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IV

"What in the pits has gotten into the two of you?" Thundercracker stood between Skywarp and I, optics flashing brighter with agitation and worry.

I did not answer him, hands curled into fists down by my sides. I was too busy glaring with all the vehemence I could muster at Skywarp, who dared to have the spark to glare hotly back at me.

Ever since the trip to Kaon, I had been ignoring Skywarp's attempts at explaining himself in hopes to make me forgive him. I had no intention whatsoever of doing so. His transgressions were simply too great. I could not understand why he would even consider replicating Seeker wings to sell in the slums of Kaon, and his nonsense babbling at trying to justify his actions did not help dispel my confusion and disgust in the slightest.

Every cycle since the incident, Skywarp followed me around, whining and nudging at my wings. Despite his irritating tenaciousness, I paid him no attention, opting to pretend he did not exist. However, when he tried for the umpteenth time to return to my good graces with a most unbearably atrocious comment, I finally lost all patience and reservation toward him as my trine mate, and punched him in the faceplate.

"What's so bad about grounders wanting some Seeker wings anyways?" He had said half-jokingly, "You should see it as a compliment!"

…I felt the energon in my fuel lines boil just thinking about his remark.

To make matters worse, not only did Skywarp dare suggest that I should see ground pounder perversity as flattery to flier-kind, he had the nerve-circuits to growl and take a swing at me with his fist after I dealt him appropriate punishment. I did not anticipate his retaliation. After all, even the mere implication of violence toward me, the Crown Prince, would violate so many Vosian laws that the offender would spend several vorns stuck in solitary confinement. However, I had obviously underestimated his level of insolence and stupidity. He made a swipe toward me as soon as he recovered from my punch, and hit me on the side of my helm.

The only reason I could think of as to why he missed my faceplate was probably because he forgot that I was half a helm shorter than he was.

Leave it to Skywarp to forget about how tall his trine leader was.

As soon as his hit fell, I fought back, and we quickly became a sprawled mess on the floor trying to throttle each other. At first, Thundercracker merely stayed on the sidelines, undoubtedly convinced that we were not serious about our brawl. This was hardly the first time I had gotten physical with the purple idiot, so Thundercracker probably assumed that Skywarp, being the better Seeker in close-quarter combat, was only trying to placate me as I landed kicks and punches. Even though my blue trine mate watched us with keen optics, he would have never suspected that Skywarp would actually attempt to harm me in any way. However, that quickly changed when the purple slagger was very apparently trying to prove his superiority:

He forced me under him on the floor, and started to pull on one of my wings.

The strain on my wing joint hurt like slag, and I screamed, clawing at the snarling faceplate hovering above mine. Skywarp winced from the sound I was making, and I was only allowed a brief moment of satisfaction from seeing him grimace before Thundercracker finally intervened, yanking Skywarp away. The mediator of our trine grabbed Skywarp by the wing tips, and dragged him all the way to the other side of the room. I instantly got up to make another lunge at Skywarp, pain momentarily forgotten in favour of contemptuous rage. Thundercracker immediately came between us, acting as a physical buffer, and held us apart as well as he could.

Both Skywarp and I suffered minor damages, but neither of us was discouraged from the notion of another round. I would have much preferred to take our disagreement to the sky, where I would, without doubt, kick his aft spectacularly despite his annoying ability of teleportation. Unfortunately, in order to get to the sky, we would need to leave the room, which would unequivocally make Skywarp's underdeveloped processors come up with the ridiculous conclusion that I had admitted defeat. I narrowed my optics, and scowled at Skywarp. I would have never conceded to a fight on the ground under normal circumstances, but if Skywarp wanted a fight, I would not back down.

He was the one in the wrong in the first place, Primus-damn-it!

"Stay out of this, TC," Skywarp growled, frame shaking with anger. "I'm sick of this little slagger acting like he's got his vents stuck up his aft!" He shouted, baring his dentae, and pointed rudely at me. "He's been treating me like a pile of scrap for a whole Primus-damned deca now, and I'm fragged off! He's gonna apologize to me or I'm poundin' him into the floor!"

My optics narrowed further, forming thin slits, and my cooling fans rumbled with a low, raging whirr. My frame trembled, and, for a long moment, I only seethed, thinking of all the delicious ways with which I would show him just why I was the trine leader and he was not. Admittedly, there was very little I could do while confined indoors to someone who grew up as a scoundrel in the lower levels. However, I had a weapon that could hurt far worse than any fist, and I was far from tentative about using it to my advantage.

My sneer slowly unraveled, and morphed into a sweet, malicious smirk. I tilted up my chin, and gazed at my fuming trine mate with no expression short of scornful disregard and amusement.

"That's rich, coming from someone who's been begging for my forgiveness for the past entire deca." I spoke liltingly, and let out a string of pearly chuckles. "However, my dearest trine mate, you seem to have forgotten about something very important," I feigned a look of hurt, and lowered my voice to a purr, lips puckering into a teasing pout:

"…Those of your class beg on their knees, Skywarp."

For a moment, Skywarp only stared at me, optics widened and lips parted from a silent gasp of shock. His intakes skidded to a full stop, and he looked completely stricken, frame rigid and wings stiff. Thundercracker snapped his helm around, and was so horrified that he rebooted his optics as though he could not believe I was indeed his trine leader. They were both appalled by what I had said, expressions darkened by dismay. The air became static with tension, and, for a brief klik, I could not quite decide whether the trembling in my spark was satisfaction or regret.

"…Starscream!" Thundercrakcer finally broke the silence with a breathy, harsh exclamation of disbelief, but whatever he had planned on saying afterward was almost instantly cut off. Skywarp snapped out of his petrified stupor, and he began to shake. His optics combusted into brightened spheres of resentful anger, and a loud roar of pure rage tore from his lips.

"You little glitch!" He cried out, faceplate twisting into a jagged snarl of fury, and instantly lunged toward me, hands outstretched to grab me and beat me to the ground. Thundercracker jolted in surprise at the sudden movement. However, as shocked by my statement as he still was, he did not forget to hold our purple trine mate back. He could barely keep Skywarp at bay, struggling visibly. He shivered when the enraged Seeker let out more cries of utter infuriation promising violence, and periodically sent me glances of reproach.

I was not exactly unprepared for Skywarp's reaction to my words. Anyone who has had even the most minimal of interactions with my purple trine mate knew that his class status in Vosian society was a topic best avoided. No one quite knew why, but Skywarp always became extremely livid and rather destructive whenever his less-than-desirable background came under discussion. No amount of punishment could make him feel even the slightest remourseful about sending the commenter to the med bay either, so no flier was particularly inclined to delve into the mystery.

In truth, I was expecting him to react in such a manner. I had succeeded in landing my attack, and I haughtily mocked him further by flashing him an amused, arrogant smirk, crossing my arms over my cockpit. Usually, I would refrain from taunting a bigger mech who was anything but foaming at the mouth, but I had Thundercracker to keep the rabid idiot away, so I was safe. As long as Thundercrakcer was here, Skywarp could not possibly come close enough to harm me, so I was assured to enjoy my victory to the fullest. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that all situations had the possibility of unpredictable outcome. I had failed to take into account that Skywarp, despite being a drooling imbecile most of the time, had a chance for uncharacteristic ingenuity.

Thundercracker continued to fend off Skywarp's advances, frame stiffened in an unyielding push. He was exerting himself to keep our purple trine mate back, which was why Skywarp's sudden back-step threw him completely off-balance. Skywarp slipped from Thundercracker's grasp for barely half a klik, but an instance was more than long enough for him to activate his warping system. He disappeared in a puff of purple smoke, and my flight sensors caught the current of the incoming punch from behind me before my processors even realized what had happened.

The fist hit my left wing right where it connected to my back, and an excruciating pain crashed over my neural grid. The agony was so severe that my optics blanked out, and I could barely gasp, processors reeling from the sensory input. Hands grabbed my shoulder vents, and pulled down, bending me backward. I was not allowed a single moment of reprieve before Skywarp kneed me right where his fist had fallen only a few kliks before, and I saw static.

I must have screamed, but I could not know for sure. My processors were wiped clean of thoughts, and I fell to the floor, unable to move due to the stabbing, swelling burn from my left wing joint. My entire body shook in sharp spasms, and my fingers grappled against the floor. If I did not know better, I would have thought my wing had been ripped clean off from my back. It was still attached to my body, though, and I knew that no flier, no matter how angry, would ever inflict enough damage to another flier as to render the other unable to fly.

…But by Unicron did it hurt. My sensors were on fire. Sharp, stinging pain pierced through my core, and my spark jumped erratically, frantic in my spark chamber.

An eternity must have passed before my processors once again took notice of my surroundings. I was sprawled out inelegantly on the floor, faceplate to the ceiling. My vocalizer made tiny little sobbing noises, and coolant fell abundantly from my optics in streams. A thought lazily floated across the misty haze of agony, wondering how pathetic I must have looked. Shame tasted bitter on my glossa, but even still, I could not stop quivering on the floor, whimpering like a sparkling that made a fall during his first lesson of flight.

Skywarp was standing over me with a big scowl on his faceplate. He shouted down at me, gesturing wildly. I could not quite catch what he was saying, but just from his tone of voice, I could tell he was obviously still as angry as when he first punched me in my wing joint. However, he was no longer physically attacking me, and that was all I really cared about at that moment.

Thundercracker quickly appeared into my line of vision, and forcefully pulled Skywarp back. There were loud knocking sounds coming from the doors, and Thundercracker's voice gained an edge of fear. An explosion shook the floor I was lying on, jolting my injured wing joint, and I whined loudly in protest. Hurried ped falls came closer and closer, and finally, I regained enough processing power to figure out what was going on.

The guards had apparently burst into my trine's common quarters. Their sudden appearance was a little surprising. After all, scuffles between trine mates were often left alone by others to be sorted out within the trine itself. There was also a strict ban on anyone other than my trine from entering these chambers, the only exception being the cleaning staff. The ruckus Skywarp was making must have been extremely loud to have led the guards to believe that there was legitimate threat to my safety.

"—violation of Section one hundred and forty two of Vosian Act of Allegiance-"

"But this is a matter strictly within our trine—"

"No citizen of Vos, no matter of what relation to the Crown, is exempt from—"

"-I suggest you keep your wing tips out of the matters of the Royal Trine, soldier!"

Thundercracker was arguing heatedly with the guards, who were trying to arrest Skywarp for attacking me. For a brief moment, I wondered why the calm and reasonable Thundercracker was losing his temper over the matters of a stupid purple slagger. The guards were only following the code Thundercracker's own ancestor-units solidified, and there was no flier more familiar with Vosian laws and regulations than my blue trine mate. There was really no reason for him to become so agitated over the guards trying to do their jobs, but that thought did not last long in my processors. Embarrassment at being bested by the aforementioned stupid purple slagger quickly overtook my short-lived pondering, and my spark instantly answered with an overwhelming surge of wrath.

"You!" Wiping my faceplate clean of coolant, I staggered onto my peds, and pointed accusatively at Skywarp. "You—…You insolent piece of scrap!" My vocalizer glitched mid-cry, making a hiccup in my voice, and I grew even angrier. All optics in the room immediately turned toward me, and, suddenly at the center of attention, the quivering in my wings and my lips worsened. My wing joint's suffering returned with a vengeance, and my spark shivered, releasing a swelling wave of yearning for sympathy and comfort. My frame began to shake. Coolant once again threatened to spill down my faceplate. I bit down harshly on my dentae, and cursed my spark for wishing that someone would come closer to hold me and rub my wing better.

"What is your command, your Highness?" The leader of the group of guards addressed me, and put a hand over his spark before making a small bow.

My optics narrowed, and I gritted out a sneer.

"Put him in solitary confinement until further notice, and deactivate his coordinate system. I want him thoroughly punished and sorry by the time he's released!"

The guards all froze for a klik before they remembered to nod in acknowledgement of my order. Thundercracker looked at me with shock, and Skywarp, to my extreme annoyance, only pressed his lips tighter together. His whole demeanor spoke of provocative defiance, and he dared to stick out his chassis as though he had accomplished something to be proud of. This made me even more furious at everything he had done, and my hands curled into fists.

"Arrest him!" I shouted at the guards, who were moving too slowly for my liking. They immediately acted faster, and reached for Skywarp with stasis-cuffs already activated.

"No! Th-There must've been a misunderstanding! Stop!" Thundercracker still shielded the purple idiot, optics flashing from the guards to me, "Star, you can't be serious! No breech of law is above a hearing!"

I doubted Skywarp understood the severity of the situation. Pits, even I did not really know how much slag Skywarp had gotten himself into this time. No sovereign of Vos had directly ordered an arrest on a Vosian citizen since the beginning of the Golden Age, but I was beyond caring at that point. Skywarp refused to apologize and plead for a lesser sentence, so I was not about to budge. After all, who was I to deny my wayward trine mate a chance to experience the best disciplinary method my city had to offer if he so desired it?

Thundercracker was still frantically trying to block the advances of the guards. "Starscream!" He cried out to me, optics bright with desperate plea for me to call off my command. For a moment, my spark genuinely hesitated, but my processors slammed the hesitation to nil.

Skywarp deserved to be put in his place.

One of the guards finally got a firm enough hold on Thundercracker to drag him away. Protesting loudly, my blue trine mate struggled and yelled at the guards to stop. I frowned in slight confusion. Thundercracker was sure making a big fuss about Skywarp spending a little time in a locked, but otherwise fairly comfortable room. Skywarp would be cut off from the sky, yes, but energon rations would be given to him at regular intervals. I was hardly going to lock him away forever. This surely could not be that bad.

Skywarp growled as the guards neared him, and he looked readier than ever to put up a fight. However, before the guards managed to place even a single digit on his plating, Thundercracker took in a noisy gasp of dread, and let out a hysterical cry:

"Get out of here, Skywarp! Teleport! Now!"

Skywarp startled from the shrill desperation laced in Thundercracker's usually smooth, gentle voice, and gave our blue trine mate a surprised and confused look.

"Now!" Thundercracker cried out once more, bucking against the guard that held him back. He gazed at Skywarp with an expression almost pained, and his lips remained parted, as though speaking silent utterances no one aside from our purple Seeker could hear.

Skywarp looked into Thundercracker's optics for a few kliks more, and promptly disappeared with a puff of purple smoke.

The guards stared blankly at the spot where Skywarp was, unsure of what to do.

…If I had anything within reach to throw at the guards, I would have.

I was surrounded by idiots!

"Well? What in the pits are you waiting for! Go find him!" I shrieked, and swung my hand pointing toward the door.

The guards exchanged a glance before answering me with a bow, and they left, exiting the room in an orderly fashion.

Before long, only Thundercracker remained my company. We did not speak to each other, still submerged in the lingering tension in the air. My cooling fans worked overtime trying to bring down my high core temperature, and I shifted on my peds, wincing when my wing joint continued to send waves of throbbing pain over my neural network. A quick internal diagnostic told me no immediate medical attention was required, so I placed the trip to the med bay at lower priority. There was a matter more imperative I wanted to address, so I cycled air through my intakes, and waited for the worst of my anger to pass before casting my optics toward Thundercracker. I was a little peeved that he told Skywarp to escape, but I was much more interested in—

"What in the pits has gotten into you?" I asked, and could not stop a sneer from curling my lips. My fury might have been momentarily appeased, but it was far from being gone. I waited impatiently for a response from my remaining trine mate, and huffed irritatedly through my vents when he failed to comply. I was just about to snap out the question again when he finally broke out of his rigid stillness, inclining his helm in my direction.

Instead of heaving a deep sigh like I expected, Thundercracker slowly turned toward me, and actually glared. A shadow of visible resentment darkened his faceplate, and the intensity behind his slitted optics was enough to pierce me straight through the spark. I was very much taken back by the look, spark giving a small lurch of hurt. I had never seen my amiable trine mate wear such an expression before, and it made me very uncomfortable, if not slightly intimidated.

"Do you have any idea what you almost did?" Thundercracker's voice was lower than usual, and it cut through the tense atmosphere of the room like a blade.

I remained unmoving, and tried to appear surer about my decision than how I felt. However, despite my best efforts, I could not stop my wings from flicking nervously.

"Of—Of course I do!" My voice was high in volume and bite, but even I could hear my own hesitation.

Thundercracker immediately jerked away with a strained hiss from his intakes, and covered his faceplate with a hand. He ground out curses, and his wings twitched unevenly on his back, agitated by his emotions. Thundercracker was rarely angry enough to swear, but when he was, he frightened even the bravest of mechs. I felt my stubbornness crumble a little, and peered at him with slight apprehension.

"…Why do you always do this, Starscream?" He did not turn around to address me, which made me both offended and nervous. Not only was the gesture rude, it also prevented me from seeing his expression, which meant I could not determine what his next course of action was. I tried to keep quiet, to refrain from answering, but the silence greatly bothered me. In the end, I chose to answer, glancing off to the side and making a face.

"Do what?" I asked back in a grumble.

"Act so impulsively!" He instantly swirled around in a blur of blue wings, and his voice abruptly took on the full meaning behind his designation, "Why did you have to bring social hierarchy into our trine, Starscream? Why!" His optics flashed into a sharper red, and his lips twisted into a grimace. I jumped at the sudden, loud outburst, and found keeping his gaze extremely difficult.

He was right.

I knew he was right.

Trines were not formed based on the class system, but rather on speed compatibility, maneuver capacity, and whether all Seekers' aerial skills were complimentary to each other or not. This meant that, in a trine, all three Seekers were essentially equal. The trine leader was assigned based on who the best flier was, and his trine mates followed him out of respect toward a better flier, not societal background.

This meant that, in matters within the trine, no trine mate should ever use his social status as leverage.

Of course, most of the time, trines did consist of Seekers from similar social classes. It just happened that mine was a rarity in which this obviously not the case. I really should have known better than to say what I had said to provoke Skywarp, especially while knowing it was a sensitive topic. However, I was simply too proud to lose, too proud to let Skywarp best me, and too proud to admit to Thundercracker that he was right.

"Skywarp attacked me." I stated flatly, tone cold and expression firm.

"Because you attacked him first!" Thundercracker retorted.

"And he should not have retaliated when I did!" My voice rose in volume.

"Why not?" Thundercracker took a step forward, "He had every right to, especially from the way you've been treating him!"

"You know very well why not!" I took a step forward as well, not backing down, "I am the Crown Prince, the ruling monarch to whom you've all sworn allegiance to! I practically own all of you, Thundercracker, so I can do with you as I please!"

Thundercracker's optics widened in surprise for a split klik before they abruptly narrowed again, gaze harshening into a glare. He bit his dentae, and his wings trembled on his back.

"How dare you," He hissed before rising into a shout: "How dare you say such a thing about our trine!"

"Oh please, TC, stop being so melodramatic." I grimaced, "You know it is true!" I turned away with a sharp huff, and hid from the sight of my blue trine mate's optics, which were overabundant with emotions. "My duty to Vos essentializes that I am to remain above you, just as how all fliers are above ground pounders. My personal matters cannot get in the way of my reign over my city!"

"What—?" Thundercracker began awkwardly, and shook his helm as though unable to understand my argument. "—Just what in the universe are you talking about, Starscream? What does your duty as a monarch have anything to do with our trine?" He spluttered with incredulity. "Duties? Your reign over your city? We're talking about you and Skywarp here!"

"I know what we are talking about!" I shot back, crossing my arms over my chassis with a pointed glance toward his direction.

Thundercracker was so frustrated that he was at complete loss of words. He struggled to come up with a response, lips remaining parted. When it became apparent that he was rendered effectively speechless, he closed his gaping mouth, and cycled his vents for several kliks. His wings continued to tremble, but when he spoke again, his voice was softer.

"…Just tell me why you ordered an arrest on him, Starscream."

I could not believe he was still asking such a thing, turning toward him with wide optics and an affronted expression.

"He attacked me!" I yelled indignantly, voice gaining in pitch.

"Because you provoked him, knowing fully well what would have happened when you did." Thundercracker was not about to give in, standing firm on his peds as he pressed on.

"That still gave him no right to do so!" I shouted back.

"Why not, Starscream? After all, you assaulted him first. Why couldn't he do the same?"

"Oh for Primus's sakes, Thundercracker, do I need to put it in a data pad for you to understand!"

When Thundercracker did not reply and merely waited for me to continue, I spoke without thinking twice.

"Because I am his Crown Prince – that's why!" I snapped at my blue trine mate, stomping down a thruster and making a punctuating swipe with my hand.

Thundercracker did not reply, and the air quickly became heavy with silence. I gathered back the hostility in my posture, and slowly frowned. Uncertainty was not an emotion that frequented my spark, and it shivered a little in my spark chamber. I felt like I should apologize for something, but I could not quite figure out what I should apologize for.

What ridiculous absurdity. I should never have to apologize for anything.

"…You knew exactly what you were doing, Starscream," Thundercracker broke the silence, and he wore an unreadable expression on his faceplate as he spoke, voice soft and devoid of any fluctuations. "You were very deliberate when you chose what to provoke Skywarp with, and you knew exactly what was going to happen when you took a stab at his background. Tell me, honestly, tell me, were you really that surprised when he attacked you in such a manner?"

No, I was not, but I did not need to say anything to him. Justification was for lesser mechs, and I was royalty. I only pursed my lips together stubbornly, and glared. Thundercracker kept his helm inclined toward me, and he waited, hoping I would respond. However, he quickly realized that waiting was futile, and his gaze turned hard, bearing deeply into my optics.

"And when he reacted in the way you expected him to," He continued, "your choice of action as the Crown Prince of Vos is to order his arrest to send him to the brig?"

I opened my mouth, ready to voice my displeasure at being needlessly lectured at, but my words died before they left my lips.

Wait…

The brig?

Since when did the brig come into discussion?

"…That's right, Starscream," Thundercracker seemed to take my silence as my answer, pinning me with his unwavering stare. "An arrest as a direct command from the sovereign results in confinement within the brig. Don't tell me you didn't know that."

I did not.

I did not know Vos even had a brig until several vorns ago, when Skywarp accidentally teleported both of us into one of its cells. We had materialized into a metal-plated room, and it was so small that we were pressed right against each other within it. There was no current, no light. Almost instantaneously, Skywarp grabbed me and got us out. Later, upon consultation with one of the older advisors, I found out that we had been temporarily inside a cell-chamber designated for a medium-sized flier. The one meant for Seekers were even smaller, rendering any inhabitant completely immobile. Why Vos had the need for such establishments was beyond me, and the only answer I received was that there were traitors once in Vos. That was why brigs were deemed a necessity, to be the appropriate punishment worse than death.

I stared back at Thundercracker, a chill prickling through my spark.

Skywarp almost got put into the brig because I ordered his arrest without knowing what the consequences were.

"…—Of course I knew!" I blurted out, the silence suddenly too suffocating for me to bear. At first, Thundercracker did not seem to realize what I had said. Several kliks passed, and, slowly, his unreadable expression changed to that of horror. He did not speak for almost an entire breem, frozen solid by my words. I shifted uncomfortably on my peds, and averted my gaze.

…I wondered if saving my pride by lying was worth the look of betrayal in my blue trine mate's optics.

In the end, my pride won. I was not about to admit that I did something without meaning to. Besides, I would have immediately rerouted Skywarp from the brig to the confinement rooms when I found out what I had done, and Skywarp teleported away before he could be caught anyways. The guards would not find Skywarp until Skywarp himself decided that returning to Vos was safe, and, by then, I would have already changed the punishment attached to his arrest.

There was really no harm done. Skywarp was a frequent enough visitor to the confinement rooms that he would have no adversity toward recharging there for a few cycles.

Thundercracker looked down, and his wings began to shiver. His faceplate was hidden from me, and he turned, slowly walking away.

…What in the pits—…Where was he going…!

"…TC?" I called out, confused by his mannerism.

He paused at the door, and his wings stiffened on his back.

"…Don't call me that, Starscream."

His whisper was soft, but it held an iciness that froze me to the core.

I watched him leave, staring after him even when the doors slid closed. I was stunned, not knowing how to interpret his behaviour in the slightest.

Eventually, I came to the conclusion that everything was Skywarp's fault. If he did not bring back that stupid holo-video in the first place, none of this would have happened.

A particularly sharp stab of pain reminded me that my abused wing joint still needed medical attention. Cursing silently, I walked out the door, and made my way to the med bay.

Stupid trine mates could wait after I had proper repairs.

V

A small ping from my personal comm.-line jolted me awake from my light recharge on the medical berth. Groaning, I onlined my optics, and stared at the high ceiling of the med bay.

:What is it?: I asked, still somewhat groggy.

:Prince Starscream, it has come to my attention that a Seeker is missing.: Nightfire's voice came through, sounding worried.

I groaned again, and squirmed on the berth, wanting to return to recharge. Nightfire was starting to unnerve me with the speed at which he found out everything that happened in my tower.

:Skywarp's fine. He's just being a stupid fragger as usual.: I answered without caring that I was using inappropriate words, which, under normal circumstances, I tried my best to avoid. I was royalty, and royalty did not say things like "fragger". However, a "fragger" was what Skywarp was at the moment, so I saw no reason to not use such a term.

There was a slight pause, and I wondered if Nightfire was pursing his lips in disapproval.

:…Skywarp, your Highness?: A confused inquiry was the response to my statement instead.

I became confused as well.

:Isn't that what you wanted to talk about?:

:Negative, Sire.: Nightfire paused again. :…Is what happened with Skywarp…a matter within your trine?:

:Something like that.: I sighed through my vents, and decided to change the subject before Nightfire could become curious about my trine's most recent bout of drama. :What was it that you originally wanted to talk to me about, Nightfire?:

:Oh, yes,: Nightfire seemed appeased by my answer, since my trine's problems were none of his business, and continued on, :I've contacted you in hopes of receiving your permission for a search party, your Highness.:

:A search party?: That instantly gained my attention.

:Affirmative, Sire.: Nightfire began to explain, :A Seeker from my family unit, designation Firechaser, appears to be missing. Approximately five cycles ago, he received permission for an extended leave to Iacon for purchasing scientific equipments he needs for his next experiments. However, he has not been heard from since finding appropriate lodgings at his destination. The last time anyone had any contact with him was three cycles ago, and, prior to his departure from Vos, Firechaser was instructed to comm. his creators at regular intervals, which he dutifully kept until mid-stay at the Autobot capital.:

I frowned, and made a thoughtful hum, wondering what could possibly be withholding young Firechaser from returning home.

Firechaser was the youngest member and the only Seeker sparked in Nightfire's family unit of Space Shuttles. For a Space Shuttle coding pool to produce a Seeker was indeed rare, but leave it to Nightfire's to accomplish such a feat. Since Firechaser was a rarity, everyone he was even remotely related to doted on him, their comparatively fragile youngest. They showered him with affection, and had collectively attended his first flight with the Elite Seekers of Vos, a rite all fully matured Seekers took after finishing their rudimentary academic studies. I was at the ceremony as well, awarding him with a medal for showing great promise in the field of scientific research. The young Seeker had looked extraordinarily proud wearing the rather frivolous trinket, beaming as though I had given him a sun.

While Firechaser was not amongst the fastest, his Space Shuttle origins made him overall larger and sturdier than most Seekers. His size and durability were what ultimately convinced everyone that, despite his young age, he was capable of travelling to Iacon by himself. A trip of such distance should only take a Seeker of his speed at around a few joors each way, give and take one or two depending on how often he took rest stops. Being of the generation of fliers who had never seen Cybertron outside of Vos, Firechaser would naturally want to take his time to sightsee upon reaching the Autobot capital. However, no matter how distracted he might have become, his complete lack of contact was quite disconcerting.

There was no reason for Firechaser to simply drop all communication with Vos. From what I know, he was a responsible young flier. I would be very surprised if he had simply forgotten to keep his promise to comm. his creators.

:What did he say during his last transmission?: I asked Nightfire, gazing pensively at the med bay's ceiling.

:His last transmission was to Stormwing, your Highness, a friend he has been close to since he began his academic studies. Before Firechaser departed from Vos, Stormwing asked him to purchase a new set of beakers, and Firechaser had briefly contacted Stormwing to confirm his order.:

:Firechaser was already at Iacon then?:

:Affirmative, Sire, Stormwing believes that Firechaser was comm.-ing him from the equipment store in Iacon.:

:Very well,: I sat up on the medical berth, :I will send you an official document stating consent to your request after I contact the Autobot Senates at Iacon. I doubt they will have any problems with us looking for one of our lost young. I will comm. you to let you know once everything is taken care of. Contact Stormstrike for the search party. He would want you to explain the situation.:

:Affirmative, Sire. Thank you. I will do as you instructed.:

As my conversation with Nightfire ended, I got off from the berth, and gave my newly repaired wing an experimental flick. No discomfort met the movement, and I was infinitely pleased with the result. After a few quick words with my Head Medic, I left the med bay, and started making my way to the conference chambers at a leisurely pace. I was in no great hurry to see the unpleasant faceplates of the Autobot Senators, and the situation was not so dire that I could not spare a few breems to stroll.

Despite wondering about what could have happened to Firechaser, I was not exactly worried. He had gone to Iacon's science district, one of the safest places on Cybertron. It was a scientist's haven, and the crime rate there was extremely low. Firechaser reached there by flight, and would leave by flight, which made abduction by ground pounders practically impossible. However, the fact that he was at Iacon five cycles ago and still had not returned to Vos was a little odd. Nightfire was a cautious mech, but he would never call for unnecessary action. If my advisor saw the need for a search party for young Firechaser, then a search party would be dispatched.

I just hoped Firechaser had not gotten himself enticed by some ground pounder like I was.

Notes: Sorry for the lack of length and Megatron. Our favourite gladiator won't be returning until the chapter after the next, I'm afraid, after the plot has advanced a little more. Sorry about that :((

((PLEASE READ the below))

I think I should explain my concept of a "family unit" in this story before I cause any confusion. This might be a little vague, but, depending on the context, "family unit" can either mean creators-sparkling(s), or the entire family tree with all the uncles and aunts. In case there are misconceptions, Firechaser is not Nightfire's sparkling. They are only cousins. The "family unit" referred to during Firechaser's intro paragraph includes all members of the family tree.

So, what did everyone think of the trine fight? ;)) The POV made certain things a bit hard to blatantly suggest, but Thundercracker actually doesn't know (at the moment) what Skywarp has been doing in Kaon (i.e.: selling Seeker wings). If he did, his take on the quarrel between Starscream and Skywarp might differ, but then again, TC will always have a soft spot for Skywarp in this story, so maybe not. I'm really curious as to whose side you ended up being on, so please drop me a line or two and let me know. I would love to hear your reasons why :D

Thank-yous to everyone for reading and favouriting/alerting. Special shout-outs once again to my wonderful reviewers: Koluno1986, Ashcola17, Riley, Devlinn Reiko, soundbarrier, The Happy Shark, PwnKage, wolf-dream94, Erren, Death by Shovel, and Random Reader. You have no idea how excited I get when I see your reviews :)))) I love all of you. Your comments are like little bits of sunshine on rainy days (which happens a lot where I live XD).

Well! I think this ending note is long enough. Next update will be in a week. Please stay tuned and be patient with me! I promise Megatron will be making more frequent appearances in the future.

Now, before I go…

See that shiny little button at the bottom of the page that says "review this chapter"? Click it! Click it! You know you want to!

I'm in a shameless mood today. XD