i slept not since the conquest

"So could I. That was delicious - though it's a good thing that those holodramas didn't put me off my dinner. I'd just eaten."

Ben's relaxing comfortably. He's pleased with himself, and picking what's left of the takeout that isn't either resting on the table or in his stomach out of his teeth. Ravage's word was good. The twins' absence is felt but not missed. He's had quite enough chaos in his life, and the brand they bring isn't the kind he likes. "If Galvatron starts something, I promised you my help. I've been itching for a good fight."

Though it's strange no longer being the person less likely to break things because he felt like it.

"That's reasonable. The Nexus is a peaceful place, but there have been situations in the past. There are some people who came in with the intentions of starting trouble or picking a fight. Unless you're thinking of something else?"

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"Does anyone know who made this place?" Soundwave asks, very quietly. He does not want to wake his sleeping conjunx.

It would've been easier just to ask Ben if he'd ever seen anythimg more adorable than Ravage looks right now. But he's been spending a lot of time with PINpoint cards lately, getting people onboard--including Predaking, and the cougaraider medic who just arrived this morning, who is going over the data that Predaking gave them.

"This is a made place...yes?" It's hard for him to see how it could have evolved naturally. Pocket universes, yes, that happens.

The anti-violence field which he is currently taking shameless advantage of by gathering his trusted leaders here to plan what may very well end up being rather a lot of violence elsewhere, not so much.

The PINpoint cards and vending machines were unquestionably made by someone sapient.

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"No. Nobody knows - it's one of those things that has always been here and nobody really knows why. Like the PINpoints, or the portals, or the anti-violence field. They've malfunctioned in the past."

Ben's wondered the same thing, but it's simply something they'll never know. A lot of the Nexus's oddities are The Way Things Are and Always Have Been. But he can understand the concern.

Soundwave's a leader and a spymaster. It makes sense this issue would come up.

"There have been security breaches. Some of us figured the Eliksni getting in wasn't an accident. Too many coincidences adding up for that. There was also a poisoner here who sold people poisoned liquor for kicks, but he's dead. If you met Harley Quinn, she took care of him. But the nature of this place means there's always the risk of someone with bad intentions getting in."

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"That's not it." Soundwave ex-vents, then frowns as Ravage stirs, only to snuggle up closer to him, at which point he cannot help but smile, and pull the blanket down from over the back of the couch to drape carefully over him.

"Do you not ever wonder who made the PINpoints? I do. One of the reasons I've been seating them in our circuitry is so that I can set firewalls up around certain things. For instance, the teleportation system requires the ability to scan the entire organism, which is fine, I don't want to teleport somewhere and find myself with amnesia, but--I've added extra encryption to our memory banks, because I don't want whoever is maintaining those servers to read our entire lives from them."

He ex-vents again, trying hard not to move the side of his body that Ravage is half-burrowed into. If he were anyone else it might occur to him how ridiculous this looks, but he's Soundwave, so it doesn't; however, he is not going to be able to reach that half-finished energon cube without moving Ravage unless he extends a cable, so that is exactly what he does; the cable snakes out of his forearm and captures the cube, then lifts it up to his mouth so he can drink the energon. After that he sets down the cube and the cable returns to its place under his plating.

"It's occurred to me that maybe this was all set up by someone who's been gone for a long time, perhaps billions of years...but someone has to be maintaining the server banks. Otherwise there would be errors that people would notice, perhaps disastrous ones. I'm concerned about their intentions.

"What kind of being would provide all this at no cost, expecting nothing in return?"

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Ben thinks for a moment, then shrugs. "I don't know - that's not the answer you want to hear, I'm sure, but it's the only one I have. Nobody knows any of those things, like who controls the anti-violence field or distributes the PINpoints. Either it happened a long time ago or has always been here."

It's why Ben probably wouldn't have completely trusted them even without knowing that they'd failed before. He likes knowing who runs things and how.

"Keeping security tight is a good idea. I'm not a machine and can't wire it into myself, but I carry my PINpoint at all times and keep it close to me. I don't have memory banks, exactly, but I wouldn't want everyone I meet to know my past. There are some very private things in there."

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"Nobody knows?" Soundwave's voice hits a note that makes Ravage lift his head up without opening his eyes, sniff the air, and then, apparently satisfied, slump back down. And without even really looking at him--equally odd--Soundwave just strokes Ravage's cheek and behind one ear, whispering something that might just be machine code and not Cybertronian.

"And all of these people just trust it?"

The words go away for a moment in a blaze of white lilacs-and-gunpowder, and he closes his optics and orients: body stretched out on a couch, Ravage burrowed into him, blanket half over them both, coolant running through lines, the rumble of air vents, here, now, yes, this is okay, or as close as it can be.

"I'm sorry." He focuses on Ben again. "Nobody wonders who might want to know this much about Ben Solo, two major Decepticon leaders, the Predaking, Thor of Asgard, a handful of fallen angels from someplace where angels are actually real? Or why they might want to know it? This place is powerful bait. I'll use it because I need to, and also because Ravage is here and I won't leave him to it, and also because I owe you a great deal, but don't ask me not to try and find out what we've given ourselves up to."

Edited Date: 2020-10-17 23:14 (UTC)

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"I'm not sure everyone trusts it - I can't speak for the entire Nexus population. I don't, completely, but that might just be me. I'm not usually a trusting person. But PINpoints allow me to travel in a way that's a help to someone who would otherwise be trapped here Since I can't return to my galaxy, the Nexus is my home now."

That, and his PINpoint is Ben's only line to his home galaxy. He and Rey can talk through their bond, but communicating through different universes is a tall order even for a Force dyad.

"I won't ask you that, of course. It's a question I'm sure other people here have asked, or thought to themselves, but I'm not sure how you'd go about finding an answer. There are people who've lived in the Nexus long before I came here."

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Soundwave nods. "I understand that no-one may know. And I can't afford to devote myself to the question right now in any event. I just don't want to find out too late that the Quintessons, or anyone else like that, built this place. Megatron actually met one of them, and he told me about it, and that's as close as I ever want to get."

He ex-vents.

"I meant what I said, Ben; I owe you a great deal. I don't know where you were when he passed out on you. But you could have taken him to Misfire's hangar. I presume you could also have returned him to the Lost Light, and to Megatron, because that's where he was before he came to the Nexus. But you brought him to me. And he didn't even know where I was. We are not supposed to be inside the United States border. Only at our commune on Io, or on Earth, in China.

"I know that Laserbeak did not give you the coordinates, leaving me with the conclusion that either you told the portals to bring you to his home, and they brought you to California because I am his home, or that you consciously decided to bring him to wherever I was because you knew he needed to be with me.

"Either way, I'm indebted to you; but I'm also curious. Which was it?"

Edited Date: 2020-10-18 08:01 (UTC)

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"I don't know what Quintessons are, but I gather from context that they're trouble." The only creatures Ben has met from the Cybertronians' universe are the Cybertronians themselves. "I wouldn't want to meet one, either, if they're like what you implied. But most of the nonhuman and non-Cybertronian species I've heard about in the Nexus are friendly. Some people consider me an alien to them, since I'm human and not from Earth."

There's enough from Soundwave's explanation to gather that these Quintessons are dangerous, powerful, smart, and malevolent. A nasty combination, and one to keep an eye out for if he'll be spending time in the Cybertronians' home world in the future. Thankfully, it seems like they're either rare or distanced from Cybertronian affairs.

"It was the second one. I thought he'd want to see you, since I knew the two of you were conjunx endurae, so I instructed the portal to help me bring him to you. I didn't know I was on Earth, or California, but I figured it was the correct location. Apparently I gave Strika and the other leaders a shock."

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"But we weren't." Soundwave grins, bemused. "Not yet."

He looks down at Ravage. "When I saw Ravage for the first time since I gave him that order, I didn't know if he even wanted me back, and he wasn't sure if I would forgive him for spending so many months in another mech's habsuite. The mech I had ordered him to kill."

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Ben smiles back. He's been thinking about this.

"I trusted you when Laserbeak explained who you are and what was going on. Also, I thought the two of you needed a little push from me to do what you wanted to do. You don't need my powers to tell you two are in love, even from a distance. And after everything, I'd say my instincts are right."

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Laserbeak jumps down off her perch and lands carefully on the edge of the couch, then bunts her head (gently) into the side of Ben's face.

{This is why you get the pretties!}

She then jumps over to the table and dips her face into an energon cube, draining it dry in one go.

{Good friend, best decepticon!}

___
((OOC: reply next to main post))

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"Thank you."

Soundwave glances down at Ravage. "I've loved him since we met. I asked him after he gave himself back to me. I've wanted to ask him for much, much longer than that. I asked him, long, long ago, if he wanted that, and he told me he did. But it was impossible then."

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"You're welcome. I'm glad I could help you - I thought that little push might help, and now look how far you've come. I can't take the credit for all that. You and Ravage are leaders of the Decepticon movement now."

Ben himself comes by fairly often to visit them, when he's not too busy or he takes a day off work.

"You've got gifts in mind?" Ben looks to LB. "I'd like to be surprised, but given you like shiny things I can guess it will be, well, shiny."

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"Always shiny. Stay put." Laserbeak flies out of the room.

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"We're two leaders." Soundwave takes off his mask, so Ben can see him smiling, and lifts his visor. He doesn't often show his face, but that's because he needs to cut down on sensory input, not because he doesn't like the way he looks.

He blinks, getting used to the light in the room, then pings environmental controls and turns it down just a little.

"Soon we will be the leaders, though."

Then he startles, but only for a half-second; Ravage is awake.

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Ravage stretches and indulges in a very feline yawn, sitting up slowly. The holoviewer is off, the lights are dim, and Soundwave's face is bare, which normally happens only in complete or near-complete privacy.

Ben's still there though. "How long was I out of it?"

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"You're going to win out over the other factions, I'm sure. To begin with, you've got me on your side." A cocky smirk. Ben's not being completely serious, but a Force user is an asset to an organization based in a world where the Force is alien.

"You were out of it since before I came. Soundwave and I were talking. LB just went off - I think she's gone to get something."

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Ravage nuzzles Soundwave's bare face, then glances back over at Ben. "I was awake for a few minutes. I remember having a cube and watching about ten minutes of that awful TC production. But I don't remember you coming in, so I mustn't have been awake for long."

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Soundwave takes Ravage's face in his hands and kisses him, devoting his whole attention just to that for the moment, then gives him another cube. "You were exhausted. I was going to put you on the recharge slab between movies, but you growled when I tried to move you, so at least refuel? We were talking about how Ben found the base. And why, among other things."

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Laserbeak snorts. They're kissing again. But it is a sign that all is well in their world, so she just drops the heavy black leather jacket into Ben's lap.

A fair number of the diamonds she pulled out of Ravage's old collar are on the lapels, though the Decepticon symbol is done in silver with amethysts.

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"Either way, welcome back, Ravage."

Ben examines the black leather jacket Laserbeak gave him. It really is something - and now he has an idea of what LB did with at least some of the shiny things she made off with.

"I think Misfire would want to see this."

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"I see no reason to recharge by myself when you're here," says Ravage, and sucks down the last of the energon cube, taking a second one Soundwave offers without missing a beat. "I'm done with sleeping alone. Now that I'm your consort and your conjunx, you're not going to be sending me out on long missions again."

He laughs when he sees the jacket. "You know, LB, that was the only way that you were going to get away with what you did. And Misfire should totally see that jacket."

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"Wear that to the party. I can't wait to see what the Autobots think of it."

Soundwave chuckles. "After what you did...I'll be calling you up to stand with us. There's no real ceremony to be done, we've already completed the Acts, but you're coming up with us for the announcement and whatever else Megatron thinks he is doing. I agree with you that this was always where we were going, but you had a hand in making it happen right now."

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"Like it?"

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Ben slips on the jacket and stands up, showing it to the three Cybertronians. It really is something. He likes black, and the touches of silver and the Decepticon symbols scattered axross it add to the sleek look. LB really outdid herself, he thinks.

"I'll go to the party as a Decepticon." Ben remembers what Megatron asked him to do and intends to keep his word and the dare. "Watch those Autobot jaws drop. Between us, I can't wait. Bound to be some interesting faces there."

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Ravage claps delightedly. "Oh, you are going to deal extremely!" he says, beaming. "It's going to be such an amazing party. And thank you, Laserbeak, birdsister!"

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Laserbeak preens herself. She has outdone herself.

{And now you can be wearing Megatron's diamonds,} she says to Ben with a snicker. {All of the ones that I'm not wearing.}

Before Ravage can say anything, she looks him straight in the eye. {I lied when I said I was giving that back. You have plenty of shinies, Rav.}

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Soundwave does not acknowledge any discussion of diamonds or their origin whatsoever. It's just slagging carbon, who cares? Ravage enjoys wearing frivolous things, and it doesn't matter where they came from, not when he's the one who has Ravage himself.

"It suits you," he says, with a great deal of pride in his family. "And you'll be standing up there with me, and we will absolutely 'deal extremely'."

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Ben doesn't usually care for shiny things, but something his friends put together is an exception.

"I'm proud," Ben says, "to stand there with you." He's not generally the kind of person who gets invited to parties, but he likes feeling accepted by Soundwave and his family. It's helped him feel more grounded, less scattered and lost.

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"Good. You took care of him when I couldn't, and then you brought him back to me so I could." Soundwave ex-vents, and then rests the top of his chin briefly on Ravage's head, between his ears. "This one," he says, wrapping his arms around Ravage from behind. "This brightspark," he says, shaking his head. "He will take care of everyone else, you have probably noticed. He may fuss and snark and complain, but he will do it anyway. It's my very great privilege to be the one to take care of him, but it is good to know that if I can't, both you and Misfire will."

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"I'm not so hopeless as he makes me sound," Ravage protests faintly, leaning back into Soundwave's chest, even as he twines his own arms over Soundwave's. "Somebody has to look after all of the strays you lot bring home. At least as much as they let me. Wasn't much I could do for that damn Iaconian cop that Megatron dragged in from the cold, or that brace of idiot flyers you brought home from Vos. But the ones who've stayed, and the ones who'll come back?"

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"And it has ceased to be astonishing to me how often those who don't appreciate and care for you as much as you do them, turn out to be useless," Soundwave responds, very firmly.

"I'm sure that Laserbeak and Ben would both agree with that."

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"I'll have to talk to Misfire at the party. I've interacted with him a few times in the Nexus, and he's very entertaining. He's why I knew anything about Cybertron or Cybertronians at all. There aren't very many of you in the Nexus, and I haven't met any Autobots. Only Decepticons."

He thinks of the dragon they mentioned. "I'm looking forward to meeting the new recruits, like Predaking. He sounds difficult to miss."

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"You won't miss Predaking. The first time I saw him, Ravi and I were lying on the hillside stargazing together and something came up out of the wilds that blotted out stars in the sky!" Soundwave says, laughing. "Of course Ravage had already spoken to him, and he was looking for us."

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"I haven't seen anything like that - big enough to blot out the stars, hm. I'm not surprised he lives in the Wilds. Between his size and how frightening I can guess he looks, it would be hard for him to live anywhere else. But it's good that he's made contact with you so he won't be so lonely. What is he like?"

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"Sweet, actually," says Ravage. "Very sad. Our counterparts in his universe were very different from us--well, apparently mine didn't even exist. Lonely. The closest relatives he has left are me and the other experimental models Ratbat bought from the fragger who was supposed to have slagged us down."

Ravage makes a face. Being grateful for anything Ratbat did is beyond uncomfortable.

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"So he lost his family." Ben's quiet for a moment - he'd say he lost his, too, but he did that to himself, so he's no sure he can say anything about that. "I'm glad you and the others are able to be his family now." He considers Rey his family, as well as now Ravage and his group of Decepticons.

"It's hard to be the last of anything."

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Soundwave makes a small noise of distress. There is nothing quite like knowing that the one person you love best in the world was meant to have been destroyed as a failed experiment.

This is about Ravage and not about him, but it's still a terrifying, painful thought.

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"Unless we make more of them, or the old legends turn out to be true and one of us gets sparked after a sparkmerge...yes." Ravage sucked on his lip. "That is such a disturbing thought."

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"I imagine he won't be able to attend the wedding if he's so big. We'll have to tell him about it later." Ben considers the situation a little. "I guess I could be part of his family, too, even if I'm not Cybertronian or a Predacon."

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https://soundwave-ascendant.dreamwidth.org/1156.html?thread=27524#cmt27524

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"No. I spent months on the Lost Light and I'm pretty sure the only place Predaking would fit is on the outside of it. It's a very large ship, and there might be a room he could fit into, but he couldn't go through any doorways or corridors."

Rav smiles gently at Ben.

"I think he might like that."

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"He must be enormous, then." Ben's trying to imagine what Predaking looks like - the very name of him is imposing, but Ravage suggests there' tragedy behind him, too. And he's sure all of them understand loss and the feeling of being used.

"Glad to hear that. Maybe I'll meet him one of these days."

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Soundwave smiles, and activates the holoviewer with a gesture, then pulls his visor down and fiddles with it briefly.

The screen shows the sky high above the perimeter of the Destron land as Soundwave saw it that night, pointing at stars and constellations with Ravage. There's no speech out loud, but Ravage is laughing fondly at a distance that suggests they're lying together on the hillside.

A blackness swoops up out of the forest, and the huge dragon lands; the view shifts as Soundwave sits up and identifies himself, trying to keep himself between Ravage and the stranger, but Ravage insists on getting between them instead, saying that it has to be Predaking. (From Soundwave's perspective, Ravage's voice sounds softer and warmer than usual.)

Then the huge dragon transforms into his other, more robotic form.

The image fades.

"Predaking," Soundwave says.

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"He really is huge." Ben's struck by the sheer size of the dragon. "No wonder he lives out in the Wilds. How did you manage to convince him to join us?"

The clip didn't give him a sense of Predaking's personality other than the fact that he didn't attack, which says something. A Cybertronian that huge would be a terrifying enemy.

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"That was all Ravi. I just offered to help him with his Pinpoint."

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