“We explained as best we could to the Mistress of Flame.” Pyra Magna reported. “She guarantees that if any more Relics of the Primes are found, Caminus will safeguard them.”
“Good, because I fear we may encounter more such Relics before the war is done,” Optimus noted.
“Find anything good yet?” asked Cheetor.
“No; my coding skills from my time at Iacon appear more… rusty than I suspected,” Optimus noted. “I fear the only way we may obtain relics from Iacon is if the Decepticons locate them and we simply acquire them from there.”
“Well, at least that sounds more fun.” Rainbow shrugged. “Now if y’all will excuse me, I’ve got some flying to do with my new awesome-wing sister. How about it, Windblade? Up for a race?”
“Sorry Dash, kinda promised I’d talk to Sunset. I got ya next time though.” Windblade assured as she walked outside, where she easily found Sunset and Twilight.
“Is everything set up?” Twilight asked.
“Yep; Caminus will handle securing relics of the Primes.” Windblade smiled, turning to Sunset. “So, you said earlier that you wanted to talk about Cityspeaking?”
“Yeah, during the Planet Cup on Velocitron, I kept hearing the same phrase over and over in my head; ‘Round and round, round and round’, and I could never figure out where it came from,” Sunset explained, groaning a bit in annoyance as she remembered it.
“Hm. Well, that certainly sounds like a Titan trying to make contact.” Windblade shrugged. “But… that repetition… I dunno; maybe its brain module was damaged somehow. Where was it strongest?”
“Crater City. It was so loud there; I could barely hear myself think.” Sunset remembered. “Apparently, it’s where Amalgamous Prime’s ship crashed.”
“Ah. Well, that explains it.” Windblade nodded simply, earning a look of confusion from Sunset. “All the most ancient of the Titans were affiliated with the Thirteen, and they could transform into colony-seeding battleships. Where do you think Caminus got its name? Hint: this makeup? Same design as his.” She pointed to her face-paint design.
“Whoa. Okay so, how do I actually – y’know – communicate with the Titans instead of just hearing their voices in my head?” asked Sunset.
“Well, how do you think your ability manifested?” Windblade shrugged.
“From my geode magic,” Sunset explained, pointing to the button at her collarbone. “It lets me see peoples’ memories and emotions when I touch them. As far as we can tell, my Armor made that power hands-free.”
“Okay, that makes a certain sense.” Windblade shrugged. “Well, maybe if you were to locate the Titan trying to communicate with you and make physical contact, that might make the connection two-way.”
“Great. Where am I supposed to find a Titan to test that theory with around here?” Sunset shrugged.
“What about that voice you heard before we found Airazor?” Twilight suggested. “That might’ve been a Titan.”
“You mean the one I heard after you hit me after speaking the truth?” Sunset asked with a raised eyebrow.
“You’re just gonna hold that against me until you figure this out, aren’t you?” Twilight asked in annoyance.
“Ya think?” Sunset pointed out, earning a chuckle from Windblade.
“Solus’ Breath, you two are perfect for each other,” she smirked.
Sunset could see Twilight blushing at that insinuation and smirked right back. “Just so we’re clear, Windblade; Twilight’s already taken,” Sunset smirked, quickly dodging the upside-the-head smack Twilight tried to land on her. “Fool me once; shame on you. And hey; I may be bi, but I ain’t interferin’ with that.”
“Okay, that’s reasonable,” Windblade smirked, knowing full well they were gonna get along awesomely.
“Hey guys, get in here; we’re about to see the first Galaxy Key!” Smokescreen called.
The three femmes quickly zipped into the ship where they saw Rainbow setting the Planet Cup on a small plinth on the deck. “What’s going on?” asked Twilight.
“We figured it was the same sorta situation as the capsules the Maximals had,” Rainbow explained quickly. “Quick blast from the Matrix and we’ve got the first key.”
“Are we sure that’s gonna work?” asked Sunset.
“There is only one way to find out,” Optimus said simply as he opened his chest, revealing the Matrix. For some reason, Pyra and the other Torchbearers averted their eyes at the sight of the reliquary as it fired a burning beam of energy at the Planet Cup, causing it to somehow shift from its trophy form to the form of a bright red crystalline chip with gold gauges around the perimeter and a lightning bolt shooting through a small crescent.
“Whoa…” the girls all said at once as Optimus disengaged the power of the Matrix and closed his chest.
Red Alert smiled as he grabbed the Galaxy Key and opened a small vault in the wall, placing the key inside it before it was sealed. “One down, three to go,” he said simply.
“Then we get to Cybertron, put ‘em in the Omega Lock and Bob’s your uncle.” Applejack smiled.
“Gotta find the other three first.” Sunset pointed out. “Any ideas?”
“That might have to wait,” Teletraan noted. “We’re receiving a transmission from Duke.”
“Put him through,” Optimus ordered, the image of the Joe lieutenant quickly reappearing on the screen.
“Checking in; is the Enigma secure?” he asked.
“All according to our arrangements, Duke,” Optimus assured.
“Good, because we’ve got another situation,” Duke noted, displaying some of Ghost Rider’s pictures on the screen. “This is aerial imagery from over the mountains in Cambodia. From the looks of things, Cobra’s digging for another Cybertronian weapon out there and we need an expert opinion on what it does. Snake Eyes and Jinx are already on-site ready to attack, but a little backup goes a long way, especially if the Decepticons show up to the party. I’m sending coordinates for the drop-point.”
“Understood.” Optimus nodded and the transmission terminated, the coordinates quickly uploaded into the GroundBridge. “Drift, you and Hound will investigate. Recover the relic and report back.”
“Yes sir.” Drift and Hound saluted as the GroundBridge activated and the two bots drove through.
Once the vortex was closed, Wheeljack stretched and looked around before he noticed another absence. “Where’s Rainbow Dash?” he asked.
“Do you really need to ask?” Sunset pointed out.
Wheeljack just sighed. “Of course. Want me to bring her back, Optimus?”
“No. This mission may require air support in some way. Better to send it now than later.” Optimus shrugged.
“In the meantime, I suggest we figure out where the next Galaxy Key is hidden.” Rarity pointed out. “How many other colonies are there?”
“Eleven; one for each of the original Primes.” Springer reminded.
“Wait, I thought there were thirteen originals; where’s the thirteenth Prime’s colony?” asked Sunset.
“Odds are he never made one, but that’s just a guess.” Windblade shrugged.
“What do you mean?” asked Twilight.
“No one knows anything about the Thirteenth Prime; even his name was lost to history,” Chromia remembered. “Throughout Camien religious teachings and the Covenant of Primus, he’s only ever really referred to as ‘The Arisen’; mediator and unifier of the Thirteen.”
“Ominous title. What happened to him?” asked Applejack.
“Stories say that when the Thirteen fell to infighting after a war against darkness, The Arisen asked Primus to rebirth his Spark,” Wheeljack answered. “Rumors have shot all over the galaxy as to who or what he was reincarnated as, but no one can really say for sure who’s right or wrong.”
“Okay well… let’s start with the colonies we do know about.” Sunset shrugged. “Teletraan?” The computer immediately brought up a map of all the known Cybertronian colonies, though it quickly crossed Velocitron off since they’d already been there. “Let’s see… where to go first?”
