Transformers: Retribution (44 page)

“Thank you for all your help, Leviacon.”

“Thank
you
, Optimus Prime. If it had not been for your efforts, Aquatron would still be a slave world.”

“And now it’s practically been depopulated,” said a weary Megatron as Ramjet and Slipstream moved in to assist him. But he shook them off, clearly meaning to travel under his own power in spite of the pain he was in.

“That is not true,” the Leviacon said. “Most of my people dwell near the seabed. We rarely venture to the surface. It was only under Quintesson compulsion that we did so.”

“Well, welcome to freedom and thanks for the lift,”
Megatron said sarcastically. He turned to Optimus. “I’ll be seeing you again shortly, librarian.” And with that, he changed into his spacecraft mode and roared off into the sky, his Seekers following him, leaving fiery trails behind them. The Ark’s ramp reached Optimus. Naturally, Jazz was right there at the forefront with a hearty handshake for his old friend.

“Glad to see you, boss. You really had us worried there for a second.”

“It’s good to see you all,” Optimus said with heartfelt relief. He looked out across their jubilant faces, felt sweet relief flood through him. He barely heard Ironhide’s question and had to ask him to repeat it.

“So you and Megatron were working together? Is that how you got out? You and him, you were a
team
?”

Optimus stepped onto the ramp. “We had a common foe,” he said.

“And now?” Jazz asked.

“Now it’s up to Megatron,” Optimus replied as he led his men back up the ramp. “Perhaps one day he will realize how much stronger we are united.”

“That’ll be the day,” said Ironhide.

“It may yet be,” Optimus said. “But right now we’ve got a mission to complete. Autobots, roll out!”

The Ark fired its engines and soared back toward the black of space.

A
ND SO IT COMES FULL CIRCLE
.

Yet so much remains untold. The AllSpark remains un-found. The conflict that tears our people asunder continues. And Cybertron remains a blighted land. Even as I write this, smoke still rises from the shattered ruins of Iacon. I am in a place of safety, for now at least. Ultra Magnus will not leave my side, will not risk my becoming a tool in the hands of those who would play dice with the fortunes of our people. For he knows that Shockwave is reasserting control across our planet, that he is rebuilding his tower, that soon the days of guerrilla fighting will begin once more, only burdened with new complications. Devastator was successfully recovered from Iacon’s wreckage, and Wheeljack is busy making repairs to Omega Supreme. There are reports that some of the invaders remain, scattered here and there, fighting all the harder now that chaos has gripped their minds. I do not know whether to believe this
.

But this much I do know: The enemy that set this invasion in motion is still out there. My time within the mind of Vector Sigma opened up broader vistas within me. I saw our galaxy spread before me, saw the duel between Optimus Prime and Megatron the gladiator swept aside for the briefest of moments as they battled a foe that history itself had forgotten. No longer; the Quintessons will be a factor in everybody’s calculations now. As assuredly
we are a factor in theirs—somewhere out there, on a faraway planet drifting around an alien sun, the masters of that race are setting in motion plans to harvest the seeds they sowed so many eons ago. Theirs is a people who combine the cunning of the lowest beasts with the remorselessness of a machine that thinks a million moves ahead. I cannot tell you how much I fear them
.

Yes, fear. Primes can know that, too. Or at least I can. I cannot speak for my brethren of the Thirteen lost among the stars … except to wish that those who gave way to malice will never return and those who still seek the good will also seek the home that needs them so desperately. Yet I know better than to expect them. For now, legend will remain just that. Perhaps it is better that way. The heroes of yesteryear will not save us; only those of today can. Optimus Prime has become every inch the leader I hoped he would. He has learned that he is more than just the sum of the Matrix, and that is a lesson he will surely need in the days ahead. For just before I was cut loose from Vector Sigma, I glimpsed something
.

A blue-green world
.

Out on the fringes of the Orion Arm. I have seen it before. I sent the contents of the vault there, after all. Wreathed in atmosphere, orbiting a yellow dwarf star, the third of eight major planets and countless minor ones; I cannot say if Optimus goes there next, but go there one day soon he surely will. For this planet is somehow bound up in his quest in some way I had not at first anticipated. Nor do I know precisely what this planet means—cannot tell what evil or good it might portend. Only the pages of the Covenant of Primus to which I have yet to turn can do that
.

So turn to them now I shall
.

Mark would like to thank
: my family, Dr. Luther S. Williams and Constance M. Williams, Dr. Monique M. Williams, and Franklin Stephenson, for all their support. Also much gratitude to Andrew Crown, Mitch Engle, Tony Halasohoris, Pak Mhojadee, Ed Wong, and Gabrielle Kern for always believing.

Dave would like to thank
: Sabrina Lloyd, Brian De Groodt, Erin Sheley, Christopher Goddard, Rob Cunningham, Elizabeth Dell, Paul Ruskay, Adam Green, Marc Haimes, Jerry Ellis, Rich Dent, Tom Doyle, James Wang, Frank Parisi, David Pomerico, Howard Morhaim, and most of all the Beasts.