CHAPTER FIVE
Metroplex, above Earth
“I really hope this doesn’t look as suspicious as it actually is.”
“How?” asked Twin Twist, looking over his shoulder at Topspin as the two of them hauled a Sandstorm-sized crate that definitely did not contain an offline Sandstorm inside. “We’re just moving cargo to the Xantium. Nothing suspicious about that.”
“Right,” Topspin muttered. “Nothing suspicious about lugging around a Cybertronian-sized box to the hangar bay. Nope. Nada.”
Twin Twist rolled his optics. “Well, if you keep running your mouth, people are going to be suspicious anyway.”
Fortunately, the pair were able to make it to the hangar with their “luggage” without any complications. Already waiting for them there by the Xantium was Kup.
“Hurry it up, you two,” Kup barked at them. “The window for us to leave without any trouble is getting ready to shut.”
“Are the others already on board?” Twin Twist asked.
“That’s nothin’ for you to worry about. Move your afts.”
While the Jumpstarters hurried onto the ship with the box containing Sandstorm, Kup rechecked the chronometer in his heads-up display, his face twisting in concern. Indeed, Punch and Whirl were already on board the ship, ready to take off… but their leader had yet to show up. Springer had told Kup that he had one last errand to run before they could leave, but would not tell Kup what said errand was. He could only hope that it wouldn’t be something that would jeopardize this mission… which was already dangerous and suicidal enough.
No more than a few kliks later, Springer finally showed up in the entrance to the hangar, striding towards the Xantium with a grim expression on his face. As he walked up to Kup, the latter tilted his head at the Wrecker commander.
“What was the holdup?”
“Elita stopped me,” Springer muttered, walking past Kup to head up the ship’s ramp. “She asked me if I had seen Punch anywhere.”
“What did you tell her?” Kup asked, following him.
“I said I would keep an optic out for him.”
“Do you think she knows what we’re up to?”
“If she doesn’t, she will soon enough.”
“Do you have a plan for when she does?” Kup asked.
“I do.” Springer smirked at the veteran, pressing the control panel to close up the ship. “It just won’t be a good one.”
The Axalon, preparing for takeoff
“Someone want to remind me when we became a taxi service?”
“Shut up, Rattrap,” Primal said as he led Bumblebee onto the Axalon. “Optimus has approved him for a mission down on Earth and he’s not in any state for an orbital jump. He’ll just be joining us for this one trip.”
Rattrap rolled his optics and threw up his arms as if to say “Whatever” before returning his attention to the ship’s scanners. At the controls, Cheetor gave his crewmate a look before turning to give Bumblebee a welcoming “thumbs-up.”
“Welcome aboard, ‘Bee! Nice faceplate.”
“Thanks, though it’s only temporary,” Bumblebee replied, taking a spare seat near Rhinox’s station. “I’m not sure if I’m going to keep it once my my actual face is all patched up.”
“Eh, who knows. Some bots go crazy for mechs in faceplates,” Rattrap said, before muttering under his breath, “Not that that’s ever helped me….”
“Uh-huh….” Bumblebee glanced at Primal, whose expression was unreadable as he took his seat in the command chair. The Maximal leader spared him a glance before shifting his attention to Cheetor.
“Are we all set to go, Cheetor?”
“Ready when you are, big bot.”
“Then take us away.”
Within moments, the Axalon lifted up from the floor of the hangar bay and began to make its way through the open door. Just as the bow of the ship cleared the entrance, a proximity alarm went off at Rattrap’s station, coating his face in red light.
“Whoa, hold up! Someone’s intrudin’ on our airspace!”
As soon as he had spoken the words, a massive white and red ship appeared in the periphery of the viewport. Cheetor yanked back on the controls to pull the Axalon back before it could collide with the other vessel. As a variety of alarms blared through out the bridge, Primal peered through the viewport and his optics narrowed in recognition.
“Wait a nanoklik… that’s the Xantium! What’s it doing out here?” Turning to Rhinox, Primal barked, “Patch me through to them! Get Springer on the comm!”
“They’re not picking up,” Rhinox said after a few moments. “Let me try and hail Elita.”
Primal groaned as he pinched his noseplate. “For Primus’ sake, what do those cross-wired fools think they’re doing?!”
Bumblebee watched as the Xantium continued to fly past the Axalon, heading straight for the Earth’s atmosphere. Whatever it was the Wreckers were doing, it appeared to be urgent as the massive ship pressed ahead at full speed, undeterred by its near-collision with the Maximals’ ship.
“Y’know,” he heard Rattrap mutter as the Wreckers’ ship passed through the atmosphere, “I never did like these Wreckers.”
* * *
Standing outside the Ark along with Kicker, Optimus Prime, and two other Autobots, Sari watched as the Maximal ship Axalon landed in front of them. After the ship had touched down, it lowered its ramp and its crew of four Maximals stepped out of the ship, followed by an Autobot in yellow and black plating.
“Thank you for your assistance, Primal Major,” Optimus said to his Maximal counterpart. “It is greatly appreciated.”
“Don’t mention it,” Primal replied. “Though we ran into some trouble with your Wreckers along the way….”
Optimus tilted his head questioningly. “Come again?”
“Yeah, that big-aft hauler of theirs nearly crashed into us when we tried to take off from the hangar!” said Rattrap. “I dunno what’s got their wires crossed.”
“I’ve already contacted Elita about it,” Primal said just as Optimus was about to ask. “She said that she would handle them and for us to continue our mission.”
Optimus slowly nodded, though Sari could tell that he was still perturbed by this. “This isn’t normally like Springer,” he murmured. “Out of all the Wreckers, he and Kup have always been the most level-headed. If neither of them were in command, I would have disbanded the Wreckers centuries ago, especially after Pova.”
“Yeah, well, a bit too late for that, ain’t it?” Rattrap remarked.
Optimus waved a dismissive hand. “In any case, thank you for bringing Bumblebee here, and I apologize for the Wreckers’… behavior.” Optimus then directed his attention to Bumblebee. “Bumblebee, Arcee and Bulkhead here will join you in accompanying Sari and Kicker on their mission.”
“Cool.” Bumblebee looked down at the two techno-organics, noting their cybernetic armor and appearance. “Nice to meet you, Kicker. Glad to see you’re okay, Sari.”
“Likewise, ‘Bee,” Sari replied.
Kicker shifted his feet. “So, uh, should we get going now? There’s no telling what they might be doing to Isaac Sumdac, or how long he’s got.”
“There’s one last thing before you go.” Optimus Prime gestured to Bulkhead, who brought his arms out from behind his back and held up a small, human-sized energy container. Within the container was a third techno-organic, this one resembling a young woman with blond hair. Her face twisted in fury as it split open and revealed several razor-sharp metal teeth, unleashing an ear-splitting shriek.
“This is Alice,” Bulkhead said, wincing from the scream. “She’s, uh… yeah. She’s Alice.”
“Kicker says that she might be an escaped subject of Project: Cadmus,” Optimus elaborated to a bewildered Bumblebee. “Regardless of whether or not she will cooperate with you, it may still be beneficial to bring her along.”
“Wonderful,” Bumblebee replied. “And here I was hoping that this would be a nice, quiet trip with friends.”
Arcee looked over to Kicker. “So, where exactly is this ‘Project: Cadmus’ facility, and how are we going to get there? Wheeljack and his team still don’t have the GroundBridge up and running, and I don’t think you techno-organics nor Bumblebee can withstand an orbital jump at the moment.”
“The facility is located in Detroit,” Kicker said. “I don’t remember the exact location but I remember it being near where Sumdac Systems is now… though last I heard, it’s been turned into an Onyx Tower.”
“Don’t remind me,” Sari muttered, crossing her arms. “I’m afraid to even look up what Onyx is getting up to over there, especially with Powell running things.”
Rhinox shifted in discomfort. “I’m sorry… but did you say Onyx? As in Onyx Prime?”
“It’s an organization named after him,” Arcee explained. “Sovereign and the Titan Masters were using it as a front for their operations; operations that did not come to fruition, as far as we know.”
“They were working with us for a time, before they mysteriously vanished on Cybertron,” Optimus elaborated further. “No one has heard from them or of them since.”
Primal rubbed his chin, looking intrigued. “Interesting,” he murmured. “If it is all right with everyone, perhaps we could accompany Bumblebee and his team to this Cadmus facility.”
Rattrap gave him an incredulous look. “Are you serious?!”
“Well, Detroit is on the other side of the country,” said Sari. “If we can’t use a GroundBridge or an orbital jump, then we’re gonna need some kind of ship to get there….”
Optimus Prime nodded. “I am fine with that arrangement. Once you’ve delivered your supplies to Wheeljack and his team, you may set out for the Cadmus facility.”
Rattrap threw his arms up in the air. “See?! What did I tell ya; we’re a taxi service now!”
“Rattrap,” Rhinox started to say.
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Rattrap waved his hand flippantly as he rolled his eyes. “S’all I hear these days….”
The Xantium
“Kup, I think it’s about time I told you a story.”
Kup glared at Springer as he braced himself against a support railing. “If it ends the way I think this one is going, then I’m not sure I wanna hear it.”
“It was Cycle 8833, during our first engagement with Squadron X in the Salvvatan system,” Springer went on, his face a calm slate as the Xantium plunged through Earth’s clouds. “For the duration of the whole battle, Impactor and Valve — Squadron X’s leader — were hashing it out over comms, exchanging taunts with every hit we dealt each other. From that conversation alone, I could gather that the two had a history.”
Kup’s expression turned solemn at this, in spite of his unease. “Valve was a founding member of the Wreckers,” he said. “There from the beginning, before even Impactor had joined.”
Springer nodded. “I know. In between taunts, the two of them would reminisce about ‘the good old days.’ It was the first time I had ever seen Impactor show something resembling a soft side. Of course, he clamped up as soon as the Pale Fire took out our communications array.”
Kup glanced at him again. “Where are you going with this, lad?”
“To this day, I can still hear the last thing Impactor said to Valve before he ended the call,” Springer replied. “He said, ‘Careful. You’re the one who picked her.’”
“Any idea what he was referring to?”
“I never bothered to ask him, because I could tell it was a touchy subject,” Springer said. “But I always assumed he was referring to the Xantium.”
Kup seemed to think about this for a moment. “That would make sense,” he said. “I remember them havin’ this ship pretty early on in the First War.”
“It’s certainly had a good run.” Directing his attention to Whirl, seated at the ship’s controls, Springer said, “Pull up a little and head for the coordinates I’m transmitting to you now.”
“Got it.” Whirl spared a second to scan the coordinates he had received before saying, “Oh. Oh wow. We’re really going that route, aren’t we?”
“We are,” Springer said firmly. “Once you’ve set the course, advance at full speed.”
“Oh, you are so talking my language,” Whirl replied. “Only took you, what, a thousand years?”
Kup frowned as he looked at Springer. “What coordinates did you send him? If Whirl’s happy about it, it can’t be anything good.”
“They’re coordinates to the Decepticons’ camp in Verenya.”
“What?!” Twin Twist exclaimed. “I thought the idea was for us to sneak in! We can’t do that if they see our giant freaking starship in their airspace!”
Springer smirked. “We can if we make them think we died in the crash. Topspin, prepare the escape pods.”
“Springer, have you lost a diode?!” Kup snapped. “Even Impactor wouldn’t have pulled off a stunt like this!”
“I know he wouldn’t. That’s why I’m doing it.” Springer flashed him a grin; the type of grin Kup had not seen from him in a while. “You know me, old timer. I’ve never done things the way Impactor would have.”
“This is ridiculous,” Kup growled. “Have you lost your pit-damned mind?!”
Springer did not respond to him as he looked back to Topspin. “Are those pods ready?”
“Uh, yeah. Though at this velocity, I don’t know if we’ll—”
“Then let’s get moving. Whirl, put the ship on autopilot.”
“Oh, so you don’t want me to heroically sacrifice myself to get me out of your hair?” Whirl retorted. “I always knew you cared about me deep down.”
Just as Whirl was about to fulfill the orders given to him, Punch said, “Hold on a nanoklik. I just saw something on the radar.”
“Have the Decepticons already spotted us?” asked Topspin.
Before Punch could answer, something large slammed into the Xantium, knocking it off course. As Whirl struggled to regain control of the ship, what sounded like heavy metal feet landed on top of the Xantium followed by the sound of guns powering up. As the Wreckers all drew their weapons, the ceiling above them exploded and a massive metallic figure in green, white, and purple dropped onto the bridge.
“SIXSHOT?!” Springer exclaimed, pointing his gun at the Decepticon Six Changer. “I thought you were dead!”
Sixshot said nothing as he drew two large massive guns and opened fire.
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