"Soundwave!"

The TIC remained unchanged, his skinny nimble fingers continuing their determined pace as they flew over the illuminated keys. The slight twist of his helm, however, alerted the warlord that he was listening. He could only feel as the silver mech stared over his shoulder at the screen. To most this would send shivers down their frame. He had gotten used to it by now; it was just a normal daily thing,

"I hear you went on a little....expedition."

"He knows about that?"

He said nothing, of course, but only turned so the warlord could see his visor. His digits slowed down, but continued to type at an in humane speed. Megatron stared intently at the blank, trying his hardest to decipher what he was saying, but knowing there was no use; he had tried for eons and failed every time.

"Though I cannot say I approve, I must trust it was for a good reason." Soundwave simply nodded, and, finally stopping his work,  lifted a long spindly digit up to his chassis, lightly tapping Laserbeak, who was currently in recharge on his chassis. he had just been cleared after being checked more times than deemed necessary. After his encounter with the mysterious femme, Soundwave just didn't quite trust himself. Sure, she had nurtured Laserbeak to fill health, but such an action, especially in sub-zero temperatures, should have been impossible. And it was this fact that prompted him to check and recheck the vitals of the small minicon. And he would have continued doing so, were it not for Megatron halting the seemingly-outrageous work in worry he was loosing his most loyal soldier. The large silver mech stared at the minicon, and Soundwave SWORE he saw a glint of hatred in his crimson optics, though his lord would never do that to him, would he?

Would he?

"That....creation of yours has certainly taken up much of your time."

"Yeah, so what?" Soundwave nodded once, cautious that any wrong moves would prompt the wrong reaction.

"But that's something that cannot continue to happen." The negative statement was a spear through his spark. What? Soundwave turned abruptly, a rare show of emotion in the blank mech, and stepped back, his arms automatically crossing across his chassis as if protecting his minicon. Megatron laughed, not a sincere one, but a dry amusement-less forced sound that sounded too sharp, too sudden. Soundwave recognized it as the laugh he often did when he had no other way of expressing his inner anger.

"I was simply...stating my opinion. No bed for any...oppression, correct?" He leaned forward, his faceplate just inches away from Soundwave's visor. The scars on his faceplate seemed to gleam in the close proximity. 

"Here he goes again, with the "Imma lean forward in order to intimidate those less powerful than me." tactic. Well, it's not going to work on me"

He shook his head.

"It worked."

"Good, good." A large evil grin slid on to his face. "But I did not come here for conflict." His voice was unnaturally soft, only adding to the icky atmosphere. "One of our mines has failed to check in. I believe Laserbeak is due for a good check up." Nodding simply, Soundwave sent a silent message to the metal bird, deploying him into the opening ground bridge. Disappearing into the swirling portal, Soundwave commanded for the live feed, often called 'Decepticon TV' to be turned on. Megatron watched, the smile on his face not once diminishing, and only seemed to grow happier as the bridge closed. The screen behind them fizzed, then a screen popped up. It was a cave, dark with brown dirt-covered rocks sticking out in jagged edges. It looked untouched, natural, no sign it had ever been tampered with.

Soundwave turned to the warlord, who simply looked on. He had given the right coordinates, haden't he?

He hoped.

"Autobots, follow me!!"

Yep, he did.

"I should have guessed." Megatron's grin slid off like snow on a summer day. "I should have known Optimus was behind this." His digits clenched, digging into the metal plating. A soft growl came from deep within his chassis. Soundwave tensed, but it wasn't visible to anyone else. Not needing any command, he willed and opened a bridge to the very location Laserbeak had disappeared to. The swirling green and white portal appeared and a blast of scorching wind funneled in to the room. It startled him, one of the rare things that did, and he took an inconspicuous ped step back. Optics narrowing, Megatron stormed through, his ped steps echoing until they were nonexistent.

On the camera feed, Optimus' red and blue colors appeared in a blur, clashing with Megatron's silver and purple. Sounds of metal crashing against each other echoed through the seemingly-large cavern, as the camera feed shook violently. Purple blasts seemed to emanate from the screen, bouncing off rocks and denting metal. Soundwave watched, silently criticizing every move his creation made, nodding when he did something right, and making a mental note when he did something wrong.

It happened so suddenly, it could have been missed in the blink of an optic.

A deep rumbling began to make itself heard, and the camera feed began to tremble. Through the deafening noise, a faint call of retreat could be heard. Small pieces of rocks began plummeting around Laserbeak. Soundwave watched, frozen in his tracks, with deep dread.

The room was suddenly filled with a loud sudden 'crash' as the feed shook wildly, leaning to the left suddenly. It shook, moving left and right, wobbling with sharp movements. A twinge of extreme pain shot through the bond between the minicon and his creator. The picture glitched, and with a flash of light so bright it would have given anyone a seizure, it went black.

His spark dropped. He could feel Laserbeak's signal, but it was weak. Without thinking logically, he opened a ground bridge to the very exact coordinates, and stepped through.

"Oh no..."