Psyche; Split
The Weaver Reserve, Namibia
Soundwave was walking into the reserve center where the volunteers were all situated, “Soundwave–” Barricade had started when they had been spotted, “Mr. Weaver!” A man had shouted, approaching them, The Manager of the reserve that she had helped to set up, “<Hello, Paulus, how have things been?>” Soundwave had asked as The Reserve Manager approached.
“Things are good! Omegatron is healthy, we have had Five Calves recently born, even a pair of twins.” he had said, making Soundwave smile as she had projected Weaver, a young man that had inherited a fortune from a mother that had never existed, A boy that had inherited Arabic and Native American traits, the latter from his immigrant mother while the former was because of a plan that she had in mind before abandoning.
“What is this?” he had asked of her, “<A personal project.>Starscream” She had told him, “<One that I had been working on for a few decades now.>Starscream” She had said and hearing that, The Bot had vented in irritation, “Have you followed the accords?” he had asked her, in response to this, Soundwave had went and offering a log of her actions.
He had went and scrolled it over before nodding, “Alright.” he said, seeing that everything was in compliance, “Mr. Weaver, who is this?” he had asked as the Holo–Matter Avatar had spoken, “He is… what you would call my son.” Weaver had said and hearing that, The Manager and other Volunteers, used to the sight of Soundwave, had nodded and clapped a bit for that.
“It is interesting that you would care for Organics such as these.” Barricade had said as he had noticed the cleanliness of the equipment, “It is amazing that you can keep such an orderly site.” he had said, “That is because Mr. Weaver wants us to make sure that there is no rust at all here.” Paulus had said, making Barricade look towards her, “No rust?” he had asked of her.
“<I’m not a fan of it.>Kup” Had said and hearing that, the Enforcer was curious at that when there was a sound on The Radio, “Paulus! We have Poachers in strange garb at my location!” One of the volunteers had shouted out, reacting to this, Soundwave had decided to be friendly, “We’ll deal with it.” Weaver had said to them with a smile before the two of them transformed to go and follow the signal.
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Soundwave and Barricade had appeared, finding the poachers that were there with energy weapons, firing upon the volunteer as she had hid behind the truck, the two of them landing as they had seen that they were all wearing a uniform that was garbed in MECH uniforms, “<Scrap.>Arcee” She had said before landing, shooting out her tendrils towards them towards the weapons.
Giving a quick electrocution to make the weapons explode, the two of them landing as Barricade had went and readied his mace, smashing the first vehicle there as they had started to back away, Soundwave had stepped towards them, her claws ready, she had went and knelt down, picking one of them up, “<Why are you here?>Airachnid” She had demanded.
At that, the man had started to beat at her tendril when she had noticed that there was rust covering his gloves, seeing that, she released him, backing away in fear, “Soundwave?” Barricade had asked as he was assisting the Volunteer with deal with the others, “Chrometophobia, huh?” the man had said, pulling at the gloves before he had went and taken off the glove and threw it to her face screen.
It was a simple glove, nothing that could have hurt her, but as Soundwave had seen the rust touch her face in the same area where… where IT happened, she had started to scratch at the place as the glove had fallen off, she had continued to scratch and scratch and scratch that it was starting to scratch and mark her face screen, “Soundwave…?” Barricade had asked.
But Soundwave had started to feel it burn and burn now like before, it hurt so much, so much that she couldn’t help but scream, making a soundwave so loud it nearly deafened them all, they had caught the last one, but Barricade was more focused on the Decepticon who was in the fetal position, starting to shake and quiver which was when he had grown worried for her now.
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Little Harmonex, Soundwave’s Mindscape
Soundwave had walked through a crowd, they were cheering and as she had looked around, The Decepticon had seen that they were bots that she had seen they were all bots that she had said, curious, The Con had went and approached the center Stage, wondering who was playing the music which was when she had seen that there was a bot sitting on the stage.
“H– H– Hi, S– Sssoundwave.” She had said, looking nervous, the stutter looking quite familiar, “I– I’mmm Screecher.” She had said, making Soundwave look towards in shock, “Im–!” she had started before realizing that she was talking, normally, “Impossible.” Soundwave said, touching her throat, “Nn– Nothing is im– im– impossible in your m– m– m– mindscape.” Screecher told her.
“What are you?” Soundwave had asked her, looking around, trying to comprehend what was going on, she remembered the rust, and then– “We– We’re in your b– b– brain!” Screecher had said, standing up and walking around, but not leaving the stage as the crowd continued to cheer to the music, “So what, you’re my conscious?” she had asked of Screecher who grinned.
“Th– That’s ar– around her s– s– somewhere,” she had told Soundwave, “B– But nnn– no.” Screecher told her, “I– I’m th– the you b– b– before The C– C– Cons.” she had said, “The– The– The– one fffocused on survival.” she had told Soundwave, making The Decepticon curious, “So what now?” Soundwave had asked of The being in her mind, “Nn– Now?” She said with a smile, “I– I take the stage.”
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The Weaver Reserve, Namibia
Barricade was growing worried for Soundwave, wondering what was going on now, for The Decpeticon to be acting like this, that human had said something, Chrometophobia? His best guess was that it was something rust related, he had went to go and contact Knock Out, when there was a noise, “Soundwave?” The Enforcer had asked as the Con had stood up and started to shake herself off.
The Decepticon had looked around before she started to shimmy and shake in excitement, Synth–Tone playing as if she was free, “Soundwave?” he had asked, making the bot in question turn and cocking her helm before the bot had started to sign, “<Yes! Soundwave… I’ve gotta go.>” she had signed towards the Enforcer, confusing him as The transformer had started to transform.
There seemed to be an error before they had completed their transformation before reverting to Robot–Mode, “Are you sure you’re okay?” Barricade had asked of Soundwave, “<Yes! I just need to get to Caminus!>” Soundwave signed, “I am sorry, but why is Mr. Weaver acting like that?” the woman had said and at that, the bot looked towards The Organic, “<What is that thing?>” She asked.
Reacting to that, Barricade had went and attacked, restraining her, the human had looked in shock at that, “Contact this bot! Now!” he had ordered and at that the human had attempted to do as much while The MECH soldiers had all looked towards them in curiosity and were all of the same mind that this would be quite useful for MECH after all as the one with the modified wrist had contacted the doctor.
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Knock Out had appeared, looking around at the location before seeing that the Enforcer had restrained a Soundwave that was attempting to escape from the cuffs that Barricade had put on The CCO, “What is going on here?” he had asked of Barricade, “Something’s wrong with her.” Barricade had said to The Doctor, “A human said something about Chrometophobia and when he threw his glove–?”
“A Fear of Rust.” Knock Out had said, seeing the scratching on the face screen, “My guess this had caused a flashback to what caused this.” he had said, kneeling down, “Soundwave, can you tell me what is going on?” He had asked her, hearing that, text started to scrawl onto the face screen, “Knock Out! Great! Why don’t you let me go and us and Breakdown can head to Caminus?” She asked.
That had made the bot pause, “Breakdown?” he had asked, “Yeah! Let me out and we can go wherever you guys want!” She had asked and hearing that Knock Out had asked her, “Are you an Autobot or a Decepticon?” Knock Out had asked her, “I’m a Wrecker!” She had told them and hearing that, Knock Out looked to Barricade, “This MIGHT be a problem.” he had said to The Enforcer.
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Little Harmonex, Soundwave’s Mindscape
“Why can’t I wake up?” she had questioned, usually when she became conscious, “Where are Laserbeak? Vigilem?” she had questioned, “Th– This is a c– c– closed party.” Screecher had said to her, pointing to a sign that had formed, “Rule #1. The One on the stage controls the body. Rule #2. Anyone can make requests, but the performer has the power. Rule #3. If you want the stage, take it!”
“Good to know.” She had told Screecher before manifesting a Resonance Blaster and firing towards the bots, creating a sonic pulse while Screecher had pulled out a Bass from Harmonex and played a counter, the two sounds playing there for a moment in key, “N– Not yet!” She had shouted, “I– I– I need to make us safe!” Screecher shouted, confusing The Decepticon but she will worry about it later.
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The Weaver Reserve, Namibia
“What do you mean there’s another mind in there?” Barricade had questioned, hearing that, Knock Out had turned and glared towards him, “Not exactly,” Knock Out had said and hearing that Soundwave had attempted to escape as Knock Out started to explain what was going on, “According to a journal written by Froid and Rung, when a mind has gone through a severe shock.” Knock Out had said to him.
“Alright, so how do we fix this?” Barricade had asked of him, making Knock Out shake his helm, “I’m a doctor, not a psychologist” he had told the Enforcer, “The best we can hope for is that they compromise.” Knock Out had said, the two of them observing the bot when they had noticed a noise, “Paulus?” Barricade asked, “No, he never leaves the facility, and he nevers moves without radioing us.”
That made them turn and see that it was more vehicles like the poachers had, “It looks like they called in reinforcements.” Barricade said, really wishing he had packed some heat while Knock Out had pulled out his staff, giving a twirl of it as he did, “I was in the need for exercise anyways.” He had said, Laserbeak coming off as well, him and Vigilem both were locked out now as the Cassetticon engaged.
The two of them had went and attacked the humans there, wondering why they were there when one that appeared dressed more armored, “Capture Target Alpha, we can worry about the others later.” he had said to them, hearing that, the two had looked towards each in confusion before they had seen a shot coming their way, the two barely avoiding the shots as they had seen that they were restraints aimed towards–
An elephant? That had confused them, “Wait, we’re here, what are they doing going for The Organic?” Knock Out had asked as the humans kept the fire, distracting the two of them enough as they had went and loaded up the calf, “Achilles!” The human had shouted in panic as a MECH unit shot her, making her fall down as they got away, though neither was attempting to rescue now that they knew Soundwave was safe.
As the two of them had watched the humans leave, as they had watched them and the humans had left, “Why did you let them take Achilles?!” the human had asked, “Who?” Knock Out had asked, Barricade had focused on Soundwave who had stilled now, “It’s an animal.” Knock Out said, “You have plenty–” “But Achilles has your technology in him!” She had said to him.
That made the two pause, “Come again?” Knock Out had asked, confused, “Achilles was born with birth defects, the kind that would have killed him at birth, but Mr. Weaver had saved him, using something he called a… technorganic transistor?” he had said, surprising the two of them, “I thought those were–?” “Impossible? I had read a paper that Mesothulas was working on it.” he told Barricade.
“So… what?” he had asked of the CMO, “There’s a technorganic elephant cyborg running around now?” he had asked, looking over the accord and seeing– “Frag.” he had muttered, the animal was fine, but if those humans had cut it open to use it, “Let’s deal with this.” Barricade said as Knock Out had started to calculate before the volunteer had tossed a device towards the two, a tracker, great work.
“Alright, we’ll collect the animal, you and your people will protect Soundwave.” Barricade had said and at that, the two of them had went and copied the signals before the two of them had went and sped away from them, meanwhile the human had looked towards Soundwave and was curious at what was going on with the bot in question as she had hoped that their founder was okay.
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Little Harmonex, Soundwave’s Mindscape
The two of them had attempted to fight each other to the death, but eventually the pair had stopped, one, it was her mind, they technically couldn’t kill each other, so they had attempted to take control, Soundwave working with an array of panels to play a line of fire while Screecher was using a Aghartan Electro–Bass, going for volume instead of quantity to face off.
The two of them had continued to fight when Screecher had cocked her helm, “P– P– Pause.” she had said to Soundwave, making her pause, “Wh– Who’s Achilles?” She had asked, making Soundwave pause, “What happened?” she had asked of the bot, “A– A– A group c– ccalled MECH ttttook him.” Screecher had said and in response to that, The Decepticon had paused.
“Let me take the stage.” she had told Screecher, “N– Nno.” Screecher said, “Th– this is the ppperfect ch– chance to escape.” She had told Soundwave, which was when she had turned back to the stage only to find that she was at the entrance, the location having been turned 180 degrees, “What’s good surviving if I’m the last one standing.” she had said before starting to play.
As she had done as much, Screecher had seen her enter The Flow State, seeing this, The bot had went and walked away from the stage and further into the back, where there were silhouettes, Screecher couldn’t tell how many there were, “Let’s go see how she plays.” The mind said with a smile now, wondering what was going to happen for their body and if there’d be more in the future.
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Namibia, Africa
The two of them had driven up to a camp where they had seen that the tent was there, “I can’t believe that Soundwave had done something like this.” Knock Out had said, “I can, Soundwave’s been doing scrap like this since before Screecher had been terminated.” he had told Knock Out, “You mean when Soundwave quit being Screecher?” Knock Out had asked, Barricade paused at that.
“What?” Barricade asked, “Oh, you didn’t–?” Knock Out had started before he had grabbed his throat, “You listen to me, we are going to deal with this, make sure we don’t give The GC a chance to come here, and when we’re done, we’ll deal with your access to that information.” he had snarled before there was a sound, making them both turn towards the sound.
It was a group of towers that had risen up had started to make a ringing sound, one that had started to make them back away before they had started to feel pain, the humans there starting to approach them with tasers and saws, appearing ready, “Forget them, we need to focus on the integration.” one of the others had said and hearing that, another spoke, “But we have recorded the technology.” he had said.
Hearing that, the two bots had started to get up when one of them had went and started to cut at the face mask, tearing at it and making Barricade snarl at that when Laserbeak had went and started to fire upon the humans, making them back away at that, Barricade snarling as he had torn off of the face mask, planning to repair it for later as he had went and started to swing.
He had taken out a tower as Knock Out had electrocuted the other, they had started to approach, Barricade releasing a gas from his organic liaison and registered for the human species, he really needed to thank Crankcase for that as they had headed towards the larger tent where the elephant most likely would be as they had seen that there was a vehicle hightailing it.
The two of them were a bit worried at that, going and entering to see that the calf was there and was panting in pain, someone had cut them open and seeing that, the two of them knelt down, “Can you…?” The bot had said and hearing that, Knock Out had knelt down, confused and wondering if he could fix it when there was something odd going on, the wound was getting smaller.
“What the–?” Knock Out went at that when they had heard the sound of a jet engine, “I’ll deal with it.” Barricade had said to the doctor, snarling as his optics had returned to golden, wishing he had his mask still working as The Decepticon had approached the outside, glaring when he had seen that the vehicle in question was Soundwave and that had made him smile.
The Decepticon CCO had went and landed there, kneeling as she had landed, “You good, boss?” Barricade had asked her, “<I’m good now,>” she had said to him, walking into the tent to find that Knock Out had helped up the calf which had seemed happy, stamping in joy, “Soundwave!” The animal had said while The Velocitronian stood up, “Who are you?” he had asked her.
Hearing that, the bot had signed, “<I’m Soundwave, obviously.>” she had said to them, hearing that, Knock Out spoke up, “Then where’s Breakdown?” he had asked her, Grief. Curiosity. Coming from the bot, “<With the AllSpark.>” she had told him, hearing that, Relief. Came from him as the calf had went and circled around, satisfying the Decepticon as she had gotten ready to send them all back.
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The Weaver Reserve, Namibia
They had returned the Calf back with his parents, them back to the herd, satisfying the CCO when there was a noise, “So, how do you know about the Screecher thing?” Barricade said, making her turn to him in surprise, “I found out on my own.” Knock Out said to them, making Barricade glare towards the bot before he had nodded, “Same here, wasn’t that hard to figure out.” Barricade said.
“<If that were true, then I would've been hunted down by the Wreckers by now.>” she had told them and hearing that, the bots had nodded at that, reacting to that, the bots had went and looked at each other, “<So, you finally admit it.>” Soundwave said to him, making Barricade raise an optic ridge, “Seriously? You playing the ‘I knew you knew’?” Making her nod when Vigilem spoke.
“What is wrong with your mind?” Vigilem asked, “Should we worry about that… episode?” Knock Out had asked, “It’s just got more rooms now./<My survival instinct had manifested as… that, it’s not self destructive at least.>” she told Vigilem and Knock Out, the former scoffing in her mind while Knock Out and Barricade chuckled, “At least someone cares about your well being>” The Enforcer said.
That had confused the bot as Paulus had approached, “Thank you, Mr. Weaver.” he had said, glad that she and her friends had arrived, “We will make sure that they do not go after little Achilles again.” he had promised, making her nod at that, but she figured they had collected everything that they had wanted from the young animal that they had needed from him, the transistors process was what they were after.
After all, they were all about the cutting edge and what’s more so than mixing your biology with technology, but the data was useless unless they had access to Cybertronian technology, but she’d been keeping the necropolis nice and contained on The Dark Side of The Moon, Soundwave had looked towards the two of them before she had gotten them to a new location.
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Guzzle’s Ship, Mount Everest
The three of them had continued to walk through the location that was there, helping Barricade with the lift off to have the vessel sent to Archon, the agreed upon location during the Tyrest Accords signing, for processing and if need be, to be dismantled, “Well then, looks like we’re all good here.” The Enforcer told them, going and powering up the vessel.
“<So, what next?>” Soundwave had asked and seeing that, the bots had all looked towards each other at that, “Now? I’m going to go and regroup with The Dreads, heard The DJD were getting… feisty.” he had told them, making Soundwave give a prayer and hoped that they keep the bloodshed to a minimum, “Meanwhile, I’d suggest talking to Blot.” Barricade had said to them, surprising both.
“Smelly Blot, The Terrorcon?” Knock Out had asked, “Red Blot, The Psychologist.” Barricade said, both could understand that, he was a strange bot that with his friends all wore Red Decepti–brands, they said they were refugees from a planet called Gaia, but she honestly didn’t care, they were good bots and not horrible like their Terrorcon namesakes, “<I’ll think about it.>” she had told him.
The two bots were relieved, they had no idea why that… other, had appeared, but they knew that she’d be able to handle it for at least a bit before talking to someone about it, “<Keep it private, I don’t want anyone to use this against me.>” she said, knowing that there were quite a few that would hate her enough to use it or any of her other secrets against her, “Don’t worry,” Smugness. Said Knock Out.
“Your secret’s safe with me.” he said, “As long as I’m safe.” He had thought, “Oh, we know you know you won’t.” Barricade said, getting out of the pilots seat while Soundwave’s tendrils shot out and restrained him to a wall, Shock. Panic. Fear. “Soundwave?!” He had asked, scared of the sight, “Sorry.” She had written, “But we can’t trust you with what you know, for now.” She had written.
“What’re you gonna?” he asked before seeing that Barricade had a circlet, “I had this made in case of organic compromising, luckily it also works for Cybertronians.” The enforcer said, putting it on him before going and searching for the key memories, using the correct sequence to find them all, “Alright, we’re ready here, what do you want the codeword to be?” he had asked of her, “Code word?” Knock Out asked.
“For when we go ahead and let you remember.” Barricade said when the CCO had written it out, “Breakdown was my brother.” she had scrawled, hearing that, Barricade nodded, “Alright… whoever you are.” he had said, knowing that she would have been signing as he had typed that in and started to complete the process, having completed that, Knock Out went into stasis.
“I’ll put him back in his quarters, and then Soundwave will take Center Stage.” Screecher had told him, “Huh, I would have thought you’d try to run to Caminus again.” he had told her, “If I did, then Soundwave would fight and lower our chances to survive, I help her live, I keep her alive, we both win, we both survive.” The bot had told him, hearing that, he had nodded, “Good, keep her alive.” Barricade said.
In response to this, Screecher had nodded towards the Enforcer before giving the circlet back, the two of them in agreement that she and Laserbeak would keep the suicidal femme alive as he had powered the craft up to go and get the evidence to Archon as soon as possible, all the while he could just hope that he could believe her other half that was there.
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Project Iacon Lab, The Nemesis
The CCO was back in action and she was typing away when Trypticon spoke, “WHY ARE THERE TWO INSTEAD OF ONE IN YOUR MIND?” The Titan had said and hearing that, Soundwave had spoken, “It’s just another voice, I can handle another voice.” She had said, but The Titan wasn’t convinced, “HOW WILL WE KNOW THAT THIS WILL NOT BE AN ISSUE?” he had asked.
“Because it only focuses on survival, it won’t let me die which means that you will get your completed database.” She had told the Titan who had seemed to be convinced at that as she had continued before seeing the deposit again, seeing that, there was a noise, making her turn towards that and zoom in, it was too deep to begin with, but it appeared that Onyx was there this time and they were working on it.
“Curious.” She had thought, “I thought we had him?” Laserbeak asked, “We do, but that doesn’t mean he’s not working for them.” Soundwave told him and at that, she had sent the data to Megatron, “Curious, Soundwave.” The Decepticon leader said over the comms, “We will send a wing to investigate soon.” he had told her, making the bot curious at what they were looking for.
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Onyx Digsite, The Arctic
Garrison Blackrock was there in a full body winter suit, watching the digging beside Su Yueming, the two of them working as the bot, Centurion of The Maximals, had went and approached, “So, this is where your Axalon was buried?” The Facsimile had asked, ever since he had been disconnected, he had been relying upon Yueming and such now that he was disconnected, alone in his mind.
“Yeah, I had everyone buried in there, even Chrome Charger.” Centurion said, remembering when he had killed his crewmate and enemy back in Normandy before burying him, “Krieger had helped me get all of the others down there.” he had said, hearing that, The fake human had wondered how many others like him were there in the stars and even here on the planet.
“Yep, Centurion had said and thinking, he had stretched backwards, “All one hundred and Ninety Nine of them.” The Maximal had said to them and hearing that, they had started to speak when there was a clarion, “We hit it!” he had shouted out and responding to that, the three of them had went and approached at that, cautious, “Anything we should worry about?” Yueming asked.
“No, there shouldn’t be anything alive down there.” Centurion had said and in response, Garrison was about to speak up again when there was a groan, a groan that made them turn, “Are you sure?” he had asked and hearing that, the Maximal had no answer for that before remembering, “We were a security vessel.” he had said, “And we were transporting a criminal.” he had said.
Before any of them could react and hearing that, the humans started to scream as a winged wolf had shot out, looking ready to tear apart, “Windrazor, online.” he had snarled, “You!” the bot had shouted out before gliding towards the Maximal, becoming a beastial and bipedal bot that had bit into him, “For The Uncreator!” he had snarled, his optics flashing amber as he had said this.
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The Reserve, Eukaris
Sovereign and Cliffjumper had been going through the Jungles, it was the only place besides the tempe that had machinery and a place for vehicles to dock, everything else being Eukarian territory, now as they had looked around here, Sovereign couldn’t believe how much had changed, there was so much life, so much diversity from the colonies here and other planets.
He saw merchants from Velocitron, selling Solar batteries, a priest from Caminus saying that the signs were awakening, he had seen that Devisens, off of their lunar reserve, coming here to find a new life away from those that stole their ‘Great Lushness’ if he was hearing that right, he saw– Sovereign looked away, panicking, “What are THEY doing here?” he had asked Cliffjumper who looked as well, “Decepticons?”
“Worse, Vorticons.” Sovereign had said, making Cliffjumper look, yep, they had the same look, Amber Optics, big, and they had the mask of The Vorticon leader as a brand, “Them? They’re just some religious zealots under The ‘Cons.” Cliffjumper explained to him, “They’re worse than that, they’re been around since The Golden Harvest.” Sovereign had said, confusing The resurrected bot.
“How?” he had asked, The Ex–Spec Ops though that everything but The Titans and some of The Titan Masters died out from The Golden harvest, nothing left but legends, “Their leader, Tyrannicus, was a Knight of Cybertron, who had sided with the Rebel God.” Sovereign had told him, “One Astrocycle, Tyrannicus and his Order had left to the stars with the Rebel, but before that, they were changed by Unicron.”
“How?” Cliffjumper had asked, having never heard of his story as he had watched them, “They were turned into a Virus, one bite from them and any bot would turn to their side, becoming stronger, mightier, and becoming a reflection of Tyrannicus, the sign being their amber optics.” he had said, pointing to the trio’s, “So they’re–?” victims of Tyrannicus, and the worst thing is, it’s nearly impossible to cure.”
That had surprised the bot, to think that there was a group like that who had been changed by Unicron like that, it was– a shot had rang out, making the two duck, “Scrap!” she found us again!” Sovereign had said as Shadow Striker approached, “You three!” Help me catch that Titan Master and reborn!” The sniper had order of The Vorticons, making both of them turn to see the warriors aiming their weapons.
“Run!” Sovereign had ordered and they had went to do as much, heading to a Velocitronian cargo freighter, the two of them running as fast possible there when they saw Shadow Striker there with no damage at all it seemed, “Get on!” she had shouted which was when they had seen that she had a Autobot Symbol on, “Roulette?!” SHadow Striker shouted as they got on, safe, at least for now.