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"Lord Megatron wants us to infiltrate this Autobot mine and terminate any Autobots on sight. As always." Starscream said, sounding so bored with the assignment given and yet managing to sound commanding enough for the entire Decepticon air force to be able to hear him.
They heard him, but majority weren't necessarily listening.
There were some Seekers sniggering, looking back and forth at him and among themselves. There was a triplechanger blatantly making rude gestures at him. Right in front of him, there was another Seeker mimicking everything he said in an over-exaggerated impression of his own shrill voice.
Starscream clenched his fists in a mixture of anger and embarrassment. "Silence! This assignment is extremely important! I'm sure you all know the Decepticons are low on energon again, and I'm certain that none of you want energon rations smaller than they already are!" Starscream shouted at his subordinates, glaring pointedly at those who had been disrespecting him. The room goes silent for a few kliks. He did not notice Skywarp rolling his optics at him, or Thundercracker sighing at him. He had been on thin ice with his trine for a really long time now.
Starscream continues talking. "-and since Skywarp has half a processor, I-" Starscream was saying before he got cut off with a powerful punch to his faceplate.
The punch made Starscream's entire helm flare up with pain as he stumbled and fell to the ground, landing loudly on his aft.
"W-what?!" Starscream snapped in outrage, looking up at who had dared to hit him. The harsh scoldings and threats died in his throat as he saw the mech standing above him, looking furious.
"Don't you dare talk about my trinemate like that ever again." Thundercracker hissed.
What...?
"What..? What is the meaning of this, Thundercracker?! What are you trying to say?!" Starscream demanded, his volume rising with each word. Some bots grimaced and turned down their audials at the grating static coming from Starscream's vocaliser. Others averted their optics, slightly embarrassed by such a personal drama unfolding right in front of them.
What did Thundercracker mean by 'my trinemate'? Why was Thundercracker referring to Starscream as though he was not their trineleader? Why was Thundercracker implying that they weren't a trine...?
Confused and slightly hurt, Starscream looked at Skywarp as he rose to his pedes. Skywarp looked smug. Starscream was even more lost now. They had always exchanged insults like this before, and none of them had ever reacted like this before.
Why would Thundercracker humiliate me in front of my whole air force?
"Please, do continue, Commander." Skywarp sneered. Starscream's morning fuel sloshed around in his fuel tank uncomfortably. He felt sick. This felt wrong.
"Y-your disrespect will not be tolerated, soldiers! I shall....shall punish you accordingly after we complete this assignment!" Starscream snaps, trying desperately to gain some semblance of control over the situation as he felt more and more optics stare at him.
But the damage had already been done.
For the next few decacycles, all the Seekers could talk about was the command trine.
"Did you hear Commander Starscream got dumped by his trine?"
"I would say Screamer had it comin'. He didn' ever treat them well."
"I feel bad for Captain Thundercracker. I heard Commander Starscream hit him in their habsuite once for no reason!"
Starscream had tried his best to quell the rumours and gossip before they could spread to the rest of the crew. Most of these accusations were false! Starscream had never treated his trinemates so harshly! He had just....just shouted and...made constructive comments. Still! It wasn't as though his trinemates were completely innocent either!
Yet the brunt of the gossip was focused on Starscream. After all, Starscream was universally disliked by both Autobots and Decepticons alike. Thundercracker was nice and polite enough to be considered as 'naive' to the Decepticons. Meanwhile Skywarp was playful and fun enough to gain quite a few party friends among the crew. Starscream didn't really have any redeeming qualities.
The rumours eventually spread to the grounders and triplechangers in the army. Starscream would always get scrutinising stares from anyone he walked past, especially when they thought he wasn't looking at them. The rumours had also shifted in nature. A grounder may not understand the significance of a trine bond fracturing, but they would definitely understand how ridiculous it was for a cowardly Commander to hit his subordinates.
Ostensibly, it was alright when Megatron did it, but it was not alright when Starscream supposedly did it. Did the Decepticons just fear Megatron more than they did Starscream? Or did they deem Megatron hitting Starscream as necessary and normal just because it was Starscream? Loud, cocky, stupid Starscream?
One cycle, Starscream had been on his way to his room when he nearly bumped into Ramjet.
"Watch where you're going, you pede-licking coward!" Ramjet snapped at Starscream as he nearly bumped into his subordinate. Starscream felt his spark pulse in anger.
"How dare you address your superior officer as such?! I should punish you for such insolence!" Starscream said, hiking his wings up to appear more intimidating to make his point come through clearer. He was second-in-command of the Decepticons! He deserved more respect and worship.
"Superior officer? The only thing you're superior in is running your mouth about how great you are and blabbering to any bot who pities you just so you can get a scrap of attention," Ramjet spat at Starscream, sneering derisively. Ramjet looked so disgusted that it invoked a pang of hurt within Starscream's spark.
"Are you challenging me Ramjet? You better bite your words back before I cut rations for your entire trine." Starscream hissed, willing his voice not to shake. Ramjet was nothing. Ramjet hadn't suffered like Starscream. What could Ramjet ever know?!
Without waiting for a reply, Starscream turned on his heels and stalked away.
"Keep strutting around, Screamer. We'll see how long Megatron decides to put up with you. Maybe the Decepticons themselves would throw your dead weight off board so the ship can fly faster ." Ramjet laughed at his back.
Starscream felt coolant prick his optics. He was crying because he knew it was true. There was not a single Decepticon who cared for him or even tolerated him anymore. The Autobots would probably shoot him down on sight. Neutral Cybertronians were few and far between. Who would be there to help Starscream if he was on death's doorstep?
Starscream had managed to keep it together all the way to his room. He fumbled with the lock, his trembling digits struggling to press the right pincode. When he finally got the door open, he entered his room and closed the door behind him as quietly as possible, not wanting to embarrass himself any further.
The lights turned on automatically. Starscream's room was cluttered, not messy. There were so many miscellaneous things everywhere. Debris from Vos's destruction, his old science journal where he had recorded findings with Jetfire, prototype weapons and much more. Starscream couldn't bring himself to discard anything.
Starscream ignored everything and collapsed into his berth. He let out the sob he had been holding back in his throat. His faceplate was already wet. He hoped no one saw him.
Everything was so unfair. Sure he had been a little rude to his trine lately and had been ignoring them quite a bit, but that was no reason for Thundercracker and Skywarp to publically kick him out of the trine! They humiliated him! They disrespected him! How dare they?!
He was Starscream, the most accomplished Seeker in history, probably. He'd like to think he was. It made him feel important. In his dreams, he would be the leader of the Decepticons, and then ruler of Cybertron. And everyone, Autobot and Decepticons alike, would bow down to him not out of fear, but in respect. And they would all love him and worship him because he would be such a great leader.
Oh, how he wanted his dream to come true! But here he was, crying in his room all alone because his trinemates unofficially severed their bond with him and everyone hates him.
Starscream buried his face in a pillow, sobbing.
☆
Starscream transformed and landed in the hanger bay. It had been just another day on the Nemesis. Another overly ambitious plan clipped of its wings before it could even take flight. This time, not only had the Decepticons failed to terminate the Autobot Ironhide, they had also lost that energon mine to the Autobots.
Starscream's spark pulsed irregularly. He was scared.
It had been his fault.
Starscream had been the one who had insisted on focusing majority of the troops on attacking the Autobots rather than defending the mine. The Autobots had been easily able to get past all the forces because of some new weapon their scientists had created, capable of knocking every bot in a 5 mile radius into a stasis-lock. The troops had been no match for this simple device.
"Great job Screamer." A Decepticon scowled at him.
Starscream retorted with a typical insult, feeling the fear engulf his spark and spread throughout his frame, making him jittery. He had messed up. He had been careless and overconfident. Megatron would be livid.
Why did he always have to get ahead of himself?
"Commander Starscream, Lord Megatron called for you." Thundercracker approached him, already knowing what was going to happen.
Starscream just nodded, heading to the bridge where he knew Megatron would be waiting for him.
"Ah, Starscream. Pray tell, how long does it take for you to recover from a punch from a mere scout? Surely not as long as you took to get here." Megatron hissed, taking slow purposeful steps towards Starscream. Soundwave was there, next to Megatron's seat like a loyal pet.
"I- I can explain, master! The Autobot's new weapon was unprecedented and-"
"I do not tolerate excuses Starscream! You would be foolish to think that your lack of efficiency has gone unnoticed lately! Soundwave has been lugging your extra work! My servo itches to tear you apart component by component." Megatron growled, his tremendous frame seeming to radiate anger. By then, Megatron was so close to Starscream that all Starscream could see was Megatron's dark gray metal.
Starscream flinched at the sheer volume of his voice. It sent vibrations thrumming deeply throughout his frame. His frame which would soon be battered and mangled.
"I....I....please have mercy, Lord Megatron!" He pleaded, falling to his knees.
"Enough! I have grown tired of your incessant babbling and foolish arrogance! I have given you more chances than you ever deserved!" Megatron growled, grabbing Starscream by his cockpit hard enough to splinter the glass.
"Lord Megatron-!"
Megatron shattered Starscream's yellow cockpit, reaching in and grabbing internal circuitry. He yanked them out, making Starscream live up to his name. Starscream's cobalt arms grappled frantically at Megatron's impenetrable armour.
"Megatron!" He wailed.
Megatron stepped down hard on Starscream's right pede, crushing it and his thruster. Starscream didn't have time to recover as he was swiftly thrown into a wall. Starscream felt his whole body break from the blunt impact.
"Megatron....Lord Megatron..." Starscream coughed out energon, getting on all fours and crawling towards his leader. His limbs gave out after a few steps and he crumpled to the floor with a cry. When Starscream opened his optics, he saw huge dark gray pedes in front of him.
Megatron picked Starscream up by his neck.
"Please- please- " Starscream babbled, sobbing. Every sob made his frame ache terribly.
"Let this be an example to all those who are foolish enough to think incompetence will be pardoned here!" Megatron's voice boomed to the Decepticons gathered here and there, holding a thrashing Starscream up in the air. Then he slammed Starscream down onto the floor with a resounding crunch.
☆
Starscream spent a lot of his time in the medbay. It was because of this that the Decepticon medics had allotted a slightly damaged, worn-out berth all for Starscream so the berths in better condition could be left for other injured Decepticons.
Starscream rolled over slightly, trying to stretch to alleviate the ache in his back struts. He had been lying there for a really long time, but no one had tended to him yet. The pain was festering and it was getting harder to ignore every klick.
Starscream offlined his barely functional optics, trying to catch a glimpse of where any of the medics were. He only managed to see a flurry of movement to his right, where all the other berths were.
There was probably a lot of injured Decepticons coming in, Starscream thought.
But Megatron can't hold an attack without me! I'm the Air Commander....who would command the Decepticon air forces without me around? Is that why so many of them got hurt?
Starscream adjusted his optics, trying to see the situation clearer. What if one of his trinemates were on a berth?
Then he heard laughter. The constructicons were gathered, chattering and laughing raucously about something.
There were no injured Decepticons.
Then why was no one tending to Starscream?
Starscream felt pain flare up in his right thruster pede, and he wanted nothing more than to sever his leg from his frame so he wouldn't have to feel the pain.
Starscream tried to call for someone. However, it seemed Megatron had also damaged his vocaliser because all that came out was garbled static.
Multiple sets of optics turned to stare at him.
Starscream let out a pained sound, as if asking why nobody had started on his repairs yet. The gathered bots started to laugh.
Are they laughing at me?
"What's the matter, Commander Scream? Can't talk much now, huh?" One of them taunted. Starscream's spark sank. They were making fun of him.
Starscream wanted to argue back so badly, but he couldn't.
"Lord Megatron said the Decepticons need time to recover from this loss, so we can keep you in the medbay for as long as necessary." One of them said.
"Obviously we would delay your repairs as much as possible. You wouldn't believe how much peaceful the Nemesis has become ever since you got punished by Lord Megatron. Its wonderful not to have to hear your infuriatingly grating voice screaming all day!" Another constructicon said, and they all burst into another round of laughter.
Starscream couldn't say anything.
He felt coolant well up behind his optic lenses. He tried to blink them back, to prevent granting a Constructicon the satisfaction of watching high and mighty Starscream cry. In all his vorns of living, he had never felt so helpless. Even at Megatron's mercy, he would have been able to scream.
The constructicons continued to mock and insult him. Starscream tried his best to shut them out, filling his processor with thoughts of smashing in Megatron's processor.
☆
Starscream flew above the battlefield, trying to find an opening in the Autobot's defense.
"Decepticons! Fall back! We have acquired what we came for!" Megatron announced through the comms.
Starscream pinged his trine to fall back just in case they hadn't heard Megatron's orders. He couldn't help but worry for them, despite their tumultuous relationship. He attempted to do the same, but a sharp pain spiked from his thruster. Starscream shrieked. An Autobot had managed to shoot him out of the sky.
Starscream plummeted towards the ground incredibly fast, still reeling from the agony of the blaster shot and unable to recalibrate his frame to atleast glide to soften the impact upon landing.
Starscream's alarms went off as he neared solid ground. Starscream transformed back to his root mode, flailing and fanning his wings out to try and catch the wind. It was no use, as he was going too fast.
Starscream's crash into the ground was deafening. The impact radius was huge, sending debris flying and blinding everyone in the vicinity. White-hot pain blossomed throughout Starscream. Yet he couldn't even scream or cry out. Numerous warnings and alerts popped up in his HUD. Thruster damage, servo damage, ruptured fuel lines, primary processor function inhibited. All he could do was endure the excruciating pain for a few kliks before his systems were forced into a shutdown.
When Starscream came to be, he was not been sure of how much time had passed. He vaguely remembered falling out of the sky. He panicked, trying to feel for his trine through their bond, and was more than relieved to find them alive.
He would have never forgiven himself if he had let them die.
And then his pain sensors onlined.
Starscream screamed, clawing at the dirt beneath him. He wanted to get out of his broken frame. Starscream's vocaliser spritzed out from overexertion. The pain was unimaginable. His frame was horribly broken into pieces and covered in wet soil. He thought of how much he would stink and he wanted to jump into a lake filled with solvent.
Starscream thought he heard voices, but he had probably hallucinating them, because when Starscream's optics onlined after a long while, he saw he was all alone. He was all alone in that forest clearing. There was not a single Autobot or Decepticon in sight. The Autobots had not finished the job of terminating him, which frankly did not seem like a blessing at all considering his current situation. The Decepticons had abandoned the battlefield without returning for him.
Coolant streamed down Starscream's faceplate as he cried, muffling his sounds in the dirt. "Primus it hurts..." Starscream gasped.
They had all left him behind. No one had bothered to return for him. Megatron had not deemed him important enough to recover. They were probably all celebrating their victory within the safety of the Nemesis by now. Not even his own faction wanted him.
More time passed. Starscream was unable to move from his crumpled position. The pain had barely subsided. Tiny organic creatures were starting to crawl up his frame. Starscream whimpered, wanting to get them off. The sensation was disgusting. He offlined his optics, trying to ignore them crawling into his vents.
When Starscream awoke again, he was in a familiar place. He was in the Decepticon medbay.
Starscream was strapped up to several machines, each beeping and blinking. The pain was barely noticeable now. A medic approached him, noticing he was awake. Starscream couldn't piece together who exactly it was.
"Commander Starscream! It's such a relief to see you are awake. How do you feel? Any pain?" The medic asked.
Starscream slowly shook his head slightly.
"Well- that's great. Commander Skywarp got into trouble for disobeying orders to retrieve you from the battlefield so you owe him a good recovery. You have suffered damage to your right thruster, both your wings, your-" The medic droned on. Starscream did not need to know all that. Obviously a fall from that height would have broken his whole body. What piqued his attention was the fact that Skywarp had been the one to retrieve him.
Starscream could not even begin to say how confused he was at that. Why would Skywarp have gone out of his way to help Starscream, especially knowing now that Megatron had not ordered it so. Skywarp hated Starscream now. What did Skywarp want out of this? Did Skywarp intend to hold this over Starscream's helm? Did he want to ask for a favour? Did he want to blackmail Starscream? What was his intentions in saving Starscream?
Starscream winced when the thoughts overwhelmed his processor, making his helm ache. The medic seemed to notice his discomfort.
"I'll administer another pain patch for you. We have done all that we can. You just have to stay on berth rest for a decacycle to allow your nanites to repair minor internal scratches and damages and for your welds to fully set in."
A decacycle?!
Megatron would, undoubtedly, already be furious with Starscream. If he wasted more time and precious resources taking up space in the medbay, Megatron would never let him see the light of the stars again! Starscream willed his nanites to work faster, hoping to get out of this damned berth in half the time that had been predicted.
☆
Unfortunately Starscream still took about eight cycles to fully recover all motor function. Megatron, as expected, had merely pinned him with a disgusted glare probably reserved for only organics and Starscream. If it hadn't been for Soundwave's timely intervention, Starscream would have been scraping grime off Megatron's pedes.
Starscream dragged himself back to his quarters, trying to hold his head up high.
"Oh, its Screamer. Sure haven't missed seeing your ugly mug around." A Decepticon laughed.
Starscream froze in his tracks. Hasn't he suffered enough?! He didn't need inferior weaklings talking down on him!
"Don't call me that!" Starscream put his pede down, trying to sound stern enough. He looked more like a childish sparkling. It was obvious that the soldier thought the same as he laughed. Starscream felt a lump form in his intake. He felt sick. Maybe he needed to spend a few more cycles on that berth. He couldn't do this. Not now, not ever.
Why had he ever thought he could change his life with the Decepticons? He toiled day and night only for his subordinates to scorn at him like he was organic scum. He had done everything to protect his Seekers and create a better life for all those who had been wronged and oppressed by the functionalist government. Yet they laughed at him, calling him emotional and unintelligent behind his back.
And his trine- Primus he missed his trine. He had never noticed how Thundercracker always checked up on him in the medbay, or how Skywarp always cheered him up. He had taken them for granted, insulting them. Insulting Thundercracker's kind spark and Skywarp's unique processor. Thundercracker had never been soft, and Skywarp had never been stupid.
Starscream had been so very wrong.