Fading Starlight

"Helixon would most likely try to drop me." Altrock added.

"Hey! I'm a good teammate. I absolutely would drop you." Helixon replied, flying over Altrock.

"If I'm going down I'm bringing you with me!"

"And likewise to you, coghead."

"Just don't drop him in me and we're good. I think you need to lay off the energon, Alt." Path chuckled to himself as they drove.

"Hey! What did you two do, plan to team up on me this trip?"

"Oops, we were a little too obvious in our plans." Helixon snickered.

"Don't worry Alt. He's gotta land sometime." Path easily played both sides. He didn't take their fooling around as seriously as Tarmac did.

The reconnaissance point was not far. When they reached it Path transformed and used his rifle scope to survey the place. It seems completely empty. "Are we at the right place?" He asked Altrock

Altrock transformed besides Path. Helixon landed behind them, keeping his distance warily in case the two pulled something while pretending otherwise.

Altrock looked around, then double checked with a holographic map. "I'd say so."

He felt uneasy, remembering the last time there was absolutely no one. That was the last 'con he wanted to face for the rest of his life. "Anyone else getting Deja vu?

"Well we'll...wait." Path saw something. "There's some movement down there. What are they up to?" He saw a few cons moving around very quietly, as if they were trying to keep their entrance hidden.

Altrock squinted. "Nothing good."

"Let's move closer. I'll cover you two and then follow." The only way to reach the small group of crumbled buildings was to cross a short stretch of open land with only a few piles of rubble to hide behind. Path sighted his scope on the entrance. "I'll take down any if they try to shoot."

"Alright." Altrock withdrew, and motioned for Helixon to follow. The two crouch-walked along the stretch. Somehow walking felt different here, something was different with the ground. Altrock couldn't think of how it was different.

Once they were halfway across, a few cons appeared. They seemed on edge, as if they knew something was up.

"Stay down boys, we've got friends."

"You don't say..." Helixon muttered, getting behind a debris pile.

The cons looked around and suddenly raised their rifles, pointing them towards the pile where Helixon was hiding.

"Shoulda stayed home today." Path pulled his trigger and the con crumbled to the ground. His partner soon followed. "Advance to the entrance! I'm comin' in." Path made a run for the plateau, heading for the closest debris pile.

"It was absolutely Helixon's bright paintjob that made them see us." Altrock replied over the comms as he continued forward.

"Please, your purple stands out more than my orange. We've got more company." Helixon ducked under another debris pile with Altrock as another pair of 'cons looked their way.

More decepticons came out, but there weren't enough to be concerned about. Path ran onto the plateau but then stopped. He frowned and ducked behind a boulder and knelt, touching the ground. Something wasn't right.

A larger group of cons saw Altrock and advanced towards him

"Throw an explosive thing." Helixon told him. Altrock unclipped one from his waist, and chucked it at the cons.