Continuity: Decepticon Intelligence
Vos struck the surface of Cybertron in controlled ruin.
Not a catastrophic shatter, but not intact. The massive city came down in stages, directional engines firing until the last possible moment, bleeding speed, correcting angle, forcing the impact into something survivable. Whole sections crumpled under the strain. Outer platforms sheared away. Structural spines bent under forces they were never meant to endure.
Dust and heat rolled outward in a wide shockwave.
Then silence followed, broken only by residual systems struggling to stabilize what remained.
From above, from distance, through surviving feeds and returning signals, Soundwave observed the aftermath.
The city still existed.
Broken.
Grounded.
Alive.
He did not focus on the wreckage.
He focused on movement.
They came in waves.
Seekers. Hundreds at first, then thousands, then tens of thousands, converging on the downed structure and the surrounding airspace. Wings cut across the sky in coordinated patterns, not chaotic, not scattered, not leaderless. Directed.
They did not search for leadership.
They moved toward it.
Soundwave tracked the convergence points. Every vector aligned. Every path narrowed toward a single location within the fractured remains of Vos.
Starscream.
He had remained through the fall. He had directed the descent. He had held the structure together long enough for evacuation to succeed.
Soundwave did not need confirmation from words.
He saw it in behavior.
Units arriving did not question. They did not hesitate. They took position. They waited.
Command presence had already been established.
Soundwave processed the scale.
One hundred thousand.
Then more.
Signals continued to rise as additional Seeker units entered range, responding to the same gravity of authority.
Two hundred thousand approaching.
Not assembled by order.
Drawn by proof.
Soundwave logged the shift.
Starscream was no longer simply the guardian of Vos.
He was the center of the aerial force.
Air Commander, confirmed now in force, not merely title.
Soundwave transmitted. “Megatron.”
The channel opened without delay. “Report.”
“Vos has impacted surface,” Soundwave said. “Structural integrity compromised. Survivability: acceptable.”
A pause followed.
“Starscream?”
Soundwave observed the gathering again: the formations, the discipline, the unspoken alignment of tens of thousands of units awaiting direction.
“Command authority consolidated,” Soundwave replied. “Seeker forces aligning under Starscream. Estimated strength: two hundred thousand and increasing.”
Another pause.
Short.
Evaluative.
“Good,” Megatron said.
The connection remained open.
Soundwave continued. “One infiltrator terminated during Engine Six disruption. Second infiltrator contained. Unit attributed to Engine Three sabotage. Currently secured.”
“Bring it forward.”
“Affirmative.”
Soundwave shifted channels. “Dirge. Transfer captive. Deliver to Starscream.”
“Already moving Mercedes,” Dirge replied.
Through Laserbeak’s optics, the scene unfolded across the fractured surface of Vos.
Sections of the city had collapsed inward. Others remained partially intact, tilted at unnatural angles. Fires burned in controlled pockets where emergency systems still fought to contain damage.
Amid it all stood a clearing.
Not by design.
By convergence.
Seekers lined the perimeter in layered formation, wings folding and unfolding as they landed, repositioned, and held. No disorder. No conflict. Only presence.
Starscream stood at the center.
His frame bore the marks of the fall: scoring across his armor, heat damage along one wing edge, dark residue from smoke and burning systems. But he remained upright, balanced, controlled. His stance was not defensive.
It was absolute.
Orders moved from him without hesitation. Units repositioned. Evacuation routes finalized. Survivors accounted for.
He did not pause.
He did not falter.
Dirge entered the perimeter, dragging the captive forward with Buzzsaw maintaining close control until the final transfer point. Laserbeak circled above, maintaining overwatch.
The crowd parted without being told.
They knew why he was there.
The infiltrator was forced to its knees before Starscream.
Damaged.
Functional.
Alive.
Soundwave narrowed his attention.
Starscream looked at it.
For a fraction of a moment, nothing moved.
The air itself seemed to hold.
Visually, the reaction was immediate. Starscream’s frame tightened. His shoulders squared a degree further. His wings shifted, not outward in display, not loose with impulse, but rigid with restraint. His red optics narrowed, and the fury there was clear even through Laserbeak’s feed.
Anger.
Undeniable.
Not explosive.
Contained.
Soundwave observed the distinction.
No uncontrolled motion.
No loss of structure.
Starscream did not strike.
He did not raise his voice.
He held it.
Command remained intact.
That mattered.
The infiltrator tried to speak. “Please—I—”
Starscream cut it off with a single motion of his hand.
Silence returned instantly.
The surrounding Seekers did not move. Did not speak.
They watched.
Soundwave processed the moment.
Authority reinforced.
Not through force.
Through control.
He transmitted again. “Megatron.”
“I am here.”
“Starscream retains full command composure,” Soundwave reported. “Emotional response present. Controlled. Authority unaffected.”
A brief silence followed.
Then Megatron answered, “As expected.”
Soundwave continued observation.
The infiltrator lowered its head, optics flickering, no longer attempting to plead. It had already spoken. Its value had shifted.
Not as a threat.
As information.
Starscream stepped forward, close enough to end it.
He did not.
He held position instead, looking down at the unit responsible for the first fracture in Vos’s fall.
Soundwave watched.
Not the anger.
The restraint.
Because that defined command.
Around them, the Seeker forces continued to gather.
More arriving.
More aligning.
More waiting.
The war had shifted.
Vos had fallen.
Starscream had risen.
Soundwave had seen it happen.
The captive broke the silence.
“Please—please—I told them—I only disabled it—I didn’t—”
Its voice carried across the clearing, thin but sharp enough to cut through the stillness. Heads did not turn. No one moved.
But Soundwave saw the reaction.
Starscream’s frame tightened a fraction further. His stance did not shift, his balance did not break, but the tension was there, visible in the set of his shoulders, the angle of his wings, the slight narrowing of his optics.
Anger renewed.
Sharpened.
The infiltrator pressed on, desperate now that it had found a voice. “He said—Sentinel said—my family would be moved—elite caste—I didn’t know about the others—I didn’t—”
Starscream stepped closer.
Close enough that the difference in scale made the smaller unit seem insignificant.
The clearing held its breath.
He did not strike.
He did not raise his voice.
He looked down at the unit, and for a moment the anger was unmistakable: hard, focused, earned.
Then it was contained.
Locked down behind command.
“Remove it,” Starscream said, voice level, carrying without force. “Transport to Kaon. Holding cells.”
No hesitation.
Two Seekers moved immediately, taking hold of the captive and pulling it back from the center. It did not resist.
“Please—please I can—”
Its voice faded as it was dragged away, swallowed by distance, wreckage, and structure.
Starscream did not look after it.
He turned.
Command resumed instantly.
“Reform perimeter. Continue evacuation support. Salvage teams prioritize structural stability and survivors only. Nothing else matters.”
Orders moved.
Executed without delay.
The clearing dissolved back into motion, but the alignment remained. Every unit still oriented toward him. Every unit still waiting for direction. Every unit taking it the moment it came.
Then a direct channel opened.
“Soundwave.”
No intermediary.
No relay.
Direct.
Soundwave accepted. “I am receiving.”
Starscream’s voice was controlled, but the strain of the fall remained beneath it. Not weakness. Weight.
“Vos is down,” Starscream said. “Controlled descent held until final impact. Evacuation success is high, but the structure is compromised across multiple sectors. It is not defensible. It is not recoverable in current condition.”
Soundwave had already reached the same conclusion. “Confirmed.”
A brief pause followed.
“The sabotage was internal,” Starscream continued. “Engine Three was disabled. Not destroyed. Deliberate. Five was annihilated. Six was compromised from within. Multiple actors. Coordinated.”
Soundwave processed the report alongside his own data. Alignment complete. “Confirmed.”
Another pause. Shorter.
“Sentinel,” Starscream said.
Not as speculation. As identification.
Soundwave did not confirm that completely. Not yet. “Source attribution remains under analysis.”
Starscream accepted the response without argument.
“Vos cannot remain here,” Starscream continued. “It draws attention. It cannot be secured. I will not hold it.”
Soundwave shifted focus, not to the wreckage, but to the thousands still gathering, still waiting, still aligning under Starscream’s command.
He saw the next step clearly. “Agreed.”
He did not delay. “Disperse Seeker forces. Assign redistribution.”
Starscream was already anticipating it. “Locations?”
“Kaon. Tarn. Polyhex,” Soundwave replied. “Divide strength. Avoid concentration. Maintain mobility.”
He paused only long enough to ensure clarity. “Allow units to integrate. Establish presence within existing structures.”
Starscream considered for less than a moment. “Understood.”
Soundwave continued, “Vos is no longer an asset. Do not defend it.”
A beat followed. Then Starscream answered, "I wasn’t going to.”
No hesitation. No attachment in the decision. Only command.
Soundwave marked it. Correct.
“Maintain command cohesion during redistribution,” Soundwave added. “Your authority is established. Preserve it.”
Below, across the fractured remains of Vos, Seekers continued to arrive, still forming, still aligning, still looking to Starscream for direction.
He did not look back at the wreckage. “Understood,” Starscream said again.
No further elaboration. He did not need it.
Orders were already beginning to shift. Wings lifted. Formations broke and reformed into outbound vectors.
Not retreat. Repositioning. The war moving with them.
The channel remained open for a fraction longer. Then Starscream spoke once more.
“The unit we captured confirmed multiple infiltrators. Independent assignments. Compartmentalized.”
Soundwave had already processed that. “Confirmed.”
A final pause. Then the connection closed.
Soundwave returned to the wider network.
Seeker forces dispersing.
Command structures reforming across three cities.
Vos abandoned.
The war continuing without pause.
Now with clarity.
Because the attack had revealed more than damage. It had revealed method.
Soundwave stored it. Analyzed it. Prepared for it.
Because the next move would not come from the sky.
Kaon did not quiet for war. It refined it.
Soundwave moved through the command levels without interruption, the flow of Decepticon activity bending around him rather than stopping. Doors opened before he reached them. Units stepped aside without needing instruction.
He entered the war room.
Megatron was already there.
No council. No audience. Just the two of them.
Megatron stood over a projected map of Cybertron: Kaon, Tarn, and Polyhex lit in hard lines of red, movement vectors updating in real time as forces shifted, expanded, and repositioned.
He did not look up immediately. “Vos has fallen,” Megatron said, as if confirming something already decided.
“Confirmed,” Soundwave replied.
Megatron’s gaze lifted then, red optics locking onto him. “And?”
No wasted motion. No wasted words. Soundwave delivered.
“Engine Three disabled. Precision sabotage. Engine Five destroyed. Engine Six compromised from internal disruption. Minimum threshold for sustained flight breached. Descent inevitable.”
Megatron listened without interruption.
“Multiple infiltrators,” Soundwave continued. “Assignments compartmentalized. One unit terminated. One captured and secured. Attribution unconfirmed. Indicators suggest coordinated Autobot operation.”
A pause. Measured.
Then Megatron smiled. Not broadly. Not with humor. With understanding.
“Sentinel,” he said. Not a question.
Soundwave did not overstate. “Probability high.”
Megatron turned back to the map. “And he believes this is a victory.”
Soundwave remained still.
Megatron’s hand moved across the projection, expanding the view of Vos’s impact zone. Data fed in from ongoing scans, Seeker dispersal patterns branching outward from the crash site.
“He has removed a city from the sky,” Megatron said. “Broken it. Scattered its people.”
His hand closed slightly.
“And forced Starscream to choose with no path back to the Senate.”
Soundwave processed the statement. It aligned.
Megatron turned back to him fully now.
“Every Seeker who lived above that world, military or not, watched their home fall because of Sentinel,” Megatron said. “Not because of us.”
No hesitation. No doubt.
“Sentinel has given them clarity.”
Soundwave did not argue. He adjusted.
“Seeker forces are consolidating under Starscream,” he said. “Estimated strength exceeding two hundred thousand. Continued growth expected.”
Megatron nodded once. “As it should be.”
He stepped closer to the projection, watching as the dispersal patterns sharpened: units dividing, forming into structured outbound movements.
“Where are they going?” he asked.
Soundwave answered immediately. “Kaon. Tarn. Polyhex. Distribution balanced to avoid overconcentration. Integration into existing command structures in progress.”
Megatron’s optics narrowed slightly, not in concern, but in focus. “Show me.”
Soundwave did not gesture. He transmitted.
The projection shifted.
What had been movement became structure. Individual signals resolved into identities: transponder signatures, frame classifications, command affiliations, behavioral markers.
Soundwave had already begun sorting them. Not just by location. By function. By reliability. By response to command.
Clusters formed within clusters.
Experienced wings.
Unproven units.
Civilians recently forced into alignment.
Those who followed immediately.
Those who hesitated before doing so.
Nothing was lost. Nothing was ignored.
Megatron watched the pattern emerge. Not chaos. Not mass. Order.
“Starscream is holding them together,” Megatron said. “Confirmed.”
“He will keep them,” Megatron added. Not speculation. Decision.
Soundwave processed. “Current behavior supports retention probability.”
Megatron’s gaze shifted deeper into the data. “And the ones who will not?”
Soundwave isolated them instantly. A small percentage. Signals that lagged. Units that deviated slightly from assigned vectors before correcting.
Not disobedient. Not yet. Uncertain.
“They will align,” Soundwave said. “Or be identified.”
Megatron’s expression did not change. “Good.”
He let the projection run for a moment longer, watching the redistribution settle into place across the three cities.
Then he spoke again. “The infiltrator. The one that lives.”
“Secured in Kaon,” Soundwave replied. “Interrogation pending.”
Megatron’s optics returned to him. “Alive?” “Affirmative.”
A slight shift in Megatron’s stance. Interest.
“Then we will hear it speak.”
Soundwave inclined his head a fraction. “Confirmed.”
Megatron turned away again, but not back to the projection. To the war beyond it.
“Sentinel believes he has struck at our strength,” Megatron said. “Instead, he has concentrated it.”
His hand lowered to his side.
“Vos was distance,” he continued. “Now they stand on the same ground as the war.”
Soundwave processed the shift. From separation to convergence.
“Engagement probability increases.”
Megatron’s gaze hardened. “Good.”
A pause. Then he said, “We will meet them there.”
Silence settled between them. Not empty. Complete.
The decision had already been made.
Soundwave did not move. He expanded.
Across Kaon. Across Tarn. Across Polyhex.
Seeker signals integrated into existing networks. New patterns formed. New hierarchies stabilized.
He mapped them all. Who answered quickly. Who followed without question. Who required direction. Who gave it.
Nothing escaped the net.
Megatron would wage the war in force.
Starscream would command it in the sky.
And Soundwave would ensure that every piece was exactly where it needed to be when the next strike came.