TRANSFORMER FANFIC

BY: STARSCREAM FOR PRESIDENT & SUNSTAR

NEGOTIATIONS

Earthdate:April 14th 2009

The Air Commander sat at his desk going over notes and records for the past four and a half years.

The Year 2005 was the hardest for Starscream, he and his wingmates were frequently called away to Cybertron to defend their claim on the planet. They were very successful and Cybertron remained in Decepticon control. Despite their success in keeping their planet free from Autobot incursions, they were forced to remain on Earth to ensure the Autobots did not claim enough energy to attempt another strike. This notably irked his wingmates Skywarp and Thundercracker, who wanted nothing more than to go home.

The datapads and lab reports lay scattered across his desk. He thought it might be useful to read back on some of the files and tally his experiences.

User Name: Starscream

Password: ********

Personal log for: STARSCREAM

Earthdate: 03.27.2007

Subject: Humans

Human young are an enigma to me.

The actual number of abductions have been about eighty nine over the past thirteen years...

Starscream placed the log down and rubbed his head with an azure hand. He felt exhausted. He had been spreading his time between the lab and daily routine for a few weeks, getting about twenty hours of work done during those long days.

He glanced back toward the area he had constructed to house new cages. The Seeker had been putting it off for quite some time; he glanced over at the block of cages where his human specimens and their children were kept. It was now time.

He stood up from his desk closing down the datapad he had been reading. Quickly he gathered things out of various shelves and cupboards until he had lined his table with some small items and a cage. Since the birth of couple human children a few years earlier, Starscream had been eager for this moment. The offspring would able to take care of themselves more or less, with a bit of help.

Given proper guidance the child could be raised in a manner that would suit his needs. Such guidance could not be given by the human's parents, no that would only lead the child to be taught to think as a human, to suffer their compassion, their conscience, their softness and overall weakness. He wanted these children to grow up strong. To study and to obey orders without question.

Starscream realized it would be difficult to raise the creatures as he wished them to be brought up. He alone could not possibly dream to do it. So the Seeker had written up complex computer programs that would feed the children the necessary basic information for their education. He only hoped that this would work to his advantage.

In the meantime he would need to research the information that he needed to figure out a way of changing the DNA sequence to enable his future plan to succeed. In order for him to do this he needed the complete co-operation of his slightly less than enthusiastic partner: Skywarp.

The Seeker had been very helpful from the start of his tenure of partnership. Starscream only hoped that the dark Seeker would not balk at this idea. Skywarp had a mind of his own and if the benefit to him was not worth it he would likely just disappear.

Starscream checked his internal chronometer; Skywarp should be finished with his shift in fifteen minutes. He figured he ought to inform Skywarp early so he could finish his own preparations. "Skywarp, please present yourself to my lab as soon as you are done with your shift. There is a little something WE have to do," said Starscream over his private radio channel. He paused and waited for a response.

"Skywarp?" he inquired again.

Skywarp sat at his station in the control room and silently acknowledged the summon before realizing that Starscream could not see him nodding. "Ok, I'll be there in a bit," the dark Seeker finally replied.

Skywarp looked around the control room at the other Decepticons who were busy checking their monitors and running their scans. Soundwave was in charge of the current shift and did not seem to be aware that Skywarp had spent most of the day playing human computer games and surfing the internet. He decided that his presence would not be missed and teleported to the break room.

Skywarp teleported into Starscream's lab almost an hour after the Air Commander had called upon him.

Starscream closed off his radio communications, sat down at his computer terminal and continued to fill his daily reports, stores tallies, energon usage, mission logs and create the next duty roster for the next few weeks. He contemplated giving himself a day off to rest but glanced around himself. He had more work to do than he had time for. Someone had to do the paperwork and Megatron certainly did not. With his regular and extracurricular duties, Starscream had little time for anything else. He thought that he would try to create some time by delegating a few small tasks to his wingmate.

The Air Commander glanced at the digital clock on the wall and compared it to his internal chronometer. He realized that the clock on the wall was out by a few milliseconds and then he sighed. It was getting late and Skywarp had not appeared.

He thought about calling the Seeker to him again but did not want to make Skywarp even more stubborn and late. Nonetheless he was becoming ill tempered, there were plenty of things to be done and he did not have all day and night to wait for Skywarp. A thought flashed across his mind that perhaps Megatron held him back to talk to him or have him do some extra things but that was unlikely. "As soon as you've done your shift does not mean anytime you feel like it," he grumbled to himself as he angrily plugged in some data unaware of Skywarp's presence.

Skywarp grinned and crept up behind Starscream. "You wanted something?" he shouted into the red Seeker's audio receptor.

Starscream jumped with a screech, knocking over a few glass bottles off a shelf with his wing as he turned around abruptly. The chemicals hissed across the floor as they blended and started to melt a hole into the metal tiles. Starscream glanced down at the chemical reaction and then he glared at Skywarp seething with suppressed anger. "Yes I wanted something, more than half an hour ago. I wanted you here."

He quickly stepped aside as the caustic chemical reaction oozed toward his foot. "Look Skywarp, I desperately need your help. I realized that this was going to be a big task but I did not realize that it would be this big. I mean, your work would be quite simple. I just need you to manage a few things for me." Starscream let out a small yelp of pain as the chemical spill finally touched him.

The red Seeker grabbed a metal box off the shelf, flipped back the lid and thrust his hand into it and threw some white powder down on the floor and over his foot. The chemical reaction was quickly neutralized. He tried not to glance up at Skywarp who seemed highly amused. Instead he busied himself with wiping his hands on a cloth.

Skywarp snorted with suppressed laughter. "Why do you so desperately need my help? Just what would I be managing?"

Starscream regained his composure and forced his face into a serious expression. "I need you to manage the animals on a permanent basis. In order for me to get a bit more headway on this project, I will need more time to do scientific study." He knelt down with a small brush and dustpan. He deftly swept the broken glassware and the moist lumpy powder into the pan. His optics followed the line that was etched onto the floor realising he was going to have to repair it as soon as he could.

Skywarp stood slack jawed. He could not believe that Starscream had the audacity to ask such a thing from him. Caring for the humans would take away much of his free time which he cherished. "Are you nuts? I don't have time for that." He watched as Starscream worked.

The Air Commander dumped the contents of the pan into the garbage disposal unit. The incinerator would be unwise as the two chemicals when combined could become highly unstable and explosive in the heat.

Starscream scowled, "Skywarp, I have to help manage a base, I have to goad everyone into doing their jobs, into handing their reports in on time. I do this so I don't get slagged by our leader. I have little to no free time of my own, heck this is starting to cut into my personal rest time. I am just asking for some help, I am willing to compensate you for your loss of time." Starscream pressed the button on the wall and the compactor activated. Mechanical grinding noises filled the room blended with the snap and whine of metal and shattering of glass.

"It'll cost you, ya know," Skywarp said with a grin.

Starscream turned back to Skywarp with a frown. "Yes, I had anticipated this. I have cubes set aside that I am willing to pay," he said as he gathered a couple datapads from the bottom of his work pile. He popped them onto the black topped table and scrolled through the files.

"My time is not cheap and this will take a lot of it," Skywarp said trying to be dramatic.

The red Seeker glanced up from the datapad and looked Skywarp straight in the optic. "Then how much is your time worth to you?" inquired Starscream with a hint of unease in his voice. He resumed his search and brought up the files he was looking for.

Skywarp pondered for a moment. "I'll need at least fifty cubes a week plus what you're giving me now."

Starscream staggered back as if Skywarp's demands had hit him like a fusion blast. Skywarp's request was almost a third of his wage, on top of what he was already receiving. Much of his personal supplies went into running his experiments and what he had left over he saved with the hopes that he could use it as leverage for power one day. "Skywarp, are you insane? How do you expect me to live? Ten cubes." He decided that he would not give in to Skywarp's demands, he would force a compromise.

Skywarp scoffed at Starscream's offer, "Ten cubes is ridiculous. You've got to be joking. Forty-five."

Starscream's optics blazed for a moment. "Forty-five is out of the question, who do you think you are? Are you trying to gain enough power to oust me? Fifteen cubes, Skywarp." He placed his hands on his hips and glared at Skywarp intensely for a few moments trying to fathom some ulterior motives.

Skywarp grinned. "No way. Thirty or I walk."

A few ideas wandered across Starscream's mind. A rouse, something he could do to get Skywarp to back down with the overly high demands. Already the fee dropped fifteen cubes but it was still way too high. Starscream held his hands out. "Please Warp, be reasonable," he pleaded. His voice softened up and lost the aggravated edge. His mouth curved down into a practiced frown of dismay, "twenty-three, cubes... I am not made of the damn things."

Skywarp sighed and shook his head. "I'll tell ya what, since you've been pretty decent to me lately, I'll cut you a break. Twenty-five cubes a week total. That's what you're paying me now plus fifteen. But I won't accept any less than that. I'm serious, Starscream. Twenty-five or I'm done with you and your pets."

Starscream grinned and held out a hand. "It's a deal." Better than he had hoped. Starscream had been willing to foot the twenty-five cubes plus the ten that he already paid him. He wondered briefly why Skywarp suddenly changed his mind. But in the end Starscream won and he still took the better end of the stick.

Skywarp shook Starscream's hand to clench the deal but wondered if he could have received more had he been more patient. "So, what do you want me to do?"

Starscream wore a slight smirk on his face, it was time to outline the duties to his wingmate and let him know what he was in for, and to finally drop the bomb. "Oh, I want you to feed, clean and do whatever needs to be done to the creatures and then I need you to help instruct and the offspring that we are going to be separating from their parents."

Skywarp groaned, "so I have to baby-sit?"

Starscream picked up the datapad and pointed to it as he spoke. "It's pre-programmed instructions, all we need to do is make them learn it and all you need to do is make sure they do it. I thought about teaching them in our written language but I think that might be a bad idea. How are your 'English" skills'?"

"English? As in reading and writing? I don't know." Skywarp shrugged lazily.

"You know, English as in their common language. It doesn't matter too much. I don't want them bright, but I want them capable to follow simple instructions. I need them to do as they are told, when they are told." Starscream held out the datapad. "These are the creatures to segregate from their parents, the cages are over there," he pointed to a shelf with several tiny cages, "get to it."

Skywarp groaned. He had hoped that Starscream would just become frustrated with him and decide his assistance was not needed. The dark Seeker snatched the datapad from Starscream's hand and made his way to the cages.

Starscream reached his hand out and grabbed Skywarp's shoulder. "Don't you dare turn your back on me in such a manner, Skywarp. I will not put up with this insolent attitude within my laboratories," Starscream hissed in a threatening manner. The Air Commander turned away from Skywarp and brought his microscope off the shelf and down onto the table. He selected a slide and prepared to study.

Skywarp scowled at Starscream. He opened the door to the first cage, roughly shoved the adults aside and grabbed the children.

The screams from the parents and the wails of the terrified children reached the Air Commander's audios. Starscream glanced up and his optics blazed furiously. With a couple quick strides he reached his wingmate and grabbed him tightly by the wrist. "Unhand them Skywarp, immediately. If you are going to rough them up and instil a fear of us into them then I will have to slag you. You have agreed to the payment terms. You will do this properly or face my wrath. Don't forget you are in my territory."

Skywarp sighed. He did not want to risk losing his new source of income. He began to wonder if it would be worth the hassle. He muttered an insincere apology to Starscream and proceeded a bit more cautiously with the humans.

Starscream flashed his optics brightly and turned to his terminal and viewed some samples on a slide. His mouth opened to say something then he closed it as the words failed to come.

Skywarp looked at Starscream who was busy working on his project and turned to the tiny crying child in his hand. He grimaced at the child and gritted his teeth as he whispered, "Shut the frag up." Abruptly the crying stopped.

The adult humans continued to call out and cried for their children.

Thundercracker slowly brought his optics online. He saw a shadowy figure standing over him. He quickly sat up and aimed his weapon at the specter.

"Whoa, it's me," Skywarp said as he turned on the lights.

Thundercracker checked his internal chronometer. "What the frag, Warp? It's two in the morning!"

Skywarp sat down at the edge of Thundercracker's recharge station.

"Something bothering you, Warp?" Thundercracker wearily rubbed his face.

Skywarp sat in silence staring at the floor. He sighed heavily and turned to Thundercracker. "If I tell you something, you have to promise not to tell anyone."

"Ok." Thundercracker became concerned with Skywarp's tone and demeanour.

"I mean it TC. You can't tell anyone and you can't try to do anything about it." Skywarp cautioned.

"Warp, you're scaring me. What's going on?" Skywarp seemed serious enough so Thundercracker decided it was not another one of his jokes. He wondered what could have possibly happened that had caused such concern from the dark Seeker.

Skywarp inhaled deeply. "It's about Starscream. There's something that I haven't told you." He paused for a moment to await a response from his dear friend.

"Go on." Thundercracker goaded.

"Screamer has some, uh, experiments. I've been helping him for the past four years, but I'm kinda worried about something." Skywarp realized it was too late to turn back. He had said too much now and would have to tell Thundercracker everything.

"What kind of 'experiments'?" Thundercracker asked reluctantly.

"Don't freak out." Skywarp said as he raised his hand as if to physically stop the blue Seeker from "freaking out".

"Usually when someone says that to you, you do freak out, but I'll try not to." Thundercracker's concern grew.

"Screamer has humans in his lab. Some of them have bred and we just separated the kids from their parents. Screamer wants me to teach them how to read and write."

Thundercracker looked around the room and ran a quick scan of his processors. They were functioning normally and he was not in a recharge cycle. "Ok," He had no idea how to respond, but he tried to remain calm. He figured if he managed to keep his composure, Skywarp would be more apt to talk.

"I'm concerned about the safety of the children. It's not normal for them to be separated from their parents at such a young age." Skywarp decided to try the sympathetic approach. He wasn't sure if it would work on Thundercracker but he figured it was worth a shot. He feared that he would not be able to complete his assignment given to him by Starscream and hoped to enlist the help of Thundercracker.

Thundercracker studied Skywarp for a moment. This had to be a joke. Why would Skywarp be concerned for the safety of humans? "You are so full of slag. Look, Skywarp, it's late and I'm not in the mood for your jokes. Go back to your room." Thundercracker lay back down and tried to fall back into a recharge cycle.

"Are you listening to me?!" Skywarp became irritated with Thundercracker and his apparent lack of concern for his plight.

"Yes, I'm listening and I'm hearing a bunch of bullslag. Now go back to your room!" the blue Seeker shouted.

"I really need your help. Please, Thundercracker," Skywarp pleaded.

Thundercracker sat up and glowered at the dark Seeker. "How'd you get into this mess anyway? Assuming you really are in a mess."

"Back when Megatron and Hook locked Screamer in his room. Screamer had me feed the humans to keep them from dying. What do you think I should do?" Skywarp responded as he tried to retain his desperate tone.

"Well, if it was me, I'd set them all free, but you can't very well do that can you?" He knew that Starscream would likely have Skywarp deactivated for doing so.

"No, Screamer would have me slagged for sure." Skywarp sighed and dropped his head in shame. He could only imagine what Thundercracker thought of him.

"Ok, I guess you'll have to teach the kids like Screamer wants you to. Primus Skywarp, I don't know about you sometimes." Thundercracker shook his head. "You're not lying, are you? There really are humans on the base and Starscream is experimenting with them?"

"Yeah, there's actually humans in his lab and that's kinda why I came here." Skywarp paused so as not to overwhelm the blue Seeker.

Thundercracker groaned. There was more to Skywarp's story and he had the feeling he was about to become part of it. "What is it?" he asked reluctantly.

Skywarp tried his best to look desperate and despairing, "Do you think you could help me? I don't know anything about teaching humans."

"Oh, and I do?" Thundercracker retorted. "You got yourself into this mess, you can get yourself out. Now go back to your room and let me get some rest," the blue Seeker grumbled as he tried once again to fall into a recharge cycle.

"Oh c'mon, TC. Please," Skywarp pleaded. "I promise it won't take too much of your time. Maybe an hour each day." He hoped that Thundercracker would agree to assist him as a friend. He neglected to tell Thundercracker about the payment he was receiving for his work in hopes that he would not have to share. As much as he liked Thundercracker, he did not care to part with his energon.

Thundercracker sat up and glared at Skywarp. "And just what makes you think I'd wanna do something like that? You've gone insane, haven't you?" He studied the seemingly genuine look of desperation on Skywarp's face and groaned. "Fine, I'll tell ya what, let me see the little earth crawlers and I'll think about it."

Skywarp looked at Thundercracker with amusement. "I don't know the passcode. I'll have to teleport inside and let you in. I'll meet ya there!"

"I didn't mean right now!" Thundercracker groaned as Skywarp teleported out. He reluctantly left his quarters and crept down the hall. He met Skywarp at Starscream's lab a few minutes later.

Skywarp teleported into the lab and waited for Thundercracker to arrive before opening the door. "What took ya so long?" he chimed.

"Not everyone can port at a moments notice, Warp." Thundercracker grumbled as he reluctantly entered unsure of just exactly what Starscream kept in his lab.

Skywarp led Thundercracker to the cages and pointed at the humans. "These are the adults. The kids are in there," he stated as he pointed toward another room.

"I can identify adult humans from immature humans, Warp. You don't need to point that out to me," Thundercracker grumbled taking offense to Skywarp's remarks which seemed to question his intelligence.

Several thin human voices emanated from the block of cages. "Errah, wot's this matey, they've brought in another one, t'is is all tha' we need now, more 'cons," the Scottish accented man grumbled as soon as he saw Thundercracker.

Thundercracker turned toward the voice and bent down to peer into the cage. "And just what's that supposed to mean?" he asked defensively.

The Scottish man leaned close to the cage and waggled his finger at the white face that filled the front of the cage. The blood red light of Thundercracker's optics cast a creepy glow across the darkened cage. A pregnant female cowered in a corner holding a blanket up over her face with only her green eyes peeking over. "You're monsters, the lot of ya. nothin' but evil barbarians who thoughtlessly tear families apart. An' ya say it's in the name of science, but I think ya mechanical monstrosities enjoy tormentin' us humans," the man said boldly. Suddenly the human made a sickening growl and spat a wad of mucus at the blue Seeker's face hitting him in the optic.

"Why you little..." Thundercracker lunged toward the cage.

Skywarp grabbed Thundercracker's arm and pulled him away from the cage. "Screamer'll kill us if anything happens to them. Just ignore them. C'mon, you gotta see these kids. They're so annoying. You think Screamer's bad, you ain't seen nothin' yet."

"Ya over grown bucket o'bolts, wait until we're discovered by the 'bot's. Then ya'll be in for it!" the Scottish man threatened as Thundercracker and Skywarp left the area.

Starscream lay silently in recharge. His exhausted body desired rest to fix wear and tear as well as to refresh his mind so he could think clearly. Many important functions occurred during the rest and recharge cycle. However he had not had the proper down time in several days to deal with his regular maintenance. He had quick refuels on the go, but nothing sufficient that would give his mind the time it needed to shut down. Regardless of the situation Starscream was slowly finding that he was getting used to the lack of proper rest.

He had been in recharge for barely two hours when the alarm in his room sounded. His optics came online as he sat bolt upright with a weary groan.

"Slag my lab's been broken into!" Starscream said in an angry yet surprised tone as he examined the map of the base that his computer displayed. His worst fears had been confirmed, a red beacon flashed balefully over his laboratories. Without further ado he snatched down his rifles from their customary rack on the wall. He attached his weapons to his arms as he strode hurriedly and quietly down past Megatron's and Soundwave's quarters.

He shot a worried glance to the doors as he stepped past to the elevator. The lift doors opened and he stepped through. There had better be a good reason that his alarms went off. Hardly anyone ever walked to his labs. Most of the Decepticons shunned his work rooms. Even Megatron refused to go to them in worry about traps and other strange experiments, so he had felt fairly safe about keeping his humans sequestered in there. He hoped this would not mean the ruination of his hard work.

That thought bothered him the most, he did not want all his hard work to end in such a manner. He wondered if he could perhaps beg Megatron's forgiveness for not asking his permission. He wondered if Megatron would simply slag some of the humans just to make a point. Whatever the outcome would be, Starscream was fuming.

When the elevator door opened Starscream ran full tilt down the halls to the distant area of the base that was built off the main part of the Nemesis. Starscream noticed Bonecrusher leaving the repair bay area as he darted down the halls. He acknowledged the Constructicon as he hurried along. The Seeker entered the long dimly lit hallway that led to his five laboratories.

He crept forward carefully placing his feet so as to make no sound. He leveled his weapons and listened. He hesitated by the door. Starscream cocked his head listening; he heard a voice, it was Skywarp's. He exhaled in relief. 'That was odd,' Starscream thought abruptly. 'Skywarp never used the door. He just teleported in usually.' Starscream was about to leave when he heard a second voice. It was not Skywarp's but it was distinctly Thundercracker's.

His fuel lines ran hot with fury. "Of all the irresponsible things!" Starscream muttered aloud. "Skywarp's putting this whole project in jeopardy." He quickly plugged in his password and placed his hand on the pad and allowed it to do an energy scan. He knew that Skywarp must have let Thundercracker in from the inside. He suddenly realized he would have to up the security around the labs.

Starscream walked quietly past the bank of cages. Most of the occupants were asleep with exception to cage ten. They were still awake sobbing. 'Get over it,' thought Starscream with a hostile edge. A few other humans muttered curses at him as he entered. He decided he might consider eliminating the Scottish man; his words were often extraordinarily rude.

Infuriated he turned the corner to watch Skywarp and Thundercracker standing outside the cages. He stood there in silence watching the two Seekers, seething with suppressed rage.

Thundercracker glared at the humans as he was led by Skywarp into the room where the children were kept. Skywarp flicked on the lights and regretted doing so as the kids began to awaken and cry for their parents.

The whimpering and sobbing grated at their audios.

"Ugh Primus, they do this all the time?" Thundercracker grimaced as he covered his audio receptors.

"Yeah, pretty much. Starscream wants me to teach them how to read and write and slag like that. I don't know that I can keep my sanity long enough to do it."

"And just what makes you think I'll stay sane?" Thundercracker suddenly imagined himself being surrounded by screaming unruly children. He knew that one of two thing would happen in a situation like that: He would kill them all or lose all sanity.

A couple of the children crawled into the far corner of their cages and screamed or whimpered at the sight of the Seekers. Thundercracker moved in for a closer look. "They seem to be afraid of us. How are you supposed to teach them anything if they're too busy fearing you?"

Skywarp shrugged as he poked through some cupboards. He had always wanted to nose through Starscream's lab but feared what the Air Commander might do to him if he did. He was disappointed to find the cupboard filled with items for the humans but continued to pry.

One child leaned closer and peered back at Thundercracker with fear filled eyes.

"What the slag is wrong with them? What's Starscream done to them that they're so scared?"

The child drew back into the shadows of the cage at the sound of Thundercracker's voice. Skywarp continued with his rummaging.

Starscream frowned as he stepped out of the shadows, his optics burning brightly as he regarded his intruding wingmates. "I do believe that Skywarp was the one who rattled their cages this evening, Thundercracker. So Skywarp, you brought a friend along. I suppose you gave me a summons to inform me as such or were you relying on my security to announce this?" Starscream voice dripped with sarcasm as he glared at Skywarp. He paused for a moment while his weapons whined as they charged to battle readiness. He was too tired to put up with any nonsense from Skywarp.

Skywarp turned abruptly and almost lost his balance as a jar of human food fell from the cupboard. Thundercracker turned and faced Starscream. "Uh, sorry for the intrusion. Warp thought this might be too big of a task for him and asked for my help. I wanted to know just exactly what I would be getting myself into if I agreed. To be honest, I'm impressed that you would trust Skywarp so much." Thundercracker returned his attention to the crying children and then back to Starscream, "But I think I'll have to decline. They'd drive me nuts."

Starscream raised his weapons and held the barrels at chest level on Skywarp and Thundercracker. "I did trust Skywarp but he has you in here. I need promise of silence from you, Thundercracker, or my weapons will ensure of that silence." He gestured threateningly.

Thundercracker scoffed and swatted Starscream's weapon away. "What makes you think you're so popular that I'd run around the base telling everyone what's in your lab? Do what you want with these humans just keep me out of it."

Starscream bristled with the harsh words. He intended to keep Thundercracker out of it. It had been long known that the blue Seeker on occasion had a touch of sympathy for the humans. Starscream worried that Thundercracker would inform Megatron. "Lose the attitude with me, Thundercracker, or the pair of you will find yourselves working with the drones in the pumprooms down below." Starscream lowered his weapons.

Thundercracker chuckled, "I saw your little freak show and now I'm leaving. You don't have to worry about me, ok?"

"But if you are ever questioned..." Starscream said with a hint of worry.

"Who would question me? Most think you're nuts and really don't give a slag about what you do in here," Thundercracker chuckled.

Starscream was taken aback. He knew that he was not well favoured in the Decepticons but he did not realize that he was considered nuts. "Nuts?" he whispered to himself.

Skywarp whined, "C'mon, this is too much work for me. How the slag am I supposed to take care of these brats and assume my regular duties? I'm gonna need help and we can both trust Thundercracker, Starscream."

Thundercracker turned to Skywarp with mouth agape, "Um, Warp, what part of 'I'm not interested' don't you understand?"

"Perhaps you don't realize, how much work I do and still manage my regular duties. But I cannot do this alone and Thundercracker can't do this either."

Thundercracker sighed as he pulled up a stool and plopped down. "Perhaps Skywarp isn't comprehending what it is you're expecting him to do. You do know that this is Skywarp we're talking about, right?"

"And just what do you mean by that?" Skywarp asked defensively.

"I don't know... can't you just do me a favour for once? I mean what is it, Warp? Do you think being second in command is easy? You have time to enjoy and slack off but I barely have time to do my own work let alone think," Starscream snapped.

Thundercracker rubbed his face as he realized he was not being understood. "This is not a competition of who does more of what. Explain to Skywarp just exactly what it is that you expect him to do. I'm sorry, Warp but you tend to be...um a bit lazy and I'm betting that what Starscream wants you to do can't be that difficult."

Skywarp folded his arms defensively and turned away from the other two Seekers.

"Argh. Simple. Take care of the humans... no different from normal. Only change is you will be doing it more now than myself."

Thundercracker shook his head, "Skywarp said you wanted him to teach the children to read and write. You do realize how much time that takes. From what I understand, humans spend a good portion of their lives in school and it's a full time task for them."

"I want them to simply learn enough to understand my instructions. I am sure my plans will suffice. They will learn through the programs I've made."

"I don't know how to teach humans slag," Skywarp muttered.

Starscream found himself getting frustrated. He had hoped that his talk with Skywarp had been final but evidently it was not. He wondered how much simpler he would have to make the situation. He had the tools for their education's ready. His future plans included making a holographic human that could teach them on a full time basis using technologies that the holographic battle simulator used. When the time came that he activated the holo-human, Skywarp could return happily to his lax ways.

"You did a pretty good job of teaching them fear," responded Thundercracker to Skywarp's comment.

"You know, I can teach them in my own free time, frag it." Starscream slammed his fists onto the lab table. He was ready to pull the plug on his earlier negotiations. If Skywarp was not going to do the job he did not see why he should consider paying him.

Thundercracker pulled Starscream aside, "You're not a very good negotiator. You just let him talk you into doing the job that you've given him."

Starscream shook his head. "No I haven't. It's too late in the night; I was asleep when the alarm buzzers went off. I don't negotiate well when I am tired out of my slagging mind," his words were laced with bitter resentment and hinted to disappointment.

"I'm tired too. I don't appreciate being dragged from my quarters and forced to play mediator. Why don't we call it a night and continue this tomorrow?" Thundercracker consoled.

Starscream pointed to the door, "Go, you two, before I slag you both. I need to clean up this mess and get ready for my shift start." He glared at Skywarp and flashed his optics in a threatening manner.

Skywarp quickly teleported out while Thundercracker lingered for a bit.

"I'm not sure what it is you're up to but don't rely on Skywarp too much. I wouldn't leave him unsupervised very often either if I were you."

"I need his help so I can just do my other studies on this subject. I'd be in here, he'd be supervised." Starscream glanced down at the table top.

Thundercracker studied Starscream for a moment and nodded.

"You know, it's a huge task and I am but one scientist. There were times in the past where several of us worked together to accomplish something. But right now there is only me," Starscream spoke absently looking at the scratches in the surface. His voice took on a different quality as he remembered the past. His expression became distant.

"Skywarp is no scientist. He's a warrior and a rather cruel and temperamental one at that," Thundercracker pointed out.

Starscream glanced up and met Thundercracker's optic for a brief moment before he returned his gaze to the scratch pattern. "No, Skywarp isn't a scientist, but he's not stupid either. He's just incredibly lazy. There is no one else I can remotely trust. Hell, I question my wisdom in trusting Skywarp now but if I stop now, I stand to lose years of work." Starscream was sure that his research and plan would benefit himself and the Decepticons.

"I hate to say it, but if you want Skywarp to do what you want you're gonna have to find a way to keep him entertained. Otherwise, he'll get bored and 'entertain' himself. Primus only knows what he'd do to the humans or teach the kids if he got bored." Thundercracker suppressed a chuckle as he thought of all the times Skywarp's 'I'm bored' comments were often followed by total and complete chaos.

Starscream cringed at the thought of trying to keep Skywarp "entertained". He could not imagine what he could do to keep the dark Seeker happy. "I'll deal with that thought later. I want to rest up a bit before I have to report."

Thundercracker nodded and decided to leave before Starscream became more agitated. Starscream clenched and unclenched his hands as he watched Thundercracker leave.

"One day, you guys will see that my ideas and plans are valid."

Thundercracker returned to his quarters and collapsed onto his recharge station. He took his optics off line and lay there for a few minutes. Suddenly, his optics came back online by themselves. He didn't bother running a self diagnostic scan; he knew what the problem was. He sighed heavily and walked over to his computer station. He booted up the computer and opened a program. He stared at the screen for a moment and began typing.

User Name: Thundercracker

Password: ********

Personal log for: THUNDERCRACKER

Earthdate: 04-15-2009

Where do I begin? Today was so utterly fragged up...and it's only 5:00 A.M.! I really hope Soundwave's anti hacking programs work as what I am about to type could cause...frag, we'd all die! Warp is the only one that could possibly figure out my password. Thank Primus he's so slagging dense.

I wonder if he really knows what Starscream is up to. I wonder if Skywarp will continue to try to drag me into the whole mess. I wonder when Megatron will get off my afterburner about these fragging reports that I'm sure he doesn't read anyway. Slag, I have to report for duty in twenty minutes and I've had maybe a fifteen minute recharge today. Slag you, Warp. You're gonna pay for this. I hope I can keep my optics online long enough to complete my shift.

Firewall Don't Make Me Shoot!