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Earth Orbit
A silver jet entered the massive debris field. A field that was once a mighty Space Bridge, which was destroyed by the Autobots not long ago. After all that work I did having it built! What waste of time! Starscream felt this little trip here was also a waste of his time. He should be back on the planet, watching the newly awakened Skyquake slaughter the Prime and the Autobot scout. However, Soundwave detected a life sign here and insisted that he check it out. So now he was here, on a no doubt fool’s errand.
He transformed back to robot mode and alighted upon one of the larger pieces of debris. No one could have survived this. His optics scanning for any sign of life, to see nothing, all but confirming his thoughts. He mentally sighed, his wings twitching with annoyance. As I suspected, faulty sensors. The last thing I need are rumors that Megatron is still-
There was a crackle in his comm, interrupting his thoughts. He thought he heard a groan over it. Starscream scanned the area again, this time spotting a floating body a short distance away. There was only one bot it could be, but he had to be sure. With some hesitation, he pushed off and drifted toward it.
It was indeed Megatron and not in good shape: there was a large hole in his chest, right over the spark chamber. Did he really just hear him groan or was his comms playing tricks on-
The moment he touched the body, Megatron surged forward, grabbing him by the arm. Starscream’s wings snapped back in shock as he stared into the Decepticon’s leaders still very bright optics. However, rush of energy was only temporary, likely an involuntary reaction, for Megatron’s optics rolled back, dimming, before releasing his grip and going limp once more.
Starscream’s wings twitched in anxiety: how was he still alive? A purple glow in the chest cavity caught his attention. Leaning closer, he saw the answer. Dark Energon. A smirk played across his face.
“Everyone thinks you are deceased,” Starscream purred through his comms as he leaned in close to Megatron’s unconscious face. “Who am I to disappoint them…’Master’.” He drew back and reached into the chest cavity, grasping the shard with a clawed hand.
The moment he had grasped the shard, he felt something like a small surge start traveling up his arm. It traveled fast, too fast for him to properly comprehend what was going on before it hit his spark. He made a soundless gasp as he blacked out for a few nanos. When he came too, he released the shard and shook his head, wondering what the frag just happened.
“…All of it!...”
Starscream froze, blinking rapidly. That had been in his voice, but he didn’t recall ever saying anything like that. At least, not in that frantic tone.
“…All of it must go! He must pay!...”
Now he was seeing flashes of images. Him piercing a hole into some unsuspecting guard with his claws, right in the spark. Another guard got it in the neck, blue energon spraying everywhere. Then him handling crates of dark energon, followed by an image of him at a console with a big red ‘purge’ command lit up.
I…I don’t remember this…do I? Starscream glanced down at the shard in Megatron’s chest and decided to distance himself from it.
Then, he was hit by a feeling of rage. Maddening. Uncontrollable rage. It was frightening him. Where was this coming from? He grasped his head with his hands, trying to get control of himself, his mind. It took several seconds before the rage faded away and he felt like himself again.
What the frag was that!? Starscream looked at his hands and saw that he was trembling. He didn’t get a chance to ponder on it more, as he saw movement out of the corner of his optic.
Turning he saw Lazerbeak approaching. Scrap! He quickly realized that Soundwave wasn’t about to risk him possibility finishing Megatron off. Blast that Soundwave! Quickly he adopted a pose of concern over his fallen ‘leader’. “Soundwave! If you are listening, I have found Lord Megatron,” he announced with fake concern. “And he is…unwell. We must transport him to sickbay immediately!”
--
Nemesis
A short time later….
Starscream paced in his quarters, frustrated with his bad luck. Skyquake not only failed to destroy the Prime, but was destroyed himself by the lowly scout! So much for a legendary warrior.
To top it off, not only did Soundwave anticipate his plan to finish Megatron off, but the damn crew voted to have their esteemed ‘leader’ restored to full health. Therefore, he had no choice but to summon for the medic Knockout and his assistant Breakdown to rejoin them on the ship.
What he heard, saw and felt after he had touched that shard though, was at the forefront of his thoughts. As much as he tried, he could not recall what he had experienced since then. It was like it never happened. Yet he felt certain it had somehow.
The dark energon…does it have other affects that are not known? It was the blood of the Unmaker…the Chaos Bringer, after all. Perhaps the essence of Unicron was trying to influence him, to take over?
He scowled at the thought. His mind was his own. No one will tamper with it! I will not touch that stuff again!
A thought occurred to him. If that stuff did this to him from just a simple touch, what was doing to Megatron’s mind with it being part of his very body? It certainly would explain their leader’s behavior before the space bridge was blown up in his face.
And likely future behavior. Starscream scowled at the thought. The last thing they needed was for their cause to be derailed further due to dark energon induced insanity. Unfortunately, Soundwave was no doubt keeping watch over Megatron in the sickbay, the silent bot was loyal to him to the point of insanity. That meant there was nothing Starscream could do without being caught.
All he could so now is wait for their medical team to arrive and see what Knockout’s prognosis was on Megatron’s condition. Perhaps, if he was lucky, Knock Out will declare Megatron beyond help.
Starscream scoffed at the very thought. Him? Lucky? Whenever Megatron was around, conscious or otherwise, he seemed to have no luck at all!
With a sigh, Starscream lay down on his berth. He’ll think of something: he usually did. Right now, he could use a good recharge….
He would quickly learn that a full restful recharge would become a rare thing from that point on….