[Even if Megatron hadn't asked, he planned on keeping on eye on the other Megatron. But especially after the conversation he overheard between the two at the little meet and greet.]
[A few moments after, Megatron would get a video file of Optimus barfing all over the floor.]
[... 'Sounders'? If it wasn't obvious from the voice alone, that would be a dead giveaway that this wasn't the Ratchet he knew. That Ratchet was more likely to cuss him out than call him some weird nickname. The reply came in text.]
You've been snooping through the medical files, I take it. I'll be there shortly.
[Not that Soundwave was very interested in having a 'talk' with Ratchet, but he'd at least see what the Autobot wanted. A few minutes later, Soundwave was walking in, but he probably was not what Ratchet was expecting. Though given that he walked right over to Ratchet to loom over him, hopefully the medic was smart enough to figure it out.]
[He'd seen the announcement. But he'd been a combination of confused and angry. Of all the people to betray the Decepticon cause, Megatron shouldn't have been one of them. So he hadn't decided if he should bother interacting with the other Megatron.]
So... is "our" (please note the air quotes) Starscream avoiding all of us, or am I just special?
Because he's barely spoken 10 words to me, and that's— look, if I'm not the one having to listen to him vent about every little grievance, where is it going? Because I doubt it's just stopped.
[ Is this weird loyalty? Concern? Probing for gossip? All of the above? ]
[Knock Out did spend a fair amount of time with Starscream, especially after Breakdown was gone. He would assume mostly probing for gossip, but a bit of the other two as well.]
-certainly--avoiding--Megatron-
-spoke with him--briefly--it's been--three vorns--for him--since--last thing--I remember-
[If Magnus weren't an Autobot, he'd feel a little bad, because he knows how that kind of tired feels. But unfortunately, Magnus was an Autobot.]
-yes--can provide--video-
[It takes a few minutes, but in fairly short order Magnus will get sent a video file. The video was taken from Soundwave's point of view while he sat next to Megatron, chatting idly. They both glanced briefly at Verity when she came close, complaining about Megatron sprawling out, before dismissing her. As they went back to chatting, Megatron shifted, knocking his hand against his glass of energon, making it tip and dump right onto Verity. Megatron made an irritable noise as he got up, moving away from Verity, even as her armor snapped over her and she leveled a gun at Megatron's back. It looked like Soundwave got up as well, moving away from the shouting, glancing at Drift as he leapt after Megatron, hands on his swords. The video cuts there.]
[He had just seen Smokescreen’s post to the network. If it had been Bumblebee, he would have said yes kill the little bastard, but in this case he could be a little more objective.]
-will that be—worth—Dreadwing’s—time—if he just—comes back—later-
-Autobots—rather cross—about—that human—already—certainly use this—as—an excuse—to come after you-
[Given what he heard Ratchet talking about in the medbay, be doubted Magnus had them all under control.]
[??? Someone other than Megatron wants to hang out with him??? Slipstream really was baffling to him. But Laserbeak was always telling him that he should try and socialize a little more here, since he actually had the chance. What could it hurt?]
-should be available--in--an hour--or so--currently--calibrating the space bridge-
Apparently it's appropriate to exchange gifts around this time. I have some datafiles that are of no practical use to me here but may assist with your current project. I expect the variances in the technology likely makes them useless, but there could still be something of value to you.
Enjoy.
[ Attached is a copy of space bridge schematics from Shockwave's universe which he had previously stolen from the Autobots. ]
I would've let you know sooner, but it happened so fast. Fortunately, I am fine--there's not a scratch on me. I'd brought books to the library to donate them and he picked me up. From behind. And I clawed him. Then had the gall to tell me that if I didn't want to be picked up, I shouldn't walk around in my alt mode. That's when the knives came out. He is every bit as awful as you and the small Soundwave and everyone else that I know who knows him said he was.
I called the medbay and told them to come get him. KO was suddenly busy but warned me about the antlers; there's another cougaraider who's a medic, and he came up from the medbay with two big Vehicons to pick him up.
I only wish I could believe he'd learn from this mistake, but I will be watching my back better now.
[Who knew that sometimes being patient paid off? But he just had to not blow it by coming off as overly excited. But between this and the data Shockwave gave him, maybe he could have a breakthrough.]
I look forward to it. Let me know where you would like to meet.
[Whether or not Soundwave actually dreams is up for debate, but now, in this moment, Soundwave is definitely dreaming. A wide dark purple plain stretches out before him, and a voice calls to him from somewhere.]
Soundwave?
[Suddenly, Megatron as Soundwave remembers emerges from the ground, standing before him. He offers his third-in-command a wide, appreciative grin.]
[Generally he made an effort not to dream, because they were rarely good. Laserbeak was pretty good about waking him up. But in this case, it clearly wasn't a normal dream. No rubble, no blood, no death, just... purple.]
[Soundwave turned at the voice, trying to find the source. Megatron. He'd know that voice anywhere. When Megatron materialized properly, he hurried over to him, reaching out to touch his arm. Sure, it was a dream, but he still felt the need to see if this wasn't just a cruel prank of his mind. He half expected Megatron to just dissolve under his fingers.]
Megatron. I was hoping you would return.
[There was no need for the pretense of not speaking in a dream, right?]
I hope you are well! It's been quiet here at the Magma River Manor since we've arrived here a few months ago. Father doesn't like to have too many staff, so the castle is empty a lot and there aren't too many kids my age around here.
Don't worry though, I'm not lonely.
No matter how empty things are, I'm always have adventures and there's always treasures to find!
When I grow up, do you think we can have adventures too? I'm not lonely, but having a friend would be nice. I'm sure there are a lot of treasures in the universe! And I want to find all of them.
Sometimes I wish I had run away with you guys. I love exploring active volcano caves by myself, but I always wonder what you are all are up to.
I have to go now. I hope you're having fun out in space!
[How do these children keep finding his phone number?? And why do his parents keep letting him wander around unattended? Isn’t that the opposite of what you do with children?]
Kavit,
I’m glad to hear you and your family are doing well. After the commotion at Crown Station, I had wondered if your parents got away unharmed too. It’s unfortunate that there’s not many children your age there though. Could you perhaps ask your parents for a pet?
[Since he’s not sure he buys the “I’m not lonely” thing.]
Unfortunately most of the adventures we go on are rather dangerous. We aren’t exactly very well liked by most people around the galaxy. The last adventure I just went on, my comrades and I got attacked by what looked like a cross between a turtle and a plant. For now I think you are better off with your parents.
But once you grow up, there are lots of people on the ship I’m on who would be glad to be your friend. There’s even one who kind of looks like you. Until then, take care of yourself. An active volcano might be interesting but it’s dangerous as well.
So, you go ahead and steal a baby from one of the most ruthless powers in Galactic Council space?
That was bold.
[Mass-Byte sends Soundwave a few encrypted links to some deep web sites. On them, is a call to find 'The Last Cybertronian ship in the universe.' Alongside that, is the faces and basic information of every single crewmember on the R2 with a price on each of them. Soundwave, it seems, has the highest at 100,000,000 credits.]
Word is also going out that it was Cybertronians who attacked the galactic council, which increases your value even more. You are going to have every pirate, slaver, and bounty hunter in the galaxy on your tail.
Which, you know, is manageable.
However, if I get wind that the Slaver Lords have an eye on you, I might just bail. You guys aren't worth going up against those three psychopaths.
I haven't given anyone else this information, so I'll leave it to you on whether or not the rest of the crew knows that they're currently the most wanted people in the universe. I say, personally, that ignorance is bliss, but I don't know how you do things.
For the record, it was not me that stole the baby. And if it wasn’t Scorponok, it would have been someone named Mama Baba and we might have been blamed regardless.
[He looks through the links that Mass-Byte sends. He can’t say it’s a total shock that they are now on a wanted list, but it still wasn’t great news. Especially with a bounty that high.]
It’s convenient that you’ll leave when you’re the reason they know so much. But I suppose the warning is appreciated.
Hello, Soundwave. I don't know about you, but after this month I could use a dedicated night of drinking and non-productivity. Care to join me?
If I'm going to get the most out of this evening, I wouldn't want to pass up the chance to share a dance with someone as graceful as you. Particularly when one considers the last ball we had the displeasure to attend was superseded by mission requirements and hindered by those unfortunate disguises.
[Ah, this was a pleasant surprise. He hadn't been totally sure if he would bother going to the ball again this year, given how... poorly the night had ended last time. When your date dances with someone else, shoots said someone else, and then runs off to find Unicron, it sort of soured the experience. But Shockwave was good at flattery without making it sound like he was going to expect something in return. And Soundwave was kind of a sucker for flattery.]
-certainly--has been an--eventful--month-
-be glad to join you--now that--we'll--have--legs-
[For one fleeting moment, he has a glimmer of hope that somehow, Rumble and Frenzy had come through the space bridge without him seeing them first. But then Scorponok says ‘she’.]
[Shockwave had been putting off speaking with Soundwave after the events on Ekosi, mostly out of regard to not get the spymaster covered in glitter, but Shockwave had been in the medbay the same time. It didn't take a medic to see Soundwave had been....struggling...of late.
Shockwave felt it was time to reach out, even with something as innocuous as a bit of levity.]
I swear these Autobots are getting more and more bold.
[Attached is a file taken from an observation camera Shockwave had set up in the lab, showing his 'conversation' with an orange autobot.
...and, after a bit of a delay, as he considered whether or not to add...]
[Part of him did feel a bit bad that he hadn't checked on Shockwave while he had been in the medbay, but the idea of talking to anyone outside of Knock Out for medical had sounded... exhausting. What would he even say? Plus, it wasn't like the medics they had on the ship were second rate. Normal wounds were taken care of easily enough.]
[He hadn't kept up with his communicator enough the past few days to see Shockwave's request for energon, but he did check it when he heard the beep for a direct message. With a puzzled head tilt, he clicked on the video.]
[Even with as crappy as he felt, Soundwave couldn't help the snort of laughter.]
That little antenna of a bot really tried to lecture you? It's like they expect everyone to suddenly become Ultra Magnus' disciples because we aren't at war.
[His vents let out another amused huff, before reading over the next line of text. Decepticons weren't exactly known for their warmth and compassion. And while he enjoyed Shockwave's company, he didn't exactly have a good feel for how much personal baggage the other would want to deal with. But if he was taking the time to reach out... maybe a little would be okay.]
Thank you. I've had some... medical complications upon my return. Hopefully it will be resolved shortly.
[ A day after Soundwave has been released from the Medbay. As with his Brigade counterpart, Starscream opts for a communication in its simplest form: a military glyph, impartial, hopefully nothing that could be construed as mocking. ]
[If he had a mouth, he would have frowned slightly at seeing Starscream’s name popping up on his comm. A while ago, he might have assumed it was to gloat. To pull the usual Starscream and proclaim that he was now the leader of the Decepticons. But their last conversation had earned Starscream some good will. He just wanted to check on him, huh?]
[Though that didn’t change the fact that he had no idea what to say. The mech he loved most was dead - again - and he was (medically speaking) dead as well. What sort of status could sum that up?]
I’ll be fine.
[The vague and half answer was the best he could come up with. It wasn’t like Starscream would be interested in his sob story anyways. The only one who probably understood his loss was the one mech he absolutely would not talk to.]
[A party? Nightwave was really inviting him to a party? Directly? Normally everyone tried to keep him away from parties since he had the effect of draining any joy from a room upon entering it.]
Of course. This set of diagnostics for the Bridge should be done shortly.
[Something to discuss, huh? Well, for Shockwave he would always make time. So sure enough, a little while later, there would be a knock at Shockwave’s door.]
[A sound echoes that might be familiar. It's popped up more than once across the public network, no identifiable ID, and over some less public waves well. A glitch? Maybe.
But it does seem to be anywhere and everywhere and then gone. Completely disconnected and thus hard to trace.
Except this time when Hashtag's brief foray into accessing the networks of the R2 directly instead of through her communicator leads her to stumble into someone else's space--again. Only this time she's not being nearly as cautious as she has been up until now. She's not exactly sure why, but she'd been following a thread through the network, clips and footage of Cybertron! How could she not delve deeper and try to see as much as she could? It all felt so real and Lived and that was way better than the news footage she had of the war back home.
[He'd heard the noise across the network a few times - but frankly people poking around the network wasn't anything new. Tech and a few others were always going through files and such. But this...]
[This was coming from his personal computer in his room. Soundwave's expression behind the opaque glass soured as he walked over to it, data cables connecting quickly to the terminal. Honestly, who would have the gall to try and hack into his computer of all mech's? There wasn't anything particularly sensitive on the computer, but it was personal. With the idea that his death was looming over him back home, it seemed pertinent to preserve the historical footage he had saved over time. After all, who knew if the Autobots were going to tell anyone the truth of what happened?]
[Soundwave began sifting through the data and the network, looking for the intruder. He was going to find out who it was, and give them a piece of his mind once he locked them out.]
Ahem. Heeey Soundwave. This is Donnie, um, we were on that last mission together and stuff anyway-
You're in the space bridge room a lot, right? Does the space bridge need some kind of receiving point to connect with or can we just throw in coordinates to send something somewhere?
[Small for a turtlekin compared to the others he had seen, but similar enough.]
-space bridge technician–for the Decepticon army–back home-
-do not need–receiving point to connect with–as long as–you–have–coordinates–but–be sure–your–coordinates–are accurate–and–placing you–on–solid ground-
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