“This.” Kitai opened his hand, showing the bloodstained chip.
“It’s mostly intact, but before you say anything, no, this is not from anyone of the quintessions we fought. However, it could possibly have some files on it. You seem to be the most well-known about them on this ship, so i had hoped that you would know what to do with this.”
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“Oh come on!” Nova shouted in anger “Can’t one single thing go right for me today?!”
Niko was sitting on top of Ferrex as the doc bot pulled it in.
“His name is Hauler. He’s a doctor that Nova and I met on Astrum. He helped Nova get a new leg after- well, it’s a long story.”
He then looked to Hauler. “As for where I want it… I’m actually not sure. Wherever the best place to get it fixed would be. But I don’t really know where that is.”
“Why is it that all the major cosmic conspiracies or universe ending threats always have to be from around the Golden Age? Why can’t we ever get anything more recent?” Maximus commented, to which Axis replied with a sharp elbow to his midsection.
“What? I’m just making an observation. It just feels like all the most important stuff that we run into always happens to be billions of years old or something. Why couldn’t it be, I don’t know, Megatron coming back from the dead? Now that’d be something to see.”
“Why would you ever want something like that?” Axis retorted in stern disbelief.
“I’m not saying that I want that to happen. All I’m saying is that if some big cosmic calamity absolutely had to happen, why couldn’t it be something like that?”
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Figuring that was fair,Hauler pointed his second question to any of the crew (@Chromeharpoon) scurrying about; “Hey, do any of you know where he repair gantries are?”
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Oreo could barely contain a chuckle at Maximus’ comment. Megatron? Returned from the dead? As long as it wasn’t that silver mess his builders called “Galvatron”… that had been quite a disappointment, he thought to himself.
At this, Oreo looked back to the hybrid giant, very interested in his words. What secrets would be contained in the alien chip? What even do Quintessons put in their digital drives, he wondered.
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“Oh. I thought- never mind,” Liege sputters, before leaning in to have a better look at the chip.
“Hmm… quintesson technology has always been difficult to crack,” the Prime says, scrutinizing the device, “but it can be done. I suggest taking this to the Knights when we arrive at Primogenitum.”
“No, he’s got a point,” Salvage remarks, joining the conversation around Liege Maximo. “Decepticons would be easier- at least they’re from our universe.”
“Speak for yourself,” says Leslie. “Sol wouldn’t fare much better either way- not on its own, at least.”
“You should take that thing to engineering,” a crewman says. “Head aft; Lampyridae and her brood can help you patch it up.”
“Ah, human! Good to see you up and about.”
Moreyn, finishing preparations to make the prisoners ready for transport, sidles over to Nova and Gungnir. “Our wounded took priority over your vehicle- I’m sure you can understand,” he says. “Though with that over with, I can begin to see to its repairs.”
He glances down at the young woman’s prosthetic leg. “How are you holding up?” he asks.
Behind the doctor, Lunawing could be seen integrating herself into the medical staff, currently working to re-attach Beta Maxx’s arm.
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“But also consider how awesome it would be to be able to say you punched Megatron in the face!” Maximus said enthusiastically “Aw scrap. Now that I’ve got the idea in my head, I really want to punch Megatron… I suppose I could always-”
“Absolutely not!” Axis shouted
“But you don’t even know what I was going to-”
“It doesn’t matter what you were going to say. That train of thought could not possibly go anywhere good!”
“But-”
“No buts! Maximus Primal, I swear on the Matrix of Leadership that if you even consider tracking down that warlord’s rotting carcass, I will never let you near another grave for as long as either of us live!”
“But what if-”
“I WILL HAUNT YOU! Do not test me!”
“Y-yes my love! Sorry, my love.”
“I, have had, a DAY.” Nova replied, her voice filled with anger and exhaustion. “Right now the only thing I want or need is to lie down in my own bed and get some sleep.”
Honeycomb meanwhile noticed Lunawing helping Beta Maxx. She didn’t say anything since Nova and the doctor were havint a conversation, but she did smile and wave to her friend very eagerly.
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Seraphicon was hanging out by the ship’s main viewing deck while Firestorm was hanging out in the hanger, running maintenance on his transtector.
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Outside Excalibur II’s windows, the rainbow-hued veil of transwarp space pulls back, giving way to the oily canvas of normal space. A blue speck toward the front of the ship rapidly grows larger, revealing itself to be the planet Primogenitum, homeworld to the Order of the Knights of Cybertron. The planet’s twin supercontinents stretch out over its northern and southern hemispheres, and between them, glimmering against the equatorial sea, is the spiderweb of metallic islands and suspended highways that make up the capital city of Machera.
From behind Primogenitum’s ruby-red moon, a hexagonal ship adorned with the Knights’ iconography appears and gently glides toward Excalibur II, no doubt to receive our heroes’ captives.
“Yes, let’s leave Megatron where he lies, thank you,” Liege Maximo comments. “We have enough to worry about as it is.”
Spotwelder sidles up to Firestorm and looks over the transtector.
“Need any help?” he offers. “It looks like I might be sticking around, so I’m trying to make myself useful.”
“Well, then I won’t keep you much longer,” Moreyn says. The doctor mends Gungnir’s leg in short order, before re-attaching its weapons.
“That should do it,” he says upon completion of his repairs.
Out of the corner of her eye, Lunawing catches sight of Honeycomb waving at her. She briefly looks up from her diminutive patient to wave back, but returns quickly to mending the circuits in Beta Maxx’s shoulder. The minicon windmills his arm experimentally, testing the quality of the repair, and finds it suitable.
“You have my gratitude, miss,” he says to Lunawing. “Thank you for lending me a hand.”
“You’re very welcome,” Lunawing replies, smirking at her patient’s wordplay.
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“How good are you with Transtector Engineering?” Firestorm asks as he climbs down to get eye level with Spotwelder, using his 3DM cables to rappel down from his diagnostic terminal while Dark kept an eye on the screen; looking like Firestorm melted out of his own armor, which took on an appearance that resembled a miniature Infernocon.
Seraphicon tries to see if he could patch into the communications with this Knight vessel.
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“Thank you.” Nova replied with burnt exhaustion. “Hey bumble-bot? You mind?”
“Oh right! On it.” Honeycomb moved Nova close up to her mech. The chest hatch opened automatically and she climbed inside. A few moments later Gungnir’s eyes lit up and the machine stood up.
“There we are. Nothing like war-rig sweet war-rig. It’s only been a day but it’s felt like an eternity.” With that she walked out of the med-bay and made her way back to the hangar.
Honeycomb wanted to talk with her friend. She was so happy to see that she had already found a place among the crew. But she decided it would be best to leave her and not distract her from her work. There were still probably a few other bots that needed fixing. She would find time to talk with her later. For now, she decided to follow Nova out into the hangar.
“Precisely.” Axis said sharply, still keeping her eyes on Maximus. She then returned her attention back to Liege. “I’m sorry for allowing things to go so far off topic. Is there anything else you can tell us about Lacuna?”
Honeycomb made her way out to the hangar and joined the group gathered around Liege.
Nova meanwhile looked for an empty spot against the wall where she could place her habitation module. If she really was in this for the long haul, there wasn’t much of a point in keeping her home on her mech’s back anymore. Though as she was looking for an ideal spot, she noticed Niko sitting atop Ferrex, which was parked near all the others. Everyone seemed to have gathered around the back-biter. She still really needed to have a talk with that guy, but not now.
She walked across the hangar and up to Ferrex. Gungnir gently tapped a finger behind Niko to get his attention. He turned around and looked up at the mech curiously. Nova tilted the machine’s head to the side, motioning away from the group. It took Niko a moment, but he was quickly able to pick up on what Nova was trying to communicate.
“Oh! Alright, sure.” Niko climbed on to the mech’s hand, and Gungnir walked over to a far wall of the hangar that was far enough away from anyone else. She set Niko on the floor, then detached her habitation module and gently set it against the wall. Finally she stood Gungnir next to it and powered the machine down. She climbed out and walked up to her small home, gesturing Niko to follow her.
“Come on buddy, we need to have a talk.”
She walked into the module while Niko followed close behind. She took one quick glance out before she closed and locked the door…
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“Not my forte, I’m sad to say,” Spotwelder confesses. “Always interested me, though.”
Seraphicon is able to open a channel to speak with the approaching Knight ship.
“This is the transport Citrinitas, en route to receive prisoners as requested by your captain,” says a female voice. “For what purpose do you speak with us now?”
The Knight transport, Citrinitas, slows as it approaches Excalibur II and docks with the mighty frigate. The energy shield around the hangar doors dissipates, allowing five Knights of Cybertron to step aboard. Like all members of the Order, they bear ornate armor that brings to mind images of medieval european plate armor, inscribed with cyberglyphics recounting famous myths and heroes of ancient cybertronian lore.
“Only that we turned over every grain of sand on its surface three times over, and never found out why the Covenant lead us there,” Liege reports. “When I-… when the War of the Primes started, the Knights were recalled back to Cybertron, but they left a research outpost behind in low orbit. Its defenses may still be active- you know how my generation built things to last.”
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As the Knights enter the hangar, Defender stands to attention, greeting them with a formal salute. “Long has it been since I saw such a vessel,” he comments. “Welcome aboard the Excalibur. The Primes await you.”
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“Just wanted to say hello and, I do apologize for this, I will admit it was out of a paranoid fear given what we had encountered on Astrum.” Seraphicon says.
——————————-
Firestorm smirks, “well, never too late to learn.” He says, gesuring for Spotwelder to lend a hand as the Transtector stood in a sort of harness, keeping it propped up as several panels were open with cables feeding from the terminal above into the machine.
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One of the five Knights, a woman with blue armor trimmed in gold, steps forward.
“Well met,” she says to Defender. “I am Knight-Priestess Repentia. I was told that we were to receive a most unusual assortment of prisoners apprehended in a skirmish on Astrum. Might these be associated with the human mercenaries that accosted members of this party on Cybertron?”
“Understandable, given the rumors that I have heard,” the woman on the other end of the commlink replies. “Worry not, Seraphicon, for you are among friends here.”
Spotwelder pores over the transtector, studying its internal mechanisms.
“You know, I mostly work with ships,” he says. He then points a thumb to where Present Memory rests in the hangar. “I helped Liege put that ride together, as a matter of fact. Always dreamed about getting my hands on a high-tech navy vessel like Excalibur.”
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“Thank you, lady knight.” Seraphicon says as he turns to head for the hanger to meet up with the others.
——————————
The internal mechanisms were old and sensed to be heavily modified but the intricacies and mastery of it seemed a bit odd for one person to have accomplished on their own.
“I saw the ship and you should be very proud; it is certainly a ship worthy of a Prime and Liege definitely picked a good engineer to build it with.” Firestorm says as he scrambles by the chest cavity to work on some of the core components while Dark gives him updates on the status, “hey; Spotweld, think you could give the engines a tune-up? They have been sounding off the last few flights; they’re mainly near the legs and waist.”
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