For anyone extra familiar with Decepticon tactics and protocol, observing the fact that Starscream is going deep into enemy territory without any sort of back up would be a pretty hard to miss indicator of their meager numbers on earth.

He's being stealthy, of course, or as stealthy as a large robot can be anyway, sending his avatar ahead to scope things out when necessary and creeping around corners. What's unsettling is that he hasn't run into any resistance whatsoever. It's as if all of the humans have abandoned their posts, leaving his path unexpectedly clear. Part of him suspects a trap, but even if his suspicions prove correct he has little choice in the matter of proceeding; an extremely troubling Cybertronian artifact was picked up on their sensors, and it's imperative that it is secured by Decepticon forces. It's bad enough that the humans already have it, but whatever it is it's also vulnerable to Autobots and Alternians like this.

He skulks down the hall, the signal serving as his guide, reflexes on a hair trigger in case of any danger.