Read Transformers: Retribution for Free Online

bridges are very sensitive to Cybertronian artifacts.”
    “And the Matrix—the current position of the Ark—you have those coordinates?”
    “I do, my lord.”
    He reeled them off to Soundwave, who fed them into a grid. A light in the middle of that grid began flashing.
    “That’s not far away,” Starscream said. “Only a few days’ warp.”
    Axer looked pleased. “You see, my lord? What is the fate of a single miserable Junkion against the acquisition of such priceless information?”
    Megatron nodded. “Your logic is sound.” And then without warning he let loose a mighty backhand, smashing Axer into a bulkhead. As Axer sprawled on the floor, Megatron turned to his guards. “Take him below. Soundwave, you know what to do.”
    “Yes, my lord.”
    “You don’t have to torture me!” Axer yelled. “I already told you where they went!”
    “Probably. But torture is the only way to be sure you aren’t lying just to save your miserable parts.”
    As Axer was dragged off wailing, Megatron stared at the screens showing the receding asteroid field. So Thundertron had been dissembling after all. The librarian lived. All was not lost. He looked up as Starscream stepped in front of him.
    “What are your orders, my lord?” Starscream asked.
    “What do you think? Follow them, of course.”
    With that Megatron turned his back on his troops and stared out into the vast panorama of stars.
Soon, Optimus
, he thought to himself.
    Soon …

Chapter Five
    S OMETIMES O PTIMUS P RIME HAD DIFFICULTY BELIEVING just how far he’d come. As the lowly data clerk Orion Pax, he’d spent countless hours dreaming of making a difference. Now that he was commander of the Autobot forces and a Prime no less, the very future of the Autobots rested squarely on his broad shoulders. Every day he had to put it on the line. Every moment.
    Moments like now …
    Optimus streaked forward through the smoke, his sensors working overtime, the engines on his heavy cargo transport mode pushed up to full throttle. The enemy was somewhere nearby; the fact that he couldn’t see him meant that staying mobile was the best defense. The problem was that such a defense could be anticipated—if the enemy could guess your vectors, he would aim just ahead of your path … but at the last moment, Optimus slammed on his brakes, letting the incoming rockets streak past him. Through the smoke and fire, he could make out the humanoid shape of his opponent. He gunned his motors and made a beeline for that shape, vectoring past more missiles as the enemy emptied his racks and drew two pulsating energy blades to deal with the onrushing Optimus—who waited until the very last second to shift into robotic form, letting his momentum carry him straight over the head of his adversary as those blades slashed past his wheels, mere inches beneath him.He landed with a resounding thud, quickly rolling to his left as his opponent fired one of the blades. It grazed Optimus, sending chips of red armor flying.
    The next moment, the two combatants were too close for ranged weapons. Optimus activated his energy ax and sword as his combat mask slid into place; the creature sprang two more limbs, each one equipped with another glowing blade. Battle was joined in a whirl of light as Optimus’s two weapons clashed with his opponent’s three. He feinted a blow from his ax; as he expected, his opponent dedicated two spinning blades for defense, leaving the third to deal with what would surely be the inevitable counterthrust from Optimus’s sword.
    But the blow never came. Instead Optimus kicked out savagely, catching his enemy off balance and knocking him to the floor, exposing for the merest of moments the lightly armored underbelly. His opponent rolled, but it was too late: Optimus’s blue fists were already driving deep into the downed robot’s guts, clenching and tearing out a large chunk of machinery and wiring. Somehow the bot pulled itself to its feet, attempting to