Inverted Insignia Chapter 10 An Act of War

Inverted Insignia
An Act of War

This time, Starscream spent much of a week in recovery in the repair bay before anyone there would consider releasing him. His internal injuries were significant. This meant unwanted time away from his academics, which fortunately Thundercracker had obtained the necessary work. Skywarp continued to remain guarding Starscream in spite of him missing his courses. He really did not care about academics, Fighting was far more interesting, and guarding meant he could sit back to entertain himself with mind numbing vid-files or images from the Cybertronian data-net, and at the same time subtly irritate his trine-leader with his presence.

The Advantage of being in a medical unit was the fuel was supplied and there was no fighting for it. Except with Skywarp who would try to take at least some. In the end the Medical Facility realised that if they did not feed Skywarp as well, half the recovering patients would end up going hungry. It appeared that the Teleporter's teleportation system required large amounts of energy to be consumed which was why the dark Seeker was nearly constantly stealing from people.  

Starscream laid on the medical platform, knees bent up, reading the latest from his science courses. It was an easy enough subject for him to miss, as he already knew the subject inside and out. It was tests he was unable to miss – unless he was stuck in a medical unit as he currently was. The situation of the simulator ran through his mind. His wingmates as well as Riftwing, explained what had occurred -  that an enemy cadet had entered and waited for a moment of distraction to take the Seeker out. A near successful attack had Starscream not used his weapons -  both the null ray and the firearm to kill. Again the Seeker had mixed feelings about the need to kill, however it was becoming apparent that it was a necessary evil. Kill or be killed. He was not entirely sure why he had become such a popular target in recent weeks, but he would defend himself. He decided this: No more hesitation, just pull the trigger or thrust the knife.

As Skywarp had said some months earlier when Starscream asked him if he had reservations about killing, Skywarp's simply reply was, “No. You think I'd be here if it did?” And that was the fact of the matter. He was training to become a warrior, if he wanted to be a pacifist he'd have either joined the Autobots or more appropriately the Neutrals or simply remained as a civilian in his home City of Vos. Yet he had chosen to take up arms and why would anyone join an army if they did not wish to fire a weapon or swing a sword in defence of their land, their ideas and their freedom.

The Decepticon method here was simply to weed the weak from the strong and he was being viewed as weak. Why? Simple, because he hesitated or he tried to talk his way out of it, because he was a scientist and they were pegged as soft. He realised his attitude had to change, he told Skywarp and Thundercracker that he could lead them. Darkstar had for some reason seemed to think he'd be a leader for the Seekers. He was still unsure how Darkstar came to that particular conclusion, but if one of the officers held that view of his capabilities, who was he to disappoint? The Elder Trine, as he referred to them as, were hell bent on training his group, although it was apparent the Elder trine had different ideas on how to do it. He inhaled sharply and Skywarp glanced over from his video then returned his focus. There were only two ways he would get out of this Academy and that was Alive as a warrior, or dead in a box. He decided the first was preferable.

His mind was set. Starscream reached over for his datapad to log in a notation.

“My near end in the simulator has set one thing firmly into my mind:
I need to fight and stop skirting the issue of killing others.
I am here, as a Decepticon, and we do not settle for anything less than the strongest. I am strong, I am a survivor and I am intelligent. These are advantages that many others here lack. Most of them do not have a history of living off the land as a Hunter, Most of them are used to comfort and luxury. I may have wished to avoid conflict in my recent past, but after having nearly lost my life in that simulator, I think now is as good a time to say, I will be the best Seeker this Academy has ever seen, I will be known and I will become feared. I will now make the change from Scientist to Warrior, and I shall not regret this.  I will still pursue my former profession -  it will have its use in war. The old saying, “Knowledge is Power,” pertains. I will not be like Skywarp over there. He is destined to be a forever grunt -  sadly. I can be -  so much more.
Tomorrow morning when I am released from here, I will turn my new leaf and become that which I never had dreamed I could be.”

He put his stylus down and logged the datapad out.

*  *  *

The mess hall at midday meal was busy, there were the standard standard pushing and shoving. Skywarp blinked in and out across the hall, stealing the fuel from under the noses of unsuspecting cadets, and blinking away before anyone could react to find him. He was by far one of the toughest Seekers to deal with at the midday brawl. Starscream typically avoided the meal hall and used the Energon reserves he and Skywarp had procured, and that Skywarp kept topping up. He was determined this time, to prove himself. He joined the line and grabbed a tray of fuel cubes. Within a minute there was a cadet approaching him, larger, flightless and optics staring him down as if to intimidate him.

“You're gonna give that to me, flier.” the cadet demanded.

“Get scrapped,” Starscream replied, his wings flaring upward.

“Seeker scare tactics aren't gonna work with me, you hanger-born scrap heap.”

Starscream grabbed one of his cubes and stuffed it in his mouth eating it down to show he was not in the slightest intimidated. His tanks flipped and flopped and a surge of Electro-adrenaline shot through his lines. Usually he disliked the feeling but in recent weeks he started to get used to the surges and almost enjoyed them. “And you're nothing but a mud slinging ground hugging- maggot,” Starscream responded after he swallowed his morsel. He remained polite, not talking with his mouth full.

That insult was enough to send the grounder into a fit, the Mech threw himself at Starscream and the Seeker raised his arm and discharged his null ray. “I said, get scrapped!” The Cadet crumpled to the ground, circuits nullified. Starscream gave him a swift kick in the chest, cracking the glass windsheild and then carried on to his seat as if nothing happened. A number of cadets stopped and stared at him -  surprised. Starscream decided that in this case the cadet did not need to die unless the escalated the issue, the weapon would go to show the others that he was able to bring someone down with little effort.

Another cadet, having missed the previous altercation, noticed the Seeker sitting largely alone, approached him from behind. His intent was also to steal the fuel cubes. Starscream sensed the presence of a new magnetic field and  his hand slipped to his hunting knife. He continued to eat holding his fuel with his right hand as he readied himself with his left. The hand came around and Starscream dropped the cube, grabbed the intruder with his right and ran the hunting knife through the top of the Cadet's hand burying the blade into the table. The Cadet screamed in pain and the whole room fell silent. Starscream snarled. “Try to steal from me and you will regret it. The next person who tries this hour will forfeit their life,”  he hissed his voice carried in the now silent room. “And I mean it, no more Mr. Nice Scientist.”

Starscream reached down and grabbed the hilt of his blade then drew it out of the table and the cadets hand. “You better get that looked at and run fast before I decide to bury it in your spark,” he said to the other. The cadet grabbed his hand in his uninjured hand and ran off into the direction of the medical bay. The rest of the Lunch hour remained largely uneventful.

*  *  *
Skywarp appeared beside Starscream later that afternoon as he was returning from one of his science labs. “I heard about you at the mess hall, wish I had seen it!” the dark seeker raved. He nearly startled Starscream into a defensive reaction.

“Yeah, well... its do or don't right? Well I am done with the don't so I am doing. And, Skywarp, don't make me hurt you. Keep away from my meals...”

The dark Seeker nodded. “Yeah, I think it's gonna be more unsafe stealing from you now.”

“We can Seek Energon together but we do not take from each other. Not in our trine. We work together, we help each other if there is need.  But we do not thieve from each other. We have standards, right?”

“Right,” Skywarp nodded. “We have standards.”

“Good, because we're gonna make a hit and run on another cache.”

Skywarp stopped. “We are?” his wings trembled in anticipation. “When?”

“As soon as we get Thundercracker -  there is a small storage facility just in the outskirts of Iacon, we will sneak out at midnight, and strike then.”

“But that's off campus, we aren't allowed to leave!” he responded sounding fearful for the first time.

“Come now Skywarp, rules are sometimes meant to be broken. And I think in this case, we are meant to think outside the box -  that's what the elders say. That cache belongs to the University I was exiled from.... It's very high grade, very nice energon. Lots of bottles and a lot of choices. I'd like to get my hands on it. Take something back from them, It will empower us as well, and it will keep our cache well stocked probably for the rest of the terms we spend here,”

“You're right, some are meant to be broken and high grade you said? I can hardly wait!” Skywarp rubbed his hands together and grinned, “the stuff they serve here is blah.” The dark Seeker slapped his hand across Starscream's back in a friendly manner. “Now you are getting the spirit. Welcome to the Decepticons, Screamer!”

*  *  *

The three Seekers crouched behind a railing, they peeked over watching the activity as a few people left the area. It was two in the morning and the activity was that of only security or the odd individual getting off from a late night shift.

The University of Iacon was a place that Starscream knew quite well. Its large vaulting halls, ornate ceilings with carvings of alien beasts, strange botanicals, and finely painted artwork framed in gold leaf. It was a beautiful place and the Seeker drew in a breath as memories returned to him of things that he had experienced there. Good things, graduating top of his class, obtaining his degrees, being coached on by Skyfire. He offlined his optics as the recent memories of his expulsion came to mind.

He waited until the security guard strode back to his desk and sat down. Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker stole down the hall. Their steps light and careful as their trine leader led them to a Storage room. He fiddled with the lock slightly and it slipped open. Skywarp's jaw dropped as he watched Starscream pick the lock. It was not something he expected the scientist to know how to do.

“Gentlemen, I give you the finest supply of Energon on Cybertron.” The door opened up to a small room with energon cubes of varying colours lined shelves. Glowing fluids in bottles, other ingredients that would augment the flavour or usefulness of the energon.

Starscream quietly closed the door behind them. What he did not realise was the security on the store room had been recently updated and a silent alarm sounded, alerting the front security desk that there was some sort of problem. The security officer had just been dozing off when the alarm sounded. He glanced at the campus map and noted the area that was highlighted. He turned the beacon off and then picked up his nightstick and light.  The halls were still as he quietly walked to where the three Decepticon Cadets were busy looting.

“You have the co-ordinate set in your head, Skywarp?” Starscream asked. As he gathered several bottles of the finest Energon he could find. “Because I intend to clean this place out of every last bottle.” Starscream placed the bottles of energon into a crate as the door opened. Skywarp froze. Thundercracker stepped back into the shadows and Starscream turned around.

“Hey, what is going on here?” The security officer asked. He glanced at the Seekers and his optics fell on the insignias. The guard pulled his service pistol out and aimed it at Starscream and Skywarp. “I don't know what is going on here, but you don't belong here. So I am arresting you!”

“Did you happen to call for backup?” Starscream asked calmly, “you look a little tired...”

“Um-er....no...I forgot,”

“Mistake number one,” Starscream fired his null rays and the guard hit the ground. “Nap time,” he whispered. The Seeker dragged the security guard into the room and closed the door. “Mistake number two was telling us that no one's coming looking for you.” the red Seeker leaned down and picked up the pistol and glanced it over. It was loaded. He cocked it and fired a shot into the head of the Guard. The guard's body darkened in death. “Good night!”

At this point Thundercracker came out of the shadows and grabbed the weapon from Starscream's hand. “What in the pit do you think you're doing, he's innocent! What the slag has happened to you Starscream, you've turned into a murderer.”

“I am removing all threat from our mission,” Starscream snatched the pistol back and tucked it away.

“He is not part of the Academy, he is just a guy doing his job.”

“Aren't we all just doing a job?” Starscream asked darkly. “They are of Iacon, they are Autobot. If he isn't an Autobot -  then oops either way he'll alert them that three Decepticons are raiding a energon storage. Before we know it, a fully trained army will be breathing down our necks and filling us with holes. I say for our sake, it's best to remove one than have us three terminated. Isn't that right, Skywarp?”

Skywarp nodded. He had seen a few things tonight that indicated Starscream was quickly embracing the ways of the Decepticons. “Yeah, screamer... wow, good shot too, I'm impressed!”

“I don't believe you are siding with him, Skywarp!”

The dark Seeker tipped his head in thought. “I don't believe you aren't -  he's right you know. It's gotta be this guard or it'll be us. Let's get the energon out of here and go before they discover him dead. Anyway, I know where to go next time, I can just raid it for supplies later.”

Starscream dragged the body into a dark corner and piled empty crates around him, just to hide him for a while. With four official kills, Starscream had now added a 5th to his tally. He doubted he could register this one with the Academy, it could be black marked. In either way, it was his first real murder. This time, he felt a rush. It was not a cadet on his side that he killed, it was an actual enemy the feeling he got was of elation. A feeling he could easily get used to. Killing enemies was a far different feeling from killing a “friendly” Starscream let out a small chuckle as he finished placing the boxes. Thundercracker watched him with an expression of fear and disgust. Starscream grabbed a bottle, popped it open and tipped its contents back and smiled. “To victory!” Skywarp joined Starscream in his drink and jubilation. Thundercracker rumbled. He did not agree with this. He did not join in with the pair's drinking. After a few minutes of their celebration Skywarp teleported them to a clearing where they transformed and flew back to the Academy.

Skywarp quickly transferred the units of energon to their storage area. He hummed as he put the bottles away on the rough shelves he had made out of crates and metal boxes. Starscream, this time,  had really impressed him.

Thundercracker glowered at Starscream as they re-entered the barracks. They crept in quietly and then stopped. Starscream's wings tingled. He put his hand up and Thundercracker walked into the back of him. Thundercracker grumbled as Starscream swore at him just under his breath. Thundercracker grabbed Starscream by the throat and pinned him to the wall. “I don't know what you are trying to pull, but that action was many levels of wrong. If you weren't my trine leader, I'd kill you for that.” He let Starscream go shoving him aside and stepped to his bunk.

Starscream rubbed his throat and inhaled sharply dropping to his own platform. He disconnected his rifles when he heard someone approach from behind. Initially he thought it was Skywarp, but the approach was heavy, and it appeared as if there were at least two people and not with the typical blast of cool air that announced Skywarp's sudden re-entry from subspace.

“Where is Skywarp?” asked the deep voice of Darkstar.

“Uh,” Starscream glanced around. “He must be at the cache...”

“Where were you? There was a random bed-check and you three were missing and we did not detect you on Campus,” demanded Riftwing.

“Well...”

“Speak the truth,” Thundercracker snarled at Starscream.

“We went on an off campus raid...” Starscream admitted. “Iacon, the university I was expelled from. They had a good energon cache, I decided that we should take it. As compensation for my inconvenience.”

“Were you seen?”

“Yes!” Thundercracker said quickly, “We were seen. Starscream...neutralised the thread as soon as it occurred.”

“Neutralised, will they be able to identify you three?” Darkstar asked in concern.

“I doubt it,” Starscream answered. “I killed him, then I hid his carcass. I made sure he went black in death.”

“That was an act of war, Starscream!” Riftwing responded.

“It most certainly was,” the trine leader agreed. “If you did not wish us to find alternate sources of fuel, you'd supply us with all that we needed.”

Skywarp teleported himself neatly beside Starscream and Thundercracker. He looked at the trio of Elders and then glanced at his wingmates. “Oh scrap, we're in deep slag aren't we?”

“Welcome to the party, Skywarp.” Starscream sighed. “Look, if we let the guy live he'd have identified us as Decepticon and brought the Autobots out to get us. We have those huge Decepticon insignias on our wings... We couldn't let that happen. We left no witnesses and dead mech tell no stories. Anyway, he's just a bot... why would it matter to you?” Starscream crossed his arms. His optics had narrowed and he was determined to prove himself in the right. “In one moment, you are basically attempting to urge me to fight, and in the next you are on my case about actually doing so.”

Other sleeping cadets were waking up to the disturbance. They sat up on their bunks and watched as the three cadets were ripped into by the three elders. The cadets began to whisper amongst themselves as the learned of the situation. Starscream had killed yet again.

Darkstar stood up and grabbed the red Seeker by the wing and pulled him into the middle of the room. “First of all, cadet, you will lose your insolent tone with me. Secondly, you do not leave this campus after lights out without the express permission of your immediate overseeing officers, this would be myself, Riftwing or Stellardrift. Thirdly, had it gone wrong you could have seen yourself, and your trine mates scrapped and in the hands of the enemy side. And finally, you yourself objected most profusely to being considered an Autobot by us. How hypocritical of you to assume, that a guard is an Autobot. He could have been, at the least neutral.” Darkstar reached up and smacked Starscream resoundingly across the face with the back of his hand. “If you ever use those tones against a superior officer again it will likely be the last thing you ever do.”

Starscream spiralled to the ground as the much more massive Seeker whacked him, his lip split  and fluids seeped out of his mouth. Skywarp and  Thundercracker winced but stayed in their spot as diligently as they could. Only their wings belied the urge to help the other Seeker to his feet.
“My error, Sergeant Darkstar,” Starscream said poking at his lip. “But if I may offer something to appease you, I do have some amazing energon vintages in our possession. We'd be willing to share with you if you'd permit.”

The large Seeker stopped and looked at the much smaller cadet and rumbled. He seemed surprised that the young warrior would in effect bribe him and make him party to the crime committed. However, he too had missed luxuries such as fine energon's. “Very well, cadet, bring me a bottle of your best tomorrow, but be warned, we are going to be talking to the council about disciplinary actions.”

“As you'd like,” Starscream gracefully bowed his head. “May we return to our bunks, we do need to catch up on some rest before flight manoeuvres tomorrow.”

Darkstar nodded.  He gestured to the two other warriors and they departed.

“You just bribed Darkstar,” Skywarp whispered. Sitting on his own bunk. He leaned over and looked over at his trine-leader.

“No scrap,” was the young Seeker's terse reply. “Mind getting the rest from the storage room tomorrow, during our break?”

“He said not to leave campus without his permission!”

“He said not to leave after lights out without his permission. He never said anything about not during the day. It just needs to be done with a bit more stealth, you are stealthy as it gets with your teleport. There will be an extra cube-or whatever you want in it for you too.”

“Now you're bribing me!” the dark Seeker whined.

“It is the only currency I currently have.” Starscream replied raising his empty hands to show how poor he actually was. “The energon I helped procure is the only money/power I-we have.”

“I know, I know. Fine, but if I get caught, it's your idea.” Skywarp said wagging his finger.

“Very well, I will take the heat,” the younger Seeker agreed. “It shouldn't come to that though. Anyway, I have to talk the council tomorrow about my actions. I'll keep the heat off you there too, it was my idea anyway.”

Thundercracker said nothing. He was still steaming angry at Starscream's earlier actions. The blue Seeker for the first time, wanted to beat the spark out of his trine-leader.