Chapter 17: Soundwave

Brought out of the base by Barricade in a manner akin to a prisoner being escorted, and driven straight into a desert far from Tucson, he finally disengaged his transformation and tossed Sun Cheng back out.

"I need to go see an old friend. You stay here and send the interstellar transmission. Wait for me here when you're finished..."

"Yes, Lord Barricade!"

Seeing him quickly transform back into a police car and drive off in another direction, Sun Cheng looked up at the charming starry sky above, which resembled a celestial river, sighed slightly, and sat on the sandy ground, honestly beginning to draft the content of the interstellar transmission.

He had no intention of escaping, even though he really wanted to run.

But leaving aside whether he could actually get away, Sun Cheng did not believe a word Barricade said.

"Who knows, he might be hiding nearby watching me!"

With this vigilance and unease, he suppressed the urge to escape and began to draft the content of the interstellar transmission.

One has to admit, the language of Cybertron is truly magical; it is very much like a programming language created by humans for Computer Science, yet even more sophisticated.

This mechanical civilization has perfectly realized the technology of compressing images and language into text. Each character, which looks like a ghost-drawn symbol a child might scribble, contains a wealth of information left behind by the writer. Even more incredible is that it is said high-ranking Decepticons also master encryption technology for text; just thinking about it makes one feel it is unbelievable.

Sun Cheng had already realized that Starscream likely had designs on his boss, Soundwave. However, this guy seemed so sure that he was in a winning position that he didn't force him to write the content according to his own wishes, which gave Sun Cheng—who had been feeling stifled and unhappy for these past few days—room to maneuver.

Thinking while writing, it took a full half-hour to produce a transmission that satisfied him. Sun Cheng looked at the eerily quiet desert around him and, not hesitating to send out a 【Spy Template】 to scan the vicinity, confirmed that no suspicious electromagnetic waves had been captured. Only then did he press lightly on a spot behind his head, immediately revealing a crystal emitting a rich blue light.

That blue crystal was his 【Core】, and also the most important part of the body Sun Cheng had possessed.

Once damaged, it would at best cause him to fall into a comatose state, and if the problem were more serious, it could mean death. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, no Decepticon would easily expose their 【Core】 outside the protection of their body.

However, at this moment, he had no choice, because the interstellar transmission required the use of the 【Core】, so he had to risk being ambushed and severely damaged to expose it.

The Memory Chip contained Soundwave's transmission frequency. After Sun Cheng performed some angle calibration toward the direction of the Moon, he gritted his teeth and activated the interstellar transmission function. After locking onto Soundwave's transmission frequency, he input all the drafted content.

The next moment, after silently issuing the command to send to the 【Core】, he felt as if his strength had been drained from his body in an instant. Weakness, nausea, and an unbearable sense of fatigue made him unable to even maintain his humanoid form, and he immediately regressed back into his tape recorder form.

"Warning... Warning, reserve energy is below the alert line, some functions cannot be maintained, automatic defense function disabled... intrusion function disabled... body maintenance function disabled... Ding, energy source detected, automatic absorption function activated... Warning, energy source cannot be absorbed... sleep mode activated..."

Before his consciousness faded, Sun Cheng subconsciously looked up at the sky, only to see a beam of light shoot up from his location, heading straight toward the Moon. Looking at the mid-air, a Decepticon emblem was clearly visible.

On the Dark Side of the Moon, inside a massive crater that looked as if it had been smashed by a falling meteorite.

Soundwave walked out of the crater with a gloomy face, angrily kicking a piece of meteoric iron with completely weathered surface rock. The tremendous force sent it flying like a cannonball until it was completely out of sight.

"Master, did Dirge refuse to wake Starscream again?"

As a shrill, sycophantic voice sounded, a giant bird-like robot with two Machine Guns hanging under its belly slowly flew around him. Only when it saw Soundwave extend his right arm did it obediently land on it; it was Laserbeak, belonging to the 【Cassette Corps】.

"Hmph, foolish Dirge!" Soundwave was exceptionally annoyed. "How long has Lord Megatron been gone, and this idiot already wants to find a new master for himself!"

"He's not the only one with such thoughts!" Laserbeak said: "I just received an interstellar transmission from Ravage. Lord Ramjet has also left Cybertron and his whereabouts are unknown. Lord Shockwave has dispatched Blitzwing to track him, and at the same time, has ordered Ravage and Buzzsaw to come and support us!"

"Ramjet?" Soundwave clearly had not expected this. "That guy finally left Cybertron?"

Ramjet is one of the high-level members of the Decepticon Legion. Everyone who knows him naturally labels him as 'wise' and 'dangerous'. Even the proud and irritable Megatron trusted him deeply.

But Ramjet is not a powerful Warrior, which is why Megatron dared to reuse him, to the point where Ramjet's status in the Decepticon Legion was rather awkward; all his power came from Megatron's trust rather than military merit.

When Megatron was still leading the Decepticon Legion, Ramjet was majestic and arrogant. But with Megatron's disappearance, the Decepticon Legion quickly split into the two major factions of Starscream and Shockwave. Under their tacit suppression, Ramjet's status after the 【Cybertronian Civil War】 grew worse by the day.

To the point that when Soundwave left Cybertron, his status on Cybertron was not even as good as some Advanced Warriors.

Therefore, Soundwave did not feel too strange about Ramjet leaving Cybertron.

It was the fact that Shockwave had sent Buzzsaw over that made him frown.

In the 【Cybertronian Civil War】, the Decepticon Legion paid a heavy price to defeat their mortal enemy—the Autobots—and gained control of the planet Cybertron.

Although it wasn't exactly a grand reward for meritorious service after the war, it was close. Most of the high-ranking Decepticons who survived the war and had made contributions to the Decepticon Legion during the civil war received satisfactory returns.

Soundwave was also one of the beneficiaries, harvesting quite a bit of Life Force and Energy Cubes, and even replacing some people to become one of the current Commanders of the Decepticon Legion.

Benefiting along with him were the members of the 【Cassette Corps】, especially that guy Buzzsaw. Without the suppression of Laserbeak and Frenzy, just relying on that simple-minded guy Rumble was not enough to keep him in check.

As a result, not long after Soundwave had dealt with a few subordinates who challenged his authority, he discovered that new challengers had popped up.

"Forget it, it's time to let him see the current fate of Laserbeak and Frenzy. I really need people right now. With him and Ravage, and with Blackout and the others cooperating, I believe even Starscream wouldn't dare to delay the search for Lord Megatron any longer..."

Thinking of this, the expression on Soundwave's face softened a little, and he continued to ask Laserbeak: "How much longer until Blackout and the others reach the Solar System?"

"About two months!"

"So long? Tell them to speed up!" Soundwave ordered irritably: "Starscream has been missing for several days. Although that guy Dirge said he is undergoing weapon upgrades, I always feel this is a delay. This guy arrived on the Moon decades earlier than us; he has hidden too many secrets here! I am even suspicious now, is he still on the Moon?"

"Yes, Master!"

Laserbeak flapped its wings, "I'll go urge Blackout and the others to hurry up..."

It was just about to take off when it suddenly saw Soundwave's expression change. The next instant, the Spark placed in his chest flared brightly.

Immediately realizing this was an interstellar transmission, Laserbeak retracted its wings and waited quietly on the side.

About two or three minutes later, after Soundwave finished reading the content of the newly received transmission, his face had turned completely gloomy. "... Damn Starscream, is he really no longer on the Moon? That bastard Dirge, he actually wanted to hide it from me..."

"Master, whose transmission is it?" Laserbeak asked curiously.

"It's from Frenzy on Earth!"

He reached out and tapped Laserbeak on the forehead, immediately transmitting the content of the message into its head.

After Laserbeak finished reading it quickly, it was also startled. "Starscream has another base on Earth? It looks like it was newly built, but why is there an 【Incubation Room】? Judging from the information sent by Frenzy, this base is far inferior to the one on the Moon and does not possess the possibility of hatching 【Newborn Egg】s at all?"

"Is the 【AllSpark】 really on Earth?"

Soundwave roared through gritted teeth, "Damn it, we must not let Starscream find the 【AllSpark】 first!"

As one of the Commanders of the Decepticon Legion, Soundwave had not only seen the 【AllSpark】 but was also very clear about its importance to the Decepticons.

Based on his understanding of Starscream, if the 【AllSpark】 were not truly on Earth, he would never have left Cybertron and come to this remote star system.

And once a conspirator like him gets hold of the 【AllSpark】, then a new civil war erupting within the Decepticon Legion will likely not be far off.

At this thought, Soundwave's face could only be described as ferocious. He hurriedly gave the order to Laserbeak: "Immediately urge Blackout and the others to speed up. I want you to go to Earth as soon as possible to see Frenzy and verify the authenticity of the transmission content!"

"As you wish, my master!"

ps:

1. In the movie version of 【Transformers】, Bumblebee sent a signal, and within two days, Optimus Prime and the others all arrived. To keep the lid on the many coffins, some adjustments will be made to time and speed!

2. I have started to regret writing the protagonist into the Decepticon faction; I didn't pay much attention when I finished watching the Transformers animation a few years ago, but looking back at it now, it is truly a group of conspirators.