Transformers - Son of Primus

9: Lockdown's Arrival

There was little time to react. Stripes    took cover, opening fire, while Optimus charged in, sword in hand. He dove in at Galvatron, they deadlocked, and another fight began.

Stripes got up, moving in and out of the little barriers he had, covering Optimus from enemy fire.

He didn't see Razor until the last minute. Stripes burst into a roll as Razor's arm blade barely missed, the edge running along Stripes' servo, scratching the paint. He then got back on his feet pedes and flew into a sprint, Razor firing potshots at him.

"Come on, wonderboy! Face me like a real fighting robot!" Razor taunted.

Stripes changed to vehicle mode and floored the gas. He went into the field, drifting through the dirt as he avoided the gunfire.

That's when the sky started to darken. Thick clouds hovered overhead. Then, something emerged from them! It was the ship that Optimus showed Stripes two days ago! Next, the entire area was blasted by gusting winds, which blanketed the whole farm in a fog.

"What in the name of Primus...? Oh, no that's impossible!" Hound said. Even Optimus and Galvatron was temporarily distracted.

Distracted enough that something fired at both of them. Explosive shell rounds pierced both Galvatron and Optimus in their chest cavities, barely missing Optimus' spark chamber.

Stripes watched as a new Autobot, or Decepticon, with a gun for a head, emerge from the cloudy mess of fog into view. Optimus fell over, the exploding round severely damaging him. Galvatron, getting his bearings, tried to lunge at the new arrival. He didn't succeed. The new 'bot just fired several more rounds.  Galvatron's left servo was torn clean off from the bullet's impact. His legs were also mangled. The new 'bot's head then changed from a gun to a robotic face with green eyes.

"Foolish fool..." The 'bot sighed. "I thought by now, he would have learned that the creators have, how do the humans say it? Called 'dibs'?" He walked up to Optimus, kneeling next to him. "I must thank you for preserving my ship. It makes my job a lot easier, Prime."

"Lockdown... How...?" Optimus managed to ask while gagging on his own Energon.

"I and my employers have our tricks, just as you do," Lockdown stated. With that, the netting drone deployed from the ship.

"He's trying to capture Optimus!" Hound yelled, rallying the other Autobots to go after Lockdown. They prepared to open fire when the drone shot several pellet-like spheres into the ground. They ignited with a bright blue light, forming a field around the Autobots and remaining Decepticons! They stood frozen! All except for Stripes.

"Slag... it!" Hound said. "Stasis field...!"

"Now nothing stands in my way." Lockdown purred. He looked over to Stripes, who had his arm cannon ready.

"I won't let you take him!" Stripes snarled.

Lockdown, in response, laughed. "You think I came all this way just for him? No, Primus' Kin, my employers also want you!" He pointed at Stripes.

"RUN, KID!" Hound yelled. "TAKE OUT THE DRONE!"

Stripes charged Lockdown as he changed his head back to gun mode. As Lockdown fired, Stripes dropped to his knees, sliding across the ground! He dodged the bullet! Then, pulling his legs out from under him, proceeded to slide-tackle Lockdown. He fell to the ground face-first, barely changing his head back in time before hitting the ground.

Stripes used his remaining momentum to flip over and force himself up on his pedes into a run. He ran over to Optimus, aiming at the drone above him. Stripes took the shot, disabling the drone's engines. It crashed into the field. By the time he got over to The Prime, he was on the verge of stasis.

"Optimus, Get up! Come on, get up!" Stripes begged, pulling on his shoulders.

"I... can't." Optimus said weakly. "Get out of here..."

Stripes looked over his shoulder. Lockdown was getting up. He turned back to Optimus.

"Dammit, Prime! I'm not leaving you!" Stripes snapped, struggling in futility to lift Optimus' battered body. "GET... UP!" He strained.

Lockdown was now looking in Stripes direction, on both pedes. He started to walk over, relishing the moment and the scene of Stripes trying to lift the much heavier prime. "You really think you can save him, don't you? Sad, you can't even save yourself. The creators have plans for you. They gave me a simple order: Bring you in by any means necessary. You must be quite special to them..."

At that moment, a red Audi R8 burst through the fog at full speed! It was Darius!

"Oh, no you don't!" Darius cried out. He transformed, leaped through the air, and drop-kicked Lockdown in the back, sending him flipping over several times! Darius then proceeded to run up to Stripes and started to pull him away.

"Come on! We've got to get you out of here..."

Razor watched on with anger. "How DARE YOU?!"

Darius gave Razor a look of irritation. "Deal with it. I'm going with the home team." His faceplates put on a cocky sneer.

"Darius?!" Stripes exclaimed. "What..? Why...?! Never mind! If you really are here to help, then grab his other arm! I can't lift him alone!"

"Kid, he's a semi cab!" Darius snapped, pulling on Stripe's servo. "He weighs over two tons! We can't lift him together, even if we tried! We have to leave him! There's no other way!"

Stripes then looked over to the other frozen Autobots. They couldn't lift Prime on their own, but if the stronger mechs pitched in... He quickly shot a look at the stasis-field emitters the drone shot down a short while ago... They were the only things stopping them from assisting!

Stripes got up and shot the stasis emitters with his arm cannon. The spheres shattered like glass. The field around the other Autobots dissipated, and they all sprinted forward.

Unfortunately, that also released Razor, and he was in a fury. He charged forwards, machine guns ablaze.

Darius dragged Stripes down to the ground, activating his arm-mounted sniper rifle. A few well-placed shots from it hit one of Razor's ped joints. He fell over, grasping at the mechanical wounds the rifle left.

Lockdown had just recovered his senses but was now pinned by Hound, who proceeded to scramble his joint motor circuits.

"I believe the human expression is, 'Nope'?" Hound then got up and walked over to Optimus and Stripes. So far, the threat seemed subdued. Things were quiet for a few moments.

Darius then broke the silence. "What are you just standing there for?! We've gotta move!"

"What's the big hurry?" Crosshairs asked.

Darius shook his head. "We've got to go! If we stick around here for much longer, Galvatron will be counted as a no-show back at the base! They will deploy Sheriff Cross and his reinforcement squad!"

Stripes raced to think of a way they could transport Optimus. He turned over to the house, calling Cade's number.

"Cade, get the other flatbed truck and bring it out front! Now!"