CHAPTER FOUR
--The Lost Light, bridge--
Ultra Magnus watched from the bridge as the two shuttles departed from the Lost Light. He cringed at the sight of the so-called "Rodpod"; it was such a massive testament to Rodimus' ever-growing ego. If there wasn't something against such a display in the Autobot Code, then there ought to have been.
"Ultra Magnus?" A voice crackled through his communicator. "Red Alert here. I need you to come down to Brainstorm's workshop. There's... you just need to see this."
"I'm on my way," Magnus replied. "Mainframe, Blaster, keep an optic on Rodimus and Drift's progress, and radio me if something goes wrong."
"In that case," Blaster said wryly, "you'll be hearing from us in about five minutes."
--Luna 1, Rodimus' team--
"Okay, we've touched ground," Rodimus announced to the others. "Let's break out the Mobile Autobot Repair Bays and roll out."
"Um, question," Chromedome said, raising his hand. "Do we even need the M.A.R.B.s? I mean, we could just drive."
"I detected several pits and bottomless chasms when we were making our way down," Perceptor said. "It would be very risky to drive across the land lest you wish to take a plummet."
"Right then. Let me just check on Drift, then we'll be on our way." Turning on his communicator, Rodimus then said, "Drift, my team's landed somewhere in the north. What's your status?"
"South of your position. We're scouting out now, but so far, no sign of the billion lifeforms Perceptor detected."
"We'll find them. Just contact me when you do. Rodimus, out." After ending the connection, he turned to flash his team a grin. "Let's--"
"Don't tell me: 'Let's roll out,'" Skids interjected, rolling his optics. "You've said that how many times now?"
"Shut up and roll out."
--Drift's team--
"Whirl, Cyclonus, do you see anything?" Drift called up to the two fliers as he and the rest of his group traversed the barren landscape on M.A.R.B.s.
"Just a whole lotta nothing," Whirl replied. "So far the whole Luna 1 mystery thing had been one huge anticlimax."
"Wait." Cyclonus suddenly morphed to his robot mode and landed on a metal ledge. "I saw something."
The others slowed their mobile platforms to a halt. "What is it?" Drift asked.
"I'm not sure. It moved too fast for me to get a better look. But it looked like a jet of sorts--"
"There it goes!" Tailgate exclaimed, standing on Swerve's shoulders as he pointed at a blue jet flying up ahead. "I think I see more in the distance."
"Yeah," Ratchet muttered. "Headed right for us."
"At least we've found our lifeforms," Drift said. "Let me call Rodimus and--"
He was cut off by a blue stun bolt to the chest. He fell off his M.A.R.B., despite Rewind's vain attempts to stop him, and became helpless to act as he watched his teammates succumb to the same fate. He then looked up to see a blue, streamlined mech hovering over him, red optics glowing menacingly.
"What say we consider this road trip... cancelled?"
The flier then aimed a built-in blaster at him and Drift quickly found himself in darkness.
--The Lost Light--
Ultra Magnus frowned as he looked upon the array of briefcases scattered out on the floor of Brainstorm's lab, arranged in a specific formation. Que and Glyph were already there examining them by the time he had gotten there, while Red Alert and Riptide stood off to the side.
"And here I thought he only had the one," Riptide muttered. "When he first came aboard with Elita's group, he wasn't exactly toting a whole armful of briefcases."
"He could have very well created them since then," Que said. "Anyway, I believe I may have figured them out. The briefcases are empty, but they are nonetheless connected. They are components of a greater machine."
"What kind of machine?" Ultra Magnus asked.
"A time machine. I recognized several parts as those of a Transwarp drive and they work much the same way. The main difference is that the user of the machine does not require a ship to utilize it and thus can transport just themselves to different time periods, using only a single control case to do so. However, the time machine does require a hyper-drive of some sorts to divert power from, which explains the difficulties we were having with it earlier."
"So Brainstorm's jumped to a different time," Magnus murmured. "Any indication as to when?"
"I'm afraid not. Knowing him, he could very well have perfected the technology to jump to any time or place, not just the future." Que rubbed his chin. "And that still leaves the question as to why."
--Luna 1--
"Why are you shaking, Nightbeat?"
Flying ahead of the others on his M.A.R.B., Nightbeat looked over his shoulder to grin at Rodimus. "Because it's Luna 1! This is one of the Big Three! This... this is a life-defining experience for me!"
"Yeah, well, try not to get in over your head," Rodimus said. "And stay where I can see you."
The detective scowled. "I'm old enough to be your caretaker, pal, so don't go lecturing me like a protoform."
The team spent several minutes scouting out the moon, finding nothing but deserted plains. If the scanner was right about there being one billion people, then they were doing an extremely good job at hiding.
Sitting next to Skids on his M.A.R.B., WALL-E suddenly jumped up and pointed up ahead. "Over there!"
Rodimus looked to see a tall building standing in the distance, reaching several stories high. He slid his magnification visor over his optics to get a better look; he could see at least a dozen jet fighters swarming around the building, with large ground vehicles rolling at the base.
"Looks like we've just found our life signs," he said. "Let's set down here before we make our approach. Wouldn't want them to think we were attacking."
The others came to a halt just as Rodimus jumped off of his M.A.R.B. His feet touched the ground... and the moon exploded with light.
* * *
"It would appear we have guests, sir."
Something moved in the shadows of the command center, coming down to loom over the Diagnostic Drone that had spoken. "Do we now?"
"Yes, sir. Aero Drone Unit BR-07 has returned with seven captured mechs and our drones outside have detected another seven."
Red optics flared in the darkness. "They've found us. The Functionists... they're here to get rid of us."
"Shall I deploy all the drones, sir?"
"Yes. Send them all. Kill everything in sight."
"And the prisoners?"
There was a brief lull of silence. "Keep them alive for now. We could use them to send the Functionists a message... then we can make use of their sparks."
The drone dipped its hovering form. "As you wish, High Circuitmaster. I shall send out the command now."
* * *
"Rodimus? What just happened? The whole moon just lit up like the Fractal Amphitheater on a wild night!"
"We're... we're fine, Blaster," Rodimus said, his optics still adjusting from the sudden flash. "I'm... not quire sure what happened either."
"I am." Perceptor got to his knees to examine one of the several blue orbs poking out from the ground. "We've landed on a hot spot."
"Sparks?" Chromedome asked.
"Yes. Approximately one billion of them."
Nightbeat snapped his fingers. "Of course! Luna 1 is often called the Seething Moon! And here it is teeming-- or seething-- with life!"
"So now what?" Rodimus asked. "Do we harvest these sparks or--?"
"Intruders!"
Everyone turned to see an army of tanks-- the same ones they had seen outside the building-- rolling towards them, guns primed. While a squadron of jets flew overhead, one of the tanks converted to robot mode and pointed at Rodimus' team.
"Whoever you are and whatever your reasons are for being here, you have outstayed your welcome." At his beckoning, all of the tanks aimed their turrets. "By order of the High Circuitmaster of the Vehicon Armada, you are to be destroyed."
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