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Megatron regretted leaving Kaon. The fort at Pallux was drafty and the ever-present damp made his joints squeak. The Decepticons stationed there bore it well, but Megatron had already made a note to rotate his troops more frequently so as to avoid problems with morale should bots have to stay too long in this inhospitable place. Pallux was an unpleasant backwater whose only redeeming feature was the energon mine beneath the town. The mine was prone to flooding and frequent collapses, but while digging a new shaft the miners had come across an exceptionally rich vein of potent crystalline energon. That put the previously quiet town on the map, and unfortunately the inevitable boom had not gone unnoticed by the Autobots. That was why Megatron was there and had spent the last decacycle seeing off Autobot incursions into the territory whilst bolstering the city’s defenses.
But it wasn’t the Autobots’ foolhardy attempts at conquest that bothered Megatron, nor was it the cold and the damp, although they made his old frame ache. The real reason he was growing to hate Pallux more and more with each passing day was because every moment he spent there was another moment away from Starscream. He and the Vosian prince had bonded just over three stellar cycles prior, and Megatron regretted every instant he was away from the beautiful jet’s side. Theirs had been an arranged match, outwardly political as Megatron sought an alliance with the Winglord, but in truth the prince had intrigued him long before he and Starscream actually met. They had come face to face for the first time on their wedding day. Starscream had been gorgeous but rude, with an arrogance that spoke of his privileged royal upbringing. But Starscream was more than just an entitled elite brat. Megatron had recognised it instantly, the bright fire within Starscream that set him apart from his peers, and when they had merged their sparks for the first time that night, Megatron knew he could not have made a better choice of mech to rule the planet by his side. Megatron had taken his bride back to Kaon and quickly set about getting him with child, and sure enough, months later, Starscream had produced a healthy sparkling with red wings and a robust temper, the first Prince of Kaon and heir to the Decepticon Empire. Megatron had never considered himself a family mech, so the strength of his adoration for both Starscream and the child had taken him quite by surprise.
He was pulled out of his gloom by a sentry crying, “Lord Megatron!”
“What is it?” Megatron griped.
“We have incoming, sir. Looks like Autobots.”
Megatron shifted into battle mode at once, issuing orders and leading his Decepticons out to defend the city. The next couple of joors were filled with the familiar chaos of battle. His troops outgunned the Autobots by a mechanomile, but Megatron never failed to be amazed by the sheer number of bodies the Autobot leadership were prepared to throw at their problems. The attackers were soon routed, but as Megatron watched their retreat a Decepticon officer shouted in alarm.
“More targets incoming, Lord Megatron,” the Decepticon said. “Airborne, moving fast.”
Concern licked at Megatron’s spark; if the Autobots had brought air support that would complicate things.
“How many?” he barked.
“Just three, my lord.”
“Get the fort’s guns locked on and ready to fire,” Megatron said. He turned back to the battlefield just in time to see three shapes arrow out of the clouds and swoop towards the city. The bots around him were uneasy, but by the time the flyers were close enough to open fire, Megatron had already recognised them. A grin spread across his face and he yelled, “Do not fire, I repeat, do not fire on those jets. They’re Decepticons!”
The jets mowed down the retreating Autobots, strafing the battlefield with deadly blasts of brightly-coloured plasma, and the Decepticons of the Pallux garrison cheered as the trio of seekers flew overhead, their engines so loud they rattled the fort’s foundations. Megatron’s optics followed the jet leading the formation as they executed a playful roll in the air. Those colours, combined with that fancy flying, could only belong to one mech.
“Finish up here,” Megatron instructed the garrison commander, who nodded and went to work without question. Megatron wouldn’t be the only one to recognise Starscream. Megatron’s consort had won an unlikely support from the warlike bots of Kaon when he had proven he was no mere pampered prince but a bloodthirsty warrior in his own right. Since binding his spark to Megatron’s, Starscream had claimed many victories by Megatron’s side and in Megatron’s name, and earned himself a reputation as the terror of the skies even the Prime himself was rumoured to fear.
The trine was circling overhead when Megatron returned to the fort. The warriors guarding the structure welcomed him with friendly shouts, but Megatron’s optics were on the sky. The lead seeker separated from the other two and spiralled toward the ground in a complicated looping pattern that an untrained eye might mistake for kamikaze, but which Megatron recognised as his talented spouse showing off. Starscream swooped lower and, when he was only feet from the ground, transformed into robot mode and flew into Megatron’s open arms. Megatron spun him around and squeezed him tight, and when Starscream’s lips met his in a sweet kiss, the Decepticons around them cheered.
Megatron let Starscream slide down his body until the jet’s thrusters touched the ground, but they kept their arms wrapped around one another.
“Are you pleased to see me?” Starscream said. Megatron never would have thought that the rough, harsh scrape of Starscream’s vocals would one day become the dearest sound in the world.
“Absolutely not,” he said with a crooked smile. “What in the Pit are you doing here?”
“I missed you,” Starscream replied.
The other two jets landed then, and Megatron gave each of them a nod of greeting.
“Thundercracker,” he said. “Skywarp. You’re a long way from Vos.”
“My brothers have come to take the brand,” Starscream said excitedly. “We’ll be a trine again, all of us Decepticons!”
Megatron blinked in surprise, and then gave the blue and purple princes a more considering look. “Is this true?”
Thundercracker stepped forward and said, “Lord Megatron, my brother and I bring important news from Vos we’d like to discuss with you.” He exchanged a glance with his brothers. “But yes,” he admitted. “If you will have us.”
“Well, now,” Megatron said. His arms were still tightly cinched around Starscream’s waist. “Quite the family reunion. But Starscream, what have you done with the little one?”
“He’s at home in Kaon. Soundwave’s watching over him,” Starscream said, and Megatron smiled. They both knew there was no safer place for the Decepticon prince to be. Starscream stood up on his toes to nuzzle Megatron’s cheek. “Did you miss me too, Megatron?”
Megatron cupped Starscream’s face and kissed him. Behind Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp met each other’s eyes before moving silently past the couple and into the fort. There would be time for talking later, after the bonded pair had enjoyed their reunion.
“Of course I missed you, you bird-brained seeker,” Megatron rumbled as he held Starscream tightly. He didn’t know how he had gone so long without him in his arms.
Suddenly he grabbed Starscream and hoisted him over his shoulder.
“Put me down this instant you outdated oaf!” Starscream laughed.
“Silence,” Megatron said with a devilish grin. With a strong grip on Starscream’s thighs, Megatron carried the seeker inside towards his rooms. “You wanted to know if I’d missed you. Well, Starscream, I’m going to show you exactly how much... starting... right... now.”