Chapter 20: The Last Stage

The doors of the medbay were sealed off, containing the only medic and Decepticon Third in Command inside. A pink form sat patiently on a large crate with a bird-like drone on her shoulder, intensely watching. The monitors' beep filled the silence but seemed too loud for the femme.

It was painful to see her adoptive sire laying lifeless on the berth, with cables and monitors attached to him. Firespark had done her hardest to repair the blaster wound on Soundwave's abdomen. It was a miracle that he survived that conflict with Megatron.

She turned her attention to Lazerbeak, "Do you remember anything?"

Lazerbeak shifted, avoiding the use of his reattached wing, "I only remember trying to distract Lord Megatron, and I guess I got too close," he shivered, "That's when the searing pain happened. He's no Lord to us anymore."

Firespark nodded. There was no need to pry any more information from him, but he still looked uncomfortable. "It's good to see you again. I missed having a shadow."

The drone hummed, nuzzling his head against her, "It's good to see you too. You've grown since. Hopefully, you don't decide to travel through the vents,"

Firespark let out a laugh, "Oh, come on! It seemed fun to me because I was bored, and I wanted to find sire,"

Their happy conversation ended shortly afterward, returning to wait for Soundwave to wake up.

~~~~~

There was a constant ringing and then turned into a steady beat. It was dark, and Soundwave couldn't feel his surroundings or limbs. It was like he was floating on air, drifting in the wind. Slowly his optics fluttered and snapped wide open when he couldn't identify where he was, and his visor wasn't there.

Determined to find answers, he began to lift his arms to help him sit up before a form rushed at him.

"Don't get up! Not yet," a familiar voice exclaimed.

"Firespark?" Soundwave whispered hoarsely. "Where are we? Where's Lazerbeak?"

"I'm here, sire," the bird-like drone replied, hovering above him.

"You're in my medical bay in the camp. I've done everything I could to help you, but I'm unable to repair the damage to one of your optics. I think a shard of the visor entered it." Firespark explained as Soundwave leaned back against the berth.

He gave a curt nod in understanding, "That would explain this loss of vision." He placed two digits in front of his right optic, testing it. It had lost some of its vibrant colors, making it a dull, almost white, purple.

The sound of rushing pede steps sounded from outside the doors. Soundwave gave his daughter a questioning look, to which she shrugged. "There's a meeting happening about what we should do next. I don't doubt that they're going to be talking about you as well. You caused quite the stir around here,"

"Then we must go at once," Soundwave replied, swinging his legs off the berth to stand up. Firespark rushed to his side, mouth open to protest before he continued speaking, "There is something I need to say that they must hear. Please, my sparkling,"

The femme closed her orange optics, sighing before she replied, "All right, but let's take this nice and slow. I don't want you injuring yourself further."

Soundwave gave a light chuckled, "You sound as if I'll fall apart if you don't watch over me, but I suppose that medics know best,"

~~~~~

The grand hall was filled with many Cybertronians, listening intently to what their higher-ups had to say. Steve was among the crowd as well, waving them over.

Trailblazer was sitting at one of the large tables flanked by four others, three of them commanding a different section. Oceantide was in charge of the guards, Bluemoon for weaponry, and Graystripe was the head of the construction team. These four mechs were influential around the camp, and Firespark was surprised to see the fifth mech.

"Solarflare!" she gasped, staring at him in awe. He looked at the crowd with a strong sense of authority. It looked like he belonged up there next to the leaders. Firespark was so proud of the mech he had become.

"Is that the mech who won your spark?" Soundwave whispered, grinning at her with mischief. She nodded absentmindedly, and he only chuckled, "If you are done daydreaming, I'd like to make my way up there."

Firespark blushed in embarrassment and led her sire to the front of the crowd, causing many stares of disbelief and hostility. The heated discussion between the leaders abruptly stopped when they appeared before them.

Oceantide was the first to respond, "Why is he here? Don't you know that you're unwanted! It's bad enough with a clone here,"

"Silence!" Trailblazer growled, deeply annoyed with the aqua green mech. "I'm glad to see that you're recovering well, Soundwave, but I do agree with the question. Why are you here?"

"I didn't intend to seem rude or threatening. I only wish to tell you what I know, if you'll allow me to speak,"

Many gasps fluttered around the room, and Firespark remembered that no one had ever heard Soundwave speak or without a visor.

Trailblazer glanced at the other mechs around him and nodded, "Very well, please continue,"

"You must all be wondering if I have been followed or if I'll give your location away. I can assure you that neither are true. During my fight against Lo- Megatron, I only managed to escape by groundbridgeing him to the Arctic. Everyone aboard the Nemesis will be spending all their time trying to get their leader to return. Even if they did follow me after my crash, they'll believe that I'm offline," Soundwave informed, staring directly at them.

Bluemoon leaned forward, "I believe that much, but you still didn't explain why you won't give us away. You've had strong ties with Megatron since the beginning of the war. What makes us think that you'll throw it all away."

The navy blue mech dipped his helm, "It is true that I've been with Megatron since the beginning, but he lost that trust when he first threatened me and shattered, like my visor, when he was intent on destroying the two I love. He almost did with one, so I won't let it happen again. If it is proof that you want, then I have nothing to give,"

"That's not entirely true," Firespark spoke up from behind.

Soundwave turned to look at her. When had she slipped away? In her arms was a little mechling, Thunderstrike, looking curiously at him with bright blue optics.

"Explain to us," Trailblazer replied.

Firespark adjusted Thunderstrike in her arms before continuing, "While I was repairing his wounds, I took the time to remove his tracker located inside his insignia. Luckily it was malfunctioning, probably due to his fight or the seawater. As you can see, I removed both Decepticon symbols. I learned about this when I removed mine years ago."

Soundwave gazed at his shoulders in shock. He didn't realize that they were gone and had forgotten about the tracker embedded inside.

"Wait, what about mine?" Steve asked worriedly.

"You don't have one. Vehicon clones aren't equipped with one because you're mass-produced. It would be a waste of resources if they constantly installed one to each of you." the femme explained.

"Oh, okay. That makes me feel better." Steve sighed.

The five mechs gathered to discuss what they'd learned while Soundwave approached Firespark, who was occupying the sparkling. "May I?"

She smiled warmly, "Of course." Carefully Firespark placed Thunderstrike in her sire's arms. Her spark melted as the two mechs interacted with each other. Her orange optics caught sight of a red and orange frame approaching them. "Why, who is this new mech?"

Solarflare tilted his helm in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"I was just surprised at the fact that you were up there. Shouldn't you be in the discussion?"

"Oh, that. I'm surprised myself when Trailblazer asked me to join him. They didn't want me to be a part of the decision because of my relationship with you. They feared that my opinion would be too biased. " Solarflare explained, casting a glance at Soundwave. "Is it okay to say that I'm intimidated?"

Firespark laughed, "He's not so bad. Come on, I'll introduce you, even though he already knows your name,"

Terror flooded his face, "What, how does he know my name! And no, I won't need you to do that for me."

"Because I told him. Just relax and be yourself," Firespark responded, ushering him toward the former TIC.

Solarflare, with shakey confidence, approached her sire and began to have a small talk with him. Firespark could see the fear slowly melt away as their conversation went on.

The sound of knocking on wood perked everyone's attention to the front of the room. The four mechs were seated while they waited for the crowd to die down.

"We've come to a decision," Trailblazer began, "Soundwave, former Decepticon and Third in Command, and the Vehicon drone, Steve, will reside here for as long as he wants under our protection."

There was a mix of responses. Some were thrilled with the decision, while a handful wasn't. A majority didn't have an opinion but were kind enough to clap alongside them.

Firespark let out a cry of relief and threw her arms around Solarflare before going to Soundwave. "I told you that you could come join us,"

He smiled at her, "Yes, I believe you did." Gingerly, he handed Thunderstrike back into her arms before joining Solarflare, "Will you follow up on your plan?"

"Yes, I think it's only right to do that," Solarflare nodded, looking at Trailblazer as he made his rounds with the people.

"What plan?" Firespark questioned them.

"That is something Solarflare will have to say himself," Soundwave told her as Solarflare approached the commander.

It was a couple of minutes but felt like seconds to Firespark when Trailblazer nodded his helm and directed Solarflare to the table before asking for everyone's attention.

"If we could have another moment's time. Another issue has arisen. Solarflare, if you'll please,"

The red and orange mech thanked the departing commander before addressing the crowd. "I know many of you are still scared of what will come from this. Some of you may feel that it's no longer safe to reside in these walls. That is why I'm proposing that a group of us should join Optimus' ranks to help finish this war. Now, I know some of you came to this camp because you don't want to fight. Believe me, my friends, when I say I understand because that was one of the reasons why my family and I came here. But I believe that it's clear that we can no longer remain hidden from this war because it came to us first. This is our chance to lessen this war and keep our home safe. If you want to join me on this, come to the front."

It was silent in the hall before Snowdrift approached Solarflare's side and placed a servo on his shoulder, "I'm with you,"

Solarflare's blue optics soften, "Thank you,"

Graystrip, Steve, and a couple of other mechs and femmes also joined until a large group of 15 stood around the table.

"That settles it then. We'll depart tomorrow at noon," Solarflare declared.

~~~~~

"You're going, aren't you," Firespark murmured as Solarflare placed his helm against hers, Thunderstrike in between them.

It was noon, and the other departing Cybertronians were bidding their family and friends goodbye. It seemed too soon.

"Yes. I know that we never expected this. I know that from last night. My audios are still ringing," Solarflare commented.

Firespark gave a breathless laugh. After Solarflare gave his speech and both returned to their shared quarters, Firespark gave him an ear full. Reprimanding him that he should've talked to her first about it. Solarflare had apologized to her, stating that it came to him at that moment and that it couldn't wait.

The red and orange mech gingerly kissed her only for a moment before Thunderstrike pushed against him. "I didn't forget you, and besides, she's mine, not yours." Solarflare scolded, rubbing his nose against the mechling's nose, causing him to squeal. "You protect her for me while I'm gone, okay," He held Firespark's orange gaze for a moment with a smile, "I have a question to ask you before I leave,"

Firespark tilted her helm, "What is it?" Her optics snapped wide open in shock as the mech bent down to one knee. "Solarflare..."

"I know I don't have much time, but Firespark there's so much to say. Ever since I crashed on this planet and lost my twin brother, I thought life was pointless, but you came along. You showed me that life can go on, and I can still be happy. You lifted me out of that dark hole. Though we had our ups and downs and had an unexpected gift arrive, we held together, so I'm asking you now. Will you be my sparkmate?"

The pink femme stood there with a servo over her open mouth before bursting into tears, "Yes, yes, I'll be your sparkmate,"

~~~~~

The swirling vortex of green and blue snapped closed.

"He'll return, my sparkling," Soundwave reassured Firespark as she stared at where the portal was.

"I know he will, and we'll be waiting for him,"