Chapter 2: Hidden Transformer
A/N: Oh man, this just brings a new meaning to the word Transformers, doesn't it? XDDDD Thank you for reading!
Notes: 1 vorn - 83 years / 1 breem - 8.3 minutes - 1000 astroseconds
-------
The small patter of metal feet could he heard pacing down the halls. With a small energon cube in each hand, Rumble and Frenzy continued their carefree conversation, ignoring whatever and whoever passed them in the halls.
"So bro', what makes ya' think the big daddy-o's gonna do next?" the purple Cassetticon chirped to his brother.
"Dunno. But the 'Screamer's so BUSTED when Megatron finds out what he's hidin'!" Frenzy put out a free hand in the air and his purple counterpart slapped it with his own. A thoughtful look ran over Frenzy's face but Rumble just snapped his fingers to the sound of their footsteps heading towards the repair bay.
"Hey, d'ya think Soundwave's really gonna let us watch? I mean, he did kick us outta his chest when they went in there."
"Why not? Dad's gonna let us in after big ol' Meg's calms down a bit. Plus, I wanna recharge afterwards." Rumble finished his sentence with a small yawn.
"Yeah…I just wanna sit in Soundwave and sleep-"
The Cassetticon's nonchalantly paced towards the repair bay, and soon they reached the slightly battered energon stained doors.
"WHAT?!?!!!!!!"
"HOLY SLAG RUMBLE!!!"
The brothers were literally thrown off their feet at the unexpected boom from their leader's exclamation behind the doors, and the Cassetticon's quickly recollected their energon and wits before racing back to Soundwave's safe and Megatron-less quarters as fast as their little feet can take them.
Behind the grim gnarled doors of the repair bay, the Constructicons did their best to look small and backed away from the recharge bed where Starscream lay, neatly dissected across the bleak metal. Megatron's hands involuntarily clenched and dragged his cold fingers along the smooth surface on the recharge bed, leaving blunt scratch marks. The communications officer was only a few feet behind his leader and took an extra step back cautiously, but Megatron only slammed his black fists onto the flat surface, upsetting the small screws and circuits arranged alongside Starscream's cold body. Soundwave and Constructicons could not escape their leaders wrath contained within the oil stench room.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" the Decepticon leader bellowed, scanning the room for an answer. Red optics and visors only looked back and forth in confusion to find an answer within each other, but there was nothing verbally offered. A black fist brought itself down onto the table once again and Megatron swivelled his large frame, prowling around the room like a frustrated Ravage. Soundwave narrowly avoided his leader who only stopped to face one of the walls. The Decepticons waited patiently for Megatron, knowing that their leader was already drawing an answer to his own question.
Resting his sharp chin on his fingers, Megatron optics flashed involuntarily with each thought, reflecting against the dark walls that caught the red glow. When a deep 'hmm' escaped Megatron's vocal modulator, the Decepticon's heaved a small sigh of relief and slowly relaxed their shoulders, save for Soundwave who looked indifferent to his leaders reaction. Megatron took another turn to face his troops, revealing a more thoughtful and less irritated countenance, and sauntered up to the recharge bed once again. His ruby optics narrowed further when he looked down on his second-in-command once again. He looked up at the team of Constructicons, getting their full attention.
"…It's so obvious now…"
Soundwave's optics gave out a responding flash behind his visor, and Megatron continued pacing slowly around the room like a teacher inspecting his students.
"What we see here gentlemen, is a simple case of a wayward femme con disobeying the basic rules of the Decepticon military system." An acerbic smile crept along Megatron's steely visage. "When the war broke out between Decepticon and Autobot factions, Decepticon military rules state that no female is allowed to participate in any military warfare, including direct and circumlocutory efforts."
"Females weren't made for warfare anyway…" Longhaul whispered to his comrades.
"Neither were Autobots-" Hook added. Megatron quickly turned to the small band of Decepticon's with a raised finger.
"This one…" he pointed to the stasis locked seeker, "…this one managed to snake her way in and hide in the Decepticon ranks. For nine million years no less." The Decepticons readily agreed with their leader.
"However, the rules have been changed, have they not, Lord Megatron?" Hook questioned. Soundwave didn't want Starscream to get off so leniently and gave his share of facts to his leader.
"Starscream violated Decepticon laws before they were revised."
"But…" Scavenger muttered from his position, "…Starscream's done nothing wrong this time-" a quick glare from Megatron made Scavenger revise his words in a flurry.
"I mean…he-she-h-…Starscream's done a lot of bad for the Decepticons, but he-she's also done a whole lot worse for the Autobots." The Constructicons gazed quizzically at their comrade. Is he actually defending Starscream?
"So what do you want to do with Starscream?"
Megatron looked towards Scrapper, and broadened his smile.
"…Assemble her back, of course." The Constructicons stared at Megatron dumbly before their leader elucidated his command.
"Once that is done, Starscream will already be paying for her insubordination."
"Soundwave, hack into her databanks."
-------
Systems fully operational.
'Systems automatic indicator rename to: Captain Obvious.'
'…Ow…my head…'
Starscream did not turn his optics online, but he did raise his hand to clutch his throbbing cranium. This was the last time he'd get shot in the back by Megatron's fusion cannon again. The seeker quickly ran through a memory relapse to find any indication of Soundwave rummaging through his personal memory banks. Good, he's not snooping into my private life' he thought. 'Well, not like he can. But he did have to hack into my system so the Constructicons can-'
Starscream's optics immediately shot open and the red jet yanked himself into a sitting position.
'Oh no, what have they done-! What have they done! What have they-!'
Starscream thrust his perfectly functioning hands into view. No blackened scorch marks. No visible laser cut lines. His hands looked perfectly reassembled. In fact, the Constructicons seem to have done such a good job that he looked like he was just created!
'A little slim though…are these brand new?'
After incurring his leaders wrath and getting sent to the repair bay numerous times, Starscream usually felt a little light-headed after repairs, maybe a little euphoric, so the visual information sent to his optics may not be accurate for half a breem. He rotated his elbow joints in semi-circles back and forth to test his joints, wringing his lithe blue fingers together. His foot joints twisted in their ball bearings and Starscream felt awkward and embarrassed to be conducting a thorough examination of his own body. Patting his chassis and his head lightly, the seeker could find nothing wrong with himself, but something did feel different.
'…Did they replace my outer body shell?'
The seeker quietly trembled on the recharge bed, an unusual trepidation shuddering through his circuits. He knew that he was functioning even better than before, like a large heavy weight was lifted from his shoulders, but the instinctual uneasiness replaced that weight with it's own apprehensive doubts. Taking note of another presence in the dark repair bay, he slowly turned his head to focus on the alien pair of red optics that were on his immediate right.
-------
"There you go. A new body kit for our lovely lady."
"Shut up Hook. This is Starscream we're talking about."
"Y'know if you look at her inner circuits, she is kinda pretty."
"Whose bright idea was it anyway?"
"Scavenger's."
"No it's not! I only said-!"
"Doesn't matter what you said-said-said-ah-hahahaha?"
"Yeah. Megatron had this thought in his giant grey head already."
"Do you really think Starscream is going to regret what he-"
"SHE-AH-!"
"-Whatever, did?"
"I honestly, have no idea."
"Why would she do this anyway?"
"Dunno. 'Guess the only way to find out is to bring her afterburners out of stasis lock and drill her later."
"AHAHAHAHA! Longhaul wants to drill Starscream-!"
"-Drill her for questions you stupid slagging loony!"
"Okay you two, pipe down. She's got her own reasons and we all know she can't keep them to herself after we're through with Megatron's orders."
"Do you think she'll survive in the Decepticon ranks?"
"Eh…why not? As much as I hate to admit it, Starscream's a pretty talented gal."
"On a li-light-lighter note, what do you think of th-thi-this?"
"It's real nice…"
"But we can't do that!"
"Why not? It looks very good."
"Megatron wants us to follow the her default mode, and orders are orders."
"Aw, shucks…"
"…I'll reduce her chassis size then."
-------
Now it was Starscream's turn to live up to her namesake.