Starscream's the one and only

by NovaBlastTF

"Think that someone else would make a superior second in command then me huh? I'll show them!." Anyone would be better Starscream? He's gonna prove them wrong Autobot style. Edited by Fliara48

6. Battle Plan

Starscream's the One and Only

Written by: NovaBlastTF

Edited by: Fliara48

Chapter 6: Part 5, Battle Plan

"This feels weird, Star."

"Oh hush, it's not like I'm asking much from both of you."

"That depends on whose perspective you're looking through."

"Suck it up, Thundercracker, and hold your wings still!"

"You look funny, TC!"

"Shut up! We're doing you next, anyway."

"Do I have to, Star? It's so ugly!"

"How do you think I've been feeling for the last several cycles? Yes, you have to!"

"Fine… Err… Don't we have to…?"

"What is it now?"

"You know, later, the plan…"

"I know."

"So we're…"

"Yes."

"And they're gonna see…"

"Yes."

"Oh…"

"…That's just evil on our part."

"That's what I've planned, Thundercracker. There, you're done. Now, Skywarp."

"Eeep!"

Within the walls of the Nemesis, all was going according to the normal schedule. Bots were working at their stations, energon was being accounted for and noted, monitors were being watched, repairs and general creations were being worked on by the constructicons and various bots, fights broke out here and there around the ship, but that was normal behavior. In the command center, a sort of peace had taken over.

Megatron was suspicious.

After the last few cycles, filled with bots getting drunk on high grade, and generally having another party, while he was in stasis, they all woke up to another bout of hangovers and processor aches. After the last time they had something resembling a hangover, the Starscream/Ironhide thing was not to be spoken of again, they were all paranoid this morning about the seekers. Whenever the cone heads or the rainmakers were seen walking down the halls, all bots immediately bolted in the other direction, even when the seekers shouted that they weren't up to anything and looked like they were suffering from hangovers as well. With an aching head, Megatron just sat patiently, waiting for Starscream to strike. He glared at the back of Soundwave's helm the entire time, as he sat on his throne with an aura of death and doom.

So he waited.

And waited.

Nothing.

There was no music blasting through the ship's speakers, no seekers flying around defacing the ship's walls, no explosions or surprise attacks. The rainmakers and the cone heads were working and behaving normally. Starscream and his trine were tracked to his lab, which showed no movement or anything suspicious. Soundwave reported that they weren't doing anything—just talking to one another about something or another—the specifics couldn't be heard as Starscream had built something for eavesdroppers that blurred all sound frequencies. He hadn't left the lab since Megatron had crashed into stasis. He and his trine hadn't even been seen at the party.

Megatron was still guarded though, and still glaring furiously at his Communications Officer that was sitting as far away from the enraged leader as possible.

Breems went by, and no movement from Starscream or his trine. The passing of time lessened and eventually cured his processor ache which improved his mood significantly. Even his glare for Soundwave had eased up. Now that he was able to think more clearly, without the waves of pain clouding his mind, Megatron felt less tense, and was now able to at least do some work.

"Lord Megatron."

The leader looked up his Third in Command that was still facing the security screen, "What is it now?"

"Observation: Commander Starscream has left his lab with his trine."

"Where are they headed?"

"Location: Starscream heading towards his quarters. Trinemates: Thundercracker heading to wash racks, and Skywarp heading to storage rooms."

"Is there anything different about them? Paint schemes? What are they planning, Soundwave?" The piercing glower that accompanied the question made the tape deck shiver.

"Starscream's plan: unknown. Paint schemes unknown as lights near lab are too dark."

"If I find out that you were collaborating with that traitor again, Soundwave…"

"Negative. Soundwave has no knowledge of Starscream's plans."

"Hn, tell me if any of those three make a move! Or this time, you will be slagged along with that fragger."

"As you command." Megatron sent one last glare in his TIC's direction, before furiously looking back at the reports about the energon levels. A raid needed to be planned.

Soundwave, feeling Megatron's attention shift, could only swallow nervously while staring at the security monitors. He hadn't lied when he'd said that the lights in the lab were too dark, but when they walked into the halls however… Well, Soundwave found plenty of good reason to keep his vocalizer shut off. A feeling of doom crept over the Communications Specialist as he quickly opened a comm. link; a certain seeker had just contacted him.

"Damn, looks like energon levels are low again."

"What do you expect with those seekers drinking it all, and then partying yesterday?"

"Who knew Thrust had such a singing voice."

"…I did not just hear that."

"Looks like we're gonna have to do another raid soon, or else start rationing again."

The bots groaned at the thought of rationing their energon; last time they had to do so, they could barely function. In the rec room, bots were lying around, finishing off data reports, and comparing information, betting, drinking, and all in all just resting as the energon levels were too low to allow them to do their normal tasks. Swindle was placing bets and collecting credits. "Anyone wanna guess what Starscream has next in stall for us?"

"Oh Primus, I don't even wanna guess what goes through that slagger's processor."

"Come on, Hook. I know you're mad at him an all."

"And you aren't? He was the one who shot you in the leg with that damned dart."

"And I will forever hate him for it, but a bet's a bet."

"No."

"Oh, come on! Bet on who he'll act like next."

"No."

"Scrapper?"

"I don't really care, maybe Optimus himself, probably."

"Scrapper, don't encourage him."

"Jazz?"

"He's done that."

"What about Sentinel?"

"Like the pit, he will."

"Okay mechs! Place your bets! Who will Starscream be, and how will he torture us today!"

"That's just morbid, Swindle."

"Credits are credits."

Some bots placed their bets while most just ignored the greedy gambler; no one really wanted to think about what the seeker had planned next. While all the bots were busy with their own personal activities, the entrance of a yellow mech went unnoticed within the recreation center… That is, until Swindle nearly got hit in the face with said mech's yellow wings—after being shoved. "What the slag, Kicker! Watch it! Just cause you owe me—Sunstorm?" Swindle gawped. "What the pits are you doing on Earth?"

All the Decepticons, Insecticons, Constructicons, Stunticons, and even the Combaticons looked over in interest, wondering what Shockwave's seeker was doing here on Earth. Did Megatron call for reinforcements? The yellow seeker just stopped in the middle of the room before cycling his vents. All optics were now fixated on him, fearful of the infamous Sunstorm's dangerous radiation. "Who the slag are you calling Sunstorm?"

This outburst of indignation was unexpected, and Swindle flinched and jumped away when the seeker turned to glare daggers at him. "I look nothing like that piece of slag! Just look at my paintjob and frame: it's a much more beautiful shade of yellow than Sunstorm's. And my frame is much sleeker than that garbage can's!" The seeker just looked down at the bots, hauntingly, while they were cowering, they thought they were seeing Starscream's new persona, before grabbing and pulling Swindle up by his neck cables, declaring, "The name, is Thundercracker!"

"Th-Thundercracker?" Swindle whimpered and stared with wide optics at the painted seeker while the other mechs just backed up as recognition dawned on them. "W-why are you-?"

"Ohhhh Swindle, what did you do to TC now~?" Sang a voice at the doors, making bots turn to stare anew in horror.

In the middle of the doorway, stood a red seeker peering in with a slag eating grin. The other bots could tell that it wasn't Dirge; the head of the seeker was not a cone-shaped. That meant only two other choices, and seeing how the seeker was too big to be Starscream… "S-Skywarp?"

"Hmm~? Yeah. You needed something?" Hummed the red Skywarp as he glided next to the golden Thundercracker, who was still giving Swindle the death glare, by the way. "What's the matter bots? Turbo fox got your tongues?"

"Y-You look like…"

"Look like who?" The red seeker teased, moving off to get an energon cube. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Swindle. I just thought that the color red made me look dashing."

"Not better than me!" Thundercracker snarled, dropping the combaticon on his aft, forgotten. "Mine stands out and reflects the sun's light, drawing attention. Yours looks like squishy fluids."

"Hey! Mine is a deep red that stands out against the other Decepticon's paint jobs! See? It's deeper than the slagging Autobot's colors, and it matches to boot!"

"You saying I clash?"

"Yeah! You look like a fragging organic sunflower!"

"That's it!" Thundercracker roared and lunged at Skywarp, who met him in midair with his own tackle. "I'll show you who's an organic!"

"Bring it on, you daffodil!"

Bots scurried out of the way as the brawling seekers rolled and tumbled all over the rec room, taking pot shots at one another. The other 'Cons quickly fled the premises as fast as they could to get away from the two painted seekers; Them playing the two pit-spawned Lamborghini twins was not a good omen, and they didn't even want to guess where or who Starscream was. "TC, they gone yet?"

"Yeah. I got to finish all of my area, did you finish all your-?"

"Oh yeah. Hope this gives Starscream enough time to finish building that thing he was working on, or we're done for."

Onslaught, leader of the Combaticons, was working on his data pad, planning another fighting strategy for his gestalt crew, when Swindle literally dove through the doors, landing on Blastoff, all the while shouting something about locking the door and never opening it again. "What the frag, Swindle!"

Said combaticon was quickly shoved off the shuttle, and then dove to hide under the berths. "It's the seekers! They've lost their processors!"

"What, Starscream? He's never had a processor!" Blastoff roared and kicked an empty cube of energon at Swindle's hiding place. "Don't touch me!"

"No, no, no, not Starscream," whimpered Swindle, grabbing some boxes under the berth to build a sort of barrier.

"What? Who then?" Onslaught growled, looking down at all his scattered data pads—his plans, slaggit!

Swindle only whimpered before he was viciously pulled out of his hiding place by the angry helicopter. "Tell me who, now, or you will see what happens to a bot when he crashes into the earth from five hundred meters!"

"He does know; you did that to him last stellar cycle for selling all of your ammo."

"Shut up, Brawl! He sold yours too!"

"It's Thundercracker and Skywarp!" Wailed Swindle, clutching onto the servo holding him up. "They're all painted like the Autobots, and acting like them too!"

The other four bots paled, staring at the hanging bot in horror. Now there were three of them? "For the love of Primus, who do they look like?"

Now all four mechs were grabbing onto Swindle, trying to plan an escape from Starscream's latest plan of horror. "The-they l-l-look l-like… those two LAMBORGHINI TWINS!"

A dismayed wail of horror left the Combaticons' quarters. The pit master had no mercy. "Y-you m-mean Sunstreaker a-and S-Sideswipe?"

With a whimpering nod, Swindle was immediately dropped to the ground where he once again crawled under his berth to hide. "Slaggit! Skywarp as that red fragger? We're doomed! He already pulls enough pranks, but now…!"

"Frag you all, I'm getting into orbit before those seekers can start their crazy plan."

"Blastoff, take me with you!"

"Frag you, Onslaught, it's every mech for themselves." With a growl the shuttle moved off towards the door.

"Ha! You ground bots are doomed!" Crackled Vortex, rotating his blades. "Starscream will probably be too busy dealing with you grounders to do anything to us flyers."

"Like slag! He'll get you too, like he did last time," grumbled Brawn, checking his hidden energon storage.

"Nah! I checked, yeah! The lift to the surface is still online, because the cone heads and rainmakers are on patrol right now. Even Starscream wouldn't leave them stranded out there, which is more then what I would do for you slaggers!"

Onslaught was on the verge of jumping said crackling bot, until Blastoff grabbed him. Facing the stricken bot, he paled as he translated the shuttles murmuring. "The door won't open."

"What?"

"The door lock is engaged, and when I keep trying to open it, it just comes back with the message, 'Too late, you slaggers.'"

"Are you fragging sure? Blastoff, this is no slagging joke here! Starscream and his trine are on the loose, and you're telling me that the doors won't open!"

The Combaticons looked at the ominous and yet innocent door that stood there, closed. "Quick break that thing down so-."

A loud squeak interrupted the leader, followed by a shriek when Swindle quickly back pedaled out from under the berth. Deep from under the darkness, he was slowly followed by a strange furry blob that swayed from side to side. "Primus, what the slag IS that?"

"It was under your berth, Swindle! What is it?"

"That thing isn't mine!" Wailed Swindle, clinging onto Onslaught's pede.

The Combaticons could only hide behind their leader as the thing swayed closer and closer, only to stop when it was right in the middle of the room.

"Hi! My name is Fuzzie McFluffy, and I want to be your fwiend!" The Combaticons jumped when the thing started talking, and stepped back as the thing started to rotate in a circle on the spot. "I'm a Furby, and my favorite thing to do is sing! Will you sing with me?"

"Oh slag! KILL IT! KILL IT NOW!" Onslaught could only lunge at the toy before crushing it with his bare servos, smacking the remains to a flat fuzzy mess, and only when he was sure that it was completely killed did he sit up and sigh in relief, "got it."

"Thank Primus! What the slag was that thing? How did it get in here?"

Before Onslaught could answer though, a voice rang out from under the berth again, "Hi! My name is Miss Fifi Fuzziewuzzie, and I want to be your fwiend!" As the Combaticons looked at it in horror, the new pink toy was only followed by a blue one who greeted in the same fashion.

"Pits! They're multiplying!" Screamed Vortex, slashing at one with his blades only for three more to appear. "Kill them, slaggit!"

Soon though, for every one that was destroyed, three more appeared, even worse was that they began to sing. The Combaticons were shouting in horror, trying to kill the little things to try to silence their processor grating music. "Die, die, die, DIE!" Eventually all the furbies were crushed into little pieces and the Combaticons lay panting in a corner. "Oh Primus, it's over."

"NO, DON'T SAY THAT!" Screamed Swindle, grabbing onto Blastoff before an ominous clank came from the ceiling. All five mechs looked fearfully at the ceiling when nothing else was heard. "…Do you think-?"

Before the sentence was even finished, the air grate of the room cracked open to release waves upon waves of the furbies. Millions of them were pouring out of the grate, drowning the Combaticons in their fluffy fur.

"Under the sea~"

"I'm Fuzzie Cutie!"

"Tickle me to make me laugh!"

"I wuv you!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Their cries were heard throughout the ship, but no one was going to help them, as they were having their own problems.

"WHAT THE SLAG IS HAPPENING ON THIS SHIP!" Megatron bellowed, watching the whole thing on the security cameras.

The Constructicons were sliding and slipping all the way down the halls—it looked like someone had greased them up completely in oil, making them completely frictionless, and now they were crashing into innocent mechs and into each other. "Hook, save me!"

"How the slag can I do that with Bonecrusher on me?"

"Stop complaining! If I end up spinning in circles again, I'm gonna purge!"

Astrotrain and Blackout look like they were magnetized to the ceiling, while the insecticons were hanging off them covered in pink, metallic confetti. "Stop moving, Kicker!"

"Down, down, down."

"If you end up kicking me in the crotch plates again-!"

The hallways were also painted in florescent colors, and the lights were flashing on and off, causing the processors of bots to crash trying to comprehend what they were seeing. The wash racks were spewing out water and soap, causing the whole sector to be covered in bubbles. The halls to the command were waxed to produce no friction, and were covered in paint, so when Reflector tried using it, he ended up flying through the hall, and crashed into the wall colored in mismatched colors.

Megatron and Soundwave could only gawp, awestruck at the chaos that chaos the seekers could cause in just half a cycle. "WHERE THE SLAG IS STARSCREAM?"

"Location of Starscream: outside the ship, off the coast of Norway."

"What the slag? When did he get there?"

"Left: after leaving the lab."

"What is he doing there?"

"Mission: Retrieving more energon, making strategy to attain efficient amount of energon."

"Who the slag is behind all of THIS, then?"

"Culprits: Thundercracker and Skywarp."

"Where are they…?" Megatron growled in a dangerous voice.

"Screen 3," replied Soundwave, fidgeting when it became obvious that Megatron could not see them. "…The red and the yellow..."

"WHAT!" Megatron stared at the two seekers who were taking pot shots at passing bots. "Why do they look like—NO, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW! GET STARSCREAM ON THE SCREEN, NOW!"

With a series of clicks on the computer, Soundwave quickly got in touch with Starscream, who then appeared onscreen. Standing there proudly, stood a black and white seeker, with half black, half white painted wings, and a police decal stating, 'to enslave and destroy'. His cockpit gleamed in the sun in the middle of two head lights, and his legs and helm were white. The seeker looked back at Megatron with a salute. "You called, Commander?"

"What the slag do you think you are doing?"

"Commander, I had noted that the energon levels at the ship were in drastic need of replenishment. To do this, I had to take on the mission, and plan out a strategy to attain the most energon possible. I am off the coast of Norway, where I have developed a strategy to attack the solar power plant here," replied the seeker, eerily calm. "Is there a problem, Commander?"

"Problem? PROBLEM? Your trine has been causing havoc and mayhem here at the base, and they. Are. Destroying. EVERYTHING!" Roared the tyrant as he began shooting the walls in anger. Soundwave cautiously inched towards the door and to safety. "Get back here, and fix it!"

"Those two! I knew I should not have left them back there alone!" Replied Starscream, acting surprised and indignant. "I will punish them immediately when I get back to Nemesis, Commander. For now though, I need you and the other mechs to come here for a raid. The plan has already begun, and for us to collect the energon we need, the Autobots will surely take notice before long."

"Starscream, I am the leader here, and you cannot command me to do anything!" Megatron slammed his fists into the consol. "Get back here, now, with the cone heads and the rainmakers—I know that they are with you right now—so I can slag you to the pit and back!"

"…Commander?" Muttered Starscream, blinking in surprise. "I am not commanding you to do anything. I am in fact following your command. You gave me the mission to find a place to raid for energon, and to strategize a plan to attain them. Was this not your order?"

Megatron gritted his dentures and growled. Yes, that was something that he made Starscream do… but with the pranks and all... Slaggit! "Fine. We are heading your way. But let me warn you Starscream: when I get there, you will regret ever being sparked."

"…As you command."

"So you're saying that Starscream is acting like parts of the command to teach the other Decepticons a lesson?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

In the ARK's rec. room, all the Autobots were sitting around, looking at Skyfire as he drank his energon cube. All this attention was making the shuttle a little nervous. "The last time he had done this was back in the academy, when we had a very… how shall I put it? ... annoying and uneducated mech trying to teach us about sub atomic particles. How he became an instructor I will never know, but he knew nothing about anything he was teaching, and Starscream being Starscream, argued with him frequently, which made him, as the humans say, enemy number one."

"How did that lead to him mimicking him?" Bumblebee asked curiously from his spot near the other minibots.

"After a few cycles of them arguing and fighting, Starscream of course got many detentions, and was forced to clean the lab over and over again. I stayed with him during this time though. I may have even given him the idea," Skyfire muttered the last part quietly with a sheepish smile. "I may have said something along the lines that if Starscream 'was anything like him, then his experiments would blow up the left side of the lab.' Next thing I knew, the next day, Starscream appeared in a new paint scheme, and… well, let's just say that that day was one to remember."

"I heard about that! There was a new feed of it; some seeker at the science academy had nearly blown up the whole building by followin' the wrong formula for an experiment or somethin'," exclaimed Jazz. "The instructor was then fired, and sent back to Iacon for it. They were lucky they were able to neutralize the blast."

"It wasn't luck," muttered Skyfire, lost in thought with a smile. "Starscream knew what he was doing: he knew what the instructor's experiment would lead to, and he'd prepared a counter measure for it. Starscream did hate that instructor, but he loved science too much to destroy the building and all the knowledge inside."

"I think I was there," said Perceptor in surprise. "I wasn't taking the class, but I remember walking past the class to see a white seeker standing on top of the table, shouting something about 'space formulas.' I found that extremely strange, given that the equations he was shouting were all wrong."

"Primus, that was Starscream?" gushed Wheeljack, leaning forward excitedly. "That seeker became legendary after that; getting that noble instructor fired; nearly destroying the school; fixing it; then the very next cycle, he went running around the campus, interrupting classes, shouting out random equations, and tackling down instructors trying to make them 'see the logic!'"

"I tried to talk him out of that, but he wanted to rub it in that the academy had hired an incompetent mech and didn't listen to him when he said so."

"Didn't he switch all the ionized tron with zinc eon to cause mechs' experiments to release pink glitter particles?"

"Oh Primus, that was classic! Even better was when he switched out the components of the magnetic gun, and reversed the polarity, causing the user to become a giant magnet!"

"That was when Starscream was really just getting started. You know the prank where-"

"As lovely as this is, seeing you three relive your academy days, I have to interrupt and ask: when did Starscream stop all this?" asked Optimus when it became apparent that the scientists weren't going back to the topic at hand.

"Stopped? Oh he did in the end… when the school had publicly apologized to him, and offered him more free range over his experiments."

"Soooo~ you're saying that Starscream will only stop when Megatron apologizes to him in front of his army," summarized Jazz, smiling. "That'll happen… when the pit freezes over."

"Jazz has a point; Megatron is truly stubborn," agreed Prowl. "As long as this does not affect us, then how Starscream acts will mean nothing to us."

"What about him kidnapping me?" Bumblebee asked, while the other minibots glared at the police car for ignoring their comrade.

"Kidnapping you was unfortunate, Bumblebee, don't misunderstand me. But what he did was not meant to put you in any harm—just to learn about a character he wanted to act as. So again: as long as his actions don't affect us in battle, then we can ignore it." Prowl corrected, putting the minibots at ease.

"I don't know about that, Prowl. Starscream has a way of dragging in mechs that have and want nothing to do with his plans," said Skyfire logically, remembering certain events.

"Whatever Starscream is planning, it will not work. We Autobots will stop it when it goes too far," stated Optimus, calming the murmuring bots. "The Decepticons will soon be planning an attack, and we must be ready-"

Before Optimus could finish however, an alarm klaxon blared out of the speakers, making all bots jump to their pedes ready for battle. "Redalert, what's the situation?"

"Commander Optimus, sorry to interrupt, but it looks like your prediction has come true," replied Red's voice through the speakers. "It looks like seven seekers have been spotted off the coast of Norway, attacking a human solar power plant—no doubt, for energon."

"Can you identify any of the Decepticons, Redalert?"

"Teletran recognizes the three cone heads, and the three rain makers, but one seeker is not recognized," replied the security director, trying to see the unknown seeker's face plates. "Looks like a new solider."

"You heard Redalert, mechs. Looks like the Decepticons have not been handicapped from Starscream's planning. We must go and protect that plant! Autobots, roll out!"

"Thrust, to the LEFT! Put that on the left."

"This one?"

"Yes, now put that one on the middle. Then you can go and help collect energon."

"As you command!"

Starscream shook his head as the red seeker tripped about before looking over at the other five seekers loading energon into a transporter. "How much have we gathered?"

"We got about fifty cubes of the pure stuff, and twenty five of the regular," replied Acidrain, kicking Ramjet to hurry up these cubes were heavy! "When do you think Megatron will come?"

"He contacted me not long ago. He'll be here soon," replied Starscream, looking off into the distance. "I am more concerned about the Autobots arriving and making a mess of my plan."

"You think they've noticed us yet?" asked Ramjet, punching Acidrain, nearly making him drop the cubes.

"Stop that! We need that energon, and it would be illogical to waste it over petty confrontations!" Starscream reprimanded, glaring at the sheepish seekers. "Thrust, are they all in place?"

"Yeah, Starscream—all locked and armed." Thrust replied and walked away from the rock outcropping and over to his trine mate to calm down Ramjet.

"Looks like the plan is coming together," muttered Starscream. He looked at a data pad, checking off things. "Keep collecting energon, the next step of the plan requires the Autobot army to be here-"

"Starscream, Starscream! Autobots sighted ten breems away from your position!" Dirge shouted from his lookout. "What do we do?"

"This is unfortunate," Starscream muttered. All he wanted to do was scream obscenities at the early arriving Autobot army. "But this has been planned for. Dirge, arm and set off the cluster bombs you planted. Thrust, Ramjet, fly to your trine mate and help hold back the Autobots, but make sure that they don't bring you down! I will need you later. Move out!"

"As you command!" Said by the two seekers in unison while taking off to their mate.

"Rainmakers! Hurry it up! We need to secure as much as we can while we have time. Those three won't be able to distract them for long, and I will have to send you three out soon." Starscream commanded while hailing his own trine mates, Thundercracker, what is your status?

We are flying over the sea right now. We just left the base a few clicks ago.

I was hoping that Megatron would move faster with the promise of a fight with the Autobots, but what can you expect. Did everything go as planned on the base?

Skywarp and I did everything you said. Did you want us to move to intercept the Autobots?

No, stay your course, and make sure no one notices the approaching army. I have ways to distract them. I need you to follow the plan and make sure that when it comes, you intercept them!

As you command. Skywarp and I have been waiting for a chance to slag them.

Starscream nodded before turning off his comm. link, and scanned the battle between the cone heads and Autobots. He frowned at how the cluster bombs that he had set in the sea had only slowed them down for a few clicks. He motioned to the rainmakers to take off; he needed more time for the Decepticon army to get into place. 'This is why I need to be leader.'

While the rainmakers flew off to aid their fellow seekers, Starscream quickly strutted off to a consol to click in some commands. The machine whirled and clicked as it processed his commands. He then quickly made his way over to the beachfront to oversee the battle's progress.

"Take that, Autobot scum!" Thrust roared, shooting at the approaching army.

"Slag these seekers!" Ironhide swore as he bobbed and weaved to avoid their laser fire. "There's no cover on this slagging sea."

"Well of course, IT'S THE SEA!" Ratchet snarked, and hid behind his Protectobots while they formed a shield around him. He was a medic not a fighter. "Just fire back!"

"If they'd just hold still!"

"It's no good," stated Prowl, trying to shoot Ramjet out of the sky. "They're staying just out of range, and show no signs of moving any closer. Optimus, you should take Jazz and his team, and Ratchet, the Protectobots, and the minibots, and head to the coast while we distract these seekers."

"Are you sure, Prowl?"

"I have requested Redalert to send out the aerial bots; they will be here soon, and we will have air support."

"Alright, Prowl," the Autobot leader consented and called upon the named bots. "Roll out, and push ahead!"

"Slaggit." Sunstorm swore as he saw what they were planning. "There's too many. What do we do?"

"Move back and set off the next charges!" Yelped Hailstorm as a shot just nicked his wings.

"Those will be our last ones!"

"Then hope that Starscream will understand!" With that, the seekers rose to a higher altitude and backed from the army.

"Incoming! They got more cluster bombs!" Shouted Jazz, recognizing their movements.

"Spread out!" Shouted Prowl, moving in front of Bluestreak. "Stop shooting and be ready to move fast!"

As the Autobots drove forward, explosions resounded all across the sea as the bombs set off in hopes of stopping the oncoming Autobots. Some were affected by the blasts, but were quickly picked up by companions and were moved back in line for some quick field repairs from Ratchet. "Slag, those cluster bombs don't pack as much of a punch over the water," growled Dirge when they returned to a more level altitude.

"Shoot them down!"

"No, wait!" Acidrain shouted and moved in to intercept the cone heads. "Starscream has called us back! Leave them!"

"Slag! I fear Starscream more than those slaggers," muttered Sunstorm, redirecting his path back to the beach.

"See you later, fraggers!" Ramjet shouted behind him.

"They're retreating," muttered Bumblebee, watching at the colored flyers move off in the distance.

"This is unexpected." Prowl noted, narrowing his optics while his battle computer worked overtime.

"Think it's a trap, Prowler?" Jazz asked from the police bot's right.

"Not enough evidence to determine that. We will just have to wait and see."

"Roger that!" Jazz smiled while Prowl just gave him a look of confusion. Who was 'Roger'?

As the two trine quickly landed on the shore, they started to massage and patch up the small scrapes they sustained during the fight. Starscream stood calmly in the center of the beach, still facing the horizon. "You six go back and move those cubes to the transporter. I will call you when I need you. Only come out when I command it."

The six shuffled their pedes around hesitantly, before Hailstorm was pushed forward to ask the unspoken question hanging on all of their processors. "Umm… Will you be alright when the Autobots arrive?"

Starscream looked over at the seekers, his face blanked of all emotion. Truth be told, he was actually very surprised with them. He briefly studied their concerned expressions. It seemed that his plan to act as the Autobots had earned him the seekers' respect. What a pleasant surprise. "No, I do not require any help. The Decepticon army has moved into the right position, and I can handle the Autobots," replied Starscream, observing the small specks of color coming from the sea. "Just keep moving the energon, and look out for my signal."

"As you command!" The six seekers marched back to the power station.

Starscream calmly watched as the approaching Autobot army came into view. Judging from the color schemes, the leading bots were Optimus, Jazz, Ironhide, and Prowl, followed by the Lamborghini twins, the Protectobots, Ratchet, Bluestreak, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Windcharger, and Hound. When they finally came close enough to the beach the bots stopped in confusion , seeing that there was only one seeker there waiting for them.

"Who are you?" Prowls asked suspiciously while everyone trained their guns on the mech.

"Me? I am second in command of the Decepticon army," replied Starscream with a smirk as the bots recognized his voice. "Commander Starscream, to you."

"Prowl, I think he's acting like you," whispered Jazz, doing a double take.

"I noticed, Jazz," Prowl replied in a carefully neutral voice.

"Starscream, what are you planning?" Optimus questioned, expectantly searching for Megatron to appear. "Where are the others?"

"As if I'd tell you; you are the enemy, Optimus Prime. Sharing that information with you would be highly illogical." Starscream replied curtly, folding his servos behind his back. "You will know my plans soon enough. Right now your focus should be on me, and only me."

"Yer sure about that?" Ironhide asked in an ironic tone. "There's only one a you, and we've got you surrounded."

"On the contrary. I have you exactly where I want you to be," replied Starscream, casually starting to pace back and forth. "I knew that if I was the only one standing here, alone, you wouldn't see me as much of a threat, which would cause you all to let your guard down. I may be surrounded and outnumbered, but I have planned for this, and have made appropriate counter measures."

Just as Starscream finished, a loud explosion erupted right near the shore from the rocks, causing bots to leap out of the way, only to be caught and captured in some nets that had sprung out. As others tried to run to them and free them, more explosions followed by nets entrapped them, holding them down, and incapacitating them with an electric current that coursed throughout the nets. "What the slag!"

Optimus Prime, Prowl, Jazz, Ironhide, and Bluestreak managed to evade capture, because they were not close enough to the rocks.

"As you see, I have prepared counter measures for your every move," informed Starscream, jumping to the side as he dodged a shot from Ironhide. "I anticipated that as well." Starscream pulled out a rather small, unintimidating looking gun, and aimed it at the battle-hungry Weapons Specialist.

"Slag, I'm so scared. What's that little thing gonna do ta me?" Ironhide scoffed at the puny weapon.

The weapon shot off what looked like a violent spiral of rippling air, kicking up walls of sand at its sides as it tore through the space and straight towards the command bots, making them dive to the ground for cover. Too bad for Ironhide who was just within the blast path—he was slammed back several meters and into the sea on top of the other captured bots.

"BEHOLD! My own invention: The sonic gun." Starscream managed to crow with pride before being forced to leap for cover behind a large rock; the remaining Autobots on the beach had quickly regained their bearings and started shooting at him. "With this, I ought to be able to defend myself and distract you until my army arrives," the seeker sneered confidently.

"Frag that, Starscream!" Jazz cursed while taking cover behind a rock of his own to dodge the sonic wind tunnels. "No offence, Prowl, but he really has this one planned out good," the saboteur then whispered to his tactician friend.

"No offence taken until the seeker can prove that his strategies are better than mine," Prowl replied as he ran through some new scenarios on his battle computer. He turned to Bluestreak. "Have we managed to release any of the bots trapped in the nets yet?"

"Ratchet is currently working to saw himself out with one of his lazar cutters. Fortunately he was sandwiched in between the Protectobots when the nets came on them, and apparently the electric current running through the nets is light enough that it doesn't cause complete paralysis in anyone who's not making direct contact with the net itself. He's completely numb from it all, but he can still move. The others can't though, and they are really cursing out a storm—especially the twins. I've never even heard of some of those swear words. What does—oh, Starscream just shot Ironhide again, and he just crashed further into the sea. We can't get close to them either cuz Starscream keeps blasting those sonic wind tunnels between them and us. Prowl, what do we do? What do we do? Cause-"

"I understand, Bluestreak." Prowl cut off the talkative gunner. "Try to secure a position up in the cliffs—see if you can find a good shot," he commanded, then turned to face his leader. "Optimus, I have a plan to stop Starscream and his sonic gun, but I will need you and Jazz to assist me."

"Affirmative, Prowl, what is the plan?"

"I need you to throw this rock here-," he patted a rather large boulder next to them, "-three meters forward. That will break Starscream's line of sight long enough for Jazz to run out and hide behind it without danger from the sonic blasts. Jazz, from there you should be close enough to produce the opposite frequency of the sonic gun and disable its effects, allowing us to move in on the seeker," Prowl declared while calculating the percentages. "Right after he shoots off the next wind tunnel, that is your chance."

"Got it, Prowler!"

The plan shot into motion. Starscream had just shot a cursing Ironhide back into the sea, and Optimus ripped the boulder out of the ground and heaved it forward many meters with his impressive strength. Starscream had to wait a few precious seconds between shots for the gun to charge, and Jazz took hold of that small time window and made a dash for cover behind the thrown boulder.

"Your strategy is cute, Prowl. But you have forgotten that I am, in fact, a seeker." True to his seeker build, Starscream took off into the air and flew just out of Jazz's range.

"Now, Bluestreak!"

Before Starscream could widen his optics in surprise, a sniper bullet had ripped through the sonic gun, shattering it into pieces. It seemed that he had forgotten all about the bumbling sniper, he noted as he cradled his sore servo.

"I knew you'd take to the sky, Starscream. Thanks to Optimus and Jazz's distraction, you played right into my hands. By taking off into the air, you've left yourself and your precious gun out in the open. Which made you a ripe target for our sniper," Prowl explained. "It's also allowed Ratchet enough time to cut through his net and release the Protectobots, which in turn allowed them to release the others."

"Yeah, you slagger! And now it's time for JET JUDO!" The two twins crowed and leapt at Starscream.

For a moment Starscream looked surprised, but that look quickly twisted into a wickedly smug grin. "I don't think so."

Just as Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were only inches away from their prey, they were suddenly tackled by a red and yellow blur. "No you two don't! LAMBORGHINI KARATE!"

The Autobots watched in wide eyed shock as the twins were tackled from the sky and landed on their afts with a deafening thud. Staring at the wrestling pile of red and yellow, Prowl's logic centers crashed, and he couldn't help but turn to Jazz in a daze, "Jazz?"

"Uh huh?"

"Are those two red and yellow seekers?"

"Uh huh."

"And did they just scream 'Lamborghini karate'?"

"Uh huh."

"Is that Thundercracker and Skywarp acting as the twins?"

"Uh huh."

"Oh."

With that, Prowl pressed his head into his servo, trying to ignore the impending crash coming on as the Autobots watched the seekers and Lamborghinis roll around in the sand. Starscream landed and cleared his throat. "Your plan may have been impressive; to distract me and buy time for your medic. But the tide of battle is still in my favor; you have allowed enough time for my army to arrive," reported Starscream as the Decepticon army filed in behind the seeker.

"Optimus Prime," Megatron growled when he made his way past the black and white Starscream. "What a surprise."

"Megatron," replied Optimus, trying to ignore the roughhousing twins and seekers just off to the side. "I'll always be here to protect the humans from you."

"The humans are nothing more than useless meat bags," snarled Megatron with a smirk. "They are useful as nothing but slaves for producing the energon we require."

"I won't allow that to happen, Megatron! The humans are sentient beings and deserve the same rights as we do!"

"Rights? You have no place to talk about rights, Prime. They are nothing more than primitive-"

"I hate to interrupt, but this whole exchange is illogical," Starscream cut in, causing both leaders to pause and look at him. "Every time we meet for battle, this same discussion occurs, and I find that these arguments are just being restated fruitlessly. There is no productive end to this fight of egos. Seekers, Delta seven alpha formation!"

Upon hearing the Air Commanders call, the rainmakers and cone heads flew over the power plant, carpeting the area with cluster bombs over the scrambling Autobots.

"Prowl, the aerial bots are here!"

"Aerial bots! Form Superion and attack the seekers!"

Starscream watched as the aerial bots began to transform and merge. "Constructicons! Join and form Devastator!" Starscream howled from his perch away from the battle, if you are able to take them down, I will give you the next few cycles off, not include you in any more of these pranks, and give you double the amount of your current vacation time and energon allowance.

Something clicked when Starscream said 'not include you in any more of these pranks', and the Constructicons hurriedly knocked over the Autobots they were dealing with and scrambled to meet each other. It was the fastest merging any bot had ever seen, and just when Superion had formed, it was then violently tackled from the sky by an enthusiastic Devastator, and sent crashing into the sea. "You are not getting in the way of our FREEDOOOOOM!" roared Devastator at the stunned Superion.

"…Holy slag, I just blinked and Superion was gone," Hailstorm muttered, making another turn to drop cluster bombs. "Like, he didn't even get to do anything."

"I just blinked and Devastator was just there," Acidrain added, making a barrel roll when Silverbolt was ripped off Superion's frame and sent flying. "Wasn't that the Aerialbots' leader?"

Jazz and Prowl couldn't help but gawk as their merged fliers were torn apart. "…Starscream must've offered them somethin' reeeally good for them to move that fast."

"Their 'freedom'?" repeated Prowl shaking his head. "Protectobots! Merge and form Defensor!"

"Combaticons! Merge and form Bruticus!" Starscream countered. Defeat them, and I will remove all the furbies from your quarters- you will never see them again. And I will leave you out of my pranks.

"DEATH TO THE FURBIES!" screeched the Combaticons in unison while they jumped and formed in midair.

Defensor formed to only see a charging Bruticus hell-bent on destroying the only thing that stood in its way to freedom from Starscream's diabolical plans and the evil of furry toys. The Autobots forming Defensor thought carefully, looked at the torn apart Superion and the cheering and sobbing Devastator—("It's over for us! We're finally FREE!")—and in unison came to a decision that lead them to turn the other way and flee from the charging bot. "Come back here, you cowards! You won't stand in the way of the death of the furbies! YOU'RE WORKING WITH THEM, AREN'T YOU?"

Prowl and Jazz couldn't help but watch the panicking Defensor and the hysterical Bruticus, who was now shouting something about Disney songs. "I don't think I can take this battle seriously anymore, Jazz."

"Even the leaders aren't, Prowler."

True to Jazz's observation, Optimus and Megatron were both watching the running mergers wide, dumbfounded optics. "Ummm, should we fight now?"

"No, Prime, the mood is gone."

"But-"

"It's dead. Starscream has killed it."

"Can't you just-"

"DEAD."

Optimus just stared at the defeated leader before shrugging and continuing to watch the battle. Prowl and Starscream were matching each other plan for plan, like a giant chess game using the bots of both armies as pawns. "Minibots!" "Casseticons!"

While this was happening, most of the other bots were just hiding behind rocks and occasionally shooting the other side while watching the desperate mergers try to get Starscream's acceptance. The battle between the Lamborghinis and seekers ended with Skywarp flying off cackling with pleasure as he carried off Sideswipe's jet pack, and Thundercracker carrying off a yellow arm while yelling abuse about how ugly Sunstreaker looked now. Both Lamborghinis were knocked out on the ground, ironically enough, not by the seekers but by Ratchet who'd slugged them both with his wrench when it became apparent they were still going to chase the newly colored seekers despite all the damage they'd received from the 'Lamborghini Karate.'

"This is not worth it anymore," Megatron muttered as he watched the Autobots' medic walk past grumbling about dropped-on-the-head-as-sparklings Lamborghinis while dragging the two limp twins by their neck scruffs.

"You are correct, Commander," Starscream announced, causing both leaders to jump. "All the energon has been collected and it is time to end this."

"…We can't let you get away?" Optimus said uncertainly in a way that sounded like a question.

"What have you done?" shouted Megatron, grabbing and shaking the Autobot leader. "Don't encourage him!"

"Prowl, you have been a challenging statistician, but while your strengths lay in logic and battle plans, you have forgotten mine," stated Starscream dramatically.

"…"

"Just humor him, Prowl," Jazz whispered, watching as Defensor split up again and hid behind Ratchet while Ratchet was verbally abusing Bruticus who took up the challenge to find the dirtiest swear words to beat Ratchet who was coming up with really interesting ones, "maybe this will just end faster."

"...Starscream, though I can agree that you are a challenge to plan against," started Prowl, rolling his optics, "everything that you can come up with, I can counter."

"You're doomed," Megatron rasped in horror, letting go of Optimus and running back to his army.

"Not this," Starscream declared, pulling out a large, long-nosed gun from his subspace. This gun looked much more frightening than the last one. "While you are strong in predicting all outcomes and chances, I am a master of SCIENCE!"

With that, Starscream fired into the Autobot lines, and bots ducked and slid to the side to avoid the ray, but when it reached the end of the army the ray disappeared into nothing. The bots stared at where the ray had disintegrated before raising confused optic ridges and looking at Starscream again. It didn't seem like the ray had done anything… So then why was Starscream wearing such a wickedly smug look on his face? "Jazz, do you feel anything?"

"…Not really, Prowler."

"Anyone?"

The army replied with a mutter of no's and shaking heads. Everyone looked up expectantly at Starscream once more. But Starscream only raised a servo with one finger pointed upward to mime 'just a moment'. They barely waited three seconds before Bluestreak let out a squeak, and bots watched as the datsun was pulled towards the center of the beach by an unseen force. Soon he was followed by other bots that were scrambling to grab onto something—anything—to stop their unwanted movements. "Maybe goin' along was a bad idea after all," muttered Jazz before yelping as he too flew though the air to crash into Ironhide who was swearing up a storm.

Quickly the unseen force intensified and grew more violent as more and more of the Autobot army was being flung together in the center of the beach, where they stuck together in one massive ball, with no signs of coming apart anytime soon. Optimus was the last bot to become affected by the invisible power—he was able to resist for only a click though before the ball of bots came flying at him and running him over. The Decepticons could only stare at the ball of mechs in stunned fascination. "Starscream… what did you do?"

"Magnetic gun," he answered. Then he casually strode up to the ball of shouting, complaining, and cursing Autobots. He calmly rolled it around until he found the mech he was looking for. Prowl could only stare wide eyed as Starscream poked him in the chest, "MASTER. OF SCIENCE." A click and a buzz was heard, and Prowl's processors finally crashed. Starscream shrugged at the now unconscious mech, and then motioned for Skywarp and Thundercracker to come closer. "Roll them into the sea!"

With a swift kick from Skywarp, and a shove from Thundercracker, the ball of shouting bots was rolled into the sea, and the sound of their vocals were drowned out under the crashing waves. "Mission complete, Commander," stated Starscream who then turned to look at Megatron.

There was a click of silence before Megatron slammed his face into his servo. He was just embarrassed completely in front of the opposing army by his own Second in Command. What about his reputation? HIS EGO?

But…

It was quiet at first, but soon it became more obvious as more noises joined in. "The Autobots are such a ball of fun," Skywarp innocently stated, covering his mouth with a servo.

That did it.

Soon the whole Decepticon army was in hysterics, laughing at their enemies' ill earned fate. They were clutching their sides and fritzing in laughter as more jokes were shared around. Even Megatron was too busy laughing to slag Starscream like he had promised. Starscream looked over at the hysterical army before allowing a triumphant smirk to slide onto his face; 'Mission success!'

"I hate Starscream."

"Agreed, Prowler."

This was agreed upon with grunts and threats to the seeker as Wheeljack and Skyfire rolled the ball of still stuck together bots back to the shore, "Sorry we have to roll you, but this is the easiest way."

"Please tell us you can get us apart."

"It will take time to find the right polarity," Perceptor answered while reading from a data pad before putting it down and shuffling over to the ball. "But before we do that, I want to do this first." A mischievous smile crossed the normally placid scientist's features.

The microscope pulled out a camera and took a picture of himself with Prowl in the background, stuck with his arms spread wide, one pede on Sideswipe's helm, and his door wings spread out in an awkward angle that smacked Prime right on the face. "Say cheese!"

"Oh, I want one!"

"May I have one with Jazz?"

As the scientists chatted about what picture they wanted, Prowl let out a growl, "Hate him!"

"Thundercracker, Thundercracker! Look how shiny it is now," Skywarp cooed, admiring his newly acquired jetpack. "I can see my reflection."

"Good, hand it here."

"What? NO! Get your own! You have the yellow one's arm for Primus sake!"

"Give it here so I can hang it up."

"OH! Okay," chirped the seeker, handing it over for the older seeker to hang up.

Out from the private wash racks, a clean, tri-colored seeker walked out. "What are you two doing?"

"Hanging up our souvenirs," replied the black seeker, preening in his original colors.

"And what nice ones they are," Starscream acknowledged with a yawn and laid down on the berth.

"Hey, Star, you want us to get the paints ready for tomorrow? Pick up and set up some pranks? Distract some bots?" asked Skywarp, rubbing his jetpack.

"Hmm… nah," Starscream replied sleepily.

"No? Nothing?" Thundercracker wondered aloud, giving Sunstreaker's arm one more look before moving across the room to lay next to Starscream.

"Nope, nothing." This was all the answer the tri-colored seeker gave as he snuggled into the blue seeker while pulling the black one close.

"You mean it's all over?" asked Skywarp, looking at his trine leader's peaceful face. "No more pranks, acting, painting, and annoying Megatron?"

"Well, he has accomplished what he set out to do; earn the respect of the army. Megatron will now take him seriously, and the Autobots will think twice before fighting him."

"So no more, Star?"

"…Who said anything about that?" Starscream asked with a smirk before falling into stasis.