CHAPTER 12
Flying Mind
Bulkhead's tale of his accidental trespassing of the Decepticon warship lasted only a few minutes.
"And when the Insecticons backed off," Bulkhead said at the end of his tale while clashing his fists together, "I got inspired by my proximity to the power core, and did what I do best."
"You trashed Megatron's ride like a rock star in a hotel room," Miko concluded with pride for her big partner.
"We should hit the 'Cons right now while they're vulnerable," Arcee suggested with eager.
"Megatron's warship may be grounded," Ratchet said, "but let's not forget that we remain vastly outnumbered, especially since he's added the Insecticon hive to his ranks."
"Then maybe it's time for me to call in an airstrike," Agent Fowler volunteered from the railings.
"Or maybe it's time to let me launch an airstrike," Starscream suggested from his corner of the railings. "I can fly too, you know."
"Or perhaps it is time for us to consider more extreme measures," Optimus suggested himself.
"More extreme than allowing Starscream to fly?" Arcee asked intrigued.
Instead of answering her, Optimus and Ratchet went off into the hallways to get something. When they returned, Optimus was holding a disc with gray and black striped markings.
"The Spark Extractor?" Arcee remarked in surprise.
"You mean the relic that Bumblebee retrieved some time ago?" Raf asked. "The one that extracts sparks?"
"Yes," Optimus replied. "It may be our only chance of winning this war once and for all."
"Extreme indeed," Starscream commented, looking intently at the dangerous device. "But perhaps you're right. The only way I can think of for Megatron to go down is with a weapon such as that one. Even if only a small chance of success."
"Even so, using it near the warship will hopefully decrease the Decepticon ranks by a lot," Optimus replied.
"It's worth a try," Bumblebee bleeped. "I'll get it there and get out quickly without getting hit. I'm the fastest one on the team, after all!"
"Very well," Optimus said in agreement. "We will be counting on you, Bumblebee."
"I could get it there faster, by flight," Starscream argued, "and get out of there even quicker. Pit, send me and none of you will need to risk your lives for this!"
"You just want an excuse for running away," Bulkhead accused. "We haven't cleared you for flight yet."
"I thought you needed air support," Starscream countered irritated. "Why can't-"
Suddenly the monitor started beeping, showing the location of the Decepticon warship. The signal of the ship suddenly turned purple, the change seeming very ominous.
"Optimus," Ratchet said, drawing attention away from the arguing boots. "I'm detecting a massive energy spike at the Decepticon crash site. It appears to be Dark Energon."
The information left the room in silence. Even Starscream forgot his own argument. Dark Energon by the Decepticon warship? A massive energy spike? Everyone in the room was able to put two and two together and were thinking the same thing.
The Decepticons had likely decided to use Dark Energon on their own warship, for whatever reason.
The Autobots prepared to leave for battle, and Ratchet activated the GroundBridge. Starscream still tried to convince the Autobots to let him go with them.
"No, Starscream," Optimus repeated calmly, though with a hint of irritation. "With the ship grounded, we should have the greater advantage. Bumblebee will get the job of setting the Spark Extractor done. You are not needed for this mission."
"But-" Starscream tried again.
"Autobots," Optimus interrupted, deciding they had wasted enough time. "Transform and roll out!"
Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Arcee transformed and went on ahead while Optimus lingered for a moment longer. Agent Fowler decided to get his attention before he left as well.
"Hold on, Prime," Agent Fowler said, stopping the Autobot commander. "If you are gonna deploy some kind of super weapon in the final showdown with the 'Cons, it's my job as a representative of Planet Earth to bear witness!"
There was silence for a moment. Optimus and Ratchet shared glances. Starscream smirked gleefully.
Naive human, the Seeker thought. There's no way the Autobots would-
"Very well," Optimus declared. "You may come with us. As long as you stay behind cover."
Starscream gaped while Agent Fowler began making his way down the railings.
"Wait, what?!" Starscream exclaimed, making aggrevated arm gestures. "Why is he allowed to go, while I have to..."
Without hearing the end of his complaint, Optimus transformed and let Agent Fowler inside of him, followed by him driving through the GroundBridge, which disappeared immediately.
"...stay here," the Seeker ended, letting his arms fall to his sides. "Why won't anyone listen to me?"
"Don't worry, Starscream, the guys will get the job done," Miko said, trying to cheer up the Seeker and failed.
Starscream leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed, his face contorted in a frown.
"I hope they get eaten by Insecticons," Starscream grumbled.
The bots didn't get eaten by Insecticons. They didn't succeed in their mission either. Some ten minutes or so later, Agent Fowler called the base, asking for a GroundBridge back. As the portal opened, only Agent Fowler came through.
"They're scattered all over the place," the human explained. "Got stunned by some weird lasers from the warship."
"A Stasis Beam?" Ratchet concluded and looked at Starscream. "You never told us the Decepticon warship had a Stasis Beam installed."
"That's because it doesn't," Starscream defended. "At least not from what I know of. Maybe they upgraded it while I've been trapped in here."
"In any case," Agent Fowler interrupted, "the 'Bots can't move, which means you'll have to move them."
"Of course," Ratchet said and turned to Starscream again. "You're coming with me."
Starscream expressed surprise. "Really? I get to go?"
"Only to help me move the others back here," Ratchet clarified and unlocked the energy string to free Starscream's servos. "Let's go."
Without further argument, Starscream went with Ratchet through the GroundBridge, delighted to have his servos seperated again and to get out of the small base. As they came out on the other side, they saw the Nemesis flying off in the other direction.
"I wonder why they decided to run away?" Starscream said puzzled, staring after the ship. "It makes no sense..."
"We can wonder about that later, come help," Ratchet demanded. "We'll start with Bumblebee."
Together, Ratchet and Starscream carried Bumblebee on their shoulders over to the GroundBridge, located pretty far away from the 'Bots. As they got back to the base, they placed Bumblebee on the floor and went out again, without listening to Raf's concern for his immobilized partner.
Next they went to Arcee. Granted, she was small enough that either one of the mechs could have carried her to the portal by themselves, but as Ratchet did not want Starscream to be on his own yet, and considering the fact that both Optimus and Bulkhead required both mechs to move them, they both carried Arcee together back in the base.
"Arcee," Jack said concerned, but Ratchet and Starscream left again, not to return in quite a few minutes.
While Bulkhead was around the same height as Starscream, he was much wider and heavier than the sleek Seeker, and even with both Ratchet and Starscream lifting, the Wrecker was incredibly heavy, taking several minutes for them to reach the portal several hundreds of meters away. Eventually they made it through and placed Bulkhead next to Arcee and Bumblebee. Miko also expressed worry for her partner, but knowing he was just stunned made it easier to handle.
"Now we just need Optimus," Ratchet informed. "We'll be back in a while."
"Make it a long while," Starscream commented just before they exited through the portal yet again.
It took two minutes to simply get to where Optimus was lying, having apparently been stunned while jumping in the air. The Spark Extractor was lying right next to him, but thankfully it had not yet been activated. It would have been quite an ugly situation if it had been accidentally activated during the fall.
"How about I carry the relic, and you carry the big guy?" Starscream suggested, not wanting to carry such a heavy load again.
"Not a chance," Ratchet declined. "If anything, I will be holding the relic while you carry Optimus."
"I can't carry him all by myself!"
"You held up that ceiling by yourself quite fine," Ratchet pointed out, probably to tease or mock.
Starscream snarled. "That was different! I was being crushed to death! I was trying to keep myself alive! I can't-"
Without hearing the end of his complaint, Ratchet lifted Optimus and handed him over to an unexpectant Starscream, who only grabbed the big bot in reflex, bending over by the heavy load. He growled and groaned by his burden.
"You'll pay for this," Starscream snarled as he started dragging Optimus along the ground, while Ratchet picked up the dangerous Spark Extractor and walked closely beside the Seeker and the Autobot leader.
As expected, it took quite a while for them to reach the GroundBridge. As Ratchet could see that Starscream carrying Optimus by himself would take too long, he opened his chest and placed the Spark Extractor carefully inside, making sure it was secure and wouldn't trigger itself by accident. Afterwards, he took hold of Optimus, helping the Seeker carry half the weight of their leader. Starscream huffed in annoyance. The medic had never intended for Starscream to carry Optimus by himself, he had simply wanted to tease him, apparently. How annoying.
It still took several minutes before they reached the GroundBridge portal, however, and carried Optimus through it until they could place him among the other Autobots. Because of his position made by the fall, it was difficult to keep him standing level on the floor, but they somehow made it work.
The kids stood on the floor, all looking with concern at the immobolized Autobots. The scene reminded Starscream of the time Optimus and Bulkhead had been immobolized by the Harbinger almost three months ago. The kids had not been present at the time, but if they had, they would certainly have remembered it in this situation. This time it hadn't been the Immobolizer, however, but instead the Decepticon warship, with a Stasis Beam Starscream didn't know it possessed. It was difficult to say if the Immobolizer would be able to remove the stasis from the 'Bots, and Ratchet was in no mood to experiment on his comrades.
"They're alive," Ratchet informed while examining the immobolized Autobots. "But I've never encountered this form of stasis lock."
"The 'Cons are crossing the Atlantic," Agent Fowler informed, "making a bee-line for North America!"
"Wait, we can track them?" Jack asked surprised.
"Why aren't they cloaked like usual?" Raf asked, equally confused.
"None of this makes a lick of sense," Agent Fowler replied, sharing the kids' confusion, "they had us in the crosshead, but the 'Cons just took off."
"They even bailed on that Spark Extractor thingy," Miko commented.
"If the ship isn't cloaked," Jack said, "maybe the communications relays are open and-"
"Ehp, ehp," Ratchet interrupted, "are you suggesting that we just call Megatron and ask him what's happening up there?!"
The kids shrugged, surprising Ratchet. He turned to Agent Fowler, who also shrugged. He looked at Starscream. This one also shrugged, apparently agreeing with the humans for once.
"Fine," Ratchet said after a moment of consideration. "We'll call them."
Ratchet went by the computer and started opening a comm. link to the Nemesis. The kids returned to the railings to stand beside Agent Fowler. Starscream went over to lean against the railings with his arms crossed, not having the energy string activated again yet. Everyone watched and listened in silence.
"Autobot Outpost Omega One to Decepticon warship," Ratchet called loudly and clearly. As there was no immediate response, Ratchet tried again. "Megatron, please respond." Again, there was only silence. Ratchet kept trying. "Megatron!"
Still there was no response. They waited several seconds. Ratchet was about to call again when the monitor beeped in response.
"MEGATRON HAS BEEN RELIEVED OF HIS COMMAND," an unknown, loud and growly voice sounded through the comm. Ratchet and the kids had never heard this voice before, but Starscream found it vaguely familiar somehow.
"Who is this?" Ratchet replied.
"WHO IS THIS?!" the voice growled in response, almost in offension.
"Have you taken control of the Decepticon vessel?"
"I AM THE VESSEL," the voice responded loudly. "ANY CYBERTRONIAN WHO INTERFERES WITH MY MISSION WILL BE NEUTRALIZED."
The three large screens suddenly switched to the warship's own camera feed, showing images of frozen Vehicons and Insecticons in three different parts of the ship, to prove the Nemesis' point.
"What mission?" Ratchet asked calmly.
"PRIORITY ONE," the Nemesis responded, "DECRYPT IACON DATABASE AND RECOVER DECEPTICON TECHNOLOGY."
"For what purpose?"
The ship didn't respond. A few seconds after the medic's question, it hung up. The team stood in confusion, surprise and disappointment.
"It hung up?" Miko remarked as the first and crossed her arms. "RUDE!"
"Rude?!" Agent Fowler repeated, almost as a scolding. "There's a giant spaceship flying around, collecting Decepticon weapons of mass destruction!"
"A giant spaceship filled with neutralized Decepticons," Jack pointed out.
"Point?" Agent Fowler demanded.
"This could be our only chance to slip aboard and download the Iacon database."
"So Optimus can decode it," Raf concluded, understanding Jack's thinking.
"Ingenius," Ratchet replied in agreement. "I will infiltrate the Decepticon warship."
"Not ingenius," Jack said in disagreement. "You saw what it did to the Decepticons."
"And probably Megatron too," Raf added.
"And Team Prime?!" Miko added, as if they had forgotten about the Autobots.
"But, that tub had me dead to rights," Agent Fowler argued, "and I'm still breathing."
"The ship may be blind to humans," Jack hypothesized.
"Very well, Agent Fowler," Ratchet said, deciding to go with it, shocking Starscream yet again. "But at the first sign of trouble, I am bridging you right back here!" Ratchet turned to the computer and pulled a card from it. "Now, in order to download the database, you will need a compatible transfer-drive."
"A what?" Agent Fowler said in confusion as he accepted the large card.
"He'll also need tech support," Raf said, wanting to go with him.
"And back-up," Miko added, also wanting to tag along.
"And someone who knows the ship," Starscream added with a smirk.
"Starscream, you would just be detected by the ship and end up like the Decepticons," Ratchet argued. "Let's let the humans-"
"You remember what the ship said, right? Any Cybertronian who interferes with his mission will be neutralized. I will simply not interfere with it."
"Then what exactly are you planning to do? I'm sure showing the humans the way counts as interference."
"If the ship can't detect humans, then it won't know I'm showing them the way. We can split up after I've pointed them in the right direction, and then I could...distract the ship."
The humans looked confused at one another.
"How would you distract a ship?" Agent Fowler asked with genuine curiosity.
"The way I do best," Starscream responded with a smirk. "I'll talk to it."
Talk to a ship? was the thought on everyone's minds, but they couldn't waste too much time on this.
"Fine," Ratchet decided. "You will accompany the humans and make sure they go the right way. Then you will distract the ship somehow to keep it from trying to detect them, if that should happen. Just make sure to not make this mission more trouble than it's worth."
"I won't," Starscream promised. "Let's go."
The humans and Starscream began preparing for departure. Ratchet first went to fetch Starscream's missiles, just in case. As the medic returned and fit the missiles onto the Seeker's arms, Ratchet went to the controls and opened a GroundBridge, coordinates set on the Nemesis.
"Be careful in there, Starscream," Ratchet said. "And don't do anything rash."
"I would never dream of it," Starscream said, not entirely convincing.
And then the party of four humans and one Decepticon stepped through the portal and into the hostile territory of the self-conscious Decepticon warship.
"Fowler to base, we're in," Fowler said on the comm., as the party arrived and the portal closed behind them.
"Good," Ratchet replied. "Their data core should be accessible from any console. I will leave the directions to you, Starscream. Call me if trouble arises."
Then Ratchet's comm. fell silent. Starscream looked from side to side. The hallway was filled with frozen Vehicons and Insecticons. They didn't respond to the Seeker or the humans' presences, but the large beasts were still pretty intimidating, crawling on the ceiling and the walls. He turned and looked, trying to determine where on the ship they were and in which direction to go.
"That way," Starscream said and pointed in the direction the Insecticons were coming from. "There should be a console in that direction. Not that anyone should try to stop you if you get lost, that is. Call me if something happens."
Starscream was already moving in the opposite direction to the one he pointed out.
"Hey, where are you going?" Miko asked. "Come with us!"
"I think I'd rather see if I can retrieve my belongings that I left behind before getting captured, thank you very much," Starscream said sarcastically. "You just go along and play. See you later."
Before the humans could protest, Starscream had already turned a corner and left. They sighed and turned to the direction pointed out to them.
"Well, let's go," Jack said.
Starscream was slightly unnerved as he strode along the familiar halls of the Decepticon warship. Pretty much everywhere he went and turned, there stood one or more frozen Vehicons and/or Insecticons, many of which were crawling on the ceiling and walls. At one point, he turned around a corner and saw a group of Vehicons standing around an unfamiliar mech, yet still familiar somehow. From his backside, Starscream could see it was a Flier, but much bigger than the Vehicons, not to mention the Seeker himself, and this mech was royal blue in color.
Starscream walked around the large Flier, and gasped in surprise as he saw Skyquake's face. But naturally, this was not Skyquake.
"So, you must be this 'Dreadwing' they spoke of," Starscream said to the frozen Flier. He studied the Decepticon insignia on the bot's shoulders. The insignia had a pair of wings sticking from each side. Starscream hadn't seen the symbol very often, but recalled it being the symbol of the Decepticon Elite, similar to the former Autobot Elite Guard, but being given to the strongest Decepticons recognized rather than guarding the Decepticon leader. Megatron did not need anyone to protect him, after all. Decepticons wearing this symbol were often valid candidates for the post of second-in-command to the Decepticons.
Starscream felt unnerved as he studied the mech. He remembered how Optimus had described him as captain of a Seeker army and frowned. Had Dreadwing been part of the Energon Seekers during Starscream's rule? Had Skyquake? He couldn't remember. Despite knowing the names of most of the Seekers, he apparently didn't know all of them. Perhaps they had been part of the Energon Seekers under Red Wing's rule, then left shortly before or after Starscream took over, maybe even before he joined them?
Starscream went through his mind, trying to remember if the names Dreadwing and Skyquake popped up among his list of Seekers. He thought of the names of the other Seekers, trying to determine if they had been in any of their Trines. Acid Storm? No, he had Nova Storm and Ion Storm. Nacelle, perhaps? No, he was with Bitstream and Hotlink. Had they been with Slipstream? Probably. He couldn't remember who Slipstream had had as Trine Mates. Then again, he rarely paid attention to the femme. Sunstorm? Nope, he had never been with the Energon Seekers, he had left Cybertron after Starscream joined them. He had been so unfortunate to have been created with the ability to burn anyone who touched him and destroyed machinery around him. He had therefore been pretty much banished from Cybertron, leaving on a life-long journey to find people who worshipped Primus as much as he did...
Starscream was cut from his thoughts when a loud and familiar voice sounded around him.
"ALL CYBERTRONIANS WHO INTERFERE WITH MY MISSION MUST BE NEUTRALIZED!"
A laser gun appeared from the ceiling and pointed at Starscream, who flinched in surprise and let out an exclamation. He began thinking quickly.
"Wait, I'm not interfering with your mission," the Seeker exclaimed, hoping the ship would understand. "In fact, I q-quite admire your work here! I just wanted to...admire it up close! I have no intention to stop you from whatever you're doing, I swear!"
The laser gun kept pointing at him, but didn't fire. After a few seconds, it retracted.
"GOOD," the Nemesis replied. "SEE THAT YOU KEEP IT THAT WAY."
Starscream dared relaxing his cables and let out a sigh.
"Well, I'm glad we're on the same page," the Seeker replied and started walking. "Say, your voice sounds familiar. I have a feeling you're more than just a simple vessel, am I right?"
"THAT IS CORRECT," the Nemesis replied, apparently not bothered by small talk. "I AM ANYTHING BUT A SIMPLE VESSEL. DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?"
"Hmm," the Seeker hummed, thinking. The apparent sentience of the ship, the vaguely familiar voice and the vessel's apparent awakening due to Dark Energon made one thing clear in any case. "Are you a Transformer?"
"THAT IS CORRECT," the Nemesis repeated, seemingly pleased to be recognized. "I HAVE BEEN TRAPPED IN STASIS IN THIS FORM FOR EONS. BUT THANKS TO THE DARK ENERGON, I HAVE COME BACK ONLINE. AND NOW I CAN CONTINUE MY MISSION TO RECOVER THE LOST RELICS OF IACON."
Starscream paused in his walking, thinking. Trapped in stasis for eons? Recover lost relics? There was only one Transformer in particular that Starscream could think of with that description.
"By Primus," Starscream said with a gasp and looked at the ceiling, even though he had no idea where the ship's face was. "It can't be. Are you... Trypticon?!"
Meanwhile, Ratchet was following the humans' progress through downloading the Iacon Database from a console at which Knock Out was attending. That is, a frozen Knock Out.
Not long after Agent Fowler had inserted the keycard into the port on the console, the sentient warship began detecting the disturbance. Apparently Starscream's so-called 'distraction' wasn't enough to keep the ship from detecting intruders in the other end of the ship. After all, it was its body, so naturally it knew when something was happening in more than one part of it. It seemed like it still couldn't detect the humans, however.
"It doesn't see us," Miko said with confidence through the comm. link.
"Yet," Ratchet corrected. "The ship must not be scanning for carbon-based life forms. But once it widens its search perimeters..."
"...we're toast," Raf ended for him with anxiety.
"I'm 'Bridging you back," Ratchet informed and was about to do so, when Jack interrupted him.
"No," the boy refused. "there are millions of lives at stake in New York, and we three are currently the only ones who can do anything about it."
"Don't you mean 'four'?" Miko asked. "Starscream's still with us. I think."
"You're out of your element, Jack," Ratchet replied. "These readings, the ship's rapid recovery, all point to the fact that Megatron imployed Dark Energon to repair it!"
"Hold on," Jack said, "if you're saying the ship's fueled by Dark Energon, we can dump it, right?"
Ratchet hummed at the idea. "You'll need to reverse the warship's Energon infusor. Follow the mainhead conduits, they'll lead you to the power core."
Ratchet remembered Starscream knew the ship better than he did and tried to call Starscream on the comm.
"Starscream, do you read me?" Ratchet asked. "Return to the humans' position and guide them to the power core. Starscream?"
Starscream did not respond to the comm. Ratchet sighed in annoyance and tried again.
"Starscream, respond!"
"YOU ARE A CLEVER LITTLE SEEKER," Trypticon said in response to Starscream's revelation. "WERE YOU PERHAPS ONE OF THOSE WHO OCCUPIED IN ME WHEN I WAS A STATION?"
Starscream shook his head, clearing his thoughts, and continued walking. "Uh, yes! I was the Air Commander of the Energon Seekers, and we were tasked with guarding the Dark Energon, Synthetic Energon, as well as various relics stored in Trypticon Station not long before Megatron's forces began attacking various places on Cybertron. I am Starscream, if you know me?"
"I HAVE HEARD OF YOU," Trypticon replied. "BUT I FOUND MY STATION MODE EQUAL TO MY CURRENT VESSEL MODE. HIGHLY IMPRACTICAL THOUGH APPROPRIATE FOR LONG RECHARGE. WHEN THE AUTOBOTS DEFEATED ME DURING THE WAR FOR CYBERTRON, I WENT INTO STASIS. WHEN I WAS ABOUT TO WAKE UP AGAIN, SOMEONE HAD TURNED ME INTO A WARSHIP AND I FELL INTO DORMANCY. BUT NOW, THANKS TO THE DARK ENERGON, I HAVE AWAKENED ONCE AGAIN."
"You, uh...you can't transform yet, though, can you?" Starscream asked with concern.
"NO, THAT IS ALSO CORRECT," Trypticon answered. "WHILE I HAVE REGAINED CONTROL OF MYSELF, I FIND MYSELF UNABLE TO TRANSFORM YET. PERHAPS I NEED MORE ENERGON TO DO SO, OR PERHAPS MY PROTOCOLS WILL FIRST COME ONLINE ONCE I HAVE COMPLETED MY MISSION AND COLLECTED THE DECEPTICON RELICS. EITHER WAY, I WILL DO WHAT I MUST TO RECOVER THEM. AND ANYONE WHO GETS IN MY WAY WILL BE NEUTRALIZED."
"Well, then it's a good thing I'm not trying to get in your way," Starscream said with a nervous laughter. "Oh, here it is."
Starscream stopped as he passed by one of the many doors on the ship. It was closed. He went over, but the door didn't open automatically like they usually did. He tried to force the door open, but it seemed to be locked.
"Uh...would you mind opening this door for me?" Starscream asked in the most polite, humble, non-provocative tone he could muster. "I left some things in there..."
"NO."
"Oh...well...that's too bad, then, heheh..."
Instead of arguing with Trypticon, Starscream decided to walk away, not wanting to anger the Titan or get accused of getting in his way. He started heading somewhere else, somewhere he didn't know where, but someplace his legs automatically brought him to.
"So, uh, Trypticon," Starscream said, trying to keep the conversation going, hopefully stalling for time and allowing the humans to continue their work, "did it feel good to come out of stasis after all these eons?"
"IT FELT VERY GOOD," Trypticon answered. "I HAD BEEN A PRISONER IN MY OWN BODY FOR SO LONG, BUT NOW I HAVE FINALLY REGAINED MY FREEDOM. I HAVE THE FREEDOM TO FLY ANYWHERE I WISH, AND ONCE I HAVE COMPLETED MY MISSION, I WILL REGAIN FULL FREEDOM."
"Huh," Starscream said quietly, thinking. "I know exactly how you feel. I am currently also a prisoner in my own body. I feel free, but I know I am not free, for I am currently not allowed to fly anywhere I want. In fact, I am not even allowed to fly. I envy your newfound freedom, big guy."
"IF YOU CANNOT FLY, THEN HOW DID YOU GET ONBOARD THIS SHIP?"
Starscream paused before an open door to a large room. "Uh...I was here from the beginning? Doesn't matter, it doesn't matter how I got here, the important thing is that I won't interfere with your mission, in fact, why not let me help you with your mission?"
"WHAT CAN YOU DO THAT I CANNOT DO? HOW WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO HELP ME?"
Starscream started thinking quickly and deeply as he entered the large room, which he noticed had dozens of boxed Energon cubes in it.
"Well...I could take care of the smaller obstacles, like, taking out humans for you," Starscream began, trying the best he could to come up with something. "And, um... Oh, you could locate the relics, and then I could go and retrieve them for you! After all, I would be much better equipped to retrieve the smaller items in enclosed spaces than you would, uh, with your size and state and everything, no offense..."
Trypticon didn't respond immediately, and Starscream feared he may have insulted the Titan.
"YOU MAKE SENSE," Trypticon responded finally. "IF YOU DO NOT GET IN THE WAY, I WILL ALLOW YOU TO ASSIST."
Starscream let out relieved laughter. "Oh, thank you! Thank you! You will not regret it! Uh, so, since we're going to work together and everything, do you mind if I take just one Energon cube from here? I'm kind of under-fueled, and I would be of much better use if I refueled..."
"GO AHEAD," Trypticon said. "BUT ONLY ONE. MORE THAN THAT AND I WILL NEUTRALIZE YOU. I DO NOT TOLERATE LIARS."
Starscream gulped, knowing he had to keep the truth from the Titan. For now, though, he went and grabbed an Energon cube, opened the safety box and unpacked the Energon cube. He held the cube against his mouth and tipped it, pouring its contents in him. His hunger from the same morning had returned, and that's when he realized how much had happened today. First the appearance of Airachnid's Insecticon armada and Bulkhead's trespassing on the Nemesis, then the immobolization of the Autobots, and now the trespassing on the ship of Starscream and the humans. Time sure was passing slowly today.
As he lowered the cube to wipe his mouth, Starscream let out a gasp. Right in front of him, by a control panel, Megatron stood, frozen, servo grabbing a lever, about to pull it down but had been 'hindered' by Trypticon. Starscream looked around and realized that he was not just in a regular Energon storage room, but rather the power core itself.
"Megatron," Starscream said out loud, mostly to himself. He began snickering as impulsive thoughts crossed his mind. He put down the empty cube beside the others and walked over to the frozen warlord, smirking gleefully.
"Who's out of commission now?" Starscream sneered at his old master while circling around him. "You, that's who!"
The Seeker laughed and looked at his claws. Very tempting thoughts crossed his minds.
"You don't mind if I have a little fun with him, do you, Trypticon?"
"KNOCK YOURSELF OUT," the ship said absentmindedly, perhaps busy with other things.
Starscream cackled merrily by the permission from the ship he once commanded. He held his claws threateningly above the armor of Megatron. The warlord was currently helpless and at the Seeker's mercy. Perfect!
"Oh, how long I've dreamed of doing this, oh mighty Megatron," Starscream said condescendingly as he went to the front of the tall warlord, his claws brushing the big bot's neck cables. "What I could do to you, right here, right now, without you even knowing."
Starscream reached his claws from the warlord's neck cables to his purple optics. "Why, I could finish you off with one punch. Like I punched Cliffjumper."
Starscream hadn't been saying that since his Synthetic Energon rush where he had whispered it to an unconscious Bumblebee, and he didn't even remember the moment very well. Last time he remembered talking about it was just before he got captured by the Autobots. He had been dying to brag about it to someone, even if this someone was frozen, and another someone was a sentient ship.
The Seeker heard a gasp from behind - or rather, behind Megatron, as Starscream was currently facing front against Megatron. He looked over the warlord's shoulder and saw the kids, having arrived from a tunnel of Energon cubes.
"You...what?" Jack said in disbelief.
Starscream flinched, knowing the kids had heard his last sentence. "Uh, I, uh..."
"You killed Cliffjumper?" Miko asked surprised. "Should've known it was someone like you!"
Starscream ran out from Megatron and waved his servos against the humans. "No, wait, I can explain! I was-"
"WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO, STARSCREAM?" Trypticon's rumbling voice sounded around them.
"Uh, nobody," Starscream lied and straightened himself. "I was talking to myself. I do that all the time."
"YOU ARE LYING."
Starscream let out a shriek as a laser gun appeared from the ceiling, pointing at him.
"I TOLD YOU I DO NOT TOLERATE LIARS. AND..." There was a pause, as a manipulator arm appeared from the other side of Megatron, pointing at the humans. "...IT SEEMS I HAVE BEEN INFESTED WITH ALIEN LIFE FORMS! ALL WHO INTERFERE WITH MY MISSION SHALL BE NEUTRALIZED!"
"Scrap," Miko said.
The manipulator arm started going after the kids, trying to catch them, but they all managed to dodge its attacks.
"Nice job, Scream," Miko exclaimed as she dodged one of the manipulator arm's attacks. "Now it knows we're here!"
The laser gun started shooting after Starscream, who also managed to dodge the blasts, seeking cover behind Megatron, walls and Energon cubes.
"Don't be naive," Starscream said as he dodged one of the laser shots. "It already knew you were here!"
Raf and Miko started running towards the maze of Energon cubes while Jack attempted to climb Megatron, but was also hindered by the manipulator arm. Starscream continued to dodge the Stasis Beam attacks, certainly not wanting to end up like Megatron!
Wait, Megatron, Starscream thought and glanced at the warlord, whose servo was still clamped around the lever to the Energon imployment.
The Seeker ran over to Megatron and tried to pull his servo down, but the arm was firmly locked in place. He turned around and started pushing against the warlord's torso.
"Come on, you big lugnut, fall!" Starscream snarled. "Fall-"
Not having paid attention to his surroundings, Starscream got zapped by the Stasis Beam and froze in place, servos on Megatron's chestplate, staring angrily at the warlord's face which was looking up.
"Starscream!" Jack exclaimed in shock over the Seeker's fate. The boy looked to the Energon maze. Raf and Miko were being searched for by the manipulator arm. Everything was up to Jack now.
Jack looked from the manipulator arm to the frozen Megatron and Starscream. He got an idea. He went to the back of Megatron and faced against the Energon maze.
"Hey, over here!" Jack shouted at the manipulator arm, just as it had removed a cube to reveal the hidden Miko and Raf.
The manipulator arm turned to 'look' at Jack, standing ready to react. It stretched out its 'fingers' and shot forward to attack. But Jack managed to jump through the open 'hand' and dodge the attack. The manipulator arm kept going and hit Megatron's back with a bang! As the arm retracted, Jack watched as Megatron began tipping over, his servo pulling down the lever all the way, before letting go and falling onto the floor with a loud clang! Jack just managed to get enough out of the way to avoid getting crushed by the large Decepticon.
As the lever was pulled down, the walls and ceiling lights turned from purple to blue, indicating the Dark Energon was being removed from the ship. The manipulator arm tried one last attack on Jack.
"CRITICAL POWER DRAIN," Trypticon rumbled, struggling to keep conscious. "I AM...IN...COMMAND..." The manipulator arm started retracting to the power core. "PREPARE TO BE... NEUTRALIZZZzzz..."
As Trypticon lost consciousness, the manipulator arm went limp, followed by a Dark Energon cube being removed from the power core. It was over.
Well, it seemed to be over, but then Megatron and Starscream started moving again, falling together. It seemed Trypticon's going back into stasis reversed the effects of the Stasis Beam!
As Raf and Miko exited the Energon maze to join Jack, Jack looked concerned at the awakening Megatron.
"Run," Jack said to the others.
They started running, but Miko paused before exiting the room.
"Wait," she exclaimed and turned around. "Starscream!"
Starscream had a headache. He was lying on something hard but warm. As he came out of stasis he opened his optics and looked down. He let out an exclamation as he found himself lying on top of Megatron, servos on the warlord's chestplate, staring into the warlord's similarly surprised face, now having regained his red optics.
"Uh..." Starscream said, his face burning with embarrassment over their current position. "H...hello...Megatron...heheh..."
Megatron blinked a few times, apparently still trying to assess the situation of having his former second-in-command lying on top of him. His surprised expression turned into a frown.
"Starscream!" Miko's voice sounded from the entrance, making Starscream look up in reaction.
The shout had apparently snapped both mechs out of their perplexed state. Before Starscream could get up, Megatron grabbed the Seeker by his wrists, preventing escape. Starscream let out a shriek of surprise. As the warlord slowly got back on his legs whilst holding the Seeker tight by the wrists, Starscream struggled to wrist himself free from Megatron's grasp, but to no avail.
"I would advice you to stop squirming," Megatron growled lowly, "if you still want to live."
Starscream gulped and stopped struggling. His wings lowered in submission and fear. What was going to happen now? Would the warlord terminate the Seeker right there and then? Would he throw him into a cell and interrogate him of the Autobots' base location? Would he start dismembering him like he had done in the Seeker's dream that same day?
Instead of doing anything right away, Megatron gathered both of Starscream's wrists and held them in his left servo, leaving his right arm free.
"You are coming with me," Megatron rumbled as they steered toward the exit of the power core chamber. "And no squirming!"
Starscream found himself having no choice but to obey his former master. He scurried along beside the warlord while holding back whines and shrieks from the pain caused by Megatron's tight hold around both of the Seeker's wrists. It hurt so much, and he was uncertain if he would be able to use his missiles to blast himself free, even if he had the courage to try so.
Megatron dragged the captive Starscream with him down the hallways through the corridors, looking from side to side. He seemed to be searching. Searching for the humans. Searching for the Autobots. He would deal with Starscream after he had found and taken care of Starscream's companions.
Knowing he was siding with the Autobots for the time being, Megatron could not risk letting go of the Seeker. He was not going to make the same mistake again. He was going to take back his second-in-command for good, first force him to tell him the location of the Autobot base, then he would give him a good beating for his betrayal, and then he might let him return to the Decepticon ranks. Or he could terminate him after getting done with him. But that was usually a last resort. Despite everything, Megatron would rather not terminate Starscream, for a number of reasons, some of which even he did not quite understand himself.
Starscream was terrified and in pain. Every time the warlord steered them around a corner to a new hallway, every time they passed a room, he feared he was going to be punished or locked up. But no, Megatron just kept a tight and painful hold on his small wrists, while they kept going. Starscream scurried as fast as his reluctant legs would let him, but at times he slipped and let Megatron drag him before he got back onto his own pedes.
Starscream didn't say anything during the entire journey through the ship. He was fearing for his life. Megatron didn't seem keen for conversation this time either. He kept growling as he looked from side to side, every time they turned to a new corridor.
Eventually they turned a corner and found what Megatron had been looking for. A GroundBridge portal, at the end of a corridor, where a console was placed. Starscream's spark started beating faster at the sight. Ratchet was 'Bridging the humans back! He had to get there, or he would be left behind...
Starscream wanted to call out, but did not do so out of fear of Megatron, who started walking closer to the portal. He could easily go through the portal and enter the Autobot base, wrecking havoc in there, terminating everyone, learning the location of the base if he got out through the physical exit! Instead of calling, Starscream let out an involuntary whimper at his hopeless situation. Megatron did not fail to notice the sound.
"Be quiet," he growled at the frightened Seeker. "Or I will silence you myself."
"Not a chance, Megatron!" a familiar voice sounded from the portal.
Megatron and Starscream both glanced at the GroundBridge. From the green portal emerged none other than Optimus Prime himself, laser cannon at the ready. Without demanding Megatron to release Starscream, Optimus fired his cannon, hitting the unexpectant Megatron by the left shoulder, pushing him back and making him lose his grip on Starscream. The two Decepticons fell onto the floor by the blast.
Starscream made no hesitation this time in getting up and running towards the GroundBridge portal at full speed alongside Optimus Prime. Reassured of the Seeker's safety, Optimus followed him to the portal. Megatron didn't take long to get up and see the two mechs running towards the portal at the end of the corridor.
"You're not getting away!" Megatron roared and fired his fusion cannon at Starscream.
Starscream made small exclamations as he ran for his life for the portal, with a fusion blast chasing after him. The blast almost hit the Seeker as he and Optimus went through the portal, which closed immediately. The blast instead kept going and hit the console, destroying the screen and its contents. Knock Out lay on the floor, having luckily avoided the blast.
Megatron stared at the destroyed console and the open space where Starscream had just been. He let out a roar of fury.
Thankfully the data was shared among all the consoles, so the termination of this one was irrelevant. But the fact that Starscream escaped from him yet again... it was simply infuriating!
"Next time, you're not getting away, dear Starscream," Megatron said to the air, still fuming. "You will be mine..."
Back at base, Ratchet had called a GroundBridge immediately as the kids reported the warship had returned to stasis, and the Decepticons had started waking up. Raf and Miko returned first with a delusional Agent Fowler on their shoulders, having been zapped by the console earlier. They saw to their delight that the other Autobots had also come out of stasis again.
"Where's Jack?" Arcee asked worried.
"He stayed behind to get the transfer-drive," Raf explained.
"Starscream got caught by Megatron," Miko said anxiously.
"What?!" the Autobots exclaimed in unison.
They spent little time dreading the thought of having their Seeker captive by the Decepticons, revealing the location of their secret base and what not. Not to mention the thought of what Megatron would do to the Seeker while captive. They had to get him back.
"I will get Jack and the transfer-drive," Ratchet informed, keeping the GroundBridge open. "One of you must go rescue Starscream."
"I will go," Optimus volunteered. "If he is captive by Megatron, I will have the best chances of getting him free."
"No argument there," Arcee said in agreement, knowing none of them would be able to take on Megatron, even if to save one of their own. Only Optimus was capable of doing that.
"Let's go," Ratchet said and entered the GroundBridge first.
Optimus went through the GroundBridge a moment later. While Ratchet was taking care of Knock Out, grabbing Jack and the transfer-drive, Optimus went to the other side of the portal to face Megatron, spotting Starscream held tightly by his wrists in one servo of the warlord. The Seeker's wings were downcast in fear and the Autobot could hear a faint whimper of pain and fright from the former Decepticon. The sight infuriated him. Megatron would no longer be allowed to do with Starscream what he wanted, let alone have him captured and abused.
Optimus ran out and shot Megatron on the shoulder, freeing Starscream and watched the Seeker quickly getting up and running at full speed towards the portal. With one last look at Megatron, Optimus followed the shrieking Starscream to the GroundBridge. They made it back just in time to avoid getting hit by Megatron's fusion blast.
As soon as both mechs appeared from the GroundBridge in base, Arcee quickly shut the portal down, preventing anything or anyone from entering their base uninvited. Starscream fell onto the floor and vented heavily, letting out small whimpers of relief, rubbing his sore wrists where Megatron had held them.
"That...was close..." Starscream huffed. "I thought you would...leave me behind..."
"Autobots never leave a comrade behind," Optimus assured the Seeker. "I am glad I made it in time."
"You and me both," Starscream replied, getting back onto his pedes, still shaking a bit from the experience.
Starscream walked over to the others, everyone looking at each other, making sure everyone was okay.
"How did you get captured by Megatron?" Ratchet asked suspiciously.
"He was in the power core chamber," Starscream informed. "Frozen. Just like everyone else. The ship found the kids and started attacking us all. I tried to push Megatron over to make him pull the control down, but it seems I was hit by the Stasis Beam as well, for the next thing I remember is finding myself...uh...lying on top of him..."
Starscream blushed embarrassed by the memory. "And, uh, he took advantage of the moment of confusion."
Ratchet face-palmed over the explanation. Now that everyone was okay, Miko couldn't help but giggle and blush at the memory of the two mechs laying on top of each other. Raf and Jack glanced at her in confusion. Girls.
Starscream glanced at the kids. As he saw they were looking at him, he made a facial gesture and shook his head slightly, trying to tell them something. It took a moment before they realized what he was trying to say without words. It seemed they had to talk later.
Ratchet went around and began examining each Autobot, to make sure the stasis was completely gone and hadn't done any damage to their interior. The kids returned to the railings, and Starscream went over to them, making sure the Autobots were out of hearing range. Agent Fowler lay on a table somewhere, trying to sleep the delusion off.
"Listen, kids," Starscream whispered so low that hopefully none of the Autobots could hear, "don't tell anyone what you heard me say on the ship, alright?"
"Why not?" Miko asked, also in a low tone. "They have to know-"
"No, they don't," Starscream countered. "If you tell them about you-know-what, I'll...I'll..."
He tried to think of something he could do to the kids that would prevent them from telling, but knew it wouldn't make a difference, as the damage would have been done already. He sighed and let out a small whimper, surprising the kids.
"Please," he begged, very unlike him, "please don't tell them I killed Cliffjumper. They'll never forgive me, and they'll never let me fly again. I will forever hold it against you if you tell them, especially Arcee."
The kids shared glances, contemplating what to do. They knew Starscream was going through a lot and that he seemed to be genuinely trying to be good, but it was hard to forget about what he had apparently done to Cliffjumper. Granted, they hadn't known Cliffjumper like the bots had, but they knew he had been a valued member of the team and a good friend and partner to Arcee. They had no doubt the Autobots really would hate Starscream if they found out the truth.
"Do you regret doing it?" Jack asked skeptically.
"Very much," Starscream replied, still with the miserable expression on his face. "I can't change the past, I would if I could. But I can't, so please don't tell them, please."
Ratchet seemed to be finishing examining the Autobots and was heading over to Starscream to check on him. The kids made a quick decision.
"Alright, we won't tell them," Miko said. "But you'll have to tell them yourself some time."
"I know," Starscream replied with a relieved sigh. "I will be the one to decide when it's time to spill the beans."
"Starscream," Ratchet said, catching the Seeker by surprise. He didn't seem to have taken notice of their private little 'conversation'. "Let me take a look at you."
Starscream held out his wrists to Ratchet, who examined them. They seemed sore and bruised from Megatron's tight hold, but otherwise they seemed just fine. Nothing time wouldn't heal. Ratchet then had Starscream turn around so he could examine the rest of his frame. It didn't seem like the short stasis had affected him, though he seemed slightly sore in some places. He cleared Starscream for good health and returned to the Autobot circle. Starscream stayed behind at the railings.
"The download of the Iacon Database may have been incomplete," Ratchet informed, "but we now possess four sets of coordinates decoded by the ship."
"Then we must act quickly," Optimus declared, "for Megatron possesses the same four sets. And he will not hesitate to obtain the potential doomsday devices which lie at the site of each."
Starscream listened intently to the Autobots' discussion. As lengthy as this day had already been, he knew it was far from over.
It was going to be a long day.