Chapter 2 - Interception



Megatron situated himself on his command chair, awaiting for the return of the

Insecticons. They haven't sent back any report back to base for almost two hours, now,

and the Decepticon leader was beginning to grow impatient. He tried relaxing, rapping

his fingers on the arms of his seat, his back straight and taut. There was no one else in

the room but him, alone, and angry.

If any one of the other Decepticons were on the bridge with Megatron right now,

it would've been unfortunate for them if they were to face his wrath. He then gripped

both arm consoles of the chair and then smashed them into several piecewith the use

of his forearms. "Where are they?!" he demanded inanger. The Insecticons have been

away from the Decepticon base for too long now.

Two Decepticons entered the bridge watching their leader's rage going up, the

doors swishing behind them. Megatron's voice thundered throughout the bridge of the

Nemesis.

"What are you doing here?!" Megatron shot out aloud. Starscream, his second-

in-command, grew amused about his leader's dilemma. "Sir, I believe Soundwave has

something concerning the Insecticons that you might find interesting."

"This better be good, Starscream, lest I turn you to slag."

"Oh, I promise it will be quite intriguing, Mighty Megatron," Starscream said with

mock respect.

"Well Soundwave, what have you to report?" Megatron uttered, waving his hand

as an invitation of giving him information. "Insecticons have disappeared. Battle with

Autobots being probable cause."



"And?" Megatron questioned, hoping that there was more that Soundwave had

to report, since he was the communications specialist and one of Megatron's more

valued warrior. "Anomaly detected during course of battle," spoke out emotionlessly.

"Did you just say 'anomaly'?"

"Affirmative. Buzzsaw brings findings."

Buzzsaw is another one of Soundwave's covert agents, which sharesthe same

robot configuration like Laserbeak. "Playing data."

The bird-like automaton transformed into a tape and was inserted into one of

the slots that was designed specifically for both Laserbeak and Buzzsaw. A video

display was activated, showing a rather fuzzy picture of the energon site in Colorado.

Buzzsaw secretly followed the Autobots without getting noticed, since he was flying at

low altitude under the trees. "Looks like the recording's been garbled," Starscream

inferred in a tone of apprehension.

"Of course it's been garbled you - - wait, it's getting clearer now."

All three robots kept their eyes hooked to the video screen, a clear image of

the Colorado grasslands was becoming more visible.

Five seconds later Megatron noticed a patch of energonin the center of a grass

patch. "The energon." he said, his voice faded into the air, feeling rather disappointed

and annoyed because of this disaster. Two robots then suddenly came on the screen,

and all the final events of the skirmish unfolded before his eyes. Jazz and Shrapnel

were fighting each other, each warrior trying to gain advantage over one another;

both robots vying for superiority against one another. His eyes widened as Jazz's



kick knocked Shrapnel in the face hard, sending the Insecticon to stagger back a

couple of feet.

The skirmish continued onward for a duration of several minutes, until the

combating wariors' doom came minutes later. Jazz and Hound were the first victims to

be consumed in the vortex; with the Insecticons being the latter to be sucked in. One

Autobot was left standing. He was young, small in height, bore a yellow silhouette, and

was still defiant of the chaos ensuing in front of him

Ah, yes, and we can't forget that nuisance known as Bumblebee, Megatron

thought, grinning at the young warrior's misfortune. Two of his comrades were

consumed into the anomaly, and Bumblebee was the only one left standing.

As Bumblebee stood, Megatron felt unmoved, as he knew that Bumblebee knew the

consequences of jumping into the vortex. Alas, he did so without a second thought.

Buzzsaw's recording stopped five seconds later.

"He's as foolish as Prime is. These Autobots are far too much naïve in their

ideals of helping others, and are too willing to lay their lives on the line in order to save

the weak."

"Indeed, they are, Mighty Megatron," nodded Starscream in concurrence.

"Do you think Prime will send troops to search for them?"

"Judging by his sense of honor and foolishness, you can bet he will pool in what-

ever resource he has at his disposal. We should do the same."

"But why, sir? Are we getting the Insecticons back on the Nemesis?"

"No, you fool! They have only recently opened a gateway into what could be



another world, another universe. It is, as a matter of fact, a golden opportunity for the

us. Think about it, Starscream, a world where they may be no Autobots, an ushering

new age for the Decepticons."

"Sir?"

"If we were to eliminate any threat that this alternate Earth poses us, we would

have its energy resources and materials at our disposal. Thus, leaving our legions to

freely move on and conquer the universe!"

Starscream smirked at his superior's remark, tracing his chin with his fingers.

He pondered that image of ruling over vast numbers of worlds, under the dominion

of the Decepticons. Only, he didn't think about Megatron reigning those planets.

He thought about himself leading instead.

Yet the possibilities were endless, and there were just some things that just

couldn't be ignored so easily. "Perhaps you may be right, if there were no Autobots in

that alternate universe, then perhaps we may be free to rule the universe, after all.

But what if we do run into heavy resistance?"

"Then we'll crush them, and anyone else who dares to stand in our way!"

Megatron roared, his voice echoing through the walls of the bridge and beyond in the

Nemesis. Of course, we need a strategy," he continued. "First, we know that the

Autobots will no doubt send a team to secure the region. After that, they'll attempt to

find a way to adapt the anomaly in order to travel safely to this alternate universe.

They will be expecting opposition from us, but I will give the Autobots much more than

that," Megatron beamed, his eyes past his second-in- command, staring straight into



the main viewscreen. The Decepticon leader stroked his finger as an indication of

prudence to Starscream.

"But, for this operation to succeed, we first gather whatever resources we

have so we can establish some key outposts near the vortex and on the other side in

order to maintain our superiority.

"Of course. Prime will bring in a large contingent of his men to make sure that

everything goes smoothly. We know for sure that the Autobots will most certainly station

a garrison near the vortex. We'll launch an assault in the region, using it as a front to

hide our real intentions from them. They'll think that they may have repelled our

attack. But, once their numbers sink down, we can use our

forces to ambush and bring the vortex under our control. Quite ingenious, is it not,

Starscream?"

The Seeker nodded again, "Indeed, sir. Since most of their efforts are

concentrated on finding their missing comrades, they will no doubt send as many as

they can to begin the search. May I assume that once the Autobots arrive they will

search in teams for their three missing compatriots?"

"Yes, and Prime will have to divert some of his attention to the Ark and its

workings while his men are away probing the other side of the vortex. I doubt that,

even though he is a worthy foe, he won't suspect a pint of what our real goal is."

Megatron placed his hands on his hips, sporting his usual trademark sadistic

grin, contemplating about the immensity of his plans of domination. He would make

himself known throughout the universe, his name uttered on thousands of worlds.



Soundwave and Starscream followed Megatron to cargo hold number two in the

Nemesis. Through a series of empty hallways and decks, they managed to reach their

destination, observing the activity in front of them just below the platform that the three

Decepticons were situated upon . The Constructicons were going gathering

construction materials to build new inventions to assist the Decepticons in their mission

of chaos. Megatronstood quietly with arms crossed, with Soundwave and Starscream

standing in oppositedirections of him. All the Constructicons stood at attention and

saluted when they noticed his presence above them.

"Megatron!" they exclaimed in union.

His arms were stretched outwards, his palms open to signal his men to stand at

ease. "Megatron, what an honor it is to see you, sir! May I ask the purpose of the

reason concerning your visit here?" the Constructicon asked weakly.

"I have a mission for you, Scrapper. One that is of great importance, one that

is yet to determine the future of the Decepticons. One. that requires the utmost skill

from you and your men," Megatron answered without hesitation. "And you will not be

working alone."

"We won't?" Scrapper said quizzically.

"No, you won't."

Scrapper swiveled his head towards his men behind him.

"What is the mission, sir?"

"I have yet to explain that to rest of our warriors in the briefing room, once we've

gathered all the men that we require for this task. And I will tell you this: the magnitude



of this assignment will be great. But, if we succeed, we will be the ones making history,

and rule for centuries to come. Think of it as a golden opportunity for you all to fight at

your best and prove yourselves of your worth."

Those very words soon inspired the Insecticons in the room, raising their right

arms and chanting Megatron's name.