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Description
For A Few Credits More

Dredclaw stood over his wingsibs, awaiting further orders from Scourge.  He and the others—Brigand, Sunder, and Singe, as well as several of their drones—had been ordered to hold position in a small forested area in Europe.  Geist and Revenant were with Scourge and Cyclonus, investigating another location.  Autobot activity was frequent in the vicinity of late, and Galvatron wanted it dealt with.  He sighed momentarily, weary of the inactivity—so far, his scanners hadn’t picked up any hostiles or potential prey.  His attention was suddenly diverted by Sunder’s inquisitive voice.

“Brigand!  What are you doing?”

The Sweep Executive Officer turned his head slightly to see Brigand crouched down, digging gingerly into the ground with his claws.

“That’s what I’d like to know.  Why in the frag are you playing around in the dirt?” Dredclaw exclaimed, “You’re going to wear down your claws.”

“I’m not playing,” Brigand growled.  He continued to dig carefully, sniffing all the while, then stopped, and lifted a tiny object no larger than a walnut, barely grasping it in his claws.  He then deposited the item in a small burlap sack he had brought with him.

Sunder was extremely curious and stuck his nose into the sack before Brigand had a chance to close it.  “What have you got in there?  Smells like…..fungus!  Why in the universe are you gathering mushrooms?  Have you turned vegetarian or something?”

Brigand snatched the sack away with a growl of annoyance and concealed it in subspace, and then folded his arms across his chest.  “It’s something that my contacts will pay quite highly for,” he said haughtily, “These are no ordinary mushrooms.  These are white truffles—extremely rare and difficult to find, and quite lucrative.  My enhanced senses give me an edge in locating them—I hear humans have to resort to using dogs or swine to find these.”

“Oh slag, here we go,” Dredclaw moaned, “Brigand, how many times does Scourge have to tell you, lay off the black market stuff?  It attracts far too much of the wrong kind of attention.”

The Sweep Treasure Hunter was indignant.  “I’ll have you know this stuff is perfectly legal.”

Singe cocked his head at Dredclaw.  “You want I should burn the forest down to keep him from finding any more?” he wondered.

Brigand laughed.  “Go ahead.  You’ll only make the ones I’ve already collected worth much, much more.  Supply and demand, you know.”

“No,” the Sweep XO replied, “That would give away our position.  We’re supposed to be ready to ambush someone, remember?  I say we let him dig around in the dirt as much as he likes, provided he pays fragging attention to what’s going on around him.  Brigand, if your actions screw up this mission, so help me…”

“Don’t worry,” Brigand assured him, “Trust me, my scanners are on full alert.  I won’t be taken by surprise.”

Sunder leaned towards Dredclaw.  “I’ll keep an eye on him, just in case,” he said quietly.

Dredclaw nodded, and continued to wait, while Brigand and Sunder moved away and gradually disappeared behind a thick tangle of brush.

A few more truffles were located, although to get some of them Brigand nearly had to uproot a tree.  Sunder continued to watch with a mixture of disgust and curiosity.  And, although he’d never admit it, he found the faint musky odor coming from the rare fungi somewhat pleasant.  Then he growled as his sensors detected something approaching.  “*Brigand…*” he said through the Link, warning his wingsib.

“*I know, I know.  I can sense it too*,” Brigand replied dismissively.  He squirreled away one last truffle and stowed the sack in subspace.  He then got ready to pounce on whatever was coming.  His sensors screamed “Autobots” at him.

Dredclaw also had sensed Autobots in the vicinity, and warned the others through the Link to be ready to attack.  He and Singe approached Brigand and Sunder’s position, with the drones falling in behind.  They all crouched, keeping low profiles as they could hear the roar of two motor vehicles.  Dredclaw instructed Sunder to move in from behind while he initiated combat with a frontal assault.

The approaching Autobots were ones that the Sweeps had never seen before—they were probably recent recruits.  They didn’t look particularly strong.  One was a midsized sports car and the other was a truck.

Sunder sniffed audibly and then began salivating oil.  “Ooooh, dinnertime,” he enthused.  Nothing worked up his huntlust like the smell of fresh Autobot.

“You know, I don’t think we even need our drones for this,” Brigand commented.

************************************************************************

“Are you sure there’s Decepticons in the area, Paydirt?” the sports car Autobot asked.

“I’m positive,” his companion replied.

“Well, I’m not reading anything,” the sports car retorted.  He suddenly had to slam on his brakes as Dredclaw appeared out of nowhere, claws bared, fangs flashing, leaping towards him.  The Autobot transformed just in time to have the snarling Sweep’s jaws lock onto his shoulder.  He screamed in pain as Dredclaw’s talons subsequently tore into his sides, digging in deeply to prevent him from escaping.

“Looks like you spoke too soon, Nitro!” Paydirt hollered, and transformed.  He aimed his weapon at Dredclaw, hoping to dislodge the Sweep, but was suddenly blindsided—he found himself facedown on the ground, with Sunder’s jaws clamped tightly around his neck.  His attacker had bitten down with a quick snap, severing the Autobot’s motor relays and effectively paralyzing him.

“Hey, save some for us,” Singe complained, as he and Brigand left their hiding places to join in the fun.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep this one alive long enough for you to play with him,” Dredclaw said, sounding as ominous as possible in order to further terrify the Autobot that was still firmly caught in his grasp.

There were few things that Sunder liked more than completely helpless prey.  The Autobot truck had been rendered completely immobile, but could still scream.  Sunder flipped his prey over and went for the throat, seeking his victim’s fuel line.  A howl of abject pain and terror erupted from the bot’s vocalizers as Sunder’s fangs sank into him and ripped open his neck armor, slicing through a fuel line in the process.  He practically purred as he was rewarded with a steady flow of fresh fuel, which he eagerly lapped up.  His prey began losing consciousness, so the Sweep kept him awake by tearing him up with his talons, eliciting agonized shrieks from the Autobot, much to the delight of his wingsibs.

Meanwhile, Dredclaw, Brigand, and Singe were taking turns taking chunks out of their victim.  Singe wanted to use his flamethrower, so Dredclaw and Brigand stepped back, and watched while the Autobot was practically being burned alive.

Finally, Sunder’s living chew toy lost all consciousness.  It was probably just as well for the doomed Autobot.  Seeing as his prey could no longer scream, Sunder went in for the kill.

Dredclaw chuckled as he sensed the Autobot truck’s life force fade into nothingness, and the subsequent upsurge in pleasure he got through Sunder’s Link.  “*Done with him already?*” he asked his over-eager wingsib.  The other Autobot was still very much alive, and in excruciating pain.  Most of its armor was horribly shredded, which made Singe’s flamethrower all the more painful when it hit.  After the flames had died down, and the Autobot was cool enough to handle, Dredclaw and Singe began clawing him some more, tormenting him like a pair of cats with a mouse.

Brigand walked over to the Autobot that Sunder had dispatched, and began immediately searching for valuables.  A smirk crept over his face as he tore open a hidden compartment with his claws and released a small amount of credits, which he quickly pocketed.  He waited for Dredclaw to finish the other Autobot before going to loot that carcass as well.  His thrills came not just from the actual hunt, but from gaining whatever valuables he could steal in the process.

Sunder paid only rudimentary attention to what Brigand was doing; he was busy feeling the sensations that Dredclaw and Singe were experiencing, via the Link.  Dredclaw had commented on Sunder’s tendency to kill his victims a little too quickly—at least, in Dredclaw’s opinion—on more than one occasion, but that didn’t matter to Sunder.  Invariably, there was always at least one victim that got the full treatment, courtesy of the Sweep Executive Officer, and that provided more than enough shared sensations to make up for Sunder’s relative impatience.  It wasn’t so much impatience though, as it was the fact that Sunder liked feeding on the fuel of his prey on the occasions when it was palatable, and that naturally caused them to expire faster.

At last, Dredclaw figured that he’d toyed with the remaining Autobot long enough.  He brought his plasma bursters on line and fired them at the Autobot, full power.  Singe used his flamethrower.  Eventually the Autobot was melted down into a pile of slag.

Brigand was furious.  “HEY!  You melted him down before I could get his valuables!” he protested.

“Oh.  That’s too bad,” Dredclaw said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.  He and Singe had melted the Autobot for that very purpose.  The other Sweeps snickered at seeing their wingsib’s thieving ways temporarily thwarted.

The mindless Sweep drones were enlisted to take the remains of the two Autobots.  Dredclaw didn’t want any evidence left behind.  He had no interest in making the relatively intact Autobot into a drone, at least not now.

Not long after the two Autobots had been disposed of, Scourge radioed his pack.  “Our mission is complete,” his voice stated over Dredclaw’s radio, “Return to base.”

“As you command,” Dredclaw responded, and he transformed and leaped into the air, followed by his wingsibs and the drones.

************************************************************************

Back at the Decepticon Base, Brigand had a visitor—one of the merchant-smugglers he kept in regular contact with.  It was a Scuxxoid trader.  Dealing with Scuxxoids was unpleasant but Brigand had learned how to outmaneuver them and come out ahead in his business arrangements with them.

“So, did you bring ‘em?” the Scuxxoid asked.

Brigand produced the burlap sack filled with truffles from subspace.  The characteristic odor of the fungi started to fill the area.

“Ooooh, those must be premium ones!” the Scuxxoid said in excitement.

“Indeed,” Brigand said dryly, “And premium product demands a premium price.”

“Hey, waitaminute!  What about our agreed-on price?” the Scuxxoid protested.

“Hey, I can always sell these to someone else,” Brigand retorted, “And I’d probably get a better price, too.”

“No-no, wait.  I’ll pay anything!” the Scuxxoid cried, “I GOTTA have those!”

Brigand raised an optic brow.  “Anything?” he echoed, as a smirk crept across his bearded face.

************************************************************************

Sunder passed a snickering Brigand in the passageway.  The Treasure Hunter was carrying a bag filled with credits, and reaching in and letting the money slip through his taloned fingers, as if he were channeling the spirit of Ebeneezer Scrooge.

“So how did you make out?” Sunder asked, not that he really was that interested.

“Better than I expected,” Brigand crowed.

Sunder shook his head in exasperation.  “You’re nothing but a common thief,” he snapped.

His wingsib bristled.  “That’s TREASURE-HUNTER to you, tattle-tale.”

THE END!

Description
For A Few Credits More

Dredclaw stood over his wingsibs, awaiting further orders from Scourge.  He and the others—Brigand, Sunder, and Singe, as well as several of their drones—had been ordered to hold position in a small forested area in Europe.  Geist and Revenant were with Scourge and Cyclonus, investigating another location.  Autobot activity was frequent in the vicinity of late, and Galvatron wanted it dealt with.  He sighed momentarily, weary of the inactivity—so far, his scanners hadn’t picked up any hostiles or potential prey.  His attention was suddenly diverted by Sunder’s inquisitive voice.

“Brigand!  What are you doing?”

The Sweep Executive Officer turned his head slightly to see Brigand crouched down, digging gingerly into the ground with his claws.

“That’s what I’d like to know.  Why in the frag are you playing around in the dirt?” Dredclaw exclaimed, “You’re going to wear down your claws.”

“I’m not playing,” Brigand growled.  He continued to dig carefully, sniffing all the while, then stopped, and lifted a tiny object no larger than a walnut, barely grasping it in his claws.  He then deposited the item in a small burlap sack he had brought with him.

Sunder was extremely curious and stuck his nose into the sack before Brigand had a chance to close it.  “What have you got in there?  Smells like…..fungus!  Why in the universe are you gathering mushrooms?  Have you turned vegetarian or something?”

Brigand snatched the sack away with a growl of annoyance and concealed it in subspace, and then folded his arms across his chest.  “It’s something that my contacts will pay quite highly for,” he said haughtily, “These are no ordinary mushrooms.  These are white truffles—extremely rare and difficult to find, and quite lucrative.  My enhanced senses give me an edge in locating them—I hear humans have to resort to using dogs or swine to find these.”

“Oh slag, here we go,” Dredclaw moaned, “Brigand, how many times does Scourge have to tell you, lay off the black market stuff?  It attracts far too much of the wrong kind of attention.”

The Sweep Treasure Hunter was indignant.  “I’ll have you know this stuff is perfectly legal.”

Singe cocked his head at Dredclaw.  “You want I should burn the forest down to keep him from finding any more?” he wondered.

Brigand laughed.  “Go ahead.  You’ll only make the ones I’ve already collected worth much, much more.  Supply and demand, you know.”

“No,” the Sweep XO replied, “That would give away our position.  We’re supposed to be ready to ambush someone, remember?  I say we let him dig around in the dirt as much as he likes, provided he pays fragging attention to what’s going on around him.  Brigand, if your actions screw up this mission, so help me…”

“Don’t worry,” Brigand assured him, “Trust me, my scanners are on full alert.  I won’t be taken by surprise.”

Sunder leaned towards Dredclaw.  “I’ll keep an eye on him, just in case,” he said quietly.

Dredclaw nodded, and continued to wait, while Brigand and Sunder moved away and gradually disappeared behind a thick tangle of brush.

A few more truffles were located, although to get some of them Brigand nearly had to uproot a tree.  Sunder continued to watch with a mixture of disgust and curiosity.  And, although he’d never admit it, he found the faint musky odor coming from the rare fungi somewhat pleasant.  Then he growled as his sensors detected something approaching.  “*Brigand…*” he said through the Link, warning his wingsib.

“*I know, I know.  I can sense it too*,” Brigand replied dismissively.  He squirreled away one last truffle and stowed the sack in subspace.  He then got ready to pounce on whatever was coming.  His sensors screamed “Autobots” at him.

Dredclaw also had sensed Autobots in the vicinity, and warned the others through the Link to be ready to attack.  He and Singe approached Brigand and Sunder’s position, with the drones falling in behind.  They all crouched, keeping low profiles as they could hear the roar of two motor vehicles.  Dredclaw instructed Sunder to move in from behind while he initiated combat with a frontal assault.

The approaching Autobots were ones that the Sweeps had never seen before—they were probably recent recruits.  They didn’t look particularly strong.  One was a midsized sports car and the other was a truck.

Sunder sniffed audibly and then began salivating oil.  “Ooooh, dinnertime,” he enthused.  Nothing worked up his huntlust like the smell of fresh Autobot.

“You know, I don’t think we even need our drones for this,” Brigand commented.

************************************************************************

“Are you sure there’s Decepticons in the area, Paydirt?” the sports car Autobot asked.

“I’m positive,” his companion replied.

“Well, I’m not reading anything,” the sports car retorted.  He suddenly had to slam on his brakes as Dredclaw appeared out of nowhere, claws bared, fangs flashing, leaping towards him.  The Autobot transformed just in time to have the snarling Sweep’s jaws lock onto his shoulder.  He screamed in pain as Dredclaw’s talons subsequently tore into his sides, digging in deeply to prevent him from escaping.

“Looks like you spoke too soon, Nitro!” Paydirt hollered, and transformed.  He aimed his weapon at Dredclaw, hoping to dislodge the Sweep, but was suddenly blindsided—he found himself facedown on the ground, with Sunder’s jaws clamped tightly around his neck.  His attacker had bitten down with a quick snap, severing the Autobot’s motor relays and effectively paralyzing him.

“Hey, save some for us,” Singe complained, as he and Brigand left their hiding places to join in the fun.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep this one alive long enough for you to play with him,” Dredclaw said, sounding as ominous as possible in order to further terrify the Autobot that was still firmly caught in his grasp.

There were few things that Sunder liked more than completely helpless prey.  The Autobot truck had been rendered completely immobile, but could still scream.  Sunder flipped his prey over and went for the throat, seeking his victim’s fuel line.  A howl of abject pain and terror erupted from the bot’s vocalizers as Sunder’s fangs sank into him and ripped open his neck armor, slicing through a fuel line in the process.  He practically purred as he was rewarded with a steady flow of fresh fuel, which he eagerly lapped up.  His prey began losing consciousness, so the Sweep kept him awake by tearing him up with his talons, eliciting agonized shrieks from the Autobot, much to the delight of his wingsibs.

Meanwhile, Dredclaw, Brigand, and Singe were taking turns taking chunks out of their victim.  Singe wanted to use his flamethrower, so Dredclaw and Brigand stepped back, and watched while the Autobot was practically being burned alive.

Finally, Sunder’s living chew toy lost all consciousness.  It was probably just as well for the doomed Autobot.  Seeing as his prey could no longer scream, Sunder went in for the kill.

Dredclaw chuckled as he sensed the Autobot truck’s life force fade into nothingness, and the subsequent upsurge in pleasure he got through Sunder’s Link.  “*Done with him already?*” he asked his over-eager wingsib.  The other Autobot was still very much alive, and in excruciating pain.  Most of its armor was horribly shredded, which made Singe’s flamethrower all the more painful when it hit.  After the flames had died down, and the Autobot was cool enough to handle, Dredclaw and Singe began clawing him some more, tormenting him like a pair of cats with a mouse.

Brigand walked over to the Autobot that Sunder had dispatched, and began immediately searching for valuables.  A smirk crept over his face as he tore open a hidden compartment with his claws and released a small amount of credits, which he quickly pocketed.  He waited for Dredclaw to finish the other Autobot before going to loot that carcass as well.  His thrills came not just from the actual hunt, but from gaining whatever valuables he could steal in the process.

Sunder paid only rudimentary attention to what Brigand was doing; he was busy feeling the sensations that Dredclaw and Singe were experiencing, via the Link.  Dredclaw had commented on Sunder’s tendency to kill his victims a little too quickly—at least, in Dredclaw’s opinion—on more than one occasion, but that didn’t matter to Sunder.  Invariably, there was always at least one victim that got the full treatment, courtesy of the Sweep Executive Officer, and that provided more than enough shared sensations to make up for Sunder’s relative impatience.  It wasn’t so much impatience though, as it was the fact that Sunder liked feeding on the fuel of his prey on the occasions when it was palatable, and that naturally caused them to expire faster.

At last, Dredclaw figured that he’d toyed with the remaining Autobot long enough.  He brought his plasma bursters on line and fired them at the Autobot, full power.  Singe used his flamethrower.  Eventually the Autobot was melted down into a pile of slag.

Brigand was furious.  “HEY!  You melted him down before I could get his valuables!” he protested.

“Oh.  That’s too bad,” Dredclaw said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.  He and Singe had melted the Autobot for that very purpose.  The other Sweeps snickered at seeing their wingsib’s thieving ways temporarily thwarted.

The mindless Sweep drones were enlisted to take the remains of the two Autobots.  Dredclaw didn’t want any evidence left behind.  He had no interest in making the relatively intact Autobot into a drone, at least not now.

Not long after the two Autobots had been disposed of, Scourge radioed his pack.  “Our mission is complete,” his voice stated over Dredclaw’s radio, “Return to base.”

“As you command,” Dredclaw responded, and he transformed and leaped into the air, followed by his wingsibs and the drones.

************************************************************************

Back at the Decepticon Base, Brigand had a visitor—one of the merchant-smugglers he kept in regular contact with.  It was a Scuxxoid trader.  Dealing with Scuxxoids was unpleasant but Brigand had learned how to outmaneuver them and come out ahead in his business arrangements with them.

“So, did you bring ‘em?” the Scuxxoid asked.

Brigand produced the burlap sack filled with truffles from subspace.  The characteristic odor of the fungi started to fill the area.

“Ooooh, those must be premium ones!” the Scuxxoid said in excitement.

“Indeed,” Brigand said dryly, “And premium product demands a premium price.”

“Hey, waitaminute!  What about our agreed-on price?” the Scuxxoid protested.

“Hey, I can always sell these to someone else,” Brigand retorted, “And I’d probably get a better price, too.”

“No-no, wait.  I’ll pay anything!” the Scuxxoid cried, “I GOTTA have those!”

Brigand raised an optic brow.  “Anything?” he echoed, as a smirk crept across his bearded face.

************************************************************************

Sunder passed a snickering Brigand in the passageway.  The Treasure Hunter was carrying a bag filled with credits, and reaching in and letting the money slip through his taloned fingers, as if he were channeling the spirit of Ebeneezer Scrooge.

“So how did you make out?” Sunder asked, not that he really was that interested.

“Better than I expected,” Brigand crowed.

Sunder shook his head in exasperation.  “You’re nothing but a common thief,” he snapped.

His wingsib bristled.  “That’s TREASURE-HUNTER to you, tattle-tale.”

THE END!