Evasion

Chapter 8

Nebulans who had been startled awake began to walk outside. They muttered questions and gaped at the destroyed Spacebridge. Ironhide typed at the console, but each attempt he made to power it back on was met with a disapproving beep. Meanwhile, Megatron's crew stood opposite of Optimus' crew, both sides glaring at each other. The two leaders stood a few feet away from each other, being on their respective sides.

"You are still a fool, Optimus." Megatron hissed, "You allowed them to get away!"

"It is better than allowing you to kidnap and take them home." Optimus defended, "They simply wanted to be left alone, and you ignored that to sate your monetary desires."

The gunmetal-gray bot sighed. "That may be true." He admitted.

After a beat of silence, Optimus turned to return to his crew. The former warlord spoke again.

"Optimus, they are not safe." He said, "They have a bounty on them. So long as they continue to, other interested parties will hunt them down."

Optimus looked back at him. He didn't talk, though he nodded to show he understood. Ironhide padded over to his friend. The red and blue bot looked at him.

"Prime, the Spacebridge's not comin' online anytime soon." He said, "We'll have to get to Bee an' Screamer the long way."

The Prime sighed. "Then we must depart now." He said.

Ironhide nodded in assent. They both returned to the rest of their crew, and they all quickly made their way to their ship. Megatron watched them leave. He looked down upon hearing someone pad up to his side. It was Bugbite. His arms were crossed, glaring at the backs of Optimus' crew. He looked up at his captain.

"Want me to follow 'em?" He asked.

Megatron looked away as he thought. He glanced back at the broken Spacebridge, seeing distressed and confused Nebulans, as well as his crew standing among them.

"No." He finally spoke, "I want you to stay and assist the Nebulans to repair their Spacebridge."

Bugbite was taken aback. "Uh... isn't that usually your thing? Stayin' behind an' helpin' bots?" He asked.

"Yes. This will be the only time I leave you in charge of a reconstruction project." Megatron said, "I must be the one to follow Optimus Prime and his crew."

The silver bot looked as if he wanted to argue, but in the end he merely sighed.

"I understand." He said, "Who's goin' with ya?"

"Ramjet, Dirge, and Exhaust. I will need their expertise." The captain replied.

Again, Bugbite looked as if he wanted to argue, but Megatron stopped him before he could.

"Bugbite, this must be done. Do not argue with me." He commanded.

The silver bot paused, then stiffly nodded. He quickly turned and padded back to the rest of the crew, telling Megatron's chosen bots that they were needed. They approached their captain, then followed him as they went to the Nemesis.

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Starscream's systems slowly came back online. He brought his optics online, groaning in discomfort as sunlight shone into his optics. He slowly sat up and looked around. The trees allowed large swaths of light to shine onto the ground, showing the gradient of pastel colors that made up the sky. The plants were a variety of colors, from red to purple to green, and animals made their strange noises.

The flier groaned again, rubbing his helm as it ached. It took a moment to recall what happened, then panic struck. He quickly messaged his friend. However, it didn't work; no signal. He growled, then stood and looked around once more.