“A few times, many millennia ago,” Defender says, his expression becoming thoughtful. “At the time, Prima was the leader of the Knights of Cybertron, and he led us into battle against them, eventually defeating them in one our greatest battles in history. The Quintessons are dangerous, cunning beings, masters of technology. Some say that they know the workings of Unicron himself, though that may be a myth. They have forged many machines and technologies over time, many taken from the civilizations and worlds they conquered. They are unstoppable if once they uncover any weaknesses within your technology. They obey a rigid hierarchy, from what is saw, so they can be disrupted by breaks in the chain of command. This, though, is hard to do, as they know this weakness and will undoubtedly guard against it.”
Defender paused, his optics flickering for a second.
“Nova, the Quintessons are evil. Not like Unicron, who destroys to survive, consuming whole worlds, but they have an insatiable desire to rule. They would conquer all the universe, even Unicron himself if they could. That is why we stand against them, for they would bind all free beings into mindless slavery for all time, like the dark lord Sauron in an ancient Human text I once listened to. To oppose them is a great duty, as in doing so you fight not only for yourself, but for the freedom the universe.”
“No,” the Firestorms say, “we were outside time and space when they were menacing this universe. Quintus Prime did talk about creating a species like them but, given how history has shown these guys are from other universes, I imagine Quintus completely scrapped his plans after seeing what these Quintessons were like.”
———————————
Seraphicon replies to Axis, “We’re en route to Excalibur II, see you there and then we’ll see if Liege wants to join up?” (@MaxinePrimal )
“If only you really knew…” Kitai muttered under his non-existent breath.
“Okay, so they’re bad news. Got it.”
Nova replied.
“But it also sounds like you’ve taken these things on more than once before. So theoretically they shouldn’t be too much of a concern right? Just do the same thing you did the last time they were a problem.”
“That is the plan, yes.”
Axis stated.
The Pack Mule, Excalibur II, and the Prime Flyer converge in orbit over Iacon. The sleek navy frigate’s polished black hull reflects the light from the space stations around it and the electromagnetic phenomena dancing in Cybertron’s upper atmosphere as she swings around to match the bulkier freighter’s heading. She is in every way the successor to the prototype vessel that some of our heroes commandeered five thousand years ago to travel between the Prime Colonies: her profile is much the same as the original Excalibur, but now dark-green exterior lights compliment her contours. Her engine blocks extend from her aft sections like the quillons atop a sword’s hilt, and the warp cannon extending from her prow is its blade. She could easily leave the Pack Mule in the ionic trail of her engines, but she remains at the freighter’s starboard side.
On the bridge of the Pack Mule, the commlink chimes. “_Pack Mule, this is Excalibur II,” Captain Gravastar introduces herself. “We’ll be tagging along on this mission for as long as you need us. We’ve been filled in on most of the details; just tell us where we’re going next, and we’ll follow your lead.”
“Whoa, is that the Pack Mule?” another woman’s voice- that of Redshift- can be heard gasping in the background. “I thought she was lost in the Void after that whole thing with the tech-witch. Primus, if those weren’t the weirdest two weeks of my life…”
“May I offer my assistance?” Beta Maxx asks Razor. “I fought in the first two Quintesson Wars; my experience with their technology may be dated, but two heads are better than one, yes?”
“What we did last time won’t work,” Salvage tells Nova. His shoulders are squared, and his voice has a similar anxious tension that the Junkion is working very hard to suppress. "Like Defender said, they incorporate new technology from the species they conquer. They adapt. Every time they’ve come for this universe, they’ve come with new weapons and tactics. The last war with them was eons ago; who knows what they’ve cooked up since then?
“But, since I don’t want to rain on everyone’s parade, what with all these heartwarming speeches about togetherness and all, I’ll stop the doomer talk and get optimistic,” he continues after a pause. “We did beat them four times already, so maybe we can do it again. The Power of Friendship prevails, right?”
The Below’s winding warrens are lit by luminous strands of biotech clinging to the walls, made by the insecticons as they’ve dug out their homes over the eons. The tunnels are all of varying size and shape, built by a multitude of different hives and communities. They coil through the earth in dizzying spirals, connecting vast caverns in which enormous honeycomb structures hang from the walls and ceilings. These subterranean cities are packed with insecticons of ever type: some greatly resemble Earth arthropods, while others are utterly alien in shape.
Though insecticon civilization may look wildly different from that of most other cybertronian cultures, there are still some familiarities to be found. Energon miners carry their hauls up from the depths (though here, they resemble enormous robotic dung beetles, and the energon ore is stored in spherical pods that they roll through the streets). Wells of Sparks still create new cybertronians within their depths (though here they are sequestered in beehive-like structures in which raw energon and cybermatter are also processed for other uses). Citizens make idle talk while they work or go about their errands, and the banner of the New Imperium of Cybertron flies from government buildings.
“The power of friendship always prevails!”
Niko confidently declared.
Oh don’t you start.
Nova grumbled mentally.
“So what you’re telling me is that these Quintesson things are interdimensional world conquers, and we have absolutely no way of forming a game plan to beat them until we’ve already made first contact. Am I getting that right?”
“Excalibur II, this is Axis Prime. The current plan is to travel to Astrum. Further details will be provided from there.”
The Prime communicated over the intercom as she trailed the two ships.
OOC: Would there be enough room in the Packmule to dock the Primeflyer inside?
“Nice place you got here.”
Maximus commented as he looked at the sights around him.
“Nice is one way to put it, but hive-life never really was my style. I’ve always preferred the bright sun and open skies up top. But this place is still home. It feels nice to be back.”
Honeycomb flew up to one of the larger hive structures. She landed on the wall close to one entrance, while Maximus landed close behind her.
“You wait here, I’ll check and see if anyone’s home.”
Said the adorable bee.
Maximus transformed into robot mode and folded his arms.
“Sounds good to me.”
Honeycomb crawled in around the side of the entrance, coming in on the wall rather than the floor.
“Lunawing! Talon! Gyro! Anybody home?”
The insecticon cheerfully called out.
“Of course! I would be glad to work with your knowledge,” Razor replied, gathering up the parts and setting them on a crate. She grabbed the Pack Mule’s toolkit from its holder, and began unpacking various items: a screwdriver, a box of clamps, an extension cord, several electrical cords of various types, and two flashlights. She then asked, “Do Quintessons use any standard power cables?”
@Chromeharpoon
Axis moved her flyer behind the Excalibur II and requested access to dock her ship within it.
“Correct.” Kitai replied. "But i would suggest that the simple power of friendship will not end a war. As much as we would love to believe. There will blood, and tears to be shed. So as much as a positive outlook may be encouraging, it will not work all wonders. "
“No, but it is a good start and a choice.” Firestorm says, “it’s not ignorance to be positive while acknowledging the bad and a choice has the power of a single domino in that it can topple more in a chain reaction that can be massive.”
“He’s right, though- this will get ugly,” Salvage concedes, nodding toward Kitai. “But if the only alternative is Judgement, Take Five, I don’t think we have much of a choice.”
“Excuse me, but don’t we have a plan already?” Leslie interjects, looking up at the much larger beings standing in front of her. “Gabriel needs whatever Sentinel Prime hid, but we’re the ones who know where it is. So we go to Lacuna and get our hands on it before he can- maybe we could even turn it against the quintessons.”
Beta Maxx grabs one of the quintesson baubles and turns it over in his hands. The cilia which had sprouted from them earlier are now limp and withering like dehydrated flowers. “If the devices in question are meant to interface with our technology, then yes,” he answers Razor. “These machines here, however, seem totally alien.”
He points to the empty spaces in the machine’s frame, ringed by the necrotic cilia. “They’re missing their biomechanisms as well,” he says. “No doubt they rotted away eons ago- but Gabriel somehow triggered this new growth while he was speaking…”
(@DuneToa)
Hangar doors on either side of Excalibur II slide open, revealing a small hangar bay behind them illuminated by stark white lights. Through the shimmering atmospheric shields, troopers stood in formation while maintenance technicians performed diagnostics on a ground bridge gate.
“No, Honeycomb, this place is deserted,” a youthful male voice drones. “Nobody here but us cyber-chickens.”
A red-and-black predacon steps into view from another room. His features evoke the image of medieval plate armor- one would be forgiven for mistaking him for a Knight of Cybertron. Talon raises his arms, offering a hug.
“Talon!”
Honeycomb excitedly shouted. She pushed off the wall and transformed into her robot mode, practically leaping into the predacon’s arms and returning his embrace.
“Oh its so good to see you again! I really should have visited sooner. You have no idea how much I missed you guys!”
Finally seeing her friend again, the insecticon girl was sounding rather emotional.
Axis moved forward into the ship and touched down. She exited her flyer and looked around the hangar. While she did want to regroup with the others, taking a little time to familiarize herself with this new vessel couldn’t hurt.
Oh to hell with this crap! I didn’t sign up for a fricken war. First chance I get I’m ditching these lunatics. You guys are on your own.
Nova mentally declared.
“Are you sure it’d be a good idea to try using some cosmic super weapon that you yourself probably won’t understand? I don’t know about you but this whole thing feels like a bad idea. Every part of it.”
She retorted.
“Fool.” Kitai said, staring at Leslie, his opticless and glazed-over eyes shining down on her. “That machine may be unpredictable, and would go against the wishes and hopes of hundreds, maybe even thousands. And what an idiotic thought to believe that the quintessons would not be prepared for such an eventuality. Furthermore, Gabriel used quintesson technology. Meaning he’s with them. And nothing ever Ally’s themselves with the quintessons and is still their own race.”
“You are just a ray of sunshine, you know that? If you know so much about these Quintessons then maybe you could offer some potential weakness we could exploit? No one army can be completely without fault.”
Nova replied.
“It could be like asking Unicron to help- a bigger problem than it first seemed,” Defender comments. “Thankfully that’s never happened. But I wonder… Nova, does your government have anything designed to fight extraterrestrials? Something like the weapons of the last millennium, made to cause immense and immediate destruction to an enemy whose course cannot be changed, as was often perceived during their development. Or have nuclear weapons become obsolete?”
“Well as far as my government is concerned, I can’t tell you a whole lot. I know there some big guns hanging out in space to protect a few important places. As for nukes, I’m pretty sure they’re essentially banned from any form of practical use. But then again that is just one government out of dozens. For all I know every other space nation could be completely different. And to be perfectly honest, my knowledge on military hardware is fairly limited anyway. You wanna ask me about Neo-Germanic combat mechs I can go on for hours. Anything beyond that I never bothered to learn about.”
Razor looked over at Kitai for a second. He was present… he was holding the device… was there a connection?
“Beta Maxx, would there be a chance that these growths could be triggered by contact? That the device is activated by the touch of the user?”
She looked at the parts again. What material were the cilia formed from, anyway?
“Why would this thing latch onto the user, rather than being held or worn?”
Talon staggers back as Honeycomb jumps into him, holding her for a second before setting her down onto her feet.
“Yeah, I’ve missed you too, kid,” he says. “It’s been too quiet around here without you.”
“Well, quieter, to be more precise,” says a grey-colored cybertronian following Talon into the room, flanked by a slender green-and-white woman with fur on her shoulders and neckline. “Everyone can still hear you from halfway across the city, Talon.”
“I’m a predacon; we’re supposed to be loud and obnoxious,” Talon says defensively. “That’s our whole thing.”
“No, it’s just your thing,” the woman- Lunawing- comments. “I’ve met quiet predacons.”
“How have you been?” Gyro, the grey bot, asks Honeycomb. “You said in your last transmission that you had a surprise for us?”
Leslie pinches the bridge of her nose and draws in a sharp breath.
“Okay,” she sighs, irritated, “so he’s probably a secret cyborg tentacle monster- I won’t dispute that. What I’m saying is that if he needs this artifact for whatever he’s planning, then the quintessons must need it too. Even if they have a plan B, we can still deprive them of an asset. We can even destroy it, if it’s really so dangerous.”
“Or we could try to use it,” Salvage suggests. “We don’t have a lot of options right now, so maybe we shouldn’t be ruling any of them out. Heck, maybe we should find out what this thing is first.”
“Quintessons and their technology are connected by a hive mind,” Beta Maxx explains. “Maybe that collective was trying to establish contact with Kitai?”
The dead cilia appear to be made of flesh, and a murky mucus-like substance is leaking from them as they decay. Their connections to the technological parts of the devices are seamless, with muscle and metal smoothly blending into one another.
The formation of soldiers in the hangar snap to attention as Axis exits her vehicle, and their commander, a green-armored man with a face shaped like a gas mask, steps forward.
“Welcome aboard Excalibur II, ma’am,” the man says, his voice hissing from the nozzles in his cheeks. “I’m Captain Trenchfoot. It’s an honor.”
The hangar of Excalibur II looks much like that of the original Excalibur, though the ground bridge gate and its surrounding bay takes up much of the aftward bulkhead. There is also a small armory stocked with weapons.
“And what happens if that sets off a chain reaction? Where ever it is, it could cause a disruption,jeopardizing many lives.”
Kitai retorted.
Kitai hears his name and the following conversation. “May I see that again?”
“I’ve been great! I saw so many amazing things on Cybertron. Which leads me to the surprise. You guys are never gonna believe who I met there!”
Honeycomb turned to the doorway and raised her voice.
“Alright, you can come in now!”
Maximus walked through the entryway, having to duck just a little bit to get in. He looked at the three peculiar bots and smiled.
“Hey there! You guys must be Honeycomb’s friends, right?”
Axis couldn’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia at the familiar sight. It felt almost like a breath of fresh air after all the recent stress.
“Greetings Trenchfoot. Could you lead me to the bridge? I’d like to meet the rest of the crew.”
“Odin’s ghost! Do you ever say anything that isn’t depressingly pessimistic?”
Nova angrily snapped.
“I’m not exactly the most positive person in the universe, but even I’m struggling to put up with this. Could you at least try to entertain the idea that failure isn’t a foregone conclusion?”
“Personally I think ‘Find the thing’ is a pretty good plan.”
Niko commented.
“Keeping the super dangerous magic thing away from the super villain looking for them is a pretty reliable bad guy countermeasure.”