Chapter Eight
"It's Optimus Prime—alone!" Starscream nearly grabbed Soundwave as he displayed the feed from Laserbeak on his visor. He stopped himself in time but clenched his fists in anticipation. He laughed, "what a fool! The only Autobot who poses a threat to us is wandering around on his own."
"Commander Starscream, what are your orders?" A drone asked urgently.
"Get your troop ready to deploy! Soundwave, you and I are the only remaining officers, you must join the fight this time—perhaps we can finally end this tedious war once and for all."
Soundwave nodded and hurried to the groundbridge. Starscream followed him, the troops lined up and awaited the opening of the groundbridge. When it lit up Starscream transformed and blasted through the portal—the sound of rumbling jet engines, and the whispered whine of Soundwave's alt mode surrounded him.
Optimus Prime turned around and fired right at him, Starscream spiraled out of the way with more flare than necessary, but to be fair he hadn't partaken in a fight for far too long. Before his eyes Soundwave transformed into robot mode directly in front of Prime and engaged him in a fight.
Soundwave was skillfully trained in hand-to-hand combat from his days as a gladiator—he was not even equipped with weapons.
But Optimus flipped away from this hands-on approach and began using his gun instead of fists.
One cannon arm fired at the troopers, with the other Optimus Prime was firing directly at Soundwave. In turn the spymaster merely leaned back at the right moment to dodge the ammunition. Soundwave, not moving his feet, turned and lashed a tendril out at the Autobot leader. Prime jumped back to avoid it and during his distraction Soundwave lept into the air and transformed. The surveillance craft twisted through the air and rained bullets over the Prime.
Back when he was a captain, Starscream once noted to a fellow Decepticon, and freely acknowledges in his mind, that Megatron is an alluring sight to behold in the midst of battle. The sheer power in his shapely body teased Starscream's sadism and blood lust and appealed to his self-denied submissive side.
But if the sight of Megatron in battle got Starscream charged up, then the sight of Soundwave coolly facing a warrior as powerful as Prime was simply maddening. Soundwave could face gunfire or a smack-down without showing the least amount of fear. He was so controlled and graceful, Starscream often wished he had more excuses to order him into a fight. Though, of course, Soundwave's work was usually done at a console—such a waste in Starscream's opinion.
A very long time ago, before Soundwave had opted to take a vow of silence—so Megatron could confidently relay important, and Starscream suspected personal, information to him—he'd still been a very quiet and solitary bot. But on occasion he would boast, for lack of a better word, his superiority to an enemy who'd crossed his path.
There was indeed something about Soundwave's blasé, holier-than-thou attitude that made Starscream want to jump him, no matter how little sense it made, so watching him battle Optimus Prime as if he didn't understand why someone so pathetic and weak was even trying to compete with him was driving Starscream to distraction.
He wasn't, however, too distracted to notice the groundbridge opening behind Prime. Clearly the overwhelmed leader had decided to retreat. Starscream transformed and dived for the Autobot, but the gorundbridge shut, with Optimus inside, and dissipated just as Starscream passed through.
He snarled and shouted for the troops to return to the warship.
He transformed and stood in the command center. Soundwave too transformed and walked up beside him. Soundwave turned to him waiting for command.
"It's no matter," he said, "This is only the beginning of the end for the Autobots. If they're going on solitary energon hunts, they must worse of in number than we predicted. My trap worked once, it will work again. And if we have to pick the Autobots off one by one so be it." He walked over to his commander's station and folded his hand behind his back.
He turned back to Soundwave who still watching him. "Just think Soundwave—Megatron returning to the good news that his oldest enemy, Optimus Prime, has at long last been destroyed."
Soundwave played a recording of Megatron's words, "Optimus Prime is not as easy to destroy as the Decepticons seem to believe. How many warriors will I lose before that becomes clear?"
Starscream waved him away, "yes, yes. But that was then, and this is now. Anyway, were you injured in the fight?"
Soundwave shook his head.
"Then I suggest you return to work."
With Soundwave at his console, Starscream could think clearly. A whole troop of eradicons and two Decepticon officers couldn't defeat one Autobot. Optimus Prime had been the bane of the Decepticon cause since the events following up to the war. If he could find some way of destroying the Autobot leader once in for all, the Decepticons would readily give their loyalty to him.
It was clear, Megatron would let the Autobots go about their business while the Decepticons took no action against them. If Starscream showed himself to be a proactive leader, the Decepticons may even begin to see him as a better leader than Megatron.
The once mighty Megatron has become inactive and obsessive. Caring more for the mythical power of obscure substances and the promise of ancient prophesies. He was reading and daydreaming while he should be pushing a sword through Optimus Prime's spark chamber.
One day, Starscream would be the supreme commander of the Decepticons; and by his side, the loyal Soundwave who would at last acknowledge Starscream as the true predestined leader of the Decepticons.
