Soundwave walked pensively behind Megatron. What the great dark lord had in his mind, he wasn't exactly sure; something about his mood seemed almost out of place...unpredictable....and he could have sworn he knew him better than that.
"Silent as usual, Soundwave."
Soundwave gave no indication he was listening.
"You should not fret." Megatron continued. "Knockout will take care of Arcee...She can take care of herself, after all." Megatron said aloof.
Soundwave cursed inside. Arcee was right... Soundwave kept his composure as he continued to follow Megatron, evidently leading him back to his work station. They passed Vehicons, some pausing to bow to the great leader, others hiding in the corners, whispering rumours. It was not something that Soundwave let unnerve him- they were nothing but cowering drones, forced to follow orders of a foolish tyrant. As Megatron's paced slowed slightly, it alerted Soundwave to their arrival at his most familiar place on board the ship.
The same lights illuminated the room, as always. Megatron came to a halt, turning to face Soundwave as the doors closed behind the silent mech. Silence hung in the air until it was hanged, as Megatron began speaking with a dark menace.
" Pray tell, Soundwave, how exactly did you plan to catch me of guard?"
Soundwave continued to stand pensively in silence. He had to wait for the right moment.
" I never thought you would ever act like a fool, Soundwave. That, I can vouch for." Megatron said, turning away from him, and towards the monitor. Inputting commands, the screens lit up with the decoded sections of the Iacon database. Megatron scanned the characters; trust the Autobots to waste data on such trivial things. That decoded, largely concerned stories of the thirteen primes, and further history of Cybertron eons ago. But what was not present, or seemed to lack unsurprisingly, was what was presently hidden on this planet, what weapons he could harness...nothing. Fleeting references, but the data files on them, were gone. At least, they were not in the place they were suppose to be...
Soundwave stood, watching Megatron intently. He felt a dark pit appear inside him. Nervous. For once, he felt nervous. What was about to unfold, he considered to be the riskiest thing he had ever decided to do...particularly when the consequences of failure were unbearably high. Yet, Arcee gave him her full support.
" Perhaps you can tell me why the fruits of your labour have been hidden, and not presented to me?!" Megatron suddenly growled, as he turned from typing in the commands, having drawn up locked and heavily encrypted files. He looked at Soundwave, who was shaken out of his reverie. The great silver mech walked imperiously towards him, baring down with superiority.
" All this, the fret of having Arcee hurt or worse, you reduced to nothing more than a slave- and you still defy me?!" Megatron gestured fiercely. Behind his visor, every ounce of energon in his body was cursing him. But this was the real plan he and Arcee had agreed on...the one Megatron hadn't heard...the one they had not spoken. Megatron knew His work well enough, but not in it's entirety. It had been easy for Soundwave to secure an encryption of which only he and Arcee could understand. Pretending, surmising a general plan for all to hear was the best distraction, almost a full blueprint of what they were planning to do. The finer details, such as hiding such tentative information about hidden relics and weapons, were hidden between him and Arcee. It was one of the best deceptions- hiding the lie in the truth.
Megatron's words suddenly found a sharper edge to them.
" Fine."
Megatron turned his back him, and gazed venomously at the information withheld from him. He would have one way- or another.
