'Lo! Me again.
Now, I actually had Skywarp sing in this before I put up 'Long day' and wasn't sure if it should stay, but it did - and I actually think it works ok now. Back to the point, thankyou to everyone who reviewed that and 'Meetings!' I laughed, I beamed, I collapsed into giggles when I read indigo-ink's and rolled my eyes at the Prof. As usual. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Hope you like - it's a bit longer than the first...heh.
Soryu: Nope, can't stand him. He's ok in season 3/4, but than Daaa-niel's there to fill the role of annoying human. Blagh! Umm...maybe they're subconsciously hoping he'll get killed off?! Mmmh, well - the 'bots are going to get it wrong in this one - and I'll rub their noses in it as far as I can. Hah.Sadly, I need Spike's own brand of bizarre invulnerability here, so I can't promise to kill him off. Bah. By the way, 'Meetings' isn't over yet, not by a long(ish) shot! I've got at least one more chapter in me, so watch this space...I swear that story's as long-lived as Prime. Whouf.
Alirion: Thanks...you can thank the Prof for the science-whizzy stuff - I sat, listened and nodded, then asked lots of questions. He does the science, I do the character know-how and the actual writing... Personally I think I get the good end of the deal.
Naphtali Phoenix: Really? (Eyebrows disappear further under the fringe in surprise.) Very odd. Sorry 'bout that - I do tend to babble, especially when I'm ranting (spikespikespikekiiillspike...) Ahem. See how this works for you...
Rose: Ditto! Amazing how it's the young men who're the most annoying - and the nod to equality in making Carly a more-capably-than-Spike brainbox was appreciated in season 1/2, Hasbro... Anyway, next chapter's here! Enjoy!
Pinkfuzzyone: Sometimes I wish the Decepticons'd do it, but then I think that the Autobots're usually closer Maybe I'll do a bit more Spike-baiting later..that'd be fuuuuuun. Bwahahaha. I don't think anyone but Hasbro'd complain, and then only quietly.
Okey-dokey, next chapter - and it's got the Deceps! More importantly, here's where Starscream comes in. Yay!
Chapter 2: Spin doctors
"I've seen the lights go out on Broooadwaaaaay.
I saw the ruins at my feee-heee-eeet..."
"Skywarp, will you shut up!"
The black seeker grinned cheerily at his irate wingmate and carried on singing. Loudly.
"They said that Queens could staaaaaay..."
Starscream ground his teeth and tried admirably to concentrate on something other than little black pieces of shrapnel hitting the floor.
"They bleeew the Bronx awaaaa-aaa-aaaaaay..."
His fists clenched spasmodically, wings trembling in a valiant attempt to stay at his post and not strangle the karaoke wannabe. The jets smirked amongst themselves and Thundercracker started a silent countdown in his head - transmitting it to Skywarp too, of course. Skywarp's grin grew wider.
"And sank Maaanhatten ouuuuut at seeeeeeeeea..."
"Aaaaaaaaaaaagh!"
That did it - Starscream whipped round and lunged at Skywarp, one hand going for his throat as the other jammed his null ray into the black jet's midsection. Skywarp yelped in surprise and yanked one of Starscream's intakes - the seeker stumbled with a yowl and pulled the black jet into Thundercracker, who squawked and bumped into Scavenger minding his own business at a terminal on the other side of the room. Mixmaster poked his head into the room and made to ask what the slag was going on, but decided against it when he saw the brawl. He ducked in and pulled Scavenger out of it, shutting the door behind them on the yelling fliers.
In all fairness, they had been stuck up on the station for a long time and jets, like any other fliers, got very bad cabin fever. True, Skywarp could just have stuck his head out of the airlock and had a quick jaunt out around the ship, as long as he stayed behind the projection that hid them from any scanners the Autobots threw their way, but he thought that annoying his equally twitchy wingmate would be just as much fun.
Unluckily for him, the entertaining brawl drowned out the sound of the longer-range proximity scanners - something was heading their way, and they hadn't the faintest idea.
A few seconds later the close-range alert picked it up, and there was no way to ignore that one however loud the fight. Heads whipped round to stare horror-struck at the overhead monitor and the two Constructicons came barrelling back into the room, Scavenger looking a little panicked despite the rather limiting lack of a face. The blaring sirens tore through the station, dragging Thundercracker to his feet from the top of the pile and over to the nearest console - he shut off the alarm and the rest gave a sigh of relief. The second of silence, however, was shattered by Starscream pulling his legs out from under Skywarp and snapping "This is all your fault!" as he ran limping to the laser controls and checked they were still in place and firing. He turned to glare at Skywarp, who shrugged with an infuriating grin that just about managed to cover the nasty nagging fear of what Megatron would say if the Autobots screwed up yet another of their schemes because of him.
Starscream snorted, and screeched for everyone to get to their stations and shoot the intruder down - he either didn't notice or didn't care that the Constructicons were already there and Thundercracker was on his way. He glared at Skywarp again and stalked over to prep the big frontal cannons.
His foul mood vanished like mist in the sun at the thought of trying out his new toys. The Constructicons were busily firing away at the intruder with the rear guns - the cameras showed it was Cosmos, space's annoying little rubber-duckie - Mixmaster was cackling like a lunatic as he blasted away, and Scavenger gave the impression of biting his lip in concentration even if he didn't have one. The jets were standing ready by the side and frontal laserguns, and - yes - Skywarp's wing had a huge dent. He snickered evilly.
The Autobot ducked down under the belly of the station - Mixmaster cursed and Scavenger looked disappointed, but the seekers grinned amongst themselves as Cosmos shot out in front of them, the earlier fight forgotten in the thrill of having something to shoot at. Skywarp whooped and hollered as he attacked with all guns blazing, a little disappointed at not being out there himself but certainly not complaining as he and Thundercracker worked the lasers. Starscream shrieked with pure glee as his cannons worked perfectly - bolts of tightly compressed energy flew around the spy as he ducked and dived and tried desperately to get the hell out of there in one piece, the wild purple rain driving him relentlessly Earthwards.
Cosmos darted around space, managing to stay one step ahead of the lasers and bolts whizzing so close he could almost smell the singed paint as they shot past and exploded in front of him. He had jerked and spun his way back into the upper atmosphere, and was starting to think that maybe he'd get out of this with himself and the screaming human intact, when a laser just clipped him and sent him spinning wildly - straight into the path of an energy bolt.
Starscream yelled in triumph and punched the air as the little spy plummeted down through the sky, a thick torrent of smoke belching out behind him and the faintest hint of flames licking at his roof. The Decepticons laughed and grinned giddily at each other - the short, one-sided shootout had restored their spirits and dispelled the cabin fever, even if it was only for a while. Starscream checked the laser co-ordinates again, and was just about to order the Constructicons out to check the equipment when the overhead monitor flashed. Thundercracker went over and glanced at the printout - "Hey, Screamer, headquarters callin' in!" he called cheerily. Starscream smirked and swaggered over in front of the monitor as the blue jet poked at the console with a black finger and made the connection.
"Megatron!" he chirped, sounding as irritatingly surprised and smug as he possibly could. "How nice to see you!"
"Don't flatter yourself, Starscream, this is business not pleasure" Megatron growled, his optics narrowing at the seeker's suspiciously perky attitude. "We picked up the close-range alarm and an Autobot signature coming through the atmosphere. Explain yourself."
"The Autobot spy, Cosmos, was snooping round the station" Starscream said, radiating ineffable smugness and grinning like a Cheshire cat as the others nudged each other and beamed in the background out of sight. "We picked him up and shot him down - he never knew what hit him!"
"You idiot, Starscream!" Megatron thundered, crashing his fists down on the console top and jarring the transmission, not to mention the seeker's composure. "You gave away your position and destroyed one of the Autobots - they'll know he's missing and look for him, if they haven't picked him up already!" He sneered at the shell-shocked expression on Starscream's face. "Congratulations, Starscream - you've just compromised the mission. I'm sending Astrotrain up to replace you."
"No!" the seeker protested, suddenly finding his voice as Megatron moved to cut the connection. "The Autobots will never guess we're up here, and the projector will hide us from anything they send up! No-one else can oversee the operation as well as I can - I designed it, I researched it - you can't pull me off! Please!"
Megatron laughed inwardly as Starscream jumped from insufferably smug to panicked grovelling so quickly it was comical. "Very well, Starscream. But one more mistake like that, and I'll replace you with Blitzwing."
"Blitzwing?!"
Megatron cut the connection.
Starscream seethed. He turned around and glared at the others with a face like thunder, and his voice shook as he grated "Scavenger! Mixmaster! Get out there and go over the Spinnaker - I want a full report now, and I mean full!" He rounded on the jets, fury blazing in his optics as his tongue lashed spitefully. "And you two - if the laser shifts so much as a micron I'll shove you into it!" He turned and stomped towards the door, but stopped in his tracks as Thundercracker quietly grumped "Yeah? An' where're you goin'?"
"OUT!"
The door hissed shut behind him, and the control room seemed stifled in the silence that swept over the rest like a gale in his wake. Skywarp opened his mouth, but Thundercracker gave him a look and he shut it again.
Mixmaster sniffed. "Well, th-that went...well." Scavenger sighed and looked at him mournfully. "I wish we weren't stuck with Starscream."
"Yeah, well, we are so we'll have to live with it," Thundercracker interrupted, glaring at them.
Skywarp's expression turned thoughtful and he sniggered wryly. "I don't think Megatron'd like it if the Starnut had an accident an' we cheated him out of an execution." Thundercracker rolled his optics and shoved him over to the laserboard, grumbling under his breath. The Constructicons looked at them and then at each other, and Scavenger shrugged eloquently as Mixmaster giggled. They went off to the airlock, and the control room was calm again. For a while.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Bobbing somewhere in the ocean, a battered and scorched Cosmos wallowed in the water like a hard-done-by bath toy. The spy was offline, and would have stayed that way permanently if a panicky human hadn't been scrabbling around inside him and gingerly trying to activate the radio.
"Autobot base, this is Spike - come in...anybody!"
All characters are © Hasbro, the story's © me and Spinnaker - whatever that is ;) - is © myself and the ever-helpful Prof. Wayzegoose. The song's Miami 2017 (Lights go out on Broadway) by Billy Joel, and always makes me think of the UK comic series with Galvatron smashing up New York. Hmm. As ever, please read and review!