Author's Notes: Happy weekend everyone! Things are getting real now as we approach… maybe the last four or five chapters of our tale? I'm not totally sure on the exact numbers… But now, long forgotten allies come out of the shadows to help our heroes and anti-heroes against impossible odds! As always, please comment and tell me what you think, and of course enjoy!
Location: Iacon Prison
Rhea
Raf had developed a horrendous cough over the night. In the morning, he was worse, sporting a high fever and the chills. "Don't tell Bee I'm sick." He pleaded to Rhea before she could report to Soundwave through their commlink. "It will only distract him, which could get him killed."
Rhea, Jack, and Miko gave more of their water allotment to him in hopes he would recover. Despite Raf's insistence against this, he was outvoted. Though it did help his fever somewhat, what he needed was food. Rhea was well acquainted with hunger, like an abusive old friend. She was used to it. She knew the tricks to force her mind to cope with the pain in her gut. But her company wasn't. They struggled to maintain focus or remain awake longer than they needed to.
"Do you humans have stasis?" Knockout wondered; his voice uncharacteristically quiet from across the room. "It works for us to conserve power."
"Not at all." Jack grumbled along with his stomach. "When we starve, we're done."
Knockout considered the bleak statement, fiddling with the restraints around his wrists. "So, when is this plan of Soundwave's going to kick off?"
The prison doors opened, and no one dared continue the conversation. It was a full two hours before the doors were supposed to open. Rhea was on her feet at once, already knowing something was wrong. She was right. It wasn't the two guards who usually came in to deliver the metallic tasting water and check Knockout's chains.
Flanked by six other warrior looking bots was a Cybertronian Rhea guessed was higher up the chain of command. Polished silver white and blue plating with gold accents. A tall and pompous copper helmet framed his face. Two long copper metal extensions ran down either side of his mouth plate like it was a well-groomed mustache. As if the bot didn't display his self-importance through condescending smile alone, he had flat plating running from his shoulders down along his back. Like he was wearing a cape. It looked stupid and cumbersome.
Another first. The self-important bot gave the shrinking Knockout a quick judgmental glare, but then shifted his whole focus onto the humans. Usually, they went ignored. He got down to their level, grinning expression in front of the glass cage.
Rhea assumed the Bot's name was something like Pompous Prime or Brownnose-atron.
"Hello, humans. My name is Decimus, head of the Cybertronian New Council." He informed them in a slow, condescending tone. Decimus. That would have been Rhea's third guess. "Can you understand what I am saying?"
"Loud and clear." Jack hissed, shielding Raf behind himself. "What do you want?"
Decimus didn't lose his smile. "I bring you good news. I will be able to assist you humans. But you will have to help me in turn to earn my assistance."
"You actually going to feed us?" Miko snarled, arms crossed tight over her chest.
That gave Decimus pause. He glanced back at one of the guards stationed at the door. "I thought they were given nourishment rich water each cycle?"
"Yeah, dipshit. Humans need more than that." Miko informed him coldly.
Either Decimus was unaware he had been insulted or he was pretending not to notice. He continued regardless. "Well, then you will be happy to know that with my help, you can return to Earth. Then you can acquire whatever it is you need to survive for yourselves."
"You'll let us go? What's the catch?" Miko asked, unconvinced. "And what about him?" she pointed to Knockout across the room. "If we go, he does too."
Decimus tutted a laugh. "Him? His kind is a dangerous threat to you and our race. You humans will be returned to Earth, but he will remain here. He is not your concern. We will take care of him."
Rhea caught Knockout staring down at his feet, posture shrinking as if trying to melt into the floor.
"What do you want from us?" Jack finally asked.
"You unfortunately had to be entangled in Cybertronian business. All due to the carelessness of your Autobot and Decepticon owners. And I am sorry about their neglectful actions that landed you here, so far away from your world. In exchange for any information you may have unknowingly overheard, I can arrange for your safe transport back to Earth. No harm done; every transgression forgiven."
Rhea remained as silent as the others, staring defiant at Decimus. Unfortunately, he continued his rambling. "A large help to us, would be the location of many dangerous fugitives hiding on your world. As long as they are there, Earth is in danger." Rhea assumed it would eventually come to that. This pompous prick wanted to know where Wedge and the other Decepticon 'traitors' were. "Usually, we have a way of tracking our own kind. But when we went to Earth to collect you from your traitorous owner's custody, we were unable to pinpoint any life signals. You must have heard something about where they are being hidden. We can help keep your world safe from these traitors and deliver you back home. Everyone wins!"
Rhea had to refrain from smiling in Decimus's face. He unknowingly was in the presence of the person who made the frequency scrambling device keeping Wedge and the others safe. She had to cross her arms like Miko to hide her shaking hands so her over excitement didn't give her away.
Decimus waited, his feigned patience only rewarding him defiant silence. His smile started to fade. "Your owners have abandoned you. I hope you know that. I am sure they have already replaced you with other human pets. Trying to protect them will not help you."
"We don't know anything." Jack said. "Our 'owners' never told us anything important. All they ever did was protect humanity, and sacrifice for Cybertron."
Decimus hummed. "Allow me to further explain your situation. We have under our command creatures called Predacons. They do not need high tech sensors to hunt down pray. They will be able to sniff out the Energon of those traitors on your world. If you do not assist us, you will be forcing us to unleash them on your world. I could not fathom the human collateral damage if this must come to pass. Such a scenario would be your faults if you fail to comply."
That hurt, but Rhea grit her teeth and managed to maintain her air of indifference. Raf started to cough again. Decimus rose the ridge over his eye as Jack patted Raf on the back. "And if you do not care about your fellow humans, think of your own wellbeing." He stood up straight, seeming done with his rant towards them. He went on to mumble to his bodyguards, something about heightened cyber security around him while in the prison.
"Soundwave is going to kill you." Rhea informed Decimus simply.
Whatever Decimus was about to prattle on about died behind his metal tongue. With careful, rigid movements, he turned to take in her grin. "I, beg your pardon?"
Rhea indulged him. "Soundwave told me all about you. How you let Cybertron rot for your own benefit. Then instead of learning from your mistakes you turn on the Autobots who stood up to you. You brought the Dark Energon plague onto Cybertron. Then you tried to cover it up with this crusade against the Decepticons. Arachnid, the new war, everything is your fault. And when Soundwave comes, and he is coming, he is going to make you wish you stayed cowering out in space."
Was she revealing to much of what she knew? Probably, but after everything they had been through it felt good.
Decimus's expression pursed, blue eyes narrowing into slits at her. But he couldn't hide the trembling of his fists, and she had a feeling he wasn't shaking with rage. She could tell he was attempting to regain his composure, especially in front of his men stationed at the door. "I, would not expect such an insignificant creature to understand what has to be done in the name of peace." He settled on saying. "Sacrifice is required for the greater good."
"So where did the homicidal Spider Bot fit into the 'greater good' plan?" Rhea countered.
Decimus's confidence turned into flustered rage on a dime. He knelt to be eye level once more with the box. With his fast movements, she knew he was trying to scare her. She didn't give him the satisfaction of even flinching. "Do not assume I was happy to stoop down to such a level, using that disease spreader for our means." He hissed. "But again, it was for the greater good! It all is! This is to maintain our righteous order, bringing back the old ways and our sacred traditions."
"Well sometimes tradition and the old ways suck." Rhea spit back while she pressed both hands against the glass. "And you're going to realize that when it's far too late. Particularly, when Soundwave is rearranging your limbs. But hey, you knew him longer than I did, so I don't have to tell you how much it's going to hurt!"
Decimus smacked the table their cage sat on. The tremor sent her and the others to the ground. It was the only physical retaliation her comments received, so she already knew it was worth it. Decimus was shaken. She was surprised it took so little prodding to achieve that goal.
"After our Predacon army finds the fugitives on your world, I will allow Arachnid to have what is left of your Earth. Consider that compensation for this little chat." He snarled before he turned to leave. Decimus paused in the doorway, then cocked his head to glare at Knockout. "And you will be delt with, along with the rest of the Con scum. Later this cycle in fact! We are holding another Decepticon execution. This one we have kept secret from the public and your kind. This time, no one will be coming to save you. Be advised, you will be first in line to die." He left with his guards in tow. Knockout somehow managed to shrink even farther, red eyes hopeless and terrified.
When they were gone, Miko stuck her tongue out at the closed door. "When Bulkhead busts me out of here, I hope he rips that Autobot symbol off Decimus and shoves it up whatever that old bot has for a butt."
After taking a moment to catch her breath, Rhea touched a finger to her earpiece. "Soundwave, did you hear all that?"
Location: Kaon Capital, Bridge of the Renegade
Bumblebee
Bumblebee remained beside Soundwave but out of the way, feeling rather useless as he watched the Con work. Soundwave's thin digits and both data cables flew over the keys almost in a blur.
"I heard it all." Soundwave told Rhea over their usually private commlink. Now it was open for everyone on the Bridge to hear and contribute to. "Good work stalling him. The old fool's paranoia has once again been his undoing…"
'Ah oh, what do you mean by that?' Rhea snickered.
"Decimus had more surveillance and shielding surrounding your cell because of his visit. That false security gave it away." Soundwave said.
'Because your assumption was correct, Rhea. Decimus is terrified of Master Soundwave.' Laserbeak intoned.
"I still don't get it." Bulkhead admitted, hand scratching his helm. "How did Decimus talking to the kids help us?"
Soundwave elaborated. "Decimus's attempts to keep me out has informed me of their exact location through the Iacon Prison's mainframe. I assumed the New Council would try to extract information from the humans. But Decimus is desperate to keep me from even glimpsing him through surveillance. It made him add more firewalls, particularly around their one cell's camera. I can see through the prison's mainframe, one cell was more secure than all others for the duration of his visit. This is where they are."
'It was what we have been waiting for.' Rhea's voice came through to add. 'It's why I was buying time and keeping him talking. I needed to give Soundwave as much time as he may need to hack into the security feed once he located which one it was. If he hacked them all, they would notice him in their system.'
"I am only sorry you had to deal with Decimus personally." Soundwave told her.
'Eh, my foster parents were more intimidating than him.' Rhea said.
Bumblebee caught Soundwave's small smirk before it vanished. He shifted through screens so fast it gave Bumblebee a processor ache. Code and security feeds then back to scrolling documents again. Soundwave didn't flinch.
Arcee's aura darkened as they watched Soundwave work. "And we heard it from old Decimus himself. Soundwave was right, unfortunately. There is going to be another Decepticon Execution later today. They've done well to keep it secret this time. Looks like Knockout is going to be first on the hit list."
"We'll stop it again." Bumblebee assured them. "We may not have as much time to plan, but hey, with all the supporters in Kaon, and Predaking's forces, it should be a breeze." Or at least he hoped so. Things had been promising since Soundwave and Predaking's treaty. Loads of Decepticons drafted themselves into Soundwave's personal army. Hundreds of others offered up smuggled weapons or other vital information. It was how they had heard rumors about the upcoming Decepticon Execution.
One piece of information whispered around Kaon had seemed to peek Soundwave's interest. Of course, he did not feel inclined to share it. Every moment he was not trying to hack into the Iacon Prison to pinpoint the kids and Knockout's location, he was talking to some sort of vital informants.
"Almost." Soundwave muttered to himself. It pulled Bumblebee's attention back onto Soundwave. His chassis leaned forward towards the screen somewhat in deep concentration.
Then the shifting monitor image stilled, and Bumblebee had to suppress an intake. They were staring at Knockout chained against a white wall. In the corner of the empty square cell was a glass cage seated on a table. The kids stood in the glass box, Raf being the only one seated.
"You did it!" Bumblebee exclaimed. "Did you hack into the Prison? Can we Bridge in?"
"Not yet. I only have access to their security feed." Soundwave admitted. "The guards usually monitoring them will now be watching a loop of the last three hours in the cell. We have access to the true live feed."
Jack jumped up and down in an exclamation of victory, and Miko grabbed him in a hug. The small image of Rhea on the big screen could hardly contain her trembling excitement. Raf did not move. 'Ok, what do we do now?' Rhea asked.
"You will have to attach this commlink directly into the wall monitor. That way I can create a hard link into the prison to Bridge into." Soundwave explained. "To accomplish this, we need Knockout out of his chains. Once free, he will vent the oxygenator and flood the room with oxygen so you four will be able to move around when Knockout breaks the cage."
"Hear that Knockout?" Bumblebee said. "The security feed is down. Let's get started!"
'We only have two hours before the guard's next rounds, when they will come in to drag me out of here.' Knockout huffed. He did not move from his place against the wall. 'And if we all forgot, I don't have access to my weapons or wheels. So how am I supposed to take part in this daring escape?' He gave his shackles a shake along with a well-timed glare towards the camera.
"Your weapons will assist you to break your bonds." Soundwave explained.
Knockout slammed his helm into the wall behind him with a vent of exasperation. 'Again, I don't have my weapons!'
"Your Transformation Cog is not destroyed. It merely needs a reset. You can do that while bound." Soundwave promised him.
Even from the grainy image, Bumblebee saw Knockout's widening optics. 'With no stasis, no tools? Not even a localized anesthetic! You want me to do such an operation on myself?! I have never even done a procedure like that before!'
"I have an expert on the topic to walk you through it." Soundwave promised. He stepped out of the way so Sharpshot could approach the console.
"Hello Dr. Knockout. I'm Sharpshot, leader of the fifth Vehicon flyer squadron. Don't worry at all, I've done hundreds of these resets, at least two on myself as a matter of fact. There's nothing to it!" Sharpshot said confidently.
Knockout stammered. 'W-wait, Soundwave are you serious?'
"When have you known me to be anything but serious?" Soundwave countered.
'You are trusting my survival to a Vehicon? That is far from comforting!' Knockout snapped.
'Watch it, Knockout, your Starscream bigotry is showing.' Miko pointed out.
'They are going to come for us, Knockout.' Raf insisted in a quiet, but confident voice.
'And if you don't want to do it for us, then do it for yourself!" Miko demanded. "Those losers are going to kill you if you sit here and do nothing! When has THE Knockout ever been a quitter?'
Bumblebee watched his small partner stand, ready to say more. He then stumbled.
Bumblebee drew a quick intake as Jack caught Raf's arm before he could fall to the ground. "Raf, what's going on?" he asked.
Raf hesitated for only a moment before smiling up at the camera. 'Don't worry about me Bee. Nothing a roast beef sandwich and some flu medicine won't fix once I get out of here.'
Bumblebee could tell he was forcing himself to straighten with Jack's help. Something was wrong. Raf pressed against the glass wall to look at Knockout. 'We're on the same team, remember? Team Prime is family. We are leaving this place together.'
At long last Knockout gave the kids a half-Sparked glance. He vented, his chassis releasing an involuntary shutter of nervousness. 'Alright… Only if it will shut everyone up.'
Sharpshot took over for Soundwave at the main console. With a cheery attitude, they informed Knockout everything he would have to know about undoing the effects of the T-cog scrambling device. Knockout didn't interrupt beyond an occasional wince or shutter at the whole concept.
"The kids are troopers." Wheeljack noted with crossed servos. "You guys should be proud of them."
"Something's wrong with Raf…" Bumblebee vented; fists clenched as the feeling of powerlessness crept through him. "And here I am being useless."
"Then you will be happy to know I have something very important to entrust to you, Autobots." Soundwave began. Bumblebee looked away from Raf on the screen. Soundwave was studying them carefully.
"This about whoever you've been scheming with whenever you've had a free nano second?" Wheeljack guessed.
Soundwave nodded. "Predaking will be assisting us in the Iacon Prisons against his mind-controlled brethren. That will leave very few available to stop the second public execution. I have no doubt the New Council will use their endless supply of Predacons at the event as well."
"We can try and diverge it." Bumblebee offered.
"You would fail." Soundwave informed him. "And I require you to retrieve the humans at the same time with me."
"Then what can we do?" Arcee asked.
Soundwave typed into a console and pulled up a set of coordinates. "I was hoping not to have to use this connection, but we have run out of options. I have sent out a beacon to a group who will be able to take on the might of the Predacons. I need you to retrieve them for me."
"Why us?" Smokescreen wondered with an arched optic ridge. "You could fly there faster."
"True." Soundwave said. "This group initially agreed to help. But they could not guarantee they would not kill me or anyone else who wore a Decepticon logo. I am also related to Megatron and Shockwave's experimentation's during the war. This group will take exception to that."
"Wait, wait, wait, these allies you have been talking to through secret frequencies are Autobots?" Bulkhead asked.
"At one point they were." Soundwave offered.
"This explanation is worrying, and yet still very cryptic, Soundwave." Bumblebee admitted.
"You have trusted me thus far." Soundwave said. "I need you to continue to, so we may regain our human allies."
No matter how cryptic or dangerous, of course none of them complained further. Bumblebee took note of the provided coordinates and they all left without Soundwave. He did give one last glance over his shoulder at Raf on the screen, pressed weakly against the glass of his cage. 'Hang in there, Raf. We're coming.'
They left the Renegade and jumped down into the streets. With so many volunteers helping, Soundwave's ship was almost completely repaired from the damage it took against the Elite Guard. The once hollow slums now hummed around them with excitement and purpose. Those not actively preparing for a fight were working hard. Bots hurried to distribute Energon or reinforce the city against attack.
It could be considered worrying there was such a massive rise in Decepticon support. But Bumblebee found himself understanding why. Bots who wore the Autobot emblem were waging war on the innocent. Soundwave, a Decepticon, was standing in the gap to protect them. Things did feel backwards. Bumblebee noticed they were no longer met with hostile stairs from everyone they passed. Even Autobot aligned, they were fighting alongside Soundwave. They were seen as allies. That was promising. If they could only keep Soundwave from stumbling down the same path Megatron had. Then everything may end up ok when the dust settled. Bumblebee had the feeling the only one who could accomplish such a task was not any of them, but Rhea.
"We're out of our brain pans." Wheeljack felt the need to point out as they sped away from the Kaon Capital. The location Soundwave gave them was coming up fast. It was one of the larger fissures that led into Cybertron's underground. "Soundwave has all of Kaon and the Predacons punching for him. Yet WE are the only ones who can fetch these frenemies of his?"
"Yeah, watch the spot he's sending us to end up opening into a massive pit trap." Smokescreen added with a chuckle.
"Who do you think our Predacon fighter backup is?" Arcee asked the group. "I could have sworn whoever they are had Soundwave shook up."
"But he said they aren't Con." Bulkhead pointed out. "Maybe Ultra Magnus found Wreckers to join in the battle. Miko will love to see that…"
"We'll get her back Bulk." Wheeljack assured as he pressed past the group. "And if it does end up being Magnus and the Wrecker boys, then the New Council will have something to worry about."
A small group of figures seated outside the massive fissure caught Bumblebee's focus. He slammed his breaks. The others followed suit. They maintained a healthy distance between the lazing bots and themselves, just in case.
"There are only five of them…" Smokescreen mumbled. "Are these the ones we're supposed to meet?"
Bumblebee stepped out of his transformation, similar disappointment picking at him. Had Soundwave sent them on some useless errand to get them out of the way? So much for Soundwave seeing them as allies.
Then the larger of the five bots stood, coming out of the shadow the fissure cast. Bumblebee's optics widened with a sudden familiarity as the massive bot smiled at him. "No way."
Location: Iacon Council Hall
New Council member, Sigil
"You couldn't have made this cycle any easier for me, eh Decimus?" Sigil muttered to himself, as he was tended to do when annoyed. He continued to begrudge his fellow council Bot as he limped down the esteemed halls. Despite Sigil's insistence against it, Decimus went to extract information from Team Prime's human pets. The humans were only there to assure Team Prime did not interfere in future Decepticon executions. According to their insider information, it seemed to have worked. Team Prime was AWOL. The humans had served their purpose as political shields. Sigil doubted the organics would have anything of value in the way of intel.
But ever since they covered up Prowl's unfortunate end, Decimus had spiraled farther down into paranoia. He had been hyping internal security and spreading their spy network thin. Sigil had known Decimus long enough to recognize the cause of his processor malfunction. Decimus was haunted by the new Decepticon Leader, Soundwave. Every passing shadow or swift ped step had Decimus jumping in fright. Decimus remained convinced the Con leader was coming for him over all else.
If it was only the two of them, Sigil would simply ignore Decimus's nonsense. But now the other members of the New Council were questioning it. He was forced to hobble behind Decimus to provide damage control. He tried to convince Decimus as often as he could the Con leader had bigger problems to deal with then old grudges. Soundwave's vessel was still in deep space, the last they confirmed. Soundwave only had a small Space Bridge. He would never risk stretching the Bridge beyond its limits to transport an entire ship. But without a larger Spacebridge, he would not reach Cybertron by the end of the orbital cycle. Even if he did, he would have Predaking's forces to deal with if he intended to take the Kaon Capital. If he survived the Predacon's brutish king, he then would have to face off against Arachnids growing forces. All the while the New Con leader only had one ship left and a few wayward refugees to work with. Sigil was far from concerned.
Sigil also had a hard time believing Soundwave held deeper affections for an organic. No matter how much Arachnid insisted he did during their last information trade. Not in the same regard as Team Prime so openly flaunted anyway. They captured all the humans named in Ultra Magnus's report just in case, but Sigil knew better. Only Team Prime and Arachnid focused on Earth and its residents. Soundwave would have far more pressing things to deal with. Sigil had that one similarity in common with the new Con leader.
But here he was, heading down to the Council building's Commoners Hall as another favor to Decimus. They had received a tip from an Autobot loyalist early that cycle. The spy's identity was still a mystery, but their defensive staff confirmed them to be Autobot at the door. Sigil opted to cut out the middle bot and gather the Intel in person. The less auditorys who heard important information the better.
Decimus usually hoarded all secret Intel that came in after they relieved Prowl from the job. But Decimus was busy playing with the organic prisoners. This left the task to Sigil. He took on the burden without outward complaint.
Under normal circumstances, Sigil would never be tasked with such a menial errand. A clerk would fetch the information. But that wouldn't do. Information acquired by their staff was presented to the Council as a whole. Decimus and Sigil were trying to keep this between themselves. It was bad enough the other Council members were questioning Ultra Magnus's 'vacation'. Now they were also asking about Prowl's 'information gathering' mission. They had to tread very carefully in the cycles to come. Instead of fearing Soundwave's ghost around every corridor, Sigil worried about tangible threats. Their fellow Council Members could get wise to everything he and Decimus had done. They would not understand what it took to restore Cybertron to its former glory. So few understood the true meaning of sacrifice.
Many bowed to Sigil in respect as they passed him in the halls. Others offered to help him hobble along. He politely declined and tried to offer a nod of acknowledgement or a smile each time. He like to think he was doing a decent job of masking the growing stress. His aching pistons were doing little to help take his processor off his growing to do list. He didn't like needless movement either. He had worked very hard to perfect his wise, elderly persona, even at the expense of his personal comfort. It was the reason he hadn't had extensive maintenance work done to alleviate his older chassis parts. Decimus owed him big time for this.
"Sacrifice is needed for the greater good." He reminded himself with a vent. He plastered on his usual calm disposition before entering the Commoner's Hall. It was usually the busiest room in Iacon, and this cycle was no different. Elite Guard stationed at every entrance pointed esteemed visitors to their correct destinations. Clerks worked to maintain order. They filed and cataloged the large public records system that floated open in the middle of the room. This would also be where grievances from the public would be left.
Thankfully, Decimus did take Sigil's advice on the upcoming execution. Even before Soundwave stopped the first execution, it was met with massive backlash. This time, they intended to broadcast the event after it had already taken place. Because of this secrecy, the Commoner's room did not contain an angry mob of protesters like last time.
They couldn't afford to be made a mockery of for a second time. One of the prisoner's scheduled for termination was Megatron's physician, Knockout. Including high ranking Decepticon Seekers, this execution would set a deeply needed precedence. The New Council would not tolerate traitors of any kind. Their side, the righteous side, had won the four-million-year war. Every Bot who ever wore the Decepticon emblem alongside Megatron would not have the right to live on Cybertron. Or anywhere else. These prisoner's deaths would begin to pay for the Autobots lives lost in the war. Only when those Primus deemed unworthy to name were purged, could Cybertron heal.
This time they would be ready for Soundwave's attack. Their Predacons were scanning the sky. They were ready to attack anyone wearing the cursed Decepticon logo. Elite Guard security tripled. No Decepticon on the Face of Cybertron could keep this execution from happening.
Sigil shook away the morose thoughts when he spotted the odd bot out in the room. A larger than average individual stood by himself amongst the crowd, studying a mural of the Thirteen Original Primes on the far wall. Well, all but one anyway. Megatronus had been omitted from this new art piece.
It was right where the spy said they would be, waiting for him. Their larger stature radiated the confidence of a war hardened soldier. Hardened plating lashed with scars. The Autobot emblem was prominent on both of their shoulders. Their back was still to Sigil, but he approached at his normal, lazed pace.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." Sigil said with a lightsparked chuckle. "I swear, if I don't do something about these old rusty pistons of mine, I will never be able to leave my office. Thank you again for coming in person. But the chatter of the frequencies can't be trusted, you understand."
"Oh yeah. You can't trust nobody these cycles." The soldier agreed with a raspy, knowing laugh. He still did not offer Sigil the deserved courtesy of turning around. He only continued to admire the mural. Helm tilting, as if thinking its complexities would unlock their secrets if viewed from a different angle. "I've seen my fair share of horrors in the war, in the undergrounds of Cybertron, scavengin' for Energon scraps. Fighting Shockwave's damned Forged. Even cannibals amongst other Autobots… You would think things would stop botherin' me." He released a hollow vent. "So, Sigil? Did you and the other higher ups just, forgot about us after the war?"
Sigil stiffened, the motion making his back strut ache. "I… beg your pardon? Do I know you personally?"
"The damn Predacons!" The Bot growled, far too loud for Sigil's liking. It grabbed a few passersby's unwanted attention. "What? You need a bunch of monsters to do your dirty work and you jump right to Predacons? You didn't even bother to look up your original prehistoric abominations? I'm a big enough bot to admit when somebot has hurt my feelings."
Sigil frowned as they finally bothered to turn around and face him. He had no time to waste on a soldier reliving past traumas. "I was under the impression you had information to share. If not, I am a very, busy…" he trailed off as he took in the yellow glow of the bot's hauntingly familiar optics. His memory files working overtime, something clicked into place. He knew exactly who this bot was. The most important aspect of their unnatural existence was the fact he was supposed to be terminated.
The Bot grinned with two rows of fanged denta. "There. Now you recognize me. I knew it'd be in there somewhere Sigil. Me and my boys were the ones sent off to do the worst of the dirty work. Least you could do was remember us. But no hard feelin's. I do have a message for ya. Non-other than the big bad himself, Soundwave called me up. Now I warned him in the message. I was still under lastin' orders to behelm any Con that crossed me, and his skinny self wasn't safe from that. But you know what he said to me? He said to me, 'Grimlock, the New Council has already betrayed you, and I can prove it.' Of course, he said it with way more fancy words and about ten more sentences."
Sigil stumbled back as the looming bot closed in. The chatter of the hall was long gone as he realized everyone was staring at the interaction. The Elite Guard were moving in to assist. But Sigil feared the thirty Guards present would not be adequate.
"Then of all bots," the soldier, Grimlock continued. "Soundwave sent Team Prime to meet me and my boys. Prime's people! Now Prime's an old friend of mine. I still haven't really come to terms with what happened to him. Not that I'm surprised. If anyone was goin' to pull some sacrificin' stunt and save the world it would have been him. The glory hog. But long story short, I trust his team. And they had some real ugly things to say about the Council… specially bout you and ol' Decimus. So, I decided to swing by bright and early to tell you all about it! Not ONE Decepticon is going to be tryin' to stop the Con killin' fest you're gonna have later this cycle!"
Sigil turned to flee. Fear kept his voice box from releasing the order to attack and come to his defense. The auditory splitting screech of a massive transformation rung off the high ceilings. Then the panicked screams filled the once deathly silence. Sigil didn't turn around to take in the horror. He limped for his life as Elite Guard rushed behind him and out of sight to face what was chasing him. The same Guards were flung against the far walls by some large swooping force.
The crash of giant's steps shook the ground, bits of wreckage falling in Sigil's path. The mob of panicked bots hindered him further, everyone storming the exits at once.
Sigil yelled out when claws wrapped around his torso and plucked him from the ground. He was spun around hard enough to wrench his stiff neck strut, leaving his helm ringing. When he shook off the shock, he couldn't force an intake in the face of the massive monstrous creature that held him. Burning primal yellow optics set deep in a thick-skulled helm. Animalistic body like a Predacon but without wings. Two thick peds supported the immense creature. A spiked swaying tail shoved the last of Sigil's Guards away.
"Great News, Sigil!" The monstrous Dinobot Grimlock cackled through his fanged snout. "Like I said, no Cons are coming, because me and my boys are gonna crash your Con execution ourselves. But before that, where can I file a formal complaint around here? I've got a bit of a bone to pick with you. Why did us Dinobots get left for dead on Cybertron when the war got too hot for you upper crust Elite to handle?"
