A/N Introducing A brand new fic! Please give a warm welcome to my first TFP full length story starring my new OC, and everyone's favorite Scientist-turned-Wrecker, Wheeljack. Guest appearances and cameos are provided by my friend Fifekun. Enjoy and Please review!
Note: This story starts during the events of Con Job. Sorry for spoilers!
Disclaimer: Hasbro owns Transformers, Fifekun owns Snow-Lilly and Tiv, I own my OC :)
"Wheeljack? You old Con crusher! Whatta doing all the way out here?" A familiar voice sounded through the Jackhammer's audio. Wheeljack couldn't help but bare a happy smile at who he thought was on the other line.
"Bulkhead? That you?" His smile was replaced by an amused and baffled expression. "What's with all the security?"
Bulkhead explained quickly enough. "How soon can ya come here and even the odds?"
Wheeljack grinned. "Sometime tomorrow, if I put pedal to the metal."
Another, stuffy voice cut in. The same one who had addressed him before. "We will send landing coordinates Wheeljack. Safe journey." By that tone, it must've been the Prime Bulkhead had signed on with.
"Bye buddy! I'll make sure you get a proper welcome!" Ah, good old Bulk.
Wheeljack got the coordinates a couple klicks later. He couldn't help but widen his grin. Con smashing, seeing Bulkhead, maybe even some lobbing around the old cyball, it was gonna be sweet.
On the Nemesis, Starscream pondered. "A war hero?" He rounded on Soundwave, a hasty look plastered on his faceplates. "We haven't much time." He turned to a Con standing in the hallway. "Makeshift."
On cue, Soundwave began to upload the data on this so called Wheeljack into the shape changer standing before them, taking on his build, voice, and mannerisms.
The air commander smiled devilishly. Makeshift was the perfect infiltrator, but they needed help. "I too know how to prepare a welcome." The seeker stated aloud. He turned to a vehicon. "Get me Heatstroke."
Wheeljack let his intakes pull air into his mouth in what could be considered a yawn. He was tired as he had spent the last 28 megacycles approaching the rock that was called "Earth" according to the Jackhammer's navigation systems. It was an alright planet. Sun, sand, organic lifeforms, and water; lot's and lot of water. Seaspray would love it.
'Haven't seen Seaspray in a long time. Huh. Wonder how old Barnacle aft's doing.' Wheeljack thought to himself. His thoughts were abruptly changed as he saw a red blip appear on radar. Followed by another, and another.
"Ah scrap." Wheeljack swore. The Wrecker switched off the navagation and engaged the manual controls. "All right you flying tin cans, bring it!"
The Jackhammer zig zagged through the air but one laser shot hit the tail end of the starship. Instinctively, Wheeljack's servo darted for the seat's restraint field.
The collision with solid ground made Wheeljack grunt. The restraints held fast, ensuring that the Wrecker's processor wouldn't get rattled; though many would contest he already had screws loose up there.
Ignoring the damage report for the time being, the white mech jumped up and exited the starship, using the billowing smoke for cover. The Cons were on the ground, right where Wheeljack wanted them. His hand transformed and he took aim. The Con he hit went down with a thud. Good; they weren't expecting a real fight. The smoke began to clear. Wheeljack quickly took in the scene. A small brigade; easy.
"If you Cons are trying to ruin my day, you'll have to try harder." His battle mask slid over his faceplates as he readied himself.
The Cons fired their laser guns. Wheeljack ran sideways to his left, happy that pede soldiers couldn't aim worth a damn. But this was boring, why not make it interesting? With a surge to his leg struts, the Wrecker launched upwards and landed in the middle of the Decepticons. A twisted grin formed behind his mask as he started thrashing and smashing. Now to really make it fun. With a mental command, Wheeljack's swords unclipped and he drew them; the metal glistening in the sun of this planet.
Starscream watched the footage from the Nemesis. They were going to run out of soldiers soon if they didn't hurry. "We must do it now. Soundwave, send them through." He turned to a silhouette in the doorway. "Heatstroke, you know what to do."
A sickening chuckle came from the shadows. Starscream looked on as a pair of ruby red optics stared back. "Quite." Heatstroke replied.
Wheeljack stabbed another Con through the spark when a swirling vortex opened up. "Ah, cleanup." He said expecting Bulkhead to come running through. Instead, a group of vehicons came out.
Wheeljack ridged an optic. "More of you? Tell Ol' Megsy I'm flattered, but he's not my type." With that, the Wrecker let out a battle cry and charged. As he was about to bring his sword down, it was quickly parried. He looked up and shock passed through his system for a second. "A changeling? Impressive charade." He finally said. "Though your blade work sucks."
The other Wheeljack grinned. A semi raspy voice came from him. "Makeshift is the name Autobot, and I do not intend to fight you."
Wheeljack was generally puzzled. "No?"
A voice sounded behind him. "No. The pleasure is mine."
Wheeljack didn't have even enough time to turn his helm around before something smashed the base of it, knocking his lights out.
"Uuuuhhh..." The Wrecker moaned before he slipped into stasis lock. Makeshift smiled. "Nice Heatstroke."
Makeshift looked at the Con in front of him. A femme, and an appealing one at that. She was good size for a femme, bigger than Airachnid, or that little glitch Arcee. Heatstroke stood about a Cyber inch shorter than his current form. Her armor was black with blood red accent. Her legs were covered from just above her knee joint down to her pedes, producing a knee-high boot effect. Her chest armor slid down to form two circles on either side of her spark chamber with a scant piece joining the circles and covering said spark chamber. Her helm curved around her face and formed two sharp points that ran parallel just above her shoulders. A small red tip protruded above the forehelm, that most feminine builds had (which was a huge joke around the Nemesis concerning Starscream.)
Her ruby red optics smiled as she twirled the staff that had knocked the Wrecker out. "Like I said, my pleasure." She sent a comm signal as she motioned for two of the five vehicons to drag the Wrecker off to the now appearing bridge. She followed behind as Makeshift began to kill the remaining Cons to make it convincing.
"Uh..." Wheeljack groaned as his systems started to boot up. What happened? A crash, smashing Cons, reinforcements, then...A Look alike! An infiltrator to the Omega outpost! But he didn't attack...A voice behind him...a femme, definitely a femme, but the memory was too blurry to recall the exact tone. Slag did his helm hurt!
Wheeljack tried to move his servo to grip his pounding helm. Something held him fast. His optics tried to focus as his systems registered strain in this shoulder joints. Why couldn't he touch the ground? As his processor cleared, he realized he was suspended by his servos.
'A typical Decepticon solitary interrogation cell. Fraggin terrific.' Wheeljack thought sarcastically. He stared up at the restraints. No way to open them without damaging or activating the control panel. He ran a quick diagnostic on himself only to determine his swords were gone and his guns had been disabled; He could fix that if he got his slagging servos free. Either way, struggle was pointless; best to conserve energy and to wait for an oppurtune moment. He only hoped he'd get out before Bulkhead showed up and saved his behind.
'That'd be embarressing as pit. Oh hey Bulkhead, haven't seen ya in centuries. Can you help me out of these retraints 'cause I got blindsided?' Whelljack almost said it out loud, but held back as it was likely Cons were watching the monitors.
Indeed, one mech in particular was watching him.
"Oh, he's a cute one. Look at those lines and that sleek body. Shame he isn't a femme, and I wasn't already seeing someone."
A scoff resonated in the Medbay. "Spare your energy Knockout. Wheeljack would tare you to pieces. Besides, Airachnid called dibs the moment she saw him."
Knockout straightened and eyed Heatstroke casually. "Perhaps. Snow-Lilly is all I really need anywho. I wish you two got along. I'd make her visits to me at work so much less awkward. How's Breakdown? You and him have fun last night?"
Heatstroke smiled. "Ah ah ah. A gentlemech never asks, and a femme never tells. Though I will say he has more endurance than even I thought possible."
Knockout laughed. "You've been seeing him for what, two hundred earth years?"
"Well, primarily him. You know how it is Knockie. Can't keep a good femme tied down."
The red mech returned his gaze to the monitor. Wheeljack was getting a visit from "Lord" Starscream at the current second. "No need to tell me Heatstroke; your exploits are legendary; Almost as famous as your interrogation sessions with prisoners." He motioned to the monitor. "This one seemed personal. Am I correct?"
Heatstroke narrowed her eyes. "What's it to you if it was? It's no secret I knew Wheeljack back on Cybertron. That piece of Autobot trash is like all the rest." Her tone was aggressive and angry.
Knockout threw up his servos in an 'I surrender' gesture. "Ok, sorry I asked."
Heatstroke glared at the medic as she unsubspaced her staff. "Needs an upgrade. I'd do it myself, but last time it went therma-bomb in my face. Figured you should do it." She threw the staff on the table. "I'll be in my quarters. Disturb me at your own risk." Her tone implied the medic would get some serious injuries if he even knocked.
"I wouldn't dream of it." The medic turned off the monitor as Heatstroke exited and began to work on her staff.
Heatstroke walked down the hall fuming. The mention of wheeljack had made her angry. She hated him plain and simple. Starscream came around the corner.
"Ah Heatstroke. How fortunate I caught you."
Heatstroke rolled her optics. "Yippee for me. What do you want?"
Starscream dropped the semi decent mech act. "Well, if you want to be blunt," He snarled. "Once we invade the Autobot post, Wheeljack will outlive most of his usefulness. I want you to interrogate him tomorrow. Find out if he knows where any Autobot resistance pockets are, and afterwards, kill him. I trust you are capable of doing that much?"
Heatstroke grinned a malicious grin. "That and more. He will scream when I'm finished, begging for mercy, and then I'll extinguish his spark the slowest way possible."
Starscream smiled. "Good." He walked away down the hall.
Heatstroke didn't overly care for the second in command. She figured he'd get a reaction out of him. "See ya 'round Her Commandant."
"IT'S LORD! ! ! !" The sound of an irate air commander rumbled down the halls. Well, that gave a twinge of satisfaction to the black and red femme. No time for angering Screamer, she'd just sit back and have the resident pranker Tiv do that. Instead, she had an interrogation to prep for.
Wheeljack hung suspended from the ceiling for what was it now? The tenth megacycle? The strain in his shoulder joints was starting to hurt. The door swooshed open again.
"What? Back for another gloat Scream-breath?" The Wrecker asked with as much bite as he could muster. He looked up not to see Starscream, but a new guard coming in and saying something to the other. The guard laughed and looked back at Wheeljack. "Oh your so in for it Autobot. Lord Starscream has ordered Heatstroke to deal with you."
"Heatstroke? That supposed to be some kinda medical condition or something?"
The old guard walked up, getting in close to Wheeljack. "She's the interrogation officer, and she'll have a field day with you."
Wheeljack bit the back of his mouth, making used energon leak. With precise aim, he spat it right into the guards face. The guard let out a roar before getting his emotions under control. "You'll pay for that!"
Wheeljack snorted. "Oh I'm sorry!" He said sarcastically. "Is little miss Heatstroke gonna punish me for that? Good luck to her. I'll never tell you pieces of trash anything but where you can shove it!"
The guard turned away. "We'll see. Her last Wrecker record was two Megacycles. I'm gonna get clean. See ya Fred."
"Bye Steve." The Vehicon replied.
Wheeljack realized this wasn't good. If this so called Heatstroke could break a Wrecker, then he might crack himself. He doubted this femme had actually ever seen a Wrecker, but on the off chance, the Wrecker decided his welcome just wore out. With a plan, Wheeljack started to struggle by flailing his feet, maybe if could get the guard to get close...
A few minutes later, Wheeljack slunk down the halls, so much for 'Fred'. He'd need his swords, and if he knew anything, they would be in the Medbay.
"Let's see, where the pits the Medbay?" He grumbled. The white mech looked down to the floor. "Hmm..." Wheeljack suddenly got an idea. He knelt down and began to rip the screws out of a panel. Footfalls sounded around the corner. The Wrecker finished and skidded around another corner as three vehicons walked into view.
"I'm just saying Pete, I'd be fun if Tiv painted Starscream pink. I mean really, he's practically a feeeeemmmmmAAAAAHHHH!" The vehicon fell through the panel spectacularly, making Wheeljack cover his mouth to mute his snicker.
"Slaggit!" The second one called Pete cursed. "Dumb panel must've finally caved." He reached down and picked up the maimed vehicon. He motioned to the other one. "Come on, let's get him to the Medbay."
It took some real skill to tail the Vehicons without being seen. Thankfully, Wheeljack had that skill. He entered the Medbay quietly, seeing the vehicon being put into stasis by a red and silver mech.
Knockout turned as he felt a presence behind him." Snow-Lilly, back already? I thought-" He froze as he saw the mech in front of you. "What the-? ! How'd you get out?"
Wheeljack didn't answer, with narrowed optics he lunged for the tool tray. Grabbing a laser scalpel, he threw it at the Con medic. Knockout moved at the last second, only to hear a grating sound and pain on his shoulder. "Ow!" He looked over his shoulder to see a rough scratch. The medic snarled with rage. "You scratch my paint, I SCRATCH YOURS! !"
In a flash of red, Wheeljack was knocked off his pedes. Knockout had him pinned, his knees on the Wrecker's chest and upper abdomen. A rotating buzz saw sprang from the medic's arm and he brought it down. "This won't hurt a bit!"
Wheeljack's servos darted up and he caught the anchoring point of the saw, the blade still slowly inching towards his helm with the doctor's weight behind it. With a surge of strength, Wheeljack pulled Knockout's arm down as he brought his legs up and kicked the Cons backside.
Knockout went forward, saw digging into the wall and sticking. The red Deception snarled out as he desperately tried to pry his saw loose from the wall.
Wheeljack stood up. "This WILL hurt a bit!" The Wrecker said as he punched the doctors lights out. Knockout slumped to the floor, still partially held up by the saw.
It took the Autobot a few klicks to find his swords, he went to walk out, hoping lightly over Knockout. As he turned, he spotted something in the corner. Megatron, laying on a medical berth.
Wheeljack let out a quiet surprised yelp as he involuntarily backed up. So that's what Starscream meant. His backside bumped something blunt and narrow. He turned and saw something that made him freeze. A staff, made of Cybertonium and selinium steel. It brought up memories; strong ones. Pangs hit his spark for a breif second before with a half growl, half snarl, he pushed them from his mind and left the medbay.
'It couldn't be.' He thought.
A half megacycle later, a boom rocked the ship. Heatstroke pulled herself from stasis and opened her comm to hear the commotion.
"MAKESHIFT YOU FOOL!" Screamed into her audios, making her wince.
"Heatstroke here. Status report, now."
"Wheeljack has escaped, and Makeshift has been offlined. Multiple vehicon casualties-"
Heatstroke shut off her comm. She didn't care to hear the rest. A disgusted expression mixed with hate came over her face. "One good turn deserves another Wheeljack. Just you watch."
A/N Well, hope you like my new story idea :) Tell me your opinion of Heatstroke, critiques are welcomed!