II.
Blackout hadn't had to try very hard to convince Starscream to hang around outside the room while Barricade spoke to Megatron. By that point, Starscream had recovered some of his equilibrium; enough, at any rate, to have switched on his scheming subroutines.
"Admit it," Starscream said, but quietly so he wouldn't be overheard, "I was a better leader than Megatron."
"You think I'm gonna answer that here? Where anyone could be listening? Dumber than you look, Starscream."
The jet smirked. "That answer is sufficient."
Blackout was formulating a snide reply when the door slid open. Barricade stepped through. He moved heavily, always, as if walking like he weighed a few extra tons would make him more imposing. Didn't change the fact that Barricade barely reached Blackout's thoracic girdle. Barricade's eyes flicked up to the pair of larger bots, framing the corridor. Blackout elbowed himself up off the wall.
Barricade kept walking. "Has the ship suddenly gotten more dangerous, or have I come down with a fatal case of popularity?" he said, not looking back as the other two fell into step behind him.
Starscream opened his mouth, but Blackout cut him off. "Thought you might like a little background about the capture."
"How very generous of you." Where Megatron or Starscream would have said it with poisonous sarcasm, Barricade's delivery was bland. As if it wasn't worth the extra effort. "It was at our forward base." As if that were all he needed to know.
"What does Megatron want you to do?" Starscream blurted. Blackout thought seriously about punching him in the vernier.
Barricade stopped. "What do you think he wants me to do?"
"What if they don't know anything?"
Barricade turned to face Starscream, trying not to look ridiculous as he tried to stare down someone almost twice his height. "Is that what you're afraid of?"
Starscream's head jerked back, as if Barricade had struck him.
Blackout stepped between them. "What he's saying is, what if they don't have the specific information you're looking for?"
"The meteor impact sites? They'll still be useful."
"Drain on resources," Starscream retorted, still angry at Barricade's confrontational question. Blackout remembered Starscream had whined about not being fully repaired before the mission to Bourzey—that he wasn't worth the resources or some such self-pitying nonsense. Starscream still had ego, even when casting himself as the victim.
"Useful," Barricade insisted, flatly. After a long moment, he rolled his eyes. "Psyops. Useful. If I can hard break one of them."
Starscream cut in. "Show them snivelling and weak."
Barricade tilted his head dismissively, as if that was a barely-decent idea. "Or, get them to say something negative about their human allies. With less glamor, they'd still know things like mission profiles, objectives, current level of resupply. Useful."
"They will not just outright tell you these things," Starscream said.
"Be surprised what you let slip when you talk."
"I? I revealed nothing."
"Oh? I read your report, Starscream." He said it like a warning.
"You read—why?"
"I am the chief intelligence officer. Or had you forgotten." More of that unsettling blandness.
"But Soundwave—"
"Soundwave is better at crypto and signals intelligence. Analysis requires a slightly different kind of processing. Now would you care for further education regarding what you revealed to the Autobots during your excessively long captivity?" Blackout swore he saw the hint of a malicious smile on Barricade's mouth as Starscream bridled. "I have broken down your intelligence shortfalls into three main categories: what you revealed about our kind, as in Cybertronian; what you revealed about the Decepticons; and what you revealed about yourself." Definite smile, now—Barricade was jerking Starscream's strings. For fun.
Starscream's mouth opened, to protest. He snapped it shut. Blackout never thought he'd see the day: Starscream, at a loss for words. This was priceless.
Barricade took a step back, coming out of his aggressive pose. "Now, if you don't mind, I do have work to do. If I need your assistance, I will request it." He nodded amicably at Blackout, giving him a wry almost-wink. Tearing Starscream down was apparently Barricade's way of a little friendly teasing. Oh well, Starscream would get over it. He could follow a good instinct, and at bottom he knew Barricade was a better ally than enemy. At least, if he were half as smart as he thought he was.