Chapter 14-Feet of Clay, Head of Gold
It was a bright, sunny day near the Elladan islands as the Autobots were taking a small break while they focused on locating the real location of the Minicon panel they found in a painting of the Argonauts. Sitting just outside of the cove where they found a ship that was once part of the Argo's fleet, they learned that it wasn't the flagship, but it still might've had a clue to where the real Argo is. Until they could get an idea as to where the ship's resting place was, they had to sit still for a while and mingle in their own business.
Optimus was standing off to the side checking up on the rest of the Autobots that were on missions around the world. Jazz was practicing his fighting moves on a rock by the beach, and Prowl was watching over the children and Minicons. Kevin, Sparkplug, Mugen and Razor were sitting around Gina while she worked her magic, studying the log book they snagged from the ship they uncovered and making deductions based on that. Roadstorm was just hanging out by himself, snoozing.
"Okay, so we're here, in Delos." She pointed to a tiny dot near the area of the map she highlighted. "And these are the Agean Islands. One of these islands is the resting place of the Argo, and the location of the stasis panel. There are three islands to check out-Crete, Colchis and Hesperides."
"We still don't know where the panel is?" Razor groaned. "Couldn't we track it?"
"Not until it activates itself." Sparkplug said. "This is a premature mission. We have to rely on the route the Argo last took if we want to find the panel."
"Not to mention that is only in the case scenario if the ship is in one piece." Prowl pointed out. "If it's been destroyed, then we will have a difficult time finding the panel at the bottom of the sea."
"That's wonderful news." Mugen grumbled.
"And there's a slim chance that there are still some golems running around on these islands as guardians of past settlements that lived here." Gina added.
It wasn't uncommon for golems, the ancient robotic warriors of the Arians, to still be operational after thousands of years. It was one of the enigmas of the strange piece of Arian machinery-no one knew how these ancient but advanced machines could survive the ravages of time and still be able to operate on their own. It was one of the dangers of snooping around Arian ruins; the next golem you uncovered could easily wake up and kill you in a heartbeat if you aren't careful.
"Can we just focus on the pros? At least we have a rough estimate of where we need to go." Kevin pointed out. "We just need to pick a starting place and go."
"Doesn't this mean we'll have to search each island from top to bottom if we don't get it on the first try?" Razor asked. She gave a pout when Gina and Prowl nodded.
"Yeah, that's what it means. Sorry, Mugen." Gina smiled apologetically. "We need to absolutely sure that the panel is not on an island before moving on."
"So what's our target?" Jazz asked.
Optimus walked up to them. "The island closest to us would be the most logical choice."
Gina pointed to an island shaped like a tear drop. "Crete."
"Well then," Prowl said. "What are we waiting for? Let's get moving before the Cons get the jump on us again."
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Knockout was already cursing his luck the moment she stepped onto the sandy beach of the island of Hesperides. He was never a fan of beaches, the sand got into places that were hard to clean, and the salty sea air did a number on his paint if he stayed near the ocean for too long. It was also for this reason that quite a few Decepticon units requested him on their roster when infiltrating water worlds, just to piss him off. A lot of people got a laugh out of that.
Behind him, Barricade and Lugnut also exited the ground bridge, with Lugnut's new Minicon partner in tow, Search. Search was the Minicon Megatron bestowed upon him upon returning from Lemnos. He was a plain looking mech with light brown armor that turned copper around the knees. He had a blue visor and brown faceplate. One thing of note about him was that his long arms lacked hands, in their place were laser cannons, which in hindsight wasn't a good idea since he had no way of holding objects, making him pretty useless outside of battle. But still, it was the thought that counts.
"Alright, remind me why Lord Megatron isn't dragging Starscream along on this mission?" knockout grumbled. "I thought we were following a lead because of that dingus."
"Lord Megatron and Nightshade are still recovering from their battle against the aliens on Lemnos, as is Starscream." Barricade told him. "After hearing their report on what they went through, I don't blame them for being out of it."
"As if we weren't having enough problems with the Autobots, now we have to worry about walking statues with a god complex." Knockout groaned. Lugnut hit him on the shoulder, knocking him onto his face in the sand. "What was that for, you mono-eyed brute!"
"Cease your incessant whining! We come here on a mission for Lord Megatron and I intend to see it through to the end. I will not have you speaking treasonous words on the field, doctor!" Lugnut growled. Knockout shot back up to his feet and converted his right hand into his saw.
"Watch that tone, big guy, or you'll be picking pieces of your optic lens out of your cranium when I'm done with you!" He snarled.
Barricade swung his gyro-blades to break the two up before any blows could be dealt. "Stop this! We have a job to do, if you two scrap heads hadn't noticed. We need to find the panel before the Autobots locate it or Megatron will turn us inside out!"
"Oh come on! Let them fight," Search said eagerly. "It'll be exciting!"
Barricade gave him a withering glare. "We need to focus and do our jobs, then you two can rip each other to pieces. Can we do that, at least?"
Knockout and Lugnut glared at each other for a moment before settling down.
"Fine, I guess we can hold off the dissection until a later date." Knockout huffed indignantly.
"I shall hold myself back for Lord Megatron." Lugnut nodded, and then added, "But after this mission I will grind your bones into dust!"
"Ugh, someone kill me already." Barricade sighed. He really hated working with these people. It was like trying to hold an intelligent conversation with a Constructicon.
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The travel to Crete was short and sweet, no hassle, no obstacles, and definitely no Cons. The Autobots and their smaller allies arrived on the shore of the island's beach via a ground bridge, and not a second sooner did they step onto the sand did they run into something out of the ordinary.
Standing in the middle of the beach was a statue. It was tall, standing around 38 feet and made of bronze. It was built in the likeliness of a human, a man sculpted to visual perfection, which was very common in Elladan artwork. Its arms were raised to the sky with its gaze on the sun as if revering the gods above, eyes staring blankly into the sky. It was definitely old, but there were very little signs of age-with only a few rusty spots on its armor. Whoever built this made sure to leave an impression on all who saw this.
"Just when you've thought you've seen everything." Optimus commented.
"What is it with you humans making statues ten times larger than you? Seriously, it's not like I feel small enough next to these giant bozos." Roadstorm grumbled.
"That's not a statue. That's a deactivated golem." Gina said, taking pictures with her Sky Spy. "This golem is called Talon. It's a golem made by the people who lived on Crete before they left the island. It was supposed to act as a guardian, patrolling the beaches three times a day and attacking anything in sight."
"This was made hundreds of years ago, before the advent of electricity?" Prowl questioned, looking down at the kids. "And no one knows how to control them?"
"That's the thing. The golems were made before the Void Century. There probably is a way to control them, but any specific records were lost." Gina shrugged.
Yet another mystery of this world. Optimus studied the statue and wondered how could primitive humans have even made such an advanced robot if they haven't even learned how to make steel yet? Usually such contradictions in time periods and technological levels are often the result of outside interference. There have been more than enough instances where rogue cybertronians gifted primitive races with advanced technology just to make a quick buck or something even less moral. He didn't know what Terra's story was, but there were definitely signs of outside interference on the technological level, if that was what really happened.
'But that is a worry for another time. We have work to do.' Thought Optimus.
"Well, we aren't going to get any work done standing around." Prowl said. "Prime, I suggest that we split up into teams and-"
Out of nowhere, the leg of Talos lashed out and hit Prowl in the chest, knocking him back across the beach to stop in a heap of sand.
"Prowl!" Optimus yelled.
"Hey! No one hits my friend like that!" Razor yelled and rushed forward.
"Tracer, no!" Mugen tried to stop her, but the femme had already transformed and was driving towards the left leg of the golem.
Hovering across the sand on turbines built into her legs, Razor took out her dual photon blasters and began shooting haphazardly at its leg. Surprisingly, its ancient metal armor withstood the energy onslaught and it showed little damage aside from some scorch marks. It wasn't until her shots got close to its heel that it suddenly jerked up and lashed out at them.
"Move it, girl!" Jazz yelled as he rushed forward at speeds rivaling an Olympic sprinter and scooped Razor up before Talon smashed the Minicon to tiny pieces. The punch alone made the beach shake and sent a cloud of sand flying everywhere.
Talon moved with a painful slowness attained from centuries of inactivity. The golem's movements got quicker the more it moved, and it bent forward, slowly turning towards the Autobots. Its eyes opened and two eyes that looked like gleaming sapphires stared directly at the intruders.
"And that's our queue to get out of here!" Mugen snatched up Kevin and Gina and changed into her motorcycle form, speeding away from the hostile robot as it stood to its full height.
"Autobots, fall back!" Optimus said and changed into his truck mode, driving into the forest. Jazz and Prowl followed him in their alt modes along with the Minicons. Roadstorm, ever the optimist, chose to moment to give his witty comment of the day.
"Well this went about as well as I expected." He quipped.
"Not now, Roadstorm!" Prowl scolded.
Talon's eyes followed the smaller forms of the Autobots, its cybernetic brain dictating that they were unauthorized intruders who would do harm to Crete and must be eliminated. Raising its arm, it threw a punch at the Autobots. It was only thanks to its still slow movements that they were able to get out of the way before the blow could smash them to pieces.
From the safety of the trees, Kevin, Gina and Mugen almost fell off the branches as the punches the golem delivered made the ground shake repeatedly. Jazz tried shooting his photon rifle at its face, but was forced back to avoid getting swatted away from a backhand.
"Oh man, this is nuts." Kevin said. He winced when he saw Jazz almost get kicked by Talon's large foot. "And you guys go through this almost every mission?"
"Sometimes," Gina shrugged. She was recording everything on Sky Spy, intending on showing this to Annie later and making the girl jealous at what she missed. "Though, it's usually a lot tamer than getting attacked by a golem."
"You are way too calm about all this." He pointed out.
"You'll get used to it. The near death experiences and loud explosions get a bit stale and routine after a while unless something really bad or strange happens."
Talon got faster the more it moved, taking the Autobots' attacks head on as it dealt out its own series of lumbering attacks that could've done serious damage if they were caught in its crosshairs. Eventually, Jazz got tired of playing chicken with the cousin of the Colossus of Rhodes and decided to fight back.
"This is getting old. Time to kick it up a little!" Jazz said. "Roadstorm, you ready?"
"No, but you're gonna force me to do it anyway." Roadstorm groaned.
"Now you're getting it. Link up, little dude!"
Roadstorm changed forms and powerlinked with Jazz, converting his arm into a triple-barreled cryo-emitter. Firing his grappling hook at Talon's shoulder, he allowed himself to be pulled forward and flanked the golem, firing condensed blasts of liquid nitrogen at its leg. Liquid nitrogen mixed with thousand year old adamantium equals very brittle metal that shatters on impact. Jazz fired as many blasts as he could before he cut his hook to duck under Talon's sweeping arm.
Optimus and Prowl opened fire on Talon's left leg, actually breaking off chunks of frozen metal, though even when made brittle, adamantium was still strong enough to last several seconds. Just long enough for Talon to swing around and throw at kick in their direction. Prowl took the brunt of the kick to his arm and was sent sprawling, but Optimus dived to the side and fired his ion rifle at Talon's heel, blasting off a chunk of its calf.
Unexpectedly, the golem reeled back and stumbled back a step, giving an ear shattering metallic screech akin to a robotic scream as it faltered for a minute. Optimus saw a sort of coolant leaking from the hole near its heel and quickly made the connection.
"Attack the hell!" Optimus yelled to his team. "That's its weak point!"
He unleashed the full power of his ion rifle on Talon's leg, targeting the heel. Despite its slowed movements, it was still fast enough to move its leg and stomp down on Optimus. Prime rolled away, but was sent flying when Talon batted a boulder at him, slamming right into his chest. Prowl ran behind it, with three throwing stars in his hands. Within seconds he calculated their flight path and waited until Talon was preoccupied with chasing Jazz to throw them at the back of its legs.
Just as Talon turned its attention to him, Prowl transformed and drove away, activating the detonation sequence in the stars in its legs. Both of Talon's legs exploded, sheering away the metal in its legs and damaging the vital conduits in its heels that transferred electricity through the circuits in its legs. Blue liquid that evaporated into steam upon contact with open air and Talon groaned as it started losing power.
Talon's movements slowed more and more until it could barely move its arms. It fell to its knees and reached out toward Optimus with the intent to crush him, but it couldn't even manage to lift its arm. Gears grinded to a stop, pistons slowed, and its coolant finally stopped flowing from its circuits. The might Talon was dead, frozen in place like the relic it was.
With the danger over, Prowl and Jazz joined Optimus in studying the deactivated goliath. Aside from Optimus sporting a few dings from getting hit with the boulder and Prowl covered in sand and dents in his armor, they were all okay and functional.
"That was a doozey." Jazz breathed, looking up at Talon. Even when deactivated, the machine still looked intimidating. "You guys okay? You both took some nasty hits."
"We're fine, Jazz." Prowl winced as he prodded the aching dent on his leg. "Just a bit banged up, but we can still go on."
"Just don't push yourselves too hard." Jazz said. "We have no idea what else we're gonna run into on this mission."
"Duly noted." Optimus said, warily looking at Talon's body.
"Guys!" they looked to the forest where Gina was running out with Kevin and the Minicons. "Guys, we need to move now! I've just got a read on the panel's signal!"
"No rest for the wicked." Optimus sighed, holstering his weapons.
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Hesperides was one of the islands in the Deldaros Ocean near Emmeria. It was a crescent shaped island east of Colchis and like Crete, hard its own small forest of tropical trees and other vegetation, giving way to rocky crags that jutted from the sea at the heart of the island.
The three Con team trudged their way through the tall palm trees in their exploration of the island. They had no idea what exactly they were looking for aside from a human ship that may have sunken on any of the three islands. The lack of information was a bit frustrating but it was to be expected when searching for an inactivated Minicon panel.
"Have you detected anything yet, Search?" Barricade asked.
"Nope, I got nothing. No anomalies, no signals, just dead air." Search said. He was in his alt mode with his small radio dish rotating around trying to detect any nearby Minicon frequencies. He had perfect reception, but nothing was coming up on his radar.
"Great, so our living metal detector is useless. Who could've guessed?" Knockout groused.
"Shut up, Knockout. No one asked for your opinion." Lugnut said. Knockout gave him an obscene finger gesture and kept walking.
It didn't take them long to reach the center of the island. There, they found what looked like a larger version of the hangars the humans used for their talos mecha. Warily, the Cons got closer to the hangars and saw that there were at least four of them, each large enough to rival an aircraft hangar in size and sporting eight compartments in each. And within these compartments was a single golem.
It was around 28 feet tall, sporting an intricate construction of a humanoid upper body mounted on top of a lion's body. These golems were called Hoplites. They were ancient mechanical soldiers that made up the mechanized vanguard of ancient Arian forces centered in Elladas and the surrounding states. The bulk of the golems were located in central Emmeria, but this little contingent was here to guard something. What exactly, no one will ever know.
Knockout gave a little hum in appreciation at their rather snazzy construction and design, stepping closer to study the highly detailed machines. "Crudely made by my standards, but they look rather lavish, don't you think"
"Enough fooling around! We must carry on with our mission!" Lugnut growled. Knockout waved him off.
"Blow it out your exhaust pipe, nuts and bolts. I just want to take a closer look." He leaned in and gazed at his reflection in the hoplite's armor, grinning at himself. "My, I look good in bronze, but better in gold."
"Knockout, let's go!" Barricade yelled.
"Stop yelling, I want to-" Knockout tried to take a piece of armor off to study the golem's inner workings when its arm shot up and a fist slammed into his face. He fell back as the golem began to twitch and move, its rusty joints groaning and creaking as they began to move for the first time in centuries. Barricade and Lugnut readied their weapons when they saw the other hoplites starting to move, their featureless centurion helmets swerving to target the intruders.
"Thanks for making our mission livelier, Knockout." Search said mildly. "How has no one invited you to any parties yet?"
"Shut it!" Knockout hissed as he ducked under a spear thrown by one of the Hoplites. To his surprise, the spear buried itself almost halfway into a boulder, almost piercing straight through the stone in one shot. "Oh slag."
Now all the hoplites were fully mobile, and were making their way towards the Cons with swords and spears out. Lugnut's back panels slid apart and he fired a volley of missiles at the enemies in his sights. He took out a chunk of the golems, but some avoided the missiles and charged right at him. The hoplites formed a phalanx formation, shields up in front with spears poking through the gaps and advanced on the Cons.
"How hard is it to destroy these tin cans!" Barricade growled and ran forward, swinging his gyro-blades at full speed.
His high speed blades glanced off the gold shields and left gouges in the tough metal, but he was left open to the hoplites' follow up attacks. A spearhead sliced into his shoulder while a shield was slammed into his face, knocking him back. Lugnut ran forward and rammed into the formation, scattering the golems, though two leapt on his back and began stabbing their spears into his shoulders and back. He threw them off and crushed a hoplite's head in his hands, using the body as a blunt weapon to smash the others apart.
Knockout was also getting his fair share of body counts as he used his saw to cut apart the larger golems that tried to impale him on their spears. They weren't terribly powerful, but they were strong enough to make taking on two or more hazardous to their health. He grunted as a hoplite punched his chest and left a large scratch on his chest plate.
"As if I didn't have enough to worry about with the damn heat ruining my paint job!" Knockout growled. He turned to Lugnut. "You! Hurry up and power link you stupid brute before we get overrun!"
Lugnut growled at the insult, but did as he was told. Search ran up and changed into his anti-aircraft truck mode, linking to Lugnut's arm. The mech's three clawed hand converted into a round pressure plate with a big red button on top.
Knockout and Barricade quickly cleared the area as fast as possible to avoid getting caught up in the worst of Lugnut's highly destructive attack. Once the hoplites were in range, he slammed his fist into the ground. What happened next could've been described as a miniature nuke.
The minute the pressure plate hit the ground, a large gravitational wave shot out from Lugnut's arm, reverberating through the ground like a sonic boom and slamming into the hoplites with enough blunt force to shatter the ancient machines immediately. They were blasted into the air like toy robots and the ground underneath Lugnut was uprooted by the large explosion that followed.
Though they were not close to the detonation point, the shockwave from the blast still blew Knockout and Barricade off their feet. The ground trembled and a thick cloud of smoke and debris flew everywhere, destroying almost a mile of forested land. Thankfully for them, it didn't last very long and within seconds the chaos subsided. When the smoke cleared, Lugnut was standing in the middle of a large crater, which was slowly filling up with water from the nearby lake.
Knockout got to his feet and dusted himself off, looking at the scattered parts of the hoplites with an impressed look. "Nice job. Though, it's a bit flashy for a trump card."
"You're one to talk." Lugnut replied.
"Stop it. We've wasted enough time here with these machines." Barricade said. "Let's return to the beach and-"
"Hold it!" Search separated from Lugnut and activated his radar equipment. "I'm getting something!"
"Please tell me it's the Minicon." Knockout said.
"It totally is." Search confirmed. "It's close by, but it's not on this island."
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When the panel finally activated and signaled its location, it was revealed that both teams were wrong about their initial beliefs in where it was located. The Argo, and by extension the Minicon they sought, was located on the central island of Colchis.
When they learned this, both teams immediately took ground bridges to the island, arriving on Colchis at different areas of the beach, neither knowing that the other was on the same island as them. Whether this was by coincidence or a quirk of fate was to be debated, but at this moment, both sides were nearing their goal.
"Not again." Kevin groaned as they encountered yet another golem on the island.
This wasn't a humanoid giant like Talon was; it was a mechanical bull made of golden hued adamantium the size of an elephant with horns made of silver and eyes made of rubies. It looked beautifully made, if it wasn't snorting steam from its nostrils and digging trenches in the sand with its hooves. It didn't look the slightest bit happy.
"Another murderous machine. We have a habit of making friends with these things, don't we?" Jazz quipped. Optimus drew his ion rifle.
"I agree, we do have a sort of air about us that leads to aggression from others we've just met." Optimus said. He looked at the smaller members of their group. "Razor, Mugen, take Kevin and Gina to the Argo and get the panel. We don't have a second to lose if the Decepticons are also on this island."
"Aww, but I want to fight with you guys!" Razor whined. "We can help."
Prowl shook his head. "You'll be helping us by doing your job. Escort the children to the ship and get the panel. We'll be fine here." He told her.
Razor sighed but nodded. She'll do it, but only because Prowl told her so.
As Kevin and Gina ran from the battle with Razor and Mugen, Optimus turned to the snarling bull that was glaring right at him. He didn't know if it was because the golem singled him out as a significant threat or if it was due to his bright red armor attracting its attention, but it seemed like it was going to rush him first. He recalled Annie commenting about bulls and red objects, but he didn't have time to think of such things now.
"So what's the plan?" Jazz asked. Prowl pulled out his laser rifle.
"We hit it hard and fast. Something this big has to have a weakness." He said.
"Then let's find it." Optimus said.
The bull snorted and charged. The Autobots fired their weapons, but the adamantium armor took the brunt of the blasts and they jumped aside before it could gore them with its long, curved horns. Optimus narrowed his eyes at the scorch marks on its bronze hide.
"Its armor is also made of adamantium. Our weapons won't do much damage without hitting the same place repeatedly." He said.
"How much of that stuff did those people have?" Jazz grunted.
"Then how do we fight it properly?" Prowl asked.
"The old fashioned way."
The bull spun around and charged again. Instead of shooting it, Optimus pulled out his battle axe and rushed at the bull. As they neared each other, Optimus leapt over the bull's horns and swung his axe, burying the blade into its head and landed on its back. The golem reared back on its hind legs to shake him off. Jazz and Prowl ran in to aid their leader by shooting at the bull's legs to upset its center of balance.
"This is his plan?" Prowl growled. "It's reckless!"
"Ironhide would say the same in your position." Jazz said as he fired a grappling hook at its feet and pulled.
"How are you so calm about this?" Roadstorm questioned.
"This isn't the first time Prime's had to ride on the back of a rabid animal. Ask him about the time he rode on the back of Deathsaurus in the middle of Altihex."
Jazz fired his cryo-blaster at one of its hind legs and the nitrogen instantly froze its calf…only to shatter seconds later. Prowl signal Jazz to grapple its legs again and joined it, shooting grappling hooks at both of its legs and pulled hard. The bull growled and spun its heavy body around, yanking Jazz off his feet and smacking him out of the air with a strong blow from its horns.
"Jazz!" Prowl winced as Jazz landed on his head and fell on his back in the sand. There was deep tear in his arm where one of the horns had pierced his armor. "Are you alright?"
"Ow…it's just a mesh wound, Prowler. I'll be fine." Jazz grunted and winced at the sharp pain in his arm. "Mostly…"
The bull turned to them, Optimus still hanging onto its head trying to steer it away from his friends. It snorted piping hot steam from its nose, but to their surprise, it didn't try to charge them again. Instead, it opened its mouth and exhaled a huge stream of fire at them across the large distance. Prowl pulled Jazz out of the way, but he still felt the extremely hot flames grazed the door panels on his back.
"Prowl!" Optimus dug his axe harder into its skull and tried to steer it away, but the bull gave a screech and jumped into the air, falling backwards. Optimus hit the ground with the full weight of the bull pressing down on him and he lost his grip on its horns.
The bull quickly got back up and made a retreat, running into the forest and igniting a fiery stream to clear its path. Jazz and Prowl ran to Prime's aid and helped him up.
"Boss bot, you okay?" Jazz asked. Optimus groaned and rolled onto his knees.
"I'll live," He said, looking up at where the bull had disappeared off to. "But where is the bull going?"
"I don't have a clue. That thing was kicking our asses and it just hauled it into the forest." Jazz replied. Prowl's eyes widened and he grabbed his gun.
"The children!" He exclaimed. "It's after the children!"
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Gina was happy to be on a quest to search for the long lost Argo, and it was fun following the steps of the original Argonauts, but despite the fun she had, it was nice to finally have a clue to wrap this case up. She had her Sky Spy follow the signal and lead the way for her little group of explorers.
"We're getting close, just a few more feet, due north." Gina said. She noticed that they were going in the same direction the stream coming from the sea was flowing from.
"Do you think the Bots are okay?" Razor asked.
"Of course they're okay. They've been doing this kind of thing long before we were forged." Mugen said. She noted that her partner was very worried about their friends and was a bit curious about that. "Why are you so worried? You're usually gung ho about fighting Cons by now."
"No reason." Razor grumbled. She didn't want Mugen getting a hint that she was mainly concerned about one Autobot in particular instead of the entire team.
Kevin cut their conversation short as he pointed forward. "Focus up, ladies, we're almost at the location."
Gina pushed aside the thick bushes and led the group into a cove of some kind, not unlike the one where they found Atalanta's ship, the Cynisca, but it was larger. The large stream flowed from a lake that was connected to the larger ocean, and jagged rocks jutted out from the water and were close enough to make any ship passing through them a pipe dream. There was a small beach and another opening in the cove on the other side that led to the sea surrounding the island.
And sitting on the rocky spikes was the Argo itself. The once mighty ship was dashed among the rocks as if it was thrown onto them. It was a wreck, the front half of the ship was still impaled on the rocks, its wood half rotten and soggy. The other half had broken off and was partially submerged in the water.
"That's a big ship." Kevin commented.
"It belonged to a big man." Gina replied. "Let's hurry up and get the panel before the Cons come knocking."
"And where are we supposed to look?" Mugen asked. She had no idea to look on a ship this old and primitive.
"If the panel was as important as the fresco made it seem, then it should be stashed along with the crew's valuables. Namely a chest." Gina said, already stepping into the water and making her way towards the ship. "Let's search for a large chest. Anything that looks important."
At that moment, the Sky Spy came back from its scouting bit and landed on her shoulder, projecting a recording of Knockout and Barricade walked through the forest.
"They got here fast." Razor commented, taking out her pistols. "You two go on ahead and get the panel. We'll hold them off."
"I'm coming with you." Kevin said, surprising Gina.
"What? But I need you here for protection!" She exclaimed. "What if something happens?"
"Don't worry, you'll be alright. Just remember you survival training." Kevin said.
"I don't have any survival training!"
"Then what do you call all of this?" Kevin retorted before following the Minicons into the forest, hearing Gina yell some very creative curses his way.
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"I am so sick of this place." Knockout growled. "As if dealing with those stupid four legged monsters wasn't bad enough, now we have to deal with a giant bull."
"Calm down. Lugnut is taking care of the beast as we speak." Barricade said.
Like the Autobots, the Cons also encountered another one of the island's guardian bulls. After getting thrown around like ragdolls by the bull, Knockout elected to just let Lugnut deal with it while they went off to get the panel. If Lugnut got slagged while fighting the golem, then it was no oil off his axel in the long run.
Knockout used his saw to cut away a branch in his way and stepped over a fallen tree when he heard someone shout.
"FIRE!"
The medic screamed as a large burst of energy engulfed his face. The searing pain caught him off guard and he stumbled back into Barricade as Kevin ran out of his hiding spot, fully charged and unleashing a barrage of energy attacks on Knockout. They both fell back into a tree, where Mugen was waiting for them.
Mugen leapt down onto Barricade's shoulder and began shooting her pistols into the gaps between his armor. Barricade growled and pushed Knockout off before swiping at her. She flipped over his hand and fired a laser bolt into his eye, making him rear back in pain.
With Barricade currently occupied by Mugen, Kevin and Razor got to work on attacking Knockout. The Con was on his haunches rubbing at his stinging face that still burned while Kevin ran up to him.
"You don't look so good, bro. I thought a pretty boy like you would fancy a good tan." He teased.
"Shut your mouth, you little brat!" Knockout converted his hand into a drill and leapt at Kevin.
Kevin jumped to the side as the drill dug into the ground behind him and shot a beam at the side of Knockout's head. He grunted and flinched back, clutching the side of his head, and he didn't notice Razor appear behind him until she opened fire on his shoulder and neck.
It was a sure fire strategy Mugen cooked up; overwhelm the Cons with fast attacks at vulnerable areas to keep them occupied until Gina secured the panel. Fighting an enemy that was larger than you was less dangerous when you knew where to hit and how hard to hit it, as was the case when fighting giant robots, be they talos or cybertronians. But what they didn't take into account was the Cons getting over the initial surprise attack and fighting back.
Barricade slammed his body against a tree trunk, uprooting it with his weight and knocking Mugen off his shoulder. He took out his gyro-blades and swung them at her with the intent to cut her into metal strips. Mugen twisted her body in the air, gritting her teeth as the blades grazed her front and back, spinning around to fire another shot at him. Barricade blocked the laser bolts with one arm and then backhanded her to the ground.
"Razor!" Kevin yelled.
"I know!" She warped out of Knockout's deadly weapons and propelled herself over to her fallen friend. Kevin kept attacking the two Cons with widespread fire attacks, but he couldn't do much to hold them off.
"I think you better run on home back to mommy little boy!" Knockout growled. "Wouldn't want you getting cut to bloody ribbons!"
"Jokes on you, because my mom's dead!" Kevin spat, charging up his power and shooting a large energy ball that exploded like a bomb in the Cons' faces, forcing them back. The small cinders from the explosion fell onto some trees and lit them on fire.
Barricade cursed and swung his spinning blades at Kevin, who was in no position to move in time. But as the blades reached him, he felt his body be pulled back in slow motion and in the blink of an eye he found himself falling on his back next to a dazed Mugen. Barricade's gyro-blades sliced apart the sandy ground he was just standing in and the mech blinked in confusion.
"Huh?" Barricade looked around when he didn't see any familiar bloody gore usually associated with Decepticon/human interaction. "Where did you go?!"
"What just happened?" Kevin asked. Razor flashed next to him and knelt down behind the bush.
"Long story short, love-I'm an outlier who can warp through time for a few seconds. Nothing fancy, just slowing down time for a few seconds before going in real time again. Very handy when you want to get someone out of a jam." She said smiling.
Another unspoken advantage was that people who saw her power immediately thought she could teleport across short distances as some short range variant of Skywarp's power. In truth, she was just slowing down time in short bursts long enough to move to another location, though it was super fast to other people witnessing it. They thought she was teleporting, when she was actually moving too fast to catch her. It was a fun little secret that only Mugen, and now Kevin, knew.
"Well thanks for the save." Kevin said and looked at Mugen. "Is she alright?"
"Yeah, but she's out of it." Razor said, looking her friend over. "I don't think she'll be fighting any time soon.
Kevin looked back at Barricade, who was hacking away at the trees and plants looking for him. "As long as we can keep these guys occupied, Gina still has a chance."
"Yeah-wait." Razor looked around a bit. "Where's Doc Knock?"
Kevin blinked and noticed that Knockout was nowhere in the area. Then he saw large footprints heading straight for the cove. "Oh no…"
XXXXXX
Gina was not having a good time. With no one else to help her, she had to search the entire front half of the ship, and part of the second deck as well, but found no sign of her quarry. Knowing that she'd have to check the second half that sunk into the lake, she had no other choice but to take a swim for the good of the mission-the only problem was that she couldn't swim for shit.
"Jinkies…the things I do for the team." She whined. Gina took off her glasses and wadded into the water.
Giving a quick prayer, she ducked into the water and let Sky Spy lead the way into the wreck. She used what little swimming techniques her mother taught her to move through the water, reaching the open hull of the ship where Sky Spy was detecting the signal.
When the drone tapped her cheek, she forced her eyes open and let them adjust to the water before looking down at the chest lying under the bow of the ship. Hoping she could hold her breath a little long, she swam up to the chest and tried to pull it out of the compartment. It barely budged because it was so heavy. Quickly giving up, she grabbed Sky Spy and pressed a button, firing a tiny cutting laser into the rusty lock.
'Come on, come on!' She thought, trying to keep her breath in as long as possible. 'I can't keep this up much longer.'
Thankfully, it only took a few seconds to burn through the lock. Once it shattered, Gina lifted the lid and was greeted with the bright glow of the stasis panel. She quickly grabbed it and swam out of the wreck to the surface, emerging from the water with a gasp.
"I got it!" Gina cheered.
"Good for you."
Gina paled and looked to the beach to see Knockout crouched over her with a grin. "Have a nice swim?"
"Go to hell!" Gina said. Taking a deep breath, she dived underwater again to avoid Knockout's hand as it tried to scoop her up.
"Don't make this difficult, you little brat." Knockout grumbled. Where a life-sized fish bowl when you needed one? "I don't have all day to deal with you-"
He paused when he felt the ground shake and spun around when the trees behind him were trampled under the charge of the large Colchis Bull that burst from the forest. He didn't even have time to curse when the bull's large silver horns gored his shoulder and chest and threw him into the air, tossing him into the shipwreck with a large splash.
"Jinkies…" Gina gasped. When the bull turned its murderous gaze onto her, she squeaked. "Eep!"
Luckily for Gina, she had her own share of giant friends on her side as well; Optimus drove out of the forest in truck mode and transformed, leaping onto the bull's back and digging his axe blade into its neck. Using his mighty strength, Prime carved into the bull's neck joint and pulled on its horns to tear its head off in a fantastic display of sparks and mech fluid. He jumped off as the headless bovine body fell over, completely dead.
"That was awesome." Gina breathed, paddling her way to shore. Optimus jogged over and helped her out.
"Are you okay, Gina?" He asked.
"I'm fine now. Just don't ever expect me to go swimming again." She panted and held up the panel. "Oh and here's the panel. Please don't lose it."
Optimus smiled, but it quickly vanished as Barricade exited the forest-with Kevin and the Minicons in hand.
"Hand over the panel, Prime, or I'll kill you little pets one by one." Barricade growled, holding the three in one hand.
"No." Gina muttered. She hoped they wouldn't get caught.
Optimus was already in the process of forming a plan in his head. He wouldn't risk the lives of Kevin and the Minicons, but sacrificing the panel was out of the question.
"I'm waiting, Prime. Give me the panel or they all die." Barricade said. "Your choice."
Then a voice spoke behind him. "How about option three?"
Barricade's head exploded in fire as a pulse blast tore into his skull from behind. He fell forward to the ground with a smoking hole in his head, revealing Prowl and Jazz. They gathered Barricade's former prisoners and regrouped with the others.
"Lucky we caught up with you." Jazz said. "Boss bot left us in the dust to catch the bull."
"Is everyone alright?" Prowl asked.
"Aside from almost drowning, we're fine." Gina said.
Razor helped an awakening Mugen to her feet as she groaned in pain. "Ow. My whole body hurts."
"That's what happens when you get swatted by a Decepticon." Razor said. "Don't worry, Longarm will fix you up."
"Yay."
Optimus placed Gina on the sand next to Kevin and she plopped onto her back, soaking wet and tired.
"You look like you had fun." Kevin smirked.
Gina only groaned in response. "I'm never swimming ever again."
"Same here. As fun as hanging out with you guys was, I think I'm gonna hold off on hitchhiking on anymore missions. I had no idea how chaotic this was."
"Give it some time and you might even be able to see Megatron in person." Gina said.
"Not eager for that." He grumbled.
Optimus took the panel into his hand and looked at his team. "Let's go home, Autobots. It's been a long day."
"Amen to that." Roadstorm sighed.
"Wait! Before we go, can one of you guys head back into the ship and get the chest I found the panel in?" Gina pleaded.
Prowl sighed and gave her a look. "Gina…"
"Please, this ship is a historical find that no one's discovered yet, and this might be the only time I'll ever get a chance to be here. I just need the chest and that's it." She begged him.
Prowl looked at Jazz, who shrugged, then at Optimus, who also shrugged. He sighed and silently walked into the water. Gina's face lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Thank you, Prowl! Thank you so much!" She gushed.
"Don't get used to it." Prowl said and dived into the water to get the chest. Honestly, the things he did for his comrades.
XXXXXX
Lugnut limped through the forest with Search sitting on his shoulder. He had just finished tearing apart the Colchis Bull after getting the slag kicked out of him for a few minutes. That golem was surprisingly fast for him to handle. His armor was scratched and burnt, and there was a hole in one of his legs where he got impaled by one of its horns. Everything hurt, but the pain mattered little to him now that he was going to finally complete this mission for his master.
When he reached the location the panel's signal was located, he was greet with the sorry sight of Knockout fixing a hole in Barricade's head and the signs of a battle that definitely didn't go in their favor.
"What happened? Where's the Minicon?" Lugnut demanded.
Knockout paused in welding the wound in Barricade's head and glared up at him. "What do you think?"
Needless to say, this was the last time the three went on a mission together.