Rest of "Swindle is tailed by Hound"
Continued from here, the rest of SWINDLE IS TAILED BY HOUND
Swindle observed with dismay the approach of the other jeep with the gleaming red Autobot symbols in his rearview mirror.
Oh Primus, this was all he needed! He’d thought he’d chosen the most unlikely place on the globe to be spotted. And all right, his colour didn’t do a lot to make him unnoticeable, but it was a rather jaded shade and he’s removed all his insignia. And if he had just kept going a bit longer he would surely have come across the panelbeater and paintsprayers he was hoping to find, although, with the extend of ‘civilization’ out here it was becoming increasingly unlikely.
But now - this - on top of everything else, the embarrassment of running out of diesel. And in front of an Autobot! His intakes let out a heavy sigh as Hound pulled in behind him. // Look I’m not here to cause trouble,// he said, trying to activate in his voice some semblance of the confidence he had used to feel and failing abysmally. // I’m just - on the road. Now why don’t you just turn right around and head on back where you was going, Hound? I didn’t see you, you didn’t see me. OK?//
Hound pulled in right behind him, and he realized, with a sinking spark , that the Autobot was conducting a scan.
“Yeah well, you got a little problem, haven’t ya?” Hound said. “With the state of your current fuel reserves, you ain’t goin’ anywhere!”
“I’ve got some extra in the back,” Swindle lied. “Now perhaps you could do me a favour. Drive up the road a little way and cause a diversion or something, so that the squishies don’t notice when I transform and see to it. Then I can just get going again real quick and be out of your circuits, huh?”
The jeep laughed. He seemed - curious. “Can’t really do that I’m afraid, Hound said. “Not now we’ve logged your presence. Just gotta find out a little bit more about what you’re doing here all on your own.“
Oh great. So they knew he was here and alone. Was a posse of Autobots already on the way with the sole intention of making him pay for everything the Combaticons had ever done over the eons? And of course he would normally have been able to say: Yeah, but not for long. You wanna make yourself scared if you don’t wanna be pounded to a pulp ….
Except that he couldn’t. Not this time.
“I’m not responsible for the Combaticons’ pit,” he muttered. “All I ever did was try and make a living. You wanna settle any scores then take it up with them. You wanna know something? I ain’t even a part of the outfit any more.”
And it dismayed Swindle that whilst he once might have said such a thing as part of some elaborate and well thought out con trick, now it was the truth, and no trick, just a means to get all of them to leave him alone and let him survive.
“So it’s true then!” said Hound. “You left them!”
Oh great - so they even knew that! Well that settled it - he had to get moving again somehow. Was it all around the Transformer network ? Were his ex team mates already on their way. Swindle shuddered.
Hound’s engine purred away beside his inert one. “You look a bit rough!” said the green jeep. “You OK?”
“Fine!” said Swindle, aware that his voice conveyed anything but. “Look - if you can just help me out here. Look, I - uh - maybe I haven’t got that much reserve diesel. If you could perhaps - give me a little bit of yours. I’ll be happy to pay it back later of course. With interest.”
It seemed to amuse the green jeep. He chuckled. “And how am I gonna do that, Swindle?” he asked, “You just said yourself, we can’t transform in front of these humans.” A couple of cars whizzed past them as he spoke.
And Swindle couldn’t. It would only erode his feeble disguise even further if a whole continent of squishies suddenly knew of his existence too. “Well - I dunno. Perhaps your benevolent sympathetic Autobot processor can think of something,” he said angrily.
Hound seemed indeed to be thinking . His engine continued to idle away, revving slightly now and then.
“Look - uh - we got a camp - not far from here,” he said. “What if I give you a tow? We got some diesel - and some energon too. Don’t worry - the whole Autobot outfit ain’t assembled there. There’s just a few of us - we can get you sorted. Then we can see what’s what, huh?”
There was something non-threatening and uncannily sincere in Hound’s voice. And it had a curious effect on Swindle, not only because Hound was an Autobot but because Swindle was so totally unused to anything like it at all.
“Why?” he said.
The jeep’s engine revved a little. “Oh I dunno,” he said. “Must be that benevolent sympathetic processor of mine. Although ….” He chuckled again. “I’d prefer to call it a jeep thing!"
And Swindle, to his own amazement, found himself agreeing to the proposal . Hound pulled out and moved in front of him, reversing into position, and Swindle accepted the tow-bar which slid from under the Autobot’s fender with no further protest whatsoever.
Swindle observed with dismay the approach of the other jeep with the gleaming red Autobot symbols in his rearview mirror.
Oh Primus, this was all he needed! He’d thought he’d chosen the most unlikely place on the globe to be spotted. And all right, his colour didn’t do a lot to make him unnoticeable, but it was a rather jaded shade and he’s removed all his insignia. And if he had just kept going a bit longer he would surely have come across the panelbeater and paintsprayers he was hoping to find, although, with the extend of ‘civilization’ out here it was becoming increasingly unlikely.
But now - this - on top of everything else, the embarrassment of running out of diesel. And in front of an Autobot! His intakes let out a heavy sigh as Hound pulled in behind him. // Look I’m not here to cause trouble,// he said, trying to activate in his voice some semblance of the confidence he had used to feel and failing abysmally. // I’m just - on the road. Now why don’t you just turn right around and head on back where you was going, Hound? I didn’t see you, you didn’t see me. OK?//
Hound pulled in right behind him, and he realized, with a sinking spark , that the Autobot was conducting a scan.
“Yeah well, you got a little problem, haven’t ya?” Hound said. “With the state of your current fuel reserves, you ain’t goin’ anywhere!”
“I’ve got some extra in the back,” Swindle lied. “Now perhaps you could do me a favour. Drive up the road a little way and cause a diversion or something, so that the squishies don’t notice when I transform and see to it. Then I can just get going again real quick and be out of your circuits, huh?”
The jeep laughed. He seemed - curious. “Can’t really do that I’m afraid, Hound said. “Not now we’ve logged your presence. Just gotta find out a little bit more about what you’re doing here all on your own.“
Oh great. So they knew he was here and alone. Was a posse of Autobots already on the way with the sole intention of making him pay for everything the Combaticons had ever done over the eons? And of course he would normally have been able to say: Yeah, but not for long. You wanna make yourself scared if you don’t wanna be pounded to a pulp ….
Except that he couldn’t. Not this time.
“I’m not responsible for the Combaticons’ pit,” he muttered. “All I ever did was try and make a living. You wanna settle any scores then take it up with them. You wanna know something? I ain’t even a part of the outfit any more.”
And it dismayed Swindle that whilst he once might have said such a thing as part of some elaborate and well thought out con trick, now it was the truth, and no trick, just a means to get all of them to leave him alone and let him survive.
“So it’s true then!” said Hound. “You left them!”
Oh great - so they even knew that! Well that settled it - he had to get moving again somehow. Was it all around the Transformer network ? Were his ex team mates already on their way. Swindle shuddered.
Hound’s engine purred away beside his inert one. “You look a bit rough!” said the green jeep. “You OK?”
“Fine!” said Swindle, aware that his voice conveyed anything but. “Look - if you can just help me out here. Look, I - uh - maybe I haven’t got that much reserve diesel. If you could perhaps - give me a little bit of yours. I’ll be happy to pay it back later of course. With interest.”
It seemed to amuse the green jeep. He chuckled. “And how am I gonna do that, Swindle?” he asked, “You just said yourself, we can’t transform in front of these humans.” A couple of cars whizzed past them as he spoke.
And Swindle couldn’t. It would only erode his feeble disguise even further if a whole continent of squishies suddenly knew of his existence too. “Well - I dunno. Perhaps your benevolent sympathetic Autobot processor can think of something,” he said angrily.
Hound seemed indeed to be thinking . His engine continued to idle away, revving slightly now and then.
“Look - uh - we got a camp - not far from here,” he said. “What if I give you a tow? We got some diesel - and some energon too. Don’t worry - the whole Autobot outfit ain’t assembled there. There’s just a few of us - we can get you sorted. Then we can see what’s what, huh?”
There was something non-threatening and uncannily sincere in Hound’s voice. And it had a curious effect on Swindle, not only because Hound was an Autobot but because Swindle was so totally unused to anything like it at all.
“Why?” he said.
The jeep’s engine revved a little. “Oh I dunno,” he said. “Must be that benevolent sympathetic processor of mine. Although ….” He chuckled again. “I’d prefer to call it a jeep thing!"
And Swindle, to his own amazement, found himself agreeing to the proposal . Hound pulled out and moved in front of him, reversing into position, and Swindle accepted the tow-bar which slid from under the Autobot’s fender with no further protest whatsoever.