Hello folks! :)
I know I should finish my other stories first, but I can't help myself (I'm blaming my muse for this outrage). Well... to put it short, I wanted to write about how I imagined this all "Cosmic Rust" thing, I tried to put it in a more realistic/scientific way, though I'm just a wannabe scientist and it's still a bit hard to write about microbiology in English, but I'm trying my best. I also wanted to try writing about a "scientist Starscream" in a situation where his knowledge and experience prompts him to take control, especially since Megatron is ill himself.
And I don't know what will come out of it, I'm still planning. I just wanted to know if it's worthy to continue or not, I enjoy writing for myself, but I'm also happy to make people happy. :D Even if the stuff I write is quite angsty...
Too much of me, onto the story. :) Yah, and sorry for the errors... I'm too sleepy to check.
I.
"You heard me, Hook," Starscream's voice screeched through the comm. link, "isolate the repair bay as quarantine for us, and wear coveralls and masks when you come to take us in."
"Starscream," Hook sounded relatively annoyed, "how can you tell at all-"
"I have my methods," Starscream was starting to lose patience at the Constructicon's lack of respect, "and last time I checked, of the two of us, I am the scientist and your superior, so do as I say! Megatron and Astrotrain are infected for sure, and I don't want to risk anything until I can figure out what exactly we have here."
A whoosh of air could be heard from the link as Hook sighed, "Alright, Starscream. We'll make the preparations. Hook out."
Starscream snorted and turned back to Megatron; his leader was still clutching his shoulder where he had been hit by the asteroid chunk, but instead of moaning, he was taking deep ventilations to cool his systems. His temperature had risen, and Starscream could see through the cracks between his fingers that the metal around the tear had darkened considerably - that was the first thing that rose the Seeker's suspicion. He was glad he still kept his inbuilt microscope from the time before the war when they went exploring other worlds with Skyfire, but he wasn't so glad about what he saw when he examined Megatron's wound and the chunk.
And seeing the Gunformer's dazed look and how quickly it affected him, Starscream was starting to think it was better when he was still throwing tantrums.
The air commander was preparing for another comm. call when he heard Megatron's voice, "Starscream... are you sure you're not mistaken? Some strange corrosive chemical would be more logical then organic microbes-"
"I know what I saw, Megatron." Starscream grumbled back, "Those were microbes, though I didn't state they were organic, I said they looked like they're organic. And anyway, we explored many planets with Skyfire" he fought the urge to wince at the name, "and we've found organic microbes that use metals as energy sources. Even on Earth there are species of bacteria that oxidize iron or other metals. That's why I need to examine this thing, and until I can figure out how it spreads, we'll stay in quarantine."
"Why do I have to stay?" he heard Rumble's whine from his other side and looked down to see the mini-mech scowling up at him, "You touched Megatron and the asteroid, okay, but I didn't-"
"You're in contact with Astrotrain." Starscream shot back, "You're inside him! And didn't you listen to what I said?! I don't know how infectious it is, and you can't walk around in base spreading it all over the Nemesis!"
Rumble looked down, "But I don't feel ill." he said and this time, there was a twinge of fear in his voice besides the annoyance.
"Not feeling ill and not being ill are two different things." Starscream managed to contain himself from screeching again, "I'm not feeling ill either, but I might be infected already. All of us. Stop being a crybaby, a little isolation won't hurt you."
"Rumble," came Megatron's raspy voice from the other side, "I hate to say it, but listen to him."
Starscream didn't know if their leader was already too weak or simply had realized his second was more of an expert in this field than him, but the Seeker was grateful he, for once, trusted him enough to take control and didn't argue back. It made things a lot easier for him, and he nodded shortly to the Gunformer.
Rumble shut his mouth at Megatron's order and Starscream took a deep breath. He could see the young Cassetticon was frightened, and he could understand it; the thought of being infected with some unknown, maybe even mutated organism scared him, too, but he needed to collect his thoughts and he couldn't do that when everybody was questioning him. He was the scientist! He knew what he was doing.
He activated his comm. again, and this time, the deep voice of his trinemate greeted him, "Thundercracker here. What is it, Screamer? You're coming back already?"
"Something unexpected happened." Starscream tried to speak calmly, "Listen to me now, I need you to retrieve some things from my lab and take them to the repair bay."
Thundercracker was silent for a moment, "Of course, Starscream, but why?"
The trine leader sighed, "I'll explain you later, Thundercracker. I need a microscope, Petri dishes, loops, an incubator, agar powder and... well, at least one from every chemical you can find."
"Wow, Screamer... that sounds like an idea Skywarp would have to make a bomb for the Autobots. Why do you need all these? You want to grow something?"
"Thundercracker, please, I told you I'll explain everything. Do this for me... you're about the only one I trust enough to touch my lab equipment. And don't tell Skywarp anything, and by all means, stop him from teleporting into the repair bay!"
"O-okay... I'll try to make everything ready by the time you arrive."
"Thank you." Starscream sighed in relief as he ended the conversation. He knew he could trust Thundercracker, and even if he himself wasn't a scientist, he knew what Starscream needed and would keep things in order for him.
"That Petri dish," Megatron spoke up, he winced and tensed as a wave of sharp pain assaulted his wound again, "isn't that a human thing?"
"Yes, it is." Starscream answered, a little bit surprised at Megatron's knowledge of that one, "They use that to grow cell cultures. I got it from a lab we raided once. Since we're on Earth, I thought I would get acquainted with how humans work with these organic creatures of theirs... and I don't have much else either. I want to see if I can make a culture of these microbes since they seem organic to me... The only thing I know is that they can withstand long periods of cold temperature and radiation, but I want to know their metabolism. What exactly they feed off and what they make that can corrode even us."
Megatron nodded absently and vented deeply, "Maybe you should also contact Soundwave. He could gather information about this planet and these germs that most likely wiped out its inhabitants."
Starscream nodded, that was a good idea - it would be hard to believe that no scientist or medic had ever made descriptions about this disease. Maybe there were survivors, or someone who had found a cure to it. However, before he could open his comm. link again, Astrotrain gave a mighty shudder. The air commander had noticed earlier that the triple-changer's interior seemed warmer than before, indicating that his temperature was rising, just like Megatron's, but he hoped he wouldn't overheat until they reached Earth.
"Astrotrain?" Starscream asked with a worried frown.
"I'm good." Astrotrain's voice sounded weaker than it should have, "Just hurts a little, but I'll manage."
"We can call Blitzwing to help you-"
"No, no, I can make it. Besides... I don't want him infected if what you said is true."
His shudderings increased, but they made it to Earth. Starscream let out a sigh of relief when they finally landed, he saw three of the Constructicons, Hook, Scrapper and Scavenger waiting for them, all wore protective coveralls as he instructed. At least he didn't need to argue with them anymore. They helped unload the Lightning Bug first and Starscream made an attempt to help Megatron, but the Decepticon leader pushed him away, stubborn as ever and Starscream rolled his optics. Astrotrain, however, was a different case.
The moment the triple-changer transformed back to his robot mode, he staggered, Hook caught him just in time before he could have collapsed. Scrapper moved to his other side and together they supported Astrotrain on the way to the repair bay with Starscream, Megatron and Rumble following them quietly. Just as they were reaching the repair bay did Starscream see Thundercracker, Skywarp and Soundwave stand together and he saw his two trinemates' optics widen at the sight.
"Starscream..." Skywarp already took a step towards them, but Starscream quickly held out both his hands to stop him.
"Don't come near us." he said sternly, "And don't go into the repair bay."
Thundercracker grabbed Skywarp's arm to pull him back gently and let them pass, though he himself couldn't hide his shock either. So that was why Starscream needed all those things from his lab? Were they... infected with something?
But how was that possible?
Rumble looked at Soundwave with a pleading expression, his creator just stood there holding a datapad in one hand and watched them quietly as the glass door of the repair bay, raised as part of the quarantine, closed after them. Starscream made his way to one of the wash racks, Hook and Scrapper helped Astrotrain lie down on a berth while Megatron sat down - or rather collapsed - on another. Only Rumble remained standing by the glass, looking out to Soundwave as the other Constructicons tended to the two ill mechs.
Soundwave walked slowly up to the glass that separated him from the Cassetticon and lowered himself to one knee. Rumble folded his arms around himself, Soundwave could see shivers running down his small body and he could feel his fear through their bond. The mini-con fidgeted nervously, his visor was shining brighter, an almost sharp shade of red and Soundwave tried to send shooting waves to him.
He didn't want his creation to feel how scared he was.
"How are you feeling?" Soundwave's monotone voice seemingly didn't carry any emotions, but Rumble was able to distinguish the tones and he recognised the trace of worry that even his creator couldn't hide.
"I'm fine, Soundwave!" Rumble exclaimed, "Tell Starscream to let me outta here! I'm not sick or anything."
"Starscream's instructions are reasonable. Cosmic Rust is very destructive."
Rumble frowned, but then he remembered Starscream had contacted Soundwave to gather information about the disease; that must have been the datapad he was still holding, "C-Cosmic Rust? But we don't rust!"
"Well, it seems we do." they heard Hook's voice and Rumble turned around to look at him. Hook was injecting nanites into Megatron's medical port on his upper arm to dull his pain receptors and now turned to examine the wound on his shoulder. Scrapper and Scavenger remained with Astrotrain, they brought ice packs to try to lower his temperature, the triple-changer was taking deep vents and looked rather dazed - he had overexerted himself and Rumble could see the rust-like substance around the tear on his waist that was the same as on Megatron's shoulder.
Hook continued, "I have never seen anything like this before. You must remain here until we examined you."
Rumble was now visibly shaking and Soundwave could almost feel his spark quiver with the violent desperation that overtook him. When the tape decker saw the first drop of coolant roll down the small face from under his visor, he stood back up and turned to the Constructicon.
"Hook, I require entrance."
Hook looked up at him and sighed. He knew how strong Soundwave's connection was with his cassettes, so he pointed over to a cabin on the side, "You'll find mask and coverall there and then you can come in."
Soundwave nodded and went over to the entrance of the quarantine area. Seeing this, Skywarp's optics brightened and he walked up to the glass, too, "Can we go in with TC? We want to see-"
"No!" Scrapper shook his head, "Only one at a time."
"Where's Screamer anyway?" Thundercracker asked.
"Preparing his personal lab, I guess. Heh, I guess you could tell him to come down from the clouds. He might have been a scientist, but he won't escape examination either."
Soundwave ignored the uncomfortable sensation of the protective layer around him as he stepped into the medbay and hurried up to Rumble. He crouched down to the small mech and hugged him to himself, he felt Rumble press his face into his shoulder as sobs rocked his body. The Cassetticon at that moment didn't care that everyone could see it, the thought of him crumbling to rust like that Autobot in the hologram terrified him greatly.
Soundwave led him to one of the berths and picked him up to his lap, stroking his back in circles. Even through the coverall, he could feel that Rumble's body was warmer than it should have been and Soundwave's chest tighten. He dreaded the thought of his mini-mech being infected, especially after all the things he had found about Cosmic Rust, as the disease was called. He hoped with his entire spark that, by some miracle, Rumble would be unaffected, and it was just this emotional breakdown that caused him to start to overheat.
He couldn't bear the thought of losing one of his creations.
Meanwhile in the wash racks, Starscream took a deep breath. He knew he had to allow one of the Constructicons to look over his body for any sign of change, but he wanted to do an examination himself, at least on those parts that he could reach and see. His energon pump was racing and a hot wave rushed through his frame, making him shudder. He vented deeply again to calm himself down and raised up his right arm to look over it.
He wanted to go downwards examining himself and he tried to have a look at every inch of the limb from his fingers up to his shoulder. He couldn't see anything, but didn't allow himself relief. Next came his left arm, he tried to feel every outer wire searching for a rougher texture, something that did not belong there, but he again found none.
It would have been much easier if they had a mirror or anything Starscream could see himself in, he grunted as he tried to strain his neck cables as much as he could to have a better view of his wings. Their inner side that he could see seemed clear. He felt his neck and chest, moving his hands down his sides and back as long as he could reach, but still nothing. A small spark of hope was starting to build up in him, but it all shattered when he reached his waist and groin area.
There it was. A spot on his right side, just where the red plating ended over the base of his thigh, a dark spot that's center was already turning to a brownish color. Starscream took a shaky breath and closed his optics tight, he already felt coolant well up in them. He shook his head and carefully touched the spot, hissing softly when he felt how sensitive and painful it was. How could he not feel it until then? Maybe he was too preoccupied with making everything ready... yes, that was the reason.
The Seeker washed his hands thoroughly and wiped away the coolant that managed to escape his optics, he leant over the sink supporting himself on his arms. He vented deeply and straightened up, trying to collect himself. There was no time for crying. He needed to make the preparations to find out what was causing this all. He needed to find a solution, after all, he was the scientist.
After millions of years of war and surviva , they couldn't end like this...
