Chapter 10: Records
The peace and calmness of the open space surrounded the ship as it made its way towards the moon's space-bridge. Starscream was at the controls, with Eleonor seated next to the main terminal, admiring the view through the bridge's windows.
She was mentally going over the plan and her supplies. They were going to Kaon, meet there with Megatron, and then go to Iacon to investigate what was left of the Hall of Records. It shouldn't take long. The city was in ruins and abandoned, so the risk of been caught in a skirmish was non-existent. All the Autobots had been deported to Earth, after all. Besides, Starscream would have never agreed to bring her along if there was still any danger left.
The only thing to worry about was the air supply. And they were carrying several oxygen cylinders for that purpose. More than necessary, just in case.
So, everything was in order and prepared for an exploration mission that should not take long because they knew what to look for and where.
Eleonor smiled for herself, excited in anticipation, thinking about the things they could learn in the Hall of Records.
"I see that you are in good spirits." Starscream observed with a small smirk. He knew that look on her face. Her thirst for knowledge was insatiable.
"Once you get used to the disturbing news, it's actually quite enjoyable. I can't wait to discover more pieces for our puzzle. We are going to unveil all the mysteries and be prepared for anything that the future could bring us." She beamed.
"That's the spirit." Starscream grinned back. Her optimism was infectious.
The space-bridge activated under the command sent by Starscream, and soon the ship was engulfed by the light.
The impressive cityscape of Kaon stretched out below them as the seeker soared through the sky, bound for the Palace. Eleonor stared in awe from inside the cabin, still amazed by the sight of the major Decepticon city. The highways been raced by a myriad of vehicles, the streets swarming with mechs, the buildings full of activity.
Some time later, they arrived to the Palace. Starscream carried his human charge in one servo as he strode down the ample corridors. They had no time to spare at the rec. hall during this visit. Megatron had contacted them as soon as they had secured the ship at the dock, ordering them to meet him at the conference room.
Starscream pinged the huge door as they arrived to their destiny. It opened with a swoosh and they stepped into the wide room.
Soundwave, Shockwave and Megatron were already there. There was also another mech that Eleonor had not seen before. He was talking to the Decepticon Leader. From the few cybertronian words she was able to pick up, he was presumably reporting something. Starscream had a hard time trying not to cringe in disgust when he saw who his Leader was speaking with. The seeker entered the room trying not to attract any attention towards him or his pet, and stopped beside the huge cyclops mech.
Eleonor took that moment to peek at the scene from behind Starscream's claws and inspect the unknown mech. He was quite big, and his predominant colors were beige, purple and black. She frowned and then arched an eyebrow as she continued to inspect the mech. One could more or less guess the type of vehicle a mech transformed into, mainly because certain parts were still visible in their frames when they transformed. For example, Starscream and his trine-mates retained their wings on their backs, and Knock Out retained his wheels over his shoulders. But this mech... this mech had wings on his back and caterpillar tracks in his legs. Those two things seemed odd together. Eleonor could not understand most of what was been said, but she noticed the smooth and calm voice of the unknown mech as he explained something to his Leader with gentle gestures of his servos. If personality could be judged from manners, the beige and purple mech should be one of those rare tranquil Decepticons.
"The building is not in too bad shape, despite his age, because of the sturdy materials used in its construction. The northern entrance, however, collapsed and the path is blocked. The southern entrance is, thus, the only one left." The beige and purple mech finished his report about the structural stability of the Hall of Records and its vicinity.
The Decepticon Leader nodded, pleased with the report.
"Everything is ready then. Wait for us at the landing platform number two." Said Megatron, and made a dismissive gesture.
Starscream shifted on his spot and casually put both servos behind his back, still carefully holding the human. She flinched in surprise at the unexpected movement, but didn't make a sound.
The still unknown mech bowed his helm and headed for the door.
"Is Blitzwing going to accompany us, or was he here only to report the structural conditions of the ruins in Iacon?" Starscream asked once the door of the conference room was closed. He repositioned his arms to properly held his human again.
"He was in the bombing of the city and had been in charge of hunting down the Autobot rebels that were left in that zone. He knows very well the terrain, the buildings, the hideouts, the safe zones and the dangerous ones." Megatron made a pause like if he was gathering his strenght to pronounce his next words. "Yes, he is coming along."
"You can't be serious." Starscream hissed, narrowing his optics.
Shockwave dedicated the seeker a disapproving glare for questioning his Leader's decisions, although he neither was thrilled with the idea of bringing Blitzwing along.
"He'll behave. I'll keep him in check. Personally." Megatron replied with a tone that indicated that that matter was over with. He also didn't like his decisions to be questioned.
The seeker let out a disgruntled noise but made no further comments. However, he didn't like the idea in the least.
Eleonor looked back and forth between the Decepticon Leader and his Second in Command. What was with that mech? He had seemed nice to her when she had heard him speaking to Megatron. Maybe he didn't like humans. She was starting to worry a little.
"However, the only ones that had been fully informed about the details of the mission and what you discovered in that planet, are we four. Blitzwing only knows that we want to extract some data from the Hall of Records." Megatron added. "I don't want any disturbing rumors to spread before it's necessary. Understood?"
Starscream, Soundwave, Shockwave and Eleonor nodded at unison.
"Let's go." Megatron commanded.
They followed Megatron to the landing platform, where Blitzwing was waiting for them, already in jet mode.
"Lead the way." Megatron ordered to the beige and purple Decepticon.
Blitzwing complied, and took off with a mighty roar of his engines. Megatron followed him, transforming into his own cybertronian jet form. His engines roared even louder, clearly not designed for stealth. The Decepticon Leader did not hide from his enemies. Soundwave and Shockwave followed next, and the last one was Starscream.
"Listen." Said the beige seeker to Eleonor, once they were flying over Kaon. The young human directed her attention to the dashboard. "Do not approach to Blitzwing. He is a dangerous mech."
Eleonor shuddered with the seriousness of the tone used by Starscream. Was that mech really that dangerous?
"I thought that he was a nice mech. He seemed calm and well-mannered at the conference room." She said. "Is he really that bad?" She wondered, intrigued.
"He is... unstable. He has some... serious mood-swings." Starscream replied, trying to look for the right words to put it. "It's difficult to explain. Just don't go near him." Eleonor nodded in reply.
They continued the flight in silence for a while, Eleonor admiring Megatron and Shockwave's alien designs in their alt-modes. Their fuselage was not smooth and even like human jets. It was convoluted and had pointy edges and spikes. They were bigger than Starscream (of course, their mech forms were also bigger, specially Shockwave) and seemed heavier, their engines working hard to keep them en-route. In open space they would have had no problem, because there was no air to cause friction and slow them down. But in the atmosphere and under the gravitational force, they were not the most efficient designs. Soundwave, on the other hand, seemed better suited for flight. His flying alt-mode looked like a cross between his cybertronian form and a human artificial satellite, with flat wings that resembled solar panels.
"Lord Megatron and Shockwave's jet modes seem quite heavy." She idly commented.
"They are. Because of their thick armor. It is also detrimental for their aerodynamics." Starscream explained. "But they can take a couple of good shots without suffering considerable damage."
"And you?"
Starscream chuckled with malice.
"I am too fast in combat to be shot down. My capacity of maneuver is also higher. I am a true seeker. And seekers are born to reign the skies." He said proudly. "Megatron and Shockwave are just ground mechs with a flying alt-form."
"Woah. And Blitzwing?" She asked.
"Blitzwing is neither a seeker." He replied. "He is what we call... a triple-changer."
"A triple-changer..." She murmured. "He has more than one alt-form?"
"Yes, he also transforms into a tank."
"Oh... that explains why he has wings and caterpillar tracks at the same time. I thought it was a strange combination." She paused. "And what about Soundwave?"
"That 'wings' of his have a double purpose. They are useful for flying, but they also serve as antennas to both emit and pick up transmissions. They are very sensitive to any electromagnetic wave. Soundwave is not our communications officer and espionage master for nothing."
"Amazing." She was truly impressed by the versatility of cybertronian frames. "And you? How were you and your trine-mates before you changed your alt-forms to Earth ones?"
"Prettier."
Eleonor deadpanned and then burst in giggles, not expecting that answer, much less in the hurtful tone that the seeker had used. If he weren't in jet mode, she was sure that Starscream would have pouted like Skywarp did when one of his pranks went wrong.
"You don't believe me? Here's the proof." Starscream chuckled, and brought up a holographic projection over the dashboard. Eleonor stopped her laughter and admired the original alien design of the seeker. The jet form had four pairs of thin wings, two of them bigger and the other two smaller. It had wide air intakes and the shape was sleek and elegant. It was beautiful. The mech form looked even scarier. The wings protruded both from his back, and over his shoulders. He had different designs of claws and feet.
"Well, I have to admit it, that jet form is very nice. Are you planning to change back to your cybertronian form?" She asked.
"Hmm... no. I must admit that the aerodynamics of the Earth planes are better. They are designed to work under thicker atmospheres." He made a pause. "...It also brings me good memories."
Eleonor smiled softly.
"You'll always be the same ruthless Decepticon warrior, Starscream. No matter how you look." She said. That F-22 raptor also brought her good memories.
The seeker chuckled darkly at the praise and made a slow barrel roll through the air.
An hour later, they could make out the city of Iacon in the distance. The once proud capital of the Autobot empire was now a vast landscape of ruins and damaged buildings. Eleonor looked sadly through the cabin's glass as they descended. Most of the highways were broken. The wide avenues were littered with debris. Some recognizable pieces of armor and splashes of dried up energon adorned the streets. It was like a ghost city.
Eleonor closed her eyes and looked away from the windows, holding tightly to the seat-belt. Megatron and Optimus no longer desired to continue waging war against each other, but that couldn't change the fact that they had been attempting to kill each other during millions of years. Many lives had been lost, and memories could not be erased. So, the only viable option had been trying to walk different paths, far from each other. Autobots on Earth. Decepticons on Cybertron. It had not been easy, but at least, the War had ended.
The young woman had not lived the conflict first hand, like Sam and Mikaela had, but she knew the story. She knew very well that both factions had done horrible things to each other. And she knew that any war, no matter the race, was abominable.
But witnessing by herself the effects of millions of years of war... was painful. She could almost imagine the bombs and fire raining down the city. The screaming if it's citizens. The agonizing cries of the wounded mechs...
"I am sorry... that you had to see this." Starscream said suddenly, pulling Eleonor out of her dark thoughts. His voice was unusually soft. "I am used to it by now... but you are a civil, and I've just realized that this must be frightening for you." Eleonor looked back at the dashboard with a sad expression.
"It's what happened. I cannot turn my back to the truth and pretend it isn't here. I'll be fine." She said, reassuringly. After a little silence, she spoke again. "Can you... show me how it was before the war?"
The dashboard lit again in silent response, this time showing holographic projections of Cybertron's Golden Age. The city of Iacon was bright, in every sense. Unlike Kaon, that was predominantly dark and purple, Iacon's highways were well lit, the buildings were pale golden with red details. It looked welcoming, inviting. Peaceful.
"We can still work for a better future, can't we?" Starscream asked, repeating the same words that Eleonor had said long ago, his tone laced with nostalgia.
"Of course." She replied, patting the seat affectionately.
Some minutes later, they arrived to what was left of the Hall of Records. It was one of the biggest and oldest buildings of Iacon, with a high dome and several entrances.
Megatron, Soundwave, Shockwave and Blitzwing transformed just before touching ground, landing on his feet and cracking the already neglected pavement below them. Only Starscream landed in his alt-form, allowing Eleonor to climb down before transforming into his mech mode.
"Oh. So zhat's zhe small human pet I've heard about." Said Blitzwing with quiet disdain, focusing his attention in the young woman.
Eleonor looked back at him for the first time, because during the meeting he had his back turned while speaking with Megatron. His face-plates were pale blue, and one of his red optics was different, rounded, like a zoom-lens.
"Forget the human. Let's go into the Hall." Megatron ordered with an uninterested tone.
Blitzwing face-plates seemed to shift and change it's configuration, and then a different face appeared, replacing the previous one. It was red and had a red visor.
"Vut I can't understand vhy we must stand zhese pesky meat-sacks around us! Eet iz degrading! I am no Autobot!" Roared Blitzwing, stomping one massive foot on the ground. Eleonor stared in horror at the strange mech whose face-plates had changed just before her, not only changing his aspect but also the tone of his voice and his manners, glaring at her with raw fury. "We should kill eet now before eet multiplies!"
Eleonor was frozen in place, all her hairs standing on end.
"Blitzwing!" Roared the Decepticon Leader even louder, making both Eleonor and Blitzwing flinch. "Forget the human. It's hardly a menace."
"Uh, yes, Lord Megatron!" Said the beige and purple mech quickly, standing to attention.
"Lead the way. If I had to repeat myself again I will blow you a new exhaust pipe with my fusion cannon. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Lord Megatron! I vill lead the vay!" Replied Blitzwing, and started to walk, headed to the southern entrance of the Hall.
Starscream crouched and offered a servo to Eleonor, an invitation that she took eagerly. Remaining on the ground near a mech that would gladly 'accidentally' step on her was not a good idea. She looked back at him, grateful for been now in a safer place. Starscream let Shockwave and Soundwave walk in front of him, putting the maximum distance between Blitzwing and him.
Eleonor shivered at the thought of the irate mech. Were all triple-changers like that? Or only him? And why did he speak with a German accent? She had many questions in her mind, but she didn't dare to ask right now. They were on an important mission. Her curiosity could wait.
They entered the building. Part of the dome had fallen off, and now the floor was littered with debris. The interior consisted in a wide hall surrounded by benches and broken monitors.
Shockwave approached one of the few intact terminals.
"There is no power." He stated. Although he already expected that. "But there should be an emergency generator in the lower level."
Megatron nodded, and they moved towards a long ramp that descended to the lower level, describing a wide spiral. The furniture in that level had been piled up in front of the entrances, probably used as barricades to hold the enemies during war times.
Starscream rose his free arm, and his wrist-plates shifted producing a small device that lit up, showing a holographic projection of the building's plan. He had downloaded it before going to Iacon.
"We are here." He said, and one of the sections of the holographic representation of the Hall changed it's color to purple. "And the emergency generator room is in that direction, at the end of the corridor." The destiny in the projection turned red. "I'll go." Dissipating the hologram, the seeker turned and began to walk towards the generator room.
Shockwave and Soundwave went to the nearest terminals, looking for the most intact ones. Blitzwing, who was not very keen on the arts of extracting data, paced around that level of the building, checking the structure for weak points. Megatron rose his wrist and produced his own hologram of the Hall, this one more complete, with plans of the cabling and situation of the data-storage units and servers, as well of the master terminals.
Turning down a corner, Starscream arrived to the end of the corridor, and entered the emergency generator room.
"What's the problem with Blitzwing?" Eleonor murmured as the seeker placed her on the floor so that he could have both servos free to manipulate the controls of the generator. That odd mech with terrible mood swings gave her the creeps.
"He has always been like that." He replied absently while inspecting the control terminals. "I don't know if something went wrong when he was sparked, or if he has some kind of serious personality disorder... But he is insane."
Suddenly, Eleonor felt awful. Terribly awful and inconsiderate. In her mind echoed the words that Knock Out had told her some weeks ago. 'Decepticons tend to hate or fear what they don't know. You have to give them the chance of knowing you'. That was what Knock Out had told her when she had been afraid from the other Decepticons in Kaon. And she had been doing the same thing. She had been fearing Blitzwing without knowing him. She was no better than any other Decepticon.
"I am a horrible person." She said suddenly, her face saddening.
"What?" Screeched the seeker, while he was trying to jump-start the generator, connecting it to his own power cables. He was unaware of Eleonor's thread of thoughts.
"Blitzwing. I feared him. I was on the verge of hating him. And it is not his fault that he is like that. He was born... I mean, sparked that way..." She explained, running a hand down her face in a shameful gesture. "It is like if I hated someone for having a disability. I am horrible!"
Starscream stopped what he was doing and stared at his small human for a long minute, in silence. She had remorse and guilt written all over her face.
"You truly can't hold any grudge against anyone, can you?" He asked, puzzled. "You are too kind and you care too much for everyone. I must admit that I admire that forgiving capacity of yours. But you should be more careful. Not everyone out there wants to be cared for." He warned, frowning slightly.
Eleonor sighed, downhearted.
"I will be careful... But tell me something." She was looking at the seeker with a sympathetic expression. "Do you know if Blitzwing has many friends?"
Starscream froze, his optics dimming as he performed a small search through his data-banks.
"No." He shook his helm. "Most of the mechs usually avoid him because of his erratic behaviour. They fear him, hate him or simply think he is insane. They only (and reluctantly) work with him when a mission requires it. The rest of the time he usually spends it alone. Even when he is off-duty."
"That's what I though." Eleonor looked away, remorseful.
Starscream's expression softened. His human had a special talent when it came to guess the feelings of other beings.
"Well, I've never doubted of your female mystical mind-reading powers. And I'm not going to doubt of them now." He smirked. Eleonor smiled softly.
With a small burst of electricity and a few sparks flying from the seeker's cables, the emergency generator finally started to work. The pale lighting of the building came to life, at least from the lights that were not broken.
"Ouch!" Exclaimed the seeker, flinching and disconnecting the cables. "Well, one less thing to worry about. Let's go." He said, crouching offering a servo to his human to climb on.
When she was comfortably seated, he turned and headed for the hall where the rest of the team was waiting.
"By the way, there is still another... aspect of Blitzwing that you have not seen yet." Said the seeker thoughtfully, as he strode down the corridor.
"Another one? Complete, with another face-plate?" She asked in disbelief.
"Yes. And I sincerely hope that you don't have to meet it."
Soundwave and Shockwave connected themselves to the nearest terminals, data transfer cables surging from their wrist joints. Megatron had chosen them for this mission for strong reasons. They were the best ones at gathering data and searching for hidden and sensitive information in data-bases. And specially Soundwave was the best cybertronian at hacking through protected files.
Shockwave was collecting all the data he could find about the early Cybertron and the Original Primes. Soundwave, for his part, was looking for powerful cybertronian artifacts, in case he could find what were exactly that sword and cannon mentioned in the carvings inside the golden cavern.
"There is few useful data here, Lord Megatron." Said the cyclops mech after a while. "I have saved all the historical records, but there is few information about the early ages.
The Decepticon Leader nodded in acknowledgement and turned to Soundwave questioningly.
"Artifact data: scarce. Mostly myths and tales." Replied the Communications Officer.
Megatron frowned and lit up again the holographic projection of the building's plan.
"This is the last map that was made of the Hall of Records, dating from several vorns after the War started." He explained. "But this other one..." He rose his free servo and produced another schematic of the building. "...dates from the Golden Age." He held both holograms closely so that they could be easily compared.
"There was a second basement!" Exclaimed Starscream.
"Yes, but look. There were many data cables that went down to that basement, which means that there must be more data-storage units there." Megatron explained, thoughtfully.
"Stoopid Autobots! Zhey zink zhey can keep us from learning zheir secrets!" Shouted Blitzwing in a fit of rage, his face-plates changing to the red one. "I vill blow zhe floor!" The twin cannons that he carried over his shoulders angled down, and a loud whine of charging capacitors could be heard.
Megatron was about to slap the insane mech to bring him back to sense, but the seeker was faster.
"Calm down, Blitzwing." Said Starscream, his voice firm and commanding, but not aggressive. He placed one servo on the triple-changer's shoulder and shook him gently. "If we blow the floor we are going to fall down with it and the data-storage units could be damaged with the debris. Besides, the building has already suffered a lot of damage. I am sure you don't want to make it collapse on top of us."
Blitzwing was shocked. He half expected Starscream to knock him off when he had put a servo on his shoulder, but he had not. His face-plates shifted again to his predominant mood, the blue-faced cool-tempered one.
"Jou are right. I apologize." He said, a little confused. It usually took a harshly shouted command to calm him down, and the seeker did not even seem angry at him. "Maybe zhere is still a hidden entrance or a fake vall. I'll look for eet." He bowed his helm, and moved away to inspect the rest of the hall and corridors. He was still a little confused.
The Decepticon Leader looked at his Second in Command with an inquisitive glare. Starscream just shrugged.
"Well, I suppose we'll find it sooner if we cooperate." Megatron decided. "Start searching."
The team divided to look for an entrance to the hidden basement. Even Eleonor was trying to help, inspecting the walls while she trailed close behind Starscream. While they were at it, the alarm of her smartphone beeped. She had to replace one of her oxygen cylinders.
"Stupid oxidative metabolism..." She grumbled, adjusting her backpack, once the cylinder was changed.
Starscream chuckled at her misery, placing the empty cylinder back in a compartment in his arm-plates.
Blitzwing turned a corner and arrived at the same hall where the seeker and his human had stopped to renew her oxygen supply.
"Guten tag, Blitzwing!" Chirped Eleonor, waving a hand to newly arrived mech. Starscream looked at her questioningly.
The triple-changer stared down at her with an unreadable look and seemed to hesitate for a second, but didn't reply. Instead, he went to the nearest wall to resume his search.
"Err... sorry. I noticed that you speak with this peculiar German accent, and I was wondering if you visited Germany when you were on Earth..." She tried again to start a conversation.
"Stop bothering my subordinates, little pet." Smirked the seeker, giving her a gentle shove with a claw. But his true motive was that he didn't want to risk the triple-changer going into one of his dangerous rage fits. Not with a fragile human in the way. "Let's get back to work."
"I zpent some time hidden in a German military base." Blitzwing suddenly said after a while. "Zhe humans were foolish vut zhey kept some company. Eet was fun to see zhem doing silly zhings." He continued. "Eet vould had been funnier to blow zhem into piezes! Vut Lord Megatron wanted us to keep a low profile until further orders." He added, this time his face-plates changing to the red one.
"You tell me. I spent a year in Berlin, studying about renewable energy sources, and all that was for eating were wurst and all that was for drinking was bier! If I had had a rocket launcher at the moment, I would have blown to pieces a couple of restaurants!" She chuckled.
"I vould had helped gladly!." The triple-changer burst in laughter.
Starscream smirked for himself. Eleonor knew the right words to say to everymech. Then, inwardly replaying what the beige and purple mech had said before, Starscream realized something. Blitzwing had been hiding in a human military base. Megatron's orders had been to keep a low profile until their next move. Anywhere. Many mechs had chosen hiding in deserted areas. But the triple-changer had chosen to hide surrounded by humans. It was clearly obvious that he disliked humans. But he disliked been alone even more.
Despite his multiple personalities, Blitzwing was a lonely mech. But not by choice.
"Blitzwing." The seeker said suddenly, making the triple-changer to stand attention. "You should come by the rec. hall some time. Been alone can be boring sometimes."
The beige and purple mech stopped in his tracks.
"I... zhink I could use... some company." Blitzwing replied with his calm blue face, still a little hesitantly. People didn't usually offered him to spend time with them.
"That would be a great idea. There is something different going on in that room every day." Added Eleonor, looking to the triple-changer with a bright smile.
Suddenly, Blitzwing's face changed again, but this time every piece of plate disappeared, been replaced by some sort of black curved LED screen. As soon as it appeared, some of the LED's lit up, glowing in red, forming a mouth and two eyes, very similar to a creepy jack-o-lantern face.
"Oh, zhat vould be sooo coool!" Grinned the creepy displayed face, making Eleonor pale and step closer to the seeker. "I hope we could organize a party! I like dancing! Ha ha ha!" And then, the huge triple-changer started swinging around, moving his servos as if he was holding a pair of maracas. Every shake was accompanied by a crooned 'cha-cha-cha'.
The young woman did not know if she should be afraid or start laughing at the dancing mech's performance. Starscream, for his part, quickly reached for his human to hold her in his servos, in case one of Blitzwing's dancing moves ended in tragedy.
And just as he was fearing, one miscalculated swing, and the triple changer tripped over a chunk of debris, going right to Starscream. The seeker, in an impressive display of quick reflexes, moved aside and dodged him, only to trip over another loose boulder.
It was an spectacular fall, but when everything stopped spinning, Starscream was laying flat on the floor over his belly, and had somehow managed to keep his human safely trapped between his two servos, forming a protective cage around her with his claws. Blitzwing had landed over the seeker, and was momentarily stunned by the fall.
"Unh..." Murmured the triple-changer, shaking his helm slightly.
And as if on cue, Megatron, Soundwave and Shockwave turned around a corner and arrived at that moment at the scene.
"What are you three playing to?" Barked the Decepticon Leader, scowling at the falling mechs. "This is a serious mission. We don't have time for this nonsense! Get up!"
"Eet vas an accident, my Lord." Apologized the triple-changer quickly, his face-plates turning to the blue serious one, as he straightened a little.
"Arhg, Blitzwing... get off my wings first! Explanations later!" The seeker complained in exasperation. He opened his claws to check on his human. She seemed to be a little dizzy, but she waved a hand to the seeker and gave him a 'thumbs up', wordlessly telling him that she was alright.
"Blitzwing you found it! You are the best!" Eleonor suddenly cheered pointing to a wall.
"Of course I found eet! Zhat vas my intention from zhe beginning! Bwa ha ha!" Replied Blitzwing, changing again to his creepy jack-o-lantern screen-face. "Uh... vhat did I find?"
"The entrance to the hidden second basement." Clarified Shockwave, pointing to the wall.
During the fall, one of the beige and purple mech's wings had knocked down part of the wall, revealing a cavity behind it.
"Yay! I'm zhe best dancer! Ha ha ha!" Laughed the triple-changer with a huge grin adorning his LED screen. Megatron and Shockwave looked at each other with a puzzled expression.
"For Primus' sake, Blitzwing, get off me once and for all!" Screeched the seeker, helplessly flailing his legs, unable to get up with the heavier triple-changer pinning him down.
Megatron resisted the urge of face-palming at the sight.
"I apologize." Replied the beige and purple mech, finally getting up. Changing his face-plates to the quiet blue one, he helped Starscream to rise from the floor.
"Well, let's go." Ordered the Decepticon Leader, and with a mighty punch, he brought down the rest of the already damaged wall, revealing a narrow corridor at the other side.
The corridor had no lighting and descended in spiral until it ended in another underground hall. Fortunately, Starscream found the controls of the emergency lights, so that they could see the contents of the hidden room.
It was full of data-storage units arranged beside the walls. Everything was in perfect condition. It seemed that the War did not breach into that small piece of Iacon.
Shockwave approached one of the storage units and connected to it, extending his data-transfer cables from his wrist. Soundwave did the same, and both of them remained in silence for some minutes while they scanned the data-bases for useful information.
"The air is so still here... this place has been isolated since the beginning of the War." Murmured the seeker. Eleonor held tightly to one clawed finger as she scouted the room with her sight.
"Someone took a lot of precautions to hid this place. I wonder what secrets it may hold." Megatron absently replied.
Suddenly, they heard a low groan and the Decepticon Leader and his Second in Command turned to see the huge form Shockwave falling to one knee.
"Shockwave?" Exclaimed Megatron.
But Soundwave was the first one to react, as he quickly extended a blade from his arm-plates and sliced through the cyclops mech's data-transfer cables. Then, the Communications Officer also dropped to the floor, disconnecting his cables in the process.
"What happened?" Asked the Decepticon Leader, as he rushed to Shockwave's side and helped him up. Blitzwing did the same with Soundwave.
"Data status: protected by coding. Backlash: triggered when accessing files." Explained Soundwave.
"That coding was designed to shut down whoever might try to gain access to any file dating from the early ages of Cybertron." Shockwave let out a deep angered growl. He hated to fail in his duties. Much more in front of Megatron.
Soundwave, for his part, remained in silence, keeping his rage inside, as usual. He also hated to fail his Leader. But a deeper concern raced through his circuits. He was the best hacker among both Decepticons and Autobots. No one could match his skills. If he couldn't access those files, no one would be able to do it. And if no one succeeded to access those files and learn about those legendary weapons... their race would be doomed. They were the key to defeat that mysterious enemy that would arrive in a distant future.
The blue and silver mech rose from the floor, his expression unreadable, hidden behind his mask and visor.
The rest of the present mechs looked at him questioningly, but they received no answer.
And in a swift motion, he extended the thick tentacle-like appendages that he usually kept hidden within his chest, slamming them into the data-storage units, smaller feelers surging from their tips, embedding themselves inside the circuitry. He had not used this technique since he hacked the Earth's satellites several years ago. It permitted him a closer access to the data, evading the coding in the mainframe.
"Soundwave! Stop!" Megatron ordered in a harsh tone, usually reserved for other misbehaved mechs, but never for the Communications Officer.
However, the blue and silver mech was determined to ignore his Leader for the first time. He was sure he could do it. He kept fighting and evading the insidious coding that kept trying to shut him down every time he tried to pull out a file. Soundwave endured through it, rising firewalls around him, encrypting his moves, hiding his tracks.
But the backlash program seemed to be designed to learn and evolve from his hacking attempts, learning from them and gaining speed in shattering Soundwave's protective firewalls.
The Communications Officer fell to the floor on all fours, the antennae arrays on his back shaking slightly. The coding was too powerful.
"ENOUGH!" Barked Megatron, loosing his patience and temper. He grabbed Soundwave's tentacles and pulled back, tearing them from their targets. "What happens with you, Soundwave? This is the first time you ignore a direct order."
The blue mech looked up at his Leader.
"Soundwave: cannot afford to fail." He replied, fighting to keep his tone emotionless.
Megatron was taken aback by the reply of his Third in Command. It had gone unnoticed for the rest of his subordinates, but not for him. Megatron was used to listen to his Communications Officer, and he was able to pick the tiny glint of desperation laced in the blue mech's usually emotionless tone.
Suddenly, Megatron felt proud of his subordinates. He wasn't Optimus Prime, but he also had loyal soldiers that were ready to risk their lives for him and his cause.
"And I can't afford loosing my best hacker, you fool!" Megatron replied, his optics flaring brightly. "I can't afford loosing anyone!" He added in a huff, mostly for himself, but everyone heard him.
Soundwave bowed his helm in a shameful gesture. Not only he had failed in his duty, he had disobeyed a direct order from his Leader.
Eleonor was staring in silence at the scene before her. Megatron reminded her at that very moment of Optimus. Maybe a darker, more harsh and ruthless version of the Prime, but he also cared for his soldiers in his own way, although he would never admit it. Since The Fallen was destroyed, the Decepticon Leader had been truly living up to his rightful title of High Lord Protector.
Rising from the floor, still weak from the backlash coding, Soundwave went to reviewing the few incomplete files he had managed to extract. And he found a very interesting piece of information. He smirked inwardly. That hacking attempt had not been completely in vain.
"Hidden room." He stated, walking, headed to another unit across the hall.
"Soundwave..." Megatron hissed dangerously, suspecting that his Third in Command was about to disobey him again.
"Another hidden room." He clarified, placing both servos on the nearest storage unit and pushing it aside. Behind it, on the wall, a concealed door could be guessed. He turned to look back at his Leader, his red visor flashing proudly.
Megatron failed to suppress a smirk from crossing his features.
"I am going to let this little insubordination of yours slip this time. After all, this has been the first one." Megatron shook his helm in disbelief.
"Ah, yes, this is only the beginning. Soon, Soundwave, you will be like me." Starscream added, his voice purring with malice. The blue mech's visor flashed indignantly.
"Primus help me if that ever happens." Groaned Megatron, letting out a long sigh through his vents.
The hidden door seemed to be locked from the inside, and it took a while until Shockwave managed to rewire the control panel and unlock it. Finally, the heavy door opened with a hissing of hydraulics, revealing its secrets.
"What in the name of the Allspark...?" Murmured Megatron, scanning the interior. He stepped inside and approached cautiously to the center of the room.
There, laying on a berth was the body of a big mech. His armor didn't seem to be very thick, and was adorned with elaborate motifs. His face-plates had a regal and calm expression, and were adorned with protrusions that were similar to a beard and moustache.
"Is he dead?" Asked Blitzwing quietly.
Starscream approached and scanned him, sharpening his sensors to the maximum and scanning the mysterious mech.
"There is still a very faint spark reading. He is in deep stasis and very low on energon." The seeker replied with an even tone. "...Who is this mech, anyway?"
The present mechs exchanged questioning looks until Shockwave spoke.
"The Librarian." Said the cyclops mech. "He wasn't seen in public very often, he almost never left the Hall. I know him because I came to speak with him once. It was at the beginning of the War. I needed some information about the Autobots, but he refused to give it to me." Shockwave explained. "I remember him scolding me about been a Decepticon."
"So, he was an Autobot?" Asked Blitzwing.
"No. He also complained about the Autobots. He kept yelling at me that factions were a useless and foolish thing." Replied Shockwave.
"Why didn't you kill him for opposing you?" Insisted the triple-changer.
"Because I obtained the information I was looking for after all, hacking into the data-bases. And he was an old, senile and weak mech. It wasn't worth it." Shockwave shrugged.
"What was his designation?" Asked Megatron, tapping his chin-plates with a claw.
"I don't know. Everyone called him the Librarian." Replied Shockwave.
The Decepticon Leader was in silence for some minutes, lost in his thoughts.
"I want to question him." Megatron said suddenly. "What do we need to wake him up?"
"Now?" Asked Starscream, surprised. His Leader nodded very seriously. The seeker scanned the old mech again. "Mainly, energon." He replied, shaking his helm. "And I doubt I can find any in what's left of Iacon."
Then, Soundwave approached to the seeker and extracted an energon cube from subspace, placing it in Starscream's free servo.
"Oh, very prudent of you." Murmured the Second in Command in disbelief.
"Symbionts: get hungry easily." The Communications Officer shrugged very slightly.
"But I fear there is another problem." Sighed Starscream, approaching to the motionless mech over the berth. "He is extremely low on energon. So low that his peripheral lines are completely dry. The energon should be directly transferred to his main lines or tank. And although I have some basic field medic training, I don't have the necessary equipment to do that, nor the proper servo-modifications for such delicate procedure."
"Where is that pompous medic when you need him..." Groaned the Decepticon Leader.
"Could this help?" Eleonor suddenly said, peeking from behind Starscream's claws. She was holding in her hands a cybertronian I.V. line.
"Since when do you have that?" Asked the seeker in disbelief.
"Ratchet gave me a small cybertronian first-aid kit with some basic tools. Just in case." She explained quietly.
"So, he trained you in basic cybertronian field repairs, and gave you a first-aid kit." Starscream shook his helm in amusement. "He didn't trust me to keep myself out of trouble, or what?" He asked rhetorically.
"Well, well... your little assistant is full of surprises." Smirked Megatron, crossing his arms over his broad chest-plates. The young woman blushed slightly.
Starscream left his human onto the berth, near the slumbering mech.
"You are going to perform the energon transfusion." He said very seriously, pointing to Eleonor with a sharp claw.
"M-me, Sir?" Eleonor stiffened.
"You heard me. None of us has the necessary servo modifications. It is a very simple procedure, you won't have any complication with your small hands. Understood?" Explained the seeker.
"Yes, Sir." Eleonor nodded with determination. Her help was needed, and she was going to do her best.
[A/N]1: First of all, happy holidays to everyone, regardless of if you believe in Santa Claus, the Three Wise Men, the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Primus.
[A/N]2: Sorry for the delay, I've been busy lately. And the next chapter will also take a while, because holidays are in between, and I'm going for a little off-roading vacation in Morocco with my family and my Mitsubishi :P
[A/N]3: What do you think of my Blitzwing version? He is a difficult character to play! I hope it turned out well. And I am not comfortable writing with German accent. I hope that turned out well too...
[A/N]4: Soundwave superior!