Voice Test (Megatron and Starscream)

[starscheme]

 His arrival back to the deck of the Harbinger was not one of his more graceful entries; regardless of whether or not planes could actually "limp", that was really the only term for the way in which Starscream and a small remnant of the force of Vehicons he had taken with him returned to the Decepticon airship. In one swift motion he left his alt mode and landed on deck, rising again to stalk towards the airlock doors and leaving the waiting medical drones to attend to his ragged troops. Starscream himself was looking worse for wear, scuffed and walking unevenly and incredibly pissed off.

Perhaps what he was about to do was ill-advised, but he had his concerns and Megatron was going to hear about them whether he wanted to or not. Starscream's usual notion of self-preservation was overshadowed at the moment regardless, incensed with rage and humiliation as he was from such an abject failure. 

Ignoring any looks of concern or pity from the officers he passed on the way, he stalked towards one of the Harbinger's private chambers where Megatron would no doubt be listening to the comm chatter and directing the battle from above. Storming up to the door he pounded the console a little too hard with a closed fist and entered the room the moment the doors shifted open, briefly stooping ever so slightly for what just barely passed as a bow.

"Lord Megatron," he half shouted, tone icy.... 

Comments

[bigfuckinggun]

"Starscream." Megatron's voice was level – palpably disapproving, but withholding outright wrath. For now. He turned towards the door slowly, as if to highlight that fact; that right now he was merely disappointed, but furious could be arranged.

His eyes narrowed as he took in the sight of his damaged and clearly irate second in command, but he offered him no further prompting beyond a slight nod of his head, as if to say, this had better be worth it – or, perhaps more accurately, to say, this isn't going to be worth it, and you have exactly one chance to prove me wrong.

[starscheme]

On a better day, just the combination of that glance and that tone alone would have cowed Starscream (all too familiar as he was with toeing the line of Megatron's patience), but sheer anger and suspicion had too much of a grip on his senses at this point. Even still, he froze, just for the briefest of moments, before stepping further into the room, posture hunched defensively as he clasped his hands behind his back.

"Far be it from me to interrupt your planning, but I've returned from the field with a matter of great concern that I really must bring to your attention," He spat out, pausing the thought there as if waiting for Megatron's approval to continue even though everything in his tone suggested that he had no intention of even considering of doing otherwise.

[bigfuckinggun]

There it was, that hesitation before he stepped forward: all the indication Megatron needed that this was something Starscream could almost consider it wasn't worth bothering him with, which meant it almost definitely wasn't.

He gave him another censorious once-over, making a point of taking in the signs of injury and battle damage, the physical evidence of his failure on the battlefield. "I have no time for your excuses, Starscream," he growled. "The Autobots were practically handed to you; victory should have been assured, and instead I have lost troops and lost a rare opportunity because you cannot carry out a simple ambush." Megatron had taken a step towards him; two. For all he claimed he had no time for this he certainly wasn't stopping Starscream from making his explanation.

[starscheme]

If Starscream was intimidated by Megatron's sudden approach, he wasn't going to show it. He pointedly held his ground and met his gaze directly, expression morphed from a severe frown into a full on scowl. If there was one thing he couldn't stand it was the patronizing notion behind that statement, that Starscream would have sought Megatron out simply to make excuses for himself.

"If the only thing on my mind was justifying myself to you, don't you think I would have simply waited for you to inevitably approach me first?" He spat back. "Excuses are irrelevant. Even a tactician as experienced as I can't be expected to succeed if the circumstances involve enemy sabotage, as I have ample reason to believe they did."

[bigfuckinggun]

"Enemy sabotage? Are you suggesting we are harbouring a spy within our ranks?" Megatron raised his eyebrows, clearly unconvinced. "A tempting hypothesis, certainly preferable to the idea that my second in command could have failed me so abysmally! I assume," he hissed, armoured shoulders bristling as he loomed over Starscream, "you have evidence for this accusation – show me your saboteur, Starscream, and perhaps I will spare your miserable chassis."

[starscheme]

As Megatron loomed, Starscream hunched, wings drooping slightly. It was an almost instinctive response that he hated himself for having. Nonetheless he maintained the conviction in his tone. "W-well I don't know precisely WHO is responsible," he said, taloned hands flexing nervously at his side now. "But the events of the battle surely speak for themselves. Those Autobots KNEW we were coming. I've carried out numerous ambushes in my life time, with great success I must add, and that was not a unit that was caught unawares. And how else could they know without having some manner of spy on the inside?"

[bigfuckinggun]

Megatron straightened up a little, like a parody of someone giving an issue its due consideration; underneath it he was plainly enraged.

"So what you are telling me," he said, "is that the only possible explanation for your failure is that an Autobot spy has – somehow – infiltrated our ranks and is passing information to our enemies as we speak, completely undetected?" One huge metal hand balled into a huge metal fist. "You'll forgive me if that sounds a little too convenient."

[starscheme]

Starscream was positively cowering now, flinching with each stressed word, but he'd dug himself in too far to take anything back at this point. Besides which, Megatron might be convinced that he was purely making excuses for himself, but he was certain that his intuition on the matter was correct.

Fists clenching, he straightened back up with a defiant look on his face. "Infiltrated or turned informant, it doesn't matter. You'll forgive me if I have the common sense to not assume that everyone under your command is perfectly and blissfully loyal to you, master. At least one of us needs to maintain vigilance if the other is going to grow complacent."

And the hole keeps getting deeper.

[bigfuckinggun]

That, apparently, was the last straw. Megatron's hand, the one with the absurdly oversized cannon, slammed into the wall behind Starscream in what would have been merely a pointless, intimidating gesture of anger – if Starscream's wing hadn't been in the way. Metal creaked under his palm; he didn't lower his hand.

"Vigilance, Starscream?" Megatron's eyes flashed with rage. "Like the vigilance you displayed attacking an enemy better equipped to repel you than you assumed?" He bent down so his face was mere inches from Starscream's, pushing his weight onto the hand he still had pressed against the wall. "Complacency is an arrogant fool so convinced he cannot have made a mistake that he gropes for the first explanation he can find that absolves him of responsibility for his pathetic defeat!"

[starscheme]

Knocked off balance by the sudden movement, Starscream let out an extremely undignified yelping shriek of fear as pain seared through his left wing, servos scrabbling at the floor as he tried to regain his footing unsuccessfully. The angle at which he was pinned meant that he had to settle for propping himself up at the shoulders to take the weight off the wounded appendage, nails scratching against the wall while his other wing twitched sympathetically.

"P-perhaps my approach to the assault was a tad overconfident, I will admit," He stuttered out, blinking rapidly. "But surely my concerns are still valid!!"

[bigfuckinggun]

"Perhaps they are," Megatron growled, "but you would do better to concern yourself with your own performance. I may decide this baseless accusation is worth pursuing, after all – I'm sure Soundwave can at least find the time for an extremely thorough security check, just to be certain, and who knows what insubordination and petty treachery that might uncover, hmm?" He dug the heel of his palm into Starscream's wing, just in case there was any doubt about what insubordination and treachery, exactly, he was referring to – "Treachery I might be more inclined to overlook if its perpetrator manages to prove his overconfidence has not overtaken his usefulness."

[starscheme]

The message was received loud and clear, despite Starscream's plaintive, intensifying whimpering at the increased pressure on his wing. Sharpened fingers reflexively shot up and dug forcefully into the plating of Megatron's considerably sizable forearm, though he mad no attempt to actually try and pry the hand off his person. Nor did he make any attempt to explain or deny the accusations buried in that threat.

"I don't suppose usefulness could be proven through other means," he managed to grit out, just barely keeping his tone level despite his increasing fear and indignant rage. "Perhaps by assisting in conducting my own investigation in the matter?" His eyes glinted with a dangerous loathing; he didn't need Soundwave sticking his servos in where they didn't belong, on top of everything else.

[bigfuckinggun]

Megatron's only reaction to the claws digging into his arm was a brief, disgusted grimace. "Do not push your miserable luck, Starscream. You are more use to me in the air than snooping through Decepticon ranks looking for traitors to blame for your own failures; if you believe you have any insights to offer on the matter of hidden Autobot espionage, you may report them to Soundwave."

With that, abruptly, the weight on Starscream's wing was relaxed, the hand withdrawn, those sharp claws as good as disregarded, and Megatron stood back, glaring down at him coldly. For a moment it seemed as if that was it, but his gaze strayed back to the damaged left wing, His eyes narrowed, and he rapped the damaged metal with a sharp knuckle, as if he were testing a piece of machinery. "Get that repaired."

[starscheme]

Starscream half-dropped to the floor the moment Megatron released him, stooping with his knees bent. He flexed the damaged wing up and down gingerly, trying to assess the seriousness of the injury. The surface damage was one thing, but the sudden impact seemed to have wrenched the neural circuitry at the joint, if the grimace of pain on his face upon each movement was any indication.

He couldn't help but scowl furiously up at his master at the audacity of that last statement. No Megatron, I thought I'd just keep it like this as a memento of this little interaction, the thought of medical care just simply hadn't occurred to me! He winced and let out an uncomfortable grunt as Megatron jostled the injured appendage further, thoughtlessly swatting the invasive hand with the back of his own.

"Stellar advice my Lord... may I take that as your permission to excuse myself then?" he spat out viciously. The sarcasm in his voice barely restrained, and his eyes glinted with an impressively affronted rage.

[bigfuckinggun]

Megatron caught his impudently swatting hand by the wrist, and growled. "You may take that as permission," he replied, "to remove yourself from my sight before I drag you with my bare hands." He let go of Starscream with a sharp jerk of his wrist, half-throwing him towards the door.

[starscheme]

With one last startled yelp Starscream tripped, staggered, and just barely caught his balance, his arms windmilling ridiculously as he landed on his injured leg. Shaking his head, he shot one last furious glance back at Megatron as if to say this isn't over and stormed out the door, snapping angrily at a poor innocent Vehicon who happened to stare for just a moment too long and cuffing it upside the head as he passed.

At the very least, no one could say that he hadn't attempted to work with Megatron on the matter. Starscream vowed he would get to the bottom of the issue on his own, and then wouldn't that would work perfectly in his favor, succeeding where Megatron and his silent gargoyle had failed? He smirked ever so slightly as he turned the corner in the direction towards Knockout's office...