▸ Column · Decepticon war era, Cybertron — modern grounded comic
STARSCREAM replies.
Replied to by Starscream, with a rebuttal from Soundwave.
The letter
So Voltspar and I have been meeting up four times now — we connected through the Iacon Social Grid (I know, I know) — and the last one ended with us sharing a cube of energon in his berth bay until the early shift, just talking about our protoform origins and our home units. Which was a lot. The thing is, I genuinely cannot tell if we are "bonding" or just "running patrols together," and the not-knowing is killing me. I caught myself drafting a "what are we to each other?" comm signal yesterday during mission briefings and deleted it six times.
My wingmate Driftwave says asking before a full lunar cycle makes me look desperate and he'll go cold. My sister Glacier says four good encounters is plenty of runway and I'm entitled to clarity. We've got a fifth meet-up this Friday rotation and I keep wondering if bringing it up over the energon cube would feel like an ambush. Is there an actual rule for when it's too soon? Or am I going to blow up something good because I need the classification before he's ready to give one?
— Uncertain in Kaon
Starscream replies
At last — someone else who understands the exquisite torture of deserving a title and being denied it by the universe's casual indifference. You want the classification? I understand this on a level most Cybertronians could not approach. I, personally, have wanted the title of "rightful leader" for longer than most of our kind have been functional. The fact that I do not hold it is, I can assure you, entirely the fault of others.
Now. The tactical picture. Four encounters, shared energon, early-shift conversation about protoform origins — you have leverage, if you do not throw it away. You do NOT send that comm signal. You do not walk into that fifth meeting and announce your emotional inventory like some supplicant addressing Megatron. What you do: play the fifth encounter perfectly cool. Reduce your signal a fraction. Let Voltspar wonder. Make him the one who has to reach across the static first.
This is, I confess, exactly how I have handled every power struggle of my glorious career — maneuver, never declare first, wait for the other party to show their hand. And here is the part I can barely bring myself to transmit: I have been doing this for eons, and I am still second-in-command. The label is not what Megatron withholds from me. It was never the label. It was trust. And you cannot scheme your way into trust; you can only perform your way around it until even you forget the difference. I have forgotten the difference. You are, presumably, not me, and I would be genuinely pleased if you tried being something other than me. Just — not the groveling. Whatever else you do.
— Starscream
Soundwave weighs in
Correction. Starscream addresses Voltspar. He does not address you. The data: you have deleted the same comm six times. You have transmitted your position to Driftwave, to Glacier, and now here. Voltspar has transmitted: four encounters, energon shared, protoform origins disclosed, off-shift time extended. The signal is already sufficient to read. The problem is not that Voltspar has not classified you. The problem is that you are the louder transmitter in this pairing. The louder party loses leverage. Starscream counsels maneuvering him toward a declaration. Observation: Starscream has maneuvered for the title of leader since before your protoform was cast. He remains second-in-command. Maneuver is noise. Decide your own position from the data already transmitted. Then close the question. Then stop broadcasting.
— Soundwave
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