CHAPTER NINE
"Where's Optronix?"
Brawl barely heard Starscream, his mind too focused on the Machination drones he was currently shooting at. "Who?"
The Seeker huffed. "Megatron."
"Oh. Dunno. Haven't seen him."
"Wasn't he with you when you arrived here?" Starscream said irritably.
"Yeah. But now he's not."
Starscream wished he had a wall to bash his head into. Sometimes he wasn't sure if Brawl was stupid or just painfully blunt and apathetic. Or a mix of all three.
"Fine. I'll search for himself," the Seeker said. "You just stay here... and destroy things."
"Whatever."
While Brawl continued firing, Starscream dodged enemy fire as he made his way through the battlefield. Luckily for him, both the Autobots and the Machination drones were preoccupied with each other and the other Decepticons, leaving him free to move without being shot at.
He followed the Ultra-Energon signal, presuming that Optronix had went to find it; the massive hole in the Machination facility's wall was his first clue. He stepped through it and followed the trail of destruction....
* * *
Optimus grunted as he hit the ground. Seeing Scorponok storming towards him, he quickly rolled out of the way just as the Decepticon fired twin bolts of energy from his stinger tail. He then jumped up to his feet and lunged at Scorponok, only to be bashed away by a massive claw.
Harsh laughter filled the air. "Tell me, Prime. Do you know why I never attempted a grab for power? Why I never tried to challenge Megatron for the throne?"
Optimus struggled to get up but was pinned down by a large foot.
"Because then the war would be over. Cybertron would be under Decepticon rule, the Autobots would be history, and the galaxy would be conquered... and where would the fun in that be?"
"Well," Optimus muttered as he raised his gun at Scorponok's face. "Fun is subjective."
He pulled the trigger, shattering the Decepticon's visor. Screaming in pain, Scorponok removed his foot from Optimus' chest, allowing the Autobot leader to rise and slam his body into Scorponok's. The impact caused the Deception to stagger back, but failed to topple him. He then retaliated by plunging his tail into his opponent's back.
Optimus screamed as energy ran through him, rendering him immobile. When Scorponok removed his tail, the Autobot leader fell to the ground again.
"The natives of this world have a great aversion of the insect they call scorpion." Scorponok grinned savagely. "Now you know why."
He readied his tail for one last attack. Unable to move, Optimus braced himself for death....
Suddenly, a yellow shape landed on the Decepticon's tail, wrenching its aim away from Optimus. Scorponok yelled as he thrashed at his attacker, who quickly jumped off so that his claws cleaved his tail instead. He then turned to face his new adversary only to receive a gunshot to the face. The Decepticon fell unceremoniously to the ground.
Optimus did not see his savior until they were standing over him. Even then, he could not believe his optics.
"Sunstreaker?"
"Know any other Autobot with a handsome face like this?" Sunstreaker said with a smirk. However, something about him-- the way he spoke-- seemed off to the Autobot leader.
"Sunstreaker... what happened to you?" Optimus asked. "Where's Hunter?"
"I'll explain later," Sunstreaker replied. "Right now, I've got some heads to bash. Can you move?"
"No."
Sunstreaker bent down and lifted his leader up, having him lean on his shoulder with one arm behind the Prime's back and holding a gun in the other.
"Then we'll have to do this Rambo-style," the yellow Autobot said.
Optimus blinked. "Huh?"
* * *
Starscream's null rays finished off the drone that had been standing guard in the corridor. It wasn't much of an accomplishment though; it and all of its comrades had already been destroyed or heavily damaged when he came across them. The door to the main lab had already been torn open, so he stepped through it.
The first thing he noticed, lying at his feet, were the deactivated forms of Runabout and Runamuck, practically torn up into spare parts. At the end of the chamber, standing before a vat containing a bright, violet ore, was Optronix, basking in the light. This was no doubt the Ultra-Energon which they had detected.
As Starscream approached him, Optronix said, "How good of you to join me, Starscream."
The Seeker froze. That voice... it was the same as always, but its tone carried an all-too-familiar ambiance to it.
"M-Megatron?"
The Decepticon leader turned to face him, a cruel smile on his metal visage. "That's Lord Megatron to you, from here on out."
Starscream was flabbergasted. "But... but your amnesia--"
"Was a ruse. A means to an end."
"What means? What end?!"
Megatron smirked. "To lead me to whatever Scorponok was cooking up. The last thing I recalled before being reawakened was Scorponok downloading schematics from my mind. I knew he had to be up to something."
"But... surely you could have investigated yourself instead of leaving things to me!"
"Ah, but that was the entire point, Starscream." Megatron chuckled. "I wanted to see how you had handled things in my absence. My figuratively continued absence gave me a glimpse."
Starscream slowly nodded. "And your thoughts?"
Megatron answered him with a blast from his fusion cannon, sending the Seeker crashing into the wall. An open wound formed in his abdomen.
"You send your forces in without strategies," Megatron growled as he stormed forward. "You waste resources and lives. You fail to think ahead. You wreak destruction for no purpose. You fail to inspire morale."
He now loomed over Starscream, who cowed in his presence.
"I will give you credit for retrieving the Ultra-Energon... and my body, of course. But I had Soundwave fill me in on everything... and I must say, I have never seen such a pathetic excuse for a leader in my life."
Starscream looked up at him with fearful optics. "Are... are you going to kill me?"
Megatron laughed harshly. "An easy punishment like that would do you no good. No, I have something far more fitting in mind."
As he grabbed the Seeker by the wing, Megatron called into his communicator, "Decepticons, this is your true leader speaking. We have the Ultra-Energon. Return to the Nemesis."
He then fired his fusion cannon at the ceiling, creating an opening. Then, with the vat of Ultra-Energon in one arm and the broken Starscream in the other, he activated rocket boosters in his feet and took off into the nighttime sky.
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