Smoothie's One Shots and Short Stories

The Ship/Cave In (Transformers)

"Optimus," Ratchet said, typing frantically into the console in front of him, "I found a faint signal a few miles from here."

The map displayed was slightly fuzzy, but the red dot that had appeared on it was quite clear.

"A signal?" Arcee questioned, "What kind of signal? Like a bot or something?"

"No," Ratchet replied, "It's too faint to determine exactly what it is, but it isn't an energon signal."

"So what do you think it could possibly be?" Bulkhead asked.

"I am unsure..."

"Whatever it may be," Optimus finally stepped in, "It may be an advantage to us, and whatever it is, we cannot allow the decepticons to find it."

"It could be a trap..." Ratchet mumbled.

"That is a risk I am willing to take." Optimus replied.

Ratchet nodded, moving to the groundbridge controls.

"Ratchet, you may need to accompany Bulkhead and I on this mission." Optimus said, "This may be a clouded autobot signal and they may be injured."

Ratchet hesitated before turning to Arcee.

"You'll have to manage the groundbridge..." Ratchet mumbled, pulling a medical kit from his subspace.

Arcee  rolled her optics and strutted over to the groundbridge control panel, plugging in the coordinates. The three mechs stepped through the portal, appearing on the other side seconds before it shut behind them.

They stepped through into what looked to be a cave deep underground, which meant that communication would need to be kept to a minimum.

Optimus attempted to use a scanner to locate whoever or whatever this was, but it was malfunctioning. The screen was turning to static every few seconds and it was difficult to see where the signal was emitting from.

"Proceed with caution," Optimus warned, placing the scanner back in his subspace and activating his headlights.

The team spread out to search for the signal. There was water dripping from the roof, causing them to swipe water away from their face plates. Optimus swiped at several of them as he wandered forward.

"Have you found anything?" He heard Bulkhead question through the comm.

"No," Ratchet replied, "Primus damn this blasted planet's cave systems!"

"Remain vigilant" Optimus said again, taking notice of the sudden halt of water dropping from the ceiling.

Optimus didn't think to look up before, which he silently scolded himself for. He took a glance up, not really expecting anything, but his senses betrayed him.

Above him, there was what looked to be the bottom of a silver flagship. The vessel had been lodged between the walls of the narrow passage he had been traveling down. Optimus would have guessed that this was a cliff at some point and rocks had simply fallen from the ceiling.

"I believe I have found something," Optimus said into his comm.

"What did you find?" Ratchet replied almost immediately.

"It seems to be a vessel of some kind," Optimus continued, "It is lodged up higher in the cave... I do not believe that it is stable enough for more than one bot to be up there at a time. Or at least two bots of our stature."

"What's the course of action, boss?" Bulkhead asked.

"I am sending you my location, I will attempt to climb into the ship."