Writing late is fun. I've never written so fast in my life.
ssssssssss
"I can't believe Ratchet made us do this," Smokescreen grumbled, aiming his blaster around as they looked carefully over fallen buildings and rubble, "We're bound to be killed by you out here."
"Oh, I'm sorry I'm not psychic," Starscream retorted, following closely, "I don't understand what Ratchet is thinking, but perhaps…"
Earlier, I told you, remember? He wants to integrate you faster.
"Yeah, what?" Smokescreen called back to him.
Starscream frowned, "Maybe he simply wants to get the hard parts over with. To integrate me into the group faster and just call it a day."
Smokescreen huffed, turning back, "Yeah, sure, and leave the rest of us in a murdered heap."
"Both of you, stop bickering," Arcee called from the back, towering over them on the wall of a building that had split in half, "Primus, if I were an Insecticon, I'd be able to hear you clear across the Sea of Rust!"
Starscream scoffed, folding his arms, while Smokescreen kicked at a rock, trying to seem disinterested.
Arcee smiled to herself once they'd settled down, looking as far ahead as she could, "They're worse than the kids on a bad day…"
After a moment, Smokescreen called up to her, "Well? See anything?"
The femme nodded, "A bit!" she dropped down, landing carefully beside the two, "But we have a problem. Starscream, the building you added to the map, it's gone. And if it's gone, then the hidden supplies are likely destroyed with it as well."
"Ah, no, not necessarily," the seeker shook his helm, "That particular cache was hidden in the foundations of the structure. We will find it, I can promise you that."
Smokescreen scoffed, walking ahead, "Don't make promises you've already broken, Screamer."
Starscream frowned, following, "Starscream," he emphasized, "You don't see me calling you 'Smokey'."
"Well, I'd have to shoot you if you did."
"You'd be lucky to have the chance at a shot."
Arcee rolled her optics and followed along, their bickering having become commonplace after the first few joors earlier that cycle.
ssssssssss
The building wasn't as flattened as it had appeared from where Arcee had been perched earlier. It was still mostly in a state of 'simply been destroyed', but the foundation was still present. Starscream looked smug as he walked about the exposed floors, kicking stones and rubble out of his way.
"Yes, it is as I predicted, isn't it?" he purred, "The foundation is still here, and with it, our prize."
That wasn't very humble, was it?
It may not have been, but the look on Smokescreen's faceplate made Starscream happy. For once, the blue mech was silent.
"Now," Starscream coughed, moving about the area, "comes the difficult part."
Arcee frowned, "What do you mean? What else do we have to do?"
The seeker pulled large pieces of metal off the surface area of the floor, inspecting the foundation, "There is a secret opening that leads to the cache. We need to find it and get it open."
"And you don't know what it looks like," Smokescreen stated matter of factly.
He was mocking the seeker and Starscream knew it.
Red optics glared up at blue ones and he hissed quietly, "So, we need to find it and get it open."
Arcee waved Smokescreen off and went in beside Starscream, moving pieces and looking for any interesting cracks in the molds, "Something Shockwave would've hid, right? So it's not going to be blatantly Decepticon."
"No, not at all," Starscream sighed, "It's going to be," he coughed, trying to deepen his voice, "logical to the situation and task at hand."
Smokescreen snorted to cover his amused laugh, "Nice Shockwave."
The seeker smirked, "You should see my Soundwave impression," he pushed on a piece of metal, "It really kills on mic-night- Slag!" he suddenly shouted, wrenching his servo away and cradling the digits tenderly.
Both Arcee and Smokescreen had their blasters aimed and ready, waiting for something to strike. After nothing happened, Smokescreen glared.
"Well what was that, are you trying to scare us?!"
"What?!" Starscream hollered back, "Frag no," he held up his servo, which was leaking Energon profusely, "I've been wounded and the pain surprised me, you-"
Starscream, end it there. There is no need to escalate things…
Instead, the seeker scowled, feigning another wave of pain to get out of speaking. Arcee cautiously moved to Starscream's side and peered under the bit of metal he had tried to move.
"Something's wedged in there," she assessed, "I think I can reach it."
Smokescreen watched, worry in his voice as he spoke, "Careful, 'Cee, we don't know what it is."
The femme reached under anyway, pulling out a sharpened wedge of metal, "It's just scrap. Starscream, you need to be more careful-"
"No, don't toss it!" Starscream yelped, grabbing Arcee's wrist before she could throw the piece away, "Look!"
Arcee was very surprised at Starscream grabbing her, but did as he told her, inspecting the metal that cut the seeker's servo. It was purple, not like the rest of the metal around them, and it wasn't sharpened from damage, it was done so on purpose.
"See?" Starscream said softly, "We need that…" he looked at the center of the foundation floor, noticing the misplaced dent in the center of it, "There. Press it in."
Smokescreen looked to Arcee for some kind of direction, but she only shrugged, doing as Starscream asked, "Hey, faster we get this done," she pressed the metal into the floor, "faster we get-"
The floor beneath them dropped open, landing Starscream and Arcee on top of a pile of thermal blankets, gently folded over boxes and boxes of chemicals, medical supplies, engineering parts, basic amenities, and, most importantly, stores of Energon.
Arcee stared around in disbelief at all that had been hidden beneath them, while Starscream smiled, laughing despite the throbbing in his servo, "Ha! You see," he called up out of the hole, "I told you it was still here! Quick, Smokey, bring us a ladder and something to carry this all with!"
ssssssssss
You did very well today. I can easily say, I'm proud.
Starscream stared down at his patched servo, taking in the intricate work Ratchet had performed on him while everyone else had been busy emptying the lost treasure trove Shockwave had hidden away during the war. That medic was a fantastic healer. And he did his work without as much complaint as Knockout.
The seeker smiled at the comment, then lost it again when the voice spoke.
If you keep this up, you'll find your place. I know this. No one will be able to take that from you.
Starscream shook his helm. He didn't want to talk to the voice right now. He wasn't in the mood.
Why not? Have I done something wrong?
No, the voice hadn't, but the 'something' hadn't happened just yet.
Starscream, your assumptions border on paranoia-
This wasn't paranoia. It was what was going to happen. Starscream stood, flexing his servo. His place was not with the Autobots. He was not staying much longer if he could help it.
What do you mean? You're doing so well. You just gave them reason to trust you and though it is not a great amount, it is still some. Progress is progress, remember? Why would you want to take that away when you've worked this hard to gain that much?
The seeker shook his helm, imagining that the voice was being shaken away and silenced, if only for the moment. He wasn't going to discuss or be swayed. He was going to leave the Autobots as quickly as he could.
But if he didn't have to harm them to get away, that would be all the better.
ssssssssss
Nice! Starscream isn't here yet. He's got a while to go before that.
