Starscream's livid crimson optics narrowed as he observed the new recruit clumsily attempting a barrel roll, his disdain only barely hidden beneath a façade of icy patience. In the crisp, cloudless sky high overhead, Thundercracker and Skywarp traced circles in the air, their engines roaring in laughter at their comrade's plight. Their shadows danced over the rippling surface of the Indian Ocean far below, a silent mockery of the recruit's ineptitude.

Meanwhile, the fledgling Decepticon's efforts were akin to a Terran penguin trying to pirouette. They struggled with the basic maneuvers of flight, banking too wide and tumbling in midair like an out-of-control meteor. It was infuriating!

"You call that flying?!" Starscream's screechy voice cut through the hum of engines like a laser scalpel. The Decepticon Air Commander's heel-thrusters fired in short, irritated bursts as he hovered, arms crossed over his cockpit window chest. "You're about as aerodynamic as a cargo ship! Tuck in those flaps and angle your wings properly!”

He sighed audibly, a hiss of static that rattled inside his vocalizer. Feeling distinctly uncharitable, he mused on whether this new bot had been assembled from spare parts; why would Shockwave send him such... such poor quality troops?! It had to be sabotage.

Still, duty called for him to mold this hapless tin can into something resembling a Decepticon warrior. Megatron would have his helm, otherwise.

"Come here!" Starscream commanded with a snarl, his talon-tipped servos clenching in impatience. "Follow my lead. And if you fall out of the slagging sky one more time, it's the scrapyard for you!”

Metal plates slid and locked into place with more clunks than clicks as Starscream's bipedal mode shifted into his alt-mode—a seamless, sleek transformation. Now resembling a silvery jet fighter painted with streaks of fierce cherry red and sky blue, the Air Commander blasted off with a roar of his engines, leaving the recruit to choke on his exhaust fumes.

Starscream pushed forward at breakneck speeds while Thundercracker and Skywarp snickered from overhead, circling like cackling seagulls.