The steel container slid across the floor of the cargo hold and slammed into the wall with a loud thud.
“Whoa! Watch it!” Sideswipe shouted. “What the hell?!”
“Sorry, sorry!” Warpath said. “It got away from me. One of the cables detached.”
The container, hoisted up by 4 cables (now 3 cables) tied to each corner on the top, was taller than Sideswipe, the biggest bot in the hold. It was 30 meters on the short side and 50 meters on the long side. Up in the control booth of the lifter, Cliffjumper was manning the controls. The lifter itself, mounted on the right side of the cargo doors, which were in the front of the ship, could swing out from the cargo hold to bring in most freight, eliminating the need for unwanted people (beings of any type) coming on board, either as loaders or pretending to be loaders. That’s just how Ironhide likes it, no one but his own hand-picked crew knowing the insides of the freighter.
“Let me just hook it back up.” Warpath said, and jumped up on the side of the container.
He grabbed the corner that got loose, and pulled himself up. Standing on top of the container, he was still only halfway to the ceiling of the cargo hold, which was cavernous when empty. Ironhide had claimed he could fit an entire finger of a Titan in it once, but the others were skeptical, considering how big a Titan actually is. Warpath thought maybe a thumb could be stored. Maybe. He reached for the loose cable and grabbed it. He then put the hook at the end back into the loop attached to the corner of the container and gave Cliffjumper the thumbs up. Warpath then climbed down and Cliffjumper lifted the container up.
“Alright, CJ!” Sideswipe shouted, directing the lifter. “Over here! On the marks!”
On the ground were 4 L-shaped yellow marks, measured out exactly to the measurements of the container. On one side, Warpath was guiding Cliffjumper, on the adjacent side it was Sideswipe. After a few tight moves, the container was set down right on the spot.
“Alright! It’s down.” Sideswipe said and turned to Warpath. “Secure it.”
“On it.”
As Cliffjumper was climbing out of the lifter, Sideswipe walked to the steel stairs leading up to the upper deck at the end of the cargo hold. Coming down the stairs, Ironhide made his presence known by stomping his feet, the loud thuds reverberating through the cargo hold. He met Sideswipe at the bottom of the steps.
“What was that just now?” he asked in his gruff voice.
“Sorry, boss.” Sideswipe said. “The container got loose. We got it secured now.”
He turned toward the container and Warpath walking away from it, as if to look for confirmation. Warpath gave another thumbs up as he neared them.
“Okay.” Sideswipe said. “All good. Just waiting for Inferno.”
“All the other containers secure?” Ironhide asked. “We have 3 stops to make on the way back to Cybertron. I don’t feel like dealin’ with the hassle of damaged cargo.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Cliffjumper said with a smile, as he came to the stairs as well.
“Not funny.” Ironhide replied humorlessly. “We been away too long. I don’t want this run to be dragged out any longer than it’s gotta be. Let’s get locked up and outta here.”
On cue, Inferno walked up the ramp leading to the loading doors.
“All good?!” he asked.
Once again, Warpath flashed the trusty thumb.
Inferno then turned to the wall next to the cargo doors, on which were the controls to the doors, as well as an intercom. He pressed the big red button, and the ramp began folding up, followed by the doors sliding in from the sides. The doors and the ramp formed the 3-piece entrance, each piece able to be operated independently of the other 2 in case of damage or an emergency. For a ship as old as the Paladin Express it was brand new technology when the ship was launched. The door and the lifter were on the front of the ship, under the bridge. The nose of the ship was high up and didn’t protrude far, just enough to signify the front end of the vessel. The ship was essentially 2 levels, and each level was split into 2 areas: the lower level was the cargo hold in the front, occupying about 2/3 of the available hull space, and separated from it by a very thick steel wall was the ship’s engine room, which led right to the engine itself. The upper level was the bridge in the very front, the crew’s quarters behind it, and also separated by the same thick steel wall (continued from the lower level) was the shuttle bay. Of course, the shuttle was only for emergencies and could fit only 2 occupants (basically, it was a smaller version of the Rod Pod from MTMTE), but it was back there, secured above the engine, and able to exit the ship through another set of sliding doors, but these didn’t have a 3rd part acting as a ramp. The doors could be opened and closed from either the shuttle bay, the shuttle itself, or the bridge. The ship was not the flashiest around, but inside it was fairly modern. Inferno maintains the ship on a strict schedule, and Ironhide has always approved any recommendations for an upgrade made by his 1st Lieutenant.
But that was a long time ago. Now it’s a well-worn veteran of many space trips, having seen the farthest corners of the galaxy under the leadership of its previous captains as well as Ironhide. The old bot bought the ship from a friend, who had acquired it as payment for a loan its previous owner couldn’t repay. This friend, knowing the value of the ship, but having no interest in a shipping business, sold Ironhide the ship, because Ironhide was tired of being on Cybertron. He had already lived a long life and had never left the planet. Of course, Cybertronians didn’t travel too much off-planet, there was enough to do on the surface. But Ironhide wanted to see the galaxy, meet other races, and maybe make some profit doing it. So he came up with the idea of interstellar shipping. All he needed was a ship and a crew. With the purchase of the Paladin Express, he had the ship. But he was not a good pilot, so he decided to get a few good bots around him he could trust.
“Alright, let’s get going.” Ironhide said into the intercom by the stairs, pressing the button to the bridge.
“On it.” came Air Raid’s response, and the ship shuddered lightly as he started the engines.
Air Raid was his first hire. Ironhide knew a pilot was the most important, so he set out to find someone who would have no problem following orders, but who could take risks if the situation called for it. Ironhide had gone to Silverbolt first, but the squad leader wasn’t interested. He was preoccupied with his own dealings. He did recommend Air Raid, with whom Ironhide was familiar with. He knew the flyer to be reliable, and Silverbolt’s recommendation only reassured him. So he pitched his offer over drinks at Maccadam’s, and Air Raid agreed by the end of a long night of drinking and talking. Ironhide didn’t have to work hard to convince him to take the job, but the Aerialbot wanted to get all the details straight: he would have complete control of the ship when in flight, and would be allowed to pick his co-pilot, pending Ironhide’s approval. The only order he would be required to obey during flight is if Ironhide wanted the ship stopped or if they had to change course. Air Raid would have no say over their destinations or their cargo. His sole responsibility was flying the ship. Ironhide figured he would pick one of his fellow Aerialbots to be his co-pilot, but Air Raid had suggested Powerglide. Ironhide didn’t know the Autobot well, so at first he turned him down. He was skeptical because Powerglide was not really an experienced flyer. He knew how to pilot shuttles, but he’d never been off-planet either, nor did he pilot a full-sized ship before. He was good at maintenance, however, and he had had a job at the Tagan Heights air traffic control tower. That was his only experience with dealing with freighters. But Air Raid’s argument that Powerglide would be only assisting him, along with the point that flying with them would give him the experience to pilot a ship, was persuasive, and Ironhide couldn’t find any other flaws in Powerglide’s profile. So the 3 of them met again at Maccadam’s, but this time the drinking and talking didn’t last nearly as long. Powerglide was excited to be on board, and he was made fully aware of his responsibilities. He accepted all of Ironhide’s conditions, and he has been the co-pilot of the Paladin Express from the start. He has yet to take control of the ship in Air Raid’s place, but that’s fine with Powerglide. He’s happy to be along for the ride, as the pay is good and as long as Ironhide’s few rules are followed, the job is a breeze.
“This thing was a pain to get in place.” Sideswipe said as he and Inferno joined Ironhide at the stairs, and all 3 of them started going up. Warpath and Cliffjumper stayed in the cargo bay, double checking everything.
“What’s in it?” Ironhide asked. “I’m sure I’ve seen the invoice, but I had forgotten which stop was for which freight.”
“Supposed to be machine parts.” Inferno said. “We’re taking it back to Cybertron. They were specially made for a team of miners going deep into the planet. Supposedly the planet gets much more dense down there, as if it was protecting the core.”
“What is the core of the planet, anyway?” Sideswipe asked, as they reached the bridge.
“I don’t know.” Inferno answered. “According to the Elders, it’s our creator’s essence in its vessel, supposedly connected to the rest of the planet and powering it through those connections. But I’ve never been one to believe in something I couldn’t physically see or touch. So I don’t know.”
“Ironhide? You know some bots on the council, have they told you anything more than what the general public knows?” Sideswipe asked with a smirk.
“Please.” Ironhide answered. “If they did, it was in confidence, and I’m not one to gossip what I’m told in good faith. Havin’ said that, I haven’t been told anythin’ about the planet’s core as far as myths and creations go. All I know is what a lot o’ miners and surveyors have said at Maccadam’s and other places. The planet gets denser as they go deeper, which is why no one has been to the center yet, and we don’t know what’s actually down there, not even the Elders, regardless of what they claim to know.”
“That’s why they ordered these special parts off-planet, as anything they have to build mining equipment on Cybertron is ineffective against the deeper layers of the planet.” Inferno said. “It’s like the planet is protecting its own core. So we got this big container of special drill bits and other things. It’s the last thing we have to drop off in Tarn before we get back to our dock on Moon 2. The Express is due for some cleaning and maintenance anyway.”
“Our transportation from Moon 2 to Cybertron is arranged?” Ironhide asked.
“Of course.” Inferno answered.
Ironhide knew that handling the cargo would require a few bots besides himself, and he had designated Air Raid and Powerglide to fly, so he had to get a crew to be responsible for loading, securing and unloading the freight they would haul. For this task, he was looking for bots who didn’t mind long stretches of down time, broken up by operations of highly focused attention to certain maneuvers, especially with the lifting equipment. Ironhide knew Warpath as a freight hauler from the mining town of Tarn, and he agreed with the smaller bot’s attitude and way of doing things. He knew Warpath would get the job done no matter what, even with all his bluster and bragging. Ironhide caught up with the smaller bot after a hard day of moving equipment from Tarn to another mining town, and Warpath didn’t take much convincing either, much like Powerglide. And to balance out Warpath’s care-free attitude, he approached Sideswipe to be in charge of the cargo loading. After talking out the details, Sideswipe convinced Ironhide that they would need one more bot on the cargo crew, and Sideswipe knew just the bot: Cliffjumper. Ironhide wasn’t very familiar with this smaller bot either, but he trusted Sideswipe’s judgment and agreed to have a talk with Cliffjumper. After meeting him, Ironhide was relieved to learn that Cliffjumper was a bit of an opposite to Warpath. Under Sideswipe’s charge, they would work together as a fine-tuned crew, taking care of the handling of the cargo, completely separate from the flying crew, Sideswipe answering to Ironhide just like Air Raid.
The team was almost complete, but Ironhide needed one more bot: someone to take charge in case something happened to him. Air Raid was responsible for flying, having Powerglide under him. Sideswipe was responsible for the cargo, in charge of Cliffjumper and Warpath. But they both answered Ironhide, and if something happened to the old bot, they would be without a captain. So Ironhide had to pick someone he knew really well. Someone he had been through a few scrapes and other deals with. Someone he wouldn’t mind spending a lot of time with during long flights. They were open for business to the entire galaxy, after all. So Ironhide went to the only bot he knew who could do the job: Inferno. The bigger bot had the same outlook on life, as well as the same no-nonsense attitude about taking care of business. So now Ironhide had his crew, his ship, and it was time to get the business started. They all understood that they would be paid by the shipment, and payment would come at the end of a job well done. And there seemed to be the trouble.
“Alright, bots.” Air Raid said as they approached the front of the bridge. “We’re ready to go. Get secured.”
Ironhide sat down in the captain’s chair, directly behind the 2 pilots’ seats. Inferno took the chair to the right, in front of the communications equipment, and Sideswipe sat down behind the panel for the cargo bay controls, so he can keep an eye on the freight, as well as contact Cliffjumper and Warpath if needed.
“Let’s go.” Ironhide gave the order.
Air Raid pressed the power-up buttons for the boosters, and as soon as the ship was pointed toward outer space, he activated them. The ship took off from the space dock where they just picked up the last cargo, and they were on their way back to Cybertron, with 2 stops to make on the way.
For some reason, beginning with their very first haul, they ran into trouble. Pirates. And they weren’t even far from Cybertron. But that experience was a lesson for all of them, and from then on they conducted themselves differently. Even though the pirates didn’t get their cargo, the job ended in a shootout and damaged cargo, and being mixed up in that stuff and not being able to ensure the safety of the freight they picked up was not good for business, and Ironhide didn’t want a bad reputation. So for the next few jobs, he kept the distance short, only to the nearby solar systems, but trouble still found them. First, the ship broke down. The engine just straight up quit. In mid-flight. So they were stranded until someone helped them out by giving Inferno a ride to Cybertron and he was able to get the parts to fix the engine, which was one of Inferno’s responsibilities. Ironhide made it his first priority to pick up a small 2-bot shuttle to have on deck to be used for any kind of emergency like that in the future. On their very next run, they were involved in a 2-ship wreck, damaging their cargo hull, and the other ship tried to get away. Ironhide and Inferno had their first altercation over this, as Ironhide was focused on making sure the cargo was safe and they would return to Cybertron in one piece, while Inferno wanted to go after the scrap heaps who ran into them. Though Air Raid agreed with Inferno, and was on the verge of setting the Paladin Express on course to follow the other ship after Sideswipe confirmed that the cargo wasn’t damaged and was still secure, Ironhide ordered them to return to Cybertron. The only thing Powerglide could do was get part of the other ship’s ID number and maybe they could track it down once they were back home, or if they got lucky they would run into them (figuratively or literally) down the line. Inferno was hot over the situation, as his temper is notoriously short, but he got over it. And the situation served to allow Ironhide to assert his authority over all of them, as if there was any doubt who was in charge. Since then, all kinds of other things happened, from false manifests to stowaways, and each time the crew dealt with it and got the freight to its destination, even if it was a bit late. Among the interstellar traffic, they earned a reputation, and even a moniker, whether to mock them or to show respect, they had no idea. But as the freight business boomed, around Cybertron’s vicinity they came to be called the “Disaster Transport.”
At first, Ironhide didn’t care for the name, he thought it was bad publicity. Inferno, Air Raid, and Sideswipe took it in stride and just laughed it off. Powerglide, Cliffjumper and Warpath were also a little wary of the name, but they didn’t make a fuss about it like Ironhide did. But it was perhaps reasonable, as Ironhide had a bigger stake in the success of the operation than the others did. He owned the ship and it was through his acquaintances that he got the business started. Now they were constantly on the go, from one job to the next. Inferno’s responsibilities also include drumming up business as well as scheduling the jobs to make sure there are no conflicts. All the tasks are distributed according to the bot’s importance level, and Ironhide and Inferno are pretty much equal, the only difference is that Ironhide owns the ship. There are no limits on where they go for cargo and to where they deliver, as long as it’s a known part of space and a mapped and surveyed planet. The ship itself, of course, has its weight limit, and even though it’s a large ship, the cargo hold is also considered only a medium-sized hold. Ironhide has few exceptions regarding the type of freight they haul, and they are prepared for almost anything. They have to be, as something usually goes wrong.
From the outside, the Paladin Express doesn’t look out of the ordinary. It looks like an old freighter, with its light gray exterior with all the scratches, dents and pockmarks in it, that was put together in the Golden Age of Cybertron. Obviously, it wasn’t that old, but Ironhide had decided that any upgrades are to be made to the interior, the security and operating systems, and as long as hull integrity was protected, no other physical improvements were needed. Even a mere paint job suggested by Powerglide was shot down. Rectangular in shape, it had a wide aft with the dual interstellar drives and their boosters in the back underneath the shuttle bay. Up front, the lower level stayed mostly rectangular, but it narrowed some toward the front where the cargo doors were. The front wall was at a 60 degree angle, and it met the bottom of the bridge as it protruded out over the front of the ship on the upper level. The bridge itself wasn’t very large, just enough space for all the instruments, the panels wrapping around the front half of the bridge, with the pilots’ control panels and manual controls in the center. There were 2 other chairs in front of the panels, one on each side of the pilots’ seats, the right side for communications, the left side for operating the equipment in the cargo bay if there was no one down there. Inferno was in the process of modifying the right side a bit, as he was preparing to install a retractable ion cannon underneath the bridge. Whoever sat on the right side of the pilots would be in primary control of the weapons system, which also includes dual electromagnetic disruptors installed on the sides of the shuttle bay in the back. They were also retractable, emerging from the sides of the shuttle bay when activated. Some room in the shuttle bay had to be sacrificed to accommodate the energy source for the cannons, as well as the cannons and their support structures. But it made little difference, as the shuttle was a small 2-seater anyway. It was barely bigger than a 2-bot surface transporter, the extra bulk coming from the thicker construction to make it able to fly in space. It had a small cargohold to transport necessary parts or whatever was needed in the event of an emergency. It was just big enough to accommodate a full-size bot lying down if there had to be someone critically injured taken to the nearest place to be attended to. The shuttle could fly much faster than the ship, but it had to be refueled after every use, as its fuel got depleted by the hyperdrive. Ironhide was also making plans to arm the shuttle as well, but due to its small size, his options were limited. And he didn’t want to put any weapons in that would be ineffective against another space vehicle chasing the shuttle, if things ever came to that (so far they had not), but if he wanted to put some serious ordnance on board, it would make the shuttle overweight and hard to control. Speed was still the main ability of the shuttle, it was acquired to allow its occupants to get away in an emergency and get help.
In the middle of the upper level, the crew’s quarters was one large space, with each crewmember getting equal amount of space, in proportion to his size. That meant Ironhide, Inferno, Sideswipe and Air Raid got double the room that Powerglide, Cliffjumper and Warpath got. The smaller bots didn’t mind, they understood. Bigger bots needed more room. They each had their own recharge slab, it was a new addition by Ironhide, as the room had been a storage unit under the previous operator. Any other personal property they had was stored around their recharge slabs, but it wasn’t much. Powerglide liked to collect small souvenirs from every planet they visited, and Sideswipe had his “cleaning products.” Other than those, there were a few odds and ends, but not much. Due to some close calls and hairy situations recently, Inferno and Sideswipe had persuaded Ironhide to get some guns and light artillery on board, along with each bot’s personal weaponry. Inferno recommended a Flintlock 250 shotgun for each member, making it a total of 7 shotguns on board. Sure, the guns were good for close-quarters combat, but the objective was to not even let any potentially hostile boarders on the ship, much less get in a firefight with them. Ironhide made it clear the ship wouldn’t be loaded up with weapons, as that would bring its own problems when it came to inspections and insurance, but the shotguns would be acceptable, along with some light grenades and some non-lethal weapons. There was one entrance from the bridge to the crew quarters, and one more door leading from there to the shuttle bay. Right by the door that goes to the bridge is the stairwell going to the lower level, on the bridge side of the door. The stairs lead down into the cargo bay, landing to the side of the cargo doors on the front of the ship. The ship is also equipped with an intercom system, an intercom placed in every area, usually by the entrance. The cargo bay has 3 intercoms, one by the door and the stairs, one in the lifter’s control space, and one on the other side of the cargo hold, in case loaders need to speak to each other with a lot of freight between them.
In the future, the designs of the shuttles of the giant Autobot ship The Ark would be based on the design of the Paladin Express, the contribution coming from Ironhide at the request of the future Prime, Optimus, who had befriended Ironhide when he was still just a police officer known as Orion Pax. The design wasn’t the most up-to-date, there were certainly a lot of better-looking vessels out there, but Ironhide wasn’t interested in looking good, his priority was safety and security. His argument was that a flashy, sleek ship would be a more attractive target for pirates, and the maintenance would also be a constant hassle. If anything happened to the outer hull, it would have to be repaired and repainted as soon as possible, otherwise what’s the point of having an immaculate appearance? The others understood this, but Air Raid and Sideswipe still voiced that they should take pride in the appearance of their equipment, as it would project the perception that every part of the ship was top-notch. Ironhide’s response was that all the crucial parts were in impeccable condition, and that’s all that mattered. The hull, the cargo crane, the navigation system and, most importantly, the engines. So here they are, a rag-tag bunch flying all over the galaxy, transporting anything and everything, as long as it’s not a hazard to the ship and the crew, no questions asked. As long as the customer pays the bill up front, the Paladin Express would deliver the cargo, regardless of its purpose, origin, or destination. Like their tag-line above the cargo door and under the bridge says : “Have freight? We’ll transport.”
They spent the 1st part of the trip in silence. No one spoke, not even Ironhide giving out instructions. Their 1st stop was Hydrus 2, dropping off 3 loads of specialized construction material. The containers were the smallest in the hold, but they were the heaviest. Cliffjumper had to unload each container very slowly and carefully, as any misstep would have had bad consequences, considering the weight of the cargo. It was hard to control as it was, and if the lifting equipment was damaged, they would have trouble unloading the rest of their freight. But everything went smoothly, despite Ironhide and Inferno fearing the worst. After all, this was the “Disaster Transport,” and something was bound to go wrong. But they would have to wait until later. After the cargo was unloaded, Air Raid set the Paladin Express on course for Vulcan. The humanoid inhabitants of the planet were highly evolved intellectually, but that couldn’t overcome the fact that the planet simply lacked in certain minerals and resources, and those had to be transported in from other parts of the galaxy. Ironhide had no problem dealing with them, they were peaceful and trustworthy, and always kept their spaceports in impeccable condition. But as Air Raid prepared to dock, the Express suddenly began to shake.
“Whoa!” Ironhide said. “What’s that?”
“I…” Air Raid answered, gripping the controls manually. “I...it seems like the left engine it out of sync. It keeps revving up and then stalling out. It’s making the ship unstable!”
“Inferno!” Ironhide said. “Get down into the engine room! Take Sideswipe with ya, an’ see what the hell is goin’ on!”
“On it!” Inferno said as he sprang from his seat, bounding down the stairwell, taking the steps 3 at a time.
“The air traffic control tower is hailing us!” Powerglide said.
“On speaker.” Ironhide said.
Without a word, Powerglide flipped a switch.
“...too close! I repeat, your port side is too close to the docking bay! Pull up!” the controller’s instruction came over the radio.
“We have it under control.” Ironhide answered, lying. If the controller denied their landing pattern, they would have to pull back up and go around and try again. That would take a lot of extra fuel, and Ironhide wasn’t even sure they could do it, with the engine acting up.
“I repeat, your landing request is denied! Your vessel is unstable! Lift up now, or prepare for emergency intervention!”
“No!” Ironhide answered back. “We got it! We just had a minor electrical disturbance. Everything is alright now!”
But the ship was still listing to the left, and the shaking hadn’t stopped.
“Damn it.” Ironhide grumbled, and stepped over to the intercom by the door.
“Hey! What is goin’ on down there?!” he said, as he pressed the button for the engine room.
“It’s a pipe to the hydraulic valve.” Sideswipe’s response came. “It came uncoupled from the engine and the lack of fluid is throwing the engine’s timing out of whack!”
“Well, then whack it back into place!” Ironhide answered irritably. “And do it fast, otherwise, we can’t land, and that means lost time and fuel!”
“Inferno is working on it now, we got the pipe back on, he just has to secure it. It might take a few seconds for the engine to regulate.”
“Alright. Get it done.”
Ironhide then returned to his captain’s chair and spoke into the communicator.
“Tower, this is the captain of the Paladin Express. We had a minor electrical issue, it has been corrected. We’re in a landing pattern, we would like permission to continue.”
He was hoping the ship would settle down and the controller would let them keep descending. Just as the tower’s response came, the ship stopped shaking and Ironhide could feel it level out.
“Paladin Express, you’re cleared for landing, provided the ship stays stable. Emergency crews are on alert.”
“No need for them. We’re fine.” Ironhide answered. He knew that if the emergency crews were activated, he would have to foot the bill, even if nothing happens. It was interstellar law that any ship prompting emergency assistance at any spaceport either by its perceivable actions or through the official request of its captain or pilot was to reimburse said spaceport for the use of its emergency services rendered, which included use of materials, equipment, and labor of its responders.
“We’re good.” Air Raid reassured Ironhide, as the ship glided into a dock and came to a stop.
“Whew. That was close.” Powerglide said.
“Paladin Express, you’re cleared of the pattern. Your docking has been acknowledged. Emergency units standing down.” the tower said over the speaker.
“Thank you, tower. My apologies over the fuss.” Ironhide said, even if the words made him ill. He hated to humble himself, but he had to play nice with the tower, considering what just happened. And he was curious as to what did just happen. As far as he knew, the Paladin Express was in top shape, from top to bottom and front to back. How could a pipe just come undone from the engine? Those connections are reinforced.
“We await your manifest transmission, and prepare the necessary requirements.”
“Tower, the manifest is being transmitted as we speak, but we don’t require unloaders, only a transport vehicle. We will unload the cargo.” Ironhide answered.
“Acknowledged.” the tower responded.
Ironhide turned off the communicator, and got out of the chair.
“Make sure the manifest is sent, an’ stay here.” he said to Powerglide. “I want to be on the way to Cybertron as soon as the freight is offloaded.”
“Understood.” Powerglide said. Air Raid didn’t say anything, just kept looking at the control panel in front of him.
Ironhide went down the steps to the lower level, and crossed the cargo hold as Cliffjumper operated the lifting crane, opening the cargo doors by remote. He went to the entrance to the engine room, and stepped through. Immediately, his sensors noted a high concentration of burned hydraulic fuel in the air.
“So what happened?” he asked Sideswipe, as Inferno was still working on the connection of the pipe to the engine.
“Uh, as far as we can tell, the coupling came undone.” Sideswipe said.
“By itself?” Ironhide asked back, a bit in disbelief.
“No, some stowaway scraplets chewed it off.” Inferno’s sarcastic reply came. “Of course by itself! There was no one or nothing else down here.”
“Inferno, this is no time for jokes. This could have been a lot worse!” Ironhide said sternly. “Now I need to know what caused this so we can prevent it in the future!”
“Don’t worry, it’s properly reconnected.” Inferno answered, his tone now straightforward. “I even reinforced it. But the parts and the connection were fairly new. I don’t know what caused the pipe to come off the housing. I mean, it was ripped right off, like...like something pulled on it.”
“The other parts of the engine show no damage.” Sideswipe chimed in. “It was just this part here.”
“Alright.” Ironhide said. “Figure out what makes this part different than the others. As far as I know, we used the same materials to build and repair all parts of the engine. I want to know it’s safe to take off from here. I’d hate to get out of control and damage the spaceport, not to mention the ship.”
“We’ll figure it out.” Inferno said.
“Alright. Let me know as soon as you can.”
Ironhide then turned around and left the engine room. On his way back to the bridge, he stopped to watch the cargo from the middle of the hold be transferred onto the transport vehicles waiting outside the bay doors. Cliffjumper was good with the crane, and Warpath was guiding the process. As Ironhide looked around at the other freight going back to Cybertron, his optics widened when he noticed that something was out of place. The last container, the one that almost came unhooked during loading, was out of its designated place. The securing cables were still intact, but they had crumpled the seams and side panels of the container that face the engine room. Something inside the container had pressed up against the side panel and it bulged outward. Ironhide stepped to the nearest intercom.
“Sideswipe, get out here.” he said gruffly after pressing the button for the engine room.
Moments later, Sideswipe was standing next to him.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“Look at that.” Ironhide said, pointing to the side of the container.
“What the…?” Sideswipe replied, his optics also widening. “That container...it’s deformed. And out of place…!”
“Yes. Somethin’ inside it.” Ironhide said. “Get a scanner. Let’s see what’s in there.”
Another few moments later, and Sideswipe was walking around the container, a hand-held device in front of him. It looked like a small TV on a single handle protruding from its bottom. Sideswipe was holding it out at arm’s length, while punching a few buttons under the screen with his other hand.
“Nothing suspicious.” he said after a few moments. “Just the parts that were declared in the shipping documents.”
“Damn it, somethin’ in there made the container move! Somethin’ that must have been magnetic, because apparently it pulled on the hydraulic pipe!”
“Well, we won’t know until we open it, now will we?” Sideswipe responded.
“We can’t do that.” Ironhide responded. “The client sealed the container, and we’re expected to deliver it as we picked it up.”
“Well, that ain’t gonna happen.” Inferno said from behind them, as he came out of the engine room. “Look at the side of that thing!”
“So...what do we do?” Sideswipe asked, looking to his superiors.
“Make sure it’s still secure. There are no readings on the scanner, right?”
“None.”
“Then we take off. The 2 of you stay down here an’ keep yer optics on it. The moment somethin’ happens, anythin’, ya holler at me, got it?”
“Yeah.” they both answered in unison.
Ironhide then turned around, just in time to see Cliffjumper exit the crane cab, the unloading having been done. The smaller bot simply gave a thumbs up, and Ironhide returned the gesture in acknowledgement. He then went back up to the bridge.
“Tower says we can leave when we want, provided we’re able to.” Powerglide said. “They wanted to send an inspector onboard to make sure our systems are functioning correctly before we operate in their airspace again.”
“Inferno fixed it.” Ironhide said, irritation in his voice. He didn’t like any type of intruders on his ship, even if it was a well-meaning safety inspector from a docile place like Vulcan.
“I told the tower we had it.” Powerglide said. “They told us to take off but that they would be watching. Anything out of the ordinary and we’re to set back down and shut off all equipment.”
Ironhide just shook his head. This is the kind of hassle he didn’t need. He already had enough to deal with regarding the damage container, even though that seemed to be due to unstable cargo, not any operational error on their part. Which made it the cargo owner’s responsibility.
“We ready?” Air Raid asked.
“Yeah.” Ironhide said, as he sat back into his chair. “Let’s go.”
Air Raid fired up the engines, and to their relief, everything went smoothly. The Paladin Express lifted off from the dock, and began ascending into space. The left engine ran flawlessly, and there was nothing from the bots downstairs regarding the container. So Air Raid set course for Cybertron, to be more specific the city of Tarn. They would be there soon, provided nothing else happened on the way.