Starscream's the One and Only
Written by: NovaBlastTF
Edited by: Fliara48
Chapter 4: Part 3, Training Time
Snap…Sizzle…Bang…Click, Click…Click, Click…Smack!
"There, done!"
Two large pieces were held up in triumph, gleaming red in the dim lab lights. "Now where are those paints?"
Cycles later, two seeker shadows were seen painting another similar but smaller seeker shadow. "You want ALL red, Star?"
"Yes, Skywarp, and hurry it up! I have a schedule to keep."
"Who's all red on the Autobot side?"
"Oh! TC, what about that slagging minibot? Cliff-tripper, Cliff-faller, Slag-jumper?"
"…You mean Cliffjumper?"
"Yeah! That midget bot!"
"QUIET, BOTH OF YOU! Just keep painting! I can't keep my loyal army waiting."
"…Star, I think that they all still have a hangover… yeah!"
"You really think he cares, Sky?"
The smaller seeker smiled evilly. Oh yes, he did know. And today would be another great day to make Megatron pay…
The Nemesis was still quiet as all the bots but three seekers and a Cassetticon were still carrying processor aches from the forced upgrades. Bots moved slowly throughout the ship, avoiding arguments, scraps, and general interaction. It was a blissful peace that was rarely seen on the Nemesis, and it shattered to an end when a red seeker sat down at the main console.
"T'all you Decepticon pitspawns. It has come t'mah attention that yer all seriously lackin' in any skills. What is this? Y'all fighters r' sparklin's? I seriously can't believe how bad y'all are. I swear you couldn' even shoot Prime if he was just standin' right in front a ya holdin' yer gun to 'is sparkcase. Yer s'posed t'be th' Decepticon's finest, and here you're gettin' slagged by fraggin' minibots!" Starscream smirked as he watched every mech clutch their audios in pain—his screeching drawl was cutting through their hung-over processors like a high powered laser scalpel.
"How can y'call yerselves' soldiers if even'a squishy can beat ya! I can't stand any o' this incompetence no more! No more o' this weakness! It's high time for you ta be real fighters! Ahm orderin' a mandatory trainin' session for all your sorry afts! AND I MEAN EVERYONE! We all meet at th' small island 10 cycles down south of th' ship! AND DON'T THINK YA CAN SKIP OUT! I'LL WAIT HERE TILL ALL OF Y'ALL ARE ON THAT ISLAND! AFT DRAGGERS WILL BE BITCHED AT TILL THEY PICK UP TH' PACE! AND DON'T THINK THAT TURNIN' OFF YER COMMS'LL SAVE YOU! AS SECOND IN COMMAND, I CAN OVERRIDE THAT! Move yer afts, slaggers! I can keep talkin' aaaall day!"
Starscream chuckled as all the smart mechs started running towards the air locks to get out. Some defiant ones though, were just standing around swearing up a storm. Like a certain grey gunformer for instance... Well, Starscream was going to fix that. Megatron always did say that the seeker loved the sound of his own voice, after all.
Decepticon troops stood in groups spread around the island. It was a small and uninhabited place, allowing the troops to recover from the Screeching Drawl of Doom they had received from a certain red seeker. They quietly muttered to one another and swore at Starscream, really. They were shocked to see both Soundwave and even Megatron land on the shore after a while… So Starscream did mean everyone.
Megatron only glared at the curious looks he received from his troops. Slagging Starscream—with a voice like that screeching through Nemesis, even he couldn't stand it. Turning off his audios did nothing for him either after Starscream started to blast heavy bass music throughout the whole ship. Clever seeker. He couldn't hear it but he could FEEL it when the sound vibrations traveled through the metal floors and up his body, and the pounding only made his processor ache worse.
Soundwave had just wanted to get away from the bad music.
Everyone groaned when they heard the familiar sounds of thrusters followed by the accompanying screeching voice. "Glad y'all could make it."
Starscream landed gracefully to face the angry glare of the entire army, something he was quiet used to by now. "Time fer th' trainin', you femmes!"
"Starscream! What is the meaning of this?" Megatron growled out softly in anger, he couldn't find the energy to shout while his head still pounded. "First attacking us, and now this?"
"Now, now, Commander! Just some trainin' t'get us back in'ta shape!" Starscream started pacing while pulling out some datapads, "An I have th' regimen that'll get us all back and slaggin Autoscum again!"
"On whose authority?" Megatron clutched his head… all he wanted right now was for the seeker to shut up.
"Mine, o' course." Everyone watched in horror as Starscream pulled out two guns that were even larger than Megatron's fusion cannon, "Second in Command, weapon specialist Starscream!"
The ground shuddered and cracked, birds flew from the trees, and mammals ran to hide in their holes. The rhythmic thumps that came from the shore were the source. All was at peace on that beach, with the crashing waves crashing lazily against the shore… until a pair of large metal feet slammed into the gritty sand, leaving a trail of large indentations, followed by about thirty more pairs of running pedes.
"Why in the pit do we have to run?" Whined a certain red cone head. "We're seekers for Primus' sake! We fight in the sky, not on the slagging ground!"
"Hey, quit your whinin'!" shouted a certain cassetticon trying to dodge the incoming feet. "At least you're not getting' stepped on—HEY, WATCH IT!"
"Heh! Not my problem you're a midget," sneered a nearby blue cone head seeker.
"I'LL SHOW YOU MIDGET YOU BIRD BRAIN-"
Frenzy was cut off as a blast sent him flying backwards. The seekers also were forced to the ground as a second volley of blast rained down on them. "SLAGGIT, that hurt!"
"KEEP MOVIN', SLAGGERS! YER S'POSED T'BE RUNNIN' NOT RUNNIN' YER MOUTHS OFF!" Starscream primed his cannons for another volley. "ON YER PEDES! GET MOVIN'!"
The three seekers and cassetticon yelped and dodged the two massive blasts that left craters in the once respectably flat sandbar. "B-but St-Starscream, we're seekers! We fly, not run!"
"YA WANNA FLY, HUH? WELL FLY THEN, SLAGGERS!" Another earth-rumbling blast urged the three cone heads to take to the sky, thrusters howling. "ALL SEEKERS TO TH' SKY! Y'WANNA FLY SO BAD? THEN YOU CAN JUST KEEP FLYIN' AREIAL FORMATION DELTA ALPHA SEVEN!"
The seekers that were still running groaned and launched into the air, they cringed as the sand in their thrusters rubbed against their delicate pede circuitry. The ones who lagged behind were shot by Starscream. "You pitspawned ground pounders can just keep runnin', and t'make sure ya keep runnin', ma helpers will be watchin' ya!"
The ground bots looked up to see both Starscream's trine mates following them. "Hey give us a break, yeah? That upgrade is still causing my processors to purge."
"And end up like you guys? Yeah right, KEEP MOVING, SLAGGERS."
The grounded bots shouted out in fury as Skywarp maniacally laughed and let out a few shots that strayed close to them.
"Skywarp, I command you to stop that NOW!"
The purple and black seeker yelped and flew back from the roar of Megatron. The purple and black seeker might fear Starscream's punishment, but not enough to go against Megatron… maybe. The blue seeker, taking pity on his trine mate, flew ahead to the front of the running group that was lead by Megatron.
"Sir, it is best if you keep running. Starscream might start screeching at you if he sees you stopped."
"You think that I'm afraid of that fragging coward?" With a spray of sand, Megatron came to a skidding halt, and shot a murderous glare at the seeker. Soundwave just ran past, followed by a handful of bots, sensing Starscream's presence coming closer. "There is nothing that that treacherous slagger can-"
"WHY THE PIT HAVE Y'ALL STOPPED MOVIN', HUH? KEEP MOVIN'!'" Screeched Starscream, thrusters roaring past the group, while he bombarded them with cannon fire. Mechs shouted and cursed, dodging the incoming fire while clutching their heads as the roaring passed only to be followed by six other sets of roaring thrusters.
Mechs groaned and ran as they saw Starscream turning around to come at them again, "STARSCREAM, YOU SLAGGER!"
"ALL IN TH' INTEREST OF TH' ARMY, COMMANDER!"
Mechs now powered on ahead, and Starscream smirked while giving his trine mates a wicked glare. Thundercracker and Skywarp cringed at the silent threat, and flew to follow the running group. Starscream was now scarier than Megatron, and it wasn't just because of the larger guns.
"Good, now all'a you winged slaggers—it's time fer special flyin' trainin'," the seekers cringed at the guns now facing them, "an mistakes will not be tolerated."
The rainmakers and the cone heads were flying for their lives through complicated maneuvers—any mistakes gave Starscream a reason to start shooting. And with his new canons he didn't even have to be a good shot. Covered in burns and scraps, their engines whined with overuse, and all six seekers were ready to drop out of the sky after going through nearly every maneuver created. The ground bots stared at them with some small sympathy. Very, very small. They had already stopped running to start shooting practice. That small shred of sympathy though didn't stop them from making gleeful remarks and sneers at the suffering seekers' expense.
"…Alright, to th' ground, seekers," said Starscream finally, and he gracefully landed, air vents only working slightly harder than usual.
The two trines all but crashed into the shore lying limp in the water, "THANK PRIMUS."
"I never want to fly again."
"I can't feel my wings!"
"My wings won't stop twitching…"
"I think I lost my thrusters!"
"I think I saw primus."
"So dramatic… go t'the center of th' island to get some energon, then meet back here." Starscream waved their complaints off. "I'm timin' your afts, so hurry if you wanna get any!"
The seekers grumbled and limped past. Some were even hanging onto each other.
"…You really think that this will be over soon?" The two trines froze as Starscream seemed to turn back into himself momentarily. "You think that this is going to be it? That the next day you will all wake up back to the old screeching and unappreciated second in command? You're wrong."
The two trines cringed at the images that crossed their processors. "…But it can end faster, and your suffering could be alleviated… If you listen well to my orders from now on. You may even get some entertainment from it~."
The seekers looked at their trine leaders then back at each other. This was a dangerous choice to make… but with the past few cycles being what they were… It felt like they were making a deal with the pit master.
"…Fine, we'll do it."
"I know you can do better than that~."
Gritting their dentas they looked at one another once more before looking Starscream in the optics and saying, "Air Commander Starscream, you have our loyalty."
"Now was that so hard? Good… now the games just became more fun."
The two tired trines felt a dark ominous feeling cross over their Sparks as they watched their Air Commander cackle evilly. Primus take them now, the Decepticon army was doomed…
As everyone got a break to take in some energon, mechs sat in groups gulping down energon like it was going to be their last… it did feel like it.
After a few breems of rest most were back and up. Resting against a tree was a grey transformer glaring and mentally cursing at a certain gung-ho seeker. Speaking of Starscream, where was he?
"Location: thirty astroseconds away with all the seekers."
Was he still training his air comrades? Good, then he wouldn't have to deal with those crazy flyers—especially Starscream… speaking of him, when did Soundwave become loyal enough to even listen to the seekers orders? Even his cassetticons weren't complaining when Starscream shot at them- they ran away faster, yes, but didn't say anything. Primus, the young one Ratbat even helped Starscream at one point!
As Soundwave sensed his leader's rising anger, the tape deck peeked over ever so slightly, just enough to notice that his leader was giving him the Glare of Doom. Why was Soundwave being so obedient to Starscream? Soundwave was scared of what madness might come next from the seeker's warped mind. Even his cassetticons were afraid of Starscream. After the processor upgrades, they had developed a healthy fear towards the red seeker. The event with Ratbat had taught them that if they complied, then they would only receive a mild punishment. Even the constructicons wouldn't go near the seeker.
Before Megatron could demand an explanation from the tape deck, the familiar sound of thrusters was heard accompanied by the sound of eight others. Bots looked up to see the three seeker trines land. The rainmakers and cone heads stood behind the command trine with arms behind them, looking at the ground. By Starscream's side were his trine mates, who also had their hands behind their backs. The only thing that gave the other bots any idea that something was up was Thundercracker's sympathetic look and Skywarp's gleeful one.
"Right, you femmes, it's been a long day of trainin', and even if y'all still suck slag, at least now ya'll can do it better… barely." The exhausted group of bots glared at the red seeker. "Now all that's left is one more thing t'do, then we can head back."
Bots mumbled between themselves at this. They were all dead tired from the long day of running, shooting, exercising and generally dodging all the shots that Starscream felt he needed to fire. "Can't we just head back now?"
"Come on, Starscream, we've been training all day."
"I can't even feel my pedes."
"Slag your pedes, that shooting session left my gun useless."
"You're useless if you think that shooting session was hard. You try doing pushups while getting shot at!"
"USELESS? I'LL SHOW YOU USELESS!"
"SILENCE!"
Everyone turned and quieted down as Megatron's voice roared over their bickering. "No more of this, Starscream!" The seeker's name came out as a hiss. "We're heading back now, no more of this."
Even Soundwave couldn't find a way for Starscream to get out of it. Their processor aches had finally ended and they were running better then they had in vorns thanks to the upgrades. Was there anything the seeker could do to stop them?
Megatron only glared harder when Starscream started laughing. "Of course, Commander, I was goin' ta let ya get back to th' ship anyway." Bots backed away when the trines moved to stand side by side to one another, standing in one long line. "Just, while headin' to the ship ya'll gotta do something else as well, yeah."
Bots looked in horror as the seekers moved their servos out in front of them to reveal each one holding two large guns each, "Dodge."
The next breems were filled with utter chaos as bots scattered, running anywhere and everywhere to get away from the crazy seekers. Bots crashed through the trees as the sound of thrusters filled the air as well as the firing of weapons. Normally the Decepticons would be firing back, but Starscream was not a self-proclaimed genius for nothing; the shooting sessions had left their guns out of energy, and thus defenseless against the flying fighters.
The bots were getting shot down all around as the seekers attacked from the air, leaving them no place to hide. Starscream was not trying to kill them though. No, humiliating them was what he was aiming for. He had filled the guns with paint balls that had an electric charge. Not only did it hurt when they got struck by them, but they left a tingling feeling, distracting them like crazy and causing them to stumble.
Astrotrain was taken down fast and hard. So were the other bots who thought it was smart to take to the air against seekers. He had taken to the air when the guns were revealed. That turned into a huge mistake when all the seekers did so as well—he couldn't count the number of times he'd been shot along with the other bots. Especially in the aft by Skywarp… was the black and purple seeker trying to tell him something?
The constructicons were shot repeatedly by the cone heads and rainmakers for their earlier comments and now didn't even match colors with each other. Joining together was an even worse idea as Starscream commanded the seekers to shoot certain sensitive areas, causing the larger bot to crumble and separate again, which got them shot again anyway. The stunticons and other combiners fell they same way. How Starscream knew their weak spots was worrisome.
Soundwave released his cassetticons and made a break for it only to get shot on the back of the head by Starscream. 'That will teach you for reading my mind,' thought Starscream. Ravage was hunted down by Thrust who was still angry from when she chewed up his favorite cleaning rag—shot her on the leg, causing her to go crashing into a bush. Frenzy and Rumble were hunted down by the rainmakers for their latest pranks. Their original color schemes couldn't even be seen any more. Buzzsaw and Lazerbeak were taken down swiftly by Thundercracker, and Ratbat was strangely overlooked by the seekers.
Megatron was the one who had made it the farthest until the sounds of flying seekers came after him. He watched in paranoia as the rainmakers and cone heads made a pass over him without so much as a glance, aiming for other close by bots. Of course Starscream would want to be the one who hunted him down. With a growl he took off faster, but Starscream was not the fastest flyer in the army for nothing. In the middle of an empty clearing Megatron heard the familiar screech of thrusters cut off signaling that the seeker was now on the ground, looking around the clearing Megatron could only see trees and hear the distant screams and swearing of bots.
"Well, well, Commander. Yer not very good at this, are ya?"
Megatron whirled around, trying to locate the source of the voice only to come up with nothing. "Do you think that you won't be punished for this, you traitor?"
"'Traitor'? I ain't no traitor, Commander. I luv this army. This here's only for th' good a the army, can't ya see it?"
"How the slag is this good for the army? Hunting us down and acting like a complete idiot?"
"If even th' Second in Command is not respected, then how is this s'posed t'be an army? Trainin' 'em like this is only makin' them better! I even made new rules an upgraded ya! Don't that make me a great Second in Command?"
"Starscream you have lost your processor! If you think that this will get you more respect, then you have lost all sanity!"
"Maybe ya might think so… but yer not a genius like me, are ya?"
Megatron couldn't help but yelp when a paint ball grazed his pede, "STARSCREAM, YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT!"
The crunch behind him made the grey transformer freeze. How did Starscream always manage to sneak behind him? "Oh dear, then I might as well add to it since I'm doomed anyway."
Megatron roared as paint ball after paint ball slammed into him… on the aft…
The air was then filled with Megatron's cursing, Starscream's laughing, thrusters activating and gun shots.
Jazz to command.
Prowl here, report progress.
I have made it onto the island, and am now looking for Mirage.
Received. Start search then. Be careful, there was a lot of Decepticon activity reported in that sector before Mirage went missing.
Acknowledged, no Decepticons in sight, but will be on the lookout, Jazz out.
The grey and blue transformer stealthily made his way past the beach and into the trees. Breems before there had been massive Decepticon activity reported in the area, and no one knew what they were up to. The report said that nearly all the Con troops had been sent out, so something was up. Mirage was deployed to find out what had happened, but shortly after arriving, his last report stated that he was seeing a battle of sorts, and then the transmission cut off. With no response from the spy bot, Jazz was sent to see what had happened to his teammate, accompanied by Bumblebee. Well…Jazz more or less demanded to be deployed to rescue his saboteur teammate, and Bumblebee wanted to help as well. Never leave a teammate behind.
"Do you think that Mirage is alright, Jazz?"
"I'm sure he's fine, Bee," Jazz comforted Bee. "His signal is still strong, and says he's still on the island. He's probably just stuck somewhere or something, you know?"
"I hope so. Hound would be spark broken if he wasn't. I wonder what could've happened."
"We'll find out, Bee, even if we have to take on the slag maker, Megatron, himself."
With a nod they set off towards the signal beacon. All around, the trees were splashed with different colors, trees were broken and collapsed, there were scorch marks that Jazz recognized as Seeker thruster marks when they launched into the air, and all the animals in the area were gone. The marks showed that it had all happed recently. Must have been the Decepticons, but what were they doing?
"Jazz, I scanned the colors, and it is just paint."
"Paint?"
"Uh huh. They seem to have a small current in them, but other than that it's just normal paint."
"Hmmm. From the battle marks, it looks like the troops we're running from… the seekers?" Jazz rubbed his chin in confusion. "Why would the seekers attack their own troops? Why didn't any of the troops fire back?"
"Maybe it has something to do with Starscream?"
"It could be, Bumblebee, with him dressin' up like Ratchet an all, but how did he get all the seekers to do this? They barely listen to him in battle."
"Do you think that Mirage got caught in the middle of what was going on?"
"Probably, but we gotta find him first. He might know what happened here."
Both bots nodded at each other then continued heading to the center of the island where the signal was coming from. When they were close they took hiding positions behind the nearby tree cover. Jazz motioned Bumblebee to hold position.
Jazz to command.
Optimus here, what is your status?
We've just reached the area where the signal is coming from, just about to enter.
Be careful, Jazz with so many Decepticons there before, who knows if any are left.
Still no word from Cosmos on who can be there?
The scans report only Mirage is there, and Cosmos reports that the trees cover any visual coverage. Only his pedes can be seen, and from what he can see, Mirage isn't moving.
That's not good… How's Hound taking it?
He's worrying but alright…
Right, we're going in, we'll be careful Prime. Jazz out.
With a nod to Bumblebee, Jazz and Bumblebee prepared themselves. They ran past the tree line and landed in the clearing in defensive position with guns out. When they saw that there were no Decepticons around, they looked to the ground of the clearing… to burst out in laugher, clutching at their sides.
"Oh, ha ha, this is so funny." Mirage ground out dryly.
"O-Oh P-P-Primus! M-Mirage! H-how?" Mirage was barely able to understand Jazz as the mech stuttered out mid-laughter.
"I would be glad to explain…WHEN YOU STOP LAUGHING AND HELP ME!"
"I-I-I c-ca-can't s-s-stop, J-Jazz h-he-help!"
"S-s-sorry B-B-Bee I c-c-can't s-stop either!"
Much later, when the two bots finally calmed down, now cycling air through their systems, they crawled over to the lying mech. "Soooo~ how did this happen?"
Mirage cycled his vents in a longsuffering sigh before beginning his tale. "When I got here, the Decepticon troops were resting and drinking energon. All I got from them was that they were training, but the way they were complaining, Starscream apparently ordered a training day for all the bots or something. Then all the seekers came and Starscream announced one last training obstacle."
"But Mirage, how does that explain how you're-?"
"Hush Bee, I was getting to that. As I was saying, all the seekers then pulled out these guns and started shooting all the other Decepticon troops, with paint I think, but it could have been something else with the way the troops were stumbling about. So then I decided to return, but then the cassetticon, Ratbat bumped into me. The cassette's squeak alerted Acidrain, and before I could move, he shot me with his gun."
"It was paint by the way, but with an electric charge. So a cassette crashed into when you were invisible, which alerted a seeker who then painted you so your invisibility became useless, and then continued to keep shooting you?"
"Oh no, when he saw that the paint stuck to me when I was invisible, he alerted the other seekers who were nearby, and they all decided to have a turn as well."
"…I see."
"And because of all the shots that hit me, the electric charged had overloaded my motor circuits, and now I can't move. As a joke, Starscream also disabled my comm. system."
"…I see."
There was silence until both Bumblebee and Jazz once again burst out into laugher. Who wouldn't laugh if they saw a brightly multicolored Mirage lying in the middle of a paint puddle, unable to move? The seekers even had time to stop and carve some witty, and some horribly crude sayings, and pictures into the paint.
"We'll help you get home, Mirage."
When they got back to the ARK, Mirage did not feel any better when all the mechs that came out to greet him, who were at first worried about him, then start laughing their systems into overload when they saw what had happened. It also didn't help when their laughing attracted more bots to see what was going on. Mirage only felt better when Hound pulled him into a tight hug and helped him clean up… once he had stopped laughing.
Back at the Nemesis, most of the bots were in the wash racks trying to get the paint off. The only bots missing were the seekers, who were all having a party in their quarters. The cone heads were dancing and singing drunkenly on the table, the rainmakers were knocked out after a drinking contest, Skywarp was hitting on Thundercracker, and Thundercracker was drunkenly daydreaming. Starscream was in the middle of it all, nursing his high grade with a smirk on his face. This was one thing he liked about that gung-ho Ironhide—the liking to drink high grade and get drunk!
"Today was fun!" Skywarp chirped holding onto Thundercracker's arm. "Especially with that Autobot coming to play!"
"Yeah, Dirge, you were so lucky to get him!"
"It wasn't luck it was skill, Thrust!"
"Skill or what, we got that Autobot good! You think that he's still there?"
"Nah, they probably picked him up already."
"H-Hey! St-Star what's n-next y-yeah?"
"Hmmm?"
"Yeah, yeah! Starscream what's for tomorrow?"
"Tell us, tell us."
"Who's it gonna be tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow hmmm? That'll be a secret ma fellow seekers, but fer now… MORE HIGH GRADE!"
Cheering filled the quarters as another round of high grade went around. In the middle of it all was a smirking red seeker. Another day was coming… another day of complete and utter fun.