sunchime | WRONG TURN TO THE BABY WAR

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character: starscream

WRONG TURN TO THE BABY WAR

So, good news -- the space bridge prototype worked. Less good news -- it seems to have taken Starscream with it instead of the drone, which was definitely not the intent. And he hadn't intended to send it to a...ship? It looks like he's on a ship. He can feel the hum of the engines through the bulkheads. There are almost definitely people on this ship -- whose is it? It seems Cybertronian in make, but it's not as though the ports of Cybertron have been especially bustling lately. The hallway he's in is too nondescript to give him a clue as to just what kind of ship this is, but the lack of Decepticon insignias in sight doesn't install a great sense of confidence in him.

His radio pings are hitting dead air, so either no one else was transported here, or the trip messed with his comms. Neither prospect is especially heartening. Clutching his datapad to his chest, Starscream flattens himself against a wall and starts inching toward the nearest turn in the corridor, calling out in a low hiss.

"Megatron?" Nothing. Well. Hm. "Slipstream? ...Strika? Anyone?"

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"I haven't heard the term before, no, but I think I can guess what it means." He walks on a couple of steps in silence, reflecting -- and then says, abruptly, "I think your Decepticons might be better off than mine were if anyone in high command is worried about anyone else's wellbeing."

Starscream frowns at that. "Even if it slows us down? Overcautiousness could cost us the war. You can't win without taking risks."

"Even if it slows you down," says Megatron. "If you prioritise victory over everything else you lose sight of what you were supposed to be fighting for in the first place."

"I didn't say over everything," Starscream objects, crossing his arms. This doesn't really sound like the Megatron he knows, and it's actually kind of uncomfortable. "Megatron cares about the welfare of his troops. I'm just saying that being unwilling to take the risk of putting one of your most powerful warriors out in the field is stupid."

Which does not really make his original point sound any better, but whatever. He peers curiously up at Megatron. "I'm assuming that's what happened to your Decepticons?"

"Yes." Megatron looks back at him levelly. "The goal became conquest above all and we justified increasingly brutal tactics in pursuit of it until that was all the Decepticons were. All I'm saying is that having an influence in your command that might mitigate that could be worth it."

The leap isn't all that hard to make. The logic in it is easy to connect, effortless, especially with the weight of conviction in Megatron's voice, but Starscream's mind shies away from it, because he really doesn't want to believe that this Megatron is right about any of this. Clearly Megatron doesn't think he'd be a good fit for second-in-command -- and that irritates him, because what does Megatron really know about him, anyway? It doesn't change the fact that what Starscream wants is to be second-in-command.

"Megatron isn't interested in conquest," he says stubbornly. "It isn't about that. It's about rebuilding Cybertron. And even if Strika is...necessary, to an extent," he admits grudgingly, "that doesn't mean I shouldn't still be given a chance. I have potential."

Starscream says the words 'Megatron isn't interested in conquest', and if Megatron had actual eyebrows instead of just a hat they would be levitating vertically off of his face. He manages to convey this reaction with the look he gives Starscream anyway.

"You do," he concedes. "But you should be careful, and so should he."

Starscream's expression turns into a smug I told you so sort of look, but he purses his lips as he looks at Megatron, trying to tease out exactly what he means by that.

"What is it I should be careful of?" he asks, almost warily, because this conversation is starting to develop an ominous tone.

"Ambition," says Megatron with a shrug. "Cruelty. Being too certain that the end justifies the means."

This conversation has taken a sharp turn into the very uncomfortable, and Starscream's grip tightens on the datapad. About thirty seconds ago, he'd been convinced that Megatron didn't know him at all, but now he's hitting dangerously close to home. It makes him defensive, but it rattles him just a little, too.

"What's wrong with ambition?" he scoffs, scrambling to put up another defense. "Nothing changes without ambition. And it's not like any of my goals conflict with Megatron's. Or the Decepticons'."

Yet.

That gets another non-eyebrow eyebrow lift. "I didn't suggest they did. I said you should both be careful of letting those things get the better of you. What did you think I meant?"

Starscream shoots him a Look. "You were very vocal about how lying and manipulating are your Starscream's main talents. I think it's clear you expect the same from me."

How dare you, Megatron!! He doesn't want to murder his boss/boyfriend (yet) he just wants to be smug and in charge.

He sort of nods as if to admit to that, but then he shrugs and says, "Mmm... Well, maybe you won't try to kill him, but," he looks at Starscream sidelong, "if you do end up going down that route, you know that's going to mean I'm right."

Starscream's eyes flash, and he lets out a resentful little hiss, squaring his shoulders. "I am not going to try to kill Megatron," he snaps. "I just want to be his second-in-command. And the head of the Decepticon scientific corps," he admits, but hey, go big or go home, right? "But mostly his second-in-command. I know I can do more, I can do better -- I just want him to give me a chance."

It sounds so pathetic when he says it out loud, and he immediately grits his teeth, pressing a hand to his forehead. "I deserve a chance," he says, with conviction backed by entirely unearned confidence. Seriously, what is the point of being Megatron's conjunx socia if he's not going to get a promotion out of it.

Ah. Hm.

"Maybe you do," Megatron allows, "but I can warn you right now it won't be enough."

Starscream can't believe he is still being forced to endure this conversation, or that he has no conceivable way out of it right now. His eyes dart around for signs of other mechs, but right now this stretch of corridor seems to be utterly empty save for the two of them.

"What do you mean?" Starscream narrows his eyes. "I don't want be in charge of the Decepticons. I loathe politics, and when this war is over, when we win, that's going to be half the job. Besides -- more importantly -- if I'm running the entire Decepticon army, I'm not exactly going to have any time for scientific pursuits." He clenches his jaw. "One of these days, I am going to get my name first on the byline of a paper," he mutters.

Oh, that's right. The whole science thing. Megatron is finding that absolutely surreal but also kind of charming, in a detached, bewildered sort of way. The idea of Starscream writing a scientific paper is absurd? But this one seems very passionate about it.

"Hm. Yes. I'd focus on the science, if I were you," he says, tapping his chin thoughtfully. It can't be worse than how it's turned out in his timeline, anyway, he thinks. "I'd imagine second in command would be a lot of politics too, though." He supposes so, anyway. In his experience it's mainly seemed to involve murder attempts.

"At least then I'd have some input," Starscream says, but that sounds like a lame argument, and Megatron is forcing him to think about that particular goal in ways he hadn't considered. He absolutely hates it. He falls silent for a few moments, his shoulders stiff.

"I do actually like him, you know," Starscream says abruptly. He doesn't mean for it to come out as defensive as it does, but while Starscream absolutely flatters himself by thinking he's capable of a certain level of ruthless, what Megatron is accusing of his future self makes it seem like he doesn't believe Starscream actually cares for him. He's insufferable and utterly self-absorbed, but the should-be perks of the job aren't the sole reason he's there, shockingly enough.

Megatron looks at him in faint surprise. That isn't a lie, he realises, and that's an extremely weird realisation. It's not as if he never liked Starscream; he wouldn't have promoted him at all if he hadn't. But, well. It was never like that, and he's fairly sure that any admiration Starscream had for him at the outset was subsumed fairly quickly by his craving for power.

"... Why?" he asks, genuinely curious.

Starscream gives Megatron a funny look, but he supposes if things really were that bad with this universe's Starscream, then maybe Megatron really doesn't get what Starscream would see in another version of him. He purses his lips slightly, tapping a finger on his arm.

"Because he's clever," he says, "and he's interesting, he's very good at what he does. He's self-assured, he isn't needy, and he actually knows how to hold an intelligent conversation, which is more than I can say for any of his enforcers."

Deadlock can barely hold a conversation, full stop, and his tolerance for Slipstream's bullshit is at an all-time low. Maybe if she'd stop teaming up with Soundwave to make those infuriating slapcam videos he might eventually get to a point where he doesn't want to shove her out a window five minutes into every conversation.

"And he acknowledges the same in me," he goes on smugly, which isn't entirely true, because Megatron has never once implied that Starscream isn't extremely high-maintenance. "He thinks I'm clever and engaging, and he tells me so. He appreciates me."

It is not actually as mutual as Starscream believes it to be, but as far as he's concerned Megatron sees him as equal as he sees anyone, which is what makes it so frustrating that he hasn't made Starscream his second-in-command. And while the ego boost that comes with praise from your cunning and terrifying warlord boyfriend is a big part of the draw for Starscream, there is, weirdly enough, a kind of affection there. Although Megatron could stand to pay more attention to him. He wouldn't mind being appreciated more.

Fucking uncanny. It doesn't not sound like Starscream, is the thing? None of this is anything Megatron would be especially surprised to hear Starscream give as a reason he liked somebody. It's just that in this Starscream's timeline that person is him. And it's not just a grab for power? He seems genuine about it, for Starscream-consistent convincing reasons.

Megatron lets this bizarre state of affairs sink in a little, turning it over in his mind a few times. He honestly can't imagine what his alternate timeline counterpart must think about this. After a moment's consideration he decides he doesn't want to try, and just nods, slowly.

"... In that case," he says, "do yourself a favour and don't let him become a monster like I did."

Starscream does not...really know how to feel about the weird direction this conversation is continuing to go in. He narrows his eyes at Megatron, his mouth twisting into a frown. He's increasingly resentful of this Megatron's conviction that if nothing is done, the Megatron he knows is going to inevitably turn into some horrible tyrant who turns out to be just as destructive to Cybertron as the old guard was -- or that it's somehow Starscream's job to do anything about it. It's not that he wants to see his conjunx become a monster, but he also doesn't really see how it's his responsibility, either.

"And how, exactly?" Starscream demands. "What do you expect me to do, tell him to call off the war? Somehow I don't think he'd listen."

This is why he needs to be second-in-command, obviously.

Megatron sighs impatiently.

"No, and I don't think that would end well for any of you, either. But if he's anything like me..." He presses his knuckles against his forehead. "Just -- remind him of what he's actually fighting for before he loses sight of it too much. If there's any influence you can leverage at all make sure he doesn't forget that he's doing this for Cybertron, not for himself."

Edited 2018-03-18 23:39 (UTC)

As annoyed as Starscream is at being told what to do by this ultimately disappointing version of Megatron, the idea that he has any kind of say not only in the course of the war, but the kind of person Megatron might become, the very fate of Cybertron, is starting to take hold in his mind, and it does have a certain appeal. Obviously he cares about the future of Cybertron; it's his future, too, after all, and he doesn't really want to see Megatron change for the worse, which this Megatron makes sound like an inevitability, an eventuality. Starscream could change that.

He gives Megatron a curious look, his eyes sharp. "You think I have the power to influence him that much?"

He shrugs. "If what you say about your, ah, relationship is true, then perhaps." He pauses, considers. "If you don't think this Strika you mentioned already has the situation under control, anyway."

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