Once Second-in-Command of the Decepticons, Starscream's loyalty shatters as Megatron descends into madness fueled by Dark Energon. Offered a way out by his Trine, he turns traitor-but freedom comes with a price. Now plagued by a mysterious illness and haunted by buried secrets, Starscream faces the ghosts of his past and the fragile hope of a future he never planned: a sparkling he never asked for. To survive, he must decide if redemption is worth the cost-or if his past will destroy him first. This is a fan work based on the Transformers™ universe (© Hasbro, Inc.). All rights to the original characters and world belong to their respective owners. Original story concept and writing © esmeralian, 2025. Licensed under CC BY. || Completed: 09/26/2025 || || Updated/Fixed: 10/28/2025 || - Triple-checked through initial proofread. Grammatical errors have been corrected and the format has been shifted to appear more professional. Find this story on AO3 as well! https://archiveofourown.org/works/56524585/chapters/143653924

After the battle of the Anaxes, CT-1409, known as Echo, joined Clone Force 99 instead of going back to the 501st Legion with Captain Rex. Echo must now get to know Clone Force 99, calling themselves the Bad Batch, and integrate with the team. However, this proves to be more difficult than he thought, as not only he must get to know them and be a single-minded unit, but he also struggles with his own problems. His PTSD, his own conflicting view of himself as a cyborg, the "regs", and how they treat him, within other struggles, add in much more on his plate than he may handle. Unbeknownst to him, a conflict is brewing that will test not only his skills, but also his loyalty to the Republic and his new squad. Will he be able to connect with his new unit and handle the myriad of struggles within himself and them, or will it be too much to handle for the last member of the Domino Squad?