Author's Notes: Things are starting to unravel! Our many protagonists and anti-heros are finding the twisted truth of this strange mystery... As always, please comment and enjoy! Questions are always welcome. Sometimes I am a slow responder, but I will reply!
Location: Nova Point, Cybertron
Bumblebee
The Spacebridge closed before the Elite Guard could charge after Soundwave's team. The chaos of the battlefield fell deafly silent. It did not last long.
"This treasonous conduct is what you call a unified military front, Ultra Magnus?" Decimus demanded of the Autobot commander.
With that condescending statement, Bumblebee lost the last bit of patience he had left for the next one hundred years. He whirled around to the older bot still under the protection of his energy shield. It was a good thing he was. Bumblebee was ready to throttle him. "This has made everything worse! We had a cease fire agreement with Soundwave! They were willing to help fight Arachnid. If anyone would have known Arachnid's weaknesses it would be Soundwave! Don't you see that?"
Decimus's optics narrowed at Bumblebee with a similar stair of contempt. "Arachnid is recruiting more Decepticons every solar cycle! A few of our own soldiers that were once loyal to the Decepticons turned to her side not long ago. We were attempting to cut off her numbers!"
Arcee jumped right into the verbal fight alongside Bumblebee. "And because of a few morons that jump ship to join Arachnid you sign off to have hundreds of allies killed? We had masses of Decepticons who were on parole and had no intention of carrying on the fight. Many were even contemplating changing sides. I'm sure they will reconsider their position NOW."
"Usually, I would never condone reckless behavior outside the normal chain of command." Ultra Magnus began. "But I have personally fought alongside many of the Bots you intended to execute this solar cycle. I would trust these soldiers with my life and would bet my Spark they would never betray the Autobots."
Decimus turned his hostility to the looming Autobot commander. "Of all the Cons you could have made a deal with, it had to be Soundwave. The Soundwave! He was not one of these bots you say you would trust! He has been by Megatron's side since before the war. He is vicious and ruthless. A traitor of the highest order!"
"I take it, you both have a history?" Ultra Magnus guessed.
The simple comment had Decimus stammering. His tone's original bite had simmered away. "He, was my head spy in Iacon… I relied on his talents to much. I sent him to collect information on the then gladiator Megatronus. That warlord's words twisted him before I could realize what was happening. He became arrogant and defected, running off to play gladiator. I assumed he would come crawling back after a time… He did not."
"So, it's your fault he even met Megatron?" Smokescreen pointed out.
Decimus threw up his servos with a "Gah!" of frustration. "Enough of this nonsense! The rest of the Council will debate this matter. We will decide how to clean up the mess you have allowed Soundwave to make!" He turned to snap orders to the lingering Elite Guard to clear the area.
As he began to leave, Bumblebee shouted after him. "It's not too late to stop this, Decimus! We can still use Soundwave's help to take down Arachnid."
Decimus stopped, though didn't turn to face the group as he spoke. "The Council already has a plan for dealing with the Spider Bot. The remaining threats to Cybertron will be dealt with in a similar fashion. If all goes according to plan with our special task force's next mission, both Decepticon parties will converge to eliminate each other." He left the Autobots to contemplate the cryptic statement among the rubble.
"I may not be the brightest Bot," Bulkhead mused. "But that was really suspicious."
Ultra Magnus vented. "Alright Team Prime. We will confront the Council later. Right now, we fan out and begin the search for wounded."
They spread out. They helped the Guard pull Bots from the rubble or under the smashed execution stage. Bumblebee's processor was buzzing. He buried his anger at Decimus with determination. He channeled it all into digging through the wreckage. It was almost enough to distract from the events of the day. Almost.
By the time they had located every remaining life signal, Bumblebee ached all over. Scratches, dust and Energon covered every inch of his chassis. The rest of his team was in a similar condition. They had managed to pull themselves together and tended to the wounded. Once stabilized, they moved the wounded to a near by medical facility. Ratchet was even called from Earth to assist with the influx of damaged bots. The medical facility was quickly overwhelmed and understaffed. Three doctors who had worked there were among those Soundwave rescued from the Executioner's block.
In the medical building's wash racks, Bumblebee found himself among most of his team trying to scrub away that day's events with hot oil. Wheeljack was the last to enter the wash rack. His ship was one of the ones used for transporting the wounded. "Still a nightmare out there for our poor Doc Bot," he grumbled, rolling one of his servos in wide circles to loosen an ache in his shoulder joint. "To bad we can't drag Dr. Flashy here. I think they could really use the help."
Arcee shook her helm, optic ridges still down turned with disgust. "If we brought Knockout here the Council would kill him. He was on their original kill list, remember?"
"Ultra Magnus will figure something out." Smokescreen assured everyone with his usual air of youthful optimism. Their commander had already left to talk with the Council, taking almost no time to recover. "Rust bucket Decimus may have scared the other Council members into going along with this insane plan. But after the total disaster it caused, public opinion is going to turn on them."
"But Soundwave attacked, and that will cause the Council to retaliate." Arcee pointed out. "If this was a trap to lure him out and force even stricter regulation, he took the bait."
"But if he hadn't," Bumblebee began. Even with his optics downcast to the slick floor, he felt the gaze of his team on him. "You guys know what would have happened. We arrived late to Cybertron. All because of frequency interference messing with our Spacebridge calibrations."
"Which is also very suspicious," Arcee added. "All of a sudden our Spacebridge frequency jammed right before the execution. And this time it wasn't Soundwave behind the tampering?"
Bumblebee nodded. "Right or not, if Soundwave hadn't arrived when he did, three hundred innocent Cybertronians would be dead. No trial and no questions asked."
Smokescreen let out a prolonged and loud vent. "Spacebridge tampering and secret political agendas… Man, this has gotten really complicated."
The screech that suddenly permeated the somber wash rack had Bumblebee's hands shooting up to cover his auditorys. "Ouch! What is that?"
His team had a similar reaction to the assaulting sound, wincing at the obnoxious pitch.
"It's my ship's com device." Wheeljack realized. He pulled out the handheld device from his chest compartment. It made the noise even more insufferable. With a few quick types on the screen, he silenced the obnoxious whine.
"What in Primus name was that?" Smokescreen demanded as he tapped the side of his helm to readjust his auditorys.
Wheeljack didn't answer right away. He studied the device with scrutinizing detail and downturned optic ridges. "Some sort of high frequency signal, with an embedded message."
"You don't say?" Bulkhead said with a sudden air of familiar suspicion.
"Who's it for?" Bumblebee inquired.
"All of us." Wheeljack explained. "The message sender says they know the next Decepticon target to be taken by the Con Hunting Task Force. It also includes the exact place and time."
"Let me see." Bumblebee said, standing from the bench and holding out a hand to accept the device. Wheeljack surrendered it to him with a shrug. Bumblebee scanned over the simple message as the last few words typed out. He read it for the rest of the room. "The message is requesting help. It doesn't say out right, but the message sender is the next Con target getting hunted."
"How do they know the exact date and time of their capture then?" Arcee wondered skeptically.
Bumblebee could only continue reading, hoping to find an answer to the question. "It says the Council's Con Hunting Task Force will capture their target two solar cycles from now. It will happen after the sun sets over the sea of rust. It says the members of the Con Hunting Task force sent out will be made up of three-" the rest of the sentence hitched in his voice box, his optics growing wide.
"Well, who are they?" Smokescreen demanded.
Bumblebee looked up from the screen to behold his team seriously. "Guys… We have a major problem."
Bridge of the Renegade
Soundwave
After the last few Autobot aligned refugees left the Renegade, three figures remained. They made no move to follow the others. Soundwave observed the three stoic seekers and their serious expressions. The Bot at the forefront of the three was Jetfire.
"Why are you lingering?" Soundwave demanded of them.
Jetfire was quick with a response. "I'm not thrilled by the idea, but I knew we have to help. Corruption has leaked into the New Council. It has cast a dark shadow over everything the Autobots stand for."
Demolisher laughed at the comment. "We don't need some two-face plated Autobot loving-"
"What if I refuse your help?" Soundwave interrupted.
"I can give you information about the New Council, and Arachnid's most recent movements." Jetfire promised.
From her resting place still on the floor, Thunderblast scoffed. "We have three ships in Cybertron's orbit who have been collecting intel this whole time. They should have that info already. Can someone please push these three losers through the portal already?"
"I will be happy to," Demolisher snarled. "Even if they have information, can we trust the word of those who betrayed the cause eons ago? Really, I'm surprised Tarn's D.J.D never came to clean up you traitors."
The comment was meant to intimidate only the three Autobots standing defiant by the portal. But Soundwave saw most of his own crew stiffen at the mere mention of the assumed decommissioned Decepticon Justice Division. Self-appointed regulators who brutally hunted their own Decepticon kind if they were assumed traitors. Soundwave had only met the group's leader, Tarn, twice, and it was enough for a lifetime. Megatron's words and presence captivated Soundwave, like so many others. But even he thought Tarn and his crew were insane murderous zealots.
Blitzwing let out an involuntary seize from his voice box. He recovered and began yelling at Demolisher. "Why would you say that, even as a jest?! Don't talk about those lunatics out loud. They'll hear you talking about Con traitors, and you'll end up conjuring them back to life from the Pits! Those Energon hungry savages haven't been seen in over a million solar cycles. Let's keep it that way!" He covered his face with both hands and trembled, talking to himself in an attempt to calm down.
Jetfire gave Soundwave a pursed look. "I was under the impression we were all pardoned from any past transgressions."
"You are." Soundwave assured him. "But you are now Autobots and are to be treated with suspicion. I will determine your worth to stay from what you can report. What do you know about Shockwave's current location?"
"We don't know where he is," Jetfire answered. "But we know he is working on many projects for the New Council."
"We already figured that!" Thunderblast snapped from the floor. As proof, she attempted to shift her left servo into her blaster. The effects of Shockwave's T-cog scrambling device made it hitch and grind. The blaster on her servo failed to transform. "I'm sure our own spies know more than these idiots." She said, addressing Soundwave above her.
"About the Decepticon Hunting Task Force." Soundwave said. He knew their own spies would not have this information. "Did they begin working for the New Council before, or after they had Shockwave under their control?"
Jetfire gave him a strange look, questioning the relevance of the query. "Um, they are a very secret task force. I haven't met any of the members. But I believe they were formed after?"
Soundwave had been afraid of that. With this new information, he had a hunch what they were dealing with. He hoped he was wrong.
"Guys…" Came the scared voice of Clobber. She had been rather quiet up until that point. Content to pick massive pieces of shrapnel out of her chassis like they were splinters. She stopped her work when a horrifying realization seemed to hit her, her single red optic wide with fear. "What if the Decepticon Justice Division IS the New Council's Con hunting task force?!"
"That's stupid." Blitzwing huffed. "You're stupid." He added.
Before the conversation could derail any further into ridiculousness, Soundwave shut the portal. "Jetfire. You and your two seekers will remain under constant supervision while on board. When you are no longer a useful source of information, you will leave for Earth. If you refuse again, I will portal you either into the New Council's clutches or into space."
Jetfire vented. "Fair enough."
With that settled, Soundwave turned to a trooper manning the com system. "Connect to the other three ships in Cybertron's orbit and instruct them to report in."
"Without pressing my luck…" Jetfire said to Soundwave. "Who is your second in command?"
"Present." Thunderblast raised a single servo and then let it drop back by her side from the ground.
Jetfire stared at the bot laying on the floor for a moment, optic ridge risen. "Where is Starscream?" he asked.
"His current location is unknown." Soundwave said. His old teammate had been the literal last thing on his mind. But he wasn't surprised Jetfire inquired about him. Jetfire and Starscream had once been on the same seeker team after all.
"Hm," Jetfire hummed thoughtfully. "He was on Cybertron when Optimus Prime restored the Well of All Sparks. According to Autobot records anyway. But he hasn't been seen since Megatron left. I suppose he could be offline."
Though evidence seemed to support the theory, Soundwave knew better. Starscream was almost certainly not dead. He knew better to assume he was that lucky.
"If I could step in?" Sharpshot intoned.
"What's your number again, Trooper?" Blitzwing asked, judgmentally glaring at the Vehicon.
"That's not a nice thing to say." Clobber chastised Blitzwing from across the room.
"Permission granted." Soundwave acknowledged while tuning out Blitzwing.
"Thank you, my Lord." Sharpshot vented. "The prisoners we recovered, and your Lordship's troops still need the damage to your T-cogs fixed. We have observed the longer we wait, the harder it is to fix."
"We have only one medic among our group." Blitzwing grumbled. "How many of us need patching from this crazy T-Cog scrambling weapon?"
Indeed, almost the whole crew, including every prisoner, the medic included, needed treatment. The Renegade had a very basic med bay. Soundwave assumed their numbers would overwhelm their medical facility. Their current situation did not even account for the medic's own mental and physical condition. Like half the Renegade's new members, the Medic almost had their helm blown off earlier that solar cycle.
"My troops can help with that." Sharpshot said eagerly. The small Vehicon once again became the group's focus. "I had my whole unit trained in extensive medical protocol. Plus, we have a lot of experience with treating the effects of the T-cog weapon."
Demolisher snickered. "That is impressive for you rank and file Cons."
Sharpshot shrugged. "Improvisation is the better part of planning, or so I've found anyway."
"I've never had a Vehicon doctor." Blitzwing huffed. "I don't want to start now. What about the three ships in orbit? They should have a few doctors."
"The three stand by ships have not responded to our hails, my Lord." The trooper at the console intoned.
Soundwave tried not to frown. What was the cause for the sudden radio silence from their standby ships? "Keep trying. Sharpshot's troops will assist in the med bay with repairing the damage from the T-cog weapon. There will be no more debating the issue."
Blitzwing grimaced. But, each of his wildly shifting personalities took the hint and stayed silent.
"That should do it, my Lord." Sharpshot announced with their ever-chipper attitude.
Soundwave was rather surprised the procedure had taken so little time. As Demolisher mentioned, the amount of knowledge the Vehicon unit had was impressive. A single shot of local anesthetic to disable Soundwave's pain receptors and a few kliks later, they were done. He had only started reading over Soundwave's notes in the Decepticon science files.
Sharpshot's team had taken over for the overwhelmed medic. The medic injected a chemical enhancer into herself to remain alert. Even still the medic had slipped into power down seated on a medical berth. All the prisoners where exhausted. But Sharpshot's team picked up the slack, getting everyone treated in a very acceptable span of time. They must have delt with the T-cog scrambling weapon often to be this skilled in counteracting the effects.
Soundwave got off the berth and tested the transformation of his left servo. His blaster activated with no trouble. Laserbeak reattached to his torso with a chirp. He looked to Sharpshot, who straightened to attention at once. "You will be able to achieve a full chassis transformation as well. But I recommend you wait until the anesthetic wares off." Sharpshot explained.
"Excellent work. You and your team have proven vital. Especially in the absence of our other troops, who have still yet to respond to our hails." Soundwave said.
Sharpshot beamed at the praise. "We are only doing our duty to the Decepticon cause, my Lord."
"You are performing your duty more than most officers I have come across." Soundwave explained. As Sharpshot radiated pride at the comment Soundwave scanned over the small med bay. His last few troops were having the weapon's effects undone. He made his way to a terminal and opened the science file he had been reading. "In Shockwave's notes, he created personalized shielding against the T-cog weapon's effects. So Decepticons wouldn't be caught in the blast intended for Autobots." Soundwave explained out loud.
"Shielding against the scrambling weapon would be great." Sharpshot acknowledged.
Soundwave nodded. "Shockwave never completed them, but he has a list of materials needed for the shields."
Sharpshot looked up at the screen, taking in the notes. "It doesn't seem hard to complete." They observed. Soundwave glanced at the Vehicon, wondering if there was a subject they hadn't studied in detail. "But aside from the vaults in the Kaon underground, those materials may be hard to come by."
"Arachnid controls the Kaon underground as of this moment." Soundwave noted. "But, there is a good chance the other three ships may have at least some of what we need. If not, they will have more powerful weapons we can utilize against Arachnid so we can take Kaon back."
"Guess who finally called back?" Thunderblast vented loud in Soundwave's commlink. "The lead ship finally felt like responding to our hail. They want to speak to you, my Lord."
It was about time.
"Speak of the Chaos Bringer." Sharpshot snickered.
Soundwave departed for the Bridge but stopped in the med bay door. "With me, soldier. I need you on the Bridge." Soundwave said to Sharpshot. After a brief, almost shocked pause, Sharpshot hurried to fall in line behind him.
'Do you know who this Vehicon reminds me of?' Laserbeak piped up as they walked along the Renegade's gangways. 'You, Master Soundwave. When you were eager to impress our previous Lord Megatron. Though this Vehicon does so with a much cheerier attitude.' He explained with a trill of laughter.
Soundwave mentally rolled his optics before he arrived on the Bridge. He stationed Sharpshot at the main com station by Demolisher. He opened the com channel to communicate with their ships stationed around Cybertron. He needed to find out how many troops and weapons he had at their disposal. "This is Soundwave. Report, what is your status?" he inquired.
There was a pause of static. Then a laugh answered. "Well, the ships are fine. But as for the troops on board? I would say they have been better." The voice explained, dripping sarcastic venom. Soundwave stiffened, the Bridge around him going silent. There was no mistaking the voice belonged to Arachnid.
Soundwave was now painfully aware why there had been radio silence until this moment.
"So how are you handling the gig as new Con leader so far?" Arachnid wondered with feigned interest. "It surprised even me when word of your promotion reached me. Congrats. I'm amazed lord Megs is gone for good. I hope at the very least, Starscream is boiling over the news down in the Pits… Nothing to say? I guess old habits die hard, eh Communication's Officer?"
Soundwave motioned to his stunned crew. "Track the current location of the ships."
"They haven't moved from Cybertron's airspace, my Lord." Sharpshot reported. In fact, I'm not reading much activity at all, even from their Energon engines."
"Scrap." Thunderblast whispered by his side. "She must have already drained the Energon from the engines… and the crew."
Though a grim realization, it did give Soundwave much needed information. None of the three ships Arachnid had taken had Spacebridge technology. So, they didn't have to worry about her Bridging to them and overwhelming them in a fire fight. Arachnid had already devoured all the Energon onboard that could power a Spacebridge even if they had one.
"Hello?" Arachnid said, her light sparked banter fading to annoyance as they ignored her. "I know it's been a while for you, with the whole 'talking thing' but a conversation usually has more than one bot engaged. I saw that rescue you pulled on Cybertron. I dare say, saving anyone, Autobots included would have been the last thing I would have expected from you. Or any Con for that matter. You must be hurting for troops. Is that what all the silence is about? How desperately did you need the troops on these three ships I have helped myself to? Please tell me you were relying on them."
Soundwave opened the link to respond in a flat unreadable tone. "Who helped you Bridge onto those ships?"
There was a beat of silence from Arachnid's side. His simple question had thrown her.
She recovered to respond with an almost insulted scoff. "What makes you think I didn't get onboard all by my lonesome self? That is my style after all."
"You drained all the ships in Kaon of Energon because of that virus you have been spreading. And those ships where too far into space for you to reach without a ship of your own." Soundwave deduced. "Someone helped you Bridge there."
Arachnid gave a sing song vent. "Alright, you caught me. I may have had some help. It was the Council who gave me a little boost, of all Bots! They had been trying to get these three remaining Con ships out of Cybertron's airspace for a while. But they could never manage to catch them. They have also failed to deal with me at the same time. Their attempts have been laughable. Ever since they tracked me and my armies rather, unique life signals to the moon you so graciously stranded me on... No hard feelings, of course.
"The fools thought they could control ME. As if I was some mindless weapon. I played along long enough for them to transport us back to Cybertron's surface. There, I corrected their error in judgment, and took a few swallows of Energon for my troubles. So, you can imagine my surprise when I got a com from the Council! They are offering a cease fire in exchange for my services to deal with you and your band of misfits. One Bridge onto the Con ships later, and well, the rest as they say is history."
Soundwave clenched his fists. He was trying hard to maintain his murderous intentions for Decimus with every new revelation. "Is there a point to this speech, or are you bragging?" Soundwave asked flatly.
"I don't need to brag, dear Soundwave. My talent speaks for itself." She snickered. "But despite what they have said to me it is clear what the New Council wants. They are trying to have us kill each other. They want both of their remaining enemies eradicated through infighting. But you and I are too smart to play such trivial games. I propose a trade. Call it a favor among old friends, so we can all get what we want.
You, "Lord" Soundwave, want the Kaon underground and all its bountiful resources. I have been unable to access any of it, so it's worthless to me. With it, you could reestablish the Cons as a powerful force to oppose the Council."
Soundwave stiffened. She already had deduced he was after the Kaon underground. It wasn't an unreasonable conclusion to come to. But he had hoped the virus that plagued her had hampered her mental faculties.
Arachnid released a sudden forlorn vent. "The Council has already promised me what I want, but only IF I kill you and your rag tag team of rebels. Oh, and of course Team Prime as well. They have been in the Councils way almost every turn of this comically twisted situation. But I don't respond well to ultimatums. As you have already proven to know, word about me has gotten around. Me and my hive are afflicted with a little bug of a virus that turns my already thin patience nonexistent. You are able to give me what I want much faster than the Council can."
Soundwave almost didn't want to know what Arachnid's infected mind had manifested. "And what is it that you want, that I can provide faster than the Council?" He asked.
He could almost hear Arachnid's ravenous hunger over the com as she hissed. "Simple! I want you to Spacebridge me and my followers to Earth. Then we can be called even."
