Fair warning for some possible OOC-ness from Soundwave in this chapter. I know he is loyal to a fault to Megatron, and that is unlikely to change, ever, but I have to cite that he is a 'father', and even if he feels his loyalties are divided, he's still a dad. His highest loyalty is to Megatron, but as there was no direct order to him specifically to capture or harm Switchshade, he feels no guilt in 'bending the rules' as it were. He'd do the same if Laserbeak were in a similar situation. So, yeah. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!

There was a tense moment of silence, before Switchshade's racing processor came up with one thought. Protect the humans. "Run." He hissed, pushing the three humans behind him and gesturing for them to flee, which they did with no protest, to his surprise. His guardian stood silent as ever before him, making no move to intercept the humans' retreat. Soundwave's field was shielded, as always, and his visor gave away nothing, but Switchshade felt lubricant welling in his optics as he gazed at the closest thing he had to a sire.

Kliks passed, and neither mech moved. Dark red optics stared at the blank mask, and Switchshade tried to keep his emotions in check. However, no matter his patience, there was only one way the stand-off could end, and soon enough, the black mech broke. "Si-Soundwave. I- I didn't mean to… I only wanted to… Sire. Please." Another moment of quiet, no movement or change in the older mech, and then suddenly, in a flash of motion far too swift for Switchshade's optics to follow, Soundwave stood right in front of him, tentacles wrapped around the younger mech's chassis, pinning his arms to his sides and rendering his servos useless.

Switchshade stared with wide red optics at his guardian, making no move to struggle or resist, and there was yet again a pause, heavy with tension, before Soundwave moved again, pulling the black mech firmly against his frame, the shields around his field falling to reveal relief/affection/worry/disappointment/anger/forgiveness/understanding. His spindly servos wrapped around his youngest's shoulderplates gently, the odd embrace comforting beyond belief in its familiarity to Switchshade, who nearly melted against his guardian. "Sire."

::Soundwave: disappointed. Switchshade: taught better. Lord Megatron: displeased. ::

The comm. on the spymaster's signal was instantly received by Switchshade, and he dropped his optics in shame, fighting the urge to squirm like a rebuked sparkling, which was how he felt just then. "Forgive me. I didn't wish to anger Lord Megatron, or to betray you, sire. I just… I couldn't just stand by and…" Soundwave shook his helm, stopping Switchshade from attempting to explain himself further, and simply clung tighter to his errant sparkling.

::Switchshade: cannot come home now. Must return with Autobots. Soundwave: will come for you when safe. ::

Switchshade cycled his optics in surprise, still making no move to attempt to escape the older mech's embrace, and then braced himself as he spoke next, knowing it was unlikely to be accepted well. "I cannot… I will not, be a spy upon the Autobots… Not even for you… I am sorry, so sorry, but… They have shown kindness, wisdom, mercy far beyond what I could expect towards an enemy. To show evil in return for their kindness is something I cannot do. F-Forgive me, sire…"

Soundwave crooned softly, the layered harmonics of his vocalizer a sound Switchshade had only heard once before, when Frenzy had been gravely wounded in battle and Rumble was beside himself in fear for his spark-brother. The spymaster had comforted his casseticons then in a very similar fashion, and Switchshade felt his spark breaking at the unconditional parental love and acceptance Soundwave was displaying, so seemingly uncharacteristic for those who did not know him well.

::Soundwave: loyal to Lord Megatron. Nothing will change this. Switchshade: must follow his spark. Switchshade: will always be mine. Soundwave: accepts your decision, whatever it might be. Switchshade: must avoid any contact with Soundwave, Lord Megatron, and the Nemesis. Switchshade: is mine. Switchshade: is safe. ::

With that, the spymaster untangled himself from the black mech, and caught the back of Switchshade's helm with a careful servo, gently nuzzling his forehelm against the younger mech's, before moving away. For the barest instant, an image the humans deemed a 'smiley face' displayed upon the screen of his mask, and then Soundwave transformed and flew up into the sky, disappearing in an astroclick.

Lubricant flowing freely from his optics now, blurring his vision, Switchshade watched his guardian fly away, back to his liege-lord, who would always hold his highest allegiance. Still shocked that Soundwave would not bring him back to Megatron in display of his loyalty, the black mech hurried to turn and find the humans, who had not gotten far at all before they stopped to stare in astonishment at Soundwave hugging Switchshade.

"So, is he like your space-dad or something?" Miko asked the instant Switchshade was beside them again. The black mech hurried to wipe the lubricant from his optics with his claws, offering a small, incredulous smile down at the humans as he reached down and offered his other servo for them to get on. "Something like that, young one." He admitted quietly.

Raf, however, was less interested in the little family reunion, and the youngest human gasped in dismay as their fears were realized. "He's cut the hard-line. The dishes are locked onto Cybertron… for good." All three humans slumped slightly, as they realized what that meant. "So an army of the undead will come to earth from Cybertron. Great. More zombies…" Jack muttered, disheartened and frightened in equal measure.

"Come." Switchshade commanded softly, scooping up the humans and turning to face the location Ratchet had chosen to lock onto for the groundbridge. "You did all that you could. It is in Lord Prime's servos now."

Ratchet 'bridged them back without asking for details, clearly distracted by what was occurring at the location of the spacebridge, and did not even glance behind him as he powered down the groundbridge and returned to monitoring the others. Switchshade moved to set the humans down carefully upon one of the higher ledges so that they could see the same screen Ratchet was viewing, and then stepped up behind the medic's left shoulderplate, watching the events unfold with concerned optics.

"Optimus! I'm registering a rapidly-expanding mass in their spacebridge vortex. One with a peculiar energy signature…" Ratchet alerted the Prime to the readings on his screen, and as he spoke, Agent Fowler awoke once more, this time much more coherent as he limped over to stand beside the other humans, his usually grim demeanor even more dark than usual.

Meanwhile, Optimus answered the medic, "Dark Energon. Ratchet, we must destroy the spacebridge. There's enough live energon coursing through it to achieve detonation, but we lack the firepower to ignite it." Ratchet's thoughtful scowl grew more pronounced. "If I knew how the spacebridge was engineered, I might find a technical way of accomplishing that feat." Before the medic could begin to really get on a roll, Rafael spoke up, waving the flash-drive he had managed to salvage from the satellite base to catch the CMO's attention. "Um, would schematics help?"

Ratchet looked oddly conflicted, although he accepted Raf's offer immediately, before cautioning the Prime, "Optimus, I must say, the spacebridge is our sole hope of ever returning to Cybertron. Are you certain it's destruction is the only option?" Switchshade looked at the medic in a new light then, at that moment just realizing just how much the Autobots were sacrificing to protect earth. They were giving up the only feasible chance they had of returning home, just to protect this tiny little planet full of mortal, breakable organics.

Somehow, Optimus' answer was less surprising than Switchshade thought it should have been. "I am afraid so." Ratchet nodded once, despite the Prime being unable to see it, and answered, grave and determined, "Then by all means, let us light our darkest hour!"

"Autobots, take your positions, and follow Ratchet's lead." Optimus' command could be heard through the comm. line, and Switchshade was awed all over again at their sacrifice. The Prime continued, "While I make my stand…" and then the sound of a too-familiar aircraft approaching could be heard as well. Astroclicks later, a heavy war-frame landed near the Prime, and then Megatron's smug, intimidating tones became audible. "Your fellow Autobots are wise, Optimus. They know when to retreat."

"I hold no illusions about engaging your army, Megatron. But I might derail its objective… by removing its head." Switchshade trembled in secondhand fear at the intent in the Lord Prime's voice, but Lord Megatron's response was merely to laugh. "Highly unlikely, Optimus, as I am infused with their very might!" The Lord Prime was not impressed. "One shall stand, one shall fall." And with those legendary words, the two most powerful mecha in the known universe collided into a furious battle.