#nizziverse

[sepublic]

            When initially fighting the Decepticons, humanity attempted to face them head-on in open battlefields and the like, testing the full might of their most powerful engines and weapons in a contest. This was a mistake; Human technology was no match for Cybertronian armaments, and your typical Decepticon footsoldier was more agile, durable, and hard-hitting than any tank. Battles in Mission City, Shanghai, Egypt, etc., made this clear.

         But as Sector 7, and then NEST, gathered experience, advice, and teamwork from the Autobots, eventually the best strategies were figured out. So by Dark of the Moon, humanity knew better than to tackle the Decepticons in open confrontation; That would only get them killed. Instead, it accepted its limitations, and opted to make the most of what its puny little form might entail against these giants.

         It became David vs Goliath; Instead of bringing the Decepticons’ attention, humans would take advantage of their small size to sneak up on unsuspecting enemies who normally towered over them, planting small energon-powered explosives and other debilitating traps. Focus on speed to evade their enemies, since durability was otherwise wasted. While the Decepticons focused on their more obvious Autobot enemies, human snipers would support from afar to take out their optics and other key points. Guerilla tactics were key.

         When it came to the Battle of Chicago, the humans didn’t arrive en masse; They sneaked in, using their size, and the fact that the architecture was built for them, to exploit various routes the Decepticons weren’t aware of or were ill-equipped to prepare for. In short, humanity realized the folly of fighting the Decepticons on their own terms and expectations; Let humanity take the fight to them in a way they didn’t expect, by using their rules. Let humans fight in the way that embraces what sets them apart from their Cybertronian counterparts.

         In essence, one could say humanity learned that to fight a Decepticon… one must fight like a Decepticon themselves, relying on trickery, deception, subterfuge, and stealth. They turned the Decepticon values of the underdog trickster against them, and like the Functionists they originally opposed, stuck to the roles their tiny little bodies were most equipped for. For those Decepticons who realized the poetic irony, it was quite a humiliating and frustrating realization, as those they disregarded as insects realized just how difficult it could be to hit such a microscopic target, from their experiences with their own insects.

         Cybertronians might be able to study the technology of their enemies to use against them, but humanity adapted by studying the tactics of the Transformers to use against them, understanding how they operate and think, and exploiting the blind spots of that vision. No need to use your own strength when you have the Autobots; Turn their massive size and power, even their own Energon-based technology, against them! Decepticons may have had ruthlessness and military prowess, but the Autobots had allies and the home advantage, now that both groups were one and embraced Earth. The Autobots worked with those who best understood this alien battlefield, those whom many of them fought for to begin with, to win.

[strangeduckpaper]

The early days of the Cybertronian Civil War were a confused mess as Megatron seized power and killed Sentinel Prime, with Orion Pax rising as Optimus Prime soon after, but as allegiances were declared and battle lines were drawn, the Decepticons held the initial advantage.

Megatron controlled much of the military & expansion fleets and enough of the Winged Moon’s communication suites for Soundwave to gain the immediate upper hand in information and electronic warfare. Plus, while Optimus Prime was an inspiring leader and incredibly capable squad commander, he was unprepared for leading an entire faction, and Megatron proved the better general. The Autobots were to be a resistance, relying on lightning strikes and subterfuge for most of the war, even in cases when they could engage the ‘Cons ship to ship and soldier to soldier.

But the Autobots had a surprising amount of public support, even as more and more Cybertronians fled the crossfire. The major colonies, always wary of Cybertronian hegemony, also provided tacit support and recruits, which alongside increasing numbers of Decepticon defectors would swell the Autobot ranks, while the Decepticons found themselves stretched thin to maintain colonization efforts while fighting off the Autobots and other alien races.

But regardless of who held the advantage, Cybertron still suffered. Neutrality became a less and less viable option, and soon Cybertronians were forced to choose a side, flee, or die. Refugees fled a planet in a near constant as the planet burned in the fires of war. The massive artificial extensions and latticeworks of the planet itself began to suffer, (A concept borrowed from @sepublic‘s Nizziverse) the artificial gravity generators breaking down through inattention and collateral damage, forcing more and more layers to be either jettisoned and/or cannibalized for war material.

And then came Simanzi.

A battle over the Crucible, Cybertron’s largest raw material processing and reclamation center, spiraled and spiraled and spiraled into one of the most devastating battles in the war, fought in concert with a frenzied battle to claim superiority over the Winged Moon. In addition, both battles heralded of dozens of lesser atrocities, such as the Autobot’s Forced Flood, The Decepticon’s semi successful massacre of Simanzi’s remaining Neutral population, the destruction of the Titansparks and the ensuing Titanfall which saw the subspecies rendered almost extinct.

And then the Winged Moon exploded.

Accounts vary, but the general consensus is that was the Decepticons that, accidentally or purposefully, damaged a vital component within the moon’s energon processing centres, a final blow to the already damaged systems. The resulting detonation sundered the moon in two, the (fortunately) smaller piece falling to Cybertron alongside its namesake wings and shattered tether in a series of cataclysmic impacts along its southern hemisphere.

The damage was utterly catastrophic, wounding the planet’s cybersphere beyond repair, and it’s said that Cybertron itself screamed in anguish. Optimus Prime certainly heard it, as his dominion over the Matrix of Leadership allowed him to sense the distress of none other than the AllSpark itself.

Knowing that the future of Cybertron itself hung in the balance, he launched a mission to the planet’s core. Megatron, discovering his goal, set off in pursuit, resulting in a running battle that would end as Alpha Trion activated the ARK protocol, jettisoning the Spark of Primus into deep space and destroying any indication of it’s destination.

The battle would be recorded as a Decepticon victory, but Cybertron itself once again proved the loser. Its surface had been savaged, its soul ripped out and half of the Cybertronian population lay dead as a result. A death knell had been sounded, the planet rapidly becoming both uninhabitable and even actively hostile to even the hardiest lifeforms.

And so it was abandoned, the Autobots evacuating the planet and officially ceding to the Decepticons, though they would maintain control of Luna-2 and the remnants of the Winged Moon, and both sides would retain bases to harvest its remaining raw materials.

In other circumstances, the catastrophe might have ended the war, forcing the combatants to confront just what their war had cost them. But ideology and mutual blame trumped reason, and the battle became a rallying cry instead, of victory for the Decepticons, of hope for the Autobots, and righteous vengeance for both sides on behalf of their dead planet.

And the war raged on...

[sepublic]

            I recognize I made Soundwave massively autistic in the Nizziverse, but let’s be real. He also is in the original source material anyhow, in every canon continuity. Soundwave be like Me and the Bad Bitch I pulled by being Autistic and he’s talking about Megatron. Except Megs is busy obsessing over Optimus instead, not that he doesn’t deeply value Soundwave either!!! But with Optimus, in addition to the loss he’s trying to avert, there’s just…

        And Soundwave, he doesn’t really understand this (he never really interacted with Prime much nor cares for him in a context outside of Megs) and is deep down a little hurt, but he’s so dedicated to Megatron that he accepts it anyway. He just wants his beloved to be happy and so will gladly continue being in the background as support as he’s always been, if it means Megatron being crowned in the light.

[sepublic]

I was initially going to disregard Rise of the Beasts for the Nizziverse, since I saw its story as irreconcilable with my own take on Unicron (both of which ignored the Bayverse’s), and only selectively adapt certain characters and bits from that film…

But I’m actually considering (very loosely) adapting Rise of the Beasts to function as Transformers 6 for the Nizziverse, since that film was never made for the Bayverse. In a meta sense, Rise of the Beasts IS Transformers 6, and even stars Unicron as the overarching threat, after The Last Knight set it up (even if those two are definitely different continuities).

At the very least, I’ll probably use RotB as a prompt and inspiration to figure out the general details of Transformers 6; I guess this makes Noah and Elena the human protagonists (rather than being split up between Transformers 1 and 2 respectively as I considered), and Scourge and his Terrorcons could be mercenaries working for Shockwave, who ultimately bring about the birth of Unicron. Mirage will look like his Bayverse self, or maybe he’ll be his RotB appearance in Dark of the Moon. I could also make Dino and Mirage into separate characters, too…

Not so sure about adapting the Maximals, since a part of me wants the Nizziverse to end in a way that sets up the possibility of its own Beast Wars sequel, but we’ll see. I’ve already had fun imagining traditional Autobot and Decepticon takes on Beast Wars characters, and even planned to do this for Protoform X. Of course, X already had an established personality before the events of the G1 Beast Wars, so that could still work out… I dunno. A lot of characters could’ve been those who were successfully rebuilt into Maximals, like what happens with Ravage; But I also prefer the perspective of a new generation.

[sepublic]

            When the Allspark was located, both Autobots and Decepticons sent out a worldwide signal to all agents across the globe, urging them to converge no matter how unlikely it seemed one could make it in time to help; Every bit counted, and they needed to fortify the Allspark’s position now that it had been discovered.

         Despite this precaution, the battle for the Allspark finished before most could arrive, with only those nearby able to show up in time to influence the tide of war. While the Allspark was lost, the Autobots made an ally in the human race through Sector 7, which was eventually reformatted into the global NEST organization. As part of this joint Human-Cybertronian alliance, the Autobots relayed the location and identities of all their agents on Earth.

         Coincidentally, various stories of vehicles being stolen or disappearing had sprung up across the globe, around the exact moment the Autobots and Decepticons sent their global summons. The Autobots vouched for themselves, and NEST’s data on their agents, cross-referenced with the missing vehicle reports, identified many of these lost machines to be Autobots who had answered the call, recklessly abandoning their posts in the mad race for the Allspark. As was protocol, all of these Autobots activated holoforms when driving on their own, giving the illusion of many vehicles being commandeered by unknown thieves.

         All other cases unaccounted for were clearly Decepticon agents who had also been in hiding, and thus also abandoned their posts to pursue the Allspark. Ordinarily this would be a dead giveaway as to the identity of several Decepticons… But the Decepticons realized this strategy as well, and accordingly swapped alt-modes to blend in once more. But while they mostly evaded the radar, the locations of disappearances still provided a starting point to work off of; There was a chance some Decepticon agents hadn’t strayed too far from their stations, and knowing their general areas greatly narrowed down the list of places to search.

         (It’s worth noting that some Decepticons managed to sneak back into their stations after the battle in Mission City was reported a loss, before anyone could notice their absence. Onslaught might be one of these examples, as someone stationed at a fairly abandoned military garage at the time.)

        I’m thinking all of this may segue into the beginning of Revenge of the Fallen; Investigations in the Shanghai province due to multiple missing vehicle reports leads our protagonists to Sideways, whom they corner only to be surprised when it turns out Scavenger is with him, too. This makes them privy to the Constructicons’ presence and some sort of project they’re working on, and by following this lead the Autobots eventually learn about the Fallen’s plan.

[sepublic]

            Typically, Cassettes were meant to be interchangeable, going between different handlers (AKA ‘recorders’) as the situation calls for, very impersonal, professional stuff. Passing between hands and ownership like messages to relay data. But Soundwave inevitably bonded with his, such as Laserbeak, who acted as company during his earliest days as a relay for signals between Cybertron and a colony. During the rebellion against the Functionists, he took in at least one Cassette who had lost their Recorder. The revolution led to a new precedent of attachment between a recorder and their cassettes.

           Due to the deep bond and kindness that Soundwave has shown his Cassettes, they are fiercely loyal to him and will throw their sparks for their handler. So then it goes without saying that when Soundwave entrusts one of his Cassettes under your supervision, you’d better keep a good eye on them and not screw up. Likewise, you must also maintain a proper image to them, lest Soundwave give a poor evaluation based on their recordings...

[sepublic]

In his menial days as a worker for the Functionists, I imagine there were times when people talked and assumed Soundwave wasn’t listening, because they misinterpret his silence as disinterest and eventually come to disregard him as a background fixture. But Soundwave IS listening (he believes he’s also being addressed and is thus supposed to be) and when he does bring that up later, he means it as a term of respect, that he actually took someone’s words seriously enough to remember them later on.

But as always, people just misinterpreted this as Soundwave being a creepy stalker and voyeur who eavesdropped without permission, and Soundwave’s attempt to reciprocate just convinced others to avoid him even more. That’s just frustrating and confusing to Soundwave, who then gives up trying to interact with others, keeping what he hears to himself. Meanwhile, people spread rumors about Soundwave, making self-imposed isolation less of an individual effort.

[sepublic]

            Continuing off of a brief tangent from my previous post, let’s be real… Cybertronians wouldn’t really have gender, because they’re giant robots. They/Them pronouns would be the default and probably the only thing they have; In regards to the Nizziverse especially (as these posts always are), they’d probably disregard She/Her and He/Him with disdain!

         After all, they would see those pronouns as associated with the biological sexes, which are of course an icky organic association. And what is the point of the sexes? To sexually reproduce, and Cybertronians look down on sexual reproduction because it’s a highly unpredictable, unreliable game of chance. You can only do so much to influence the odds, but in the end it’s totally out of your hands. Not only is the nature of sexual reproduction gross to them, but its mechanics hilariously impractical; Not at all like the controlled perfection of Cybertronian design, with the only true limits to idealizing a form being the builder’s imagination!

        This does lead me to an amusing image tho, of some Cybertronians praising the practice of organic cultures experimenting with pronouns, on the basis of this being the closest they can get to ‘transcending’ their fleshy limits or whatever. Diversity win, the killer robots draining your planet of energy support trans rights!!! But preferably if it’s They/Them, It/Its, neopronouns, etc.

[sepublic]

            Fun fact! A lot of allegedly ‘Cybertronian’ alt-modes were actually taken straight from other civilizations that the Transformers infiltrated and conquered. Many Cybertronians appreciated the style, grace, and functionality of other races’ vehicles, and opted to appropriate the designs for their own society. The true heritage of many vehicles and alt-modes is forgotten, alas; In some cases intentionally written over for Cybertronian propaganda, or simply forgotten due to a lack of concern for historicity, especially in regards to Cybertron’s victims. They didn’t bother writing over the truth, because it just naturally fell through the cracks through sheer apathy, and so they didn’t even realize they were peddling lies. Much of Cybertron’s arsenal is an unrecognized conglomerate of dead cultures.

        Try telling that to a Decepticon, who proudly flaunts the original superiority of Cybertron’s culture and genius, and the ‘purity’ they hope to return to when the local disguises are no longer necessary. As a historian himself, Optimus can recognize the actual heritage behind certain alt-modes and has revealed this, though many Decepticons will often deny the truth and claim Prime is a liar trying to discredit their venerable ancestors. Wouldn’t it be something if Megatron’s own prized jet mode wasn’t so Cybertronian in origin itself, either?

[sepublic]

So for the Nizziverse's version of TF1, we have that scene where Megatron bargains to our human protagonist for the Allspark... I've thought over it, and I'm gonna change the terms of his offer;

Instead of offering to spare just our protagonist, Megatron offers to spare Earth itself; All of it, the people, the animals and plants, the resources, etc. Just give me the cube and I'll leave you all alone.

And it's tempting!!! Especially in this precarious position the protagonist finds themselves in. But in the end... They have to say no. Because regardless of whether Megatron is being sincere or not*, whether the protagonist believes he's being sincere...

In the end, they can't say yes; Because what about other people? What about other worlds? Megatron will use the Allspark to restore Cybertron... So he can then win the war and direct all of Cybertron towards invading other planets. This is the first story arc, so it's here that through the protagonist's eyes, we learn that the Autobots came into existence, that they're doing all of this, for other worlds; Because some Cybertronians said, "We should care about other worlds and other people." Everything Optimus and co. does, they do for humanity.

So I want the protagonist to be touched by that (especially with Jazz's recent death), to take that to heart, and reciprocate by doing the same; They're going to fight not just for their world but others' as well. They're going to fight for worlds and people they might not ever encounter in their lifetime, but it doesn't matter because those people still exist.

They turn down Megatron's offer; Sorry, the Allspark ain't up for sale. Our hero will just have to secure Earth's safety the hard way. Cue Megatron declaring them "So unwise..." and going for the kill, only for Optimus to finally arrive with his own argument. And given actions speak louder than words, he's got some very specific actions in mind for Megatron.

*I think Megatron WOULD honor that promise, up until a certain point; Like yeah if he was given the Allspark, he'd have the luxury to keep his end of the bargain. But if push came to shove, if Cybertron suddenly needed Energon ASAP and there weren't any other available worlds to colonize... Well, Megatron would remember his motive of Cybertron first, and prioritize that over his agreement. It'd be a last resort but he'd still do it.

[sepublic]

I'm still workshopping how I intend to adapt The Last Knight for the Nizziverse, but I imagine 'Quintessa' will be re-imagined into Quintus Prime, her staff into the Emberstone, etc. And that gets me to the actual point of my post;

There's probably gonna be that whole confrontation where Quintus chains down Optimus and accuses him of starting the war, and in the re-imagined context of the Nizziverse... There IS still basis for Optimus to argue Megatron started the war, on account of being the aggressor towards all of the worlds that Cybertron colonized; There was always a war, contrary to what Decepticons might claim, and they're only really griping about the Autobots joining the fight on the other side to bring that war to Cybertron, where it all started and was coordinated from... They really don't appreciate the taste of their own medicine, it seems.

But I've already explained how by this point, Optimus is more than used to accusations by Decepticons who aren't actually going to listen to logic and facts, he's done trying to defend himself with those when it obviously proved insufficient, hence the need for war. So instead of pointing fingers at Megatron, it's more probable that Optimus is just gonna own it by telling Quintus something like, "Yeah I DID start the war, what're you gonna do about it?"

A lot, unfortunately.

[sepublic]

            So in Revenge of the Fallen, Megatron bargains with Optimus by rhetorically asking if the future of the Cybertronian race isn’t worth a single human life. Optimus’ reply about them never stopping at one life makes sense, calling out the all-consuming greed and justification of others’ deaths as a necessary evil, rather than just evil.

         But while I did bring up some potential background behind Prime’s reply for the Nizziverse, I might just switch it out for a retort along the lines of; Is the the fate of the universe not worth a single planet? Because that’s how the Decepticons operate, to be honest; They destroy and slaughter countless worlds, stars, and civilizations, all just to keep one exhausted planet running.

         It’s a bit of fun irony in which Optimus reverses and turns the situation on Megatron, exposing him for practicing the very folly he accuses and claims to hate the Autobots for; Sacrificing the many not even for the few, but the one. Sacrificing everyone and everything else just for that pitiful, insignificant little one (till all are One).

        Optimus loves Cybertron, but he’s not going to kill another world for it. Much less two. Or three… Or more, the number keeps counting to his horror. Enough is enough. Megatron sometimes tried to appeal to Optimus by suggesting that if so many planets have already died for Cybertron, he should keep up colonization as a way to ensure that Cybertron doesn’t fade and all that destruction wasn’t for nothing.

        But Optimus isn’t interested in that type of sunk-cost fallacy. It’s funny, because both Autobots and Decepticons talk of making sacrifices for a greater good… They both think they’re the heroes. But I don’t want to get into Both Sides territory and suggest the Autobots aren’t much better than the Decepticons, of course. Because by the end of the day, regardless of Decepticon motivation, there’s just such a particularly banal evil to their destruction of life across the cosmos.

        When your opposition is in favor of genocide, that makes a conflict fairly black and white, because it’s hard to top that if your own dubious methods nevertheless don’t go that far. The Decepticons are both victims and perpetrators of entropy, speedrunning the heat death of the rest of the universe to delay it for their tiny section. It’s like watching someone well past their natural lifespan draining the young to keep extending theirs regardless.

[sepublic]

            Actually it’d be hilarious if the Universal Greeting was a thing in the Nizziverse, and humanity was an inexplicable outlier for being the only civilization to not know it. That, or… the Nizziverse’s version of humanity IS fully aware of it, and aside from the one scene this is brought up (and treated like a completely normal and natural thing, with no exposition nor audience surrogate that feels left out), it’s never explained or elaborated on ever again.

        By the way, the Nizziverse version of the Universal Greeting sounds less like the actual words “Bah-weep granah-weep nini bong” and more akin to… You know how when machines make a high-pitched noise, we describe it with the onomatopoeia of ‘beep’, even though there is no B or P being pronounced? The Universal Greeting, as it’s written down, is basically just the onomatopoeia for a bunch of robotic, computer, and tech noises that can best be described by those words, but there isn’t really an exact fit, at least not in human tongue.

[sepublic]

For the Nizziverse, energon doesn’t have a liquid form (though the term ‘liquid energon’ does exist in application to liquids with an energon potential, like fossil fuels or running water), it’s only energy. So Cybertronians don’t exactly bleed energon the way living creatures do, with drops and the stuff. Instead, it’s more of a light show, like when a cable is broken and produces sparks;

This is how a Cybertronian ‘bleeds’. Speaking from a Doylist perspective, this imagery is of course meant to invoke that of dripping, spraying blood, while still being distinctly machine. Organic beings find a disturbingly beautiful quality to Cybertronian gore, and tbh Cybertronians themselves don’t fully disagree, since they associate the distinct magenta of Energon with good things. It isn’t like how organics can be wary of red, because Energon usually exists, is made, and is consumed as it is outside of the body.

[sepublic]

            Let’s talk Soundwave in the Nizziverse. Soundwave and Blaster were both part of the same body frame devised under Fuctionist rule; Members of this niche were designed to act as comms experts, helping to facilitate radio waves, receive and send signals, all that jazz. Some were stationed on colonies to help establish contact with Cybertron, others stayed on Cybertron itself to keep the airwaves running.

         It was your typical job of helping with the news, being in charge of transmission towers, often being said transmission towers. These Cybertronians also played a role in decoding and analyzing alien frequencies, as part of the empire’s larger effort to engage with and ultimately conquer other civilizations. Scouts would use sonar imaging to create maps of new worlds and their local terrain.

         To aid these Transformers, smaller Cybertronians known as Cassettes were devised, acting as scouts who could record visual and auditory data, before reporting back to a handler to physically connect with them. Data would be transferred, and the handler could act as both storage and transporation, as well as as an amplifier for whatever their Cassettes had observed.

         Wireless communications were one way to receive their data, but sometimes the Functionists were paranoid of enemies tuning in to said transmissions and figuring out what the Empire knew; Physical transfer avoided this. Likewise, interference from the local environment was another motivator. Most importantly, the Functionists, for all their faults, recognized the value of physical copies, and the Cassettes were designed among many reasons to serve this purpose, contributing to an effort to create backups and other records to fall back on.

         Vocoded voices were the default, as these Transformers could narrow down their tune to impersonate any sound and especially voices for replay function, as well as entertainment purposes too. Many members of this body frame were sociable and often played music to the delight of those around them.

         Soundwave and Blaster served this niche in the waning days of the Functionist regime. Blaster did media and propaganda propagation, serving in public radio networks and broadcasts, hence his more extroverted and playful personality. By contrast, Soundwave was a recluse even amongst his fellow brethren, designed to handle long stretches of loneliness in assisting communications between distant colonies and Cybertron. This often meant being stationed by himself on asteroids to boost signals, made not to have a voice or thoughts of his own, but merely to relay those of others.

         Soundwave was eventually moved back to Cybertron, to facilitate airwaves in the backwater, quieter regions of Cybertron. Due to his own natural disposition and the conditioning of his environment, Soundwave didn’t really hang out with his coworkers, instead studiously attending to his job before leaving, exactly by clockwork. Contrary to popular belief, Soundwave DID have his own ideas and reflections, but his silent and introverted personality made it easy for people to assume he was just a mindless grunt, a perfect gear for the Cybertronian machine who was bored and aloof.

         Some found him a creep or cold, like talking to a wall, others would joke or gossip behind his back with the occasional rumor of what he did back in his apartment. He often became ignored as just a setpiece, a part of the background; But little did people know, they underestimated Soundwave’s ability to observe. He was always listening, and remembering, and in his spare time liked to make physical records to keep tabs on those around him.

         Soundwave meant no malice, it was just his only way of socially engaging with others, since doing so in real time was difficult and complicated and constantly changing. But when in retrospect, everything was set and easy for Soundwave to analyze and reflect on afterwards. He had other hobbies and deep interests, enjoying research, and was also dedicated to media preservation, collaborating with others online as a faceless account.

         Being online gave Soundwave a lot more freedom to express himself and talk to others in (relatively) real time. He participated in servers where Cybertronians took it upon themselves to gather and record lost pieces of media and history, and this eventually led Soundwave down a rabbit hole into forums filled with rather dissident ideas and data. Due to his expertise, Soundwave was able to keep his location encrypted, safe from government surveillance.

         This activity planted certain ideas in Soundwave’s head. So when he did his usual hobby of listening in on local airwaves as a voyeur, he caught wind of a gladiator’s scathing deconstructions of the Functionist regime. Known as Megatron, this local of Kaon waxed poetic in his theses about the government’s corruption and outdated policies, and Soundwave felt himself enamored with the charisma of this mysterious voice.

         Megatron had no idea Soundwave was listening, as he was skilled in encryption in ways even official surveyors weren’t. By all means, he should’ve reported this scandal to those in charge of censorship and keeping the peace… But that wasn’t HIS job, technically. So Soundwave didn’t, and fell in love with Megatron’s daring ideas. Soundwave had felt like he led an admittedly empty, meaningless existence, just going on through the motions as an ideal cog in the great Cybertronian machine.

         But Megatron’s ideas gave Soundwave purpose, and an actual future to look forward to, rather than an ever-present now. So Soundwave participated in isolated forums dedicated to this growing rebellion, made contact with Megatron behind an anonymous account, and eventually tracked him down. Megatron was deeply surprised and disturbed to be so easily found out, but Soundwave instead knelt and pledged loyalty to his cause, proclaiming Megatron to be a visionary that Cybertron needed.

         It quickly became apparent that Soundwave’s unwavering dedication was genuine, and Megatron recruited him as a second-in-command, ecstatic for Soundwave’s talents. Soundwave used his abilities to broadcast and relay Megatron’s speeches across Cybertron, keeping their location hidden while exposing countless Transformers to ideas of rebellion; In the early stages of the rebellion, he was a key founder and player. 

        His valuable work helped facilitate communications between rebel cells, enabling greater collaboration and effort, and it was in this effort that Soundwave first came across as Blaster, who operated as part of Optimus Prime’s cell. On the surface, Soundwave remained as seemingly aloof and stoic as ever, and many rebels didn’t understand why Megatron held him in such good faith. They figured Soundwave could easily rat them out, especially with his great trove of data and nearly singular access, but Megatron reciprocated Soundwave’s unwavering trust.

         Megatron encouraged Soundwave to speak up more, take more of a leadership role, as he became privy to just how much of a thinker he was after Soundwave felt comfortable in opening up and talking about his thoughts to the gladiator. Megatron recognized Soundwave’s potential, although many derided him as an ‘uncharismatic bore’ who was always wandering in his own head. Again, Soundwave played the role of support, but it was a role he actually chose this time; He genuinely believed afterwards that his life had no purpose until he met Megatron.

         As Megatron encouraged Cybertronians to think outside of the box and apply their talents in ways the Functionists didn’t intend, but that they were just as good for, Soundwave took his hobby of voyeurism and observation to the next step. When the rebellion became more intense, Soundwave acted as a hacker, working with his Cassettes to spy on Functionists and even those within the rebellion, as a means of keeping tabs on everyone. Soundwave dug up dirt and had it physically uploaded to a hard copy, in case the rebellion ever needed to strong arm someone into cooperating for the greater good.

         Soundwave exposed corruption through his work, and used sonar imaging to study what happened inside during stake-outs. His Cassettes infiltrated and downloaded important data, while also uploading sabotaging viruses. Soundwave became a master of surveillance, blackmail, and encryption, and garnered an even worse reputation amongst the rebels for it. He was often considered Megatron’s stooge, his eyes and ears, his little spy; Not that Soundwave minded what others thought of him.

         He also stretched the boundaries of his intended role in other ways, eventually learning combat and especially assassination, which Soundwave facilitated through his cassettes. Modifications weaponized his sonar imaging to become devastating sonic blasts, which under the right frequencies could shatter and expose key weak points. Soundwave also used this ability for interrogation and torture, as data continued to become an even bigger part of his existence. His vocoded voice could now be used to impersonate others, essentially catfishing for the rebellion.

         Appropriately, Soundwave eventually led a division of others of his body frame who also supported the rebellion. They acted as Megatron’s personal agents, carrying out the aforementioned tasks on an even wider scale. As the rebellion evolved into full-out war, members on both sides spread rumors that Soundwave could even hear the thoughts of those around them, and to be wary as a result.

         When the rebellion achieved victory, Soundwave helped personally announce the defeat of the Functionist regime, and the triumph of liberty. He attended celebrations afterwards with Megatron, showing a bit more personality than usual and even letting go a bit, playing music and his favorite tunes. It was during this time of peace that Soundwave got to know Optimus Prime, another one of Megatron’s close friends. 

        Likewise, as his brethren (such as Blaster) narrowed their vocoders down to individual voices, to assert their own individual identity, Soundwave kept himself vocoded. In his eyes, he was already given a voice of his own by Megatron, and anyhow he had his own duties to attend to.

         Under the new government, Soundwave enjoyed much more freedom like every other Cybertronian, and due to his prior combat experience, participated with Megatron in invading other worlds for their Energon; The planet needed repairs after a costly rebellion. The functions of Soundwave’s body type further expanded and were facilitated in such fields with the invention of Reedman’s unique frame (if it can be called that), as Cassettes were now employed and expected in warfare and assassination. Soundwave of course was a key player in displaying and establishing this modern precedent/feature of his type.

         Soundwave and his Cassettes’ newly-discovered talents applied on the battlefield as they did against the Functionists, with Soundwave often adopting a new satellite alt-mode to spy on civilizations from orbit. He played a key role in infiltrating and destabilizing societies from within, to set them up for Decepticon invasion; Often collaborating with natives and blackmailing them into service. During the period of open war that followed afterwards, Soundwave would sometimes use the recorded screams of victims as a means of psychological warfare.

         When public attention turned towards the dubious ethics of colonization (to put it lightly), Soundwave fanatically sided with Megatron, and thus supported imperialism. He fully trusted in Megatron and believed his leader could do no wrong, having seen how Megatron had brought everyone to glory and liberation under his rule. Accordingly, he dedicated himself to Megatron’s expanded ideas on Cybertronian superiority.

         Inevitably, Soundwave and his division evolved into a secret police of sorts, when Megatron expanded his power in a bid to unite Cybertron against these ‘weak-hearted dissidents’ that were showing more dedication to outsiders and enemies than their own kind. Once Soundwave and his brethren broadcasted and spread messages, now they inspected and censored them. They performed surveillance on behalf of the government, cracking down on a new generation of rebels and using their talents for suppression in ways the Functionists had failed to consider.

         If Soundwave ever stopped to consider the irony of his situation, he certainly didn’t show it, like a lot of things. Once more his talents applied, and he used his voice to commit what was basically government-backed catfishing, infiltratring forums and impersonating others to root them out. Soundwave worked closely with the Decepticon Justice Division in cracking down on dissidents, blocking their frequencies, interrogating and torturing, publicly defrauding through research and outright lies, the accumulation of blackmail, etc.

         Soundwave helped keep tabs on news stations, which put him into direct conflict with Blaster, who felt that the truth could not be suppressed, nor should reports on public opinion, questionable events, and so forth. Blaster thus became a rival and arch-nemesis for Soundwave as the Great War began, between Autobots and Decepticons; Soundwave seeing Blaster as a loud-mouthed blowhard who thrived on the attention of others but had little to say himself, and so compensated by yelling to make the silence of his head seem otherwise. Just a spout of mindless drivel, in his eyes.

         As the Great War raged, Cybertron’s Energon count drastically began to dwindle, and many casualties were suffered on both sides. Without the resources to adequately replenish such losses, many cassettes and others of Soundwave’s costly body frame were destroyed and never replaced. As a result, Soundwave and Blaster became rarities, holdovers from a previous age, as did their Cassettes. Soundwave had always been used to being lonely, but not like this, and this gradual extinction further radicalized and vindicated his support for Megatron not just by individual principle, but actual dedication to his ideals as well.

         Soundwave blindly supported Megatron in every action, keeping eyes on those within Decepticon ranks, and especially on the new and upcoming Starscream, repurposed from the body of a previous friend of Megatron’s. He acted as Megatron’s devil’s advocate and supporter in his absence, frequently butting heads with Starscream. When Megatron disappeared with the Allspark, Soundwave worked to maintain his authority even when he was gone, and guarded viciously against Starscream’s insinuations that Megatron had detrimentally doomed Cybertron with his Chimera Cube ploy.

         This truly proved Soundwave’s loyalty in the eyes of the Fallen, who was impressed by how the Decepticon fought back against Starscream’s suggestions that in his effort to save Cybertron, Megatron had merely screwed over their world and should thus be disregarded in favor of someone who not only meant what they said, but could actually carry it out (Starscream suggested such incompetence was a treachery in its own right, worth posthumously condemning). As a result, the Fallen revealed himself and his hidden mentorship to Megatron, acting on his apprentice’s behalf to maintain Decepticon leadership under the hopes he would one day return.

         Soundwave accepted Megatron’s decision to keep the Fallen secret from him without question, as in all his observations and listening, never once did he turn it to his own leader, not even out of idle curiosity or force of non-malicious habit. Through Soundwave, the Fallen kept the Decepticons from falling apart and especially from submitting to Starscream, as he searched for Megatron and the Allspark.

         Soundwave was suspicious of Starscream, but ultimately abided in letting him lead a scouting mission on a new potential colony, known as Earth by its inhabitants; Though just to be safe, he assigned his cassettes Rumble and Frenzy to keep an eye. When news of Megatron and the Allspark’s presence there was broadcast, Soundwave immediately relayed the message to Decepticons across the cosmos, trying to encrypt it from Autobot ears, as he headed straight for Earth; A new fire had been re-ignited by Megatron once more, as a day that had gone dark again, was once again lit up.

         Alas, Soundwave was nowhere close to Earth when he received an additional update; Not only were his two cassettes dead, Megatron had died by the Allspark itself, which was now lost and destroyed. Soundwave was devastated and refused to believe his leader would be so definitively taken away, after being brought back; But the Fallen’s arcane knowledge reassured him that there was a chance of resurrecting Megatron, thanks to the very means that ended his life.

         Soundwave thus worked with the Constructicons, guiding them to Earth as he collaborated with other Decepticon agents, behind Starscream’s back, to revive their fallen leader. Even as the Fallen revealed himself to Starscream and attended to the treacherous lieutenant, keeping him occupied, Soundwave’s efforts successfully retrieved a shard of the Chimera Cube, still lingering with the Allspark’s power, as well as the location of Megatron’s body.

         Megatron was revived by the Allspark, which gave back what it had taken, and Soundwave was reinvigorated once more. This time he had a proper reunion and deep thanks from Megatron, who was grateful for his lieutenant; And Soundwave merely dismissed the effort as only natural and expected. Soundwave assisted Megatron in his plot to harvest Earth’s sun, explaining everything he’d missed out on.

        After the Fallen was slain by Optimus Prime, Soundwave set to work on a new scheme, collaborating with various humans such as Dylan Gould to use the dark side of Earth’s moon to the Decepticons’ advantage. During this time, Soundwave abandoned his more modern satellite alt-mode and returned to his previous, default frame. The task of surveying Earth from orbit was symbolically assigned to Combaticon Blast Off instead, as Soundwave began to participate in groundwork once again; Something that always heralded the next, most destructive phase of Decepticon invasion… open combat itself.

[sepublic]

Must resist the urge to give Overload the same voice as Montross... AKA Mr. Krabs.

“WELL, THESE CLAWS AIN’T JUST FOR CONSTRUCTION!”