Everything was going to plan.
It had been his plan to have the Autobots find the Automator for him, and now with them all defending the organics in the city, he would have no challenge entering their base of operations and retrieving what rightfully belonged to him. The alarm-disruptor in his possession kept his entrance silent, preventing any warnings to be sent to the Autobots and tip them off.
He'd planned it all out thoroughly... Just like always. His only failures had been because of some unknown variable brought in by some Autobot that should never have been there. It was very frustrating, having his logic overthrown by mere luck.
It was clear that the property also housed humans. It was too disorganized to be only under Cybertronian control. More disorder that he'd have to wade through.
It all seemed empty, quiet... To the point that he didn't even notice at first.
The processor was an odd and yet fascinating thing. It could make you feel extreme pain but have no reason for it, or you could be seriously injured, and yet not feel the pain until your optics saw the injury and alerted your processor of it. It could make you see things that were not there, or warn you of danger when there was none.
This could not be more true than in this very moment. Though he felt a slight tap on his right side, he'd initially not paid it any mind... But when he attempted to move his right arm...It would not. He examined it, dangling limply at his side, and no command from his actuators would even twitch it. His systems did not alert him of any damage, and he felt no pain, instead a numbness.
He pondered this for a brief moment as he continued on his way through the stacks. Logically, there had to be some explanation for the paralysis. No bot lost feeling for no reason. Perhaps a lingering injury from the war was responsible, but all of his systems were at peak perfection according to his diagnostics...
No, there was nothing wrong with his diagnostics, either.
A soft clinking sound alerted him to movement, and he tilted his helm to the side rapidly. Had he not been previously occupied in his thoughts, he might have noticed it, but now it was too late. Something smashed into his optic, knocking his helm back and disabling his equilibrium. He stumbled back a few steps, his foot stepping in something squishy that oozed into the components as he flailed the arm that was still functioning to grab onto something. He found a solid object and grasped it, taking a few more steps to right himself.
Now his systems were alerting him to damage, but to his optic, not his suddenly-bum arm. Whatever it was that had hit him was now embedded into his optic, and his visual sensors were barely functioning because of it. He groaned, using his functioning arm to feel the object before yanking it out of his optical socket.
Whether or not the action was wise was not among his things to ponder at the moment. What had sent the object- which felt to be a metal projectile- flying into his optic was a better question. Or what he'd stepped in.
He could only conclude that the Autobots had booby-trapped their base of operations, a wise and logical decision. But how he hadn't detected these traps was what was currently on his mind. His visuals were mostly dark, rendering him mostly blind as he regained his footing. No matter, he'd been blinded before and still continued his tasks.
He shook his foot in an effort to remove whatever he'd stepped in, but it seemed quite content to remain.
Then came a loud, blaring sound from elsewhere... A proximity alarm.
Perhaps the yard was not as empty as he'd originally assumed.
Other than the alarm, the space remained otherwise fairly quiet. Shockwave was not about to let this stop him. No Decepticon would accept defeat so easily, especially not him. He felt his way through the ever-narrowing passages, wondering what warrior Autobot had succeeded in getting the best of him. "I am aware of your presence..." He called out. "I do not need my sight to disable you."
There was no response. No footsteps or voices.
"I am impressed... Not many can evade my detection... But you will still fail."
The sides to the passage disappeared abruptly, leaving the scientist to wander forward aimlessly. Clever Autobots... But not clever enough.
He heard movement from the side, and he reached out and grabbed the projectile coming at him. He heard a cry of surprise and felt the multiple shapes slithering in his grip; system probes. "Ah...A virocon, are you?"
The owner whimpered as she tried to free herself, and he heard more probes fired. He knocked them aside, and his attacker yelped as she was yanked upward.
"Let me go!" She hissed angrily. Their voice sounded young...very young.
Now Shockwave just felt insulted. This enemy wasn't some veteran warrior with centuries of experience, it was a tiny protoform barely out of the Well. An infant had succeeded in ambushing him. "You won't get that chance again, little one...!"
Several shots came from behind him, knocking him down to his knees.
"Now!"
Shockwave's hand was occupied keeping himself upright and clutching the probes already fired; he'd snagged four, but he felt two more snap onto the sides of his helm, and then a surge of energy that brought the scientist into darkness.
Flashdrive's optics widened as her processor attacked the Decepticon's, colors inverting for a moment before the enemy dropped to the ground. She gave a sharp gasp as she pulled out of it, falling backwards.
"Flashdrive!"
Fixit sped down from the Command Center and over to the downed virocon. "Flashdrive, are you-"
A hand cut him off, and Flashdrive sat up slowly. "...I'm okay." She admitted. She gave a grunt as she yanked her tendrils free of his grip, looking up at Fixit. "Uh...Don't tell Bumblebee that he grabbed me, okay?"
"Can't report what I didn't see, Flash." Sideswipe replied with his first grin since he'd lost his sight.
Fixit nodded, "Sure... Let's just get him into a stasis cell before he wakes up."
Transmutate limped out of her hiding place, "...I will help."
With help from Denny's giant magnet, the three of them got the scientist into a pod and closed it. Fixit double, even triple-checked the seal, and for anything Shockwave might use to wake himself. Steeljaw had fooled them in that manner once, it wouldn't happen again.
Flashdrive was more interested in the other occupant of the Scrapyard; the black kitty she'd seen sneak into the scrapyard just before Shockwave arrived. She left the clearing, searching the shadows amongst the stacks and moving slowly. "...I won't hurt you." She whispered, "...And he can't hurt you anymore either..."
After a few minutes, she saw the glint of red optics beside one of the stacks. She didn't move, just got lower, even on her hands and knees. "...Please... I want to help you..."
"Why should I trust you...!?" They snarled.
The tiny bot smiled as she turned her back to them. "Okay, you can stay there."
Several seconds passed, and then she spoke again. "...Did he take you away from your family too...?"
"...Yes."
"...I just want to get that collar off. That's all."
Several seconds passed, and then she felt his tail brush her hand. "...That's all."
"That's all..."
It took a few more moments before the feline came up into her view once more. She moved slowly, not showing any kind of aggression as she brought one tendril out and connected it to the collar. It glitched and sparked a few times, and then dropped free of his neck.
The cat backed away, shaking his head hard before scratching at where the collar had irritated his neck. "Ah...! That is better..."
Flashdrive saw the Decepticon symbol on his chest, but remained calm. "...You're free now. You can go wherever you want to."
"But why...?" The panther came closer to her again, "I saw how easily you took down Shockwave, why not do the same to me?"
"Because I don't have a reason to hate you... You are just as much a victim as Swoop and Transmutate." She smirked, "You're a Decepticon soldier, why haven't you ripped my circuits out yet?"
"...I-"
"Flashdrive...!"
Flashdrive looked up, her optics widening as she saw Fixit standing there looking back and forth between her and the decepticon. "...What are you doing...!?"
"L-Look, I can explain."
Fixit focused on the intruder for several moments, and then sighed as he crossed his arms. "We'll deal with this when the Lieutenant returns...Until then, I'm going to try to get the comms. systems back online..."