12.May.06

The Promethean Fire series

Prologue

By: Razor One

Rattrap sat comfortably on his seat in the salvaged Axalon Bridge. All was quiet considering the maximals base was in the middle of a volcano.

“Time enough for a little rat nap.” he said, smiling deviously to himself.

He put his feet up and began to relax, checking the screens one more time, before closing his optics.

Alert! Unknown energy signature in grid Xerxes

Rattraps optics shot open. Instantly alert he began tapping at the keys, trying to narrow down the source.

“What’s the situation?” Said Optimus Primal as his hulking figure stomped in.

“Somethin’ got lit up in grid Xerxes.” he said, working away at the keys

Rhinox walked in, also attracted by the alarms and quickly took stock of the situation.

“Energy pattern is unfamiliar.” he said gruffly

“Alien? Predacon?” guessed Primal

“Neither,” said Rhinox “Whatever it is we haven’t seen anything like it before.”

*

Silverbolt shot through the air with the grace of the eagle his fuzor form was derived from and for a brief moment he lost himself in the thrill of flight.

“Silverbolt, come in.”

Silverbolt broke out of his reverie. The sound of his beloveds’ voice was one of the few things that could break him out of the ecstasy of flight.

“Silverbolt here, beloved.” he said

“Pick up the pace bowser, Optimus gave us orders to recon that energy source before the preds pick it up.”

“I’m nearly at your position,” said Silverbolt, “I’ll be with you in less then a nanoclick.”

With little effort, Silverbolt flapped his fuzor wings, initiating his descent. As he approached the ground, he maximized, landing on the packed earth with a light thud.

He looked around, finding no sign of Blackarachnia.

“Beloved?” he asked, suddenly feeling cold inside. With her new Transmetal 2 form, Silverbolt had no doubts that Blackarachnia could hold her own in a fight. Still, if anything had happened to her… he knew he could never bear the pain of losing her a second time.

He heard something behind him transform. Silverbolt whirled around just in time to catch Blackarachnia in his arms.

“You need to be more careful.” She chuckled impishly, embracing him

Silverbolt could only grin. Despite her reprogramming she still carried that dark charm that had attracted, no, pulled his very spark to her.

“You had me worried dear.” He said, setting Blackarachnia down on her feet

She gave him another impish smile, not in the least sorry, before acquiring a business like tone.

“Let’s get started before any preds arrive,” she said “The energy source isn’t far. Since these alien gizmos have a nasty habit of blowing up in our faces I figured it’d be better to recon on the ground.”

Silverbolt nodded then transformed into beast mode. Blackarachnia did likewise, and both moved towards the coordinates of the strange energy signature.

*

It didn’t take them long to identify the source of the energy signature. At the bottom of a dry lake bed stood a great tall obelisk of stone. Emerald lights ran up and down the structure in long thin strips, illuminating the lake bed in an eerie green light. Where the emerald lights did not run, great mysterious carvings and runes were etched ornately into its surface.

“Definitely not predacon.” said Silverbolt, stating the obvious

“And not our old alien friends either,” replied Blackarachnia “I’m going to chance a scan.” she continued, maximizing.

Blackarachnia focused on the obelisk, cycling through the electromagnetic spectrum.

“Well?” said Silverbolt

“Well Bowser,” she said, “That thing is absorbing everything that’s hitting it. Microwaves, radiation, the only thing that seems to reflect is visible light.” she said

This is Optimus Primal, Blackarachnia, Silverbolt, report.

“Blackarachnia here, we’ve located the alien energy source” she said

What can you tell us?

“It’s not our old friends” she confirmed, “But it is an alien structure, we’ll have to move closer to get more information.”

She heard Optimus sigh over the commlink.

Alright, but proceed with caution. If there’s even the slightest thing wrong, get out of there, understood?

“Understood, talk to you in ten cycles.” she said, terminating the commlink.

*

Optimus Primal paced about the maximal base uneasily. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. The fact that all was quiet on the predacon side of things only worried him more. Finally, he could take it no more.

“Cheetor, this is Optimus.” he said into his commlink

“Hey big bot, what’s shakin’?” responded the cat over the link

“Rendezvous with me in grid Xerxes, I have a feeling Silverbolt and Blackarachnia are going to need our help.”

*

Silverbolt and Blackarachnia had entered the obelisk cautiously. Both stood in awe of what they saw. The ornate carvings ran along every surface of the hollow obelisk, patterns that defied explanation or reason ran everywhere, vexing the minds that beheld them.

“By the Matrix!” exclaimed Silverbolt, impressed

Blackarachnia simply looked on, awed. The inside of the structure felt incredibly different from the outside. Although the air was still, when she walked it felt as though she were wading through water.

“Is this not amazing?” asked Silverbolt, still in awe

Blackarachnia was about to answer when it happened. A gust of wind caught her attention. Instantly the structure came to life, the lines and carvings seeming to glow and pulse like the heart of a slumbering god.

They felt the structure resonate harmonically, feeling it in their optics and spark housings and rippling throughout their chassis. The two looked at each other, their awe redoubling. Whoever these aliens were, they made their regular visitors seem as mere paupers.

As the gust of wind died down, so too did the pulsing light, the structure calmed and took on its initial appearance and feeling.

Blackarachnia, this is Optimus, what’s the situation there?

Blackarachnia tapped her commlink, surprised it worked within the obelisk, “We’ve found some kind of structure here. Very complex, it seems to react to the environment since we were treated to a light show, doesn’t seem to mind us though.”

Pull back to a safe distance, Rhinox tells me that things energy signature spiked not long ago. Cheetor and I will meet up with you in a few nanoclicks.

Blackarachnia closed the commlink.

“Come on Bowser, you heard him.” she said to Silverbolt, whom was still awed by the initial display.

As the two turned to leave, the structure erupted with life.

*

Optimus, this is Rhinox.

“Optimus here, what’s wrong?” said Optimus, dread in his spark

The energy readings just shot off the chart and burned out the scanner. It’s not lethal but you’d better get there fast.

“Jets, Maximum Burn!” yelled Optimus, his earlier dread and concern being confirmed.

It had only been a few deca-cycles since they had lost Tigatron and Airrazor in a similar accident. He couldn’t, no; he wouldn’t let that happen again. He couldn’t bear the loss of more of his friends to callous aliens. Not again.

Optimus Primal maximized and hit the ground with a loud thud. Cheetor rocketed up by him and did likewise. They stood upon the dry lake bed, devoid of any structure or living thing, save themselves and a groaning Silverbolt and Blackarachnia.

“What happened?” demanded Optimus, thanking Primus, the Matrix and whatever other gods and deities he could think of for sparing his friends.

“A headache.” said Blackarachnia, regaining her composure and standing.

She felt sick, as if her equilibrium circuits had been knocked offline. She used Optimus for balance for a moment, before standing with more confidence.

Silverbolt stood on one knee, evidently as disoriented as she was.

“The obelisk…” trailed Silverbolt, perplexed “It’s… gone?” he said, regaining his equilibrium and standing, “But where? Why?”

Yo Optimus, this is Rattrap, that alien surge just went poof, aint nothin’ we can see in your area apart from yerselves.

“I don’t know what happened,” said Blackarachnia worriedly, “And I don’t think we’ll ever know.” she finished

“Well,” said Optimus, still relieved, “At least you’re safe and undamaged. Let’s head back to base.”

Optimus, Cheetor and Blackarachnia transformed into beast mode and began heading back to base. Silverbolt stood on the lake bed for a moment. His face crossed with worry. He couldn’t help but feel that something dreadful had happened. He looked up at the stars with apprehension, before transforming into beast mode to catch up with the others.

Something had happened, he mused, something sinister.