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Though Megatron's face had disappeared from the screen of the disabled computer, Knockout continued to stare up at the display with wide, terrified optics. He had been so close! If the earlier conversation had been just ten nanocycles faster, he would have had the coordinates and disappeared through the 'Bots groundbridge before Megatron had been any wiser.
Now he was stuck, frozen in place, trying to wrap his head around this new situation. There was an entire crew of Decepticons after him, probably all headed to his very location and eager to sink their claws into the supposed double-crosser. And there he was; a ground based vehicle trapped on a warship soaring miles above solid ground. What was he going to do now? What could he do?
As he stood in stunned silence in front of the console, he was vaguely aware of a small thumping on his forearm. Finally pulling his gaze away from the blank screen, he looked down and noticed Jack pounding his fist against his arm, still extended over the keypad, and trying desperately to get his attention.
"KNOCKOUT!" he was shouting, "Don't just stand there! They know where we are now; it's not safe here! We gotta go!"
…We?
No, but Jack was right! The data archives were about to be flooded with Vehicons… or worse. This was no time to panic; he had to act fast. Thinking of an escape plan would have to come once they were on the move… and Jack and the Autobots might be the ones to come up with that plan. So it would be good to keep the human around… at least for now.
Knockout reached out his servo for the human, "Right. Come on, then."
Jack, balancing the still open laptop in his hand, stepped into Knockout's open palm. He wrapped his arm around one of the sharp digits to steady himself as Knockout lifted his servo and hurried for the door.
"Oh wait! We forgot-" Jack shouted pointing back at the console. Knockout turned back and saw what Jack meant; they'd forgotten the other Autobot relic.
He hesitated, wondering if it would even be worth toting around while they would be busy running through the Nemesis trying not to get killed. Although, the Autobots might recognize the technology, and if he could use it to escape… He trotted back over to the computer and began to reach for the relic with his free servo.
"It's an Autobot relic, so maybe your friends will know what-" he began, but cut off by the door behind him sliding open with a loud swoosh. Spinning around, he was greeted by a group of six Vehicons with their blasters poised to fire.
"Knockout! Surrender yourself!" one of them commanded. The drones' lasers were already humming in anticipation of firing.
"Scrap!" Knockout felt a surge of panic, and raised his arm in a weak attempt to shield himself. As he did he noticed the short black gun still clipped to his door frame… the Resonance Blaster!
He quickly tossed Jack back onto the computer console behind him as he raised his other arm to fire the sonic weapon. The Vehicons opened fire just before him, but Knockout was able to dodge their shots easily before unleashing his own attack.
The 'Cons cried out in pain as the sound wracked their systems; Knockout sneered down at them as they doubled over clutching at their audio receptors. If the blaster had such a strong effect on the other 'Cons too, he might actually stand a chance of getting out of there. He continued the blast for another minute before finally lowering his arm. The Vehicons lay sprawled across each other groaning in agony, some still clutching at their helms.
"Wow! That thing is really powerful."
Knockout looked back to the human, his expression still with that smug grin, "We 'Con scientists don't mess around when it comes to weapons."
"Rrrnghh…"
The two of them looked back over to the Vehicons and saw one of them pulling himself up onto his knees and began raising his servo to the comm link on his head. Knockout's smirk faded as he drew out his saw blade, "Slag it…" he grumbled, "I suppose it can't be helped-"
Jack turned his head away as Knockout lunged forward and his blade slashed through each of the helpless drones, spraying energon across the floor and walls, their pained cries only magnifying the horror of the sound. Finally the buzz of the saw blade stopped and Jack looked back. Knockout was standing amidst the Vehicon's bodies, his arms dripping with spilt energon. He vented heavily as he stepped over the twisted metal and approached Jack again, leaving a trail of energon from the puddles he had stepped in as well as his own wound, which was now leaking even more from his exertion.
"Huh, a bit ironic; I'm usually the one who'd have to patch them up after they have a run in with… well… you know." he mused as he reached the console again. His tone tried to remain light but his downturned optics betrayed a more displeased reaction.
Jack glanced back at the pile of bodies cluttering the doorway, "Uhh yeah…" he grumbled, "But there'll be more of them on the way, regardless. We should probably split."
"Sure," Knockout agreed, "but we've got a short moment of respite here- let's think about where we should actually be going. It won't do us any good to go gallivanting all about the ship with no plan."
"Don't you have an area for groundbridge control or something?" Arcee's voice came over the computer.
"Of course, but Megatron just had all the consoles shut down, remember?!" Knockout snapped, "I wouldn't be able to power the bridge!"
"What about if you took out the main power core like when I was trapped on-"
"NO." Knockout interrupted Bulkhead, "That was a stupid idea then and it's a stupid idea now. It's a miracle everyone on the ship wasn't killed during that little stunt, including you."
"BEEPboooZZZZZREEEEEEPwhrrrrr rrrrrrrBEEEEEP?"
"Oh please! As if we would let something like that go unchecked. Despite what you may think, the Decepticons aren't stupid."
Jack groaned and rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced around the room, shifting his stance slightly. "Well there's gotta be something we haven't thought of yet." he insisted.
"Wait!"
Jack turned his attention back down to the laptop in his hands, "What is it, Ratchet?"
"Over there- That red disk behind you. Is that the Autobot relic you mentioned?"
Jack positioned the laptop so it was in full view of the camera, and Knockout reached over and lifted the disk to give Ratchet a better view.
"So you do recognize it?" Knockout asked, "Something actually useful, I hope?"
"By the Allspark!" Ratchet's voice came through the speakers, "That looks like an aerial transformation adapter!"
"A what now?"
"It's an old Autobot emergency device that ground-based vehicle modes used to employ to get around faster or escape from land-based attacks that-"
"Hold on-" Knockout interrupted, "Are you saying this thing is like a compressed jet pack?!"
"Yes, that's exactly what it is!" came the excited response, "The technology was abandoned eons ago because it hinders the body from utilizing any of its natural transformations when in use, but for your purposes-"
Knockout lifted his servo to inspect the disk closer, "-it's just what the doctor ordered." he finished with a satisfied smirk.
"This is perfect!" Jack continued, "We can use that to fly right off the ship!"
Knockout lowered his servo slightly and turned his optics back down to the human, "We?" he repeated.
Jack's hopeful expression fell, "Wha- Yeah WE…" he mumbled, "We're together on this, right?"
"We were when I thought I needed your 'Bots and their groundbridge." Knockout turned towards the door, "But since I've got this, it looks like that's no longer the case."
"WHAT?! No, but- what about everything I said before about-"
"Sorry kid, but as far as I'm concerned you're just dead weight from here on out." Knockout said striding out into the hallway, he turned back and gave a short wave, "Good luck on your own. You'll probably be needing it." With that he transformed into his vehicle mode and zoomed down the hallway out of sight.
"Knockout WAIT!" Jack clutching the computer close to his chest, carefully jumped over the side of the console. He landed sloppily, but managed to keep the laptop from hitting the ground. Regaining his feet he ran for the door where the 'Con had disappeared, splashing through pools of the Vehicon's energon as he did so.
"AUGH! That spawn of a GLITCH!" Arcee's enraged voice emanated from the computer as Jack ran, "I just knew he'd pull something like this."
Out in the hallway Jack spotted Knockout disappearing around a distant corner, "Oh man…" he groaned, "Looks like I'm back to square one over here."
"It's not as bad as it may seem." Ratchet said, "You still have contact with us, and the Decepticons will be mostly likely be focused on hunting down Knockout for now. If you can find a safe place to hide we'll have enough time to figure something else out."
Jack inhaled deeply trying to keep himself calm, "Right." he mumbled, "Just gotta try not to panic… and find a nice empty room somewhere." To start with, if he wanted to avoid the 'Cons hunting Knockout, going the same way as him wasn't in his best interest. So he turned and started running in the opposite direction. However, he didn't make it far before he suddenly stopped, frozen in place.
"Oh scrap…" he mumbled. Just ahead the hallway made a sharp turn and a group of three Insecticons had just turned the corner and were headed straight for him! "R-Ratchet…" he stammered backing away quickly, "I-I think we need to figure something out faster!"