"Life as a tracker is easy" his teammates would always say to degrade him, but Axor never let their attitudes cloud his thoughts. Axor is the tracker for the ASA, (Autobot Sadist Aggregation), a gang of Autobots who hunt down both cons and Autobot deserters and executing them in the most violent ways possible. It was his job to track their targets to their location and lure them into a trap so his teammates could finish them off. But their current mission; Axor will never be the same bot he once was after this mission was over.
The ASA were stationed on their ship; The Sigma, a transport/cargo ship they use to haul the remains of their prisoners back to Cybertron to be smelted down. Axor was checking their communication channels for any reports of Decepticon targets or Autobot deserters when; "ASA Sigma 17, come in" the channel became active. Axor selected the frequency and turned the volume up to broadcast it out-loud.
"ASA Sigma 17, are you receiving this? This is commander Dai Stack" came the voice.
The ASA leader answered the hail "Sigma 17 here, Commander, you got a new target for us boss?" he responded as the other members turned to listen.
"More then that, Heatwave, your team will be hunting two targets" Dai Stack began to explain "The targets are a pair of Autobots called Treadburn and Thorn, they were members of a security detail in Praxus, but they disappeared a few solar-cycles ago. I've received word of two Cybertronian's on a remote moon, I'd bet every Shanix that's where they are. Find them, and do what you do best" their commander finished before ending the communication and sending the co-ordinates to the moon.
"You heard the commander, team, we got a two-fer this time, we'll approach the moon from the north and Axor will do his thing. Blades; full burn ahead!" he ordered. The blue and grey bot with rotors nodded before forcing the controls down and they started to pick up speed. "Boulder, Chase, you two and Blades will handle them once they're located, but get their story first for the wall" Heatwave ordered before standing from his chair and walking over to a wall of shelves.
And on those shelves; were eyes. Dozens of eyes from their missions when they completed them as well as holo-discs.
Boulder and Chase smirked evilly as they discussed who would get which traitor. Axor couldn't care less if he was just the tracker and was rarely chosen to join the hunting party, as long as he got the job down and was paid for it.
The Sigma soon touched down on the remote moon and Axor made his way to their shuttle. Starting it up, Axor flew out from the ship and began scouting out the moon, beginning his search for the rogues. After a few minutes of searching with the scanner, it picked up a large vessel up ahead just past the ridge of a cliff. Take the shuttle in for a closer look, Axor soon found that it was indeed a vessel; a cargo transporter that had crashed landed into the moons surface.
Axor landed the shuttle near the crash and walked over to the wreck, examining the vessel "Hmm, it crashed recently" he said to himself as he pressed his com-link "Heatwave, I've found their ship, or whats left of it at least, sending my co-ordinance" he finished before opening his link and sending his location to his shipmates. Closing the panel, Axor saw a large opening and went in for a look.
The tracker looked around the wreck, seeing burnt cables and circuits scattered around as well as loose panels that where about to come off the walls and ceiling. A muffled noise could be heard from behind a wall and saw a small crack against it, Axor peered into the crack and saw two Cybertronians rummaging through the wreck. The tracker activated his com again quietly "I've found them, they're in the ship, I'll lure them out" he said before closing the com.
The tracker saw a doorway to his right and quietly walked over to it, treading carefully to not alert them of his presence. He quickly leaned against the wall and and charged his pistol, peering through another crack into their hiding spot. He saw the two traitors going through containers and full cells, trying to find something 'scavengers, pathetic' Axor thought to himself as he saw the femme of the pair, Thorn, find two Energon goodies.
"I'm sorry...this is all we can find" she said sadly, walking to a large empty crate, confusing Axor. But what he wasn't expecting, were two sparklings, only a few years old from the look of them. Axor lowered his weapon as he was pulled into his own thoughts.
"Mommy! Please, wake up!" a young Axor called to his mother, who was laying lifeless against the cold ground of the collapsed building.
Please! Wake up..." he called again, but to no avail. Axor just held his mothers cold hand as he laid beside her, hugging her side tightly.
Suddenly; a large explosion went off beside the ruins of the building, causing Axor to scream and hug his mothers corpse tightly. Soon; he heard footsteps running towards him, but he didn't look up. He heard the steps stop near him and felt a hand stroke his helm softly "I am so sorry, little one" said a voice.
Axor looked up to see a younger looking Heatwave looking down at him "Please...mommy wont wake up..." he pleaded with the stranger.
Heatwave knelt down beside the sparkling and placed a gentle hand on his back "I'm so sorry, she won't wake up, not ever, but she's at peace, believe me" he said, trying the sooth Axor as the sparkling kept his mothers hand held tight.
"She's okay?..." he asked, trying hard to sound brave. The older mech nodded to him, holding his hand out to Axor.
"She is, and we both know she wouldn't want her son to be here by himself. We'll give her a proper send off, I promise, and get back at the ones that did this to her" he said, his voice slowly becoming eerie.
Axor thought for a moment before his young face turned angry "I'll make them pay, I promise, Mommy" he said before taking the older mech's hand.
Axor, unknowing, dropped his gun, the sudden thud sending an echo through the ship, making it sound like the explosion that took his mother from him.
He fell to his knees as he heard muffled voices through his thoughts, remembering his mothers funeral, Heatwave adopting him, training him, and slaying every con and bot he came across.
"HEY!" yelled a voice, cutting through his thoughts as he quickly stood up and went for his weapon, finding it not there. Axor looked up to see the large mech, Treadburn staring at him with his own gun pointed at him.
"Who are you?! What do you want?!" the mech yelled down to the tracker. Axor looked through the crack again, seeing Thorn holding the sparklings behind her as the two children were scared to death. He looked to one of them, a femme, as her glance caught his eyes, Axor seeing his past self within her.
"HEY! I'm talking to you!" Treadburn yelled again, now shaking slightly whilst holding the gun. Axor turned back to the big mech and slowly stood up, holding his arms up.
"So, this is why you two ran away, to raise your sparklings" he said softly. Treadburn looked Axor up and down before his eye widened in fear.
"Yo-you're one of the A-ASA" he said, shaking badly "P-please...let my conjunx and the kids go and take me" he said.
"NO! Treadburn, you cant!" Thorn yelled "They need their daddy! I need you!" she said. Axor looked into the room and saw the sparklings clinging to Thorn tightly. Axor clenched his fist tightly as he looked to Treadburn.
"Take your conjunx and sparklings and run as far as you can. There is a functional ship outside this wreck with a interstellar-jump drive, take it, disable the tracker and I'll pretend I never saw you" he said, turning away with his arms still raised.
Treadburn looked at the tracker and motioned for his family to come, Thorn brought the kids into the hallway and away from the two mechs. He looked back to Axor again with the gun still raised "Why?..." he asked.
Axor turned back to him "I don't want any new life born from spilt Energon" Axor explained "Now go, your family need you".
Treadburn looked to Axor and slowly approached him, keeping the gun raised as he looked the tracker in the eyes...before flipping the gun and holding it out to him. Axor took the gun and Treadburn raised his hand "Thank you" he said, Axor raised his hand and shook his before the larger mech ran out of the old ship. Axor followed behind slowly, seeing Treadburn run to the shuttle and enter it.
Axor watched as Treadburn started the engines and looked out to the bot that saved his family and saluted, also earning a mouthed 'thank you' from Thorn and the sparklings waving as they took off. He watched the ship climb into the atmosphere before disappearing, opening his com to see that his ship had lost its tracker, making Axor smile slightly.
Suddenly; a jolt of electricity surged through his body, making Axor fall to the ground in pain. He looked up, seeing Blades and Boulder staring down at him as Chase appeared beside them with his taser-rod in hand "Oh Axor, I'm so disappointed in you," came another voice. Axor looked up to see Heatwave slowly approaching the group with his axe held against his shoulder "I had such high hopes for you, oh how wrong I was".
Axor tried to stand, but Boulder's hand converted into a spinning drill and he upper-cutted the tracker back down to the ground, causing him to grown in sever pain. Blades and Chase ran to his sides, holding him up by his arms to keep him from running. Axor looked up in time, only to see Boulder swing again and punch him against the chest, cracking his chest panels and shattering the glass.
Axor grit his mouth closed as the pain surged through him with each new punch "Traitor! Coward! Waste of metal!" Boulder yelled with each impact against Axor's body. The tracker felt his armour collapsing in on itself with each hit, feeling them get closer and closer to his spark chamber. "Alright, Boulder, that's enough from you" Heatwave said, causing the yellow bulldozer to step back as the green fire truck approached.
Axor painfully looked up to his former saviour staring down at him "I'm very disappointed in you, Axor, after all I did for you, you turn your back on your team" the ASA leader said, gripping his axe tightly. The fire truck looked to Axor's two captors and motioned to the ground, causing both Blades and Chase to slam the tracker to the ground hard as Chase held Axor's right arm out in front of him.
"This is your punishment" Heatwave said, raising his axe up...before swinging it down against Axor's wrist. "AHHHHHHH!" the tracker yelled as they released him, causing Axor to hold his now leaking wound as Heatwave picked up Axor's right hand.
"Come on guys, lets give Axor 'A hand' for his mistake" the ASA leader chuckled, causing the others to laugh and clap in their sick and twisted ways. Axor kept his hand on his open wound as he looked up to his former comrades, now his death sentence. "Alright, now its time to finish this" Heatwave said, causing Chase and Boulder to hold Axor on his knees as Heatwave raised his axe again "See you in hell, Axor".
...
...
BOOM!
A large explosion caught them off guard.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Followed by multiple other explosions, causing a thick dust cloud to form around them "What is this?!" Heatwave yelled. Blade activated his propellers, blowing the dust away into to have a foot drop kick him in the head and knock him to the ground. The other ASA members looked to see Blades on the ground unconscious as they looked to the con that did that to him.
He was much shorter than them, his white body with red accents shining in the sun's light as his red lights whirred. He only had one hand, gripping tightly to a long, thin sword as a gun could be seen holstered to his hip, and he was wearing a black metal patch over his visor.
"Who the hell are you?!" demanded Heatwave as the other ASA members activated their weapons.
"Just that space pirate everyone talks about" he said with a smirk, twirling the sword in his hand.
Heatwave looked the con up and down "You're the wanted pirate? HA! You're in well over your head, 'Captain Cannonball', there's no way you can take down the ASA by yourself" the ASA leader laughed. Cannonball looked up to the sky, causing the other ASA members to look up as well. A large cargo ship appeared from the cloud line as several cannons pointed at them.
"That's the thing, I'm never alone. And when there's something we don't like," he said, the cannons on the ship began to charge "We wreck it!" he stated before running at Heatwave with his sword as the cannons fired, causing explosions to go off around them.
Axor, still holding his would tightly, watched as the wanted pirate took Heatwave and the ASA on by himself, blocking a swing from Heatwave as both Boulder and Chase tried to land a hit against him, but Cannonball flipped over them before kicking Boulder into Chase and knocking them aside. Landing back on the ground, the pirate spun in time to block another swing by the ASA leader before forcing the axe to the side and hitting Heatwave with the but of the sword before side kicking Chase who tired to surprise attack him.
Boulder switch his hands to drills and ran to Cannonball, throwing a devastating punch. Cannonball raised the sword in time to catch the punch, but he could feel the power behind it. Lifting his sword up, he threw the punch upwards and dropped his sword before kicking it to boulder, skewering him in the shoulder to the ground. The pirate grabbed his firearm and started firing at the other two ASA members, Chase blocking the shots with his staff as Heatwave brunted them.
Cannonball ran towards them whilst firing, causing Heatwave to activate his arm cannon and fire back, Chase was about to charge at the pirate, but a shot from the Cannons ended up knocking him away. Heatwave and Cannonball ran, ducked and dodge a shot from each other, getting closer and closer to each other. Cannonball jumped up a rock and kicked Heatwave in the side, only for the fire truck to grab his leg and throw the captain away.
Axor watched as the pirate rolled across the ground before stopping on one knee. But he also saw Boulder free himself from the sword and run towards Cannonball. The track slowly stood up and stumble over to the sword left behind and stared down to the blade.
Cannonball stood up and aimed his gun again at Heatwave "Let's finish this!" he said. Heatwave aimed his gun at the pirate, but smirked as his eye noticed something. Cannonball looked to the side, only to be slammed in the chest and sent flying backwards. After skidding across the ground, the pirate came to a stop and looked up, seeing Boulder standing above him and raise both drills up.
But just as he brought them down...
KASHINK!
Cannonball shielded his face as Boulder's eyes widened as he looked down to see a blade running through his chest next to his spark as Energon poured out of the wound. The pirate pushed him to the side, only to see Axor staring down to the captain, his would still leaking before collapsing to the side. Cannonball stood up and checked the tracker before looking up to Heatwave who slowly approached them.
"Well, this has been fun, but time to end it" he said, charging his gun again. The pirate reacted quickly, grabbing the sword from Boulder's body and rushed over to Heatwave, the ASA leader not having the time to react, watched at the pirate jammed his sword into the barrel of the gun, damaging the chamber as it was charging.
Heatwave's eyes widened as he watched Cannonball smirk before kicking him away "I'll get you for this, you hear me?! I'll get yooouuuu-" he said before his gun exploded, leaving a flaming crater.
Axor felt his gaze going fuzzy as he saw the pirate who saved his life looking down at him, mouthing something he couldn't hear before blacking out.
Axor slowly awoke on a recharge slab, feeling dizzy "Good, you're awake" came a voice. The tracker slowly leaned up and tried to hold his head, but felt a smooth piece of metal against his head. He pulled his arm down to see a rough patch covering his wrist.
"I'm sorry, I'm not a medical expert, it was all I could do" said the voice again. Axor looked to his side to see the wanted pirate sitting in a chair beside his slab, looking at him.
"You shouldn't have saved me" he said coldly "I'm an Autobot after all" lifting his other hand to rub his head. Cannonball smirked to the words as he stood.
"Would an Autobot let deserters and their children escape in their own ship?" he questioned, causing Axor's eyes to widened and look to the pirate "I saw it all, you have a good spark, not an Autobots".
Axor sighed as he laid back down "I didn't want new life to be born in spilt Energon, they were innocent" he answered, looking to his only good hand. Cannonball walked over and stood beside the former ASA member as Axor looked up to the pirate "I can't pay you for saving me" he said, which made Cannonball laugh.
"No, I don't want payment, I want you" he said, making the trackers eyes widen "I'm going to take down the Autobots, and I want you to join me in the fight" he stated.
Axor considered Cannonball's words, thinking about all the wrongs he has committed and all the lives he ruined. He looked up to his saviour before slowly getting off the slab and kneeling "I, Axor, shall join you on your mission, captain" he vowed.
"Welcome aboard, Axor" he said to their newest member, Axor stood up and they both smiled, knowing they would have many adventures as a team.
