A/N:
lightning bird: Welcome to the party! Lol thank you so much for your comment, means a lot. That is one of my favorite insults I like to bandy about in my fics, lol. I think you're right- a combined hatred for them is definitely something that can make them trust eachother and find a way forward.
CaptainShort19: HA thank you! Jazz is just making sure he has his options open for sure ;) Thank you again for the comment, I appreciate it!
The Cybertronians were placed back into their quarters, and all of them seemed thrown into their processors over the calls they just had. It was a strange dose of reality from the world they had been living in, to know that the war still existed; that their friends and comrades were still out there fighting was hard to conceptualize. The thoughts soured their temporarily truce and made it feel even more artificial and brittle than it already was.
Soundwave noticed he appeared to be the only one who was not consumed by thoughts of doubt and remorse over something or other. The Autobots had retreated to their berthroom and were talking in hushed tones. Starscream had retreated to his berth as well but was just staring up at the ceiling.
Soundwave took that as close to an invitation as possible.
"Query: How was call with Megatron?" Soundwave asked, settling on his own berth on the opposite side of the room.
Starscream sighed. "Fine," he said, clearly lying. The trick with Starscream was that almost everything he said was a lie. There sometimes wasn't even any logic to it. Like right now.
"Megatron: Worries for you," Soundwave said.
Starscream had closed his optics, rolling over to face the wall, his wings tense.
"Instructions: Keep Starscream functioning," he said. He didn't relay the quote exactly, but he also was not lying.
Starscream peaked over his wing to look at the tape-deck at that. "He did not say that," Starscream remarked.
Soundwave shrugged noncommittedly. "Query: Who did you call if not Megatron?"
Starscream sat up slowly, looking at Soundwave with great suspicion. "Why, so that you can harass me for it? Because I didn't call our glorious… leader." Starscream had started with the same hatred that he always had when it came to talking about Megatron out of earshot of the gunformer but had suddenly stopped. The seeker was staring off into nothing, as if the reality had just set in.
"Observation: Starscream may never speak to Megatron again."
Starscream turned his optics and glared at the tape-deck. Then he looked down at the ground and turned inward, looking bitter and small. "I… didn't know what to say to him. I still don't."
"Query: But you did know what to say to Skyfire?" It was a guess, albeit an easy one. Starscream didn't seem surprised.
Starscream sighed and crossed his arms across his cockpit, looking petulant. "Megatron would have just yelled at me the whole time. I just wanted to say… goodbye."
Soundwave just stared at the seeker for a moment. He slowly clenched his fist. It was an unspeakably sad thing that Starscream was losing hope in their situation. He wondered if the others had used their time to say goodbye as well. Somehow, he doubted it. He trusted Jazz to have some kind of plan, and Prowl as well. Starscream had used the time to be selfish, maybe, but had also used the time so that he could face what came next properly. Maybe he knew better than the rest of them of what was coming.
He slagging hated the Quintessons. He had stood by so far, watching them terrorize Starscream as he nursed his own hatred and malcontent. He would attempt to do better.
"Starscream: You will survive this," he said. "Soundwave promised Megatron."
Starscream looked at him quizzically, but the edge to his glare had softened somehow. Soundwave didn't dare jump into his mind as much as he wanted to, as he felt like it would be an invasion of the trust he was trying to build with the seeker.
"Oh darlings!" came the coo of their Quintesson handler as he came into the other room. "It's time for me to give you your next mission!"
Soundwave stood and offered a servo to Starscream. The seeker didn't hesitate and allowed himself to be pulled out of the berth and into the main room.
"So the next mission is a personal favorite of mine. So many of our viewers are interested in getting to know you, so it is time for the Interview!" Artuz's sanguine excitement was not infectious.
"Now I know you dears are particularly good at snappy, sarcastic comments," he said irritably, inclining his head towards Jazz, "but you should know that if you give us good answers, you will get an extra two-day break. You won't be competing against anyone else tonight, just a relaxing chat with one of our favorite Gamemasters Gygax. Now get out there and be charming," the Quintesson said, praying that they actually would be.
The androids escorted them out of the room and to another place nearby. Jazz observed that the arenas, rooms, locations they were brought to was almost always the same distance away. That felt… important.
"No need to be nervous, mechs, you will do great," said Gygax, a particularly large Quintesson seated behind a desk on a sound stage. The Cybertronians were all seated around him in a semi-circle with lots of cameras and an audience behind them, quietly murmuring before the show.
"J-06, we are likely going to start with you, since you seem to be the most easy-going of the group."
"Glad to be of service," Jazz replied, smiling.
"Welcome back ladies and gents to a particularly interesting set of guests I have for you tonight, the Cybertronians!" The audience erupted in cheers and excitement, with a few femme voices in the back yelling "I love you SS-22!" at the top of their lungs. Starscream, surprisingly dipped his helm in an embarrassed smile and gave a small wave.
Jazz narrowed his optics.
"First of all, J-06, thank you for agreeing to be here."
Jazz blinked his optics but didn't skip a beat. "I was just dying to be here, Master Gygax!" Surprisingly, this elicited quite a few chuckles from the audience. Apparently, they liked subversive humor. Good. He could work with that.
"It must have been difficult to be separated from your leader in a time of war," Gygax prompted. "Can you tell us anything about how that feels?"
Jazz considered for a moment. "You know, I would be lying if I said it wasn't difficult, and especially so because of the teammates you all gave me."
"Oh, is there trouble on Team Cybertron?"
"Not trouble per se, maybe difficulties. I mean three day-cycles ago I was trying to shoot his wings off!" He said throwing a servo at Starscream.
The seeker's optics danced under the harsh stage lighting. "I suppose it's a good thing you always miss," he said dryly. More laughter.
"But now, I have to save him all the time when his wings do get shot at, and it's quite tiresome," Jazz added, tilting his helm. The audience was eating this exchange up.
"Yes, I suppose it is difficult for me to constantly be handing you the victory so far in our games, isn't it?" There were a few ooohs that came from the audience and surprised laughter. Apparently, this rivalry was not expected, and it had everyone at the edge of their seats.
Gygax cleared his throat. "P-09, do you think your enforcer background gives you an advantage in the games?"
Prowl looked to Jazz. "Uh, well, I think so," he started lamely. "I mean certainly in some games. More than others."
"What do you think benefits you the most?"
Prowl frowned. "I suppose my ability to understand the rules and what is within or outside the bounds the… game designers… have set forth for us."
Gygax leaned on a tentacle. "So, you mean so you can figure out how to cheat?" A few jeering laughs.
"Oh, trust me, he does not cheat," Jazz added with a smile. Surprised laughter erupted and even Gygax was taken aback.
"Are you so sure?" Starscream said with a wink at Prowl. The audience lost it.
"Haha, SS-22, careful, you might break some hearts, especially in this audience! How aware are you of your growing popularity?"
Starscream's smile hardened, but he was able to cover it up with a sigh. "I suppose it can't be helped," he said tragically. "With so few seekers left these days, I'm sure it is a rarity to see one."
Jazz and Prowl both clenched their jaw. Soundwave, who had been stock-still up until this point suddenly looked quite amused at the lie.
Gygax gave a dramatic gasp. "There used to be thousands of seekers; what happened?"
Starscream nodded, sadly. "Many of us joined the Decepticons out of fear after the destruction of Vos. But war takes a hard toll on everyone. No frame suffered as much as the seekers," he said dramatically, holding a servo to his chest in solemnity. The audience seemed to quite depressed along with him.
"Speaking of war, SW-17, what is your opinion on the outcome of your little civil war?"
"Clearly a Decepticon victory is inevitable," he replied.
"Really? Why's that?"
"Because we have SS-22, obviously," he said as his visor flashed. There were quite a few guffaws at that and cheers. Starscream bowed a little in his seat, giving an appreciative smile to Soundwave.
Gygax turned to Jazz. "You look like you want to reply to that, J-06."
"Oh, I wanted them to keep talking, master Gygax, I found it quite enlightening. You see, often I find that if a Decepticon monologues enough, he'll give away his master plan every time."
"Oh? Are the Decepticons not winning the war?"
"I mean if you call a leaky, rusty base at the bottom of the ocean and constantly running out of energon winning, then maybe. Megatron certainly doesn't seem to think SS-22 is the key to their victory."
Starscream's optics narrowed but he forced himself into a tinkling little laugh. "Oh, here we go, the little Autobot spymaster about to tell us what our leader thinks, eh, SW-17? It's quite adorable." Starscream stifled a tremble in his servo by making a fist.
Soundwave gave some canned, monotone laughter that was a little bit more disturbing than agreeable.
Jazz was undeterred. If Starscream wanted sympathy, he was about to get it. "No, I think Megatron would treat Starscream better if he believed he was an asset."
The audience stilled and looked to Starscream who was trying his best to maintain his composure.
Gygax put two tentacles together. "SS-22, what is J-06 implying? Is Megatron… unkind to you?"
Starscream could not withhold a murderous glance at Jazz. Then a smile crept out across his lips. "Master Gygax, you mustn't believe everything the Autobots tell you. It is true Megatron is a little heavy-servoed with me, but it has led me to understand my role in his army and my dedication is absolute."
Prowl was astounded as the lies flowed off this mech's glossa like sweetest high-grade.
"Any response to that, J-06?"
Jazz paused. "I suppose it is more jealousy that makes me talk like that, Master Gygax. We would love to have SS-22 join the Autobots, but we cannot seem to sway him," he lied. Starscream sat back lower in his chair and had to consciously stop himself from rolling his optics.
"What about you, SW-17? Would you ever consider joining the Autobots?"
Soundwave tilted his helm. "Soundwave: Supposes that would be like asking a Quintesson to join the Autobots. Quite impossible and below standards." This got the audience laughing a little again.
"Well that is about all the time we have. I think this was quite fascinating, don't you think? Be sure to request your own spot at the next inspection to get a closer look at team Cybertron!" As the show closed down, the four Cybertronians were led off the set by the androids.
"What the frag was that?" Starscream snarled once they had gotten into the hallway.
"I was just helping you earn sympathy points," Jazz said, shrugging.
"Frag you, Autobot," the seeker replied, angrily. "Don't do me any favors."
Jazz sighed. "I was following your lead, Screech. Seems like you are the favorite of us, and we might as well keep it that way to keep getting special dispensation."
Prowl tried to put a calming hand on Jazz, but the saboteur shook it off. Starscream's face darkened with anger and a touch of hurt. "At least when Megatron uses me, it's for something bigger than merely 'dispensation.'" Jazz's visor flashed in anger but was silenced by the approaching figure of their handler.
"Excellently done my dears, that was top-notch perfection! We laughed, we cried, metaphorically of course, and you squirmed your little frames into everyone's minds and hearts!"
The seeker and the saboteur glared at each other for a moment, but then broke off to go follow Artuz and some androids, while Prowl and Soundwave followed awkwardly.