Information can be deadlier than any weapon known to bot. Shooting your enemy could cause malfunction…or if you're lucky, the extinguish of their spark….however, acquiring data that could crumble their reputation on not just their planet, but across the galaxy would cause a more painful and slow death. The better you were in obtaining confidential data, the more power you could proclaim. It was very profitable and provided excellent insurance. No one would dare cross you, for fear that you may actually live and leak out their deepest darkest secrets.
With that respect, Soundwave was one of the most powerful bots on Cybertron even though he didn't hold a place among the Elite. Soundwave hardly spoke and if he did…it was short and to the point. He was more of a listener and for a very good reason: Sixty percent of his memory contained data…data that no one especially in the Senate wanted out.
Standing next to where his new master sat, Soundwave remained quiet…the only noise inside the room was the soft humming of his processor. Finally breaking the silence, Megatron spoke up, "Waiting to fill up your memory bank some more, Soundwave?"
"My Lord?" The other's metallic voice questioned.
Unlike his previous employers, Megatron was smarter than to put his entire trust into his new ally. After all, Soundwave was the one who found him. His reasons were probably only what Megatron wanted to hear….he was pretty mysterious. But whatever his intentions were, Megatron heard of Soundwave's reputation even in the lower parts of Kaon…this was to his advantage.
"Soundwave…I have a different job for you….one that you may not be accustomed to." Megatron answered. Smiling at the thought of what he wanted, he rested his head against his right hand, which was prompt on the arm of the chair he was sitting in. "Go into Crystal City….and bring me back a flight-capable combatant. Prove your loyalty to me and why you wear that…" He turned his head to address the bot beside him and pointed to his emblem on the bot's chest plate.
"As you command, Lord Megatron." Soundwave replied in his monotone voice without hesitation.
Crystal City was nothing like Kaon. It was on the upper part of Cybertron and the bright lights shined for miles. Entering the city, Soundwave scanned his location with his optics, then moved to an alley. There were lots of locations that the fliers could be at….but it would take time….and time is not what his master had. Soundwave was slow and with his current reputation, he knew it would be best to remain undetected in the shadows until the fliers were located. Three cassettes ejected out from his chest plate and transformed into the smaller robots: Ravage, Rumble and Lazerbeak. "Operation: Search and locate one of the fliers." Lazerbeak shot up into the air to do air surveillance while Ravage ran off towards the left.
Rumble with a smirk said, "Don't worry, big guy. Old Rumble will locate one of the flyboys for ya!" The smaller robot ran off to the right.
Darting in and out of the alley ways, Rumble was becoming aggravated. No communication yet from his comrades or Soundwave so no flier was located. "This is becoming a pain in my gear shaft." Seeing Prowl walking down the street that he was on, Rumble froze at first. Had he been spotted? "Slag me…" Rumble gritted his teeth and then darted quickly to the right into a building. He didn't even bother to look where he was going. All he knew now was to get out of sight and fast!
Diving behind a crate, Rumble remained quiet to make sure that he wasn't followed. After several astro-seconds, Rumble stood up, his processor slowing down. That was close….too close. "Next time be careful, Rumble, or you may have fragged the entire mission and old Soundwave wouldn't have been too happy…" Looking around, his audio receptors picked up what appeared to be some sort of electronic beat….with rhythm! It was coming deeper inside the building.
Following the trail of beats, Rumble walked in what appeared to be some sort of night club for the Elite. A smile appeared on the small robot's face as he surveyed the area. "I gotta take Soundwave here one day."
A fembot stopped to address him. "Hi there! Welcome to Omega Afterlife. Energon is half off tonight." With that she hurried off to serve a customer.
Rumble's eyes lit up. "Energon…." He scurried over to find an empty spot at the bar, struggling to climb up onto the seat which was intended for mechs much larger than him. "Bring me some of that Energon! I'm starvin'!" He called to the worker. He rubbed his hands eagerly in anticipation. It had been awhile since he actually had Energon and some high quality of that….ever since Soundwave stayed with Megatron in Kaon….the taste of pure Energon was almost foreign to him.
"Rumble, report…" Soundwave's voice came over his radio.
"Easy, big guy. I'm still lookin." Rumble replied back soothingly as he impatiently watched the worker prepare the Energon for him. The look of it was so sweet that he could almost taste it on his lips.
Just as the worker placed the small cubicle before him, Rumble snatched it and buried his head in it, gulping it down as fast as he could. The other mechs seemed to stop and watch the bizarre sight in front of them. They began to converse with one another in whispers. Hiccupping, Rumble slammed the now empty cubicle back down and wiped the glowing liquid from his mouth. "Bring anotha!"
"Hey, Starscream, take a look at this…" A mech laughed nearby. A blue flier nudged his comrade who was sitting next to Rumble. "That puny mech consumed more than you did already." The black and purple flier who was sitting on the other side of him snickered.
"Thundercracker, so help me…"Starscream gritted his teeth from the remark.
"Hey! Who you calling puny?!" Rumble shouted as he glared over, but then his jaw dropped. RIGHT THERE were the fliers!
Starscream chuckled. "What's the matter? Did you burn up a diode?"
"I have been looking all over for ya!" Rumble hopped down to address the three fliers eagerly. He then radioed Soundwave. "I found them! I'll send you the coordinates."
"Transmission received. Tracking now…stay at your location." Soundwave replied.
"Looking for us?" The black and purple flier known as Skywarp asked. "You some kind of bounty hunter?"
"Well that would be the third one after us in 2 cycles, Skywarp," Thundercracker chuckled as he turned back around to attend to the Energon that was before him. "I am pretty sure we can handle this one. "
"I am not afraid of you, flyboys!" Rumble shot back. There were 2 things that burnt him up: Dissing his size and putting down Soundwave.
Starscream reached down and picked up Rumble by his fingertips, lifting up to where their optic sensors met. "We may just keep you for amusement."
Slamming his cubicle down, Thundercracker wiped his lips. "I'm done. Let's get out of here, Starscream." He got up from where he sat and began to walk towards the building's entrance.
Rumble struggled as Starscream and Skywarp followed their trinemate. "You can't leave until Soundwave talks to you!"
Stopping outside, Starscream looked at Rumble in frustration. "Look….microbot…spill your circuits or be vaporized," he raised his weapon at him. "I have no time for games."
Suddenly a sharp pain coursed through Starscream's body and he fell back to the ground in front of his trinemates. "Release him!" Soundwave ordered as he stood in front of the fliers. The impact caused Starscream to lose his grip on Rumble, causing the smaller bot to become free.
"Bout time you got here!" Rumble praised as he transformed back into cassette mode and went back inside Soundwave's chest plate.
The 2 remaining standing fliers instantly raised their weapons on Soundwave as their fallen comrade regained his balance. "Your assistance is required." Soundwave spoke out first.
"I'm really getting tired of this, Starscream." Skywarp growled in annoyance. He just wanted to kill the mech in front of them and for them to be on their way.
"I'm with, Skywarp." Thundercracker added as he glanced over to their air commander.
Starscream narrowed his eyes. Unlike his brethren, he recognized Soundwave. If he was asking for them, there had to be a reason. Soundwave was not an assassination bot and if he was sent to locate them, he wouldn't have given away his location, even if it was to recover one of his droids. "I'll give you 15 astro-seconds to state your purpose."
"Megatron requests a flight-capable combantant."
"Megatron?" Skywarp lowered his weapon some. "You mean the arena fighter in Kaon?"
"You must have your circuits crossed. I am not an entertainer." Thundercracker added.
"Location not secure for any more information." Soundwave stated.
Starscream studied the larger mech in front of them. He heard about the arena fights in Kaon from the vid feeds and from what he heard in the clubs, Megatron was the favorite of the bouts. At first he didn't believe that a lower class mech could gain such power, but after their incursion with Soundwave, he was beginning to tear away all doubt. Besides even if this was a trap, there was no way any lower class mech could take on a flier, one of the Elite, definitely not three. It would be to their advantage in every aspect to follow Soundwave and see where this would take them. "Very well. All three of us shall follow you, but if this is a trick…I will tear out your spark myself."
"What do you want?" Megatron asked as he sat in his chair being repaired from his bout while Soundwave was out on his search. The arena fights served their purpose….but he was ready for something more…and he was becoming impatient. He was not in the best of moods.
"Your request for a flight-capable combatant?" Soundwave walked in behind where his master sat.
"Hrm…you have one?"
"Negative…I present three." With that, in walked Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp.