Author's notes: for those of you who are just here for the first time, this is not a stand-alone, but rather a sequel of my previous work, "Darkness in the Light", which you can find through my account, or simply through copying this URL and paste it after "...net" in your browser:
/s/13085938/1/Darkness-in-the-Light
Hence the reason why the story starts at chapter 5, to pick up from chapter 4 from the last one.
If you decide to proceed anyway, then this work won't make much sense to you, since most of its material is taken from the first one, where I basically reinvent the TF universe into a semi-AU that, eventhough is based mostly on authentic materials, is reintepreted in a completely different manner. Though if you wish to continue whatsoever, I hope it won't be too confusing for you to catch up, as I will try to put myself in the position of a new reader everytime I write a chapter.
For those of you who are already familiar with my first work, as promised, I've returned after 2 months. I'm sincerely honoured that you deem my work worthy of following up until now, and as so I would try my very best to make it even better. I really hope you will enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for my OC, plot, ideas, etc, nor do I profit from anything.
CHAPTER 5
#Peace before the Storm
PART 1
#Return
"Okay, I've been walking forever, and my peds are killing me! When will we finally get there, Bossbot?" Inquired an agitated Rumble, for what could've easily passed for the hundredth time despite his previous unyielding attempts.
"Oh, for the love of Primus, would you knock it off? You're basically whining like a three-vorn-old sparkling, so either cut the crap, or be scrapped!" Frenzy, with his dual piledrivers charged, stood in his red counterpart's path like a menace, unsaid challenge ringing aloud.
"Oh, you want a fight? Well then, come get it! I've been itching for one forever!" Copying his sibling's gesture, the mech crouched down low, ready to pound on the other mech at any given moment.
Rumble and Frenzy: cease and desist.
"Yikes!" Both mecha jumped in surprise at their creator's unexpected telepathic interruption, the fact that it was disembodied and ethereal adding a certain haunted quality to the originally deep tremble emitted from his unique vocalizer only served to unsettle the two flinchy mecha even further. Seemingly satisfied with the temporary peace and thoroughly committed to enjoying it while it still lasted, the mech in question stepped forward and took the lead without so much as a turn of the helm, leaving his two smaller minions scurrying with their not-so-lengthy peds to catch up. Up above the sky, Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw shared amused cackles as they perched themselves on the master communicator's left and right shoulder pads respectively, crooking their helm aside to observe their fellow siblings' rigorous effort at not being left behind. Needless to mention, the two humanoid creations were pissed.
"Hey! How come they get to land on your shoulders and we don't? Where's the equality in that?" Rumble demanded, optics glaring daggers at the two flyers, who, obviously, were quite enjoying themselves, if their feigned sympathetic helmshakes was of any indication.
"Most importantly, how can you just ignore us and walk on like that? Come on, we didn't get Ravage's agility hind peds in our schematics, or operational wingspans for that matter! We only get this… ugly… tube, on both of our servos, and what, you expect us to match your speed?" Frenzy called after his master, whom, unsurprisingly, had left a considerably great distance between them that their incessant whining was of a volume minimal enough to be tuned out. As currently, the mech was rather more interested in observing his surroundings, especially so after being underground for nearly 3 megacycles. The metal path they were treading on was still in new condition, though the horrendous acid rain just a megacycle ago had done quite a number on it, for the corrosion was still taking place, and rust flakes crumbled under their weight wherever their peds made contact with. Besides sticking to crevices and transformation seams, the problem was barely serious enough to actually represent risk of infrastructure collapse, though it did earn him quite an audio-receptor-ful of complaints from Ravage whose perfectly maintained paintjob was, as he had so tactfully put it, "been damned beyond salvation". Of course, he himself did not favour upsetting any of his creations if he could help it, but with the entire city state of Iacon in ruins, this was the best he could manage.
A droplet of acidic precipitation hit his vents, sizzling in his ultra-sensitive audio receptors, causing the mech to take a brief pause in his steps. Ever since that battle, acid rains have been torrenting down on the entire planet ruthlessly, as if Primus, in his wrath of witnessing his own creations battling and decimating one another, decided that they were no longer worthy of living on his forged planet, and so was putting in any attempt to completely wipe their race out of existence. Fortunately, he had the forethought to equip every of his creations, alongside himself, with Shockwave's brilliant invention of a personal force field. Activating the gadget, the mech welcomed the ticklish sensation of an electrical buzz coursing through the outer plating of his frame, before the acidic burn was replaced by a cool, healing numbness. Checking around to see his minions doing the same, the mech resumed his walk, though more mindful of every step, should the acid eat away at a vulnerable structural conjunction.
It had been only 3 megacycles since the scientist had done that experiment on him, but in a way it had felt like vorns, as if he had always had it, and the lack of it now would only unsettle him rather than make him feel any better. He was still self-conscious, and would still continue to yearn for a normal faceplate in probably a long time to come, but the comfortable sensation of just knowing what others around him are scheming about had long integrated into his life and become nothing more but an extended section of his personal musing. Yet, for the entirety of the time he had spent with the telepathic add-on, he had only been surrounded by his cassettes, those whom he knew dear and called his own, whose deepest secret he was entrusted with, and tight-bonding relationship cherished, unlike many others he had put up with for the sake of diplomacy, first while in the arena, then later when serving in Megatron's army. He never felt at ease with anymech else other than his own minions, and they, likewise, shared the exact same sentiments. Hence, his telepathy still needed further practice, whether he liked it or not, because only unless he was going back to the abominable scientist's lair for another non-consensual experiment with the off-chance that the mentally unstable mech would find the goodness in his spark to somehow remove the telepathy – if that was even possible - and replace it with his own faceplate, which was entirely, thoroughly and undoubtedly unlikely, not to mention his absolute objection, then it would stick with him for good, and he'd rather having mastered it sooner than later in the war when every mistake could cost him his life.
The faint muttering of a foreign processor registered in his net, and the mech finally let out a vent of relief. Unlatching his chest compartment, he ejected his most senile creation, the cassette projecting gracefully through the air in a perfect arc while the transformation sequence activated until it landed on the ground on all four peds under the form of his feline minion, Ravage. Displaying distaste for the crumbling rust flakes under his peds, the creature growled at his two bipedal siblings who scurried behind Soundwave's peds for protection, while the beast grinned, amused with asserting dominance over co-creations he deemed lower than himself. Rather than letting their supposedly friendly sibling rivalry devolve into an outright war of dentas and talons, Soundwave interrupted.
"Ravage: eject. Operation: scout, determine hostility, acquire permission for entrance." Acknowledging his task with a quick nod, the feline slipped into the cover of the night, his every steps as soft as feather on cusion, slim form disapeared from optic sight to melt as one with the shadow as the mech carried out his mission in discretion unrivaled. Waiting until the menace was a safe distance away, the red humanoid mech shouted into the dark where he was certain the feline wasn't anywhere close.
"Hah! Run like a little organic kitty, you smug freak! I swear, one of these cycles…
"Wait! We aren't making an explosive entrance? But what about all those detpacks I've built? You can't be serious, Bossbot!" Exclaimed the blue mech, disappointment overshadowing his faceplate.
"Infiltration mission: negative. Impulsive behaviour: unadvisable."
"Wait, wha-
But by the time Frenzy was coming up with a retort, the mech had already tuned him out to extend a tendril of his telepathy – a practice he had been able to master after a few cycles of trailing his creations – to wrap around the processor of his dispatched minion, quickly analyzing every intel the feline was able to collect on his reconnaissance mission. From the creature's night vision, every small corner and alley of Iacon city was revealed beyond his optics, scenario unchanging as ruins after indiscernible ruins follow after one another. Smolten debris, collapsed buildings and suffocating smoke could best describe a war-torn Iacon, and everywhere his creation went, greyed-out frames of deactivated mecha yet to be attended to littered the ground, either in whole or in pieces depending on the amount of damage their unfortunate owners sustained before their sparks finally gave out, spilt puddles of blue Energon since long evaporated to leave behind a trail of grey, lifeless residual bearing little resemblance to the vital blue life-giving substance it used to be. As the mech neared the source of the foreign thought, such occurrences of mass massacre became less and were replaced by occasional temporary tents set up in a hurry, whose interior furnishing suggested either to house homeless mecha or to tend to those with grave injuries. The first appearance of a half-rebuilt building was fairly close to the center of the city, signifying the mass concentration of survivor mecha closeby, and just as he expected, Ravage found the owner of said thought in an Enforcer guarding post just a few blocks from there.
"Target found. What do you want me to do, Boss?" The feline crept by the unlit part of a semi-sturdy wall, optics trailing his prey unrelenting and unwavering for even an astroklick.
"Operation: attempt communication. Conviviality: advisable."
"What!? You want me to be friendly!?" The mech almost growled back, forcing Soundwave to clamp his telepathic tendril shut on his minion's vocalizer, a neat trick he learnt coincidentally by willing Rumble to shut up once, which, to his dismay, actually worked.
So, being controlled - and literally manipulated, Primus forbid – by a telepath meant Ravage didn't get much choice in the matter. So the mech trodded silently across the short distance to the stranger, taking great care not to bare his acute dentas or sharp talons for fear of evoking responses to aggression and possible threat, and particularly in an illuminated area where the dual moons' ray were reflected off a panel of glass so as not to appear too suddenly from the dark and run risk of startling the other mech. Yet, his attempts were in vain, because just as he extracted himself from the cover of the dark, the guard headed back inside his post to converse with another fellow Enforcer, totally unaware of the approaching mech while his back was facing the entrance.
The other mech, though, was much more perceptive, and he noticed straight away the presence of the quadpedal mech, something that would slip most others' notice. And though most would pass it for an anonymous cyberrat scurrying unsuspiciously through the night, that specific mech would never. Not with all of his processing might, and especially not so after he he had been discretely spying on the creature ever since its entourage reached the outskirt of the city state.
For the mech was the only one who could truly understand why the animalistic creature was conversing with what appeared to be no one other than himself the whole time, and so was the telepathically observing mech the only one to realize he had been spotted just by the mere reddish glimmer of a red chevrolet in the moons' shining aura.
"Hello, old friend."
P/s: anyone who had a suspicion that it was either Soundwave or Prowl as my centric in this one, then congratulations, you are both correct! I promise I won't drop Orion or his wonderful plotline anytime soon, as he will be introduced into this one a few chapters later.