Chapter Text
Most of the light in the small room came from the large monitors above. On-screen was footage of a video call Shockwave had with Megatron earlier in the cycle, in which Megatron said the army’s focus would be on exploiting the Earth, not working on Cybertron’s many rusty old engines.
“Slipstream, pause it!” Starscream exclaimed.
“Yes, Commander.” She did as she was told.
Starscream grinned. “Did you see that?”
“See what, Commander?”
“The way that single eye of his burns, his antennae tilting back, his tight fist—it finally happened.” Starscream gazed up into that yellow light. “Shockwave’s big brain and ego have combined and told him he’d be a better leader than Megatron!”
Behind Starscream and Slipstream stood two Seekers who served beneath them—Skywarp and Nova Storm. “Did you seriously get all that from this one clip?” Skywarp asked. She had her arms crossed over her chest, and was picking at her metal.
“I’ve known him longer than any of you. I’m smart enough to know he’s missing being a dictator. Not that I can blame him,” Starscream said, leaning against the console. “But he’d better be careful, if he knows what’s good for him. After all, just because he’s cute doesn’t mean I’ll spare him if he tries to take the place that’s rightfully mine!”
A strange hush fell over the room. Starscream’s eyes narrowed.
“You think Shockwave is cute?” Nova Storm asked.
“What do you mean? Everybody knows he’s the cute nerd of the Decepticons.”
“That geek?” Skywarp asked. “Nobody thinks that.”
Starscream frowned. “Maybe not a fool like you, Skywarp, but I’m sure everybody with good taste knows he’s got a great laugh, and he’s decked out in all those pretty purples, and his frame has all those nice round shapes, and…” he trailed off.
The other Seekers’ eyes went wide and round. Starscream felt hot air rushing out of his vents.
“Ooh, someone’s got a crush!” Nova Storm piped up.
Skywarp laughed. “You want some nerd-on-nerd action!”
“Shut up! No, I’m not—I mean, no I don’t! I’d never be interested in that freak!” He rapidly searched his memory for a convincing reason why. Too cold? That just made Shockwave easier to predict than everybody else. Too creepy? Too bad everybody already knew he found Shockwave’s experiments funny and useful. The Vos-Tarn conflict? When was the last time anybody had even thought of that? Everybody knew neither of them really cared about the citizens. After far too long, Starscream settled on, “Didn’t you hear anything I said? Shocky also wants to overthrow Megatron. I wouldn’t want anybody who’s after what should be mine!”
“Okay, but maybe you want to put him in his place and then—”
Skywarp’s protest was cut off by Nova Storm, who asked, “Did you seriously just call him ‘Shocky?’”
Starscream heard Slipstream sigh, probably at their underlings’ stupidity. “I didn’t say it affectionately!” Starscream snapped at Nova Storm, pushing himself away from the console. “When I call him Shocky I mean it in a way like—when I’m talking down to people! To mock them!”
“Commander, do you mean you were being patronizing?” Slipstream asked, her wings sinking down.
“Yes! Obviously that’s how I meant it.”
“Uh huh,” Skywarp said, “and I bet you like all his shapes and colors in a patronizing way, too.” She looked so pleased, it was like she had just played a Cube match using an Autobot.
“Skywarp, Nova Storm!” Slipstream shouted, her commanding voice echoing throughout the room. “That’s enough!” She stood before her leader and made a motion with her arm like she was swatting them from a distance. “This is completely unprofessional and embarrassing for you two. Stop speculating about your superiors’ personal lives.”
Nova Storm immediately stood at attention. Skywarp rolled her eyes, but both shut their mouths just as they should. Starscream’s fans slowed down as his frame cooled off. He put an arm around Slipstream’s shoulders. Her wings jolted in response—maybe the poor subcommander was not being rewarded enough? “Good job, Slipstream,” Starscream said, “You’re always the perfect extension of my will.”
Slipstream looked away as the other two Seekers both scowled at her. Then, she slipped out from Starscream’s grasp. How shy she was, how unlike a Decepticon! Starscream snorted and turned away before walking back toward the console.
He heard Slipstream address the other Seekers. “Anyway, you two, the fact that you’re only commenting on this now proves how unobservant you are. Starscream and Shockwave have been in love since the founding of the Decepticons.”
“What?!” Starscream screeched, his foot slamming into the metal with a sharp clang! “Agh, my foot!” He spun back around, struggling to stop himself from toppling over while also keeping his weight off his foot that was ringing with pain.
“I’ve studied your great history very closely, Commander, as well as the Decepticons’ files—as any good subcommander should,” Slipstream said, holding her head up high. “For instance, it’s clear to see Shockwave only desires to overthrow Megatron because you’ve long been an inspiration, Starscream.”
Well, of course, as the greatest of all the Decepticons, Starscream would be an inspiration to Shockwave. That was undeniable. And if Shockwave had feelings for him, that would also be no surprise, but that did not mean Starscream returned any feelings! But that retort did not come out of Starscream’s vocalization unit. Instead, he just spat out a bunch of crackles and pops.
Slipstream marched back and forth in front of Skywarp and Nova Storm, who were making stupid cooing sounds. “And Shockwave’s logical nature ensures that more adaptable, emotional mechanisms like Starscream can easily outmaneuver him. Meaning despite their shared ambitions, our Commander has always felt perfectly safe around Shockwave.”
“No, you’re wrong!” Starscream exclaimed. He felt and heard his knees clattering together. “I mean, technically you’re not wrong, but it’s not what it sounds like. It’s just—ugh, Shocky’s obsession with logic—that’d make any mechanism go binary!”
“Actually,” Nova Storm said, “I think most people find it boring. It’s just you.”
Skywarp cackled so hard, she nearly doubled over. “I bet Starscream’s also into Shockwave’s weird butt—!" She froze mid-sentence after Starscream blasted her with his null-ray. Magenta sparks flew off her frame as she struggled and failed to move.
Starscream glared at Nova Storm, who had recoiled at the shot, and pointed his weapons at her. “Anything to add, Nova Storm?” Starscream asked.
“N-No, Commander!”
“Good.”
Starscream stormed into his quarters, which were nowhere near lavish enough. He wanted a crown, and deserved one more than ever after such an awful meeting. He threw himself onto the slab he used for recharging and tried to get comfortable. He powered off his eyes and tried to think comforting thoughts, like of all the embarrassing duties he could make his immature underlings suffer through for what they had done. Maybe he should make them clean the entire base. Yes, that would be fun to watch.
His eyes lit up again and he sat up ramrod straight. To Starscream’s horror, he remembered Shockwave also had a contingent of Seekers under his command, ones Starscream himself had assigned to him ages ago. Nova Storm also served as one of Shockwave’s Seekers, and she had already started her shift on Cybertron!
“…so that’s why you two need to make out,” Nova Storm finished explaining everything they had talked about during the meeting. “If it’s even possible, I guess,” she said.
“That is logical,” Shockwave declared.