//------------------------------// // Chapter Seventeen: Deadly Discoveries // Story: Transformers: Deep Space Exploration Team // by TcogArchitect //------------------------------// Published May 30th 2013 Chapter Seventeen: Deadly Discoveries Daybreak found Fireburst flying low over a mountain range east of Ponyville. The previous two days had been rather frustrating for him, having been chosen to be last to use the mixture they made. Somehow, they had done something different from what the zebra had done originally, resulting in a diluted version of the mixture that was only able to cure one of them at a time. Bloodwing, obviously, had gone first. When he was back in robot mode, he had decided that Sharpedge would be next, as she was most useful for regaining the ground they had lost while they were indisposed. Crosswire had been chosen to go before him so he would be able to analyze the plant that had caused the whole ordeal to begin with. And to top it all off, they ran out of one of the most important ingredients and had to go searching for more. By the time his batch was finished, he needed to recharge and wait for morning. Now, though, he was fully operational again, and fully capable of destroying anything foolish enough to incite his anger. However, death and destruction were not his current priorities. Right now, all he wanted to do was fly with impunity. He was a rarity among Decepticons, in that he did not choose flight-capable alt-modes purely for tactical reasons. He thoroughly enjoyed the sensation of flying, and made a point of using any excuse he could to go out and stretch his wings. It was also very calming for him, and he went out to fly any time he was feeling particularly frustrated. And this was most certainly one of those times. As he flew over a ravine, his sensors suddenly jumped for a moment, and he turned back to see what had caused the spike. Looking down into the crack, he saw that it was filled with Energon crystals. He came closer, and realized something profound: this Energon was stable. It still gave off radiation, but it was extremely low. He landed, and began moving among the towers of crystal with awe. As he turned a corner, he found something else that was completely unexpected. There were two huge pillars of Energon, one on either side of a short, wide platform, and the whole area looked like it had been cleared of excess structures. He climbed a few steps onto the platform, and looked around. On the edges of the platform were a series of small crystal spikes, spaced evenly from each other, like they had been purposefully carved out with the platform. In the center was a small bowl-shaped indentation, only a foot or so deep at the center. Curious, he moved into it. When nothing seemed to happen, he made to move away, but found that his feet had become immobile. As he tried to determine what was holding him, he heard a sound from either side. He looked to see the two towers sparking, and glowing with energy. Thinking they were about to explode, he tried to free himself from whatever was holding him, but found it to be a futile effort. He watched with fear as the towers glowed brighter and brighter, to the point of being near-blinding, and when he believed they were about to detonate, all their energy suddenly came coursing out, and into his body, in great bolts. Pain arced through him, so intense he couldn't even scream, then it all ceased, and he slumped to the ground, unconscious. ---------------------------------------- "Where is he? It's been over a megacycle since he left, he should have been back by now. What could he possibly be doing that would require this much time?" Bloodwing paced the Darksword's bridge yet again as he fumed over his subordinate's absence. His ranting was cut short, however, when a low *boom* resounded through the ship. "What was that?" he wondered aloud. "Do you think the Autobots are attacking?" Sharpedge suggested. Bloodwing shook his head. "No, Dark Lance is too obsessed with peace to try something like that. It sounded like a sonic boom, but I don't think the creatures of this planet have that level of technology yet. Perhaps Fireburst finally decided to come back." He went over to the door and opened it, grimacing at having to return to his beast mode. He stepped out and took off so he could see further. As he looked towards the east, he saw a small dot in the distance. He zoomed in, and saw that the dot was red, and had large wings that were pumping hard at the air. He quickly realized that it must be Fireburst, and went back to the ground to await his arrival. After a few more seconds, Fireburst landed nearby, skidding to a halt and kicking up dirt and debris everywhere. "That was fast. Especially for you, Fireburst. Care to tell me how you came upon such power?" Bloodwing asked his usually slow-flying lieutenant. "Sir, I have found something profound. An entire canyon filled with stable Energon crystals! There was some sort of structure in it that somehow increased my power, but the canyon itself is massive. We would be able to overpower and outlast the Autobots with near-invincibility were we to use it effectively." Bloodwing rubbed his chin with a hoof in thought. "Don't be so quick to estimate yourself. We'll have Crosswire run some tests, then you can show me the canyon and give me a field demonstration. I don't want to start jumping to conclusions until I know where I'm landing. Come on, we have work to do." He trotted back inside, and his subordinate followed. ---------------------------------------- "Heave!" Wingshift put his weight behind the large hunk of metal, straining all his limbs as he pushed against it. Beside him, Bunker did the same against another blade of the turbine fan they were trying to remove. It had gotten mangled beyond use, and was now lodged in the turbine's inner wall. They needed to put in a new one entirely, but first this one had to be removed so the damage could be fixed. The screech of metal moving against metal sounded, then stopped a few seconds later after only a couple of inches. They strained for a few seconds, then relaxed as the stubborn piece of metal refused to go further. "Scrap." Bunker muttered. "At this rate, it'll be a week before we get it out. Any bright ideas, Wingshift?" The Insecticon looked closely at the ends of the fan blades, then shook his head. "No. The only method I can think of to get it out faster is to cut it. As you've already stated, though, we don't have the materials for another spare. So I've got nothing." Bunker sighed, cooling off his overworked servos, and inspected the holes in the wall again. The interior of the turbine had been rather thoroughly shredded by the high-speed fan, so replacing the wall wouldn't be terribly difficult. He would have to replace the entire section, but in some ways that was easier than fixing just one or two holes with patches. The blades of the fan had dug themselves deep into the wall, and had bent into strange angles afterward, effectively wedging the entire thing in place. Only after a couple of hours of prying, pulling, pushing, and bashing the edges of the holes were they able to get the few inches they had just moved. It was exhausting, tedious, and most of all, frustrating. Bunker knew how to lose himself in work he didn't particularly enjoy, but this task was wearing, even on him. He couldn't remove the wall section until the fan was out, but the fan had several parts lodged in the wall itself, preventing adequate access to the outer edges of the blades for readjustment. The whole thing was discouraging, to say the least. "Hey," Wingshift said, breaking Bunker out of his reverie. "What if we cut the holes open further? The whole piece needs to be replaced anyway, so if we open the holes wider, we should be able to get enough clearance to bend the blade ends back, and get them through." Bunker thought about it for a moment and, finding no readily apparent reason not to, nodded. "Yeah, that should work. Let's give it a shot. Not sure how we didn't come up with that sooner, to be honest." They crouched on either side of one of the holes, but before they could start working, a huge shockwave rippled through the area, knocking both of them off their feet. When they had regained their senses, Bunker motioned for Wingshift to stay hidden, and quietly moved towards the front of the turbine to try and ascertain the origin of the wave. Looking out, he saw Fireburst and Bloodwing standing a small distance away. Fireburst was in his robot mode with his beast mode legs over his head, but transformed into an energy cannon. "Oh, Dark Laaance!" Bloodwing hollered at the ship, "Come out and plaaay-aaaay!" Bunker transformed back into his beast mode, hoping that what little Energon buildup had accumulated in his system would wear off before he was needed to fight. Wingshift crept up behind him, ready to leap into action the moment his superior gave the order. It had already been decided that Wingshift was more than worth the effort of keeping him around as a fighter. His mutations had given him a natural immunity to Energon radiation, allowing him the ability to stay in his robot mode for indefinite periods of time without concern. 'Techno-organic', Burnout had referred to him as. A hybrid of flesh and technology, capable of the same transformational abilities as his Insecticon forebears, but with the carbon-based natural structures capable of removing the radiation from his body without any special conditions having to be met. As the two of them watched, Bloodwing gave his subordinate a gesture, after which Fireburst charged up his cannon again and fired at the main hatch. The shields absorbed the explosion, but the shockwave knocked Bunker and Wingshift onto their backs again. Apparently, Bloodwing heard this as he called out again. "Ah, fixing the engines, are we? Well come on out, then. It's not like you can beat us now." Bunker motioned for Wingshift to stay put, then revealed himself to the Decepticons outside. Bloodwing sneered at the Autobot, and took a few steps forward. "So, helmsman, where is your precious leader? Out galavanting in the woods, saving the little creatures from the big, bad predators, hmmmm? Or is he hiding inside like a coward, hoping I'll just go away?" Bunker narrowed his optics at the disguised Decepticon before answering. "He's not here. But if you're looking for a fight, I'm more than happy to oblige." He took up a defensive stance, but Bloodwing merely laughed at him. "Honestly, you're almost as bad as your delusional leader. When he gets back tell him we'll be waiting at the ravine three megamiles northeast of here. If he doesn't make an appearance by the end of the day, though, who knows what could happen?" He gave a final bout of laughter before taking off, with Fireburst transforming to follow him into the distance right after. Bunker quickly went inside, and activated the comm system. Dark Lance's face appeared on the viewscreen not long after, and Bunker relayed the events that had transpired as quickly as he could. "Yeah, that's not good. I'll be down as soon as I can. Get Burnout back to base, and tell Wingshift and Skybreaker to prep for combat. I just need to wrap up final preparations for the protoform's arrival with the Princess, and I'll be finished. Also, make sure the defense systems are fully charged. I've got a bad feeling in my Spark about this, and I don't want to be proven right without being ready." Bunker snapped a salute, then switched the channel over to Burnout as Wingshift came in. "Get yourself combat ready. Dark Lance will be coming back in not too long, and he wants you and Skybreaker ready to go." Wingshift gave a short nod, then headed for the defrag pods in the med-bay. Burnout's face then showed on the screen, and Bunker informed her of the situation as well before copying the procedure with Skybreaker. Less than fifteen minutes later, they were all assembled and ready to go, albeit with the addition of Twilight and her friends. The door opened, and everyone looked up to see Dark Lance come in. "Alright. Everyone ready?" He was met with nods, and Twilight stepped forward. "We're coming with you." Her face was set with determination, but Datk Lance shook his head. "No. It's far too dangerous for you to come as well. From what Bunker told me, they've found some sort of new weapon. I can't risk your safety on this." In response, Applejack took a spot next to her purple friend. "Yeah, but we have the Elements of Harmony, and these guys are obviously evil! If we can hit them, we might be able to take 'em out fer good!" Dark Lance raised an eyebrow at this. "How do you mean? I didn't think you had technology capable of damaging us yet, but I suppose it would be possible." Twilight shook her head at this. "The Elements don't work like that. They are the physical manifestations of the six qualities that embody friendship: Loyalty, Generosity, Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, and Magic. Each of us was chosen by the Elements to be their bearers, and when we use them together, they're capable of stopping almost anything that threatens Equestria." Before Dark Lance could think about it, Skybreaker spoke up. "Y'know, boss, that sounds suspiciously similar to our own ideals. Not quite exact, but definitely close. And you guys told me that their magic is actually Energon radiation, so maybe these things can do something about the 'cons. It might not work at all, but it's worth a shot, right?" Lance stared at his subordinate for a moment, surprised by the level of insight the scout had just displayed. Most of the time, Skybreaker was a goofball, at best, but times like this did occasionally happen, and they always threw the commander off his stride for a cycle or two. Even with the system shock, though, Dark Lance couldn't fault the yellow Autobot's logic. Their own motto of 'Till All are One' meshed almost perfectly with the idea of 'Friendship is Magic'. Combined with the looks of determination on the ponies' faces, and the possibility of finally ending the conflict once and for all, the Autobot commander knew he didn't have a sufficient argument not to let them go. He sighed, and nodded his head. "Fine. But first, we need to come up with a plan." ---------------------------------------- Two hours later, Bloodwing and Fireburst were standing on the edge of the ravine, waiting for Dark Lance and his team to arrive. Crosswire had calculated that the supercharge effect of the pillars would last approximately one hour, so they had alternated charges at half an hour each to ensure they wouldn't expire during the fight. Just as Bloodwing was beginning to really get impatient, Sharpedge's voice came over the comm. "Sir, Dark Lance, Skybreaker, and some of the locals are heading towards you. It looks like the natives decided they wanted to try and help stop us." Bloodwing grinned maliciously. "That suits me just fine. They won't be able to do anything, and they'll be a liability for Dark Lance. Commence assault. This will finally be the end of our Autobot annoyances." A few minutes later, the two Decepticons saw Dark Lance and the others emerge from the trees. "Well, Lance, I can't say I'm surprised you actually showed up. I am surprised you decided to bring guests, though. Wanted to make sure they wouldn't try to fight me and get themselves hurt after I terminate you?" Twilight and the others jumped forward before the commander could respond. "We're here to stop you ourselves! You aren't the only one with power! Ready, girls?" The other five nodded to her as Bloodwing gave them a confused look. That look quickly changed to one of shock and caution as they all started floating in the air and Twilight's eyes began shining with a pure white light. As they did, the sensors of the Cybertronians present all maxed out, proving to them just how much power was currently being harnessed by the floating ponies. Before any of them could react, the energy was released upwards in a spiraling rainbow, which then turned downwards at the shocked Decepticons. The beam contacted the disguised Cybertronians, and the cries of fear Dark Lance heard gave him a sudden bout of hope. A hope that was just as suddenly crushed when the cries of fear gave way to laughter. He looked back to Twilight, and saw that she and her friends now had looks of worry on their faces. "What's going on? What did they do?!" Twilight shook her head in confusion. "I don't know! We can't stop the spell! It feels like something is pulling the energy out by force!" Dark Lance slowly turned back to where the Decepticons stood, and his optics widened in horror as he saw their outlines standing up in the maelstrom of colors. The Elements quickly gave out as their power was drained dry, and the six ponies fell to the ground as the artifacts themselves seemed to lose their color. This went unnoticed, though, as the Autobot leader stared at the slowly revealed forms of Bloodwing and Fireburst, standing in their robot modes and shining with stolen energy. "Well now," Bloodwing said after looking himself over. "This is interesting."