The corridor beyond was brighter than the previous room, and, instead of the subdued grey of the prison, glistened with a silvery sheen. Every inch of plating was clean and reflective, a stark contrast to the grimy and damp gloominess of the prison behind him. The starkness of the white light seemed to wash over the plates as if it could pierce the metal and seep into the circuitry beneath, cutting the façade into ribbons like aluminum foil.
It certainly felt that way to Silverbolt, who blinked as he adjusted to the brighter lighting. As his footsteps echoed through the space, he realized that he wasn't quite as alone as he had thought. The freed captive had felt the presence before he saw them, but he was still surprised when he looked up, his optics finally optimized for the light setting. Lockdown's crew had an appearance as diverse as the bounty hunter himself, with three male and two female mechs standing in a semicircle around their newest recruit. At the periphery of his vision, Silverbolt noticed one of them lose tension. The implication was not lost on him, as he realized that the crew did not entirely trust him. Fair enough. He'd find out why later.
As if stirred by his thoughts, the mercenaries shifted and glanced amongst each other, apparently holding a heated whispering match over who was going to speak. Then they all came upon an agreed consensus, at which point they shoved forward a small blue and grey mech, his helm barely reaching Silverbolt's shoulders.
His optics were a golden yellow, housed within a red faceplate on top of which was a blue helmet. This, in turn, was housed atop a blue and grey torso. His arms started off with one grey wheel substituting as a shoulder for each side, which led into a sharply angled forearm, which had blue plating. These had backwards-facing elbow blades, painted red, that curved backwards in an arc, approximately as long as his forearm itself. His legs followed a similar format, with grey thighs and blue calves, and red knee-guards as sharp as his blades. His ankles were made up of grey wheels that were the same as those on his shoulders, indicating that his alternate form was that of a ground-based transport.
The suddenly nominated speaker shot a glare at his companions, before turning to the newcomer. Then he cleared his windpipe, and turned his optics upwards – he had to look almost straight up just to look at Silverbolt's faceplate – to speak. His expression was one of slight frustration, most likely at being singled out, although it became one of neutrality as soon as he spoke.
"Erm," he began so elaborately, "So… this ship you're on… It's the Knight's Temenos, and we're its crew. Lockdown must have told you about your conditions."
Silverbolt nodded, his helm dipping ever so slightly. "He told me that I would work as one of you," he replied. "My designation's Silverbolt."
"Ok… what's your function?" he asked, his servos raising for an instant and then dropping to his sides awkwardly.
"I don't really remember," Silverbolt responded.
This prompted a small ripple of snickering and elbowing amongst the mercenaries, Repugnus looking down to try and hide his smirk. Instantly, Silverbolt felt a hot wave of embarrassment play across his faceplate and down his neck.
I don't remember? What kind of an answer was that?
Breakdown wasn't laughing, however. Instead, he turned quickly, staring his teammates into silence with a sharp glare. The mech turned back to address Silverbolt, but now his expression was slightly different – even sympathetic.
"We'll help you find out later," he said. "Right now, we're just making introductions. My name's Breakdown, by the way. I'm what you'd call a field intelligence officer – just a scout, really. As for the rest of my crew…"
The leftmost crewmember, a female mech, took one step from the others, breaking the oppressive stare of the others as they all turned towards her. Her color scheme was a combination of purple and black, with a black helmet, its optic openings lined with gold, concealing a purple faceplate. Her breastplate was a combination of gold and black plating, while the lower half of her torso was purple. Slender purple upper arms led into black forearms, which were attached to purple digits. Likewise, purple thighs led into black calves and feet. The most striking feature, however, were the multiple other limbs that, located on her back, spread around the entirety of her body like a protective cocoon. They reminded Silverbolt of an arachnid, strangely enough.
"I'm the central intelligence agent for this ship – in layman's terms, a spy," she said, her purple optics making visual contact with Silverbolt's own. "My designation's Blackarachnia."
The next mech to the right stepped forward, once again shifting the attention of the group. Unlike Blackarachnia, the bulkier limbs and torso indicated the mech as being male, who was entirely covered in light tan plating, with only his black helm and a green visor covering his optics breaking the color scheme. His ankle joints and shoulders, like Breakdown, were comprised of the wheels of his vehicle mode, although they glowed blue with Energon. His limbs were formed completely of hard angles and flat surfaces, much like Silverbolt's frame, although his torso held more complex geometry, with a brown breastplate that spread across his torso and a tool belt that encircled his waist.
"I'm Swindle, co-engineer and business manager of the Knight's Temenos. If you need a quick, cheap fix to your problems, or, more often, a good drink to wash away your sorrows…" A sly grin spread across his grey faceplate, at once reassuring and calculating. Silverbolt instantly distrusted the mech. "…Then I'm the guy to head to!"
"And if you need quality attention to something tech-related," the female mech to his right said, moving next to Swindle to give him a playful jab in the side as he rolled his optics, "then you may want to consult me."
Unlike Blackarachnia, this female mech had an entirely blue-green color scheme that contrasted with a grey faceplate, thighs, and feet. There were no limbs protruding from her back to speak of, although a silver gauntlet, one painted with the black outline of a gun and the other with the black outline of a shield, covered each of her wrists, and two small hovercraft rotors extended from her back like wings. One of her servos held a gunmetal grey wrench that was pitted and scarred with wear and tear; despite its rough condition, she held it close as if her life depended on it.
"The designation is Nautica," she chirped cheerfully, "and I'm co-engineer along with Swindle. Nice to meet you, Silverbolt!"
The red mech to her right, whom Silverbolt had seen in the prison room, simply leaned back against the wall, a dirty grin on his face edged with razor-sharp teeth. "And I'm Repugnus. We met earlier back there."
Silverbolt nodded in acknowledgement, and then turned towards the right-most mech on the end of the line. Unlike the rest of the crew, this one held himself with an air of command, standing ramrod straight and staring at him. His appearance was also vastly different from the varying shades and colors of his comrades, with jagged obsidian-black armor that was covered entirely in curved metal thorns that stuck out in every which direction. One of his servos rested upon a curved gunmetal grey scabbard on his waist, a red hilt sticking out. His faceplate was unseen, hidden behind a visor that resembled a knight's. Two red optics peered out, burning in the blackness they were surrounded by, as they scrutinized Silverbolt.
When the mech did not answer, Silverbolt grew confused. "Erm, what's your designation?"
"Sorry, he's a bit on the quiet side," Repugnus answered for him. "He's Bludgeon, the Lieutenant of the Knight's Temenos." He leaned in, as if sharing a secret, and whispered, "We actually call him the Zombie, but don't let him in on that."
"Ah," was Silverbolt's reply. He looked back up at Bludgeon, but the mech appeared not to have heard that comment. Instead, he straightened up even more, his gaze lifting towards someone behind him. Silverbolt turned around as Lockdown strode out of the prison room, his visor concealing any expression he may have had.
"Any questions that you have will be answered… eventually," the mercenary cautioned. "For now, you will room with a member of the crew, who will show you the ropes, so to speak." His glance swept over the assorted crew, from the annoyed expression of Breakdown to the silent brooding of Bludgeon. Then his optics swept back, and settled upon the left-most mech in the line.
"Breakdown, why don't you accommodate our newest member?" the captain asked.
"Me?" Surprise flashed across Breakdown's faceplate, quickly followed by irritation. "Why don't you just ask Swindle or Repugnus?"
Lockdown glanced at Swindle, who proceeded to whistle as he quickly hid a stack of credits behind him, and Repugnus, who bared his teeth in a snarl.
"I feel this arrangement would be for the best interests of all parties involved," Lockdown reprimanded. "Besides, Silverbolt has shown himself to be a sincere individual."
Breakdown stammered for a moment, failing to create an excuse. Then he simply nodded, and said, "Yes, sir."
"Very well. You are all dismissed," Lockdown concluded.
Each crewmember slightly relaxed their stance, and turned behind them to leave. Swindle walked with Nautica, chatting about the profit-to-cost ratio of a transwarp engine, while Blackarachnia strode briskly ahead of the two and Repugnus strolled along behind them. Breakdown waited for Silverbolt to catch up with him, and then walked with him, always staying about two steps ahead of the newcomer.
When Silverbolt looked backwards, he noticed that Bludgeon had stepped closer to Lockdown, his back turned to those departing. The swordsman suddenly tilted his helm slightly, as if to look behind him, but then turned back just as quickly.
The silver mech turned back towards Breakdown and asked, "Do you know where we'll be rooming?"
"Yeah, it's right down this way," the scout explained tiredly, apparently having gone through this routine before. "Just follow me…"
Lockdown watched the crew leave as he handed a datapad to Bludgeon, its blue screen glowing with the list assorted upon it. As the Lieutenant scrolled through, one of his servos reached down to rest on his sword hilt, a nervous habit honed in a time that prioritized lethality over peace. After a moment of silence, his red optics rose to settle upon Lockdown's visor, either mech doing his best to conceal their thoughts.
At last, the armored swordsman spoke. "Will this be all?" asked Bludgeon, his voice coarse and deep in the silence.
"You know what to do," Lockdown replied simply.
The designs for the main characters are inspired by several different sources, so here goes:
Silverbolt's design is based on WFC/FOC Silverbolt, including the color scheme.
Blackarachnia is based off of a combination of her Transformers: Animated appearance and Airachnid from Transformers: Prime.
Swindle is based off of his appearance in FOC, although he has a brown chestplate and a tool belt around his waist.
Nautica is indeed an actual character, and comes from IDW's More Than Meets the Eye. Her color scheme has been changed to blue-green, however, and she has two silver gauntlets with the outlines of a gun and a shield painted on them.
Repugnus is similar to his G1 and IDW appearance, if those designs were crossed with those of a retro Iron Man (you know, the ones with the metal looking impossibly like gloves and muscles?). He also doesn't have a helmet to speak of - just the weird, spiky "hair".
Bludgeon is a bit more of an original appearance. While he's still good with a sword, as ever, his design is based off of the appearance of the Dinobots in Age of Extinction, and, with the exception of the thorns, his armor looks more like a knight's than a samurai's.
Lockdown's appearance is the same as in Age of Extinction, as the story takes place in a version of the Movieverse.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Transformers. The rights for that franchise belong to Hasbro, although this interpretation is mine.