Plot: After a stressful time of plotting, Starscream then comes across the new recruit dancing alone to her music.
After some time of discussing certain tactics against the wretched Sentinel Prime, Starscream dismissed his inner circle. The watchful gazes belonging to Soundwave and Shockwave followed his wings on the way out, but the leader of the High Guard didn’t care to even look back at them.
Almost sulking, Starscream made his way towards his quarters deep inside the fallen but occupied quintesson ship. He didn’t intend to speak with anyone, and the lower members of the group who did notice him quickly glanced away from him.
In his processor, he thought hard, grumbling to himself and shaking his helm. By now, he was stressed, but he didn’t dare to let it show, not when he forced the High Guard to function by his strength and wit alone.
Still, how could he rid himself of the ache in his internal systems? It was infuriating!
During his march, however, Starscream eventually came across an open room. Slowly, he came to a pause. Curiously, he looked inside, finding a human. Penny, the new recruit, practiced her fighting moves on the empty stack of energon cubes near her. She kicked, she punched, and she especially bobbed her head to the music playing from the little device attached to her thigh.
What was it called again? A “Walkman”, perhaps?
A profound sense of amusement filled Starscream’s frame as he leaned back against the wall to the entrance, watching her closely. He hummed silently, observing her spirited nature in action without the presence of any opponents to actually battle. It was as elegant as it was mesmerizing, her body bending to the rhythm of her own core.
Just what thoughts occurred in that puny head of hers?
Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t think for too long. A bot then approached him from the side and immediately gave his position away.
“Uh. Sir?”
Starscream groaned.
“What is it now, Redwing?”
The crimson mech peered inside the human’s room.
“It’s…Penny. She hasn’t finished her training for the day.” He stepped closer, huffing. “Who does that brat think she is? Should I knock some sense into her?”
Starscream thought for a moment, now noticing her vibrant, green eyes locking on the two of them.
“No, no, there’s no need for that.” He stopped and waved the mech away. “I can take care of her from here.”
Redwing stiffened until finally deflating with a shrug.
“If you say so.”
Before long, it was just Penny and Starscream. Once he lifted a pede and passed through the entrance to her personal barrack, the woman set her hands on her hips.
“Listen, I did all that I could for today, Starman.” She pouted. “I want a break.”
For a moment, Starscream’s gaze fixed on the glistening relic of a Prime on her chest, wondering. However, he was quick to focus on her pale face once more.
“I’m aware.” He nodded at her. “You trained well today. Now, please…continue to indulge yourself.”
As he relaxed against the wall of the room, Penny lifted an eyebrow, shifting her tiny body in her makeshift suit. Her eyes glimmered through her visor before she used her hands to adjust the headphones on her ears.
“With you as my audience, hm?”
The cybertronian chuckled.
“Naturally. If you are so willing, of course.”
The human smiled, genuinely overjoyed.
“I am, Starscream.”
After a second or two of fiddling with the Walkman, music began to blast from the tiny speakers of it. Starscream frowned a bit, certainly not accustomed to the style just yet, unlike Soundwave. However, Penny just laughed at his reaction. She curled a finger towards her.
“Optics on me.”
With a graceful sway of her hips, she then started to dance to the beat, even humming and softly singing the lyrics to the song of her choice. Starscream watched her, ignoring the song itself, his calm gaze never once darting away from her. A grin drifted across his faceplate, fascinated by the odd display below him. True to herself, she moved without care and without hesitation.
Soon enough, however, she spoke quite suddenly.
“Michael Jackson.”
Starscream blinked.
“Oh?”
Penny nodded.
“He’s the guy who’s singing here. A musical genius, really.”
On the tips of her feet, she then outstretched a hand for him.
“Wanna dance?”
Starscream smirked, delighted by her boldness.
“And how do you propose we do so with our differing sizes?”
Penny giggled.
“Like this.”
With that, the human tugged on his large digit, encouraging him to lean forward. Starscream did so without trouble, allowing her body to dance. Again, she laughed, continuing her performance.
Above her, Starscream grinned more than he ever did in a long while.
When, exactly, was Penny born/created? How dod she meet Screamer?
Penny was born on Earth in the 1980s! She grew up in the south and became a taxi driver.
After losing her mother and grandfather while she was younger, she tried to make her life work out for herself. But later, she was diagnosed with cancer. Severely in debt and without proper support, she resorted to thievery, even joining an organization to further the process.
After some experience, she's tasked with securing a "jewel" that's actually the Spark of Ember (Quintus Prime's artifact of life).
She finds it. After a police chase, she lands in a cave and now the artifact is on her chest. Soon, she discovers a space bridge beneath the ground. The relic that's now stuck on her chest activates it, and it bends space and time for her, so she makes it to Cybertron.
Initially, she goes back and forth from planet to planet, using the Spark of Ember to her advantage while also modifying her equipment and body, hoping to eventually make a profit. But in time, after her organization attempts to subdue her for failing to turn the "jewel" over to them, the space bridge explodes, and she's stuck on Cybertron.
She finds the High Guard's hideout and secures their resources. Skywarp, Thundercracker, and Slipstream eventually capture her, and she's brought to Starscream for questioning.
He doesn't think much of her until he notices the relic of a Prime on her chest.
What's the setting that your relationship takes place in? Did you bend a bit of canon to work in favor of you and your f/o, or did you throw canon out the window altogether to create an entirely separate AU?—Starscream and Penny (also holy shit their age gap—)
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In my AU, the story and setting of Transformers One remains the same! It takes place mostly on Cybertron, of course. I did, however, bend a little bit of the lore in order for my story to work, but it's not too drastic of a change.
I gave more backstory to the Primes and especially to Quinuts, even creating his relic for Penny to be the wearer.
And yes, the age gap between Penny and Starscream is quite scandalous!
