Chapter Text
Starscream approached his lord, staring ridiculously at the crystal held within his massive palms. It was hard to believe that after three years of tirelessly working away the Decepticon ranks, his master returns with, not an army, but a rock. Or, the blood of Unicron, as he had said.
Now Starscream was no religious person, Primus knows he lost faith in that mentality eons ago, but staring at this ominous rock in the oafish servos, Starscream began to remember old files that he had buried at the lowest of the low in his processor, old tales told in education or to sparklings before bed.
The rock had an uneasy aura around it, a feeling that was addicting and yet poisoning all at once. Just like the ancient datapads and words of elders would describe it. “Unicron the destroyer..?” he questioned carefully, being wary of Megatron's posture and body language. He needed to be cautious in this situation. “...But it is said that his blood is the anti-spark.”
Lord Megatron smirked, his sharpened dentals providing a stark contrast to the rest of his darkened faceplate. “Plucked from cosmic shores..” he spat at his SIC, “gaze upon, dark energon.”
The seeker cringed in response, flitting his optics up to meet his master's analyzing gaze. He searched for a spark of falsehood, but was met with only interest. “Legend tells that it has the power to…” click. “Revive the dead..”
Suddenly Starscream understood.
That army that had been promised three Earth rotations around the Sun ago has not been acquired. In fact, if this is what Megatron claims it to be, then it was best to assume that his master had lost his processor in the isolation of deep space. Dececrating the graves of the dead, forcing them to continue fighting, morals had been lost.
“We require only a cadaver to be certain.” Megatron's attention was finally fully focused onto the seeker, eyes widened in malice. “Are you willing to make the ultimate sacrifice?”
Starscream paused for a moment, glancing to his left, then to his right, and then back forward with a nervous chuckle. Him? That was unreasonable. Why waste the most important soldier and commander of the Decepticons’ air units on a mere rock? It was so not thought through, that the seeker assumed that there was some major miscommunication.
“Are you talking about me, Lord Megatron? We have thousands of drones, you know.” His indirect attempts of pleading were met with a sharp scowl. With more force than necessary, Megatron shot his arm up and gripped Starscream's pauldron, hot vents burning against his faceplate as the warlord leaned down face to face.
“You have a duty, Starscream. Do not tell me you are neglecting it,” he growled threateningly. The grip grew tighter, but the seeker quickly squirmed out of it, stumbling a good couple of feet away. “I- with all due respect, master, I still prove useful to the cause. Killing your second in command for an… experiment would be rather wasteful, don’t you think..?”
The smaller mech wringed his claws together nervously, letting a shaky smile cross his derma. This was not the first time that his master had suggested death, and he was sure that it would be far from the last. Well, unless he was serious this time.
Starscream had been running the Decepticons during Megatron's absence, and he can’t help but blame himself for this situation. He should have gone down and killed that Autobot when he had the chance, but the fragger got away from the ambush swiftly. Maybe if he succeeded, he would have a carcass to welcome the warlord with, and to avoid his own untimely death.
Unfortunately, the fatal glint in Megatron's eyes molded into something different. Curiosity. That was never good.
“Well, I suppose you could be right. I have a better idea, anyways.” The breath of relief that had been released so many times before this stalled in his vents when the large gunmetal grey servo that rested at the side reached up and pinched the crystal, breaking off a piece. The piece was small, bite sized. It was lifted up and brought to the face of Starscream.
“Eat.”
The seeker stared, looking between those painful red optics and the mysterious gem. This must be some cruel joke. He didn’t want to eat that! Primus knows where it’s been! Besides, with all of this nonsense that has been spoken, you can understand the hesitation.
The pause was met with more persistence, the violet glow was shoved against his own lip plates. Panicked, Starscream pressed them together and hauled his clawed digits to push against the armoured arm. Megatron growled, and in the distance Starscream could hear something being dropped on the floor. Suddenly there was another grip on him.
The warlord had brought his other arm up and dug his own claws into the struggling seekers' intake, drawing energon from his derma. He whined, biting his canines into the digit, his fangs audibly denting against metal. However, his fighting was fruitless, as the sharp taste of metal and stinging needles met his glossa.
Starscream gagged, feeling digits explore his intake and shove the dark energon deeper into his throat. Eventually, he was forced to swallow, and was punished with burning that ran through his tanks and intake. Megatron retracted, a pleased smirk painted on that ugly aft faceplate.
The seeker wiped drops of coolant from his optics, finally letting himself vent harshly. The deck was silent save for those pathetic noises made by him. It was humiliating. Drones shifted uncomfortably at the side, the background noise of the mine had grown eerily silent, and have been that way for the past few kliks.
Megatron only watched, studying the reactions. He watched as his second in command clawed desperately over his tanks, coughing and spurting up a mix of his own energon and solvent. The ground was wet and dusty, allowing dirt and grime to gather underneath his pedes. It was pleasing to watch the seeker who cared so much for his vanity writhing and dirtying himself up beneath him.
With a heave, Starscream suddenly purged his tanks across the stone, taking the lord by surprise. A wave of purple and cyan splashed sickeningly against the carved out rock cliff, following with another violent lurch. This was expected, but also a minor setback.
He scoffed, shoving his second in command up to meet his optics once he was done. The seekers faceplates were pale, and intake fluids mixed with tank waste dribbled lazily down his chin. “Pull yourself together, Starscream. More testing will be needed. I have hopeful plans for you.”
Starscream was distantly aware of himself nodding, presumingly by instinct. His master smiled from above. “Very good. Go see Knockout, I will be there momentarily.”
The Vosian gulped down the sour taste against his glossa, and carried himself to the Nemesis.
–
When Cliffjumper returned to the base, he was injured.
Not majorly, just some cuts here and there, and one of his horns was gone, But nothing too deadly. He sat on the medical berth, moving in time with Ratchet as he scanned his frame with precise focus.
“And then boom! After playing kickball with me they threw me back into this energon pit! Now I know a battle when it’s lost, so I backed up and left!” he said, motioning his servos out as if symbolizing the battle.
Arcee leaned against the wall, her arms crossed and her face held a fond smirk. “I would rather you lose some pride then die, I suppose.” Cliffjumper laughed, waving his servo dismissively. Ratchet clicked his glossa without approval, backing up and turning towards a console. “Three years without direct Decepticon attacks, and now is when they do it? Perhaps that was their mine.”
The red bot stood from the berth and rubbed at a welding, a frown already forming. “So what, we need energon too.”
The medic turned to study the mech, before closing his optics and sighing. “We all do. Just another struggle rooted from the war.” The scans came back clean, and Cliffjumper was good to go. Everyone sat in the main room, chattering amongst themselves happily. Bumblebee was the first to react to Cliffjumper, chirping wildly and demanding to know the story.
Optimus grabbed his shoulder from behind, smiling warmly. “I am glad you are okay, Cliffjumper. The Decepticons have not attacked unprovoked for a while, however it is nothing new. “
Cliffjumper smiled back. Maybe everything would be okay.