Ch. 23

Bumblebee walked back into the base with Optimus, beeping sadly that they had lost him.

Ratchet growled, "Well you're lucky you only lost him and not yourselves! What if that had been a trap?"

Optimus shook his helm, "As I said before, I am doubting that Starscream would take one side over the other, as his actions prove he is becoming more neutral."

Bumblebee beeped in agreement; Starscream had wanted to get away, not hurt anyone.

The Prime nodded, "That aside, did he manage to gather any intelligence during his escape?"

Ratchet frowned as he looked through the computers, "... No, actually. He didn't look up our current coordinates, our communications, nothing. He just... used the ground bridge and left."

"Maybe he didn't think he had time to grab anything," Arcee sighed, "As much as I don't want to think that way, this is Starscream we're talking about..."

"If Starscream had only wanted to learn the whereabouts of our base, he would not have aided us as much as he did," Optimus hummed deeply, "If we encounter him again..."

Arcee smiled up at the Prime, "No, Optimus, when we encounter him again."

Optimus smiled softly back, "We should hope that he has had time to think his decisions through and that he will be ready to speak with us."

Starscream flew hard and fast, looking for a place to land. It was dangerous what he was doing, and not just because he was in jet mode flying low amongst old redwoods in the middle of a dense forest. He was desperately trying to COMM in to Knockout or Breakdown personally. Maybe he wasn't getting a signal out. Maybe he needed to slow down.

"I have to land," the seeker finally admitted.

His panic at what had transpired only an hour before rattled him. He needed to calm down if he was going to call anyone, especially on a private line. Starscream slowed as he came to a small clearing and transformed, landing hard amongst the dirt and grass. He allowed himself to fall to his knees, shaking, and he took in hard intakes as he leaned against a large tree, just trying to collect his thoughts.

The area around him was fogged over and his outtakes added little bursts of mist that quickly disappeared. He focused on this, then tried again, COMMing Breakdown.

"Breakdown?"

He got nothing but static, then tried again, tremors in his voice, "Breakdown?"

He heard something short out, then a gruff voice answer in a whisper, "Scream? I thought we weren't allowed to communicate after this whole thing?"

Starscream sighed in relief and spoke softer, "Something happened. Decision making time."

There was a pause, "... You got all the relics?"

The seeker scoffed, "No, not yet. I'm fast, but not that fast. Though, I do appreciate the vote of confidence."

"Then why are we meeting early?"

"Stop questioning me and just-" Starscream stopped himself, "... Just get Knockout and bridge to my location. I'll ping you again in a few minutes with coordinates. Remotes only."

Breakdown grumbled over the line, "We'll have to make it fast."

The COMM link cut out and the seeker rested further against the tree. He was exhausted, both physically and mentally. After a couple minutes, he sent another ping and a bridge opened up shortly after that, Knockout and Breakdown running through quickly.

Knockout saw Starscream slumped against the tree and gasped, running to him, "Starscream! Are you alright? What happened?"

The seeker waved tending servos off him, "I'm fine, I'm just tired," he stood, fluttering his wings, "So, who wants to report in first?"

Breakdown shrugged, "Airachnid came back with the fake Immobilizer. Megatron was pretty angry that it didn't work."

Starscream nodded, "That's good."

Knockout smirked, "He was also pretty livid that you went missing. Airachnid said you had died in battle, which we pretty much knew was a lie."

The seeker grumbled, "No, clearly not dead. Worse actually. I can't believe I'm leaning towards a decision."

The red mech frowned in confusion, "Already?"

Breakdown nudged him, "Told you."

"Towards which side?" Knockout crossed his arms, "I mean, we still have ties and all that, and dangers on both fronts."

"I know," Starscream grumbled, "that's why this is difficult. It's why I asked you here... As you can tell from my being standing before you, yes, Airachnid's account of my death was false. She injured me, but not badly, and the Autobots captured me after I helped them fend her off."

Knockout's optics widened, "They CAUGHT you?!"

The seeker nodded, "They patched me up and Prime asked if I would divulge what I knew. He has observed some of the stranger occurrences that have happened around me. I have also..." he growled out the word, "saved some of the Autobots' lives a few times now. He wanted me to join them. And tell them what I know. I believe he suspects that I have... future sight or time travel or whatever the frag this is."

Breakdown started to get fidgety, "So... then what's the plan?"

"I'm not sure," Starscream admitted, "but a thought struck me while I was in their care: what if I can't change the Autobots takeover of Cybertron? What if, despite everything, they are supposed to win?"

Knockout's optics narrowed, "Scary thought..."

Breakdown frowned, "But... not exactly. Maybe you're right."

Starscream and Knockout stared at the blue mech as he spoke, "So far, it hasn't mattered what you've done in each bigger event; saving me from mutilation, Airachnid teaming up with MECH, the cave incident, the Harbinger. They all still happened. You said it yourself, those were major events."

The seeker hummed loudly and crossed his arms in thought, "Yes... yes, true... And if we are to assume that these major events cannot be changed..."

Knockout shook his helm, "No, no, they could ONLY be changed if you took away the major trigger that caused them all. Think about it. You told us about the relic in the Antarctic. Well, we removed that, ergo, you, Skyquake's twin, and Optimus never have to fight over it. So there are some major events that can be altered or removed."

"And this I agree to," Starscream nodded, "but I'm basing my lean due to one major factor. One I was... hesitant to tell you about..."

Knockout groaned and slumped, "Is this the part where I have to pretend I didn't hear this again?"

Breakdown set a servo on the red mech's shoulder, "Lay it on us."

The seeker sighed, "Megatron. In the end, hours before I die, he sides with the Autobots and officially disbands the Decepticons."