That you guys so much for your positive feedback! I really appreciate all of your support for this fic, regardless of how wide and wildly it's strayed from the canon. You guys are all excellent, and your enthusiasm for this fic really inspires confidence! As always, I apologize for the delay, and as always, I hope to be able to get the next chapter out before such an unreasonably long amount of time has passed.
I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Squicks in this chapter: None!
Chapter 9 - A Rebuke, a Return, and a Revelation
At first, the objective had simply been retrieval. Rumble had hinted that he knew more about the whereabouts of the Combinatoric than he'd led the Autobots to believe, and if this was the case, returning him to their custody was of the highest priority. It wasn't so much that the Autobots were focused on Rumble. They were focused on what Rumble knew, what he could give them. As soon as Soundwave had entered the fray, the objective had shifted to one simple, single imperative.
Survival.
Retreat had been called, but a ground bridge couldn't be opened right in front of Soundwave and his miniature army. The risk of infiltration was too high, and the fact that it was the Decepticons' master spy that was on the battlefield only heightened that risk. Arcee and Bumblebee had spent the last frantic handful of minutes trying to distance themselves from the threat, but they weren't getting far.
Ravage and Laserbeak were a match for the femme's advantage in speed, and Bumblebee refused to leave her side. Separating, at that point, would only end the struggle that much quicker. Laserbeak and Ravage harried the pair with quick hit-and-run attacks while Rumble blocked off further avenues of escape from a greater distance. The Autobots were boxed in and being driven back against the bulk of the wreck. Their earlier efforts had been forcing rumble out into the open, and they were now finding themselves at the receiving end of the opposite tactic.
While his symbionts flew, stalked, and stomped across the battlefield, Soundwave advanced slowly, methodically, moving in absolute silence.
Blackout transformed before he even hit the ground, landing heavily on the tight-packed mud. Almost before his plates had finished settling, he was approached by a handful of drones, and they immediately began to pepper him with questions. The phrasings were varied, but the general question seemed to be: what was that all about?
"He came out of nowhere," Blackout rumbled back, glancing to the sky. It was somewhat disconcerting to be confronted with such odd behavior on his first day of full duty. The former gladiator gave a thoughtful pause. "Did he just open a groundbridge in midair?"
"Did you see him before he transformed?" A somewhat prim voice broke through the general murmur as a ground-based Vehicon wormed his way through the crowd with the aid of a slightly-larger drone. "He flew off towards the north before he disappeared, sir. That way." He gestured vaguely.
Blackout considered this. "He was staring in that direction."
"Are we under attack?" Another drone asked anxiously. The buzz of voices rose again slightly as the drones cast about for any sign of danger. A few of them left the group, heading off to check on the miners.
"You'd better come with me," Blackout said suddenly, looking down at the mech who'd spoken with him directly.
The prim Vehicon cocked his head, attentive but bewildered. "Sir...?"
"We'd better tell Lord Megatron."
Inside, there were only a few signs that anything was amiss. Soundwave's departure hadn't done anything to scramble the inner workings of the Nemesis except perhaps top cut off the feed of some presently-confused Eradicons on monitor duty. Megatron himself was on the bridge, grimly surveying a screen full of flickering images and readouts: footage of the mine and the surrounding forest, tables listing energy yield rates, and other such mundane but important details. The mining operation was beginning to draw to a close, and there were many final reports to be sifted through and reviewed.
He didn't seem to be reading them too closely.
Blackout approached him briskly while the two Vehicons followed at his heels, both of them radiating an air of faint nervousness. "Lord Megatron, forgive my impertinence, but is there a present threat I am currently unaware of? Officer Soundwave left the dig site in a hurry."
Megatron glanced over the Blackout, his eyes narrowing slightly as his brows drew together in confusion. "There is no attack. You say he left?"
"Completely. He opened a ground bridge in midair." Blackout's rotors clattered in a slight shrug. "He was heading north."
The warlord gave an inarticulate rumble as he considered this. It was clear he knew about as much of what was going on as they did, which was to say, not much. "The coordinates should still be logged. You." He gestured to the Vehicons, "See exactly where he went."
The two Vehicons had been watching in utter silence. The taller one didn't seem quite as rattled as his stuffy companion, who looked as if he'd spent the entire short conversation silently trying to fold in upon himself, possibly in the hopes of disappearing entirely. They both stood at full attention, though, and made for the nearest console.
The prim Vehicon typed away while his friend stood near, and Megatron returned his attention to Blackout. "You received no comms of any kind? Soundwave does not typically communicate verbally any longer."
Blackout paused to double-check his comms for any sort of signal, pure data or otherwise. "Nothing, my Lord."
The prim Vehicon very tentatively piped up, "Lord Megatron? It seems that Chief Soundwave bridged himself to the crash site." He was standing straighter, his attention focused on his task rather than the intimidating presence of his master, and was rubbing one talon along the underside of his chin, obviously perplexed. "Precisely where we found Blackout..."
This only made matters more puzzling. Soundwave was a private mech, but he behaved in a very reliably quiet and subdued fashion. Furthermore, no matter how covert his actions might typically have been, he never, never left his Lord out of the loop. A few moments of silence followed the drone's proclamation, and it was Blackout who spoke first. "Would you like me to go after him?"
"No." Megatron paused, and then turned away from the mechs assembled, striding down the length of the bridge. "I will."
Arcee and Bumblebee had managed to keep themselves from getting pinned against the wall of the wreck, but it had come at a price. Laserbeak had scored a lucky hit on the yellow scout, targeting the minor wound that he'd sustained in his scuffle with MECH, burning deep into his side. Bumblebee was holding up admirably despite the pain, but he'd been slowed down quite a bit, and Arcee could only move as fast as her comrade. Bumblebee had dropped to one knee, one hand clapped over the injury, which was seeping energon, while Arcee stood protectively in front of him, her blasters drawn.
Laserbeak was looping wide, ready for another round, and Ravage was keeping his distance, tail flickering. Rumble, though, was advancing with a grin on his face, his piledrivers cocked and ready. "Looks like it's time," he said as he drew near, "for a little payback."
Soundwave was still approaching, but he didn't look as if he was in a hurry to interrupt his symbiont's fun.
Then, without any sort of preamble, a groundbridge was opening, hissing lightly in the stillness of the evening air and bathing the battlers with pale green light. Ravage immediately leaped forward, ready to make a run for the bridge and head off the Autobots, should they decide to retreat, but the feline came to a skidding halt and lunged away when he saw the tall figure striding through the bridge.
Optimus Prime.
Immediately Soundwave called his symbionts to his side, a wordless imperative that they obeyed simultaneously. Laserbeak swooped low while Rumble shuffled hurriedly backwards, followed by Ravage, who assuming a narrow-eyed and half-crouched stance by Soundwave's side. The plating of the Communications Chief's chest slid apart and he extended his feelers, long and looping and crackling with electricity.
"Soundwave," Optimus Prime said slowly. "I do not want to fight you."
Soundwave took a single step forward, and on either side of him Ravage and Rumble did the same, moving in perfect sync with their host. Every angle of Soundwave's slim frame radiated aggression.
"My troops will be retreating," the Prime went on. Beside him, Bulkhead hefted his wrecking ball and steadied his stance, ready to strike out. He and Rumble were glaring fixedly at one another. "But I have something very, very important to tell you."
Spoundwave's response was to whipcrack his feelers, sending sparks spitting in all directions, a silent yet eloquent gesture of his contempt. On the heels of it, though, a second groundbridge opened in the sky above, and the air was filled with the roaring of aircraft engines: the silvery form of Megatron's alt-mode thundered into view, flanked by four Eradicon fliers.
This was an understandably distracting moment, and Arcee and Bumblebee took their opportunity to make a break for the safety of Optimus's presence. Soundwave's visor flickered to them, but he did not move. The drones made a quick loop to orient themselves and landed one by one behind Soundwave, their wings hiked up high, aggressive.
Megatron himself landed heavily in front of them, and, eyes locked on Optimus Prime, made his steady, deliberate way to Soundwave's side. He stood there, his predatory coldness a sharp contrast to Soundwave's barely-contained fury. The contrast was made even more apparent by the fact that they were standing side-by-side, and the fact that under normal circumstances, their roles would have been reversed.
Autobot and Decepticon regarded one another, their troops divided by an invisible line. Night was falling at last in Nicaragua.
"Megatron," Optimus said simply.
"Prime," Megatron rasped in return.
The two old warriors stared at one another, optics locked, the air filled with that unmistakeable, crackling tension that always arose when they stood in one another's presence, a tension as old as the war itself. Neither looked away, but Optimus was the first to break the silence. "I was just telling your third-in-command that I have important information to impart."
"How very generous of you." Megatron replied evenly.
"I already know everythin' they need to know," Rumble sneered. Megatron blinked, startled, and looked in the direction of the voice. Optimus had garnered his full initial attention, and in the gathering dusk, the Minicon's tiny form had blended in with that of the mech he stood beside: his host. Had the circumstances not been so dire, the Autobots might have found the expression of sheer dumbfoundedness on the warlord's face amusing.
Optimus simply paused and looked down, staring hard at Rumble. It was easy to forget when one was listening to the gentle cadence of his voice, when one was so accustomed to his patient pleas for peace, that the mech standing there was a warrior. For a moment Rumble held the piercing gaze for a single defiant moment before he looked away.
There was a sudden flurry of movement on the Autobots' side of the field, and instantly the tension in the air snapped. Bulkhead shoved Bumblebee through the ground bridge, covering his escape with the bulk of his body. The Eradicons opened fire, and one of them darted forward, drawing a beat on Arce.
Bulkhead moved to intercept, swinging his wrecking ball in a single brutal arc and batting the Eradicon out of the air easily. It crashed to the ground, its side dented horribly, too wounded to be an immediate threat any longeer. Optimus Prime stepped forward, his axe already formed, while Arcee disappeared through the ground bridge. "Go!" he called to Bulkhead.
Megatron snarled, letting the plates of his arm shift and re-form into a blade, preparing to meet his age-old enemy in their timeless struggle once again—only this time, he wasn't quite fast enough.
Soundwave charged forward ahead of him, tentacles lashing angrily. For a moment both Optimus and Megatron stalled in shock, but then the angry carrier was directly in front of the Prime and striking out with uncharacteristic savagery, and Optimus was forced to rally himself for defense.
Soundwave's attacks were lightening-fast, a staccato rain of blows that the Prime was unable to fully block. The sheer ferocity of the assault forced the larger mech to remain on the defensive, and though Optimus was robust enough to absorb the damage of the blows he wasn't able to block, he was still unable to counterattack. Even Soundwave's symbionts had been caught off-guard by the attack, and they hesitated, unable to assist: their host was embroiled too closely with the Prime to step in.
Prime grimly held his ground, but Soundwave eventually got lucky. His lashing feelers finally found an opening, and a single one darted forth, latching onto Optimus's frame and pumping him full of electricity. Optimus went rigid with agony and brought the hilt of his axe crashing down on Soundwave's head. The gesture was primarily reflexive, but it was extremely effective, delivering a glancing blow.
The smaller mech reeled momentarily, but gamely lunged in again, only to be struck once more with the hilt of the axe. He was lucky that he was too close for Optimus to properly aim his attack, because the blow hit him squarely to side of the head. Had he been struck blade-first, he probably would have been dead, and though the blow was rendered non-lethal by the clumsiness of the strike, Soundwave was still left staggered by the sheer might of the Prime. As he stumbled backward, Megatron paused, his attention diverted momentarily to Soundwave's fallen form before it snapped immediately back to Optimus. With an inarticulate roar of rage, he charged. The warlord never pulled his punches, but his blade met Optimus's with an unprecedented violence.
All of this had happened in the span of a handful of frenetic seconds, and Bulkhead had hesitated. A fresh barrage of fire from the Eradicons forced his decision, and he made for the groundbridge as fast as his ungainly form could while Megatron and Optimus exchanged blows. As always, they seemed evenly matched, with neither mech gaining advantage over the other for long, but Megatron was fighting like a mech possessed, once again forcing Optimus to remain on the defensive.
The drones now faced the same problem Soundwave's symbionts had earlier. Both mechs were too close to be fired upon, so the drones split up, two of them coming around one side to try and cut off Bulkhead's escape while the remaining one rushed to the aid of their fallen comrade. Bulkhead leaped through the ground bridge, flinging himself into the vortex just in time to miss a volley of laser fire from the drones, who skidded to a halt.
Optimus did not drag out the battle. As soon as he was sure Bulkhead was clear, he switched tactics. His goal from the beginning had been simple retreat, and the extra fire in Megatron's spark wasn't giving Optimus any advantages. He gathered all of his strength and dealt the warlord an almighty one-two punch, first with a vicious swipe of his axe-blade, and then with a crushing punch from his free fist. The blade cut deep into the warlord's chest armor, sending Megatron stumbling to the side, and the punch connected directly with his face, and momentarily stunning him. Optimus broke free and beat his retreat.
Soundwave rose to his feet, ready to pursue, rage still dominating every layered frequency of his EM field. Ravage and Laserbeak had already come to his side, and Rumble skidded over, as well, pounding a fist into his open palm. "I'm game if you are, Boss!" he panted.
Something in the tone of Rumble's voice made Soundwave hesitate, and he glanced down. The little mech was scuffed, dented, and generally looking worse for the wear. He didn't seem about to collapse from exhaustion, but his EM field was flickering in away that indicated he was sorely in need of maintenance. The sight of his symbiont, battered and neglected but ready to fight further, forcibly shifted Soundwave's priorities. He had a symbiont to tend to.
Megatron shook off his injuries and charged after Optimus, but the Autobot was through the ground bridge in an instant, and the swirling vortex drew itself to a close seconds before Megatron could draw near enough to step inside.
Soundwave remained still, still staring down at the Minicon by his side. Realization was sinking in. He didn't just have a symbiont to tend to, he had Rumble to tend to. His Rumble, a mech he hadn't been sure he would ever see again. The sparks along his feelers subsided and Soundwave turned to the wayward Minicon, who blinked up at him, puzzled by the sudden shift in body language. "Boss?" Wordlessly, Soundwave dropped to one knee and pulled Rumble against his chest, holding his symbiont against his spark.
"Aww, c'mon, Boss, in front of Lord Megatron?" Rumble protested, glancing over to the warlord in question, grimacing in chagrin. In response, Soundwave simply wrapped his data cables around Rumble, looping them around the little mech in a possessive, protective embrace. Rumble's protest could just be made out, muffled by Soundwave's chest and the layers of limbs enveloping him. "Not the feelers!"
Rumble would have been happy to know that Megatron was pointedly looking away from the spectacle out of respect not just for the bond between host and symbiont, but also out of respect for the privacy of his Intended. Eventually, Soundwave subsided, withdrawing his tentacles and releasing Rumble. He stood. "Rumble," he intoned, and the low harmonics of his voice drew the startled looks of his Lord and the scattered Eradicons, "return."
Rumble stood up straight, and his plates began to shift slightly, before he blinked, frowning as he took in Soundwave's form. "Hmm. I think we're gonna have a little bit of trouble there, Boss."
Megatron finally approached, looking from Soundwave to Rumble in silence. The Eradicons approached behind him, two of them shifting their blasters back into arms, while the third supported the fourth, who was conscious despite the awful dent in his side. He clearly wasn't flying anywhere. Under different circumstances, he might have simply been left or culled (depending on the extent of his injury), but luckily for him, Rumble was also going to need a ground-friendly trip back to the Nemesis. "Welcome back," Megatron said simply. "You've been gone a very long time, as I'm sure you're aware. I trust you have much to tell us, Rumble."
Rumble grinned. "You don't know the half of it."
By the time Optimus returned to the Autobot base, Ratchet had already gotten Bumblebee to at least sit on a med-berth, though the young mech refused to lie down. He'd been anxiously watching the bridge, waiting for Optimus's return, and the Prime noticed his scout relax visibly when he saw his leader stepping through the portal. "Ratchet, Agent Fowler-?"
"Is on his way to the hospital. Luckily," Ratchet said somewhat dryly as he worked on Bumblebee's wound, clamping fuel lines and neatly mending buckled metal with sure strokes of a micro-welder, "I happen to have a nurse on call."
Optimus nodded slowly, venting a sigh of relief. The Autobots all stood in defeated silence. In some ways, their situation had just become much less complicated. Half of the moral ambiguities that had faced them moments before had been scythed away when the little mech had escaped. Without Rumble in the base, they could at least trust they were in some way secure, provided he didn't find some way to pinpoint their location. "Rumble is not..." Optimus began, but hesitated, uncertain how to phrase his next words.
"All that sharp?" Arcee supplied helpfully.
"-an expert in infiltration. I do not think, in his weak and desperate state, he was able to determine anything specific about our location. However, we need to be on high alert, and be prepared to relocate should the need arise. If he is to share this information with anyone, it will be the Decepticons' Communications Chief." The Prime paused to reach up, running his fingers lightly over a single shattered pane on his chest, a visecral reminder of Soundwave's fury. "I think his attention will be primarily occupied with retrieving his final lost symbiont."
"Speaking of which," Ratchet said as he finished welding the patch over Bumblebee's wound. He gave it one more critical look before he stood. "What do we do now?"
Optimus did not hesitate. "We must still make every effort to retrieve Frenzy. Rumble's parting words seemed to indicate that he knows more about the location of the Combinatoric than he had previously suggested. He could have been lying, but we cannot afford to assume he was. Furthermore," he added gravely, "he might very well have brought the weapon to Earth, and if we don't have it..."
"MECH does," Bulkhead finished. "Scrap. Why is saving the day never easy?"
"We cannot allow MECH to possess such technology, or surrender Frenzy to their cruelty." Optimus went on.
"If we can't get our hands on the Combinatoric, we might be able to grab Frenzy," Arcee said. "And if we have Frenzy, we have one heck of a bargaining chip. After what I just saw, I don't doubt that Soundwave would do anything to have him back."
"But the question is," Ratchet interjected, "would Megatron allow such an exchange? Soundwave might not be willing to sacrifice his symbiont for the weapon, but I wouldn't put it past his leader."
"I wouldn't be so sure." Optimus Prime frowned. Something had been nagging at the back of his mind since the battle, a small detail that had lodged itself in his thoughts, unable to be acknowledged in the heat of combat, but surging to the forefront at that moment. Something was definitely off in regards to Decepticon command. He remembered very clearly being struck by how differently Soundwave and Megatron had been behaving: the normally-stoic Communications Chief consumed by his emotions, and Megatron reigning in his brutality in the place of something colder and more calculating. This contrast had been so very apparent because Megatron had been standing beside Soundwave.
Beside him. Not in front of him...
Furthermore, Megatron had hesitated for one moment when Soundwave had been struck down, his attention focused completely on his comrade, before he'd rushed in to attack with a furious might that Optimus couldn't rightly say he'd felt in centuries, if at all.
He couldn't put his finger on it, but something odd was going on.
"Whaddya mean?" Bumblebee beeped, cocking his head.
This snapped Optimus out of his thoughts, and he blinked, giving his head a little shake. "I'm not sure myself, Bumblebee. Still, I wouldn't discount the value Megatron places in Soundwave's wishes, or Soundwave's willingness to do whatever it takes to secure his symbiont."
"So, we're still going for it?" Arcee asked. When Optimus nodded to her, she straightened. "Right. So, let's review. Once again we have a dangerous mission with a small chance of success, a lot to lose if we hesitate, and to top it all off we're going to be risking our necks for the safety of a 'Con." She shook her head. "This is shaping up to be one hell of a week."
Megatron had left Blackout and the drones rather abruptly, simply instructing the former gladiator to "stand by" while he left with the squadron to investigate Soundwave's disappearance. The drones seemed to be equally at a loss as of what to do, and when the taller one asked if they should return outside, Blackout shrugged and repeated his Lord's words. "Stand by."
It seemed as good a plan as any. Blackout stepped up behind the drone at the console and stared at the screens, pensive, but silent. He wore a mask and visor, and as such, his expressions were well hidden from the two Vehicons. "There is a chance we shall be called to our Lord's side as backup," he eventually said, "are you fueled and prepared to fight?"
The drones exchanged uncertain glances. "I am, sir," the taller one said, "I'm a soldier. But he isn't."
Blackout cocked his head towards the smaller Vehicon. "You don't fight?"
"I will, if I need to, sir," he answered hurriedly. "However, my day-to-day function is head of the maintenance crew."
Blackout's visor flickered. "Ah." He sounded less than impressed. In that single syllable, he managed to convey the sentiment that he hoped they would not, in fact, be called in as backup. He turned from the console and strolled the length of the bridge, his rotors giving an occasional twitch. Blackout could be patient when he needed to, but he hated waiting in uncertainty.
The drone at the console relaxed visibly once Blackout had stepped further away. He and his companion stood in silence for a while before he looked over his shoulder and declared, "Steve, I'm beginning to find that the more time I spend in your company, the more trouble I get into."
Steve shrugged at his companion, Switchgear. "You're the one who wanted to tell Lord Megatron about what went down."
"I didn't mean in person!"
Steve snorted through his vents, and they fell silent once more. Switchgear seemed content to remain at the console, huddling near it as if its proximity would protect him from the fickle wrath of their commanders. Steve was regarding Blackout with curiosity. New faces were few and far between at present, when the war had ravaged their ranks and left them thin. Only time would tell what kind of impact Blackout would have on the army, but so far he seemed surprisingly easygoing, much like Breakdown.
His thoughts were interrupted by Blackout half-turning, cocking his head. The plates on his back began to shift, the armor below his rotor assembly parting and reshaping in a series of endless flashing metal tessellations. Steve froze, bewildered and horrified, while beside him, Switchgear glanced over with interest.
A sinuous form sprung free of Blackout, landing on the ground and scuttling a short distance from his host. Blackout turned the remainder of the way as his recently-released symbiont completed his transformation and gathered his bearings. "The squadron has returned." He said simply.
Steve hurriedly stepped aside a Scorponok excitedly scuttled forward, his low-slung form slipping past them and towards the doorway. Switchgear watched Scorponok go with a much calmer air. "Your symbiont seemed excited, sir." If he was in any way perturbed by what he had seen, he didn't show it.
"Yes," Blackout said as he lumbered after Scorponok, who was already veering off down the hallway beyond the bridge. "It seems they have returned with company. You are dismissed." He stepped through the doorway, and was gone, leaving the two drones standing by themselves on the bridge.
They exchanged glances, and wordlessly shrugged, doing as they were told and making their way for the door. Their week had been pretty weird so far, so what else could they expect but a truly bizarre finale?
Soundwave had ground bridged the entire party to the landing pad atop the Nemesis, where they'd quickly dispersed. The uninjured drones were dismissed to resume their duties, all except for the one who had taken up the duty of carrying the wounded soldier around. The remainder of the party headed immediately for the medbay, which was soon to be a much more hectic place that the recently-abandoned bridge.
Soundwave had sent Knock Out a series of matter-of-fact bursts as they made their brisk way to the medbay, and as such their medic was somewhat prepared for the sight that greeted him. He had already cleared a medberth, and Breakdown was busy at work preparing a second one. "Well, well, well. Look what the cybercat dragged in," he drawled, staring down at Rumble. "You know, I wasn't sure I'd heard you right, but it certainly looks like him."
Rumble sneered up at Knock Out and hefted a single arm, which shifted into a pile-driver. "You lookin' for some proof, Doc?"
Knock Out rolled his eyes and gestured to the clear berth. He knew very well that Rumble wasn't making a genuine threat; imminent grievous bodily harm was just how the little mech's sense of humor worked. Rumble trotted towards the berth, letting his arm shift back into its normal configuration along the way before he swung himself up onto it. Soundwave immediately followed after him.
Knock Out's first concern was stabilizing the wounded Eradicon, who was hauled up onto the spare berth with the help of Breakdown. Rumble sat on the edge of his own and yawned while Soundwave stood nearby, his field filled with an anxious, restless energy. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the reality of it: Rumble was here. Rumble was back. Every now and then he would tilt his face towards the little mech, as if he expected him to disappear any moment. Every now and then Rumble would look back, sensing the look, and would grin at Soundwave. He wasn't a terribly warm little mech, but he was clearly glad to see his host once again.
Megatron stood apart from the general hubbub. It was very difficult for the heavily-armored warlord to project an air of anything except barely-restrained menace, but he almost seemed awkward standing there. Almost.
Soundwave's plating shifted restlessly and he sat down next to Rumble, resisting the urge to pull his symbiont to his side again. Now that they were safe and settled, he had to tackle the problem of establishing a connection with Rumble. After such a long separation, a connection would not only be a welcome merging of minds with his symbiont, but a necessary synchronization of their bio-rhythms. He mulled over the problem with Rumble, exchanging quick telepathic bursts with the Minicon, before they settled on using a simple hardline connection.
Soundwave unraveled one feeler and hooked it into an input on Rumble's back. They both fell into grateful silence as the connection blazed to life and their consciousnesses reached out to one another, settling into a harmonious whole. The Communications Cheif's EM field shivered with gratitude as he wrapped his mind around Rumble's, stepping through that final barrier than had kept his symbiont from him for so very, very long. Rumble himself calmed, his optics dimming, letting his ever-present air of restless insolence fade into.
"Is he gonna be okay?" The drone that had carried the wounded Eradicon was watching Breakdown and Knock Out from a respectful distance. She glanced between Breakdown and Knock Out, gesturing vaguely to her helm to indicate comm activity. "His roommate won't stop pinging me asking about him."
"He'll be fine," Knock Out replied airily over his shoulder as he turned away, crossing the room once more to begin his preliminary examination of Rumble. The little mech seemed more or less intact, and Soundwave was conducting a very thorough examination of his own, but the doctor would be satisfied when he had his own set of readouts to consult. "Just tell his roommate he has the place to himself for the next few days."
"Gotcha," the eradicon replied, flipping a lazy salute. She excused herself, nodding in respectful acknowledgment to the silent presence of Lord Megatron, but as she approached the door, it wooshed open and a low-slung form slithered inside. She hopped out of the way just in time, her wings flickering as she balanced carefully on one foot ("Whoah, s'cuse me!") before she slipped out the door.
Scorponok made a beeline for Rumble, who had been staring at the floor with a rather unfocused expression. He blinked, giving his head a little shake as the other symbiont drew near, and grinned, optics brightening. "Hey, Scorponok. Long time no see." Knock Out was beginning to hook Rumble up to various monitors, and regarded the cyberscorpion warily as he scuttled near the medic's feet.
Blackout entered immediately after, crossing his arms as he stepped into the threshold. Soundwave pulled his attention away from his telepathic connection with his symbiont and back to the room around him. The Communications Chief regarded Blackout's symbiont with the same inscrutable silence that he seemed to regard everything else. Scorponok began to chatter rapidly at Rumble in a series of beeps and clicks, and the Minicon listened with a slightly-furrowed brow.
"Nah, he's not here. Yeah. Yeah, I know. I do." Scorponok launched into another series of chittering sounds, and Rumble held up a single hand. Soundwave went very still and suddenly became very intensely interested in what Scorponok had to say. "Look, I'm—okay, I get your point, just cool your circuits for just a second! I just got here. And I've gotta tell everyone else, anyway."
"He is asking where Frenzy is," Blackout explained for the benefit of the mechs present who did not understand Scorponok's unique method of speaking (which was more or less everyone except for himself, Rumble, and Soundwave). "They've always gotten along well."
"Yeah. They both got drills for hands," Rumble remarked wryly.
"Look, this is all very fascinating, but I need a little room, here," Knock Out said, nudging Scorponok with one foot. Blackout knelt, silently calling to the cyberscorpion. Scorponok turned and scuttled back to his host, coiling around his feet.
Soundwave leaned forward slightly, his shoulder-guards drawing up tightly, adopting a hunched posture while his mask remained trained on Rumble. The Minicon glanced back, clearly responding to some sort of silent telepathic comm from his host, but at the same time, Megatron finally stepped forward and spoke for the first time since entering the room. His low, grave rasp commanded everyone's immediate attention. "Rumble, do you mean to tell us you have information on Frenzy's whereabouts?"
"Yes and no, Boss," Rumble replied, leaning to the side to meet Megatron's gaze over Knock Out's shoulder. Rumble referred to both Soundwave and Megatron as "Boss," a habit that quickly became confusing when both mechs happened to be in the same room. "That's what the Prime was goin' on about. They had me in their base for like..." He paused, face twisting in concentration, and shrugged. "Like a day or somethin'."
"Hold still," Knock Out admonished him. Soundwave obligingly reached out and steadied Rumble with one hand on his shoulder so that the doctor could get to work.
"I've got a lot to tell you, actually. A whole buncha slag happened between now and when we all got separated. Hey," he perked up suddenly, grinning, "did you offline Thundertron?"
"He fled," Megatron replied curtly. His expression was stern, and Rumble took the meaning without a single word needing to be said: focus.
"Heh, I thought so. Anyway, yeah, Frenzy. Short version of the story is that the Autobots think someone called MECH has him. Long version is really long so I'll save that for later."
Breakdown had been doing what he could to stay out of the way. The medbay was chaotic as it was between Scorponok's sudden arrival, Knock Out's flurry of medical activity, and Rumble's inability to reign his attention span in long enough for their conversation to settle on a single topic. The mention of MECH drew an immediate reaction from him, though. He straightened, his single eye narrowing. "What?"
Soundwave immediately went tense, his mask trained on Rumble, his field flooding with a mixture of anxiety and anger. His fingers tightened slightly on his symbiont's shoulder.
"Yeah. They were going to try and rescue him or something. They still might," he continued with a shrug. He looked back to Soundwave, sensing his host's rising alarm, and said, "He ain't awake right now, Boss. I don't think so, anyway—I'd feel it if somethin' were happenin' to him, if he was close enough. Besides, those pods ain't gonna crack for anything but energon, and I don't think MECH uses a lot of energon." Rumble had yet to explain what he meant by "pods," but he plunged on regardless of his audience's ability to comprehend the entirety of what he was saying. "But still, they sounded pretty nasty."
"They are," Breakdown responded tersely, his fists clenched. "If we're going to pick a fight with MECH, sir," he said abruptly, looking to Megatron, "Consider me the first volunteer." He formed a hammer with one hand and smacked the head of it into the opposite palm, making his destructive intentions plain.
Rumble grinned as he glanced to Breakdown. "Man, I missed you guys. But—yeah, so that's where Frenzy is. Uh." He paused, looking suddenly uncertain, returning his attention to his Lord. "We are going to go and rescue him, right?"
All eyes, medic, symbiont, and otherwise, turned to Megatron. His face was impassive, revealing nothing.
As far as Megatron currently knew, the only prize to be gained from such a venture was Frenzy himself. An infiltration attempt would not only require resources, it would also require manpower, and he had made his stance on rescue attempts abundantly clear earlier when Breakdown had been apprehended. Nobody could be sure he would agree to it, as their Lord had never proven himself to be a fount of mercy in times past.
Nobody could be sure what Soundwave would do if Megatron said no, either, but it was a safe bet to suspect he wouldn't be sticking around for very long with his symbiont in danger.
Finally, Megatron took a deep breath, and into the silence he said three simple words. "A Bondmate provides."
Knock Out and Breakdown exchanged glances. Blackout inclined his chin, his mask hiding his expression, but not his approval, while Scorponok made a short, interrogative chirr from the ground. Soundwave straightened slightly on the berth, his mask riveted on Megatron, his spark filled with an emotion he could not quite describe, and Megatron stared directly back at him. The Decepticon leader was not privy to the same level of telepathic intimacy that Soundwave's symbionts were, but they didn't need telepathy to understand the message in the look that passed between them. Rumble just grinned, pumping a fist. "Frag yeah! Let's kick some human skidplates. Or, uh. Whatever they use. And there's more to it than that. See, when we got separated, we found—wait-"
Rumble's optics popped open wide and realization hit his processor like a blow from the hammer of Solus Prime herself. "A what now!?"