Bumblebee

Things have been going badly these past two weeks.. Shockwave and Wheeljack have been working around the clock to finish their tracker. Ultra Magnus and Barricade have been working their afts off to keep the peace in Trypticon Station, while the rest of us are stuck waiting.

Barricade barely got time to come back. Meanwhile, Knockout has had to stay with us the entire time, having moved Buzzsaw's medical pod here for fear of Decepticons forcibly waking him. Ratchet had to come to do medical duties on the Station. Now, Blitzwing was on another of his tirades.

"Leaking lubricant. Remind me why we even brought him here?" Wheeljack exasperatedly questioned.

Barricade answered, "We brought him on because we needed his muscle to help keep rowdy crowds out. Believe it or not, he's been taking this better than most Decepticons."

I asked, "Barricade, why are the Decepticons so unstable without Soundwave? What gives?"

"Soundwave was practically half the reason the Decepticons stayed in one piece during the War. He was the only one keeping order. Now, with him gone, there's no one to keep them under control. Not to mention, they're not too keen on listening to an Autobot and an ex-cop."

"Fantastic."

We sort of just sat there, waiting out Blitzwing's tirade. It was the same thing over and over; Blitzwing would get frustrated, switch to his "hot" personality, go on a tirade, a Decepticon would try to force their way in, he would focus his frustration on stopping the Decepticon, he'd calm down, revert to his "cold" personality, rinse and repeat.

Starscream and his seekers were waiting on the other side of the room.

"At least the Seekers aren't tearing each other apart." Optimus stated.

Thundercracker responded, "That's because we have a leader. Us Seekers were pretty much our own group before the War, so it makes sense we'd be stable without the Decepticon leader."

"Besides," Starscream added, "even if I vanished, at least Jetfire would be here to replace me. There's no one to replace Soundwave, though."

"Well, we've got that." I joked.

I know it's a small thing for the Seekers to be chill, since they still have their own drama. But we were scrounging for any positive right now.

The Conehead Seekers were busy guarding Ratchet in the medbay. The rest of the Seekers were trying to keep the peace around Trypticon Station. That left Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker as the only ones left for the search party. Still, better to have the Seekers help Barricade and Magnus keep the peace than to have them wait for a rescue party. Plus, Magnus has been trying to call for Megatron.

"Optimus," I asked, "do you have any idea what might have happened to Soundwave? Maybe he accidentally wandered off or something?"

He answered, "I am afraid I do not know."

"Well, did you at least see what happened?"

"All I saw was a flash of light surrounding Soundwave before he vanished. Strangely, the Matrix seemed to react to this light, as it glowed as well."

"vait, vhat?"

"You mean your Matrix reacted to whatever made Soundwave vanish?" Wheeljack asked, dumbfounded.

"I suppose so. Although, the reaction held no negative connotation. Rather, the reaction felt positive. Like an old friend returning."

"Why would something that made Soundwave vanish feel like an old friend returning?" Starscream asked.

"Interesting. The Matrix of Leadership positively reacts to the presence that took Soundwave, and that presence was marked by light. Could it perhaps be the will of Primus?" Shockwave theorized.

I responded, "Maybe. Still, why would Primus want to take Soundwave somewhere else?"

"I unfortunately do not have any answers. For now, all we can do is try to keep the peace."

Sorry for such a short chapter. Writer's Block hitting me like that brick hit Jason.