The two walked in silence. There wasn't much to say on such a short trip from the endless corridors to the bridge, where Megatron had said SoundWave was waiting. In all honesty, CliffJumper was nervous to even encounter the spymaster; he knew what he was like from the others. He was glad he never had the chance to encounter the mecha personally, he was sure he wasn't to survive if he did.

Megatron stepped up to the bridge doors, which opened quickly to allow access to the two. SoundWave's bristled helm tilted slightly before he looked over. CliffJumper's mouth fell open.

SoundWave wasn't wearing his visor. And what a shocker! He wasn't all mutilated like the others back in his world thought he was; missing lips, no eyes, sharp dentals… No, he was actually pretty good looking, he had to admit.

SoundWave had four optics, two on each side. There was a thin scar that ran down his right side, rendering the bottom optic useless as he offered a small smile to the other. He could tell he wasn't used to such an action the way he seemed confused with what he was doing. CliffJumper just stared, as usual, but he smiled back.

"SoundWave and I are curious as to how you got here, if you don't mind sharing." Megatron said, SoundWave nodded as he turned to face him. SoundWave wasn't azure; he was a bit lighter in color, tan. His bio lights weren't violet, but neon green! Even his optics were neon green, he could see that they weren't halos, but targets with a large center. This was weird, and CliffJumper showed it so easily that SoundWave picked it up in his electromagnetic field. Or EMF, for short.

"SoundWave- Apologizes. CliffJumper- Uneasy." The spy master said as he watched as CliffJumper blinked rapidly before standing up straight. He waved both servos and laughed uneasily.

"N-No! It's OK. Just not used to all the changes." But that wasn't going to slip past SoundWave's ability to read EMFs and body language so easily.

"CliffJumper- Lies. CliffJumper- Uneasy, too much to take in. Require time to self. SoundWave- Can wait. SoundWave- Doesn't want CliffJumper to be uneasy around SoundWave." The tan mecha said, lips pulling apart in a gentle smile as all four optics closed. He wasn't used to this either.

"If… If that's OK with you, I mean, I don't want to have to wait too long…" CliffJumper said with a frown that tugged at his lips. He had to admit, he felt guilty for turning him down by appearance and reputation alone. He was better than that.

"SoundWave- Does not mind waiting. SoundWave- Would be glad to wait until CliffJumper is no longer uneasy." SoundWave nodded, lips pulling apart as he exhaled, seeing that his dentals were needle thin, more like teeth than dentals. But at least he wasn't hostile or mute like he knew him to be. What a relief!

"Yeah, thanks. I'll make it up to you guys." He said with a smile. SoundWave nodded and looked to Megatron, who seemed to frown, but he smiled.

"Very well. We'll give you until tomorrow to gather your bearings and then we'll discuss your travel up to this point." This made CliffJumper feel utterly ashamed he was pushing the date back later; he knew they didn't have time to waste since they were on the run, but he didn't want to just be so overwhelmed that his words would trip over themselves.

"Thank you. So much, honestly, I feel so bad." He said as he lowered his helm, which rose when he felt the others thundering pedes come closer, a servo to his shoulder.

"Don't fret, CliffJumper, we'd rather you trust us with time than on a whim." Megatron said with a smile. "I'll have StarScream come to the bridge and take you to a room." He said, turning to SoundWave who nodded and raised a pair of slender digits to his audial.

"Commander StarScream- Requested at bridge." He said aloud through the communications. After a few seconds, the servo fell to his side and he nodded to CliffJumper, "Commander StarScream- Will be here shortly."

CliffJumper nodded in mute thanks before he heard the door open, a drone shambling in. He looked to be in horrible shape- in fact, he was leaking Energon everywhere!

"L-Lord Megatron! The Auto Bots have ambushed us on the deck!" The drone gasped as he froze when he saw CliffJumper, who blinked at the drone and held up his servos to say he wasn't going to attack, but the drone had fired his weapon, screaming that there was an Auto Bot on the bridge.

SoundWave had moved in with fluid motion, deflecting the blast with a tendril and coiling the same one around the drone's arm, rising it up so the blaster pointed skyward. Megatron moved to stand in between the two of them and bared his dentals.

"Drone! Explain why you fire at an unarmed guest!" Megatron snapped, still carrying the same tone of voice as the original when he was angered or displeased.

"F-Forgive me, Lord Megatron! Sir SoundWave! But he's an Auto Bot, i-isn't he?! I was only acting on instinct to protect you!" The drone stuttered, surprised that the two were defending the Auto Bot.

"Drone, he is not an Auto Bot that we know. He is not from here, he is not out to kill us like the others. Now please, calm down, lower your weapon, and tell me what is happening on the deck." Megatron's tone had dropped a few octaves so he was calm, something CliffJumper never thought he could do.

"I'm sorry, my Lord! The Auto Bots ambushed us on the bridge! I don't know how they managed to get on, but there was no ground bridge! I think they used the mountain's spires to get on!" The drone explained quickly, his arm released by SoundWave as he spoke.

SoundWave's visor slid into place as the screen flicked to life, the map of the Nemesis being pulled up and the vital signs of the ship flared on the screen. It seemed the Auto Bots were trying to down the ship by attacking the engine hulls. Megatron grit his dentals and hissed, "SoundWave! Get a squad out there, aid them and make sure they don't damage the hulls! Get Knock Out, DreadWing and any able bodied soldier to the hulls!" He ordered commands, the drones at their stations typing furiously to get the Nemesis' defense systems online.

Just then StarScream rushed in, a little distressed as he went to the drone, seeing it was injured. "What happened? My Lord?" He asked as he looked to the larger seeker, who narrowed his optics as he watched the life signals of the hulls start to drop.

"The Auto Bots are aboard; they're trying to ground us. I need you to get the drone to the bay and take CliffJumper to a secure location. They cannot know he's here!" Megatron ordered, but StarScream objected.

"But my Lord! I must help the others in any way I—"

"No, StarScream! You will escort CliffJumper, once he is secure, and then you may join the others!" He bellowed, causing the seeker to cringe, servos tight on the drone before he nodded, bowing his helm.

"Forgive me, my Lord, I meant not to object. I will do as you wish." He said as he waved for CliffJumper to give him a servo, to which he spent no time hesitating. The three made their way out, the vermillion grounder looking over to see Megatron conversing with SoundWave before the two left the room and turned down a different hallway, sprinting towards the chaos.

With the aid of CliffJumper, StarScream was able to get the drone to the medical wing and get him settled in before he took CliffJumper's servo and hurried him down the hallway. There was a series of doors, and when he opened one, there was another. And behind that door was a trapdoor that led to a small holding place below the floors.

"Please, stay here! Don't get out until I come and get you or either Doctor Knock Out or Lt. DreadWing. Understood?" The teal seeker said, his brows knit in worry for his comrades who were fighting without him. CliffJumper nodded and put a servo on both of his shoulders.

"Hey, be careful, OK? I'll be OK. Give them hell for me." CliffJumper smiled, causing the seeker to blink and smile, "That sounds weird for me to say, but whatever, give them hell!" CliffJumper said and shooed the other out, who ran off down towards the fight.

CliffJumper closed the doors and crawled down the trap door, moving to find himself a spot to sit. Sagging against the wall, he prayed that no-bot would be fatally wounded today.

Now all he had to do, was wait.