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Post by Soundwave on Aug 12, 2012 6:01:51 GMT -5
((Cybertron, 8 Ano-Cycles 7 Deca-Cycles after the fall of Crystal City)) Soundwave was quietly brooding as he stood there at the Eastern edge of Kaon looking out towards the Sonic Canyons in the distance. His Spark longed for the days before the war, before Reunification, before the pain he now carried within him. Every day it seemed to grow, gnawing at him inside, yet he pushed it away like always, burying it behind a cold wall of logic in an effort to hold back the madness that threatened to consume him. He tried to fill the painful hole in his Spark, gathering symbiotes to him to serve his needs. But still he suffered a profound emptiness within him, though he buried it along with his emotions as much as he could. The first was Ravage, a Cybercat he had found on one of his outings at the edge of Kaon before Reunification back when he was still researching and testing his abilities. Ravage had been with him for a very long time and now sat passively next to Soundwave's foot as if waiting for something to happen or for Soundwave's next command. The dark mech's next symbiotes were twin avian mechanimal hatchlings he had found nested together in an alcove along a ridge at the southern edge of the western Sonic Canyon not long after Reunification. Laserbeak and Buzzsaw were precisely identical to each other, with a single exception. While both were nearly black in over all color, Laserbeak had red markings while Buzzsaw had purple ones in precisely the same places and patterns. Currently the pair were out flying recon for him and he stood motionless, awaiting their return. It was just a few short Anocycles later that Soundwave had discovered a hive of microcons that had nested in a long disused tunnel beneath Kaon's Southern rim. He had watched them for a long while, observing their behavior and discovering just how they worked together and individually. Binding the entire hive of over 5,000 individuals was problematic at first, and after offerings of Energon to gain their trust, the skittish little bots willingly gave themselves over to Soundwave. Now they rested within Ravage's chassis, awaiting their Master's command. It was in the Gladiator pits of Kaon that Soundwave had found his next pair of symbiotes, Rumble and his smaller brother Frenzy. Both were Minicons and were utterly inseparable from each other. After Soundwave had rescued them from destruction at the hands of a brutal Master, the brothers willingly gave up their Sparks to Soundwave, bound to him as his symbiotes. For the moment both were resting within specialized compartments in Soundwave's large chassis. The last symbiote Soundwave acquired was another mechanimal, this time a Bolt Bat he discovered with a badly mangled wing hiding in an abandoned building in one of the ruins near Kaon's outskirts in the early days of the war. The terrified creature was soon placated with Energon, and once he had gotten Ratbat to trust him, he carefully repaired the Bolt Bat's wing and soon after, forged a symbiotic bond with the small creature. Ratbat was happily perched on Soundwave's shoulder, curled up against his neck churring softly to his beloved Master. As Soundwave stood there, he felt the tremors that rocked Cybertron's now deeply scarred surface, tremors caused by the explosive destruction of war, battles raging across his once prosperous and shining home. But Cybertron no longer shone like the glowing jewel of machine life it once was, the surface torn and blackened from violent battles between Autobots and Decepticons. His symbiotes knew how keenly he felt Cybertron's pain, how he could hear the agonized groans and sharp cries of the very planet upon which he stood, sounds most never heard or were too busy fighting to notice. Soundwave feared the worst would come if somehow the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, retained control of the Allspark for much longer. As it was the Decepticons pushed the Autobots ever harder, attacking their every outpost and base in an effort to find the life giving cube, wherever the Autobots had managed to hide it. The quiet and mysterious Communications Officer vented deeply. He could hear another battle going on, and his twin avian symbiotes confirmed that a battle had been joined in nearby Blaster City. Apparently a squad of Autobots had raided a supply warehouse in a desperate bid to steal Energon from the Decepticons, and unfortunately for the fighters there, the Autobots were winning the conflict. He lowered his head and vented sharply, causing both Ravage and Ratbat to regard their powerful Master curiously for a moment before he silently reassured them over the symbiotic bond that he was fine. By the time the rest of Kaon got the news that a supply depot in Blaster City had been hit, the fight was over and the Autobots had escaped with their plunder. This wasn't the first time Soundwave had contemplated the war and his place in it, let alone whether his decision to maintain his loyalty to Megatron was the right one or not. He had already been manipulating events around him, and though he had made a grievous error in initiating the utter destruction of Crystal City just over 8 1/2 Ano-Cycles ago, for the most part, he had the entire Decepticon armada under relative control with the help of Megatron's penchant for instilling terror in all those around him to ensure strict obedience in every Decepticon solder who served him, and of course, Soundwave had learned to manipulate Megatron quite well, not that anyone had any inkling of that, including Lord Megatron himself. Soundwave was simply that good at what he did, and doing so ensured both his survival and that of his symbiotes. Soundwave looked to the far off horizon again, pondering his next move and at least a dozen contingencies for each of a hundred scenarios and outcomes of his carefully laid plans. All he had to do now was make certain neither side gained the upper hand until he had a clear and precise understanding of both sides if this seemingly endless conflict. Something simply did not sit right with Soundwave anymore, and the longer the war raged across Cybertron, the more he questioned the truth and Megatron's real motivations in all of this. Soundwave's growing doubts were kept very secret within himself, and to prevent others from questioning him, he maintained a terrifyingly fearsome reputation that rivaled Megatron's own brutality, though Soundwave's own symbiotes knew better and never uttered a whisper of the truth about their Master. The dark mech remained the imposing silent statue he always seemed to be, utterly unmoved and unaffected by the goings on around him, at least outwardly, unreadable by anyone, Autobot or Decepticon. Unless he was directly addressed, responding to Megatron's inquiries, or relaying information and orders among the Decepticon ranks, Soundwave's only real conversations were among his precious companions and kept silent, carried through the symbiote bonds that were undetectable, untraceable, and unhackable by anyone of his race. Not even Soundwave himself could access the Spark bond communications of other bots unless he was directly plugged into the neural core of one of the bond members, yet he could detect and easily access any and all other communications across Cybertron, whether on the surface, beneath it, or in orbit, let alone any transmission within 1 light year of Cybertron itself, including any that passed near the metallic planet regardless of their origin or destination, as long as the transmission path brought it within Soundwave's detection radius. Soundwave knew he was singularly the only mech capable of this feat, though he had discovered another with similar, if under developed, abilities as his own. This mech's name was Blaster, an Autobot who was significantly younger than himself, had a similar configuration to his own chassis, but was slightly shorter and not nearly as skilled in his abilities as Soundwave was. This greatly disturbed the older mech, not liking this rival Autobot, yet Soundwave was also growing intensely curious about him, though he was unable to do anything about it currently. The situation required much more extensive research and planning, so for now he merely watched his rival along with everyone else, quietly waiting for the right opportunity to take necessary action. But the quiet and vigilant Decepticon Communications Officer was suddenly pulled from his inward contemplations as he detected the approach of another bot nearby, setting him on alert, though visibly he didn't even twitch. He remained still, simply waiting for the intruder to reveal themselves, at which point Soundwave would deal with them appropriately, depending on who it was...
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Post by Wavelength on May 30, 2013 14:49:49 GMT -5
A young, white mech had heard the sounds of the battle and had grown curious, though he did not wish to be close to that battle at all, he did want to have a look to see if a single bot was there. If he wasn't he would turn around and leave, just as he normally did, but if he was, well, he hadn't completely figured that part out yet. He came up behind a wall of rubble, peeking out over it, a pair of small tear drop crystals dangling from a chain attached to the left of his helm. Wavelength did not yet have the markings etched onto his face and thigh yet, however, the one on his chest was there, delicate, precise and, due to the state of where the etching was, obviously very, very fresh, a very recent addition to his frame.
He when he looked over the rumble, however, vivid blue optics went wide and a small gasp escaped him before he quickly ducked back down. There he was, the mech Wavelength had wanted to meet for so long, the one he idolized and now. . .he had no damn idea what to do now that he'd found him. His spark quickened due to his nerves as he brought a hand up to fiddle with his earring, trying to figure out just how to approach Soundwave, both nervous and excited at the same time. He peeked up over the wall of rubble again, very slowly and carefully before suddenly ducking back down again, trying to find the guts to actually say something to the mech, or at least properly stand up and stop hiding like a sparkling.
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Post by Soundwave on May 30, 2013 17:32:58 GMT -5
Soundwave had discretely noticed the white mech peeking over the rubble at him, not once, but twice, and yet remained hidden there and unwilling to come out. Soundwave could hear the quickening of the white mech's Spark, which told him of nervousness and possibly fear. The whole peek-a-boo routine made the dark mech rather curious, so, dampening the sound around him, he casually walked up to just the other side of the rubble after the second "peek-a-boo" to see who it might be. What he found made him tilt his head curiously. This one was very young still, not even into his final growth stage yet, and he seemed strangely familiar. Soundwave stood quietly, waiting for the young mech to notice he was now standing over him, though Ravage had crept up next to his Master, and not liking strangers, issued a low and threatening growl as he peered over the rubble at the small bot sitting there. For his part, Soundwave merely tilted his head slightly and Ratbat squeaked softly, his large radar like audio receptors twitching as they reoriented themselves, listening intently.
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Post by Wavelength on May 31, 2013 4:04:36 GMT -5
It didn't take long at all for Wavelength to notice, with how the much larger mech displaced and scattered the light with every tiny movement he made. The young flier looked up suddenly with a major eep face as he saw Soundwave standing right over him and, due to what had almost became reflex at this point, bent the light around him to hide himself from view, though his spark was racing right now. He was still learning his own abilities but this one ability he had managed to get down pretty well, if anything because of how valuable it was for self preservation for the non-hostile young mech. The growl actually made him cringe a bit as he, still invisible, stood ~"I. . .I. . .d-didn't meant to startle you. . .s-s-sorry. . ."~ the nervous little mech said, though the gesture was unseen, his hand moved to that earring like item on his helm. ~"Umm, I. . .I've been hoping to. . .to meet you. . .umm, for. . .for a while now. . ."~ he continued, not ever realizing that he had gone invisible yet, it had just become such a reflex for him.
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Post by Soundwave on May 31, 2013 7:47:47 GMT -5
The reaction of the young mech was actually rather amusing, though when he vanished from sight, Soundwave tilted his head the other way, turning it slightly as he oriented on the frantic thrum of the young mech's Spark. When he spoke, Soundwave's response was to raise an optic ridge. So he wanted to find and meet Soundwave, but why? And why was he so nervous? Was it his fearsome reputation? Perhaps, even the more hardened Decepticons shrank from him, so it wasn't hard to understand why others would do the same. But with the young mech being invisible, Soundwave couldn't exactly see him, though he could use sound to identify his location and even modulate it to map out details from the echoes. He sent a silent command to Ravage and the Cybercat backed off and quieted down, then Soundwave brought up his hand, holding it out at a neutral level, palm up, in offering. Something nagged at Soundwave, something familiar about this young mech, but he couldn't quite place it at the moment and he was determined to get to the bottom of the mystery.
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Post by Wavelength on May 31, 2013 8:00:28 GMT -5
Wavelength gave a grand smile at the offered hand and, seeing the symbiotes back down a bit, he carefully reached out his on, much smaller, hand to place it in Soundwaves, it was THEN he realized that he had vanished ~"Oh. . umm, di-didn't realize I did that. . .S-sorry, kind of a reflex."~ he said, unbending the light from him, his frame now a different color, a deep blue as opposed to the default white it was before ~"There's so much I want to learn from you. . .what you do with sound I do with light but. . .but I'm not so good at controlling it."~ Wavelength admitted, a very nervous and shy smile coming from him, his face remaining a bit down angled, his posture would show that he was a bit timid but he wasn't afraid, he was actually rather excited. He looked at his hand in Soundwave's, realizing that Soundwave was so big compared to him, as evident by the size of Soundwave's hand compared to Wavelength' own slender, long fingered one ~"Wow, you're a lot larger than I had thought. . ."~ the young mech said, looking up at Soundwave for a moment, there was no fear at all in the boy's face, just awe.
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Post by Soundwave on Jun 1, 2013 4:39:13 GMT -5
Once the young mech had come back into view, Soundwave regarded him thoughtfully, trying to place why he seemed so familiar. That was when the glittering light refracting off the crystals caught his attention and he reached out to touch them. The colors, the way the light scattered around and through them. There was only one place he had ever seen anything like that in his life, a place he deeply regretted seeing destroyed, a place that harbored intense guilt and remorse for him. ~"Crystal City."~ he intoned softly, though his voice was deeply modulated. Eight and a half Ano-Cycles it had been since the city fell, and now a reminder of that loss stood before him. That was when his thoughts turned to the Carrier he had seen tucked against a sheltering wall, her chest wide open, her Sparking chamber still coated in Pod fluid, but the pod itself was gone. The resemblance was uncanny. After eight and a half Ano-Cycles of searching for that tiny lost hatchling, had he found the little one at last? And had this young mech, now blue instead of white, truly been searching for Soundwave? Clearly the young mech had no idea that the one he seemed to look up to so intensely had been the one to cause Crystal City's fall and the murder of the mechling's progenitors. Would he hate Soundwave if he knew? Perhaps, but it was clear the young mech needed someone and had come to him. No, Soundwave wouldn't tell him, not yet, not until he was ready, not until he truly knew Soundwave. Something within him cried out for the dark mech to take this young one to himself, to make him his own. Perhaps it was the loneliness in his Spark, perhaps this would be the one thing that finally filled the gaping hole that threatened to consume him. ~"Soundwave teach, protect."~ he finally stated evenly, making the decision to take the young mechling under his wing. This was probably his only chance at redemption, and perhaps, when all was said and done, this would somehow permit him to be reunited with his beloved Siren one day.
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Post by Wavelength on Jun 1, 2013 12:21:03 GMT -5
When Soundwave mentioned Crystal city, Wavelength gave a small nod ~"I was the last sparkling from there, when I was old enough I went to the remains and got these crystals."~ he explained, a wide smile on the young mech's face when Soundwave said he'd teach him and his excited was clearly obvious as he moved and right out hugged the older mech he looked up to so much ~"Thank you! Uhh. . .my name's Wavelength, by the way."~ he introduced himself, letting up the hug and looking up at Soundwave, the wings folded against his back, however, twitched a bit and almost lifted when he heard a crash come from where the other Decepticons were, obviously this boy was an easy one to startle.
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Post by Soundwave on Jun 1, 2013 13:23:00 GMT -5
The hug was unexpected, and after a moment, he gently wrapped his arms around the young mech to return the hug, giving a nod of acknowledgment when Wavelength gave his name. Soundwave casually looked in the direction of the crash, nonplussed and unsurprised, though he gently rubbed Wavelength's back to sooth him. Apparently the fighting was drawing closer to where they were, which disturbed him a bit. He looked down at Ravage then, opening the Cybercat's compartment to let the feline tuck himself away, doing the same with Ratbat as well. Hearing another explosion, Soundwave looked at Wavelength for a moment. ~"Wavelength fly?"~ he asked, noting the young mech's wings.
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Post by Wavelength on Jun 1, 2013 13:31:26 GMT -5
Wavelength nodded a bit ~"Yes, I'm a flier, I know I'm really small for one but I was supposed to be bigger." he said, a hand coming up to mess with his earring a bit again. ~"I, umm, well, my growth was stunted."~ he said, glancing over to where the fight was growing closer. He didn't want to get startled again, for him, getting started was very, very bad and could lead to a lot of things he really didn't want to have happen ~"They're getting closer."~ he commented, his timid little self going invisible again, just to avoid being seen if any did look their way.
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Post by Soundwave on Jun 1, 2013 13:53:10 GMT -5
Soundwave nodded once and released Wavelength, taking a step back. ~"Fly."~ he said, and with that single word, he transformed and took to the air, heading north and west towards the Sonic Canyons, towards a secret safe place he knew, somewhere none of the fighting had approached or harmed. It was a sacred place to him, somewhere only one other had ever been, someone he would never see again. For this young mech, Soundwave felt Siren wouldn't mind that he shared this secret with him, especially considering what the dark mech felt he owed Wavelength, for the harm he had caused.
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Post by Wavelength on Jun 1, 2013 13:57:38 GMT -5
~"Alright."~ Wavelength said, leaping upwards and transforming, following Soundwave. Once they were a bit farther from the fighting he uncloaked himself, still that dark blue color, his small alt mode just as small and streamlined as his true form. ~"Don't worry, I can keep up pretty well if you want to go faster."~ he told Soundwave, just so the older mech knew he didn't have to worry about losing Wavelength.
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Post by Soundwave on Jun 1, 2013 14:25:38 GMT -5
Soundwave rocked side to side slightly in acknowledgment and picked up speed, though still flying casual for him. It didn't take long to reach the canyons, yet still he flew on over them, seeking one particular place. He finally swooped down into the canyon, flying around the various natural spires and bridges that crisscrossed the canyons before approaching the side wall near the southern end, transforming to land in an opening a fair distance from the top of the ridge. Once there, he stepped deeper inside to give room for Wavelength to land.
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Post by Wavelength on Jun 1, 2013 14:34:56 GMT -5
Wavelength followed, weaving around the bridges and spires in his own slightly more youthful and showy fashion, including rolls when he went under one. The young mech did rather enjoy flying and would pick areas with things to dodge just for fun and to let off some stress from time to time. When Soundwave landed however, Wavelength followed, transforming before touch down and, though he had grace and was a good flier, landing wasn't always so graceful for him. When he touched down, it was with both feet and due to this he failed to be able to move his other leg in time to catch himself when momentum carried him forward a bit more. He stumbled a bit, tripping over his own foot and sending him falling forward, landing on one knee, a hand on the ground to avoid completely faceplanting. He gave a very small, shy chuckle ~"I. . .Umm, I'm still learning the landing bit."~ he said, standing upright, his hand coming to the crystals on his helm with a bit of an awkward smile, all embarrassed.
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Post by Soundwave on Jun 1, 2013 15:43:53 GMT -5
Soundwave tilted his head slightly, though he was mildly amused at Wavelength's sheepishness at his own mistakes. He stepped deeper into the cave which extended inward half a kilometer, then curved left and up into a circular chamber. He had once shared a very intimate moment with his beloved One in this chamber, then lost her forever. But this place was safe and untouched, which was why he had chosen it in the first place and now offered it to Wavelength as a sacred sanctuary. Standing at the apex of the curve in the tunnel, he looked at Wavelength. ~"Sanctuary, safe, secret."~ he told the young mechling, then added ~"Sacred."~ as he looked to the circular chamber, remembering her, wishing she was there. He closed his optics then and vented softly, his hand going to his chest, covering his Spark as he inwardly whispered a quiet prayer for his One. When he looked back to Wavelength, his hand falling smoothly back to his side, he stated his intention. ~"Wavelength safe, escape here, practice and learn. Canyons sing, Universe song echo here, soothe, comfort, reflect, calm, focus. Location sacred, secret place, bring no one."~ He hoped Wavelength would understand.
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