Starscream was there when the large ship touched down. All the Autobots, and a large assembly of vehicons were gathered after hearing the news of the new arrivals. The great door opened, and a line of Cybertronians, most Autobots but a few former Decpticons, made their way out.
Jazz, who had come out first, tackled Bumblebee into a strong embrace. They laughed goodnaturedly. Then came out Silverbolt and Ironhide. Starscream only knew Ironhide by name, but Silverbolt… he never liked that two-bit Autobot seeker. Arcee, Bulkhead, Wheeljack, and Ultra Magnus knew them both well, so they greeted them. Other Autobots came out, some of which they didn't know but greeted in a friendly manner likewise.
Most of the Decepticons were seekers, and Starscream felt quite content with this. And yes, he realized he had known these seekers, even though they hadn't been in his elite. The Decepticons remained unsure, still trying to stay attentive for any attacks they might be given. They stayed together, but in an attempt to ease them, Knockout walked over with Smokescreen. Starscream followed out of curiosity.
"Hey," Smokescreen started. "Welcome back home!"
The Decepticons stared blankly at him, so Knockout spoke out, "Oh come on, we're all friends now. The war's over, so you have nothing to worry about. Even I used to be a Decepticon."
Smokescreen started, "And you all are…?"
"Dirge."
"Barricade."
"Hydrostorm."
"Red Wing."
"Sunstorm."
"Axer."
Axer! Starscream hadn't recognized him for it had been so long. That bot had been on Junkion. He was a sneaky mech that worked for the Decepticons, but later turned on them for his own intentions. He wasn't a Decepticon anymore, but no one seemed to notice… He must have tricked them if no one but me knows who he is.
Sunstorm, the gold and grey-detailed seeker, flicked his wings and said, "So I heard you Autobots finally snuffed Megatron?"
"Wait, they don't know?" Knockout gawked.
"Know what?" growled the large Barricade.
"Megatron… okay he died, but he got brought back to life by Unicron, epic battle, and now he's on our side!" Smokescreen blurted out.
"Where is he then?" Axer asked smoothly. Only Starscream had heard the undertones of conspiring. That bot was much alike him in the way that no one truly knew his intentions, and he was always plotting.
"He's still working on finishing up the Sea of Rust, if you want you can talk to him…" Smokescreen said, semi-awkwardly. "When we take you there to newly built living quarters, I mean."
"Perfect," Axer grinned, and Starscream knew it to be a dark grin.
"Isn't this remarkable?" Cliffjumper said behind him.
Starscream turned around and saw him and Soundwave coming towards him.
"Autobots and Decepticons all arriving, no guns pulled out. A sight I haven't seen in ages," Cliffjumper continued.
Soundwave nodded. The visor faced the former Decepticons, then he bowed his head once seeing Axer.
"Axer, yes," Starscream said. "I see you also remember him."
"Hey, I know that bot too! That two-faced-"
Suddenly slow and multiple wing beats sounded behind them and Starscream visibly jumped. Every refugee turned and stepped back in surprise when four giant Predacons landed before them. They transformed right away, but the wary refugees pulled out weapons anyway.
"Whoa! Whoa!" Bumblebee stepped out in front of them. "Don't fire! These Predacons are on our side!"
He got some strange looks, and the Autobots lowered their weapons. The Decepticons, cautious, still had their weapons still trained on the four tall figures in front of them.
"Aren't they extinct?" Red Wing hissed.
"We were cloned by Shockwave," Skylynx replied.
"Welcome, everyone." Predaking seemed to ignore the hostility. "It is a pleasure to meet all of you. I am Predaking."
He nodded to the others to introduce themselves, and that they did.
Predaking said, "We will not purposely threaten any of you, unless you give us reason to, and so we hope that you all, in turn, will aid us in the renewal of our planet."
The Decepticons one by one dropped their weapons, thinking that if they were to be attacked, it would have happened by now. Predaking nodded back to his brethren, and they assumed their beast forms. The crowd unintentionally stumbled back again, but the Predacons merely turned around and flew off the way they came.
"Fraggin' hypocrite," Starscream growled.
Soundwave put his servo on Starscream's shoulder to calm him. It was expected that Starscream snort and say something among the lines of, "Save me your sympathy, Soundwave". However, the brief gesture surprised Starscream, and it was only his glaring eyes and his flared wings that continued to portray his anger. He said nothing else, and that was enough for Soundwave.
They watched the Autobots organize the newcomers in silence. It was decided that they were all going to go out to the Sea of Rust and take housing there. A ground bridge was opened to avoid the awkwardness of them all getting there via their alt-modes. The group of three lost sparks arrived at their location by their own way to watch the reactions unfold.
They arrived at the site where the finishing touches were being put of the Sea of Rust. Jaws literally dropped when they saw the upgraded Megatron working up on a platform not too far away. He noticed, so he landed in front of the group, standing tall over them. The Autobots shifted uncomfortably, but were too unsure whether or not to draw out their weapons. The Decepticons rushed forward with many excited questions. Megatron tried his best to give the quickest summary, and claiming his new intentions.
"The Decepticons are no longer," then Megatron ended off with a threat, "and if any of you can't accept that, then I will deal with you personally."
They nodded obediently and blankly. Then Megatron pointed out into the new city.
"Now, I recommend you try the new facilities. When you are all rested, I do hope you will join us in the reconstruction of our home planet."
His departure back to work was a signal for the refugees to be directed into rooms of their own. Soundwave pointed to show that the entire time Axer had been hiding at the back of the pack and that Megatron had therefore failed to notice him.
They followed everyone, and learned that each refugee was to receive a large room in an apartment for themselves. Rooms that were under good security and had security code door locks. Axer, uptaking a slower pace, was one of the last the Autobots lead into the quarters. Even if it was Bumblebee who had taken and recorded his name, it still appeared that his quiet demeanor he was playing was making him easy for everyone in the group to forget him. No one really paid attention or looked at him, and he certainly made no conversation with anyone as well. He peered out of his room, made sure no one was around, then silently closed the door. It then was too quiet in his room.
"I do believe that mech will be up to something in no time at all," Starscream said.
Cliffjumper suggested, "Well, I think there ain't much he could do to cause trouble, so hopefully no one will hear all that much about him from here on out."
"Hmm," Starscream replied.
He walked away from them, having nothing better to do. He transformed and flew around, just wanting to have a chance to isolate himself for a while. He was thinking about his communications with Knockout and Smokescreen, and he wasn't sure whether to try again because they might dismiss it as faulty signals again. He was frustrated with this. He had tried so hard to make contact with the other world, he had figured out things that even Cliffjumper, who had been here for so long, didn't know. But it was all for nothing, because he failed.
Or maybe his efforts weren't all for nothing. He had figured out how to touch objects, how to make contact with people. He had learned that he could hurt the Predacons. He might have even done that now if the dream he had had wasn't scaring him so much.
And what had that dream meant? Unicron was enjoying reminding him of all the evil and murderous things he had done in his life. He assured Starscream that he could be nothing else but evil, and his warning about the future seemed too… Starscream wasn't sure exactly what to call it. Disturbing? Perhaps… maybe he really did want to change. He felt awkward around Cliffjumper, the mech who didn't seem to care about what Starscream did to him in their time of living. He felt, yes, guilty. Now he realized how horrible it was to have one's life snatched away, and he felt guilty because it seemed he had no excusable reason for actually killing Cliffjumper in the first place.
Did that mean Unicron was right then? All he wanted was to make the Predacons suffer, and he thought he would never be able to forgive them. If Cliffjumper was able to do it, did that mean it was true that he would never change? What if his lust for revenge was so great that it would harm even those that he wasn't intending to?
Did that mean…? No. I didn't hurt Knockout. Starscream recalled the memory with its disturbing clarity. The creature that slowly extended springy legs after Knockout, following the oblivious bot silently. The blade arm cut into him, but left the smallest of marks. The purple optics locked with his, and it might of hurt him next.
Unicron is a liar, he told himself. He's trying to scare me while setting out more creatures to harm me and attack the living bots who locked him away in that container.
He never knew that he didn't need to be lying down to black out. It just happened, for it was like he blinked and the noon day sun became a bleeding sky in which he still flew through. It was sudden and shocking, but because it was nearing sunset he did not dare land on the ground. He needed to find Cliffjumper and Soundwave, and they were probably still in the new city. He thought about them, and in no time he disappeared and reappeared in what was definitely a new city.
He landed in the destroyed street expecting to see Cliffjumper. Starscream stared around him, then realized his surroundings. He choked in fright and frantically tried to transform or teleport. It was obvious, but Starscream was still shocked when he remained in the same place.
"Frag you, Unicron!" he gasped out.
There was a sound not too far off down the street and around the corner. Starscream already began to jog in the other direction. He was wary of the shadow alleys- did something move there? Who knew, for he wasn't keen on checking.
He ran for a few minutes, not sure whether to feel relieved that nothing had attacked him yet. Either nothing was after him, or the more likely possibility was that they were all waiting in an ambush.
Then, the quiet was over. Starscream skidded to a stop when a crooked shadow of a bot appeared before the accompanying groan. He barely saw the zombie with the outstretched arms start rounding the corner before he started running away from it. He zipped past a narrow alley where a single bony beast prowled out with snapping jaws and wrists and claws that clinked metallically. Starscream turned down another street and ran wide-eyed and trembling. He stumbled but kept moving, looking over his shoulder to see if anything was there. Before he looked back at his route he abruptly crashed into something.
He gasped in surprise when he hit the ground on his back. There was a grunt from the other figure, who sat up rubbing his helm.
"Yo, what do you think you're doing, Scream?" Cliffjumper asked.
Starscream had leapt to his feet, and tried pulling the fallen Cliffjumper up frantically.
"We have to get out of here now!"
"Chill dude, where's the fire?" Cliffjumper was still sitting but he was soon jolted to his knees by Starscream.
"The creatures are coming, we have to-"
Starscream suddenly dropped the red arm he was holding and stepped away from him with a frightened expression.
"Wait, wh-what are you doing here in Vos? You- I told you…"
An assortment of growls and moaning came from around the corner. They were getting closer