The Foundations of a Tragedy

-Prolouge-

The three youngling seekerlings hudled together outside the Vosnian transport. The smallest, Skywarp, was sobbing heavily and rubbing at his faceplates in an attempt to quell the lubricant that steadily streamed from his optics. "Y-you won't forget to come back, right Star?"

The addressed, only slightly taller than the purple seekerling and considerably slimmer, huffed in mock aloofness and hitched up his wings proudly. "As if I could forget to return home to assume my throne! And it's not as though it will be all that long…I'll come and visit you before I graduate too…"

The eldest, much broader in stature than his brothers, held Starscream close to his chassis, "Have fun," was all he said before releasing him.

Prince Starscream, the middle sparkling of Sovereign Queen Nightdancer, was considered to be the pride of Vos. Though he was only just a youngling, he was already in contending to be the fastest flyer ever born into the Royal Family. This would have been enough on its own, however his astonishing speed in the air was only second to his astounding intellect. It was because of these qualities that his Creator had chosen him to be first in line for the throne, instead of his elder brother, Prince Thundercracker.

Starscream had elected to attend the Science Academy in Iacon, although his brothers suspected it was only so he could show off to the Professors and make fun of how their theories paled in the light of his own.

The door to the transport slid open, beckoning Starscream to board. Skywarp was inconsolable and clung to his brother's waist, "We'll miss you, Star! Be done soon, ok?"

While Starscream rolled his optics for show, he tenderly patted the top of Skywarp's helm when he thought that no one else would see. Thundercracker pried off his emotionally distraught sibling and mildly shooed Starscream towards the transport.

Starscream shuffled, and nearly tripped over the raised lip of the transport door. His considerably high pedes certainly gave him no ease of walking. Truthfully, he couldn't wait to escape from Vos, if only just for a little while. His thirst for exploration would never be satiated if he remained stagnant, he knew that much. Besides, his affectionate siblings were overbearing. Too much so. Skywarp at least had the excuse that he was the baby, and depended on his older brothers for everything, but Thundercracker? He was strong; far stronger than Starscream, though he didn't like to dwell on it. He almost wished his elder would resent him just a little bit for inheriting the throne. But it seemed Thundercracker could care less, and had no great desire for ruling. He was content to follow instructions and claimed he would be much happier once placed in the Royal Guard.

He allowed his back strut to slump into his seat. Now was not a happy time for politics. The unrest in Kaon, the city of degenerates and laborers, was growing steadily worse. The city had long been under Autobot jurisdiction, and it seemed that their authority was close to crumbling. Seekers preferred to remain neutral to all other city states unless there was a matter directly concerning them. Starscream was not entirely sure whether or not he wanted it to remain that way, as either decision could have dire consequences.

Shaking his helm he opted to instead focus on his future studies. He hoped that the classes blew by quickly! He was most excited about the exploration features of the Academy. He couldn't wait to prove his theories about other planets existing with intelligent life forms.

When one is as intelligent and as noticeably accomplished as Starscream, one doesn't exactly set the bar low, does one?

While the Seeker Prince turned his focus to an Astrophysics data pad, a spy probe briefly set its focus exclusively on him.

One. Brief. Second.

One.

One second was enough to set the course of his future.

The one second transmission was not missed. It's receiver, Soundwave, displayed the content of the intel report for his cohert.

Red optics glowed, clearly assessing. "Who is that?"

Soundwave cross referenced the image with the data base of the floating city, "Prince Starscream: Vosnian heir. Elite flyer. Destination: Iacon Science Academy."

Megatron stared…and stared…there was potential. The Vosnian heir was reason enough to be interested, but there was something in his optics…a cleverness, yes, a devious nature…

"We'll wait."