Protectors of The Young.
Chapter Nine.
The moment the cerebro-shell's control on her was broken, Elita charged at the door. As she suspected, she found it locked, but that did not stop her from throwing herself at it and hammering on it.
"Decepticon scum, fight fair!" she raged. "Show yourselves, release me and fight me on equal terms, you spineless, glitched cowards!"
None of her shouts or attempts to attract attention succeeded, and she strode back to the berth and sat down. Although she had been aware but powerless under the influence of the cerebro-shell, she still looked to see if any of her weapons had been missed, overlooked or were re-connectable. Although she did the same with her communications systems, her captors had been thorough: she had been left nothing she could use to either attack her captors, effect an escape from the locked room she was in, or call for aid.
She then examined her surroundings. Nothing of the sparse furnishings could be used as a weapon or to help her escape, although she had to admit that considering she was a Decepticon prisoner, her accommodation could have been much worse. There was a very large berth available, although the fact it was big enough for at least two large mechs to be comfortable on made her worry about why she was here.
With the AllSpark gone, mech-femme Sparkmerge was the only method of reproduction left to their kind. Femmes had been in short supply from the beginning, and could now be a new source of conflict if the Decepticons found out about those in the Autobot ranks, which was one reason said femmes had gone to such pains to avoid being seen. However, her very presence here meant they already knew about her, at least.
Forced interface was a great taboo in Cybertronian culture, but who knew what values the Decepticons might discard if they thought they might be staring extinction in the face. Elita and her sisters had harboured the same fear about the Autobots when they discovered about the AllSpark, and had been relieved that not only had the Autobots decided not to discard their values, but had worked with the femmes to give the femmes time, choice, and the option to bear sparklings or not as they wished. Once that fear had been laid to rest, they had been happy to begin bearing.
She sat down on the berth, and took the cube of energon left on the flimsy table nearby and began to sip at it after scanning it to be certain it was not toxic, or drugged. She had been in worse prisons, she reflected, with her arms and legs chained to the wall and floor, with little light, no fuel and only the promise of brutal treatment. There were no chains here, and her surroundings were actually quite comfortable by comparison but it was, after all, still a prison cell, albeit a fairly palatial one. Even so, she was still held against her will by an enemy, and her treatment once the enemy's representative turned up, was by no means certain.
However, as she had already discovered there was little else she could do about it, all she could do was wait until whoever was sent turned up.
She flexed her cables and servos carefully as she deliberately struck a relaxed pose, for in her visual sweep of the room she had spotted a concealed camera.
She would wait, and be ready for them.
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Soundwave observed the femme via the camera, noting that she had calmed down but that she was ready to react. He nodded and rose.
"Soundwave-will-speak-to-femme."
He exited the room without a further word.
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When Elita heard the door open, she launched herself forward, hoping to catch her visitor by surprise, but he was just beyond the door, crouching slightly, filling the exit and obviously anticipating this attempt. With one hand, Soundwave caught a wrist, and used his other arm to pin her against him. She shouted wordlessly as she tried to pull away and escape around him, but as he straightened his legs she felt her own feet leave the floor.
She kicked and struggled, but found she was no match for the powerful mech, who advanced into the room, sent a com to lock the door, and headed for the berth with her.
'This is it,' the thought ran through her processors. She knew if Soundwave wished to force her he had the size and strength to do so, but that would not stop her from fighting.
As he reached the berth he released her, pushing her away so she landed in a sitting position on the berth but he did not, as she expected him to, bend to grab her or lunge for her. Instead he spoke.
"Soundwave-would-not-force-Elita. Soundwave-wishes-to-talk."
Elita blinked in surprise, but then remembered she had been told that Soundwave could read minds, and in her panicked state her thoughts must have been very clear.
"Talk?" she asked him. "You went through all of this just so we could talk? Why didn't you use the comm system?"
"To-talk-as-Creator-to-Creator." He opened his chest compartment and drew out Ratbat, who clicked and wriggled as Soundwave gently touched the Cassette's back and wings. "Soundwave-has-complete-control. Soundwave-will-not-abuse-it."
"All this was to show me that you could do anything to me, but choose not to?" she asked, beginning to see where Soundwave was coming from. He nodded.
"Using-power-easy. Not-using-power-takes-control."
"I guess that makes sense." she said. "What if I want to leave?"
"Elita-permitted-to-leave." he replied. "Elita-requested-to remain."
"What for?" she asked. "To be courted? To be shown off?"
"Negative." Soundwave replied. To-aid-negotiations."
"Negotiations for what?" she asked.
"For-peace." he replied. "For-peace-as-Creators, for-our-sparklings."
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The Autobots had been assessed of the situation and were about to head for the Decepticon base in force when Mirage announced an incoming communication from the Decepticon base.
"Put them on screen." Optimus said.
The screen showed Soundwave and Elita standing side-by-side. Soundwave was holding Ratbat in his hands, and one of Elita's hands was resting lightly on Soundwave's arm.
"Optimus, it's me, Elita," she said. "I have been well-treated, I'm not being held against my will, and am returning soon. Soundwave asked if he could accompany me, with the intention of talking about peace."
"He wishes to talk peace? After abducting you?" Optimus rumbled, still annoyed.
"He did that so we could talk as creators, one to another, and not be burdened by faction loyalties, pride and posturing, and all the other things that make standard negotiations take hours." Elita explained. "He said that he is as concerned for his creations as we are for ours. He agrees that in war, the young are usually the first to come to harm after those on the front line, and he wants to protect his creations as much as we want to protect ours," she explained.
"AllSpark-gone. Cybertron-destroyed. Conclusion: war-now-pointless," Soundwave intoned.
Optimus said "How do we know you are not speaking under duress, Elita? How do we know you're not still under the influence of a cerebro-shell or some other method of control?"
Elita's optics flashed angrily.
"Optimus, if you want me to come in first and undergo a thorough scan, I will agree and I'm sure Soundwave will as well." she said. She sounded as annoyed as she looked "But remember this, Optimus: Soundwave, too, is a Creator. Do you really think he does not have the same feelings as we do? Do you think he cares nothing for the younglings under his care?"
"Soundwave-fears-for-all-young," the blue Decepticon said. "War-ours, not-our-youngling's."
"What Soundwave is trying to say, I believe, is this." Elita said. "Do you really want our sparklings growing up to do nothing but continue a war that began before they were even thought of? Because I don't, Optimus, I'm sure that Soundwave doesn't, and I don't think you do either. So how about you put your wounded ego aside and try and be sensible about this?" She looked pleadingly at him and stretched out her hand towards the camera. "You're letting your feelings rule over sense."
"She's right, you know." Ratchet said from beside him. "That is your femme who was taken, Optimus, the co-creator of your two femme sparklings. You are too involved to be in charge of these discussions." He pushed Optimus aside, turning to him and putting his hands on Optimus' shoulders. Optimus fought to twist away but Ratchet held him firmly.
"I'm the negotiator of our group, let me continue these discussions." Ratchet suggested. "How often have you told me that you just wish the Decepticons would consider peace? Now, when it's offered, you're about to turn it down? Is that the act of an objective commander, or an outraged partner?" He paused as Optimus looked away, back to the screen, and used one hand to turn Optimus' head to look back at him. "If you reject this peace outright, you could be potentially putting Elita back into a dangerous situation., She is still at the Decepticon base, and her privileged guest status could be revoked at any given moment."
"Negative." Soundwave stated, for the channel was still open. "Whatever-you-decide-Elita-goes-free. Soundwave-keeps-his-word."
That more than anything seemed to decide it for Optimus. His shoulders sagged, his battle-mask slid back, and he stopped pushing against Ratchet.
"Agreed. Ratchet, you take up this discussion, I trust you to do what you feel is right. Elita, I hope to see you soon." As he walked out, Ratchet shouted after him.
"Recharge, Optimus. Don't think I don't know how long it's been since your last one. I promise to wake you when Elita gets here but get some rest." He turned back to Soundwave and Elita.
"Now, what's in this for you if we make peace? I hardly think the peace alone can be the only incentive, at least not for the other Decepticons."
"Access-to-fuel." Soundwave stated. "Opportunity-to-court-femmes." Ratchet nodded.
"As long as the femmes agree, I don't see that being an issue." he said. "As for the fuel, we can give you access for a time, but you'll have to eventually negotiate with the humans, we can help you with that." he suggested.
"Agreed." Soundwave said. "ETA-your-base-six-hours-time. Preparation-needed-before-journey."
"Very well, Soundwave, we, too can use those six hours wisely, to prepare for your arrival." Ratchet said with a nod. "We will see you then, Elita and Soundwave.
As Ratchet closed the channel, he decided he would keep his word to Optimus to the letter. He would wake him when Elita arrived, but till then, he could spend the next six hours in recharge.