Chapter 2: The Base
After landing, Nightshade immediately felt disoriented, sore, and collapsed after changing modes.
On the grass, Nightshade watched as a patch of land lifted to reveal a hidden underground building.
This must be their base, of course it is, Nightshade mused, but their thoughts were interrupted by the voice of Starscream.
"At least wait till we're inside. If you sleep out here you might as well just hand yourself over to GHOST." He said calmly, lifting Nightshade to their feet. "Go on now." He motioned for Nightshade to enter.
Nightshade walked into the base, but their legs gave out within seconds of entry.
Starscream let out a sigh and sat beside the Terran. He proceeded to make a noise as if he were clearing his throat. "Greetings, small bot, I am Lord Starscream, Leader of the Decepticons!" He said with a pompous energy.
"I know who you are." Nightshade said in a tiny voice. "My name is Nightshade, I go by they and them."
"Noted." Starscream responded.
"I am very grateful towards you, uh, Lord Starscream. I was wondering something…" They made sure to sound non threatening. "Why did you rescue me? I'm not a decepticon."
Starscream gave them a confused look. "Well would you rather I had left you for GHOST to recapture?"
Taken aback by the query, Nightshade responded with a quick shake of the head.
Starscream smirked "of course not. No transformer would want to stay in Meridian's glorified torture chamber. Besides, we decepticons do possess honor, you know."
Nightshade quickly responded "well I didn't mean…"
Starscream cut them off "don't worry, I know, I know. History is written by the victors, after all. It doesn't help how the Decepticon cause has been largely forgotten after a seemingly never ending war. But I never forgot." He smiled proudly "You see, Megatron was once a poor, abused miner. One day he was fed up, and he decided that he would make a change. He began writing letters and books, demanding better work conditions and exposing the awful work conditions he suffered through.
At first he only garnered the attention of a few. But soon, a few turned into a few dozen, then a few hundred, then a few thousand, etcetera, etcetera. The more famous he grew, the more he became a threat to the old way of life. He not only inspired the less fortunate, but even bots like myself in high ranking jobs. And all of us were furious at the injustices faced by the unfortunate masses." Starscream let out a sigh, as Nightshade stared silently.
They opened their mouth to speak only for Starscream to continue his monologue. "As the leader of the Decepticons, i will unite us in our cause! I will inspire hope of a better future! I will bring about a new era of liberation and prosperity! We shall no longer hide in bunkers or risk being tortured by a mad doctor! I am the leader Megatron should have always been! I promise you that." He shouted proudly, raising the heads of a few passerby who nodded and smiling in approval.
"If you'd like to learn more of our history and beliefs, we have a wide library of works written by not only Megatron but also by many of his allies." Starscream spoke after a few moments of silence.
Nightshade looked up at Starscream "Why, thank you, I'd love to read them!"
"Down the main hall, first room on the left." Starscream said succinctly, standing up himself. "I have some things to attend to. If you want to find me, my office and data centre is at the far end of the hall." The two went their own ways.