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Stupid.
Stupid.
Stupid!
Soundwave sinks to his knees in the snow, clutching at a pine tree. How stupid of him to go on this mission when he is so close to emergence.
He had underestimated the humans. The small military base in the mountains was a point of interest for the Decepticons, and Soundwave and his cassettes had been dispatched to check it out.
Megatron had been slightly hesitant to send Soundwave, given his condition, but the third-in-command jumped at the chance to finally get out from under Megatron's watchful eye. He is carrying, not deathly ill. He can handle himself for a simple information-gathering mission.
Ravage nudges at his side. "Keep moving. They're gaining."
Soundwave doesn't need to be told that. He can hear the shouts of the humans and laser fire from Buzzsaw coming closer and closer. His sparklings shift and kick within his chamber, their fields buzzing with concern.
A message pops up on his HUD.
Emergence imminent. Please prepare by moving to a secure location.
He tries to find the option to delay it for just a little longer. There's not much he can do, however. Soundwave desperately scrolls through options, activating or deactivating whatever options he can think to give him just a little bit more time -
Warning: emergence protocol is starting in: five kliks.
Hauling himself to his pedes, Soundwave staggers down the mountainside. "Ravage," he gasps. "Hold them off."
Though he's loathe to leave his carrier, the panther is bound to follow Soundwave's orders. Like liquid smoke, he rushes towards the group of humans on Soundwave's tail.
Emergence starting in: four kliks.
A sudden pain tears through Soundwave's abdomen, and he falls again. This time, he remains on hands and knees, venting hard.
Emergence starting in: three kliks.
He can feel his gestation chamber rotating inside him, ready to finally release its contents. The pressure against his plating is agony, and he lowers his upper body and sticks his aft up in an attempt to relieve it.
It's that Autobot computer's damn fault.
Somehow, when it scanned the local machinery for the Decepticons's new alt-modes, it also scanned the local organics. The result is that, instead of simply transforming his ventral plating to expose his gestation chamber, Soundwave is forced to "give birth" like the organics presumably do.
Emergence starting in: two kliks.
From the treeline behind him bursts a small band of humans in a military vehicle. All four are heavily armed and firing on Buzzsaw and Ravage. It's not enough to deal any damage, Cybertronian steel is far harder than wimpy human bullets, but it is slowing them down.
"There it is!" a human yells. "Get it while it's down!"
Bullets thud against the back of his thighs. It doesn't really hurt, and they don't leave much of a mark save for a small divot, but the impact is still enough to jar his struts.
Emergence protocol has started. Please wait…
Soundwave wails as a sharp contraction forces the first sparkling against the narrow slit of his gestation chamber. His valve cover slides open and doesn't respond to his command to close it.
A cacophony of exclamations rise from the humans.
"What the fuck is that?"
"It's a female, that's what it is."
Distracted by the sight of Soundwave, the humans let their guard down for just a moment, and Ravage seizes the opportunity. His claws shred flesh and armor alike, and Buzzsaw's lasers blast holes in the organic's vehicle.
Both cassettes would have eagerly finished the humans then and there, but a cry from Soundwave attracts their attention, and they quickly run to his side.
He sits up and back, moving his frame so he's settled into a crouch. Energon paints the snow pink, running in trickles down the inside of Soundwave's thighs.
The humans take the opportunity to flee back up the mountain, leaving behind a trail of red blood and black machine oil.
His gestation tank cramps, and he feels the sparkling's wave of panic as it's pushed from the chamber into the deepest part of his valve.
The other twin is still inside, filling Soundwave's EM field with confusion and worry.
It's about the same size and shape as a human, forcing Soundwave's valve lining to stretch in order to accommodate it.
It's little more than a soft lump of metal, nearly liquid, but it has enough hard edges to send spikes of pressure through Soundwave's valve.
Venting hard, he pushes, and pushes, harder and harder until it feels like his valve is going to be torn in two.
Soundwave groans as his sparkling finally emerges.
The sparkling falls to the ground, its hot, new frame making a cloud of steam billow up from the snow. It squeals, chirping as it figures out how to use its voicebox. "He… he… he-llo, world? Hello, world."
Soundwave drops his helm to look between his legs at the small blue form as Ravage nuzzles it, helping it to its pedes.
The second sparkling presses against Soundwave's gestation opening, but something is off. A quick scan of his internals confirms it's coming pedes-first.
"Boss?" Buzzsaw says. "You okay?"
"Stuck," Soundwave gasps. "It's stuck in…" He shudders, wailing.
It's the arms. The second sparkling's lower body is inside his valve now, but the arms are preventing it from moving any further down. It thrashes in distress.
Soundwave falls forward onto his servos, cursing.
Tiny digits stroke the back of his thighs. "Need some help, boss?"
The first-born sticks its arm inside Soundwave's valve, blindly groping for a ped. Its servos close first around one, then the other. "Gonna pull on three. One, two…"
Soundwave shrieks as the pressure increases, and he feels something inside him give as the second sparkling is finally, blessedly, pulled free in a gush of energon. He collapses onto his side.
Warning: tertiary fuel line compromised. Energon levels at: 97%.
The first-born holds its new brother in its arms, laughing in triumph. "Knew ya could do it, boss! Just look at 'im. Real fighter. Should call 'im Rumble."
It walks around Soundwave's body so he can look upon his creations.
His spark flutters, in spite of the pain. The twins have visors, just like him, with the bare mouth and strong chin of Megatron. The first-born is blue, much like Soundwave's own paint job. The other's plating is grey and desaturated pink, but as he watches, the colors slowly darken to black and cherry red.
"H… el-lo world, hell-o w-w-world." Rumble says. His voice is fuzzy with static. He stands shakily on his pedes, armor pinging as it slowly stretches and hardens. His gaze settles on his twin. "Hello, Frenzy."
"Frenzy? Is that my name?" He puts a finger to his chin, grinning. "Yeah, Frenzy! I like it." He stretches his arms above his head.
Buzzsaw gently taps Soundwave shoulder with his beak. "Boss, they're coming back. We gotta move." He takes to air, harrying the humans with laser blasts.
Ravage sticks close to Soundwave's side, unwilling to leave.
Soundwave can hear the roar of engines, several of them. A moment later, bullets hit the ground and kick up white plumes of snow. One hits his leg, and it must be a higher caliber because it just barely penetrates his armor.
Warning: fuel leak. Energon levels at: 78%.
He has to get up, turn around, fire back with his own weapon, do something, but pain is blossoming in his pelvis and Soundwave is fairly certain that standing up is far beyond his frame's current capabilities.
He doesn't need to worry.
With a feral scream, Rumble and Frenzy launch themselves at the humans. Soundwave hears the clang of metal on metal as their fists make contact with the vehicles, then the wet thud of metal on flesh.
The humans start to scream, their puny voices drowned out by an ear-splitting blast of sound.
Soundwave feels a flutter of pride. It seems his newest cassettes have inherited some of his abilities.
His HUD starts to flash.
Warning: fuel leak. Energon levels at: 63%.
The noises finally cease. Soundwave assumes the humans have been dealt with, but he can't hear much over his internal alarms.
Warning: Energon levels at: 50%. Entering stasis in: five. Four. Three. Two. One -
-
"-should come around any moment now."
Soundwave's visor slowly brightens, and a grey blob swims into view. It resolves itself into Megatron.
He's wearing an expression of worry instead of the usual anger, looking oddly… soft. "Ah, Soundwave. Welcome back to the land of the living."
The third-in-command hums softly. He's in the Decepticon medical bay. An energon drip is feeding into a line in his arm. His entire pelvic array is open to the air. When he turns his helm, he can see his burst gestation chamber sitting by itself on a nearby table.
"Boss!" Rumble and Frenzy pop up beside him, grabbing his digits with their tiny servos.
"Thought you were a goner, there."
"I am not defeated so easily."
"As expected of my most loyal follower." Megatron gently nudges the cassettes aside, bending down to touch his forehead to Soundwave's. His lips brush Soundwave's mask, his soft ex-vent like a tender kiss.
He quickly straightens up, faceplate returning to its usual stern expression. "I expect to see you in my quarters once you recover."
"Yes, Lord Megatron."