Like a VAST PREDATORY BIRD!
Title: The Nine Rings of Vos
A Transformers G1 Fanfic
Author: Sanjuno Shori Niko
Summary: Soundwave is understandibly confused by the fact that Ravage is talking. A lot.
Timeline: Moar parts here.
=/=
(In which Soundwave finds out the Seekers have adopted his bebes.)
Dreading what he would find, having tried and failed to make mental contact with any of the cassettes since arriving at Darkmount, Soundwave braced himself in preparation of facing the greyed shell of at least one, if not all, of his offspring. Spark twisting, Soundwave keyed open the door to his quarters.
“Creator!” The black Praxian sparkling, speaking in the rolling vibrato of Soundwave’s native state of Seiberion was not what he was expecting. Nor was the near flying tackle he received in greeting, the sparklings systems purring happily.
“Ravage?” Soundwave abandoned his affected monotone in surprise, relief and joy bringing his own accent to the surface. With the touch of their energies, the creation-bond - weakened by time and distance - snapped easily back into place, growing stronger with each pulse of their sparks, “Queries: Source of new shell and location of other Cassettacons.”
“Probably with the Seekers.” A cross expression appeared on Ravage’s face, a look that brought Starscream’s tantrums to mind. A worrisome thought began to grow in the back of Soundwave’s processor as Ravage continued, “With Lord Megatron back the Seekers were going to hide in their quarters after they welcomed the shuttle.”
“The Seekers?” Soundwave echoed in dismay, “Starscream: Shot by Lord Megatron again. Injuries minimal. Logical response: Retreated to quarters to recoup. Probability of this: High. Query: Why would your siblings be with the Seekers?”
“Starscream was shot?” Ravage cried, bolting upright and grabbing onto the edge of Soundwave’s chest plating, “Was Ratbat hurt?”
“Clarify: Why would Ratbat be injured by Starscream being shot?” Soundwave asked his usually self-contained creation in bewilderment.
“Because Ratbat hasn’t left Starscream alone for longer than a breem since he Imprinted on him!” Ravage thrashed out of Soundwave’s hold and bolted for the door.
“Hold.” Soundwave was tired of being confused, “Explain: Who has Imprinted on who? Supposition: This had something to do with your new body shell.”
Having been stopped by the simple expedient of Soundwave lifting him from the ground by the scruff bar, Ravage whined and looked up at his unreasonable creator with the accusing optics of a denied sparkling.
“Ratbat and I Imprinted on Starscream first, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw were with Thundercracker and the twins got Skywarp. Since then we have all cross Imprinted on the other two Seekers. The Seekers found Ratbat, figured out that he was a sparkling and that our upgrades were overdue. Starscream had the other two hunt us down while he reformatted Ratbat then the rest of us. The Imprinting happened while we were all off-line for integration.” Ravage explained quickly, summarizing the last several vorns in a quick paragraph, squirming all the while to be put down, “Ratbat likes to ride on Starscream’s back. He naps there. Put me down Creator, Ratbat might be hurt!”
Still reeling from the matter-of-fact recounting of a sequence of event that would under normal circumstances have him running a diagnostic on Ravage’s CPU, Soundwave just shook his head. Keeping a firm grip on Ravage, Soundwave exited his quarters and headed for the section of the base claimed by Starscream and his Trine. The aerial forces were housed in their own wing of the base. In a decision incongruous to his other actions, Starscream opted to remain with his Trine in the Air Commanders quarters rather than the private suite intended for the 2IC. Soundwave had assumed that it was because Starscream did not want to have his personal quarters so close to Megatron’s. So Soundwave had claimed the use of the private suite for himself and his creations. The extra space was a small blessing, things were crowded enough in Soundwave’s chest compartment.
So there was a somewhat lengthy distance to cover between Soundwave’s residence and the Seeker’s quarters. A walk that unfortunately gave Soundwave time to think about the edifying results of Ravage’s recounting of the current status quo.
‘Starscream: Took damage protecting right side when shot by Megatron. With Ravage’s report, the logical conclusion is that Starscream was protecting something. Or someone. Ravage seems to believe that Starscream was protecting Ratbat, who was hidden somewhere on his frame.’ Soundwave felt his spark sink, ‘That I was so close to my own creation and did not know it… I did not even know Ravage until I touched his energy field. Orders or no, I shall not allow this to happen again.’
“Here we are, Creator!” Ravage renewed his struggles at the sight of the door, “Put me down! I know the door code.”
Deciding to ignore that, since he had been trying to figure out Starscream’s pass codes since the war started and never succeeded, Soundwave pressed the chime. The door slid open to reveal Thundercracker, who appeared harangued.
Thundercracker looked at Soundwave, then shifted his attention pointedly to Ravage, “You could have just come in. Ravage knows the code.”
Completely ignoring the way that statement fritzed Soundwave, Thundercracker pulled the stunned telepath and attached sparkling into the room.
“It’s good that you’re here.” Thundercracker said pleasantly, hand still on Soundwave’s arm, “Maybe you can help us get Ratbat to come out.”
“Is Ratbat injured?” Ravage questioned, surprising his Creator with his willingness to speak to the Seeker.
“He’s unharmed, but Megatron scared him nearly grey with that shot.” Thundercracker sighed and gestured to where Skywarp was apparently tempting Starscream’s back strut with energon jellies, “None of you have ever gotten on Megatron’s bad side before, and things have been pretty much peaceful here while the Front moved to that planet Megatron was after. It shocked him. So now he’s tucked up tight under Starscream’s wing and refuses to come out.”
‘I thought Thundercracker was the quiet, rational one.’ Soundwave lamented in stunned silence, reeling in the wake of Thundercracker’s unexpected verbosity, ‘I should have known better than to think a Seeker capable of remaining rational.’
“Query: Location of cassettes.” Soundwave intoned when they reached the other two Seekers.
“Oh hey!” Skywarp grinned brightly, looking - of all things - pleased to see Soundwave. Which, considering that the last time the telepath had spoken with him, Skywarp had ended the conversation by running away screaming that Soundwave was trying to ‘eat his brain’, was just as odd as Thundercracker being chatty. If Starscream next proclaimed his undying affections for Megatron, Soundwave would have all the proof he needed that the world had gone completely mad. Skywarp grinned at Soundwave, looking moments away from one of his random gigglefits as he spoke, “It’s okay winglets, it’s just Soundwave.”
“It’s safe to come out.” Thundercracker said with his own small smile, “The door’s closed and we’re not in the front room anymore.”
At that, Soundwave logically expected to see more sparklings leave their hiding places. He did not expect Thundercracker and Skywarp to shift their wings back to allow four sparklings - one for each wing - to climb up onto their shoulders.
Soundwave stared at the sparklings.
The sparklings stared at Soundwave.
Two, perched on Thundercracker, wore miniature Seeker shells. Complete with up-angled wings, they also wore facemasks, like Ravage… and Soundwave. The two fidgeting on top of Skywarp had identical variations of Praxian shells. They sported the distinctive back-mounted sensor panels much like Ravage’s new body, but there was a noticeable difference between the spare, elegant lines of Ravage’s faux-wings, and the jaunty arrays rising over the shoulders of the twin mechlets. ‘Twins.’ Soundwave realised with dull unease. One Seekerlet was yellow with white wings and a black helmet. The other was red and black with a grey face and detailing. The two groundlings were silver, with blue piping that matched exactly to Soundwave’s colour. One twin had red bands around his shoulders and wrists; the other had red banding on his knees and ankles.
Soundwave knew those colours.
“Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Rumble, Frenzy.” Soundwave put Ravage down, then reached for the familiar strange sparklings, aware of the way the perked up at the sound of his voice, “Return.”
With happy shrieks the four sparklings launched themselves into Soundwave’s arms, minds reaching out and bonds regaining strength as the world righted itself from it’s off kilter tilt.
“Hey Boss.” Rumble grinned at Soundwave, back panels fluttering madly, “We was wondering when you were gonna show up.”
“Ravage won the toss.” Frenzy said with a pout and a pointed look at his eldest brother, “So he got to go get you.”
“It certainly took him long enough.” Buzzsaw said archly, waggling his wings at the all-black sparkling, “I was starting to think that you would never show up, it took you so long to get here.”
“Hush you.” Ravage growled, climbing up Soundwave’s back with unexpected dexterity for a sparklings body, “I had to explain things first, and it was hard for Creator to take in.”
“No doubt it was.” Laserbeak said peacefully from his place curled up against Soundwave’s shoulder, “If I hadn’t lived it I would doubt such a tale as well.”
Skywarp could not help it, he had to laugh at the way Soundwave looked, covered in sparklings with his head twisting back and forth as he tried to track their banter, “Enough winglets. Back off your Creator and let the poor mech sit down.”
Obediently - which was in itself another blow to Soundwave’s poor, confused CPU - the Cassettacon’s jumped down and pushed Soundwave back into a wide backed chair designed to accommodate a Seeker’s wingspan. This of course meant there was plenty of extra space for the sparklings as they seated themselves around their creator, soaking up his presence after so long apart.
“Query:” Soundwave said once he found his voice again, “Location of Ratbat.”
“Right here.” Starscream said wearily, gesturing to his right wing, “But he was synched with me when I got hit. I know I managed to keep him from feeling the injury, but he’s still shaken badly enough that he won’t calm down.”
‘Without the screech he uses to address Megatron, Starscream’s voice is… almost pleasant.’ Soundwave dismissed the idle thought. The world may have gone mad, but he refused to. Instead he focused on locating his last creation, ‘The other four were under the wings. So perhaps…’
Soundwave stood and moved towards Starscream with single-minded intent. Although he looked a bit startled at the telepaths movement, the Seeker did not flinch or lash out when Soundwave took hold of his arm. Skywarp took his displacement from Starscream’s side with good grace, scooting back with a giggle as Soundwave moved in. Without much prompting Starscream moved so that Soundwave could see under his wing. Frowning beneath his mask, Soundwave placed a cautious hand on the surface of Starscream’s wing to push it back further. The white surface trembled under his palm and Soundwave looked up at Starscream’s soft gasp, belatedly realizing that he may have just made a fatal mistake. Touching a Seeker’s wing without permission was tantamount to suicide, and Starscream was touchier than most. His gaze was caught by the strange emotion blazing in the Seeker’s optics. The touch of metal to metal made it impossible to ignore the touch of the others energy field, but what held Soundwave’s attention was how comfortable Starscream’s energy was, intersecting smoothly with his own without any of the snags or irritation a telepath grew accustomed to.
Breaking the disturbingly intimate gaze - it appeared that Starscream would not kill him for taking liberties at this time - Soundwave looked back down. There, in a small niche that lay parallel to Starscream’s wing joint, was a compact bundle of red, black and yellow.
“Ratbat.” Soundwave coaxed softly, reaching out with his left hand, letting the right remain on Starscream’s wing to monitor the Seeker’s mercurial mood. Gently he stroked the little bundle of parts, letting the creation bond renew itself. Ratbat was very firmly wedged into his niche, which explained why the Seekers had let him bide where he was. There was no good way to remove the sparkling from Starscream by force without injuring either or both. It would be up to Ratbat to decide when he was coming out on his own. Soundwave let the monotone fade, it mattered little if the Seekers placed his accent. Starscream at least had heard his true voice before, and they undoubtedly knew worse secrets, “Request: Ratbat, remove self from current position. Mission: Greet you creator and welcome me home.”
“Scary.” Ratbat warbled as one tiny optic became visible, the sparkling shivered and ducked his head back down, “Don’t wanna come out. Safe here.”
“Ratbat. Request: Look at Soundwave.” The telepath instructed, suffering only a brief moment of hesitation before retracting both facemask and visor. Ratbat was acting much like he did after getting stuck in a bad memory loop, and he rarely calmed down afterwards unless Soundwave allowed the little flyer to see his face, “Acknowledge: Soundwave present. Danger: Not present. Promise: Soundwave will protect Ratbat should danger appear. Ratbat: Safe. Ratbat: Return.”
“Safe?” Ratbat peered out at Soundwave, gaze locking with his creator’s as the death grip the Seekerlet had on Starscream’s back struts loosened, “Safe for Starscream too?”
Soundwave’s optics flicked in a blink, surprised by the question but willing to do whatever it took to get his creation calmed down, “Affirmative. Starscream: Safe from harm. Soundwave: Will removed threats before problem arises.”
“Creator’s strong.” Ratbat clicked thoughtfully, as if he was reminding himself of something he had forgotten, unaware of the amused looks the Seeker’s were giving a rather abashed Soundwave, “Creator’s here to keep us safe.”
“Affirmative. Soundwave: Will keep all creations safe.” Soundwave agreed as Ratbat finally left the sanctuary of Starscream’s wing. Soundwave gathered his youngest creation to his chest, stepping away as Starscream resettled his wings.
“Well!” Skywarp said brightly, breaking the tense silence, “That was an adventure.”
Frowning, Soundwave replaced his mask and visor.
“Appreciated: Upgrades and protection of Soundwave’s creations.” Soundwave said stiffly then began herding his brood towards the exit, “Cassettacons: Return to quarters.”
“Hey Soundwave!” Skywarp called after the retreating telepath, “Come by for a drink sometime. We can talk about the sparklings.”
“Assistance: Was needed.” Soundwave replied flatly as he pushed a protesting Rumble out the door, “Further contact: Not required.”
Ignoring the disappointed pouts being directed at his by all three Seekers’ was easily enough dealt with by simply closing the door. The six dismayed little faces of his creations were less easily escaped. Soundwave experienced the sinking feeling that he was going to be seeing a lot of the Seekers in the near future. Especially if the sparklings had anything to say about it. Judging by the stubborn looks on their faces, they intended to have a lot to say about it.
(Word Count: 2437)
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Oh, this was supposed to go up ages ago. But I completely forgot that I had it typed up. Went to look over the timeline for a re-vamp and realized that this part was missing. So. Some sparkling adorableness to make up for the way I've been making you all cry lately. XD
And to top it off, dragons! ^_^
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A Transformers G1 Fanfic
Author: Sanjuno Shori Niko
Summary: Soundwave is understandibly confused by the fact that Ravage is talking. A lot.
Timeline: Moar parts here.
=/=
(In which Soundwave finds out the Seekers have adopted his bebes.)
Dreading what he would find, having tried and failed to make mental contact with any of the cassettes since arriving at Darkmount, Soundwave braced himself in preparation of facing the greyed shell of at least one, if not all, of his offspring. Spark twisting, Soundwave keyed open the door to his quarters.
“Creator!” The black Praxian sparkling, speaking in the rolling vibrato of Soundwave’s native state of Seiberion was not what he was expecting. Nor was the near flying tackle he received in greeting, the sparklings systems purring happily.
“Ravage?” Soundwave abandoned his affected monotone in surprise, relief and joy bringing his own accent to the surface. With the touch of their energies, the creation-bond - weakened by time and distance - snapped easily back into place, growing stronger with each pulse of their sparks, “Queries: Source of new shell and location of other Cassettacons.”
“Probably with the Seekers.” A cross expression appeared on Ravage’s face, a look that brought Starscream’s tantrums to mind. A worrisome thought began to grow in the back of Soundwave’s processor as Ravage continued, “With Lord Megatron back the Seekers were going to hide in their quarters after they welcomed the shuttle.”
“The Seekers?” Soundwave echoed in dismay, “Starscream: Shot by Lord Megatron again. Injuries minimal. Logical response: Retreated to quarters to recoup. Probability of this: High. Query: Why would your siblings be with the Seekers?”
“Starscream was shot?” Ravage cried, bolting upright and grabbing onto the edge of Soundwave’s chest plating, “Was Ratbat hurt?”
“Clarify: Why would Ratbat be injured by Starscream being shot?” Soundwave asked his usually self-contained creation in bewilderment.
“Because Ratbat hasn’t left Starscream alone for longer than a breem since he Imprinted on him!” Ravage thrashed out of Soundwave’s hold and bolted for the door.
“Hold.” Soundwave was tired of being confused, “Explain: Who has Imprinted on who? Supposition: This had something to do with your new body shell.”
Having been stopped by the simple expedient of Soundwave lifting him from the ground by the scruff bar, Ravage whined and looked up at his unreasonable creator with the accusing optics of a denied sparkling.
“Ratbat and I Imprinted on Starscream first, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw were with Thundercracker and the twins got Skywarp. Since then we have all cross Imprinted on the other two Seekers. The Seekers found Ratbat, figured out that he was a sparkling and that our upgrades were overdue. Starscream had the other two hunt us down while he reformatted Ratbat then the rest of us. The Imprinting happened while we were all off-line for integration.” Ravage explained quickly, summarizing the last several vorns in a quick paragraph, squirming all the while to be put down, “Ratbat likes to ride on Starscream’s back. He naps there. Put me down Creator, Ratbat might be hurt!”
Still reeling from the matter-of-fact recounting of a sequence of event that would under normal circumstances have him running a diagnostic on Ravage’s CPU, Soundwave just shook his head. Keeping a firm grip on Ravage, Soundwave exited his quarters and headed for the section of the base claimed by Starscream and his Trine. The aerial forces were housed in their own wing of the base. In a decision incongruous to his other actions, Starscream opted to remain with his Trine in the Air Commanders quarters rather than the private suite intended for the 2IC. Soundwave had assumed that it was because Starscream did not want to have his personal quarters so close to Megatron’s. So Soundwave had claimed the use of the private suite for himself and his creations. The extra space was a small blessing, things were crowded enough in Soundwave’s chest compartment.
So there was a somewhat lengthy distance to cover between Soundwave’s residence and the Seeker’s quarters. A walk that unfortunately gave Soundwave time to think about the edifying results of Ravage’s recounting of the current status quo.
‘Starscream: Took damage protecting right side when shot by Megatron. With Ravage’s report, the logical conclusion is that Starscream was protecting something. Or someone. Ravage seems to believe that Starscream was protecting Ratbat, who was hidden somewhere on his frame.’ Soundwave felt his spark sink, ‘That I was so close to my own creation and did not know it… I did not even know Ravage until I touched his energy field. Orders or no, I shall not allow this to happen again.’
“Here we are, Creator!” Ravage renewed his struggles at the sight of the door, “Put me down! I know the door code.”
Deciding to ignore that, since he had been trying to figure out Starscream’s pass codes since the war started and never succeeded, Soundwave pressed the chime. The door slid open to reveal Thundercracker, who appeared harangued.
Thundercracker looked at Soundwave, then shifted his attention pointedly to Ravage, “You could have just come in. Ravage knows the code.”
Completely ignoring the way that statement fritzed Soundwave, Thundercracker pulled the stunned telepath and attached sparkling into the room.
“It’s good that you’re here.” Thundercracker said pleasantly, hand still on Soundwave’s arm, “Maybe you can help us get Ratbat to come out.”
“Is Ratbat injured?” Ravage questioned, surprising his Creator with his willingness to speak to the Seeker.
“He’s unharmed, but Megatron scared him nearly grey with that shot.” Thundercracker sighed and gestured to where Skywarp was apparently tempting Starscream’s back strut with energon jellies, “None of you have ever gotten on Megatron’s bad side before, and things have been pretty much peaceful here while the Front moved to that planet Megatron was after. It shocked him. So now he’s tucked up tight under Starscream’s wing and refuses to come out.”
‘I thought Thundercracker was the quiet, rational one.’ Soundwave lamented in stunned silence, reeling in the wake of Thundercracker’s unexpected verbosity, ‘I should have known better than to think a Seeker capable of remaining rational.’
“Query: Location of cassettes.” Soundwave intoned when they reached the other two Seekers.
“Oh hey!” Skywarp grinned brightly, looking - of all things - pleased to see Soundwave. Which, considering that the last time the telepath had spoken with him, Skywarp had ended the conversation by running away screaming that Soundwave was trying to ‘eat his brain’, was just as odd as Thundercracker being chatty. If Starscream next proclaimed his undying affections for Megatron, Soundwave would have all the proof he needed that the world had gone completely mad. Skywarp grinned at Soundwave, looking moments away from one of his random gigglefits as he spoke, “It’s okay winglets, it’s just Soundwave.”
“It’s safe to come out.” Thundercracker said with his own small smile, “The door’s closed and we’re not in the front room anymore.”
At that, Soundwave logically expected to see more sparklings leave their hiding places. He did not expect Thundercracker and Skywarp to shift their wings back to allow four sparklings - one for each wing - to climb up onto their shoulders.
Soundwave stared at the sparklings.
The sparklings stared at Soundwave.
Two, perched on Thundercracker, wore miniature Seeker shells. Complete with up-angled wings, they also wore facemasks, like Ravage… and Soundwave. The two fidgeting on top of Skywarp had identical variations of Praxian shells. They sported the distinctive back-mounted sensor panels much like Ravage’s new body, but there was a noticeable difference between the spare, elegant lines of Ravage’s faux-wings, and the jaunty arrays rising over the shoulders of the twin mechlets. ‘Twins.’ Soundwave realised with dull unease. One Seekerlet was yellow with white wings and a black helmet. The other was red and black with a grey face and detailing. The two groundlings were silver, with blue piping that matched exactly to Soundwave’s colour. One twin had red bands around his shoulders and wrists; the other had red banding on his knees and ankles.
Soundwave knew those colours.
“Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Rumble, Frenzy.” Soundwave put Ravage down, then reached for the familiar strange sparklings, aware of the way the perked up at the sound of his voice, “Return.”
With happy shrieks the four sparklings launched themselves into Soundwave’s arms, minds reaching out and bonds regaining strength as the world righted itself from it’s off kilter tilt.
“Hey Boss.” Rumble grinned at Soundwave, back panels fluttering madly, “We was wondering when you were gonna show up.”
“Ravage won the toss.” Frenzy said with a pout and a pointed look at his eldest brother, “So he got to go get you.”
“It certainly took him long enough.” Buzzsaw said archly, waggling his wings at the all-black sparkling, “I was starting to think that you would never show up, it took you so long to get here.”
“Hush you.” Ravage growled, climbing up Soundwave’s back with unexpected dexterity for a sparklings body, “I had to explain things first, and it was hard for Creator to take in.”
“No doubt it was.” Laserbeak said peacefully from his place curled up against Soundwave’s shoulder, “If I hadn’t lived it I would doubt such a tale as well.”
Skywarp could not help it, he had to laugh at the way Soundwave looked, covered in sparklings with his head twisting back and forth as he tried to track their banter, “Enough winglets. Back off your Creator and let the poor mech sit down.”
Obediently - which was in itself another blow to Soundwave’s poor, confused CPU - the Cassettacon’s jumped down and pushed Soundwave back into a wide backed chair designed to accommodate a Seeker’s wingspan. This of course meant there was plenty of extra space for the sparklings as they seated themselves around their creator, soaking up his presence after so long apart.
“Query:” Soundwave said once he found his voice again, “Location of Ratbat.”
“Right here.” Starscream said wearily, gesturing to his right wing, “But he was synched with me when I got hit. I know I managed to keep him from feeling the injury, but he’s still shaken badly enough that he won’t calm down.”
‘Without the screech he uses to address Megatron, Starscream’s voice is… almost pleasant.’ Soundwave dismissed the idle thought. The world may have gone mad, but he refused to. Instead he focused on locating his last creation, ‘The other four were under the wings. So perhaps…’
Soundwave stood and moved towards Starscream with single-minded intent. Although he looked a bit startled at the telepaths movement, the Seeker did not flinch or lash out when Soundwave took hold of his arm. Skywarp took his displacement from Starscream’s side with good grace, scooting back with a giggle as Soundwave moved in. Without much prompting Starscream moved so that Soundwave could see under his wing. Frowning beneath his mask, Soundwave placed a cautious hand on the surface of Starscream’s wing to push it back further. The white surface trembled under his palm and Soundwave looked up at Starscream’s soft gasp, belatedly realizing that he may have just made a fatal mistake. Touching a Seeker’s wing without permission was tantamount to suicide, and Starscream was touchier than most. His gaze was caught by the strange emotion blazing in the Seeker’s optics. The touch of metal to metal made it impossible to ignore the touch of the others energy field, but what held Soundwave’s attention was how comfortable Starscream’s energy was, intersecting smoothly with his own without any of the snags or irritation a telepath grew accustomed to.
Breaking the disturbingly intimate gaze - it appeared that Starscream would not kill him for taking liberties at this time - Soundwave looked back down. There, in a small niche that lay parallel to Starscream’s wing joint, was a compact bundle of red, black and yellow.
“Ratbat.” Soundwave coaxed softly, reaching out with his left hand, letting the right remain on Starscream’s wing to monitor the Seeker’s mercurial mood. Gently he stroked the little bundle of parts, letting the creation bond renew itself. Ratbat was very firmly wedged into his niche, which explained why the Seekers had let him bide where he was. There was no good way to remove the sparkling from Starscream by force without injuring either or both. It would be up to Ratbat to decide when he was coming out on his own. Soundwave let the monotone fade, it mattered little if the Seekers placed his accent. Starscream at least had heard his true voice before, and they undoubtedly knew worse secrets, “Request: Ratbat, remove self from current position. Mission: Greet you creator and welcome me home.”
“Scary.” Ratbat warbled as one tiny optic became visible, the sparkling shivered and ducked his head back down, “Don’t wanna come out. Safe here.”
“Ratbat. Request: Look at Soundwave.” The telepath instructed, suffering only a brief moment of hesitation before retracting both facemask and visor. Ratbat was acting much like he did after getting stuck in a bad memory loop, and he rarely calmed down afterwards unless Soundwave allowed the little flyer to see his face, “Acknowledge: Soundwave present. Danger: Not present. Promise: Soundwave will protect Ratbat should danger appear. Ratbat: Safe. Ratbat: Return.”
“Safe?” Ratbat peered out at Soundwave, gaze locking with his creator’s as the death grip the Seekerlet had on Starscream’s back struts loosened, “Safe for Starscream too?”
Soundwave’s optics flicked in a blink, surprised by the question but willing to do whatever it took to get his creation calmed down, “Affirmative. Starscream: Safe from harm. Soundwave: Will removed threats before problem arises.”
“Creator’s strong.” Ratbat clicked thoughtfully, as if he was reminding himself of something he had forgotten, unaware of the amused looks the Seeker’s were giving a rather abashed Soundwave, “Creator’s here to keep us safe.”
“Affirmative. Soundwave: Will keep all creations safe.” Soundwave agreed as Ratbat finally left the sanctuary of Starscream’s wing. Soundwave gathered his youngest creation to his chest, stepping away as Starscream resettled his wings.
“Well!” Skywarp said brightly, breaking the tense silence, “That was an adventure.”
Frowning, Soundwave replaced his mask and visor.
“Appreciated: Upgrades and protection of Soundwave’s creations.” Soundwave said stiffly then began herding his brood towards the exit, “Cassettacons: Return to quarters.”
“Hey Soundwave!” Skywarp called after the retreating telepath, “Come by for a drink sometime. We can talk about the sparklings.”
“Assistance: Was needed.” Soundwave replied flatly as he pushed a protesting Rumble out the door, “Further contact: Not required.”
Ignoring the disappointed pouts being directed at his by all three Seekers’ was easily enough dealt with by simply closing the door. The six dismayed little faces of his creations were less easily escaped. Soundwave experienced the sinking feeling that he was going to be seeing a lot of the Seekers in the near future. Especially if the sparklings had anything to say about it. Judging by the stubborn looks on their faces, they intended to have a lot to say about it.
(Word Count: 2437)
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Oh, this was supposed to go up ages ago. But I completely forgot that I had it typed up. Went to look over the timeline for a re-vamp and realized that this part was missing. So. Some sparkling adorableness to make up for the way I've been making you all cry lately. XD
And to top it off, dragons! ^_^
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