After Arcee had left, Starscream sat hunched against the wall of his cell, inwardly berating himself for his behaviour.
Idiot, he cursed silently. Acting like some love-struck sparkling over a weakling Autobot!
However, before long he was jerked from his despondency by another loud boom, this one seeming somehow closer than before and causing the room to vibrate slightly. Puzzled, the seeker glanced up as around him various other inmates were roused by the noise and awoke, shaking off sleep and staring around at each other.
Gradually, Starscream began to detect distant voices shouting in alarm, and also the sounds of weapons being fired. Scrambling to his pedes, he pressed his faceplates to the bars of his cell just as a posse of Autobots ran past, bristling with weaponry. There was the sound of a third explosion and the door to the cell block was blasted open, shrapnel flying forwards and taking down the front row of Autobots. A prison warden staggered through the opening, armour charred and smoking in several places. Starscream recognised Arcee's companion, Smokescreen, from earlier.
"Retreat!" he bellowed at those troops that were still standing. "We need backup if we're gonna sort this out – it's a prison break!"
"Yeah, we gathered that much, Smoky," one of the soldiers growled. "What's the situation out there?"
"Looks like most of the 'Cons still known to be at large," was the reply. "They've got Team Chaar, the Stunticons, Combaticons and Triple Changers, as well as a load of other warriors who it looks like have been recruited from all over the galaxy. There's some we didn't even know existed!"
The inmates were stirring interestedly now, as though scenting the prospect of escape on the air. The leader of the soldiers noticed this, and addressed Smokescreen.
"There's a clear route to the administration block from here," he informed the warden. "We should make our way over there and call for backup."
With a curt nod, Smokescreen headed for the opposite door. He was closely followed by the soldiers, many of whom were carrying injured comrades.
However, they hadn't made it very far when the largest explosion yet shook the prison to its foundations. The occupants of the block were plunged into darkness as the lights winked out, and there was a great fizzing, crackling noise as with a dying hum the energy bars on the cells were deactivated along with the stasis cuffs of every inmate in the block.
Nobot moved for all of a nanoklik, but then as one the prisoners roared out into the corridor, hurling themselves at the Autobots and proceeding to attack. All except Starscream, that is. Smirking to himself as he recognised Blackout's handiwork, he sauntered through the ruined door into the adjoining cell block, where the ceiling had been all but ripped away. A glance upwards revealed a trio of seekers swooping around overhead, and he recognised Thundercracker and Skywarp as being two of them. But the third…
He refused to believe it. Even as she detached herself from her 'brothers' upon catching sight of Starscream and descended to meet him, he would not accept that it was Slipstream.
"You!" he screeched. "Why in Unicron's name did you allow me to be captured? What was even the point; considering you were gonna do this all along?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Slipstream smirked. "How could I possibly have stopped you? If you wanted to be a complete glitch head and fly straight into the Autobots' clutches, I don't see what I could have done about it."
"I - don't give me that bullscrap!" the male seeker retorted. "I know that you knew that the Elite Guard were on Earth! You planned this, didn't you?"
Slipstream's optics narrowed.
"Fine, I planned it!" she snarled. "In fact, I've played a key role in orchestrating this whole operation! I'm the one who rounded up Soundwave and Blackarachnia and contacted Team Chaar for assistance, and now Megatron and some of his most loyal followers are free again. But you'd never admit that I could've done that, would you? No-o, the Great Starscream cannot possibly comprehend that his weakling femclone has inherited his tactical and cunning side!"
Starscream was nonplussed.
"But if that's true, then why did you resurrect me in the first place?" he asked.
"Like I said, I'm your tactical side. Reviving you, creating an ally, seemed like a good idea at the time." The femme snorted. "Of course, I revised that opinion almost as soon as you came online. That's why I tricked you into getting locked up here – that and the fact that I didn't want you finding out about my plans and trying to screw them up one way or another. You weren't even supposed to be freed. That was just Blackout being incompetent as usual."
With that, she produced a pair of stasis cuffs from subspace.
"Just as a precaution," she told him.
Starscream attempted a desperate plea to save himself.
"Slipstream, wait! Why do you have to ally yourself with them? We could both leave now and have no further part in the war – surely that would be the better option?"
Slipstream scowled.
"'No further part'?" she repeated mockingly. "What, apart from you trying to take over the Decepticons every other solar cycle? I chose my side already, thanks! I'm loyal to Megatron."
Her voice sounded different as she spoke this last word, and realisation hit Starscream at seventy mechanometres a megacycle.
"You've fallen for him, haven't you?" he asked quietly. When his only answer was a venomous glare, he laughed. "The oh-so-tactical and cunning Slipstream has fallen for the mighty Megatron!"
"It's not funny!" the femme spat, clenching her fists. "Yes, I have feelings for him, and yes, I will act on them!"
Upon hearing this, Starscream instantly grew serious.
"You're right," he agreed. "It's not funny. I know Megatron, Slipstream – I've seen him do away with countless femmes once they'd outlived their …usefulness." Slipstream opened her mouth to protest, but he continued. "Go back to the Decepticons if you must, but be careful of Megatron. He will use you, and he will crush your spark without thinking twice about it."
The femme in front of him shuttered her optics a few times in confusion before taking off, abandoning the stasis cuffs behind her. Starscream picked them up with a heavy spark. Much as she hated and irritated him, he did not want to see Slipstream – his Slipstream; his clone- hurt by Megatron.
Just then a loud command reached his audios, and he turned his helm towards the source of the shout.
"Head for the Space Bridge port!" called the unmistakable voice of Megatron. "We'll rendezvous there!"
Starscream smiled to himself, spinning the cuffs around one of his clawed digits. If Megatron was going to cause trouble for Slipstream, perhaps he could exact a little premature revenge.