ERRORS IN JUDGEMENT OF THE PERSONAL KIND

Part Ten

As it turned out, Starscream never did have any spare time to mope around wondering what would become of his great discovery because he was shaken out of his sleep bright and early the very next morning by Skywarp himself.

"C'mon, ya lazy pile of corroded ailerons," his squadron leader snarled, gleeful to have an excuse to use his very best insults to legitimately admonish his former captain at last. "They want you outside at the main landing patch asap. Refuel first, though. You've got some work ahead."

Skywarp put out a foot and tapped at Starscream's caboose, administering the tenderest little kicks imaginable. Tender or not, it still got a rise out of his recumbent white and red victim.

"Get off my aft, you nit! What're you waking me up so early for?"

"Early! You overslept. You see anybody else in the room?"

Starscream looked around. The other five berths were empty. He leapt up as if electrified, scattering his bedding in all directions.

"About time. Now go get some energon, then out you go. Soundwave's in charge today."

Soundwave! That sounded promising, Starscream thought as he hurried over to the hangar bay's refueling stop to grab some mouthfuls of solid energon, the quickest way to recharge. Skywarp gave him a crooked grin when he ran past again on his way outside. He'd already gotten all the dope on what had transpired the day before with Starscream and Shockwave, and despite snarking at him, was very happy for his friend.

When Starscream reached the flat piece of ground which all the fliers used as a landing place near one of the ship's bay doors, he found not just Soundwave present, but also his senior squadron leader, Turbo, and just plain leader, Megatron. Three of his superiors at once…lovely. Fester was also there, already transformed into his small helicopter mode and waiting on the ground. One of his sides was pulled wide open and the two engineers, Cutter and Fletcher, were loading pieces of equipment inside, ably assisted by Darkwing. Starscream wondered for a few seconds why Megatron didn't just ride inside Fester himself, then realized why. Even seated, he wouldn't have the headroom he needed and it wouldn't do for their leader to sit all scrunched up with his neck cricked to one side. Megatron really was a large bot now, almost Prime-sized, and Fester simply didn't have all that much interior space for a rotary-driven aircraft.

He was, however, more than roomy enough for the two much smaller engineers, who clambered aboard as soon as they'd gotten the last of their cargo loaded. They didn't bother closing Fester's side door either, just sat on the floor on either side of the opening with their feet dangling outside, hanging onto the door frames and looking as though they were having the time of their lives. Both were perfectly capable of flying themselves and shared the exact same class of tiny commercial jet alts, but it was apparently more fun to have a helicopter ride. Turbo was staring a little askance at them. It was a response typical for a lot of the fliers when it came to the engineers. The two of them were always so fearless and friendly when interacting with the hardened warriors and so indifferent to the glares and bristling their clueless behaviour sometimes caused that not a single member of the High Guard had yet been able to crack them one and put them in their place as they deserved—they were just too small and weak, too…not worth it. And they were under Megatron's protection to boot, which made them even more untouchable…ditto that scientist bot, Gyro. Megatron never seemed to mind their cluelessness, no matter how overfamiliar they got with him, and observing their leader's odd tolerance was all the others needed to consider themselves put on notice: no smacking around the little civvies. Darkwing, and to a lesser extent, Fester, were still fair game though.

Turbo's presence was one Starscream found hard to fathom and he could tell that the other flier was wondering too. Starscream would have thought that Megatron would have brought along both Soundwave and Shockwave and left the current captain of the High Guard behind to maintain order, but no, it was poor Shockwave who had to stay behind instead, which must have been disappointing for him. Oh well, it wasn't as though either Starscream or Turbo were unhappy about the decision, just puzzled.

They were all soon up in the air and Megatron himself told Starscream to lead the way. He did so, setting what he thought was a good, reasonable pace everyone could manage, always aware that his leader was close by and scrutinizing him the whole time with a critical eye. It made him nervous. He couldn't even imagine how Darkwing must have felt. The slightest bobble or hitch or anything else that jostled his silver passenger in the slightest would no doubt earn him a world of hurt.

Once they'd reached the other volcano, everyone paused until Soundwave pronounced the conditions within still safe and in they went. Starscream landed first, on the terrace right next to the visible part of the ship within the volcano's walls, then watched with pleasure as the others began taking in their remarkable new surroundings and expressing their amazement in turn. Fester was able to carefully maneuver himself very close to the cryptic blown hatch through which they were hoping to gain access before setting down, and his two ride-alongs hopped out right away in a state of great excitement. The opportunity to crack open a very old, unknown shipwreck and unlock its history was probably like the fantasy nerd highlight of a shipwright's career, Starscream thought with amusement.

He was just about to pitch in and start helping to unload the equipment within Fester's chopper interior when Soundwave beckoned him to come over to him, and he motioned to Turbo too. "We need you to start scouting the area about this site," Soundwave said to the two fliers once they were standing attentively before him. "Everything between here and our current base, and then further northward. Once you've done enough in your own good judgement, remain nearby and keep watch until contacted again."

"You want us to…scout? Both of us?" Turbo asked, taken aback.

"Yesss," Soundwave replied, the monotoned quality of his voice exceptionally exaggerated. "I'll have further orders for you later." And with that, he turned his back and returned to Megatron's side.

The two fliers left before they could say anything stupid in protest. Once outside again in the sunshine, their reservations fell away, however.

"Is he kidding? They could've used any two fliers if all they wanted was for us to scout!" Starscream griped. "And I've already scouted most of this whole range. It's pretty much just moderate eroded hillsides between here and our base, and if you go the other way, there's a really steep patch that's all bare cliffs falling down, then another volcanic area, and then a bunch of jungly natural crap. That's just all within a radius drawn from this point to include our other base, of course. Too easy!"

"I don't think this is coming from Soundwave," said Turbo. "He wouldn't have brought me along, for starters. He would have brought Shockwave—"

"Exactly!"

"—in which case, you wouldn't have been needed either. I mean, no offense, but Shockwave could've served as tour guide just fine on his own, no?"

Starscream scowled. The two of them hadn't even bothered yet to transform into their aerial alts. They'd both flown out of the volcano's interior using their heel thrusters and were currently perched on the crater's rim while they debated what to do next. Turbo, still at something of a loss but wanting to make Starscream feel better, suggested that the smaller flier take him out over the features north of their current position, show him the sights he hadn't seen yet for himself. This, Starscream reluctantly agreed to. If nothing else, it would qualify as legitimate scouting and help pass the time until they were hopefully allowed back inside the volcano, and Starscream did enjoy Turbo's company…always had…

They were soon streaking their way over the mountainous landscape in their proper alt modes, two striking jets flying in tandem, one a lightweight white and red fighter designed for speed, the other black with dark green trim and configured to carry a heavy, lethal payload of attack weaponry. It was already shaping up to be a pretty day, bright with minimal haze, their visibilities almost unlimited. From their perspective, they could clearly see the broad dark margins all along the retreating frozen energon sheets which still covered vast portions of the adjacent lava plains. The natural land lining their side of the mountain range was indeed still warming, the rugged, level, freshly exposed ground expanding bit by bit. Eventually, a broad swath of the same sort of low-growing vegetation which had already invaded the older, less steep slopes might be growing all along the mountain range's perimeter. And beyond that, keeping it in check, the chaotic wilderness of the stone spire eruptions, old and new.

Starscream's cheerfulness returned when they both reached the other volcanic area he'd mentioned. He was genuinely curious whether Turbo might have some explanation for what they saw there, a huge black block of glossy stone that appeared to have shattered into multiple standing slabs. Lava was running through some of the ravines thus created, heading for the lava plain but vanishing beneath the ground through some sort of sinkholes before it could spread out on the surface. The source for all the lava was sited slighter higher than the shattered block, a boiling pool of it erupting directly out of the slight slope and overflowing into the ravines. Gases rising up through the open expanse created a wealth of tiny, contained bubble explosions which threw burning cinders into the hot air above, generating a rain of ash that rose upward instead of falling. And to top it all off, the pool was shadowed by a sizable black cinder cone that was smoking and only adding to the debris swirling about in the wayward updrafts. Starscream and Turbo weren't quite crazy enough to transform and land right next to the erupting pool, but they did hang about for some time, using their thrusters again while they hovered along and stared down.

"This'll look spectacular at night," Turbo enthused. "It's pretty impressive right now, but imagine it in the dark."

"I know! And it's only fifteen minutes away from our current base. No matter what happens with the new shipwreck, we've got to come back here after sunset at least once."

"It's a date. What's up with that giant split-up block though?"

"I was hoping you'd know!"

"Okay. Earthquake maybe? It can't be the eruption currently going on. It's not explosive enough and it's coming out next to the block, not inside it."

"Yeah, we'll have to get Soundwave and his little buddy to look at this one, I guess. I don't even know why we've got volcanos on Cybertron in the first place. Soundwave tried explaining it to me once, but I dozed off."

That comment was enough for some shared yuks before the two of them packed it in, reverted back to their aerial alts, and moved on. Even though the scouting they were engaged in was half-assed at best, they still felt obligated to make at least some effort.

The most outward, natural zone with its heavy infestation of vegetation wasn't as interesting as the volcanic area, Turbo agreed. But then, Cybertronians in general weren't over-fond of nature. It's unpredictability and lack of order irritated their sensibilities.

The two bots returned to the volcano with the buried ship nosed right into its interior. There was no sign of anyone outside and they heard no transmissions, although they both had their comms set for universal reception. Starscream flew back to the nearby extra steep hillside that was falling down on itself and looked it over. It would have been a foolhardy destination for anyone on foot, but a flier that could leap to safety in a sparkbeat to avoid even the worst of landslides could handle precarious. Besides, the spot Starscream was eyeing was close enough to the crater and high enough up that they could still keep watch while they enjoyed the view and the sunshine.

Turbo, who was the heavier of the two, set down first on the ledge Starscream had chosen, found it sound enough, and turned around to sit and park himself right on its edge, letting his lower legs dangle over the near vertical drop below. Starscream joined him. Even though there was plenty of space on the ledge, he sat down close enough to Turbo for their wings to overlap. They had enough history that Starscream still found the big black brooding bot a calming presence and Turbo was fine with his closeness.

"D'you think Fester's still in there?" Turbo asked after a moment.

"Dunno. I'm guessing they sent him home while we were scouting."

"Mm. I noticed that Fester's been in to see Megatron a couple of times this past while. Think the big bot's got problems, that he needs the Doc?"

"I think it's more like he just wants to talk. Fester's the only person we've got besides Darkwing who knew Megatron back when he was just a miner. Maybe he likes having familiar company."

"Oh, right. Still, it's got to be weird for Doc, seeing how he's changed. Those cogless bots, they were all so small. Compared to most regular T-cogs, I mean."

"Fester likes what happened to Megatron. He had a real hate-on for Sentinel too. I don't know why, but I think Megatron might."

"Oh."

They fell into an easy silence. It was deceptively peaceful, sitting where they were. Thousands of feet below them, the strange earth was still spewing out its molten fire, caught in its endless cycle of building and resorption, yet at altitude all was calm and quiet.

"Sooo." Turbo asked again in time. "Figure out yet what's really going on?"

"Not a clue," Starscream replied.

"I mean, you're our former captain and I'm the current one. There has to be some reason why the two of us in particular were told to come along. Are we supposed to fight each other, maybe? Because I'm not doing that. I'll defer to you if Megatron's looking to choose between us."

"No, don't," Starscream warned. "Let's just carry on the way he wants for now. Maybe it's about how well we work together or something."

Turbo regarded his friend with a sour smile, looking regretful.

"Okay, but there's still no way I'm fighting with you. You know I'd rather be your second. No offense, but being captain sucks. If I wanted the position, I would've clobbered you the first time we were working our way up the ranks."

That prompted a genuine snort from the other flier. Starscream knew exactly what Turbo meant about the clobbering. He'd always been secretly relieved that he'd never had to challenge the bigger and stronger mech for captaincy of the High Guard because Turbo would have taken him apart.

"Thanks," Starscream said. "I'd like it back to the way it was too. But I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

"Okay."

They lapsed into another companionable silence. Turbo glanced over at Starscream again, his intent now more personal, and reached a hand over to his arm and curled his fingers in under the protective armour to gently rub over the inside of Starscream's forearm. He knew that the other flier had always found it a soothing touch.

"And now that that's decided, how've you been otherwise? You've seemed a bit distracted this past week."

"Ahh, just more Sentinel stuff to work through. I pulled up a couple of old memories. Bad ones. It should be the last of it, though."

"I hope so. I'm still so sorry about what happened with you two. I still remember when you first started bringing him around our headquarters—he still had that courier alt. Both of you seemed so happy."

Starscream grimaced.

"We were."

He fumbled for Turbo's hand and they sat like that for a while, shoulder to shoulder, holding hands. Turbo felt very sad for Starscream. The memories must've been bad indeed for the proud flier to seek comfort so openly.

"Maybe it'd be best if you concentrated only on what did make you happy," Turbo suggested. "All the good memories instead of rehashing the bad ones. Sentinel was obviously the right bot for you for a long time. Whoever set up the Primes and afterwards…that was a different person."

"Thanks. I'm leaning towards trying to think that way about it myself."

He squeezed Turbo's hand and his friend squeezed back. After another interval, the bigger bot said, "I guess there's no point in us trying again, is there?"

"No." Starscream sighed. "I gather that if it hasn't happened after three times, then it never will. We're compatible. Our sparks aren't." He scowled a little. "Stupid sparks."

"Yeah. Well, it happens."

"I know." Abruptly, his scowl twisted into a bit of a smirk and he perked up again. "Hey, if you're really desperate, I'll still make out with you, but I can't promise I'll be any good at it. I'm kind of out of practice."

That got Turbo chuckling and even Starscream cracked a proper smile after that. "I'm okay," Turbo chortled, his deep voice making it sound more like a low rumble. "Plus which I'd rather not start something I can't finish. I'm more thinking about you. And speaking of compatible, there's someone in my squadron who'd likely suit you a lot better than myself. Interested?"

"Let me guess. He's orange, tan and green."

"That's the one. He's still sweet on you, you know."

"Harrier's sweet on a lot of bots."

"True, but you're the only one he's ever asked about. Every time you used to blow up or go off on your own for any length of time, I swear he used to come running and ask me if I thought you were all right. It almost got annoying, he pestered me about it so much sometimes. I bet he'd jump at the chance if you gave him any encouragement."

"I dunno… I've thought about it, but I'm still feeling kind of gun-shy. I guess I don't need to explain why."

"Harrier'd just take that as a challenge. And you've been alone a long time, ever since we came out here. Maybe it's time for a change, along with everything else that's changing."

"I'll keep it in mind…"

They settled in for another spell of quiet companionship while they waited and kept watch like proper diligent High Guardians. Fate might have decreed that their sparks couldn't mesh well enough to make interfacing worthwhile, but their friendship still had an intimate quality that went beyond the physical. For Starscream, in his current state, it was enough.

to be continued...