Ch. 4
The Nemesis command deck. In all its glory. At least for now, Starscream knew, because only a couple of Earth years from now, it would be a scrap heap on Cybertron, left to rust beside the Well of Allsparks. Pity, pity, pity...
Megatron stalked around Starscream while the seeker stayed still and at attention, growls being held back behind his fangs, "You left the Nemesis, even in your damaged condition," it was a statement, not a question, "and the Autobots found you."
This had never happened before so Starscream didn't know what kind of response to give. But later events told him to keep this short and precise.
"Yes, Lord Megatron," he struggled to say clearly.
Megatron continued to stalk around him, "When they began their attack, you didn't call for backup."
"No, Lord Megatron."
"And pray tell, my dear Starscream, why didn't you call for assistance when they began their initial assault?" the warlord shoved the seeker to the floor, snarling, "Explain yourself!"
Starscream trembled. He was already damaged badly, but maybe that was why Knockout had been asked to watch these proceedings. To make sure the seeker didn't offline too quickly.
Starscream didn't move from his spot, a lie already gracing his glossa as he tried to speak clearly and concisely, "I left to find an area I could gather my thoughts in, an area away from the Nemesis. A lot has happened since your return and following resurrection, my lord, and I needed to reiterate to myself, as you did for me, my place in the Decepticons. I must have been damaged far worse than I realized because the Autobots honed in on my energy signature and moved in for what I thought was a deactivation attempt. When I tried to escape, I found my injuries prevented me from transforming and that is when I called for a bridge and shortly after for backup. That was when you arrived..."
It sounded like the truth. It had to work. Even before, he remembered that the sliver of dark energon had largely gone unnoticed and unannounced until Megatron revealed Soundwave's very gifted surveillance techniques to the seeker in the abandoned Decepticon mine. Megatron was waiting, waiting for a moment like that to really tear into and destroy Starscream. Now wasn't yet that time.
Megatron stood taller, rolling his shoulders, "You will report to the med bay with Knockout and finish your repairs. I need to discuss this with Soundwave."
The silent blue mech loomed out from the shadows, his visor blank as he watched the pair of them. Starscream simply nodded and stood carefully, following Knockout off the command deck with a heavy sigh.
"Wow," the red mech laughed, "I thought he was going to have you smelted! I honestly don't know why he keeps you around!"
The offhandedly made remark didn't surprise Starscream, and he was actually livid to see Knockout standing there, parading around the Nemesis, when the medic ultimately betrayed him and sided with the Autobots. He joined them at the last second and was rewarded for it. The little slagger.
"He keeps me around," Starscream snarled, "so that when someone else screws up, he has someone to blame it on."
The calculated structure of the sentence stopped Knockout cold and his optics blinked, "Wait... he does?"
The seeker scoffed, walking into a lift and holding it open for the red mech, "Of course. You never see him beat any of the drones near to death for their incompetence. You and Breakdown have never been struck as I have. Countless others made mistakes and I paid for them."
Knockout blinked again then scuttled into the lift, coughing, "Yeah, well, maybe he goes after you cause you can handle it... and probably cause you just don't know how to die."
Starscream sighed as the lift doors closed and started taking them to a lower level, "Sure, that's the reason..."
Knockout had gone over his repairs quickly and the seeker was glad for it. He didn't want the medic to find traces of dark energon in his system. Starscream ran a quick manual check and found that the substance hadn't left any lasting effects, but on this ship you could never be too careful.
Knockout sighed as he looked a datapad over, "Well, you did receive some minor tears from your scuffle. A bit of this, a dent in that, but overall you seem fine."
Starscream sat up from his medical berth, "But my T-cog?" he asked worriedly, "Is it alright?"
Knockout nodded, "Yes, it's fine. Some shrapnel dug into your side a bit which stopped you from transforming, but your T-cog was undamaged. I actually think the pain you must have felt surprised you into halting your transformation."
Good, that explained that...
Starscream let out a sigh of relief and slipped off the berth, "Excellent, if that's all you need-"
Knockout set a digit on his chest plate, "Hold on, Starscream. Maybe you want to think about upgrading your weapons. They're just so out of date."
This conversation was somewhat familiar.
Instead of scowling, Starscream smiled, "I can understand why you'd think I need them, but I don't. I like my weapons. They're reliable."
Knockout frowned, "But I have so many cool ones! And your model is just-"
Starscream's optics narrowed and he put his servo over Knockout's mouth, "Nope, we are done talking. There is nothing wrong with my model..."
He let go and started walking out of the med bay when a thought struck him.
Starscream turned back to Knockout, "Knockout? In your scientific opinion, if someone knew what was going to happen in the future, would you think it best to change things?"
Knockout paused from typing, humming at the strange question, "Well, from what every human movie tells me, that can be dangerous, especially if the outcome can't be changed. You'd just be messing things up," the medic smiled, "Like that one movie, where the human keeps going back in time to save his fiancé but she keeps dying-"
Starscream waved him off, "Back to the present, scientific opinion, less movies more facts."
Knockout shrugged, "Well, you may want to consider that some things can't be changed, no matter how you try," he went back to typing at his console, laughing, "But if I knew anything about the future that I didn't like? I of course, selfishly and handsomely, would change it."
Starscream made a small noise and rolled his optics, waving as he left the med bay, "Good day, doctor!"
Knockout watched him leave, then smiled as he typed back into the computer, "That was a good movie. Really good one..." he looked around his desk, "Wonder if I have a download of it..."
Starscream found his way back to his quarters. He was uncomfortably sprawled out on the floor with datapads surrounding him and was scribbling quick texts onto each one. One datapad sat on the far side of the room labeled 'DEAD'. Another, sitting closest to him, was labeled 'Terrorcon Skyquake'. He had a small stack of datapads that he began to lay out in order, each labeled with a date, location, time, event, and even how he had come by the information, whether from personal experience or from the records he had been updated with at the time. So far, he had barely scratched the surface.
"Alright," the seeker muttered, "let's see what I have so far..."
Nimble claws tapped at the datapad after 'Terrorcon Skyquake' and he read carefully, "So, after this little mishap, Breakdown is going to get kidnapped by MECH. Looks like I have a day or two to decide what to do about that... What do we have next? Ah yes, Airachnid teams up with MECH and they get Jack's mother involved..." he chuckled then growled at the next bit, "And Breakdown finds Airachnid, getting her stuck to his back with magnetized force and then she is delivered onto the ship. Wonderful..."
Starscream held his helm in his servos sighing as he read more from his notes, "Hm, hm, hm, yes, here's where Megatron tries to offline me in the caves and after that..." he froze, tapping hard on the next datapad, "... I try to join up with the Autobots... and then I leave..."
The seeker's frame shook and he snarled, knocking the datapads out of order and across the room, "This isn't fair, this isn't fair! What am I supposed to do?! In less than three weeks, I'll be out on this planet alone, starving and vulnerable! In less-"
Starscream stopped himself, taking in a deep intake, "No... UNless I can change something... UNless I... take a risk..." he frowned, picking up the datapad that was labeled 'Breakdown v. MECH'.
"Here," he murmured quietly, "this is my test subject..." he set the datapad back down again, glaring into it, "This is where I'll start to change things... To fix things. ... This is where I will begin my plan to ensure that I go from 'DEAD' to 'very much ALIVE'."