Chương 53: LOG-047.

Tap. Tap. Tap. The sound of one of my digits tapping against the edge of the berth holding up Skyquake's corpse echoed throughout the lab slightly, even as I continued to stare at a silent (as per usual) Soundwave. Tap. Tap. Tap. Slowly, I stopped my stalling and turned away, turning to glance at the readout projected from a small monitor I had hooked up next to the deceased Seeker, cables trailing from its exterior and into his sparkchamber.

"Allow me to summarise." The Decepticon spymaster dipped his helm ever so slightly. A nod of assent. I took it as permission to continue. I grasped a small bundle of wires, inspecting their integrity for a moment before setting them down, turning back and doing my best to glare at the intelligence officer.

"You, without informing anyone, hijacked a trio of communication satellites in orbit." A nod. I raised my servo, clenching it slightly.

"You then repurposed these satellites to relay a general tightbeam recall signal as far as their systems could power such a transmission, which, if my calculations are not entirely incorrect, could quite well breach the edges of other galaxies, considering the restricted nature of the transmission." Lowering my servo, I tilted my helm.

"Burning out the satellites in question, as a matter of course. They're little more than rusted wrecks, now." Another nod, the mech remained stiff jointed, standing as straight as his lanky frame could allow. I parodied a sigh, despite having little to no air to actually cycle through my vents.

"Our situation is precarious. Our ceasefire with the Autobots remains upheld only due to my own admittedly heavy handed manipulation of our remaining troops. Even now, most of our actual officers remain under armed guard in order to prevent foolish attempts at sabotaging Optimus' journey to the Core." Tilting my helm once more, I stared at the spymaster.

"Despite the fragile nature of the peace I have secured, you have gone and called in every Decepticon you possibly can. Even if most refuse the call, enough will arrive to horrifically offset the careful balance I have made. Not to mention the Autobots that will no doubt follow them, once such an inherently large amount of movement is inevitably detected. It will be the biggest gathering of Cybertronians in literal eons." If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

I paused, thoughts whirling through my processor, before once more levelling a blank stare at the former gladiator.

"Why? What is the logic behind your actions, Soundwave?" A moment of silence passed, the intelligence officer presumably organising his own response. My question was answered by a thousand and one voices, their words stitched together in a haphazard parody of speech. Yet for Soundwave, it was more than enough.

"Cybertron Will Be Revived, One Way Or The Other. My Loyalty Belongs To Lord Megatron. You Have Done Much. You Are A True Saviour. You Are A Temporary Threat. I Do Not Know Which. I Can Not Accept Such An Uncertainty In Power. Others Will Arrive. Some Will Join You. Others Will Resist. You Will Either Unite Us All. Or You Will Be Offlined, And The War Will Resume." I paused, digesting the babble of words effectively spat at me. A rather brutal way of circumventing his vow of silence.

Frustration, anger and generally unpleasant feelings threatened to bubble to the surface. The Shadowplay put a stop to that, letting me look at things more objectively, without the messy tinge of emotion complicating things. I glanced down at Skyquake's rusted frame for a moment, before looking back to Soundwave.

"You want me to prove myself?" Or more specifically, he wanted me to prove that I actually could pull off ending the war. It was one thing to revive Cybertron. To keep it under my control, was another matter entirely. There would be no small number of competitors ready to try and wrestle control of it away from me, after all. The fucker wanted to see if I would sink or swim in my efforts, effectively. A nod, almost as if he had heard my thoughts, even as another deluge of mixed and matched voices poured over me.

"You Have No Intention Of Allowing Megatron Access To Power. You Believe Him Obsolete. The Dark Energon Has Been Purged From His System For Some Time, Yet You Have Not Awoken Him. You Seek Complete Control Of The Decepticon Cause. You Seek Complete Control Of Our Homeworld." I paused, before slowly nodding.

"I don't intend to allow his warmongering to resume, no. And yet you don't contest that?" That blank visor remained utterly motionless for all of a few seconds, before dipping slightly. Somehow, whether it was physical or just a glitch in my processor, some odd result of my imagination, I almost felt the wave of sorrow emanate from the mech.

"My Lord Has Lost His Way. Yet I Can Not Abandon Him." Soundwave's visor looked back up, a piercing stare shooting straight into my lone optic.

"There Is Much To Be Done. There Are Decepticons To Reign In. Autobots To Negotiate With. Outliers To Eliminate. The Planet Will Require Extensive Reconstruction. I Am Still Of Significant Use. Your Creations Are Young. Inexperienced. You Require My Loyalty, With No Ulterior Motive To Hinder Our Efforts. You Require An Experienced Second In Command. At Least Until Everything Is Finished And Left In Order." Crossing my arms, I sighed.

"You are a valuable asset. So tell me then, Soundwave. What will your loyalty cost me?" His response was predictable. Yet it still sent an uncomfortable shiver down my spinal strut.

"Allow Me To Care For My Lord. Ensure That He Remains Online, Even If He Is Kept Captive. Do This, And I Am Yours, Shockwave."... The mech truly was obsessed. Talk about a fucking yandere. Or whatever the technical term would be for... whatever Megatron and Soundwave had going on. I wasn't so noble as to not take advantage of such a fact, however. It was only practical, after all. Waving a servo, I nodded.

"Megatron will be left in your care, indefinitely. In exchange, I expect your full cooperation until the war truly ends. A fair deal, where both of us benefit in our own ways." A silent nod ensured the deal was struck. Turning around, I began to make my way toward the Forge, still suspended in its containment unit. I paused as a dozen different voices laughed at me, my own voice being played back as the laughter ended.

"A fair deal, where both of us benefit in our own ways. How very logical." I huffed a small laugh of my own, shaking my helm.

"Then we are in agreement. I expect a copy of the transmission you sent, alongside a preliminary list of the various parties you predict we will be facing in the coming cycles." Tilting my helm, I added another command to the list.

"Oh, and dispatch Laserbeak to shadow Optimus. I want to see the Allspark returned to its rightful place. Record it as well, if possible." Another chorus of laughter.

"As You Say, Commander."