Tinman

Trouble Brewing

Several hundred miles away from the Lennox farm...

It was hot again. The human cities always were with their endless miles of concrete, glass, and steel absorbing the sun's heat like sponges to water. Human cities, a clustered, filthy nest of the bustling, arrogant insects that dominated this planet. It disgusted Barricade to no end. However, it went without saying that the humans provided the Decepticon with endless entertainment possibilities. He was a hunter after all. Just watching his prey in plain sight thrilled his spark to no end. Parked near an alleyway the Saleen police car watched the humans meander by, only giving him and his holo-driver a brief glance.

"That's right you little bugs. Go about your meaningless lives." the cop car thought bitterly.

Normally, he loved hiding and then surprising his prey with a violent transformation. The sheer terror plastered on their fleshy faces accompanied by their racing heartbeats made the Decepticon happy. But, he didn't like being forced to hide. Being the only surviving Decepticon left on Earth, Barricade had to keep a low profile. Sure, Scorponok was alive, but all the way on the other side of the globe. Barricade honestly didn't care. The drone was pretty much worthless without his host's commands and that host, Blackout, was sunk to the bottom of the ocean along with Megatron and the other Decepticon casualties. He would've been right there with them had Megatron ordered him into Mission City. After watching Bonecrusher get totally slagged by Optimus Prime, Barricade held back until he and Brawl reached the outskirts of the city where the All Spark was reputed to be. Brawl, being the more devastating of the two, stormed on inside while Barricade was ordered to hang back until ordered in. He never received the order and by the time he entered the city of his own accord the battle was over and his comrades were dead. Well...except for Starscream. That bit-brained coward fled the moment the battle was lost. Slag him to the Pit.

Barricade never did receive word from his own drone/partner Frenzy either. He was certain the little glitch probably went and got himself killed. The manic little scrap of metal had been very useful as a spy and hacker, but his over-exuberance in a fight usually dropped him in way over his head. The Decepticon infiltrator wasn't sure if he cared or not. Sure, Frenzy had been quite an asset to his missions, but dealing with his incessant gibbering and total disregard for keeping a low profile often made Barricade think about smashing him into slag.

But now there were no more missions. No more orders from Megatron. No more...purpose. He was simply alone on a world of flesh creatures and their Autobot allies. Attracting attention amongst a planet of enemies was not a healthy idea.

Still, Barricade's hunter instinct roared and hissed violently within him and every now and again he'd satisfy his need. Chasing the humans down the freeway and making their poorly crafted vehicles smash into a median was always entertaining as was terrifying the occasional punk who carelessly brushed his paneling. He had to keep himself entertained with something otherwise he'd go complete insane in the mainframe.

Then, without warning, the silence was broken.

"Starscream, calling Barricade. Come in." the former Second in Command's screechy, hissing voice came though.

The Saleen cringed. Great, of ALL the Decepticons in the galaxy it just HAD to be Starscream contacting him. Barricade hesitated. If he answered he'd be giving away his position to the Autobots who were undoubtedly listening to all subspace frequencies.

Starscream's voice got impatient very quickly, "Barricade this is Starscream, I know you're not dead."

The cop car kept quiet. Just ignore him. You are dead.