Hello all!
I'm back with another chapter, and so unfortunatly the others wont be posted today, they'll be coming later in the week. I have them finished I just dont have much time to post them.
jackattack999- I'm not too sure about your comment, are you saying you dislike the fact that Shockwave has his own perspective and would prefer if it was just Sloane's pov? or that you dislike that I mention whose pov it is, and would rather gather whose pov it is based on story alone? if this is constructive criticism I'll take it to mind, but if this is only flaming than I will ignore it. a little clarification would be helpful.
Enjoy!
Chapter 3- "Progress."
(Sloanes pov)
As Iago was considering Shockwave's offer in silence a door slammed. The 3 of us jumped to look. Shockwave lifted me onto his shoulder, out of the way of any harm.
Out of one of the buildings came a short old lady. And behind her was about a dozen or so cats. All with varying colors and patterns. Everyone was silent and focused on her as she hobbled her way across the property when she passed Iago she turned and said "Just giving ma kits some exercise." and then hobbled back to the door and went back into the building.
The entire complex was silent as Shockwave and me just turned to look back at Iago.
"A 16 year old girl isn't allowed to run her father's organization. But a 90 year old crazy cat lady is allowed to live on the property?" I snarked down to Iago.
"15.5" Shockwave corrected.
"Who's side are you on?!" I exclaimed as I turned to look at Shockwave.
Shockwave turned his head to look at me before replying.
"The side of logic."
"Why do I even bother asking?" I sighed.
"To explain, she's lived on this property since it was built, and over time the residents left due to the distance to the nearest town. So much so that the owner doesn't bother asking for rent and hasn't bothered to check out here in 5 years."
"And she clearly is not bothered by my presence…" Shockwave added.
"That's because she's as blind as a bat, and all she sees is a big pink blob."
"Aha! YES!"
Shockwave just sighed.
Before Iago could ask, Shockwave stomped over to the parking garage.
He transformed and I somehow ended up in his cabin and he drove in after a MECH soldier opened the gate.
"Does the pink thing really bother you that much?" I asked timidly.
"Negative." he informed.
"Is something else the matter?"
"This is interfering with time that could be spent working," he answered.
"Well. here we have better resources and frankly a cleaner and much more liveable space." I answered.
"Humans… such needy creatures." he mumbled.
Suddenly we'd discovered a huge cavern, with many large slabs where scraps of Vehicons were. And in the back were large green trucks with a few green cars with them.
The cavern was so large Shockwave was even able to transform back into robot mode.
"Of course the complex didn't come with the massive underground garage that we had to dig out." Iago mentioned as he got out of an elevator beside the entrance.
"I will require a workspace, scaled to my specifications. I will also need a place for Sloane, so that she will constantly be in my sight or in the vicinity." Shockwave demanded.
"Whoa whoa whoa… you're acting like I accepted your terms." Iago stammered.
"Have you not? You have yet to reject my offer." Shockwave noted.
"Then I do."
"And yet you've just let a giant black hole creating robot into your base of operations and have now just told him the deal is off without any preventative measures in place." Shockwave replied as he armed his cannon. I was safe within his chest.
"Ah, but how do you know I don't have a sniper in this room. One with a extremely high caliber rifle that is sure to shatter your processor?" Iago bluffed.
There was obviously no such sniper.
But Shockwave decided to humor him.
Suddenly a red light appeared behind me, I spun around in my seat to look and there was Shockwaves head hanging upside down from the ceiling.
"Do try shattering my processor." he glowered. The mix of the red light with the tinted glass cast a sickly, ominous blood red glow all over Iago, and with my silhouette casting shadows of bodies around him I doubt he felt very comfortable.
"Of course… Shockwave." Iago conceded.
"Now, I require a table with which to work upon. Beside it I shall need a computer terminal and the table must be accessible by Sloane, with a small area designed for her."
"That… can be accomplished."
Shockwave's head retracted to its normal state, he wasn't too worried about any potential snipers.
"The computer terminal must be Cybertronian in origin."
"That… is a little less accomplishable." Iago admitted.
"What if we brought the terminal from your lab?" I suggested
"That may work, however it is badly damaged." he acknowledged.
"My boys may be able to repair it." Iago supplied.
"I highly doubt that. Cybertronian biology is vastly dissimilar from our technology."
"And you're well versed in both?" I asked.
"Indeed." he answered.
"Well… if you don't have the equipment to repair it, because I assume if you did you'd have done that."
"Affirmative." Shockwave answered.
"Is there any other abandoned laboratories that may have similar terminals?" I finished suggesting.
"Presumably… there was mention of an abandoned decepticon ship. Similar to the Nemesis. I may be able to locate it and extract it's remaining technology." Shockwave mused in return.
"So… this Decepticon ship, it's something we can make use of?" Iago asked.
"Let me clarify. It is my asset, and mine alone." Shockwave threatened.
"And only to be shared with those who I deem worthy and necessary." he added.
"I… Verywell…" Iago conceded.
"I will require a squad to accompany me so that they may assist me in transport of the materials that will be found in the ship."
"And… I will need a mode of transportation to my house." I added sheepishly.
"Do you not live on site here?" Shockwave asked.
"No, while I can live here, I first have to gather my stuff from my current house."
"Are they of importance?" Shockwave asked.
"Umm… probably not to you. But to me they are." I answered.
"Then such time should be utilized in helping me."
"And how do you expect me to help you? You'll be pulling apart giant alien computers."
Shockwave seemed to ponder my 'logic' for a moment before conceding.
"Your reasoning is... barely logical."
"Hmph." I grumbled mockingly.
"Now, are you able to provide what we require?"
"Is MECH a Terrorist organization?" Iago asked.
Shockwave didn't seem to know how to answer.
"The answer is yes! Yes MECH is a terrorist organization." Iago exclaimed
"Giant, pink, naively genius, shapeshifting robot cyclops." he grumbled as he stomped off, presumably to prepare what we'd asked.
I stepped out of the big green car and walked up to the house that I'd lived in for a short while now. I walked up and unlocked the door, then stepped inside.
I instantly walked past the tiny kitchen to my room in the back of the house.
"So, what was my purpose of accepting you as my assistant if you were unable to explain the existence of myself as I explicitly stated?" Shockwave inquired through the comm he'd given me.
"While some people might be able to explain giant alien robot-tanks in a suburban community, I unfortunately am one of the many who can not." I answered as I grabbed a knapsack and began to fill it with everything I'd be keeping.
"Besides, it doesnt matter right now since you are back at that… harm bringer?" I replied.
"Harbringer." Shockwave corrected.
"It is beneficial that lord Megatron interrupted Starscream's raid upon this place." Shockwave noted.
"What?" I asked him. I was now packing a few pictures.
"My kind are in the midst of a war on your planet, we were nearly winning, having had destroyed their base and their leader, the remains of our enemies began to use one of our crashed ships to confuse us, by spreading our forces across this continent. From this very ship they staged an attack upon Darkmount."
"What's Darkmount?"
"Iago." Shockwave stated.
Iago sighed before answering, through a commlink himself.
"Darkmount was a massive Decepticon castle, if you will. It was 'beamed' into Nevada and was later destroyed by the government. The government has since cordoned off the area."
"Is that where you are? The wreckage of Darkmount?" I asked.
"While I highly doubt humanity has the resources and equipment to dispose of such a large structure, I don't doubt that they have the site under constant surveillance." Shockwave corrected.
"So, what are you doing now?" I asked as I packed my favorite clothes.
"Currently examining the Harbinger, I'm having the MECH agents scour the rest of the ship while I dismantle some of the computer consoles."
"Ah, well, stay safe." I answered.
Shockwave didn't respond, he didn't really need to.
I picked up some tools and all my papers from theories I'd written in school while I was bored, to my legal papers, (forged of course, courtesy of MECH.)
"Are you done there kid?" the MECH agent in the car waiting outside sighed into the comm.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming. Be more patient."
"MECH doesn't really do 'Patient', the whole point of this organization is to achieve greater technology then everyone else, and to force evolve humanity by producing even greater tech."
I rushed out of the house after leaving a letter explaining that I'd be moving out, giving the landlord permission to sell everything left in the house and it also had the months rent along with it, I shouldn't have any other reason to return.
"Since I'm done, would you be able to bring me to wherever Shockwave is?" I asked the driver.
He sighed but called Iago about the coordinates of the Harbinger which Shockwave had given him.
Soon I found myself at a massive crashed alien ship in a ravine.
I stepped out with my bag and then the car peeled off in irritation.
I simply scoffed at the driver.
I then turned and walked into the derelict decepticon ship.
I soon found Shockwave as he was gutting a computer.
"You're certainly efficient aren't you?" I asked.
He looked up from the innards of the computer and looked at me.
"Greetings." he finally said before turning back to the wires and such.
I walked over and kinda just stood in the hole he'd created so he could access the cords.
"Is this not… like super weird? Like aren't you essentially ripping your biology out of an inanimate machine that is vaguely similar to you?" I asked after a little bit.
"No, while it is similar it would be like how humans of your age may examine the biology of a Lithobates catesbeianus; while some parts may function the same way to accomplish the same or similar purposes, however overall the inside is different from your own."
"So, what you're saying is you're dissecting the equivalent of a giant robo-frog to create the ground bridge doohickey?"
"I see my analogy was a bit too simple, and no, this is merely a computer, the ground bridge was also scavenged by someone else, presumably the Autobots when they briefly utilized this vessel as their base." Shockwave corrected.
He then ignored me and went back to disemboweling the computer.
"Thank you." Shockwave abruptly said.
"For what?" I asked confusedly, I was also quite surprised as I was expecting those sappy 'thank you for giving me a life worth living/giving me a purpose.' something I'm certain Shockwave wouldn't say normally.
"For refraining from joking about my apparently 'pink' color scheme." he answered
"Who said they were jokes?" I teased.
He huffed and threw his one arm up in exasperation.
"This is the exact reason why I hesitated stating my appreciation."
"Oh come now, it's not that bad is it?" I joked.
"It would be similar to me telling you that you were see-through because you are actually white."
"Ok, but it's a joke, doesn't mean I actually think you're pink, even if it's funny."
Shockwave just sighed.
"Is there any way I could help?" I asked after a moment.
"You could unplug all the cords inside, the ones that I am unable to reach." Shockwave answered.
I crawled into the computer and began to take it apart. Shockwave would handle the big stuff and I would take care of the smaller bits.
"Shockwave, there's something else here." one of the MECH agents relayed through the comm.
Shockwave abruptly stood up and didn't move.
He seemed to be thinking.
"You have permission to leave and retreat to a safer area. Should combat ensue you will be safer in a terrain you are knowledgeable of." he answered. Then sounds could be heard; things were being dropped and footsteps were rushing about above and below the room we were in.
"You are free to accompany them." Shockwave added as he turned to me.
I looked out the doorway before shivering.
"No… I'll… I'll stay with you." I stuttered.
"Your pupils seem dilated, and your shoulders tense." Shockwave observed.
"Yup… yeah…" I answered without really actually listening to what he'd said.
"Come." he practically ordered after a moment.
I hesitated but hurried to follow when he left the room without checking to see if I actually was.
"Are you sure it's safe… out here?" I asked him.
"Safe from what exactly?" he inquired, his voice held a faint hint of mirth in it, almost as though he were vaguely teasing me.
"Well… I don't know, like a monster?" I asked.
"There's no such… actually, seeing as humans are far more close-minded then other species I can't exactly give you such comfort." he answered.
"That doesn't assuage my fears!" I snapped at him.
That only caused my voice to echo down the extremely creepy ship.
I clapped my hands over my mouth and slipped behind Shockwave's leg.
Suddenly the area around me was bathed in red light.
I looked up to see Shockwave looking down at me.
"Of all the places to take shelter you choose the massive alien robot who is many times the weight your skeletal structure can withstand." Shockwave noted.
"Mhm… your eye doesn't help though…" I shivered under the steady red glare.
He turned and continued down the hall, me keeping a very short gap between us.
We began to check many of the rooms the MECH agents were told to check, there was nothing in there, so we then checked the rooms adjacent to those. There we found a single console, along with five insets in the wall, each one was lit by a single bright light above it. The console looked to have been used fairly recently. And the insets were empty of whatever they once contained. And the sides of the room held two massive machines.
"Intriguing." Shockwave murmured.
"What is it?"
"This is a cloning lab."
"So… we have no idea what kind of monsters were cloned here?" I wondered worriedly.
"Negative, these types of labs came equipped with five basic protoforms. The user would then infuse these machines with the desired results…"
He then walked over to the console.
"It would seem the user imbued the protoforms with the designs of a seeker. One with a human vehicular form." Shockwave noted as he examined whatever information was held within the console.
I then heard the sound of transforming, but as I was looking directly at Shockwave and didn't see him transform I turned.
There stood a black robot with yellow highlights.
He began to beep insistently at Shockwave, who upon noticing him turned and hurriedly raised his cannon.
Only now did I realize the bot had two blasters, one on each arm, and both were armed with two barrels.
"Perhaps I should have taken your advice to leave when we had the chance." Shockwave admitted.
The other bot just whirred in a confused tone before it's eyes locked onto me in full fledged surprise.
It beeped once more, this time more of a speechless surprise, ironically.
Both robots had their respective guns aimed at the other.
"I have no quarrel with you. Lower your weapons and let us leave with what we've come for." Shockwave offered, weapon still trained on the others chest.
The robot gave a short beep in some form of question.
"Iago, we need assistance, there's another bot holding Shockwave at gunpoint." I whispered into my comm.
"Let them fight, we'll use the parts from whichever loses." he answered nonchalantly.
"Iago, I really don't think it'd take much convincing on my part to get Shockwave to give you the privilege of being the first human to see the other side of a miniature blackhole." I threatened.
"We're on route." the MECH agents that Shockwave had sent out earlier answered for Iago.
"Thank you." I sighed.
"Bumblebee, you are well aware that if I wanted to fight you right now I would have. Now leave." Shockwave demanded.
I then saw a few soldiers run up behind the robot, the one whom Shockwave referred to as 'Bumblebee'.
The leader of the squad looked at me, I nodded at him, as soon as he saw the signal he and his team fired at Bumblebee.
Electricity lanced through his circuits till he collapsed.
"We must make haste, gather whatever you can from the room I salvaged." Shockwave told the crew
"What about us?" I asked, "And what about him?" I added, gesturing at Bumblebee.
"He shall be left alone, I do not intend to be near when he comes online."
"Well… aren't you gonna, I don't know, use him for something? Wouldn't holding him for ransom be useful in keeping people away from you if you hand him over?"
"The Autobots are persistent, they will only increase their efforts to retrieve him. And that will only worsen my standing with them."
"Ah." I agreed.
"As well, leaving him to fight another day allows for one extra distraction from the decepticons, arguably the greater threat to my existence." he added.
"The enemy of your enemy, is your unwitting diversion." I clarified.
"Exactly."
He then rushed throughout the lab as he began to dismantle everything in the room and place it in his trailer.
Soon, the trailer was piled high and he transformed, hurriedly dropped me into his seat and then took off with the trailer between his treads.
It didn't seem to take long to get back to base, or that was the adrenalin from being caught by Bumblebee.
But we soon arrived in the underground garage. With the whole team with the supplies they scavenged, all but one.
"Team 3, report." Shockwave demanded into the comm upon noticing they weren't at base.
"We were just about to contact you, what do we do with the yellow one?"
"Leave it. It will come online shortly and return to its own team members." Shockwave answered.
"Should we not take its parts, or kill it to ensure your secrecy?" the team leader asked.
"If you kill it, it's allies will know, and that will only empower the Decepticons, currently the Decepticons are the biggest threat. Perhaps in the future we'll collect a specimen for you to examine, but today is the present. Be patient for a better opportunity." Shockwave ordered.
"Understood. Returning to base." was the hesitant reply.
Shockwave simply nodded even though they couldn't see him and then turned and began to examine everything we'd collected.
Shockwave quickly set to taking everything we'd scavenged and began to build things with it. First was the computer, Shockwave had quickly set it up at his workstation which MECH had supplied. Once it was constructed he let it go through it's own diagnostics while he worked on these large chambers, he built two of them to the side of his desk top. Both were built with a large glass cylinder and a large metal base and cover. Surprisingly Shockwave actually had to increase the size of the cylinders by creating more glass.
Soon the final MECH team returned, this team had a lot of cables which Shockwave connected to the computer and to the glass chambers.
Shockwave then had a team go to his old lab, which I accompanied to guide them.
Shockwave specifically requested the team who'd come to his aid to be sent on this mission, so if Shockwave trusts this particular team, then so do I.
When we returned with the parts from his lab and all the equipment, I'm not kidding we had to bring it in several trucks full. We returned to find Shockwave had already filled the massive cylinders with a clear yellow liquid. I ran over to his desk and found a ladder that led from the left corner up to the top. I climbed it to find that the desk was shaped like a massive reversed 'L'
The ladder was at the top of the 'L' with a small loft bed and 'leg' of the 'L' was a large cybertronian computer. The space between my loft bed and the computer was empty, except for a row of tools that Shockwave had organized along the back.
I ran over to stand below the computer.
"So, how can I help?" I asked Shockwave.
He glanced down at me under his right arm as he tapped away at the giant supercomputer above me.
"What occured to you?" he asked instead.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"The grease content within your hair and the pigment of the skin lining the underside of your optics."
"Oh… that." I yawned, "I haven't slept at all since meeting you." I yawned.
He paused for a moment before holding out his hand to me.
"I've come up with a way for you to help me." he responded, his voice was much lower and softer and didn't rumble as much.
I stepped onto his hand that he held out to me, which he then moved to drop me onto my bed.
"How does this help you?" I asked in groggy confusion.
"It keeps you sane and allows me the confidence that you will be safe."
"Safe from what?" I asked.
"From injuring yourself."
"And how would I manage to do that?"
"A lack of rest, which you need." he answered before turning back to his computer.
I went to get up and climb down the ladder but suddenly his massive gun arm landed across my lap. I learned first hand that it was just as heavy as it looks. When I tried to push it off all I did was exhaust myself, and trying to pull my legs out from under his cannon only made my thighs sore. Finally I huffed and just layed back onto the pillow.
"I'm not tired." I complained.
"You may not know it, but you are." Shockwave answered without looking.
"But I need to help you"
"What you need is rest."
"I can rest later."
"Technically later could be understood as one astro-cycle," he retorted.
"How long is that again?" I groaned.
"A mind like yours would remember, if it were at its full capabilities. Just one more indicator that you require rest, on top of your lack of awareness and the pigment of your optic covers."
I only heard two other words due to my drowsiness.
"Goodnight Sloane."
Then sleep overtook me.
Shockwave's log #2
The Harbringer was a ship carrying a large variety of equipment, from simple transportable goods such as Energon, as well as scientific research and laboratories of different kinds, it once housed the immobilizer, one such artifact that had already been scavenged. It also contained a cloning bay for Protoforms, one I assume Starscream managed to stumble across and utilize, judging from the seeker schematics uploaded to the system. and for a time it also held a fully functioning ground bridge, one which was unfortunately no longer present, presumably scavenged by the Autobots. among the more notable of it's resources, the Harbinger carried a plethora of operational lab equipment and computer terminals, things both Starscream and the Autobots fortunately overlooked.
anyway, yeah I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and please leave a review on your thoughts.