SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you haven't seen all of Transformers Prime and Predacons Rising, and read Transformers: Exodus, go no further! I refer to major plot developments that will give spoilers, and also half of this story won't make any sense if you don't read the novel. You really ought to play Fall of Cybertron and/ or read the Rage of the Dinobots and Beast Hunters comics as well. Everyone should, just because they are so awesome.
Legal stuff: I don't own any of these characters or settings and this is just a fan work.
Last time Knockout and Ratchet repaired all the damage Starscream had suffered, including replacing his damaged wing, but when he realized he would not be allowed to fly, Starscream came off as pretty ungrateful, only deepening the divide between him and Knockout. He was arrested by Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack.
Note: Make sure you have read Transformers: Exodus before this, since there are spoilers in this segment.
>>>Starscream
sits in prison for a couple of days and hardly gives the Autobots any more
info, since he is sulking.<<<
“Starscream! I know it’s you!
Transform and show yourself!”
Starscream looked around wildly and
pressed against the wall near the window of his cell. The voice had come from
outside, and it was the unmistakable feral rasp of a Predacon. They’d found
him!
The guard did not appear to have
heard anything, being on the other side of a buzzing force field. Starscream
considered demanding to be moved to an interior cell that was more secure,
despite how much he hated being deep inside buildings, when a jet roared past
just outside. There was no time to move now - he was doomed! Shockwave had
outfitted a Predacon with a jet engine! Was that what he meant by
modifications? What an idiot! He steeled his nerve and leaned toward the window
to see the abomination, then ducked as a massive shape darted past, collided
with the wall, and leapt off again, shaking the building. That was the
Predacon, an ordinary one if there was such a thing, and the jet… was fighting
it? No. Starscream peered out and spotted the jet, a slim, angular alt-mode,
racing away with the beast close on its tail, rolling clumsily to avoid a blast
of fire.
The alt-mode bore no Autobot or
Decepticon markings, and it was painted yellow and red, but Starscream supposed
a creature as stupid as a Predacon might have mistaken it for him. It was
distracting the brute, anyway. He looked around and spied a crack, high up on
the wall. Glancing at the guard, who was looking around nervously after the big
boom, he armed his Null Rays and went to work on the crack. They hadn’t
disarmed the weapons he could create from his own body, an invasive procedure
that Ratchet did not seem eager to perform, but he would have preferred to have
his missiles – Null Rays did little physical damage to things that were not
electrified.
“Stop that!” cried the guard,
banging on the edge of the force field generator.
“That thing won’t be gone long,”
Starscream said, “and I do not intend to be here when it returns!” He kept
firing, and the guard trans-readied his blaster hand and opened the force
field. A Null Ray to the face dropped him before he set foot inside. Starscream
shook his head as he stepped over the unconscious bot. He hadn’t even planned
that - it had been too obvious – but he took the opportunity. If he could just
escape the Predacon with his life, he was going to like this Cybertron full of
naïve new bots.
If there had been other guards
posted, they were gone, likely to see what the commotion was outside, and no
one stopped Starscream as he simply walked out of the building. Outside, he
could hear shouting off to the left, on a wide street, and he ducked behind a
pillar as a small shadow whisked over him, followed by a huge one. He watched
as they chased off into one of Iacon’s vast golden boulevards the size of a
small canyon. The Seeker was flying low along the terraced buildings, and he
kept circling back and then darting away, all the while letting the Predacon
get close enough to rain fire on him. He was looking for a place to land, but
he didn’t look injured.
Why would he do something so
stupid? He’s been hanging around wheelbound Autobots, Starscream thought to himself. A Seeker was safest
in the air, with the advantage of altitude and three dimensions to move around
in. This Seeker had cut himself down to just two, with the ground so close
below and the Predacon above. Maybe that infuriating Silverbolt could pull off
a low altitude dogfight, but this bot was no Silverbolt. At least he wasn’t
stupid enough to descend all the way into the artificial chasm and get really trapped.
A crowd of bots was coming from the
left, toward where Starscream was hiding, all racing to follow the aerial
chase. His window of escape was shrinking. After checking to make sure the
doomed Seeker had led the Predacon far enough away, he leapt into the air and
transformed, blasting skyward in a tight spiral. It was possible someone saw
him leave, but what did he care? Below, a trio of Autobots, Arcee, Bulkhead,
and Smokescreen, he thought, roared ahead of the crowd in vehicle mode,
transforming occasionally to fire uselessly up at the Predacon. The rest were
likely new Cybertronians from the Well of AllSparks, and they simply moved
together in a frightened clump. He spied a handful of Seekers on the edge of
the crowd, and two flying Vehicon troopers, still painted with their Decepticon
purple uniforms.
None of the flight-capable bots was
doing anything, though one of the new ones kept nervously assuming alt-mode,
but then hesitating and landing again. There was clearly a vacuum of Seeker
leadership, not surprising since none the Autobots there could fly. Not that it
would do any good against a Predacon. Except maybe – where was Prime?
Starscream suddenly remembered
something he hadn’t thought of in ages. Another missing Prime, Sentinel, whose
failure of leadership was the reason he had joined the Decepticons in the first
place. At least when Optimus Prime was absent it was because he was off doing
something, usually something that thwarted Starscream. That was at least
admirable, though frustrating. Starscream scanned the horizons for the Prime’s
new flying silhouette. He’d never wanted him to show up before. Where was he?
His thoughts returned to Sentinel - he had been absent right in front of all
Cybertronian’s faces for centuries, not fighting for those depending on him to
lead. Starscream had hated him for it.
He pulled up into a half loop and
dove back the way he’d come. He was going to hate himself in a moment.
With the sun at his back, he could
see his shadow racing below him along the ground, whisking over the little
crowd and the fighting Autobots, then dropping into the shadowed street as he
dove on the Predacon. He waited until he was near, then peppered it with
ion-cannon fire, right behind the head. He felt a primal lurch of fear as its attention
turned to him, and he used the fear to roll faster under the blast of fire that
came his way. As he rolled he shot again, sending a spiral of ion bolts into
the beast’s face and shoulder.
They did nothing.
He pulled up and twisted away as an
orange glow formed in the Predacon’s throat, but no flame chased him. Scrap!
The Predacon hadn’t forgotten its first target, and now the other Seeker had
moved into the open to make its escape. The beast drenched it in flames, nearly
knocking it down, then turned and growled at another barrage from Starscream.
The Predacon hesitated, circling
between its two foes, one wounded and one an imminent threat, and then it did
the worst thing it could! It turned on Starscream, roaring a furious challenge,
and at the same time it swept the other Seeker out of the air with its tail.
The Seeker tumbled, reverting to its proto-form in a panic, the Predacon
flapped skyward, and Starscream dove straight down.
He could feel the heat off the
Predacon as he slipped below it, its jaws snapping shut on nothing but
contrails. A quick roll moved him safely around its lashing tail and then he
gunned his engine. If he could just crunch his speed and that of the
irregularly flailing Seeker… He slammed his elevators up, all but stopping mid-air,
and the bot crashed into him. It latched on in a death grip as if they’d been
magnetized together, and it was all Starscream could do to stay airborne.
“You have wings!” he yelled,
blasting his vocoder over the howl of his straining engine. “Get off me and
transform!”
The Seeker took orders well, and a
moment later Starscream was lighter. “Get out of here!” he said. “Get altitude.
Fly crazy. Don’t sit in front of its fire.” A brief lesson on dogfighting
tactics, but it would have to do.
He fired his engine hard, not
caring anymore where the other bot went. If he couldn’t get clear he was on his
own – Starscream had just used up all the heroics he could muster. Now he
needed to escape, and to do that, he needed altitude. For now, that advantage
was the Predacon’s.
Starscream fired at it as he
closed, drawing level with it for a moment, then skidded left to avoid its
claws. The tail came from the other side, and Starscream transformed, using his
sideways momentum to flip his bot form over the sweeping blades. They shaved
sparks off him as he arced his body over head first. Pointing down now, he
alt-formed and fired his engine, swooping under the Predacon, using the extra
speed to gain an enormous amount of lift. He got above the confused beast,
fired a parting shot, and blasted away.
The Predacon screeched and flapped
harder, giving chase, but Starscream was much faster in the open. He easily
dodged a couple of fireballs and did a victory roll, flashing in the sun.
Primus, it was good to fly!
He was nearly in the clear when his
rear facing optics saw something he could not believe. The Predacon contracted
its neck in, shortened and stiffened its wings and tail, and fired a jet engine
that opened on its back.
“Shockwaaaave!” howled Starscream
as he rocketed away with the Predacon gaining. They hurtled southeast, toward
Kalis. Starscream looked down. The roads along the fusion link tunnels
connecting Kalis and Iacon looked all right, at least from the air. Hopefully
the tunnels were still open - this was the time to fly low. He dove, rolling
and jinking from side to side, pleased that fireballs were hard to aim at these
speeds, but not willing to trust that Shockwave hadn’t installed more weapons
on his latest monster variation.
Just below him was a tunnel opening,
and he couldn’t believe his good fortune. Energon must have started welling up
in Kalis again, because it looked as though a river of it was running inside
the tunnels into Iacon. He slowed as much as he dared, letting the Predacon
catch up. Shockwave may have made you faster, he thought, but I bet he left you stupid. He gave one final burst of speed, flying just inside
the broken road surface, then snapped a turn down the tunnel, careful to skim
the roof and the keep his engine from igniting the Energon. That happened soon
enough. The Predacon unleashed a fireball at Starscream’s vanishing tail, and
crashed into the tunnel a moment later in a devastating blue conflagration.
Starscream’s shadow leapt up in
front of him against the blue-lit tunnel walls. His optics nearly whited out
from the intense light, making it hard to dodge the odd chunks of debris that
criss-crossed the derelict tunnel. There was a light ahead, and that was all he
focused on. A little farther, but the heat and pressure of the explosion were
on top of him, creating a wave of turbulence. He pulled up and grazed the
opening as he burst into the cold air. It stung, but not as much as getting
blown up would.
He circled once, with a dread
creeping up on him that the Predacon may have survived, before deciding that he
would rather not know than face it again right now. And he also did not want to
be alone in a world where such things existed. He turned and flew northwest.
The bots in Iacon looked up from
the excited mob they’d formed around Solarflare, the young Seeker who’d just
been chased by a Predacon and rescued by someone the older Autobots had called
Starscream, and seemed mystified about. The sky to the southeast was burning
blue-white, with a huge column of smoke. A couple of Seekers circled up to see
what it was, but it was far outside the city.
The commotion below gave Starscream
an idea, and he rolled into a steep dive. He transformed just as he landed and
straightened up, brushing some fresh metal shavings off of his arm.
“Got him,” he said, and was
instantly surrounded by young Seekers. He avoided eye contact with the Autobots
glaring from the back of the crowd, and just let the new bots bask. They parted
as the Seeker he’d rescued pushed through, shadowed by Ratchet. The scorched
bot stopped in front of Starscream and almost reached out to touch him, awe on
his face. He pulled his hand back.
“Thank you for saving me,” he said.
“Who are you?”
Starscream drew himself up. “My
name is Starscream. Supreme Air Commander of all Cybertron.”
A murmur of admiration went through
the crowd of new bots. It didn’t matter that all of Cybertron amounted to about
eighty bots at the moment, only a handful of whom could fly.
“Puh-lease!” growled Ratchet, but
none of the crowd seemed to notice. Arcee shoved through the other bots and
grabbed Starscream’s arm, pulling him aside.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
He jerked his arm away from her. “I
think I just saved that bot’s life,” he said smoothly.
“You know what I mean. You’re not
the Air Commander. You’re the worst kind of war criminal.”
“The worst? Spare me. You haven’t
spent the last lunar cycle with Shockwave and his science projects.” Starscream
shuddered. “He’s much worse than I am.”
“It’s not a contest! And ‘not as
bad as Shockwave’ isn’t going to fly.”
“Neither will these young Seekers
if they aren’t properly trained. At least not for long. You lot haven’t taught
them anything.” Starscream looked around. “Do you see any other flying bots who
know what they’re doing? Any Aerialbots? No? Then that makes me Air Commander.”
His own anger surprised him. He wanted authority, obviously, and to be out of
prison, but here he was, sincerely advocating for those Seekers. If Arcee
thought she was protecting them from him, she was wrong.
“Do they get a choice?” he said,
his voice soft but icy. Then, before she could say anything he turned back to
the Seekers, who were waiting, confused. He threw his arms open. “Who wants
flying lessons?”
They all pressed forward, hands
raised, including one of the flying Vehicons until the other slugged him in the
side. Starscream grinned at Arcee, who returned a look of pure loathing. He
acknowledged the crowd with an unctuous wave and turned to her.
“You wouldn’t want to disappoint
them, would you?”
“Bulkhead.” She jerked her head at
Starscream, turned on her heel, and stormed off. Bulkhead’s heavy hand landing
on his shoulders nearly knocked Starscream over, and the huge Autobot gripped
the back of his neck and marched him after Arcee.
“We just need to figure out some scheduling
details,” Starscream called back to the Seekers. “I wouldn’t dream of stealing
you from the construction crew!”
As soon as they were inside Arcee
snapped manacles around his wrists and Bulkhead let go of him.
“Aw,” Starscream moaned, pulling
uselessly on the cuffs. “Why do you even have these?”
“It’s a prison,” Arcee said
bluntly. “Did you forget you were just here? Come on.”
To Starscream’s surprise they
walked straight through the building and out onto the streets beyond, turning
into the smaller but grander structure the Autobots had been coordinating
reconstruction out of. Inside that building, they entered a room where
Bumblebee and Ultra Magnus were looking over a map of the Kalis region.
“We have a situation,” Arcee said.
Bumblebee looked up, and if he was
surprised to see Starscream, he didn’t show it. “What’d you do?” he asked.
“Only something amazing!”
Starscream said. “For which I think a little gratitude is on order.”
Bumblebee looked at Arcee.
“He broke out of prison and
declared himself Air Commander.”
Ultra Magnus snorted. “He can say
it all it he wants, it doesn’t make it so.”
“I feel the need to mention that
something happened in between!” Starscream said. No one said anything, so he
went on. “I broke out because a Predacon was in the city, and I didn’t want to
be anywhere near the vile thing. However, it was attacking one of your poorly
trained new Seekers, so I distracted the beast and saved his life.”
Bumblebee and Ultra Magnus just
looked at each other, and then both started laughing. Apparently Ultra Magnus
had a sense of humor, and Starscream didn’t appreciate it.
“It’s true,” Arcee said. That shut
them up.
“There’s the Predacon on the
loose?” Bumblebee asked, alarmed.
“Not anymore,” Starscream said.
“The fool exploded when it crashed into an Energon river under the old Kali-Con
road.”
Bumblebee leaned on the table.
“Starscream, we needed that!” Ultra Magnus tossed away the map they they’d been
reviewing.
“It was that or let the beast catch
me, and I do not relish the thought of ever being in one’s clutches again,”
Starscream said. “It was against my better judgment to engage it in the first
place.”
Bumblebee just looked at him for a
long time, until Arcee stepped between them.
“Come on, Bee, this is ridiculous.
He needs to go straight back to prison.”
“Agreed!” Ratchet entered the room,
followed by Smokescreen. Starscream raised an eyebrow.
“And how is your patient?” he
asked. “Singed? Shaken? Dented? But still in one piece. You’re welcome.”
Ratchet faced up to him and jabbed
him with his finger.
“And how do we know you and
Shockwave didn’t plan this whole thing? Have us take you prisoner to get inside
Iacon, and then use one of his Predacons to make you look like a hero?”
“First of all,” growled Starscream,
swatting Ratchet away with his cuffed hands, “I let you take me prisoner to get
away from Shockwave’s dubious medical care, not to conspire with him. Second,
I’ve had my fill of working with Predacons. You saw what those wretched beasts
did to me! And third, he tried to have me eaten by scraplets! Even Shockwave’s
plans aren’t that recklessly convoluted!”
“Even assuming that’s true,” Arcee
said, “why was the Predacon even here? It was looking for you.”
Starscream took a step back. “So?”
“So, maybe we should just let you go. You can take your chances out
there.”
“You mean… banished?” His wings
drooped a little. “But you can’t! That is, I can help you.”
Arcee just turned away.
“Why did you come back instead of
escaping?” Bumblebee asked after a moment. “You could have left while the Predacon
was distracted. Even after you fought it, you could have kept flying.”
Starscream straightened up and
tried to look as dignified as he could in shackles.
“I returned because Cybertron needs
an Air Command. War refugees aren’t the only things out there in space, and
even some of the them may not be too pleased with how the war turned out. If
pirates, or Quintessons, or Decepticons show up, or something worse follows the
refugees home, what will you do?” No one said anything, and he continued. “If you
wonder about my loyalties, rest assured they are to Cybertron. They always have
been.”
“Cybertron with you in charge,”
corrected Arcee.
“Fair enough,” said Starscream.
“But even if the peace holds, those Seekers deserve a chance to find out what
they’re good at. None of you can provide that.” He looked around. “I shall
await your decision.” With that he left the room.
“I’ll keep an eye on him,” Bulkhead
said.
Bumblebee waited until they were
out of earshot.
“He’s right.”
“He’s lying!” Arcee snapped.
“Why can’t it be both?” Bumblebee
said, getting stunned stares in return. “Regardless of his motives, he does
seem like the best bot for the job.”
“Bumblebee!” Ratchet said, “You
can’t be serious!”
“Who did Starscream rescue?”
Ratchet took a moment to respond,
annoyed at the subject change.
“Solarflare.”
“Is he all right?”
“Physically he’s fine, aside from
some scrapes and burned paint. But I think he’s still in shock.”
Bumblebee nodded then said quietly,
“It could have been worse.”
“It could,” Ratchet conceded,
shaking his head. “Most bots don’t escape a Predacon attack relatively
unscathed, if they escape at all.”
Bumblebee turned to Ultra Magnus.
“What’s your estimate of the new Seekers’ abilities?”
“They’re pathetic.” He looked
around at the others who seemed put off by his bluntness. “They’re slow and
clumsy in the air, and only a couple have shown any enthusiasm for high
altitude flying.”
“I can outrun some of them
driving,” Smokescreen said.
“Unless some Aerialbots show up,
I’m afraid that’s never going to change.” Bumblebee said. “If there are more
Predacons, and Soundwave and Shockwave are still out there possibly recruiting
old Decepticons, they’re in danger, and we can’t protect them unless they stay
grounded, which isn’t right. I hate to say it, but we may need Starscream on
this one.”
“He’ll just do what he always
does,” Arcee said. “He’ll wait, and make the Seekers loyal to him, and then try
to take advantage somehow.”
“But we know he will,” said
Smokescreen. “And he knows we know. Would he still try something, knowing we
know he knows we know?”
“He’ll try something,” Arcee said.
“No matter what.”
“Until then,” Ratchet sighed, “I
agree he may be a great help to our young Seekers.”
“They need to know who he is,”
Arcee said. “What he’s done. He’s too dangerous to be allowed to influence
young bots.”
Bumblebee held up his hand. “We
need to consider his proposal, that’s all. And we need to ask Megatron. If
anyone knows all of Starscream’s tricks, it’s him. We don’t need to decide
right now.”
All the Autobots agreed, though
none were happy about it.
“Bulkhead,” Bumblebee said over his
commlink, “Take Starscream back to prison.”
---
The forcefield blinked open behind
Starscream, and he didn’t turn around at the sound of heavy footsteps.
Megatron’s footsteps, a sound Starscream would always recognize, and didn’t
feel like acknowledging.
“No Null Rays or escape attempts,
Starscream?” Megatron said. Starscream turned around and the guard outside, the
same one he’d knocked out, gave him a wounded look.
“So the Autobots have you running
errands for them now, Lord Megatron?”
They stared at each other and Megatron lifted one finger.
“One point for arrogance.”
“What are you doing?” Starscream
asked, glancing at the finger, unsure if he should worry. What was Megatron
playing at?
“They want me to try and get a
sense of your true intentions before they decide what to do with you.”
“My intentions are just what I
said! I know no one trusts me, but is it so hard to believe I want to be the
Air Commander? It should be obvious!”
“That’s it?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t believe you. Why these
bots? Surely you’d rather command battle-hardened Decepticons who are doubtless
returning from space as we speak. That was your intent when you flew away, was
it not?”
“And go back to Shockwave’s lunacy
and Soundwave’s plotting? They’ll feed me to their Predacons if I show my
face.” He glanced out the window, nervous, for the first time in his life,
about what might come from the sky. “Besides, I can do more here, for these
Seekers.”
Megatron raised an eyebrow. “You
really have the patience to train them?”
“If it takes a thousand years! And
it might.” Starscream sighed. “Do you understand how irritating it is to
witness gross incompetence taking place before your very eyes?”
“Yes, Starscream, I think I may
have mentioned it to you a few times.”
“Very funny. All I want to do is
show them what they’re capable of. I want them to take care of themselves, not
depend on ground rolling Autobots as long as they don’t fly too high. Since no
one else can, doesn’t that make me responsible?”
“And you suddenly care about taking
responsibility?”
Starscream stepped up to Megatron,
trying to keep his sudden anger in check.
“And who removed my
responsibilities? This time around, I intend to protect my Seekers, and I can,
since no one is going to throw them away on suicide missions just to put me in
my place, or wipe their city off the face of the planet to erode my power, or
hand them over to Shockwave as experimental playthings.”
Megatron said nothing, and just
stared down at Starscream. Starscream expected to see rage blazing in his eyes,
but he was calm. He thought he could have struck him then and Megatron would
have taken it, and not responded with a crushing beating. Instead he turned
back to the window.
“Go explain that to your Autobot
masters.”
He heard Megatron leave and gazed
up at Moonbase 1, its ruins faintly visible on a clear night like tonight.
“Well?” Arcee asked as Megatron
entered the command center again. He hadn’t been gone long.
“My opinion hasn’t changed.”
“So is that a yes or a no?” asked
Bumblebee.
“I leave that to you.” He moved to
the middle of the room and addressed all the Autobots.
“You asked me to find out certain
things. Is he planning something? I am certain he is, but it hasn’t crystallized
yet. For the moment he is resting on his laurels, relieved to be alive and away
from Shockwave, whom he hates. He is, however, getting restless, and while it
is not in his nature to be satisfied, his ego is easily stroked. For now you
can let him have his way and your Seekers will benefit enormously from his
expertise. He is sincere about that, and he’ll train them with absolute
dedication. But understand, as their abilities grow, so will his arrogance, and
you must watch for the moment when he tries to recruit the most skillful among
them to his cause, whatever it ends up being.”
“You’ll recognize the signs, right?
You’ve seen how he operates.”
Megatron could not resist laughing.
“Oh I’ve seen his schemes come together, fall apart, adapt, and even work out
sometimes. It was almost entertaining. But I am not getting involved this
time.”
“Why not?” asked Bulkhead. “He’s
afraid of you. It might make him behave.”
“If he thinks I am in charge over
him, he’ll try to subvert me before doing anything else. And if he thinks I did
him any favors, he’ll balk. It’s personal.”
Silence descended on the room,
finally broken by Bumblebee.
“What was he like as Air
Commander?”
Megatron considered. “He was quite
skilled. Maybe brilliant. I’m sure you know what a difference his Seekers and
control of space made in the war. Many of my victories hinged on them. It
almost made up for his arrogance and constant scheming, and thus I suffered him
to live, as long as he was kept in his place.”
“Sounds fun to be a Decepticon,”
muttered Smokescreen.
Megatron went on. “He was a very
different bot then. Still a schemer, to be sure, but he was brave. Even when he
was out for himself, he had a few things he would have died for. Cybertron was
one. I believe the loss of the planet changed him, made his own continued
existence and vague power grabs his only priorities. His Seekers and their
pride were another. I understand he risked challenging a Predacon to save a
Seeker? That is not something I would credit him with doing, but thousands of
years ago, I might have. Perhaps a restored Cybertron means the restoration of
other things that were lost as well.”
To be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment