CHAPTER SIX
--The Nemesis--
The pain had finally stopped. The shock of energy had ceased pulsing through his body.
Falling out of the torture device he had been restrained to, Starscream struggled to pickup his bearings. Rising shakily to his feet, the Seeker saw that Knock Out, his assigned torturer, was nowhere to be seen, nor were the two Vehicons standing guard.
Limping to the door, he opened it and peeked out down the corridor. No sign of activity on either side. That was odd; usually there were Vehicons regularly patrolling the entire ship. Had he just been forgotten about?
He thought about returning to the bridge but then stopped to reconsider. If he dared show his face to Megatron, the Decepticon leader would simply give him an even worse punishment than what he had already endured. He would find nothing on this ship but death.
After double checking to make sure the coast was clear, Starscream sprinted for the hangar.
* * *
"This is mutiny!" Megatron bellowed, now restrained by stasis cuffs and placed alongside the Autobots. "How dare you betray me! How dare any of you betray me!"
The other Decepticons merely looked from him to Soundwave, who now stood at the Nemesis' helm. Having seen how easily the communications officer had taken out Megatron, whom they had all seen as the most powerful of Decepticons, none of them wished to take on Soundwave.
"Traitors!" Megatron continued to scream. "All of you!"
"Serves you right after betraying us, Optronix," Ironhide spat at him.
Megatron gritted his dental plates, unable to lash out at the Autobot. Optimus simply gave him a sidelong glance, carrying of mix of pity and grim satisfaction with it.
Soundwave stood there in total silence for a long moment. Then, rather suddenly, six holographic figures materialized before him, their appearances hidden by shadow.
"You have done well, Soundwave," the center figure said. His voice struck Optimus as very familiar. "I promise you that your services will be repaid."
"Repayment is unnecessary, Lord Galvatron," Soundwave said. "Seeing our plan come to fruition is enough."
"You certainly are a mech with simple tastes, Soundwave," said a second hologram. "Have you succeeded in capturing Optimus Prime and Megatron?"
"Yes, Jhiaxus. Both of them are restrained here on the Nemesis' bridge."
"Good work," the one identified as Galvatron said. "Keep them there while the Decepticons carry out their invasion. Then, when the time is right, we will make ourselves fully known. Until then, enjoy the show."
Soundwave bowed. "As you command, Lord Galvatron."
At that, the six holograms vanished as quickly as they had appeared. Megatron appeared too flabbergasted by all of this to speak, allowing Optimus to question the communications officer himself.
"That was Galvatron?" he said. "I thought he perished with the original Ark."
"The Ark's crew never perished," Soundwave said. "They have functioned to this day. And today, they shall make their final voyage."
--Gorlam Prime--
"They sure are taking their own sweet time in there," Brainstorm muttered, glancing towards the door to the council chambers.
Strongarm visibly bristled as she carried her axe in her hands. "Is there anything stopping us from bringing the doors down and shooting at everything?"
"Our dignity?" Chromedome offered.
"I think we should wait," Glyph said. "Imagine if we burst in there, guns ablaze, all because we don't fully trust Sentinel Prime just because he's not dead, and it turns out to be a big misunderstanding."
Brainstorm shrugged. "I fail to see the downsides of that."
Suddenly, the doors opened and the crew turned to see Elita, Windblade, and Nightbeat being pushed out by imposing figures. None of them looked like Sentinel Prime and the violet one in the lead had a Decepticon symbol emboldened on their chest.
Strongarm roared in fury as she charged towards the strangers, axe held high over her head. Before she could even reach them, a large mech in green and black lunged forward and tackled her to the ground, pinning her there.
The violet mech snorted in derision. "Autobots. Impetuous to the last."
His voice struck all of the Autobots as familiar; disturbingly so. "S-Sentinel Prime?" Glyph stammered.
He smiled mirthlessly. "Not anymore. Today, you shall know me as Galvatron."
"Galvatron?" Rewind was astonished. "Nova Prime's first lieutenant? But... but you're an Autobot."
"In the days when no other factions existed, yes. But after countless thousands of years, a change in ideology becomes necessary. After all, to stagnate is to die."
"What are you going to do to us?" Elite said bitterly.
Galvatron chuckled. "Why, nothing at all. You hardly pose a threat to us, and if we didn't want you to know of our existence, Nightbeat here would not have led you here."
The others glared daggers at Nightbeat, who held up his hands defensively. "Guys, I had no idea, really--"
"He really didn't," said a hunched-over mech with wings and orange armor plating. "He was our sleeper agent, made just for an occasion such as this."
"Indeed," Galvatron said. "Now then, you are all free to leave Gorlam Prime and spread the word of our coming. The universe needs to be prepared for its new conquerors. Rollbar!"
At once, the white and violet mech came forward, bowing before Galvatron. "What is thy bidding?"
"Return these Autobots to Velocitron and--"
Before he could finish, the wall behind Rollbar suddenly exploded and a blue and red bot came crashing through. He collided into Rollbar and pinned the mech to the ground, aiming a gun at his forehead.
"Nobody moves, nobody gets hurt-- except maybe this guy!" the stranger shouted theatrically.
The Autobots stared at him in bewilderment while Galvatron simply looked wryly amused.
"And to what do we owe such a visit?" he said sardonically.
The blue mech pointed angrily at Rollbar. "This bot right here. I'm here to kill him."
"What?!" Rollbar exclaimed. "Skids, buddy, it's me! Rollbar! Your part--"
Skids silenced him with a hard backhand. "Not anymore. Not after what you've done."
Rollbar looked up at Galvatron pleadingly. "My liege, please! Don't let him--!"
Before he could finish his sentence, he and Skids vanished in a flash of light, leaving the Autobots and Heralds in a stunned silence. After a long bout of it, Galvatron turned to another one of his followers, a blue and white mech with cape-like wings.
"I believe we've had enough guests, don't you, Scourge?"
The Herald of Unicron nodded before waving a hand over Elita and her crew, sending them falling through a portal.
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