Ch. 84

Wheeljack was far better at stealth than Soundwave had anticipated. The two mechs were much farther ahead than Ratchet, the older medic really not cut out for the whole 'sneaking along' as they had planned, but this didn't phase the Wrecker or former Decepticon in the least; it very nearly guaranteed a guard at their backs.

Soundwave pressed himself against a boulder tightly and knelt low, Wheeljack taking a cue to do the same against a thick crop of large trees.

"Anything ahead?" the Wrecker asked quietly.

Soundwave nodded, pointing just over the boulder at two Vehicons scouting out in a small meadow. Behind them were more Vehicons, hidden amongst large trees. Something was obviously not going to plan. A lone Eradicon had been left in charge of this group and he was checking everyone's equipment thoroughly and in a rush.

Wheeljack peered carefully at the occurrence, hesitating to reach for one of his blades, "Looks like they got the faulty stuff in the gun cabinet, eh 'Wave?"

Soundwave scanned each Vehicon carefully. There were more than a dozen he could see, perhaps more hidden deeper in the forest beyond them, and at least half of them had weapons attached to their right forearms that he wasn't... familiar with. That was the kindest way to put it. It made him... concerned again.

Before Wheeljack could move in, the blue mech stopped him, barely brushing his digits against his arm, "Stand."

The Wrecker growled quietly, "Why's that?"

Soundwave did his best to lower the volume of his voice, pointing, "Fourteen Vehicons detected. Single Eradicon troop officer detected. Multiple signs of movement in the trees indicate more enemies nearby. Ratchet: not yet close enough to our location to provide support."

Wheeljack scoffed, "What? You got numbers for our little fight here?"

"Percentage indication as follows: chance for total eradication of Decepticon forces, 72%; chance for capture of single drone for interrogation, 56%; chance of sustaining fatal injuries, unknown; chance of Decepticon reinforcements-"

"Whoa, back up," the Wrecker frowned, "fatal injuries unknown? Why's that? I'm one of the best fighters you're gonna find out here, 'Wave. I ain't braggin', it's just the truth. Me and Bulk have seen way worse than this mess out here."

Soundwave pointed at three Vehicons who were inspecting their forearm gun mounts, "Unknown weapons detected. Form and function: unknown. Theory: new weapons for mass damage. Theory part A: new weapons for capture. Theory part B: new weapons used as a stall. Theory part C-"

"I get it, I get it," Wheeljack sighed, "Ya got a lot a theories there. How does any of that help us now?"

Ratchet finally made his way over to the pair, grumbling, "My, I'm surprised you're waiting, Wheeljack."

The Wrecker shook his helm, gesturing to Soundwave, "Not by choice. 'Wave here is worried about some new tech the 'Cons are flashing. Personally, I'd like to test'em out and see what they can really do before I turn'em into scrap."

Ratchet looked into the distance and frowned, "I've never seen anything quite like it. Similar, perhaps, but not the same..."

"Then what are they, doc?"

The medic glared at Wheeljack and huffed, "It appears to be some sort of laser point guided mechanism. What it may be guiding, or what it's been engineered to guide, may be to our disadvantage."

Soundwave stayed hunched low, listening, "Query: laser point guided mechanism is limited to physical damage?"

Ratchet hummed in thought before shaking his helm, "No, not always. I can remember some former colleagues of mine using a system like that to transmit data. It's easy, it's fast, it's clean. It gets the job done when you need something small taken care of."

The medic saw Soundwave sink in further and knelt close, "Is something wrong?"

The blue mech slowly shook his helm, "Soundwave: listening."

Wheeljack was starting to get edgy. The Wrecker shuffled his peds before huffing audibly to the pair.

"That's it, I'm going in," he grumbled, "'Wave can sit and listen to me slice their chassis' up from here."

"Stand."

Before Wheeljack could argue, Ratchet spoke up, "I agree. Give Soundwave a few moments to listen to them without hinderance. We may be able to get information off them that we'd never retrieve out of an interrogation. Then you can... 'have at it' or however you say it."

The Wrecker slowly sheathed his sword again, sitting in the dirt and grass, "Fine. Only a few minutes. Then I'm goin' in."

Ratchet nodded and sat beside Soundwave, limiting his movements and staying as still as possible. The blue mech was already focusing his accurate audials as tightly as he could, straining his hearing and yet not straining enough as he focused on the Eradicon who was still pacing between his troops, angrily making accusations and orders.

"Did no one listen when I gave the order?" he heard him say, "When I said 'mount up on the new gear' I also said 'make sure you're familiar with its function and application before you have it attached'!"

"We understand what it does, sir," a Vehicon answered; there was a scratching noise, as though he was fiddling with the controls on his forearm mount, "we just don't understand why we would need them. There's only a few Autobots-"

"Who now have high ranking Decepticon reinforcements," the Eradicon growled, "Our main target is Starscream, that was the order. The other three are a bonus to his capture. If you see any of them, you shoot. That way, they can't COMM in for help. Simple as that."

"Sir!" a new Vehicon cut in, his stomping pedfalls telling Soundwave he had come in from further in the tree line, "The Nemesis has just received communication from both the island and city drop sites: no Starscream. Lord Megatron is awaiting responses from us and the ice drop location."

The Eradicon's voice became higher, as though excited, "This is it! We may have a primary target here! Focus your scopes and test your equipment, this is no longer a one in four! It's a fifty-fifty, one of us is going to be bringing Lord Megatron the ultimate prize!"

A loud 'hurrah' erupted from the troops and Soundwave quickly dampened the sound, allowing only his digits to tremble in... well, he could call it 'nervousness' now. The blue mech stood and all but tore into his own chest plate to remove his ground bridge remote, his trembling digits quickly ghosting over the controls.

Ratchet tried to take Soundwave by the arm to stop him but the lithe mech moved away too quickly, "Soundwave, what are you- what did you hear?"

Wheeljack frowned, also looking concerned, "S'up, 'Wave?"

"Four point locations: trap."

The Wrecker nodded, "Well, we sorta figured-"

"Wrong."

The word was uttered forcefully, almost angrily, and Wheeljack's optics widened in surprise at the blue mech's tone.

"Traps: quickly manufactured to separate Autobot forces. New weapon mounts: seemingly damage communications in Cybertronian beings. Trap: separate faction, remove communications, isolate and capture Starscream as primary goal; secondary addition: capture remaining former Decepticon officers. Starscream: currently paired with Optimus Prime in Antarctica. Problem: Nemesis awaiting confirmation of Starscream sighting in Antarctica or present location."

A bridge opened in front of Soundwave and the blue mech wasted no time in rushing in, the portal closing quickly.

Wheeljack frowned, looking back at the Vehicons, "Doc... we got a problem here, huh?"

Ratchet nodded and transformed out a surgical blade, "Soundwave will do what he can to aid Optimus and Starscream, I'm sure. But let's make sure this group here doesn't get a chance to call their leader."

The Wrecker laughed, and finally removed a blade from his back while reaching for a bomb on his belt, "I hear that. You take the left side, I'll get the rest of'em."

But as the pair moved in, a Vehicon put his servo to his COMM, knowing it would be the only chance he would have to give advantage to his leader. He had seen the glow of the ground bridge some distance away and the figure that jumped in was undeniable.

Within moments, the Vehicon was patched into the Nemesis and he spoke firmly, "Soundwave retreat confirmed here. No Starscream sighting. Mountain trap bust," he charged his blaster and aimed, "All hail Lord Megatron."