The Star Who Lost The Sky

Chapter 1

Antarctica.

What a wretched place.

Nothing but snow and ice.

If it wasn't a blinding whiteout that dropped visibility to zero, it was a plummet in temperature that Starscream once believed couldn't get any lower. At this rate, his wings were going to freeze off!

While he couldn't stay out there with his patrol for very long due to the risk of freezing, it was long enough to make him miserable.

"Why couldn't Megatron be the one to come out here? He's bigger and full of hot air." Starscream grumbled to himself, rubbing his arms to rid his plating of the frost that had begun to accumulate. Turning his attention to the nearby Vehicons, he scowled. "Have you idiots found anything yet? I would like to get out of here as soon as possible!"

Unfortunately, the Vehicons were having as much trouble as he was dealing with the cold. Despite being slightly bulkier than him, they were small and thus far more susceptible to freezing.

"Commander Starscream." One Vehicon called over the howling wind. Parts of his plating were completely frosted as he shuffled over to the seeker with some difficulty. "I have a read on the beacon locater, but the weather is interfering with our scanners."

"Then figure out how to deal with it!" Starscream snapped, his fangs bared in a threatening display. "We don't have time to mess around when we're all freezing to death!"

"Yes, commander." The Vehicon nodded his head and gestured for Starscream to follow, still fiddling with his scanner.

Starscream rolled his optics and crossed his arms over his chest, hugging himself as he trudged after the Vehicon. They'd be cutting it close if they stayed out here for much longer and he'd rather not get a lecture from Knockout about prolonged exposure to frigid temperatures—if he didn't turn into an ice cube first, that is.

The patrol made its way into a crevasse, which helped block the stinging wind. Starscream could hear it howling overhead as they traveled further and shuddered, glad to be somewhat sheltered from the elements.

After trudging through the snow for what felt like ages, they finally reached the end of the crevasse. A towering wall of brilliant blue ice loomed over them, glimmering somewhat under the sunlight that just barely peeked through the clouds. Through the ice, Starscream could make out a faint rectangular shape that certainly wasn't of this world.

"Finally." Starscream said, lightly tapping the ice with the tips of his claws. He turned to glare at the Vehicons. "What are you all standing around for? Start extracting it!"

Demolitions had been considered to extract the pod, but that came with too much risk of cracking the ice and killing everyone in the process. Instead, the use of heat was settled upon to gradually melt away the ice and extract the pod. At least the Vehicons could defrost a little while they worked.

Once the pod had been freed from the ice, Starscream called for a groundbridge and had it transported onto the Nemesis for further examination.

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"Vital readings appear to be stable... though there's no knowing if the pod's circuitry is just malfunctioning." Knockout murmured. He waved the handheld scanner just above the surface of the pod, optics narrowed as he studied the screen. "There's no faction identification that I can see, so we don't know who—or what—could be in there."

"Are you going to open the pod or just keep muttering things to yourself?" Starscream gave an annoyed huff from where he sat on a medberth, several tubes to help defrost his systems sticking out of his torso.

"Patience, Starscream. I don't want you to overexert your systems again." Knockout rolled his optics as he pulled away the scanner. "I was going to wait for Breakdown, but I suppose we could move on without him for now."

"That would be preferred."

Knockout set the scanner aside with a dramatic sigh. The pod was enormous, so he had to walk around to the other side of it, where a panel flickered faintly. His digits flew across the screen, typing in codes far too quickly for Starscream to make out. Once he finished, a puff of steam erupted from the seams of the pod and the chamber began to open.

Starscream watched intently, his wings twitching as he leaned forward to get a better look. The chamber fully opened and when the steam finally cleared, he felt his chest tighten.

Inside the pod was an enormous cybertronian flyer, far larger and bulkier than him. However, this wasn't just any ordinary shuttle. Starscream knew that color scheme painfully well, and he could scarcely believe his optics.

It was Skyfire.

Skyfire.

The mech he thought to have perished all those eons ago. The mech he lost and failed to save. The mech he—

"Wow. A rather large fellow, isn't he? I wonder how long he's been in stasis." Knockout mused, interrupting Starscream's thoughts. He ran a few scans, then looked at the results. "Strange. I can't seem to find any records of him."

"I shall inform Lord Megatron." Starscream mumbled, prying the tubes off in a hurry and moving to stand unsteadily on his pedes.

"Are you sure? Your systems are still—"

"I am perfectly functional!" Starscream silenced Knockout with a hiss. His wings pinned against his back as he stormed out of the medbay, too many emotions swirling around in his spark.

Knockout watched him leave, then scoffed and went back to focus on awakening the unconscious mech in front of him.