Bottom of the Hole – Ice PocketBlurr wrote:“Comeon,comeon,comeon,”
“We’re coming. We’re coming,” Wheeljack replied back to
Blurr as he set both of his feet carefully on the ice at the bottom of the hole. It was a very small pocket, indeed, and it was beginning to get more and more cramped by the astrosecond as more mechs arrived to see what had been discovered. “All right, we’re here. Now, were did Hot Rod go? Oh…” the made scientist stopped himself as he saw the second hole Twin Twist had dug that led down into the ship. “Nevermind. I have a good idea where he is.”
Perceptor was close behind him, warning the others not to disturb anything down in the ship. That wasn’t a bad idea. There was no telling what this ship was or who it originally belonged to.
>>”Perceptor’s right guys. Try not to mess around with anything at least until we get down there.”<<Wheeljack then turned to
Perceptor,
Blurr and the others. “Okay, follow me again. There’s no rope this time, but the hole into the ship seems to be on an angle so we should just be able to slide ourselves in there. Be careful, regardless, though.”
With that said, Wheeljack sat his aft on the edge of the opening and gently slid himself down into the darkness below.
Bridge – Inside the Frozen ShipHot Rod landed on the icy floor of the bridge with ease, switching on his headlamps as he gazed around the large room. He could see Twin Twist on the far side fiddling with buttons and levers in an attempt to get something to respond. “You weren’t kidding about this place, Twin,” the cavalier said as he traversed from one side of the bridge to the other.
“Did you think I was joking, Roddy?” Twin Twist replied stoically, turning his attention to the approaching flame-covered mech.
“Of course not,” Hot Rod responded as he stopped at a console and brushed away some of the snow. “The markings are definitely Cybertronian just like you said.”
“Yep. Just like I said.”
Perceptor wrote:>>"Try not to disturb anything down there. As much as you can in that darkness at least..."<<
“Too late,” Twin Twist replied out loud to Hot Rod who so far was the only one present. “Think I should tell him that? Heh.”
Hot Rod glanced over at the former Wrecker and grinned. “Might be best to sugar coat it a bit.”
“Gotcha,” Twin Twist replied, switching over to the comms.
>>”We hear ya, Percy! Don’t worry about nothing. We won’t touch anything…besides the numerous things we already touched. Heh.”<<“How was that?” The jumpstarter asked with a wide smile.
“Ahhh….not bad. Maybe a little more sugar next time,” Hot Rod responded as he moved away from the console.
“Hah, if you say so, Roddy!” Twin Twist patted the cavalier on the shoulder plate just as a loud noise came from behind a nearby closet door.
“What the frag…!!!” Hot Rod exclaimed as he almost jumped out of his frame and quickly moved behind the former Wrecker.
Twin Twist slowly turned his head around to look back at the cowering Autobot. “You know, for a cavalier you sure are a fraidy bot…”
“Hey, I’m not…” Hot Rod started to say as he straightened himself up and stepped out from behind the jumpstarter. “…I’m not afraid. I was just startled a bit, that’s all. I mean, what the frag was that anyway?”
“Sounded like it came from inside that storage closet,” Twin Twist reassured Roddy. “I’m not picking up any life signs. Something probably just fell or shifted its weight. Would you like me to check it out?”
“Please. I..I mean, sure go right ahead.”
Twin Twist chuckled slightly as he moved towards the storage closet. At that moment, both
Cosmos and Wheeljack arrived on scene. The mechanical engineer switched on his headlamps and looked around. “So what do we have here gentle mechs?”
“Twin’s gonna check the storage closet. Something moved inside,” Hot Rod quickly brought Wheeljack up to speed.
“Something moved?” Wheeljack questioned as he walked over to intercept the former Wrecker. “Be careful, Twin Twist. We don’t have any idea what we are dealing with here.”
“Oh please, I’m a Wrecker, Wheeljack. I can handle whatever’s on the other side of this door,” the jumpstarter said as he reached the closed door and forcibly pried it open. After a few grunts and shoves the threshold into the small storage closet was wide open. “See, nothing to worry….”
Suddenly, a body fell out faceplate first onto the floor just outside the doorway, hitting the icy surface with a thud. “Holy frag!! What the…??!!!” Twin Twist jumped back several feet, clearly being startled, himself.
“For a Wrecker you’re awful jumpy,” Hot Rod commented, receiving an angry glare back from the jumpstarter. The cavalier then took a step towards the body but was stopped in his tracks by the sound of Wheeljack’s voice.
“No one touch it!” The mechanical engineer exclaimed as he rushed over and quickly knelt down next to the body. He shined his headlamp directly onto it, revealing that it was mechanical in nature. Wheeljack closely studied it, pulling out a scanner in order to get a full readout of the body. “It’s Cybertronian,” he said as he continued scanning. “Whoever it was has been dead a very long time.”
Wheeljack then put the scanner away and placed both hands onto the far side of the body. He then gently turned it over onto its back so that the dead mech in question was facing up. What he saw shocked him more than the discovery of the ship, itself. “Dear Primus, what happened to you?” Wheeljack asked the body rhetorically.
Hot Rod took a few more steps closer and knelt down beside the engineer. “It looks like his chest plate has been ripped opened, Jackie, and violently, too. What could’ve done that?”
“Maybe someone just shot him,” Twin Twist suggested, moving closer to the body and looking down over the two Autobots’ shoulders. “I’ve seen blaster fire do far worst than that to a mech.”
“No, he wasn’t shot,” Wheeljack said, rejecting the idea outright. “There’s no scorch marks and this isn’t the kind of damage one would see from laser fire. Someone or something ripped his chest opened.” Wheeljack shined his headlamp straight down into the gapping hole in the dead mech’s chest. “Oh dear…”
“What?” Hot Rod asked. “What is it?”
“The spark chamber is missing,” Wheeljack responded, looking Hot Rod directly in the optics before returning his attention deep into the chest wound. “And by the looks of it, the chamber wasn’t just removed, it was torn out!”
“Torn out? But where is it?” Hot Rod queried.
“Is that it?” Twin Twist asked as he shown his headlamp into the closet. The others gazed inside and saw a small, round ball lying near the back corner.
Wheeljack got up and stepped around the body, entering the closet. He quickly came out with what was only an empty shell now. “Yeah, it’s the spark chamber, severely damaged and devoid of a spark.”
Hot Rod got up and stood next to Wheeljack, taking the spark chamber in his hands and looking it over. “Who could’ve done this?”
“I don’t know, Roddy,” Wheeljack replied, placing his hands onto his waist. “But the only way we’re going to find out some answers is to restore power to this ship. Then we’ll be able to access the computer system and find out what the frag happened here.”
“Agreed,” Hot Rod replied, handing the spark chamber back to Wheeljack. “I’ll go and find the fuel room and see if there’s enough energon to get things going again. If there is enough then there might be a broken connection that needs to be fixed in order to restore power. Whatever the case may be, I’ll get the job done.” The cavalier then headed for the exit. “Come on,
Blurr, you’re with me!”
As Hot Rod reached the double doors that led out of the bridge, he realized that without power they wouldn’t open automatically. Wheeljack shook his cranium. “Twin Twist,
Cosmos, go with them, and be careful! Keep your sensors attuned for any life signs. There have to be other members of the crew somewhere, dead or alive.”
The former Wrecker nodded. “You got it, Jackie!” The jumpstarter then walked over to the double doors and pressed his actuators into the seam before prying the doors apart with his brute strength. “After you, guys.” Twin Twist motioned for his three comrades to leave first.
“Thanks,” Hot Rod nodded as he and Twin Twist exited the bridge with
Blurr and
Cosmos presumably right with them.
“Okay,
Perceptor, help me pick this body up and place it onto that conference table over there for further examination,” Wheeljack said as the scientist/sniper arrived in the ship. Wheeljack then knelt down and carefully grabbed a hold of the left side of the dead body and waited for Perceptor the grab the right side. “Once it’s on the table, we’ll be able to study the body better.”