Devcon was one of the most sought-after bounty hunters in the galaxy. Tactful, focused and tough as nails. So why did he have to get stuck babysitting?
Devcon sighed as he leaned on the wall outside of his charge's apartment door. Lightbright was something called a "city speaker", one who could understand Titans. And Devcon had been given the wonderful task of escorting her to Crystal City where she would be put in charge of their Titan. The Crystal City council had been worried Decepticons might try to capture Lightbright, even though Devcon had thought that unlikely. What would the Decepticons want with a city speaker? So they had hired the bounty hunter as Lightbright's bodyguard, and even though they were paying him handsomely, he still wasn't thrilled about the job.
"Are you ready yet?" Devcon asked, tapping his knuckles against the door.
"Just about!" Lightbright's obnoxiously cheerful voice called.
Devcon let out another sigh and glanced over at Slizardo, who was standing nearby polishing Devcon's rifle, even though Devcon had told him numerous times it wasn't necessary.
"Coming!" Lightbright called, and Devcon could hear the sound of approaching footsteps behind the door.
"Could I have that now?" Devcon asked, reaching for his weapon.
Slizardo quickly finished buffing a smudge on the rifle and handed it to the Autobot.
"Thanks", Devcon said with a smile. The little alien was always doing something to feel useful.
The door flew open and Lightbright walked into the hall, carrying a small pack. "Ready!"
About time. Devcon took the pack from her and shoved it into his storage compartment. He had calculated the trip to Crystal City would take roughly five hours, give or take, and he had a feeling Lightbright's chipper personality would soon get annoying.
"Oh, you are so cute!" Lightbright gushed upon seeing Slizardo, cupping the alien's face in her hands.
"Don't talk to him like that". Devcon mumbled, heading for the exit.
"Why?" Lightbright asked, giving Slizardo a pat on the head. "He likes it!" Slizardo made a chattering sound of agreement.
Devcon rolled his eyes and continued down the hall, with Lightbright and Slizardo close behind.
When they walked out of the apartment complex, Lightbright made a move to transform into her hovercraft mode but Devcon put a hand on her shoulder.
"We're not flying, it might attract attention". Devcon explained. "Crystal City arranged for a private transport".
"Oh that sounds fun!" Lightbright said, scooping up Slizardo and holding him as if he were a sparkling.
Devcon shook his head and busied himself by scanning for the transporter which should be arriving any minute.
And there it was.
The small shuttle stopped in front of the travelers and they stepped inside. Once they had sat down, the shuttle took off and Devcon leaned back in his seat. He might as well take a nap for a few minutes, rather than watch Lightbright baby Slizardo.
He had been dozing for a few minutes when his private commlink activated.
"Hello?" he mumbled groggily.
"Where are you?" a voice demanded.
"Who is this?" Devcon asked, jerking to attention.
"This is Froid", the bot said irritably. "The shuttle is at Lightbright's apartment waiting for you, now get out there!"
"We're already in the shuttle". Devcon replied, confused.
"Do you think I'm stupid? The shuttle just called me and said you're nowhere to be seen!"
Devcon's stomach dropped. He stood and made his way to the front of the shuttle.
"Devcon? Devcon, answer me!" Froid demanded.
The driver's seat of the shuttle was empty, they were on autopilot. Where the location was set for was anyone's guess.
"Devcon, you simpleton! What's going on?!" Froid shouted.
"We're in trouble…"
"What. Happened?!"
"I think the Cons sent a decoy ship. That's the one we're one. It's on autopilot". Devcon was already trying to reset the controls as he spoke.
"Get her out of there!"
"I'm doing my best!"
"Well you're going to have to do better than that!" Froid's voice quivered with anger.
"Instead of criticizing me, why don't you do something useful, like, I don't know, sending a rescue team after us?" Devcon said.
"I just deployed one". Froid said. He paused. "They say they can't find the shuttle's signature".
"They've got something masking the signature then", Devcon said.
"I'm warning you, Devcon!" Froid began. "If you let the Decepticons capture Lightbright, I'll make sure you never get another job! Bounty hunting or otherwise!" He abruptly cut off the communication.
Devcon gave up on trying to reset the controls, they had been tamperproof. He then began trying to bust out the windshield, with no luck.
Hearing the commotion, Slizardo walked into the cockpit and made an inquisitive chatter.
"Looks like we boarded the wrong shuttle, buddy". Devcon told him, now using his blaster to fire shots at the glass. The blasts didn't even make a dent.
"What are you doing in here?" Lightbright asked, walking in.
Devcon was about to explain the situation but stopped when the small monitor screen on the dashboard lit up.
"Well, if it ain't Devcon!" Brawl, one of the Combaticons, said as his face came up on the monitor. "Ya know, I always heard you were pretty smart. Smart bots don't walk right into traps! Oh, and I wouldn't bother trying to break out of the shuttle, you're gonna need to save your strength for the welcome party we've got planned!" With that, the monitor shut off.
Devcon looked over at Slizardo and Lightbright, both of them looked a little worried.
"We'll get out of this", Devcon told them.
He hoped.