp, rocky cliffs.
Well, there had been one, but the Decepticons had likely cleaned it out entirely. No activity. It was cold, and had been for months.
However... there was always the possibility though that they'd left something behind or missed a vein or two in their hurry to clear the site as quickly as possible. That alone made a mission like this worthwhile. Even one thin thread would more than make up for the time spent.
A flier could reach this awkward section of beach far easier than a vehicle could.
Carbine's canine mech partner was also the reason he'd been picked for this search. The huge rocks and dips had been known to throw off some scanners. The vegetation didn't help either. This terrain was more suited to a smaller, more agile frame with the ability to get under the trees, between the boulders... and clamber up and through the wet stones while searching for any scrap the Decepticons might have left behind.