Disclaimer: I own nothing – at least nothing Transformers or Star Wars related.
AN: To be honest, I don't know what to think about this chapter. I like the idea, but I have problems if I have to write something with a lot of direct speech in it. I often feel silly if I write: He said this and she answered that.
I can do it if it is not too much, but I like describing actions and telling a story more than conversations.
And there are Star Wars influence in this chapter, I blame on my brother. He bought the books. I only read them. So don't look funny at me if you find the Jedi and the Sith Code in this chapter.
Corrected by mdnytryder.
9/28 Book Reading (G1)
"There is no emotion, there is peace."
Starscream sighed as he recognized the line as the same one he had read for the third time, only – he looked at his internal chronometer – two minutes before.
His optics wandered from the inviting glowing book-cube to take in his surroundings.
He was in the brig.
After some consideration, nothing unusual for him.
He was the ultimate traitor of the Decepticon army after all. Brig-time was something that was listed in the job description right after "being blown to bits" and "getting beaten to slag".
If he remembered correctly, a drunken Skywarp had once actually suggested to Megatron that he name a cell after him, with a plaque and everything.
Starscream snorted.
Funny, really – if Megatron hadn't actually paused a second to consider this option.
The slagger….
But, back to his actual predicament.
For once, he wasn't sitting in the brig of the Underwater base, screaming bloody murder at everyone and everything in reach, trying to hide his, with each passing second, growing claustrophobia - and failing spectacularly.
But, that was beside the point.
No, this time the walls outside the energy bars were painted a lovely shade of orange and he had actual cell guards.
Unnaturally quiet, subdued, and more than a bit sheepish guards – scratch that, each time they looked at him, their expressions was absolutely mortified – painted bright red and sparkling sunshine yellow, and with a sudden aversion against showers.
Starscream sniggered quietly to himself.
Oh, the looks on their faces when they had learned what they had done to him….
Priceless.
And he had thought he would be the one to be humiliated.
Even better, somehow the story had made its way around the Arc in no time, and now the twins couldn't go practically anywhere without laughter, mocking, and crude comments following in their wake.
It was somewhat suspicious that they had been assigned guard duty almost every day since he had been captured by the Autobots.
But, perhaps even Autobot officers weren't above petty revenge after millennia of pranks and brawls.
He grinned at the thought and made a face at his silent sentinels, safe in the knowledge that they couldn't see his antics – and didn't even want to.
They never faced him, unless absolutely necessary.
Not even their SIC had been able to change this with threats of even more guard duty.
Starscream spent some time staring at them from within his cell, and they began shifting as if they could actually feel his optics burning into their backs, then he chuckled and looked back at his book-cube.
The saboteur had given it to him as a "gesture of goodwill" as he had put it.
Starscream rather suspected that they only had wanted him to shut up after two days of steady background screeching in the hallways, finding its way through the metallic walls of the Arc, to the living quarters and beyond.
Sometimes he really loved his voice, as unbearable as it could be even for him. The decibels he could reach with one single shriek were simply… amazing.
He sniggered again at the memory, then he concentrated on the written words.
"There is no emotion, there is peace."
Somehow ironic, he mused.
Here he sat, reading about peace of mind, while feeling strangely unsettled.
Everything felt wrong. As if there was something missing.
The sky? No, not after only a few days, he was stronger than that.
But what was it then…?
Arrgh, concentrate, Screamer, concentrate!
"There is no emotion, there is peace."
"There is no ignorance, there is knowledge"
Wow, this time he actually managed to read two lines before his concentration wavered again. Impressive, Starscream, really impressive….
By the way, what the slag should this mean?
Perhaps he should ask for another book-cube? Something more interesting than this.
He looked up again and stared moodily at the energy bars of his cell.
No, he could live with this book – if he could manage to concentrate for longer than three minutes. But noooo….
He sighed and tapped with one of his fingers against the bunk he sat on.
Some minutes passed, then, "Stop that!"
Starscream grinned and lifted an optic ridge at the yellow twin who had irritatingly growled at him.
Without actually turning to look at the captive.
Now he was feeling scared….
Snort.
Yeah, as if...
"Why should I?" the Seeker tapped some more, a new rhythm now.
The golden back stiffened and the warrior bristled visibly. A jab in his side from his brother, a look between them, and he relaxed again.
Stubborn, weren't they?
Starscream sighed.
And here he had thought he could bait them as easily into a fight as one of his comrades.
He could practically see the reactions of Motormaster, Blitzwing or one of the others if he would try to irritate them like this.
A pale smile twitched at his lips at the thought – then he frowned.
A smile? While thinking about the other Decepticons?
Eew….
He shuddered and made a vow to himself to shower at least three times when he got back to Decepticon Headquarters. Somehow the Autobot germs seemed to have managed their way past his firewalls.
But until then….
"There is no emotion, there is peace."
"There is no ignorance, there is knowledge."
"There is no passion, there is serenity."
He snorted.
Yeah, sure… he could practically feel the serenity oozing out his circuits. Really, if there was any more serenity inside this room, he would drown in it.
Serenity, serenity, SERENITY!
He looked up as a grey Autobot shuffled into the brig, a cheerful smile on his face. "Hey Sunstreaker, Sides! I'm only here to see how you are doing. You know, all the others say that you will break before Starscream does. From claustrophobia, I mean. You see, he is a flyer and flyers hate confined spaces…. Well, anyway, they say you will break from embarrassment and beg Prowl to release you from guard duty. By the way, Prowl still sniggers from time to time if Jazz mentions the incident in the – err, you know, what I mean. It's really creepy. Like this one guy in this film. The really creepy one…. There is a betting pool now, you know, and the odds are really high – against you. Not that they don't have any trust in your endurance, but…. Jazz bets ten cubes of high-grade that you will lose it tomorrow and you know that he wins his bets, like, always. Like the last time with this race. You remember the race? That was fun…. Anyway, I'm only here to wish you guys good luck and to see how you are doing."
Starscream blinked.
There went serenity.
It died without a struggle, bloodily tortured to a cruel and painful death by one single Autobot whose mouth wouldn't shut up, even if his life would depend on it.
May it rest in peace and quiet….
The Seeker looked back at his book-cube while Bluestreak babbled on and on….
"There is no emotion, there is peace."
"There is no ignorance, there is knowledge."
"There is no passion, there is serenity."
"There is no chaos, there is harmony."
Okay, that was it.
What the frag?
No chaos? Whoever had written this book really must have been glitching because there was no way Starscream could imagine that anyone would give up all the fun in his life only for a little bit of harmony.
Seriously, a universe without chaos would be… that would be….
Like everything the Autobots ever wanted.
Oh… yeah….
Now he got it.
This innocent looking little book-cube was the newest attempt by those peace-loving slaggers to convert all the big, bad, misguided Decepticons out there to their pure and heartwarming beliefs – or it was a new, extremely subtle way of torture and these words would corrode their way inside his processor, leaving him babbling words like "peace" and "harmony" nonstop, with a deluded, honey-sweet little smile on his face and neon-pink optics while he couldn't read further than these fragging FOUR LINES!
"ARGH!"
With a frustrated scream he flung the cube far away and lay back down on his bunk.
Three pairs of baby-blue optics watched him with a deer-in-the-headlights look, startled by his sudden outburst. Bluestreak had even stopped babbling and stood with his jaw wide open.
It would have been funny – if Starscream hadn't been so frustrated.
"You okay?"
"Frag off!" Was the only reply the young gunner got.
Hurried steps could be heard from outside the brig and only moments later Jazz, followed by some Minibots, came into the room.
"Blue! Please, don't tell me they lost it already. I've bet two more cubes on tomorrow, just an hour ago," whined the saboteur, looking aroung eagerly, dreading to find the sight of two bodies on the floor, offlined from embarrassment.
No such luck.
The twins were still online and very, very angry at the black and white mech.
"Twelve cubes now, Jazz? My, aren't we a little bit too optimistic today?"
Usually, you could count on Sideswipe to lighten the mood and be a nice guy who would never say anything against a tiny bet or two – but now his dignity was on the line, and that meant war, even if it was one of his best friends.
The saboteur took a wary step back and held up both hands in defense, "Whoah, don't be like this. It's only a bet, Siders. Nothing serious."
"Yeah, Siders, nothing serious. You heard the mech," growled Sunstreaker with narrowed optics. "Seriously, how could you ever consider he would really mean it, when he says that we couldn't survive three days of Screamer unharmed?"
"Yeah, how could I…." Where once two pairs of optics were a lovely shade of baby-blue, they now glittered with the icy color of a glacier and the glares were as cold as one.
Starscream sat up and observed the situation with rapt attention. Suddenly the strange weight on his shoulders lightened and his Spark almost danced in its casing after three long days of sulking and moping.
He decided to add his own two cents into the conversation, "And here I thought Autobots would swear by such values as comradeship and friendship. Seems to me as if you aren't as dedicated to such trivial things as you always claim to be."
Jazz, still trying to bring the situation under control, shot him an annoyed glare, "Shut up, Screamer!"
"Why? Don't tell me, that you can't stand the truth. I'm aghast." He touched his chest-plate with a mock-shocked expression. "Another value that isn't held as high as I thought?"
"Starscream…." The threat never left Jazz' mouth as Sunstreaker cut him off with a furious gesture. "You know, he is right! Your idea of friendship leaves a lot to be desired, Jazz!"
"It doesn't and you know it. You're overreacting, guys. It's just a bet, an innocent, little bet," the words of the saboteur fell on deaf audios.
By now, more and more Autobots had swarmed into the brig, drawn there by all the shouting. Some tried to soothe the heated minds, some only wanted to see a fight, some argued for Jazz' side of the quarrel and some for the twins.
A particular brave Minibot planted himself before the energy bars and glared fearlessly up at the sniggering Decepticon inside the cell.
"Shut up, Deceptiscum. Before I come and make you! This is all your fault anyway!"
"Make me? You and what army, short stuff?" Starscream chuckled at the mere thought of the little pipsqueak trying to take him on.
Cliffjumper bristled, "I don't need an army! I can defeat anybody!" Starscream grinned wickedly, "Really?" A curt nod and two lifted fists were the answer.
"Good," the grin only grew wider.
The Seeker searched the agitated crowd for a certain red warrior, then he yelled on top of his vocalizer, "Hey, Sideswipe! Tiny here thinks he can beat you single-handed. Don't tell me you're gonna let this go and run away from this pipsqueak with your tailpipe between your legs!"
The red twin turned around as if he had been hit right between the shoulder plates, and icy optics locked on Cliffjumper's position.
"Oh no, I won't. This squirt had this a long time coming!" with a loud roar he jumped at the red Minibot, who was either too brave or too stupid to move – Starscream was fairly certain it was the latter, even if Cliffjumper had other ideas.
This action was the last incentive the other mechs needed: An all out brawl started.
Starscream watched the show for some minutes, laughing his aft off, then he settled back onto his bunk, retrieved his book-cube from the floor and scrolled through the first part of the introduction until some lines caught his optics.
He smirked.
Now, this was more like it.
"Peace is a lie, there is only passion."
"Through passion, I gain strength."
"Through strength, I gain power."
"Through power, I gain victory."
"Through victory, my chains are broken."
"The Force shall free me."
He looked up one last time, marveling at the free-for-all in front of his cell, reveling in the familiar sounds and atmosphere, and felt strangely comforted, as if he would be ho-… at Decepticon Headquarters again.
Then the Seeker, finally, concentrated fully on his book….
I renewed the poll in my profile.
I know that this is somewhat unfair because of all the results I left unacknowledged, but there are many prompts I finally have a fitting story for and many readers who already had voted and now have a chance to do it again.
So please, tell me, what you want to read.