AN: Alright, new episode! We get to meet an old acquaintance but it looks like more than one bot knows them.
To answer OPIv2: Yes, all the Makers know what the deal is with Megatron and Solarflare. Yes, that includes Silverbot, Mayhem and Radical.
It was early in the morning when Mayhem was already looking to entertain herself with something beyond video games… because Radical had locked his system with a password when she'd decided to hog it all to herself for almost a week. What could she say, playing as a magical girl that fought her enemies with a magical hammer was really fun.
"Alright! Chores are done, now can we go out for some dune bashing?" The femme had promised Bulkhead to help him sort out some of the storage closets if he'd agree to spend time with her afterwards.
The wrecker felt tired just by being near her. How could a bot have so much energy to spare all the time? "I don't know, Mayhem. Last time I spent a week picking sand out of my articulators. Why do you even want to do it, anyway? I do all the work while you watch and cheer."
"What can I say, I'm a showbot. I come from a long line of bots dedicated to the entertainment of the masses on mom's side, you know?"
An awkward thought went by Bulkhead's processor and he almost chocked on air. "…Yeah." She'd said that just as they were entering the main room with everyone there. None of the Makers paid any attention but Arcee and Bumblebee gave him a funny look.
Ratchet paid no mind the heavy-hitters that had just walked in. He'd been training himself to ignore all noise regarding the inane nonsense the other bots were up to. From victory cries over a game to that long-legged femme that seemed to love to come down from her webs from time to time only to bother him. He went back to pointing at certain lines of text on the screen while Solarflare absorbed his every word. Recently she had requested for him to show her the way around the medbay since she was the only other with any sort of medical training. When he'd asked her where she had went to learn the profession Solarflare merely indicated she did not feel comfortable discussing the subject. Yet another mystery about the femme she refused to reveal.
When a signal display obscured the paragraph the medbot was pointing at he immediately did a double-take. "Optimus, I'm receiving a signal on a restricted band. It appears to be coming from a ship inside this solar system." He pressed a few keys to try and get a better look and was even more surprise at the outcome. "It's an Autobot identification beacon."
All the others came closer to get a look at the supposed Autobot ship that had just made contact with their base. Did it mean that there would be a new element to their team soon enough?
"There's more of you out there?" Asked Silverbot.
Arcee nodded. "The masses scattered to the galaxies after Cybertron finally went dark but Cons have been known to bait traps with false beacons." She'd seen situations like that happen and very few Bots come out of there alive.
Optimus decided they should make the first move and make contact with the unexpected visitor. "Unknown vessel this is Autobot outpost Omega One, identify yourself."
There was some static before the transmission cleared and a familiar voice to two of the bots came through. "I've had warmer welcomes from Decepticon combat brigades."
"Wheeljack?! You old Con crusher, what are you doing all the way out here?" Bulkhead could not believe the voice coming though the speakers belonged to his old friend.
"Bulkhead, that's you? What's with all the security?"
"The rock we're on is crawling with cons. How soon can you get here and even the odds?"
"Sometime tomorrow if I put metal to the pedal."
Mayhem lit up at the thought of another bot joining their team. What did they look like? They'd be able to handle themselves in the field if they were friends with Bulkhead. Maybe she tempt them to go for a joyride with them. "Another bot's coming here, how cool is that?"
"Wheeljack? I know of him by reputation only. Can you verify his voice print?" Optimus turned to the green wrecker. If he was indeed the one riding that ship they'd just gained a powerful ally in their fight against the Decepticons.
"He is one thousand-percent the real deal, Optimus."
The Autobot leader nodded. He trusted his warrior completely, if he said there was no shadow of a doubt then it was true. "We will send landing coordinates, Wheeljack. Safe journey."
"See ya soon, buddy. I'll make sure you get a proper welcome." Bulkhead said his goodbyes before the transmission cut off.
Arcee was the first to ask what everyone else wanted to know. Well, almost everyone. "So, who's the boyfriend?"
"Me and Jackie go way back. We were part of the same war unit, The Wreckers. Which means the Cons are gonna wish he never found us." He couldn't stop reminiscing about their past mission together. They'd kicked a lot of Con afts back during the war, had their afts kicked a few times, but every time they'd always went out with a bang. Literally.
While the Autobot thought about Wheeljack in a friendly manner a certain Maker could not stop thinking about him in a more-than-friendly one. She barely had decent materials for her inventions, got cut off from her near-constant supply of high-grade, Mayhem and Radical barely paid attention to her anymore with their new friends but finally she'd been granted one small mercy.
"Careful, smile a bit more and you might damage your faceplates." Airachnid poked her friend's cheek with a pointed claw.
"I can't help it! I'm just so excited! I can finally have some fun without high-grade!" Doomsday threw her arms in the air and laughed. Oh, they were going to have so much fun indeed. "I can't believe my luck to run into him of all bots here after all this time!"
Bulkhead was confused. He thought he'd be the only one to recognize the mech. "You know Jackie?"
Solarflare groaned. "Please don't." She had a very good idea how the Forger knew the bot in question and that she took pride in her ways.
"Sure do!" Doomsday took her faceplate in her hands, as if she was blushing, and, if it was even possible, her smile got wider. "Before the Wrecker ban he loooved to spend time with us. And by us I mean me. And by spend time I mean-"
"We get it." The Maker leader took her authoritative tone. That femme could go on and on about her 'adventures' before anyone put a stop to her.
"Aww, don't be like that. I'm glad Doomsday's finally getting a friend to play with." Airachnid put an arm around the Forger before leaning in closer. "You are going to share, aren't you?"
"What are friends for?"
Radical let out a cough to get his Carrier's attention. "Mom, while we don't mind hearing about those things, I think you're scaring and grossing them out." He pointed at the Autobots sporting barely contained shocked expressions.
It had been a while since the new additions stopped being new but from time to time the original Cybertronian occupants of the base managed to forget that Maker would always be a Maker, no matter the circumstances.
Little did the Autobots know they weren't the only ones receiving the transmission from Wheeljack. Inside the Nemesis Starscream was attentively listening in on the transmission, curtesy of Soundwave who'd intercepted the signal.
"A war hero, huh? We haven't much time. Makeshift." At the Decepticon's orders a mech appeared from the shadows. He was the perfect bot for the job, although his loyalty still hadn't proven itself yet due to his history with the previous Lord.
Soundwave accessed the public service record and downloaded all the available information on Wheeljack. Their spy would need to know the one he'd be impersonating enough to fool the Autobots that would be welcoming him into their base. After the download was completed he extended one of his tentacles to feed in information to Makeshift.
The bot covered in shadows started to transform under the gaze of the Decepticon officers. His frame split into various interchangeable panels, exposing incredibly more intricate insides than any other Cybertronian, and before long he resembled the wrecker with no faults to his disguise.
"I too know how to prepare a proper welcome." Starscream marveled at the accuracy of the copy. If everything went according to plan soon enough they wouldn't have to worry about their pesky enemies for much longer. "Listen carefully. I want you to discover the location of the Autobot's base and rely it to us. I also order you to bring me Radical, the sparkling that's supposed to be with them."
"If you want to play house it's all fine by me, Commander Starscream." Makeshift almost wanted to laugh. It seemed for all the mech before him gloated about his excellence and brilliant mind he still seemed to fall for every seeker's weakness: a seekerlet.
Starscream narrowed his optics and pointed a claw at the spy. "Careful. Just because you fought alongside Megatron in the Pits of Kaon does not mean you can be disrespectful to me, Makeshift."
"Got it, Lord Starscream."
The next day everyone had gotten up early to receive their newest team member. While the older bots had taken their time, barring Doomsday, the younger ones had barely been able to recharge due to all the excitement along with Bulkhead.
When Optimus and Solarflare had reached the main room everyone was already there crowded around the groundbridge. While the Autobot leader was glad his team was eager to receive a new addition Solarflare dreaded to think what she would have to deal with. She´d have to ask Silverbot to take charge while she finished studying her medical texts or else her servos would be too full for her to even function properly.
"Wheeljack's ship is approaching the landing zone." Arcee announced to the excited bots. Mainly Bulkhead and Mayhem.
"You think he's here to visit?" Radical was in his usual perch besides the controls, watching as the blue dot on the screen moved closer in.
"Maybe he'll stay!" Mayhem couldn't reel in her excitement. Maybe they could even have friendly spars if he was up for it. Gasp! Idea! "How's about Silver and I against Bulk and Wheeljack?"
Ratchet was quick to cut that train of thought. "Not in my base, you won't." He already had a hard time with one wrecker damaging his equipment, two and he'd loose what was left of his mind. "Groundbridge cycling up." The bridge began opening but then the control panel malfunctioned, causing to shut down with a series of sparks that even caused Radical to step back. The medbot let out a low curse and punched it back online. "Blasted Earth tech. Equipment hasn't been the same since we opened a bridge twice at the edge of its range."
"I told you to let me look at it. If it's the hardware just give me the parts and I'll even expand the range." Doomsday had offered to help many times but had always been ignored. This was also one of those times. "Fine. Suit yourself, burnout." She huffed.
"If you don't mind me asking, why is he landing halfway across Earth just for you to bridge him here?" Silverbot asked.
"We can't risk revealing the location of our base. Just in case the Decepticons are tacking Wheeljack's ship." Optimus knew the risk of revealing their location. Even without Megatron the Decepticons were still heavily armed and with a well-aimed shot from the Nemesis their hiding spot would fall to rubble.
Bulkhead went past the Prime for the third time in a just a few seconds and the Autobot leader stopped himself to take notice of how restless the wrecker was.
"Bulk, I've never seen you so stoked before." Mayhem put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from wearing down a hole on the floor.
The wrecker stopped to look at the seeker with excitement. "You're gonna love Wheeljack, we were like brothers and tonight we are gonna party!"
"Sweet!"
"Yeah we are!" Doomsday cheered as well. She couldn't wait to see the familiar mech again and have a type of fun she hadn't been able to have in too long.
"No, you're not!" Solarflare cut in on the Forger's plans. "Behave, we're not at work or hanging out with the others. We're in the middle of a war." The femme then pointed at Radical. "And do not forget you already have one, don't make it two by accident."
"Pfft, you'd know ab-" She stopped herself before saying something she´d regret and huffed once again, crossing her arms in resignation. "Fine."
"That goes for you too." The Maker leader looked at the spider-femme lounging in one of her lower hammocks.
"Spoilsport." Airachnid made a none-too-pleased face but would try to comply with her orders. Keyword, would.
The alarm suddenly cut all conversations short. The attentions were diverted towards the screen where six red dots were closing fast on the blue one. Apparently they hadn´t been the only ones to receive word that a new bot would be landing on Earth.
"Bogies, closing fast on Wheeljack's position." Arcee noted and made a motion for Bumblebee to gather with her at the bridge entrance.
"Con scum. Open the bridge, Ratchet, we're missing all the action." The wrecker joined the other two Autobots and felt his spark rush as the familiar green vortex appeared in front of him.
"I'll prepare a sickbay." Maybe he could Solarflare´s skills to the test if the damage wasn´t too bad, the medbot reasoned.
Bulkhead laughed as if their medic had just cracked a joke. "Who for? The Cons? This is Wheeljack we're talking about."
The three Autobots hurried through with their weapons already drawn and ready to shoot any Vehicon that got in their way. Mayhem made a motion to follow them as well before Optimus put a hand on her shoulder to hold her back.
"Aww. Why not?" The heavy-duty femme whined as she watched the bridge close. He´d told her he´d consider her for future missions and it was already the future.
Silverbot bent over to look his sister in the optics with a ´really?´ expression. "Take a look at your back and tell me what you have Autobots don't."
She didn´t understand what her brother meant until the familiar weigh that had accompanied her all her life came to mind. With a dejected sigh Mayhem slumped over. "Oh… right. Big 'shoot me' sign literally stuck on my back."