literature

SW the Creeper XI

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Did Starscream expect there would be some kind of test before he would be truly allowed to come back? Definitely, he did. Was he expecting a cortical patch? Definitely, not. For a moment he thought that was an overkill on his leader's part, but then he realized, everything Megatron did here so far was an overkill and even then, not all his plans came to successful realization. Did he blame his leader for wanting to be hundred percent sure of his trustworthiness? Not really. But slag, it would be hard to convince him that past was past and that he himself was not the con that had left this ship months ago.

Plus, there was another SiC now and that had also to be taken into consideration. The Seeker knew, relics alone, however valuable they were, would not redeem him from his treason. He would be lucky to get an officer position at all. But that would be a start.  His Armada loved him. Not enough to support him if he was to rebel against their one true Master, but choosing between their Air Commander and Dreadwing? phleeaze.

So this here was when the key battle would take place. Ironically, this battle between him and Megatron would not be for power, but for Megatron's trust - which, come to think of it, was power itself among decepticons. And Starscream was very determined to gain it back.
Knockout set up the equipment and the seeker suppressed a shudder when the warlord's entity invaded his mind. He knew there will be a lot to explain and braced for it, baring the most controversial and dangerous memories. The only thing he attempted to hide was the fact that he had lost his t-cog.

He tried to be cocky, but it was clear from the beginning that these were not equal negotiations. He was reduced to begging for a chance to come back - and the realisation of the depth of his fall hurt his pride. But however low he fell, it was worth falling lower to get his wings back. Beg, kneel, lick dirt at Megatron's pedes, and surrender anything - anything! - to get his T-cog back into his frame.

If Megatron knew he was now locked in his robot form... he would know the Seeker was completely at his mercy, he would not need to bargain for anything - why, if he could just take it all. Revealing a weakness like this was like signing your own death sentence - a flier without wings was a joke not worth anything. But as they progressed through his memories, Starscream realized with horror, he would not be able to hide it. He was merely a passenger for this ride.

However, Megatron had surprised him. As soon as the warlord understood, that his former second had lost the one probably most precious thing in the universe for him, something shifted in the decepticon's leader vermillion optics. Softly, unlike his earlier ruthless words, the warlord asked: "You have lost _your wings_?" Megatron knew what it meant for a seeker. It wasn't some plot to trick him into another outrageous treachery. It was Starscream begging for his help as much as his seeker's pride would let him, reaching out to Megatron from his own personal hell, and Megatron would be slagged if he didn't pull him out. To whatever outcome.
______________

'Well, this is awkward..' - Knockout murmured, feeling Dreadwing's chasis beside him tense at the revelation about his brother's demise and post-mortem development.  Knockout threw a desperate glance at the bomber, at loss of suitable things to say, but he needed not to worry - Dreadwing wouldn't have heard him anyway.

It was almost visible how the proverbial puzzle pieces and gears shifted and rolled around in Dreadwing's processor. Knockout could almost relate to the pain of romantic fleur being ripped off the decepticon Cause. He would relate if this was anyone but Dreadwing. This con earned every ounce of hurt. Breakdown died under his command. He had been responsible.
So Knockout made sure he ignored the SiC as much as this was possible. The red vehicon switched all attention to the screens and didn't even notice when the other officer took his leave.

   Dreadwing marched through Nemesis. When Megatron asked if he was feeling repulsive against desecrating a grave, he denied any effect it had on him. But there has been a huge difference between some ancient Prime and his brother! Skyquake had been deeply loyal to Megatron, he deserved to be treated with honor in death as well as in life!

   Things have been all kind of wrong ever since he arrived on this forsaken rock. Was it the decepticon way now to use and discard loyalty in autocracy's best traditions?! Was it dark energon influence?

   The bomber stopped abruptly, not daring to ask the next question even in the privacy of his own processor. It asked itself nevertheless. If obviously Megatron knew what happened to Skyquake and was not disturbed by this sacrilege, if it had been him and not Starscream, would he have turned his brother's corpse to terrorcon all the same?

It was a scary thought. A treacherous thought, but Dreadwing knew the answer to that.

Turning abruptly, the bomber marched with renewed purpose.  Everything got so perverted here. He had to put a stop to all this. The disappointment was eating at his spark and pulsed in his footsteps.  Megatron was evil and had to be stopped. Decepticons were corrupted and had to be put down. And if it demanded him to taint his spark with dishonor, so be it. Starscream had to die no matter the cost.  The bomber nurtured no illusion: this was a one-way road.  He would tip the war scales back as best as he could, kill Starscream, and join his brother in the AllSpark with his duty fulfilled.  And he knew exactly a thing that could tip the scales now.

Turning the corner, Dreadwing saw the Chief communication officer walk toward him. The jet suppressed the initial urge to run, and masked his reaction pretending to check something on his datapad. He beat down panic and called up an ancient chanting teaser that Skyquake used to pester him with. It was absolutely meaningless, but the combination of tones was catchy and took on almost all processing resources in insistent repetition.
Still, part of the SiC cringed expecting his mental crime to be discovered. Dark visor inscrutable, the spy walked toward him steadily. Dreadwing carefully reset his vocalizer and issued the most formal greeting he could master at the moment. Soundwave's helm dipped down sharply returning the greeting and the navy con walked by.
______________

   Additional orns of recharge did him good. After Soundwave onlined and ran a routine periphery check, he recalled his decision to turn off finer sensor system.  That would render him numb, but at the same time, he knew, it would make things so much clearer. No more confusing fields , no more other mechs - the other mech's - thoughts to meddle into his...

He gathered his courage and ran the deactivating sequence.

The world around him got dull, but as he could feel the logic subroutines gain priority over intuition and emotional block, he could assess and analyze his situation so much clearer. Looking back onto everything that happened since the Uprising, he had spent much effort on honing his skills as well as strengthening his will and at this point he was a figure of power, albeit silent, both his allies and enemies respected and feared. He was relentless, unwavering, clever and patient.  He was never the center of spotlights, that placed was reserved for Megatron, he stayed closer to shadows. And those shadows he owned.

   He could be anywhere and everywhere. A faceless visor seemed to emphasize the infinite number of eyes and ears he might turn on any con out there at any given moment. He saw everything and used everything to further his cause. All Decepticons had their own agenda, but his happened to be the Decepticon Cause.

   Granted, he was cold and creepy but that was constantly cold and steadily creepy that you could rely upon.

   That is why when he acted rash and out of line everyone - everyone! - thought there must be something he knew. Because he knew everything. Someone was probably paying for some hidden crime. Soundwave killed an autobot messenger? There must have been an assassination attempt he prevented! He raped the autobot before killing him and sent the footage to broadcast?! He must have been sending a warning message to other assassins. A creepy message, at that.

   But you know, protective kind of creepy. 'Beware of our wrath!' kind of creepy.

   One thing they got right: Soundwave did, indeed, know it all. He knew there was nothing to justify his actions. No matter how hard he worked to build himself up a solid and reasonable mech, when he turned his numerous proverbial optics inwards he still saw himself for what he truly had been: a broken toy, a jaded chunk of sentient metal, and the irregular shards of his psyche were standing out against the blackness that filled the cracks between them.

   Underneath his right-founded pride, inside the fortress of reason and intellect that he'd built, he was not mending. He was not mending at all.

   It was only logical to lock all that mess away, seal it in powered down periphery. Even if it meant letting go of a rare and valuable ability he possessed. The upkeep for the luxury of seeing into the core of things was too high.
Of course, his symbionts noticed the change instantly. Laserbeak was far away on her recon duty, but she pinged him with worry.  Ravage's audials shot up, alert, at the change of his host's systems sound.

/Are you okay, boss?/ - Ravage asked after a click hesitation.

/Soundwave: functional/ - the spy responded to both his symbionts. He motioned Ravage to stay in their chamber and walked out, heading toward the bridge /Soundwave: back on duty/ he commed on the way. Megatron did not respond, but his life signal was strong and surprisingly in med bay. Something must have happened while he had been in recharge. As usual. There was probably a whole mess for him to clear after the extended off-shift, not mentioning all the surveillance data he had to sync and analyze now.
Soundwave's pace remained measured and steady as he answered Dreadwing's greeting and walked on toward the bridge.
_____________________
Every time Soundwave took a shift off there would be a pile of information to sort through when he returned. This time, however, the news was so flashy he didn't have to fish it out. As soon as Megatron disconnected from the cortical psychic patch, a batch of orders was issued including the order to restore Starscream into commlink. That certainly was the big news.

Still, the surveillance logs were to be checked, and it took the Communication Officer nearly an orn to perform the sync, and only after Dreadwing's return was reported, did Soundwave discover his absence.

Neither the purpose of his trip nor the destination were not logged into the system, so Soundwave dug into surveillance again. His findings made him fly through Nemesis corridors to intercept the warlord. This was beyond urgent.

Megatron received the frantic data burst and frowned. 'Where is he now?'
Almost immediately the commlink responded with a distress call from Starscream. Not waiting for an order, Soundwave opened a ground bridge to med bay.

No one mourned Dreadwing.
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StarwolfDevision's avatar
So will there be more? I am curious to see who raped Soundwave in his past and why that meant his valve damage is too great. I thought that such damage could be repaired by the medics, but maybe Soundwave does not even WANT that repaired? Because then he would likely have to accept Megatron-and face what he's running from? That is my guess anyway. I could use more readership for my story, though I'm still working on chapter two at the moment. archiveofourown.org/works/8618…