After he returned from his investigation, Optimus Prime was stumped. His curiosity about how a vessel such as the one he discovered arrived on Earth without their knowing, and how it came down. He couldn't see any noticeable damage to signal a battle. Despite the small surface damage and destroyed guns, that's all the signs of a fight he can see. He concluded that it wasn't shot down but deliberately crashed. Most likely a decision on behalf of the vessel's captain. For what reason and purpose is unclear, but it didn't look like anyone survived the crash. It did pain him to think of such an outcome, but it's not like it's the first ship he's investigated. During the War, there were plenty of ships that crashed that he went to investigate. He just hopes that if anyone did survive, they're somewhere on this planet lying low and going about their business without harming the native life.
His team's medic watches him as he comes into the base, quickly noticing the almost somber expression on the prime's face.
Ratchet: "What happened?" he asks, calmly.
The Autobot leader looks at his Medic, clearing himself of any negative thoughts.
Optimus: "the vessel had crash landed 1 and a half or 2 humans years ago. As for the occupants, I couldn't find any sources of life. But the vessel remains fairly intact, the main engines sustained little to no damage. The bulk of the damage is at the bow of the starship." he explains.
Ratchet: "No signs of life? So your certain the occupants are deceased?" he asks, calmly.
Optimus: "Or, the survivors are peacefully living on this planet. But your assumptions appear to be the most likely outcome." he clarifies. "However, I was unable to determine the vessel's true origin and what it's mission could have been."
Ratchet quickly adopted a thoughtful expression. Trying to theorize at the potential reasons why a possible Republic vessel was doing all the way out here on Earth. The Galactic Republic is lightyears away, an entirely different GALAXY even. It puzzled him to no end as without a Space Bridge, he couldn't see how it could have possibly shown up at Earth and evaded their sensors. They would've detected its presence long before it crashed. Maybe then they could have rescued any potential survivors, if there even was any to save.
Ratchet: "I can't help but shed an ounce of concern. A Republic warship suddenly turning up on Earth cannot be a good sign." he says, sharing his concerns about the situation.
Optimus: "A logical assumption old friend. However, we must not jump to conclusions until we know the true nature of the ships original mission." he responds, shedding his two cents to put a reasonable conclusion to the medic's statement.
Ratchet: "Which we'll never know. It's not like we can walk into the ship, it wasn't built for something like us." he continues, adding a counter argument to the Prime's recent claim.
Optimus: "well I understand your concern. There is not much we can do, but wait." he said, calmly. "If it truly has been 2 human years, then I highly doubt any negative motives followed the crew of the starship."
Ratchet: "But that's the question. If any did survive, where in the world are they? Not like they can just live in their crashed ship." he said. "If there even were any survivors, considering you couldn't find any signs of life."
Optimus: "if, by any means, a single crewmember survived the crash. They most likely took refuge on this world." he explains, maintaining his gentle yet stoic tone of voice.
The silence emanating from the medic speaks volumes. A simple nod followed the silence as the doc accepted the Prime's claims. Unable to find a counter argument to further his concerns—Which he's thankful for. Even though he claims to despise humans to a degree, he does show some levels of concern for their well-being. Especially when something like this current incident happens. An unidentified warship from a faction far off in the stars that previously had no business in this galaxy. He's just glad Optimus was able to ease his concerns.
However, their assumptions were wrong.
Back at the crash site, (Y/n) had made his way into the hanger to look for something. When he first stepped foot into the hanger bay, all he saw are the corpses of the former crew members and stormtroopers that once occupied it before he killed them all. He didn't care for a second about them as he wasn't looking for survivors, he was looking for something else. He looked around and soon found his Twin Ion Engine Interceptor. It's surprisingly intact despite the hard landing the Voidstar must've made. He unconsciously let out a sigh of relief, glad to know he at least has some form of transport on this planet. But he wanted to assess the damage of the ship, so he keeps the TIE Interceptor in mind and makes his head towards the command deck. The halls are deathly quiet, only signs of it once being inhabited are the dead remains of stormtroopers and other Imperial personnel. The almost ghost town feeling of the ship didn't frighten the Sith in the slightest.
(Y/n) has seen many more horrific sights than this. Most of them he could care less about and others that did outright make him afraid. But he'll never admit it or say what scared him. He got rid of those thoughts from his mind as it wasn't worth his while, thinking of ghost stories. He made his way into the empty command center of the Arquitens light cruiser. All that was present was the faint sound of the wind whistling outside of the vessel against its metal hull. The vacant room gave off an eerie vibe. If someone random stumbled upon the vessel and didn't know its origins, this ship's current state would freak them out. Especially if they found (Y/n) still in cryogenic stasis. But it seems like no one's touched his ship in years which begs the question in his mind, how long has he been asleep?
He can think about it later. He approaches some of the main computers on the vessel to see if he can at least turn on the holographic projection table on the bridge. After some trial and error, he manages to turn on some of the ships' systems. But only the systems that'll let him inspect the damage to his ship. He quickly brought up a damage report and saw various red markings signaling the damage sustained from the crash. The engines were okay besides a few dents on its outer shell, some of the guns on the ship were destroyed—most likely because of Rebel fighters—while the rest were disabled. The bow of his ship sustained the most damage and would take time to repair. But if given enough time, he might be able to get the Voidstar back into the skies above. But he's worried he won't have the proper tools nor materials to fix his crashed warship.
After checking the damage, he proceeds to try and fix communication systems and other sensors. Since the Voidstar is still intact, he'll use it as a main base of operations. If it truly has been here for a couple years at most and still remains untouched and undiscovered, then it's perfect. All he'll need to do is at least get it airborne. That way he'll have a fully mobile base of operations. So, he takes a mental note of this priority. Fixing the Voidstar is top priority if he gets involved in any conflicts with either Pirates, Thugs, Smugglers or any Bounty Hunters. He knows he'll be hunted by the Rebels and their "new Republic" so he might as well be prepared for them. But he knows that he'll eventually be outnumbered and overrun if that hypothetical scenario comes to fruition. He needs soldiers, or at least an Army to help him in battle. He may have the Force, but he is not arrogant. He looks for any strategic advantage possible and tries his best to attain it.
He wants to ensure victory by any means necessary. After he finished fixing the communications, he realized that the sensors and radar systems were badly damaged. It'll take him longer to fix those. He's patient enough to take his time. But that weird automation he encountered earlier was definitely interesting. It wasn't like any Droid he's seen, nor any walker he's encountered. It was around the height of an AT-ST. But seemed to possess a mind of its own. He also sensed something inside the metal titan which is odd since he can't sense droids since they are, ya know, made of metal and not technically alive. But this automation has to have something that he can sense. It's weird and he wants to get to the bottom of it. After making sure nothing else is critically damaged, he makes his way to the hanger to see if his fighter is flight capable.
When he reaches the hanger, he goes straight to the interceptor. He knows it will be flight capable considering it's intact and doesn't seem affected by the crash. So, he climbs into the fighter after lifting up the hatch. He drops down into the cockpit and closes the hatch before taking a seat. He then looks around at the controls for a split second before flicking some switches and pressing several buttons. He then heard the familiar cry of the TIE Interceptor's engines firing up. He was surprised it still had power. Thank the force it did. He guides the ship towards the only open exit of the ship before blasting off. He zoomed out of the hanger and quickly ascended into the sky. He then stops ascending and remains high above.
He didn't plan on leaving the atmosphere, just to get enough altitude. He took a mental note of the Voidstar's location before blasting off to search around this planet. The automation he saw mainly on his mind as he wonders who built them. But while he has empty fields and valley's he tests the Interceptors' main weapons on the environment. The green laser bolts race towards the ground as they are launched from the main cannons of the TIE. They strike the ground with ferocious fury, making small craters and ripping apart several trees that they hit. After sending down a volley, he stops firing at the ground to pull up and dodge the incoming ground. As he climbs back into the sky, he gains a sliver of confidence that he'll be fine. But he needs to take multiple things into account. Not just the potential Bounty Hunter coming after him. So, his need for an Army is becoming a priority just like his priority in fixing the Voidstar.
But first things first, he needs to get the Voidstar airborne and figure out what the hell that automation was.
In the Autobot base, Ratchet was using the main console, searching for Decepticon activity when he spots a new signal that suddenly popped up out of no where. He brought up a map and saw that this new ship was leaving the crashed ship Optimus investigated. He saw the image of the ship and figured it was a fighter. Wait, a fighter!? His eyes widen when he notices that detail. If a fighter left the ship, that means someone survived the crash.
Ratchet: "Optimus!" he calls urgently.
The towering titan walks over to the medic, wondering what desired the urgent tone.
Optimus: "What is it Ratchet?" he asks.
Ratchet: "another beacon popped up. It came from the crashed vessel you investigated." he reports.
Optimus looked at the screen and saw the small ship. Seeing how fast it was going and seeing that it was leaving the crash site, it lit a spark of hope that perhaps the crew of the ship are alive and managed to get a small fighter operational. But he is cautious as he doesn't know where this Fighter is going.
Optimus: "Can you track it's location?" he asks.
Ratchet: "Certainly. Though, it's going to be hard to truly determine where it's going and who is piloting it." he replies with a nod. "And considering that this is a Fighter class starship, who knows what it's target is."
Optimus held a soft gaze towards the medic. He can hear the concern emanating from the doctor and he too shares some concern now. Especially since a FIGHTER class ship just left the crashed vessel which shares a similar origin. But he calms himself down as he considers the option that the Fighter was the only ship inside the crashed vessel that remained intact from the crash. Either way, whoever this survivor is, they are the only way for the Autobots to get a definitive answer to the crashed vessels mission before its crash.
Optimus: "continue to monitor the ship. They are our only way in determining the reason behind the vessel's existence on this planet." he orders.
Ratchet nods and resumes his duties while making sure to check the Fighter once in a while.