Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.

Pandimala: Well, this has been an exciting ride. But why did it take you longer to write this than it took me to get to Cybertron?

Authoress: *shrugs* Work and re-editing. I've had this done for about a week but kept finding errors in it. There are probably still errors in it, but I've stopped being able to see them at this point.

Pandimala: Well, at least it doesn't look like I'll die from the title of this chapter of my life.

Authoress: We'll see.

Pandimala:...What does that mean?

Chapter 10: Arrival

Swindle's 1st P.O.V.

It was amusing. The mech was in debt to me thirty million credits due this solar, and he said he had something of value to trade. Right. Thirty million credits worth? Even that one gladiator in the Pits, D-16, was only worth about twenty million at the click. And, even if he rose any higher, it wouldn't hit that thirty million mark. I'm sure Thrust would have to bring Primus in the metal to be anywhere near that, especially in these solars. It costs bots a few million credits even to get a throwaway fighter. Eight or nine was the average price for one that could put up a decent fight.

But, I would see what he brought me. He might have got his servos on some red energon. The stuff was almost non-existent these stellars, and getting my servos on some might make that thirty go down to ten with an extension to get the rest to me…with interest. I have some useless bots under my care for the Pits. Without Soundwave, I'd be scraping the bottom to get a credit. He was my actual bank. He even earned himself a proper designation. That fight he had with D-16 had brought in thirty million alone, and I was sitting nicely for a while. Since both gladiators stayed online from that fight, I'd have to get with Finaqua, D-16's manager when the mech wasn't in the mines, and see if we could schedule a rematch in the next forty or fifty solars. Give them both time to rest up with some light fights.

If this was a bot Thrust was bringing me, I could use them to fill in while Soundwave recovered. Not thirty million credits, but we'd see what I'd give the mech if it was a bot.

Motion on my security system caused me to glance up, and I saw that said mech was heading to me. When his entourage moved further past my camera, I felt my optics widen when I saw the merchandise.

It was a femme.

Femme fighters were rare. One of the only good ones the Pits had was sold to Thurst by Sigsat to be his guard. I heard the femme was making serious credit right now doing that. While the femme had been good, she fought dirty and offlined anybot she fought. Cost me six bots before she got sold. I had been grateful she had gone.

But now, this femme looked even more capable. At least she did on the cameras. Her height matched D-16, and she looked sturdy enough to take a few hits. From the dents seen on Thrust's guards, she could also do some damage. I'd have to look at her to know for sure. She was worth eight or nine million credits from how she looked here. Of course, I'd probably take five off his debt to give Thrust a hard time. He was always in debt to one of us, and I wanted him to realize I at least wanted some credits in servo instead of trades like this.

But, as they moved by, I felt curious. Where was Flamewar? She was usually on the mech's hip when she wasn't galavanting off. With a haul like this, I figured she would be here. That was especially if she wanted a fair cut from Thrust. I'd have to make sure that I asked him about her whereabouts.

When their group came up on the camera outside my compound, I knew I had better greet them. So, I stood up and walked through my compound and to the doors. Though, when the lights flickered, a frown came on my face. I'd paid my share for power, with a little bonus to ensure I got plenty of power. If that fragger Caliphate was trying to get one over me again, he'd have another thing coming.

Once I reached the door, I put on my best sales smile before I opened the door. The flustered way Thrust looked when he realized I opened the door before he knocked made this interruption worth it. Glancing at the restrained femme, I realized it might just get better. Focusing back on the mech, who was reorienting himself, I decided to get this started. "Ambassador Thrust, to what do I owe this unexpected visit? Come to pay me that thirty million you owe me?"

The seeker looked even more flustered before he stuttered. "I…I have something even greater in lieu of credit payment," He motioned for his guards to bring the femme forward. Now that I looked closer at her, she certainly had a strong presence around her. Maybe she was worth ten million. But she didn't have the markings of a seasoned fighter. I'd have to have somebot train her if I got her. "I came into possession of this femme as I made my rounds to the planets I visit. She is strong and has all of her original parts. That makes her highly valuable."

I made a show of studying the femme since I had watched them on the monitor and had been examining her. "While all of her parts seem to be in place,"

"Are you saying I would lie to you about this?" He glared at me as he said that.

If he tried to raise the price, I would make him pay. Plus, I had a reason to say what I did. "Have you forgotten about Lebocto already? Two stellars ago, you traded him to me and told me his parts were all original. Because of that, I had a metalmite infestation from the replacement parts he had for ninety solars."

He looked a little nervous at that. "I was lied to about that as well. I made sure the mech who provided him paid for his lies."

"Though you didn't bother to have him examined before selling," I shot back with a shake of my helm. "And I assume you have failed to do the same with this one. But, from what I can see, the parts look original. However, without scans showing that fact, I can't assume that is true." I had been circling the femme, who I noticed was following me with her gaze before I came back to stand by Thrust. "Younger than most bots that you bring me. For a femme, that will be a boon," Though that wouldn't be added to my price. However, now seemed like a good time to ask about Flamewar. "Speaking of femmes, where is that Pit femme that is your guard? Flamewar?"

When the femme tensed, I realized that this story might be more interesting than I was expecting it to be. "She is part of the reason that this femme has come into my possession. There was an…altercation on Regulon IV where this femme offlined Flamewar in a fight."

It took all my training to keep my surprise off my faceplate. Flamewar, as I had been thinking earlier, was no slacker. Did she get ahead of herself? Yes. But not to the point of being taken advantage of in a fight. That was especially a fight that would risk her spark. I had seen her do that many times in the fights where she had offlined my bots. If this femme, who didn't look to have much experience, could take out Flamewar, she might be worth even more than I thought. "Interesting," I allowed out before I took one more studying glance at the large framed femme in front of me. "Eight million off your debt,"

"Eight million? Are you trying to rob me?" This mech better watch how he talked to me. "She is worth at least twenty-five million."

Twenty-five? While she might make me that much if she survived a stellar, I wasn't letting him out of nearly that much of his debt. "Nine million," I countered.

With my low raise, he should get that I wouldn't go anywhere near that amount. "Eighteen million,"

"Ten million,"

"Fifteen million,"

Since he dropped further than I expected, I figured I'd hit him with my final offer. "Thirteen million or no deal. I've got bills to pay, and even if the femme earns me that much back, it will take time. From now on, I want credit payments from you."

He flinched at my offer, but I knew he wouldn't turn it away. It was probably more than any other handler would offer him for her, and they would take her to extend his time instead of paying off a portion of his debt. No, he wouldn't risk going anywhere else. While that made it tempting to offer him less than I was, I needed word to spread that I was a fair trader so I would see more business. With the string of losses my other gladiators, outside of Soundwave, were facing, I needed some goodwill out on the streets.

"Fine. Thirteen million." He grumbled while motioning to his guards.

"Put her in the processing room," I told them as they moved the femme. As they did, I noticed that the femme was nervous. But, it wasn't nervous in the way I was used to seeing. When they arrived in this situation, most bots looked nervous about what might happen to them. But, the look in this femme's optics was different. She looked as if she was worried about something deeper. In her optics, I saw recognition.

That was strange. A femme like her would have news spread faster than a spark beat. It wouldn't surprise me if word had already left my compound about her arrival. Within the next cycle, I expected to receive offers of fights from other keepers. A femme as large as she was would make a great opening fight for many fledgling fighters. I knew that, regardless of the outcome, her first fight would be one that I would make credit on. Depending on who I could book her against, that would be on her loss or her win.

"Since that is taken care of, I shall go and see about my other business," Thrust said as his guards returned. Right. The Ambassador probably wanted to hightail it off-world as soon as he could. I knew I wasn't the only one he owed credits to, and when the others heard he was here, they would go after him with energon in their optics.

So, I figured I'd let him try and get a headstart. "Do what you wish. Our business is done." It didn't surprise me when, with that dismissal, he scurried away like the scraplet he was. Why I decided to loan the mech that fifteen million credits with interest, I didn't know. Maybe I felt sorry for the mech?

No, that wasn't it. It was because I thought he showed more promise. He just hid the rust on his backplates better than most.

Shaking my helm, I made my way back inside. I had millions of things more important than that mech. One was the femme that he had just traded to me. As I moved down the hall, I felt even more anticipation as I walked. If she was even half as talented as she sounded from Thrust's tale, I would start to make my credits back. Learning that she had defeated Flamewar had been the catalyst to increasing my price as much as I had. The femme had taken down my fighters without hesitation. Having the femme that defeated her on my roster would only benefit me.

When I arrived at processing, I saw Onslaught standing at the observation window. My brother didn't come by often, and I had left him be when I heard that I was to be expecting company. His opinion of the femme would hint at what to expect from her. "So, what do you think?" I asked the mech as I stood next to him. On the other side of the glass, the femme was being thoroughly scanned for any diseases or pathogens she might be carrying.

He was silent for a few clicks before he motioned to her. "How much did you pay?"

Strange. He usually went straight into his analysis of her. Why was he asking? But, knowing Onslaught, there had to be a reason. So I answered. "I took thirteen million off Thrust's debt to me with the stipulation that he pays the rest of his debt to me, and future debts, in credits."

Silence fell between us again for a few more clicks. "I've always thought you got in over your helm when you said you were going into the gladiatorial business. Outside of Soundwave, who you know you were lucky to get, you don't get good fighters." He then motioned to the femme. "This one?" Seeing him smile was rare, and he was smiling widely. "Treat her right, and you could retire in the next few stellars. There's something about how she stands; I don't think she will lose often."

I couldn't help but raise an optic ridge at that. Onslaught didn't say 'something' when describing my fighters. He called out Soundwave's agility and tactful thinking as soon as he studied the mech. For him not to know how to describe the femme had to be a good sign with how he was talking. However, I couldn't pass up the chance he gave me to tease him. "'Something,' huh? I thought Vortex was the vague thinker?"

I ducked as he swung out at me in jest. "You want an analysis? Fine. She is a heavy hitter. And, given the dents on her armor, she can take a hit. But look at her pedes." I did, but I didn't see anything strange about them. They looked like any other pede I could see come through here. A vent escaping the mech told me that I must be missing something. "Look how she is standing on them.

So, I took a closer look at her. While I could now see that she wasn't putting as much force on her steps as most big bots, that told me she could be a flight risk. "So she is a runner. I'll have extra security on her at first."

"That's not it at all." Onslaught sounded annoyed as he stared at me. "If she were a runner, she would be moving her weight between her pedes much more noticeably with anticipation." He then paused. "After her basic medical scan, put her in your mock ring against Nitine. He's been pushing it lately, and I know you have wanted to sell him to the mines if he gave you a reason. Test him against the femme. You'll see what I mean in the fight one way or another. And if he loses, you have a reason to ship him to them for some credits.

Nitine had been pushing his luck lately. He won his first fight against some low-tiered heavy fighter, and the mech thought he was now Primus' gift to me. That is despite losing every other fight he had since then. However, there was a problem that I was seeing with this, and it was one I thought my brother would have caught. "That would be suicide for the femme. She's a heavy fighter, and the mech is a speed fighter through and through."

"I know," So he was intentionally being a moron? "Trust me on this Swindle. You've trusted my opinions before. I told you that Soundwave would lose that fight to D-16 when everybot else had Soundwave winning easily."

That was true. I had been prepared to bet on Soundwave when the odds had come out for the fight. But, Onslaught acted like he was now and told me to bet against my mech. It had been challenging to do, but I trusted him. If he was telling me to do this now, there must be something else that I was missing.

Thinking back on that, I decided to see what would happen. So, I messaged the medics working on the femme before I answered my brother. "Fine, but if he offlines her, you owe me thirteen million credits."

"I assumed that Swindle."

"With interest."

"Don't push it."

I shook my helm and moved to contact Nitine. Once I connected to his room screen, I frowned at the sight I saw. Empty cubes of energon were littering the floor. I knew they weren't there the other solar. The mech was stealing cubes from me again. At least this would give me a better reason to make him fight the femme. "Stealing from me again, Nitine?"

The mech quickly sat up from his berth, the cube he had been lazily drinking falling to the floor. "Swindle, sir! I…I thought you weren't going to make random inspections anymore?" He thought I had let my guard down and that he should take what I had bought for rations. Getting energon was getting harder and harder, and his theft would not be taken lightly.

"I wasn't. I then changed my processor." I would still keep that accurate, but he didn't need to know that. "If you want to get through this solar online, you will prepare to fight. I have a new gladiator that needs to be tested. Succeed, and this gets put behind us. You'll be on field two in ten clicks." And we would put it behind us.

Right into the mines.

Regardless if he won or lost, he would no longer be employed by me. How he fought would decide which mine I sold him to. In that circumstance, the mine outside of Crystal City was a lax job that many bots wished to have. However, the one here by Kaon was a terror to most who entered its abyss.

His success in fighting the femme would tell me where he would go.

"Fresh metal, huh?" He looked confident for a mech with one of the circuit's worst records. "Yeah, I'll rough 'em up for you. And getting this put behind us will be a bonus."

I couldn't keep dealing with him with a straight faceplate, so I disconnected the call. After a few nanos, Onslaught let out an amused vent. "He thinks you are going to let him stealing the energon slide? It would have been better if he stole credits from you."

It was amusing that Nitine thought he was getting off easy. "If this femme is as good as you think, I won't have to break the bad news to him."

Onslaught glanced back at the femme as my medics moved her toward the arena, per my instructions, and smirked before he glanced back at me. "I don't think Nitine will know what hit him when they are done."

Well, we were going to see. A part of me hoped my brother's instinct was as correct as it usually was. Having one well-known fighter with others as deadweight was survivable. But having two? I would be set if this femme grew as Onslaught hoped she would. Even Finaqua wasn't that well off with D-16. I could let them take the final challenge and retire from management. Sell the rest of my bots to another manager and spend the rest of my solars comfortably with my brothers.

As we moved through the halls, I noticed I was being watched. That wasn't unusual, however. A part of Soundwave signing with me as a fighter was that I housed the symbiotes he hosted. The two newest ones adventured, and Soundwave used them to gather information. I did not doubt that he already knew about the femme's arrival. He would probably use the two to watch the femme's match with Nitine.

If he felt like talking, I'd have to ask him about his opinion of the femme. I trusted Onslaught, but having some outside advice would be more than helpful. Soundwave was as honest as a bot came these solars. He had his enemies, and he kept track of them all. It made me wonder how he was classed as a lower caste like the pieces of scrap my other gladiators were. He would have risen to the top with his kind of surveillance capabilities.

Instead, I found him half offline and looking for work. Any work. He agreed to sign under me as a gladiator as I ensured his symbiotes were taken care of. It was one of the best deals I had ever made. If he was the only fighter worth a scrap, I could retire in a hundred stellars. If Onslaught was right about the femme, I could be retiring soon. Then, my brothers and I wouldn't have to worry about how we would get our next source of energon.

We weren't blind. The shortages of energon were noticeable to anybot who had enough time to pay attention. More often than not, bots were lining up for their rations because the stores had long since stopped selling them at a decent price. And the bars? Primus forbid anybot have enough credits to afford a drink at those. Here in Kaon, they wouldn't make it out of the doors without being robbed. And for the most part, these weren't bad bots. They were just desperate for energon. They needed it to survive. If I hadn't gotten into this work, we would probably be in the same trouble that most bots around here were. It was why my first few million credits earned were spent getting this facility built. It wasn't perfect, but it worked to keep most bots out of here. My gladiators doubled as security for the few who did slip by my non-sentient security measures. They wanted to protect their rations of energon just like I did.

And that was why Nitine would be leaving this solar, one way or the other. He was lucky I wasn't telling the other gladiators what he pulled. From the cubes I could see on the monitor alone, he had ten cubes newly emptied. That was eight more than the solarly ration for a bot his size.

When we arrived at the field, I noticed Nitine and the femme were ready. Speaking of the femme, though, "Before we begin. Femme, what is your designation?"

Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.

While I knew I would fight sooner rather than later, I hadn't expected to be in a ring against my first opponent so soon after arriving. At least this wasn't an official match. While everybot else on Regulon IV was sure that most bots would find me a difficult opponent, I stayed skeptical. I didn't have nearly the stellars of experience that every other bot in these rings would have. Glancing at my opponent across from me, I could see that he was at least somewhat experienced in fighting.

But the many scars that seemed to litter his chassis gave me some hope. While having some scars like that on a fighter was a mark of pride, having too many meant he wasn't great at avoiding hits. That would be a good piece for me to hang on to. The mech was about the same size that Bumblebee had been in the show, but he was built with more of a speeder sort of alt in mind than Bumblebee's muscle car aesthetic. So he probably had speed on him.

Great.

At least 'Nid had trained with me so much while I was with them. While I did not doubt that the mech in front of me would be fast, I doubted he would beat a hunter-class bot like Airachnid. No, I would have to keep my optics open for any surprises he might throw at me. I didn't want to get in trouble on my first fight. On our way here, Hound had mentioned that sometimes owners used their gladiators to test out their new 'product,' which I was, to see how they would schedule their bots' fights. Do well, and you will be scheduled with the thought of you staying online longer. Don't do well, and bots needed to number their solars.

I needed to do well in this. Even if I didn't win, I needed to prove that I deserved to be more than cannon fodder. To get back to Paul one solar, I needed to stay online. I needed to move forward with the best plan in front of me to stay online. And fighting this mech would be key. Hopefully, this wouldn't be to the offlining, though. I aimed to offline as few bots in my matches as possible. If I did well enough in this fight, I could ask Swindle to make that a mandatory point in my matches.

And frag that had been a surprise. There were so few bots that we knew about canonically; I had been waiting for some unfamiliar bot to be my owner and have to work on learning how to manipulate them if needed. Seeing Swindle had at least told me that I would know how to work the mech if he was like his other iterations that I had seen. However, with how he handled Thrust like he was just some common thug, I felt that working under the mech might be the best thing that could have happened to me.

But we had to wait and see.

"Before we begin. Femme, what is your designation?" I turned to the viewing area and focused on Swindle as he asked for my designation. It was a fair question. Most bots didn't have a designation, and, from what Motormaster told me, even if they did, their owners could choose to remove it should the need arise. I wanted to keep this designation, which was another reason to fight as well as I could.

"Pandimala, sir." I figured calling him sir immediately would be a show of good faith. Also, I hoped that told the mech I wouldn't try to get away from him. No, this was probably the best situation I could have asked for. I wasn't going to waste it on doing something stupid like running.

He raised an optic ridge at that. "Do well against Nitine here, and you keep it." Just like I figured might be the case. "No offlining, but anything else goes. Treat this like any other fight you might be in." To my surprise, he then turned to Nitine. "And you know what's on the line for you."

So, this fight was serving multiple purposes. This Nitine must have done something to get on Swindle's wrong side, and he was making up for it with this fight. Interesting.

"You don't got to tell me twice, Swindle," Maybe they knew each other better than I thought, but that sounded highly too relaxed for a bot who sounded like he was in trouble. Nitine then motioned to me. "But you could have told me I was fighting a femme. I would have brought the sparkling blades then."

I felt angry when I heard him say that. Sexists had no place in my circle, and I was more determined than ever to take the mech out. "Big words. Doesn't match the appearance, though," I shot back as I got into a ready stance.

"Oo, the femme thinks she stands a chance," Nitine laughed as he seemed to get ready. "I'm about to teach you that the world is bigger than you think, and you aren't as good as you think you are."

Raising an optic ridge, I made a show of studying him. "You teach me? Right."

"What the frag is that supposed to mean, glitch?" Nitine then seemed to move into a better stance than he was in. It was still a poor stance, according to what Sandstorm would tell me during training, but it was at least better.

Smirking, I answered him. "There are sayings around the cosmos about bots with too many scars. I think I'll be fine."

At this point, Swindle cut back in. "Very well, then let's get started. Begin!"

With his order ringing in my audios, I didn't hesitate and launched forward from my starting position. As Hardshell had said multiple times, my uncanny speed for a large framed bot served me well, as Nitine was unprepared to block my first strike entirely. As he tumbled to the ground, I didn't relent and moved forward to try and grab him. Throwing him further away would disorient him, giving me an even greater advantage.

However, while my digits did slightly dig into the mech, he was quick enough to recover to avoid my full grasp as he rolled away. When I heard the sound of a blade, I realized that the pace of the battle was about to change, so I pulled out one of my swords. Within nanos, I was blocking the blows the mech was trying to rain down on me. However, his work was sloppy at best. Was I this bad when I first started training with the others? It explains Astrotrain's frustration with me at specific points.

When one strike got too close for comfort, I focused on making the mech back off. As I did, it felt like a good time to start some banter. "Come on; I thought experienced gladiators were supposed to be a challenge?" I taunted the mech as we moved around the field. From how his intakes were cycling, he was already starting to tire. Not much stamina on this one. "What happened to your big words from earlier? Scraplet got your glossa?"

"Thought I'd give you more training before I thrashed you to oblivion, femme. If you didn't have such an attitude, I'd give you the privilege of joining me later tonight." Nitine growled as his attacks increased in frequency. But it wasn't hard to block them.

Though, I lost focus as I felt like emptying my tanks. Fragging him? Like I would allow myself near trash like his aft. "I didn't realize our master allowed that sort of punishment?" And from the little I had seen of Swindle so far, I didn't think he would.

"Not at all," I heard Swindle yell as we stepped back from each other. "It seems like I need to investigate you more, Nitine." Swindle snarled.

I was feeling better about this arrangement the longer this fight went on. Despite past iterations I knew of him, Swindle was a real stand-up bot. Yeah, this was going to go well.

"Not if this fight goes in my favor," I was surprised that Nitine yelled back as we continued to circle each other. Swindle owned his aft just like he owned mine. An intelligent bot wouldn't bite the servo that kept energon in their tank. Or course, the longer I fought Nitine, the more I realized he was not an intelligent bot. I was really curious about what caused Swindle to put Nitine in this fight to begin with. "That was the agreement, Swindle." Nitine snarled as he glared at the stands in a challenging way.

If I wasn't in this fight right now, I would try to get my servos on some snacks for this show.

"Our agreement, Nitine, was that if you succeeded in this fight, the energon theft you have been partaking in would be put behind us," Swindle snapped back. Energon theft? That was worse than murdering these solars. From the studying I had done, both in my past and now, energon shortages were a critical factor in Megatron's uprising. To be stealing some was no laughing matter. I'm surprised Swindle didn't just sell him without a thought. Our fight seemed paused as this concourse was going on. "This is another line you've crossed altogether."

Also, I noticed that Swindle used the words 'put behind us' in his deal with Nitine. That didn't mean that it would be forgiven. Oh, this was going to be interesting. And since I didn't plan on losing to this pile of walking slag, that would be even more interesting.

A snarl from the mech put me back on focus as he electrified his blade. "Then I'll just have to take out as much of your profits as I can," I put my blade away and watched as the mech ran toward me. He was erratic. It made him harder to read, but he kept the same basic movements he had done the entire fight. That would make my plan easier to execute.

As he raised his sword, I launched forward and grabbed hold of his sword arm before I wrenched it back. My servos could feel the resistance his chassis was giving my pulls, but I kept at it. This fight had gone on long enough, and I wasn't letting this mech win. A popping sound soon filled the air, and I let go as his arm dangled from its socket. Nitine's optics were wide, staring at the damage in shock. Without missing a beat, I tripped up the mech's legs and watched as he fell to the ground.

With his arm in that position, he couldn't pull himself off the ground like he usually might. This allowed me to slam my pede against his kneejoint. Given our disparaging size difference, said joint snapped under the pressure, and the mech cried out as energon from his knee started to join the energon from his arm on the ground. Fragger.

"Enough," I backed up as I heard Swindle yell that from across the way.

Standing with my servos at my sides, I watched as a medic I didn't recognize patched up Nitine. Well, at least I did until Swindle and a bot who looked like they could be Onslaught walked in front of me. "Sir?" Was I in trouble? Did I use too much force at the end? Slag, I hope I didn't mess up. Swindle seemed like he would be a great bot to have as my owner, and I did not want to squander this chance.

He held up a servo. Only the relaxed smile on his faceplate caused me to realize I probably wasn't in trouble. "You did fine. I can't wait to get you in the Pits. I'm not sure what you did to get in trouble with Thrust, but I'm glad you did."

Relief flooded my systems when he said that. That meant I had done well; he would probably care for me. Gladiators who did well were well taken care of by their owners. That might not be much, actually, but it was the thought behind it that would be important. Plus, given the looks of this compound, I would be better off than we thought.

For the first time since I was Regulon IV, I hoped my mission would go how I hoped it would—getting back to Paul and living through the war that was rising.

Onslaught's 1st P.O.V.

This femme was not acting like other bots that had been sold. Swindle had some bots sold in similar circumstances to the femme. They would fight the situation for stellars before settling down because they wouldn't be free for quite some time. Earning freedom was a pipe dream for most gladiators. That was especially among those forced into this position, like the femme.

So, for her to already be addressing Swindle formally and without a hint of malice was very unusual. I'd have to keep an optic on her. Not in a negative way, but I wanted to see how far this femme would go under my brother. Given the information we uncovered during their fight, she appreciated how he handled his fighters. With how easily Nitine had insinuated what he wanted to do with the femme, we suspected that he might have done so with more force to others in the past. The mech would be lucky enough to live through the solar once we were done with him.

"Thank you, sir," The femme responded to Swindle's remark. "Whenever you have time, I can tell you what happened."

"Just Swindle while we are in the compound, Pandimala. You've earned both." He was talking about the use of his designation and being able to keep hers. "And we can meet tomorrow. For now, follow Haptic here to your new room."

I saw that Haptic was on the field with Valgre and Baldron. The hovercraft mech nodded at the mention of his designation and moved forward. "Yeah, I got you. Come on, Pandimala."

"Thank you, Swindle," Pandimala thanked my brother again before Haptic led her off the field.

Once they were gone, we all turned to Nitine, who the medic had just finished field repairs on. The medics where Swindle sold this waste of metal would have to continue repairs. "Wake him," Swindle ordered Pistal.

The medic nodded before injecting a stimulant into Nitine's systems. The mech was onlining his optics and staring up at us. "You rigged that fight! That wasn't a fresh warrior."

My brother immediately aimed his cannon at the mech, which in turn caused the mech's optics to dilate. "Even if I had rigged that fight, it was no more than you deserved. However, I did not. I just purchased the femme and got her through processing right before I called you. Cost me thirteen million credits to boot. I wanted to see if I got my credits worth with the femme." Swindle then moved the cannon and leaned forward with a devastating smirk on his faceplate. "And just for beating you, she was worth every credit. And, if she continues to fight like that for me, she will be worth hundreds of you." He then stood back up, though I didn't miss that he kept his cannon at the ready before he spoke. "For the crime of energon theft against me, along with possible extortion and interface manipulation, I am going to sell you to the Pits of Kaon with the stipulation that you rust down there for the rest of your miserable existence."

"You can't do this to me!" Nitine yelled out as he tried to stand up.

Swindle simply motioned Valgre and Baldron toward the downed mech. "Take him to Margrav. See if he'll take two million for the waste of space, but one million is fine. Make sure that my stipulation is in place for the sale. I never want this mech to see the surface again." My brother then smirked. "And just from the cubes of energon I saw on his floor, he should be energized for the next five solars, seven if he stretches it."

The look of horror that came over the mech's faceplate when Swindle said that was worth every fragging click we had him here. As Valgre and Baldron started to drag him away, I could hear the mech yelling 'No' as he moved further away. Once he was gone, Swindle motioned to Pistal. "Stop by Pandimala's room and give her a light physical before you get some rest. Once word of Pandimala spreads, she will be a popular opponent."

"Of course," Pistal responded before she left the arena.

Now, it was just Swindle and me standing on the arena floor. After a few clicks, he turned to me with the largest grin I had ever seen on him. "You were right. Her pedes…I don't know how I missed it earlier. She's light on them. They trained her like a light-framed bot wherever she got training before this. A large-frame bot with the speed of a scout model is terrifying. Add in the processor capabilities we saw earlier, and she may be up there with Soundwave and D-16 given a chance." He then laughed. He laughed like the world was going crazy.

"Swindle, are you alright?" I asked him after he continued for more than a few clicks.

He responded with a giant smile on his faceplate.

"We are going to be rich!"

Swindle: *glances around* My, it is pretty cozy here. It wouldn't be a bad place to set up meetings. I'm sure I could convince bots to come in here to negotiate with me. And if they try to double-cross me, the Authoress can zap them out of existence!

Authoress: *rolls eyes* That's not how it works, Swindle.

Pandimala: And even if it did, the screams and moans of torture would scare them as soon as they entered the front door.

Authoress: *sticks out tounge*

Swindle: *smiles* I call that a security measure. You and I have to talk some more, Authoress.

Authoress: *smiles widely* Oh, this will be entertaining.

AN: And here is the next exciting chapter! I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did. We have arrived on Cybertron! And Pandimala has already had her first fight, as unofficial as it was. But, it has at least guaranteed her safety for now, along with Swindle's respect. That will help her move along. Plus, it seems that Swindle has another known bot under his ownership. Soundwave will stay nervous of Pandimala for a while, but we'll see what happens once she is around longer. I thought about bringing him in this chapter, but I figured I could hold off on that. Swindle is very excited to have Pandimala, though. And he knows now that he was lucky to get her. The next chapter will see Pandimala enter her first real fight and introduce her to Cybertron's masses. How is this going to go for Pandimala? And what influences are going to be changed by her presence here? Find out next time!

Speaking of next time, here are the next chapters!

Chapter 11: First Fight

Chapter 12: Growing Reputation

Chapter 13: ...(Find out next time!)

And that's all for now! Again, thank you all for your support, in whatever way that comes. If you like, leave a review, even to say hello. Until next time though, TTYL! *thinking about sunshine daisies and yellow rats*