“Sadly my alternate mode is an Armoured Recovery Vehicle, I’m built for Torque not Speed. Additionally my emergency teleport is only accessible from my lab. However, I can try if you like. Just do not expect a comfortable ride.”
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“I find it intriguing.” Kitai murmured. “That you should care so much, both of you. You act as if this will change anything. Why show your concern? In the end, we will be meeting our makers soon. Sooner than you’d like to realize.” He was standing near a window, the panes facing the ocean. His eyes narrowed in impatience.
“Explain to me Firestorm, why still do you believe that this is a cause you can succeed in? Is it an actual reason, or just the dogma embedded into your skull?
We aren’t heroes. They aren’t heroes. We will go to war, and the quintessions will see to the burning of our dead, broken bodies, as they crush the thousands of suns beneath their feet. There will be only ash, to ashes.” He paused for a minute, his lights flickering as his attention shifted.
“But I suspect that I may not live to see that day.”
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“I guess it’s partially because of our nature: Cybertronians always have had a history of conflict; we don’t want to go down without a fight.” Firestorm says, “there is a saying that many civilizations use that goes along the lines of ‘you miss every shot you do not take’.” He says, “the way we see things, it means you have to try and give it your best effort to do what you feel is right.”
“And, if I am gonna go down and die, I’m gonna make sure I take as many Quintessons with me as I can, just to show I am not gonna let them have the last laugh.” Dark says, “it may not be much of a disruption in the long run, or it may tip the scales in our favor but we gotta try and I won’t let some five-faced, tentacled, floating egg decide my fate.”
“We may not make it out of this alive but what matters is we give it our all.” Firestorm says.
“Besides, my ‘makers’ are already dead; Ramjet and Unicron are nothing but memories now.” Dark adds, “if and when I die, I’ll be joining the Allspark.”
“As for showing concern, we can tell this weighing on your mind, what you know of them and what we have seen recently in this last encounter.” They say in unison, “you’re our friend and, well, we guess spending pretty much all of recorded history just falling through some void outside time and space has caused us to be a bit attached to those we care about, to our friends.”
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“I would think wheels would be faster than walking, even if you aren’t built for speed. We’re on a time crunch here, so I don’t think a rough ride will be much of a problem.” Nova replied.
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“Very well.” He answers, relenting. With a slight groan, both vocal and physical, he transforms, Shifting into a rhomboidal shape, then opening his Side Hatch “Get in.”
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Liege Maximo’s starship, a small arrowhead-shaped vessel named Present Memory, returns from whatever errand that the Prime of Lies had left for, managing to just barely squeeze itself into Excalibur II’s hangar alongside the Prime Flyer and the Pack Mule. Its opaque silver cockpit slides back, allowing Liege to disembark with a large silver disk held in his left hand.
“Greetings, everyone,” he says to the personnel in the hangar, including those of our heroes among them. With a wry smile, he says in jest, “Thank you for not leaving without me. Considering what we’re up against, I thought I’d ask the ladies at the Astral Caminus if we could borrow something of theirs.”
Some of our heroes might recognize the disk he held as the compact storage mode of the Apex Armor, a powerful battlesuit created by Solus Prime during the Thirteen’s war against Unicron.
“They were kind enough to oblige me, as you can see,” Liege continues, holding up the disk. “Think of it as my thanks to you for saving my skidplate.”
Ferrex had been left by the UHP embassy, with the staff there looking over the mech to ensure that no-one attempted to meddle with it. It drew some interested glances from passers-by, with the citizens of Meridiem pondering its obvious alien origins and its damaged state.
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“would you two mine hitching your mech up to my crane before they bring us in? It’ll be a sight easier to bring it to where it can be repaired.”
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Niko and Nova climbed out of Hauler’s vehicle mode.
“Are you sure you’ll be able to tow this thing? It has legs. I don’t think that would tow well.” Nova commented.
@Chromeharpoon
“Good news! We found Ferrex, and so we’re finally good to go.” Niko said to Salvage over his phone. “If you could open a ground bridge for us near the human embassy hospital, we’ll be right in.”
“Liege! It’s good to see you again.” Maximus said with a warm and enthusiastic smile.
“And thank you for acquiring the Apex Armor for us. It will no doubt be invaluable in facing the dangers ahead.” Axis said pleasantly.
Honeycomb meanwhile wasn’t sure what to make of the old Prime. He was strange. Unlike anyone or anything she had ever seen before. She was curious, but also nervous. She took a half step back, almost hiding behind Maximus, though she made sure to keep her focus on the Prime of lies.
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“What, you want to lug it to the repair bay with your hands?” he asks jokingly. “I’m an ARV, my alt-mode’s whole thing is to haul things that won’t roll anymore”
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“One bridge, coming right up,” Salvage says. A moment later, the air near Hauler ripples, and another ground bridge portal opens nearby.
“I tried to convince them to lend me Solus’s Forge, as well,” Liege says, “however, they insisted that it remain at the foundry.”
He briefly glances over at Honeycomb as she hides behind Maximus, before turning to place the Apex Armor in the ship’s armory.
“So, what do you all know of Lacuna?” he asks our heroes.
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“It is where Sentinel told us to go. Though I can’t say I know many details about the world itself.” Axis replied.
“Thanks! We’ll be right in.” Niko said eagerly. With that he terminated the communication and went into Ferrex. The feline machine slowly rose to its feet, though it was clearly struggling.
“Maybe a tow wouldn’t be a bad idea. I could probably walk Ferrex though on my own, but I don’t want to risk making the damage any worse than it currently is.” Niko said through the external speakers.
“While you guys take care of that, I’m gonna head inside and get back to my Gungnir. After the day I’ve had, all I want to do is pass out in my own bed and get a good night’s sleep.” Nova said.
“Sounds good! See you inside.”
Nova turned and walked through the ground bridge. The moment she came through the other end she fell to her knees. Her entire body was shaking.
“AUGH! Oh gods it’s worse! How is it worse the second time?!” She shouted. “This is the- hhlaaaaaghh” Nova threw up on the floor and went into a brief coughing fit. “Ugghhh. This has got to be the second worst day of my entire life.”
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“Will do.” Hauler backed up, lowering the tow bar. “wrap each chain around the waist once then hook them to the bar” he instructed
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“Hm. Well, it’s good that you thought to seek me out, then,” Liege says. “I just so happens that I’m familiar with the place.”
The Prime of Lies begins to elaborate, but it is that this moment that Nova comes through the ground bridge.
Nearby technicians wince and take a step back from the ailing human and the resultant mess now in front of the ground bridge gate.
“Eugh,” Salvage gags, cringing. “Yeah, why don’t you go lie down for a bit?”
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Niko did what he needed to do to get Ferrex hooked up properly, then waited for Hauler to start towing.
“Trust me, that’s the only thing I want to do right now.” Nova groaned as she got back to her feet. Axis looked down at her, since she and Maximus were still next to the ground bridge.
“Oh, hello human. Glad to see you back. Are you doing well?” The prime asked.
“No.” Nova replied sharply, not even bothering to correct Axis on her name. “Where’s my mech? I want to go lie down.”
“I’m unsure. I haven’t thought to look. I would assume it’s still in the medical bay.”
“Uuuuggghh of course it is.” Nova said wearily. She turned and started slowly walking towards the medical bay.
“I’ll help you out little human!” Honeycomb eagerly offered. She gently scooped Nova off the ground. The girl, so drained and exhausted, didn’t bother to resist. “It’d take you forever to get there on your own, what with your tiny little legs. I’ll walk you there myself.”
“Sure, whatever. Thanks.”
With that Honeycomb made her way to the medical bay to look for Nova’s mech.
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“Oh! Er…”
Oreo glanced over at Nova, having heard her exclamation, and promptly regretted seeing the result of instant stomach evacuation.
“Well… I hope there’s a good solution for this,” he mutters to himself. “That doesn’t bode well for her…”
As Honeycomb is already taking charge of the situation, he remains with the others, waiting to hear Liege Maximo’s response to Axis.
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Hauler grunted and began to drive towards the ground bridge. It was slow, but it was making solid progress. In a couple minutes, he’d be through the bridge.
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@MakutaOisli @MaxinePrimal @ProfSrlojohn @BlackBeltGamer98 @Rukah @DuneToa
Once all of our heroes have come aboard the ship, Excalibur II ascends. The remains of Liege Maximo’s island home shrink from view as the ship rockets out from Astrum’s atmosphere and jumps into transwarp, making a brief flight to Primogenitum to place its quintesson captives into the custody of the Knights of Cybertron.
Nova’s mech had remained in the medical bay throughout the fight, though Moreyn and his team hadn’t been able to find the time to fully repair it, busy as they are with their wounded crewmembers and the prisoners.
The ground bridge closes behind Hauler as he crosses over onto the ship. Some of the crew make curious glances at this new addition to the team, while the rest turn their attention to Liege Maximo as he shares his knowledge with our heroes.
Liege Maximo straightens his posture and begins to speak, raising his voice slightly to be heard throughout the hangar.
“Back in the Golden Age,” he says, “Alpha Trion worked to decrypt some of the ciphers in the original Covenant of Primus. Most of what he found, we couldn’t make sense of- but one of those codes turned out to be a star map. The Knights followed it to a desert planet, while Alpha Trion tried to find more information within the Covenant. That planet is Lacuna- as far as hiding places go, I’d say Sentinel Prime made a wise choice.”
Meanwhile, on the bridge, the command crew of Excalibur continue to discuss the potential revelation made pertaining to Gabriel’s identity. Captain Gravastar opens the file sent by Chancellor Patel and begins to read the historical data contained within.
“Arnold Troy disappeared after Amity’s government rejected a proposal for an expedition into unmapped tunnels beneath the planet’s surface,” Gravastar reads aloud. “A team sent down thirty years later found his survey gear in a cavern in the southern hemisphere, but no trace of the man himself.”
“So that’s when the quints snatched him up,” Redshift infers as she steers the ship through transwarp. “But why? I mean, he was just another human, wasn’t he?”
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“How nice of you to care.” Kitai said, a tone of pragmatist in his voice.
He stood in silence, his arms at his sides, as he stared through the window.
Kitai sad nothing, silently walking away from Firestorm.
And? Is that It? We stride into battle, like the thousands of years before, and die like the many before us? You know so little, Kitai. Yet so much. How valuable can that information be, if it sits and does nothing?
Perhaps…
Kitai reached to his head and once more extricated the chip.
Perhaps if it was to be repaired, I would have full access. But there is a risk running that as well. My head is the only thing that can interface with this. But Liege is on this ship. He knew fully the extent of the quintessions usage of technology. Perhaps he gained a glimpse into their techniques… Yes, that would be a wonderful Idea, wouldn’t it. But wait patiently… I have no doubt he has more concerning things to him.
Kitai walked into the hangar, his wings draped behind, like a massive cloak.
Wise? More like paranoid. Couldn’t trust anyone, not even himself. But then, who am I to judge? But… Is it that barren moon? Then, that would mean…
No. No it isn’t. It isn’t the same.
I should have known. They had a successor.
Waiting until Maximo finished with his speech, Kitai then approached him.
“Liege. I have a question for you.” Kitai asked.
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“So, where do you want this?” Hauler asked Niko, whispering so as to not interrupt the prime
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“I’m sure you do,” Liege says, assuming that the question would pertain somehow to Lacuna. “Ask away.”
“Hey,” one of the crew members says to Niko (@MaxinePrimal), “Who’s the new guy?”
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