Night of the Hunters
The bounty hunter walked down the hallway of Autobot Headquarters, his expression stoic and his pace steady.
The Autobot Commander himself, Ultra Magnus, had left him a message earlier this cycle, saying that he had a job for the hunter. He was used to getting hired by the Elite Guard, usually to track down lone Decepticons or renegade Autobots, but he had never been hired by the High Commander himself. This smelled like an enormous opportunity for the hunter, one that he might regret passing up.
The sky blue mech reached the door at the end of the corridor, emblazed with the symbol of the Elite Guard. The doors slid open and he entered.
He took a moment to look at his surroundings. The room was the right size to hold a small meeting comfortably, of about three or four mechs. The walls were bare of decoration, and the only noticeable feature of the entire room was a large desk with four chairs, three on one side, opposite a large chair on the other side. The fourth chair was not large for regal or intimidating purposes, but rather to hold a mech too big for a regular chair. Nonetheless, the smaller chairs did not look any less comfortable.
The hunter's optics fell on the sole occupant of the room, a gargantuan, dark blue mech.
"Greetings, Devcon," Ultra Magnus greeted, stone-faced.
"Commander," Devcon's expression was equally, carefully blank.
Ultra Magnus sat down at his desk, and gestured to the chairs arrayed before him. "Have a seat."
Devcon nodded and accepted the invitation, settling into the chair directly opposite of Magnus. His face still firm, he asked. "So, what's the job?"
Magnus matched the bounty hunter's expression. "I will pay you a large sum of credits if you will escort and protect one of our scientists to a shuttle transport on the other side of Iacon. There, he will be taken to one of our moon bases where he can begin work on a very important project."
Devcon paused, narrowing his optics. "A bodyguard job, are you serious?" The shuttle leaned forward and put his hands on the desk. "Can't you get one of your Elite Guards to do it? I'm a Decepticon hunter, not a protoform-sitter."
Magnus remained stoic. "This job is very important. This scientist holds what may be the key to winning this war. It is crucial that the Decepticons not lay a finger on him. They will surely be expecting a Guard member to do this job; but sending in someone of your talents will be an unexpected move on our part."
Devcon continued to stare at him. Your precious Guards are too busy to do this grunt work, so you figured you'd hire a nobody to do it for them. However, Devcon had not had a job in weeks, and the Autobot Commander would surely pay him well. He may not have been happy about doing a grunt's assignment, but payment was payment. "Okay, I'm at your service."
Magnus nodded. "Thank you, Devcon." He stood, and pointed to a nearby door. "Your charge is in a lab at the other end of that hallway. Once you meet him, you are to leave at once."
"Understood," Devcon stood, gave the Commander a salute, and exited the room.
Devcon entered the lab and looked around. There were many tables, cluttered with assorted equipment, such as test tubes, computer monitors, and various mechanical devices Devcon did not recognize.
"Hello?" The bounty hunter called. "Is anybody here?"
There was a rustling noise near the back, as if someone was scurrying across the floor. A voice called back, "Just a moment," The voice was high, yet still sounded male, and was flavored with an accent.
In the same place the voice came from, a mech stood, brushing dust off his body. When he looked up and saw Devcon, he gave him a friendly smile and made his way across the room until he was standing right in front of him.
"Greetings, my name is Perceptor." He held out his hand, and Devcon, being polite, shook it.
"I am Devcon," the blue shuttle said. "Are you the one Ultra Magnus hired me to escort?"
Perceptor nodded, "Yes, Magnus told me that he was sending you down here a few minutes ago."
"Good, then I trust he also told you that we have to leave at once?"
The red and blue mech nodded again. "I just need to pack a few more things before we leave." He walked back to the other side of the room and knelt back down. Devcon followed him and looked over, seeing that Perceptor was putting a couple of datapads into his subspace compartment. The bounty hunter tapped his foot, eager to leave and get this job over with.
Perceptor stood up and faced Devcon once again. "Okay, I think that's everything."
"Good," The shuttle said briskly. "Now let's go." Devcon made his way out the door with Perceptor at his heels.
Devcon sped through the city, the buildings becoming a blur as he flew past them. Perceptor looked out his windshield, hands occasionally tightening on the seat in Devcon's cockpit. The scientist's mood had gone from chipper to worry once they were well into the city. It was as if he was afraid something was going to pop out at any minute.
The shuttle kept low, figuring that he would be easily spotted if he flew in the city's airspace and attract Decepticons. Still, he kept his guard up, keeping his sensors open in case they were ambushed.
The trip was spent in silence for the most part, and, surprisingly, it was Devcon who broke it. "You know, as long as I'm serving as your bodyguard, I may as well know what I'm being paid for." It was something that had been nagging at his curiosity for a while.
Perceptor pursed his lips together hesitantly, as if he were about to tell Devcon something life-altering. Devcon waited patiently, and was rewarded when the scientist eventually said, "I am carrying schematics in my hard-drive for an experimental transport."
If he were in robot mode, the bounty hunter would have raised an optic ridge. "What kind of transport?" He asked, voice radiating curiosity. "Like a new model ship or something?" Something like that hardly seemed worth the Decepticons' efforts to steal.
Perceptor shook his head. "No, it's nothing like that. This will revolutionize space travel. I have plans for a type of portal, a 'space bridge' if you will." His voice became wistful. "It is something that will allow one to travel across the galaxy in mere seconds." The scientist's tone then became grim. "If the Decepticons were to get their hands on such technology, their tyranny would know no bounds."
Devcon listened to Perceptor's explanation with curiosity and doubt. He was no scientist, and thus did not know if such a device were possible. He was, however, aware that if such a device were possible, then it would indeed by bad news if the Decepticons were to get their hands on it.
"Well, rest assured, Perceptor," Devcon said, "You're safe with me. As long as I'm here, no Decepticons will lay a finger on you."
The dark carformer lay low, blending into the shadows. If his planning was right, his quarry would be coming around here at any time. He was currently standing idle at the corner of a building, staying out of the main road.
His employers told him the target would most likely be heavily guarded, with a good chance that members of the Elite Guard themselves would be on guard. The dark mech was sure he could handle a Guard or two, and then the target would be all his. The target was a scientist, so it was doubtful he had anything that would make a good trophy, but Guard members usually had weapons on them that always made fine additions to his collection.
The sound of shuttle engines came to the edge of his audio receptors, and grew louder as the seconds went by. He revved his engines with excitement. That must have been the transport for his quarry, either a small transport shuttle or a shuttleformer.
The mech revved his engine again, while his tires tensed up in preparation to speed off.
A blue shuttle sped past overhead, and the carformer's tires screeched as he drove after it, matching its speed.
Devcon noticed the black car below him, getting a bad feeling that it meant trouble.
"Hold on," He ordered Perceptor. "We're being followed, but don't worry; I'm going to try and lose him." The scientist held onto his seat as tightly as he could, a frightened whimper escaping his lips.
The shuttle turned a corner, and the car continued to follow him. Being a shuttle, he was not able to make the sharp turns jets could easily make, nor could he zoom through narrow passageways like a sleek jet could. Thus, he was stuck with simply turning corners continuously, in hopes that he could shake the car off.
However, the car was persistent and refused to let them get away. It mirrored Devcon's turns and kept its speed up.
The bounty hunter soon knew that it was time for a change in plan. Telling his charge to hold on again, he turned on his side and flew through an alley in between two buildings that was just big enough for him to squeeze through. The alley was blocked off by a wall, thus not allowing the car passageway. He heard tires screeching, signaling a sharp and sudden stop for the carformer.
Devcon turned upright again. Inside him, his sensors saw Perceptor clutching his chest and gasping, his optics wide and his form shaking.
"It's okay," the shuttle assured. "We lost him. You're safe now."
It took a few minutes for Perceptor to calm down enough to answer. "Th-thank you…"
"Now come on, let's get you to that drop off point." The pursuit had taken them off course, but Devcon's radar told him that he was not too far off. It was simply a matter of pointing himself in the right direction.
There was a harsh revving of a motor in the air beside him, and before he had a chance to react, the black car crashed into his side. Devcon cursed as he hit a nearby building. Somehow the carformer had made it on top of the roofs and launched itself so it could hit the shuttle!
The carformer landed with poise on the ground, its tires and shock absorbers providing cushioning. Devcon's landing was much less graceful. He skidded down the side of the building and crashed clumsily, all the while Perceptor kept uttering words of anxiety.
Devcon opened his hatch quickly, throwing the scientist out. The shuttle transformed, and looked at Perceptor. "Quick, hide!" The red mech did not hesitate to obey, ducking behind a nearby stack of crates.
Devcon turned to face the black car as it slowly drove up to him. The car then shifted, and Devcon found himself facing a tall, intimidating, black and green mech. He had a sinister gleam in his optics, one that made promises of sadistic and cruel things to come.
The black mech looked at Devcon's chest, at his Autobot symbol, and frowned curiously. "You're no Elite Guard. I would have thought they'd send one of them for this." His voice was low pitched, and had a tone that was just as menacing as his physical appearance. The mech then shrugged. "No matter, I should be more than capable of handling you." He smirked, and it was nearly enough to send a chill down the hardened bounty hunter's backstrut.
Devcon scowled. "Who are you?"
The black mech's smirk never faded. "The name's Lockdown." He held out his hand, as if expecting Devcon to give him something. "Why don't you save yourself some trouble, and just give me the scientist?"
"Never!" The blue mech grit his dentals together. "If you think that I'm going to surrender to a Decepticon like you, you're mistaken."
Lockdown laughed. "I'm no Decepticon," he stated. "I just do the occasional... favor for them, in exchange for a few upgrades and payments."
Devcon narrowed his optics. So, this mech was a bounty hunter, like him. He had fought rival bounty hunters in the past, so this was nothing new to him. While this one claimed to be neutral, he still had the stink of Decepticon on him.
"Decepticon or not," Devcon said. "If you want him, you're going to have to get him over my cold, offline body."
Lockdown chuckled, a noise that would have terrified anyone not hardened by experience. "That can be arranged." Lockdown lifted his arm, which suddenly flattened and formed a chainsaw. The chainsaw-arm revved noisily and the black and green mech lunged at Devcon.
Devcon sidestepped right as the weapon came down, causing it to connect with the ground and send bits of shrapnel flying.
The blue bounty hunter raised his wrist, aiming the gun attached to his gauntlet at Lockdown. He had barely gotten the shot out before the other bounty hunter anticipated his attack and jumped to the side, landing skillfully in a crouched position, the chainsaw turning back into his arm.
Lockdown put his energy into his legs and launched himself towards Devcon, sending them both to the ground, where they tussled and traded punches.
From his hiding spot, Perceptor watched the fight. The Decepticon-employed bounty hunter was possibly the most terrifying mech he had ever seen. The very thought of getting caught by him was frightening enough, and it was even more horrifying to consider that Lockdown was surely planning to bring him to Megatron. The scientist shuddered at the very notion.
He focused back on the fight. His vocalizer caught in his throat when he saw Lockdown roll Devcon onto his back and begin punching him. Devcon's losing! That other bounty hunter is going to take me to Megatron! No, I can't let that happen!
Perceptor dashed out of his hiding place and sped away from the fight, never looking back once and drowning out all thoughts not about escaping Lockdown.
As Lockdown continued to punch him, Devcon lifted his leg, placing his foot against the other bounty hunter's abdomen. The shuttle put all his weight into that foot and threw Lockdown off of him.
It was that moment when he saw Perceptor running away. Devcon cursed. How could the scientist do something so stupid? He called after him, "Perceptor, wait!"
Lockdown also noticed the scientist fleeing. He scowled; there was no way he was going to let his quarry get away. The carformer looked back at Devcon, who was still distracted, and aimed his raised fist at him. His forearm shot out like a missile, connecting with the shuttle's head. Devcon lurched forward and fell, knocked out.
The black and green mech approached the unconscious Autobot, and picked up his arm, reattaching it to his elbow. Lockdown looked down at the blue mech, "I'll come back for you once I capture my prey. You're a worthy opponent, and your gauntlet guns and helmet will make fine additions to my collection."
With that thought in mind, Lockdown transformed and sped off after the retreating scientist.
Perceptor ran into a nearby alley in between two tall buildings. There was a large crate at the far end, blocking off the passage and turning the alley into a dead end. The scientist hoped this would prove to be a good hiding place until Devcon found him.
He was not used to running so much, and his escape took a toll on him. He was not programmed for physical activity; he was meant to spend his time in a lab. He made a mental note to himself to take some combat lessons if he made it through the day.
He hoped he had lost that evil bounty hunter. He was starting to regret letting his fear get the best of him and running off. Surely Devcon had turned the tables and Lockdown was either dead or knocked out. Devcon had to be out looking for him right now. At any rate, if Lockdown was still alive and moving, Perceptor had gotten a good head start, so he had to be miles away. He would not track down the scientist for a while, not before Devcon reached him anyway.
He sighed, and turned to rest his shoulder against the building.
Perceptor gasped and jumped away from the building, his optics wide. Lockdown stood there, a few meters away, looking right at him and smiling cruelly.
"Did you really think you could get away from me?"
Perceptor took several steps back. "How... how did you find me?"
Lockdown ignored his question. The smile grew wider, but lost none of the coldness. "Why don't you be a good Autobot and just come with me?" He held out a hand.
Perceptor continued to back away. "Never," The scientist then unthinkingly backed right against the crate at the end of the alley. He had no place to run to; Lockdown had him.
The bounty hunter retracted his hand. "I had a feeling you would say that. Oh well, it isn't as if you have a choice anyway." With a smile that mirrored a hungry predator cornering his prey, Lockdown approached Perceptor, reaching out. He grabbed the scientist's arm, feeling him flinch.
A shooting pain suddenly ran up his arm, causing him to release his prey. Perceptor ducked past him, running behind him and out of his reach.
Lockdown looked up, and saw Devcon standing a couple of yards away, his wrist laser pointed at him.
The carformer smiled, "You're tougher than I thought." A direct blow to the back of the head usually put a mech out for at least an hour. Devcon had obviously taken harsher blows, if he had recovered that quickly. Despite himself, Lockdown had to admit that it was quite impressive.
Devcon ignored the praise. "Let's just settle this, right here and now."
Lockdown's smirk never faded. "Of course…" He raised his hands and spread his legs in a fighting stance, signaling that he was ready for Devcon.
The shuttle fired at him once again, which Lockdown easily dodged by sidestepping. However, the Autobot was counting on that, because once the carformer was in position, Devcon took another shot. Lockdown yelped in shock and pain as the beam hit his chest.
The blue mech ran at Lockdown while he was distracted and threw his fist at his face, connecting with the black and green mech's jaw. He threw another punch at Lockdown, but the carformer was quick to react, ducking away and elbowing Devcon in the abdomen, earning a grunt out of him. Taking a leaf from Devcon's book, Lockdown took advantage of his momentary distraction, roughly pushing him against a building.
Lockdown began punching at Devcon continuously, leaving dents in his dermaplating. Devcon waited for the right moment, taking punch after punch, before kneeing Lockdown's hip, causing the carformer to buckle to the side. This gave Devcon the opportunity to grab Lockdown and reverse their positions. The shuttle mimicked Lockdown's attack, incessantly punching his face, and occasionally throwing in a few more knee attacks to his hips.
Before long, Lockdown retaliated, slamming his forehead into Devcon's face. There was a crunch of metal on metal upon impact and Devcon staggered backwards.
The two combatants stood there, hands on their knees, exhausted and dented, and eyeing each other.
A smile formed on Lockdown's lips. "You're good… Have you ever thought about ditching the solo life?"
Devcon blinked. Was Lockdown proposing what he thought he was? "Excuse me?"
The black and green mech straightened slowly, still sore from the fight. "Think about it," he said. "You and I both follow the same calling, and we're quite evenly matched. With the two of us working together, our targets wouldn't stand a chance of escaping. We would be respected and feared as the greatest bounty hunters in the galaxy."
Devcon digested everything Lockdown had said. This was unexpected. Lockdown sounded like he was being honest, that he truly wanted Devcon to join him. Still, it might just have been a trick to make him let his guard down. Either way, Devcon already had an answer to Lockdown's proposal.
"Forget it," He growled.
Lockdown shrugged. "Suit yourself."
The bounty hunters ran at each other, the fight resuming.
Lockdown blocked a punch from Devcon, and retaliated by delivering a blow to his chin. Devcon recovered swiftly and kicked Lockdown in the waist.
The shuttle leaped backwards and began shooting at the other mech's feet. Lockdown quickly back flipped away from the blasts, crouching down once his feet were back on the ground.
Before Devcon had a chance to prepare himself to block, Lockdown had already shot his arm-missile at him, hitting him square in the chest. While the shuttle cried out in pain, Lockdown sprang to his feet and delivered a sweeping kick to his head, sending the blue mech tumbling down.
Devcon lifted his head in time to see and feel his opponent pin his body down with a foot.
"Too bad you refused my offer," The black mech said, his voice dripping with anticipation. "Because it almost makes me sad that I'm going to have to kill you now."
Lockdown raised his remaining arm, having not taken the time to reattach the other, and converted it into the chainsaw. Smiling sadistically, he began to lower the weapon slowly towards Devcon's face. The shuttle's optics widened, frantically trying to think of some way out of his situation, and coming up with nothing. The chainsaw was so close now that he could not do anything without running the risk of the weapon maiming him.
There was a soft 'chink' of metal on metal, just barely audible over the harsh noise of the chainsaw. Lockdown looked behind him in surprise, unintentionally taking the chainsaw away from Devcon's head. The shuttle quickly seized his chance, using his elbow to cut Lockdown's leg out from under him and sending the carformer toppling over to the side.
Devcon swiftly jumped to his feet and came down upon Lockdown, punching him hard in the abdomen, then landing another blow on his cranium. The black mech's optics darkened as the bounty hunter fell unconscious.
The shuttle stood up, taking a moment to regard his defeated opponent, and then turning around. "Perceptor, where are you?" If he ran off again, I swear…
"I'm over here, Devcon," the scientist came out from his hiding place, behind a wall not too far away from where the bounty hunters had been fighting.
Devcon rushed over to his charge. "Are you alright?"
Perceptor nodded. Not waiting for another word, the shuttle transformed and opened his hatch. "Get in."
The red mech obeyed, sighing and relaxing in relief once he was in the cockpit and Devcon lifted off.
The two sentries shifted their weight impatiently by the transport shuttle.
"Where the slag are they?" one of them complained. "They were supposed to be here an hour ago."
"Cut them some slack, Ironstreak," Jazz said. "They probably hit a snag or something. But I've heard the mech Magnus hired is tough, and should be able to handle things."
Ironstreak glanced at the other carformer. "Well, if they take any longer, then he better run for it, because I'll be on him in seconds for making me stand around this long."
Jazz hid a chuckle at her gung ho attitude, causing her to shoot him an irritated look.
A blue dot appeared on the horizon, increasing as the seconds went by, until they could make out a shuttle that was much smaller than the one they were guarding. When it was close enough, the shuttle landed and opened its hatch, allowing Perceptor to exit.
"Well, it's about time," Ironstreak said.
The shuttle transformed and greeted the other two Autobots with a salute. They returned the gesture.
Devcon moved to stand beside Perceptor and place a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry for keeping you waiting, but we ran into some trouble. But, as you can see, the charge is safe and sound."
Jazz gave them a small smile. "Well, that's the important thing."
Ironstreak did not say a word and simply boarded the transport shuttle to prepare for the trip.
When Jazz made no move to follow her, Devcon asked, "Aren't you going too?"
Jazz shook his head. "Nah, I still got some stuff that needs to be done here. I'm just about to complete ninja training, you know." Devcon just gave him a nod as the only form of congratulatory. "Anyway, I'm just here to give you your payment." He pulled out a blue, plastic card and held it out.
Devcon took the card and deposited it into subspace, still not saying anything else.
"Alright then," Jazz said. "Better get going, Perceptor. Ironstreak'll kill you if you keep her waiting any longer." He smiled.
Perceptor nodded. "Can I at least say good bye to Devcon first?"
"I don't see why not," Jazz answered. He walked off a little way, to give them a moment alone.
Perceptor turned to face Devcon. "Thank you for protecting and saving me from that awful creature."
"No problem," Devcon answered simply. "By the way, I was wondering. Do you have any ideas about what might have distracted Lockdown while we were fighting?"
Perceptor nodded eagerly. "Yes, that was me." Devcon's optics widened, as if asking if he was serious. "I saw you were in danger, so I threw a piece of scrap that was lying around. I was scared, but I was more afraid of you dying and leaving me to be taken to Megatron."
Devcon's lips quirked in an actual smile, "Well I'll be. I guess you aren't completely useless after all."
Ironstreak's voice came from the transport shuttle. "Let's go. What are we waiting for?"
Devcon placed a hand on the scientist's shoulder. "Take care, kid."
Perceptor smiled at him, before slipping away from the bounty hunter and boarding the transport.
The hatch closed, the engines rumbling as they flared up, and the transport lifted off the ground. Devcon watched it disappear into space.