Read Online Transformers: Retribution by David J. Williams, Mark Williams - Free Book Online Page A

lust for battle had been somewhat satiated in the clash with the pirates, it couldn’t come close to that rush he got when crushing Autobots. He had bested Thundertron, but he would have far preferred it to be Optimus Prime.
    Starscream and Soundwave bowed as he approached. Usually Megatron couldn’t get enough of their deference, but for some reason today it only filled him with more rage.
    “This had better be good,” he said.
    “Oh, it is, my master,” said Soundwave, bowing even lower. “Very good indeed.”
    “Rise and speak.”
    Soundwave stepped forward.
    “Lord Megatron, I have completed my interrogation of the traitor Axer and have obtained the precise location of the Autobots. Would you like to see the playback of the questioning?” He said it with enough unrestrained relish that Megatron waved his hand wearily in assent. Sometimes you had to indulge your subordinates.
    “Certainly. Let’s see it.” Soundwave switched the video feed over to the holding cells where Axer was secured, spread-eagled on a giant X-shaped rack. His screams filled the speakers.
    “Please! I’ve already told you everything! You don’t have to do this!” Soundwave came into the picture holding a plasma torch and a pair of tongs. Axer’s eyes went wide.
    “What are you going to do? Please! Have mercy!”
    But mercy wasn’t on the menu. Soundwave’s chest opened to reveal one of his more diabolical mini-cons: Ravage, who crawled up Axer’s leg until he reached Axer’s chest cavity, whereupon he proceeded to rip it open and systematically pull out components one by one. When Axer’s screams grew loud enough to drown out Soundwave’s questions, Megatron decided that it was time to move things along. There was no doubt in his mind that Soundwave could watch this video over and over again—and that he probably already had.
    “Enough of this,” Megatron said. “What did you learn from the traitor?”
    Soundwave switched off the vid and replaced it with a map of the local sector of space. “The coordinates he gave us were accurate. And now that we’re only a day’s journey out, we’re doing a more precise scan of—”
    “Nothing,”
said Megatron, staring at the map. “There’s nothing there. What kind of trickery is this?”
    “No trickery, my lord. What you’re seeing are our own data archives, which do indeed show empty space. But after careful personal scrutiny of the quadrant via long-range optics, I found this.” Soundwave manipulated the screen to bring something into focus. “See, master? This planet isn’t on any of our charts, but there it is anyway.” Megatron took a closer look; it was certainly out of the way and a fine place to hide if one was interested in keeping a low profile.
    “And the Autobots?” he asked.
    “I took the liberty of having Skywarp perform an advanced recon. He was able to use his teleportation abilities to get just close enough to obtain detailed imagery.”
    There was a burst of static, and then the Autobot Ark appeared, sunlight glinting off its hull as it orbited the ringed green world. A round of applause broke out on the bridge as the Decepticons cheered.
    “Now that’s a welcome sight,” said Megatron.
    Soundwave nodded. “This time we know for certain exactly where they are—
and
we maintain the element of complete surprise.”
    “Do we know what they’re doing there?”
    Starscream broke in. He’d been chafing impatiently while Soundwave hogged all the glory, but now he’d had enough. “Knowing Optimus Prime as we do, we can assume that he is still following the guidance of the Matrix of Leadership. Presumably it guided them to the planet for some reason. The most reasonable hypothesis is that there is an artifact nearby or another clue to the location of the AllSpark—or the AllSpark itself. And the planet is inhabited.”
    “By what?” Megatron asked.
    “Readings indicate some kind of robot life-form.”
    “Do they seem like a