He hits the floor with a grunt, followed by a pathetic squeak of pain as that uncomfortable amount of pressure is applied. His hands dart out and scrabble at the floor, clawing at the surface frantically, though his focus is 100% on Megatron. He stares back up at him, helpless, too scared stiff to even blink and hanging off every threatening word as though his life depends on it.

Which, well... technically, it does. Starscream has no doubt that Megatron is serious this time. When his master had initially arrived on Earth, Starscream had been confident in his immunity because he was well aware that his already well established presence on this planet was of a great enough value to balance out any insolence he felt like dishing out. But this was a different situation entirely. That status of usefulness had been blown away as more and more of the truth of his prior time here came to light, to the point where it wasn't even a threat to say that if he didn't prove himself to Megatron this time that he would be terminated... it was a promise.

When Megatron finishes speaking, Starscream manages to muster up a weak little nod, eventually followed by a well practiced response: "I will not fail you, my liege, I promise," he just barely wheezes out.