A storm raged across the land, tearing the very fabric of the night asunder with its jagged flashes of lightning. Rain furiously pelted the ground and thunder roared like some angry god newly awakened.
"Lucky it's not an energon storm; we'd all be fried by dawn," Rhinox mused to himself as he marveled at one of the greatest examples of the sheer power of nature. After a time, however, the gale winds quieted, the rain spent its fury, and the thunder was reduced to a dwindling grumble in the distance. The large Maximal swtiched off his screens and went to rouse the others for damage check duty. Even if it wasn't an energon storm, it could still have caused a lot of destruction.
Just inside the boundaries of the jungle, a particularly large tree, the very patriarch of the flora, which had withstood hundrends of storms such as these, had been struck by a white-hot bolt of lightning, shattering most of the trunk and sending the twisted remains crashing down upon the forest floor. Of course such the enormous hulk had crushed several of its children beneath it, leaving a wide bare spot that had previously been cloaked in greenery. In that newly made clearing, a mossy hillock rose from the otherwise smooth ground, though not an ordinary hill. It was far too regular; an oval that tapered off at one end. Through the tangled vines and grass that had been deposited on it, metal still gleamed dully in the morning sunlight that beamed fully upon the ground for the first time in years. As the light struck the pitted surface, the sound of old machinery coughing and thumping as the solar panels so long obscured began to once again collect energy could be clearly heard, had anyone been around to listen.
Inside the ancient ship, lights stuttered to life on long-abandoned instruments. A few alarms let out their screeching howl as the brittle wiring of several old panels gave out at the unexpected surge of power, then fell silent as the remaining backup circuits kicked in. At one console, grimy with a fine layer of the dust that seeped in through various cracks
and vents, a single light blinked on and off steadily, and a cry that had long ago been choked off suddenly started to echo again.
"Predacons?" Optimus Primal asked, the concern evident in his voice. The Axalon had taken only superficial damage, certainly, but still none of them wanted to deal with an attack right now.
"Nah, 'dey probably got it worse 'den we did, 'dey was right in the storm's path. This is... it's just impossible!" Optimus sighed and went over to the console to see for himself, but gasped out loud when he saw what the sensors had picked up.
"That's a distress signal," Optimus said quietly. "From another ship."
Utter silence reigned as those words settled in. Then everyone began talking at once.
"A ship? From Cybertron?"
"A rescue party?"
"Where is it? We gotta find it before the preds do!"
Optimus raised a hand and silenced them all again. "Rattrap, what's the location of the vessle?" he asked the small Maximal in front of him. Rattrap punched a few commands into the computer, his eyes narrowing as the results came up.
"'Bout thirty klicks due west," he muttered. "Nowhere near Pred territory; 'dey probably can't even pick it up. We're barely receiving it as it is. But there ain't no place to land a ship out 'dere, it's all trees."
"We'll worry about that later. Right now we have to get to that ship, its crew may be in need of assistance." Optimus snapped and whirled towards the waiting lift. Dinobot stepped into his path, his eyes narrow and suspicious.
"You do, of course, realize that this could be a Predacon trap," he said, his voice as always coming out in a rasping near-hiss. Optimus stopped and considered this. There was that chance, naturally, but he couldn't very well not go out to investigate the distress signal.
"We have to check this out Dinobot. We have no choice." He tensed, expecting an argument, but to his surprise, Dinobot nodded.
"It seems we are agreed. If it is genuine, it cannot be allowed to fall into Predacon hands. However, I suggest that only a small party go ahead to scout the area."
Optimus nodded shortly. "Very well, then. You, Cheetor, and Rattrap go check it out. We'll radio Airazor and Tigatron and follow you when they get here." Dinobot saluted and stalked out the door, Cheetor and Rattrap followed quickly. "And be careful!" Optimus called out after them as the door hissed shut.
"Jumpin' gyros, how long d'ya suppose it's been here?" Cheetor asked quietly.
"Hard ta say, kiddo... probably quite a few years by the looks of it. What a rust bucket!" Dinobot glanced over at them in disgust.
"And has it occured to either of you that we might more readily find answers inside, rather than standing out here and *chatting*?" he asked scornfully.
"I dunno, Chopperface, maybe we should wait for the others. No tellin' what's inside."
Dinobot smiled nastily at the rat beside him. "Don't tell me you are afraid of a mere rust bucket."
Rattrap bristled at the mocking tone of Dinobot's voice, and glared at the raptor. "Who ya callin 'chicken', Dinobutt?! Lemme at 'dem weeds." And with that he launched himself at the nearest cluster of vines and began tearing them off furiously.
"Dinobot- MAXIMIZE!" The raptor immediately changed into a fearsome robot. Dinobot drew his sword and started hacking at a section near Rattrap, where the door should have been.
"Hey kiddo, you gonna sit 'dere all day, or help with the gardening?" Rattrap asked Cheetor, who shrugged and joined in with his claws and teeth. After a few moments, he let out soft mroww, of surprise. The other two glanced over Cheetor's shoulder to see what was so disturbing. Beneath Cheetor's paws, a vague writing could be seen, blurred by dirt and time, but still readable- the ship's name.
"Tenacious," a squinting Rattrap read. "Now why does 'dat sound familar?"
Dinobot snorted. "You have no appreciation for your history, vermin."
Rattrap whirled on him angrily. "And I suppose you know what it is Dinobreath?"
Dinobot smirked at him. "As a matter of fact, I do. The Tenacious was a scientific exploration vessle launched from Cybertron centuries ago; it vanished without a trace five days into it's journey and was never heard from again. The Elders assumed it had been destroyed." At this bit of news Cheetor whistled softly.
"Well, now we know what happened to it," he whispered. "Should we try to get inside?"
"Don't see why not, 'dere might be sometin' in 'dere we can use. Now, if this is the head of the ship, the door should be right about...there." With that he began digging into the plantlife furiously. After a few moments he gave a shout of triumph and steeped back, revealing a sealed hatchway.
"Great job, Rattrap... only how do we open it?" Dinobot studied the door for a moment then dug his hand in and heaved. With a protest of rusty gears, the door squealed open halfway and refused to budge another inch, despite Dinobot's best efforts. The Maximals peered through the opening, and then filed through silently, their footsteps stirring up dirt that had not moved since the door had been sealed.
The air was cool, if a little musty and the sunlight drove most of the shadows back into corners. By unspoken agreement, they made their way toward the helm, Dinobot in the lead, followed by Rattrap, and Cheetor bringing up the rear. None of them spoke.
They reached the helm without spotting anything, indeed the ship seemed deserted, though why that should surprise them they couldn't say. It had obviously been shut down for ages. The door to the helm slid open more easily than the outer hatch had, revealing the many panels and consoles that had only began their tasks again that day. Again, the room was completely empty, but for the machines, which only added to the eerie atmosphere. And yet, the place didn't feel empty.
"Where do you suppose they- ARRRRGHH!" Dinobot and Rattrap whipped around, weapons armed at Cheetor's yell of pain. Neither of them had a chance to take in the scene before them before they started firing. The thing that had Cheetor dropped him after a few seconds, and he fell limply to the floor and didn't move again. Then it moved towards the other two with impossible speed. Rattrap and Dinobot were enveloped by it. After a few moments, all movement stopped, all thought ceased and darkness swallowed them like some hungry monster.
Perfect and unbroken silence swallowed the ship again. The dust settled, and the smell of blaster fire filtered out the open door after a time. And in the midst of it, three figures lay on the floor of the ancient ship, unmoving.
"Optimus," the com at his chest crackled to life. "From the coordinates Rattrap got, we should be right on top of it. You see anything yet?"
"Not a th- wait a minute. 300 yards to your left and about 100 yards ahead."
"Any sign of the others?"
Optimus scanned the rapidly approaching clearing. "None, but it looks as though they were excavating part of a hill near the center."
"I see it, be there in a few minutes." Optimus closed the link and landed on the soft grass, not far from where Cheetor, Dinobot, and Rattrap had pulled the growth away from the ship's hull. Optimus stared in disbelief at the writing on the side. Rhinox rumbled up to his right and stopped short, with a barely audible gasp.
"The 'Tenacious'. It can't be, that ship went missing centuries ago," the rhino whispered in awe. "Look at her, still holding together after all this time. But how could it be transmitting the distress signal?"
"Perhaps we'd better find out. And where are the others? They should have heard us approaching." The two Maximals moved towards the shadowy opening in the side of the ship, still half obscured by trailing vines. Optimus pushed them aside and peered cautiously into the cool mustiness beyond, Rhinox close behind him.
"Are you all right?" he asked them. They nodded curtly and quickly got to their feet. "Come on, then, we have much to do." The three Maximals started toward the various stations of the helm when a slight noise from the other side of the door caught their attention. Dinobot drew his sword and crept up to the lock release. Behind him Cheetor and Rattrap drew their own weapons, preparing to fire at whatver awaited them on the other side.
Dinobot hit the panel and the door slid open to reveal- Optimus and Rhinox in a similar position. All the Maximals lowered their weapons instantly. "Are you three okay?" Optimus demanded.
"Affirmative. We had a minor problem with one of the ships defense systems, but no damage was done." Dinobot rasped quickly. Cheetor and Rattrap inclined their heads in agreement.
"Well, this is certainly a major find! The Tenacious is one of the most famous "Lost Ships" in Cybertronian history. I'm surprised these instruments can still function after this long." Rhinox lumbered over to the nearest bank of screens and ran his hand over the keys almost reverently. "They just don't make 'em like this anymore. This ship has to have been sealed up for at least a century, and those solar energy collectors must've fired right up."
"Yes, she's truly a magnificent piece of work," Optimus agreed. "But I'm afraid we'll have to leave the sight seeing for tomorrow. Airazor is back at base, but we couldn't raise Tigatron. I'd like to get back just in case the Preds do decide to try an attack." Rhinox reluctantly powered the stations down and the Maximals filed out of the remains of the Tenacious, sealing the door once again.
"Sentinel, stand down," Optimus called out as the Axalon came into view. The outer shield shimmered out of existence and the lift lowered to meet them. Once inside the base, Rhinox ad Optimus eagerly filled Airazor in on the amazing find, though the finders themselves seemed less than interested in the conversation. Rattrap immediately sat down at the computer station and began working at a furious pace.
"Do you think there's a way we could use the engines to repair our own?" Airazor asked as Rhinox finished his description of the condition of the Tenacious. The large Maximal thought a moment, then nodded slowly. "Depends on what shape they're in, but there might be a chance of at least finding some of the parts we need." Then Airazor became more thoughtful.
"And you saw no sign of the original crew?" She inquired thoughtfully.
Optimus shook his head. "None whatsoever. It's possible that they abandoned the ship after it landed, though I can't imagine for what reason. There was no sign of any damage other than rust."
" Well then, why didn't they simply lift off? Why just leave the ship?"
"I guess that's something we'll never know," Optimus replied, a bit saddened by the thought. Of course he hadn't known any of the crew, but he knew OF several of its members, the most prominent scientists of their time.
"Yes, you will never know. Even if there were records somewhere, none of you will live long enough to find them." A bolt of blaster fire slammed into Optimus from behind, sending him sprawling acros the room. He staggered to his feet and turned in time to see Rhinox tackle Dinobot, whose eyes were still glowing green from the energy they had just discharged.
"Dinobot! What are you doing?!" Rhinox demanded as he wrestled with the taller robot. He had just managed to pin Dinobot to the floor when a volley of laser fire hammered into his side. Cheetor and Rattrap. Rhinox was forced to let Dinobot up and take cover. He glanced over to where Airazor and Optimus stood, and motioned towards his weapon. Optimus hesitated a moment, but a new barrage of laser fire lit the room, and he nodded quickly.
Rhinox drew his chain gun and stood,facing the three Maximals. "Don't make me do this, please," he said quietly.
Cheetor stepped forward and smiled nastily, an expression none of them had ever seen on his face. "Are you really going to shoot your comrades?" the young Maximal spat.
Rhinox aimed, put his finger on the trigger and...couldn't do it. Cheetor sneered again. "Didn't think so. Sentinel! Activate internal defense systems and blow these losers to scrap." To the shock of the other three, Sentinel powered up its internal laser cannons and aimed at them.
"Get out of here!" Optimus shouted. He, Rhinox and Airazor scrambled toward the exits, dodging blaster bolts from both Sentinel and their comrades. They hurled themselves at the lift and jumped to the ground halfway down. As soon as they were clear of the ship, the shield appeared around it, glowing green in the sunlight.
"Wha-what was that?" Airazor asked, unwilling to believe, her teammates, her friends, could attack them like that.
"I have no idea, Airazor, but I'll bet anything I know where to find the answers," Optimus muttered. "The Tenacious."
"But what are we looking for?" Airazor inquired.
"Anything that can tell us why they turned on us." With that they split up and began searching.
Rhinox began to feel more and more desperate as each room turned up nothing, though one wouldn't know it to look at him. But in his mind he kept hearing Dinobot threatening to kill them; saw the purely evil expression that had settled on Cheetor's face. It had to be the ship; something had happened to his friends here, and he had the strangest feeling that he already had a clue, though the harder he tried to bring it to light, the more it danced out of his grasp.
"What am I not seeing?" he whispered to the air in front of him. Though of course, nothing answered but the shadows, who only guarded the secrets of the Tenacious more jealously than ever, it seemed. In the last crewman's quarters, however, he found something. It was the same as the others had been, everything dull with dust and time, the air dry and close, as though it had been sealed in a tomb. However, on the table that stood in the center of the room, was a small box. He walked over and gently picked it up, fingering the small round button on one side. Other than that, the box was featureless, a lusterless grey in color, though that could have been the dirt. Carefully, he pressed the button and gasped as the hologram of a silver and blue robot shimmered to life.
"If anyone is hearing this, then I can only hope it is not too late for you. My name is Quicksilver, chief science officer of the 'Tenacious'," a brisk female voice sounded from the box. Rhinox stared in astonishment.
"They're coming for me," she continued bitterly. "I don't have much time, arrrgghh! There's no time, and there's so much you need to know. If anyone can hear this you have to defeat them, you must." With these words the Maximal scientist stopped and pressed her hands to her forhead.
"Oh, by the Maxtrix, what have I done?"
