Author's Notes: Here's the third part introducing everybodies favorite Decepticon Bounty Hunter. Hope you'll enjoy it. And do feel free to review if you desire. I have a sort of poll for who I should tackle next...

Bludgeon, Sonar, Skystalker, Brakedown, Dirge or Reverb. Let me know who you want to see next and I'll enjoy adding it. Bear in mind once I'm done with all these short intro chapters we get to see what the Decepticons are going to do now that they're all together.

"Decepticons, Mobilize!"

The call to arms. A siren's call at times, but one that I long ago opted not to get involved in. See there are always three sides to any given war… There's the noble, just and righteous crap that the Autobots embody, the ruthless, power crazed and hungry darkness that fuels the Decepticons rise to fame. And then there's me.

The bounty hunter.

We operate purely for profit. Selfish desires of possessiveness often times obsessing over any and every little thing that can lead to a surplus of personal wealth or gain.

I on the other hand prefer ulterior motives. See I was a young and ideal little soldier once. I obeyed the venerable Lord Megatron in his bid to seize the AllSpark and use it in some twisted vision of universal conquest.

I was loyal. Maybe it's really the only reason I still claim any allegiance to the Decepticon cause, some misguided sense of nostalgic pride at the countless battles I won. Sometimes single-handedly.

But these days I prefer to operate my way and damn this ceaseless little struggle the higher ups jokingly call a war. Megatron died for Primus' sake… Oh sure he got better, but we're stuck in a stalemate and I seem to be the only one able to actually see this.

So I work as a gun for hire. Or my personal favorite… An assassin. And I'm definitely good at my job.

I've killed Autobots, a few Decepticons, and a lot of pathetic little organic diseases that call themselves sentient species. No need to get into specifics, there's only one mark that ever escaped me. One saucy little joker that actually had the chrome bearings to make a stand and escape with her hide intact. But not without leaving me a little souvenir.

The way I hear it these days is she had a nasty run-in with Thundercracker and then Flatline tried to use her for some weird mixed up experiment of his. Never did trust the so-called medic, he's got about as much subtlety as a Constructicon. Personally I'd rather have Scalpel working on me, not that I'd ever tell the little runt that.

An incessant beeping interrupted the Decepticon in his log recording and he stirred in his seat. His ship was currently orbiting a planet in a sector of space inhabited by some really nasty little gnats. He'd just finished a job where he eliminated the head gnat on behalf of the newly appointed head gnat.

Ignoring his reflective mood the Decepticon reached out one finger and tapped the switch opening his comn channel. He wasn't sure who to expect, but if it was another cushy job he'd be there in less time than it would take to re-wire a servo-bot.

"This is Lockdown, professional bounty hunter and all around scum of the universe, according to some of my clients… Who will I be maiming for you today?" I asked in my usual casual tone of voice. As a business minded individual it always helps to advertise with words… Of course sometimes it also helps that when you have the reputation you can get away with pulling off a line like that and still make it sound good.

"Soundwave to Lockdown, proposal, eliminate Ratchet."

"Soundwave? It's been a long time since I've heard from your invasive probing self… Mind if I ask why I should be destroying Ratchet?" I asked even while I checked Soundwave's current location in my ship's onboard systems and calculated how long it'd take me to get there.

"Ratchet is Autobots' main medical unit. Elimination of Ratchet ensures Autobots' failure to repair injured units during our battle." Soundwave's explanation made sense, but I wasn't about to accept any job in tangling with the medic until I was sure about two things.

"The fee for that kind of job is going to be high, Soundwave, you do realize that those organic bipeds that cohabitate the third planet from that sun are a considerable threat. I don't take anything lightly, even with my reputation." I smiled. "Also I'm going to want a specialist to join up with me for the duration of the mission… Not so much as a bodyguard, more of a… Distraction."

"Request acceptable, unit selection beginning," Soundwave reported.

"Not so fast… I don't want one of your… Pets anywhere near me," I stated. "I'll choose who's going to be the fall-bot in this case, if you don't mind."

"Affirmative. Rendezvous with Flatline and Thundercracker at Nemesis," Soundwave instructed. "Further instructions will be delivered by Thundercracker."

Triggering my ship's engines I plotted the course and settled in for a medium sized trip. Bringing up a quick roster of Decepticons currently operating in the area I began to select who would serve as bait to keep the organics off my tailpipes while I worked.

Know your enemy. The first rule for anyone operating in this line of work… As soon as Starscream reported on the inhabitants of the planet Earth I downloaded every signal I could get from the system. Having to sift through all of the spam – to borrow a human expression – took about a hundred and twenty klicks.

But at least I wasn't going in blind. Now all I had to do was finish the job and pick up my payment. I knew I could trust Soundwave on that end, he tended to operate his own agendas on the side, but he still knew when to betray and when to feign friendship.

Didn't bother me in the slightest. As long as I got the opportunity to tangle with Ratchet again after our last little encounter. He was always fun to mess around with, last time I was trying to kill some other mech and Ratchet just happened to be working under the guy. It was always good to get a little torture in, made for a healthy and harmless pastime.

"Welcome to Earth," I said to myself with a smirk. Retracting my specialized tool in my right hand I scratched briefly at an itch in my armor – Cybertronians do get them too. "Nice place to visit, even better place for a little hunting, score a few upgrades. I've always wanted one of Ironhide's cannons… Maybe I'll get the chance to snag it." Chuckling I finally found the perfect tool for my distraction job on the list of available units. Settling in for the trip I started sharpening my hook.

The End