War From the Stars

by James Pwyll

Adjustments

Upon entering the large cargo hold, Starscream took note of those that were here. On one side was a truly gargantuan Decepticon, even by their standards, coloured purple and green, bearing one bright, red eye. At present, she was hauling massive containers from one side of the room to the other, and failing that, was busying herself with clearing away any debris or damaged components, which were unsurprisingly plentiful, given the nature of their landing here. On the other, a Decepticon more his size, largely a dark blue, and whose face was obscured by a white plate, not unlike that of their enemy, Optimus Prime. It was to the latter that Starscream walked to, seeing him work at his console and not even bothering to acknowledge the Lieutenant's presence. At least, not until said Lieutenant actually spoke. "Soundwave. Report."

"Ship status, sub-optimal," Soundwave replied. "Shields repurposed for stealth. Chances of detection by Autobots or indigenous life, minimal."

Starscream resisted the urge to roll his optics as his comrade's usual, clinical response to everything, and so instead got back to more important matters. "And your study of the natives?"

Soundwave's gaze remained on his work as he answered. "Vehicle forms selected. Uploads will be distributed once modifications are made. Weaponry is required for effective combat."

Starscream turned, leaning against the wall as he considered his compatriot's remark. "The creatures, the humans. They confound me. So many vehicles to choose from and yet hardly any of them are fit for war."

"Affirmative," Soundwave concurred. "Most military constructs relegated for museum displays or in storage. Alterations needed to present-day transportations for effective, combat-ready disguises."

A smirk appeared on Starscream's face. "Primitive or not, it'll be a treat to fly these alien skies in the local guises." His smile vanished shortly afterwards, replaced by a frown. "Then we can get down to the important task at hand."

Here, finally, Soundwave looked to him. "Engaging Autobots may be unsound. Resources and reinforcements are unavailable on this world until we can repair communications. It is unknown what force was present aboard the Ark, before or after its crash."

Starscream nodded. "True. And given that this is Optimus' ship we're talking about, it'll be safe to say he's got some heavy hitters with him." Then, his confidence returned as he regarded the still-silent grunt in the room. "Good thing we've got one of the heaviest hitters of them all, eh Clobber?" Alas, his fellow Decepticon was still not heeding him, instead continuing with her heavy lifting, much to his irritation. "Fine then." Then, he paused, glancing around the rest of the room. "Anybody seen the quiet one?"

Soundwave looked to him, then nodded. "Affirmative."

Starscream opened his mouth to speak, only to be stopped when, to his slight concern, he found a blade to his throat, held there by someone standing behind him. He stood absolutely still, before then hearing a whisper in his audio receptors. "Careless, Lieutenant. You need to be more aware of your surroundings."

Grunting, Starscream waited until the blade had been removed before turning to look to its owner. Standing just a head shorter than him was the fifth of their number, a silvery-grey in hue save for the dark purple faceplate she wore. Her eyes were narrowed to him, and she twirled the blade in her hands with expert precision. "Nightbird," Starscream acknowledged. "Always hoping to make a dramatic entrance, eh?"

The female shrugged, responding with her almost disturbingly-calm voice. "Well, until we get to our enemies, I'll have to entertain myself however I can." She looked over to Soundwave. "Primus knows that one is never fun."

Soundwave offered her a look, which was as difficult to read as ever with that face of his, before getting back to whatever his project was. Meanwhile, Starscream folded his arms and regarded Nightbird with the same irritation as before. "You'll get your chance eventually. We're Decepticons after all. It's never that long a wait before a fight happens."

Nightbird arched an eyebrow to him. "Well, here's hoping our next battle goes a bit smoother than our last one, Starscream."

He understood her meaning immediately, and so narrowed his eyes. "My decision was sound, assassin. Take out the Ark's engines and they won't be able to flee from us. It was Optimus, remember? We couldn't afford to let him slip past us."

Nightbird nodded. "True. And yet, as you'll recall, focusing on the engines gave them enough time to point their weapons at us." She looked around the room. "And we can all see how that ended for us."

Starscream turned from her. "We had no way of knowing their ship had that much firepower. By all accounts it was just a long-distance transport."

"One commanded by the very leader of our enemies," Nightbird pointed out. "So was it really that wise to assume it'd be defenseless?"

Starscream stayed silent for a moment, which Nightbird took as effective admittance of his blunder, but shortly afterwards he turned to her again. "Look, bottom line, we're stuck here and we have to make the most of it. We make what repairs we can, including our communications with any luck, we find the Autobots, engage them and, if we're careful, finally succeed in taking out Optimus."

Nightbird looked to him slyly. "Just Optimus?"

Starscream frowned, then glanced down to his right forearms, wherein there could be seen four tally marks scratched into his own metal. "Well...obviously not just him," he admitted. Then, he looked back to her. "But he's the key to our victory. Get rid of him and the Autobots fall."

Nightbird shrugged. "Pretty talk. Heard it plenty of times over the last few millennia, but hey, maybe this time we'll actually get it done."

To that, Starscream's irritation returned. "Enough backtalk, Nightbird. You should get yourself sorted out for an alternate mode."

Nightbird chuckled, turning from him and starting to walk away. "Oh, I already have. And I figured it was high time to take inspiration from my own name on that count."

Starscream watched her go, then looked over his shoulder, to both Soundwave and Clobber, before sighing. "One never talks to me, one only ever talks about his work, and the other likes to be cryptic." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Is there nobody here who can actually hold a normal conversation with me?"

"Lord Megatron?" Soundwave suggested, keeping his eyes on his work.

"I mean someone who actually wants to talk to me!"

Comments

[Ri2]

Nobody wants to talk to you, Starscream.