-The Moon, Several Days Later, 238,860 miles (382,500 km) away from Earth
It is similar to visiting a graveyard.
After a day long joureny through space on the custom, Cybertronian-man-made Autobot ship, the Atlas X, Optimus, Ratchet and Arcee moved across the surface of the earth's moon. Several of the small creatures created by NASA called "rovers" accompanied them. It would be akin to humans being accompanied by chimpanzees, but Optimus respected the humans' consideration.
"On some level, I'm hoping that we won't find what we're hoping to find," Arcee said as they walked closer to the wreckage.
"Why's that?" Ratchet asked.
"Better chance the Con's won't find it either if we can't," Arcee said. "Besides, I'm already feeling a lot of holes in this story, and it doesn't feel right..."
"Maybe," Optimus said.
As they walked, they passed the Lunar Plaque: "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon July 1969, . We came in peace for all mankind"
"If only they knew how close they were to first contact", Arcee said.
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The three Autobots stood in somber and awe of the massive, colossal wreckage spread out before them, just as the astronaut Aldrin described it. All of them remember witnessing its departure, certain that they would never see it again and that they were watched the final hopes of Cybertron vanish with it. How curious are the vagaries of fate to bring them to this point where they are reunited after millennia. Even with the ship destroyed, a shattered remnant of what it once was, Optimus know exactly where to go in order to find my old commander.
"The Command Chamber," he said, leading the way. "Optimus, I'll check for survivors," Arcee said, branching off to explorer the massive vessel.
"Prime, how's it going?" Agent Fowler chimed in.
Optimus nodded to Ratchet, and he follows him into the chamber. According to Aldrin, he and his companion were frightened and awed by what they saw.
"We have reached Tranquility base," Optimus said, giving the all clear code.
Him and Ratchet were filled with a sense of sadness and loss. All this time, he had held out some vague hope that perhaps, just perhaps, somehow the Ark had survived. Seeing their brethren frozen in death, seeing the definitive end of such fantasies, brings only pain.
They approached the giant hole in the floor known as the crash vault as if they entered a sacred tomb. And why not? To them, it truly is sacred. The astronauts never found the keypad that would allow entrance to the crash vault and, even had they done so, would have been unable to activate it.
"I'll do it," Optimus said. he walked directly to it, and moments later seven glyphs set into a wall are glowing at him and Ratchet. He tapped in the code, and the vault swings open.
