Soundwave wasn't one of Starscream's favorite Decepticons but there was a level of mutual respect before. They had both faced cruelty and joined the Decepticons in hopes of a better Cybertron. That all changed when Soundwave flew off due to a simple side wound. Granted that the communications expert was attacked and there might be a level of mental scarring but it was not his first fight or battle wound. What was it about that wound that set him off? And what did he mean when he yelled out, 'Murderer'?
The science bot sought out Soundwave. If he was going to report a failed mission to Megatron, he was going to have the reason it had failed by his side. If anyone was going to be punished for what had happened, it was not going to be Starscream. At least he managed to grab one crate of supplies before they all had to flee. Hopefully that will be enough to keep Megatron from ripping out their servos.
Starscream found Soundwave in the medical bay. Rumble stood nearby, his charred breast plate showing the signs of being shot but he was functioning and was not the reason Soundwave was there. Soundwave looked like he was trying to repair his own wound but, to Starscream, it looked like he was making it worse. Energon leaked from the now gaping wound as Soundwave dug into his side.
"What are you doing?" Starscream demanded.
"Repair," Soundwave answered without looking up.
He had to have lost his mind. There was nothing vital in that area. Starscream stepped closer to Soundwave but the Sub-bots stepped between them. "Back off," Frenzy warned as Ravage hissed. Frenzy's small body twitched and jerked as he glared up at Starscream. "Get too close and I'll rip your spark out with my bare hands."
Starscream scoffed and resisted the urge to kick Frenzy out of the way. He might have been small but he was fierce and Starscream wasn't up for a fight. "I am one of the only surviving medical officers," Starscream pointed out. "I can fix whatever damage that Autobot caused and any subsequential damage Soundwave caused trying to fix it himself. Or would you rather I go get Mixmaster to help?"
Soundwave looked up at Starscream and held out the energon slicked tools. "Help," he pleaded.
"Call back your pets," Starscream snarled.
Soundwave looked at his creations, "Back."
Rumble pulled Frenzy back as Ravage moved away to curl up in a nearby corner. "I'm watching you," Frenzy warned.
"Get up on the table," Starscream said as he set up his tools.
Soundwave did as he was told, lying on his back. Starscream looked the wound over and was taken aback for a moment. He didn't fully understand what he was seeing. "What is this?" He placed his hand on the damaged compartment and moved closer to study how it was connected. Starscream knew the inner workings of bots and where every part was supposed to go. This compartment wasn't something that was supposed to be there. "Did you do this to yourself?"
"No," Soundwave answered.
"Did someone else do this to you?" Starscream asked, looking up at Soundwave.
"No."
"You emerged with this?"
"Yes."
"Do you know its function?"
Soundwave looked at his creations and answered, "Sparks."
Starscream looked over at the Sub-bots then back down at the chamber. "This is how you create them?" He wasn't going to let the chance to examine the chamber pass. Sure it was damaged but not so much that Starscream couldn't figure out how it functioned.
Small probes showed that it connected directly to Soundwave's spark chamber. The whole system was protected with the same spark containing elements as a spark chamber. The more he studied it, the more it all seemed familiar. "I've seen this set up before."
Soundwave looked up at Starscream. "Opal."
Starscream shook his head. "I never had a chance to study her. No…. It was a long time ago." He placed his hand on Soundwave's chest. "The sparks are created when you touch sparks. Aren't they."
"Yes," Soundwave nodded.
"In essence… you're female," Starscream said, lost in thought. "Your spark was placed in the wrong kind of body. Your spark was meant for a female body."
"Explain," Soundwave prompted Starscream.
"I don't know how I know," Starscream whispered. "It's like the information is there but not."
"Your memories, suppressed." Soundwave offered. He reached out to Starscream and thin rods emerged from his fingertips. "Retrieve."
Starscream pulled back and he carefully pushed Soundwave's hand away. "You want me to let you probe into my brain?" Starscream had forgotten that Soundwave had several ways to collect information. The mind probe he was proposing wasn't one he liked to use often. There were too many risks.
"Yes."
"Why should I trust you?"
Soundwave lifted his hand again. "Unlock answers. I help you, you help me."
Starscream leaned forward, "Just access the suppressed memories. Nothing more."
"Agreed," Soundwave said as he began the mind probe.
It was a strange sensation but at the same time, not unfamiliar. Why was a brain probe familiar? Starscream had never done one before. Or maybe he had. Memories could not be erased but they could be locked away. One by one Soundwave unlocked them and the memories came rushing back.
"Those Autobot scum," Starscream growled. "The council is to blame. Now I remember why I was really kicked out of Nova Cronum. I was doing historical research." He felt the probes exit his mind and he stood up. "I discovered some old documents of lineage. I thought it was strange. We didn't breed. Our sparks came from Primus. But that was wrong. I discovered that we do breed and that a spark touch with the females created new sparks. It was information long forgotten. I took it to the council… They had me do more research. They wanted to know if the female spark could be placed in a male form. I did so much work for them. When I was done, they locked those memories away then kicked me out."
He looked down at Soundwave, "Lucky for you. I know how to repair you. I built your protoform."
...
Ratchet stood at Optimus' side and the leader of the Autobots spoke to the government leaders of the North American nation. It wasn't going well. Apparently the humans didn't like the idea of giant robotic aliens hiding out on their planet and putting people in danger.
The little altercation with the Decepticons the other day caused a great deal of problems. Since they were exposed, Megatron no longer cared to remain hidden which caused the Autobots to expose themselves more often to protect the humans.
Lest than an Earth week had passed and the humans started to demand that they get an audience with them. Optimus agreed that they were owed an explanation and set up an interview.
"Why did you bring your war here?" one of the men asked.
"It was not our intention," Optimus tried to explain. "We were searching for more energy resources. When we originally crashed here, your people were primitive and there were no signs of intelligent civilizations anywhere."
"How long have you been here?" another man asked.
"We crashed here around a million of your years ago," Wheeljack answered. "The crash caused us to go in to stasis until some recent seismic activity caused our systems to come back online."
"The Decepticons escaped," Prime added. "I had hoped that they would remain covert and collect the energy they needed to get off world and leave without incident. It appears that I was hoping for too much. I don't know what Megatron plans but I promise you that we will not abandon your people to suffer his wrath."
"Suffer his wrath?" the first man repeated. "How do I know that this isn't some ruse you've cooked up to get our fuel and that you aren't actually in league with these… Decepticons?"
Because if they were as bad as these people feared them to be there would be nothing stopping them from getting what they wanted, Ratchet thought to himself. True they had weapons that could hurt them but nothing grand enough to kill them. Without the Autobots keeping them in check, the Decepticons would destroy this planet in their energy acquisition, all facts that Ratchet knew better than to blurt out.
Prime glanced over at Ratchet as if beseeching him for strength to get through it, before answering. "I guess, in reality, there really is no way to prove we mean you no harm that wouldn't put your world in danger. If the Autobots and I leave and the Decepticons remain then you will see the truth."
"What do you want us to do," the one woman in the group spoke up. "How do we avoid this Megatron from killing millions of innocent people and bleeding our world dry of our resources?"
"Usually in these situations the Autobots form an alliance with the planet's leaders," Ratchet answered. "But this would be the first time we would attempt an alliance with a planet that is as divided as yours is."
"My biggest fear is the Decepticons forming an alliance with this country's enemies just to cause more conflict." Wheeljack added. "A divided planet is easy to conquer. He's done it before. The end results were not good."
"Well then, this planet is doomed," the woman sighed. "If what you are saying is true, there are plenty of dictators out there who will ally themselves with the Decepticons if they are promised more power."
"We will do our best to keep your planet safe," Optimus promised. "I am sorry that you have been brought into this. We just want to get back home."