(Disclaimer: This is a fanfiction. I do not own the Transformers setting or any of it's characters, all honor to those that have actually made this setting and who do actually own it. Thank you for providing so many people with such a fantastic setting to dream oneself away in. This fanfiction is just written for my own amusement and it not meant to step on anyone's copyright toes.)

A Single Purple Droplet

He did not know how to express emotions. Feelings such as fear, anger or anguish where distractions, the large blue robot's computer mind where programmed to be practical, cold and logical, there where no place in it's well designed subroutines for emotion. Soundwave considered himself a mech of reason, in fact he prided himself on it, the communications officer did not need the passions he saw in his fellow Decepticons, Megatron's rage, Skywarp's humor, Starscream's panic, they where all irrelevant. Off course the soundsystem did feel emotion, he was after all not Shockwave, but he had always found basing one's decisions on such vulgar things distasteful. In a way it was ironic then that in this very moment it was emotion who drove Soundwave thought the broken streets of New York. Burning emotions such as fear, anger and even love forced the Decepticon officer's legs to move ever faster as he cursed his creator for not giving him an vehicular alt mode. The sound of the large robot's legs hitting the ground in rapid succession sent tremors to announce his arrival and deep in crumbling buildings human survivors huddled together in terror at that sound. Normally Soundwave might have allowed himself a moment to delight in the fear his size and might brought these pathetic earth creatures, but not today, no today he just had to get there, get to Rumble, so he could save the aggressive little cassette before it was to late, before he was destroyed and in death took a bit of Soundwave's own soul with him into oblivion.

Soundwave had been at the new Decepticon headquarters monitoring transmissions from Laserbeak only astroseconds before his current mad dash through New York's rubble filled streets started, the blue soundsystem had sent his bird like minion on a snouting mission to make sure all was well in Lord Megatron's new domain, as telemetry from Laserbeak entered Soundwave's computer banks the Decepticon officer carefully analyzed the data looking for anything out of the ordinary. Soundwave had finally come to the conclusion that the city's defense perimeters where safe with a cetinity of 87.95 percent when he felt a sharp, burning pain in his faceplate. At first the communications officer had been confused, then he lifted one large blue hand to touch the red visor and metal shielding which made up his rather limited facial features fearing the worst, only to find himself to be completely intact, a quick mental command to execute a self diagnostics program followed only to come up with nothing, Soundwave where functioning within 99,35 percent of peak efficiency, in other words nothing was wrong with him. For a fraction of a klik Soundwave wondered what had happened, why had his system registered the sensation of pain, then a realization hit the large mech like a ice claw grasping at his spark, it had to be one of his cassettes who where hurt, and if the intensity of the feedback Soundwave had experienced where any indication, badly hurt.

The Decepticon communications officer's most unique ability, even more so than the sound based weaponry Soundwave was named for or his telepathic powers, was the ability to act as host for a number of smaller robots who's cassette alt modes snugly fit into slots located in the larger mechanism's chest. Soundwave enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with his cassette minions, they provided their large blue master with extra optics and auditory sensors to further advance Soundwave's ability to gather information, in return the Decepticon officer provided his pets protection and a place to recharge. The cassettes where fully conscious mechanisms in their own right but at the same time they where a part of their host and he shared their emotions and feelings, in fact none but the cassettes knew who Soundwave was behind his featureless face, only they who shared tiny fragments of his spark and who at times where referred to as his children got to see the communications officer's soul.

Soundwave did a quick, desperate scan to find out which one of his minions the sensory feedback had come from, of the dozen or so cassettes living in the robotic telepath's chest only four where currently activated, Laserbrak where still sending telemetry over his built in sub space communicator to his master's databanks so he was definitely okey, Buzzsaw was with Megatron providing jamming frequencies to prevent the human resistance form locking weaponry onto the Decepticon leader and since neither the robotic bird or Lord Megatron himself had reported any problem Soundwave assumed it to be unlikely the feedback came from Laserbreak's morbidly artistic twin. Ravage where on the East side of the city and the great cat growled at his master when Soundwave called to check on his condition and by doing so disturbed a hunt for a particularly agile and fun to chase human which provided the robot cat with his entertainment for the afternoon. Soundwave's face shield hid his slight smile of pride over the cassette pet's skill at hunting before he went on to contact the last unaccounted for minnion, the aggressive little trouble maker Rumble.

The Decepticon communications officer tried to contact the smaller robot on every channel he had, radio, subspace, electrical signals, hell he even tried to get into contact with Rumble telepathically but every attempt to establish communications with the small bully was met with a deafening silence. Soundwave got more and more frantic as communication attempt after communications attempt where met with nothing but empty static, Rumble was in trouble and unless the large blue mech wanted to loose a being which for all intents and purposes was a extension of himself he had to find the cassette and help him. Soundwave turned on his heels and started running towards the headquarter's main exit and the streets beyond. Finding Rumble would not be difficult, the communications officer's telepathy sensors kept a constant record of the location of each of his pets, it was the getting there in time which would prove a challenge.

Soundwave had lost track of how long he had been running, under normal circumstances the perfectionist Decepticon would have stopped and chastised himself for such a unforgivable lapse in awareness but right now Soundwave found he did not care, his central processor where filled with nothing but worry for Rumble's safety. The large blue Decepticon did not know if his minion where off lined, in stasis lock or if he had ceased to function altogether and fear of the latter drove him mad. Finally however Soundwave reached Rumble's last recorded position. The communications officer's red optics begun to scan the area for any signs of the wounded cassette, taking in the scene unfolding before him. In the middle of the dusty street stood a group of humans, one of them where a large for a fleshling, hairless male with dark skin and a lost look in the gelatinous orbs their kind used to process visual stimuli. The dark skinned creature held a rocket launcher in his small hands, the weapon still smoking for recently having been fired. When the humans saw Soundwave they scattered like the rodents they where, scurrying to the imagined safety of their broken buildings. Soundwave let the humans go, his mind suddenly to numb to think about them or anything else from the sight that next graced his optics. Rumble lay crumpled on the ground like a broken doll, the small robot had taken a rocket to the face and the force of the weapon had thorn through metal as if it where wet paper, ripping half of Rumble's head off, exposing the torn wires and computer chips that made up his CPU. The robotic soundsystem knelt by his fallen child's side and gently lifted the limp form into his own strong arms. Soundwave desperately scanned Rumble's broken body, trying to find any indication that the small Cybertronian still functioned. The readings came back negative, the telepath might as well be cradling a earth machine in his arms, Rumble where nothing more than that now, just a dead, broken piece of machinery, just metal and hydraulics, with no life, no soul, no spark.

The large blue robot did not scream, or cry, or shout, he did not know how to express emotions such a pain or grief, he had such feelings, and now they seamed to overwhelmed him in their intensity. Soundwave had no knowledge of how to deal with the horrid emotions he was feeling, how to let them out before they tore him apart from the inside. As his red optics looked helplessly at his broken minion a sound finally came from him, a noise impossible to understand or describe. In the horrible, agonizing instant Soundwave realized that Rumble was dead his mind left the maintenance of his jamming sequences which had gripped New York in a total communications blackout since the Decepticon invasion started. Suddenly cell phones beeped into life, TV sets started to hum, all over electrical devices switched on and joined their noise to the horrid, mournful static emitted from Soundwave himself. The noise rose to a cacophony which shattered windows and left nearby humans deaf for hours. The Decepticon communications officer where not even aware of the sound he himself made, all that ran through his CPU was that Rumble was dead, a part of him was dead, Soundwave felt as if his spark would shatter and yet he did not know what to do with his pain save emitting that strange, rumbling static that now filled the entire city. The living soundsystem took a step back and turned his face to the sky as if to ask why the fates had taken his beloved cassette from him. Normally Soundwave where cold and analytical, normally he found strong displays of emotion distasteful, but now as he stood there with Rumble's limb body in his arms the normally stoic and composed Decepticon could feel a single, purple, energon droplet leave his optics socket and slowly creep it's way down his faceplate. For a moment the droplet just hung there, clinging to the bottom of Soundwave's chin, then it lost it's grip and plummeted down to land on the broken cassette's exposed and ravaged CPU.

The reaction was over in a astrosecond, when Soundwave's energon tear touched the broken CPU it fired, just once, just a single command, but that short burst of activity was enough. Rumble where a Cybertronian, he was build to survive- The cassette's torn and broken computer brain where nearly destroyed, it only managed one task, to bring one part of the small robot's anatomy back online. Deep in Rumble's chest something started to hum softly and his laser core containing the all important spark started up again, providing the Cybertronian's starved soul with much needed energon. Rumble's CPU which had used the energy in his mater's tear to complete one last, all important task finally died, sending it's owner into a deep stasis lock. Soundwave looked down at his minion when he felt the other robot's CPU firring off a single command and then nearly gasped as the cassette's tiny laser core restarted. The mournful the large robot had emitted where cut off as quickly as it had begun. Rumble was alive! Yes he was badly hurt, yes he had lost one or two vital points, but still as long as his spark existed the little robot could be repaired. Soundwave made another sound, this time it was a strange, mechanical laughter, an expression of boundless relief, the large blue robot quickly composed himself however, Rumble where not out of the woods yet, he needed immediate medical attention if he where to survive. Still trembling from the unaccustomed onslaught of emotions Soundwave sent a radio communication to a certain black and purple Seeker, one who could get Rumble to the repair bay at headquarters in the blink of an eye.
"Skywarp acknowledge...teleport to my location...operation retrial...Decepticon soldier designation Rumble...to be taken immediately to main repair bay."

As Soundwave stood waiting for Skywarp to get his teleporting afterburners over to the right coordinates the soundsystem made a silent vow, the humans would pay for the pain and suffering they had brought to his minion, before this incident the subjugation of the humans of this world had only been seen as a means to an end, but now it was personal. Soundwave looked down at the small Cybertronian cradled in his arms.
"Start operation revenge...ultimate goal...devastation."
Soundwave muttered as he heard the soft swishing sound of Skywarp's unnatural arrival followed by the sound of the Seeker transforming. The Decepticon communication's officer knew his cassette minion could not hear his words locked in stasis as he was, and yet somehow Soundwave hoped Rumble's weakened spark would understand that no matter how this went, he would be avenged. The soundsystem placed his precious pet reluctantly into Skywarp's arms.
"Return to base...repairs is to start immediately...then return to retrieve me as well."
Soundwave ordered and thankfully Skywarp was for once wise enough to just nod and do as he was told without adding some flippant comment, perhaps even if he was as stupid as a bucket of bolts the Seeker understood that this was not the time to anger Soundwave. Another soft swishing sound graced the now empty streets as Skywarp teleported yet again. Soundwave now stood alone in the cold, dusty street waiting for the black and purple Seeker to come back for him, eager to get to headquarter's repair bay to assist in Rumble's restoration. As he waited logic and reason again claimed dominance over the sound system's mind. Terrible reason and cold logic put into motion to work out a plot, to design a plan for revenge. Sure Soundwave could just hunt the small group of humans down and kill them, but that was not enough. The humans who hurt Rumble would suffer, oh by Primus they would suffer and when the time came Soundwave would turn off his emotion suppressors long enough so he could enjoy their screams and pleas for mercy, so he could enjoy the look of defeat in their eyes as mercy where denied, after all some thing where best savored to the fullest high of emotional pleasure and a well executed revenge where one of those things, especially when the revenge was on behalf of a wounded loved one. Oh yes earth would learn that no one harmed one of Soundwave's cassette minions and lived, oh how they would learn, again the strange mechanical laughter filled the empty street as the Decepticon master spy and torturer make his plans.