Author note: Hello everyone, I hope you are enjoying the story so far. I love all types of feedback with comments, and would love to hear what everyone thinks. I am also giving the heads up that I will not be updating next week, as I am behind in my other projects. But not to worry, I will be back the week following. With that being said, please read, comment and enjoy!
Soundwave
With a sharp grinding sound, a fresh wave of pain shot through Soundwave's torso. His chassis protested his transformation attempt, again. He concluded the reason was the broken framework still unmended in his chest and around his Spark Chamber. The exact diagnosis took a while to determine. He didn't have access to any Cybertronian diagnostic medical tech, or even a basic Spark pulse scanner. Laserbeak was still to damaged himself to do much internal work. And he refused to let the human anywhere near this particular wound.
Despite his want to force through a transformation with a mind over matter attitude, Soundwave finally admitted it wouldn't work.
His cobbled together communication's satellite was complete and ready to transmit his coordinates to Cybertron, but if he couldn't shift, he couldn't fly the satellite into Earth's orbit. Without getting beyond Earth's magnetic field, the beacon wouldn't reach far enough to transmit. Laserbeak's smaller boosters wouldn't be enough to get out of Earth's gravitational pull. Only he could do it.
Unable to move forward with his plan, Soundwave circled the completed communication's satellite, pondering. He had to think of a different strategy. If he couldn't fly, then he had to utilize the Autobot Groundbridge to get into orbit. Though his only choice, the risks involved were so high it hinged on madness. He would have to hack through the firewall to get access to the Autobot system. That first step wasn't unreasonable, but one misstep and his presence would be detected by the enemy. He would have to find a means of maneuvering in space without his boosters. Of course, if the Autobots discovered his use of their Groundbridge, they could turn it off, leaving him stranded in space, where he would either float off into the void or crash back down to the Earth's surface with no access to his wings.
"Permission to be blunt, Master Soundwave?" Laserbeak's voice chimed in their connected mind.
Soundwave already knew what was coming. Laserbeak was witness to everything he had just concluded. They shared a mind after all. "Permission granted." He answered.
"That plan is illogical and doomed to fail and you know it."
"The easiest way to get the satellite into orbit is to achieve flight. I am aware. But that is not currently an option." Soundwave reminded him.
"Master Soundwave is allowing his pride to get in the way of the only logical way back to Cybertron."
"I do not allow such trivial emotions to get in the way of our goal." Soundwave stated coldly.
"Observation. You are scared." Laserbeak said matter-of-factly.
Soundwave would have been furious at the minicon's bold claim if he hadn't been so blindsided by it. "Elaborate. What do you accuse me of being fearful of?"
Laserbeak, perched on the Satellite's curved top, motioned to the human who typed away at her computation device, unaware of their mute conversation. "Fearful for good reason. Acknowledged. But your damage preventing transformation can be fixed. It is the only true way of getting back to Cybertron."
Soundwave shifted his gaze between Laserbeak's expectant look and the back of Reha's head. He released a vent.
Enough self-delusion. Soundwave conceded it was the only option to get back to Cybertron… to his Master. He connected to Reha's transistor radio to communicate out loud. "Reha. I have a very important task to trust you with."
Reha
Despite her normal manic self, Reha was trying to remain stone-faced. She had been listening carefully for the past hour as Soundwave explained everything she needed to know about fixing his spark chamber and how one misstep could kill him. If she connected one wrong wire, dead. If she got the soldering tool to close to his Spark, dead. If she even almost sneezed, bam, no more Soundwave. This was his literal soul she would be working around. There was no room for error.
He would also stay awake to help walk her through any trouble if he could. So, he would feel the procedure. No alien pain killers, not that they had any. No stasis. She knew he was tough enough to handle it. She just needed to stay levelheaded.
Soundwave paused, standing still as he staired down at her for a longer than comfortable period of time. She wondered if he was stalling on purpose. "That… is all you require to know. Laserbeak will monitor my vitals and assist you if he is able."
Despite the flat, monotone voice that came through the transistor, Reha noticed the hesitant pause. More for her own sake then his, Reha forced a confident nod. "I have it under control. I won't let you down." She promised.
Soundwave mirrored her nod, though his mouth was pressed line thin and his vibrant purple eyes were distant. She didn't blame him. If she was in his position, needing an alien of a technologically inferior civilization to perform careful heart surgery while awake would have her shiting bricks.
She organized her table of power tools for easier access in their carrier while Soundwave slowly laid down on his back. The rhythmic clicking made her look up at him. Soundwave had affixed his reflective visor back into place. The action confused her. The visor was still badly cracked. They had never found a decent resin to fix it. Why did he need it now? The answer occurred to her as he laid his head hesitantly back down, his body becoming motionless like a statue. The mask was to hide any pained expressions he may produce.
She swallowed against the lump in her throat, and then climbed on top of his chest. Laserbeak was there, just as they had discussed. He had connected his tentacles to Soundwave, one on his chest and the other on the side of his head. To monitor his vitals. It was one of the few things Laserbeak was able to do because of his continued tremor.
'You know what to do,' she reminded herself. That truth did little to comfort her as she began. She pulled away the sheet of thin plastic Soundwave had a fixed over the wound to keep debris out. The hole was smaller than when she first inspected it a few weeks back. His body had attempted to close the wound with thin, jagged metal pieces gunked with dried Energon. It would all have to be cut away so she could start.
She took a deep breath, then pulled her welding mask down over her face and lit her high temperature cutting torch. The jagged pieces came off easily, Laserbeak snatching them away before they fell into the wound. She paused, perched on Soundwave's torso. She expected him to move as she cut into him, but he was still. With his expressionless mask, she almost felt like it was the first time she had ever seen him. Silent and unresponsive.
Fresh Energon seeped from the cuts, which she had to seal. She finally had a good look at the damage. Exactly where she had left it before Soundwave had stopped her attempts a few weeks back.
The chest plate was broken into two pieces, bent inward, and scraping against other parts of his internal workings. 'I can work with that,' she thought as she examined the inwardly bent metal. She could bend that back into place and weld it together to close the wound. It wouldn't look pretty, but it would be functional.
Her fear was forgotten as her mind focused on the mechanical puzzle before her. She noted the broken framework, the delicate Energon veins. Even broken, what she beheld was breathtaking. Symmetrical and perfect. She wanted to have more time. just to study his inner workings for hours. Take in the unique textures, hard, ridged yet smooth. It smelled of faint, unearthly oils she couldn't place, all within this somehow biological robotic body before her.
But her curiosity wasn't a luxury Soundwave could afford. With careful gloved hands she plunged in. Some things she had to have Laserbeak yank back into place before she could weld them still. Laserbeak provided light for her from his red eyes, talking her through what she was doing through the transistor on her belt.
With the damage cleared away, she saw a mirror polished silver device that reflected Laserbeak's light. A mess of wires and Energon lines connected to it. The device was cracked open, but only by an inch or two, a jagged broken brace piercing it.
"Master Soundwave's Spark chamber," Laserbeak explained.
Reha liberated the offending metal piece from the delicate device as carefully as she could. The body under her shuttered, and she almost yelped in alarm. Soundwave had been so still up until that point; she had almost forgotten he was conscious. Laserbeak chirped, and Soundwave's movement ceased. Reha concluded awhile ago the two could talk to each other in their minds. He was probably giving Soundwave some sort of instruction to remain still, reassurance, or both.
She pushed Soundwave's discomfort out of her mind and continued. She examined the connections, only a few broken. They would be easy to fix with her hands and her smaller soldering tool. She reached out, then froze. Her fingertips tingled with the hint of electricity as her hands drew closer. In addition to Laserbeak's spotlight, there was a gentle glow. A soft, shifting blue like the silent reflection of water came through the crack of the silver chamber, she was seeing Soundwave's Spark. This was his life essence, feeding his massive form with energy. Floating in a mix of unique Energon that shimmered as the light danced on its viscus surface. She couldn't help but think the glow was just as pretty as Soundwave's eyes.
The connection's fixed, she positioned the welder to seal the crack shut and protect the delicate light within its silver chamber. The electric flame licked the crack closed, slow as she didn't risk rushing. She tried to steady her trembling hands as she worked, but then realized she wasn't the one trembling. Under her, Soundwave shook. No matter how much Laserbeak chirped at him, each time the welders heat touched his Spark Chamber Soundwave writhed under her.
Reha could feel his resolve to stay still and winced every time her actions brought about more pain in him. She paused, giving them both a break. When she sat up, she noted his thin fingers were clenched and trembling by his sides, having already scratched deep gouges in the dirt around him.
"I'm sorry," she whispered to him before bringing the welder back to life to carry on with the delicate repairs. "Hang in there, Soundwave." She said, though paused when she noticed the slow but constant leak of special Energon plasma originating from Soundwave's Spark chamber. Then the once even beep of Soundwave's vitals skipped.
Soundwave
Soundwave anchored his will, every ounce of self-control he had in his frame and channeled it into remaining frozen. He had trained to withstand all forms of expression and pain. Before, he liked to think he was good at it. Now, his resolve was cracking like his broken visor under the pressure of a collapsing star.
Heat. Unyielding and searing heat radiated in the center of his torso like the aforementioned sun had found it's home in his Spark chamber. It came in pulsing waves of agony. He fought the urge to pluck the offending human from his torso just so he could curl up and writhe in peace.
He couldn't take anymore. Countless eons in silence, and he wanted nothing more but to ease the pain by unleashing the screams that were building in his unused voice box. Would crying out help stop the pain?
"Master Soundwave. Cease moving. You will cause us to make a critical error."
Laserbeak's voice was distant. Soundwave almost couldn't comprehend the meaning of the words.
His processor scrambled in incoherent circles of data, memories, and equations.
Cybertron, alive and vibrant, shifted before his optics. It lost its light, turned into a rusted dead world.
The image changed, back and forth, so fast. Disorienting.
Soundwave was back on the Nemesis, then standing in the hallowed halls of Iacon. The judgmental optics of the Council studied him. He was their tool, a spy to locate and crush their enemies hiding in the lower castes. He hated them. These Bots that stood above all others like they were higher, more worthy to exist. He was disgusted by their cowardice. He hated himself more for allowing them to use him.
Lord Megatron was talking somewhere far away. Soundwave faced down the mighty gladiator in the arena once again. The only bot to ever best him. Megatronus didn't kill him. He held out his hand to help him up.
Megatron's mighty words were echoing in his auditories, declaring his sympathies for the Decepticon side. The famous speech that turned Soundwave's Spark, and the Sparks of so many others, to join him.
Then it was all gone. Past, present, memory or imagination, vanished. Soundwave was alone. The confusion and pain was no more, and he deactivated his optics to rest at last.
Soundwave.
He jolted. Someone was calling to him from the void. The voice was familiar. Comforting.
Primus?
The darkness retreated. In its place, a soft glow emerged, seeking him out. It soothed away his fear. It drew him in, warm, inviting.
Soundwave. Come back to the All Spark. Come home.
No… He couldn't. He needed to find Megatron. He couldn't become one with the All Spark yet!
Please, Primus… I'm not ready.
The light shifted. The voice of Primus faded away, and in the din of confusion, he heard someone else calling.
"Soundwave!"
Who was yelling? The small female voice was desperate. "Can you hear me?"
The human. Reha was calling him. She wouldn't be with the All Spark. If he was hearing her voice, then he wasn't either.
Sensation seeped back into him. He could feel his limbs and the hard ground at his back. The dull ache in his chest plates was prominent. His optics came online. The colors were distorted. Right, his broken visor was in the way.
Rhythmic clicks. It was the sound of his visor coming off. It lifted from his face, and the harsh light of Earth's sun assaulted his optics. He winced painfully away from the light. Shadows danced in front of his vision, becoming a solid form. Then two small hands came to rest on either side of his face. The shadowed form in front of his sight shielded the light from assaulting him further. It gave the figure a halo around them.
His optic's adjusted, reality pushing back in. The figure he saw was the human Reha. She was the one touching his faceplates. "You're ok," Reha promised him. "Laserbeak says we almost lost you… but you're ok now. I sealed everything up."
Soundwave strained to look down, pushing himself up on his servos. The hole over his Spark Chamber was gone, a large ugly scar having taken it's place.
"Master Soundwave," Laserbeak's voice appeared in his mind. With great effort he turned to the Minicon, who was still connected to him with his tentacles, monitoring his spark pulse and other vitals. "The human was not being overdramatic in regard to your procedure. An internal frame brace had broken and breached through your Spark Chamber. Your Spark Chamber's Energon Plasma began leaking once the brace was liberated, and your vitals flatlined for a few pulses. We are extremely fortunate to have caught the problem now. You were one wrong movement or transformation away from that broken piece piercing your Spark."
Soundwave contemplated the explanation. He looked down again and touched a digit to the scar. He hadn't considered he was that close to death, without even knowing it.
The human was still perched on his torso, gazing worriedly at his face. He forgot his visor was no longer in place to shield his emotions. He could only guess what she saw in his conflicted expression. The human had now saved his life twice. A human. The inferior race Soundwave thought so little about before. This single organic who would only live an insignificant amount of time and had their own freedom to contemplate, had taken the personal risk and resources to save him. Even if she could live as long as he did, Soundwave knew this was a debt he could never repay.
Slowly, he scooped her into his palms and placed her gently back on the ground.
