Transformers: Honor and Loyalty

Chapter 5: The Hunt Begins

[Earth]

[Southern Nevada]

Why am I always late? Nick, a demolition derby driver, grumbles as he fumbles to put his keys in his pocket. He drains the last of his travel mug of tea as he continues trying to find the jacket pocket with one hand.

When he lowers the mug, he notices two cars that looked exactly alike not far away. The only difference is one doesn't have normal exhaust pipes but Tesla coils.

Before he can think too much about it, though, the keys fall out of his hand and clatter to the ground.

Bending over, grumbling outwardly now, Nick swipes up his keys, noting with dismay that he had spilled some of his tea, as well, when he bent over.

But when he straightens, the other car is gone, leaving only the car with normal exhaust pipes. Nick rubs his eyes, but the car didn't change. It still sat there, alone.

"Musta been seeing things." Nick shrugs.

"Hey! C'mon, man! You're almost due to roll out!" Someone yells and Nick runs inside, his thoughts about the mystery car banished.

That car, turns out, is currently speeding away along the roadways, soon joined by a tanker truck.

The two vehicles continue on their way, side by side, and if anyone were to see inside them (unlikely, considering it was after dark and their headlights were on), that person would be surprised to see no driver in either vehicle.

But by a stroke of luck, no one spots the two suspicious vehicles as they pull into a large area that had been cleared out for a mining operation, but was left alone for the night, except for the hulking purple figure lurking in the shadows, watching as the tanker truck and derby car drive up to him.

With a clattering of metal, two large robots are revealed, saluting as they come to stand at attention.

The purple figure acknowledges them with a nod, then looks around.

"Kaon, Helex, where is Bludgeon?" The figure, none other than Tarn, demands.

The pair are about to respond when a tank rolls into the mining station, coming to a stop next to Kaon and Helex, and with another clang of shifting metal, Bludgeon transforms and comes to attention.

"Subtle." Kaon snarks, scoffing.

Bludgeon, irritated, turns to Kaon, barely maintaining a calm voice. "Given my stature, this is the only vehicle I could find to accommodate it." A thought occurs to him and he gestures to their leader, Tarn, who is only slightly bigger than him. "Besides, it's going to be his best option, as well." He turns to Tarn, nodding respectfully. "There was a transport carrying these vehicles not far from here." He notes.

Tarn shakes his head in disgust. "And disgrace myself by scanning a primitive, unworthy vehicle?" He scoffs.

Bludgeon nearly replies when Kaon clears his throat. "Word of advice, mate' it's better for your health not to argue with him." He chuckles.

Bludgeon, still a little irritated, nods.

He didn't like Kaon much. He's small, snarky, and disrespectful, but Helex, on the other hand, was larger, quieter, and hadn't spoken against him when Bludgeon met them like Kaon had.

Kaon had, like Tarn, questioned Bludgeon's loyalty, considering how close he had been to the traitorous Deadlock. Things had escalated between the two and they'd nearly fought before Tarn pulled Kaon to the side and confirmed that Bludgeon was still loyal, but promised they could mete out punishment together, should Bludgeon prove to have been lying.