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“Don’t change back”
That was the first thing Soundwave had heard from Ravage in a while. She was halfway across the universe, fulfilling the request he made of her, on the ship designated Lost Light. Their assignments in this new time of semi-peace had them lightyears from one another. The distance and pace of their work have kept them from contacting each other for longer than either would prefer.
Ravage had followed Megatron and the Autobots on their meanderings across the galaxy. The crew bounced around from planet to planet causing problems and damage wherever they landed. Soundwave remained near the earth, on his Sanctuary Station, orbiting Saturn. He was working to keep the vessel functional.
The war was over, but his job never would be. His terminals were just as filled with distress signals, impact warnings, security footage, and general communication relays, as they were at even the height of the war. Ravage doesn’t sit at his side anymore, but he has others to watch his back for the time being. Ravage will return to Sanctuary Station when Megatron has burned himself out of his ridiculous peace-time fantasy.
In the meantime, he goes to answer the message. Opening his bond to her, he is struck by how odd the comm is.
“Ravage: Clarify”
Soundwave couldn’t finish his comm message to her before he felt a sucker punch to his spark. Everything fell quiet. He could no longer hear the beeping of the terminal or feel his helm as it slowly lowered to meet the table. His legs gave up too. He slowly sank to the floor. His chest was empty. The space meant for Ravage seemed to gape wider than what could be accommodated by his frame. Everything was empty. The bond was an echo of Ravage’s last painful moments.
Ravage was gone. It almost seemed impossible. They had survived so much already, the gutters of Kaon, the million years of war, the backstabbing ranks of the Decepticon fleet. How after all of this, could she be gone?
She couldn’t be.
That must be it. Stranger things have happened than a bond stretching the astronomical distance between them being blocked somehow. Or broken. Even after millions of years together, she must have been frustrated with the distance their assignments had taken them. That must be it. How unprofessional and cruel. Not even a message over the comms out of courtesy.
Sending a comm her way would be a good way to ease any worry and get the answers he needed. Soundwave quickly pulls himself together. Looking up from the floor, only to find that he had been surrounded by the other mechs working the terminals. Someone is shouting for a medic a few feet away, but his vision is filled with only Cosmos’s face.
“Soundwave? Soundwave! Can you hear me?” Their optics finally meet and Cosmos leans back a few inches. Soundwave tried to answer, but his vocal modulator refused to function. It seems quite a few systems are still down from the shock.
His focus turns back to the original plan. Opening the comm link between himself and Ravage, he sent a curt message “Ravage: Report mission status. Report personal status” It almost seems to echo back. He has dealt with more than his fair share of off-lined mechs not answering comm requests. The echo is familiar.
Cosmos is back in his face, shaking his shoulder this time. The medic kneels down next to him, shoving closer to Soundwave’s frame non-too-gently. He begins speaking as well, but nothing is heard over the echo. The radio waves bounce back waiting for an answer that he begins to fear will never come.
Soundwave’s limbs are brought beneath him, moved by the other mechs, dragging him up from the floor, but he can’t get himself to work with them as they shift his bulk more upright. Touch, sound, and sight are barely filtering the shroud of fear and grief that has taken hold.
The quiet Soundwave had been sitting in is suddenly gone as it is flooded with half a dozen comm requests and messages over his bond. Accepting them happens before he even registers who they are even from. Lazerbeak, Buzzsaw, Rumble, Frenzy, and Ratbat are all there, demanding answers. The carrier and cassettes had all been spread across the satilite, but they also would have felt the snapped cord of the bond through Soundwave.
“What just happened?!”
“Are you guys alright?”
“Soundwave, what is going on with Ravage?”
“Anyone knows what’s going on?”
“UHHHHHHHHH?!?!”
The cacophony simultaneously assaulted his senses with the volume and amount of messages, but also brought on a wave of relief. He wanted them to be together as he faced the ever-growing certainty that Ravage was never going to be able to respond.
“Soundwave: Unsure of Ravage’s statue. Ravage: Not responding to comm request.”
That felt unhelpful.
They likely had already tried to contact Ravage and were looking to him in the hopes that I could get ahold of her. A flare of hope coursed through Soundwave. Ravage was still on the Lost Light the last time they checked in. Still following Megatron as he traveled the galaxy with his merry band of Autobots. Megatron would not have let this happen. He cared for Ravage as Soundwave and the other cassettes cared for her. He saw her as an equal as so few do.
“Soundwave: Contacting Megatron” was sent to the cassettes.
“Megatron: Report status of Ravage”
The message did not echo back. It is connected as it always should. Nothing blocked or corrupted the connection. Megatron would answer in a moment and prove there was some mysterious reason that Ravage was not responding. It wasn’t the simplest explanation, but Soundwave wouldn’t be able to handle Megatron answering the message with a sorrowful “I’m sorry, Soundwave” to confirm that the impossible had happened. Ravage was not angry with him, sucked into a portal, or some other improbable circumstance. She had been killed, as simple as that.
The comms dinged a reply.
“Soundwave, I’m so sorry…”
There was probably more to the message, but it didn’t register.
Rodimus was still gripping Megatron's hand as they stepped onto the solid ground of the medbay. Tarn was gone. He got what he deserved, Megatron had destroyed him and everything he stood for.
“Megatron?” Ratchet laid a hand on Megatron’s shoulder as his eyes raised from the ground. “She’s still holding on. For you.”
Looking past Ratchet is more challenging than Megatron could have imagined. Tarn had torn her completely in half. The Energon pooled on the berth beneath her form. There was no recovering from this, he knew it and she did too. Stepping up to the berth was even harder.
“I’m here, Ravage. I’m so sorry. I’m here.” He can’t think of anything better to say. There is nothing better to say. She had done her best as always. Loyal and brave, Ravage had held on as long as she could, but the room was quiet, everyone knew that there was very little time left.
Ravage is still holding her head high and speaking to the room. She always put her mission above all else. An irreplaceable spy, informant, and soldier, Ravage was never one to falter.
The twisted metal of her body trembles with the effort of holding herself up. Laying a hand on her back to help her balance seems the least Megatron could do for his friend. Moving was barely even possible anymore, but she surprised him yet again by lifting her paw to Tarn’s mask emblazoned on his chest where his old Decepticon symbol once was. Her claws dig into the metal slightly.
"Don't change back"
This was his permission, to fully embrace the peace he worked for, to move on from the war, to return to his vow. He vowed to never harm another living creature, and through his inaction Ravage would be lost. Despite taking the brunt of the consequences of his decision, Ravage had given her support.
In her last moments, she begged Megatron to remain strong, to fight for peace.
There are others she wished to speak to before her end, but she didn’t have the strength to relay a message across such a great distance between her and her carrier.
She opens her bond with Soundwave easily. Distance and duty have kept her from him for far too long. If only he were here to see the mech Megatron had become outside of the war, if only Megatron had seen who Soundwave was becoming. Saddened by the knowledge she won’t be here to see the age of peace they are helping to create, she begs them to stay their course.
“Don’t change back”
She slumps to the berth. She only remains upright due to Megatron’s hand, but he slowly lays her down.
He's not foolish enough to think that with the war over and the age of peace beginning that no more tragedy would ever be suffered. His hand draws away from her frame. He grips the edge of the berth hard enough to dent and warp the metal. She had made it through the bloodiest war largely unscathed. She was too quick, skillful, and smart to ever put herself in harm's way, but she did today, for him. For his peace.
Ratchet set a hand on his shoulder and guided him gently away. Rodimus was at his side, not truly holding him upright but might as well have been. A steady presence Megatron has seen a lot of spilled energon in his time and truly there wasn't even a lot on the table. This was a puddle compared to the ocean of energon spilled throughout the war.
Megatron's communicator pings quietly and he's not surprised that it's Soundwave. The communications officer was no doubt incredibly worried about Ravage and the rest of the crew. He and his lot of mini cassettes had always been close. Caring for each other and keeping tabs on their missions.
Megatron wasn't close to many in the Decepticon ranks. Save for Soundwave, his cassettes, and a few choice others. With such a small circle he hadn't lost many mechs he cared for, often saved by rank and their own skills.
The ping is quiet compared to the room full of concerned mechs.
“Megatron: Report Ravage status”
Right on time. Soundwave was practical, straightforward, and didn’t need to be handled with kids' gloves. “Ravage has been killed by Tarn in a battle on…” He stopped composing the message. Soundwave didn’t deserve to be told this as if it were any other casualty report. Ravage was an ally and a good friend to them both. “Soundwave I know this will be difficult to hear…” Megatron knew him well enough that a heartfelt message would seem insulting and likely go unread. He went back and forth for a few moments. As Ratchet took a sheet and wrapped what was left of Ravage in it. The body was removed from the room and most of the mechs cleared out as well.
“Soundwave, I’m so sorry, but Ravage has fallen defending the Lost Light and the crew aboard.”
Nothing could have roused Soundwave from his near-catatonic state. Cosmos was trying to get his attention again, but after briefly getting him to look up he hadn’t responded at all since. The medic was checking vitals and was reporting that aside from being incredibly stressed nothing was wrong. No damage, just very upset.
“Help get him to his quarters,” They ordered two of the mechs standing nearby. "I’ll be by later to check in on him. If there are any changes or seems to get worse before then send for me”
Cosmos stood, pulling Soundwave up with him. Thankfully he didn’t collapse again and once his feet were under him, he stood on his own. With one hand behind his back and the other holding one of his hands, Cosmos began leading Soundwave forward toward the doorway. “I should be able to get him there, no problem. I’ll keep an eye on him too.”
Halfway to the dormitories, Cosmos spoke in a quiet voice “You gave everyone quite a scare, falling like that.” Cosmos was hoping to get a response from the other mech as they walked, but Soundwave was silent, more than usual. He occasionally added to the one-way conversation when the silence was getting too uncomfortable. Soundwave let Cosmos lead him at a slow pace all the way to his quarters. Once inside Cosmos located the berth and had him sit on the edge. He has been in Soundwave’s room on a few occasions, but never for very long. The space was pretty bare and there wasn’t much to do, aside from rest and eat. Which is mostly what Soundwave used it for so he couldn’t blame him.
The rooms on Sanctuary Station weren't glamorous by any means, but much better than some of the ships he's been on. Small and empty, but private and there was more than enough to house everyone so far. Soundwave had plans for expansion. He truly believed that the sanctuary would fill up eventually and grow from there.
It was more than a pet project for him, It was the solution to the war. The Autobot and Decepticon causes had been blurred and changed throughout the war leaving everyone in the wrong. Soundwave probably knows more about the sins of both sides than any mech left alive. Sanctuary Station would be the neutral ground they needed. A place dedicated to peace.
That was one of the last things he talked with Soundwave about in private. The flaws of both sides and how loyalty had changed their goals. They tend to stick to less heavy topics in public, but in the privacy of their own quarters, they were free of judgment.
They continued the short walk towards the living quarters. Cosmos supplied Soundwave with meaningless commentary, glancing at him occasionally to look for any reaction.
Cosmos wouldn't call it rambling, more a stream of verbalized thoughts to fill the empty air. He was becoming pretty good at holding one-sided conversations since befriending Soundwave. This was a little different though. It was hard to notice until it wasn't there, but Soundwave had a way of letting you know he was listening. He would look you straight in the face, which could get intimidating at first, but he certainly showed that you had his attention. Even when Cosmos spoke to him while he was distracted and couldn't stare into his spark, Soundwave moved like he wanted to hear more. Nodding along, tilting his helm, and glances that seemed like requests to keep going if he ever stopped prematurely. Soundwave still spoke and responded if needed, but it was clearly not his preferred method of communication.
That's what made this odd. Cosmos talked to Soundwave as he often did, but there was zero indication he was being listened to.
“Where are you at, Soundwave? Not like you to be ignoring me. I thought we were better friends than that.” It was a sorry excuse for a joke, but Soundwave usually would give some lackluster denial for something like that. “You’re that one that claims to always be listening. I think I’m proving you wrong!” With an overdramatic huff and crossing his arms, Cosmos put on a good fake pout. Enough that Soundwave would find it a little annoying and certainly not something he would let slide when Cosmos is standing a foot from him.
Nothing. Soundwave’s face mask stares straight ahead. Unflinching as always, but with no calculating indifference, he might as well not be functioning. The lights are on, but nobody’s home.
Taking a new approach, Cosmos eases down next to Soundwave probably a little closer than he would usually allow, but Cosmos uses that closeness to grab Soundwave’s hand. Squeezing it just a little. “Come on, Soundwave. I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s wrong. Is it the new Mechs that got in today? I know they’ve been pretty loud while they’re been getting settled in. Been resting enough? Refueled lately? Defraged? It’s gotta be something. The medic said you’re fine, but collapsing and acting like this doesn’t seem fine to me.”
They sit in silence for a while. Cosmos occasionally squeezed Soundwave’s hand again or moved it to his lap and then back between them. He lets go occasionally, but returns it after a little. About the 3rd time picking up his hand, Cosmos feels a twitch. Not squeezing back almost flinching away. Not expecting it, and not really appreciate the unsolicited contact either.
Cosmos practically jumps from the berth and is in front of Soundwave in an instant. “Hey, Soundwave! You’re alive. Thought we were gonna have to puppeteer you around the hub for a while there. I don’t think the crew will keep the station functioning for long with you out of commission.” He keeps a respectable distance, no need to hover and crowd the poor mech.
Soundwave’s helm slumps down. And Cosmos couldn’t catch what he quietly said. Just a mix of static and reverb.
“Sorry. What?”
“Ravage”.
“What about her? She headed here or something?”
There’s a long pause after that. Long enough that Cosmos goes to fill the silence, but is cut off as he starts.
“She won’t answer. I think she’s gone.” It is quiet and uncertain. So unlike Soundwave. Only talking when necessary and he’s not one to ever risk having to repeat himself.
Cosmos wouldn't claim to know Ravage if asked, having only met her a few times on the battlefield. But he knew enough about her to care. No one knows Soundwave better and Soundwave knows her best as well.
“Why do you think that? I’m sure you’ll be able to get ahold of her later in the day. Maybe the communications hub is malfunctioning again”. Cosmos leans forward slightly trying to catch Soundwave’s eye as he stares into his lap.
“This is different.” Static creeps over his voice once again before clearing with a sharp creak. “She’s not just unresponsive. She’s not on the other end. Megatron messaged…”
The cryptic words finally sunk in for Cosmos. He’s lived through the war and had spent years only communicating through comms. It’s a different kind of empty when there’s no one to receive the signal. “Oh”.
Soundwave just nods in response.
“What did Megaron say? He was with her on the Lost Light, he must know something about what happened”.
Soundwave straightened up slightly before a crackle could be heard through his speakers. Megatron’s deep voice was quiet but sounded like a sonic boom in the quiet room.
“Soundwave, I’m so sorry, but Ravage has fallen defending the Lost Light and the crew aboard.”
“Soundwave, I’m so sorry, but Ravage has fallen defending the Lost Light and the crew aboard.”
“Soundwave, I’m so sorry, but Ravage has fallen defending the Lost Light and the crew aboard.”
The recording repeated seamlessly. Megatron’s message, his compassionate voice, and his stoic words sucked all the air out of the room. Soundwave slumped further and further into himself until he was bent double, head between his knees. Shriveling before Cosmos’ eyes.
“Oh Soundwave”. Cosmos slid closer once again resting a hand on the shoulder closest to him. Struts trembling beneath his hand, growing stronger as the recording plays once again. Cosmos moves to pull him into a half hug. Squeezing briefly at his shoulders.
The recording cuts off midway through, as Cosmos releases his hold and just rests his arm on his friend’s back, wanting to be there for him through this.
Soundwave’s collapsed form trembled with every exvent, but didn’t react to the contact.
Cosmos guessed that the transmission Soundwave played for him was all the info he had on the cassette’s condition or what had happened to her. After a moment of debate Cosmos mentally scrolled the hundreds of transmission contacts he’s collected over the centuries, landing finally on one he had been given quite recently, The Lost Light main line.
Opening the frequency he began his message to the vessel.
“Cosmos to Lost Light, I’m requesting urgent correspondence with Megatron or anyone with information relating to Ravage’s condition”
The message has to travel many light years before being received and the response will take just as long to get back to him, so he settles in next to his friend for the wait.
After a few minutes of silence, Cosmos feels the slightest of movement for his companion. Soundwave’s head raises a spare few inches. Cosmos can faintly see his own reflection in Soundwave’s visor.
Soundwave’s voice crackles painfully. “Buzzsaw, Lazerbeak, Rumble, Frenzy, Ratbat: Enroute to Quarters”.
Cosmos can only sigh in relief at that. He hadn’t fully considered it, but breaking the news to the others Cassettes would be very hard on Soundwave. “I can tell them for you if you need me to”.
Soundwave drew in a deep invent before pulling himself fully vertical, removing Cosmos’ arm in the process. He didn’t respond more than a quick but clear shake of his helm.
“Okay, I can wait with you for them to get here”. Soundwave hesitates a moment before nodding.
They sit for a minute more before Cosmos receives a response from the Lost Light, specifically Ratchet. The message was brief, pissed and promised a more thorough update when things calmed down aboard the vessel.
He was able to glean that Ravage had passed defending Megatron and the rest of the crew from a group of delusional ex-decepticons lead by Tarn. From how it sounds Tarn ripped her in half… knowing Tarn that could be literal or just Ratchet being an insensitive ass.
Either way, he hopes that Soundwave hadn’t sent his own request for information from Ratchet.
“I just got an update from…” Cosmos had finally made up his mind to tell Soundwave a bit of what Ratchet told him when the door to the room slid open. two sets of peds hurried over to the berth while the other three swooped to perch on Soundwave’s shoulder and each of his knees.
The five mini cassettes were uncharacteristically silent, likely in just as much shock as their carrier.
“I can leave you all be for a bit if you’d like? I can come by to give you any updates from Ratchet or Megatron. Can I get you anything before I go?” As Cosmos was getting up to leave, several of the cassettes had already transformed and were being gently placed within their docks.
“No. Soundwave: Request to be informed when contact is made, to speak with the Lost Light crew.”
“Of course. If you need anything else though, just send for me or anyone okay?”
Soundwave gave another curt nod before Cosmos turned around and left the room. The door slides closed behind him, leaving him in the quiet empty hallway.
Cosmos invented deeply before shaking himself of the empathetic grief. He begins the trek back across the satellite. Soundwave would normally still be on duty now and the communications hub may need an extra set of hands.
And it couldn’t hurt to keep close for any incoming transmissions from the far-off vessel.