Ch. 90

Panicking? Panicking?! Who was panicking, he certainly wasn't-

Drip.

Panic! Maybe time to panic.

Starscream tried to cycle his intakes carefully. The dark was beginning to get to him. The reflection of his optics were his only solace and even then it wasn't by much.

Drip.

The seeker bit his glossa hard to stop from screaming. What if the scream cracked the ice? What if the ice gave way to the water? What if the water rushed in? What if the rushing water froze his systems and left him beyond repair?!

Starscream settled for a whimper and stopped a shudder going through him. He needed to keep calm and wait. Regardless of who came to get him, he knew he wouldn't be left in this state. Right? ... Of course! Megatron was frantically obsessed with him and the Autobots-... well... the Autobots were at least far more gentle and reliable. One of the two would make sure this, this...

The seeker sighed quietly and heard a swish beside him. Stupid tide. Stupid water.

'Stupid salt water,' Starscream reminded himself.

If this were cold, fresh water, the seeker would have been fine. The temperature under the ice would have at least been warm enough to maneuver somewhere safer to emerge then escape. But salt water... salt water was colder. It wouldn't take long for the cold to sink in deep, forcing his outer systems to shut down before rendering him immobile. Then dead.

Dead.

The word echoed in Starscream's helm. He'd been trying to avoid that stupid predicament from the word 'go'. Did he hasten 'DEAD' after everything he had been through? He sourly hoped not.

"I-it'll be fine," he murmured to himself, the sound of his voice squeaking out quietly, "it's all going to be fine. Megatron is insane and Optimus is stubborn. Either way, you're out of this hole. This cold... delicate..." drip, "d-dripping and slowly filling with water..."

A heavy intake escaped the silver mech's mouth and a distinct snap followed. Starscream's optics widened as a visible crack was beginning to form above him. His expelled intakes were warming the ice around him just enough. Great, so he had to hold those, too... He took his intakes softer, holding them for prolonged moments before expelling. This was insufferable.

If he couldn't let his intakes out as much, there was definitely no talking himself down. No sweet reassurances from himself that he could actually hear. He was going to have to think positive thoughts. That was harder. His processor didn't lie as well as his glossa did.

'This will be fine,' Starscream thought as loud as he could, 'It won't take much longer for them to get to you. It won't, it won't, it won't...'

'Unless they think you're already dead.'

The seeker's optics widened then frowned, 'Shut up, processor!'

'Don't think loudly at yourself!'

Great. Even in his own helm, Starscream wasn't helping himself. The seeker shifted lightly and trembled a little. It was involuntary. He was so cold.

The first thing he was going to do when he was rescued was commandeer those lovely, steaming hot showers in the Autobot base. Forever. They were his now. He had never been this cold and bored and mad at his own thoughts in all of his function.

Drip-crack.

That was not a good sound. Starscream had to keep himself from flinching. The dripping was louder, as was that horrendously audible 'crack'. His little ice tomb was starting to show how fragile it really was. The seeker's optics frantically began searching for a way out. Above him was probably another air pocket, but what after that? Water? Or freedom? If he had that Apex Armor...

Crack.

Nope, he didn't have it, so what was he going to do? On the sides? Water. Below him? Water. Above him? Uncertain. Any way he chose he would be stuck battling the strength of the tides and the cold to escape. He was, unfortunately, well placed in waiting should he wish to survive at all. And his little life-saving hiccup would be useless here unless it could shoot him well over a few hundred feet through the ice and snow to the surface above. That would hurt. He would probably be crushed.

Starscream couldn't stand it anymore, "All right," he said aloud, "I'm not going to have much time to decide at this point," he tried remembering back to how he had escaped before, "There's an incline on the bottom of the sea that gets me close enough to the surface to punch through and escape," he murmured, "That's what I used last time. Even if it took me a couple of hours to find it, I had the Apex Armor protecting me. I don't have that now. There, you angry processor," he said to himself, "I admit it. I may well and truly be fragged."

Crack-drip.

The seeker shuddered softly, "So that may honestly be my only option. I have to go to a weak spot in the ice and escape before my systems shut down. If I try to fly in bipedal mode, I might be able to save myself some damages, but it might also render me incapable of using other systems until Ratchet and Knockout can fix everything-"

A loud thud above him shook him from his thoughts and jostled him inside the air pocket. It also created the one thing he was afraid of: a breach.

Starscream cried out as the salty cold water hit his back plates first and rushed all the way down to his peds. The ocean was eager to greet him it seemed, as it quickly moved to fill the pocket and began his system's shut down mode. The seeker didn't care who made the noise above him, he knew it was in aid of him even if it may kill him. Whether it was Optimus or Megatron, he didn't know. He just hoped they got to him before he froze to death. So he did what sounded logical.

"HELP!" he screamed, "GET DOWN HERE, NOW!"

Starscream thought he heard a very muffled response. They were still too far above him. The seeker reached up and started clawing at the ice with his servos, an act that didn't last long as his trembling worsened. He was getting too cold to move.

"J-just..." he huffed, "s... stay conscious...!"

Starscream kneed upwards to break some of the ice chunks away, hoping if he even made some progress it would help whomever was above him get him out. But that motion stopped too when the ice under him couldn't take the pressure and cracked further, sinking and pinning him between two sharp panels of ice. The seeker screamed again.

"S-STAY CONSCIOUS!" he roared at himself, trying to keep himself from falling further and failing, "I-If you f-fa-fall into th-the dark," he whimpered, "y-you won't w-wake up!"

His optics glanced back behind him. It was well and truly dark down there. It would be hard for anyone to find him in all that, even luckier if they found him alive. Starscream looked back up and started screaming again, his sight starting to go black as more of his systems shut down.

"NO! Get me out, GET ME OUT!"

Another rumble and thud landed closer to him now. He thought he could see a shadow, but that was most likely the start of his vision fading away from him. Another thud, the sound of ice being scraped away. Another thud, another lurch down towards the darkness, both literally and metaphorically. Starscream tried to reach up and squealed when his arms fell uselessly beside him; his limbs were no longer functional. He felt wash after wash of ocean seem to plow right through him and then he took a last intake before it engulfed him.

He was under the water now. And the last warm thing he had was that single intake. If he lost it, if he let the frigid waters into his chest cavity, his systems would be done for. Starscream struggled as the warming intake became more of a burden. He would have to expel it soon but his would-be rescuers were no where near to saving him yet. His vision was still going. It became nothing but black spots and voids where there should have been something.

Another crack then silence. His audials had just shorted out. In a panic, Starscream gasped and the chilling, frozen waters rushed down his throat, the cold hastening his shut down process. His optics were completely useless. His limbs wouldn't move. He thought he felt a hard crash above him as the bottom of the ice below him fell out and allowed him to fall through. Whomever had been above him was too late.

Starscream felt himself sinking, down into that dark black void. And then, as he finally succumbed, the seeker felt a powerful current whisk him away.