CHAPTER FIVE
Trypticon, New Kaon
“Get… off of me!”
Megatron roared as he fired a blast of energy from his fusion cannon, rendering one of the Brunt drones that had been trying to restrain him into a pile of scrap. He then wrenched his arm free from the claws of another drone and smashed his fist into its head, knocking it to the floor. Before he could revel in this triumph, more Brunt drones appeared to take the place of those he had just demolished and he once more found himself wrestling with them.
“Fight for as long as you want,” Trypticon’s voice rumbled from all around him. “There is no escape for you.”
“Do not underestimate me,” Megatron snarled as he blasted a Brunt unit through the chest with his fusion cannon. “I have survived far worse than this, Trannis. Do not presume for a single nanosecond that you can defeat me so easily!”
“I presume nothing,” Trypticon replied. “I only need to keep you preoccupied long enough for me to carry out my plans. I have a near infinite supply of Weaponizers at my disposal and your spark will give out long before that well runs dry.”
Another beam of energy from his arm cannon destroyed three Brunt drones at once. “You want to take that bet?”
When Trypticon did not respond to this, Megatron spared a second to glance in Full-Tilt’s direction. The so-called “captain” of Trypticon continued to sit in his command chair, watching on in silence. No doubt that it was through Full-Tilt’s optical sensors that Trypticon—or Trannis, whichever he was calling himself now—was watching everything unfold. In fact, Megatron couldn’t help but wonder if there was much to distinguish the three individuals at this point. Trannis’s spark had been placed into Full-Tilt’s body so that it could then be transferred into Trypticon’s body. From that moment, the three of them had been permanently linked. Even after Trannis’s spark was extinguished, his consciousness remained in Trypticon’s processor which was also Full-Tilt’s processor. They had become one.
He intended to change that.
After grabbing a charging Brunt and throwing it against the wall, Megatron set his sights on Full-Tilt and charged towards the stationary Decepticon. Two more Brunts leaped out from behind the command chair but were quickly blasted away by his fusion cannon. Closing in on Full-Tilt, Megatron reached out and grabbed him by the neck before wrenching him out of the command chair, tearing out cables that had been connecting Full-Tilt to his seat.
“I believe you have long outlived your usefulness,” Megatron growled as he drew Full-Tilt close to his face.
“Killing me will do nothing,” Full-Tilt replied in a monotonous voice. “We—I have become eternal.”
Pressing the barrel of his fusion cannon against Full-Tilt’s abdomen, Megatron sneered. “Allow me to test that claim.”
A beam of energy lanced from the cannon and punctured a hole through Full-Tilt’s torso. At that moment, the entire room began to shake as a deafening, agonized roar filled the air. The Brunt drones that had been attacking Megatron suddenly seized up and started to clutch their heads as if in pain.
“This… cannot… happen!” Trypticon bellowed. “I am… Trannis! I am… Trypticon! I am—”
Whatever else Trypticon had been about to say was abruptly cut off as the entire room plunged into darkness. Behind Megatron, the remaining Brunt drones collapsed, the clanging of their metal bodies against the floor echoing all around him. As Megatron released Full-Tilt’s deactivated corpse, there was a flash of purple light as a Seeker in black and purple armor plating suddenly appeared before the Decepticon leader.
“Lord Megatron!” Skywarp exclaimed. “Are you injured? Soundwave told us that you would be here and—”
“Soundwave told you, did he?” Megatron snapped. “I look forward to hearing his explanation for everything.”
“Er, one problem with that, my liege,” Skywarp said awkwardly.
Megatron shot him a look. “What?”
“Soundwave is gone. He… he opened a portal and—”
Skywarp did not get a chance to finish his statement as Megatron slammed his fists against a wall and released an energon-curdling roar from his vocal processor.
* * *
Freedom. It was such a foreign concept in Soundwave’s mind. In fact, he could not even recall the last time he ever, truly considered himself to be free.
From day one, he had been in servitude to some higher power. From the Thirteen Primes to Ratbat, from Shockwave to Trannis, from Megatron to Shockwave once more…. For the several thousand years he had been online, he had always been second to someone. Only his companions — Ravage, Laserbeak, and the others — saw him as someone to look up to for leadership and guidance. His fellow Decepticons hardly ever gave him that respect unless instructed so by Megatron; Starscream and Shockwave certainly never regarded him as an equal in the command structure. They only tolerated his presence due to his position as Megatron’s adviser.
But those days were behind him now. Today was going to be the start of a new chapter.
Standing on a precipice that oversaw Trypticon’s stationary form, Soundwave turned around to regard his companions. Ravage, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Frenzy, and Rumble all looked to him with expectant expressions. These five had stuck with him for all these years, through thick and thin. He could hardly imagine his life without them.
That would have to change.
“This is where we part ways, my friends,” Soundwave said to them. “You are free to choose your paths, but it must be independent of mine.”
“You’re sure you want to go through with all of this?” Ravage asked, optics narrowed skeptically. “Not so long ago, you seemed pretty content with following Megatron as usual.”
“I was never content,” Soundwave confessed. “Ever since Megatron’s return, I have felt… uneasy about this whole situation. Trypticon whispering in my audio receptors certainly did not help matters.”
“But Trypticon’s been taken care of now,” said Rumble. “We managed to shut him off and I’m sure Megatron’s gotten out of his predicament. Why can’t we go back?”
“You can,” Soundwave corrected him. “But I cannot. Now that I have betrayed his trust for a third time, there is no way I can return to the Decepticons now.”
Ravage tilted his head. “What are you going to do then?”
“That is something I cannot tell you, because I know you will follow me and I do not want that.”
“Why?” Laserbeak squawked, flapping his wings. “Is it going to be dangerous?”
“Very,” Soundwave said. “Perhaps even fatal.”
Ravage continued to stare at him. “You’re absolutely sure about this?” he repeated. “Nothing we can say or do to change your mind.”
Soundwave shook his head. “Thank you for following me all this way,” he said softly. “I will forever cherish all of the time we have spent together. I would have not missed it for anything.”
With that, his chest window began to glow and a portal opened behind him. He stepped into it and it closed as soon as he was fully in.
* * *
“Upon reviewing the security footage, it would appear Soundwave’s little minions had a hand in shutting Trypticon down,” said Shatter, standing in front of a row of viewscreens in the command center. “As you can see here, the Decepticon designated Ravage tears out a set of cables that are wired to Trypticon’s brain module. This, in time with you destroying Full-Tilt, was what shut the Titan down. We have since been able to restore power to the facility without reactivating Trypticon himself.”
“No scrap,” Starscream muttered, standing beside the seated and silent Megatron.
Shatter ignored the remark as she continued. “I have already mobilized our units to search for Soundwave and his minions. The energy dispersion left behind by the portal he opened indicates that he could not have gone far and is most likely still here on New Kaon.”
She paused in her report, awaiting any comments from Megatron. When the Decepticon leader provided none, she shut off the viewscreens and bowed to him.
“Unless there is anything else, my liege, I will get straight to work. All hail Megatron.”
With that, Shatter departed from the room, leaving her superior officers to themselves. Once she was gone, Starscream stepped away from Megatron’s throne and turned around to face him.
“First Shockwave, then Soundwave. I’d better watch my back in case anything happens to me.”
Megatron glowered at him but continued to say nothing. Starscream worked his jaw as he debated over what words to string together and speak, and whether he should even speak them.
“Shall we continue with the mobilization of our forces as planned?”
Again, nothing but silence.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” With a slightly less respectful bow, Starscream prepared to take his own leave. “Let me know when they catch Soundwave. I will want a front-row seat to his punishment.”
The Air Commander left and Megatron now sat alone in his throne room, with no Soundwave to confide in and no Trypticon-Trannis to mock him. All he had now were his own conflicted thoughts.
He had no idea how much time had passed when one of the viewscreens turned on, displaying the face of Astrotrain.
“Lord Megatron, someone has just emerged from the space bridge.”
Megatron fixed his steely gaze on the Triple Changer. “And?” he said impatiently. “Who are they?”
“He says his name is Megastorm,” Astrotrain answered. “And, uh… well, maybe I should just show him to you.”
The image on the viewscreen changed and Astrotrain’s face was replaced with that of a green and purple bot whose appearance made Megatron feel as if he was looking in a mirror.
Suddenly, all thoughts of Soundwave and Trypticon receded to the back of Megatron’s mind and he leaned forward in his throne.
“Bring him to me. I’m sure our conversation will be an enlightening one….”
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