5000 years ago...
The hulking mass of the Nemesis loomed above the polar region of a remote planet. Inside the mighty warship, a battle was being fought for a dead world light-years away. But the millennia old war did not concern the mech called Soundwave as he fell to the planet below, his systems shutting down one by one as he went. His only care was for his sparkmate and creations. To never again focus his optics upon them, his only fear.
The quiet spymaster had planned for the event of his own demise, however: a mental transfer. A variant of the cortical psychic patch, it would upload his mind into a data storage unit until his frame could be recovered and repaired. At which point the procedure would be reversed, downloading him back into his body. He had never tested it on himself before, but he was certain the device would work. The procedure had been successful on that Autobot prisoner-turned-live test subject, after all. After sending a wave of comfort and reassurance to his sparkmate through the bond they shared, he severed the connection to spare her the pain he knew would follow. He waited until the last second to send one final message to his creations /Eject: Ravage, Rumble, Frenzy, Laserbeak. Operation: retrieval of transfer unit once transfer is complete/
Then, trusting his fate to a higher power in which he did not believe, he began the transfer sequence. Pain like none he had ever felt coursed through his frame as his mind was transferred into the device hooked to his upper back.
Just before the darkness claimed him, he could have sworn he heard his sparkmate's laughter. Then he knew no more.
Soundwave's lifeless frame slammed into the tundra of the arctic landscape in an explosion of snow and ice.
Present
He was running faster than he ever had before. Through the woods, around trees, over fallen logs; blindly, Jaime ran. He had to run, had to hide. He had to get away from his pursuers. The three teens chasing him had cornered him after school every day for the past month. Normally, they would've shoved him around a bit and left it at that. But this time, this time they had knives. Jaime knew all too well what would happen if they caught him, and so he ran.
He was so intent upon escaping that he didn't see the pit until he fell in. The force of his fall rendered him unconscious.
Hours passed and by the time Jaime awoke, night had fallen. Slowly, he got to his feet, hissing in pain when several scrapes and bruises made themselves known. "Probably got 'em when I fell ...down... here...?" he trailed off as he took in his surroundings. He was in a tunnel – manmade, too, if the cement and flickering overhead lighting were anything to go by. Overall, it looked like a military bunker he had seen in a movie once; complete with damp walls and the echo of dripping water.
Looking up, he realized that the hole he had fallen through was a good six feet above his head. He wouldn't be getting out that way. Behind him, the way was blocked by rubble; couldn't get out that way either. Jaime guessed it must have caved in at some point. Seemed going forward was the only way out.
His footsteps echoed loudly as he traversed the subterranean passage. Finally, after what seemed like hours, he came upon an open metal door that hung loosely on rusted hinges. Cautiously, he crept into the room, uncertain of what he would find.
Dusty banks of machinery lined the walls. Faded, broken vials were scattered all over the floor. The few that were intact were full of some sort of weird liquid that looked suspiciously like blood. Jaime forced himself not to notice that it was glowing blue. But there was something else here, something far stranger than blue, glow-in-the-dark blood: the object sitting on an examination table in the center of the room. It looked like a robotic blue scarab.
Jaime hadn't even noticed that he had walked towards it until he reached out to touch it without thinking. He yanked his hand back as if stung, but not fast enough to avoid the jolt of electricity that arced from the scarab to his hand, holding him in place. Unable to move, he could only watch helplessly as it seemed to shift and then surged towards him. He cried out in terror as it latched painfully onto his back. He collapsed and lay there on his side, slowly blacking out from the pain.
Just before the darkness claimed him, he could have sworn he heard his own voice say "Request: report status." Then he knew no more.
Jaime lay motionless as the scarab sent out a single electronic pulse.
/Detected: anomaly in subsonic frequencies. Frequency match: Creator's homing beacon/
/It's the Boss!/
/I thought those slaggin' Autobots off-lined him/
/Laserbeak's findings suggest otherwise. Trace the anomaly's source/
/Source location: Earth/