CHAPTER 24
Darkmount, NV
As the night progressed, the Decepticons had begun excavating the burning ruins of the Autobot base in search of the Autobots' bodies. They didn't find any, however, though they did manage to find the stasis pod containing Airachnid, as well as the Forge of Solus Prime which had been stolen the previous day. Starscream considered looking through the ruins as well, though rather to search for his items than his possible deceased former comrades. He decided against it, as Megatron may not have allowed it, or perhaps he would find some way to accuse Starscream of still being an Autobot because of it. Besides, it was unlikely any of his items had survived this level of destruction.
Starscream decided to leave Megatron and Dreadwing in the wreckage to chatter like warlord and First Lieutenant, instead trying to find his Trinemates. They couldn't be too far away, considering Wheeljack had crashed near the base.
And right he was. As he exited the wreckage of the base, he found Thundercracker and Skywarp, each holding onto an arm of Wheeljack, letting himself get dragged along the ground. Despite everything, Starscream couldn't help but snicker at the mech's situation, considering how little he liked Wheeljack.
"Hello, Wheeljack," Starscream greeted the Wrecker. "Nice to see you again."
Wheeljack did not look pleased at all to see Starscream. "Get fragged, traitor," he snarled.
Starscream's smirk fell and was replaced with a frown at the insult. He snarled at the Autobot and did a gesture with his servo at his Trinemates.
"Come on," he said. "Lord Megatron awaits."
Starscream led his Trinemates and prisoner back into the wreckage, where Megatron was yelling at some Vehicons for not having found any Autobot bodies.
"Master, look what we've uncovered, in the wreckage of his ship," Starscream announced as he approached the warlord. "Wheeljack."
Megatron turned and gazed at Starscream, who stepped aside to let Thundercracker and Skywarp drag Wheeljack with them, stopping just before the warlord.
"So, one survived," Megatron said in his mockingly pitying tone at the Wrecker. "Take our guest back to the citadel for questioning. Back to Darkmount."
Starscream gazed back at the mighty citadel in the distance, only just visible through the thick smoke clouds around them. He wondered why Megatron had decided to change the name from New Kaon to Darkmount. Perhaps he had just changed his mind and liked Darkmount better? Or maybe he intended to refer to the canyon as New Kaon? Maybe even refer to Earth as such? Who knew.
Starscream gazed between the citadel and Megatron and gulped. "This is the dawning of a new age, my liege," he said, trying to keep his composure. "The reign of Megatron!"
"You do have a way with words, Starscream," Megatron replied with a chuckle. He turned back to the Vehicons and Insecticons continuing their excavation. "Make haste! And unearth the Autobot corpses!"
As Starscream turned his gaze away from Megatron he silently frowned in disgust over his own words. He had only said that to butter up Megatron. In reality he resented the warlord as much as he always did. Even if he had returned to the Decepticons, he had been with the Autobots for quite a while. It would take some getting used to, suddenly having to switch lifestyles again so soon. Even if it was the one he was most familiar with.
Starscream made a gesturing wave at his Trinemates. "Let's go," he said and transformed to jet mode.
Thundercracker and Skywarp simply activated their jet boosters while still holding Wheeljack tightly around the arms. He didn't seem very capable of moving much anyway, probably too damaged from the crash.
"You're not gonna help with this guy?" Skywarp asked Starscream as they all three flew alongside each other, Starscream slowing down just a bit so his Trinemates could follow.
"I can't fly in robot mode anymore," Starscream pointed out. "Do you expect me to let him stand on me or something?"
The Trinemates stayed silent as they continued their flight, with Wheeljack staying silent between them, gazing among them.
"I am not letting him stand on me," Starscream clarified. "You'll just have to pick up the pace!"
Thundercracker and Skywarp shared a glance and nodded, then turned their gazes back to Starscream flying in front of them. They powered up their boosters and arrived on either side of Starscream. Before Starscream could react, the two Seekers planted their pedes onto each of Starscream's wings, with Wheeljack standing on his back. Starscream sank deeply towards the ground by the added weight, but soon pulled himself up again.
"What the FRAG do you two think you're doing?!" Starscream shrieked as he slowly began building up altitude again. "I just told you!"
"And I decided to ignore you," Thundercracker said, standing on Starscream's left wing.
"Nice to get a lift for once," Skywarp commented, standing on Starscream's right wing.
"GET THE FRAG OFF!"
Despite his situation, Wheeljack couldn't help but crack a smirk. "Not so high and mighty after all, are ya, Screamy?" he snickered.
"Be quiet, Autobot," Starscream hissed and powered up his thruster, speeding up to get to the citadel as quickly as possible. "And you two! I will give you a piece of my mind when we get to... Darkmount, was it?"
"Yeah, I wonder why he decided to change it," Skywarp wondered.
Starscream huffed in annoyance. The group stayed silent for the rest of the way until they reached the citadel. Starscream stopped promptly, practically throwing his Trinemates off his back and Wheeljack with them. Fortunately they managed to keep hold of Wheeljack's arms and catch themselves with their jet boosters before falling down or ramming into the wall.
"You could have just parked and let us get off slowly," Skywarp muttered.
"I am not a piece of transport!" Starscream snarled and initiated bot mode. He looked around at the citadel and hummed, scratching his head with his claws. "Uh... do either of you know where the dungeon is in this place?"
"Eh, hello?" Skywarp said. "This fortress was just made, none of us know where anything is!"
Starscream threw his arms into the air. "Oh, for Primus' sake, let's just take him to the Nemesis," he said and reverted back to jet mode. "At least we know where everything is there!"
This time Starscream didn't wait around for his Trinemates. As it was only a short distance flight from the citadel to the warship, they simply activated their jet boosters yet again and flew the short distance before reaching the flight deck of the Nemesis. They found Starscream standing in the middle of the deck, staring at the entrance, perhaps waiting for the other two Seekers.
"Hey Screamer," Skywarp said, catching his Trine Commander's attention. "When we've got Wheeljack in the dungeon and everything, do ya wanna take an oil bath with us?"
Starscream's wings flicked at the mention of a bath. "That would be nice, yes," he responded a moment later and grinned at the thought. "A good old oil bath."
The three Seekers entered the warship and wandered the hallways together, Wheeljack still limp in their arms.
"You seem like you could use one too," Thundercracker replied and sneered. "You reek of Autobots."
Starscream's smirk fell and he crossed his arms in offense. "Okay, that was rude," he said. "Autobots don't have a smell... do they?"
"Of course they do," Skywarp replied as they were nearing the dungeons. "Autobots are dirty, they don't bathe, so they stink of... none-bathing! And you do too! But don't worry, it'll pass after a nice, warm oil bath and some buffing."
"Oh, buffing," Starscream said longingly and fluttered with his wings. "I can't believe how much I've missed this ship. Let's get that Autobot to the dungeons already!"
Starscream turned around and began pushing his Trinemates forward from behind to hurry them up. The Trinemates yelped in surprise but nonetheless they picked up the pace and walked faster towards the dungeons. Soon they arrived and brought Wheeljack into the dungeon, locked him up and then left him in the cell behind locked doors.
Afterwards, Starscream walked in a swift pace towards a flight of stairs leading to the lower level of the warship, the oil bath level. Thundercracker and Skywarp had to walk fast to keep up with the smaller Seeker.
"Wow, hey, slow down," Thundercracker said and tried to put a servo on Starscream's shoulder, but his wing flicked it away before he could. Starscream slowed down anyway, though.
"Sorry," Starscream apologized, taking the two other Seekers aback. "It's just been so long... I've been looking forward to this for months."
Thundercracker and Skywarp briefly glanced at each other, giving the other a crooked smile before turning their attention back on Starscream.
"Looking forward to this too," Skywarp snickered.
Out on a road somewhere, Arcee and Jack drove along in no traffic at all due to the late hours, ocassionally looking up and around them to check if they were being followed. It had only been a few hours since they had been forced to leave the base, but they were already worried about their predicament. Or, still worried, as it had been a crisis from the moment the Decepticons arrived in their canyon.
"Do you think the others are okay?" Jack asked Arcee about an hour after they had evacuated the base.
"I hope so," Arcee replied. "But with communications down, it's gonna be hard to find out."
"I could call Miko and Raf, just to see if they're alright," Jack suggested.
"You know we can't do that. Without the security of the base, the 'Cons can track the phone signals. You'd simply be putting yourself at risk, maybe even Miko and Raf as well."
Jack sighed. "I know," he replied. "I'm just so worried about them. And Mom. Do you think she's okay?"
"She's probably with Agent Fowler and the military," Arcee said. "He said he'd evacuated the whole town, that includes your mother. She's fine."
Jack looked forward. "I hope you're right..."
About an hour passed in silence, the pair simply driving along the really long road, only occasionally stopping to rest by some trees or an empty building for a moment before moving on again.
"I can't believe we ever trusted him," Arcee said at one point as they rested by a tree, apparently getting tired of the silence.
Jack gazed up at his partner. "Starscream?" he asked, but knew it was him she meant.
"Yeah," Arcee replied and crossed her arms. "I should've known it was him who killed Cliff. I mean, Megatron was missing for three years before he came back again. And he first showed up after Cliff's energy signal went offline. Now that I think about it, it couldn't have been anyone but Starscream. That traitor..."
Jack gazed from Arcee to the grass, deep in thought. "I... already knew he did it," Jack admitted slowly.
Arcee turned her gaze to Jack. "What?" she said in disbelief. "When? How? How long have you known?"
Jack held up his hands in defense. "I only learned it recently, back when Megatron's warship went haywire," he said quickly.
Arcee seemed to calm down a little, though her face still expressed doubt and sorrow. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked quietly.
Jack let his arms fall to his sides, seeing as Arcee had calmed. "We promised Starscream we wouldn't tell any of you," he admitted. "It seemed he felt genuinely bad about it."
Arcee's sorrowful expression turned into a frown. "Yeah, like feeling bad about terminating my partner will make everything good again," she hissed lowly. "He's no better than Airachnid."
Jack wanted to say more, but decided to stay silent. He crossed his arms and looked to the side, unsure how to continue the conversation. Arcee noticed his silence, and she sighed.
"But leaving him behind on Cybertron in Megatron's mercy was probably not a good idea either," Arcee said quietly.
Jack looked back up at her. "You knew he was there after all?" he asked surprised.
"I did see him," Arcee admitted. "But I was so caught up in hating him over Cliff's death... I just couldn't get myself to help him. I don't know. I made a mistake. And it ended up costing us our only Flier. And in the end, it cost us the base and our comrades. This is all my fault. If it wasn't for me, Starscream wouldn't have gone with the 'Cons, and then Megatron wouldn't have found out where our base was. And then we wouldn't be out here. I've doomed us all..."
"Arcee, you don't know that," Jack said and let his arms fall to his sides. "Megatron already had his tower built by the Omega Lock before we left Cybertron. He already knew where the base was located. This isn't your fault. And... I don't think it's Starscream's fault either."
Arcee looked back at Jack with a soft gaze. "Maybe you're right," she said with a sigh. "Maybe he didn't have a choice. And we did leave him behind. Primus, we told him so many times that Autobots don't leave a comrade behind. And then that's exactly what we did. What I did," she corrected herself. "It's my fault we lost him."
Jack looked at Arcee, both sorrowful. "No, it's all of our faults," Jack corrected her. "We should have made sure everyone was present before we left. But we forgot about Starscream. Even Optimus seemed to have forgotten to check if he was still with us."
Arcee gave Jack a surprised look. Then her expression fell back into sorrow. "Yeah, we're all to blame in this," she said. "But even if he didn't have a choice other than to return to Megatron, he still betrayed us. I don't know if I'll ever be able to trust him again. If he ever returns to us. I doubt he will. He's such a vain, egotistical bot, and the warship probably has a lot more luxuries than we have. Had," she corrected. "Now we have nothing. Of course he'd rather stay with the 'Cons. He'd be better off with them, I guess."
Jack looked around, checking if anyone was nearby. "Maybe we should move on now," Jack said.
"Right," Arcee said and leaned away from the tree, initiating bike mode.
Jack got onto her and put on his helmet. They went out on the road and continued their endless journey to nowhere.
On another road, on the side of some cliff, Bulkhead and Miko drove on with little traffic to disturb them, as it was pretty late in the night. They too were lamenting the Autobots' predicament.
"I hope the others are okay," Miko said sadly as she gazed out over the view from the cliffside. "Can't I just text them or something?"
"It's too dangerous, Miko," Bulkhead replied. "The 'Cons could pick up any signal, probably even those you're calling or texting. We can't put ourselves or the others in danger. Not this time, not any time."
"Okay, okay, I was just asking," Miko said, a little offended by Bulkhead's tone.
"Sorry," Bulkhead replied, knowing he may have sounded a bit harsh. "I just can't believe we've ended up this way. We lost the Omega Lock, we lost our planet, we even lost our base here on Earth. And we lost our team. All because of Starscream."
Miko perked at the mention of the Seeker. "I don't think this is Starscream's fault," she said in defense.
"What? How can you say that? Didn't you hear what Arcee said? He killed Cliffjumper! And he told on us to Megatron! And he even helped destroy our base and drive us out!"
Miko frowned a bit by Bulkhead's accusations. "Maybe he didn't have a choice," she said. "And we don't know if he told Megatron where the base was or not. I don't think he'd tell him."
"In that case the 'Cons already knew where our base was," Bulkhead mused. "But he still returned to Megatron like a cyberhound. I knew we couldn't trust him. I knew he would do something like this."
"Then why are you acting so surprised about it?"
"Cause I was actually beginning to like the guy," Bulkhead grumbled. "He's a good actor. He's had us all fooled all this time. Acting all goody-goody while secretly plotting to get back at us and return to the 'Cons."
"Do you really think he planned on getting left behind on Cybertron?"
Bulkhead went silent for a moment, deep in thought. "Well, why else would he tell Arcee about Cliffjumper in that moment?" Bulkhead replied. "I mean, what kind of fool thinks that was a good time for revealing such a secret? Why did he even keep it a secret from us in the first place?"
There was silence between them for a while, Miko thinking about her answer. "Maybe he just couldn't find the right time or place to tell you," she replied. "I mean, is there ever a good time to tell your new comrades that you killed one of their friends?"
Bulkhead didn't answer for a while. "You didn't already know about this, did you?" he asked suspiciously.
Miko perked at the question, then settled back into her seat. "Actually, I did," she admitted, looking back out the window. "It was back on the 'Cons' warship, with the Dark Energon and everything. And you guys being immobilized. We overheard him talking to Megatron and he mentioned killing Cliffjumper."
"Hey, hold on, what do you mean he was talking to Megatron?"
"It's not what you think," Miko replied. "Megs was frozen too. Scream seemed like he was about to do some damage to him when he noticed we were present."
Bulkhead cringed mentally. "He didn't threaten you to keep you silent, did he?" he asked with a growl.
"What? No, no! He actually... begged us to not say anything to you guys. We talked a bit about it at some later point, and it seems like he actually feels guilty about killing Cliffjumper. He didn't wanna tell you guys, cause he thought you'd kick him off the team if he did."
Bulkhead remained silent for a while, thinking about Miko's words. "Well, look how well that turned out," Bulkhead replied quietly. "I don't know if we can ever trust this guy again."
Miko leaned back in her seat, staring out her window. "I don't know either, Bulk..."
On yet another road, out on a flat, open landscape, Bumblebee and Rafael drove alongside plenty of other cars to hide from the Decepticons, as the sun was starting to rise. To make it extra hard for the 'Cons, Raf had let Bumblebee scan a new paintjob from one of his magazines, since Bumblebee's paintjob was very distinct and recognizable. Instead of being yellow with two thin black stripes over the top, he was now black with one thick yellow stripe on the top, as well as a thinner yellow stripe on either side of the car's chassis.
"I really hope the new paintjob works," Raf said anxiously, occasionally looking out the window into the sky to see if any Decepticon Fliers were passing by.
"Me too," Bumblebee bleeped in reply. "Hope the 'Cons are only scanning for looks and not energy signatures."
"Yeah, hopefully," Raf replied.
There was silence between them for a while, neither of them sure of what else to say.
"I can't believe Starscream told Arcee about Cliffjumper," Raf said.
"You knew about it?" Bumblebee bleeped in surprise.
"Uh, yeah," Raf replied shyly. "But I've only known for two weeks. Barely. Remember when the Decepticon warship got out of control?"
"He told you then?"
"Yeah. Megatron had been immobilized, and it seemed he thought he was alone, so he talked to him about Cliffjumper. We just happened to enter the room when we heard him talk over himself."
There was silence between the pair for a while.
"To be honest," Bumblebee beeped, "I actually already knew he did it."
Raf looked at the wheel in surprise. "You knew?" he asked. "How long?"
"Remember back when Starscream got out of his cell and went ballistic and almost killed me? I was about to fall into stasis when I think I heard him whisper into my audio receptor: 'I killed Cliffjumper.'"
Raf stared between the wheel and the road ahead. "You've known for almost three months and you didn't tell any of us?" he asked in disbelief. "Not even me?"
"I didn't tell you because of two reasons," Bumblebee bleeped in defense. "First, I didn't even know if he had actually said that, since I fell unconscious the next second. I did remember the words though, and I've always had the feeling that he was the one."
"Okay, what's the other reason?"
"Secondly, it wouldn't have helped either him or us if I had told you. Sure, I was surprised to find out, and I was also pretty mad at him for hurting you. But it could have been because of the Synth-En. I mean, Ratchet went pretty nuts too when he was under its influence. And it didn't seem like Scream remembered anything about it afterwards either. Did we ever find out why?"
"No," Raf said and fell silent for a moment. "Actually, now that I think about it, I think Ratchet injected the Energon into his arm, while Starscream consumed his. Maybe it had a different reaction on him because he drank it instead of injecting it?"
Bumblebee let out a humming buzz. "Could be," he bleeped thoughtfully.
Raf looked back at the wheel. "Okay, so you knew about Cliffjumper all this time, but you didn't say anything," Raf repeated. "But you don't seem like you hate him or anything, do you?"
Bumblebee went silent for a moment. "Like I said before, I was pretty surprised and also a bit upset at first," Bumblebee replied, "but as I thought about it, I knew it wouldn't do him or us any good by telling the others. I don't know if he hurt us because he wanted to or because the Synth-En made him nuts. I want to believe it was the Synth-En. I mean, other than that one time, he behaved pretty well and didn't try to scrap any of us after that."
Bumblebee fell silent for a moment. Raf waited for him to continue.
"Optimus told us to give him a chance," Bumblebee continued after a while. "So I decided to give him a chance. I was still mad at him for hurting you, but at least you survived. I guess that made it easier. And I kinda ended up liking the guy too. Especially after he helped me get back my T-cog. I even wanted to consider him a friend recently. Then this happened."
Another moment of silence fell between the pair, longer than the other times.
"So you're not mad at Starscream?" Raf asked curiously.
"Don't get me wrong, I am mad at him for attacking us on the 'Cons' side," Bumblebee bleeped. "But... then again, we were the ones who left him behind. And after having told him so many times how we never leave a comrade behind too. Primus, I wish I'd checked if he was still with us before we left."
"I think everyone was kind of out of the loop," Raf said. "Everyone was just thinking about getting back home. Even I didn't notice Starscream was missing until we were back in base."
Bumblebee let out a buzzing sigh. "Maybe he didn't have a choice," Bumblebee mused. "Considering he was all alone out there. And... it doesn't seem like Starscream's as strong as we are. Mentally, I mean. When I was captured by Megatron in Tyger Pax, I refused to give him vital intel, and it cost me my voicebox. Starscream doesn't seem like the kind of bot brave enough to make such sacrifices. Maybe he felt he had no other choice than to rejoin Megatron in order to survive. Just like we had no choice but to abandon the base to survive."
Raf leaned back in his seat, just gazing out at the road. "I hope he's alright," Raf said. "All things considered, he's not really a bad guy. He's just made some bad choices."
"I understand why he did it," Bumblebee buzzed. "That doesn't mean I agree with what he did. He still made a bad choice. He's on the enemy's side now. Next time we meet, he'll have to make a choice. Us or them. Optimus or Megatron. Good or bad."
After a few seconds of silence, Bumblebee let out a buzzing chuckle, to Raf's surprise.
"It's gotta be hard to be Starscream," Bumblebee said sorrowfully. "I'm glad I'm not him."
"Ahhhh," Starscream hummed in delight a little before dawn. "How I've missed oil baths."
The oil bath level on the Nemesis was pretty much just one big, open floor filled with round pools of oil in many different sizes. There were a hundred small single-bot pools scattered all over the floor, about half as many two-bot pools for pairs, as well as a couple dozen three- or five-bot pools for trios or teams, and then a dozen or so community pools where dozens of bots could bathe in at the same time.
Each pool had a set of controls to heat up the oil or add bubbles, which came from below as a sort of massage. In each pool there were several filters which sucked in the oil, removed dirt and debris and then sent the cleansed oil back out again. The waste would build up in some container in the bottom of the ship until it was about full, then it would automatically dump the waste into the air. What happened to those who found themselves beneath that waste was not of the Decepticons' concern.
Some Decepticons made more frequent use of the oil baths than others. Knock Out, for instance, bathed pretty much every single day, to keep himself as shiny and slick as possible. The Vehicons often made use of the baths as well, some bathing every day while others could wait up until a week before bathing. The Insecticons rarely made use of the baths, but once in a while one could find the larger pools occupied by an Insecticon or a few. But everyone living on the ship had the right to get an oil bath whenever they wanted, and they made sure to make use of their right.
Starscream currenly sat in a pool for three bots, sharing it with Thundercracker and Skywarp, all three spreading their arms out on the edge of the pool. The controls had been set to hot temperature and bubbles. Starscream revelled in the feeling of the hot oil making its way into his seams and crevices, lubricating his joints and softening the dirt and debris that had made its home on his armor. He wouldn't get clean simply by sitting still, however.
After sitting in a few minutes and just feeling the oil and the bubbles, Starscream leaned forward and started dipping his head into the oil, then threw himself back up to soak his upper body, including his wings, which flapped enthusiastically and sprayed oil everywhere. He repeated this several times, much like a bird in a birdbath would. It was the most effective way for a flight frame to wash himself in oil.
Thundercracker and Skywarp held a servo in front of their faces as Starscream's wings began spraying oil at them.
"Hey, come on, no splashing," Thundercracker said in fake complaint.
"You got a problem with that?" Starscream said as he paused his splashing and gave his Trinemates a mischievous smirk.
Skywarp removed his arms from the edge of the pool and instead crouched until only his optics and the tips of his wings were above the surface. His gaze set on the puzzled Starscream, Skywarp pounced forward, making a big wave of oil splash onto Starscream, who winced back with an arm in front of his face and yelped in surprise. Skywarp rose to his pedes and laughed while pointing a digit at the other.
"How dare you," Starscream hissed playfully and flapped his wings.
Starscream dove entirely into the pool, being small enough to disappear entirely into the liquid. Skywarp looked around, unable to see through the brown substance. Suddenly, Starscream grabbed his leg and pulled it away under him, causing Skywarp to slip and fall into the oil with a big splash and a shriek of surprise. Under the surface, Skywarp looked between his legs and saw Starscream snicker at him a few meters away. Skywarp sat up quickly and spat the oil out of his mouth. Starscream popped up from the liquid and flapped excitedly with his wings.
"Why you little..." Skywarp snickered and gazed at Thundercracker. "TC, you in?"
Thundercracker, who had previously been smirking amused at the two's little battle, now looked nervously between them. "Uh, no thanks, I-"
Before he could continue, Skywarp had already grabbed his arm and pulled him into the oil with him. Thundercracker rose quickly from the surface and gasped in surprise.
"How could you!" Thundercracker accused though couldn't hold back a chuckle.
"Now you're in this too," Skywarp said, his gaze turning to Starscream, who looked nervously between the two. "It's two on one, we can take him!"
Thundercracker, still smiling, facepalmed. "I don't even know what we're doing..." he sighed.
Starscream flicked his wings and spread his arms, his smirk wide. "I can take both of you on, whatever you're planning!" he boasted. "Bring it on!"
From one of the stairs walked in a pair of Vehicon Grounders, ready for some relaxation.
"It'll be good with a nice warm oil bath, huh, Steve?" one Vehicon said to the other.
"Yeah, it's been a crazy couple of weeks, Greg," the other replied as they began approaching the pools. "Now it's just some nice, relaxing-"
"Take this!"
The two Vehicons turned their heads at the sound of laughter and shrieks and found themselves stumped at the sight of three Seekers in one of the bigger pools, splashing and tumbling about, apparently attacking each other with oil and... tickles?
Steve and Greg shared a glance together before deciding to just leave the Trine be and find a pool of their own.
In the meantime, Starscream was struggling to escape Thundercracker and Skywarp's endless tickle attacks on him while unable to laugh hysterically from it. Their claws were shorter and more blunt than his own, so they were more effective at tickling than his.
"Enough!" Starscream exclaimed and shoved his Trinemates forward, causing them to fall on their backs into the liquid.
They soon sat up again, the oil going to just under their shoulders. Starscream gasped and stared at his Trinemates with a grin, his face flushed blue from the attack. Letting out several deep vents, the three Seekers seated themselves on the bottom as they came down from the high. Once again they just closed their optics and focused on the feeling of the warm oil touching their protoforms, relaxing. They sat in silence and vented slowly and deeply.
After several minutes, Skywarp broke the silence. "Up for some preening?" he asked quietly, his optics half open.
Starscream opened his optics and gazed at his Trinemates in thought. He sighed. "Alright," he replied. "Do me first."
Starscream turned around as Skywarp drew closer and situated himself just behind his Trine Commander. Skywarp got to work at once. With one servo holding lightly onto Starscream's back, he began digging his claws of the other servo into the seams and crevices to remove any excess dirt and crusted Energon that the oil couldn't wash out.
Preening was a common act among flight frames, especially those that had talons. Bots with blunt digits couldn't reach into those narrow spaces and generally just left it there. Preening had become a popular part of Vosian culture back in the Golden Age of Cybertron and had been regarded as an act of bonding between friends, family and Trines, as the act itself required a certain level of trust between the preener and the recipient. Claws were sharp, and they could accidentally cut a cable or nerve wirings, which hurt insanely much. If done right, however, it helped the recipient clean out excess dirt and debris to get a cleaner and healthier protoform.
Starscream didn't really like preening much, mostly because he trusted very few bots, and this being a sort of trust exercise in itself made it one of Starscream's less desirable activities. But it had been more than ten years since he had last been preened by anyone, as the act of preening other bots wasn't much of a thing outside of Vos. Plus, with the recent months' events and not having been cleaned in all that time meant his frame was probably filled with all sorts of disgusting things.
Starscream cringed as Skywarp's claw brushed a cable. "Careful," he hissed and flicked a wing.
"Sorry, sorry," Skywarp apologized and resumed his work, trying to be more careful this time. "Mech, you really got a lot stuck in there. Why didn't you get Knock Out or someone to preen you all this time?"
"I don't trust Knock Out to know how to preen," Starscream said with his optics closed, focusing on the feeling of having crusts of dirt and Energon removed from his seams. "And I've been the only Seeker onboard this ship for over a decade. No one else knows how to do this."
"What about Megatron?" Thundercracker asked, having begun preening Skywarp while the latter was working on Starscream.
Starscream let out a chuckle. "Don't be ridiculous," Starscream replied and held back a hum as Skywarp's claw hit just the right spot. "With all he's done to me, do you really think I'd trust him with something as delicate as this?"
"Right, dumb question," Thundercracker replied. "You'll do me afterwards, right, Scream?"
"Sure," Starscream replied absently.
After several minutes, Skywarp had finally completed his preening of Starscream while Thundercracker continued on the black Seeker. Starscream moved to the back so he was facing Thundercracker's back. He gazed down at his insanely long, really sharp black claws before digging in. He really had to be careful with those. He had only really preened his Trinemates in this body once, shortly before the Nemesis had received a call from Shockwave to return to Cybertron to deliver Energon so he could finish the Space Bridge. Up until that point, the Decepticons had been chasing after the fleeing Autobots in their Ark ship, as well as several other, smaller ships. Megatron had been on board the Nemesis with Starscream, Soundwave and a crew of Vehicons, while the rest of the Decepticons were transferred to the Harbinger which continued its pursuit after the Autobots while the Nemesis returned to Cybertron.
Some weeks before Shockwave's call, the Decepticons had found a large chunk of Red Energon on an asteroid during one of their many interstellar battles against the Autobots, occasionally landing on planets, moons or asteroids for repairs and to replenish their Energon supplies. Starscream had personally found that large chunk of Red Energon and brought it back to the ship with his Seekers' help. Several weeks later, the crystal had finished refining, and they used it to put the warship into hyper-speed, so they simply warped back to Cybertron in the matter of minutes.
There, they then spent a few months while Megatron had touched down on the planet to check out how things went with the remaining troops on the dead world. Meanwhile, Starscream had been in command of the ship, supervised by Soundwave, as one day the Autobots Arcee and Cliffjumper had been captured by some troopers. That was the first time Starscream had met Arcee, but he had heard rumors about the assassin that had taken down many Decepticons. He had encountered Cliffjumper before, but before Cybertron became barren and while he still had his old body. It had been a brief battle though, or perhaps he had only caught a glimpse of him during flight? He couldn't remember, but he knew he had seen the small bot before his capture.
After acquiring the location of the Autobots, who turned out to have landed on a planet called Earth, the two Autobots had then managed to escape and fled through the Space Bridge, which they had then proceeded to destroy, with Shockwave caught in the crossfire. Having the Space Bridge damaged, Starscream found himself having to repair the damage with the troopers, as Megatron needed the Space Bridge to travel to Cybertron from other planets. The process took almost a year. At least they had acquired the codes to Earth so they could arrive there later - with another boost of their remaining Red Energon - and build a new Space Bridge which they could then use to travel between Earth and Cybertron when finished.
By the time they arrived on Earth, the Harbinger had crash-landed and broken in half, and the Decepticon crew had scattered across the planet, many of them had perished. Many had gone into hiding and fell dormant, hereamong the Combaticons and Starscream's Trinemates. Some survivors included Knock Out, Breakdown, Makeshift and Skyquake among others. The years passed as the war continued on Earth between Megatron's forces and Optimus Prime's soldiers, which had begun to thin out. About a decade after arriving on Earth, Megatron had then given Starscream command of the Nemesis while he went off to search for something, the Space Bridge having been completed. Three years later - Starscream having decided they should lay low until the warlord returned - it turned out Megatron had been searching for and acquired a large chunk of Dark Energon, but the natural kind and not the blue variant Starscream could manufacture on Cybertron.
"Are you sleeping or something, Starscream?" Thundercracker suddenly asked.
Starscream perked to attention, having been shaken out of his deep thoughts on the past. "No, I was just thinking," he said.
"About what?" Skywarp asked from the front.
"About my life choices."
"Not being dramatic at all," Thundercracker commented.
"Shut up."
From a nearby pool, the Vehicons Steve and Greg were looking intently at the Seekers preening each other. It was quite intriguing to watch.
Having spent a few hours in the pool, the three Seekers finally decided they were clean and preened enough and rose from their pools. They ruffled their plating to shake off most of the oil before heading over to the wall where cloths and rotary buffers lay on shelves.
"Ready for some buffing?" Thundercracker asked Starscream with a smirk.
"Never been readier," Starscream replied and smirked.
After wiping off the leftover oil with the cloths and throwing them into a duct for laundry, Thundercracker grabbed a buffer and turned to Starscream, who stood ready with his back facing his Trinemate. Thundercracker turned on the buffer and got to work, starting with Starscream's back. Starscream flinched at first by the touch of the vibrating buffer, but then settled as he got used to the feeling. The buffer moved onto his left wing, and it flicked a bit in response, but as Thundercracker applied more pressure to the wing, it soon relaxed. Afterwards he did the same with the right wing.
While Thundercracker worked on Starscream's wings and back, Starscream himself was given another buffer by Skywarp so he could buff his own front at the same time. Starscream gladly accepted and got to work on his front, while Skywarp fetched another buffer for himself.
The Vehicons Steve and Greg continued to watch the Seekers with intrigue, strangely engrossed by the rather intimate actions between them, especially Starscream, who never got intimate or close with anyone on the ship. It was strange to see the former commander so... trusting. So relaxed, so accepting of the other two.
Steve and Greg had admired Starscream for quite a long time, especially his sleek and spiky features. They often tried to gain the Seeker's attention, especially by completing their missions as flawlessly as possible. Which was hard, considering they were Vehicons. They were stronger than most of the others of their kind, though, having been able to stand against the two Autobots Arcee and Bumblebee in battle and even doing a pretty good job. It was first when the Wrecker Bulkhead had appeared, that they knew they didn't have a chance of winning and thus escaped.
Regardless, they continued to do their best to make themselves stand out, which, again, was difficult, as they looked like everyone else on the ship. Even the Fliers. Heck, Megatron had just recently thrown one of their fellow Grounders off the ship because he couldn't tell if his own troops had wings or not. Poor Kevin.
Starscream had been missing from the ship for three months, the crew having been informed that he had defected to the Autobots. This had shocked Steve and Greg, as well as their Flier friend Chris, a genius who once rammed Optimus Prime himself with a tree. They, as well as several other Vehicons, never thought the Air Commander, although ambiguous, would ever side with the enemy. Now though, he was back and apparently intending to stay. Now they could once again admire the Seeker as he took his oil baths and wandered the hallways, just looking at those fine features of his. Maybe even get the courage to walk up and talk to him?
Not while he was with his Trinemates, though. They were too big and scary, and when in a group, Starscream was prone to being pretty nasty, especially to those who ranked under him. And the Vehicons were at the bottom of the hierarchy, just barely sharing the same position as those vile Insecticons. And with so many guys who looked just like them, there was no chance that any of the elites would ever know about Steve or Greg, even if they were among the strongest of the clones. Maybe one day. But not as times were right now.
The buffing session took almost half an hour, as Starscream wanted to get every nook and cranny buffed and polished, until he shone like a star. There was one place he refused to get buffed in, however.
"Want me to get that scratch off your face?" Skywarp asked as they had finished each their own buffing, pointing to the scar Starscream had gained on his right cheek.
Starscream's servo went automatically to his face and covered his cheekplate. "No," he answered. "Leave it be."
This took Thundercracker and Skywarp by surprise. "Really? Someone as vain as you want to leave a scar on your face?" Thundercracker said skeptically. "Why?"
"None of your concern," Starscream hissed and put away the buffer. He turned around and looked down at himself, all shiny and smooth again. He went to a nearby mirror on the wall and turned to different angles, admiring his frame from all directions. He smirked satisfied at the result.
"Oh, how I've missed looking at myself," he sighed. His gaze went to the scar on his cheek, which was still slightly bluish but mostly healed. His smirk fell. It didn't look very nice. He actually did want to get rid of it, but at the same time he couldn't really get himself to do it. He didn't know why. Perhaps it was to serve him as a reminder of what he did the previous day. Suddenly he began feeling really tired, his wings drooping slightly.
Thundercracker noticed this. "Are you alright?" the blue Seeker asked his Trinemate.
"I just remembered I haven't slept in three days now," Starscream replied. "Considered everything that has happened recently, with the Omega Keys and the Lock and the Autobot base and everything."
"Yeah, we should probably all get some sleep," Thundercracker replied as they made their way to the stairs, heading for the upper levels.
"I'm exhausted too," Skywarp replied. "Lord Megatron has been driving us hard these last few days. It'll be nice with a few hours of recharge."
With that, they reached the floor where they each found their own quarters and parted for the morning. While they couldn't see it at the moment, the sun had already risen. Despite that, the Nemesis provided darkness if any bot needed to recharge during the day, which was highly convenient. The innermost quarters didn't have windows, which made it easier for the bots sleeping there to rest.
Starscream entered his quarters, which looked mostly like his now destroyed room in the wreckage of the Autobot base. That is, without being a mess, of course. Starscream's gaze went to the table, feeling a bit sad by the absence of puzzles and miscellaneous. He never thought he would come to like his Autobot room so much. This room was roomier and better lit, and his shelf filled with more things that he liked, mostly datapads on science, flying, history, frames, politics and military. Not like those silly Earth stories in the Autobot base.
Starscream remembered he had lost quite a lot of items from the attack, including his cherished crown, cape and shoulder-pads he had often worn as Winglord during special occasions in Vos. He wondered if any of his items had survived the destruction of the base. Probably not, especially not the cape, being made of organic fabric.
Starscream looked down at his right wrist. At least he still had the good-luck necklace wrapped around him, still intact. As long as he had that, he didn't care about anything else he'd lost.
With a sigh, Starscream laid down on the berth and slowly fell into a dreamless recharge.
When Starscream woke up again, it was early afternoon. He rose from the berth and stretched his limbs. He felt his tanks churning and decided to go grab an Energon cube before reporting for duty.
Starscream went through the hallways in silence, not granting any passing Vehicons or Insecticons even a glance. He could feel their judging gazes and tried to ignore them. It was only natural that they were suspicious of him, since he'd been missing for the last three months, not to mention having been on the Autobots' side. At one point he glanced down at his chest. The Autobot brand was still marked on his chestplate. Though small and in his own red color, it was apparently visible enough that passersby could tell it was not the Decepticon insignia. He stood out among the others.
Soon he arrived at one of the Energon storages and went in, grabbed a cube and leaned against the wall outside while sipping the Energon in him. He couldn't remember the last time he refueled, what with everything that had happened recently. It had probably also been a few days since he last had Energon. Though perhaps Ratchet had given him some when he had been unconscious from the sandstorm incident? Probably.
This reminded Starscream of the sand in his systems. He hadn't coughed since the previous day, before the attack on the Autobot base. He wondered if perhaps the oil bath had also washed out the remaining grains of sand in his ventilation system? He supposed he would find out later. Until then, it was nice not to have the feeling of foreign objects in his systems.
The Energon cube was soon empty, and he placed the empty cube on the floor in the storage. A worker could come by and take care of it later.
Starscream made his way upstairs, until he reached the command center of the ship. He was surprised to find only Soundwave and some Vehicons present in the room. He walked over to Soundwave.
"Soundwave," Starscream greeted the silent mech, who turned around as the Seeker entered. "Where is Lord Megatron?"
Soundwave activated a transmission containing Megatron's voice, laced with Soundwave's own. "Starscream, when you receive this message, go to the dungeon and interrogate our prisoner for information regarding the whereabouts of the Autobots. By any means necessary."
The recording ended, and Soundwave just stood and stared silently at Starscream.
Starscream reset his vocalizer, noticing relieved that he did not get any uncomfortable coughing attacks. "Very well then," he said and turned back to the doors. "If that's what he wants, then I shall go."
As Starscream made his way to the dungeon, he fell deep in thought. Wheeljack was a Wrecker, a tough bot. He most likely wouldn't tell Starscream anything so easily. Then again, Wheeljack probably didn't know where the others went, considering he had just arrived in the middle of the battle. Though he could still have had a comm. with the base before they disappeared.
At some point the previous day, Starscream had learned that there were no Autobot bodies among the wreckage of their former base. Wheeljack was the only one they had found. Which meant the Autobots had managed to escape. Had they understood his subtle warnings? Or had they realized themselves that they could not win that battle? Probably the latter.
On one hand, Starscream hoped they were okay, considering he felt he was beginning to make friends with some of them. On the other hand, it was getting harder for him to care about them anymore now, after having been abandoned by them and having returned to the warship with all its luxuries. He wondered if he was going to miss the Autobots, or if he was now back where he belonged after all?
Soon he arrived at the dungeon and went inside, meeting with Wheeljack. This would be interesting.
"Good afternoon, Wheeljack," Starscream greeted with a smirk. "I'm sure you know why I'm here today."
"Cause you don't have anything better to do?" Wheeljack replied sassily.
"I want you to tell me where the Autobots have gone," Starscream said, cutting to the chase.
"Don't know," Wheeljack replied calmly.
Starscream frowned. "I believe you misunderstand me, Wrecker," Starscream hissed, trying to act intimidating. "I am not asking you to tell me, I am ordering you to tell me. And if you don't comply, then I'll have to use more... drastic methods."
"Go ahead," Wheeljack replied and smirked. "I don't know nothing. So knock yourself out."
Starscream snarled and grabbed a Scratchmaker on the table. He looked down at it, then at Wheeljack. He hesitated for a moment.
"What's the matter?" Wheeljack asked in a mocking tone. "Been so chummy with us Autobots you forgot how to torture others? At least something good came out of it, I guess."
Starscream snarled even louder at the comment. Tightening his grip on the Scratchmaker, he placed it on Wheeljack's chest. Wheeljack remained unfazed, as Starscream hesitated even longer this time, this time beginning to shudder. Wheeljack didn't fail to notice the shaking.
"Mech, you've really gone soft, haven't ya?" Wheeljack mocked. "I almost feel sorry for ya."
"I'm not soft," Starscream hissed. "I'm just excited. I haven't done this in a long time. I want to do it right."
Before Wheeljack could come with another snarky comment, Starscream let out a shriek and carved the Scratchmaker across Wheeljack's chest, leaving deep marks. Wheeljack let out loud grunts of pain by the cuts.
Starscream removed the tool and stepped back, his entire frame shaking. He looked down at his shaking claws.
"That..." Wheeljack grumbled, "... was all you got? You really have gone soft, haven't you?"
Wheeljack stared at the shaking Seeker. Suddenly, the latter put on a wide smirk and began chuckling.
"That felt... so good," Starscream whispered. "I forgot how fun this is..."
Starscream looked back up at Wheeljack, looking very smug. "You're wasting your time," Wheeljack said, unmoved by the Seeker's attempt at intimidation. "Like I said, I don't know where they are. You should know better, you've been with them longer than I have."
"Oh, I am quite aware that you don't know anything, Wheeljack," Starscream said with a silky voice.
Wheeljack's smirk fell, but his tough act didn't. "Then why do you keep me here?" he asked curiously.
Starscream put down the Scratchmaker, instead spreading his own claws.
"Because I want to hurt you," Starscream hissed and lifted his claws. "Show you a world of pain."
Later in the evening, Starscream decided to stop his torturing of Wheeljack. He had delivered many cuts and scratches to the Wrecker's chassis, face, back, winglets, arms, legs, the entire frame. He also found that those large protrusions on either side of Wheeljack's head, probably his audio receptors, were especially sensitive and earned the Seeker quite a few delightful grunts and groans of pain. It was like music to Starscream's own audio receptors.
Eventually the Wrecker fell into stasis from the pain though, which meant Starscream had to stop. A shame. It had been fun while it lasted.
Starscream left the dungeon and gazed down at his claws. They seemed to have been sharpened slightly by being let loose on the Autobot. There were a few blue spots here and there on the tips, but not so much that it mattered.
Starscream had forgotten the thrill of tormenting another bot. The chills it gave him. The thrill he had just rediscovered. It had been exhilarating. Fun, pleasurable, enjoyable.
Yet... now that it was over, he couldn't help but feel a strange tinge of concern and guilt. Why? He had never felt bad about torturing bots or even humans in the past. Why now? Why after having lived as an Autobot? Had they really had so much of an influence that he could no longer fully enjoy a session of torturing another living being?
Starscream scoffed at the thought as he reached the flight deck. "I have gone soft, haven't I?" he muttered to himself. "Those misfits."
Starscream initiated jet mode and flew to the top of the spire, intending to see what was up there, although he had a feeling what might be there. And true, as he reached the top and initiated bot mode, he found Megatron, sitting on a throne, his right arm having been replaced with his own arm, fusion cannon attached and everything. The warlord was currently alone, Dreadwing apparently attending other matters. Megatron granted Starscream a gaze as he approached.
"Master," Starscream greeted the warlord and stopped just before the throne. "I have just interrogated the Autobot Wheeljack, but it seems he's harder to crack than I thought."
"Some prove to be better at holding their tongues than others, Starscream," Megatron replied. "You will just have to keep trying."
Starscream flicked his wings and nodded. "I shall." Starscream looked briefly around at the empty spire. "Say, where might Dreadwing be?"
Megatron lifted an optical ridge. "Why do you ask?" he asked curiously.
Starscream tapped his claws against each other shyly. "Uh, well..." he drawled out.
Megatron did not have to wait to know what he was trying to say. "It must be hard for you, knowing he is now my second-in-command and you are not," Megatron said calmly.
Starscream cringed. "I, uh... yes, a little. Just, uh, just curious... how far below Dreadwing am I...?"
"Same as Onslaught."
Starscream perked by the name and stared at the warlord in disbelief. "Onslaught? What?" Starscream repeated confused. "Onslaught is back?"
"Oh yes, you probably don't know," Megatron said. "The Combaticons have recently returned, at least three of them have. Swindle, Brawl and Onslaught are currently out, searching for their two missing comrades."
Starscream's gaze fell to the floor. So Swindle HAS rejoined the Decepticons after all, Starscream thought to himself. And he even found two of the others...
Starscream looked back up at Megatron. "Same as Onslaught, huh?" he replied and let out a nervous laughter. "So I'm a... captain. Nice."
Megatron's mouth contorted into a wide, toothy smirk. "You will report to Dreadwing from now on, as he is the First Lieutenant," Megatron announced. "I hope you are not too... upset by this."
Starscream could clearly see that Megatron was taking enjoyment out of Starscream's situation. He wanted to snap, but knew that would be a terrible idea, so he restrained himself. Instead, he nodded.
"V-very well, Master," he replied. "I shall... find Dreadwing. Where might he be right now?"
"In the conference room on the warship," Megatron replied, smirk still wide. "Searching for Autobot signals. Go make yourself useful and join him."
Starscream gave the warlord a quick nod and then initiated jet mode, took off from the spire and proceeded to return to the Nemesis.
"Captain Starscream," Starscream hissed at the bad taste of the title. "How humiliating. I used to be called Commander Starscream, even Lord Starscream. And now, it's simply Captain Starscream... yuck."
Starscream returned to the flight deck and entered the warship, heading for the conference room. As he arrived inside, he found both Dreadwing and Soundwave were present, scanning a map of the United States of America for signals of the Autobots or their human allies. As Starscream entered, Dreadwing briefly gazed behind him to acknowledge the smaller Seeker's presence.
"Commander Dreadwing," Starscream greeted, restraining himself from frowning at the title.
"Starscream," Dreadwing simply replied, not even addressing him by title - which, frankly, Starscream preferred compared to his current awful title of captain.
Barely had Starscream made his way over to the other two before the monitor beeped as a signal popped up. Starscream stiffened as Soundwave brought up the image of Jark Darby, partnered with Arcee.
They had found Arcee and Jack.
"Master," Dreadwing reported to Megatron on the comm. "We have a signal!"
Starscream couldn't hear what Megatron said, but knew he was on his way, as Laserbeak suddenly deployed from Soundwave and left the room through the door.
"Troops, follow the signal and intercept!" Dreadwing called over another comm.
A mere five minutes later, Megatron indeed entered the conference room, approaching the three bots to face the monitor, showing a live feed of Jack, staring frightened into Laserbeak's visor, transmitting the video to the Nemesis.
"Master," Dreadwing greeted Megatron as he joined them. "We have a visual."
Together, the four Decepticons watched on the monitor as Jack ran for cover under a truck trailer, but was quickly discovered by the two Vehicon Fliers deployed for the mission. The troopers began firing their lasers at the trailer, trying to hit the human. The impact from the lasers caused the trailer to fly into the air, exposing Jack to the Decepticons' attacks.
Starscream tried not to cringe at the scene. He had spent so many waking hours talking to those children, telling them some of his most personal information, as well as being able to easily impress them with tales of his past and facts about his race and homeworld. They were annoying, but he had begun to grow fond of them, strangely enough. He never thought he would grow fond of fleshlings. So it was hard for him to watch one of those children getting attacked by his fellow Decepticons.
Where is Arcee? Starscream thought anxiously. She's partners with Jack, why isn't she with him? The Autobots did not split up the humans from themselves, did they? They don't stand a chance by themselves...
Fortunately, as one of the troopers had a clear shot of Jack, Arcee appeared out of the blue, swooped in and grabbed Jack, pulling him behind cover before she brought out her own blaster and began firing back at the Vehicons. Starscream held back a sigh of relief to know that Arcee and Jack were alive... for now, at least.
"How long does it take to exterminate a lone Autobot and her human pet?!" Megatron growled impatiently.
Starscream stayed silent, as did Dreadwing and Soundwave. His optics were focused on the battlefield, anxious to find out if Arcee and Jack would make it out alive by themselves.
Suddenly, Arcee initiated bike mode and drove off with Jack on her back towards a gas station. She transformed back and they hid behind the roof of the station. Starscream hummed silently. That seemed to be an odd place to hide. Weren't those places filled with something unstable, something similar to Energon which was highly explosive?
As Laserbeak hovered over the station to get a good look at the scene, the two Vehicon Fliers transformed and crouched under the gas station. Jack stood in front of them with two hoses leaking some sort of black liquid, covering the ground in between himself and the troopers. He suddenly dropped the hoses and ran over to a car. One of the troopers flicked his wings before they both aimed their blasters at the human.
"Oh no," Starscream commented as Arcee peeked forth behind the car, aiming her own blaster at the station. "This won't end well."
Before anyone could ask him, Arcee fired her blaster, just as Jack jumped around the car for cover, the laser hitting the black liquid on the ground in front of the Vehicons. A flame was lit, and suddenly the whole station blew up, taking the Vehicons with it. Laserbeak, having gotten too close to the scene, got caught in the explosion and they lost connection with him.
"Argh!" Megatron exclaimed in frustration. "Call Laserbeak back immediately!"
Soundwave, knowing his Mini-Con was hurt, had already called for him to return. He knew his partner was still strong enough to make his way back home on his own. If not, then Soundwave would have charged off and go after him by himself. He cared for Laserbeak as if he was his own Sparkling.
It took about ten minutes before Laserbeak returned, however, being pretty damaged and all. As soon as he returned, Soundwave grabbed him gently under the wings and placed him on a table in the room. The intelligence officer immediately got to work on repairing his Mini-Con, using his two tentacles to fix the damage.
"Well?" Megatron asked impatiently. "Did any of the surveillance data survive?"
Soundwave, ever the silent mech, completely ignored Megatron's question. Right now, his top priority was to help Laserbeak, and he couldn't care less about the surveillance data. They had seen what they needed to see.
"A shame," Starscream said in a sigh, masking it as pity to hide his relief. "We might have at least learned in which direction Arcee and Jack fled."
"Clearly we need to improve our methods of hunting Autobots," Megatron commented. "And build upon the tactical advantage that we managed to secure."
Megatron gazed to the side, apparently receiving a comm. Starscream wondered why he couldn't hear what was being said. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that his comm. signal and energy signature had been changed to Autobot, along with his insignia? Had that deactivated his Decepticon programming?
"Soundwave," Megatron said all of a sudden. "Open a Space Bridge portal."
Despite his urge to help Laserbeak, Soundwave paused his work, retracted his tentacles and opened a portal right behind them. The four Decepticons turned to face the portal.
From the portal emerged Knock Out, a smirk adorning his faceplate.
"I find myself an urge in need of good news," Megatron warned, while Starscream tried to look over and under the warlord to see what Knock Out had uncovered. "So please, Knock Out, tell me that you found something useful."
"Some things, my liege," Knock Out replied. "And someone."
Knock Out gestured theatrically with his arm as he stepped aside to let whoever was about to enter the room come through.
An ominous set of pedesteps sent chills through Starscream's armor. Those were a very familiar set of pedesteps. Horrifyingly familiar.
Starscream couldn't hold back a gasp as he saw who was emerging from the portal. "He... lives...?" the Seeker said in barely a whisper.
From the portal came a large, bulky, spiky dark purple mech, with his left arm being a laser cannon, his face expressionless with a single, red optic and no mouth, a pair of spiky audio receptors protruding from either side of his head. Here was one of Megatron's mightiest subordinates, a mech whose loyalty to the Decepticon cause and the warlord himself was rivaled only by Soundwave's.
A mech who Starscream most certainly did not want to see again. He was one of the few Decepticons that Starscream genuinely feared.
"Shockwave," Megatron remarked and began chuckling. "Just the tactical advantage I need."
As Shockwave entered the conference room, Starscream backed away, trying to hide behind Megatron and Dreadwing, but knew his efforts would be in vain.
I am soooooo scrapped right now, Starscream thought anxiously.