Different Wavelengths

Familiarity Singularity

Kzzt!
Sir Soundwave stirred from stasis lock. He checked his internal clock and discovered he was out of commission for about an hour. His processor ached as his vision returned to him. A servo instinctively moved to his chassis and he was relieved to feel Laserbeak still docked safely. He looked around the room he was in. Soundwave noticed a rack of surgical tools on a wall. Was this a repair bay? It was a bit hard to tell as only dim violet lights lit the room, a far cry from the bright and clear ones that the Interceptor had.

"Oh? Rise and shine, Soundwave." He recognized that voice! It was Knock Out! So he WAS back on the ship. Soundwave turned his helm, happy to know a familiar friend was with him, but was immediately taken aback by Knock Out's appearance. The normally teal bot was now a vivid red, with crimson eyes to boot. Additionally, there was nary a scratch to his paint job. Knock Out strutted over to Soundwave and examined him. "No serious injuries", he said casually, "And I've already buffed out all of the scratches and scrapes on your metal. And I hope you don't mind me saying this, but you actually look pretty good in white~"

Okay, this was getting wacky. Knock Out buffing out scratches? How absurd. Soundwave sat up and got off of the medical table. Knock Out grabbed a data pad and tapped on it. "Yeah, yeah, I know you're a busy bot. I'll let the head honcho know you're good to go." It was weird seeing Knockout act so casual. Soundwave stared at him in bewilderment. The medic noticed. "Um, can I help you?" Sir Soundwave gestured to Knockout's red body. "Oh? You want a lustrous finish like moi?", Knock Out asked, clearly misunderstanding. "Well, let's just say a good buffing goes a long way. Especially if you know a bot with some talented servos~"

Deciding he was better off not knowing about what Knock Out and Breakdown did when the doors were closed, Sir Soundwave quickly shuffled out of the repair bay. That's when he realized that something was very ungroovy. Was the Interceptor always this... Purple? Everything was just lit enough for Soundwave to not bump into a wall. It almost made the hallways seem smaller. Sir Soundwave trembled nervously as he walked through the corridor. His only source of familiarity and comfort was Laserbeak, who consistently sent them encouragement through their neural link.

While this version of the Interceptor Nemesis was strange, the pathing remained the same and Soundwave found himself at the bow of the ship. But then he froze. Vehicons. Vehicons everywhere. However, something seemed off. They were pretty nonchalant about their enemy waltzing in unannounced and a few even looked over at him. When he tried to look at them though, the Vehicons would instantly snap back to whatever they were doing before, as if afraid of Soundwave's gaze.
"Soundwave."
He turned to see a large grey mech gazing at him with sharp red eyes. Was that... Megatron? He looked rather scary to Sir Soundwave, who tensed up in the event this bastardization of his boss tried to harm him. Not to mention the bucket-shaped helm lacked the regality his leader usually had. "I do not know the in and outs of what occurred to you in that cave", Megatron told him, putting a clawed servo on Soundwave's shoulder. "So I've decided to be a bit generous. You're on shore leave for a bit. Take this time to recover. Feel free to document anything... Unusual while you're gone, okay?"

Free shore leave? Radical. Sir Soundwave gave him a nod of acknowledgement. "Good. I'll let you know if you are needed again." With that, Megatron walked towards the main console. Sir Soundwave immediately ran off to the ship's roof to begin his break. While everyone and everything looked unfamiliar, he was just glad to get some time to himself again, what with all those bogus Autobums wrecking his fellow Cons in the war. And now that his processor was catching up to reality, he realized that he'd get to see his other friends again!

Once at the top of the Interceptor, Sir Soundwave took a running start and leapt into the air, letting Laserbeak undock from his chest and transforming into his jet mode. As the two darted through the sky, Soundwave gave his little bro an objective.
Laserbeak. Operation: Locate human homies.
They soared over the desert for a good while, scanning their surroundings, when Laserbeak notified Soundwave of movement near some hills. Examining the area, Soundwave spotted three dots down below.
Broskis located. Commence Operation: Grand entrance.
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"Miko, this doesn't seem safe..."
"Relax! Er, just don't tell Bulk or Prime, okay?"
Raf and Jack didn't know where she got them, but Miko had somehow come into possession of illegal fireworks and wanted to see what they did. Raf nervously adjusted his glasses. "I just don't think this is safe. I mean, who knows what these things do?"
"Duh, they go boom in the sky?" As per usual, Miko was persistent. She pulled a small match box from her pocket and prepared to light the fuse.