Transformers Skyfall I: Rising Sun

DECEPTICONS: Prologue

Starscream squinted as he peered into the sleeping pod to glare at one of the offline robots trapped just beneath the surface of the glass. It had been a rough few joors recently and after another screeching of his audio receptors being abused, Starscream had retreated to the darkest, quietest place he knew on board the Nemesis: Shockwave's laboratory.
The cyclop-optic scientist was indeed online and operating just a few, long, meters away from the aerial commander. Behind him, Starscream slit his crimson optics as he heard the twnng of metal wires being fused and fried together as Shockwave continued to toil away.

"I suppose that all of us are grieving in our own special ways." The sniveling seeker vented for a moment as he straightened up, servos neatly placed together behind his back as he stared into the dark pod. "Not everyone showed up for the ceremony."

Starscream continued after a slight pause, his gaze dropping slightly as he stared at the label on the bottom of the pod. When the silence dragged on for a bit too long, the seeker opened his intake again but was soon snatched of words as the scientist finally spoke.

"Even with the recent death of Nightress, we all still have our roles to fulfill, Starscream." Came the monotone yet annoyed and tactical voice that he'd been expecting ever since he set ped into this lab just a few kliks ago.

Starscream remained quiet for a moment, with his helm turned slightly to keep Shockwave in his peripherals. He searched for the right words and then delivered them with a sinister force. "Lady, Nightress."

He hissed quietly. "It's Lady Nightress, dearest Shockwave."

"Send my apologies to Megatron," Shockwave huffed just audible enough for the seeker to hear, yet he didn't dare move from the table that had his attention so tightly gripped.

"Lord Megatron," Starscream turned swiftly on his heel to narrow his red optics at Shockwave's back strut. "And you may tell him yourself... When he arrives."

For a moment, the smug seeker was happy basking in his victory over the verbal battle between them. Then the silence continued to drag into uncomfortable territory and finally, the seeker snapped just as it was beginning to gnaw at his processor.

"What has you so engrossed over there that you missed Lady Nightress' funeral?!" The seeker grumbled with an ugly scowl to his face-plates. "Seriously, Shockwave - what is so damn important that you couldn't be there? You couldn't show up to be by our leader's side when he needs us the most? What could possibly be more important than drawing up battle plans to crush those Autobots into the ground!?"

Starscream had paced himself forward a few steps but only halted once he slammed his fist into his palm to empathise the point of his gruelling rant. His wings were spiked up, broadened in their white with the red stripes dimmed by the darkness swimming at the edge of the lab's interior. His was damn near snarling at the other lieutenant when the silent tension between them softened as they both heard the dull thud, thud, thud, of none other than Megatron's approaching footfalls. Soft and slow - like a lion calmly walking his way down the hallway outside and towards the lab.

When the door to Shockwave's lab inevitably opened, Starscream vented as he dropped his rigid stance and turned to frown up at Megatron. When their leader did enter the lab, only then did Shockwave relent from his work and turned to salute the leader of the Decepticons.

"Many apologies, milord," Shockwave began as he stared up at Megatron's darkened face. "However, I was working on this project all deca-cycle and witnessing how close I was to finishing it, I had to make the sacrifice to not be there for your loss."