AN: Happy Easter!
Chapter Summary: The Battle (part 5) (The last part, I swear)
{Soundwave}
In the plains of the Sahara, a herd of wildebeests scattered in panic as a green swirl of energy appeared before them. Out of this portal, tumbled two large mechs, the gray with purple and black accents holding onto the darker gray one, and they landed on the ground, a hard kick from the one with yellow optics separated them and they stood up. The two titans stared at one another, the gray mech was too shocked for a moment to do anything at the moment, but then he recovered.
"Soundwave! How nice of you to drop by." Lockdown cracked his knuckles, grinning at the silent seeker, "I rather hoped we would get a chance to finish our business."
In answer Soundwave flared his wings and moved in. Lockdown met the incoming seeker and he lashed out, trying to catch Soundwave with a powerful kick but the telepath dodged the attack. Spinning around the slightly larger mech, Soundwave activated the blades on his lower arms, an upgrade he had done on the side shortly after being released from the Autobot medical bay. The blades were razor sharp, having been honed to a clean edge that could slice through just about anything.
Soundwave quickly brought the blades on his arms up and down Lockdown's back, cutting through the heavily plated area without hardly any resistance at all. The bounty hunter's yell of outrage spurred Soundwave on, he ducked Lockdown as the other mech turned and transformed one servo into a blaster, sending a shot at an inner leg joint. Energon splayed from the wound, dotting Soundwave's armor as the telepath bent his knee joints and back flipped away from the bounty hunter.
Lockdown howled in pain and anger, before he shut down the sensors to his left leg and scanned the damage. The blaster shot had hit the inside of the leg joint, where it met his hip, and the metal had been blown inwards, exposing the tender wiring underneath and the broken energon lines.
Despite the shock he felt, Lockdown laughed as he looked up at Soundwave, "Keep fighting like that Soundwave, and I'll remember this fight for a thousand years."
In answer, Soundwave transformed and fired two missiles as he spun towards Lockdown. The bounty hunter buckled his injured leg in order to quickly dodge one missile, which he grabbed by its tailpipe and threw in the path of the second missile. The resulting explosion knocked him away but Lockdown used that to his advantage so that he could move behind an outcrop of rock for cover.
"You're angry, Soundwave," Lockdown sneered. "What could have possibly have happened to make you so angry?" Poking his head, Lockdown's question was answered by a few laser blasts that narrowly missed him. The bounty hunter chuckled, "Oh so that's it. You saw her, didn't you?" Soundwave, having transformed, scanned the area where Lockdown had taken cover, having no intention of going in after the bounty hunter. Only rookies made that move. "How'd she look? Anything like you remember?" Soundwave's helm swiveled to the left, had Lockdown moved? "Oh the years I waited while Shockwave planned and experimented," the bounty hunter chuckled, "she certainly made them bearable." Soundwave spun around but saw nothing; he could have sworn Lockdown's voice had come from there. "Not that she'd be able to tell you what happened, not after what Shockwave did to her processor, but she was a fun little toy."
Soundwave's frame started and he turned quickly, but Lockdown was already behind him and the bigger mech grabbed the telepath by the wings and threw him to the ground. Lockdown stamped a foot down in the middle of Soundwave's back, pinning the seeker down. "it would be a shame to let a mech of your talents go to waste, Soundwave, perhaps Shockwave will give you to me as part of my fee. A little sidekick like you is exactly what I need tagging along with me on my hunts." Lockdown leveled his cannon at one leg, "But first, I'll have to tame you a little bit." Soundwave thrashed, his servos digging into the dirt as he tried to find some leverage, "Oh don't worry, I won't completely break your processor, that would make you next to useless like Sparknight is. All she's good for is a spark charge."
During the one second it took for Lockdown's cannon to charge, Soundwave deployed his cables. Two of them wrapped around the bounty hunter's lower arm and jerked it to the side, the cannon blast harmlessly discharging into the ground, the other two cables secured a hold on the leg that pinned down the seeker and hard pull yanked Lockdown off his peds. Keeping his hold on dark gray mech, Soundwave hauled Lockdown this way and that, so that one arm was being pulled across his chest and the leg joint was bent around the other, making it impossible for Lockdown to get his peds back under him. Bringing the captured bounty hunter close, Soundwave allowed himself to unleash his fury and need for justice in Sparknight's name.
The telepath sliced and punched into Lockdown's frame, grabbing ahold of the other arm and wrenching outwards until it hung by a tether. A screech of metal and Lockdown's own agonized cries sounded out over the valley, scaring off anything within hearing distance that had not already fled. His anger spent, Soundwave held Lockdown up, even though his cables could barely manage the weight of the larger mech.
"What will it be now, Soundwave?" Lockdown spat out a stream of energon, and more dribbled from his mouthpiece down his chin. The bounty hunter was a mess, but he was not about to let go. "The battle's over, but if you think you can just kill me then know that better mechs than you have tried and failed. I took precautions to protect my spark chamber long ago, not even you can breach its defenses!"
Soundwave raised his servos and took hold of Lockdown's helm, the bounty hunter snorted. "So that's it, eh? You'll rip my head off? What an unrefined way to end your enemy, but that will not kill me Soundwave. My head might be gone but I will still live!" The telepath drew Lockdown close and slid away his visor, allowing the bounty hunter to see the welded mouthpiece and burning red optics. "Wha—"
Soundwave struck, and Lockdown howled, a sound that came from the depth of his frame would have made any mech of lesser caliber than Soundwave shudder. However, to the telepath, Lockdown's screams were not enough and the seeker knew they would never be enough to erase or ease the hurt both he and Sparknight had endured.
The telepathic seeker tore through Lockdown's processor, not in the least surprised that Shockwave had not provided a means of defense against mental intrusion. The scientist only guarded those who were of use to him, once they served their purpose he disposed of them. With only the barest shred of guilt, Soundwave ripped apart Lockdown's natural mental barriers and wrecked havoc in his processor, shredding memory files as painfully as possible. He had promised, once long ago, to never use his telepathy in this way ever again Shockwave had made him in the past, but now the vow was broken and after he was down the bounty hunter would not be harming anyone ever again.
You ridiculed those you viewed weaker than yourself, so now you will be no stronger than a sparkling. Become exactly what you sneered at, and know what it is like to be fearful and weak before others who are stronger. Hope that someone looks upon you in pity, or else your life will be extinguished or worse may befall you.
Soundwave stepped back, nearly falling, as both his frame and processor were weary from the strain. He had not exercised that particular telepath ability for some time and the experience left him nearly drained. He knew the best thing for him to do would be to recharge, but that was not an option if the second part of his plan went the way he thought it would.
Looking down at Lockdown, Soundwave was not surprised to see that the bounty hunter's frame was trembling. Shaking would be a more apt term, as the dark gray mech was nearly in convulsions, his yellow optics wide in terror. His mouthpiece moved but no words came out, only small high pitched whimpers, the kind a sparkling would make when it could not sense either of its parental units around.
It would be so easy to kill you right now, Soundwave thought, but I won't. You don't deserve the easy way out, not after all you've done.
Lockdown did not act as if he had heard him, and perhaps he had not. It might take awhile for the ringing in his processor to slow down to where he could hear others clearly.
Soundwave backed up some more, just as another ground bridge opened up and out of it strode Shockwave. The scientist had walked with a quick gait but came to a surprised stop, no doubt beyond shocked that he was not where he had thought he had programmed the portal to open. The seeker would have smirked, if Shockwave had not welded his mouthpiece shut all those years ago, so instead Soundwave held himself up with pride. A hard thing to do when all his frame wanted to was to recharge, but not yet, the battle was not over yet, the enemy had not been fully destroyed. Soundwave had to hold on, just a little while longer.
Shockwave stared at the fallen Lockdown and then at the silent Soundwave, his single red optic never moving as he took in the situation. "A logical ending, Soundwave," Shockwave said at last. "You were the first of my experiments who lived, the only one with the telepathic enhancements who remained sane, it is fitting and logical that you are the last one standing and that we should meet like this. It is over, Soundwave, you fought well, but surely you must see how illogical it would be to oppose me. You were never in my class, and you do not stand a chance now in overpowering me, the odds are not in your favor. Your options are these: submit to my control once again and all your troubles will go away, or be destroyed. What will you choose?"
The only movement Soundwave made was to tilt his helm, as if he was looking at something behind the scientist. Without looking away from the seeker, Shockwave sent out his scanner to check behind him and realize that the ground bridge was still open, and someone was coming through. Shockwave quickly moved sideways, trying to keep both Soundwave and the ground bridge in view without making it look like he was retreating. It was illogical to give ground any more than he already had, after all.
Megatron quickly came through the bridge, his cannon primed and ready to blast. The Decepticon warlord hardly looked surprised at seeing Soundwave, and he gave an approved nod at Lockdown's quivering frame before turning his attention to Shockwave.
"Yet another of your plans that did not go right, Shockwave?" Megatron taunted. "I hardly think you plotted the ground bridge to bring you to the middle of nowhere, which means Soundwave hacked your computer terminal and rerouted the ground bridge controls to his liking, making sure the portal would stay open long enough for me to follow. And you threw your hostage away, hardly a smart move of your part, but then you did think you were getting away I suppose. Foolish of you to rule out Soundwave showing up, but then that is why you will fail, for when you discount mechs like Soundwave and undervalue them you will always be taken by surprise when they outwit you. Well done, Soundwave." The telepath nodded his helm, optics staying on Shockwave while his processor continued to resist the urge to slip into recharge. "Sparknight is with Bumblebee, they are both safe." Soundwave nodded again, the tightness around his spark lightening in relief, now all that remained was Shockwave.
Shockwave now glanced at Megatron and then Soundwave, carefully assessing the telepath before looking at the warlord. "So, you would brawl like commoners instead of searching for an agreement to be made? This is how all the violence will end, with one broken down and the other limping off to survive a few more years? You must see that my way is the only way peace can reign supreme, Megatron! Without my code controlling everyone there will continue to be war and suffering across the whole galaxy! Today's battle was not as gruesome as some you have fought in the past, and it will be nothing to ones yet to come. Space is filled with sentient races who will not get along if left to their own devices, they must be controlled! Only I can give them order, only I can bring logic and erase the emotions that cause havoc! The humans will live longer lives, as will any other organic creatures! Under me fighting will end, and future generations will know nothing but peace!"
"Under you," Megatron said scornfully, "there will be no future generations. There will be no future, no change, no adventure that life offers to those who possess free will. For that is what you would take from them, their free wills, their right to choose how to live, their right to govern themselves. Yes, wars will continue, mistakes will be made, but by making sure we know our history, that the humans know their history, mistakes can be countered, lessons can be learned and while fighting may never cease in my lifetime I will continue to protect those who come to me for aid. Those who are stamped on by stronger opponents I will help. I was an ambitious amateur when I started the rebellion, but now I know, I have learned, what life is all about and how it should be respected. You will never understand, Shockwave. You say you have no emotions but I think it is hate that fueled you to this madness, and now you are so set in your ways that you will never have a place in society. You would respect anyone, only crush them until they obeyed you or offlined. Yes, this day must end with one of having fallen, for there is no other alternative. You would not accept anything else but a full control over this planet and power over each of us, and I would no more surrender my own free will than that of others that is clearly not mine to give. So make your move, Shockwave, let this particular battle draw to a close."
If Shockwave had had a mouthpiece he would have sneered at Megatron's speech, if he had had emotions he would have thought about at least mentally sneering, but all he could be was disappointed. His logic had failed to win over Megatron, and so that mighty warrior would have to fall and then the scientist would take Soundwave and take the seeker apart once more. Having logically worked out a battle plan, Shockwave raised his cannon and fired at Soundwave.
The seeker tried to jump aside but he was too slow, his weary processor barely having enough time to realize he had been fired upon and move out of the way. The blast caught Soundwave in the side, sending him spinning to the ground. Megatron opened fire on Shockwave, moving to stand in front of Soundwave so as to prevent the seeker being shot at again. Firing a barrage, Megatron took satisfaction in seeing the blasts from his cannon pound into Shockwave yet he knew the miner frame the scientist had retained was built solidly and could take a fair beating.
So I will have to give him an unfair beating, Megatron quipped.
Rushing forward, Megatron continued to fire while he drew his sword. Nearing Shockwave, Megatron slashed at the bulkier mech with all his might but he might as well have been using a feather for all the good it did him. Megatron's sword had little effect, only scratching the heavy armor but going no further. Shockwave did not take the attacking sword lying down, he grabbed the blade with both hands. Briefly exposing his back, Shockwave broke the blade and allowed the tiny splinters to fall to the ground, the larger piece he twisted in one servo as he turned around and buried it in Megatron's shoulder joint.
The Decepticon warlord hissed through his denta, bringing his cannon right up against Shockwave's midsection and firing. Hearing the scientist grunt in pain was almost worth getting stabbed. The two titans grappled with one another, arms straining to overthrow the other but while Shockwave had the greater strength Megatron dug his peds into the ground and used that as a means of leverage to keep the scientist from pushing him down. Thus the two might have stayed had not Soundwave, recovering slightly from the shot, circled around the combatants and jumped Shockwave from behind.
The seeker used his cables and legs to secure a hold on the bigger mech, then he transformed his servos into blasters and started firing away at Shockwave's neck joints. The scientist gave only grunts as a sign that the blasts were hitting and making some damage, but due to the absence of cries of pain Megatron suspected that Shockwave had eliminated the pain receptors in his frame so that he would never be able to feel anything. Using Shockwave's momentary distraction, Megatron shifted his weight to one leg in order to bring the other up in a swift kick that landed with the tip of the warlord's ped hitting Shockwave right between his leg joints. The move would have been crippling to a human, but had no such effect on a Cybertronian and Megatron had known that. The move did serve to have Shockwave's hold on him lessen enough for the Decepticon leader to move out of his grasp, however Shockwave merely used Megatron's retreat as a means to an end. He leveled his cannon at the Deception warlord and fired, causing Megatron to have to duck and roll away from the blast.
This gave Shockwave enough time to deal with Soundwave. Bending his arms to reach behind him, Shockwave grabbed Soundwave and pulled the seeker off of him, causing his cables to break as the telepath had tried to hold on but failed to the scientist's superior strength. The bigger threw his former slave to the ground, kicking Soundwave in the gaping wound where Shockwave had shot him, causing the slight seeker to curl up in pain.
"Fools," Shockwave said, looking down at the curled up seeker, "only now do you understand that you cannot defeat logic."
"We're weren't trying to," Shockwave looked up to see that Megatron had leveled his cannon at him. "We're defeating you."
Megatron opened fire, the blast hitting Shockwave right in the optic and forcing the scientist's helm to snap back. Smoke rose from the smashed optic and broken wires gave off an electric shock. Megatron continued to fire though, each blast either hitting Shockwave square in the front of his helm or hitting just below in his neck joints, which had already been attacked by Soundwave. Shockwave took a step back with each hit, the force of Megatron's cannon enough to keep him from recovering and fighting back. Losing the sight from his optic greatly crippled the scientist as well, and he had to rely on his scanners to pinpoint where Megatron was.
Shockwave raised his cannon, even though he was still being sent backwards from Megatron's assault, and tried to aim for the Decepticon warlord but Megatron beat him to the trigger. A final blast hit Shockwave's helm, tearing it off the neck joints and it dangled down the scientist's back and yet he still tried to fire at Megatron. The Decepticon fired just a hair faster than Shockwave, and the blast from his cannon met the scientist's just before it could fully leave the cannon. The resounding explosion blew part of Shockwave's arm off and he reeled back.
The scientist tried to use his scanners in order to walk and he turned, his processor still functioning, if barely, and he began to run. Megatron let Shockwave get a few paces before he transformed halfway and flew after the scientist, grabbing him underneath the armpits and taking him up into the atmosphere. Shockwave weakly thrashed in Megatron's hold but after they had climbed upwards a considerable distance he ceased, knowing being dropped from this height could be damaging.
Megatron had no real fixed plan until he saw shuttle refuel station in Earth's orbit and he veered towards it. Once in range, Megatron hurled Shockwave's frame at the station, and once it was close enough to one of the fuel tanks Megatron fired. The shot sped past Shockwave and struck the tank, causing an explosion that engulfed the whole station as well as the scientist.
Megatron circled the wreckage, watching the debris fall down into the atmosphere. He quickly identified pieces of Shockwave and flew in, blasting them to even smaller pieces if not smithereens before he allowed himself to return to he Sahara.
Soundwave had not moved from his fetal position and Megatron quickly knelt beside his third-in-command to assess the damage. A quick scan showed that Soundwave had slipped into stasis and the Decepticon warlord gathered the seeker in his arms. "Megatron to Autobot base, I require a ground bridge."
It took a few seconds, most likely the person on the other needing time to pinpoint his location, but a ground bridge opened up and Megatron walked through. The portal closed and all became quiet, the animals and insects were still far away, not likely to come back to the area for some time until they were sure the disturbance was over. The only thing that moved was Lockdown, his frame still shaking and his optics unfocused and frightened.
AN: So, about two or three chapters left and then this story will be done. Please review and let me know what you think.
Hug Vote:
Bumblebee – 25
Starscream – 17
Soundwave – 11
Megatron – 10
Miko – 9
Raf – 6
Mckeown –6
Orion – 6
Knockout – 4
Dreadwing – 4
Blurr - 4
Bulkhead – 4
Roberto Esquivel(Raf's dad) – 3
Arcee – 3
Ratchet – 3
Sunstreaker – 3
Sideswipe – 3
Vehicons – 3
Wheeljack – 3
Jack – 2
Laserbeak – 2
Miko's parents – 1
Other humans who died throughout this story - 1
Favorite character vote:
Bumblebee – 10
Megatron – 8
Soundwave – 7
Knockout – 5
Blurr – 2
Arcee – 1
Wheeljack – 1
Starscream – 1
Orion Prime – 1
Silas – 1
The Twins -1
Faction vote:
Decepticons – 28
Autobots - 11
