Chapter 21 – The Heart of Cybertron
Down in the depths of the massive Decepticon spaceship, Megatron enters into the large engine room where Soundwave and Rumble are hard at work trying to repair the damaged star drive. As the leader steps in, both Decepticons salute him as he comes to inspect their progress.
"Well Soundwave? How long will it take to regain power?"
"Engines are not too badly damaged. Estimated time of completion...one solar day."
"We may not have that kind of time. Speed up the progress…the Autobots are on their way."
"The Autobots? They'll frag us for sure." Rumble gulps.
"Not if you get these engines up and running before they get here!" Megatron barks down at him. "So get to work! NOW!"
Rumble and Soundwave salute their leader nervously, with almost synchronized timing, the duo speed up their repairs diligently. Megatron continues down the room and comes to a massive shielded door way. The metal is thicker then anything else on the vessel, even the hull plating isn't as fully forged as this. The Decepticon leader stokes the seamless door that's flush with the rest of the vault like structure and gives a smirk that only a twisted mind like his could give. With a forced thrust of both hands, the silver polished transformer grunts loudly as he uses all of his strength to force the doors wide open. As Thundercracker enters the room, he witnesses the evil leader prying the ten-inch thick doors open and noticing a brilliant green light shining from inside of the vault.
The glare causes the lightly colored blue Jet robot to cover his eyes; he could hear something pulsating with power as the silence was broken in the entire room. Megatron stepped inside of the overly shielded vault and clasps his hands around the point of light gleaming the green hue of power. As his fist covers the entire thing, the light dims down and Thundercracker lowers his hand from his face to see Megatron step out with a confidant stare.
"What…what the heck was that?" He inquires to the leader.
"A little something I brought along for insurance purposes." Megatron smiles. "Our means of rebuilding our world once the Autobots have been vanquished."
"You…you don't mean…"
"Yes." The leader nods. "The Heart of Cybertron. The last piece of pure energon crystal ever removed from the core of our planet."
"Incredible!" The Decepticon jet uttered. "I thought we tapped them all out long ago."
"All but this Thundercracker."
Megatron holds it open again to show the light beaming out of the crystalline structure. The pulsations of the energy shine in Megatron's red glowing eyes like a ballet of light.
"I saved this last piece of the original core to fuel our Empire once the war was over. It was going to be our chance to power the planet once more to full glory and lead us to total victory in the conquest of the universe."
"So why don't we use it to power the ship?" Thundercracker says averting his eyes again. "It would be enough to blast this planet to bits and the Autobots with it."
"Fool!" Megatron shouts as he closes his hand again. "I will not waste this last crystal against only the Autobots. I have other plans for this…plans that will bring us total victory once and for all."
"Why not place it inside yourself and become all powerful!" Rumble says as he enters the conversation. "Think about it Megatron! You could be unstoppable!"
The leader scowls with anger and turns directly at the small robot face to face.
"GET BACK TO WORK!"
"But…but…I only meant to say…that is…" The small robot stutters.
Megatron leads in closer to him as his eyes flare a beaming red.
"Do you realize how much power is in this small amount? It would overload my circuits totally and fuse my body into a mass of molten metal! So before you make any more stupid suggestions Rumble…make sure you wish to live before asking them again!"
"Yes Megatron!" The mini-Decepticon salutes.
He quickly rushes back over to the engines and continues to repair them with Soundwave, who also had paused to see the crystal Megatron possessed. Soundwave remembered during the war of their mining of the core of Cybertron. A last ditch effort to power their armies and deny the Autobots any chance at re-energizing themselves. It was a long battle in the bowels of the planet, each side taking more and more for themselves until there was nothing left. Nothing until Megatron showed this remaining piece of hope…the last purified energon crystal known to exist from their world.
"So what are you going to do with it then Megatron?" Thundercracker grumbles as he watches the leader place it in a small heavy metal box. "What's the point of keeping that to yourself if we've got a ship to power up? We could use it to get off this rock and head home right now!"
"My business with this is my own Thundercracker." The leader growls at him. "That should be reason enough for the likes of you. We'll use the energy the humans have been feeding into computers to bring our defenses online. Crude generators to be sure…but they've got enough to suit our purpose."
"Oh great. That will be enough to hold off the Autobots for a bit, but how are we gonna get this hunk of junk off the ground with hardly any juice in it…mighty leader?" The light blue Decepticon jet questions as he folds his arms.
"By using Archeville's submarines we ripped apart." Megatron scowls at him. "I instructed Devastator to rip out the nuclear power cells and drain them of energy. It was enough to give us a supply to power this ship…enough to conquer this world and take the resources we need back to Cybertron."
"You mean you knew this ship was here?"
"I knew enough that the humans had found something of it. It wasn't until Archeville led us to this site that the entire vessel was still intact."
Megatron pushes Thundercracker aside forcibly and heads out the door.
"Make yourself useful and help Starscream before Optimus and the others get here." The leader grumbles.
Thundercracker squints in thought as Megatron leaves and looks over at Soundwave finishing up his repairs on the engine.
"We've got to be out of our minds following him, Soundwave."
The cycloptic yellow-eyed transformer nodded in agreement as Thundercracker left the room while finishing his thought.
"He's going to kill us all in the end."
•••••••••••••••••••••
"Well we're here…now what?"
Huffer transforms with the others as he taps lightly on the metal hull that Brawn managed to expose in his drilling. The others soon transform with him and inspect the wall before them as well.
"Careful Huffer!" Bumblebee says holding his hand out with caution. "The plating might have sensors to detect us!"
"No way lil' buddy." Brawn snickers. "This ship is dead. I'm not getting a power level from any of this metal."
"Hmmm." Huffer says as he continues to feel the rusting aged metal. "It pretty well preserved for being buried. Kinda like our ship only it's not as weakened structurally."
"Strange isn't it?" Windcharger questions as he folds his arms with a look of concern. "You'd think it would have been deeper in the surface then it really is. Judging from the layers of ice I'd say it's only been sitting here for a hundred years…or less."
"Not possible Windcharger…" The orange-robot scoffs at him. "The forces of this planet must have shifted it up out of the bottom as the ice formed. There's some stress here that says it's been pulled upward from all the pressure over the centuries."
Bumblebee gives a bored expression and sighs.
"Uh huh…this is all fascinating guys, but do you mind if we can the theories and get inside to help Spike and his dad?"
"He's right." Brawn states as he retracts his hand into his arm and converts it into a laser cutter. "Enough of the yappin and time to get crackin'!"
The bright plasma ignites as he activates it; the orange red beam soon hits the surface of the ship in a dazzling array of sparks. The extreme heat melts the purple tinted metal and begins to slice through the ultra thickness of the hull. Brawn slowly guides his cutter as he makes circular shape and repeats the process four times until the red-hot section falls off and drops onto the ground before them. The heat causes the snow to melt and send the hot metal chunk to melt downwards. As Brawn returns his hand to normal, the group leaps over the forming ice hole and jump into the ship's opening. Bumblebee rises up from his crouched position and beams his eyes into the darkness. Like high beams on their car modes, their eyes all glare into the dark to see where they are.
"Looks like we've made it into the lower levels." The yellow robot whispers.
"Oh you think?" Brawn laughs. "What was your first clue?"
"We've got to locate where Spike and Sparkplug are being kept." Windcharger whispers to them all as he walks forward. "Set your scanners for bio-readings. It won't be hard to spot them on a ship like this…"
"Yeah." Bumblebee agrees as he follows the others walking inward. "They're the only ones that aren't made of metal."
The group walks through the room in a single file and take out their weapons from their unfolding leg panels. Each of them look ready for any sudden surprises as they keep their weapons poised and ready for action.
"I think I found the door." Windcharger whispers back to them.
He grabs the lever he can see with his eye-lights and reaches to grab it. Suddenly voices are heard coming from the other side and he quickly retracts his hand.
"Shhh!" He instructs the others. "Someone's coming!"
Bumblebee, Brawn and Huffer lean up against the wall near the door, while Windcharger takes the opposite side and gets his gun ready. He brings his head up to the dark metal wall and listens.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Walking through the bowels of the ship, Starscream meets up with Megatron heading back up to the command deck.
"Have those fools got the engine online yet?" The jet commander questions.
"Almost. What of the rest of the ship?" The leader inquires back.
"Most of the breaches have been sealed. But without the main computers fully functional I can't tell if there are any other damaged areas."
"Never mind that now." Megatron stops in the corridor as he places the small box containing the Heart of Cybertron into a compartment inside his thigh. "What of the cannons and our defense grids?"
"A few cannons are operational, the grid is another matter." Starscream states as he keeps an eye on the box being tucked away by the leader. "That could take longer."
Megatron rub his chin in thought and taps his finger.
"We won't have time to make all the necessary repairs. Optimus Prime could be here at any given moment. Thundercracker will be along shortly to give you a hand, see to it those cannons are working…operate them manually if you have too. I don't want any Autobot to get close to our vessel!"
"Aye, aye…Megtron." Starscream salutes sarcastically to him.
The silver polished Decepticon walks around the jet commander and returns to head up to the bridge. Starscream keeps an eye on the spot Megatron placed the box inside of him and squints with curiosity. Thundercracker finally makes it up the corridor and greets the commander.
"Well, I hear you need some help Starscream. Guess it wouldn't be the first time, eh?"
As he snickers at his own comment, Starscream bops him on the head and grabs hold of this throat tightly.
"Don't dare to insult me ever again! I am your superior! I am in charge of you and Skywarp…so don't even think of being witty with the likes of me!"
"I…I…didn't mean it…" Thundercracker gasps as he feels Starscreams grip tightening. "What is your…command…sir!"
Giving a pleased smile and releasing his grip on him. Starscream pats him on face and changes his tone.
"Why we're going to make sure our weapons are fully ready to welcome the Autobots…and blast this planet to bits! Baa-hahahahaha!"
The two walk down the end of the corridor as Starscream's laugh echoes through the entire level.
••••••••••••••••••••
Windcharger lets out a gasp of relief as the Decepticon's voices vanish. He lowers his weapon and slowly opens the door to take a peek.
"Well?" Huffer whispers to him.
"Ok, the coast is clear." Windcharger nods.
He opens the door wide and steps out cautiously as the other soon follow behind.
"Sneakin' around a Decepticon ship." Brawn grumbles. "We should be wastin' the suckers while were inside!"
"No!" Bumblebee raises his voice. "Spike and Sparkplug's safety comes first!"
"Shhh..shut up!" Huffer glares at them both. "If you two keep being loud as that we'll all be scrapped."
Windcharger flips open panel on his arm and watches a small viewer raise up to make it flush with the top of his arm. A sonar type screen scrolls away with a green light and shows human life signs represented by flashing blue icons.
"They're on the bridge. And they're not alone…"
"More?" Brawn inquires.
"By the looks of it…four humans in total."
"Great." Bumblebee groans. "With Decepticons watching no doubt."
"This way guys…come on!" The red-grey Autobot motions as he keeps an eye on his sonar tracker.
The small group rush as quickly and quietly as they can down the corridor and keep turning around to make sure their not being followed.