Chapter 7

Pacing the dark ship, Megatron was becoming increasingly more impatient. Being confined to the Nemesis due to his injuries - suffered at the hands of Optimus Prime at their last encounter - was as insufferable to him as having to rely on Starscream to lead the Decepticons to fulfill his plans. He growled as he kicked a repair drone into a bulk head, it squealed loudly. 'The Nemesis had once been a fine ship,' Megatron thought bitterly. Now, it lay in ruins, on a small desolate moon in this pitiful solar system. Situated near one of Earth's neighbouring gas giants the Decepticons' ship was virtually undetectable, due to vicious solar winds and high radiation emanting from Jupiter's massive form. Megatron slumped in the centre seat of what was once the bridge of the Nemesis, small repair drones crept out from the shadows and fearfully continued their work on his injuries. He glared out beyond the viewer, his eyes scouring the stars through the gash in the side of his ship, searching for any sign of his minions.

"What is taking them so long?!" He slammed a metallic claw on the arm rest, incidentally crushing an unsuspecting repair drone beneath his clenched fist, the shards of the little bot clattered to floor with no more dignity than a handful of bolts. He vented his frustrations loudly; to an empty ship, trapped on a dead world. Static filled the still working comms system and Starscream's unmistakable drawl sounded through the speakers.

"We have located adequate specimens, Lord Megatron."

"What took you so long?".

"These things take time." Starscream retorted defensively, "we shall be returning soon, there was however, a problem…"

"Do not test me Starscream." Megatron warned.

"Barricade allowed himself to be detected by the pathetic insects' space station." An angry roar was heard in the back ground as Barricade fought to defend himself.

"Silence!" Megatron ordered. "What can they do from there? They have limited space flight capabilities. Send another of the Insecticons to destroy their station, kill who ever is on board. We don't want any disgusting Autobots interfering, just yet."

"I have already done so." Came the smug reply. Megatron was frustrated, his fingers itching to grab Starscream's throat. "Make sure the job is done properly Starscream, see to it yourself."

"As you command, Lord Megatron." Starscream's obedience was minimal at best; Megatron, aware that he had contradicted himself by ordering Starscream to the station, sensed his treacherous nature fighting to take control. The last thing he needed right now – especially in his condition – was to fight Starscream for leadership, although quite certain he would be victorious, Starscream's disloyalty, for once, was instrumental for Megatron's plan to succeed.

"Have patience Starscream. If all goes well, that disgusting planet and the ignorant fleshlings won't see their death coming, until it's too late."

"If all goes well, Megatron…"

"You fool Starscream! If my plan is followed perfectly, we will lay claim to this entire solar system and all its energy-rich resources." He lowered his voice, the warning clear and direct. "Do not fail me Starscream."

The line went dead. Starscream bristled with irritation; he was nobody's pawn, least of all Megatron's. In time he would rise up and show them all, Decepticons and Autobots alike, who the true leader was, in time. For now, Megatron's plan actually had merit and Starscream could see its potential for success. Still his anger needed an outlet. Turning to Barricade, he viciously grabbed the large Decepticon who roared in angry defiance. His grip was too strong for Barricade; Starscream was by all accounts, the more powerful of the two. He screamed at him. "Don't ever speak out of turn again!" Barricade snarled at him, but made no move against him. His loyalty firmly held by Megatron, he believed the plan would work; his trust in Starscream to play his part however, was more than lacking.

"Get these rocks back to the Nemesis you ignorant robots!" Starscream yelled to the other Decepticons as he cast Barricade aside. His glowing ember like optics scanned the three sizeable icy rocks. "They're perfect for the drones." He watched satisfied as the three groups of Decepticons obeyed him. The 'rocks' were in actual fact, small asteroid bodies, with tiny or hollow cores, wrapped in ice and rock. This made them perfect for transportation and excellent weapons to use against the disgusting human planet. They were small enough so that the Decepticons could move them slowly in the right direction, with well timed plasma bursts from their weapons and by using their own boosters. They were, at a mile or so in diameter, however, large enough to cause devastation on Earth, if they impacted at high velocity.

"Soundwave, over see this operation. Make sure these three rocks get to Megatron." Starscream ordered, "Thundercracker, Blast off; come with me. We'll need to join Rumble and Longhaul on the red planet. We are to destroy the fleshlings' orbiting station." The Decepticons complied. Starscream, Blast-off and Thundercracker, all transformed into their respective terrestrial guises. The F-22 fighter jets shot off at high speed followed closely, by a human looking space shuttle, moving at speeds not yet conceived by NASA's scientists.

Starscream hated this dusty, sandy, wind strewn rock of a planet. He landed with the agility of a cat, transforming as he did so. The valley was at least shielded from the powerful winds that whipped the dust into his circuitry. Thundercracker and Blast-off weren't far behind him, both landing a little more awkwardly than himself, they weren't quite used to their terrestrial forms yet and Blast-off struggled to maintain balance as he landed on the dirt with a sickening thud. Starscream shot them a glare, 'this plan had better work Megatron' he thought to himself, 'we won't last much longer working with such incompetence.' His disdain for Megatron was well known amongst the Decepticons, there was once a time when most of the Decepticons would have followed him. He felt in his spark that he should be the true leader; it was simply a matter of time. Patience was not one of Starscream's virtues. He snarled as he approached Blast-off. "Can't you even land properly?" He sneered, landing a swift kick into Blast-off's shoulder as he sauntered past. Blast-off growled in pain and anger before finally righting himself.

"Some of us aren't as comfortable with our Earth forms. I actually think you're starting to like being a human jet." Thundercracker sniggered at Blast-off's defiance; they both were silenced when they found themselves face to face with the business end of Starscream's plasma canon.

"Let's see how comfortable you are at being dust." Starscream snarled, confident that neither of the Decepticons could match him if it came to an all out fight. Blast-off spat in disgust but did not retort back, he was not afraid of Starscream but he was no fool either.

"I thought not." Starscream was smug. Lowering his weapon, he led them into a narrow cave. It dipped sharply, taking them below the surface. A small shot blasted the rock in front of them.

"Show yourself!" Screamed a tinny voice from deeper inside the cave.

"It's us you idiots!" Starscream bellowed, "Stop shooting at us."

Rumble showed his face meekly, "I apologise Starscream, we weren't expecting you."

"That much is obvious. Have the Insecticons been dispatched to the orbiting human station?"

"Yes, an hour ago. They haven't reported back yet." Rumble faltered, knowing the price for failure. Surprisingly Starscream did not respond immediately.

"Take us to the ship." He demanded. "What about the ones on Earth, have they completed their mission?"

"They managed to cut off communication to the station and have subsequently alerted the human's to their presence. They are preparing to face them; we believe they will be there soon."

"Excellent. How many Autobots?"

"We don't know exactly, our spies estimate approximately 3 per location."

"Then there were 8. Send the others to their puny human base; I am guessing they have left minimal security guarding it in their arrogance." Starscream chuckled, everything was going according to plan. They approached the half buried Autobot ship, it was in a much better condition than the Nemesis and most likely still space worthy.

"Have you managed to access the computer?"

Longhaul, answered as he busily worked on the console of Teletraan 1. "Not yet, their defenses are proving to be somewhat better than we expected."

"It is no matter, plant the virus anyway, even if it destroys non-essential systems it will distract them long enough for us to complete our plans. Are the surface sensors working?"

"Yes Starscream."

"Scan for any life signs."

"The Autobots don't know we're here, why waste time?" Longhaul demanded.

"You underestimate Prime, Longhaul. They will have spotted the Asteroid threat and Prime will not be able to help himself. He will need this ship to help defend their pathetic little planet. They will be here; I want to be ready for them."

"As you wish, Starscream." Grumbled Longhaul.