Cause there's something between us anyway

Soundwave.. was not amused.

He was furious that his interaction with Megatron had gone south, but he had accounted for something like this happening. G.H.O.S.T. and the Autobots capturing Soundwave was their worst mistake as he was better left free. That way he didn't have a way to play the decoy. Try as they might, they could not fully contain the mech. Blasting soundwaves at the cell door, Soundwave was able to get break it open momentarily.. just enough for Ravage to slip through and find himself free. It was all up to him now to provide reconnaissance and find a means of freeing all imprisoned Decepticons. If he could figure out the layout of the compound, that would be preferable, but even Ravage had his limits.

As the cell door reclosed, Soundwave didn't even flinch as he heard that familiar cackle. That familiar voice. He turned his helm in their direction, speaking in his trademark monotonous voice.


Naturally this was where he had wound up, and it came as no surprise as he ignored the comment about the silly rabbit. Starscream may have been capable on the battlefield, but his arrogant ego was often times his downfall. It was only fitting that this would be the place that they would meet back up again. He tilted his head as he caught that whisper; that question of if he was alright or not.


Though there was that curiosity. How long had Starscream been down here anyway?

Even if Soundwave couldn't see Starscream directly, there was no mistaking his tone of voice. He may be laughing, but that was not Starscream's normal laugh. Broken. Subdued. It was if G.H.O.S.T. and the Autobots had already done their damage to the mech emotionally, not that it was hard to get underneath Starscream's steel plating. It was quite simple to do, and Megatron always made a point in demonstrating it. For as high and mighty as the Air Commander was, it was far too easy to knock him right back down.

Again the seeker's words did not phase Soundwave as they were spoken to him. Whatever this means of flirting was, if it was even that, Soundwave brushed it aside for the moment. He was far more curious about Starscream's mental state than anything. It wasn't like he had much else to do at the moment until he waited for Ravage to return. The Cassette could take awhile; days even. There was no telling how fast operation: decoy would be completed, but the faster they could escape this prison the better. And yet, Starscream whispered once more. Still perfectly audible for Soundwave to hear and record for posterity.


Was he insinuating that he honestly hadn't been trying to escape? That wasn't like Starscream at all, so maybe he really had been here for quite some time. Seekers tended to go insane if they were stripped of their right to fly for too long. Thinking on it, Soundwave chose to replay an old audio that he had previously recorded. It was a means of trying to snap Starscream out of it, but also to demonstrate how he felt about the seeker at that moment.


If Megatron wasn't going to lead, then someone had to. As second in command, it was better suited that Starscream take up the mantle as Decepticon leader. While Soundwave was more than capable of taking it for himself, he had other uses that he was needed for. Perhaps one day, but today was not that day.

So that was really it, then. Starscream was truly giving up just like that? Soundwave couldn't doubt that the mech had suffered in some regards whether it had been the cause of prolonged confinement or being on the run for so long with lack of resources. Soundwave knew that all too well, having lost one of the Cassettes due to lack of energon. The memory of the explosion, knowing they could not be saved.. It was painful and it angered Soundwave very much so. This had all been directly caused by Megatron's betrayal. As soon as he got out of this cell, Soundwave was going to make Megatron suffer just as much as he and the rest of the Decepticons had.


Sure their numbers had dwindled, but there were still Decepticons out there willing to rise up and strike back. That had not been more apparent than those locked within G.H.O.S.T. HQ as well as Decepticons such as Mire and Shockwave, still out there waiting in the wings ready to jump into action at a moment's notice. Soundwave may not have known every Decepticon out there just as he didn't know of Nightshroud, but the Decepticons were far from finished with this war.


They would fight. They would escape. But most importantly, the Decepticons would rule.

It was true that perhaps Soundwave had treated Starscream horribly, but that was due to his allegiance to Megatron. He would not allow a single traitor to do their leader in, but times had changed. Megatron had betrayed the Decepticons himself and abandoned them all. It had left the spy in a deep state of confusion. He had already abandoned the Council once due to their misguided ways only to follow a mech who would later ditch him for the enemy. It left him angry and hurt, even if he never vocalized that to anyone.. but the anger was crystal clear. It's what had landed him here after all.

But where did that leave Starscream on the totem pole? He was the second-in-command whether he wanted to admit that or not, and Soundwave had to admit when he took charge on missions he actually wasn't a complete failure.. some of the time. Someone needed to lead the Decepticons, and Starscream was unfortunately the best choice. However, if he kept refusing like this Soundwave would have no other choice than to do it himself. It was better than having Shockwave in charge. He was better suited to the lab than the battlefield anyway. If Starscream wasn't going to find a means of escape from this prison, then Soundwave would and there would be a temptation to just leave the seeker here to his misery.

Thankfully, it sounded like maybe he wasn't as defeated as he originally thought if he was still spouting such hateful, vile words. While they didn't hurt Soundwave by any means, Starscream would only hear Soundwave growl at the jab for not speaking. He hadn't been there. He hadn't witnessed the Council's attempt to doom Cybertron by cutting off all ties to the colonies via destroying the space bridges yet make zero effort to try and save their citizens from the Rust Plague. He didn't hear how intensely Soundwave fought with his opinions only to be shot down. He didn't hear Soundwave's final rebuttals to them before walking away, vowing to never speak his thoughts again.. at least with his own voice. Simplicity was better suited, and it was never more clear when Starscream only had Soundwave's voice as 'comfort'.


He considered activating his comm, only to realize it was blocked. There went the easy way of conversing.. so speaking it was.

The whiplash from Starscream was aggravating to say the least. It was truly hard to judge if this was all some act from Starscream, but what was his game? What did he plan to get out of it if this was just another one of his schemes? The seeker was hard to read for that reason, and it wasn't something that Soundwave was particularly fond of. It only served to anger the musical mech that he couldn't figure out just what was going on with the second-in-command.. or whatever he wished to call himself now.

Maybe a few more barbs thrown the Seeker's way could extract some answers; to get an idea of what his true motive was.


Soundwave sure as spark was not alone. He had his Cassettes, and that was what mattered to him. Of course, he didn't know that Starscream wasn't truly alone. He remained unaware of the seeker's 'get out of jail' card. Once more Soundwave played an audio clip, this time from Megatron himself. It angered him thinking about it, but it was fitting all the same.

And there it was.

Soundwave was not surprised by the sudden sound of Starscream frantically pacing around his cell. As much as he hated using a clip of Megatron's, he knew if anything would get to the seeker that would be the voice to do it. He could hear the sparks flying, the rapid movements back and forth. He didn't need to see Starscream to know he'd forced the mech into a panic. Interesting.. but it was something worth keeping note of. It didn't take long for Starscream to start his trademark screaming, but he noted the sudden pause before the loud metallic thud of what could only be the seeker hitting the ground. Given the silence, it wasn't hard for the mech to put two and two together. The ex-air commander had clearly worked himself up so much that he'd collapsed.


Strange.. No response. Usually Starscream would have had some retort ready to fire back upon him. What if something was wrong? There was no doubt Soundwave could escape on his own, but there was a use for having Starscream around as well.