Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Beacon

“Megs?” Knockout called as he gently shook the former warlord’s shoulder as Breakdown hurriedly organised medical equipment around the room. “Megatron, can you hear me?”

“What happened?! What’s going on?” Optimus Prime bellowed as he barged into the room almost crashing into Breakdown who yelped and almost slammed himself into one of the iv stands to get out of the Autobot leader's way. “Megatron!”

Optimus rushed to Megatron’s side, his servos gently grasping at his old friend lying on his berth. He did not respond to the touch. Optimus was about to ask the surgeon what was going on but he froze as his servo brushed against something wet soaked into the blankets. He glanced down, seeing brilliant pink energon soaking into the white covers.

“What’s happening?!” Optimus demanded, biting down his terror and fear to question the surgeon, his optics narrowing at the glossy red automobile.

“He’s gone into shock,” Knockout explained as he pulled protective gloves over his servos. Behind him, the medical screens flashed red, yellow and orange with alerts. “Trying to figure out why. He was stable only 5 minutes ago!”

A groan came from Megatron, Knockout and Optimus immediately turning their attention to him. The shutters over his optics fluttered for a moment before revealing red optics.

Megatron. Not D16.

“Megs, what’s going on, what happened?” Knockout asked the ex-warlord. “Can you speak?”

Megatron simply stared up at the ceiling, the lens in his optics unfocused and constantly darting all over the place. There was a blank look on his face and the light of his optics was dim and lacked vibrance.

“Hey,” Optimus gently reached over and grasped the side of Megatron’s face with a servo, gently turning his helm towards him. “Megatron, are you okay?”

Megatron blinked his shutters a few times, his mouth creasing into a frown as he struggled to concentrate.

“Op… Optimus…?” Megatron croaked, his voice strained and breathless as he struggled to speak, his servo’s mindlessly grasping at the blankets around him. “I-I- why? Why hurt?”

Optimus exchanged a glance with Knockout who looked deeply concerned before pulling one of the medical datapads towards him and flicking through it, trying to find the source of Megatron’s stress.

“We’re trying to find that out,” he reassured his old friend. “It’s gonna be okay. You’re gonna be okay.”

“Legs… hurt,” Megatron gasped weakly, shivering in pain. “Pain…”

“Believe it or not that’s good,” Knockout reassured him not looking up from his screen. “It means the surgery was successful and your spinal strut is melding well with your other components.”

“Maybe it’s the amount of pain that he’s in?” Breakdown suggested as he handed Knockout an IV bag filled with medical grade energon. “The pain meds would have worn off by now.”

“I restocked his meds up an hour ago so his pain shouldn’t be bad enough to cause this and it also doesn’t explain why he’s bleeding,” Knockout frowned, motioning to the energon stained blankets, a thoughtful servo to his chin as he considered. “...Did he try to transform? He shouldn’t have been able to, I put a safety lock on his t-cog so he couldn’t.”

“Maybe one of your welds split,” Optimus suggested and Knockout looked offended at the mere notion.

“Unlikely, my welds are nothing short of perfection,” Knockout scoffed at the Prime as he began to peel away the blankets from his patient. Immediately, Megatron tried to snatch them back but failed, the ex-Decepticon’s engine rumbling angrily.

“...Cold…” Megatron whined childishly in protest, “...it’s… cold!”

“I’m sorry but I need to check your transformation seams,” Knockout sternly told the annoyed warframe. “It’ll only take a moment.”

“...Give back!” Megatron snapped, blindly grabbing at Knockout but missing by a mile.

“Definitely the Megatron I know,” Knockout muttered, annoyed as Megatron grabbed at him again, the surgeon dodging with a growl. “Why can’t you behave for once? Be a good patient?”

“Megatron here,” Optimus gently grasped the arm that continued to reach for Knockout and grasped it in his servos. “It’s alright. Be patient. You’ll get your blankets back.”

Megatron frowned and looked like he was about to protest but to the Prime’s surprise, calmed and stilled, allowing the surgeon to examine him in peace. Instead, Megatron turned his helm to look up at Optimus, a weary look on his face.

“Where… where did Mega- Megatronus go…?” His old friend asked wearily. “... he was just here…”

“Megatron?” Optimus asked, concerned with a glance at the middle of his chassis where his t-cog lay. Megatronus’s spark should still be within his t-cog. It should still be keeping Megatron’s mind stable. “Megatron what–”

Suddenly Optimus’s optics widened as he noticed something he should have the second he had laid his optics on Megatron’s frame.

He looked smaller. No, he didn’t just look smaller than he normally was, he was smaller. His frame had very subtle changes to it. His pauldrons were more rounded and his optics looked more like they had when he was cogless. The helmet on his head was a slightly different shape too. Almost like he had before he had taken Megatronus’s t-cog from Sentinel.

“Knockout…” He breathed out barely audible but the surgeon did not hear him.

“Strange, his transformation seams have split and reformed but his subspace didn’t activate,” the surgeon mused in concern. “Never seen anything quite like it.”

“Check his cog,” Breakdown suggested but the Surgeon was already carefully unsealing the chamber on Megatron’s chassis, revealing the bright blue t-cog within.

Megatronus’s cog was purple. Not blue.

Knockout quickly attached a device to the cog, reams and reams of data suddenly appearing on his datapad as he did so.

“What the frag?” Knockout stared at the screen in complete confusion. “How is– what?!”

Breakdown appeared at his conjunx’s side, leaning against him to look at the screen.

“Wait… it says his t-cog hasn’t been activated in over 4 million years?!” Breakdown exclaimed in disbelief.

“How is this– how is this possible?!” Knockout spluttered in shock.

Optimus stared at Megatron, a frown appearing on his face as he stared down at his old friend’s blank expression staring up at him.

“He swapped his t-cog with another,” Optimus Prime revealed, continuing to stare down at his friend. “The transformation must have split some of your welds.”

“Where the slag did Megatron get another t-cog?!” Knockout shouted in frustration.

“From Onyx Prime,” Optimus muttered as he leant over his friend who was still staring up at him.

“From Onyx–? Oh it doesn’t matter!” Knockout dismissed and turned to Breakdown. “Help me get him stable, then we can fix this mess that Megatron has once again got himself into.”

“You got it,” Breakdown immediately became focused, his expression turning into one of focus and precision as Knockout began yelling out instructions to him, at the same time cursing out Megatron and his foolishness.

Optimus Prime ignored them, his entire focus on Megatron as he knelt closer to his face, closing his optics in exhaustion as he did so.

“Oh, what have you done, old friend?” He lamented, not expecting an answer. To his surprise Megatron’s helm tilted towards his, touching their cheeks together and the Prime felt himself freeze at the contact. He was unsure why he froze but his faceplate burnt with embarrassment or… some emotion he couldn’t quite grasp.

He’s never been quite so close or intimate with Megatron before, at least not since they had been cogless miners and his spark fluttered at the realisation. Time hung around him and he stared straight at Megatron’s pauldron, too embarrassed to glance over and look at his oldest friend in the optic. He closed his optics after what seemed like an eternity and remained there, enjoying and simultaneously enjoying this moment while it lasted.

“Look up,” came a whisper from Megatron and Optimus opened his optics in surprise.

Brilliant yellow lenses stared back and a small devious smirk played across D16’s face. Immediately Optimus jerked away from his old friend, breaking their brief contact.

D16’s EM field was dancing around him, amusement and… pity, emanating from this younger alter within his oldest friend’s mind.

Oh.

Dee had definitely felt his conflicting emotions on the topic and was now pitying him. Now Optimus felt truly embarrassed and stood himself upright with a cough, trying to play it off as nothing.

“Dee?” He asked, trying to squash down his embarrassing reaction to what had just happened.

“Trust me, please?” D16 asked, his voice hoarse and barely over a whisper.

“Dee…” Optimus looked down at him unsure.

“Please, Optimus Prime…” D16 pleaded, a rising pain in his voice as desperation surged through his field causing Optimus to worry. “Please trust me. Just once.”

“I don’t understand,” Optimus shook his helm and D16 frowned at him, giving a soft sigh in response. “Trust you with what?”

“You never did trust me, Orion. Why would I expect you to now?” D16 bitterly said before closing his shutters and his body went slack.

“Dee?” Optimus asked desperately, gently shaking him. “Dee, come back! Dee!”

No response.

Before he could continue to try and elicit a response out of his old friend, Knockout barged in his way, hooking something into one of the ports in Megatron’s collar.

“I need you to not be in my way, Prime,” Knockout fluttered at him, pushing him away from Megatron and making a shooing gesture with his servos. “Out! So Breakdown and I can work!”

The Prime stumbled back, numb and confused at what had just happened.

What had D16 meant? What was going on? Was D16 more aware of what was going on than he was letting on?

He stared a moment at the surgeon and his assistant, working on stabilising Megatron’s ailing condition before he remembered D16’s words.

Look up.

Optimus turned his attention to the ceiling and gasped in shock at what he saw.

The air conditioning vent had been pried open and hung by a few screws, claw marks around the edge of the ceiling around it.

He should really get that sealed up was his immediate thought. He really should check on Ravage was his second.

Cyclonus wandered the corridors of the SS Requiem, his claws tracing the gem on his sword absentmindedly as he stalked the halls. Again and again he found himself circling the entirety of the ship, his pedes wearing shiny paths into the metal.

He had lost count how many times he had done this, how many cycles he had repeated this same walk, the gem on his sword was threatening to shake from its place. It was maddening, being so close to the physical world yet not being able to interact with anything. The ship was aimless and its captain was lost in mind.

He sighed and shook his helm. He’d been at Kilotronyx’s side since Galvatron had found the poor little sparkling, terrified and clutching at the greyed remains of her sire, his inner components gored and spread across the rusted dunes. It would be extremely disappointing if Destron 13 was lost in such a way. But fate never once cared about endings being satisfactory. Such as the way Galvatron went, his helm crushed underneath Megatronus’s Pede when he had foolishly tried to attack the Prime after being given a chance to leave with his life. Unlike other Prime’s, Megatronus was not one to give second chances.

“Hey!” A loud shout disrupted his train of thought as he almost ran into the back of someone.

The Praxian jet stepped back, away from the source of the yell and found himself being glared at by a very furious Destron. Scion Fornax stood before him, rubbing the upper arm that Cyclonus had nearly collided with.

“Watch it, old man!” Scion rumbled annoyed, brilliant golden optics observing him with disdain.

“Scion,” Cyclonus acknowledged, his face remaining stoic.

He looks like a younger version of his sire, Cyclonus thought to himself fondly as the young Destron towered over him despite still having room to grow.

“You’re walking in circles again,” Scion smirked at him as the two moved off toward the bridge of the ship. “Losing the bolts in your helm at long last?”

“You can only hope, young one,” Cyclonus retorted. “Though I must admit, the shadowzone’s lack of tangibility does cause one’s mind to wander and become stagnant.”

Scion rolled his optics.

“I hate when you talk like Alpha Trion,” he replied with a heavy vent. “His speeches are almost as boring as yours.”

“I am just glad that you are no longer throwing a tantrum,” Cyclonus bit back at the warframe. “It’s rather undignified and childish of you to still act in such ways.”

Scion shrugged. “I lost Soundwave. It feels like I lost my Sire too. Do you expect me to not have feelings about that Cyclonus? Do you expect me to just ‘accept’ that I lost my two closest clan members?”

Cyclonus vented, dropping his shoulders and looking fondly at Scion.

“I suppose that it would be rather foolish of me to,” he acknowledged. “You were very close to your clan. Seeing Kilotronyx so sparkless must be distressing for you.”

Scion remained silent for a moment, their pedesteps against the metal floor the only thing that rang around them for a moment.

“Do you think– do you think I could help her?” Scion eventually asked hesitantly. “With my… artifact?”

“Your fragment of the artifact gives life, Scion,” Cyclonus reminded the young Destron. “It cannot repair it.”

“You don’t know that, no one knows that,” Scion rumbled angrily. “I’ve never even tested my powers with it! Alpha Trion always said that I must never use it or reveal it or I will become a target!”

“That’s correct,” Cyclonus nodded, his mouth frowning as he reflected on the old prime archivist. “But Kilotronyx’s Spark is still lit, while your fragment of the Allspark can restore a lost spark, it cannot return her mind to her frame, which is the problem we currently face.”

Scion growled in frustration, kicking at the floor in irritation. Cyclonus didn’t even react to him slamming his pede down with a tremendous thud.

“If Soundwave were here, he would be able to help,” the D-Class grumbled. “He’s the one with the mind healing powers. He saved Kilo after she tried to erase Lord Requiem. Even Rung wasn’t able to do that.”

“Is that why you wished to become a doctor?” Cyclonus asked, turning his attention to Scion completely. “To be able to complement your brother?”

Scion stopped walking, standing in the middle of the corridor, his gaze on the huge doors that stood before them, the bridge of the ship lying beyond them.

“I just… I feel it in my Spark, in the fragment of the Allspark in my helm,” Scion murmured softly as Cyclonus watched him carefully. “I was meant to help people, you know? It’s what I wanted to do. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do even though I was given a frame that was made for war, made to take life.”

Cyclonus gazed at the young mech, his helm bowed as he stared at the floor before him, his gaze distant and lost in thought.

“Have you told other people about this?” Cyclonus pointed out quietly. “Why not tell your sire about this, or Rung? They could have set you up to study and become one. Chief Medical Officer Ratchet would have been more than happy to help you.”

“I did bring it up,” Scion shook his helm sadly. “I brought it up in school during a careers summit, a few cycles before I graduated. Everyone laughed at me. Everyone said that I’d never be a doctor because I was a warframe. A war engine and the offspring of a monster who decimated the population of the Southern Rustlands. So I got rid of all the textbooks I had bought and studied. I sold all the equipment I bought for myself to enter Medical school. Why keep it if I wasn’t going to pursue a medical career anymore?”

Scion was silent for a long moment then shook his helm sadly.

“So I gave it up, I never told Sire because I didn’t want her to feel guilty for being the reason I gave up on my dreams,” Scion muttered. “I didn’t even tell Soundwave. And I told Soundwave everything.”

Cyclonus stared at the youthful warframe, a despondent and hurt look on his face as he stared into space.

“You should tell Rung,” Cyclonus advised. “He would keep such things confidential and he would help you understand your feelings on this. I don’t think you should have given up so easily. Allow yourself to process–”

“There’s nothing to process!” Scion snapped at Cyclonus but then flinched, regretting his sudden aggressiveness. “There’s nothing to process anymore. It’s done. I’ll just become an engineer like sire.”

“Do you want to become an engineer?” Cyclonus asked pointedly and Scion scoffed and began stalking towards the bridge again.

“Of course I do!” Scion confuted, though Cyclonus sensed the falsehoods behind his enthusiasm. “It’s not my fault that the Allspark Fragment wants me to be something I am not!”

“Scion…” Cyclonus growled out but he was ignored, the young warframe continuing to rant.

“I didn’t ask to be born with a piece of that blasted thing, Cyclonus!” Scion snapped, annoyed. “I didn’t ask for my carrier to be the grandsparkling of a Prime!”

“Scion!” Cyclonus tried to call the young mech back but his call fell on deaf audials as Scion barged on to the bridge, his pedes stomping loudly against the floor.

“Oh!” Rung cried out and almost jumped out of his plating as Scion emerged out onto the bridge. “Oh goodness! My dear Mech you startled me!”

“I’m so sorry Rung!” Scion sheepishly apologised as he went over to the smaller orange and white mech who looked incredibly flustered. “I didn’t mean to scare you!”

Rung laughed heartily and gently patted Scion’s forearm’s comfortingly.

“It’s no trouble, dear mech,” he grinned up at him. “It is I who should be apologising for not being able to help Kilotronyx as much as I can.”

Scion gazed at Rung before looking at the tangled mess that was his sire as she still sat on the main pilot’s seat of the ship’s bridge, slumped forward and a nest of cables surrounding her.

He approached his sire’s slumped form and gently placed a servo on her pauldron, his optics searching her face for a flicker of life, for anything. He sighed and slumped his shoulders when he received no response.

“She talked to me before, through the ship computer,” Scion revealed to Rung as he straightened and let go of his sire’s shoulder. “Can she still talk?”

Rung vented quietly frowning as he adjusted the goggles over his optics.

“She’s been quiet for the past few Joors,” Rung informed the young mech. “I think her mind went to find Megatronus’s t-cog. Coda can no longer find any trace of it within the ship’s computer.”

Scion looked horrified and exchanged a glance with Cyclonus before looking towards the silent technician that was working away on her console in a corner of the fridge.

“Can you contact her? Bring her back?” Cyclonus asked, moving closer to the smaller orange mech.

“Not sure, but I think, if her mind is in Megatronus’s Subspace, we can use it as a beacon to lock on to the physical realm and figure out a way to phase back into reality,” Rung revealed, tapping his chin. “Perhaps she’s found a way to contact the Prime and alert him to our predicament!”

Scion’s optics lit up at his words.

“So we can finally get back!” He exclaimed excitedly.

Cyclonus however was more cautious, folding his arms across his chassis and looking down at Rung with a skeptical look.

“If Kilotronyx placed her mind into the t-cog of Megatronus, then what about her body? If we do get out of this Primus forsaken place then how can we be sure that her frame won’t just offline without it’s mind?” Cyclonus asked and Rung looked at Kilotronyx’s frame curiously. “Can her mind even be returned to its frame?”

“So long as her spark remains strong, her mind’s absence will not affect her frame,” Rung explained quietly. “To return her mind to her frame would require Megatronus’s tcog to be placed within her.”

“If we can even find the blasted tcog,” Cyclonus rumbled. “The universe is infinitely large– it could be anywhere!”

A loud beeping suddenly sounded through the bridge, a blue and silver mech rising from their console and attending to the ship's main console.

“What is it, Coda?” Cyclonus asked the technician as her fingers danced over the datapads as she worked. Finally, a loud pinging of a sonar echoed through the bridge, a single point appearing on the map.

There at the centre lay a solar system with a collection of strange planets surrounding a relatively small star. Upon one of the planets, sat the signal, pulsing like a spark, Prime energy covering the planet like a shroud.

“What is this?” Scion breathed, approaching the map and staring at it with awe.

“It’s an unknown star system,” Rung commented, amazed. “So many planets! Gas giants, rocky core worlds! Amazing!”

“This is perfect! There are so many planets we could cyberform here,” Cyclonus grinned like a maniac. “We could start many Cybertronian colonies here!”

“The Universe just told us where Megatronus’s tcog is,” Coda remarked with a smile in her voice. Cyclonus rolled his optics with a groan as Scion gave a sharp laugh. “It’s been removed and it’s calling out to its owner. Loudly.”

Rung looked aghast at the revelation.

“Why would Megatronus remove his cog?! Is he insane?” He exclaimed horrified.

“Perhaps to serve as a beacon for us to follow,” Coda mused quietly.

“Well then,” Scion started as he stared at the graphic displaying the map, the location of the tcog pulsing like a pulsar. “Shouldn’t we go and follow it?”

The pulsing beat stopped and went silent.

“It’s stopped its signal,” Coda informed the gathered crew.

“But can you trace where it came from?” Cyclonus asked and Coda nodded.

“Affirmative: I have its coordinates.”

“Well then, call Magmaflux in here and let’s go!” Scion cheered brightly.

“There’s so many planets in this star system!” Rung exclaimed. “Where would we even start?”

“Scan for lifeforms, I guess? Organic or Cybertronian?” Scion suggested with a shrug.

Rung pointed at him, a wide smile stretching across his face.

“Good idea!” He grinned. “And you considered yourself stupid.”

“I am stupid,” Scion rumbled, sadness appearing on his face. “Compared to Sire and Soundwave anyway.”

Rung tutted, shaking his helm and about to protest but he was cut off when Coda interrupted him.

“Cybertronian and organic lifeforms detected on the third heavenly body from the star,” Coda announced as she continued to scan the star system. “As well as–”

Silence fell over the group gathered on the bridge as something huge and horrifying hung in space near the port side of the ship as it slowed to enter the system.

It was a Cybertronian Ship. Highly advanced beyond anything that they had ever seen, a ship millenia of cycles in advancement to their own.

Or at least it once was.

Now it hung in space, spread across the space around them, debris and unexploded warheads passing harmlessly through their own ship. Though no one spoke it was perhaps for the better as the Cybertronian corpses floating through the wreckage did not need to have attention drawn to them.

“That’s a warship,” Cyclonus whispered, his voice filled with horror as their ship continued forward. “A Cybertronian Warship.”

“Did– did Quintessons do this?” Scion asked, terrified his entire frame beginning to tremble in horror. “What is this? What’s going on?!”

A large purple insignia came into view, carved into what one could assume was once the hull of the ship. The insignia was that of Megatronus Prime’s image staring back at them like a judgemental and furious spectre.

“... I think…” Rung started to say but his voice caught in his intake and he shuddered as he stared back at the insignia which stared into his very spark. “I think Cybertronians did this to each other…”

From left to right: Coda Octavia, Scion Fornax, Cyclonus, Rung and Kilotronyx Fornax.

CONTENT WARNING: Shockwave fantasising about torturing Megatron. It’s nasty. Shockwave is just nasty.

Shockwave watched on as the Autobot Second in Command led the Autobots back to base, the Dinobot King trailing far behind as it struggled to keep up with the other three automobiles. He watched as the squad of Autobots vanished through the hologram wall that barely passed as a deception to hide the entrance to Autobot base.

He nodded his strange one opticed helm in approval and stepped back, away from his main computer.

Frenzy had almost gotten the better of him, the sneaky cassette had been mere moments from warning the Autobots and Cybrids to not take her into their base but a quick stun to her processor stem kept her silent.

He had underestimated the little cassette. She had managed to detect his sleeper agent programming wrapped like a cyber python around her spark, she had managed to fire up defrag and anti-virus protocols in an attempt to try and cancel out his influence. The little thing had almost succeeded. Shockwave would be impressed if he wasn’t so infuriated by her tenacity.

It was unfortunate that he had to force her into stasis. If she were on his side she would be an incredibly vital asset to him. One of his most valuable weapons in his desire to rebuild Cybertron. Be rid of these disgusting organic creatures and a world of dirt.

A new Cybertron. A glorious one where the Decepticon’s ruled supreme and those that defied him were crushed under his heel. Perhaps then Megatron would see the error of his ways. To show him that he had become soft and weak, that this hideous world had eroded his strength and left him weak and a failure.

He would ideally like to see Megatron grovel, to see him pledge loyalty to him, but given that this was the bot who vowed to never kneel to anyone, that was unlikely.

A shame that he would have to kill him. In the days of the Rise, when he was apprenticed under the outspoken Termagax, Megatron would have been such a good ally, such a good weapon for him to point in the direction of the enemy. He could have used and manipulated him as Galvatron had used the young welp D13 and turned her into a person enforcer. Such a shame he could never find the origin of D16.

He had been an anomaly. By all accounts, Kilotronyx Fornax was the last Destron in existence and that mysterious little sparkling of hers. Scion Fornax.

Yet this D16 had appeared out of nowhere. There were no records of his emergence nor any details of any parentage. Most had assumed he had been cold constructed but Shockwave knew that was impossible. Destron’s were an ancient lineage whose power passed down through the ages. One could not synthesise a Destron artificially. His mentor, Termagax had tried and failed. He had tried and failed to do the same in his attempts to create one from Megatron’s, Kilotronyx’s and even Termagax’s CNA. The result was always the same, a mutated, faulty spark that corroded and ate away at whatever container it was placed within. It was beyond frustrating.

Megatron’s CNA was very potent. More so than Kilotronyx’s or Termagax’s. He had come from not one but two D-Class individuals. His spark was green and classified as a Heavyweight. He had the strength of a Prime, even without Megatronus Prime’s cog.

It meant that the sire had been formidable. A true Destron. Perhaps Kilotronyx had had another offspring as Lord Requiem or as the underling of Lord Galavatron. Maybe Megatron was a child of Galvatron himself? Perhaps, Shockwave considered skeptically, he had even come from Megatronus himself.

Where had Megatron come from?

The answer to a question that Shockwave had had since he had laid his optic on D16 when he had been brought before the High Guard so many years ago.

It mattered not. Once the Autobot base’s security defences were disabled he would strike, taking Megatronus’s Cog, the anchor needed to pull the Starship Requiem back into the physical realm. He would take the ship, kill the crew and use their Cyberforming technology to turn Earth into a New Cybertron, ruled by him. Megatronus Prime’s Artifact he would claim as his own, from the remains of Kilotronyx Fornax and that very special sparkling of hers.

Finally he would once again possess the Allspark. He would rip it out of the idiot child’s helm and bring forth armies to his new world. He would take Megatron from the Autobots too and delight in dissecting and examining every single fibre optic nerve. Every single inch of his frame would be pulled apart and reassembled to Shockwave’s whim for his scientific curiosity. His purpose. His revenge.

He would take Megatron’s spark, perhaps even Kilotronyx’s if it proved pure enough and he would split it, once, twice, thrice and forever more. He could create an army with no match. An army of Destron’s at his beck and call.

A beeping caught his attention and he looked to his console and then froze.

A signal was being transmitted from within the Autobot base. A loud and distinct signal. One that Shockwave himself had been hoping to use to bait the crew of the Requiem.

Megatronus’s T-Cog.

The Prime of Strength’s subspace had been activated just as he had intended. A beacon to the Shadowzone to draw out the Requiem and its crew. To draw out the ship and bring it to him.

He spun on his heel, optic narrowed and stalked out of his laboratory, reaching for the canister with Rumble’s remains inside only to find himself grabbing a soft, squishy object in his manipulator claw.

“What?!” Shockwave snarled as he drew the thing up to his helm.

Instead of the remains of the cassette Rumble, he found a small, pink, soft plush of some kind of equine Earth creature that gave a squeak every time he squeezed it. A small note was pinned to the thing's ear.

You suck bearings, Shockwave.
Love Roddy <3

Shockwave stared at the stupid thing, anger steadily growing in his lines. One of his bargaining chips against Soundwave had gone. Stolen by that wretched Autobot.

With a furious snarl, Shockwave blasted a hole through the hideous pink thing, setting it alight with an explosion of flammable stuffing and glitter.

At least he still had Frenzy to use against Soundwave. Perhaps if worse came to worse, he could use the insufferably hyperactive Autobot in the cell with him. It was perhaps foolish as the Communications officer had no attachment to the Autobot but with such an emotional and pathetic bot as Soundwave it could work in Shockwave’s favor.

The beeping from his console suddenly ceased and the scientist looked over to find that the signal from Megatronus’s t-cog had stopped and disappeared, now no trace of it remained, not even when he tried to trace Megatron’s electromagnetic signature.

If Shockwave could frown, he would have.

Did Megatron suspect something?

Something was going on and anxiety began to creep into his processor. Though he loathes to admit it, Megatron’s intelligence and cunning reminded him of Termagax. Perhaps even surpassed hers in terms of deceit and cunning. Some of his strategies even played exactly like hers. It was… odd, to say the least. His old mentor had always been one step ahead of him, she was a cunning old femme and had she survived Sentinel’s purge of the senate, she would have made a fine Decepticon.

Shockwave ignored the anxiety that threatened to consume his processors and pushed it aside.

As strong as Megatron was, he was no Termagax. Logically, Knockout would have shut down his t-cog to stop the idiot Destron from transforming and injuring himself further. Megatron knew nothing of his plans. He knew nothing of the Requiem and its crew and so he would have no reason to hide his cog. It was impossible.

Shockwave grunted, annoyed at himself for being distracted and turned towards the door of his laboratory.

Anxiety and doubts stopped only the most unintelligent and illogical of creatures.

He needed to press on. There was much work to be done.