Ep. 2 - Binding Ties - (Closed)

[Deleted]

Set on Week Two, Day Two! The time is exactly high noon.

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The Great Basin.

The sun beat down from the apex of the sky, hot and relentless. Heat baked off the dry yellow grass underfoot, and the cracked earth beneath it. Only the air was cool. At over ten thousand feet elevation it was thin as well. A light breeze stirred the grass and drifted wispy clouds across the blue sky.

To the southwest rose Mount Moriah, grey and cragged. Rock broke through the thin soil at its peak, where it broke away into weatherworn fissures. Dark pine trees littered the slope of the mountain, which ran down into a wide basin of grass and sun-bleached dead trees. They lay scattered like driftwood, gnarled by rain and wind.

Deuce stood in the middle of the basin and peered up at the sky.

A hawk circled above him. He watched it clinically, his mind elsewhere. The coordinates of this meeting place had been sent to the Jackhammer. All he had to do was wait.

He was good at waiting.

So he did so, patiently. His thumbs were hooked into the edge of his hips, his weight on one leg. He squinted into the sun. He supposed he could have just adjusted the light intake of his optics, but he liked the squint-eyed look. Made him feel like a cowboy.

High plains drifter. Ha. What would he do when this was over. He would live with it.

His mind stirred, borne on dust. He had been waiting for this moment for a long time already. For millions of years.

He could wait a little longer.

[Deleted]

It was show time.

The Jackhammer flew swiftly through the air as it approached the basin. Wheeljack had, in fact, been in the area for at least half an hour, scouting for a place to leave his ship. If there was going to be a fight, one where he was on the ground and out of the Jackhammer, then he didn't want it in his immediate vicinity and risk it getting caught in the crossfire. If there was an aerial component to this fight, then his Neutral partner in this venture would have to handle it. Wheeljack had eventually found a crevice down the mountain side that he felt comfortable stowing the Jackhammer. Then, he'd spent a bit of time working on programming the autopilot, so that that the Wrecker could fly his ship down to the meeting point with Deuce and then let it return to the spot he had picked without him.

When Deuce came into view, a grey blob standing alone in the basin, Wheeljack adjusted the controls, bringing the Jackhammer in for landing. As soon as it touched the ground, he was up and on his feet, heading straight for the ship's exit. He had had the time to prepare for this fight after all, he'd already checked his weapon systems and the conditions of his blades. A grenade rested comfortably at Wheeljack's hip. Other than that, he didn't carry any other weapons. Standard gear for Wheeljack out in the field like it was every other mission.

The Wrecker strode calmly from his ship. The Jackhammer smoothly lifted off as he made a beeline straight for his strange new acquaintance. He tipped his head in greeting. "So," Wheeljack rumbled, a dark and amused lilt to his voice. "Gotta game plan before we get this party started?"

[Deleted]

Dust and bits of dead grass eddied across the ground as the ship lifted off. Deuce watched it depart with an expression of undisguised greed.

"That is so cool," he said.

He grinned at Wheeljack.

"Good to see you," he said. "Yeah, I've got a bit of a game plan laid out before we call in the brute. Let me trot it past you, see what you think. I wouldn't mind your opinion on it."

Deuce scratched the side of his head. He paced back and forth a few strides.

"It's actually pretty simple," he said. "I'll lure him here with my charm and wit. From what I can gather the guy can teleport across planets - we shouldn't be waiting long. Given how my last encounter with him went, I'm guessing Skywarp will make a bee-line straight for me. I can dodge him, but I don't exactly have the strength or the firepower to engage him directly. That's where you come in."

He stopped pacing and gave Wheeljack a wry look. "All I need is for you to distract his attention and draw him into a fight. Easier said than done, I know. But I figure if anyone can go a few rounds with a plus-sized Seeker, it's a Wrecker. How you do that is up to you. Far be it from me to suggest how a demolition craftsman does his work."

An evil look split Deuce's face. He rubbed his hands together in glee.

"Once you've got him worn down a bit and distracted, I'll go in for the kill. Well. Not literally. I need him alive. Aliiiive! But I will stop him dead in his tracks. The rest is gravy. What do you think?"

[Deleted]

The Wrecker arched an optic at Deuce as the mech fawned over his departing ship. Yeah, his ship was a marvel in engineering and aerodynamics. But the neutral had a set of wings of his own to get him places. No need to lust over the Jackhammer. Or maybe he just really, really like spaceships.

Mech sure was a strange one.

Wheeljack straightened slightly as Deuce laid into his plan. Seemed simple and easy enough in principle. Which is how he preferred plans, on the whole. The target -Skywarp- could teleport across the whole planet. Huh, well ain't that handy. Wheeljack's expression went flat as Deuce mentioned that Skywarp's focus would be on him, the neutral, as opposed to the Autobot, his natural enemy. That Wheeljack was going to have draw the big Seeker into a fight and off Deuce, when the Con should be going for him in the first place.

Had he been dragged into some sort of grudge match between the two? Except, no, Deuce sure didn't talk like this was something to do with revenge. For him, it was an oppurtunity to upgrade a teleportation device with the components rattling around in a Decepticon's frame. So something was up with the Seeker's part. In which case, he really didn't care to speculate on a Decepticon's motives.

"In my experience, people normally do start paying attention when you attack them," Wheeljack remarked dryly. But Skywarp was...weird, even he'd noticed during their brief encounter. The Wrecker rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "How do you plan on bringing him down? I presume I'll need to get clear or give you a clean line of sight or something."

[Deleted]

Deuce grinned and lifted both hands.

"Touch of death, baby," he said. He waggled his fingers and gave a show-girly wave. "It's my secret awesome special power, blam! Okay, maybe not. But I do have a little trick up my sleeve. No way am I spoiling it earlier. Then everyone would be doing it, and then I'd be out of an act."

He smiled and lowered his hands to show that he was no longer joking.

"In all seriousness, I promise you it'll work," he said. "You don't even need to get clear or give me a decent line of sight. All I need is for that big bastard to be either tired or distracted enough that he stops trying to punch my face in every five seconds. I may not be a fighter, but I am a professional, and I just can't work under those conditions. Will that be doable from your end of things?"

[Deleted]

Wheelack arched an incredulous eye ridge. Just trust the strange, strange mech to do his part. Honestly, he was beginning to think both Deuce and Skywarp were a matched pair in their oddness.

...Well Deuce had have something to bring the big seeker down that he was pretty confident in or he wouldn't have bothered with this venture. And he'd sought out Wheeljack's help deliberately due to his dual skill sets as both warrior and engineer so this probably wasn't some elaborate plot to kill the Wrecker. Well, he'd just have to see how this all played out. If things went bad, the Omega base was only a ground-bridge away but Wheeljack was confident that this encounter wouldn't play out like the last one.

"I can live with that," he rumbled in easy acceptance. "If that's everything...?"

[Deleted]

Looking pleased, Deuce nodded.

"Yes, I think so," he said. "All that remains is to summon the beast himself. The ritual to do so is a little complex, and requires a deep understanding of some complicated social sciences. Please allow me some space to work. This requires a certain degree of precision and tact."

Deuce stepped back a few paces. In the middle of the open field he stood tall and solemn beneath the noonday sun, his face arranged into an expression of concentration.

He coughed into one fist. He jumped in place a few times, shaking his arms to loosen his joints. He did a couple of stretches to either side, then knit his hands together over his head and flexed, arching his back.

Finally, Deuce opened his comm. He flicked to a Decepticon frequency and politely cleared his throat.

"ATTENTION, SKYWARP!" he roared. "IT IS I, THE COPPER-EYED KILLER OF YOUR KIND! I SKULL FRAGGED ALL OF YOUR WARP-DRIVE FRIENDS! NOW I AM COMING FOR YOU! EVERYTHING YOU KNOW AND LOVE IS FORFEIT! TRACK MY SIGNAL IF YOU DARE, OR PACK YOUR BAGS AND FLEE THIS PLANET, YOU PIG-LOVING BITCH OF MINE! HA HA HA HA HA!"

His maniacal laughter rang across the airwaves.

[Deleted]

Wheeljack had fallen into a combat stance as he watched Deuce's ritual with amusement. Then, he almost lost his focus at the aerial's comm call as he resisted the urge to laugh.

"You know," he commented in a deadpan tone. "I'm beginning to see why he wants you dead."

------

The response was not immediate.

Skywarp blinked his optics lazily. There was a voice -a vaguely familiar voice but not one he recognised right off the bat- over the comms, yelling at him. The contents of the message he didn't pay much attention to at first. He hadn't recognised the voice as belonging to one of his commanding officers nor had it come in with any official codes indicating that it was a priority message or a military order. And since the speaker was yelling at him, the big seeker didn't particularly feel like finding out what he'd done wrong. Maybe he could just pretend that he hadn't heard anything. A faulty comm line, perhaps.

The seeker slid one clawed finger up to his audial. But-oh, the medics never fell for that, breaking his own comms. And last time they'd refused to fix them for several orns. And medical supplies were in short supply here on Earth. If he did that, they might never be fixed. He pouted. Then scowled.

Then finally decided to actually playback and listen to the entirety of the message.

…
…
…

It had taken a good five minutes before Skywarp had got round to deciding to listen to what Deuce had sent over the air waves. ("Shouldn't be waiting long, huh?" Wheeljack had remarked in the mean time. "Are you sure his warp drive ain't busted?") . Skywarp frowned at nothing in particular as nothing really sank in for him for a good long moment.

Then-

Oh.

That voice!

That voice-!

He knew that voice! It was the hateful thing! In a sparkbeat he had the signal traced.

Skywarp vanished in a shrill scream of rage. He emerged a few feet above the ground, several metres away from Deuce. It took him a moment before his feet were planted firmly on the floor of the basin, then he'd straightened up, optics fixated on the other aerial.

"You!" he hissed, fury twisting his features. He didn't even notice the Wrecker. There was nothing but the blaze on anger inside his processor, so no further words came to him.

Skywarp whipped his arms back, activated his canons and start firing.

[Deleted]

"Whoop!" said Deuce.

Tensed and ready, he kicked up into the air. Half of the shots passed harmlessly beneath him, while the rest passed through him as he flickered and vanished. The barrage of shots roared across the empty basin and peppered a hillside, throwing up a mushroom cloud of dust and debris.

Noise thundered across the valley.

Behind Wheeljack, a voice whispered with glee.

"I knew he'd come sooner or later!" said Deuce. "Once his brain caught up to his ears. Eh, Big Funtimes! Over here!"

Standing behind Wheeljack, Deuce let out a piercing whistle. He jumped up and down and waved his arms over his head to catch the Decepticon's attention. "Look at me, over here! Standing next to the Autobot! Oi! Skywart! What are you aiming for, air?"

[Deleted]

Missed.

Skywarp gave an inarticulate snarl, craning his head around as he scanned the area for his target. As soon as he located Deuce again, he re-engaged his cannons again. Laser fire flew over the landscape at both Wrecker and neutral.

Deuce's words fell on deaf audials. Skywarp was lost to his own fury. It would take more than a few taunts to redirect him onto the Wrecker. For the moment, his focus lay solely on the aerial who'd lured him here.

[Deleted]

Well, that was one pissed off Decepticon. Wheeljack was mighty glad he'd left the Jackhammer elsewhere because the he had a feeling that with two teleporters on the scene, those shots were going to go everywhere.

As it was, he kicked forward into a roll, diving out of the way as Skywarp's cannon fire pelted in his direction. Thank you so much, Deuce. As he came out of the roll, he half-expected the Decepticon to adjust his aim and go for the Autobot but true to Deuce's word, the fire remained concentrated on the neutral.

Hmph. He could work with that. So long as Skywarp remained grounded and not in the air and where he was…

...this was a teleporting aerial, he was talking about here...

Wheeljack figured he'd only get Skywarp to pay attention to the Wrecker if he landed a strong attack on him. He began to run, not straight at the teleporter, in case that'd cause the mech to relocate himself but he'd go wide to put himself somewhere in Skywarp's peripheral vision.

[Deleted]

The volley of shots arched across the field.

Deuce tensed, dropping into a crouch like a cornered gunslinger. At the last minute he teleported, vanishing an instant before the shots could vaporise him on the spot. Behind the place he had stood a weatherworn old tree was blasted into a fireball.

As the bits of flaming debris plinked down into the grass, Deuce reappeared. Oddly he had not moved far, perhaps a hundred feet to the west.

He looked at the burning stump, then tossed a casual glance at Wheeljack as the Wrecker silently took up a flanking position. Finally he turned his attention back to Skywarp and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"YOU TRIED," he shouted. "Come on! I'm standing right here! Is your shooting arm as feeble as your dead friends that I killed? Shoot me!"

Deuce mockingly held his arms open wide.

[Deleted]

There.

As the thrum in his cannons died down from the last shots, Skywarp decided to abandon his guns momentarily. He flickered, emerging out of warp behind Deuce with a fist pulled back and aimed at the aerial's mouthy head.

Apparently the invitation to shoot the mech had been summarily ignored.

[Deleted]

Wheeljack had transformed a hand into a cannon and had a shot building up in it as he circled himself around. Go for the joints, he'd reminded himself. The big seeker was less armoured there.

The Wrecker drew to a halt as soon as he had line of sight on Skywarp's back, the big seeker's wings coming into view. He pulled his arm and fired-

Only to have the seeker up and vanish on him. The shot flew through the air Skywarp had occupied only a few moments before. The Wrecker's optic ridge arched at this development. And there was the target's teleporting aspect to this shindig. Already, Wheeljack was correcting his course, locating Skywarp on the other side of Deuce.

"Behind you," he called out. Maybe he should have gone for a straight on charge or exchanged shots with the big mech. Any second wasted was one that Skywarp could just straight up disappear on him and move somewhere else.

This was going to be a little bit harder than he was expecting.

[Deleted]

Deuce glanced back over his shoulder.

He tensed. For a fraction of a second he was transparent; then he disappeared. Skywarp's fist passed through empty air.

This time there was a pause before he reappeared again, next to the burning tree. He rubbed the back of his head in feigned injury.

"Oh, you almost got me that time!" he called out. "I think I felt a current of air stir past! If I were a gnat or an insubstantial whiff of hydrogen gas on the breeze, that might have actually disturbed me!"

His tone was mocking. However, Wheeljack would be in a position to see that with his last teleport, Deuce had strategically positioned himself. As he shouted out his scornful barbs to draw Skywarp's attention, he had also deliberately put the three of them in a line together - with Skywarp in the middle.

And Wheeljack behind the Seeker.

Deuce spanked himself once on the ass.

"Come on, try again," he said. "Sooner or later you're bound to get a lucky shot in, am I right? Even if your aim is terrible."