The first sound to reach his audios as he began to boot up was the sound of a faint, steady beep…. beep… beep…
Groaning, Optimus booted up his optics only to cover them with one servo to block out the unbearably bright lighting of the medbay, slightly disoriented. How had he gotten into the medbay again? Right… He had taken some of his bots to keep Megatron from stealing a nuclear missile from a military base nearby.
Optimus grunted as he sat upright, pausing halfway up to wrap an arm around his middle and growl lowly at the stab of pain that passed through him at the movement.
"Eep ep ep!" The familiar chastisement caused the Prime to slightly smile as he looked up at Ratchet, the medic wasting no time to push him back down onto his back.
"Ratchet." Optimus grunted, grabbing his friend's arm before the medic could attempt to run a scan. "How long?" He asked, the medic staring at him for several moments before responding. "A week. You've had a tough go of it, Optimus… We weren't even sure you'd come out of stasis." Ratchet announced softly, causing Optimus to start. He had been that damaged?
Laying still as Ratchet began to ran his scans, Optimus looked around, a little disappointed when he didn't see the familiar lithe purple frame anywhere nearby. "Where is Soundwave, Ratchet?" The Prime finally asked, looking up in time to notice the medic hesitate for a moment, a flicker of sadness passing through his optics. "Ratchet." Optimus repeated, more firmly this time.
Ratchet looked at his friend's faceplating and vented. "Megatron has Soundwave." He finally answered, albeit reluctant that he was the one that had to share this news.
"What? How?!" Optimus demanded, sitting upright now, ignoring the pain in his side as he stared in disbelief at Ratchet. "Did Megatron assault the Ark?" He demanded, dread weighing heavily on his spark now.
Frowning deeply, Ratchet shook his helm, obviously not wanting to carry on the conversation, but Optimus was adamant. "What happened, Ratchet? Did Soundwave leave?" The red and blue mech demanded, concern and a hint of fear in his tone.
"Megatron captured Chromia and demanded Soundwave in return for her…" Ratchet vented heavily as he looked at his friend and leader sadly. "Prowl posed the situation to the rest… Perceptor decided it was the best course of action, Jazz outright refused… I'm sure you can guess which side Ironhide took." The medic shook his helm. "Soundwave went willingly, but…"
Optimus wasn't sure if he was more afraid or angry at this point. "But what Ratchet?" He demanded, tone firm and steady in stark contrast to his whirling spark.
"Megatron beat Soundwave in sight of both armies… We don't know what happened to her after Megatron took her away… Mirage hasn't heard or seen anything." Ratchet responded, glad he had been able to give the news with a calm tone.
The Prime had barely heard the last word before he was attempting to get up, Ratchet forcibly pushing him back down. "There's nothing you can do, Optimus! Jazz is working on a way to locate her. Until then-" Ratchet was cut off by Optimus. "No. Send for Jazz. If I cannot do something, I need someone that can." He responded firmly, the medic hesitating before giving a small nod. "He will come."
Soundwave shivered in the massive berth, optics dim and plating rattling from the intensity of her shaking. She was cold… So so cold. And hungry. Megatron had withheld any sort of fuel from her besides that which he gave. The taste was still sour in her mouth as she curled more tightly in an attempt to keep her sparklings insulated.
So far, Soundwave had taken the brunt of the warlord's hatred and anger… She had been able to distract him whenever his attention had come to the sparklings, but she was certain she wouldn't be able to the more obvious it became just from sight alone…
The fact that she was running out of time to be able to protect her sparklings was what weighed down on the femme's spark most… She tried to stay online at all times, refusing any and every request from her frame to enter a defrag cycle. If she recharged, Megatron could do whatever he wanted, and, by the time she onlined, it could be too late for her sparklings.
Soundwave's dim optics flickered again as she shifted to be more comfortable on the berth that was home to so much pain and fear. She knew she wouldn't last much longer, Megatron's bouts of rage and abuse growing more and more frequent…
The door slid open, the imposing frame of the warlord silhouetted in the doorway and Soundwave whimpered softly, sliding out of the berth and onto all fours, optics averted to the ground as she listened to her lord approach, clenching her optics shut. "M-My lord." She stammered out, unable to keep the waver from her tone.
Megatron didn't answer and Soundwave began to look up when a heavy pede connected with her faceplates, helm snapping back as the telepath cried out in pain, landing heavily on her back, the warlord easily pinning her down. "I think I've neglected the abominations long enough." The cold tone whispered in the femme's audios.
Soundwave's optics widened in horror as she began to struggle, digits scrabbling helplessly over silver armour as she felt cold, taloned digits dig into the soft protoform peeking out from gaps in her armour, present only from the expanding of her protoform to allow room for the growing sparklings. "N-No! Please don't!" Soundwave begged, fatigue and hunger making her struggle pitiful as those cruel talons pierced through her abdomen. "NO! Stop!" Soundwave screamed, kicking and bucking now.
The warlord grunted when Soundwave's digits clawed at his faceplates, a silver servo snatching her forearms, nearly crushing them in his grip as Megatron slammed them down above his ex-officer's helm. "I'll make you pay for this, Soundwave. More dearly than you ever thought I would." Megatron snarled.
It was too late to avoid when Megatron's fist connected with Soundwave's faceplates, causing the femme to cry out, the punch followed up with another… And another… Soundwave's vision blurred as one optic cracked, sobs and unintelligible pleas pouring from her lips as her struggles became weaker and weaker.
Soundwave waited for a fourth blow that didn't come, and she dared to open her optics just as Megatron snarled and lashed out at someone behind him. A flash of familiar silver sparked hope in the shaking femme as Megatron stood upright, stumbling. Then Jazz was beside her, throwing her arm over his shoulders as he helped her stand.
"What did you do?" Soundwave stammered, optics locked on the stumbling warlord.
"Won' keep 'im distracted long, Sounders. Can ya move quickly?" The silver saboteur asked and Soundwave nodded, struggling to keep her helm up. "Jus' try'n keep up with ma, an' we'll get ya outta here." Jazz whispered, quickly making his way for the door, all but dragging Soundwave along beside him.
Emergency shut down pending, 10 seconds.
No! Soundwave cried out inwardly, trying to move alongside Jazz.
Emergency shutdown pending, 5 seconds.
Soundwave nearly let out a frustrated sob. Please wait! Not now!
Emergency shutdown, initialised.
Jazz glanced at Soundwave when her frame suddenly slumped beside him. "Soundwave? Soundwave, ya ok?" The saboteur jostled her lightly to try and get her attention only to realize she had shut down. "Slag it all…" He muttered. ::Hey, 'Raj… She's gone inta 'mergency stasis. Imma need some help.::
::On my way, Jazz.:: The younger mech responded through the comm, Jazz venting as he tried to drag Soundwave along, the alarms going off making him swear colourfully until he felt a presence at his side. "Take 'er legs." Jazz ordered, feeling a slight wash of air over his side as Mirage moved to take Soundwave's pedes, lifting them and aiding Jazz in hurrying her down another hall and outside just as Skyfire landed.
All but throwing Soundwave in, Jazz clambered up behind her, Mirage slapping the triple changer's side as he got in, the three autobots lifting off just as several decepticons appeared, shouting and shooting, but the autobots were already out of reach.
Jazz watched as Ratchet rushed Soundwave away, calling for First Aid to grab some nanite gel packets until he was out of sight, Prowl approaching now. "I'm glad to see you back." The SIC stated calmly, Jazz smiling. "How'd it go wit' Prime?" He asked.
Prowl's faint smile vanished altogether. "Optimus wasn't pleased with my decision… Honestly, I don't think I'll be an officer for long." The praxian tactician responded, shrugging.
Frowning, Jazz put a servo on his companion's shoulder. "Prime's jus' worried, Prowler." The silver mech responded calmly, tilting his helm. "He knows ya had no choice… Jus' give it time." Jazz smiled. "Alrigh'?"
Snorting, Prowl looked at the other mech. "Perhaps." He responded, glancing towards the hall where Ratchet and Soundwave had vanished. "How…" He didn't finish, but Jazz understood, expression becoming grim. "She's in bad shape… Couldn'ta been proper fuelled since ol' Megs got 'er again… Lotta damage… The…" Jazz fell silent now.
Prowl tensed, door wings taut on his backstrut as he turned to fully face Jazz. "The sparklings…?" He asked carefully, Jazz shaking his helm. "She started ta… She began ta deliver 'em in Skyfire… Too early." The silver mech responded grimly.
Feeling a flicker of dread pass through him, Prowl frowned deeply. "Much too early." He whispered.
"She's flatlining! Aid, I need the spark stimulators now!" Ratchet ordered, his servos deep in the femme's chassis, worry over his faceplates as he attempted to stabilize the unconscious femme's spark.
First Aid rushed up beside Ratchet, tool in hand, and attempted to stop the steady bleeding in Soundwave's protoform, hurriedly patched by Jazz and Mirage while they had been in the air.
"Dress the wounds. Make sure you clean them out." Ratchet growled from where he stood beside the femme, not even looking at his protege. "Last thing we need is rust infection." He muttered, full focus on Soundwave while he inwardly worried about the sparklings… Soundwave was in the late stages of delivering, and the strain could kill her, if not the sparklings. "Once you got that patched, monitor the sparklings."
The smaller nurse nodded and moved around Soundwave, facemask blocking out his worry, while his ever expressive optics gave away his concern… Anything could happen within the next few joors… Good or bad.