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The Ark – Bridge

Road Rage remained quietly standing off to one side not far from Thunderclash as the events unfolded on the bridge of the Ark. It was a lot to take in as Nova Prime, himself, stood there speaking to them. The myth, the legend, Nova fraggin’ Prime! Galvatron was another legend, one that scared her more than Nova did. Even when Nova threatened them if they did not give him the answers he sought, accusing them of being scavengers, Road Rage was still more afraid of Galvatron. There was just something about him that frightened her more.

Finally, things began to settle down as Nova Prime and Galvatron accepted the truth about who they were and the fact that their homeworld of Cybertron was now dead after countless vorns of civil war. Then Nova Prime mentioned that they needed to reconnect the Heart of Cybertron if they were going to get off this planet. Thunderclash offered any help that he and the others could give which Nova seemed grateful for.

As everyone began to leave the bridge and follow Nova Prime out into the corridors, Road Rage walked alongside Thunderclash. “Sir, if you don’t mind, I can provide assistance to Elita and the others in helping to reconnect the Heart of Cybertron. I may not be an engineer or a mechanic, but I do have a basic understanding of how a ship’s power source functions, and I’m fully capable of following their lead.”

[The Ark - En Route to Engine Deck]

Nova Prime wrote:“Then let us make way. Standing around here gets us no where.”

Messages sent back and forth over the comms did little to relieve the tension in the atmosphere. Headlights on, Hurricane stepped out of the bridge with the rest of the mechs. Nova Prime, though his reign was long over, was still a mech of power, and he knew exactly how to use. This was one of such displays. Hurricane tried not to pay it too much attention. The sole objective at the moment was to get the ship up and running, ready to fly again. Hopefully. Merely hoping that the Heart of Cybertron hadn’t completely melted down yet or undergone supercooling from the absurdly low temperatures of this planet. The flood still felt cold. Were it not for the entourage behind him, Hurricane would’ve simply folded down into his alternate mode and raced to the engine.

And it was alright. He wasn’t alone. There were other, capable mechs in the team who could just as likely help in the repair process. But this was no ordinary engine. The Heart of Cybertron could just as likely vapourise all of them with gamma radiation as it could boost the engines. He tried not to think of that. Instead, he tried Hurricane relaxed his face a little bit. Stepping down the ramp towards the engine deck was a quiet moment, with the exceptions of footsteps. It felt a little uncanny, but that was alright.

It was dark in the engine deck here. Maybe the lighting wasn’t turned on in this section of the ship. Hurricane turned his headlights up to high beams and looked around. The lights were easily found, because all the newer Arks had similar electrical layouts to the original. As each light flickered on, one-by-one, the engine room lit itself.

Maybe it was the mental calculations of magnetic flux induction that Hurricane was crunching. Maybe it was the chill of the air. But when he saw the Heart of Cybertron, he, quite literally, stopped in his tracks.

The Ark--En Route to Engine Deck

Elita-1 had quickened her pace. Once there was a shared goal, the rough outline of a plan and a destination, there was no need to dither around.

Arriving not far behind Hurricane, Elita's energy sensors were going off the charts.

"Wow," was all she could utter for the moment as Hurricane activated the room's lighting and approached the highly powerful and dangerous engine.

The Ark – En route to Engine Deck

Thunderclash’s processor raced from point to point, both logical and theoretical, trying to work out the probable scenarios that could enfold any moment without much luck. He hated to admit it, but it appeared Hurricane’s analysis was accurate.

How long we can maintain the current truce will determine if we survive, he rationalized as they headed through the corridors.

Road Rage wrote: “Sir, if you don’t mind, I can provide assistance to Elita and the others in helping to reconnect the Heart of Cybertron. I may not be an engineer or a mechanic, but I do have a basic understanding of how a ship’s power source functions, and I’m fully capable of following their lead.”

Road Rage’s offer interrupted his thoughts, but it was welcomed. Focusing on one thing so blindly often led to a greater failure, or so he had learned through the eons. It hadn’t been the easiest lesson to learn.

Nodding, knowing that the more capable mechs they had working on it the better, he said, “Permission granted, Road Rage. We’ll need all capabe hands on this endeavor.”

Which leaves me out unless someone finds a working CR chamber. His right hip join locked up for a second, causing him to hesitate and swing it around before it unlocked. Or a new body.

Once they reached the engineering deck, Thunderclash’s optics glowed as he allowed the enormity of the history behind the machinery to wash over him. Moments like this were often experienced by archeologists or tomb raiders that functioned on the fringe of their war, not simple warriors like himself.

Had he been organic and had tear tucks, he would’ve cried. Instead, he let out a relaxed sigh. “Even on this planet, history continues to live.” His optics shifted to Galvatron and Nova Prime. Their pressense pulled him back from his whimsical wandering and to the situation at hand.

The problems and violence of history survived as well, he thought before moving off to the side where he’d be out of the way of the still mobile mechs so they could get to work.

[The Ark - Engine Deck, The Heart of Cybertron]

Hurricane was still in disbelief that he was staring at the Heart of Cybertron itself. The Heart of Cybertron. Most would draw blood and annihilate others to be in possession of such a fuel source. Most would slaughter and leave no stone unturned until this kind of energy was in their hands.

And here they were, in the first Ark’s engine deck. This was their exit ticket. If it wasn’t, then they could wait until their circuitry was refrigerated. What a wonderful life. He turned to the ancient mechs, and Nova Prime in particular. He brainstormed about what he should say, and did so as quickly as he could. In the end, he decided he was going to converse his message to him in his mother tongue.

“Ɗσ I нανє ρєямιѕѕιση, Ɩσяɗ?”

He hoped that it was correct. The accent, the syntax, the vocabulary, everything. Whatever the case was, they had plenty of engineering capable hands in their crew. The repair work was not the main issue. It was a question of authority, a commodity that Hurricane did not and would not have in this situation. Not even Thunderclash or Elita, really. It was all down to the words. There was an old saying, something along the lines of the stylus being mightier than the blade. He would have to guide his stylus correctly here, or it might just be the blade that ends up reducing him to cinders.

The Ark

Galvatron's response was one of tolerance. He did not agree, but that did not matter. As he had said, if their lay ill intent amongst these Cybertronian....refugees...they would learn the error of their ways very quickly.

“Ɗσ I нανє ρєямιѕѕιση, Ɩσяɗ?” the Cybertronian who appeared to be leading their efforts at restoring the Heart of Cybertron asked, in deference to the mechs standing before him. It was a gesture that bemused the Prime somewhat.

"That you do. Impress us all with your restorative skill," Nova responded.

As Nova watched, he thought of all the information that had been provided to them since their re-awakening. So much time. So much time had been lost due to this...this what? Flight error? Sabotage?

Nova turned to Galvatron.

"What do we know of the cause of...this?" Nova Prime said, gesturing in a way that indicated their current predicament on this ice world.

The Ark – Engine Deck

Thunderclash wrote:“Permission granted, Road Rage. We’ll need all capable hands on this endeavor.”

“Thank you, sir,” Road Rage responded as they entered the Ark's engine deck. The crimson femme made her way forward until she had reached both Elita-1 and Hurricane, who were already in sheer awe of the Heart of Cybertron. Hurricane then followed that up by conversing with Nova Prime, himself. Nova quickly gave them permission to get the powerful engine back up and running, hoping to be impressed by these Cybertronians that had found him and the very first Ark.

“I’m here to help, too,” Road Rage said to Elita and Hurricane. The former bodyguard’s optics then fixated on the legendary Heart of Cybertron. Now, she was the one in awe. “Wow is right.” Shaking her cranium slightly in order to pull her eyes away from the impressive engine, Road Rage glanced over at Elita-1. “So, where do we begin?”

"What do we know of the cause of...this?" Nova Prime said, gesturing in a way that indicated their current predicament on this ice world.

Galvatron’s optics narrowed out of anger as Nova Prime addressed him. Not because of the question. But because of the memories this particular question stirred in him. Betrayal by the one they had all trusted with their lives. The chief theoretical strategist of Nova Prime, a pioneering scientist whose genius had made their quest would possible through designing the Ark and harnessing the power of Heart of Cybertron to power its voyage across the stars – Jhiaxus.

”Sabotage.” Galvatron hissed in a lesser used dialect of ancient Cybertronian. ”During your recharge cycle, just as we were approaching the fringe of the spatial anomaly within the Benzuli Expanse - we suddenly lost all power and the ability to pilot the Ark.”

”Through the ships’ windows, one of my men observed a shuttle being launched from the hangar only moments after the blackout took place. Cyclonus and Scourge pursued the vessel but we lost contact with them as the spatial anomaly swallowed us into what looked like a warp storm.” The ancient warrior continued, his optics smoldering of hatred.

”Once we managed to activate the ship’s emergency power cells it was already too late. We were in an uncharted sector of space and on a collision course with this accursed planet. All we could do was brace for the impact.” He added, practically snarling. ”Many of us survived the impact. But as far as I know, only us three survived the countless vorns of forced hibernation. However this much I know – once the power went out, I searched the ship and went through our roster personally. And of this I am certain – it was Jhiaxus who betrayed us and boarded that shuttle. And had not these strangers wandered into the Ark, we would have all died a slow death for the life support system had been sabotaged as well. Most of the crew died of energon deprivation during the forced hibernation by the ship’s emergency protocols. Jhiaxus had no intention of allowing you to ever wake up from stasis.”

The Ark--Engine Deck

“I’m here to help, too,” Road Rage said. Elita-1 nodded. between the likes of Road Rage, Hurricane and Nautica, hopefully they would have the expertise necessary to restore this priceless piece of Cybertronian history to its original functioning.

“So, where do we begin?” Road Rage asked.

Elita smirked.

"Whatever he needs," she said, pointing at Hurricane. "Engineering is not my wheelhouse. But I have Nautica en route as well. She's something of a savant in this arena, so if you two run into any complications, I'd confer with her. I've got her patched in so you guys can at least communicate via comm until she gets here."

[The Ark - Engine Deck, The Heart of Cybertron]

Nova Prime wrote:"That you do. Impress us all with your restorative skill,"

Hurricane didn’t respond. He didn’t need to, because he had work to do and that was to make sure that this thing looked as good as it could. Sure, Nautica would certainly be a better fit at this, but Hurricane had a good amount of experience with science and engineering. Stepping away from the rest of them, he approached the engine, looking at it from top to bottom. Impressive, sure, but it would need some fixing.

As far as he could remember, it worked similar to a traditional singularity engine, at least that’s what he remembered of it. He first decided to check the plasma collectors - that was the most important aspect, because those would be the first and most direct connection to the fuel cores. Walking across over to the engine’s site, he stopped for a moment to check some of the tools. Blowtorches, drivers, measurement and calibration devices… there seemed to be some of everything. Gesturing the red femme to the tools, Hurricane said, “Road Rage, take a few of these.”

The various platforms and lifts around the engine would allow him to move around, so he got onto one, hoping that Road Rage was just behind, and flicked the switch to go up. Once they were at the top, Hurricane got off, carefully placing his footsteps as lightly as he could. He approached two large arrays at the top of the Heart, moving his optics left to right as quickly as he could. He made sure to scan everything he possibly could, looking for signs of damage or frost. Everything looked to be mostly intact… with the exception of one of the ionic energy storage units. That didn’t look too good. He walked over to it, avoiding tripping over anything, and beckoned for Road Rage.

“We will need to fix that one. Can you turn the sequential flow valve to maximum and hold that piston in place while I disengage the emitters?” As he said so, he gestured clearly to the parts he was referring to.

This would be a hefty undertaking. He could fix the IESUs… but his mind would really be put to the test with things of a more complex nature. And this wasn’t just made by any random scientist. This was Jhiaxus’ work. One of the most brilliant minds in all of Cybertronian history. It’ll take a while.

The Ark – Engine Deck, The Heart of Cybertron

Elita-1 wrote:"Whatever he needs. Engineering is not my wheelhouse. But I have Nautica en route as well. She's something of a savant in this arena, so if you two run into any complications, I'd confer with her. I've got her patched in so you guys can at least communicate via comm until she gets here."

Road Rage looked over at Hurricane and then back at Elita-1. “Okay, you got it!” The crimson femme then followed the white and blue mech over to where Heart of Cybertron was. “I’m here to assist.”

Hurricane wrote:“Road Rage, take a few of these.”

Road Rage nodded and bent down to pick up the kit full of tools they would need to get this massive engine started again. She then followed Hurricane onto a lift which swiftly took them to the top of the Heart of Cybertron. Following Hurricane, the former bodyguard carefully stepped onto the powerful engine and approached a large pair of arrays before then moving over to one of the ionic energy storage units, which looked like it had seen better days.

Hurricane wrote:“We will need to fix that one. Can you turn the sequential flow valve to maximum and hold that piston in place while I disengage the emitters?”

“Sure thing,” Road Rage replied with a smile as she paid close attention to the parts he was gesturing to. The crimson warrior then gently knelt down and carefully turned the valve in question up to maximum before she then held the piston steady. “Okay, disengage those emitters, Hurricane.”

[The Ark - Engine Deck, The Heart of Cybertron]

Road Rage wrote:“Okay, disengage those emitters, Hurricane.”

Road Rage’s go-ahead was all Hurricane needed. He quickly got to work, tugging on the handles to the emitters, twisting and turning them in an unscrewing fashion with all the strength he could. The cold had certainly done a number and these handles were incredibly tight. What was maybe only a few nanokliks felt like several kilobreems passing, but when he was done… *Clink!* It had set into place. Now that the emitters were disengaged, Hurricane could sigh in relief. All the ionic energy storage units were fixed now. The rest he could do from the terminal. He turned his head to the femme near him, and nodded. “Thank you, Road Rage. Let’s go back down, shall we?”

He didn’t wait for a response because he knew Nova Prime’s clock was ticking. His clock was ticking. All of their clocks were ticking and if they wanted that clock to stop ticking, they’d have to get this engine ticking. Within a few moments, he was back down at the ground, facing the terminal’s dead, black screen. The controls were somewhat archaic, but they weren’t too different from a regular Ark’s controls. They’d do fine for now. He booted the terminal up, the faint drone-like humming sound emanating from it.

The only issue was, it was encryption-protected. Hurricane knew how to speak and understand old Cybertronian, but reading the glyphs and cracking the code was an entirely different issue. He scanned everything with his optics, taking in the file encryptions, and began mentally deciphering the pile in front of him. “Just a breem more, my lord,” he said, to hopefully give some reassurance to the Prime and his aides.