Fire of Youth
Chapter 9
One could have heard a feather drop in the utterly dumbfounded silence that followed Infernus's simple, three-word statement. The faint sounds of the four humans' heartbeats became reverberating, pounding drum beats in the Primeling's sensitive audial receptors, and his utterly perplexed expression mirrored theirs and those of his own team mates – perplexity that surrounded the partially rust-covered, gunmetal grey object that lay with such ominous innocence on the worktable the aliens all encircled. Their thoughts were swirling maelstroms of questions to which they had no answers. Here was something that, for once, the infinitely knowledgeable Ratchet couldn't explain.
How was the presence of the rusted skull of a Predacon, on Earth no less, remotely possible even in the most crazed, half-baked imagination? There was just no way it could be! Predacons were incredibly old, older than recorded history and far pre-dating modern Cybertronians. They were the very first species to walk Cybertron's surface after Unicron's defeat by the Thirteen, supposedly as a sort of "dry-run experiment" (so the old argument went) by Primus to see how things turned out with this new race, their frame designs influenced heavily by Onyx Prime through his Mask, the Prime granting the newly emerging sparks his bestial exterior and savage strength so they could defend themselves against threats that may come their way. But then, they all died out thanks to something scholars called "the Cataclysm". No Predacons survived this mysteriously caused planet-wide mass extinction, as it had been ruthlessly thorough. All that had remained after this cleansing were their remains.
Not much was known about the Predacons themselves, outside of what they looked like anyway, what weapons they might have used, and little snippets of culture gleaned from pre-Cataclysm burials other than that they obviously never had developed space-faring capabilities. There was no evidence that they had ever made it off Cybertron. So what was such an ancient object doing on a planet even younger than the one it originated from? It was a paradox. There seemed to be no answer. Strictly speaking, it couldn't be there. If it had been found on their homeworld it wouldn't be so ground-shaking, but its presence on a world light-years from where it came from defied all reasoning. If the Predacons had never gone off world, how then could the remains of one be on an alien planet?
All of these things whirled around in Infernus's processor in such a rapid succession that he felt himself get mildly dizzy. Some of it came from what he had read in the archives of the Hall of Records, but a decent amount of the information came from the Matrix itself, though this was more clarification of what he did already know than anything really new – information meant to tally with his line of thoughts and questions. New information could probably wait, if they even knew anything at all.
"B-But what's it doing here?" Bluestreak wondered with wide optics.
"I..." Infernus hesitated. Then: "I have no idea. I was kinda hoping one of you guys might know."
"What? You have that Matrix thingy and you still have no idea?" Miko deadpanned from above.
He shot her a glance, saying it wasn't like they talked to him every second of every day. All they were doing right now was tallying what they knew with what he knew. He was getting clarification of what little he himself knew about Predacons from the Hall of Records, nothing more. He didn't know if they didn't have an answer or if they expected him to figure it out on his own. If it was the last one, he was calling foul. He wasn't an archaeologist, and he wasn't a scholar either. He was just a soldier who had occasionally gotten bored and had decided to skim through random volumes while on duty. How the slag did they expect him to solve a puzzle with missing pieces? He wasn't an expert – not even close!
"He kind of has a point there, Miko." Jack pointed out. "You can't ask a military member to start spouting off exactly how a dinosaur fossil got into the dirt beneath the main airstrip or to name the species based off one bone. That's like asking you to ace a math test when you don't know how to do any of the problems."
"So how do we find out more? Go capture Shockwave and force him to tell us? Totally betting Smoke could do that. He trounced King 'Con and Screamer by himself for flip's sake! Taking out Shockwave should be super easy for him! And then we interrogate him and boom – we got our answers!"
Prowl frowned at this over-simplification and deadly excess of confidence. "Capturing Shockwave is far easier said than done, Miko. Many have tried over the course of the War. None have succeeded. Sending Smokescreen to go after Shockwave would be a death sentence, especially since the Nemesis is crawling with soldiers and his power matches Megatron's own. There must be other ways of finding the data we seek that do not involve such massive risks to life and limb."
"And that's not to mention we can't track the warship." Ratchet added grimly.
Out of impulsiveness, Infernus reached for the fossil in the hopes of maybe getting some more information about it, something that might tell him a little more as to why it was there or why it was tied to Shockwave. Almost instantly he felt some sort of surge of power or something flow from the fossil and into him. It flowed from his hands, up his arm, and into the Matrix. He didn't even manage a gasp of panicked alarm before his entire body from helm to pede went rigid.
Then his vision whited out.
Images flashed through his mind's eye: images of flight, and battle, and hunting prey down in the moonlight – prey like him, titans made of metal. For a moment he felt powerful, in control, unbeatable. He felt a fire burning in his throat. He felt he could take on anyone and anything foolish enough to cross him. Then the dreadful cold returned, and the flashes stopped, replaced by serene darkness that seemed to call to him to stay in its tempting embrace.
"Stay a little longer," it seemed to whisper to him, "Every talented hunter deserves a respite from the chase, does he not?"
But he fought it, fought it with the same savagery he fought with normally.
And he won.
His optics opened to reveal a scene alien and terrifying to him. Cold whiteness made blinding by the sun went on for as far as the optic could see, broken only by patches of freezing, salty water. He remembered the scene being the last thing he recalled before the bitter cold had swallowed his body, freezing it solid and tossing him into the darkness of deep stasis lock.
Then he remembered his mission – a mission he had yet to fulfill. The Builder had not only given him the task of hunting down his enemies, the Autobots, but also of finding the remains of his fallen ancestors so the Builder could remake them – give the once powerful and proud race he belonged to a chance to return to the land of the living, even if they were simply copies. The concept of not being alone...it was exciting, strength-lending.
He recognized the stiffness of his body as being the result of a rather thick coating of ice, but as time passed he felt its grip weaken, felt the warmth of the sun above begin to melt through his frozen cocoon. Slowly but surely he regained sensation in his wings, the amber mesh soaking in sunlight and heating up like twin solar panels. He tried to move them slightly and was pleased to note a faint cracking sound. He tried to move them some more...
With a loud shattering noise the ice broke apart into thousands of shards that scintillated briefly in the light of the sun before falling to the snowy ground at his paws. For a moment he stood there and tested his limbs for functionality. Once satisfied, he spread his amber wings, issuing a screaming roar as he launched into the skies, keen olfactory sensors following the familiar scent of the Builder.
Yes. The Builder would ensure he was not alone. And he would wipe out those "Autobots" who had nearly slain him through trickery. He already had one of their scents...but that could wait until he had kin to hunt with.
"Smokescreen? Smokescreen, you okay? Say something, kid!"
Infernus jolted out of the vision so violently he nearly fell over, Bulkhead catching him before he could, all of his senses glitching. The battered, half-degraded skull clattered ominously to the floor, but even that sounded muffled and faint to his glitching, recovering audials. His optics shuttered a few times as they re-calibrated and focused onto the drab but homey interior of Hangar E and the familiar faces of everyone within it. All looked confused and worried.
"You okay?" Bulkhead repeated, his voice sounding strangely muffled and garbled.
"Yeah. I mean, I-I think so. Nothing's broken. I think..." He gave himself a once over just to be sure. Yeah. Nothing broken, but all his senses still felt totally out of whack.
The green Wrecker helped him stand upright, acting as a heavy-set pillar for him to lean on, demanding what in the name of the Allspark had happened to him. One second he'd been looking annoyed, and then he had picked up the fossil and gone as rigid as a statue. So what the slag had just happened to him? He'd never seen that happen to Optimus! He hadn't gone rigid when he'd gotten that message from Trion through the Saber! He'd seemed perfectly fine when that had happened!
"You really scared us!" Bluestreak added in.
He shook his helm to clear some of the images still flashing through his mind. Still confused as to what exactly had happened, his processor still trying to comprehend it all, he struggled to explain what he had experienced as he pieced it together himself bit by bit:
"I-I...I don't know. All I did was touch the fossil and then...I was somewhere else. It was really cold; lots of snow. I think it was the Arctic, or maybe the Antarctic. I don't know. One of the two. I was looking out of something else's optics, hearing its thoughts, feeling what it felt. I...this is gonna sound crazy, but I think it was the Predacon you guys 'bridged there. Right before it escaped, it kept thinking about someone it called 'the Builder', a-and that it was given a mission by this guy to kill us, but it had another mission, too – find more fossils. This 'Builder'...I-I'm pretty sure it's Shockwave, and I think he's trying to clone an entire Predacon army or something. All he needs is one fossil, even a shard of it, and he can clone one. That one you guys fought? It's a clone. This fossil right here? Clone. None of these are originals."
He plucked the skull off the ground and put the fossil back on the table, suddenly appreciative of the odds they might be up against if Shockwave got his oily hands on more remains.
Prowl nodded. "That makes sense. There's no evidence that Predacons ever made it off Cybertron. Logic would dictate that the one we fought was nothing more than a cloned knockoff, and all the remains here belong to previous clones. That still begs the question of why Shockwave planted the clones here in the past. I don't recall Autobot forces ever being stationed here, but they may have been a covert unit working under the official radar. They may have simply been Neutrals looking for a backwater planet to ride out the War on."
"Think they may have been guarding 'Con Energon hoards?" Jack guessed. "You guys did say you hid stores of the stuff off-world to keep them out of the hands of the enemy. Maybe they were like giant guard dogs for the 'Con stashes, to keep you guys – er, any 'Bots that were here in the past, I mean – away from their loot."
Arcee gave her partner a keen glance, nodding to herself. That did sound pretty likely. And Optimus, before he'd...left had mentioned that there were Cybertronian battle sites and graveyards on this planet, meaning there had been fighting here in the past, so it wasn't too hard to believe that the 'Cons would get Shockwave to make Predacon clones to guard their Energon stores, enabling much needed troops to remain on the home front.
"Perhaps. I need more data before I offer any further speculation." Prowl replied noncommittally.
"Did you get anything more? Like maybe where we can find more of these fossils?" demanded Wheeljack.
Infernus was forced to shake his helm and reply in the negative. That was all he'd gotten from...whatever the scrap had just happened. He was still trying to piece everything he'd seen, felt, and heard together. It was all just – it was just weird. Blurry. Vague. Some information had been found out but not a lot, definitely not as much as he'd wanted and certainly not as much as he'd hoped. He knew it wasn't much to work off of. But at least it was better than not knowing anything at all like before. Something was always better than nothing, right?
"True." Arcee agreed. "I just wish we had more to work off of than just 'Oh, yeah. All these fossils are clones that Shockwave is going to try to replicate. And as a side note, the Predacon we thought we'd gotten rid of is now wandering free again and wants to kill us all.' That...seems more like bad news than good news if you ask me."
Bumblebee trilled lightly: *Yeah, but like he said – it's still something, right? We got a place to start. More than we had five minutes ago.*
No one could argue that simple statement.
An hour or so went by at a seeming snail's pace. All were of the opinion that they should be out hunting for these dangerous, cloned remains scattered about over the face of this watery, alien planet, but none had the faintest idea where to begin looking for such hidden archaeological time bombs. All they knew for certain was what they were looking for. Frankly, the Decepticons were better off finding them than they were.
Unable to do much more than theorize, the inhabitants of Hangar E went about daily tasks with almost their regular fervor, Infernus helping them in these tasks whenever he could – or more accurately when it was feasible for him to. Helping Ratchet with his equations and general super-scientist stuff was not something he could possibly help with. Thankfully, Ratchet didn't hold animosity towards him for the lack of assistance. He just seemed happy that Infernus was settling into and slowly filling the pedeprints Optimus had left.
"Hey, wait! Guys! I got an idea!" Rafael exclaimed excitedly – so excitedly that poor Bluestreak squeaked and nearly jumped out of his armor.
*What is it, Raf?* Bumblebee whistled curiously, going over to investigate the youth on the catwalk's sofa.
"All these fossils, they have to be pretty old, right? And Predacons look like animals or animal hybrids – you know, dragons, tigers, wolves, horses, lions, griffins, and so on, right? Well, I've been doing a bit of web-surfing and I think that all those mythological 'monsters' talked about in old literature and legends might actually be human sightings of Predacons. The Nemean lion. The Lernaean Hydra. Dragons. Anyway, my point is this: all those 'monsters,' especially the Greek ones, always had their locations documented, and a lot of the times they were killed in that general location. Maybe if we search around those areas we'll find a Predacon fossil?"
Ratchet blinked once, surprised. Soon enough a smile formed. A short, startled laugh escaped as he admitted:
"I-I think that just might work! What do you think, Smokescreen?"
"Now that's a plan I can get behind. Let's do some monster hunting, people!" answered Infernus, grinning fiercely. "Which one're we going after first?"
Rafael, along with Jack and Miko, grinned and laughed at his eagerness. "You want my opinion? Go after the Lernaean Hydra. That one seems to be the most well-documented out of all the Greek monsters – and trust me, there's a lot of them. Like, a lot a lot. That it's so specific is a little bit suspicious if you ask me. For a 'mythical' monster that supposedly never existed, it's sure treated like it was real. I'm putting geographic data up on Ratchet's console now. Also sending a file that details the myth itself."
On the medic's console appeared a detailed map of Greece. On the southern tip of one particular region (labeled on the map as Peloponnesus) was a bright crimson "X" near the coast that marked the archaeological site of Lerna, beneath which were geographic coordinates for the groundbridge to use: 37°33′N 22°43′E. Next to those numbers was a PDF document link. While this wasn't exactly where the deadly Hydra had been slain in the old story of Hercules (as that was not detailed so specifically), it was at least a place nearby to start.
"Alright. What're we waiting for then? Let's do this!"
The Primeling transformed and made to run into the waiting groundbridge, but Bulkhead grabbed his tail before he could bolt in, resulting in him tripping and falling to the floor. He turned back to the green Wrecker with an irked expression.
"Hold it there, kid. Greece has a lot o' people. Archaeology sites are bound to have some humans on site. Let someone with a vehicle mode go first so they can check the scene, 'cause no offense – that dragon mode of yours ain't exactly low profile. If there are diggers on the site, a big white dragon popping up outta nowhere is gonna result in some craziness no matter if you go up to 'em and convince them you're not gonna, you know, eat them or something."
"Not to mention you'll end up on every conspiracy site ever." Miko added.
Infernus let out an annoyed sigh but heeded the advice, stalking away from the glowing portal and coiling up like an infinitely bored kitten while Bumblebee drove through to scout out the area. His tail occasionally swished in the same manner of an agitated feline, one clawed digit idly scratching at the cement. His whole body language seemed to be saying "Ugh. Come on! Lemme out already!"
A voice cackled in his mind, one he didn't recognize: 'Impatience is a virtue, eh?'
'Liege, don't you dare encourage him!' retorted another voice sharply. This one he recognized as Vector's. 'Do you have any idea the debacle that could arise if one of the scientists at the site were to see him?'
The Time Guardian was probably not reassured when Liege chuckled darkly, hinting that he was very much aware – and didn't care. Where Amalgamous was the good-natured prankster, Liege was the sly, devious miscreant who loved to stir up trouble for the sake of trouble. He enjoyed a good bit of unpredictability and chaos accordingly. And it did not help that he had a silver glossa to help this campaign of evil mischief along.
The Primeling rolled his optics, snorted, and forcibly hid his snout and optics with his front paws. Was he going to have to deal with the Thirteen bickering in his helm this for the rest of his life or was this some sort of transition phase where they were incredibly chatty and had some sort of dubious plot to give him a processor ache? If so, then he was about ready to grab a metaphorical gun and start shooting at them. Couldn't he just have like, maybe ten minutes of mental quiet time? Not that he didn't like them (well, most of them, having now met Liege Maximo), he just wanted some mental quietness every once in a while.
Prowl smiled wryly at the sight. Smokescreen had always been the impatient one of the trio – impatient but kind-sparked. In Prowl's mind, that was probably the reason Optimus had singled him out. He was the kind of mech to get things done, but he would stick to Autobot morals when push came to shove.
Infernus jumped back to his paws when Bumblebee finally arrived back. He relayed that it was still dark out at the Lerna site seeing as it was on the other side of the globe, so no one was around save for some excavation equipment and abandoned survey tents. Judging from how fresh some of the tracks were, and from the smell of diesel in the air, they probably only had till dawn or a little later before the archaeologists returned to work. No 'Cons so far as he'd seen, but that could change in minutes.
*So let's get moving.* Bumblebee finished.
Infernus didn't waste any time and promptly darted into the open groundbridge, Bumblebee following quite literally right on his tail.
He'd never been to Greece before. He doubted it would resemble the landscape painted by the old stories, but he also suspected it would not be wholly modern. In short, Infernus had no idea what to expect of the archaeological site of Lerna, home of the poisonous, many-headed Hydra of legend – so hugely poisonous its mere breath was said to be deadly – and slain by the mighty half-god Hercules. Subconsciously he admitted he was suspecting an eerie swamp with pervading mists, foul smelling and dank.
What he saw when he stepped out of the groundbridge was an aged, rugged landscape of worn grey stone, pale brown, sand-like soil, and lush green grass swaying gently on coastal breezes. Stars twinkled in the clear skies above, singing their faint harmonies of electromagnetic radiation. From the hill he and Bumblebee stood on, a low indentation in the ground could be seen in the near distance, and scattered around were excavations and survey tents. Faintly discernible as well was a ruined structure of carved stone.
Basically it was the exact opposite of what he'd been thinking Lerna would look like. He was expecting a swamp. He was looking instead at a pleasant if somewhat dry landscape. Seriously though – why was it that Earth ruins tended to look so much...nicer than Cybertronian ones? Ruins back home looked depressing and grungy. Earth ones held a certain grandeur to them.
*So what're we looking for exactly?* he wondered.
*Hydra was supposed to be a massive, multi-headed, hugely poisonous serpent or water monster that lived in the lake. Over there.* Bumblebee pointed out towards the dried lake bed. *Also had the ability to regenerate two heads when one was decapitated. Only way to stop that healing was to cauterize the stumps.*
*...So, what, we're looking for a headless monster buried under the lake somewhere?*
*Or the heads.*
Infernus shuddered but endeavored to put a brave face on it. He spread his wings and flew over as the scout followed beneath him. The instant he arrived in the lake bed the Matrix seemed to react, pulsing faintly. Images he didn't recognize as his own flashes before his optics like visual static:
Water. Submergence. Fighting. Screams and hisses of defiance. Fire – scalding, burning through his veins and igniting the Energon inside. Screams of pain. Then...darkness.
He took the hint. He was definitely in the right area. Now to just find the monster's body – or whatever was left of it after all this time. And so, focusing on the spot where the static visions became the most frequent and intense, he retracted his claws and began to dig. His claws easily dug through the sandy, silt-laden soil, but he did not hit on a find until he had dug nearly seven feet down.
Bumblebee wandered over, clicking curiously: *Find something?*
*Look for yourself.* Infernus pulled back so the scout could see into the pit he'd dug.
Staring up at them from the slightly damp soil was a distinctly reptilian looking skull made of grey metal that had been horribly burned from fire and rusted away from the water it had lain in for centuries, fangs bared in a final snarl of defiance. Just peeking out of the side of the pit were the tips of another set of identical fangs. On closer examination of this second set of fangs, a hole was revealed in the tip of each – eerily mimicking the venomous fangs of modern snakes.
*Unicron in the Pit. I don't believe it! You found the Hydra!* the scout exclaimed.
Bumblebee readied to reach down and grab the former skull, but was pulled back by Infernus. He warned him that there was an odd smell around the skull – sharp, tangy, and definitely toxic. Even after being dead for centuries and buried beneath the lake, some of its lethal poison still remained. Whatever poison it held in its fangs, it was virulent enough to kill a human in seconds, and if the legend was to be believed, even melt their skin off. He was no medic, but that kind of strong poison could probably hurt a 'Bot, too.
*Wait a klik. You don't think...?* Bumblebee's optics widened.
Infernus nodded. *Tox-En. This thing wasn't just immune to it – it had the stuff pumping in its systems. Can you imagine the 'Cons getting their hands on a remade Hydra? We'd be dead as soon as they let that thing on the battlefield.*
"Precisely. Which is why you will hand the remains over to me. I'll even see to it that your deaths are quick if you do."
They wheeled around. Standing there in the pale moonlight was a tall, lanky grey Seeker mech. A cruel, twisted little smirk was visible on his lip-plates. At his side was a small contingent of Vehicons repainted to mirror his color scheme, blasters raised and pointed right at them.
*Starscream.*
Author's Note: The idea for implementing Greek (and other) monsters came thanks to that little artsy "flashback" type thing when Megatron/Shockwave were explaining about the Predacons stationed on Earth in the distant past. One of those creatures had 2(?) heads and very much resembled classical depictions of the Hydra. Its tolerance for Tox-En makes logical sense, since every myth ever describing it told it to be so poisonous that even its breath was deadly, and since Autobots (or perhaps Neutrals; we don't really know) were shown running from these creatures, it just goes to show how dangerous they were to both human and Cybertronian.
Also, I'm a mythology buff. x3
