Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Soundwave looked at the dimly lit snake building, hoping it was deserted except for his two contacts. The cassette player needed answers on a mysterious group of humans that had been observing the Bots and Cons battles. They always had binoculars trained on his cassettes, watching their every move. Whenever Soundwave tried to read their minds, they flipped down their visors and he couldn't read a thing. The situation scared him, knowing that someone was targeting his cassettes.

“There’s my Wavy,” Jazz said as he came up behind the cassette player. The spymaster’s arms wrapped around his waist, and lightly kissed Soundwave’s back.

“Soundwave: is happy to see Jazz too.” Soundwave said as he placed his servo on top of Jazz's servo.

“Blaster is inside,” Jazz muttered into Soundwave’s back, “He’s been worried since the last time you left.”

“Soundwave: has been worried too. Someone: has been watching my cassettes.”

“That’s what he said too,” Jazz said as he let go of Soundwave, “come on inside, we have a lot to talk about.” The Autobot spymaster walked in front of the Decepticon spymaster, servo lingering on servo. Soundwave followed close behind, making sure that his servo never left Jazz’s. 

“Did you two get started without me?” Blaster teased, helm resting on his servos. He was sitting at their makeshift table, three cubes of Energon beside him. Jazz walked away from Soundwave, and took his seat at the table.

“Soundwave: needs information on a strange group of humans that have been near the battlefield recently.” The cassette player sat down on his seat and took a sip of energon.

“So you have a bad feeling about them too,” Blaster said, “they’re some sort of high-tech security firm, Control. I think that’s what they call themselves.” Soundwave could feel the uneasy fear radiating from Blaster’s mind, and he reached out to hold the red cassette players servo. Blaster smiled uneasily, and held Soundwave’s servo. “They’ve been watching my cassettes, and I don’t like it.”

“Soundwave: feels the same.” 

“Apparently they’re working on some sort of decorative security system,” Jazz said, “Their past designs have been pretty intricate. I am worried about their portable emp emitters.” Soundwave could feel his tanks churn, without knowing the power or capabilities his cassettes would be in danger. 

“They’ve been trying to set up a meeting with Optimus,” Blaster said, “they want to show him something, but they’re being secretive about what they want to show him. Any time he asks about what they want to show him, they clam up and end communications with us.” 

“Humans: are planning something. Results: disastrous for both sides.” Soundwave said, taking another sip of his energon. 

“I got that feeling too,” Jazz muttered, “but we need evidence before we can act on our feelings. I don’t want us going in and making us look like the bad guys.”

“Soundwave: would appreciate more optics on his sparklings with these humans around.”

“We’ll both keep an optic on all of them,” Blaster said.

“Thank you,” Soundwave said. The cassette player finished off his energon and placed the glass on the table. 

“If we get any more information before our next meeting, we’ll let you know over our private line.” Jazz said. 

“Soundwave: will do the same.” 

Blaster smiled and stood up, “It’s getting late mechs, are we staying here or are we going back to our respective bases?”

“Soundwave: does not have a meeting until tomorrow afternoon. Soundwave: would like to stay here with the both of you.” 

“I’d like that too,” Jazz said. 

“Soundwave: would like to be held. Situation with cassettes: has Soundwave worried.”

“I understand,” Blaster said softly, “I’m worried about mine too. These people are giving off bad vibes.” Soundwave stood up and walked towards Blaster. The blue Cassette player pulled the red cassette player into a hug and the two fell into the makeshift berth. It was filled with pillows and blankets that Blaster and Jazz had brought with them from the ark. They were nice, Soundwave thought. The softness of the pillows and the warmth of the blankets made the slab feel a lot more comfortable. One day he would find a way to implement them into the Decepticon base.

Jazz snuggling up behind him pulled Soundwave out of his thoughts. As black and white arms wrapped around him, the blue cassette player could hear the saboteur thinking. 

“Jazz: be safe with whatever you're planning,” Soundwave muttered as he snuggled closer.

“Always Wavy,” Jazz said, pressing a kiss to the back of Soundwave’s helm after he spoke. Soundwave shut off his optics, and allowed the warmth surrounding him to bring him to recharge.

Chapter Text

Blaster groaned as he got comm message after comm message. Most were from his cassettes, worried that he wasn’t there for the morning broadcast. Many were from Red Alert, panicked that he wasn’t at his station. Checking his chronometer, it read eleven-o’clock. His internal alarms had been shut off.

“Jazz, did you turn off my alarms?” Blaster asked as he sat up. Jazz made no response to whether he heard Blaster, he was either still in recharge or pretending he was. Soundwave was still dead to the world. Blaster smiled, It was nice to see Soundwave relaxed. The stress of the war was getting to all of them. In the red Cassette player’s spark, he wished the war to be over, for all of them to be free from the stress and raise their cassettes in a safe environment.

“Blaster: don’t go,” Soundwave murmured sleepily, servo reaching out and holding Blaster’s.

“Sadly I have to,” Blaster said, “I’ve got a communication’s hub to run. And you have a meeting to go to later today.”

“Soundwave: doesn’t want to leave.” The blue cassette player rolled over and snuggled closer to Jazz. 

“I don’t want to either,” Blaster said softly, leaning back down to Soundwave’s audials, “but we have to.” 

:: Blaster! Where are you? Were you and Jazz attacked on patrol? ::

Blaster groaned as he got another message from Red Alert. Jazz must have gotten the same message, because his groan betrayed him being awake. 

“I have to go,” Blaster muttered darkly. “I wish I could stay for breakfast.”

“You still can,” Jazz said as he stretched, “Tell Red that you're still with me.” 

“I would love to,” Blaster said as he kissed the side of Soundwave’s helm before moving to Jazz’s forhelm. “But I can’t. I was supposed to be out of here a few hours ago.” 

“Blaster: needs to refuel before leaving.” Soundwave said as he sat up. Jazz groaned as Soundwave moved around. The Porsche curled around the blue tape deck’s waist, trying to pull Soundwave back down to the berth. 

“I’ll get something when I get back to the Ark,” Blaster reassured, “Rosanna is coming back from her tour today. She wanted to have lunch when she came back.” 

“Soundwave: hopes Blaster has a good lunch with his cassettes.” The blue tape deck petted Jazz’s helm as the red cassette player kissed the side of Soundwave’s mask. 

“Blaster: stay safe,” Soundwave said. The red cassette player flashed a smile and left, wishing that he could stay with his mates longer.

Jazz sipped his energon, alone in the base. Soundwave had left, leaving him alone in the meeting spot. The blue cassette player had left, wanting to get to the decepticon base before the meeting started and avoid any problems that might arise before the meeting would even start. At the time, Jazz had joked that the Decepticons would fall apart if Soundwave was gone for too long. Soundwave laughed at the joke, and took a few cubes with him. 

Alone with his thoughts, Jazz thought about the war. How divided everyone seemed, but how they were really all connected. Mechs and fems had friends, family, even lovers in opposite factions. Seeing each other either on the battlefield, or in secret meetings. At one point Megatron and Optimus had been friends. 

What were they really fighting for now? The war had gone on for so long, did anyone have a clear idea what each side was fighting for? Many fighters were younger than the war itself. 

The war needed to end sooner or later, before things got worse.

Chapter Text

Calmly and confidently, Soundwave made his way into the meeting room. Megatron and Starscream were there already, fighting as usual.

“You complete buffon!” Starscream yelled at Megatron, “if you listen to me, then you would realize that plan would end in complete tragedy.”

“Listen here Starscream,” Megatron growled, “we are all going to starve if we don’t get more energon soon!” 

“But the mechs you're bringing along won’t fit well for the plan!” Starscream screeched. 

“The flyers can escape the autobots faster than any grounder,” Megatron roared.

Megatron, we will be inside a building! Unless you can make a big enough hole in the ceiling for all of us to fly out of, that won’t bring the building down on us!” Starscream yelled. “The Stunticons are the fastest of the grounders, they can get away from the autobots if the seeker’s create a distraction so the Autobots go after the wrong target.” 

Soundwave sighed silently as he sat down on his usual chair, and pulled out a datapad reviewing the plan. Tuning out the other members of upper command, Soundwave began to skim.

“Starscream: has a point,” Soundwave said quietly as both parties looked at him, “there is no way to create a big enough hole for the seekers to fly through without bringing the building on top of the raid party. Stunticons: would be good for fast transport, but will most likely not stick to the plan.” 

“Then what do you propose?” Starscream hissed. Soundwave rolled his optics from under his visor. 

“Seekers: wait near the power plant and fly away as fast as they can, once lord Megatron, Reflector, and the Combaticons get them the energon, Stunticons: can cause a distraction on the highway, blocking traffic and the Autobots from stopping us.” 

“Excellent Soundwave,” Megatron praised, “The rest of the cassettes can help with moving the energon too to help things go faster.”

“No.” Soundwave said. Megatron and Starscream looked shocked at the blue cassette player’s blatant refusal. All was quiet until Soundwave spoke again, “Humans: are watching my cassettes. Informant from Autobots: has noticed the same group watching Blaster’s cassettes. Until more information: cassettes will stay docked or in base.” 

“I don’t see what harm some squishies can do,” Megatron growled. Starscream looked at the third in command but said nothing. A quick scan of the seeker’s mind let Soundwave know that Starscream was wary of the same thing.

“Starscream: also worried about the group.” Soundwave could feel the glare that Starscream shot him; Megatron growled and turned his attention to the seeker.

“What could a group of squishies have the both of you so worried about?” Megatron grumbled. 

“The last raid, there were some odd security measures,” Starscream said, “One got attached to Skywarp’s ped. Some malfunctioning EMP emitter. It was supposed to take him down, but it only shut down his warping ability. If they fixed the malfunction, we could be taken down.” 

“High command: should warn the rest of the Decepticons,” Soundwave said. “Control: not to be messed with.” 

“We’ll give a warning before we leave for the raid,” Megatron said, “and no solo patrols until we get more information on this group.”

“We should take more caution!” Starscream hissed, “we need to make an announcement now!”

“Starscream, we will make a warning in the morning,” Megatron growled, “you are dismissed.”

“Ridiculous, thick helmed-“ Starscream grumbled as he left. Soundwave looked at Megatron, but said nothing. 

“I want more information on that group,” Megatron said, “before we make a move.” 

“Autobots: also worried about Control.” Soundwave said. 

“Even if they are worried about these humans, we can’t be the first one to attack. Optimus will take their side, even if they’re the real threat.” Megatron grumbled; Soundwave nodded in response. 

“Soundwave: will find out more information on the group, Control.”

“You are dismissed Soundwave,” Megatron said, “and keep an optic on Starscream, I don’t want him causing trouble before the raid.” Soundwave nodded and left the meeting. As the third in command walked down the corridor, his calm confidence was eroded by silencing fear. Something terrible was coming.

Chapter Text

Blaster smiled as he entered the rec room, Rosanna sitting at a table in the center of the room. Part of his spark was at ease, knowing that his sparkling was safe. 

“There’s my superstar!” Blaster said as he made his way closer to where his sparkling was sitting.

“Carrier!” Rosanna yelled as she got up and over to Blaster. The pink cassette pulled her carrier into a hug. Blaster smiled, and Rewind and Eject ran into the rec room.

“It’s been forever Rosa!” Eject yelled as he ran through the room. Rosanna let go of Blaster and hugged her brother. 

“I’ve recorded your last concert,” Rewind said, “so we can all watch it together!” 

“That would be awesome!” Rosanna said, “we can have a family concert.” 

“Why don’t you two find Ramhorn, Steeljaw, and Nightstalker so we can plan this night out!” Blaster said, and the cassettes looked up at him excitedly. Eject and Rewind fan off to find the others.

Rosanna looked up at Blaster, “What’s new about you?” 

“Not much,” Blaster joked, as he and his sparkling sat down at the table, “just the same old here. Battling Decepticons, monitoring messages, and playing epic tunes.” 

“I overheard Prowl talking to Red Alert earlier,” Rosanna said slyly, “they said you were out all night, with Jazz.” 

“We were on patrol,” Blaster said, “and got caught in some unexpected weather. We spent the night in a nearby safe house.”

“Well I hope you two had some fun,” Rosanna teased. Blaster felt his face go blue. 

“How was your tour?” Blaster asked quickly, trying to change the subject. 

“It was great,” the pink cassette said before growing quiet, and the boombox could feel some uneasiness coming odd of the silence, “but after my last show, someone representing a company called Control asked to do a partner deal. I said that I would think about it, but it-” Rosanna was looking for worlds, but was stalling. Blaster’s spark was racing, they had approached his sparkling. The boombox knew he had to say something.

“You don’t have to take the deal,” Blaster said,”I know Jazz is looking into them, so you can hold off on your answer.” 

“Thank you,” Rosanna said softly. 

“If they give you any more trouble, let me know,” Blaster said, a soft smile on his face trying to hide the fact that his spark was racing. They could have hurt his sparkling, and he would have blind to it all.

“Cassettes: will not be joining the next raid. Cassettes: can stay back at the base or in the docking station.” Soundwave looked down at his cassettes, as six grumpy faces looked up at him. 

“I don’t understand why we have to stay behind because of some squishies!” Rumble yelled.

“Comon! We can be careful!” Frenzy whined, “you can’t bench us!” 

“Soundwave: will not debate this topic. Cassettes: stay on base or stay in the docking station.” Anger and frustrating thoughts were sent his way, and the cassette player sighed. “Soundwave: just wants to protect you.” The cassettes, minus Ravage, grumbled and walked into their private little room. 

“We’re not rookies,” Ravage said once the other cassettes were gone.

“Soundwave: knows that.”

“Then why are you making us stay behind? Or in your docking station?” Ravage asked.

“Soundwave: procured some information on the human group watching you and the other cassettes. Soundwave: cannot lose any of you.” 

“This information has you really spooked, doesn’t it?” Ravage said as she rubbed her helm against his legs, “I’ll try to talk to the others, but I agree with them. I doubt that some squishies could actually harm us.”

“Threat level: unknown. Soundwave: unwilling to take any risk with Cassettes.” The blue cassette player said as he scratched Ravage’s helm. The cat cassette purred and walked off. Watching Ravage walk into the other room, Soundwave felt his spark ache. The feeling that something bad was on the horizon was only growing in his spark. He only hoped that his precautions would save his sparklings.

Chapter Text

Soundwave constantly looked around as he packed up energon. The seekers were waiting outside, and the Stunticons were playing freeway tag on the roads around the powerplant. Everything was going to plan, but Soundwave’s spark was still racing. The feeling of being watched was haunting him. He felt better that most of his cassettes were back at the base, but Ravage was in his docking station. 

“Decepticons: need to hurry,” Soundwave ordered. Things could go south at any moment.

“Why?” Swindle asked, “the Autobots aren’t here.” 

“Threats: extend farther than just Autobots,” Soundwave said, “Decepticons: need to hurry.” Soundwave heard the quiet grumbling, but ignored it.

“Calm your nerves old friend,” Megatron said as he came up beside Soundwave, “we will be out of here soon.” 

“Decepticons: need to hurry before any of the Autobots show up,” Soundwave snapped as he placed a cube near the entrance. The three members of reflector quickly gathered cubes to hand off to the seekers outside. 

“Ravage is safe in your docking station,” Megatron said as he grabbed a stack of cubes to give to the seekers, “and the others are safe at the base. No one is going to hurt them.” Soundwave made a noise to let Megatron know that he heard him, but not that he agreed with him. Soundwave grabbed a stack of cubes and walked outside alongside Megatron.

“I’m with Soundwave on this one,” Starscream said as he grabbed the cubes from Megatron and put them into his subspace.

“You didn’t hear our conversation!” Megatron yelled; Soundwave handed Thundercracker the stack of Energon cubes. The blue seeker gave him a ‘I’m sorry’ smile. Soundwave nodded and went back to the stack of energon cubes. Racking up how many more cubes they needed before they could leave, Soundwave almost missed an uneven floor tile. There was something off about the floor, Soundwave could feel it. Bending down to inspect it further, he noticed that it was a pressure plate, cybertronian sized pressure plates. The place was rigged with traps, and the cassette player knew who was behind it.

“Decepticons: need to leave now!” Soundwave yelled as he ran back out of the building. 

“Soundwave!” Megatron yelled as he grabbed the cassette player, “Calm down. What is going on?”

“Building: filled with traps.” Soundwave said, “Decepticons: need to leave now!”

“We have more than enough cubes,” Starscream said, “we should leave before the Autobots or that human group show up.” 

“We can still get more Energon,” Megatron said, “We’ll be more careful where we step.”

“I hate to interrupt your conversation,” Skywarp said, pulling Starscream away from Megatron, “but Prime and the Autobots are about to bust through the gates.” 

“Seekers!” Starscream yelled, “Fly back to base!” Thundercracker and Skywarp didn’t need to be told twice. The two transforming and flying off with the energon cubes in their subspace. “Ramjet! Thrust! Dirge! That includes you!”

“We can fight these puny Autobots!” Ramjet yelled.

“No,” Megatron yelled as Optimus broke through the gate, “get the energon back to the base!” That was all the cone-headed seeker needed before he took off. 

“Megatron!” Optimus yelled, transforming into bot mode. 

“Optimus!” Megatron yelled back, extending his energon mace as he ran towards the Prime. Soundwave gulped, he needed to get back to the base. He could only do that if Megatron called a retreat, or got all the energon that they needed. Running back to the last stack of Energon as more of the decepticons ran out to join the fight. 

“Heya Wavy,” Blaster said as came up beside Soundwave. Taking a quick glance down, Blaster’s left ped was barely an inch away from a pressure plate. Grabbing Blaster by the waist, Soundwave spun him around to an area where he knew there were no pressure plates. “A bit flirty for the battlefield don’t you think?” 

“Factory: filled with booby traps,” Soundwave said, “Soundwave: trying to keep both parties safe.” 

“All my cassettes except for Steeljaw are back at the Ark,” Blaster whispered as he leaned into Soundwave’s audial. 

“Ravage: only cassette with me,” Soundwave whispered back. Just as Soundwave was about to take a step backward, Blaster grabbed him and spun him around. Soundwave felt his back hit the wall and Blaster leaned in close.

“Blaster: now being too flirty for the battlefield,” Soundwave purred.

“Just saving your hide from any traps,” Blaster said. Both of their docking stations flickered open and close, and Soundwave could feel Ravage’s disgust through the bond. She hated his flirting, especially on the battlefield. By the look on Blaster’s faceplates, Steeljaw felt the same way about his flirting.

“How disgusting,” a voice said. Soundwave and Blaster looked over their shoulder, but saw nothing. Soundwave narrowed his optics to try and find out who was speaking. 

“Sounders we need to leave, now,” Blaster said. With a nod, Soundwave moved away from the wall and away from any of the trigger plates. 

“How foolish you two are,” the voice said. With a click, the triggers on the floor all activated and snare traps started flying at the two bots. The exits clamped down, effectively trapping Soundwave and Blaster inside.

“Time to tango!” Blaster said as he grabbed Soundwave before he could be hit by one of the flying snares. Then another snare wrapped around Blaster’s and Soundwave’s wrists. There were bangs coming from the outside, as if someone were trying to get in. 

“Blaster: watch out,” Soundwave grabbed the red cassette player as more of the snares flew their way. If someone could create an opening for them, then they could get away. As long as they could avoid the snares then they could get out with minimal damage. The longer that the trap stayed shut the harder it was to keep away from the snares. To Soundwave, it felt like the snares were reloading themselves aiming and shooting as the two danced around. Scanning the area for mental data only left the blue cassette player with nothing. One wrapped around the two’s legs. As the two moved around the trap, more and more snares wrapped around them, until they were tied together. 

“What a shame,” the voice said, “I would have assumed alien robots would have been smarter.” One of the emitters shot out and the world went black. 

Blaster groaned as he came online, the orange of the medbay filling his vision. His chest compartment ached, like someone had bent it too far when ejecting out. 

“Blaster!” Ratchet said as ran to his side, “what happened?” 

“I…” Blaster started to say, but his memory banks were fuzzy, “I think Soundwave was there. We danced.”

“Do you remember what happened after?” Ratchet said, “who attacked the both of you?” 

“We were attacked?” Blaster asked. Ratchet had a worried look on his faceplates.

“When Megatron and Optimus got through the door, they found Soundwave and yourself with your chest compartments pried open.” Ratchet said solemnly. Blaster felt the energon in his lines run cold. 

“Where’s Steeljaw?” Blaster asked in a panic.

“We didn’t find Steeljaw in the area, or in your chest compartment,” Ratchet said, “but we are looking for him.” 

“They took him!” Blaster screamed as he tried to get off the medical slab.

“Blaster! Stay still!” Ratchet said as he ran to hold Blaster down, “who took Steeljaw?” 

“They did! They took him!” Blaster sobbed as he relaxed into Ratchet’s arms. 

“We’ll get him back,” Ratchet said softly, “we’ll find whoever took him and get Steeljaw back home.”

“I want my sparkling!” Blaster wailed. Ratchet held the cassette player as tears came out of his optics. 

“We’ll find him,” Ratchet murmured, “we’ll find him and bring him home safely.” 

Soundwave woke up, his helm fuzzy. Something went wrong with the raid, he could feel it in his spark. 

“Boss?” Rumble asked as he crawled up beside Soundwave. Rumble was already on his other side. Ratbat, Lazerbeak, and Buzzsaw were perched on his chest. His docking cover was gone. 

“Carrier?” Frenzy asked as he snuggled closer. Something bad must have happened. Ravage was missing, but she could be just outside the medbay. She always hated going to see medics. 

“Query: what happened?” Soundwave asked as he rubbed Frenzy and Rumble’s helms.

“I’ll get Megatron,” Ratbat said as he flew off. Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw moved closer to his faceplates, nuzzling the sides of his faceplates. Someone had removed his face mask. Trying to bring up the memory files of the raid only brought up memories of him and Blaster dancing. Closing his optics, Soundwave felt an exhaustion wash over his frame.

“Carrier! Wake up!” Frenzy yelled, shaking the top of his chest plates.

“Don’t go back to recharge!” Rumble yelled, “stay with us!” Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw squeaked and flapped their wings. Soundwave wanted to online his optics, to let his sparklings know that everything was alright. But the exhaustion was too much, and he felt himself go into stasis.

Chapter Text

Soundwave slowly woke up to a group of faces standing over him. The worried looks of Megatron, and Hook, and his cassettes, minus Ravage, all looked down at him. His memories were still fuzzy. Other than a dance with Blaster on the battlefield, he couldn’t remember why or what put him in the medbay. 

“Soundwave, can you hear me?” Megatron asked, the warlord’s faceplates painted with worry.

“Query: what happened?” Soundwave muttered softly. 

“Carrier!” Rumble and Frenzy yelled at the same time. Soundwave turned his helm to his sparklings. Their worried face plates made his spark ache. Laserbeak and Buzzsaw were perched on his helm.

“We were so worried about you!” Rumble said.

“They said you got attacked,” Frenzy said. Memories started to come back to Soundwave. The human group attacked him and Blaster. 

“Ravage: where is she?” Soundwave asked, a panic filling his frame. One of his sparklings was missing, and possibly hurt. He needed out of this medbay, and go find his sparkling!

“Ravage was nowhere to be found,” Megatron said, “we looked but we couldn’t find her.” Rage and fear bubbled throughout Soundwave’s spark. He and Starscream had warned Megatron about Control, how the humans had been watching them; how dangerous their technology was. Megatron blew them off, and now Ravage was in the servos of dangerous organics. 

“This is your fault!” Soundwave yelled, causing everyone to flinch. His cassettes moved away, and the cassette player lunged to attack Megatron.

“Soundwave calm down!” Megatron yelled. Soundwave ignored him and continued to beat the warlord. It was Megatron’s fault that they were there. It was Megatron’s fault for not listening to his or Starscream’s worries. 

Starscream smiled from the shadows, Soundwave had turned on Megatron. Now is the perfect time for him to take over the Decepticons! He would split leadership with Soundwave, and take over his miserable planet! All they needed was Megatron out of the way. As long as Soundwave could hold Megatron down, he could finish the warlord off.

“No Starscream,” Thundercracker said, “only one member of high command can attack Megatron at a time.” 

“When was that rule?” Starscream hissed. He never agreed to a rule like that, neither in a meeting or over comms.

“Just now!” Skywarp said cheekily, “It’s going to be enforced by us, and with Megatron and Soundwave fighting, you have to be the responsible member of high command!” Starscream groaned, knowing how much paperwork Soundwave did to keep the Decepticons running in one piece. It was enough to stop his own plots and science projects.

“Warp, take us to the comm center,” Starscream grumbled, “I know someone who might be able to help us find Ravage.” 

“I’m not sure that Skyfire can help in a situation like this,” Skywarp said. Thundercracker said nothing, but gave his trine leader a look that said the same thing as Skywarp.

“It’s not that traitor!” Starscream hissed; Thundercracker and Skywarp gave each other a look before Skywarp warped them away.

Chapter Text

Starscream scowled as the monitor rang, his call taking a lot longer than usual. Starscream wondered if Soundwave wasn’t there to keep any interference out. Skywarp and Thundercracker were standing behind him, and the trine leader could feel the looks his mates were giving him. 

“Star!” Cobra Commander squealed in delight as the call finally came through.

“CC!” Starscream cooed; Skywarp and Thundercracker looked at each other in confusion. 

“To what do I owe this surprising call?” Cobra Commander asked, “nothing new has happened between the Baroness and Destro. Has something happened with Breakdown and Knockout?”

“Sadly this isn’t a fun call,” Starscream said with a sigh, “have you heard of a human group called Control?”

“Have I ever,” Cobra Commander said, “They’re so annoying! They act like this good group, offering protection from all threats, working with the Joes to provide a peace of mind to people. In reality, they’re seeking world domination. They’re just hiding behind pr and-” Starscream flinched as static filled the screen and it changed from Cobra Commander to Soundwave and Megatron fighting. 

“No! No! No!” Starscream muttered as he tried to change the monitor back to Cobra Commander, “Soundwave change it back!”

“Do you believe any of this Warp?” Thundercracker asked quietly to Skywarp as Starscream panicked with the monitor.

“The fact that he has a friend outside of us and Skyfire or the fact that he’s gossiping with a squishy?” Skywarp asked.

“Both,” Thundercracker hissed.

“Absolutely not,” Skywarp said with a cheeky grin.

“Both of you stop standing there and help me!” Starscream yelled as he turned around to face his trine mates. The monitor changed again, this time to a panicking Blaster paced around his communications hub. The red cassette player was muttering about his missing cassette. A flash of static changed back to the Cobra leader. 

“That was odd,” Cobra Commander said snarkily. 

“Perhaps this exchange would be better if we talk in person,” Starscream said, “so we don’t have any more interference.” 

“Here’s the new base, let me know if you got the coordinates!” Cobra Commander said as coordinates came through, “see you soon!” 

“We got them! Bye!” Starscream said as the call cut out. As soon as the screen went black, Starscream turned to face his trine once more, “alright! Let’s go!”

“We have to tell Megatron,” Thundercracker said.

“And Soundwave!” Skywarp added cheerfully. 

“Fine,” Starscream grumbled, “Warp, take us back to the medbay.” 

Duke scowled as he watched the monitors in the base change from feed to feed. Some of which weren’t even connected to the main computer. Flashes of the Decepticon and Autobot bases came in and out of view, as well as the Cobra base. If this was happening to the Joes, then the same would be happening to Cobra, and who knows what they would do with that information. 

“Hey Duke,” Shipwreck said as he entered the room, “does anyone know why the tv is acting funny? I’ve been watching two robots go at it before it switches by itself.”

“Our intelligence doesn’t have any leads,” Duke said as the monitor changed again. This time, a red robot was pacing back and forth, muttering about how he could save… sparkles?

“Hey, isn’t that one of those-” Shipwreck started to say, only pausing to think of the word, “Autocars?” 

“Autobots, Shipwreck. They’re our allies,” Duke said, “they haven’t been answering any calls though, I wonder if they’re also being affected by this interference as well.”

“Then let’s go ask them if they know anything about this,” Shipwreck said.

“They do have more advanced technology,” Duke said, “they might be able to find the problem before it gets worse.” 

Chapter Text

Starscream’s wings fluttered as he stood in between Soundwave and Megatron, both supporting fresh repairs. As soon as Starscream had said that he might have information on who took Ravage, Soundwave stopped attacking Megatron. They had left for the location as soon as Hook had repaired both. 

“So your informant is this snake-building?” Megatron asked.

“No, he lives inside,” Starscream said, a bit meekly. 

“Building: small for cybertronians,” Soundwave spat.

“Well, they’re not cybertonians,” Starscream said, getting a glare from Soundwave and Megatron, “they’re a human group that also dislikes Control.” Both mechs looked at Starscream as if he had lost it. Before either mech could speak, the mouth of the snake opened, with Cobra Commander standing in wait for them. Baroness and Destro were standing behind him, both looking very displeased. 

“Star! It’s good to see you in person!” Cobra Commander said, “I would invite you three inside, but you're all too big to fit in the base.”

“That’s fine,” Starscream said, “like I said over the comms-”

“Soundwave: wants to know where sparkling is.” Soundwave said, interrupting the seeker. 

Before Cobra Commander could speak, Baroness held up a piece of paper and started to read off of it, “our intelligence officers found that Control is planning to dismantle the captured cassettes and rebuild them for prototypes for their new security program. One of them is a panther, the other looks like a lion.” 

“Steeljaw: must be captured with Ravage. Query: where are they located?” Soudnwave asked.

Baroness glared at the blue mech, “we will tell you if the Decepticons work with Cobra to destroy Control’s main base.”

“Human: will tell Soundwave where his sparkling is.” Soundwave hissed.

“Soundwave,” Starscream said with an uneasy tone, “they’re giving us this information, we should listen to their demands.” 

“Baroness, we said that we were going to be nice to our guests,” Cobra Commander said with an uneasy tone. 

“I am being nice,” Baroness said. 

“I want my sparkling,” Soundwave said flatly.

“As Decepticon leader,” Megatron said before anyone else could speak up, “I accept your terms.”

“Great!” Destro said before anyone else could interject, “have some of your men come here and we can work on a strategy to destroy the base and rescue your… sparkling.” Baroness and Soundwave huffed; Starscream and Cobra Commander nodded in agreement. The seeker felt a form of relief wash over him. There was a chance that they could get Ravage back with minimal damage.

Optimus Prime looked down at the little humans. Some of Earth’s finest warriors according to Spike and Carly.

“Hello warriors of Earth,” Optimus said to the humans, “how can we help you?”

“Do you know why all the signals are being messed up?” A human with a blue shirt and white hat asked.

“Shipwreck,” a blond human chided before turning towards the Prime, “please excuse him. My name is Duke, and we’re trying to find out why there has been so much signal interference.” 

“That’s fine,” Optimus tried to reassure, “and we do have some answers about why the signals are all messed up.” Optimus gestured towards Prowl who nodded.

“We have gotten information that a human group known as Control has captured one of our member’s cassettes, Steeljaw, and a Decepticon cassette known as Ravage. As both of the cassette players function as the communication hub for each faction. Their worry is interfering with the communication hubs for each side, and since some hubs are connected to earth’s communication systems, all the signals must be mixing.” 

“Some of my informants have said that Control is working on two new prototypes for home and business security. A robotic panther and lion I believe.” A red-headed human said. 

“A panther and lion are the alt modes of Ravage and Steeljaw,” Prowl said, “they must be using them.”

“So you're telling me, that the whole communications issue is because-” 

“Shipwreck!” the other warriors interrupted. Optimus couldn’t help but laugh under his breath. Shipwreck had spunk like many of the Autobots. Prowl shot his leader a glare before going back to the humans.

“If you could send us a comm frequency of Control, so we can investigate if they have Steeljaw and Ravage, that would be very kind,” Prowl said.

“We are supposed to inspect their latest lab,” The red-headed human said, “why don’t you and some of the other Autobots join us?”

“That would be a good way to find the cassettes,” Prowl said, “we could surprise them before they had the chance to move them somewhere else.” 

“I will gather some of our men,” Optimus said, “and let us know where and when this meeting is.”

“We will,” Duke said, “and we hope we can find your missing cassette.”

Chapter Text

Zartan made his way through the factory, the shadowy halls making it easier for him to blend into the surroundings. In the beginning the leader of the Dreadnoks was worried he wouldn’t be able to get in. The lobby and first few labs were all white, with large windows. The sunlight was everywhere, and so was the corporate messaging that the company was for the people. Though once Zartan was able to get into an elevator, the white turned to dark grey and blacks. The windows were all gone, leaving only shadows that Zartan could blend into. 

“I want my carrier!” A voice yelled, farther down the hall. Zartan smiled. The two cassettes were definitely here. The Dreadnok leader crept down the hallway, as to not alert any of the security measures Control may have put into their labs. 

“Please let us go!” The same voice yelled, and Zartan snuck into the lab. If the two robots were hurt, who knows what would happen. Inside two cages, where the robots could barely move, wires were running from the cassettes to large computers, running the specs of the two aliens. The scientists still hadn't noticed him, so he began to work. Zartan grabbed a floppy disk from his pocket, and looked at the computer. Destro had given him a code that would continually delete any information that the computer could gather. It would only slow down Control until the rest of Cobra could get there.

Zartan snuck over to the computer and looked for a place to insert the drive. After finding one and taking out the floppy disk that was already inside, Zartan put the malware inside of the computer. The file was slow, but uploading. Looking back at the two, the Dreadnok leader had an idea. If he let the two cassettes out, then there would be more time for Cobra and the Decepticons to show up. 

The black cat robot snarled and lunged at the bars of the cage. The bars sparked with electricity, causing the cat to stagger and fall. Some of the wires came loose, and the scientists rushed to put them back into place. Zartan smirked and made his way over to the other robot. 

“Please let me out! I wanna see my carrier!” The lion robot said its optics followed his movement as he snuck around the lab. Zartan gulped. How the robot could see him while invisible, Zartan had no idea. Carefully the leader of the Dreadnoks brought his finger up to his mouth. The lion looking robot understood, and quietened down. It seemed like the scientists were still occupied with the other robot. Quietly making his way to the panel beside the cage, Zartan looked it over. Pressing the open button, the lion robot shot out. The wires were half torn out of the wall, and the scientists started to panic. 

During the confusion, Zartan snuck over to the other cage and let the other robot out. The robot shot out after the other one. 

“This is bad,” one of the scientists said to one of their colleagues, “we need to alert the higher ups!”

“That would put our necks on the chopping block,” a different scientist snarked, “we’ll call containment and get them to handle it. They’ll make sure those two don’t get out of the building. Take the specs we have and rush them upstairs.” The first scientist nodded and rushed over to the terminal and started to make a call. Zartan reached for a device in his pocket, a little thing he swiped from Destro’s lab. Destro had told Barroness that it could override the lab's  internal messages. As the scientist started to type, the mercenary worked on making a fake message to send throughout the system.

Sandra held a tight smile as she looked at the message that was sent company wide. The scientists sent a message saying that everything was fine, but the coders were sending a message that there was a bug in the system. Firewalls and important data were being erased at an unsaveable speed. On top of that, the Joes were coming for a surprise inspection, along with some guests. Guests that were left unspecified in the message. 

Taking a deep breath, Sandra looked at the company mandated poster: To have peace there must be control. If this went well, then she would climb the ladder to the top. The world would be under her control. There were going to be hiccups along the way, all good plans were going to have hiccups from human error. She had climbed her way up to head manager of marketing and absorbed the science department already. There was only time for her to gain control of the rest. 

“Miss Sandra!” Zara yelled as she burst into the office. “The cassettes have escaped the lower lab! Someone’s been messing with our communications!” 

“Can you get a hold of the containment team?” Sandra asked, her tight smile twitching slightly. Zara paused as she sent a message. 

“I can.” 

“Good, tell them to get the cassettes, and whoever let them out back to the science team that was handling them. Get a hold of the IT department and see if they can do something about that malicious code, and get development to start working on the protetacats project. We have deadlines to meet,” Sandra said, trying to be calm and in charge, “and tell them to get it done before the Joes arrive at two.”

“The Joes are coming?” Zara asked, almost going pale, “as in the G.I.Joes?”

“Yes, they want a surprise inspection,” Sandra said, “and they're bringing guests.” 

“I’ll inform the front desk and the show labs that they’re coming,” Zara said meekly.

“I’ll tell them myself,” Sandra said, “I can’t have any communication errors for this message. Everything has to be perfect for when the Joes come.” Sandra pushed her chair out and stood up, leaving her assistant behind; missing the device that her assistant pulled out.

Chapter Text

Blaster rested in Jazz’s backseat, his tanks churning. His sparkling was in the hands of humans who wished him harm. Who knows what is happening to Steeljaw right now? Would they wipe his processor and try to control him that way? Would they hold him ransom until he and the other Autobots agreed to Control’s demands? Would they do the same thing to the Decepticons?

“We’ll find them, Blaster,” Jazz said like he was reading Blaster’s mind, “we’ll save them before anything bad can happen.”

“They were able to take Soundwave and I down,” the red cassette player said, “who knows what they’re doing to my sparkling; Soundwave’s sparkling!”

“I know Ravage,” Jazz said, “she wouldn’t go down without a fight. She’s probably causing them so much chaos right now. Remember when she snuck into the Ark, and put a virus into Teletraan? The Ark’s speaker’s played nothing but Starscream’s ramblings for weeks.” 

“I remember,” Blaster said quietly. He remembered how Steeljaw ran after her, and hearing Red Alert’s panicked voice over the intercoms. Their little peds clanked through the Arks’s ventilation system. At the time Blaster thought it was pretty funny. Now he would do anything to have both back. Knowing that they would be safe in the Ark and not in the hands of humans that wanted to hurt them. 

“She’s probably doing the same thing to Control,” Jazz said, “Soundwave probably gave her a way to mess with their systems in case she ever got caught. She’s going to give all of them the runaround, and I bet she took Steeljaw with her. Together they can stall until we rescue them.” 

“I hope so,” Blaster muttered. His spark was still churning despite Jazz trying to south him. His sparkling was in danger, and at the moment he felt like he couldn’t do anything to try and save him.

Soundwave huffed as the Decepticons stood around with Starscream’s strange organic friends. In his spark, he knew that they should raid the lab that was holding his sparkling. They needed to save Ravage, before anything happened to her. 

“Zartana sent bad news,” the human called Baroness said, “the Joes are going to show up at the lab.”

“I see that as a good thing!” A human that sounded like Starscream said, “we can crush the Joes and Control at the same time!”

“What if they team up?” A human with a silver helm said, “they might be able to crush us!”

“No one can crush the Decepticons!” Megatron yelled, interrupting the human’s conversation. The Baroness and the silverhelmed human looked at each other in disbelief. Soundwave didn’t blame them, for as long as they’ve been on earth the Decepticons have done nothing but loose to the Autobots. 

“We need to hurry things along then!” Starscream yelled. 

“Not before we know what the plan is! Right now all we have is, destroy the building! We have no intel! We have no spies in the organization, we would be going in blind! We need more information before acting! Like how deep the base is, or more of Control’s security measures! If we go in there with guns blazing, then we could fall victim to a trap! We have to think this through!” Baroness yelled back; the room was taken aback. Silently, Soundwave made a mental note to investigate this organic. She was smarter and stronger than the Autobots human allies. Trying to scan her mind for thoughts, all the cassette player got was a glare from the female organic.

“But our plan is flawless!” the human that sounded like Starscream said, “nothing needs to be changed.”  

“Yes it does,” the Baroness said, “You and the airplane can’t be paired up together. You’ll just gossip the entire time.”

“No we wouldn’t!” Starscream snapped. Soundwave rolled his optics behind his visor, they absolutely would go off and gossip. 

“Then how would you pair us up then?” Megatron snapped.

“Destro goes with the plane, the Commander will go with the sad one over there,” the Baroness said as she pointed at Soundwave, “and I will go with the silver one.”

“And how would that be any better? I don’t want an unknown squishy in my cockpit!” Starscream interjected.

“Like the Commander hasn’t told you everything about us!” The baroness snapped, “you know more about our organization that we know about yours! How do we know that you won’t betray us!” 

Then the arguing started back up again. Soundwave tuned it out, thinking of a way to try and rescue his sparkling from Control. He would save his sparkling on his own if he had to. Maybe the Autobots would also show up; Soundwave could ask Blaster and Jazz for help. They would understand, together they could save the stolen cassettes.

Chapter Text

Sandra smiled tightly as she inspected the waiting room, making sure everything was in its place. The false labs were all ready to go, this meeting had to go perfectly. If one little thing was out of place and the Joes were exposed to their true plans, it would be more than her job on the line. The higher ups were more cut throat than she was.

“Ma'am, message from security!” Zara said as she came up beside her, “the Joes are here, they should be pulling up any moment now.” 

“Wonderful, they’re right on schedule,” Sandra said, “any word on the lower levels?”

“The robots are still running amuck, but the IT guys have stopped the virus,” Zara said, “The engineers got partial blueprints, and are working on some prototypes now.” 

“Wonderful,” Sandra said, “we’re still on schedule.” A little hiccup would not set her back. 

“The cassettes are still running around in the lower levels,” Zara said as both spied the Joes walking towards the doors. One was holding a strange, but familiar looking boombox. Sandra couldn’t place her finger on it. Perhaps it was a model from a company of one of the higher ups. 

“We’ll get everything under control,” Sandra said, “now put on a bright smile, our guests are here.” Zara fell in line, a bright smile on her face. As the Joes opened the door, Sandra began her well prepared speech. 

“Welcome to our lab!” Sandra said, “I assure you this surprise inspection will meet your standards.” The group of mismatched soldiers looked at her, some with suspicion and others with a smile as bright as hers. 

“I’m sure it will,” Duke said. From behind the blond soldier, a red-headed woman and a man in ninja gear glared at Sandra. Their distrust of her and the company was obvious. No bother, Duke was the only one that needed to be swayed. He was the one with the power. 

“Follow me and I’ll show you to our labs,” Sandra said, raising her hand to point in the direction that the group would go in. 

“I think it would be best if we explored by ourselves,” the red head said, and the ninja nodded along with her. 

“Unfortunately, all labs are locked with a keycard,” Sandra said, her smile getting tighter. “And all labs have a different access point. I have the only keycard that accesses all labs.” 

“Of course,” The red head muttered. Sandra could feel the glare coming off of the ninja. 

“Now if you follow me,” Sandra said, “we can start this inspection.”

Soundwave sulked in his altmode as he and Cobra Commander rode to the lab in Breakdown. He was in the passenger seat as the Commander rode in the driver's side. The Baroness wouldn’t let the Commander ride with Starscream, causing him to sulk as well. It would normally be fine, but the commander was bad at concealing his thoughts. Just like Starscream. The internal whining was making him annoyed.

”So,” Breakdown said, breaking the silence, “did Starscream ever say anything about me? My Gestalt?” 

“Who are you?” Cobra Commander snarked. Soundwave could feel the second hand annoyance. 

“I’m Breakdown,” the blue mech said nervously.

”He might have said something,” Cobra Commander teased. Soundwave scanned the man’s mind. Starscream had said something about Breakdown and Knockout. Soundwave made a mental note to monitor Starscream’s calls to the Commander. To stop any important information from getting into the human’s soft servos. 

“What did he say!” Breakdown said in a panic. “Was it about me to my gestalt?” Breakdown’s speed increased, weaving between human drivers and other Decepticons.

“No, he mentioned a name though,” Cobra commander said, teasing the poor mech, “maybe it was Kickback?” Soundwave could tell that the organic was having fun messing with the poor Stunticon. Breakdown was speeding up even more, leaving the other Decepticons behind.

”Was it Knockout? Did he talk about me and Knockout?” Breakdown said frantically, “you both can’t tell my gestalt, they would embarrass me any chance they got! If I were that lucky! Motor Master might never let me see him again! I know he doesn’t approve, but I love him!” 

“Really?” Cobra Commander said. Soundwave could feel the organic plotting, and he didn’t like it. There was something off about him, but the cassette player couldn’t place a servo on what was wrong.

”Breakdown’s secret: will be safe,” Soundwave interrupted before the Commander could say anything else. “Once Ravage is back: Soundwave will speak to Starscream.” Cobra Commander slumped back in his seat, arms folded like Rumble and Frenzy did when they were told they couldn’t do something. 

“Thank you, Soundwave,” Breakdown said as he plowed right through a security barrier. Soundwave could hear muffled sirens from the outside, and familiar looking vehicles were parked outside of a glass building. 

“We’re here!” Cobra Commander said, “and everyone else passed us!”

“Vehicles: not Decepticon,” Soundwave said, “Autobots: beat us here.” 

Chapter Text

Jazz revved his engine as he watched Breakdown. The nervous stunticon was just parked there. Someone was inside, most likely a hostage. Whoever was inside wasn’t making any movement to try and escape, which was causing the saboteur’s tanks to churn. Was the human working with the cons? Why would a human work with the cons? Something wasn’t right.

:: Human: helping rescue Ravage. Backup: on their way. :: Jazz almost jumped when he got the message from Soundwave.

:: We’ve got humans and Blaster in there. They’re going to get Ravage and Steeljaw out safely Sounders. :: Jazz inwardly frowned, if the rest of the Decepticons were on their way, a bad battle was coming. Something that Control would take advantage of. 

:: Soundwave: just wants Ravage back. ::

:: I know Sounders. I’m doing everything I can to get her back. ::

:: Soundwave: just doing the same. :: Jazz gulped as he heard the roar of seekers. Things were going to turn ugly, and fast. The Porsche could only hope that the cassettes were safe. 

Blaster scanned for any signals, for any information that might lead him to Ravage and Steeljaw. His tanks were churning, something bad was about to happen. Were the cassettes safe? Were these humans going to dismantle his sparkling? A shudder ran through his frame as worse thoughts ran through his processor. 

“Is everything alright with… that?” Sandra said with a sneer. The voice sounded familiar, but the cassette player couldn’t place where he knew her from.

“Everything’s fine,” Shipwreck said as he gripped Blaster’s handle a bit too hard. Blaster did his best to still his movements. The cassette player decided to focus on scanning for messages. Focusing on the computers, there was something wrong. The computers looked like they were on and the scientists inside were using them, but there was no information being run. There was no data he could use.

A little ding from Sandra’s pocket grabbed Blaster’s attention. 

“What was that?” Duke asked as Sandra pulled out a small device from her pocket. 

“This is a prototype for a communication device,” Sandra said with a large grin, her false demeanor back on display. “Everyone in this facility is testing it out.”

“So what did you get?” Scarlet asked. 

“A progress report from the scientists,” Sandra said, “nothing important for your inspection.” Blaster started scanning the device for the message. The cassette player could only hope that it had something to do with Steeljaw and Ravage. 

Subject one and two still on the loose. Specs given to engineering team. Prototype, will be ready in a few hours. Warning, prototypes may have flaws. Do not use until tested first.

Blaster hoped that meant that Ravage and Steeljaw escaped. It would mean they were still functioning. The cassette player desperately wanted to send a message out to the two, but knew that sending it would put them in danger. Blaster did his best to send out a calming message through the spark bond. Perhaps if Steeljaw could feel his presence, he would know that rescue was on its way. 

Chapter Text

Megatron rolled through the remains of the broken gate, the strange woman riding in his turret huffing in anger. She was muttering about how their plan was ruined and how Breakdown might have destroyed the one chance they had at taking down Control. Megatron paid it no mind, her grumbles sounded like Starscream when one of his schemes weren’t going his way. 

As he made his way closer to where the hidden lab was, a familiar red and blue semi-truck was parked out front. 

“Prime’s here,” Megatron said as he grinned internally. At least he would get a good fight from his old friend. Perhaps Prime would give a speech about working together, and saving the cassettes in unison. Maybe he would lure Optimus into a false sense of security. Once Ravage is safe with Soundwave, he would turn on Optimus. His men would destroy the human lab and the Autobots. The war would turn in his favor-

”Stop,” the human said, “I know those thoughts. You will not engage with the obnoxiously colored truck, and you will not jeopardize what's left of the mission.” 

“And how would a squishy like you stop me?” Megatron asked, a bit amused at the woman's attitude. She was so small, and barely a challenge for a mech like him. The woman’s facial expression went blank as she jabbed a taser into the top of the turret shell. Megatron let out an enraged yell as a sharp pain went through his system. 

Once the pain stopped, the woman spoke again, “we are going to get the cassette and destroy the building. You are going to follow my orders. Do you understand?”

“What gives you the-” Megatron started to say when the raven haired woman jabbed him again. 

“This,” Baroness said as she held up the taser, “now you are going to let me do all the talking when it comes to the semi. Do you understand?”

”Yes,” Megatron muttered, slightly embarrassed.

Sandra felt a sense of relief as she led the Joes back to the lobby. The fake labs met the standards for their little checklist. They would go back to their higher ups, and everything would be fine. The United States government would continue to order defense systems from them, and the higher ups at Control could continue their plans to control the world. 

“As you can see,” Sandra said, “everything is up to code.” 

“It is,” Scarlet said in a steady voice. Sandra knew that she was still skeptical. But the red-head wasn’t important in the long run. Only the blond man held the power to shut them down, he was the only one who mattered. 

“Everything looks fine,” Duke started to say. The boombox in the sailor’s hand started to shake, and the windows started to rattle. Outside, Sandra could see the cars transform. Autobots and Decepticons were outside, and it looked like a fight was about to break out between the two sides. A black haired woman was arguing with Optimus Prime. It would have been funny on any other occasion.

”I wasn’t aware you were working with alien threats,” Sandra said.

”We’re looking for their lost cassettes,” Duke said, “and we think they’re here.” 

“What gives you that impression?” Sandra said, “you’ve seen our labs. They can’t be here.” Her pager buzzed, but Sandra ignored it. She couldn’t be distracted now. Not when they were so close to getting this distraction out of the way. 

“I think you should look at that message,” A voice said from the boom box. The thing shook and the sailor let go. A mechanical whirl was heard and one of the cassette carrying aliens was hunched over in the lobby, “and then I think you should give me my and Soundwave’s cassette back.”

Chapter Text

Jazz gulped as he watched Prime argue with a black haired human. Trigger happy bots and cons only needed one provocation to start fighting. If they start fighting, the building may collapse on itself. They might not be able to save the cassettes or the humans inside if the building came down. 

A crash got everyone's attention. Blaster was on the ground with Ravage on his chest. Jazz reset his optics. It was a silver Ravage. Did Control finish their prototypes? Or did they just paint the cassettes?

“Ravage,” Soundwave said in a soft voice. The blue cassette player started to move towards the cassette when a blue Steeljaw blasted him down. The two cassettes would have normally never attacked Soundwave or Blaster like that, even on the battlefield. These weren’t the real cassettes. Control had finished their experiments. That’s the only explanation that Jazz could think of for Ravage and Steeljaw attacking the two cassette players. 

“Soundwave! Blaster!” Jazz yelled out trying to get their attention, “they’re not the real! They’re Control’s robots!” 

“No!” Blaster argued, “they’re real! They have their EM fields!” 

“Ravage,” Soundwave said, struggling against the fake Steeljaw, “Ravage: is right there!”

Jazz took a step back, these things weren’t the real Ravage and Steeljaw, they couldn't be. The saboteur knew he had to find a way to save Blaster and Soundwave from these fake cassettes, but he couldn’t think of how. If he were to take either of the fakes out, the two cassette players would turn on him. He had to find the real Ravage and Stealjaw. 

“You! The one in the visor!” A voice hissed. A woman was standing by the side of the building. It was only after a quick scan of her that Jazz realised she was wearing a mask, though one that would be pretty convincing one to humans. “I don’t have all day!” 

“Why are you-“ Jazz started to say until she held up a key card. It was an all access level pass to the facility. “What do you want?” 

“I know you want those metal kitties in the basement,” the woman said, “and I have the one thing that will get them out. All I need is a favor.”

”What kind of favor?” Jazz asked.

”My brother’s down there,” the woman said, “his name is Zartan. He was messing with Control’s systems to save those cats. The lower levels are locked down now, and he’s just as trapped as your cats. Get him out.” 

“Deal!” Jazz said. The woman threw him the keycard. Jazz caught it and transformed. His best bet to get inside the building was to drive through the broken window. He could do this, he would save Ravage and Steeljaw, get them out to Soundwave and Blaster, and the two cassette players would snap out of it and crush the fakes. Everything would go back to normal, as long as he could find the cassettes. How big could an underground human lab be? 

Jazz could hear humans shouting and the crunch of glass, as the elevator doors came into view. This was his chance. Transforming into his robot mode, Jazz placed the keycard over the scanner. He could hear a little ding, and the elevator doors opened. The doors were just wide enough for Jazz to squeeze inside. Jazz looked for a button that may lead him to the lab. There was no such label. Just lists of numbers and letters.

”Dang it!” The saboteur yelled as he hit the wall. The keycard fell to the floor, falling on its back. Jazz narrowed his optics, something was tapped to the back of the card. A piece of paper.

Lab is B2

Jazz sighed, he shouldn’t have gotten frustrated. That wouldn’t help him save the cassettes, Soundwave, and Blaster. Pressing the button, Jazz hoped he wouldn’t run into any other problems in his rescue attempt.

Zartan watched with glee as more of the so-called containment officers were flung back by the two robotic cats. It did help that the leader of the dreadknocks had sabotaged their equipment. The two wouldn’t have stood a chance against these goons if he hadn't. It was actually quite impressive that Control had such advanced technology. He swiped a couple of interesting trinkets for Destro to focus on. Maybe then he and the Commander could have some fun, while the silver headed man tinkered away. 

“What’s wrong with these things?” An officer yelled as the cats crushed another trap.

”Sir!” Another officer said as he inspected the trap, “it's been sabotaged!” 

“Are you saying we have a traitor in our midst?” 

“Or a Spy got in sir?” 

“A spy couldn’t have gotten in here,” The first officer said,” there’s only one way in and one way out. They would have to be invisible!” Zartan gulped, he didn’t realize these officers would be keen to his sabotage.

Walking silently, Zartan made a mental note to stay closer to the two cats. If he were to be discovered, at least one would try to save him.

Chapter Text

When the Elevator stopped moving, Jazz prepared to move. He would have to be quick, as not to be caught from any security system. By now, Control had to know he was in the building. It would be difficult to keep a low profile in the building, but he had to do his best. 

The doors opened with a ding and Jazz moved as fast as he could. Clanging and shouting could be heard, but it was nowhere near the elevator. Jazz let out a sigh of relief. Steeljaw and Ravage must be giving their captors hell. That ment they were still functioning and looking for a way out. He could rescue him, and then they could go save Soundwave and Blaster. 

“Over here!” A voice yelled. Jazz gulped, that voice didn’t sound friendly. Looking at the ground, discarded weapons littered the floor. They led into a hallway. That was as any good place as any to start looking for the cassettes.

”Don’t worry,” Jazz said to himself, “I’m here to rescue you.” 

Steeljaw skidded to a halt when he saw the wall. It was a dead end. With Control right behind them, they would be captured again. They might not be saved, he might never see Blaster again.

“What are we supposed to do?” Ravage hissed as she skidded to a halt, “we’re sitting ducks here!” 

“Maybe our carriers are on their way,” Steeljaw said, “maybe they’ll save us!” 

“They don’t know where here is!” Ravage hissed, “How could they come and save us?”

“Maybe,” Steeljaw started to say before going silent. How could Blaster or Soundwave find them? Control seemed to have weapons that could stop a fully grown mech, as well as some form of cloaking technology. Panic started to set in, “I want my carrier.”

”I do too,” Ravage said softly, before starting to growl, “but I’m not going to go down!” Ravage turned around and growled. Steeljaw could hear pedesteps coming down the hallway. There must be a ton of humans coming this way to capture them. How could they ever fight that many humans on their own?

”I hope you two have a plan!” The human who helped them out said as he came into optical view, “because we’re going to need one!” 

“Our plan is to fight!” Ravage yelled with a snarl. The human huffed, clearly upset with the plan. 

“Anything else? Just fighting is a terrible plan!” The human yelled. The pedesteps were getting closer, there was no time to create a strategy. They would just have to fight and hope for the best. 

“Steeljaw? Ravage?” A familiar voice yelled out. Steeljaw perked up, it was Jazz. Jazz was here to save them!

”Jazz! Jazz we're here!” Steeljaw yelled out. If Jazz was here, then so was his carrier! 

“What are you doing?” Ravage and the human hissed.

”That could be a trick from Control!” The human said, “they could have just made a recording to try and trick you!” 

“Why would Jazz even be down here?” Ravage hissed, “There’s no way he could get down here!” Steeljaw didn’t care what they said, Jazz had to be here! He was going to get them out and back to carrier. 

“Jazz! Jazz! I’m over here!” Steeljaw continued to cry out.

”Shut up,” Ravage hissed. The ped steps stilled, and before the human and two cassettes was Jazz. 

“Jazz you're here!” Steeljaw said as he ran towards the saboteur. Jazz looked closely at the cassette, almost taking a defensive stance. Steeljaw skidded to a halt, wondering what was wrong with him, “Jazz?” 

“Steeljaw,” Jazz said as he relaxed, “it’s really you. Thank Primus you're safe! We have to get out of here.” 

“No duh,” The human said. Jazz looked at the human, he didn’t look like he belonged in Control’s laboratory. 

“Is carrier here?” Steeljaw asked, optics alight. 

“We have to hurry,” Jazz said, “Control finished their prototypes. They’re attacking him, and Soundwave too.” 

“Soundwave would never fall for such a blatant trick!” Ravage hissed, “you're lying!” 

“I wouldn’t lie about this Ravage,” Jazz said. 

“How about we go see for ourselves?” the human said, “that way we won’t be captured by those Control agents! Because I certainly don’t want to be down here any longer.”

“Are you Zartan?” Jazz asked, staring right at the human. The Autobot third in command shifted Steeljaw in his servos, as if he would be ready to run at any moment. 

“Who’s asking?” The human asked back.

“Your sister,” Jazz said, trying to move closer to Ravage to grab her. The Decepticon cassette hissed and swatted at his servo.

“Was Zartanna really that worried that she asked someone to come for me?” Zartan laughed, “really she should know by now that I can handle myself.” 

“Well, we're all getting out of here now,” Jazz said, “before anything worse can happen.”