Silence. Stupid, accursed silence settles in the room, and its deafening.

To the both of you.

If you can't get even a shred of information out of the Decepticon Communications Officer, Optimus will have your helm hanging on his wall, with or without the rest of you still attached.

And Soundwave can't hear his cassettes.

Not as in they're just being quiet for once, not even as in they're just playing silent tracks, but the wrong kind of silence.

Each one had screamed as you dismantled them, and Ravage's blue and white corpse stares at Soundwave lifelessly and with one singular, remaining dim optic.

He can't bring himself to look at the cat mech, but pieces of Laserbeak's wings litter the ground.

Rumble and Frenzy had been smelted alive, and the only positive thing Soundwave can think of is that the twins will never be apart from each other again.

But each cassette had said the same thing. 'Don't give in, don't give up the Decepticon ouposts even to save us.' As much as it hurt like nothing he'd ever felt before, he didn't. Even as Laserbeak was electrocuted, as Rumble and Frenzy squealed and clutched each other, and Ravage mewled.

And you're all out of ideas. If killing his beloved Cassettes isn't enough to get Soundwave to talk, then you're not sure he will.

Soundwave himself is in terrible shape too, with only his vocal components left untouched.

"You know..." he starts, his optics flickering to life behind his cracked green visor. "I still don't hate you. You're just doing your job, and if I get the chance, I promise I'll try to disable you non-lethally.*

It isn't very pleasant. How forgiving and chatty he is, even after the loss of his Cassettes.

You can hear the trembling in his vocaliser, can see his servos shaking, and can imagine the tired smile on his derma, hidden behind his facemask.

He's been rambling on about human music for the past few groons, and playing horrible clips of different genres, apparently confident that you must like at least one of them.