Title: "Life Bargains"
Summary: When a certain swindler is charged for his involvement with the Decepticons, he escapes the imminent offlining looming above his head and crash-lands on Earth. Unbeknown to him, the best bounty hunter in the galaxy is hot on his trail...
Rating: M (Violence, Language, Gore, Explicit Content)
Authors Note: I'll outline the general storyline for you all; It's mostly Movie-'Verse, but there's some Transformers Animated added in there... There are certain aspects of the Transformers world that Bay, the director of the movies, just didn't include. The Elite Guard, certain characters, and other little things will be added. Which is why this will be in both the Transformers Movie category and the Transformers Animated category.
Hope you all enjoy.
"Under the charges of stealing highly dangerous equipment from the Elite Guard, building lethal machines constructed for the main purpose of destroying Cybertronian beings, and illegally negotiating with exclusive Decepticon individuals, your sentence shall be decided by the jury that the Elite Guard themselves have chosen for the case.
"Do you have any questions, objections, or defenses you would like to vocalize? If so, please do so now."
The Cybertronian in question kept his head ducked low, shadows covering his facial plates. His weapons had been relieved of him, those built in being put into lock-down for the immediate safety of the court.
The stasis-cuffs kept his hands bound in front of him, his fingers splayed and his palms facing the ground. His pedes were shoulder-length apart and facing forward. The way his guards had told him to stand. A prisoner.
His shoulders were hunched a bit, helping hide his expression from those around him; the jury, to his right, floating in their box seats and staring at him; the small audience that had appeared, sitting behind him in their own floating box, larger than the jury's to accommodate for the larger number of people; and the Elite Guard themselves, floating in front of him, their curved table helping them all sit and watch him in silence.
In the middle of the curve, not sitting, was the Autobot in charge of reading his charges and rights, Landmine. This was an Autobot that did things right, the accused knew all too well. He'd been the same 'Bot to capture the defendant that he was now speaking to, making sure his words were said clearly and properly.
He was going to make sure that this Decepticon-wannabe was offline before the next Groon was done, whatever it took.
A thick silence fell over the collected Cybertronians, covering each of them like a perfectly fitted blanket. There were a few frowns shared amongst the jury, and a few scowls and glares from the Elite Guard themselves.
Growling quietly, Landmine spoke once more, "Do you have any—"
"No."
The word broke in so smoothly, so sharply that it took a moment for the word to be fully processed, the surprise of speech being hard to surpass after the Breems of silence. The accused had blatantly refused to speak, remaining silent throughout the entire reading, the accusations, and the snide remarks passed by behind him.
"… Then, the jury will take this time to go over the charges and decide your punishment."
There were a few murmurs behind the shackled Cybertronian, and he felt a sharp scowl touch his dark features. Purple optics stared at the ground, burning with hatred and rage. His arms trembled slightly as he slowly clenched his fists, forcing them not to shake any more than they already were.
His Spark churned with cold fury, his optics narrowed with vehemence. Violence ravaged his Spark, making him crave the screams of pain and fear from the Autobots trialing him. Made him wish for their Energon staining his frame, rolling down his paint job lazily as he stood over their ravaged exoskeletons, laughing down at them…
His eyes snapped halfway shut as he tightened his fists, clenching his jaw shut as his entire body twitched with the joint actions. He couldn't die here. He just couldn't, it wasn't an option…
There was a low sound of a vocalizer being cleared, and he loosened his body, his palms once more facing the ground, his optics shuttering. He heard a small whirring sound as a data pad was passed between the announcer and the leader of the jury.
Taking a moment to read it, Landmine let his optics scan the result, and couldn't help but smirk.
The expression didn't pass by the defendant, his optics narrowing with animosity at the smug grin.
"By order of the jury selected by the Elite Guard," he called out, "the accused Cybertronian is sentenced to be offlined in seven Breems, at the official jail of the Cybertron Elite Guard."
He dimmed his audio receivers, coolant washing gently through him as he stared numbly at the ground. Offlined. In such little time…
He heard that it was public, anyone could come to watch his execution. They are such morbid beings, no matter what they say, he thought bitterly, cursing them all.
A loud sound from outside made the room fall silent, and he finally lifted his head, optics bright as he turned his audio receivers to full.
There was an amazing lull over those present as the accused stared at the wall.
"-Run.-"
The wall exploded inwards, making several Cybertronians cry out in surprise, and for those close enough to said wall, fear. He felt a jolt, taking a step back as a piece of debris flew at him.
The stasis-cuffs keeping his feet attached to the platform made him freeze, his optics widening in shock and abrupt, unexplainable fear as the piece of wall closed the distance…
It spun abruptly, shooting to the side as a small silver form shot down, a small blur of red hinting the criminal to who it was. He unfroze, quickly crouching and holding his wrists out.
The feline-shaped Decepticon hissed quietly, but his eye glowed and he lashed out with his claws, leaving a deep gouge, as well as a small transmitter, on the cuffs. He repeated the motion with those attaching his ankles to the ground, and a small red light began to flash silently on the transmitters.
The cuffs abruptly shut down, the small yellow glow that had kept him bound retracting into the metal cuffs. He ripped them off, stepping out of the ones on his feet, turning his optics immediately to his savior.
"Escape to Earth," the Decepticon snarled, the red optic on his face darting around, taking in every detail. Another explosion had blown out two of the walls, the entire audience having rushed out in a hurry. The jury was trying to collect itself, one of the explosions having come from directly behind it and sending two of them into Stasis Lock.
The Elite Guard had put its barriers up, however, and were the first to notice that it was an escape attempt; "Landmine, the prisoner!"
The Autobot spun away from the jury, optics widening as he saw the Decepticon whirl around, baring its long fangs at him.
"Go!" the Decepticon snarled, casting one last look at the former prisoner before lunging at the announcer, knocking him down.
He needed no extra motivation, running to the hole in the wall that had been the first distraction and jumping onto the broken remains. He looked through, saw the familiar buildings of Tyger Pax, and scowled darkly.
"-Proceed East.-"
"-Why are you helping me?-" he transmitted back quickly, not wanting to lose the line. He managed to run a few steps before the images around him wavering, shimmering like a mirage before breaking down into data streams, then vanishing.
A door appeared in front of him, and he dashed for it, hearing the shouts of the Autbots behind him.
"-Continue through the door and out of the hologram room. Turn left.-"
He didn't repeat his question, concentrating on the directions as he burst through the door seconds after the small green light lit up. Immediately, the alarms went off, and he narrowed his optics as he glared to the side, where motion suddenly erupted.
"-Move!-"
The Decepticon again, the one that had saved him. He glanced back to see the feline running towards him over the hologram room's floor, barking the same order aloud as he skid out of the room, baring his fangs at the guards, giving them sudden second thoughts.
He pelted down the hall, never giving a second thought to the Decepticon that was covering his back.
"-Turn right up ahead, and another left will bring you to the hangar. It's empty.-"
"Why are you helping me!?" he shouted aloud, the transmission breaking once more before he even got a word across. Damn it!
He skid to the right, a startled gasp escaping him as a familiar Autobot stood before him. "Prowl—"
"Glad to be recognized amongst Decepticon scum," the warrior growled, his hands already wielding his gun, aimed promptly between the purple optics of the possible escapee.
"Hey, Auto-idiot!"
A small form suddenly jumped onto the Autobot's back, giving him a start before he shouted in surprise, spinning around in an attempt to dislodge the small Decepticon.
Rumble clung onto the Cyber-ninja's back, prying the panel off his back and reaching in with a devious grin, grabbing a handful of wires. Prowl gave a shout of surprise and dread before the wires were torn out, sending him to the ground, optics offline, his entire program in recharge.
The small cassette stood up with his prize, the wires from the Autobot warrior's programming, and grinned up at the prisoner, making him step back uneasily. "C'mon, this way."
The small Decepticon ran off down the hall and, with a start, he realized he recognized the small Cybertronian, and ran after him.
After the left, a huge door loomed in front of him, making him slam on the brakes to avoid crushing the small 'Con in front of him.
"Come on Soundwave, we don't have the whole Orbital Cycle!" Rumble said, exasperated, and whether he was speaking over the communications link or just to the door, the escapee hadn't a clue.
Whichever it was, the door beeped and opened, revealing the empty hangar, just as promised. They both dashed in, the smaller one leading the way once more to the open doors of the Ark.
A large ship with the Decepticon's symbol stood idling in the doorway, a small form behind the wheel, waving frantically.
"Where's Ravage?" The voice echoed on the speakers of the small ship, and Rumble cast a glance at his follower, who glanced at the door and shrugged.
"-Cool your hard drive, I'm coming,-" the missing 'Con sent over with exasperation and, soon enough, he loped into the room, optic flickering as the door slammed shut behind him, cutting off the unwanted posse that had followed him.
"-The three of you, get on the ship,-" Soundwave sent, the sound of typing coming over his transmission.
"Why are you helping me?" The odd-one out, the ex-prisoner, the accused, the escapee, he didn't know what to call himself now. He was getting tired of asking, but he didn't hesitate to rush up the ramp towards the Decepticon ship, ducking inside as Ravage pelted past him.
The door shut behind him with a secure clang, and he jumped a bit, glancing back at it. The ship started, engines rumbling to life, and he was pitched forward as it suddenly took off. He reached out, grabbing whatever was convenient, which in this case was air, and fell onto his hands and knees.
He felt the ship trembling under his palms as he pushed himself back and sat down, glancing around quickly.
Rumble sat on one of the seats obviously meant for a much larger Cybertronian, sharing his prize with Frenzy, who was no longer at the controls. Ravage, obviously content with his job well done, walked over to him, making him stare down apprehensively.
"Why are you—"
"You have potential use to us," Ravage cut in, sitting down as he stared up at the Cybertronian they had just broken out of imminent offlining. "Leaving you to be offlined wouldn't have been convenient for us, so we helped you escape."
He wasn't sure what to say to that, so finally just muttered an acknowledgement and stood up, grabbing the door for balance. "Where are you taking me?"
"-Earth,-" Soundwave's voice transmitted, and a small file was sent. Reluctantly, he opened it, gazing at the planet that he was being brought to.
"Why… Earth?" he asked slowly, opening the rest of the folder when he ran a quick diagnostic that came up without any viruses. The languages were listed, the level of evolution of the dominant species, lots of useless, stupid information he didn't need.
"-The Elite Guard has of yet to acknowledge the presence of Earth, as well as the destruction of the All Spark.-"
"The…" He looked gob-smacked before shouting, "The All Spark!? Destroyed…" He trailed off, suddenly falling into one of the seats next to Rumble and Frenzy, causing them to bounce a bit and cast him annoyed glares.
"-Yes. They've chosen to keep it from the general public, being everyone they possibly can, until they discover a location of Energon.-"
He shook his head quietly before sighing, lowering his head. "… When will we arrive?" he asked, a faint smirk in his tone. This caused Rumble and Frenzy to glance up, even catching Ravage's attention as he looked over.
"-Such a change in attitude. What caused this?-" Soundwave sounded curious, as much as he could with such an emotionless program.
"I looked into the World Wide Web you referred," he said quietly, his purple optics flickering off as he chuckled quietly. "And I found a nice list of the primitive equipment they use. I could easily make something that would destroy the Autobots without a doubt with their machinery…"
There was a soft chuckle over the line, making Ravage exchange a glance with the other two cassettes present. They shrugged, resuming their chattering about Prowl's wiring, quieter now.
"-I'm sure you won't make me regret saving you,-" Soundwave said, the touch of amusement still in his tone. "-Swindle.-"
The deceiver smirked, lifting his purple optics to stare at the Decepticon symbol inside the ship. "No," he said quietly, "I won't."
But I'll make those Autobots regret ever trying to offline me, he promised silently, the rage still churning coldly in his Spark. I'll make them regret ever meeting me…
A lone ship floated idly in the atmosphere of a deserted planet, empty of its single inhabitant at the moment.
The main room inside was stocked full of oddities, "trophies" that the one living there had gathered over the years from his many jobs. Armor, weapons, even programs he'd saved on hard disks were scattered about on the many floor-to-roof shelves in the room.
Two metal tables, each elevated at approximately seventy-five degrees, dominated the center of the room, able to move from one hundred and eighty degrees, so that their prisoner was facing the ground, or zero degrees, so they were facing the roof.
To the very left of the door, a rather large cage was situated, a small computer programmed into it so the bars could be electrocuted, or the actual cage could be separated to make two cages.
Between the cage and the wall, there was a small box, filled with several trays, each with the same equipment; torture devices, surgical items used to either interrogate a Cybertronian, or take them apart.
An entire wall was covered with the main computer, used for transmissions, logs, piloting the ship and other such things.
A small light flashed silently, just below the words that stated "Incoming Transmission". After a few more flashes, the light stopped flashing, and the room returned to blackness.
Planet-side, the lone occupant of the ship tilted his head up to stare at the red sky, a frown on his face before he sighed, lowering his head and gazing down at the red ground.
"… So much red," he commented, kicking a small red rock. A puff of orange dust bloomed, and he waved it away irritably, not wanting to get any into his joints.
He looked at the small screen built in to his left arm, reading over the information for the millionth time.
His target was a small Autobot communications officer that went by the name of Blurr. Extremely fast, in his actions and his words, as well as a great source of interrogation, if information was what you wanted.
Of course, they always had Shockwave for that, but a problem had just come up. Blurr had suddenly decided to go on his own mission, after gaining some secret information about an apparent spy in the ranks of the Elite Guard.
And had decided not to tell Longarm Prime, his direct leader as well as Shockwave, the spy, about it.
Shockwave had ordered a simple bounty on Blurr; capture him, get what you know, and report. The end of the orders, whether it be kill him or release him, or "let him escape", would depend on the information he gained.
He heard quiet chattering and tilted his head, a faint smirk playing across his features as he walked towards the sounds. He soon found himself looking down a rather convenient cliff on his rather conveniently placed target.
The small blue Autobot was fidgeting around underneath the cliff, twitching faintly and suddenly vanishing, appearing a few feet to the side, before returning swiftly to where he had been.
"… Could be anyone but it couldn't be him but it could be anyone but it just couldn't not possibly be him, I would have noticed by now and no way a Decepticon could make it that far into the ranks—and not to mention someone'd noticed—if not them then—but he's loyal and it doesn't make sense, but why else would it say—or why would he be—maybe there's another explanation—but I can't ask him cause if it's true then he'd capture me and oh that's bad—but if I tell someone and I'm wrong then I'll get in trouble and he might get in trouble…"
He shuttered his optics, turning his audio receivers down a bit at the frantic reasoning the Autobot was apparently going through. Inward turmoil, he mused to himself, taking a single step left and positioning himself above his prey.
A single dash right, then he would return to being just below his shadow…
He frowned for a moment, contemplated taking a step back, and didn't; it would bring attention to the rather conspicuous shaped shadow at the top of the cliff's…
"Decepticon!"
He sighed at the shriek, and a blue blur formed out of nowhere in his peripheral vision. With a low grunt, he jumped from the cliff, transforming into his alt form before taking off after his prey.
He activated the boosters that he'd selected from his trophies, the sudden lurch of speed making him grin.
The Autobot came into view, and he focused his sensors on the speedy little 'Bot, carefully aiming his EMP trophy at the communications officer.
A single shot made a scream of pain break through the silence of the planet, pitching the small blue form to the ground with an agonized jerk. He sped towards his target, shutting the boosters down before transforming without stopping, planting his heels in the ground and stopping right next to his stunned victim.
He smirked down at the widened optics of Blurr, as the small 'Bot gasped quietly and struggled into a sitting position, hurriedly scrambling back, bumping his back against a large red rock.
"Oh, now don't run," he said pleasantly, waving a hand dismissively as he walked over, standing directly above the 'Bot. His grin indicated otherwise though, urging the small communications officer to run, flee, dash, do whatever he could to escape.
Blurr gulped, his entire frame trembling slightly from the strong blast of EMP waves.
"W-w-what do you want from me, I d-didn't do anything wrong, wh-who are you—"
With an annoyed sound, the bounty hunter crouched, which made the young Autobot freeze mid-sentence before a hand was clamped over his mouth.
"Now why don't you keep that pretty mouth of yours shut, and I won't pour Tyranium Acid into it?"
Blurr's optics widened with horror, his head shaking frantically. He smirked, pulling his hand away as the young comm. officer panted in a near-panic, optics darting around in an attempt to find escape.
His shakes faded as the pain did, the EMP blast only lasting so long. There was a sudden stop in his vision, and it took the hunter a moment to frown before the small 'Bot was suddenly gone.
He turned, smirking, amused, only to feel the grin freeze on his features.
Blurr stood behind him, not on the horizon as he had expected, but rather right behind him. He had a grip of something that looked suspiciously like a remote, and he was grinning. A single point up got the idea across, and he tilted his head upwards.
A small explosive was attached to the overhanging cliff, and he frowned at the small beeping that was coming from it.
"… Slag."
The explosion shook the ground for a good few miles, about seven Blurr would estimate, since he was four away from it when it went off a few seconds after he hit the button.
The rocks crumbled, falling down to a grimacing bounty hunter and making him vanish under the boulders.
Skidding to a stop, Blurr turned, staring as the orange dust rose in a lazy cloud around the spot he'd been at moments ago, faintly pleased with himself. He put the remote back into his arm, hesitated, then bolted off.
The smoke slowly settled over the mountain of rocks that covered the bounty hunter, more likely than not crushing his very frame out of shape on his cold, offline body.
A low beeping suddenly sounded, and a second, much quieter explosion went off, blowing the rocks right off of him and making them land a few feet away. He stood, brushing the dust off his frame, glaring daggers at it.
"… So much for staying clean," he growled quietly, scowling. All burn for the hunt had faded to a simple annoyance, making him lift his head and stare at the horizon silently. He transformed, speeding after his target once more.
With his boosters, it didn't take much time to catch up. He shut them off quickly, transforming mid-motion once more as he skid to a stop behind the small blue form. He frowned down at it, reaching down before narrowing his optics.
He leaped back seconds before the decoy went off, spinning around just in time to see Blurr race out from under a small overhang.
He transformed mid-air and took off after his target, managing to get just close enough to aim another EMP blast.
This time, he aimed properly, shooting the 'Bot's left leg.
Blurr's vocalizer went offline quickly, his silent scream echoing in his own mind as he went down hard, sliding along the reddish orange ground before he finally came to a slow stop.
He heard the motor of the hunter behind him and pushed onto his hand, looking back fearfully as he scrambled to his feet, taking a step before he toppled over with another silent yelp of pain.
Static crackled from his leg and he whimpered quietly as he brought his vocalizer back online, scrambling to his feet and limping off to the side as his tormentor caught up, changing out of his alt form with a satisfied smirk.
"L-leave me alone," Blurr pleaded, leaning against a thing that stuck out of the ground, something resembling a tree from the planet Earth.
"Now why would I do that," he murmured, approaching, "When you have such a nice bounty on your head?"
There was a flicker of something—hatred?—in the officer's optics before he grinned darkly and suddenly vanished, the gust of wind kicking up next to the hunter giving him a vague idea of what had happened.
Cursing, he spun around, expecting to see him behind him once more, only to find an empty horizon before him. Narrowing his eyes, he took a step back, scanning the area slowly, making sure not to miss anything.
He caught it just as he sensed it, spinning around. He threw his right arm, the blade that Blurr had produced clashing with the golden metal there, sparks jumping from the clash.
The Autobot managed to stay airborne, all his weight on the blade, before the hunter shoved him off, pushing him away and making him land a ways away.
He lunged at the small Autobot, EMP blaster aimed and ready. Blurr jumped to the side, detaching his blade and throwing it at the hunter, much to his surprise.
He stopped his lunge half-way, the blade stabbing directly into the ground in front of him. He spun around, blaster readied, only to find himself coming face-to-face to another of similar nature.
He narrowed his optics, as Blurr did, and charged his EMP blaster, each Cybertronian firing a blast of their own kind off.
Blurr jerked to the side, dodging the blast just in time, while his own shot hit the arm of his pursuer dead-on, causing him to grunt in pain. He felt a spark of hope as he spun away, ready to flee once more, before he was suddenly tackled down.
He cried out as he hit the ground, landing hard as the hunter pinned him down, grabbing his wrists and pushing them into the ground. He used his heavier frame against the Autobot, keeping his writhing body pinned to the ground without the use of extra appendages.
"Quit your squirming," he growled quietly in Blurr's audio receiver, tightening his grip on the blue wrists and gaining a quiet cry of pain. The writhing stopped, and he adjusted himself so he wasn't half-on, half-off. "Good job…"
"Let me go, you can't get away with this, the Elite Guard won't let you!" Blurr cried, starting to squirm around again, without much vigor.
"I don't worry about the Elite Guard with my job," he replied simply, yanking the communications officer's arms behind his back and gaining a rather satisfying yelp of surprise and pain. He switched both wrists into one hand, leaning over his prey and aiming his EMP blaster at the blue 'Bot's head.
That made him stop cold, his Spark seeming to freeze in his chest as he felt the barrel of the blaster pressing against his helm.
"P-please don't," he whimpered, his struggling ceased. The 'Con above him snickered, his grip still tight on his wrists. "I-I won't go to the Elite Guard and I won't report you and i-if you l-let me go I w-won't mention it ever to anyone or—"
"Didn't I say—" He pushed the barrel harder against his helm, making him squeak in fear, "—Keep your mouth shut?"
There was no response from the trembling 'Bot, and he would have been satisfied with that had it been for the lack of a reply. "Well?"
After a pause, there was a faint nod of the head, the blue optics shuttered tightly, trying to hide the coolant that was beginning to leak from their processors.
"Good. Now get up," he said, standing and yanking Blurr to his feet, still holding his arms tightly. He pressed the EMP blaster right up against Blurr's left thigh, giving him a chance to gasp quietly. "Shut your vocalizer off."
He opened the blaster full-power, Nanokliks after his order had been carried out.
A silent scream rocked the frame of the small 'Bot in his grasp, and he almost felt pity for the unfortunate officer.
Almost.
He quickly did the same thing with Blurr's right leg, another shriek going unheard before he retracted his weapon and released his arms as a test.
Blurr's legs buckled numbly and he fell back, just enough to get caught by the hunter who smirked, pleased with his work.
Blurr switched his vocalizer on, breathing raggedly, thickly, the coolant in his eyes slipping down his cheeks.
"Now, you'll think twice about running away, won't you?" he mumbled, lifting the 'Bot back to his feet and holding him there as he called his ship back.
It landed near them a few Cycles later, the coolant having dried on Blurr's cheeks, his eyes cold and smoldering with sheer hatred now as he glared bloody murder at his captor.
"Ah, now don't be that way." He smirked, carrying Blurr to the ship and walking in, unheeding of the slight twitch of feeling that had come to the blue 'Bot's legs. "You won't be here much longer if you cooperate."
Blurr resisted the urge to snap at him, keeping his vocalizer good and offline. He quickly scanned the hallways he was led through, noting all the turns and doorways they passed until they arrived in what appeared to be the bounty hunter's room.
"Here you go, your own little bed," he murmured, laying Blurr on the metal table with an amused chuckle. He strapped the 'Bot's wrists above his head, his ankles below him, gaining a slight flinch of pain with the latter.
"Incoming transmission."
He frowned, tilting his head before saying, "One sided video, receive. Patch them through."
The screen lit up, and he glanced at it, shuttering his optics a few times at the unexpected Autobot that appeared on his screen.
He thought fast and quickly matched the name to the face; Landmine.
"Lockdown?" The Autobot seemed annoyed that only he was transmitting a signal, but he didn't complain about it.
Almost absently, the 'Con in question clamped a hand over the mouth that Blurr had just opened, ready to cry out for help no doubt. "Yes, Landmine?"
A flicker of surprise crossed the 'Bot's optics before he brushed it off, hurrying into the point of his call. "I have a job for you."
Now thoroughly intrigued, Lockdown grasped a rag and removed his hand from Blurr's mouth just long enough to stuff the rag into his mouth, grabbing some tape and wrapping it around his mouth and head, securing it much to the 'Bot's horror.
He turned Blurr's table around, facing him away from the wall, before walking to the main computer and typing in a command.
His face appeared next to Landmine's in a small window, and he smirked at the startled expression on the Autobot's face. Ignoring it, he asked, "Why is an Autobot coming to a Decepticon bounty hunter for help?" he asked, leaning on his keypads interestedly.
Fidgeting, seeming uncomfortably, Landmine muttered, "I don't need your help, I'm just choosing you."
"Oh," Lockdown said with a smirk, "That changes everything. Then, why is an Autobot coming to me for help of his own free will?"
He was getting thoroughly amused by the 'Bot's discomfort of the situation, but couldn't help his curiosity. He wanted to honestly know why this Autobot was coming to him.
"Will you take the job or not?" Landmine abruptly barked, obviously getting sick of Lockdown's playing with him.
Frowning inside, smirking outside, he finally said, "Yeah, sure. What do you want?"
"I want you to capture someone," he replied. The sound of voices filled the speakers and Landmine glanced back sharply, typing something before a file was suddenly sent.
Lockdown opened it under a safe code, scanning it for possible viruses before letting it download.
"Coming to me of their own free will, possibly against orders or without permission," Lockdown mused after the file finished transferring. He'd kept his optics on Landmine the whole time, watching as he twitched and glanced over his shoulder at almost every interval.
Scowling, Landmine just snapped, "Capture him, and keep him alive, and I promise your pay will be worth it."
Now he was more than intrigued; he was nearly ecstatic. But he hid it, instead arching an optic bridge and inquiring, "Oh?"
"Windsheer's pressure launcher missile," Landmine clarified, sending another file. Lockdown didn't need it, declining it, his Spark twitching with glee.
He'd seen the Decepticon Windsheer once before, and he'd wanted that missile launcher ever since. He'd been willing to kill the 'Con for it, but when he'd heard that the warrior had been felled by another, then reverse-engineered for his parts, he'd let go of his obsession.
Now, though…
"Tell me, who defeated Windsheer anyways?" he asked, sounding uninterested.
"I did," Landmine snapped, and Lockdown smirked with an indifferent shrug. "Just get him… and I'll give you the missile launcher. Alright?"
"But of course," Lockdown said, chuckling as he shut the communication line without further a due.
He turned and walked back to the table, twirling it around so he could once more face the shocked and terrified expression of Blurr. "Bet you didn't expect one of your wonderful Autobot's to call me for a job, did you now?" he asked, amused, as the small 'Bot struggled against his bonds, shuttering his optics tightly as he gave muffled cries around his gag.
Dismissing him for the moment, Lockdown moved to the computer, pulling up the file of his apparent new target.
"… Swindle," Lockdown murmured, smirking. "… This will be fun."
Surprise!
Yes, my first post. It feels good to get something down.
It took me forever to find some Betas to look this over for me, and I'm relieved that I found one that I know. I found Jazz ( http://www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/u/1376983/ ) on iScribble(dot)net, the second place I went to search for a random stranger who liked Transformers. And my friend Windy, who I only recently found out has loved Transformers for a long while. Thanks guys!
Anyways, I hope this delivers for all the time it took me to post. Enjoy!
-Sycophantism.