Disclaimer: All the characters involved in this story are copyrighted to Hasbro and their respective creators and were used without permission. All concepts in this writing reflect the author's ideas and not that of the copyright.
Enter the Complimentary Follow-up
Chapter One
As the distinct whistle of mortar fire pierced the air, a trembling mech hunkered further underneath a clinical table awaiting the inevitable explosion.
It came as expected.
The shiny, red cybertronian covered his audiles as the building shook with such force the walls were left vibrating long after the shells landed. It was incredible the windows hadn't shattered yet.
"Please, stop," he pleaded in vain as more projectiles shrilled through the night sky. He was quite accustomed to the sound of distant artillery blasts and laser volleys—just the commonplace clatter of a planet at war—but being trapped inside a blockhouse near the highly coveted Vos' relics during a firefight between the Autobots and Decepticons had his survival protocols keyed up to the max. Grant it, he had chosen this line of work for its excitement factor, but he never signed up for this.
In fact, he shouldn't even be here. He was supposed to meet up with a nonaligned medical team near Uraya, but circumstance—and the possibility of a lucrative prospect—lead him here. It was supposed to be a simple 'get in, get out' assignment. Just patch a few bots, grab a few parts through questionable means and head back to the safety of neutral territory. Unfortunately, no one on either side of the conflict got that memo.
"Why couldn't they wait one more cycle; just one more lousy cycle?" he hissed as another barrage of shells violently rocked the facility. This time, the windows did buckle, raining down glass and fiery debris on the center's workstations and examining berths. The symphony of combat rushed in tenfold at the breech causing the young medic to wince. Soldiers screaming, cannons firing, sirens wailing, leaders shouting, engines roaring . . . it was all he could do not to fold in on himself in a fetal position. What on Cybertron had he gotten himself into?!
With the heat levels increasing due to the newly broken windows and his own heavy venting, he decided it was time to try and escape. He had hoped remaining in the medical wing of this old fort would have afforded him some protection. Certainly, the Decepticons would keep defending this area fiercely and if the Autobots did break through he could easily sell his worth as a physician to them. However, neither scenario mattered if the annex was destroyed in the battle; just another case of collateral damage. That's what appeared to be playing out.
He crawled out from under the desk, visibly shaking and trying to stabilize his wildly thrashing spark. As he rose to his pedes, the lights went out and he happened to glance up just in time to see the blistering trails of missiles flying past. It felt so surreal and yet so tangible to him; the timeless sights of war were disturbingly mesmerizing.
Suddenly, the once automated doors to the room were forced open. He whirled around, servos thrust upwards in surrender. With all the terror of life and death in his voice, he cried out:
"Don't shoot! I'm a medic!"
There was a charged moment of silence in the dark until the emergency lighting flickered to life.
"Doc? Is that you?" asked the much taller, bulkier mech standing in the now open doorway. A look of recognition passed over the medic's features; a mix of relief and resentment. He was glad for the familiar face, but this bruiser was one of the reasons he was caught in this whole mess, to begin with—not to mention the big lug seemed to have an unjustified aversion to using his name. Nonetheless, it was amazing how quickly abject terror could switch to indignant aggravation.
"I said to call me Knock Out and of course it's me! Who else would it be?!"
"Sorry! I just wasn't expecting you to still be here."
"Granted, but if you haven't noticed, I'm just trying to stay online here!"
"I can see that. Might have helped if you stuck with me and the others in the first place."
"Right, and if I had just left you to sort things out on your own I wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. I am the only doctor in these parts still willing to help the likes of you, I might add."
"And I'm very grateful. That's why I'm here to take you back to the Decepticon bunker," the other mech said with no bitterness in his tone.
"Wait? The bunker?! What bunker? I thought you and the others said you weren't affiliated with any faction," Knock Out shouted in a mix of anger and renewed fear. He'd heard all about Decepticon bunkers. Highly fortified, underground storehouses reserved only for the most precious of resources and once locked down, no way in or out. Something about being whisked away to some cavernous warehouse rubbed his sense of freedom entirely the wrong way.
"I didn't say anything. You never asked," the larger bot said solemnly.
"Oh," Knock Out uttered, before continuing, "how rude of me."
"Well, are you coming or not?"
The medic hesitated. He may have sympathized with the war's cause, but he had no intentions of joining their ranks. He was an agent of his own volition; not a possible commodity to be retained in their conflict. He needed to find a way out of this and fast.
"Please, Breakdown, was it? I'm really only a bodywork specialist at best; nothing that important. Couldn't you just, say, get me out of here and point me in the direction of the nearest transport road?"
"Sure, if you don't mind running through twenty-five clicks of strike-zone to reach it," Breakdown said wryly.
Well, there went that idea along with any hope of peaceful escape. Another shower of blaster fire sounded outside and Knock Out could feel his frame shaking again.
"I shouldn't have come here. I could have left sooner . . . ow!" Knock Out hollered as Breakdown gave an audial shattering whistle.
"Shoulda, coulda, woulda but you didn't, doc. So, unless you wanna become scrap metal, I suggest you move your aft and follow me," he interrupted.
Knock Out's red optics flashed in a moment of insult, but the whine of incoming rocket fire convinced him to drop the offense and chase after the blue mech retreating through the entranceway. They jogged down the darkened corridors, cautiously rounding corners and avoiding the electrical shorts sputtering from control panels and lighting fixtures. There seemed to be no one else around which began to draw out the medic's anxiety in the form of nervous mumbling. Apparently sensing the other's growing distress, Breakdown spoke up.
"Everyone's out front keeping the pressure off the drop ships. I'll take you to the south exit. It should be less heavy out that way . . ."
Knock Out nodded absent-mindedly. He was more in tune with the muffled sounds of battle outside and the occasional pops and pings of the structure's integrity under siege, though Breakdown's even timbre did bring a sense of normalcy with it. At any rate, Knock Out didn't care where they went just as long as it was far away from here. However, once his hefty companion mentioned a particular name the distracted medic was all audiles.
"Pardon me, did you just say Megatron?! As in, the leader of the Decepticons?! What about him now?!"
"I just said Lord Megatron really wants to hang on to this sector. Looks like the Autobots want it just as badly," Breakdown grumbled as he lifted another fallen support beam from their path before smiling at his new strength. The doctor had really done a wonderful job on these upgrades.
"So, in other words, this whole place is doomed to scrap," Knock Out stated bluntly as the building shook from another explosion.
"Uh . . ."
"Well, what are we idling here for?! Let's make like traffic and jam!" the medic shouted as he charged past the azure mech towards their intended exit. Breakdown shuttered his yellow optics as he stood and watched Knock Out bound away. He was somewhat surprised to see how lithe the doctor was. It wasn't every solar cycle you saw someone execute a perfect pike jump through two and a half meters of clearance. Ultimately, he gave a quick shrug, dropped the beam and trailed after the smaller mech with the shiny, red paint job.
It did take some finagling on both their parts to get around the debris and fires surrounding the outer walls of the complex, but the real obstacle came when they reached the compound's south gate. Right behind the postings, stood a giant cannon, battering the wall with shot and trying to make a way in.
"You didn't say anything about that blocking the way! How are we supposed to get through fifty tons of firepower?!" Knock Out cried in a mixture of fear and frustration. Breakdown looked on as the large doors barricading the base shuddered with every blast from the mortar fire.
"They said the Autobot troops hadn't broken through yet. They were holding them off!" Breakdown stated in his own blend of emotion; mainly anger.
"They said?! Sorry, but who are you talking about?" Knock Out asked, but Breakdown wasn't listening. Instead, he placed a servo to his helm and pinged his troop leader.
All he received was static.
If the enemy was out this far it could only mean one of two things about the squadron he was assigned to. Either they abandoned him or they were dead. Neither scenario sat well with the newly transferred warrior. His temper flared. The Autobots hadn't spotted the two of them yet and as far as Breakdown was concerned, that was their mistake.
"Did you hear me . . . Yah?!" Knock Out yelped as he quickly dodged out of his charging companion's way. Breakdown's servos instantly transformed into hammers; weapons drawn. He was ready to do battle the only way he knew how; head on.
And he would have perished if it hadn't been for seven words hinged to change that.
"What are you doing?! Get back here!"
Breakdown stopped just short of punching through the gates and turned. The frightened medic was still holding his position—as far away from those gates as possible.
Knock Out was the reason Breakdown had come back out here to begin with; his prime mission. The larger mech stalked back towards the physician, eyes narrowed and hammers still at the ready. The doctor couldn't help but fleetingly wonder if he unwittingly treated the mech who was going to offline him.
"I need to get you to that bunker, don't I?!" Breakdown said in such a cold manner, Knock Out could feel the energon pulsing through his lines drop a few degrees. The medic shuddered a bit but held his ground. Normally, he wouldn't have dared, but the overstimulating background of combat and his own tremendous stress levels triggered a visceral response. He, too, narrowed his optics and looked Breakdown squarely in his.
"Excuse me, but how exactly are you planning on helping me survive after getting yourself killed because that's what you were about to do; get yourself killed!" he exclaimed, gesturing to the whole of battle roaring around them. Breakdown paused at the medic's tone.
Sure he had been reprimanded by all sorts before; superiors, peers, even subordinates. They normally sounded angry or disappointed in an unsympathetic kind of way— just business as usual. He was used to it; unfazed by it. That's why he never listened to them any of them, why he had been reassigned three times, why he was so guarded with his current station.
This, however, was the first time his admonisher sounded like they actually cared . . . about him. Now, it could have been because the little red bot was a doctor; doctors tended to care. Breakdown also understood Knock Out was still a bit green; not used to raw combat yet—the poor mech was shivering like a regulator for Primus' sake—but something about that made Knock Out appear real; relatable; reliable.
So, even though the medic had no official authority over the soldier whatsoever, Breakdown exchanged his hammers for servos. Knock Out took this to be as close to an agreement as he was going to get.
"Right! Okay, I think we should find another way out of here! Let's say, that direction," the red mech suggested as he took off back towards the structure. Breakdown followed as Knock Out ran in a much less organized fashion than before. It would have been comical had the setting not been so dire. Foregoing the entrance back inside, the medic swung around the building and stopped short of what appeared to be a service door for the backup generators—a bizarre place to stop.
"How's this going to help us?!" Breakdown questioned, honestly confused by the brilliant smile lighting up the smaller mech's features.
"Open the door and I'll show you."
"Fine. Stand back!" Breakdown yelled as he moved forward and grasped the locked sliding panels of the door. With one quick pull, he separated the two sections by a few meters. Another tug and the door opened completely.
"Now what?"
"Have you ever seen what happens to an energon generator after you've reversed its current?" Knock Out shouted as he grabbed the polarity switch. Breakdown took one look at the complicated, overloaded power system before turning back to the now beaming medic.
"Have you?!"
"Not personally, but I hear it creates one swell of an explosion if ever there was one!" Knock Out exclaimed as he yanked out the pull switch, rotated it and pushed it back in. Immediately, the generators began to hum; the sound slowly eating up the blaring chaos of war surrounding the two bots. Breakdown was genuinely frightened by the noise and nearly jumped when the medic shouted:
"Drive!"
Like a shot, Knock Out took off, transforming into his ground-based Cybertronian alternative mode and going full speed in the opposite direction. Breakdown wasted no time following suit in his own ground-based alternative mode as thick, blue and white smoke began pouring from the service door. The two vehicles rounded a security outpost just as the energy levels reached a critical point.
The initial bursts were blinding, causing them to transform back into their root forms and shield their optics. Several more upsurges of electricity buzzed throughout the air, resulting in the combat fire outside the compound's walls to calm dramatically. The last explosion engulfed the structure in a furnace of flames, bringing on the silence of the Autobot cannon at the south gate. Breakdown made a move to stand fully until Knock Out spoke up.
"Wait for it," the medic said as he expectantly looked towards the night sky. To the larger mech's surprise, the commotion of battle began moving away from the now smoldering complex.
"Hear that? It's the sound of success!" Knock Out said with a grin as he rose to his pedes. Breakdown did the same, but still wore a look of bewilderment as he glanced down at the red bot. The medic gladly elaborated.
"A blazing inferno equals nothing to fight over and nothing to fight over translates into move it along."
"Yeah, but the building and supplies, not to mention the energon . . ." Breakdown stated as he turned to watch the structure burn. Knock Out shrugged.
"It's not like the place was worth saving. It was a scrap pile, to begin with. Now, let's get out of here before all this ash ruins my finish."
Breakdown let out a pressurized vent. This guy was a trip.
"Alright. Our best bet is still due south. The bunker is only five clicks from there."
Knock Out frowned. It seemed his former patient turned unwelcomed chaperon was still fixated on sealing him away in some Decepticon basement.
"Why can't you just help me get out of here and let me be on my way, again?"
"Because it's safer in the bunker than out here and General Onslaught insisted I bring you there."
Knock Out's frown deepened. An officially endorsed request for his detainment? Maybe it was time to split. After all, the fighting had moved off and he could probably find that transport road on his own now.
"I see," he stated with a renewed smile, trying to sound nonchalant. Regrettably, he also took an unconscious step back. Breakdown's optics narrowed at the gesture as he realized the medic was poised to run.
"Oh, no you don't, doc . . . Doc!" he shouted as he dashed after Knock Out who dropped back into vehicular mode. Breakdown quickly copied the move and gave chase. The smaller red Cybertronian car had speed on his side, but the sheer power behind the blue Cybertronian truck shortened the gap between them quickly. Knock Out tried desperately to outperform his slower, less maneuverable pursuer but Breakdown's large tires gave the warrior an advantage over the unstable terrain.
"Watch the paint!" Knock Out squawked as the other came dangerously close to ramming his rear bumper.
"Well, stop driving away already!" Breakdown shouted in equal frustration.
"No! I'm not going with you!" Knock Out shouted as he drifted left, leaving Breakdown to crash into a sizable piece of rubble.
The red vehicle smiled inwardly as he finally outpaced his chaser, but the victory was short-lived. Terror gripped him as he witnessed the larger auto blast straight through the wreckage with the truck's roof-mounted cannon—a cannon which the medic had installed with long-range capabilities. It seemed to dawn on him then. There was no way he could outdo a militarily armed bot like Breakdown, at least, not like this. Knock Out applied his brakes, transformed and skid fifty meters across the ashen ground on two pedes and a servo. Breakdown barely had time to stop, forcing him to transform and fall on his backside in order to avoid colliding with the smaller mech who was now busy brushing himself off.
"Why'd you stop?!" Breakdown demanded angrily as he made to stand back up.
"Didn't you ask me to?" Knock Out said as he watched the other rise. Breakdown glared at him and the doctor lifted his servos in surrender.
"My apologies, I've just never been in this kind of situation before. Nice shot with the cannon, by the way. Glad to see it's working properly, but I believe your suspension may be a tad on the stiff side. Here's what I'll do, look me up in Uraya and I'll give you a follow-up appointment on the house. How does that sound?"
Breakdown let out an irritated vent and Knock Out sighed before continuing.
"Alright, but I don't even know who this Onslaught character is. Why would he order you to take me anywhere?"
Despite the medic's attempts at appearing unruffled, Breakdown could still hear the anxious undertone in the other's vocalizer. He felt bad for Knock Out. Fear was no stranger to Breakdown and he understood what it meant to feel small and powerless. After all, it's the reason he joined the Decepticons . . . maybe a reason for the medic to join too. So, the warrior tried to ease the current tension by taking a less imposing stance.
"I know this isn't easy, doc . . ." Breakdown started until he noticed the other's narrowing gaze, "I mean, Knock Out, but I think they just want to talk with you. Onslaught seemed impressed by your work."
The medic crossed his arms and looked to the ground for a moment. He stamped his right ped a few times before looking up at Breakdown again.
"And what if I refuse to go with you?" he asked quietly.
"I could make you," Breakdown answered frankly, causing Knock Out to shift uncomfortably, "but I won't."
"Really?!" the medic said with so much relief and enthusiasm, the other couldn't help but smile.
"Sure, but I'll be punished and they'll probably send someone else to come out here and get you," Breakdown responded casually. Knock Out brought his arms down and behind his back, clasping his servos together. He began pacing in a small circle with agitation written all over his faceplates.
"Well, it looks like I don't have much of a choice, now does it?"
Breakdown shrugged. Having only met Knock Out twice, each time being under threatening circumstances, Breakdown found the other to be fairly likable.
"You also said they were impressed by my work. A good thing, right?" Knock Out questioned again. Breakdown gave a short nod. The medic stopped pacing and let out a mix between a sigh and a grumble.
"Fine, let's get this over with then."