Transformers: Retribution (16 page)

“What’s going on?” a voice inquired.

Optimus turned to see Kup rolling toward him, Rodimus and Bumblebee trundling right behind.

“You’re kidding me,” Prowl said. “Where the slag have you guys been?”

“Downstairs,” Rodimus said, switching to humanoid form. He gestured at a doorway in a nearby tower from which they’d just emerged.

Jazz’s voice was dangerously soft. “And what’s downstairs?”

“All sorts of things,” Rodimus said enthusiastically. “We took the pod over to the seabed and came up through the roots of the city. They’ve got whole chambers loaded with mining equipment, and there was one room filled with … with … how would you put it, Kup?”

“Dormant fish-bots,” Kup said. He felt like he was forgetting something, but the next moment the feeling passed.

“Yeah,” Rodimus repeated, “dormant fish-bots. Keeping them in reserve, I guess.”

“You guys were crazy to wander off alone,” Jazz said angrily.

Rodimus looked abashed. “We just thought this place was suspicious, like we should take a closer look.”

“Sure, we need to take a closer look,” Jazz said. “But the three of you wandering off like that wasn’t the way to do it.”

Rodimus ignored him. “Optimus, I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have. But the place looks pretty clean from what we could see.” Like Kup, he felt like there was something he ought to mention but just couldn’t put his finger on it. And right now his main concern was avoiding Optimus’s anger.

But Optimus showed none. “There’s no time for recriminations right now,” he said. “We’ve got bigger problems. The Decepticons are here.”

M
EGATRON HAD NEVER FELT SO HAPPY
. H
E STOOD ON
the bridge watching as the
Nemesis
’s forward cannon subjected the Ark’s rear shields to unholy amounts of firepower. The planet Aquatron rolled past beneath, the Ark swooping close to the atmosphere as it tried to vector below the
Nemesis
’s line of sight. But the
Nemesis
’s engines were undamaged, and the Decepticon craft was rapidly overtaking the Autobot ship. Megatron grinned.

“Today is a good day for you to die, librarian,” he said under his breath.

“Excuse me, sire?” Starscream asked.

“Shut up, fool. Close the distance and prepare boarding parties.”

“Standing by to activate tractor beam,” Soundwave said.

“How soon?” Megatron asked.

“We’re inside the one-minute window, lord.”

“Hail them,” Megatron said. “If Optimus has any honor, he’ll accept my challenge to personal combat.”

Starscream liked the sound of that. Before he and his Seekers boarded, the Ark was going to be crippled even worse than it was now. The surviving Autobots wouldn’t be able to put up much of a resistance. Thus, the Decepticons’ victory was assured, and the only way the situation could get more ideal would be if Optimus somehow was able to defeat Megatron in a duel. Because then Optimus would be no match for the combined wrath of the hundreds of remaining Decepticons, and Starscream would be left in charge of everything. He glanced at his leader’s smiling face and couldn’t resist a subtle smirk. The smartest thing to do would be to just destroy the
Ark entirely, but Megatron’s ego had to be satisfied. And that was just fine by Starscream.

Except that apparently Optimus didn’t want to fight.

“D
ON
’
T ANSWER
,” S
ILVERBOLT SAID AS THE COMMUNICATION
line buzzed again. The
Nemesis
was trying to hail them, and the last thing Silverbolt wanted was any kind of dialogue.

“Why?” Sideswipe asked as he pushed the Ark’s engines into the red zone. The bridge began to shake as the ship’s metal groaned in protest. “They’re right on our tail. We might be able to buy ourselves more time.”

“
Megatron
is on the end of that line,” Silverbolt snapped. “And no prize for guessing he wants to talk to
Optimus
. Who isn’t here, because he’s
down on the planet
. And the only reason Megatron didn’t have Skywarp plant a bomb big enough to destroy us altogether is so he can board us and fight some insane duel with the only Autobot he wants to annihilate personally. So if he finds out Optimus is down below, he’s going to stop at nothing to finish us off and then swoop down on Optimus.”

Sideswipe got it. “So you’re saying the only reason we’re still alive—”

“Is that we’re not answering that call. Yeah. That’s
precisely
what I’m saying.”

“Well, that’s great, but we’re still about to get boarded and massacred.”

“Not if I can help it,” Silverbolt said. “I’ve got a plan.”

Sideswipe switched off the com-link. “Tell me more,” he said.

“T
HEY
’
RE REFUSING TO ANSWER OUR BROADCAST
,” Soundwave said.

“Optimus,” Megatron snarled. “You are a traitor, but I never marked you for a coward.”

“Didn’t you hear what Soundwave just said, lord?” Starscream couldn’t resist. “Optimus isn’t on the line. He’s not taking your calls.”

Megatron gave Starscream a look that made him glad he was on the other side of the bridge. “He’s still going to die,” he said. “And if you open your mouth again, so will you.”

“Thirty seconds to tractor-beam range,” Soundwave said.

O
PTIMUS AND HIS FELLOW
A
UTOBOTS NO LONGER
could see the combat, but they could certainly sense it. Electromagnetic waves rippled through the atmosphere, testimony to the titanic clash of energies taking place on the far side of the planet. Only a few more minutes passed before a glow suffused the southern horizon.

“They’re coming around again,” Jazz said.

Optimus nodded. From the condition of the Ark, he was surprised they’d been able to make the chase last for an entire circumlocution of the planet. But it couldn’t go on much longer. The fact that the Ark was fleeing meant that it must have been damaged too badly to stand and fight; the fact that it hadn’t gone to lightspeed meant that the damage extended to the engines. He begged the Matrix within him for insight, but it was the same as before: nothing. No answer.

Just when he needed it the most.

“Optimus,” said a voice.

Optimus whirled to see the Curator standing there, a strange expression on his face. Then again, everything about that being was strange.

“I know,” the Curator said.

“You know what?”

“You are suspicious of us. I understand that. It is only natural. But now your true enemies have come calling.” As the Curator spoke, the Ark came into view again and raced along the distant horizon, the
Nemesis
steadily closing what remained of the gap. The next moment the Ark must have been struck directly by one of the Decepticon warship’s shots, for an explosion engulfed it; it was so bright that Optimus had to glance away. But when he looked back, the Ark was still intact. Still fighting.

And the Curator was still staring at him.

“These are the Decepticons, no?”

“They are,” Optimus said. “And when they are finished with the Ark, they will surely come for you.”

“We are not without defenses,” said the Curator. He looked over at Rodimus, Kup, and Bumblebee. “And it seems you are no longer without your friends.”

“Your assistance was not required,” Optimus said. “But thank you nonetheless.”

“Perhaps we can assist in other ways,” the Curator said. He gestured at the blazing dogfight in the sky. “If you want, we can help you with the Decepticons.”

“You can?”

“Only if you want us to.”

“Only if I—Wait a second; what do you want in return?”

“Nothing too onerous, I daresay.” The peculiar earnestness of the Curator’s previous cadence had disappeared; now he was all business. “But if we take time to talk terms, your ship will be lost. Your cause will be doomed. So do you want our help or don’t you?”

Optimus stared at him. “I will do anything to save the Ark.”

“So be it,” the Curator said. He turned and began walking
away. The doors of the nearby tower irised open to receive him.

“Wait a minute,” Optimus said.

“Yes?” The Curator stopped in the doorway but didn’t turn.

“What happens now?”

“Everything,” said the Curator.

The door irised shut behind him.

O
N THE
N
EMESIS
,
ONE OF THE SCREENS BEGAN FLASHING
. Soundwave leaned forward.

“Lord Megatron, we’re picking up multiple contacts.”

“Where?” Megatron demanded.

“Just launched from the Ark. Fast attack craft, closing on us.”

“Bring up the visuals,” Megatron said.

“At once.” The images of Silverbolt, Air Raid, Slingshot, Skydive, and Fireflight came into crisp focus on the targeting scanner. The Autobot fighters were flying fast in close formation. Starscream snorted in disgust.

“A suicide mission,” he said. “Seeking to delay us from getting into tractor-beam range.”

“Destroy them,” Megatron said. Some of the guns of the
Nemesis
switched from the Ark to the incoming targets, but the five Autobots zigged and zagged, weaving past the bolts of energy that seared past them as they soared in toward the
Nemesis
. As they closed in—

“We should commence evasive action,” Starscream said. “Target them all with all our guns.”

“All they can do is strafe,” Megatron scoffed. “We’ll laugh off their spitballs. Stay on the Ark. We almost have them.”

“Five seconds to tractor-beam range,” Soundwave confirmed.

The Aerialbots dodged past the last wave of gunnery,
roaring above the top decks of the
Nemesis
, heading in toward the bridge.

“Do your worst,” Megatron said with a sneer.

The Aerialbots did.

Instead of opening fire, they closed on one another, simultaneously shifting into alt-mode and using their forward momentum to merge abruptly, creating a single colossal silver-and-red jet trooper that proceeded to land on top of the
Nemesis
, wielding the largest electrostatic rifle any of the Decepticons had ever seen.

Starscream’s eyes practically bugged out of his head. “What in the name of Unicron is that?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Megatron screamed. “Concentrate all fire!”

But it was too late.

“I AM SUPERION!” yelled the giant combiner robot as it fired a bolt of energy at the
Nemesis
’s bridge, scoring a direct hit. For a moment the entire bridge was filled with lightning; electrical feedback flashed through the
Nemesis
like wildfire, blowing out consoles all over the ship. Soundwave and Starscream were hurled back into the far wall. Only Megatron remained on his feet.

“Get that scrap heap off my warship!” he yelled as he shook off the bridge’s wreckage. “NOW!”

His soldiers were already on it. All over the
Nemesis
hatches opened; Decepticons poured out to face the behemoth astride their spacecraft, buzzing around Superion like angry bees while the
Nemesis
’s batteries opened up at point-blank range, sending missiles, lasers, and superheated plasma streaking toward Superion. Multiple hits and explosions knocked the massive rifle from his hands, but he just reached down, digging his mighty fists deep into the
Nemesis
’s hull, tearing off a huge piece of plated armor and using it as a shield to ward off the incoming fire. Then he strode straight toward the bridge,
right at the Decepticon leader, his booming voice lost in the vacuum but vibrating through the hull of the ship.

“PREPARE TO BE DESTROYED, MEGATRON!”

“You’ve got it the wrong way around,” said Megatron. He amped up his fusion cannon and let fly. The blast was like a supernova going off. As the glare dimmed, Megatron fully expected to see Superion’s smoking wreckage.

Except there was no sign of Superion anywhere.

Megatron adjusted his optics. Had the cannon disintegrated the giant robot entirely? It couldn’t have—the gun wasn’t
that
powerful. Not against a bot the size of Superion, at any rate. Megatron stormed forward out of the remnants of the bridge, across the hull of the
Nemesis
. It suddenly occurred to him that there was only one place Superion
could
have gone, one single place he could have sought safety. As he reached the spot where Superion had been standing, his suspicions were confirmed: He saw the gaping hole in the hull of the
Nemesis
even as he heard the alarms wailing from deep within.

S
EVERAL LEVELS BELOW
, S
UPERION WAS RIPPING HIS WAY
through floors and ceilings, pulling Decepticons apart with his bare hands as he tore his way into the depths of the
Nemesis
. He was making for the ship’s hangar bays, where he knew he’d have more room to maneuver. Nothing in this ship could stop him. The only thing he had to worry about was Megatron, and he had a head start on the Decepticon leader. In the meantime he was doing as much damage to the ship as he could. Once he was in the hangar bays, he’d be adjacent to the engines, and then he could quickly turn the
Nemesis
back into a glorified space station. Without propulsion, the ship’s pursuit of the Ark would be at an end, and the Decepticons would be left stranded in this sector of space. Superion tore through another wall and emerged into the first of the
hangar bays. The Decepticons had had enough time to get their defenses together now; they’d realized that an implacable enemy was loose inside their flagship and had taken steps to trap him. Superion smiled as he saw the several squadrons of Vehicons who awaited him.

“Let’s do this,” he said.

The Vehicons charged, streaking toward Superion from all sides. Shots laced in, striking the giant bot everywhere, and then it was hand-to-hand mayhem. Several Vehicons kamikazied into Superion in their eagerness to get at him, but the only bots they succeeded in destroying were themselves. After a flurry of blows from Superion had turned several more Vehicons into junk, the others pulled back, seeking to keep Superion surrounded while they fired away at him. But the monstrous bot was so well armored that their efforts were like the buzzing of flies. He strode deeper into the hangar, blazing away with his electrostatic rifle, blasting parked shuttles and fueling equipment. Fires broke out everywhere; Superion aimed his rifle at the far wall, firing and blowing a hole clean through. On the other side were the engine rooms. He raised his rifle, letting it recharge—