"You wouldn't-- You can't--" Starscream's voice cracks, his body completely rigid with fear. "Mercy, Lord Megatron, I beg you, you can't condemn me for simply doing what was necessary to survive!! I... I can still correct my mistake, help you retrieve the completed formula!"

It was a helpless and vague shot in the dark, but it was the only service of value he really had left to offer at this point. He certainly could help do that, but whether Megatron deemed his assistance at all necessary or useful was, at this point, out of his hands.