Laurentian Abyss

North Atlantic

They'd spotted the lights before they had seen the submersible. Dynabreaker had been quietly relieved when she saw them; she'd had enough of the pitch-black darkness that had surrounded her team since they left their ship. They still didn't know if the craft belonged to the Dragoons, the Autobots, or the humans, as the glare of the lights prevented them from seeing any markings on the hull, if there were any at all. It was only when Scavendrill's invitation to come aboard came over their communicators that they knew to whom the ship belonged to.

Dynabreaker stood between Datamatrix and Sustain, the small green femme con, her arms crossed, waiting for the airlock to drain. They'd boarded the sub once the hatch opened, grateful to get off the ocean floor. She absolutely hated the place and everything about it; the all-encompassing darkness, the silt creeping into her joints, the strange creatures that gave her the creeps, and the weight of several tons of sea water pressing down on her like the walls of a recycling compactor. She had to remind herself that she'd volunteered for the mission as an excuse to escape from the shadow of her creator, even for a moment, and gave her a chance to see Northclaw again. Standing thousands of kilometers from the surface of the Atlantic, her armor straining against the intense pressure, she wondered if it had been worth it.

Datamatrix shifted slightly, his impatience beginning to show. "God, these mercenaries are taking their sweet time. You think they're making us wait intentionally?"

"Maybe," Dynabreaker said, unable to hide the irritation in her own voice. "But the Dragoons have more experience in this field than we do. Northclaw knows what he's doing." Datamatrix nodded slightly, keeping his lack of faith to himself. He knew better than to slight Northclaw in front of Dynabreaker.

When Astrotrain had made his initial report, no one had the slightest idea of what do with the information. Whatever the Triple Changer had detected in the depths, it was worth investigating, but few Decepticons in Dynamax's forces had any experience with deep-sea operations. The few underwater battles any Transformer army or individual had engaged in had been in relatively shallower waters; probably no more than a hundred meters max. Aside from Dynabreaker and a few others, the only Decepticons that had the experience and equipment needed were the Eisen Dragoons, and they operated on the other side of the galaxy. It seemed like nothing could be done until somebody remembered that the Dragoons had a detachment on Earth, operating in the North Atlantic.

She'd been surprised that Northclaw had acquiesced to Dynamax's request, had been certain he would refuse outright or just simply ignore it. The Eisen Dragoons weren't known for following anyone's orders other than their own and would often thumb their noses at anyone in the Decepticon hierarchy that tried to assert their authority. That rebellious streak had been one of the reasons she'd been attracted to their ranks and she still bore few grudges against most of their members, even if they didn't share the same sentiment.

A soft whoosh snapped her out of her thoughts and she looked down to see that vents in the floor had opened. She looked up to see the water level falling as it was pumped out of the compartment.

"It's about frikkin' time," Datamatrix groused. Dynabreaker said nothing as the water level slowly fell past her head. It took a couple of cycles for the airlock to drain completely and only then did was hatch to the main compartment opened. Dynabreaker was the first to exit and she saw a tall, white-lavender colored mech standing a couple meters away. She smiled slightly.

"Welcome aboard," Northclaw said, giving a small bow.

"Thank you," she said as her companions stepped aboard. "And as the natives would say, 'Welcome to the pits of Hell.'"

Northclaw's impassive expression didn't change as he replied, "Could certainly pass as such."

Dynabreaker smiled slightly, Northclaw had possessed always a dry sense of humor. She stretched an arm towards Datamatrix, who had just climbed out of the airlock, saying, "I believe you already know my companion."

Northclaw nodded slightly in acknowledgment. After Datamatrix returned the gesture, Northclaw turned his attention to the small green Decepticon stepping onto the deck. Dynabreaker realized that the two had not met each other before. "Northclaw, this is Sustain, Dynamax's combat strategist and weapons developer. Sustain, this is Northclaw, executive officer of the Eisen Dragoons."

Sustain bowed slowly. "I've heard about you, it's an honor to at last meet you face to face."

Northclaw bowed as well. "Likewise." He extended his arm, saying, "Shall we move forward helm?" The others nodded and followed him towards the bow. As they walked, Northclaw inquired, "What's the situation?"

Sustain spoke first; Northclaw got the impression she'd been tasked with representing Dynabreaker's team. "Scrapper's surveying the site now, along with Scavenger, Hook, and Bonecrusher. Mixmaster and Long Haul are aboard our own submersible, providing support. Parasite, Nightjack, and Saint Vitus are with them; they're supposed to be assisting, but the last I heard, they were going stir crazy instead. Not surprising, really; they're used to the wide open sky, not the cramped insides of a submarine."

"Perhaps we can fix that," Northclaw said as they approached the helm; Scavendrill and Novacula turned to face them. Northclaw turned to the trio and said, "Most of you are familiar with my comrades-in-arms, but for those of you who aren't, this is Novacula and our engineer Scavendrill." Sustain made her own introductions and Northclaw said, "Alright, now that introductions are over with, on to business. Where exactly is this object of interest Astrotrain discovered?"

Dynabreaker pointed to the back of the sub. "Back a few meters that-a-way, you can't miss it."

'Given Novacula's sonar readings, I'm certain of that,' Northclaw thought. He turned to the olive Decepticon and said, "Turn this bucket around, turn on the prow lights, and bring the thrusters to one quarter power. Let's go see what's out there."

Novacula nodded and turned back to his controls. Dynabreaker looked up at the screen in time to see the lights at the bow turn on, revealing the same featureless sand she'd been standing just moments before. She watched as the landscape slipped under them, angled slightly, then straightened out again, all in what seemed to be one fluid motion. After a moment, Novacula called out, "Thrusters at one quarter power."

"Engage!" Datamatrix said in a tone that was deeper than usual and pointing dramatically. The others shot him annoyed glares. "What?"

"Datamatrix, if you've got nothing better to do, then we can give you something," Northclaw said in a rare display of irritation. "Contact Scrapper and have him rendezvous at a location of his convenience. Also, order the other Constructicons to return to the other submersible; I don't know how long your team's been wondering around out there…"

"Less than a megacycle," Sustain said.

"… But there's no need to keep them out there any longer than necessary," Northclaw continued. "We don't need any implosions around here."

Datamatrix cocked his head, puzzled. "Pardon my apparent ignorance, but we have operated in underwater conditions before. Hell, our initial headquarters on Earth was located underwater!"

"But that was in a significantly shallower environment than this," Scavendrill pointed out. "At this depth, the average Decepticon would have about…" He paused, silently running calculations in his head, "… two point five megacycles, maybe three, before the pressure crushed him like he was an aluminum can." He glanced down at Sustain, adding, "It was fortunate that we got her aboard as soon as we did; another fifteen cycles out there and we'd be sending her back in a recycling bin."

Sustain frowned. "Aren't you a cheery fellow," she said sardonically.

Dynabreaker eyed Datamatrix a moment and saw that he was considering another protest. But a sharp glare from Northclaw was all it took to make him reconsider. He nodded slightly, said, "I'll call Scrappie immediately," turned, and walked to the closest terminal. Dynabreaker had to smile; Datamatrix was notorious for questioning authority. She'd only known three individuals who'd been able to get him to do anything without repeating themselves, Dynamax included. Northclaw would have to be added to that list.

"Sonar contact," Novacula called out. "We're approaching the seamount."

"Slow to half our current speed," Northclaw ordered. "And bring it up on the viewscreen."

The view screen blinked and brought up the view… of a carcass. It was the remains of a large animal, at least twenty meters long, consisting of mostly bone and a few patches of flesh. Some parts of the body were teaming with red and black tendril-looking animals that coiled and knotted around each other like serpents from a horror holoprogram. A pair of large, slow moving sharks cruised just inches above the carcass, while a third latched its jaws into one of the mounds of remaining flesh, twisting and turning in its effort to bite off a mouthful of rotten meat.

"Okay, that's just disgusting," Novacula groaned sickly.

"These things are spread all over the place," Sustain said, her own voice a little higher than usual. "Most of its just old bones and chalk outlines, but there are a few that are… active."

Northclaw nodded absently. "Novacula, can you find us an area that doesn't have organic debris around it?"

"Gladly," Novacula said. The camera moved slowly to the left until the undersea feast was out of view, to be replaced by the view of a massive wall of gray metal encrusted by red, orange and white rusticles. Northclaw took a step closer to the screen, his optics fixed; he knew he wasn't the only one.

"By Primus," Scavendrill said. "That's a big… whatever it is."

"Scrapper believes that it is a ship of some kind," Sustain said, her voice calm; she'd already seen it. "He also thinks that it's of extraterrestrial origin, though he can't be entirely certain."

"Let's see if we can't determine that before our rendezvous with him, shall we?" Northclaw said. "Reduce magnification to the lowest setting possible; maybe we can obtain a little more detail on this thing.-"

Scavendrill moved to comply, did a quick double take, checked the settings again. "We're already at the minimum setting."

Northclaw glanced back at the screen in surprise. Novacula echoed his thoughts, "That's a big ship."

"It's like looking at the hull of the Titanic," Scavendrill said in awe.

Novacula glanced at him, confused. "The what?"

"I'll explain later."

Datamatrix returned suddenly. "Just talked to Scrappie," he said. "He's sent the others back to our sub, per your orders. He's waiting for us to pick him up now."

Northclaw glanced at him. "Where?"

"About a hundred meters or so to our right," Datamatrix said. "He'll sit tight until we get there."

"Well, no sense in wasting any time," Northclaw said. "Novacula, lock onto the any thermal contact within a hundred meters of our starboard and make a slow beeline for it. Scavendrill, I want the video scanners recording every inch of that hull out there as we pass over it. If there's anything that might be of interest along the way, I want it on tape, as the saying goes."

"Understood," Scavendrill said.

"Hey, Northclaw," Datamatrix said. "We were told that there were four Dragoons on Earth; I only see three. Where's the other one?"

Northclaw actually smiled. "Oh, he's swimming around out there somewhere."

It didn't take long to reach Scrapper's position and he'd been brought aboard as quickly as possible. As the Constructicon waited in the airlock, Northclaw decided to rendezvous with the other submersible. They would continue recording their passage over the hull so that any information it held could be studied at their convenience.

Scrapper, Northclaw, Dynabreaker, and Sustain stood in the center of the main compartment, looking over a three dimensional holographic rendition of the sunken ship. Given the diagram's incredible detail, it was obvious that the Constructicons had taken full advantage of the Oceanglide's survey capabilities. Northclaw would have liked Scavendrill to join them, but he was engrossed in looking over the video feeds. Novacula and Datamatrix were being kept busy on other tasks, the former with steering the ship and the latter watching the communication channels.

"This hologram," Scrapper was saying, "represents a rough rendition of what we believe to be the object's appearance, based on the scans taken by our submersible. As you've witnessed yourselves, it is of considerable size; it's estimated that its total dimensions are substantially greater than anything we've encountered in the past. We can't be certain of its exact size as a portion of the craft is buried under several meters of sediment. But based on our initial investigation, it is certain that this vehicle did not originate from this system."

"Sustain mentioned that" Northclaw stated. "How did you come to that conclusion?"

"The metal used in the outer hull is a type of alloy that's not known to have been developed by the native population. In addition, the methods in which the ship has been constructed do not match any known technique employed by the inhabitants of this particular system."

"That you're aware of," Northclaw pointed out. "Primus only knows what the Autobots have been sharing with their allies." Or what our own people are allocating…

"Perhaps," Scrapper said. "But we've also taken metal samples from the hull, measured the length of the rusticles, and gauged sediment depth. Base on these and other variables, we estimate this vessel's age at around fifty galactic cycles and that it has lying in this place for nearly as long."

Dynabreaker glanced at the Constructicon. "So this isn't the legendary Atlantis the fleshlings are always going on about," she said half jokingly.

"Possible, but not likely," Scrapper replied. "When this ship crashed, this planet's was probably just entering its most recent ice age. The local inhabitants were probably in caves or on the open plains back then; if any saw it at all, they probably just saw the fireball it made as it fell through the atmosphere."

"What kind of condition is it in?" Northclaw asked.

"From what we can tell," Scrapper said, "its in fairly good condition, appearances to the contrary. The amount of rusticles on the hull is deceiving; the native microbes apparently can't stomach the exotic metal this thing is made out of. I couldn't begin to guess at the state of preservation for the portions buried under the sediment; for all we know, the keel could have been torn right off in the crash. We haven't taken scans of the internal compartments yet, so I can't tell you the state of those, either."

Northclaw pointed to the rear of the hologram. "I presume these are engine thrusters."

"That's what they look like."

"Would it be possible to raise this thing under its own power, then?"

"Maybe; depends on how well the structural integrity has held up after all these millennia. It looks good on the outside, but the inside maybe a different matter entirely. Even if the internal decks are in excellent condition, the engines themselves might be completely dead. We need time to complete our surveys."

"We may not have that luxury," Northclaw said. "The longer we stay, the more likely it is the Autobots will detect our presence; we're too close to two of their outposts to go completely unnoticed as it is. And we can't stay down here indefinitely on our limited supplies. I want to explore every option possible before we have to abandon the site."

"We discovered something else while we were doing our surveys," Scrapper said. "Actually, Scavenger picked it up."

Northclaw angled his head slightly. "What?"

"He detected a trace amount of energy emanating from within the superstructure."

"An interesting find, but not exactly planet shattering."

"I thought so too initially, but it nagged at me long enough that I ran an analysis and compared it with known types of energy. I found a ninety percent match with radiation normally emitted by the spark of a Transformer."

Northclaw narrowed his optics. "Are you sure about that?"

"Like I said, it's a ninety percent match. I ran a diagnostic just to be sure. I'm well aware of the problems we've had with our equipment in these conditions, but a spark's a long way from a software glitch."

Northclaw stroked his chin thoughtfully. "It's worth looking into. If the internal compartments haven't flooded and the airlocks are working, we could board and investigate further."

"Could be taking a big risk on that," Sustain said. Turning to Scrapper, she asked, "Do you have any other information on this signal?"

"Not much," Scrapper replied. "The signal's pretty weak; even Scavenger's scanners had trouble picking up. We couldn't tell you who, what, or how many. There also that slim chance that it's not a spark at all, just something that emits a similar signature."

"The only way to find out would be to find a way to get aboard that ship," Northclaw said. "We might also be able to find out where this thing came from." Seeing movement, he glanced away from the diagram and saw Scavendrill approaching from behind Dynabreaker. "You have something to add?"

"I might," Scavendrill replied. "We may have a means of identifying the ship's point of origin without having to board it. I was going over some of the video scans we've taken thus far and found something you might find interesting."

"Bring it up," Northclaw said. Scavendrill nodded, walked over to the nearest bulkhead terminal and typed a command into the keypad. A second screen appeared over the holographic diagram, showing the hull plating as the sub's cameras had seen it. The Decepticons watched as the image panned over the ship's surface, but all they saw was the same gray, rust, and white colors they'd seen already.

Scavendrill waited a moment before saying, "I'll freeze the image… here." He typed on the keypad and the video froze in place. "Let me zoom in on a section and enhance," he said, typing furiously, and the pictured followed his statement not long after. He scanned the image a moment before saying, "There it is. Notice anything?"

"All I see is rust," Dynabreaker groused impatiently.

Sustain was a little more sharp-eyed than her larger compatriot. "I see it, in the center. It's a bit a faded and a little obscured by the rust, but it looks like markings of some sort."

Northclaw saw it too and was studying them closely. His optics narrowed abruptly. "Are those what I think they are?"

"You're thinking that's Decepticon script you're looking at, you'd be correct," Scavendrill replied.

Dynabreaker looked at the camera image, then at Scrapper's diagram, then at the image again. "Are you saying that's a Decepticon ship down there?"

"It would appear so," Scrapper said, silently reading. "I see at least two separate lines, which isn't unusual. The top line looks like some sort of serial number. D-X-one-seven… that looks like a two, but I can't be sure, there's rust obscuring that character."

Northclaw turned his head away slightly, thinking. He wasn't an expert on the serial numbers assignments, but was familiar enough to know what codes Decepticon vessels carried. Supply transports were assigned a random combination of letters and numbers, while warships bore a code that corresponded to the ship type. The number Scrapper had read off didn't match any ship registration he was familiar with. Then again, considering the vessel's estimated age, the registration process could have been different when it was launched.

Scavendrill came forward, also observing the image closely. "The second line's a bit obscured, but I think I can make it out…" He paused a moment, then his jaw dropped. "Orcunis!"

Scrapper's visor nearly bugged out of its socket. "Orcunis? Here? You're not pulling my transistors, are you?"

"If I am, the joke's on me as well," Scavendrill said. "I thought for certain he was destroyed."

"Care to inform the rest of us ignorant protoforms what's going on?" Northclaw inquired flatly. "Who or what in the infernal Pit is Orcunis?"

"Orcunis was a Decepticon who was constructed on Cybertron," Scrapper explained. "You might call him the prototype for units like Trypticon and Scorponok. Shockwave had him built… about fifty galactic cycles ago, as a matter of fact. During his initial test trails, he got caught in of what we had presumed to be the event horizon of a black hole and disappeared; it was believed he was destroyed." He looked back at the hologram. "It must have been a wormhole he fell into and it dumped him into this system."

"Could a Transformer's spark survive all this time?" Sustain asked.

"The occupants of the Ark did," Scrapper pointed out.

"True, but they aboard a ship, not the ship themselves. They didn't take a header into a submarine trench from orbit, either."

Northclaw shook his head slightly. "What is it about this planet that makes it a giant magnet for lost Cybertronians?"

"Couldn't tell ya," Scrapper said. "But I can tell you that this puts a greater priority on raising him from the depths; if it can be done."

"We should contact Dynamax," Sustain suggested. "But I do recommend that we place a priority on recovering him; he could be the key to turning the war in our favor."

"We should contact Dynamax," Sustain said. "Perhaps we could arrange to obtain a ship with undersea capabilities so we can tow him out."

Northclaw shook his head. "Negative; the increased activity would attract to much unwanted attention; besides, a tractor beam or magnetic grappler might do more harm than good. There's also no guarantee that either would work in this environment anyway. We're going to have to try to raise him under his own power." He turned to Scrapper. "Do any of the warp gates in this system connect to a Decepticon dry-dock?"

Scrapper thought a moment. "We could use the warp gate in orbit above Earth's moon to reach the Tyhryl Shipyards, which is located deep within our own territory."

Northclaw nodded slightly, then turned to the helm. "Novacula, empty the ballasts and head for the surface. Datamatrix, contact the other sub and tell them to surface, we'll rendezvous with them there."

"Consider it done," Novacula said.

"On it," Datamatrix replied at nearly the same time.

Dynabreaker eyed Northclaw carefully. "What are you planning?"

"I'm giving the flyers on your sub their wish," Northclaw said. "Once we're on the surface, we'll establish an aerial perimeter to provide us advance warning should the Autobots or EDC become too curious. Novacula, I want you to take a position parallel to the coast. Your stealth capabilities make it possible for you to operate a little more freely in that sector."

"Understood."

"I'll repeat this to the others, but I want to know immediately if an Autobot or EDC patrol is detected, even if they're not heading for this site. I want no surprise guests."

"Gotcha."

Northclaw turned back to the others. "Once the flyers are in position, the rest of us will return to Orcunis and ascertain his condition. We'll log the location of every airlock and pray that the galactic cycles of decay and ocean pressures have flooded every one of his compartments. We'll decide on how to proceed once we've established all that."

Dynabreaker nodded. "Understood."

Northclaw turned to Scavendrill. "You have those schematics you were looking at earlier?"

Scavendrill looked lost for a moment, and then realized what he was talking about. "Not on my person, but I can get them. What did you have in mind?"

"Think you can reformat Orcunis into what you intended for that design?"

Scavendrill thought for a moment. "Maybe. It would depend on if he were compatible with our current technology. Even if he is, the refit alone would take decacycles, even with the personnel and equipment at Tyhryl."

"We'll discuss the intricacies later," Northclaw said. "For the time being, let's first make sure this thing can be salvaged."

1 Galactic cycle 1 millennium