Retrieval from Darkness

[Soundwave]

((Monument Valley - Decepticon Base, Texas; August 15th, 2027))
((Branched off from the events in Generosity and Gratitude))

Somewhere in a south-western state, hidden within a shielded underground lair somewhere in the deepest reaches of Monument Valley, a sixteen foot robotic form lay dormant and unmoving. Suddenly all systems within the machine activated and the blue chassis lights glowed brightly in the darkness of the cave. Getting up, it looked to the entrance, then walked out and up to the surface. Once there, it transformed into a silver 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG and sped towards the highway heading south towards Texas. This was not just any ordinary robot. This was a Cybertronian Cyberlink Remote Control Bio-Mech Drone, it belonged to Soundwave, and it was controlled by the powerful Decepticon as a literal secondary body. It had no life or mind of its own, it was literally a physical extension of himself, his will, his power, and it was one of the many reasons the others so feared him.

The Cyber Drone drove tirelessly, not stopping for anything or anyone as he followed the highways to its destination, the Decepticon base, a captured former Air Force base they had appropriated for their own use and once they had gained that foot hold, the humans and Autobots were hard pressed to make them leave. After twenty years of conflict on Earth, the Decepticons had made it clear they were not leaving, period.

But Soundwave had other ideas, and now began the first stages in his complex plan. The time had come and now was the time to set things in motion, for the sake of his family and the future of his entire race. As the Cyber Drone approached the base, those outside the re-engineered structures stepped out of the way, letting the Drone pass, knowing who controlled it, who owned it, as they sensed the frighteningly familiar Spark Echo of the cold, emotionless, and very dangerous Communications Officer. Such a humble position for such a powerful mech, but he had Megatron's audio receptor and no one dared cross the tyrant warlord for fear of losing their Sparks, literally.

Once inside the base, the Cyber Drone transformed and headed down the corridor. That steady confident gait was as much a signature as Soundwave's own deeply modulated voice. Everyone knew it was Soundwave, even though the chassis was completely different, thus no one interfered with him. He quietly entered the med bay and looked around, knowing Megatron's bonded Hive were likely with him, leaving either Knockout, Code Blue, or Flatline in the med bay. Soundwave's intention, however, had nothing to do with any of them; his Drone had been deployed and sent there to retrieve Perceptor's daughter, Alex Mac, and remove her from the base whether the others wanted him to or not. It was time to return the Techno Organic to the Autobots. He knew the young girl was likely not in the main area of the med bay itself, and Knockout had taken to caring for her. So, he went to the section of the medical bay that the small red mech had appropriated for himself. But the anticipation of finding Knockout there left an odd sensation in Soundwave as the drone approached, hoping the smaller mech was there yet dreading it at the same time. The conflict within him confused Soundwave, but he buried the sensation for now, focusing on the task at hand. He was doing this as a favour for his son, Wavelength, and he would see it though regardless of his own discomfort at being there.

[Knockout]

Knock out was indeed near Alex, however, he was in his alt mode by the girl's containment unit having just gotten her food, his holoform within the containment unit with her, a plate of food in one hand "I'm hoping they got the damned order right for you this time." the holoform said, walking up to the table where Alex normally ate and setting the food down. "And, I got you something extra to snack on later." he added, placing a couple candy bags down on the table and moving to take a seat on the chair opposite of Alex's normal seat "Wavelength's been gone a while, don't you think, he's normally not out flying for this long. . ." he commented, growing a little concerned for his tiny flier friend. "What do you recon he's gotten up to huh? Watch, knowing him he's prolly gonna come back with another box full of books for you or something." he said, giving a bit of a smile.

[Alexandria "Alex" Mack]

Alex had looked up when Knockout arrived, having been reading quietly in the corner to pass the time, positioned in such a way that the surveillance would not catch what she was to. She smiled a bit upon seeing the holoform. Knockout was one of the few she looked forward to seeing, one of the few who didn't see her as simply something to experiment on. She noted the food he had brought and got up, moving to the table with an appreciative nod. "I'm sure it's fine." she said in regards to the order. She wasn't all that picky, she couldn't exactly afford to be. She smiled a bit more when he placed the bags of candy on the table as well. He and Wavelength were really the only ones who ever treated her to anything special, and she knew they had to be careful doing so. She did truly appreciate it, no matter how small of a thing it was.

She sat at the table and began eating, taking it a bit slowly but not in such a way that it seemed like she was stalling. In all honesty she liked having someone to converse with and hoped to make it last a bit. It was a subconscious thing more than anything else. When he mentioned how long Wavelength had been gone, though, she hesitated, looking down a bit. "I know... I hope nothing bad has happened..." She always worried when Wavelength was gone longer than usual, she couldn't help it. She knew he was strong, and that he could handle himself but there was always the possibility of something going wrong. At the suggestion that he may come back with a box of books for her, though, she smiled again and looked back up. "More books would be a nice surprise. I would really like more of this series he brought back last time, the story is really interesting..." she said, putting the book she had been reading, a volume of the manga "Chobits," on the table and sliding it over to the holoform so Knockout could take a look at it as she continued eating.

[Soundwave]

The drone paused just out of sight, listening to the conversation. So they were worried about Wavelength. Well, that wasn't a bad thing at least. A brief glance to the deeper shadows, then quietly stepped forward into view and waited for them to notice him. Seeing Knockout there made something within him lurch a bit, but the drone didn't react, merely standing there watching them in silence like a statue, as was Soundwave's typical habit. Inwardly he forced himself to focus as everything moved into place.

[Knockout]

"Well, Wavelength might not be much of a fighter but I feel sorry for anyone who tries to keep track of him long enough to actually attack him, he'll have them chasing their own shadow, Sneaky little thing." he said with a bit of a chuckle. "So is the meal good? You're nursing it a bit there Alex." he commented as she slid the book across the table, when he saw the title of it however, he had to shake his head a bit, picking up the book and flipping through the pages a bit "Uh huh. . .Remind me to teach that boy how to read maturity labels. This is not made for someone your age." he said, giving a heavy sigh, a slight click of the tongue to follow as he placed the book back down and sliding it back over towards her. He looked at Alex a moment before shaking his head "But, really, what could it hurt? You deserve some enjoyment in your life. Which is why I fixed this for you. . ." Knockout said, pulling her previously broken due to a fall handheld game system from his pocket "Now don't go dropping it again, alright, it's a real pain in the aft to work on those tiny little parts." he said, pointing a finger at her, though, on his face was a smile.

It was then he glanced back, mostly at his own alt mode, still wanting to make sure he got every bit of that bird crap from earlier off his hood. It was then he noticed the drone and stiffened. How long had he been standing there? "I'm not in trouble, am I?" he asked, he knew that getting close to the humans was something frowned on by the other Cons but, considering who this one's adoptive son was and what he knew of Soundwave's actual thoughts from the little Wavelength had mentioned, he was pretty sure if he was in trouble, it would be something much worse. At the same time he was sort of glad to see the drone, though he would have rathered seen Soundwave himself. "Umm, Hey Soundwave, I'm hoping this is a, well, pleasant type of visit. The drone's not damaged, is it?"

[Alexandria "Alex" Mack]

Alex nodded when he asked about her meal. "Yeah, it's great!" she assured him quickly. "Sorry, guess I'm just a little distracted..." She picked up the pace a little bit to help assure him that it was fine as he looked over the book. The "mature" aspects didn't really phase her all that much. She'd read plenty of non-fiction books, including those on biology and medicine. She understood human anatomy and the effects of hormones, it didn't surprise her that such things would come up in literature and comics.

She looked up again as he mentioned fixing something for her and smiled when she saw the handheld game system in his hand. "Thanks, I really appreciate it! I've been wanting to play that again... I'll try not to drop it again. Sorry, I can be a bit clumsy sometimes..." The truth was she hadn't actually dropped it, she had gotten frustrated with a particular boss and, since she still hadn't perfected her control over her abilities, the spike in emotion caused a bit of electricity to arc between her hands, through the game system, frying it. Somehow it seemed a bit less embarrassing to say she dropped it, though, so that's what she had told Knockout.

She continued eating and looked back up again to see him stiffen and heard his question. She followed his gaze, fearful that the wrong Decepticon, or possibly even Megatron himself, had caught them and her eyes settled on the drone. She recognized it after a moment. Wavelength had shown her what Soundwave looked like before, both the drone and his true form, but she couldn't recall the communications officer ever coming to see her himself. She had to wonder what this may be about. Maybe he just had business with Knockout? The way Knockout responded made that seem likely. He was a medic after all, it would make sense. For now she just kept quiet, waiting to see what would happen.

[Soundwave]

The Cyber Drone merely looked at Knockout and the human for a moment, not moving, not even the rhythmic venting that cooled a Cybertronian's chassis through the heat exchange system. The Drone then turned to the side without a word, revealing a particularly nasty gouge on the mid back on the left side, one that would have torn open either the left cooling system bellows or the overflow Energon tank on a normal mech. But this was a Drone, and though it had all the same systems, it had no Spark and the redundancies normally integrated automatically were missing. Had this been Soundwave's true form, he would have been in serious pain. As it was Soundwave could feel the damage, but not the pain, which the dark mech was grateful for. Plus, with the distance, he could disconnect from the drone while Knockout worked on it, alleviating the discomfort he felt whenever the red mech was close by. He had other ways of keeping track of what was happening in that room, after all.

[Knockout]

"Clumsy, suuuure. When have you ever been clumsy Alex?" Knockout asked her with a small, knowing smirk but, seeing the damage to the drone, he cringed "Slag, thank goodness it was just the drone." he said to Soundwave before the holoform stood, looking over to Alex "Sorry Alex, duty calls but I'll make it up to you later. What do you say to a movie night when Wavelength gets back?" he asked the young Techno-organic as he walked around the table, putting an arm over her shoulders in a half hug "Just let me see to this, alright?"

As he spoke to Alex, his true form transformed into his bot mode and moved to start looking over the gash "What did you do Soundwave? It looks like you were on the losing end of a fight with a rotary saw with this drone."

[Alexandria "Alex" Mack]

Alex blushed a bit, knowing she had just been called out in a sense. yes, she could be clumsy, but she was generally very careful with things like electronics which could duffer severe damage much more easily. She noted the gash on the drone, recognizing it's severity. So it seems it was Knockout that Soundwave had come here to see. Then again, she could think of no real reason he would have come to see her. She nodded to Knockout. "I understand. A movie night sounds fun, though. I guess I'll see you later then..." She went back to her meal, not wanting to hold the medic up when he had work to do, and began eating at a more average pace.

[Soundwave]

The Drone stood quietly, listening to the two of them, waiting patiently. In response to the question about the gash, the Drone regarded Knockout for a moment, then Soundwave's deeply modulated voice passed through the air between them. "Damage source irrelevant. Repair required." Then the sixteen foot tall mech looked away and went still so Knockout could go to work, though Soundwave monitored the room closely, waiting for the right moment for Knockout to be completely engrossed in what he was doing and leaving Alex alone in her 'cell'. Then stage two of this little operation would commence. All was in position and ready.

[Knockout]

"Yea, I know, all those little details are about as relevant to you as your sex drive is. Loosen up some Soundwave. Hell, I'd be willing to help you loosen up if you wanted." he said with a bit of a smirk as his holoform disengaged and Knockout himself looked over his shoulder to Alex. "Make sure you get all of that down, you're a growing girl, you need it." he said with a smile and gave her a bit of a wave as he moved to usher Soundwave's drone from the room and to the med bay "You know, you should come down yourself and meet Alex properly some time. After all, she sees your son as a big brother, technically you're part of her extended family." he said, moving to get the tools and supplies he would need to repair that damage "Lay it down, on the front so I don't have to roll the drone over to get to it." he said, moving a tray over with the supplies.

[Alexandria "Alex" Mack]

Alex Had to stifle a snicker at Knockout's comment to Soundwave. She hadn't been expecting that and yet, somehow she felt like she should have. She looked up and nodded to Knockout, waving back before returning to her meal. After a few minutes he finished, moving the dishes aside and looking back and forth between the game system and her book, debating. She was really enjoying the story of the manga but at the same time she really wanted to show that damn boss who the REAL boss was around here. Well, it had been longer since she had been able to play her game, it would be refreshing to get back to it. She reached for the handheld as her mind was made up.

[Ravage]

Once his Master's Drone and the medic had left the room, it was time to get down to the business at hand. Bending the shadows around himself, he moved forward, casting the shadows over the cage where the human was and allowing him to get in close, unseen. He did make his presence known to the human, however, by reaching up and quite literally spitting out a few of what looked like ball bearings at the locking mechanism. Those metal spheres did not stay spheres for long, however, as they shifted into odd little metallic insects which swarmed over the lock and after a moment, disengaged it. The small swarm then retreated back into the Cybercat's maw and he moved forward into the cage, walking straight up to Alex as he regarded her thoughtfully for a moment before deliberately turning his side towards her. With the shadows casting a deeper darkness around them, the surveillance system was blind and useless. To anyone watching, it appeared as if the lights in the room had been shut off.

[Soundwave]

The Cyber Drone gave Knockout a rather indignant look, then followed him out of the room. "Intimacy: pointless pursuit." came the reply as the Drone laid face down on the medical berth, yet that electronic monotone held a hint of something else. The Drone went still as Soundwave withdrew from it, and inwardly, Soundwave clutched at his Spark as memories came unbidden to the forefront, memories of his beloved Siren, his One. He had lost her long ago before they could truly bond, murdered by a marauding band of raiders during the tribal wars, raiders that Soundwave hunted down and slaughtered for what they had done. She was his only love and they had taken her from him and turned him into a Sparkless monster as his anguish and rage consumed him. Yet for reasons as yet unknown to him, he found his memories of her colored with visions that never happened, that would never happen - those quiet moments with Siren duplicated or even replaced with ones of himself with Knockout. But why? Why would his own memories betray him, betray the perfect purity of what he had once shared with her? Perhaps he had been alone too long after all, or perhaps he had finally gone completely mad from the hole in his Spark where Siren should have been.

[Knockout]

"It's far from pointless, and I'll have the bearings to tell you that you're an idiot if you think it's pointless." Knockout said. My he had some gull today. He moved to begin on the repairs them, wanting to get back to Alex, he didn't get to spend a lot of time with the kid and he had grown to like her company, but he also wanted to fix this drone properly so he wouldn't rush.