Hot Rod and Twin Twist rushed into the med bay to see the carnage firsthand. Both stopped in their tracks, covering their mouths with their hands. Even a seasoned former Wrecker like Twin Twist had to admit that he was left aghast at a sight such as this.
“Well frag me sideways! Look at this mess!” The jumpstarter declared, lowering his hand back down to his side. “Jackie was right. These guys look just like the one back up on the bridge. This must’ve been some kind of last stand or something. Didn’t go too well for these poor saps that’s for sure."
“No, it didn’t,” Hot Rod admitted as he carefully made his way across the room to where the active stasis pod was situated.
Blurr wrote:“Oh,nononononono, thiscan’tbehappening.”
“Whatisthat? Anyonebringascanner?”
The cavalier looked down into the window of the pod. “Can’t tell what’s in there, Blurr. Too much steam filling the chamber. I do have a scanner but I think the control console would tell us more about what’s in there. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Hot Rod then assumed the controls and quickly brought up the display. The readings gave the flame-ladened mech a pause. “What is it, Roddy?” Twin Twist spoke up from behind him.
“Um, there appears to be not one but two occupants in the stasis pod. One’s dead while the other is alive,” Hot Rod replied in an unsure tone. “The one that’s alive, though, is showing weird readings. I don’t know what to make of it.”
There was then a loud thud from within the stasis pod and something struck the inside of the window. Hot Rod slowly moved back over to the pod and glared into the mist within. A monstrous claw struck the window, leaving deeps scrapes in the glass. “Holy, Primus!”
Just then, the trio of autotroopers entered the med bay. Hot Rod motioned them over to the stasis pod. “There’s something in there. I don’t know what it is!” The cavalier explained the best he could as the troopers arrived at his position.
“Understood,” one of the autotroopers said. “Stand back. Let us handle this.”
More loud thuds and bangs emanated from inside the pod as whatever was inside continued to pound away. Suddenly, the window shattered, sending shards of glass flying outwards. Hot Rod covered his faceplate as the control console began to beep repeatedly. Due to the breach in the stasis pod, the program cycle was ending prematurely. As a result, steam hissed out from around the edges of the pod’s hatch, the seal having been broken. The hatch then slowly opened as the three autotroopers readied their firearms.
As the mist spread out from the stasis pod, a low growl could be heard. That growl then became a roar as several clawed tentacles emerged from the mist and grabbed one of the autotroopers before pulling him back into the fog. Horrible screams echoed through the med bay as the trooper’s chest plate was ripped open and his spark chamber torn out. The glowing light of the trooper’s spark could then be seen through the mist, which was now beginning to dissipate.
“Dear Primus!” Twin Twist exclaimed as a mechanical mutation stepped from the remaining mist, holding the spark in its hand. Within astroseconds, the beast had devoured the spark before setting its sights on the other two autotroopers that were closest to it.
“Everyone, get out of here now!” The lead trooper said and he and his comrade opened fire on the sparkeater. The laser blasts did little to deter the monster as its tentacles swiftly impaled both of the autotroopers and pulled them towards it and to their untimely fate.
“No argument here!” Hot Rod replied and he spun and around and waved to everyone to get out of the med bay immediately. “Go! Go! Go!” The cavalier and Twin Twist exited the med bay and once everyone else had gotten out, the doors shut behind them and Hot Rod quickly locked the room. He then opened a comm line up to Wheeljack:
>>”Wheeljack, this is Hot Rod! It was a sparkeater! I repeat, it was a sparkeater in the stasis pod! It’s killed the autotroopers you sent and now its…”<< The monster then slammed into the door, attempting to get out of the med bay. >>”It’s now trying to escape from the med bay!”<<
>>”I know, Roddy! We can see it from up here through the security feeds. You and the others get back to the bridge ASAP!”<<
>>”Roger that! On the way!”<<
Hot Rod turned to the others. “Okay, everyone, back to the bridge. Now!” With that said, the cavalier lead the way back to the command deck of the Unitrex-1.
Bridge
While Wheeljack was happy to hear from Perceptor that the ship’s guidance system was back online, it was the events within the med bay that had the majority of his interest. Watching as the sparkeater emerged from the stasis pod and attacked the trio of autotroopers was both grotesque and fascinating at the same time. Thankfully, Hot Rod and the others had gotten out of the med bay in time and now the sparkeater was trapped.
“I can’t believe what I’m seeing, Perceptor,” Wheeljack stated as he watched the mutated creature on the security feed continue to fling itself at the med bay door, trying to get out. “I thought sparkeaters were just myths, but apparently I was wrong. I was so wrong.”
The sparkeater then stopped its attempts to break through the med bay doors. Wheeljack watched the monitor as the beast searched around the med bay until it found a grate in the ceiling and yanked it off with one swift tug. The mutated creature then disappeared up into an air duct. “Oh, no…” the mechanical engineer gasped as he opened another comm line to Hot Rod and his team:
>>”Guys, you need to get up here as quickly as you can! The sparkeater got into the air ducts. I repeat, the sparkeater is out and using the air ducts to move around!”<<
>>”Terrific! Got any other ‘good’ news for us, Jackie?”<< Hot Rod responded back in a sarcastic tone.