AN: When you read through the parts, Starscream's voice is his from the Unicron Trilogy. Michael Dobson is his name if you want to check out who else he's given a voice to. He's done a lot of Barbie movies and did you know he also voiced Bulk Biceps in MLP:FiM? I love it.
#23 - Possession
Part 1: A Fallen Star
He had been drifting through space and time ever since his mainframe had been destroyed by Galvatron all those vorns ago. How he loathed his ex-commander to no end. Perhaps that had been what kept his spark intact when they had unleashed their power at one another. He swore that if he ever found a way to come back into reality, he would make sure that there was nothing left of the Decepticon leader… For now, there was nothing he could do. He didn't even have a slagging body for Primus' sake. How he hated the endless days and nights. How he wished that his spark would either find its way to a final resting place or take a body so that he could continue with his plans of conduct.
-x-
After everyone in the Predacon base had had their daily energon rations, Starfeather had gone to start her morning duties, starting with maintenance duty with Blackarachnia. Yay. They started out quiet, unpleasantly pleasantly regarding the other, not saying a word. It was odd how they could understand each other so well without even speaking. They were working on one of the CR tanks that had begun to act up a little, as Waspinator had discovered, when Blackarachnia decided to pipe up.
"So, you and Terrorsaur are an item?"
"What- Ow!" Starfeather hit her head inside the CR tank's inner wall as she was rearranging some wire connections when the she-spider had spoken. She had jerked up and hit her head against the inside of the opening. The raven shook her head, putting her hand over the shallow throbbing dent and stared at the other femme.
"Where did that come from?" she demanded.
"Isn't it obvious? The way you two stare at each other all day. Makes me sick. I'm surprised Megatron doesn't know," the widow snapped, deciding to give the other some false security. "Have you interfaced yet?" she wondered. Starfeather's face was heating up in embarrassment. Were they really that obvious? What did interface mean? If it meant something intimate, no.
"No, and you care why?" she growled.
"I don't."
"Then why are you even asking?"
"To get a rise out of you. It's so easy."
"You eight-legged freak," Starfeather hissed as she narrowed her optics to intense aqua green slits. Blackarachnia also narrowed her optics.
"You'll pay for that, buzzard."
She gritted her teeth and threw the wire cutters she had been using at the spider which hit her square in the face. She quickly brought her clawed hand to where the cutters had impacted and hissed with pain, sputtering a few choice curses. A hand-to-hand fight followed soon after.
-x-
"I don't care who started it," he said, keeping his tone as level as he could. "I don't want this to happen again. Is. That. Clear?" Megatron sighed and held his forehead in place with his index finger and thumb, his magenta optics closed as if he was suffering from a headache. The two femmes nodded stiffly, shooting hateful glares at the other every so often. Terrorsaur and Tarantulas both had to pull the femmes apart and that was a feat all in its self. The two had been going at each other like two wolves fighting for dominance.
"Good," the Predacon leader growled. "Now get out of my sight."
The two quickly left, going in opposite directions, and went off to nurse their dents, scrapes, and cuts.
Starfeather was ashamed of herself. She had never gone into a physical fight with Blackarachnia before. Usually, their fights were intense verbal spatting sessions with an exchange of bloodthirsty glares. She hadn't intended to actually hit the she-spider with the wire cutters. She had been so upset that she just... lost it. Not to mention Terrorsaur hadn't been too happy either. Maybe it was because he didn't like seeing her so riled up. She wasn't sure why. When she was on the battlefield, all he did was make sure he was in her vicinity in case she needed backup. Maybe it was just because he didn't like to see her hurt. This thought put a smile on her face but it soon vanished.
She hissed with discomfort when her fingers brushed the oozing energon away from a long and shallow slice across her cheek. She had several more cuts on her chest and shoulders. Her mouth had stopped bleeding during Megatron's lecture about these fights of theirs and the corner of her left optic was cracked and crusty and gooey with dry and still drying optical fluid. The raven groaned, allowing her arms to hang limp at her sides. A good cycle in the fixed CR tank sounded delicious right now.
-x-
He came across something new today, not that it really had been a day. It could have been thousands of years for all he knew. He had lost all track of time for as long as he could remember. Anyway, he happened upon a planet, a very familiar planet though it wasn't exactly as he remembered. His spark drifted in toward the planet's surface and soon he was floating over a crashed ship above a waterfall. It appearing to be similar to Autobot design and was heavily damaged on the southeast sector. Probably because of the storm that was ragging overhead. This could be useful knowledge.
Wait... Autobots? Here? That would mean there may be Decepticons around somewhere nearby...
-x-
There was an unusually powerful electrical storm a couple of days after the incident between Starfeather and Blackarachnia. Lightening repeatedly struck the base, causing electrical fires and isolated power outages throughout the base. The whole crew, including Megatron himself, was rushing about trying to hold their base together.
Currently, only Megatron and Waspinator were in the main control room. The Predacon leader was watching as the wasp was trying to get a full systems diagnostic on the ship when a stray bolt of lightning struck the ship at just the right place so that poor Waspy got zapped. He was blown backwards and skidded across the floor.
"Quickly! Damage report!" Megatron barked.
"M-moderate," Waspinator said as he sat up and shook his head to clear the static. "Wazpinator in pain but zztill functional."
"Not you, imbecile. The computer!"
"Megatron!" came Scorponok's voice, high with panic. "Electrical fire on the lower deck!"
"Acknowledged, on my way," Megatron replied and ended the transmission then turned on Waspinator. "Finish that diagnostic and report to me." He then left for the lower deck to oversee putting out the fire. Waspinator got back up and in front of the monitor. He lightly tapped the screen with a finger to make sure it wouldn't shock him again. When it didn't seem to carry an electrical charge at the moment, he relaxed and attempted to complete the systems check. However, the screen was frozen.
-x-
His spark had come across another ship. Now this one looked Decepticon in design and even more damaged than the Autobot looking ship. Now, how to get inside...
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck just centimeters from him, but that was enough to draw his spark into the bolt and to where it had struck: the hull of the ship. He was transported directly into the computer system. From here, he could learn everything he needed to know about this place and these Transformers...
-x-
Terrorsaur and Starfeather were on their way to aid with putting out the latest fire. They had just finished cleaning up what they could from the last one and were a bit grimy themselves. Starfeather jumped when another crash of thunder sounded. Terrorsaur gave her a strange look as she had been doing that all morning. She smiled innocently.
"Why are you so afraid of thunder?" he asked. "It's just the sound of an explosion. You hear those all the time."
"Thunder's different," she retorted, rolling her optics. "And besides, I've never liked thunder since I was little. Lightning struck a mailbox across the street from our house one night and I've been scared ever since."
"Hmm, sounds like you need some counseling, kid." Then, getting an idea, Terrorsaur smirked and bent over to shove his face in hers, backing her into the nearest wall which was already right behind her.
"Oh stop it, I'm fine," she giggled, half-heartedly pushing him away, but she flinched again as thunder clapped overhead once more. Immediately, the red mech seized her in his arms and smoothed the feathers on her helm in a calming motion.
"It's alright, Starfeather," he cooed, cuddling her to his chest. "I won't let the noises get you."
She laughed as she fought to get out of his grip so they could continue with what they were supposed to be doing. He chuckled as he tightened his arms around her and shifted her head to face him. They were just about to share a quick moment when-
"Starfeather!" came Megatron's ticked voice over her comm. link. "Where the Pit are you?!"
"Fraggit," Terrorsaur growled under his breath as he let her go. Starfeather sighed, regaining her composure before she replied.
"Terrorsaur and I are just about there, sir."
There was a brief pause before a response came, "Then go see what's taking Waspinator so long. He should be in the command center."
"Yes, sir. Starfeather: out." She sighed again and gave Terrorsaur a warning glance. "Hands off, okay?" she requested and continued down the hallway, Terrorsaur right beside her.
"Tonight at my quarters?" he asked. She shot him an impish look.
"No, I still have to get back at you for you did the other morning, remember?"
-x-
Waspinator tried several methods to get the computer to work, even tried to reboot the piece of junk, but nothing happened. He growled with frustration and a hint of desperation, slamming a fist down on the console.
"What izz thiz? Program will not rezzpond!" he fumed. "Wazzpinator doez not underztand!"
Then, something happened that he really didn't understand. The screen was engulfed in shimmering, sparkling light and a rasping voice spoke to him as malicious, almost smirking, purple eyes glared back at the wasp.
"I'll bet Waspinator seldom does," the voice spoke. Waspinator's mandibled mouth hung agar in petrified shock. "But try not to let it depress you, bug face. I will take care of everything from now on."
The light sprang from the screen and consumed his body. He staggered back a bit, but straightened up. He then examined his hands as if seeing them for the first time.
"At last, I have found a body! Not exactly my taste, but it'll have to do for now," the wasp said in a voice that was not his own. It was the voice that had spoken to him from the computer screen.
"Hey Waspy, you alright?" came a female voice. "You looked like you were glowing for a second there."
He turned to see black-winged femme and an angular red mech coming toward him. He knew who they were as he had looked into their files on the Darkside's data core. He smirked.
"Nothing is wrong at all, ex-human," he said with devilishly narrowed optics.
"I beg your pardon?" Starfeather stared at him, her mouth falling open. She made an offended noise.
"Waspinator?" Terrorsaur questioned, stepping forward. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm sorry but Waspinator cannot respond right now," he replied in feigned disappointment. "He's currently in comatose. You'll have to put up with me for now." Starfeather shoved past Terrorsaur and grabbed the wasp by the throat, jerking him down to her optic level.
"What have you done to Waspinator, you son of a bitch?" she demanded, shaking him. "Bring him back, now!"
"You better watch your vocalizer, little girl," the wasp growled at her, narrowing his optics further.
"Enough!" Terrorsaur shouted and pried the two apart, shielding the raven with himself from their strangely behaving wingmate. "Let's figure out what's going on here before someone gets seriously hurt."
"Then allow me to present myself," the wasp announced, straightening in an authoritative military stance that demanded a salute from lower-ranking individuals. "I am Starscream, Second in Command of the Decepticon armada."
After Starscream made that statement, the other two just stared at him like he was an idiot. After a while, Terrorsaur's face morphed into one of surprised shock and he immediately contacted Megatron and a meeting was called. Of course, everyone had their skepticism as Megatron interrogated the wasp. Starfeather, on the other hand, was utterly clueless. She had, however, heard of this Starscream once or twice before from her comrades. But Waspy suddenly changing his voice and acting like an arrogant jerk after he'd been glowing? Something sensible had to have happened here, but what?
It was soon proven that Waspinator was indeed Starscream, or at least taken over by Starscream. These claims were further proven by the only witnesses, Terrorsaur and Starfeather. Terrorsaur had seen the light coming from the screen while Starfeather had only seen the after effect.
"But you're ancient history," Blackarachnia argued, pointing at a page on the monitor about Starscream in his past life.
"Ancient, perhaps" Starscream agreed, then nodded toward the screen. "As for history, think of it as starting a whole new chapter."
"What's he talking about?" Scorponok asked. None of this was sinking in for him. Starfeather had the same thoughts. She had only skimmed over the wars of the Autobots and Decepticons and didn't really remember any of the prominent figures' names.
"The Decepticons are most of our ancestors," the widow stated, giving the raven a quick glare. "For centuries, they warred with the Autobots."
"Ancestors of the Maximals," Megatron added.
"Those wars were ultimately lost, alas," Starscream said wistfully.
"And you were destroyed," Blackarachnia reasoned. "It's written here in the Chronicles of Cybertron." She pointed back at the screen to emphasize her point.
"Ah, so it was believed," the wasp corrected. "I... sacrificed myself defending my leader, Galvatron, from a powerful black hole of unknown origins. My mainframe was destroyed, but miraculously, my spark survived, drifting helplessly through space beyond the reach of time itself. After finally arriving on this planet and discovering my kind here, I have temporarily taken residence in this body until a more appropriate one is provided."
"And who says you're going stay in my friend's body until then?" she pointed out, thrusting an accusing finger at his chest. "If you said you could survive outside a body this long, you can do so until a dead stasis pod falls. Now, give Waspinator back!"
"Starfeather, stand down," Megatron commanded. She did so reluctantly, not wanting to give up on her wingmate. "I'm sure Waspinator would be honored to be housing this great Decepticon warrior."
"No, I know what he'd say," she retorted and then did an uncanny voice impression. "Wazzpinator no want Zcreamer-bot'zz zpark to take Wazzpinator'z body! Wazzpinator want body way it izz!"
This earned an unimpressed look from Megatron, Blackarachnia, and Starscream, a blank stare from Scorponok, and a slight snicker disguised as a cough from Terrorsaur. Starfeather grinned to herself. She'd always wanted to do that.
"I think that's enough now, my dear," Megatron said. Starscream saw the raven shudder and heard a muffled snarl that Terrorsaur made from his throat.
Hmm, I wonder... the wasp thought, but Megatron's voice cut in.
"I will make arrangements for a new body to be provided, Starscream. In the meantime, you will pull your fair share of weight around here, yes."
"As you command, mighty Megatron." Starscream inwardly grimaced. This was going to be just like old times. He bowed and fixed his gaze on his new commander. With that, the meeting was adjourned, but Megatron wasn't done with Starscream yet. He called him back as he was leaving with the others. The wasp came back, somewhat annoyed.
"Yes, sir?"
"I know now how you came to us," he began. "But do tell me, why should I trust you?"
Thinking quickly, Starscream remembered his vital knowledge of the damaged Maximal ship. Megatron was interested in this information and, with some exact location from the ex-Seeker on a holographic map, they concocted a plan to take the Maximal base.
-x-
Starfeather peeked into the lounge to see if Terrorsaur was there. He was and he looked deep in thought. She hated to disturb him, but she had to let someone know she was going out on her own for a while. If she told anyone else, they would question her and she didn't want anyone to get suspicious. She stepped inside and stood before her wingmate who was leaning on the arm of one of the couches. She opened her mouth to speak, but he looked to her first.
"Does this whole thing boggle your mind as much as it does me?" he asked abruptly. She wasn't expecting a question like this but she did have an answer.
"Are you kidding? This freaks me out more than when I woke up as a protoform."
"Oh yeah... I keep forgetting you used to be a human." He then pulled her down to gracefully fall into his lap. She tried to stay standing, but he was persistent and stronger than her. She rolled her optics and waited for him to get what he wanted. He massaged her shoulders and nuzzled the crook of her neck and she lightly elbowed him in the gut. He grunted, even though her hit hadn't hurt him.
"I didn't come here to fraternize."
"Then what did you come here to do?" he wondered, moving his lips to the side of her helm and kissing her. Starfeather tried to slide out of his lap and simply sit next him, but that didn't work. He seemed comfortable right where she was. She suppressed a groan. She wondered if he was going to be annoying like this all the time.
"I was just dropping by to let you know that I was going out for a while. I need to fly off today's events and think."
"Funny... I was thinking about doing the same thing. Maybe we should fly off and think together?" Terrorsaur smirked and changed to petting her folded wings.
"Oh no you don't," she protested. "I'm sorry, but I just want some 'me time', okay? I haven't been able to get much of that lately."
"But don't you want 'us time'?" He looked wistful.
"You," she replied, tapping the bridge of his nose with her index finger for the first few words of her response. "My thirsty friend, are the very reason why I haven't been getting any 'me time'."
"Hehe, what can I say?" He chuckled a little nervously, brushing her hand away.
"You can say that you'll let me go so I can go out on my own and shoot up a dead tree husk," she said, fluttering her optic shutters. How could he resist those optics of hers?
"Fine," he grumbled and reluctantly released his arms from around her. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before she got up. She made it to the door before Terrorsaur asked her to wait for a nano. She stopped and looked back at him.
"Since when were you a ventriloquist?"
"You'll find I'm full of surprises," she answered with a wink. With a giggle, she left.
-x-
"An interesting turn of events indeed, Megatron," Tarantulas cackled at hearing about their newest crew member. "I have an update for you as well." When all he got for a response was a lifted optic ridge, the spider continued.
"There are not enough components to create a second portal projector, so we will be unable to recruit more humans. I told you that we should have kept this plan to ourselves!" he hissed, referring to when the Maximals had trashed his lab all those months back. He had been working to try and rebuild the device that originally had brought Starfeather to them, but to no avail.
"I informed Dinobot because he was going to be the one to keep them all in line once they were turned into drones," Megatron stated rather calmly, lightly tapping his fingertips together. "However, this plan is invalid to us now for I believe there is more to this planet than meets the eye, yes." His lips curled into a malicious smirk. "I am hereby discontinuing this project, Tarantulas. You are dismissed."
Tarantulas moved to protest, but thought better of it. He transformed into his tarantula beast form and scurried out of the empty main control room.
"Very well then, I'll just have to settle for the one I have," he muttered to himself.
-x-
"Black bird to blue bird," Starfeather called over her communicator to her fellow bird. "I've got a real scoop that the big banana is going to want to hear."
"On my way, black bird," Airazor replied and the link ended.
The raven sighed as she leaned back against the trunk of the tree growing out of the boulder mound at her clearing. Rattrap had recently given her a device that she used to contact them instead of her average comm. and risk being detected. Rhinox had made it especially for that purpose. It looked like a walkie-talkie with a tiny rotating satellite dish instead of an antenna and a screen for visual messages. She carefully placed the device back into her subspace and settled back.
She knew it would be a little while before Airazor would get there, so she figured now was a good time to get some writing in. She pulled out her diary and opened it to the next blank page, clicked the button on her pen, and wrote:
Date N/A
Dear Diary,
Just when I thought things couldn't get any weirder, something else slips in. Apparently, an old Decepticon warrior called Starscream has come back from the dead and taken over Waspinator's body. I hope there's a way to get him back to the way he was if being possessed changed him. Terrorsaur thinks this is weird too. I'll tell you one thing, I don't like or trust this Starscream one bit. I hope he won't be out for me too... Maybe I'm just paranoid. Thanks a lot, Megatron.
Starfeather looked up from her writing to see her friend coming in the distance. She closed her book and placed it back in her subspace. Airazor soon alighted in the grass at the base of the mound of rocks. Starfeather transformed into her beast mode and fluttered down to meet her.
"What's going on?" the falcon asked.
"You'll never believe this, but here goes," the raven began. "Do you know of Starscream, the Decepticon?"
"Yes, somewhat. Why?"
"Did you know he has an immortal spark?"
"How is that possible?"
"I don't know, but it's true. I asked that to say this... He's here."
Airazor just stared at her, the news not making any sense. After a few moments of silence, Starfeather spoke.
"I warned you that you wouldn't believe it."
"How...?" Airazor tried to ask, but the rest of the question died on the way out. She didn't even know what to ask, to be honest. Starfeather simply shrugged.
"I don't know how he got here, but he did and he's taken over Waspinator."
Airazor was now officially confuzzled. The raven then explained what had happened, from all the damage that the electrical storm had caused to the meeting that had taken place less than a few hours ago. The falcon still didn't quite know what to make of all this but she also told Starfeather that the storm had damaged their base and that they were going to begin repairs in the morning.
"I'll do what I can to keep the Predacons at bay." The raven simply nodded.
"And I'll be sure to inform Optimus of... Starscream," Airazor replied.
-x-
"Starscream?" Optimus Primal repeated. "Airazor, are you sure-"
"I am positive, Optimus," Airazor interrupted, hands on her hips. "I don't think Starfeather would lie about something like that."
"Starscream..." Dinobot repeated thoughtfully as he crossed his arms and inclined his head down.
"Heh, what's next?" Rattrap broke in. "Mini-cons start to fall from the sky?" Dinobot snarled at him.
"Stand down, you two," Optimus ordered then looked to the raptor. "Do you have any thoughts, Dinobot?" He looked up at hearing his name and made optic contact. He held the Maximal leader's gaze and continued.
"I have long studied military history... Starscream was mainly deceitful and scheming, the Decepticon throne was his goal. He was the most notorious traitor of all. Even to those who would call themselves his friends."
"Hmph, that sounds awfully familiar," Cheetor muttered from the other end of the room. Optimus touched his chin thoughtfully.
"So now, he's back and supposedly pledging his loyalty to Megatron..." he murmured to himself.
-x-
Starfeather was just typing in her door passcode when she felt someone take her shoulders and gently rub them. She rolled her optics and looked out the corner of her optic over her shoulder.
"Do you mind?" she asked, suppressing her grin.
"Not at all," replied the red mech, leaning forward and nuzzling at the base of her neck. She shuddered slightly, but tried not to give in too much. She was tired and didn't really feel like getting frisky.
"I didn't think so," she sighed and pushed the last button on the keypad. The door hissed open and she waited for her captor to either let her go or walk them both inside. When he did neither, she cleared her throat. "Do you want to come in or not?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
"That sounds good," he murmured. She turned her head to get a better look at him.
"You just wanna make up for earlier this afternoon, don't you?"
"Yeah, pretty much," he replied, walking them inside. The door closed behind them and he slowly backed her into a wall. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"Hmm, kind of." She grinned, easing her hands to his chest and sliding them on up to the sides of his head. He emitted a raspy purr as she did so. "Make it quick, I'm tired."
"You're no fun," he chuckled and pressed her a little harder against the wall.
"No, I'm just about ready to drop dead. Deal with it," she teased.
Terrorsaur took his time in placing his lips upon hers. She accepted his advance and pushed back, closing her optic shutters. He wrapped his arms around her. She gave a low growl, signaling that that was the most he could do. He heard, but continued to tighten his grip, deepening the kiss. They continued this for a few more moments before Starfeather drew back with a sigh.
"As much as I would love to continue," she breathed. "I'm about to fall asleep and I don't want to leave you the trouble of tucking me in."
"It'd be no trouble." He then leaned to kiss her again, but her hand stopped him. She narrowed on optic at him.
"I'm sure, but I don't want to wake up and find that you never made it from my bedside," she pointed out. Not that she really would mind, but she wanted to be alone tonight to think. "Please?" She fluttered her optic shutters.
Why must she do that? he wondered. "Fine," he muttered and slowly moved away from the wall. When he hesitated to let her go, she smiled and hugged him goodnight.
"I'll see you in the morning, Screechy," she murmured and gave him a kiss on the cheek. That seemed to put his mind to ease and he soon left her alone, thoughtfully locking the door behind him. She smiled after him, but it disappeared as she dropped onto her bed and hung her head.
"I'm such a two-faced bitch," she hissed bitterly to herself. Optimus Primal's gentle and soothing voice then came to her mind.
I just came to let you know that you need to think about what you're doing and where your loyalties are... I know you'll make the right choice in the end.
"No..." she sighed. "You say that because you just want to give me empty encouragement. You and I both know I don't belong here... and yet, I'm starting to feel like I do." She knew that she needed to stop lying to herself. She knew that she needed to slip through Waspinator and Terrorsaur's fingers and just run to the Maximals. She didn't care about domination and power or ruling a planet that she hadn't even been to. She just wanted to go home and go back to her normal life.
But how could she now, knowing that humans were not the only ones out there? How could she go on knowing that she just left her two best friends in the dust, left to die alone on this strange yet familiar planet? She just wanted all this to end. She would give up just about anything to have inner peace and security. To just live this new life as this amazing shape-shifting robotic life form and be with Terrorsaur. She wanted to love him like her parents loved one another and possibly even become a parent herself one day.
This thought put a soft and goofy smile on her face. Starfeather shook her head at herself. It was way too early to start thinking about that. A time of war and the battlefield were no places for children. Besides, children seemed to be the last thing on Terrorsaur's mind. All he wanted was to kill Megatron and the Maximals and lead the Predacons... and he wanted her.
She sighed and laid down, shifting around a bit until she found a comfortable position. No matter how much she didn't want to admit it, something didn't feel quite right about the red mech's embraces at times. Sometimes, he would seem to get a little... overpowering. Not that he did anything to violate her. He made sure to never overstep their established boundaries. Starfeather just thought that he let himself get caught up in the moment. Because of Megatron, she knew how something like that felt.
She couldn't help but wonder... wonder if Terrorsaur just played along with her because he wanted an easy fuck, tossing the deeper meanings of the action aside. She frowned. She wanted to believe that he wouldn't do that to her. He was her friend, her wingmate. He had said so. He had certainly more than proved it. He would never take advantage of her like that... Would he?
-x-
Everyone was rudely awoken the next morning by a blaring alarm. It turned out that Megatron and Starscream had battle plans for everyone to hear and follow through with. All through the debriefing, Starfeather was staring at the wasp like a toddler would stare at a strange adult. He didn't seem to notice or if he did, didn't act like it. Her optics slightly widened at hearing the plans. Megatron was going to attempt to take control of the Maximal base, and not only that, he was going to use one of the protoforms that was scheduled to fall soon as Starscream's new body. The worst part was that they were only going to delay the attack long enough to re-energize. She would have no time to use her new communicator to alert the Maximals.
When Megatron said that they were given five cycles to consume their cubes of energon, the raven suddenly didn't feel any power drainage. She stared blankly at the floor as she followed her wingmates to the cafeteria/lounge room. Things really looked bleak for her secret comrades... Then again, it did a lot of the time. Maybe they would pull through like they always did. Just maybe...
Without realizing it, Starfeather had gotten her cube of pink energon and was sitting down at the table she and her wingmates favored. She looked and noticed that the wasp wasn't there. He was off by himself in the opposite corner. When he looked up and gave her a nasty glare, she spun back around and pretended that nothing had happened. Terrorsaur shot Starscream an equally nasty glance and turned back to her.
"If he's bothering you, just let me know."
"He's not. It's just..." She shook her head. She tried to find how to put her thoughts into words as she took a sip of her energon. "I guess it's just not the same without Waspy here."
"Yeah, it is a lot... quieter." The red mech nodded. Starfeather looked down and took a bigger gulp of her energon.
Suddenly, an idea came. Maybe if she drank fast enough, she could go to her quarters for at least a minute to send a quick message. If no one asked questions or followed her when she left, it would work perfectly. Plan in mind, she began drinking a little faster, hoping no one would notice her haste. Terrorsaur didn't seem to and Blackarachnia and Scorponok didn't so much as glance her way. She discarded her empty cube and casually exited the room. The raven peeked over her shoulder after going a little way down the hall to see if anyone was following.
No one.
"Good," she sighed and continued to her room. She shut the door and fished out the communicator from her subspace. "Blackbird to bush nest, come in."
Static answered and then, "Bush nest here. What's the word?"
Starfeather pulled a face at hearing Rattrap's voice, but she didn't have time to request someone else or provide many details.
"I don't have time to talk so listen good. Be on alert. Predators approaching your weakest point, but look the opposite way. Blackbird: out."
-x-
"Look the opposite way?" he repeated. The rat was left in a cloud of confusion after the link was severed. "What in the name of gouda does that mean?"
