Megatron stood on the deck of his warship, his arms cross as he coldly gazed down at his minions. The common troopers subtly glanced over their shoulder, trembling as his burning red eyes pierced their souls. Their fear almost made him grin, and he couldn’t help but chuckle on the inside. Suddenly, the ships monitors came alive. Alarms flashed as computer screens went wild, text columns scurrying across them. “Soundwave, what is going on?” he asked.

Soundwave tapped the keys of his console in rapid succession, the images on his faceplate matching the images on the monitor. Finally, the alarms quieted, leaving the outline of a small planet, with two columns of Cybertronian text. Megatron leaned on the computer next to Soundwave, quickly examining the writing. “Are you sure this is accurate?” he questioned, Soundwave answering with a nod. “If this is true, this may be the most energon rich planet since Cybertron itself. Send a message to all Decepticons on Earth, order them back to the Nemesis immediately! And don’t even bother encrypting the message, I want it sent as soon as possible” he turned, facing his second in command. “Starscream, locate Knockout, and bring him here” he ordered.

“Yes my liege” said Starscream as he snapped to attention. He walked through the doors towards the flight deck, motioning to a pair of troopers to follow him.

Megatron looked out through the Nemesis’ giant frontal window, grinning, the faint starlight glistening off his shark-like teeth.

On Earth, Ratchet stood in the Autobot base, laboring over a computer screen, when a message appeared on the monitor. He quickly read the message, gasping as he realized who sent it. He pressed a button, contacting the other Autobots.

Optimus and the other Autobots stood in a dark, dank tunnel, their only source of light the faint glow of the blue energon crystals they were harvesting. Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee carefully plucked the energon from its rocky tomb, while Prime and Smokescreen stood guard. Suddenly, their comlinks sprang to life, quietly ringing. “This is Optimus, go ahead Ratchet” said Prime lifted his finger to his comlink.

“Optimus, you need to return to base, now” the doctor told him.

“Why is that?” he asked.

“The Decepticons just sent an unencrypted message to all their planetside soldiers calling them back to the warship. I’m also seeing something approaching Earth’s orbit. Optimus...I think they’re trying to leave Earth.”

That was all Prime needed to hear. “Open the ground-bridge” he ordered, a blue portal appearing in front of him moments later. “Autobots, we’re leaving” he told them.

“Why? We’re not even half done collecting this energon” Bulkhead said.

“There is no time to explain. Transform and return to base” he said. The Autobots obayed Prime, changing into their alt modes and driving through the portal. As soon as they drove onto the base, Ratchet closed the ground-bridge, only to open it again. They changed forms, Optimus leaning over Ratchet’s shoulder. “You’re certain they’re leaving?” he questioned.

“No doubt about it. The Nemesis is already preparing to depart through their space-bridge” he told him.

As they talked, the last Autobot, Wheeljack, joined them. “You called ‘doc” he asked.

“Yes, we require use of your ship. The Decepticons are leaving” Ratchet explained.

“So, I get to bust some ‘con heads?” he asked again, chuckling with enthusiasm.

“Perhaps, but we first need to follow them to the space-bridge. Autobots, board the Jackhammer” Prime ordered.

Bumblebee moved his head side to side, gesturing with his hands as he bleeped and blooped, causing Optimus to sigh. “I’m sorry Bumblebee, but if we are to catch Megatron, we need to move now. There is no time to say goodbye” he grudgingly told him. The wings on Bumblebee’s back sank, as he slowly shuffled out of the base along with the other Autobots. Prime turned to the green monitor, glaring at the graphics. “What are you planning, brother…”

The Nemesis slowly lurched towards the swirling blue and green vortex that was the space-bridge, the crew busily preparing the ship for an interstellar jump. The doors to the deck slid open, revealing Starscream, Knockout, and Airachnid. “Lord Megatron, all soldiers are present and accounted for. We are ready to space-bridge” Starscream told his leader.

“Excellent” Megatron said, grinning as he crossed his arms behind his back.

“What’s with the sudden departure, my lord? I though we planned to stay on Earth for the foreseeable future” Knockout asked.

“Soundwave has discovered an energon rich planet on the other side of the galaxy, one with a stockpile nearly as abundant as Cybertron” he explained.

Suddenly, alarms began to sound again. A small craft sped past the deck’s viewport, leaving a faint vaportrail in its wake. “Soldier, what was that?” Starscream asked.

“An Autobot shuttle, commander” answered the trooper.

Starscream chuckled, rubbing his hands together. “Do the foolish Autobots truly believe they can stop us from leaving. Trooper, ready all weapons, and fire on that-gah!”

Without warning, Megatron backhanded Starscream, sending him flying across the room, until the wall stopped him from flying further. “Cancel that order! Do not fire, you fools!” he shouted frantically.

“What was that about?” Knockout asked. Starscream slowly righted himself, a small stream of energon running down from his bottom lip.

“If a single shot missed its mark, the results could be catastrophic. We could arrive in the wrong location, say, the center of a star, or merely be lost in the void” Megatron explained.

The Autobot shuttle sped into the portal, followed closely by the bow of the Nemesis. After a few seconds, both ships emerged on the other side of the galaxy, in the orbit of a small, Earth-like planet. Megatron grinned sinisterly as the tiny ship began to peal away from them. “Now,” he paused, sighing with pleasure. “fire all weapons.”

A million red energon bolts left the Nemesis, darting towards the smaller craft. Aboard the small ship, Wheeljack frantically shifted the controls, barely avoiding the bolts of energy that whizzed past him. Despite his efforts, one of them nicked the hull, then two more struck the engines. He wrestled the controls, trying in vain to stabilize the ship. Next to him, Ratchet frantically punched buttons, attempting to keep the craft from exploding. Behind him, the cramped Autobots were thrown about, jerked one way and another by the ship's artificial gravity.

“Wheeljack, make a pass at their engines” he ordered, wedging himself between the pilot’s and copilot’s seats. Wheeljack did as he was told, navigating around the Nemesis towards its engines, dodging nearly every energon bolt that flew past them. When they reached the aft of the ship, Prime slammed one of the buttons on the console. A pair of missiles dropped out of the bottom of the shuttle, screaming towards the Nemesis’ massive thrusters. They struck towards the base of the engines, creating brilliant, purple and blue explosion. The entire ship shuddered, forcing the crew to latch onto something, or risk being thrown around like a ragdoll. The shockwave sent both ships spiralling towards the planet, each forming a dome of heat as they entered the atmosphere.