Chapter 23

Starscream's Master Plan, Part 2

The soldering iron hissed obediently as Starscream began work on the circuitry of his second homing beacon. Its predecessor, now complete and awaiting activation, sat amongst an array of wires and circuit boards scattered over the kitchen table at which he was sitting. A smirk adorned his face as another wire was tamed into its place; it felt good to be using his hands, to be creating something that would place him one step closer to gaining the Autobot's trust, to regaining his body...

Starscream sat the soldering iron back in its stand and reached for a length of blue wire, carefully measuring it out before snipping it to the required length. It had been surprisingly easy to acquire the components necessary for his design once Thundercracker had activated his bank account, a careful search of a few electronics stores had turned up everything he needed in a matter of hours.

Developing the design, too, had been a simple exercise; he had to admit that although primitive in itself, human technology did have potential if left in capable hands such as his. A pity he couldn't dedicate his efforts to developing something more destructive.

A red wire joined the newly attached blue one as the circuit board grew more and more complex with each action. Okay, so the homing beacons themselves weren't destructive, but the chain of events that would unfold because of them...

Starscream's smug look deepened, how easy it was to mutilate the boundaries of truth and trust when the Autobots were involved; all he had to do was act the victim and play with their pathetic emotions...

"Eeechhh..." the young human protested out loud as his stomach suddenly churned at the thought of playing nice with the Autobots.

They were so predictable, so goody-goody and wholesome...and the worst culprit of all was their leader, Optimus Prime.

Starscream scowled as he thought of his enemy, to think he was made of the same Cybertronian steel that he was – had been – made of made him feel immediate repulsion. He couldn't understand how any Cybertronian, regardless of factions, could consider themselves equals amongst an organic race, defenders of such primitive beasts... And yet, there were the Autobots...

But Optimus Prime...he was the worst offender of all. Guilt drove the mech, guilt and that overwhelming desire of his to help the weak... Starscream had always wondered if Optimus could see the irony of the situation, after all, it wasn't Megatron that had brought their war to other worlds, it wasn't Megatron that had brought their war to Earth...

Starscream chuckled quietly to himself as he fitted the completed circuit board into the metal housing he'd built earlier. Such weakness; it would be the mech's undoing, no doubt about it.

………….

Ruffling his soaked hair with a towel, Starscream left the cramped, claustrophobic space of his bathroom and made his way back to the living room. The light cast by the bare light bulb was yellowed and dim, throwing languid shadows in the sickly glow. He hadn't really taken the time to explore the apartment Johnny had secured for him when he'd first arrived; the more urgent matters of preparation and hygiene had to take priority. He still had things to do of course; selecting a suitable outfit, packing away his laptop and the few other items he needed, and, most importantly setting the homing beacons, but in his surprisingly relaxed mood he couldn't help but be pleased with what the little worm Johnny had achieved.

The apartment itself was nothing special, it was slightly bigger than Stella's and unlike hers, had a fuelling area that extended into the living room; a small bench separating the two areas. It had been furnished too; nothing fancy but the television worked, the kitchen table was of a good size and the couch was comfy...the bed looked comfy too but, due to unintentional activities during the night, he hadn't had the chance to try it out.

Certainly, this place was nothing compared to the luxuries he deserved, but it did prove something; Johnny could act quickly and reasonably effectively if required...

Casting the towel aside, Starscream took a new pair of jeans from a plastic bag sitting on the grey couch. He hated having to restrict himself in that way, but he knew there was no way he could blend in with the crowds without them. Pulling them over his Calvin Klein underwear he decided to leave his torso bare for the time being; there was no sense in allowing the water that beaded over his muscles to dampen his shirt, after all.

It was with a feeling of near excitement that Starscream took hold of one of the homing beacons and left his apartment. Moving as swiftly and silently as he could, the human made his way up the two flights of stairs to the top floor before climbing deftly up the access ladder and onto the roof.

The sun had only recently set, as the fading golden light dancing above the horizon indicated, the dying remnants of the day creating a landscape of contrasts that to any other being may have been considered beautiful. But none of that mattered to the ex flyer as he moved towards the edge of the building; he was so high up...

The chilly evening air caressed his bare skin softly, beckoning, teasing; Starscream suddenly realised this was the closest he'd been to the sky – his realm – in days. He inhaled deeply, allowing the chill to fill his lungs, the sensation reminded him of the way the wind would rush through his joints and vents in his alt mode...

His hand trembled, the movement causing the homing beacon to rattle slightly, dragging him back to reality...

Starscream activated the beacon and set it to rest at his feet. He had to move swiftly if he were to make it in time to plant the second beacon on the other side of the city, there was no need to reminisce about his lost body; he would regain it soon enough...

.................

Starscream leaned casually on the wall as he took another sip from his super size glass of strawberry milkshake. He didn't know what was worse: to actually like a beverage that was intended for sparklings and femmes, or to drink it from a plastic glass that featured a picture of an Autobot. If somebody would have told him just a deca-cycle ago that soon he would be submerging himself into disgusting and irrelevant human habits, he would have burst into laughter, right before shooting the prankster to death. Certainly, the image of himself gladly drinking a milkshake wasn't doing anything good to his monstrous ego.

But he quickly eradicated those thoughts from his mind; he was enjoying that creamy fuel that reminded him – vaguely, of course – of the sweet flavour of regular energon. As for the picture of the yellow Autobot midget on the plastic glass, he shrugged his shoulders and guessed he had to tolerate it. The Autobots were the stars of the night, after all.

And the stars were fashionably late, as he noticed the time on his Gucci watch with a grimace. He had been there for almost two hours, analyzing the place and looking for strategic spots to perform his own show. Of course, he had to consider the existence of the surprise element, which jeopardized the beginning of his mission, but that same factor also provided excitement to his mood. He needed to feel like a Decepticon again, at least remotely, and the thought of what was going to happen in just some minutes was providing an odd version of such feeling, somehow bringing him closer to some small part of who he used to be.

He increased his grimace and tossed the now empty plastic glass aside. Who he used to be??? Who was he now, then? Some anonymous, puny human, lost in that mass of noisy and annoying puny humans… More than his drastic transformation, he was beginning to feel more and more a foreigner every hour that he spent in that fleshling nest. Foreign to the Decepticons, to his identity as a Cybertronian super advanced cybernetic organism… the bare thought was terrifying.

Despite his initial shock and disgust, he had managed to blend in to that hell very quickly. He was wearing human clothes, refueling with human food, walking through that crowd of flesh creatures as if he were one of them… not to mention he had spent most of his time in the Portland city-state interfacing like a beast with a human prostitute without any concern for how many viruses or infections that female germ could have been transmitting into his fuel line. He shook his head. He had to admit, at least to himself, that he had always been easily driven by lust, but it seemed that such condition had gotten worse since he began wearing a human skin.

"Seems to me that you dropped something."

Starscream frowned and turned to face whoever was daring to disturb him. The voice had sounded very close to his ear and, unless the circumstances were associated with intimate pleasure, he had never tolerated the presence of anybody invading his personal space.

A middle aged male was staring at him with very unfriendly eyes. By his clothes Starscream could deduce he was part of the group of humans assigned to enforce the law. Policemen, he thought they were called…

"I said you dropped something, didn't you hear me boy? Are you going to pick that up or do you want me to do it for you?" the man repeated, pointing toward the fallen milkshake glass very close to his feet.

For a moment Starscream felt urged to obey his first impulse: attack the disgusting flesh bag and make him one with the ground. Who did that worm think he was to speak to the great Starscream like that? But he forced himself to remember he had a mission and he couldn't afford to ruin it for a moment of anger.

Besides, it was never too early to start pretending that repulsive kind behaviour the Autobots loved. After that day, he had the feeling he would have to use it… a lot.

"Of course…" he said, picking up the glass and softening the tone his voice as much as he could. "I'm very, very sorry. I don't know what I was thinking."

"You punks just don't give a damn about limits, do you? Just because daddy signed some big check for the benefit tonight doesn't mean you can fool around and do what you want…" the man grumbled as he walked away, shaking his head.

Starscream's face returned to his unfriendly expression as he tossed the glass again, this time behind his shoulder. That brutish, old flesh ball… it reminded him of Ironhide for some reason.

But the policeman had mentioned something interesting, confusing Starscream with some wealthy member of the group of socially privileged humans. The ex Seeker smirked, satisfied to see that he hadn't lost his natural elegance. But that could work against him as well, especially considering the masquerade he was about to put together for the foolish Autobots.

He walked to a nearby trash can and discretely got rid of his expensive watch without any remorse. For a moment he thought about also losing his five hundred dollar jacket, but the cold of the night dissuaded him of such idea. It wasn't about looking like a homeless person to the eyes of the Autobots either…

He headed to the other side of the street, avoiding the noisy crowd that was becoming more anxious as they were waiting for their metallic heroes. Such a pathetic vision of mediocrity those fleshlings were… driven by some of the lowest emotions of any sentient mind. Starscream had no doubt that the right thing to do with such a failed race was to terminate it. They were so easily affected by demagogic propaganda… perhaps the fools would walk happily to their own doom guided by the 'proper' emotions.

That charity event was a perfect example. Hundreds of humans gathered together, raising funds to support some organization to repair sick sparklings. Cancer, Starscream remembered the disease was named. He remembered having read once that such failure had to do with some sort of mutation of the human cells… nothing within his interests, really.

It wasn't in his interests either, but he couldn't help but notice the different panorama that existed just some miles from there. Would those smiling humans make the same effort to raise funds for Stella's lousy neighborhood? He hadn't seen one single prostitute in the wealthy area he was currently standing in, whereas the first human zone he had encountered was invaded with those creatures.

He was familiar with contrasts, ever since he was a sparkling on Cybertron. He had seen misery and opulence, and he had quickly decided which side he wanted to be on. Joining the Decepticons had been the perfect way to focus his ambitions and find that they were even bigger than he had believed.

Who would have thought he would end up on an alien world, using his talents not for grandeur, but merely to return to himself; to fight not for glory but to avoid living and dying like one of those alien creatures that walked the tricky line that classified them as first or second class citizens?

Iacon and Kaon… It seemed that Earth also liked to turn its back on its most unfortunate children. It was amazing how Portland had such abysmal social differences being only one city-state. It seemed that such diversity happened in most of the cities of the planet. Frontiers and nationalities aside, as long as the pariahs were kept hidden, the smiling faces seemed to have no problems in maintaining their hypocritical countenances.

What an interesting world Earth was, after all… Someday he definitely had to apply some of the very classified theories he had developed to mutate societies.

His glance met the eyes of nearby young female who was staring at him with open interest. Starscream could read immediately the desire in her body language, so clear that he could almost smell it. He smirked at her as well, once again feeling the urge to satisfy needs that were becoming very natural in his human body. The femme was attractive, very attractive actually… noticeable younger than Stella, and definitely more beautiful.

Just for a moment, he wondered if he would have time to take that human to a more private part of the street and indulge in some carnal pleasure before focusing on his mission again…

But reality forced him to forget about those thoughts as an enormous cheer could be heard along the entire street, almost covering the sound of the approaching engines.

The Autobots had arrived.

……………

Carly felt Spike's arms tighten around her as Bumblebee turned roughly around a narrow corner.

"Oops! Sorry about that," Bumblebee said. "Are you guys OK?"

"Couldn't be better," Spike replied, grinning and kissing Carly's neck.

The blonde girl chuckled. "Yeah, don't worry Bee. Anyway, we shouldn't both travel in the same seat or next time we'll end up with a big bump on the top of our heads. Why don't you move to the driver's seat, Spike?"

The young man reluctantly did what the girl said, not before kissing her once more. "Okay, but I don't see the big deal… It's not like the police are going to stop us tonight. We are the stars of the night, after all!"

Carly grinned. "You mean Bumblebee and Hound are."

A soft chuckle came from the yellow Beetle's board. "I'm no star, guys! I'm just a regular shy Autobot, you know me."

Carly looked to the side mirror and saw the green Jeep that was following them very closely. "Well, shyness is definitely not one of Hound's problems. See how he enjoys popularity."

Spike also turned around and smiled. "Yeah, and he's not the only one. Speaking of shy guys, I'd say that Chip has no problem with some recognition."

It was true. Chip Chase, who was sitting in Hound's driver seat, was waving with his hands to the growing groups of admirers who were cheering them as they were approaching the Pearl District, in which the charity event was going to take place.

Carly returned her glance to the road ahead of them, only to raise it up and fixate it on the black sky. "Mmmh… do you think the Decepticons will give us problems tonight, Bee?"

"I don't think so. Cosmos has been watching their base all morning and the only movement he noticed was that Laserbeak went out, but he returned almost immediately."

"Where do you think he went?"

"I don't know. Cosmos lost him for some minutes but there are no records of any damage inflicted by Decepticon activity. He must have been on some surveillance mission, I guess… The 'Cons do that all the time, Carly."

"Besides," Spike said, "I don't think the Decepticreeps would be interested in ruining a charity event. Fortunately it's not among the things Megatron considers important."

"Lucky for us…" Carly said.

"You sound like you're almost sorry they won't show up," Spike said, grabbing her hand.

She smiled. "I just think we should never get too confident, that's all. You never know when the Decepticons will decide to pay a visit."

"Relax, Carly," Bumblebee said. "Prowl will be patrolling the area with Bluestreak and Sideswipe. They were performing some maintenance chores but they should be here in about an hour."

Carly leaned her head on the seat. "That definitely makes me feel better. Hey guys, lose your seatbelts because we're here!"

"Showtime!" Spike said as he tidied up the neck of his shirt, bought especially for the occasion.

The stunning flashes of the cameras received them. Carly opened Bumblebee's door, blinking and covering her eyes with the back of her hand to shield them from the dazzling lights. She saw Spike waving his hands at her from Bumblebee's other side whilst the Autobot transformed into his bipedal mode, but unlike her boyfriend, she didn't particularly love to be in the center of the spotlight. She shook some hands and smiled at everybody, at the same time making good use of the attention the Autobots were drawing to lose herself within the crowd.

She sighed with relief when she found shelter near a wall at the entrance of a narrow street. It was a good place to watch the event without being spotted. Earlier that day she had signed a check with four zeroes to the Cancer foundation, the biggest donation they had received, as some pompous and fat man from the Mayor's office informed her. She had only smiled in return, not feeling proud at all.

It had been so simple, just putting her signature on some sterile piece of paper… But that was nothing that made her feel better. She had only donated money that she had inherited, money that worked for everything except for the really important things. Her heart sunk at the sight of a group of thin kids, most of them without hair, smiling and cheering at the Autobots. Their innocent faces and their sincere happiness proved how much they were enjoying the wonderful moment they were living, staring at real steel heroes and not just some stereotyped cartoon copy.

There was no doubt those kids were having the most exciting day of their entire lives. Carly repressed a tear when she thought that perhaps some of them wouldn't live to have a moment like that again…

It was then when she felt it, clear as a touch.

Somebody was staring at her.

She was sure. She couldn't see anything with the discreet glance she took, but she was certain a pair of eyes were fixated on her with an intensity that was almost physical.

She was used to being stared at. Ever since she had turned fourteen, she had become a regular center of attention for both male and female eyes. Of course, she couldn't care less about that, as sceptical as she was about appearances.

This was different, though. More than a passing glance, more than a casual stare and a potential request for her phone number. It was like somebody among the crowd had chosen her to be the exclusive center of their attention.

And she didn't like it.

She shook her head, realizing how paranoid she was being. She smiled when she saw Spike playing the fool to entertain a group of kids that were sitting on Hound's shoulders. Her boyfriend was a child as well… so young but yet so brave and warm hearted. There were times like that, in which she confirmed she had made the right decision by starting a serious relationship with him.

The minutes went by fast. Bumblebee and Hound were performing some driving stunts and even a combat simulation in which Bumblebee got the lower hand. It was amazing how the Autobots had torn down so quickly the thick walls of human distrust. There was no doubt there was hope for humanity after all.

But right when she was ready to finally relax and give up her natural ability to question everything, three thin lines divided the sky as the roar of very familiar engines left no doubt that Carly's suspicions had, once again, turned into a reality.

The sound of an explosion somewhere behind her rocked the street, followed closely by a second, this time somewhere in front.

"DECEPTICONS!" somebody cried.

Horror only took half a second to spread.

To be continued.

Even though we are situating this story in Portland, we are acknowledging it as a fictional version of the actual city. Some people from there have been very kind in giving us the basics about their City of Roses, information that has been very helpful to imagine Starscream's surroundings.

But, even with all this help, we still are not from Portland and have never been there, so once again we want to point out that you might find some details of the city inaccurate, but whatever liberties we are taking are being for the sake of the story.

At the same time, it's not our intention to offend the people from Portland with the fictional events we are narrating in this story. Unfortunately, social differences and crime are burdens that most terrestrial cities carry, so we thought that our fictional Portland should show a similar face.

As always, thank you all very much for your continued support and reviews. Please let us know what you think :)

Additonal note by Taipan Kiryu: Despite Starscream's opinion, strawberry milkshakes are not the human equivalent of energon. (Shakes head, staring at iratepirate in bed, victim of an epic case of food poisoning, or better said, energon poisoning, although she says she didn't get if from a milkshake…)