Transformers Titan: Escalation (old version)

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.

14. The Sound of Silence

Chapter 14-The Sound of Silence

The planet Charr was a hellish world located deep within Decepticon space. It was a planet still in the throes of primeval creation; one large spherical volcano with mountains of ash and brimstone ordered by lakes of lava. The sky was black from clouds of smoke and ash, and the sun barely showed its face to the boiling surface. The atmosphere would've burned the lungs of any organic, and even the average Cybertronian would've been hard pressed to withstand such harsh conditions.

This was a sight Ember woke up to everyday for the past three million years. Charr was her seat of power in the Decepticon Empire, a place enthralled in chaos brought about by nature. Powerful, uncontrollable and all the while self-destructive. The best descriptions of the average Decepticon.

'Once a force fighting to install a new order of the golden age, a new future,' Ember thought. 'Now the Decepticons seek to destroy, for they have nothing else to fight for. Pathetic.'

She stood in the main hall of her home; a massive castle built into the foundations of a mountain of hardened magma overlooking a lava flow. From this vantage point, Ember had a clear view of the Decepticon's orbital base hanging in Charr's orbit. Shockwave may have been given command of the Decepticons, but Ember knew she was in control while the mad scientist was playing around with his biological toys. It wasn't obvious though, as she ruled through a proxy she had in High Command, and Strika and Obsidian were none the wiser. Damn fools.

To think that Megatron had allowed a passionless one eyed drone to maintain the order on Cybertron. Half the Decepticons didn't even care about the scientist, who preferred screwing around with his private experiments than overseeing the war effort. It was only by her hand that the Decepticons avoided defeat at the hands of Elita-1's Autobots. Granted, any victory they had was voided by the events of the Fall, but even still, she had certainly led this army more efficiently than that pompous barbarian Megatron. But of course, fate has a way of giving you the finger at the most inopportune times.

"Ember."

Ember turned from the lavish view of hell itself to face one of her most loyal supporters-Immorticon. He was a tall, massive imposing mech; black and gray with a skull-like face and curved horns on top of his head. Steam vented from glowing vents along his body that radiated heat, and black wings folded on his back. He looked less like a biomechanical life form and more of a demon from hell's maw.

"Immorticon, welcome back." Ember greeted her long term ally. "How was Nijita?"

"Boring and dull, not to mention I had to waste a few Cons that ran into me." Immorticon said, puffing steam from the vents in his mouth. "But I did find more of those statue things on the planet. The natives were worshipping them it seems."

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

She led him into her study, where a massive holo-display of a solar system hovered above them. "Shockwave has initiated a contingency plan of sorts called Regenesis," Ember explained. "According to my informant, he's altered raw energon into some new form of elemental ore and sent thirteen warheads off Cybertron."

"Cybertron? How long ago was this?" Immorticon asked.

"A long time ago, probably during the last stages of the War for Cybertron. And we've just discovered this a few days ago." Ember hummed. "Apparently, this was his answer to our energon crisis; seeding worlds with this ore that would merge with the planet's ecosystem and grow into energon."

Immorticon narrowed his eyes. "And he never thought to inform anyone about this?"

"Shockwave is surprisingly short-sighted for a mech who worships logic on his hands and knees." She chuckled. "He thinks his lack of emotion strengthens him, but in fact it hinders him as well. It makes him predictable. But enough of that nonsense." She pointed to the third planet in the display and zoomed in on it. "Shockwave has had his eye on this particular planet for a while now. One of the missiles was sent there, and this also happens to be the same world where the Ark and Nemesis crashed millions of years ago. Just recently, Thornment informed me of some juicy news this planet has as well."

Ember told him exactly what Thornment discovered and for the first time since meeting her, Immorticon's eyes widened.

"Are you serious? Those…creatures were there all along?" He asked.

"Yes, according to her new business partners. Turns out that Prime and Megatron had better luck in contacting the Dolems that we did." She frowned. "This planet has seen more action than most worlds do in a single year. I've sent a team there to locate and retrieve the special ore Shockwave planet on that world."

"Who did you send?"

Ember's smile became positively venomous as she gave her answer. "Someone who has seen the Light. My dear friend, Bludgeon."

XXXXXX

The Hypnos was not like other Decepticon vessels. While a common theme with Decepticon warships and shuttles was to inspire fear and dread, the Hypnos had an aura about it that gave off a feeling of static hopelessness and depression. It lacked the pointed spikes and dark purple color scheme, instead it had a smooth, curved construction that would make a terran surrealist artist lose his mind. The ship looked odd, but effective in battlefield conditions, but was mostly used for stealth. To a human, one would think this ship almost resembles a heart.

Bludgeon had no qualms about his ship's design. Both its design and name, Hypnos, was born from his dreams. The name from the language of the race that was native to the planet he was orbiting; the design, a leftover from his visions that plagued his mind since that day. It was all a reference to his beautiful nightmares and horrific daydreams, images given to him by the true gods.

As the Hypnos hung high in Terra's orbit, Bludgeon took the time to study this world that was dragged into his people's war. Energon growing on alien worlds. Such information would've been useful to the Decepticons, who were constantly rationing their stores and drinking artificial slag that tasted like mercury. Shockwave would keep this from everyone else after going behind everyone's backs to do this. To him, logic dictated that he treat friend and foe as intellectual inferiors that cannot possibly fathom his grand schemes. That everyone was beneath him as savages who only knew how to pull a trigger. That line of thinking is what brought about the Fall of Cybertron.

He held up a tiny purple crystal that glowed in his hand. This little crystal had the power to give them the retribution they rightfully deserve. A power that could grant even the littlest scout the strength of a bruiser.

'Ore-13,' Bludgeon thought. 'Power incarnate.'

"Bludgeon, the ship's detecting multiple Ore-13 deposits under the planet's surface." Skull-grin announced. "How should we proceed?"

"Land near the largest concentration of ore-13 you can find and we'll work our way up from there." Bludgeon said. "If anyone human or cybertronian sees us, kill them with extreme prejudice."

"Yes, master."

Bludgeon turned to look back out the window. 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 her.

XXXXXX

Mytharc, Cybertron. Six million years ago.

Explosions ripped across the haggard region of the region known as the Dead End. Soundwave ducked and jumped over pieces of debris and derelict buildings, trying to avoid the heavy barrages of green energy bolts being shot at him from behind. He grunted quietly as the tanker next to him exploded from a stray bolt, knocking him to the ground.

"Get up!" Ravage yelled in his audio receptors. Like him, Ravage was also sporting burns and scratches from their pursuers. "If that bastard catches us now, it's all over!"

Soundwave nodded and pushed himself to his feet, retrieving his concussion rifle as he followed Ravage down the tunnel of metal plates that were mysteriously welded together from scrap. Behind them, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw were firing continuous laser bolts as the two dozen mechs that were chasing after them. The few shots that hit their mark caused the mechs to explode like low-energy bombs, but no one was screaming in pain or anger-they were all cackling madly like a group of asylum patients. The scene was made even creepier because the platoon was made up of the same person.

"You can't run from us!" They hollered, firing their guns into the air as they chased after their quarry. "No one says no to us and gets away with it!"

His name was Mitosis, an agent of the Functionists who answered directly to the Functionist Council. Soundwave ran into the mech on the street and Mistosis tried to recruit him into the Enforcers, even going as far as to use blackmail to get Soundwave to join. But a stray thought that Soundwave caught leaked his plans and a series of skirmishes led to this chase through an empty slum in Mytharc.

"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 the last three grenades he had and threw it with great accuracy at the group. The explosion killed four of Mitosis's clones and gave the pair enough time to gain some distance between them, jumping over a large trench in the ground that went down for miles and taking refuge in the remains of a church. Laserbeak and Buazzsaw landed on two of the half destroyed statues of Primus and continued firing down at the clone troopers. Their retaliating fire wasn't much against the greater numbers of Mitosis's clones, who were firing everything they had at the building. Missiles, lasers, bombs, rockets, everything Mitosis had brought with him he used against Soundwave's only line of defense.

"This is insane. We won't last long against this kind of firepower." Ravage grumbled.

Soundwave tried to shoot back, but barely got a few rounds off before a rocket hit his shoulder and made him stumbled back. Seeing how outmatched he was, he turned to his three Minicons. "Ravage, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, retreat. Get as far away from this place before they storm this position."

"I thought you lost your insanity after gaining control of your powers." Laserbeak sneered. "We're not going anywhere."

"It would be counterproductive considering we've been with you this long." Ravage said. "Now put that big brain of yours to work on finding yourself an escape route…"

He trailed off, sniffing the air and running over to a broken window to follow the scent. Soundwave was puzzled by this turn in behavior. "What is wrong?"

"I smell someone else. I smell…something I can't explain." Ravage said with narrowed eyes.

Outside, the one-mech army closed in on the church, still firing their weapons as they prepared the storm the building and take the runaway outlier prisoner. Mitosis was fantasizing how Steelheart was going to reward him for catching such a powerful bot. He was thinking on the lines of a chance to get a date with Refractionary before a sharp pain assaulted his mind.

"Ow! What the frag?!" He grunted. His mind was assaulted by quick images from two clones that were suddenly dispelled at the same time putting him on alert. All he could tell from the memories he gained from them was a quick flash of steel before their heads were severed. When he felt more of his clones fall, Mitosis knew he was in deep trouble. "Scrap!"

From the window, Ravage and Soundwave watched as a shadow sprinted across the courtyard, and the bright flash of the Mitosis clones being cut down in rapid succession. The original was panicking, firing his photon cannon in every direction he saw the assailant flitter past his vision. Two minutes later, he was alone in the courtyard, and scared out of his mind.

"Where are you? Come on out and fight me like a warrior you coward!" Mitosis yelled, eyes wide and crazed. He could create more clones, but they would probably be killed before he could even hand them their weapons.

"Coward?" A gravely voice laughed. "Who are you to call me a coward? You, who couldn't even have the courage to fight one mech by yourself."

"At least I don't hide like a coward!" Mitosis weakly shot back. "So come at me and fight you son of a-"

Mitosis's insult was cut off as a sword blade was stabbed through the back of his head and emerged through his mouth, impaling his head in a foot long blade that sliced upward and cut his skull in half. The outlier's body fell to the ground, revealing his killer to be a tall, heavily armored mech with dark green armor and tank treads on his back. He looked like he neglected personal maintenance one too many times, as shown by his dirty, scarred armor and the lack of a lower jaw to his skull-like face. When his blazing orange eyes fell upon Soundwave, the blue mech pointed his concussion rifle in his direction.

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

"Why did you help me?" Soundwave asked in his dead tone.

"Do I need a reason? You were in trouble, and I was willing to help you. In the nick of time as well." He cocked his head. "May I inquire as to your name?"

"Designation: Soundwave." Soundwave answered, ignoring Ravage's urges for him to stop. "What is yours?"

"Bludgeon."

And so began a partnership that would lead to a world of fear and misery for the young Soundwave.

XXXXXX

Soundwave woke himself up from recharge, his mind slow and dull from sleep. Another dream, another memory. He rarely felt emotions these days, rather he didn't feel emotions as strongly as he should, thanks to the unpredictable nature of his powers-hearing so enhanced that he could interpret the thoughts of others. It had been a long time since they assaulted him as badly as when he first met Ravage, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw in the Dead End all those millennia ago. Since then, he had gained enough control over his powers to avoid the onslaught of sounds and sights and smells, just as he was taught. He never thought he would have an incident like that again.

But then he met the Dolems and their Cardinals, who had riddled with pain so intense that even he couldn't stand it anymore. Now he was having these dreams of a life he long since abandoned, dreams that followed after a vivid series of images pertaining to someone he thought was long dead at this point. Soundwave didn't know what all this meant, but one thing was certain-it scared him a little bit.

In the privacy of her quarters, Soundwave told Nightshade of his dreams, who looked equally worried. "You can hear them? Even all the way out here?"

"Yes. I see images of fire and death. I hear screams and smell burning metal all around me. I see…Cybertron burning and at the heart of the chaos a powerful beast tearing the planet apart." Soundwave said.

He described what the monster looked like and Nightshade realized that it matched the description of the creature Dreadwing called Thunderwing. The same beast that had ended the War for Cybertron by damaging the planet to the point of making it unstable for life and forcing the Autobot and Decepticon armies to leave the planet.

"Are you sure you're not just having dreams? You've also mentioned having flashbacks to your time with Bludgeon." Nightshade said.

Soundwave shook his head. "No, I am hearing someone's thoughts. From what I was able to gather, they're Cybertronian, and they are here for energon."

"Autobot or Decepticon?"

"Possibly Decepticon, but I do not think they are here to make contact with us." Soundwave explained.

"Another independent faction within our ranks." Nightshade frowned, as if she didn't have enough to worry about with Flamewar and Airachnid. "Very well. I'll send a team to investigate and-"

"Negative," He said. "We are at a disadvantage with Megatron in stasis. A battle between our two forces now would only end in massive casualties and draw attention to ourselves. I suggest sending one agent to monitor them."

Nightshade knew what he was thinking and was almost afraid to ask. "Who do you think I should send?"

Soundwave was quiet for a moment before giving his answer. "Me."

XXXXXX

"Do you believe in gods, Soundwave?"

The question caught Soundwave off guard, as he was busy looking around at his new home. It was a large temple on the outskirts of Altihex, bordering an abandoned town that was devoid of life, looming over the settlements like a monolith. Bludgeon's property was extended across the entire town, and even encompassed a small section of Altihex's borders. The main temple itself was sitting atop a natural formation that made it rise high enough that you could see the Well of Allsparks at the very top.

Soundwave had his Minicons roam the bronze and steel gardens of twisted spires and obelisks outback while Bludgeon took him into an open room with statues of not just the Guiding Hand but of some of the more obscure gods like Logos and Autonomous Maximus sitting in a circle around a stylized mural on the floor-an eye encased in a golden pyramid staring back at the viewer.

"Gods, Soundwave. Who do you worship?" Bludgeon waved a scarred and at the statues. "Epistemus, Solomus, Mortilus? Or maybe you pray to Logos of the Primal Order? I won't judge, he's an underrated deity anyway."

"No, I bow to no gods." Soundwave answered after an awkward silence. "I have no need for wasting my time bowing to mythical figures who do not have any impact on my life."

Bludgeon nodded. "Of course, stupid question. My apologies. Sometimes I forget that not everyone is as worldly as I am in religious matters."

Soundwave looked up at the statues. "What about you? What god do you favor?"

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

At Soundwave's questioning look, he elaborated. "The reason I worship so many gods is to see if one of them is the being that sends me my visions. Those 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 come at me with such ferocity that I thought I might go insane. You know what that feels like, don't you?"

Soundwave didn't answer, but he knew that Bludgeon was spot on. His enhanced senses awakened one day and drove him insane from the assault of so many sensations at the same time. It was a waking nightmare that almost drove him to suicide. It was something he never wanted to experience again.

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

"Something to fight for?" Soundwave repeated confused.

"Yes, a cause. Life is not worth living unless you have something to fight for. A cause, a goal, a person you care deeply for. Something that gives your life meaning." Bludgeon's deep 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. He just lived his life as an ordinary communications officer in Kaon before he manifested his powers and was hunted by the Functionists. Between then and now, all he had been doing was working to help himself and his Minicons survive in one of the worst cities in the world. "Do you?"

"In a sense, yes. I am intent on finding out the origins of my visions. Be they divine message or disturbingly accurate hallucinations." 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 out his hand to Soundwave and the mech stared at it before grabbed the hand, Bludgeon's armor feeling worn and rough to the touch.

"Together." Soundwave said.

XXXXXX

It was a simple three bot operation: Soundwave, Ravage and Laserbeak. Rumble and Frenzy were to stay behind, as they were nowhere near qualified for a recon mission like this one. They were too noisy and uncontrollable, and this mission was merely surveillance, not open combat.

The continued stream of images and sounds he was able to piece together led him to a lone exploratory dig somewhere in Texas. After taking a ground bridge to the site, he spent the next five days monitoring the humans toiling about the dirt like the animals they are, with Ravage and Laserbeak hiding away elsewhere doing their own recon missions. It was almost torture, watching these creatures strut about like they were the most important people on Terra, while privately bemoaning their worthless lives.

Soundwave resisted the urge to put them out of their misery. It was tempting to just transform and annihilate them all, give them the release they pray for every waking moment of their lives. Soundwave doubled back on his thoughts, wondering why he was thinking so sadistically. He was on edge lately, and it was showing in his mannerisms. Humans never annoyed him to the point of committing a massacre. These dreams were starting to get to him.

The bulk of his attention was focused on two humans-or what appeared to be humans. Two men working amongst the staff, middle aged, one bald and the other sporting a thick beard. Despite their outward mannerisms, and appearances, they were not humans, but facsimiles; clones created from living organisms to act as agents amongst the native populace, causing dissent for 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.

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

"Our findings have been crosschecked and verified." One them 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

Slice and Dice were two sisters who were Bludgeon's students. He raised them from their proto-stage after they were abandoned by their proto-batch caretaker for their "monstrous" appearances as protoforms. The elder sister, Slice, was steel gray with sharp spikes running along her body and tough reinforced tires on her back and forelegs. Dice, the youngest, was a dark red two wheeler who had a barbed grill in front of her mouth that made her look like she was grinning madly all the time. Both sisters shared the same black eyes, pitch black optics that were so dark that you couldn't even see your reflection in them. Other bots would be afraid of such femmes, but Bludgeon was intrigued by these two. Whether it was their looks or their unique mannerisms, Bludgeon took them in as his wards, believing that whatever god birthed him also had the dark humor to birth these two.

But this mattered little to Soundwave, for what he was more worried about was their ability to kill. They were trained by Bludgeon, and thus were skilled fighters that he had trouble fairing against during their sparring matches. Bludgeon taught him his most basic (but still strong) martial arts moves, mainly techniques from Metallikato and Diffusion. When he felt Soundwave had the technique memorized, he would pit him against the sisters to see if he truly had it down. 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 a CR 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

When dusk arrived and the workers began returning to their trailers, Soundwave had Ravage follow Fleming and Markham from the shadows as they drove a jeep from the dig site to the rendezvous point. It was a few miles drive, one that took them far from any form of habitation and deeper into the rocky desert. Ravage followed them all the way to a rocky outcropping, where they abandoned their vehicle and walked another few meters before boarding a cybertronian aircraft scaled down for Minicons.

'Laserbeak, they're on the move. Follow them!' Ravage messaged via signal beam. Laserbeak hopped off his perch and pursued the aircraft a fair distance so that he wasn't spotted.

He trailed the craft over a great distance, leaving behind the arid mountainous region and flying over the beginnings of a forest. Laserbeak saw the aircraft fly towards a large dormant volcano, diving towards the base and vanishing through a holomatter screen masking the secret entrance. Laserbeak knew that if he tried to go in through the front door, he'd be shot down in a heartbeat, so he hopped on a boulder and used his laser cannons to carve his own opening into the mountain.

It took some time, but he was able to shoot his way through the thick layer of stone and emerge inside the volcano's interior. But instead of a natural caldera, he was in the middle of a cavern outfitted with Cybertronian tech. It was a secret base!

'This must've been here a long time!' Laserbeak noted. Moving quickly, he flew through the cavern, recording everything he saw. There were energon stores, radar equipment, mining vehicles, and even hover crates full of some purple mineral they were digging from the bowels of the earth.

He located the facsimiles, who were in the cargo bay conversing with their masters. He landed atop a monitor and enhanced his audio to hear what they were saying. He didn't recognize who the other Cons were, but he recognized that ghoulish face that haunted him and his companions for a long time-Bludgeon.

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

"We understand." Fleming said blankly, devoid of emotion.

Bludgeon leaned down and handed the fake humans two small 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." The Bludgeon's eyes lit up in mirth. "At which point we will move in and remove enough of the Regenesis ore to suit our purposes."

XXXXXXX

Laserbeak sent the information back to Soundwave, who began to piece the plan together.

Bludgeon of all bots was running a mining operation here on Terra in secret. They were here for energon, or something similar to it. It must be powerful enough for them to risk conflict with the Autobots and Decepticons stationed on this world. But the question was who was funding this little operation of theirs? Someone was working within the Decepticons' ranks for their own purposes, and the last time a third faction got involved with the war, things went badly for all parties involved.

Knowing that Bludgeon was leading this operation made sense. The images, the voices, they were all coming from that psycho's mind and Soundwave was picking up his stray thoughts. It should've been impossible, considering the massive distance separating them, but Bludgeon's mind was part raging inferno, part typhoon. Uncontrollable and unpredictable. This made things very complicated. Bludgeon knew how Soundwave worked, and he was a dangerous fighter on top of it. Soundwave had not made contact with the martial arts master since he broke ranks with Bludgeon long before Megatron's sermons reached the ears of the first miners. He had to find out what his plan was, but he needed to avoid sparking an open confrontation between his team and Bludgeon's. The recent insecticon attack on the Nemesis and Autobot sabotage had placed them in a difficult position that Bludgeon would no doubt take advantage of.

Images of Nightshade flashed through his mind as he thought this. He couldn't allow her to get involved in what was likely to be a very personal mission for him.

Early next morning, before the sun even started to rise, Soundwave's "owner" Hiro left his trailer half asleep to take a shower 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 in fear to see a giant metal bird descending on him.

Laserbeak swooped down on him, claws outstretched. He angled his body to snatch Soundwave from the human's grasp, his talons tearing a hole in the man's shirt. He wasn't afraid to be seen like this. Who would believe Hiro if he said he saw a giant robot bird steal his cassette player in the middle of the night?

As they flew over the dig site, Soundwave felt a large shockwave reverberate through the area-the plasma charges were detonating, as their destructive power was witnessed firsthand by the humans as the entire dig site exploded in a series of explosions that blossomed all over the area, a thunderous boom shattering the air. The workers ran for their lives as their trailers were caught in the chaos, and many of the men were vaporized by the intense flames.

It seemed that 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.

They were images of Cybertron set aflame, titans walking amongst its cities, humanoid creatures made of stone warring amongst the remains of a golden city on a sparkling blue planet, an army of quintessons attacking Cybertron. The image that stood out to him the most was that of a black and white femme with wings of ebony flying through the wilderness. And all through this, he heard voices speaking at once-that familiar sensation of being overwhelmed by the voices of thousands, their cheers, their cries, their screams, their yells. It was enough to make Soundwave push Bludgeon away and run back into the temple.

"I knew it! You can hear them too!" He heard Bludgeon yell after 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 vibroblade 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.

"Dice!" Slash gave an enraged shout and leapt up, kicking Laserbeak into the ground and stabbing her sickle's blade into Buzzsaw's body, ripping him apart with her bare hand. She landed on the ground and threw her chain at Soundwave. It wrapped around his undamaged forearm and he struggled to keep her from pulling him off his feet. They grappled for control until Soundwave heard a loud war cry from behind him.

"SOUNDWAVE!" Bludgeon jumped off one of the rooftops and descended upon Soundwave, his sword drawn. Soundwave pulled the chain back enough so that the blade missed him and cut the chain instead, freeing him and throwing Slice off balance. He quickly grabbed one of the swords off Bludgeon's back and threw it at Slice, impaling her through the chest and killing her.

"You dare run from me!?" Bludgeon howled, slashing away at Soundwave, who barely avoided his strikes. "I gave you a purpose in life. To seek out the gods who whisper in my ear. We're close, Soundwave, don't you see?"

"That is not my purpose! You merely seek to use me as a tool to fulfill your own delusions!" Soundwave said. He tried to grab Bludgeon's arm to take his sword, but Bludgeon easily evaded his hands and severed his left arm with an upward stroke.

"I give you a home, I spare you 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 energon cube behind." Bludgeon told his men.

The operation was going smoothly. They had found a massive deposit of Ore-13 in the area that was more than enough for what they needed. In large quantities, the mutated energon looked even more alien, and radiated a power that intoxicated Bludgeon.

"Shockwave has created something glorious and he hides it away from his own comrades," Bludgeon huffed, tossing a shard of the ore up in his hand. "It's insulting."

After watching his team push carts of the strange energon into the ground bridge, Bludgeon felt compelled to explore the cave they were working in one more time. They had removed all the equipment they needed and left the tech they didn't intend to use anymore. 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. Once in space, he could rally the other Decepticons-perhaps contact Strika and Obsidian and have them apprehend Bludgeon before anything could happen.

"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. Dreadwing had went into great deal of the massive effort and the sacrifices taken to subdue the beast. So many died against it-and Bludgeon wanted to revive it?

"Why are you trying to bring back the monster that destroyed out planet and exiled out people?" Soundwave asked.

"Our war destroyed Cybertron. And with her death, our race will perish." Bludgeon explained. "But with Thunderwing, we have a chance to repent for our sins…by dying for our arrogance at the awesome might of his judgment."

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 but. "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 hear…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."