So I did a Wikipedia search on Swindle, to see what to use as his alt form, and I found out that he's actually in the pre-movie comics. However, in these he's little more than a grunt, with zero intelligence and none of his normal personality. I shall disregard the comics because I just can't picture him being stupid. And without his mercenary nature Swindle just isn't Swindle.
Also, I received a surprising (to me) number of compliments on the fight in the previous chapter. No worries, more is coming, although the twins don't get another moment in their full glory for a while yet. Also, as a bonus, Banachek gets a role in this story, because he's another one of those underappreciated characters that I've got such a soft spot for.
Disclaimer: I don't own it, so you don't sue me. Comprendo?
--
It would never cease to amaze Barricade how short-sighted these humans were. He was sitting at the corner of a crossroads and Frenzy was on the sidewalk, trying to figure out how to work an automated teller machine. A small group of humans had walked right by the hacker and they simply hadn't noticed him. Barricade wasn't one hundred percent positive, but he was fairly confident that a small mech beating on and yelling at an ATM should have generated some response.
This was, of course, after he'd shot out the camera overhead. Judging from the crescendo of his vocals he was getting dangerously close to shooting the ATM too.
"Who's on Soundwave's team?" Megatron asked abruptly. He'd been watching the hacker with vague disinterest, not having to listen to the little 'con's rant.
"Astrotrain, Dead End, and Swindle." Barricade answered distractedly; he was busy yelling over the internal com as Frenzy pulled out one of his guns.
"Swindle?" Megatron echoed, frowning at the steering wheel. The scout took a few moments before answering, using the time to explain in great detail what the humans would do to Frenzy if they found him, and by the way, if he shot that ATM Barricade was going to leave and tell the Sector 7 people exactly where to find him.
"Swindle. Used to be a Combaticon. Big name on the black market."
"I know who he is," the human snapped impatiently. "What does used to be a Combaticon mean?"
"The Combaticon team fell apart," Barricade said. He was down to trading sparkling insults with Frenzy, but at least the hacker wasn't shooting anything. "Bruticus went up against Superion and lost, and Brawl was in Mission City. Swindle and Vortex are the only survivors."
"Bruticus lost to Superion." Megatron said this carefully, clearly disbelieving it. Barricade grunted and muted his internal com, having run out of childish names to call Frenzy. "Well, Swindle's survival isn't surprising. He's good at covering his aft."
"And running away, and hiding, and talking himself out of situations where he can't run away or hide," Barricade added darkly. Swindle was pretty much universally disliked by his fellow Decepticons, mostly because he'd burned a large number of them in various business deals. Still, he was useful, and he could get his hands on some pretty decent stuff, so he had been tolerated.
Then Barricade had to swing his door open as Frenzy came scrambling towards him, claws full of the green stuff called money. He spouted a few lines of gibberish, dumped his burden on the seat, and took off again. After a moment the hacker returned, once again clutching two fistfuls of money, and Megatron reached across the empty seat to seize the little mech and pull him in.
"Stay here, I'll do it," he snapped impatiently. He slid out his door and headed to the ATM, which was spewing money.
"What did you do?" Barricade asked, torn between irritation and amusement.
"Machinenotgivemoney," Frenzy muttered. He seemed more upset than was warranted, not that the scout blamed him. He'd been put in a bad situation; forced to choose between following the contradicting orders of his two bosses. Despite the numerous issues caused by his deep-fried CPU the little 'con was a stubbornly loyal one, and he'd had to pick who he was more loyal to.
Then a sensor started pinging, and Barricade ran a quick scan. There were bonuses to possessing a police car as an alternate form, one of which being he cold pick up on and hack into the radio frequency the police used with ease. He rode the airwaves for a moment, listening to the overlapping chatter, then shifted his attention.
"Go get Megatron," he ordered Frenzy. "It's time to leave."
The hacker whooped and propelled himself out the open door, chanting 'get Megatron' as he went. He slid to a stop beside the human and within moments they were both heading back towards the scout.
By the time the real police car swung around the corner, following up on some odd call that an ATM was being 'mech raped', whatever that meant, Barricade was several blocks down the street. Megatron was counting the money- he needed it for human food and the odd woven fabrics he wore. Previously the human he'd been traveling with had stopped at an ATM for money, leading the 'cons to do the same with arguable success. The scout thought nothing of the cars on the road around him, but Frenzy pivoted in his seat, finally slipping into the pack and pressing his face against one of the tinted windows. Then he started tapping against it.
"What are you doing?" Megatron snapped; repetitive noises seemed to easily annoy him.
"Meknowsquishie," came the reply. There was a brief pause as the other two tried to translate this. Frenzy noticed the silence and hissed angrily. "Bigblackcarfollowussquishieinit me-know-squishie!"
Barricade ran a quick scan and focused on a black SUV looming up behind him. His optical range in this form was limited, so he ordered Frenzy to send him an image of the squishie over their internal line. It took four tries to get the hacker's attention- the little monster was too busy gibbering at the car behind them and making odd hand gestures, folding all but one of his fingers down and waving it around. When he finally noticed his partner's growing agitation the hacker launched himself into the front passenger's seat.
"Screen," he barked, and Barricade let him have it without hesitation. The hacker input the image and did a background search. What he found had him screeching.
"Sector7!" he shrieked, hitting a note so high Barricade winced. "Sector7Sector7Sector7--"
"Shut up!" Megatron roared and Frenzy went mercifully silent, although far from still. When it seemed like nothing was threatening the peace the human continued in a quieter tone. "What is Sector 7?"
"A human organization," Barricade answered as he downloaded the info off the screen. "They're the ones who were holding- uh, had the Allspark." He corrected himself mid-sentence; nothing good could come of reminding Megatron of his captivity. The former mech turned the screen so he could read it.
"Thomas Banachek," he muttered aloud. "One of the directors of Sector 7 and descendant of one of the founders. It says here Sector 7 was disbanded." He glanced in the mirror, watching the SUV. "Is he following us?"
"No," Barricade had already concluded this. He'd cut into traffic just ahead of the human's vehicle; if Banachek was following them he'd started within the past two minutes.
"Good." Megatron sat back and continued to stare at the screen. The thought of running galled him, but they could afford to do nothing that would draw attention to themselves. "Get us out of here."
Barricade turned onto a side street, thankful when the human didn't follow, and tried to meander his way out of the city and onto the highway. His vehicle form was one with a lot of speed and engine power; he could easily outrun anything the humans sent after him. Then he braced himself as he asked the inevitable question.
"What now?" Megatron turned a dark gaze on him, daring him to be so bold. The scout ignored this and continued. "We can't keep avoiding the humans and the Autobots and any Decepticons who come here."
"It's Soundwave's turn," the human replied. "The ball is in his court, as the humans say. He'll send someone else to track you down, probably Ravage."
"Ravage won't be any easier to talk to," Barricade warned. Megatron laughed.
"But he will be a good deal easier for you to defeat," came the answer, and Barricade considered this. Nothing got to Soundwave like the destruction of his cassettes, the scout knew. And Ravage was his favorite. Kill the felinoid and Soundwave would descend upon the planet in righteous fury.
So long as he gets here soon, Barricade thought. He was getting tired of this, and he knew Megatron had to be far beyond tired by now.
And then they were on the highway, leaving the city miles behind as they wandered wherever they so desired. They were unaware that far behind them, a certain former agent was dialing a familiar number into his cell phone and warning his slightly left-of-center partner to prepare for the shit to once more hit the fan.
--
Sam was still shaking.
He had given up on pretending to drive and, in a complicated maneuver that would never be repeated, had traded seats with Jazz. So now he was sitting in the back seat, fully understanding why the saboteur had been complaining, and trying to figure out when this had gone from 'interesting, yet not dangerous' to 'ohmygod giant Decepticon attacking!'.
Another nervous glance confirmed Sideswipe's presence just behind them. It was as though the fight had drained all of the twin's rambunctious personality. He was acting, heaven forbid, mature as he followed them without a single comment. Sam was seeing him in a whole new light- previously he'd been a twenty-eight foot tall teenager. Now the human saw him for the deadly warrior he really was, and he wasn't sure he was comfortable with it. Sure, they were all fighters, he'd known that from the first moment Barricade and Bumblebee had started duking it out. But Bee and Prime and even Ironhide all seemed to consider fighting as a responsibility, something they had to do as part of their reason for existing.
Sideswipe had loved it. He'd had a sort of manic glee about him as he'd gone after Astrotrain, looking like a lion bringing down an antelope what with the ease and grace he'd shown. The others fought because they had to. Sideswipe fought because he wanted to. To be perfectly honest, this sort of alarmed Sam.
"Y'okay, Sam?"
He looked up and met Jazz's gaze, still shielded by those sunglasses, in the rearview mirror. After a moment to process the question Sam nodded.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just…"
"Scared?" Jazz asked wryly, then waved away Sam's sputtered protest. "I'm not sayin' I blame ya. Hell, I'm scared. I don't want Soundwave or Astrotrain showin' up any more'n you do."
Soundwave. Jazz gave a kind of shivered every time he said the name, a clearer sign of what he thought of the Decepticon than anything that could be said aloud. Mikaela had tried to get a little more information about him out of the various 'bots, but the only response she had gotten was that it was too difficult to explain.
Sam sighed and slouched lower in the seat, trying to twist around and give himself more room as he did so. Hard to believe, he thought wryly, that it had been less than two days ago that his life had still been perfectly normal. Okay, so his definition of 'normal' was a little weird, thanks to the giant alien robots, but still. Two days ago he'd been quite contentedly oblivious of any new war brewing on the horizon. He didn't know what was worst- knowing what was coming and being unable to do anything about it, or not knowing anything and getting broadsided by this.
Then he remembered how Astrotrain had burst out of the trees, looking like the train from hell intent on killing them all, and decided quickly he'd rather know what they were up against.
His cell phone started ringing. Sam grunted and rolled to one side to pull it out of his pocket.
"Hey son," called a familiar voice before he could say anything. The boy groaned. "Aw, don't be like that. You're gonna love hearing what I've got to tell you."
"Who's that?" Mikaela asked from the front seat. Sam mouthed the name 'Simmons' and she frowned. The man was a necessary evil- still a total jackass, but he'd toned down the attitude in regard to the Autobots. And as far as his job as official Autobot-government liaison went, he was best qualified for it and did it well. None of which meant Sam had to like him.
"Don't call me 'son'," he demanded.
"Your buddy Barricade was spotted in Ohio," Simmons continued as if Sam hadn't spoken. The teen started to say something, then stopped abruptly.
Barricade is the harbinger. So said Primus. And when someone who was the Cybertronian equivalent to God said something, it was probably best to listen.
"Lemme guess," Sam muttered. "He had a human with him?"
"Uh, yeah," Simmons answered, thoughts momentarily derailed by Sam's accuracy. "How'd you know?"
"Lucky guess. So who is he?"
"The human?" Simmons laughed darkly. "Kid, you give us way too much credit. It's not like we have a magic wand we can wave to get all the answers. Anyways, he was spotted with that little monster Frenzy, so he knows what they are and doesn't seem too bothered by it."
"Where were they?" Sam pressed. He was slightly shocked that Simmons was telling him all this. Prior to now the man had been a black hole in terms of information.
"Dayton, Ohio. Stopped at an ATM and did something to it, it was still spitting out hundreds when the cops pulled up. Then they got on the highway heading south." Simmons paused for a moment, then continued in a much different tone. "Now, normally we'd track him using satellites. It's not that hard and he kinda stands out. But there's a problem."
"Problem?" Sam heard his voice waver and steadied it. He'd realized as Simmons was talking that he had absolutely no idea what was going on. The teen glanced up front and met Jazz's gaze in the mirror again as he pressed the phone against his hand. "Should we tell him?"
"Prob'ly. I know you don't like him but he can help. An' what problem are we referrin' to?"
"Something with the satellites," Sam answered. The saboteur nodded.
"That'd be Soundwave. He's gettin' ready."
Sam almost asked ready for what, then decided he'd rather not know. Instead he turned back to his phone.
"Back now?" Simmons asked. He sounded annoyed, and Sam figured he knew he was being left out of the loop and didn't appreciate it. "The problem is, military satellites are no longer sending or receiving signals."
"Only military satellites?" Sam echoed. Far more subtle than the total communications blackout that had descended last time. Then again, Soundwave was the Decepticons' communications officer.
"Yep. But here's the kicker: the other satellites, cell phones and whatnot, have been doing the same thing in waves. They go offline for a moment, then come back on. They only do it once, but it's spreading to all of them. Like a computer chain downloading a virus."
Or like a Decepticon hacking into and gaining control over them one by one. The implications of this hit Sam hard.
"Uh, can we talk at the base?" he tried. Simmons snorted.
"I'm not an idiot, kid. This is a private line. Your friends set it up for me."
"That might not be enough," Sam answered. Simmons considered this for a moment.
"All right. In the interest of fairness I've told you everything I know. Now it's time for you to spill. And don't say you don't know anything, because clearly you do. "
"Fine," the teen snapped back. "There's a Decepticon ship in orbit."
"In orbit, as in over this planet?"
"Where else?" Sam countered in exasperation. "Here's the thing. This ship belongs to Soundwave, who's the Decepticons' communications officer. He's also a scary bastard, although no one'll tell me why he's so scary. The satellite thing is probably him taking over the world's communications because that's what he does."
"Soundwave." Simmons said the name carefully. Either he was writing it down or trying not to laugh.
"Yeah. Soundwave. And there's at least one other Decepticon here, although he'll be easy to find. He's called Astrotrain and he's a triplechanger. I'm sure you can figure out what that means."
"Triplechanger." Now the man sounded concerned. "So, what, he's got… three forms?"
"A giant train and some sort of jet-looking thing," Sam confirmed. "They don't look like they came from Earth. There's probably nothing on Earth for him to copy."
"Great. Anything else?"
"Yeah. Astrotrain's a pushover. Sideswipe took him down in, like, two minutes."
"Sideswipe ain't a good comparison point," Jazz put in from the front seat. "Astrotrain's 'bout as tough as, say, Ratchet. Th' only difference is with his size he should be stronger."
"Who was that?" Simmons asked sharply. Sam ignored him.
"So who else does Soundwave have with him?"
"Accordin' to th' info, Dead End an' Swindle."
"Who's talking? I know that voice. Who-"
"Oh, sorry," Sam said to Simmons. "I gotta go. I'll call you back." He then hung up, overriding any of the man's protests.
"Dead End?" Mikaela muttered. "Charming."
"Not as charmin' as the 'con himself," Jazz chuckled. "He an' Swindle were both gestalt members, but Swindle's team is mostly dead an' Dead End ran away from his boss Motormaster, for which I applaud him."
"He's a Decepticon," a scandalized Sam countered. Jazz grinned and shrugged.
"Sure he is, but he ain't a normal one. He's kinda… well. Y'know those commercials they show where people are just mopin' around? The depression medicine ones?"
"Yeah," Mikaela said slowly.
"Dead End'd have to toss back a dozen Prozac a day t' get that happy." A contemplative silence answered this. Jazz continued cheerfully. "He's a doom-'n-gloom kinda mech. Everything's 'why bother, we're all dead anyways' with him. Spends most of his time predictin' everyone's death and really likes goin' on and on 'bout how he's gonna die. Which is ironic, as he's one of the older mechs left."
"So who's Motormaster?" Sam asked. A depressed mech? He knew they were diverse, but this was ridiculous.
"His old boss. Used to be head of th' Stunticons, 'fore he got himself scrapped." Jazz pulled the sunglasses down just enough so that Sam could see the amusement in his eyes. "Do yourselves a favor. If Ultra Magnus ever shows up here, don't annoy him. He left Motormaster in 'bout a dozen pieces, and that 'con was one of the toughest out there."
"Ultra Magnus, huh?" Mikaela glanced at Sam, no doubt to see how well he was handling this never-ending list of names and information. "So, what, did he surprise you when he did that?"
"Ultra Magnus is a lot like Prowl," Jazz explained. "Very formal, very by-th'-book. Not th' kind t' lose his temper and lay into a Decepticon like th' twins do. So yeah, he surprised us."
Sam nodded as he absorbed this and rewound the conversation. He had other questions.
"So what's a gestalt team?" he asked after a moment's thought. Jazz snorted and shook his head.
"Y'don't wanna know. Just be happy knowin' th' only ones left are on our side."
"Are you sure?" Mikaela queried.
"Motormaster lost t' Ultra Magnus, Onslaught 'n Blast Off were slagged by Superion. Th' Constructicons had a fallin' out an' Mixmaster went Neutral. That leaves our two, so yeah. Pretty sure."
"Okay, so what about… the other one?" Sam put in. The saboteur considered this, then tilted his head to one side.
"What, Swindle? Real piece o' work there. He's… let's call him 'unique'. He's a 'con, sure, but he has an awful hard time rememberin' that."
"Do we have to worry about him?" Mikaela asked. Jazz snorted.
"With Soundwave callin' th' shots, yeah. But I wouldn't get too worried, Swindle ain't the most proficient warrior. He's much better at dealin' than fightin'."
"Dealing?" Sam echoed. "So he's…?"
"A merchant, mercenary, black market supervisor, whatever. He'd prefer to be out rippin' mechs off and makin' himself a fortune than fightin'. Makes sense, since he's so good at it. That 'con could sell ice to an Eskimo." Jazz laughed to himself. "Sideswipe used to be his biggest Autobot customer. They'd trade toys an' prank stuff an' harass everyone."
"So we don't really have much to worry about, then," Sam tried hopefully. Jazz's amusement vanished instantly.
"We still got Soundwave. He might not have th' best reinforcements but he's dangerous enough on his own."
"Right. Soundwave." Sam returned to staring out the window, trying to fit all he'd just learned into the big picture. He knew there were a lot more mechs out there than he'd heard about, but the casual way Jazz reeled off names left him feeling overwhelmed.
"So do the Autobots have any triplechangers?" Mikaela asked suddenly. Sam glanced up in time to see Jazz nod.
"Got a few. Springer, for starters. An' no, I don't know where he is." Jazz shot a look over his shoulder to check on Sideswipe. "We got a good team here anyways. We can handle Soundwave, it'll just be hard as hell."
Then they turned onto the road leading down to their new base and Sam sat upright. "I need to go home," he said. "I need to talk to my parents. The Decepticons know me, what if they-"
"Easy, Sam," Jazz soothed. "We're not gonna let somethin' happen to your folks."
"Captain Lennox and Ironhide are on their way to pick them up," Bumblebee added. Sam groaned as he pictured the reception Lennox was likely to get. Then something else occurred to him.
"So does this mean I don't have to go to school?"
Jazz snorted humorously. "Nice to see you got your priorities straight," he drawled. Sam shrugged helplessly.
Sunstreaker was waiting for them, arms folded across his chest and scowl firmly in place. As Sideswipe transformed he came over and gave his brother a shove.
"What's this about you getting into a fight without me?"
"Sorry, Sunny," Sideswipe chirped. "But you were taking too long. You didn't seriously want me to wait for you, did you?"
Sunstreaker growled, although whether it was because of Sideswipe's question or the use of the hated nickname was impossible to tell. Sam slid gratefully out as Jazz held the door open and stretched, enjoying the feel of having room to move. Bumblebee carefully moved away and transformed.
"Inside," he said, ushering both humans and twins. "Prowl wants to talk to us."
"Prowl always wants to talk to us," Sideswipe countered. "And I always get punished for something during these talks."
Sam smiled at that. Maybe picturing Sideswipe as a prankster and not as a violent warrior wasn't going to be too hard after all. Then his wondering was cut short as they walked into the building. Time to prepare for the worst, he thought grimly, and shivered.
Somehow he had a feeling the Decepticons' worse was far more than he could imagine.
--
"What happened to you?"
Swindle didn't try to censor his tone as Astrotrain stormed past. The triplechanger was moving with a noticeable limp and the mid-joint in his left arm appeared fused; he wasn't going to be making any sudden grabs for annoying commentators.
The larger 'con snarled in return, pointedly ignoring the question as he half-strode down the hallway. Swindle glanced back at Rumble, then abandoned their card game and followed the triplechanger. He maintained a distance just out of Astrotrain's reach.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, which I'm not, but weren't you supposed to bring someone back with you? Barricade couldn't have done this, could he? He's not even half your size. What'd he do, drop a mountain on you?" Then he pulled up short as the triplechanger turned, balancing his weight on his good leg.
"Sideswipe did this," he snapped. "Barricade hid his spark signal and ran away."
"I thought we weren't supposed to- what was that term?- 'engage the Autobots'. Last I checked Sideswipe is an Autobot. Or did the mean 'bot attack you without asking if you were allowed to fight back? Is that how you got so slagged?"
Had Astrotrain been in a better condition Swindle wouldn't have said a single word, but with the triplechanger largely unable to fight back the smaller 'con felt free to get in as many hits as he could. The transporter deserved it, plus much more. Adding to the insults, Rumble stopped next to Swindle for a moment and peered at the triplechanger.
"Soundwave's torqued at you now," he stated grandly. Then he took off down the hallway, cackling the entire way. Swindle and Astrotrain both watched the little insect, momentarily united by their confusion. They exchanged bemused looks and resumed their trek towards the bridge.
Soundwave didn't look torqued. He looked as utterly bored as ever, standing at the console and watching the planet slowly revolve. In direct contrast to his stillness his little minions were scrambling everywhere, dragging data out of various computers and putting the pieces together.
"The Autobots know we're here," Laserbeak informed them. Swindle shot a not-quite-subtle look towards Astrotrain, who turned his back and set his shoulders.
"Your orders were: find and retrieve Barricade. Do. Not. Engage. The Autobots." Oh yeah, Soundwave was mad. Whenever he started breaking his sentences down like that, he was only a few steps shy of a spectacular explosion.
"Barricade concealed his signal and hid. He refused to answer any of my transmissions." Astrotrain was too busy sulking to be worried about Soundwave's temper.
"We sent you a feed of his location," Rumble put in. "He couldn't hide from you."
"Frenzy scrambled the feed," the triplechanger spat. There was a startled silence at that as all of Soundwave's gofers turned to the communications officer. He didn't seem to know how to process this. Despite his long partnership with Barricade, Frenzy was still one of Soundwave's symbiotes. That he would deliberately sabotage his team was illogical and therefore far beyond Soundwave's ability to understand it. Sensing a way out of the corner he'd put himself into, Astrotrain continued. "I felt an odd spark signal coming from the southwest of where I landed, and I went to investigate."
"And where does 'investigate' translate into 'get slagged by Sideswipe'?" Swindle asked curiously. He smiled serenely at the triplechanger's sneer, knowing he was safe from retaliation as long as Soundwave was present.
"It's our fault anyways," Rumble said, using 'our' when he clearly meant 'Soundwave'. "We sent in an idiot who's been itching for a fight. We should've sent someone who doesn't like fighting."
"And wouldn't go looking for action," Laserbeak finished with a bob of his head. Soundwave turned to face his two parasites as he considered this.
"Astrotrain, report to the medical bay. Swindle and Ravage, prepare to go planetside."
"What?" Swindle hadn't been paying attention, thinking instead that maybe they could leave since Frenzy and Barricade were obviously malfunctioning. Astrotrain laughed at him as he jerked upright. "Swindle do what?"
"Ravage will investigate the spark signal," Soundwave answered, toneless as ever. "You will track down Barricade."
"What?!" Now Swindle was panicking. Go on-planet? With the twins and Ironhide and Optimus Prime himself? No thank you. "I can't- I love fighting. I would search out the nearest Autobot and attack. I would follow them back to their base and get myself scrapped and sold as spare parts. I would… oh, slag."
Soundwave had been watching him, visor hiding anything he might be showing, but the basic meaning was obvious. There was no getting out of this.
A large hand clamped on his shoulder, pulling him over slightly. "Good luck," Astrotrain drawled, then pushed him away and sending him staggering into the wall. Swindle caught himself and turned, about to drop his normal good-tempered, there's-a-joke-in-everything facade and really let loose at the triplechanger, but the transporter was already gone. Left bereft of a target, Swindle focused a sullen glare on Soundwave.
"Rumble will provide you with an acceptable alternate form," the officer informed him. Swindle turned a wary optic on the little 'con, not sure he trusted the mutant with something this important. This was reinforced by the image that came up on the screen a moment later.
"That's ugly," Swindle stated flatly. Rumble shrugged.
"It fits your specifications," the little mech answered, not quite able to hide his glee.
Swindle started to argue, then thought better of it. Instead he downloaded the info on the vehicle- an H2 SUT Hummer- and stored it in his memory banks. Better to not take on his new form until actually on the planet. He turned away from the monitor, 'accidentally' hitting Rumble on the back of the head as he did so, and saw Dead End staring at him.
"And what's your problem?" Swindle asked darkly. To his utter surprise, the other 'con smiled.
"Nothing," came the response. "Just glad I'm not you."
Yeah. That was reassuring.