Chapter Text
Life as a Decepticon was not always about fighting Autobots. Well, much of the Cause by this point was built around fighting the Autobots, but when attacks could go with months between, you found yourself with a ton of downtime. Sure, it was possible to spend that time scheming. But scheming was really only something done by the Decepticon Command and at this point, usually only Megatron himself.
No, much time was spent just waiting. Waiting for a new plan, or waiting for conditions to be right and finally get enough energon to have the Nemesis up and running again and, past that get Cybertron itself back to the glory it had been before the millinia long civil war had destroyed it.
Waiting would not have been too much of a big deal, but while the Nemesis was underwater, there was really no where to go and very little to do. The Decepticons had always been good at improvising but now they had become masters.
Soundwave himself had turned to spending much of his off duty time behind the monitors broadcasting from the many security cameras set up around the ship. It was not the most appropriate of recreations, but it was still not the most disgusting habit ever heard of... if some of the rumors were true. Many were and Soundwave knew.
Because he did not abuse his power and spent much of his free time actually keeping peace on base, Megatron turned a blind eye to his third in command's voyeur tendencies and let him do what kept him happy. There was no need for unnecessary fighting breaking out just due to cabin fever.
Many rumors spread about Soundwave being a telepath, able to read their minds whenever he pleased. It didn't help that Rumble and Frenzy thought it was funny to tell everyone that the rumors were true. In reality he'd just spent so much time behind the monitors that the Decepticons he watched everyday became quite easy to read. Who was angry about getting their rations spilled by an accidental shove, who was feeling left out lately, who was hooking up with who where they thought no one would see... He knew it all. Because he spent his free time watching his fellow Decepticons in their free time.
And there he was, alone. The cassetticons found his constant watch over the Nemesis to be little more than a “major bore”, as Rumble put it. They spent little time with him in here, unless napping within his chest. But today he was empty, alone and a little bored himself with not much going on around the base.
Bonecrusher had completely destroyed some of the mess hall earlier only for the rest of the Constructicons to come behind him and rebuild it. It was like something they had planned out to do, and Soundwave did not feel the need to tattle to Megatron on one little thing when the Constructicons never really broke any rules. There were perks to behaving yourself on a daily basis.
Other then that there was very few out and about Astrotrain and Blitzwing had been talking in the hall for a while. By the looks of it, it was a simple conversation. Nothing interesting.
In fact, it was like a day back on Cybertron when the acid rains were out and everyone just spent the day indoors and lazily laid about or watched vids. Everyone was spending the day in their rooms.
Soundwave was thinking about doing the same. If there was not going to be anything for him to watch, he had no need to be watching.
But just as he was about to stand, a streak of yellow caught his attention.
The yellow was followed very closely by something grey and they were both moving at a speed much faster than regulation.
Stunticons.
They had left their quarters. As usual it was Dragstrip and Wildrider who had left the un-cameraed safety of their room and by the direction they were headed, they were off to get their team's rations of energon.
But they were not following the rules against racing in the corridors which was of course put in place because of these two doing exactly this. A quick comm to Megatron would put a stop to it.
Or at least he would then comm Motormaster to take care of it instead of handling it himself. He wasn't ever in the mood for punishing his own pet gestalt. Not that Soundwave particularly cared. His cassetticons got the same privilege.
But just as he was about to open the link to their leader, something else caught his optic. The two leaving had been followed by someone cream colored.
This really got his attention. Breakdown almost never left their room except for when on orders or the Stunticons were allowed off base for good behavior. Leaving for an energon run, though? Unheard of.
Such unusual situations required... observation.
Soundwave followed him, optics traveling from monitor to monitor as each camera picked him up.
The Stunticons were excellent drivers. Well, not exactly. The Stunticons had excellent control over their alt modes for being so young. They just chose not to follow the rules of the road and instead fly over the ground at intense speeds to push others off the road or crash into them. They didn't seem to care.
Except for Breakdown right now. He was getting left in the dust behind the other two. He must have not wanted to break the racing rule, though he was still traveling far too fast. A cautious Stunticon was a Stunticon all the same.
Each of them had their own driving style and here it was obvious. Far ahead, Dragstrip lead. Speed and straight lines. The fastest way between points was of course a straight line. Wildrider, nose nearly on Dragstrip's spoiler would drive all over the road, swerving and swinging around, almost like he was magnetized to obstacles on the course. It was all about the ride for him, unlike the goal driven Dragstrip.
Breakdown, though... His driving was like a dancing with the road. He clung to curves and kept a smooth and steady speed even around corners. With an alt mode resting so low to the ground on its wheels, it looked like he was gliding. This was not a coward's driving.
Soundwave had little time to think about why Breakdown had left the Stunticons' quarters. He was far too distracted by the way the other was driving.
He took another turn and came to a long, wide main hallway and began to sway back and forth. Long, smooth curving motions all the way down.
Soundwave had never seen anyone drive like this. He'd never found himself so... fascinated by driving. Most Decepticons' alt modes were aerial based and even then Soundwave never found himself caring all to much about the way people moved. He made note of it... to see how their mood or perhaps how awake they were affected their movement. But this... this was different.
He looked back at other monitors to see what the other too were up to.
They were farther up the hall and on a course to collide with, of all Decepticons, Ramjet. Dragstrip, even at such speeds, saw this coming and swerved around him. This lowered his speed greatly and is something he would probably be complaining about for the next couple days.
Ramjet reacted by, luckily, jumping back and out of the way of Wildrider, who zoomed right past him. This was lucky because Wildrider had a habit of playing chicken with anything he could, being other mechs, parked human cars, and even walls.
Wildrider caught him back up to Dragstrip who must have taken a bit of a lead while he was watching Breakdown. He would definitely be complaining about this for couple days.
Ramjet, as expected, was furious, but he knew better than to try to follow those two. By the time he caught up to them, they would probably be hiding behind Motormaster and no one messed with Motormaster or his team while he was around. It wasn't smart to piss off one of Megatron's favorites.
But the cream colored Lamborghini coming right towards him was fair game. Ramjet turned and Soundwave felt himself rising up out of his chair as if he were going to intervene. But he couldn't.
Breakdown hit the brakes and slowed to a stop only a mere couple feet in front of the coneheaded seeker. But before Ramjet could get his hands on the other, he shifted into reverse and sped right back up the hall, the way he had come. Ramjet kicked the at the air and appeared to be yelling. He obviously knew he could not catch a Stunticon in a race.
If Soundwave thought his driving beforehand was impressive... this was even more so. He took the same turns and curves as before and remained just as smooth and just as fast. When he reached an intersection of halls, he spun around and drove down the first one his nose came to.
He didn't know where he was going as long as he got out of there. Soundwave knew by the chosen route.
It was a long dead end hall that was used mainly for storage. Constructicons were really the only bunch who ever came down this way. It was poorly lit and cramped with many crates and other obstacles stacked up in various locations.
And it still had working security cameras unlike the area surrounding the Stunticons' and Combaticons' quarters.
Breakdown transformed and rested up right against a wall, sliding down until he was sitting. He was venting heavily. The drive must have been a work out for him.
Soundwave found himself leaning closer, interested in those bright yellow optics. It was a face he almost never saw and while on duty would have probably ignored in favor of working. He was so brightly colored for a mech shy enough to hide away anytime he could.... for a mech Soundwave previously would ignore.
But now he was out and about and Soundwave just could not ignore someone so full of secrets. He wasn't all to sure how he'd ever let it go unnoticed just how full of secrets Breakdown was.
But something must have gotten the Stunticon's attention because he was hopping back up to his feet. It couldn't have been Dragstrip or Ramjet. They were too far away.
Breakdown looked dead at the security camera... straight at Soundwave.
Soundwave felt his spark pulse in an odd way that made his tank churn.
A gun was drawn from Breakdown's subspace and aimed directly at the camera. A smile crept across his faceplates before a flash of light and the screen went black.
Soundwave found himself staring at his own reflection and realized just how much he had stood up and leaned in to get a better look. He felt strange and empty and as he sat back down the monitor blinked and pulled the feed from another camera since it was no longer getting any from the prior one.
He had a hunch but was glad to know just what had happened to the cameras on that side of the base. It was... not going to be reported to Megatron... at least not yet.
He sat a moment in silence before looking around to see just what the other two were up to.
From the looks of it, Dragstrip had just run into Astrotrain. No one was all too hurt thanks to the Stunticons' signiture energy shield and Astrotrain's tough exterior due to his ability for space flight. But the way they stood and apparently yelled at each other... and the the fact that Wildrider was laughing... it was pretty obvious what had just gone down.
Now he could comm Megatron about the rule breaking