Snowstorm's POV
I told Lord Megatron, "I can't coordinate back here, and I have no other work to occupy myself with. Please my Lord, this is my best chance to go out into the field."
"And what use would you be out there? You have no guns, no swords, no combat training. You are a hindrance in the field."
I leaned in closer, "Listen my Lord. I beseech you to let me go. And… with both me and Soundwave gone, you have none but vehicons, insecticons, Ghost, and Shadow."
He stared at me and attempted to read my face. He asked me…"Is there something you are trying to say?"
"We both know that I am perceptive. I might not be as observant as Soundwave, but I am a much more useful tool at deciphering what interests me. The action I have proposed will benefit us both."
"You are out in the field defenseless. For some odd reason, I do not see how that is beneficial to either of us."
"It raises my status in subtle ways. Besides, I am out in the field with Soundwave. That needs no explanation."
"Then explain to me how this would benefit me."
"Deplete yourself of ample warriors, then… You are alone with her. No interruptions. No one for her to run to. Not me, not Soundwave, not Dreadwing, no one. She is having relationship issues. Capitalize on that."
"As my subordinate, I am insulted you would insinuate such. But, as my advisor, I believe you would benefit from the field experience. I will tell Soundwave to prepare a groundbridge."
"Thank you my Lord."
Soundwave activated a ground bridge and we both walked through it into a canyon area. Soundwave showed me -on his screen- that the signal was in this area. The way he explained it, the coordinates gave a general zone, and we had to find the relic based on a weak signal that could only be discoverable in the coordinate's zone as given by the Iacon Database. We transformed and we flew. While tracking the signal, Soundwave found an Autobot ship in the area. He went to pull its attention away from me, so that I could find the relic unharmed. We diverged in directions, and I followed the signal to rock a formation that stood in the middle of the canyon. I landed and waited. Soundwave knew where I was, and I had no means of digging up the relic by myself. I did not like this field mission. Although I did enjoy the flight over here, I did not like the feeling of fear that stemmed from my innate aversion to conflict and the certainty of danger through conflict with the Autobots.
After more waiting, Soundwave landed at my position and he transformed. He was without Laserbeak. His body language showed all signs of silence. He looked at the ground. His loss of Laserbeak unnerved him. Perhaps he was angry with me. I came on this mission. I -without weaponry- accompanied him. If I were not as defenseless, I could have been of some use, rather than a hindrance. This was my fault. Soundwave walked up next to me and firmly planted his feet on the ground. His tentacles drilled downward into the rock formation and I assumed they searched for the object. His mask's monitor beeped and both of his tentacles surfaced. His left tentacle held a black metallic object above his head.
I called base, "Shadow?"
"What's up?" she responded. "Please use speech Matrix could follow."
"A black rectangular metallic object with a hollow-like underside. On one end there is a single pointed end and on the other side a double pointed end. It is the width of four of Soundwave's tentacle grip-hands."
"Resonance blaster," she said, "It's a gun that emits sound waves. It requires interface to use."
"Thank you." Shadow ended the link.
I returned my attention to Soundwave, "For immediate use," I told him, "you'll need to link into its system."
He nodded and the device released sonic waves.
A white Autobot -who resembled both a samurai and the Wolverine- was in the process of jumping down from a cliff above. His swords were extended and his screams drew Soundwave's attention. My friend used one of his arms to push me away, and he jumped back in the second he had left. I slid backward into the a rock wall, across from the two mechs fighting near the cliff's edge. I saw the Resonance blaster out on the ground below our rock formation. The Autobot landed exactly where we used to be. Soundwave must have dropped the relic as a consequence for helping me.
He -whom by now I recognized as Wheeljack from his bio on our database- stood up and readied his swords.
"You dropped somethin'," Wheeljack said.
Soundwave looked down at his empty tentacle's grip and then at the Resonance blaster below us. Both mechs faced each other. Soundwave readied his arms to counteract Wheeljack's two swords.
"This should be fun," the Autobot said.
He ran at Soundwave while screaming. Wheeljack swung his swords and Soundwave brilliantly dodged them. All until Wheeljack grazed Soundwave's visor. This is when Soundwave decided to fight back. He blocked with his arms instead of dodging. He extended one of his tentacles and slapped Wheeljack, who fell back. Soundwave used his hand to steal one of Wheeljack's swords. The Autobot stumbled, almost off of the edge backwards, and then recovered by throwing his weight forward. Soundwave studied his new weapon in a mocking fashion. The Autobot looked to his sword that Soundwave flaunted, and he glared at the Decepticon. Wheeljack ran again at Soundwave while screaming. This must have been one of his idiosyncrasies. Perhaps common with all Autobot Wreckers.
Soundwave threw the sword at the Wrecker, who deflected it with his other sword and continued to run. Soundwave grabbed Wheeljack's face with one of his tentacles and smacked the Wrecker against the ground. The rock formation cracked from the sudden force, and Soundwave threw Wheeljack across to the edge. The wrecked caught himself on the edge, but did not bother to get back up. Soundwave used his tentacles to flip the Autobot over, attached one tentacle grip to the Autobot's chest, (in order to hold the Autobot down), and held the other as a drill looming over the wrecker's face. Wheeljack grabbed the drill-like tentacle in an attempt to hold it away from his head. The drill was seconds away from piercing his metal skin, when he forced Soundwave's drilling grip into Soundwave's servo that held Wheeljack to the ground, successfully freeing himself. My friend shook off the blow and backed up. The Autobot jumped back up and head-butted Soundwave. My friend's visor was incredibly cracked. Soundwave backed up again, from the blow. He was pissed.
"Here I go again, shattering expectations," the Autobot jested. Wheeljack used his blaster to shoot Soundwave as he yelled and ran toward my friend.
Soundwave dodged the first two shots, but was hit by the third. His speed was lowered. He was both angry and tired. Wheeljack body-slammed the both of them off of the cliff. Their fall created a large dust cloud. I went over to the edge and looked down at them, in order to improve my cognizance. Both mechs were sprawled out on the ground. Wheeljack appeared to be less injured than Soundwave; however, Soundwave knew both that he was close to the relic, and he knew how to operate the relic. Soundwave turned his head towards the Resonance Blaster. Wheeljack stood over my friend and pointed his blaster down at Soundwave. My friend turned his noticeable attention to the Autobot while one of his tentacles stealthily snuck over to the relic.
"Any last words?" Wheeljack asked. "Right… silent type."
Soundwave raised the Resonance blaster above Wheeljack's head and released many sonic waves in a singular burst. Wheeljack tried to cover his audio receptors whilst he cried in pain. After a few seconds, Wheeljack fell over, possibly unconscious. Soundwave got up, walked over to the Autobot and attached the relic onto his sleeve. He pointed his new weapon at the Autobot, and prepared to kill Wheeljack. Then, Soundwave was alerted to Laserbeak's signal's reappearance. He turned away from the Autobot and looked at me. I nodded. He transformed and flew away. I transformed, safely flew down to the Autobot, and transformed again. I walked up to Wheeljack and observed him. I could not see any physical injury, but I assumed that the relic had caused some internal damage. I didn't even know if the Autobot noticed me.
He weakly called out, I assumed through a COM link, "Hey, Doc… I'm sorry…. aghhhhhh, figured you got maybe, aghhh. Two minutes..."
How injured was this Autobot? His eyes were dim and his pupils weren't moving. He was just lying against the ground. Could he not stand? How much damage was done to him? Would he die? I remembered how Shadow spoke of this Autobot. She wanted to introduce him to Matrix. If he died due to either Soundwave's immediate action, or my allowance for his demise, would she hold a grudge against us? Dreadwing might hold a grudge as well because he would've preferred to end this wrecker himself. It was his personal assignment to find and assassinate all Autobot Wreckers. Neither angered parties would be desired. Was I overthinking this? The Autobot was an enemy. Yes, but not every Decepticon viewed them the same. Most Decepticons would see my killing of him or my allowance of him to die as prestige. Others would see it negatively because they themselves would want to kill him. A few would say that his death would show a lack of restraint on my part, and claim that he would have been more useful as a prisoner to interrogate. Some of course would view it negatively because they would've preferred Megatron to decide what happened to the enemy, instead of a random soldier.
"What? Can't take the shot, con?"
"You don't want to persevere?"
"You cons are all the same. Just shoot me and get it over with."
"But, if I didn't kill you; you would owe me a task in exchange for my sparing of your life."
"If you didn't kill me, you'd be doing it for your own personal motive. I wouldn't owe you anythin' con."
"With that pleasantry out of the way, what you're proposing is that I, should end your life..."
Wheeljack was not an Autobot to work with. He didn't even try to save his own life. Well, since he was still here, I could still try to interrogate him.
"Who was this Doc you spoke to?" Ratchet was the Autobot doctor. "Is Ratchet in this area as well?"
"Wait…" he said aloud.
"I'm waiting."
"If you really want me to owe you one—"
"You desire for me to not inform Soundwave of your hiding teammate."
"That's simple enough, right?"
"Fine," I told him, "that is acceptable."
I backed away from the Autobot, and turned in the direction of Soundwave.
"You're leaving already?"
"You serve me no further purpose."
"You are just going to leave me here?"
"A dead or imprisoned Autobot cannot perform any tasks I wish to be completed."
"How would I even know when or how to do whatever the thing is?"
"You'll know," I told him. He would.
"I'll need a name," he told me. "How else would I know I'm not being duped?"
A name? That seems acceptable enough. "Snowstorm."
I ran, transformed and flew off in Soundwave's direction. He sent me coordinates for a rendezvous point, where I would meet Soundwave to ground- bridge back to the Nemesis. Soundwave was a silent mech. It is hard to explain how exactly I understood him in general. I could easily say that I understood him in the past due to body language and common understanding, but that would only imply that I could understand him if I was able to observe him through sight. It is hard to explain, but I know Soundwave. I get him. I am one of the few who does. Even with his last communication, in which I could not see him, I could understand him completely. He was elated that he recovered Laserbeak. He ran into no further battle and apologized for leaving me alone with the Autobot Wrecker. I -of course- said nothing of my deal with Wheeljack and forgave Soundwave for what he regretted. We both met in the air, the groundbridge appeared in front of us, and we both flew through it.
We arrived in the hanger, and walked to the command center. Soundwave looked rather dashing, and I was glad that he was happy from his reunion with Laserbeak. I noticed that his visor was seriously damaged. He asked me whether I was hurt or not, to which I replied I was not. When we entered the command center, all primary leadership positions were present. Knockout secretly left in a red blur as we entered. Matrix was talking to Claudia by the Iacon screen, and Dreadwing was talking to Megatron by the Earth hologram at the front of the ship. Shadow stood on the side, noticed our entrance, acknowledged our presence, and walked over to welcome us. Soundwave joined Dreadwing and Megatron. I -followed by Shadow- stood on the outskirts of the group and observed.
Megatron immediately noticed our group.
"So? What is the verdict?" he asked us.
Shadow smiled. Megatron used verdict as in the human phrase meant to ask the result and or outcome of a given event. Was that why she smiled? Usage of a single human word to be used in a colloquial English phrase?
Soundwave handed Megatron our Iacon relic. Our Lord turned away from us, held the object up, and observed it with a grin on his face. Claudia and Matrix joined our group. Matrix hid behind Claudia and communicated something to Knockout. Most likely that he should return to this location so that he would not miss what went on.
"Ah," Megatron marveled at the relic, "The Resonance blaster. Crafted by Decepticon scientists—"
"Scientist, Shockwave. Sorry."
Megatron rolled his eyes at Shadow -smile still on his face- and continued, "Crafted for maximum sonic devastation," he said with enthusiasm. "Soundwave, you have performed admirably." Our Lord half turned to face us, twenty five percent more than before.
Shadow nudged my arm, rolled her eyes, and mouthed words. It was almost as if she had become more like Matrix. More like how I knew her before she left. More comfortable.
Megatron responded, "Yes, you too Snowstorm."
Shadow smiled and Megatron returned her expression. Our Lord had definitely taken my advice well. Though, Dreadwing looked a mixture of annoyed and scared. I would have to follow up on what information was exchanged, later.
"Soundwave," Megatron continued, "you should feel proud for having succeeded in a role of leadership. Unlike Dreadwing here," his words ran cold and his speech grew in anger, "Who managed to lose the Apex armor to Starscream! Dreadwing and Claudia both, should take blame for this monumental failure." Megatron turned back to the world hologram, where three sets of coordinates were displayed. He continued, "However, three more decrypted coordinates remain in play. And I have every competence that Knockout and Matrix—"
Knockout strode up to our group, pushing through two vehicons on his way to us. His armor was covered in scratches, dents, stripped paint, and other aesthetic eyesores. He interrupted Lord Megatron with his loud voice by yelling an obnoxious question, "Can you believe what the Autobots did to me?"
Megatron glared, he had an angry look plastered upon his face, and quickly stomped to the doctor.
"Did you retrieve the relic!?" Megatron asked.
"No, master."
"Then I suggest you convince me of your continued usefulness by examining Laserbeak, doctor."
"Yes, right away my Lord."
Matrix remained hidden behind Claudia. Knockout turned to exit, with Soundwave immediately behind him. Dreadwing walked over to Shadow and pulled her aside. Megatron followed Soundwave. I gave all three parties one last glance before deciding to follow my teammate. Knockout fidgeted as he led us to a medical examination room. When there, the doctor motioned to a medical berth and Soundwave lied down on it. Knockout grabbed some medical signal reading device and scanned Soundwave. The device beeped more frequently and at a higher pitch at Laserbeak's center.
"What is it?" Megatron growled.
The doctor backed up and said curious, "An obstruction of some sort…"
Soundwave hopped off of the berth and ejected Laserbeak from his chest. Soundwave held his friend in his hands for Knockout to observe. Laserbeak opened his small storage area located on the center of his back. Precisely where the device located. There, lied a thin orange cylinder. No, the cylinder was clear. It was made of a greenish glass-like substance. The core -which ran down the middle of the tube- glowed orange. This reminded me of a light bulb. Except this one flickered at a constant pace and heat seemed to emanate off of it.
Knockout's reaction was the initial cause of my fear. His eyes and mouth opened wide, and he jumped away to take cover while yelling, "Grenade!" Knockout certainly was fast. Much quicker than I would have guessed. Megatron had a near blank expression and Soundwave hid a bit of timid shock behind his stoic appearance.
"Ahh, that is clever," Our Lord commended the Autobot's handiwork.
No wonder Wheeljack didn't want me to expose Ratchet. Initially I assumed it was because the wrecker cared for the doctor, but now I knew Wheeljack just didn't want this plan to be fooled. But… Ratchet hadn't been one known for using grenades. It was also quite odd how dormant the said grenade was while hidden. Even through: flight, groundbridging, walking, and Soundwave quickly hopping off of the berth. Any of those actions should have activated the device yet…
"Why has it remained inactive?" I asked the group, "Why would the Autobots take the effort of concealing a dud?"
"A good question," Megatron responded. "But, I presume that falls upon incompetence over other alternatives. Never the less, we should still proceed with caution... Knockout," Megatron called from across the room, "Prepare to properly dispose of the obstruction."
Knockout returned to us, carefully grabbed the glowing cylinder, held it away from himself, and ran out of the room. I was certain that I heard him screaming as he ran off into the distance. If he continued to run as he had, he would most likely fumble and then drop the object. There was no way to stop the inevitable.
But, Soundwave was calm and elated that the obstruction was dealt with. Consequently, I was as well. Soundwave joyfully reattached Laserbeak. I could tell he was immensely happy. I smiled to show my reciprocated feeling.
"Soundwave," Megatron said, getting back to business, "if we are to maintain any advantage over the Autobots—"
An explosion shook the ship. I assumed Knockout had fulfilled my prophecy, thus the explosion and pause in Megatron's speech.
"Decoding the remainder of the Iacon database: must remain your top priority."
Soundwave nodded in response. He was disappointed that he would no longer be able to go out on field missions. Yet, at the same time, he also understood the importance of the task Megatron had assigned. It was a feeling of both pride and importance, because he was the only con who could complete the task, and in racing against the Autobots, we needed him now more than ever.
We three returned to the command center. Other than the vehicons and ourselves, the other occupants included: Matrix, Knockout, and Claudia. All three were talking to each other. Soundwave went back to work on decoding the Iacon database. I waited by his side. He was exhausted, but ultimately happy that he was highly valued. After some time, Knockout joined Lord Megatron. I turned my attention towards the pair.
"Oh, believe me. Soundwave will provide the coordinates to the remaining relics." Megatron made a hand gesture, which signified victory.
"Yes, we are fortunate to have him on our side, Lord Megatron."
"And see about repairing his cracked visor, will you?" He said as he turned and walked away.
Knockout growled and glared at Soundwave. I glared at him back. I was not about to let one of my friends fall prey to an attack based in jealousy.