Chapter 11

Shrine of Healing

Predaking and Songbird raced back to the Nemesis as fast as they possibly could…

Fortunately finding Soundwave was easy, he was at his usual post located on the ships bridge. He had been typing at one of the terminals when Songbird came up to him carefully cradling Laserbeak in her arms. She had asked Predaking to take her girls to her room and watch them while she talked with the Third in Command. She was quick to discover that for a mech that didn't say much Soundwave had surprisingly expressive body language; Songbird took note of this as she explained what had happened during their outing. She watched how his frame grew rigid as she spoke and how his hands trembled as he reached out and snatched his little drone from Songbird's servos before abandoning his post and hastily making his way in the direction of the MedBay. Megatron had just been entering the bridge when Soundwave virtually flew past him, surprising him since his normally calm and enigmatic Communications Officer rarely showed any emotion that all, so seeing him clearly distressed was a bit alarming. The warlord immediately turned his attention to the Predacon femme that was standing nearby and he stormed up to her and glared her dead in the optic… (I should take this moment to mention that in her robot form, Songbird stands just as tall as Megatron, maybe a few inches taller if one was to count the horns on her helm…)

"What happened?!" He demanded angrily. Not that Songbird paid much mind; she leaned over looking past him in the direction that Soundwave went.

"I fear that something is wrong with Laserbeak, she fell out of the sky when we were out this night. I think she might be ill." The look that crossed Megatron's face was nothing short of unexpected… His optics widened and were quickly filled with horror.

"…oh no…" His words were perhaps even more unexpected and abandoning whatever he had originally come to the bridge for or so much as saying anything else to the gryphonformer, Megatron turned on his heel and went off in the same direction that Soundwave had…

Successfully convincing Songbird that something was indeed very, very wrong…

"I finished running the tests and I'm sorry to say that I've confirmed that the virus is not only active, but aggressively attacking her processor." Knockout explained as he looked at Soundwave once he had finished examining the small drone that was weekly chirping on the medical table. Surprisingly the medic's voice was noticeably more compassionate than his usual cold and unfeeling tone. Perhaps it was simply due to pity... "At the rate it's advancing her processor will be destroyed within five earth days… possibly less."

"And you're sure that there is nothing you can do?" Megatron demanded, his voice was cold but held a noticeable amount of desperation in it. Knockout just shook his head.

"It's already far to advanced. Even if I was able to remove the virus within the next 10 minutes, which I can't, the damage that's already been done to her processor is irreversible." His tone was cold again but his optics remained filled with pity as he looked at Soundwave. The Communications Officer stood silent and still but not like he usually did… there seemed to be an aura radiating from him that could only be described as waves of pure sorrow. He just stood there looking down at Laserbeak as her chirps steadily began to grow weaker and weaker. Knockout turned his back to Megatron and Soundwave. "I'll go prep a stasis pod… It'll be next to the ones that contain Rumble, Ravage and Frenzy." And with that he left the MedBay, leaving them alone.

For a while there was nothing but silence, Laserbeak's chirps having stopped altogether at this point. Megatron wanted to say something to Soundwave… to his friend… But he could find no words. Nothing he could say could begin to scratch the surface of what he knew Soundwave was going through. He knew the truth behind this horrible situation, he knew why Soundwave had joined the Decepticons, and he knew the unfathomable cruelty he had endured throughout his life…

He knew that Laserbeak was no mere drone or symbiote to Soundwave…

She was his sparkling, his child…

Brutality was truly the only word that could describe what Soundwave had gone through from the moment of his birth. He was not an ordinary mech but a mutant in almost every sense of the word. That had come about due to specialized breeding and inhumane experiments that were done to his carrier while Soundwave was still in her gestation chamber. Sadly it was not an uncommon practice for the slaves and gladiators in Kaon to endure; they were property and their owners were free to do anything they wanted to them. While Megatron knew that he had it bad as his 'owner' was a conniving and sniveling weakling whose only concern was how much money his gladiator could make for him… That mech could not even begin to compare to the sick fragger who had owned Soundwave. His owner was fascinated by him and enjoyed nothing more than inflicting pain on him… and since he was also an excellent fighter he had ordered him 'serviced' to produce more warriors... Which was just a toned down way of saying that he had Soundwave raped and Ravage, Rumble and Frenzy were the results… along with multiple others that ended up miscarried due to severe injuries in the arena. The only mercy Soundwave had been given was that he was allowed to keep and raise his sparklings as best he could in the confines of the pits…

In spite of the horrors they had both been enduring, Megatron had developed a strong brotherly bond with Soundwave and had tried to help him buy his freedom… Since that was the only hope any gladiator had. By law they always received a certain percentage of their winnings in the arena's which they could put towards buying their own freedom. But it was often little more than a distant dream as their owners would usually set some insanely high price which could be increased if their 'toy' actually had a good fighting record, but the rules stated that when a price for gladiator was set it could only be changed once a vorn. That way an owner couldn't weasel their way out of giving their slave freedom if they were somehow able to make enough credits to buy it. Megatron went through the Pit and back to earn his own freedom and he was flat broke when he finally won it, Soundwave was not nearly as lucky. It took him vorns to earn enough to buy his freedom, Megatron had always found it suspicious how Soundwave's owner had set his slave's price high but had never increased it in spite of how well Soundwave did in the pits. The day that Soundwave finally earned enough to buy his freedom he was heavily swollen with Laserbeak and Megatron had gone with him for moral support and because carrying had always taken a toll on his friends physical well-being… He still remembered the smug look on that mech's face, how he almost seemed happy when Soundwave handed him the pile of credits and then prepared to leave with his children.

That was when he was informed him that he had just paid for himself, not his offspring…

It was a low and devastating blow that neither had seen coming. The sick freak had planned it from the beginning, demanding insane prices for Soundwave's sparklings including the one he was currently incubating and promising that if he left he'd throw Ravage into the arena in spite of the fact he was too young to be capable of fighting against seasoned warriors and would undoubtedly be killed! Megatron went ballistic and would have killed the mech right then and there had Soundwave not been holding him back… not wanting him to get thrown in jail or even be put to death on his account. But unwilling to leave his children the reality had hit him… he would never be free.

But no one had counted on the interference of Orion Pax…

Orion… Orion Pax had been Megatron's friend for quite some time at this point, prior to him even earning his own freedom and he was an acquaintance with Soundwave at this point in time. The second that he heard about what had happened that naïve little data clerk cashed in all of his life savings and purchased Soundwave's offspring and immediately gave them their freedom and this freed Soundwave to throw all those credits in his former owners face! The fool hadn't seen that one coming and he cried out in fury at losing his prized gladiator. Megatron had openly pointed out afterwards that Pax was the biggest soft-sparked fool he'd ever met… but he could not deny that he was one brave soft sparked fool. And Soundwave in turn found himself indebted to the data clerk even though Orion had told him many times he didn't owe him anything, he didn't have to have a reason to help someone who needed it. But Soundwave always was one who paid his debts… or at the very least attempted to. But his life became a bit more complicated when Laserbeak was born, since it was immediately obvious that she was not normal much like the rest of Soundwave's brood, only with her it was far more severe. She was physically deformed and would never grow properly and she would remain tied to Soundwave for her entire life. It was a sad reality but it was nothing compared to the crushing blows fate would yet deal.

When the war broke out Soundwave and his offspring joined the Decepticon cause, the decision in part was made by Soundwave determining that his loyalty to Megatron outweighed his debt to the Prime that was once Pax. (A choice that Megatron knew was difficult for him to make…) The first tragedy came when Ravage received an injury that damaged his T-cog, trapping the adolescent mech in his techno-organic panther form… But the most crushing wound of all would be when all of Soundwave's offspring were captured by a group of Autobot's and used as guinea pigs in a hideous and torturous experiment. Each had been infected with a lethal virus that attacked the processor, but they were rescued quickly and no one was aware of it until it was too late.

Rumble succumbed first, seeming to be fine until one day he was just crippled with a processor ache. He suffered for days before he was put into stasis, after which his twin quickly followed him to a similar fate. Ravage suffered with the same mind obliterating illness, but he hid his pain to spare his carrier but in the end he lost the battle and was also forced into stasis. Although Ravage offered a glimmer of hope for his younger sister, as several Decepticon medics were finally able to isolate and study portions of the virus in his processor and were able to administer a firewall to Laserbeak, which while being unable to remove the virus at least prevented it from becoming active. It saved her… for the time being at least. And in a rage over what he had lost Soundwave helped in whatever way he could to mutate the virus that had destroyed his family into becoming the Cybonic Plague which Megatron ordered to be used on the Autobots.

Payback's a glitch…

But it had always been known that the firewall might not contain the virus forever. And Megatron had always known that the fear of losing Laserbeak was always in the back of Soundwave's processor and now the silent mechs worst nightmare had just come to fruition. So unable to find any words of condolence Megatron did the only thing he could think to do… he quietly and nonchalantly walked out of the room and left Soundwave alone with his misery and his dying sparkling.

Of course he wasn't really alone…

Songbird had been eavesdropping outside the MedBay door careful to make herself scarce when she heard someone about to leave in order to avoid being caught listening in. Still she had heard everything that she needed and after watching Megatron leave she quietly slipped inside. For a while she just stood next to Soundwave in silence, but that did not last long… Songbird had seen the way Soundwave was reacting to this situation and could immediately tell that Laserbeak was not a mere drone, something she had honestly expected from the beginning… But as a parent herself, Song was unwilling to just sit back and do nothing.

"I think I can help you…" She said softly, it was only due to the fact that she was paying such close attention to Soundwave that she noticed him tense up.

"Knockouts Diagnosis: Nothing can be done. Songbird: Assumes her healing power could save her?" He did not turn to face her when he spoke back to her His voice was cold and dark, but that was to be expected in this sort of situation.

"Not exactly. My healing ability can only heal physical damage, but I may know another way…" She explained as best she could. But when Soundwave didn't respond to her the gryphonformer sighed loudly and shook her head. "She's going to die, but she isn't dead yet. There is still hope… I cannot guarantee this will save her, but it is worth a try… is it not?" These words seemed to reach the Third in Command and he gently picked up Laserbeak before turning to face the femme. She could almost feel his desperation and that alone she knew to be the reason why he was trusting her.

"Inquiry: What must I do?"

"In order to save your daughter, we need to beg the help of the goddess Yue…"

Songbird took Soundwave to the same cave Predaking had followed her to the previous night...

Soundwave was completely silent as he followed behind Song, in fact it was doubtful he was even aware of his surroundings until the two of them reached the caves main chamber where the altar stood and the shallow pool reflected the full moon in its waters. Songbird walked over to the pool and motioned for Soundwave to follow which he did somewhat reluctantly.

"Songbird: Knows what she is doing?" He asked sounding more and more agitated. Song could understand this, with each passing second Laserbeak grew closer and closer to death. No doubt Soundwave did not want to waste these precious minutes if they were the last he would ever spend with his daughter.

"Two years ago, my little Freefall's appendix ruptured because of appendicitis. She would have died, but I brought her here and the lunar goddess Yue saved her." She explained, while remembering that horrible time… how she had not known what she could do to save her daughter. At the peak of her sorrow a memory file seemed to surface from the depths of her processor, it detailed a ritual that called upon the moon goddess for help. At the time Song had not even known who Yue was, but in her desperation she took her fading child there and performed this ritual… Needless to say that it was successful and Songbird actually met Yue shortly afterwards…

Still she was worried about one major detail concerning this ritual and she looked at Soundwave with worry clearly reflecting in her large blue optics. "I'm telling you this now, I don't know if this will save Laserbeak. Yue can choose to take life away just as easily as she can choose to save it. But enough of that, bring her over here." Songbird said as she knelt by the water's edge where she quickly pulled out an energon cube from her subspace and poured its contents into the water. (Turns out that Songbird had been unable to use her subspace due to it being jammed closed since she couldn't transform. Now that she can transform she can use her subspace and no longer needs to carry her satchel, which she has since given to Orb Weaver…) After noticing Soundwave not moving and watching her with what she assumed to be skepticism, she decided that an explanation was in order.

"There is a specific ritual; it calls for the offering of a magic blue crystal and a specific prayer… in reality that so-called 'magic blue crystal' is just energon, so this should work the same… now you need to place her in the water." With extreme reluctance Soundwave did as he was told and very carefully eased the sick sparkling into the pool. In a moment she was completely submerged in the now glowing water and Songbird stood up and focused her optics on the moon before kneeling down, bowing her head and extending her arms out in a beckoning motion…

Lady of the Moon,

Queen of the Night,

Hear this prayer…

Accept this offering and pass your judgment upon the one before you…

Heal the affliction or mercifully end their suffering without pain…

This we beg of you…

There seemed to be an immediate effect much to Soundwave's surprise, it was as though the air had suddenly become charged with electricity but at the same time it had grown very still. For several long moments nothing happened…

And then the pool suddenly ignited with white flames…

And it ignited with a great deal of force, actually sending Songbird falling backwards. Immediately Soundwave went to grab Laserbeak out of the searing flames but he was unable to since he couldn't even see where she was! It was as though white phosphorus had suddenly been lit and it was consuming whatever energon was in the water along with the little drone. After three minutes of burning the white-hot flames disappeared and the water in the pool was still once more… As though nothing had even happened.

Song stood silently at the water's edge, she could not say that she wasn't disappointed and inwardly she wondered if perhaps she had done something wrong. Maybe she should have used an actual energon crystal? Perhaps she should not have even mentioned the shrine at all? Although she did not get the chance to dwell on it for very long as she barely had time to duck out of the way as Soundwave suddenly lashed out at her! Songbird backed up quickly but it did not do her much good as she received a painful blow across her midsection from one of Soundwave's knifelike arms. It was a messy wound that her a great deal but it was not fatal; Song began to block his blows as best she could but that was easier said than done since her opponent is a former gladiator. He still continued to deal deep and devastating wounds to the femme's frame but in spite of this Songbird refused to fight back. How could she? He was just lashing out at her amidst his nearly overwhelming grief and despair… Sorrow and pain that he was now blaming her for… even though deep down he knew that she wasn't really responsible. His frenzied attack however suddenly came to an abrupt halt just as the sound of splashing reached both their audios as well as what sounded like fitful crying… It successfully stopped Soundwave dead in his tracks and he looked back at the water which now seemed to have something in it. Abandoning his rage filled attempt on Songbird's life, he cautiously approached the pool and looked in… But he didn't understand what he saw and he cautiously picked something that appeared to be smaller than Laserbeak out of the water.

But the realization dawned on him as he got his first good look at it…

It was a tiny sparkling femme, tinier than normal sparklings indicating that it was most likely premature. It still had portions of the Cybertronian equivalent of an umbilical cord attached to its midsection… But its small little frame bore a strong similarity to Soundwaves. From the thin little arms, to the shape of her helm, to her tiny little fingers. The resemblance was there staring him right in the face… while her little face was visible and not concealed behind a mask, which revealed a soft gray colored face and large purple, almond shaped optics that were full of tears and a small mouth that was revealed to have rather sharp teeth in it. Soundwave just stared at the small creature in his hands, trying to reason how this was possible because he knew that this little femme was premature… He knew this femme because it was Laserbeak! He knew this because any parent would know their child no matter what form they took… but at the same time what in the name of Primus had just happened to her?! Seeing is how she wasn't being attacked anymore Songbird cautiously approached the obviously confused mech and looked at the small creature he held and after a moment she smiled a small, sad smile.

"Then there is always the third option…" She said softly getting Soundwaves attention as he had all but forgotten about the Predacon's presence. Even if he had just been trying to kill her mere seconds beforehand… "Sometimes Yue can save life but not necessarily give them back the same life they once had… It would seem that she has changed little Laserbeak's fate altogether. Healing her of her illness and giving her a new life to live… but at the price of all of her memories… and who she was." Silence resumed once more as Soundwave took in what the gryphon had just said as he looked down at his daughter's new body. She may have lost her memories, her physical form may have changed, but she was still his Laserbeak, she was still his child, and she was alive! That was all he needed to know and with a loud 'click' his faceplate slid up revealing his hideously scarred face… but his purple optics were identical to his child's and they shone brightly with life and joy and he nuzzled his offspring, who after a few moments stopped in her crying and just began to hiccup slightly before eventually being lulled into recharge.

Once the little one was sleeping soundly Soundwave turned around to face Songbird just in time to witness her injuries healing right before his optics. "Soundwave: Is in Songbirds debt…" Song just waved her servo like it was no big deal.

"You owe me nothing. I have two sparklings of my own and I know what it's like to almost lose one…" With that she extended her arm and gently touched Soundwaves helm and using that healing ability of hers, the deep and jagged scars marring his face faded away. "But if you would be kind enough to open a groundbridge back to the Nemesis right now I would appreciate it… since I am going to pass out from over-using that healing power in about ten minutes and I would like to be in my nice warm berth when that happens." She explained this while feeling her energy reserves plummeting quickly… With a nod and another 'click' Soundwaves faceplate slid back down over his face and in a moment the swirling green energy vortex of a groundbridge appeared before the two.

And without another word Songbird and Soundwave returned to the Nemesis…

Yes here is the next chapter everyone I hope you all enjoyed it! As always please remember to Read and Review and I promise to update as soon as I possibly can! ^_^