Soundwave (Aligned)

Soundwave is a Decepticon from the Aligned continuity of Transformers. He is a major antagonist of the video games War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron, as well as the cartoon series Transformers Prime, and would serve as a recurring antagonist in Prime's sequel series Robots In Disguise. Soundwave serves as the Decepticon's communication's officer, and is perhaps the loyalest of Megatron's army.

War For Cybertron
When the Decepticons sought out Dark Energon, Soundwave took control of the orbital station Starscream was posted at, helping Megatron to reach the Dark Energon by establishing a forward base within the station. He then directed Megatron to a Data Matrix Center in order to find a route to the Dark Energon that had not been blocked by Starscream.

Later, Soundwave notified Megatron that access to the core was impossible, as it was guarded by the Omega Gate. He and Breakdown accompanied Megatron as they led the assault on Iacon, through which they would find and take the Omega Key, opening the Omega Gate and allowing the core to be infused with Dark Energon. On their way to the Stellar Galleries, Soundwave reported snipers, and after taking them down, Megatron infused the entrance with Dark Energon and took his team into the security station. Soundwave noticed that the batteries fed the security grid, and the trio infused each of them with Dark Energon, deactivating the security measures. Soundwave then detected the Omega Key behind their next door, and after opening it, the Decepticons arrived at the Stellar Galleries. They opened the container, finding not the key, but a message from Zeta Prime, who announced that he had taken the Omega Key, anticipating Megatron's plan. Zeta sent Autobot attack forces against them, but they were swiftly taken down. Megatron ordered Soundwave to trace Zeta Prime's broadcast, and Soundwave found it came from 12.7 cycles ahead. He then noted a weak wall, and the Decepticons broke it down and entered the cities' subsystems, providing a direct route to Zeta, and the Omega Key.

The group descended down a shaft and went through a tunnel, avoiding trains on the way, and after breaking down a door in a ventilation area, they were ambushed by Autobot cloakers. Soundwave dispatched them and infused Dark Energon into the batteries. Megatron congratulated him, and then ordered him to unlock the exit. Soundwave obliged, and the trio found themselves in another tunnel. Breakdown challenged Soundwave to a race, to which the Decepticon responded "Negative." Rushing through the tunnel, this time full of moving trains, the group came to a station where they infiltrated Iacon's lower levels. Soundwave detected the Omega Key at last, and suggested proceeding through the logistics station. Roughing it through the Autobot attackers, Soundwave finally determined that the key was beyond the train tunnels.

Soundwave and his teammates arrived at Iacon's main streets, where they met up with Brawl outside of Zeta Prime's vaults, which were impervious to the small amount of Dark Energon Megatron was capable of channeling. After Megatron's squad helped Brawl clear the area, Brawl called in the Dark Energon bombers, but they were spectacularly shot down by the planetary guns. Brawl suggested disabling them, and Soundwave assisted in carrying out the plan. Autobots advanced all around, but Soundwave and the others managed to hold them off until the next wave of bombers arrived, clearing the street and destroying the Vault doors. Soundwave joined the others on their way to the entrance, but the squad was intercepted by a Destroyer. Soundwave and Breakdown split from Megatron to flank him, and eventually they rendered him non-functional. Inside the vault, they avoided Zeta's traps and finally reached the Omega Key—but it too was a trap. Zeta then attacked them, using a giant hologram and controlling the chamber to his advantage, dropping the ceiling and sending holographic brutes to attack for him while safe within an impenetrable energy shield. (Even during the battle, Soundwave was impressed by the creation of endless energon clones.) Soundwave's managed to discern the weakness of Zeta's machines—that the core rapidly overheated after prolonged use, and needed to open up in order to cool, rendering it vulnerable to attack. After the battle, Megatron plucked from Zeta's hand the "key"...which started to blink its lights and chirp. Zeta Prime informed them that the "key" he was actually a device that activated the real key: Omega Supreme.

As the three Decepticons flew away to track Omega, Soundwave noticed that the "key" was coming for them. Omega Supreme attacked, and thrust the Decepticons' star cruiser into a wall. Crash-landing, Megatron had a change of plans; force Omega Supreme to open the Omega Gate. Soundwave noticed a Decepticon Dropship across the bridge, but when the squad went to investigate, Omega Supreme intercepted them. Soundwave reported that his weapons were ineffective; Megatron told his soldiers to destroy the bridge supports, causing Omega Supreme's vast bulk to collapse it. But he transformed to his ship mode, flew back up, and forced the Decepticons to retreat inside. In a frenzy, Breakdown noted that the next door was locked, and Soundwave proposed that Dark Energon could open the door, which it did. Inside, Soundwave picked up a transmission from Starscream, who announced that he would be replacing the "deceased" Megatron as Decepticon leader. Enraged, Megatron threatened Starscream, but Soundwave informed his leader that communication to the surface had been cut off, so Starscream could not hear him.

The trio arrived at the lift, but found it to be locked down. Breaking the locks got the lift back to working condition, but on their way up, Omega Supreme returned and blasted it, forcing the Decepticons down the shaft at breakneck speed. Omega was still out there, so the emergency brakes' destruction was the Decepticons' only hope. At the bottom, they continued their journey to find a way to fight Omega Supreme—Soundwave noted that at the top of the tower were several heavy weapons emplacements which could at least theoretically damage Omega—but Omega Supreme didn't quit. He grabbed the Decepticons, but Soundwave helped out in shooting Omega Supreme's hand, forcing him relinquishing the three from his grasp. They retreated inside a fortified Autobot position, and in order to prevent detection, Soundwave jammed their signals. Slaying the Autobots inside who dared attempt to counterattack, Soundwave unlocked the exit, which only let in more Autobots. They too, met their demise, but as Soundwave and his comrades escaped, he noticed that the Autobots' security was countering the effects of Dark Energon. Destroying the sentries turned to be a worthwhile solution, but then the Decepticons had to deal with Omega Supreme mining road. Soundwave's sensors indicated the presence of a bridge nearby, and though Breakdown was unsure, Megatron was willing to follow Soundwave's advice. Once again, Omega Supreme continued to stalk them, but Soundwave led his group to an alternate route...a dead end, to be precise, which Megatron was irritated with. Soundwave revealed that breaking a structurally-weak sealed doorway nearby took them to Iacon maintenance tunnels leading straight to the bridge terminal. When they arrived through the power conduits, Soundwave and the others fought through more Autobots and finally activated the bridge.

Racing across the bridge, they barely avoided Omega Supreme's pursuit, and Soundwave located another cargo lift that would transport them straight to the heavy ion turrets. On the lift he picked up several Autobot/Decepticon signals, a sign they were approaching the battle on the surface. Soundwave participated in the slugfest, and his analysis proved that the turrets nearby had enough firepower to legitimately damage Omega Supreme. Then, he showed no mercy using the turrets to breach Omega's armour and finally topple him to the ground below.

Soundwave, Breakdown, and Megatron followed Omega, and at the bottom, they were surprised to see him survive and transform into his mighty robot mode. Soundwave noted that energon batteries produced from within Cybertron were the source of Omega's limitless endurance, and further advised the team on battling Omega; avoiding his tractor beams would allow them to live, and his turrets were vulnerable, making them the prime target. When the turrets were blown, Soundwave saw that the batteries were being used to repair them, and so it became an objective to corrupt them with Dark Energon. When Omega Supreme used the batteries to heal himself, he was instead weakened, allowing the Decepticons to critically injure him. Omega Supreme was still alive, but much weaker. Soundwave observed that his chest plating had been damaged, and Megatron ordered Soundwave and Breakdown to blast it, and Omega Supreme fell at last. Soundwave advised Megatron that now would be a good time to corrupt Omega with Dark Energon.

After Cybertron's Core had been infected with Dark Energon, Soundwave was reassigned as head of Kaon's prison, and tortured Zeta Prime in his spare time. Optimus, Bumblebee, Sideswipe, and Air Raid led an Autobot breakout and battled Soundwave's minions Frenzy, Rumble and Laserbeak. Soundwave himself sustained heavy damage leaving the safety of his position to revive and retrieve each Minicon, showing uncharaceristic concern for other living beings. Eventually, defeated and critically damaged, Soundwave desperately attempted to restore himself by absorbing life force from Zeta's very own spark. His attempt to fully heal was halted by Optimus, who even took a shot from the Decepticon intended to finish off Prime. Although Soundwave and his minions fled, the damage had already been done and Zeta Prime expired moments later.

Season 1
The Decepticons later arrived on Earth. During a Decepticon attack on Cliffjumper, Soundwave intercepted Arcee's comms talk. He later played it back to Starscream, prompting the Decepticon leader to send the drones after her. He later detected transmissions coming from deep space, that prompted the Decepticons to fire up the space bridge, allowing Megatron to return. Darkness Rising, Part 1

Shortly after Megatron left the ship on a mission, Starscream wondered aloud if Megatron had a touch of space madness, and Soundwave reminded him that their absent leader was still in charge. Starscream told him to step up global surveillance. Soundwave subsequently intercepted a transmission from Agent Fowler and, on Starscream's order, dispatched Laserbeak to capture the agent to learn the location of the Autobot base. Darkness Rising, Part 3 When the Autobots attacked the Nemesis to retrieve Fowler, slaughtering dozens of their soldiers, Soundwave hid. He simply watched when Megatron returned and took his fury out on Starscream on the bridge for not waiting on his command. Darkness Rising, Part 4

Starscream sent Soundwave to the Giant Sized Array radio telescope in Texas as they needed to use the array to target the space bridge at Cybertron. Soundwave hacked into the computer network at the site, but after he had lined up the dishes, someone realigned them. In response to Starscream's demands as to what was happening, he tapped into the base's security system and discovered that the Autobots' three human friends were in a nearby room, similarly accessing the computer. He extended a tentacle into the room they were in and attacked them. When Miko tried to chop the tentacle with an ax, Soundwave took it from her and used it to sever the computer system's hardline, locking the dishes on Cybertron. The three kids entered the room in time to see him leaving, and Miko and Soundwave snapped photos of each other.

Because of Soundwave's success, the Autobots resorted to sabotaging the space bridge, blowing it up and taking Megatron with it. (Darkness Rising)

Season 2
With Optimus amnesiac and believing himself to be archivist Orion Pax, Soundwave made sure the ship's data core was clear of any incriminating evidence so Orion could be put to work decrypting information they'd stolen from the Iacon archives. When Arcee managed to get on board the ship to look for the lost Autobot leader, Soundwave made deft use of the GroundBridge to get her back off before Orion could see her. When Orion eventually learned the truth, Soundwave relayed the news to Megatron. He also notified Megatron when activity was detected on Cybertron, indicating that the Autobots had gone there in an attempt to help Optimus. (Orion Pax)

Season 3
During the hunt for the scattered Autobots, Soundwave dispatched Laserbeak to monitor an attempt to off Jack Darby. The attack resulted in an explosion that took out Laserbeak, and though Soundwave worked, he was unable to retrieve any further surveillance data from the salvaged, charred Deployer. He opened a space bridge to Cybertron, through which Knock Out returned from a mission accompanied by the long-missing Shockwave. (Darkmount, NV) Soundwave was present when Starscream proudly showed off the dancing monkey picture he'd found and later when Shockwave brought a Predacon to Earth. (Scattered, Prey) As Starscream dispatched troops to deal with a number of Autobot signals, Soundwave tried to point out that their army was being spread thinly. He suggested that the Autobots were likely to be using the Harbinger as a base, but Darkmount came under attack before the Decepticons had a chance to act on the information. (Rebellion)