I do not own Transformers.
Some time later, Soundwave was scanning in what would become South America when some of his systems began detecting a signature, but from the sky. He tried to match the signature with known frequencies and other signatures, but this one didn't match any prerecorded ones. Flying upwards, Soundwave discovered a temporal probe flying past Earth. Deciding to follow, Soundwave chased the probe through the solar system, analyzing and scanning the probe for its information. "Maximal/Autobot design from Cybertron. Capable of traveling through time to locate lost ships by transwarp signatures" read his scans as the ex-Decepticon followed the craft. Better return to Earth and ask Optimus Primal on why Cybertron sent a probe thought Soundwave before he returned to Earth.
When he returned to Earth, he began searching for the Maximals in their territory, before he started searching in the Predacon territory. It took him a while, but he found the Maximals building a tower of some sort high on a mountain. He approached, and began scanning the tower with his tentacles. "Hey, tentacle pervert! Leave the tower alone!" exclaimed Rattrap before he aimed a shot at one of the tentacles. Soundwave's tentacle dodged the blow, as Optimus looked at Rattrap and said "Rattrap, stand down! The spacecraft here is a friend." "A what? But Optimus, that thing abducted you and…well, I don't know what it did, but it looked horrible" said Rattrap as he remembered when Soundwave enshrouded Primal in dark mists. "He was just purging the virus from my body, he wasn't harming me in any way" said Primal. "He was just…hey, wait a minute! How do you know that the thing is a 'he' anyway?" asked Rattrap. "Well, I…" said Optimus before Terrorsaur attacked them. The Maximals fired back at Terrorsaur before the pterosaur flew away. "Hey, why did leatherback fly away?" asked Rattrap. "Terrorsaur was always a coward" said Dinobot before a blast sent them flying.
Scorponok fired from behind them, then said "Megatron has ordered that this tower be demolished. Chew on this, Optimus Primal." "I don't think so" said Rattrap as Dinobot got up and said "And I really don't think so" before the two sent Scorponok flying off the mountaintop from their weapons. Rattrap noticed that Soundwave was scanning the electrical equipment and the dish on the array tower when Rattrap said "Will you leave that tower alone, tentacle pervert." One of the tentacles looked at Rattrap before Optimus approached the tentacle and said "Listen, friend, this is an Array tower. We're trying to contact a probe from Cybertron so we can go home." The tentacle remained silent, as Megatron appeared and said "Ah, Optimus Primal, I see that you have our spacecraft and a plan to get back to Cybertron. However, I intent to make sure that you don't contact that probe. Predacons, attack!" as the Predacons fired at the Maximals. Soundwave withdrew his tentacles and watched the battle below.
The fight went well, except for when Tarantulus' invention froze the Maximals in beast mode. Rhinox showed up, and hit Megatron hard, sending the tyrant backwards. Rhinox typed in a few commands, and was about to put in the transwarp signature when he got hit by Tarantula's invention and was frozen in his rhinoceros mode. Rhinox looked up to find Soundwave's tentacle looking at him as he said "If you really are here to help us, place this disk in the slot so we can contact the probe." The tentacle picked up the disk, but to Rhinox's horror, it got crushed. "Do you even realize what you did? You destroyed the one thing that can help us get back to Cybertron! You..." said Rhinox as the camera part of the tentacle focused as he thought Primus! That thing did know what it was doing! Why did it do it? What are its plans? as a voice echoed in his processor "I destroyed the disk because I don't want you to contact Cybertron for now. If you need a signal to be sent to Cybertron for a rescue mission, I am capable of doing so, but we'll do it on my terms" as the spacecraft levitated skywards and flew away.
"Ha ha ha. It looks as if that spacecraft was built by Predacons or an alien race to assist us in the Beast Wars. Looks like your dreams of returning to Cybertron are over, Maximals" said Megatron before he transformed and ran off. Optimus was in shock, before he said "Why, just why did he destroy the disk?" "I told you that the spacecraft was up to no good! We're stranded here!" shouted Rattrap as Rhinox said "No, Rattrap, you're partly wrong. We are stranded here, for now, but the spacecraft told me that it would help us contact Cybertron, but on his terms. I guess that we may have to wait and see what that spacecraft wants before it allows us to return to Cybertron." "Yeah, well the next time that thing comes close to me, I'll blast each one of those tentacles off" said Rattrap before he headed back to base. Why does everybody refer to that thing as a 'he' anyway? I don't see on how a spacecraft can be a 'he' in the first place thought Rattrap as he walked away.
Soundwave was absorbing energon within the Predacon territory when he registered an explosion on his frequency scanners. Deciding to investigate, he flew over to the pinpointed blast zone: the Predacon warship the Darkside.
When he got there, he found the ship in ruins and decided to investigate. Sending his tentacles down, he scanned the ship for any lifeforms and for any needed computer data. He noticed the Maximals at a distance, and then went back to scanning the ship. "Strange, no life signals…not even from that spacecraft" said Rhinox as he pointed his scanner at the Darkside and Soundwave. "Eh, so the Predacons are offline, and that thing is just a spacecraft. I still don't understand why both you and Optimus still refer to that thing as a 'he'" said Rattrap. "Still, I think that the Predacons are not as offline as we think. I can't sense them" said Dinobot as Rattrap said to him "Listen, chomperface, scanners don't lie" as Dinobot said back to him "So what do you know, vermin?" Primus, those two are hilarious. I wish that the Autobots had them so I can laugh at their stupidity whenever they argue thought Soundwave as he watched the two argue.
His tentacles moved around the ship (but only in the areas where he could reach), and hacked into the computer's main frame. He found Scorponok's and Tarantulus' inventions, and downloaded them to his systems. These will make some impressive weapons if I am to ever get out of here. Ratchet and Wheeljack would be interested in what I've downloaded so we can utilize these weapons against the Decepticons…but only if Optimus Prime approves. I know that both Knockout and Megatron would be interested in such weaponry to utilize against the Autobots, but I could always use a few Decepticon test subjects if I am to experiment with such weaponry back home thought Soundwave as he uploaded the blueprints for the weapons to his processor. His other tentacles searched other parts of the ship, and he collected a few specimens of Predacon technology and leftover body parts from the Darkside. When he collected what he needed, Soundwave flew off from the ship, and began searching for energon to replenish his depleted systems.
Much later, he saw Dinobot walking alone in his robot mode. A tentacle approached him, and Dinobot stared at it before he said "What do you want?" The tentacle looked at him, then back in the direction of the Axlon, then back at Dinobot. "You're wondering why I'm out here instead of being onboard the Axlon? The Maximals are planning on returning back to Cybertron, but I can't go back otherwise I will be prosecuted as a war criminal. I have a feeling that there is a reason why you wouldn't allow us to contact the probe from Cybertron" said Dinobot. A voice echoed in Dinobot's processor as it said "There is indeed a reason why I wouldn't want you to contact Cybertron. You said that Cybertron will prosecute you as a war criminal, even though you turned Maximal, and I'm worried of what will happen to me if the Maximals found out on who I am. My prosecution will be far greater than what you will face when the Cybertronians discover me. I am currently on a mission of this place and once I'm done, I would have contacted Cybertron so the inhabitants there could find you. But, since the Maximals are leaving, there is no need for me to contact Cybertron." Dinobot was silent, and then said "So, you are a Predacon spacecraft, but…what is your mission here on this planet?" "That, I cannot say. For me being a Predacon spacecraft…we'll play with that for now. Like I told Optimus Primal, I will tell you who I really am in time" said the voice before the spacecraft began taking off, but told Dinobot "Oh, one more thing; you need to warn the Maximals that the Predacons are still online. They discovered the Maximal camera, and staged their death so the Maximals could repair their ship. Once that was done, the Predacons will attack so they can gain control of the Axlon and retrieve the protoforms in orbit around this planet." "Just where are the Predacons, if they are online? How do I know that this is not a trick?" asked Dinobot. "You have to trust me that this is not a trick, as for the Predacons hiding place, it's in that crack down there" said the voice as a tentacle pointed to a crack in the earth. Dinobot walked over, and peered down with one of the tentacles besides him as he watched the Predacons bicker.
(Tarantulas laughs)
"Stop slobbering on me, Tarantulus" said Terrorsaur.
"I am feasting" said Tarantulus.
"Erugh, give Waspinator more room! Tarantulus fat enough already" said Waspinator.
"If Waspinator stops cuddling me like a stuffed toy when he sleeps, I'll eat him as well" snarled the spider.
"I'll like to see him try."
"Well, I will."
"No you won't."
"Yes, I will."
"No, you won't."
"You all make me sick! I can't stand this any longer, Megatron. I've got to get out!" said Terrorsaur before he laughs like a maniac, then Scoroponok hit him with a pincer.
"We wouldn't be here if you didn't trip over that spy cable" said Scorponok.
"You're correct, Scoroponok, but thanks to Terrorsaur's inadvertent discovery of our enemy's spy camera, we were able to pull this little deception, yes" said Megatron.
"But, what if they detect us? Don't forget, my signature damping device is still experimental" said Blackarachnia.
"We have only to wait until they repair their ship, and then attack while their guard is down. With the Maximal ship in our possession, we'll be able to recover the orbiting stasis pods containing Maximals eager to (laughs) become Predacons. So no one leaves!" said Megatron.
"Leaving, who said anything about leaving?" said Terrorsaur.
Primus, this recording is going to be great! I can hardly wait to get back to the Autobots and show this to them! They'll just laugh at this thought Soundwave as Dinobot knocked a few rocks loose, hitting the Predacons and getting their attention. Soundwave's tentacles looked at Dinobot and he told him telepathically Run! Warn the others! as Dinobot headed back to the ship in a hurry.
Soundwave waited as the Predacons emerged, as Megatron looked at the spacecraft and said "Yes, after we destroy Dinobot and the Maximals, we'll get that spacecraft and reprogram it for the Predacons along with the stasis pods." Well, you'll have to get past me first thought Soundwave as he send out a dark matter cloud, before he made his escape. When the cloud dissipated, the Predacons found him long gone. "Quite an ingenious piece of technology. It will be perfect for conquering the galaxy, after we get the stasis pods" said Megatron, as the Predacons ran towards the Maximal ship.
Soundwave watched the battle from afar, as the Predacons fought the Maximals hard, but he watched Optimus fall from the Axlon to the ground below. Deciding it was time to interfere in battle again; Soundwave flew over to Optimus and tapped him with a tentacle. "Ow, my aching processor" said Optimus Primal as the tentacle continued to poke at him. He looked up at the tentacle, then said "What are you doing here?" as Soundwave pointed up to the Axlon above, as Terrorsaur and Waspinator were flying towards it. "The Maximals need my help! Optimus Primal, maximize" he said as he transformed and flew up. Soundwave flew after him, and knocked Waspinator out of flight. "Why does flying thing hate Waspinator?" he said as he crashed to the ground. Optimus blasted away Terrorsaur as he too, fell to the ground, and then noticed the Axlon heading for a crash landing. Optimus flew up, and tried to get the ship to fly, but it was too heavy. I could really use some help now thought Optimus as the ship came crashing to the ground, but was slowed by something. "I thought that you needed my help from the looks of things" echoed a voice in Optimus' processor. Glad that you decided to help thought Optimus as he smiled, then both he and Soundwave managed to land the Axlon on the ground, but only after Soundwave got pinned beneath it. OW! Slag that hurt! screamed Soundwave within his processor as the ship weighed heavily on the Nighthawk. After fumbling around for a few minutes, he began digging himself out with his tentacles; which took a few hours to dig himself completely out from under the Axlon. Exhausted, Soundwave fell into recharge after his ordeal from what he experienced that day.
Over a month has passed by since the Maximals have tried to return to Cybertron, and Soundwave was flying again. He was scouting for a lookout or a base of his own since he raided the Predacon ship, and he needed someplace to store what he discovered. He eventually found a nice location high up on a mountain, with plenty of places for the mech to sunbathe. It had a great view, and some energon deposits were in short flying distance. An added bonus was that this location was out of both the Maximal and Predacon territories; making it a perfect spot for a neutral. There was a large cavern in the side of the mountain, large enough for him to fit inside. Soon, the mech got to work, cleaning out the cavern and placing his discoveries, technology, and scrapped Predacon parts within the cave. He was happy with his new lookout/hideout, and decided that it was time to observe both the Predacons and Maximals again.
Soundwave flew over to the Predacon base, but found it in shambles. He heard Megatron shouting at Terrorsaur as he heard frightened cawing, and then a fight broke out. Reminds me of the in-fighting troops back on the Nemesis. The Maximals must have planed something for the Predacon ship to be destroyed thought Soundwave as he turned around and flew for the Maximal territory. It didn't take long for him to find the Maximals relaxing, and he extended a few tentacles to record the conversation. He saw Rhinox sniffing a flower as he said "Ah, heaven" then Cheetor asked him what it was like to be a Predacon. "Like three gigabits of attitude on a two-bit hard drive. No wonder they got personality problems" said Rhinox before the Maximals (except for Dinobot) began laughing. Decepticons aren't like that! Sure, we're not as relaxed as the Autobots, but we're not malfunctioning pieces of machinery! …except for Airachnid and Starscream; now those two were malfunctions thought Soundwave as his tentacles twitched in anger.
Night fell, and a large thunderstorm was on the horizon; to be more specific, in Predacon territory. Soundwave watched the storm and thought I wish that Berserk was here to witness this. She was always good with storms in harvesting their energy. He waited until the storm was over, and then decided to resume his search to find Ravage. He needed to find her if she was someplace on that planet…if she was online.
Soundwave was busy trying to find Ravage when his scans detected a falling object. "Falling stasis pod…heading for coordinates…" read Soundwave's online tracking systems, and then followed the incoming pod to Predacon territory. "Scans indicate unstable energon in area. Terrain unstable" read more of Soundwave's scans as he followed the pod. Not too far away was Rhinox, and he saw the stasis pod and Soundwave. "Rhinox to base" said Rhinox, but all that he got was static "Slag, too much energon interference. Looks like I'm on my own with him." He jumped, then raced to intercept with the falling stasis pod. Cheetor also saw the stasis pod as well; "Hopping helix, a stasis pod! Cheetor to comm scout one!" he said as he contacted Tigatron. "Tigatron here" responded Tigatron. "I've spotted a stasis pod! It's coming down in grid Vega" said Cheetor "I'm going to get to it before the Preds do. Head for base, then head for my position. I'm going to need backup." "It's done. Watch yourself, little cat" said Tigatron. "I always do, big cat. Cheetor out" said Cheetor, then he leapt off the branch and raced to the stasis pod.
The pod crash landed, and Soundwave stopped in mid-air. He heard Rhinox's footsteps, and then the Maximal jumped into the dry riverbed with the stasis pod. "Uh-oh" said Rhinox as he saw smoke rising from the pod, then headed for it. A boulder was on top of the pod, and Rhinox was receiving an energon overload. "Divert power from weapons array to field dampers, maximum tolerance" said Rhinox as the energon overload faded. Rhinox then removed the large boulder from the pod, and then opened it up. What he saw horrified him as he saw the liquidated protoform, with the spark fading. He opened up the pod's computer, and then typed in some commands. "Activate protoform. Begin scanning sequence" said Rhinox, and then the computer said "Systems damage too extensive. Activation program offline. Spark fading. Repair required, or protoform will cease to exist in 8.6 cycles." "No" said Rhinox, then he began taking the computer apart and removed a chip from inside it. One of Soundwave's tentacles came in close, and narrowed its camera vision on the destroyed chip. They both head footsteps, and Cheetor appeared on the scene.
"Rhinox?" said Cheetor. "Cheetor, what are you doing here?" asked Rhinox. "I saw the pod headed for crashville, but I didn't expect to find you" said Cheetor. 'I expected the pod headed for crashville?' Now, what type of illogical speech is that? thought Soundwave as he listened in to the conversation. "I'm glad you did because I need help. This protoform's dying" said Rhinox as Cheetor said in horror "Dying? What do you mean?" "The stasis pod's been damaged. It's disabled the activation sequence, and burned out the locking sequence. If we don't do something quick, the protoform's spark will be extinguished" said Rhinox. "Then let's get in gear. What do we do?" said Cheetor. "Wish I knew" said Rhinox. Soundwave remained silent, before he spoke in Rhinox's processor "Is there anything that I can do?" Rhinox looked at him then said "I may need some of your parts to fix the activation program. I need Cheetor's locking chip as well" said Rhinox as Soundwave lowered a tentacle, and Rhinox took a few needed parts from the tentacle. OW! OW! OW! screamed Soundwave within his processor, before he withdrew his tentacle, and activated his dark matter healing sequence.
Rhinox then looked at Cheetor and said "This could be dangerous. If you soak up too much energon without a locking chip, you fry every system you have." "Our bud bot there deserves some kind of chance. You know more about protoforms than I do" said Cheetor "Cheetor, maximize" as he transformed. "This'll only take a nano-klik, but you'll have to go offline" said Rhinox, as Cheetor said "I could use the snooze. Repair mode."
Darkness was everywhere around Cheetor, then Rhinox appeared and said "What's new, pussycat?" "Rhinox, what's going on?" said Cheetor before he noticed a large spark appear, then Rhinox showed his own spark. "A spark, and yours" said Cheetor as he looked from Rhinox's spark to the other spark. "Yep, the very thing that makes us what we are, and our spacecraft friend" said Rhinox "Every Cybertron, Maximal or Predacon, has one. And each, is different. When a spark goes online, there is great joy." Many sparks appeared, as Cheetor watched them in amazement. "When one is extinguished, the universe weeps" said Rhinox before everything turned black.
Cheetor came back online, saying "Woah, that was ultra-gear." "Tell me later, and go back to beast mode" said Rhinox with the chip. He then placed the chip in the systems, and then resumed fixing it. Soundwave watched with one of his other tentacles the protoform's spark fade as it was dying. Rhinox typed in a few commands, as the computer said "Stasis lock restored. Implementing" as the protoform resumed a solid state again. Soundwave couldn't help but notice that the protoform looked like that of a femme. "All right, way to go rhino" said Cheetor. "All I did was buy us some time. Even with my dampers on max, this place is giving me chip flashes" said Rhinox. "So what do we do now, big R?" asked Cheetor. "Try and get the activation code back online" said Rhinox "I hope that the DNA sequences can find something alive in this wasteland." "Why don't we take it back to the base and use the restoration chamber?" asked Cheetor. "No time. Stasis lock only slowed down the spark's deterioration. We have to get this protoform online and into beast mode as soon as we can, or it's finished" said Rhinox.
"Predacon detected" read Rhinox's scanners, as he said "And we have another problem." Cheetor left, as Rhinox kept on typing in commands. He soon heard gunshots, as he said "Looks like Cheetor's got his paws full, but I can't stop now" as he resumed typing. "Program not accepted. Spark will terminate in 4.8 cycles" read the computer. "Ugh" said Rhinox as he hit the thing.
Rhinox then hooked up a cable to his shoulder, then attached the other end to the computer and said "Download sequence program to my central processor." The computer beeped, then said "Download can cause damage to your circuitry." "Just do it!" said Rhinox as the program began. It overloaded Rhinox and sent him flying into the canyon wall. He hit the ground as his systems read "Circuit damage. Field dampers down. Energon surge. Stasis lock imminent." "Beast mode" whispered Rhinox as he transformed then blacked out.
Soundwave watched the whole thing, then moved one of his tentacles down and read the programs. "DNA sequencers online" as a probe popped out. The protoform turned back to liquid, as the computer read "Scanning for compatible life forms." I could probably boost the scanning range if I send the pod some of my energy thought Soundwave before he uplinked his tentacle to the pod's systems and said in Rhinox's voice "Divert energy from my systems to boost scanning range for compatible life forms." "Warning, unauthorized user. Scans indicate Decepticon. Depletion of energy can cause stasis lock" before Soundwave hacked into the system and overload the codes. The scanning range increased as the probe searched for a compatible life form.
Terrorsaur spotted the pod, Soundwave, and Rhinox as he flew in and said "Well, well. Rhinox and a stasis pod along with the spacecraft. This is my lucky day and your last." The pod's DNA sequencers activated, and the protoform began to change shape. "What, no!" said Terrorsaur as the protoform took a shape and flew off. Rhinox got up and said "Still feeling lucky, Terrorsaur?" before a large shadow flew above them and picked up Terrorsaur before it flew off. Terrorsaur hit a cliff, and then fell to the ground below. I still can't believe how many times that happened to me thought Soundwave as he watched the battle. Terrorsaur cawed, then began chasing the falcon and blasted at it. Soundwave and Rhinox watched the dogfight, as the falcon transformed and blasted away Terrorsaur. The Maximal then flew down to Rhinox and Soundwave and said "You're Rhinox, and you're…" "Uh, I'd rather keep my identity a secret, so please, don't reveal my name. Until then, just call me…Star" said the Nighthawk as Rhinox looked at him and said "You mean, all this time you could actually talk, and you didn't reveal it to us?" "I like to keep my identity a secret, Rhinox" said 'Star' to Rhinox in his head. Rhinox then turned to Airazor and said "How do you know?" "I'm not sure, but I think I owe you my life" said Airazor. "Let's say we're even" said Rhinox before he turned to Soundwave and said "And Star, you have a lot of explaining to do."
Back at the Maximal base, Rhinox said "You were a little late this time, Optimus. Fortunately, Airazor took care of business. (laughs) They'll be salvaging Terrorsaur for days." Optimus approached Airazor and said "Welcome to the Maximals." "My pleasure, though I still don't know what to make of all this" said Airazor. "If you're smart, you'll make tracks" said Rattrap as Cheetor said "Pay no attention to the rodent. He was born with a major glitch." "You'll get used to everything, including them…maybe. Now, how about a tour of the base?" said Optimus. As they left, Rhinox said "When a spark goes online, there is great joy."
Outside the base, Soundwave was listening in; thinking She kind of reminds me of Laserbeak and Buzzsaw, but mostly Pulse. I know that I will see my sparklings again, but I need to find Ravage first. I'll still watch over you, Airazor. A part of me will always be with you before he transformed and flew off to find his last sparkling.
