The Monster of Kaon (Transformers Si): Chapter 67

“So, Starscream the seeker, I believe this is the first time that we are meeting face to face, yes?”

Starscream could not help but gulp in panic as the towering figure in front of him stared down at him.

Even with a new color scheme and altered body structure, there was no way someone as cautious as Starscream would ever mistake the spark signature his sensors were getting for anyone else.

After all, there was a reason why he refused even to meet the Monster of Kaon, even going as far as transferring to Trypticon station to avoid him before the civil war began and the Ascenticons were still a thing.

He was now sincerely regretting his decision to try and investigate the ship.

“H-Hehe! Lord Maximus. It is indeed the first time we are meeting face to face. I must say, the rumors don’t do you justice!”

With no other choice, Starscream fell back to his tried and true method of protecting himself, which happens to be grovelling before someone stronger than himself.

And given the amused look the Ascenticon leader gave him, this method seems to be working.

“I am glad to see that my reputation still persists to this day. That being said, I cannot help but wonder what you are doing here? As Soundwave tells me, you were sent by my sparkling on some kind of mission?”

At his words, Starscream could not help but give the older bot an astonished look before looking at Soundwave, who just nodded, making the seeker give him a grateful look.

“A-Ah! Yes, Lord Maximus. I was here to just get some supplies and head out again.”

“Oh? In that case, you don’t mind doing a little reconnaissance, do you?”

“N-No problem!”

Maximus simply nodded and transmitted a data packet, containing vague directions and energy signatures to Starscream.

“I am looking for four powerful weapons that we created long ago that crashed on this planet. As long as you bring them to me, I will reward you pretty well.”

This time, Starscream simply grinned at the bot.

“Of course! Leave it to me. Now, if there is nothing else, I will get to this right away! A-All hail the Ascenticons!”

Without even turning back, Starscream instantly flew out of the ship, heading straight for the Harbinger.

But the truth was, he was gloating on the inside.

It was only when he was in the safety of his ship that he finally let out a wild laugh as he started working on the terminals.

“Who would have thought Megatron’s sire is such a fool!”

“Weapons that he created? These are clearly ancient relics of great power!”

The scientist within the seeker would not be fooled by the admittedly competent attempt at concealing a lot of data on the objects that he was supposed to search for, making him reveal the disguise and expose four strangely shaped objects within the data files.

“Omega Keys, is it? Just the kind of artifact I am searching for.”

“Soon, with these artifacts by my side, I will reign supreme. Hahaha!”

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“.....He really is a fool, huh? Who would have thought that the famous scientist would be reduced to this?”

“Fear for his life. Insecurity. Constant oppression. A bad mix for the brain module.”

I could not help but chuckle at Soundwave’s words.

“True. But I would have loved to meet the bot that Skywarp and Thundercracker used to talk so much about. Not this husk of what he once was.”

As we turned back and headed towards the main command room where Orion was taking care of the Autobot issue, Soundwave finally asked the question that I knew he was going to ask me ever since I formulated this ruse.

“Why reveal the information about the Omega Keys to Starscream?”

“Because, despite his incompetence and cowardly nature, he is still a competent seeker. And more importantly, from the data you gave me, he loves to think of himself to be an ambitious bot.”

“This means that if we kept him out of the loop and started our search, there is a high chance that he would try to find the keys on his own, one way or another, even if he does not know what exactly we are searching for.”

“That kind of interference is something we cannot afford at such a critical juncture. So, why not use his ambition against him?”

“You are using his ambition to make him search for the Omega Keys on our behalf?”

“Yes and no. Starscream will try to find the Omega Keys, that’s for sure. And since he is doing so under our supposed ‘orders’ there is no doubt that he will try to leverage it to his advantage based on his personality. However, I also have no doubt that he will also try to either sell them to the highest bidder, or use them to secure a place for himself either in the Autobots or the Decepticons.”

“That is why you did not tell him that the war is already over and did not let him see any Autobots during his exit from the ship.”

“Correct. If my guess is right, he might try to use the keys to buy his way into the Autobots, which works for me as well since Orion and the others are far more careful than the reckless younglings. So I have no doubt that they will hold onto the keys for me.”

“And, even if the younglings pull a fast one, I have a backup ready to bring those keys to me, one way or another.”

“You always did have plans within plans.”

I just hummed at his words, not able to or willing to deny his words.

It is true that I always have multiple plans running in parallel for the sake of achieving my goals, a habit that I picked up during the long years that I have been alive. But the majority of the credit for this change in me goes to my beloved Cortexa.

As a renowned scholar and tactician, back in the day, she was my superior in those fields, so much so that I never won a single tactical game against her.

In the many, many years we spent together, somewhere along the line, I ended up learning her way of doing things, and it became a habit for me.

If only she were here to see how much she had influenced my way of doing things.

After all, she turned a warrior who relied purely on brute force and espionage like me into a competent tactician, something that I never thought possible.

Shaking my head to get rid of those thoughts, I concentrated back on the task at hand.

First, the Omega Keys. They are the main thing I need to get.

Second, a diplomatic relationship with the humans. This is optional. If they are not ready for a full alliance, we will leave and come back in a century or so.

Third and final goal, creating a new governing body for Cybertron, before I finally shed my responsibility towards my home and once again become a carefree wanderer of the cosmos.

With the end goal set, the only thing that remains now is to execute the plans I have in place for them.

But first things first, I need to prepare for the meeting with NEST.