Chapter One: Wheeljack

A life on the go is the life for me. Free to drive lonely highways, feel the wind over my hood and the asphalt under my tires: that's where I belong. It feels good. I overtook the car ahead of me and accelerated, pushing the limits of my engine. This alt is pretty sleek for a human contraption. Streamlined and tough—like it's meant for my frame. Ratchet can say what he likes about humans, but they've got a great selection of vehicles ready for the scanning.

The sun was getting pretty low. I decided it was time I headed back. I gunned my engine and turned off the road, driving over the fields until I reached the cover of the woods, where I could transform back to root mode without being seen. I made my way through the undergrowth to my ship.

"Hey, darlin'. Miss me?" I ran a servo over one of the Jackhammer's wings before cuing it to open the gangplank. The ramp closed behind me once I was inside, and I grabbed a cube of energon from my stock before settling into my chair with a long vent.

I didn't notice falling into recharge, but when I woke up, something seemed off. It took a moment to register that the lighting had dimmed and that the "refuel needed" signal was flashing on the control panel.

Odd. Jackhammer had had a full tank this morning, and we hadn't been flying today. How did all that energon get used up so suddenly?

I stood up from my seat and swept my empty cube into the disposal unit. The sound of the ramp lowering probably alerted anyone in the area to my presence, but that couldn't be helped. I patted the grenade at my hip and slipped outside.

The moon was up. Beams of light showed between the trees surrounding the Jackhammer. A sort of trickling sound reached my audials from below the ship. I turned and crouched down to look under the ramp.

A band of glowing red light greeted me. Instinct transformed my gun from one servo, and I pointed it at the 'Con beneath my ship. The faint glow from my weapon illuminated bright green armor on a rounded frame. It also seemed to draw his attention away from whatever the Pit he was doing to my Jackhammer. His gaze flicked up to me, and he made a noise of shock.

"Come out with your servos up," I growled.

To my surprise, he grinned. There was a sound like a suction cup, and he suddenly rolled out sideways from under the Jackhammer, forcing me to dash around the side to catch him where he'd come up to a kneeling position. Before I could shoot, the little aft leaped right at me. He dug his servos into my plating and flipped over my helm, unbalancing me. My arms pinwheeled as I struggled to keep from falling backwards, but the extra weight on my back pulled me over, and I thudded to the ground. He jumped out of the way just in time, but I managed to lash out with one servo and bring him down with me. He scrambled backwards as I got back to my pedes.

"C'mere, 'Con!" I lunged at him, but he leaped backwards into the cover provided by the trees.

Branches slapped my face as I followed, unsheathing my swords to hack away the organic mess. Ahead of me, I could see the green menace jump up—and continue up—and up—scrap, that was a tall tree. When I arrived at its base, he was on a branch three times my height above the ground. I put back my swords and transformed my gun out again. Before I could get a shot off, though, the Decepticon leaped into the next giant tree over.

"I'd love to stay and chat, Autoscum," he yelled down at me with an infuriatingly cheerful tone, "but I've got a bridge to catch!" With that, he disappeared from sight.

I punched the tree. He was too fast, too unpredictable. I couldn't follow and expect to catch him on my own. Better go see what the slagger did to my ship.

"Frag!"

As much as I hated to admit it, I was going to need backup.