Author's Notes: I'm glad there has been such interest in this new story! You can thank GoldenIceNinja since the story and characters were his idea. I just fit the puzzle pieces together. This collaberation is made possible by readers like you. Thank you :)
Chapter 2
Treasure Hunting
4 Million Years Later…
The Autobots watched the news feed on Teletran 1. According to the human news stories an unknown object fell from space and crash landed in the desert about 50 miles away from Las Vegas. At first they feared it might be a new Decepticon weapon, but when they saw it on the computer screen the nature of this object became painfully clear.
It was the Ark's old escape pod.
"We cannot allow Cybertronian technology to fall into human hands," Optimus Prime noted, "No matter how benign it may seem, reverse engineering that pod could have disastrous ramifications for the native population."
"The radiation alone could kill whatever human manages to get too close to it," Ratchet pointed out.
"Ah don't see the big deal," Ironhide drawled, "It's in the desert. What are the odds that a human would even find it?"
"We cannot take that risk," Optimus Prime reaffirmed, "I am sending a small team to retrieve the pod. The raw materials from it could prove beneficial when we need spare parts."
"So who are ya gonna send to retrieve it?" Jazz asked curiously.
"Hm…" Optimus wasn't sure who the best team for this would be, but soon inspiration struck.
Loud music suddenly started blaring from the communications room next to Teletran 1, and everyone already knew who it was. Blaster had his rock music cranked up to the max, and he was grooving to the beat with Windcharger and Blaster's 4 cassette bots; Steeljaw, Ramhorn, Eject, and Rewind.
It was no secret that Optimus Prime hated Blaster's music. In fact, most of the crew got tired of listening to it since he favored earth music these days. Jazz of course loved it and was always the first one to start dancing along when he heard it. That somehow made it worse, because a high ranking officer approved of the rowdy behavior.
Optimus sent a comm signal ordering Blaster and Windcharger into the control room. When they showed up the red boom box-former was sauntering along happily and his grey and red minibot pal was running to keep up with his steps.
"Blaster, Windcharger, I have an assignment for you," Optimus announced, and the pair of Autobots beamed proudly at being singled out, "Our escape pod has left orbit around the planet and crashed into the desert in Nevada. I need you two to bring the pod back to base."
"No problem, O.P. We'll be back before you can say roll out!" Blaster quipped in a chipper tone of voice.
They accepted their duty gracefully and with excitement. Missions could be fun when it wasn't some filthy Decepticon shooting at you or a breakout of cosmic rust trying to consume you.
Optimus sighed in relief once they were gone, but realized immediately that the other Autobots were looking at him, so quickly regained his composure. He couldn't help it though. He just wanted a little peace and quiet without Blaster's repellent music.
Windcharger drove along the sand in his red car alt mode. He was usually pretty fast on the road, but in sand it was slow going. Blaster sat in his driver's seat in his boom box mode, and the pair had been chattering nonstop since they left the Ark.
"The cassettes are gonna love this!" Blaster exclaimed cheerfully, "This'll be just like a treasure hunt. They haven't had a lot of time to just explore the planet since we got here. I think Rewind has been a bit nervous about being on a new planet, but Eject loves it here. He especially loves the games humans play. Can't get enough Monday Night Football."
Windcharger chuckled good naturedly and turned on his scanners to triangulate the position of the pod.
"I know what you mean," Windcharger said after a few seconds, "It seems like all I do anymore is twiddle my digits waiting for something to happen. Optimus Prime is afraid for me to go on missions anymore. I never should've told Ratchet about my sigma ability draining my power at three times the normal rate. Now everybody thinks I'm going to keel over and offline every time I magnetize something!"
"I hear that," Blaster replied sympathetically, "Sigma abilities can be a great thing, but sometimes they come with a lot of maintenance."
The conversation was interrupted when a loud beeping reverberated throughout the inside of the car. Windcharger looked for the source of the interference, and saw that it was three Decepticon life signals rapidly approaching the pod!
"Step on it!" Blaster yelled over the sound of the alarm.
Windcharger kicked his gears into overdrive as he drove further into the desert and closer to the pod and the Decepticons.
When they made it to the pod, they saw the three Insecticons surrounding it and talking amongst themselves. Windcharger and Blaster might've seemed outnumbered, but fortunately Blaster brought along his cassettes.
"This metal looks delicious delicious!" Shrapnel gushed over their find, "I think it might even be Cybertronian -tronian."
"Hold it right there, bugs!" Windcharger called out defiantly.
"Autobots!" Bombshell shouted furiously, "Insecticons, attack!"
The Insecticons swarmed the Autobots, but the Autobots were prepared. Blaster used the speakers on his legs to pierce the air with a sonic shriek! Kickback was caught in the crossfire, and started writhing in the hot sand in his grasshopper mode. Blaster then let Ramhorn and Steeljaw out of his tape deck, and together they charged the Insecticons!
Ramhorn went straight for Bombshell, and the red rhinoceros jammed his horn against Bombshell's side before the boll weevil even knew what hit him! Steeljaw clamped his jaws into Shrapnel, but Shrapnel used his electricity to shock the golden lion and knock him into stasis lock!
Windcharger, meanwhile, used the confusion of the melee to sneak off to the side. He then used his magnetic pull to grab the life pod and draw it closer to himself. He got it before anyone noticed, and commed Blaster to let him know to retreat.
/Alright, outta sight!/ Blaster cheered over the comm, and then out loud he said "Hey guys, we won. Let's book!"
Blaster then opened his chest compartment, and his obedient creations folded back into their cassette modes and fell into place inside. Shrapnel was the only Insecticon still conscious, so when Blaster transformed into his stereo mode and fell back into Windcharger's awaiting car mode the stag beetle was hot on their trail!
Windcharger drove as fast as he could, but it was no use trying to outrun a giant flying enemy! Desperate, Windcharger activated his turret launcher on the side of his alt mode. It wasn't powerful, but it was accurate. He fired, and Shrapnel took the shot in the chassis! The Insecticon was only dazed for a few seconds, but that was all Windcharger needed to drive far enough away for Shrapnel to forget about him.
Rumble arrive at the coordinates just as the fighting had stopped. He saw Kickback and Bombshell lying on the ground, and assumed they had taken whatever prize had been there before. Kickback came to, and Rumble immediately pointed his gun to the grasshopper's helm.
"Okay bug, start talkin'," Rumble said threateningly, "There was an unidentified object here. What did you creeps do with it?"
"Huh?" Kickback's vision was blurry, and it took him a few seconds to recognize Rumble, "Oh, you're one of Soundwave's trained monkeys. Yeah, there was something here, but the Autobots got it before we could eat it. Say, could you call us a lift? Finding fuel in the desert is really hard, and I don't think we can fly all the way back to Bali by ourselves."
Rumble growled under his breath and held a servo to his forehead. These bugs gave him such a helmache! All they did was mooch and destroy things!
Shrapnel flew back just in time to see Rumble standing among his fallen Insecticon brethren. He transformed back into robot mode and said "So, you noticed the signal too too?"
"What was it?" Rumble asked him, "Megatron wants to know if the Autobots are buildin' a new weapon."
"I don't know know," Shrapnel shrugged, "Some orange pod pod. Looked like part of the Autobot's ship ship."
Rumble's visor went wide when he heard that. A pod? It couldn't be! Not after all these vorns! Rumble didn't want to get his hopes up. He knew it might all be for nothing...but what if it wasn't? What if the tomb of his deceased siblings had been found? What if they could finally give Video Error, Solarflare, and Freezeframe the proper funeral they deserved?
He knew Soundwave needed to hear about this immediately. No way could they allow the Autobots to scrap the bodies of those sparklings!
Blaster and Windcharger made it back to the Ark with the pod safely secured on Windcharger's roof. When they finally made it back the first thing Windcharger did was transform into robot mode and take the pod in his arms. For some reason the pod was leaking fluid from the crack in the door. Prowl was the first one to greet them upon their return.
"I am pleased to see your mission was successful," Prowl said to them once they made it to Teletran 1, "Ratchet and Wheeljack are currently occupied. Please see Perceptor about opening the pod and examining its contents."
"Aw, nuts," Blaster said dejectedly, "I wanted to see Wheeljack. He was gonna show me this new speaker system he's working on."
Prowl hid his horror at the idea very nicely, but inside he was imagining Blaster with even more powerful stereo equipment. It was the stuff of nightmares…
Windcharger wanted to wash away the sticky liquid that seeped from the pod to his frame, so Blaster volunteered to take the pod to Perceptor and let Windcharger get clean in the wash racks. Blaster whistled a happy tune as he strode over to Perceptor's lab.
"Ah, hello Blaster. I've been expecting you," Perceptor greeted him warmly, "Just place that pod right here on the table, and I'll get to work on it."
"Mind if I watch?" Blaster asked.
"Not at all," Perceptor replied, "In fact, I would appreciate the company. First, we need to get a scan of the inside of the pod to ensure there are no harmful substances that collected from the cold depths of space. If everything is clear, then we'll make a small incision right along the area where the bolts connect the inner and outer hulls together. Hand me my electron scanner, would you?"
Blaster complied, and soon Perceptor had the pod hooked up to more scanners than one of Ratchet's patients. He read each monitor carefully, and Blaster listened to soft jazz music while the red microscope/scientist worked. Soon though, it was clear that something was off. Perceptor looked at his fifth monitor with a quizzical expression on his face plate, and tapped the monitor to ensure it wasn't on the blink.
"Hm...It says there is residual spark energy in this pod, but that can't be right," the whisper in Perceptor's voice made it almost impossible for Blaster to hear him.
"Maybe it's a glitch?" Blaster suggested.
That suggestion was put to rest by the next sound to be heard in the room; muffled screaming coming from inside the pod! Soon the screaming was followed by pounding and banging coming from the inside of the pod! Whoever was in there was desperate to escape.
"My word! There is something in there!" Perceptor exclaimed in shock, "Quickly Blaster! Get me that blowtorch! We must free whoever or whatever is trapped in that pod!"