The Final Hope - Transformers Prime (3)

Chapter Sixteen

   When the ground bridge had reopened, Arcee, Smokescreen and Bumblebee came through first, confirming that everything was ready. Bulkhead and Wheeljack came next, their guns still trained on the ground bridge where Optimus emerged last, dragging an unconscious Con. Only then did I realize who it was, and I had to keep myself from gasping.

   Soundwave was dragged over to the medical table, which Ratchet had installed with restraints in case a Bot had to be restrained in order to be patched up. They had never been used before, but now was a key time where I was happy to see them. I never liked the idea, though it made me thankful now.

   "Isn't Soundwave the communications master of the Cons?" Finn asked once the Con was successfully locked down. "Can't he just send out an SOS?"

   "Because we had the foresight to shield our new base," Ratchet replied. "Our captive will be unable to transmit his coordinates to the Decepticon warship."

   "Nor will they, in turn, be able to pinpoint his location." Optimus added.

   "Guess we have all the time in the world to make Mr. Personality tell us everything he knows," Wheeljack said.

   Jack turned to those of us on the platform. "The Con surveillance chief must know a lot, right?"

   "But Soundwave doesn't speak," Miko said. "Does he?"

   Raf shook his head. "I'm not even sure he has a face."

   "My concern is with the rest of the Cons," I admitted. "We don't have Laserbeak here, which means they do. They definitely know Soundwave is with us, even if they don't know where."

   I didn't voice my other concern, which was how the hell were the Autobots planning on getting any information from Soundwave. He wasn't just going to answer their questions. Even if I wanted to though, I didn't get the chance to spill my doubts because my powers flared a bit.

   "He's waking up," I announced, and sure enough, the Con began to shift. He realized that he was restrained after a bit of a struggle, and then fell motionless, his face blank.

   I agree with Raf. Does he even have a face?

   "Why is Megatron stealing human technology?" Optimus demanded, towering over the Con. "What is he attempting to build?"

   Instead of an answer, Soundwave repeated, "Why why is MeGAtron steeeling hu-man technology. What is is he att-attempting to BUild."

   I clenched my fists. Was that Con mocking Optimus Prime?

   "Whoa," Miko muttered. "Optimus Prime the remix."

   Then Soundwave displayed a smiley face on his screen-face-thing. Optimus took a step back, and I sensed the unease in him.

   "Oh yeah?" Bulkhead unsheathed his wrecking ball. Apparently I wasn't the only one fired up about the plain disrespect. "Why don't I wipe that smile right off his face?"

   Go Bulk!

   But Optimus put out a hand, stopping the wrecker, before addressing the Con in an exasperated tone. "Soundwave, we have treated you fairly. For the sake of the natives of this planet, tell us what Megatron is attempting to build, before we are forced to rely upon less civil methods of interrogation."

   While his tone was serious, I knew deep down Optimus wouldn't torture Soundwave. It wasn't in his spark. Still, his words made me question that a bit, which was good. Maybe it'd be enough to convince the Con.

   Suddenly, everyone clutched their ears, Autobots and humans alike, cringing at something I couldn't hear. I looked around, confused as I saw them all double over, as though trying to block out a noise. Then, faintly, I heard a high pitched siren and whirled around to see a static screen on Soundwave's face. That's when I realized what was going on, and I thrust my hand out, letting my powers snap around whatever in Soundwave was making that noise and shut it off. That seemed to do the trick, because the team straightened, and Optimus threw me a prideful look before Ratchet stormed forward.

   "Scrap this!" The medic exclaimed. "Soundwave is no ordinary Cybertronian, inside or out, so I would strongly suggest opening him up so we can have a first hand look at the information recorded on his drives."

   I'm all for that idea.

   But a new screen flashed on Soundwave's face; Cybertronian text written in lines, with line by line turning red.

   "Uh oh," Arcee muttered.

   "All right, he's downloading data," Bulkhead said.

   "No," Ratchet looked concerned. "Soundwave is erasing data."

   Then the Con's screen went grey for a moment, before a deep, robotic voice emitted from him. "Soundwave superior. Autobots inferior."

   We all stood in shock as a line crossed the Con's screen before going blank, his body falling back.

  "Is he-?" Bulkhead started, voicing what all of us were thinking.

   Ratchet was already scanning Soundwave's body. "His vital signs remain functional. It seems he has simply severed all communications... by crashing his own drives."

   Shock exploded across the base, but I didn't pay attention to any of it. I only looked up at Optimus, whose face was a whole other level of grim.

   Scrap.

[Elsewhere]

   "The synthetic energon formula is proving to be far more difficult than anticipated," Shockwave reported.

   "Knockout first procured this unfinished shamble from the Autobot medic, did he not?" Megatron mused.

   "That is my understanding."

   "Then the most efficient means to an end may very well be to recruit that medic." The Decepticon leader continued.

   "Attempting to abduct the one Autobot who rarely leaves their base," Starscream spoke up. "A base we have yet to locate, may prove to be a challenge."

   Megatron shook his head. "You forget that we currently have an agent within the Autobot base."

   "Laserbeak could reconnect with Soundwave," Shockwave realized. "And upload his directive to him."

   "Which would still require knowing the location of their base." Starscream piped up.

   Shockwave fell silent, before speaking again. "It is my understanding that Soundwave kept surveillance records of more than just the human children."

   Megatron smiled. "Yes. The military agent will lead us directly to the Autobot base, and to the girl who possesses the powers of Cleona as well."

   "The girl?" Starscream demanded. "Why is she of any use to us?"

   "There was a residue of the goddess' powers on the synthetic energon," Shockwave replied. "And I had originally infused the liquid that grew the Predacons with crushed dust that I procured from several battlefields. In order to successfully recreate the cybermatter, all elements must be present including the powers of Cleona."