Disclaimer: I do not own The Transformers animated series/show, they belong to toy manufacturer Takara and American company Hasbro. This fanfiction is merely for the sole purpose of entertainment and not for selling/profiting purposes. What I do own are the 'Thrust Boosters' and 'Impulse Communicator' – nobody take 'em!

Author's Note: Greetings to all readers! This note is just to update on what is going on with this fic at the current moment. First of all, I haven't given up on the continuation of the story (even though it's been literally years since the last chapter update, I know, I suck at being motivated, it's so bad). So you can at least be sure that this fic isn't entirely dead. Secondly, I am in the middle of doing a total revamp of all existing chapters, because the quality of writing is not up to the standard I want it to be, especially because when I read them now, it makes me cringe. So before a new chapter even gets released, I think it's only fair to bring the whole writing up to par with my current level of writing, so that new readers won't be so jarred by how different the past chapters are to newer chapters. That said, I know that my revamping now will be about as jarring, as people will read quicker than I can write, but it is the lesser of two evils.

So, I apologise in advance if the next unedited as of yet chapters makes you cringe hard and be annoyed by the drop in quality; I understand, I hate it. But I hope you will stick around long enough to see the chapters transform into something better in the future! Peace!

(Sep 2019)

Truly Friends

Chapter 1: Discordance and Bad Omens

Starscream examined the items in his hands: a pair of unassuming, cylinder-shaped devices which had coned outlets at the bottom of each. They were bigger than the palm of his hand and blank white in colour; other details were indented lines showing the parts of the product, and the panel which hid the inner circuitry. For two Earth months he had been designing and building them, and now their final version was complete; what was needed to do left was to make a few last tweaks and assessments.

The devices in question were called Thrust Boosters, designed to give extra flying power, on take-off and during flight; their usage was limited, however, as they were not designed to exert power for long, continuous periods. They, therefore, had to be used wisely and sparingly.

Starscream was not usually in the habit of creating or inventing new contraptions and devices in his spare time, but once in a while, when the old urge to experiment from his past scientist days rose up, he couldn't resist giving in to it. It was a moment of nostalgia he liked to indulge in, although what he made was not always for enjoyment's sake. These moments also offered opportunities to make something useful – something that could benefit him and his ends. Having a personal workplace in his quarter-room made it all the more convenient.

"Perfect," he said to himself, satisfied. "These shall give me a 'flying' advantage, even against Megatron."

He placed one of the Boosters down on the worktable and held the other, turning it so its manual setting control screen faced him. It had one simple setting: the level of thrust power which could be exerted, and next to this was an energy percentage bar to show how much juice it had left. Each Booster had these features. While this was handy, it would be risky to try and manually change their settings during a chaotic battle. Which was why Starscream also built a partnering device to solve this problem, what he called the Impulse Communicator. This nifty device took in cognitive impulses, or mental instructions, from the internal processor and reflected these to the Boosters to, in turn, modify settings in however way the user wanted without ever having to touch them. To say the least, he was proud of them.

For now Starscream set both Boosters' power to mid-level and put them down to reach for the Communicator on the worktable. It was as deceptively simple as the Boosters and less noticeable, tinier in size and square-shaped; its most distinguishing feature was a small prod sticking up at the top near its end, the receiver for the impulses. It was attached to the side of his helm with a small click. Now it was time to test its function.

Except at that moment a dreaded, familiar warping sound came from the next connecting room. And with it an annoying and disrupting voice which never failed to test Starscream's patience.

"Hey, Scream, where are ya? Hidin' in yer workshop again?"

An irritated growl escaped Starscream's vocals – the idiot always picked the best time to interrupt him. He had to hide his devices before the intruder could set optics on them, who would surely like to play with them. Starscream grabbed the Thrust Boosters and turned his sights around the room for a good hiding spot – but too late. His fool of a wingmate appeared in a flash of bright light, and he put them back on the table as quick as he could, hoping the action wasn't noticed and that the objects blended in with the other items on the table so as to appear as uninteresting as possible.

"Skywarp!" Starscream snapped. "How many times have I told you not to invade my quarters unannounced?"

"Lemme see, err, two hundred billion, five hundred and thirty four million, three hundred and eleven thousand, ten hundred –," Skywarp began, optics upturned and extending his digits as he thought.

Starscream let out an exasperated sigh. "Never mind, you moron. Just what do you want, anyway?" A processor-ache was beginning to form.

"Only to hang out with my favourite Air Commander, of course," Skywarp said with an enthused grin. "We never get to spend any time together anymore."

"I wonder why," Starscream said lowly.

"What's that ya got there?" Skywarp said next, and before Starscream could react he had teleported himself over to the worktable and snatched one of the Boosters, bringing it up to his optics like a distracted sparkling. "A new toy?"

Starscream attempted to grab it back from him, but the violet Seeker pulled it out of reach and stepped away to continue inspecting it all to himself. Much like a possessive and greedy sparkling.

"Give that back!"

"What is it, and what does it do, Screamer?" Skywarp asked without turning around, rotating it in his servos. "Is it another one of your plans to try and overthrow Megatron again?"

Starscream clenched his dentures and balled his servos into fists in rising anger, but then an idea entered his mind and he relaxed. What more perfect way to test his devices when there was a guinea pig-bot to use. He grinned lightly, and said: "No, but you're about to find out what it does."

"Eh?"

Without saying another word Starscream conjured only a mere thought and a glowing yellow light started to emit from the Booster's cone outlet. It then began to hum and vibrate softly at first, all the while the light becoming brighter. Skywarp stared at it with slight confusion by its sudden activity, which soon turned into surprise as it rocketed out of his hand with a burst of speed, almost connecting with his face as he dodged the renegade object. It flew through the air and made a U-turn, aiming itself at the violet Seeker who dodged again with a yelp, and it returned upward.

"Starscream, stop this crazy thing!"

But his entertained Commander just chuckled at the sight of his wingmate trying to avoid getting hit by his invention. He was also impressed with the output it was giving as well as the ease with which he could control it; the results were better than expected. Pleased and having too much fun, Starscream made the Booster turn back with another thought and go headlong at the target below. Skywarp saw it coming and braced himself; at the last astrosecond to impact he vanished before reappearing in the same spot in a split-moment, facing the tail-end of the Booster, and then punched it down in mid-air. The Booster bounced on the floor with a loud clatter and rolled away, now dead and unmoving like a swatted fly-bot. Starscream cried out in dismay and ran over to it.

"That's one way to solve a technical problem," Skywarp said, rubbing his knuckles. "Are all your inventions this defective?"

"You're the defective one," Starscream snapped at him, kneeling beside his fallen gadget and scooping it up in his servos with utmost care. "Do you know how much work I put into this thing? It will all be a waste because of you."

Skywarp did not look the least bit concerned for Starscream's issue, disinterest painted on his face as he looked at the Seeker bent down over the device. "Eh, what's the big deal? It was going haywire, anyway – you saw it. Like I said: defective."

Starscream growled, about to reply with an insult before the ship's intercom speakers sounded to life with the grating voice of their leader.

"Decepticons! A high energy source east of our position has been located. We will go there and draw every last drop of energon in its banks. We leave immediately." The brief command ended as suddenly as it had started.

"Finally," Skywarp said, "some action. It was starting to get boring around here. Quit playin' around with that thing and let's get out there."

"Hmph." Starscream stood up with the Booster in hand and walked over to the worktable, his back turned. "You go ahead. I have something to check first and I prefer no distractions."

"Whatever. See ya, Scream." Skywarp vanished.

Starscream peeked over his shoulder for a moment and then turned back to the table, placing the Booster on it. "Imbecile. He'd better not have damaged anything, or I swear..." He put it at the back of his mind and proceeded to make the necessary checks, opening the Booster's panel. All the readings seemed normal. The area where it was struck had only minor dents and scrape marks but nothing more. Indeed, it looked to be in working order as it flew through the air, turning over and over without a problem (although it started with a few alarming splutters, which ceased quickly). Satisfied, Starscream made it return to him and, aware that his leader's patience was short, he attached it and its other half to his legs each next to his main thrusts. Fully donned with his tools, he left his quarters and wasted no time making his way to the exit dock.

Other Decepticons were travelling to the same place and the familiar combine groups were together, conversing, jostling one another, and showing off attitude within the throng. Starscream kept his distance and sneered at their boastful declarations of what they would do to the Autobots when they showed up to try and stop them. Nothing but a bunch of arrogant fools, they were – some of them more than others. Soon the departure station opened into view where all available Decepticons were congregated, waiting for Megatron's order. The mech in question was standing on one side of the hall while the rest of them stood opposite him in attention. Starscream pushed his way through the stragglers with a mutter of "Out of my way" towards Megatron to place himself at the warlord's right hand side and faced the crowd with him, a servo on hip. It was die-hard habit of formality but it was no less a good way to emphasise his high position in the Army.

Megatron scanned over those who had arrived before him and he nodded in approval, and then walked in the direction of the dock with Starscream following behind. "Initiate departure controls, Soundwave."

"Initiating," Soundwave answered at the main controls, typing the commands for the tower to bring them to the sea's surface.

The large doors opened for the Decepticons to enter and shut behind them. They were then lifted through tonnes of seawater, the sound of it churning against the metal walls. The tower stopped and the hatch opened out into clear skies; the Decepticons flew out in their alt-modes with Megatron leading the way. It was so-far-so-good when the robotic flock reached the end of the ocean and continued their course over golden-brown country interspersed with patches of dry vegetation and lone trees. It was an isolated place – no human settlement could be seen for miles out here; only jagged stones and other earthly debris populated this sector. Those things and the site looming into view in the distance as the Cons drew closer. It was an oil rig, abandoned seemingly but in functioning order and without a human in sight. It was the perfect place to draw energy from without pestering humans feebly attempting to stop them. Yet the Autobots would come, Starscream knew; they had their ways of finding out their activities, and their allying with the humans only broadened the scope of their Intel, perhaps to even as far as little oil rigs out in the desert. He wouldn't be surprised.

They closed in mile by mile, descending toward the site, and soon the oil wells and platforms supported by derricks could be seen in detail. But also within sight next to the structures by at least a hundred metres was a strange hole, yet not a hole it was but a deep stretching cavern reaching down into the ground. From above it seemed like a stabbing wound upon the earth made as if by a gigantic blade. It was a narrow chasm expanding the length of the oil rig and beyond to a thinned point; the bottom of it could not be seen, its dark depths going down farther than the sun's rays.

"Soundwave, what is that anomaly?" Megatron said.

"A natural earth-made phenomenon," Soundwave said without pausing. "Zero impact or risk to the mission: Ignore."

"Very good."

They had reached the location and landed in its middle, their heavy pedes thumping the dusty ground.

"Begin extraction," Megatron ordered. "I want every container emptied to the last drop and turned into energon."

Soundwave didn't waste time in ejecting his two underlings, Rumble and Frenzy, and producing endless empty cubes for them and others to pick up and start filling with oil. With them, Starscream did the same for the next couple of jours. In truth he would have liked to just let everyone do the grind work while he relaxed and watched, but he knew better than to provoke Megatron's wrath if he was caught like that, so he worked, though grumbling and cursing under his breath while he did. The unrelenting heat from the glaring sun only worsened his mood.

All the while, unaware in their labour, a single silent alarm inside a small building among the rigs blipped a red light.

Nearly 2 hours later

Over three dozen full cubes were stacked behind Starscream; one of the Coneheads, Ramjet, assisted him in draining the large well, which was now nearly empty. When the oil leaking out turned from a small stream to mere droplets, they ceased their work for a short break.

Ramjet knocked on the side of the well a few times, which produced a deep hollow echo. "All gone," he said, stating the obvious.

Starscream stood studying the rest of the troop filling cubes, noting how well their progress had been so far. The Autobots were slow to crash the party, if they were coming at all. Perhaps this place was far too isolated for them to track and be alerted to Decepticon activity. It would make a peaceful change of events if they could collect their reward without having to draw weapons even once. But it seemed that fate liked to tease, for the sound of an incoming vehicle broke through the hot air, growing louder. The Decepticons paused in their work at the noise and looked toward it; slowly in the sky a far-off dot came closer to their location, its form recognisable as one of the humans' airborne transports. Its blades span in a blur and its engine beat the air in waves, drowning all other sound. In the wide cockpit were two shocked human pilots pointing at the giant beings below them and appearing to talk frantically to each other in panic. Finally one of them wheeled the helicopter away, retreating the way they came from.

"Oooh, a fresh delicacy," Kickback the Insecticon said in delight and rubbed his servos together. "Let's feast on it."

"Yes, let's, let's," Shrapnel said. "Can't work on an empty tank!"

Giving in to their hunger, the two Insecticons jumped to the air and transformed into their insect modes, and chased the fleeing helicopter. Bombshell quickly joined them in his beetle form, crying out: "Wait for me!" Sure enough the hapless humans were caught by the ravenous insect-droids, protected at least in the confines of their transport, until it was all devoured. The insects wasted no time in tucking in to their 'fast-food' meal, attaching themselves to the underside of the carriage and proceeding to bite off chunks of the metal in order to reach the tasty inner wires. All the while the helicopter rocked and struggled from its captors fruitlessly.

"Leave them!" Megatron yelled with a wave of his servo. "Their demise here would be pointless. Do as I say!"

The trio stopped their feast and let go, disappointed that it was cut short. The helicopter wobbled in the air as it went its way like a dazed prey before it found its balance and carried on with more speed. The giant insects hovered and stared after the retreating form with hungry optics, but didn't disobey their command.

Starscream approached his leader from the side. "What's this, handing out mercy to humans now? I never thought that you could be so gracious, Megatron," he said with a mocking grin.

"That is something that you will not receive if you continue," Megatron said, sparing only a slight turn of the head to glare at him. "Perhaps I will explain to spare myself your ignorant comments. You see, live humans are normally better at spreading news of an emergency, and I don't need to tell you what happens afterwards, unless you need a reminder."

"You want the Autobots to come here?" Starscream said, cocking his head. "We've made excellent progress on the energon extraction without interruption or failure, so you would forgive my obvious puzzlement at the way you seemingly want to sabotage this whole operation. Or do you miss your good pal Optimus that badly?"

"Fool. As if I would risk all we've accomplished here so easily. We have more than enough time to gather the cubes and transport them back to headquarters before the Autobots could stop us."

"Then why have the Autobots come to us?"

"Even you should understand the concept quite easily. To win a war, the enemy must be weakened, not only on the outside but also from within. When the Autobots see that they have failed in preventing us from taking the energon, it'll be one more score for the Decepticons, and they'll know it. And while there is a chance of dwindling their numbers, one should not hesitate. A clean operation is all well and good, Starscream, but a war doesn't fight itself," Megatron said and turned his sights back to the sky. "A clever and intelligent mech such as yourself would agree, no?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Starscream said with an ironic smile. He followed the other's gaze into the distant sky, spotting the now tiny dot of the escaping aircraft, but what caught his optic beyond it was a strange formation of cloudbanks gathering on the horizon, overshadowing the land below. It was bulbous around the edges and growing by the minute, its tip like a reaching finger moving ever closer in the direction of their group. While the sun still baked the land in their proximity with bright gold rays, the overshadowed land grew colder and dark.

It was the oncoming sight of a beginning thunderstorm; its billowing body looked ready to burst with heavy rain and its dark smoke-grey complexion appeared ominous and foreboding. Starscream didn't like the feel of it, the sense of a coming danger emanating from those palls of cloud. Such a thing shouldn't frighten him, especially coming from this feeble planet, but it reminded him of the acid rain clouds back on Cybertron, and those were to be feared.

The thought to advise Megatron to avoid the path of the storm was quickly dismissed; doing that would only incite the warlord to ridicule his caution as cowardice, and besides that he was a stubborn old fool. There was as much chance of convincing him to leave as dodging a shower of rainfall. Starscream would rather face the rain than be subject to his insults. Yet still, he couldn't shake off what felt like a bad omen hanging in the sky.