#Cadet AU

[radioactiverats]

Mentor Starscream x seeker!reader (8/?)

WARNING: Graphic violence

A mission goes wrong - instead of punishing Starscream as expected, Megatron finds a different way to get under his skin - making Starscream watch as he beats you up instead.

Haha I lied I guess drunk shenanigans was what I needed to turn the writing tap back on... so here is some angst (!!)

WARNING: Graphic violence

---

The mission was an abject failure.

Gritting his denta, Starscream knows he'll be punished as he stiffly delivers the report to Megatron. At least you're safe in his habsuite - as horrible as it is, you know the drill by now. Not that he likes subjecting you to constant emergency first aid, but at least he can be the one to tank Megatron's wrath.

Helm bowed, on his knees, he braces for the blows to his frame - or would it be Megatron's cannon this time? No pain comes, though - what he doesn't expect is Megatron's silky laughter, which is somehow even worse.

"Oh no, Starscream. You think that you can offer your frame up for punishment and it'll be enough to atone? I think not."

Starscream's optics narrow as he works through what Megatron means. Surely - surely not.

But the cruel smile that warps Megatron's faceplate only grows wider as the increasingly cacophonous sounds of a struggle approach the bridge. Place forgotten, Starscream shoots to his pedes in horror as you are shoved through the doorway, furiously trying to break free from the grip of several low-ranking lackeys.

"Lord Megatron," Starscream says, fighting to keep the tremble of rage from distorting his vocaliser. "you can't. They're barely more than a youngling - "

"It doesn't matter to me what they are," Megatron snarls. His blood red optics flash, a cruel grin splitting his faceplate as he rises from his throne. "All I need to know is that you care."

Starscream lunges forward at the same time you're shoved aggressively before Megatron. However, he's immediately restrained by a flash of blue and purple - Soundwave and Shockwave.

"Starscream: Necessary to the Decepticon cause," Soundwave intones. "Recently: Has been distracted. Reason: Young charge. Conclusion: Going soft."

"I'll show your cassettes soft!" Starscream screeches, thrashing in their grip.

"Cassettes: Aid Soundwave."

Optics wide, you force yourself to face the looming shadow above you.

"Tell me, little one," Megatron purrs, silky smooth. "What have you contributed to the Decepticon cause?"

The fear you feel comes from the knowledge that there's no right answer. Megatron doesn't want to hear that you've been in every battle since Starscream joined the Decepticons, doesn't want to hear that you were the one to patch up his SIC - even if he's probably figured it out. He just wants to hurt Starscream. You steal a quick glance at your commander, unable to maintain his facade with you in imminent danger - wild-eyed and feral in his desperation to reach you because he hadn't anticipated that Megatron's cruelty could reach such lengths, and now you were going to pay the price.

"Nothing?"

His voice slithers into your audials like venomous snakes, infecting your processor with doubt. It's a terrible time to be reminded of your guilt for being unable to help Starscream more - but the slump of your shoulders is what Megatron was gunning for. His optics harden, cold as ice and sharp as flint. You wonder how Orion Pax felt seeing the shift of his optics into something unrecognizable, something monstrous.

"Then, for the good of our cause, I have no reason to withhold from eliminating a drain on our resources," Megatron snarls.

The first blow sends you reeling back, the ringing in your audials reverberating with Starscream's cry. You have no time to recover - another strike to your chassis, a vicious swipe aimed at soft mesh. You stand no chance against the former feared gladiator of Kaon, and everybody knows it. The searing pain has you gasping, servos pressed to the gash in your side - energon, hot and sticky, flows freely over your plates. Megatron circles you lazily, looking vaguely bored.

"Pathetic. Where's the fight in you? It seems that Starscream's training leaves much to be desired."

Okay. Now that you won't accept. Not after everything Starscream has risked for you. You grit your denta and glare at Megatron. If you're destined to meet Primus today, you're not going down without a fight. This, however, seems to please him, because his disgusted expression shifts into one of malicious glee, optics glinting with barely contained bloodlust. "That's more like it," He growls, laughing as you lunge at him with a cry - he easily swats you aside. Scrambling off the floor, you take stock of your enemy - Megatron is twice your size and fully armoured - built, quite literally, like a tank. The only advantage you have over him is flight, and now is not the time to think about fighting fair.

Gathering your energy, you shoot upwards, towards him. He definitely wasn't expecting that - miraculously, you manage to land a kick to his helm. Your efforts barely put a dent in his armour, but in a crazed way, Megatron seems pleased.

His grin is feral as he stalks towards you. "Commendable, little seeker," He says, leering at you. "If you survive this, I will spare you."

You barely manage to dodge his servo as it comes down, but that's where your luck runs out. Already anticipating your move, Megatron grabs your leg as you jet upwards and slams you into the ground. Warnings explode on your HUD - your mechanisms are going haywire, and the impact had shaken something out of place. Your frame radiates pain, pain, pain, but still, you try to drag yourself away - and cry out as Megatron grabs you by a wing.

The snap of plates is an awful, awful sound. That's all you can think of before agonizing pain explodes in your wing, arcing like lightning down your spinal strut. Mechanisms creak, wires snap a little too easily under Megatron's unforgiving servos - you thrash under his pede, frame completely overtaken by agony. Distantly, you hear Starscream's roar of rage, but it's not enough to drown out the screaming spit of static that overtakes your voice.

Heavy blows rain down on your frame, unceasing. Your plates may as well be made from aluminum under Megatron's fists, denting at immediate contact. There's no escape - you flinch away from a punch only to meet claws that shred your plates open like paper. At this point, you can barely see through the energon that stains your frame and drips into your optics. The growing pool of energon beneath your pedes and the sluggishness of your processor tells you that you're losing power fast. Any way you move, there's no escaping the agony the wracks your frame, searing, burning - rushing like liquid fire through your lines, rushing from torn wires to hotly sear over your plates. Worst is the pain in your wing - you're distantly aware that it's broken, hanging by a few remaining wires whose only purpose seems to be ferrying pain to your frame. Horror wracks your frame as you consider that you may never fly again and suddenly, survival seems to be the worst punishment of all.

Your sob for Starscream is the last straw. Baring his denta in a snarl, he activates his thrusters to wrench himself away from Soundwave and Shockwave, throwing himself in front of your broken frame just as Megatron pulls his fist back for the final blow.

"Enough," Starscream hisses, savagely.

For a nanoklik, all is still.

Unexpectedly, Megatron steps back. "Interesting," He drawls, and turns away as if disinterested by the entire affair, completely undisturbed by the explosion of energon that now covers the bridge. "A promise is a promise. Take them to Knockout."

"What if I never fly again?" You sob.

Starscream looks down at your broken frame, snapped wing and shattered cockpit, and for a nanoklik has absolutely no idea how to lift you up without increasing your agony. There's no avoiding it, but you are not granted the mercy of passing out when he does lift you up, a screech of static garbling your vocaliser when you sob at the pain in your wing. "Shhh," Starscream murmurs, his steps frantic as he storms off the bridge. "It's all right now, we'll get you fixed up - "

You know he's desperately trying to rein in his EM field so as not to scare you further, but you can dimly feel the abject panic that vibrates through his plates where he's holding you close. You make the mistake of looking into his optics - Starscream is just as terrified. You've never seen him this panicked, not even when you cracked your faceplate open. Dread wracks your frame at the realization of how bad it must be.

"You will," Starscream says fiercely. "You will fly - I will not accept any other outcome."

By some small mercy, you've slipped into stasis by the time he bursts into Knockout's med bay. Knockout looks uncharacteristically grim - all his tools are laid out, clearly having been warned of your arrival.

His intake flattens into a hard line when he sees the state of your wing. Starscream must have seen it, because his EM field immediately spikes.

"I don't care what you do," Starscream growls. "But that wing must be restored."

"I can rejoin it," Knockout says, sombre. "But I cannot guarantee full use of the wing afterwards, because there's no telling whether the severed sensory nets will reactivate."

Starscream snarls in disgust, his own wings trembling. Before his white-knuckled grip can dent the medical berth, Knockout speaks again, thoughtful but hesitant.

"The other option would be a wing replacement. The success rate is high, but I'm sure you know what the major obstacle to that is."

It barely takes a nanoklik for Starscream to come to a decision. "I will see to it," He says curtly. "I expect you not to question my methods."

Knockout ex-vents. "I'd better get started before they come online," is all he says. "You'd better go."

Starscream nods, expression stony as he pivots to depart the med bay. Rage crackles through his lines, propelling him upwards as he takes to the air. He'd grievously misjudged Megatron, and you had paid the price. Something had changed - the look in the warlord's eyes had been crazed, blinded by bloodlust. Gone was logic and reason. Mindless cruelty had taken its place.

"Megatron is not fit to lead," Starscream whispered grimly to himself. Something had to give.

Megatron is not fit to lead.

And if he had to be the one to incite change... then so be it.

Previous / Next

Edit 1: “If you feel nothing, then why are you shaking?” Cry with me over @xarologys art <3 all the feels :,)

Edit 2: And a bonus snippet inspired by art :D

[samcurrentlywriting]

Outside our comfort zone

Summary: The Bad Batch are still cadets, and need to prove themselves worthy of the money and efforts the Kaminoans spend for them. So, one day, Tech decides to modify the parameters for the battle simulation.

Word count: 1610

Prompts: "Injured" (main prompt) & "Comfort zone" (alt prompt)

Notes: This is a very quick soft cadet au story that kind of fits both prompts! I hope you enjoy!! (Banners & dividers by @summer-of-bad-batch)

Crosshair is crawling like a snake in the ventilation shaft, an activity he has found himself doing more and more often. He is silent and agile, and likes to watch people when they can’t see him. Usually, he just tries to spy on regs that were mean to his brothers, and then spills all their secrets. But that day, he sees Nala Se, the chief Kaminoan scientist, and Lama Su, the prime minister, walking together to her office, and the young clone cannot stop himself from following them. 

By the time he reaches the best position to eavesdrop, they have already begun talking. 

“Clone Force 99 is too costly, and not efficient enough to be worth the effort.”

“They will improve, but they need training. The work we have done on their enhanced abilities is of utmost importance. We need to test its limits.”

Crosshair swallows. He’s glad he followed his instincts. They’re talking about his squad. And not positively. The clone cadet sighs. They have been trying their best. But between the constant bullying from the regs and the countless medical tests they are always doing, they barely have any time to practice their combat techniques. 

“Their efficiency is too limited. They’re unpredictable, and therefore dangerous, we don’t know how much their mutations have impacted their programming.”

Nala Se tries to say something, but Lama Su cuts her short:

“Unless you can get them to expand their comfort zone, I’m afraid we will have to cease this experiment and terminate all the specimens.”

Crosshair’s heart skips a beat, and he doesn’t wait to hear if Nala Se defends them. He needs to go back to their quarters. 

When he opens the door, he is relieved to see his brothers doing ok. Wrecker is working on disarming some smoke bombs Tech made for him. Tech is lying in his bed, eyes riveted to his datapad. Hunter is playing with his knife in the center of the room, looking in the void. As soon as Crosshair enters, Hunter stands up to greet him, and frowns when he notices how disturbed his youngest brother looks. 

“What’s wrong?”

“I overheard the prime minister talking to Nala Se. He said that we’re not good enough to continue the experience. That we stay in our comfort zone during training, and that it’s too narrow, and that we’re unpredictable. If we don’t get better, they’re going to kill us!”

“They can’t do this! We’re already so much better than the regs!” Wrecker shouts, flexing his muscles. 

Hunter doesn’t say anything, but he holds Crosshair in his arms. The youngest clone is already taller than him, but he knows sometimes all Crosshair needs is reassurance, and feeling protected. 

“What do you suggest, Tech?” He asks once he’s let go of Crosshair.

The second-born readjusts his goggles. 

“We have another training session tomorrow morning. Nala Se always sets up the parameters so that they are quite easy. I suppose she is worried about damaging us, since she spent so much time researching us. However, I could hack into the system and change the parameters, making the simulation harder. If we pass, we will have proven that we can, in fact, go beyond our comfort zone, as he put it.”

The four brothers look at each other, a silent agreement forming between them. 

“Do it, Tech.”

“Don’t kill us either.” Crosshair grunts, suddenly feeling sick. 

What if Lama Su is right? What if they aren’t good enough? 

“There’s nothin’ in this facility that can kill us, ah!” Wrecker replies, before going back to his smoke bomb. 

“We need to plan strategies.” Hunter dictates. 

They spend most of the night preparing different plans depending on the situation. When they go to sleep, they’re all so tired they fall asleep immediately. 

The next morning, they all wake up a bit giddy, worried that this is their last chance to prove their worth. Tech works on his datapad for a little while, before confirming that the parameters of their simulation have been successfully changed. Hunter gives them a little pep talk before they go for breakfast in the mess hall. Luckily, this is one of the few mornings where the regs have better things to do than to bully them. They go back to their quarters to gear up, and walk to the simulation room. They step onto the elevating platform, and wait for their turn. They can hear blaster sounds and shouts from the group before them. 

Hunter frowns. They’re the only ones this age going for the simulation room. They are better than the regs. But he assumes the constant medical testing and the general process of making them were expensive. Being better than the regs isn’t enough for them. They need to be profitable. 

A green light flashes above their heads, and they brace themselves for the short way up. The platform shakes and begins its ascension. They enter the large simulation room, and catch a glimpse of the very much adult clones leaving the place. The members of Clone Force 99 look barely older than twelve. Hunter breathes in deeply, then nodds to all his brothers. They can do this. In front of them, a red light turns on, and then a blue one. They spring into action. 

Two seconds into the simulation, and they realize how different it already is. There are way more droids than usual, and they fire a lot. Hunter breathes in once more. When he’s calm and collected, he shouts:

“Plan forty-three!”

The four of them spring in action. Last night wasn’t the first time they devised plans. They heard a sergeant talk about a plan alpha once, and Tech thought it was a great idea to catalog all their strategies. Wrecker had the hardest time remembering the numbers, but he could guess which plan it was as soon as he saw how his brothers moved. 

Crosshair climbs quickly on a nearby tower, avoiding the blasts from the droids below him. Hunter attacks the droids from the left, Tech from the right, and Wrecker runs through them in the center. They move to the second half of the room within minutes. 

There is a tower they need to conquer. Hunter can feel there is an electromagnetic field protecting it, though he can’t see it. He signs at Crosshair, still on the tower:

There is a magnetic field, find the lever and deactivate it.

Copy that, the youngest clone signs back. 

More droids advance to their position, and they need to move if they don’t want to be caught. They hear Crosshair shooting behind them, and Hunter feels the magnetic field disappearing. 

“Forward!” He yells. 

They attack the droids standing in their way. Crosshair tries to take down as many as he can from where he is, but quickly realizes that he and his brothers are overwhelmed. Tech set the parameters too high. They aren’t good enough. 

As if he has heard him, Tech turns to Crosshair and shows the tower canons with his hands. Crosshair nods and shoots these down one by one. 

Down on the battlefield, Wrecker suddenly comes up with an idea. 

“Tech, I’m gonna throw you towards the tower, and you can climb the rest.”

“This is too dangerous, you will not be able to defend yourself during this time, and risk getting shot.” Tech retorts. 

“I got Crosshair and Hunter to protect me. We don’t have time to argue!” He adds when Tech raises his index and opens his mouth. 

Hunter, who hears them despite the racket, places his back to Wrecker, both his training guns pointed to the droids. 

Wrecker drops his gun, seizes Tech under the armpits and throws him with all his might to the tower, making him arrive about two thirds of its height. But as he hurls his brother, he feels a sudden pain in his back. He grunts, reaches for his gun and starts aggressively shooting all the droids around him. He knows this is a training, but the pain is very much real, and it burns him. Suddenly, all the droids stop moving, and he sees Tech waving from the top of the tower.

“Yeah Tech!”

He high-fives Hunter, who’s bearing a beaming smile. Immediately, he feels the pain in his back and falls to his knees. Crosshair and Tech run to him. 

“You are injured. I told you that would happen.” Tech teased.

“You need a medic.” Crosshair whispers, frowning. 

A kaminoan droid guides them outside the room, to the medical bay. There, another droid applies cold gel in the burnt area on Wrecker’s back. 

“Wounds like these are not supposed to occur during your training sessions. It appears the strength parameters were tampered with. Do you want me to file a report?”

The four brothers glance at each other before shouting at the same time:

“No, no need!”

The droid leaves them alone in the room. They’re soaked in sweat, bruised, but happy. They made it! They didn’t even know they had it in them. 

There is a knock on the door. They straighten. Lama Su and Nala Se enter the room, in that slow kaminoan fashion. 

“That was an impressive display.” The prime minister says. 

Nala Se stares at Tech, but her face is hard to read. Even Hunter cannot tell whether she is angry, or pleased, or simply doesn’t care. 

“Once CT-9903 recovers from his light injury, you will begin the second phase of your training.” The chief scientist added, before leaving them alone once more. 

They all smile and squirm with excitement. They can’t wait to go to a real battlefield, and fight off some real droids.

[gun-roswell]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Cartoon), Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Star Wars - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Clone Force 99 | Bad Batch (Star Wars) Characters: CT-9902 | Tech, CT-9901 | Hunter, CT-9903 | Wrecker, CT-9904 | Crosshair Additional Tags: ndtech2024, Neurodivergent CT-9902 | Tech, Cadet AU, Team Dynamics, Verbal Insults vs Fisticuffs, Neurodivergent Tech Week 2024, CT-9902 | Tech-centric, Fan Event Prompts Series: Part 1 of Neurodivergent Tech Week, Part 11 of Clone Cadet AU Summary:

Tech gets into a fight, even he had been trying to use his words to defend himself.

 Fan Event: neurodivergent-tech-week.tumblr.com DAY 1: The Cadet Batch

Part of Neurodivergent Tech Week / Star Wars Clone Cadet AU series

@neurodivergent-tech-week​

[chibi-pix]

I SWORE THESE WERE MORE RECENT! Apparently not. Drawing Pidge as a cadet in a VLD AU was back in January and I started this one then, too. But, I finally got myself to finish this. And here we have Pidge, struggling to adjust to being a cadet and working with a team. Trigel is doing her best to help her, though. 

Anyway, I hope y’all enjoy this one! Until next time!

[radioactiverats]

Mentor Starscream x seeker!reader (8.5/?)

A little snippet because I am Inspired TvT

——

Joors into your repairs, Starscream had let himself back into the med bay. It was abundantly clear that he wasn’t going to leave.

It took a few lengths of pacing back and forth before Knockout tiredly told him to stay the frag put, and Starscream looked ready to throw hands before Knockout pointedly told him it was a distraction to your repairs - Starscream promptly shut his intake and slunk away to perch sullenly on a nearby medical berth.

Starscream’s optics remained glued to your prone frame, but he would look away every time he felt he was being watched.

Knockout stopped working to look pointedly at him, and Starscream’s optics slid stubbornly to some vials in the cupboard by the door. He probably wasn’t even aware that his wings were twitching something awful, shoulders nearly up to his audials with tension. Ex-venting, Knockout returns to his welding.

“You don’t need to pretend in front of me, you know.”

At that, Starscream bristles.

“Pretending?” He snarls. “I’m not pretending.”

Knockout glances at him.

“If you feel nothing, then why are you shaking?”

Starscream’s optics widen for a nanoklik before he leaps off the berth, wings quivering as he jabs a finger against Knockout’s chassis.

“You don’t know anything,” he hisses. “You’re the one who needs to stop pretending that you do.”

Despite having a faceful of angry seeker in front of him, Knockout merely sighs and, having ascertained that you were stable, clicks the welder off.

“Is it so hard to accept that you’re not the only one who cares?”

Starscream bares his denta, optics alight with fury. “If you care, why do I see no evidence of it?”

“Oh, please.”

Knockout rolls his optics, rounds the table to retrieve a jar of nanites. “I’m just better at hiding it than you are.”

He layers a section of torn mesh with nanites. “Cadet patches you up so often,” he drawls, before Starscream can work himself up even further. “Where do you think the endless medical supplies come from?”

That stops Starscream short. Reluctantly, he realises that he’d never actually thought about that.

A snarky retort dies in his vocaliser with an abrupt click as he raises his optics to Knockout’s faceplate - unlike the smugness he’d expected, the expression on the other mech’s faceplate is… sympathetic. Starscream clenches his servos into fists and turns away with a snarl.

Was he really such an open book? He’d spent endless nights struggling with the thought. Against his better judgement, wants you to know that he cares - the last thing he wants is to see your spirit broken. But… Starscream glances back over his shoulder to your frame, caked in drying energon, optics shuttered and oh so still. He shutters his optics with a shuddering ex-vent. Look where his care got you.

His shoulders slump. Reluctantly, he concedes that Knockout has a point. He’d let his weakness get the better of him - thought it would be okay for him to get attached, thought he could keep you out of harm’s way. When would he learn that he would always be alone? The most unbearable thing, however, was for you to become collateral damage. Never again.

“Don’t,” Knockout warns quietly. “They need you.”

Starscream whirls around, servos clenched.

Instead of the fight Knockout expected, though, the pain in Starscream’s optics is damning. No wonder Megatron had picked up on his weak point so quickly.

“I can’t do that to them,” Starscream murmurs, vocaliser thick with static.

“You-“ Knockout ex-vents harshly and curses his luck for being the only mech with any ounce of emotional self-awareness on this ship, even if he does understand how difficult Starscream’s position is. Still -

“You need to get it through your thick helm that their chances of survival skyrocket as long as you’re around,” Knockout snaps. “How can you think of abandoning them at such a crucial point?”

“I wasn’t-“ Starscream growls, and snarls when he meets Knockout’s challenging gaze. “You cannot hope to understand!”

Preserving your spark was the most important thing. Even if he had to keep his distance from you. Even if you ended up hating him. Even if you thought he’d abandoned you - Starscream’s fist abruptly meets the wall of the med bay even as Knockout yells at him to keep it together.

For a klik, his ragged ex-vents are all that fill the med bay.

“There has to be another way,” Starscream rasps. Alarm bells sound off in Knockout’s processor, sensors firing off when the air commander turns to meet his optics again. Starscream’s frame is strangely still, optics huge and glittering in a way that Knockout has only seen in cornered animals before.

“What are you planning?” Knockout asks warily.

Starscream doesn’t reply immediately. On stiff pedes, he approaches your side and, as if for the last time, gently strokes his servo over your cheek.

“Keep them safe,” Starscream whispers, and faster than Knockout can blink, he’s gone.

Previous / Next

Mandatory @radioactiverats fic drawing… not an actual quote but I saw that line on Twitter and thought “yeah that’s so them”

[mroddmod]

finally introducing my Cadet Batch AU, in which the batch are all raised together :)

[phantasm-echo]

Jedi mom and her two twin menaces (I would die for them)

Also rare phantasm fluff post ?! Just to prove I don’t ONLY do angst lmao

[yeosin-n]

had another drawing sesh w friends hahehehahehrfjfjg

[netmors]

Night drop of sketches with Eli Vanto.

In addition to the canonical appearance, I sketched a version of the “commodore” from my Eleventh Fleet AU.

Because we need MORE bearded Eli'van'to, otherwise only Karyn with a cape :3

[cherryvampiro]

🌈🌟🌟 For my Older!Cotc au, here's adult Sparkle Cadet & her lil star Theodore!!! (Had this sketch in my pocket for forever) 🌈🩷🩵💜✨

[nicodrawings]

Some illustrations I did for my COTC AU! And right on time to celebrate the new episodes coming out Saturday!

I’ll add more info to these pictures tomorrow but for now here’s a list of the kids in the illustrations

1) Vanessa aka Wildernessa and Toni

2) Kelsey and Isabella aka Stacks

3) Sparkle Cadet

4) Cannonball

5) Eileen aka Sewer Queen

[radioactiverats]

Mentor Starscream x seeker!reader

This is a mashup of all the timelines basically (._.) Starscream has been on the brain recently... In the firsts of a long journey, I have gotten my first two blokees from blind boxes (Grapple and Ironhide). Let's see how long it'll take me to get Starscream TvT

-----------------------------

Ever since you joined the Vosian Air Academy as a young cadet, Starscream had been there. Everyone knew who Starscream was. How could you not, when he was such a high-profile cybertronian? You thought that the most you would ever see of him at the academy was his printed frame on the glossy posters stuck up everywhere - some with motivational slogans, some showing off some genuinely impressive flying maneuvers, and some advertising the war effort against the Quintessons.

Understandably, it came as a surprise to learn that he would be personally taking on your first year tactical maneuvers class.

Even before your first class, rumours ran rampant. Starscream is very strict, your fellow cadets whispered, in tones of both fear and admiration. You're fragged if he picks on you. Better avoid his punishments. Didn't you hear what happened to the bot who failed to execute his instructions the first time?

Your apprehension, however, was definitely outweighed by admiration and curiosity. No matter how snappy he seemed, your future instructor was still the Air Commander of Vos, which was no small feat. Unlike several other government positions which required the right connections rather than skills, Air Commander was not a position one could hope to take on without truly having mastered the skies.

The first time you see him, you, as well as many others, are instantly in awe of his commanding presence. He's taller than you thought, frame polished and his beautiful wings a shimmering white. The sharp lines of his faceplate and the delicate point of his chin exemplify his graceful form, and his optics flick over the new recruits in a calculating manner. The expression on his faceplate is severe, as you expected, but not cruel. He barks out a command for you to get in a line, snarling when inexperience clashes with the rush to obey, several of you crashing clumsily into each other.

"Finally," Starscream snaps, when you eventually arrange yourselves in a semi-straight line. "If you lot cannot execute even the simplest of commands, how do you expect to survive the war?"

It sounds harsh, but he's not wrong. It sinks in again that you are here because, despite all propaganda saying otherwise, it seems that the war against the Quintessons is not going well. Why else would there have been a mass recruitment exercise? You, and the rest of your class, are going to be shipped straight off to war when you graduate the academy. As the reality of the situation sinks in, Starscream's words suddenly seem less like a scolding and more like a warning. You straighten your frame a little more, shoulders back, chassis out. If the Air Commander himself is giving you tips on how to survive the war, by Primus, you're going to listen.

Starscream announces waspishly that you are going to learn how to do a breakaway maneuver today.

"Everyone," Starscream threatens, "and I mean everyone, is going to perform this maneuver successfully within this solar cycle, or there will be consequences. Understood?"

There are only a few weak "yes sir's" from the line, but Starscream simply scoffs and chooses not to waste his time enforcing a show of authority. It's clear from the wide optics fixated on him that he's already won your admiration.

"Watch," is all he says, before he's smoothly transforming before you into his alt-mode and, with a cacophonous boom, blasts off into the stratosphere.

All of you can't hold back your shouts of amazement as you scatter from your haphazard line to get a better look. The F-15 dips and twirls though the sky, slicing through fluffy clouds like butter before slowing to a stop. Then, as all of you watch with mounting excitement, Starscream begins his demonstration - the F-15 begins to gain speed, faster, and faster again, until you're certain he's going to break the sound barrier and blip into nothingness - when suddenly, the jet swerves at a supremely clean ninety-degree angle without losing any of its speed.

All your classmates are shouting and hooting at the frankly incredible demonstration, even as Starscream transforms back into bot-mode and comes to a smooth stop in front of you. It might have been your imagination, but his plates are drawn less tight around him, and he exudes a breathless, self-satisfied air. This you can understand - all seekers would agree that the feeling of flying is second to none.

You're dreamily replaying Starscream's demonstration in your processor, and startle when a finger jabs into your field of vision. Your optics cycle, and you freeze when you realize that none other than Starscream is towering right over you, a calculating sneer on his faceplate.

"You," he snaps. "Seems that you have a very clear recollection of my demonstration, have you not?"

You nod, unable to speak, and watch with rapt fascination as his intake curls into a smirk.

"In that case," Starscream drawls, "you should have no trouble going first, hmm?"

You stiffen. The upperclassmen had warned you about this - Starscream tended to choose cadets he could make examples of, for better or for worse. But as you meet his optics, it's not cruelty you find - but a challenge.

"Well?" Starscream says. "We don't have the entirety of the solar cycle to be standing around like idiots."

The rest of the cadets have fallen into an almost horrified silence - yet, you can feel the relief emanating from the others that they haven't been picked. You prickle at that. You've not been picked to take the fall - you look at Starscream again, full in the faceplate, a simmering defiance beneath your plates. A hand on his cocked hip now, his optics boring into yours, daring you to accept. You remember what you saw in his faceplate the first time. Severity, sure, but not cruelty.

What if, you wonder, it's all been a misconstrued. Starscream doesn't pick on the weaker ones. He picks the ones who look like they're up to a challenge - and by Primus, you are going to impress him or die trying.

You stride up to a patch of open land, engines thrumming as you prepare to take off. The initial feeling of leaving the ground behind, launching yourself into open space always thrills you. You transform, and waste no time in accelerating with a sonic boom - soaring higher and higher and higher, engines warm and your processor humming with the ecstasy of flying. Slowing to a hovering stop, you take in the tiny figures of your classmates below you, so small they look like dots.

You accelerate, slicing through cloud after cloud after cloud and, it's now or never - your engines scream as you twist as sharply as you can to your right, narrowly avoiding careening off balance as a burst of speed aids your recovery. Energon thrums through your frame with the adrenaline of it all.

"Not bad," comes a raspy voice from your left. You almost tumble out of the air in shock. Starscream, in his alt-mode, soaring alongside you. Had he been here the whole time? "Descend, cadet."

Both of you reach the ground in tandem, with you still reeling from the shock of Starscream flying beside you, staggering ungracefully as soon as your pedes hit the ground.

"Our first volunteer was able to execute the maneuver on their first attempt," Starscream says. His optics are still fixed on you, appraising. If you look really hard, you might detect a hint of satisfaction, dare you say, at your performance. "I expect that the rest of you will have no trouble following suit."

And by some minor miracle, your entire squadron does manage to pull the maneuver off by sundown, even if Starscream does lose his temper here and there.

"Primus, he's a slavedriver," one of your classmates moans. "I can barely feel my wings anymore." And it's true - your own frame screams from exertion, but you've accomplished more in a single day with Starscream than with any other instructor. The ache in your frame is well-earned, and your respect for Starscream has only grown - he might be snappy on the outside, but the careful way with which he'd guided each cadet through the maneuver did not go unnoticed.

The first stellar cycle passed by reasonably uneventfully, but you were proudly able to say that you'd distinguished yourself as one of Starscream's top pupils - his optics would soften ever so slightly when it came to you. Unfortunately, the rest of his hard work would go abruptly up in flames. An unexpected Quintesson attack on the Air Academy had left you the sole survivor of your entire squadron. And before you even had time to take in this shocking loss, the miner Orion Pax had exposed Sentinel Prime for the fraud he was and been reborn as Optimus Prime. Just like that, the Cybertron you had always known split into two factions. The Quintessons had always been a common enemy - but now, this looked grimly like civil war.

In the aftermath of Sentinel's downfall, Starscream had searched for you, first thing, something akin to panic in his optics. "Thank Primus," he muttered. "Come, we have no time - " And you looked around you as Cybertron split before your eyes, seekers taking to the skies to follow the bot now known as Megatron. Starscream seems to sense your hesitation, and pauses.

"I-" he begins, servos clenching into fists as his wings hitch upwards. "I will not question your decision." You can see it though, in every trembling iota of his frame, that he wants you to come with him. And, glancing behind you at a crumbling Cybertron, the only thing familiar to you is Starscream - you decide right there and then that you would follow him to the ends of the earth.

You meet his optics as you launch yourself upwards, and are nearly knocked back by the overwhelming relief that you find. No matter what the uncertain future holds, you are certain that Starscream will always be there.

Megatron, your new leader, dubs you the decepticons. A few vorns pass as your exiled group finds its feet - Starscream has been made Second in Command. You expected no less. And you suspect that the reason you've made it so long without major incident is that Starscream has been secretly shielding you from the worst of your leader. However, with each stellar cycle you grow restless - you miss Cybertron, your homeworld, and you begin to question Megatron's cruelty. That was where he and Starscream differed - Megatron's harshness stemmed from outright cruelty, whereas Starscream's severity was never without reason. Did you choose the wrong side, after all? You find yourself disagreeing with most of your leader's bloodthirsty ideals - yet, Starscream is still here. And surely, you couldn't go wrong by staying at his side?

Watching Megatron make an example of a fellow seeker is the last straw for you - he'd forced every decepticon to watch as he pummeled dents into their delicate frame, ripped wires and leaking energon and battered wings when he was done. You'd turned away and shot off into the skies without a second thought as soon as he'd left. Heel thrusters screaming as you push yourself further, you rocket though the atmosphere until you see the twinkling of the stars in deep space - so close to zero-gravity, every inch of your frame screaming at you to get as far away as possible, when suddenly, you're thrown off-course by a large servo clamping onto your pede.

You shriek, but what's even more shocking is the fact that it's Starscream who has a death grip on you.

"How- how did you-?"

"I trained you, in case you've forgotten," Starscream snarls. "Of course I know your maneuvers."

Both of you fall silent for a few nanokliks. "If I let go," Starscream says, "are you going to jet off?"

Silently, you shake your helm. Honestly, you can't remember the last time that it was just you and him. Megatron's been very demanding - the air commander looks ragged, plates pulled tight with anxiety every time you see him, which was rarely.

Starscream lets go of you with a ragged ex-vent, both of you hovering in place.

You're genuinely not sure where to go from here. You processor spins with the implications of the future at the hands of a violent warlord, at a war that has no end in sight. A war is something you want no part in, but it seems your choices are limited - the battered frame of the seeker flashes through your processor, and your desperation surges once more - you are this close to leaving everything you've ever known behind, if it means escaping the horrors of the war.

"Stop running," Starscream hisses. There's a pinched look on his faceplate, and your wings droop for a nanoklik - guilt sparks though you as you consider the fact that Starscream has been on the receiving end of way worse treatment. Your duty is to him - you feel ashamed that you even considered leaving him behind. But unexpectedly, Starscream ex-vents, and he looks more tired than you've ever seen him.

"I don't want this, either," he mutters. "You - you're all I have left. I understand wanting to run from the war, but..."

It goes unspoken, but you hear him loud and clear.

Don't run from me.

"I can't... I can't help you if you turn away," he says, eventually. You move a little closer, enough for your EM fields to brush - there's guilt there, as if he's blaming himself for putting you in this position - protectiveness, too, and you realise for the first time that Starscream genuinely sees you as his charge.

You're deep enough in the fighting as is, but damned if Starscream isn't determined to see you through this war unscathed.

"Anything happens," he rasps, an oddly open look in his optics. "You come to me. Understood?"

Caught in a war you want no part in, you're aware that Starscream is trying to shield you from the worst of it while he attempts to make the best of a horrible situation. At the very least, you know he has your back, and you hope he knows that you have his.

"Yes, sir!"

Next

[archivewriter1ont]

Cadet Batch Incorrect Quotes

Echo: You are so cute now that I can’t take you seriously.

Cadet Hunter: I have a knife! *waves it around*

Echo: Now you look like an angry kitten. Ooh, I’m so scared.

Rex: *really is scared* Hunt’ika, please put the knife down!

Echo: But he’s cute when he’s threatening!

Rex: Echo, this kid is enhanced, crazy, and overstimulated. He is one loud noise away from snapping and killing us all.

Cadet Hunter: *hiss*

[gun-roswell]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Cartoon), Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Star Wars - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Clone Force 99 | Bad Batch (Star Wars) Characters: CT-9902 | Tech, CT-9901 | Hunter, CT-9903 | Wrecker, CT-9904 | Crosshair Additional Tags: ndtech2024, Neurodivergent CT-9902 | Tech, fan event, prompts, Cadet AU, Team Dynamics, Verbal Insults vs Fisticuffs, Ficlet Series: Part 1 of Neurodivergent Tech Week, Part 11 of Clone Cadet AU Summary:

The days before launching into the war, the days of the cadet batchers.

 Fan Event: neurodivergent-tech-week.tumblr.com: DAY 1
: The Cadet Batch

Part of Neurodivergent Tech Week Prompts / Star Wars Clone Cadet AU Series

@neurodivergent-tech-week​

[pempempemto]

He’s back in the fucking building again :(

[ping-ski]

LDR CH. 18 SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT GO READ IT IF U HAVENTT ARUGH anyways take these quick doodles i did immediately after reading the new chapter cause oh my god

as usual LDR belongs to @spadillelicious