Transformers: The New Launch

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    Shockwave

    "Yes you may, if it eases your mind."

    The scientist offered a friendly tone, before Megatron came over. He gave Soundwave a brief glance, tapping his own digits together as a way to preoccupy himself. Whether or not Soundwave would talk to the other mech, he was unsure but Shockwave knew to keep himself out of conversations.


    "Indeed he is. As for getting stronger, you just have to see what you're up against."

    Shadowblitz offered a faint smile, but it didn't sooth her mood at all. She shifted to leave the room, before realizing that maybe it would be best if they stayed for the moment. Returning to the seat she had sat in for the meeting, she sat down and crossed one leg over the other.


    When Megatron strolled up, Blind Heat recoiled back a few steps. She would have to speak after he received his answers, she stepped back and off to the side. Quietly, she began to fiddle and calibrate her seeing eye piece that hung from the back of the helm, rearranging wires as she waited.


    Skywarp glanced towards Blind Heat, before he pushed himself out of his chair. Unsure how to feel about the upgraded Soundwave, the violet Seeker made his way to leave the room. May as well gather the tools and such for the next bit of time.

    ------

    "I doubt it will take too long. And as a benefit, Firefly can remain here and give me any updates as needed."

    Swarm glanced to her symbiote that was residing on Kickback's digits, it perking up at its name. It fluttered off of his digits and tilted its head at Swarm, before flying off. The femme's shoulder plating shifted before her gaze returned back to Kickback.

    "They will keep me updated on anything, including outside of the nest. Alright?"

    Swarm Master


    MEGATRON

    "Still not talking to me then?"

    Megatron vented a long sigh before he turned and walked away, returning a moment later with a chair for himself. Setting himself up in front of Soundwave he then reached a servo forward and rested it on the young mech's knee pad.

    "You saw bad things, didn't you? And I will not deny that I did them either, and I need you to understand that right now I want nothing more than to help these people in this world. I need everyone to work with me because sitting here mulling over the past and ignoring each other will not let us move forward. Lives can be lost if you let the grudges win. Please, Soundwave, I need you to open up."

    He spoke, keeping his voice low and steady as he tried to convince the other mech to stop pushing him out.


    Soundwave continued to ignore him at first, but eventually he caved and he heaved a long sigh.

    "Fine. I shall speak and listen, for now. Sideways did this to me. I suppose if I hadn't been trying to avoid you I would not be in this predicament. I wouldn't have been punched by Starscream either."

    Maybe Megatron was right, holding a grudge did lead to disaster in a way.

    "But leave me be, please. I wish to rest and adjust."


    "Guess we outta return to Soundy, just in case he needs somebody to hug. Guy gets needy when stressed. Nice talk though."

    Rumble spoke after Shadowblitz sat down. He was beginning to miss being with the boss anyway. Frenzy on the other hand seemed less inclined about budging from his seat on the femme's shoulder pad.

    "I'll stick with Blitz if she'll tolerate me."


    Spotting Skywarp the blue Seeker moved to catch up with him. May as well help him move the things they needed to conduct the repairs.

    "Heh, glad we're not Sideways, I think he's screwed if he pops up again without a proper explanation."

    He lightly joked, though he knew the situation was pretty serious.


    --


    "Very well then. Let us go."

    Kickback replied before he transformed to his grasshopper form. Shrapnel followed suit as he too transformed and began to lead the way back to the tunnel so they could get going.


    SOUNDWAVE

    Shadowblitz

    "I can easily tolerate you, despite not being able to tell who from who."

    Honestly, that was mostly a joke. After last night, hearing Rumble say Frenzy's name and something about her being the one he liked, there was distinct difference between the two. Shadowblitz shifted and offered a servo so Rumble could easily hop down.


    "Especially with Blitz and Blind. I'm pretty sure Blind feels like slag after yesterday."

    The purple Seeker nodded his head at the mention of Sideways, though slightly grimaced. He couldn't see how the other warper could have done it, what purpose was there to upgrading someone much more than needed? Maybe there was something underneath the basic top of what was going on.


    Blind Heat moved her way off to the side to sit near the resting Sixshot, crossing her legs and continuing with calibration. A soft hiss of pain came from her when her own system shocked her, moving around the wrong wire. Grumbling to herself, she switched it back.

    -----

    Swarm seemed to relax a bit as Kickback agreed, before transforming herself. Honestly, her alt mode was similar to an atlas beetle, though missing a large horn as her blades served as two out of the three. She trailed after Shrapnel, little symbiotes slipping out of her armor before weaving back in.

    Swarm Master


    MEGATRON

    "Aw come on! I'm clearly the handsome one, and he's the aft!"

    Frenzy chimed in with a laugh as he found amusement in the remark. They weren't exactly the easiest to tell apart except by colour, but even then they were not that far apart in that sense either. Rumble snorted loudly in annoyance as he hopped onto the servo and accepted the help as he returned to the floor.

    "Stay out of trouble then, bro. And keep in contact, because if ya see that slagger I want to be involved in the scuffle."

    He called back before he sprinted across the room back to Soundwave.


    Soundwave felt something down by his feet and saw that it was Rumble. Helping the Cassetticon onto his lap he then wrapped his arms around him and savoured the familiar company. Dimming his optics he then attempted to rest for a moment, feeling comfortable enough to relax for a moment whilst he could.


    --


    "Yeah... Once we finish this job we really ought to make use of the peace of today and help to cheer her up."

    Thundercracker suggested they arrived at the supplies room where the maintenance gear was kept. Opening the door he then headed inside.

    "What do you think we'll need? Welder? Hammers?"


    --


    Arriving back on the surface the two Insecticons promptly began to check their surroundings as they made sure that no meddling Autobots had appeared near their hive. Nothing immediately caught their attention but that didn't stop Kickback from hopping about and triple checking. Shrapnel left him to it, there was no stopping the obsessive behaviour once it started. In the meantime he waited for Swarm to take the lead for the next stint of the journey.




    SOUNDWAVE

    Shadowblitz

    The femme rolled her optic and chuckled a bit at Frenzy's chime, before giving a glance towards Rumble as he rushed off. Shadowblitz pushed herself back to standing, going to look around a bit more. Maybe even check on the refugees from the previous day.

    "How do you feel about exploring a bit, hm?"


    Blind Heat soon finished her recalibration, her biolights flickering back online as she hopped up from her spot. Taking one last glance towards Soundwave, she made her way to duck out of the room. May as well get to work before Swarm returns, she didn't need another scolding like the previous evening.

    -------

    "Probably just hammers. If it's heat spikes, should be simple enough to fix the hatch."

    Skywarp ducked inside as well, glancing around briefly. He wasn't even sure what was going on down with hatch leading towards the mines. Hopefully Blind had a better explanation or an explanation in general.

    ------

    Swarm watched Kickback hop around for several moments before she began to take the lead towards the main base. Hopefully this would be a shorter trip than the way there, she had to take down an old colleague. Someone she had trusted, but ended up betraying and getting their unit shut down.

    Swarm Master


    MEGATRON

    A snicker escaped Frenzy as he sidled along her shoulder plating so he could be closer to her helm, attempting to lean against it for a moment.

    "You had me at 'exploring' Blitzy. Lets go have a little adventure, heh!"

    The Cassetticon replied with boldness and eagerness in his vocal patterns, a typical enabler for potential trouble-making.


    --


    "Yeah, I suppose. Here, lets take this tool kit instead. It has a hammer in it and some other things, that way we won't get caught out with our aft plates down."

    Thundercracker suggested as he discovered the useful kit at the back of the shelf. Clearly someone had been trying to hide it, just not well enough it seemed. The Seeker quickly ensured that it was a complete kit before he moved to exit the storage room with the bag in his grasp.

    "So... Skywarp, when did she tell you anyway? About, you know... her feelings."

    Just how long had the sneaky warper been holding that secret down? In fact, how did he even manage to hold the secret at all?


    --


    Seeing Swarm setting off the two Insecticons fell in behind her, Kickback keeping up with ease with every long hop he took. Shrapnel in the end was not fast enough on foot so resorted to deploying his wings and buzzed after them. But neither of them ceased monitoring their surroundings, clearly concerned about any incoming attacks. Could never tell with those blasted Autobots.



    SOUNDWAVE

    Shadowblitz

    "Just don't cause too much trouble."

    Shadowblitz had to stifle a laugh behind a servo, a smile on her face as she realized what she said. One way or another, there was going to be some sort of trouble wherever they went. It followed her here with the fragging Hydracons.

    ------

    "Would you believe me if I said right after she took down that Leadflight guy? She seemed pretty shaken when she took down that one, but she confided in me while you were away."

    Skywarp smirked a bit as he followed after the blue Seeker, wings twitching faintly. He chuckled as he slipped past the other mech, crossing his arms.

    "If you wonder how I kept it, she threatened to sick Swarm on me."

    ------

    Swarm quietly rumbled to herself, optics continuously scanning the area for anything other than themselves. After the previous day, she was more on edge than normal. But, thankfully they had Megatron back on their side. Then again, who knew what was going to happen when she returned to the base and heard what occurred.

    Swarm Master


    MEGATRON

    "Advice noted."

    Frenzy snorted with amusement before he began to look around himself, his visor glowing a little more brightly as he took a serious moment of thought. Touching a digit to his bottom lip he then turned his helm to look at Shadowblitz.

    "Think we should check back at Sideways' room? Just in case he's been back."

    It seemed logical enough, they might even get a clue about where the guy was holing up in the meantime.


    --


    "Really? Swarm? I doubt that, I've seen you break secrets with even the threat of Omega Supreme darkening your door."

    Thundercracker growled as he pouted at Skywarp, though it soon erupted into a massive smirk as he aimed to flick the purple Seeker's nose before he sprang away with a chortle.

    "Skywarp the softy! I knew you had a soft side, ha!"

    He teased playfully, fluttering his wings as he moved off down the hallway towards the job site.


    --


    Soon enough the terrain became increasingly more familiar and the Insecticons knew that they were close to the main base. It had been a while since their last visit here, a very long time in fact. Normal Cybertronians had never fully understood them so they had opted to move out to avoid inhouse conflict and to gain ground on their own private projects.

    "This landscape looks terrible."

    Kickback remarked as he noted the increased number of collapsed building dotting the landscape.



    SOUNDWAVE

    Shadowblitz

    "It's a good place to start. Also see if he's had contact with anyone outside of this base."

    Shadowblitz glanced at Frenzy, since he was on the shoulder closest to her working optic. Turning her gaze away, she walked out of the room and towards Sideways's room. Not sure what to expect, she glanced down at her sharper-than-normal digits before continuing forward. A bad feeling settled in her tanks, but she ignored the feeling to purge and swallowed the trickle of energon bubbling at the back of her intake.

    --------

    Skywarp was a bit stunned when he got his nose flicked, scrunching up his face a bit before rubbing his nose.

    "Yeah yeah, don't let anyone else hear 'bout it. I would never hear the end of it from Screamer or Rad."

    The violet Seeker rolled his optics as he strolled after Thundercracker, hearing the familiar noise of Blind Heat scrambling down the hall. About time she caught up, he glanced back towards the femme as she slid to a walk next to Skywarp.

    -----------

    "It gets worse. Though, the majority of damage is on the outskirts rather than next to the main base."

    Swarm rumbled a reply before she halted, another one of her small symbiotes buzzing in front of her alt mode's optics. It took only a mere communication of the symbiote's own optics flashing before the femme continued forward.

    "Be wary... I'm unsure if any Autobots scout out this far."

    Swarm Master


    MEGATRON

    Frenzy fell silent as they neared the room and he wished he had a weapon at that moment, like a cop! Or a detective! But nope, he had nothing except his fists and voice. Gripping Shadowblitz's armour a little more firmly he prepared to keep himself stable in case things got vigorous, assuming a fight or struggle might come up.


    --


    "Fine, fine. On the condition that you knock from now on rather than barging in."

    Thundercracker chuckled as he paused and spun around, looking quite giddy at that moment. At least it was an improvement compared to the morning when he had been a whiny, mopey lug. Hearing Blind Heat's approach he let a smile fill his features.

    "Blind Heat, over here! We've got the tools for you!"

    He called out as he decided to wait for her to catch up.


    --


    "They're likely all tucked up in the nicer parts of Iacon. ...Iacon..."

    Shrapnel chipped in as he tried to ease Kickback's nerves. But what could he expect from a grasshopper? Oh course the guy was going to be jumpy, it was his base nature. Kickback twitched his antennae as he hopped along, though he suddenly stopped and reared up, looking around himself.

    "Someone is here!"



    SOUNDWAVE

    Shadowblitz

    Shadowblitz let out a deep venting sigh and peaked into the room, finding nothing but a busted door. Blinking her optic, she looked down at the broke door before stepping over it and into the room.

    "Assuming the broken door is Soundwave's doing?"

    She asked Frenzy, looking around the room with a physical wince. No sign of Sideways, besides his datapads and such sort of tossed around. Maybe he came back once after they left, but he wasn't here at the moment.

    -------

    Blind Heat looked up and smiled faintly, before quickly catching up to Thundercracker. Fixing her visor, noticing it was a bit crooked, she began to walk alongside Thundercracker.

    "Good, should be a quick fix from what Swarm inputted into the database. Though, you never know with the mines."

    The femme shrugged, Skywarp catching up to the other two.

    "Just don't get into too much trouble below the hatch."

    He chimed in, earning a playful punch to the shoulder plating from Blind Heat.

    -------

    Swarm stopped at the mention that someone was there, quickly transforming and looking around. Her optics caught sight of someone atop some rubble, and stepped towards the strange bot. What stared back at her was a green optic, though the paint of who it was couldn't be seen. It was shrouded in... something foreign.

    Swarm Master


    MEGATRON

    "Yup. Punched Sideways right through it. I've never been prouder of Soundy until that moment, nearly brought a tear to my optic."

    Frenzy confirmed with a dreamy sigh as he reflected back on that wonderful moment. Maybe the upgrades weren't that bad then, at least the blue and white mech could fight now and was tall enough to stare folk down.

    "You should have seen it, it was brill!"

    Then something floated back into his mind that caused him to jump a little.

    "Oh! That slagger had this thing that blocked our comms channel so we couldn't call for help. We may have forgotten to grab it earlier, it should be on the berth I think if it's still here."


    --


    Thundercracker chuckled lightly as he led the way. It wasn't a long trek to the upper hatch that would give them access to the lower levels. Pulling it open he then felt a weird charge in the air that made him recoil.

    "Yup... this is the place. Brrrr!"

    He did not enjoy that strange sensation at all. It pretty much confirmed that this was the residue left over from Sunbreaker.


    --


    Both Kickback and Shrapnel transformed and drew their blasters as they prepared for the worst. The stranger gave them the creeps, and that was really saying something considering that they were Insecticons.

    "Identify yourself!"

    Kickback barked in demand as he took aim.



    SOUNDWAVE

    Shadowblitz

    "Communications scrambler, maybe?"

    Shadowblitz looked around for the device and spotted it right on the berth, luckily offline. She picked up the device and rotated it around in a servo, before spotting a hidden datapad. Maneuvering towards it, she picked it up and was a bit startled at the picture that was set as the background. Sideways and his Soundwave, standing in their universe.

    -----

    "She really needs to learn how to control that output. I'm might suffer from another internal heat shut down.... Bottoms up."

    With that, Blind Heat offered a grin at Thundercracker and jumped down into the hatch, knowing there was a bit of a drop. Luckily for the shock absorbents and the spring-locks in her pedes, it didn't cause damage, just a minor bounce.


    ".... She's insane, I hope you realize that."

    Skywarp pointed out, hearing an "I HEARD THAT!" from Blind Heat below. The purple Seeker snickered, smirking a bit as he adjusted to the strange charge slowly. Though, it made him shudder a few times.

    ----

    "You wouldn't fire on an old friend, would you?"

    A deep tone floated through the air, making Swarm tense up. The strange substance around the figure faded, showing the old version of Shadowblitz from their world. Honestly, it was a trick from Startail, as told by the long tail-like apendage that drifted behind the stranger.


    "N-no... you're back at base."

    Swarm pulled one of her blades off her side, the strange vanishing and suddenly appearing dead in front of her. Startail grinned massively as she slammed her hand into the chest of the other femme, pushing her heavily back onto the ground before vanishing from sight once more.

    Swarm Master


    MEGATRON

    "Yeah, that thing."

    Frenzy confirmed as Shadowblitz gave the device a name, and sure enough found it too exactly where he had said.

    "Bet we could find a real good use for that doohicky as well, good thing the idiot left it behind."

    However it was the next discovery that shocked him the most and even drew a quiet gasp from him. The image certainly shed light on the situation.

    "That Sideways fella was trying to turn our boss into that guy. Wait... he kept mentioning wanting his brother back. Did he do this because he lost his own one?"


    --


    "Another internal heat shutdown... I sense more cuddles heading my way then."

    Thundercracker couldn't help but grin over that little factor as he looked forward to later, provided that nothing went wrong and spoiled his chances. Though he had to stifle his laugh as Skywarp made his remark.

    "Insane, and forgetful. I still have the tool kit. Watch out below!"

    He called down as he dropped the bag down for her, hoping she caught it anyway. There was enough jiggly objects inside it to give a hint about where it was.


    --


    Confusion descended over the two Insecticons and they faltered; big mistake. Next thing they knew Swarm was on the ground and their assailant had disappeared from view. The two clicked and chattered away as they communicated with each other before bolting into action. Shrapnel hurried to Swarm and tried to get her up whilst Kickback ran towards a slope that would take him to some elevated ground so he could get a better vantage point.

    "Show yourself!"

    Kickback hissed as he primed his gun, his wings flaring up as the tension grew.


    SOUNDWAVE

    Shadowblitz

    "That could be very possible... And having to go through losing his own, seeing this one die, and then for yours to appear must have triggered a reaction."

    Shadowblitz frowned a bit at that, and let a sigh split from her vents as she sat down the data pad.

    "Could be like when I was startled with seeing my own team... Their sparks had been ripped out by the Seekers in my world, and just- it's a jumble of emotions seeing at least a pair of them sticking together."

    The femme explained a bit sadly, before forcing herself to remain focused. She began to look around the room for any sign of where Sideways may have gone, sifting through datapads and shelves.

    --------

    Blind Heat glanced up and caught the bag with a subtle 'oof' before she began to look around for the problem. The sound of a spark caught her attention, and she smirked a bit as she made her way over to the problem. Heating, of course from the residue, and broken wires... but from what? The femme pulled off her visor, using her infared vision to find the sparking wires and connecting them again.

    -----

    "I'm fine Shrapnel. Kickback, fall back and come on. We best rush, then."

    Swarm grunted as she got up with the mech's assistance, looking around as her faceplates clamped down in defense. She pulled her other blade out from her hip plating, holding the two weapons as she looked around. She couldn't see Startail, mostly because Startail had made her way to hiding up pretty high.

    Swarm Master


    MEGATRON

    "I feel a little bad now. But not entirely. He still butchered my boss, and I mean, seriously, if he wanted to be part of the crew he could have just asked. Soundy is a softy, he wouldn't turn away a lonely guy like that. A little late now though."

    Frenzy frowned and shook his head, though he could sympathise with going insane over losing a brother. What would he do if something happened to Rumble?

    "Can you get access into the datapad? Maybe get more info?"


    --


    Thundercracker sat himself down and twiddled his thumbs as he waited for orders from Blind Heat. There wasn't much he could do in the meantime. Looking at Skywarp he then shrugged his shoulders a little.

    "Think we can pull off the plan tomorrow?"

    It seemed like a long shot to him, but maybe he was being pessimistic considering their failures leading up to this moment. Too much hardship, so getting a win was like an impossibility.


    --


    Shrapnel nodded and stepped back before he transformed and prepared to fly, but Kickback failed to heed the call and remained exactly where he was with his gun held up. He was raring for a fight, and eager to rush to the defence of his hive.

    "Get going you two!"



    SOUNDWAVE

    Shadowblitz

    "I can try."

    Shadowblitz picked up the datapad once again, turning and sitting on the edge of the berth. She didn't feel comfortable sitting in here, but it had to have some sort of key if she couldn't access the datapad herself. Beginning to try and access the data, she turned her attention solely to it.

    ------

    "With Megatron, no doubt. Swarm is a good leader, but she has her flaws. The only time she really ever focuses is if that symbiote she calls Firefly is with her."

    Skywarp shrugged his shoulder plating as he leaned against the wall next to the upper hatch, crossing one pede over the other. Though, he couldn't help but be nervous, what was to be though of Sideways now since Soundwave was forcibly upgraded?


    Blind Heat felt the marks that lined the wires before quickly finding a replacement cover and welding it on. She shuddered a bit as her biolights flickered offline once more, she lifted up the bag as she went to look around for anything out of place.

    -----

    "Kickback! That is an-!"

    Swarm's voice was cut off by a bit of a gasp, Startail appearing close range and slammed a blade into the optic of the other femme. The jumper vanished from sight once more, leaving Swarm standing and a bit stunned. Her servos twitched but she didn't move from where she was standing.

    Swarm Master


    MEGATRON

    Frenzy amused himself by watching at first, but eventually his short attention span got the better of him as he climbed down Shadowblitz's back and made his way across the berth. He couldn't believe what he had witnessed mere hours ago right here. Resting his servos on his hips he began pacing around the berth and looking at what else was in the room with the hopes that something else could help them, or that he could learn more about Sideways and his weird world.


    --


    "Yeah. But... what if we don't take Swarm on the mission? You know how unstable she is sometimes."

    Thundercracker felt weird suggesting it, but perhaps it was for the best. Besides, she deserved a break anyway.

    "Tell you what else will be weird tomorrow; flying as a trine again."


    --


    "Swarm! ...Swarm..."

    Shrapnel rushed back to her and was soon joined by Kickback who had jumped down to rejoin them at last.

    "Oh scrap! Swarm, are you alright?"

    He didn't like the look of the wound and he instinctively moved to grab Swarm's servo as he tried to get her moving.

    "Come on! We can't wait here!"



    SOUNDWAVE

    Shadowblitz

    The femme crossed her pedes, slowly continuing to try and access the device. After several moments, a few beeps came from the datapad and the femme raised her servos a bit.

    "Either I'm a genius, or I just know how to crack these things."

    A sarcastic note wormed its way into her vocal processor, continuing to tap away on the datapad.

    "Seems he enjoys ranting about his universe, not from here. Something about Cyber Planet Keys, something about Unicron... Multiple planets, Galvatron..."

    ------

    "That's for sure, flying as a trine. We haven't done that in... Primus knows how long."

    Skywarp laughed a bit, not minding the idea of leaving Swarm behind at all. It was good, simple, and he had a good fragging point.


    Gulping down a ventful of air, Blind Heat continued down the tunnel away from the main entrance. She was nervous about what she would find without the accompaniment of two Seekers as helpers, but she may as well check the whole area.

    -----

    Swarm blinked the optic without a fragging knife in it and squinted a bit, before she felt her servo was grabbed. Phasing back into reality and out of her daze, she shook her helm a bit.

    "I'm fine, lets go!"

    The femme continued to lead them back to the main base, now at a faster pace with the fact that Startail had appeared. Who knew who else was around. Ignoring the wound and weapon in her face, she unclamped her faceplates and began to rush a bit.

    Swarm Master


    MEGATRON

    "Knew you were smart when I first saw ya... well, when I saw ya through Soundy's optics anyway."

    Frenzy replied as he hurried back over and rudely tried to force his way onto her lap, not really having much of a concept of personal space. Peering at the datapad he then tilted his helm to one side as they gained some snippets about the other universe.

    "Unicron? Now that gives me the creeps. Heard about the Destroyer at the Academy, eats planets apparently. Did Sideways' universe face that beast?"

    Damn, now he was feeling even more sorry for the guy.


    --


    "Really is looking like the old days again. But I also worry about Lord Megatron. He's an Autobot... what if he struggles to fight against 'bots who are his friends in his universe? He seems really obsessed about finding the Prime."

    Thundercracker mulled over the concern. Could they really trust the new Decepticon leader, especially if said leader won't even wear the badge? It just bothered him and it screamed potential liability.


    --


    Neither Kickback or Shrapnel needed telling twice as they hurried along. The sooner they got away the better. However a set of red optics watched them from the shadows cast by a collapsed building. Ravage narrowed his optics as he stalked the scene, making use of his cloaking to avoid too much detection. He had seen enough though and slipped away again to proceed with more of his own mission. But already he had learned a lot from the time that he had been loose.



    SOUNDWAVE