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You don’t know how you were dragged into this.
Today’s assignment was supposed to be simple. Run a couple laps of patrol while you tested out a new fuel source the scientists at the military base discovered. If things went south, all you had to do was call for support and someone would come by to pick you up.
What you didn’t expect was to be fired at.
An F-16 Fighting Falcon was hot on your tail, spraying bullets at a rate your little jet could hardly handle. Try as you might to dodge and weave between what the enemy was throwing at you, all it took was one well-placed missile to finally send you crashing down.
If there was one thing you were thankful for, it was for the fact that you were already low enough to the ground that the crash didn’t cause significant damage to yourself. The state of the plane, however, was a different story.
As you gazed up the opaque roof of the cockpit, holding your side, you saw the F-16 still circling above the trees of the dense forest you had unceremoniously landed in. Your mind raced to think of what government possibly could have sent someone out to attack a U.S. plane unprovoked.
But you were soon quick to learn that your mysterious attacker was no ordinary plane.
Getting tired of circling above, the plane widened its course before turning back directly towards you. Despite the fact that it was descending, its speed didn’t seem to drop in the slightest. Your eyes widened, fight or flight response kicking in at the sight of your seeming demise.
You chose freeze.
As you instinctively closed your eyes and brought up your arms to brace for the impact of whatever was coming your way, a loud, mechanical whirring filled your ears. Then, the very earth shook beneath you, most likely a result from the large thud you heard not long after, throwing you against your seat.
Bright red light seeped through your closed eyelids. Then, you heard a voice, clear as day.
“Well, well…”
Curiosity got the better of you, and you chanced peeking an eye open. But the sight that laid before you caused your whole body to slacken.
A gigantic grey robot, accented with deep reds and navy blues, towered over your crash site. The source of the red light from before came from his own eyes, moving like searchlights as they flicked about the wreckage.
“When we found a source of Energon going mobile, I just had to take a look and see just what was going on. An Autobot with a messy trail, maybe- though none of the Autobots are capable of flight. Perhaps some stupid Seeker who thought it would be a good idea to fly with active Energon…”
The spotlights finally decide to land directly on you.
“But, no. It’s one of you.”
The metal Titan crouches down faster than a being his size should be able to. You press yourself back against the seat- every instinct was telling you to look around for some form of escape, but your eyes were locked with his.
Starscream reaches a dark grey servo over the cockpit of your jet, blocking some of the light for just a moment. Then, his claws dig into the roof, poking holes into the top just as easily as it was to tear the roof completely off. He glances at the bulletproof glass with an unimpressed quirk of his optical ridge before casting the useless piece aside.
Then, his gaze is back on you.
“I know you can’t understand me. In fact, you’re probably scared out of your mind right now.” His disinterested frown curls upwards. “But that just makes this all the more fun.”
He reaches forward again with that same clawed hand, and it finally hits you to try and hide. You scramble out from the seat you’d be surprised wouldn’t have an indent from how hard you pushed yourself against it, and slid to hide behind it. You curled into yourself as tightly as you could- maybe if you were far back enough, small enough, the giant couldn’t reach you.
But that was far from the truth.
The mech’s shockingly nimble fingers reach down into your hiding place, and you’re suddenly lifted into the air. An index finger and thumb grip the back of your shirt as you dangle in the air under scrutinizing red lights.
“It appears Soundwave was right in all his surveillance. You’re no bigger than the smallest of Minicons.” A claw from his free hand raises to your stomach and pushes inward, despite how you tried to maneuver your body away. Your injury from the crash burned under the pressure, and you winced in pain. “Hmph. Squishy, too.”
His claw turns upside down as he brings it from your stomach up to your chin, tilting it upwards. “Now, only question one remains… How is it that your kind managed to get their fleshy little hands on some Energon? Even more concerningly, how did you process it into a usable fuel source?”
You couldn’t understand the jumbled mess of an alien language that dripped out of his mouth. Not that Starscream expected you to. This was all part of his game- the one where he’s the spider, and you’re the fly.
“No answer, hm?” A raspy chuckle tears its way through his throat. “Most unwise. Oh, well. I’m sure Shockwave wouldn’t mind another lab rat to join his collection.”
The hand that held up your head brought itself down the slightest bit, fingers curling around your body. He releases his grip from the back of your shirt, now that you were immobile within his grasp. Your pounding chest could barely move in his grip- and try as you might, you can’t move your arms or legs. Your own arm betrays you and pushes against the injury on your side, and you bite your lip to try and stifle the pain.
The mech raises himself up from his crouch nauseatingly quickly. Rather than move forward, though, he brings you in closer to his chest. You try to pull your head away, but even then, you could swear you could hear and feel a rumbling engine. Starscream lowers his head just a bit, to where you can hear his scratchy voice directly in your ear.
“Or, perhaps I should keep a pet like you all to myself.”