Chapter 27

About an hour has passed since Megatron's brutal attack, however there was one Decepticon who was unaware of it. Well, to be more precise, there were six Decepticons who were unaware of it. Mostly because they were now considered outlaws or traitors, whatever fit the bill, but the most notable reason for their unknown knowledge was because of their current mission.

Starscream flew towards the giant purple Decepticon ship, landing gracefully on one of the spires. The ex-con was followed by five other Starscreams, each of them landing on a spire of their own.

"What are our objectives, Lord Starscream?" One of the clones asked.

"The objective is simple. We infiltrate the Nemesis and take down Megatron" Starscream responded. "Now, because of my knowledge of the ship, the only way to proceed without being detected by scanner is to-"

"-enter through the Vehicon hanger" a clone finished, cutting him off.

"Yes... of course you know already" the ex-con mumbled to himself.

The Starscreams transformed into their jet modes, flying towards the back of the ship. The six of them waited until the small group of patrolling Vehicons returned, allowing the flyers to open the door and giving them a way to slip inside.

"Split up and spread out so we can locate Megatron quicker. Once one of us finds him, contact the rest of us. Only together can we bring him down" Starscream ordered and the group went their separate ways.

...

Starscream snuck through the dark hallways of the Nemesis, avoiding all open areas and sticking to the walls. Whenever he would hear footsteps, he would hide in the shadows, crouching behind a pole to keep his cover. Getting spotted this early in his mission would not be very beneficial.

Suddenly, the voices of two Vehicons talking came from behind him, making him coward behind another pole.

"Hah, did you hear those fleshies scream for help? It was the most pathetic thing I've ever seen!" One of the Vehicons said laughing.

"Not as pathetic as Starscream getting booted off the ship. I can't believe we had to work for him in the beginning."

"Tell me about it. Whatever, I don't think we have to worry about him for much longer. If he ever shows his face again, Megatron will be sure to scrap him."

"On the contrary..."

The two Vehicons were surprised to hear a voice behind them and they turned around. A few inches away from their faces was an angry Starscream.

"S-Starscream, what are you doing here?" One of them asked.

"Well, I couldn't help but overhear you talking poorly about my command over the Decepticons" Starscream said, getting closer. "What did you say... oh yes, that I am pathetic?"

The ex-con didn't let them respond and quickly offlined them with his hands. The two lifeless bodies fell to the floor and Starscream kicked their heads.

"No one talks poorly of me or they shall-"

Starscream's rant was cut off by more footsteps down the hall. He realized that two lifeless Vehicon bodies was definitely going to raise some alarms so he quickly grabbed them by the head and pulled them towards the doors of a nearby room. He slammed his elbow against the side, opening the double doors and pulling the Vehicons in, just in time before another group passed by.

He sighed and dropped the two heads, leaning on his knees to catch his breath.

"That was close" he said to himself.

The sound of a blaster powering up startled him and he turned around to see the end of a canon pointed at his face. The wielder was none other than Dreadwing himself.

"Traitor! I will make you pay for what you did to Skyquake!" Dreadwing yelled.

"Scrap."

...

Starscream flew through the halls, not bothering with stealth at all. He wanted to be the first to get his hands on Megatron and to do that, he couldn't worry about keeping his cover. He gave himself another boost in the engines that made his jet form fly faster, zooming past rooms and even some Vehicons.

"Hahaha! I will be the first to claim Megatron's spark and then all will bow before me!" he said to himself.

He turned a corner and didn't notice the blue mech walking in front of him before it was too late. He slammed into the Decepticon sending both of them tumbling to the ground.

"Arghhh!" Starscream said in frustration, getting off the ground. "You incompetent fool! Get out of my way."

Breakdown also got up, slightly dazed by the hit to his head. "Starscream?"

"Yes, are your visual receptors working or are you just stupid Breakdown? Get out of my way or I will terminate you."

The blue mech didn't know what to make of the situation .He was angry that he was called stupid but he was also confused to see his former commander standing in front of him. He wasn't sure to charge him or let him go.

"Did you hear me Breakdown?! Move!" Starscream yelled, firing a missile that hit the mech in the arm, knocking him into a nearby wall.

The ex-con's actions cleared Breakdown of his confusion and he knew exactly how to react now. "You just made a huge mistake Starscream" he said, getting up and activating his hammers.

...

Starscream hid inside of the laboratory, knowing very well that Megatron would probably be heading there soon. He had overheard some Vehicons talking about a recent battle with the humans and used his common sense to anticipate the warlord's arrival.

The ex-con was determined to take off Megatron's head himself rather than waiting for his fellow comrades. After all, there can only be one leader of the Decepticons, and the only way to stand out is if you have leverage. If he wanted that position, he was going to have to show the other Starscreams that he was the most powerful and the one to be feared.

Starscream was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the door open and footsteps walking in. He smirked, his time of glory was finally here.

The ex-con jumped out of his hiding spot, using his sharp servos to cut Megatron. The Decepticon stumbled back, mostly in surprise as he looked at his cut.

"Your time is up Megatron!" Starscream said, looking forward. He yelped in surprise at what he saw.

There were a couple problems with his little surprise tactic. First, he didn't account for the Decepticon to move when he jumped out blindly so his fatal stab to the spark chamber became more of a scratch to the arm. The second of his problems was that he didn't see who he had attacked. It was not Megatron who had gotten scratched, but rather the doctor himself, Knock Out. Now the last of his problems was that he just scratched Knock Out, and he knew that if there was anything that enraged him more, it was a scratch to his paint.

"Starscream..." the doctor said menacingly, activating his saw and walking forward. "I don't even want to know why you're here, but I do know what's about to happen. You know my saying don't you?"

"You scratch my paint, I'll scratch yours!"

...

Starscream went from room to room, making sure that he wasn't spotted while keeping his eyes out for the Decepticon warlord. Like many of his brothers, he too was determined to get the kill, or at least have the glory to gloat about getting the first hit in. He knew very well that the other clones were probably desperately trying to find Megatron and he would never forgive himself if he wasn't the one to find him.

After scanning another room, Starscream quickly ran out, closing the door and running to the one across the hall. He opened the door and found the armory, but no Megatron. He tried another door but it was only a storage room. He was really getting frustrated over the cat and mouse game and just wanted to find his former master so he could snuff out his spark.

Starscream ran into another room and was surprised when he ran straight into a sticky substance.

"What is this?" he asked to no one in particular, struggling to get out. His arms, legs, and body were all stuck and it took a moment for him to realize where he was. It was a dark room with webbing shot in every corner. There was a dim light but other than that, that was all. It was too dark too see anything but Starscream knew where he was and gulped.

"Well now isn't this a surprise" came a feminine voice. Two red optics appeared above the ex-con and Airachnid came crawling down from the ceiling.

"Let me out of your feces you disgusting little insect" Starscream yelled.

"Hmm, now that's no way to treat your former teammate Starscream" Airachnid said. "Tell me, what are you doing back on the ship? Have you come back to beg Megatron to be his lap dog once again?"

"I'll have you know, I plan on terminating Megatron rather than work for him again. If you release me, I will considerer allowing you to live once i have gained control over the Decepticons."

"Now that's a thought, but I have a proposition. You see Starscream, I plan on eliminating Megatron myself so that I may take control of the Decepticons. The way I see it, you are helplessly trapped in my webbing and have the same goals as I do."

Starscream started to get nervous and started to choke. "Well, how about we work together than?"

Airachnid chuckled and came closer, raising her extra limbs that shone in the light.

"Oh no, Starscream, having the same goal as I do isn't a good thing. It means that you're competition."

"And I hate competition."

...

Starscream ducked, dodged and jumped to avoid being blasted to shreds. He had to thank his skinny body to allow himself to have so much flexibility.

All had been going well until he accidentally stumbled upon a group of Vehicons in the hallway. At first, he thought that he could use his authority to get around them, but of course Megatron had ordered his termination if he ever returned to the ship.

A blaster came by and struck the ex-con in the shoulder, making him yell out in pain.

"You dare shoot your commanding officer?! I will have you- ah!"

Starscream had to jump out of the way of a volley of blaster fire. Realizing that he was outnumbered and outmatched, he quickly turned around and ran. Shots blazed past him, all of them almost clipping his wings but he was still in one piece.

He heard Vehicons running from behind him but what surprised him was another set of footsteps coming from in front of him.

"Curse the Decepticons' battle tactics" Starscream grumbled.

The Vehicons were flanking him and if he kept running, he would probably end up at the end of a blaster. With no other choice, Starscream ran towards the nearest door, opening it and jumping inside. The footsteps of the Vehicons stopped just outside and the ex-con could tell that they were confused.

"Stupid Vehicons, always ruining my plans" he said to himself. "Whether they're on my side or against it, it's always the same- ah! Soundwave!"

The ex-con coward in fear as the slender figure of Soundwave approached him, towering over him. He looked around and saw that he was in the communications room, practically the home of Soundwave.

"Uh, um, Soundwave, I have returned and, uh, have retaken my position as first lieutenant to Megatron!" Starscream blurted out, hoping his lie would work.

Unfortunately, it didn't and Soundwave continued forward, now activating his tentacles that hovered above him.

"C-can we talk about this?"

...

The original Starscream made his way through the air vents, crawling on all fours. He had realized that the safest way around the ship was through the vents since the hallways were constantly being monitored. If his clones were smart, they would have done the same thing.

"With all six of us, Megatron will fall and I, the rightful leader of the Decepticons, will take command once again!" he said triumphantly.

Squeezing through the small vents, Starscream continued his crawl, looking down into room after room. He knew that it wouldn't be long until the other clones were found so he had to make haste in his search.

Suddenly, he felt a pain in his face that made him recoil.

"Ow!"

He felt another one, then another one. His body jerked around as if he was being blasted apart. Then he was sent flying back into the wall of the vent when he felt like he was being bashed by a hammer.

"What, ow, is going, ow, on?!"

He started to scream in agony when a new feeling came about. The feeling of being cut open by a saw made him shriek and thrash around. The harsh movements he made inside the vent loosened its holding and before he could react, he fell through the bottom, landing hard on the ground.

Starscream groaned for a moment, regaining his composure until he felt like he was being stabbed in the chest. He yelled out again and the pain continued to plague him until it was all gone and he could finally relax.

"Those incompetent fools! They couldn't even complete such a simple task, find Megatron and terminate him!" He said out loud angrily.

"Ah, so is that why you have returned Starscream?"

The ex-con jumped back in surprise at the voice. He looked up and saw none other than Megatron himself, staring down at him.

"L-lord Megatron, um, I, uh, have returned to serve you master!"

The warlord chuckled evilly. "Is that so Starscream, when the Vehicons told me that you have been spotted roaming the halls, I knew that you were planning on terminating me."

"Roaming the halls?" Starscream asked quietly. "Those idiots thought they could walk around the halls without being spotted?"

Suddenly, Starscream started to get lifted off the ground as if he was being grabbed.

"Wha-what's going on?" he asked, looking at Megatron. The warlord also looked confused as he stood away from the floating Starscream.

The ex-con was lifted a bit higher until he came crashing down onto the floor. He was then lifted up again and thrown down once more. The process repeated itself multiple times before finally he was left on the ground, groaning in pain and agony.

"That was interesting..." Megatron began, but then remembered what he was about to do. "Now, as I recall, I said that I would never make the same mistake again."

The warlord's canon was aimed at Starscream's face and the ex-con could see the little particles begin to form inside.

"Ah!" he yelled, jumping out of the way just in time to dodge a sure to be fatal blast. Megatron fired again, barely missing him as he ran around the room.

"Hold still Starscream and I will make it quick" Megatron said, shooting three more shots.

Knowing that he was going to get hit sooner or later, Starscream quickly scanned the room. There was a pile of Energon stacked up on the sides and in the middle was a giant tower like structure that he recognized as the ship's power core.

A plan came into his mind as he dodged another one of Megatron's blasts. Starscream quickly aimed both his missiles and fired them both, missing Megatron.

"You're aim is as pathetic as you are Starscream" Megatron sneered.

Suddenly an explosion occurred behind the warlord and he turned around to see all the energon leave the power core. The ship's functions started to get disabled and its engines cut out. Moments later, the vessel began it's freefall, dropping towards the Earth.

Starscream chuckled. "I would love to see your demise Megatron, but I believe my life is more important than that."

The ex-con transformed into his jet mode and flew out of the room. He rocketed through the hallways, blasting Vehicons that he passed by until he finally made it to the back of the ship. He sent another missile at the wall, blowing a hole in it and using the opening to escape the falling ship.

Starscream stopped and watched as the Nemesis crashed down onto the ground, scraping along until it came to a complete stop.

"Goodbye Megatron, until we meet again" he said with a smirk.

Starscream flew away from the crash site. He had lost his armada today but had dealt enough damage to make up for his lose.

...