Ch. 41

Knockout tsked, gently rubbing more of the leaking energon from Starscream's optic, "You know, he just gets creepier and creepier... Ah, energon level at twenty percent and still dropping," he murmured to Breakdown, "At least he called us in to help. But what was he thinking?! You can't give a seeker of your size that much high grade! And how dare he hide that high grade! ... Energon level at ten now... Alright, sit up."

Starscream grunted as the medic helped him sit up on the med berth, drips of energon falling from his optic and into a rag Breakdown quickly used to cover the side of his faceplate; he huffed, "All part of his plan..."

The blue mech shrugged, "Getting you overcharged? Yeah, but I doubt he was expecting this."

Knockout quickly went over a datapad to look over his notes, "Good thing you sobered up before you told him anything..."

Starscream didn't respond.

The red mech slowly looked up, glaring, "You DIDN'T tell him anything."

The seeker shrugged and slowly shook his helm, "Well... nothing that made sense to him."

Knockout threw his datapad angrily, letting Breakdown catch it as he pointed, "If you compromised ANYTHING-"

Starscream scowled, "I didn't! I just rambled! I mostly remember spouting off about Airachnid and-" he paused, getting quiet.

The medic growled, "And. What?"

"And..." the seeker rolled a servo as he tried to find the right words, "I... may have told him about how she wanted to know what I know..."

Knockout balled his servos into fists, glaring harder, "Close. Too close."

Starscream snorted, "Tell me about it."

Breakdown shrugged and gently pulled away the rag to check that the energon had stopped flowing, "So he missed. Points for us."

"Not entirely," the seeker huffed, "It would seem our esteemed leader had some sort of connection through Unicron. He told me that the Chaos Bringer was afraid of me."

Knockout laughed, "HA! Of you? ... Well, you did use the Spark Extractor on him..."

Starscream shook his helm, "No, more than just that. Unicron addressed me as 'the abomination' and said that I..." he hummed, trying to remember the exact wording, "that I 'flee from both Pit and Allspark'. I'm not exactly sure what that means."

Breakdown frowned, "THE abomination?"

"That's the word you're hanging onto?" Knockout scoffed, "'The'?!"

The seeker frowned, "He seems to have a small point, doctor. Why did Unicron call me 'the abomination' and not 'an abomination'?" he frowned, "And why the frag did he tell Megatron that my spark couldn't be extinguished?! That's a load of slag right there!"

The sound of pedfalls interrupted the conversation and the mechs went silent, going about their work. The med bay doors opened and Megatron walked in with Soundwave in tow, sneering as Starscream gripped the berth tightly.

"Ah, I see you're in much better spirits, Starscream," the warlord purred, coming down the ramp, "I also hope you're in a much better position to answer some more questions."

The seeker glared at him, "Will this be before or after you overcharge me? Because that didn't seem to go over very well the first time."

Megatron laughed, "No, it did not! But that is a line of deceit I will not try again..." he shoved the mech back onto the berth, looming over him as his arms trapped him on either side, "So allow me to be a little more straight forward: what do you know?! The entirety of your attitude and behavior changed the day you used dark energon, the day you tried to resurrect Skyquake! What knowledge did you receive during your insubordination?!"

Starscream looked terrified at the space that the warlord had given him, which wasn't any at all, and tried to growl, "W-what makes you think I changed and, furthermore, that I gained any knowledge?! Maybe the fight between the Autobots and Skyquake made me see... ah... a different edge to this war! They tried to kidnap me and hold me prisoner afterwards! How do you know that didn't just change my outlook?!"

Megatron didn't look convinced. He was nearly on top of the seeker now. Starscream whimpered as a servo grabbed his shoulder armor and clenched tightly, the warlord leaning in close.

Knockout's optics widened, unable to look away, and he slowly leaned towards Breakdown, whispering, "Is... Is he really going to do this? While... While we're watching? Is he?"

Megatron snarled, turning to them, "Silence!"

A loud alarm sounded and Soundwave perked up, his screen showing security footage from a cave they had procured.

Breakdown growled a little, "'Bots found the space bridge. They're attacking it now."

Starscream felt his optics widen. This would have been the part where the information HE had given the Autobots about the space bridge would have led to their commandeering it. But he hadn't been able to, he had been captured by Megatron. So how had they found the bridge?

The seeker knew he had to keep up appearances; after all, he had been kept on the Nemesis as a prisoner, "What?! You completed the space bridge without MY supervision?!"

Megatron glared down at him and finally pulled away with a snarl, "Knockout. You will keep our guest here while I sort out the Autobots with Airachnid."

The red mech nodded, "Ah, but of course, Lord Megatron. But why just the spider? Why not bring Breakdown or Soundwave with you?"

The warlord huffed in annoyance, "As it stands, the space bridge's location has been compromised and simply taking back the cave it resides in will do little to stop them from returning again. I am going as insurance that the bridge is properly destroyed, along with an Autobot or two. And Airachnid?" he stomped up the ramp, "Should she perish in the fight, there would be little consequence, would there?"

Megatron turned back to them, setting a servo on Soundwave's shoulder delicately, "I trust the three of you will be able to handle Starscream while I am away?"

Soundwave nodded silently for them and the warlord took his leave, the med bay doors closing behind him. Everyone stayed quiet, waiting.

Starscream took in a soft intake but Knockout shook his helm, "No, wait..."

A few more moments passed and the air seemed to get lighter, each mech, save for Soundwave, releasing a held intake.

"That was close," Breakdown grumbled, turning to set up a tray.

Knockout nodded, "Too close. Like shaving just a touch too much off a fresh weld."

Starscream let himself fall back into the med berth, "I take it one of you left a message for the Autobots then. How?"

The medic shrugged, "You told us how. You said paint a wall, so we did. Left a big Decepticon symbol on a graffiti wall. Took a couple hours, but a human uploaded the picture to the Internet. The photo must have been scrubbed, but not until after the 'Bots got it."

Breakdown smirked, "We hid a message in it: To 'Bots- Use provided coordinates to attack Megatron's space bridge. Pull no punch. Make it explode if you want. Starscream will escape after you've begun your attack. Much love and shock prods, Breakdown and Knockout."

Knockout smirked, "We figured the bridge was going to be attacked anyway, so why not? Now," he picked up the tray Breakdown had been working on, showing a multitude of syringes, "each of these is filled with enough sedatives to knock Breakdown on his aft for hours. You're going to knock the tray from my servos, grabbing at least three of these, and stab me and Breakdown first. Preferably in a joint. Somewhere that won't scratch the paint. We're going to go down, then you lunge at Soundwave and get him in the neck. Fair?"

Starscream tapped his claws against his chest plate, "I see no fault in this plan. Afterwards?"

Breakdown continued to busy himself, "Ground bridge should be cleared if Megatron took backup. We had to 'online your weapons system to clear a surge in some of your wires'. That should help clear a path just in case."

"Soundwave: prepared to edit any footage that does not comply with Starscream's solo escape. Editing... Editing... Editing.."

Knockout shrugged, "COMM us when you know you're in the clear, Psychic."

The seeker sighed, rolling his shoulders, "I'll try my best to remember..."

With a lunge, Starscream grabbed four syringes off the tray, stabbing Knockout in the elbow joint with one and dropping him within seconds. The seeker jumped Breakdown as he turned and got him in the neck. Soundwave moved in as planned to apprehend Starscream and overthrew an arm, which gave the silver mech time to kick him back, then jump on top of him as well, using the last syringe to put the silent mech into recharge.

The seeker slowly stood and fluttered his wings, dropping the final syringe and walking out of the med bay. He found little Vehicon presence and rushed to the ground bridge, pausing before he could enter coordinates. He had a lot to think about. Was he even ready to join the Autobots? If he joined... that would mean he would have to tell them everything.

Starscream shook and typed in coordinates, sighing as he went through the ground bridge. He wasn't ready. He didn't care. As he traveled through the portal, he took out his bridge remote from under his thigh plating. He just wasn't ready yet...