Chapter 5: A Startling Find
Wheeljack shook his head as he reviewed the video footage of the creature Optimus' team had fought on Earth. "Man, that is some monster," he said.
Perceptor, who was watching as well, nodded before turning back to studying the samples. "Any luck, Perceptor?" Wheeljack asked.
"Nothing of great importance so far to give to the Elite Guard," said the scientist in his microscope form as he examined the samples again. "Just metallic fragments, fuel, and Energon."
It had been a few hours since they had received the video footage and the parts of the creature sent to them. Setting aside the samples he had been examining, Perceptor transformed to his bipedal form. "Perhaps we'll find a bit more in examining the head?" He suggested.
Wheeljack nodded. "I'm not getting a whole lot from the video footage beside the fight," he said.
They began examining the head and Wheeljack gently pried the mouth open for a better look at the massive lower saw blade teeth. "Man, these can do some damage," he said in astonishment.
Perceptor nodded. "I've never seen jaws like these before," he said before he came to the cable that had sprouted out from within the middle of the dislocated jaw. Carefully slicing it off, he turned to his microscope form and began closely examining the cable. He suddenly gasped and transformed, his optics widened.
"Wheeljack, contact Ultra Magnus immediately," he said.
Sensing the urgency in his fellow scientist's voice, Wheeljack instantly did so.
Back on Earth, Optimus signed off the computer after receiving a transmission from Ultra Magnus to select a few members of his team and go to Cybertron immediately. Although unsure of the request, Optimus knew better than to disobey a direct order from the commander, especially one he respected.
"Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Ratchet. You three are with me," he said.
"What's up, Boss bot?" Bulkhead asked.
"Ultra Magnus has called us to the Elite Guard flagship immediately," Optimus said.
"Must be serious if the head commander is calling us," said Bumblebee.
"Better head out then," said Ratchet.
Unknown to them, Angel was watching from a hiding spot nearby and grew curious, deciding to follow her family.
On the Elite Guard ship, Optimus Prime led his crew to the main control room where Ultra Magnus, Sentinel Prime, Jazz, and Rodimus Prime were waiting for them. As Optimus and his crew respectfully saluted the Elite Guard, Jazz and Rodimus returned the salutes and Ultra Magnus nodded while Sentinel just narrowed his eyes.
"Jazz, Rodimus," the Supreme Commander spoke. "Please call up the files."
"Yes, sir," they said in respect and pulled up the files for Optimus and his crew to see. Ultra Magnus then began.
"As you know, Wheeljack and Perceptor received the remains of the creature you and your crew battled a few days prior, Optimus," he said. "They contacted me earlier today about a rather startling find."
A picture of the cable now came into focus. "The cable-like appendage is, in fact, a glossa that contains thin wiring that was later found to be connected to the central CPU of the monster. These wirings were responsible for downloading and extracting information and mechanical properties of various tools and weapons, which further explains how the beast managed to grow new limbs as well as its own weapons. But what was also found in the cable was Wondallion. While a surprise, an even bigger surprise is that the state of the Wondallion in the cable is very rich and pure, unlike the raw samples that had been collected on rare occasions several stellar cycles ago."
Bumblebee, being very curious now, cocked his head to the side. "With all due respect, sir, what is so important about this Wondallion?" He asked.
Ultra Magnus nodded to Rodimus, who nodded back. "There was a recent study of new elements and functions the Wondallion had than previously believed," he said. "While it was true it could not affect Cybertronian life, it has a very intoxicating, stimulating effect on organic and techno-organic life. With the case of the Serpent creature you guys fought, the Wondallion that had been inserted in it was at one point in its raw state, but when the monster was brought to life, the Wondallion had altered its raw state and returned to its rich state.
"However, pure Wondallion was found out to be an unstable source of energy that would result in driving the subject that had been injected with the Wondallion in early stages of life, into a feral state, and that the subject would require a steady source of either Energon or Oil to replenish the chemical components of the Wondallion, for the element could easily become consumed by the subject much faster than with normal Energon. The Serpent's actions and behavior in the video reviewed were determined to be similar to an organism that was, quote on quote, an eating machine that needed an endless supply of food to keep the Wondallion under control."
"Whoa," Bulkhead said. "That sounds worse than that creature we fought when we first came to Earth."
The others nodded as Sentinel then stepped forward and finally spoke. "In addition to this, Rodimus Prime's team recently discovered an unidentified planet millions of miles away from one of Cybertron's moons, and a source of rich Wondallion was detected upon the planet…as well as a signal from a Decepticon," he said.
"A Decepticon?" Ratchet asked. "Who?"
"Unknown at the moment," Jazz answered.
"But it's of the upmost importance that we head for that planet and apprehend that Decepticon," Ultra Magnus said.
Sentinel then smirked a little. "Optimus, you and your team will be accompanying the Elite Guard on this excursion…as a recon and assistance team," he said.
Optimus and his crew looked at each other, not at all thrilled at the position that had been assigned to them, but they jointly decided to keep their thoughts to themselves as Optimus turned to the Elite Guard. "We accept," he said.
"That's not fair," a voice interrupted them and a large spider jumped down from the ceiling before transforming into Angel, who was now a young adult.
Standing straight, she looked up at the Elite Guard. "My dad and his team deserve to be more than just a maintenance crew, Ultra Magnus, sir," she said, keeping her voice level and full of respect.
"Silence!" Sentinel said angrily before pulling out a pair of stasis cuffs, ready to subdue the techno-organic. "You always cause trouble and no doubt snuck in here on sinister purposes."
Angel glared at him before Optimus suddenly pulled out his battle axe and stood in front of Angel. "Sentinel, you are not placing those on my daughter," he said warningly.
"She's speaking out of place!" Sentinel said angrily.
"Hold on a minute," Rodimus spoke up. "She was simply stating what she felt."
He came up to them. "Optimus, this is your daughter?" He asked.
"Yes, Rodimus," said the red and blue Prime. "This is Angel."
Rodimus bowed his head in respect to the femme. "She looks just like you," he said.
Angel smiled at the compliment before turning to Ultra Magnus. "Sir, with all due respect, my dad and his team have gone above and beyond just being a maintenance crew, or a recon and assist team," she said. "To be treated as such after all they've done is just wrong."
"What's wrong is that you think you can barge in here and speak to the Elite Guard like that, you freak!" Sentinel snapped.
Suddenly, Sentinel fell to the floor with a dent in his helm and his optics powered down. Stasis cuffs were around his wrists and he was unconscious. Angel blinked and looked at Rodimus, who smiled a little. Jazz, he mouthed to her.
Realization dawned on her face before she faced Ultra Magnus again. "Sir, you've no doubt seen that my dad and his team took out the Decepticons before and they did stop the 'Cons' invasion on Earth more than once," she said.
"She's right," Rodimus said. "My team and I got our rear ends kicked by the 'Cons, but Optimus' crew stopped them for good. If it hadn't been for them, we would have lost and that planet, Earth, would have been destroyed."
Angel smiled, seeing that Rodimus was just like her dad. Humble and kind and certainly not stuck up like Sentinel. Ultra Magnus stood up, barely glancing over at the unconscious Sentinel as he stood before Optimus. "Optimus Prime, as you and your crew have had recent experience in dealing with Decepticons, can the Elite Guard count on your help in apprehending this unknown Decepticon?" He asked.
Optimus stood tall. "You can count on us, sir," he said.
The Supreme Commander nodded. "We'll be leaving in two cycles," he said. "Secure your base and report back here by then."
Angel looked at her father pleadingly and he looked a bit worried, but nodded. "Commander, sir, Angel has surpassed stealth training and is a quick thinker," he said. "Will you allow her to accompany us on this mission?"
Ultra Magnus looked at them. "You feel she is ready?" He asked.
"Yes, sir," said Optimus.
The commander turned to the femme. "Angel, do you feel you are ready?" He asked.
"Yes, sir," she said respectfully, her eyes looking at him hopefully, making him smile a bit.
"Very well, then. Her stealth and quick thinking will be of great value and may be…as humans say…our trump card."
Saluting the commander respectfully, Angel began following after her family, but paused by Jazz for a moment. "Thank you," she whispered to him in a low voice with a smile.
He returned the smile. "Anytime, kiddo," he said in a low voice to her.
Angel then paused by Rodimus. "It's nice to meet another Prime who has good values like my dad," she said with a smile.
Rodimus bowed his head to her respectfully. "Thank you. It was nice meeting you as well, Angel," he said.
Smiling again and waving to the three, Angel quickly followed her family, feeling excited about not only going on her first real mission, but that she's be right beside her family too.
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