The Good, the Bad and Starscream

Chapter 4: One Shall Fall

While the Autobots were interested in knowing which Decepticons were still loose and scattered on Earth, they kept Starscream's punishment, and so they all had to wait with anticipation the next two days before the next interrogation, and thereby, an Energon cube. Despite his hunger, Starscream couldn't help but feel gleeful throughout those few days. He had finally revealed some rather useful info to them, thus making certain that the first thing the Autobots did that morning two days later was to enter the Seeker's cell, with an Energon cube, to get some answers.

He smiled with anticipation when he saw the door open up and a figure entered with the glowing cube. It was Arcee again. The Autobots had discussed the interrogation matter and decided it would be better if all the Autobots participated in the interrogations instead of being only Ratchet. This way, Starscream would not think of any of them as "good cop, bad cop", as they would both give him cubes and deny him cubes depending on his behavior.

This method would also allow Starscream to get used to the Autobots, let them get to know each other better, even if just a little bit. It was Ratchet who suggested it. He had remembered dealing with anti-social Autobots and Neutrals back on Cybertron, who because of past traumas were afraid of being with other mechs. He had never tried with a Decepticon though. As he thought about it, most of the Decepticons seem like the traumatised mechs that he used to treat, among others.

Perhaps there was something like that in Starscream as well. So far though, he hadn't revealed much, if anything of his past. Arcee knew he had had a partner named Jetfire, an Autobot who apparently got executed by Megatron as the Seekers joined his Decepticons. She hadn't met Jetfire back in the war, nor heard of his death, but he had been a famous air support to the Autobots, together with the Aerialbots.

She had to wait with getting that information for later. Right now, she had another question for the Seeker.

"Here's your cube," she said and put it down on the floor. "Now tell me about those loose Decepticons of yours."

"I would, but I am terribly underfueled, and it would be much easier to remember if I got energized right away..." He wiggled his eyebrows in a hinting manner, which annoyed the femme.

"You'll get it after telling me about your 'Con friends."

"Oh, I feel so terribly weak..."

She sighed in irritation. "Fine," she snapped and took the cube, practically pouring its content in the Seeker's face. He had been taken aback by her giving in so quickly, and got soaked rather than refueled by the Energon.

He snarled by her barbaric action. "You don't have to be so rough. And how exactly am I supposed to clean myself with my hands on my back?" He shook his back in demonstration.

"That's for you to figure out," she said coldly. "You got your Energon. Now tell me!"

The Seeker snorted, dissatisfied with her approach. She behaves worse than me, but SHE isn't imprisoned, he thought annoyed. "Alright," he said. "I told you before that there are other Decepticons out there than those onboard the warship, didn't I?"

"You did. And who are they? How many are they? And where are they?"

Starscream's smirk returned. "One question at a time. You know that back on Cybertron, I was an Energon Seeker, right?" As she nodded, he continued. "Well, after getting forced to join the Decepticons, there were a few other strong Seekers who joined along with me. My Trinemates, Thundercracker and Skywarp..." He made a dramatic pause. "...went with us, and are currently somewhere on this Earth right now. As for their locations, I do not know, but they may be hiding among the humans, probably disguising themselves as their flying vehicles."