For William, who had killed Starscream, Blackout, and Sarc Giant—and was suspected of killing Megatron and capturing Mindwipe—Soundwave, as the Decepticons' chief intelligence officer, of course tried to gather as much intel on him as possible.
A projected hologram appeared in front of The Fallen. After reviewing all the data, even he had to change his tone. "Any news on the AllSpark?"
Soundwave sneered internally but kept his tone respectful and serious. "According to intelligence obtained from humans, the facility where Lord Megatron was originally imprisoned is most likely where the AllSpark was hidden. If Lord Megatron really was killed by William Devonshire, then the AllSpark is very likely in his hands.
Also, over a year ago, two Decepticons not listed in our database suddenly appeared in a desert region on this planet. They wiped out an entire U.S. military base and over a thousand soldiers before vanishing without a trace.
So we have reason to believe that the AllSpark is indeed on Earth, and the humans are already experimenting with how to use it, possibly trying to control newly created Decepticons. Whether William Devonshire is directly involved remains uncertain."
"Uncertain?"
The Fallen grabbed Soundwave by the neck. "Even if Mindwipe has vanished, don't you still have Laserbeak, Rumble, Ravage, and Buzzsaw? Why haven't you deployed them to keep tracking leads?"
"This... this..." Dangling in the air, Soundwave quickly explained, "Master, with Megatron gone, and Starscream, Blackout, and Sarc Giant all killed by that human, we've already lost a significant portion of our forces. And just last night, the Americans used enhanced humans to kill Ironhide and Jeep—we're even more short-handed now."
"Useless trash!" The Fallen flung Soundwave to the floor and stomped on his head. "Without Megatron, you're all a bunch of cowardly, ignorant fools."
Even after that, The Fallen wasn't satisfied. He gave Soundwave another stomp before walking into the ship.
Lying on the floor, Soundwave looked up at the still-open hatch and had no choice but to crawl back inside, standing respectfully at a distance from The Fallen.
After a long pause, The Fallen finally spoke. "Deploy the Constructicons to standby near the pyramids in Egypt. Also, where's the base that attacked Ironhide?"
Soundwave's eyes projected a map. The ship began to move toward the United States.
Once above the target, The Fallen entered the gestation chamber aboard the ship, grasping the heads of two still-forming beast-type Decepticons.
He poured his energy and a stream of specialized data into them. The two beast-form Decepticons awakened quickly.
Climbing out of their mechanical cocoons, they transformed and knelt before him. "Master."
The Fallen casually waved his hand. The ship cloaked itself and landed silently. He pointed toward the U.S. base several kilometers away. "Destroy it for me."
"Yes, Master."
The two Decepticons, one shaped like a rhino and the other a bison, leapt from the ship and began stealthily advancing toward the base.
Once the ship lifted off again, Soundwave looked confused. "Master, while these two new Decepticons are strong, destroying that base won't be easy.
Aside from the soldiers stationed there, several other military bases are within a hundred-kilometer radius. Reinforcements will arrive within ten minutes of any attack."
"I know," The Fallen said indifferently. He didn't actually care whether the two beast-form Decepticons succeeded.
All he wanted was for the humans, in the process of investigating the Decepticon remains, to find that special data stream he had embedded.
"Now tell me—what exactly have you all been doing for all this time?"
"Yes, Master."
Soundwave then spent a long time explaining their plan to bring the ancient Decepticon leader The Nemesis from the moon back to Earth and use the space bridge technology he invented to teleport Cybertron into the solar system.
As The Fallen sat on his metallic throne, he began to think deeply. Ever since he and the other Primes left Cybertron to explore the galaxy and gather Energon from stars, it had been countless years since he'd returned.
"Tell me your full plan."
While The Fallen was listening to Soundwave's report, the two beast-form Decepticons had already crept within a hundred meters of Ross's base.
At that time, the sky had just turned dark—around 7 p.m. local time—right when the soldiers were having dinner.
After half an hour of observation, mapping patrol patterns and guard posts, the rhino and bison Decepticons—who had higher defense than attack capabilities—charged in together.
They smashed through fences and guard posts, one crashing into the tank yard, the other into the helicopter hangar.
In just one minute, they had flipped and destroyed multiple tanks and helicopters, encountering only sporadic resistance from small arms fire.
But such weapons barely tickled their heavy armor.
Once they turned their attention to the barracks and equipment storage buildings, it became even harder for the American soldiers to get a clear shot.
The base descended into chaos. Blonsky, stationed underground, rushed to the surface with his team and began a desperate counterattack.
Inside the underground command center, Ross stood frozen, hands cold as ice. On the surveillance feed, he saw the Decepticons shrug off rocket hits and continue their rampage, trampling his soldiers.
Shocked by how quickly retaliation had arrived, Ross subconsciously reached for the phone William had given him.
After a few seconds of hesitation, he made up his mind. Better to drag William into the mess than try to hold the line himself.
No way was he going to let the Decepticons focus all their wrath on him while William reaped the benefits from the sidelines without taking any losses.
If William was serious about being teammates against aliens, then Ross felt no guilt at all in pulling him into the fire.
He took out the phone and dialed the only number in it.
The moment the call connected, Ross said bluntly, "William, I'm under attack by Decepticons. I need your support."
"Five minutes."
William hung up.
A hundred-meter-long spaceship instantly warped in from Planet X17 and hovered above Folger Castle.
Still listening to the Transformers elder explaining Earth's conditions to Optimus Prime, William turned and said, "There's a Decepticon attack on a U.S. military base. Interested in helping?"
"No," Ironhide growled before Prime could respond. "I'm not lifting a finger to save those people. They helped the Decepticons kill our comrades. The more they fight, the deeper the hatred. The bigger the war, the better it is for us Autobots."
"Exactly, exactly," Bumblebee chimed in. "I personally know of at least a dozen Autobot scouts killed by Decepticons with the help of U.S. soldiers. American troops are no friends of the Autobots."
Optimus Prime, newly arrived on Earth and not yet acquainted with humanity, couldn't ignore Bumblebee's words—even if he wanted to play the noble leader.
Instead, he looked to William, whom the elder had described as a friend of the Autobots.
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