CHAPTER 15

Land of Snow


Starscream opened his optics and found himself strapped to a table. Again. He faintly remembered having gone through intense pain here at least twice already. And now was going to be his third.

He felt his head thumping with pain, especially in his optics and the back of the head. His chest also felt sore. He hoped dearly that they would let him off this time, just leave him alone and let him rest.

They didn't.

The menacingly glowing eyes appeared in the darkness, even more of them than previously. He could count at least four sets of eyes staring at him.

"What should we drill in this time?"

"How about changing it up a little?"

"Ooh, I know! Let's see how far his arms can stretch!"

"And his legs! Don't forget the legs!"

Suddenly the straps holding Starscream's arms and legs parted from the table. But instead of releasing him, they simply began moving away from the table in each their own direction. Further and further away, still with a tight hold on Starscream's limbs. He still could not turn his head and see what was happening. But he could feel it.

He could feel as the arms and legs were beginning to stretch beyond their reaching point. He could feel as they were slowly being pushed to their limits and beyond.

He could feel as the wirings began to snap.

He started shrieking as the pain intensified the further they stretched.

"Stop this, please!" he groaned, but he could hardly speak. Even his screams were strained. It was getting hard to vent, as his body was being stretched out of proportion.

The pain just kept coming, the stretch kept going. It was slow, very slow, and very painful.

And suddenly, the limbs gave up.

The wirings, cables and mesh was torn from the torso.

Energon spilled on the floor.

Insane pain coursed through Starscream's entire body.

Starscream let out a deafening scream, followed by silence.

"Starscream! Wake up!"

Starscream jolted awake and sat up with a start, looking frantically around. He was back in his room. He looked down and saw his legs were still attached to his body. He shuddered and glanced to his left and right to see his arms were still there as well. He looked to his left and saw Amy, still laying on the stress relief ball, but with a concerned expression adorning her face as she looked at him.

Starscream looked down and buried his face in his servos, trying to calm down from the experience.

"Are you alright?" Amy asked with concern in her voice. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Starscream was glad she didn't ask if he had had a nightmare. Primus, he hated when they asked that. Why else would a bot scream and... whatever else it was he did, in their sleep, if they weren't having a nightmare? It was always a stupid question. Good thing Amy seemed to be perceptive and sensible enough to at least not state the obvious.

"I... I don't know," he groaned and rubbed his servos down his face before looking at Amy. "I don't think so. You don't need to know."

"Okay," Amy replied and shifted so she was looking at the ceiling instead. "I just want you to know, Starscream, you're the only friend I have at the moment. The only one I can trust. I won't tell anyone anything. So if there's ever anything you need to talk about, or if you need to rant about something, you can always talk to me. I'm a good listener. As strange as it may sound, given how much I talk myself. So... think about it. Okay?"

Starscream nodded and hummed in response. He gazed at the clock by his shelf. 1.17 AM. Again. Probably just a coincidence.

Starscream laid back down on the berth and closed his optics, trying to forget the dream.

"Amy?" he called quietly. "Are you still awake?"

"Yeah."

"Thank you. For waking me. If I have another nightmare, please wake me again."

"Okay, I will. Though, I actually called you for almost a minute before you woke up. I'll try, but it doesn't seem like there's much I can do. Except being your listener. I guess. But I'll do my best, Starscream."

There was silence for a while. Amy listened. There was a faint snore. She smiled and closed her own eyes.

"Sleep well, Starscream. Hope things get easier for you tomorrow."


The next morning, Starscream woke up by himself for once. He heard a faint shuffling which brought him back to consciousness, but kept his optics closed as he was still tired. After a few minutes, he opened his optics into slits and stretched his arms and legs, letting out a groan. He sat up and looked at the clock, which said 9.57 AM. He had slept for almost nine hours since waking from the nightmare. No one had disturbed him since, and he actually felt rested for once.

Hauling his legs onto the floor, Starscream's gaze fell on the desk. Amy was absent from the ball she had slept on. He searched the room with his optics to see if she was hiding somewhere, or if there was a vent shaft somewhere that she might have crawled through. There didn't seem to be one, and he couldn't spot her anywhere.

"Hmm, I wonder," he mused to himself and reached into his subspace, first the left, then the right. They were empty. "Where the Pit did she go?"

Starscream stood up and took a closer look around, careful where he stepped in case she was somewhere on the floor. He searched through the shelf, behind the datapads and clock, among the puzzles, below the desk, under the berth. Amy was nowhere to be found.

"Strange," he said to himself. A thought came to mind. "Maybe she isn't real. Maybe she's just a figment of my imagination. That's the only explanation. How else would she be able to get out of this room? Unless..."

Unless what? Unless there was some hidden door somewhere in the room?

Starscream scoffed at the air and decided it had just been a dream. That every time that girl Amy appeared, it had just been a daydream.

Deciding that, Starscream walked over to the door and opened it via the button beside it. It slid aside and Starscream passed through to the hallway, closed it and made his way to the command center.

He got lost a couple times before he eventually found his way there. Having only just arrived in the base and finding its hallways more complex than the one simple hallway in Metroplex, it was natural he couldn't find his way around yet. He ended up in at least two dead ends before finding the right way to the command center.

When Starscream arrived, he saw only Skyfire, Smokescreen and Metalhawk present. Everyone else was absent.

"Good morning," Starscream greeted as he approached the three bots, who ceased their conversation and turned their attention to the Seeker.

"Morning, Starscream," Smokescreen greeted with a smile and wave. "Slept well?"

"I slept more than the other days, anyway," Starscream replied and stopped just before the trio. "I actually feel rested."

"We decided to let you sleep in today," Skyfire informed. "Since we've been told you haven't had much rest back in Metroplex."

"Thanks for that."

"Don't get used to it," Metalhawk said. "We still expect you to do your part around here and be available when we need you."

Starscream nodded in understanding. "So what's this place like, anyway? Is it different from the desert?"

"Very different," Smokescreen replied. "You could say it's the exact opposite of a desert."

"Which would be?"

Skyfire gave the smaller Flier a smile and gestured with his servo. "It's better if we show you. Come with me."

Skyfire walked over to a large elevator of some sort. Starscream promptly followed after and into the elevator with Skyfire.

"Are we going outside?" Starscream asked excitedly as the elevator began going up.

"We are," Skyfire replied. "I think you'll be quite surprised. Considering your memory loss, I mean. Here we are."

The elevator doors parted, and the two Fliers stepped outside. A cold breeze blew into their frames, and they shut their optics in reaction. When Starscream opened his again, the sight before him blew him away.

The base was situated in a white mountain range, and below them was a vast forest of frozen trees and white stuff covering the entire region, as far as Starscream's optics could see. The sight was breathtaking, and the white stuff lit up the entire area. The sky was as white as the ground, but despite the sun not being visible, it was still very bright.

Starscream gazed at the sight for almost an entire cycle before asking: "What is all that?"

"It's called snow," Skyfire explained, also gazing at the view. "It's tiny crystals of frozen water that gather together to form soft, white lumps called snow. It's the same as ice, though still very different."

"Snow," Starscream repeated. "How small are those crystals?"

"Incredibly small." Skyfire bent down and picked up a lump of snow, then showed it to Starscream. "If you look closely, you can see how small."

Starscream studied the lump of snow, his optics zooming in for a closer image. Yes, he could see tiny crystals with complex, unique patterns, none of them the same as the rest, all gathered together in a large pile. Each crystal was clear, but together it seemed they became white.

"How do they do that?" Starscream commented and zoomed out again, reaching a servo forth and took some of the snow. It was cold, and slowly began to melt from the warmth of his armor.

"Nobody knows," Skyfire replied. "But each of those crystals are unique. They're called snowflakes. The humans have a saying that people are like snowflakes. No two people are the same, just as there are no two snowflakes with the same pattern. We are all unique, we are all different."

"Nobody's normal," Starscream concluded. "Everyone's different. But does that mean difference is normal? Or normal is different?"

Skyfire chuckled. "I suppose you could say that. Snow doesn't exist on Cybertron, water doesn't actually exist at all there. So sights like this makes me appreciate the beauty of Earth even more."

Starscream wiped the half melted snow off his servo and turned his attention back to the landscape. "I've never seen Cybertron before," he said. "Or, well, I don't remember what it looks like. Why aren't we on Cybertron, anyway?"

Skyfire's smile fell, and he gazed between Starscream and the landscape. "We're at war with the Decepticons," he replied. "Cybertron is in shambles. There's practically no Energon left there, so we were forced to leave and go here to Earth. There's Energon and raw energy here, and plenty of it. But we all dream of returning to Cybertron some day. Perhaps when it has healed, without our personal conflict with the Decepticons."

Starscream hummed at the explanation. "Didn't we go to Earth together?" he suddenly asked. "You and I, I mean. Or did we all go here together?"

Skyfire hesitated a bit before answering. "We did go together here, you and I, a long time ago. Before the war started. We were exploring various planets for scientific research when we came upon this planet. There was a blizzard, you were small and quick enough to escape, but my size and weight made it harder for me to resist the heavy wind. I crashed and got trapped in a ravine. Do you remember?"

Starscream's optics widened and he looked down at his servos. "I think... I was searching for you," he said uncertain. "But the storm was too strong, and I couldn't find you anywhere. I had no choice but to leave by myself."

"You left me behind," Skyfire said, his voice darker now. "And I ended up freezing solid for millions of years."

There was silence between them. Starscream's head suddenly shot up and looked back at Skyfire with a smile.

"I came back for you though, didn't I?" Starscream said. "I remember finding you in the ice and getting you free. And you're here, after all. So you forgive me, right? You know I didn't want to leave you, right? Are you mad at me for abandoning you?" His smile fell quickly. "You're mad at me, aren't you? That's why you won't look at me, isn't it?"

Skyfire sighed and turned his gaze to Starscream. "It's not an easy thing to forgive," Skyfire replied. His frown soon turned into a soft smile. "But yes, you did come back for me. You did help defrost me. And for that, I'm grateful. I was mad at you at first, but it doesn't really help anyone to hold a grudge against you."

Skyfire turned fully to face Starscream, who did the same. Skyfire laid a servo on Starscream's shoulder.

"I forgive you, Starscream," Skyfire said. "I'm glad to have my friend back by my side. Really, I am."

Starscream's smile returned, and he reached a servo up to his shoulder and caressed Skyfire's own servo.

"Can we go flying?" Starscream asked, focusing on the rough feel of Skyfire's digits.

"Sure," Skyfire replied and allowed Starscream to caress the large servo. "I had actually planned to go out on patrol right now. You can tag along, if you want."

Starscream's optics glittered with excitement as he looked back into Skyfire's optics. "I'd love that."

Starscream loosened his grip on Skyfire's servo, and Skyfire in turn removed his servo from Starscream's shoulder. Skyfire turned towards the forest, but then turned back to Starscream.

"Oh, by the way," he said and reached his servo into his subspace. "There's something you should have."

Starscream watched Skyfire pull out... something, from his subspace. As the larger Flier held forth his servo, Starscream could see it was a visor and a small metal plate which looked a lot like Wheeljack's mouth mask.

"What... is that?" Starscream asked skeptically and looked back at Skyfire.

"It's a mask," Skyfire replied. "Wheeljack gave it to me just before we left the base. He said he had made it the previous night. He made it specifically for you."

Starscream's gaze went back to the mask. "Okay, but why? I didn't ask for a mask. I didn't even ask for a visor. What's it for?"

"Blizzards here in Siberia can get pretty hazardous," Skyfire replied. "Our optics and mouths can easily take damage if it gets too cold or the wind is too hard. For that reason some of us wear masks and visors, to protect our more delicate parts. I have a mask too."

Seemingly without doing anything, Skyfire's face was suddenly covered by a blue visor and a gray mouth mask, more similar to Optimus Prime's mouth mask than Wheeljack's. Starscream gasped by the action.

"So you use masks to protect your faces?" Starscream repeated and looked down at the free mask in Skyfire's servo. "And now Wheeljack's made me one as well. How kind of him."

Without further hesitation, Starscream took the visor and mouth mask from Skyfire's servo and held them in front of him.

"So... how do I put these on?" Starscream asked uncertain.

Skyfire's own mask retracted, his face reappearing, and he knelt down. "I'll help you," he offered.

Starscream allowed Skyfire to take the mouth mask first and let him install it onto the Seeker's face. It felt weird on his face, and kind of cold, having been exposed to the chill winds for a while now.

When Skyfire finished installing the mask, he backed away a little to look at his work.

"Try retracting it," Skyfire said.

Starscream felt on his face and rubbed the grill-like horizontal lines on the mask. He pulled back and tried feeling the mask on his face. He wasn't completely sure what to do here. He felt as if he had never worn a mask like this before, not even before he lost his memories. His face had always been out and free, no matter the weather. Concealing his face like this felt weird, even unnatural.

Regardless, Starscream tried his best to prove his worth to his Amica, the most important bot to him in this life. Eventually he felt a movement on his face and channeled it. The mask slid aside to each side of his audio receptors, allowing his mouth to be exposed once again. He gave Skyfire a satisfied smile. Skyfire smiled back.

"Good job," Skyfire praised and approached the Seeker again. "Now let's install the visor."

Starscream stood still and closed his optics as Skyfire began installing the visor. He didn't want to accidentally get one of his optics poked. So instead he focused on the warmth from Skyfire's digits as they brushed his facial features, and revelling in the warmth. He trusted Skyfire, enough to let him handle his face. Starscream realized he hadn't felt this kind of trust with anyone up until now, other than Ratchet. Then again, he was the medic. Medics could always be trusted. Right?

"Aaand we're done," Skyfire announced and pulled back. "Open your optics."

Starscream opened his optics, suddenly finding the world covered in blue. He could still see clearly, but everything appeared in a slight bluish tone or altered to a slightly different color, like Skyfire's red thing on his back that had now turned a slight brown. The colors were still clear enough that he could see it was red, though, so it wasn't a bother in that sense.

"This is so weird," Starscream commented and looked to all sides with his new visor. "I've never worn a visor before."

"Never seen you with one either," Skyfire replied and rose to his pedes. "But if you're going to live here, you'll need one. That's why Wheeljack made it for you. The rest of us have masks too."

"Even that Skylynx guy?"

"Okay, not all of us. But Skylynx is a lot hardier than the rest of us, because he's a beastbot. Plus it's hard to make anything his size."

"What about the humans?" Starscream asked and carefully poked the visor glass with a claw. "Those Headmasters, I mean."

"They have them too, though their Transformer bodies aren't sentient, so I'm not sure if they feel the exact same as we do. They do to some extent, at least. But as long as the heads are intact, the humans are as well, which is an advantage to them."

Starscream hummed and stood to face Skyfire. "Do I retract the visor the same way as the mask? Through willpower?"

"Pretty much, though it is difficult if you're not used to wearing one," Skyfire answered. "Try it out."

Starscream focused on the feeling of the visor on his face. He focused on the frame attached to the sides of his forehead, and imagined it going away. After several nano-cycles, the visor split in the middle and the two halves slid to each side of Starscream's forehead, hiding in some opening in each side.

"Good," Skyfire praised and put on his own visor and mask. "Now try getting them out again. Both or one at a time, your choice."

Starscream gazed briefly at the larger bot's covered face before focusing again on his own. Now that he knew where the activation sensations were, it was easier to activate the mask and visor than retracting them. Within a few seconds, his face was all covered by a large, dark gray mouth mask and a blue visor with a sharp edge in the center. It still felt weird to have his face covered up like this.

"Now can we go flying?" Starscream asked impatiently and was surprised to hear his voice muffled a bit by the mask.

Skyfire chuckled behind his own mask. "Yes, let's go."

Skyfire initiated transformation first, but because he was larger than Starscream, the small Seeker finished transforming before Skyfire finished his. The small silver-white jet dwarfed before the massive white shuttle, well over three times his own size.

"I almost forgot how big you are," Starscream commented over his comm. "Big and slow, that is!"

Without warning, Starscream blasted off into the sky, heading towards the peak of the mountain.

"Catch me if you can!" the Seeker challenged over the comm.

Not far behind him, he could detect Skyfire closing in on him on his radar.

"It'll be my pleasure!" Skyfire responded over the comm.

Starscream circled the mountain peak and descended as Skyfire reached him. He felt a shadow on him and watched as the massive body of Skyfire zoomed past above him, bringing heavy tailwind with him, almost knocking Starscream forward. The Seeker let out a shriek of surprise.

"How do you like that?" Skyfire's chuckling voice sounded over the comm.

"How dare you," Starscream sent back teasingly. "I'll show you what a Seeker can do!"

Starscream fired up his thrusters and boosted up in speed, zooming past Skyfire and flying above the vast frozen forest, along the snowy mountain range, watching the white sky part just slightly enough to see a faint yellow ball glowing through.

"This is amazing," Starscream said to himself, off the comm. "I didn't think the Earth had such a variety of sceneries. I can't wait to see what else this planet has to offer me."

"Wow, look at all that snow!"

Starscream stiffened and stopped in his flight, just hovering in the air. That didn't come from the comm.

"Amy? Where are you?" he asked.

"In your cockpit," Amy replied. "Warm and comfy. Though a bit nauseous from your transformation. Not a good idea... urp."

Starscream made an internal scan of himself. Yes, now that he focused, he could feel, even see Amy sitting in his cockpit, strapped safely in the seatbelt looking out the orange glass.

"When did you get in there?" Starscream asked surprised and concerned. "Wait, are you even real? You're not just a figment of my imagination, are you?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm real," Amy replied with a chuckle. "Last time I checked, I was as real as you. And I snuck in there after I woke up. There aren't any ventilation shafts in your room, so I was kind of lost on how to get out. I considered trying to reach the button, since it's right by the shelf, but I didn't feel like climbing that high. I'm pretty hungry, I didn't think you'd go outside as soon as you woke up."

Starscream heard a faint rumbling from inside his cockpit. He mentally rolled his optics.

"If you really are real, I somehow have a feeling you won't be able to sneak around in the base for very long. Not if you have certain needs."

"Yeah, I know, I know," Amy replied and looked back out at the landscape. "I'm still thinking about that. But boy, I've never seen snow before. It never snows in Nevada."

"Nevada?"

"Yeah, Nevada. That's the name of the state I live in. Lived in," she corrected. "Where the Autobot base is located. This place we're in, Siberia, I think it's a region somewhere in Russia. It's the biggest country in the world, though with a rather small population in... comparison..."

Amy silenced. Starscream felt concern building up. "Amy? What's wrong?"

Amy's breathing became faster and frantic. "Starscream..." she said, her voice trembling. "There... over there..." She pointed forward. "Look out!"

Starscream switched his view from inside his cockpit to outside in front of him. He stiffened. The bright glowing ball he thought was just the sun, was now approaching him. From the white clouds appeared three jets, the one in the middle surrounded by flames.

The three jets started firing lasers at Starscream. Starscream immediately set back into flight, making a U-turn back towards the base. Skyfire's signal was nowhere near his current location.

"Skyfire!" Starscream called over the comm. "Skyfire, help! I'm under attack!"