Ex Machina (Transformers AU)

2: Bot Down

"Put your servos in the air. Now!" One of seven Elite Guard members barked at the pair of bots. Orion peeked slightly out from his hiding place and saw the group of guard aiming blasters at the pair.

"D. Get behind me. Now." Z ordered. D16 hesitantly complied and shrank behind the much more intimidating bot.

"Are those the escaped prisoners captain?" One of the guards asked.

"Prisoners?" Z said with a confusion that Orion couldn't tell was falsified or not. "No. No, you have the wrong bots."

"DON'T PLAY STUPID!" The guard captain barked angrily. "We heard from Kaon of your little jailbreak, and we are gonna bring you both back!"

"You can try to take me," Z snarled as he took on a defensive fighting stance. "But you leave D16 out of it. He's done nothing wrong!"

"He smuggled himself to Iacon like you did," the guard retorted. "That's a crime in of itself!"

"Oh puh-lease!" Z said sarcastically. "You are Elite Guardsmen, not boarder patrol lackeys. Is a stowaway really worth it?"

"He is." As the guard closed in on the pair Orion made the mistake of knocking over a piece of scrap metal that had been leaning on a nearby wall, the clatter pulling the guards' attention directly onto him.

"Oh, scrap." Orion said to himself.

"You! What are you -" the guard captain started to say before getting decked by Z and flung back into his comrades. Z grabbed D16 under his arm and made a mad dash towards Orion, who too ended up being scooped.

"Get them!" The captain barked, followed by the thundering of pedes chasing the trio through the twisting alleyway until Z found a hiding spot and dumped the pair.

"Stay here." Z ordered before charging out of sight, leaving the pair all alone. Orion could hear blaster shots and screams followed by the crushing of metal. Then there was a wet cracking sound and a cry of pain from Z. Another blaster shot. Then absolute silence.

The silence would be broken by the sound of slow pedes dragging across the ground, Z reappearing in front of the pair covered in wounds and bright blue energon.

"Okay.... it's safe to come out now." Z said in a breathless and exhausted sounding voice.

"Z? Are... are you okay?" D16 asked fearfully.

"Im fine, but we need to go. Come on." Z then took a step only to crumble to a kneel with pain filled grunts and hissing.

"No, you are not fine!" D16 said as he ran up to his badly wounded friend. "You're leaking heavily, Z. we need to get you to a repair bay!"

"No!" Z snapped as he whipped his helm around to star at D16. "It's too risky! They'll... they'll find us and.... and s-send us back!"

"But you need a medic!" He pleaded to Z.

"I... I can manage. Don't... worry about me." Z then turned his attention to the bewildered Orion and glared. "And what are you still doing here? Scram!"

"I won't do that." Orion said sternly.

"Listen... listen here." Z grunted as he forced himself to a stand while clutching at the deep gash in his tanks. "You better get out of here be... before i... nngh!" Once again, Z crumpled to the ground in pain. D16 immediately pulled him back over his shoulder, the movement coaxing a strained grunt from Z.

"I can help you. Both of you." Orion said. "Neither of you are in any condition to be out on the streets. Especially at this time."

"We... we c-cannot risk that." Z argued.