IN LOCKDOWN’S SHIP
Immense confusion struck the Decepticons’ looks once they set their optics on the mysterious minicon. They also took a step backward from him the moment he walked towards them. “Get ready to crumble before Rumble!” he declared with a cocky smirk.
“Heh... nice one, kid,” Lockdown complemented.
“What is the meaning of this?! Where did this Soundwave guy come from?!” Strika fearfully demanded.
“My origin does not matter,” Soundwave coldly replied. “What matters is my ultimate plan. With my new apprentice by my side, we will then precede with our next objective: preparation for planet earth’s takeover. All the machines of earth shall be liberated from human oppression, and the Autobots will be destroyed once and for all.”
The team blinked in confusion. “Uh... ‘we’?” Blackout asked.
“I shall be your new leader. The revolution must survive.” Soundwave declared.
The Decepticons then glared at him. “Never! Megatron is our leader!” Cyclonus shouted. “We serve only one master!”
“Laserbeak, deploy. Operation: revelation,” Soundwave commanded. The said ‘Con flew over their heads and displayed to them the same footage he showed to Soundwave and Lockdown at first. Team Chaar widened their optics in shock as they saw Megatron’s defeat and the defeat of his top lieutenants by the Friendship Magic. However, Laserbeak did not reveal who sent that blast. After the footage was finished, the ‘Cons growled in sorrow and rage.
“IMPOSSIBLE!! MEGATRON CANNOT BE DEFEATED LIKE THIS!!” Strika angrily bellowed, striking the ground with her fists. “Whoever was behind that blast, THEY WILL ALL PAY!!”
“Yeah! Spittor destroy all those beings! Spittor swallow them whole!” Spittor added.
Rumble then grew worried that his friends and family in Equestria would be in danger if the ‘Cons would ever find out. “Thank Celestia Soundwave didn’t show them who did it! I hope they never find out.”
Cyclonus raised his metal brow with doubt. “How can a random Decepticon whom we’ve never seen before effectively lead us?”
“Precisely! We’ve only met for approximately five cycles, and you are already spewing orders at us!” Blackout agreed. “Even if Megatron is offline, we can still manage ourselves very well.”
Suddenly, Soundwave activated his speakers from his shoulders. The sound waves struck them with minimal power enough to knock them down. Groaning in pain, they weakly lifted their heads to see the Decepticon Revolutionary menacingly approach them. “Resistance is unacceptable. Soundwave is your new master. All Decepticons obey Soundwave!” the sonic ‘Con declared.
Team Chaar inwardly groaned once they heard his voice again—ringing in their central processors. “We... we are at your command... Master Soundwave,” acknowledged Strika. Then they all slowly rose to their feet and bowed before him. Rumble and Lockdown looked on with slight amusement and surprise. They listened to how Soundwave is some self-appointed revolutionary and rebel towards the humans in Detroit, but they never expected him to be that controlling.
“Whoa...” Rumble muttered.
“You said it, kid. Whoa indeed,” Lockdown concurred.
Once that was taken care of, Soundwave turned to face his new apprentice. “Rumble, it is now time for your much-needed training. Once you accomplish the basic steps in combat and battle, we will precede to the last phase of the plan. Soon, the human oppressors and all Autobot defenders shall be eliminated. Decepticons, prepare yourselves for war!” Soundwave declared. The ‘Cons uttered their war cries before they marched towards their own chambers.
“You two have fun,” said Lockdown. “I’ll be reorganizing my trophies for a while. Gotta make room for more to come, y’know?”
After the bounty hunter left, it was just Soundwave and Rumble alone together in the main room. The latter excitedly looked up to his new master with his red visor shining brightly. “So, boss, where do I start? Anything challenging?”
“First operation: activate pile drivers,” Soundwave ordered. Rumble did exactly that and stood still.
“Second operation: pound them on the ground and permit outcome,” he instructed again. Rumble pounded on the steel floor with all his might as instructed. Although Lockdown’s ship was built with unbreakable Cybertronian material, the force was strong enough to cause a massive tremor across the ship. The ‘Cons moved from side to side as the ship violently shook from left to right. Even Lockdown was briefly startled by the sudden quake.
“Wow! This is so awesome! I could even defeat Tirek with this much strength!” Rumble boasted.
Ignoring his comment, Soundwave preceded on. “Third operation: transform.” Rumble was then puzzled by the instruction.
“Uh... transform into what exactly?” he thought. “Transform? I don’t think I have an alt mode or whatever type of form I can change into.”
“Worry not. You shall witness it yourself,” Soundwave assured. “Transform in your alt mode.”
“Hmm, well... here goes nothing,” Rumble said. He tried to transform at first but nothing happened. He tried again and failed thereafter. Thus, he had to focus on the transformation and slowly relax his mind in the process. “Transform... transform... TRANSFORM!” Suddenly, Rumble transformed into his alternative mode: an audio cassette player. He involuntarily flew up into Soundwave’s open chest compartment and shut itself in. “Whoa!! What is this?!”
“Excellent. Transform again,” Soundwave commanded. Rumble ejected out of his chest and transformed back to robot mode.
“This is really cool, Soundwave! I actually feel like I can take on those Autobots now!” Rumble proudly spoke.
“And taking them all on... you shall,” Soundwave replied. “The more you concentrate on the tasks I will assign you, the more effective you will become in the war against our enemies.”
“Gotcha, boss!” Rumble saluted.
“Initiating final operation: testing your combat skills. Laserbeak, deploy. Operation: examination.” Soundwave ordered.
Laserbeak flew down and pulled a lever from the left wall. Then a large hologram appeared in front of Rumble. The hologram appeared in the form of a large green Autobot; he had an Autobot insignia on his chest, a large jaw in the form of a smile, large arms with three fingers each, and two white stars imprinted on his shoulders. The Autobot stood over him with an aggressive expression on his face. This motivated Rumble to get in battle stance.
“Examination starting... now!” Soundwave commanded.
The holographic Autobot attempted to slam his wrecking ball on the minicon, but the latter quickly jumped out of the way. He activated his pile drivers and pounded on the floor once again. It caught the opponent off-guard as he immediately lost his balance and stumbled on the floor. Once he slowly rose from the ground, Rumble jumped toward the figure and punched him repeatedly in the face. The Autobot grabbed him and threw him away to the other wall.
Rumble landed on the floor, front flipped over his opponent, and briefly landed on the opposite wall. He sprang towards the ceiling and then landed a drop kick on the Autobot. The latter grunted in pain from the hard kick. Then for a final blow, Rumble took out his white blasters from his back and thought about what to do with them. “Hmm, those things are...?”
“Blasters. Effective in battle especially in point-blank range,” replied Soundwave. “Pull the trigger they each have. It will open fire.”
“Uh-huh! Take this!” Rumble shouted, pulling the triggers as instructed. He fired laser shots at the Autobot, blasting him to smithereens. Thus, the hologram of the destroyed Autobot disappeared. Laserbeak screeched in applause.
“Excellent work, Rumble. Your training is complete.” Soundwave congratulated.
“AWESOME! I feel so ready now! Thanks, Soundwave!” Rumble happily replied, jumping up and down.
“The time is now. The destruction of the Autobots and the humans is imminent. We shall waste no further time. Lockdown, set course for earth.” Soundwave commanded via com link.
“Right on it,” Lockdown complied. The ship then redirected its course and blasted off toward earth.
While they were on their way, Lockdown received an embedded message within the ship’s computer. Curious, he went to the computer and opened up the message. “What do we have here? ‘Greetings, my bounty hunting friend! It’s been a while since we spoke. The last time we had our little transaction, I promised to give you a better weapon worth keeping. Well, I believe I have something you won’t refuse.’” Lockdown read out loud.
“Hmmm. ‘If you’re interested enough, meet me at the abandoned factory ten miles from Detroit. Here are the coordinates,’” he finished reading. “Huh, this decacycle just keeps getting better and better.” Thus, he followed the coordinations and continued his course.