Three drabbles
TITLE: Occupational hazards
RATING: K+
SERIES: Animated
CHARACTER: Jazz, Lockdown
SUMMARY: The past doesn’t always have a bearing on present jobs or current duties. Sometimes, those early-acquired skills stick around.
PROMPT: Target Acquired
The bounty-hunter looked through the rifle’s scope, peering at the oblivious mech. The purple faction symbol on the amour distressed him not.
He fired, the mech fell, his laser-core pierced.
The bounty-hunter dismantled his weapon, hearing his mentor’s chuckle of appreciation.
There was no one living nearby.
Before medics could arrive, too late to be of any assistant for the dying mech, the gold-and-black plated shooter had disappeared, vanished as if he’d never been lying in wait.
“Target’s dead.” Jazz tossed the borrowed laser-rifle back to its owner. “Just like you taught me.”
Lockdown caught the deactivated laser-rifle. “Good job.”
TITLE: Hiring
RATING: K+
SERIES: Animated
CHARACTER: Jazz, Lockdown
SUMMARY: Being choosy about assignments can mean the difference between successful (and sought after) or starving.
PROMPT: Target Acquired
Lockdown toyed with his latest acquisition. “This elite guard’s been troubling you?”
He read the written confirmation, hid his grimace. Lockdown didn’t do jobs unless he could meet the client beforehand.
Unless the lucrative client proved extremely generous, and made ‘not meeting face-to-face’ or its equivalent one of the conditions upon accepting the job, then maybe Lockdown would let it slide.
A contract was a contract - and Lockdown didn’t walk out on a potentially job paying this well.
“You’ll have confirmation of the elite guard’s deactivation soon.” Lockdown shut off his head of the text-only comm. Link. Looked at the black-and-white image. “Jazz, who have you angered this time?”
TITLE: Duty verses duty
RATING: K+
SERIES: Animated
CHARACTER: Jazz, Lockdown
SUMMARY: It was a stand-off
PROMPT: Target Acquired
Warned by a nearly-inaudible sound of creaking joints, the apparently dozing gold-plated elite warrior lunges forward.
Elite guard Jazz kept a knuckle on the trigger-plate, held his fire.
The bounty-hunter showed no fear, staring down certain death. “Well, well. Isn’t this a surprise?”
“What do you want?” Jazz shifted position, placing his much smaller but more agile frame between Lockdown’s armed weapon and the stasis-bound Sentinel Prime.
“To collect my reward. Which is only paid after Sentinel dies.” Lockdown pulled a second pulsar gun from subspace, aimed at the meddling Autobot. “Killing you is a pleasurable bonus.”
Jazz presses down.
RATING: K+
SERIES: Animated
CHARACTER: Jazz, Lockdown
SUMMARY: The past doesn’t always have a bearing on present jobs or current duties. Sometimes, those early-acquired skills stick around.
PROMPT: Target Acquired
The bounty-hunter looked through the rifle’s scope, peering at the oblivious mech. The purple faction symbol on the amour distressed him not.
He fired, the mech fell, his laser-core pierced.
The bounty-hunter dismantled his weapon, hearing his mentor’s chuckle of appreciation.
There was no one living nearby.
Before medics could arrive, too late to be of any assistant for the dying mech, the gold-and-black plated shooter had disappeared, vanished as if he’d never been lying in wait.
“Target’s dead.” Jazz tossed the borrowed laser-rifle back to its owner. “Just like you taught me.”
Lockdown caught the deactivated laser-rifle. “Good job.”
TITLE: Hiring
RATING: K+
SERIES: Animated
CHARACTER: Jazz, Lockdown
SUMMARY: Being choosy about assignments can mean the difference between successful (and sought after) or starving.
PROMPT: Target Acquired
Lockdown toyed with his latest acquisition. “This elite guard’s been troubling you?”
He read the written confirmation, hid his grimace. Lockdown didn’t do jobs unless he could meet the client beforehand.
Unless the lucrative client proved extremely generous, and made ‘not meeting face-to-face’ or its equivalent one of the conditions upon accepting the job, then maybe Lockdown would let it slide.
A contract was a contract - and Lockdown didn’t walk out on a potentially job paying this well.
“You’ll have confirmation of the elite guard’s deactivation soon.” Lockdown shut off his head of the text-only comm. Link. Looked at the black-and-white image. “Jazz, who have you angered this time?”
TITLE: Duty verses duty
RATING: K+
SERIES: Animated
CHARACTER: Jazz, Lockdown
SUMMARY: It was a stand-off
PROMPT: Target Acquired
Warned by a nearly-inaudible sound of creaking joints, the apparently dozing gold-plated elite warrior lunges forward.
Elite guard Jazz kept a knuckle on the trigger-plate, held his fire.
The bounty-hunter showed no fear, staring down certain death. “Well, well. Isn’t this a surprise?”
“What do you want?” Jazz shifted position, placing his much smaller but more agile frame between Lockdown’s armed weapon and the stasis-bound Sentinel Prime.
“To collect my reward. Which is only paid after Sentinel dies.” Lockdown pulled a second pulsar gun from subspace, aimed at the meddling Autobot. “Killing you is a pleasurable bonus.”
Jazz presses down.