The Warlord's Sparkling

Chapter| 4

Needless to say, Knockout was surprised when Starscream appeared in his Medbay carrying a sparkling in his arms. Since when did they have a sparkling on board the ship?

"Lord Megatron wishes for you to watch this little scrap while he's gone. We're going to finish off the Autobots." Starscream said as he strolled over. He gently pried the seekerling's claws from his armor and placed it in the medic's arms. When it chirped and whined at him, he shook his helm. ::You're fine, he's going to take care of you.::

A look of confusion crossed Knockout's face as he looked down at the little one in his arms. "Uhh.. sparkling care really isn't my expertise-" He began, but was sharply cut off by a hiss from Starscream.

"Do you wish to disobey direct orders from Lord Megatron?" The seeker snapped, flaring his wings aggressively.

Knockout shrunk back in fear. "N-No, I would never!" He sputtered, forgetting about the sparkling in his arms for a moment.

"Then do as he commands!" Starscream growled. "We will be back when the last of the Autobots have been vanquished. Await further instruction from Megatron upon our return."

After he was finished dealing with Knockout, he glanced down at the seekerling. ::Be good.:: He chirped to it before swiftly turning on his heel and stalking out of the room.

Once Starscream was gone, Knockout let out a long sigh of relief. He looked down at the seekerling again, wondering where it came from or how it even survived so long on Cybertron's devastated surface. It seemed to be pretty upset that Starscream had left. Maybe it was attached to him?

"Knockout?" A voice came from the back of the Medbay.

Oh. Knockout had almost forgotten that Breakdown was back there.

"Yes?" He replied, glancing over his shoulder. He could see the bruiser poking his helm out from behind a medberth.

"Is he gone?"

"He's gone."

Heavy pedesteps filled the silence as Breakdown got up and went over to the red medic. He peered over the medic's shoulder and raised an optic ridge. "Where'd you get a sparkling?"

"Starscream brought it to me. He said Megatron wanted me to take care of it while he was gone, though I'm not sure what the connection is." Knockout murmured, letting the seekerling play with one of his fingers while he spoke. "Either way, it looks like we'll have a sparkling on our hands until he returns."

———

Megatron stormed through the halls of the Nemesis in a dangerous fury, a silent snarl twisting his mouth. Most were smart enough to stay out of his way when he was in such a mood, afraid of encountering the consequences of his wrath.

Things did not go as planned and he was absolutely livid. When he landed on the planet's surface, the Autobots were nowhere to be found and he couldn't track them down no matter how hard he tried. He eventually ran low on resources and was forced to return to the ship. This was a huge setback to his plan. Now he had to waste even more time gathering resources to strengthen his chances of finding them again.

In his blaze of fury, the seekerling was completely forgotten.

Starscream managed to catch the warlord on his way to his quarters, though he wished he hadn't. He wasn't too keen on facing the full force of the tyrant's wrath.

"Um, m-my liege..." The seeker said meekly, trying to keep up with Megatron's long strides.

"What?" Megatron hissed sharply, casting his blazing red glare upon the unfortunate seeker. He was not in the mood for his SIC's whining.

Starscream flinched. He needed to choose his words carefully. "I gave the sparkling to Knockout as you instructed. Aren't you going to get it back?"

Megatron paused, his optics widening for a moment. The sparkling. He'd forgotten about that blasted sparkling! Just the thought of the little wretch infuriated him even more.

"I don't have time for a sparkling. Do what you wish with it and keep it away from me." He spat in a harsh tone, glaring at the seeker for a moment more before storming off down the hall.

Starscream was appalled, to say the least, but not surprised. He flattened his wings against his back in anger and scowled in Megatron's direction.

"How inconsiderate of you..." The seeker muttered under his breath, allowing his anger to boil away within his chassis instead of releasing it. "If you won't care for it, I will, you worthless piece of scrap."

And with that, he went to the Medbay to get the sparkling.

————

I'm trying to embrace Megatron's character, so that's why he's being a huge meanie right now 😂

Don't worry, he'll come around soon enough. For now, you can enjoy some wholesome caretaker Starscream in the next chapter ❤️