Matt and Anna sat down in the grass, looking up at the night sky. They had found a decent spot in the mountains, far enough from the city where they could see the stars.
"This is lovely," remarked Anna, twirling a lock of hair with her finger. "Hard to believe with all the stuff the Autobots have been up to, we haven't had a chance to just hang out."
"You can say that again," her boyfriend agreed, pointing up. "I wonder if any of these stars is Cybertron."
The redhead hummed, before spotting a flash of light in the sky, as a new star appeared, slowly getting larger. The two quickly realized that it wasn't a star, and it wasn't getting larger-it was getting closer. Scrambling to their feet, they ran into the trees, nearly being knocked over as the "star" came crashing down.
When they dared to turn around, their jaws went agape with wonder. The thing that crashed down was a spaceship.
Chapter 7: Touchdown
Aboard the Exodus, Evac and Speedstar were working on a device in the rear of the ship. "If we had a real engineer with us, we could have fixed the ground bridge first thing," said Speedstar.
"Well we don't have one, and I'm the best you've got," retorted the medic. They would have gone further, had Optimus not arrived. "What's up, sir?"
"T-AI has just received a communication from Matt and Anna, reporting a crashed spaceship close to our base."
Speedstar raised an eyebrow, looking up from their work. "Is it one of ours?" they asked.
"That I am not aware of, but we must secure it before other humans arrive. Hot Rod and Mountrek are tracking down wayward prisoners, so Speedstar and myself will go meet the humans. Now let's roll!"
The two transformed to vehicle mode and tore away, leaving Evac alone to repair the space bridge. A misplaced wire sent a shower of sparks in his face, and his tools fell to the floor with a clang.
"T-AI, how long will it take to repair this thing?"
"Based on your current skill level, repair of the ground bridge should take you seventy-eight point sixteen stellar cycles."
Evac wished he had gone with the others.
When Optimus and Speedstar arrived at the crash site, they found Matt and Anna sitting on a tree stump. When the two Cybertronians looked up at the vessel, they took a step back in surprise.
"Well pop my tires and call me Bumpy," gasped Speedstar.
"What's up?" asked Anna. "Is this a transformer ship?"
"Oh, not just that, this is the Lifesong!"
Looking to Optimus for explanation, the larger Autobot provided it. "Long before our war, an automated Energon transport called the Lifesong was being sent through a space bridge to one of our colonies. However, just like with the Exodus after it, the space bridge failed, and the Lifesong never arrived at its destination. Over time, the ship was declared lost, and descended into myth. But, clearly this myth has historical backing."
"Imagine if it's still got Energon," Speedstar gawked. "That could fill us up for weeks, we could even get the Exodus airborne!"
"Yeah, that Energon stuff, it's like your lifeblood, isn't it?"
"More than that, Matty-boy. It's our ammo, our drink, our fuel, and then some."
"If there is Energon, we can claim it, but be careful," advised Optimus, turning down to the humans. "Energon can be unstable, and even explosive at times. I'll need you both to wait here until it's properly collected."
The humans agreed, and the Autobots walked up to the ship-well, Optimus walked, but the couple thought that Speedstar was practically skipping.
None of them noticed another human watching, taking a picture before slipping out of sight.
At the Decepticon base, Solon skated in, presenting his phone to the others. "You'll never believe what I just found," he began proudly, projecting the image for the other Decepticons to see.
Megatron was first to react. "The Lifesong!" he declared. "So it does exist."
"It's a lost Energon transport," explained Starscream. "Back when there was so much Energon it needed its own ships for transportation."
"Well, Optimus Prime and one of his pals has already found it," added Solon. "And we do have a saying on Earth: 'Finders keepers.'"
"I, too, have a saying: 'I don't care,'" responded Megatron. "Pathsmasher, Overcast, with me. We'll take what is rightfully ours, and with that Energon we shall become unstoppable!"
The three transformed to their alternate modes and left, the human watching Overcast for a moment before returning to his phone.
Optimus and Speedstar had managed to drag most of the Energon free of the transport, setting it down nearby. Meanwhile, Matt was on the phone with his father, explaining what had happened. He hung up soon after, turning to the others. "Dad says the crash is all over social media. We better finish up fast, because this place is gonna be swarming with reporters soon."
"Urgh, you finish it," groaned Speedstar, laying back against two cubes. "My frame isn't made for heavy lifting. You should've brought Evac, boss bot. It would've been more productive than having him fix the ground bridge."
"We have enough Energon here," assured Optimus. "Now I'll call Evac and see if the bridge is ready."
The bridge wasn't ready.
Evac had T-AI scan the entire ground bridge mechanism, hoping to find something that could help him get somewhere repairing it.
"Okay, I've found this red wire just hanging," he called. "Can you find an outlet for it?"
"Analyzing the wire's connection port and the rest of the ground bridge casing, it is possible the red wire goes in either socket J, M, or V." Shrugging, the medic plucked the red wire and placed it in socket J. For a moment, the ground bridge hummed with power, before going dormant once more. "Huh, that seemed to do something."
"You said it. Hopefully we can have this thing fixed by the time Optimus and Speedstar come back." Evac's comm pinged, and he ignored that though to answer that. "This is Evac."
"Hey, Evac, it's Mountrek. Bad news, we found no prisoners anywhere. Good news, we did find a Decepticon stasis pod."
"Alright, bring them here and we'll put them in the storage bay."
"Yeah, I don't know if we can do that just yet…"
With Evac not answering his comm, Optimus and Speedstar began gathering up the Energon cubes to take back themselves. Fortunately, an old trailer was conveniently nearby, which could hold about half of the Energon collected.
"Okay, now we just need to worry about those last few," said Matt, jumping back in surprise as an energy blast scorched the ground in front of him.
Megatron and Overcast appeared overhead, transforming to robot mode, as Pathsmasher drove up from behind and did the same. "Thank you for gathering this Energon for us," began the Decepticon leader, "but we'll gladly take it from here."
"Oh yeah, and what if we say no?" retorted Speedstar.
"Then we destroy you," responded Pathsmasher, "and rip you up for spare parts."
"Just hand it over, we don't want to hurt anyone," pleaded Overcast, although his colleagues seemed to disagree.
"Matt, Anna, get to the tree line and send out a signal," whispered Optimus. "One of the others will collect you."
The humans nodded and left. They looked back as Optimus brought out his energy axe and an ion blaster, while Speedstar pulled out his own weapon. The Decepticons responded similarly, and the two sides began to fight. Overcast flew on top of the Lifesong to act as a sniper, while Optimus and Speedstar engaged Megatron and Pathsmasher. Without any humans around, the Autobot leader threw no punches, landing several solid hits on his opponent and gaining the upper hand on more than one occasion.
Meanwhile, Matt and Anna were running through the woods, trying to get to the road, before the redhead stopped. "We need to help them," she said.
"Anna, you know what Optimus said-"
"Optimus is outnumbered, he'll need some extra help. He said… Energon was explosive, right? Do you have a lighter or something?"
"No, I… actually, yeah, I do." Matt produced the lighter from his pocket with delight. "Well, let's get moving, we've got an inferno to create!"
At the crash site, Overcast continued to take shots on the Autobots, before he spotted the humans approaching the trailer.
"Megatron, I've spotted humans approaching the Energon cache," he called.
"Take them out," ordered Megatron.
"But… sir, they're harmless, they couldn't do any damage-"
"Did I stutter? Eliminate those humans!"
"I… I shall obey, my lord."
Overcast aimed his rifle at the humans, albeit with shaky hands. However, the Autobots had also noticed their arrival, and so Optimus broke off from his own fight to protect them.
"I told you to evacuate," he told them, wincing as some shots bounced off his frame.
"Hey, we've got a plan," responded Matt, explaining what they had come up with. "Just protect us from their fire."
"Understood. We shall draw the Decepticon's fire and keep you safe."
The Autobot leader transformed to vehicle mode, charging at Megatron; he was too taken aback to do anything, and so was shoved backwards into the Lifesong.
With the other combatant's attention drawn to this attack, the humans were able to slip into the ship. There were still a number of Energon cubes inside, so Matt drew his lighter and flicked it on. Throwing it towards the cubes, they ran away, before Pathsmasher appeared in their path.
"Well, well, I've found two pests inside the ship," he sneered, two miniature launchers appearing from his shoulders. "No worries, I can deal with you easily."
Before he could do anything, a familiar green muscle car smashed into his legs, the door opening. "What're ya waiting for, an invitation? Let's haul some tailpipe!" a familiar winging voice called.
The humans didn't need any further prompting, scrambling inside Speedstar as they drove away from the Lifesong. When Optimus saw Speedstar departing, he too began to drive away, right as Megatron righted himself.
"Rrrgh… come back here, coward!" Megatron yelled, before realizing just what it was they were running from. "Decepticons, fall back!"
Pathsmasher and Overcast were already away, but Megatron wasn't so lucky, being shoved forward by the blast. He skidded through the dirt, pieces of his vehicle mode being torn off from the impact and his right arm hanging on by a single wire.
"Megatron!" cried Pathsmasher, running up to his leader's side. "His spark is still online. Call a ground bridge, he needs urgent medical attention!"
On the road back to the Exodus, Speedstar radioed the base. "I have good news and bad news," they said. "The bad news is, thanks to our human friends, we lost the Lifesong."
"And the good news?" inquired Evac, which made Speedstar laugh.
"The Decepticons ain't getting it either. What about you, how is it with you?"
"I don't have a ground bridge, still, but something… interesting happened. I'll explain when you get here."
With that being all their medic would say, the two Autobots continued to drive.
At the Decepticon's base, Megatron had been placed in a CR chamber, the window fogging up as the device carried out its duty.
"So, he made a foolish mistake and suffered the consequences?" surmised Starscream, arms crossed over his chest. "To think he's our leader…"
"He wouldn't be in that situation if somebody had just squished those bugs," snarled Pathsmasher, glaring at Overcast.
"No matter, comrade. What's done cannot be undone." The seeker turned back to him impressively. "But I do have a special task for you. I want you to go out and find the rest of your Crushers. A deluxe stasis pod should be in the territory labeled 'Kentucky,' so begin your search there."
The bruiser said nothing more, transforming to vehicle mode and driving out of the base. Meanwhile, Solon approached Overcast, gently patting his shin.
"I heard you tried overcoming your shell program," he stated, offering a small smile. "Nice job."
"I deeply apologize. I wanted to obey, but the order Megatron gave didn't feel-"
"Hey, I won't tell if you won't." Solon winked, walking off to his quarters and smiling once more.
The sight of a crashing ship and the subsequent explosion brought with it a horde of onlookers, be they press or simple wanders. News reporters told the story as best they knew it, with police officers setting up barricades to keep out any unauthorized personnel.
As the crescent moon approached its apex, a black sedan drove up to the scene, its driver exiting the vehicle. He was a middle-aged man with a black suit, with a navy blue tie being the only splash of color, and a few beads of sweat glistening on his dark skin.
"Excuse me, sir, but you can't come past here," said one of the officers, holding out a hand to stop this newcomer.
"Agent Corey Branson, Sector Seven," the man stated, pulling a badge from his jacket. "I wish to talk about what happened here."
"Forgive me, Agent. Let's see, around… 8:34 P.M. an object crash landed right there. About twenty odd minutes later there was an explosion from that same area."
"It's obvious, then, that this is no meteorite. I don't know what it is just yet, but I intend to find out." Agent Branson crossed the barrier, steely eyes staring up at the burning wreck. "It's them, it has to be…"
Matt and Anna weren't sure just what would be waiting for them at the Exodus, but what they weren't expecting was to find an injured transformer being operated on. The Decepticon insignia on their shoulder informed the two that this was a prisoner, the wolf head on his chest indicated he had a beast mode, and the way Optimus instantly transformed to robot mode told them it was important.
"Who is that?" asked Matt, as Optimus' optics narrowed.
"That is Bonecrusher."
Two things about this one: 1. This Bonecrusher has nothing to do with any previous characters to bear the name. I'm just following a preestablished Transformers tradition haha. 2. This is technically the first chapter not to introduce any new robot characters. That's all I have to say, hope you enjoyed.
Next time: Bonecrusher comes online, with circumstances forcing him to work with the Autobots for the time being.