By Fang Wolfsbane
"So wait, you're telling me that we have to go out there and deal with an Autobot problem, one that we didn't even cause in the first place?" Skywarp asked, a half-drunk cube of energon in front of him, generously donated from their last raid on a solar-run powerplant.
Starscream had to admit, out of all the energy sources they've raided since arriving on Earth, solar-generated energon was the easiest going down, to put it in a crass manner, but he didn't care. Ever since receiving a report of both the advantage and disadvantages of their new artificial energon sources, Starscream had personally ordered his brothers to seek solar-energy energon out above all the other options.
Because of its scarcity, no bot could consume enough energon to gain weight, but as much of an inconvenience it was, it was a necessary sacrifice he and all the other natural fliers of the Decepticons had to take. The slimmer their frames, the faster they travelled through the air.
This fact often left them with grumbling tanks demanding for faster refuelling, but it was, as the humans put it, their cross to bear. Perhaps one day, if they succeeded in conquering this planet and Cybertron, then he and his brothers could relax a little and consume all the energon they needed.
It was because of thoughts like these that Starscream often found himself glaring at the sight of Astrotrain and Blitzwing whenever they entered the rec-room and drank the more filling options. Both of them were fliers, just like the seekers, however, they were triplechangers, which not only meant that they needed nearly double the rationed amounts of energon, but that they also needed the ones that would last longer in their systems like the oil-based cubes. Unlike the seekers slimmer builds, the triplechangers needed their bulk more than their speed.
As a flier, he found it hypocritical, but as a former scientist, he couldn't deny the facts that were right in front of him. There were more times often than not that he gloated about the excellence of his processor's high intelligence, although there were also times where even he hated its aptitude for logic.
"To put it simply, yes," Starscream muttered over the edge of his own cube, frowning as he swirled the soft pink liquid around, knowing that he would be lucky if it lasted him two or three Earth days at the most.
"You have got to be kidding me," Skywarp huffed, frowning to their younger brother, Thundercracker, who, as usual, sat quietly in the corner, thinking over his brother and trine leader's words through.
Out of all their brothers, Thundercracker had never been much of a talker, but what he was, was a skilled mind of his own. He wouldn't admit it to any bot, but when it came down to militia strategy, Thundercracker was quite adept at the fine art of it. Starscream had even caught him reading a digitised version of The Art of War by a human named Sun Tzu, a man that had supposedly been as good a strategist as his brother at one point.
Seeking for any sort of advice from a human seemed like a redundant process in his optics, but what he also knew from stellar cycles of fighting against Autobots was that no strategy was worth ignoring, so he had simply let it slide. Out of all of the Decepticons, especially those on board the Nemesis, Thundercracker was the least likely to try and take control over them, and that was all the reassurance he needed.
"Who is this mysterious bot anyway?" Skywarp demanded, leaning forward on the table, nearly tilting it to the side, frowning at the action. Starscream mirrored his expression. Some bot had to be in charge of maintenance but was probably busy somewhere with something else that had nothing to do with their job assignment, or they were possibly recharging in the janitor's closet. He was willing to bet it was the latter, because despite all the mechs on board the ship, none had seemed all that eager to test their boundaries with each other lately.
Thinking on the subject, Starscream felt his CPU heat up. He couldn't even remember the last time he had a good frag. If he truly had to remember the last, proper time, was with a mech in a similar field of study as him, Sky Fire.
The last time the two mechs had seen each other was on this very mudball of a planet before they had gotten separated only to reunite millennia later. Their reunion had been fast and heated, and at the time, Starscream had thought that maybe, perhaps if things had been different, that he would have convinced the colossal bot to settle down with him, but then, as usual, the Autobots chose to interfere. Sky Fire had felt more of a sense of duty towards the creatures of this planet than the inhabitants of their own. Their official separation had not been nearly as perfect as their time spent together.
"If I knew, then I wouldn't be telling the two of you about this, would I?" Starscream asked, his irritation growing over the stupid question. Skywarp only held up a purple servo as if to defend himself. Thundercracker knew better than to copy Skywarp's question.
"The best thing to do for now is go on as normal, but when you're out there, I want you two to keep an extra sharp optic out for this bot. We don't know what his plans are, but if it starts interfering with our mission, then we've got nothing but a troublemaker to deal with. If you see him, capture, and return him back here. Megatron wants Soundwave to interrogate him the moment he gets here."
"Slag, don't go making it too easy for us now," Skywarp muttered, earning a jab in the side from Thundercracker's elbow.
" Just don't mess this up. There's something about this bot that has both Megatron and Optimus on edge. Whatever you do, do not underestimate him," Starscream warned, the only acknowledgement he received were nods from both of them. Understanding nods.
2
