Penance; Committed
Jasper, Nevada
Miko was upset, she wasn’t able to see the Nemesis Prime and now she was walking through the wilderness that made up the backyard of their home, as Miko had walked through the area, she had seen that there was a noise, the sound of drilling which had made her curious as she had went and headed towards the source of the noise, wondering what it was that was doing this.
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Soundwave was irritated as she had attempted to drill in for the location of the artifact, again after the last day of searching she had, moving it in minute angles to try and get it correctly, “Soundwave, you’ve been at this for a day! We should call in a mining team!” Laserbeak had told her, “Not yet! I can–” She started to say when there was a noise that had made her slow the drills down to listen in on the conversation.
Miko was shocked by what was going on, cautious, she has went and called Bulkhead, “Miko?” The Wrecker asked, “What’s–?” “Soundwave’s in my backyard!” she had whispered to Bulkhead, taking a picture of The Spymaster when she had heard a trilling, she looked and saw that Laserbeak was there, catching her with his tendrils before flying back, “Miko? Miko?!” Bulkhead said to the fallen phone.
Soundwave looked at The Casseticon coming with the human, the one that was usually around Bulkhead, “Found this one here, she called Bulkhead so we need to–!” He had started to say to the Femme when there was the sound of metal hitting metal, making Soundwave look down and see the object, “Hey! Decepticreep!” The one called Miko said to her, “You’re gonna be in big trouble when Bulkhead comes!” she said.
But Soundwave wasn’t listening as she had went and pulled out the octangular piece of metal with a bud like a flower as well as a crimson button, “Do you know what this is?” Soundwave asked, “No.”“Nay.” The two of them said as she had went and was planning to show it to Knock Out when Miko had struggled out of Laserbeak’s grasp, “Soundwave–” He went, but it was too late.
Miko had went and leapt onto the red button, thinking that this would blast right into Soundwave faceplate, but instead, the bud had opened up and released a field of crimson energy, enveloping both of them before they vanished, leaving the object behind as Bulkhead rushed through a Ground Bridge, “Miko?!” he shouted, looking around and worrying at where the young human was with Soundwave.
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Penance Station, Epsilon Ariadne
The two of them had went and started to wake up now, looking around now at the new location that they found themselves in, it was strange, looking like it was built for someone as big as Soundwave, “That must have been a Transwarp pad.” Laserbeak had said and she was in agreement with that as they had all started to get situated with their surroundings now.
Miko was shocked and looking around everywhere, trying to understand what had happened to her when she saw that Soundwave was getting up as well, reacting, Miko grabbed a piece of rebar, “Yaah!” she had went, hitting him in the foot but Soundwave didn’t react, instead he had just looked around, “Where the frag are we?” Laserbeak asked as Soundwave opened a door.
“Woah.” Miko went, looking into the room as well, it was chained Cybertronians, starved to death with a symbol that she had seen in an old manifesto, "What's that?" Miko asked out loud as Soundwave knelt down and started to scan their features, looking for any bots in particular and not finding them there, it relieved Soundwave a bit as she had gotten up.
"Okay, we need comms." She thought to Laserbeak who nodded and disengaged to interact with the systems while she had went and headed towards a window, “Hey!” Miko had went followed her, climbing up with irritation before she saw what Soundwave saw, “Woah, I’M IN SPACE!?” she went, sounding excited but Soundwave was more worried now as she didn’t recognized the stars.
“Laserbeak–” “Checked The Star Chart.” he had said, sounding scared, “We’re on Penance.” He said and that made Soundwave want to scream, “Where are we?” Miko had wondered as all of a sudden, there was a whine as the intercom turned on, they were speaking Middle Neocybex, it wasn’t a language that she was familiar with, but from what she could tell, they were not happy to see them.
“That doesn’t sound good.” Laserbeak had said as the three of them had looked around, “Hey, Soundwave! I know you can use recordings! Can you tell me where we are?” She had said to them and hearing that, Soundwave had decided to give her an answer, “<Penance Station.>Ratbat” She had told the human, “Okay? That’s not a lot to go on.” she had said to her, but Soundwave was focused on escape.
She had went and pulled out a panel, trying to get the tendrils in but they were too big, “Hey!” Miko went, trying to get him to talk to her like– wait, could he talk? “Laserbeak, see if you can attach to the communications array.” She had said to her Casseticon, Laserbeak detached and had attempted to attach to the array, but his wings were too large and he tendrils were too short.
“Frag!” The CCO had said, “Great! We’re both too big to–!” “おい！(Hey!)” Miko shouted, making Soundwave look her way, which was when Miko had started to move her hands, Soundwave scanning it and recognizing it as JSL, “<Can you not talk?>” Miko had asked of the bot who had created text on her face screen, “Come here, I need you to access the communication array.” She told Miko.
Miko though just glared at her as the human kept back from her, “Why should I trust you?” she had asked of Soundwave, hearing that, Soundwave got irritated but knew that she couldn’t react in anger right now, “<Because if we don’t work together, we’ll starve.>” She had told Miko, making the human look at her in surprise before walking to her so that they can try and get out of here.
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Autobot Outpost Omega–One, Nevada
“This is a Quintesson Transwarp pad.” Arcee had said to Bulkhead, “What’s a Transwarp pad?” Raf had asked of them, all of them coming in after hearing about how Miko was taken by Soundwave, “It means that there’s a chance that the two of them have probably been teleported to a Quintesson site.” Ratchet had said to them as he had went and started to scan the pad, trying to figure out where it went.
“What’s a Quintesson?” Jack had asked of them, “Do you remember when Lockdown came for the artifact from The Occupation?” Ratchet had asked, “Yeah, you said they were trying to make you guys into products, right?” Jack said, “Yes, the occupiers were known as Quintessons and they utilized these pads to send themselves and others to locations in their Imperium.” he said before getting a ping.
“By the Allspark!” Ratchet went as they saw the destination tag, “Well, where is she?!” Bulkhead had asked of the medic, hearing that, Arcee had looked and nearly gasped, “Penance Station.” she had went, making the others all back away or mutter, “What’s Penance Station?” Raf had asked of them, “It’s a Quintesson Prison, members of The Rise were taken there and tortured, no one ever came back.”
Hearing that, they had looked towards each other when Jack spoke up, “That’s good! At least we know where she is!” he went before they had all stayed grim, “What?” Jack asked, “Jack… no one ever found Penance Station.” she said, “So that means–” “We’re gonna be the first to.” Bulkhead said, not giving up on her just yet as he got started on trying to rescue her.
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Penance Station, Epsilon Ariadne
Soundwave was getting more and more irritated at what was going on, “<How hard is it to find a Supspace amplifier?!>Starscream” She had demanded of Miko who was in the wall now, “I’m looking, scrap for brains!” Miko said, “But I can’t find anything like that!” she had said, poking her head out, irritated, Soundwave displayed Quintesson Subspace amplifiers to her.
“It should be connected to the Data Stream Receiver.” She told Miko, revealing the image, “I checked that thing! There’s nothing like that there!” Miko had told Soundwave, reacting, Soundwave had walked away, “Hey! Don’t leave me here!” Miko had shouted out to Soundwave, too tired to argue, she had went and extended a tendril, Miko leaped onto it before said tendril had let her go down.
They were out in space with no idea on how they could send a signal or get out, there was no Transwarp pad, the communication array was gutted, and they had no food for either one of them right now, she could cobble together a solar panel to try and keep herself maintained and after a little testing they might be able to use some of the algae and other organic parasite into a food source for the human.
“Any OTHER ideas?” Miko had asked, irritated by Soundwave who was starting to scratch at herself, “<I have NOTHING! Why don’t you think of something?!>” Soundwave had demanded of the human who glared, “Fine then! How about we go to the control room?!” Miko had snapped to her, making Soundwave pause, glaring at her before nodding, “<Fine then, let’s go!>” Soundwave said before picking her up.
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Control Room, Penance Station
The three of them had went and approached The Control Room, the doors were sealed with the symbols of The Quintesson Imperium had greeted them as the intercom had went on again, “What is that?” Miko had asked of Soundwave, “Middle Neocybex–” Soundwave started to answer when the defense system had activated, firing upon the two of them, making Soundwave block the shots.
They were painful and hurt her left servo but nothing damaging as she protected the human, “We may need her for later.” She explained to The Voice as they started to retreat, “Wait, why don’t you just blast them?!” Miko had asked Soundwave, wondering why they were hiding behind a corner when she saw another popping out to shoot Soundwave, “Look out!” she shouted.
Reacting Soundwave shot out a tendril, electrocuting the weapon and disabling it before it could hurt them, like that, the person on the comms spoke again, still difficult to understand when she had caught a word, “–Ratbat–!” Was what they said, “Great! They think you’re Senator Ratbat!” Laserbeak said, both of them despising the bot as they had decided to move back more, in case more pop out.
“Come on! You’re a big bad bot! And they’re just some lasers you crushed with your tentacles!” Miko said,”I bet if you shoot at them…” Miko started before looking Soundwave over, seeing how flat his servos were, the fact that Soundwave didn’t blast them when they were messing the satellite a while back and how he was always physical, going hand to hand… “You don’t have blasters, do you?” she asked.
Soundwave had leaned back onto a wall, away from the control room for now as she tried to think, “<We need a new plan on how to get in there.>” she told Miko, starting to calculate and think on how to get through as she had felt an itch, one that made her scratch, she was out of Circuit Speeders, Nucleon, all of her usual ‘medicine’, “I told you we should have stocked up!” She told Laserbeak.
“Soundwave, keep calm,” Laserbeak had said to her, “Play some Synth–Tone, that usually helps.” He had said, remembering when it had helped her focus when they were teaching her how to block out the unnecessary thoughts, at the same time, irritated, Miko had pulled out her phone, about to play some music when she had heard music playing besides her.
Hearing that, Miko turned and saw that Soundwave was playing something similar to DJ music, “Woah, what is that?” Miko asked, making Soundwave turn to her, “<Synth–Tone.>” She had answered, “<I used to play this at a club with my friends.>” she had told Miko who smiled at that, “Any Earth Music you like?” Miko had asked of Soundwave, “<Earth has music?>” she had asked, not paying attention to the culture.
Reacting to that, Miko had went to her playlist, “Here, listen to this.” she said, they were stuck here together anyways, so she might as well play her music, mostly from J–Rock with some American Classic, as Soundwave had listened, she had to admit, it was nice, as if the bands were screaming out their emotions, not caring who heard only that they could express it.
“<I like it, especially this… Queen.>” Soundwave had said to Miko, Somebody to Love playing in her audials as Soundwave liked it, “Hey, can I hear some of your work?” Miko had asked, hearing that, the Decepticon had went and played a bit of hers, Miko nodding at the fast beat that had made her smile, enjoying it too, “Nice beat.” she had told Soundwave, “<Good band.>” Soundwave had told Miko.
The two of them enjoying it for a bit when Miko asked again, “So, why don’t you have any blasters?” she had asked of Soundwave as they had continued to listen, “<I lost most of my weaponry after I was repaired.>” she had told Miko, “Repaired?” Miko had asked, “<Now I have a question, why do you know sign language?>” she had asked, curious since she seems to be biologically fine.
“I have this friend back in Japan that loves music as much as me, they can’t talk so they signed, so I learned how to.” Miko had said, making Soundwave nod at that, understanding the desire to do as much, the two of them nodding their helms to listen to the music when Soundwave noticed something, ventilation, “<I have an idea.>” she said, Miko following her line of sight before understanding.
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The Artillery, Earth’s Exosphere
Trochia and Wheeljack were both looking over the surge that had appeared before both Soundwave and the human, Miko had vanished, “What the frag was that?” Trochia had said, she knew that Soundwave had access to Space Bridges, but there was no way that he was able to just vanish like that immediately, “I think that was a Transwarp pad, Q in design.” she had said to him.
“Frag.” he said before Trochia had went and searched for any knowledge of Transwarp pads to figure out where Soundwave was, isolated from her forces, but as she searched, all she could find was that the Occupation Transwarp Pads all went to Penance Station and no one knew where that was, “Great.” Trochia had went before looking back to Wheeljack, “Any ideas?” Wheeljack asked.
“I’ve got one, but you’re not going to like it.” Trochia had told him and hearing that, Wheeljack had vented before he had went back to the Jackhammer, getting ready to go back down to the planet so that they could hopefully get Soundwave, but more importantly, they were going to go and rescue the little human that he had grown attached to like Bulkhead.
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Autobot Outpost Omega–One, Nevada
The bots and the humans, including members from Unit: C who had heard about the Transwarp incident, were all looking to find out where the human girl was when they had received a ping, “It’s Wheeljack.” Ratchet said before opening the channel, “Jackie, hey. Sorry, we can’t really talk right now. Miko’s–” “That’s why I’m calling,” Wheeljack had said to them, “I got a surge from that pad and I got an idea.” He told them.
That had made them all get a little hopeful, “That’s great! What is it?” Bulkhead had asked, hopeful as they had listened, “Well, that Transwarp Pad was Q in make, right?” Wheeljack had asked, “That is correct.” Ratchet had said to him, “Well then, we’re gonna need an expert in Q Tech.” He had said, making them understand what he was thinking, “Lockdown.” Optimus had said to the bot.
“Exactly,” Wheeljack had said, “It’s not much, but he should have an idea where to look.” Wheeljack had told them, “Thank you, Wheeljack, we shall attempt this route.” Optimus said, “Hey, no problem! Just call me if you need me to help.” Wheeljack had said before the comm had closed up, “Are you sure that is wise?” Dr. Bharwaney had asked, “It is one of the best options we have.” Ratchet had said.
The humans didn’t seem to like this, but they seemed to have no information on the device or location and this was a human life at stake, so they had nodded and let the bots make the call, Ratchet put in the channel that Lockdown advertised before they had waited, “What’s the job?” Lockdown had said, knowing that was the only reason that anyone would think to call him.
“Lockdown,” Optimus said, “We are in need of your assistance.” The Prime said, “Ah, if you’re looking for The frequency to The Nemesis, I don’t know it.” Lockdown had told them, making the bots there stay silent, “That is not the case, we are here because one of our young humans and Soundwave stumbled upon a transwarp pad.” he said, making Lockdown stay silent for a bit.
“Is it undamaged?” Lockdown asked, “Where does it go?” He had asked of them, “We believe that the pad is connected to Penance station, if–” “I’ll get there as soon as I can, free of charge.” Lockdown said before he had hung up, surprising the Autobots at the last bit of information and making them wonder what made Penance Station so different compared to The Nest Egg.
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Penance Station, Epsilon Ariadne
Miko was crawling through the ventilation system, irritated that she was here when there was a beep, Soundwave telling her to proceed as they had went and moved further into the station, as she had continued onwards, Miko had heard a noise, one that had made her head towards one of the openings and revealed to her that there was another bot that was covered in robes and working.
She couldn’t see anything about the bot but as she had looked, Miko had went and called Soundwave, “Hey! Soundwave!” she had whispered to the bot, “I see the bot! They look your size, but they’re covered in rags! I can’t see anything about them!” Miko said, which was when the typing had stopped, making them look confused back towards the opening which was when a serv shot out.
Miko had screamed and was in shock as the strange bot had grabbed and pulled her into the room, making the bot glare at her as Miko struggled, trying to get away from them as the bot looked her over, they spoke that strange language again, Miko not understanding just tried to struggle and try to get out as the bot had looked at her and then the phone, grabbing it and examining the device.
“Hey! That’s my phone!” She shouted as the bot had went and tapped it to the side of their helm, as they did as much, the bots optics seemed to flash, “おかしいな、なにこれ… 日本？(Strange, what is this… Japanese?)” the bot had said, seeming to understand the language now, “Why’re you trying to kill us?” Miko had demanded of the bot that looked at her in surprise.
“I’m not trying to… ‘Kill’ you,” The bot had said to her, “I am trying to terminate Ratbat.” she had said, making Miko look at her in confusion when a tendril had shot out of the vent, grabbing Miko and pulling her away from the bot in question, as it did as much, The bot had looked at her with curiosity and surprise before realizing that they were alone again and making the bot worried.
As Miko was retracted back into the room that they had hidden in, “<Did you see anything about the other bot?>” Soundwave questioned as the bot had kept her on the tendril, “Let me down!” Miko had shouted, making the bots glare towards them before she had let the human go, “I didn’t hear much, but they called you Ratbat.” Miko had said to her, making Soundwave think.
“Why does this enemy use a false Designation?” The Voice had asked of her and Soundwave was curious, “Ratbat was the designation of this frame before I was grafted into it./<Ratbat was the designation of this frame before I was grafted into it.>” she told The Voice and Miko, “So you stole that guys body?” she had asked of Soundwave, curious at that.
Before Soundwave was able to answer that, a gas was released from the vents, judging from the coloring and how it seemed to glaze the dead metal, they realized what it was, “CR–15!” She had shouted out before grabbing Miko and running, making them curious on what was exactly going on right now as The bot in the control Room had planned their chance to murder the bot that put them there.
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The Bridge, The Nemesis
Dreadwing was at the comms, it was odd, the CCO Soundwave was usually at the terminals, tireless and typing away at everything, but now he was nowhere to be found, “Knock Out.” Dreadwing said, seeing the CMO who looked better than before, “Do you know where Soundwave is?” The Decepticon Seeker Commander had asked of the Velocitronian who barely registered it.
“Huh? Oh he’s probably in Namibia.” Knock Out had said to him, “What is this… Namibia?” Dreadwing had asked, “This hot and dry place on the planet where his favorite animal lives.” he had told Dreadwing, making the bot curious and start to look when he had noticed that there was a message from Lockdown, making both curious as they had checked it to see what was going on.
“Soundwave was sent to Penance Station, working with The Autobots to get him out of there.” The Message said, making the two of them look towards each other, “We must warn Lord Megatron of this.” Dreadwing said, making the CMO curious as they had decided to go and tell Megatron, they had already lost Breakdown, they cannot lose one, especially one like him.
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Yellowstone Park, Wyoming
The Autobot team was all ready and anxious as the vessel had landed down, the Solar Sails had rescinded as the Green and Black Muscle Car had come down and the bot had transformed, walking over and looking around now before smirking, “Great, there’s Team one.” Lockdown said, making them look confused, “What do you mean Team–” Arcee went when they heard a jet engine and car.
Knock Out and Dreadwing had appeared, glaring at them, “Why’re they here?” Bulkhead had went, ready to fight if Lockdown had ulterior motives, “You said your human AND Soundwave.” Lockdown had told them, “Makes sense we’d try to rescue one of The Old Guard.” he had said, Bulkhead confused by that term, “The Old Guard?” He asked, having not heard of that term.
“It means bots like Soundwave,” Knock Out told him before asking his question, “Now, HOW did Soundwave and the organic get to Penance?” he had asked of them, “The third artifact, was a Quintesson Transwarp Pad.” Optimus had said to them and hearing that, the two of them had cussed, making them both realize how dangerous it all was, especially with them being sent to Penance.
“Alright, here’s how it’ll go.” Lockdown had said as he had pulled out a remote and pressed a button, making an automaton come out with a package, “Back during my Rise days,” he told them, “Me and the others were planning to have some supplies implanted into Rise Prisoners before they were transported onto Penance.” he had told them, “But we never got one there cause The Q’s were just killing at that point.”
“So what, we’re going to go and send a team in with this gear?” Bulkhead had asked, making Lockdown chuckle, “No way, there might be a chance we’d have to rescue three people then,” Lockdown had told them, “No, we’re sending this with some Energon their way with instructions, that’s all.” Lockdown said, “And if we are able to rescue them, then all the better.” he told them.
Hearing that, they had all went to go and get this sorted out for their rescue when The Decepticons and The Autobots had glared at each other, “Until Soundwave is safe, we shall work together.” Dreadwing said, the others had nodded at this before they had all started to get to work with the two medics checking the supplies before setting up the gear and hoping that they would be able to rescue the two.
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Penance Station, Epsilon Ariadne
They had finally escaped the gas, thankfully, CR–15 wasn’t able to survive long on its own, the three of them calmed down at the moment there, “So they have some nasty weapons, huh?” she had asked of the bot, who sat down, scratching her arm in irritation and from withdrawal before Miko spoke up, “Who’s Ratbat?” Miko had asked of the bot now that they had a moment of rest.
“<A Senator,>” she told Miko, “<I served under him as a aide before The Great War.>” She had told The organic, “<I was forced to do as much by blackmail and extortion made by The Senate.>” She had told her, “Is that why you joined the Cons?” she asked, wondering if the reasoning was because he was pushed too far and snapped at the Senate, making Soundwave silently chuckle.
“<No,>” she had told Miko, “<I was planning to milk Ratbat for everything he was worth before running away to live my best life.>” she had told Miko, making the human curious, “So why didn’t you?” Miko had asked her, “<There were these twins, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker,>” she had said to her, “<They introduced me to–>” She started when there was a sense of bloodlust and then a shot.
Soundwave had barely dodged, the action making her almost crush the human before she caught herself, “Ratbat!” The bot had shouted as they had aimed a cannon towards them, strange, no built–in weaponry, but before she could think on that, Soundwave had went and charged towards them, tendrils shooting out as her claws came out, just as they were about to connect, the bot had pulled out a pistol.
It was strange and odd in design before the bot there had went and pulled the trigger, confusing Soundwave before she had felt that her processor was starting to shut down, before Soundwave could stop it, she had went and had fallen down, flat of her faceplate after she had hit the corner of a desk, shattering the area around her right optic as the femme had fallen down.
“I had been waiting Hekavorns to do this!” The bot had said to Soundwave, Miko watching in shock before the bot placed the cannon on the back of the Decepticons helm, “I am going to enjoy this, I hope your pet isn't squeamish.” The bot had said, and hearing that, Miko had raised her piece of rebar and charged, “Hey!” Miko shouted, stopping the bot, “You’re not killing Soundwave until I’m out of here!” she told the bot.
That made the bot dropping their bead on Soundwave, “Soundwave? Is that what he told–” “This is Soundwave! Megatron’s silent spooky bot! He’s not–!” “Megatron?” the bot asked, “This bot is working with Megatronus?” The bot said, looking down in confusion as Miko wondered how this bot knew Megatron and why that had seemed to make them calm before taking their robes off.
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Soundwave was startled awake, “Laserbeak!” She went, ready to fight before she realized that her Face Screen was broken, her right optic exposed, “So, you serve with Megatronus?” A bot said, making her turn, a femme had said to her with Miko eating some organic material, Soundwave couldn’t believe her optics, it was Megatron’s deceased mentor herself, Termagax, “Tell me, how is my young protege?”