CHAPTER EIGHT
--The Lost Light--
By the time Skids had come to, Clutch was nowhere to be seen.
He searched high and low for the red Autobot, calling out his name. Anyone he walked into, he asked if they had seen Clutch, only for them to answer in the negative. He had even checked the oil reservoir, which he knew to be the most secluded place, and still saw no sign of him.
That left only two potential places: Rung's office... or the brig.
Last he knew, Rung was still with Ariel, trying to keep her from visiting Rampage, who was being held in the brig. Seeing as the latter location was the most dangerous, Skids visited that first.
Upon reaching the brig, the first thing Skids heard was Clutch's voice, speaking some sort of prayer.
"Primus hold me as the darkness come near. Primus hold me as the cold takes a hold of me."
"Clutch?" Skids called out, seeing the other Autobot's silhouette up ahead. "Are you okay?"
"Stand back!" Clutch cried. "I don't know what this is gonna do."
"What are you talking about? What's going on?"
"Look, I'm sorry I punched you earlier, but I had to get away from you. It was for you're own good!"
"What was for my own good?" Skids asked, walking towards Clutch. "Is everything all right?"
"I'd stay away, if I were you," said Rampage, sitting in his cell nearby. "This is probably gonna be messy."
Skids glared at him. "You can just shove it."
He then continued to walk towards Clutch. The red Autobot was huddled in a corner, a hand over his chest. Upon seeing Skids, his optics went wide in alarm.
"No! Get away! You might get hurt!"
"Forget about me," Skids said. "Let's get you to Ratchet."
"No, it's too late! I'm going to--"
Without warning, Clutch's chest burst into an explosion of liquid metal, pouring out of the Autobot's spark chamber. Before Skids' very eyes, the liquid began to solidify and take shape. Before he knew it, he was left staring at a fully grown, newborn protoform, standing over a deactivated Clutch.
From his cell, Rampage made a cooling sound. "Aww! He has your eyes!"
* * *
As he listened to Ariel sing to the Ballad of Princess Adronitia, Rung dug through his collection of case notes, intent on scratching a mental itch that had been bothering him for a while now. Pulling up on what he had on Ariel, he turned on the datapad and reviewed what he had written down:
Subject: Ariel of Sistex, construction date Cycle 8514.
Trained at the Omnihelix Academy under General Browbeat.
Incarcerated at Garrus-16 for destruction of academy.
Assigned to the Azusa under Captain [NAME REDACTED UNDER ORDERS FROM LONGBOW CAPTAIN]
He topped right there, frowning to himself. The Azusa had been a mere scout ship, if he recalled correctly. Why would its captain's name be considered classified?
Looking over to Ariel, Rung spoke her name. "Yes?" she replied, smiling.
"Do... do you remember the names of your crewmates on the Azusa?" he asked.
Her smile wavered slightly. "Yes...."
"Do you remember the name of your captain?"
She thought for a moment. "It was something silly," she murmured. "I made fun of it one time and he got mad and threatened to hurt Sparkle..."
"It's okay if you don't remember it," Rung said. "It's not too much of a--"
"Quickswitch."
Rung blinked. "Quickswitch?"
"Yes, that was it. Because he had six modes and always cycled through them."
Quickswitch. Rung knew that name. Returning to his case files, he pulled up the desired entry.
Subject: Quickswitch of Hexadron, forged Cycle 7826.
Served as Captain of the Hyperion (8819-9090), Azusa (9090-9113), Hope On Wings (9113-9689), Nominus II (9689-9812), U1 (9812-9814).
U1. Rung recognized that name. It had been the original name of the Lost Light, according to Nautica, before their captain had abandoned them, leading the crew to rename the ship Lost Light.
Quickswitch had been their captain, as well as Ariel's.
But why would his name had been withheld? Why had he abandoned his crew? Where was he now?
Lost in his own thoughts, Rung did not notice as the Lost Light jumped to hyperspace.
TO BE CONTINUED
"Some truth there was,
But dash'd and brew'd with lies;
To please the fools,
And puzzle all the wise."
- Josh Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel
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