There was a loud voice that echoed throughout the hall of the Nemesis--calling for them. It had been a little over a day since the events from before occured, and Soundwave had, for the most part, gone back to normal.
Even after all his introspective brooding during the time that passed, Soundwave still couldn't piece together a solidified reason as to why his traumatic flashes of memory that, had before, only appeared periodically - were now suddenly turned into fully blown hallucinations of horror.
"Soundwave!" The intense voice of Megatron barked, reverberating through Soundwave's audials from the implemented speaker system of the Nemesis.
"Report to the flight deck. Immediately."
Shouldn't keep the Lord waiting.
Soundwave glanced up from his post, a sense of lethargy suddenly seeping through his pedes. Regardless of his weariness, the Third in Command must nevertheless adhere to their leader. Silently, they stalked their way to the stern of the Nemesis, already having a decent idea of what Lord Megatron had wished from them. Laserbeak continues to prove to be a valuable asset in the context of gathering information, even with trivial matters such as this.
When Soundwave arrived, Lord Megatron was there; along with five other Vehicons situated like blank faced soldiers. Megatron's crimson red optics displayed annoyance as he spoke with a sharp enough tone to cut through all their throats at once.
"Since no one else on this warship is near intelligent enough; I need you, Soundwave, to lead these Vehicons on a scouting patrol." The Lord snapped, indirectly yet explicitly expressing his frustration of the low-ranking decepticons as he halfway glanced to the Third in Command for a certain response.
"Of course, Lord Megatron," Soundwave replied instantly with a recording, followed with a brisk nod. The Chief Communications and Surveillance Officer would make swift, efficient work with his newly acquired task, and moved themselves forward to their assigned squad. Before Soundwave could utter another recording regarding their departure however, they noticed the unnnerving stare of their leader focused solely upon them from the peripheral of their visor. Soundwave turned themselves back towards him in question.
"Soundwave...it is as if your visor has been through the pits and back. Ask if Knockout can repair it when you return. I don't want my prized Decepticon wandering about looking uncouth contrary to their status, hm?" Megatron set a friendly servo onto Soundwave's shoulder. They paused, before nodding silently, as always. Laserbeak hovered over and transformed into Soundwave's chassis, ready to assume surveillance at his master's beck and call. Soundwave pivoted back around, where the Vehicons still waited impassively in formation. Soundwave tilted their helm up slightly to assert themselves, calling upon the attention of the Decepticons that were previously drifting off in thought, now startled into straightening their frames.
"Vehicons! Forward into the bridge!" The record of Starscream's outcry called out from Soundwave as the group was directed by the Third in Command's clawed digit into the already open ground bridge, their destination currently unknown.
Once they emerged through the other side, fairly quickly at that, they had ended up transported into a tropical area of sorts, yet appeared untouched by any sort of human society. It must have been a remote island, danger quite likely to be lurking from within the shadows of the trees far up the shoreline.
"Sir? Where...are we..." A Vehicon broke the silence of the group in question, raising their guard in cautious alarm. Soundwave quickly dispatched Laserbeak into the sky, scanning their surroundings from a bird's eye view. Soundwave flashed them a glacial glance with a sharp turn of his helm, startling the poor 'con into lowering their helm in fearful submission.
Soundwave, in retrospect, could have answered without much trouble, though simply putting forth the effort into concocting a complex pile of dialogue to form a sentence or two wasn't his main priority, nor something he particularly cared to do unless it was absolutely required of him. It was inefficient to waste time explaining to those inferior of rank with unneccessary information of their location, frankly put.
Currently, though, they were on a nearby island off the coast St. Kilda, hundreds of miles away from the Nemesis. It was indeed remote, however, so there shouldn't be any problems while they occupy this area.
The Vehicons all murmured under their breath their disatisfaction with the lack of an answer, yet still absentmindedly followed behind Soundwave as they scouted for the source of energon. Each step they took, sand grinded inside their gears, and they all appeared to sink down a few feet or more from their dense, concentrated weight.
What an infuriating hindrance...
Soundwave tutted in mild annoyance, glancing down at the miniscule grains of sediment pulling him downwards and filling every possible crevice with molecule-sized rocks.
"All Decepticons! Disperse--in order to create simplified reconassiance." The Communications and Surveillance Chief stopped and turned for the Vehicon's undivided attention; his looming, menacing stature enough to get any Decepticon to yield. The Vehicons all dipped their helms in unquestioning acknowledgement, divvying themselves up hastily to scour the island as competently as possible. Soundwave didn't want to stand another second longer here than he had to. Briskly, he walked across the expansive island, the sand that had yet to be stirred by the ocean kept at an acceptable, warm temperature.
Soundwave flinched and froze in the midst of taking a step, an unanticipated bright light suddenly filling his visual sensors. The Decepticon prepared a swift defensive against the suspected attacker, but was surprised to see it was only the glare of the sun, finally peeking out from the cover of the clouds. Soundwave increased the tint of his visor, only for it to glitch and refute the command. Soundwave's gaze narrowed.
Yet another irksome annoyance to fix...
The Surveillance Chief huffed, tapping against the glass of his visor to confirm its malfunction. But then, an uncanny idea came to him.
Soundwave took a quick, circular scan of the area before pressing a button near his audials, still with caution, and the visor retracted itself into his helm and out of sight. Soundwave stared around at the pure organic scenery, and then up at the blue lit sky. Every now and again, he would wonder how different things would be if he could forget. At the very least, that day.
It would make life much less of a headache, certainly.
"Sir! Sir!"
Speaking of headaches...
"We have found the source of the energon reading, Second Leiutenant Soundwave! We will most likely need to request more reinforcements to unearth the majority of the energon."
A Vehicon informed, not going so far as to conceal a speck of his pride with his chest plate puffed out. Soundwave grazed their audial again and their visor sunk back into place before they would show their face, then tilting their helm over to the Vehicon with a look of disinterest.
Still, however. I must remain loyal to my unwavering belief in the Decepticon cause...and Lord Megatron.
I owe my life to him.
Sighing to himself, Soundwave pivoted his pedes and started towards the Vehicon without any word of added response, making the previously confident Decepticon waver momentarily in themselves as they took a short step back, unsure of the Leiutenant's intentions. Afterall, reading their superior's expressions from under the concealing veil of a pitch black visor was rendered definitively impossible.
"I shall acknowledge a groundbridge--extract all that you are able to carry." Soundwave ordered evenly once he paused his gait in front of the Vehicon, Laserbeak flying high above them in continuous circles for surveillance purposes. The Vehicon visibly relaxed at Soundwave's eventual answer, nodding quickly before turning on his heelstrut to inform the rest of the squadron of the Leiutenant's orders. Soundwave watched them scamper away, scoffing lightly before raising two digits to his audials.
~This is Chief Communications and Surveillance Officer, Soundwave--requesting a ground bridge at my coordinates.~
Headquarters chimed in soon after with their deep tone resonating through the connected signal.
~Understood, Second Lieutenant.~
A groundbridge appeared; it's swirling rivulet glow shone brightly with a seamless blend of a pale purple and white.
"Alright, let's get going."
Soundwave announced plainly in a playback of Knockout's as the Vehicon squadron walked his way, chunks of raw energon in their possession. Soundwave noticed one of the Vehicon's struggling with their chunk, and stopped them with a nonverbal hand sign that signaled them to halt. Easily, Soundwave took the largest chunk of energon off their servos and stepped into the ground bridge with it, the Vehicon trailing closely behind with surprise in their optics. Laserbeak swooped in at the last minute, bringing in his own small piece of energon to be included in the success of the endeavor.
Entering back through the ground bridge with their findings, they were met with Starscream, tapping his heel strut impatiently. The slender Commander took a small step back in repugnance, noticing the island sand being dragged into the Nemesis by the piles. Starscream overlooked this however, and turned his attention to the soft luminescence of the raw energon, smirking smugly.
"I wouldn't have thought you would bring in something this small a caliber, dear Soundwave - I trust you can handle more than this measley showing." He mused, his wings held taut and high. Soundwave looked at him with a dead stare, making Starscream flinch before slowly ducking behind a chair in the controls and communications area. He coughed quietly neath the shield of the apparatus, gritting his denta.
"Ehem, heheh, ju-just put it anywhere, really..." Starscream stammered under his breath, keeping his optics averted away on another Vehicon.
Soundwave huffed silently at the cowardly seeker before marginally turning himself back to the Vehicons.
"Take these to the energon storage vault." Soundwave pointed in the correct direction with a sharp digit. After the Vehicons started their way in the advised pathway, Soundwave pivoted back.
"Starscream..." They echoed with Megatron's voice, making the Commander jump for a moment. His initial fear left quickly however, tsking to himself that he fell for Soundwave's obvious trickery. Starscream still kept himself halfway hidden, lifting his arms slowly on top of the chair with no signal of moving from his position, inadvertently prompting Soundwave to walk closer.
"I trust that you can handle--something this small a caliber..."
Soundwave repeated Starscream's word with clear, unfiltered mockery, then passing on their chunk of raw energon to Starscream. Without another word to be given or exchanged, Soundwave trekked slowly back into the halls of the Nemesis whilst continuing their constant surveillance alongside the assistance of Laserbeak. Starscream meanwhile, was left fuming in disgrace.
The Third in Command reported back to Megatron, and warriors and miner Vehicons alike were sent out according to his wishes for the site to be, in his exact words, "excavated at once - lest the filthy Autobot scum obtain a single drop of it."
A majority of the miner Vehicons were already placed to work in other mines, so they would have to make do with what was left of them. Soundwave was ordered to escort the first few waves, with there being no higher ranked Decepticon available at the current moment. Starscream must have escaped this duty...
"Alright, Decepticons--move out!"
Soundwave gestured the Vehicons into the groundbridge once more. Once they were all through, Soundwave pointed to a flight-based Vehicon managing the groundbridge, and it stared back at them like a clueless Insecticon. Soundwave then pointed to the lever, his gaze cold and soulless. The Vehicon nodded it's head hastily after that, finally understanding the request. It would wait until Soundwave would enter, and then close the bridge behind them.
Right before that, Starscream entered the control deck and was glaring daggers at the back of Soundwave's helm as they walked. Soundwave tired of the seeker Commander, and although sending a deathly glance was tempting, they decided against it and feigned ignorance in its place.
Soundwave traveled to the sand ridden island yet again, and found the miner-cons already fast at work preparing for excavation inside the cave; the location that one arrogant Vehicon managed to find. Walking around the perimeter, Soundwave discreetly transformed Laserbeak and started to listen in to their every conversation. There was no other task given to them, and perhaps there might be a few good lines to record as a part of their catagorized dialogue base...
"--Why do I have to be stuck here as a slaggin' miner, a warrior would've been ten times more interesting," One Vehicon complained openly.
"Oi, at least miner class doesn't have to worry about being killed," A seperate Vehicon voiced pointedly.
"Ha, yeah. Those scrappy Autobots have honor, but I guess it's only better for our case that we can take advantage of their weakness.."
Autobots? Honor?
Soundwave scoffed in near-hysterical disbelief.
There was no honor when they-
Soundwave grunted, holding a servo against their helm as the memory briefly returned. They grit their denta into a darkened snarl beneath their visor, lifting their helm with such a fierce glower that it could be felt through the mask itself from anyone who witnessed it.
Monsters.
That's what they are.
Laserbeak realized Soundwave's increased levels of stress and hovered over close to their helm. It was contempt, and stayed there with a light-hearted chirr. Soundwave crossed their arms at Lazerbeak, but didn't make them move. Laserbeak was always concious of Soundwave's emotions; they had a special bond that made them that way. The two had originally found one another in a ruined landscape of a cybertronian city, and the small, struggling mini-con seemed to have strucken some special chord in Soundwave, because he decided to pull it from the rubble and repair its damaged parts, with the limited knowledge he possessed. This was shortly after Soundwave's--life-altering experience.
Soundwave had not been able to wear their full-face visor and hide their appearance at the time, with Shockwave still making adjustments to its final completion beforehand. However, during the process of Soundwave saving and eventually fixing the mini-con, it showed no sign of repulsion, even with Soundwave's... distinct disfigurement, and inability to speak. Perhaps they both shared an equal chip on their frames, both a little bit mangled in their own right. In any case, the mini-con willingly stayed with Soundwave even after they were repaired, and they soon became each other's half and both would go out of their way to save one another, even with the newly named Laserbeak's highly attuned sense of self-preservation. Fast foward to now, and their bond has remained just as unbreakable as it had ever been.
Soundwave continued walking aimlessly around the site of the miners, until Laserbeak sent a frantic message through their shared communications link, projecting a written message onto the inside of Soundwave's visor.
[An unknown, most likely hostile anomaly has appeared--located NNW approximately 1,025 yards off Master's current location.]
Soundwave's helm shot up, and something caught their gaze in the direction of Laserbeak's report. A faint glow, far away. They recognized it immediately. It was another groundbridge.
The Autobots had arrived.
Not wanting to alarm the Autobots they knew of his presence, Soundwave retreated back to the cave and notified one of the Vehicons closeby to inconspicuously evacuate all personnel and to take whatever they had already excavated of the energon through the Decepticon groundbridge. Luckily, it wasn't a particularly large deposit. But even so, giving anything to those Autobots would be a disgrace to the Decepticon cause. The few soldiers stationed at the mine would stay to make sure the Autobots would not have any energon from this source, including Soundwave. They commed a groundbridge and requested more soldier rank Vehicons to assist in keeping back the Autobots before they thought to attack. Autobots were always cautious, so they've got a bit of time. The miner-cons were taking the energon slowly into the bridge, and a small brigade of ground-based Vehicons exited out in return, as well as a couple seekers. Soundwave clawed up his side impatiently.
Could they be any more sluggish on their treads? This is not the time to be fooling around like bumbling fools. Dino-bots could go faster than this.
Then, an energy cannon shot fired. It was one of the Autobots, attacking. Soumdwave tensed, but was caught by surprise from behind by the Autobot femme. Soundwave guessed Laserbeak was just as shocked from their quick strike. No time to mull it over now, however.
"Soundwave..." She hissed, aiming her cannons at him from a short distance away. Swiftly dodging her fire, Soundwave countered by taking the opportunity to restrict her movement and raised her up with one of his mechanical tendrils. She grunted, violently trying to writh herself out.
"Arcee!" The one designated Bulkhead called, stomping over to help her. Soundwave swatted him away with a bit of effort, and the bulky Autobot fell to the ground. Then, Soundwave slammed Arcee into the ground, repeatedly tossing her into the hard packed dirt that was farther up the island.
Soundwave continued these slam downs until she seemed unconscious enough. He tossed her into the ocean, believing her to no longer be an imminent threat in his way, and would simply sink to the ocean floor. The island's surrounding shore had a surprisingly steep cut off not too many yards from the land, so it was plausible. However, Soundwave taking his guard off meant Bulkhead getting a good hit on him, and he clenched his chassis from the sudden burst of pain. The wrecker went in for another hit until he was shot by a Vehicon, causing him to then back off somewhat. Finally, the Vehicons found themselves joining in the battle. What great help they had been until now.
Note sarcasm.
Soundwave was not particularly good at close combat, and not really suited for battle; it'd be best if he stayed back. Soundwave started moving closer to the backlines, and noticed their numbers were already dwindling. Those blasted Autobots, such a pain. The Vehicons weren't keen on being killed for nothing, and seeing that the groundbridge was still there, the remaining Vehicons all ran to the groundbridge, and Soundwave saw the dead bodies laid there, energon pooling from their wounds.
"Second Leiutentant Soundwave, hurry!" A Vehicon called, and the Third in Command looked up, dazed. The two of them were the only ones left, and the Autobots were all about to shoot directly at them. Sprinting in front of the groundbridge and shooting down the last Vehicon, a thoroughly drenched Arcee stood in the way with a determined glare.
"Oh no you're not." Arcee narrowed her optics at Soundwave, unsheathing a wrist blade to uppercut him.
It seems I underestimated the Autobot's relentless spirit. No wonder they've lasted this long.
The Leiutenant caught her by the servo, and held her up to their towering height. She smirked, and before they could react, jammed her other wrist blade straight into their visor. She didnt get through much of it as Soundwave kept her a fair distance away from themselves, half-way forseeing the attack, but still wasn't fully prepared for it.
He let her go, stumbling backwards. Before she could do anything else, Soundwave grabbed her with one of his tentacles and hurled her away in a random direction. Finally making it through the groundbridge, the Third in Command stumbled into the Nemesis disarranged.
"Woah there buddy," Breakdown said, grabbing onto one of their arms to stabilize them.
Now you show up, you brain module-less dimwit?
Soundwave angrily raised his helm to meet the optics of the phsyician's comrade.
"Oh, you're screen is a little..." The ex-wrecker trailed curiously, his gaze fixating on the Leiutenant's visor. Suddenly, Soundwave felt air filter into their faceplate, and the Chief's optics widened in panic.
Their visor was cracked.
They quickly wrestled themselves free from Breakdown and sprinted past everyone, skidding into their living quarters with no regard for anything else in that moment. A single servo-large mirror laid alone up against one of the four blank walls, and Soundwave stared it down, momentarily inquiring his processor on where it had originated. Then, he spotted some fine print, written on the bottom right corner.
Complimentary mirror just so you know you're never going to be as good looking as me. -Knockout
He remembers now. It was a strange gift Knockout gave to some of his patients. Everyone but Megatron, of course. But, none of that matters now. Soundwave picked it up, and peered into it. His visor was cracked in half, but it didn't show any of his face. He vented in relief, tracing the crack on the visor. Laserbeak found Soundwave before he walked out, and transformed onto their chest plate. Starscream was patrolling the hallways as per usual when Soundwave stepped out.
"Well, Well! Soundwave, seems like you had a little rough run in with the Autobots," Starscream curled a smirk, not sparing even a second of arrogant self-indulgence. Soundwave did nothing as Starscream observed the back of his own clawed digits casually.
"Perhaps you can get Knockout to make you a little more battle ready for the next time," Starscream glanced up with glowing red orbs and flashed Soundwave a deriding smile.
"There will be none of that, Starscream." Megatron declared, looking down upon him from behind with a distinct frown.
"GAH! O-oh! But of course Lord Megatron, I-I was simply making a suggestion-"
"Soundwave does not need suggestions, Starscream, especially from you. My Communications Chief will stay on the Nemesis from here on unless I command otherwise," The Lord ordered, now shifting his gaze to Soundwave with the same look that would take no other answer than the one he desired. Soundwave breathed in surprise.
Stay on the Nemesis...from here on?
The Second Leiutenant was stunned and hesitant to Megatron's decision, though their visor disregarded any sense of emotion to be shown and Soundwave had no outward reaction.
"Ahaha! Was he truly that pathetic at fighting?" Starscream laughed out loud, his optics beaming with evil delight. Megatron bared a snarl.
"Of course not. On the contrary, before the war, Soundwave- no, never mind. I simply need Soundwave's skillset more on the ship than I do on the ground." Megatron grew tired of explaining himself. But, his unfinished statement made Soundwave more confused than before. What did they do before the war? They don't remember anything memorable.
...are they missing something?
"...yes, my liege." Soundwave responded belatedly in recorded audio, realizing the silence was meant to be filled by their answer. The edges of Megatron's expression tugged upwards into slight satisfaction.
"Good. I know I am able trust you, Soundwave, to always do what you are told." Megatron then side glanced to Soundwave's faceplate.
"And that visor. Get that repaired as well."
With no more to say, Megatron walked past the both of them, his heavy footfalls traveling down the corridor in a wave of metallic echoes. Starscreamed hmphed under his breath.
"Nngh, well, perhaps you could talk to Knockout about some cannons, at least." Starscream muttered, putting his slender arms behind his back with a look of mild distaste covering his expression. Soundwave stared off absentmindedly in his thoughts without responding for what he thought to only have been a few moments, before eventually coming to notice the lack of the Commander's presence and voice. Shaking his helm and drifting back into the realm of reality, Soundwave began to walk off without another word towards the repair bay.
Scoffing silently when remembering Starscream's previous remark of bulky 'cannons', they glanced back one more time to see Starscream no where in sight, yet the dark, scheming smirk plastered on his sharply defined face plate still fresh in their mind.
Then again, with Megatron's recent order to stay permanently off-field, maybe it would be wise to consider his suggestion...
______________________________________
A.N: for clarification purposes. . .
'. . .' dictates flashback (P.o.v. varies because context matters and 1st doesn't always work)
' . . . ' dictates a timeskip
'---' dictates Autobot to Decepticon perspective
vertical '. . .' dictates dreamstate
'~' dictates comm. link
'[' dictates shared private link (e.g. Laserbeak and Soundwave)