The Fugitive: Bit three

Cat and Mouse

Starscream climbed back to his hiding place and pulled out his newly collected rations. His optics glanced across the small pile, they were bright, rich with energy, but they were still not enough. Starscream required more than four for optional running. He needed a lot more than that to refuel his heavily depleted systems. Three was enough to survive on relatively comfortably, and two he could manage if he could ignore the drained feeling.

Starscream, unlike most of his kind, had two fuel tanks. It was beneficial to him as he often had to go for extended periods of time without fuel, or had to use extra energy to thrust him out of planetary atmosphere and into space. The fuel had to come to somewhere, and his powerchip could only do so much to bolster his speed. He also found the extra fuel tanks useful for extended flights through Earth's thick atmosphere, or inter-system travel in space.

Unfortunately, his dual fuel tanks were virtually empty and what little energy he could take in went directly to required life support systems. His power reserve was exhausted and he had to be very careful about what he did activity-wise.  He exhaled as he studied  his cubes hungrily. It was enough, but not enough.  Starscream set one aside and contemplated what he should do with it. His instincts insisted he consume it immediately, draw nourishment off the energy,  but his training insisted he hold it in reserve. He did not know what the future held and he did not want to find himself in dire straights

Reserve it was.

Starscream carefully pushed back a stone in the wall. He carved it out by hand and fitted it with a stone that was rich with iron ore. Starscream had lined the small cache with iron to mask the signal of the cubes. He did not wish to be located while he was insufficiently ready to deal with conflict. Five cubes glowed brightly within Starscream's makeshift larder. He carefully placed the one he had saved  with the others. He looked at them hungrily, his mouth watered at the sight. Fighting with his hunger, Starscream closed it up.

"Out of sight, out of mind,"  he reasoned out loud. "I wonder if I've been out of sight long enough to be free to go?" Starscream shook his head and muttered, "Probably not. Megatron's not likely to drop this one, frag up."

Starscream leaned himself against the cold stone wall and sipped at his energy battling the urge to down it as fast as he could. "Control, patience, and savour it," he urged himself.
*  *  *


He  had evaded most of the Seekers for the best of a week, the hunt was on and Starscream had little to no chance to stop, to  rest or to collect fuel. He had to make risky raids in order to keep his energy at a level that was sustainable for his activity.

Megatron was clearly infuriated. Angrier than anything Starscream had ever witnessed. 'Who could blame him', the Seeker muttered to himself as he once again lost his hunters by flying well above their maximum flight ceiling then diving down to a new location on the planet. He managed to lose them for up to an hour at best, but it was hardly enough to catch his breath. As soon as he managed to get something to recharge his desperate systems, they were upon him again and the cat and mouse game resumed.

The Seeker cursed himself continuously for his brash actions. Megatron, knowing that Starscream had an ability for marathon flights, drove the Seeker to his very limits of his endurance. It had been a week, almost constant hiding, escaping and pursuit.  Starscream had even attempted to stay on the dark side of Earth for as long as possible, however he wasn't that fast and his energy would force him to make an emergency hit and run raid.

Starscream knew that Megatron had a tactical advantage. He had turned out every Air Warrior on Earth loose in several short shifts, so there was always a fresh and eager squadron on his tail.

Only to make his matters worse, if it were not his former comrades after him, Starscream was dealing with the inhabitants of Earth. Fighter jets from most nations would rise to engage him in combat. Or the military forces would target  their ground to air missiles at him. Starscream had to expend great deal of energy to track, anticipate and dodge what was thrown at him. If he had not been so concerned for his life, he might have been more proud of his skills in flight.

As time went on, well within the first two days, Starscream's ammo was exhausted. He had not been able to rearm his arsenal and he knew that coming by weapon charges or missiles would be a tough call. He made it a point to avoid all established military areas, which limited his ability to run and hide. Megatron also made a point of posting warriors at his known retreats, which made things even more awkward.

Canada, the country north of the United States was weak in regards to military strength. Starscream again lost his pursuers by flying into space. As he came down, he almost flew right into a squadron in search pattern. Starscream shrieked and banked rapidly weaving himself through mountains and canyons. His system's began to warn him of his critical energy state. Starscream flew low into the mountains and then below radar. His belly almost brushed the tree tops as he knife edged between a pair of narrow cliffs. His pursuers were temporarily delayed and he made one last ditch effort to lose his hunters.  
Below him was a long, narrow, but apparently deep lake. Skimming low and keeping an optic out for his attackers, Starscream nosed down and impacted the water. He was concerned that the others might see his ripples. Starscream continued to let momentum carry him as far as it would before he transformed and swam the rest of the way down.

He hunkered down near the bottom of the lake, looking up trying to focus through the water. It was impossible to tell what was going on above the surface. He watched as fish swam by checking him out with curiosity or seeing if he was something interesting to eat. He waited for an hour, his systems started to slow down as his oxygen levels were depleted. He held on for a while longer, until his engines felt strangled for the need of fresh air.

Slowly and cautiously, Starscream swam to the surface. He chose an area which was darkened with the shadow of natural growth. He made sure it was a tree, or a bush before poking his head and shoulders raised. With a sharp gasp, he inhaled deeply until his systems returned to normal.   

Once his breaths subsided, he listened for a moment. but there were no sounds of the Seekers in the sky. Just the chirps of birds, cries of late summer insects; it was serene. Starscream cocked his head and  wondered for a moment, What if they had landed and were waiting for him in the forest? What if they were waiting for him, knowing that the need for air would drive him to the surface, breaking his cover and exposing him to their sensors. Unsure of the situation, Starscream stayed put, hidden as best as he could in the shallows under the some trees. He knew he could wait, he had nothing to lose.

He waited several hours in the water until his legs and body started to go numb from the glacial melt water. He wished he did not have to move as it was the first time in over a week he had a chance to stop and rest. His body protested as he climbed out of the water, careful to keep his feet on solid ground. Trying to not leave anything for trackers, Decepticon or human, to use to find where he went.

It was time to take his bearings. Starscream had little time to figure out where he was flying while being chased across the planet. His brain did not register the cities, their location to known landmarks that Seekers had used to navigate the planet by. It was a city here, or a stream there. Was that a bit of lake or a part of ocean? It all merged together in a blur of water, land city, country. All he knew for sure was he was in the Rockies, but was he in Canada, or in the USA.

Starscream glanced around at the mountains either side of himself. They were tall and virtually nondescript from the next range. He walked into the trees following the lake-river downstream until he came across an overgrown dirt road. He stopped and crouched looking around for human traffic. There was none, and judging by the road's appearance, there probably would not be any for quite a long time.

He wondered what sort of risk he was running with discovery by the Autobots. A situation he wished to avoid, but if given a choice, Starscream would prefer to be their prisoner, rather than that of Megatron's. Pushing his rampant worries aside, he returned his focus to hiding himself so he might rest and refuel. His optics followed the road toward the foot of the mountain. It had to go somewhere and where that was, there might be fuel, no matter how meagre it was.

The Seeker kept to the trees and followed the abandoned trail. It was difficult as some areas were thick with trees. Often he cursed as his wings became snared our fouled in the trees, or he tripped over a stump, or stumbled on some stones and once, caught his foot in a large animal's burrow.

He finally arrived at an area which had been cleared away by lumberers. It wasn't a recent cut, as the cleared area of forest was growing back with secondary growth. Small saplings were growing through bushes. At some point, they would be replaced by a mature forest and everything before him, a couple of broken down buildings and dilapidated equipment, would be hidden from view and eventually buried by decomposing organic matter.  

The machines and buildings were of some interest to Starscream. He reckoned that if his comrades detected something, they might pass it off as some of the rusted heaps that were scattered about.

Starscream remained under the canopy of leaves until darkness had fallen across the valley.  
Quickly, soundlessly, he sprinted to the buildings, and took shelter in one of the large empty drive sheds.

The shed was large, used for holding logging machinery. It was big enough for Starscream to stand up fully erect. He did not have to worry to much about the beams, just the things that hung from them. Saws, chains, hooks, axes, big knives. The would not do him much damage, but they might hurt if he had them fall upon his person.

Starscream's optics focused in the darkness so he could make out the other stored items. He backed away when he spotted a small black and white, striped animal. He recognised it and knew that if spooked the creature, it would spray a foul smelling mist in defence. He knew he was in trouble as it was, and he did not want to add an obnoxious organic odour to his list of problems.

In the corner of the almost pitch black room, Starscream could make out the shape of fuel cans. He rushed over to them and picked them up, gently, almost lovingly and carefully opened the lid with the the tips of his forefinger and thumb. He took a small sniff and snorted in disgust. They contained fuel, gasoline, but unfortunately the fuel was tainted with water. It would not do for him as it had to be processed. To process it, he needed equipment he did not have. With a sigh, he put it back and continued with his exploration.

A wolf howled and Starscream jumped and turned around at the unexpected sound. As he did, his wing caught itself on a pile of precariously stacked lumber which was standing in a corner. He froze and stifled a shriek of dismay as as the lumber clattered down noisily; several large chunks hitting him as they fell. He held his breath as his fuel pump started to hammer at high speed. The Seeker tried not to twitch in terror. Had anyone heard that? He held his breath for a few moments longer as he realised there wasn't a sound to be heard, everything had fallen quiet. He gingerly let himself relax and turn to see what sort of mess he had made. He was grateful that the skunk had vacated the shed as he was more than positive that it would have released it's noxious  odour.

The fallen pile had revealed a new discovery; a small machine. Starscream leaned in and carefully removed the remaining chunks of wood and tattered tarp. It was a power generator; medium sized, and ran on diesel. Starscream smiled slightly and looked it over. His large fingers accidentally turned the generator on. The lights in the drive shed blazed on, illuminating him, his mess and a family of racoons that glared at him. The lights were on all across the camp. From the work sheds, to the abandoned mill and the living quarters for the workers.

For a moment Starscream stood slacked jawed in surprise before he hissed in protest ripping the wires free of the generator. Power went out across the camp and Starscream battled to find the switch to turn off the alarmingly loud generator.  Once again he stood  still, listening, hoping that his light and sound display did not attract attention from any of his former comrades or the attention of any humans that happened to be near by.

Fearing discovery, Starscream reluctantly left the compromised building and returned to the shelter of the forest.  He knew that he needed to get to a location that was high enough for him to have a decent view over the forest canopy, the road as well as a clear view of the sky and provided him shelter from any prying optics.

As Starscream climbed higher, he realised he was disoriented. He attempted to align himself with compass north when he realised his compass was registering an error message. Starscream set himself down on some rocks to try to run a diagnostic of his systems.  Starscream was about to panic when he remembered being disoriented in the past. There were areas over the world where the magnetic field was disrupted causing malfunctions in things like compasses and other scanners.  

Starscream looked around himself and rubbed his chin as he recalled that pieces of lodestone, hematite, iron or nickel were enough to interfere with a compass at close range. Large enough deposits of those metals were enough to disrupt scanners at a greater distance. He realised that as long as he stayed within the area, he would be relatively safe. At least until the hunters called off their search.

"Navigate by the stars then," he said to himself as he looked to the sky and located Earth's Polar star. With that, he set off to find himself a hiding spot.