Well Done, Starscream!

"What was that? Where did that explosion come from?"

Brawl and the other Decepticon warriors stationed at the front line to fend off the Autobots' assault quickly noticed the disturbance coming from far behind their position. But they were tightly entangled with the Autobot resistance fighters in front of them and could not disengage anytime soon, so they could only contact Starscream in the rear over the Decepticon combat channel.

"Commander Starscream, Commander Starscream, please respond. What happened at our rear position? Should we send a few brothers back to take a look?"

The tank Decepticon had only wanted to find out what was going on. After all, they had carefully searched the other areas before coming here, and there should have been no enemies back there. Yet Starscream's comm channel sounded as though the situation was dire, filled with explosions as if he had run into the main Autobot force! And Starscream seemed too busy to answer Brawl and the others directly. The commander appeared to be locked in a "bitter battle."

"Damn it! Damn Optimus Prime! What, Ironhide is here too? Bastard, bastard! Optimus Prime used a diversionary tactic—we've all been fooled..."

What was going on? Optimus Prime was here? Along with Ironhide, one of the Autobots' top generals! How had those guys slipped into the Decepticons' rear without anyone noticing?

Clearly, every Decepticon warrior exchanging fire with the Autobots on the front line had been thoroughly bluffed by Starscream. The scene he had created made it seem as though he alone was taking on an entire squad of Autobot warriors, instantly filling Brawl and the other young Decepticon soldiers with awe for their senior, Starscream.

"Everyone, push harder and suppress these Autobots! In a moment, we'll send a third of our brothers back to help Lord Starscream!"

"Yes!"

Inspired by Starscream's "encouragement," these impassioned new-generation Decepticon warriors became vastly more courageous. They even began enduring the Autobots' attacks head-on as they launched all-out suppressive fire. The poorly armed Autobot vanguard was visibly unable to hold them back.

"Alright, Miss Elita, my one-man show has gone on long enough. If those idiots come back, the act will be exposed!"

Once he had built up the atmosphere sufficiently, Starscream gestured for the female Autobot beside him to lead the way, signaling that it was time for her to leave.

Of course, Starscream had not done all this out of some supposed sense of justice buried deep in an Autobot's core. It was because the Ever-Changing Steel System inside him had forcibly implanted an order into his core processing program: cover the Autobots' retreat.

Damn it, systems in other people's novels gave rewards when assigning missions. But this Ever-Changing Steel System in Starscream's head had nothing but that single line, broadcasting over and over through his central processor for no apparent reason. He could not even delete it. It looked like if he did not complete this mission, this system overlord would nag him to death!

Still, everything seemed to be going smoothly now, right? As long as he shoved Optimus Prime's girlfriend forward, wouldn't that count as completing the mission?

But just as Starscream was happily celebrating, a sudden change occurred—a change he never would have anticipated, not even if you beat him to death.

It was a laser shot. It was not particularly powerful, and its aim was poor, punching a small hole into the trench less than three meters in front of Starscream. The problem was that it had come from the sea of flames before him.

W-what was going on? Wasn't this sea of fire deliberately created by Starscream? There should not have been any enemies over there, so where had that laser shot come from? What the hell?

As if answering Starscream's question, two tall robotic figures suddenly emerged from the flames. The blaze was too intense for him to see their faces clearly, but the one in front seemed to be a big guy, a transforming warrior that looked like some sort of container truck. And in Starscream's memory chip, there seemed to be only one such Transformer among both the Autobots and the Decepticons.

Optimus Prime? Damn it, why was it Optimus Prime?

This happiness had come too suddenly! Elita was Optimus Prime's girlfriend, and Starscream had already earned this Autobot lady's trust. Her boyfriend, Optimus Prime, was currently the foremost leader of the Autobot resistance. Did this mean Starscream could return to the Autobot family today?

The happiness had come so suddenly that Starscream was completely caught off guard.

However, Optimus Prime in the flames clearly did not see things that way. After firing that first probing laser shot, he swiftly launched another attack and shouted at the same time.

"Starscream, I never thought you were still alive! I should have blown your entire head to pieces that day!"

It seemed Optimus Prime had no favorable impression of Starscream. He had not even noticed Elita beside him. But why had the Autobot leader appeared here at such a coincidental time? Could he really have had some other scheme?

No, that was not right. Although Optimus Prime was firing viciously at Starscream, he was not taking cover. Instead, he was supporting the green companion beside him. That guy appeared to be injured, and judging by the bullet hole in his chest, it seemed to have been caused by the air-to-ground missile Starscream had fired earlier...

That was too much of a coincidence, wasn't it? Starscream had only been firing randomly just now. How had he accidentally hit an Autobot brother?

Now this was just great. No matter what Starscream said, the other side would never believe him, would they? Fortunately, Elita was still beside him. If she stepped forward, surely this misunderstanding could be cleared up, right?

"Miss Elita, is that Optimus Prime over there? Could you go explain the situation to him for me? I really didn't mean to fire at them. I can explain!"

It seemed that if they wanted to clear up this misunderstanding, they could only rely on this Autobot lady. She had witnessed everything Starscream had done from beginning to end!

"Don't worry, Mr. Starscream. I'll have Optimus Prime help you rejoin us!"

Elita seemed to be an Autobot girl who kept her word. Perhaps that was an innate virtue shared by these Transformers known as Autobots.

Boom!

But just as Elita was about to walk toward Optimus Prime, a massive missile suddenly landed between them, followed by a metallic burst of laughter from a duck-voiced speaker.

"Well done, Starscream! I never expected you not only to stop Optimus Prime, but to wound Ironhide as well. You truly are the number one warrior of our Decepticons!"

The owner of that old duck voice was none other than the Decepticons' leader—Megatron!