//------------------------------// // Seeking The Seeker // Story: Top Of The List // by dudenotactive //------------------------------// "Smokescreen, we need to talk," Shockwave spoke in his native tongue, none of the humans understood the language, it sounded too much like gibberish.  The girls could only watch as the two titans conversed with each other. It would seem to be something so important that Shockwave did not wish them to hear about.  The way the Autobot moved, it concerned them. Though they could not understand their words, Smokescreen's body language was all they needed to tell that something was afoot. The younger bot rushed over to the console and smashed a few keys, after a second he turned towards Shockwave with a worried look. He mentioned Starscream's name, then Arcee's before he returned to the computer.  "Arcee here, what's the problem?"  "Hey, guys!" The girls flinched when they heard Sunset Shimmer speak. "Just wrapping things up here on our side, I'm coming over to talk about something." "Yeah, it's about her friends." Said Arcee.  They paled once Smokescreen glanced over to them. "Friends?" He spoke in English. "Wait, that's not important right now! We have trouble." "You guys okay, did Starscream do something?" Arcee said with concern. "It's worse," Shockwave took over with a deep and ominous tone. A shiver shot through the girls like a jolt of lightning as they grew weary. "Moments ago, my sensors detected signs of life in the outer rings of this star system. After reading through the findings, I have concluded that we are not alone." There was silence, no voice was heard as the two large machines waited for a response. It was deafening to say the least, the two bots were static as if they were not alive to begin with. The girls knew that the situation was dire, none could even make a squeak.  "Where's Starscream?" Arcee finally broke the silence.  "We do not know, I am still in the process of tracking his signature. But it will not be long until we find him, I believe that he is somewhere close to the coast and will make confirmation soon." "I will be there ETA in five minutes! Find Starscream, and set the defenses on high alert!" With that, Arcee ended the call.  Shockwave immediately returned to his task of finding his "leader" before they are found by someone else. While on the other end, Smokescreen was left with nothing to do, there was no way he could help the 'Con with his set of skills. All he could do was wait until an emergency came.  As for the girls, it would seem that their caretaker was too on edge to even remember that they were there. He stood by the console ready to activate the Bridge if needed. Optics focused on the screen as he scanned for any change around the base.  There was almost a moment that Smokescreen acknowledged them, but it was only a short apology for the random interruption on their tour. One can only wonder where the Decepticon leader is and what he's even doing so far out of their shelter. That question will be answered soon enough.  "Steve!" Thunderblast called out. "You're alive!" The drone stared at her for a moment as the light returned to him, then he simply shrugged his shoulders.  "Oh Primus, this is bad, this is bad!"  The seeker paced aggressively on the sands, fire and ash surrounded them along with some debris of their escape pod. The shore next to the wreckage was tainted with energon which would soon catch alight if left unchecked.  Though the sky was blue as usual, Thunderblast could see the moon above, where the two ships were currently located. One moment there was a simple cruise through space, the next, well if Thunderblast was being honest, she fainted when the Storm Slicer attacked. But Steve was awake, and yet he would not disclose any information to her, which annoyed the femme.  "What do we do now!?" Steve only sighed. "You don't understand, back then I had my hubby lord Megatron, but since he's dead I have no one with great influence to depend on!" Just then, a portal opened out of nowhere, before both could even draw their weapons, a single blast knocked the seeker into the water. Steve, who opted to live, quickly raised his servos in the air and surrendered.  "Wrong signal." A massive mech muttered.  Though he wanted to do something, Steve was reluctant to play the hero, but he was paralyzed under the glare of a giant hand cannon that would surely decimate him before he could even bring out his guns.  He was powerless as the larger bot walked over to Thunderblast's body. "You are..." Starscream stood upon a cliff, he stared at the sun that neared the horizon. He waited for time to pass him by so he could go back to base and not meet the pests that dared to even speak to him.  Such an insult would have gone unpunished if it were not for Smokescreen. Oh, how he wanted to crush Rainbow Dash under his heel like the insect she is. Though he must respect her courage to face him after nearly killing her, if it were not for his mercy, she would have been lost to the well of... Where exactly do humans go when they perish?  Now he wondered about other races that were not related to Cybertronians. One single question started the gears in his head. As he stood on the edge, he began to think of the afterlife. When his kind loses their light, they simply return to the Well of Allsparks so their spark could be passed on to a new cycle of life.  Does the same go for other races? Do they have a well of organic sparks?  This thought ran through his mind for several minutes. Though he was an esteemed and respected warrior of the Decepticon core, he was a scientist as well. Which meant he was one to tackle the mystery of the universe no matter the subject. May it be energon, whether metal or plastic is better to use for the wounded, and the many chemicals that would possibly be of use to him for his quest to silence Megatron.  Sometimes he wonders about the tyrant that abandoned the Decepticons, and Starscream. Truth be told, sometimes the seeker misses the bucket head, he would not admit it though. Sometimes... Sometimes he doubted his leadership, not because he wasn't good enough, but because... he was a coward, that is a fact that seemed to follow wherever he went.  Starscream witnessed real leaders despite the two differences. The two bots he had in mind were Optimus and Megatron.  Two opposites whose rivalry lasted for eons, leaders of their own way who were supported by thousands if not millions of followers.  That was the time, he would make schemes about disposing of Optimus Prime once and for all, then Megatron would become furious and tell Starscream that "Your foolish ideas are useless against a Prime!" To be fair, there were many opportunities to kill Optimus but it all failed because of... unexpected outcomes.  His thoughts were derailed as something caught his eye in the distance. His mouth formed a grimace, three jets were headed straight towards him.  "Great, just great." He groaned loudly as he waited not for time, but for whoever these jets are.  That was when he spotted it, one jet that stood out from the other two. With his superior optics, he saw two important details, forward-swept wings and the most awful color combinations of purple and teal.  "Slipstream." He hissed.  No seeker fits the description more than the most horrid femme in Vos, that conniving, backstabbing, filthy opportunist. Just when he thought his day couldn't get worse, somehow Slipstream and two seekers are here on the planet with him. Though he is curious, there are bigger problems to face right now.  Soon enough his patience was rewarded, the three seekers landed a few feet away from the cliff and away from Starscream. His scowl deepened as he met Slipstream's smug look.  "All hail Starscream." She sneered.  Starscream sighed. "Slipstream, Thrust... Who's the other one?" "Nova Storm of the Rainmakers, sir."  He arched a brow at her. "Huh, I think yellow fits you better." "You know, we were after a different kind of prey, but imagine my shock when I detected your pathetic spark!" Slipstream hummed with a sadistic tone. "Forget Blitzwing, if we bring you back then you can explain everything to us about Shockwave's strange invention." "You brought the Void Gun!?" Starscream beamed up.  But soon his excitement was replaced by a sense of dread as Slipstream sauntered over to him. The way her hips moved seductively sent fear through his spark with every swing. That smile, that deceitful smile of hers, oh how he hated it. She was like a venomous snake ready to pounce on him once the chance arises.  The worst part was that he couldn't just simply escape, though he was faster than Slipstream thanks to his jet mode, the two seekers with her were almost or just as quick as him. If he ran then they would simply shoot him out of the sky, if he fought them head-on then he would lose quicker than a bot hyped on red energon.  His best option is to just reason with them, he knew the cone head and the rainmaker more than anyone, they have history.  "Focus Starscream, you have bigger concerns than the gun." "Such as?" He shivered slightly as Slipstream's claws traced the edges of his wings.  "You and your small group of corpses are outnumbered, a battalion of drones are awaiting my orders to converge on this area to detain you. It will only be a matter of time before reinforcements arrive to escort you back to Cybertron, old friend." "Slipstream-" Starscream could not continue as the muzzle of Slipstream's gun was pressed against his lip. "It's Air Commander Slipstream to you, seeker." "Does Thundercracker just throw that title around like candy?" He scoffed. "It would seem that I overestimated that fool if he was foolish enough to put you in charge of Cybertron's greatest Air Force." "Hmm, it would seem that you haven't been living under a rock just like I had thought." She snickered. "Though you'll be sleeping under one soon enough." "On your orders, Commander," Nova said as she and Thrust readied their rockets.  "A shame that you won't see the bright future of Vos, I will succeed where you have failed. How will you escape this situation, might I ask?" There was a moment of awkward silence, he stared down her optics with malice, if it was not for the fact she was with two seekers, he would have torn open her throat by now. But sadly, the odds are stacked against him, that much he knew.  Though there was an odd feeling as he listened to her, the way she spoke seemed familiar. Then it hit him like a blow from Devastator's fist.  "Is this how Megatron felt about me?" Confused and stunned, Slipstream recoiled with an odd look on her face. "What?" "The way you talked, you almost sound exactly like me!" He shivered.  "I am nothing like you!" An explosion clouded them with ash and dirt. Starscream had managed to fire off both his rockets into the ground which gave him the opening he needed.  Once the air was clear, Slipstream was livid. Her fists clenched so hard you could hear her gears screech with stress.  "You idiots, go after him!" The two seekers in her command followed her orders and launched off the ground with haste.  Stasrceam zoomed through the skies for his life, he knew that there was no way he could ever outrun them and it would be only a matter of time before Slipstream would catch up to him. He had better chances against the cone head and the rainmaker than that wannabe. And just as he thought, the two seekers he had in mind were already at his tail.  Both fired shot after shot from their null rays with the intent of pacifying Starscream, but unlike these grunts, he was the lord of the skies. No matter how hard they tried to shoot him down, he would just dodge their shots like a professional dancer, if anything, his skills are beyond theirs.  "Are you even trying!?" He mocked them.  "Shut up!" Thrust snapped at him.  "This is Nova Storm, we are in pursuit of Starscream! I repeat, we are in pursuit of Starscream!" "So useless that you would call for help, pathetic!" Starscream snickered.  "That's it!" "Wait, no!" Thrust couldn't warn Nova in time, the rainmaker went for a tackle which was a flawed idea.  Starscream smirked as she played right into his hands. The moment she was close enough, he transformed right at her face with his sword in hand, that was when she knew she made a grave mistake as her wing was severed. Thrust could only watch as Nova plummeted towards the green earth as she screamed for her life.  Starscream quickly shifted back to his jet form, he could tell that Thrust was reluctant to even pursue him. One decisive move was all Starscream needed to break Thrust's spirit.  Slipstream entered the scene but found no one else but Thrust. Any sign of Starscream was nonexistent as if he disappeared from thin air.  "Where is he!?" She demanded to know.  "Gone..." He said to her.  "You let him escape!?" "No, he went after Nova." "Nova? Why didn't you-" She could not even ask her question as the seeker transformed into Starscream, not Thrust. Slipstream had barely any time to dodge two rockets but thanks to her superior maneuverability, the rockets only scraped the edge of her wings.  She watched as the colors faded away to confirm that it was indeed Starscream. "But how!?" "Color change module, courtesy of an old friend!" Starscream laughed as he transformed back to his jet form.  "What did you do to Thrust!?" The two jets continued to race across the skies in blinding speed, but it was evident that Starscream was faster in the long run. "I already told you, he went after Nova, poor seeker had lost her wing!" "That's it!" She snarled. "I'm bringing you back in pieces!" "Then, by all means, catch me if you can!"  Starscream dived towards the trees below, Slipstream did not give up so easily, she flew after him with a boiling rage in her spark. Both zipped around trees and other dangerous obstacles, they were equal when it came to control in the air, Slipstream was designed for this while Stasrceam trained for it.  Both proved themselves that they were superior seekers by flying through a dense forest. She tried to blast Starscream down, but all she did was cut through the forest with waves of bullets. The flashes of her muzzles could be seen from above, anyone would be able to notice the odd lights from miles away, especially a Decepticon with a keen eye.  "My drones have discovered Starscream's whereabouts!" Shockwave informed Smokescreen. "Activate the Bridge immediately!" "Wow, you're super concerned about your friend, aren't you?" Dash teased.  "If I wish to escape Tarn, my only option is to keep Starscream alive, this is merely for survival." He claimed.  "Well whatever, but count me in!" Smokescreen placed a foot in front of Dash. "You can't just go like that, this is official Cybertronian business and no human should come between us." "But I can help!" Dash claimed.  "Rainbow Dash, just let the big robots do their thing!" Applejack scolded the athlete. "Besides, we still have to wait for Sunset and she'd be worried if y'all just up and gone like that, especially when there's danger afoot." "Ooh, there's gonna be an awesome giant robot fight!" Pinkie squealed.  "T-there is?" Though Fluttershy was not one for violence, she was fond of the idea of robots battling for truth and justice. Sadly these aren't like the ones she knew of.  "None of you are going!" Smokescreen said with a boom. "You are all my responsibility and if anything happens, then I can't forgive myself." Dash looked away shyly, but she understood him, they were all small compared to these aliens. And it would certainly be troubling if something ever happens to them. "Fine..." Smokescreen sighed. "Good, I'd rather not get any flashbacks of Miko... Alright Shock, Bridge is ready!" "I will contact you once I have Starscream, be vigilant." The portal ripped reality open, the blinding lights roared to life as it formed a connection from their base to wherever Starscream was at. Shockwave made heavy and calculative steps towards the portal, but something caught his eye, a rainbow blur dashed past him and into the rift.  "The human!" Shockwave snarled.  "What!?" Everyone exclaimed but it was too late, Shockwave and Dash were already gone. And what was worse, the Decepticon could not find Dash anywhere on the other side.