A new Transformers fanfic from me to you. This one is an AU of sorts looking at the relationship between G1 Starscream and Skyfire, and how the tragedy that befell them in the Arctic Circle might have been different. In a non-happy way that is. I know this prompt has been done to death, but this fic has been demanding to be written, (and it couldn't have picked a worse time considering I'm in finals right now). Hope to get the next chapter up within a week or less. Reviews would be very much appreciated!
Wind whipped in violent torrents around alien forms, tearing at protective panels and stripping paint painfully off of living hulls. Roaring torrents of ice, snow, and cutting wind blasted into Starscream's frame, jerking him to and fro like a flimsy bit of tin foil.
A particularly vicious gust sent the seeker hurdling towards his larger shuttle companion who only narrowly missed the collision with some quick maneuvering.
Starscream let out a shriek of indignation at the storm he and his partner where battling through (and loosing badly to), but soon found the act pointless when his voice was stolen from the air by howling winds.
Unsatisfied with this occurrence, the agitated jet decided to internalize his frustration. That is to say, he channeled his complaints over to Skyfire.
"This Primus forsaken rock is trying to kill us!" He spate over the comlink with as much venom as he could muster under the freezing conditions.
"If I remember correctly, it was you, Starscream, who insisted on navigating this planets artic circle", Skyfire remarked in kind. He was unable to contain the bitter inflections in his speech patterns, no matter how miniscule they where. It would have been easy to place the blame on the smaller.
The massive white shuttle was finding it hard to keep his bearings in the freak blizzard. The planet their exploration had led them to was still fairly young by cybertronian standards, and as such was still going through some particularly violent changes. A massive storm front had thus manifested around the northern hemisphere with a berserker's enthusiasm, right in their path.
This had, however failed to intimidate his headstrong companion, who had persisted that scanning and investigating the polar cap would undoubtedly turn up something worthwhile. After much deliberation, (or rather grousing on the seekers part) Skyfire had agreed to a quick rendezvous over the pole to placate his sullen partner.
It was easy to see that both flyers were sorely regretting their agreed upon route. While Skyfire's bulk helped to fair off the worst of the gale force, it lacked considerably in maneuverability and efficiency. Likewise, Starscream's compact, aerodynamically crafted frame built for reaching break-neck speeds, was perpetually being tossed about like a sparkling plaything.
Additionally, the temperatures where turning deadly. Sub-zero conditions where nothing new to exploratory vessels. Their frames where specially insulated to withstand the very vacuum of space, which was much colder than anything this planet could boast.
It was, in fact, the constant build up of ice along their outer extremities that was the real problem. The layering of water particles, in an ever-constant state of melting and freezing along their metal hides, on the wings and sensory sensor nodes in particular, that was causing their bodies considerable damage. If the storm kept on like this, there was no telling what horrors exposure to these harsh elements would inflict.
"I never thought the weather would have changed so rapidly! The atmospheric conditions were optimal when we set out not even two cycles ago!" Starscream all but snarled through the comlink.
Skyfire understood that any verbal stabs directed his way by this point where more born out of agitation (and possible growing fear) at the storm then true distaste between the two explorers. "I too felt that the flight would have met no complications." He sent back in an effort to soothe the seekers frazzled nerves. "There's little point in reflection on that at this point. Let us concentrate our efforts on the task at hand. Hopefully this will blow-over soon."
Starscream's only response was an undignified huff before resuming radio silence. The larger couldn't help but chuckle good-naturedly at his friend's antics, even under the dire circumstances. To his knowledge, Skyfire was the only bot alive who could foster any kind of compliance, however reluctant it may be, from the ill-tempered terrajet.
Even over the many vorns they had worked together as scientific partners and friends, the seeker had always maintained a somewhat childish disposition. While many others were turned off by this chronic petulance, Skyfire himself only found it more enduring as the cycles went by. And every-so-often, as a kind of reward for his patience, Starscream would display a genuine affection for the shuttle; something, he was sure, no one else had ever experienced.
As a team, they where unstoppable. Showing up every other bot at the Science Academy and claiming their place rightfully at the top of their shared field. So it was only then natural for the pair to enthusiastically leap at the change to head out on a scientific exploration together.
Skyfire felt his spark warm at the memory of Starscream's giddy exuberance at the prospect. They had both been grinning like idiots for cycles after the counsel had proposed the trip to unknown worlds.
The shuttle was shaken from his nostalgia when, if possible, the blizzard's attack suddenly intensified. Releasing a strangled cried of surprise, he found his mass battered in the turbulence of crushing headwinds.
Already scattered sensors fluctuated like mad, sending him into a dizzying half blind state. It briefly registered in his mind that the jet just off his right side was sent spinning threw the air in a series of jarring twists that would ripe the wings right off of a lesser flier.
"Starscream! This is getting out of hand! We have to make for the ground!"
A garbled mass of static was all that greeted him through the comlink. Cold dread sank to the bottom on Skyfire's tanks as a million different scenarios ran circles in his mind.
As he wrestled for altitude, several neural sensors flared red before blinking out of existence. Now Skyfire really began to panic. He was, for all intents and purposes, blind while in his alt-mode. The gravity of the situation was slowly absorbed through his numb processors. With no clear indications of where the sky ended and the ground began, he was as vulnerable to the swirling torrents as mere organic debris.
"Starscream, can you read me? My sensors are down! Starscream!"
Static. No such luck. It occurred to Skyfire just then that Starscream may have become incapacitated and in a dire situation of his own.
In complete desperation the shuttle initiated his transformation sequence in a last ditch effort for stabilization. Only too late did he realize that most, if not all of his transformation seams and cogs where frozen over as they ground against one another into place.
Upon reaching his bipedal form, Skyfire was utterly paralyzed. The thrusters on his back shuttered to a stop.
With one last look heavenward, optics searching desperately for a familiar red form, the shuttle plummeted to the ice below.