The Good, the Bad and Starscream

Chapter 32: Evolution

The next two weeks proved to be challenging for the Autobots. Despite no new signs of Decepticon activity, the Autobots were anxious for when and where they would pop up next, and if the Predacon would be there or not.

Energon had always been on an all-time low for the Autobots, but the past month had been especially rough on them. With fourteen Autobots on Team Prime, that was a lot of mouths to feed, even if only once a week. And Energon was getting harder to find, especially sites not currently under Decepticon control.

With both Starscream and Octane in the air again though, they had better chances at locating more Energon. But even with three Fliers at their disposal, the Autobots only managed to find small, abandoned and thinned-out mines with a few scraps here and there. Barely enough to feed even a dozen bots for one day.

As such, Ratchet decided to skip out on his own fuelling once every two weeks, and did so a week after Starscream and Octane had returned with Cliffjumper's remains. It was something the other Autobots were not happy about, but Ratchet assured them that since he always stayed back in the base and didn't move around much, he didn't need the extra energy like the warriors did.

Hearing this, Red Alert got inspired and decided to also skip out on his own fuellings, but on different weeks than Ratchet so they didn't spend more Energon one week than another. Ratchet doubted his younger brother's decision at first, but after repeating Ratchet's own argument about staying in the base and not spending much energy, Ratchet accepted the youngster's decision.

When Hot Shot afterwards decided to draw attention to himself and announce that he would also skip out on his fuellings, however, Ratchet had to protest. Ratchet repeated to the recruits that the fighters need the Energon more than the supporters, as they spend more energy on fighting and patrolling, while a medic or scientist could easily go for a month without Energon, as long as he remained in the same place. After that, Hot Shot was reluctantly convinced that it was for the best.

Fliers like Starscream and Octane usually spent more energy than Grounders due to having to stay in the air, though jets like they could reduce their energy output by letting their wings carry them over strong winds and putting less force into their thrusters.

In order to save more energy, Starscream decided he and Octane would do their flying training early in the morning, starting before sunrise and ending when the sun was high enough to call it day. Then they would return to the base and do combat training until afternoon, sometimes early, sometimes late.

The day after Cliffjumper's second funeral, Ratchet had managed to fix the dents in Starscream's head, so he was free to fly again. Starscream and Octane had immediately gone out flying in the morning, at which point Octane asked the Seeker about Dark Energon.

Having heard the term from Arcee during the funeral the previous day, Octane had quickly worked out that this must be the name for the purple stuff Starscream had put in his chest... and which was still there. So Starscream decided to just tell the Triple Changer the truth, before he asked anyone else about it.

"It's really that powerful?" Octane asked as Starscream explained about its properties.

"Yes, but also very addictive," Starscream replied. "I feel fine for now, but there's no telling how this shard is going to affect me in the long-term. As we do not possess more Dark Energon, it will likely be a painful time for me. I have already once in my life had to recover from Dark-En consumption, and it was a nightmare. The difference here is that it's in my Spark and not my fuel tank. That might decrease the pain I've felt before, but there might still be certain... abstinences."

"Such as...?"

"Aggression, anxiety, short temper, depression, mania," Starscream listed. "In other words, nothing I don't already have. The Autobots should not be able to easily detect the Dark Energon within me. At least not for a while. And I should be able to tone it down at least a little bit. Hopefully."