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SOFTWARE WARS I |
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By Charles Ellis |
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Cybertron, 31/12/2298 The city of Iacon has seen much hardship in its time. Many Autobots still clearly remember the day when Trannis reduced it to rubble, and the thousands of Vorns in which they were treated like vermin, fodder for the Decepticon smelting pools. The war is over now, and Iacon has been repaired, but people still remember the pain and hardship of those years. It’s New Year’s Eve in Iacon. Autobots lie crowded in homes and pubs, counting down. Rack’n’Ruin and the Dinobots are in Maccadam’s Old Oil House, drunk on Energon champagne (“this bar accepts no responsibility for any corrosion of fuel pumps caused by our alcohol”) and trying unsuccessfully to remember the words to some old Earth song.
Fireworks blast off in the sky, lighting the sky and deafening the
Autobots with explosions. The sound of celebration can now be heard all
over the city, even in the room of former Wrecker Topspin. The lights of
the fireworks reflect in his blank optics. The sound of explosions do not
register in his audio sensors. Crashed
System By
Charles Ellis Twin Twist just lies there, not comprehending what the police are telling him. It’s all extraneous anyway. All that matters is that Topspin is dead. Topspin is DEAD. Fellow Jumpstarter and Wrecker, practically his brother, and now a metal shell in a morgue somewhere. Topspin is-
“Sir?”
The ex-Headmaster coughs nervously. “I repeat; the autopsy has
shown no physical cause of death, no gunshot or whatever. We know he had
been on the cyber-net a few hours prior to his body’s discovery, and
then his mind was destroyed by a virus… We think this was a deliberate
killing; someone hacked into his mind and implanted a fast-acting virus in
him. Do you know any Transformer with a motive, or the capability-“
Siren and the others subconsciously backed away. “Uh, I said-“ “SHUT UP! Get the SLAG outta my home! GO!” Siren and his men ran out. Twin Twist stayed very still and very quiet for a few seconds, before transforming and smashing the table with his drills. “ARGGGGGHHHH!” And then there was just him, in amongst a bunch of wood fragments. “no…” **************************************************************** Decepticon
stronghold, unknown area of space, 2/1/2299 “ONSLAUGHT!” Soundwave stormed through the dusty corridors of the base, in a foul mood. WHERE were those blasted Combaticons? The Decepticon army were fugitives, exiled from their own home planet, half-forgotten by the world- they were NOT in a position where it was good practise for crack commando squads to just bugger off whenever they felt like it!
The Combaticon commander emerged from another corridor and said:
“Problem, Soundwave?” “Understood sir,” muttered Onslaught. ************************************************************************ Rack’n’Ruin and Sandstorm found Twin Twist in Maccadam’s, nursing a glass of oil. Sandstorm shook his head.
“Poor guy. I mean, we all knew Topspin, but Twin Twist is taking
it much harder…”
“Yeah, I know… Wonder where the others are?”
“We heard the news, we decided to come here for the… er…”
“I remember,” said Ruin, “all those fights Topspin won.
Remember how he freed about 16 prisoners in the Smelting Pool
single-handedly. That’s no way to go, mind frying. He was a WRECKER. He
should’ve died in battle, the fuel of Decepticon’s coating his drills.
Not like- like-“ “Waitress,” said Twin Twist, “more oil please.” ************************************************************************ Star
Saber’s office, 3/1/2299 “No
doubt about it,” said Siren. “This was a definite hack. Also, I’ve
checked the cyber-net at the time of the hack; this came from right within
New Iacon. And a government building.” TO BE CONTINUED OUTBREAK By
Charles Ellis Iacon
Security HQ, 2/2/2299 Nightbeat
said: “Play it again, Siren.”
“Rewind and play back at half speed.” “Halve speed and play back again, this time focus on top left.” This time, they could see a pixelly close-up of the Autobot, just walking. And then he shuddered, his face went blank and he exploded.
Nightbeat sighed. “Suicide bomber. Still… it’s odd. He
didn’t look like he was in control, like- Damn.”
“Yeah. Chalk it up with the hacking of Coil, the attempted murder
of Perceptor, the murder of Topspin and three security Autobots, and now
THIS.” “Well, let’s keep working,” said Nightbeat. “We need to track down whoever is causing all this.” “Slaughter
City”, 3 hours prior Vortex
grinned. “That’s it. Our little surprise should be kicking in right
now.”
“Those little creeps better pay up on time,” said Swindle.
“We NEED that stuff; what’s taking them so long?!” Requiem Port, New Iacon, 8/2/2299 Ultra Magnus got onto the platform, looked down at the gathered and took a deep breath. PRIMUS he hoped he didn’t screw this up-
“Topspin was a Wrecker. An Autobot resistance fighter, slagging
the enemy, facing death head-on. He was… he…” He shook slightly.
“I’m sorry… I-I just…” He gripped hard on the podium, steadying
himself. “Look, Topspin was one of us. A Wrecker. And that’s all I can
say.” Twin Twist just had this horrible blank look on his face. His optics had lost any semblance of the spark of life, and his entire face was nothing more than some eerie mask. Did he even register what was going on? Nobody knew what to say; Wreckers had NEVER died in anything less than a battle, and it seemed to Magnus like they were all slightly embarrassed. But no, it was something else- it was despair. Despair that a Wrecker could die in their own home. Despair that a Wrecker could die without fighting a valiant battle, surrounded by the shells of Second Generation cannon fodder. Despair that they could actually die like a normal person. It was a terrifying thought for them. Broadside pressed a button, and the pod containing Topspin’s corpse launched, heading for the Sun. And it was really over. He was really dead. Hovering above them was a modified helicopter. It transformed and landed onto the nearby rooftop, and flinched slightly as the pod flew past him. His face was always expressionless, a cube of metal with a single cyclopean eye- nobody ever knew what he was thinking. Whirl shook his head in anger. Yet another Wrecker cut down. Impactor, Roadbuster, now Topspin… He didn’t join the others; he wouldn’t know how to act. He’d been away too long… But he was still a Wrecker, and he had to be here to honour his old friend. Few others did; Star Saber had deliberately kept the news quiet, and so Topspin was given THIS meagre send-off.
This isn’t right, thought Whirl. He should have had
crowds mourning his passing, soldiers firing weapons into the air, he
should have had a CEREMONY. But no, that’s for the Primes of this world,
isn’t it? No, we can’t have funerals for soldiers who go in and get
the job done, we have to make a big fuss over some idiotic archetype who
we all know is going to return ANYWAY! This isn’t fair… This isn’t
right… Not for Topspin… ‘s not right… Cybertronian
atmosphere The pod flew upwards, leaving the mortal world behind and heading for the beckoning Sun. And unnoticed by any on Cybertron, Astrotrain swooped out of thin air and grabbed the pod.
Soundwave
nodded to the Triple Changer as he entered the lab. “You got it.” ????,
9/2/2299 Ratchet was not in a good mood. He didn’t think much of Star Saber and his neo-Fascist cronies anyway, and now he was expected to drop everything to just have his optics shut off and then be taken to some slagging “classified base”. At least Sideswipe was here- he could trust Sideswipe. Well, he supposed so- who knew anymore? Life on Cybertron had become far more complicated since the ex-Imperial had taken control. And sometimes it was very short.
Was this what we fought and died for? To be oppressed all over
again? Star Saber was waiting for them in a small, rusty room, with a large vid-screen taking up a large part of the wall. He seemed tense.
“Ratchet. I have summoned you here for a matter of global
security. You may have heard of the recent mind-hackings-“ The implications hit Ratchet in the gut. The virus would spread from Autobot through the nets, into other Autobots. And then again. And again. Half of Cybertron could be infected.
“Oh, PRIMUS!” News of the virus was kept quiet, for a while. Star Saber knew the problems it could cause; anarchy, maybe even open rebellion. He wouldn’t let that happen. So he squashed all news of the frequent deaths among Transformers, and claimed the lockdown on the ‘Nets were because of glitches. In retrospect, that was stupid; now everybody with half a hard drive knew he was covering up something. And the people kept dying. And some of them went missing, for no given reason… Ratchet worked frantically with the abducted Autobots, trying to find a cure- he was making good progress. Nightbeat and his men were searching for the infected, so they knew who to treat or abduct; others continued investigating into who was behind the hacking. That is not the story. The true story was when a group of Autobots got together and started talking about the recent happenings. The true story was when others joined in. The true story were the Autobots who were fed up being ground under Star Saber’s heel, and who were scared that they might die or just disappear, and didn’t know what was going on and were SICK of it. The true story was when the riot started. New
Iacon, 18/2/2299 The Public Service Address Screen exploded into a million glass fragments, and the crowd cheered. Behind them fires tore their way through skyscraper after skyscraper. The mob moved open, breaking windows and starting fires and smashing up any member of the security forces that tried to stop them. And the crowd was getting bigger. Sideswipe screeched to a halt next to the police barricade and transformed. He had his black armour plating on, and a Pathblaster by his side. He watched grimly as the crowd continued their destructive rampage. Miscellaneous Autobots smashed their way into an office building and there was a great cheer as an explosion echoed from within it. The mob was snarling, a thousand cries of anger and paranoia mixing into one angry whole. “…why are you abducting us-“ “…slagging ‘Cons!” “…we have a right to know-“
Siren gulped as the crowd came closer. “What do we do, sir?”
“Star Saber has instructed us to use lethal force to keep them
back.” The crowd surged on and then fell back as they were blasted with deadly accuracy. Rioters literally exploded, their brain modules breaking apart and mech-fluid splashing across the ground. And the roar of anger become cries of pain and fear. By the morning, 17 rioters were dead, along with four security patrolmen who’d tried to hold the riot back. Twenty buildings had been burnt or severely damaged. And this only increased the paranoia and resentment bubbling beneath the surface of Cybertron. ????,
19/2/2299 “I
can’t believe you did that,” said Springer. His hands clenched and
unclenched. “The thing is, Star Saber, that you instructed your little
militia to shoot dead civilians.”
“Oh, great. So now everyone will still remain paranoid. You’ll
release those abducted, mind-wiped of course, and still everyone will
think abductions are still going on. And they’ll remain scared and
angry-“ Ratchet sighed and allowed himself a small smile. The cure worked. It frigging WORKED! Hundreds were dead, but that was the last- nobody else would die from this virus.
“It’s done Springer,” he said, grinning. “It’s cured.” +++MEMORIES ACCESSED.+++ +++ALTER/DELETE MEMORIES. Y/N?+++ +++Y+++ +++DAEMON FILE: TROJAN ACCESSED. UPLOADING TO DESIGNATE: RATCHET…+++ *********************************************************************** The last of the funeral pods launched. They contained the last Autobots to die of the virus, the last ten of three hundred. They cleared Cybertronian orbit, heading for the Sun. And like the rest of the three hundred, they were captured before they reached there. TO BE CONTINUED Check By
Charles Ellis Star
Saber’s HQ, New Iacon, 6/3/2299 “The
people are angry,” said Great Shot. Outside of Star Saber’s tower was
a mob of Autobots, picketing it and screaming abuse. “We should go
public with the Software Wars-“
“Damn. The Decepticons have been quiet for a decade, who’d have
thought they’d do something this ambitious?”
“Springer… You are part of this government. What effects me-“
Star Saber was absolutely livid. “I run this planet well-“
Star Saber glared at Springer and started to leave the room.
“I’m going for ISS.” “And it will never happen in your lifetime.” ************************************************************************ Damn
the Autobots! I came in and rebuilt Cybertron from a war-torn wreck into a
prosperous planet! Under my rule, the Decepticons are nothing but a ragtag
group of thugs! Civil rights and freedoms must surely be less important
than what I’ve given them. I give them all this and all they do is riot
and whine about oppression. Do I throw them into Smelting Pools?(It’s
tempting with some of them) Do I hunt them like turbo-foxes? No, I merely
remove their ability to cause trouble and mess up post-war Cybertron.
Surely that is logical!
Idiots. Would they prefer that political naïf Springer in charge?
PUTTUP. Star Saber sighed and connected himself up to his room’s ISS computer. After a while, his optics dimmed. +++INVOLUNTARY SYSTEM SHUTDOWN- FUNCTIONING.+++ +++MOTORLOCK VIRUS- UPLOADING...+++ +++MOTORLOCK VIRUS UPLOADED. DESIGNATE STAR SABER INCAPACITATED. BROADCASTING TO DESIGNATE SPRINGER.+++ ********************************************************************** Ratchet pushed his way through the crowd towards Star Saber’s HQ. Sideswipe helped by beating up the nearby protestors so Ratchet could get through them. One of them called him a Decepticon and far ruder names, so Sideswipe hit him harder. “It’s like a mob of Sharkticons!” said Ratchet.
“Yeah, lousy fraggers. C’mon, we need to get to Star Saber!” The two of them transformed and sped off towards Star Saber. The leader of Cybertron had had his body freeze up totally- this was urgent. The two of them reached Star Saber’s quarters and walked in. “Anyone else around?” asked Ratchet. “Nah. Good thing, that- who knows what could happen if there was? C’mon, we better get to work.” The guards to Star Saber’s room came back, having sneaked off to the nearby pub. As they did so, they noticed the door was open. Frowning, the two of them entered the room, and saw Sideswipe & Ratchet standing with smoking guns over the slagged form of Star Saber. And somewhere else, Springer smiles. TO BE CONTINUED Meet
the New Boss By
Charles Ellis Cybertron,
7/3/2299 Nobody
remembered who he was. He absent-mindedly brushed some dust from the table in his cramped apartment, and turned on the TV. Rack’n’Ruin practically LIVED in Maccadam’s Old Oil House. They spent half the day there, and where they went afterwards, nobody knew. Gut didn’t care- Rack’n’Ruin always paid their bar tab, unlike SOME veterans he could mention (coughtheDinobotscough). “Turn on da Teev, man,” slurred Rack. Ruin grunted in agreement before falling into his Energon shake.
Gut sighed. I’ve really got to stop spiking the Opening Time
drinks with Shanix. If they discharge lubricant on the floor again… He turned on the TV. Twin Twist hadn’t gone outside in two weeks. He hadn’t said a word in three weeks. The other Wreckers had given up on him- they were all sad over Topspin, but he’d taken it harder than the rest. They were concerned he might be suffering mental problem. Already the Reductionists were coming round, trying to use his sorrow to get him to convert. The last one had needed three days of intensive medical care. Out of habit, not really registering what he was doing, Twin Twist turned on the TV. The Combaticons were feeling really smug with themselves. They’d just struck a huge blow for the Decepticon cause, and all without Galvatron knowing (like they wanted him knowing about the mind-hacking, they wouldn’t trust HIM with that technology). Only one way to check if it’d succeeded. Vortex turned on the TV. Planet-wide
broadcast- message by Springer “Greetings. Last night, Star Saber was assassinated by the mind-hacked Ratchet and Sideswipe. As a result, I am now in control of Cybertron. “And so it is my duty to inform you that all the recent events- the attempted assassination of Perceptor, the death of Star Saber, the recent deaths, the Internet/Intranet lockdowns and the recent Combaticon sightings are all related to an ongoing Software War. The Decepticons are hacking into Autobot minds. Already, over three hundred are dead as a result. We have been trying to initiate a counter-attack, but to no success as of yet. “I will stress that this is no cause for panic. We are confident we can launch a counter-offensive against the Decepticons. They have dared to attack us through hacking, a crime not even Jhiaxus and Straxus ever attempted. As a result, we are taking every needed measure to ensure the security of Cybertron and an Autobot victory in the Software War.”
Three minutes after that broadcast, there was a fresh outbreak of riots. New
Iacon, five minutes after the broadcast Whirl looked down into a sea of flames. The rioters had set some sort of incendiary off, and the blaze was spreading fast. The buildings near his were catching fire already. The security forces hadn’t showing up- Whirl had a suspicion that some of the rioters WERE the security forces. He sighed and went back to the TV, where news of the riots was being broadcasted. They were all across the planet, about six in the city- He froze. They were showing an image from another riot, a few kilometres away. There was a vicious brawl going on as the Reductionists preached about how this was all the action of the Quintessons, come to punish their arrogant creations- the rioters had been around during the Eugenesis Wars and did NOT take kindly to that idea. There was a fire raging in the background, burning down a building that Whirl recognised well. It was the building where Twin Twist lived. “SLAG!” He was dimly aware that the heat was rising. He didn’t care. Some part of him sensed that he was going to see Topspin again. Whirl came screaming out of his flat, blasting away the wall, his helicopter blade ripping through the air. He could see the fire of Twin Twist’s home in the distance. He could see, in his mind’s optic, Twin Twist oozing away, just like at the Smelting Pools. Being hurled in, melting to slag, as his killers laughed on. +++E.T.A. 5 MINUTES AT SAFEST MAXIMUM SPEED+++ +++WARNING- ENGINE CANNOT HANDLE CURRENT SPEED. DECELLERATING.+++ +++DECELLERATION OVERRIDDEN.+++ +++WARNING- 78.6% PROBABILITY OF SERIOUS DAMAGE FROM CURRENT SPEED.+++ +++WARNING OVERRIDDEN.+++ He couldn’t see properly now. There was smoke coming from somewhere. But why bother to be concerned? He was a Wrecker. They didn’t die unless in battle, surrounded by the dead. They didn’t die in their homes. They didn’t they didn’t they didn’t they didn’t they didn’t they didn’t they didn’t they didn’t.
+++E.T.A. 2 MINUTES. ENGINE FAILURE IN 1 MINUTE.+++ He smiled. He could see Topspin, smiling at him. See, he was OK! They would meet again and laugh about the whole situation. He was OK! There was an awful lot of smoke around.
Whirl’s engine lasted 20 seconds longer than expected for breaking down. Flame burst from his side, his rotor spun spastically and he spun through the air, turning round and round as the ground rushed towards him. He transformed and activated his jet boosters, causing turbulence to slam into him like a fist. He ignored it. He was 20 seconds away from Twin Twist… Who lived in a room at the centre of that blaze. “Damn…” A Sidewinder missile hit the wall and blew it inwards a few seconds before he came crashing through, into the waiting jaws of the Pit. Everything was alright. He would be with his friend again. With Impactor and Roadbuster too. They’d all be together… The wall blew inwards. Twin Twist turned and stifled a scream, for coming through the hole was a creature from the Pit itself. It was white-hot, its joints snarled as it moved, it jerked like a Kalis zombie, its single eye glared with flame and it was screaming his name. For one crazy minute, he thought it was Shockwave, come to drag him down into the abyss. He stepped backwards, flailing his arms in a pathetic attempt to ward the horror off. And then it became Whirl. The ex-Wrecker grabbed him and ran back the way it came. Flames leapt hungrily at Twin Twist as he flew past at groin-height, wondering why he was being taken away from Topspin. And then they were outside, flying for a little while before there was a sound like failing jet boosters, and they hit the ground. And when he got up, he saw Whirl lying on the ground, deactivated. He stared in horror. “D-D-DOCTOR! WE NEED A DOCTOR!” The death toll for that day was twenty Cybertronians. A further forty were seriously damaged. Decepticon
stronghold, Cybertron’s orbit, 8/3/2299 Galvatron
clasped his hand and cannon together, and said: “What can we do to take
advantage of this situation?”
“Good. And… do we know who is behind the mind-hacks? They could
turn on us. We don’t want a repeat of the Third Power, do we?” The meeting ended an hour later. Onslaught walked off towards his headquarters and was jumped by Soundwave. “Soundwave, what-URK!”
“Listen,” hissed Soundwave. “I know that you have something
to do with the mind-hacking. Tell me everything. NOW.”
“I thought not.” Soundwave let him go. “You will tell me who
your employers are, then you will break all ties with them. That way, if
they try anything against us-“ “WHAT DID YOU WANT ME TO DO?!” he screamed. “Our entire army is holed up in this damn satellites and underground on Cybertron! We’re LOSING the war; hell, we’ve practically lost it ALREADY! By hiring my team out, I gained us all money and resources we desperately need! It may have not been the smartest deal but we needed it badly. I’d even hire myself out to HUMANS if it meant prolonging our cause.”
The two generals stared each other down, before Soundwave said:
“Well. You better hope we don’t have any problems from your employers.
If we do-“ The lights went out, plunging them into darkness. Then the alarms went off, cut out, went off again, cut out, in an endless cycle. The optic screens of Soundwave and Onslaught glowed a dull red, lighting the way to the control room of the satellite. The spastic cry of the alarm sounded again and again until Onslaught shot it. The control room was a mess of lights and data. Snaptrap snarled as he tried to get the computers under control. As the other two entered, he looked up with a mix of relief and frustration.
“Finally, some help! The computers are going mad here! Systems
are failing all over the ship- we seem to have gained some sorta virus.”
“This is happening on four other satellites- the other three are
fine. Couldn’t reach the underground bases, their communications are
down. Someone doesn’t want them coming to help us.” “DROKK!”
Snaptrap was scared now, his voice shaking. “Th-the cloaking
field is offline. W-we’re now visible on visual and r-radar. The
Autobots can see us now.” The radar was picking up thirty objects flying up from Cybertron, Mach 5 and increasing.
“They’ve fired missiles at us.”
“Impact in five-“ New
Iacon Prison, Cybertron “I
swear it, we didn’t mean to kill him! I was his bodyguard, for Primus’
sake! I was in charge of the security forces! And Ratchet is a SURGEON!
Why would we-“ Decepticon
stronghold, Cybertron’s orbit He was lying on broken glass, and he had a nasty idea that it was from his own optics & recorder screen. His systems were coming back online after their 3-cycle “knock out” and a quick rundown of offline systems revealed, yes, his optics and screen HAD broken- half his optic visor was gone, several secondary systems were down and his concussion blaster was damaged. The control room suffered worse. Every computer in the room had burnt out and were calmly burning away as he watched. The lights were out- in fact, it seemed that power was out, period. Around him the others were getting up.
“That… hurt.”
“How? Power’s dead. The door can’t open!”
“Soundwave!” he cried. “Inform me why HALF THE DAMN SATELLITE
HAS BEEN VAPORISED!” He glanced at Onslaught as he followed the commander and the Seacon out of the room, and a dull rage seared through his circuits. The Combaticons, they were responsible for this, them and their blasted deal… They were responsible for this humiliating defeat. Once they were out, he’d PERSONALLY tear out the slagger’s fuel cords… But right now he had to run. All around the shuttle, Decepticons ran to reach the shuttle craft, dragging supplies and their wounded comrades. Up ahead, Motormaster seemed to be organising the escape- some of the shuttles had been destroyed by the attack, and so any Decepticon with a space-worthy alt mode was being loaded up with as many soldiers as could fit. As he looked, he could see Frenzy dragging along Rumble, who had a large piece of shrapnel embedded in his chest. The rage within Soundwave grew, and his trigger finger twitched.
He ran into Bombshell. “Bombshell- do you have the-“ “Take off.”
A minute after they’d all left the satellite base, they saw missiles streak up from the planet, metal wasps pumping it full of their destructive venom. Soundwave covered his eyes as all the damaged satellites went up in flames.
Vortex shifted nervously. “Well… That’s that then.”
“Oh. OK…”
Soundwave stepped forwards, his fists clenching and unclenching.
“Fools,” he hissed. He stepped nearer, and the Combaticons
cowered as he did so. “You dealt with an unknown species when you KNEW
that they had disguised their true plans and allegiances from you, and you
never told me or Galvatron about what you were doing. Because of you, we
have lost five of our most crucial bases, and 150 of our comrades in arms.
Understand? YOU HAVE KILLED ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DECEPTICONS. The only
reason I don’t slag you now,” he spat, “is because, thanks to you,
we need every available soldier active just to keep hold of the position
we held thirty years ago.”
“I will ‘forget’ to tell Galvatron this, because he is less
rational than I am and would kill you slowly, whether we need Bruticus or
not. Instead, you will join me, Astrotrain and Bombshell in trying to find
out what’s going on. And then you will find whoever’s doing this, and
you will personally kill them.” New Iacon Hospital, 7/3/2299 “You
have a visitor.”
“S-so. How are you doing, Whirl?”
“DAMMIT! Do NOT walk out of here, Twin Twist! You’ve been
avoiding me and the others for months now! You’ve gone into depression
and it almost got you killed! Talk to us. We could-“ “You should’ve left me to burn, Whirl. You shoulda just left me to burn.”
Silence engulfed the room. Whirl just stared at his old comrade,
hero of a thousand raids, one of the Wreckers, the slagging WRECKERS, and
he felt his Spark grow cold. “You can’t be serious,” he croaked.
“Twin Twist, don’t do this…” Decepticon
subterranean base, Cybertron “Springer’s been mind-hacked,” said Soundwave.
Astrotrain frowned and looked over at the TV. Soundwave was growing
more tense and aggressive ever since the missile strike- no, before that.
Back when he’d first got wind of the mind-hacking. Soundwave scared him.
Cautiously, he said: “How can you tell? His speeches seem to be good,
he’s informing the people, giving them hope-“ “And remember that Galvatron wants us to be ready for a serious terrorist attack, in revenge for our satellites. The puppet-masters behind this want to drive Cybertron into internal conflict, get the Autobot government to collapse into anarchy, and basically kill as many Transformers as possible without having to fire a single shot themselves. Ingenious. We should have done that.” Soundwave would’ve gone further, but Bombshell arrived. He practically bounded into the room, his optics lit up.
“I-I’ve done it!” “He’s still alive.” TO BE CONTINUED |