AN: *gasp* An Autobot POV?! Also sorry for the awkward formatting, I'm unsure of how to make things look good on here. Enjoy!
From: cleopawtra1234
Greetings Prime,
This is Ravage. I wanted to reach out to you and let you know that I am in the process of instating myself as leader of the Decepticons.
I assure you that I am already fully aware that this may fracture the Decepticon army, and to that I say good. War has stagnated our species and if we are to move forward then it must cease. The humans would label us an endangered species, and I see no reason for us to continue a pointless fight that pushes us towards extinction even faster. To this end, I am calling a cease fire between us.
At this time I can claim both Barricade and Flatline as loyal to me, and I'll send you an updated list of any Decepticon that is intelligent enough to follow me. We also have an adult human civilian in our midst. If you would like to start working on a formal peace treaty then I am willing to entertain it, but know I have no intention of sharing our location, our resources, or our human at this time.
And before you can agonize over it, I am fully aware of the Allspark remnant you have in your possession and the laughably pathetic protection around it. I also know what power remains is insignificant, and I see no point in attempting to gain a useless relic.
Thank you for your time,
Ravage
Optimus finished reading the email for the third time, but he still wasn't any less shocked than he had been the first time.
He hadn't been aware that Ravage had made it planet side, but that wasn't a surprise. The only one who surpassed Ravage and their ability to adapt and use any foreign technology as a play toy was Soundwave, and considering human technology had been reverse engineered from Megatron then it would have taken Ravage a very short time to figure it out. It was likely child's play for Ravage to hide themselves from human surveillance.
With that thought, he quickly commed Prowl.
:Ravage is here,: Optimus sent. :We will need to rely less on our surveillance system and start doing patrols in pairs.:
:Understood,: Prowl sent back immediately.
Optimus opened a comm with Ratchet next, :Please come to my office.:
Ratchet didn't bother to respond, but Optimus knew he would show up shortly regardless. He would likely have a few minutes to wait, so he spent the time going over the email again and again and picking it apart in every single way he could think of.
Five minutes later, his office door slammed open. Ratchet always did enjoy making an entrance.
"You summoned me?" Ratchet asked.
"Close the door," Optimus ordered without thought. At Ratchet's expression he tacked on a, "Please."
Ratchet did so, then came over and sat at the seat opposite of him. He stared at him expectantly.
"I would like your opinion on something," Optimus said.
And then he turned his datapad and let Ratchet read the contents of the email. Ratchet's optics raised higher and higher while he read the message, and when he finally looked back up at him Optimus could tell that he wasn't really looking at him. His optics were dim, processor likely analyzing every angle of the message just like Optimus had been trying to do.
After a minute, Optimus pressed. "Well?"
"Ravage is good at trickery and deception, but he always has a reason for it, an end goal." Ratchet mused, "He's revealing a lot here, which makes me think it's more likely to be the truth. …Then again it could be trickery and deception to lull us into a false sense of security, though I won't pretend to know what the end goal would be if that was the case."
"That's not what I mean," Optimus shook his helm. "What does your gut tell you?"
Ratchet laughed, but the sound wasn't a happy one. "You rely far too much on my 'gut' and not enough on yours, old friend. I've led you wrong before."
"You've led me right far more," Optimus dismissed.
"My gut reaction is not to trust a Decepticon, but…" Ratchet let out a large sigh, an entirely human gesture that they had mimicked. "This seems… genuine, I suppose. I don't see what could hurt in entertaining this as long as we remain cautious and don't let our human liaison meet them in person to help with negotiations."
"I hadn't considered that," Optimus realized with some annoyance. With how little the Decepticons had been doing, it was easy to forget the bounty they had placed on Sam's head. It had been nearly seven years since one had attempted to kill him. "Sam won't be happy about it, but we can allow him to send a message through one of us if need be."
"We're jumping the gun, anyway." Ratchet remarked, "We're a long ways off from actually making a peace treaty with him."
"That is true," Optimus groaned. "Now I will have to agonize over a response."
The slagger just laughed at him.
To: cleopawtra1234
Ravage,
I must admit that your message has intrigued me. I am willing to take your words at face value for now, and as time goes on perhaps we can take mutual steps towards a reconciliation between our two factions.
However, I do feel the need to make it clear here and now: Sam Witwicky is one of mine. As far as I'm concerned, he is an Autobot, and he has all the protection that I would extend to any of my mechs. If you hold any intention of harming him then I would strongly advise against it.
Sincerely,
Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots
It took five hours for him to settle on that message, stuck in a vicious cycle of over thinking everything he wrote. He ended up with a clear acceptance of the olive branch without making any promises on his end and a very obvious line in the sand; all in all, he was rather content with it.
Unfortunately, Ravage responded just seconds later. Their response consisted of two nearly identical images, both of the same meme. It was of one he'd seen before, the text on the first image reading 'I've only had Sam a day and a half, but if anything happened to him I would kill everyone in this room and then myself'. The second read 'I've only had HUMAN a day and a half, but if anything happened to them I would kill everyone in this room and then myself'.
The first image had Sam's head badly photoshopped over the dog's body, his own image fairing only slightly better where it was pasted over the woman's. The second had a stick figure drawn on top of the dog and then Ravage's head pasted over the woman's.
:Ratchet,: Optimus commed, feeling desperate. :I need you again.: