Another chappie! Two in one day. This time, we get to hear from Starscream.
Starscream pushed herself to her feet. Megatron landed beside her, wings spread in anger. He'd collected his sword and was holding the hilt so tightly that his knuckles were white.
He glared at her. "You let her get away."
Starscream almost pointed out that Megatron had let Knock Out get away as well, but she wasn't in the mood to get hit again tonight. She looked away from her husband. Megatron grunted, sheathing his sword.
Megatron turned his attention to Soundwave, the two Vehicons, and Steve. "You two, Vehicons, return to the Nemesis. I am in no mood for more disappointments tonight."
The Vehicons nodded and then shifted into dark birds and flew back to the Decepticon ship. Starscream watched them go, her wings twitching as Megatron began angrily pacing.
"Knock Out and Sideswipe are no longer members of the Decepticons," Megatron growled. "I will not tolerant anyone in my ranks who would hide away with the Autobots for the sake of a mere, weak child." Starscream winced at that. "Steve, congratulations. You've just been promoted to Decepticon medic."
Megatron glared at Starscream like he expected her to contradict him. Usually, she would have, but she found it fitting that Steve would be named medic as he often helped Knock Out. He was the next closest thing to a medic that the Decepticons had. Except for maybe Shockwave…Starscream shuddered at the thought of the scientist being in charge of injuries. No, Steve would do.
"Steve, check out Starscream's injury. She took a hoof to the face." Megatron turned away, leaving Starscream to glare at his back. He walked off a few paces, Soundwave silently following him. She got the feeling they were going to have a long telepathic conversation about her failure to bring Knock Out down.
Steve reached out and touched Starscream's cheek. She jerked back, her wings flaring slightly.
"Oops, sorry. Did that hurt?" Steve asked.
"What do you think, you dense idiot?" Starscream spat.
"My apologies, my princess," Steve said.
Starscream hated that. She had been the Princess of Vos back before the war. Her own people frowned upon because she studied abroad in Crystal City and became a scientist, but they knew better than to suggest following someone else. Besides, her people all knew she was the best and deadliest flier and no one would dare challenge her. At the beginning of the war, Vos had been bombed and utterly destroyed – along with the current Queen of Vos. Though Starscream had never had a coronation, and therefore was not the queen, her people, the Vosian Seekers, knew she was their leader. And she was loyal to her husband, therefore meaning that the Seekers were loyal to the Decepticons. It was all a bit complicated.
"Are your teeth loose?" Steve asked, distracting Starscream from her musings.
She tested her teeth with her tongue. There was a tiny wave of fresh pain, but nothing wiggled. "No."
"Then you'll just have some bruising," Steve said. "And maybe some minor swelling, but nothing to worry about. It's on the right side, so your bangs should cover the majority of the damage."
Starscream turned away from Steve, looking at Megatron and Soundwave. There had been a time, long ago, when Megatron would have conferred with her. Now he was convinced that she was his second best, not his equal. She sighed angrily, watched Megatron gesture wildly out into the darkness, no doubt talking about tracking down Knock Out.
She was not above thinking she could lead the Decepticons better than Megatron. It wasn't that she didn't think her husband was capable of leading, but he never actually bothered to learn what made his men tick. Starscream knew that the only thing Knock Out had the capability to love more than her looks was Sideswipe. Threatening Sideswipe…well, she wouldn't have done that. Of course it would push Knock Out to the other side.
"Steve, get back to the ship."
Steve scrambled off to follow Megatron's orders as Megatron stalked toward Starscream. Soundwave was flying into the sky in the background, the smaller form of Laserbeak darting out of the darkness to fly alongside him. Starscream met Megatron's gaze steadily. She knew what made her husband tick, when to press his buttons and when not to.
"Soundwave is going to make sure that the Autobots know they are harboring a Decepticon traitor," Megatron said.
Starscream almost blurted that that fact wasn't going to make the Autobots push Knock Out away. Then she realized that it might make the Autobots use Knock Out as a bargaining chip at some point. That was very unlikely, but, then again, Megatron liked to have many options and plans all at once. It was something the two of them had in common.
"I will tell Airachnid to release some of her Insecticons in this area to see if they can sniff out the Autobot base," Megatron continued.
"What of Breakdown?" Starscream asked.
"Apparently he and Knock Out were not exactly on good terms," Megatron said, his voice full of contempt for the lovers. "As for what happened to him, Soundwave thinks he was taken by M.E.C.H."
"Are we going to rescue him?"
"No," Megatron said. "Just as I don't tolerate traitors, I don't welcome soldiers taken out by mere humans." He glared at her. "I only welcomed you back after M.E.C.H. took you because you escaped on your own."
"And here I was under the impression that you welcomed me back because I was your wife," Starscream muttered.
Megatron arched an eyebrow. In the darkness, his dark brown hair was black. "My wife you may be, but you are a soldier first. Prove you're worthy of being my wife by surviving this war."
He turned and shifted into a dark gray wolf. He raced off into the night, leaving Starscream alone. She shifted her wings, expanding them, watching the starlight glint off the silver feathers. The tips of her large, primary were blood red, the same shade as her dyed bangs.
"Prove I'm worthy of being your wife?" she whispered to the night. "I already have. And you were once happy to be my husband…"
Starscream lifted her wings up, her shadow taking the form of a vengeful angel. She suddenly realized why Megatron was less concerned with her and more concerned with the war. She suddenly realized how to get her husband to come back to her.
"I will kill every single Autobot myself if I have too."
She swiped her lithe and strong wings downward, taking off into the night.
Okay, so Starscream is a seriously messed up character with a twisted view of the war and Megatron. I want her to be a killer, but I want her to have a motive...and Starscream is always wanting attention, so she wants Megatron's attention in order to have a loving relationship. Also, this chapter was a bit shorter than I thought it would turn out to be...but, I'll update soon.