A/N: I probably would have had this up sooner if I hadn't had to get a new computer and then replace it a week later... Sorry for the wait! Hope it's worth it!
"You understand then, why I chose you to be with me as I lead the Decepticons to glory,"
He never agreed to this. What had happened to the Lord High protector? Megatron knew how the few priests worked with the Allspark. Perhaps he needed his processors checked by a medic before something real bad happened. "It cannot happen the way you want-" Megatron was out of control. He should have known that his plan was bunk.
"Don't try to tell me!" Megatron growled angrily, only hearing that Soundwave was shutting him down from his plan, not hearing the logic of the priest telling him what he was planning was literally not possible. "When I get my hands on the cube, you will do my bidding with it!"
Soundwave backed up. This was madness! Unfortunately, Megatron saw him turn to beat a hasty retreat and yelled, "Decepticons! Grab him! Don't let him get away!"
It didn't take long for Soundwave to be surrounded and outmatched. The Lord High Protector approached the priest and sneered as he got right into his face, "You'll do well to abide by what I say from here on out. I know what makes you tick, priest."
The last thing he remembered was what felt like a shot to his head and he was being pulled away, he'd been disabled… He was neutral until that point.
The darkness started not long after he'd been put to sleep. One might say he was a zombie, monotonous drone and all. From that darkness, a creature with a deadly, emotionless streak emerged and took his place.
Light years away from Earth, Starscream had finally started his approach to Cybertron after a long and tiring trip. No one said it was easy flying in space – especially at his speed. Cybertron wasn't the farthest away, but it also wasn't the closest to the puny planet the natives called Earth. So, in all, Starscream was exhausted and his reserves were low. When he finally touched down, he walked slowly towards the Decepticon headquarters in Kaon, where Shockwave and other officers were surely to be found.
He had a plan, and one included going back to Earth to kill the humans and mine the intriguingly large Energon deposits. He only noticed them on his way out. The other plan, which he wished to take care of first, was name himself Megatron's successor. He leaned on the doorway as it opened and gave Shockwave a look of disgust.
"Starscream!" The mech stopped mid-stride in surprise upon seeing him… so soon.
"Hello, Shockwave,"
"What are you doing back here? Your mission was to find Megatron and the cube!"
Starscream pushed his way off the threshold and meandered towards an energon dispenser, all the while giving Shockwave a dirty look. He then gave a cunning grin, "To answer your question; unfortunately, Megatron was killed. So, I suppose it was a partial success." He then shrugged as if it were nothing. "The Autobots knew the cube was there too."
"Partial success? What are you talking about? You're lying!"
"Am I?" The seeker snapped. He then held out his arms and looked around, "Do you see Megatron anywhere with that enormous optic of yours?"
"Perhaps he remained on that planet-"
"Wrong." Starscream interrupted sneeringly, "He was killed with the cube. So that's gone too, hence the partial success,"
"Why those no good dirty rotten Autobots-!" Shockwave started with a furious hiss.
Starscream held his hand up, interrupting him, "Ah, ah, ah… Since he was killed, I am assuming command, Shockwave. We need to get all of the Decepticons together to go back to the planet and eradicate the insects for destroying the cube."
"Who killed him, anyways?" Asked Thundercracker, who was lazily leaning on a wall not far off, "I bet it was Prime,"
The silver seeker abruptly glared in Thundercracker's direction, "Actually, it was one of the native insects that did it. An Autobot sympathizer." Starscream spat with frustration.
"What of everyone you brought with you?"
"They're all dead except Barricade, and Primus only knows where he ran off to. Blackout was killed and Skorponok was separated, so I have no idea about him. He disappeared shortly after he took on a group of humans in the area they call Qatar. Frenzy I heard was killed by his own weapon, the idiot."
Shockwave let out what could only be understood as a sigh, "Send a bunch of mercenaries and you lose the entire battle."
"I am the Air Commander of the Seekers, and the new leader of the Decepticons, and you will do well to address me as such, Shockwave," Starscream announced, "and since I am assuming command, my first order as the new leader of the Decepticons is to rally everyone and be ready to depart very soon. We have no time to lose. Those Autobots have befriended the fleshbags, and the one who killed Megatron. That planet has a substantial energon deposit for its size," Starscream downed his energon and walked past them all.
Shockwave gave a disgruntled look to Starscream, "Why should we follow you, anyways? It's Illogical. You're not half the leader that Megatron was."
"Because I know where they put the old dolt," The seeker gave a grin, "They obviously didn't see me hanging around so close. The planet's at a disadvantage because of their lack in technology."
Shockwave's antennae twitched. Starscream had a point, "What of Soundwave? If there is any chance on getting Megatron back-"
"You cannot not revive him," Starscream interrupted with a smirk, "Soundwave had an unfortunate… accident. Confirmed dead by Frenzy. So, you see, he will not be joining us either."
Others that heard Starscream looked over at him with stunned expressions.
He still couldn't believe his audios. Starscream had to be lying, and sadly enough he was so good at it that no one knew the difference. "Megatron and Soundwave both dead? It's illogical, Starscream."
"Illogical; perhaps, impossible; certainly not," Starscream sarcastically replied.
"You don't possess the skills to lead the Decepticons. With your recent failure, I wouldn't be surprised if you got exiled to Charr." Shockwave had hit a nerve, "Admit it. The most you could lead the Decepticons to is more failure."
"I have more than what you have, Shockwave. Either you follow me, or die!" Starscream raised his right arm, his arm shifting into a cannon, but not the kind he used on earth, this one looked more outfitted with a long barrel, and 4 different glowing lines ran down the barrel to the tip where it focused into one beam. His Null Ray. "I was Second in Command at the time of Megatron's demise, so that makes me leader, council or not." The seeker hissed darkly before abruptly turning and leaving.
Back on Earth, where the Autobots had saved Soundwave, the truck pulled up to the area Ratchet had led the load and Ironhide. It was quite a bit larger than the previous place and had more buildings around. Ratchet had found Optimus in one of the buildings where he could stand un-inhibited.
He quickly scouted a spot and tapped the trailer before leaping off. He waved the truck in his direction, where he was pointing to a hanger. This one would give him the space he would need to work on Soundwave. He would need Bumblebee and his new human friends to get supplies he could substitute as well.
Meanwhile, Sam watched Bumblebee pull away from his house with Mikaela. She had mentioned she wanted to go home and return with Bumblebee to their new base. Sam was fine with that when she first mentioned it, and he swore Mikaela seemed a little offended at how he seemed all too happy for her to leave him alone.
Unfortunately, it was true.
The young man glanced down at his arm, which seemed to be getting sorer and burning for a little bit. He looked back toward where Bumblebee had disappeared momentarily and quickly made his way into the house and up the stairs.
"Sam are you all right?" His mom called out.
It was the tone of her voice. "Gotta take a shower!" he called out quickly in a partial lie. Yes, he needed a shower, but no, he wasn't all right.
"Are you sure, honey?" his mom called, thinking his answer had been a little too quick. It was one of those suspiciously fast answers. Her mom instincts kicked into high gear.
"I'm fine, mom! I just need a shower!" he called down the stairs. He hadn't even looked away from the mirror as he wondered about his arm and his own fate. He felt bad about not telling the Autobots about his predicament. The more he watched blood drip from the wound, the more he wished he had.
What had he gotten himself into?
Ratchet knew his work would be tedious with limited supplies and nowhere proper to work, but the more he went over the wreck that was known as Soundwave, the more he realized just how tedious this was going to be and the more determined he became. To begin, he opened Soundwave's cranial system and took a look. By the looks of it, it appeared he'd been tampered with. With a grunt, Ratchet's fingers transformed into more useful tools on his right hand. The more he found, the more it brought into question who Soundwave really was. Taking the opportunity that Soundwave was down, the medic decided to take a moment and study the killer.
He tried to remember if he knew the name associated with the Allspark, but his memory couldn't recollect it. The CMO then began to wonder how Soundwave was considered a priest, but most assumed he worked for the Dark God, Unicron.
Back in Tranquility, Sam was starting to wonder if the wound had stopped its nonsense. He'd hopped in the shower and since then, it stopped bleeding and hurting. He dried off and went to his room to put on clothes.
Looking over his room he approached and simply dropped onto his bed back first. His eyes stared at the ceiling while he considered telling the Autobots about his arm. He relaxed and passed out not long after his shower. The only thing was, he didn't pass out from sheer tiredness or exhaustion. He was put to sleep by the one who'd remained silent all this time.
Even though it was complete darkness, he was aware. To some extent, he could feel again. He wasn't sure what was happening and part of him wanted to believe he had finally died. He heard what sounded like Ratchet's voice and he was sure he'd been sent to the pit.
Soundwave was alarmed to find his symbiots were not with him. His telepathic connection to them was gone. This feeling seemed to jolt life into him.
Ratchet growled and flinched when Soundwave's body unexpectedly twitched. He gave the Decepticon a dirty look while wondering what had caused it. Soundwave's horrible condition seemed to leave the mech with no working sensors or extremities.
'Rumble…?' the priest called, yet he went unanswered. He could feel something within his existence that he could not describe, but he did not like it.
'Ravage…?' Again only silence returned him. 'Laserbeak! Buzzsaw! Answer me!'
"Now what in the…?" Ratchet stopped when Soundwave twitched again, this time it was stronger. Ratchet's optics went to a reader that had been hooked up to Soundwave's vitals and processor so he could keep an eye on them. Ratchet frowned as he stopped on the processor monitor. It seemed to be going nuts. He wondered what was wrong with him and wondered if perhaps he was dying, but that thought was quickly vanquished as he spied the mechs stable vitals on the monitor next to it.
'…Frenzy?'
The Decepticon twitched again and this time Ratchet stood up with a huff. With all the twitching, he was going to end up doing more harm than good. He decided to administer something that would knock Soundwave's cognitive systems offline completely until he was done.
Starscream, after appointing himself Leader of the Decepticons, made his way to the Nemesis, which was still parked and unharmed. He walked around it twice, looking at it, thinking, wondering how it had managed to remain undamaged throughout the war. He had seen a couple of the other Decepticons working on it, getting it ready for transport.
This was going to be a pretty rough ride back to Earth, especially with the limited Energon reserves for both the ship and the rest of the crew, but if rationed out until they found another planet to get some from, they would be alright. He didn't mind leading the Decepticons, and he was already proving to be a far better leader than Megatron was himself. He wasn't as cruel, and wasn't as impatient, giving the Decepticons some well deserved rest when they needed it and also making sure that the rations of energon were equal except for those who were larger, in which the other Decepticons understood.
"Thundercracker, Skywarp, come to the Nemesis, I want you to bring Sunstorm with you."
He could sense something. His mind was somehow online now. His body was sending and receiving signals. He was alive… but how?
Soundwave's optics glittered to life for the first time since his crash. The first thing he noticed is that his visor was not on him. He went to move slowly and pain answered through all of his circuitry telling him that doing so was a big no, no. His body was badly damaged, and his diagnostic went to work as soon as he set things online, finding that he had been somewhat repaired. He looked around as much as he could since he could hardly move at all.
Again he stopped, sensing something. It was familiar, but he wouldn't able to do anything about it. It was like a draw, something he was supposed to do. In his searching, his optics meandered until he found someone standing in the room with him. Ratchet.
Ratchet knew Soundwave was awake and moving. He was the one who had reversed the cognitive shut down. He'd had his back to the Decepticon, working on something small in a far corner on a platform. Turning, he sensed the feeling of eyes upon him, and sure enough, Soundwave's red optics met his. It took him a moment to compose himself from the sudden fear that automatically overcame him. "Don't move," he demanded before going back to working on whatever it was.
Soundwave said nothing. Most of his body was still torn up and he had no doubt that Ratchet could and would kill him where he lay. He looked around the visual range he had without moving his head, finding many different wires and cables being fed into his body, feeding his spark and his circuitry. He understood now how he felt pain even though his diagnostic was saying the receptors were offline. Some sensors were sending mixed signals to his neural net, causing him to either twitch involuntarily or twitch from pain. A lot of his other systems were still trying to come online. He noticed when he turned his head that his Radio Wave Sensor was sitting beside him with a lot of his armor – and was that a part of his leg? All of it was out of reach with makeshift tubing all over him much like he was, but it was still disconnected from him. By the looks of things, he was going to be here a long while.
I think I confused myself a bit :P Ah well. If there's errors, I'll fix em eventually ^^
Anyway, Soundwave is now really in the hands of the Autobots