Location: Nevada Military Base
Bumblebee
"Yep, that is a Decepticon locator beacon." Knockout hummed, still sounding indignant. It had taken a great amount of effort to drag Knockout back to Earth to confirm their suspicions. A former Decepticon would do better to recognize anything the Autobots would miss in the beacon that had appeared on the airwaves.
"Can you decrypt and track it?" Bumblebee pushed when Knockout didn't elaborate in anyway, and instead stood cross servoed at the console.
"Hmmm?" Knockout said before turning to face Bumblebee with an aggravated vent. "I suppose… it's well encrypted, so I'm not exactly leaping for joy at the prospect."
"No time like the present." Arcee said. She pointed to the screen for emphasis. "And hurry, while you're at it. We assume Soundwave isn't aware of what is happening on Cybertron, but there is the very real chance he does. Whoever has rekindled the Con's cause is brutal, and we don't need Soundwave of all Bots joining them."
"Ugh," Knockout rolled his optics and faced the console again with a dramatic shrug. "How did you bots do anything without me around? It must have been a tragedy to behold."
"We managed, somehow." Arcee shot back.
"If this really is Soundwave, you have to do this fast," Bulkhead said to Knockout's back. "Who knows what he's doing out there."
"Oh goody," Knockout grumbled.
"What's wrong?" Bumblebee asked. "Did you locate the source?"
"No, because the location is moving, and the message is scrambled, twice." Knockout explained. "This is Soundwave's style all right. Overcomplicated and dry." His chassis shuttered, very dramatically. "I do not envy whichever one of you is going to be the one to fight him." The cold silence made Knockout turn, an optic ridge rose. Most of the room was glaring at him. "What? I was called here to decode a Decepticon communication, not get in a fight. I had a front row seat when Soundwave knocked Arachnid to the floor. I am not first in line to add myself to that lunatic's win card. Plus, I just had my finish micro polished. That was an ordeal I'm not willing to threaten."
Miko's loud scoff rang off the high ceilings. "Really? You look normal to me. I hope you didn't pay too much for the paint job." She said from her metal walkway perch with the other humans.
Knockout spun around to glare at the small girl, his work forgotten. "Of course, your kind wouldn't appreciate true art, skin job!" he snapped back childishly.
"Well, back to square one," Arcee said to Bumblebee while tuning out the childish bickering between Miko, the actual child who had an excuse for her behavior, and Knockout, who did not. "I'm guessing it will take even an ex con time to track the location and decode any hidden messages, so what's the plan?"
"There's Wheeljack," Bulkhead offered. "He's an expert at tracking Decepticon beacons, even if they're moving. It's basically his favorite hobby. I know he's busy trying to locate the new Con base on Cybertron, but I'm sure he can spare some time to help."
"Not a terrible idea," Bumblebee agreed. "This is Soundwave we're dealing with. We need as much backup as we can get." Bumblebee's optics shifted about the room. He could feel the tension among his teammates. The known factors of what they were dealing with weighed heavy on his own Spark. With Soundwave loose on Earth, their already dire situation had become even more complicated.
The reconstruction of Cybertron had been going without a hitch. More Autobots and bots of unaffiliated loyalties were returning in droves. Stray Cons were being rounded up or even peacefully surrendering in exchange for promised parole and safety…. And thanks to Optimus' sacrifice, the Well of All Sparks was alight, and new Cybertronians were being forged again.
But then the Kaon underground revived with a sudden harsh backlash. Megatron had vanished into the expanses of space, but someone else had taken on his burden. Troops of Cons attacked ships, stole Energon stores and burned everything they couldn't steal. The attacks were erratic, unhinged, and growing more common by the day.
Con prisons were being targeted, an attempt to gain more forces, no doubt. Disturbingly, the Ex Con's who were awaiting their parole, and had refused to rejoin this growing hostile force, were found ripped to pieces in their cells or places of assigned community service. The Autobots were put in the very strange position of moving their Con prisoners into undisclosed locations or off world all together to protect their lives.
Most troubling of all was the near siege of the Well of All Sparks. A slew of Cons, all hyped up and wild on some unknown chemical enhancement, attempted to get a bomb into it's core. Commander Ultra Magnus' forces managed to stop the plot, but it had them all shaken to say the least.
Arcee was right. The last thing this new Decepticon force needed was Soundwave on their side. He could bring experienced based strategy and logic to their Guerrilla warfare mentality and turn the tides even deadlier.
A metal chair crashed, followed by Knockout's alarmed yelp. "You almost scratched me, miserable human larva!" He shrilled. The group glanced back and saw Miko launching everything she could get her hands on at the ex-Con. Knockout was trying to snatch Miko from the metal ramp but couldn't get close enough without risking getting hit by something.
Jack and Raf snatched Miko backwards and out of Knockout's reach. "Seriously, Miko, he's like, ten times your size! Why antagonize him?" Jack pointed out.
"Because I know a wuss when I see one!" Miko said, her tongue stuck out disdainfully.
"HOW is this decoding Decepticon locator beacons?" Ratchet snarled at Knockout from his own work across the room. "We have a dangerous Con loose on Earth, and a rising Decepticon force on Cybertron. Soundwave doesn't know about this because of his time spent trapped in the Shadow Zone, so we have an advantage over him, but that is time limited!"
Knockout pointed an accusing digit at Miko. "This fleshy instigated it!"
"Knockout," Bumblebee growled. "Do we need to go over rule number one again, when it comes to not harming humans?"
"I was defending myself! The fleshling assaulted me first!" Knockout snapped and poked a single sharp digit into Miko's chest. She rubbed at the spot indignantly. Then her face darkened as she contemplated something devious. She snatched Knockout's offending digit and licked it, leaving a long trail of saliva in her wake.
"GAH!" Knockout shrieked in disgusted horror, stumbling backwards as if the human's spit was acidic.
Bulkhead chuckled. "That's my girl."
"Oh, for Primus' sake!" Ratchet threw down his work and marched over to stand between Knockout and Miko. "This is no time to be juvenile, both of you! Soundwave is on Earth somewhere, and he is dangerous to humanity."
"Does that really matter?" Knockout snapped back. He rummaged through his medical kit and retrieved a scrub to remove Miko's spit. "Soundwave is not stupid enough to attack humans and reap Autobot attention."
"Hate to say, Knockout has a point," Arcee said, then laughed when everyone staired at her. "I know, I feel dirty just saying that. However, Soundwave won't accomplish whatever he is working towards, even if we can't find him for a while. He missed the end of the war. Even though there is a new growing violent resistance on Cybertron, Soundwave has no idea Megatron is gone."
