What Have I Done?

Chapter 30: Bound For Change

Soundwave had to admit, the last months had been a troubling time for him. Troubling... at the minimum.

How could he better describe the grief of his brother's death? How could he describe the feeling of his best friend abandoning him for Orion in his darkest moment? How could he describe how Megatron turned on him?

There was no way to describe it.

Soundwave stared at himself in a cracked mirror. The light in this underground sanctuary was dim, but he could still see well enough. Soundwave's optics drifted to the object sitting beside him. Crashdrive's visor. He had finished it and been using it for the last few weeks. It had become the symbol of their revolution.

His revolution. Megatron's revolution. Crashdrive's revolution.

Soundwave's digits curled in anger and his gaze returned to the mirror. Crashdrive had been the centerpiece of their efforts to gather dirt on the elitists and nobles. Despite this, Soundwave could only hear talk of Megatron. Megatron... and Orion.

The little Iaconian archivist had only joined their crusade shortly before the revolution began. Not only had Orion not been a part of the years and years of work that the three friends put into this, but he was also the reason one of them was terminated.

Yet, Orion seemed to be the center of attention. Of course he was. It made sense. He was an Iaconian.

Soundwave's optics narrowed and a sneer grew on his face. He doubted anyone even knew Crashdrive's name.

His brother died for Orion... and Orion betrayed them.

His brother died for nothing.

Soundwave unclenched his fist and vented out a shaky breath. He turned away from the mirror before he could see the shining silver of lubricant. There was no time for grieving now. They were at war.

Even if he was angry with Megatron, he still had to help or else Crashdrive's termination would have been in vain. Years of work would be put to waste. Soundwave knew that Megatron could not win this war without him. If it hadn't of been for his broadcasts, the fight Megatron was currently waging against Vos would be a one-mech battle. Or rather, they would have never been taken in by the seekers in the first place, and rusted away in the Sea of Rust.

The visor was back in his servos again and his gaze was back on the mirror. Streaks of lubricant shone on his cheeks. Soundwave's gaze hardened.

The visor rose, and the visor fell.

Staring back at him through the mirror was an emotionless facade. It was the facade of a mech who refused to let anyone ever see his weakness again; hopefully, if no one else could see it, then he would not be able to feel it.

As Soundwave stared at the mirror, the perfect word to describe his month of abandonment and betrayal came to him.

Silence.

His vow of silence and empathy was muffled by the walls of the visor. The prison for his emotions. The savior of his soul. The last remnant of his brother.

That vow contained the last words that would ever leave his intake.

Soundwave turned away from the mirror and made his way back into the small cave-like home that had been given to him and a few other mechs. At the moment, it was empty, save for himself and the annoying mech who rescued Orion; everyone else was out with Megatron, taking back the city of Vos.

Taking over a city.

Since when did his life become so complicated?

Soundwave activated the visor and multiple notifications popped up. He took a moment to carefully read each one before archiving those of importance and deleting the others. When he was through, Soundwave tapped into Vos's remaining cameras and audio feeds, attempting to keep a tab on the status of the battle.