[ti]Ep 3[/ti]Shop Talk [Closed, Avalanche]

[Prowl]

Week One, Day Five

Early Morning...

Control Room transitioning to Northern South America...

Why did it always come down to this?

For all his plans, his plots, and his schemes, it always came down to resources. Something that many of the others never seemed to think about until they started getting their rations cut due to necessity. But then again, it was all about resource management. Trade one resource for another. Energon for bots. Or bots for energon. Usually the former won out. Approximately 94.82641 percent of the time anyway.

Prowl frowned as he moved through the hallway into the control room. While the Decepticon defector known as Windshield had provided for them a large boon in the form of an energon mine to raid before Prowl had arrived, everyone (at least those who actually paid attention) knew that it would not last forever. If they were just trying to survive it would last longer, but on war footing it ran dry faster than usual.

The former Wrecker named Bulkhead was on monitor duty at the moment. He turned and acknowledged the strategist with a nod of respect which Prowl returned. He was definitely far more easier to manage than the other Wrecker currently here on Earth, though that might have been due to the extended period of time alongside Optimus Prime. The Prime had that effect on most bots it seems.

A sound drew his attention to the monitor screen, turning just to see the alert. Bulkhead moved surprisingly quickly, typing and pulling it up front and center.

“Sir, energon signal detected.”

“Location?”

“Northern part of South America.”

“I’ll check it out. Any available units to accompany me?”

Some tapping followed by the Wrecker turning to him.

“Commander Avalanche should be available sir.”

Prowl nodded. A logical choice after all. The newcomer seemed to have been apart of the laborer caste before the war, meaning she would be better equipped at excavation work than bots like Prowl. Not that he minded doing manual labor, but speed was of the essence. Better to have a professional than an amautur hacking away.

He motioned Bulkhead aside and approached the panel, activating the comms.

“Commander Avalanche, report to the control room immediately.”

Time was of the essence. If they had picked it up, then that meant the Decepticons would as well. Prowl then stepped back and allowed Bulkhead to resume his post and approached the groundbridge portal.

“Lock on coordinates but do not activate.”

[Avalanche]

Avalanche growled in annoyance.

Given the cramped confines of the base, never intended for as many troops as were now stationed within it, it was no surprise that they simply didn't have a spare room for her to make her own. Some kind of accommodation would have to be worked out, but with the existing rooms stocked two or three to a chamber, there simply wasn't space for a femme of her magnitude.

What was there were the cluttered storage rooms below. Shunting crates around, trying to find ones heavy-duty enough to stand up to her colossal weight that so that they wouldn't be crushed if she lay atop of them, pulling things out and slotting them back in like a giant three-dimensional sliding puzzle. So far, she wasn't having much luck rearranging things into more compact piles, still running up against the fact that most storage space was packed to the ceiling.

And then the comms echoed through the halls.

“Commander Avalanche, report to the control room immediately.”

The response was as instant as it was automatic: she dumped the crate in her hands atop the nearest pile, stepping out into the corridor and slapping the door control before breaking into a swift jog towards the control room.

Only then did she start thinking instead of reacting. 'Immediately' was a button that hit a lot of finely honed reflexes; in other garrisons, she'd expect to be faced with violence when she arrived. According to Patch, that almost certainly wasn't the case here, but... instincts died hard, especially when they were as nurtured and cared for as hers were. Sooner or later, this place would be a battlefield, like everywhere else she'd ever been.

Thudding footfalls boomed down the corridors, giving ample warning of her approach in a way that would have registered on a seismograph. In deference to the fact that no one had yet hinted at a hot situation, she left her shield on her back instead of in hand.

Breaking out into the main control chamber, she slowed to a stop, looking around to take in the situation. A bulky green mech she didn't yet know, and Prowl. No imminent violence to be seen.

Shifting to a slightly lower level of tension, she turned her orange gaze settled on the strategist. "What's the situation?" Blunt and efficient.

[Prowl]

There was no acknowledgement over the comm, but he heard and felt her coming long before he saw her emerge from the corridor. It was hard to miss, Prowl would definitely not use her in a stealth assault. But Avalanche would be extremely useful in kicking down the front door.

"What's the situation?"

So she was quick and to the point, something that Prowl appreciated especially in this place. He motioned towards the screen indicating the energon signal with his chin before heading over towards the groundbridge entry structure.

“We’ve detected an energon signal in the northern portion of South America. You and I will be deploying to track it down and retrieve it. Any questions?”

The strategist nodded to the Wrecker, who reached over and pulled the lever activating the groundbridge vortex. The large portal sprang to life as Prowl engaged his T-cog, smoothly rearranging and shifting himself into his police car alternate mode. The holomatter avatar sprang to life inside the driver seat before looking over at Avalanche.

“If not, we need to roll.”

[Avalanche]

Avalanche's gaze followed Prowl's gesture, her gaze settling on the main console. It took her a moment to decipher the unfamiliar configuration, but the glyphs were clear enough; an energon signal, radiating from a landmass some considerable distance to the south of their current position. Under other circumstances, that would have been something to consider carefully, and to discuss whether it was promising enough to send an armed convoy that far from their fortress to investigate.

But with the technology they had here, it was a matter of moments to check it out. No overland convoy, no study of the geographical route, no short-term drain of personnel that weakened the primary base's ability to defend itself. Once again, she was reminded that the availability of a space bridge - ground bridge - completely rewrote the file on the art of war.

And it turned every response, across any distance, into a matter of urgency. The enemy had a bridge too.

"No questions that can't wait," she replied abruptly. The chance to obtain some energon for the outpost? Even if she hadn't known that the garrison had suffered serious shortages up until recently, her own vast energon intake meant that she sooner she got a chance to offset her impact on the base's resources, the better.

Her transformation was a shade slower than Prowl's, the alt-mode still new to her. The segmented plating over her stomach withdrew to reveal the glint of armour glass, her white plating restructuring into the cab of her altmode even as her mechanisms swallowed her shield and reformed it into the deep blue bed of her vehicle form. A large road sign warning of falling rocks emerged, settling into place on the heavy grate protecting the front of her cab. A deep, guttural growl resounded through the control room as her engine engaged, holoform fizzling into existence in her cab.

Raising a hand in farewell and acknowledgement to the dark green mech she hadn't had time to greet, Avalanche turned towards the spiralling teal and white glow and released her brakes with a pneumatic hiss. Accelerating across the floor, heated air shimmering over her twin smokestacks, she plunged into the light of unreality.

She didn't know what to expect on the other side. But if there were hostiles there, they didn't know what they were in for, either.

[Prowl]

There were more than a few reasons why Prowl wanted Avalanche along.

First, from a strategic standpoint, he wanted to see what the femme was capable of in the field. There was the possibility of encountering enemy combatants while searching for the energon. Secondly, she was a laborer by background. While Prowl was not a rigid functionalist, he still believed that one should use what they have. Avalanche would most likely be skilled in excavation and therefore be best equipped to extract the energon in the most efficient manner. Third, should they be ambushed while excavating, Avalanche could provide mobile cover until they could extract safely.

Prowl let the larger alternate mode of the commander roll forward ahead of him before accelerating as well, heading through the green vortex of energy that flout the laws of nature and transport them thousands of miles across this planet’s surface. If only he had access to this capability back on Cybertron during the war. Some situations would have been less...problematic that way.

Coming through on the other side of the portal, Prowl paused as the green vortex disappeared behind the two of them, taking a look around them. The energon signal had been detected in the in the eastern part of the country known as Venezula, up in the highlands. The landscape stretched out in front of them was a combination of grasslands and forests, though they themselves were on a dirt road. Based on this countries current political stance...it was imperative that they maintained cover...and acquired all the energon.

“Sensors on, target should be twenty klicks south south east of us. It is imperative that we maintain cover at all times, as well as recover the energon at all cost. Questions?”

Prowl’s holoform turned to look over at Avalanche’s alternate mode, raising an eyebrow.

[Avalanche]

Avalanche truly didn't know what to expect on the other side of the portal, trying to take in everything at once as her tyres left the immaterial non-space and impacted dirt. Lots of native greenery, some open spaces... improvised road. No actual enemies that she could see.

She relaxed a degree, letting some of the tension in her t-cog fade as the prospect of immediate transformation for combat faded; the rumble of her engine settled to a low idle. In her cab, the dashboard-mounted fan switched on by itself. Retracting the driver's side window, her dark-haired avatar leaned out slightly, gesturing down the track in the direction of the signal.

"Get going. You know this world better than me. I'll follow and do what you do."

Settling in behind the law enforcement vehicle, she considered for a moment, prioritising her concerns. Then, over short-range radio, she spoke again.

:: First, anything you can tell me about how to blend in around here. I've got a little time driving up where I landed, but if this place is different, I need to know. Second, best guess at the signal source. Raw deposit, active mine, artefact? Third... likely combatant profile. The enemy's sensors are at least as good as ours. Have to make the assumption we'll end up with hostiles, sooner or later ::

Her avatar's head turned this way and that, scouring the forest in an echo of the way Avalanche's senses were combing their surroundings. It was a very different landscape than the one she'd travelled through, the day before. That had been largely flat, given over to crops of various kinds, with a few artefacts of civilisation sticking out of it at semi-random intervals. This, on the other hand, was hilly and without much in the way of visible technology beyond the dirt track they followed, the greenery seeming far more natural and chaotic.

Her gaze flicked upwards, regularly. If they were to meet the enemy, it'd probably be in the form of an aerial attack. That meant bulldozing into cover to obscure their sensors as much as was practical; make them come down to a level where she had a chance of heaving something at them. In a fight with airborne opponents, she was at a significant disadvantage.

[Prowl]

He was about to take off down the dirt roadway when she asked her series of questions. Good intelligent questions too. Prowl looked back over at her while he considered everything in his processor before speaking over the radio.

::For your first question: Keep your holoform activated at all times. Signal before turning. Maintain the speed limit. I sense that these roads will be less traveled than those back in the United States, since this country is on the poorer end of the human’s economical scale, meaning less automobiles. Most likely, the inhabitants will either be on foot or using animal powered transportation, so keep an eye out for that, though they will likely not make a problem if an incident were to occur.::

There would still be the occasional car or truck, the county was not as far down the scale as some other places he had done his research on after arriving. The last part was in reference to the fact that a law enforcement vehicle would be in the vicinity, giving credence to the idea that Avalanche was a part of some governmental work project. And in authoritarian regimes such as this place, one did not question the leaders.

Kind of reminded him of home in some ways, and not in a good way.

::Secondly: I suspect that it is a raw deposit not yet discovered by the Decepticons. The signal’s strength and location draw me to this conclusion. How much though is unknown.::

The third point was especially an excellent question especially.

::With that understanding, initial estimates of enemy combatants will be a patrol most likely, perhaps two to three vehicons. Decepticons will be too focused on their current mines to send out a large force. Keep an optic on the sky and another on the road.::

With that, the police cruiser accelerated slowly and started heading down the road.

::Maintain spacing of five to ten meters. My vehicular mode should keep most people from asking too many questions.::

[Avalanche]

Sweet Solus's name, animal-powered transportation. Avalanche had kicked around a lot of worlds, most of them some degree of inhabited with a few entirely barren of intelligent life, but almost all of them had been connected, however tenuously, to the web of galactic trade and travel. Cheap machinery produced from zero-g factories on metallic asteroids in bulk was one of the core drivers of the interplanetary economy. Animals as a source of labour was an almost laughably backwards concept, reserved for worlds where the restriction was cultural rather than economic.

Uncontacted species, she reminded herself. Her expectations weren't in line with reality, and she was going to trip herself up if she didn't work on that.

::Understood::

Avalanche's heavy engine growled into gear as she pulled out after Prowl's two-toned altmode, wide tyres laying tread patterns into the soft verge along the edge of the road.

::I'm built for pure melee. If we get hit by an aerial attack, I'll shield us, and it'll be down to you to take ranged shots at the enemy::

The rest of the tactical argument needed no further elaboration; he'd seen the shield on her back, in her root mode, and could guess at the armour density. Finding cover would be best, but hunkering down under the tower shield was better than nothing. After a moment, she went on:

::Raw deposit, huh? I can dig tunnels, but I'm no energon specialist. That stuff is explosive when raw. Can get some crystals out, if you want to check the purity and energon density, but they'll be in rubble clots, not nice and neat. Don't want to risk hammering too close to the impact points::

Of course, a practised energon miner would be better suited for the task; they could get out clean, pure crystals, with minimal silicates attached. Anything she produced would be messy and need careful chipping away by comparison. Unfortunately, if there were any professional energon miners, it would have been natural to bring them along for the job, which implied...

::Any energon mining specialists at Omega?::

The tone of her broadcast voice betrayed her scepticism that they'd be so fortunate.

[Prowl]

::Understood::

As the war had progressed, and Decepticon air superiority had become a problem, Prowl had seen to it that launchers for two anti-aircraft missiles were installed on his chassis to complement his pre-war blasters and taser. Some had questioned his purpose in installing the hardware, but being able to make a Seeker think twice about that second pass on the command post made Prowl feel slightly better.

As the police car moved along the dirt road, Prowl kept silent as Avalanche began to speak about her concerns regarding their objective. It was a problem he was quite familiar with. One of the many advantages that the Decepticons held besides their warship was the fact that they had dedicated mining drones to maintain the energon mines.

That was why he would prefer to raid established Decepticon mines. If the operation was properly planned and executed, they could make off with enough Energon to keep the base running for months, and the Decepticons would have done the hard part of mining and refining the stuff. Unfortunately, beggars can't be choosers.

::No, you and Bulkhead are the closest we have to specialists in extracting Energon. Though I believe that Ratchet should be able to handle the delicate part of cleaning up and refining what we find::

He didn’t add that part of the reason why he had chosen her, and not gotten someone to fill in for Bulkhead was that Avalanche's alternate mode was that massive dump truck trailing behind him. It would be easier to move whatever they discovered by tossing it into her dump bed and having her drive through the ground bridge.

As they came to a fork in the road Prowl rolled to a stop, eyeing his sensor for a long second before taking off down the right fork, towards a very large set of hills.

[Avalanche]

Avalanche winced inwardly. Just as she'd thought, the simple fact that she was the one to be sent out on an energon mine scouting mission betrayed a catastrophic lack of knowledge in the entire garrison. At least she had some relevant experience, but still...

As Prowl slowed, Avalanche focused a little more on the senses of the avatar riding in her cab. It was hot in there, though the breeze from the dashboard fan made it cooler, and the soft, worn seat was comfortable in a way that she hadn't experienced with her full chassis in ages. Improvised bases and furniture constructed from scraps didn't make for a luxurious experience. Reaching out with her small human hand - so similar in form, so different in construction, it was dizzying - she stroked her fingertips over the gauges that lurked behind the steering wheel.

Form followed function, to a degree. The layout was a little alien, but she'd seen control setups that weren't completely unlike her new configuration. Unhooking a radio handset, she chose to speak aloud into the small grille, transmitting the actual sound of her avatar's voice on the same comms frequency she'd been sharing with the other Autobot.

"Figured you'd say something like that. I've got some experience. Last major deployment was on Canyon. Had to dig out tunnels and fortify, do some mining of ore deposits where we could. It's not my speciality, but I know how to hammer through rock and shore it where it needs shoring." The figure sat in Avalanche's cab grinned to herself, and added, "Hauled a lot of rock in my time. Even if we had an energon specialist, it'd still make sense to bring me along. As it stands, we'll make do."

Prowl's reasons for bringing her along were obvious. Funny, really. All the ages that had wasted away since the start of the war, and here she was, digging and hauling like she'd never stopped... Shaking her head, she deliberately turned her thoughts to something more productive. Aside from the threat of intruding Decepticons, the next risk was if the deposit was located close to human activity. She could dig, sure, but she sure as the pit couldn't do it without hands. A freshly excavated shaft was going to get messy and obvious, too.

"We going to back off if the indigs are nearby, or try to get them to leave? You've got the right look to warn them off, but every interaction's a risk." She paused, then asked, "Which one's Bulkhead, anyway? Not up with everyone's ids yet."

[Prowl]

So that was why her name had sounded familiar.

It had been a trade off, the decision to send a team to Canyon on a spoiling expedition on what everyone could tell could turn into a suicide mission. And while they had put a dent in Decepticon energon production and drawn a couple of major units away to deal with the problem, in the end the Autobot unit sent in had been rendered combat ineffective, forcing a retreat, and Canyon was as far as he knew still mining energon for the Decepticons.

History might judge him harshly if the war ever ended. He did not care anymore. He had a job to do.

At Avalanche’s next question, Prowl remained silent for a bit before speaking. While he was waiting in the control room for Avalanche, Prowl had run a quick search of the area where Bulkhead had detected the energon signature. It was in a less developed area of the country known as Venezuela, specifically designated as an area for nature preserves. The chances of running into humans here was more remote than other areas, but there was still a chance.

But if they abandoned the energon due to humans, there was a good chance that the Decepticons would march in here and take it for themselves without a care about the natives. And if they were seen in their root forms, it was quite unlikely that anyone would be able to post images on the world wide web like in America.

“We will get them to leave. It is imperative that we gather what energon we can.”

At her second question, he did not take so long to reply.

“Bulkhead was the one on monitor duty when we left Omega Base.”

Prowl slowed as they approached a turn off for an even worse looking dirt road than the one they were on, turning down it and continuing. The signal was getting stronger now, and that meant that the possibility of running into Decepticons was stronger as well.

“Eyes up and out. We’re getting closer.”

[Avalanche]

Within Avalanche's cab, her avatar nodded, drumming her fingertips on the steering wheel. This was Prowl's mission, so it was his show, but she'd have made the same decision. Keeping a low profile was important, but energon was energon, and there was no long-term survival in keeping so low that you starved. His alt mode and holo should do the trick in driving off anyone that got too curious, and if not - well, just the sight of them unfolding should do the trick, though she'd rather it didn't come to that.

Bulkhead. Name was vaguely familiar; decent fighter. Probably a wrecker, if she wasn't totally fouling up her memory; be interesting to see how he compared to the scuttlebutt about that group that went around.

"Acknowledged."

She turned onto the narrow path, her broad tyres digging into the soft, grassy verges as her chassis proved entirely too wide to stay on the dirt track.

Prowl, though. If a single word she'd heard about the guy was right, then he'd be seeing the same things she did about Omega. Keeping her attention on their surroundings, the focus of her sensors flicking upwards regularly before sweeping around, she spoke into the radio broadcast unit built into her dashboard.

"Ground bridge access is going to take some serious rethinking to fit into my tactical approach. Everything I know about fortifications is shot when you can open a bridge straight past them. Logistical chain security is a joke when overland convoys don't exist. Every garrison I've ever run was built on knowing every access to the outside came with the risk of 'cons finding us. Invasion drills. Last-ditch defence drills. Evacuation drills. And I've used all of it."

Avalanche paused. She hadn't been at Omega nearly long enough to know the full state of their preparations. Sure, she'd asked questions of the mecha she'd talked to, but that wasn't going to get her the full picture just yet. Better to keep her assumptions flexible, and ask.

"You're running the same drills, right? Multiple incursion points. Decapitation strikes on the control centre. Evacuations. On Canyon, I got one of mine to rig up a hardline set of evacuation lights and sirens through the base, totally isolated from the computer network. Can't hack a powerline. Dead switch, so if the console got destroyed, it'd lock on and stay on. Omega feels real peaceful, and the bridge makes it seem like you can pop in and out all day without betraying your coordinates. Hope none of them think that just because the 'cons haven't found you yet, they never will. "

Obviously Prowl wouldn't be in the 'casually assuming everything will be fine' camp. And if she wanted to know just how ready they were for a multiple portal-led invasion, there was probably no better mecha to ask.

[Prowl]

As Prowl drove down the road that was becoming worse and worse every two meters, he cursed mentally that he had not been fitted out as an all terrain type of alternate mode. As the police car bumped along in a few pot holes, part of him simply wished to turn into his root form and just start walking towards the energon signal.

But secrecy was essential to their survival on a potentially hostile alien planet. Even with a species that was for the most part unaware of their presence, the slightest hint of the existence of extraterrestrial lifeforms, especially that of giant war machines that could shapeshift into other things would likely send much of the human population into a panic. Though Prowl was not as worried as to what they would do if they did find out, his quick review of humanities technological progress upon his arrival led him to believe that if pressed, they could come up with the technology to make them very dangerous to his race. Plus, it could provide M.E.C.H. all the legitimacy they could ever want.

So he carried on without complaint.

At Avalanche’s comments, Prowl’s holoform shifted slightly to regard her in his rear view mirror. He too had been quite surprised to find out that Ratchet had managed to concoct a scaled down version of Space Bridge technology to enable them to keep pace with the Decepticons, though he was less than thrilled when finding out the bridge was right next to the command center. Though perhaps it was best to put it in a place where one can keep an eye on it at all times.

“Technology is always redefining warfare.”

At her questions he paused, his holoform’s brow furrowing as his features darkened into a sort of irritated scowl. While he had only been planetside for less than seven days, there was nothing in the behavior of those residents that he had observed to indicate that anyone other than himself, and possibly Jazz and Red Alert, were prepared for any sort of incursion into Omega Outpost. Everyone else seemed to let their guard down once they were back in the missile silo. Something Prowl wanted to change very much should he get the chance.

“In the short time I’ve been here, I haven’t seen anything to indicate that such drills are being run. Fortunately, our security specialist Red Alert seems to have a camera in every square meter of the base, and knowing his recharge schedule I doubt that anything would get past him. It has apparently been...adequate...for now...”

An increase in the signal strength caused him to trail off before coming to a brief halt, then taking off across an open spot of land towards one of the larger hills in the region.

“Signal picked up strength. We’re getting close.”

[Avalanche]

The smaller vehicle really wasn't having a good time along the rough dirt roads. Pot holes, dirt humps and rocks bared by the wearing away of the soil combined into a rollercoaster that jarred the patrol car up and down in a manner that didn't look at all enjoyable. Her own chassis was far less troubled by the broken ground, her multiple rows of large, broad tyres grinding tread marks into the earth as she rumbled after Prowl.

If there hadn't been the risk of being seen by the native organisms, she'd have invited him to climb into the bed of her cargo container - she could carry him easily enough, and his vehicle form wouldn't even be particularly visible beneath the steep sides. But of course, if a quick shift to root mode was an option, he could have just walked down the path himself.

Technology redefining warfare... that was true enough. But it had been an incredibly long time since there'd been the kind of step-change in battlefield strategy that a space bridge demanded. Their technology had stagnated over the eons, improving slightly here and there, but rarely changing in a way that would have been unfamiliar to their forebears. Even the bridge was a rediscovered technology, not anything new to the galaxy.

Avalanche put the thought aside. It didn't matter how the change had happened; only that it had, and now they had to adapt. Which, as Prowl spoke again, she was informed they had been totally failing to do.

She didn't immediately reply, but a distinct pulse of incredulous displeasure radiated out through her field. "If you keep a storeroom full of flammables with no extinguisher system and you haven't had a fire yet, that doesn't mean your fire prep is 'adequate'. It means you got lucky, so far. If the only thing the garrison troops know how to do is rush aimlessly to the control centre when something happens, any half-competent tactician could turn that into a grinder if they got access to the base."

The big femme vented a sigh, manifesting as a pneumatic hiss from her braking system, then pulled off the road and followed the patrol car across the rough ground. Scanners flicking around her, checking the sky, then for inconvenient natives, she kept a small distance between the two of them in case he had to stop abruptly.

"I haven't been on-world long enough to easily shake things up. From what you've said, you've not been down here long either, but you've got history with the Prime. Maybe this Red Alert can back us on running drills, because we have to do something about this idea the garrison's never going to be found by the enemy. Nowhere's safe forever."

The hill loomed up before the two of them, bulky and rocky, with scree slopes. Her gaze shifted over it assessingly, and she added after a moment, "An overhang will do best if there's one. Gives us some aerial cover, exposes the rock."

[Prowl]

As Prowl bounced along the field, he could feel the irritation radiating off of Avalanche. It was a feeling he shared with her. Out of all the possible recruits that they had at their disposal, the fact that the Elite Guard had been on their side, Prowl figured that only five of the many individuals that seemed to show up at Omega Base realized what their job was.

At her comment about having a history with the Prime, his holoform pressed it’s lips together. Yes, he had history with the Prime, the question is would Optimus Prime listen to what he had to say. As she said, he would have Avalanche backing up his opinion, and yes they could probably get Red Alert on their side plus a few more. But Prime would not automatically implement anything Prowl suggested, otherwise this war would have been over millennia ago and they could have gone back to Cybertron to begin rebuilding.

Sometimes Prowl wondered if Prime only kept him around as a scapegoat.

“Draw up a proposal when we get back to base and I’ll review it.”

As the signal got even stronger, Prowl made a tactical decision once he got what he figured was close enough to the base of the hills. With a whir his T-cog activated and he shifted back into his root form, pulling a hand held scanner from his subspace and following the pinging down what looked like a small gully or canyon. He thought on her words as he watched the scanner’s indicator guide him along. She was right, no place was ever safe. He knew that much from before the war. And it worried him that everyone else seemed to think that Omega Base was invisible to the Decepticons. If Prowl had his way, they would cut contact with the human children and relocate into a potentially more urban area to hide the grounder traffic. Maybe a military airfield so they could hide the flier traffic as well.

But unfortunately, they were stuck in that missile silo.