Starscream: Rise of the Air Commander
Chapter 3: Out of Order
The Senate chamber of Cybertron was designed to make individuals feel small.
Starscream understood that immediately.
The chamber stretched outward in a vast circular amphitheater, tier upon tier of elevated platforms rising toward the distant ceiling. Each platform held the seat of a planetary senator, arranged in careful rings around the central speaking floor far below.
Hundreds of lights illuminated the structure, reflecting off polished metal surfaces and casting long shadows between the towering columns that supported the upper galleries.
Thundercracker led the way through the public entrance and into the visitors’ balcony.
Even from this height, the senators below looked distant.
Small.
Starscream leaned slightly forward against the railing.
The floor of the chamber was still mostly empty, though attendants moved between the platforms preparing consoles and projection systems for the coming session.
“Impressive,” Thundercracker said quietly.
Starscream did not answer.
He was studying the room.
The arrangement was deliberate.
Every senator sat elevated above the central floor, their positions rising in rank and influence the closer they were to the chamber’s upper tiers. The lowest ring belonged to the minor city-states and trade representatives.
Higher platforms belonged to the major industrial and political powers of Cybertron.
The highest tier sat directly opposite the speaking floor.
Reserved for the Primes.
Starscream’s optics moved slowly across the chamber.
This was where Cybertron decided its future.
Or at least where it performed the act of deciding.
The chamber slowly filled as senators arrived at their assigned platforms.
Thundercracker leaned against the balcony rail beside Starscream.
“Session usually starts on time,” he said quietly.
Starscream’s attention remained fixed on the chamber floor.
A tall figure had taken one of the higher platforms opposite the central speaking floor.
Unlike most of the senators present, he did not move.
Shockwave.
The senator of Tarn stood perfectly still, red optics glowing steadily as he watched the preparations below.
Starscream had heard the name before.
Everyone with any connection to serious science had heard the name. Shockwave was not merely a senator. He was a scientist, a strategist, a mind spoken of in measured tones by mechs who respected calculation more than charm. Tarn’s representative had a reputation for logic sharp enough to cut through ceremony and leave only the equation behind.
Starscream had never met him.
From the balcony, he found himself watching anyway.
Thundercracker noticed where Starscream was looking.
“Tarn’s representative,” he said.
Starscream studied the figure for a moment longer.
Shockwave’s posture did not change.
At the center of the chamber, a raised platform slowly illuminated.
A second figure stepped forward.
Sentinel Prime.
His armor reflected the chamber lighting as he moved to the central position and activated the chamber controls. The low hum of conversation throughout the Senate faded immediately.
Sentinel’s voice carried easily through the massive structure.
“The Senate of Cybertron is now in session.”
Silence settled across the chamber.
Starscream watched carefully.
He had spent cycles studying the sciences of Cybertron.
Now he would study its politics.
Sentinel looked across the chamber.
“Today we continue deliberation regarding energy allocation and the proposal concerning the city-state of Vos.”
A quiet ripple moved through several of the platforms.
Thundercracker muttered under his breath beside Starscream.
“Here we go.”
Sentinel paused briefly, allowing the chamber to settle.
“The senator from Tarn has requested the floor.”
A few quiet murmurs moved through the upper tiers.
Shockwave stepped forward from his platform.
The senator of Tarn was larger than most of the mechs present, his heavy frame built in solid armored lines rather than the narrow, aerodynamic forms common among the aerial caste. His red optics moved slowly across the chamber as he regarded the assembly.
When he spoke, his voice carried easily through the structure.
“The proposal to ground the city-state of Vos is inefficient.”
A ripple of conversation passed through several of the platforms.
Shockwave raised one hand, and a projection field ignited above the central floor. Columns of data appeared in steady streams of shifting figures.
“The Senate’s current projection estimates that grounding Vos will reduce total energy expenditure by twelve percent.”
The numbers rotated slowly in the air.
Shockwave continued.
“This projection is incomplete.”
New columns of figures appeared beside the first.
“Relocation of infrastructure.”
“Reconstruction of aerial transit corridors.”
“Modification of atmospheric navigation networks.”
Shockwave lowered his hand slightly.
“These secondary requirements increase projected energy expenditure by approximately thirty-four percent.”
The murmuring in the chamber faded.
Shockwave’s optics moved briefly toward Sentinel.
“In simple terms,” he said calmly, “the Senate would expend more energy grounding Vos than it currently spends maintaining the city in its present suspended position.”
A brief silence followed.
Then Shockwave added, his tone sharpening slightly.
“I therefore find the proposal… illogical.”
In the visitors’ gallery, Thundercracker exhaled quietly.
Starscream said nothing.
Below them, several senators began speaking at once, their platforms flickering with requests for recognition.
Sentinel raised one hand.
The chamber fell silent again.
“The senator from Kaon has requested the floor.”
Starscream’s optics shifted slightly.
Across the chamber, another platform illuminated.
A thin figure rose slowly from his seat.
Ratbat.
Even from the balcony, Starscream could see the slight curve of the Kaonian senator’s wings as he stepped forward to address the assembly.
Thundercracker muttered under his breath.
“Oh, this should be good.”
Starscream leaned forward slightly against the rail.
Shockwave had presented the logic.
Now he would see how the Senate chose to handle it.
Ratbat’s voice carried upward through the chamber.
“The senator from Tarn presents accurate calculations.”
Starscream glanced sideways at Thundercracker.
Thundercracker’s expression tightened.
Ratbat continued.
“However…”
A faint smile touched the Kaonian senator’s expression.
“Energy efficiency is not the only matter the Senate must consider.”
The chamber grew quieter.
Ratbat gestured toward the projection still hanging above the central floor.
“Vos is a city built for a previous age of Cybertron.”
He allowed the words to settle before continuing.
“A time when energy resources were… less constrained.”
Starscream’s optics narrowed slightly.
Ratbat spread his hands.
“The question before the Senate is not whether Vos can remain aloft.”
He looked slowly around the chamber.
“It is whether Cybertron can continue to justify the expense.”
Thundercracker folded his arms.
“There it is,” he muttered.
Starscream did not answer.
He was watching the senators.
Watching who nodded.
Watching who did not.
And most importantly—
Watching the Vosian senator.
Because if Ratbat and Sentinel were allowed to frame the debate this way, Vos would fall.
Starscream waited for the Vosian senator to respond.
The platform remained silent.
The senator sat back in his seat, hands folded calmly before him.
He nodded once toward Ratbat.
And said nothing.
Thundercracker stared.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” he muttered under his breath.
Starscream’s optics narrowed.
Across the chamber, Shockwave did not sit.
Instead, the senator from Tarn stepped forward again.
“Speaker.”
Sentinel inclined his head slightly.
“The senator from Tarn is recognized.”
Shockwave turned toward the central floor, red optics bright with focus.
“The senator from Kaon presents an incomplete argument.”
A faint ripple passed through the chamber.
Shockwave continued.
“The claim that Cybertron cannot afford to maintain Vos is based on an inaccurate representation of the current energon economy.”
Several senators shifted uneasily.
Shockwave raised one hand again, and the projection above the chamber changed.
New figures appeared.
Different figures.
“Energy production across Cybertron has not decreased significantly in the past four cycles.”
The numbers scrolled slowly.
“However,” Shockwave said, his voice tightening slightly, “distribution of those resources has changed.”
Starscream leaned forward slightly.
Shockwave’s projection shifted again.
Several energy flow diagrams appeared.
A handful of senators immediately began speaking to one another.
Shockwave did not slow.
“Energon allocation to the industrial sectors of Kaon has increased by forty-seven percent during the same period.”
Starscream’s gaze shifted toward Ratbat.
The Kaonian senator remained perfectly still.
Shockwave’s voice sharpened.
“This reallocation alone exceeds the total energy required to maintain Vos in its current aerial position.”
The chamber grew noticeably louder.
Sentinel raised a hand.
“Order.”
Shockwave did not stop speaking.
“If the Senate wishes to discuss responsible energy usage, then the discussion should begin with the current distribution policies enacted by the Kaonian delegation.”
Several senators began talking at once.
Ratbat finally moved.
Slowly.
He turned his head toward Shockwave.
The faint smile never left his face.
Sentinel’s voice rose above the noise.
“Senator Shockwave.”
Shockwave did not look away from Ratbat.
“The energon reserves of Cybertron are not in immediate danger,” he said, his voice now carrying clear irritation. “They are simply being mismanaged.”
The chamber erupted in argument.
Thundercracker let out a quiet breath beside Starscream.
“Well.”
Starscream did not answer.
His optics remained fixed on Ratbat.
Shockwave had not accused the Kaonian senator directly.
But the implication was unmistakable.
Energy was not disappearing.
It was being redirected.
Starscream leaned slightly closer to the balcony rail.
The debate about Vos was no longer about energy.
It was about power.
And suddenly, the silence of the Vosian senator made far more sense.
The chamber erupted in noise.
Platforms lit across the amphitheater as senators began speaking at once, demanding recognition from the Speaker.
Sentinel struck the console before him.
“Order.”
Few listened.
Starscream watched the reaction move through the room.
It spread in waves.
At first, the disturbance came from the Kaonian delegation, several senators leaning toward one another in sharp conversation. But the agitation did not remain there.
Other platforms began to light.
Industrial representatives.
Energy administrators.
Trade senators.
Starscream felt the pattern click into place.
Shockwave had not merely challenged Ratbat.
He had challenged the accounting.
And if the energon numbers could be questioned for Kaon, then they could be questioned everywhere.
Starscream’s gaze moved slowly across the chamber.
Senators who had shown little interest in the debate about Vos were suddenly very attentive.
Some looked toward Shockwave.
Others toward Ratbat.
Several toward Sentinel.
Thundercracker leaned slightly closer.
“You see it?” he murmured.
Starscream nodded faintly.
“Yes.”
The senator from Tarn had not simply defended Vos.
He had threatened the entire system of allocation that kept the Senate functioning.
Shockwave remained perfectly still at his platform.
Ratbat, however, had begun to move.
Slowly.
The Kaonian senator rose from his seat, smoothing a hand along the edge of the console before him.
The chamber quieted slightly as several platforms dimmed.
Starscream watched carefully.
This, he realized, was the real debate.
Not Vos.
Power.
The Kaonian senator had just risen to speak when Sentinel struck the console again.
Hard.
“Order.”
The chamber quieted only slightly.
Shockwave remained standing at his platform.
His projection still hung above the chamber floor, energon distribution figures rotating slowly in the air.
Sentinel’s gaze fixed on him.
“The senator from Tarn will suspend his presentation.”
Shockwave did not move.
“The data is relevant to the matter under discussion,” he said calmly.
A few platforms flickered again as senators requested recognition.
Sentinel’s voice hardened.
“The senator from Tarn will relinquish the floor.”
Shockwave’s optics shifted toward him.
“The current debate concerns the energy requirements of Vos,” he said. “The figures presented demonstrate that those requirements are not the source of the Senate’s current concerns.”
Starscream leaned forward slightly.
Shockwave was not retreating.
He was pressing.
Sentinel struck the console again.
“Senator Shockwave.”
The chamber fell completely silent.
“You are out of order.”
A ripple moved through the Senate.
Shockwave remained still.
“My statements are supported by the Senate’s own resource reports.”
Sentinel did not look at the projection.
Instead, he gestured toward the chamber floor.
“Security.”
Two armored Senate guards moved immediately from the lower level.
Thundercracker stiffened beside Starscream.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” he muttered.
Shockwave did not resist as the guards approached his platform.
He simply deactivated the projection.
The energon figures vanished from the air.
Sentinel addressed the chamber again.
“The senator from Tarn will refrain from further disruption of Senate procedure.”
The guards moved to either side of Shockwave.
“Remove him.”
The chamber erupted again, but this time the noise carried a different tone.
Not outrage.
Unease.
Shockwave allowed the guards to escort him toward the exit.
As he passed beneath the visitors’ gallery, his red optics lifted briefly.
For the smallest moment—
They met Starscream’s.
Then he was gone.
Thundercracker exhaled slowly beside him, but Starscream barely heard it.
His attention remained fixed on the chamber floor where the projection had disappeared.
The data was gone.
The senator was gone.
But the question remained.
Shockwave had not been removed because his argument was weak.
He had been removed because it was dangerous.
Starscream leaned back from the railing slowly, processor arranging the pieces with a scientist’s cold care. Vos was not draining Cybertron. Kaon was receiving more than it should. Ratbat had admitted Shockwave’s first calculations were correct, then changed the subject. The Vosian senator had stayed silent when the argument required him to stand.
And Sentinel had not answered the numbers.
He had removed the mech who presented them.
Starscream’s optics narrowed.
Shockwave had not disrupted the Senate.
He had exposed it.
And if the chamber was willing to silence him for that, then Starscream wanted to know exactly what else it was protecting.