Chapter 7: The Gears Start to Turn
The roar of the crowds was massive, almost shaking Cybertron to its core.
The gladiator pits were filled with spectators. A truly massive event was taking place. A team vs team event, with some of the greatest names among the streets of Kaon.
On one team were some of the greatest names in the pits: Megatronus, the most powerful gladiator, Soundwave, the only one to have come close to beating Megatronus, and Shockwave, the calculating gladiator who would spend most of his matches analyzing the opponent, before moving in with a quick and decisive finishing strike.
The opposing team was no pushover though. Dangar, the gladiator who only fought with his massive arms and fists, Nitro Zeus, the flyer who rained down fire, and their leader, Dreadbot, the massive gladiator who was armed to the teeth. They would no doubt give their opponents a run for their money.
It was the fight of the decade.
It was a difficult match; Soundwave knew this going in.
But he would not loose.
He was fighting alongside some of the greatest names in Kaon. He had come to respect both Megatronus and Shockwave, and to be honest, he rather admired them.
Especially Megatronus, who had vowed to challenge the current leadership, to demand equality for all Cybertronians. To challenge the hated castes.
Soundwave would not let them down.
The fight was reaching its climax. Shockwave had destroyed Dangar, managing to mostly avoid getting struck by his fists. Shockwave was now engaging Nitro Zeus, managing to pin the flyer to the wall to prevent him taking off. Soundwave and Megatronus were double-teaming the massive Dreadbot: the two were having trouble getting into close range due to the massive amounts of cannon fire from Dreadbot.
Soundwave and Megatronus were pinned behind a piece of debris that had been blasted off the arena wall. Dreadbot was launching blast after blast from a powerful shotgun-like cannon.
"We are pinned," Soundwave informed Megatronus through a smooth voice, "We are unable to move any closer to land a hit."
"I KNOW!" growled Megatronus.
He paused, pondering their situation.
Soundwave was agile, but not well armored: any hit from those cannons would damage him. Megatronus was more heavily armored and wielded a shield that could withstand one more blast from Dreadbot's cannons.
Quickly, Megatronus formed a strategy.
"I'll draw his fire, Soundwave when he is focusing on me move in swiftly and take off his head." Megatronus informed Soundwave. Soundwave contemplated for only a moment.
"Yes Megatronus. But will you be able to keep ahead of his gunfire?"
Megatronus did not respond, but instead nodded as he took up a position to run out from behind their cover, his shield at the ready to take its last hit.
Soundwave nodded back in response and positioned himself on the opposite side of the cover, clutching his blaster and sword tightly within his hands.
With a roar, Megatronus leapt from behind the crumbling debris, and charged, attracting Dreadbot's attention, who adjusted his aim to target Megatronus. The plan had worked: Dreadbot's attention was drawn away from the debris.
Soundwave's mouth formed into a smirk as he leapt out, and charged their enemy, intent on beheading him…
…only to suddenly be tackled from the side.
"Dreadbot, look out! BEHIND YOU!"
Nitro Zeus had managed to break out of Shockwaves hold, and had rocketed towards Soundwaves position, managing to tackle him to the ground.
Soundwave recovered quickly, and managed shoot Nitro Zeus in the arm and move out from under Nitro Zeus' body as Shockwave recovered and was upon Nitro Zeus once more. But Dreadbot had heard and had turned and noticed Soundwave.
Soundwave leapt to his feet, charging and slashing at Dreadbots arm as Dreadbot aimed one of his cannons at Soundwave and pulled the trigger.
"Not this time!" Soundwave shouted, as his sword slashed through Dreadbots arm. The attack severed the arm…
…but the cannon was still loaded.
The sound of a blast impacting, coupled with a disfigured, liquified scream as the blast struck Soundwave's jaw, blasting it and a portion of his throat off and into oblivion, energon spilling everywhere.
Dreadbot didn't have time to react, as he was suddenly beheaded from behind by Megatrononus' cannon blade.
Soundwave screamed again, but his scream caused him a burning and vicious pain. Megatronus had leapt to Nitro Zeus, who had once again broken free from Shockwaves grasp. Grabbing Nitro Zeus, Megatronus roared as he ripped Nitro Zeus clean in half.
The pain became too much, and Soundwave finally passed out, the last thing he heard was the crowd's chanting.
"MEGATRON! MEGATRON! MEGATRON! MEGATRON!"
A stunned silence drifted through the air. No one moved, and no one spoke since Asuna made her declaration.
Soundwave was the quietest of all, just simply staring at Asuna.
The silence was eventually broken by footsteps. Agent Fowler had heard the commotion, and rushed in, followed closely by Arcee, both with blank looks on their faces.
At last, Agent Fowler spoke.
"I think it's time to rest a bit. I need to speak to you." He stated, turning to the kids.
Kazuto and Suguha nodded solemnly and proceeded to awkwardly get up to leave. Asuna remained standing though, still looking at Soundwave. Kazuto moved and took her hand looking at her, his face slightly wet from his earlier tears. Asuna turned to him, and Kazuto nodded solemnly. No words needed to be spoken between them.
"Wheeljack, I'll take over. I think you need some time as well," Arcee addressed to Wheeljack, who nodded and followed the Humans out of the hangar.
Out in the desert of Nevada, an old car with two occupants drove along the desolate road.
"I HAVE BEEN DRIVING FOR TWO HOURS, AND YOU DECIDE TO WAKE UP NOW!?" one of them shouted to the other, who had woken up, looking a bit hungover.
"Sorry…still a little woozy," the second responded.
"Oh yeah?" the first one shot back, "How do you think I feel? I barely drink that much myself. But I let you talk me into a pub crawl, a pub crawl I can't even REMEMBER now. Next thing I know, I wake up in the desert of Nevada, with you, my car, this worrying rash, and NO MONEY!"
"Jacob, for the record, I'm freaked out too. How in the hell do we wind up half…well actually across the country actually over the span of a single night?"
"Alex…YOU TELL ME!"
"Dude, my vision is still a bit blurry. If you want me to take over, I will. But I need to wait for this to wear off."
Jacob sighed.
"I'm sorry man. I'm just freaked out. We're in the middle of the desert with NO idea how we got here, we have no money, the phones are out of power, and we have really NO idea even which WAY to go."
"Hey, at least things can't get any worse." Alex piped up brightly.
A light on the dashboard suddenly blinked on.
"You FUCKING JINXED it! Now we're low on gas!"
The Humans, and even more so, Wheeljack and Ratchet, where surprised to see another mech standing outside solemnly. This mech was smooth, shiny red, and his optics were a crimson color, like Soundwaves.
"Knock Out…" Wheeljack addressed, "What are you doing here?"
"I just came through the SpaceBridge, to deliver energon. I didn't know…"
"That's Knock Out," Miko stated, as she arrived with Raf in tow. "He's the newest Autobot. I mention this specifically because he was formerly the Decepticon medic." She held out some earbud-like devices.
"Prototype translation algorithms. I considered what you told me, Sugu, and Raf and I made some adjustments."
It took a moment, but gradually Raf and Miko got the translators working after Kazuto, Suguha, and Asuna put them in their ears. Alas, any most of the joy that would have been felt was quashed by the solemn atmosphere. And Ratchets griping.
"You honestly don't expect me to believe all that do you? That Soundwave actually cared…" He trailed off.
"I find it hard to believe as well…," Knock Out added softly, "I was aware of Soundwave and Laserbeaks injuries, but not anything about a squad."
"Injuries?" Raf inquired.
"From what I was told, Soundwave was injured during a gladiator match in Kaon: he took a point-blank blast to his jaw and throat, blasted most off. He could still speak, but anything too louder would cause him pain. That's why he has that plate on his lower face: it substitutes for his throat and jaw, and enhances his voice, so he can speak without pain. Laserbeak had suffered from damage to his spark, hence why he acts more like a drone than a Mini-Con."
"Humph," Ratchet growled, "I just can't accept the notion that he even feels, that he even cares about anything AT ALL."
"I believe him."
Everyone was stunned to hear that coming from Wheeljack. Wheeljack shuttered his optics.
"When you work with a team, the trust and confidence you place in each other has to be great. Must be: a successful team is impossible without one. And when you lose a member of that team…to me it felt worse than having your spark ripped out. It happened a lot back with the Wreckers, I'll tell you that. But he was in command of a squad, not just a member of it. In a sense, the soldiers in a squad depend on their leader."
Wheeljack's optics opened. "He was not overtly cruel, now that I think about it. He would just follow his mission directives, and nothing more. Heck, he even had the chance to kill me without any effort, had the gun pointed at my head. But when the Doc brought Laserbeak back online, Soundwave immediately flew off to find his drone. He let me live."
"Now that I think about it," Raf spoke up, "He could have killed us Humans without any effort. But he only took that picture the first time, and just left with the Energon Harvester the second time. He could have flattened us, just like that, but…he only followed his mission."
"Puh-lease, he abducted ME!" Ratchet growled but was interrupted by Fowler.
"Yes, he did. But as much as I hate to admit it, he didn't harm anyone else. He only attacked me because I tried to stop him. Futility, I might add."
Ratchet looked like he was contemplating something and fighting with that thought. What ever it was, they were interrupted by Arcee striding over. A blank look adorned her faceplate.
"Soundwave…asked to see you Asuna…"
"This is a bad idea Jacob!"
"You have a better idea, now's the time!"
"But you are just following that fence!"
Jacob rolled his eyes. "If there is a fence in the middle of this desert, then it must lead somewhere. Maybe a military base or something."
"Yeah, exactly. What if they SHOOT on SIGHT!"
"With the fence, we at least have a chance. Do you want me to turn back, drive out into the open desert, and run out of fuel, and then DEFINITELY die!?"
Alex sighed.
"I guess you're right on that one…but you still owe me for breaking my car door!"
"Give it a rest already! Besides, Alex you got to move on from that hunk of junk…"
"DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT SADIE THAT WAY!"
There was a tense silence in the air as Miko lead Asuna up to Soundwave, while Ratchet, Wheeljack, and the other Humans stood at the doorway, with Bumblebee coming up to join them, and Knock Out remaining hidden outside.
"You…wanted to see me?" Asuna spoke out softly.
There was a long pause.
"Yuuki Asuna…I am unsure what kind of leader I am now…"
Another pause.
"But I am very grateful that you have done so much for me. I am unsure as to what the future will hold, but I will do my best as your commanding officer."
Asuna smiled from ear-to-ear.
"I therefore am grateful you will accept me, Commander Soundwave!"
There was a buzzing sound coming from the corner, where Laserbeak was restrained.
"I believe Laserbeak is grateful too. That is rare, Yuuki Asuna, to get a reaction from him."
"His…spark was damaged, right?"
"During the mission I told you about. I believe he is glad to have a squad mate once again."
Wheeljack, Arcee, and Bumblebee were smiling softly at this scene, Miko, Suguha and Raf had tears streaming down their faces, Fowler had an eyebrow raised, and Ratchet just remained silent.
"Knock Out, I know you are there."
Knock Out yelped, and slowly maneuvered his way into view, looking very nervous. But something that looked suspiciously like wiper fluid was on his optics.
"Hello sir…um…nice to see you again…"
"You have defected to the Autobots."
"Yeah…about that..."
"I will not interfere with your decision."
Knock Out's optics widened.
"Y…you mean…?"
Soundwave's optics shuttered.
"The Decepticons are no more. It is agreeable that you have found a new purpose."
Knock Out beamed. "Thank you…THANK YOU SOUNDWAVE…sir…whew…you won't kill me?"
"Negative."
Knock Out was smiling broadly, but soon his features sobered little.
"I appreciate it, but while I am now an Autobot…I wish it were that easy for everyone. The Decepticon cause were massive, and very deeply entrenched, and I suppose many will view returning to Cybertron as surrendering to the Autobots, being treated like war criminals. I think it will be difficult to establish a lasting peace anytime soon…"
"See, what did I tell you Alex. They wouldn't just let us die in the desert!"
"Yeah…the escort isn't exactly giving me a good vibe, you know.
Jacob and Alex's car was currently being escorted into the base facility by a big, sturdy black SUV. The guards had agreed to let them refuel and recharge, and hopefully get their situation sorted out.
What could go wrong?
In a thick, grey fog, a voice rang out.
"Nozemaze…it is time to reveal ourselves..."
"I assume you are referring to the beginning of the operation."
"Yes…"
"Very well. Your orders?"
"Send Laser-Waive to attack the Autobots Human allies, draw their numbers to Earth. Then you set a course for the Well of All-Sparks. It is time to alter the course of the next generation…."
AN: And there we have Chapter 7. I have introduced some new characters for comic relief, and the mysterious plans will begin to move in the next Chapter.
As I updated before, I have performed much-needed maintenance on the previous chapters, including the addition of scene break lines (FINALLY) just to let you all know.
I would like to give a shout out to Corvilius, who has been a great help and motivation with his reviews and through our discussions. I very much appreciate it, thank you!
I also have a request for anyone who is familiar with the Youtube User Diamondbolt. I have watched several of his videos, and I would like to know what he thinks of this story, as he is aware of Fanfiction. If someone could potentially contact him and let him know of this Fic, see if he will check it out, I would appreciate it.
Until next time!
