Megatron strode down the streets of Kaon with his loyal Lieutenant Soundwave at his side, his busy mind on important things like how he was going to rule the universe and enslave all those beneath him for his pleasure, when a distressing cry interrupted his thoughts.
Startled, the warlord paused and glanced down to where the tiny sound had come from.
In the gutter near his heavy peds, a tiny seekerlet sparkling was huddled in the filth of the street, red, blue and white, much like someone else the overlord knew…
Pushing the painful thoughts of his almost spark-mate from his mind, Megatron was about to move on when the tiny thing chirped again.
He was cringing feebly backwards, peering up at Megatron with large, frightened, bright blue optics.
"Sparkling is too young to be on his own." Soundwave commented.
"Agreed." Megatron murmured, and knelt down to look closer at this pitiful scrap of life.
The tiny thing tried to pull back away from him, but did not have the strength to do so, and merely closed his eyes and shivered, seeming to accept that some horrible fate was about to befall him, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Now Megatron was callous and cruel, spark said to be nothing but a cold chip of ice, but for some reason this helpless sparkling tugged as a tender spot he never knew he had.
"Soundwave, who would have done such a thing?" he asked, anger rising in his voice.
Soundwave was silent a few kliks as he searched his endless memory files.
"Creator trine dead, sparkling abandoned by other seekers because he is too small to survive without caretakers." He responded.
"Well why didn't they care for him!? I thought seekerlets were the most important thing to those wretched flyers!"
"Seekers in war. Cannot care for sparklings while at war. More merciful to let sparkling die then lose caretakers his whole life."
Megatron was silent for about a breem, then, " Well, he isn't going to lose this caretaker." And with that, he scooped up the grimy seekerlet sparkling into one enormous servo and stood up. "I will be his caretaker, and Air Commander Thundercracker will help me."
Fast-forward a few million years…
Starscream, as Megatron had named him, had trined with the two top command seekers, Thundercracker and Skywarp after their third seeker was killed in battle.
In trine rank, he was third, but command rank he was wing second, and was very good at giving out and following his master Megatron's orders.
Megatron, Soundwave, and Thundercracker had raised the seekerlet well, and he was shaping up to be a fine soldier that Megatron was proud of.
The beautiful seeker adored Megatron, and was always happy to please him, which he was quite good at.
Megatron appointed him as his second-in-command in place of Soundwave, and made his new SIC Air Commander, even though it went against all seeker rules.
Megatron declared Starscream to be trine leader, and expected that to be that.
Starscream did well in his new position, despite the tension now in the seeker ranks.
He still submitted to Thundercracker, but made it clear that when he gave orders, they were from Megatron himself and were meant to be obeyed.
Like his master, Starscream could be cruel and heartless, but unlike his master, he could also kind and caring.
The pretty seeker was very curious, and had a sharp mind, often able to invent brilliant inventions for the Decepticons to use.
Megatron appreciated his sharp mind, and instructed the flyer himself in the scientific arts, giving Starscream much valuable knowledge.
Megatron had been a very strict caretaker, and still had no qualms about taking the striking young flyer over his knees for a sound spanking if he disobeyed, but it was not often the pretty SIC did so.
Many Decepticons liked to watch on the rare occasions Starscream got a spanking, because every one of them desired the beautiful seeker as their own, and Starscream knew it.
Being raised with only one seeker as an influence, young Starscream's view on interface was rather skewed, and he was eagerly waiting on his interface units to come online so he could interface with as many cons as he could.
Thundercracker had tried to instill some modesty in him, but it was hopeless.
The flashy new Air Commander loved the attentions he received from the other Decepticons too much to give it up, and his best friend and trine mate Skywarp didn't help it any, as Skywarp was perpetually in heat, known as a hot seeker.
Skywarp promised to interface with him as soon as his interface protocols came online; Starscream was anticipating that highly, and as soon as it happed, Skywarp kept his promise.
Then the young flyer was in for another shock: his first heat period.
Megatron was horrified when Starscream came into heat and began seeking a mate.
Starscream had been trined early, and the warlord was figuring that his seeker would spark-bond with one of his trine, but he didn't.
Megatron kept the confused seeker locked in his room until he came out of heat, and he came out sullen and angry.
Megatron made it up to him by giving him free reign on interfacing with whoever he wanted, even Autobot prisoners, and Starscream forgave him at once.
Starscream even came to like being spanked, as it gave him even more attention, but only if someone who hadn't raised him did the spanking, and he wasn't actually in any trouble.
If a Decepticon did well, Starscream would visit his private quarters, bend over the bed, table, or even throw himself across the lap of said soldier, and give him permission to spank him and interface with him.
It was the best reward any of the cons could have asked for, and troop obedience and morale increased drastically with Starscream in charge.
Megatron was well pleased with his young seeker, and praised him often, and even pampered him a little, letting him share his dining table and high-grade with him, and indulging him further in his interest in science.
He even let him go to the best university that dealt with science, on the condition the SIC go to the war academy as well.
Starscream graduated with top honors at both academies, and even made a new best friend, of whom Megatron did not know of, as the warlord never asked and Starscream was shy about talking about his new friend to anyone, as he had a crush on the half-seeker.
Then, Starscream began changing.
Slowly, without anyone but Thundercracker and Skywarp noticing, Starscream grew sullen and rebellious, lived to inflict pain and became desirous of Megatron's position as leader.
Before Megatron quite realized what was happening, his seeker was all grown up and very dangerous.
If it had not been for Soundwave's timely warning, Megatron would have been nothing more then a pile of smoking ashes.
As punishment to his once-trusted SIC, Megatron had shot the arm that held the gun that shot at him.
Then he reduced the power of his null rays considerably.
But Starscream did not give up.
Over and over and over, he tried to kill his leader, and defied his orders regularly.
It was soon tradition that Starscream and Megatron quarreled over every minor detail, and that Megatron always wound up having to beat Starscream into submission.
One night Megatron was ranting to what many called his pet, Soundwave.
In reality, Soundwave was his only friend.
The closest thing Megatron had to a pet was Skywarp, and as cruel as Megatron was, he refused to separate Thundercracker and Skywarp by using the adorable purple and black seeker as his own.
Soundwave had listened intently to Megatron's tirade, and then suggested something that made Megatron surprised.
Starscream still adored Megatron: so much so that he desired the cold gray leader's attentions in any possible way.
Including punishment.
Soundwave further blew Megatron's mind by informing him that by attempting to kill him, Starscream was trying to protect his leader, and that it was quite possible that Megatron was programmed to be his spark-mate.
The tri-colored seeker evidently had it in his head that if he defeated Megatron, he could take over the Decepticons, end the war, and Megatron would be re-built as his forever.
But, given Starscream's actual personality, the SIC would fare far better as Megatron's favored pet- enforced by plenty of spankings, Starscream's well-known favorite punishment.
His next true heat period would prove whether Starscream's processor had chosen Megatron as his sparkmate or it was all just speculation.
Soundwave admitted to having been providing the seeker with comfort after Megatron would brutally punish him for anything, and warned Megatron that even though Starscream craved affection and structure, he defied what he wanted for fear he would be considered weak.
He also was petrified that whatever he loved would be taken from him, and so the very things he most wanted he acted like he hated, so it would not be taken from him.
This made Megatron very uneasy, at once thinking of the Autobots and how much Starscream 'hated' Skyfire.
Soundwave, who up to this point had not punished Starscream, suggested that he be the one to discipline the SIC next, in order to judge his reaction.
The Air Commander had taken to seeking Soundwave out after a punishment, wanting comfort, and the TIC wanted to see just how much being punished by him would affect Starscream.
They talked all night, and by sunrise, Megatron had decided to follow Soundwave's advice- just as soon as Starscream misbehaved, which Megatron calculated would be very soon.