Transformers: Retribution Read Online Free PDF Page B

said with a wave of his hand. A battered Thundertron appeared on the screen.In the background Cannonball and Brimstone could be seen coordinating damage-control efforts.
    “I’m surprised you’ve got the guts to show your face,” said Megatron.
    “You think you’ve defeated me?” Thundertron asked.
    “You’re the one who’s running away, aren’t you?”
    “And I’m the one who’ll be back to finish this! You haven’t heard the last of the Star Seekers, Megatron! You can count on that!”
    “Just tell me one thing, Thundertron.”
    “What?” the pirate leader snarled.
    “You didn’t
really
kill Optimus Prime, did you?”
    Thundertron broke the connection. The
Tidal Wave
accelerated out of the system, and the Decepticons watched it go. Megatron glanced around the bridge. He knew what they were all thinking: that they should be pursuing the
Tidal Wave
and exterminating every last pirate aboard. He understood the feeling; it ran against every Decepticon instinct to let an opponent survive unscathed. But that was why they were
taking
orders and he was
giving
them. Sometimes a leader had to make tough decisions. Not only were the Star Seekers an annoying distraction, they were tough opponents, meaning that crushing them utterly would exact a heavy price with no strategic gain. No, thought Megatron, he’d shown those pirates who was master of the spaceways, and despite Thundertron’s inflated rhetoric, he doubted he’d be seeing the pirates again anytime soon. And even though he hadn’t destroyed Thundertron, he’d certainly shown him who was superior in hand-to-hand combat. He sat back in his chair on the bridge.
    “What are our casualties?” he asked.
    Starscream snapped to attention. “The Vehicons suffered heavily; however, no essential personnel were lost. But the med-lab is full of wounded, sire.”
    “And the
Nemesis
?”
    “Damaged, but nothing we can’t fix while in transit.”
    “Good. I want to get back on the hunt as soon as possible.”
    Soundwave stepped forward and double-clicked on a schematic. “This was how they simulated the Autobot distress signal, my lord.”
    Megatron studied the readout. “I’m disappointed in you, Soundwave. They manipulated a
Junkion
’s circuitry? Which one of them was it?”
    “The most annoying one of all,” said Starscream. “Wreck-Gar. If it’s any consolation, he seems to have perished in the battle.”
    “Good riddance,” Megatron muttered.
    “Actually, he’s very much alive,” a voice said. Megatron turned to see Axer entering the bridge, flanked by two of Starscream’s jet troopers. The traitor bot looked as sly as ever. “You see, I helped him escape.”
    “You helped him
escape
?” Starscream was incredulous.
    “Easy, Starscream,” Megatron said. “Axer can’t help it if he’s not as … subtle as you or I. I have a feeling there’s something he wants to tell us. Certainly he’s not here to announce that not only is he a traitor but that he helped one of our enemies make his getaway. I’m sure he has something more than that to say. Something that might actually save his miserable hide. Please, Axer, do continue.”
    Axer had looked progressively more uncomfortable during this soliloquy. It was only with the greatest difficulty that he kept his voice steady. “I have brought you vital information, my lord. I helped Wreck-Gar escape in exchange for the knowledge of where the Autobots went.”
    A wash of relief flooded Megatron. “So Thundertron really
was
lying,” he said.
    “No doubt he claimed he’d destroyed them merely to throw you off guard,” said Axer. “He was looking for them, just as you were, my lord. But he found you first.”
    “And how did the Junkion come across this information as a captive?”
    “The space bridge inside the Star Seekers’ flagship. Before Wreck-Gar used it to get back to his homeworld, he jury-rigged its systems to locate the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. As you know, the space