Author's note: Thanks to you all again for the reviews, glad you liked Optimus' memorial of Prowl. Again, my thanks to leavingyouforme for help with that scene.
I expect this chapter will probably be the most controversial and most unpopular, but on with the show eh?
The sun was setting over Detroit, bathing the slowly recovering city in pale orange light. On top of an old radio station overlooking the southern half of the city, Bulkhead admired the view.
"Nice. Kinda looks like 'Sunset in Venice' by Monet", he said.
Before him was a huge canvas that he had spread across a billboard. On the floor were several oil-barrels full of paint. He dipped his industrial-sized paintbrush into one and began to spread the paint across the blank sheet.
Bumblebee sat nearby with Sari on his lap, also enjoying the view.
"Good to get back into painting, Bulkhead?" Sari asked.
"You bet. I mean, after the battle of the mines and what with building the space bridge and all, I haven't had any time to sit down and express my creativity lately. Feels good to get back to it. Kinda like seeing an old friend you haven't seen for a while".
"Uh-huh. Speaking of old friends, how do you think Boss-Bot's gonna cope with training the Dinobots?" Bumblebee asked.
"I dunno", Bulkhead shook his head, "The Dinobots don't mean any harm, they're just kinda destructive and dumb".
"Hmm, who does that remind you of?" Sari teased, grinning at Bulkhead to show she was kidding.
"Well at any rate, he says they start training on Dinobot Island tomorrow", Bulkhead plunged his paintbrush into a different paint pot and slapped more paint onto the canvas.
"Man, I wouldn't want to be in his stabilizers", sighed Bumblebee, "I mean, all we gotta do is repair a city. He's got to train three giant, firebreathing Dinosaurs without the processor power to tell their crankcase from their driveshafts who would all win Cybertron's 'Worse Personality of the Stellar Cycle' competition".
The trio fell silent. Detroit's streets were quiet. The only sound was Bulkhead splattering paint on the canvas. Sari turned to look at it. It was gradually taking shape as a reproduction of the sunset before them.
She felt happy, surrounded by her two friends. It was the first time she had felt genuinely happy since Prowl's passing. The looming doubt of her origins was pushed to the back of her mind as she leaned back onto Bumblebee and yawned in content.
"Know what I miss?" Bumblebee said teasingly, "You being younger. You weighed less then".
Sari snorted, "Oh, like you can talk, Mister Five Hundred Kilos. But I kinda miss it sometimes too. For one thing, I didn't bump into so many doorframes", she rubbed her rather sore forehead.
"Yeah. Plus you didn't have to go shopping for cloth so often", Bulkhead said.
"'Clothes', Bulkhead", she wagged her finger with mock severity, "But I can't help it. I mean, it's not like any of my old clothes fit me anymore. Shopping's lame though. Apparently most girls my age like it, but it just bugs me. Also, we're supposed to like boys, but I don't see the appeal in that either. And another thing…"
"Take cover!" Bumblebee suddenly yelped, leaping to his feet and picking up Sari. He threw himself to one side – a split second later an energy blast struck where he had just been sitting.
"Uh?" Bulkhead turned around to face what Bumblebee had spotted. He saw nothing at first. Then something descended towards them, hovering just above the roof of the radio station.
"No slag", Slipstream hissed, "Figures it wouldn't be easy".
Bulkhead deployed the wrecking ball in his left arm and launched it at the Decepticon. She floated to one side and the shot went wide.
Bumblebee put Sari down behind a concrete block that housed the ventilation system for the building, "Stay here".
He whirled about and activated his two stingers and trained them on the Decepticon, who watched the two Autobots impassively. Bulkhead retracted his wrecking ball and readied it for another strike, but did not fire. Slipstream did not aim her blasters.
"Well well", she said after a moment of silent stand-off, "What're you two boys doing up here without your buddies? Leaves you pretty vulnerable".
"We figured there weren't many Decepticons left on this planet", Bulkhead replied. He began to swing the wrecking ball over his head, faster and faster, until it was just a blur.
"Well let me assure you, I'm all the Decepticon you can handle!" Slipstream shot into the air just as Bulkhead swung for her and Bumblebee fired his stingers. She came back down like a rocket and landed between the two Autobots, kicking out with her right leg and catching Bumblebee on the chin.
The young Autobot was catapulted through the air by the blow. He landed several rooftops away, skidding to a painful stop.
"Bumblebee!" Sari called out. She looked around to see Bulkhead launch both of his wrecking balls simultaneously at the Decepticon: she leapt aside, grabbed one by the cable and yanked. Bulkhead was caught off-balance and hurtled past Slipstream and over the edge of the roof to crash into the pavement below, creating an enormous crater in the road.
Slipstream sneered, "I never grow tired of this".
She took a few menacing steps in Sari's direction. The young girl jumped out from her hiding place and faced the Decepticon. A pulse of blue energy formed in each of her hands. Slipstream stopped in her tracks and looked down at her.
"You'll be sorry you ever tangled with me, Decepti-freak!" Sari said as threateningly as she could.
Slipstream arched an eyebrow, then laughed.
"Sure I will. I hate getting organic juice on my nice clean stabilizing servos", she raised one leg and brought it down on Sari.
Or at least where Sari had stood a moment before. The girl had darted between the Decepticon's legs and now stood behind her. As Slipstream turned to face her she fired both energy pulses. One shot went wide; the other caught Slipstream in the left optic.
"Aargh!" she staggered back and clawed furiously at her optics, temporarily blinded.
Sari looked over to see Bumblebee, five rooftops away, slowly get to his feet. She rushed to the edge of the rooftop and looked down to check on Bulkhead. He was climbing up the side of the building, dragging his enormous bulk up with his powerful arms.
"Hang on Sari!" he yelled, "I'm coming!"
"Bulkhead, be careful!"
A shadow fell over Sari. She looked up to see a fuming Slipstream standing over her.
"Idiot", she snarled, and blasted Bulkhead with twin lasers. The Autobot lost his grip and fell again. He groaned as he impacted on the road again, creating an even larger crater.
Slipstream turned her attention to Sari, "And as for you, insect, I think I'll take you back in one piece and feed you to Laserbeak".
Sari prepared to attack again even as her subconscious asked, Laserbeak?
"Bring it on, Starscream wannabe!" she growled.
Slipstream smirked, "Starscream? That wash-up?"
To the right, Sari could see Bumblebee leaping quietly from rooftop to rooftop, activating his stingers as he came. If she could just keep the Decepticon talking…
"Yeah, well he's scarier than you ever could be!" she stuck her tongue out at the giant mech.
"Is that right?" Slipstream grinned, "Well, how come I'm still around and he's off to join the Well of All Sparks?"
"I...wait, Starscream's dead?" Sari was genuinely shocked, "I thought he had an AllSpark fragment stuck in his skull? You know, the whole immortality thingy?"
"Well it's gone now anyway", Slipstream snorted, "He's currently gathering dust in a Decepticon trophy room. He makes a better ornament than he did a…yaaaargh!"
Bumblebee had crept up behind her and zapped her with his battle-grade stingers. She turned to face him, furious. He grinned at her.
"Sorry, can't stick around!" he bounded away, leaping from rooftop to rooftop.
Slipstream snarled something incomprehensible and ran after him. Sari watched her go. Bumblebee had a head start and was quicker and nimbler than her, but Slipstream was far larger and with longer strides, and she fired a few shots with her blasters as she ran after him. If she managed to hit Bumblebee just once, then he'd fall and she'd catch up with him.
Sari transformed into her robot mode, activated her jetpack and boosted after them. She wasn't sure what she could do to fend off the Decepticon, but she wasn't about to stand to one side and let Bumblebee be taken apart.
Bumblebee heard blasterfire close behind him. He ran even faster, his feet a blur and his movements fluid. He was aware of startled citizens on the streets below and in the very buildings they were running on screaming in alarm, but he couldn't worry about that right now. He was nearly there.
He leapt over one last gap between two buildings, ran a few paces forward and then turned to face the Decepticon. She was closer behind than he had thought. The distance between them disappeared in a few quick strides, and then she was leaping over the last gap, aiming her blasters in mid-air.
A noise from below warned her to look down. In the alleyway below was the Autobot Bulkhead, waiting for her. He launched his wrecking ball up at her while she was still in mid-leap. It was too late to avoid it.
Bulkhead's aim was true and the wrecking ball slammed into the Decepticon's midriff. The force of the blow catapulted her upwards, shrieking in alarm and fury.
Bumblebee trained his stingers on her but it turned out to be unnecessary. Once Slipstream had regained control of herself she cursed, blasted off in the direction they had come from and landed on the radio station rooftop. She reached down and seized the station's satellite dish and yanked it off.
"This better be the right slagging thing Soundwave wanted", she growled.
Before either Bulkhead or Bumblebee could react she took to the air, taking the dish with her. In a moment she was gone.
"Huh. So that's all she was after", Bumblebee said.
"Nice work, guys", Sari approached, deactivated her jetpacks and reverted to her organic mode.
"We couldn't have done it without you", Bulkhead said as he clambered up the building and hopped onto the rooftop, "If you hadn't distracted her me and Bumblebee wouldn't have had the time to arrange that trap over our commlinks".
"Anyone else hear her mention Soundwave?" asked Bumblebee, still watching the area of sky where she had vanished from view.
"Yeah, and she said something about that freaky bird-bot Laserbeak too", Sari frowned, "You think they've teamed up or something?"
"If I had to take a guess I'd say they're up to something", Bulkhead said, "We'd better tell Prime".
"Right, right. Sure we will", Bumblebee looked at the sunset and the once-again peaceful city, "But…we don't have to tell him right now, do we?"
From her vantage point on a nearby skyscraper overlooking them, Slipstream observed the three friends make their way back to the radio station's rooftop and resume their positions: Bulkhead seated by his painting, Sari and Bumblebee looking out over the city. She watched them for a moment, then snarled in disgust and flew into the sunset.
"Cool night, huh?"
The moonlight reflected off Jazz's and Arcee's vehicle modes as they drove through the lamp-lit streets towards Sumdac Tower.
"Sure is", Arcee replied.
"So, you diggin' Earth or what?" Jazz asked.
"It's really something. I can see why you love it".
"It's funny. From the moment we set down on this planet I got this good vibe about the place. And I'm finding out something new every solar cycle. For example, dig this; you heard any human music yet?"
"Sort of", Arcee answered. On her day tour of Detroit Bumblebee and Sari had taken her to an outdoor rock concert briefly: the experience had been interesting but bewildering and painful to her audio receptors.
"Well, turns out half of it ain't even synthesized!" Jazz exclaimed, "Apparently they got these funky little gadgets called 'musical instruments' that make those noises when you pull their strings in the right order or exhale into them with the correct velocity".
"Seriously?"
"Straight up, sister. Crazy huh?"
"Sure is. Prime's crew are really making an effort to make everyone welcome too".
"Yeah, they're all solid gold as far as I'm concerned", Jazz said, "Great bots. Know when to bend the rules to do what's right. Prime's got a day of bad vibes tomorrow though. I wouldn't dig training those Dino-dudes".
"Well, I suppose it's necessary. We could be attacked at any moment by the Decepticons".
"Like we were today", Jazz sighed, "Man, I can't believe me and Prowl offlined Starscream. Stone cold".
"It's not your fault".
"I guess not, but that's not what AllSpark communing meditation is all about. We never meant to hurt anyone, not even serious bad news like Starscream".
Arcee didn't have an answer. After all, she hadn't witnessed the events and cyber-ninja meditation was quite beyond her. They drove on in silence.
Soon they arrived at Sumdac Tower. They transformed to robot mode and headed inside, hopped onto the cargo elevator and rode it to the top of the building. On the top floor they found Optimus Prime and Ratchet talking with Isaac Sumdac, who was sitting at his desk tinkering with a collection of tiny camera-bots.
As Jazz and Arcee approached Optimus looked up, "Ah, there you two are. You heard Bumblebee's report on their encounter with the Decepticon?"
"Sure did, O.P", Jazz said, "Looks like Starscream's no longer a problem, though".
"Or at least that's what the Decepticon femmebot wants us to think", Optimus answered, "Either way, today's encounter proves Detroit is still at risk. The sooner we can train up the Dinobots, the better".
Ratchet turned to Sumdac, "Go on, Professor. What were you saying?"
"Ah, oh yes", Sumdac said, "It's just that I'm worried about Sari".
"Sari? Why, what's wrong with her?" Ratchet asked.
"Well, nothing is wrong, exactly. It's just that…well, she has been through an awful lot lately. The discovery that she is not a normal human, her sudden aging, the mystery of her origins and, of course", he cleared his throat, "The loss of Prowl".
Optimus looked down at the Professor, "And…?"
"Well…she is a wonderful child. She is bright and kind and full of life. But aside from you Autobots, she has no real friends. And as we have discussed before, Optimus Prime, realistically you won't be around forever. I just wish I could convince her to step into the outside world and make some human friends her age, but she won't listen to it. I suppose Autobots for friends are far more exciting".
Optimus nodded, "Ah, I had considered this. I've asked her a few times if she'd consider making some human friends, but no luck so far".
Arcee hesitated for a moment, then made up her mind and spoke, "If I may ask, sir, I understand she was privately tutored?"
"Yes, from a young age", Sumdac answered, "I had considered entering her into a public school but…well, given that even I did not know her true nature at the time, I decided it was best for her to be taught at home. She took to it well. She was learning molecular chemistry at seven".
Arcee nodded, "I see. But…I don't suppose there was much chance for her to meet other human children her age at the time?"
"Well…no, I suppose not. The other children always found her odd. Of course I knew why. I couldn't bear to watch her heart break every time she tried to make friends with the other children".
"I understand", the femmebot paused for a moment, trying to be delicate, "I don't wish to intrude, Professor Sumdac, and I admit I haven't known Sari for very long, but speaking as a former teacher I'd suggest considering enrolling her in a local public school".
"A…a public school?" Sumdac's eyes went wide, "But…but what would be the point? Her education went beyond university level, she would not be learning anything…"
"It's not the education that would be important in Sari's case. It'd give her a chance to meet other human children and make friends, and perhaps take her mind off her genesis".
"Hmm. That sounds reasonable", Optimus said.
Isaac Sumdac stroked his chin and knitted his brow in concentration, "But…surely there are other ways for her to make friends. Although I suppose public school would be the most natural way".
"Yes that's right", Arcee turned to go, "I don't wish to intrude, Professor Sumdac. I just wanted to suggest it".
"I will discuss it with her", Sumdac smiled, "Thank you, Miss Arcee. I know you Autobots only have the best intentions at heart".
Arcee nodded politely. She looked across at Ratchet, who was smiling. Their optics met for a moment, then they looked away.
"Me Grimlock destroy!"
Optimus sighed. Day one of training was off to a rather tense start. Optimus had met Grimlock's crew on the south side of Dinobot Island like they had arranged to, but that was about all that had gone smoothly so far today.
The Dinobots, all in their beast forms, were wrestling furiously with one another after an argument had broken out about who would be the first to complete the training. Or at least, Optimus had assumed it was an argument. As far as he could tell it had consisted of Grimlock hurling abuse at his mute companions until they were motivated into attacking him.
Optimus did he best to control the situation, "Let's settle down, shall we?"
A moment later he had to dodge to one side as Swoop was hurled through the air in his direction, screeching furiously. Optimus looked up to see Grimlock bearing down on Snarl, jaws agape and eyes blazing. Snarl waved his armoured head from side to side and lowered his horns.
Optimus rushed forward and stood between them before things could get too serious, "Grimlock, I need you to get your Dinobots under control for me. Can you do that?"
"Me Grimlock can, but me Grimlock won't!"
"I'll bet you can't do it".
"Raaargh! Me Grimlock can do it!" the giant transformed into his robot mode and bellowed, "Snarl! Swoop! Stop and listen to me, Grimlock!"
Swoop immediately picked himself up and Snarl stopped facing down Grimlock. They transformed to their robot modes and strode calmly to Grimlock's side, without a trace of the animalistic chaos they had just been consumed with.
"Right, let's try this again", Optimus stepped back a few paces and stood facing the Dinobots, "We're all here because…
"Because Dinobots want to bash bad Decepticons!" Grimlock roared.
"Well, yes. But primarily for combat training. You remember you all agreed to it".
"Huuurh-aarggh!" Grimlock bellowed furiously, "Dinobots not need anyone to tell us how to fight! Dinobots rule! Dinobots strongest!"
"Yes, you are strong", Optimus said, "But you lack technique and control. No bot ever won a fight through a blind rampage".
"Garrh! Dinobots never been defeated! Never!"
Optimus arched one optic brow, "Really? What about when you met Jetfire and Jetstorm and…"
"Me Grimlock not remember that!" the towering Dinobot clasped his clawed hands to the side of his head, "Not listening! Never happened!"
"But…"
"Not remember! Not happen!"
"Fine. But at any rate if you want to help us fight the Decepticons I still think you could do with some formal training.".
"Yes, Dinobots agreed to be trained by truck bot. We train".
"Good. Right", Optimus breathed a sight of relief, "First thing's first, you have to learn to…"
"No-one tells me Grimlock what to do!"
Optimus rolled his optics and accepted the fact that he was in for a painful, long solar cycle.
The hallway's white light was painfully bright to a bot's visual sensors, searing into the optical circuitry and threatening to overload it if a bot didn't lower his head or squint. The walls were bare and white, reflecting the painful light at all angles.
A lone Cybertronian squinted as he made his way down the antechamber. Tall and sinewy, bedecked in black armour studded with spiked studs, he cut an imposing figure against the sheer white of the corridor. A closer inspection of him revealed a patchwork of green, yellow and red parts – some native to his original body – most not. Most had been plundered from other bots and attached to his own body manually.
He was unmistakable; the lone wolf of the Cybertronian wars, neither Autobot nor Decepticon, faction-less bounty hunter who claimed his victims' parts for his own - Lockdown.
In place of a right hand he sported a wickedly curved hook. A dozen other weapon systems were built into his body, hidden away but all ready to be deployed at a nanoklik's notice if necessary. His drawn face, forbidding yet smugly self-confident, was lined with black markings, the significance of which were unknown to anyone besides himself.
The bounty hunter approached a large metal door ahead of him. The doors retracted in anticipation of him. He walked inside, shielding his optics with his left hand.
He was in an expansive room, with multiple staircases leading down to it from unseen heights. As his optics adjusted to the bright light Lockdown could see dozens of computer consoles and tables strewn with neatly arranged laboratory equipment.
"We have awaited your arrival, bounty hunter", a dry voice said softly.
From every staircase descended creatures: identical not only in appearance, but in the synchronization of their movements as they made their slow, methodical way down towards the floor. It never ceased to give even Lockdown, ruthless solitary predator of a thousand solar systems, the creeps.
The creatures began to assemble before him. He looked at one. It was robotic, but not even remotely similar to a Cybertronian. The body consisted of a single white cone, with the tapering end pointing towards the floor and the flat side the highest point of the creature. There were no arms or legs to support the body; instead a plethora of hooked tentacle-like cables extended from the pointed end of the cone, propping up the body and keeping it still and upright while the tentacles squirmed and writhed endlessly.
There was no head either: instead, a face was apparently carved into the surface of the upper body. But the truly starting feature of the aliens was that they had not one but five faces that rotated into the central, forward-facing position in an order that seemed random to Lockdown but probably made sense to them. The faces were unmoving, with merely static expressions engraved onto them. Each creature had one furious face, one laughing, one aloof and wise-looking, one stern and unforgiving and one ghastly and one grim and fanged; the face of death. All were grim and unsettling.
But Lockdown was accustomed to their bizarre appearance, or as accustomed as anyone could be to the Quintessons. He folded his arms across his chest and regarded the assembled throng impassively.
"Well, here I am", he said, "Wondering what I'm here for, huh?"
"Yes. We detected your approach several mega cycles ago, but we know not of your purpose", another Quintesson hissed, faces whirling to take it in turns to talk to Lockdown at random.
Similarly to the arrangement of their faces, the individuals Quintessons would take it in turns to talk. There was never any debate between them – they all seemed to be thinking the same thing. No one Quintesson had ever spoken twice in any of Lockdown's meetings with them. Whether or not they had some kind of collective conscious or hive mind Lockdown didn't know, and he wasn't particularly interested in finding out.
"I'm here 'cos of this", he held up a tiny data chip in his left hand. He tossed it deftly to one of the Quintessons, which caught it in an upturned tentacle. The alien crawled towards a computer console and inserted the chip. A monitor flicked on and the Quintessons gathered around to see it.
It was footage of the arrival of Optimus Prime's team on Cybertron, with a captive Megatron in tow and Omega Supreme at their backs. The Quintessons watched it in silence. Lockdown waited for the clip to finish.
When it did the Quintessons turned as one to look at him, an unsettling sight, "A most interesting development", one said, "You will be compensated for providing us with this intelligence".
"Uh-huh. Usual price?"
"Indeed".
"Good".
"How did you come into possession of this footage?" one asked in a flash of ivory fangs.
"If you bots must know, the Autobots gave it to me".
"Why would they do this?"
"Cybertron Intel paid me for a small job. To make sure this was broadcasted to the 'Cons on New Kaon. They're trying to demoralise the 'Cons".
If it was possible, the hoarse voice of one of the Quintessons sounded surprised, "It is unlike you to take sides in the Cybertronian wars".
"Ain't taking sides. Just doing a little job. A bot'd have to have a fried CPU not to accept a simple job for the amount of energon and upgrades they were paying".
"Maybe so, but the Decepticons will view it as treachery".
Lockdown chuckled, "Morales? From the Quintessons? Now that's rich", he grinned, "'Sides, I figure the Decepticon's aren't gonna be something to worry about for much longer, now that Megatron's got himself captured".
"You will still have to take great care".
"Oh, now you're worried about me? That's sweet. But don't fret", he bared his hook-hand and his grin widened, "I can handle the 'Cons".
"We are compelled to ask how you were able to transmit this message across New Kaon".
"Simple. I'm allowed to come and go there as I please so it was easy for me to find my way to a communications terminal. Then all I had to do was bypass their security systems, which I did thanks to that little doo-hickey you gave me. The Techno-scrambler 9200".
"You used our technology to sabotage the Decepticon's systems? We do not wish to be implicated in this".
"Hey, you gave me that sucker as payment. I can do whatever the frag I like with it", Lockdown leered, "But relax. The 'Con's security systems are ancient. They'll never figure out what hit 'em. And even if they do, what are they gonna do? None of 'em know about you bots, 'cept Megatron".
There was a pause. After a moment one Quintesson hissed, "You don't then think it is possible Megatron will escape?"
The bounty hunter snorted, "Oh slag no. And trust me on that. I slapped plenty of 'Cons away in that Stockade myself. Might as well try and fight your way out of a black hole. Meg's is outta the picture".
"Interesting. We thank you for the update", one Quintesson slithered forward, "You shall have your payment. Come".
Lockdown nodded and followed the Quintesson out of the room. When he was gone one of the Quintessons reactivated the console and played the footage again. The five-faced creatures watched it in silence. Halfway through they froze the image on the monitor. They all gathered around to peer at it.
"Most unexpected", one declared.
"Yes. But we have positive identification", the Quintesson raised one tentacle and pointed at the image of Sari Sumdac, at the side of the Autobots, "Protoform X has been located".
"After all these stellar cycles. How very strange it should surface now".
"But let us not question our good fortune. We must retrieve it immediately".
"And with Megatron indisposed, now is the perfect time to complete our work".
"It shall be so. Let us send the bounty hunter".
"Agreed".
A moment later the doors opened again and Lockdown entered again, escorted by the Quintesson who had led him out. The bounty hunter was holding a tubular device marked with strange devices.
"You are satisfied with your compensation?" one Quintesson asked.
"Uh-huh. Can't beat a Quint starship power cell, that's for sure. Now if it's all the same to you guys I'm…"
"We have a commission for you".
"A job, huh? I dunno, I got my servos full at the moment helping the Autobot Elite Guard bring in Decepticons. I'm gonna be busy for at least two deca cycles".
"We will pay you double the usual value for this task".
"Hmm", Lockdown rubbed his chin and thought about it, "Who's the unlucky bot?"
The Quintessons parted to give Lockdown a clear view of the monitor, which still displayed the frozen image of the Autobots. Lockdown's optics widened.
"Those guys again? You gotta be slaggin' me".
"We slag you not. But do not be troubled", a Quintesson pointed at the image of Sari, "This is your quarry. Are you familiar with this creature?"
Lockdown peered at the screen, "…Mmm…no. Oh wait, is she that human pet Prowl and his gang looked after?"
"Human? How curious. She must be brought here with all speed. The rates will be doubled".
Lockdown shook his head, "Sorry. Can't help ya".
There Quintessons were silent for a moment before one spoke up, "You said you would accept the commission".
"No I didn't. Not for double".
"Why not?"
The rogue Cybertronian pointed at the image of the Autobots, "That's why. I've had too many run-ins with those bots as it is. They're dangerous".
"You actually fear them?"
"Woah, down some coolant there. I don't fear 'em. They just make the whole thing a lot more complicated", his optics narrowed, "This is a premium job. I think you'll pay triple".
"Impossible. Our resources are limited".
"See ya", Lockdown turned to leave.
"Wait!" the nearest Quintesson hurried towards him on its tendrils, "Let us negotiate. You must be reasonable. We are operating on a finite research budget and…"
"Not my problem. I got nothing to lose".
"There are other bounty hunters we could contact".
"Oh sure. Go ahead. See how many are willing to go up against the Autobots who brought in Megatron. And if you can find any, send 'em and see how many pieces they come back in. Then you'll contact me again, and who knows, maybe then you'll pay four times the rates".
There was another heavy pause, "It seems we have no choice, bounty hunter".
"That's right. You don't".
"Very well. Triple rates. We anticipate your successful return".
"Sure. Won't take me more than a few solar cycles".
Lockdown turned and left, heading back down the corridor. He was feeling pleased with himself. For all their great intellect and scientific genius, the Quintessons really were very easily manipulated. Between this new job and the work the Autobots had recently been sending his way, it had been a very productive orbital cycle.