WHAT YEAR IS IT!?!?

[starscheme]

 Who: Starscream, The Decepticons, Sollux, and potentially, YOU
Where: Variable, the Decepticon Base and the Mojave/California wilderness generally.
When: March 18th and beyond.
What: Starscream wakes up from his visit to Scary Jail and has a lot of personal bullshit on top of probably a pretty angry boss to deal with. Then he goes energon scouting. Reluctantly.
Warnings: Some medical talk in the setup, discussion of SCARY JAIL TORTURE, probably some gay. Okay definitely some gay. 

[Options 1 and 2, CLOSED TO THOSE WHO COULD FEASIBLY BE AT THE 'CON BASE]

It's  a few days before he regains proper consciousness.

Starscream’s last encounter with the AI and put him completely down for the count. He failed to escape, of course. It hadn’t been for a lack of trying, in fact he had come painfully close on his last try, but then he got caught and at that point he just didn’t have the energy left in him to put up enough of a fight. He’d gotten another good zap and then his internals went into automatic shutdown, an involuntary emergency defense mechanism designed to divert all of his remaining energon to prolonging the life of his spark for as long as possible. 

Help did finally come, as he had predicted before passing out from Energon depletion, but he certainly wasn’t awake to witness it. Fortunately it came from (relatively) friendly forces and not humans as he had feared and Orion Pax had suggested. So he’d been carted back to the Decepticon base, completely dead to the world. 

When it came down to it, his symptoms were fairly straight forward. Energon starvation was easy enough to fix; a few transfusions and he would be back up to acceptable levels, though their limited resources meant that he was only just hovering above what was strictly necessary. Starscream has a vague recollection of hazily waking up a few times, confused and enraged and swatting weakly with his one good arm, desperate to get his claws on what he assumed to be the antagonizing AI, but those moments were few and far between and he can’t even remember what put him back out again. The real problem was the implant; it hadn’t taken long to locate and remove, of course, but the procedure had required him to preferably be unconscious, so perhaps it was a blessing he was in such a bad way.

Once the offending piece had been removed though and he was no longer starving to death, it is only another 12 hours or so before he opens his optics for what feels like the first time in ages. It’s slow coming at first, and then the situation hits him with a sudden, startling clarity. 

He bolts upright, snarling and digging his talons into the berth he is laid out on, optics wide with panic. 

----
[HERE'S OPTION 2]

It doesn’t take Starscream long to get up and moving around after that. What’s notable is the manner in which he seems to be skulking around the ship. It’s not in his usual, scheming, swaggering kind of skulking. He seems almost dejected, likely troubled by the thorough ass kicking and pathetic state in which he was retrieved in. Of course he’s not going to admit any of this out loud, because he’s an emotionally constipated piece of shit, but it’s easy enough to infer. Beyond that he just seems to be in a particularly foul mood, and oddly unwilling to go back outside the relative safety of the ship unless directly ordered to do so. 

----

[OPTION 3: OPEN TO  ALL]

Sometimes he has to go outside though; without a complete formula there’s still naturally occurring energon that needs to be gathered and recon to be done. Those who know what they’re looking for might spot a fighter jet zipping around where it doesn’t belong. He’s carefully cloaked from showing up as an obvious threat on scanners, but those with the know-how can easily tell that he is at least Cybertronian, and can therefore potentially engage him. Those without the know-how might be lucky enough to catch him in robot mode, digging around in the wilderness (desert, forest, whatever floats your boat) for supplies to bring back to the Decepticon base.

Comments

1

[bigfuckinggun]

Megatron does not flinch as Starscream lurches back into consciousness. He's been there for some time, since Knock Out reported he'd done all he could. Waiting.

"Starscream," he says, as if his second has just walked in from the mission he sent him on a week ago, instead of having spent several days unconscious in the med bay. It's clear from his voice that while Megatron isn't necessarily disappointed yet, but he is very, very prepared to be.

[starscheme]

His gaze snaps automatically to the sound of Megatron's voice as soon as he speaks, but even when he properly identifies who is speaking and where he is, Starscream's eyes still have an half-crazed, hunted look to them.

For once, he is completely speechless, internally struggling against a cacophony of emotions. He's glad to be rescued rather than left for scrap, of course, but Megatron's presence is not a comforting one; rather, it aggravates Starscream even further. He's not sure if he's delighted to see Megatron, to report the success of his mission, or furious that (as far as his opinion was concerned) it was Megatron's fault he was captured in the first place. The fight with Baelheit's lackey seems like a million years ago now, a distant memory, but the humiliating sting of being locked in a cage underground for four days was just a little too fresh.

Ultimately he has to settle for falling back on the berth with a loud groan, palming his face and holding back all the vicious, snide remarks he really wants to make in response.

"I don't suppose you could show up a little more quickly next time."

Okay not all of them.

[bigfuckinggun]

Megatron's eyes narrow. "I'm not sure that you deserved rescuing, if you couldn't make your way out yourself."

[starscheme]

The hand leaves his face and Starscream emits a wordless snarl, turning his head to glare daggers over at Megatron from his reclined position. Any fear for his life he felt from their last interaction over a week ago is overridden by indignant rage.

"Oh it wasn't for a lack of trying, you see I was dealing with a rather serious handicap--" he wiggles the stump of his arm pointedly. "Thank you for that, by the way, it made protecting Pax a delightful challenge."

He didn't know what was driving him so directly disrespectful to an already clearly displeased Megatron. He certainly wasn't expecting sympathy or compassion. He was just too worn down and busted up to really give a damn, he supposed.

[bigfuckinggun]

Megatron looks about ready to slam one furious hand down on the berth and lean over him to snarl directly into his face, but he stops, feeling that there's something here he's missing. His gaze lingers on Starscream's unfortunate arm stump for a few seconds.

""I'm not sure why you're thanking me for that setback, Starscream – I'm quite certain that the last time I saw you I left you with all your limbs intact," he says, in the kind of way that suggests he would really have rather liked to have been able to pull Starscream's arm off.

2

[nitrodamus]

Sollux feels like a genuine Earth insect flying around the Decepticon ship (while Alternian insects will frequently very large if not actually troll shaped, Earth insects were apparently quite small), with halls built to accommodate the likes of Breakdown and Megatron. It's kind of cool, really, and though he already has some nagging worries about what he's going to do in the near future, he is still high on feelings of relief and new freedom at having finally escaped the lurking eyes of CONDOR.

He can do what he wants, now. He has his powers, he has some allies that respect him like an adult, and for the moment he has a place to stay. It all seems pretty good, even if he's already worrying about having left Karkat back in the city.

He happily puts those thoughts on hold, though, as he spots the other robot they'd dragged out of the tower finally roaming the halls. He's not looking too good, but Sollux honestly wouldn't except him to be. He can sympathize.

"Hey sup," he says in Alternian, zipping in closer with a trail of purple light, making sure to approach from the front as to not be too alarming. He doesn't really know what to expect from this guy besides the occasional comment from Breakdown. It's kind of exciting. "You're Starscream, right?"

[starscheme]

Despite Sollux's best efforts Starscream is still startled, though his reaction is less bombastic than it might be if he was at his usual levels of vigor. He snaps to attention, shaken out of his furious musings by the trolls arrival.

He had been warned, of course, of the creature's presence on the ship. Megatron had made sure of that. But considering Starscream's last encounter with an Alternian had left him scuffed up and humiliated, he wasn't feeling particularly hospitable towards the idea of entertaining another one of their kind.

But, at the same time, he just doesn't have the energy or the spark to put into aggressively rebuffing Sollux's attempts at socialization. He really can't even come up with sufficiently snarky response to its inquiry. He regards the troll with vague interest, wings flicking in mild irritation. "Yes.... can I help you with something?" He rumbles back, conceding to using Alternian and exhibiting the bored tone of someone who really didn't have any intention of following up on that offer.

[nitrodamus]

Sollux internally notes that Starscream's jet wings moving like that is kind of amazing and hilarious, given that he's the first jet he's met so far. Unfortunately for the bot, his attempts at brushing off their meeting are for naught. Sollux is determined to make an impression.

"No," he says, without missing a beat. "Just saying hey cause you are like the only guy I haven't met around here. You doing okay, man? Shit was rough."

[starscheme]

"That would be the understatement of the stellar cycle," he responds, rolling his optics and then immediately grimacing like he just said something he only meant to think and not vocalise. He has no desire to look pathetic for this troll.

"...and I'm perfectly fine, thank you very much," he snaps almost as an afterthought.

[nitrodamus]

Sollux just shrugs. This isn't the kind of thing that he's inclined to insist upon. Insisting someone is fucked up about something isn't the sort of thing you do when first meeting someone if you're not trying to come across as desperately pale.

"Yeah, I went in and out of all three of those fucking things, it was pretty shithive maggots in there. And I say that coming from a place of experience on things being shithive."

1

[buffthis]

Knock Out still has no idea what the strange AI did to him, but after running several systems scans and coming up with nothing definitive, he lays his concerns and his frustrations aside for the time being. He'll have to find some other way to ensure his systems weren't corrupted by the AI. Starscream seems all right since the AI core was taken down, but Knock Out, having no idea what it had done to him in the first place, isn't consoled so easily.

But speaking of Starscream...it's time he attended to his top priority patient, for the time being. The Decepticon second-in-command had come to the strange prison missing an arm, and come back sporting a new, considerably more unsightly one. Breakdown had retrieved Starscream's original arm from where he'd stashed it, and it lies on a slab next to the one he's prepared for Starscream as Knock Out turns on the surgical light overhead. It's been a while since Starscream has been under his knife, so to speak. They'd gotten along strangely well during their imprisonment, he has to say. Better than he'd expected from Starscream, anyway, especially considering how things had gone since they'd met up on this planet.

Still, surgery is always an exciting opportunity for Knock Out. He's grinning faintly, a razorlike smirk on his pale face as he glances at Starscream, preparing him for the operation. "It should be a fairly simple procedure. Cut and dry, you might even say..."

[starscheme]

Starscream fidgets and blinks his optics rapidly as the light comes on, clearly nervous about the whole situation. It's not that he questioned Knock Out's skills so much as his integrity to not do something nasty just for the sake of amusement. Which, frankly, any sane person would be; Knock Out was far too excitable when it came to opening people up.

Granted, they did seem to be on better terms than usual at the moment, so he decides to keep his thoughts to himself.

"Oh ha ha ha ha," Starscream groans, rolling his eyes. "With wit that sharp, are you going to be using that as a tool for this procedure too?" He sounds grumpy, but the rebuttal is more out of an ingrained need to automatically snark right back, as opposed to any actual vicious intent towards Knock Out. He's too busy trying to sort out his emotional baggage to really be aggressive, at any rate.

[buffthis]

Knock Out merely gives Starscream a rather condescending look, obviously unimpressed with Starscream's retort. Ah, as if he needs his...patients to engage in witty banter with him. He's perfectly fine without the snappy comebacks right now.

"No, I'm going to be using this," he says, smirking, as he transforms his hand into a drill. It spins viciously with a dull whine, glinting under the surgical light. "...Along with a few other choice instruments. Ah, but you aren't worried, are you, Starscream?"

[starscheme]

That whine cuts right through his audials heralding a horrible sense of deja vu, and it takes an astounding amount of effort to keep his visible reaction from being anything more than a twitch of the wings and a pained squint.

"Worried? Of course not, why would I be, ah, worried, when I'm in such... capable hands--?"

Okay so his tone was fairly sincere but he could barely say that with a straight face.

[buffthis]

The look Knock Out's giving him doesn't improve -- if anything, it grows haughtier, as if he's been offended. "You know, if you have a problem with the quality of medical care around here..." He gestures to the door with his drill, still whining gently. "I'm sure that human scientist who fixed your t-cog would be happy to reattach your arm. I wonder what the asking price will be this time? Vital military intelligence, perhaps?"

[starscheme]

A day or so has past since their initial reunion, and Starscream finally sees fit to seek Megatron out on his own. He isn't particularly thrilled by the idea; a large part of him still wishes to go off and skulk on his own for a while and wallow in his self pity, but instead he is here, just outside Megatron's work station, mentally psyching himself up to enter.

The problem was that, as much as he wanted to just go and sulk, and under normal circumstances probably would have, this degree of melancholy is really unheard of for Starscream, and it's starting to gnaw at him that he can't just shake it off with an overdose of nauseating, outwardly displayed self-confidence like he usually would. 'Act like you're all that and it will become the truth' is a philosophy that had always worked for him before, and he doesn't understand why it is failing him now.

So why was he outside Megatron's office then...? Because he was desperately craving some sort of grounding evidence of normalcy, and sadly whether Starscream consciously realized it or not, Megatron was the longest established, most familiar figure in his life at this point, for better or for worse. He was a fixture that Starscream could return to for an abstract kind of reassurance as needed. He did, in fact, have some important information that he had just remembered to share as well, so at least he had that to cover with.

He raises his (recently replaced) hand to knock on the door at first, before realizing how terribly off that is and inviting himself in through the door without Megatron's permission anyway. He looks a fair sight better than he did earlier, with his wing patched up and his arm re-attached, but there's still something unsettlingly off about the way he's carrying himself now compared to the status quo. "Lord Megatron..."

[bigfuckinggun]

"Starscream." Megatron turns to look him up and down – he's repaired, which is an improvement, but he still has that look of uncharacteristic misery about him, and Megatron doesn't like it. More so for the fact that he doesn't know where it's coming from – he assumes that whatever it is it's something stupid, but he objects to the fact that it's a mystery to him on principle. He raises an eyebrow, prompting him to explain his presence.

[starscheme]

Starscream lets out a single, nervous laugh before loping his way further into the room. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all. Megatron had said to come to him if he remembered any other information of value, but... well, what he'd remembered was technically possibly sort of his fault. Or it was a further unforeseen consequence of something he'd done, at least. And he definitely was not keen on the idea of giving Megatron any further ammunition for justifying punishing him, especially when he was already feeling a distinctly displeased vibe from the other bot directed towards him.

But, on the other hand, maybe he was finally starting to learn his lesson about trying to conceal the truth of his mistakes, because for whatever reason the idea of lying about this just doesn't sit well with him. Or perhaps he just doesn't have the spark for putting on a convincing act at the moment.

Whatever his motivations, he settles himself on one of the side walls, crossing his arms and looking at Megatron carefully. "It would seem... that I accidentally left out an important observation that I made, when retrieving that formula. Something we would probably do well to note going forward."

[bigfuckinggun]

"Really," says Megatron. "And would that perhaps be that the formula is, in fact, incomplete?"

[starscheme]

There's a blank stare and a beat.

"...WHAT?"

He's back to standing attention again in a split second, wings trembling angrily, eyes darting around the room to nothing in particular as he tries to make sense of this new information. "That's not-- That's impossible! That drive was all that she had on her at the time--"

Something clicks and suddenly he stoops into a low bow, cowering preemptively, voice cracking. "Lord Megatron, please, I had no idea that I had delivered only half a prize, if I'd had any notion I would not have even dreamed of returning to you until I'd tracked down all of the pieces--"

3

[airachnoid]

The last person Airachnid expects to see while exploring the forest in which she landed is Starscream. This is supposed to be a more or less backwater planet, after all. What reason would Starscream have to be here? He seems to be foraging, too. Starscream, Decepticon second-in-command, foraging in the middle of the woods? The image seems incongruous...unless Megatron has finally tired of him, that is. The thought of Starscream being booted from his position gives her a private moment of enjoyment.

Staying quiet and out of sight, Airachnid continues watching him. She considers approaching him, too. On one hand, she doesn't know if there are any other Decepticon forces on the planet that Starscream might call for assistance, should he feel the need to. On the other, he might have supplies she can take. She loves taking supplies from others.

The possibility of supplies and the certainty of information convince her. She steps out into the open, towards Starscream. Her gait is still affected by the incident with Matilda and the tree, despite her best efforts to patch herself up, but she walks slowly, as if she is just taking her time, to try to cover it. "Starscream," she calls out. "It's so nice to see you again."

[starscheme]

The feeling is mutual. Starscream certainly doesn't expect to see Airachnid either; it's been what, thousands of years? Several millennia, at least, since she abandoned the Decepticons and took off.

He whips around as soon as she speaks up, openly startled by her appearance and immediately on the defensive with his blasters cycled out. The fact that she had been able to sneak up on him at all is impressive, considering he has been on extra high guard as of late thanks to recent events.

His eyes widen in surprise once he identifies her, but he doesn't even remotely relax. Airachnid is a wildcard, completely unpredictable; he's smart enough to know not to take her lightly. "Airachnid," he says carefully, keeping his tone civil. "How... unexpected. Fancy running into you on a hunk of rock like this..."

[airachnoid]

Starscream's startled reaction puts a smile on Airachnid's face, though she raises her hands to signal that she means no harm. At least, not yet. If she decides to try anything of that nature, it will be when Starscream isn't pointing his blasters at her.

"I could say the same for you, Commander." There's just the slightest hint in her voice indicating that she couldn't care less about the title, and not just because she's unaffiliated. "It is still 'Commander,' isn't it?" It's an earnest question; her immediate plans will vary based on his situation. She doesn't mind if he takes it as a bit of a jab, though.

[starscheme]

Unsurprisingly, that turns out to be a pretty accurate assumption. "What-- of course its still 'commander'!" He snaps, looking affronted, though he quickly seems to calm himself, keeping a no nonsense tone, continuing: "And as such you have about 10 nano-cycles to explain what it is you're doing here, and depending on your answer maybe this needn't get ugly... don't think I've forgotten about your wanted status ."

[airachnoid]

"Oh, not much," she says casually. "I've just been acquainting myself with the area...and the locals." There's a nasty glint in her eye, though she hasn't had much of a chance to really get started on the part to which the nasty glint applies. If it hadn't been for that wretched Matilda, Airachnid would be significantly farther along in her important murder agenda. "As for why I'm on this planet: simply put, it's my latest project."