Ratchet seemed happy to see the green one as the two clapped hands. “Nice to see you, Hoist.”
When the Autobots returned to the Ark, they saw Wheeljack waiting for them. “Alright, hail the conquering heroes!” he smiled as the team transformed to robot mode. “Good news, Optimus; thanks to the extra Energon Twilight’s team brought back recently, we’ve got some more friends back online. You guys can make your dramatic entrance now!”
The team was somewhat surprised to find a large deep green Autobot with a large yellow crane-like arm and towbar on his back along with a smaller white and blue Autobot and a red and silver bot with a yellow chest answering that call.
Ratchet seemed happy to see the green one as the two clapped hands. “Nice to see you, Hoist.”
“You too, ya ol’ bucket.” Hoist smirked, looking at the girls. “You must be the organics Wheeljack mentioned. Name’s Hoist; I’m a medic. This here’s Tailgate; scout, and that’s Blaster; coms expert.”
“And this ain’t even all of me.” Blaster smiled, opening his chest. “Cmon out, fellas. Introduce yourselves.” Four different colored blocks launched from his chest and transformed; blue and black turned into humanoid robots, yellow transformed into a robotic lion and red into a robotic rhino.
“Hey there. Name’s Eject.” the blue one smiled, pointing to each of the others in turn. “This is Rewind, Steeljaw, and Ramhorn.”
“Nice to meet you guys.” Sunset smiled. “So how’re Lifeline and Smokescreen doing?”
Wheeljack chuckled and pointed around the corner with his thumb. “See for yourself.”
Rainbow glanced around the corner and sure enough, there were Lifeline and Smokescreen making out like the world was ending. “Oh geez. Get a room, you two!”
“They already have, right next to mine,” Prowl grumbled. “Seriously, would it kill you to turn down the volume now and then, Smokescreen?!"
“Alright-alright, everyone calm down. Save your strength for crushin’ the ‘Cons.” Ironhide ordered as they all clustered around the console, the girls deactivating their armor and climbing onto it as Airazor perched on the screen.
“We’ve got a newcomer of our own.” Twilight smiled up at the bird. “Everyone, meet Airazor.” The bird-bot quickly took off from the console and transformed to bot-mode, the sparking gone and all her systems fully online.
“Nice to meet you all.” she smiled.
The others were surprised, but Optimus drew their attention better when he placed the canister Airazor had given him on the console. “Let us see what Alpha Trion left us.” With that, he pressed a button on the capsule and it opened, revealing… a strange silvery metal drum-like construct.
“That’s the AllSpark?” asked Rainbow.
“Hm. I expected it to be somewhat more… impressive.” Rarity shrugged.
“This isn’t the AllSpark. It’s just junk for Alpha Trion’s shell game.” Sideswipe groaned. “No offense Optimus, but your mentor was kind of a jerk.”
“Wait a sec, it looks like there’s a holo-recording under it.” Bumblebee was right; a small device was under the metal construct in the capsule. Confused, Optimus pulled it from the capsule and pressed a button, projecting a holographic image of a large Autobot in red and purple armor with a horned helmet and a long beard.
“Whoa. That’s Alpha Trion?” Twilight was in awe. “He looks amazing.”
“Greetings, Optimus Prime.” He even spoke like a wise old man. “If you are viewing this prerecorded message, you have discovered my tactical duplicity. I did indeed launch the AllSpark off Cybertron, but in truth, the AllSpark alone is not enough to restore our home to life.”
This severely confused the entire crew, but their eyes stayed glued to the hologram, hoping for more answers. And they received them in the form of holographic images of metal constructs like the one in the canister. “In order for Cybertron to truly be restored, the AllSpark must be contained within a sacred reliquary which has been hidden in the vaults of the Iacon Hall of Records since the Age of the 13; the Omega Lock, which must then be activated by the four Galaxy Keys, each one hidden on one of Cybertron’s different colony worlds. A map of the resting places for all the Keys is contained within the Omega Lock itself, now scattered in pieces – one of which you now hold – across this world along with the AllSpark, in the hands of trusted friends of mine from Eukaris. Airazor, I deeply apologize for lying to you and your friends about what you truly carry, but it was what was necessary to ensure the Autobots achieve victory in the war.”
Airazor nodded in understanding, even though she knew her old friend couldn’t see him. “Optimus, it is imperative that you do not allow even a single component of the Omega Lock or the AllSpark to fall into Megatron’s hands. Without it, Cybertron will remain dead and the war will rage on for all eternity. Cybertron must live again, no matter the cost. Till All Are One, Optimus Prime.”
With that, the hologram faded leaving Optimus standing strong. “Till All Are One, my old mentor.” he echoed.
“So wait, the fate of Cybertron and the entire War is supposed to be decided by a scavenger hunt?” Jetfire asked seriously.
“Ooh, I love scavenger hunts!” Pinkie smiled.
“Me too; my brother used to set them up for me all the time when I was a kid.” Twilight smiled. “There was always a big reward at the end.”
“Yeah, and in this case, that reward is the salvation of the Cybertronian race.” Prowl remarked. “We’ll have to work fast and find the other Maximals. Where are they, Airazor?”
“I don’t know. All I know about them is their beast-forms.” With that, she produced a small drive from her belt and plugged it into the system, bringing up personnel files on several different bots. “Their names are Cheetor, Rhinox, Rattrap, Botanica, and Tigatron.”
Rainbow smiled when she saw Cheetor’s chosen alt-mode; a cheetah.
“Well, that one’s a no-brainer. There’s only one place on Earth a person can find a cheetah.”
“Central Africa.” Twilight nodded. “Looks like that’s where we’re going first.”
Rarity yawned and stretched. “Perhaps tomorrow. I’m somewhat exhausted.” The other girls agreed, all equally tired.
Optimus smiled caringly at his human charges. “Very well. Autobots, see your human partners safely home for the evening. We will begin our search for the Maximals tomorrow after they leave school.”
“Thanks, Optimus.” Sunset smiled as she climbed aboard Bumblebee, who swiftly rumbled off the ship followed by the others, though they quickly went their separate ways.
On the drive, Sunset grew curious about something. “What does ‘Till All Are One’ mean?” she asked.
“It’s the rallying cry of the Autobots.” Bumblebee explained. “We fight for the day we no longer have to; when the Autobots and whatever Decepticons remain after the war can cast off their badges and weapons in peace; when we’re all one faction.”
“Wow. That’s really poetic.” Sunset smiled.
“Well, Optimus didn’t just write inventory lists at Iacon all the time.” Bumblebee smiled. “He used to be Megatron’s speech-writer, and he was pretty damn good at it. And some of those love poems for Elita-1 that Smokescreen found that one time? Wow.”
“Huh. Remind me to ask Smokescreen about those poems some time. I kinda wanna read ‘em.” Sunset remarked. “Guy as stoic as Optimus must have a lot of emotion to get out in his words.” But that would have to be saved for later as they had arrived at her house. Sunset yawned as she climbed out, walking to the door. “Good night, Bee.”
“Night, Sunset.” Bumblebee smiled and turned off his engine as she walked in.
She was just getting ready to take off her vest when she heard someone in the shadows. “Look bud, I don’t know who you are and clearly you don’t know who I am, because otherwise, you would’ve realized I’m the exact opposite of the right girl to rob.”
“This isn’t a robbery. It’s a kidnapping.” Sunset wasn’t sure but for some reason, that voice sounded almost… technological. She didn’t have much of a chance to think about it though; it felt someone was tasing her in the back, sending her to the ground unconscious. This would be fun.