Ch. 27

Starscream stared down tiredly at his dirty and scuffed servos, then at the two new relics he had placed in his arsenal. His chassis ached with tire and he wiped a bit of dirt from his helm, sighing as he stretched an arm and winced at how sore he was.

Why was he doing this again? Ah. Right. 'DEAD'. The outcome he had planned to prevent.

The seeker finally stood from the lab chair and picked up the Spark Extractor, looking it over, "Very unassuming," he mumbled, "One wouldn't think you a device of immense destruction, but maybe an oversized desk ornament..." he carefully set it among the other relics, proudly eyeing the second one, "Ah, and the Shield Generator," he picked it up, "I foresee many blows and blaster shots missing because of you."

He chuckled as he turned the device over in his servos, then set it back down. Starscream knew the Forge of Solas Prime was next on the list, but he didn't feel comfortable going after it next. It was the weapon, the tool, of a Prime. The energy signature that would come off of that would be hardly unnoticeable. And it was a very large hammer. He wasn't even sure if he could lift it. If either faction knew what he was doing, not only would he be stopped but his very nice little arsenal, jointly shared, would be taken away from him.

The seeker shook his helm and picked up his makeshift datapad, checking off the two relics from the list, "I'll see if I can have help with that one. No point in going after a relic early only to have it stolen away... Let's see... The Phase Shifter, the Resonance Blaster..." he shuddered, "the ToxEn. Seriously, how cruel is that? Put it in a container no one would assume is dangerous and call it a day? Hm. Something I would have done a little while ago..."

He frowned, then nodded, "The Autobot reports said that the ToxEn was removed from the container to be destroyed. Well, then I shall leave it in the container and destroy it. It has to be done. I can almost hear Megatron suggesting to test its potency on me right now..."

Starscream took up his bridge remote and rolled his shoulders as he opened a bridge. This would be the last run he made for the next couple days. He was tired. He was sore. Digging for relics on your own wasn't a lot of fun, nor easy. At least Breakdown had a hammer. The seeker walked through the bridge and closed it behind him, recoiling immediately when the gasses of a nearby volcano reached his olfactory sensors.

"By Primus, what the frag died?!" the seeker gagged, trying to wave the smell of sulfur from his faceplates.

After a moment, Starscream simply growled and trudged off, transforming at a ledge and taking to the air to get a better view. The hardened lava of the volcano stretched for miles and he followed the flow as it led down the sides. He flew over the area where the coordinates said the relic container was but saw no sign of it.

"Stupid, chaotic planet," Starscream huffed, flying low and slow to get a better look, "It could have been so many other planets to wage wars on, to stash energon, to hide relics, but no. It had to be this one."

It didn't take the seeker long to see a flow pattern in the hardened lava and he followed it, looking below him carefully. Starscream passed over a silver object and did a quick loop backwards, transforming to land as he came down.

"Oh good, there you are."

He approached the container slowly to look it over, "No cracks, no loose seams, and the top is still attached. Always a bonus..." he grumbled, "And yet this lava flow has pretty much suction cupped you into place. Well, let's see if we can change that."

Starscream finally took hold of the cylinder and tugged, growling loudly. The lava was stronger than it looked. The container was heavier than it looked. But the seeker wasn't deterred. He kept pulling and when that didn't work he began pushing, trying every which angle he could to pry the cylinder free. It didn't help at all that he was beyond exhausted.

Starscream panted in his intakes as he collapsed into the hardened lava, staring at the container, "Alright... not moving... still not going to leave you here, though..."

He thought about using a missile to launch it free... but that could open the top and scatter ToxEn all over the place. And he didn't want to chip at the lava with his claws. He had just spent hours doing that with both the Spark Extractor AND the Shield Generator. The tips of his digits were NOT made for mining.

Starscream did have a couple alternatives, both of which he did not like. Leave the container. Wait for the date when it was supposed to be excavated and ensure the ToxEn was destroyed. But he couldn't guarantee that something wouldn't happen to either him or Bulkhead before then. It was pretty risky.

The second option made the seeker grimace, but he looked back at the volcano and nodded, "It's maybe a minute or two's flight from here to there. I can stash the ToxEn in my hull and drop it into the volcano from above! ... And since no one is here, I can rest afterwards before I get back to the Harbinger..."

He whimpered. Neither plan was preferable. But he felt as though he had little choice. With a shaking servo, he leaned over and started pulling on the top of the container. It too was stuck.

Starscream growled, standing, "This is hardly fair!" he hollered, "I've been working my aft off looking for relics, saving people's lives, I am not," he grabbed hold of the top, "going to be stopped," and tugged hard, "by an oversized jar lid!"

The top suddenly popped off, sending the seeker stumbling back, and landed some distance away. Starscream scowled and peered anxiously into the container, shuddering back when the glint of a toxic green energon met his gaze.

"Oh, yes, that's ToxEn," he grumbled, "Nasty stuff..."

The seeker's servo trembled as he reached in and pulled out the large chunk, already beginning to feel his systems weaken. The ToxEn's fumes burned into his servo and he whined, looking back at the volcano.

"J-just a two minute flight," he hissed, making sure the container was empty, "In two minutes, this will be gone and I'll be back at the Harbinger..."

He transformed around the ToxEn and yelled in pain, pushing his engine to go as fast as it could. The burning in his hull was far greater than he thought it was going to be. But he flew hard and fast anyway, the more distance and height he could get before he couldn't take anymore, the better.

And the volcano was just in front of him... no the side... no, not that side, the other side...

Starscream groaned as he crashed just below the lip of the volcano top. He had seriously underestimated a couple things, his exhaustion and the effect of putting the ToxEn inside him for transport.

"I... I-I'm not done yet," he growled, struggling to transform.

The process was going a lot slower than he thought it would be and as he transformed, the ToxEn slipped away and started to roll back down the mountain side. Starscream managed to grab it before it got too far away but at the expense of a few feet lost. He would have to walk, and carry, the ToxEn from here.

The seeker groaned tiredly as he looked up at where he had to go. His vision was already failing him. He should have done this relic last. With a sigh, he reached up and started climbing, the ToxEn tucked under his arm. When he saw he only needed to go a few more steps to get to the top, he tossed the ToxEn up and over, then hauled himself over the side, collapsing on the hardened lava crust of the volcano.

Starscream blearily saw the opening to the volcano at the other side and huffed, "F... figures..."

He offlined his optics, just wanting to rest for a moment, to regain some strength back. The seeker knew exactly how he should handle this. He wanted to get up as quickly as possible and get some momentum behind him. A light jog would do the trick. He would scoop up the ToxEn, run at the volcano's opening, toss in the stuff as he turned and hopefully collapse again next to and not into the boiling lava.

Starscream pouted. He was so tired, so drained. Why was he doing this again?

The seeker growled, "I am... not going to die..." he growled loudly as he sat himself up, "I refuse to die..."

With a heave he pulled himself to his peds and finally onlined his optics. His vision was still slag, but if he focused for long enough, he was sure he could complete his goal. Starscream took in a long intake and reached down to grab the ToxEn when a loud BEEP startled him back to the ground.

"F-frag!" he shouted, clutching his chest plate to ease his pounding spark.

It was just a date notification. He checked it and sighed loudly when he saw what day it was. Somewhere on another part of this world, the Autobots and Decepticons would be fighting over the data cylinder. Good, all according to what his timetable said.

The seeker scowled and stood again, grabbing the ToxEn as he started to stumble towards the volcano opening, "I'm making a note... to reprogram my date notifications... for a less loud and spark wrenching alarm..."

Starscream tried to jog, he really did, as he originally decided in his plan. But the volcano's crust must have been uneven, or maybe the wind had gotten caught up in his wings and was pushing him off course, or perhaps laying down right where he was was a far better prospect. He didn't want to think it or even say it aloud, but the ToxEn had blurred his vision so badly that light and color was all he could really make out. And the glow of the lava maybe forty feet in front of him and one hundred feet below him was what he was trying so hard to aim for.

The seeker felt his peds getting too heavy. He could barely carry the ToxEn at this point. He stumbled and fell, looking just ahead at the opening with a tired expression.

"I... will... I have to..."

Starscream grunted as he dragged himself and the ToxEn closer to the opening. He laughed sadly as he looked down into the lava. He was right there. And yet, his chassis was too tired to pull his arm over the side and drop the stuff.

The seeker growled loudly, "You can do this! You... have to!" he snarled to himself.

With a great heave, he pulled his arm over and dangled the ToxEn, panting hard as his vision blurred in and out, but he couldn't find the strength to let go, "Come on... come on... Just... let it... oh no..."

He felt the gold static start up again, but this time if felt confused and frightened. His exhaustion, the ToxEn, it wasn't allowing whatever this life saving hiccup was to work. And Starscream knew he needed it now more than ever as his upper chassis, then his middle, started to go over the side. A rumble in the crust around him registered in his audials but soon everything became too muffled. Was the volcano going to blow? The lava sure didn't look ready to go.

Starscream felt his optics roll around in his helm and offline as he finally slipped into the opening. They snapped back open and he gasped loudly when he felt a sharp pain in his ankle, something holding onto him. The ToxEn in his servo dropped from the sudden movement and fell, dissolving into the lava below.

The seeker could barely process as he was hoisted back up out of the volcano. Someone had saved him. Not only that, someone was holding him, trying to get him back into focus by tapping his cheek plate.

Starscream couldn't. He had used all the energy he had to get the ToxEn up to this point. His optics offlined, but his audials stayed on. Another rumble in the crust told him something else was happening. He heard blasters charge up. Then he heard something that made his spark skip a beat.

"Megatron! Set Starscream down and back away from him slowly!"

It was Optimus. Frag. This hadn't happened before.