Transformers Titan: Escalation

by kira444

Volume 2 of Transformers Titan. The War for Terra escalates as new allies and enemies enter the fray while existing ones push themselves to the limit to gain the upper hand. The stakes are raised as Autobots, Decepticons and humans are drawn deeper into this war of blood and energon. (Revision!)

14. The Sound of Silence

Chapter 14-The Sound of Silence

The planet Charr was a molten world still in the throes of primeval creation. It was one large spherical volcano with mountains of ash and brimstone bordered by lakes of lava. The sky was eternally black from thick clouds of smoke and ash, and the sun never showed its face to this hellish planet. The infernal atmosphere would burn the lungs of any organic, and even the average cybertronian would be hard pressed to withstand such conditions. Which made it the perfect place for the Decepticons to make the seat of their growing empire.

The ash mountains and lava lakes of Charr was a familiar sight to Ember, who lived here in secret for the past three million years. Charr was the headquarters of the Decepticon Empire, the staging grounds of high command. This planet was enthralled in chaos brought about by nature, powerful and uncontrollable, all the while self-destructive. The best descriptions of the average Decepticon.

'Once they were a force fighting to instill a new order that would bring about another Golden Age, a new future for our kind.' Ember thought. 'Now the Decepticons seek to destroy, for they now have nothing else to fight for. Pathetic.'

Ember stood in the study of the secret base she had built on Charr, far from the Decepticon city that was built to house the central hub of Decepticon high command. She had a good view of the lava lakes and ash mountains that rose high above the landscape, as well as the orbital base floating around the planet. Charr rarely saw any action, and it was mostly used for the same reasons as the Orbital Command Hub for the Autobots, a place where the high ranking troops can hide away and plan their endless war while soldiers file in and out dancing to the same tune as they always have.

It was risky, making a base on the same turf as the Decepticon headquarters. She was a wanted fugitive by both Autobots and Decepticons, and Prime and Megatron had personal reasons to tear her apart for what she did during the Uprising. It was more of a thrill ride than any practical reason she settled down on this planet-playing both armies right under their noses. She had a good laugh screwing around with those entitled brats.

"Ember."

The black and golden form of Kopesh walked up to her, the orange light of the magma reflecting off his seemingly always spotless armor and his black jackal head sleek and angular like a finely crafted weapon.

"Kopesh, welcome back." Ember greeted her long time subordinate. "How was Nijita?"

"Uneventful, at least until I ran into an infiltration team. I took care of some of them, but I had to run when they sent the Seekers after me. Didn't want a repeat of Deadscream's little rampage." Kopesh said. "However, I also found one of those…beings hibernating in the Zamojin's countrysides. They worship them as gods."

"Excellent, then we're on the right track." She smiled. "And I too found something interesting."

She snapped her fingers and brought up a massive holo-display of a blue and green planet. "You remember what I told you about Shockwave's Regenesis plan, yes?"

"His attempt at seeding planets with ore to grow energon within their ecosystems?"

"Yes, his answer to our energon crisis. Apparently his experiments bore fruit," Ember said. "The planets he targeted actually began growing energon…among other things."

"He succeeded?" Kopesh snorted. "And yet he never informed Megatron?"

"Shockwave is surprisingly short-sighted for a mech who worships logic on his hands and knees." She chuckled. "He thinks his lack of emotions strengthens him, but in fact, it hinders him. It makes him one-dimensional and predictable. But enough of that nonsense." She pointed to the planet between them. "This planet has been a hotbed of activity since Prime and Megatron began their pocket war on it. One of Shockwave's ores was sent here and energon is sprouting all over the planet. But here's the juicy bit."

Ember informed him of what she learned and Kopesh's eyes went wide. "Impossible…you mean there were dolems sleeping on that planet all this time?"

"Yes, and they've been very busy behind the scenes. Prime and Megatron just had some major confrontations with them in the past solar cycle. It's upsetting that planet's balance of power." Ember said. "But on another note, that energon growing from the planet has also suffered from some…unexpected alterations. I've sent a team to locate and retrieve the ore Shockwave planted there"

"Who?" Kopesh asked.

Ember's red lips turned up in her signature smile that showed her glee. "Who else? Bludgeon."

XXXXXX

The Hypnos was not like other Decepticon ships. While a common theme with Decepticon warships was to inspire fear and dread, the Hypnos was quite the opposite. It didn't want to draw attention to itself, it sought to instill a macabre sense of hopelessness and depression. It lacked the usual pointed spikes and dark purple color scheme, instead it sported a smooth, curved design that would make a human surrealist artist lose his mind. This ship wasn't designed for combat, but for stealth. In fact, to a human, this ship almost resembled a metallic heart.

Bludgeon had no qualms about his ship's deisgn. Both its design and name, Hypnos, was born from his dreams. The name from the language of the race native to the planet he was orbiting. It was a reference to his beautiful nightshades and horrific daydreams, images sent to him by the true gods. As the Hypnos hung high within Terra's orbit, Bludgeon took the time to study this world that had garnered such attention from his people.

Energon growing on alien worlds. Such information would've been useful to the Decepticons, who were forced to make their own energon from artificial power sources or ration what they had on the field. It wasn't surprising to know that Shockwave would keep this a secret from everyone, that one eyed freak would keep the cure to the Rust Virus to himself until he was sure it was the real thing, no matter how many people died. To Shockwave, logic dictated that he treat friend and foe as intellectual inferiors that cannot possibly fathom his grand schemes. That everyone was beneath him, just a bunch of savages who only knew how to pull a trigger. That line of thinking is exactly what brought the downfall of their beloved Cybertron.

'Ore-13,' Bludgeon thought, thinking back to the files he read on the way to this star system. 'Power incarnate.'

"Bludgeon, the ship's already detected a few abnormal energon deposits in multiple areas of the planet." Skull-Grin announced. "How should we proceed?"

"Land near the largest concentration you can find and we'll work our way up from there." Bludgeon said. "If anyone, human or cybertronian sees us, kill them."

"Yes, master."

Bludgeon looked out the window at the blue planet and grinned. Soon Cybertron will be reborn from the blood of the heathens who caused her death. And everyone will pay for the sins they've committed against their species.

XXXXXX

Mytharc, Cybertron. Six million years ago.

Explosions ripped across the haggard settlements of the region known as the Dead End. Soundwave ran through the barrage of laser blasts and missiles being fired at him as he ducked and jumped over pieces of debris and running through derelict buildings. He was slammed into a wall when an old fuel tank next to him was hit by a laser bolt and exploded, singing his right arm.

"Get up!" Ravage yelled at him. Like him, Ravage was covered in burns and cuts from running from their pursuers. "If that bastard catches us now, it's all over!"

Soundwave nodded and got to his feet, retrieving his plasma rifle as he followed Ravage through the tunnel made of metal plates that used to be an actual roadside stall. Above them, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw were shooting at the two dozen mechs that were chasing them. Though they managed to hit a few of them, none of the mechs screamed in agonizing pain as they were blown apart-they were all laughing madly like a group of asylum patients. What made the sight even more disturbing was that the group chasing them was composed of the same person.

"You can't run from us!" They hollered, firing their guns into the air haphazardly. "No one says no to us and lives to tell the tale!"

His name was Mitosis, and he was an agent of the Functionist Council and an outlier who could make clones of himself. Soundwave ran into the mech on the streets and Mitosis tried to recruit him for his "special" abilities, even going as far as blackmail to get him to join up. But Soundwave caught wind of his thoughts and his plans and it led to a skirmish that ended in Mitosis chasing him down with an army of clones that wouldn't let up.

"How many times to we have to shoot this guy?" Buzzsaw cawed.

"Until we get the real one! He'll keep generating more clones otherwise!" Laserbeak said.

Soundwave took out one of his last grenades and threw it at the group. The explosion killed four clones and gave the fleeing pair enough time to gain some more distance between them and the assassin, sliding down a steep slope and taking refuge in a rundown church dedicated to Adaptus. Laserbeak and Buzzsaw landed on two statues outside and continued shooting at the approaching clones, who were in turn unleashing everything they had on the church. Missiles, lasers, bombs, anything they had on hand, which was a lot. Apparently, Mitosis was one of those people who liked to be prepared for a combat mission.

"This is insane." Ravage growled. "We won't last long under an assault like this."

Soundwave tried to shoot back, but was greeted with a series of plasma bursts that blew sparks into his fae and made him stumble away from the window. Seeing how futile it was to fight back at this point, Soundwave turned to his companions.

"Ravage, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, retreat from this area. Get as far away from here as you can before they advance."

"I thought you regained your sanity after mastering your powers." Laserbeak sneered, honestly insulted that Soundwave would tell them to flee. "We're not going anywhere."

"It would be counterproductive at this point considering we've been with you for this long." Ravage said. "Now put that big brain of yours to work on finding yourself a way out of here…"

Ravage trailed off as he caught a scent in the air and sniffed it. He ran over to the window and peeked outside, puzzling his companions.

"What's wrong?" Soundwave asked.

"I smell someone else. The scent is…hard to describe." Ravage said with narrowed eyes.

Outside the church, the one-mech army slowly closed in on the building, still firing their weapons. Mitosis was preparing to storm the building and apprehend the rogue outlier. He was fantasizing how Steelheart was going to reward him for catching such a powerful mech. Maybe he'd even score a date with Refractionary if he was luck! But suddenly his fantasy was cut short by a wave of pain surging through his head.

"Ow! What the frag?" He grunted. His mind got quick flashes of two of his clones that were taken out at the same time. All he could tell was a flash of steel before their heads were severed. Seconds later he felt more clones begin to fall and Mitosis knew that he was under attack. "Scrap!"

Hidden in the balcony higher inside the church, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw spotted a shadow running across the courtyard, cutting down Mitosis clones along the way. The original Mitosis as panicking, shooting his photon rifle at every shadow he thought was moving. In just two minutes, he was all alone in the courtyard, his clones decimated and himself completely unprotected.

"W-Where are you? Come out and fight me properly, you coward!" Mitosis yelled, eyes scanning the yard nervously. He could create more clones, but they'll just be cut down again before he could even hand them their weapons.

"Coward?" A low voice laughed. "Who are you to call me a coward, when you can't even face a single mech face to face?"

"At least I'm not hiding like a coward!" Mitosis weakly shot back. "So come at me and fi-"

A blade stabbed into the back of his head and emerged from his mouth before slicing upward, cutting his skull in two. The outlier's body fell to the ground, revealing his killer to a tall, heavily armor mech with dark green armor and tank treads on his back with a large cannon folded up on his left arm. He looked like he neglected personal maintenance one too many times, as his armor was slightly faded and a bit rusty, while a few parts of his inner circuitry were exposed. Even his mouth was missing its lower jaw! When his blazing orange eyes, uncovered by optic lens, fell onto Soundwave, the blue mech pointed his plasma rifle in his direction.

"Be at ease, stranger. I am your ally." He stabbed his sword into the ground and raised his arms to show that he was harmless. "I mean you no harm."

"Why did you help me?" Soundwave asked.

"Do I need a reason? You were in trouble, and I was willing to help you. And in the nick of time, I might add." The stranger cocked his head curiously. "May I have your name?"

"Soundwave." He said, ignoring Ravage's whispers to stop. "What is yours?"

"Bludgeon."

XXXXXX

Soundwave awoke from his slumber slower than usual. Another dream, another memory. He rarely felt emotions these days, or rather he didn't feel emotions as strongly as he should, thanks to the unpredictable nature of his powers; hearing so powerful that he could hear the thoughts of others. It had been a long time since his powers assaulted him to the point of insanity. Since then, with Ravage's help he had gained enough control over his powers to avoid the onslaught of sounds, sights and smells, just as he was taught. He never wanted to go through that again, and never thought he would.

But now he was dreaming of a life he long since abandoned. Dreams pertaining to someone he thought was long since dead at this point. Soundwave didn't know why he was thinking about that psychopath right now, but he didn't like it.

Later that morning, Soundwave was called to Nightshade's office, where she briefed him on a mission she had in mind.

"Early this morning, our orbital probe picked up a stealth ship heading into Terra's orbit. It had no faction symbol and we were unable to contact it. Whether that was by design or they just didn't want to talk to us is the question." Nightshade sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Do you think they are some special ops team?" Soundwave asked.

"If they're special ops, they still have to report to me. I'm a part of Decepticon fragging high command!" She growled. "No, these people are on their own mission and they don't us finding out about it. As if we don't have enough rogues on this rock, I have to deal with a whole independent faction now."

"Do you want me to investigate?"

"Yes, you'll be assigned a team-"

"Negative." Soundwave cut her off. "We are at a disadvantage with Megatron in stasis and two of our own dead. A battle between us and them will only result in more casualties we can't afford right now. I suggest sending just one agent to keep an eye on them."

Nightshade narrowed her eyes. "Who?"

Soundwave stared right into her eyes and said, "Me."

XXXXXX

"Do you believe in gods, Soundwave?"

The question caught Soundwave off guard as he was studying his new environment. They were in a large temple near the outskirts of Straxus, built atop a cliff overlooking an abandoned town completely devoid of life. Bludgeon's property extended across the entire town and the copper fields beyond that. Not that it mattered since there was no one who contested his claim.

Ravage, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw were exploring the rest of the temple while Soundwave and Bludgeon talked. The mysterious mech took Soundwave to a room with hand crafted statues of the Guiding Hand sitting in a circle around a stylized mural on the floor-a runic eye encased in a golden pyramid that stared right back at you.

"Gods, Soundwave. Do you worship them?" Bludgeon waved a scarred hand at the statues. "Who do you place your faith in? Epistemus, Solomus, Mortilus? Or maybe you pray to Logos of the First Church? I won't judge, he's an underrated deity anyway."

"I bow to no gods." Soundwave said after a lengthy silence. "I have no need of wasting moments of my life bowing to mythical beings who do not have any impact on my life."

"Of course, my apologies." Bludgeon nodded. "Sometimes I forget that not everyone is as wordly as I am in religious matters."

Soundwave looked up at the statues. "What about you? Who do you worship?"

"Many gods. Those that you see here, some others that exist in name only, even the Thirteen Primes." Bludgeon said cryptically. "It's hard to choose, as I worship many, but I'm not truly dedicated to any of them."

When Soundwave looked confused, he elaborated. "The reason I worship so many gods is to see if one of them is the being that sends me my visions. I have vivid dreams that haunt me day and night; they speak of the past, of the present and of the future. Sometimes I can barely remember them, and sometimes they remain burned into my brain module. They come at me with such intensity that I thought I would go insane. You know what that feels like, don't you?"

Soundwave didn't reply to that, but he felt that he didn't need to. When his powers first awakened, the onslaught of sensations they brought onto him nearly dove him insane. It was a waking nightmare that almost drove him to kill himself. He never wanted to go through that again.

"It was because of these visions that I found you, Soundwave." Bludgeon continued. "I saw your face among others and I knew you were something special. An aimless mech searching for a purpose in life. Something to fight for."

"Something…to fight for?" Soundwave said confused.

"Yes, a cause that gives your existence meaning. Life is not worth living unless you have something to strive for. A cause, a goal, a person you care deeply for. Something that can give you the chance to use your abilities to their fullest." Bludgeon's glowing eyes stared into Soundwave's red visor. "Do you have something like that, Soundwave? A goal to strive towards?"

"…No, I do not." He answered. Before he manifested his powers, he was just an ordinary communications officer in Kaon. Between then and now, all he was focused on was living to see the next sunrise with his animal companions. "Do you?"

"In a sense. I am intent on learning the true meaning behind my visions. Are they a divine message or just disturbing hallucinations caused by some malfunction? I must know the answer." Bludgeon clenched his fists. "If you are aimless in life, Soundwave, then allow me to help you on your life's journey. Together we can find meaning in our lives."

Bludgeon held his hand out to Soundwave, who stared at it before shaking it. Bludgeon's hand felt rough and scratched to the touch.

"Together." Said Soundwave.

XXXXXX

Soundwave only took Ravage and Laserbeak with him on the mission. Buzzsaw stayed behind to act as Soundwave's connection to the rest of the team in case anything happened to him. Rumble and Frenzy were to stay behind, as they were nowhere near qualified for an intelligence gathering mission like this one. They were too noisy and uncontrollable, and Soundwave wanted to avoid combat as much as possible.

Their satellites were able to track the spacecraft to the middle of Texas, near an exploratory dig. After taking a ground bridge to the dig site, Soundwave went undercover and spent the next five days watching the humans toil about in the dirt like the animals they are, with Laserbeak and Ravage hiding away elsewhere. It was almost torture in itself watching these creatures toil strut about like they were the most important people in the galaxy while privately bemoaning their lives.

Soundwave resisted the urge to put them out of their misery. It was tempting to just transform and annihilate them all, given them the release they pray for every waking moment of their lives. He stopped that line of thought immediately. Why was he thinking such sadistic thoughts? He was probably on edge, and it was starting to show. Humans never annoyed him to the point of committing senseless massacre.

Of the humans there, his attention was focused on two men in particular-or what looked like men. They looked unassuming, one man was bad and the other sported a thick beard. Soundwave could tell from their incoherent, one track minds that they were not humans but facsimiles; clones created from living templates to act as agents amongst the native populace, causing dissent to further the agenda of their Decepticon masters. These facsimiles, who had no minds of their own and no brainwaves for Soundwave to scan properly, replaced their originals six days ago, a day before Soundwave arrived.

During that time, Soundwave monitored every conversation they had, watched their every move. Since they arrived, they maintained a steady flow of information back to their master. All of which centered around a mysterious ore sample extracted from this dig.

"Our findings have been crosschecked and verified." One the facsimiles said in hushed tones.

"And?" The other asked.

"It's Ore-13. We're to make out way to the rendezvous point at dusk."

"Are we being recalled?"

"No, we're," He paused to wave at a passing coworker. "We're to be briefed on the next-and final-phase of the operation. There's some…ordnance involved."

That's all he needed to hear.

XXXXXX

Bludgeon had two surbordinates, Slice and Dice. They were twin sisters Bludgeon raised from their proto-stage after finding the hot spot they were forged in. Slice, the elder sister, was steel gray with sharp spikes along her body and touch reinforced tires on her back and legs. Dice, the younger sister, was a dark red two wheeler who had a barbed grill over her mouth that made her look like she was always grinning. Both sisters had dark red eyes, a deep crimson so dark that you couldn't even see your reflection in them. Bludgeon was tickled by their rather unsettling appearance, believing that whatever god had birthed granted him his visions also had the same dark humor in creating these sisters.

The sisters were trained by Bludgeon, and thus were skilled fighters. Soundwave also trained under Bludgeon, taught in the most basic martial art forms, mainly Metallikao and Diffusion techniques. When he felt Soundwave had the technique memorized, he would pit him against the sisters to see if he truly had it down, and it almost always led to Soundwave feeling more hurt than when he started practice. This was the training that Soundwave undergone for nearly six months now, and it was a harrowing experience. Each session would leave him lying on the floor bleeding, with Ravage pulling him towards the medical chamber to get repaired and rest up, only to continue the process the next day.

Ravage expressed his displeasure at seeing Soundwave torture himself with this and would repeatedly ask him why was he doing all this? What was the point? Soundwave didn't have a concrete answer, which was an answer in itself.

Today's session was one of his better ones. Slice and Dice would weave around him to attack from both sides, catch him off guard while he was trying to defend from two directions at once. Soundwave, armed with only a katana, would keep his distance; Slice was armed with a chained sickle and Dice was armed with a pair of attachable three bladed claws that could tear through Cybertronian armor with ease. Dice flipped over his head and slashed at his back, but he deflected the blade from his body, following up with a kick to her face and slashing at her chest. She back pedaled just in time for the tip of his sword to scratch her chest plate.

As his sword hit the ground, he left himself open momentarily. Slice threw her sickle at him and he ducked under it, but as the curved blade stuck itself into the wall, Slice pulled herself forward and landed a kick in the middle of his face. He hit the ground hard and earned a deep gash in the arm from Dice for his actions, but he was able to grab her arm and direct her next attack at her sister. Dice's claws cut into Slice's dominant hand, making her drop the chain, and disarm her. Soundwave then threw Dice into the ground and pointed his sword tip at Dice's head just as Slice swung her sickle towards his red visor.

"Enough."

They all froze, then got off each other to face Bludgeon directly. The scarred mech was watching the match from the shadows, his eyes glowing dangerously in the dark as he walked towards his three disciples.

"I'm impressed Soundwave. You've done better this time, just like yesterday." He said.

As usual, Soundwave remained silent to Bludgeon's praise.

"Instead of trying to match their skill, you used their techniques against each other. Redirection and submission, the two key points of Diffusion. You're learning from your mistakes."

Bludgeon patted him on the back and walked back into the inner sanctum of the temple, leaving Soundwave alone with the sisters. Slice and Dice gave him hateful glares as they roughly pushed past him and followed their master. Once they were gone, Ravage padded across the room to sit at Soundwave's side.

"I don't get why you hang out with him. He's unstable Soundwave, do you know that?" He said.

"I do." Soundwave said curtly.

"So why are we still hanging out with these people? Those two femmes are one witty remark away from killing all of us in our sleep."

"I…" Soundwave trailed off and Ravage shook his head with an annoyed sigh.

"You're still hung up on finding that "goal" he keeps talking about? Soundwave, that's all just a lure to draw in a wayward outlier like you into his clutches." Ravage scowled and laid his head on his paws. "This place, it reeks of energon. I feel like I'm sitting in a morgue. And Bludgeon smells like death. He's killed before, a lot of people died at his hands."

Soundwave still said nothing.

"You know it too. I can see it in how you tense up whenever he gets near you. If he worries you that much, then why don't you just glimpse into his mind? See what's going on in that half dead noggin of his." The feline Minicon suggested.

Soundwave looked down at his companion, then stared out the stained glass window into the empty town that lay below the temple. Ravage thought he was being blown off, but seeing the faint twitches in Soundwave's facial expression told him something else. He was uncomfortable with what he was about to say. Ravage was about to tell his friend that he didn't have to answer, but Soundwave did anyway.

"It is because I am afraid of what I will see."

XXXXXX

Later that night, Ravage was walking through the empty halls of the temple, his footsteps as quiet as a passing breeze. It was a late night stroll that he took because he couldn't shut himself down. No matter where he went, he always felt like something was watching him from some unknown corner, eluding his acute senses.

'I hate this place. It's a death trap waiting to be sprung.' Ravage thought. 'Soundwave may be ignoring the danger we're in, but I'm not. Bludgeon is a psycho and I'm going to find out what his game is.'

As he passed by the god statues, Ravage nearly leapt a foot into the air when he heard a horrific scream coming from one of the prayer rooms.

"KKRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Ravage quickly hit behind a column as Slice and Dice ran down the hall and into the prayer room, shutting the door behind them. He sneaked across the room and pressed his face against the crack in the door, seeing Bludgeon thrash around on the ground in the arms of Slice.

"Master, what's wrong?" She asked. "Please, talk to us!"

"The voices…I heard them again!" Bludgeon said, sounding terrified but reverent at the same time. The wavering tone in his usually calm voice unsettled Ravage deeply. "They spoke to me…whispered to my mind. Soundwave…they spoke of him as well!"

"What about that curr?" Dice spat in distaste. "We should just kill him and his pets-"

"YOU WILL NOT TOUCH HIM!" Bludgeon roared, jumping up and slamming Dice into the wall. "The Voices speak of him, so he must have the answers I seek! He must not be harmed! If either of you touch him, heaven help you when I get my hands on you!"

"Y-yes master!" Dice whimpered. He was never this angry with her, and it made her hatred of Soundwave grow even more.

Bludgeon let her go and stumbled back onto his knees, scratching his blunt fingertips against his torn up crest and cranium. "The Voices speak of his destiny. They speak of who he will become. I must keep him, for he will lead us to the source of these Voices. If he can hear them, then can speak to them. And only then can we ascend to Paradise."

Ravage silently slinked away from the door and ran back to Soundwave's room. 'Bludgeon is insane. Everyone in this hellhole is insane!'

XXXXXX

Dusk came and the workers returned to their trailers for a good night's sleep…all save the two facsimiles, Graham and Fleming. Soundwave had Ravage follow them from the shadows as they took a jeep and drove away from the dig site to their designated rendezvous point. Their drive took them a few miles, far from any form of habitation and deeper into the arid desert. Ravage followed them into a canyon, where they abandoned their vehicle and walked another few miles to board a human-sized cybertronian aircraft.

"Laserbeak, they're on the move. Follow them!" Ravage said through their comm. Laserbeak, who was watching them from above, flew after the ship, remaining back a fair distance so they didn't detect him.

He followed the aircraft over a great distance, leaving the desert behind to fly over the beginnings of a forest. Laserbeak saw the aircraft fly toward a dormant volcano, flying low to the ground and vanishing through a holomatter screen masking a secret entrance at the base of the volcano. Laserbeak knew that going in through the front door would get him blasted apart, so he hopped onto a boulder and used his laser cannons to carve his own opening into the mountain.

It took some time, but he was able to burn his way through the thick layer of stone and volcanic rock to reach the volcano's interior. Instead of a natural caldera, he was staring into a large cavern that was outfitted with cybertronian tech. it was a secret base!

'This must have been here a long time!' Laserbeak thought. Hopping out of the hole, he flew through the tunnels, recording everything he saw. There was energon stores, radar and scanning equipment, mining vehicles, even hover crates full of some purple crystals that looked like energon that were dug up from the bowels of the earth.

He located the facsimiles, who were in the base's cargo bay conversing with their masters. Remaining hidden in the shadows, Laserbeak landed atop a computer monitor and enhanced his audio sensors to hear what they were saying. The two clones were talking to three mechs. He didn't recognize the other two but he certainly recognized the ghoulish face that still haunted him and his companions-Bludgeon.

"Fleming, Markham, your work is almost done." Bludgeon said. "One more task remains, after which we shall return to the stars, and you two shall return to the oblivion from where you came."

"We understand." Fleming said blankly.

Bludgeon leaned down and handed the facsimiles two bombs. "These plasma density charges have been adapted to your use. Our scans have revealed a pocket of thermal gas close to the main survey shaft. Position them accordingly. The blast will shatter a wide area of the mantle and force an evacuation of the site and the surrounding area." Then Bludgeon's eyes lit up in anticipation. "At which point we will move in and remove enough of the Regenesis ore to suit our purposes."

XXXXXX

When Soundwave was updated by Laserbeak on the situation, he knew he had to act fast.

Bludgeon of all places was on Terra conducting secret operations for some unknown party. There were here for something, and it seemed that energon was only a secondary concern. Whatever it was, it must have been powerful enough for him to risk conflict with the two warring factions on the planet. But who was funding this little project of theirs? Someone was working from the shadows to direct Bludgeon on this excursion and this didn't sit well with Soundwave.

Ironic that Soundwave would run into Bludgeon like this after having those flashes of memories of him for the past few days. He wondered if he was actually picking up Bludgeon's thoughts. That mech's mind was part raging inferno and part typhoon. It made him uncontrollable and unpredictable, and that made this mission very complicated. Bludgeon knew how Soundwave worked and he was a dangerous fighter on top of it. Soundwave hadn't made contact with Bludgeon since they parted ways long before Megatron's sermons left the energon mines. He had to find out what Bludgeon was doing on Terra, but he also needed to avoid sparking an open confrontation with him.

Nightshade's face flashed through his mind. He couldn't let her get involved with this. Bludgeon was his demon to face.

And so he mobilized. Early the next morning, before the sun even started to rise, Soundwave's "owner" Hiro left his trailer half asleep to hit the showers before everyone else, with the Decepticon's alt mode in his hand. As he walked from his trailer, he saw a large shadow block out the moonlight behind him and he spun around to see a giant metal bird descending on him.

Laserbeak swooped down on the human, claws outstretched. He angled his body to snatch Soundwave from the man's hand, his talons tearing a hole in the man's shirt. He wasn't afraid to be seen like this, not like anyone would believe Hiro if he just spouted out that a giant robot bird stole his cassette player.

As they flew over the dig site, Soundwave heard a resounding boom travel through the ground-the plasma density charges were detonating, and the humans down below were the first to witness their destructive power as the entire dig site exploded, geysers of flame bursting from the ground and rock breaking apart from intense vibrations that tore apart the land. Some of the workers weren't so lucky and either fell into the crevices or were incinerated by the intense flames.

Bludgeon's plan was reaching its endgame…and so was Soundwave's.

XXXXXX

"Have you ever put any thought into why you have your powers, Soundwave?"

Soundwave glanced at Bludgeon as he walked out onto the balcony overlooking the desolate area. Ever since Ravage told him about what he saw, Soundwave was more wary of the master, who seemed to follow Soundwave around everywhere he went. It was starting to put him on edge, and the mad look in Bludgeon's eyes didn't help matters.

"I do not know. I simply considered it a quirk of my design. That is how Outliers are born, just like point one percenters." Soundwave said.

"That's a weak explanation made by people who seek to hinder or abuse your gifts. Those powers of yours, the power that all outliers are born with, are gifts from the Primal Source." Bludgeon said resolutely. "They are divine in nature, and thus they were given to you for a reason."

"I did not ask for this gift."

"One generally does not ask for a gift, Soundwave. They are given out of generosity."

Soundwave shook his head and walked past Bludgeon, only to have his arm grabbed in a vice grip. "Let go."

"You can hear it now, can't you?" Bludgeon growled. "The voices. Now that we are close now, surely you can hear them speak to me."

"I do not hear any voices." Soundwave said, trying to pull his arm free.

Bludgeon hissed and pulled Soundwave back to stare him in the face. "Do not mock me! Don't you dare mock me! I know you've heard them speaking in whispers. Their voices fill these halls like gusts of wind. Why do you think I've kept them so empty all these years? They've led me to you, and you must have some connection to them! Why else were you gifted with your enhanced senses?"

"Let go of me!" Soundwave growled.

"NO! I will not lose my only chance at learning what they're trying to tell me!" Bludgeon was hysterical at this point. "You've been here for nearly a year, you must know what they say! They've become louder since I brought you in, and I will not lose them again! TELL ME WHAT THEY ARE SAYING TO ME!"

"LET GO!"

In a fit of anger, Soundwave punched Bludgeon in the face and pulled his arm free. When he moved to grab Bludgeon's head, he momentarily lost control of his powers in his anger and as he made contact with Bludgeon he was assaulted by a flurry of images.

He saw images of a beautiful world torn asunder by a violent war. Vast cities of large bipedal beings made of stone and other minerals warring with each other. He saw that same planet slowly die, its ecosystem dying, unable to sustain itself anymore. Its people leaving, spreading across the far edges of the galaxy, but never moving inward towards the galaxy's inner spiral arms. Soundwave heard voices, that familiar and dreaded sensation of hearing a thousand voices speak at once. They were whispers he could barely discern, but after a few seconds they all began singing in tandem. It was maddening, their voices came from everywhere, attacking him from every angle.

Eventually, Soundwave managed to push Bludgeon away and ran back into the temple.

"I knew it! You can hear them too!" He heard Bludgeon yell at him. "I was right all along! I WAS RIGHT!"

XXXXXX

Thunder boomed across the sky as a heavy rain fell across the land. Soundwave ran through the old town as fast as he could, his thoughts jumbled and a mess as he tried to get as far from that temple as he could.

The thoughts he gleaned from Bludgeon's mind were nothing he had seen before in his life. They were maddening, grotesque, horrific. Bludgeon had done more than just kill in his pursuit of answers, he mutilated, devoured, cannibalized. He lost all sense of morality and sanity because of that harmonic chaos he called Voices. How was he able to live with that for his entire life and not want to kill himself? The lengths he was willing to go in order to find the source of these whispers was too much for Soundwave and he did the first thing he thought of-collect his Minicons and run.

As he sprinted through the street, his acute audio receptors picked up the sound of footsteps hitting the wet ground behind him. Bludgeon wasn't going to let him go it seemed. That was fine, Soundwave was willing to fight to get back his freedom.

He turned a corner and ducked as Dice lunged at him in a surprise attack. He took out his concussion rifle and fired a blast into her back, but a sickle sliced through his gun. Slice fell on him, slamming him to the ground, but he managed to get on his back and opened his chest plate, deploying Laserbeak and Buzzsaw, who swarmed Slice with a wall of laser bolts to her face and chest. Soundwave flipped to his feet and kicked Dice's arm down as she came at him again. They traded fierce blows in the middle of the rain soaked street. Dice's claws left some shallow cuts on his arms and chest, but Soundwave was able to extend a vibro-blade from his arm and land a stab wound in her lower abdomen.

"How dare you spurn Master Bludgeon's hospitality!" Dice snarled. "You were going to be our guide to Paradise. You were going to help us all ascend!"

"That is not the path I want. I chose what I want to do with my life." Soundwave replied.

Dice cursed him and sprinted at him, claws extended. Soundwave leapt back and shifted his left hand into a radio dish, firing an intense sonic wave at her that made her stumble as her audio sensors were overloaded by the high pitch frequency. Soundwave used her falter to move in close. She lashed out with a swipe of her claws, and she managed to dig her blades into his forearm, but he spun around and dug his blade into her neck, cutting through cables and wiring as he beheaded her in one swipe.

"Die!" Slash screamed and leapt up, kicking Laserbeak aside and stabbing her sickle's blade into Buzzsaw's wing, dragging him to the ground and jumping over him.

She threw her chain at Soundwave, wrapping it around his other forearm and pulled. Soundwave dug his feet into the ground to keep his balance and they pulled against each other for a moment before Soundwave heard another war cry.

"SOUNDWAVE!" Bludgeon jumped off a building and fell upon Soundwave, his sword drawn. Soundwave pulled the chain back just enough so that the sword missed his hand and cut the chain instead, freeing him. He snatched one of Bludgeon's other swords and threw it at Slice, impaling her through the chest, right through her laser core.

"You dare run from me?!" Bludgeon howled, slashing away at Soundwave, who could barely avoid his attacks. "I gave you a purpose in life. To see out the gods that whisper to me. We are close, Soundwave, don't you see?"

"That is not my purpose! You merely seek to use me as a tool to fulfil your own delusions!" Soundwave yelled. He tried to disarm Bludgeon, but Bludgeon spun around his hands and cleanly severed his left arm in a single stroke.

"I give you a home, I spare your life, and you repay me by spitting in my face? By denying your true calling?" Bludgeon kicked Soundwave in the face and moved to stab him. "Then you shall meet the same fate as those who tried to run from me as well. Your body will be a great sacrifice to Mortilus!"

Before his blade could pierce Soundwave's chest, Ravage was deployed from his chest cavity. He leapt at Bludgeon and sank his teeth deep into his wrist, biting down hard enough to make Bludgeon lose his grip on his sword.

"Filthy beast!" Bludgeon landed a palm strike on Ravage's chest and threw the Minicon into a window. He glared down at Soundwave, who was on his knees. "Get up and fight me like a warrior! I didn't teach you all those moves just to keep you occupied!"

Soundwave wasn't going to play his game. In a one on one fight, he would lose hands down and he wasn't keen on dying in this dreary place. "No."

"Then die!"

Bludgeon took one step forward and Soundwave shot up, throwing a grenade at Bludgeon's face. It detonated, and Bludgeon's vision was engulfed in flames as the explosion sent him skidding against the ground before hitting a wall head first. Once his optics fixed themselves, he searched for Soundwave, only to find him gone once the smoke cleared, along with Laserbeak and Ravage.

For the first time in stellar cycles, Bludgeon felt true anger and yelled to the heavens.

XXXXXX

"Keep it going, my friends. Do not leave a single crystal behind." Bludgeon said.

The operation was going smoothly. They had found a sizeable deposit of Ore-13 in the area that was more than enough for their significant demands. The purple crystals radiated a powerful aura that was intoxicating to Bludgeon.

"Shockwave has created something glorious and he hides it away from his own comrades." Bludgeon huffed and tossed a shard of the ore in his hands. "It's insulting at how arrogant he is."

After watching his team push the last of the carts into the ground bridge, Bludgeon decided to check out the rest of the cave they were vacating. All the equipped had been removed and the tech they didn't need anymore would be destroyed. He walked into a section of the cave where the facsimilies were created and the first deposit of the ore was mined. Without all the equipment, this was just one big hole in the ground.

"Even still," Bludgeon said to himself. "It's best not to leave any evidence behind."

"Indeed."

Bludgeon spun around as he saw Soundwave convert from his tiny cassette mode to his larger natural form and jumped from a ledge he was sitting on in preparation for his arrival. Bludgeon chuckled and drew his swords.

"Soundwave," He drawled, eyes narrowing. "I knew we were being watched, but by you? You have some nerve after running out on me, soldier boy."

Soundwave just stared straight at Bludgeon, not saying a word.

"Well? You're not going to say anything after all these years? No mind reading? No simple inquiries as to my purpose here?" Bludgeon asked. "Granted, I'm sure you don't want to look into my mind after what happened before. You should know that I don't intend to let you leave if you mean to tattle on me."

"Lower your weapons, Bludgeon." Soundwave said. "Though I possess enough evidence to have you all executed should I wish, I prefer to put my skills and resources at your disposal."

Bludgeon stared at him long and hard before lowering his swords. "You…wish to join us?"

"Not exactly. It would be simply in your best interests to have me onside." He said. "Both in the short and long term."

It was a risky gamble, but he had to know just what this ore-13 was, where it came from and who made it. He'll only get these answers if he can convince Bludgeon to let him join. He can have his agents warn the other Decepticon officers and have Bludgeon apprehended…or killed.

In other words, you want a cut."

Soundwave nodded. "A crude, but succinct summation."

Bludgeon stared at him for a moment before he burst out laughing. Soundwave watched him, confused as to what was so funny.

"Oh, Soundwave, how are you still such a fool after all these centuries? I thought you knew me better than that, but I guess I was wrong." Bludgeon chuckled. "You think us motivated by avarice and ambition when nothing could be farther from the truth. The Voices, I've found where they come from, Soundwave, no thanks to you. And thanks to Ember, they told me what I must do for the planet that we destroyed. With Shockwave's Ore-13, we will revive the scourge that destroyed out world-Thunderwing!"

Soundwave stepped back in shock at Bludgeon's declaration. Thunderwing, the monster from his nightmares. The beast that killed Cybertron and nearly annihilated Autobots and Decepticons alike. Soundwave had been at the frontlines of that last battle for Cybertron and knew how they had barely killed the beast, if they ever did. So many of their people, Autobots and Decepticons, died fighting it, and Bludgeon wants to revive it?

"Why are you trying to bring back the monster that destroyed our planet and sent us into exile?"

"Our war destroyed Cybertron, Soundwave. Her death is slowly causing our race to perish." Bludgeon explained. "But with Thunderwing, we have a chance to repent for our sins…by dying for the arrogance that allowed us to kill the planet in the first place."

Soundwave realized that he miscalculated-Bludgeon's plan was more twisted than he thought, and it was disturbingly just like him to think of something like this. To commit ungodly acts against nature just to satisfy his heretical urges. This brought forth an emotion that Soundwave hadn't felt in a long time-anger.

"I will stop you."

"I have no doubt that you will try." Bludgeon replied. He tossed one of his swords at Soundwave, who caught it. "But if we fight, it will be as warriors."

Soundwave glanced at the sword before getting into his stance. He knew that this will be a tough fight, mainly because Bludgeon was so much more adept at swordplay than he was, but he had to finish this now before Bludgeon as the chance to leave the planet. Thousands of Cybertronian lives were at stake. They circled each other, not taking their eyes off their opponents as they waited to see who will make the first move. A single twitch from Soundwave got the fight started.

They rushed at each and slashed their blades in a shower of sparks. Their movements were quick and precise, and each attack was followed by a defensive move and then followed by a counterattack that was also countered. They weaved around each other attempting to get at one another's blind spots, but they were skilled enough to keep those hidden as well. Then Bludgeon broke the stalemate by spinning around Soundwave's downward strike and slashing him in the chest before kicking him in the face. He charged, but Soundwave grabbed his arm and threw him over his shoulder into the ground, knocking the sword from his hands. But this didn't deter Bludgeon, it only excited him.

Bludgeon ran at Soundwave and lashed out with a series of punches and kicks that put the spymaster on the defensive. A lapse in his defense allowed Bludgeon to get in close and chop Soundwave in the neck before slamming a knee into his side. He snatched the sword from Soundwave's grip and landed a palm strike to his head, slamming him into the ground and raising his sword to stab into his chest. Soundwave raised his hand and let the blade stab through his appendage before diverting the blade to stab into the spot next to his head. Their eyes met for a second before Soundwave shattered the blade and flipped back to give himself some space.

"Very good," Bludgeon praised as Soundwave pulled the broken sword from his hand. "I knew you were special from the day I met you. But are you as skilled with your hands as you are with a sword?"

Bludgeon leapt forward and launched a punch at Soundwave. It was blocked and took the chance to land a couple of blows to Bludgeon's face and chest. Soundwave tried to palm strike Bludgeon, but the fanatical Con grabbed his wrist and twisted his hand at an awkward angle. He kept the pressure on it with one hand and brought Soundwave to his knees.

"You are a skilled warrior, Soundwave. That much is certain," Bludgeon said. "But your skills have been dulled by living with those savages you swear fealty to. Whereas my skills have only gotten stronger!"

Soundwave ignored the pain in his hand and lunged at his former master. He punched Bludgeon in the chest with such force that he was sent flying into the wall, causing rubble and dust to fly everywhere. Soundwave stood up and walked over to the hole in the wall where Bludgeon was lying. But as the smoke cleared, he saw that Bludgeon was gone.

'What?' Soundwave thought, then he felt a presence behind him. 'No!'

Soundwave spun around but was too slow to act as Bludgeon hit with a powerful punch to the chest that reverberated throughout his entire body. Dazed, Soundwave was open to the quick jabs that Bludgeon dealt to his limbs, which felt like he was getting jolted by an energon prod put on max settings. He fell to his knees in front of an unharmed Bludgeon.

"You fought a good fight, Soundwave. But in the end I am stronger." He said. "Make no mistake I only won because of our different goals. You fight for a dying warlord. I fight to cleanse the sins of our entire race."

Barely conscious, Soundwave tried to mentally call Ravage and Laserbeak to his side. He had to escape or everything was lost. But he could not hear their thoughts anymore. They were not responding. What was going on?

"Don't try calling you pets, Soundwave. It will do you no good." Bludgeon pointed to the entrance, where a reformatted Slice and Dice walked in with the broken bodies of Ravage and Laserbeak. "They're not dead. Just in stasis. A much better fate than what I have planned for you."

Fastback walked up to Bludgeon, carrying a large cannon. "Found this among Shockwave's small arsenal of experimental weaponry. I've been itching to try it out."

Bludgeon glared down at the disabled spymaster. "You would've been a trusted ally, Soundwave. But you spurned my generosity for that harlot you worship so much. And now you will die here, but rest assured, you will be remembered…as the mech who lost his life because of Megatron's lost ambitions."

Bludgeon raised his hand and landed one last strike to Soundwave's head, cracking his visor and knocking him back. Fastback fired the cannon and hit with a green energy beam. The weapon was designed as a form of transformation lock to act as a living prison within the target's own body. Bathed in green energy, Soundwave's T-Cog was overridden and he was forced into his tiny alt mode.

"Your T-Cog has now been infected with a coded virus that forces you into your alt mode." Bludgeon said, to the silent cassette player. "In your case, I'd imagine that's a considerable inconvenience. Still, you won't have much time to reflect on your predicament."

Bludgeon took out a plasma density charge and tossed it into a magma flow under a heat vent. He and his associates then walked over to the ground bridge.

"We're done here." Bludgeon said. "Let's go."

With one last look at his former protégé, Bludgeon entered the ground bridge and vanished. In Terra's orbit, the Hypnos received its cargo and crew, and upon Bludgeon's order, it initiated a quantum jump out of the Sol system.

Despite his brutal beating, Soundwave still could hear things. He heard the detonation of the plasma charges. He heard the cave beginning to crumble. He heard the loud explosions that made the volcano unstable. He even heart the ground under him break apart.

Then the last thing he heard…was the silence.

XXXXXX

It continued to rain over the city of Kaon. It was the like the sky had opened up and let lose an entire ocean's worth of water just for the tragedy that occurred a few hours earlier. Soundwave sat with his back against the remains of a concert hall, his arm still missing, and his two surviving Minicons, Ravage and Laserbeak still recharging on the ground next to him. He was still awake, staring up at the dark cloudy sky as rain poured on him. His body still ached, and the stump where his arm was cut off stung as the water seeped into his exposed circuitry, but he did nothing to cover it.

He barely escaped with his life, and he knew Bludgeon wouldn't stop hunting him down. It made Soundwave sad; he really thought he had something going for him. Something that could give his life meaning, learning about the unknown, finding out what kind of person he really was…why he was an outlier in the first place. Bludgeon was a sadistic mech who was driven mad by these visions he believed to have been sent to him by some god. He was such a fool to put his faith in him.

'Now what do I do?' He thought stoically. He closed his eyes and sagged against the wall. 'Where do I go? I have no home, no job, no goals, nothing. All because I was born differently than the rest of the masses.'

If the Functionists hadn't run him out of his home in Kaon he wouldn't be suffering like this. He wouldn't be wandering around the wastes like some vagabond. It wasn't his fault that he was like this, it was because of this god forsaken social system that catered to those who were born lucky. The thought alone filled Soundwave with anger, but that died out quickly as he remembered the reality of his situation. What could he, a single mech in a world of millions, do against something that has been in place for thousands of stellar cycles? One bot wasn't strong enough to fight the system and its government. Not even a Prime.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice someone approach him until their shadow fell over him. He ignored the busy body and continued to star at his lap.

"Are you alright?"

Soundwave looked up at the speaker and froze. It was a femme, black with white on her forearms and thighs, with a bird's head on her chest and black wings witting on her back. Her face was slender and white, with dark purple eyes and lips that contrasted her pale complexion.

"You don't look so good." She said, frowning at his wounds. "And neither do your friends. Would you like me to help you?"

Soundwave studied her for a moment before nodding. She smiled softly and held out her hand. "What's your name? I'm Nightshade."

Soundwave slowly took her hand in his and took the first step into his new life. He idly thought that maybe she was the answer to his question. That person he should be fighting for. "Soundwave."