A new fic! Yes, I know. This is my first Transformers fic, so please... don't hurt me! Transformers isn't mine, as much as I love Soundwave.

I was told that this classifies as AU or Mirrorverse. Possible also crack. The 07 movie happened. And now, on to the story!

Oh, right. /this/ means telepathy. Should be clear, but just in case.


Looking at the stars, Rhianna tried to identify the constellations. Orion was easy enough, she never really had problems finding that one. The three stars that made his belt were low on the horizon, almost hidden by the trees that surrounded her. Turning a near one hundred and eighty degrees, Rhianna looked for the Big Dipper. She knew it was almost exactly opposite Orion, nice and high in the sky. From the Dipper, she progressed on to Polaris, bright and clear so far from the light pollution of any towns. That basically exhausted her knowledge of constellations, and Rhianna sighed.

A shooting star moved across the sky, the motion catching the girl's eye. She watched as it seemed to approach her, wondering if she should maybe get out of the way. Not that it would work, of course, she couldn't outrun a star, or would that be a meteor if it was falling to earth.

The light stopped suddenly, hovering for maybe a second before plummeting to earth. It was near enough that Rhianna felt the shock wave, the tremor of the ground and a rush of wind. She considered for a moment, then picked up her backpack and began jogging towards the landing site.

Rhianna was good at running, or at least decent, even in the dark of the forest. Which is to say, she didn't trip or fall, simply crashed through the underbrush with enough noise to alert the whole forest of her movements. After a good half hour of trying to run, Rhianna stopped, as suddenly as she could. Something about the woods seemed to have changed. She wasn't sure what, wasn't even sure why she was feeling this way, but somehow she knew it was time to stop running.

Approaching where she thought the meteor had landed, Rhianna now moved slowly, almost cautiously. After only a few walking steps, a form emerged from the forest as if to meet her. Starlight glinted off dark matte metal, and red eyes blazed as a feline figure padded into view.

Rhianna fought down the momentary instinctual panic. Running would do no good, would only encourage the creature to give chase. Instead, as the cat stalked closer, she held out her hand, speaking quietly.

"Hello, kitty. Aren't you a gorgeous thing," Rhianna murmured. She could see it better now, see that it appeared to be a robot for all it's feline form. "Remind me of those robots that were tearing up Mission City a while back… 'Course, that's probably more just 'cause you're a robot too. Whatcha doin' all the way out here, I wonder?" Rhianna continued to babble.

The robotic cat circled the human, a mechanical rumbling sounding all the while. After a few moments, during which Rhianna's speech was ignored, the panther sniffed delicately at her outstretched hand. Satisfied with the results, the cat bumped its head into Rhianna's hand until she stroked it.

Rhianna smiled at the actions of the cat, kneeling to pet it better. "You don't seem so bad. But I still bet you would have run me down right quick if I'd tried running. Big strong panther like you, I wouldn't have had any chance at all." The rumbling increased in volume slightly, the panther seeming to agree with her.

After enjoying the petting for a few moments, the black panther walked away. Before the darkness swallowed it completely, it stopped and looked back. Seeing that Rhianna was making no moves at all, the panther returned and circled around her, butting at her back lightly before walking away again. It repeated the actions a couple more times before Rhianna caught on and began to follow. The cat, seeming to realize Rhianna's difficulty navigating in the dark forest, dropped back again, walking beside her. Rhianna put a hand on the back of her strange companion, wondering where it was leading her.

The stars shone into a small clearing of downed trees. Smoke rose thinly from charred plants, the fire conquered by the still-green wood. Rhianna could easily see the huge silver robot standing in the clearing, red eyes matching those of her panther companion. She didn't immediately noticed the other robot, a little smaller than the silver one, dark with shinning highlights even in the meager starlight.

The cat gave a satisfied sounding mrow, leaping away from Rhianna to curl about the feet of the dark robot. Rhianna barely noticed, too busy looking at the larger robot. She had seen him on TV, in all his silver and gold glory, during the reports of the 'thing' at Mission City. According to the news casts, he had been the leader of the opposition. But then, according to the news casts, he was dead.

The tall robot spoke first, an idle menace in his words, despite his curiosity. "Why are you here, human?"

Rhianna shrugged slightly. "The cat brought me here."

"You seemed to be walking on your own," he said, somewhat incredulous.

"There wasn't any reason not to follow him," Rhianna answered. She didn't seem to be afraid, but even she wasn't sure if that was because she didn't believe what was happening, or if she just didn't care.

"There was no reason to follow her," the the obvious answer came as the robot casually formed a gun from his arm. The sound that accompanied the transformation was almost beautiful, but nothing could hide the clear threat he was offering.

She didn't care, Rhianna decided, looking into the gun aimed at her. "Oops… her, then. Sorry about that, cat," she answered, not quite able to look away from the barrel.

The robot looked around his gun to see Rhianna, trying to determine the cause of her unusual reaction. "Why are you not attempting to save you measly life, girl?"

Because I don't care, Rhianna's first thought was unvoiced. "Like I could stop you?" she asked, sounding genuinely curious. She wished she knew his name, that would have made her question more effective.

"That did not stop others of your kind from pleading with me," he answered with pleasure as he recalled the pitiful voices of the worms who had imprisoned him.

Rhianna didn't answer, trapped but unwilling to voice her thoughts. She toyed with the idea of dying, half-heartedly trying to bring herself to care. Death would be quick, she was sure, from the size of the barrel still facing her. There were things undone that she might want to do, but the possible might-be future didn't seem worth the trouble of pleading for life.

The silence dragged on, and finally Rhianna realized that all three of the mechanical being were waiting for her to answer. "I'm not them," she said, words falling into the night like lead.

Movement followed her comment, the cat leaving the dark mech's feet to stand by Rhianna again. The tall robot looked away from the human, meeting the optics of the silent robot. Some information seemed to pass between them, and the gun transformed back into an arm. Before Rhianna could determine what was happening, the silent mech moved, a collection of highlights in the night resolving into a gentle hand that scooped her up. There was the same noise that had accompanied the earlier transformations, and something seemed to fly into the dark robot. A moment later, the hand tipped Rhianna into a small holding space, apparently the same place the earlier thing had flown into.

At first there was only darkness, the faint sway of motion and whir of mechanics. Rhianna realized she was being taken some place, she couldn't even begin to guess where. Fear came then, fear of mis-treatment, of the unknown. She knew nothing about the people who now had her. The TV had said they were robots, most likely from North Korea. 'ICBM' had been mentioned, with the robots as a payload, a kind of quick attack system. Some of the people at school had insisted they were 'mecha' with human pilots, like in the 'anime' they watched. On the other hand, the one who had spoken to her, apparently the leader, had called her human as though he were not. But he had also correct her assumption of the panther's gender, and why would robots have gender? It didn't make sense.

/We are mechanical lifeforms from Cybertron/ a deep voice intoned in Rhianna's head.

Looking around, she saw only darkness, no-one around to have spoken. She knew the words had not been spoken, but she wasn't quite ready to face that idea yet. "W-who's there?" she asked, her voice sounding weak and scared even to her.

/I am Soundwave/ the voice answered, calm and emotionless. Before Rhianna could ask her next question, Soundwave answered it. /You are within me, with my casseticons./ There was a brief pause, and then, /I am going to transform. You are not in danger./

With that bare warning, the sound came again, things shifting around Rhianna. It felt rather like being on an elevator, or maybe a fair ride, as the compartment dropped while Soundwave was still moving. It was over in a few seconds, and Rhianna found herself sitting in the back of a vehicle. She was cramped, now on the floor with a bank of media equipment beside her. It was a news van, or at least she thought it was.

Even though Soundwave had finished transforming, the noise continued, one of the large cameras changing it's shape. /You have met Ravage/ Soundwave commented. The mental voice, Rhianna decided, wasn't intrusive. It was just… spooky as hell. The camera finished transforming into the panther, who gave a mrow and tried to scrunch in next to Rhianna on the floor.

"Ravage? Is that your name, then?" Rhianna directed her words to the large cat.

Yawning, Ravage exposed sharp teeth. /He already told you that/ a distinctly feminine voice answered in the same telepathic manner Soundwave used.

Rhianna yelped and jerked back, bashing her head into the wall behind her. "You too?" she asked, fixing the mechanical panther with a frightened look. Soundwave was one thing, he didn't seem real to her, she could just pass him off as some weird voice in her head. But hearing Ravage, that was different. She could see Ravage, touch her, relate to her as a living being.

/Did you harm yourself?/ Soundwave's mental voice asked dispassionately.

/Of course me too, why not?/ Ravage's message overlapped Soundwave's.

/SLOW DOWN!/ Rhianna screamed, panicking at the sound of not one, but two voices echoing over each other in her head.

There was silence for a moment, only the sound of tires on pavement to break the stillness. Then Ravage began rumbling and butt her head against Rhianna lightly. Rhianna curled into herself and around Ravage, the robot forcing herself into Rhianna's embrace. A few moments later, Soundwave gently contacted Rhianna.

/Your species does not deal well with telepathic communication. There has been much you have dealt with tonight, and I believe this is your race's recharge cycle. Rest, you will not be harmed./

"M'sorry f'yelling…" Rhianna whispered, more to Ravage then to Soundwave. The panther simply continued rumbling, her version of a purr. Rhianna felt exhaustion catch up to her, and soon she slept.


So, there we go. Please review, even if you just want to flame. Yes, I did make Soundwave a news van, it was literally ALL I could think of that would have anything the cassettes could be.