“A most magnificent battle with a malevolent mechanical menace!”
Ignitus said proudly.
1 Like
Gatecrasher shields his face with his hands, and looks up at the exploding stone.
1 Like
Dust settles from where the boulder once hung in the air, revealing a sphere about the size of a cybertronian fist, made from a smooth, white, marble-like substance. Oily black tendrils coil on its surface as it lowers itself to the ground, and beneath it, a round platform with four tall spires around its perimeter pushes its way up out of the gravel. The white orb settles on a plinth in the center, with a console wrapping around it.
1 Like
Gatecrasher cautiously approaches the console.
The console’s holographic screen comes to life: a ring of blue light that surrounds the plinth. Directly in front of Gatecrasher, it displays the crest of Alchemist Prime in white, surrounded by a blinking orange circle.
The rest of the display showed various equations and diagrams similar to the fresco Garand had seen in the Trial of Solus Prime: a blend of scientific musings and spiritual anecdotes on the cycles of the universe.
Gatecrasher shakes his head at the swirling calculations and functions.
“This is beyond me. Anyone else better at math?”
The Angelicons approach the console and writings, trying to make sense of it all.
This time, the angelicons could decipher more of the cryptic notations. Ancient cybertronian scientists and arcanists had devised means by which to harness these cycles, drawing upon their energies to achieve many of the Golden Age’s wonders. Alchemist Prime, with his unique abilities, had been a pioneer in this field that combined advanced technology with outright magic.
Split moved forward as well, scanning the console for anything important.
Aside from what Gatecrasher and the Angelicons had already discovered, the blinking image of Alchemist Prime’s crest would serve to draw Split’s attention.
Split looked at the image, studying it carefully.
The symbol was likely a prompt; touching it might start the next phase of the trials.
Split glanced at Topside.
“Should I touch it?” He asked.
At the mention of touching something, Spectrum scrambled up Split’s body and peered over his shoulder at the button.
She glanced at Split, then Topside, before jumping down next to the symbol. “B-Button!” She said happily, raising her hand to touch it.
1 Like
Topside gives a faint smile at Spectrum’s display.
“Not seeing any other options,” he says.
Spectrum happily put her hand on the symbol.
1 Like
Back on the ship, Fortress was alone in his storage hanger. His beautiful and detailed mural of a peaceful cybertronian cityscape spanned most of the hanger walls. Though it was incomplete, as he had run out of paint. And as proud of this work as he was, the dim and industrial lighting of the room continued to detract it all.
Among everything else, he felt… Lonely. Granted he had felt lonely before, but this was different. Perhaps now that he had a friend, he better understood what it was like to have company, and missed it all the more when it was gone. With Starchaser and Topside off finding the next key, he felt like he had no one to talk to.
So, he decides to try something. He decided to contact captain $hatterpoint.
The decepticon would likely know that Fortress was there, but since the war giant was an autobot creation, he likely wasn’t anywhere as familiar with Fortress as Topside was. Stil, some interaction would be better than none. Perhaps becoming more acquainted with the decepticon captain would be a good idea.
“Captain $hatterpoint, if you are not currently busy, I request your presence at my location.”
@MaxinePrimal @meepinater @BlackBeltGamer98 @ProfSrlojohn @MichaelBT-7474
The moment Spectrum touches the glyph, the holo-display switches off. The black ichor on the white sphere writhes as the four spires around the dais move away from the platform, cutting through the gravel beneath them as the metal walls of the arena turned from green to grey, accented by lines of orange and blue light between panel lines and filigree. The rocks glow red-hot as the temperature in the arena spikes, and the ground turns to lava, leaving the dais as the only safe place to stand.
Topside scrambles to safety, jumping onto the platform just before the floor completely gave way to molten rock.
“I think you jinxed us with that ‘easy’ comment!” he says to Gatecrasher.
Shatterpoint is quick to respond.
“I am currently preoccupied, Fortress,” he says.
Just then, red emergency lights flick on across the hangar as a low alarm begins to blare.
“And soon you will be, too, I imagine.”
1 Like
Ignitus and Pipebomb both jump to the platform before its too late.
“With every further victory, we are only met with more challenge. Do these infernal tests know no end?”
Ignitus said.
“Affirmative. I am ready to take defensive action as necessary.”
The giant said confidently. He primed his weapons and waited.
“I shall keep my comlink open for orders and necessary updates on the situation.”
1 Like
“Everyone, find a switch to stop the lava and a flyer so you don’t melt!” Garand yells, scooping up Epsilon.
(Who wants to play The Floor Is Lava?)
1 Like
" ‘Infernal’ is right!" Topside says, backing away from the lava.
Suddenly, chilling gusts of wind sweep throughout the arena. The lava starts to rapidly cool into scabby masses of igneous rock in some places, as small twisters begin to form around the chamber.
OOC: It’s space magic; roll with it.
IC:
Ice crystals creep across the walls close to the ceiling as dark storm clouds brew up above. Small platforms of black rock form around the spires, which now resided at the edges of the arena.
Motherboard broadcasts an alert over Salvation’s comms network:
“Alert: incoming hostiles. All hands, prepare for combat.”
“It’s zombies!” Broadband shouts over the first officer. “We’ve got a slag-ton of terrorcons making a bee-line for us, everyone! Gear up!”
Salvation’s alarms wouldn’t reach our heroes deep within the ancient space station; Golden Age signal dampeners drowned out the call to arms.