War From the Stars

by James Pwyll

Meetings

The moment the girls saw the doors start to slowly creak open, they instantly took action, rushing towards the largest rock in the immediate vicinity and hiding behind it, with Spike close behind. They stayed deathly quiet, with only the sounds of the door itself echoing throughout the now-enlarged cave. After a time, the thing was finally open, and all awaited whatever it was that was about to emerge. There was sweat on their foreheads, and some even took to holding their breath in anticipation, but eventually, they began to hear a sound. It was, undoubtedly, footsteps. Loud, actually metallic-sounding footsteps. After a time, their eyes widened with shock to see the one making that noise. It was, by all accounts, a robot, albeit one with a generally human shape. And, it must be noted, a generally female human shape, which they definitely weren't expecting. The newcomer, who bore a largely light-blue colouring, scoured the area and eventually sighed, which was something the girls didn't typically imagine a robot could do. Stepping out of the ship in earnest, the mechanical alien placed her hands upon her hips before looking back to the door. "Well, on the positive side of things...we're not dead."

It was only a second or two when the girls caught sight of a second visitor emerging from the ship. Another female from the looks of it, taller only by a fraction than the first, and whose colours were predominantly a light red, though bearing some pink highlights in a few places. She had a more serious look to her, stepping ahead of her blue compatriot, and when she spoke, it was with a tone that all could tell was that of someone tired. "And the bad news?"

The blue one shook her head. "I had a look at our systems. The engines are shot to the Pit, weapons might as well not be there, and..."

"And long-range communications are gone too," the other one finished for her.

"Got it in one," the first one admitted.

"Our situation may be grim, but we have all faced harder circumstances in the past, and we will survive this one too." This voice, a deeper, more authoritative one, was coming from within the ship, and there was something about it that caused both of the other robots to turn instantly upon hearing it. The girls too nudged further out, peeking as much as they dared past the rock, for there was something about that voice that compelled them to have a further look. From the darkness of the ship interior emerged the largest alien they'd seen yet. A simply towering figure whose upper half was bright red, contrasting with the predominantly blue colouring of the legs. Unlike the others, this one was definitely male in appearance, and his face bore a distinct plate over what would have been the mouth. After looking around himself, he turned to the other two. "We cannot allow the severity of our arrival deter us. We must make repairs where we can, scout out the region, and if our foes have indeed survived, as we have, then we need to do all we can to prevent further harm to this world."

Clearly, this was the leader of the new arrivals, and one of the females, the red one, crossed her arms before addressing him. "Given how we landed, it's only a matter of time before we're noticed, Optimus. And besides..." She paused, looking into the ship once more. "We have our own to consider."

The leader, the one referred to as Optimus, nodded solemnly before looking in that same direction. "Agreed, Elita. Though, if we're fortunate, the good Doctor will have news for us on that count."

As if responding to his words, a fourth figure came from within. Like the first two, this one was also female, and definitely the second tallest of the four of them. Coloured in a combination of white with red trim, she bore a look that could only be described as disappointment. "Optimus...I did all I could."

The blue one, looking more than worried, stepped forward. "...Bee? Is he...?"

"He lives, Chromia," the new robot answered, whom the girls assumed was the doctor previously mentioned, but she still seemed disheartened in spite of that apparently good news. "The damage was extensive, and I only had so many resources at my disposal."

"By Primus, Red Alert!" Chromia shouted. "Just tell us already!"

In silence, the Doctor stepped to one side and, as expected, revealed another robot just behind her. This one appeared to be shorter than all the others, and was a bright yellow all over. Optimus, Elita and especially Chromia seemed relieved to see him, but this Bee, from what the girls could tell, did not match their expression. "Bumblebee? Are you...alright?" Elite enquired.

Bumblebee looked away, as if ashamed of something, and after a long silence, he looked to them again. But, instead of what all might have expected to be a response to the question posed to him, there was instead a completely incomprehensible series of sounds. Bleeps, bloops, and all manner of mechanical noises all taking the place of regular speech. There was gesturing from Bumblebee's hands, as if he was trying to say with sign what he was clearly failing to do with his voice, but none of his crewmates seemed to have any clue what he was attempting to convey. After a moment, Chromia frowned to Red Alert. "What happened?!"

The Doctor looked away. "His voice processor was damaged beyond repair. I did what I could, but it was the only one of his systems I was unable to restore. Now..." She slowly gestured to him. "This is his voice."

Bumblebee hung his head, those same sounds coming out where his voice should have been. However, to the shock of all five of the robots, another voice was heard instead. "Um...he says he's sorry for making you all worry." Within a second, all metal heads turned, looking to the one who had spoken. It was Fluttershy, who had emerged from behind her and her friends' hiding place, looking as scared as ever, but still getting her words out. "Well...that's what he said, so...I thought...I should just let you know."

After that, the other girls and Spike joined her, and for a time both sides stared at one another, not sure what to do next. After a while though, it fell to Elita to break that silence. "Well...guess we were found a bit sooner than expected."

Comments

[Melody Song]

Makes perfect sense Flutters is the only one to understand Bee - but the poor thing, you do not need to apologize for being injured, Bumblebee!