Evasion

Chapter 10

When the planet came into view, Ironhide called Optimus up. The Prime lingered behind his friend, a servo on his friend's seat, as he stared out the windshield. The planet was very bright in color, with huge swaths of pastel colors and small pockets of darker colors. Even the clouds were a very faint pastel pink, streaking across the atmosphere. Arcee and Blackarachnia had followed him up, talking about finally being at their destination. Optimus opened up the tracker on his arm, showing they were on the correct side of the planet. The two bots (or Starscream, at least) were close. However, his radar also alerted him of another ship of unknown origin on the planet's surface. What was more worrying were the smaller ships flying around the planet, periodically returning to the larger ship and transforming.

"This is... alarming." Optimus mumbled as he stared at his radar.

"What's it, Prime?" Ironhide asked.

"There appears to be more bots on the planet. They are searching for something." The Prime explained.

"More Mercenaries?" Arcee groaned.

"Unlikely. There appears to be too many to be a Mercenary clan, and they all are identical." Optimus said.

"Well, do we still land?" Ironhide asked.

"We must." The Prime said sternly, "If they are searching for Bumblebee and Starscream, time is of the essence. I will alert Megatron of my findings. Find somewhere to land, Ironhide."

"On it!" The red bot exclaimed, giving his friend a thumbs-up.

Optimus turned away and contacted Megatron. He answered quicker than expected.

"What is it, Prime?" The Mercenary asked.

"The planet before us has another ship on its surface, and there appears to be bots searching the planet." Optimus informed him.

"Other Mercenaries?" Megatron asked.

"Unlikely." The Prime repeated from earlier, "Ironhide is finding a spot to land. You may want to find a separate location to keep the Nemesis out of sight."

"Understood. My crew and I will meet at your ship." The gunmetal-gray bot replied.

"I will send you our landing coordinates, then." Optimus said.

Then, he cut the transmission. The Prime turned back to Ironhide he shouted.

"Hold on to somethin'!"

Optimus did as told, and he saw Arcee and Blackarachnia follow. They entered the atmosphere, the ship shaking violently for a moment before calming. They leveled out close to the ground, landing in a large clearing next to a fallen stone structure. Once the engine quieted to nothing, Ironhide stood.

"We've landed." He announcing, "Now, let's find our friend."

Everyone looked to Optimus. He pulled up the tracker again, then looked at the others.

"We are close." He stated, "Megatron should be landing soon. I sent our landing coordinates to him, so we may meet up before losing each other."

"We should jus' get goin' now. We may get too far from Bee by the time they get here." Ironhide said.

The Prime pondered on the possibility. Arcee spoke up.

"How about two of us get a head-start?" She suggested, "They can catch up to Bee and Starscream, while the others wait for Megatron and his crew."

Optimus nodded. "We will do that. Ironhide, you and Blackarachnia will go ahead of us. Comm me if you get a visual on either Bumblebee or Starscream." He said.