Sorry it took a while to update, I got two days off again but it had been so busy the past few weeks. But I was finally able to get the next chapter wrote out. Enjoy!
"What do you mean it's empty?" Megatron asks as he glares at the two mechs that had recently returned with the cylinder.
"Lord Megatron, these cylinders are not unlike batteries." Knockout begins explaining, "The data is stored within them as a form of energy. It scanned fully charged, that's how we located it to begin with, but now…" He trails off as he presses a digit against the cylinder which results in a puff of smoke to come out.
"Dead battery." Breakdown finishes for him.
"Did you drop it, you one-eyed oaf!?" Megatron asks.
Breakdown raises his servos, "No master, I wasn't gonna touch the thing after it put the zap on Bulkhead."
"Hey, you think…?" Knockout started to ask before looking over at Megatron.
"I know, and I must find out what that vessel contained. When it comes to the secrets of the ancients, knowledge can be power." Megatron concluded before he turned to walk off, but Knockout spoke up before he could get too far.
"Pardon me my liege, I have a request to ask of."
Megatron stops walking and looks over his shoulder, "Ask quickly!"
"I would like to request the assistance of the femme in med-bay after we turn her into a Decepticon."
"Breakdown is your assistant! Do you need another?"
"She could help us both out. After seeing the patchwork she did on Soundwave I would really like to have her assistance in med-bay."
Megatron thought it over for a second, he know s exactly what Knockout is after, "As you probably already know I'll be giving her to Soundwave as a mate, being her mate all decisions regarding her will be up to him."
"I have heard. But I thought you were still in charge of all the decisions-"
"I'm still in charge of any decision regarding the mind control and what's to be done if she tries to escape again, but all other decisions will be up to Soundwave! So say your request to him!" Megatron concluded before walking away.
"Do you think Soundwave will allow her to help us?" Breakdown asked Knockout.
"I highly doubt it. Not after what I pulled."
"After what you pulled she might get a sense of uneasiness around you even if she does forget it."
Megatron walked onto the bridge to find Soundwave at a computer doing his work, "Soundwave!" He calls out to him. Soundwave stops what he's doing and walks over to him.
"I was just talking to Knockout and Breakdown, Knockout has requested that Arcee be placed in med-bay as his helper after we use the coding to put her under my control. I told him that since I'm giving her to you as a mate that decision will be up to you. You will decide what place and rank she'll be on this ship."
Soundwave just nods in appreciation before getting back to work. No way in pit will he ever allow Arcee to be Knockout's assistant, he won't even allow her to be alone in a room with him… Why does he care for this femme so much? He's been with so many femmes, so many pleasure bots, back when he was a gladiator but none of them got him feeling the way he does with Arcee.
He still remembers when he found out that she was on this planet. It had been years since his last encounter with her and he managed to make himself forget about her, but when he listened in and recorded a conversation between two Autobots he recognized the female voice straight up. Just hearing her voice again made his spark do a flip and he hated it. He despised himself for it. Getting feelings for an Autobot? That's completely out of the question. He shook off the feeling as he went to Starscream with the recording.
"The one called Arcee…"
When Starscream mentioned her name Soundwave could feel them feelings return, the very same feelings he felt when he first encountered Arcee. Why is he getting these feelings for an Autobot femme when he's never gotten any such feelings for any other femme? That's a question he still hasn't been able to answer.
Even though he's now accepted the fact that he's in love with her there's still a question of why and he still despises himself a little bit. But at the same time, he's happy that pretty soon he will be mating with this femme that he loves…
Speaking of the femme. When was the last time she had some Energon? He should go give her some.
"How is Bumblebee doing Ratchet?" Optimus asks as he walks over to the medic who is checking Bumblebee's vitals.
"He's stable right now."
Optimus looks over at Bumblebee laying on the med berth hooked up to machines, "I should not have made the deal. I was too blinded by anger and determination to get Arcee back to realize that Megatron was playing us."
"Don't blame yourself Optimus, we all went through with it in hopes of getting Arcee back even though we knew that Megatron wasn't gonna give her up that easily. I still have faith that we will get her back and Bumblebee will recover and everything will go back to normal."
"I hope you're right old friend, I really do hope you're right." Optimus says before he looks over at Bulkhead who is painting symbols on the metal they provided him, "How is Bulkhead?"
Ratchet gave a worried look as he walked over to the monitor to bring up the stats and image of Bulkhead's helm and processor, "This is Bulkhead's neuronet as you saw earlier." He then presses a button, "This scan was recorded just moments ago." The two then watch as the red runs through his processor, "It is as I feared… The data seems to be actively, and aggressively, rewriting Bulkhead's neuronet. I had hoped he was purging the data but he seems to be merely transcribing it as it…"
"Consumes his mind." Optimus finishes for him.
"From all indications by the time Bulkhead completes the formula his own thoughts, his memories, could be wiped clean."
"With Arcee being held captive by the Decepticons and Bumblebee in stasis we cannot afford to be down another soldier and team member. I will not allow another one of our own to be sacrificed, no matter the cost."
"If the living data transmitted itself from the cylinder, perhaps we can somehow coax it back inside. But how will we get it back from the Decepticons?"
Optimus gave a stern look, "Megatron will bring it to us."
"And just how are we supposed to take on Megatron? It's now just you and me."
"Leave it up to me."
Ratchet doesn't like this plan but he knows better than to argue with Optimus.