“Ooh! Yes please.” It took her less than a second to scan the vehicle and load its data into her internal drives, as her body took on aspects of the vehicle; wheels on her shoulders and heels, and the front end upside-down to form her breastplate.
With Pinkie’s piece, the map to the AllSpark was ever closer to completion and for his outstanding work in defending his comrades, Drift was officially welcomed into the ranks of the Autobots… though Prowl and Red Alert still didn’t completely trust him.
But at least they had an easier time than Wheeljack; he was stuck with Pinkie as she tried to pick her alt-mode. “Ooh, this looks good! Ooh, or how about this? Or this? Oh, this looks awesome!”
“For Quintus’ sake, just pick something.” Wheeljack groaned. “I swear sometimes I wonder why I volunteered for alt-mode orientation.”
“Okay Jackie, okay; sheesh, don’t need to be sour about it.” Pinkie smiled, flipping through the collection until she found something that struck her; a convertible 2010 Pontiac Solstice.
“Ooh! Yes please.” It took her less than a second to scan the vehicle and load its data into her internal drives, as her body took on aspects of the vehicle; wheels on her shoulders and heels, and the front end upside-down to form her breastplate.
“Alright, I admit it; that looks good on you.” Wheeljack shrugged, glancing back at the computer. “Teletraan, how’s it goin’ on that map decrypt?”
“Slowly. So far, I haven’t found anywhere that might be the AllSpark.” Teletraan reported, bringing up the still incomplete map. “At this point, I believe the only way we will be able to find it is if we have a complete map.”
“We don’t have that kinda time,” Wheeljack grumbled. “The Decepticons have mining ops all over this planet, drilling for Energon and other minerals to try and help them win the war. What’s gonna happen if somehow, one of those mining ops just stumbles onto the AllSpark? I’ll tell ya what happens; we lose the war.”
“I don’t understand that.” Rainbow pointed out as she walked across the console. “Both sides want to restore Cybertron, so what does it matter which side brings the AllSpark back?”
“It matters for the fate of our race.” Optimus brought up as he stepped forward. “If Megatron is allowed to use the AllSpark to revive Cybertron, he will no doubt use it to his political advantage.”
“Uh… you lost me.” Rainbow shrugged.
“In all likelihood, Megatron will make himself out to be Cybertron’s savior and brand the Autobots as war-criminals.” Twilight nodded in understanding.
“The Grand Deception continues.” Wheeljack rolled his optics. “And that so-called ‘achievement’ could influence Cybertronian history for millennia, maybe even poisoning the sparks and minds of everyone else out there when they head home. Not exactly how I’d want a new age to begin.”
“But there is still hope so long as we hold even a fraction of the map,” Optimus assured.
“We still need the rest of it before it’s of any real use.” Wheeljack reminded.
“Then we’d better find a way to activate the last four Armors, and fast.” Twilight agreed.
“Hey, ‘fast’ is what I do,” Rainbow smirked.
“Well, before you go tearing off into Megatron’s hands at top speed, let’s head to the stasis bay,” Wheeljack advised, picking her and Twilight up off the console. “Ratchet said he had something to show us.” No one could argue with that, so they all made their way down further into the halls of the Ark.
The stasis bay was a large, retrofitted cargo bay in the back of the Ark, lined with bot-sized canisters, each one containing an Autobot critically injured in the Ark’s Crash all those ages ago and frozen in time until the Autobots had the capabilities to revive them. And now, Ratchet had assembled the available crew in front of a certain pod where he’d set up a small assembly of medical equipment. “Alright Ratchet, we’re here. Now, what’s goin’ on?” Ironhide asked seriously as all the girls made sure they were in their human forms.
“What’s going on is that we’re getting another set of hands in the war here on Earth.” Ratchet smiled. “Thanks to our efforts, we’ve managed to get our hands on enough Energon to wake one of our old friends up.” The crew was outrageously happy at this news and started high-fiving each other.
Optimus was particularly happy as he stepped forward. “Excellent work, old friend. We will require all the aid we can get.”
“My thoughts exactly.” Ratchet nodded. “Now, unfortunately, I only have enough Energon and equipment to bring one Autobot out of stasis, so… who’s our lucky winner?”
“I’m thinkin’ someone with a sharp mind, but still a decent shot,” Wheeljack smirked.
Ratchet smiled right back. “I figured you might say that. Lifeline?”
“All set for the wake-up call, Ratchet.” the nurse reported, plugging a canister of silvery liquid into the stasis chamber’s systems.
“Alright then; commencing reactivation sequence… now.” Ratchet pressed a button on the console nearby and the silvery liquid flowed into the pod, surrounding the bot inside in a silvery mist which appeared to heal some fairly grievous wounds across his body.
Finally, all the repairs appeared to be finished and the pod opened, a cold fog flowing out as the large red and blue Autobot stepped out, revealing his clear glass-like chestplate, blue tactical lens over his right optic, and massive left shoulder cannon. “Welcome to Earth, Perceptor.”
“Thank you, Optimus Prime. It is good to see you.” Perceptor nodded, looking around the ship with a discerning optic as if scanning the environment with his tactical lens. “An organic world. Fascinating.”
“Who is this guy?” asked Applejack.
“This is Perceptor; one of the best scientists on the face of Cybertron,” Wheeljack explained. “Not to mention a hell of a sniper; he can pop the ailerons off a Seeker goin’ Mach 5 from 300 kliks.”
“Strictly a matter of physical mechanics, Wheeljack,” Perceptor assured. “All one has to do to make such a shot is to calculate the exact course and velocity of the Seeker, account for wind velocity, determine the structural location of ailerons, and set rifle thusly.”
“Oh great; another egghead.” Rainbow rolled her eyes.
Perceptor seemed confused as he glanced down at her before returning his gaze to Wheeljack. “‘Egghead’, Wheeljack?”
“A derogatory term for guys with our smarts,” Wheeljack explained. “Rainbow’s a real ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ kinda girl.”
“Disappointing.” Perceptor pointed out. “Still, I suppose you had a reason for awakening me other than insulting my intelligence.”
“As a matter of fact, we do.” Wheeljack nodded. “We’ve got Megatron and his main court here tryin’ to beat us to the AllSpark and just short of half of the map to lead us there, but there are still some gaps in what we have. I’ve been tryin’ to clear them up but-”
“Say no more, Wheeljack.” Perceptor nodded, stepping past him to a console nearby. “I will gladly take over. Teletraan, display available map data. Authorization; Perceptor 1-7-Alpha.”
“Authorization confirmed,” Teletraan reported, displaying the map data which Perceptor quickly set to work on.
“Hm. Unfortunate.” Perceptor noted. “With so little of the map available, it will be difficult to determine exactly where on this planet the AllSpark lies. I will require more of the map if I am to locate our objective.”
“Well, we’re workin’ on that.” Wheeljack shrugged.
Suddenly Prowl’s com-unit toned and he quickly answered. “This is Prowl; go ahead.” He listened for a few moments before he nodded. “Understood; we’re on our way.” He terminated communications and moved to his leader’s side. “Optimus, police reconnaissance choppers have ID’d the Constructicons outside city limits; they’re headed for town now.”
“Then it would seem completing the map will have to wait for now.” Optimus rationalized as he stepped forward. “Perceptor, Wheeljack, report to the hangar and provide tactical support with Red Alert. Ratchet, Lifeline, prepare sickbay in the event it is required. Everyone else, with me.” Quickly, the girls assumed bot-mode, which amazed Perceptor – though not enough to prevent him from following orders as he left with Wheeljack. “Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!” His orders were swiftly followed as everyone swiftly transformed and revved toward the hangar door… though Applejack was surprised to feel her truck’s rear suspension bounce a bit.
When she looked, she saw the other girls had jumped into the truck-bed. “You didn’t honestly think we were gonna let you have this sort of fun without us, did you?” asked Rainbow.
Applejack just smirked and adjusted her hat. “Alright, hang on tight back there.” With that, she shifted into gear and the truck roared out of the base, following the other ground vehicles as Fluttershy did her best to keep up with Jetfire.
All the while the Autobots were driving through town, they had no idea they were being watched from the shadows, and they wouldn’t until it was too late.