Chapter 18: Lady Discord

A/N: I lost the first half of the chapter after finishing the second half, so I had to type it again! Glaaaagh~ Hey everyone, sorry for the late updates. Now that I look at it, people have been receiving one chapter per annum! XP Sorry guys, I haven't forgotten this, just to remind you! Not only have I got work to do, the mental block scares the pants of me and my PC, well...died. AGAIN. Thankfully, everything's backed up. Well, better post this up before I find countless mistakes and get picky.

-----------

Starscream checked the still blade in her daughter's hands, unmoved by the stern draft travelling down the tunnels and wondered; should she feel indifferent to such inheritable treachery, or surprised that it manifested itself much sooner than she thought it would.

"Teratron, Teratron…" the aforementioned Transformer sounded a curious click at her creator, until she heard a small chuckle escape the seeker's lips. "Please tell me this is some, rebellious phase you're going through!"

Starscream's cackle echoed across the scene, growing louder as her voice tickled the pipes that ran down the tunnels. Only the warning hiss from Teratron's scabbard, cued the red seeker to take a breath and introduce cynical logic to the situation.

"Teratron, I hope this cute, little plan of yours has a good safety net against the consequences you're about to face," said Starscream, itching to start pacing in circles with her words. "Have you forgotten who you're up against, other than the collected savagery of the growing Decepticon army, lead by our omnipotent (and immutable), Lord of Destruction, Megatron. Well? That's right, darling, ME!"

"Exactly." Starscream paused her tongue, waiting in doubt of what she was expecting to hear, as Teratron's words carried an unmovable conviction. "I am up against a female who thought she lost her creation, who grieved for many lunar cycles over her supposed departure. Will she be able to handle the loss? I thought not."

'...Fragging slag'. The carmine seeker was not shy to administer punishment, but under these 'special' circumstances, her creations could dance at the doors of the Inferno, as long as their mother's spark was still beating. She should know, having excelled herself beyond the mastery of this routine for the last nine million years, with acts such as shameless begging, tearful grovelling and quite recently as a female, prostitution. If Megatron were to order death upon her children, Starscream could be daringly tenacious to nullify her lord's demands, so her daughter already had the upper hand, in circumventing any death sentence bestowed on her by her creators; and if they met with a fatal accident, there would be little to no contest for their warrior daughter to obtain the coveted leadership of the Decepticons.

"Surrender, and I shall make it as painless as possible," reminded the purple warrior, blade levelled with its target's head. "Any last words, mother?"

Starscream almost rolled her optic sensors to the ceiling, if Teratron wasn't determined to cleave her into two. Small hands belonging to her stepchild, tightened their grip over her thigh in unshakable fear. As the younger generation tensed their joints with awaiting anticipation, the elder femme con exhaled gently over her internal systems in steady calm. Before she could break the still air, an unfamiliar numbness arrested Teratron's foot, followed by a innocent jingle and the violet conspirator turned her gaze to the culprit.

The hefty blade in Teratron's hand barely missed Coldshock's nose and the youngling hurriedly scampered to his mother's side, dodging the angry claws between his sister's legs. Starscream abandoned all senses at the sight of her son, scrambling to reach the safety of her wings and Lightburst capitalising on the initial confusion. Leaping straight at their adversary's face, the Cassetticon charged her body to a blinding white and sent forth a dazzling array of lights at Teratron's optic sensors.

"RUN!" cried the Cassetticon, who glowed a fluorescent pink from her pre-emptive strike. The red seeker didn't need to be told twice, kicking her violet daughter in mid-transformation while the smaller creations grabbed a wing each in their hands. The pinch from small fingers was the jet's cue to ignite a furious blast from her thrusters and they flew off, leaving Teratron to take another blind swing behind them. Despite the protruding miscellany along the tunnel walls, Starscream's superior flight instincts cut an uninhibited route, narrowly avoiding the extended waste littering the passageway.

"Moth-! MOTHER! Moth-ukh-er-khh-!" screamed Lightburst, choking at the pollution forcing its way down her windpipe. Minutes felt like mere seconds as the red jet continued to accelerate and Lightburst had to remind her to slow down, lest Starscream's creations lose their grip. Coldshock could only hide his optics and tighten his aching palms, clinging on for dear life.

" SLOW DOWN, YOU'RE GOING TOO FAST-STOP! STOP! STO-----P!" Her daughter's words were almost inaudible against the wind, but Starscream could hear her faint mutterings and impulsively brought herself back to root mode. Swiping her children into a protective hug, the elder female swung her feet in front of herself and activated her turbo jets, efficiently decelerating to a full stop. Starscream looked down to check her creations' well-being and after experiencing her professional recklessness, they were physically intact, if not frightened into balls of quivering limbs; Coldshock was quite speechless for once.

"Coldshock, Lightburst, are you all right?!" Starscream exclaimed and the younger femme con shot a startled look at her sibling. The seeker quickly turned her attention to her son, stunned into silence save for his internal systems emitting an awkward croon. "Coldshock, Coldshock...COLDSHOCK!"

"Hkh-! ...Uh, uh...UAAAAAAHHH!" the youngling burbled before he started wailing and rained tears down his mother's arm. Decepticon or not, Starscream was a creator and cradled their heads, cooing soft words into their audio processors as she placed their tiny feet to the ground.

"Don't be scared, darling, shush, shush..." Starscream spoke her softest, wiping the tears away from Coldshock's face. "I didn't mean to fly so fast and scare you..."

The duo held their mother tighter, Coldshock wetting his face onto her neck and Lightburst recovering from her brother's outcry. Standing to attention, Starscream scrutinised the dark tunnel she had just flown through and knew that despite her speedy retreat, Teratron would meet them shortly.

"We have to get out," said Starscream, contemplating their escape as she cradled her son, tenderly stroking his head. "And I have to stop Teratron, but if you two aren't out of harm's way, who knows what desperate measures she'll take."

"(Maybe the escape route-? No...)" the Cassetticon mumbled, but her words did not go unnoticed by Starscream. "What was that?"

"Um, well...Teratron, kinda has an escape route," quibbled Lightburst. "She studied the layout of the underground tunnels and planned a few routes based on the damage caused by the bombs."

"I presume you've used those routes to reach me, then?" the pink female nodded and the red jet perked up to the new information she had just heard. "How accurate are the plans?"

"(Let's see, went across there, and, ah-) ninety-eight point two...percent!" Lightburst felt her confidence rise to her chest, when she saw a sly smile cut across Starscream's face. "And-! And-! And I know where Teratron's stashed that thingy which is jamming our frequencies!"

Suddenly, a thick purple beam jabbed the air and lanced through the aerial commander's wing. Lightburst yipped as her creator kneeled over and passed the olive youngling to her daughter, who received him with open arms. Ominous growling could be heard, resonating against the rusty metal walls as a Cybertronian tank flattened the debris leading to the trio. Loose wires dangled from Starscream's wound, hissing and spitting with its owner in equal disdain.

"That slagging-!" the seeker femme clapped her jaws shut when her optics rested on her son and step-daughter, gawking at the damage; a dull pain resonated along her wing, but the wound itself was not fatal. Starscream quickly pressed her creations down with her own weight, when another stray shot flashed past their heads. Standing to full height, the seeker turned to face the threat approaching them, lumbering steadily towards them to deal their deaths. 'No more games, Teratron.'

"Lightburst, I want you to take Coldshock to the escape route," Starscream commanded the Cassetticon, when Coldshock interjected her order. "Mother-!"

"-Don't you start, Coldshock! Lightburst, take your brother and head to the exit-!" Starscream rebuked her son and pushed their heads down upon the next shot. "-Once you're outside, find our comrades and destroy that jamming device! I trust you'll know the way better, once you reach the surface."

"Mother..." Lightburst quivered, pointing at the same direction as the cannon fire. "The uh...the exit is that-a-way..."

"(Of course it is)," the red female muttered. Lowering her head, the aerial commander timed Teratron's reload time, stealthily waiting for the right moment. "Children, on the count of three, you jump onto my wings. One-"

"Huh?" Coldshock twitched at the next pot shot. "Two..."

"Hold on, little bro-!" Coldshock had no chance to ask, when Starscream contorted into her alternate mode and Lightburst yanked her brother from the damp ground. Unthinkingly following Lightburst's actions, the youngling clawed his fingers around Starscream's wing and clenched his teeth, leaving his feet to be thrown wildly between the sharp turns and rolls the F-15 was making. Incoming laser fire grew larger and dangerously accurate with each approaching second, until the last shot pierced the tunnel ceiling and rained soot onto the charging seeker. Fierce hands tore through the smudge and grabbed Starscream's wings, twisting them in its grip as the metal screeched in protest and the femme con transformed to meet her adversary. Not forgetting her passengers, the red seeker threw them in mid-transformation at the desired direction and the duo rushed themselves away from the fight.

"SCRAMBLE-AUKH!" Starscream shrieked and her face met the ground, courtesy of Teratron's foot. Purple claws reached for Coldshock, but Teratron's hands raked the air when Lightburst snatched him first and hurried them both to the exit. Teratron gnashed her teeth and turned around, only to take a solid punch in the face. The tank Transformer grabbed Starscream's blasters and wrenched one out of its socket, giving its twin a chance to fire a burst shot into her midriff. After a desperate tussle of weapons, both females leapt back to draw space between each other. Teratron congratulated herself quietly at the damage her mother sustained, noting the wing joint crying in feeble clicks. Starscream herself nodded to her daughter's wound, despite the purple female's false posture of confidence.

"Accept your fate, mother," goaded Teratron. "I would have made it painless for the both of you. As for our Lord Megatron, he had no choice in the matter. He was offline before I reached him-"

"LIAR!" A white flash ran across Starscream's optics and Teratron's blade just missed the seeker's head, slicing her rifle into halves. Even if the red femme con caught the blade with her hands, Teratron's raw strength could bring the scimitar through its target.

"When I found our lord, he was crushed underneath some wreckage," Teratron mentioned. "I checked for vitals."

"No..." Starscream balled her fists. 'This is just a trick!'

"Do you take me for a fool, child?! Like I would believe such ridiculousdrivel, just so you can cut me into symmetries? Megatron cannot be killed by mere, mere...RUBBISH!"

"Lord Megatron may be apinnacle of power, but his mortality is purely exaggerated," Teratron stated. "I reached for him and asked him of his well-being, but all I did was pull out a dead mech and spoke to his corpse."

"...You are a widow now." The aerial commander's face was a blank slate, more confused than insulted by the hurtful words her daughter just said to her. "...Turn your optics off, I can help you join him."

The red seeker's wings started to tremble harder, rattling the stray wires hanging from her injury, as her optics grew round and her physical circuitry tensed into knots. Starscream dropped her jaw in outcry, but no words of protest nor reason manifested, except for a small whimper and she could not recognise her own voice anymore.

"...My...my lord...my lord, Megatron..." Starscream's words clicked with her shivering jaw, and the bereaved pressed her palms to the wet floor. "No, no, no, no, Megatron, Megatron (Megatr...on...)"

Treading with deadly elegance to her prey, the purple femme con approached her sobbing creator in careful silence, clutching her still blade at optic level. A throaty cough halted her daughter's pace, when the seeker femme cleared her vocal chords and Starscream heard a crackled voice, calling for her through her internal communicator.

'M-kkkkkkt-other, moth-kkkkcthkkk-er, can you hear me? Can you hear me? We're safe! The device has been disarmed! Mother?'

'Lady Starscream, this is Thundercracker speaking, can you hear us? We've dispatched troops to your location…trying to locate Lord Megatron's signal-! Skywarp, what are you doing, get out of my way-!'

'Yo, 'Screamerrrrr! You okay, sexy? Just stay put, 'kay-? What? Oh yeah, well YOU can suck on this, TC! Ow! Slag, 'con, I was just joking-!'

Teratron held her stance as Starscream rose her head, acknowledging the bleak surroundings amidst her comrade's petty squabbling. A new reel of emotions breathed strange hope into the red femme, even when she received the news of her partner's death, and Starscream's chances of ending her daughter's murderous intentions became concrete.

'I'm your queen…you silly twit,' The seeker femme mumbled to her witless wingmate and avoided Teratron's attack at the same time, letting the blade swipe the air above her helmet. Creations of their lord Megatron or not, Starscream was the fastest seeker among the Decepticon ranks and turned Teratron's swings to misses, mocking her creation efforts in the process.

'E.t.a. to my position, Thundercracker?' Starscream spotted Teratron's agitation in her attacks, but kept a dead panned face in light of Megatron's status. 'The Constructicons are digging a safe route! It might take a while, but we'll gonna get you! Starscream do you know where Megatron is?! Teratron-!'

Starscream ended all communications with her comrades, when the sabre she was trying to avoid sliced through her other wing. The next deadly swing that flew at Starscream's head ceased, as the seeker shot the offending blade out of her daughter's hand and caught her wrists. The passion to destroy her creator's spark, burned even fiercer in the younger Starscream, but she wasn't completely assured of her success during their tussling. This unwanted feeling came about when she saw Starscream's lopsided grin, carved across her face like a nauseating omen, and Teratron learnt to hate her mother's confidence.

'Is he alive…?' Starscream thought with a smile, glazed across her face. Teratron would have none of her illogical nonsense. "Join him…!"

'Or is he dead?

"Don't fight me, mother…"

'I don't care…I don't care, I don't care, I don't care-'

"I don't care if he's alive or OFF-LINE!!!" Starscream snarled and threw her weight onto her daughter, but her renewed vigour was futile. Not only was her creation now standing above her supine creator, a new blade had been retrieved from her leg compartment, casually hovering above the seeker's neck; it was Teratron's turn to smile now, but her trepidation would not wane.

"Again. Any last words, mother?" Teratron watched her creator's optics follow the scimitar's path, tracing the river of fuel lines along her neck. Starscream's grin became twisted and obnoxious, spilling with gung-ho confidence and the seeker stabbed her daughter with a piercing glare. "Haven't you noticed?"

"What?" Teratron asked.

"The grounds awfully shaky."

Blade meets wing, as Starscream turned her body to capture the blade from its master and slammed her back to the floor, successfully stealing the purple femme con's weapon. Cluster bombs belonging to the red femme launch themselves from her chest compartment, tearing anything it touches with wrathful violence. Teratron shrieks at the surprise attack searing her face, while the other offending grenades destroy the surrounding are. Having disturbed the tunnel walls, Starscream deftly rolls aside as the pipes wrench and split above and below the purple Decepticon, before swallowing the aggressive femme into itself.

Watching her daughter fall into the abyss, Starscream offers herself a wider smile at her accomplishment. Knowing Teratron's iron hide build, her creation would be able to sustain life after the fall (unless the fates were devotedly against them), but Starscream thought otherwise and took that risk. Unfortunately, her grenades worked too well and another rumble told her too late, that she was to follow her creation down below. Blue hands clawed in desperation for steady ground, but it only brought more debris raining down on the seeker. Following her creation's actions mere seconds ago, Starscream let loose her thrusters to head for clear space, but unlike Teratron, she jetted straight into a thick slab of falling concrete and continued her descent in an unconscious state.

-----------

"Did you find her yet?" asked Skywarp for the nth time and Thundercracker answered on cue. "Shut up, 'Warp."

"Well, sorry for asking where our SUPREME QUEEN OF THE DECEPTICONS IS!!!" scolded Skywarp, but his azure wingmate was too busy nursing several tracking processors used to locate their lord. It didn't help that he had to squat to view them, as they were built for cassetticon use and their leading communications officer, Soundwave was missing and presumed offline. "Only when we need him, is that glitch head gone!"

"What about Starscream-!" demanded Skywarp and Thundercracker snapped back at his comrade's incessant nagging. "We've already FOUND her position!"

"Her approximate position!" the blue seeker leaned back for all to view his frustration. "'Warp, what did I tell you about using big words?"

"Frag you, you fragging slag face."

"Frag yourself, microchip. The Constructicons are already creating a secure exit route so the whole foundation doesn't collapse on the survivors, so what else more do you want?" said Thundercracker, silencing his wingmate's niggling at the same time. "And have you forgotten? Megatron's missing too. Hopefully, Starscream knows of our lord's whereabouts."

-----------

I'm not dead. I know that, because the first time I felt like this, I was only missing a few fingers…and a leg, both wings, one grill and half my torso. So, no, I am not dead. Just…can't lift my hand. My left vision's a wreck and…ah! A boulder has conveniently placed itself over my arm! Fantastic. Teratron…Teratron?! 'Nailed by a very large piece of…what is that? Nevermind. Good. No, wait, that's not good! Is she-?! Only in stasis lock. Good, good…she should still be alive when we make our way out of this. My lord, Megatron, he is not dead. No, no, no...how do I know? Because I have tried to kill him several times and I'm not the only one. Tying myself to him has only made me a target, but he can't die, he won't! 'Must get myself out of this-

"FRAG-AHHH!!!" Starscream cursed as she tore her limb from the boulder and rocked herself to the pain. Hissing and growling to her shredded palm, the red seeker muted her voice lest her daughter would wake up and continue the fight. Despite the unsightly dents and scoured paint, Starscream's arm was in working condition, confidently pulling Teratron's discarded blade from some collected debris.

Scanning her surroundings, Megatron's queen had noticed that she and her daughter had fallen into a deep, vertical drainpipe and started searching for an alternate route to escape the rusted well. Small beams of light pierced the darkness, as Starscream scrutinised the rubbish that formed a misshapen wall and spotted a potential escape route. Using the sword unceremoniously as a shovel, she started digging through the brittle wall, inviting more light into the tunnel, until the supposed dead-end collapsed to expose the symmetrical end of the tunnel. The seeker's optics shone keenly at the thought of an escape path and turned to carry her incapacitated daughter through, when the faint glow from the barrel of a blaster diverted her attention to Teratron's hand.

"Daughter, for the last time…" Starscream checked the gun in her assassin's hands and chucked the energon blade to one side. "Don't do it."

"Accept your death…like a Decep-cep-cepticon…mother," Teratron crackled her death threats. "Father is-s…dead and s-so s-s-should you be…I will rule…and you will die…"

"Couldn't you wait your turn?! If you do this, your father will never forgive you! I spent many millennia trying to usurp his throne-…do you think it would take mere astroseconds to do the same?!" Starscream swallowed the humid air. "And he's not DEAD!"

"Prove…it…" Starscream's creation aimed the offending gun at her head, as an eerie howl crept through the wind. Stray debris rattled through the vents with the wind, singing an ominous dirge for the seeker. Just then, a gravely voice broke their silence and gave Teratron her answer. "Gladly."

"MEGATRON-!" Starscream turned to greet her leader, when two violet beams took their course between her. She shrieked at the new hole in her wing, courtesy of her lord, but it did not miss its intended target and another yelp arrested their attention to the purple female, now kneeling on the rubbish they were standing on. Smoke slithered from Teratron's exposed spark chamber, which housed a frantic soul beating to the peril it's owner was to face.

A tang of dread rippled through the red seeker, with voiceless pleas for their creation, as her lord shook his battered, fusion cannon in mild frustration. Separating the defunct weapon from his arm, Megatron stomped to his intended target and grunted a command to his aerial commander, but she couldn't hear as her mind reeled from mental disarray.

Slim hands reached for the tyrant's worn chest and the latter shrugged her off like a small nuisance. Maternal instincts turned a blind eye to danger and the red seeker hastily shielded her creation from their master, but he would not tolerate any resistance and forced Starscream on her rump.

A deafening screech of horror signalled Teratron's demise, when the silver mech forced his leg onto her trembling spark. Starscream's voice returned too late, as Megatron stomped viciously on his daughter's life-force, forcing her into non-existence. Her mother cried relentlessly for ultimate clemency, while Teratron laid speechless with her mouth agape, spewing energon that was being forced out of her body, as her father robbed her of her life.

Teratron could not hear her mother's choking sobs anymore. Panting tiredly to himself, Megatron could feel his joints ache painfully from exhausting his low fuel reserves. Scraping his heel against the shell of his creation, the mech basked in satisfaction over the late threat, but gloated too soon when he turned to meet a barrage of cluster bombs.

It only took Megatron one astrosecond to destroy a Transformer, but it was Teratron's corpse that would ignite the unseen wrath of his queen.

-----------

A/N: (I wrote that) Teratron aimed at Starscream's head instead of her chest, because Starscream has a better chance of dodging the bullet at close range! But Teratron's more of a blade-than-blaster female anyway.