I don't own Transformers or the Riordanverse; they belong to their owners.
Chapter 3: Arrival.
In their capital city of Kaon, the Decepticons were making the final preparations for the long voyage that awaited them. Their leader, Megatron, a grey cybertronian with a massive black cannon attached to his right arm, looked over the ship that his Decepticons were preparing to launch, The Nemesis. After thousands of years, one of his deep space probes finally located the Allspark's energy signature on a distant planet. Now he was about to take a small team to retrieve it.
"Soundwave!" Megatron hollered. "Are we almost ready for launch?"
"Launch should be ready in fifteen cycles," the dark blue bot reported.
"Good," Megatron noted. "After over a thousand years, the Allspark will finally be mine."
"Hah!" laughed a voice.
Nearby, his second-in-command, Starscream, scoffed. "If I had been in charge all those years ago, we would have already had the Allspark," the red, grey, and blue con with wings on his back muttered.
Megatron ignored him. He was used to Starscream's constant insistence that he would be a more competent Decepticon leader, but it was all bark and no bite. He doubted Starscream had the nerve to make a move on him.
Inside the ship, the black and purple con Barricade, the blue and red con Thundercracker, and the maroon and brown con Skytread were getting the flight systems set up.
"So any idea what to expect from this planet?" Skytread asked.
"Soundwave's scans indicate it's carbon-based," Barricade explained.
"Organics!?" Skytread exclaimed. "Gross! Right Thundercracker?"
Thundercracker shrugged.
"What?!" Skytread asked.
"I mean...organics are just like us. The only difference is they're a bit more fleshy." Thundercracker admitted.
"...You're weird, Thundercracker."
Thundercracker was about to give Skytread a piece of his mind when the three cons heard a crash and a yelp.
When the three went over to see what it was, they found the maroon and dark blue con Quake at the bottom of some stairs that a black and purple con who shared a body type with Starscream and Thundercracker named Skywarp was standing on top of. Crates were scattered around; it was probable that Quake had been carrying them before Skywarp pushed him down. Nearby, Spinister, a bright purple and blue con, was watching the whole thing.
"Skywarp, you're gonna pay for that!" Quake shouted, getting up.
"Hey, chill out, Quake." Skywarp chuckled, "I'm just using my teleportation powers constructively."
Quake was about to charge and have a go at ripping Skywarp's head off before Barricade got between the two. He put a gentle but firm hand on Quake. "Easy Quake," he said. "Save it for the locals on the planet."
Quake gruffed and got back to loading cargo.
Thundercracker turned to Spinister. "You couldn't have helped out?" he asked.
Spinister said nothing. He just shot a glare at the blue mech.
Once that was done, the eight Decepticons assembled on the bridge by order of Megatron, who now stood before them.
"Decepticons. You all know what is at stake here," he declared. "After a thousand years, the Allspark has been found. We must recover it before the Autobots get word of this. When we finally have its power, we will use it to break this infernal stalemate that Optimus has locked us into!"
"For too long, we have failed to gain ground! For too long, our planet has suffered and died. Our energon mines are growing more and more barren, and our lakes dry up, leaving nothing. We have been slowly dying out as a species, and it is all because of Optimus Prime and his shortsightedness."
"Once Cybertron is healed and ours, we will finally achieve the goal we've been aiming for since the beginning! We will spread out across the galaxy, claim it for our own, and establish an intergalactic empire that will last forever!"
"And through this empire, we will bring peace through tyranny!"
The gathered Decepticons cheered.
Megatron smirked; getting a crowd motivated could be so satisfying sometimes...
In Iacon, Prowl looked over the ship that Optimus had commissioned for the mission, the Ark 27. It was nothing fancy, but nothing simple either. It was just the right ship for a long interstellar space mission.
Prowl's eyes wandered to the other Autobots Optimus had chosen for the mission. His "teammates".
Brawn and Hound were getting the cargo bay loaded; Brawn's strength had made him a natural pick for that job.
"Can you believe this Brawn?" Hound asked. "A whole new planet to explore! An organic planet! I've never seen one before!"
"I hope it's got tougher environments than Cybertron." Brawn laughed. "I've conquered every one of Cybertron's dangers; I need something new to sink my knuckles into."
"Yes, yes, how very exciting..." A nearby Sunstreaker muttered as he was helping to fill the ship's fuel supplies up.
Hound groaned, "What's your problem, Sunstreaker?"
"You know what organics are like." Sunstreaker retorted. "They're soft and squishy, and their gunk gets everywhere."
The onlooking Prowl sighed and went back to looking at the checklist Optimus wanted him to go through. Sunstreaker was going to Sunstreaker, he guessed.
"You okay, Prowl?" asked Chromia, walking up.
"I'm fine, Chromia," Prowl responded, not looking up from his data pad. "I'm glad you're coming, at least."
"Hey, it'll be fun," Chromia said. "Like that time we busted Thunderhoof's weapons smuggling ring."
"I wouldn't call nearly being atomized by illegal weaponry fun, Chromia..." Prowl muttered.
"Well, it was fun for me." Chromia laughed. "I'm the one who finished the fight by shooting him with his own weapons and managed to bring him in alive."
"Just get back to loading the ship," Prowl ordered.
Chromia shrugged and walked off.
Prowl looked up and saw Ratchet working inside the ship through the windows, sitting in the pilot's chair. Prowl turned on his comm unit and called him. "Ratchet? How's the ship running?"
"All systems are looking good, Prowl," Ratchet reported. "I just finished getting the uplink to Teletraan One working. Once everyone's on board and the tank is full, we'll be good to go."
"Right. I'll go check on Optimus-"
Before Prowl could finish, a heavy crate fell on top of him. "Gah!" he grunted as the crate pushed him to the ground and squished him to it.
Prowl tossed the crate off of him and found Hot Rod looking over him, carrying a stack of boxes; his expression indicated he was trying not to laugh.
"Hot Rod..." growled Prowl.
"Sorry Prowl. I guess I was carrying too much...but you gotta admit. It was kind of funny." Hot Rod laughed.
Prowl glared. "Just get this stuff on board and don't bother me again."
Hot Rod shrugged and got back to work.
Prowl went over to Optimus, who was currently talking to Elita One. The two of them were looking up at the sky.
"Are you okay, Optimus?" Elita asked
"No, Elita...I'm not..." Optimus admitted. "I've been dreading this day. I've done my damnest to make sure Megatron never leaves this planet. Now it seems it's happening anyway."
"It's not forever, Optimus," Elita assured him. "Just until you get the Allspark back."
"I want to believe that, Elita," Optimus said. "I really do."
"Optimus, we need to talk." Prowl interrupted.
Optimus turned his head. "Yes, Prowl?" he asked in a resigned tone.
Prowl straightened. "Optimus, you know I trust you with my life, and I rarely ever question-"
"Prowl, get to the point," Optimus ordered.
Prowl sighed. "Hot Rod Prime? Really? Of all the bots for this mission, you picked him?" he asked, scowling.
"He's a good bot, Prowl," Optimus affirmed. "You give him too little credit."
"He's a screw-up who doesn't follow orders." Prowl insisted.
"So was Side Burn." Optimus pointed out.
Prowl's scowl deepened, and he looked Optimus in the eyes. "Never. Say. His name again," he ordered.
Optimus looked sadly at Prowl. "Understood," he murmured.
Once everything was loaded up and ready to go, Optimus's team took their places on the Ark 27's bridge. One of them was missing, though.
"Where's Ratchet?" Asked Hot Rod
"He said he had one last-minute thing he wanted to load up in case of an emergency," Brawn remarked.
"I have a good idea what that cargo is..." muttered Chromia sadly.
"He's wasting his time," Prowl muttered.
Before anyone could respond to Prowl's remark, Ratchet finally walked in. "Last-minute cargo is loaded up and secured," he reported. "Sorry about the delay, Optimus; I... I didn't want to leave him," he said, hanging his head.
"I understand Ratchet."
Ratchet took his seat, and Optimus swerved forward on his captain's chair. "Status?" Optimus asked.
Hound looked over the monitor at his position. "Energon reserves are at their maximum. All we can spare."
"Lightspeed engines are ready to burn," Sunstreaker reported.
"Scanners are running perfectly," Prowl added.
"Ships uplink to Teletrann One is stable," Ratchet reported.
"Weapons systems are online," Chromia reported.
"Ignition!" ordered Optimus.
Sunstreaker pulled a lever at his station, and the engines roared to life. The ship shuddered as it moved forward into the Cybertronian sky.
"Here we go!" laughed Hot Rod as he hung on to his seat.
Prowl sighed.
On the ground floor below, hundreds of Autobots watched as the Ark-27 flew into the sky, headed for the planet that held the last hope for the Cybertronian race...
After a few days of traveling, the Ark-27 emerged from lightspeed.
"There it is, guys," Hound said, gesturing to the Ark-27's window.
Everyone took a look outside at the planet that housed the hope of the entire Cybertronian race. It was covered in water and surrounded by large green land masses.
Hound sighed "It looks so much more beautiful than Cybertron," he mused.
"Disgusting maybe." Sunstreaker scoffed
"Quiet," ordered Prowl.
"Teletraan One. Can you pinpoint the Allspark's location?" Ratchet asked.
"Negative" came the reply from the computer. "Something is interfering with my scans."
"But it is on the planet?" Ratchet asked.
"Yes."
"What's the plan, boss bot?" Hot Rod asked.
Optimus thought over it. "Sunstreaker, take us down easy," he ordered. "Find us a good spot to land."
"Yes, sir," Sunstreaker said, but he didn't look happy about it.
Nearby, the Nemesis jumped out of lightspeed too.
"Status report, Soundwave?" Megatron asked in his captain's chair.
"We have entered the orbit of the planet housing the Allspark," Soundwave reported.
"Urg," scoffed Skywarp, looking down on it. "It's too... colorful," he muttered.
"Let's tear it apart." Quake giggled.
"Patience, Quake," Megatron said. "You'll get your chance to-"
"Megatron!" shouted Barricade. "The scanners are picking up an Autobot ship nearby!"
"Then what are we waiting for!?" Starscream asked as he jumped out of his seat. "Let's go get them!"
"Starscream, wait!" ordered Megatron. But it was too late. Starscream had jumped from his seat to the weapons systems. He activated them and fired a massive blast at the Ark-27.
Optimus and his team were knocked off their feet by the massive boom that shook all across the ship.
"What hit us!?" Ratchet asked.
"Decepticons!" Prowl shouted, and he pulled up the scans of The Nemesis on the viewscreen.
"Autobots! Battle stations!" ordered Optimus.
"You idiot, Starscream!" Megatron shouted, "We didn't need a fight right now!"
"We either destroy them now or later; I'd prefer now!" Starscream shot back.
Megatron grunted. He'd deal with Starscream's shortsightedness later "Decepticons. Get to your gunning positions," he ordered.
Everyone rushed off, "Except you, Skywarp." Megatron said.
Skywarp paused. "Yeah?"
"Why don't you teleport outside and knock?"
Skywarp smirked. With a zop, he teleported outside the Nemesis and transformed into his jet mode. Then he started strafing the Autobot ship on its engines.
"Damn! They're hitting the engines!" Prowl growled.
"Ratchet! Hot Rod! See if you can fix them!" ordered Optimus
"SIR!" They responded, getting up from their seats and rushing to the engine room.
As the two ran down the hallways of the ship, it shook and rattled at the continued attack from the Decepticons. Eventually, a powerful blast rocked the ship so much that it sent Ratchet and Hot Rod to their knees.
"Urgh, that one was big…" Hot Rod muttered.
"Don't worry kid, we just need to-"
Another massive blast tore through the corridor and created a gigantic hole in the hull. Ratchet managed to grab onto a banister, but Hot Rod wasn't so lucky. With a scream, he was sucked out of the hole and into space. Before Ratchet could do anything, the emergency systems of the ship sealed the hole tight.
"Hot Rod!" screamed Ratchet.
Hot Rod screamed, but he didn't hear a sound as he floated in open space—before he felt a huge pulling sensation. He was being dragged into the gravity well of the nearby planet. Hot Rod began to panic internally before he turned around and saw Skywarp coming right at him, preparing to blast him.
"Not this time!" Hot Rod said, pulling out his twin blasters and sending two lasers at Skywarp, hitting him directly on his undercarriage.
"GAH!" Skywarp grunted. With another zop, he teleported away, leaving Hot Rod alone as he fell towards Earth...
Ratchet couldn't worry about Hot Rod right now. He got to the engine room and started working on stabilizing them.
"Ratchet! How's it looking with the engines!?" Optimus asked over the comm system.
"They're stabilized, but I can't get them fully fixed in the middle of combat!" Ratchet reported. "We need to disengage and find a place to land and make repairs!" Another blast to the hull made Ratchet shudder.
Optimus turned to Sunstreaker. "Can you land us on the planet below!?"
"The best I can do is a controlled crash right now!" Sunstreaker reported.
"Do it then!"
"We need to get these Decepticons off our backs first!" Sunstreaker added.
Optimus put his hand to his chin thoughtfully.
"Optimus?" asked Sunstreaker.
Optimus turned on the comm again. "Ratchet! Stop repairing the engines!" he ordered.
"What!? Why, in the name of the Arisen, not!?" Ratchet asked dumbfoundedly.
"I have a plan..."
Skywarp materialized onboard the Nemesis's bridge.
"Skywarp? You okay?" Thundercracker asked.
"Yeah...I'm gonna make those Autobots pay for this!" Skywarp muttered.
"This is your fault, Starscream! We didn't need this fight!" Barricade shouted
Starscream scowled, "I was doing what any good-"
"Silence!" Megatron ordered. "Let me focus so we can-"
"Megatron!" Soundwave called, "Something is happening with the Autobots ship!"
Megatron's head swerved to the Nemesis's viewscreen. The engines of the Ark-27 started to sputter and twitch. A few moments later, a black cloud spewed out of them, covering the Decepticons scanners. By the time they were able to clear the monitors, the Autobots ship was gone.
"What the? What just happened!?" Thundercracker asked.
"Did we win?" Quake asked.
Megatron was silent, and then he chuckled. "Optimus has used his damaged engines to make a smokescreen. How clever."
"What are we waiting for!?" Starscream asked, "Let's go find them and finish them!"
Megatron walked up to Starscream, then he slapped him across the face, knocking Starscream to the ground. "Starscream, you imbecile!" he shouted. "You attacked before we were ready!"
Starscream grunted as he picked himself back up. "What does it matter!?" he asked defiantly. "We were winning! We could have wiped them out before this started!"
"If this went wrong, it could easily have gone the other way!" Megatron pointed out. "We need to focus on establishing a foothold on this planet, then we'll worry about wiping the Autobots out!"
"You are a fool, Megatron!" Starscream shouted, "You wait when we should strike! If I were in charge-"
"Well, you're not!" Megatron stated coldly. "I am," he said, pointing his arm-mounted fusion cannon at Starscream's gut. "Now get back to your post," he ordered.
Starscream sulked, but he didn't say anything. He turned around and went back to his post.
Megatron turned to Soundwave. "Soundwave, bring us in for a landing!" He ordered.
Hot Rod wasn't sure what had happened. Everything after driving Skywarp off was a blur until he achieved impact. The pain wreaked havoc all over his body.
He really wished he had some circuit dampeners right now.
For a bit, everything was dark before he heard two voices.
One was his internal computer. "Stasis lock imminent, stasis lock imminent," it repeated in a monotone.
The other was a voice he didn't recognize.
He opened his optics and saw a small, strange creature looking down at him.
"It's okay..." it said. It sounded female.
Hot Rod struggled to say something, but the words wouldn't come out.
"Do you need help?" the female creature asked. "Can you understand me?"
It took all the energy Hot Rod had to nod, and it still hurt.
"Can you speak? What's your name?"
Hot Rod finally found it in himself to say something.
"Hot Rod..."
Sorry for the physical descriptions of the cons coming off as super clunky. It's really tricky to find a way to work them into the story naturally...
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave a review!