[ti]Ep 2.5[/ti]Uncovering Secrets - [Closed]

[Soundwave]

Episode 2 | Week 3 | Day 2



No matter how long a mission he would send the drone out on, it always felt odd being without Laserbeak. The small Cassette acted as a great part of Soundwave's front armor, and incorporated seamlessly into his torso. If an individual did not realize he was a Carrier frame type for some reason, they could mistake the avian for just being a part of him. It is because of this, when it was gone, he felt particularly exposed. Black armor, streaked in magenta bio-lights, a large missing portion of his chest. It didn’t seem to outwardly bother the Cybertronian however, the silent mech continuing on his task after he had deployed the bird without issue.

Starscream was up to something, but the level of trouble it could cause had yet to be revealed. It could be a small minor affront meant to gain some small upper hand later on, or it could be the start or middle of some elaborate plan that was snaking underneath his jaw around the base. The situation was hard to judge on surface value, since the seeker had become rather skilled at lying. While the navy mech KNEW there were lies in place, he couldn't tell the severity of them from the cursory meeting, but he did garner some information to pass forward.

A pass that would be made more convenient by happenstance.

Ravage was in the Warship at this time, something not exactly planned upon, but it worked in his favor. Soundwave could use this to get the question he asked answered in person, and impart more data to the other individual with far more ease than through comm systems. While the two could communicate fluidly through the intangible data sheets and implied statements, there was a certain something to be gained by posture and mannerisms that added a new layer to everything.

It was a means of communicating he preferred, and he valued it that much more when it was with someone he could actually trust, trust being something that was few and far between. Frankly... Soundwave could count the amount of people he could honestly trust on one hand, which was extra bleak considering he didn't have a full set of five fingers to begin with. Cassettes were excluded of course, if they were a Cassette under his care, then they were a part of him.

A gradual stride was taking Soundwave down one of the many halls in the Nemesis, his initial goal being the bridge so that he could get back to work and not miss out on any new developments. This goal was sidetracked once he got confirmation Ravage was indeed nearby however, his stride diverting seamlessly to allow him to walk towards one of the other storage areas within the Nemesis. Such rooms were peppered about here or there, the basics needed for everyday rank and file scattered about so that you wouldn't have to run across the entire ship to find a pen for a datapad. They more often than not were left alone, and could make for convenient places to converse.

Many had the same plan; Soundwave had heard his fair share of Vehicons gossiping in such places thinking they were alone, forgetting how many portions were monitored by the silent mech. As with many things however, they were brushed aside, forgotten as something of no importance unless it ever reared up in the future for one reason or another.

A hiss, a slide of doors opening and closing, the dark plated mech entered into the room that was not too different from the one he cornered Starscream in just minutes prior. It was of moderate size, with a myriad of shelving units that held containers and bins for miscellaneous tools and components that were churned through with regular day to day wear. The shelves towered on either side a few rows deep, stretching up to the ceiling that loomed high above to utilize the space in full, with a few streaks of inbuilt lighting that zigzagged like veins through the Cybertronian structure. The illumination was modest, casting over everything to make their labels visible and clear, without searing bright to waste electricity that could be better suited elsewhere.

Soundwave walked to the middle of this area, before he slowed to a halt, waiting patiently for his summons to be answered.

[Ravage]

Atop the main concourse outside of the Eradicon re-fabrication plant were straight beamed girders. They crossed over each other in a tangled maze, and had become a series of private walkways that were often used by the cassette-sized mechs.

Sprawled quietly across one of them was a dark form. One forepaw dangled lazily down as red optics regarded the spaces below him. This place was always busy, Decepticon troops going to and fro as they went about their day.

Below him, the clash and clang of those that were working made his ears twitch slightly. He stretched out along the byway of beams, his dark farm near-invisible in the blue lights as he observed what was going on below. There was so much to listen in on, from an argument that might culminate in a thrown wrench to the head, a pondering of the latest computer games, and also a bet that sounded rather suspect as to who would be getting the payoff -

Constant gossip, rolling up to him, and he enjoyed it. It was filed away among all the other patterns he surveyed from his high perch. His tail flicked back and forth thoughtfully as he half-lidded his optics; another mech might have thought he was shut down; resting to conserve energy within the quiet spaces. A lazy beast drifting away the hours in the warmth and the privacy of silence.

He was anything but.

When the summons gently flicked across that connection, the cat raised his head.

His response was immediate and instant. He was on his way.

Rising to his feet, the cat shook himself from nose to tail. There was barely a whisper as his plating lifted across his shoulders and then smoothed into place as he turned along the narrow beam, one foot up at a time and curving around easily on himself as he reversed himself. Then he broke into an easy, elegant trot, his paws making no sound as he gathered himself up and bounded gracefully from one beam to the next until he arrived at an air vent and disappeared smoothly into the dark recesses of the ship.

It was not long before the cat's form appeared at the doors to the storage room. He sniffed lightly at the floor, and then lifted a paw to touch lightly at the door. Immediately, the door whisked aside and even before it had gone even a quarter of the way open, the cat had whisked within. The door hesitated and then closed immediately behind him as if it was a bit confused about what had just so quickly occurred.

Padding into the room, Ravage moved to meet the mech within, his ears lifted in silent question.

[Soundwave]

Soundwave did not often need to apply a rush command to any of his summons for his Cassettes. Situations in which he did were few and far between, with very specific stressor that required instantaneous results for one reason or another. But... even then, he knew that Ravage would be here shortly. No matter how casual the call, no matter how little urgency was put behind it, the feline tended to arrive with very little buffer between then and now, something that Soundwave respected a good deal, and was rather grateful for.

A hiss of the door, a halt of the systems becoming confused, followed by a gentle close, the navy mech would not need to turn around to know that Ravage had arrived and entered the room, nor would he have to look through cameras to see just who it was behind him. The silent footfalls, the ghosting movements, able to pick up on the faintest inkling of a presence only because the owner deemed it acceptable... this of course ignored the connection between them, the intangible threads that snared and felt stronger the more near they were to one another.

A wisping presence, a constant thrum.

Calmly, Soundwave turned to regard Ravage, his helm dipped not only to peer down at the animal appropriately, but to give a wordless thanks for the prompt response time and presence. Respect given, respect earned, a dance of sorts of mutual agreement.

A small digital data packet was offered over to Ravage then, the bundle of information clipped and cut to hold only what was directly needed to the situation at hand, and the question he hoped to convey.

As much as Soundwave knew, and as actively as he skimmed and sifted human databanks and security lines to hunt and peck for MECH and other inconsistencies that could lead to the Autobots, he did not know everything. He was not omnipotent, and could not look at a single coordinate on this world and tell you all there is to know of it. It is in part why he readily took in as many Cassettes as he did, to embolden his experiences and give different perspective. It wasn't the only reason of course, but it was a valuable perk.

The data packet contained a series of coordinates that created a line, mapping out the path of a set of Eradicons which were represented by a series of five crimson markers that held their designations. The line curved gently, weaving at low altitude through an uneven landscape of jutting rocks and deep valleys, nestled deep within Pine Valley Mountain Wilderness. It was an area human interaction was... not a consideration, no roads or paths, nothing but the wild and rough terrain that veered and dropped from dense forest to rocky canyon at whim. It also had been scanned early on for Energon, so the chances of a mine being there was questionable. There was another indicator slipped into this packet, a small one representing Laserbeak who was still so very far away it did not even show on the current map layout, but was included to represent that Soundwave would have eyes there shortly.

A query.

What could be there of value?

[Ravage]

Ravage took the packet easily. His tail swished lightly back and forth. Immediately on recieving it, it was open, and the cat was already sifting though the data that had been offered within. His sleek black head moved from side to side and lowered between the high blades of his shoulders; there was a sense that he was sniffing, but no sound came from his vents, and there was no pull of air into his systems.

Fascinating.

He had been out of the ship for a while now. Set to a task he was good at, that he had done from the day he was sparked.

Find the pattern.

Long ago, he had lain at the feet of his master, and watched the patterns of the mechs that came to him. They discussed all the workings of the world, energy stores. City politics. Nightstalker had often gone into lazy shutdown during the meetings, but Ravage never had. He just lay there, his paws folded over each other, and listened to every scrap of information that passed through that chamber.

Forced to tolerate the stroke of fingers against the sleek metal of his head. Nightstalker always enjoyed the attention.

Ravage did not. Being a pet was not his job. There were very few mechs he allowed to pet him, and even fewer that he genuinely enjoyed the contact.

When the rising dissent became a wave of resistance, he let it wash over him and carry him to better places. Places where his skills were needed. Wanted. Where he could work on with a partner, and his partner was no master. Soundwave never once treated him like that. If he called him, it was because he needed another eye on a situation, a different point of view, and Ravage was good at working on his own.

So he spent a lot of time on Earth ; he hated the mud and the water that the planet took great joy in layering everywhere. Honestly, when he operated in high desert or even in the cities, it was bearable. His silence was such that he truly enjoyed standing in the dark alleys and alcoves, crouched so close that if humans were not so blind and helpless and completely useless in even the slightest bit of dark they could have reached out and touched him. He delighted in creeping closer and closer in the sort of stalking games he never let himself do among his fellow Decepticons.

So close, that he could have pounced without even having to try. They were not like most of the aliens on other planets he had run into over his long, long life. Humans were fragile things, delicate and hairless, no teeth, no fangs, most of them not even able to survive on their own one night in the wilderness of Earth. No heightened senses unless they were geared up, like the military, or the ones from MECH. They had their flak jackets and their weapons. Those were at least a bit of a challenge, and Ravage found himself careful. Calculated the risks. 

The humans walking out of their offices, huddled under their coats, ears pressed to their ever present cell phones, and oblivious to anything but themselves? Those would only take a halfhearted, bored leap. It would have easily snapped them in half on the pavement and been gone. The only sport in the entire thing was the the stalk, not the kill.

With a graceful jump, Ravage sprang easily to the top of one of the racks. Silent and surefooted, he picked his way through the equipment on the shelf and settled down into a bare space. His tail flicked softly from side to side, a thoughtful metronome.

"Interesting," he murmured after a long moment.

"That is in Utah and terribly remote, and there are no mines in the area at all to speak of. Strange that anyone would request a squad to this location. Even stranger during this... truce."

His ears flicked. "MECH is not even close to that point," he said. "After that mess with Breakdown, they have taken their research many small places. However, it has all been in locations that they have buildings and power. They are moving into the cities as of late, warehouses. Even in the human suburbs."

The cat slowly shifted his weight. A strangely un-feline gesture followed; he lifted his elbow and waved his paw somewhere around the left of his head.

"I assume there were also no supply requests for this crew?" he queried.

[Soundwave]

Soundwave turned while the great feline moved, following the silent actions that landed Ravage on a much higher perch in the storage room. It did not matter how much time was spent between them, or how accustomed one may become, certain things stood out on their own, and could always be appreciated on some level. In this case, it was the unnatural skill and grace that some animal frames possessed and not only owned, but dominated.

The Third in Command moved like a ghost among the ship. He was quiet, his frame's actions silenced through time, practice, and a willed ability to simply make it so. It was something he chose to do, and something he honed through years of moving within the backdrop. Ravage, likely did not need such considerations. Born of grace and elegance, born of stealth and shadow, a panther moved that way not because it wanted to be silent, but because it simply was.

Existing on a different field from others.

This showed most when broad actions were made, in this case a leap that should have made a bang upon impact. The cat held weight that should have made things rattle or clatter in protest to the new abrupt arrival. Instead, there was nothing, slinking among loose filler and supplies like a curl of smoke to land where he wanted to be. Not only was Ravage now able to view Soundwave on a far more even field, he blended into the environment comfortably.

Soundwave's visor abruptly illuminated once the question had been asked, allowing a new stream of data to flow forth to try to answer the question.

It showed the patrol docket for the day, numerous entries panned out for countless small chores and missions that were in progress. Small supply runs to current mining locations, some deliveries back to the Nemesis to start refining processes. There were true scouting missions, those that were also listed at the joint database within Haven as to not intersect with Autobot efforts to locate MECH. Really, it all looked standard, entry after entry flicking by until it reached one that was abruptly highlighted and zoomed in upon.

This one was not unlike the others at first glance.

It was a scouting mission, a patrol that fit in line with the patterns and flow of previous efforts. It was tactical, simple, plain, and as with any scouting mission it was going to be granted the basic supplies appropriate for it. Some emergency Energon in case something were to go horrendously wrong and they become stranded long term, and a simple scanner that could pick up on more primitive human relays that MECH would undoubtedly rely upon, and possibly an Energon scanner if it was deemed so. That was all such missions were allocated, and there was little there that would be beneficial for Starscream, nothing else requested for this endeavor. The bit that was out of line? Well...

Typically scouting missions were minimally staffed, two or three Cybertronian to cover a patch of land, before moving to a next quadrant. This entry did not list a couple designations, but instead had seven. Seven Eradicons, all to map out a plot of land that could take mere moments with their numbers. The five Eradicons names that had been handed to Ravage moments prior, were then highlighted among the seven.

Starscream had tried to slip it in under the radar.

/̡͘͟/̨́We will be needing to assert our presence! While we may be on cordial terms with the Autobots, I do not want them to think for even a moment that we are becoming complacent./̛͘/͘͢͞

Soundwave liked to think Ravage would find some form of amusement at these half baked excuses, Starscream's recognizable voice sifting through a thin film of static in the otherwise quiet room. The comment the Second in Command had made, was... laughable. Not only would such a scouting mission be invisible to Autobots when it is so far off the record, the fact was that the amount of missions Decepticons HAVE taken?... It surpassed anything Autobots could offer to help. This was their show of power on its own, visible, presented plainly for all to witness on Haven's records. Things sneaky like this... frankly were nothing.

This little bit of verbiage was informative, meant to let Ravage know how the silver and red mech tried to validate it on first pass. First impulse explanations, first excuses, it painted a foundation for other things, and could trip up the liar if they were not careful. While Starscream was a skilled artist in treachery and deceit, it still left some rather... amusing flubs when he stumbled over his own web of lies. It did not happen as often as Soundwave preferred, but when they do occur, it is appreciated and offered out to the panther as a small token victory with a dash of... perhaps an inkling of amused mockery if someone were to look into it.

Of course Soundwave was not so petty as to laugh at Starscream's expense.

Of course not.

He would never freely throw information to the cat in some mimic of a laugh.

He was of above such things and to do otherwise would be a waste of time.

Completely unproductive...

/̡͢/͘-But those five, in particular, have excelled as of late, and I have been working and training with them closely – and wanted to observe how they did on a new route unsupervised. That's all./̴͟͞/̕͟

It went unsaid that those five would now be monitored heavily from this point on. Thing is, it also went unsaid that Soundwave knew that that statement Starscream had made was a bucket of lies and there had to be more in play.