He was really reaching the end of his chain now, but somehow Starscream found the inner strength to contain his wrath. If Knockout wanted to drag things out with small talk then so be it. He could play along.

"Mmmmghh...." He crossed his arms impatiently. "A space bridge mishap ended up flinging me to a nearby sector; this was the closest inhabited planet that registered even a trace of Energon, so naturally I was drawn here hoping for supplies and shelter."

It wasn't fully a lie, and he managed to put on a pretty sincere act at any rate. There was absolutely no reason for Knockout to know about the incident with the human scientist either, for that matter.