Chapter Text
The fight against Mandroid was finally over. Autobots, Humans, Terrans, and Decepticons recovered after the battle, thanks to Robby and Mo Malto’s gift, the power of Quintus Prime. The fight for Cybertronian survival was over, and everything could go back the way it was. Except…there was no ‘normal’ now, at least for the Decepticons, who went their separate ways in the meantime.
Swindle and Hardtop took some downtime to catch up and take care of each other, while Soundwave left Witwicky to find Frenzy and Laserbeak. The Insecticons and Skullcruncher roamed around in Witwicky’s parks, while Breakdown drove off to find more exciting racetracks (promising to call Bumblebee along the way). Shockwave’s whereabouts were unknown.
And as for the Decepticon Seekers?
Skywarp, Nova Storm and Starscream simply retreated to their private hideout, a tall mountain with a cave up top, outside of Witwicky. It was nothing fancy, but it was much preferred compared to the G.H.O.S.T. prisons the three experienced beforehand. The trio handled things quite well, all things considered. They had a sense of freedom. Free to fly, free to live. At least for now.
It had been a week now since the unified fight against Mandroid, and Starscream was deep in thought as he stood and watched the sun rise, having recently booted online from an overnight recharge. As Starscream watched the morning sky change colour, he reflected on his previous fight with Megatron, who had been brainwashed by Mandroid’s technology at the time.
He and his Seekers attacked Megatron with everything they got, wanting to return the favour for the Malto family for what they did not only for helping with dealing the Dweller, but for helping Decepticons in general. And Starscream was thrilled to get his revenge on the former Decepticon leader, utilizing his weapons and Seeker assistance to damage Megatron. However, after Mandroid activated his device to deactivate every Cybertronian, the fighting flyers fell to the ground, losing consciousness.
Starscream growled at this thought. He so, so desperately wanted to destroy Megatron, but what did he do once he was revived? He retreated. Like a fool, a coward. He took a glimpse of Megatron and flew off in a moment of fear. His Seekers soon followed, confused and lost on what to do, but also as if on instinct to follow their trine’s leader.
The Air Commander was about to kick the cavern’s wall in frustration before being stopped by Skywarp, who pulled him back gently by the shoulder.
“Do you want to destroy our current home?” Skywarp asked, narrowing her optics at Starscream. He just simply rolled his optics, taking a step back, before noticing his Seekers making an exit.
“And where are you two going?” he asked, squinting his optics at the two.
“Just out,” replied Skywarp. “No one will spot us. Well, other than the Earth animals, I guess.”
“Do you have a problem with that?” Nova Storm asked Starscream.
“Hmph. Going out is fine and all,” Starscream replied, folding his arms. “But if you’re seen by anyone suspicious, report to me and fly straight back here! Understood?”
The girls huffed but nodded in agreement, transforming into their jet modes to fly about. Starscream sighed as he watched the two fly off, as he returned to his thoughts.
The girls may not have shown it, but they appreciated Starscream’s concern. They still had issues with him and his general bossiness, (among other things), though after the trine’s incident with the Dweller, the Seekers slowly began to bond more. It was still a work in progress, as their relationship always has been a bit rocky. However, the trio always understood each other’s fears and feelings, and wanted to stick together as a team. After all, as far as they knew? They were the only Seekers left on Earth.
“I’m a little surprised at Starscream,” said Nova Storm as the girls soared to the skies.
“Why?” Skywarp asked as she flew with her fellow Seeker.
“You think he’d begin a Decepticon rebellion, rounding up all the other ‘cons so he could lead them to another battle against the Autobots.”
“Starscream isn’t popular enough for that! This is Starscream we’re talking about!” Skywarp laughed at the very notion of Starscream being the Decepticon Commander. “Cons we know are active would rather do their own thing now. I think…Starscream is respecting their decisions.”
“What about Shockwave? Can anyone respect Shockwave’s decision to do whatever it is he’s doing right now?
“Look, I don’t want to think about Shockwave right now…”
Nova Storm and Skywarp flew closer to the ground, transforming into robot mode as they landed in a deep forest to continue their discussion.
“Starscream’s still hung up on our battle with Megatron?” asked Nova Storm as she leaned against a tree.
“Yep,” Skywarp stretched her arms as she walked among the nature. “He’s absolutely kicking himself in the aft for fleeing upon reactivation. I know we haven’t commented much on it, but Starscream doesn’t want to be seen as a coward for that.”
“And we don’t want to be seen as cowards either,” sighed Nova Storm. “We flew out of sudden fear and instinct…” Nova Storm stepped closer to Skywarp, holding onto her shoulder. “And that’s okay. I think?”
Skywarp chuckled and smiled at Nova Storm. “Those kids and their positive thinking get into your brain module too?”
“N-No! Wait. They got to you too??”
As the Seekers continued their discussion with laughter and some banter, Skywarp stepped backwards, bumping into something with a loud ‘THUD!’, regaining her balance.
“Ugh, what the scrap?” Skywarp cursed, spinning around to see what she hit. Covered in leaves, the object was metallic and hard, so Skywarp brushed away the leaves with her servo. “A car…? What’s a car doing here?” Skywarp brushed away more leaves to get a closer look.
“Ah, isn’t that just great?” Nova Storm smiled with sarcasm escaping her mouth. “That means there’s humans around, which means we need to re-locate. So much for our freedom!”
“Hold on, Nova Storm,” Skywarp raised a hand, wanting Nova Storm to come closer. “This is no ordinary car,” she stated, as the cleanup revealed the car to be an electric dune buggy, and one with a Decepticon insignia on its hood.
“A Decepticon??” Nova Storm widened her optics, before getting a closer look. “Strange. I don’t recognise any ‘Con with this alt-mode. Are they…?”
“Offline? Nope, they’re not drained of colour, or energon. Remember when that weird energy surge hit, reactivating us? A wave that powerful would’ve revived every Cybertronian on Earth.” Skywarp whipped out a device to scan the dune buggy, and then confirmed the Decepticon’s status. “They’re online, but for some reason…are stuck in stasis lock?”
Both Seekers took a step back to analyse the Decepticon, having a clearer view of its build and colours. They then began to circle the Decepticon with curiosity.
“Funny,” Skywarp commented “It’s the wrong alt-mode, but the paintjob and height remind me of The Bug that Starscream courted.”
“The Bug?” Nova Storm asked as she turned to Skywarp with confusion. “Oh, The Bug…But wait. Didn’t Starscream say it was terminated?”
“By an Autobot. Said he witnessed the murder with his very own optics. But this paintjob is too alike be a coincidence.” Skywarp then used the device to scan the dune buggy again, only to lower it in surprise. “…It is The Bug…”
‘The Bug’ in question was a Decepticon soldier known as Jumpace, a Cybertronian that excelled in its ability to launch itself into the sky to strike down with powerful kicks. It was a horned, grounded bot, possessing faux wings on its back made of railings. Due to its model’s design and history of trans-scanning dune buggies and sandrails, Jumpace earned the moniker of ‘The Bug’ by Skywarp and Nova Storm. While Jumpace wasn’t a flying bot, it was friends with the Seekers (who at the time, were large in numbers), due to its closeness with Starscream. The two were sparkmates; romantically involved Decepticons.
But during one fateful day, Jumpace lost in a battle against Autobots, and it was believed it’s spark was snuffed out, ending its life. This made Starscream fall into a depression spiral, with mixed feelings of grief, sadness, anger and shock taking over him as he was forced to retreat by Megatron after their battle with the Autobots. It had been roughly twenty-six human years since the event, and Starscream had not mentioned Jumpace in quite some time. Because of this, Skywarp and Nova Storm were concerned for their leader’s well-being if he was to find this new discovery.
“…Well, what do we do?” asked Nova Storm, poking at Jumpace’s door. “Starscream is going to flip if he finds out Jumpace is actually online.”
“Hm,” replied Skywarp with a nod. “But if he finds out we kept a secret this big from him…”
“He’d be furious! Ugh, let’s not go that route.”
“Starscream has a right to know of his sparkmate’s status. And besides, Jumpace is a fellow Decepticon. It’s the right thing to do, for us fellow Decepticons, anyway.” Skywarp gave Nova Storm a smile, who responded with her own.
Skywarp then activated her comms to call Starscream, as she and Nova Storm circled Jumpace once again.
…
[“Starscream?”]
[“Skywarp? What’s going on? Are there humans nearby??”]
[“Cool your vents, we’re fine! But you’re needed, we…found something.”]
[“…Found something? Alright. Give me the co-ordinates, I’ll be right there.”]
…
It wasn’t too long before Starscream landed before his fellow Seekers, squinting his optics at the two.
“…You two are awfully far from the hideout,” Starscream remarked with disappointment. “You’re supposed to alert me if-“
Nova Storm interrupted, rolling her optics. “Yeah, yeah Starscream…”
“Don’t you ‘yeah yeah’ me!” Starscream growled as he began to approach the Seekers with a raised voice. “You’re supposed to follow my rules, and if something ha-” Starscream halted his steps when his leg bumped into the newly discovered dune buggy.
“…What is this?” Starscream lowered his face, pointing downward at the vehicle.
“What we called you for,” Nova Storm replied. The Seekers then looked at each other in confusion. “You don’t recognise it?”
“This thing? Never seen it in my entire life cycle.” However, Starscream gave the buggy a curious look. The paintjob was awfully familiar to him... However, as soon as Starscream noticed the Decepticon symbol however, Skywarp approached Starscream with caution.
“Starscream. You do remember Jumpace, don’t you?” Skywarp said, looking at the dune buggy and then back to her leader as she awaited his response.
Starscream’s facial expression grew blank in an instant upon hearing Jumpace’s name, before it grew into confusion.
“Wh…What…?” The Air Commander tilted his head slightly with widened optics in response, taking a few steps back with caution. Hearing the name of his old sparkmate threw him off, and he began to stutter in response with a look of suspicion. “Y-Yes, of course I remember…?”
“This car? This Decepticon?” Nova Storm chimed in, gesturing at the vehicle before them. “It’s your sparkmate, Starscream. It’s Jumpace. In stasis lock, but…alive.”
“N-No…” Starscream scoffed with a fake laugh, darting his optics around. He looked at the dune buggy, and then at his Seekers. “Jumpace is dead!” He raised his voice with a mix of shock and anxiety, as if this was some cruel joke. “Deactivated. Terminated. With the AllSpark!”
“Can’t you see?” Skywarp spoke up, though with a bit more caution as she pointed to the dune buggy. “Its your partner, our fellow Decepticon. It has a different alt-mode now, but-“
Starscream interrupted with a growl as he shook his head at his Seekers’ words. The Air Commander was unable to believe such claims, now filled with anger, his anxiety still present. “No, no, no…What kind of sick prank are you pulling, Skywarp?!” He gave her a threatening glare, taking a step forward as if he would attack his fellow Seeker.
Nova Storm quickly stepped forward in defense of Skywarp, her arms spread out to protect her trinemate. “It’s no joke, Starscream! We’re telling the truth! This Decepticon is Jumpace!”
“Shut up! Enough of your nonsense! Cease your cruel game before I take matters into my own hands!”
As Starscream yelled, he took a step forward towards Nova Storm and Skywarp to make them stop, before he was stopped by Nova Storm herself. She raised the device Skywarp used earlier in Starscream’s view, which caused him to settle down and analyse the Cybertronian text.
“I-I…”
His anger suddenly was replaced with overwhelming distress as Starscream fell to his knees. He stared at the unconscious Jumpace, as shock and anxiety ran through his coding. There was no way Jumpace was just suddenly…back into Starscream’s life. Right? The thought of Maltos’ energy wave never occurred to the emotional Seeker, his processor and his spark fully focused on Jumpace just being in front of him. Jumpace…alive.
Despite this revelation, Starscream’s spark felt heavy as denial filled in his thoughts. What if this was some sick trick? Some sort of bait from G.H.O.S.T., or by Megatron? …No, that wouldn’t make sense…Starscream’s own Seekers wouldn’t allow him to fall for such evil manipulation.
His Seekers were telling the truth.
Starscream’s love, once lost, was finally found.
“J-Jump…ace…?” Starscream whispered as he moved closer to his sparkmate. He placed a servo on Jumpace’s hood, familiarising himself with the metal’s texture. While the alt-mode was new, there was no denying that this was in fact, Starscream’s long-lost partner.
Nova Storm and Skywarp expressed concern for their leader and knelt to his height to comfort him. They remained silent, unsure on how to assist Starscream, until Nova Storm got an idea.
“We can try and wake it up, Starscream,” she said, rubbing her leader’s shoulder. “We’d need to retrieve the proper equipment though…”
“Perhaps that Autobot Wheeljack could do something?” added Skywarp. “He’s bound to have tech for this sort of thing.”
“And risk blowing The Bug up?? No way, I heard he use to work with Shockwave before the war.”
“Well, it’s not like we have any active medics or trustworthy scientists of our own!”
As the girls bickered on what to do to revive Jumpace, Starscream slowly connected back to reality. He looked at his Seekers, seeing that they’re willing to bring back their fellow Decepticon. The Air Commander sighed heavily as he slowly stood up, folding his arms to calm himself down. He couldn’t sit in misery forever, and if there truly was hope for Jumpace…
"Seekers. We're going to pay a visit to the Maltos."