Author's note: This story is what you get when you look at G1 Seeker art for FOUR HOURS on deviantart (well done! ^_^). Part two will be coming up as soon as I can tear myself away from all the human!Astrotrain drawings. God I love him in the engineer hat!
Also, I hate that you can only choose two Transformers. _ There'll be three main characters in this story aside from the Trine.
"You're going to WHAT?"
"You heard me! I am tired of Megatron's slag!"
Starscream stuffed some odds and ends in his cockpit while his two wingmates, Skywarp and Thundercracker, looked on in shock.
"Today, I nearly get my wing ripped off protecting the Coneheads, and does that stupid fool praise me for ensuring he didn't lose any of his flying force? NO! He yells at me for not swinging around in time to keep his paint job from getting singed by Prime!"
"Well, Hook did just refinish his topcoat -"
"SHUT UP!" roared the red, white and blue fighter jet. "You imbeciles stay here if you wish. I have devoted millions of my stellar cycles to this idiot and this cause, and what has it gotten me? Nearly deactivated through no fault of my own, underappreciated, and I think there is warping in the derma around my mouthplates! I'm too young for that!"
Skywarp rolled his optics. "Screamer, we all know about that special polish you use on your chassis that's supposed to take stellar cycles off your frame. I knew a femme who used to sell it on Cybertron. You're not fooling anybody."
"Go frag yourself," Starscream muttered, gingerly patting the areas around his mouth. "Anyway, I've had it. Megatron can kiss my aft. He thinks I always 'fail' him? Well, let's see him do without me then!"
"You're not gonna run to the Autosnots, are you?" Skywarp asked skeptically. "You wouldn't last five astroseconds!"
"I'm not running anywhere, you dolt," said Starscream in disgust. "I'll know where I'm going once I get there."
The two other Seekers looked at each other in concern."What are you going to do, Starscream?" asked Thundercracker. "Megatron's only gonna be on Cybertron for a megacycle at most. When he gets back from reprogramming the Stunticons, he's gonna wonder where you are ..."
"Let him wonder! He'll find out soon enough. Everyone on this miserable mudball will! But not until I am ready for them to know."
Starscream opened the area near his spark chamber and took out the locator chip that every Decepticon had implanted within him so that in battle, they could be retrieved if they were hurt. He certainly wouldn't be needing that anymore! Dropping it on the floor and crushing it under his heel, he smirked at his Trine mates before transforming and flying up and away.
In a rather large cave some distance from the submerged wreck he used to call home, Starscream stretched out to look out into the night sky. The remnants of his energon meal was next to him and he felt full, but not quite ready to recharge.
He had been away from the Decepticons for nearly an Earth week, and he found the freedom to be both intoxicating and a little intimidating. The first days away from Megatron, he spent circling the Earth, trying to find the optimal place to make his new home. Bad weather had forced him into a hollowed out area below a dormant volcano and after a day or two, he found he rather liked it. It kept the elements off him, it was warm enough, big enough, and in the earth was raw material that he could, with some work, convert into energon. He wasn't gorging himself, but it was nice to not have to scrounge for fuel for a change.
In the first few days, he also went around using his stupid-aft Earth disguise. There was an airbase near by and he spent time there amongst the other aircraft of his design. The fleshlings there were experienced pilots in one of the human's military forces. At first, Starscream hung around just so that he could frighten the fleshlings. One of them actually did the human equivalent of purging his tanks when Starscream broke formation and streaked across the sky at top speed.
Being around the flesh creatures had become boring pretty quickly. Their brains were the consistency of the mud at the bottom of the fire lakes and contained just as much intelligence. But just the slight exposure to them had helped Starscream immensely. He now knew what he was going to do with the rest of his life. It seemed so simple, yet so perfect. He'd been in Megatron's shadow for far too long. It was time for him to shine, slaggit! And his new ambition would allow him to do exactly that. There were some logistics to work out, but -
There was suddenly a loud bang, and Starscream gasped in shock, nearly hitting his head on the roof of the cave as he sat up quickly.
"Heya, Screamer!"
Starscream stared at the mouth of the cave, which was now blocked by Thundercracker and Skywarp.
"What ... what are you doing here? H-how did you find me? I destroyed my locator chip!"
"Uh, we're a trine, remember?" said Thundercracker in a voice he would have used for a mechling that had been dropped on his head. "We're bonded. That's sort of the point, that no matter what, we can find each other through the bond."
"Yeah, Screamer. Duh!" Skywarp looked around. "I thought you'd be somewhere cold, like where you found ... uh ... you know ... him."
"What Warp means is, we thought it might be harder to get here," said Thundercracker, tactfully steering away from possible "unpleasant" subjects. "You know how unpredictable his teleporting can be in this slag the Earth germs call 'winter.' This place isn't too bad."
"Well, I like it," huffed Starscream. "Why are you here, anyway? You both have your locator chips, I'm sure. I don't want Megatron coming here!"
"Uh ... no worries about that." Thundercracker looked slightly embarrassed. "He thinks we're out on recon."
Starscream breathed a little easier. "How is the 'mighty' Megatron anyway? I'm sure he cries tiny energon tears for me at night."
"He was really slagged off at first when you left," said Thundercracker. "He was sure you'd gone off to join the Autobots."
"Yeah, so you could be with ... uh ... you know ... him," added Skywarp.
"SKYFIRE!" Strascream all but shrieked at the purple and black Seeker. "His name is SKYFIRE! Just say it, for the love of Primus! What he and I had was over vorns ago and I'd never join the Autobots anyway!"
"Yeah, Megatron figured that out after awhile. He knew that Optimus Prime would have either contacted him to gloat or to tell him where to find your deactivated frame. So he just had you declared a deserter and traitor and said that any Decepticon could shoot you on the spot."
"What, no orders to tear me apart and leave my pieces scattered around to rust? Maybe Megatron has a soft spark after all," said Starscream with a roll of his optics. "I suppose Soundwave is now second in command?"
"Yeah. And Megatron made Ramjet the new Air Commander."
"WHAT?" Starscream was outraged. "That overinflated idiot? Why didn't he promote you, Thundercracker? You were next in line for the position!"
The blue Seeker just shrugged. "He said that there needed to be a change in air defense. I think he figured we knew where you'd gone. We really hadn't, at first. We had kind of a tough time locking on to you, even through the bond. Now I know why; the metals in this cave probably disrupted the signal. Anyway, Soundwave could read our thoughts and he told Megatron we were telling the truth about not knowing where you were, so he had to drop it, but you could tell he didn't trust us."
"He wouldn't even give us our normal energon rations," grumbled Skywarp. "He'd send us out on perimeter patrol for joors, and when we'd come back to refuel, it was like 'Oops, sorry! No more energon, slaggers!'"
Starscream went white-hot with rage. This was a perfect example of why the Decepticons would get nowhere with Megatron as leader. Thundercracker was an excellent flyer and a good tactician, but out of petty revenge, Megatron was entrusting the air command to a mech whose idea of a tactical strike was to go nosecone first into the target. And starving his best flyers, too? Primus!
"Megatron is a fool," muttered Starscream. "The only thing I don't like is that I won't be around to see the army disintegrate around him due to what he calls superior leadership."
"Neither will we!" bubbled Skywarp. "It's why we quit!"
"You WHAT?"
"Primus, Warp!" Thundercracker rubbed his nose plating tiredly. "I thought we agreed to let me do the talking about that."
Starscream's optics widened. "Quit? You said Megatron thinks you are on a reconnaissance mission!"
"He does." Thundercracker sighed. "Only ... Warp and I aren't planning on going back ... ever."
"I finally got a lock on your location and said to TC, 'Hey, let's see what Screamer's up to,'" said Skywarp. "Anyway, it's boring there without you, and I know you haveta miss us, too, right?"
"Primus," muttered Starscream. While he, Skywarp and Thundercracker were not "brothers" as the fleshlings defined the relationship, they were Trine. It was a different, and often difficult and complex, relationship. They could exist without each other, but there was always a feeling of a little incompleteness. He did miss the glitches, though he'd never admit it to them ...
"C'mon, Screamer, the Trine bond! I can hear everything you're thinking!" Skywarp grinned broadly before throwing his arms around Starscream's neck. "We knew you couldn't live without us, you sentimental fragger!"
"Get off me, you idiot!" Starscream pried the Seeker off his frame. "None of us will be living very long with any mech if the two of you don't take out your locator chips and destroy them right now!"
"Already done. We ditched 'em over the ocean as soon as we cleared the ship." Skywarp turned and saw the half-empty energon cube and eyed the leftover fuel hungrily. "Er ... you gonna finish that?"
"We haven't refueled in almost two megacycles," said Thundercracker, staring at the cube as well. "Skywarp used the last of his reserves teleporting us here. We don't need much. We can help you scout for more. "
"Don't bother with that, it won't be nearly enough. Just ... sit down a moment," said Starscream with a sigh. He went to the back of the cave where he'd stockpiled some energon cubes and took out four, handing two to each of his famished wingmates.
"Sip slowly. Give your systems a chance to recalibrate."
As the two refueled, Starscream sat in a corner of the cave and thought. If Skywarp and Thundercracker were really serious about leaving the Decepticons, this could actually be perfect for what he'd had in mind. Thundercracker might be a tough sell, but if he went along with it, Skywarp would, too.
"So, what have you been doing with yourself?" asked Thundercracker after he finished his first cube. "Other than finding a better source for energon than we ever did with the Decepticons?"
"Funny you should ask ..." Starscream grinned and rubbed his servoes together. "I've been amusing myself with the fleshlings nearby. They're miserable creatures, but they do have some interesting thoughts. They've given me an idea of how I want to spend whatever time I am exiled on this disgusting planet, and you two can join, under my leadership of course."
Thundercracker and Skywarp traded puzzled glances. "You got an idea from the humans?"
"Yes! Something that speaks to my unique gifts and talents." Starscream paused dramatically, waiting until his Trine mates' optics were on him. "I'm going to start a band!"
To be continued!