(Untitled)

[due_caution]

Red Alert had briefly considered tagging along with Kitten Prime and Company, if only to make sure Rodimus stayed safe and out of trouble, but thought better of it after contemplation. Right now, at a glance, who would even know that the small orange Terran cat is the Autobot Prime, unless someone draws undue attention to him

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[midnightspook]

Unbeknownst to Blackstar, the two mechs he is looking for are actually with Starscream when the ghost appears - to Starscream only - next to his Air Commander.

Starscream I- oh. Hey. That's convenient. These are the two I was looking for. Skyfire didn't need me anymore, so I'm helping Duskwing out. Any updates on the kid's designer? Spike Witwicky?

[midnightspook]

Once Red Alert has left and Frostbite has resumed her seat, a black and grey form fades into view, obviously a Seeker, but sporting a Cybertronian alt, rather than an Earth upgrade. Blackstar stands to one side and slightly behind Starscream in a flanking position, his arms crossed over his chest, and a wary, calculating look on his features.

"This Drath guy has a long overdue appointment with someplace very warm and very unpleasant," Blackstar observes evenly. "I mean to help make sure he keeps it."

[attair_al_fada]

Starscream leans back and smirks.

"Frostbite, meet Blackstar. He's been... out of circulation for a while, and hasn't been real happy about some of the changes that happened while he was away. He's helping me with our little necromancy problem, among other things."

Starscream shifts slightly, and locks optics with Frostbite. "There are those among the living who know his name, so we'd all be much happier if it weren't mentioned to anyone else."

[attair_al_fada]

Starscream glances at both of them, then fixes on Frostbite.

"Any suggestions on where to start? I or Ratchet can give you a list of the more unusual materials needed to make the Machine... beyond that," Starscream shrugs, "I fear you have a far better grasp on current human affairs and better contacts than I ever did. My Cobra contacts are rather obsolete, unless Mr. Snake is in the habit of reviving old lairs when unfriendly attention has long since passed elsewhere. Although I had some indirect contacts through Cobra that might be of interest. I doubt they are directly useful."

"So, any clue where to start looking?"

[attair_al_fada]

Starscream considers this for a moment.

"You've got trusted Bots you're going to use for part of this? Much as I hate to admit it, some of your Autobots are less conspicuous for this sort of sneaking about than a brightly colored fighter jet. Although--" Starscream gives her a mischievous smile, "I can distract official attention very well. Nobody will think I'm up to anything benign and innocent, no matter what I'm actually doing."

"So..." he leans back again. "your guys check out the nice, well-behaved places like Tulum and Moscow, I toss a few cluster bombs on Castle Destro in passing, and cause trouble in Chechnya to see what shakes loose. Blackstar can check inconspicuously and close-up to see what crawls out from under the rocks in Scotland and Chechnya."

"Is it a plan?"

[attair_al_fada]

Starscream frowns slightly. "The copy pulled out. They know we're on to them--they won't be relaxed. If they appear to be relaxed, it's to sucker us into a trap. At least neither I nor Blackstar can fall into the kind of trap that got Rodimus and Galvatron."

He gets up and starts to pace around the room. "People let a lot of things slip--like their guard--when they are milling around in panic and confusion." The former Decepticon Air Commander glances sharply at Frostbite. "We've used the technique on you and the humans enough. It worked. Blow a few buildings up, disable the emergency responders, inflict some key infrastructure damage--then achieve our objective in the panic. Still, I supposed you'll get all squeamish on me about casualties and property destruction." He shrugs.

"Cobra Commander is too smart for me to get away with infiltrating them again. I don't think he'd trust me enough even if I betrayed Autobot City to establish my bona fides. He's annoyingly familiar with my modus operandi. That, and we're not even sure that

[midnightspook]

Blackstar remains thoughtfully quiet as he follows along with their discussion, considering their options.

"Way I see it, you're both right," he observes.

"Stirring them up with a few unplanned strafing runs might be fun and all, and yeah, they may let their guard down when they're milling around in a panic, but they may also do some rather unfortunate and unpleasant things - like start destroying evidence."

That said "evidence" could be one Ambassador Spike Witwicky goes without saying. Duskwing's got some attachment to Spike's kid, and the kid would likely be pretty upset if his designer gets scrapped, so it would probably behoove Blackstar to try to make sure the Ambassador doesn't get slagged in the whole process of finding and scrapping Drath.

He glances at Starscream. "No offense, boss, but I'd probably learn more if you don't stir them up before I go in."

Plus, if a few... "Individuals or Items of Interest" happen to come up missing... Be a hell of a lot less likely that anyone will know where they went to and stir up any

[attair_al_fada]

Starscream frowns and says, "It's your operation, Frostbite. Or Red's. You make the call."

The words come out with reluctance; oh, how it galls him to be number two--or even less than that. Consultant; hanger-on; little more. No longer the one who decides; no longer responsible for the lives under his command. Not here, not here; still in exile from his command, the longing roused by that touch of the Allspark seizes him fiercely. He doesn't belong here; there is where he should be, where he's truly himself, truly Air Commander. Here, Starscream is but a shadow of what once was.

Some interruptions are providential. Skyfire's call comes through then. // Starscream? I'm on my way back. See you soon. //

Starscream answered, his spark warming with a different longing. // I'll be looking for you, Sky! //

Bah! I'm getting as sappy as an exiled Autobot! Somebody's got to watch Sky's back and keep him out of trouble, and that's not something I'd trust anyone else do. He smirks to himself. Besides, the last time I was stripped of command

[attair_al_fada]

Starscream rises to his feet with the metallic rustle of well-maintained servos and gears shifting and turning. "Photon and Perceptor are both familiar with the design if I'm not available and you have questions," he says with a casual wave of his hand.

"Do you have some locations for me to have Blackstar start checking out? While you're planning the rest of it, of course."

Blackstar... if you should come across any of these individual humans--*images of a bald, monocled human with a large handlebar moustache and a taste for capes; a humanoid figure completely masked, wearing the Cobra emblem, giving orders in Starscream's voice; a dark-haired, elegant woman; a tall, broad-shouldered man wearing a metal full-head mask*--Dr. Mindbender, Cobra Commander, the Baroness, or Destro, report back to me immediately. Check with Frostbite for an image of Victor Drath--I never met the man. If you run across Dr. Mindbender, take extra precautions--he is a skilled Dark Scientist."As for myself, I'll be meeting Skyfire on his return." Starscream