Ch. 245
Starscream had not felt such a flurry of conflicted emotions for some time. The Insecticons weren't looking for him. By frag, his paint job, he had forgotten- The overwhelming feeling of not being desired was refreshing... but knowing that the mech with him was the target of their fixation... The rage within him simmered to a boil as the seeker began to calm and he heard five of the six Insecticons take flight to begin their search.
"They're after you," he said gently.
Optimus shook his helm, "That is not important-"
"They are after you," Starscream said more firmly, "They probably don't even know who I am at this moment."
The Prime found an opportunity to begin quietly shifting down the side of the mountain. He silently coaxed Starscream to move on his own as he stayed close, his optics watching carefully for any unwanted attention as they allowed the high tree line to welcome them. Optimus refused to speak further. He wasn't in the position of caring about who the Insecticons were looking to get their claws into, be it him or the smaller mech with him. Starscream, however, couldn't stop himself from muttering angrily.
"How dare they," he hissed as he walked, "Those simple minded fiends," the seeker stared down at his claws in frustration, "It's not enough that they can barely process what the Decepticon faction has devolved into, but they dare to approach you without provocation?!"
Optimus reached out to guide Starscream from walking into a tree as the smaller mech continued to ramble.
"This defies simple logic! There's no reason to pick a fight with us! It's one of the most idiotic things they could do! Do they think they can win against us?! Optimus!"
The Prime hummed as his response. The seeker didn't like this.
"Optimus!" Starscream turned suddenly to stand in front of the taller mech, "We have lay out a defensive plan to counter their assault!"
The Prime frowned down at him, "We need," he stated firmly, "to get you out of this area and back on the Ark."
Starscream shook his helm, "I'm not doing that! They're not after me, they're after you-"
"And when they realize who you are, they will shift their target. I will not be swayed on this."
"I'm not going to run from them!"
"Starscream," Optimus took hold of the smaller mech's shoulders, "I have to protect you from-"
"When do I get to return the favor?!"
Optimus blinked in surprise as Starscream trembled, "Don't say I haven't done it before... because I know I have. And I know, I've done it for almost all of them, too... But I need to do this for you because I know you're not going to do it for yourself. You'll go out of your way to make sure I escape and I'll have to hope you're actually right behind me... Don't make me go through that, I won't be able to handle it..."
The Prime loosened his grip on the seeker's shoulders, "... I am worried you will be blinded by your anger over what was done to you and you will unnecessarily lash out. I say this because I feel you deserve my honesty. And yes, you are right. My priority is making sure you are extracted safely. I cannot fathom risking your freedom."
Starscream sighed, "I know that, too. But I need this. I need this for me. I... I need to feel capable again. So please, Optimus, hear me out. That was my job once, you know. He-... I was in the position I had because he wasn't a strategist..."
Optimus nodded, "Alright..." he shook his helm in a defeated manner, "This goes against every feeling I have on this... but alright. You are the strategist. What do we have to our advantage?"
Starscream slowly smiled, "You mean besides me?"
Going down the side of the mountain had proved much easier than traversing up. The pair had left their own campsite in a heaping ruin by the time they had gathered what Starscream had deemed useful and necessary. Optimus saw so many individual pieces laid out before him, all the supplies, all the harmless things, and he could faintly define the beginnings of a picture... but it was clear to him that Starscream saw the whole portrait.
Optimus pulled back into a low branching of trees that was nestled at the base of the mountain, crouching as he had been directed by the smaller mech seconds before, "I am ready, Starscream."
"Good," the seeker called back softly behind him, his own form kneeling in the dirt as he tied one last knot in a rope and shuffled dirt and foliage on a section to hide his work, "and I'm finished here, except for the, um..." he quickly glanced around and perked his wings when he saw a small cube of energon sitting beside a boulder, "Yes, there it is."
Starscream snatched up the cube and focused on the weight of it in his servos before taking careful note of the surrounding area, "Right, mountains set in front of us, wind direction..." he lifted his wings, "ah, shifting only just a bit, and their dispersal range would take them maybe... hmm... Yes! Alright, so..."
He stood back and threw quick splashes of energon in very specific locations in the dirt, sprinkled on the leaves of some plants and carefully distributed the remaining portion in the most unassuming pattern he could where he had been working.
The seeker looked behind him with a smile, "Done!"
"Good," came Optimus's soft yet worried voice, "now please, do not stand out in the open any longer."
Starscream scuttled to where the Prime was hiding, accepting the larger mech's servo to help guide him into the low brush, "We won't have to wait long, you know."
"I am certain we will not."
The seeker settled down beside Optimus, his optics and voice betraying the worry he was supposed to have given the situation, "Their sense of smell is matched only by Predacon sensory nets. If we don't see them soon, that means they've left the area."
"Starscream," the Prime murmured, "I still believe it is unwise that you remain here."
The smaller mech smirked, "Careful, Optimus, you care for others is showing."
"I hope it is."
Starscream glanced up to see worried and sad blue optics staring out into the staged location the pair had created. The seeker felt the excitement he had been allowing to build within him start to ebb away and he reached over quietly to take the larger mech's clenched servo in his.
"Optimus," he said softly, "I will not put you in a position where you have to worry about my safety. You've done so much to take care of me. Let me show you that I can take care of me, too."
"If anything should happen, it will be my fault."
Starscream shook his helm, "No. I was never going to leave you behind to save myself. I don't think I'm capable of something like that anymore... You wouldn't have been able to send me away."
"But if you are harmed or taken-"
The seeker increased his grip, "I am an individual, Optimus. With my own thoughts, my own achievements and my-" he sighed, "my own failings. Do not absorb the worst of me and mistake it for your own."
He felt the larger mech's servo clench tighter before loosening greatly.
"... Starscream... thank you."
"Of course, Optimus- wait!"
Starscream's wings perked and he frowned when a breeze rustled the leaves and pine needles providing their cover. There was a vibration moving at a steady pace, slicing through the stillness the seeker had been growing accustomed to over the past couple days.
"They are coming," the Prime stated.
Starscream nodded and let go of Optimus to quickly fumble around in the dirt for something, pulling up a makeshift slingshot with his excitement renewed.
"Are... you certain you will need...?"
The seeker couldn't hide a wide smile on his faceplates, "Should we need to direct their attention to something, yes. Oh, this is going to be interesting," he tested the elasticity on the slingshot's bungee cord and shuddered, "I haven't used one of these since the battle on the far side of Praxus. I mean, it was a proper weapon then and I had these wonderful little exploding-"
"Starscream," the Prime whispered with emphasis, pulling the smaller mech closer when the buzzing of Insecticon wings began to hover above.
The excitement had finally fizzled out. The reality of the situation seeped in.
A pair of Insecticons transformed and dropped into the area, causing tremors and great plumes of dust and debris to fly up. The two were sniffing and snarling as they investigated the spilt energon splattered before them. It was fresh and this knowledge fueled their desire to find what had left it behind. Had it been the Prime? Or the smaller mech with him? It was unclear at the moment but the pair weren't deterred; they were busily shuffling through the dirt in search of clues as to where their prey had fled to.
Starscream stiffened when the Insecticons' search began to move them out of position. He watched as they crawled along the rocks and boulders, grating their claws and using the noise as an act of intimidation. If the prey was nearby it was imperative that it hear what would soon be impaled upon them.
One of the Insecticons let himself fall from the rock he had been crawling on and he cricked his neck up at a small splash of energon on the limbs of a tree, licking at it lightly with his mandibles. A low buzz from his companion asked if there was new information to share. Starscream saw the pair beginning to move farther from range and frowned nervously as he began to search quickly around himself and Optimus as quietly as he was able. The Prime saw the grip on the smaller mech's slingshot tighten the longer he searched and he stopped the seeker, gesturing to his arm as he slowly began to transform out his blaster.
Starscream's voice was unfamiliarly quiet as he shook his helm and whispered, "No. You'll alert the others if they're close enough. I just need something to draw them back towards us."
Optimus frowned in thought and then nodded, looking back behind him and quietly handing Starscream a large broken piece of wood, worm eaten, old and dry. The seeker stared at it, accepting the offering with some hesitation, but was forced to implement his fail safe regardless when the Insecticons began to chuff in a bored manner; they were preparing to leave.
Starscream set his slingshot and pulled back quickly to take aim. One the of the Insecticons was distracted, busying himself just behind the other as he scuffed his ped into the dirt and tenderly removed an irritant from between sections of the metal. This left the other, more focused Insecticon, who was giving the spilt energon one last look, as a better target.
Starscream held an intake and released the wood piece before the unsuspecting Insecticon could move. The seeker had to latch onto Optimus's arm to prevent himself from falling and cheering victoriously as the wood splintered into thousands of little pieces against the back of his target's helm and knocked the bug forward, causing a shriek of surprise and anger to erupt from his maw. The second Insecticon jumped, his chassis prickling into an alert state as his companion turned, blaming whatever had just happened on the other. The angered Insecticon shoved the second back, despite the other's submissive squeals, and bit into his shoulder plating. Amidst the squabble, the two began to step back, moving into position as they snarled and snapped at each other. The first Insecticon shoved the second again but when he moved to jump on his companion, the second's ped stepped on a dirt covered rope. The effect was instantaneous.
The second Insecticon lost balance as he was pulled into a divot and a tarp flew up from a dirt covering under the ground, reaching up to ensnare the pair. The bundle lifted only enough to show the tension in the many woven ropes holding it before landing roughly on the ground. And the more the Insecticons struggled, the tighter the tarp pulled.
Starscream's optics boggled, "Optimus, Optimus!" he shook excitedly, "It worked! By Primus, I was so worried- I didn't think-"
He silenced himself with a smile as the Prime looked down at him with his own prideful grin.
The seeker's wings fluttered, "I did it..."
Optimus nodded, "I knew you could," he looked back at the struggling bundle and stood, transforming out a blaster cautiously.
Starscream followed the larger mech out from their hidden cover, listening to the screeching and snarls from their prisoners turn into bickering words.
"Amazing," Optimus commented as he watched, "a booby trap that actually catches boobies..."
The seeker gasped loudly, "You- you said it!"
The Prime did nothing to hide his wide smile, "Indeed," he drew closer to the tarp, "but it is simply a comment, Starscream, that I am using to describe the two we have caught."
"Don't downplay this for me," Starscream almost hopped after him, "You could describe them any other way and yet you choose this. There are so many other collections of words."
"I stand by my decision," Optimus remarked, kneeling beside the trapped Insecticons to check the tension of the tarp, "and given their predicament, I feel the statement is fair."
The seeker hummed in amusement, "Oh, no disagreement there."
"Starscream?! Traitor!" one of the Insections growled loudly, "You left our leader to stand beside the Prime!"
"Yes, I did!" Starscream crossed his arms, "And on equal ground, as it were! Isn't that a shock, me leaving the Decepticons for a multitude of reasons, but let's talk about that one for a moment, shall we?"
The bundle became a flurry of shrieks and Optimus loudly powered on his blaster, "It is highly suggested you answer our questions. And, if you find yourselves with a moment of clarity, we have no qualms about releasing you should you decide not to continue your participation in this war."
The Insecticons paused in their struggles before a deep cackle from one of them echoed out into the air.
"Clarity? You think speaking with either of you will change our minds? The Prime and his pet have very high expectations..."
Starscream felt the bite of the words gouge into him where they were meant to and he took a weak step back. Optimus followed the seeker to stand beside him, setting his servo on his shoulder plating to reassure him. But the shifted focus turned into the distraction the Insecticons wanted. After hearing the Prime's pedfalls leave from beside them, the trapped pair began to huff and extract as much give out of their bindings as possible. This allowed one of the bugs to latch his claws into the side of the tarp, his struggle to find enough room to claw their way out becoming evident when the bundle began to move once more. Starscream's wings fell flat.
"W-wait, stop!" he screeched, "We don't want to have to use force, that's why we-"
"Starscream, get back!"
Optimus grabbed the seeker and pulled him behind his frame as the tarp tore open and the first Insecticon managed to free himself enough to lunge forward. The Prime fired his blaster rapidly among the shrieks of the bugs and the flurry of torn tarp pieces and Starscream's demands that the Insecticons stand down, but it mattered very little. The first Insecticon stumbled back from a shot to the lower shoulder and fell over the second when he scrambled to get to his peds. The distinct sound of shifting rock could be heard from above, from a place where a piece of rope had been set to hold tension, and Starscream squealed as he grabbed Optimus's arm to pull him away as the first of many boulders fell from the mountain, crushing and burying the Insecticons.
Starscream and Optimus watched from their positions on the ground as the last pebbles trickled down like a dry waterfall and the blue glow of spilt energon began to seep out from under all the rubble. There were no sounds of life from under the pile and the seeker began to intake rapidly as he grabbed onto his helm and started cursing.
"I screwed this up, I didn't get any of this right!"
Optimus transformed his blaster away, "Starscream, no," he said deeply.
The smaller mech curled in tight, "I messed this up," he hissed, "I should have known they would be more likely to travel as a pair and I could have compensated for the extra weight and strength of them both, but I miscalculated and underestimated all of the additional variables, and I-"
Starscream flinched, memories of what usually came next tormenting him at the back of his mind. And he almost half expected at least an unkind word to come from somewhere, anywhere, but was overwhelmed with relief when he felt Optimus embrace him loosely and his gentle voice console him.
"Starscream," he murmured, "how can you be so hard on yourself when you did all you could to avoid this outcome? It matters not how they passed. You created something to subdue without injury and yes, the trap caught not one but two. But you and I gave them an opportunity to speak with us and they were not in a place to listen. I am so proud of you for choosing a less violent method despite circumstances. Please, know that you could have foreseen none of this and that you do not deserve to punish yourself for that. This meant so very much that you tried and I am so grateful you did," Optimus pulled back to look sadly at Starscream's shamefully hanging helm, "but Starscream, moving forward, I do not believe it is safe to use such methods. The Insecticons are not likely to change what they have been trained to do in this war; we are going to have to use deadly force from here on out."
The seeker grumbled quietly, muttering something, and he repeated himself when the larger mech gave him a quizzical look, "I didn't want it to come to that..."
"I know. It is the last thing you need to be a part of right now."
Starscream sighed and finally lifted his helm to look at the rock pile, "Side note, I suppose, they're not from the Nemesis."
"Really?" Optimus stood slowly and helped the seeker to his peds, "How can you tell?"
The smaller mech frowned, "Um... what they called me," he shrugged, "He was very insistent about how I was spoken to aboard the Nemesis. The Insecticons on board would never have taken the chance to go against his orders and call me something so dreadful. Which means these Insecticons didn't come from the ship, they must have come from another hive."