It was late in the afternoon, and sun was not keeping secrets from the world. The glare from the baking sand and tarmac forced Alex to screw up his eyes as he walked along the runway adjacent to the giant buildings.
If it weren't for the circumstances, he would have not even considered coming out in this heat. An hour and a half ago he had raided the mess hall's fridge and much to his delight, had discovered a culinary treasure trove of assorted goodies (the highlight of which being a jar of coffee granules) and had set about having a late lunch. Halfway through though the lights had dimmed and the building experienced a brief power surge, which Alex immediately assumed to be due to the activation of the groundbridge. But this had garnered no reaction from the teenager, who instead decided to tuck into his second cheese sandwich. He was tired, and the Autobots didn't need a babysitter 24/7.
But while over that snack Alex had begun to lament the things he had said to Jack. He would have most certainly gone straight to his guardian after that chat, and Arcee was not one to let things slide. In truth, he was angry with himself. He had never intended to go that far, but again he was tired. His eyes fell down to the sword lying on the table next to him. Alex sighed. He was beginning to hope that he would never have to use it.
Suddenly the lights dimmed again and the sound of powering-up machinery could be heard coming from the hangar opposite the hall. A minute later the sound ceased and the power returned. Alex took another bite of his sandwich.
The door leading outside then opened and in strode a soldier, heading straight to Alex's table. "Agent Fowler wishes to see you at the entrance to Hangar E immediately, Sir." He stated.
Alex looked at the soldier and then back down at the food in front of him. He sighed again. "Thanks." He replied standing up. "No need to peeve off Fowler as well." He thought as he started walking.
As he neared the hangar, he saw that a few of the Autobots were standing just outside the doors. One of them was Arcee, who wore a look of silent thunder for the approaching teenager.
"Alex, we need to have a little chat." She said sternly.
"Not right now, Arcee." Alex strode right past the two-wheeler. "Word is you got yourself a hostage and I would very much like to know who."
Arcee opened her mouth again to talk but she was suddenly side-lined by Ratchet beside her.
"Alex, I would strongly suggest you keep your distance." Ratchet said walking just behind Alex. "You probably know by now that S-"
"Relax, Ratchet. Though I'm amazed that Starscream isn't shouting his head off right now. It's really quiet in here, have you muzzled him or some-"
The sentence would never be completed as Alex walked round the massive bay door into the hangar and received a clear view of the entire cavern. He froze on the spot, eyes fixed onto one thing.
Ratchet stopped alongside him "It's not Starscream." He said simply.
At the far end of the room, bound by energy bonds to the medic's examination table, surrounded by the rest of the Autobots, lay Soundwave; Surveillance chief to the Decepticons.
Ratchet turned to look down at the human beside him. "There's no need for alarm." He said to Alex. "He's perfectly secure, and the shielding on our base should prevent him from transmitting his coordinates."
Alex still didn't move.
Optimus stepped forward. "Alex?"
"Are you insane?"
"Alex-"
"ARE YOU INSANE?!" Alex screamed, his voice at a pitch that the Autobots had never heard before. "Of all the Decepticons you could've captured, you went for the one that's the most dangerous?!"
"Alex." Optimus walked forward, his voice firm. "The Decepticons have just successfully stolen a crate of high-voltage conductors from a human laboratory. Soundwave may provide intel concerning what they intend to do with it."
Alex just stared up at the prime. "So you thought it would be a good idea to capture this guy? Optimus, this is insane."
"It is not your place to second-guess a battlefield decision, human." Magnus cut in, determined to defend his leader's actions.
"Magnus, you do not know Soundwave like I do!" Alex argued. "His loyalty to Megatron dwarfs any other Decepticons' on the Nemesis. You didn't see how he handled Arachnid back in season one."
Arcee ears perked up at the sound of her arch-enemy. "What are you talking about?" she interjected.
"While you and Megatron were busy fighting Unicron, Arachnid tried to assume command arguing that Megatron was probably dead." Alex pointed a finger at the prisoner. "Soundwave literally beat her to the ground when she tried to leave the planet."
Arcee's eyes widened. "Wait; do you know what happened to Arachnid after the base was destroyed?"
"That's not the point here." Alex waved his hand in dismissal. "The point is that Soundwave follows orders to the letter. He will go to the grave before he starts revealing secrets."
"Don't forget kid, that we have now quite a bit of time to make Mr. Personality tell us everything he knows." Stated Wheeljack, rubbing his hands together.
Alex sighed in frustration. Arcee took a step forward towards him. "What happened to Arachnid?" she asked icily.
"Arcee-"
"I need to know. If she's still out there-"
Suddenly everyone in the room covered their ears as they were assaulted with a high-pitch whining. "Arachnid…not the point… ." came a collection of Alex and Wheeljack's voices in a made-up recording. A second later a purple smiley face appeared on Soundwave's visor.
Nobody said a word. Instead they all wore stunned expressions with mouths hanging open. Slowly frowns started to appear.
Alex spoke first.
"Since when do you gloat?"
He didn't receive an answer. Instead Soundwave continued to display the emoticon.
Alex regained his composure.
"Everybody out." He said.
"I do not believe, boy that you are in the position-" started Ultra Magnus.
"Magnus, all of you, get. Out. Now."
The last sentence was layered with malice. Nobody moved. Alex then stared up at Optimus.
"Optimus, you asked me for info earlier, so now I'm going fishing for it." He said slowly. "But in order to do that I need this room clear."
The look on the Prime's face was indescribable. Magnus stepped forward. "Sir,"
Suddenly a voice filled the room as Soundwave played a recording of Alex's voice. "Get. Out. Now."
The Prime gazed at the prisoner. A look of silent thought on his face.
"It appears that Soundwave is willing to speak to Alex on the condition that they are alone." He said.
"Optimus, you cannot be-" began Arcee.
But Optimus wasn't listening to her. Instead he turned back to Alex. "I am allowing you five minutes with the prisoner. After which I expect a full report as well as information that could be to our advantage. Is that understood?"
Though he seemed reluctant to do so, Alex nodded.
However when it came to reluctance at that point, no-one could match the other Autobots and humans. Silently and with some sour and angry faces, they piled out of the building, Optimus following close behind.
Now alone with the Decepticon, Alex walked towards the stairs that led up to the gantry alongside Ratchet's table.
"Okay," he spoke as he walked. "Let's agree to not disagree. Obviously you being here is important enough to be part of an episode so technically I shouldn't be here." He walked up the gantry and stopped alongside Soundwave looking down at him. "And officially this conversation needn't have taken place."
No response. Alex cocked his head. "You wanna keep your silence, that's fine. You're not a man of words. But what was that just now? No-one was talking to you and you're smarter than to make remarks-"
Alex didn't even have time to start thinking of reacting, as a purple tentacle burst out of Soundwave's right side. Flying straight towards Alex tiny tendrils snaked out of it and latched themselves onto his left arm, burrowing into the skin.
But before he could call out, the room collapsed in darkness. His eyeballs rolled back in their sockets and for a moment, he could not breathe. Suspended in the position he was, the room vanished. He wasn't just in one place, he was in many. A thousand images began to pass before his eyes, too many to count. The images were burnt into his mind. So many…
Soundwave's tentacles coming at Ratchet…
Megatron and Predaking at each other's throats…
A sword buried in Megatron's chest…
Optimus standing in front of a groundbridge portal…
Alex saw all of this in seconds. Suddenly the lights came back on and the tendrils released themselves from his arms. Alex collapsed onto the gantry, gulping down air and clenching his eyes shut, all the while the tendrils retracted back into the tentacle and the tentacle disappeared back into Soundwave's side. He remained silent.
Alex clasped at the railing, slowly drawing himself up and continuing to breathe deeply. He stared at the Autobot prisoner as he recovered from the shock of whatever the hell just happened. Eventually he found the strength to talk.
"What was that?" he asked slowly. Soundwave didn't respond.
Suddenly Alex leaped over the railing and landed on Soundwave's chest with a small thud, instantly flattening his hands on Soundwaves chest plate. It began to immediately glow from the energy that flowed into Alex's hand. The mech jerked slightly at the resulting pain. "Tell me what that was!" Alex shouted. When he didn't receive an answer, the energy inside his hands intensified.
"TELL ME!"
Suddenly the room was filled with the sound of transformation. A second later the energy within Alex's hand faded away as he stared with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth at what lay on front of him.
He was staring into the eyes of Soundwave.
The display visor had folded back into itself revealing the face that it had forever hid. The mech's eyes were a solid dark purple, the mouth just a slit and the colour of his faceplates matched that of his darkened armour.
Alex didn't move. In a moment that was rare to his life, he had no idea what to say.
"What…was that?" He breathed.
Soundwave spoke, but not in the voice that Alex had just heard in his mind.
"Six consecutive visual montages with a duration of 25 Earth minutes each, depicting individuals identified as Autobot, Decepticon and human." He paused. "I believe you designate them as, 'episodes.'"
Not only did Soundwave's refined, malevolent and somehow cultured voice shock Alex, but also how he spoke. He expected him to be pretty much a robot when it came to interaction, but here he was, speaking in a manner that could have been compared to Megatron's.
Alex breathed heavily. "How do you have the last six episodes of Transformers Prime?"
"A file," explained Soundwave. "Sent to me during the final phase of the war. The source code indicates that it originated from within the Autobot's central command network. A further analysis revealed that it had been sent from a computer terminal registered to the Iacon hall of record's chief archivist."
Alex's mouth dropped down further. "Alpha Trion?" he asked with amazement. This was all too much for him. The episodes flashing in his mind, getting them from Soundwave of all people, and now this revelation.
He took a deep breath. "Alpha Trion knew everything."
"It would appear so." Agreed Soundwave. "It seems you had a powerful ally before you even entered this world, Alex."
The simple fact that Soundwave addressed him by his real name caught Alex off-guard even further. This was a side to Soundwave that Alex had never seen before. But while he stood there trying to process all that had just been revealed, other facts and aspects began to fall into place that made the situation clearer than ever before.
"So," he frowned down at the mech. "From what I have just seen, it's safe to assume that whatever I do, we're getting that result."
"It would seem so." Soundwave smirked.
Another realization then hit Alex. "Then am I also to assume, that Megatron got the idea of Project Predacon from me?"
The mech maintained the smirk. "If it hadn't amounted to such a complete failure as well as a waste of ample time and resource, Lord Megatron could've eventually thanked you for such an intuitive idea." He replied.
The frown on Alex's brow deepened. "But if you knew it would be a failure-"
And then the question that had been in front of Alex all this time hit him like a sledgehammer.
"You've known this for so long." He asked. "Why didn't you tell anyone? You had visual evidence of the future and you didn't think to use it to your advantage?"
"A collection of computer-generated videos depicting myself and others on an alien world interacting with a species that we had never encountered before?" Soundwave looked up at the teenager with a slight frown. "Megatron would have declared me mentally unfit for duty."
"But why not now then? Why are still sitting on it when you know that it's real?"
A darkened expression appeared on Soundwave's face.
"The rules of time, human." He said in low tones. "There is not much known about them. We Cybertronians never truly delved into the matter, however it is regarded that the future cannot be changed, that there is such a thing as destiny, as you humans would call it. To fight this universal order would be tantamount to fighting nature itself, an action for which all could suffer for."
Alex took this in. "So you want the future to play out as I've just seen…because anything else would go against…your fundamental beliefs?"
The mech nodded.
Alex found this fact extremely fascinating. The ideology of the Transformers had never been explored by its' creators this deeply before, and here it was being laid out in front of him as if it were common fact. But there was still gaping hole on all of this. Soundwave's sense of self-preservation.
"And you still want this to happen even with what happens to you?"
Not an eye was battered. "One cannot change one's destiny, human." Soundwave replied.
"That's pretty noble of you."
"Are you going to argue with me otherwise, ally to the Autobots?"
"I never said a damaging word to them."
"You're not capable of doing such. The question now is what you plan to do with this newly acquired information."
Alex went silent, and for a moment he didn't know how to answer the question. But then in the moment thereafter, he did know. He knew exactly what he was going to do.
He had a plan.
"Okay, Soundwave." He said finally as he leaned back. "I'll tell you. I'll tell you precisely what I'm planning to do. I am going home, and you are going to help me."
The smirk reappeared on Soundwaves face. "And how exactly are you going to ensure my assistance and compliance?"
"Oh it's quite simple, really." Alex leered at the mech. "Because if you don't, Megatron's going to find out how you've been keeping certain information from him for the last few hundred years. Information which could've helped destroy the Autobots and restore Cybertron a long time ago."
The smirk vanished.
"It'll be quite the blow, considering that you are arguably his most loyal subject." Alex continued. "And don't think I'll be able to convince him. I may be a proven liar, but all it takes is one spark of doubt."
The mech snarled. "And what if you were unable to relay this message to Megatron?"
Alex eyed the still hovering tentacle. "You won't kill me here and now, Soundwave. You're too smart to do that."
Soundwave raised a mechanical eyebrow. "How do you come to that assumption?"
"Because if you were to kill me now, Optimus Prime won't be so quick to treat you with the courtesy that we're expecting him to." Alex explained. "He may not hold me in regard equal to that of my fellow humans, but a human death at this point will throw him off." He cocked his head. "Same goes for if I tell Megatron your secret. Who knows what could happen."
Soundwave said nothing, merely leered at the teenager.
Turning round Alex grabbed hold of the gantry and pulled himself back over the railing. He looked down at Soundwave.
"Oh don't worry, you won't have to do much." He said. "Just divert some power for a portal to be opened in the engine room."
"Why there?"
"Because from there, if needs be, it would just take one ball of fire to knock the Nemesis out of the sky."
…
Five minutes later, Alex slipped out the back door of the hangar, not wanting to speak to any of the Autobots as they entered through the main doors to check on their captive.
He failed to notice the pair of bright blue optics watching him from the shadowed corner.
To be continued…
Author's note (PLEASE READ):
Okay, this chapter could be considered debatable (a light word) by you guys. I just went and put an entirely different character coat on Soundwave, something which some of you may not agree with. The reason behind it is that I have always seen Soundwave able to be like this. The level of sinister that he would portray if given a voice could ultimately have been the scariest thing on the show. Similar to Arachnid's way of words, I guess. But if not to your liking, I do apologize.
Also, I can reveal that we are entering the final chapters of this story. However there is a strong chance that you will not like my planned ending. This is because (And I am proud to announce this) the idea for the sequel is fully fledged (*dark and evil voice* you have no idea what's truly going on…), and I give you my word that it will be written.
And finally, I have set up a poll on my profile regarding the next chapter surrounding a final confrontation between Alex and an Autobot (I still have yet to decide who those optics belong to). Your opinions would be greatly appreciated. Remember, I want this alliance in tatters…
Happy 30th chapter by the way! It's been quite the journey and I hope it has been for you too!
Cape Magician