Hello everyone! Welcome to hell, I will be your guide.
I hope all of you are keeping well and staying safe.
Just a heads up that this chapter includes violence, injury, and Blaster being a dumb puppy-dog in love.
These characters are not mine, I am just playing around with them. Enjoy!
For about a week, things felt entirely normal. Soundwave relaxed further into his life as an Autobot, and the Autobots around him relaxed more at his presence. It had only been a few months since Soundwave woke up in the Ark's med bay as a Decepticon. In Cybertronian terms, that wasn't even a mere blink in a lifetime. However, with his cassettes living so contently, and Blaster's friendly company, it was so easy for Soundwave to sink into this new life. Things were entirely calm and quiet for about a week, so it shouldn't have been such a shock when the Decepticons decided to interrupt things.
On a calm afternoon, in the middle of his communications shift, Soundwave was jolted to full alertness. His bond with Laserbeak was suddenly flooded by a data burst. The avian had been on a flight around the area. He had informed his creator that it was to survey the territory, however Soundwave knew it was mostly just an opportunity to stretch his wings. It was most unexpected when Laserbeak found himself looking down at an oil rig infested with Decepticons.
Soundwave briefly scanned over the images Laserbeak had sent, sure enough, it appeared as though a small group of Decepticons were attacking a nearby oil rig. The telepath squinted at the data pad, Megatron didn't appear to be in sight. Looking at the dulled state of the Decepticon's armor, Soundwave considered it a possibility that they were starving troops searching for fuel behind high command's backs. Soundwave sighed and shook his helm, that couldn't possibly be a good sign. If Megatron was neglecting his own troops, things on the Nemesis really would be going downhill.
Soundwave fired a brief summary of the information to Optimus, Prowl, Jazz, and Blaster, then continued to survey the images. There were only three Decepticons at the oil rig, Bombshell, Ramjet, and Swindle. It wasn't surprising that swindle was present, if there was any opportunity to funnel away some energon for profits and trades, he would be there. For a moment, Soundwave considered the possibility of bringing energon to the depleted looking mechs. He wondered if Optimus Prime would agree to that. The Autobots had never donated energon their way before, however, Soundwave still felt a faded sense of responsibility and comradery to the Decepticon troops. If Megatron wasn't mining or raiding for enough energon, the troops would suffer at no fault of their own.
Soundwave was ripped from his thoughts by a sudden excruciating pain in his left wing…. No… Laserbeak's wing! The blue mech gasped and jolted out of his seat as fear and pain flooded across the bond. Primus! His cassette had been shot! Laserbeak sent scrambles of frantic data through their bond. He was falling, spiralling, there was a forest, trees, a sudden hard ground, a thin cushion of leaves. Panic set in when the bond slipped out of Soundwave's clutches, Laserbeak had been knocked offline by his hard landing.
The room felt eerily still and silent as Soundwave stared blankly at the communications monitor. Had that really just happened? Soundwave's bonds suddenly lit up as his other cassettes bombarded him with worried questions. Buzzsaw immediately requested to fly out and find his twin, but Soundwave shakily denied the request.
The doors to the communications hub swept open as Optimus, Prowl, Jazz, and Blaster hurried in. Soundwave finally pulled himself out of his daze.
"Laserbeak is down" Soundwave gasped.
"What?" Jazz's optics grew larger in his concern.
"Laserbeak!" Soundwave could feel a frantic edge start to slip into his voice, "Laserbeak is down! He was shot". He stopped silent and covered his mouth with a gasp then started up again with a harder voice, "I must go and retrieve him".
Optimus held up his servo for calm, however Soundwave elected to ignore this gesture.
"I have to go get him; I can't let anything happen to Laserbeak" he insisted.
Blaster appeared at his side in an instant, his servo rested firmly on Soundwave's shoulder. It would have been reassuring and welcome, if one of his cassettes wasn't on some pit-spawn forest floor with a hole blown through his wing. Soundwave felt his plating bristle and he swept Blaster's servo off his shoulder. He attempted to ignore the immediate pang of guilt he felt for his coldness. He avoided looking at Blaster's concerned faceplates.
Taking a step closer to the Prime, Soundwave couldn't help but feel incredibly small.
"Let me go retrieve Laserbeak," Soundwave pleaded, "I have to make sure he's okay".
Sensing Soundwave's agitated urgency, Optimus replied with more brusqueness than usual, "Troops are already being mobilized. Prowl, Jazz, and I are about to leave and catch up to them. We will intercept the Decepticons and send out a search party for Laserbeak. You and Blaster need to stay here and mind the comms".
"No," Soundwave interjected immediately, "no, I'm going with you".
"'Wave" Blaster said softly at his side.
"Please, take me with you" Soundwave felt the panic start to rise in his throat again, "Blaster can handle the comms on his own. I will be able to track down Laserbeak far quicker than a search party. Please" He clasped his servos together in a gesture calling for mercy.
Optimus looked uncertain, something in the back of his processor told him that Soundwave would go whether he allowed it or not. He hesitated before answering. "Megatron has been after you, Soundwave. It may be unsafe to go out there. You should be staying here; I assure you that we will find your cassette".
"Please", Soundwave's voice tremored desperately. He could feel all of the optics in the room on him, all of their processors singled on his unusual behaviour. He hated all of the attention.
"I will find him faster than any search party. Cassettes don't have much energon to lose before they bleed out. Megatron has been after me, if he finds one of my cassettes- … please!" Soundwave's voice tapered into a near cry.
The Prime's optics remained uncertain for a moment, then hardened in their resolve. He took a breath before turning to the orange boombox. "Blaster, take the comms. Soundwave, stay close to Jazz. The two of you will go find Laserbeak. Once you find him, Wheeljack will bridge you back to the Ark. Do not engage with the battle, and if you see Megatron, leave immediately".
Soundwave let out a relieved breath and nodded vigorously, "thank you", he whispered.
Blaster didn't like this plan. In fact, he hated it entirely. However, watching his roommate's frantic field, he completely understood. If that had been one of his own cassettes, he would be doing the exact same thing. When Soundwave's visor suddenly turned to him, he jolted out of his concerned daze. Following something that could really only be called instinct, he grabbed Soundwave's servos. For a brief moment, he held Soundwave's servos tightly between his own. He could feel every nervous tremor in the telepath's grip. He gave a tight squeeze and smiled reassuringly at his love. "You've got this" he smiled.
Soundwave blinked at Blaster for a moment, then gave a soft smile. "Thank you" he murmured as he pulled his servos from the warm grip and followed the other three mechs out of the room. Blaster stared at the closed door for only a moment before settling at the communications consol. He couldn't shake the concern for Soundwave from his processor as he hooked up to the system. Megatron had been more and more aggressive recently… if this was some sort of trick, it might not be pretty. This was going to be interesting, whatever it was.
While in a half run through the Ark, Soundwave ejected Ravage and Ratbat from his docks. He double checked the locations of his other cassettes, thankfully, they were all still on the Ark. His orders to remain on the Ark were not well received. Buzzsaw almost demanded to fly out in pursuit of his twin, however, Ravage was able to calm his younger siblings. Their pleads to go with him to find Laserbeak fell on deaf audios and his decision was definite. They were to stay where it was safe… just in case.
Soundwave quickly found himself standing with Optimus, Jazz, and Prowl at the land-bridge station. The other troops stood waiting for their deployment. All of them carried that nervous twitchiness that only existed before battle. Soundwave shut his blast mask over his faceplates and pulled his concussion blaster from his subspace… just in case.
Wheeljack gave a friendly thumbs up as he activated the bridge from behind the consol. Soundwave's peds automatically carried him with the small party of Autobots through the bridge.
Stepping into the sunlight, Soundwave immediately felt that something was wrong. The sun scorched down on an empty oil rig. The humans had evacuated already, and there was no sign of the Decepticons. As the rest of the troops emerged, Soundwave squinted through the sun at the barren refinery. This didn't make any sense. He could feel a few glances from his team as the Autobots stared at a silent rig. After all, he had been the only one to call in this sighting.
Something prickled at the edge of Soundwave's telepathy. He strained his mind and audios to listen. This wasn't right… the realization hit him like a freight train. Soundwave jerked and his spark revved into a rapid spin. The telepath turned to face the bridge as it closed behind them. Following the erratic movements of the blue mech, the other Autobots turned to face the closing bridge.
The bridge evaporated from sight to reveal a large troop of Decepticons, their blasters trained on the smaller Autobot team.
"Drop your weapons" Starscream broke the silence, his mouth curled up in a rather pleased smile. His wings stood high over his shoulders; he was clearly very pleased with their ambush. Soundwave could tell that this had been the seeker's plan.
At the shocked silence of the Autobots, Starscream pursed his lips in mock disappointment. Without a word he cocked his weapon, the soft click echoed through the silence.
Suddenly mobilized again, the Autobots found themselves lowering their weapons to the ground. Soundwave watched himself drop his concussion blaster to the ground, he hardly felt his own frame move as a sudden numbness flooded him.
Sparing a glance to his ex-associate, Starscream sent a rather haughty nod in Soundwave's direction. The telepath dimmed his visor at the gesture… Starscream could be such a showboat sometimes.
"Starscream," started Optimus, "what's going on here?".
The seeker seemed far too eager to elaborate, he started with a twisting smile.
"Clever, aren't I?" he tittered, "you Autobots are always so ready to run towards trouble. I figured that we may as well greet you with a little welcome party".
Some of the Autobots began to shift restlessly as Starscream spoke. The seeker turned his sharp gaze to them like a teacher towards a daydreaming student.
"You clearly all want me to get to the point, so… let's get to it. You lot will stand over there" he gestured carelessly to the side with his pistol, "with your backs to us. Don't worry about being lonely, Dirge and Ramjet will keep you company". He smiled sweetly and nodded to the aforementioned (and heavily armed) mechs. "We are going to drain this rig completely, perhaps knock some of your kneecaps in, then head back to the Nemesi-".
Starscream's monologe was suddenly interrupted as another ground bridge opened to the side. The seeker jolted from his speech and narrowed his optics at the bridge. Soundwave felt Starscream's uncertainty as though it was his own. Both Autobots and Decepticons turned to watch the mysterious bridge as a figure began to make itself known.
Fear seized at Soundwave's spark as he watched Megatron emerge from the bridge. The warlord was shrouded in an ominous silence, his burning and prickly field was the only thing that betrayed his emotions. Despite the cool silence in which the Decepticon leader arrived, there was something simmering under the surface tension. Looking into his optics, Soundwave couldn't help but feel that there was something not quite right there… almost unhinged.
Soundwave glanced back to Starscream, who was still frozen. Disbelief and frustration flooded the seeker's processor, Soundwave was very familiar with that feeling. Megatron was ignoring the plans, he was breeching the chosen tactics to do whatever he wanted to do. This sent Soundwave's spark hammering. When Megatron veered from set plans, it was never to do anything safe or rational.
Glancing at the other Decepticons, Soundwave couldn't help but notice how uncomfortable they seemed in the presence of their leader. Plating pulled in tight to frames and fields retracted away from the new presence… they were frightened. Soundwave's optics narrowed behind his visor at the new dynamic. Something was going on in the Nemesis, and he had a suspicion as to what it was.
"How nice of you to drop by, Autobots" Megatron crooned. The large bulk of the grey mech strolled casually towards the team. Plating creaked and air intakes quickened as the Autobot team mutually tensed. The two armies stood still and rigid like a wire begging to be tripped.
"Megatron", Optimus warned stiffly.
The warlord dismissed his protest with a lazy wave of his servo. He finally came to a stop at the side of Starscream, who was continuing to fix the warlord with an enraged and confused stare.
"Do any of you know what loyalty is?" Megatron addressed the troop of stiff Autobots. A sea of aggravated blue optics stared back at him in silence. "No?", Megatron hummed, "that shouldn't surprise me" his optics fixed suddenly on Soundwave. The Telepath felt his fingers twitch for his blaster, which was still laying pitifully at his peds.
You see," Megatron continued languidly, "loyalty is when you retain a certain level of respect for your sense of duty. Loyalty is not when you run off with-"
"I am sorry" Soundwave's voice cut through Megatron's speech. The warlord jerked his helm to the blue mech, only to find that he wasn't the one being apologised to.
Soundwave's visor was focused on the Decepticon troops, who were staring back at him in surprise. His blast mask and visor were in place as they were used to seeing him, however, his vocoder was not being used to modify his voice.
"I didn't realize it was this bad," Soundwave continued, the Decepticon troops stirred nervously under his gaze. The Autobots waited in bated silence. "Do you truly believe that Megatron is still capable of leading the Decepticons?" the blue mech asked. Red optics brightened in shock. The Decepticons stood in silence, a mutual hesitation seemed to hold them.
"Silence!" Megatron roared, "you insolent little-"
Soundwave spoke over the warlord; his voice was unusually loud and clear. "He hasn't been feeding you, has he? There have been no fuel raids since I left, your stock must be brimming on empty. It was Starscream who brought you out here for fuel today. Has everything with Megatron been about revenge since I left?".
The silence that hung over the Decepticon troops was permeated by hesitant shifting. Their optics searched the ground and sky as they fidgeted. Only Starscream kept his sharp gaze on Soundwave, however his expression was unreadable.
"You dare speak to my soldiers!" Megatron snarled, his plating flared aggressively. Soundwave didn't spare him a glance.
Soundwave continued, fueled on by the uncertainty of the Decepticon troops. "Can't you see that he is incapable of being your leader anymore?" He demanded, "Megatron does not care about you. He cares as much about you as the old regime on Cybertron did. Is this what you want? Corruption replacing corruption?".
Megatron was practically frothing at the mouth. His plating rattled with unchecked rage. "Silence!" He howled, "Starscream! Silence him!".
Soundwave's optics jerked to Starscream; the seeker had his pistol trained on him with renewed energy. However, he was hesitating. Soundwave's optic brows raised behind his mask. Sensing his opportunity, he opened his servos and spoke in a softer tone, "do you not think that you deserve better than this?".
A hush fell over the gathered mechs. The determination in Starscream's optics softened. A conflicted expression appeared on the commander's faceplates and his wings twitched with agitation. Slowly, he lowered his pistol by a fraction.
The discharging of a fusion cannon interrupted the trance-like silence. Soundwave felt the breath knocked out of his frame as the cannon fire hit him square in the chestplates. The glass of his cassette docks exploded into shards. Something that could only be described as molten agony spread through his chestplates and through to his fingertips. He must have crumpled to the ground at some point, which was interesting, because he hadn't even noticed himself falling. His dorsa hit the ground hard, sending his already empty air intakes into spasm. Suddenly, all Soundwave could see was the sky. He could feel servos grabbing him under his arms… who was that? There were a few sets of servos, other Autobots, and suddenly he felt himself dragged backwards.
An explosion of voices overwhelmed his audios. His optics flickered with static as other Autobots stepped in front of him, closing him off from the Decepticons. For a moment, Soundwave was confused as to why these mechs were hiding him from Megatron's gaze. It was after a moment of consideration in his sluggish processor that Soundwave realized the other Autobots were protecting him. How nice, to feel like part of a team.
In the confusion and violence, most of the Autobots had picked their weapons back up. They aimed at the Decepticons, however, the opposing troops seemed distracted and distant. Shock and anger flickered in their optics as they glanced from the Autobots to Megatron and back again. Megatron almost looked as shocked as everyone else. He stood stiffly, fusion cannon still held out, but lowered almost to the ground.
"It's over here, Megatron" Optimus demanded. He could feel the renewed anger and dispositions of the Autobots. The Decepticons could hardly focus on their opposition anymore, they seemed suddenly lost and confused. Even a novice could see that there was no competition.
Megatron hesitated for a long moment. Suddenly, he jerked out of his stupor, "retreat" he ordered, his voice sounded uncertain. Silence sat on the field for a long moment. None of the Decepticons moved.
"Retreat!" Megatron roared, jolting his army from their daze. Slowly, the Decepticons started to take off. Most of them glanced back over the Autobot's helms to look at Soundwave as they gained altitude. The telepath had pushed himself up to his knees, he held the shambled remains of his chestplates closed over himself. A few of the other Autobots crouched next to him, steadying him and speaking over comms… likely for a medic.
Starscream was the last Decepticon to take off. The seeker stood for a few moments more. He leaned to the side to catch a glimpse of Soundwave around the Autobots, seemingly not minding the guns aimed at him. His brow was pinched in uncertainty. For a moment, he caught Soundwave's visor and the two stared at each other. Starscream opened his mouth, as if to say something, then snapped it shut again. His thrustors activated and he shot up into the sky after his troops.
Silence sat upon the Autobots for a beat. A number of the mechs kept their blasters trained on the fleeing Decepticons until they were mere specks in the sky. Almost at the same time, the Autobot team turned to look down at Soundwave. At some point Ratchet had materialized next to the telepath. The two were engaged in a sort of struggle as Ratchet tried to force Soundwave onto his back.
Soundwave somehow remained upright on his knees. He felt suddenly cold, then realized that it was likely due to energon loss. He watched as a pool of energon formed around him, then swayed when a wave of nausea seized him. Distantly, he was aware of Ratchet's servos on his shoulders. The medic was trying to make him lay down, but there were more pressing matters. He swatted the servos from his shoulders, then attempted to stand up. He swayed and immediately felt a team of servos on his arms and shoulders pressing him back. There was a dim wave of voices around him, helms swam in his vision as a number of the Autobots forced him to lay back. Soundwave twisted in their grip; his frame trembled desperately. A horrible wooziness sat upon him and he fought to stay awake. The sides of his vision began to close in, the pressure in his helm began to hurt.
Finally finding his voice, Soundwave managed to croak out, "Laserbeak". Groggily, he pushed Ratchet's servos from his frame. The medic slapped his servos away and tried to get back to repairs. There was a distant muffled drone, Soundwave couldn't hear. Panic seized his spark. Had they found Laserbeak? Where was his cassette?
"No," Soundwave groused. He attempted to push Ratchet away again, but his servos were seized by other Autobots and forced to the ground. He was so weak. They had to find Laserbeak! It was more important, they had to make sure his cassette was okay.
"Laserbeak," Soundwave whimpered "please, where is Laserbeak?". Ratchet's voice echoed on the inside of his helm. It was muffled and distant. What did he say? Soundwave's vision filled with black pools. Optimus was there, leaning over him. He was saying something… it sounded so far away. Soundwave's optics looked to the sky. Where was his creation? His vision closed in completely.