Chapter 4: Into Darkness
"6 joors have passed since Optimus' disappearance and no one apparently saw anything suspicious in the skies before the window shattered. After the sound of glass breaking, the intruder was gone even though a lot of optics were trained on the window, from one angle to another," Barricade announced.
Bumblebee cupped his chin, "So after he went in, he just automatically transported out of there with Optimus? Why didn't he just pop in like that and then use the same method to go out?"
Prowl kept his mouth shut while Barricade finished reading all of the Cybertronians' reports his fellow guardsmen had collected on the kidnapping.
"Well," the police car started, "honestly, I can't truly answer that. But whatever he wanted with Optimus still remains a mystery that we can't solve without some clues pointing towards a suspect or eve a place. We can only do so much."
Rodimus studied the broken window before stating a comment, "Hey, do you guys see how the shape of the glass looks similar to a human medical cross?"
Bumblebee turned his attention to Rodimus while both police cars just stared at the glass.
"Look, the vertical break is the body right? So the horizontal break must be the wings. And if you look at the size of the actual outline…"
"…It resembles a giant animal!" The warrior finished. "Or even a dragon! It may be one of Tigressa's brothers! Since Entity was under the new leader's control, the others must be too!"
Prowl just continued to observe the ruined view, "Yeah but, if this 'New Leader' has a group of flying super soldiers at his disposal, don't you think everyone who has a high command could be in peril?"
"No," Bumblebee concluded, "I think whoever has the Metal Heads under his heels must need the most powerful Cybertronian for something important, maybe even for revenge."
Optimus stirred slightly from his slumber and tried to move but found that his arms and legs were bound separate on a wall by sticky webbing, neither like Airachnid's nor Blackarachnia's. He noticed strange rattling yellow orbs on stalks were beside him and attached to the oozing walls. They were eggs.
He instantly peered down to his right to see a pool of a swirling dark purple, blue, and black substance in which the stalks resided. Above him, tubes of four different colored matters flowed throughout the room into a tunnel where something glowing was.
A screech startled him from his observances, and before him was a Metal Head he didn't recognize. It appeared similar to Slag and his mate, Skewer; it had very little armor and wasn't showing its usual bright yellow skull gems. They were instead a dull, venomous red as well as the eyes.
'That's not right,' he thought to himself. Wherever he was, it didn't contain what he was familiar with.
As soon as the Triceratops-like Metal Head moved on, one of the eggs converted from its normal yellow to the ugly red coloring and five little Metal babies broke out of the crude shell. All five seemed to resemble the T-Rex-like Gyros who attacked Grimlock earlier this year, minus the obvious skull gem change.
The egg broke off from its stalk and landed into the pulsing dark liquid where all five Metal Heads instantly drank from. Immediately, the small T-Rexes' bodies pumped the dark ingredient through their system and to Optimus' amazement, they began to grow.
They squealed innocently as armor and spikes grew on their aging chassis. Some gripped the ground while their back and neck spikes emerged from their skeleton; the others groaned in pain as their limbs and tails enlarged tenfold from their original height and mass. As their bodies expanded, their weak voices intensified to deep roars with several rows of teeth lining their throats.
Optimus had never before witnessed a Metal Head being born nor their growth into a mature adult monster. Who knew cute little animals like that could form into predatory, blood lusting behemoths within seconds of their birth.
Now, five giant abominable Gyros stood before him, testing their neck spikes by rotating them counter-clockwise like some birds do when they're exaggerating their crops to impress the females of their species.
The Prime saw the Triceratops-like Metal Head had returned, but the view rapidly changed to one of horror. The Gyros saw their new prey and ganged up against the smaller creature. Surprisingly, every strike they performed revealed the other type of Metal Head had a thick layer of metal beneath its skin, but the Gyros finally made it past the under armor and snapped the four horned animal's neck. It was now a meal.
As he grew sickened by the sight of the Gyros feeding on the deceased titan Triceratops, he heard a voice he didn't recognize and the male voice was talking to a female who sounded monotone almost as if she was one of those old automatic machines humans once built in the early 2000's. She seemed dull responding but she talked to him nonetheless.
Optimus continued to eavesdrop until a dark shadow was cast upon him again. He peered up to see the same purple eyes he saw before he blacked out on Cybertron. He looked closely and finally realized who it was before he felt the impact of the shadow's fist which made him unconscious once again, "Ghost!"
Megatron couldn't believe what had happened to Optimus. He was so shocked that Arcee had to physically shake him back to reality.
His crew seemed astonished too. Starscream and Soundwave had never heard of something like that nor had the even seen it happen before. Breakdown, Dreadwing, and Knockout conversed with each other about how it was even possible for something to disappear like that with a large bot like Optimus and not get spotted.
It was a mystery until Rodimus informed them of their recent discovery which came as even more of a wakeup call. The crew was rambling amongst each other now, and it seemed like a war between rumors had begun.
Megatron swiftly walked out of the Central Command room and headed for the top deck where Arcee was. He saw her dangling her pedes over the edge as naively as possible when he approached her. The warlord sat beside her and did the same thing while looking up at the night sky with two of Cybertron's moons in view.
"Are you alright, my dear?" Megatron cooed.
Arcee hesitated before answering, "If you count 'worried' as another term for 'alright' then sure."
The warmonger growled softly and pulled the two-wheeler to his lap. She didn't resist his warm embrace but still was in a sad mood for her missing leader.
She felt his arms wrap around her waist with her back pressed against his chest. She could hear his spark pulsing in the nightly silence among them. It reminded her of her creator's whose spark was always heard; she always cuddled against her mother's chest, or at least until she grew old enough to leave her family and join the fight for Cybertron.
Megatron rested his chin on her shoulder as both gazed down at Tyger Pax which was covered in both moving and frozen lights. New York resembled it way too much.
Arcee rubbed against his cheek for reassurance, which made him purr, as they stayed under the starry sky, hoping Optimus was still living.
The next morning, Bumblebee set up a new team to go with him to Moon Base 1 where the unusual energy signature originated and where Optimus may be.
Rodimus decided to continue his adventure with the yellow warrior while the Jet Twins (Jetfire and Jetstorm), Wasp, Smokescreen, and Blurr were situated into the new group. Apparently, Wasp and Smokescreen had a history together; let's just say they weren't the best of friends.
Ultra Magnus was nice enough to loan them a large ship named the Ethiopia which was used during the war as an Autobot spy vessel with a former Decepticon crew piloting it. It was historic but it had seen better days and resting in a warehouse wasn't helping.
Wasp and Smokescreen stared daggers at each other as both climbed aboard the Ethiopia. Bumblebee rolled his eyes but studied Blurr who was acting suspicious. He never had an expression like that before nor did he ever move so slowly. Usually, he was the happiest, hyper speedster everyone grew to love, but now, he seemed downtrodden, almost nervous and scared.
"Blurr?" Bumblebee called as the blue car flinched at his name, "Is something wrong? You don't seem like yourself today."
Blurr stuttered quickly, "I-I'm fine! Just leave me alone!"
The warrior was taken aback by the blue car's words. He'd never met this version of Blurr nor did he really like it.
As the ship left Cybertron without any of its passengers killing each other, Wasp looked out the window towards the shrinking planet. In all honesty, he had never been on this type of mission before, and he couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong. But that could only be a misconception inside his mind, right?
The green muscle car gripped the nearest corner out of sheer terror. What if he was right? But what if he was wrong and he lead the group into a false defensive mode? They would hate him for making them so paranoid about the Moon Base.
He tried to shake the thought from his mind when suddenly, the ship jolted like it had hit something or vice versa. Wasp instantly went to the main control room where the monitors were filled with warning signs of different malfunctions.
"Great, we get a piece of shit vessel from a bot who finally acted nice for once but was always an asshole around the clock every other time. Thanks a lot, Commander," Smokescreen commented.
"'Screen, now's not the time to make snide remarks about someone who isn't here!" Jetstorm responded as he clung to his station's console.
The Ethiopia drifted towards Moon Base 1 weightlessly and was soon being dragged inside the atmosphere by the satellite's gravitational pull.
As ground floor sped into view, everybody braced themselves for a rough landing. The ship screeched as it slid across the metal plates layering the surface of the moon. Luckily, it didn't lose any vital parts or any Cybertronians for that matter. It finally settled between two bent shards of metal that formed walls next to the sides of the ship.
Bumblebee emerged from the resting vessel while rubbing his throbbing helm. He watched as the Jet Twins as well as Wasp, Blurr, and Smokescreen exited through a few rips in the hull. All seemed alright enough to carry on.
"Well," Jetfire began, "communications are down for the time being. I've already started to reboot system but it will take about two joors for it to actually take effect on the computers."
The warrior sighed as his brother (Wasp is Bumblebee's sibling) moaned at the news.
Wasp scowled at himself for not warning the crew ahead of time. His suspicions were right, but he chose to ignore them for one second and something like this happens?
Rodimus didn't come out of the wreckage for some time, but he was fine despite his disappearance. This made Bumblebee go into a panic attack about him a few minutes after the others confirmed their conditions and he was not visible.
The Prime cracked his back loudly which made Blurr even more paranoid to Bumblebee's surprise. There was something wrong, and he was going to find out before this trip ends or else.
All seven mechs abandoned their immobile vessel with the tracker that had thankfully isolated the energy signature and imprinted its location in its memory banks before the crash. The digital marker seemed to loom over the coordinates of one of the old Base watch towers that were built during the war to watch over a specific area of the moon for Decepticons or any unauthorized/unusual activity.
The Sentries, as they were called, surpassed Darkmount's height by a few feet but weren't designed to be like a military fortress. Instead, they held special op teams, vehicles, and weapons used only for emergencies as well as a few holding cells for any intruders caught. The intruders were usually moved to a prison on Cybertron the following day.
They eventually were deserted when Cybertron fell dark. Despite its now-booming population growth, the Moon Base still is uninhibited although the new Council has been conversing about what its new use should be.
The Sentry before them had four smaller turrets surrounding it, but one was missing its apex while another parallel to it was broken in the middle and its upper half was stuck between the Sentry and its origin forming a useless bridge. The other two had scars and holes but both still stood perfectly.
Rodimus had to lean back to even peek towards the summit of the tower which was hidden by a circular wall that prevented any ground based missiles and weapons from striking the room below the peak which held items from valuables to custom explosives made from a wide variety of ingredients, materials, and even dead bodies from previously killed soldiers.
If the chamber was hit, the building's crown would have most likely been separated from its base and taken anybody up there with it or its deck would've crumbled inward and crushed anybody inside as it fell to the bottom floor. Either way, the barbican would've been ruins within mere seconds.
Bumblebee noticed the energy signature would once in a while disappear almost like something was attempting to block it or it was in a place where its signal wasn't very strong due to the elements around it. He realized in order to cover the entire tower, they would have to be in groups of two with one group of three.
If memory served right, he learned about Sentries in the Cybertron equivalent to School which would've been translated to only seven grades, and apparently, some Sentries even had a few underground stories but no one truly knew what it was used for except the bots who actually worked there. They never revealed any of the towers' secrets other than there actually being an underground labyrinth and what they stored in the top chamber.
"Alright," Bumblebee began as he halted his team, "Rodimus, you're with me. Jet Twins, you obviously know who you're paired with. And Smokescreen, don't kill Wasp…or Blurr, even though I know you have no quarrel with him."
Smokescreen growled at the green muscle car who eyed the former sternly. Blurr, however, just kept his distance from both, not wanting to be caught in another war between Cybertronians and having to choose sides.
The Jet Twins high fived each other before transforming into their alt. modes which were true to their names. Bumblebee was well aware they wanted to start their mission on the crown of the enormous barbican.
Rodimus continued onward inside the watch tower with the warrior in tow. He seemed drawn to the lower half of the sentinel more so than the sky-high half. He went into a room across the hall and messed with a few items while the yellow mech went into a different area.
Bumblebee quickly scanned the nearest room for any life forms or items that were most likely coated in rust from their time spent in the rotting castle-like citadel. His sensor beeped for a second but whatever it was seemed to have moved on or his system hiccupped.
Instead, a hole in the corner of a misshapen wall caught his optic, and curiosity got the better of him. The hole wasn't big enough for a small bot, but it was spacious enough for a human to go through. He peered inside and saw nothing out of the ordinary.
Suddenly, grey jaws filled his view and snapped at the hole with a snarl sounding at the same time, forcing Bumblebee to scream and jump back in fear. He landed on his aft and pushed himself to the wall behind him.
Whatever it was seemed to have left as soon as he fell backwards. He had only caught a glimpse of what it was; to his horror, it almost looked like it had a grey face like his species had. That couldn't be right.
"Bee? Bee!? Oh, dude, what happened? I heard you yell and then a thud followed. Are you okay?" Rodimus asked as he helped the warrior up.
"I just thought I saw…nah, I must've hit my head and the image of whatever that thing was became scrambled," Bumblebee said, confused by his own words.
"Saw what? What did it "appear" to be?"
Bumblebee hesitated to respond, "It just seemed like that thing was Cybertronian for a second. I mean it sounded like a Metal Head but when its jaws tried to bite me, before I moved back, I thought I saw around its mouth silver protoform face plating. Plus its façade was flat like ours, not edgy and outward like a Metal Head snout would be."
Rodimus raised a brow, "I think you've been spending too much time on Earth and that planet's organic features have really screwed with your processor."
"What, you don't believe me?"
"I'm not saying that, I'm just a little concerned about your touch on reality and how you haven't seen many Cybertronian faces in one place for thousands and thousands of years. You've gotten used to Earth's humans that you've slowly forgot the image of a Cybertronian and now seeing them is triggering some sort of program where you process Cybertronians as the unknown, dangerous alien species."
Bumblebee stared at him, lost in the wording of what his fellow teammate was trying to suggest. "I didn't process a majority what you just said but about the part I did, I highly doubt I'm reading my fellow Cybertronians as a threat. Personally, I think you might need some serious help plus you weren't on Cybertron for that many years too. You could've picked up on the same thing, don't you think?"
Rodimus' expression froze to one of confusion before he finally replied, "Oh yeah, I'm sorry. Forget what I said. Never mind, my bad."
Both mechs didn't keep eye contact for more than one second. The awkward silence didn't help either.
Bumblebee hoped the others weren't experiencing anything as crazy as this.