CHAPTER 7
Flight
Starscream had spent a little over half an hour solving the metal puzzles and putting them back together, when Ratchet returned to check on him, despite it not having been two full hours yet. Starscream had sat looking at the puzzles for about a minute contemplating if he should solve them again when the medic arrived, gaining his attention.
"Has it been two hours yet?" Starscream asked immediately.
"Not entirely," Ratchet admitted, "but it doesn't have to be exactly two hours. I'm just going to check if you've recovered enough to fly."
"Okay," Starscream replied, letting Ratchet examine him with the scanner and other instruments. It took only a few minutes before Ratchet finished examining the Seeker.
"Still a few scratches on your armor," Ratchet commented, "but otherwise you seem to have fully recovered. Your energy levels also seem to be pretty high, which is good."
Starscream emphasized the last statement by swinging his legs in anticipation, waiting for the doctor's approval. As he seemed to take too long to give it though, Starscream decided to ask instead.
"Does this mean I can go fly now?" Starscream asked impatiently.
Ratchet hesitated for a few seconds before answering. "I suppose I can't hold you back any longer," he replied. "I still want you to take it easy though. If you feel dizzy or faint, or any pain at all, cease flying immediately and return here so I can check on you."
"Okay, I get it," Starscream replied with an eyeroll. "Just take off these things."
Without further comment, Ratchet carefully removed each cable from Starscream's body, at least more careful than Starscream had been the evening before. He started with the dozen small cables placed on his arms, legs, wings, head and several places on his abdomen and back. Once they were all off, he pulled off the big cable attached to his chest, just above his cockpit, having stabilized his Spark. It required a bit more force to pull it off, but not too much and soon Starscream was free from all cables and made no hesitation in standing up right away. Standing up too fast made him a bit dizzy though, and he almost fell down. The dizziness disappeared after a few seconds though.
Ratchet didn't fail to notice Starscream swaying a bit as he stood up. "Yes, you don't want to do that," he commented. "I just told you to take it easy, that goes for standing up as well."
Starscream scoffed. "You've got to be kidding me," he grumbled as the dizziness was entirely gone. Without further conversation, Starscream stepped out of the medbay and into the command center. He was surprised to find it almost empty aside from a few bots, hereamong Ironhide, Wheeljack and Cliffjumper. They barely seemed to notice him, busy talking or working on their own things. There were no humans present at the moment, not even on the railings.
Starscream looked around and studied the various openings leading to other places. He turned back to Ratchet.
"Which way is outside?" he asked.
Ratchet didn't answer him right away. Instead he walked right past him, walking over to Ironhide. Starscream followed but kept his distance. Ratchet and Ironhide seemed to say something to each other, so low Starscream couldn't make out what they were saying. Starscream cast a brief glance on Cliffjumper, who gave him a glare, and Wheeljack, who was too busy working on some sort of device to notice he was being watched.
As Ratchet and Ironhide finished their private talk, they walked over to Starscream, who perked to attention.
"Now, there're a few things you should know first before we can allow you to go anywhere, Starscream," Ironhide said and crossed his arms in an authoritative manner. "For safety reasons, we can't let you go outside on your own, since you will attract human attention in your current state. Normally we leave the base through the physical entrance in our alternate mode to avoid that, but as you've forgotten how to transform, well... I'm sure you can understand."
"I guess," Starscream replied, though uncertain why it was important to avoid the humans. He decided not to ask, he just wanted to get out of the base. "So how do I get outside?"
"Since you can't use the physical entrance," Ratchet replied instead and gestured at the dead-end tunnel with glowing lights, "you will have to use the GroundBridge to go outside. I suppose you don't remember what a GroundBridge is, do you?"
"No, what is it?"
"It's a pretty advanced piece of technology," Wheeljack explained from the side, apparently part of the conversation now. "It allows us to transport bots across vast distances in a few seconds, even if it's on the other side of the planet."
Starscream's optics widened in surprise. "That's called warping, right?" he asked.
"I suppose you could call it that," Wheeljack replied and scratched his head. "But it's more of a portal than teleportation. What we do is entering a set of coordinates into this machine," he gestured towards a computer and an instrument panel alongside the walls, "and then a portal appears in the tunnel over there which will take you to that location."
"We'll make sure to use a location without much human population," Ironhide said, "and where we can test your memories of flying and fighting. Well, flying, at least. We have a training room for practicing fighting skills. But Metroplex isn't big enough for a Flier like you to roam around."
Starscream nodded, crossed his arms and tapped the floor with his pede. "Well, get on with it already!" he demanded impatiently. "Pick a location!"
While Ironhide and Ratchet frowned at Starscream's rudeness, Wheeljack paid little mind to it, instead fiddling with the instrument panel to find a suitable location for Starscream to fly in.
"This place should do," Wheeljack informed after a couple of cycles. "Lots 'a space, no human settlements nearby, flat landscape without anything to fall into. Yeah, I think this is the best place."
As Wheeljack entered the coordinates, Starscream stopped tapping his pede on the floor and let his arms fall to his sides. His wings flapped behind him in anticipation. They were finally going to be used!
A few nano-cycles later, a swishing sound was heard behind them, and Starscream turned to see the tunnel, empty just a moment ago, now with a large round green thing rotating clockwise, white in the center.
"That's the portal?" Starscream asked. "The GroundBridge?"
"Yup," Wheeljack replied. "And I picked the perfect location for ya. You gonna go, right Ironhide?"
"I sure am," Ironhide replied, already moving towards the open portal. "Cliffjumper, wanna tag along with us?"
Cliffjumper, who had stayed silent and still until now, stood up from his seat and started walking over to Ironhide. "Sure, I could use a change of view," Cliffjumper replied. "Getting a bit tired of this desert. Hope you picked something good, Jackie."
Wheeljack hummed and scratched the back of his head. "Ehm, well, hope y'all have a good time," he said, then shook his head. "Or, at least, that things go well." He facepalmed. "Uh... nevermind. Be back soon."
Ignoring Wheeljack's jibber-jabbering, the three bots walked through the GroundBridge portal to wherever Wheeljack had decided they should go. Starscream hesitated before entering, unsure if it was entirely safe. As Ironhide walked first, Starscream decided to believe it was safe enough and followed after the big red bot with Cliffjumper following shortly behind the Seeker.
It was weird, walking through a GroundBridge. They walked through the short tunnel, but instead of hitting the wall in the far back, they kept going into the light. Starscream felt a strange sensation in his frame, almost as if his body was about to fall apart, and his head became light and dizzy. It wasn't too horrible though, and as they saw the end of the white and green tunnel, the sensation began to die down.
As they exited the GroundBridge, which closed immediately behind them, they found themselves in... a desert.
"You gotta be kidding me," Cliffjumper complained with a groan. "Another desert? Wait 'til we get back, Jackie's gonna get it..."
"Cliff, he did say the location was chosen specifically to meet Starscream's current needs," Ironhide reminded the minibot. "It's unpopulated by humans, it's flat, there's soft sand everywhere in case he crashes, and there's plenty of space to take off, fly around and land in."
"Still, did he have to pick the Sahara of all deserts?" Cliffjumper grumbled.
Starscream didn't pay much attention to the red bots' little argument. He had been captivated by the new location he found himself in. Sand, as far as his optics could see to the far horizon, to the right, to the left, in the front, behind him, everywhere he looked there was sand and nothing else. The place they stood in was relatively flat but soft, though not far from their location there were large hills or even mountains of sand, regulargly sweeping off the mounds by soft wind.
The sky was bright blue with a sun shining even brighter than in the other desert Starscream had woken up in. The desert the Autobot base was situated in wasn't so much sand as it was a canyon and dry wilderness. It had been mostly rocky with some plants here and here, and a lot of plateaus. This place just had sand. Lots and lots of sand. It was hot to stand on, and the sun shone bright and hot down on them as well. Starscream felt lucky to be silver-white instead of dark, then took a moment to realize he had just remembered something on his own.
"Starscream?" Ironhide asked behind the Seeker.
Starscream turned and looked at the red bots. "Huh? What?"
"Are you gonna transform?"
Starscream fell silent and thought. "Uh...how do I transform?"
The red bots crossed their arms, considering how to explain.
"Well, I don't know if Fliers do it differently than Grounders, but you kind of have to feel it in your Spark," Ironhide explained. "Then... move your limbs around. Maybe those wings of yours as well. Give it a try."
A rather vague description, but Starscream supposed he'd have to do with that. He turned away from the red bots, trying to ignore their stares. He stared at the horizon, specifically at the blue sky. Feeling just the faintest breeze caress his armor. His wings flapped behind him in anticipation.
"Feel it in my Spark," he repeated quietly to himself. "Remember..."
Starscream closed his optics and took a deep vent. Tuning out the sounds of the wind and the vents of Ironhide and Cliffjumper, he focused on the darkness and on the feeling of his wings, arms, legs and frame. Especially the wings. He could feel them moving on their own, not just from side to side but also up and down. They were telling him something, and he was beginning to understand.
After standing around doing nothing for about two minutes, Starscream suddenly leaped into the air, but instead of transforming, fire began to come out from his heel struts, making him float in the air, still in bipedal mode. Starscream looked down and gasped as he ascended further into the air. The feeling of having no ground below him, having free reign of the surrounding space, it was so familiar, so freeing. He had remembered how to activate his thrusters, at the very least. But this only allowed him to levitate. He needed to fly.
Somehow, Starscream had an idea of what to do. Instead of trying his luck right away, he boosted his thrusters, ascending further into the sky, higher and higher up, until Ironhide and Cliffjumper were mere specks on the ground below him. As he ascended, he marveled at the freedom of being able to move anywhere he wished without restrictions, having a large open space to move around in. He felt relaxed, and at the same time excited. With every meter he ascended into the sky, the more familiar everything felt. As he reached a certain point in the air, he made a decision.
And deactivated his thrusters.
He immediately began to fall towards the ground, in a free fall.
Anyone else would probably have been crazy and suicidal to even try this.
But Starscream wasn't just anyone.
He was the best flier in the galaxy.
Even with his memories gone, his body still remembered. And he still had his instincts.
With both, he left his fate up to his body.
Mere meters before hitting the sandy ground below, just as Starscream thought he might have overestimated himself, his limbs started moving on their own.
There was a series of metallic sounds.
A lot of body parts moving around in his field of vision.
And suddenly, he turned upwards, shooting a flame out of his rear thruster, and shot into the sky.
Using his radar, Starscream somehow managed to get an overview of his own body. He had changed shape, no longer a bipedal bot, but instead a jet, triangular and aerodynamic, zooming through the endless blue sky, effortlessly.
Starscream felt his Spark leaping and beating with excitement and let out shrieks of joy. "I did it! I transformed! I can fly!"
Starscream spun around, did a few loops, just trying out his flying capabilities. He ascended back high up into the sky, then he repeated his earlier action, and returned to bipedal mode, now coming as easy as had it never been forgotten. He initiated another free fall, this time enjoying the fall, knowing he had the ability to get back up before crashing.
He turned to face the ground and once again transformed meters before hitting the sand, leaping back into the sky, spinning with joy.
He suddenly remembered Ironhide and Cliffjumper were still waiting for him. Having achieved his goal, Starscream turned and headed back towards the spot where he had left the red bots. It was surprisingly easy to track them down with his radar, despite the vast emptiness and possible tendency to get people lost here. He found them within seconds and descended, transforming back into his bipedal mode while still a dozen meters above ground, landing on a pede and a knee strut, spreading his arms out to the sides for dramatic effect. It felt natural, perhaps that was how he normally transformed. He liked it. Made him feel like the center of attention, like someone powerful and special.
Starscream rose up with his head lowered and optics closed, lifting his head up as he stood up straight, feeling the faint breeze against his faceplate. Smiling, his optics opened and his gaze fell on the two red bots. They seemed wary for some reason.
"That... was amazing," Starscream sighed, ignoring the bots' stares. "How could I ever forget such a delight?" His smile turned into a smirk as he locked gazes with Ironhide. "Thank you for bringing me here, Ironhide. I appreciate it."
Ironhide and Cliffjumper seemed taken aback for some reason. "Uh, no problem," Ironhide replied and returned the smile, though seemingly more forced than sincere. "You're welcome."
"Can we go back to base now?" Cliffjumper asked impatiently. "At least it's got air conditioning there. It's steaming here."
"Sure," Ironhide replied and put a digit to his audio receptor. "Wheeljack, we're done here, requesting a 'Bridge back to base."
Starscream didn't want to leave the large open space, but at the same time he agreed with Cliffjumper that it was pretty hot here. At least now he had remembered how to transform, better yet, how to fly. And he knew he would never forget it again. The memories of his body and instincts were stronger than his processor. As long as that fact remained, he would never be unable to transform or fly again, even if he ended up losing his memories again at some point.
Mere seconds after requesting a 'Bridge back to base, the familiar green and white portal appeared right in front of them, probably the exact same place as they had entered the desert from.
This time, the red bots gestured Starscream to enter first. Looking back at the vast desert and airspace, he vowed he would go outside every single day, whether through GroundBridge or the physical entrance in the base, just so he could have that thrill again.
Making himself that promise, Starscream turned to the portal and went through, followed closely behind by Ironhide and Cliffjumper, making it back to base before the portal closed behind them, leaving the Sahara behind.
