Ch. 66
The whole flight had been ultimately silent. He knew he didn't have any connections to his clones, save for a feeling of pain or agony if they were struck. Or killed. He shuddered as the Nemesis came into view. But the seeker hoped within himself that from what memories he did give them, that they would keep overall interests in mind.
Starscream and his clones flew in quickly, landing hard on the surface of the ship.
Red and Green rushed to the door, blasters ready, while Yellow peeked in when the entrance opened, frowning, "It appears clear," he murmured, and the seeker fleet quickly scuttled in, going straight for the lift.
"Bottom floor," Blue frowned, pressing the control panel.
Orange hummed lightly, fluttering his wings, "Should we go over the plan now then?"
Starscream nodded, "It would be best. Red, Yellow, you two scour this floor the best you can. Find Bulkhead. If you find him, try to get him off the ship. When he's been relocated, have him COMM me."
Red and Yellow nodded, the two standing to the side; Starscream gestured to Green and Orange, "You two, head to the upper levels and try to locate Soundwave. Red was right, we can get Soundwave and Knockout out of here during Bulkhead's rescue. That means Blue is with me; we're going to the med bay."
Blue hissed, his optics narrow and his wings low, "Oh, you know Knockout's going to be livid when he sees you used the cloning process on yourself. Livid."
Starscream glared, "I am well aware. I'm not sorry."
The seekers paired off in correlation to the plan and when the lift doors opened, Red and Yellow dashed out, the two splitting off.
Yellow called quietly to Red, pointing down the way, "I'll look over by the energon store room, you look over by the communications station!"
Red nodded, "We'll meet up in the middle if we can!"
The lift doors closed and Blue set the controls again, the lift going up, "Next stop is ours. Ready?"
Starscream sighed and flexed his claws, "To the best of my ability," he glanced at Green and Orange, "Will the two of you be ready?"
The two smirked and nodded, "We'll give them all a real pain in the aft to deal with. Hope Soundwave doesn't mind a bit of ruckus," Orange chuckled.
"If we manage to get a few shots in at Megatron, we'll do our best not to get shot back," Green assured, "We know that's going to feel like a glitch..."
The other seekers shuddered and Starscream groaned, "Yes. It did," he whimpered softly, "Please, no one get shot or killed..."
Green, Orange and Blue sighed, shrugging. They really couldn't promise anything, considering how well the previous Starscream clones had faired. But maybe they would be more successful since the original Starscream was among them.
The lift doors opened and Starscream frowned, Blue behind him as the two rushed out. The original seeker glanced back, the two mechs giving him a nod and thumbs up respectively to assure him. Starscream hummed nervously when the lift doors closed.
Blue scuttled down the hall, Starscream following him, and the two rushed the med bay, missiles ready to fire.
Knockout was busy at a computer terminal, whistling when he opened a medical file, "Is that my next appointment? You're early..."
Starscream went back to the door, looking out to keep watch as Blue stepped forward, "Doctor, gather what you can; we're leaving."
The red mech flinched in surprise and turned quickly, gasping, "Starscream? You're here, you're-" he fell silent then wailed when he saw the other seeker's form at the door, "You didn't! You DIDN'T! You KNEW I wanted those clones! You knew I wanted them all to myself! An army of ME! It would have been beautiful and glorious and- and how COULD you?!"
Blue grumbled as Knockout threw himself into his arms, "Do I have to deal with this?"
Starscream smirked, "I'm watching the door, aren't I?"
Blue dropped the red mech and went back to the door, pulling the seeker back, "Now I'm watching the door. You're calling the shots, then you get to handle this."
Starscream groaned, going to Knockout to help him up, "Come now, Doctor, you're... better than this? Right?"
Knockout whimpered and looked up into the seeker's optics, his own widening as his mouth fell open in a loud laugh, "Your optics- your optics-!"
Starscream shoved him away and scowled, "Get your fragging slag together, you little cretin or so help me, I'll scrape every last bit of paint off your chassis!"
Blue cackled from the door, "Double time with my help."
Starscream sneered, then fell hard, shrieking in pain as he curled in on himself. Knockout jumped back and Blue rushed in, looking confused and terrified.
"What is THIS?!" Knockout yelled, grabbing a tool tray as though to defend himself.
Blue glared, shaking his helm, "Not already..."
Starscream hissed as the pain subsided and he scowled, gritting out his words, "One... one is dead. I just don't know which..."
Blue nodded and grabbed a data drive, quickly plugging it into the computer terminal, "Then we don't have time. I'll get what I can off the terminal and then we should go."
Knockout frowned, "Are you kidding me?! We can't just leave! My paints, my polishes, my favorite buffer!"
Starscream pulled himself to his peds, growling, "Then PACK! We don't have time to waste! He'll grab your research and anything else he can get on the drive and then we are out of here!"
The red mech scuttled around the room, grabbing paint and polish cans. He paused when he saw two buffers laying out, unable to decide which one he liked more.
Starscream slowly made his way back to the door as he transformed out a blaster and watched for any movement outside the little window. The seeker glared at his own reflection, then watched in horror as his optics widened at a familiar and painful feeling burning into his neck cables. He felt his intakes hitch as the feeling increased.
"Kn... Knockout," Starscream choked out, "Megatron... Megatron knows we're here... He has one of my clones..."