Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

This was not how it should have happened.

Broken lights flickered, showering the hallway in sparks. Smoke and dust clouded the air, filling the room with a glowing haze. Soundwave held a hand to his head as he sat upright, trying to process the scene before him. He looked down the hallway, gazing at the broken doors and collapsed ceiling, trying to remember what happened.

How did it end up this way?

Sure, it was an oddly strategic attack from several autobot ships, but what was anyone doing fighting over a barren rock in fringe space? It was strange. He remembered everything, but it had all happened so quickly that it felt like he had just woken up to a different world entirely. So much time had gone by since the decepticons' last defeat that it was hard to believe he was already on another warship. It only felt like yesterday he'd escaped the Shadowzone.

That had been stressful enough. Trapped on Earth alone while the other remaining decepticons were somewhere on Cybertron, he had spent almost all of his waking hours trying to figure out how to hail the Nemesis, or searching for energon just to survive. After all, he was lightyears away from his home. Summoning a portal was not as simple as sending coordinates to the ship's computer. Even with subspace relays, some frequencies failed to escape the parallel dimension he had found himself in. Days of hopeless isolation had become weeks, which soon became months. It was unpleasant, to say the least.

But his salvation came in an unusual form.

An urgent message drove him back to consciousness, from the quiet pondering he frequently lost himself in. He glanced at the data displayed on his visor before him, and jolted upright. A groundbridge portal had been formed somewhere, but judging by the distortion and weakness of the detected signal, it was too distant for him to fly to on his own.

Regardless of whose portal it was, though, he had to get to it.

He stood up, jumping into the air to transform, and flew out of the cave that had become his home. He had prepared for this scenario many times in his mind.

Soundwave flew toward the peak of the mountain he had inhabited, and transformed again to settle back onto the ground. He looked down at his feet, noticing the powdered snow he stood in. It was still strange to him that water fell from the sky in a form as fine as dust, but that was beside the point. He sent out a communication signal, not really filled with anything of substance, but flagged as a distress call.

He wasn't betting on the receiving party reading the message, given that it was most likely the autobots. Now, he waited. He looked down at the ground again, reaching down to scoop up some of the snow in his hands. Cybertron had no weather, and had no seasons. He had long thought that any planet that did was subject to chaos. But how was it that the chaos of a blue planet spawned life, and caused such delicate powder to fall from the sky? He let his hands drop to his sides, suddenly overcome with fatigue. With little to live on, he had little energy to spare, and flying even a short distance took a lot out of him.

But a familiar sound suddenly crackled to life, and he watched as a green portal formed before him. Two forms stepped through; Smokescreen and Wheeljack. Soundwave stood motionless for a moment, watching as the two autobots scanned their surroundings, looking directly at him but failing to see him. Such was the curse of the Shadowzone. He ran toward the portal, passing through and finding himself in a small clearing, in the center of which rested Ultra Magnus's ship.

With a purely mental sigh of relief, he stepped toward it. The curse of the Shadowzone had now become his blessing. After all, he knew the autobots now resided on Cybertron, and he now had a way to get there completely undetected.

The ship was more spacious than it looked from the outside, and Soundwave spent some time merely wandering around, inspecting its computer systems while Ratchet stood silently beside him, monitoring communication frequencies. It was strange, because while he could see and hear everything the autobot did, he was unable to sense any electromagnetic aura. Although, on second thought, that was probably for the best, since it further reduced any chance that they could detect him in turn.

It wasn't long before the radio came to life with Smokescreen's voice.

"I've scanned every pebble out here, but there's nothing out of the ordinary. Are you sure you calibrated this thing right?"

Ratchet's head tilted back as he let out an annoyed sigh, or groan, or something in between. The tone of his voice was appropriately condescending.

"If you haven't found anything, then come back. Whoever it was probably fled."

Wheeljack broke his silence, interjecting his comment soon enough after Ratchet's that the beginning of his own was cut off.

"- Just gonna leave a rogue 'con here?"

"Of course not. But we need better tracking methods than two scouts wandering around with scanners."

Smokescreen responded a moment later. "They couldn't have gone far by now though. This is the best chance we've got right here!"

"Need I remind you," Ratchet replied, "that the only decepticon known to still be on Earth is Soundwave?"

"Uhh..."

Wheeljack quickly interrupted the following silence. "Come on, you're not afraid of such a coward, are you?"

Soundwave himself looked toward Ratchet, eager to hear his response. Even though he felt no aura, he could see a trace of nervousness in the autobot's eyes.

"Soundwave is the second most capable decepticon to have ever lived."

The blue figure smiled slightly behind his visor, speaking in a quiet voice considering no one around him could hear.

"Then that's the second best compliment I've ever gotten."

Wheeljack's voice turned slightly annoyed as he responded.

"So what? We did capture him once."

"Just get back here."

"Whatever you say, doc."

Ratchet promptly buried his face in one hand, sighing again.

He had briefly known Ratchet before the war, but the medic had never left a good impression on him. Although, to be fair, it seemed Ratchet never left a good impression on anyone. But, even before the fateful council meeting that changed the course of history, it was clear there were ideological differences between Orion Pax and Ratchet, and Megatron, Soundwave, and Starscream. In truth, both sides wanted the same thing; a reformation of Cybertronian society to abolish the caste system. The difference was that the autobots were willing to compromise for it, and the decepticons weren't. But Ratchet was always somewhat strange in his beliefs. Even though he clearly hated Megatron and all that the decepticons had done throughout the past, he seemed to also resent the autobots for similar reasons; being that their methods were ineffective, and their motives were clouded by bias. By loyalty, he was an autobot, but by ideology, he was neutral.

When the other autobots arrived back at the ship, they seemed more annoyed than anything else. Had they been trying to track down the other decepticons?

Smokescreen seemed to hover beside Ratchet, but Wheeljack was content isolating himself toward the back of the ship among some energon cubes. Soundwave remained beside Ratchet as well, watching what he was doing, but after a few moments, the medic turned to Smokescreen, snapping at him with an irritated tone.

"Do you need something from me?"

The younger autobot backed away suddenly, stuttering slightly.

"I-uhhh.. no sir."

He sat down on a small bench, his posture straight and attentive, but fidgety enough to give away his nervousness. Ratchet shook his head, his voice turning quiet.

"I'm... sorry. It's just-"

"I get it, don't worry. We'll find something."

They were trying to track down the others.

The ship lifted off the ground a few moments later, and the occupants all soon settled into the tranquility of the flight. Soundwave in particular found the sound of the engine calming, which was the very reason he had chosen the unusual quarters on the Nemesis that he had. On a warship there was no silence, so the best way to escape the sounds that would otherwise overwhelm him was with white noise, and the ship's engine was perfect for it. He had grown accustomed to the sound and its predictable variances, so while the sound of this engine was unfamiliar, it was similar enough to have the same effect. He moved to the bench across from Smokescreen and laid down, his starving mind craving sleep again.

One question plagued his thoughts, though, persistently enough to keep him awake: Why were the autobots back on earth? They owned Cybertron now. Granted, there were still energon deposits and probably some stray relics here, but it seemed a waste of their limited resources.

Ratchet finally moved from his post and sat down across from Smokescreen as well, phasing through Soundwave's legs in order to do so, but he lacked the energy to care. The medic looked somber, but determined at the same time, like he was planning something.

"Tell the council they're traitors."

Smokescreen looked up, seeming to take a moment to process his words.

"Wait, what? You're not giving up on them, are you?"

"What do they expect me to do? They charged me with the death of an entire planet. Now they want me to make up for it even though it was us who restored it? They were too afraid to come down here and fight, and I don't think they have the right to order me to do anything."

"But... what else can we do? They control all of Iacon at this point."

"You're saying I should give in?"

"Well... you don't have too much of a choice. I mean..."

"This is the start of the war all over again. We all agreed that we needed to challenge the council, we just didn't agree on how."

"Yeah, but Optimus won. What would he say?"

Ratchet looked off into the distance for a moment.

"He would tell me to give in, too. To keep the peace, to cooperate. But he was always soft like that."

"Soft? I've seen him singlehandedly pummel the scrap out of decepticons!"

"But I've lost count of the number of times he spared Megatron's life. He was always making excuses like 'if we turn violent against them, we'll be no better than them'."

Soundwave sat up slightly. Ratchet was using the past tense when referring to Optimus. Could it be?

"Which I agree with in principle," Ratchet continued, "but when you've seen the injuries firsthand, watched the eyes of autobots as their sparks fade... When is it enough?"

Smokescreen seemed to tense up, as though he was in over his head with the depth of the conversation.

"I mean... he and Megatron were like brothers before the war, right?"

"I lost friends to the decepticons too, Smokescreen. But even as well as I knew any of them, I would still have killed them if they'd had enough second chances as Megatron's had, and wasted."

The air went silent for a few tense moments, until Smokescreen spoke hesitantly, avoiding looking at Ratchet.

"So... What are you going to do when we get back to Iacon?"

"I'll leave."

"The city?"

"If they're going to punish me for a crime I didn't commit, then I'm not going to live under their rule."

Wheeljack seemed to hear at least the last part of the conversation, given that he stepped out of the back room to look toward them.

"You're not really going to bail on us, are you?"

Ratchet stood up, looking toward Wheeljack with eyes both threatening and desperate.

"I sided with Optimus and Megatron before the war because the Council was mistreating its citizens. I'm not about to have half of my life go to waste by settling with the exact kind of society we tried to change in the first place!"

The room went silent again, and Soundwave turned to face Ratchet. Although the autobot could not see him, he still saluted somewhat with a clenched fist held to his chest. Ratchet had just voiced every criticism of the autobots that Soundwave himself had voiced, along with Megatron. Even as much as he wanted to kill the autobot, he did hold a certain respect for the one who essentially held his own position on the other side of the war. That, and the war was over now. The Cybertronian race had dwindled to an unsustainable population long ago, and there was no future left to fight over.

As Shockwave would probably say in this situation, it was no longer logical to wage war. Thus, the usually silent decepticon spoke again.

"Even if they will not accept you for what you believe, we will."

As he reclined again following the other autobots in their nervous failure at seeming calm, his thoughts turned back to Shockwave. He had seemed to forget about the frightful scientist until then. While he and Shockwave had rarely interacted before the day the scientist was stranded on Cybertron, they had always seemed to work well together, precisely because of their rare interaction. Both of them were only focused on what immediately needed their focus, and both thrived in an environment quieter than the social hell most other decepticons usually provided.

Once Shockwave returned to the Nemesis, however, they both seemed to grow even more comfortable in the others' presence. Maybe that was due to the condensation of the decepticon movement to a warship from an entire city, but part of him always suspected that Shockwave had grown to need his company after being isolated for so long. After all, he was the only decepticon the scientist seemed to tolerate for any length of time.

His mind dwelled on Shockwave for only a moment before sleep consumed him again, considering he was finally on the path to be soon reunited with whatever remnants of the decepticons remained.

And, if things went right, Ratchet among them.

A small jolt woke him up some time later, and he heard the engines die down, As Soundwave sat upright, the autobots seemed to gather every weapon they had, walking past him as they did so. Ratchet had returned to his normal antisocial state, evident by the tone his voice carried.

"If you think anything is off, come back. We have no way of fighting an insecticon hive on our own."

Smokescreen replied as he fitted the phase shifter to his arm. That damned relic had become something of a signature weapon to him, one that he didn't even deserve.

"I'd hate to run from a fight but... got it."

He activated the device, causing its unique hum as he began punching the air in his usual naive style, his hands phasing through the walls of the ship and through Ratchet. Soundwave stood up to walk past him, however, only to be stopped as Smokescreen's arm came into contact with his own. Both mechs froze, one more confused by the scenario, whereas Soundwave was suddenly overcome with panic.

"Hey... Ratchet...?"

Soundwave swung with his other arm, striking Smokescreen in the side of his head and sending him reeling back in surprise. The medic looked back upon hearing the commotion.

"What are you doing!? "

"There's something here- it just hit me!"

"And the phase shifter is on?"

"Yeah!"

Soundwave backed away, scenarios running through his mind of what he'd do if the autobots found him out. It was then that his eyes once again focused on the object in question - the phase shifter. His cables emerged from his torso, reaching out to Smokescreen and wrapping around his arm, the other digging underneath the bands affixing the relic to his arm and tearing the device completely off. Ratchet and Wheeljack both stood by him, trying to think of some way to help, but both being unable to interact with him or Soundwave. The decepticon pulled the phase shifter back to himself, placing it on his own arm.

Well, he thought, here goes nothing.

He deactivated it, watching the autobots' reactions with pure dread permeating his mind. If they found him, he'd have little chance to get back to Cybertron considering he was far from being in fighting shape, even against one autobot.

After a moment, however, the mechs began looking around the rest of the ship with shifty glances, clearly scared to move. Finally Ratchet spoke.

"By the allspark..."

Wheeljack looked toward him, clearly angry.

"Do I have to ask?"

"Soundwave."

"What?"

"Someone we can't see or hear, but can interact with people out of phase... This has to be Soundwave."

Smokescreen waved his hand through Wheeljack's torso.

"Need I remind you that I'm still out of phase?"

Ratchet's eyes tried to hide his fear, but Soundwave was the kind of decepticon who struck fear into the sparks of the dead. The medic took a shaky step forward, unintentionally looking directly at the hidden decepticon.

"Soundwave?"

He might have been disadvantaged in multiple ways, but fear always seemed effective in helping gain the upper hand. And if Megatron had taught him anything, it was that one's own perception of self was less useful than how others perceived them. He sent a simple ping to all the autobots, mostly questioning if the phase shifter had affected his ability to communicate at all. Ratchet seemed to tense up.

He'd received it.

"I... presume you're still in the Shadowzone then..."

[Yes.]

"Hey," Smokescreen interjected, "I'm not hearing anything..."

Ratchet's expression turned confused for a moment. Though, it made sense. Previously Soundwave was out of phase with all of them. Smokescreen went into an alternate phase, and then he was able to interact with him. But once Soundwave used the phase shifter again...

"I think Soundwave might only be in phase with us now."

"Then why can't we see him?"

"Smokescreen, please. I barely understand how the phase shifter works."

Soundwave smiled behind his visor. He was now better than being out of phase with them - he was a ghost. He could do whatever he wanted, and do so without detection. He could practically taste their hidden fear in the air.

Although... it was then that he realized he now could sense Ratchet's aura, as well as Wheeljack's. The question was, could they sense his?

"Soundwave..." Ratchet said hesitantly. "We're willing to cooperate... if... you can help us find the relic buried here."

Clearly he'd made that up on the spot. Wheeljack turned slightly to look at him.

"You're not really making deals with 'cons now, are you? Why should we help him?"

Soundwave promptly emitted a jamming frequency, but one aimed only at Wheeljack. The autobot promptly cried out, trying to cover his audio receptors as his whole body was wracked with pain.

Oh, how he'd missed doing that.

Finally the wrecker collapsed to the floor, and Ratchet backed away, clearly gripped with fear. Soundwave replied a moment later.

[Because you know what I'm capable of.]

"... Fine then. What is it you want from us?"

[Take me to Cybertron.]

He looked toward the computer console Ratchet had been working on and hesitantly laid his fingers on the keyboard, finding that he was indeed able to interact with it. As he started typing furiously, Ratchet and Smokescreen both drew slightly closer, trying to see what he was doing. After only a few moments, a chart came up, showing a diagram of the nearby topography and the spot where the relic seemed to be. Based on the scan and his own memory of some of the Iacon database, the artifact in question was either a shield bubble device or the location of a dark energon cache, neither of which would be very useful to the autobots.

[Here is the location of your relic.]

Smokescreen's voice barely spoke out, but did so in disbelief.

"H-How..."

"He's Soundwave."

[Second most capable decepticon to have ever lived.]

"Wait," Ratchet said, moreso curious than afraid. "How could you hear us before?"

"He was listening to everything we said? That's like... horror movie creepy right there."

[I would like to know as well.]

"That doesn't make sense... Someone in the shadowzone can see and hear us but we can't see or hear them?"

[That should not be your concern at the moment.]

Ratchet tensed up suddenly, and Soundwave smirked somewhat. Fear was truly the most powerful weapon. The medic hesitantly stepped toward the computer, and Soundwave backed away in response. Smokescreen kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other. For one as young and restless as him, it must have been somewhat agonizing not to be able to help. Ratchet worked silently for a few moments, then looked up again.

"How do I know you won't just terrorize everyone in Iacon?"

That was a good question. A thought still lurked in the back of Soundwave's mind that Ratchet could be swayed to join them, not even so much as a devious plot but as a statement to the other autobots. Nonetheless, his words had to be chosen very carefully.

[There would be no reason to fight, as there is nothing left to fight over.]

Ratchet let out something of a nervous laugh. "That's what I keep trying to tell the council."

The ship lifted off of the ground again, and Ratchet seemed to look around nervously, considering he could not see Soundwave at all, or apparently the phase shifter he had with him. The decepticon relaxed somewhat, knowing he was driving the situation.

[It is a rare occurrence that the decepticons would side with you.]

"Well that's... nice to know, I guess."

For a while the ship was painfully silent, until Ratchet turned to Smokescreen.

"You have to call them."

"Why?"

"They won't let me back unless there's a good reason, and they'll be more willing to believe you."

"What do I say?"

"Say we woke the insecticon hive, and that we have an autobot down."

Smokescreen reached for the radio, but his hand phased through it. Ratchet grabbed it instead, pressing one button and looking toward Smokescreen.

"Uhh... Iacon... command?" he said hesitantly. The response took a moment, and when it arrived, it was clouded in static.

"Spacebridge control, identify yourself."

"Smokescreen?"

Soundwave facepalmed, and it was clear Ratchet was trying not to do the same thing.

"Spacebridge control, who is the captain of your ship."

"Ratchet. But... we encountered an insecticon hive, and we have an autobot down. We need backup."

Ratchet nodded in approval. The following response took longer than usual.

"Spacebridge control to hunter ship, return is authorized."

Ratchet set down the radio, and Smokescreen looked away, somewhat dejected.

"I feel wrong knowing I just helped a decepticon."

A spacebridge portal formed before them a moment later, and the ship flew through the green vortex. Finally Soundwave looked up, once again laying eyes on his home planet, damaged and scarred as it was. They flew high above the surface, but not out of reach for a predator drone.

"We're not taking you all the way to Iacon," Ratchet muttered. Soundwave took a moment to respond, once again choosing his words carefully.

[If you make the reasonable choice to leave Iacon... there might just be another place for you.]

With that, he opened the hatch to the outside and dropped out of the ship, transforming and simply gliding through the air. On the horizon he was able to spot the Well and the remains of the Nemesis beside it, resting among the shining lights of a new Iacon. Finally he was able to access a decepticon beacon, and he turned toward the south, toward the ruins of Kaon; naturally where any remaining decepticons would have fled.

He was incredibly fortunate that his alternate mode was an exceptional glider, since by the time he reached the source of the signal, he barely had the energy to walk. His whole body felt heavy, and it seemed like every step brought him just a bit closer to collapsing.

Eventually he stepped through a rusted door near the ruins of Kaon, leaning his weight against the doorframe as he looked inside, staring at the purple form of Shockwave facing away from him, doing something related to the lab he was in.

He was alive... All of his concern suddenly melted away, and he sent a silent message to the scientist.

[Stuck in parallel dimension "shadowzone". Phase shifter with me. Standing in the doorway.]

Shockwave turned around, looking toward him but clearly unable to see him.

"I developed an alternate way to access that dimension weeks ago, but you've been stranded on Earth, haven't you?"

Shockwave gestured to a device in the corner, looking like a makeshift cage woven solid with various wires and mechanisms.

"It's rudimentary. Tell me when you're standing in it."

It took some mental effort to bring himself over to the other side of the room, but Soundwave finally stepped into the space in the center of the mass of wires.

[Here.]

Shockwave flipped a large switch, causing the lights in the room to go out for a moment. The space around Soundwave almost seemed to turn distorted and oddly blue. There was a sound like space shearing itself apart, although it manifested moreso as an assailing sensation rather than a physical sound. After almost a minute, the device shut off, and he looked toward Shockwave, who was the first to speak.

"Welcome back."

Soundwave would have responded, but it felt as though he was still stuck in flux, given the way everything seemed muffled. Colors were pale, the quietest sounds were almost painful in volume, and the world seemed to drift away as he finally collapsed. He didn't even notice he was falling until he felt Shockwave barely manage to catch him. Even in his delirium, however, he knew he was finally safe.

Chapter Text

Such was the return of the decepticons, despite the fact that the war was over.

The beacon that had brought Soundwave soon brought others; stray vehicons, a few insecticons, and a badly damaged Starscream. His injuries had not been limited to his physical form either; it was his pride that suffered the most. While for most, a broken spirit was easily fixed with enough time, Starscream was as much a narcissist as he was a traitor; one for whom the death of pride was the death of self. It had been something of a defense mechanism to him, considering how frequently Megatron had literally taken his anger out on him. So long as the seeker believed he was worthy of his status, he was. Everyone found his incessant bragging pretentious and obnoxious, but to see Starscream so distraught and hopeless as he was upon being delivered to Shockwave, was almost more distressing than Megatron's unknown status.

It was though the seeker had died that day, and with him all decepticon pride.

Soon the ruins of Kaon had become something of a small village, with makeshift buildings but a pristine laboratory. And soon the beacon had brought yet another dead spirit - that of Megatron.

Much like Starscream, his mind had been all but consumed by the things he'd suffered. In his case, he had been forcibly controlled by Unicron, all free will useless against the destroyer. Megatron had seemed, at times, to even fail to realize that he was now free. He frequently retreated into his own mind, refusing to respond to the outside world or even acknowledge it. When he did, it was with hesitation, as though he still felt a ghost of Unicron fighting his will.

Of course, with both Megatron and Starscream out of commission, the task of commanding the sparse troops fell to Soundwave and Shockwave. In the process, the former had begun to remember why he never took the rank of second in command, and the latter began to remember why he never took any commanding rank to begin with. Neither one was well suited to the task of delegation, since they were both the best in whatever they did.

Nonetheless, over time Soundwave had set up something similar to the computer system aboard the Nemesis, allowing him to abstract himself from the vehicons. But even that didn't alleviate the larger problem he had, which was that he had no idea where to take the crew that looked up to him. He had never foreseen anything similar to the scenario he found himself in, and he was not used to making his own choices.

Megatron had long told him to seize his independence, even since they were both gladiators in Kaon. Soundwave had been a slave for so long, built and programmed to serve, that even when he made his own decisions, it was usually for someone else. As much as Megatron preached the idea of equality between the castes, he was also the kind of powerful figure that slaves naturally followed. And even though the gladiator considered him a friend and an equal, Soundwave had, somewhat unintentionally, become a willing slave again. After all, he pledged his life to the decepticon cause, trading away his freedom only because Megatron had granted it to him.

But Soundwave was left without guidance outside of Shockwave's vague advice, and found himself lost, as were all the vehicons that followed him. After all, many of them were also former slaves, or had been born during the war, both scenarios leaving them without any experience of freedom. Outside of focusing on Megatron and Starscream's recoveries, he had no plan.

This thought constantly ate away at him, reminding him time and time again of his limitations. Every decision he made reminded him, as did every face of every vehicon that gazed at him.

It was after an otherwise normal day that he had retreated toward the depths of old Kaon, walking past gray streets and gray buildings all decayed by rust and time. The air was silent, the fragmented remains of Kolkular fortress resting at an angle on the horizon. He stepped into one particular building, preserved fairly well for its age, and looked around at the decorative rafters and warped columns, angular tiled floors and smooth walls. What were supposed to be windows were all but gone, allowing the faint breeze to carry dust into the room.

The room itself was large and spacious, considering the structure was built to contain a natural oil spring. The edges of the spring had the same tiled floor as the rest of the building, although given that it sloped down into the rest of the basin, many of the tiles had slid out from their places, revealing the natural shining stone beneath it. Soundwave stared at his own reflection in the mirror the spring created for a moment before climbing down across broken stairs to the edge of the pool. He had heard of this place frequently when Kaon was still habitable, but had never actually been to it. Hesitantly he stepped into the amber pool, watching the disruption he created in its surface radiate away from him. It was not very warm, and as such it was still somewhat thick. Still, it was warm enough to be comfortable, and so Soundwave stepped further inward, finding a spot beside a ledge and lowering himself down to the floor, still somewhat hesitant to submerge himself in it. However, as the oil began to seep into his joints, its vague warmth overtook him, which was both strange and calming. After a while he undid the latches on his visor and removed it, setting it on the ledge beside him. It was not often anymore that he saw the reflection of his actual face. His visor had initially been something of a symbolic gesture, in a way giving up his identity in an attempt to represent all decepticons, but it had quickly become useful, as well as comforting. No one had become able to guess what he was thinking, and given the way it blocked some of his peripheral vision, it allowed him to more easily avoid distraction.

But as he gazed out through the window across from him, there was no filter on what he saw. The points of starlight in the sky pierced through millions of lightyears of the black void of space to reach him, and as such he looked into the past. From one of those stars, it was probably possible to see the stray light from ages ago when Cybertron was still at peace.

After some time lost in thought, the sound of an engine caught his attention, and Soundwave quickly placed his visor back over his face. He heard someone outside transform, but based on the sound of the footsteps that followed, it was identifiable as Shockwave. The scientist stepped into the building hesitantly, looking around for a moment before finally gazing at Soundwave.

"... Why are you here?"

His question had been asked with a neutral tone, but based on experience, it was clear that Shockwave was genuinely baffled by the scenario. Soundwave stared away from him, instead looking back through the window showing the stars above and part of the dilapidated fortress in the distance.

[Why did you follow me here?]

Shockwave stayed silent for some time as he wandered into the building, looking around at what it used to be. Finally he replied, although in a way he completely failed to answer the question he'd been asked.

"I am forced to wait for my current experiments to take their course."

[Experiments on what?]

"Synthetic dark energon."

Soundwave finally looked at him, and the scientist wandered over near him, sitting down on the ledge he leaned against, letting his legs dangle into the oil.

They had been spending so much time locked away in the lab together that many of the vehicons had begun suspecting they were involved in some kind of affair, although in reality they only did so because space was limited, and they were both introverts. Nonetheless, the very knowledge of those rumors had made their interactions rather awkward, at least to Soundwave. Shockwave didn't seem to care.

The silent decepticon finally responded, if only to draw his own attention away from what was happening.

[What would you use it for?]

"That depends on if it possesses any side effects. If not, it may be possible to revive the Nemesis."

[Trypticon?]

"The original Trypticon is long deceased, and would be of little help given his... intellect."

[Then why use it on the Nemesis?]

"Its previous infusion of dark energon allowed it to repair itself, at the cost of the crew's control over it. Considering the factors present at the time, it was worth the trouble."

[Even if that were to work, the wreckage is in the heart of autobot territory now.]

"Yes, and logic would dictate that they're also salvaging it. Needless to say, my research into this course of action is in its infancy."

Shockwave looked down at Soundwave for a moment, then over toward the window that consumed his attention. Silently they stared, both radiating a calm, neutral aura, until Shockwave looked back at the other decepticon.

"So why are you here?"

This time the question was less accusatory than the first. Soundwave still hesitated to respond, though, given that he was not entirely certain what had brought him there.

[I don't really know. I miss Kaon.]

"That does not seem logical."

[Why?]

As he spoke, Shockwave moved his weight off of the ledge and submerged himself in the oil beside Soundwave, which was not something he had expected.

"Kaon was either a city for the lower castes, or a military state. Neither one tends to be well favored."

Soundwave briefly looked toward the scientist with a passing glance.

[Now I'm obliged to an answer as to why you followed me here.]

Shockwave stared down at the distortions of light in the amber pool, his aura quieting somewhat. Whatever it was he was feeling, if anything, he was trying to hide. He stayed quiet, seemingly lost in thought, until finally he answered.

"I was isolated on a dead Cybertron long enough once before."

So he was right. Shockwave had grown to need his company. It should have seemed endearing, but it was so strange as well... Shockwave was the kind of person who locked himself in his lab, refusing to speak to anyone for days on end. He spent so much effort avoiding others that it seemed out of place for him to follow Soundwave out of some desire for social interaction.

"I presume you're questioning the logic in my implication," he said, back to his regular neutral tone. "Usually my research is engrossing enough, but that degree of isolation does not leave much to study."

[But what does following me around do?]

"You are interesting."

Soundwave froze somewhat upon hearing this, as he wasn't sure how to interpret it, but the scientist spoke again before he could respond anyway.

"To clarify, you occasionally provide ideas, and are one of only a few educated enough to appreciate my work."

The two went silent again, as all had been answered. And as it stood, it seemed as though Shockwave did indeed hold some attachment to him, which still made no real sense. He had known Shockwave since before he knew Megatron, given that he was at one point a surgeon in Kaon tasked with repairing its gladiators. But for all that time, he had never once seen Shockwave show enjoyment of anything; it was either obsession, apathy, or hatred.

Soundwave remained relatively motionless for some time, trying to process what exactly it meant if the scientist liked him, since usually simple appreciation didn't manifest in following someone to an oil spring. Maybe the vehicons were more perceptive than he was.

Or maybe he was overthinking it.

He wasn't sure how much time went by as they remained there in the calm silence, but it did not feel like very long before Shockwave looked at his gun arm, retracting a panel to show a screen underneath.

"I must return."

That was all he said. He stood up and stepped out of the pool, barely waiting to let himself dry before transforming and driving off.

That seemed more characteristic of him.

Soundwave soon followed, waiting somewhat only to avoid supporting the strange perception the vehicons had of them. He really shouldn't have cared, but with so few vehicons, he had become less mysterious, and he didn't trust them to know too much about him.

As he went to leave, however, a trace signal caught his attention, and he turned to face the direction of its source, deploying the small receiver dish from behind his head. He closed his eyes, focusing solely on the transmission. He knew when a signal required his attention, and this felt like one of those times.

Despite the fact that it was buried in static and not in a format he was used to, it did not take him very long to interpret its content.

[Soundwave]

That was it. That was what it said.

He transformed and flew toward the source, his mind running through various scenarios of what it could be, even though it was most likely Ratchet. Still, it seemed odd for the autobot to deliberately seek him out.

Soundwave transformed and let himself drop to the ground some time later, finding that it was indeed the autobot medic who had summoned him. He kept his distance, watching as the medic stood up from where he had been waiting, and walked toward the decepticon.

"I thought you would have used a groundbridge?" he said.

Soundwave stayed silent, staring toward Ratchet, waiting for him to speak again. He seemed to attain an irritated look upon being answered with silence.

"I presume you can tell I left Iacon."

Soundwave nodded.

"I don't have much of a choice here."

He hesitated before continuing finally.

"I'm offering my help if you'd be willing to accept it."

Soundwave was mostly waiting for him to say it first. He sent his own response, tilting his head ever so slightly in questioning.

[If you don't have a choice, then why did you leave?]

Ratchet looked away, clearly hating himself for the situation he found himself in.

"It's picking the lesser of two evils."

[Then you do have a choice.]

They remained in silence for a moment, but finally Soundwave's visor lit up, pinpointing his coordinates and summoning a groundbridge portal behind him. Ratchet looked confused for a moment.

"Then why did you fly here?"

[Conservation.]

With that, he turned and stepped through the portal, smiling behind his visor. He looked around at the various troops in the room and sent a local message.

[If the autobot comes through that portal, he is one of us. Do not fire.]

Soundwave moved to glance at the main computer console, listening to the sound of the groundbridge. If he paid too much attention to Ratchet, it would probably make him overly suspicious. Even though they were severely in need of more help, it was best to feign disinterest for now.

He heard the autobot walk through the portal, and promptly sent a message to Shockwave.

[I have recruited Ratchet.]

He felt the auras of the vehicons around him turn somewhat concerned, and he looked over at a few of them as he shut off the groundbridge. His stare was not capable of comforting anyone, but the vehicons nonetheless began to return to what they had been doing before. He received a message from Shockwave as he turned to face Ratchet again.

[That was unexpected, but not unwelcome.]

The autobot looked around nervously, hesitant to move from his spot. He clearly did not want to be here. Finally Soundwave stepped toward him, radiating a calm approval in his aura. As much as he wished not to speak, even if it was via silent messages, he was in command now, and he was the only one who could voice his opinions.

[I understand that you did not wish to come here purely by your own choice. But know that your value to us lies in your contributions, and that as of now, we are greatly in need of such contributions.]

"Is that a threat?"

Only an autobot could ever interpret a message like that as a threat.

[If it were, it would be egregiously counterproductive.]

A sudden noise caught the decepticon's attention, and he looked over across the room only to find that a vehicon had merely dropped an energon cube. As he glanced back at Ratchet, he once again noticed the medic's disdain both for Soundwave and for every other decepticon around. He managed to keep his aura somewhat neutral, but everything else he did made him look painfully bitter, even down to the way he kept his hands curled tightly into fists at his sides.

Soundwave continued to stare as he formulated his next message carefully.

[If you do not want to be here, then you are only undermining your own ideology by leaving a society you disapprove of for another.]
Ratchet seemed to grow increasingly hostile as he stepped toward Soundwave, staring at him with eyes full of hatred.

"And what would you know about my ideology?"

[Enough.]

"I don't need to explain myself to you. Don't think for a minute that you or any decepticon can tell me what's right."

Soundwave replayed a brief recording of Megatron in response.

"Alright then."

Without hesitation, he turned and walked away. This was a delicate situation, and he was only doing what he thought best, despite lacking guidance. If he ignored Ratchet, he would be made to feel unneeded and would probably leave, but if he was too insistent on having the autobot stay, it could easily be interpreted as a ploy to gain information from him.

Suddenly he admired Starscream, of all people. The seeker was much more manipulative and insightful into matters such as these than he ever could be.

Ratchet never became any friendlier as events took their course, but he did cooperate somewhat, with regard to the groundbridge at least. He was certainly not happy to learn that Megatron and Starscream were there as well, but it seemed as though seeing their states had quieted him somewhat. Megatron himself didn't want to be there. Soundwave frequently sought him out, asking what he should do or mentioning other happenings, but the gladiator usually answered with complete apathy, if at all. Sometimes, however, his occasional speech was laced with implications that he had been forced to come to Kaon, which was somewhat true, or that he was being kept against his will, or that his merely still being alive was its own atrocity, and it seemed that even Ratchet was sympathetic to the destroyed character he'd become. Understandably, however, he still refused to interact with Megatron at all. Fortunately, that was not an interaction Soundwave would have trusted anyway.

Starscream, on the other hand, and somewhat ironically, was more violent about his disdain for Shockwave and his attempts to repair him.

Soundwave stepped into the small room where the seeker laid, his battered form glaring over at the decepticon scientist. One arm held his other close to him, and he glanced at Soundwave as he entered.
"And there you are."

Shockwave seemed to ignore his presence, instead turning to Starscream and reaching toward the arm he clutched. The seeker immediately turned away as much as he could, grabbing Shockwave's wrist and shoving it away from him.

"Don't touch me!"

Soundwave and Shockwave exchanged merely a glance, still managing to share an understanding of the scientist's mild aggravation, and the silent figure's sympathy. Starscream spoke again, sounding more annoyed than his fatigued and dejected aura made him out to be.

"Don't pretend this isn't your fault. Go ahead, finish what you started."

Shockwave stared at him, his single red eye conveying nothing, but rather looming above him like a searchlight.

"I am working in your best interest, Starscream, whether you wish me to or not."

"Why?" he asked with a mocking tone. "You don't need me."

"On the contrary, the decepticons will function more smoothly under your command."
"What if I don't want to command them?"

Shockwave seemed to ignore the seeker as he tried to grab his arm again, only to be met with a quick slash from Starscream's freakish claws, leaving three parallel marks on his own arm as he reflexively pulled it back. With barely a second thought, the scientist instead swung with his gun arm, bashing the side of Starscream's head and promptly knocking him unconscious. Soundwave looked toward the purple form, sensing his waning aggravation.

[That seemed unnecessary.]

"That was reflexive. But he was obstructing my work."

Shockwave looked at the side of his arm and the scratch marks on it, two of which glowed blue with energon.

"He is... unnecessarily difficult. Did you need something?"

[I did, but I forgot what it was.]

"Is Starscream that entertaining to you?"

Shockwave finally grabbed the seeker's arm, somehow managing to both hold it and a small tool in the same hand, although what exactly he was doing with it was unknown. Years of existing with one hand had made him remarkably dextrous, it seemed.

Soundwave looked off into the distance, losing himself in thought for a moment. This was where he was. A worn out underground complex, filled with the sad remnants of the decepticon movement, all of which was under his command. He had somehow left a military and returned to a refugee camp. Why was this still so hard to accept?

Shockwave looked over at him slowly, radiating just a hint of uneasiness.

"What is it?"

Soundwave said nothing, merely letting his aura convey his discontent. The scientist almost seemed stifled by this, unsure of whether to say anything or return to his work. After a moment he decided on the latter, but Soundwave continued to idly stare at him, failing to consciously notice the awkward sense he radiated, considering his attention was focused elsewhere. After a few more moments, however, Shockwave set down what he was holding rather abruptly, turning to look at Soundwave again.

"You are being distracting."

Soundwave finally snapped out of his minor trance, looking away from the scientist's ominous gaze.

[Sorry.]

"Does your concern involve me in some way?"

[Only because you are the only person here I can trust.]

"And that is distressing?"

Shockwave had calmed somewhat from before, returning to his neutral state. Thus, the question sounded neither insulted nor accusatory. Soundwave, on the other hand, couldn't help but let a trace of guilt permeate his own aura. That was not what he meant at all.

[No, it's merely that you are unable to help me in the way I would like.]

"I do not recall your ever asking for my help."

[Why are you interrogating me?]

Shockwave went silent for a moment, as was usually the case when the answer he would have given was illogical.

"... Your efficiency here is paramount."

The scientist clearly wanted to help, he just needed a decent excuse for it. Soundwave would have asked what it was the scientist was originally going to say, but he knew that wouldn't go anywhere.

[I have no frame of reference to know if what I am doing is right.]

Shockwave seemed to think for a moment before stepping out of the room and heading toward the other lab. It was somewhat late, and as such, few vehicons were wandering around for whatever reasons compelled them. Shockwave spoke somewhat quietly, his tone almost more curious than anything else.

"That depends on what metric you use for determining what 'right' is. I go only by what is logical, assuming several otherwise arbitrary constructs."

[And those are?]

"The first concerns the idea that each person can be valued by their abilities. This is possibly the only reason I allied with the decepticons in the first place. The second is to consider the value of potential outcomes compared to the likelihood of them occurring. One could make a case for destroying the remaining autobots now, assuming they will eventually attack, but as it stands now, I do not see that outcome as being very likely, and as such I do not see an attack as being a logical course of action."

Soundwave followed him into the other, far more spacious lab that had become something of a safehaven to him, and he relaxed somewhat, going so far as to sit up on one of the tables in the room. Shockwave looked briefly at his computer console before continuing.

"The third construct relates more to psychological tendencies. People tend to work most efficiently when they have something immaterial they want, and are working for something material they want. But I have found that many decepticons, like you, forego the desire for anything material and are content working merely for approval so long as their efforts help others."

Soundwave would never have defined himself that way, but as his mind considered those words, he found them to be more fitting than he first thought. As such, he remained still for a moment before looking toward Shockwave.

[And what impact does that realization have on anything?]

"Well..." Shockwave said, as though the question had roused an entire hour's worth of explanation. "For one, you are exceedingly difficult to manipulate."

[Thank you?]

"I do not attempt the same deceptive type of manipulation that Starscream utilizes. You are practically immune to that type. Any assistance I gain from someone else is, ideally, mutually beneficial. But there is nothing I can offer you personally in order to satisfy that requirement. You have no desires or aspirations of your own. You have no sense of self."

[You too?]

"Hmm?"

[Megatron has said the same thing to me on many occasions.]

"Unlike me, he is working in your best interest... Or... was."

Soundwave radiated a sudden anger upon hearing Shockwave use past tense, but it quickly faded, and he sent another message.

[What do you mean, unlike you?]

Shockwave wandered vaguely in his direction as he spoke, looking at the floor.

"It would be unreasonable to place you as my first priority, even though your value to the decepticons outweighs everyone else here combined."

Soundwave stared at him, unsure of how exactly to interpret his words.

[Still, you can't say my life is worth more than everyone else.]

"But to some degree, it is."

Shockwave idly grabbed Soundwave's left wrist, seeming to look at several subtle marks on his arm as he spoke. Despite the fact that his touch was surprisingly gentle, Soundwave reflexively pulled his hand back, having not expected this at all.

"I... sorry... Nonetheless, any number of people here could lose their lives, and it would not damage productivity nearly as much as if you were to perish. You are irreplaceable. There is a reason we trust you."

Soundwave looked away, radiating a feeling similar to an annoyed sigh.

"This is what I mean," Shockwave said. "You do not value yourself as much as anyone here does."

[Is that such a bad thing?]

Shockwave still stood somewhat close to him, probably unintentionally.

"It is unhealthy. And somewhat contradictory."

[I know this already.]

"The decepticons revolved around freedom, yet its most productive individual is one who has refused to free himself."

[I know this already.]

"I... somewhat admire you for it."

Soundwave looked back at him, considering that comment caught him off guard. Shockwave continued after a moment, his aura unsettlingly quiet.

"You possess a sense of altruism I thought impossible."

[Were you going somewhere with this, or...]

"You are more fit to lead the decepticons than you may realize. Admittedly you are not well suited to the practical nature of it, but you are unaffected by bias. I had to explain why or you would have rejected the assertion outright."

That made enough sense, but Shockwave was still being incredibly confusing. Everything he did was uncharacteristically kind instead of merely apathetic, and yet he seemed to have a reason for it all.

The room was painfully silent for some time, and Shockwave stepped away to his computer console. Soundwave stared at him, trying to think of how he could phrase what he wanted to ask. After a few moments, the scientist turned around to meet his gaze.

"... Why do you keep staring at me?"

[I'm... confused as to whether your insistence on being nice to me is purely platonic or indicative of something else.]

Shockwave looked away for a moment, as though thinking of an answer. Soundwave held a hand to his head, immediately regretful of what he had just done. Nonetheless, the fact that he had finally said what he wanted to say was somewhat relieving. Shockwave spoke, his tone quiet and neutral.

"I wouldn't know."

Soundwave stared at him again, genuinely confused. Shockwave continued after a moment.

"I am apathetic toward such trifles. I did not intend to imply anything, but similarly I am not... averse to either interpretation."

[You're not helping my confusion.]

"I genuinely have no preference."

Soundwave continued to look away, resting his head in one hand, practically drowning in the shame present in his own aura. After a moment he heard Shockwave walk up to him again, merely standing there, though not as awkwardly close as he had been before.

"You seem disappointed by that answer."

Technically that was true, but not for the reason Shockwave had implied. Probably. Even Soundwave was unsure, and that made him all the more furious at himself. Finally the scientist hesitantly placed a hand to the side of Soundwave's other arm, only for a moment before walking away and leaving the room. What was that supposed to mean?

Despite the fact that Shockwave never brought the subject up, Soundwave still felt almost overwhelmed by how confusing everything seemed to be suddenly. He avoided the scientist as much as was possible, and when it wasn't, he read into Shockwave's subtle mannerisms to the point of paranoia. It was probably impossible for Shockwave to hold any sort of attachment to him, but then why was he so confused about it? Soundwave had no interest in defiling the one comfortable relationship he had left, but it seemed as though merely considering the possibility of another option tormented him.

But, the workings of the Kaon base continued, and so Soundwave found himself standing beside Ratchet, looking at the large screen connected to Shockwave's console. The autobot, of course, was still wary of every decepticon around him, but anger was mentally fatiguing, and so over time it had gone from suppressed hatred to mild annoyance. He looked toward the purple figure, speaking in a somewhat sarcastic tone.

"Well, this must be particularly important for you to bother to tell me about it."

Shockwave responded, still facing away from him.

"This concerns all decepticons. And you."

Ratchet merely crossed his arms, and Shockwave continued after a moment, finally turning around to face him and Soundwave.

"Although it may be irrelevant as of now, I have analyzed past scans of various exoplanets, and found one of interest."

Soundwave tilted his head slightly. This must have been somewhat significant, or he wouldn't bother mentioning it.

"97% of the planet is composed of energon."

"That's... impossible," Ratchet interjected. "Cybertron is the only planet where it's ever been found naturally."

"That is true, but spectroscopy results are undeniable."

"How are you getting spectral scans from a planet?"

"It emits light consistent with energon radiation."

Ratchet seemed to quiet, holding a hand nervously to his face. Shockwave turned to Soundwave instead.

"The reason I bring this up now is that this energon planet is a rogue planet, and is on track to be most accessible to us within the next cycle. Even then, it is farther than we could reach by spacebridge alone. Ideally it would have been more prudent to mention this sooner, but I only learned of this planet's composition recently."

[Are you suggesting we build another ship?]

"I believe it possible to construct a working ship from the smaller wreckage sites of seven others nearby. Part of this complex can also be separated to form part of it."

Soundwave stared at the floor for a moment, lost in thought.

"But the logistics of this task are only viable if we gain the assistance of the insecticons remaining on earth."

Ratchet finally looked back at him.

"You still want to use insecticons? Haven't you had enough failures with them?"

"The loss of our prior insecticon hive was only due to Airachnid's interference. They have rudimentary collective intelligence and a more prominent hive-mind mentality, but the latter is more immediately useful to us. It was the former that allowed her to take control of them."

"And you know they would want to cooperate with you?"

"They naturally fall under appropriate leadership."

Soundwave met the scientist's gaze and gave a slow nod as he sent out a new directive to the vehicons. They didn't even have precise plans for what to do with the wrecked spacecraft yet, but somehow he knew there was something special to this plan. Ratchet still looked annoyed, but after a few tense moments, he finally spoke.

"What do you want me to do?"

Shockwave, as usual, answered as though he were only talking to himself.

"Your talents would be most efficiently utilized upgrading the groundbridge for space travel. Salvage teams will gather whatever you need. Nonetheless, there are many aspects of this plan's logistics that need to be settled first."

Soundwave stared at the scientist intently enough to warrant his attention, although neither one emitted anything notable in their auras. After a moment he sent a formal message to those in the room, as well as several vehicons who had been designated as group leaders to discuss specifics later that day. Shockwave spoke quietly, although his aura was trying to hide just a hint of concern.

"That will work."

For him, that was good enough. Soundwave nodded again before walking off, considering he was desperate to keep his interactions with the scientist to a minimum. This plan was a good new direction, but was it right? The decepticons had no reason to leave their home, but then again, an entire planet composed of energon was something to fight for. He strode through the hallways of the complex, compiling the details of what needed to be done for now, all while his mind focused on the possibility of that planet. Shockwave had only provided a mere suggestion of a project, and yet already it felt as though some new life had been breathed into not just him, but the vehicons. They stood tall, glancing at him with some sort of newfound respect as though he had just conquered the planet in question.

All he had said in his global directive was that there was a new plan that might be put into effect. It seemed after weeks of merely existing on a dead world, any change in direction was something to be thankful for.

Before he could even react, however, a hand grabbed his arm and pulled him into an adjacent room. He looked up to find that it was Shockwave, of all people, who had somehow managed to sneak up on him. Soundwave ripped his arm away from the scientist, who finally backed away.

"Is your continued avoidance of me something I provoked?"

[You scare the hell out of me just to ask me that?]

"Pacifism has not worked thus far."

[Why do you care what I think of you?]

The room was somewhat dim, and as such, Shockwave's eye was truly haunting. Of course, this contrasted heavily with his words and his calm aura.

"If we are to begin work on a large project, your cooperation is invaluable."

Soundwave stared at him, once again heavily confused by what he meant. After a moment, however, the scientist spoke again.

"And... I must admit I am somewhat partial to your company. I am less likely to be disturbed in your presence."

The silent decepticon merely continued to stare, considering that didn't help at all. Again he felt smothered by his own aura as well as Shockwave's. This was exactly why he had started avoiding him in the first place; this feeling was awful, as though he was slowly being killed by burning confusion. Shockwave looked away, seeming to notice Soundwave's internal turmoil but being unaffected by it.

"Whatever I might have done to cause this, I apologize."

Shockwave was supposed to be completely unbiased, uncaring of whatever happened outside his lab, and here he was trying to resolve what had driven Soundwave to distance himself from him, all while only furthering it. Since, yet again, the same question was applicable.

[Is that motivated by an attraction to me or not?]

"If I say that it is, will you cease avoiding me?"

Soundwave could only continue to stare, not only realizing that he asked what he did without realizing it, but trying to process what Shockwave had just said.

[You... are?]

"I did not say that. I am impartial. But you seem to be set on one answer or the other."

[Then you'd be lying either way.]

"Also untrue. But as it stands now, I can find no answer that will seem to conform to your standards, which is why I asked my earlier question. Considering the fact that you were initially the one to bring up the possibility of my actions implying a... different type of relationship, I somewhat assumed you were open to the possibility. And considering your apparent offense at my stating I am impartial, you supported the assertion that you were seeking that alternative. Am I correct?"

Soundwave stared at the floor, unsure of what to say. After all, this was the very thing he had been fighting himself over, and, of course, Shockwave managed to analyze it more clearly than he did.

[... Yes?]

"Then my answer to your previous question is also yes."

The room went silent, as did Soundwave's aura. What exactly just happened?

[You're saying you are attracted to me? Or are you impartial about that too?]

"I believe you are misinterpreting my use of the word 'impartial'."

[I... have no idea what any of this is supposed to mean.]

"Whatever you believe it to mean, I suppose."

They both went silent for another moment, and Shockwave looked off into the distance. His aura seemed calm on the outside, but even he looked as though he was succumbing to the painful awkwardness around them.

"I will... see you at the meeting."

He walked out of the room, leaving Soundwave to wonder what in the name of Primus just happened. Fortunately he had plenty of distractions, and these soon stole his attention even though he remained in the small room Shockwave had dragged him into. After all, it was suitably quiet.

Only a couple hours passed before the meeting at hand, and Soundwave had barely found enough time to compile a fitting outline of what needed to be done before he wandered into the room and sat down at one side of the square U-shaped table. Even though everyone hated meetings like this, it was a welcome reminder of how the decepticons used to function. And even though this one in particular was different merely because Soundwave would have to run it, it provided some glimmer of hope to those taking part, even before it started. Several vehicons joined, sitting awkwardly in the silence considering they had probably never been in one of these meetings before. By circumstance, they had been designated to lead individual squadrons, and thus were never exposed to positions of leadership before. Shockwave's entering the room was less awkward than Soundwave would have thought, but to be fair, neither of them would ever acknowledge their personal trifles in the presence of vehicons, or anyone else, for that matter.

Ratchet was the last to join them despite the fact that he was still early, and Soundwave sighed silently behind his visor. He was finding himself needing to speak much more often than he would have liked. But just as he was about to begin, a sound caught his attention, and he looked toward the door. He heard footsteps, but no one else needed to join the meeting, and as such he was temporarily confused as to who it was. As he recognized the distinctive sound, however, he shot upright and stood up abruptly enough to knock his chair back. Everyone else in the room glanced at him, but upon hearing the sound, they too stood up, and watched as Megatron entered. Soundwave hadn't even asked him to join them, so why was he here? Not that he was offended, of course. The gladiator held his hands behind him as he addressed the followers who were rightfully his, although even in his most regal posture, he still lacked the essence of power he used to have. Something in his eyes was empty. Still, his mere presence was welcome.

"You need not stand every time I walk into a room. For now, I am an observer."

Hesitantly the room's occupants sat back down and Megatron soon followed, looking toward Soundwave, who was promptly stunned enough to where Shockwave had to send a silent ping to him in order for him to snap out of his trance. Some of Soundwave's messages were already written, and so the strange happening of Megatron being there hadn't affected him much in that regard.

[We have recently become aware of a rogue planet of considerable interest, given that its composition is largely pure energon.]

The room's occupants were appropriately interested by this, and so Soundwave continued, although he looked at Megatron the whole time.

[At this planet's closest point to us, it will still be outside of spacebridge range, which thereby necessitates the reconstruction of a new ship. Shockwave has identified seven nearby wreckage sites from former ships that may be salvageable, but I believe only the five closest will be reasonably accessible.]

He looked over toward Shockwave, who continued perfectly in stride.

"These ships, as well as part of this base, can be moved to form a larger, single ship via retrofits rather than deconstructing and reconstructing a new design. Considering the current decepticon forces number only 87, however, this project will require several, if not all, of the insecticon hives currently present on Earth."

A few of the vehicons seemed dismayed by that concept, but they dared not voice criticism of Shockwave, even though in truth he was reasonable enough to accept it. Soundwave continued after the moment of silence that followed.

[There will be seven teams, ideally with insecticon forces split between them. One for each of the five wreckage sites, one for the base, and one for connection points between them. Ideally each ship will need to be assessed, moved closer to us if possible, and rebuilt while plans are drafted about how to connect them all together.]

He looked toward one silver vehicon with red markings on his head and chest, who obviously grew increasingly nervous upon meeting Soundwave's silent stare.

[You will be in charge of the team assigned to the closest shipwreck, that of the former decepticon Triad . Until more forces are acquired, your team will include all current decepticons not specifically assigned to another project. Your team should ideally include subgroups for salvage, reconstruction, and mining, but you may lead those as you see fit. Do you accept this task, or do you have a recommendation for another who may be more fitting to this position?]

"Ahhh... no sir, I would be honored."

Clearly he was nervous still, but excited.

[I would like to ask Ratchet to lead the effort concerned with deciding how the ships will be connected together.]

Ratchet responded almost immediately, his voice almost sounding insulted.

"Me?"

[Do you know who else may be more qualified?]

"Uhh... You? Shockwave? Starscream, for all I care. I don't know the first thing about ship design!"

Soundwave glanced toward Shockwave, who offered his own response.

"I know little of the subject myself, and I am preoccupied with performing more analysis on the planet as well as the project as a whole. Nonetheless, I will help where I can."

[We are incredibly lacking in qualified troops,] Soundwave said silently, [but considering you managed to form the old autobot base from a foreign missile silo and a military base using foreign computers to control a groundbridge, you seem experienced in the art of improvisation.]

Ratchet still seemed annoyed, as was usually the case, but he probably took that as a compliment, and so he quieted down. Soundwave looked back toward the red and silver vehicon.

[What is your designation?]

"TL664."

[If you are accepting this position, you deserve a true name.]

"Really?"

This had seemed to electrify the room, as gaining a name was a honor among them long suspended due mainly to the war taking their attention. Still, it seemed unfitting for Soundwave to make that call, and his gaze turned back toward Megatron. The gladiator, noticing that the room's attention quickly turned to him, spoke in a somewhat quiet voice.

"It has been too long since we last held that tradition."

The room went silent for a few moments, and Shockwave finally spoke again.

"The Triad was a cargo vessel. It may still possess useful materials, but I nonetheless advise caution when the site is surveyed. That is all we require at the moment."

"That's it?" one other vehicon asked. He seemed to recoil as Shockwave instead looked at him.

"A proper survey must be the first step."

"Right."

Even despite the short time it had lasted, the meeting had not much more to cover, so it didn't drag on for much longer before the room's occupants started leaving one by one, almost in the same order they had arrived. However, Soundwave, Shockwave, and Megatron all remained, glancing at each other with questioning looks until the room finally emptied. Shockwave was the first to speak, knowing that he spoke for Soundwave as well.

"May I ask what compelled you to join us here, my liege?"

Megatron's eyes remained dull and empty, closer to the color of rust than to his usual crimson. As he looked back toward the scientist, however, he gained a hint of agitation in his expression, but his aura remained neutral. Although, upon second thought, it rather seemed he had no aura.

"You only question me when I try to help you?"

"Behavioural changes such as these are usually not made in a vacuum. We would merely like to know what changed, if anything."

Megatron seemed to grow more irritated, only for it to then be swept under a wave of something else, prompting him to slam one fist onto the table as he clutched at his head with the other.

"It hasn't gotten better. Half the time, I'm not sure what world I'm living in. I only thought by going back to what I used to do, I would go back to what I used to be."

Soundwave struggled to remain as he was, despite the pity he felt inside. Megatron was probably the only person he truly cared about, after all. But this wasn't the time. Shockwave spoke for him yet again.

"That is logical. We only wish to help you."

"You shouldn't be so dependent on me. I won't be around forever."

Soundwave could have sworn he felt a trace of his own pity radiate from the scientist. There was a short moment of silence, and Megatron turned away. Finally Soundwave responded.

[You as a person may not be immortal, but as an inspiration you will always be.]

Shockwave seemed to scan the room for a moment, glancing between the other two occupants, before deciding it was better off without him, and as such he got up and quietly left. Even though it was illogical, he knew he was not well trusted by most.

Soundwave remained motionless for some time, awkwardly glancing at Megatron, before finally moving over toward him and placing a hand on the back of the gladiator's neck. There were no words spoken as Soundwave began tracing his thin fingers across the seams in Megatron's armor, but they needed no words, for there was nothing to say. It had all been said before. Megatron let out a quiet sigh as he closed his eyes. There was always something about the way Soundwave pressed gently into the mesh beneath his armor that seemed hypnotizing. Whatever thoughts antagonized him, whatever rage might have consumed his consciousness, became secondary in a mere instant. And given the way his own mind sought to tear him away from reality, the soothing distraction was welcome. Of course, Soundwave already knew all of this. That had been the point.

Chapter Text

Time seemed to pass by in the proverbial blink of an eye following that initial meeting, given that, between salvaging wrecks and locating insecticons, there was suddenly a lot to be doing. Soundwave remained the primary leader of it all, but just as Megatron had started to return to his former position, so too did Starscream. The seeker was still unusually quiet for his reputation, but he was at least occasionally helpful.

On the other hand, the three insecticon hives they soon acquired were more useful than he ever would have thought. They looked more toward Megatron than to him, but they still understood the hierarchy they fell into. Shockwave had been right, as he always was. The value of the insecticons was in their unwavering loyalty and brute strength. The other vehicons had never seemed to get along well with them, but both had enough work to be doing that they had no time to quarrel.

Shockwave had also been right about the shipwrecks around them. They were mostly intact, and small enough to be moved once repaired somewhat. While the scientist had continued providing advice about reconstruction efforts, he mostly remained isolated in his lab, quiet even for him. He had mentioned something about calculating the optimal launch time, but had gone completely silent outside of that. Now two of the ships were ready to be moved, and he was nowhere to be found.

Soundwave stepped into the lab, glancing around at the various pieces of equipment scattered about. It was unusual for Shockwave to leave anything disorganized unless it was immediately in his use, and he wasn't anywhere to be found. Soundwave wandered across the room, being careful not to touch anything, when the door finally opened and Shockwave walked in. He seemed to pause momentarily upon seeing someone else in his domain, but given that it was only Soundwave, he stepped over to the computer console and began searching through things.

"Yes?" he said, not even looking at the other decepticon.

[Is your continued avoidance of me something I provoked?]

The scientist froze for a moment, remembering the context in which he had first asked the same thing. Nonetheless, his hesitation soon washed away, and he returned to his work.

"I've been concerning myself with the logistics of this project. I have not wished to demoralize you any more than is necessary."

[Some amount is necessary?]

Their interactions had grown somewhat strained since the first meeting. Soundwave, at least, had expected something to shift, but nothing really had. He had been a fool to think Shockwave would ever truly take interest in him.

The scientist briefly glanced at him as he stepped back over to the main table in the center of the room and began putting things away.

"You would be highly concerned if everything went according to plan, would you not?"

[That's probably true.]

"And some one must remind the decepticons of their limitations."

[Or?]

"Reality will do so, in an unpleasant manner."

Despite common knowledge, Shockwave did have a sense of humor, although it was often subtle and very odd.

"What did you need?"

Soundwave merely watched for a moment as the scientist spent at least twenty seconds merely adjusting the position of a centrifuge so that it rested exactly in the center of the table, its base lined up with the table's edges. After a moment he finally let go of it, then looked at Soundwave at the other side of the table, tilting his head slightly, trying to ask his question again without sounding overbearing. Soundwave, on the other hand, stared back at the centrifuge, reaching out a second later to move it out of place, smiling under his visor. He radiated amusement, but he could tell just by looking at Shockwave that he was not amused, and finally the scientist reached out to move it back. Soundwave grabbed his arm, and for a brief moment he sensed real concern from the other decepticon. Shockwave curled his hand into a fist, but he remained relaxed, and he did not move.

"... What is the purpose of this?"

[Your perfectionism is amusing.]

Shockwave looked down at his wrist, still in Soundwave's grasp, and pulled slightly. Soundwave, rather than letting go, merely moved around the table to step toward the other figure. The room was silent again, and gradually he felt increasingly awkward, until finally he let go.

[Sorry.]

"... Hm."

It sounded more curious than anything else. The scientist stepped past him to once again move the centrifuge into its proper place, but moved back to where he had been standing before.

"You don't truly need anything from me, do you?"

[Why else would I be here?]

"You have been concerned about my recent isolation?"

[So what if I am?]

"Then I am... about as flattered as I am capable of being."

[That's possible?]

"That capability is very limited."

Soundwave looked away for a moment, then back up at Shockwave. They were standing awkwardly close together, but that was initially his doing, and he didn't want to be the one to back down first.

[The two closest ships are ready to be moved.]

Shockwave continued to stare at him, and given the fact that his aura was practically nonexistent, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

"I have already reviewed the process and given approval for it."

Soundwave looked away again. This was the only official reason he'd shown up here, and now it seemed it was an invalid one. The scientist refused to move, and it quickly became somewhat stifling. After a moment, however, his aura shifted to a warmer state, and Soundwave looked back at him as he spoke.

"You need no reason to come to the lab. It is as much your space as mine."

The blue figure stared at him, suddenly realizing how inviting his aura was. He glanced around, trying to shift his attention elsewhere, and Shockwave finally spoke again.

"Your confusion as to the intent of my actions toward you is equally applicable to yours in this current scenario."

Soundwave stared at the floor, still standing oddly close to the scientist.

[I don't want to complicate anything.]

"You already have. I believe you place more weight on the nature of these interactions than you should. I am fine with this. If you wish for us to... venture beyond the bounds of a professional relationship... then I will reciprocate."

[So again, what are you suggesting?]

He felt Shockwave's hand brush against his own arm, and after reflexively retracting it, he let his arm relax again, and Shockwave seemed to hold onto his wrist ever so gently as he spoke.

"Catharsis."

Soundwave merely stared, somewhat stunned by the very concept of the scientist instigating any type of physical contact in this context.

[That's what you're calling this?]

"Your motives have become somewhat apparent. And I appreciate... experiments..."

That seemed more like him.

Soundwave continued to look away from the void of Shockwave's unchanging eye as he moved his hand slightly to let his fingers intertwine with Shockwave's. He still felt horribly awkward, but at the very least, he sensed a trace of the same from the scientist. But Shockwave was right, he had wanted this for some time. The question was why he had, although now it was irrelevant, given the way they so hesitantly drew closer together. Soundwave had started to brush his other hand across Shockwave's perfect armor, smooth as glass and untouched by the wear of battle, when the scientist, in turn, rested his hand on the side of Soundwave's neck, drifting slightly to reach for the latches on his visor. Almost immediately, Soundwave grabbed his wrist in response, moving it away.

[You already know what I look like.]

That much was true, but the last time Shockwave had actually seen his face was long before the war had even begun.

They stood like this for some time, awkwardly keeping some minute distance between them, even as their auras mingled and they seemed to refuse to let go of each other. Finally, Shockwave's gun arm wrapped around Soundwave, and with barely any pressure, pulled them together. And in that moment, their combined hesitation began to wane, given that something just felt right about this. It wasn't clear why, or how, exactly, they ended up here, but those questions no longer burned as prominently as did the question of why they had not done this before. Soon the doors were locked, and Soundwave found himself pinning a surprisingly submissive Shockwave against the nearby counter, succumbing to his inviting aura.

He still had to avoid thinking about what exactly was happening, because there was still a part of him that was confused, terrified about the possibility that this might forever ruin his interactions with the scientist. Yet, Shockwave had been awfully insightful in calling this catharsis, since it seemed as though this had been inevitable; that both of them had just been waiting for this opportunity to arise. Still, they had known each other for ages, and in that time neither one had so much as hinted at the possibility of any type of relationship beyond that of professional acquaintances. So why now? Why had it taken so long?

This was the question Soundwave continued to ask himself as he stood at the main computer console later that day. What exactly had just happened?

"Commander... Soundwave..."

He turned to face the silver and red vehicon he had seen before. That title still seemed unfitting to him, but he wasn't the one who'd chosen it. The vehicon stood rigid suddenly, holding his hands behind him.

"We've begun moving the Triad. It should take several hours for it to get here, but it's on track now."

[Good, thank you.]

The vehicon walked off, and Soundwave glanced around the room. Frequently he became so lost in his work that being distracted from it felt like waking up to a different world. But now, this world was strange.

He looked over at Starscream, speaking to another vehicon. Upon noticing his glance, the seeker sauntered over to him. He had not quite returned to his former self, but he had definitely begun. Soundwave looked back at his console screen, trying to ignore the way the seeker leaned against it.

"So."

Starscream seemed to have an inexorable need to always be engaged in some sort of conversation. Maybe it was to him as research was to Shockwave. The blue decepticon did hear him, but he didn't respond yet. Starscream looked at his screen, trying to see what he was doing.

"Requisitions?"

Soundwave turned his head to look at him, and the seeker backed away slightly with an annoyed growl.

"You're not a very good leader."

Soundwave continued to stare silently at him, knowing Starscream could tell what he was thinking.

"Okay, fine, that's not entirely true. But I'm better."

[If you would like to take command, by all means, do so.]

Starscream attained a confused look for a moment as he backed away.

"You... actually want me to lead the decepticons?"

[No. But I hate this position, and you are better suited to it.]

The seeker's aura radiated annoyance for a brief moment as he responded.

"I just get the sense that as soon as I take over, Megatron will feel normal enough to want to tear me to pieces."

[Then please do so.]

Starscream crossed his arms as he rested his weight on one leg, leaning back against the wall the computer jutted out from. Soundwave did not truly hate the seeker, but it had been habitual to put him down on occasion, if only to curb his rampant narcissism. With too much approval, he seemed to almost grow intoxicated from confidence, and attempt to undertake something he was definitely not suited for. But considering what the seeker had been through, it seemed unfair to use his normal tone, and so Soundwave sent another message a moment later.

[I mean to say that I wish for Megatron to recover.]

"Sure."

[I would be relieved if you would take command.]

Starscream looked away all of a sudden, going silent when he normally would be preparing an acceptance speech or something. Soundwave looked at him, sensing some degree of nervousness from him. The seeker glanced at him, seeming to try and scan what he was thinking again, and so Soundwave responded again.

[I will support you in any way I can.]

Red eyes continued to stare at him for a moment before finally looking away.

"... Fine. But only because it doesn't mean anything."

[That's arguably untrue.]

"This whole building ships to fly to an energon planet thing is still going to happen regardless of who's in command."

[But you represent more to the decepticons than that.]

"Pff."

[They deserve a better leader than me.]

Soundwave stepped away, leaving the seeker to ponder his words. While he did need the computer he had been working at, he did not want to make Starscream believe he was simply trying to be manipulative. That was more immediately important than requisition reports.

As such, he wandered back toward the laboratory, although voices from it piqued his interest even before he could hear what was being said. As he stepped into the room, he noticed Ratchet gazing up at Shockwave, seemingly trying to appear intimidating as he spoke.

"I don't know what kind of evil plot you're trying to fulfill, but you have no need for this otherwise!"

Shockwave glanced at Soundwave as he entered, and Ratchet soon turned to face him as well, speaking before either of the other two could interject.

"What kind of reason do you have to be developing a formula for synthetic dark energon? You plan to turn all the remaining autobots into mindless zombies? Why wasn't I informed of this?"

Soundwave glanced back up at Shockwave as he replayed a quote from him.

["That depends on if it possesses any side effects. If not, it may be possible to revive the Nemesis."]

Ratchet seemed puzzled by this, considering this was probably what Shockwave had already said before. Soundwave looked up at the purple form, who promptly responded.

"We intended no deception. This project merely fell by the wayside in the wake of more pressing concerns."

Ratchet turned to face the other scientist again, his aura flaring up with rage.

"You 'intended no deception'? Just how stupid do you think I am?"

"On the contrary-"

Ratchet cut him off, turning back somewhat toward Soundwave, pointing accusingly toward him.

"You hid the truth from Optimus when you abducted him! I was being delusional to ever trust you, wasn't I?"

[This is different,] Soundwave said, still standing motionless before him. [Orion Pax was deceived from the beginning, because of the amnesia he suffered. You came to us willingly, and you are free to leave if you so choose.]

Ratchet continued to glare at him, seemingly trying to see through his visor.

"But you told me to come here. Why?"

[I gave you a choice. You voiced the same criticisms of the autobots that we have had, and thus I thought you might wish to part from them, as a statement.]

"That's it?"

Soundwave could only stare, confused as to what that was supposed to mean. Ratchet took a step toward him, again seemingly to appear threatening, but he did not react.

"Really? You just let me in, give me access to most everything you have on record, and ask me to lead teams of your troops? No threats, no force, because of some rogue planet out there we barely know about?"

Ratchet took another step toward Soundwave, but the blue decepticon refused to move. He could tell that Shockwave was growing uneasy about the threatening tone the autobot was taking, but he nonetheless let Soundwave respond.

[Wasn't it you who found it pointless to be attacking the decepticons now? Didn't you find the continuing conflict unnecessary in the first place?]

"What are you saying?"

[We can accept that the war is over.]

"But Megatron is still alive, and now you're trying to build another ship, with hordes of insecticons!"

Ratchet seemed to lunge forward toward Soundwave, but only for a split second, given that Shockwave grabbed his shoulder and pulled him backward, throwing him to the ground. The autobot clamored to his feet, looking both puzzled and offended. Soundwave still didn't move. He understood the suspicion, but at the same time, it was sad to see. He really had put the past war behind him, or at least he would like to have thought so, but so many years of bitter rivalries were difficult to just brush aside. Shockwave spoke, his voice almost more whisper than speech.

"I... apologize."

Ratchet looked back at him, hiding his aura surprisingly well.

"And that's not helping. None of this feels right. You're not supposed to apologize for anything. You're supposed to be sparkless, the kind of unfeeling monster that creates military bioweapons."

He turned to Soundwave as he continued.

"And you. Primus, you're supposed to be more terrifying than Megatron. How is it that you can ask me to come here and help you build ships!?"

Soundwave stayed silent, and Shockwave spoke in his stead.

"I... don't follow."

"What is it you really want from me?"

The purple figure seemed to glance back at Soundwave, and so he replayed a brief recording of Megatron.

["Survival."]

Ratchet continued to glare, but the other two remained silent. As the tension in the room grew awkward, Shockwave finally turned away, going back to whatever it was he had been working on. Ratchet let out an annoyed groan, or something to that end, and started to walk out of the room when Soundwave sent a silent message.

[And what is it that you want from us?]

"I... I don't know, it's just that the only time any of you have been nice to any autobot is when you're being deceptive."

Soundwave glanced at the autobot, lost in thought for a moment. It was a strange situation all of them found themselves in, after all. Ratchet, having not received an answer, seemed to mutter something unintelligible to himself as he walked out finally. The silent figure turned to look at Shockwave instead.

[By the way, Starscream agreed to take command.]

The scientist turned his head slightly, but looked back at his work after a second.

"I cannot say I am enthused. But if it is to your benefit, I can tolerate him."

[You'd do that for me?]

Shockwave looked at him, hopefully knowing he'd been sarcastic.

"There are a variety of possible responses to that, but I am unsure of which would be interpreted correctly. So I will only say this: I do expect compensation."

[In what form?]

"No."

Suddenly the room turned painfully awkward, considering what they had done just hours earlier, and so with only a brief nod, Soundwave walked back out of the lab.

For some time he meandered around the compound, watching the insecticons as they worked, gazing at the vehicons even though some were inactive, and merely observing the workings of the place. He had mostly commanded these people from the solitude of the lab, so he actually didn't see his orders being carried out very often. Finally, however, he retreated to his meager quarters, nestled between energon pumps and the energon processing machinery. The noise wasn't as smooth as the engines of the Nemesis, but it was good enough.

Soundwave stepped into the room, glancing over at the makeshift computer terminal he'd built, almost sighing. The device was functional, but very imperfect; so much so that it practically begged to be taken apart and rebuilt correctly, just to satisfy some semblance of permanence.

That machine irked him every time he looked at it. But, his skills in computer repair were much more efficiently utilized elsewhere, so the shoddy device remained there, barely even held together as its components rested on the cluttered desk, loosely connected by wires.

He sat down on the small bed in the small room, pulling up recent reports and maintenance logs on his visor. This plan of theirs might have been bizarrely sudden and unrealistic, but at least everything felt right again. Maybe that was why Megatron and Starscream were becoming more invested in it.

One log stood out from the list he gazed at, mainly because it was written by Shockwave, and Soundwave was its only other recipient. He'd gazed at some of Shockwave's logs before, but they were often written with the intention of being utterly meaningless to anyone but himself.

Soundwave laid back as he began reading the file in question.

"Log 3706A: Synthetic Dark Energon Experiments

[Security whitelist, Shockwave, Soundwave, Megatron]

(Note: 66705 is absent from records. Rewrote what I remember to 857A4.)

Purpose: Develop a renewable substance with the effects of dark energon/synthesize natural dark energon

Challenges: determine all effects of natural dark energon, methods of neural interaction, reanimation effects

Known: Dark energon is a pseudo-isotope. Instability can annex muon neutrinos. Uncertain how it remains radioactive.

The formula for synthetic energon was lost long before I was aware it had ever existed, because it was wholly unnecessary at the time. As such, I failed to fully realize its potential, and was shamefully unprepared when the need of its use became more immediate.

The original formula contains prerequisite information about quantum physics necessary to comprehend the process, but the actual method of generating the substance is, comparatively, very simple.

Considering dark energon is much more rare than even red energon, it is logical to devise a method for generating both, although the first is much more useful."

Soundwave looked away for a moment, snapping back into the present, as it were. Why had he been given access to this? He scrolled through the text, finally coming to one paragraph where he spotted his name.

27: Revelations about the exoplanet (4775C) have stolen my attention recently, but I have returned now to this project. Soundwave has asked about it, but I believe he is concerned more with me than with my work.

28: Running tests to determine all physical properties of dark energon. Trials will take time. Soundwave is staring at me. In the meantime, I will move on.

29: Trials continue.

30: Trials continue. Soundwave is being distracting, which is ironic because his distractions are due to him finding me distracting. If he should find my courtesy indicative of romantic interest, he is mistaken with regard to how little I care.

31: Perhaps I should not have phrased it that way. While I wait for the last of my trials to conclude, I am forced to review the situation I find myself in with Soundwave. I can only assume I will at some point decide to add him to the security whitelist, so I must write under the assumption that he will read it. Matters of such interest are of little importance to me, because they are of no consequence. He does not seem to understand this, and instead believes I am dismissive of him. In truth, I am only dismissive of any related emotions. Whatever he wishes us to do is of no importance, and thereby acceptable.

32: Reviewing trial data, developing protocol for moving Triad (D5477).

33: I have been very distracted today. I forgot to move sample 3 to quarantine after the last test, so I must assume it is contaminated and restart, as much as I will despise doing so. Damn you, Soundwave.

That must have been today.

With merely a thought, Soundwave's visor shut off, and he gazed up at the ceiling for a moment before closing his eyes. As his mind started to succumb to sleep, however, his thoughts returned, of course, to Shockwave. Reading his logs did somewhat clarify his less than obvious intentions, but the whole thing was still bizarre.

It would probably be best to forget about it for now.

Chapter Text

As the wreckage of the Triad was slowly moved to the central compound, many of the troops who had worked to dig it out of the ground in the first place rested idly, hovering about the compound's upper floors, waiting for the crawling ship to arrive. Because most of these workers were insecticons, Starscream seemed incredibly wary at all times, tending to stay around Soundwave clearly out of nervousness. It seemed, in some way, that he accepted his lack of combat prowess, knowing well the insecticons respected brute strength above all else. They were a strange bunch.

But it was as Soundwave sorted through new data that he overheard a conversation among the insects. They had an odd way of speaking, like some difficult dialect based around their complex mouthparts, but it was intelligible; albeit only when you consciously listened.

There were five of the brutes on the other side of the room, muttering to themselves as they drank energon rations. A few of them emitted idle clicking sounds as the other spoke.

"- but I never believed Sanctum was real."

"It was foretold by the last Oracle."

"My hive never interacted with the Oracle."

"You denounce him?"

"We did not know he truly existed. We heard only legends."

The group went silent for a moment as they drank their energon in sync. A third insecticon began speaking.

"But there has been no Oracle for centuries..."

"Our hive was told by the last one that her resurrection would be the one to find Sanctum."

"Are you saying Shockwave is the new Oracle? He cannot be!"

"But if Sanctum is real, and he will bring us there, who else would it be?"

Soundwave turned to face them, gazing at the group. He'd never heard such rumors, or really any stories from insecticons. One of them turned to look at him, and the others soon followed, staring at him with a clicking purr. Finally Soundwave messaged all of them.

[To what are you referring?]

When the insecticons responded, they did so with a strange shift in dialect, almost, and spoke more slowly. It was easier to understand, but it also felt condescending somehow.

"Countless generations of insecticons have had an Oracle. One who can see beyond time. He gives us guidance."

The others continued in stride.

"The Oracle's spark is said to be immortal. It returns to the allspark, only to come back intact to be resurrected in another body. The last true Oracle was discovered to be the queen of the Synach hive. By then, all of her children shared a piece of her spark, and so all of them held only a piece of the Oracle's wisdom."

"The only thing her children were able to foretell was that the next insecticon to possess all of the Oracle's spark would bring us to Sanctum."

"Sanctum is a place resurrected from legends. It is a world composed of energon, with life everlasting."

Soundwave perked up slightly, and one of the insecticons nodded at him before speaking again.

"For centuries we tried to find all those who held pieces of the Oracle's spark, and kill them so it could be restored, but as those children bore their own children, it became impossible to know who held fractions of that spark and who did not. They did not see through time the way the true Oracles did."

"There has not been an Oracle for ages, long since the war began. Some hives even began to dismiss it as legend."

Soundwave looked back at one of the other insecticons, trying to tell them apart.

[What does this have to do with Shockwave?]

"If Shockwave brings us to Sanctum, that must mean he holds the spark of the Oracle."

[And what does that mean?]

The bugs exchanged glances with each other for a moment, and one took another drink of energon.

"In the past, the Oracle has led all insecticons, united all hives. But we do not know if it is possible for that spark to inhabit one of your kind."

Soundwave looked away for a moment, trying to process everything he'd just heard. He didn't know the insecticons had anything in the way of legends, let alone one that possibly made Shockwave a magical figure to them to worship. What was stranger, of course, was that they allegedly had stories of an energon world already.

The air went silent, and the insecticons returned after a moment to drinking their energon. Soundwave strode off, heading toward an elevator to reach the upper levels. He rarely went up to the surface of their dead planet, but this time there was something to witness.

As the doors opened some time later to a fractured balcony on an old tower near the compound, Soundwave stared out at the rusted horizon, rubble and ashes as far as he could see. It was times like this that he wished he could kill Ratchet, but logic quickly overtook his emotions, and thus, he never did. Nearer to the tower, however, was a spiked pile of rubble surrounded by vehicons and insecticons; the wreck of the Triad. It moved ever so slowly, having been placed upon a massive wheeled platform. It was driven by pretty much every piece of equipment they had with a motor. A few mining drills from the Nemesis, several makeshift cargo carriers, and even some retrofitted energon pumps all pulled on enormous steel cables looped through pulleys to, slowly but effectively, move the entire wreckage site to them. This was the closest one to them, and it had still taken over ten hours for it to get to where it was. If this plan was going to work, they needed a lot more power before trying to move the others.

From his vantage point, Soundwave could clearly see the red and silver vehicon from before, the one tasked with organizing the work on the Triad. He had certainly done well, and he deserved a name, if only to make referring to him easier, but he had no idea where to start. He had been a part of choosing names for many decepticons, but most of them were dead now, so was it acceptable to use a name previously taken by a late mech? The vehicon's coloring had always reminded Soundwave of one named Skyfire, but part of him got the sense that autobots had been named that in the past as well. So then it came down to what would best befit an otherwise regular vehicon who'd proved himself worthy of command. It was something to think about.

He turned and retreated back into the base, back to the place where Cybertron's scars were out of his mind, and he instead went to find Megatron.

The gladiator tended not to gaze upon Cybertron's surface anymore for the same reason Soundwave did. But when he found Megatron, he, too, had been watching the movement outside, through a very dusty but intact window. Soundwave sent a ping, since his footsteps tended to be silent, and he thus startled people easily. Megatron looked back at him for a moment, acknowledging his presence.

His eyes looked brighter than usual, but in a good way.

Megatron stepped to one side of the window, leaving a space for Soundwave. He rested his weight on one arm he held against the wall above the window, and looked over again as Soundwave walked up to him.

"Progress is going nicely, I see."

[I came here from the upper balcony, so I was just watching this.]

"Well... at present, it's the only thing to watch."

They stood in silence for some time, staring outside, until Soundwave messaged him again.

[You seem better.]

Megatron let out a quiet but annoyed sigh, his aura turning somewhat defensive.

"This is the only reason you ever speak to me now? To try and assess how 'well' I'm doing? I only said two sentences to you, anyway, how could you possibly know what I feel?"

[I've known you for a long enough time to be able to tell things like that.]

"... That is true."

[I just don't want you to suffer.]

"I know. But it's all so patronizing."

Soundwave looked over at him, somewhat surprised at the accusation. Megatron still stared outside for a moment, but gradually his eyes looked back toward Soundwave, until he finally turned his head.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that to you."

[Yes you did.]

Megatron went silent for a minute, his eyes staring into nothing as he moved his jaw slightly in pensive silence. Finally he turned his head to look toward Soundwave, although his eyes looked away.

"You care about me, and I appreciate that. But to be fussed over like some sick child when there's nothing you can really do for me..."

[How do you think I feel knowing I can't do anything?]

Megatron gained just a hint of a smile before looking back toward the window.

"You care too much about me for your own good."

[If I don't take care of you, who will?]

The smile on the gladiator's face widened slightly.

"Certainly not Starscream."

[You really do seem better, though.]

"And I feel better. I'm just sick of being reminded of it."

[Ratchet will be less happy to hear that than Starscream.]

Megatron looked around for a moment, as if trying to recall something.

"Right, I keep forgetting he's here. Can I ask you something? Why did you bring him here?"

Soundwave looked out the window for a moment, thinking of how to phrase his response.

[He helped me escape from the Shadowzone. Before he knew of my presence, I heard him talking to the other autobots. He was charged by the council for the death of Cybertron, since Optimus wasn't there.]

"Hardly fitting to pin that on Ratchet."

[Yes. They wanted to basically keep him in exile, have him search for and destroy any remaining decepticons.]

Soundwave instead started replaying audio from the initial event.

["If they're going to punish me for a crime I didn't commit, then I'm not going to live under their rule."

"You're not really going to bail on us, are you?"

"I sided with Optimus and Megatron before the war because the Council was mistreating its citizens. I'm not about to have half of my life go to waste by settling with the exact kind of society we tried to change in the first place!"]

Megatron gazed at him, processing Ratchet's words as Soundwave responded.

[I figured if we could set the war aside, he would be willing to help us, if only to make a statement to the autobots.]

"He could just as easily have informed the autobots of our location."

[Because I was genuinely offering help, I didn't think it likely that he would do something like that.]

"And fortunately, you were right. He is an interesting one."

[I think he only accepted my help because he thought you were dead.]

The two stood in silence for a moment, staring out the window, until Megatron finally spoke again.

"Despite what I've said recently... I'm... glad you brought me here."

[I know.]

"Heh. I was trying to be sentimental and you ruined it."

[I didn't mean to.]

Soundwave looked over as Megatron moved to embrace him, one hand holding the back of his head. He closed his eyes as he let it rest against Megatron's chest, and the room went silent again.

The warmth he felt from the gladiator's aura was a very rare occurrence, but nonetheless a powerful one. This was what Soundwave lived for. He lived for Megatron, fighting for him, working tirelessly for him, killing for him, and it was only in times like these, where he rested in his embrace, that Soundwave ever knew for certain that Megatron cared about him beyond the simple fact of his rank. Of course, his expressions of love were usually quiet and subtle, but that was always to be expected from a gladiator warlord.

Starscream's voice suddenly came over his comm link.

"Soundwave?"

Even Megatron let out a quiet sigh, but he didn't let go, instead letting Soundwave respond to both of them.

[Yes?]

"Get down here."

[Why?]

"Do I need to explain why? Just do it!"

Megatron finally stepped away as he responded to Starscream himself, with an almost taunting tone.

"It would do you well not to abuse your power, Starscream."

"Wha- how were you listening? Eh, nevermind. I was right, Soundwave, wasn't I?"

Megatron turned back to Soundwave, speaking only to him.

"What is he referring to?"

In response, he merely replayed another recording.

["I just get the sense that as soon as I take over, Megatron will feel normal enough to want to tear me to pieces."]

The gladiator laughed slightly.

"I've become predictable."

[Maybe.]

Soundwave finally turned to leave, and Megatron grabbed his arm, not firmly enough to stop him, but rather in such a way as to let his fingers trace across his arm as he left. Soundwave couldn't help but smile slightly behind his visor as he looked back for a moment, his hand slipping from Megatron's light grasp, and finally walked out of the room.

As he made his way back to the room that had become the main command center in the compound, he found himself stopped by makeshift barriers blocking entryways and vehicons surrounding the area. They parted upon noticing him, and he stepped up to find nothing notable in the room beyond, merely an unused storage room.

"Soundwave."

He turned around to find Starscream walking up to him, hands held behind him, an annoyed look present on his face. Considering he expected Soundwave to stay silent, he spoke first.

"Shockwave blocked this whole area off. He said the building might collapse."

[Where is he?]

"Somewhere in the lower floors, checking the columns."

[And you just let him go?]

"Well, it's not like anyone else here knows enough about building integrity to know what's dangerous and what's not. Besides, do you really think I could have stopped him?"

[Then why didn't he contact me?]

"He tried. I think. Something about radio signals being blocked by him being hundreds of feet underground."

The second part of that sentence had been said with an almost angry tone, typical for Starscream. Suddenly the seeker looked around him, glancing at the vehicons hovering about.

"What are you all still doing here?" he spat. "Get out of here!"

The troops began to disperse, heading toward the elevator when Soundwave heard something from below the floor, and looked toward Starscream, unable to hide a trace of panic in his aura.

[Tell everyone to stop moving.]

Starscream must have heard the sound too, given the way he looked at the spot in the floor from which it had seemed to come. Without a moment's hesitation, however, he pointed back toward the vehicons as he shouted.

"Wait!"

The troops looked at him, and he stared back at the floor.

"Nobody move."

And just like that, the room went dead silent. It had even become possible to hear the sound of the energon pumps three floors above them. After a moment, however, there was a much louder sound; the sound of metal creaking under stress. It echoed below them, traveling further down the building to the unused floors before going silent. The entire room became filled with only fear as Starscream gestured back to the vehicons on the other side of the room.

"Two at a time, over to the elevator and up to the surface. No one else move."

Two of the troopers walked very hesitantly toward the main elevator, and everyone else stared at the doors as they closed. The room went silent again, and the air started to calm slightly, at least until the same sickening sound echoed through the room again. Soundwave had sent message after message to Shockwave, trying to reach him, but there had been no response. Finally he looked toward Starscream.

[I'm going to try to contact Shockwave. Get everyone else up to the surface.]

"What!?"

Everyone stared at the seeker, given that he had broken the silence.

"Are you serious?"

[Yes.]

Starscream could only stare in shock as Soundwave walked off with slow steps, toward the access tunnel to the lower floors.

Everyone knew it was probably a bad idea to be using the elevators in the event of an imminent building collapse, but the escape stairwell had, ironically, collapsed during the war. The route Soundwave took went through a different spiral staircase down to the floors below, that had long ago been used for storage and energon processing, but were now empty. The metal beams around him groaned under the weight of the building above, but he kept moving, occasionally sending urgent pings to Shockwave. How far down could he be? How far down did this building even go?

There was another sound of metal creaking and bending, but this time something snapped. It was like the sound of a small explosion, except it was followed by rusted metal squealing under stress, rocks and concrete cracking apart, and the deafening sound of the building above him collapsing. Soundwave, in a brief moment of panic, ran toward the empty elevator shaft on the other side of the room and jumped down, considering he had not much farther to fall. Seconds passed as he fell into the darkness, barely able to brace himself before landing at the bottom. Pain shot through his legs as he stumbled out into the dusty darkness of the bottom floor, glancing up at the only light present there, namely a lantern, of sorts, that Shockwave held. The scientist, hearing the sounds above, dropped the light and ran toward Soundwave without another word, pulling him away from the elevator shaft with all his weight, just as the elevator inside it crashed to the ground.

Soundwave finally opened his eyes again, finding himself lying on the floor, wrapped in Shockwave's arms. They both looked up, finding the crushed elevator beside them on fire. Finally the scientist looked at him and spoke.

"What... are you doing here?"

He had asked that question with genuine surprise, as panic still permeated his aura.

[You weren't responding. I was going to tell you to come to the surface.]

"Lest the building collapse?"

[Yeah.]

Shockwave let out a quiet sigh as he climbed to his feet, then held out a hand to Soundwave to pull him up as well. It was an unnecessary gesture, but a kind one nonetheless. The scientist walked toward the elevator shaft, stepping atop the crushed metal to climb into and look up at the space above. He fired a shot from his gun upward, seemingly to watch if it hit anything. After a moment, he stepped away, and several rocks and pieces of metal fell on top of the elevator.

"I doubt there's enough space there to clear three floors."

[What were you doing all the way down here?]

Shockwave suddenly turned to face him, stepping toward him abruptly enough to cause Soundwave to back away, startled.

"What were you doing here? Instead of evacuating as everyone else should have done, you go even deeper underground and narrowly escape being crushed?"

[I told you, I came to get you.]

Shockwave's voice was laced with rage, and it was terrifying.

"I'm smarter than that. I heard the warning signs. I knew it was safer down here than up in the active levels. I was going to wait until everyone else left before escaping."

[We lost contact with you, I told you that. No one knew where you were.]

Soundwave kept his distance from the scientist, watching as he processed those words and looked away.

"I suppose that is a logical course of action. But you are very fortunate you were not injured by that fall. I would have no way of helping you down here."

Shockwave was only angry because Soundwave put himself at risk?

The silent figure looked around the room, then up at the ceiling for a moment.

[Wait a second, why was it safer down here?]

Shockwave opened a panel on his gun arm, looking at scan results.

"The main structural weaknesses were in floors 6 to 10 below ground. I believe minor seismic tremors to be the main cause of the latent instability. This was not a vertical collapse, at least not initially, but was rather due to the inward pressure of the ground around the building. From there, I can only assume it damaged other load-bearing support structures, and probably took the tower down with it. I fear this might have been triggered by the movement of the Triad. If that is the case, then all of this can be confirmed as my doing."

[Shockwave, please. You can't keep track of everything. You can't blame yourself for not expecting an unexpected event.]

Shockwave stared up at the ceiling for a moment before grabbing his lantern and lowering himself to the ground, switching off the white light and letting himself instead be lit by the orange flames of the elevator as he rested against a concrete column. Despite the nature of the circumstances, he still looked nice bathed in the flickering glow. Soundwave sat down on the floor as well, next to an adjacent column. They stayed like this for some time, staring into the flames, before Soundwave sent a message to Shockwave again.

[How long do you think we can survive down here?]

"Don't ask me things like that."

[Why?]

"Because I'll tell you the truth. And I do not wish to demoralize you any more than is necessary."

Soundwave looked back at the flames for a moment.

[Then how long do you think we'll be down here?]

"A week, possibly. We are very far underground."

Soundwave rested his head back against the column he leaned against. He couldn't stand going a full day without anything to do, let alone a week. Though, Shockwave probably couldn't either, a concept supported when the scientist muttered something a moment later.

"All of my lab equipment was probably destroyed."

[Along with my computer network.]

"Our computer network. You were not the only one to benefit from its use."

[I built it.]

"True."

Soundwave sighed, but despite his expectations, Shockwave actually seemed to notice, and looked over at him for a moment.

"... I already find myself struggling to keep my mind occupied."

[Same here.]

"I could take you apart. That would be interesting."

[No thank you.]

Silence filled the room again.

"Are you certain?"

[You don't even have any tools.]

They sat in silence, staring into the fire, at least until Soundwave remembered something.

[By the way, the insecticons seem to think you can see through time.]

"... What?"

[At least that's how I understand it. Apparently because you found the energon planet, that makes you a resurrected oracle.]

"The prediction means I have to bring them there, not just find it."

[Wait, you know about this already?]

"I am aware of those beliefs. And a few of them seem intent on worshipping me anyway. I cannot do anything about that, and if it helps us, then I cannot complain."

[I never knew insecticons had legends.]

"The insecticons have a rather interesting history. Early in the golden age, they are recorded as having been a part of, if you will, mainstream cybertronian society. At some point they split, and gradually formed their... convoluted methods of heredity and self-government."

Shockwave went quiet, looking up at the ceiling as the sound of falling debris could be heard. Soundwave merely continued to stare at him, watching the way the light refracted through the lens in his eye.

[Were you going to continue?]

"I wasn't intending to."

Shockwave looked at him, but spoke again after a moment.

"But, seeing as we are stranded down here, and have little to do..."

And so, Shockwave continued on insecticon history, listing their various traits and how they developed, from the oddities of their speech to how their hives are organized. And Soundwave listened, as he always did, even as the flames on the elevator died down, leaving the room lit instead by the small lantern Shockwave had brought with him. They were not sitting very close to one another, but given the soft, quiet way the scientist spoke in the otherwise silent room, it sounded like they were only inches apart. And, for some reason, that was soothing. Soundwave had never paid quite this much attention to the minutia of Shockwave's voice before. Now that he did, it sounded warm somehow, like his voice exemplified the eternal calm he always seemed to show.

After a time, however, Shockwave seemed to grow tired of speaking, and thus went silent again. The soft lights across his and Soundwave's bodies both glowed the same color purple, and were strangely bright in contrast to the darkness around them. Finally Soundwave took a silent breath before standing up, eliciting Shockwave's attention.

"Where are you going?"

Soundwave only moved the short distance to the column Shockwave rested against before lowering himself to the ground again beside him. The scientist looked at him, his aura conveying something of puzzlement. Soundwave said nothing, of course. He had no idea why he'd wanted to do that, but part of his mind was satisfied that he finally did.

There, you happy?

It was with a hint of a smile that he'd asked himself that question.

He was.

Chapter Text

Soundwave hadn't realized he'd fallen asleep until a familiar sound stirred him. He struggled to identify it for a moment, given that his mind begged for sleep again, but finally he forced himself to open his eyes, and he saw a groundbridge portal swirling before him.

He sat upright, not realizing he and Shockwave had both fallen asleep leaning against each other until the scientist started to fall onto him. Shockwave reflexively braced himself, however, as the red light in his eye turned on again, and he looked up at the portal. They glanced at each other only once before getting up without another word and walking through.

Soundwave looked around at the destination he found himself in, which didn't seem familiar at all. The walls were a different color than he remembered, there were different patterns on the floor, and everything was covered in rust. He heard Ratchet's voice a moment later, and turned to face him.

"Well, look at that."

The autobot had been speaking to Megatron, who stood on the other side of the room. Upon looking back toward Soundwave and Shockwave, the gladiator smiled slightly, mostly with his eyes.

"Thought we'd have to dig you out, didn't you?" he asked. Shockwave glanced at him, then back over at Ratchet, who finally spoke again as he shut off the groundbridge.

"This is the Triad. Apparently it crashed with a mostly functional groundbridge device. All we needed to do was supply it with power. I had the idea to bridge you out."

Megatron continued after a moment, although he cast a brief but suspicious look toward Ratchet.

"The insecticons are digging through the remnants of the base, trying to find Starscream and any other survivors."

"My Lord," Shockwave hesitantly asked, "how did you know that the bottom floor did not collapse?"

"Conjecture."

"You mean a guess?" Ratchet spat.

"It was worth a try, and it turned out to be correct."

Megatron looked between Shockwave and Soundwave again.

"You were not injured, were you?"

"No," the scientist replied. "And thank you."

Megatron only responded with a brief nod. Shockwave gazed toward the silent decepticon, staring at him almost long enough to be unnerving, before turning and walking off. The gladiator seemed to notice this, casting a strange glance toward the purple form as he left, then looking back toward Soundwave with inquisitive eyes. Soundwave, on the other hand, merely shrugged somewhat as he followed the scientist.

As he caught up with him finally, having to step over broken pipes and piles of debris occasionally in order to do so, he sent a message.

[What was that?]

"To what do you refer?"

[Even Megatron noticed you staring at me.]

Shockwave stopped, and let out a deliberate sigh, his shoulders even falling as he exhaled. He looked at the silent figure, a hint of annoyance present in his quiet aura.

"Are all my actions subject to your line of questioning now?"

Soundwave certainly hadn't expected him to get that annoyed.

[No, I didn't mean...]

Having become somewhat flustered, it took him a moment to finish his sentence.

[All I want to know is if your... overall perception of these events is positive or negative.]

"Events referring to my interactions with you?"

[Yes.]

"Positive."

Shockwave had given his response both surprisingly punctually, and whilst he turned to continue walking. As such, it took Soundwave a moment to even register.

He continued following the scientist's path again, however, and stopped beside him when they reached a hatch to the outside.

Where the small tower had once stood was now a pile of rubble, blending in perfectly with the sad remnants of Kaon around them. All that work they had put into that base was now crushed, along with, possibly, Starscream and some of their already sparse crew. Insecticons crawled about across the debris, digging through broken concrete and metal, trying to find anything salvageable. Shockwave glanced at Soundwave, although he didn't notice until Shockwave spoke.

"Can you locate Starscream?"

His visor lit up with a rudimentary map of the area around him, and several points appeared, of life signals from under the debris. He focused on that area, the image on his visor zooming into it, and after a moment, one of them returned a positive match for Starscream's signature.

He was alive, but he probably wouldn't be for very long.

Soundwave immediately sent a directive to the insecticons digging in the rubble, pointing them toward the location he'd found. Some of them looked up toward him for a second, but they nonetheless converged on the closest spot to it and began digging again.

Nothing felt real anymore. Soundwave wandered about the remains of the Triad, searching for anything to salvage, trying to figure out how he'd rebuild the computer network again. But his mind refused to accept anything as real, instead insisting that he was still asleep in his quarters, or resting next to Shockwave. And, before he knew it, he heard Megatron walk past him. He didn't even register it as unusual for several moments, until he remembered the quiet commotion that had accompanied the sound. He stepped out into the hallway, finding Shockwave walking ahead of the gladiator, seeming to search in each room for something. Megatron noticed him, and turned around to show him what he had been carrying in his arms.

Barely recognizable and hanging limp from his arms was Starscream, covered in dust and energon, his whole body riddled with dents and abrasions. Part of his left leg looked like it had almost been sheared off, given the way the lower half was only still connected by frayed tubing and sparking wires.

Megatron looked as emotionless as ever as he stared at Soundwave, but somewhere in his eyes was a seed of sympathy. In some dark, obscure corner of his spark he must have cared about Starscream, even if it was only as rudimentary a concern as not wanting him to die.

Shockwave continued to scramble, it seemed, to find some place or some materials he could use to help the seeker, but everything he'd previously had was now gone, and the Triad had long since been stripped of energon after the crash. Finally he spoke out one word, prompting the other two to follow him into the room he occupied.

"Here."

Soundwave watched as the scientist stepped up to the center table, and, with a single sweep of his gun arm, cleared the entire surface of all the various objects that had rested on it. Megatron set the seeker on the table much more gently than one would have expected, and stepped back to watch silently as Shockwave again struggled to find anything he could use. The purple form scanned Starscream momentarily, looking at the results on his arm panel and letting out an annoyed groan as he finally just shifted his other arm to a small laser and began cutting through pieces of the seeker's armor.

"I will need energon soon, but I have no choice but to begin my work now. Where is Ratchet?"

Megatron spoke in response, clearly wanting to give Shockwave ample space.

"Trying to attend to the other injured troops. What do you need?"

"I will consult with him on that."

Soundwave and Megatron stared for a while as Shockwave worked, disassembling pieces of Starscream's chest and fusing torn energon lines, all by merely improvising with whatever tools his arm could transform into. The scientist looked back at them, as if asking what they were still doing there, and they finally backed away, leaving him to the silent solitude of his work.

Such was the recovery after the collapse; lengthy and tedious. The decepticons had lost everything they once had between the loss of the Nemesis and the collapse of their base. As such, doing anything was made far more difficult than it should have been, given that the lack of resources made them scavengers on a empty world. Ratchet and Shockwave struggled to properly care for the small group of injured mechs that had been pulled from the rubble, Megatron struggled to keep the decepticons organized in any meaningful manner without the meticulously organized computer database, and Soundwave struggled to even begin rebuilding the computer network. The goal of constructing a usable ship by their launch window had become peripheral to the new goal of merely existing off of the land.

In time, however, a small stockpile of resources and energon had been amassed from the wreckage, and so it seemed that the decepticons would not be starting entirely from scratch. But rations were still small, and thus the remnants of the uprising that had started from slaves once again found themselves mining just to sustain themselves.

Weeks had passed in empty silence, and Starscream had never awakened. He was still alive, a phenomenon described as a fortunate coincidence by Shockwave, but never once did he rise to even a fleeting moment of consciousness. Having been repaired to all other forms of functionality, the seeker remained empty, little more than a silver ornament to a desolate ship.

And the Triad did remain desolate. Although it had become the new base, there was nothing to fill it with, and the halls remained stained with ages of rust.

This was all that Soundwave could think about as he rested mostly submerged in the oil spring he had gone to before. He was back to where he had been just three months ago, with no plan, no goal other than survival, and no resources.

Just as had happened the first time he came to the spring, he heard Shockwave approach suddenly, but this time the scientist had no questions as to why he was here, and instead took his place beside Soundwave all in silence. Much as it had been before, they had been spending much of their time together in the lab, though it was mostly silent. Thus, they had little to discuss that was not already known to them.

But this time was different. Both decepticons suppressed their auras, which both contained only shame. Soundwave had been working tirelessly to help rebuild, an effort which had shown no progress whatsoever, but Shockwave's regret came from his inability to help Starscream. They did not need to communicate this, of course, as they both already knew.

And so, it was with a great deal of hesitation that Soundwave reached over beside him, not even looking as he took Shockwave's hand, letting his fingers interlace with the scientist's.

And it was with a similar amount of hesitation that, without looking, Shockwave gently curled his fingers around Soundwave's.

Chapter Text

Soundwave opened his eyes to a barely-lit ceiling, and sat up to look at his barely-lit room. The decepticons didn't tend to waste energy on lighting their hallways, but the Triad had only one of its generators functional, and even it was at half power. As he usually did, he got up, checked what messages had been sent to him, and went off toward the lab. His head remained in something of a fog as he checked the time, realizing that he had slept for longer than he'd intended. Such was the result of his being forced to sleep in a silent room. He stepped into the new lab, barely furnished except for scattered wires and circuitry components. This was the sum of his findings from the Triad, but it was nowhere near the amount of material he'd need to begin work on anything related to the computer systems. They needed to begin salvaging the second ship.

Even though it had been ready to move, the Javelin was abandoned following the collapse of the base. Maybe it was time to switch back to their initial plan.

Soundwave hesitantly gazed across the hallway, where the miserable form of Starscream rested, shrouded by the wires and tubes that kept him alive. Maybe... it was too soon to think about anything other than recovery.

Soundwave looked back at his workspace, suddenly wishing more than anything that he had a computer terminal to enter data into, or an Iacon database to decode; anything idle to occupy his mind. And suddenly, he realized that Shockwave had not been in the lab all morning, or he would have rearranged the circuitry pieces Soundwave left scattered about. He sent a ping to the scientist, somewhat surprised to get a message in response.

[I have something to inform you about.]

[What?]

[I will be there shortly.]

Whatever it was Shockwave wanted to tell him, he wanted it to be confidential. Soundwave already felt sick merely from that message. He glanced at the counter before him, trying to think of what he could do to occupy his time while he waited for Shockwave, just so he didn't drive himself insane worrying over what he needed to be informed about.

Fortunately, Shockwave had meant what he said about being there shortly, and stepped into the room holding a medical scanner not much later. The door closed behind him, and while Soundwave was nervous enough is it was, he could tell that the scientist was as well, given his occasional trembling. He held the scanner out to Soundwave as he spoke.

"Ratchet tested the scanner on me, for some reason, but noticed this."

Soundwave glanced at the screen, having so infrequently looked at medical scanners that most of the information there was meaningless to his uninformed eyes. However, one portion stood out from the rest.

Subject carrier protocol: true

Subject carrier status anomalies: none

Purely out of surprise, he dropped the scanner and looked up at Shockwave. He only stared, his mind failing to think of anything to say, and so the scientist spoke instead.

"I was not under the impression that it was possible for me, but..."

But Shockwave was carrying. Even he, it seemed, did not want to say it. He continued after a moment.

"I... confirmed it with a different test. But I have no intention of keeping it. I just... lack the means of safely addressing that at present."

Soundwave continued to stare blankly at him, finally responding.

[But you will, yes?]

"I will. You deserved to know."

From there, they both had to continue working as though the conversation had never happened. And even though Soundwave dared not mention it again, the thought stuck in his head, distracting his attention constantly. Mainly, he continually gravitated to the first thing Shockwave had said. Ratchet noticed it. Not that anyone else would ever have noticed, but why did it have to be Ratchet? Oddly enough, what Soundwave needed now more than anything was an obnoxious Starscream to follow him around, laughing at his predicament. It would have made everything feel normal again.

But as he stepped into the other room again, staring down at the seeker, his mind turned dejected again. Nothing would ever feel normal again without Starscream. Sure, that was a stupid thing to say, but it felt true, for whatever that was worth.

But he noticed something on the monitor, and stared for a moment. It had been detecting more brain activity than usual. He sent a message back to Shockwave, although he didn't figure anything would happen that truly needed his attention. It was simply a logical course of action.

After a moment, though, Starscream's hand twitched. Soundwave stepped toward him, just barely grabbing his wrist when the seeker seemed to panic momentarily, barely even conscious but tearing his arm away as he seemed to cringe. Finally he relaxed again, opening his eyes and glancing toward Soundwave. A hint of a sound escaped him, but he still seemed caught in delirium as he looked around the room. Already, however, Starscream radiated only pain. Not physical pain, but rather the pain of a fractured spark. Why? Nothing had happened that would have driven him back to the nadir of his cyclical mindset. The seeker reached for one of the cables attached to him, but either by lack of coordination or weakness, his hand slipped away and his arm fell by his side.

"Why?"

Soundwave tilted his head somewhat. What was that supposed to mean? Starscream looked as though he struggled to breathe for a moment before speaking again.

"Why are... you here?"

[Coincidence.]

"Why am I here?"

[The building collapsed.]

"No, not..."

The seeker finally grabbed one of the cables stuck to him and removed it, falling back to the table as he did so, as though the simple motion had taken all his strength.

"Why... am I here again?"

[Again? This is the Triad.]

"Shut up for a second. Let me..."

Starscream moved to try and sit upright, only to fall back again. Soundwave moved toward him, lifting him up slightly so he could rest against the wall behind him. While the seeker seemed to accept the help, he promptly grabbed Soundwave's arm, shoving it away from him.

"Why... again... I end up in this... situation... so many times."

Soundwave waited silently for him to finish his thought.

"I never asked for your help."

Here we go again, Soundwave thought. Starscream had gone back to how he was after being saved from the predacons. That, and it was fairly normal by now for him to feel offended by any assistance.

[You are axiomatic to the decepticons.]

"Axiomatic? What fragging language is that from? No. You're wasting your resources."

[We've gone through this.]

"And you don't get it, do you? What have I actually done recently?"

[Aside from leading the decepticons?]

"Don't patronize me. That means nothing."

[You're both asking for a patronizing tone and becoming insulted by it.]

"I'm asking for you to stop saving me all the time."

Shockwave stepped into the room, and Starscream glared at him, rolling his eyes somewhat. The scientist looked instead toward Soundwave.

"Is he being resistant again?"

[As always.]

Soundwave had responded as though he were fatigued by Starscream's display, and while in a sense that were true, he also felt genuine distress radiating from him, and could not help feeling sympathy merely because he was exposed to it. Shockwave stepped toward the monitor, glancing between it and Starscream.

"You can move your fingers?"

The seeker glared at Shockwave, lifting up one hand to hold his middle finger toward him. Shockwave ignored the gesture, of course, looking back at the monitor.

"Dexterity is good. In that case, I've done all I need to do."

The scientist turned to leave, stopping outside of the doorway for a moment to look toward Soundwave. Finally he walked off again, letting the door close behind him, and Starscream spoke, holding his arms folded across his chest as he looked away.

"He has a point, why are you still here?"

Soundwave closed his eyes as he took a silent breath. This was not going to be an easy conversation.

[What is it you want, really?]

Starscream looked blankly forward instead of off to one side, although he still refrained from looking toward Soundwave. As much as he tried, he couldn't hide the flash of dread suddenly present in his aura. His voice turned quiet, the low tones of his raspy words sounding ever so slightly distraught.

"What do you mean?"

[From me. From Megatron. From the decepticons.]

He saw Starscream's hands grip his arms slightly tighter, his eyes flickering from Soundwave's general direction back over to the other side of the room, his aura burning with stress as he desperately tried to suppress it. Soundwave moved over toward the seeker, sitting down on the same table he rested on, beside his legs, one of which still rested in a brace of sorts.

[You don't really want to die.]

Starscream turned his head away, clutching his arms with a painful looking amount of force, especially considering his fingers were basically daggers.

"I..."

[This isn't recent, is it? You want something from us.]

Starscream still managed to suffocate his aura somehow, although he still hid his face from Soundwave's gaze as he spoke softly.

"What makes you think... it's you I want something from?"

Soundwave went silent, trying to figure out what that meant. Finally the seeker's aura flared in disappointment and agony and rage, and he turned his conflicted face toward Soundwave.

"What makes you think you're the only ones disappointed in me?"

Starscream started tearing the other cables off of him, letting out some sort of scream in resignation as he did so.

"Don't you get it!?"

His face turned almost pleading as he continued, his voice crackling from the torrent of emotion.

"I know I've failed! Over and over and... over again. I know. And every time, Megatron still..."

[I do not support what he does to you.]

"Because he's beating me halfway to death for what I'm already ashamed of! You think I want to kill him to take his place!? Well... fine, some part of me does, but how can you expect me to put up with this!? I haven't done anything of real value since collecting those omega keys, and... you're still keeping me alive for some reason?"

[You have done remarkable things in the past, which reasonably means you can in the future.]

"And what meaning does the past have anymore!?"

Starscream was trembling, drowning in the emotional torment of his own aura. This was the most sincere Soundwave had ever seen him, and it was difficult to remain calm as a result.

"You have more hope for me than I do."

The room went silent for a moment, and Starscream stared off into the distance with an eerily blank stare. Finally Soundwave responded.

[So what do you need?]

"Why would you care? That's not your concern. Anything I do should be my own responsibility."

[Because we need you.]

Starscream looked over toward Soundwave, but still refused to look directly at him.

"I... I don't believe you."

Soundwave stared at him for a moment, trying to think of what to say. How could he describe why they needed Starscream? Moreso... where could his talents be utilized now? They had no need for his skills of manipulation. At most, he would probably be able to help with some of the logistical challenges, but even then, this was not the type of environment in which the seeker thrived.

He couldn't think of any specific reason why they needed Starscream, but the seeker already knew that, didn't he? That was the whole reason he'd been so bitter. To him, keeping him alive was a waste of resources; an investment with no return. He knew what he was good at, and he knew he had ceased being useful.

[Then... I need you.]

"For what, to handle your chores?"

[I have known you for almost as long as I've known Megatron.]

"And you've hated me for that entire time."

[No, Starscream, I haven't.]

The seeker began to succumb to despair again, his whole body shaking as he screamed in response.

" I don't want your pity! "

[Then what do you want?]

"Just-!"

Starscream buried his face in his spindly hands, trying to look away from Soundwave.

"I.. don't know. Just... to earn someone's trust."

[You have mine.]

"Don't lie to me."

The seeker gazed away again, visibly destroyed. After a moment, Soundwave reached for the latches on his visor and lifted it off of his face. It was a strange gesture, yes, but Starscream, after passively glancing toward him, realized what he had done, and stared at him in silence. His expression was still empty, but it seemed he was able to see Soundwave's own distraught expression. He looked away after a minute, and returned to his quiet, somber voice.

"I'll still never hear you speak, will I?"

"Maybe."

Soundwave was definitely not used to speaking aloud, and so his usually melodic voice was somewhat hollow, sounding like a whisper when he had not meant it to. Starscream didn't even look at him.

"Why are you doing this?"

"I don't hate you, Starscream. I never have."

"You didn't answer my question."

"... I couldn't bear to watch you destroy yourself like this."

"So how is this supposed to help?"

"I don't know."

Soundwave finally placed his visor back over his face, since the lack of it almost felt unnatural. In addition, he shifted back to his silent messages as he looked away from the seeker and stood up.

[You have more value than you believe. I don't know where that value lies, or what you are capable of, but I hope you find out.]

He looked back at Starscream for a moment, finding him moving to lie on his side, facing away from him, curled up somewhat. Soundwave hesitated to leave, thinking of what else he could say, but finally he stepped out of the room and locked the door from the outside.

He'd already said more than enough.

Chapter Text

Nothing was quite the same after that conversation. Starscream had not taken long to regain his strength, but he had never quite regained his sanity. Similar to how he had been upon being rescued by the decepticons initially, he went quiet, always seeming nervous, always seeming afraid. But he listened to Soundwave, and showed him a kind of reverence he rarely saw from the seeker. He was still Starscream, of course, so this reverence was fleeting and not without its snide remarks, but Soundwave could see it emerge every so often. The seeker felt indebted to him.

In time, things began to feel normal again, even if they were negative. The troops had gotten used to smaller energon rations and not having other resources, but it had become possible to manage. However, Megatron had also become used to leadership again, a fact that had greatly motivated his subordinates. And in turn, they insisted on continuing the exodus project, as it had been so aptly named by Starscream.

These events were only peripheral to Soundwave, of course, as he spent nearly all of his waking hours rebuilding the Triad's computer network. Relay by relay, terminal by terminal, his attention faded from the happenings around him to focus solely on what needed to be done. But, by his side was Shockwave. Although the scientist was an expert in many things, his mastery of the computer systems was not quite as great as Soundwave's, and so he deferred nearly all direction to him, instead working as his assistant.

Thus, all of these past events seemed foggy in Soundwave's mind as he recalled them, sitting at the conference table. The room was mostly empty, but Shockwave sat beside him, looking at something on his arm panel as Starscream walked in, gazing between the two.

"What, so..." he muttered, "do you ever get sick of each other, or no?"

Soundwave remained silent, closing his eyes as he suddenly remembered how tired he was. And after a moment, upon hearing Starscream growl in an annoyed response, he realized that Shockwave had declined to answer for him. He closed his eyes again, letting his mind relax into a state of tranquility somewhere between wakefulness and sleep, and listened as everyone else who was supposed to be there entered the room. And finally, upon hearing Megatron's voice, he opened his eyes.

"Decepticons. While there are matters to discuss regarding Project Exodus, as it seems to be called now, there is something I would like to do first. You there, approach."

He gestured to the red and silver vehicon, who stood up, moving around the edge of the table to stand before Megatron.

"Kneel."

Without a word, the vehicon lowered himself to one knee, holding his hand to his chest. Megatron held his hands behind his back as he spoke. The room became filled with a silent excitement, as everyone knew what was happening.

"You have set yourself apart from your brethren by way of your tenacity, your independence, the ability you have shown to rise to face the many setbacks that have plagued us. I meant to do this much earlier, but as we all know, there have been other concerns that took our attention."

Megatron closed his eyes for a moment before continuing. Even though it had been ages since this ceremony was last done, it had been done enough times to where everyone knew the next part of the speech. Originally it was for a decepticon's initiation, so although it sounded somewhat odd for long time members, it still held value to those like Megatron who cherished tradition.

"Do you accept the terms of servitude, to be steadfast in adversity and fearless in demise?"

"Yes, Lord Megatron."

"To pledge your spark to the future of a new world?"

"Yes."

"To carry our sigil with humility into the darkest hour and beyond?"

"Yes."

"In this moment we witness a new decepticon rise above his rank, to become... Steelwing. Rise, and face your fellow decepticons."

Soundwave smiled behind his visor. Not only had it been too long since he'd seen anyone gain a name, it seemed Megatron had settled on the one he'd chosen.

The vehicon, or rather Steelwing, got to his feet, turning toward the other decepticons and saluting them, holding a hand to his chest again. They, in turn, all saluted back in unison. All except Ratchet, that was. Megatron glared momentarily at the autobot, not taking kindly to such disrespect, but not wishing to ruin the atmosphere by acknowledging it. Finally the gladiator nodded to the newly named Steelwing, who silently returned to his seat as Megatron continued.

"I do wish for this to become a more... regular occurrence once again. However, we still have pressing concerns at hand, between dwindling rations and lack of equipment."

Soundwave sent a local message as he lowered his head.

[I apologize, my Lord. The computer network is my responsibility, but I have been unable to restore functionality to the Triad's original data core.]

"You need not apologize. You and Shockwave have been working tirelessly, and I know you are doing all that you can."

Shockwave interjected, speaking as though he could hear Soundwave's thoughts and verbalize them.

"We have come to find that a return to the Javelin would be most logical."

"Explain."

"It suffered the least amount of damage in its crash than the other selected vessels, and as such, I believe many of its systems may still be functional. In addition, the Apex Sirion, considering its history as a research vessel, could provide some of the equipment we currently require."

Megatron turned his gaze instead toward Starscream, whose wings sank back slightly in response as the gladiator addressed him.

"What do you know about these vessels?"

"Ah... the Javelin was downed because of a mechanical failure, not in combat, so its hull remained mostly intact as it fell. That's why it and the Triad were both ready for transport at the same time, even though we started on the Triad first. The Apex Sirion, on the other hand... was searched through and stripped of volatile materials ages ago, so we're not likely to find energon there. But it probably does have useful equipment. Medical devices and such."

"So you support Shockwave's suggestion?"

Starscream let out a raspy sigh as he replied.

"Yes, master."

"Very well then. Steelwing, because the Triad is now our command outpost, I will be moving your team to the Javelin instead. Restore the power core if you can. Find out if any of the systems are functional."

The silver figure nodded, and Megatron instead turned to an otherwise regular vehicon.

"You will lead a team to the Apex Sirion. Take utmost caution as you search for anything of use."

He looked toward Ratchet, looking down on him in a purposefully intimidating fashion.

"I would ask you to accompany them, considering your areas of expertise."

Ratchet took a moment to respond, avoiding Megatron's gaze.

"... Fine."

The gladiator scanned the room again before speaking again.

"I understand that it is difficult, but I would also suggest that everyone continue to conserve as much energon as possible. We do not know how long it will be before our stock is replenished. I am prohibiting all groundbridge use until further notice, or when explicit permission is given. That is all for now. Dismissed."

As was typical, Megatron left the room first, followed by everyone else. Steelwing was the first of the others to leave, considering his understandable excitement, but within a minute, the room had emptied to just Soundwave and Shockwave. The silent figure started to leave, but upon noticing Shockwave clutching his abdomen seemingly in distress, he stopped and turned to face him.

[Are you alright?]

"I... this is only temporary."

[That's due to the... carrier protocol?]

"Yes."

Shockwave placed his gun arm on the table, using it to help lift himself up. Slowly he straightened up, and let his other arm rest at his side. He cast only a glance at Soundwave before walking out of the room.

As much as Soundwave would liked to have forgotten all about that predicament, he couldn't. It consumed his mind yet again as he finally left the room and headed back toward the lab. Why did one encounter with Shockwave have to result in this when they had so many other things to be concerned about? Fate was a cruel mistress, it seemed.

Soundwave soon found himself standing at his workspace, gazing at all the data presented on his visor, barely able to process anything anymore. Fatigue ate away at him, stealing his concentration and his proficiency. He let his head hang down, closing his eyes again as if the fleeting moments of sleep he occasionally had were enough to sate his aching mind. It was not long, however, before the sound of footsteps jolted him back to awareness, and he looked over to find Megatron staring at him.

"I don't know how you manage to do that standing up."

Soundwave couldn't think of anything to say in response, so Megatron merely turned toward the door, gesturing with his head for Soundwave to follow. They walked silently through the dark hallways, past several insecticons, before coming to one door and stepping through. The room was somewhat disheveled, the only objects in it being a few canisters of energon and several broken devices, all handheld and fairly simple, but surrounded by their component parts. These were Megatron's current quarters, but this room was nothing compared to what he'd had on the Nemesis. The gladiator stepped across a large crack in the floor to a device on the other side.

"I figured you could use this."

He flipped a switch, causing the device to emit a low, quiet hum; the sound of motors as they...

Soundwave stepped over to look at it.

[What does it do?]

"Nothing. I just thought it would help you sleep."

He looked up at Megatron, whose return stare was as calm as ever. But he could find no words, and so he merely responded with a shift in his aura to warmth and contentment. He stepped toward the gladiator, who, understanding his gesture, lifted a hand to brush against the side of his arm.

"You can stay here, for now, if you want."

In response, Soundwave moved over to the berth and seemed almost too eager to rest his weight onto something and lay down, causing Megatron to laugh slightly.

"But don't get used to it."

Although Megatron had only touched his arm upon being prompted, his voice was its own comfort, equally as soft and calming as any physical contact. Moreover, at times like these, Soundwave almost felt as though his voice was a type of physical contact, as little sense as that made. Somehow, by some strange magic, it was as though Megatron's low, quiet voice had consumed him, leaving in its wake the warm, physical sensation of comfort.

Soundwave didn't even remember hearing him leave.

He had not slept for long, but it was long enough. His mind had returned to its full awareness, and naturally he returned to his work on the computer systems. Shockwave stood by his side as he powered on one of the lab's terminals, watching and waiting and hoping that anything other than static would appear on screen. After a few moments, the screen flickered slightly, distortions rippling across the display, but it only returned to static a second later. Soundwave let out a sigh, and Shockwave glanced down at him. His aura was quiet, but it was clear he was trying to seem comforting, based on the way he hesitantly grabbed Soundwave's wrist and moved it from the console.

"It is most likely a bad connection."

Shockwave knew how infuriating this whole thing was to Soundwave. He could see the way it tormented him, even through his visor. He was the most skilled decepticon for this task, and he'd been spending weeks on it. Still, even the terminals closest to the main computer core were all but useless.

The scientist looked away for a moment, then back at Soundwave, hesitating to speak.

"Perhaps you should... move onto a different task. For a time."

The silent figure looked straight into Shockwave's eye, his aura briefly filled with disgust.

[There are no other tasks even near the same importance as this one.]

"Throwing yourself at one problem for too long can make you blind to it."

Soundwave's aura quieted, and he looked away.

[You're right. As always.]

Even as they declined to look at each other, Shockwave rested a hand on Soundwave's shoulder, and Soundwave placed his hand onto the scientist's in response. This lasted for only a fleeting moment, however, as Soundwave turned to leave.

His quiet footsteps echoed in the empty halls of the Triad, considering most of the other decepticons were staying in the other two ships to conserve energon from transportation. Still, occasionally he walked past vehicons cutting steel to fill the gaps in wall panels, or repairing the doors, or insecticons stuck to the ceiling and replacing light fixtures. He wasn't entirely sure where he was going, but he needed to clear his mind.

As he rounded one corner, he looked up just in time to stop before running into Starscream. The seeker looked up at him, but almost immediately averted his gaze, holding his arms close to him as he moved to step around Soundwave. But the silent form grabbed one of his arms to stop him, and held it in his hands to look at two parallel marks on his upper arm, and one more on his forearm. They looked like scratch marks, but Soundwave hadn't remembered seeing them before.

[What happened?]

The seeker tore his arm out of Soundwave's grasp, holding it up against his chest.

"That was nothing. Now if you'll excuse me..."

Starscream walked away, and Soundwave stared at him for a minute. A vague suspicion lurked in the back of his mind that the seeker had made those marks himself, but that was a bold accusation, and he had no real evidence for it. He turned back to continue walking, when Ratchet instead approached him from a nearby room.

"I was... looking for you."

[Yes?]

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I presumed you would be most amenable to this."

Soundwave stayed silent, already knowing the autobot's next words were not going to be positive.

"I... I can't stay here anymore."

[You want to leave?]

Ratchet sighed, and looked off to one side.

"It was different when you were in charge of a few scattered troops, but I can't in good conscience ever work for Megatron. That, and I don't think I'm ready to leave Cybertron again."

Soundwave merely stared at the autobot, his mind suddenly consumed with remorse. How was it that everything and everyone was falling apart now? Nonetheless, he had always promised Ratchet his freedom, and he had no intention of breaking that promise.

[I... understand. But we are more in need of your technical skills now than ever. Megatron has halted all groundbridge use as well, and I doubt he would be willing to make an exception for you.]

"I know. It's not immediate. And..."

He could see Ratchet struggle to say the next thing he wanted to say, finally closing his eyes as he took a deep breath and spoke.

"Th-... Thank you. For... respecting me."

Soundwave could only nod slowly. The autobot seemed somewhat flustered still, finally walking off as though he was in a rush to get somewhere. But Soundwave closed his eyes. They might have gained one decepticon recently, but Ratchet was leaving, and he feared Starscream was doing the same, all while his own hard work was proving to be meaningless.

Fortunately for him, when he returned back to his work on the computer network, his mind had been sufficiently reset, and he finally started making progress. It was only isolated to the one terminal in the lab, but it was a start. It clearly hadn't been used since the Triad had initially crashed, as was evident by its system time being off by about 600 years. Still, it was interesting. As Soundwave scanned through the most recent logs, he found records from the days of Kolkular, when the decepticons had been finalizing their plan to take Vos. Starscream had been very involved in that plan, considering it was once his home; albeit one he hated. In fact, while he was proud to have been a senator there, he wanted nothing more than to watch it burn. He'd described the city once as a "cesspool of classist dreams," which seemed fitting given what Soundwave had seen of it. It was the pinnacle city of corruption, whose citizens had long lived in naive ignorance of the war, given that most of them probably didn't take Megatron seriously on account of his having been a slave.

But then there were records from Tarn, that rust-laden industrial realm. Few good things had ever been known to come from Tarn, one of them being Shockwave. Aside from that, Soundwave had only ever known it as a city of factories, mines, and factories built within mines. He had never held any interest in knowing more about it, and even Shockwave had found that to be logical.

Corumkan, Nuon, Harmonex, all cities mentioned within the ancient logs, and entirely unnotable. Soundwave kept going through the terminal's data, realizing finally that Cybertron was an awful place. That determination was most likely made from his memories of before the war, when all the planet's infrastructure had been built upon the backs of slaves, but even despite that, only Vos really stood out as a 'nice' place by any measure, and even Starscream, one of the rare decepticons to have come from the upper classes, hated it. Perhaps Cybertron had deserved to be destroyed after all.

He heard the door to the lab open, but didn't need to look back to identify Shockwave's heavy footsteps and calm aura. The scientist stepped up to him, glancing at what he had been reading.

"The records from the Triad were saved?"

[It seems so.]

"Impressive. Are there records of the Javelin or Apex?"

With a few keystrokes, the terminal began searching through the computer's mountain of records, finally pulling up two sets of blueprint images.

[Javelin and Voulge. And the Triad, of course. I don't think the other two had been built at the time.]

"Nonetheless, that will help significantly with reconstruction efforts."

Shockwave turned back to his immaculately organized corner of the room, and Soundwave sent a message as he continued to look through the terminal's data.

[Did you ever make progress on the synthetic dark energon project after... you became distracted?]

"I fail to see relevance."

[I was thinking about regular synthetic energon as a strategy for combating our current deficiency and was reminded of your experiments, especially since you initially mentioned using it to revive the Nemesis. Now we have three ships that could use it.]

"We lack the proper raw materials and equipment for producing it."

[But your project?]

"Practically inconclusive, but impractically informative."

Soundwave stopped for a moment, as it took a second to even process what that meant. Shockwave continued after a second.

"I no longer have reason to believe that the use of dark energon on the ships would be a reasonable idea, considering they must be significantly altered from their original design merely to combine with the others. In addition... the last attempt did not end favorably."

[True.]

"Besides, my project would have been destroyed with or without your distraction."

[You can't blame all of that on me.]

"Not all of it, no. But most."

[Most?]

Shockwave merely emitted some form of amusement in his aura, which was probably a feeling he had to manufacture.

The two worked silently beside each other, as they usually did, feeding somewhat off of each others' auras, only needing to be in proximity to feel comforted. Even Shockwave, who usually became heavily distracted or subsequently angered by anyone else in his lab, was fine with Soundwave.

Chapter Text

Such was the manner of progress on the Triad; fleeting but rapid. Over that day and the following morning, Soundwave and Shockwave had managed to restore functionality to three different consoles, although, of course, that was only a fraction of the many terminals that needed repair.

But at the meeting later that day, even this progress seemed insignificant.

Soundwave sat at his usual spot in the room, Shockwave beside him. He gazed at something displayed on the screen on Shockwave's arm panel, when he looked up to watch as Starscream entered. Even the scientist froze upon seeing him, and how awful he looked. The seeker now had several marks on his face matching those Soundwave had already noticed on his arms. His eyes seemed pale, like he hadn't slept in several days, and much of the metal across his body was scuffed, sometimes to the point of showing different colors underneath. The scratches on his arms and face were probably his own doing, but Soundwave quickly began to suspect that Megatron had also had a part in some of the injuries.

He loved Megatron and admired him with every fiber of his being, but he'd never condoned the way he treated Starscream. The gladiator had, on rare occasions, admitted that their dynamic was highly dysfunctional, but that subject was also very sensitive, and so it didn't come up very often.

Starscream averted his gaze from the other two in the room, knowing well that they had questions, but desperately wanting to avoid that discussion. Soundwave couldn't even feel his normally radiant aura, given how much he suppressed it. The seeker sat down on the other side of the table, resting his head in one hand and looking away from them.

Steelwing and the other vehicon assigned to the Apex Sirion were staying in their respective ships per Megatron's orders, so Ratchet was the only other one who needed to show up. Soundwave had only invited him to the meetings initially as a gesture of transparency, but occasionally he'd provided reasonable advice, and Megatron seemed to agree. As the autobot entered this time, he looked at a small tablet and idly sat down in the empty space between Starscream and Shockwave, trying to stay as far away from both as possible. After a moment, he set it down and looked toward the seeker.

"What, no insults today?"

Starscream turned his head to look at him with a passing side glance, his face clearly showing his tendency to express his inner turmoil as outward anger, and even Ratchet looked concerned for a moment, the branching lines beneath his irises becoming visible.

"What happened? "

The seeker looked back away, and Soundwave had briefly considered sending the autobot a message, but that was when Megatron walked in. He clearly read the silence in the room as being ruminative, and glanced between the other occupants before turning to Soundwave, speaking in a quiet voice. It was not the calming, full tone he usually used, but rather a more hollow sounding voice; almost seeming fatigued.

"Have you made any progress?"

Soundwave looked over toward the scientist, who seemed all too glad to speak in his stead.

"We have fully restored three computer consoles, allowing us access to the data core. We located original building plans for the Triad, Javelin, and Voulge, which should expedite reconstruction efforts."

"Good. Have you sent the Javelin's plans to Steelwing?"

Soundwave nodded, and Megatron closed his eyes for a moment before turning to Ratchet instead.

"I understand that you wish to leave."

The autobot cast a quick, almost insulted glance over toward Soundwave, as if somehow expecting that he would keep such important information from the leader of the decepticons. All within a second, though, Ratchet seemed to regain his composure as he looked up at Megatron.

"Yes. I'm not ready to leave Cybertron."

The gladiator was silent for a moment.

"I know I once had you captured, and that we were all a part of those events, but I no longer feel that same desire to keep you against your will. I also understand that it was Soundwave who promised you the ability to leave at your choosing, and so I will respect his judgement. But, assuming you don't intend to drive to the other side of the planet, our groundbridge still needs work before it can be used to send you to Iacon, and we at present lack the energon to power such a bridge."

"I've... been working on the first part, at least."

The fire in Megatron's eyes flared as he finally stared down at Starscream.

"And the second?"

The seeker cowered slightly, his wings sinking back as he turned away for a second. He looked up at Megatron for only a fleeting moment, the nervousness in his breath showing that he was trying to think of what to say. The gladiator, watching his terrified silence with some degree of disappointment, finally spoke.

"So it seems that even an Energon Seeker can find me no energon."

He passively pointed a silver finger toward Ratchet.

"You can leave once the groundbridge is ready and there is enough energon,"

He instead gestured toward Shockwave.

"-So I will need you to manage plans for reconstruction of the Triad. Otherwise..."

He started to walk out of the room, clearly in an attempt to curb his own anger before he took it out on Starscream again.

"... Keep going."

That was it. These meetings were normally quite short, but they usually never ended like that. He had left the room in the awkward silence of his absence, and its occupants all hesitantly looked toward Starscream. Given that he heard no one else get up to leave, the seeker finally glanced at the others, the terror in his eyes quickly giving way to rage.

"... Quit staring! "

He got up and shuffled out of the room, his left arm clutching his right, showing two separate places where his fingers had dug into it enough to draw blood.

As he left, Ratchet turned his attention to the other two, his silent stare clearly asking what that had been about, and finally Soundwave sent a message.

[I do not wish to demonize my master in any fashion.]

Clearly that was all he needed to say. Ratchet's gaze turned pensive, and Soundwave got up to leave finally, followed by Shockwave.

As they walked down the hallways of the Triad, Soundwave lost himself in thought for a while, trying to think of how to phrase the question he wanted to ask Shockwave.

[I know you don't exactly feel sympathy, but... do you feel bad for Starscream?]

Against his expectations, Shockwave elected to respond silently as well after a minute.

[He has not contributed much to the decepticons recently, so I feel no need to help him.]

[Do his past accomplishments still hold value?]

The two stepped into the lab, and almost as soon as the door closed behind them, Shockwave replied as usual.

"This issue concerns philosophy rather than logic, so my opinions are equal in merit to yours. And in my opinion, a given person's value hinges on the trend of their ability to contribute. Repeated demonstrations of adeptness denote a greater value. On the other hand, Starscream has not demonstrated any such usefulness in some time. Thus, his value, in my view, is close to nothing."

[Do you think Megatron is making him worse?]

"That is irrelevant. If he cannot function under Megatron's command, he should not be here."

Considering Soundwave had no response, Shockwave looked back at him.

"I presume you do feel sympathy for him?"

[For some reason, yes.]

"Do you like him?"

Soundwave looked over at the scientist for a brief moment.

[Like is a strong word.]

"Then this determination is unbiased."

[You could say that.]

"And what is it you feel Starscream deserves?"

[Not to be beaten for ineptitude, for one thing.]

"Why?"

[I'm not certain. It seems to me that one should only be punished for positive actions. Failure to do something is a lack of action.]

"Interesting."

Shockwave looked like he was going to respond, but instead returned to his corner of the room, doing whatever he was doing with his laser tools.

Soundwave gradually returned to his work in full force, his focus narrowing on the repair of parts from another console so much so that it felt like he transcended space. He lost his sense of time, ignored the occasional speech from vehicons outside the room, and all but forgot about the happenings outside that room. While this trance felt short-lived, it was actually several hours before he was interrupted by a message from Megatron. He'd almost ignored it, given the frequency at which the vehicons sent him regular work logs, but fortunately he caught the message before it faded from his mind.

[Where is Starscream?]

He checked the time, suddenly realizing how much time had passed without his knowledge. He did a quick scan of the energy signatures in the Triad, none of which were Starscream's.

Soundwave's mind began to wake from his prior state, and a sense of concern already began to well up within him. He widened his search parameters, finding no trace of the seeker around the ship, within range of the Javelin, or even near the Apex Sirion. His mind began racing through different possibilities, and Megatron messaged him again.

[Soundwave?]

[I can't find him. Either he's shielded, or he's gone.]

There was no response. Soundwave turned to leave suddenly, eliciting an annoyed sound from Shockwave on the other side of the room. He turned to look toward the scientist as he stopped.

[What?]

"Every day you leave my lab in disarray."

[I need to go look for Starscream.]

Soundwave didn't even wait for a response before walking out of the room finally.

He again became lost in thought as he made his way outside the ship and transformed, flying up into the silent air. He peered down at the world below him, trying to find some trace of Starscream's signal as he ascended further into the sky. His field of view expanded, but he saw nothing. Only the dead remains of Cybertron rested beneath him, and it still hurt to look at. Among the ruins were no stray life signals, no traces of former life, and no traces of possible future life.

Starscream was one of the fastest fliers to have ever been part of the decepticons; if he was this far past Soundwave's gaze, he was much too far away for even Megatron to catch him. Of course, there was another possibility to explain the disappearance of his life signal, but Soundwave knew somehow that the seeker was still alive. He had run off before, and he had come back before.

Was Soundwave the only person who held some semblance of respect toward Starscream? He stared out at the landscape before him as he started to glide back down toward the surface, recognizing some of the buildings among the ruins of Kaon. This place had harbored all manner of depravity for centuries, the most atrocious being the way the servant class was treated. The slaves of Kaon were by far the most openly abused, and some were thrown into the gladiatorial arena as a death sentence, only to satisfy some sort of sick desire by the higher classes to watch a blood sport.

Subject to arbitrary standards, neglected, beaten for inadequacy... was Starscream not treated like a slave?

The very thought was toxic. As Soundwave flew back down to the Triad, he located Megatron's signal and, upon walking back into the vessel's halls, began to pursue him. He stepped up to the door to Megatron's quarters, only needing to hold his hand to the nearby panel for the door to open. The gladiator appeared to have been repairing a hand drill when Soundwave walked in, and the very act caused him to let out an annoyed sigh as he looked away.

"I know what you're thinking."

[You drove him off again.]

"It's a manipulation tactic to get attention. He'll come back."

[I don't believe that.]

It was highly uncommon for Soundwave to be this angry, but it was exceptionally rare for him to be angry with Megatron. Nonetheless, he stood beside the gladiator, holding his aura steady in a calm fury. Megatron looked over at him finally with annoyance in his eyes, but nothing more.

"You don't think he'll come back?"

[I don't believe it's manipulation. Not for an instant.]

"And what do you believe it is?"

Megatron clearly didn't want to be discussing this, as shown by the building rage in his own aura, but he had always been forgiving with Soundwave, and usually listened. The silent decepticon hesitated before responding, considering he really didn't want to test the gladiator's patience.

[Starscream is searching for purpose, and you...]

Megatron's eyes turned downright frightening as he stared at Soundwave, speaking with a low but very deliberate tone.

"I what? "

They both knew the answer to that. Soundwave looked away from the gladiator, if only to avoid succumbing to fear.

[He is broken, and you're punishing him for being broken.]

Megatron turned away, his voice clearly showing a huge amount of restraint.

" Don't go there. "

[Why is he the only one who receives this kind of wrath from you?]

Soundwave almost couldn't believe he'd sent that message. Megatron threw his hands down on the table beside him, giving a passing glance toward his third in command that showed the full force of the pure rage he was suppressing.

"I said don't go there. "

[You're treating him like a slave.]

Megatron finally turned in an instant, causing Soundwave to flinch as he held up a hand only to point toward him.

"Don't you ever say that to me again!"

Soundwave stood there, suddenly overcome with fear, but he forced himself to stay put, even though every iota of common sense he had told him to back away. Megatron stared him down, his burst of rage slowly beginning to subside.

"Do you understand me?"

Soundwave closed his eyes for a moment, gathering his thoughts. Finally he raised his head to look back at the gladiator through his visor.

[You would have struck him for that.]

The full force of Megatron's fury suddenly erupted as he took a step toward Soundwave, staring down at his shorter height with crazed eyes.

" Why are you testing me, Soundwave!? Why does it matter to you what happens to Starscream? I don't care why he left, but if he ever comes back here, he will get everything he deserves for abandoning us!"

[Even if you drove him off?]

In a flash of silver, Soundwave found himself thrown to the ground, the side of his head suddenly stinging in pain. He looked up at the gladiator, a torrent of emotions suddenly welling up within him. Even Megatron seemed stunned, given the way he hesitantly reached toward the silent decepticon to help him up. Soundwave recoiled somewhat in response, and the gladiator finally backed away.

They might have fought each other in the arena long ago, but Megatron had never struck him out of anger.

Soundwave got to his feet, averting his gaze as he still struggled to keep his composure. Megatron's aura had turned entirely solemn instead, and he kept his distance as much as he could.

"I-..."

Soundwave only needed to hold up a hand to silence him, and finally he looked toward the gladiator. They only exchanged glances for a second, but volumes were conveyed in their silent stares. Soundwave closed his eyes again, trying to keep himself calm, at least outwardly.

[I think you just proved my point.]

Megatron dared not say a word, and so Soundwave finally left the room.

His mind still churned with horrible thoughts as he wandered back toward the lab, barely noticing or caring about the way the vehicons threw occasional insults toward the insecticons. On any other day, he would have tried to de-escalate their conflict. On any other day he would have cared.

The door to the lab opened, and he stepped inside, briefly glancing at Shockwave as he worked, then over to his corner. The space he had been using was cleared of all his materials, prompting him to look back at Shockwave.

[Did you move my things?]

The scientist didn't look as he replied.

"You left my lab disorganized. I had to fix it in order to concentrate."

[I had a reason.]

"Yes, I-"

Shockwave turned finally, but upon seeing Soundwave, he froze somewhat. Soundwave merely stood there, somewhat confused, watching as the scientist stepped over to him, staring at him, then placed a hand on the side of his head. Soundwave pulled his head back slightly, seeing as this contact was out of context, but Shockwave grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him closer so as to look at his head.

"What happened?"

[What?]

"This mark here."

That was the side where Megatron had hit him. Soundwave tried to stifle the conflicted emotions he felt all of a sudden; sadness, anger, fear.

[Nothing.]

"Don't lie to me."

Soundwave remained silent, and Shockwave grabbed the side of his head again.

"You're reacting in an identical fashion to Starscream when I asked him the same question regarding some of his injuries."

Soundwave backed away, backing into the central table where he stopped. Shockwave continued to stare at him, but he didn't move. Finally, Soundwave responded.

[Megatron.]

"... Megatron did this to you?"

Soundwave had no reply. Shockwave let out a quiet sigh before stepping closer again, this time glancing at the side of Soundwave's head with much gentler touches than before. Although his aura remained calm, his voice contained traces of anger.

"I see no damage. What of Starscream?"

[Missing.]

Shockwave finally backed away, although he held his right hand in a fist at his side. The two remained silent, looking away from each other, seemingly in thought. Soundwave sent a message after a minute, although he still avoided looking toward the scientist.

[I only came back here to put my things away.]

"I appreciate that."

The silence that followed was not the kind of silence that calmed the mind, but rather the kind that tormented it. Soundwave could tell there were a great many things Shockwave wanted to say, and all of those potential questions lingered in his thoughts, screaming at him for answers. When the scientist finally broke the silence, however, he did not ask any of the questions Soundwave had expected.

"Do you... want to go to the spring?"

Soundwave gave a silent nod in response.

Chapter Text

The days that followed were horribly tense. There were no meetings, since there were too few people to make it worthwhile, so Soundwave merely found himself alongside Shockwave for most of his waking hours, repairing everything he could. The days started to blur together, and he could no longer remember what had been done the current day versus the one previous. No one really spoke to each other, and so everything fell silent.

Soundwave stared at the computer terminal in the lab, scanning through a page of text before realizing that although he had read it, none of it actually registered in his mind. He went back, trying to read the same thing again, then again, but to no avail. He finally just set the computer to standby as he held a hand to his head. He didn't even feel all that tired, but clearly his mind ached from fatigue. He looked over toward Shockwave, finding him in a similarly fatigued posture. He sat on a large storage crate, resting his weight across the counter in front of him, head resting on his arms.

[Shockwave?]

There was no response. Soundwave stepped over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Shockwave let out something of an unintelligible moan as he raised his head finally, looking toward Soundwave. It seemed he had fallen asleep holding a soldering iron, and still held onto it as he awoke.

"What?"

[I think we need to move on to something else for a while.]

"... Why?"

[I can't think anymore. And it's starting to look like you can't either.]

Shockwave looked back at the counter, noticing the soldering iron in his hand and, for a moment, seemed as though he were questioning why he held it before setting it down.

"Ah... this isn't... because of my work."

From the way the scientist started putting things in their proper places, it didn't look like he was going to continue, and Soundwave briefly rolled his eyes as he was forced to ask the obvious.

[What is it then?]

"It seems... these energon rations are... no longer enough."

[They're not really enough for anyone.]

"Especially not when one is carrying, despite their wishes."

[Is it really that annoying?]

Shockwave didn't look at him as he spoke.

"All of my organs are shifting out of place, which is... uncomfortable."

[You know, if you need more energon, you could have told me that sooner.]

"And then, inevitably, a vehicon would ask someone why I was receiving more."

Soundwave could only stare at him for a moment. Not that it seemed unreasonable to try and hide such a thing, but it seemed strange for Shockwave to care. The scientist finished putting away everything that had been on the table, and he looked over at Soundwave hesitantly, as if asking why he was staring, prompting him to reply.

[I didn't think you'd go through the trouble of hiding this, is all.]

Shockwave glanced back down at his hand as it rested on the counter, sighing quietly.

"In truth, I would rather you not have known either. It only seemed immoral for Ratchet to know and you to remain unaware."

[Why does he know?]

"He was testing the scanner. Apparently it's habitual for him to test it on other people. To be fair, his explanation was logical, and I only object to it now because of this current... predicament. If I intended on keeping the child, I would not care who knew about it. But for now, I'm forced to deal with these symptoms whilst I wait for the materials necessary to terminate it. It is... merely simpler to keep this hidden if I can."

[Even if you're starving yourself of energon?]

"And, since that's clearly unacceptable, I must resign to a compromise. I don't think I need all that much more, but I still feel it is somewhat unfair to be asking."

[It's fine. You didn't choose this.]

They went silent for a minute, at least until Soundwave sent him another message.

[I've... never seen you drink energon.]

"That is intentional."

[Why?]

"Uh..."

Hearing Shockwave stutter like that was somewhat off-putting, as was the way he raised his head to show a few small, strange appendages protruding from underneath, one in particular seeming like a coiled up proboscis of sorts. Soundwave could only remain frozen in place as he tried to find an appropriate response.

[I think the sound you just made sums up my reaction.]

"As I figured."

[That looks very... insecticon.]

"Chelicerate, actually."

Soundwave tilted his head slightly.

"The chelicerates were a genetic group who possessed both chordate and insecticon traits, something of a relative to both. Pure chelicerates still exist, although they are uncommon. But their traits permeate much of the existing gene pool. They are merely recessive, usually."

[So are you saying you're a different species?]

"No. Chelicerates are not different enough to be considered a different species, nor am I one of them. The only pure chelicerate I was personally aware of was Airachnid. They're only... a cross, of sorts, between chordata and insecticon, sometimes from common ancestry, sometimes from interbreeding."

[Primus, that's possible!?]

"Under very specific circumstances, yes."

[Why do you even know this?]

"I live to know."

[About insecticons breeding with regular cybertronians?]

"I don't know that the phrase 'regular' is very applicable. Insecticons are as much from Cybertron as we are. I have only read about such cases of interbreeding, but it seemed the chelicerates produced were... fascinating."

[I thought the insecticons were a different species?]

"They are. But they are still Cybertronian, and are not very far removed from us."

Soundwave shifted his aura to something of mild amusement as he looked away. While he would rather have never had to deal with the insecticons, it now seemed everything came back to them. Their exodus would only work with them, they believed Shockwave to be their oracle, and it seemed Shockwave himself possessed strange mouthparts vaguely derived from them. The scientist glanced at him momentarily with an awkward tension in his aura, speaking a moment later.

"What did you want to move on to?"

[Honestly I thought you'd have a suggestion for that.]

He was still standing directly beside Shockwave, but it didn't feel as awkward as he would have thought. Rather, having seen a glimpse of the scientist's true character, he now wanted to know everything. A few silent moments went by before Soundwave placed a hand on Shockwave's shoulder again, something of a gentle petting. Strangely enough, the scientist responded by holding his hand to Soundwave's back, which was only strange because it still seemed unexpected. Shockwave looked away as he did this, almost seeming less comfortable than Soundwave.

Shockwave really was an enigma.

Still, his aura emanated warmth, and his touch was appropriately gentle, as was the way he moved to almost embrace him from one side. Soundwave, of course, fell into this embrace all too willingly, but continued to watch the odd way the scientist continued to avert his gaze.

[What is it?], he asked finally.

"I wish not to form too much of an emotional attachment to you."

The admission had not been so much offensive as curious. Shockwave was becoming more confusing than Starscream.

[You're trying to avoid that?]

"Yes. I try to avoid it with everyone, not just you."

[Then why were you open to any... interaction with me in the first place?]

"Physical contact and emotional attachment are not intrinsically linked. At least... I would like to believe so. It has become difficult to differentiate the two."

The whole time, Soundwave and Shockwave somewhat rested against each other, both trying to stave off a desire for sleep.

[Belief is illogical.]

"Indeed."

As their strange attempt at casual hugging grew increasingly relaxed, Shockwave broke the silence again.

"I do not mean to offend you, of course."

[Why?]

"I... would like to be on good terms with you. For what reason, I do not know."

Soundwave hid a growing uneasiness in his aura as he hesitated to respond.

[Do you care about me in some way?]

"No more than usual."

[And what is usual?]

"No more than is necessary."

Shockwave hadn't appeared to hesitate, which seemed odd given the way he still held Soundwave next to him. Soundwave started to back away from him following this, considering all the comforting warmth he'd felt suddenly seemed like a lie somehow.

[Then you shouldn't care about offending me.]

Shockwave finally looked at him as he pulled away.

"It is only practical."

[Is everything only practical to you?]

"Yes. Please, know that I... do not want to offend you by saying I don't care. But, above all else, I do not want to lie to you. I merely... am somewhat incapable of caring."

[Somewhat?]

Shockwave's voice had started sounding almost pleading. For him, at least.

"I'm certain it's possible, as it's happened in the past, but I have long since decided to forego the complexities of emotional turmoil, precisely to avoid this type of conflict. If I must decide between you and the integrity of my work... Logic precludes what I feel."

Soundwave stared at him, trying to grasp everything he said. It would be stupid to think Shockwave could love him; that was hardly a reasonable expectation. What didn't make sense was that Shockwave had no preference toward him. Why, then, was the scientist so concerned with whether he was being offensive? Why had he become so distraught when Soundwave followed him to the bottom floor of the tower when it collapsed? Why had he claimed he enjoyed the bits of time they spent together upon being asked? Was this all some sort of deception? Or, perhaps, was Shockwave lying to himself in claiming he cared no more than was necessary?

In a brief return to reality, Soundwave forced these thoughts from his mind, lest they consume him. He had more important things to worry about, after all.

They eventually settled on drafting some of the plans for connecting the ships together, starting with the Triad and Javelin. Shockwave had suggested they work on different tasks, but Soundwave insisted on working with him still. It was not so much an attempt to spend more time with him, as the scientist would like to have thought, but moreso out of concern. Shockwave was the kind of mech to forego any thought toward his own health should his work be important enough, and given that he'd already begun starving himself of energon merely to keep the fact that he was carrying hidden, Soundwave felt as though he needed to watch him, just to make sure he wasn't neglecting his own health.

And every day, Soundwave flew up into the dead air above the Triad, listening and waiting for any trace of Starscream's signal. But energon was limited, and the flight took its toll on him.

Time seemed to pass by alarmingly quickly, and soon it had been a few days since the seeker's disappearance. Whether it was four or five, he couldn't remember, given the myriad of distractions that plagued his thoughts. There was no white noise, so every faint sound he heard stole his attention, as did a lingering desire for a sufficient dose of energon. Over time, it had started to drive him insane. Every pointless distraction felt like a wound in his mind, and he had begun to accumulate quite a few. Soundwave sat in his barren quarters, staring at a half-empty canister of energon he held in his hand when Megatron messaged him.

[Are you aware that Shockwave is receiving 17% more energon than everyone else?]

Soundwave let out a sigh. He knew Megatron would inevitably take notice of that, but he had still hoped that they would stumble upon more energon before that happened.

[Yes.]

[What is the reason for that?]

[He's mildly ill, but did not want to cause concern.]

In some ways, that was true. He never wanted to lie to Megatron, but it would be much simpler here. There was a brief moment before the gladiator responded again.

[He hasn't seemed ill to me.]

Soundwave took a moment to think of a response, although part of him feared he would have to end up telling the truth.

[Shockwave could be bleeding to death and he would pretend he was fine. I saw him start to get affected, though, and had to convince him to take more energon.]

[I know it's not that much more, but we only have about 16 days worth of energon left as is.]

[Are you saying I should set his rations back to the regular amount?]

There was silence for some time, and Soundwave opened the canister he held, taking off his visor a moment later and drinking some of the energon within.

It tasted like sand.

Finally, he received a response from Megatron.

[If our situation becomes dire enough to where we must restrict rations further, I expect that to apply to Shockwave as well.]

Soundwave took another drink, having to hold his hand to his mouth just to avoid coughing it back up. They had lost their regular energon processors from the collapse, so the makeshift ones they were left with were terrible. In a sense, it tasted like sand because half of it was sand.

Well, silicate compounds dissolved into the energon, along with discernable quantities of aluminum. It tasted awful, but it was all they could manage.

While it had been several days since Megatron had struck his third in command, they still had not spoken in person since then. This was moreso on Megatron's part than Soundwave's, considering he felt horribly ashamed of his actions. It was a flaw he knew he had; to act rashly and violently without reason, but most dared not challenge him, and even Soundwave, for most of the time, believed he was doing the right thing, even if for the wrong reason. Take, for example, the decision to conquer Earth. Soundwave could see that Megatron had no real reason to do so other than to capture a civilization populous enough to fear him, but it was a better planet in most respects. It was rich with energon, strangely enough, filled with plenty of other resources and, most importantly, not a barren wasteland covered in rubble.

Some time later, Soundwave glanced through some of the building plans for the various ships, writing notes about possible ways of connecting them, when a signal caught his attention.

[I'd like a groundbridge.]

Soundwave perked up, realizing who had sent it.

[Starscream?]

[Don't sound so surprised. I always end up coming back... for some reason.]

[Where are you?]

Soundwave got his coordinates a moment later, finding them to be surprisingly far away, lost in the depths of Tarn. Starscream replied before he could.

[Don't worry about the energon restriction.]

The silent decepticon sent a ping to Megatron as he started off toward the transport room. Upon arriving, the portal swirled to life at his command, and Soundwave stepped through.

He found himself in a massive cave, its walls dotted with blue. Crystals of energon jutted out from the rocks all around him, lighting the vacuous room in a soothing blue glow. It looked like an abandoned mine, but there were some piles of energon boxes against a wall as well, implying relatively recent activity. Starscream, having been sitting on the ground, stood up as Soundwave approached.

"There were some other spots, but this one was the most impressive."

[You found more!?]

"I am an Energon Seeker, you know."

They stood in silence, and Soundwave could only stare at the sheer amount of energon contained within the massive room. Starscream seemed to fidget for a moment, considering silence usually tormented him, and muttered to the silent decepticon.

"This spot was used as a secret cache of energon by the autobots for a while. It was never found until now. No one's set foot here since around the battle at Dextran."

Soundwave couldn't help but smile behind his visor. He was right. Starscream didn't leave in order to get attention; he left because he felt useless, and now he'd just redeemed himself.

Starscream stared at Soundwave for a moment, trying to see what he was looking at, but finally just walked past him toward the groundbridge, although his lackluster gait implied some significant energon deprivation.

"I guess I'll go get the mining crews."

[Thank you.]

"What?"

Starscream stopped, looking toward Soundwave as he similarly turned to face the seeker's gaze.

[You have done well. Thank you.]

Starscream seemed unable to process this, standing frozen for a moment, his eyes shifting between various points in space. He was probably trying to remember the last time someone had thanked him. Soundwave walked back toward the groundbridge, stepping past the seeker to step through before he could respond.

He'd sent messages to both Megatron and Shockwave, and before long, crews began hauling crates of energon back into the Triad, along with an industrial-grade processor. Life returned to the ship in a matter of hours, mainly because they had been pulled out of starvation. Soundwave stood in the transport room, monitoring the groundbridge, watching as wave after wave of vehicon troops came back and forth with carts filled with energon ore, crates filled with processed energon, and Shockwave walking alongside four insecticons from the portal. The scientist briefly glanced at him as the insecticon to his right spoke.

"-already believe you to be our Oracle."

"I am aware of this."

"We would like to make you an honorary hive member."

Shockwave, despite hearing this, did not hesitate in his wandering over toward Soundwave, or his response.

"I fail to see how that would benefit either party."

In their usual fashion, the insecticons replied in turn, one after the other, just as Shockwave sometimes did for Soundwave.

"Some of us doubt whether the Oracle is truly prescient, but all of us respect you."

"Rather, you seem to be the only one who respects us."

"Our loyalties still lie with Lord Megatron, but you have helped the insecticon hives immensely."

Shockwave stepped up to Soundwave's station, looking toward him even though he responded to the insecticons.

"This latest achievement is attributable to Starscream, and him alone."

"Hah! We give no deference to a Seeker. He is far too cowardly to earn our respect. And besides, this isn't what we're thanking you for."

Shockwave looked back at the last insecticon who spoke.

"Starscream has been in more fights than I have. If your respect is for warriors, I am undeserving."

"That's true, but you have brought all of the insecticon race together. We used to be divided by hives, Synach, Araum, Kel'Veran, so on. No longer. Now we form a Master Hive, and we are enlightened as a result."

Shockwave continued to stare, waiting for a continuation. Only he could stare up at the insecticons towering over him and remain completely calm. Perhaps that was why he gained their respect; even Megatron feared them, although he'd never admit it. One of the other insecticons looked toward Soundwave for a moment, then back down at Shockwave.

"Please, it is a symbol of gratitude. If we had possessions, we would grant you with them. We can only thank you by calling you one of us, since you are clearly our Oracle."

"I am not prescient, nor do I believe your legends. But if you wish to view me as a guiding figure, I cannot do anything about that."

"You make our respect sound like a burden."

The group was silent for a moment, but finally, Shockwave looked back up at the bugs.

"... I will accept whatever title you wish to grant me."

The insecticons around him emitted a series of high-pitched clicking sounds, and the scientist met Soundwave's gaze again, seeming thoroughly confused. Finally the bugs dropped to all fours, each bowing their heads to him. Shockwave even seemed tense as he watched them, backing away slightly.

"Please, I-"

"You are not insecticon, so you may not understand the value of unity among us. But you've granted the insecticon race a new life in this Master Hive. To us, you are kin."

They stood up, finally walking off, leaving Shockwave to step toward Soundwave as though released from captivity and seeking safety.

[What was that all about?], Soundwave asked.

"You heard as much as I did."

[I'm not going to ask what being an honorary hive member means.]

"Insecticon hives are not as depraved as most people think."

Soundwave looked up at Shockwave, and suddenly something clicked. The insecticons loved him because he respected them as equals. Most everyone else assumed they were purely brutish, or simply primitive. Even Soundwave had held those assumptions, but he'd never seen anything to the contrary until now. Shockwave, on the other hand, always seemed to see the humanity in them.

The scientist looked back at him after a moment.

"Most of the energon there doesn't need secondary processing. The energon from the crates is already safe to drink."

[Even though it's been sitting in cubes for centuries?]

"The autobots placed it there with the intention of keeping it away in long-term storage."

They went silent for a moment, but finally Shockwave walked off, probably headed back toward the lab, whereas Soundwave's mind returned to a prior dilemma, considering the sudden relevancy. Speaking of autobots, he had one to send back to Iacon.

Chapter Text

Between the return of the vehicons from the other ships, the return back to construction efforts, and the life breathed back into the decepticons, things had quickly become familiar again. Requisition reports, work logs, the sounds of miners, and most impactful to Soundwave, an energon processor beside his room. He'd gone so long having to sleep in silence that he'd started getting used to being constantly sleep deprived. As soon as he laid down in his quarters after the processor was moved, however, everything suddenly felt perfect, and he managed to sleep as though he hadn't done so in years. Shockwave hadn't believed him initially when he mentioned needing white noise to sleep, but he clearly saw the difference it made for Soundwave, and didn't bring it up again.

Of course, this surge in activity was somewhat peripheral to the promise they'd made to Ratchet. He, Soundwave, Megatron and Starscream all stood in the conference room, glancing toward the autobot as he spoke, although Starscream pretended not to listen.

"I'm sure the council's already branded me as a traitor... I can't just walk into the city without them... probably arresting me on sight."

"So this becomes a negotiation..." Megatron said.

"Of course, if that's the case, I'm not sure why any of you would bother helping me to leave."

Megatron looked down at the autobot, his eyes somewhat neutral as he replied again.

"In a past life, I'd have left you on your own, or refused to let you leave."

"And now?"

"I wish to honor my agreements."

Ratchet glanced toward Starscream, who stared him down, then looked back up at Megatron.

"Then how do I clear my name? How can I go back?"

Starscream, having been leaning against the tables, stood upright, his wings turning up as he spoke.

"That's a matter of using their logic against them. You can't be a traitor if you never hurt the autobots."

Megatron glanced toward Soundwave, speaking a moment later.

"Soundwave should go with you."

"What?"

[Why?]

Their responses were almost simultaneous. The gladiator let out a sigh before replying, seeming hesitant to speak.

"If you go on your own, the council won't hesitate to lie to you and imprison you regardless of what they say. That is, if they don't just keep you in exile. If one of us is there... they'll see that we didn't capture you. It'll become more of a negotiation."

[Then why me?]

"Anyone with half a processor would try to kill me, and no one trusts Starscream."

The seeker let out an agitated sound, muttering to himself a moment later.

"I'm not sure whether to feel insulted or flattered by that..."

Ratchet responded on his own, before Megatron could.

"I'd guess the first option. Trustworthiness is a virtue you've never had."

"Yes, I'm a decep ticon... Is that really surprising to you?"

"Enough," Megatron spat finally. "I want no deception here. That's why Soundwave will go."

The silent form nodded toward him in response, then looked back at Ratchet, who spoke after a minute.

"I doubt they'll let him into Iacon."

"Well," Starscream replied, "don't go into the city until you know you won't be arrested. Only a fool would make demands on their turf."

"Then why would they ever care about my demands? I'm just an old bot they've deemed a criminal."

"Because, for the second time in your ancient life, the decepticons are on your side."

"You're calling me ancient? You were there last time, too."

"I'd say I've aged better."

Starscream sported his signature devious smile, and Megatron rolled his eyes somewhat. It was strange, though. After all, it was this very group and Optimus who first approached the council so long ago. Now, it looked as though history was indeed doomed to repeat itself.

"Well," Megatron said with a sigh, "the groundbridge is ready whenever you choose to leave."

Ratchet stared at him for a moment, then nodded very hesitantly. Clearly he still felt uncomfortable in Megatron's presence, but that was understandable.

And so, before he knew it, Soundwave found himself standing beside the autobot, facing the groundbridge. With a habitual series of commands, the portal opened, and the two mechs briefly exchanged glances. Ratchet gestured toward the portal after a moment.

"You first."

Soundwave could only stare. Ratchet still felt threatened enough to where he suspected the decepticons might send him somewhere else? How sad it was, to see the scars of war still so fresh.

Soundwave gave no acknowledgement as he turned and walked through the portal, though he stopped almost as soon as he went through, considering the fortress that laid on the other side. He heard Ratchet step through, and shut the portal down. Though much of Iacon still laid in ruins, the remainder of the autobot population had crammed themselves into a walled city, isolated from the rest of Cybertron by gates and walls, built between the remains of whatever buildings still stood. They were some distance from the barrier, but already, two figures perched on the wall stared in their direction as they approached.

Ratchet held his hands into fists, his fingers curled around his thumbs as though even he were afraid. He stopped, looking up at the guards who clearly seemed nervous at Soundwave's presence.

"I'd like to speak to the council."

The way he broke the silence was like listening to glass shatter.

The guards looked at each other for a brief moment, then back down at the other autobot.

"Ratchet?"

"Yes."

"We have orders to capture you on sight."

"Well, I won't be-"

Soundwave and the autobot both turned as a groundbridge portal formed behind them, through which a small cadre of other guards ran through, pointing weapons at and stepping toward Ratchet. Soundwave, with swift steps, placed himself between the medic and the guards, holding a defensive stance, but drawing no weapons. The guards hesitated for a moment, casting inquisitive glances at one another, but one approached again, only for Soundwave to deploy his tentacles, the ends of which began to spark with electricity. They stopped, looking back toward one of the guards, seeing as he broke the silence with a comm channel.

"We located the fugitive, but he's being protected by a decepticon."

Ratchet, still standing behind Soundwave, spoke quietly, seemingly to him.

"Fugitive? They..."

The decepticon relaxed his stance somewhat, turning his head toward the autobot as he retracted his cables. A voice came through the guard's comm link, sounding awfully loud considering the dead silence of everyone else around.

"Confirm a decepticon is defending Ratchet? Who?"

"Affirmative. It's Soundwave."

The anxiety in everyone's auras began to permeate the air as it took a moment for the other side to respond.

"Do not engage. What is the fugitive here for?"

The guard looked toward Ratchet as the medic yelled out his own response.

"Not to be referred to as a fugitive, for one thing!"

"Ratchet, are you willing to cooperate with us?"

He and Soundwave stepped forward in tandem, slowly, making sure their movements were fluid and obvious. Ratchet moved beside the decepticon as he spoke toward the guards, to the unidentified voice on the other end.

"Only if you cooperate with me first. I'm no fugitive, I left Iacon because you treated me as a criminal for something I didn't do!"

"You abandoned your duty."

"If I was in exile to begin with, how can I be a fugitive?"

"What do you want from us, Ratchet?"

The autobot stiffened as he responded.

"To be a citizen of Iacon. Not a bounty hunter."

The comm link went silent, and Ratchet turned to look toward Soundwave as he sent him a message.

[This is hopeless. I ruined my chance of ever going back the day I left.]

[If it is any consolation, I believe you did the right thing.]

[It's not.]

"Alright," the voice on the comm link said. "Escort them into the city."

"No."

The tension in the air was painful as Ratchet continued.

"I need to hear it from the council."

The guards all glanced at each other, seemingly questioning what they were supposed to be doing. One of them backed away, considering Soundwave had been staring at him. Finally the response came, clearly begrudged.

"Two council members have agreed to speak with you."

A moment passed in silence, and one of the guards finally spoke.

"What do we do?"

"Supervise the subjects. Do not engage unless they are an imminent threat."

The guards, one by one, traded their guns for their arms, and all began to group together, seemingly wanting to stay away from Ratchet and Soundwave. The autobot medic let out a sigh, as though he had been holding his breath in anxiety, finally releasing enough tension to unclench his hands and stretch his fingers. The time that they waited was awkward at best, but fortunately it did not last long. A figure finally called out from the city's wall, and the group looked over as the two council members approached the edge, one speaking down toward them.

"Might I ask the decepticon what he's doing here?"

Soundwave glared at the councilor, stepping forward after a moment and sending a silent but very emphatic message.

[I won't speak to anyone who feels the need to tower over me. Come down here and face me as an equal.]

The councilor tilted his head, leaning against the wall's railing somewhat.

"Why should our physical locations have any bearing on our discussion?"

[If you spent your whole life being forced to look up to people, maybe you'd understand.]

He turned to the other councilor, who shrugged before jumping down off the wall, followed in turn by the other. Soundwave hadn't expected them to jump down, but it was nonetheless appreciable. The figures approached their group somewhat, although everyone kept their distance. The councilors held their hands behind them, standing upright, trying to convey their false air of superiority without the help of a massive stage. The councilor he'd addressed before spoke again.

"Now, do you have any other pointless requests, or will you start to answer my questions?"

Ratchet looked over at the decepticon, clearly sensing his barely-suppressed hatred for the council.

[I am here to ensure that Ratchet is fairly treated, and should that not be possible, to bring him back to a society that respects him.]

Ratchet stuttered a bit, looking toward the decepticon and speaking as quietly as he could.

"You're not helping my case at all! "

[Do you want to win their favor, or your freedom? You can't have both.]

The councilor turned to look toward Ratchet instead.

"And so, that brings me to ask why you are here."

The autobot clearly held a disdain for the High Council just as Soundwave did, evidenced by his refusing to look at either member.

"Councilor Halogen, I... would like to return to Iacon as an autobot citizen, but I believe I was unfairly treated before. That's why I left, and that's why I'm refusing to enter the city until I can be assured I'm not a criminal."

"But you are."

Ratchet's spirit suddenly flared in passion and rage, and Soundwave began to smile.

"Why!? I helped Optimus Prime to restore Cybertron! I helped to rebuild Iacon! You wouldn't be here if it weren't for me!"

The other councilor, having been silent until now, finally spoke.

"But it was, in part, due to your actions that led to Cybertron's death in the first place."

"To protect the Allspark from Megatron!"

"With whom, it seems, you are now cooperating."

"I-"

Soundwave held up his hand, and Ratchet stopped.

[While Megatron does still live, the decepticons no longer seek war against you. Ratchet left because he felt oppressed by the autobots, and found the decepticons to be more understanding. Is this accurate?]

The autobot seemed hesitant to respond.

"Y-Yes."

"So," Perceptor replied, "you moved from betraying the autobots to outright helping the decepticons, and now you want to come back to Iacon?"

Soundwave's own fury showed itself again as he took half a step forward, attaining a much more threatening stance than before.

[Ratchet can't be a traitor unless there's still a war. The decepticons have put that war aside. Have you?]

The two councilors glanced at each other, and Ratchet briefly sent a message to Soundwave.

[You sound like you've either rehearsed this, or addressed the council before.]

[Both.]

Halogen stared directly at Soundwave as he spoke.

"So long as Megatron or any other decepticons draw breath, we remain at war."

['Till all are none.]

"What?"

"I believe," Perceptor interjected, "that this would be a unanimous decision amongst the High Council."

[Typical, coming from an all-autobot council.]

Ratchet, in all his wisdom, shoved Soundwave back suddenly.

"This isn't about you."

While the gesture had been horribly timed and insulting, he was right.

"The decepticons," he pleaded, "aren't plotting against anyone anymore. There's nothing left to fight over! Hasn't enough energon been spilled!?"

Halogen responded again. "That doesn't change your status as a traitor and an enemy to the autobots."

"When have I ever acted against the interests of the autobots!?"

"When you and Optimus Prime forced us to leave our homeworld."

"And we restored it! We risked our lives to restore it! What else do I have to do to make up for that!?"

The councilors hesitated to respond, seeming thoroughly annoyed. Finally, it was Perceptor that broke the silence.

"We offered you the opportunity to redeem yourself by capturing the remaining decepticons, but you've refused to do that as well. However, you do know the location of whatever base they occupy, don't you? If you reveal their location to us, we will clear your record."

Soundwave and Ratchet glanced at each other again, and for the first time, the decepticon saw sincerity in the medic's eyes. He said nothing to the autobot, even as Ratchet suddenly seemed to grow horribly conflicted. He did, indeed, know where the decepticon base was, and he held in his hands the power to seal their fate forever. An entire era could come to an end, and he could be restored to the status he deserved. But, as Soundwave continued to stare at him, he saw - he felt , something from the autobot he hadn't expected; namely, trust. Ratchet knew in his spark that the High Council was corrupt, and that they were driving Iacon back to the same society he'd aimed to change in the first place. He didn't want to live in their world. The decepticons, on the other hand, had helped him, and respected him more than the autobots did. They had granted him a part in a community that somehow didn't hate him for what he did during the war. The decepticons had listened to him, something the High Council had never done.

Ratchet finally looked back at the councilors, clenching his hands into fists again as he looked down at the ground.

"I... refuse."

"I see," Halogen muttered. "Then I feel we have no choice but to ban you from ever returning to Iacon."

Ratchet's aura became laden with some horrible mixture of anger and sorrow, and he closed his eyes as he hung his head. Soundwave, on the other hand, looked back toward the councilors.

[Why did this punishment befall Ratchet and not Knockout as well?]

"That's a fair point," Halogen said. "He will be exiled as well."

Soundwave took a step back, partially in shock and partially in confusion. At the whim of a question, they send an autobot into exile? Soundwave wanted nothing to do with Knockout, except maybe to kill him for his treachery, but how could the council so passively change their minds about him?

Ratchet, seeming to ignore the exchange, spoke again, although he tried to hide his face as much as he could.

"At least... let me say goodbye to the team then. Surely you have the decency to grant me that much."

"... Very well. Guards, you are dismissed. We will send a groundbridge for your team shortly."

And, in but a moment, the group departed, leaving Ratchet and Soundwave alone, standing outside the gates of Iacon. Soundwave didn't want to say anything, considering the autobot was still in significant distress, but Ratchet had just defended the decepticons, at the expense of his own standing among the autobots. After a few minutes in silence, Ratchet finally looked over at him, though he still tried to hide his face.

"What was it you said? 'Till all are none?"

[Yeah.]

"Fitting."

Another moment passed in silence before Soundwave spoke again.

[Why?]

Ratchet seemed lost in thought, but finally looked up, staring toward the walls of Iacon.

"I... I would be trading lives for my own wellbeing. I would say that senseless killing is a decepticon thing, but... you're the nonviolent ones now. They're the ones peddling a dead war."

It took Soundwave a moment to think of an appropriate response.

[You... reminded me of something.]

He played a recording of a distraught voice, somewhat young.

["Even you with all your fucked up morals should be able to see that this is wrong. You're defending the guilty and punishing the innocent. So fine. Send me to Kaon, I don't care. But I want you there, to watch as I die, and I want you to know that it was you who killed me."]

Ratchet hesitated for a moment.

"Sounds like a familiar enough scenario. Who was that?"

[Me.]

Ratchet looked over at Soundwave in surprise, but before he could respond, a groundbridge portal opened up before them. Rather than delivering the other autobots Ratchet was expecting, Knockout was shoved through, stumbling forward and barely able to keep his balance as the portal closed behind him. He looked odd with blue eyes, and seemed off put as he glanced around him. His eyes fell onto Soundwave, and he froze.

"Ahhh... Hey..."

Ratchet crossed his arms as he stared at the red sportscar.

"So, how did 'joining the winning team' work out for you?"

"Well, there I was, minding my own business, when I get told, 'hey, you're being exiled!' What the scrap happened!?"

"They exiled me, too."

"You? The Optimus Prime wannabe?"

Before Ratchet could angrily respond, Soundwave deployed one of his tentacles and latched onto Knockout, lifting him up into the air. The sportscar grabbed at the appendage, suddenly seeming panicked as Soundwave spoke.

[This situation is much too extensive and stressful to explain to the likes of you right now. Ratchet is one of us, and I would rather deal with him than with you. You're only coming back with us because you have nowhere else to go, and your exile was partially my fault.]

"What?"

Soundwave dropped Knockout, sending him stumbling to the ground. He looked down at himself as he got to his feet, brushing dust off. Megatron would not be happy to have him back, but Starscream might. In a dominating, suggestive way, of course. Ratchet elected to speak before Soundwave could continue.

"It was hypocrisy for the council to exile me for treason but keep you a citizen. So they exiled you."

"What, just like that? They decide on a whim to throw me out of the city?"

"Yeah."

Knockout seemed stunned for a moment, but felt the distraught auras of both other mechs, and so kept quiet.

A short time later, another groundbridge portal opened up, but this time several autobots stepped through. Arcee, Bulkhead, Wheeljack and Smokescreen all stared toward Soundwave, but seeing as he did not react, they didn't either. Arcee was the first to speak, sounding both angry and curious.

"So, you going to tell us what's going on?"

Ratchet sighed, and the other autobots immediately seemed to grow sympathetic. Soundwave backed away, and Knockout followed out of fear.

"I told Smokescreen why I left. The decepticons helped me, but I don't want to work for Megatron."

Bulkhead chimed in, sounding curious. "And they just let you leave?"

"Yes, actually."

Ratchet glanced back at Soundwave for a moment before continuing.

"But, the council would only take me back as a citizen if I told them where the decepticon base was."

Wheeljack seemed almost angry as he responded.

"And you didn't!?"

"Well, they... have treated me more fairly than the autobots have."

"So," Smokescreen asked, "you're... leaving for good this time?"

"Yeah."

There were a few moments of silence, and Ratchet spoke again.

"I would... appreciate it if I wasn't the only autobot."

"Go with the decepticons?" Wheeljack scoffed. "No way."

Arcee glanced toward him before responding.

"I would, but... I can't guarantee I won't try to kill everyone."

Ratchet seemed to laugh momentarily. "Starscream wouldn't last a day."

Soundwave rolled his eyes, but it was probably true. Knockout looked up at him.

"Starscream's still alive? I shouldn't be surprised, but..."

The red figure sounded anxious, but Soundwave smiled. Watching Starscream's interactions with Knockout was terribly amusing. Knockout seemed all too willing to fall under the seeker's dominating nature, and Starscream seemed all too happy to gain a willing subordinate.

The autobots' conversation carried on, flowing from topic to topic, filled with nostalgia, until finally Ratchet looked back toward Soundwave and nodded slightly. The air went silent, and he summoned a groundbridge portal. Knockout stepped through the portal fairly quickly, seemingly just to get away from Soundwave, and the silent decepticon followed a moment later. He didn't want to intrude on anything Ratchet wanted to say to the others.

Upon arriving back in the Triad, Soundwave watched as Starscream strode up to Knockout, circling him and seeming to inspect him.

He already seemed happy to have his pet back.

Knockout stuttered, trying to back away from the seeker who followed him.

"Ah, it's... nice... to be back? Commander? Starscream?"

Starscream let out a quiet laugh as he straightened his posture, suddenly towering over Knockout considering he was actually quite a bit taller than him.

"You, Knockout , have much to atone for."

Ratchet finally came through the portal and almost immediately retreated, already halfway to the door by the time Soundwave deactivated the groundbridge. It'd be best to leave him alone for now.

Starscream lifted a spindly hand, holding one razor sharp finger hovering over Knockout's precious finish as he spoke again, seeming to have gone without noticing Ratchet.

"And you will atone for it all. Believe me. I'll make you."

Knockout remained rigid, staring with panicked eyes at Starscream's display until the seeker finally stepped away, casting a malicious grin toward him before turning and walking off, glancing toward Soundwave as he did so.

"Clearly there's a lot that needs explaining," Starscream said with an amused tone. Soundwave nodded. Indeed, there was.

Chapter Text

The following weeks felt like only days; not because Soundwave was starved of energon, not because of fatigue, but for once, because so much was being done that it was genuinely difficult to keep track of it all. Crews worked day and night to rebuild the Triad and Javelin as they fused the two ships together, salvaging the other three, moving them, and continually extracting more and more energon from the caches Starscream had found.

Knockout's return was not well received by Megatron, but the flashy doctor had made himself useful enough drafting the plans for connecting the remaining ships, leaving Shockwave to his research.

Soundwave stood at the computer terminal on the bridge of the Triad, typing in several keystrokes and watching the screen, finding the response to be unexpected. He'd been working for days on connecting the Triad's computer network to the Javelin's, but something continued to block his progress. It wasn't the ship connection point, since he'd tested that. He'd tested the lines from the data core to the terminal on both vessels, but everything appeared fine.

He heard Megatron's footsteps approach him from behind, and he shifted his aura to one of warmth in response. The gladiator watched him, noting what he was doing. He ran a few more tests, finding no response that could explain what was going wrong. Finally Megatron spoke, resting his hands on Soundwave's shoulders as he did so.

"Trying to reach the Javelin?"

Soundwave merely tilted his head back, looking up at the gladiator behind him. Megatron failed to hide a hint of a smile as he looked away, speaking quietly considering the troops working around them.

"You look stupid when you do that."

Soundwave looked back at his terminal, letting out a quiet sigh. Megatron still held onto his shoulders, occasionally brushing the back of his neck with his thumbs. It didn't quite have the same hypnotic effect that it did when used on Megatron, but it still felt nice.

[I'm not sure what's going wrong.]

"Don't blame yourself too much. This equipment is ancient."

Soundwave looked up suddenly, realizing something.

[I should ask Ratchet.]

"What, the word 'ancient' automatically makes you think of Ratchet?"

Soundwave couldn't help but laugh slightly as he turned his head to look back toward the gladiator.

[No, but he's worked with even more ancient equipment before. 'Ancient' just makes me think of you.]

"Let's be honest though, what doesn't? "

The silent decepticon stood motionless for a moment, trying to think of a response, until Megatron started laughing quietly.

"My point exactly."

[I'm not obsessed with you, I swear. I simply pledged my life to your service and followed you to the end of Cybertron and back. That's clearly not the same thing.]

"Oh, sure. Completely different. One is what a reasonable, loyal follower would do, and the other is you."

The air went silent again for a moment, and Megatron let go of Soundwave.

"Are you done with this terminal?"

[Oh, yes. Sorry.]

Soundwave walked off, and Megatron stepped up to the terminal instead. As he strode through the halls of the Triad, it felt like the Nemesis all over again. Vehicons looked at him with respect as they passed, insecticons scurried along the ceiling above him, and everyone had something to be doing, somewhere to be going. He reached the seam between the Triad and Javelin, stepping between several vehicons welding parts together, and into the other ship. Despite the fact that both ships were decepticon built, and built at around the same time, the Javelin had a completely different atmosphere. Its colors were brighter, making it look almost sterile, but had narrower halls and doorways than the other ship.

He finally walked into one room, finding Ratchet putting supplies away.

[Is this your lab now?]

Ratchet turned to face him, jumping for a moment upon actually seeing him, as though startled by his presence.

"If no one else is going to put things away, then.. I guess so."

The autobot turned to put something in a cabinet on a shelf, then stood there for a moment, awkwardly glancing toward Soundwave every so often.

"Ah... did you... need something?"

[Your assistance would be appreciated.]

Although the initial conversation was awkward, Ratchet seemed happy to be given something specific to do. That is, if he could ever be happy. His personality exuded irritation, but he at least seemed relatively comfortable as he knelt beside access panels, checking the wiring and connection points. Soundwave stood beside a nearby console, running many of the same tests he'd run earlier. Every so often, Ratchet would seem to spot something, adjusting a few wires or switches, but he never said anything, and none of it appeared to do anything. Finally, he looked up at Soundwave.

"Did you use conductor relays from the Triad here?"

[Yes, why?]

"They're rated for different voltages."

Soundwave knelt down beside Ratchet, looking at the components previously hidden beneath the floor panel. Already he felt ashamed, having made such a simple mistake.

[I'm going to have to rewire so much of this now...]

"I don't think you have to replace all the relays, just the ones on this pathway."

Soundwave sat upright, looking down the hallway he'd have to disassemble in order to do so. Ratchet, seeing his annoyance, spoke again.

"Well, I can help with some of it. Can't Shockwave help you? What's he been working on, anyway?"

[Researching the planet, I think.]

"Pff. He can research that on the way... He's probably locked in his lab again, trying to poison himself while the rest of us scramble to work on a plan he came up with in the first place."

Soundwave merely turned to stare at the autobot.

[Why would he do that?]

Ratchet went silent for a moment, leaning away from him ever so slightly.

"Ah... I... said too much."

It was then that the reasoning clicked in his mind, and he looked away.

[I am aware of Shockwave's status. In all honesty, I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to poison himself.]

"So it was you?"

Soundwave looked over at Ratchet again, suppressing a sudden sense of shame from consuming him, while letting some of his aggravation bleed into his aura. The autobot seemed to back away as much as he could, considering the way Soundwave practically assaulted him with his silent stare.

"Not like I care... I just didn't-..."

Soundwave didn't shift at all, and Ratchet finally looked back down at the wires that lay before him.

"... I'll replace these for you."

[That would be appreciated.]

Soundwave stood up and walked out of the hallway, ignoring the annoyed sound Ratchet made in response. He had fully intended on replacing the relays himself, but the autobot had offered to do it himself, and Soundwave felt, somehow, that he deserved it. For what, exactly, was unclear.

In time, it turned out that Ratchet's suggestion was correct, and before long, the tests that had failed on the computer systems earlier now worked perfectly. Soundwave ran the last of these tests on the terminal in the lab, given the isolation, when Shockwave stepped into the room. As usual, he gave little acknowledgement, no more than a glance, and went over to the other corner to work on whatever he'd been working on. However, as he passed by, Soundwave looked up, noticing that his aura, rather than being quiet and neutral, was strangely warm, like the mental pressure of concealed joy. He looked over at the scientist, receiving no response considering he faced away from him, then finally stepped over beside him, watching what he was doing. Shockwave emanated a strange type of contentedness, though he ignored Soundwave's presence for at least a minute before the strength of his aura faded and he looked toward the other decepticon suddenly, his voice harsh.

"What?"

Soundwave took a step back, looking away as he took a minute to figure out how to respond.

[I was... basking in your presence.]

Shockwave stared at him, his posture relaxing, and it almost seemed possible to watch his mind work behind his single, static eye.

"I... made progress today... You may continue to bask if you wish."

[I don't normally need permission.]

"You distracted me to the point of irritation. People tend to feel that way when you hover next to them without saying anything."

For some reason, Soundwave suddenly felt the same comfortable warmth that Shockwave had seemed to exude. Maybe it was his voice. He stepped back toward the scientist, finding both their auras filled with a similar feeling. Soundwave rested his head against Shockwave's shoulder, whose aura briefly burned with a flash of horrible uneasiness. It soon returned to its previous warm state, and Soundwave closed his eyes. Occasionally, thoughts flowed through his mind of things to say, but he refrained, instead focusing on the minutia of the scientist's aura, considering it was a reflection of his spark. It was rather steady, never seeming to flicker, but subtle. For an electromagnetic field created by a spark, it seemed weak, or suppressed. All descriptions seemed to mirror Shockwave's overall character, but that only made sense.

Finally, Shockwave spoke, his voice almost a whisper, and as such, was rather comforting.

"I... need to work."

[Right now?]

"Are you so starved for attention that you must linger right now?"

[Is your working and my lingering mutually exclusive?]

The scientist's tone grew increasingly amused as he responded.

"Do you wish to distract me?"

[Would that be a bad thing?]

"May I answer your question with yet another question?"

[Aren't you logically opposed to such tautologies?]

Shockwave looked away for a moment.

"... Yes."

Briefly they stood beside each other, both radiating amusement. After a moment, Shockwave lifted a hand and placed it on the side of Soundwave's head. The silent decepticon stared into his unflinching gaze, and for a moment, it seemed as though it was actually possible for Shockwave to care about him beyond what was logical.

The door opened suddenly, and Starscream walked in.

"Shockwave, I-"

The seeker stopped in his tracks as the other two turned to face him, and after a moment, he started laughing.

"The vehicons were right about you two, weren't they?"

Neither Soundwave nor Shockwave moved, although the former stared at Starscream, trying to think of a response that wouldn't serve to deepen the hole they'd fallen into. The seeker started laughing again, and Shockwave shifted his stance slightly, but remained silent. He wasn't the type to become personally offended, but he certainly wasn't the type to take Starscream's belligerent tone either.

"So tell me, Shockwave, how is this in any way logical?"

The seeker glanced toward Soundwave instead, his wings sinking back as his tone shifted to one more of disappointment.

"And you... I always thought you had... better taste."

What was that supposed to mean? Finally Shockwave stepped toward Starscream, causing him to flinch slightly as the scientist spoke.

"Enough. What is it you wanted from me?"

"So you're not denying anything?"

"I will only deny what is worthy of denial. I was aware of these rumors for some time. They are inconsequential."

"But they're true, aren't they?"

"They are still inconsequential."

Starscream took a step back, a smirk appearing on his face.

"So you are in love with Soundwave."

"Nonsense."

The silent decepticon finally crept forward, continuing to stare directly at Starscream.

[ That's not possible. And even if it were, I don't see why you'd care.]

The seeker straightened his posture, gesturing with one spidery hand.

"Because these sorts of things lend themselves to exploitation."

[So that's why your entire relationship with Megatron is borne solely out of convenience and passionate hatred?]

Starscream gained a disgusted look for a moment, letting out a squeak in the midst of his stuttering.

"That's... moreso the other way around."

Shockwave began encroaching on the seeker's space, causing him to back away as the scientist spoke.

"If you have nothing of substance to offer, I suggest you leave."

"Just one thing... Why are you getting more energon than everyone else?"

Shockwave stopped, and Soundwave looked back toward the seeker.

[It's due to illness.]

"Mm... For two months though?"

Shockwave struck Starscream with his gun, sending him reeling back into the hallway. He closed the door and locked it, turning and striding toward Soundwave.

"That is exactly why I did not want to receive increased rations."

[You were already beginning to starve, it wasn't much of a choice.]

They stared silently at each other for a moment, and Soundwave sent another message.

[You still never addressed that?]

"It is not that simple. I don't want this, but I am wholly uninformed on the subject. Critical periods of action have passed, and different methods are necessary."

Shockwave looked away, and Soundwave merely stared.

"I would kill it with my own hands if I could. After all, it fits the definition of a parasite. But I cannot."

[I realize that it would damage your pride, but...]

"I will not ask for guidance, or assistance. I trust no one else."

[Is that really logical?]

"... It may not be. But regardless, I still lack vital materials. Unless, of course, I merely consumed enough dark energon for it to be damaging."

Soundwave seemed stunned for a moment, moving his head back slightly, and Shockwave continued.

"But that would be counterproductive, so I won't."

[No, it's not that, exactly. It's that Ratchet said he thought you might do just that.]

"And why did you discuss this with him?"

[He brought it up.]

The scientist took a few steps toward Soundwave, prompting him to back away.

"Believe me, I am not neglecting this. I can't. Every day I am reminded that this... being continues to live despite my wishes. It feeds off of me, and I want nothing more than to destroy it. But I am unable to."

Shockwave seemed to loom over Soundwave for a moment.

"So if you would, kindly avoid this subject."

Soundwave finally backed away, staring at the scientist for a few moments, but electing not to say anything and simply walking out of the room.

As he stepped outside, he was again surrounded by the activity around him. After all, now four of the five ships were together, one had been fully attached to the Triad, and all of this was progressing quickly enough to where it looked as though they might be able to launch within the original window Shockwave had set. It was strange how, even when things were going as planned, it still seemed easy to forget just what they were working toward. The planet the insecticons called Sanctum was out there somewhere, slowly drifting into their reach. This ship was being built in order to reach it, but then what? Would they claim the planet? Would they need to defend it? Would they try to repopulate?

This ship was really only a motivation for the decepticons; something to work on, something tangible. After eons spent in war, what would be enjoyable about a stagnant society?

Soundwave looked over, noticing two insecticons staring at him. There could never just be one, could there?

"May we send a representative to your meetings?"

It took him a moment to realize that, for the most part, insecticons had never really had a voice in those meetings.

[Of course. Is there something in particular you want to address?]

"We would like to use all or part of the Voulge as our hive. It is of a reasonable size and construction, and you could use the portions we would remove from it."

Soundwave glanced between the two, finding yet again that the insecticons were far more civilized that common knowledge made them out to be.

[You may discuss it at the next meeting, but that decision is up to Megatron.]

"Thank you, maki. "

Soundwave tilted his head, and the other insecticon glanced at his brethren, then back toward the other decepticon.

"It... means ally."

The bugs wandered off, and Soundwave soon did so as well.

For a while he patrolled the area, wandering and watching the progress made on the ships. The troops that noticed him glanced at him with some respect and some fear, but most failed to notice him in the first place. He watched the efforts made on connecting the Apex Sirion to the Triad, wandered past troops organizing supplies, turned around as soon as he found Starscream, and ended up in a rather large room to find Steelwing amongst a group of vehicons, sitting on the floor in several groups. As Soundwave approached, he found each one to be completing a different task, taking dusty heaps of metal and combining them with salvaged components. He stepped forward, catching the attention of some of the troops, one of whom looked toward Steelwing.

"Commander?"

The silver form had been working on something of his own behind a desk when the vehicon caught his attention. He glanced toward the voice, then over toward Soundwave, almost immediately seeming startled and stepping around the table, saluting.

"Soundwave, what brings you here?"

Steelwing looked very different from when he'd been given his name. While the red marks had originally been paint added over his finish, now the markings were sharper, clearly outlined, and shimmered in the light. His head had changed, with several spikes pointing down off the back of his head, and a slightly different shaped visor. He seemed to notice Soundwave's gaze, and spoke again.

"I had Knockout redo my paint. So..."

[What's going on here?]

"Oh, this... we took some equipment and stuff from the old tower, I figured we might be able to repair equipment from the ships with whatever components work from the tower's equipment, and vice versa. It's yielded a lot of hand tools."

He gestured to a stack of boxes filled with various pieces of equipment.

"These guys are the part of my group resting from all the hard labor they were doing."

Soundwave glanced at the vehicons as they worked, then back at Steelwing, hiding a faint smile behind his visor.

[You're quite resourceful.]

"You... really think so?"

[Your salvage efforts are certainly more efficient.]

"I just figured... these guys needed something to do. So... did you... need something?"

[I'm only observing.]

"Oh..."

The silver figure looked back at his group, then took a breath before speaking again.

"This might sound stupid, but where does Starscream get his missiles from?"

Soundwave could only stare for a moment, considering that question threw him off.

[I presume he keeps extras somewhere.]

"You don't know?"

[I don't tend to pay him much attention.]

Steelwing started laughing for a moment, although he stopped himself fairly quickly.

"Sorry, that was just... funny."

One of the vehicons nearest to Steelwing looked up toward him.

"Soundwave made you laugh? What did he say?"

Soundwave turned his stare toward the vehicon, silencing him and prompting him to turn away a moment later. He looked back toward the silver and red figure, who suddenly seemed much more nervous than before.

[Please continue being resourceful. I was right to suggest granting you a name.]

He turned and walked back out of the room, smiling behind his visor again, able to tell by the way the room quieted that he'd managed to frighten everyone in it. It wasn't usually his intention to be unnerving to other decepticons, but he was quite good at it, and it was occasionally useful.

As he returned to his quarters later, he sat down on his berth, barely waiting to take his visor off, when he noticed a datapad resting on the desk that he didn't remember placing there. With one of his cables he brought it to his hand, and switched it on to find a message written on it.

"I want no record of this on communication logs, thus the archaic method of conveying this.

I am sorry about earlier events. I place no blame on you, even though you are the source of this entire situation.

Though it is greatly illogical, if I am to be honest with both you and myself, I must resign to the fact that I do hold an unfounded preference toward you. You are the only person who has ever desired to bask in my presence.

But, please do not take this to mean more than it does. You have more of a spark than I do. I may enjoy your company, but my spark died long ago, and I no longer possess the capacity for such affection as you grant me."

Soundwave looked up, thinking for a moment before putting his visor back on and walking out of his room. He traced Shockwave's signal back to what he figured were his own quarters, and stood at the door a short time later. Considering it was unlocked, he opened it without a second thought, finding Shockwave to be sitting on a storage crate at a desk, reading something on another datapad. He looked up as Soundwave approached and placed the other tablet beside his. The scientist seemed flustered as he spoke.

"Uh... did I offend you?"

[I'm not mad. Your message just seemed somewhat contradictory.]

Shockwave seemed to retreat into his own personal space, considering Soundwave was invading the rest of his.

"Then what brings you here?"

That was a good question. Soundwave knew he had to come here, but he wasn't entirely certain why. Noticing this, Shockwave stood up, stepping toward him.

"That was an unanswerable question, wasn't it?"

With that, he wrapped his arms around Soundwave, holding one hand to the back of his head. The silent decepticon suddenly froze, overwhelmed with a flurry of different thoughts, before finally returning the gesture, trying to think of how to respond.

[You don't need to justify all your actions. I don't really even care if you love me or not, so long as this remains enjoyable.]

"I don't."

[I know. I don't either.]

It was very quiet, but Shockwave started to laugh ever so slightly.

Chapter Text

As expected, an insecticon showed up to the progress meeting the following day, although neither Megatron nor Starscream had actually been informed about it.

Soundwave and Shockwave had been the first to arrive in the room, mostly considering their proximity to it, and were idly discussing ideas for the computer systems when Megatron walked in. He glanced at them as he took his usual spot on the inside of the table's curve, seeming to hesitate before speaking.

"Do you always sit next to each other?"

Soundwave nodded, and Megatron looked up to watch as Starscream entered the room as well, immediately looking toward Soundwave and Shockwave and letting out a quiet laugh.

"Of course they sit next to each other, it all makes sense now."

The gladiator glanced toward Starscream with a curious look, prompting him to continue.

"Their little tryst has been going on for quite some time, it seems."

Briefly, Megatron's eyes flickered over to Soundwave, then back to the seeker.

"You believe rumors the vehicons spread?"

Shockwave placed his gun arm on the table, concerning himself with the information displayed on its panel. Starscream stared toward the scientist, seemingly trying to grab his attention.

"I believe Shockwave."

"Why does any of this matter?"

Starscream looked toward Megatron, almost looking insulted as he took his seat. Oddly enough, the room went silent as Ratchet and Steelwing entered. While Steelwing looked proud and energetic, Ratchet seemed dejected, resting his head in one hand and staring off into space. Perhaps the events at Iacon still weighed on him...

When the insecticon approached the table, however, Megatron looked up at him, almost seeming confused as he spoke.

"Is there something you need?"

"I am the representative of the Master Hive."

"... And?"

"I am here for the meeting."

"Nonsense!" Starscream spat. "No one gave you permission to show up here!"

The insecticon looked toward Soundwave, who sent a message solely to him.

[Take your stand. Don't mind them.]

The bug looked back toward Starscream, letting out an annoyed clicking sound, then turned toward Megatron.

"Actually, Soundwave granted me permission."

Megatron and Starscream suddenly stared at him, both looking confused. Megatron spoke, hiding his apprehension well.

"I... was not informed of this."

[I didn't presume you'd object.]

The gladiator let out a sigh as his eyes narrowed. He knew Soundwave was lying, and he knew exactly why. Megatron would have objected to having an insecticon at the meeting, so this was the most possibly aggravating way for Soundwave to supersede his authority.

"Very well then."

The insecticon moved two of the chairs back and merely sat on the floor next to Soundwave, nodding slowly to him. Knockout entered the room a moment later, and immediately Soundwave noticed that his eyes had changed back to red. It looked much better on him than autobot blue. The red figure glanced toward Starscream, finding the seeker to be eying him quite intensely, and instead took the spot farthest from him as possible, directly next to the insecticon. That was quite the statement.

"In that case," Megatron said as he began his usual subtle pacing about, "Estimated progress on the ships has risen above 50% now. Estimated time of completion is two weeks before the start of the launch window. That leaves time for... possible unexpected incidents."

He meant time for fixing inevitable mistakes, but he didn't want to say so. He turned to Soundwave, gesturing toward him, and the silent decepticon offered his own words.

[We're still working on the computer systems. As such, request handlers are still slow. There's been an abundance of duplicate requests submitted because some people will issue the submission more than once in the false assumption that the server isn't responding. So, please give the servers more time to process requests. This isn't the Nemesis, unfortunately, and my equipment needs improvement.]

Knockout, of all people, responded.

"Pff, how many people are trying to submit work logs that it's slowing down the whole system?"

[On the Nemesis there were about 8 processor cores for every person, here there are about 12 people to every one core.]

"Hm."

Either Knockout didn't know what he was talking about, or he didn't care. Probably both. Megatron looked toward Shockwave, who shook his head subtly. Finally he turned to the insecticon waiting before him.

"Fine, what is it?"

"We would like permission to alter part of the Voulge for use as our hive."

"Why pick the Voulge?"

"Its structure lends itself well to insecticon use."

"And how would you be altering it?"

"Mostly it would mean removing walls to make larger spaces."

"Why?"

"Your kind doesn't use ceilings the way insecticons do. You have a need for everything to be segmented, segregated, and it wastes space."

"So you believe altering the Voulge for your use will make it a more efficient use of that space?"

"... Yes, master."

Megatron looked toward Soundwave again.

"I can only assume you support this."

Soundwave nodded, but Shockwave looked up toward the gladiator.

"I will need to look over the plans to ensure that structural stability remains."

Megatron glanced at the scientist in acknowledgement before looking back toward the insecticon.

"How long do you believe this would take?"

"We... already began removing some components from the vessel. Nothing major. I would not expect it to take long."

Megatron let out a quiet sigh as he stared at the bug.

"Fine. You may alter the Voulge as you see fit. Within Shockwave's guidance, of course."

"Thank you. That goes for the maki as well."

Shockwave and Soundwave both looked over at the insecticon, emanating inquisitive auras. The insecticon responded, clearly with hesitance.

"The insecticons have not been granted this type of representation before."

Knockout stood up to respond, almost laughing as he did so.

"Because your entire race is just composed of mindless brutes! What would representation give you!?"

"If we were mindless brutes, we would have killed you by now."

"You see! That's what I mean!"

Megatron held up a hand, and both parties quieted, Knockout sitting back down again.

"Quit your petty bickering... I am obliged to heed the requests of the insecticon hives, if not solely because they now compose the majority of the decepticon population."

Megatron turned to Steelwing, holding his hands behind him as though the previous argument had not occurred.

"Anything to report regarding the Javelin?"

"Engine repairs are almost complete. It was really just extensive maintenance. Weapons are functional."

"Weapons? Anything of practical use?"

"Ah... the only thing I can think of is a laser that might work for mining."

"Hmm... Any disruptor cannons?"

"No."

Shockwave spoke rather unexpectedly.

"I hadn't invented them by the time the Javelin was built."

Ratchet looked toward him, seemingly surprised.

"That was your idea?"

Starscream looked up at the autobot, then glared over toward Shockwave.

"Actually, it was mine."

"Wait..." Ratchet muttered.

"I created the original Null Ray design, but some one stole my research."

Shockwave turned to stare directly at Starscream as he responded.

"I supplanted your design."

"With no acknowledgement, as evidenced by your still claiming to have invented the disruptor cannon."

"Your research formed the basis for the later Null Ray designs, but the disruptor cannon constituted a fundamental design shift, which is rightfully my concept."

"Starscream," Megatron muttered, agitated to the point of holding a hand to his face, "if I hear your rant about weapons research one more time ..."

"It was my concept!"

Shockwave actually started to sound annoyed, though the shift in tone was probably only perceivable to Soundwave.

"The only similarity between those designs are the fundamental concepts of isolated electromagnetic disruption fields. No one owns properties of physics."

" Please, " Megatron pleaded, " enough about weapons research."

He looked around at the room's occupants, eventually settling on Ratchet.

"What have you been working on?"

"Mostly... scattered tasks. Knockout took over the junction plans."

"Shockwave, what could he be doing?"

The scientist briefly looked at his arm panel, then up toward Ratchet.

"The task most fitting to your... experience is augmentation of the computer systems."

Ratchet nodded, casting a suspicious looking glance toward Soundwave for some reason. Megatron continued, still looking toward Shockwave.

"And what have you been working on?"

"Varied forms of research on the energon planet."

"Anything of interest?"

"Not yet."

Starscream rested his head in one hand as he leaned his weight on the table.

"What are we going to do with the planet, anyway?"

Shockwave looked toward him.

"Cyberform it, exploit its natural resources, colonize it."

"So it's the exodus all over again, except we're leaving Cybertron because it's alive."

"Do you object to this?"

Starscream let out a quiet sound as he looked away. Awkwardly, Megatron glanced around the room again, letting out a sigh before speaking.

"Unless anyone else has something insightful to offer..."

The insecticon hesitantly replied in the tense silence that followed.

"Will we be allowed at future meetings?"

Megatron turned to face him, looking curious.

"Why would you want to?"

"As I stated before, it is rare the insecticons are granted this type of representation..."

"Because you never make requests of me like this."

"... Perhaps that's because we haven't been granted the opportunity."

Knockout groaned as he again interjected.

"Ugh, you already get a whole ship, what else do you want?"

"Respect from kyxra like you, to start with."

"Sure, like I haven't been called a kyxra before."

"The term is still accurate."

"I think," Steelwing, of all people, added, "that if the insecticons get a ship of their own, they should be able to represent themselves."

"And who asked you?" Knockout said, his eyes conveying both frustration and apathy toward the silver figure. Soundwave briefly looked over toward Shockwave, sending him a message.

[Do you know what kyxra means?]

[It has a few meanings from different time periods, as far as I know. I think here it's the more archaic meaning for pure chordates, specifically those that try to suppress the insecticon race.]

Steelwing somewhat returned Knockout's angry stare.

"I'm just trying to keep the discussion on topic for once."

He looked up to find Megatron staring calmly at him, seemingly watching how he handled the scenario. Knockout glanced at the insecticon beside him, then back over toward Steelwing.

"This is on topic. These brutes are overconfident, prideful, and I don't see how giving them a whole ship helps at all!"

Soundwave sighed silently beneath his visor. The scraplet trap was just opened, and someone was going to get devoured. Shockwave looked over at him, moving ever so slightly closer, just so he could feel the amusement in his aura.

Steelwing cast a fleeting glance toward Megatron as he responded.

"What makes them brutes, exactly? They're a warrior race but they're not uncivilized..."

"Their being a warrior race is what makes them brutes! All they care about is fighting and bragging about strength and-"

The insecticon pushed Knockout aside somewhat, glancing between him and Steelwing.

"If you believe us to be brutes, then we might counter that by answering for ourselves. "

Knockout shoved his claw away, clearly furious.

"Why can't you even say 'I' or 'me' like a regular person!?"

Shockwave spoke, suddenly catching the gaze of everyone else in the room.

"Insecticon culture is rife with collective identity. Besides, this insecticon is speaking for all of the hive."

"Do you at least have a name?" Knockout asked, looking toward the bug. Shockwave responded again, the apathetic tone of his voice seeming to calm the whole room down.

"Insecticons don't typically give their names to those outside the hive."

In response, the insecticon let out a low, quiet purr for a moment.

"Of course the Oracle understands."

"He's not your oracle!"

"Yes, I am."

Knockout looked toward Shockwave, seeming thoroughly confused.

"You actually believe the stories they make up about you?"

"No, but there is more to the title of Oracle than prescience, or finding the energon planet. It is a symbol of respect, especially if granted to one not insecticon. I find that most decepticons have preconceived notions about insecticons and their society, and the content of this meeting has only cemented that hypothesis."

Shockwave glanced toward Ratchet, gesturing to him.

"Even autobots have been treated more fairly here than the insecticons have."

The autobot retreated back into his chair as much as he could.

"I... don't want to be dragged into this..."

"My point being, insecticons are a different species, but they are still cybertronian. It is both vain and idiotic to suggest otherwise."

"Idiotic..." Knockout muttered. "Bit of an accusation, coming from you."

"So would calling you kyxra."

The room went completely silent, and Soundwave looked over at Shockwave, somewhat stunned at what he'd just said. Finally Megatron held up a hand as he spoke.

"Alright, enough of this nonsense. All of you, get out."

One by one, each person in the room awkwardly shuffled out, starting with Knockout and ending with Starscream. Soundwave and Shockwave walked side by side in silence, wandering back toward the lab, although both their auras conveyed the awkward sense that there was something they wanted to say. Neither one so much as sent a silent message though, at least until the door to the lab closed behind them. Finally, it was Soundwave who spoke.

[That was amazing.]

"Hm?"

[You essentially called Knockout a racist, to his face. Why do you defend the insecticons?]

"They're worthy of defense. And I am obliged to."

[As the oracle?]

"As a person."

Soundwave could only stare for a moment. How had he never truly interacted with Shockwave for all those years they'd worked alongside each other? How was Shockwave so fascinating, so unexpectedly perfect?

[I've never-...]

He was about to say he'd never loved him as much as he did right then, but something stopped him. Namely, the message Shockwave had given him. "Do not take this to mean more than it does." What was this if not mutual affection? Besides, Soundwave himself had just yesterday said he didn't love Shockwave.

That wasn't possible.

"... Yes?"

He found the scientist staring at him, curiously and hesitantly asking what he was going to say.

[... I've never really thought of this whole thing with the insecticons as being racism until now.]

That was also true.

"Reading about insecticon history helps to make that determination, though it is never easy to admit you're prejudiced. Cognitive dissonance has a way of hiding the truth. But logic usually leads to that assertion."

Soundwave looked away, suddenly detached from the conversation. Why had he almost said what he did? What sort of emotional torrent had even possessed him to do so, anyway? The clarity of apathy made his previous state seem like misguided hope. He didn't love Shockwave. He couldn't. Still, at what point did affection become love?

Soundwave glanced toward the scientist, who had started reading something on a computer terminal, and walked out of the room. These thoughts always possessed him, consumed his mind to temporary insanity; seeing what wasn't there, believing in impossible things.

It wasn't possible for him to love Shockwave.

Right?

Chapter Text

Although it was initially strange and a subject of friction, the same insecticon from that prior meeting began showing up regularly. He did not speak most of the time, and usually had very little to say when he did, but gradually, the prospect of having him there seemed less and less unusual. As each day progressed, however, Soundwave watched Knockout pick various spots further and further from the insecticon, and eventually end up beside Starscream.

He would have liked to watch their interactions more, but so much was being done that he didn't even have time. The projected completion date of two weeks before the launch window was fairly consistent as progress continued, spanning a very hectic several weeks. And as the date finally began to approach, the air throughout the ship was drowned in apprehension. The launch of a ship was something that had to be done right the first time, no part moreso than the control systems. As such, Soundwave, Shockwave and Ratchet all shifted focus to it, running every possible conceivable test to make sure the systems were functioning.

They were rather lucky that they weren't building from scratch, as that would have taken considerably longer, but with the method they used, the conglomerate of ships took shape rather abruptly, especially once the final ship, the Alterium, was attached to its neighbors, sitting at the front of the vessel. In a matter of days, the area went from being three ships sitting next to each other, to one contiguous form. Even this amalgamation was not quite to the scale of the Nemesis, but it was more than suited to what they needed to accomplish.

Soon, the launch date loomed over their heads, just days away, and new progress slowed, giving way to meticulous testing. All manner of mechanical error was filtered from the system, and Soundwave had begun the arduous task of running final tests. Having spent most of his time in the Triad, he barely realized that he'd never stepped foot into the Alterium until Megatron led him to the bridge. It was the newest ship by comparison, and so its halls had some of the same decorative elements as the Nemesis. But as the doors opened and he laid eyes upon the ship's bridge, he froze.

The room looked almost exactly like the bridge of the Nemesis. The front display was massive, curving down beneath the raised platform the main terminal sat on. It seemed like a waste of space now, but the panoramic window and the floating platform were greatly immersing, and had always been a favorite of his. Megatron looked back toward Soundwave, for a moment questioning why he'd stopped, then smiling.

"I figured you'd like it."

Soundwave stepped into the room, finding most of it to be, basically, a scaled down version of the Nemesis. He walked up to the center console, brushing his hand across its keypad. The screens came to life at his touch, and several windows appeared on the display, somewhat covering the scene of Cybertron that rested before him. Megatron stood behind him, watching him with some degree of satisfaction in his aura. Soundwave began reorganizing some things on the console, sending a message to the gladiator as he did so.

[Did you have to remodel this whole room?]

"No, actually. It was already fairly similar. This ship actually provided a lot of design elements that the Nemesis used later on."

Soundwave couldn't help letting traces of joy fill his aura. Finally, it felt like he'd actually accomplished something. No longer was this just a computer, or just a ship. Now a living being rested beneath his hands, waiting and ready for his command. He looked back at Megatron, and for a moment they stood basking in their mutual pride.

Starscream stepped in, glancing around the room for a moment, then toward Soundwave as he wandered over and stopped beside Megatron.

"Looks good."

[Indeed.]

The three stood at the end of the platform, staring silently at the landscape outside. A mixture of emotions seemed to fill the air; joy at seeing the decepticons once again rise out of adversity, nostalgia upon seeing the war-torn land outside, solemnity at the thought that they would be abandoning their home. Finally Starscream let out a content sigh, looking toward the other two.

"So does this whole thing get one name?"

That was a good point. No one, in their flurry of tasks, had thought of what the ship would be named. The thing was, the ships were connected by existing docking ports, so they could split off if need be. Megatron looked over at Soundwave with a faint smile.

"We could name it Nemesis II."

Starscream held a hand to his hip as he glanced out the window again.

"Mm, I like Alterium more. I mean, I like Apex Sirion more, but that's off to one end, so..."

"It seems like it would be confusing to have two ships with the same name."

[Nemesis II would look nice painted on the side but it seems unoriginal.]

Starscream laughed for a moment.

"We're all such damn perfectionists."

"I only suggested it because Soundwave loved that ship like nothing else."

[It's a perfect ship.]

"Ah," the seeker muttered, "it is a prime example of utilitarian art. Designed by Hailstorm, took design elements from Kaon-style architecture..."

The other two mechs looked toward him with curious glances.

"What?"

"You seem... informed."

"I read."

It should have seemed strange, the way these three still stood here after all this time, all this war, but Soundwave closed his eyes, letting himself instead be surrounded by the auras of the other two, listening to their voices.

They were the original decepticons. And despite the endless turmoil that raged between Megatron and Starscream, these three had somehow stayed together through an entire war, the loss of a planet, victory and defeat.

The seeker shifted his weight slightly, succumbing to his need to fill the silence with idle conversation.

"But, yes, the Nemesis was a work of art. I could see naming this ship after it... but personally I'd go with a synonym."

Megatron laughed as he responded.

"Nemesis Prime."

"Ugh, no."

"Besides, 'prime' would denote something better."

"We need a suffix that means, 'it's good, but it's not as good.'"

"Like mediocre?"

"Yeah, sure, like that works for a ship name."

They both emanated amusement, and Soundwave turned back to the console, looking up a list of ship names and displaying it on the main screen. They were split by whether the ships were autobot or decepticon, and the three mechs looked up at the list for a while. Megatron broke the silence after a moment.

"Why have I never heard of Secutor before?"

Starscream seemed to stare at the list for a second before responding.

"That one. Its maiden voyage lasted three days."

"Ah."

Soundwave tilted his head as he gazed at the list, thinking of various names. Starscream muttered something a moment later.

"The Harbinger was a good ship too..."

[How about Erebus?]

"Hmm..."

Megatron replied, his aura turning content.

"Erebus. It's vague, but it works."

"What does that even mean?"

[I'm... not certain. Entropy. Chaos. Equilibrium.]

Starscream gained a subtle smile as he looked back out into the distance.

"Yeah..."

Megatron and Soundwave looked back toward the window, watching the sun as it began to set. The silent moment that followed felt like time had frozen, and Soundwave made a conscious effort to remember it. This was something he wanted to immortalize; this sense of unity between the decepticons. Not the war, not their endless schisms, but this collective pride.

This was how he wanted to remember them.

The orange glow began to fade, giving way to blue twilight, and Soundwave finally turned around, walking between Megatron and Starscream to leave the room. He briefly stopped upon hearing the door shut behind him, given that he didn't exactly know his way around the Alterium, but soon recalled the path he'd taken to get there, and followed it back to the Triad.

As expected, when he returned to the lab, Shockwave lingered in the corner, looking through a microscope. He must have known it was Soundwave who walked in, given that he had no response or reaction to it. The silent decepticon occupied himself for a minute with organizing some of the objects he hadn't realized he'd left scattered, but looked toward Shockwave again.

[Have you seen the bridge?]

The scientist remained silent as he continued to adjust and stare through the microscope. Soundwave stepped over toward him, not necessarily wishing to be distracting, but wanting to know what held his attention. He looked at the slide as much as he could given that he kept his distance from Shockwave, but he couldn't be sure what was on it.

[What is that?]

Shockwave jumped back slightly, clearly startled upon noticing Soundwave's presence finally, looking toward him and promptly letting out a quiet sigh, holding his gun arm with his other hand.

"I'm... sorry, I was rather absorbed in my work."

[I can see that. What were you looking at?]

"The crystalline structure of dark energon."

They stood in silence for a moment, and Shockwave turned off the microscope, gazing off to one side as he stood, as though awkwardly awaiting an escape. Finally Soundwave spoke.

[Come with me to the spring.]

"... Now?"

[It's not like we'll have many other opportunities.]

"Only if your criteria is this specific oil spring."

[It's a nice place.]

"... True."

Shockwave looked off into the distance, seeming to think of something. The silent form remained beside him, watching, lingering awkwardly, finally stepping toward the door in the hope that Shockwave would follow. Fortunately, he did, and the two wandered through the ship, heading toward the transport room.

Soundwave often wondered, as he walked alongside the scientist past the vehicons, what they thought. Obviously they had generated rumors of their affair before it had even become a reality, but what had the troops seen in them? What did they see now? Though, the better question now was how much Starscream had told them. As much as Soundwave wanted to believe he didn't care what the vehicons thought of him, his reputation was greatly important.

With a thought, he activated the groundbridge, and the two decepticons stepped through. Shockwave looked around for a moment, considering the portal hadn't led them directly to the spring. Soundwave glanced at him as he kept walking.

[I don't want those coordinates in groundbridge logs.]

This seemed a good enough answer, considering the scientist had no response. The building wasn't too far, but even in the short time it took for them to get there, the temperature had started to drop considering the lack of sunlight. Thus, once they reached the spring, Soundwave found the oil comfortably warm by comparison, and wasted no time in submerging himself in it. Shockwave seemed to hesitate, looking up through a hole in the ceiling for a moment, but soon took his place beside the other decepticon. Still, he continued to stare through the ceiling, looking up at the stars. Soundwave followed, and for some time they merely sat beside one another, the only sources of light in a dark room, and gazed up at the night sky. Soundwave glanced over at the scientist for a moment, reaching over to take his hand as he spoke.

[Is the energon planet visible from here?]

The question had been genuine, but he also, somehow, still felt as though he needed to distract from the physical contact. It seemed Shockwave felt the same way, given that he responded as he adjusted his hand to let his fingers interlace with Soundwave's.

"Not without a telescope. But it would be visible through that gap in the ceiling."

Soundwave continued to stare again. Somewhere in that visible sliver of black was a planet that had captured their devotion, their future. And even though that sliver of black was minute compared to the endless sky that surrounded him, it still contained an endless expanse of space; filled with more galaxies than could be explored with all the time the universe had before it decayed into heat death.

He smiled behind his visor. Suddenly Cybertron seemed insignificant. Everything was petty compared to the vastness of space.

[The cybertronian race has only really explored two planets... either the rest of our kind is shortsighted, or we're the only ones who've ever wanted to see more.]

"Both are accurate. I sided with the decepticons moreso because you provided more of an opportunity to assist my research than because I sided with your morals."

[Only now is that paying off...]

"No, there was much gained from the war. At the cost of those lives, both sides made significant strides in innovation. Some has been lost, but I believe there to be a net gain. This is merely the first time I'm aware of anyone leaving Cybertron to explore for the sake of exploration."

[This was all your idea, you know.]

Shockwave looked at him, seeming to ponder this for a moment.

"... And I am grateful that no one has challenged it."

Soundwave closed his eyes for a moment, basking in the warmth of Shockwave's aura. He'd only felt that type of warmth from Megatron on occasion, but it seemed misplaced coming from the scientist. Yet, that was one feeling Soundwave believed impossible to manufacture.

Shockwave really did enjoy his company.

He looked back toward the scientist, gradually moving just slightly closer to him.

[Do you have a favorite subject?]

"In study?"

[Yeah.]

Shockwave looked back up toward the ceiling, letting out a pensive sigh.

"Possibly... evolutionary biology. I regret not studying the humans. That was a tremendous opportunity wasted because of war. After all... physics and chemistry are relatively well understood. Those laws are consistent throughout the entirety of the universe. But the laws of nature are remarkably fluid. Every time you find a condition under which you believe nothing may survive, something crawls out from beneath the ashes, not only surviving, but thriving. Science works in the unknown, progressing a bit further every time it realizes it was wrong. Life is the ultimate unknown, and we are always wrong. Most would find that demoralizing, but so long as there is something I do not know, I am willing to devote my life to discovering it."

Soundwave hesitated for a moment before responding.

[That was... awfully poetic.]

"There is no way to describe the natural world which is not somewhat poetic."

[Are you sure you're incapable of emotion?]

That had been something of a joke, but Shockwave's aura turned quiet as he responded.

"No."

Soundwave looked over at him, merely staring for a moment. The scientist glanced at him briefly, then looked back up at the stars.

His mind began to churn through a whole host of thoughts momentarily, most of them familiar, about whether or not it was possible for Shockwave to love him, and what it meant if he did. But as he looked back at the red light that stared up into the sky, this flurry of thoughts suddenly stopped.

Who cared about whether it was love? This time he spent with Shockwave was enjoyable, and that was all that really mattered. He liked being around someone as rational as him, who didn't feel any need to alter his behaviour to match a societal standard. He liked the fact that Shockwave always had something interesting to explain, and how he explained it. He liked how comfortable they always seemed to be in the other's presence, even if they remained completely silent. He even liked that Shockwave claimed not to love him; it was both honest and evidently untrue. But it didn't matter what such a thing was called. It was all irrelevant minutia.

Soundwave shifted his weight, turning to face the scientist and holding one hand to his head, turning it to look at him. Shockwave's aura went silent as he hesitated to respond.

"... What are you doing?"

Soundwave failed to respond as he moved again, this time resting his weight across Shockwave's legs, holding his head in both hands and gently pressing his visor to it. The scientist's aura burned with uneasiness for a moment, and Soundwave sent a message.

[Maybe I'm just really interested in the details of your face.]

After a moment, Shockwave's aura calmed.

"If that were true, this would be the least effective way of studying it."

The scientist reached up to place his hand on the side of Soundwave's head, his fingers brushing against one of the latches to his visor. Reflexively, Soundwave grabbed his wrist, but hesitated for a moment. Then, with a subtle, nervous sigh, he let it go. Shockwave moved his hand, speaking quietly.

"I actually didn't mean that."

[It's fine. Go ahead.]

"If you truly felt comfortable with me seeing your face, you would have shown me before now."

Soundwave stared at him for a moment, genuinely surprised by the response.

[You... aren't curious?]

"No, I still am. But I won't pressure you."

[... You really are the best person.]

Soundwave leaned his weight forward across Shockwave, embracing him as he rested his head on the scientist's shoulder, pressing his face into what little of a neck he had. Shockwave finally seemed to relax, letting himself sink back slightly, holding Soundwave to him.

There was something about the way they both glowed the same color violet, lines distorted slightly by the oil, that just seemed perfect. Plates of metal reflected everything, creating a mesmerizing canvas of dimly glowing light. This wasn't where Soundwave had expected this to go, but it was much nicer than he'd been expecting.

The last two days before the launch were much less hectic than one would have envisioned, aside from obsessive energon mining. With most of the systems already triple checked, most daily efforts turned to resource gathering; troops scoured the remains of the old tower once again, picking up anything that seemed like it could be salvaged or even repurposed. Other crews finished harvesting the last of the raw energon from the deposits Starscream had found, though, for now, they made no effort to even process the ore, considering they'd have plenty of time to do so once they launched.

But finally, the day came. Most of the day was concerned with, once again, making sure the ship controls worked, and that they had enough supplies to last the voyage. But inevitably, the moment of truth arrived, and Soundwave stood before the main console, his eyes closed as he listened to the chatter around him.

There were a great many steps required to prepare a ship for launch, most of which involved starting and warming up each of the ship's engines, although it was somewhat different this time because this was a conglomerate of five ships. Nothing was really standard about this launch. Soundwave had been watching the progress on the monitors, but the process was still somewhat time consuming, and he'd resorted to merely listening to radio communications.

"Javelin is go for launch."

The message had come over the overhead speakers, filling the room. Soundwave opened his eyes, watching as the monitor devoted to the Javelin's systems turned from red to blue. He looked back, watching the number of vehicons working at the other terminals.

"Apex Sirion go for launch."

"Triad is go for launch."

One after the other, the monitors turned blue. Soundwave began to feel restless, and he started to sway gently, waiting for another message. He'd launched the Nemesis numerous times before, but this time was somehow different. This ship wasn't something anyone was used to, and this would be its maiden voyage.

"Voulge go for launch."

A wave of anxiety welled up in Soundwave's mind, and Megatron stepped up by him, glancing at the terminal, pressing a key on the panel and speaking over the intercom.

"Stand by."

The gladiator looked back, glancing toward Starscream, who hovered around the vehicons at the other terminals.

"Is it running?"

"Now it is."

Some of the energon pumps had been stalling occasionally, which wasn't exactly a major issue, but it had momentarily interfered with some of the Alterium's sensors. Starscream looked back toward Megatron, starting to wander slowly up to the main terminal.

"It's up now, we're good."

Megatron spoke again through the intercom.

"Erebus is ready. Prepare for launch."

He turned to Soundwave and gave a brief nod, holding his hands behind him. With a deep breath, the silent decepticon turned back toward the helm, gently laying his fingers across the control panel. After a moment, the dead silence in the room gave way to the sound of the engines awakening in tandem, thrusters firing with a distinctive pop. The sound grew louder, and finally the floor jolted slightly as the whole of the ship lifted itself from the ground. Already some of the vehicons began to chatter in excitement, but they stayed relatively quiet, knowing Soundwave preferred it.

The ship rose up a couple dozen meters before the back thrusters fired, sending the Erebus lurching forward.

Soundwave's hands still shook slightly, but nonetheless he stared at the monitor before him, guiding the ship with gentle sweeps on the touch panel. Gradually it gained speed, flying low over old Kaon, and soon it tilted back, letting its main engine guide it further up as its takeoff thrusters quieted.

The excited tone of the vehicons behind him soon gave way to silence again, considering everyone in the room stared out the window, watching old battlegrounds and monuments pass by below them. Soundwave, too, watched for a moment. There were the remainders of buildings in the heart of Kaon; the government offices and capitol square, torn to pieces in the war. Only their ground floors remained intact, the rest either crumbling or reduced to their metal beam skeletons. There was the entrance to the mines not far off, but finally came the sight that every decepticon paused for.

The massive complex that spanned below them was once Kaon's gladiatorial arena. Obvious from the air was the arena itself, now an empty stadium decaying into rust. To one side were the living quarters, the practice hall and the guest lobby, to the other were the armory and some scattered offices. It was even still possible to distinguish the boundary walls that surrounded most of the complex, designed to keep their imprisoned gladiators captive. Much of the wall had been torn down early in the rebellion; an event Soundwave remembered vividly, but most of it still remained.

In but a moment, however, the Erebus continued forward, putting the brief minute of rumination to rest. Soundwave looked back at the helm terminal, suddenly much calmer than he was when he'd started. The ship tilted back again, enough to cause some of the occupants to brace themselves as its main engines hit full power. The sound was briefly deafening, and the whole of the vessel began to shake, but it sped forward and ascended into the dark morning sky.

Soundwave smiled behind his visor as the view in the front window shifted to mostly include the stars. It was finally happening, wasn't it? The decepticons were finally abandoning this centuries-dead war ground to make a new future. They were finally leaving all but one autobot behind.

The ship's trembling grew more severe as it sped up, and Soundwave finally had to latch onto the base of the terminal with his cables just to hold himself up. This was just normal for a launch through Cybertron's dense atmosphere... right?

The shaking lasted for only four minutes, but it felt like an eternity. Soundwave's mind raced with all the possible things that could go wrong with that much vibration; machinery could become dislodged, pipes could rupture, steel beams could become warped. He forced these thoughts from his mind, however, once the ship began to calm. As air pressure decreased around them, so too did the gravity. With a brief series of input commands, the artificial gravity came online, gradually counteracting the subtle weightlessness the occupants began to feel, and pulling them down to the floor.

With a sudden, almost overwhelming sense of relief, Soundwave looked up at the window before him, showing the black expanse of space that laid before him. The vehicons all began cheering suddenly, and Soundwave looked back at them for a moment. He could only assume the same celebration was taking place on the other ships, although he wasn't certain as to why. He glanced back at the terminal, turning the ship toward the coordinates they'd set, and locking course. He lifted his hands from the panel hesitantly, finding everything to be in order, and finally stepped away, turning around to look at Megatron as he sent a global message.

[Erebus is on course.]

The gladiator cast a faint but warm smile toward him as the vehicons continued their cheering, then stepped up to the console to again speak through the intercom.

"The bridge crew are now dismissed. On a side note, one piece of equipment we managed to salvage was an energon distiller. Make of that what you will."

Soundwave glanced at Starscream, whose face turned positively and maliciously ecstatic in response. The seeker held his hands together as Megatron turned to face him, looking up at him with all the devious pride he was known for.

"You can be quite gracious, my Lord."

"I didn't do anything for you."

"So... where is this distiller?"

"On the Triad, in the second cargo bay."

Several of the vehicons had seemed to be listening for this, considering that once Megatron had given his answer, they shuffled off excitedly, no doubt to go find where this distiller was and exploit it. Starscream didn't necessarily shuffle, but he did leave the room, prompting Megatron to turn to Soundwave, almost rolling his eyes.

"I don't know why they think I sanction this."

[Because you do?]

Megatron gained a curious look for a moment, and Soundwave continued.

[You enjoy watching them get drunk in some way.]

The gladiator lowered his voice, considering there were still a few troops working around them.

"I enjoy... seeing them enjoying themselves. And moreso, I enjoy watching you get drunk."

Soundwave's aura turned to one of subtle insult. It was true that he'd become impaired in the past, but it was only because it was a curse of his that he loved the taste of high grade despite hating its effects. He looked away for a moment, then back up at Megatron, finding that he held a subtle smile on his face, having meant no insult. Though, he looked away again as he responded.

[Regardless, I'm not going to start drinking this early in the morning.]

"There's no morning in space."

Megatron stared down at Soundwave with a widening smile, clearly trying not to laugh, and failing. The silent decepticon held a hand to his head, as though deep in thought.

[I... cannot think of a way to refute that.]

Megatron briefly held a hand to the side of Soundwave's arm before walking off. Soundwave glanced back toward the window, staring at the expanse of stars before him, his eyes soon drifting to one of Cybertron's moons in the distance. For a moment, he wondered if Airachnid still lived after he'd stranded her out there. Probably not. A slow, agonizing, shameful death was what she deserved after her amount of treachery.

Soundwave turned and walked out of the bridge, his mind beginning to wander aimlessly as he made his way back toward the Triad.

Chapter Text

Sure enough, although it had taken some time for the distiller to run, a small group of vehicons eventually began to gather once high grade started becoming available. Of course, Soundwave was only aware of this because Starscream had sent him several messages about it. He, of course, wasn't the type to partake in such gatherings, but he was definitely the type to want to observe it.

He'd been leaning back against one of the counters in the lab, glancing at reports on his visor when he turned to Shockwave, who was reading something on the terminal beside him, and hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.

[Do you have any interest in watching the... gathering?]

"Not particularly."

[You don't have any research that requires observing... whatever that entails?]

Shockwave turned to look at him for a moment.

"You want me to go with you, don't you?"

[I didn't say that.]

Soundwave's aura turned generally content in response, showing that he did, even though he had no idea why. Shockwave remained neutral as he looked back at the terminal. He stayed silent, however, prompting Soundwave to respond again.

[Alright. In that case, I'll be back.]

Shockwave looked back over at him when he started to walk out of the room, but declined to speak.

In reality, the group hadn't started with very many people, but as more vehicons started to linger around the cargo hold in vague curiosity about what was going on, it had turned into something of an actual party. Not many of them were exactly drunk yet, but as Soundwave lurked in the corner of the room, he overheard several troopers being just slightly too open and honest with Starscream to be entirely sober. But, of course, that was exactly the kind of thing the seeker thrived on.

A couple insecticons were clustered off to one side, and a couple vehicons had started lobbing a twisted piece of metal back and forth. That combined with high grade was a hilariously bad idea.

There was a collection of storage crates in the corner, most of which were probably filled with energon ore, but Soundwave climbed onto one, sitting on top of a stack overlooking the rest of the room. Almost as soon as he did this, he looked over to find Megatron off on the other side of the room, holding a small glass of high grade, taunting him with his smile. The gladiator started to wander over toward him, though he did his best to stay within the periphery.

Megatron had once been much more open to participating in these sorts of things than he was now. In the days of the gladiatorial arena, he'd seemed to cherish any possible escape from the unpleasant realities of having been sentenced to die there, and for that death to come about for the amusement of others. But as he gained power and a following, so too did his personality change, and he grew more subtle in his indulgences.

Megatron stepped toward Soundwave, looking up at his perch, and after a moment, holding out the glass of high grade he held. Soundwave could only emanate a vague sense of having been insulted by the gesture, but Megatron seemed to insist, placing the glass on top of the storage crate, directly beside him.

"You've at least earned that."

The gladiator rested his weight back against another stack of storage crates, and the two remained silent for a while, watching the activity in the room. Megatron's aura seemed to turn awfully somber all of a sudden, and Soundwave looked down at him. He returned the glance with calm but thoughtful eyes for a fleeting moment.

"This is all that remains of the decepticons now. No wonder they're celebrating this."

[I figured they were just sick of the rations they had before.]

"Oh, there's more to it than that."

Soundwave looked back over at the gladiator, who continued after a moment.

"So many eons we've spent mired in war... that we've forgotten what it's like to be free."

[You're not going to start lecturing me again, are you?]

Megatron laughed slightly.

"Not today, Soundwave."

They went silent again, at least until Starscream walked up to them, holding a glass of high grade which he readily handed to Megatron. The seeker looked up at Soundwave, crossing his arms.

"I never understood your approach to these things. You hide in the corner like you don't want to be here, but clearly you do, otherwise... well... you wouldn't be here."

[I like to observe.]

"Oh, don't be naive. Observing is participating."

Megatron started drinking from the glass Starscream had given him, and the seeker wandered back out into the center of the gathering again. After a moment, the gladiator looked back at the glass he'd placed beside Soundwave, finding it still full, and cast a strange, almost amused glance toward him. The silent decepticon swung with one foot, hitting Megatron in the back of his shoulder lightly. The gladiator looked back up at him for a moment, speaking in a quiet voice.

"What? Just drink it slowly."

Soundwave smiled behind his visor as he responded.

[Why are you tempting me?]

"If you didn't want to be tempted, why did you come here?"

[... Ugh.]

Megatron drank the last of the high grade he held, then looked back at Soundwave as he turned to walk off.

"I know, it's insulting whenever Starscream is right about you, isn't it?"

[Yes.]

Megatron laughed for a moment as he walked away, leaving Soundwave to glance at the glass beside him. Finally, he took it, partially undoing the latches on his visor, and took a drink.

If dark energon was the blood of Unicron, then high grade was the blood of Primus. It didn't necessarily have a taste, but it felt like the essence and the warmth of sunshine. And that was exactly why Soundwave avoided it so much; it was delicious, and therefore far too easy to overindulge in.

He remained on his perch, watching the scene unfold before him. A few of the vehicons had started to become uncoordinated, stumbling occasionally as they spoke to one another. Those that had been lobbing seemed to have stopped at some point, which was probably a good thing. After another minute, however, Soundwave looked toward one alcove on the other side of the room, staring past Starscream handing Megatron another drink, and focused his attention on one figure hiding amongst the energon crates. Soundwave downed the last of the high grade he held before jumping down off of his perch and wandering over to the other side of the room. As he approached, Ratchet looked at him and immediately seemed to roll his eyes in annoyance. The silent decepticon stepped up toward him, merely standing there in silence until the autobot returned his stare.

"What?"

[I didn't think you'd show up here.]

"I could say the same to you."

The autobot still seemed angry, of course, but it wasn't so much directed at the people around him as it was at himself, at least from what Soundwave could tell.

[I just like observing.]

"Eh, I just like high grade."

And indeed, Ratchet was holding a half-empty glass. He let out an annoyed sigh again, leaning back against some energon crates, facing away from the activity in the room.

"I should never have left..."

So his continuing angst was due to what happened at Iacon. For a moment, it seemed strange that he was still dwelling on it, but, if Soundwave were pulled away from the decepticons for the rest of his life, he'd feel like all of his years of service were entirely pointless. Maybe that was how Ratchet felt. Soundwave looked back at him for a moment.

[Forgive me for saying this, but I'm guessing you would have regretted staying if you had.]

The autobot almost seemed to ignore this, but finally glanced at the decepticon.

"Probably."

Ratchet took another drink, shaking his head as he looked back over at the commotion in the center of the room. After a moment, Soundwave sighed as he walked over to a nearby table and grabbed another glass for himself, retreating back into Ratchet's alcove. Just as he rested his weight against the wall, something caught his eye, and he looked up to find one vehicon try to catch a lob, only for the ball to bounce off of him and fly across the room, knocking over several energon crates. One of the insecticons dropped to all fours, emerging from his group and charging toward where the object had landed, grabbing it and hurling it back at the vehicon who'd failed to catch it. Again, the vehicon failed to catch it, although this time he merely backed out of the way, sending the ball into a group of others, knocking three of them down. The insecticon raised his arms, letting out a series of high-pitched clicks, and some of the vehicons in the group started laughing.

"Two points for the insecticons!" one yelled. Almost immediately, several vehicons grabbed the ball, one hurling it back toward the bugs, who all began to gather together to catch it. The rest of the room parted, giving space to the unofficial game as it started. Soundwave looked over at Ratchet, finding him watching the commotion as well.

[High grade and lobbing is not a good combination. I'll bet you that right now.]

The autobot looked over at him, letting out a short laugh.

"That would be a stupid bet to take. At least we all have something in common."

The rest of the room seemed content watching the game, even though some of the vehicons involved gradually became less coordinated as time went on. Soundwave at one point left his space to grab another drink, though in the back of his mind he already knew he'd had too much. Not that it had started to affect him, but it was going to if he kept drinking it. As he returned, he was suddenly able to see that Ratchet, on the other hand already was affected. It was subtle, but his aura had quieted, and he'd been fidgeting, shifting his weight rather often. Soundwave looked at the glass he held, hesitantly taking a drink a moment later.

[Why does this have to be so good...]

Ratchet looked over at him, seeming amused.

"Because everyone's so used to that... awful energon from before?"

[Maybe.]

A sound caught everyone's attention, considering the lobbing ball had been deflected, throwing it into one of the tables that held drinks on it. There was a momentary hysteria, considering it considered of glass shattering and high grade spilling to the floor, but as soon as one of the insecticons grabbed the ball, the room began to calm down again.

Soundwave scanned the room again, finding Megatron across the room, standing beside Knockout, seeming to talk about something. A few vehicons surrounded them, obviously becoming more impaired by the minute. He looked over beside him, finding Steelwing walking up to him. The silver form seemed to glance curiously at Ratchet for a moment, but turned his attention back toward Soundwave.

"Just so you know, uh... Starscream's telling people about you and Shockwave again."

Soundwave passively held up a hand, as if waving Steelwing away.

[Yeah, I still don't know why anyone cares about that.]

Ratchet stepped over toward Soundwave as he spoke, pointing toward the silver figure.

"And that's only half of it."

"Half of..."

Soundwave reached back, momentarily grabbing the autobot's face and shoving him away. Ratchet took a few steps back, sounding aggravated but amused.

"I wasn't going to say anything about it."

Steelwing glanced over toward Starscream, pointing Soundwave's attention to the way the seeker rested on a storage crate, swaying slightly even as he merely sat there talking to a few vehicons. Steelwing looked back at Soundwave.

"I don't know, maybe he had too much."

[Starscream?]

"... Yeah?"

[Oh, no, Starscream doesn't drink.]

Steelwing could only respond by staring at him in silence, and Ratchet stepped back toward him as well.

"What do you mean, he doesn't drink?"

Soundwave closed his eyes as he smiled behind his visor for some reason.

[He's just really good at faking it.]

Steelwing's aura felt especially strong all of a sudden, seeming horribly confused.

"Wait... what!?"

[Don't tell anyone I told you that.]

"He's... pretending to be drunk? Why would he pretend to be drunk!?"

Ratchet seemed to echo the silver figure.

"Well, especially when he could just actually get drunk."

[I forget exactly what he said, something about... manipulation. Getting people to talk openly.]

"Wait," Ratchet said, "when have you ever forgotten what someone said?"

[When I've been drinking.]

"Of course."

Steelwing shifted his weight awkwardly. Clearly he hadn't had any high grade.

"Wait, so Starscream really doesn't drink?"

[No, not in social settings. But Megatron does.]

They all looked over at the gladiator suddenly, finding him still among the group of vehicons watching the continuing lobbing match. He seemed mostly coordinated still, though he seemed much more relaxed than he usually was. Ratchet backed toward the wall behind him and leaned against it again.

"Yup. Whatever this is... is still better than what I was doing in Iacon."

Soundwave, noticing that Steelwing had left at some point, moved to stand beside Ratchet in mutual relaxation.

[I knew I was right to bring you here.]

"I said this was better, not that it was good. Though... at least I've had enough high grade to find that funny."

As the lobbing match eventually devolved to vehicons grabbing onto one of the insecticons to see how long they could hang on, the atmosphere in the room seemed to become much more amiable. Soundwave at one point closed his eyes, instead merely listening to the sounds around him, but as soon as he did so, he seemed to lose his balance, stumbling slightly but quickly leaning back against the wall. Ratchet laughed for a moment upon seeing this.

"How much have you had?"

Soundwave looked at the glass he held, finding it mostly full. The thing was, he only remembered holding an empty glass just a few minutes ago. He let his hand relax, dropping the glass and letting it crash to the floor.

[Damn you.]

"What did I do?"

[Ugh, Megatron's going to laugh at me.]

"Yeah but... he's laughing at... everything right now."

Soundwave turned to leave, only to suddenly become overwhelmed with vertigo, and he stumbled back toward the wall where he was at least safe. After a moment, he started walking with his weight dragging against the wall, and Ratchet followed for some reason, laughing occasionally.

"So... have you had enough high grade to forget what people are saying?"

[Have you had enough to shut up?]

"... No?"

Soundwave sent a ping to Shockwave as he continued his slow journey around the edge of the room, although he hadn't expected to get a message back.

[Yes, I received your previous five pings.]

[I only sent you one!]

Ratchet responded, still lingering behind him.

"Sent me one what?"

[A request for you to shut up.]

He got a message back from Shockwave a moment later.

[I suggest you not test my patience.]

[Your patience is irrelevant to the larger dilemma of my struggling to leave this room.]

"I guess that's true... but high grade doesn't help."

[If only it did...]

He got a message from Starscream soon after.

[Soundwave, what are you talking about?]

He looked around the room, trying to find the seeker, but he'd seemed to disappear at some point. How had Starscream heard him? Although, upon second thought, Megatron seemed to be absent as well.

He heard familiar footsteps, and looked up to see Shockwave standing before him, his aura severely annoyed. Ratchet stepped over beside Soundwave, looking up at the scientist.

"By the way, I was wondering if you were still carrying becau-"

Shockwave held up his gun arm and promptly shot Ratchet square in the chest, sending him reeling back and falling to the floor, motionless. Soundwave, having been standing directly next to the autobot, started backing away from Shockwave as much as he could.

[You killed him!]

He received another message from Starscream after a second.

[Soundwave, I have never said this, but I highly recommend that you stop talking.]

[He killed Ratchet!]

"That blast was hardly damaging."

Shockwave grabbed Soundwave finally, throwing him over his shoulder. After a moment of hesitation and a quiet sigh, he grabbed Ratchet as well and walked out of the room.

The meeting the next day was awkward at best. It was clear who'd been drinking and who hadn't; even Megatron seemed generally off compared to Starscream. Ratchet refused to look toward Soundwave or Shockwave, and Knockout looked as though he was in the midst of dying from illness. Starscream, of course, wasn't affected at all, but he did have several marks on the right side of his neck, looking like puncture marks. He looked generally disinterested, resting his head in one hand and twiddling the fingers on his other.

"Alright," Megatron said finally, his voice quiet. "There have been many details about how this ship will function that were previously overlooked, considering our primary interest in time, that we must now begin to address. But, first things first. You."

He gestured to one vehicon who'd only recently returned to the meetings. He'd been involved with the mining crews, but Soundwave had only seen his designation on a few scattered occasions. The vehicon stood up, stepping around the table, and knelt down before Megatron.

They both seemed out of sorts.

The gladiator sighed quietly before speaking again.

"You were presented with the challenge of ensuring that all energon was extracted from each mining site, and that it was done before the launch of our ship. Faced with this, you've managed to organize an entire mining division with little guidance, and effectively reach your goal. I realize that this was a difficult, though vital objective, and I am... pleased to see such tenacity. Know that among the decepticons, even miners are worthy of recognition."

He stopped for a moment, shifting his weight slightly.

"Do you accept the terms of servitude, to be steadfast in adversity and fearless in demise?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"To pledge your spark to the future of a new world?"

"Yes."

"To carry our sigil with humility into the darkest hour and beyond?"

"Yes."

"In this moment we witness a new decepticon rise above his rank, to become Railgun. Rise, and face your fellow decepticons."

Railgun stood up, saluting first to Megatron, then back to the rest of the room. In tradition, everyone returned the gesture. Even Ratchet followed, although his response lacked energy. The otherwise unnotable vehicon returned to where he had been, and Megatron continued.

"The main concern at present is who will take command of each ship. Because each is capable of splitting off if necessary, each will still need independent command in the instance that this should happen. Because the Alterium represents and is the core of the Erebus, it will be commanded by myself."

The gladiator gestured toward Steelwing.

"You have shown yourself worthy of commanding the Javelin, should you accept."

"I... do accept. Thank you."

Megatron seemed to hesitate before turning toward Soundwave and Shockwave.

"I would ask Shockwave to command the Apex Sirion."

The scientist looked up at him, and Megatron spoke again.

"It is a research vessel, is it not?"

"Yes, but commanding a research vessel is not the same as doing research."

"I trust you to be competent at both."

"... Thank you, master."

Soundwave could tell that Shockwave was still uneasy, but he went quiet, and Megatron moved on.

"Soundwave will command the Triad, and Starscream will command the Voulge."

The room was silent in response, and the gladiator seemed to get annoyed for a moment.

"Any questions?"

Several voices spoke at once.

"No."

"But, so long as these ships remain together, the previous hierarchy remains."

There was a short moment of silence again.

"Take the time to organize how your own ships will function separately. Continue processing the remaining energon ore we have stored. Dismissed."

Steelwing and Starscream, being two of the only sober individuals, were the first to leave following Megatron. Ratchet shuffled out of the room while still avoiding even acknowledging anyone else, and the insecticon soon followed, creeping along on all fours. Knockout stood up, though he still looked like he was about to collapse, and was soon accompanied by the vehicon now named Railgun. He seemed to help the medic up, and without a word, walked with him out of the room.

Shockwave looked toward Soundwave, who still remained motionless, and his aura became both aggravated and sympathetic. Considering there was no one else in the room, he spoke quietly, the low tones of his voice becoming oddly soothing.

"How do you feel?"

Soundwave looked up at him, unable to hide a trace of genuine gratitude. The scientist had barely spoken to him all day, seeming generally annoyed, and this was the first time he'd shown any real concern.

[Decent.]

"Good."

Without hesitation, Shockwave got up and left. Soundwave stood up, trying to follow at his speed, but soon slowed again, watching him leave.

Well, Shockwave was still annoyed about the previous day's events.

Soundwave rolled his eyes behind his visor and instead turned toward the bridge. As the doors opened some time later, he found Starscream at the end of the platform, talking to Steelwing. The seeker was quite a bit taller than the red and silver figure, but they nonetheless seemed comfortable talking to one another. Starscream noticed Soundwave first, looking over toward him and straightening his posture somewhat. Steelwing always seemed rigid, considering he probably wasn't used to this much attention from the commanders, but what little of his aura Soundwave could feel seemed comfortable, almost proud. Starscream stared him down for a moment before speaking.

"Ahh... we were just... talking about the Javelin."

Soundwave merely stared at him, considering he hadn't really said anything of substance, and Steelwing seemed to continue the conversation.

"So... can I move people from other ships, or can I only choose between people on my ship?"

Starscream glanced at Soundwave briefly, then looked back toward the other figure as he responded.

"You can move people from other ships, but be reasonable about it. You'll have to get permission to do that, so unless you have no one else, I'd stick to people already on your ship."

"My ship... still sounds weird to say."

"It was already your ship for a while."

"True."

Starscream looked back at Soundwave, placing a hand on one hip, seeming annoyed all of a sudden.

"Did you need something?"

[The terminal.]

The seeker rolled his eyes as he stepped off to one side, allowing Soundwave to start using the terminal. Steelwing, seeming to grow awkward in the silence that followed, backed away slightly.

"Ahh... thanks, Starscream."

He walked off, leaving the seeker to loiter by Soundwave, watching as he scanned through work logs, dismissing them and sorting others more rapidly than seemed reasonable.

"How do you do that so quickly..." he muttered.

[I'm used to it.]

"Hm."

Starscream seemed to stare out at the view before them for another moment, then looked back toward Soundwave as though realizing something.

"I... just remembered for some reason, you were in my dream."

The silent decepticon finally turned to glance at him.

[I... have not the heart to ask.]

"Oh, come on," he said with a smile, "even in my unconscious mind, you were boring."

[Speaking of things that happened yesterday, what are those marks on your neck?]

Starscream seemed to immediately become defensive, his posture turning somewhat rigid as he took a step back. One of his eyes narrowed, looking suspiciously toward Soundwave.

"Nothing."

Soundwave turned fully to face Starscream, smiling ever so slightly behind his visor.

[That's a strong reaction over nothing.]

Starscream crossed his arms as he leaned into Soundwave's space ever so slightly, his aura turning defensive to match his body language.

"Why do you care?"

[Because that looks like a bite mark.]

Starscream didn't move, instead merely looking incredibly annoyed. He let out a quiet growl, then moved back to his previous posture.

"I can't say anything to refute that now, can I?"

[Not really, no.]

The seeker still seemed standoffish as he looked away, but for a moment he glanced back at Soundwave.

"Well, it's not like I didn't enjoy it."

Soundwave merely stared at him, unsure of exactly how to react. Starscream seemed to wait for a response, but finding none, merely rolled his eyes and walked off.

The seeker really was quite bizarre. He'd been so defensive just a moment ago, turning insulted at the question Soundwave had asked, but rapidly he switched to admission, and almost... bragging about how he'd gotten that mark?

The more telling reaction would be Megatron's. Soundwave smiled behind his visor as he turned back to the console, going through the rest of the logs he needed to address. Once this was done, however, he tracked the gladiator down to a cargo room on the Alterium, which Soundwave presumed he'd picked only because the cargo doors had rather large windows, displaying the vast expanse of space that laid before him. He sat on a storage crate, as seemed typical for the ship, and stared outside. He looked back at Soundwave as he approached, but it was only a passing glance, and he turned back toward the main window again.

"It's strange to think of how fast we're moving. Nothing outside ever looks like it's moving in comparison."

Soundwave stepped up beside him, moving another storage crate so he could sit next to him. The gladiator seemed fatigued, but nonetheless placed a hand to Soundwave's back as they both stared out into the distance.

[I blame you for my current state.]

"There it is. I was just waiting for you to say that."

[Do you disagree?]

"No, you're right to blame me."

They both seemed amused as they went silent, relaxing in the dim lighting of the room. Finally Soundwave looked back toward Megatron.

[By the way, you wouldn't have anything to do with those marks Starscream has on his neck, would you?]

The gladiator seemed to freeze, genuinely caught off guard for once in his life. There was no real distinct emotion detectable in his aura, but he glanced over at the other decepticon.

"Why are you questioning me about this?"

[It looked like your doing.]

Megatron actually seemed to stutter for a moment, trying to think of what to say. In his hesitation, Soundwave spoke again.

[Starscream admitted it pretty quickly.]

"It was accidental. Why are you asking me about this!?"

Soundwave smiled behind his visor as he leaned against Megatron, closing his eyes and basking in the awkward confusion of his aura. It was delicious, to see him so uncomfortable. It was rare, and it was Soundwave's fault.

"If I didn't feel so lethargic, I'd get up and let you fall over."

The gladiator moved his hand to hold the side of Soundwave's head.

[Then you'd be the third person I've annoyed today.]

"... Who's the third?"

[Shockwave.]

"... What did you say to Shockwave?"

[Nothing. He's just annoyed that he saw me yesterday, I guess.]

"... Did he actually shoot Ratchet?"

[Yup.]

"That hardly seems... logical."

[I'm sure it was, but I don't remember the context well.]

Technically that was a lie, but it was simpler than the truth.

Following this, the two merely sat in silence for some time, staring out at the stars. This would be their same view for quite some time, now that they were careening through space toward an unknown future. He couldn't remember a time where any decepticon had spent this long in space. It was interesting, but it begged the question; what now? Again, the lifetime of war haunted him. Now that there was no enemy, no one to be watching for, no one to fight, everything seemed pointless somehow.

It seemed the decepticons would have to learn to live again.

Chapter Text

The next several days passed rather uneventfully. No one was rushed, but everyone had something to be doing, even if it was the menial task of processing the energon ore they'd stockpiled. Soundwave stood in the lab on the Apex Sirion, since it had become Shockwave's new domain, and worked silently at the terminal therein. The room was considerably larger than the lab in the Triad, and the extra space was both convenient as well as unnerving. It seemed too large, as though the room was trying to consume him. He was reminded of this yet again as he heard Shockwave speak, and looked over to find him in the other corner. Except, now he seemed twice as far away.

"Come look at this."

The scientist didn't even bother to move his head. Soundwave wandered over, looking at the other terminal he'd been working on, finding several rudimentary telescope images displayed on it. As he approached, he found Shockwave's aura inviting, even though his voice seemed as emotionless as always.

"Our course will take us within range of this planet soon. If my scans turn up anything of interest, I may recommend exploration. But I cannot map much of the surface. Large-scale storms are gathered in several regions."

Soundwave stepped closer to look at the image, finding the planet mostly brown and dead looking. However, some spots almost seemed green, and he looked up at Shockwave.

"I cannot confirm if this planet contains life."

[How soon will we get there?]

"I recommend slowing the current speed, otherwise the closest point will be in four hours, and we will have 2.7 hours to determine whether to land."

[What are you leaning towards?]

"Without any further information, I would recommend surveying it for resources, at the very least."

[Alright. I'll tell Megatron.]

"Thank you."

Soundwave nodded before walking off toward the bridge. It seemed archaic, but it was due to security concerns that the helm controls were only accessible via the bridge terminal. It was not very complicated to slow the speed of the ship, but maneuvering it back onto course to correct for the other adjustments made as a result was slightly more involved. As he did this, the gladiator stepped into the room, staying silent as he walked up to him. He kept his distance, to a degree, for which Soundwave was grateful, but it was still distracting, and thereby aggravating, for anyone to hover silently behind him. As he finally finished his series of adjustments, he looked back toward Megatron and spoke.

[We'll be within range of a planet soon. Shockwave may recommend exploring it, if only to gain resources.]

"How soon?"

Soundwave looked away for a moment as he sent a message to the scientist.

[Time until we're in range at current speed?]

The response was almost alarmingly fast.

[Six hours.]

He looked back up at Megatron.

[Six hours.]

"Good."

After a moment, they both looked out at the main window, finding one spot of light to be considerably larger than the others.

"I presume that's the planet," Megatron said.

[I think so.]

The gladiator looked down at him with a faint smile on his face.

"How does it feel to be an explorer?"

[It's... interesting.]

After a second, Megatron started looking around the room, finding only one other vehicon working at the consoles on the other side. He glanced back at Soundwave, still lowering his voice even though the vehicon probably couldn't hear them anyway.

"Why are you up this late?"

[I was working.]

"Don't work too hard, you'll run out of things to do."

Soundwave emanated amusement, and Megatron spoke again.

"I... was actually being halfway serious about that."

[Well, now we might have a planet to explore.]

"Might. And if we do, you should probably sleep before then."

[Probably.]

Megatron stared him down, until finally Soundwave stepped back from the console, returning the stare. After a moment, however, still under Megatron's gaze, he turned and walked away, heading back toward his quarters.

Given that he was tasked with commanding the Triad, he was the only one aside from Steelwing who didn't need to move his sparse belongings to another ship. Thus, he had already memorized the path to his quarters, and already had them nearly perfected. Of course, nothing would ever truly register as perfect in Soundwave's mind, but it was still a goal.

He hadn't seemed to realize how tired he really was until he laid down, at which point his accumulated fatigue took hold all at once, and he drifted into sleep strangely quickly.

Something began to stir him from his sleep some time later. Some sense of urgency prodded at his mind. Something felt wrong. Just as Soundwave opened his eyes, a sound caught his attention, and he jolted upright, a sickening sense of dread piercing his spark. Something had exploded down the hallway. He received a message from Megatron as he bolted out of his quarters, sprinting through the halls of the Triad.

[Soundwave!?]

[What's going on?]

[I'm trying to find out!]

Soundwave ran past several windows, seeming to notice something in his peripheral vision and looking over. As he realized what he was looking at, however, he stopped and backed up, staring out another window just to make sure he wasn't imagining things.

Visible outside was the planet they intended to survey, taking up most of the visible space, but a massive mechanical form floated by, appearing only as a black silhouette obscuring the view. As Soundwave watched, several parts of the form began to light up, and it shot a laser toward the Erebus, striking the hull further down the hallway. He looked over just to see parts of the hull melt out of place, and for the laser to burn its way through to the rooms within. Not a second later, several missiles swarmed the area, rocking the hallway with repeated explosions, sounding like crazed machines. Soundwave was thrown to the floor, though even as the atmosphere began to drain from the room, he slowly climbed to his feet and started running again, sending a global message.

[Erebus is under attack. All personnel report.]

The hallway became lit with red, signalling the hull breach, and Soundwave ran through a metal threshold just in time for the blast door to shut behind him. It wasn't locked, so it wasn't going to seal anyone inside just yet, but it would at least keep the air inside the ship.

He continued sprinting frantically down the hallway considering it was too narrow for him to transform, all while repeated explosions from other parts of the ship threw the entire area in different directions. He rounded one corner, his feet sliding out from under him and throwing him to the floor, but he just barely managed to brace his fall with one hand and climb to his feet again, barely losing any momentum. He received a message from Shockwave just as he ran back into the Alterium, momentarily escaping the chaos around him.

[Where do you need me?]

[Stay in the Apex. Be ready to separate.]

Soundwave burst through the doors of the bridge, already finding Starscream and Megatron there, the gladiator holding onto the main terminal merely to avoid falling over, and the seeker already tossed to the floor. Megatron looked back toward Soundwave, his eyes practically shining a furious crimson.

"Get us out of here! Starscream, weapons!"

The seeker barely got to his feet when the whole ship rocked again, sending everyone in it stumbling to one side. As Soundwave ran up toward the terminal, he just managed to catch Starscream before he fell again. Even in that split second, he could tell how desperately the seeker clung to him, and he could see the terror in his eyes. But whether by fear or courage, Starscream turned away, heading toward one of the other consoles as Soundwave ran up to the helm. With his cables he latched onto the base of the console, brushing his hands against the control panel, swiping upwards almost violently. The ship rocked forward as all of its thrusters fired at once, sending it hurtling forward, toward the foreign craft but angled so as to fly over it. Megatron began yelling through the intercom across the entire ship.

"Everyone be prepared to separate ships-"

Something struck the Erebus from above, resulting in the deafening sound of metal warping, and the lights in the room all surging before physically bursting apart, showering the room in sparks and bits of glass.

"This ship remains connected as long as possible! If you see that ship outside, do everything in your power to take it down!"

Megatron took a defensive stance, crouching somewhat as the floor rocked beneath him. Soundwave looked back at him.

[Should I go back to the Triad?]

"Not yet!"

Soundwave split part of the front display to show other views, revealing three other spacecraft he hadn't spotted before.

[There's more!?]

"What are they!?"

They both watched as various weapons began to activate and retaliate against the ships, even as the Erebus flew past the first vessel at a dizzying speed. One already began to catch up, and Soundwave watched it intently on the split screen. Several more impacts rocked the vessel, feeling like they came from other sections, and finally Megatron turned toward Starscream.

"Go back to the Voulge."

Without a word, the seeker ran off, leaving the room mostly empty, at least for the few seconds it took for a small group of vehicons to arrive, taking various places at the other terminals. Megatron shouted several orders back to them, but Soundwave was lost in the display before him, trying desperately to move the ship away from its attackers. Were these autobots? The ships didn't look like anything he'd seen before, but theirs was the only known spacefaring civilization.

Finally Megatron turned to him, though it took a second for Soundwave to shift his attention away.

"Head back. We need to split the ships apart. We're only making ourselves a larger target."

Soundwave glanced back at the displays for a moment, then toward the vehicon who'd be flying the ship in his place. He gave a single nod, and ran out of the room once more.

Immediately his surroundings seemed more chaotic again, whether it was due to his loss of control, or his loss of focus. Now every explosion registered in his mind, every shift of the floor beneath his feet drove him onward. Granted, the frequency of the explosions had fallen, given that the attackers no longer held the element of surprise in their favour, but the attack was nonetheless ceaseless. Briefly he glanced out a window as he passed, finding a laser striking the front of one of the assailing ships. Almost at the same time, the hallway around him jolted to one side from an explosion, throwing him into the wall for a moment. He looked back out the window just in time to watch another flurry of missiles break through them and explode around him. One of the explosions threw him across the hallway, slamming him into another wall, and he lost consciousness.

As he opened his eyes, fleeting, scattered thoughts raced through his mind, barely long enough for him to process anything. All he knew was that he was in danger. That was all he could remember.

But why was he in danger?

He tried to move, his head lolling to one side as he squirmed slightly, trying to breathe. He opened his eyes again, staring through his cracked visor to process the image before him. Still, it took him several seconds to realize that he was lying on the floor, staring out through broken windows to the vacuum of space.

Well, that would explain why he couldn't breathe.

Where was he? This was clearly a ship, but he couldn't remember how he got here. Flashes of light illuminated the hallway, coinciding with explosions across the ship floating outside. Clearly he was in the midst of a battle.

A battle...

In an instant, he awoke from his delirium, though he only managed to remember that he was on the Triad. What it was doing in a battle, let alone in space, still escaped him. As he continued to watch the commotion outside, however, recent memories began to return to him, scattered recollections of urgency. But, as these pieces began to fill themselves in, other pieces naturally followed, and gradually he started regaining faint memories, a vague familiarity with his surroundings.

This was not how it should have happened.

Broken lights flickered, showering the hallway in sparks. Smoke and dust clouded the air, filling the room with a glowing haze. Soundwave held a hand to his head as he sat upright, trying to process the scene before him. He looked down the hallway, gazing at the broken doors and collapsed ceiling, trying to remember what happened.

How did it end up this way?

Sure, it was an oddly strategic attack from several autobot ships, but what was anyone doing fighting over a barren rock in fringe space? It was strange. He remembered everything, but it had all happened so quickly that it felt like he had just woken up to a different world entirely. So much time had gone by since the decepticons' last defeat that it was hard to believe he was already on another warship. It only felt like yesterday he'd escaped the Shadowzone.

His mind raced, suddenly beginning to piece everything together. He checked the time, doing so twice just to make sure he was correct.

In the span of about thirty seconds, it felt like he'd relived the past six months. Everything began to weigh on him again. Shockwave's voice came through his comm link, though it wasn't directed to him.

"Apex Sirion is detaching."

Megatron responded, and the sound of explosions was audible in the background.

"I didn't give you permission!"

"The magnet locks are failing. The ship will detach with or without your permission."

Soundwave finally got to his feet, still feeling lightheaded as he stumbled down the hallway toward the bridge. Several other transmissions grazed by, but he still felt as though he were seeing the world through a fog. He started running again, finally reaching the bridge of the Triad just as another transmission from Megatron came through.

"Soundwave, where are you!?"

[Here, finally.]

"All ships, detach from Alterium, now! "

Soundwave could barely keep up with the flurry of information that assaulted his mind as he struggled to remain in the present, even as the whole of the ship was jerked in several directions by the release of the locks holding it to the other spacecraft. Shockwave's voice echoed through the room, coming from the overhead speakers.

"Apex Sirion is detached, but I am losing maneuvering thrusters."

Steelwing's voice came through the chaos a moment later.

"All Javelin crew, draw their fire from the Apex."

The comm channel went silent, and Soundwave took a deep breath, considering this room still had air in it. Though his hands shook slightly, he rested them on the control panel again. His cables emerged from his torso, one merely holding onto the terminal, while the other reached toward an access port, several smaller cables emerging from within to connect directly to the computer.

He closed his eyes, and gradually, the ship began to speak to him. Sensors and cameras across the vessel fed him data, feeling as natural as though it came from his own body. He looked through its cameras, moved with its engines, and felt every piece of gunfire that touched its hull. Suddenly everything made sense, and the Triad shot forward, spinning around in place to fire several missiles toward the smallest foreign craft. There were four in total, though only the largest one had the laser weapon. The other three seemed to try to protect it, staying close as though attempting to shield it. The Javelin, being the fastest of the decepticon ships, flew by the larger craft in several passes, each time striking it with its own beam weapon. Considering the Triad was only a cargo vessel, Soundwave kept his distance, taking the time to steady his aim before firing whatever weapons the ship had.

And he watched intently as the Apex Sirion hurtled through the cloud of gunfire, seeming as though it lacked control. The largest attacking ship turned, clearly aiming toward where it would be, and fired. Its laser struck the decepticon ship on the top of its hull to one side, staying on target long enough to actually burn all the way through the ship.

[Shockwave!?]

A response came through a moment later, but it was shrouded in static for several seconds.

"... lost manual control. Reactor core has taken damage. Evacuate the ship."

Starscream responded with barely a moment of hesitation.

"Wait, we can disable the beam weapon!"

The Voulge flew by a second later, shooting a stream of gunfire toward the three craft guarding the larger ship. Soundwave moved the Triad forward again, only to be struck in the side by a torpedo shell, the force imparted as a result throwing him to the floor, forcibly disconnecting him from the Triad. Briefly it felt as though he'd lost consciousness, but that was always how it felt when your senses were ripped from your mind without warning. It took a moment for Soundwave to get back up and grab onto the terminal again. He stared out the window, watching as the Voulge dove directly toward the laser end of the largest ship as it aimed toward the Apex Sirion again. Already, several escape pods were jettisoned from the research vessel, and the Alterium briefly flew through his range of vision, trailing energon and debris behind it.

[Starscream, what are you doing?]

"This ship has a short-range disruptor cannon."

The Voulge somehow sped up, careening toward the assailing craft as the armatures of its laser weapon began to glow, and Soundwave froze.

The laser fired again, striking the Apex Sirion straight through the center. It must have hit the power core, because not a moment later, what little he could see of the ship's interior flashed with a blue burst, implying a massive energon explosion. The Voulge, continuing to fly toward the craft, began sparking with energy as it neared. Just as it dove into the laser fire itself, whips of electricity jumped to the attacking vessel, dancing across its surface. The laser seemed to grow brighter for a moment, at least before it died down, presumably as the weapon that spawned it burst apart. The rest of the ship went dark, all of its lights and thrusters all deactivating simultaneously.

Soundwave stared for a moment, simply trying to process the image. His eyes flickered back to the burnt remains of the Apex, and he merely stood there waiting for a message from Shockwave. Megatron's voice came through the comm link, but Soundwave all but ignored it.

"Starscream, what happened?"

"Hell if I know!"

"Well, it was effective."

Steelwing joined in a second later.

"Seems like another one's down. We can handle the other two, right?"

Soundwave's gaze remained fixed on the Apex Sirion, to the point where he could barely will himself to move, even as one of the two remaining enemy ships suddenly loomed in front of him, loading another torpedo. He knew he had to move now, but his hands remained frozen, his mind consumed by the silence. Shockwave had to have said something by now.

Starscream's voice echoed through the room.

"Soundwave? You there?... Triad?"

So this was why Shockwave suppressed his feelings. Soundwave knew full well that it was his emotions that had caused him to freeze at such an inopportune time, but now there was nothing he could do about it. He'd already failed his crew by falling in love with the one person who'd never be able to reciprocate it.

He finally broke out of his paralysis just in time to watch the torpedo fly almost directly toward him. But, even as the noise around him erupted in chaos, all he could hear was the silence.

The sound of crackling flames finally drove Shockwave to consciousness, and he looked around, finding himself still in the escape pod he'd left in. What time was it? Why hadn't the decepticons been able to retrieve him yet? The craft rested at an angle, and Shockwave laid on the floor. Just as he reached forward to pull himself up to the control panel, his whole body was suddenly wracked with pain, and he cried out momentarily. Looking down at himself, he suddenly found a support beam from the pod itself jutting through his chest, and a puddle of energon around him.

As his awareness grew, so did his ability to feel pain, and Shockwave began trembling, trying to turn his focus to what had happened. He looked around again, only now noticing the sounds of thunder outside. His arm transformed into a laser cutter, and he sliced through the beam that had stabbed him with relative ease. All while trying to ignore the agony he found himself in, he pulled himself up onto a ledge, looking out through the window to find rain running down across the glass.

He'd landed on the planet. No one had managed to retrieve him before now?

No matter. He had no choice but to go on from here. He stared down at his wound, trying to think of how he'd even begin to address it. He was a skilled doctor, but he wasn't used to dealing with things this urgent, without equipment, let alone on himself.

To be fair, it probably wasn't going to be any different than how he'd treat someone else. Work deliberately, control any bleeding. He glanced back down at the puddle of energon he'd already bled. He didn't have much of a margin of error. That was fine. He could manage. Just ignore the pain. Time is of the essence.

He grabbed onto the metal beam, his whole body shaking as he hesitated for a moment, then finally pulled on it, and promptly screamed. It took him a minute to even regain his awareness, almost panting as he finally looked over at his hand, finding that he'd managed to pull out the entire piece of metal. He let it drop to the floor, letting his head fall back as he tried to calm himself down. There was no way he could work while in this much pain. But he'd already removed the beam, so now he'd probably worsened his bleeding.

He glanced at the control panel, reaching toward it and finding that it still somehow functioned. His best chance of survival still remained with the decepticons, but only if they could find him. The storm he was under would no doubt interfere with any distress signal he'd send out, but it was only a matter of time before it cleared.

But time was something he lacked. Again he found energon seeping out from his wound, collecting beneath him. He turned his attention back to the control panel, setting a locator beacon to transmit on loop. With any luck, the pod itself had enough energon to sustain that for a while.

His senses had begun to dull, and he looked back outside. Logically speaking, he was probably going to die here. He'd lost a significant amount of energon, and there was no way he could stop it before losing consciousness again. He had so much work to finish, though, so much knowledge to share. How was this his fate? To die alone on an unknown world... At least he was, in a way, dying in the pursuit of knowledge.

He had to put himself in stasis. It was the only way he was going to possibly prolong his survival long enough for the decepticons to find him. He looked back at the computer, a torrent of thoughts suddenly going through his mind. He had to say something in case he died. But what?

He pressed several keys, and soon the computer pulled up a prompt, asking what he wanted to send to Soundwave.

Shockwave froze, staring at the blank screen before him. What was he supposed to say? How could he pick just one thing to impart? His thoughts momentarily drifted through everything that had happened in recent past, and an overwhelming sense of despair welled up within him. He started shaking again, suddenly realizing just how unforgivably cold he'd been to Soundwave. At least now he had one opportunity to right that.

The one thing he wanted to say to him, above all else, was the truth.

As he finally set the computer to send his message when it could reach the ship, some of his despair began to fade away, replaced instead by tranquility. His breathing slowed, though he still shook. He connected a small cable to himself, reaching back toward the computer to instead place himself in stasis. He pressed the button, and almost immediately his tense body began to relax. He looked back out the window, watching several silent flashes of lightning illuminate the sky. The pain he'd been in was slowly washed away, his mind went quiet, and he finally closed his eye, listening to the sound of rain and gentle thunder.

This could very well be the very last thing he'd ever experience. For Soundwave's sake, he hoped it wasn't.

He hoped against logic. Just this once.

Chapter Text

Soundwave awoke suddenly in panic, jolting upright, barely even realizing he'd ever gone unconscious until he found himself in a medical bay on the Alterium. The room was quiet, almost unnervingly so, and he found a variety of tubes and wires stuck to him. Within seconds he began to feel lightheaded, and laid back down, looking over to find Starscream sitting on a table next to him, holding a burnt, partially melted arm. The seeker had stared at him following the abruptness with which he'd awoken, and of course, was the first to speak once Soundwave relaxed slightly, answering the question he hadn't yet asked.

"Only the bridge of the Triad really got damaged. The other two attackers fled. We connected the rest of the ships together, and... well... here we are."

Starscream looked over as Knockout walked into the room, and the medic in turn shifted his gaze to Soundwave.

"Oh, you're up?"

Soundwave gave a subtle nod.

"Good. You uh... sustained a lot of head trauma, so... don't try to do too much."

[Where's Shockwave?]

Knockout and Starscream exchanged a brief glance, and the seeker spoke.

"There were... twelve escape pods jettisoned from the Apex, enough to hold most of the crew. And, most of the crew is accounted for. We know that Shockwave was on one of those escape pods, but it fell to the planet before we could recover it."

[But it has a tracking beacon, doesn't it?]

Starscream looked away, clearly not wanting to be the one to tell Soundwave this.

"We lost the signal as it fell. It's most likely atmospheric interference, but..."

[He did mention storms on the surface.]

"Yeah..."

While he tried to ignore it, Soundwave couldn't stop the quiet dread that slowly consumed his mind. Shockwave was out there somewhere, hopefully still alive, but lost on a foreign world, out of their reach. He looked over, watching as Knockout started removing parts of Starscream's arm, sending a message only to the seeker.

[How much of the Triad's crew is left?]

"We're still counting. There are only a few confirmed casualties so far."

Soundwave looked away, still trying, and failing, to suppress his growing sense of shame.

[This is all my fault... I saw the ship, but I couldn't move. I just stood there as it got blown up.]

Starscream stared at him for a moment, knowing how uncommon it was for him to divulge something of this sort. In an uncharacteristic show of courteousness, he responded silently.

[In all honesty, from what Knockout's told me, you might have actually been short circuiting that whole time.]

[To the point of not being able to move?]

[Uhh... yes.]

Soundwave went silent again, staring off toward the other side of the room, starting to look through the flurry of reports that had started to come in. Five injured on the Alterium. Four dead, seven injured on the Voulge. Six dead, ten injured on the Javelin.

Seventeen dead on the Triad so far.

Twenty-seven dead on the Apex Sirion so far, one missing.

Despite all that had happened, Megatron was surprisingly effective at keeping the decepticons focused on moving forward, and so within eight hours of the disaster that had just struck, another meeting had gathered in the same room as always, with all of the same crew members, with the exception of Shockwave, of course.

Soundwave sat in the same spot he usually took, though he held onto the chair beside him with an unwavering grip, as though trying to cling to the hope that Shockwave was still alive somehow.

Everyone else similarly had injuries of their own. Knockout's various scrapes had already been buffed away, but Ratchet had quite a few scratches across his face and arms, one gash in particular having damaged his right eye, to the point where its light had gone completely off. Steelwing had all sorts of dents across his body, the most impactful probably being the one on his chest, that looked like it must have affected his ability to breathe. The insecticon mostly had dents similar to Steelwing, though one of his secondary legs seemed to be missing entirely. Starscream, of course, clutched his melted arm.

Even Megatron had a variety of abrasions across his head and chest, some still covered in dried energon. Naturally, though, even with all of his visible injuries, he still carried himself with power as he looked at the disheveled group of decepticons. As he spoke, his voice was quiet and raspy, indicative of unseen damage. He barely had any voice left.

"Decepticons. Considering the events we are still trying to process... I'm grateful that all of you are still here."

His gaze turned toward Soundwave and the empty chair beside him.

"... Even though one of our own is missing. Shockwave's craft was last reported falling to the planet's surface, and its signal was lost in the interference of an electrical storm. All other decepticons are accounted for at this point. Current death count is at 56."

The gladiator let out a quiet sigh.

"Our larger objective is to leave this area. Those ships that attacked us were probably acting in defense of this planet, for all we know. Of course, this assumes primary goals of repairing our damaged spacecraft, and retrieving Shockwave, not necessarily in that order. Considering that the largest foreign craft is now derelict and remains close by, I would recommend exploring and possibly salvaging it when possible."

Ratchet raised his hand somewhat, and Megatron turned to look at him, letting him speak.

"My scanners have pointed toward that ship containing energon, but I urge the use of quarantine protocols if we investigate, considering it's an alien vessel."

"Energon?"

Ratchet merely shrugged in response, and Megatron looked around the room again, his gaze falling to Railgun.

"How much of our energon stock remains?"

"67 percent, sir."

The gladiator went silent for a moment in thought, then glanced toward Knockout.

"You take command of the Apex Sirion until Shockwave's return."

Knockout gave a nod in acknowledgement, and Megatron looked back at Ratchet.

"When applicable, you will lead the exploration of the derelict vessel."

The autobot's one functional eye went wide in surprise, but he stayed silent, prompting Megatron to speak again. Though his voice was hollow, his words were as powerful as ever.

"I do respect your judgement, Ratchet, and if there's energon aboard that vessel, we may need it when we are to search for Shockwave."

He looked over at Soundwave as he spoke.

"And we will. Though we are unequipped at the moment, we will never leave him stranded again."

He held up a hand, and turned to point toward Starscream.

"How many of the weapons remain functional?"

"I'll have to check."

"I want weapons on standby in case any of those ships return. Soundwave, what do we need to do to make this ship able to land again?"

[We need the maneuvering thrusters on the Apex. The rest of the ships didn't take too much damage to theirs, so-]

He stopped as he received a message suddenly, perking upright.

"So?"

The message was flagged as priority, coming from Shockwave, by way of his escape pod.

[I love you.]

That was it. Soundwave's eyes went wide as the words pierced his spark. He started trembling, then got up, bolting out of the room.

"Soundwave!"

Megatron started to run after him, but stopped after a second. Soundwave sprinted through the hallways, watching as several vehicons he passed backed against the wall to let him by. He burst through the doors to the bridge, running up to the helm terminal, well aware that the vehicons in the room looked to him, wondering what warranted his urgency.

"Commander?" one of them tentatively asked. Soundwave held up a hand, and they went quiet again. A series of displays popped up on the screen, although some were distorted from damage to it. A scan of the planet came up, and he began desperately tracing the location of Shockwave's signal. Megatron finally messaged him again.

[Soundwave?]

[Shockwave sent a message.]

[He's alive?]

Soundwave held a hand to his head, so overwhelmed by his torrent of emotion that he could barely think anymore.

[With what he said... he expected to die...]

On the screen, the computer started drawing a radius of where the signal had come from, slowly narrowing its parameters, although at this point the radius covered about a quarter of the visible surface. Megatron continued messaging him, though he could tell the gladiator was coming his way.

[If he sent you a message, he's alive.]

[Not now, not with what he said...]

[What did he say?]

Just as the search range on the screen narrowed to about three thousand kilometers, a warning message came on screen.

[Interference: Signal may be too weak to trace]

Megatron finally stepped into the room, running toward Soundwave and placing his hands on his shoulders.

"Can you locate it?"

[What does it look like!?]

The gladiator looked up at the display before him, watching as Soundwave worked frantically. He turned around, waving a hand toward the others in the room.

"All of you, get out, now."

The vehicons shuffled out of the room, and Soundwave began to panic, watching the signal strength fade without the search radius narrowing any further.

"Soundwave-"

He tore his arms from Megatron's grasp, looking up just as another warning came on screen.

[Interference: Signal lost]

Soundwave screamed, throwing his hands back down on the control panel, trying to think of what he could do. Megatron grabbed his arms again, pulling him from the terminal, but again he wormed his way out of the gladiator's grasp. Finally, Megatron grabbed his arms to pull him away, but this time spun him around, grabbing either side of his head.

"Shockwave isn't dead!"

Considering it had come from Megatron, those words weren't necessarily comforting. Soundwave continued shaking, and the gladiator's eyes finally grew calmer as he spoke again.

"What makes you think he is?"

[He sent a message with that locator beacon and all it said was "I love you."]

Megatron sighed, letting his hands drift to Soundwave's shoulders.

"And here I thought Starscream made that whole thing up."

Soundwave started almost gasping for air, trying to cool his overheating circuitry. Megatron knelt down, his aura trying to seem calm.

"Soundwave."

Even though his voice was lacking, it was still comforting. Regardless, Soundwave still felt like he was suffocating, and frantically removed his visor, dropping it beside him. It had been forever since Megatron had seen his face, and the gladiator ended up staring into his violet eyes for a while.

"Don't stress yourself out like this. You'll start short circuiting again."

He heard the sound of the door opening, and Megatron looked toward it, silently waving a hand, telling whoever had opened it to leave. The door shut a second later, and the gladiator looked back at Soundwave.

"Shockwave is as resilient as he is intelligent, you know that."

Finally Soundwave's breathing began to slow, though he still stared down at the floor. They both knew that Shockwave's message was indicative of someone who knew they were about to die, but Megatron nonetheless grabbed either side of his head again, staring into his eyes.

"And what happened to the Triad wasn't your fault."

Soundwave looked up at him, his aura suddenly flashing with a touch of anger.

[Of course it was my fault, I had the power to move it and I couldn't. I was so focused on Shockwave that seventeen people died . Because of me. Because of my emotions. ]

"Emotions?... Soundwave, you basically had a stroke. You suffered a lot of unseen damage, even before the Triad got hit."

He looked down at the floor again, picking up his visor to place it back over his face. Megatron stood up, staring down at Soundwave with calm eyes.

"The Triad was not your fault. You are still effective at your work. Don't forget that. Though, I am somewhat... ashamed that Shockwave was bold enough to tell you he loves you, when I never have."

[I always assumed you did. You don't need to say it.]

"But I do."

The way he said those words made Soundwave shiver. It seemed unfitting, something the gladiator had never said before, but it was still powerful.

While Soundwave had to refrain from doing too much, as difficult as that was, the remainder of the decepticon forces worked tirelessly in his stead, only doing whatever repairs were immediately necessary. But the ships seemed quiet. Everything was tense. Fear lingered in the air, when there was any, silencing the crew that succumbed to it. Time was measured in hours, considering everyone on board the Erebus was merely waiting for more assault ships to arrive. Troops were ready and waiting at the controls of every weapon across all five ships, or at least the ones that were working, watching outside for any movement that could be perceived a threat. But hours passed, and nothing happened. The derelict vessel remained motionless outside, floating alongside them like a sentry; watching them, following them. What lurked inside that metal hull? What beings had gathered the resources to attack them so fiercely?

Soundwave stood at the helm terminal as these thoughts flowed through his mind, vivid enough to pull him away from his surveillance. He stared out through the glass, captured by the image he saw beyond, and stepped around the terminal, sitting down on the edge of the platform, letting his legs dangle below. From this vantage point, all he could see was space. The planet glowed brightly enough to where the room was lit entirely by it, especially considering the lights had broken during the battle.

If the beings had attacked them in defense of this planet, then they'd likely killed Shockwave. His pod was likely shot down, banned from ever reaching the surface. Even if it did, it-

The door opened, and while Soundwave didn't look to see who it was, he was soon able to recognize Starscream's footsteps. Distractions were usually unwelcome, but considering he'd yet again started winding himself into despair mulling over Shockwave's fate, it was excusable.

The seeker wandered up to the terminal, but stopped, presumably staring at Soundwave.

"Uhh..."

The silent decepticon gave no acknowledgement in response, only gazing out at the picture before him. Starscream spoke quietly, his voice sounding like thunder.

"They're... going to start burying the dead soon."

Soundwave still ignored him, at least until the seeker sat down beside him, also looking out into space.

"Not sure why I had to get a ship full of insecticons."

Soundwave finally looked over at him.

[Do you have anything of substance to say?]

"Just... I'm sorry."

The seeker's aura was hidden, but Soundwave's was suddenly purged of aggravation, and Starscream spoke again.

"Making fun of you and Shockwave and all."

[I thought you hated him?]

"Oh, believe me, I still do. But being stranded on an uncharted world is no way for any decepticon to... end up."

[... Why are you telling me this?]

Starscream seemed to regain his usual state of perpetual annoyance.

"Do you even know how difficult it is for me to apologize?"

[Yes. But you hate both me and Shockwave, so I don't see why you'd go out of your way to do so.]

The seeker's eyes narrowed as he only passively looked toward Soundwave.

"I never said I hated you."

Soundwave gave no response, prompting Starscream to speak again.

"At least not consistently. Nothing is ever consistent for me."

[And whose fault is that?]

"Well, I can't help being so bipolar. And here I try to apologize, and I'm met with cynicism."

[Is that unwarranted?]

Starscream glared at him.

"You're starting to sound like everything I hate about Shockwave."

Soundwave sighed silently beneath his visor, taking a moment to respond.

[I appreciate your willingness to apologize. But I'm not going to alter my behaviour to your preferences.]

"Because that wouldn't be logical, would it?"

Soundwave merely stared at him, and the seeker let out a sigh of his own, his posture relaxing slightly as his head tilted back. His aura flared in strength, filled with guilt.

"I mean well, I want to apologize, then I have to say something both stupid and offensive. Ugh. Look, all I wanted to say here was... I don't want you to think I'm against you or Shockwave."

[... I appreciate the sentiment. But I'm still not sure why you're bothering to tell me any of this.]

"Do I need a reason? Did you need a reason to tell me you trusted me?"

Was this some sort of repayment for that earlier conversation? Soundwave stared at him for a moment, then looked back out into the starry sky.

[I was trying to motivate you.]

"Hmph. Pragmatist."

The way he'd said that sounded like an insult. Starscream stood up, remaining there for a second before wandering away, muttering one last statement under his breath, just loud enough for Soundwave to hear.

"Some things aren't practical. Doesn't mean they're not worth trying."

Soundwave listened to him walk away, heading toward one of the other consoles on the bridge and working silently thereafter.

Every word to flow from Starscream's lips had seemed cryptic somehow, like every chosen term was supposed to have a second meaning that Soundwave couldn't decipher. So the question was; was he stupid in his failure to understand the seeker's meaning, or was he just paranoid in believing there to be one? Surely, Starscream wouldn't just apologize to him for no reason. Despite the angry way he'd said it, Starscream was a pragmatist, in some sense. Everything to him seemed to revolve around trade. He felt that his actions deserved reciprocation, and he himself had helped others when he felt indebted to them. Hell, he'd spared Arcee once, for some reason believing she deserved it.

So, was this all in response to the care Soundwave had taken to talk to him following the building collapse? He'd almost forgotten about that conversation, but maybe it'd had more of an effect on Starscream than he'd realized.

At the same time, trying to understand the seeker's motives was a ceaseless, mostly pointless struggle. Soundwave stared back outside, his mind consumed by the planet that glowed before him. It was difficult enough not to expend too much energy using his fragmented mind, but doing so while Shockwave lingered in his thoughts was nearly impossible. He desperately wanted to believe the scientist was out there somewhere, alive, building a signal booster from the parts of his escape craft, but in his mind stuck the image of Shockwave with his hand on the control panel, dying just after sending his message.

"I love you."

He must have been in considerable distress to bother sending something like that. But it was still honest, wasn't it? It was possible. Shockwave did love him. Even if such an admission were only made out of stress.

And he loved Shockwave in return. Was this what it had come to? The two most neutral, unwavering, ruthless decepticons swept up in some hopeless romance? Even those words alone were somewhat sickening. He never thought he would be the type to succumb to such illogical feelings.

And yet, if he had the option to, he would spend every day of his life alongside Shockwave.

"Do you ever get sick of each other, or no?" Starscream had asked.

No, they never did. They held a seemingly contradictory need for both companionship and isolation. And they each managed to provide both.

A sudden pain struck Soundwave's spark, like it was twisting on itself. He wanted nothing more than to surround himself in Shockwave's aura, to listen to him try to explain the chemical properties of dark energon, or just to hold his hand once more.

Soundwave looked down at his own hand. How depraved was he, anyway, that led him to such fantasies of an emotionless scientist? How helplessly weak-willed had Shockwave become, to send such messages to him? They'd known each other for millennia, for eons, ever since Soundwave had been a gladiator in Kaon. For all those years they'd worked alongside each other, never once giving the other a second thought. And now, here was Soundwave, pining for his return like some helpless fool.

But, try as he might to deny it, he did love Shockwave. That much was no longer refutable.

He stared out at the planet again, lost in its shimmering glow. How illogical this was.

Chapter Text

The next thing he remembered was the service for all who had perished. Normally, individual vehicons didn't get this much attention, but given the fact that these people had all died in a single event, and were leaving an already dwindling population, the decepticons had taken the time to place each one in a capsule. Each was decorated with the decepticon insignia and the person's name, although the insecticons were instead labeled as "A member of the Master Hive". It was their tradition to do so, even though it seemed disrespectful somehow. A decepticon's highest honor was to be granted a name, but the insecticons went out of their way, it seemed, to avoid their own.

"Insecticon culture is rife with collective identity."

That's what Shockwave had said. It probably applied here too. Soundwave stood in one corner of another cargo bay, where all the dead had been placed. Starscream lingered beside him, watching as Megatron turned to address the various others who attended. He glanced at Soundwave, and the silent figure began recording him, broadcasting it across the ship. Despite the fact that Megatron's voice was still damaged, he was nonetheless able to convey everything he needed to as he spoke.

"This will not be a simple, forgettable address about returning to the Allspark. This is not a simple, forgettable situation. While we have escaped the trappings of our war on Cybertron, I am just as... disturbed as you to find that we are still targeted by others who wish to destroy us. We must never again allow ourselves to be caught so woefully unaware by such attacks."

He gestured back toward the room full of capsules.

"58 people died in this attack. We cannot afford to lose any more. This is no longer about pursuing our future... this is about surviving in the present."

As Megatron went silent, the quiet in the room became overwhelming. No one so much as shifted their weight. He turned around, placing one hand gently on one of the capsules, staring down at it as his fingers brushed across the decepticon emblem.

"These soldiers of ours... most of them probably never lived in a time of peace."

He went silent again, holding his hands behind him.

"Will this be the fate of the Cybertronian race? To wander the stars, searching for a place where we can live in peace?"

He turned around, facing the other decepticons again.

"I don't mean to be bleak. I only want to make it clear that these casualties are tragic, and we must keep these decepticons in our memory as we forge onward. Every individual who remains in our ranks is precious, and we cannot afford to lose any of them."

He briefly glanced over at Soundwave.

"As you well know, one of our own is stranded on the planet below us. Make this known: we will find Shockwave, and we will bring him back. As dangerous as lingering here may be, we will not be leaving until we find him. Exploring and researching the derelict vessel is also paramount. We will get nowhere if we remain uninformed of our attackers."

Megatron started to walk out the room as he spoke, and the small crowd of vehicons backed out as well.

"I only wish this could have ended another way. But we who remain must work in place of those who've fallen, and we alone can create the future these 58 people gave their lives for. They pledged their sparks to the future of a new world, and the only way we might honor them is to fulfill that promise; to create that new world ourselves."

He looked over at Soundwave and gave a slight nod.

"That is all."

With that, the broadcast stopped, and the rest of the room's occupants finally left. They all stared toward the door as it shut behind them, and Megatron turned to a nearby control panel.

"May their sparks find the tranquility we could not."

He pressed a button, and the doors within the cargo bay opened up, opening the room to the void of space. With another button press, all the capsules in the room began to lift, drifting out into space. Everyone stared in complete silence, watching the objects as they floated away into the black void, floating down toward the planet below them. As they slowly became more difficult to distinguish, a few vehicons turned to leave, and soon the rest of the room followed.

The next thing Soundwave knew, he stood at the helm, his hands resting on the control panel, in the middle of typing a word. He lifted his hands from the panel, staring at them for a moment.

How had he just skipped six hours with no memory of what happened?

He turned around, finding Starscream standing behind him, looking up at the main display. His eyes gravitated to Soundwave as he turned to face him.

"... What? What is it?"

Soundwave looked up at the display, finding a variety of hexagonal windows, each with different forms of information displayed therein. He turned back to Starscream.

[... What am I doing here?]

"Uhh, you suggested this. This was your idea."

[No, I mean... I don't remember why I'm here.]

Starscream backed away ever so slightly, looking suspiciously toward him.

"What... are you talking about?"

[I literally do not remember anything that happened in the past six hours.]

"You..."

[I'm being serious. Why am I here?]

Starscream still seemed awfully suspicious as he responded, scanning Soundwave's every move.

"So... you're just there, working on analyzing those signals... and then you just forget everything that was going on?"

Soundwave took a step toward the seeker, his aura flaring in annoyance. Starscream backed away, holding his hands up.

" Okay, I get it. It's just bizarre to suddenly be asked 'by the way, what have I been doing for the past six hours?' Not something you usually hear."

Soundwave stepped toward him again, and again the seeker backed up, though this time his wings drooped as he did so.

"Okay, okay! Calm down! Those are stray transmissions given off from the foreign ships, you were just trying to decrypt them."

Soundwave looked back up at the display, finding that they now made sense with that given information. He noticed Starscream's aura relax, and the seeker spoke again a moment later.

"You... forgot everything in the past six hours?"

Soundwave had no response, and instead went back up to the terminal, trying to look through everything he'd already done to see where he'd left off. Starscream seemed hesitant as he muttered something to him.

"Are you... sure you're fine?"

But Soundwave continued to ignore him. He'd sustained damage, yes, but this was the only way he was going to be useful. And he had to be useful. He couldn't go an hour anymore without desperately thinking of what he could do to help find Shockwave.

Starscream's aura turned somewhat fearful as he took a step toward the other decepticon.

"Soundwave?"

Soundwave turned his head slightly to look back in Starscream's direction, his aura empty, devoid of all feeling.

[I know I'm damaged. But I have to be doing something.]

"Sure, but-"

Soundwave turned to face him, the emptiness in his aura almost like a void. Starscream held up his hands again, though he held them close, staring at him as he backed away.

"I, uh... I'll... leave you to it... then..."

Soundwave turned back toward the screen before him, and soon became lost in his work again... assuming he'd done so earlier. While it had taken him some time just to figure out what he was working on, he was soon able to continue from where he'd left off, leaving himself notes occasionally in the event that he forgot everything again. And several times he did forget minor things, having to redo certain pieces of work multiple times only because he forgot what calculations he was doing. It wasn't long, however, before he received a message from Megatron.

[Just so you know, a team is getting ready to scout the derelict vessel.]

[They're going in? Is Ratchet going with them?]

[No, but Knockout is.]

He looked out through the main window, glancing toward the ship in question. Perhaps there'd been a meeting in the time he'd skipped, and he'd forgotten all the details of its future exploration. Still, if Megatron knew he was starting to have issues this severe, he'd undoubtedly hamper his work.

The gladiator sent another message a moment later.

[Were you going to send Laserbeak?]

Though he never remembered having such an idea, it seemed fairly logical.

[Of course.]

[Good. They'll be leaving and arriving from the Apex. Quarantine measures and such.]

[Do we know if that's even necessary?]

[I don't want to take any risks. But if there's energon there, we can use it, and we might be able to gather technology for future study.]

Laserbeak's fins folded down, and the drone detached from Soundwave, promptly flying away per his orders. It was not really a sentient being, despite what some people thought, but was moreso a fragment of him. It had no spark, but it did hold a piece of Soundwave's mind, and thus it acted as a proxy. When it returned to him, its records became his memories, sometimes indistinguishable from his others. It was the ultimate surveillance tool.

The drone started transmitting once it reached the group on the Apex Sirion, lingering beside the door to the upper deck. Four silver jet vehicons stood in one corner, joined by one purple one. Knockout looked over at Laserbeak, messing with the parts of a jetpack that had been attached to him. Ratchet looked up at the drone after a moment, but remained silent, prompting Knockout to speak instead.

"Are... you sure you should be doing this?"

Soundwave responded via his regular method.

[This poses no risk of furthering what damage I've already taken.]

Knockout let out a sigh, then looked back toward Ratchet.

"Is the field up?"

The autobot waved a hand in dismissal, seeming both distracted and confused as he worked at a terminal.

"I've never had to use one of these before, and I'm having to look through Shockwave's notes, which... ngh.."

Given that he trailed off, Soundwave responded.

[Are written only for him.]

Ratchet looked back at Laserbeak for a moment, still seeming somewhat confused.

"... Yeah."

Knockout stepped over to the terminal, pointing to something on the screen.

"No, switch those."

"Do you know how to do this?"

"No, but I've seen it used, at least. One is frequency, one is strength."

"Well, that makes more sense."

After a moment, the room seemed to light up with a soft blue glow, like a thin fog filled the space around them, undulating like waves. Everyone looked around at it for a minute, and Ratchet let out a brief sigh.

"At least that's working now."

One of the vehicons in the corner spoke.

"Is this the decontamination field?"

Ratchet went back to the terminal, and Knockout responded.

"No, not really. It's just a scanner, for the most part. But it'll kill some carbon-based life."

"Are we going then?"

"Yup."

Soundwave perked up suddenly, noticing Megatron stepping through the doors on the bridge and walking up to him. He turned to face the gladiator, who merely gestured toward the screen before them. Soundwave turned back to the terminal, and after a moment, Laserbeak's transmission came up on the main display.

Before long, the group made their way to the deck, exposed to the vacuum of space, and flew steadily over to the other vessel. One by one, each person latched onto the hull with magnetized feet, and one vehicon started using a laser cutter to try and pierce the hull. Laserbeak lingered nearby, watching as the vehicon worked. After a moment, he moved back, finding the spot he'd been working on oozing a white foam. The small seam quickly became covered with the foam, expanding and bubbling as it escaped into space. In only a few seconds, however, the material hardened, and the vehicon that had been cutting looked toward the others. Knockout, considering everyone else had remained silent, responded after a moment.

"What is that, a sealant?"

"How am I supposed to cut through it?"

"I don't know, just keep trying."

The vehicon turned back toward the hull, activating the laser again. Megatron looked toward Soundwave, speaking in a low voice.

"That's a good idea."

[It probably makes small breaches a pain to repair though.]

"... You have an odd sense of practicality."

The vehicon continued cutting, though more of the foam seeped out. After a short while, however, a large enough piece of metal was cut that it became possible to pry open slightly. More of the sealant continued to fly out into space, considering it was probably pressurized, but after some work, the metal panel finally came off, and the vehicon let it drift away. The group all began to cluster around the opening, and Laserbeak slowly floated inside.

Clearly this ship was made for a species much smaller than cybertronians. The drone switched on its light, and the hallway beyond was suddenly bathed in a silver light that drained the color from the room, but that was probably a good thing considering what it revealed.

Several dead alien forms floated motionless in the middle of the hallway, some surrounded by flecks of pale green blood that had coalesced into droplets, hanging motionless beside them in the lack of gravity. The forms themselves were slightly larger than humans, covered in dark gray exoskeletons. Their hands ended in three pointed fingers, looking almost like talons, and their otherwise featureless faces were frozen in frightening expressions, red eyes staring into the distance. Laserbeak hesitantly floated down the hallway, all while the decepticons who watched did so in silent shock. After a moment, one silver vehicon finally climbed through the gap in the hull to look around in the hallway. Megatron looked over at Soundwave, seeming as though he wanted to say something, but instead stayed silent.

"Ugh, Primus..." Knockout muttered over the comm. The one purple vehicon spoke after a moment.

"What is this?"

Laserbeak turned to look at him, finding him pointing toward a glowing spot over on the other end of the hallway. It began to float over toward the area in question, finding what looked like energon seeping out of a vent toward the ceiling. Motionless quantities hung in the air, but some stuck along the wall and the floor, mixed with a glowing white structure. As the drone approached, it became clear that the structure was growing within the energon itself, branching veins reaching through it like roots. Ratchet's voice came over the comm link, which was momentarily odd given that Soundwave wasn't sure how he was watching this.

"Get a sample if you could, but for the love of Primus don't touch it."

Silently the purple vehicon crept forward, holding a container Knockout had handed him. Just as he started to reach toward the odd-looking growth, however, the mass of blue shifted, and something reached out from the wall, looking like a hand. It threw a burst of energon toward the vehicon before anyone could react, then retreated back into the puddle again. The vehicon briefly screamed, then started frantically shooting at the puddle of energon, as did Laserbeak and two others. In a matter of seconds it burst apart, throwing droplets of the energon and fragments of the growth floating through space. The vehicon, still horribly panicked, looked down at himself, looking as though he wanted to escape from his own body, but not even wanting to touch what had been thrown at him.

"What do I- what do I do!? What just happened!?"

Knockout stared at him, seeming almost more horrified by the display than he was. Ratchet responded in stride, seeming far more calm, probably because he wasn't exposed to any of this.

"Don't worry, we'll have to put you in quarantine, but you'll be fine. Soundwave, could you..."

[... Yes?]

"... Open a groundbridge?"

[To where?]

"To- I thought I told you? Ugh."

After a moment, Soundwave received his coordinates, and the green portal suddenly filled the hallway with colored light. As the poor, terrified vehicon floated through it, Ratchet spoke again.

"Did you... have another memory lapse and you didn't bother to tell me?"

[You expected me to remember to tell you?]

After a moment, Soundwave heard Starscream begin snickering behind him, and he turned to face the seeker. Since when had he shown up?

Ratchet seemed to groan in annoyance as he responded.

"I can hear you from here, Starscream."

"What? He has a point."

"... Yes, yes... Someone still needs to collect a sample of that... infected energon."

The vehicons all looked between each other, none of them wanting to move. Finally they looked toward Knockout, who tossed his container back to one of them.

"You do it. Primus knows I'm not going to. That's disgusting."

Megatron rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything. Fortunately, as the silver vehicon collected several particles that had been floating about, Ratchet did instead.

" Real helpful, Knockout."

There were only a few droplets of energon in the container, but it seemed like enough, and the vehicon finally sealed it shut.

"Well, I collected some nightmare fuel."

The group looked back toward the bodies floating in the hallway, and Knockout sighed.

"Should we bring one of them back too?"

"What?" Ratchet asked. "I thought you were running this?"

Megatron interjected before anyone else could respond.

"Just bring back anything interesting. Soundwave... can you try to connect to any computer systems?"

With a simple series of commands, Soundwave sent a new directive to Laserbeak, and it flew down the hallway. Dozens of dead bodies floated motionless as it passed them, many looking entirely unharmed. Soundwave sent a message, though his gaze remained fixed on the images before him.

[It's possible these beings suffocated when the ship depressurized.]

Laserbeak rounded a corner, finding several crates filled with energon, and one alien beside them, with some of the energon growths covering its body. Tendrils reached out from its exoskeleton, waving gently as though searching for something. Soundwave could only stare, dozens of horrible thoughts going through his mind about what this might mean for Shockwave down on the surface. If this substance could infect cybertronians... there was no telling what could happen as a result.

Eventually the drone reached what looked like a computer terminal, and extended its own cables to hesitantly interact with the keypad. The screen lit up, covered with all manner of foreign characters. After a moment, it instead plugged into an access port, and Soundwave was soon inundated with a stream of raw data. He held a hand to his head, considering he couldn't process all of it at once, and Megatron looked down at him.

"Are you alright?"

Soundwave stumbled back, even as he redirected the data Laserbeak had sent him to the ship's computer instead.

[That's... too much.]

Starscream seemed to ignore the display as he spoke.

"Anything obvious you can tell from the computer so far?"

Soundwave hesitated for a moment, looking around the room and trying to fully regain his awareness. The flood of information felt like it had consumed him, and now he wasn't sure if he'd switched back to reality. But something did seem odd about the data he'd received. What he could discern as timestamps all stopped during the battle, and had only started to be recorded again just a few minutes ago.

[It looks like the entire system was disabled during the attack.]

"Must have been the disruptor cannon."

[Maybe it caused the laser weapon to overload the rest of the ship. There's nothing else it could do alone that would permanently disable a ship that large.]

"Hm."

[I'll work on that later. I need... time.]

He could discern the trace amount of concern Megatron had in his aura, but ignored him as he stepped back to the terminal.

The rest of the exploration was difficult to remember, given that the brief flood of data Soundwave had endured probably caused him to start short circuiting. Nonetheless, it was not long until the group returned to the ship, kept in decontamination while Ratchet began studying the mysterious substance they'd brought back. The purple vehicon was kept separate, at the very least preventing him from infecting anyone else with whatever he might have caught. While those in decontamination were released fairly quickly, for several hours he heard nothing from Ratchet or Knockout that he remembered, and so his time droned on as he stuck to analyzing the signals recorded during the attack, and the data Laserbeak had taken from the ship.

And, of course, continually listening for any trace of Shockwave's signal.

It was rather late when Soundwave found himself back at the helm terminal, struggling to stay awake as he worked. The room was quiet and dark, and he frequently stared outside as his mind seemed unable to focus. Words and numbers showed up on the screen before him, but nothing seemed to register. His mind had gone quiet when he tried to work, but when he'd tried to sleep, various thoughts tormented him about something he might have missed in the data, something he'd overlooked.

He opened his eyes, realizing that Megatron was suddenly beside him, holding a hand to his shoulder, having woken him up. He looked over at the gladiator, finding that he seemed both concerned and evidently annoyed.

"What are you doing here?"

[Not much, I'll admit. I couldn't sleep.]

"Well, I don't blame you for that. No one can."

They went silent for a moment, and it was clear by their weak auras that both of them were exceedingly tired. But finally, Megatron spoke again, and it seemed that he'd started to get his voice back.

"Do I need to say it, Soundwave?"

By that he meant, you shouldn't exert yourself like this, especially not while injured, even though things are chaotic now. It was a lecture he'd heard many times before.

[No. And you already know my response.]

By which he meant, absolutely nothing. Despite all of Megatron's subtle, concerned protests, they never ended up doing anything, and both of them knew it.

However, the way the gladiator smiled deviously in response showed that it wasn't going to stand this time.

"I've had enough of your disobedience."

He grabbed Soundwave's arm and started pulling him away from the terminal, even as Soundwave reached back toward it to try and at least save his progress. As he stumbled toward Megatron, he deployed his cables to latch onto the terminal, laughing quietly under his breath as he managed to stop finally. Megatron looked back at him, looking incredibly amused.

"You're very insistent, aren't you?"

He still held onto Soundwave's arm, but then stepped toward him, finally just picking him up off the floor and walking away, despite his attempts to hold onto the terminal. Soundwave couldn't help but let out a quiet sound in surprise, something of a squeak, considering Megatron had never done that before. As he tried to squirm out of Megatron's grasp, the gladiator finally stepped out of the room, promptly setting him down, looking down at him with a fatigued smile. Soundwave shook with silent laughter, returning his gaze.

[What the hell was that for?]

Megatron shrugged somewhat.

"You're stubborn. I took that as a challenge."

There was a subtle wave of soft warmth in his aura; another fleeting glimpse of how much he truly cared. The air was silent for a minute, but finally Megatron gestured with one hand, as though brushing him away, telling him to leave.

"Go on."

Soundwave tilted his head, and Megatron crossed his arms.

"I was being cordial, but I was serious. At least try to sleep."

In response he merely replayed Megatron's own words.

["You're very insistent, aren't you?"]

"If I don't take care of you, who will?"

Soundwave let out a sigh beneath his visor and turned away finally, heading back toward the Triad. Whatever had just happened was a welcome escape from the tense situation he'd found himself in, but as he walked, he was once again reminded of its realities. Thus, by the time he'd reached his quarters, his mind again began churning with all manner of horrible thoughts.

For once, he took off his visor as he laid down, staring over at a reflection of himself in a polished piece of metal on the wall. The violet eyes that stared back seemed foreign even to himself, given how infrequently he saw his own face. And in that unfamiliar face, he saw his own pain. How had everything gone so wrong? Just a day ago, the decepticons drifted through space, hopeful and eager to explore. Now these eyes he stared into looked empty, devoid of feeling...

Chapter Text

As he wandered through the ship the following day, everything started to seem foreign. His mind constantly raced through everything he saw, analyzing details he'd never noticed before. Just walking the short distance between his quarters and the lab on the Triad, he passed three vehicons. The first one had scuffs on the paint around the right side of his head, a pattern of subtle abrasions down his left arm in two parallel lines, and twelve points he could spot where armor paneling was warped and thereby misaligned with adjacent panels.

The other two were no less flawed.

He hurried his pace, trying to look away from anyone else he passed just to avoid focusing on them as much as he did. Soundwave shuffled into the lab, retreating to his corner, if only to hide in some space he found familiar.

And yet, as he glanced at his workspace, he'd never noticed the mismatch of the colors on the counter. He'd never been able to so clearly see all the flaws and abrasion marks on the surface, the irregular contour of the table he'd believed was flat, the fact that its corners were just slightly off from 90º. It was tormenting; everywhere he looked, he saw only imperfections and horrible flaws. Was this how Shockwave always felt? Was this why he so obsessively maintained order? He closed his eyes, just trying to perhaps escape from everything for a moment, when Ratchet sent him and several others a message.

[I have some interesting findings regarding the contaminated energon.]

That, at least, was worth his attention. After taking a moment to collect his thoughts, he ventured out into the hallways, and made his way over to the Apex Sirion.

When he arrived, he found Megatron, Starscream, and Knockout. Behind a window, lingering in another room was the vehicon who'd been hit with the energon blast. He looked better than Soundwave would have expected, but still seemed generally ill. He sat in a chair against a wall, hunched over, his arms wrapped around himself. Soundwave looked back toward Ratchet, again reminded of the cut across his eye that he hadn't seemed to address at all. The autobot stared at the vehicon in quarantine for a moment, then, acknowledging everyone else in the room with a silent glance, turned to grab something. He held up an energon canister, clearly wanting to show them its contents.

In the bottom was a small amount of processed liquid energon, but all across the walls of the glass container were glowing white dendrites, fine growths stretching all around the inside. Ratchet looked concerned as his one eye gazed between the others in the room, but after a moment, Knockout crossed his arms, looking annoyed.

"Were you... going to explain anything?"

Ratchet set the canister down, resting his weight across the counter in front of him. Though he spoke to the other decepticons, he still stared at the canister.

"All I'm certain of so far is that it's a fungal growth, and it feeds on energon."

Megatron glanced back at the quarantined vehicon for a moment as he responded.

"Is it dangerous?"

"I can't be sure yet. I have no idea what it's doing. I don't even know if this one is infected with the fungus, or something else."

Starscream, looking slightly afraid, kept his eyes locked on the canister as he spoke as well.

"I'm guessing if you haven't been able to stop whatever's affecting him with your regular decontamination... that would imply that... all of us have been exposed to this."

Ratchet let out a dismayed sigh.

"I... haven't found anything that will kill this fungus yet, except for igniting the energon, which of course, isn't a... reasonable way to cure anyone if they are infected."

"Can you at least test for it?"

"I'll have to, now. Everyone on the ship. If this turns out to be a virulent contagion, we need to start quarantine measures now."

Knockout, leaning against a wall with his arms crossed, looked over at Ratchet.

"What would you even be testing for?"

Megatron glanced at him, causing the red figure to straighten his posture, probably out of nervousness.

"I thought you were part of this?" he asked.

"No, I've been busy dissecting that alien thing we brought back."

"Anything... notable?"

"Not really anything practical. Except... its DNA is 65% identical to ours."

Ratchet seemed genuinely stunned by this, and looked over at Knockout with one surprised looking eye.

"Are you... sure it wasn't contaminated?"

"Yyyyup."

"How is that even..."

Starscream glanced between them.

"Is that a lot?"

Knockout leaned back against the wall again, looking smug, prompting Ratchet to speak again.

"Well, considering the fact that they're a carbon-based alien species... that's... substantial. I mean... there's only about a... 73% overlap with scraplet genetics, so..."

"You just know that fact offhand?"

Ratchet glared at Starscream for a moment, at least until Megatron seemed to drive the conversation back to relevancy.

"If you're going to test the entire crew for signs of this pathogen, it would be best to keep the reasoning hidden from them. I don't want a shipwide panic, considering everything we already have to deal with."

Ratchet seemed to look away for a moment, muttering something.

"Somehow I doubt most decepticons will trust me to take their blood."

"I don't see why not."

"You haven't... seen them when they're around me. They just hide in the corner, staring at me."

Starscream let out a short laugh, eliciting an annoyed look from Ratchet. However, the seeker held up a hand, seeming to gesture that that wasn't what he meant.

"No, they're... probably terrified of every doctor now just because of Shockwave."

Even Knockout laughed for a second.

"Yeah, they hide from me too. Poor things."

Ratchet looked over at Knockout for a moment.

"Uhh... do I... want to know?"

Soundwave finally contributed to the conversation.

[He had the tendency to conduct a lot of large studies on our crew. The most significant was a test during the development of the plague. He randomly infected one subject, and by the end of the day, half the crew were vomiting, and a few had to be hospitalized.]

Starscream let out something of a nervous laugh, briefly glancing up at Megatron, finding him calm as he continued.

"Yeah, his occasional studies were fine, but after that we had to ask him not to be testing deadly pathogens on our active crew. I mean, he did say it spread faster than he'd expected, but still."

Ratchet glanced at Starscream with a blank stare.

"That is... horrifying."

"Even I got infected that time."

"Regardless of what happened in the past," Megatron finally said, "if you need to test every member of the crew for this pathogen, then by all means, do so."

Ratchet let out a seemingly dismayed sigh, then glanced between the other decepticons.

"Well... might as well start with all of you..."

Starscream emitted something of an annoyed growl as he rested his head in his hands, leaning his weight against the countertop in front of him.

By the time 48 hours had passed following the initial attack, everyone on the Erebus had been driven to some form of insanity purely by the lack of retaliation. Per Megatron's orders, troops were still stationed at and ready to fire every weapon the ship had, but it seemed as though the efforts made to restore those weapons were pointless. Soundwave stood at the helm terminal, still working on decrypting the signals recorded during the fight, all while Megatron lingered behind him, seemingly bored out of his mind. He occasionally paced around the room, watching the work that everyone else was doing, but he had little to say, and his aura screamed of significant aggravation. Like most of the crew, he was probably rather sleep deprived as well, which only compounded the issue.

Maybe that was why Starscream hadn't reported to him all day.

When the doors to the bridge opened, Megatron seemed all too eager to find out what warranted his attention, his aura briefly quieting. Soundwave turned as well, watching as two insecticons strode up to the edge of the floating platform, but did not step onto it. There they lingered for a moment, glancing at each other silently, until finally, one of them spoke.

"Master, considering how quiet things have been... we would like to search for Shockwave."

Megatron glanced over at Soundwave, who stepped over beside him, staring at the insecticons. Considering Soundwave remained silent, however, Megatron spoke in his stead.

"Why now? If I thought it was possible to track him down easily, I would have deployed teams already."

"Insecticons are skilled trackers. We rely on intuition more than you."

While it was of course hidden, Soundwave's expression turned to one almost of insult.

[That's illogical. Intuition is just luck you attribute to skill. I've been scanning for his locator beacon for days now, but there's been too much interference. What makes you think you'll do better?]

"We must do something ."

Soundwave went silent, and so Megatron spoke again.

"Without direction of any kind, I cannot grant you permission to go down to the surface."

The insecticons looked nervously at each other, and Megatron's eyes narrowed as he stared suspiciously at them.

"You already sent people down to the surface, didn't you?"

"Y-... yes."

The gladiator sighed, clearly annoyed.

"Asking for forgiveness rather than permission, I see... Not an unwise tactic, but-"

"We are sorry, Master, but we must find our oracle."

"I agree that finding Shockwave is a priority, but I only caution against doing so while we have no idea as to where he may be."

Soundwave looked up at him, sending him a message.

[Let me go with them.]

"No."

[I can probably track down his signal-]

"You are of greater use to me here, in the event that we are attacked a second time. I know I've discouraged you from doing too much on account of your damage, but you still remain the only one who can interpret those signals we received, or the data you pulled from the other ship."

[But I'm also the only one who could find Shockwave's signal among all that interference.]

Given that the insecticons still gazed at him, Megatron responded silently as he stared down at Soundwave.

[I can't trust you to leave the ship in your current state.]

[I don't trust the insecticons to find him with this little information.]

[Soundwave, we need more time.]

[Time is something Shockwave probably ran out of already.]

[But even you realize that searching for him now would be pointless, yes?]

[Not unless I can get down to the surface. But even then, it's probably already too late.]

[He's still alive, Soundwave.]

[ Shockwave told me he loved me. That's so uncharacteristic as to be almost unbelievable. For him to say something like that...]

He stood frozen for a moment, and Megatron finally looked back at the insecticons.

"You are dismissed."

The two shuffled away, and the gladiator turned his attention back to Soundwave. His aura was filled with fatigue and sympathy, but his eyes remained calm and determined as he stared into Soundwave's.

[You know it's... illogical to make assumptions.]

[Ironically enough, it's logic that's discouraging me. It's logic that's telling me Shockwave's dead. Of course it wouldn't be logical to assume that, but with what he said...]

[I know you want to go search for him. But it would be... well... you know.]

[I guess if he's not here to spout logic all the time, we have to make up for it.]

Megatron looked out toward the window, gazing at the planet in view. He sighed quietly, then finally spoke again.

"I just hope that maybe what the insecticons attribute to intuition is not entirely based on luck."

Soundwave tried to avoid looking at the planet, instead trying to focus his attention on the terminal before him, but finally it got the better of him, and he stared out into the distance alongside Megatron. After a minute, their mutual trance was broken by a series of urgent beeps emitted by the computer, and Soundwave looked down at it, trying to figure out what it was trying to tell him. Just as Megatron was about to speak, several explosions could be heard in the distance, and all of the bridge crew perked up upon hearing it. Soundwave looked back at the terminal, finding a wave of reports flooding in - hull breaches, electrical fires, depressurization. With but a thought, all lights across the whole of the ship turned red, and he sent out a global message.

[Erebus is under attack.]

Megatron briefly held a hand to Soundwave's shoulder before turning to run out of the room.

"You know what to do."

Indeed, he did. He glanced at the radar, finding six foreign craft around the Erebus, three already having collided with the ship and exploded. They were rather small, not much larger than an escape pod would be. The other three craft swung around the vessel, probably trying to turn back toward it. There was only one reason a spacecraft would intentionally ram itself into another one.

These were boarding ships.

Soundwave fired all the main thrusters the Erebus had, sending the ship reeling forward, just barely managing to outpace the smaller ships. They had to have come from somewhere though, but where?

Gunfire rained down from the Erebus, all but obliterating one of the remaining ships in no more than thirty seconds. The decepticons had certainly come prepared this time. Soundwave continued scanning the radar, trying to find any other hidden spacecraft, when a point outside began to distort, as though space itself was being pulled toward a singularity. When it finally snapped back out to where it belonged, another foreign craft loomed outside, having somehow appeared within that space. It wasted no time in firing back at the Erebus, sending missiles and torpedos at the ship once more. The Erebus pulled upward abruptly, having to change course just so as not to hit the larger vessel, but soon spun around, pointing back toward it as it drifted backwards. Just as Soundwave had hoped, the Javelin's laser fired, striking the ship's hull and promptly melting through some of it.

Barely visible thereafter were chunks of the foaming sealant the hull was filled with solidifying and floating out into space.

Soundwave smiled behind his visor as he sent a message to Steelwing.

[I didn't even have to tell you to fire the laser.]

The larger ship launched another torpedo, heading toward where the Erebus would be in a moment if it kept on course. With but a flick of his hands, Soundwave again fired the main thrusters, this time slowing the ship down, and soon sending it lurching forward again. Steelwing's voice came through his comm link a moment later.

"We've been so on edge, I guess we were already prepared."

The Erebus fired several missiles back toward the main ship, and Soundwave stared at the projectiles, barely able to react when one of the boarding ships caught back up and smashed through the front screen of the bridge, hurtling through the room and embedding itself in the walls. Though Soundwave was thrown to the floor by the impact, he looked over at the craft, realizing he'd somehow gone unscathed. He received a message from Megatron not one second later.

[Soundwave?]

[I'm fine.]

Though the air was quickly drained from the room, Soundwave stood up, facing the foreign craft and deploying his cables. From what could be discerned as the front of the ship, a small form stepped out, clearly one of the same aliens they'd found in the derelict ship, though this one was clad in green armor, complete with a helmet.

For only a moment, they stared at each other, before Soundwave's arm shifted to turn into a rarely-used gun, and he began firing at the being, slowly walking toward it. As it strafed out of the way of his shots, it deployed some sort of glowing blade from its arm, but backed away. Two others soon emerged from the ship, and began firing energy blasts at Soundwave from arm-mounted weapons, though their shots were essentially negligible. Just as he started to corner the beings, however, one of them threw something toward him, a glowing ball, of sorts. And, though he jumped to one side to avoid the explosion that followed, he couldn't control what followed.

He fell to the floor, electricity sparking across his body, leaving him convulsing on the ground as he desperately tried to comprehend what was happening. Something overtook him, feeling like a frigid cold that lingered in his spark, leaving in its wake a stinging pain. His mind raced, moving at a pace even he couldn't follow. All manner of foreign thoughts assaulted him, as though he were forced to remember something he never experienced. The image of swirling masses of white and blue stuck in his mind.

He could tell that Megatron was trying to contact him again, but he had no way of responding, or even understanding what the gladiator was trying to say. The feeling of cold began to spread, moving through his chest as he continued to lie on the floor, immobilized, trembling violently, seizing up whenever he tried to move.

You have no idea what you're missing.

The wave of cold started to spread to his arms, his legs, up his neck and into his head.

For a moment, he thought he remembered gazing upon the planet the insecticons called Sanctum. It suddenly looked so vivid in his mind, a gorgeous blue sphere, coursing with energon.

Ah, but this is a prize you haven't yet proved yourself worthy of claiming.

Whose voice was assailing his mind? Suddenly Soundwave looked up at the ceiling, having finally regained control of his own body, trying to process everything that just happened. He sat upright, looking around to find the three beings still standing before him, gazing at him curiously. One even looked as though it was recording something.

Though he still struggled to move, something burned within him, like a torrent of energy he was barely managing to keep contained. He scrambled to his feet, backing away from the aliens, having to put all his concentration just into staying upright. He looked at his hands, and suddenly he understood.

Megatron soon burst into the room, promptly stopping upon looking at Soundwave. The silent figure returned the glance, sending a message as he pointed his hands back toward the alien beings and the craft beside them.

[Get back.]

The lights across Soundwave's body all began to grow brighter, turning to a furious white as the energy that overwhelmed him was suddenly let loose. Megatron barely managed to scramble out of the way as a beam of energy erupted from his hands, engulfing the aliens that had tried to run, and the ship that had brought them there. Soundwave himself had to look away, considering the burst was bright enough to be painful. After all but three seconds, the beam dissipated, and Soundwave looked back to find that he'd melted everything immediately surrounding the former boarding ship. The metal all around it glowed white, portions of it dripping off onto other pieces of molten metal.

A corner of the entire room seemed as though it'd been thrown into a smelting pit.

He looked over at Megatron for only a moment before his consciousness faded away, and he collapsed to the floor.

Chapter Text

When Soundwave finally opened his eyes again, he found himself staring at unfamiliar white walls. He held a hand to his head, considering the throbbing pain he awoke to, and glanced about, finding a window on one wall looking into the lab on the Apex Sirion.

This was the room where that vehicon had been quarantined. He looked around, finding no trace of the vehicon in the small quarters. As he gazed, however, he noticed Knockout walk by the window, who then stopped to glance at him for a moment before turning away to look elsewhere.

"Ratchet?" he asked, his voice muffled by the glass. Soundwave stood up, stepping up to the window just as the autobot soon did. Ratchet seemed dejected as he stared at Soundwave through the glass.

"I... I'm sorry."

[What happened to the vehicon that was here?]

"He..."

Ratchet shook his head, clearly having taken the situation personally.

"I... I never should have suggested we explore that ship."

[I'm... infected, aren't I?]

"Yes... quite significantly, actually."

Ratchet let out a sigh as he looked away, refusing to meet Soundwave's gaze as he spoke.

"From what I can tell... that fungus is binding to your nervous system. I'm working as fast as I can to try and find a way to stop it, but..."

Knockout continued his thought after a moment.

"But it's awfully resilient for a fungus."

Soundwave looked off into the distance for a moment, letting everything process. This was the same infection found in the contaminated energon within the derelict ship, the same one that had killed the poor vehicon exposed to it, yet it was also the same infection that had granted him the power to melt a small ship.

... Was it? He knew it intuitively, but he had no reason to connect the grenade explosion to that pathogen. Yet, somehow it all made sense. He'd been inundated with energon, and the pathogen merely allowed him to control it.

But that didn't make sense.

He stared at his hands, suddenly finding a moment later that the lights across his body had all changed to a calm cyan color. It looked like an autobot's color scheme, but it still looked nice on him somehow. Ratchet seemed to watch him for a minute, then finally spoke again.

"So... what happened that you melted half of the bridge?"

Soundwave stared back at him, hesitating to speak so he could think of what he wanted to say.

[One of the boarding ships crashed into the bridge. A couple of the same aliens were there as we found in the derelict ship. One of them threw something at me, a grenade of some kind. I'm not entirely sure of what it did, or how I know this... but it infected me. I saw Sanctum, heard someone say... it was a prize I hadn't yet proved myself worthy of claiming. And I know you'll pass this off as the ramblings of a brain-damaged idiot, but... I know somehow that it was this infection that allowed me to control all the energon I'd been overwhelmed with. It just... made sense at the time.]

Ratchet stared at him for a moment, as did Knockout, but it was the autobot who spoke first.

"I'm... not sure how to interpret that. You said you heard a voice?"

[It was more like getting a message from someone, but I don't know who.]

Knockout glanced strangely at him, almost looking suspicious.

"So you're saying this infection allows you to control energon with your mind? Because that sounds like the ramblings of a brain-damaged idiot."

Soundwave held up his hand, staring at it for a moment, focusing on it, trying to remember what he did to be able to summon a laser. And after a few seconds, parts of his hand began to glow. Seams between pieces of metal glowed cyan, and tendrils of white reached out from the mesh underneath his armor.

So it was true. He did have control over his own energon now.

But he stared, watching as visible structures of the fungus began to engulf his hand, reaching out from it, some even moving gently without his control, and his hand began trembling in horror. He backed away, as though hoping he could escape his own hand, and bumped into the wall on the other side of the room.

He was going to die here, consumed by this infection.

He slid down against the wall to the floor, clutching his hand, trying not to look at it. And he looked up, finding Ratchet and Knockout both staring in bewilderment at him.

[ Help me... ]

Ratchet looked almost traumatized by his plea, staring back at Soundwave with more pity than he thought possible for an autobot to show a decepticon. Knockout, on the other hand, looked helpless. He probably had no idea what to do, or where to start.

They needed Shockwave back. Only he, with his strange mind, could figure out what to do in the time Soundwave had left. Only he could save his life now. But Shockwave was probably already dead.

Soundwave looked away, closing his eyes as he tried to calm himself down. Yet, as he began to clear his thoughts, the image of Sanctum stuck in his mind again, mesmerizing in its beauty but impossible to ignore. No matter what he thought of, or what he tried to do, the blue sphere remained in the foreground of his thoughts.

In time, he managed to turn his attention back to his work, even if it was done remotely. He trawled through the heaps of data pulled from the ship, finally starting to make sense of some of it.

The first notable thing was the amount of order present in all the logs recorded. While he hadn't yet managed to translate any of it, it was clear that whatever organization ran the ship did so with stunning efficiency. Every log present, regardless of size, had a timestamp, category, priority level, security level, fields for recipients, senders, and the subject. Some of it seemed like minor reporting, but some logs spanned pages, probably going into great detail about scientific subjects, considering the images that accompanied them.

The real task would be translating all this nonsense.

The second thing he noticed concerned the layout of the ship. It clearly ran on a combustion engine, based on the specs he managed to decode, but the ship also had a device he could only describe as an energon processor. It's possible it could be used to process other materials, but there was energon present on that ship.

He looked down at his hand again, focusing on it. After a moment, it began to glow again, but as he kept going, small crystals of energon started to materialize around his fingers, growing outward the more he concentrated. After a moment he stopped, plucking one of these crystals off, holding it in his other hand.

Maybe it was possible to do the opposite...?

He stared at the energon crystal, focusing his energy on it, but nothing seemed to happen.

No, he was going about this the wrong way. He focused on his hand to draw energon out from his fingers, but to absorb energon, he had to pull back on it.

He stared at the crystal again, this time imagining a force pulling on it, urging it back toward him. And, after a few moments, sparks of blue jumped between his fingers and the crystal, and it began to dissipate as its essence was pulled back into his hand. His eyes went wide as he stared. Was he hallucinating? Was this all some insane dream? This was only describable as magic, and yet he was watching it happen before him. Even if this pathogen was going to kill him, he needed to find what else he could do. That would be the logical thing to do.

He looked over toward the window, finding Ratchet looking through a microscope, and sent him a message.

[Can I have some energon?]

The autobot looked over toward him, almost looking confused for a moment.

"Sure."

Ratchet stepped over to the other end of the room, grabbing a canister of energon, and walking back toward the quarantine lock when Soundwave sent him another message.

[Just set it by the window. I want to try something.]

Seeming further confused by this, Ratchet stopped in his tracks, backing up to stare at the decepticon through the window.

"Uhh... what, exactly?"

[Just do it, please.]

The autobot seemed hesitant, but finally he set the canister on the windowsill and backed away, staring at Soundwave. The silent figure stepped up to the window, placing his hand on the glass and staring at the canister. All he had to do was pull back on it.

For several seconds, he focused on the canister, to no avail. Ratchet continued to stare at him, but crossed his arms.

"I'm not sure what you're trying to do, but-"

Finally, what looked like blue lightning sparked between Soundwave's hand and the canister, jumping through the glass. Ratchet's stare turned to one of pure shock as the energon in the canister slowly began to disappear. He took a few steps back, gazing between it and Soundwave.

"How are you- what are you... doing!?"

[I'm finding that I was right. This does allow me to control energon.]

"What do you... mean?"

Soundwave looked at his hand again, once again spawning crystals of the blue substance from his fingers, smiling slightly behind his visor. Then with a thought, they disappeared again.

Maybe he could try to manipulate it with more precision this time. He started generating crystals again, but this time focused on the first one that had shown up, trying to shape the energon around it to make a sphere. The crystal grew slightly, but did so without guidance, only growing into a larger prism. He looked up, finding Ratchet still staring at him in bewilderment.

"You... moved energon... through solid glass... how...!? How are you...!?"

[I think it's due to the pathogen.]

"But it's just a fungus! I didn't think fungi could break the laws of physics!"

Ratchet grabbed a scanner from the table next to him, switching it on and pointing it at Soundwave for a moment. The beam was solid red, implying a significant anomaly, but his eye turned even more surprised as he looked at the results.

"When's the last time you noticed a memory lapse?"

[Not since before the last attack.]

"By the allspark... this can't be real..."

Soundwave remained silent, expecting him to continue. But, seeing as he didn't, he sighed quietly before sending a message.

[Do I need to ask?]

"You know how I said it was binding to your nervous system? Because... it almost looks like it's... healing all of your head trauma from before."

[That can't be possible.]

"Yet I just watched you move liquid energon through solid glass, so... I'm not sure it's fair to be talking about what's possible or not."

Soundwave stared off into the distance for a moment.

[Give me more energon.]

"Why?"

[I want to test what's possible.]

Ratchet stared at him for a moment, his eyes turning somewhat concerned as he curled his hands into fists, but finally he stepped back over toward the other side of the room where the energon was kept.

For several hours, Soundwave sat motionless in quarantine, just focusing on manipulating his own energon. It took finesse to control, but over time he'd started to be able to materialize it into specific shapes; a sphere, a cube, an octahedron. And Ratchet stared through the window, baffled at what the decepticon found himself able to do. Even as it started becoming late, Ratchet meticulously worked on trying to find a cure for the infection, and Soundwave worked on using it. Over time, the process of materializing and absorbing energon became faster, and it became easier to put precision into it; to guide the energon to do what he wanted it to do. But somehow it seemed like he'd barely scratched the surface of his abilities, and so he found himself holding a chunk of crystallized energon, throwing all of his focus into pushing it away from him, only to see what would happen. Several minutes went by of him merely staring at the chunk, until finally it started shaking slightly.

Somehow it seemed as though it was too much energon for right now. He absorbed some of it again, whittling it down to a cube shape with only his thoughts, and focused again on pushing it away from him. After another minute of gathering his concentration, the cube started vibrating slightly in his hand, then rocked away, falling out of his hand as though gravity pulled it aside. He stared at the cube on the floor, holding his hand over it, now focusing his energy on pulling it up. Just as happened before, it started shaking after a minute, but slid to one side as if it had been nudged.

Soundwave finally let his hand drop to his side. Unless this was an incredibly detailed delusion, he'd just started moving objects with his mind. That wasn't something you just casually picked up over the course of a few hours, that was a violation of physics itself.

This had to be a delusion. But he needed more energon. He stood up and went over to the window, finding the lab to be empty for the moment. As he glanced around, however, he noticed the pipes running in the ceiling. If he really needed energon, there was nothing to stop him from taking it directly from the ship. He held his hands up toward the ceiling where he knew there to be an energon line, and closed his eyes. Because he couldn't see the energon he was focusing on this time, this was going to be made more difficult. Just as he'd done many times by now, he turned his mental energy to envisioning the energon being pulled toward him, and soon enough, he heard the sparks that accompanied the absorption, and felt it as it coursed through him.

Normally if a person were imbued with this much energon, they'd start shorting out, but somehow he felt fine, as though he were slowly becoming more and more alive.

Then he turned his attention back to the cube that sat on the floor, and it slowly made its way toward him, dragging across the floor. He turned his palm upward, and after a few moments, it looked as though it'd started to be pulled off of the ground, resting on the floor only by one corner. It began to spin, and Soundwave focused his attention even further on it. Finally, it lifted completely off the ground, hanging in the air just an inch off the floor.

Come on, there had to be some way to lift it higher.

With a jerky upward motion from his hand, the cube was thrown into the air, and Soundwave grabbed it, smiling behind his visor. Somehow, against all logic, he'd managed to make a cube of energon levitate. Something caught his attention, and he looked over to find that Megatron stepped into the room, wasting no time in making his way over to the window and placing his hand on it. Soundwave stepped over to him, placing his own hand on the glass to align with Megatron's. The gladiator smiled ever so slightly, looking down at Soundwave with calm, determined eyes.

"I wanted to be here sooner, but I was occupied."

[You don't need to apologize.]

"Where's Ratchet and Knockout?"

[I don't know.]

"How do you feel?"

Without any other acknowledgement, Soundwave held the cube in the palm of his hand, and focused on pushing it upward. Considering nothing happened in the moments that followed, Megatron looked back at him.

"I'm used to interpreting your silence, but I have no way of knowing what that's supposed to mean."

Soundwave stared at the cube, concentrating for another couple of moments before it started shaking slightly, and lifted off of his hand. As expected, Megatron's eyes went wide upon seeing this, and he lowered his hand from the glass.

"Ratchet said something about manipulating energon... but..."

As though the cube had gotten off balance, its weight shifted and it fell away from Soundwave's hand.

[I've been practicing this for hours. Well, manipulation in general, not moving things with my mind.]

Soundwave turned back to the window, placing his hands on it as he stared up at Megatron.

[It's all because of this fungus. It's not fair to call it an infection anymore. Infections are antagonistic. This is more like... symbiosis.]

Megatron placed one hand back over Soundwave's, though his eyes gained just a hint of concern, as did his aura.

"Then it's a symbiosis that killed one of my crew."

[I haven't had a memory lapse all day. I'm learning to control energon with my thoughts. So far, this hasn't been detrimental at all.]

"What do you suggest?"

[Let me out of here. Stop focusing on how to kill this substance, and focus on how to use it.]

"We can't let you out until we know this isn't contagious."

[Would that be such a bad thing?]

"We're working in the dark, Soundwave, and we have no idea what side effects this pathogen could have. Remember that it killed the vehicon exposed to it."

[It's the only way we'll ever get to that energon planet.]

Megatron's expression turned confused as he backed away slightly, still keeping his hand on the glass.

"... What?"

[It's made entirely of this new substance. The only way we can get there is if we utilize it.]

"How do you know this?"

[I just... know. It's something I saw from the explosion, but only now am I starting to comprehend it.]

"Soundwave, you realize how insane this sounds, right?"

[I do realize. But I also know that this... ability I'm getting to control energon is only a fraction of what I can learn to do. It's like... there's some degree of knowledge stored in this substance, and I'm only just now starting to hear it.]

"Soundwave..."

[Please, let me show you...]

Megatron backed away from the window, staring at Soundwave with concerned eyes.

"We need to learn what we're dealing with first."

[It's enlightenment. I understand things I can't explain. It will only sound insane as long as you remain ignorant of it.]

Megatron started to back away further, turning to leave the room.

"I'm sorry..."

[That vehicon only died because he fought it! If Ratchet or Knockout try to cure me, I'll die!]

The gladiator stopped just in front of the doorway, glancing back toward Soundwave.

"Is that so?"

[I know it. Please, they have to stop trying to fight this.]

"And why do you think we're fighting it?"

[Because it's an unknown, and you naturally fear the unknown. But I know it now, and it's helping me.]

Megatron sighed as he looked back toward Soundwave finally.

"You realize, Soundwave, that yesterday a vehicon died from this pathogen. We were attacked, you were hit with a grenade of some sort, you melted through half of a room, and now you think you understand everything? You've taken so much damage that I can't reasonably accept anything you say as the truth."

Soundwave held up a hand again, throwing the energon cube up through the air with even less effort than it had taken before, and grabbing it, holding it out toward Megatron.

[Then accept this as the truth.]

Megatron stared at him for a moment, his eyes conveying something between concern and fear. And finally, without another word, he walked out of the room, leaving Soundwave on his own.

The silent decepticon merely watched, then back toward the cube he held. How could Megatron be so cruel? He'd already held Soundwave back from trying to find Shockwave, had doubted his ability to do his work effectively, and now ignored his warnings. He was going to die if the others attempted to cure him. But no one was going to believe him unless he proved it.

The cube in his hand shook, then flew off, hitting the wall beside him hard enough to shatter in two.

Everything had started to make sense. This was no infection, this was augmentation. Much like the abilities granted by dark energon, this was a new substance entirely, something powerful, something alive . Yet, unlike dark energon, it granted more practical powers than that merely of control. This could be harnessed, focused into something greater than any decepticon alone could achieve. There was knowledge hidden within this substance, and the only logical course of action was to explore it.

Quarantine was useless here. You don't quarantine the gifted. Weren't the decepticons focused on empowering the oppressed? Wasn't it folly to try and stop an enlightenment out of fear?

If the other decepticons refuse to understand this purification, then I have no choice but to show them myself.

The sound of the door opening caught my attention, and I looked over to find Ratchet stepping into the lab again, looking toward me with a concerned expression.

"You're... moving things with your mind now?" he asked. There was so much more to it than that.

[Not easily.]

There had to be some way to get out of this room... or to bring him in. But I already knew this room well, had examined every corner of it. I suppose the window remained the best option. Ratchet glanced at me occasionally as he walked across the lab, seeming horribly suspicious. Megatron had probably told him to be wary of me.

[I want to show you something.]

Ratchet seemed to hesitate for a moment before finally walking over toward me, stopping in front of the window.

"What, telekinesis?"

I had one shot at this. In only a second, I threw my cables out, crashing through the window and grabbing onto Ratchet. Panicked, he grabbed at one.

"Soundwave-!"

His voice turned to a choking gasp as I started to focus on him this time, forcing into him everything that I had been imbued with. His eye went wide, his limbs trembling, and he desperately tried to breathe. I let go, and the autobot fell to the floor, seizing violently as he clutched his chest. His broken eye started to light up, but he still looked into the distance, eyes filled with panic as he trembled. Finally his shaking slowed, and he stared at me, his aura panicked and chaotic, confused and broken, and he screamed.

"What have you done to me!? What have you DONE!?"

In the span of his confused stumbling, I rather easily, though awkwardly, climbed through the window to the rest of the lab, and stood over the autobot as he got to his hands and knees, only to start coughing rather violently, spewing energon from his mouth for a moment. He finally started to climb to his feet, though he seemed incredibly disoriented, backing into the wall, and looking over at me with horrified eyes.

" What have you done to me, Soundwave? "

[What I needed to. Do you understand?]

"I... I don't- what do you- what are you talking about?"

I held my hand toward him, and he recoiled slightly, but as blue wisps of energy jumped from me to him, he seemed to calm down, staring into the distance, finally seeming to realize that his right eye was repaired, and holding a hand to it. His gaze turned pensive, and he straightened up, glancing at me with lingering confusion.

[Do you understand now?] I asked.

"... Yes. But why... did you..."

[Because you were going to kill me if you kept trying to fight this. The decepticons are too afraid to try to understand what potential we hold.]

"And they'll... never make it to that planet if they don't."

[Exactly.]

Ratchet still seemed wary, probably because he was still trying to piece everything together. He looked off into the distance again, seemingly speaking to himself.

"So... they wouldn't listen to you... unless you could show someone else?"

I smiled behind my visor.

"Exactly," I said, eliciting a somewhat surprised glance from the autobot upon hearing my voice, "and that's the last time I'll be silenced."

Chapter Text

Starscream laid in his bed, reading various reports on a small tablet as he sat alone in the dark. For whatever reason, he hadn't been able to sleep, probably something related to the constant fears lingering in his mind that at any moment, more ships could appear out of nowhere and attack them. After all, the first two attacks were alarmingly sudden, why not a third, or fourth? A ping from Megatron prompted him to set the tablet down across his chest, and he stared over at the dim purple lights barely illuminating the room in contemplation. Usually such pings at such a late hour were indicative of a... personal request, but considering the circumstances they found themselves in, Starscream found that unlikely. After a moment, he responded with a silent message.

[What?]

[We might have an urgent situation. Third sky. ]

Starscream sat upright. He hadn't heard that phrase for centuries. It was the codeword used to denote the threat of a double agent among the decepticons, or mutiny. But who would be turning against them now? His mind started to churn, and it only took a second before he realized that the threat must have come from Soundwave. That was why Megatron had to use the codeword only Starscream knew. Soundwave was probably listening to them, able to intercept their messages. He stood up, thinking for a moment. Where were they supposed to meet? Normally there was a pre-determined set of coordinates they'd selected for these instances, but they'd never picked such a place.

However... On the Nemesis, it had been the rear port cargo hold. On this ship, that probably meant the cargo hold of the Javelin. Might as well try.

Starscream walked out, heading through the halls of the Erebus with paranoia gripping his mind. He had no idea what was going on, but every sound he heard made him envision someone lurking behind walls or doors, watching him with guns aimed at his back. He was probably a target now, even moreso than he usually was. His pace hurried, and he at least tried to seem confident as he strode through the ship. When he reached the door to the cargo hold, he let out a pensive sigh before placing his hand to the panel, and watching the doors open.

Megatron, Knockout, Steelwing and Railgun all glanced toward him as he entered, and the seeker almost immediately relaxed, considering his hunch about the location had been right. Megatron in particular turned to face him.

"You're smart, Starscream. I almost didn't think you'd figure out where we were."

"Well, I'll take the compliment, at least."

"Now then," Megatron said, turning to the others. "While this may turn out to be an overreaction, I am nonetheless deeply concerned about what may be happening on the Apex Sirion. All we know at present is that Soundwave broke out of quarantine, after having said something to me about needing to show me what the pathogen could do. And no one has heard from Ratchet in some time."

"Pathogen, my lord?" Railgun asked. Steelwing responded to him somewhat quietly.

"An unknown infection we found in the derelict alien ship. It was kept secret to avoid a... mass panic. But Soundwave was infected with it."

Megatron looked back at them as he continued.

"And he started becoming able to... control energon, move crystals of it with his mind. When I spoke to him, he seemed intent on infecting someone else to... show them what knowledge it contained, or something to that effect. I fear he may be intentionally infecting others, and is probably very dangerous as a result."

Knockout muttered quietly in response.

"He might have infected Ratchet, or killed him. He hasn't been to the lab, and I haven't heard anything from him since Soundwave broke out."

"In that case," Megatron said, straightening his posture, "I've gathered you here for specific tasks. Treat everyone you come across outside of this room as corrupted, and a threat, but don't engage unless absolutely necessary."

He turned to Steelwing first.

"I need you to cut the power to the computer systems. That will likely require disabling the data cores for both the Alterium and Triad. Soundwave is omniscient so long as that system is up. Make certain the groundbridge is disabled."

"Yes sir."

Megatron looked toward Railgun, for a moment staring at his custom deep red color.

"And you. I want you to lock down all of our energon repositories, but don't go into the Apex. Understand?"

"Yes, master."

"Now go. Be swift, but discreet."

Steelwing and Railgun both began to shuffle out of the room, and Megatron gave them an approving nod as they finally left the room. Starscream crossed his arms as the door closed, and he turned to look toward the gladiator.

"So?"

Megatron turned toward Knockout, whose glance shifted between the other two as he spoke.

"I... meant to say, me and Ratchet managed to test a lot of the crew, but the results were consistent enough that we don't need to finish. Everyone, with the exception of two people, showed signs of having been exposed to the fungus, probably via spores. They all had antigens specific to it."

"And the anomalies?" Starscream asked.

"You two."

Starscream and Megatron briefly exchanged nervous glances, but returned to Knockout after a moment, considering he spoke again.

"Neither of you showed any signs of even having been exposed, like you're entirely immune to it."

Megatron's aura was quiet, but it turned curious as he spoke.

"And why would that be?"

"I don't know. I was hoping one of you would have some idea."

Starscream went silent, his hand fidgeting as he thought. The only significant thing that separated him and Megatron from the rest of the crew was...

"Dark energon..."

The other two stared at him for a moment.

"What?" Knockout asked.

"We're the only ones who've been infused with dark energon. Would that have something to do with it?"

Knockout stared into the distance, lost in thought for a moment.

"That's... perfect."

"So does that mean we're immune?"

The medic shrugged.

"No guarantees."

Megatron looked down at the seeker.

"That might be helpful, considering what I need you to do."

Starscream finally met his gaze, his wings drooping somewhat.

"And that is?"

"Get as many of the corrupted into the Apex Sirion as you can, then jettison it. By the time Steelwing and Railgun finish their tasks, the ship should be all but useless. We might even employ the disruptor cannon on the Voulge to neutralize the crew should that become necessary."

"You want me to just... ask them?"

"You're adept in the art of manipulation, Starscream, I'm sure you can think of something."

"But they all have blue eyes now, don't they? No one's going to believe I'm corrupted."

Knockout perked up for a moment.

"I can address that."

"What?"

"Eye color is actually pretty simple to change. I had to change mine back to red."

Suddenly producing a scanner out of seemingly nowhere, Knockout pointed it toward Starscream, typing in some sort of code. After a second, his vision turned blurry for a moment, and he held a hand to his head. As he opened his eyes again, looking toward a reflection of himself in Megatron's armor, he found his eyes glowing a light blue, much like that of an autobot's. He let out a quiet sigh, manifesting as a low growl, and looked back up at Megatron.

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to ask Knockout to set up a quarantine area on the Triad in case of any... stragglers. Then I... will confront Soundwave. He's probably already searching for me. He's sent me a few messages, in fact."

The other two stared at him for a moment, but Megatron's eyes quickly gained a hint of impatience.

"Well? Go!"

Knockout and Starscream both turned to leave, but Megatron grabbed the seeker's arm after a moment, waiting for the medic to leave before looking down at him and letting go.

"I don't know how bad this situation is, but only you will be able to judge that. I only wish I had more information to give you."

Starscream shifted his weight awkwardly, prompting Megatron to continue.

"Go, Starscream. Make me proud."

The seeker stared at him, his eyes widening slightly in something between surprise and pure joy. He backed away, holding one hand to his chest as he bowed, smiling up at Megatron.

"Of course, Master ."

With that, he turned and ran out of the room, heading back toward the Apex Sirion.

It was very fortunate for Starscream that he and Megatron had shifted to being on relatively good terms again, because the fear that gripped the seeker's mind would have been entirely overwhelming if not for that vote of confidence. If Megatron had threatened him, as was all too familiar, Starscream probably would have left; flown off to the surface to search for Shockwave in the hopes that his flight from danger would not be construed as pure abandonment.

Yet, this time, Megatron went so far as to call him adept.

As he began to approach the Apex Sirion, he shifted his posture, trying to seem relaxed. He held his hands behind him, keeping his wings mostly upright as he stepped through the threshold and into the ship. It was of foremost importance not to look confident.

Contrary to most people's intuition regarding manipulation, though maybe this applied only to Starscream, the most suspicious thing someone could be was confident. Confidence was rare to most, often interpreted with traces of aggression, but for Starscream in particular, it was an unfortunate side effect of his scheming. No one really trusted him to begin with, but in the infrequent cases where he strode through the halls with confidence, everyone backed away, knowing that he was hiding something. Looking relaxed was the goal, because it was the base state for everyone.

But of course, Starscream was only relaxed on the outside. His eyes scanned the halls, searching for every possible irregularity. Could he spot anyone in reflections? Did he hear footsteps? Was Soundwave watching him?

That last one was probably a stupid question. His eyes briefly looked up toward one of the security cameras, but he forced himself to look away after a moment, pretending as though he didn't feel the gaze of that silent creep lurking around him. Staring at security cameras was another action generally perceived to be suspicious. But it was important not to overcorrect. After all, he wasn't going to make any headway if he merely pretended to be infected, he had to find someone who was, and read them; understand them, become them.

What was his excuse? Why was he here?

A vehicon rounded a corner, heading toward him, his lights all blue. Just as he would normally do, Starscream walked by the vehicon, briefly raising his head to give him a judging stare as he passed.

So if he was infected, why would he be here? Looking for Soundwave would be the best explanation. Looking to plan a mutiny to overthrow Megatron.

Ironic how the threat of it actually happening arose the one week he didn't actually want to partake in it.

He continued through the halls, passing two other corrupted vehicons, before finally coming to the lab. He stepped inside, finding Ratchet working quietly on something, but his eyes turned to the broken window instead. Soundwave had to be very distraught in order to damage the ship in any way. He always treated whatever ship he occupied as a living thing. And while that made sense in some way, Starscream was more of the mind that a ship was a tool.

The autobot looked toward him after a moment, giving a passing glance before turning back to the seeker upon noticing his eyes.

"... Starscream? When did you..."

Starscream held his hands to his hips, waiting for Ratchet to finish his question.

"Become... affected?"

"What, you think I'd hear about a substance that gave Soundwave telekinetic powers, and wouldn't jump on the opportunity?"

Ratchet cast a skeptical glance toward him. Had he said too much already?

"You just want to overthrow Megatron, don't you?"

"Naturally."

"Well, I don't know what else I was expecting."

The seeker looked around for a moment, trying to assess what Ratchet had been doing, but finally he looked back toward the autobot.

"Where's Soundwave?"

"Pfft. I don't know. He doesn't tell me anything."

"Did he at least tell you what he was doing?"

"Trying to find Megatron."

Just then, all the computer screens throughout the room flickered slightly before shutting off, turning to a blank gray screen with the words 'No Signal' in one corner. Ratchet and Starscream both looked around, trying to see if anything obvious had happened.

It looked like Steelwing had successfully disabled the data core.

Ratchet angrily slammed a scanner he'd been holding to the table, staring at the terminal he'd been using.

"I needed that!"

Starscream let out a quiet sigh.

"They know we're up to something. How many of us are there?"

"Uhh... twenty, maybe?"

"We need to regroup. Megatron's probably going to try and kill all of us if we don't coordinate."

Ratchet turned to face Starscream, looking aggravated as ever.

"And since when do you make these decisions?"

The seeker let out a short laugh, stepping toward Ratchet, straightening his posture to stare down at him, holding one hand to lift the autobot's head to look toward him.

"Oh, you misguided fool, I've always made the decisions around here."

Ratchet awkwardly staggered back, shoving Starscream's hand away, but remaining silent, prompting the seeker to hold his hands behind him as he spoke again.

"So, we need to gather everyone together. Except... I don't know who's with us and who's not."

"I don't either. That's all been Soundwave. I'm just trying to study it."

Starscream stepped back, emanating a full-body sigh, his wings and his shoulders even falling back as he growled angrily.

"What kind of screwed up mutiny is that idiot planning!? He has no regard for the finer points of rebellion! He's just overconfident at this point, isn't he?"

Ratchet gave him a look just radiating sass. 'Aren't you one to call someone overconfident,' he silently yelled. Starscream crossed his arms, glaring at the autobot.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. "

He had to contact Soundwave directly. This was his last option, but he wasn't about to survey every vehicon in all five ships. Though his sigh was nervous and pensive, he forced it to sound aggravated as he finally opened a comm link.

"What are you doing, idiot? You're going to give Megatron enough time to retaliate."

What he got in response was not what he expected, particularly because it was Soundwave's actual voice.

"Are you on the side of augmentation or the side of overthrowing Megatron?"

Primus that voice was beautiful. While he had briefly heard it upon awakening from stasis, it had sounded somewhat fatigued; quiet and hollow. But now this was the first time he'd heard Soundwave's voice this... energetic, this alive, and it almost seemed cruel to everyone around him that Soundwave had ever gone silent in the first place.

Starscream looked over at Ratchet, trying again to appear more annoyed than he was.

"He started talking?"

"Yeah. Something about not wanting to be silenced. You haven't... heard it before, have you?"

Starscream shook his head as he replied to Soundwave finally.

"Both, at this point. Not liking Megatron to begin with just helps my motivation to overthrow him."

" I'll deal with him. You just... what do you want?"

"I was going to ask who was augmented and who wasn't, so we could regroup. Megatron's on to us."

"Well, that's hardly surprising. I've made my intentions clear to him."

"Ugh. You could really stand to learn a thing or two about treachery."

"This isn't treachery, Starscream. And given that you've never been successful at it, I doubt there's anything I could learn from you."

"Oh, I'm so hurt by that."

"What do you want ?"

"To get everyone together, at least. Megatron's going to try and kill... well, me, at least. Probably not you."

"That just makes all of us one target."

"We need to coordinate some thing."

"Fine. I'll tell them to go to the lab."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill anyone."

"You know... I've never been on the same side as you about rebelling against Megatron... and now that I am, I'm questioning my own judgement."

"Maybe it just means I'm right for once in my life."

The comm link shut off, and Starscream turned to Ratchet.

"... What are you still doing here?"

The autobot almost seemed to become insulted, letting out some confused stuttering as he responded.

"What am I- This is my lab! What do you expect me to do without the computers!?"

"This is Shockwave's lab. If he heard you say that, he would shoot you. Again."

Ratchet continued to glare at him as he backed up, crossing his arms, watching as one of the corrupted vehicons walked in.

Starscream stood silently, his mind lost in a flurry of hypothetical scenarios. He could leave right now and jettison the Apex, but then it would become obvious that he was a traitor, and he'd likely incur Soundwave's wrath, something that was often fatal. It would, oddly enough, be easier to play double agent for a while instead. So then, he needed a plan for both sides. Fortunately he already had one for his true intentions; jettison the ship, and disarm its crew with the disruptor cannon. But to manually disconnect the ship, he needed to be at the docking point. From there, he would have to go all the way to the airlock in order to leave and go back to the rest of the Erebus. All that time, the crew would remain active, and the disruptor cannon couldn't be used without immobilizing him, too. He needed to disable the ship's weapons before detaching it, otherwise they might fire on the rest of the Erebus, depending on how violent the pathogen made them.

Ratchet stared at him for a moment, though he didn't really notice until the autobot spoke.

"Well, you really do go quiet when you're scheming, don't you?"

Starscream glanced at him, then at the small crowd of vehicons gathering.

"I guess so."

But what was he going to tell the vehicons to do to occupy them? Really, their plan was to 'augment' everyone on the ship, but he needed an alternate strategy, one that focused on countering the looming threat of everyone else. Defend, secure the area, then move on from there. That would work.

He turned to face the group of blue-eyed vehicons, holding his hands behind him again.

"I realize that you were probably expecting Soundwave... But seeing as we're all on the same side, I've taken the liberty of actually coordinating something."

He gestured to the computers, seeming somewhat disappointed as he spoke.

"As you can see, Megatron's already started trying to subdue us. And if I know him, which unfortunately I do, he'll probably want to strike sooner than later. We need to defend this area, and augment everyone in it. Pair off, I want at least two of you defending the ship's power core, two defending the energon storage, and two keeping watch at the docking point."

He already knew he was going to have to subdue those vehicons when he needed to. Hopefully he could work fast enough to go unnoticed.

"The rest of you need to secure this area, go out from here and make sure this space is ours. No one gets in or out unless they're one of us. Understand?"

The vehicons all saluted mostly in unison, and Starscream straightened his posture.

"Go then. We have a ship to take. I'll try to get the data core back up."

The troops all began to leave, and Starscream smiled. This was all going well, at least. But he had to work quickly. He looked toward Ratchet, his smile fading somewhat.

"You just..."

He gestured passively with one hand, waving the autobot off as he started to walk out of the room. Ratchet stared at him in something of insulted confusion.

"Just what? "

"Neh. Just do whatever it is you do with your time."

Just as Starscream stepped out the door, he heard Ratchet mutter something under his breath.

"Psh, arrogant moron."

The seeker turned, looking back toward the autobot.

"You know, I can hear you."

Ratchet crossed his arms.

"I know."

Starscream actually smiled after a moment.

"You know, even as much as I don't like you, you're probably the most entertaining person on this ship. I hardly ever get that kind of backtalk from Knockout."

"Uhh... thank you?"

"It's a good thing. Blind loyalty is the sign of a vapid mind. Only the wise can truly understand sarcasm."

Ratchet looked at him with a somewhat blank stare, and Starscream turned to leave finally, but he soon stopped as the door closed behind him, and he turned to the rest of the Apex Sirion. Now came the real challenge.

Chapter Text

Starscream wandered the halls with his hands held behind him, seeming annoyed and hurried even though he was actually neither. He wasn't certain how to disable the ship's weapons apart from just cutting the power to the whole ship, but that would be immediately noticeable, and would draw Soundwave's attention. Perhaps it wasn't practicable to bother, since disabling them would either require cutting the power to large segments of the ship, or physically destroying the control mechanisms for each weapon.

He stepped into the data core room, finding three augmented insecticons therein, staring around at the screens. They turned to him as he entered, and immediately a brief flash of fear struck Starscream's spark. It had taken him some time to be able to admit to himself that the insecticons terrified him. The way they lurked, always in groups of two or three, screamed of conspiracy. What thoughts floated in their tiny minds was unknowable.

Nonetheless, the seeker stepped forward, glancing between the three with expectation, when one of them spoke.

"We were trying to fix the computers."

Starscream let out an annoyed growl as he walked forward, parting the group.

"Get your claws off of that."

He set his hands down on the keyboard on the terminal, desperately trying to ignore the three auras that enveloped him, the three sets of eyes that watched his every move. He logged into the system, and began briefly scrolling through the error messages the system reported, moreso to look to the insecticons as though he was reading it, since he already knew why it wasn't working. Finally he turned around, summoning a facade of annoyance, though he still had to avoid making eye contact with any of the insecticons just so he didn't appear to falter.

"What are you all still doing here?"

One of the insects spoke after a moment.

"We want to help."

"Then go patrol the area! Go augment some people! Make yourselves useful!"

They shuffled off after a minute, and Starscream turned back to the terminal. He'd mostly shown up so he could keep his word about going to fix the computer systems, but as he looked at the screen, he started disabling various subsystems he didn't realize he had access to; weapon targeting control, alarm systems, inertial dampeners.

He stared at the screen, lost in thought. Now he was going to have to jettison the Apex. But then once he returned, he'd be targeted on the other ships, likely mistaken as corrupted. With a brief thought, he left, heading back toward the lab.

When the door opened, he found Ratchet still alone in the room, holding a canister of corrupted energon. As the autobot looked toward him, he rolled his eyes, already frustrated.

"What?"

"Change my eyes back to red."

"What, why?"

" Because, " Starscream spat, "it turns out that the computer systems were disabled from the other ships. So in order to fix it, I'll have to wade through hordes of the inferior. And I don't want to attract attention while doing that."

Ratchet stared at him for a moment, seeming to let this process. But as he probably came to the conclusion that it was a solid plan, he grabbed a scanner and started typing something into it as he muttered.

"So you're going double agent now? When has that ever worked out for you?"

Starscream laughed quietly.

"Would you even have known when it did?"

Ratchet paused for a moment, then pressed a button on the scanner, again causing Starscream's vision to turn blurry momentarily. The autobot cast a strange glance at him as he set the object down. Maybe that wasn't the best response. Finally Ratchet spoke as he turned away.

"It's... strange being on your side. Hmph."

"Or are you really a double agent?" Starscream asked. Ratchet let out a short, amused laugh as he responded.

"I am not capable of that. I can't pretend to sympathize with people I hate."

"You joined the decepticons."

"I joined the neutral faction."

"Because you sympathized with us?"

"Because-... Why are you still- I thought you needed to go repair stuff?"

Starscream smiled as he spun on his heels, gesturing with a deliberate gait as he walked toward the door, speaking in the kind of soft, musical tone that most people found greatly unnerving.

"You're more of a double agent than I am~"

"I'm not-!"

The door shut behind the seeker, and he laughed to himself for a moment. Ratchet was an interesting fellow.

Finally he walked through the halls again, this time heading toward the docking point. As he walked, he sent a message to the weapons station on the Voulge.

[Take position. When the Apex Sirion detaches from the Erebus, fire the disruptor cannon at it.]

Not four seconds later, he received a response.

[Acknowledged.]

His fear began to eat away at him again, and he suddenly felt Soundwave staring at him from every corner of every hallway he occupied. In some ways, he feared Soundwave's wrath more than he feared Megatron's. After all, the gladiator had spared him countless times, but the few grudges Soundwave had ever held all ended in either death, or in one case, dismemberment. And if the silent decepticon realized his treachery, there was nowhere in the universe he could hide. What if he asked Starscream to prove that he was augmented? What would he do?

He snapped out of his musing as he approached the two vehicons he'd sent to the docking point. As he stepped up to them, they seemed to stare at him, probably questioning him silently about his red eyes. Glancing around momentarily to see if anyone was there, Starscream stepped over to one of the troopers, speaking quietly.

"If anyone asks, I'm not augmented."

"What are you doing?" the guard asked tentatively.

"They disabled the computers from the other ships. I'm going to go fix it."

"Oh..."

"And... don't just stand there, you're making it obvious that this is our ship. Go... patrol the hallways. Remember, they don't know we're organized."

"Ah, yes, Commander."

With that, the two walked off, and Starscream kept going. Yes, he could have detached the ship right then, but then his real motives would have been made painfully obvious. As he walked, he sent a message to Megatron.

[Has Soundwave found you?]

[Not yet. But his messages are becoming more bizarre. He said something about... invoking admiralty law to supercede my authority? He started quoting old legal texts, and of course he's not bothering to explain any of it.]

[He really doesn't want to be a traitor.]

[Right. How long until the Apex is jettisoned?]

[Not long. I just need to wait until it's not obvious it was my doing.]

[Radio silence. Meet me on the bridge.]

With that, the channel closed, and Starscream stopped walking. He stared down at the floor, wondering if he was really going to try and defend Megatron's authority. After all, all the years of abuse and hardship he suffered at the gladiator's hands could be wiped away if he told Soundwave where to find Megatron. He could use Soundwave to possibly accomplish the task Starscream had never been able to complete. He could be rid of Megatron for the rest of his life.

... Of course, then he'd have to answer to a deranged, delusional Soundwave, which was no better. But maybe he could take command instead. But maybe Soundwave would kill him upon realizing his immunity to the corruption. Or if he wasn't fully immune, maybe the corruption would kill him.

Damn it, just stay on point and do your task!

Starscream looked back, finding the docking point empty, and he took a deep breath as he started to walk back toward it, terror gripping his mind. If he did this wrong, he could invoke Soundwave's wrath.

Fortunately, it was rather easy to start the process, at least with the manual override controls. The seeker slammed his hand against a heavy, striped button, and the airlock doors came down, sealing off the hallway. Then a red handle was all it took, pulling it back, turning it back around, and seating it in place again. He grabbed onto the obviously marked handle, trying to pull it from its place in the wall, but the device wouldn't budge. Frantically his thoughts raced; those doors could definitely be heard by those vehicons. If they showed up and saw him...

He threw his weight back, trying to activate the switch. Why wasn't it moving!? Panicked, he placed one foot against the wall as leverage, and finally the switch popped out, throwing him back, almost enough for him to lose his balance. With a swift motion, he turned the switch and pushed it back in, then bolted down the hallway as alarm beacons finally sounded. He turned a corner, at least out of visible range from the docking point, and backed against a wall, taking a deep breath. A few moments went by until he heard the sound of voices on the other side of the airlock, and he ran back out, stepping right up to the glass and slamming his hands to it, watching the panicked expressions of the vehicons.

"What did you do!?" he screamed. The poor vehicons looked confused and terrified as they tried to access the computer via the wall panel next to them.

"It's not working!"

Starscream slammed a fist to the glass again and yelled back to them, even as he heard the mechanical arms release the Apex Sirion.

"What happened!?"

One of the vehicons placed his hands on the glass, almost seeming desperate.

"What do we do!?"

Just then, the magnet locks finally shut off, and the ships began to separate. With no air between them, the vehicons' panicked cries went silent. Starscream sent a message to Soundwave, Megatron, and another version to the weapons station of the Voulge.

[Someone jettisoned the Apex. Is anyone even flying that thing?]

Soundwave responded a moment later, though as he did so, Starscream watched as wisps of electricity enveloped the Apex Sirion, having come from the disruptor cannon, sending all its occupants falling unconscious to the floor.

[Why the hell are you asking me?]

Starscream started running off toward the bridge, even though he was more terrified now than he was just a moment ago.

[I don't run the Apex! I don't know who's there! No one's even said anything to me!]

[You're pathetic.]

[Yes, but where are you?]

Several moments went by, but Starscream never got a response to that message. At least it seemed as though Soundwave didn't suspect him. That was all he really wanted for now.

He kept going, finally reaching the bridge a minute later. Given that he ran inside, it was hardly a surprise that he'd seemed to startle Megatron, given the way the gladiator turned abruptly, even going so far as to raise his fusion cannon slightly. The room was bathed in silver light from the planet below them, and Starscream finally stepped up toward Megatron.

"So... now what?" the seeker asked.

The gladiator's pensive stare showed he didn't know.

The door opened again, and both looked up to watch as Soundwave strode into the room, seeming furious by way of his heavy footsteps and disapproving aura. Starscream backed away, cowering behind Megatron slightly. Soundwave's stare shifted immediately toward him, and the seeker's wings drooped in response. The normally silent decepticon spoke, sounding calm as ever, which was, in turn, even more terrifying.

"You're on his side, aren't you?"

Though it took all his mental energy, Starscream forced his posture to relax, then turn exasperated.

"You can't just burst into a room, looking like you want to kill someone, and not come off as ubiquitously terrifying. And, to answer your question..."

He took a few steps toward Soundwave, priming one of his missiles and pointing it at Megatron.

"No."

He glanced back at Soundwave with an expectant stare, until finally he replied.

"Then why are your eyes red?"

Starscream desperately wanted to send Megatron a message explaining his intentions, but to do so with Soundwave watching his every move would be suicide.

"I was going to try and fix the damn computers at least. I just wanted to do so covertly."

He looked back toward the gladiator as he continued.

"Using the Voulge like that was almost clever."

He could see Megatron's scheming mind working behind those crimson eyes, and after a moment, the gladiator pointed his cannon down at Starscream.

"It's one thing to betray me, Starscream, it's another to deceive me."

The seeker smiled, partially to seem devious, and partially because he could tell, somehow, that Megatron knew what he was doing. Megatron understood him perfectly.

"You probably didn't think I could, did you? After all this time, you still fall to the same tricks. How pitiful."

Megatron took a step toward the seeker, but almost as soon as he did so, Soundwave stepped in between them, staring up at the gladiator.

"If you so much as touch him-"

"What, you'll kill me?"

"That's not out of the question."

Megatron shook his head slightly, then lowered his gun, letting out something of a disappointed sigh as his voice turned pleading.

"What are you doing , Soundwave? You don't want to kill me, nor I you. Why are you threatening me?"

"I'm superseding your authority. You are not fit to command the decepticons."

"And why is that?"

"Because you have exhibited irrational judgement regarding the augmentation of such decepticons as myself. I question your sanity, citing your reflexive fear and suppressive acts. Either surrender your authority to me, or I will take it from you."

Starscream, having backed away slightly, finally muttered.

"Aren't I the better commander? Didn't you tell me that once?"

With a swift motion, Soundwave turned to him, throwing his hand toward him.

"Shut up!"

As though gravity itself had shifted, Starscream was suddenly flung backward, slamming into the wall behind him, where crystals of energon rapidly began to form around him, affixing his body to the wall. He looked down at himself, momentarily panicking, before yelling back to Soundwave.

"What the hell was that for!?"

"Stay out of this. This is between me and Megatron."

Starscream and Megatron briefly exchanged a concerned stare, the seeker desperately wanting to help, and the gladiator silently thanking him for what he'd already done. But Megatron's gaze turned back to Soundwave once the other decepticon started speaking again.

"Relinquish your command."

"No."

"Well then..."

Soundwave was very deliberate as he took one step toward Megatron, his head held high, then raised his right arm out as though presenting his hand, the back of which faced Megatron. He took another deliberate step forward, and held this posture.

Starscream and Megatron met each other's gaze for a moment again. That was the formal gesture all Kaon gladiators did before every match. Megatron let out a quiet sigh, then returned the gesture. One step forward, right arm out, the back of his hand facing forward. With his second step forward, his arm touched Soundwave's, and they stared at each other for only a moment before both lowered their hands, and took three slow steps backward. Starscream tried to wriggle his way out of his crystal restraints, but only for a moment, considering the entire effort was futile. Instead he relaxed, hanging motionless as he watched the two gladiators.

Megatron activated the switchblade on his cannon, though he seemed more dejected than anything else.

"Soundwave, please..."

Soundwave had no weapons, but he did deploy his cables, which, on second thought, were a formidable weapon on their own.

"I gave you a choice."

"You're deluded, that corruption is-"

Soundwave threw his hand forward, and Megatron was, like Starscream, thrown back into the wall behind him. The blue figure started to stride forward, then run toward the other gladiator as he yelled.

"It's not corruption! It's a gift ! And your arrogant dismissal of it is insulting! "

Soundwave swung toward Megatron just as he got up, blocking the strike with his blade. The gladiator looked up toward Soundwave, and even from the other side of the room, Starscream could see the sudden fury that raged within his scarlet eyes. Megatron reached forward with his other hand, either trying to strike Soundwave or to grab his cables. But they, in turn, moved out of the way, reaching around toward Megatron, at least until he grabbed Soundwave's outstretched arm and twisted it, leveraging him to the floor. Megatron lowered his arm, placing his blade on the side of Soundwave's neck.

"Check. One."

Soundwave reached up with one of his cables, grabbing the back of Megatron's neck and pulling him back some distance. Though the gladiator stumbled, he didn't lose his balance, and took a defensive posture as Soundwave got to his feet.

There were several main rules in Kaon's gladiatorial arena, and even Starscream knew most of them. No gunfire between gladiators of equal status, no electrical disruption, all checks must be verbalized. The second one worked in Megatron's favor, given that Soundwave could easily knock him unconscious with that electrical surge thing he did, but he could just as easily do the same to Soundwave with the sheer force of his fusion cannon.

Megatron ran toward Soundwave this time, slashing with his blade, only to slice through air as the blue figure stepped out of the way, just barely escaping the range of his sword. Soundwave seemed to shift his weight to one side even before Megatron reached to strike him with his other hand, rotating to shield himself with his arm, as though expecting the gladiator's next sword strike well in advance.

It had only been in one conversation, but Starscream could swear he remembered Megatron saying something about Soundwave being impossibly proactive, as though he could sense people's attacks before they made them, like he could somehow read people's minds.

As Starscream watched the two fight, it seemed more and more plausible. Even before Megatron could move his hands, Soundwave already shifted his weight, either flying well out of the way of any attack, or blocking it at opportune times.

But Megatron was no less swift. He moved his weight smoothly, always keeping a stable defensive stance, preventing any counterstrike with his ceaseless attacks.

Starscream had only ever fought for his life, but this fighting was like art. They moved like dancers, advancing and retreating in sync as they fought, strike after strike, blow after blow. Finally, Megatron swung with his blade, but stopped his arm and pulled back just as Soundwave moved out of the way, then lunged forward again to stab him. Soundwave turned, having been caught slightly off guard, and Megatron swung at him with his other hand, punching him in the chest, finally knocking him off balance and throwing him to the floor. Megatron placed a foot on Soundwave's chest, holding his blade to his neck again.

"Two."

A quiet sound seemed to catch the gladiator's attention, and he soon started to back off upon realizing the sound to be that of Soundwave's laughter. He stepped away, letting the blue figure get to his feet, until finally Soundwave spoke.

"Now I remember why I ever fell in love with you."

Megatron stared at him, seeming horribly disturbed, and remaining silent as Soundwave continued, sounding genuinely delighted.

"It's been so long, hasn't it?"

"Since we've fought?"

"Yes... But you're just as... difficult. Just as persistent. Just as fast."

"Soundwave," Starscream yelled out suddenly, "this is unnecessary. Just electrocute him and be done with it."

"You wouldn't understand the-"

He cried out as Megatron slashed with his blade, cutting a gash into Soundwave's side. Another slash barely missed his face, and soon the two were locked in another exchange, even as blood started to drip to the floor. Megatron seemed more determined this time, more violent, but one strike left him dangerously unbalanced, leaving Soundwave open to grabbing him with one cable and slamming him into the floor. The end of that cable remained latched onto the gladiator's chest as the blue figure stepped toward him.

"One."

Megatron swung, slicing straight through the appendage. Soundwave cried out again, this time seeming more pained than startled, as the bleeding remnants of the cable retracted into his torso.

It was generally frowned upon in the gladiatorial arena to make such offensive attacks after a check, especially ones like dismemberment.

"Fine!" Soundwave screamed, holding his hand forward again. But rather than throwing Megatron back as he did before, the Resonance Blaster folded out from his arm, and he soon grabbed onto the gladiator's face as he activated it, considering there was no air in the room. Starscream again tried to break out of his restraints, but could only watch, motionless, as Megatron desperately grabbed at Soundwave's arm, trying to at least break contact.

"Soundwave!" Starscream yelled. "Don't kill him!"

Considering the abnormality of that statement coming from Starscream, Soundwave actually stopped, letting go of Megatron and turning to face him. The gladiator already had cracks along much of his armor. Soundwave did not sound happy as he replied to the seeker finally.

" What did you say?"

Starscream actually trembled in fear at the tone of his voice.

"He's... more useful to us alive."

"Are you... actually advocating for Megatron now?"

It took a moment for Starscream to gather his thoughts, but finally he responded.

"You know what? Yes. I realize that seems out of character. But he doesn't deserve to die for fighting against this augmentation. Just force it on him. Then you won't have to... settle your disputes with violence like a primitive. Oh, and... get me out of this. I don't have your powers yet."

Soundwave looked down at Megatron, who still laid on the floor, seemingly in pain, then back up at Starscream. Finally he held his hand out, and the crystals that had entrapped the seeker dissipated, letting him drop to the floor. He stretched his arms as he walked toward Soundwave, stepping beside Megatron and staring down at him for a moment.

"You've done enough to him already. I mean, I don't like him, but you're violent. "

"Why do you suddenly want to spare him?"

"I want you to spare him. I'll kill him myself, maybe, but I don't think you could live with yourself."

Starscream began to wander around Megatron as he continued.

"There's some room for violence in negotiations but this is still a negotiation, isn't it? And really, all we need is for him to become augmented. It doesn't really matter if he wants it or not. Then we'll all at least be on the same page."

The seeker finally wandered behind Soundwave, and very carefully locked his fingers into place. Soundwave finally nodded slowly, and his second cable emerged from his torso, latching onto Megatron again.

"This is for the best."

But before he could do anything, Soundwave let out another cry of pain, and looked down at himself to find Starscream's blade fingers jutting through him. The seeker ripped his hand back, eliciting another, though quieter, pained moan from Soundwave as he stumbled back slightly. He turned to look at the seeker, emanating more sadness than rage.

"Even with augmentation... y-... you still..."

"I was never augmented, dear. This is for the best."

Soundwave fell to his knees, remaining there for a brief moment before finally collapsing to the floor.

Starscream glanced for a moment at his blood-covered hand, then stepped over beside Megatron, kneeling down next to him. The gladiator finally sat upright, looking over toward Soundwave as he spoke.

"This wasn't how I wanted this to end."

Starscream glanced back at the blue form momentarily, finding energon seeping out and pooling underneath him.

"I really don't want to kill him..."

Megatron started to get to his feet, although he was slow and deliberate in his movements. Starscream stood up once he did, and the gladiator moved to pick up Soundwave's body, carrying him in his arms.

"He'll be fine," he said, "but we'll need to restrain him once he's conscious until we can cure him."

Megatron started to walk off, and Starscream soon followed, remaining silent until the gladiator spoke again a short while later.

"That was impressive, though."

"What?"

"I didn't expect you to deceive Soundwave for that long."

"So..."

"... I guess you did make me proud."

It sounded begrudged, like a forced admission, but it was still the very thing Starscream had been waiting to hear for years.

Chapter Text

He was awake.

... That was a strange realization. For a moment he merely relaxed in the state of emptiness he found himself in. Who was he?

Shockwave. Right.

He could start to hear things around him, the sounds of voices, but he didn't bother listening yet. How long had he been asleep?

Rather, on second thought, the question became why he had been asleep in the first place. His memories were faint, his mind could barely focus on any one thought, but slowly things began to return to him.

He'd been on the ship. The ship had been attacked. He remembered a fire, and then... escaping. Falling down to the surface.

Wait a second...

Shockwave finally looked around, although his mind couldn't process anything he saw. It was just... lights, and the color blue. How was he even still alive? The decepticons had to have found him. That thought was comforting, at least. He started to retreat back into his thoughts, and his consciousness started to fall back into the tranquility of sleep, until another sound caught his attention. It was one of the voices he heard before, but now he realized that he didn't recognize it.

He looked around again, finally starting to grasp what he saw. He was lying on what felt like a slab of metal, or stone, surrounded by faint blue transparent walls. And as he looked to his left, he saw a form standing before him, tall enough to look down on him, were it not separated by the glass. It had thin arms and legs, covered in a beige exoskeleton, and long fingers. There were accents of red across some of its body, some even seeming to glow. It looked toward Shockwave with large red eyes, somehow seeming calming as it blinked slowly. Feathery antennae perked upright, and finally, it spoke.

"Well... hello."

Shockwave was still slightly delirious, and as such, his response came out as little more than a tired moan, but after a moment he realized something.

This was clearly an alien species... how was it speaking a language he knew? He stared at the form, now noticing what looked like wings trailing behind its back, adorned with red markings that matched those on its arms and shoulders. Finally the scientist managed to focus his attention enough to speak.

"How do you... know the humans' language?"

The person standing before him moved his head back slightly, as though curious.

"Humans?" he said. "It's the standard galactic language."

"Standard..." Shockwave mumbled, trying to maintain his focus.

The alien before him moved one hand out, slowly, to place across his chest as he bowed.

"I am U-Mos, Sentinel of the Luminoth."