A/N: I know, so quick of an update? Well let's see how this one goes :D
From even before the wars, Soundwave was interesting to Megatron. He'd seen him operate the Allspark in many different ways and use his tendril like protrusions to connect with it. Megatron, being the High Protector of the Allspark, had asked to meet the mech personally. "So, I take it you're a priest?"
"Affirmative," Soundwave responded, his optics busy somewhere else and not on Megatron.
"I've heard some despicable things about you, Soundwave. What kind of priest are you exactly?"
At that, he turned. Soundwave's visor flashed and his optics followed the Decepticon leader as he paced. "I am an Allspark priest, Lord High Protector."
"I could certainly use someone like you by my side,"
"There are no sides you speak of,"
'Not yet,' Megatron gave Soundwave a sly grin. When his plans go as he hopes, Soundwave wouldn't have a choice in the matter. "Very well, priest, you've answered all I wish to know right now, thank you." and he waved the mech off.
Soundwave left with a suspicious feeling but shrugged it off as nothing.
They hadn't been aware anyone else had made landfall. The Autobots knew of at least four Decepticons that were unaccounted for since the drop in the Laurentian Abyss, but none that had obviously crashed. Their names were Starscream, the Decepticon Air Commander, Barricade, Megatron's wicked hunter, Scorponok, which no one had seen since his tail was shot off in the desert and Frenzy, who had mysteriously disappeared from Hoover Dam following the events at Mission City.
The last thing they needed was another Decepticon to deal with. Optimus felt the sudden dread follow, fearing for the lives of the humans in the area that the Decepticon was found. His optics shuttered and focus more on the wall than anything else, and he almost didn't hear Keller finish his sentence.
"-and I quote 'it was the monster robot from hell'." Keller finished unenthused. Frankly, to him, they all looked like giant robots from hell – only the Autobot side was apparently the good side.
Judging from that news, Optimus figured it was still alive. He needed to get to it before any harm came to the humans in the area. "Did it speak to them at all that you know of?" Optimus asked; worried about the humans who had come in direct contact with it.
"Apparently not," the man replied, just as worried, "but they did say it made sounds. When asked to describe the sound, they said it was like an organ that had all the high-pitched keys hit at the same time. One of them also claims that they saw slight movement.
"The teenagers also pointed out what they found near the site, which they described as a 'very large futuristic weapon' that was smashed in the rocks. Neither touched it from what they say,"
Optimus stared at the wall a bit longer, at the same time he had opened a line for his fellow Autobots, calling them to the grounds where they were temporarily stationed. The leader thought a moment. A barrel isn't going to tell them anything of what Decepticon they might have found since technically all of their weaponry was 'futuristic', "What about features?"
"I can send you the artist's rendering," John offered.
"Yes, please do," Prime replied, able to view as if sent as any other regular image on the net. It took a moment for the image to transfer through and Optimus to look at it. In all actuality, he wasn't sure he even recognized the mech – or someone didn't know how to draw.
The image showed two legs, a large chest area, broken what appeared to be lights down two arms, and its face was half covered. Other than the covered face, there was nothing else distinctive about this mech.
"The area is being evacuated right now on the grounds of a radiation leak," he heard Keller ramble on. Technically, it wasn't a lie. "I trust you'll have someone out there as soon as possible?"
"I am sending Ironhide and Ratchet out to investigate." The Autobot replied. "They will have William Lennox and Robert Epps with them to assist with any human interaction,"
"Very well, and Optimus, please, just call me John," Deciding that they would probably be working together more often than not, he decided formalities really weren't needed any longer.
Optimus paused, still unsure about the informalities, he then finished, "John."
Optimus gave a glance towards Ironhide and Ratchet as they were pulling in, Bumblebee in tow, "We all know how dangerous a Decepticon can be," he paused, "And not knowing who it is makes this a very touchy situation."
the Secretary took his phone away from his ear and covered it as someone knocked on the door. "One moment," he told the Autobot and looked up to grant them entrance. It was his own secretary.
"Secretary, sir, I have just been informed that your quarantine is in place,"
John nodded to her and sent her on her way, then lifted the phone back to his ear, "Optimus, I just received word that the area is now under quarantine. It is completely safe for your men to move in without being seen."
Ironhide and Ratchet were dispatched not long afterwards with Will and Robert Epps. The two humans, who were stationed not far away from the Autobots, had been picked up by the two on the way. After dealing with those in power about the Cybertronians, Will and Robert were both requested by the President himself to be Military advisors between the Autobots and government. The Autobots had their word in as well and also requested the two humans. Will still hadn't really had the time to sit back and talk to Sarah about it. Robert was all for it.
Mikaela and Sam refused to go back home unless it was to get a quick shower and a change of clothes at first. They just could not get over what they were involved with and both were still highly fascinated with their new friends. It became quickly obvious that Bumblebee would be spending his time with Sam away from the rest of his team more often than the others.
Bumblebee and Optimus remained at the base, along with Sam and Mikaela, for the children's safety. The men would have an easier time dealing with the cretin since they had more experience in using the Sabot rounds that were loaded into Ironhide and Ratchet as handheld missile launchers. Since there was no designation of the Decepticon that was totaled, the Autobot's guess was as good as the humans, and that made this mission especially dangerous.
Bee and Sam both protested against being stuck at the base while the others went to investigate. The leader felt kinda bad making Sam, Mikaela and Bee stay back, but he knew better. He knew what Decepticons were capable of on Cybertron, let alone them possibly getting their claws on the humans.
"But Optimus, what if they need us? What if the bot is playing possum or something?" Sam started, trying to reason why they should have been allowed to go.
"Decepticons don't play, Sam," Of course, their newness was still making English hard to fully understand.
"No, no, no, Optimus, I mean that they could be lying still, pretending to be down and then pounce on Ironhide and Ratchet when they arrive,"
"I believe that is not the case, Sam, I have spoken to Secretary Keller about this and the statement he got from the witnesses was that the Decepticon was mangled pretty badly. As if he had wrecked. But that doesn't mean he won't try something on you if he gets the chance."
"See! That's why they will need us!"
"No, he's right, Sam," Mikaela nodded to Optimus, understand his worry. She hated it just as much as Sam and Bumblebee, but there was no use arguing, and it's not like they could run away to get there.
"Thank you Mikaela."
Bee and Sam both scoffed at her, but it was Sam who actually said something. "Suck up," he spat and stuck his tongue out at her. Bee, not really knowing much different, did the same thing basically, flittering his doors at her. "Come on, 'Bee, let's go find some sand to play with," the teen said dejectedly.
Optimus only raised an optic ridge at the scout as he strode off behind Sam.
On the trip, Will and Rob were filled in on their mission. To retrieve a large Decepticon. "You think that it's that Starscream guy?" Will asked, hearing the name of the one that turned into a fighter jet.
"It very well could be. No other Decepticons or Autobots were said to have made landfall." Ratchet replied, as they moved through traffic, his lights and sirens blazing as he got closer.
"Yeah, but didn't you guys say that he ran with his tail tucked between his legs?" Robert asked, being the rider in Ironhide for the moment.
"Starscream... doesn't have a tail," Ironhide cut in, his voice unsure what Rob was referring to.
"It's an expression…" Will quickly told him, "It means that he ran away defeated or scared…" The comm. systems were on, making it possible for everyone to talk and everyone to be heard. Epps was just as curious as William had been so it was no wonder he spoke up asking questions also.
"He did, but that doesn't mean some force made him crash," Ironhide interjected.
"I guess we see when we get there, then, eh?" Rob gave a chuckle.
They found the area at least a 1/3 mile cordoned, making traffic back up, and causing rubber necks to want to know what had caused the sudden cordon off such a radius. The area was well protected by military and police alike.
Two that had known about the Autobots were there also. They recognized Lennox and Epps immediately, "Hey! Over here!" Called one of them, the other walking up behind the first. They both wore plain clothes, but on their shirts were IDs. William nodded as they approached the Search and Rescue Hummer, "I saw that thing for myself, man, it's huge!" Darren said, leaning on the side of the hummer slightly.
Ironhide had pulled up beside Ratchet, Epps was sitting in his passenger seat, leaning out the window to greet the men, "Hey, hey, how's it going Charlie? Darren."
"Going good. Got ourselves quite the catch," Charlie nodded. "I think we'll need a tractor trailer to get it out of here."
Epps and Lennox looked at each other across the cars and then out where the crash had supposedly taken place. So it was large. Starscream was large.
"Mind if we tag along?" Charlie asked, tapping Ironhide's hood a bit. The engine revved in response.
"Actually, it's best you hang back here. We don't know who we are dealing with yet," Will said.
The Autobots slowly made their ways to the Decepticon. When they got closer, Ratchet was already doing preliminary readings and only a gasp was heard from him when he assessed the Decepticon beneath him. "Primus," he spoke in almost a whisper. The CMO pulled closer, allowing William to step out before he glanced around, seeing no one and transformed so he could correctly assess the situation.
"What is it?" Ironhide asked, pulling up beside him.
"It's a wonder there's still a spark signature," Ratchet mumbled, more and more amazed at his findings. "it's very faint, but it's there,"
As he walked along the cliff, he noted that the water was strewn with what appeared to be metal and other alloys, a lot of them, upon investigation had been found to be Cybertronian in origin. Curious of who was below them, he began to climb down. . The medic moved to the side of the cliff, measuring the distance he leapt down, the ground beneath him shaking and the water splashing up at his body. With a groan in annoyance from the salt water, he continued to peer around for any other hints at the wreckage.
"Hey, big guy," Will called out, getting the CMO's attention from where he was sifting through the water and rocks, "What are you going to do with it?"
Ratchet was already busy picking up strewn metal and random parts from just around his feet. Looking up and starting for the ledge with an armful of metal, presumably armor, he hadn't answered right away, still unsure of what to say.
The medic backed up, his optics went back to where the body was apparently hiding, and he pointed up to the weapon specialist from below, "You are to stay up here. Any slight disturbance, especially from the likes of you could kill him and then we will have no answers."
"My aft I am staying up here," Ironhide groused, glaring at the medic for even thinking about going down by himself, "It's a 'Con! I want to put that monster out of commission for the rest of his natural and un-natural life."
"And that's exactly why I order you stay up there!" Ratchet said sternly, getting a snort from Ironhide.
The medic waded through and over the rough water's edge. It was getting dark and things would soon be hard to see. Grabbing at some of the armor, he found and lifted what appeared to be a shoulder-mounted Radio Wave sensor. Very few mechs used this particular weapon. In fact, so few used it that Ratchet stilled for a moment, already realizing whom this belonged to. He quickly dropped it, panic setting in.
"I think I know who it is, Ironhide," Ratchet called up. His voice was strangely concerned.
"Who?"
"I'll need to get into the cave to be sure," the medic replied. He still hadn't left out the hope that this was not who he thought it was. Shining lights toward the entrance, he peeked and had to move back when he saw the horror. The mech's body was mangled almost beyond recognition, which was a very gruesome sight.
Ironhide above saw Ratchet move quickly and he leaned down, "Hey, everything all right?"
Ratchet shooed him away with his hand and stepped into the mouth of the cave, dreading what he might find, yet in some sadistic way, happy it might be the end of a terrible Decepticon. He walked his way past the larger body, seeing the true extent of the damage and then he got to the chest. Could it be? No, impossible. Soundwave – above all – doesn't wind up in some cave barely alive. The yellowish mech stepped closer. His spark lurched, as he felt he already knew who it was. Whether it was hope or morbid curiosity, Ratchet pointed his lights toward the head of the mech and that was when he knew. Sure enough, it was him. In some weird way, he was actually expecting Soundwave to sit up and shoot him even though the notion was illogical because of the officer's condition.
"I have confirmed identification," He said out loud, knowing Ironhide would hear him. "Because of his degraded condition, I'm taking him back to the shack." With that, the medic headed out to figure a way to get the Decepticon out as well.
"Who is it?" Ironhide demanded.
Robert stepped slightly toward the edge, seeing the back of the CMO as he was coming out. "Are you sure, man?" He asked with doubt, "It is a 'Con, right? Why would you save a 'Con?"
Ratchet looked up, spotting the dirty look from Ironhide but ignoring him to answer Robert, "He isn't just any Decepticon, Robert. He's one of the most wanted Decepticons to ever live besides Megatron himself… And now…" The medic looked back to the cave, "we have him." Even if it wasn't much, and he might not be able to save him, at least he knew he wouldn't cause any more problems. He turned his attention to Ironhide, "Let Prime know we will be on our way with Soundwave,"
Ironhide scowled at Ratchet, not liking his idea one bit. "Why would you want to?"
"He's so near death that I might not be able to save him anyway, but if I can, he will be severely debilitated, therefore if we have questions, he'll give answers."
"You're out of your mind! There's no way I'm going to let you take him back to the shack, Ratchet! Kill him!" Ironhide grew angry. His cannons rose and he pointed below him and his voice grew nasty, "Or I will…"
Ratchet froze.
So they've discovered who they have found. Now what? Certainly hope this version is going better than the last!