Constant Shift

@silenceofthewave

By the time his systems had finished rebooting, his diagnostic readout was absolutely cluttered with error messages. He skimmed them while closing them out; none said anything surprising.

He was trapped in his alt mode beneath a skyscraper's worth of debris. He was suffering from several minor energon leaks, and while his alt mode had aided him in surviving the collapse, he was limited in his ability to escape.

He would have to rely on Soundwave.

He checked his commlink connection first, only for static to painfully blast his audials. No good, some debris must have damaged his transmitter.

He had an idea for flagging down his comrade, but it would set him into energon-deprived stasis. While he weighed his options, he heard a distant rumble through the debris.

There was no other choice. Assuming that the noise had been Soundwave actively searching for him, he would have to take this chance.

The barrel of his cannon warmed as he tilted it upwards, feeling it strain against the crushing force of the debris. He felt his motor systems lock up as he redirected as much energon as he could to the weapon, and he fired.

He only had a split second to be cognizant that the blast had melted a hole through to the surface before his senses were awash in errors again-- and the cold embrace of stasis gripped him.

[Soundwave had been busy scanning the rubble once more when the familiar shriek of a charging cannon hit its audials. The mech jumped back as far as it could, unsure of where the shot was coming from. It was damaged enough- it didn't need to add "gaping hole from a laser cannon" to the list of injuries.]

[The shot rang out with a powerful subsonic thrum, followed by the clattering of metal and stone. The sound of the canon made it shiver down to its protoform; there was something so strut chilling about that kind of power. Soundwave had always admired the way the scientist was never afraid of battle.]

[The shot was luckily angled away from its position, and at an angle that would not compromise what little integrity there was to where the debris had settled. Slowly, it realized it was going to have to move it all by servo. Soundwave popped open its subspace and took out a few energon cubes. If it was going to have to haul rubble and Shockwave out of there, it was going to have to be at full capacity.]

[Soundwave poured the fuel into the intake near where its neck connected to its chassis, waiting for the familiar shiver that came with its system refueling. It watched as the bar on its HUD slowly rose to 63%. That should be fine. It placed the unused fuel back before climbing on top of the rubble and setting to work.]

[The recovery was slow, and hard. Its frame was not meant for manual labour. While its battle protocols had long since gone offline, it still felt the effects of high energon usage. Every now and again, the mech would glance at its HUD, noting the way the fuel bar steadily went down. Normally, it could go a few days without needing a major refuel, but today it would need two.]

[The cycles seemed to crawl by. Its limbs and joints were sore, but the rubble pile seemed to grow as it cleared away enough of an opening to crawl down and get Shockwave out. It did not rest, it did not take a break. There was no use of breaks while its comrade needed assistance. Of course, if vehicons were doing this, it would insist on two teams with a rotating break schedule. But there were no vehicons, there was only Soundwave, and Soundwave was but a tool, a thing to be used to complete the mission.]

[It didn't know how long it had been by the time it reached Shockwave. The mech before it was shut down, stuck in his alt mode. Soundwave found itself grateful for his sturdy, durable tank mode. The mech assessed him as best it could, flaring its biolights to provide some kind of light in the dark chasmic rubble.]

[Scans provided vital information- he was online, but completely out of fuel. He would be able to transform in the space provided. But, most importantly, Shockwave was in need of repairs far more than Soundwave was. Soundwave had spent enough time with Knockout to know the rules of triage; its own wounds, internal and external, would have to wait.]

[After a bit of searching, Soundwave was able to find the well hidden fuel intake. It popped open its subspace once again taking out a few more cubes- truly it was grateful that it had packed more than was necessary for the trip. With careful digits, it popped open the cover and began to slowly fuel him up.]

[It had spent four cubes on him. It didn't know if that would be enough to get him to 100%, but it knew it should provide enough for the journey. Soundwave stepped back, and patiently waited for Shockwave to come online.]

[Shockwave awoke in a full-body shudder as energon rushed through his systems; his vents cycled in a gasping sensation, as if he had been forced to hold his breath all the while.] [He pointed his external sensors outward and detected that there was enough room to transform. He took the opportunity immediately, groaning as a few sparks spat out around his joints. He looked up, his optic meeting with Soundwave's visor.]

[There wasn't anything he could say. He was thankful, he was regretful this happened when they were most vulnerable, he saw they were both in urgent need of repair. Perhaps he required more repair than he had thought, because he found himself staring at his traveling companion for longer than would be considered polite.]

[Remembering himself, Shockwave nodded to the other, and proceeded to climb out of the pit on his own. His struts bemoaned the action all the way, but he knew they weren't reaching their limits, and therefore ignored them.]

[He opened the container he had slid his sample case into, immediately checking them over. Some of the fossils had fragmented in the action, but the energon samples were fine. He closed the case with a click.]

We remain successful in our endeavors, it seems.

[He turned towards the direction of his lab, calculating the distance. Considering his energon levels, he should be able to make the walk.] I apologize, Soundwave. We may need to take more time than I anticipated before we can collect the final sample.

[Soundwave did not look away from the longer-than-polite stare. Its logic processor was scrambling from the range of emotional data that flew through it- relief, exhaustion, the after effects of fear, gratitude, pain. It had to put a temporary hold on the datastream. The corrupted code from its battle protocols was making everything go haywire, and there was no use trying to parse through anything its processor fed it until after a good defrag cycle.]

[Soundwave climbed out after Shockwave, preparing to stimey his fall- should he fall. It would not be able to do an entire systems check on him, its scans weren't meant for that. But, judging by the way his struts creaked and spat sparks, there was nothing good happening.]

[It could not help but edge closer and peer into the sample case as well. It knew it should be worried, concerned that they were going to have to desecrate everything again, but the soft lock it had put on that dataflow only allowed it to feel calm. Tranquil, quiet. Soundwave almost welcomed the change.]

[It nodded at Shockwave's words, satisfied with both of their inspections. What mattered was the samples, the Cause, bringing back its Cassettes. However, that also meant all was lost should they not get themselves back in working order. It was already pulling up the navigational hologram when Shockwave spoke once more. It shrugged in response.]

[Soundwave put away the holomap and gestured for Shockwave to start their trek.]

[It wasn't a far walk, by a Cybertronian scale; it would be far shorter than the distance they had traveled between each burial site, even.]

[But that did not make it a pleasurable jaunt. Shockwave wasn't keen to transform after the way his body had reacted the first time, and thus had to travel by pede.]

[For the first several kliks, he seemed to take it well, even as pain jolted up his struts with each step. While he had considered the possibility of manually turning off his sensory net, he realized the pain would be a more reliable tell of when he would be stressing his systems beyond repair than his diagnostic output.]

[He maintained his poise to the best of his ability, in spite of this. Not out of any kind of specific intention, but because refusing to admit to weakness was so deeply baked into Decepticon culture.] [But slowly, surely, he began limping. His steps grew heavier as he trodded onto their destination. If Soundwave stared or said anything, he seemed to ignore it; taking breaks wouldn't get them closer to his lab's medbay, and they were on limited time until reaching it.]

[By the time they had finally reached the entrance of the laboratory tower, his movements were exceedingly stiff. He leaned his body against the doorway as he pressed in the key combination; luckily, his hand wasn't shaking enough for him to need more than one attempt.]

[Soundwave followed behind Shockwave at a respectable distance. It did indeed stare at the way his plodding became slower, stiffer. It said nothing, but whisps of concern colored its field.]

[Of course the concern was not personal- never! It was driven by the fact that if Shockwave fell, it would have a very hard time getting him to the lab. Along with that, if Shockwave's injuries were enough to offline him, Soundwave did not want to face Megatron's wrath. It may be the most loyal officer in the High Command, but it had a feeling that in this case it would end up looking like Starscream after his continual punishments.]

[The concern definitely was not driven by a personable concern for Shockwave's wellbeing, or its fear of once again being alone. Both of those options were absolutely out of the question. It was driven by concern for the Cause and the Cause only.]

[Aside from...that...Soundwave found itself thankful that a majority of its injuries were internal. The internal repair system was struggling to repair melted circuitry and fried wiring. Not to mention the nightmare its code had become. That was fairly typical whenever its battle protocols came online- its frame and software were not meant to deal with the complete overhaul they went through. It was always a complicated mess when one was reformatted, and Soundwave's case was no different.]

[With a quiet curiousity, Soundwave watched as its comrade opened the lab. It carefully recorded the code, should it ever find itself in need of it. That was unlikely, but at this point it was a habit.]

[It followed the much larger mech inside. The brightness settings on its visor automatically adjusted as the image of the environment came into clearer view. There was a soft ambient light coming from the terminals. Everything had been neatly covered, with nothing out of place.]

[Soundwave looked to the medical table- or at least what it assumed to be a med table- then to Shockwave. It walked over and circled it slowly, inspecting the side table briefly, trying to descern what equipment was under the sheet. Finally, it looked back to Shockwave, tilting its helm slightly.]

@silenceofthewave

By the time his systems had finished rebooting, his diagnostic readout was absolutely cluttered with error messages. He skimmed them while closing them out; none said anything surprising.

He was trapped in his alt mode beneath a skyscraper's worth of debris. He was suffering from several minor energon leaks, and while his alt mode had aided him in surviving the collapse, he was limited in his ability to escape.

He would have to rely on Soundwave.

He checked his commlink connection first, only for static to painfully blast his audials. No good, some debris must have damaged his transmitter.

He had an idea for flagging down his comrade, but it would set him into energon-deprived stasis. While he weighed his options, he heard a distant rumble through the debris.

There was no other choice. Assuming that the noise had been Soundwave actively searching for him, he would have to take this chance.

The barrel of his cannon warmed as he tilted it upwards, feeling it strain against the crushing force of the debris. He felt his motor systems lock up as he redirected as much energon as he could to the weapon, and he fired.

He only had a split second to be cognizant that the blast had melted a hole through to the surface before his senses were awash in errors again-- and the cold embrace of stasis gripped him.

[Soundwave had been busy scanning the rubble once more when the familiar shriek of a charging cannon hit its audials. The mech jumped back as far as it could, unsure of where the shot was coming from. It was damaged enough- it didn't need to add "gaping hole from a laser cannon" to the list of injuries.]

[The shot rang out with a powerful subsonic thrum, followed by the clattering of metal and stone. The sound of the canon made it shiver down to its protoform; there was something so strut chilling about that kind of power. Soundwave had always admired the way the scientist was never afraid of battle.]

[The shot was luckily angled away from its position, and at an angle that would not compromise what little integrity there was to where the debris had settled. Slowly, it realized it was going to have to move it all by servo. Soundwave popped open its subspace and took out a few energon cubes. If it was going to have to haul rubble and Shockwave out of there, it was going to have to be at full capacity.]

[Soundwave poured the fuel into the intake near where its neck connected to its chassis, waiting for the familiar shiver that came with its system refueling. It watched as the bar on its HUD slowly rose to 63%. That should be fine. It placed the unused fuel back before climbing on top of the rubble and setting to work.]

[The recovery was slow, and hard. Its frame was not meant for manual labour. While its battle protocols had long since gone offline, it still felt the effects of high energon usage. Every now and again, the mech would glance at its HUD, noting the way the fuel bar steadily went down. Normally, it could go a few days without needing a major refuel, but today it would need two.]

[The cycles seemed to crawl by. Its limbs and joints were sore, but the rubble pile seemed to grow as it cleared away enough of an opening to crawl down and get Shockwave out. It did not rest, it did not take a break. There was no use of breaks while its comrade needed assistance. Of course, if vehicons were doing this, it would insist on two teams with a rotating break schedule. But there were no vehicons, there was only Soundwave, and Soundwave was but a tool, a thing to be used to complete the mission.]

[It didn't know how long it had been by the time it reached Shockwave. The mech before it was shut down, stuck in his alt mode. Soundwave found itself grateful for his sturdy, durable tank mode. The mech assessed him as best it could, flaring its biolights to provide some kind of light in the dark chasmic rubble.]

[Scans provided vital information- he was online, but completely out of fuel. He would be able to transform in the space provided. But, most importantly, Shockwave was in need of repairs far more than Soundwave was. Soundwave had spent enough time with Knockout to know the rules of triage; its own wounds, internal and external, would have to wait.]

[After a bit of searching, Soundwave was able to find the well hidden fuel intake. It popped open its subspace once again taking out a few more cubes- truly it was grateful that it had packed more than was necessary for the trip. With careful digits, it popped open the cover and began to slowly fuel him up.]

[It had spent four cubes on him. It didn't know if that would be enough to get him to 100%, but it knew it should provide enough for the journey. Soundwave stepped back, and patiently waited for Shockwave to come online.]

[Shockwave awoke in a full-body shudder as energon rushed through his systems; his vents cycled in a gasping sensation, as if he had been forced to hold his breath all the while.] [He pointed his external sensors outward and detected that there was enough room to transform. He took the opportunity immediately, groaning as a few sparks spat out around his joints. He looked up, his optic meeting with Soundwave's visor.]

[There wasn't anything he could say. He was thankful, he was regretful this happened when they were most vulnerable, he saw they were both in urgent need of repair. Perhaps he required more repair than he had thought, because he found himself staring at his traveling companion for longer than would be considered polite.]

[Remembering himself, Shockwave nodded to the other, and proceeded to climb out of the pit on his own. His struts bemoaned the action all the way, but he knew they weren't reaching their limits, and therefore ignored them.]

[He opened the container he had slid his sample case into, immediately checking them over. Some of the fossils had fragmented in the action, but the energon samples were fine. He closed the case with a click.]

We remain successful in our endeavors, it seems.

[He turned towards the direction of his lab, calculating the distance. Considering his energon levels, he should be able to make the walk.] I apologize, Soundwave. We may need to take more time than I anticipated before we can collect the final sample.

[Soundwave did not look away from the longer-than-polite stare. Its logic processor was scrambling from the range of emotional data that flew through it- relief, exhaustion, the after effects of fear, gratitude, pain. It had to put a temporary hold on the datastream. The corrupted code from its battle protocols was making everything go haywire, and there was no use trying to parse through anything its processor fed it until after a good defrag cycle.]

[Soundwave climbed out after Shockwave, preparing to stimey his fall- should he fall. It would not be able to do an entire systems check on him, its scans weren't meant for that. But, judging by the way his struts creaked and spat sparks, there was nothing good happening.]

[It could not help but edge closer and peer into the sample case as well. It knew it should be worried, concerned that they were going to have to desecrate everything again, but the soft lock it had put on that dataflow only allowed it to feel calm. Tranquil, quiet. Soundwave almost welcomed the change.]

[It nodded at Shockwave's words, satisfied with both of their inspections. What mattered was the samples, the Cause, bringing back its Cassettes. However, that also meant all was lost should they not get themselves back in working order. It was already pulling up the navigational hologram when Shockwave spoke once more. It shrugged in response.]

[Soundwave put away the holomap and gestured for Shockwave to start their trek.]

@silenceofthewave

By the time his systems had finished rebooting, his diagnostic readout was absolutely cluttered with error messages. He skimmed them while closing them out; none said anything surprising.

He was trapped in his alt mode beneath a skyscraper's worth of debris. He was suffering from several minor energon leaks, and while his alt mode had aided him in surviving the collapse, he was limited in his ability to escape.

He would have to rely on Soundwave.

He checked his commlink connection first, only for static to painfully blast his audials. No good, some debris must have damaged his transmitter.

He had an idea for flagging down his comrade, but it would set him into energon-deprived stasis. While he weighed his options, he heard a distant rumble through the debris.

There was no other choice. Assuming that the noise had been Soundwave actively searching for him, he would have to take this chance.

The barrel of his cannon warmed as he tilted it upwards, feeling it strain against the crushing force of the debris. He felt his motor systems lock up as he redirected as much energon as he could to the weapon, and he fired.

He only had a split second to be cognizant that the blast had melted a hole through to the surface before his senses were awash in errors again-- and the cold embrace of stasis gripped him.

[Soundwave had been busy scanning the rubble once more when the familiar shriek of a charging cannon hit its audials. The mech jumped back as far as it could, unsure of where the shot was coming from. It was damaged enough- it didn't need to add "gaping hole from a laser cannon" to the list of injuries.]

[The shot rang out with a powerful subsonic thrum, followed by the clattering of metal and stone. The sound of the canon made it shiver down to its protoform; there was something so strut chilling about that kind of power. Soundwave had always admired the way the scientist was never afraid of battle.]

[The shot was luckily angled away from its position, and at an angle that would not compromise what little integrity there was to where the debris had settled. Slowly, it realized it was going to have to move it all by servo. Soundwave popped open its subspace and took out a few energon cubes. If it was going to have to haul rubble and Shockwave out of there, it was going to have to be at full capacity.]

[Soundwave poured the fuel into the intake near where its neck connected to its chassis, waiting for the familiar shiver that came with its system refueling. It watched as the bar on its HUD slowly rose to 63%. That should be fine. It placed the unused fuel back before climbing on top of the rubble and setting to work.]

[The recovery was slow, and hard. Its frame was not meant for manual labour. While its battle protocols had long since gone offline, it still felt the effects of high energon usage. Every now and again, the mech would glance at its HUD, noting the way the fuel bar steadily went down. Normally, it could go a few days without needing a major refuel, but today it would need two.]

[The cycles seemed to crawl by. Its limbs and joints were sore, but the rubble pile seemed to grow as it cleared away enough of an opening to crawl down and get Shockwave out. It did not rest, it did not take a break. There was no use of breaks while its comrade needed assistance. Of course, if vehicons were doing this, it would insist on two teams with a rotating break schedule. But there were no vehicons, there was only Soundwave, and Soundwave was but a tool, a thing to be used to complete the mission.]

[It didn't know how long it had been by the time it reached Shockwave. The mech before it was shut down, stuck in his alt mode. Soundwave found itself grateful for his sturdy, durable tank mode. The mech assessed him as best it could, flaring its biolights to provide some kind of light in the dark chasmic rubble.]

[Scans provided vital information- he was online, but completely out of fuel. He would be able to transform in the space provided. But, most importantly, Shockwave was in need of repairs far more than Soundwave was. Soundwave had spent enough time with Knockout to know the rules of triage; its own wounds, internal and external, would have to wait.]

[After a bit of searching, Soundwave was able to find the well hidden fuel intake. It popped open its subspace once again taking out a few more cubes- truly it was grateful that it had packed more than was necessary for the trip. With careful digits, it popped open the cover and began to slowly fuel him up.]

[It had spent four cubes on him. It didn't know if that would be enough to get him to 100%, but it knew it should provide enough for the journey. Soundwave stepped back, and patiently waited for Shockwave to come online.]

@dailydoseoflogic

[Somehow, some way, Megatron had agreed to Shockwave's terms. Soundwave did not know if it was simply luck, or if Megatron did believe that's all they were there to do. Megatron had no reason to not believe that, but Soundwave wasn't used to keeping secrets from its Lord, and that weighed heavily on its mind.]

[Shockwave had rejoined the Nemesis crew the cycle before and had taken upon himself the task of ensuring all scientific equipment was prepared, packed, and ready to go.]

[This suited Soundwave just fine. It busied itself with preparing survival gear- mostly just paranoidly checking and rechecking that they had enough energon and going over maps of Cybertron. It had marked each gravesite of its Cassettes and uploaded it to a small navigation chip.]

[Five minutes before they were due to depart, Soundwave ensured the energon and navigational chip was secured in its chassis. It could not risk the loss of either in the space bridge.]

[It stood next to Shockwave on the flight deck silently until they were cleared for takeoff. Once the order had been given, it silently opened a ground bridge to the edge of the space bridge. It gestured with its servo for Shockwave to enter first.]

[Shockwave observed Soundwave's fidgeting passively. He had a small device strapped to his side for sample collection, but otherwise carried very little-- his lab on cybertron would have most of what he needed as it is.]

[He didn't hesitate to walk in at Soundwave's instruction, and within a moment, he was free floating in Earth's orbit, not far from the bridge itself. Considering the myriad ways this could have gone wrong, it made sense to limit the number of people doing this to professionals.]

[He recalled when he observed Cybertron's space bridge activating on its own quartexes ago, in which a stream of... something... tried to enter, only to fall back to the planet's surface. Needing to know who or what had attempted to reach Cybertron, he traced the signal only to be.... here. Looking down at an oasis in a vast sea of ink.]

[He was snapped out of his lapse of nostalgia by Soundwave's approach. It was... Interesting, to see how its body moved in the absence of gravity. Its plating was so dark, his optic struggled to distinguish its full outline from the void.]

...Ready when you are.

[Truly the only thing that could denote Soundwave from the black abyss was its biolights. It must've been a strange sight- this vaguely Cybertronian shape that could only be discerned if one were to squint really hard. Otherwise, it just looked like strange floating squiggles moving towards Shockwave and stopping with a soft jet mere feet away.]

[The quiet purple lights that outlined its visor turned towards the scientist, and appeared to nod, though it was difficult to tell. Within moments, Soundwave began spinning the code that allowed it remote access to the bridge. The bots inside would've seen the way buttons seemingly pushed themselves and levers moved without touch. Seconds later, the space bridge exploded with light, drowning out all other light sources in the vicinity.]

[Soundwave took a moment. They were really doing this. It had been so long since it had been to Cybertron. It hadn't been on any of the expeditions, nor was it there when they had retrieved Shockwave. It was safe to say the last time it was home was since their frantic escape to the stars. Soundwave had to place aside the sudden homesickness that twisted itself into its fuel tank. It had a job to do.]

[With that, Soundwave performed a partial transformation, turning its legs into the jet boosters from its alt mode. It placed a servo on Shockwave's shoulder, gripping him tight to guide them through the bridge.]

[The green, grey and white colorant of the bridge was nothing new, but it was far longer than the bridges that Soundwave was used to. Eventually, it let Shockwave go, knowing the momentum would carry them through. It was silent throughout the trip, mostly just staring ahead as they moved through the bridge, but every now and again it would glance at Shockwave, seeing the way the colors twisted and warped as reflections of his plating.]

[Right before the pair exited the bridge, it transformed back to its full root mode. With the otherworldly grace it had always possessed, Soundwave landed firmly on the metal planet. It stood to its full height, looking around.]

[The planet was...devistated. It knew that Cybertron had, for all intents and purposes, died. But it could have never imagined this scale of desolation. The gunmetal grey vista made its spark twist.]

[Again, the reminder that they were not here on a sight seeing tour rang in its processor. It turned to Shockwave as it carefully opened its subspace and pulled out the small navigational chip. It opened the small latch on its arm, and placed the chip inside, activating it.]

[The chip glowed for a moment before pulling up a scaled down version of the planet. It had three sets of coordinates, each a good distance away from each other, and labelled with one of the Cassette's names. Soundwave turned its helm fully to meet Shockwave's optic, giving a nod of confirmation that it was ready to begin.]

[Shockwave felt the crunch of decaying metal bend under his weight as he set foot on the corpse of their home. At some point, he had accepted that it would likely be his final resting place, being stranded for cycles without contact. Now, he played as a temporary guide.]

[He pointed to a set of coordinates conveniently not far from two of the already set points, and then another, a little farther out.]

I will need to make a stop here for the samples, and then return to my laboratory here after we've touched all other locations.

[It would be a bit of a trek, but it would not make for a substantial loss of time. Nobody would know.]

You are free to go ahead if my speed is an inconvenience for you. I would recommend not landing until I have cleared the area, however. The ground is not as stable as it used to be.

[Of course, there still being active mines embedded into the surface of the planet didn't help. ]

[Soundwave nodded, indicating its understanding. Quickly, it transformed into its alt-mode and took off. Yet, it circled back, hovering over the mech.]

[They travelled at the same speed to the area. Of course, Soundwave knew it could go ahead if it wished, but there was something comforting about travelling together on a world turned foreign after being so familiar for centuries.]

[As they got closer to the first set of coordinates, its engines thrummed with anticipation and anxiety. They were heading to Rumble's final resting place first. Soundwave found itself praying to Primus for the first time in a very long time, hoping that his grave had survived against all odds.]

[It could still remember the day Rumble was offlined. He was the second of the Cassettes that Soundwave lost. It still had been reeling from the loss of Frenzy, and to be honest, neither of them were in the right mindset to be in the field. Rumble had lost his twin, Soundwave had lost what most bots would consider a child.]

[Soundwave had to push away the memory. This trip was not for it to grieve, but to bring back new life. Still, a subtle melancholy settled over its processor as they travelled.]

[When they arrived, Soundwave circled overhead lazily as it waited for the "okay" to land. There were several small slabs of metal covering the ground. The battle that had taken Rumble was brutal- they had lost several comrades that day. Still, Soundwave knew exactly which one was Rumble's. It could still remember the feeling of his small body in its arms.]

[Shockwave transformed, his cybertronian tank form rolling over the flaking metal surface at a comfortable pace. It was... different, having company during a drive. Indeed, the plains felt less desolate with the presence of another living being by his side.]

[They were mutually silent, which Shockwave found himself thankful for. This mission was a grim one, and he was a poor source of comfort, as far as words were concerned.]

[When they came across the war-torn field, he transformed, scanning the area for instability before pinging Soundwave that it was clear. He watched his companion land, careful to observe it.]

[He wouldn't be of much help, should it find itself crushed by the sight of the body. He could only offer to make the extraction himself.]

[Gracefully, as always, Soundwave landed next to its comrade. It did not spare Shockwave a glance as it moved towards the row of graves. It paid no mind to the ones it passed until it stopped in front of one, two left from the end of the line.]

[Soundwave stared at it for a moment, its body language unreadable, as if it was simply looking at something uninteresting. But, internally, it had to manually shut down the thought trees that crossed its processors. No memories, no sounds. This was not the time to show remorse.]

[It crouched down, digits gripping the heavy metal that covered the rushed grave. It would've asked for help, but it wanted to do this. Alone. It had to do this. If anyone else had, the desecration of this place would have...well...lead to nothing pretty.]

[So, it hauled the slab as harsh ex vents of exertion left its outtakes burning. Eventually, the mech managed to flip the slab over, revealing the small body that has been left to rust. It kneeled down, digging its knees into the surface near the edge, staring down at its long offline Cassette.]

[Soundwave reached down, gently running an affectionate servo across Rumble's rusted cheek, with a tenderness that had not been expressed in centuries. Another harsh exvent left its frame before it finally looked up at Shockwave.]

[Shockwave leaned down, taking a syringe out of his kit. He glanced at Soundwave. Was it showing restraint? Probably. He recognized and respected what vulnerability he could detect from the moment.] You may wish to look away from this.

[He pierced the corpse's tanks, pulling out a vial's worth of thick, congealed energon. He placed the filled vial into his sample kit.]

[He wiped his hand with a cloth before looking back to Soundwave.]

...Do you wish to do the honors?

[It didn't matter to him, personally. He had known and lost many people over the course of the conflicts he had been in, but he was never one to go back and mourn. He supposed that mourning was for people who needed to. For people who formed deep attachments.]

[It, in fact, did not look away. Rather it watched as the thick liquid was pulled into the vial and carefully stowed. It brought a mix of emotions to its processors and Soundwave had to pull its field in tight to keep them from showing. Relief, anger, excitement.]

[The new Rumble may not be the same, but he will be Rumble.]

[At the question, Soundwave simply nodded. It touched Rumble's face one last time, cupping the side of his helm, as if it was saying goodbye. It was goodbye for now, but not forever.]

[As the moment passed, Soundwave slowly stood up. It moved behind the slab and once again struggled to flip it on its own. When Rumble had been buried- really, when it lost all of its Cassettes- the mech had insisted on using heavy slabs to cover their graves. The practice of scavenging for parts was common, but Soundwave could not have bore the thought of some bot using its beloved Cassettes to create or fix more Autobot troops.]

[Eventually, Soundwave managed to cover the grave back up. The only indication that it had been disturbed was the new scratches on the topside of the slab. It let its arms hang by its sides for a moment or two before once again activating the navigational chip.]

[The mech marked their current coordinates with a red cross, indicating their business there was done. It moved the small simulated globe just a bit and highlighted the next grave, sending Shockwave a ping of the coordinates.]

[The next body had taken just as long when they got to it. To Shockwave, it was little more than another sample collected. To Soundwave, it was Buzzsaw, beloved avian friend.]

[He didn't dare call it's mourning inefficient; he knew this process was psychologically imperative, but it disturbed him on some level to be faced with something so...unrelatable to him.]

[They left the site for his predacon samples, and he found himself relieved to have a reprieve from the secondhand grief. He didn't try to make conversation-- what was there to say? --but he did try to respect Soundwave's time as he sifted through the rubble.] [The body after that was Frenzy's. After he had collected the sample, he had started to notice some kind of pressure in the air, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. He glanced at the surrounding area.]

...When you are ready, we may want to make way out to my base of operations.

[Buzzsaw's desecration passed much in the same way Rumble's had. While Soundwave did not elicit any kind of reaction it hadn't already shown, seeing its birdformer's rusted form, broken joints and disintegrated wings left it reeling. It again used the reasoning that this was necessary, that it was going to get him back but...it rang a tad more hollow this time.]

[It welcomed the break from grave robbing, using the time to distract itself from the bubbling emotions. It watched as Shockwave carefully chose which samples he wanted to take and which ones he wanted to leave. There was a comforting rhythm and logic to it that settled the mech's processor.]

[Then it was time for Frenzy, and everything came back. It felt as if it was being choked out, as if the code and algorithms of its data storage were fighting against the manual input of its commands and winning. It had to turn away from Shockwave at one point, unable to find the code tree that had commanded its visor to play Frenzy's final moments in glaring clarity. It did not want Shockwave to see this. Within moments, it was able to find the code and snipped it short. Still, Frenzy's dying cry rang loud in its processor, and Soundwave temporarily lost control of its field, lashing out with terrified grief.]

[It had managed to bring it in within moments. It knew that Shockwave had a hard time reading fields, so it wasn't worried about whether or not it had hurt the bot. But, it was worried about wasting time. Soundwave managed to force itself to desecrate one more grave- to which its processor fought with what could only be described as "this is wrong!" playing over and over again between its audios.]

[They had finished the objective and Soundwave stood silently, staring at the covered grave once more, venting softly, frame barely moving. It took a moment to realize that Shockwave was speaking, and even longer to agree. It desperately needed a break. It was getting harder and harder to keep its systems and field in check. Soundwave has known this would be difficult, but it had never imagined it being like this.]

[Again, the pair began to travel. Silence filled the air between them, though it was moments like these in which Soundwave wished it could speak for itself. It needed something- anything- to keep its mind off of what it has done and enabled.]

[It was one thing to clone predacons, ancient ancestors, far removed from anything that still lived. It was a totally different game to break into places it held personally sacred, and take what had been left. This is wrong played in its processor again.]

[Logically, it knew there was no reason for it to be wrong. If Soundwave had not insisted that they be covered, the Cassettes would have been used as scrap parts. If it had not taken pieces of them, someone else would have. It was breathing life back to the Cassettes' rusted frames, but in a way that no one had ever thought possible. It shouldn't be so concerned with the morality of things.]

[Soundwave was brought out of its stupors when its HUD pinged with an alarm on its passive long range scanner. There was something moving, something coming towards their approximate location. Soundwave stopped midflight and transformed, landing on the ground.]

[It angled its helm towards the sky, activating its sensors, performing a full spectrum analysis. However, against all odds, there was absolutely something- someone- who had pinpointed their location from high in the atmosphere. No one was supposed to be out here. No one except...]

[Soundwave turned to Shockwave, unhousing its datacables and beginning to wake up its battle protocols. It knew that the vengeful once-Decepticon would not be happy to see the mech that had trapped her out here.]

[Shockwave's memory of Airachnid was not particularly extensive, but he recalled the spider's disloyal proclivities. He transformed, a necessity if he would need to aim directly up at any point.]

[They were currently on the border of Altihex. Shockwave had nestled his base between the abandoned towers, when it was most strategic to do so at the time.]

[As he studied the skyline, a series of dots visibly grew closer-- Airachnid and five....Insecticons? She must have asserted her dominance over them at some point.]

[He aimed his arm cannon towards them, but they weren't clustered enough to guarantee a shot. Given a second, he popped a small cube of energon into the intake at the base of his neck; He would be burning directly from his reserves for this.] I will focus on her lackeys. You are best equipped for handling her directly, Soundwave.

[Within moments, they were close enough to begin firing. Airachnid's voice could be barely heard over the din, but there was a sinister glee to her voice.]

Oh, now this is about to get fun! Miss me, Soundwave?

[It spoke to Shockwave, completely ignoring Airachnid's jeering. Soundwave hated talkers- especially those who rambled in battle. It was insulting, to a degree, but it also was their greatest weakness. To talk is to be distracted.]

[By the time Airachnid and her Insecticons landed, Soundwave's battle protocols had been dusted off and were fully operational. Its servos had turned into long talons and the biolights on its datacables pulsed with electricity.]

[That, however, was nothing compared to the analysis its processor ran. A complicated equation of probability and velocity, the prediction of which appendenge would land where- all culminating to turn surveillance into a deadly weapon.]

[The Insecticons landed right behind their Mistress, two of them staying in their beast mode while the rest transformed. They seemed to be waiting for her command. Soundwave turned its helm only slightly towards Shockwave. Airachnid was powerful, but so were these pests. It did not want to lose yet another ally on Cybertron.]

[Shockwave sized up the enemy, nodding. He predicted that he would require extensive superficial repairs, but he would survive. He was already well familiar with insecticon battle tactics- he was the one who had recruited them to the Decepticon cause, after all. Airachnid had made a mistake in thinking she had the upper hand with numbers alone.]

[Shockwave's cannon already charged, he let loose fire into the center of the formation, forcing Airachnid to jump out of the way with a grunt. He had hit one of them in the confusion, melting half of one of the lackey's faces, but it would take a bit more blunt force trauma to put it out of its misery.] [He focused on drawing their attention, with success. The less Airachnid could utilize their brute force, the better.] [Airachnid, meanwhile, cared only for charging the mech who was personally responsible for her exile. She kept two of her spider legs up high, stabbing at Soundwave as she spoke.] Still no words, hm? Even after coming all this way to see me?

[She jumped back after her charge had failed.] I'll make you break that vow when I have you screaming in agony!

[The Insecticon that had been struck howled in pain. Simultaneously, all of them had understood who their target was- Shockwave. A cacophony of cries came from the 'cons and they began their charge. Blaster fire came from those still within their beast mode, covering their three transformed comrades that had moved far faster than they looked like they could.]

[Within moments, they had arrived at Shockwave and the assault began. A flurry of blows came towards Shockwave in a mess of fists and beetle-like legs. The two fliers hovered just above, bucking off blaster shots when they were sure their comrades wouldn't be struck.]

--

[Soundwave's hypothesis was once again proven right. Talking during battle was useless, insulting, and a sign of weakness. Soundwave easily blocked the assault, one of its datacables wrapping around a spider leg. The spindly thing managed to slide out of its grip, but that was no matter. It simply took an adjustment to the new data acquired to ensure that it would not happen a second time.]

[Soundwave, however, made no move towards her. It knew that if it were to win, it would need to be an up close and personal fight; but also that a straight up charge would spook her, driving her away further. No...No, it needed to lure her in. It decided the best way to do that was to simply deny her the fight she was obviously looking for- Airachnid would have to come and get it herself.]

[Shockwave took several of the blows head on, ignoring them until one of the beetle legs swung at him. He was quick to grab it, using the momentum to knock the insecticon off its feet.] [He wasn't significantly larger than the insecticons, but he was still capable of exerting enough strength to lift one off the ground, swinging it in a circle and tossing it at one of its allies. He took the moment of free space to let loose a shot at one of the fliers, aiming at the wings.] -- [Airachnid was furious that her usual tactics were ineffective towards Soundwave. Always a spoilsport, always so superior. Every strut in her body compelled her to put it in its place once and for all.] [She circled it, her face curling in disgust at the way it simply stood and tracked her motions. She couldn't use her usual evasive tactics on hard cybertronian ground. She would have to be a little more clever...] [She suddenly transformed, shooting at Soundwave as she hovered closer. As soon as she thought she had found an opening, she transformed again, swinging in an attempt to break its guard.]

[There was another howl as the Insecticon crashed into its comrade, both of them sent skidding against the ground. As they recovered, the blast from Shockwave's gun hit one of the fliers, causing it to spin out and crash into the ground in a flurry of broken metal and limbs.]

[The one 'con left standing took the opportunity to jump and latch onto Shockwave's gun arm. It burned the plating it came into contact with, but the action allowed enough time for the remaining flier to get a shot off towards his optic.]

[The two transformed 'cons managed to stand up again. The one who had taken the shot earlier limped behind its compatriot, looking worse for wear as energon dripped from the wound on its face.]

----

[Soundwave was patient. It was a prized quality of the communications officer. Its patience served it well both on and off the battlefield. It could tell how Airachnid was decidedly not, and all it had to do was wait for her to strike.]

[It raised one of its long, wide arms to block the shots that she bucked off at it. The blasters burned and left its plating smoldering just a bit, but that wasn't greatest concern. This was almost certainly a distraction.]

[Its assumption was proved correct because once it lowered its arm, it saw the spiderling launch herself towards the mech. It caught the swing with its datacable, the claw of the thing attatching to her plating and sending a powerful electric shock through her system.]

[Shockwave couldn't necessarily feel much through the barrel of his gun, but he knew he was sustaining damage. He swung it about, hoping to fling the insecticon off, until a blinding flash struck him in the optic.] [He grunted angrily-- primus damn his physiology --and placed his hand over the cracked optic. Furiously, he smashed his gun barrel up against a nearby rock face, dealing damage to the insecticon clinging to it until it let go. His vision was fractured, but he wasn't blind yet. ] [A shrill hum filled the air as he charged his next blast. He would not be done in so easily.] ---- [Airachnid's whole body spasmed, her tangle of legs flailing as her scream cut through the air. She made a desperate, jittery attempt to grab at Soundwave's face, but it was for naught.]

[Her body went slack, smoke curling off of her form.]

[The con slid off the barrel of Shockwave's gun, its helm effectively bashed in from the force of his furious strikes. The flier that had been knocked out of the sky was still twitching, trying to get its body to move, and yet it couldn't. Though, despite the current carnage, the danger still had not passed.]

[The insecticon still remaining in the sky managed to shoot its blaster a few more times, most of the shots missing. The one that did land only hit superficial plating on his arm.]

[One of the grounded insecticons had managed to reach Shockwave at this point. It was scratched and dented, but still attacked him with a fervor. It certainly had not noticed the charged gun as it swung a fist towards the cycloptic bot with all its might.]

[It was at this point where Soundwave began its own encirclement of Airachnid. It had let the datacable go, taking note of her smoking frame. It scanned her, focusing on her spark then her mind. Both were active, but showed that she was barely online. It was strange- she used to be much more capable. Perhaps half the battle had already been won by the lack of energon Soundwave forced her into.]

[It turned and studied the battle its comrade was engaged in. The smouldering bodies of two insecticons lied nearby, and it watched as one rushed Shockwave, the other shambling not far behind. However, the flier was its greatest concern.]

[It moved so it stood at Airachnid's helm. If she managed to get up, it would not be to catch it off guard. Its arms transformed into the rarely used blasters and it took aim, bucking off a quick succession of shots towards the flying insect.]

[Shockwave let off a fully charged blast, boring a hole into the insecticon that was hitting him. Its spark was fully visible for a split second before it quickly fizzled out, energon pooling on the ground.] [He didn't look up, but he heard Soundwave's telltale gunfire aimed above. Good, so it had made quick work of Airachnid...] [There wasn't any time for gratitude as he charged the last grounded insecticon. He tackled it, pinning it to the ground with all of his weight.]

[He pressed the tip of his gun barrel to its head as it squirmed desperately beneath him. It had stopped bothering to bite him, knowing it was staring death in the face.]

[He fired, the insecticon's head seeming to implode from the inside as the laser punched a hole through it. He heard the flying insecticon fall behind him. Having burned through most of his reserves, he started to relax.]

---- [Airachnid's optics flicked back online, her body unmoving. She watched. She waited. She calculated.] [And when the din was loudest, she shot at the base of the nearest megastructure, destroying its last support pillar.]

[The sound of the building beginning to collapse filled the space around the Decepticon fighters. Soundwave's helm snapped to the source, and the trajectories showed that it was aiming to fall not only on Shockwave, but his vicinity. The only area that seemed to be cleared was the space it currently inhabited.]

[Soundwave leapt in the air, transforming into its jet mode. It flew across the sky, its engines screaming as it pushed itself to reach Shockwave before the building did.]

[Red warnings began to flash across its HUD, overheating engines, mechanical strains, a proximity alert. It angled its scans up only to find that the building was basically on top of it.]

[Its engines howled into overdrive as it pulled back. The building barely missed the mech and crashed down in with a terrible screech of torn metal and clouds of rusty dust.]

[No. No no no no....No. It couldn't lose someone else on this Primus forsaken planet. Even if he was just a colleague, Soundwave could not bear the thought of losing yet someone else because of it. No.]

[Anxiously, Soundwave circled over the disaster, running every scan imaginable. It had to locate Shockwave. It refused to believe that this could have offlined him. Shockwave was strong. There was no way this would be his destined end.]

[He had been slow to realize what was happening, the exhaustion catching up to him. By the time he had weighed his options, the building was already halfway upon him. There would be no running.] [He did all he could to brace himself as darkness enveloped him. He didn't do so much as make a sound as the wreckage encased him in darkness.]

---- [Airachnid had gotten back on her feet, weakly. She couldn't fly off, she wasn't faster than Soundwave. It was distracted for now... She had to take advantage of that fact.] [She waited for it to fly over, careful to not be noticed, only to shoot several thick lines of web at it. When they hit, she stuck the web to a heavy piece of rubble, securing it so that it couldn't fly off. She shot one more at it, reeling it down even as it struggled to escape.]

What's wrong, Soundwave? Feeling sentimental? You know 'cons aren't supposed to do that.

[When she had pulled it down far enough, she lashed the shorter cord to the same rubble and jumped on it, forcing it to get closer to the bundles of webbing. ]

[The first glob of webbing caught Soundwave's wing, wrenching the mech backwards. Its gyros were sent spinning as an outpouring of unexpected sensory, environmental and tactical data shot through its processor. It was left temporarily confused; the mech had been so focused on Shockwave that Airachnid had been put on the backburner.]

[Airachnid. She was supposed to be offlining!]

[The second web fully knocked it out of its altmode. The sticky, thick substance was caught in its gears and joints, essentially gluing its transformation seams together. It struggled now, thrashing against the thick bindings, desperate to free its frame.]

[A loud exvent, akin to a cough, forced its way out of Soundwave's body when Airachnid landed on it. The twisting and turning had forced Soundwave to face the ground- it couldn't even look at her. It attempted to twist its helm back enough to catch a glimpse, anything to give its processor enough data to work with. Yet, it recieved little to none. Soundwave was going to have to resort to other means; but it needed time. It needed to keep her busy.]

[The mech thrashed again, with a determined violence as it attempted to disrupt her balance and shake her off.]

[Airachnid scoffed.]

Oh Soundwave. Can't even be bothered to beg in your own voice? Really, how disappointing...

[Luckily for Soundwave, it seemed she was content to monologue. She had been waiting a long time for this. She paced around the struggling flier, feeling buoyant despite the ache in her struts and limp in her step.]

It's alright, I assure you. I know you must be really out of practice.

[She stopped when she noticed the port for Soundwave's data cables. A smile split across her face.] How about we start with these?

[Her claws dug into the mesh around the port, tearing methodically at the metal until the cable unfurled. She then pulled back, preparing to tear it out of Soundwave like any other cybertronian organ.]

[Abruptly, the whirr of Soundwave's fans ceased. In fact, it pulled all its plating in, trapping the dangerous hot air. Soundwave was taking a risk- a calculated one. Observation had shown it that while the webs possessed a formidibe tensile strength, substances that were silicate based had little strength against the heat. Soundwave might fry a few circuits in the process, but it would free itself one way or another.]

[When Airachnid began to tear at its plating, she would take care to notice how hot it was to the touch. The action of meddling with the sensitive ports made Soundwave squirm. It wouldn't voice its discomfort- she didn't deserve the satisfaction. However, the particularly powerful jolt that ran through its body when she pulled the mesh away was signal enough to its pain.]

[The datacable writhed in her grip, twisting as it was searching for any kind of delicate mesh to sink its claws into. Somehow, it managed to curl around her wrist, and in sunk those metal latches. The interior connectors deployed almost immediately, snaking under the protective metal armor and latching onto her inner protoform.]

[At the same time, there was the sound and feeling of crumbling. The heat of its frame was finally starting to fry the webbing that had made its home inside the mech's seams. It could feel the way its own circuitry was approaching the same point as quiet snaps and pops sounded inside its audials.]

[With one final wrench, Soundwave managed to free itself. The datacable tightened terribly around Airachnid's wrist, and took her with it as they plummeted towards the ground. It pulled her closer, twisting so that when they hit the ground, Airachnid would take the brunt of the fall.]

[Her first mistake was not paying the heat any mind. Her second had been going for the cables. But her greatest, most repeated mistake would be underestimating Soundwave.]

[She cursed and screamed at it as she felt the connectors wriggling under her plating, desperate to unlatch it.] Let go of me, you freak!

[By the time she realized she was falling, it was far too late. The two landed with a sickening, metallic crunch. There was a sharp pain in her back-- intentionally or not, they had landed on a piece of rubble sharp enough to pierce her back plating.] [Energon spilled down the shattered metal. All she could feel besides the agony was the pressure Soundwave exerted by staying on her... And then she felt it. A pressure just behind her spark chamber.]

Ñ̷̩̃͝-̵̯̮͇̎̀̔n̷̰͚̼̉̂-̸̘͓̮̐͝͝ṅ̸̝ö̴̤͚̑͆.̷̟̻͖̿͌.̶͖̏͋͠.̷̲̲̏̈́

[The harsh landing nearly threw Soundwave off the mecha from the sheer transfer of kinetic force. It only managed to stay attached to her via its datacable; it reeled itself in tight. Soundwave would not make the mistake of letting her go a second time.]

[The dust had only started to settle when its sharp talons dug into her chest plates. Unlike Airachnid, Soundwave did not take the time to savor vanquishing its enemy- there were far more important things to tend to. Its digits found their way into the transformation seam above her spark chamber and with a surprising amount of strength, it ripped the strong protective armor away.]

[Her spark was exposed now. It could visibly see the way it shuddered and tried to keep spinning. Soundwave knew that her injuries were fatal to most mechs, but Airachnid was the opposite of "most mechs". It paused before bringing its visor in front of her face, so close that they were almost touching.]

[A :) appeared on the screen; one last dash of salt into a gaping wound.]

[Without fanfare or words, its talons dug into the chamber and clamped down. It could feel the way the glass shattered under its grip. The metallic crunch as it pulled the casing from her chassis was almost sickening. Yet, it couldn't help the utterly pleased shiver that ran down its back strut.]

[It had been so long since it ended someone's life like this. It almost missed the feeling.]

[Soundwave stood up and tossed the spark chamber aside, like a discarded piece of waste. It looked down at Airachnid with mild disinterest, watching the light leave her eyes. Now that was done and over with, it turned back to the rubble.]

[Soundwave ignored all the alerts on its HUD- 12% energon reserves remaining, defragging cycle highly recommended, internal repair systems having trouble with all of its overheated and damaged circuitry. It could deal with that later. Right now?]

[Right now, it needed to find Shockwave.]

@dailydoseoflogic

[Somehow, some way, Megatron had agreed to Shockwave's terms. Soundwave did not know if it was simply luck, or if Megatron did believe that's all they were there to do. Megatron had no reason to not believe that, but Soundwave wasn't used to keeping secrets from its Lord, and that weighed heavily on its mind.]

[Shockwave had rejoined the Nemesis crew the cycle before and had taken upon himself the task of ensuring all scientific equipment was prepared, packed, and ready to go.]

[This suited Soundwave just fine. It busied itself with preparing survival gear- mostly just paranoidly checking and rechecking that they had enough energon and going over maps of Cybertron. It had marked each gravesite of its Cassettes and uploaded it to a small navigation chip.]

[Five minutes before they were due to depart, Soundwave ensured the energon and navigational chip was secured in its chassis. It could not risk the loss of either in the space bridge.]

[It stood next to Shockwave on the flight deck silently until they were cleared for takeoff. Once the order had been given, it silently opened a ground bridge to the edge of the space bridge. It gestured with its servo for Shockwave to enter first.]

[Shockwave observed Soundwave's fidgeting passively. He had a small device strapped to his side for sample collection, but otherwise carried very little-- his lab on cybertron would have most of what he needed as it is.]

[He didn't hesitate to walk in at Soundwave's instruction, and within a moment, he was free floating in Earth's orbit, not far from the bridge itself. Considering the myriad ways this could have gone wrong, it made sense to limit the number of people doing this to professionals.]

[He recalled when he observed Cybertron's space bridge activating on its own quartexes ago, in which a stream of... something... tried to enter, only to fall back to the planet's surface. Needing to know who or what had attempted to reach Cybertron, he traced the signal only to be.... here. Looking down at an oasis in a vast sea of ink.]

[He was snapped out of his lapse of nostalgia by Soundwave's approach. It was... Interesting, to see how its body moved in the absence of gravity. Its plating was so dark, his optic struggled to distinguish its full outline from the void.]

...Ready when you are.

[Truly the only thing that could denote Soundwave from the black abyss was its biolights. It must've been a strange sight- this vaguely Cybertronian shape that could only be discerned if one were to squint really hard. Otherwise, it just looked like strange floating squiggles moving towards Shockwave and stopping with a soft jet mere feet away.]

[The quiet purple lights that outlined its visor turned towards the scientist, and appeared to nod, though it was difficult to tell. Within moments, Soundwave began spinning the code that allowed it remote access to the bridge. The bots inside would've seen the way buttons seemingly pushed themselves and levers moved without touch. Seconds later, the space bridge exploded with light, drowning out all other light sources in the vicinity.]

[Soundwave took a moment. They were really doing this. It had been so long since it had been to Cybertron. It hadn't been on any of the expeditions, nor was it there when they had retrieved Shockwave. It was safe to say the last time it was home was since their frantic escape to the stars. Soundwave had to place aside the sudden homesickness that twisted itself into its fuel tank. It had a job to do.]

[With that, Soundwave performed a partial transformation, turning its legs into the jet boosters from its alt mode. It placed a servo on Shockwave's shoulder, gripping him tight to guide them through the bridge.]

[The green, grey and white colorant of the bridge was nothing new, but it was far longer than the bridges that Soundwave was used to. Eventually, it let Shockwave go, knowing the momentum would carry them through. It was silent throughout the trip, mostly just staring ahead as they moved through the bridge, but every now and again it would glance at Shockwave, seeing the way the colors twisted and warped as reflections of his plating.]

[Right before the pair exited the bridge, it transformed back to its full root mode. With the otherworldly grace it had always possessed, Soundwave landed firmly on the metal planet. It stood to its full height, looking around.]

[The planet was...devistated. It knew that Cybertron had, for all intents and purposes, died. But it could have never imagined this scale of desolation. The gunmetal grey vista made its spark twist.]

[Again, the reminder that they were not here on a sight seeing tour rang in its processor. It turned to Shockwave as it carefully opened its subspace and pulled out the small navigational chip. It opened the small latch on its arm, and placed the chip inside, activating it.]

[The chip glowed for a moment before pulling up a scaled down version of the planet. It had three sets of coordinates, each a good distance away from each other, and labelled with one of the Cassette's names. Soundwave turned its helm fully to meet Shockwave's optic, giving a nod of confirmation that it was ready to begin.]

[Shockwave felt the crunch of decaying metal bend under his weight as he set foot on the corpse of their home. At some point, he had accepted that it would likely be his final resting place, being stranded for cycles without contact. Now, he played as a temporary guide.]

[He pointed to a set of coordinates conveniently not far from two of the already set points, and then another, a little farther out.]

I will need to make a stop here for the samples, and then return to my laboratory here after we've touched all other locations.

[It would be a bit of a trek, but it would not make for a substantial loss of time. Nobody would know.]

You are free to go ahead if my speed is an inconvenience for you. I would recommend not landing until I have cleared the area, however. The ground is not as stable as it used to be.

[Of course, there still being active mines embedded into the surface of the planet didn't help. ]

[Soundwave nodded, indicating its understanding. Quickly, it transformed into its alt-mode and took off. Yet, it circled back, hovering over the mech.]

[They travelled at the same speed to the area. Of course, Soundwave knew it could go ahead if it wished, but there was something comforting about travelling together on a world turned foreign after being so familiar for centuries.]

[As they got closer to the first set of coordinates, its engines thrummed with anticipation and anxiety. They were heading to Rumble's final resting place first. Soundwave found itself praying to Primus for the first time in a very long time, hoping that his grave had survived against all odds.]

[It could still remember the day Rumble was offlined. He was the second of the Cassettes that Soundwave lost. It still had been reeling from the loss of Frenzy, and to be honest, neither of them were in the right mindset to be in the field. Rumble had lost his twin, Soundwave had lost what most bots would consider a child.]

[Soundwave had to push away the memory. This trip was not for it to grieve, but to bring back new life. Still, a subtle melancholy settled over its processor as they travelled.]

[When they arrived, Soundwave circled overhead lazily as it waited for the "okay" to land. There were several small slabs of metal covering the ground. The battle that had taken Rumble was brutal- they had lost several comrades that day. Still, Soundwave knew exactly which one was Rumble's. It could still remember the feeling of his small body in its arms.]

[Shockwave transformed, his cybertronian tank form rolling over the flaking metal surface at a comfortable pace. It was... different, having company during a drive. Indeed, the plains felt less desolate with the presence of another living being by his side.]

[They were mutually silent, which Shockwave found himself thankful for. This mission was a grim one, and he was a poor source of comfort, as far as words were concerned.]

[When they came across the war-torn field, he transformed, scanning the area for instability before pinging Soundwave that it was clear. He watched his companion land, careful to observe it.]

[He wouldn't be of much help, should it find itself crushed by the sight of the body. He could only offer to make the extraction himself.]

[Gracefully, as always, Soundwave landed next to its comrade. It did not spare Shockwave a glance as it moved towards the row of graves. It paid no mind to the ones it passed until it stopped in front of one, two left from the end of the line.]

[Soundwave stared at it for a moment, its body language unreadable, as if it was simply looking at something uninteresting. But, internally, it had to manually shut down the thought trees that crossed its processors. No memories, no sounds. This was not the time to show remorse.]

[It crouched down, digits gripping the heavy metal that covered the rushed grave. It would've asked for help, but it wanted to do this. Alone. It had to do this. If anyone else had, the desecration of this place would have...well...lead to nothing pretty.]

[So, it hauled the slab as harsh ex vents of exertion left its outtakes burning. Eventually, the mech managed to flip the slab over, revealing the small body that has been left to rust. It kneeled down, digging its knees into the surface near the edge, staring down at its long offline Cassette.]

[Soundwave reached down, gently running an affectionate servo across Rumble's rusted cheek, with a tenderness that had not been expressed in centuries. Another harsh exvent left its frame before it finally looked up at Shockwave.]

[Shockwave leaned down, taking a syringe out of his kit. He glanced at Soundwave. Was it showing restraint? Probably. He recognized and respected what vulnerability he could detect from the moment.] You may wish to look away from this.

[He pierced the corpse's tanks, pulling out a vial's worth of thick, congealed energon. He placed the filled vial into his sample kit.]

[He wiped his hand with a cloth before looking back to Soundwave.]

...Do you wish to do the honors?

[It didn't matter to him, personally. He had known and lost many people over the course of the conflicts he had been in, but he was never one to go back and mourn. He supposed that mourning was for people who needed to. For people who formed deep attachments.]

[It, in fact, did not look away. Rather it watched as the thick liquid was pulled into the vial and carefully stowed. It brought a mix of emotions to its processors and Soundwave had to pull its field in tight to keep them from showing. Relief, anger, excitement.]

[The new Rumble may not be the same, but he will be Rumble.]

[At the question, Soundwave simply nodded. It touched Rumble's face one last time, cupping the side of his helm, as if it was saying goodbye. It was goodbye for now, but not forever.]

[As the moment passed, Soundwave slowly stood up. It moved behind the slab and once again struggled to flip it on its own. When Rumble had been buried- really, when it lost all of its Cassettes- the mech had insisted on using heavy slabs to cover their graves. The practice of scavenging for parts was common, but Soundwave could not have bore the thought of some bot using its beloved Cassettes to create or fix more Autobot troops.]

[Eventually, Soundwave managed to cover the grave back up. The only indication that it had been disturbed was the new scratches on the topside of the slab. It let its arms hang by its sides for a moment or two before once again activating the navigational chip.]

[The mech marked their current coordinates with a red cross, indicating their business there was done. It moved the small simulated globe just a bit and highlighted the next grave, sending Shockwave a ping of the coordinates.]

[The next body had taken just as long when they got to it. To Shockwave, it was little more than another sample collected. To Soundwave, it was Buzzsaw, beloved avian friend.]

[He didn't dare call it's mourning inefficient; he knew this process was psychologically imperative, but it disturbed him on some level to be faced with something so...unrelatable to him.]

[They left the site for his predacon samples, and he found himself relieved to have a reprieve from the secondhand grief. He didn't try to make conversation-- what was there to say? --but he did try to respect Soundwave's time as he sifted through the rubble.] [The body after that was Frenzy's. After he had collected the sample, he had started to notice some kind of pressure in the air, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. He glanced at the surrounding area.]

...When you are ready, we may want to make way out to my base of operations.

[Buzzsaw's desecration passed much in the same way Rumble's had. While Soundwave did not elicit any kind of reaction it hadn't already shown, seeing its birdformer's rusted form, broken joints and disintegrated wings left it reeling. It again used the reasoning that this was necessary, that it was going to get him back but...it rang a tad more hollow this time.]

[It welcomed the break from grave robbing, using the time to distract itself from the bubbling emotions. It watched as Shockwave carefully chose which samples he wanted to take and which ones he wanted to leave. There was a comforting rhythm and logic to it that settled the mech's processor.]

[Then it was time for Frenzy, and everything came back. It felt as if it was being choked out, as if the code and algorithms of its data storage were fighting against the manual input of its commands and winning. It had to turn away from Shockwave at one point, unable to find the code tree that had commanded its visor to play Frenzy's final moments in glaring clarity. It did not want Shockwave to see this. Within moments, it was able to find the code and snipped it short. Still, Frenzy's dying cry rang loud in its processor, and Soundwave temporarily lost control of its field, lashing out with terrified grief.]

[It had managed to bring it in within moments. It knew that Shockwave had a hard time reading fields, so it wasn't worried about whether or not it had hurt the bot. But, it was worried about wasting time. Soundwave managed to force itself to desecrate one more grave- to which its processor fought with what could only be described as "this is wrong!" playing over and over again between its audios.]

[They had finished the objective and Soundwave stood silently, staring at the covered grave once more, venting softly, frame barely moving. It took a moment to realize that Shockwave was speaking, and even longer to agree. It desperately needed a break. It was getting harder and harder to keep its systems and field in check. Soundwave has known this would be difficult, but it had never imagined it being like this.]

[Again, the pair began to travel. Silence filled the air between them, though it was moments like these in which Soundwave wished it could speak for itself. It needed something- anything- to keep its mind off of what it has done and enabled.]

[It was one thing to clone predacons, ancient ancestors, far removed from anything that still lived. It was a totally different game to break into places it held personally sacred, and take what had been left. This is wrong played in its processor again.]

[Logically, it knew there was no reason for it to be wrong. If Soundwave had not insisted that they be covered, the Cassettes would have been used as scrap parts. If it had not taken pieces of them, someone else would have. It was breathing life back to the Cassettes' rusted frames, but in a way that no one had ever thought possible. It shouldn't be so concerned with the morality of things.]

[Soundwave was brought out of its stupors when its HUD pinged with an alarm on its passive long range scanner. There was something moving, something coming towards their approximate location. Soundwave stopped midflight and transformed, landing on the ground.]

[It angled its helm towards the sky, activating its sensors, performing a full spectrum analysis. However, against all odds, there was absolutely something- someone- who had pinpointed their location from high in the atmosphere. No one was supposed to be out here. No one except...]

[Soundwave turned to Shockwave, unhousing its datacables and beginning to wake up its battle protocols. It knew that the vengeful once-Decepticon would not be happy to see the mech that had trapped her out here.]

[Shockwave's memory of Airachnid was not particularly extensive, but he recalled the spider's disloyal proclivities. He transformed, a necessity if he would need to aim directly up at any point.]

[They were currently on the border of Altihex. Shockwave had nestled his base between the abandoned towers, when it was most strategic to do so at the time.]

[As he studied the skyline, a series of dots visibly grew closer-- Airachnid and five....Insecticons? She must have asserted her dominance over them at some point.]

[He aimed his arm cannon towards them, but they weren't clustered enough to guarantee a shot. Given a second, he popped a small cube of energon into the intake at the base of his neck; He would be burning directly from his reserves for this.] I will focus on her lackeys. You are best equipped for handling her directly, Soundwave.

[Within moments, they were close enough to begin firing. Airachnid's voice could be barely heard over the din, but there was a sinister glee to her voice.]

Oh, now this is about to get fun! Miss me, Soundwave?

[It spoke to Shockwave, completely ignoring Airachnid's jeering. Soundwave hated talkers- especially those who rambled in battle. It was insulting, to a degree, but it also was their greatest weakness. To talk is to be distracted.]

[By the time Airachnid and her Insecticons landed, Soundwave's battle protocols had been dusted off and were fully operational. Its servos had turned into long talons and the biolights on its datacables pulsed with electricity.]

[That, however, was nothing compared to the analysis its processor ran. A complicated equation of probability and velocity, the prediction of which appendenge would land where- all culminating to turn surveillance into a deadly weapon.]

[The Insecticons landed right behind their Mistress, two of them staying in their beast mode while the rest transformed. They seemed to be waiting for her command. Soundwave turned its helm only slightly towards Shockwave. Airachnid was powerful, but so were these pests. It did not want to lose yet another ally on Cybertron.]

[Shockwave sized up the enemy, nodding. He predicted that he would require extensive superficial repairs, but he would survive. He was already well familiar with insecticon battle tactics- he was the one who had recruited them to the Decepticon cause, after all. Airachnid had made a mistake in thinking she had the upper hand with numbers alone.]

[Shockwave's cannon already charged, he let loose fire into the center of the formation, forcing Airachnid to jump out of the way with a grunt. He had hit one of them in the confusion, melting half of one of the lackey's faces, but it would take a bit more blunt force trauma to put it out of its misery.] [He focused on drawing their attention, with success. The less Airachnid could utilize their brute force, the better.] [Airachnid, meanwhile, cared only for charging the mech who was personally responsible for her exile. She kept two of her spider legs up high, stabbing at Soundwave as she spoke.] Still no words, hm? Even after coming all this way to see me?

[She jumped back after her charge had failed.] I'll make you break that vow when I have you screaming in agony!

[The Insecticon that had been struck howled in pain. Simultaneously, all of them had understood who their target was- Shockwave. A cacophony of cries came from the 'cons and they began their charge. Blaster fire came from those still within their beast mode, covering their three transformed comrades that had moved far faster than they looked like they could.]

[Within moments, they had arrived at Shockwave and the assault began. A flurry of blows came towards Shockwave in a mess of fists and beetle-like legs. The two fliers hovered just above, bucking off blaster shots when they were sure their comrades wouldn't be struck.]

--

[Soundwave's hypothesis was once again proven right. Talking during battle was useless, insulting, and a sign of weakness. Soundwave easily blocked the assault, one of its datacables wrapping around a spider leg. The spindly thing managed to slide out of its grip, but that was no matter. It simply took an adjustment to the new data acquired to ensure that it would not happen a second time.]

[Soundwave, however, made no move towards her. It knew that if it were to win, it would need to be an up close and personal fight; but also that a straight up charge would spook her, driving her away further. No...No, it needed to lure her in. It decided the best way to do that was to simply deny her the fight she was obviously looking for- Airachnid would have to come and get it herself.]

[Shockwave took several of the blows head on, ignoring them until one of the beetle legs swung at him. He was quick to grab it, using the momentum to knock the insecticon off its feet.] [He wasn't significantly larger than the insecticons, but he was still capable of exerting enough strength to lift one off the ground, swinging it in a circle and tossing it at one of its allies. He took the moment of free space to let loose a shot at one of the fliers, aiming at the wings.] -- [Airachnid was furious that her usual tactics were ineffective towards Soundwave. Always a spoilsport, always so superior. Every strut in her body compelled her to put it in its place once and for all.] [She circled it, her face curling in disgust at the way it simply stood and tracked her motions. She couldn't use her usual evasive tactics on hard cybertronian ground. She would have to be a little more clever...] [She suddenly transformed, shooting at Soundwave as she hovered closer. As soon as she thought she had found an opening, she transformed again, swinging in an attempt to break its guard.]

[There was another howl as the Insecticon crashed into its comrade, both of them sent skidding against the ground. As they recovered, the blast from Shockwave's gun hit one of the fliers, causing it to spin out and crash into the ground in a flurry of broken metal and limbs.]

[The one 'con left standing took the opportunity to jump and latch onto Shockwave's gun arm. It burned the plating it came into contact with, but the action allowed enough time for the remaining flier to get a shot off towards his optic.]

[The two transformed 'cons managed to stand up again. The one who had taken the shot earlier limped behind its compatriot, looking worse for wear as energon dripped from the wound on its face.]

----

[Soundwave was patient. It was a prized quality of the communications officer. Its patience served it well both on and off the battlefield. It could tell how Airachnid was decidedly not, and all it had to do was wait for her to strike.]

[It raised one of its long, wide arms to block the shots that she bucked off at it. The blasters burned and left its plating smoldering just a bit, but that wasn't greatest concern. This was almost certainly a distraction.]

[Its assumption was proved correct because once it lowered its arm, it saw the spiderling launch herself towards the mech. It caught the swing with its datacable, the claw of the thing attatching to her plating and sending a powerful electric shock through her system.]

[Shockwave couldn't necessarily feel much through the barrel of his gun, but he knew he was sustaining damage. He swung it about, hoping to fling the insecticon off, until a blinding flash struck him in the optic.] [He grunted angrily-- primus damn his physiology --and placed his hand over the cracked optic. Furiously, he smashed his gun barrel up against a nearby rock face, dealing damage to the insecticon clinging to it until it let go. His vision was fractured, but he wasn't blind yet. ] [A shrill hum filled the air as he charged his next blast. He would not be done in so easily.] ---- [Airachnid's whole body spasmed, her tangle of legs flailing as her scream cut through the air. She made a desperate, jittery attempt to grab at Soundwave's face, but it was for naught.]

[Her body went slack, smoke curling off of her form.]

[The con slid off the barrel of Shockwave's gun, its helm effectively bashed in from the force of his furious strikes. The flier that had been knocked out of the sky was still twitching, trying to get its body to move, and yet it couldn't. Though, despite the current carnage, the danger still had not passed.]

[The insecticon still remaining in the sky managed to shoot its blaster a few more times, most of the shots missing. The one that did land only hit superficial plating on his arm.]

[One of the grounded insecticons had managed to reach Shockwave at this point. It was scratched and dented, but still attacked him with a fervor. It certainly had not noticed the charged gun as it swung a fist towards the cycloptic bot with all its might.]

[It was at this point where Soundwave began its own encirclement of Airachnid. It had let the datacable go, taking note of her smoking frame. It scanned her, focusing on her spark then her mind. Both were active, but showed that she was barely online. It was strange- she used to be much more capable. Perhaps half the battle had already been won by the lack of energon Soundwave forced her into.]

[It turned and studied the battle its comrade was engaged in. The smouldering bodies of two insecticons lied nearby, and it watched as one rushed Shockwave, the other shambling not far behind. However, the flier was its greatest concern.]

[It moved so it stood at Airachnid's helm. If she managed to get up, it would not be to catch it off guard. Its arms transformed into the rarely used blasters and it took aim, bucking off a quick succession of shots towards the flying insect.]

[Shockwave let off a fully charged blast, boring a hole into the insecticon that was hitting him. Its spark was fully visible for a split second before it quickly fizzled out, energon pooling on the ground.] [He didn't look up, but he heard Soundwave's telltale gunfire aimed above. Good, so it had made quick work of Airachnid...] [There wasn't any time for gratitude as he charged the last grounded insecticon. He tackled it, pinning it to the ground with all of his weight.]

[He pressed the tip of his gun barrel to its head as it squirmed desperately beneath him. It had stopped bothering to bite him, knowing it was staring death in the face.]

[He fired, the insecticon's head seeming to implode from the inside as the laser punched a hole through it. He heard the flying insecticon fall behind him. Having burned through most of his reserves, he started to relax.]

---- [Airachnid's optics flicked back online, her body unmoving. She watched. She waited. She calculated.] [And when the din was loudest, she shot at the base of the nearest megastructure, destroying its last support pillar.]

[The sound of the building beginning to collapse filled the space around the Decepticon fighters. Soundwave's helm snapped to the source, and the trajectories showed that it was aiming to fall not only on Shockwave, but his vicinity. The only area that seemed to be cleared was the space it currently inhabited.]

[Soundwave leapt in the air, transforming into its jet mode. It flew across the sky, its engines screaming as it pushed itself to reach Shockwave before the building did.]

[Red warnings began to flash across its HUD, overheating engines, mechanical strains, a proximity alert. It angled its scans up only to find that the building was basically on top of it.]

[Its engines howled into overdrive as it pulled back. The building barely missed the mech and crashed down in with a terrible screech of torn metal and clouds of rusty dust.]

[No. No no no no....No. It couldn't lose someone else on this Primus forsaken planet. Even if he was just a colleague, Soundwave could not bear the thought of losing yet someone else because of it. No.]

[Anxiously, Soundwave circled over the disaster, running every scan imaginable. It had to locate Shockwave. It refused to believe that this could have offlined him. Shockwave was strong. There was no way this would be his destined end.]

[He had been slow to realize what was happening, the exhaustion catching up to him. By the time he had weighed his options, the building was already halfway upon him. There would be no running.] [He did all he could to brace himself as darkness enveloped him. He didn't do so much as make a sound as the wreckage encased him in darkness.]

---- [Airachnid had gotten back on her feet, weakly. She couldn't fly off, she wasn't faster than Soundwave. It was distracted for now... She had to take advantage of that fact.] [She waited for it to fly over, careful to not be noticed, only to shoot several thick lines of web at it. When they hit, she stuck the web to a heavy piece of rubble, securing it so that it couldn't fly off. She shot one more at it, reeling it down even as it struggled to escape.]

What's wrong, Soundwave? Feeling sentimental? You know 'cons aren't supposed to do that.

[When she had pulled it down far enough, she lashed the shorter cord to the same rubble and jumped on it, forcing it to get closer to the bundles of webbing. ]

[The first glob of webbing caught Soundwave's wing, wrenching the mech backwards. Its gyros were sent spinning as an outpouring of unexpected sensory, environmental and tactical data shot through its processor. It was left temporarily confused; the mech had been so focused on Shockwave that Airachnid had been put on the backburner.]

[Airachnid. She was supposed to be offlining!]

[The second web fully knocked it out of its altmode. The sticky, thick substance was caught in its gears and joints, essentially gluing its transformation seams together. It struggled now, thrashing against the thick bindings, desperate to free its frame.]

[A loud exvent, akin to a cough, forced its way out of Soundwave's body when Airachnid landed on it. The twisting and turning had forced Soundwave to face the ground- it couldn't even look at her. It attempted to twist its helm back enough to catch a glimpse, anything to give its processor enough data to work with. Yet, it recieved little to none. Soundwave was going to have to resort to other means; but it needed time. It needed to keep her busy.]

[The mech thrashed again, with a determined violence as it attempted to disrupt her balance and shake her off.]

[Airachnid scoffed.]

Oh Soundwave. Can't even be bothered to beg in your own voice? Really, how disappointing...

[Luckily for Soundwave, it seemed she was content to monologue. She had been waiting a long time for this. She paced around the struggling flier, feeling buoyant despite the ache in her struts and limp in her step.]

It's alright, I assure you. I know you must be really out of practice.

[She stopped when she noticed the port for Soundwave's data cables. A smile split across her face.] How about we start with these?

[Her claws dug into the mesh around the port, tearing methodically at the metal until the cable unfurled. She then pulled back, preparing to tear it out of Soundwave like any other cybertronian organ.]

[Abruptly, the whirr of Soundwave's fans ceased. In fact, it pulled all its plating in, trapping the dangerous hot air. Soundwave was taking a risk- a calculated one. Observation had shown it that while the webs possessed a formidibe tensile strength, substances that were silicate based had little strength against the heat. Soundwave might fry a few circuits in the process, but it would free itself one way or another.]

[When Airachnid began to tear at its plating, she would take care to notice how hot it was to the touch. The action of meddling with the sensitive ports made Soundwave squirm. It wouldn't voice its discomfort- she didn't deserve the satisfaction. However, the particularly powerful jolt that ran through its body when she pulled the mesh away was signal enough to its pain.]

[The datacable writhed in her grip, twisting as it was searching for any kind of delicate mesh to sink its claws into. Somehow, it managed to curl around her wrist, and in sunk those metal latches. The interior connectors deployed almost immediately, snaking under the protective metal armor and latching onto her inner protoform.]

[At the same time, there was the sound and feeling of crumbling. The heat of its frame was finally starting to fry the webbing that had made its home inside the mech's seams. It could feel the way its own circuitry was approaching the same point as quiet snaps and pops sounded inside its audials.]

[With one final wrench, Soundwave managed to free itself. The datacable tightened terribly around Airachnid's wrist, and took her with it as they plummeted towards the ground. It pulled her closer, twisting so that when they hit the ground, Airachnid would take the brunt of the fall.]

@dailydoseoflogic

[Somehow, some way, Megatron had agreed to Shockwave's terms. Soundwave did not know if it was simply luck, or if Megatron did believe that's all they were there to do. Megatron had no reason to not believe that, but Soundwave wasn't used to keeping secrets from its Lord, and that weighed heavily on its mind.]

[Shockwave had rejoined the Nemesis crew the cycle before and had taken upon himself the task of ensuring all scientific equipment was prepared, packed, and ready to go.]

[This suited Soundwave just fine. It busied itself with preparing survival gear- mostly just paranoidly checking and rechecking that they had enough energon and going over maps of Cybertron. It had marked each gravesite of its Cassettes and uploaded it to a small navigation chip.]

[Five minutes before they were due to depart, Soundwave ensured the energon and navigational chip was secured in its chassis. It could not risk the loss of either in the space bridge.]

[It stood next to Shockwave on the flight deck silently until they were cleared for takeoff. Once the order had been given, it silently opened a ground bridge to the edge of the space bridge. It gestured with its servo for Shockwave to enter first.]

[Shockwave observed Soundwave's fidgeting passively. He had a small device strapped to his side for sample collection, but otherwise carried very little-- his lab on cybertron would have most of what he needed as it is.]

[He didn't hesitate to walk in at Soundwave's instruction, and within a moment, he was free floating in Earth's orbit, not far from the bridge itself. Considering the myriad ways this could have gone wrong, it made sense to limit the number of people doing this to professionals.]

[He recalled when he observed Cybertron's space bridge activating on its own quartexes ago, in which a stream of... something... tried to enter, only to fall back to the planet's surface. Needing to know who or what had attempted to reach Cybertron, he traced the signal only to be.... here. Looking down at an oasis in a vast sea of ink.]

[He was snapped out of his lapse of nostalgia by Soundwave's approach. It was... Interesting, to see how its body moved in the absence of gravity. Its plating was so dark, his optic struggled to distinguish its full outline from the void.]

...Ready when you are.

[Truly the only thing that could denote Soundwave from the black abyss was its biolights. It must've been a strange sight- this vaguely Cybertronian shape that could only be discerned if one were to squint really hard. Otherwise, it just looked like strange floating squiggles moving towards Shockwave and stopping with a soft jet mere feet away.]

[The quiet purple lights that outlined its visor turned towards the scientist, and appeared to nod, though it was difficult to tell. Within moments, Soundwave began spinning the code that allowed it remote access to the bridge. The bots inside would've seen the way buttons seemingly pushed themselves and levers moved without touch. Seconds later, the space bridge exploded with light, drowning out all other light sources in the vicinity.]

[Soundwave took a moment. They were really doing this. It had been so long since it had been to Cybertron. It hadn't been on any of the expeditions, nor was it there when they had retrieved Shockwave. It was safe to say the last time it was home was since their frantic escape to the stars. Soundwave had to place aside the sudden homesickness that twisted itself into its fuel tank. It had a job to do.]

[With that, Soundwave performed a partial transformation, turning its legs into the jet boosters from its alt mode. It placed a servo on Shockwave's shoulder, gripping him tight to guide them through the bridge.]

[The green, grey and white colorant of the bridge was nothing new, but it was far longer than the bridges that Soundwave was used to. Eventually, it let Shockwave go, knowing the momentum would carry them through. It was silent throughout the trip, mostly just staring ahead as they moved through the bridge, but every now and again it would glance at Shockwave, seeing the way the colors twisted and warped as reflections of his plating.]

[Right before the pair exited the bridge, it transformed back to its full root mode. With the otherworldly grace it had always possessed, Soundwave landed firmly on the metal planet. It stood to its full height, looking around.]

[The planet was...devistated. It knew that Cybertron had, for all intents and purposes, died. But it could have never imagined this scale of desolation. The gunmetal grey vista made its spark twist.]

[Again, the reminder that they were not here on a sight seeing tour rang in its processor. It turned to Shockwave as it carefully opened its subspace and pulled out the small navigational chip. It opened the small latch on its arm, and placed the chip inside, activating it.]

[The chip glowed for a moment before pulling up a scaled down version of the planet. It had three sets of coordinates, each a good distance away from each other, and labelled with one of the Cassette's names. Soundwave turned its helm fully to meet Shockwave's optic, giving a nod of confirmation that it was ready to begin.]

[Shockwave felt the crunch of decaying metal bend under his weight as he set foot on the corpse of their home. At some point, he had accepted that it would likely be his final resting place, being stranded for cycles without contact. Now, he played as a temporary guide.]

[He pointed to a set of coordinates conveniently not far from two of the already set points, and then another, a little farther out.]

I will need to make a stop here for the samples, and then return to my laboratory here after we've touched all other locations.

[It would be a bit of a trek, but it would not make for a substantial loss of time. Nobody would know.]

You are free to go ahead if my speed is an inconvenience for you. I would recommend not landing until I have cleared the area, however. The ground is not as stable as it used to be.

[Of course, there still being active mines embedded into the surface of the planet didn't help. ]

[Soundwave nodded, indicating its understanding. Quickly, it transformed into its alt-mode and took off. Yet, it circled back, hovering over the mech.]

[They travelled at the same speed to the area. Of course, Soundwave knew it could go ahead if it wished, but there was something comforting about travelling together on a world turned foreign after being so familiar for centuries.]

[As they got closer to the first set of coordinates, its engines thrummed with anticipation and anxiety. They were heading to Rumble's final resting place first. Soundwave found itself praying to Primus for the first time in a very long time, hoping that his grave had survived against all odds.]

[It could still remember the day Rumble was offlined. He was the second of the Cassettes that Soundwave lost. It still had been reeling from the loss of Frenzy, and to be honest, neither of them were in the right mindset to be in the field. Rumble had lost his twin, Soundwave had lost what most bots would consider a child.]

[Soundwave had to push away the memory. This trip was not for it to grieve, but to bring back new life. Still, a subtle melancholy settled over its processor as they travelled.]

[When they arrived, Soundwave circled overhead lazily as it waited for the "okay" to land. There were several small slabs of metal covering the ground. The battle that had taken Rumble was brutal- they had lost several comrades that day. Still, Soundwave knew exactly which one was Rumble's. It could still remember the feeling of his small body in its arms.]

[Shockwave transformed, his cybertronian tank form rolling over the flaking metal surface at a comfortable pace. It was... different, having company during a drive. Indeed, the plains felt less desolate with the presence of another living being by his side.]

[They were mutually silent, which Shockwave found himself thankful for. This mission was a grim one, and he was a poor source of comfort, as far as words were concerned.]

[When they came across the war-torn field, he transformed, scanning the area for instability before pinging Soundwave that it was clear. He watched his companion land, careful to observe it.]

[He wouldn't be of much help, should it find itself crushed by the sight of the body. He could only offer to make the extraction himself.]

[Gracefully, as always, Soundwave landed next to its comrade. It did not spare Shockwave a glance as it moved towards the row of graves. It paid no mind to the ones it passed until it stopped in front of one, two left from the end of the line.]

[Soundwave stared at it for a moment, its body language unreadable, as if it was simply looking at something uninteresting. But, internally, it had to manually shut down the thought trees that crossed its processors. No memories, no sounds. This was not the time to show remorse.]

[It crouched down, digits gripping the heavy metal that covered the rushed grave. It would've asked for help, but it wanted to do this. Alone. It had to do this. If anyone else had, the desecration of this place would have...well...lead to nothing pretty.]

[So, it hauled the slab as harsh ex vents of exertion left its outtakes burning. Eventually, the mech managed to flip the slab over, revealing the small body that has been left to rust. It kneeled down, digging its knees into the surface near the edge, staring down at its long offline Cassette.]

[Soundwave reached down, gently running an affectionate servo across Rumble's rusted cheek, with a tenderness that had not been expressed in centuries. Another harsh exvent left its frame before it finally looked up at Shockwave.]

[Shockwave leaned down, taking a syringe out of his kit. He glanced at Soundwave. Was it showing restraint? Probably. He recognized and respected what vulnerability he could detect from the moment.] You may wish to look away from this.

[He pierced the corpse's tanks, pulling out a vial's worth of thick, congealed energon. He placed the filled vial into his sample kit.]

[He wiped his hand with a cloth before looking back to Soundwave.]

...Do you wish to do the honors?

[It didn't matter to him, personally. He had known and lost many people over the course of the conflicts he had been in, but he was never one to go back and mourn. He supposed that mourning was for people who needed to. For people who formed deep attachments.]

[It, in fact, did not look away. Rather it watched as the thick liquid was pulled into the vial and carefully stowed. It brought a mix of emotions to its processors and Soundwave had to pull its field in tight to keep them from showing. Relief, anger, excitement.]

[The new Rumble may not be the same, but he will be Rumble.]

[At the question, Soundwave simply nodded. It touched Rumble's face one last time, cupping the side of his helm, as if it was saying goodbye. It was goodbye for now, but not forever.]

[As the moment passed, Soundwave slowly stood up. It moved behind the slab and once again struggled to flip it on its own. When Rumble had been buried- really, when it lost all of its Cassettes- the mech had insisted on using heavy slabs to cover their graves. The practice of scavenging for parts was common, but Soundwave could not have bore the thought of some bot using its beloved Cassettes to create or fix more Autobot troops.]

[Eventually, Soundwave managed to cover the grave back up. The only indication that it had been disturbed was the new scratches on the topside of the slab. It let its arms hang by its sides for a moment or two before once again activating the navigational chip.]

[The mech marked their current coordinates with a red cross, indicating their business there was done. It moved the small simulated globe just a bit and highlighted the next grave, sending Shockwave a ping of the coordinates.]

[The next body had taken just as long when they got to it. To Shockwave, it was little more than another sample collected. To Soundwave, it was Buzzsaw, beloved avian friend.]

[He didn't dare call it's mourning inefficient; he knew this process was psychologically imperative, but it disturbed him on some level to be faced with something so...unrelatable to him.]

[They left the site for his predacon samples, and he found himself relieved to have a reprieve from the secondhand grief. He didn't try to make conversation-- what was there to say? --but he did try to respect Soundwave's time as he sifted through the rubble.] [The body after that was Frenzy's. After he had collected the sample, he had started to notice some kind of pressure in the air, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. He glanced at the surrounding area.]

...When you are ready, we may want to make way out to my base of operations.

[Buzzsaw's desecration passed much in the same way Rumble's had. While Soundwave did not elicit any kind of reaction it hadn't already shown, seeing its birdformer's rusted form, broken joints and disintegrated wings left it reeling. It again used the reasoning that this was necessary, that it was going to get him back but...it rang a tad more hollow this time.]

[It welcomed the break from grave robbing, using the time to distract itself from the bubbling emotions. It watched as Shockwave carefully chose which samples he wanted to take and which ones he wanted to leave. There was a comforting rhythm and logic to it that settled the mech's processor.]

[Then it was time for Frenzy, and everything came back. It felt as if it was being choked out, as if the code and algorithms of its data storage were fighting against the manual input of its commands and winning. It had to turn away from Shockwave at one point, unable to find the code tree that had commanded its visor to play Frenzy's final moments in glaring clarity. It did not want Shockwave to see this. Within moments, it was able to find the code and snipped it short. Still, Frenzy's dying cry rang loud in its processor, and Soundwave temporarily lost control of its field, lashing out with terrified grief.]

[It had managed to bring it in within moments. It knew that Shockwave had a hard time reading fields, so it wasn't worried about whether or not it had hurt the bot. But, it was worried about wasting time. Soundwave managed to force itself to desecrate one more grave- to which its processor fought with what could only be described as "this is wrong!" playing over and over again between its audios.]

[They had finished the objective and Soundwave stood silently, staring at the covered grave once more, venting softly, frame barely moving. It took a moment to realize that Shockwave was speaking, and even longer to agree. It desperately needed a break. It was getting harder and harder to keep its systems and field in check. Soundwave has known this would be difficult, but it had never imagined it being like this.]

[Again, the pair began to travel. Silence filled the air between them, though it was moments like these in which Soundwave wished it could speak for itself. It needed something- anything- to keep its mind off of what it has done and enabled.]

[It was one thing to clone predacons, ancient ancestors, far removed from anything that still lived. It was a totally different game to break into places it held personally sacred, and take what had been left. This is wrong played in its processor again.]

[Logically, it knew there was no reason for it to be wrong. If Soundwave had not insisted that they be covered, the Cassettes would have been used as scrap parts. If it had not taken pieces of them, someone else would have. It was breathing life back to the Cassettes' rusted frames, but in a way that no one had ever thought possible. It shouldn't be so concerned with the morality of things.]

[Soundwave was brought out of its stupors when its HUD pinged with an alarm on its passive long range scanner. There was something moving, something coming towards their approximate location. Soundwave stopped midflight and transformed, landing on the ground.]

[It angled its helm towards the sky, activating its sensors, performing a full spectrum analysis. However, against all odds, there was absolutely something- someone- who had pinpointed their location from high in the atmosphere. No one was supposed to be out here. No one except...]

[Soundwave turned to Shockwave, unhousing its datacables and beginning to wake up its battle protocols. It knew that the vengeful once-Decepticon would not be happy to see the mech that had trapped her out here.]

[Shockwave's memory of Airachnid was not particularly extensive, but he recalled the spider's disloyal proclivities. He transformed, a necessity if he would need to aim directly up at any point.]

[They were currently on the border of Altihex. Shockwave had nestled his base between the abandoned towers, when it was most strategic to do so at the time.]

[As he studied the skyline, a series of dots visibly grew closer-- Airachnid and five....Insecticons? She must have asserted her dominance over them at some point.]

[He aimed his arm cannon towards them, but they weren't clustered enough to guarantee a shot. Given a second, he popped a small cube of energon into the intake at the base of his neck; He would be burning directly from his reserves for this.] I will focus on her lackeys. You are best equipped for handling her directly, Soundwave.

[Within moments, they were close enough to begin firing. Airachnid's voice could be barely heard over the din, but there was a sinister glee to her voice.]

Oh, now this is about to get fun! Miss me, Soundwave?

[It spoke to Shockwave, completely ignoring Airachnid's jeering. Soundwave hated talkers- especially those who rambled in battle. It was insulting, to a degree, but it also was their greatest weakness. To talk is to be distracted.]

[By the time Airachnid and her Insecticons landed, Soundwave's battle protocols had been dusted off and were fully operational. Its servos had turned into long talons and the biolights on its datacables pulsed with electricity.]

[That, however, was nothing compared to the analysis its processor ran. A complicated equation of probability and velocity, the prediction of which appendenge would land where- all culminating to turn surveillance into a deadly weapon.]

[The Insecticons landed right behind their Mistress, two of them staying in their beast mode while the rest transformed. They seemed to be waiting for her command. Soundwave turned its helm only slightly towards Shockwave. Airachnid was powerful, but so were these pests. It did not want to lose yet another ally on Cybertron.]

[Shockwave sized up the enemy, nodding. He predicted that he would require extensive superficial repairs, but he would survive. He was already well familiar with insecticon battle tactics- he was the one who had recruited them to the Decepticon cause, after all. Airachnid had made a mistake in thinking she had the upper hand with numbers alone.]

[Shockwave's cannon already charged, he let loose fire into the center of the formation, forcing Airachnid to jump out of the way with a grunt. He had hit one of them in the confusion, melting half of one of the lackey's faces, but it would take a bit more blunt force trauma to put it out of its misery.] [He focused on drawing their attention, with success. The less Airachnid could utilize their brute force, the better.] [Airachnid, meanwhile, cared only for charging the mech who was personally responsible for her exile. She kept two of her spider legs up high, stabbing at Soundwave as she spoke.] Still no words, hm? Even after coming all this way to see me?

[She jumped back after her charge had failed.] I'll make you break that vow when I have you screaming in agony!

[The Insecticon that had been struck howled in pain. Simultaneously, all of them had understood who their target was- Shockwave. A cacophony of cries came from the 'cons and they began their charge. Blaster fire came from those still within their beast mode, covering their three transformed comrades that had moved far faster than they looked like they could.]

[Within moments, they had arrived at Shockwave and the assault began. A flurry of blows came towards Shockwave in a mess of fists and beetle-like legs. The two fliers hovered just above, bucking off blaster shots when they were sure their comrades wouldn't be struck.]

--

[Soundwave's hypothesis was once again proven right. Talking during battle was useless, insulting, and a sign of weakness. Soundwave easily blocked the assault, one of its datacables wrapping around a spider leg. The spindly thing managed to slide out of its grip, but that was no matter. It simply took an adjustment to the new data acquired to ensure that it would not happen a second time.]

[Soundwave, however, made no move towards her. It knew that if it were to win, it would need to be an up close and personal fight; but also that a straight up charge would spook her, driving her away further. No...No, it needed to lure her in. It decided the best way to do that was to simply deny her the fight she was obviously looking for- Airachnid would have to come and get it herself.]

[Shockwave took several of the blows head on, ignoring them until one of the beetle legs swung at him. He was quick to grab it, using the momentum to knock the insecticon off its feet.] [He wasn't significantly larger than the insecticons, but he was still capable of exerting enough strength to lift one off the ground, swinging it in a circle and tossing it at one of its allies. He took the moment of free space to let loose a shot at one of the fliers, aiming at the wings.] -- [Airachnid was furious that her usual tactics were ineffective towards Soundwave. Always a spoilsport, always so superior. Every strut in her body compelled her to put it in its place once and for all.] [She circled it, her face curling in disgust at the way it simply stood and tracked her motions. She couldn't use her usual evasive tactics on hard cybertronian ground. She would have to be a little more clever...] [She suddenly transformed, shooting at Soundwave as she hovered closer. As soon as she thought she had found an opening, she transformed again, swinging in an attempt to break its guard.]

[There was another howl as the Insecticon crashed into its comrade, both of them sent skidding against the ground. As they recovered, the blast from Shockwave's gun hit one of the fliers, causing it to spin out and crash into the ground in a flurry of broken metal and limbs.]

[The one 'con left standing took the opportunity to jump and latch onto Shockwave's gun arm. It burned the plating it came into contact with, but the action allowed enough time for the remaining flier to get a shot off towards his optic.]

[The two transformed 'cons managed to stand up again. The one who had taken the shot earlier limped behind its compatriot, looking worse for wear as energon dripped from the wound on its face.]

----

[Soundwave was patient. It was a prized quality of the communications officer. Its patience served it well both on and off the battlefield. It could tell how Airachnid was decidedly not, and all it had to do was wait for her to strike.]

[It raised one of its long, wide arms to block the shots that she bucked off at it. The blasters burned and left its plating smoldering just a bit, but that wasn't greatest concern. This was almost certainly a distraction.]

[Its assumption was proved correct because once it lowered its arm, it saw the spiderling launch herself towards the mech. It caught the swing with its datacable, the claw of the thing attatching to her plating and sending a powerful electric shock through her system.]

[Shockwave couldn't necessarily feel much through the barrel of his gun, but he knew he was sustaining damage. He swung it about, hoping to fling the insecticon off, until a blinding flash struck him in the optic.] [He grunted angrily-- primus damn his physiology --and placed his hand over the cracked optic. Furiously, he smashed his gun barrel up against a nearby rock face, dealing damage to the insecticon clinging to it until it let go. His vision was fractured, but he wasn't blind yet. ] [A shrill hum filled the air as he charged his next blast. He would not be done in so easily.] ---- [Airachnid's whole body spasmed, her tangle of legs flailing as her scream cut through the air. She made a desperate, jittery attempt to grab at Soundwave's face, but it was for naught.]

[Her body went slack, smoke curling off of her form.]

[The con slid off the barrel of Shockwave's gun, its helm effectively bashed in from the force of his furious strikes. The flier that had been knocked out of the sky was still twitching, trying to get its body to move, and yet it couldn't. Though, despite the current carnage, the danger still had not passed.]

[The insecticon still remaining in the sky managed to shoot its blaster a few more times, most of the shots missing. The one that did land only hit superficial plating on his arm.]

[One of the grounded insecticons had managed to reach Shockwave at this point. It was scratched and dented, but still attacked him with a fervor. It certainly had not noticed the charged gun as it swung a fist towards the cycloptic bot with all its might.]

[It was at this point where Soundwave began its own encirclement of Airachnid. It had let the datacable go, taking note of her smoking frame. It scanned her, focusing on her spark then her mind. Both were active, but showed that she was barely online. It was strange- she used to be much more capable. Perhaps half the battle had already been won by the lack of energon Soundwave forced her into.]

[It turned and studied the battle its comrade was engaged in. The smouldering bodies of two insecticons lied nearby, and it watched as one rushed Shockwave, the other shambling not far behind. However, the flier was its greatest concern.]

[It moved so it stood at Airachnid's helm. If she managed to get up, it would not be to catch it off guard. Its arms transformed into the rarely used blasters and it took aim, bucking off a quick succession of shots towards the flying insect.]

[Shockwave let off a fully charged blast, boring a hole into the insecticon that was hitting him. Its spark was fully visible for a split second before it quickly fizzled out, energon pooling on the ground.] [He didn't look up, but he heard Soundwave's telltale gunfire aimed above. Good, so it had made quick work of Airachnid...] [There wasn't any time for gratitude as he charged the last grounded insecticon. He tackled it, pinning it to the ground with all of his weight.]

[He pressed the tip of his gun barrel to its head as it squirmed desperately beneath him. It had stopped bothering to bite him, knowing it was staring death in the face.]

[He fired, the insecticon's head seeming to implode from the inside as the laser punched a hole through it. He heard the flying insecticon fall behind him. Having burned through most of his reserves, he started to relax.]

---- [Airachnid's optics flicked back online, her body unmoving. She watched. She waited. She calculated.] [And when the din was loudest, she shot at the base of the nearest megastructure, destroying its last support pillar.]

[The sound of the building beginning to collapse filled the space around the Decepticon fighters. Soundwave's helm snapped to the source, and the trajectories showed that it was aiming to fall not only on Shockwave, but his vicinity. The only area that seemed to be cleared was the space it currently inhabited.]

[Soundwave leapt in the air, transforming into its jet mode. It flew across the sky, its engines screaming as it pushed itself to reach Shockwave before the building did.]

[Red warnings began to flash across its HUD, overheating engines, mechanical strains, a proximity alert. It angled its scans up only to find that the building was basically on top of it.]

[Its engines howled into overdrive as it pulled back. The building barely missed the mech and crashed down in with a terrible screech of torn metal and clouds of rusty dust.]

[No. No no no no....No. It couldn't lose someone else on this Primus forsaken planet. Even if he was just a colleague, Soundwave could not bear the thought of losing yet someone else because of it. No.]

[Anxiously, Soundwave circled over the disaster, running every scan imaginable. It had to locate Shockwave. It refused to believe that this could have offlined him. Shockwave was strong. There was no way this would be his destined end.]

[He had been slow to realize what was happening, the exhaustion catching up to him. By the time he had weighed his options, the building was already halfway upon him. There would be no running.] [He did all he could to brace himself as darkness enveloped him. He didn't do so much as make a sound as the wreckage encased him in darkness.]

---- [Airachnid had gotten back on her feet, weakly. She couldn't fly off, she wasn't faster than Soundwave. It was distracted for now... She had to take advantage of that fact.] [She waited for it to fly over, careful to not be noticed, only to shoot several thick lines of web at it. When they hit, she stuck the web to a heavy piece of rubble, securing it so that it couldn't fly off. She shot one more at it, reeling it down even as it struggled to escape.]

What's wrong, Soundwave? Feeling sentimental? You know 'cons aren't supposed to do that.

[When she had pulled it down far enough, she lashed the shorter cord to the same rubble and jumped on it, forcing it to get closer to the bundles of webbing. ]

[The first glob of webbing caught Soundwave's wing, wrenching the mech backwards. Its gyros were sent spinning as an outpouring of unexpected sensory, environmental and tactical data shot through its processor. It was left temporarily confused; the mech had been so focused on Shockwave that Airachnid had been put on the backburner.]

[Airachnid. She was supposed to be offlining!]

[The second web fully knocked it out of its altmode. The sticky, thick substance was caught in its gears and joints, essentially gluing its transformation seams together. It struggled now, thrashing against the thick bindings, desperate to free its frame.]

[A loud exvent, akin to a cough, forced its way out of Soundwave's body when Airachnid landed on it. The twisting and turning had forced Soundwave to face the ground- it couldn't even look at her. It attempted to twist its helm back enough to catch a glimpse, anything to give its processor enough data to work with. Yet, it recieved little to none. Soundwave was going to have to resort to other means; but it needed time. It needed to keep her busy.]

[The mech thrashed again, with a determined violence as it attempted to disrupt her balance and shake her off.]

@dailydoseoflogic

[Somehow, some way, Megatron had agreed to Shockwave's terms. Soundwave did not know if it was simply luck, or if Megatron did believe that's all they were there to do. Megatron had no reason to not believe that, but Soundwave wasn't used to keeping secrets from its Lord, and that weighed heavily on its mind.]

[Shockwave had rejoined the Nemesis crew the cycle before and had taken upon himself the task of ensuring all scientific equipment was prepared, packed, and ready to go.]

[This suited Soundwave just fine. It busied itself with preparing survival gear- mostly just paranoidly checking and rechecking that they had enough energon and going over maps of Cybertron. It had marked each gravesite of its Cassettes and uploaded it to a small navigation chip.]

[Five minutes before they were due to depart, Soundwave ensured the energon and navigational chip was secured in its chassis. It could not risk the loss of either in the space bridge.]

[It stood next to Shockwave on the flight deck silently until they were cleared for takeoff. Once the order had been given, it silently opened a ground bridge to the edge of the space bridge. It gestured with its servo for Shockwave to enter first.]

[Shockwave observed Soundwave's fidgeting passively. He had a small device strapped to his side for sample collection, but otherwise carried very little-- his lab on cybertron would have most of what he needed as it is.]

[He didn't hesitate to walk in at Soundwave's instruction, and within a moment, he was free floating in Earth's orbit, not far from the bridge itself. Considering the myriad ways this could have gone wrong, it made sense to limit the number of people doing this to professionals.]

[He recalled when he observed Cybertron's space bridge activating on its own quartexes ago, in which a stream of... something... tried to enter, only to fall back to the planet's surface. Needing to know who or what had attempted to reach Cybertron, he traced the signal only to be.... here. Looking down at an oasis in a vast sea of ink.]

[He was snapped out of his lapse of nostalgia by Soundwave's approach. It was... Interesting, to see how its body moved in the absence of gravity. Its plating was so dark, his optic struggled to distinguish its full outline from the void.]

...Ready when you are.

[Truly the only thing that could denote Soundwave from the black abyss was its biolights. It must've been a strange sight- this vaguely Cybertronian shape that could only be discerned if one were to squint really hard. Otherwise, it just looked like strange floating squiggles moving towards Shockwave and stopping with a soft jet mere feet away.]

[The quiet purple lights that outlined its visor turned towards the scientist, and appeared to nod, though it was difficult to tell. Within moments, Soundwave began spinning the code that allowed it remote access to the bridge. The bots inside would've seen the way buttons seemingly pushed themselves and levers moved without touch. Seconds later, the space bridge exploded with light, drowning out all other light sources in the vicinity.]

[Soundwave took a moment. They were really doing this. It had been so long since it had been to Cybertron. It hadn't been on any of the expeditions, nor was it there when they had retrieved Shockwave. It was safe to say the last time it was home was since their frantic escape to the stars. Soundwave had to place aside the sudden homesickness that twisted itself into its fuel tank. It had a job to do.]

[With that, Soundwave performed a partial transformation, turning its legs into the jet boosters from its alt mode. It placed a servo on Shockwave's shoulder, gripping him tight to guide them through the bridge.]

[The green, grey and white colorant of the bridge was nothing new, but it was far longer than the bridges that Soundwave was used to. Eventually, it let Shockwave go, knowing the momentum would carry them through. It was silent throughout the trip, mostly just staring ahead as they moved through the bridge, but every now and again it would glance at Shockwave, seeing the way the colors twisted and warped as reflections of his plating.]

[Right before the pair exited the bridge, it transformed back to its full root mode. With the otherworldly grace it had always possessed, Soundwave landed firmly on the metal planet. It stood to its full height, looking around.]

[The planet was...devistated. It knew that Cybertron had, for all intents and purposes, died. But it could have never imagined this scale of desolation. The gunmetal grey vista made its spark twist.]

[Again, the reminder that they were not here on a sight seeing tour rang in its processor. It turned to Shockwave as it carefully opened its subspace and pulled out the small navigational chip. It opened the small latch on its arm, and placed the chip inside, activating it.]

[The chip glowed for a moment before pulling up a scaled down version of the planet. It had three sets of coordinates, each a good distance away from each other, and labelled with one of the Cassette's names. Soundwave turned its helm fully to meet Shockwave's optic, giving a nod of confirmation that it was ready to begin.]

[Shockwave felt the crunch of decaying metal bend under his weight as he set foot on the corpse of their home. At some point, he had accepted that it would likely be his final resting place, being stranded for cycles without contact. Now, he played as a temporary guide.]

[He pointed to a set of coordinates conveniently not far from two of the already set points, and then another, a little farther out.]

I will need to make a stop here for the samples, and then return to my laboratory here after we've touched all other locations.

[It would be a bit of a trek, but it would not make for a substantial loss of time. Nobody would know.]

You are free to go ahead if my speed is an inconvenience for you. I would recommend not landing until I have cleared the area, however. The ground is not as stable as it used to be.

[Of course, there still being active mines embedded into the surface of the planet didn't help. ]

[Soundwave nodded, indicating its understanding. Quickly, it transformed into its alt-mode and took off. Yet, it circled back, hovering over the mech.]

[They travelled at the same speed to the area. Of course, Soundwave knew it could go ahead if it wished, but there was something comforting about travelling together on a world turned foreign after being so familiar for centuries.]

[As they got closer to the first set of coordinates, its engines thrummed with anticipation and anxiety. They were heading to Rumble's final resting place first. Soundwave found itself praying to Primus for the first time in a very long time, hoping that his grave had survived against all odds.]

[It could still remember the day Rumble was offlined. He was the second of the Cassettes that Soundwave lost. It still had been reeling from the loss of Frenzy, and to be honest, neither of them were in the right mindset to be in the field. Rumble had lost his twin, Soundwave had lost what most bots would consider a child.]

[Soundwave had to push away the memory. This trip was not for it to grieve, but to bring back new life. Still, a subtle melancholy settled over its processor as they travelled.]

[When they arrived, Soundwave circled overhead lazily as it waited for the "okay" to land. There were several small slabs of metal covering the ground. The battle that had taken Rumble was brutal- they had lost several comrades that day. Still, Soundwave knew exactly which one was Rumble's. It could still remember the feeling of his small body in its arms.]

[Shockwave transformed, his cybertronian tank form rolling over the flaking metal surface at a comfortable pace. It was... different, having company during a drive. Indeed, the plains felt less desolate with the presence of another living being by his side.]

[They were mutually silent, which Shockwave found himself thankful for. This mission was a grim one, and he was a poor source of comfort, as far as words were concerned.]

[When they came across the war-torn field, he transformed, scanning the area for instability before pinging Soundwave that it was clear. He watched his companion land, careful to observe it.]

[He wouldn't be of much help, should it find itself crushed by the sight of the body. He could only offer to make the extraction himself.]

[Gracefully, as always, Soundwave landed next to its comrade. It did not spare Shockwave a glance as it moved towards the row of graves. It paid no mind to the ones it passed until it stopped in front of one, two left from the end of the line.]

[Soundwave stared at it for a moment, its body language unreadable, as if it was simply looking at something uninteresting. But, internally, it had to manually shut down the thought trees that crossed its processors. No memories, no sounds. This was not the time to show remorse.]

[It crouched down, digits gripping the heavy metal that covered the rushed grave. It would've asked for help, but it wanted to do this. Alone. It had to do this. If anyone else had, the desecration of this place would have...well...lead to nothing pretty.]

[So, it hauled the slab as harsh ex vents of exertion left its outtakes burning. Eventually, the mech managed to flip the slab over, revealing the small body that has been left to rust. It kneeled down, digging its knees into the surface near the edge, staring down at its long offline Cassette.]

[Soundwave reached down, gently running an affectionate servo across Rumble's rusted cheek, with a tenderness that had not been expressed in centuries. Another harsh exvent left its frame before it finally looked up at Shockwave.]

[Shockwave leaned down, taking a syringe out of his kit. He glanced at Soundwave. Was it showing restraint? Probably. He recognized and respected what vulnerability he could detect from the moment.] You may wish to look away from this.

[He pierced the corpse's tanks, pulling out a vial's worth of thick, congealed energon. He placed the filled vial into his sample kit.]

[He wiped his hand with a cloth before looking back to Soundwave.]

...Do you wish to do the honors?

[It didn't matter to him, personally. He had known and lost many people over the course of the conflicts he had been in, but he was never one to go back and mourn. He supposed that mourning was for people who needed to. For people who formed deep attachments.]

[It, in fact, did not look away. Rather it watched as the thick liquid was pulled into the vial and carefully stowed. It brought a mix of emotions to its processors and Soundwave had to pull its field in tight to keep them from showing. Relief, anger, excitement.]

[The new Rumble may not be the same, but he will be Rumble.]

[At the question, Soundwave simply nodded. It touched Rumble's face one last time, cupping the side of his helm, as if it was saying goodbye. It was goodbye for now, but not forever.]

[As the moment passed, Soundwave slowly stood up. It moved behind the slab and once again struggled to flip it on its own. When Rumble had been buried- really, when it lost all of its Cassettes- the mech had insisted on using heavy slabs to cover their graves. The practice of scavenging for parts was common, but Soundwave could not have bore the thought of some bot using its beloved Cassettes to create or fix more Autobot troops.]

[Eventually, Soundwave managed to cover the grave back up. The only indication that it had been disturbed was the new scratches on the topside of the slab. It let its arms hang by its sides for a moment or two before once again activating the navigational chip.]

[The mech marked their current coordinates with a red cross, indicating their business there was done. It moved the small simulated globe just a bit and highlighted the next grave, sending Shockwave a ping of the coordinates.]

[The next body had taken just as long when they got to it. To Shockwave, it was little more than another sample collected. To Soundwave, it was Buzzsaw, beloved avian friend.]

[He didn't dare call it's mourning inefficient; he knew this process was psychologically imperative, but it disturbed him on some level to be faced with something so...unrelatable to him.]

[They left the site for his predacon samples, and he found himself relieved to have a reprieve from the secondhand grief. He didn't try to make conversation-- what was there to say? --but he did try to respect Soundwave's time as he sifted through the rubble.] [The body after that was Frenzy's. After he had collected the sample, he had started to notice some kind of pressure in the air, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. He glanced at the surrounding area.]

...When you are ready, we may want to make way out to my base of operations.

[Buzzsaw's desecration passed much in the same way Rumble's had. While Soundwave did not elicit any kind of reaction it hadn't already shown, seeing its birdformer's rusted form, broken joints and disintegrated wings left it reeling. It again used the reasoning that this was necessary, that it was going to get him back but...it rang a tad more hollow this time.]

[It welcomed the break from grave robbing, using the time to distract itself from the bubbling emotions. It watched as Shockwave carefully chose which samples he wanted to take and which ones he wanted to leave. There was a comforting rhythm and logic to it that settled the mech's processor.]

[Then it was time for Frenzy, and everything came back. It felt as if it was being choked out, as if the code and algorithms of its data storage were fighting against the manual input of its commands and winning. It had to turn away from Shockwave at one point, unable to find the code tree that had commanded its visor to play Frenzy's final moments in glaring clarity. It did not want Shockwave to see this. Within moments, it was able to find the code and snipped it short. Still, Frenzy's dying cry rang loud in its processor, and Soundwave temporarily lost control of its field, lashing out with terrified grief.]

[It had managed to bring it in within moments. It knew that Shockwave had a hard time reading fields, so it wasn't worried about whether or not it had hurt the bot. But, it was worried about wasting time. Soundwave managed to force itself to desecrate one more grave- to which its processor fought with what could only be described as "this is wrong!" playing over and over again between its audios.]

[They had finished the objective and Soundwave stood silently, staring at the covered grave once more, venting softly, frame barely moving. It took a moment to realize that Shockwave was speaking, and even longer to agree. It desperately needed a break. It was getting harder and harder to keep its systems and field in check. Soundwave has known this would be difficult, but it had never imagined it being like this.]

[Again, the pair began to travel. Silence filled the air between them, though it was moments like these in which Soundwave wished it could speak for itself. It needed something- anything- to keep its mind off of what it has done and enabled.]

[It was one thing to clone predacons, ancient ancestors, far removed from anything that still lived. It was a totally different game to break into places it held personally sacred, and take what had been left. This is wrong played in its processor again.]

[Logically, it knew there was no reason for it to be wrong. If Soundwave had not insisted that they be covered, the Cassettes would have been used as scrap parts. If it had not taken pieces of them, someone else would have. It was breathing life back to the Cassettes' rusted frames, but in a way that no one had ever thought possible. It shouldn't be so concerned with the morality of things.]

[Soundwave was brought out of its stupors when its HUD pinged with an alarm on its passive long range scanner. There was something moving, something coming towards their approximate location. Soundwave stopped midflight and transformed, landing on the ground.]

[It angled its helm towards the sky, activating its sensors, performing a full spectrum analysis. However, against all odds, there was absolutely something- someone- who had pinpointed their location from high in the atmosphere. No one was supposed to be out here. No one except...]

[Soundwave turned to Shockwave, unhousing its datacables and beginning to wake up its battle protocols. It knew that the vengeful once-Decepticon would not be happy to see the mech that had trapped her out here.]

[Shockwave's memory of Airachnid was not particularly extensive, but he recalled the spider's disloyal proclivities. He transformed, a necessity if he would need to aim directly up at any point.]

[They were currently on the border of Altihex. Shockwave had nestled his base between the abandoned towers, when it was most strategic to do so at the time.]

[As he studied the skyline, a series of dots visibly grew closer-- Airachnid and five....Insecticons? She must have asserted her dominance over them at some point.]

[He aimed his arm cannon towards them, but they weren't clustered enough to guarantee a shot. Given a second, he popped a small cube of energon into the intake at the base of his neck; He would be burning directly from his reserves for this.] I will focus on her lackeys. You are best equipped for handling her directly, Soundwave.

[Within moments, they were close enough to begin firing. Airachnid's voice could be barely heard over the din, but there was a sinister glee to her voice.]

Oh, now this is about to get fun! Miss me, Soundwave?

[It spoke to Shockwave, completely ignoring Airachnid's jeering. Soundwave hated talkers- especially those who rambled in battle. It was insulting, to a degree, but it also was their greatest weakness. To talk is to be distracted.]

[By the time Airachnid and her Insecticons landed, Soundwave's battle protocols had been dusted off and were fully operational. Its servos had turned into long talons and the biolights on its datacables pulsed with electricity.]

[That, however, was nothing compared to the analysis its processor ran. A complicated equation of probability and velocity, the prediction of which appendenge would land where- all culminating to turn surveillance into a deadly weapon.]

[The Insecticons landed right behind their Mistress, two of them staying in their beast mode while the rest transformed. They seemed to be waiting for her command. Soundwave turned its helm only slightly towards Shockwave. Airachnid was powerful, but so were these pests. It did not want to lose yet another ally on Cybertron.]

[Shockwave sized up the enemy, nodding. He predicted that he would require extensive superficial repairs, but he would survive. He was already well familiar with insecticon battle tactics- he was the one who had recruited them to the Decepticon cause, after all. Airachnid had made a mistake in thinking she had the upper hand with numbers alone.]

[Shockwave's cannon already charged, he let loose fire into the center of the formation, forcing Airachnid to jump out of the way with a grunt. He had hit one of them in the confusion, melting half of one of the lackey's faces, but it would take a bit more blunt force trauma to put it out of its misery.] [He focused on drawing their attention, with success. The less Airachnid could utilize their brute force, the better.] [Airachnid, meanwhile, cared only for charging the mech who was personally responsible for her exile. She kept two of her spider legs up high, stabbing at Soundwave as she spoke.] Still no words, hm? Even after coming all this way to see me?

[She jumped back after her charge had failed.] I'll make you break that vow when I have you screaming in agony!

[The Insecticon that had been struck howled in pain. Simultaneously, all of them had understood who their target was- Shockwave. A cacophony of cries came from the 'cons and they began their charge. Blaster fire came from those still within their beast mode, covering their three transformed comrades that had moved far faster than they looked like they could.]

[Within moments, they had arrived at Shockwave and the assault began. A flurry of blows came towards Shockwave in a mess of fists and beetle-like legs. The two fliers hovered just above, bucking off blaster shots when they were sure their comrades wouldn't be struck.]

--

[Soundwave's hypothesis was once again proven right. Talking during battle was useless, insulting, and a sign of weakness. Soundwave easily blocked the assault, one of its datacables wrapping around a spider leg. The spindly thing managed to slide out of its grip, but that was no matter. It simply took an adjustment to the new data acquired to ensure that it would not happen a second time.]

[Soundwave, however, made no move towards her. It knew that if it were to win, it would need to be an up close and personal fight; but also that a straight up charge would spook her, driving her away further. No...No, it needed to lure her in. It decided the best way to do that was to simply deny her the fight she was obviously looking for- Airachnid would have to come and get it herself.]

[Shockwave took several of the blows head on, ignoring them until one of the beetle legs swung at him. He was quick to grab it, using the momentum to knock the insecticon off its feet.] [He wasn't significantly larger than the insecticons, but he was still capable of exerting enough strength to lift one off the ground, swinging it in a circle and tossing it at one of its allies. He took the moment of free space to let loose a shot at one of the fliers, aiming at the wings.] -- [Airachnid was furious that her usual tactics were ineffective towards Soundwave. Always a spoilsport, always so superior. Every strut in her body compelled her to put it in its place once and for all.] [She circled it, her face curling in disgust at the way it simply stood and tracked her motions. She couldn't use her usual evasive tactics on hard cybertronian ground. She would have to be a little more clever...] [She suddenly transformed, shooting at Soundwave as she hovered closer. As soon as she thought she had found an opening, she transformed again, swinging in an attempt to break its guard.]

[There was another howl as the Insecticon crashed into its comrade, both of them sent skidding against the ground. As they recovered, the blast from Shockwave's gun hit one of the fliers, causing it to spin out and crash into the ground in a flurry of broken metal and limbs.]

[The one 'con left standing took the opportunity to jump and latch onto Shockwave's gun arm. It burned the plating it came into contact with, but the action allowed enough time for the remaining flier to get a shot off towards his optic.]

[The two transformed 'cons managed to stand up again. The one who had taken the shot earlier limped behind its compatriot, looking worse for wear as energon dripped from the wound on its face.]

----

[Soundwave was patient. It was a prized quality of the communications officer. Its patience served it well both on and off the battlefield. It could tell how Airachnid was decidedly not, and all it had to do was wait for her to strike.]

[It raised one of its long, wide arms to block the shots that she bucked off at it. The blasters burned and left its plating smoldering just a bit, but that wasn't greatest concern. This was almost certainly a distraction.]

[Its assumption was proved correct because once it lowered its arm, it saw the spiderling launch herself towards the mech. It caught the swing with its datacable, the claw of the thing attatching to her plating and sending a powerful electric shock through her system.]

[Shockwave couldn't necessarily feel much through the barrel of his gun, but he knew he was sustaining damage. He swung it about, hoping to fling the insecticon off, until a blinding flash struck him in the optic.] [He grunted angrily-- primus damn his physiology --and placed his hand over the cracked optic. Furiously, he smashed his gun barrel up against a nearby rock face, dealing damage to the insecticon clinging to it until it let go. His vision was fractured, but he wasn't blind yet. ] [A shrill hum filled the air as he charged his next blast. He would not be done in so easily.] ---- [Airachnid's whole body spasmed, her tangle of legs flailing as her scream cut through the air. She made a desperate, jittery attempt to grab at Soundwave's face, but it was for naught.]

[Her body went slack, smoke curling off of her form.]

[The con slid off the barrel of Shockwave's gun, its helm effectively bashed in from the force of his furious strikes. The flier that had been knocked out of the sky was still twitching, trying to get its body to move, and yet it couldn't. Though, despite the current carnage, the danger still had not passed.]

[The insecticon still remaining in the sky managed to shoot its blaster a few more times, most of the shots missing. The one that did land only hit superficial plating on his arm.]

[One of the grounded insecticons had managed to reach Shockwave at this point. It was scratched and dented, but still attacked him with a fervor. It certainly had not noticed the charged gun as it swung a fist towards the cycloptic bot with all its might.]

[It was at this point where Soundwave began its own encirclement of Airachnid. It had let the datacable go, taking note of her smoking frame. It scanned her, focusing on her spark then her mind. Both were active, but showed that she was barely online. It was strange- she used to be much more capable. Perhaps half the battle had already been won by the lack of energon Soundwave forced her into.]

[It turned and studied the battle its comrade was engaged in. The smouldering bodies of two insecticons lied nearby, and it watched as one rushed Shockwave, the other shambling not far behind. However, the flier was its greatest concern.]

[It moved so it stood at Airachnid's helm. If she managed to get up, it would not be to catch it off guard. Its arms transformed into the rarely used blasters and it took aim, bucking off a quick succession of shots towards the flying insect.]

[Shockwave let off a fully charged blast, boring a hole into the insecticon that was hitting him. Its spark was fully visible for a split second before it quickly fizzled out, energon pooling on the ground.] [He didn't look up, but he heard Soundwave's telltale gunfire aimed above. Good, so it had made quick work of Airachnid...] [There wasn't any time for gratitude as he charged the last grounded insecticon. He tackled it, pinning it to the ground with all of his weight.]

[He pressed the tip of his gun barrel to its head as it squirmed desperately beneath him. It had stopped bothering to bite him, knowing it was staring death in the face.]

[He fired, the insecticon's head seeming to implode from the inside as the laser punched a hole through it. He heard the flying insecticon fall behind him. Having burned through most of his reserves, he started to relax.]

---- [Airachnid's optics flicked back online, her body unmoving. She watched. She waited. She calculated.] [And when the din was loudest, she shot at the base of the nearest megastructure, destroying its last support pillar.]

[The sound of the building beginning to collapse filled the space around the Decepticon fighters. Soundwave's helm snapped to the source, and the trajectories showed that it was aiming to fall not only on Shockwave, but his vicinity. The only area that seemed to be cleared was the space it currently inhabited.]

[Soundwave leapt in the air, transforming into its jet mode. It flew across the sky, its engines screaming as it pushed itself to reach Shockwave before the building did.]

[Red warnings began to flash across its HUD, overheating engines, mechanical strains, a proximity alert. It angled its scans up only to find that the building was basically on top of it.]

[Its engines howled into overdrive as it pulled back. The building barely missed the mech and crashed down in with a terrible screech of torn metal and clouds of rusty dust.]

[No. No no no no....No. It couldn't lose someone else on this Primus forsaken planet. Even if he was just a colleague, Soundwave could not bear the thought of losing yet someone else because of it. No.]

[Anxiously, Soundwave circled over the disaster, running every scan imaginable. It had to locate Shockwave. It refused to believe that this could have offlined him. Shockwave was strong. There was no way this would be his destined end.]

@dailydoseoflogic

[Somehow, some way, Megatron had agreed to Shockwave's terms. Soundwave did not know if it was simply luck, or if Megatron did believe that's all they were there to do. Megatron had no reason to not believe that, but Soundwave wasn't used to keeping secrets from its Lord, and that weighed heavily on its mind.]

[Shockwave had rejoined the Nemesis crew the cycle before and had taken upon himself the task of ensuring all scientific equipment was prepared, packed, and ready to go.]

[This suited Soundwave just fine. It busied itself with preparing survival gear- mostly just paranoidly checking and rechecking that they had enough energon and going over maps of Cybertron. It had marked each gravesite of its Cassettes and uploaded it to a small navigation chip.]

[Five minutes before they were due to depart, Soundwave ensured the energon and navigational chip was secured in its chassis. It could not risk the loss of either in the space bridge.]

[It stood next to Shockwave on the flight deck silently until they were cleared for takeoff. Once the order had been given, it silently opened a ground bridge to the edge of the space bridge. It gestured with its servo for Shockwave to enter first.]

[Shockwave observed Soundwave's fidgeting passively. He had a small device strapped to his side for sample collection, but otherwise carried very little-- his lab on cybertron would have most of what he needed as it is.]

[He didn't hesitate to walk in at Soundwave's instruction, and within a moment, he was free floating in Earth's orbit, not far from the bridge itself. Considering the myriad ways this could have gone wrong, it made sense to limit the number of people doing this to professionals.]

[He recalled when he observed Cybertron's space bridge activating on its own quartexes ago, in which a stream of... something... tried to enter, only to fall back to the planet's surface. Needing to know who or what had attempted to reach Cybertron, he traced the signal only to be.... here. Looking down at an oasis in a vast sea of ink.]

[He was snapped out of his lapse of nostalgia by Soundwave's approach. It was... Interesting, to see how its body moved in the absence of gravity. Its plating was so dark, his optic struggled to distinguish its full outline from the void.]

...Ready when you are.

[Truly the only thing that could denote Soundwave from the black abyss was its biolights. It must've been a strange sight- this vaguely Cybertronian shape that could only be discerned if one were to squint really hard. Otherwise, it just looked like strange floating squiggles moving towards Shockwave and stopping with a soft jet mere feet away.]

[The quiet purple lights that outlined its visor turned towards the scientist, and appeared to nod, though it was difficult to tell. Within moments, Soundwave began spinning the code that allowed it remote access to the bridge. The bots inside would've seen the way buttons seemingly pushed themselves and levers moved without touch. Seconds later, the space bridge exploded with light, drowning out all other light sources in the vicinity.]

[Soundwave took a moment. They were really doing this. It had been so long since it had been to Cybertron. It hadn't been on any of the expeditions, nor was it there when they had retrieved Shockwave. It was safe to say the last time it was home was since their frantic escape to the stars. Soundwave had to place aside the sudden homesickness that twisted itself into its fuel tank. It had a job to do.]

[With that, Soundwave performed a partial transformation, turning its legs into the jet boosters from its alt mode. It placed a servo on Shockwave's shoulder, gripping him tight to guide them through the bridge.]

[The green, grey and white colorant of the bridge was nothing new, but it was far longer than the bridges that Soundwave was used to. Eventually, it let Shockwave go, knowing the momentum would carry them through. It was silent throughout the trip, mostly just staring ahead as they moved through the bridge, but every now and again it would glance at Shockwave, seeing the way the colors twisted and warped as reflections of his plating.]

[Right before the pair exited the bridge, it transformed back to its full root mode. With the otherworldly grace it had always possessed, Soundwave landed firmly on the metal planet. It stood to its full height, looking around.]

[The planet was...devistated. It knew that Cybertron had, for all intents and purposes, died. But it could have never imagined this scale of desolation. The gunmetal grey vista made its spark twist.]

[Again, the reminder that they were not here on a sight seeing tour rang in its processor. It turned to Shockwave as it carefully opened its subspace and pulled out the small navigational chip. It opened the small latch on its arm, and placed the chip inside, activating it.]

[The chip glowed for a moment before pulling up a scaled down version of the planet. It had three sets of coordinates, each a good distance away from each other, and labelled with one of the Cassette's names. Soundwave turned its helm fully to meet Shockwave's optic, giving a nod of confirmation that it was ready to begin.]

[Shockwave felt the crunch of decaying metal bend under his weight as he set foot on the corpse of their home. At some point, he had accepted that it would likely be his final resting place, being stranded for cycles without contact. Now, he played as a temporary guide.]

[He pointed to a set of coordinates conveniently not far from two of the already set points, and then another, a little farther out.]

I will need to make a stop here for the samples, and then return to my laboratory here after we've touched all other locations.

[It would be a bit of a trek, but it would not make for a substantial loss of time. Nobody would know.]

You are free to go ahead if my speed is an inconvenience for you. I would recommend not landing until I have cleared the area, however. The ground is not as stable as it used to be.

[Of course, there still being active mines embedded into the surface of the planet didn't help. ]

[Soundwave nodded, indicating its understanding. Quickly, it transformed into its alt-mode and took off. Yet, it circled back, hovering over the mech.]

[They travelled at the same speed to the area. Of course, Soundwave knew it could go ahead if it wished, but there was something comforting about travelling together on a world turned foreign after being so familiar for centuries.]

[As they got closer to the first set of coordinates, its engines thrummed with anticipation and anxiety. They were heading to Rumble's final resting place first. Soundwave found itself praying to Primus for the first time in a very long time, hoping that his grave had survived against all odds.]

[It could still remember the day Rumble was offlined. He was the second of the Cassettes that Soundwave lost. It still had been reeling from the loss of Frenzy, and to be honest, neither of them were in the right mindset to be in the field. Rumble had lost his twin, Soundwave had lost what most bots would consider a child.]

[Soundwave had to push away the memory. This trip was not for it to grieve, but to bring back new life. Still, a subtle melancholy settled over its processor as they travelled.]

[When they arrived, Soundwave circled overhead lazily as it waited for the "okay" to land. There were several small slabs of metal covering the ground. The battle that had taken Rumble was brutal- they had lost several comrades that day. Still, Soundwave knew exactly which one was Rumble's. It could still remember the feeling of his small body in its arms.]

[Shockwave transformed, his cybertronian tank form rolling over the flaking metal surface at a comfortable pace. It was... different, having company during a drive. Indeed, the plains felt less desolate with the presence of another living being by his side.]

[They were mutually silent, which Shockwave found himself thankful for. This mission was a grim one, and he was a poor source of comfort, as far as words were concerned.]

[When they came across the war-torn field, he transformed, scanning the area for instability before pinging Soundwave that it was clear. He watched his companion land, careful to observe it.]

[He wouldn't be of much help, should it find itself crushed by the sight of the body. He could only offer to make the extraction himself.]

[Gracefully, as always, Soundwave landed next to its comrade. It did not spare Shockwave a glance as it moved towards the row of graves. It paid no mind to the ones it passed until it stopped in front of one, two left from the end of the line.]

[Soundwave stared at it for a moment, its body language unreadable, as if it was simply looking at something uninteresting. But, internally, it had to manually shut down the thought trees that crossed its processors. No memories, no sounds. This was not the time to show remorse.]

[It crouched down, digits gripping the heavy metal that covered the rushed grave. It would've asked for help, but it wanted to do this. Alone. It had to do this. If anyone else had, the desecration of this place would have...well...lead to nothing pretty.]

[So, it hauled the slab as harsh ex vents of exertion left its outtakes burning. Eventually, the mech managed to flip the slab over, revealing the small body that has been left to rust. It kneeled down, digging its knees into the surface near the edge, staring down at its long offline Cassette.]

[Soundwave reached down, gently running an affectionate servo across Rumble's rusted cheek, with a tenderness that had not been expressed in centuries. Another harsh exvent left its frame before it finally looked up at Shockwave.]

[Shockwave leaned down, taking a syringe out of his kit. He glanced at Soundwave. Was it showing restraint? Probably. He recognized and respected what vulnerability he could detect from the moment.] You may wish to look away from this.

[He pierced the corpse's tanks, pulling out a vial's worth of thick, congealed energon. He placed the filled vial into his sample kit.]

[He wiped his hand with a cloth before looking back to Soundwave.]

...Do you wish to do the honors?

[It didn't matter to him, personally. He had known and lost many people over the course of the conflicts he had been in, but he was never one to go back and mourn. He supposed that mourning was for people who needed to. For people who formed deep attachments.]

[It, in fact, did not look away. Rather it watched as the thick liquid was pulled into the vial and carefully stowed. It brought a mix of emotions to its processors and Soundwave had to pull its field in tight to keep them from showing. Relief, anger, excitement.]

[The new Rumble may not be the same, but he will be Rumble.]

[At the question, Soundwave simply nodded. It touched Rumble's face one last time, cupping the side of his helm, as if it was saying goodbye. It was goodbye for now, but not forever.]

[As the moment passed, Soundwave slowly stood up. It moved behind the slab and once again struggled to flip it on its own. When Rumble had been buried- really, when it lost all of its Cassettes- the mech had insisted on using heavy slabs to cover their graves. The practice of scavenging for parts was common, but Soundwave could not have bore the thought of some bot using its beloved Cassettes to create or fix more Autobot troops.]

[Eventually, Soundwave managed to cover the grave back up. The only indication that it had been disturbed was the new scratches on the topside of the slab. It let its arms hang by its sides for a moment or two before once again activating the navigational chip.]

[The mech marked their current coordinates with a red cross, indicating their business there was done. It moved the small simulated globe just a bit and highlighted the next grave, sending Shockwave a ping of the coordinates.]

[The next body had taken just as long when they got to it. To Shockwave, it was little more than another sample collected. To Soundwave, it was Buzzsaw, beloved avian friend.]

[He didn't dare call it's mourning inefficient; he knew this process was psychologically imperative, but it disturbed him on some level to be faced with something so...unrelatable to him.]

[They left the site for his predacon samples, and he found himself relieved to have a reprieve from the secondhand grief. He didn't try to make conversation-- what was there to say? --but he did try to respect Soundwave's time as he sifted through the rubble.] [The body after that was Frenzy's. After he had collected the sample, he had started to notice some kind of pressure in the air, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. He glanced at the surrounding area.]

...When you are ready, we may want to make way out to my base of operations.

[Buzzsaw's desecration passed much in the same way Rumble's had. While Soundwave did not elicit any kind of reaction it hadn't already shown, seeing its birdformer's rusted form, broken joints and disintegrated wings left it reeling. It again used the reasoning that this was necessary, that it was going to get him back but...it rang a tad more hollow this time.]

[It welcomed the break from grave robbing, using the time to distract itself from the bubbling emotions. It watched as Shockwave carefully chose which samples he wanted to take and which ones he wanted to leave. There was a comforting rhythm and logic to it that settled the mech's processor.]

[Then it was time for Frenzy, and everything came back. It felt as if it was being choked out, as if the code and algorithms of its data storage were fighting against the manual input of its commands and winning. It had to turn away from Shockwave at one point, unable to find the code tree that had commanded its visor to play Frenzy's final moments in glaring clarity. It did not want Shockwave to see this. Within moments, it was able to find the code and snipped it short. Still, Frenzy's dying cry rang loud in its processor, and Soundwave temporarily lost control of its field, lashing out with terrified grief.]

[It had managed to bring it in within moments. It knew that Shockwave had a hard time reading fields, so it wasn't worried about whether or not it had hurt the bot. But, it was worried about wasting time. Soundwave managed to force itself to desecrate one more grave- to which its processor fought with what could only be described as "this is wrong!" playing over and over again between its audios.]

[They had finished the objective and Soundwave stood silently, staring at the covered grave once more, venting softly, frame barely moving. It took a moment to realize that Shockwave was speaking, and even longer to agree. It desperately needed a break. It was getting harder and harder to keep its systems and field in check. Soundwave has known this would be difficult, but it had never imagined it being like this.]

[Again, the pair began to travel. Silence filled the air between them, though it was moments like these in which Soundwave wished it could speak for itself. It needed something- anything- to keep its mind off of what it has done and enabled.]

[It was one thing to clone predacons, ancient ancestors, far removed from anything that still lived. It was a totally different game to break into places it held personally sacred, and take what had been left. This is wrong played in its processor again.]

[Logically, it knew there was no reason for it to be wrong. If Soundwave had not insisted that they be covered, the Cassettes would have been used as scrap parts. If it had not taken pieces of them, someone else would have. It was breathing life back to the Cassettes' rusted frames, but in a way that no one had ever thought possible. It shouldn't be so concerned with the morality of things.]

[Soundwave was brought out of its stupors when its HUD pinged with an alarm on its passive long range scanner. There was something moving, something coming towards their approximate location. Soundwave stopped midflight and transformed, landing on the ground.]

[It angled its helm towards the sky, activating its sensors, performing a full spectrum analysis. However, against all odds, there was absolutely something- someone- who had pinpointed their location from high in the atmosphere. No one was supposed to be out here. No one except...]

[Soundwave turned to Shockwave, unhousing its datacables and beginning to wake up its battle protocols. It knew that the vengeful once-Decepticon would not be happy to see the mech that had trapped her out here.]

[Shockwave's memory of Airachnid was not particularly extensive, but he recalled the spider's disloyal proclivities. He transformed, a necessity if he would need to aim directly up at any point.]

[They were currently on the border of Altihex. Shockwave had nestled his base between the abandoned towers, when it was most strategic to do so at the time.]

[As he studied the skyline, a series of dots visibly grew closer-- Airachnid and five....Insecticons? She must have asserted her dominance over them at some point.]

[He aimed his arm cannon towards them, but they weren't clustered enough to guarantee a shot. Given a second, he popped a small cube of energon into the intake at the base of his neck; He would be burning directly from his reserves for this.] I will focus on her lackeys. You are best equipped for handling her directly, Soundwave.

[Within moments, they were close enough to begin firing. Airachnid's voice could be barely heard over the din, but there was a sinister glee to her voice.]

Oh, now this is about to get fun! Miss me, Soundwave?

[It spoke to Shockwave, completely ignoring Airachnid's jeering. Soundwave hated talkers- especially those who rambled in battle. It was insulting, to a degree, but it also was their greatest weakness. To talk is to be distracted.]

[By the time Airachnid and her Insecticons landed, Soundwave's battle protocols had been dusted off and were fully operational. Its servos had turned into long talons and the biolights on its datacables pulsed with electricity.]

[That, however, was nothing compared to the analysis its processor ran. A complicated equation of probability and velocity, the prediction of which appendenge would land where- all culminating to turn surveillance into a deadly weapon.]

[The Insecticons landed right behind their Mistress, two of them staying in their beast mode while the rest transformed. They seemed to be waiting for her command. Soundwave turned its helm only slightly towards Shockwave. Airachnid was powerful, but so were these pests. It did not want to lose yet another ally on Cybertron.]

[Shockwave sized up the enemy, nodding. He predicted that he would require extensive superficial repairs, but he would survive. He was already well familiar with insecticon battle tactics- he was the one who had recruited them to the Decepticon cause, after all. Airachnid had made a mistake in thinking she had the upper hand with numbers alone.]

[Shockwave's cannon already charged, he let loose fire into the center of the formation, forcing Airachnid to jump out of the way with a grunt. He had hit one of them in the confusion, melting half of one of the lackey's faces, but it would take a bit more blunt force trauma to put it out of its misery.] [He focused on drawing their attention, with success. The less Airachnid could utilize their brute force, the better.] [Airachnid, meanwhile, cared only for charging the mech who was personally responsible for her exile. She kept two of her spider legs up high, stabbing at Soundwave as she spoke.] Still no words, hm? Even after coming all this way to see me?

[She jumped back after her charge had failed.] I'll make you break that vow when I have you screaming in agony!

[The Insecticon that had been struck howled in pain. Simultaneously, all of them had understood who their target was- Shockwave. A cacophony of cries came from the 'cons and they began their charge. Blaster fire came from those still within their beast mode, covering their three transformed comrades that had moved far faster than they looked like they could.]

[Within moments, they had arrived at Shockwave and the assault began. A flurry of blows came towards Shockwave in a mess of fists and beetle-like legs. The two fliers hovered just above, bucking off blaster shots when they were sure their comrades wouldn't be struck.]

--

[Soundwave's hypothesis was once again proven right. Talking during battle was useless, insulting, and a sign of weakness. Soundwave easily blocked the assault, one of its datacables wrapping around a spider leg. The spindly thing managed to slide out of its grip, but that was no matter. It simply took an adjustment to the new data acquired to ensure that it would not happen a second time.]

[Soundwave, however, made no move towards her. It knew that if it were to win, it would need to be an up close and personal fight; but also that a straight up charge would spook her, driving her away further. No...No, it needed to lure her in. It decided the best way to do that was to simply deny her the fight she was obviously looking for- Airachnid would have to come and get it herself.]

[Shockwave took several of the blows head on, ignoring them until one of the beetle legs swung at him. He was quick to grab it, using the momentum to knock the insecticon off its feet.] [He wasn't significantly larger than the insecticons, but he was still capable of exerting enough strength to lift one off the ground, swinging it in a circle and tossing it at one of its allies. He took the moment of free space to let loose a shot at one of the fliers, aiming at the wings.] -- [Airachnid was furious that her usual tactics were ineffective towards Soundwave. Always a spoilsport, always so superior. Every strut in her body compelled her to put it in its place once and for all.] [She circled it, her face curling in disgust at the way it simply stood and tracked her motions. She couldn't use her usual evasive tactics on hard cybertronian ground. She would have to be a little more clever...] [She suddenly transformed, shooting at Soundwave as she hovered closer. As soon as she thought she had found an opening, she transformed again, swinging in an attempt to break its guard.]

[There was another howl as the Insecticon crashed into its comrade, both of them sent skidding against the ground. As they recovered, the blast from Shockwave's gun hit one of the fliers, causing it to spin out and crash into the ground in a flurry of broken metal and limbs.]

[The one 'con left standing took the opportunity to jump and latch onto Shockwave's gun arm. It burned the plating it came into contact with, but the action allowed enough time for the remaining flier to get a shot off towards his optic.]

[The two transformed 'cons managed to stand up again. The one who had taken the shot earlier limped behind its compatriot, looking worse for wear as energon dripped from the wound on its face.]

----

[Soundwave was patient. It was a prized quality of the communications officer. Its patience served it well both on and off the battlefield. It could tell how Airachnid was decidedly not, and all it had to do was wait for her to strike.]

[It raised one of its long, wide arms to block the shots that she bucked off at it. The blasters burned and left its plating smoldering just a bit, but that wasn't greatest concern. This was almost certainly a distraction.]

[Its assumption was proved correct because once it lowered its arm, it saw the spiderling launch herself towards the mech. It caught the swing with its datacable, the claw of the thing attatching to her plating and sending a powerful electric shock through her system.]

[Shockwave couldn't necessarily feel much through the barrel of his gun, but he knew he was sustaining damage. He swung it about, hoping to fling the insecticon off, until a blinding flash struck him in the optic.] [He grunted angrily-- primus damn his physiology --and placed his hand over the cracked optic. Furiously, he smashed his gun barrel up against a nearby rock face, dealing damage to the insecticon clinging to it until it let go. His vision was fractured, but he wasn't blind yet. ] [A shrill hum filled the air as he charged his next blast. He would not be done in so easily.] ---- [Airachnid's whole body spasmed, her tangle of legs flailing as her scream cut through the air. She made a desperate, jittery attempt to grab at Soundwave's face, but it was for naught.]

[Her body went slack, smoke curling off of her form.]

[The con slid off the barrel of Shockwave's gun, its helm effectively bashed in from the force of his furious strikes. The flier that had been knocked out of the sky was still twitching, trying to get its body to move, and yet it couldn't. Though, despite the current carnage, the danger still had not passed.]

[The insecticon still remaining in the sky managed to shoot its blaster a few more times, most of the shots missing. The one that did land only hit superficial plating on his arm.]

[One of the grounded insecticons had managed to reach Shockwave at this point. It was scratched and dented, but still attacked him with a fervor. It certainly had not noticed the charged gun as it swung a fist towards the cycloptic bot with all its might.]

[It was at this point where Soundwave began its own encirclement of Airachnid. It had let the datacable go, taking note of her smoking frame. It scanned her, focusing on her spark then her mind. Both were active, but showed that she was barely online. It was strange- she used to be much more capable. Perhaps half the battle had already been won by the lack of energon Soundwave forced her into.]

[It turned and studied the battle its comrade was engaged in. The smouldering bodies of two insecticons lied nearby, and it watched as one rushed Shockwave, the other shambling not far behind. However, the flier was its greatest concern.]

[It moved so it stood at Airachnid's helm. If she managed to get up, it would not be to catch it off guard. Its arms transformed into the rarely used blasters and it took aim, bucking off a quick succession of shots towards the flying insect.]

@dailydoseoflogic

[Somehow, some way, Megatron had agreed to Shockwave's terms. Soundwave did not know if it was simply luck, or if Megatron did believe that's all they were there to do. Megatron had no reason to not believe that, but Soundwave wasn't used to keeping secrets from its Lord, and that weighed heavily on its mind.]

[Shockwave had rejoined the Nemesis crew the cycle before and had taken upon himself the task of ensuring all scientific equipment was prepared, packed, and ready to go.]

[This suited Soundwave just fine. It busied itself with preparing survival gear- mostly just paranoidly checking and rechecking that they had enough energon and going over maps of Cybertron. It had marked each gravesite of its Cassettes and uploaded it to a small navigation chip.]

[Five minutes before they were due to depart, Soundwave ensured the energon and navigational chip was secured in its chassis. It could not risk the loss of either in the space bridge.]

[It stood next to Shockwave on the flight deck silently until they were cleared for takeoff. Once the order had been given, it silently opened a ground bridge to the edge of the space bridge. It gestured with its servo for Shockwave to enter first.]

[Shockwave observed Soundwave's fidgeting passively. He had a small device strapped to his side for sample collection, but otherwise carried very little-- his lab on cybertron would have most of what he needed as it is.]

[He didn't hesitate to walk in at Soundwave's instruction, and within a moment, he was free floating in Earth's orbit, not far from the bridge itself. Considering the myriad ways this could have gone wrong, it made sense to limit the number of people doing this to professionals.]

[He recalled when he observed Cybertron's space bridge activating on its own quartexes ago, in which a stream of... something... tried to enter, only to fall back to the planet's surface. Needing to know who or what had attempted to reach Cybertron, he traced the signal only to be.... here. Looking down at an oasis in a vast sea of ink.]

[He was snapped out of his lapse of nostalgia by Soundwave's approach. It was... Interesting, to see how its body moved in the absence of gravity. Its plating was so dark, his optic struggled to distinguish its full outline from the void.]

...Ready when you are.

[Truly the only thing that could denote Soundwave from the black abyss was its biolights. It must've been a strange sight- this vaguely Cybertronian shape that could only be discerned if one were to squint really hard. Otherwise, it just looked like strange floating squiggles moving towards Shockwave and stopping with a soft jet mere feet away.]

[The quiet purple lights that outlined its visor turned towards the scientist, and appeared to nod, though it was difficult to tell. Within moments, Soundwave began spinning the code that allowed it remote access to the bridge. The bots inside would've seen the way buttons seemingly pushed themselves and levers moved without touch. Seconds later, the space bridge exploded with light, drowning out all other light sources in the vicinity.]

[Soundwave took a moment. They were really doing this. It had been so long since it had been to Cybertron. It hadn't been on any of the expeditions, nor was it there when they had retrieved Shockwave. It was safe to say the last time it was home was since their frantic escape to the stars. Soundwave had to place aside the sudden homesickness that twisted itself into its fuel tank. It had a job to do.]

[With that, Soundwave performed a partial transformation, turning its legs into the jet boosters from its alt mode. It placed a servo on Shockwave's shoulder, gripping him tight to guide them through the bridge.]

[The green, grey and white colorant of the bridge was nothing new, but it was far longer than the bridges that Soundwave was used to. Eventually, it let Shockwave go, knowing the momentum would carry them through. It was silent throughout the trip, mostly just staring ahead as they moved through the bridge, but every now and again it would glance at Shockwave, seeing the way the colors twisted and warped as reflections of his plating.]

[Right before the pair exited the bridge, it transformed back to its full root mode. With the otherworldly grace it had always possessed, Soundwave landed firmly on the metal planet. It stood to its full height, looking around.]

[The planet was...devistated. It knew that Cybertron had, for all intents and purposes, died. But it could have never imagined this scale of desolation. The gunmetal grey vista made its spark twist.]

[Again, the reminder that they were not here on a sight seeing tour rang in its processor. It turned to Shockwave as it carefully opened its subspace and pulled out the small navigational chip. It opened the small latch on its arm, and placed the chip inside, activating it.]

[The chip glowed for a moment before pulling up a scaled down version of the planet. It had three sets of coordinates, each a good distance away from each other, and labelled with one of the Cassette's names. Soundwave turned its helm fully to meet Shockwave's optic, giving a nod of confirmation that it was ready to begin.]

[Shockwave felt the crunch of decaying metal bend under his weight as he set foot on the corpse of their home. At some point, he had accepted that it would likely be his final resting place, being stranded for cycles without contact. Now, he played as a temporary guide.]

[He pointed to a set of coordinates conveniently not far from two of the already set points, and then another, a little farther out.]

I will need to make a stop here for the samples, and then return to my laboratory here after we've touched all other locations.

[It would be a bit of a trek, but it would not make for a substantial loss of time. Nobody would know.]

You are free to go ahead if my speed is an inconvenience for you. I would recommend not landing until I have cleared the area, however. The ground is not as stable as it used to be.

[Of course, there still being active mines embedded into the surface of the planet didn't help. ]

[Soundwave nodded, indicating its understanding. Quickly, it transformed into its alt-mode and took off. Yet, it circled back, hovering over the mech.]

[They travelled at the same speed to the area. Of course, Soundwave knew it could go ahead if it wished, but there was something comforting about travelling together on a world turned foreign after being so familiar for centuries.]

[As they got closer to the first set of coordinates, its engines thrummed with anticipation and anxiety. They were heading to Rumble's final resting place first. Soundwave found itself praying to Primus for the first time in a very long time, hoping that his grave had survived against all odds.]

[It could still remember the day Rumble was offlined. He was the second of the Cassettes that Soundwave lost. It still had been reeling from the loss of Frenzy, and to be honest, neither of them were in the right mindset to be in the field. Rumble had lost his twin, Soundwave had lost what most bots would consider a child.]

[Soundwave had to push away the memory. This trip was not for it to grieve, but to bring back new life. Still, a subtle melancholy settled over its processor as they travelled.]

[When they arrived, Soundwave circled overhead lazily as it waited for the "okay" to land. There were several small slabs of metal covering the ground. The battle that had taken Rumble was brutal- they had lost several comrades that day. Still, Soundwave knew exactly which one was Rumble's. It could still remember the feeling of his small body in its arms.]

[Shockwave transformed, his cybertronian tank form rolling over the flaking metal surface at a comfortable pace. It was... different, having company during a drive. Indeed, the plains felt less desolate with the presence of another living being by his side.]

[They were mutually silent, which Shockwave found himself thankful for. This mission was a grim one, and he was a poor source of comfort, as far as words were concerned.]

[When they came across the war-torn field, he transformed, scanning the area for instability before pinging Soundwave that it was clear. He watched his companion land, careful to observe it.]

[He wouldn't be of much help, should it find itself crushed by the sight of the body. He could only offer to make the extraction himself.]

[Gracefully, as always, Soundwave landed next to its comrade. It did not spare Shockwave a glance as it moved towards the row of graves. It paid no mind to the ones it passed until it stopped in front of one, two left from the end of the line.]

[Soundwave stared at it for a moment, its body language unreadable, as if it was simply looking at something uninteresting. But, internally, it had to manually shut down the thought trees that crossed its processors. No memories, no sounds. This was not the time to show remorse.]

[It crouched down, digits gripping the heavy metal that covered the rushed grave. It would've asked for help, but it wanted to do this. Alone. It had to do this. If anyone else had, the desecration of this place would have...well...lead to nothing pretty.]

[So, it hauled the slab as harsh ex vents of exertion left its outtakes burning. Eventually, the mech managed to flip the slab over, revealing the small body that has been left to rust. It kneeled down, digging its knees into the surface near the edge, staring down at its long offline Cassette.]

[Soundwave reached down, gently running an affectionate servo across Rumble's rusted cheek, with a tenderness that had not been expressed in centuries. Another harsh exvent left its frame before it finally looked up at Shockwave.]

[Shockwave leaned down, taking a syringe out of his kit. He glanced at Soundwave. Was it showing restraint? Probably. He recognized and respected what vulnerability he could detect from the moment.] You may wish to look away from this.

[He pierced the corpse's tanks, pulling out a vial's worth of thick, congealed energon. He placed the filled vial into his sample kit.]

[He wiped his hand with a cloth before looking back to Soundwave.]

...Do you wish to do the honors?

[It didn't matter to him, personally. He had known and lost many people over the course of the conflicts he had been in, but he was never one to go back and mourn. He supposed that mourning was for people who needed to. For people who formed deep attachments.]

[It, in fact, did not look away. Rather it watched as the thick liquid was pulled into the vial and carefully stowed. It brought a mix of emotions to its processors and Soundwave had to pull its field in tight to keep them from showing. Relief, anger, excitement.]

[The new Rumble may not be the same, but he will be Rumble.]

[At the question, Soundwave simply nodded. It touched Rumble's face one last time, cupping the side of his helm, as if it was saying goodbye. It was goodbye for now, but not forever.]

[As the moment passed, Soundwave slowly stood up. It moved behind the slab and once again struggled to flip it on its own. When Rumble had been buried- really, when it lost all of its Cassettes- the mech had insisted on using heavy slabs to cover their graves. The practice of scavenging for parts was common, but Soundwave could not have bore the thought of some bot using its beloved Cassettes to create or fix more Autobot troops.]

[Eventually, Soundwave managed to cover the grave back up. The only indication that it had been disturbed was the new scratches on the topside of the slab. It let its arms hang by its sides for a moment or two before once again activating the navigational chip.]

[The mech marked their current coordinates with a red cross, indicating their business there was done. It moved the small simulated globe just a bit and highlighted the next grave, sending Shockwave a ping of the coordinates.]

[The next body had taken just as long when they got to it. To Shockwave, it was little more than another sample collected. To Soundwave, it was Buzzsaw, beloved avian friend.]

[He didn't dare call it's mourning inefficient; he knew this process was psychologically imperative, but it disturbed him on some level to be faced with something so...unrelatable to him.]

[They left the site for his predacon samples, and he found himself relieved to have a reprieve from the secondhand grief. He didn't try to make conversation-- what was there to say? --but he did try to respect Soundwave's time as he sifted through the rubble.] [The body after that was Frenzy's. After he had collected the sample, he had started to notice some kind of pressure in the air, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. He glanced at the surrounding area.]

...When you are ready, we may want to make way out to my base of operations.

[Buzzsaw's desecration passed much in the same way Rumble's had. While Soundwave did not elicit any kind of reaction it hadn't already shown, seeing its birdformer's rusted form, broken joints and disintegrated wings left it reeling. It again used the reasoning that this was necessary, that it was going to get him back but...it rang a tad more hollow this time.]

[It welcomed the break from grave robbing, using the time to distract itself from the bubbling emotions. It watched as Shockwave carefully chose which samples he wanted to take and which ones he wanted to leave. There was a comforting rhythm and logic to it that settled the mech's processor.]

[Then it was time for Frenzy, and everything came back. It felt as if it was being choked out, as if the code and algorithms of its data storage were fighting against the manual input of its commands and winning. It had to turn away from Shockwave at one point, unable to find the code tree that had commanded its visor to play Frenzy's final moments in glaring clarity. It did not want Shockwave to see this. Within moments, it was able to find the code and snipped it short. Still, Frenzy's dying cry rang loud in its processor, and Soundwave temporarily lost control of its field, lashing out with terrified grief.]

[It had managed to bring it in within moments. It knew that Shockwave had a hard time reading fields, so it wasn't worried about whether or not it had hurt the bot. But, it was worried about wasting time. Soundwave managed to force itself to desecrate one more grave- to which its processor fought with what could only be described as "this is wrong!" playing over and over again between its audios.]

[They had finished the objective and Soundwave stood silently, staring at the covered grave once more, venting softly, frame barely moving. It took a moment to realize that Shockwave was speaking, and even longer to agree. It desperately needed a break. It was getting harder and harder to keep its systems and field in check. Soundwave has known this would be difficult, but it had never imagined it being like this.]

[Again, the pair began to travel. Silence filled the air between them, though it was moments like these in which Soundwave wished it could speak for itself. It needed something- anything- to keep its mind off of what it has done and enabled.]

[It was one thing to clone predacons, ancient ancestors, far removed from anything that still lived. It was a totally different game to break into places it held personally sacred, and take what had been left. This is wrong played in its processor again.]

[Logically, it knew there was no reason for it to be wrong. If Soundwave had not insisted that they be covered, the Cassettes would have been used as scrap parts. If it had not taken pieces of them, someone else would have. It was breathing life back to the Cassettes' rusted frames, but in a way that no one had ever thought possible. It shouldn't be so concerned with the morality of things.]

[Soundwave was brought out of its stupors when its HUD pinged with an alarm on its passive long range scanner. There was something moving, something coming towards their approximate location. Soundwave stopped midflight and transformed, landing on the ground.]

[It angled its helm towards the sky, activating its sensors, performing a full spectrum analysis. However, against all odds, there was absolutely something- someone- who had pinpointed their location from high in the atmosphere. No one was supposed to be out here. No one except...]

[Soundwave turned to Shockwave, unhousing its datacables and beginning to wake up its battle protocols. It knew that the vengeful once-Decepticon would not be happy to see the mech that had trapped her out here.]

[Shockwave's memory of Airachnid was not particularly extensive, but he recalled the spider's disloyal proclivities. He transformed, a necessity if he would need to aim directly up at any point.]

[They were currently on the border of Altihex. Shockwave had nestled his base between the abandoned towers, when it was most strategic to do so at the time.]

[As he studied the skyline, a series of dots visibly grew closer-- Airachnid and five....Insecticons? She must have asserted her dominance over them at some point.]

[He aimed his arm cannon towards them, but they weren't clustered enough to guarantee a shot. Given a second, he popped a small cube of energon into the intake at the base of his neck; He would be burning directly from his reserves for this.] I will focus on her lackeys. You are best equipped for handling her directly, Soundwave.

[Within moments, they were close enough to begin firing. Airachnid's voice could be barely heard over the din, but there was a sinister glee to her voice.]

Oh, now this is about to get fun! Miss me, Soundwave?

[It spoke to Shockwave, completely ignoring Airachnid's jeering. Soundwave hated talkers- especially those who rambled in battle. It was insulting, to a degree, but it also was their greatest weakness. To talk is to be distracted.]

[By the time Airachnid and her Insecticons landed, Soundwave's battle protocols had been dusted off and were fully operational. Its servos had turned into long talons and the biolights on its datacables pulsed with electricity.]

[That, however, was nothing compared to the analysis its processor ran. A complicated equation of probability and velocity, the prediction of which appendenge would land where- all culminating to turn surveillance into a deadly weapon.]

[The Insecticons landed right behind their Mistress, two of them staying in their beast mode while the rest transformed. They seemed to be waiting for her command. Soundwave turned its helm only slightly towards Shockwave. Airachnid was powerful, but so were these pests. It did not want to lose yet another ally on Cybertron.]

[Shockwave sized up the enemy, nodding. He predicted that he would require extensive superficial repairs, but he would survive. He was already well familiar with insecticon battle tactics- he was the one who had recruited them to the Decepticon cause, after all. Airachnid had made a mistake in thinking she had the upper hand with numbers alone.]

[Shockwave's cannon already charged, he let loose fire into the center of the formation, forcing Airachnid to jump out of the way with a grunt. He had hit one of them in the confusion, melting half of one of the lackey's faces, but it would take a bit more blunt force trauma to put it out of its misery.] [He focused on drawing their attention, with success. The less Airachnid could utilize their brute force, the better.] [Airachnid, meanwhile, cared only for charging the mech who was personally responsible for her exile. She kept two of her spider legs up high, stabbing at Soundwave as she spoke.] Still no words, hm? Even after coming all this way to see me?

[She jumped back after her charge had failed.] I'll make you break that vow when I have you screaming in agony!

[The Insecticon that had been struck howled in pain. Simultaneously, all of them had understood who their target was- Shockwave. A cacophony of cries came from the 'cons and they began their charge. Blaster fire came from those still within their beast mode, covering their three transformed comrades that had moved far faster than they looked like they could.]

[Within moments, they had arrived at Shockwave and the assault began. A flurry of blows came towards Shockwave in a mess of fists and beetle-like legs. The two fliers hovered just above, bucking off blaster shots when they were sure their comrades wouldn't be struck.]

--

[Soundwave's hypothesis was once again proven right. Talking during battle was useless, insulting, and a sign of weakness. Soundwave easily blocked the assault, one of its datacables wrapping around a spider leg. The spindly thing managed to slide out of its grip, but that was no matter. It simply took an adjustment to the new data acquired to ensure that it would not happen a second time.]

[Soundwave, however, made no move towards her. It knew that if it were to win, it would need to be an up close and personal fight; but also that a straight up charge would spook her, driving her away further. No...No, it needed to lure her in. It decided the best way to do that was to simply deny her the fight she was obviously looking for- Airachnid would have to come and get it herself.]

[Shockwave took several of the blows head on, ignoring them until one of the beetle legs swung at him. He was quick to grab it, using the momentum to knock the insecticon off its feet.] [He wasn't significantly larger than the insecticons, but he was still capable of exerting enough strength to lift one off the ground, swinging it in a circle and tossing it at one of its allies. He took the moment of free space to let loose a shot at one of the fliers, aiming at the wings.] -- [Airachnid was furious that her usual tactics were ineffective towards Soundwave. Always a spoilsport, always so superior. Every strut in her body compelled her to put it in its place once and for all.] [She circled it, her face curling in disgust at the way it simply stood and tracked her motions. She couldn't use her usual evasive tactics on hard cybertronian ground. She would have to be a little more clever...] [She suddenly transformed, shooting at Soundwave as she hovered closer. As soon as she thought she had found an opening, she transformed again, swinging in an attempt to break its guard.]

[There was another howl as the Insecticon crashed into its comrade, both of them sent skidding against the ground. As they recovered, the blast from Shockwave's gun hit one of the fliers, causing it to spin out and crash into the ground in a flurry of broken metal and limbs.]

[The one 'con left standing took the opportunity to jump and latch onto Shockwave's gun arm. It burned the plating it came into contact with, but the action allowed enough time for the remaining flier to get a shot off towards his optic.]

[The two transformed 'cons managed to stand up again. The one who had taken the shot earlier limped behind its compatriot, looking worse for wear as energon dripped from the wound on its face.]

----

[Soundwave was patient. It was a prized quality of the communications officer. Its patience served it well both on and off the battlefield. It could tell how Airachnid was decidedly not, and all it had to do was wait for her to strike.]

[It raised one of its long, wide arms to block the shots that she bucked off at it. The blasters burned and left its plating smoldering just a bit, but that wasn't greatest concern. This was almost certainly a distraction.]

[Its assumption was proved correct because once it lowered its arm, it saw the spiderling launch herself towards the mech. It caught the swing with its datacable, the claw of the thing attatching to her plating and sending a powerful electric shock through her system.]