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The interesting thing was that they had been trying for a clutch long before this icy hellscape. Hatchlings with Starscream’s good looks and their collective minds seemed like the perfect match! It’d never happened as planned. Nothing ever did.
Not until their ship failed on entry to this planet, and he and Skyfire had all the time in the universe waiting for their distress beacon to be answered, did something happen. Starscream had just expected to be back on Cybertron by the time the twist in his spark and the movement in his tank became more than just a hindrance to helping Skyfire gather data.
They were still waiting for that rescue and Starscream’s only sparkling snored away in his arm. Galecrest was certainly bigger than an egg. Didn’t he know that well? And he was just the one. While Seekers having just one or two wasn’t unheard of, usually they would have clutches of three or more. It was probably a quirk of his own coding mixed with low energon. His creator had only laid two, he and Slipstream.
That was why not all Trines were siblings. Thundercracker was half warframe so had been a singleton, and Skywarp’s creator had purposely smashed most of her eggs, and only Skywarp and Blitzwing had made it to hatching. There would be many untrined Seekers if they weren’t able to adapt.
Galecrest was Starscream’s sparkling, so he was more amazing than any other Seeker ever hatched, and most certainly Starscream would try his best to make sure Galecrest’s trine was more of his and Skyfire’s amazing coding. If he was a seeker. He had little wing nubs, but his sire was a shuttle. They’d run the probabilities back on Cybertron, and in theory Starscream’s coding should be more dominant, but that was only numbers. Galecrest was real.
Outside the weather sounded in a rare calm. Skyfire had gone out to follow up on some possible ore deposits. Starscream had put together a schematic that should become a working mini energon solar converter made of the ore and parts of the ship, and they would need all they could get for a growing sparkling, until the rescue team got here.
Because they were on their way. They wouldn’t leave him to rust and rot on this planet.
Until they could start on that, there was nothing for Starscream to do, a clear sky just begging to be conquered.
It did mean it would be Galecrest’s first time out of the cave, if he took that step. The sparkling may be bigger than an egg, and had some out with working processors that could heat him internally, but they still hadn’t wanted to risk it. With the massive storm done for, traveling to the planet’s less icy areas was far from a problem.
“If only we could move the ship.” Starscream complained to his sleeping sparkling, sniffing at the audacity of the situation. “I will have a scathing review of this planet once we’re back on Cybertron.”
The sound of his creator’s voice rose Galecrest from his nap, and he whined a bit while fixing his gaze on Starscream. “Oh yes, they will never hear the end of my very valid complaints. Especially how long it's taking for them to get here. Why, at this point Skywarp and Thundercracker should have diverted a whole fleet to come get me! Oh, and you and your sire as well of course.”
Galecrest snorted like he actually knew what Starscream was telling him. Right now everything was just noise to him, and he enjoyed the sound of their voices. It was a great thing because Starscream loved to talk.
Starscream stood up and kept talking as he walked. This and that, anything to keep Galecrest entertained. “....honestly I should have seen Blitzwing’s ugly mug by now.”
Blitzwing, while icy and level-headed to almost obnoxious lengths, had always had a soft spot for his hatchmate. So the fact Skywarp hadn’t convinced him to take his ship and come get them was a test of will Starscream wished he wasn’t in the middle of.
He made it the gap between the ship and the cave they used as an enterance/exit, and moved the scrap metal covering it aside, exposing the sparkling to sunlight for the first time.
Galecrest chirped, shifting in the crook of Starscream’s arm as they exited the cave. “That’s the sun. It provides this planet with warmth, even if it is obsessively bright.” Starscream explained, cringing at the crunch and cold of the snow below him, and spread out his wings. It got cramped in the cave.
Starscream opened his cockpit and placed Galecrest inside. He didn’t want to risk dropping him in flight. Not that he would ever do that, but better safe then sorry. He could practically hear Skyfire’s nagging.
He didn’t want to use up energon transforming so he settled into his thrusters and took to the skies, although kept low. Even through the glass, Starscream could hear the delight from his son.
Starscream flew without an exact plan in mind, just wanting to enjoy the flight and get Galecrest accustomed to it. Eventually he dared to put Galecrest out and really observe the ground below. Galecrest made a pleased hum, and didn’t wiggle at all, head twisting around to look at everything.
“One day you’ll be be able to fly too. I’d be embarrassed if you couldn’t, seeing as I was the best flyer back home.” Home. It would be wonderful when he got back home to his own berth.
Starscream tucked Galecrest back into the safety of his cockpit for only as long as it took to get back to the ground, and removed him once more to place on top of a rock. They had traveled far enough that some of the snow had parted, and he could hear the sounds of tiny organics.
The organic life on this planet was why he was even stuck here. Skyfire had wanted to take a closer look, and their exploratory ship didn’t handle the atmosphere well. The storm they landed in hadn’t done them any favours either.
Galecrest also seemed in tune to the sounds, and rolled off the rock to crawl around, titling his head and chittering back at the things. “I hope to never see another organic again after we’re off this planet, they-”
Starcream’s son was able to do a rare thing. Silence him.
Galecrest had managed to catch an organic creature that darted past him. He looked at the creature wiggling in his little stubby hands, its shrieks getting louder and louder, and Starscream simply wanted to snuff it out.
The sparkling beat him to it with a wet crunch as Galecrest bit down on its head. Red immediately coated the sparkling’s chin and dripped down into his lap. Galecrest made a happy little chirp and lapped it up as the creature ceased moving.
Well. That was probably normal.
Starscream pulled out his datapad, noting that unlike Cybertronians, this planet’s organic lifeforce was red, and that losing it was a surefire way for them to perish. He scratched at the tablet while Galecrest finished his snack.
His son made a satisfied sound, and whined to be picked up, and as Starscream did so he saw Galecrest had left most of the shell untouched, just little white hard organic material everywhere. The lifeforce must have been what he was after.
Interesting. Starscream smiled. “You’re already almost as smart as me. We’ll have to study this further once your sire is back.”
Galecrest just giggled, and shrieked in delight as Starscream took back to the skies.
Definitely a Seeker.