Ch. 149

Wheeljack would have been lying if he said he hadn't looked back more than once. The first time he did, he saw Starscream struggle to stand but his chassis was shaking with pain and tire and he collapsed. The Wrecker looked back again when he heard the scraping of metal and saw Megatron standing over the seeker, his claws reaching down to grab him up again. Wheeljack didn't want to see anymore. He had a job to do.

His first task was to get away. Away from Megatron and Shockwave, away from anyone who could or would stop him. Then he had to free his servos from their stasis cuffs. From there, he had to either arm himself or find the bridge somewhere on this ship so he could get away. Because Starscream had given him a job to do and it was something that needed him to be alive so he could complete it.

Wheeljack came to the end of a hall and paused. He'd been running for a couple minutes now. And no alarm yet? He decided not to say anything aloud and jinx his luck. Starscream was probably still giving Megatron one heck of a problem back at the cells. That seeker had spunk, the Wrecker could more than give him that. But he still had to focus. His cuffs were limiting his options.

"Hm. No keys hangin' around here," the white mech murmured, his optics glaring at the purple walls he was trapped within.

He spotted a sharp decoration on the wall and smirked, glancing down at his cuffs, "Well, no one said it had to be a fancy breakout. So let's make a quick mess."

Wheeljack ran at the sharp decoration and slammed his stasis cuffs into it as hard as he could. He felt the cuffs buckle at the angle of his chosen instrument and kept beating the metals against each other until he heard a loud snap. There was a searing pain in his left wrist as the cuffs fell from him. He noted with a grimace that his method of freeing himself had crushed his restraints into his own chassis, leaving a wound on his arm. Well, at least he didn't have the cuffs on anymore.

"Phase one, done and dusted," he shrugged, stretching out his arms, "Phase two..."

The sound of pedfalls caught the mech's attention and he looked up in time to see a single Vehicon guard carrying his swords in his arms.

He couldn't help but chuckle loudly, "Hey buddy."

The Vehicon turned, his visor glowing.

Wheeljack approached, his grin growing, "Lemme guess: you just came from the med bay to put those puppies a' mine into storage, huh? Well I gotta stop ya right there, bud."

The Wrecker lunged forward and grabbed the handle of one of the swords, flicking his wrist upwards to slice into the mech cleanly, "These beauties don't go nowhere without me."

The Vehicon dropped to the floor without more than a splash of energon and a few sparks. Wheeljack was quietly grateful. He retrieved his second katana carefully, shaking excess fluid from the blade, before returning both weapons to their sheaths. Now he was armed.

"Last step," he frowned, looking around the hallways.

When he had been trapped aboard the Nemesis before, he hadn't needed to use the ground bridge himself. A portal had already been opened on the flight deck. That had just been pure luck. Now he needed to actually find the computer and get it working. Was it really going to be so difficult?

Wheeljack picked a direction that made his Wrecker instincts light up with excitement and he smiled, "Only one way to find out."

The white mech transformed and revved his engine, driving hard and fast down the hall. At this point, alarm or not, he was sure that the crew of the Nemesis knew he was free. He didn't have time to worry about how loud he was being as his tires shrieked against the floor below them and squealed a defiant skid mark into the purple metal. Let them find him. He needed only one...

A harsh slam into the small vehicle's side sent the Wrecker flying and before he fell rolling to the ground he transformed, glaring at Hardshell as the Insecticon crawled on the floor and snarled.

"Wrecker!" he growled, stomping his fists down, "I am displeased you have escaped. This will anger Lord Megatron... But that does not mean I am unhappy to see that you have. For now I can tear your chassis apart!"

Wheeljack sneered, "Let's see ya try, you ugly creep!"

The white mech reached onto his back and pulled his swords as his face mask slid over his mouth. He charged forward as Hardshell jumped towards him, clashing the blade of his katanas against the Con's claws. The bug growled deeply and shoved hard to throw Wheeljack back against the wall but missed when he pounced and the white mech was able to roll out of the way. An expertly incised slice to Hardshell's right leg sent him stumbling back in surprise and Wheeljack stood, glaring.

"I'm gettin' out of here, bug," he said firmly, "Once I get to the ground bridge, it's smooth sailin' for ol' Jackie."

The Wrecker watched carefully as Hardshell shrieked and jumped to the ceiling, scuttling to a hallway entrance to the side as though to block it, "You will not pass! I will not allow you to!"

Wheeljack smirked under his mask, "That's mighty bold of you to say. But I guess I'll have to give you credit for tryin'."

Hardshell shrieked again, "I will destroy you, Wrecker!"

"BRING IT!"

The Insecticon ran at the smaller mech again but this time Wheeljack dove low. He sliced his blades into the bug's undercarriage as he slid across the floor, cutting into sensitive wires that dropped the mech to the floor in a flurry of wails. The Wrecker didn't have time to waste. Hardshell had shown him where he needed to go. Sheathing his blades as he ran, Wheeljack felt a wash of guilt and relief overtake him as he came around a corner and found himself in front of a set of ground bridge controls. This was it.

The white mech tapped buttons, pulled levers, anything he could do to get the console working. When it finally began to respond, he input coordinates that was close enough to the Autobot's base. He wouldn't have much longer now.

"Sorry, are you leaving so soon?"

Wheeljack felt pointed claws grab him from behind and wrench him from the console, tossing him against the wall. C.Y.L.A.S. sneered down at him as he crossed his arms, almost tsking him.

"You should've moved faster, Autobot," he informed him, "Hardshell was very quick to inform me of your location and intended destination while you fought. Looks like I get to make the kill now."

Wheeljack huffed, standing slowly, "I'd like to see you try..."

C.Y.L.A.S. hissed mockingly, "You should never taunt your captors. Then again, I should probably let you have your last say seeing as you won't be leaving this ship alive."

The Wrecker moved to grab his swords but was met with a stabbing spider leg at his wrist, the appendage digging in just enough to draw energon but not pin him. C.Y.L.A.S. smirked, not having moved any other portion of his chassis.

"Do you still want to take the risk? We don't have to draw this out, I can make it quick."

Wheeljack shook his helm carefully, "Not happening, Cy-Guy. You may not wanna hear this, but me and Scream? We're gonna make sure the Bots take you guys down."

The black mech chuckled, "Really? Just the two of you to start? Well, if I stop you then the Autobots will have no chance at all."

The stabbing spider leg dug in more harshly and the Wrecker flinched back with a growl, pulling his katana from his back. With a lashing swing, he smacked the offending limb away and jumped forward to kick C.Y.L.A.S. in the chestplate. The deformed mech fell back and scrambled to stand again, grabbing Wheeljack with his arachnid limbs to pull him away from the ground bridge console. All the Wrecker had to do was activate the machine; the coordinates were in, it just needed the command to go.

C.Y.L.A.S. laughed as his arms transformed into blasters and he tossed Wheeljack into the air, firing as though he were engaging in target practice, "You're making this too easy, Bot! Fight me!"

Wheeljack tucked in tight and cut through a blaster shot that nearly hit him in the chestplate. He didn't have time for this. He didn't want to fight. Every moment was a moment lost. He needed every single second to get to the Autobots, his team, and warn them of what was coming. Wheeljack hoped deep within his spark that they knew and would be gone before he got there. That would make things easier.

"I said FIGHT!"

The white mech dodged a spider limb aimed at his helm and cried out in pain when it sliced into his left leg. It was gushing pretty badly. But that didn't matter, not now. With an enraged shout he jumped forward with his good leg and slammed into C.Y.L.A.S. with his katana, sparks flying from the metal in metal contact. The black mech began firing his weapons in surprise and the hot plasma made contact with the ceiling of the room. A fire began to burn in the upper material, the shots severing an energon line, and smoke began to billow into the room. Visibility became minimal and Wheeljack found himself covered in soot and grime. His opponent however was able to hide in the dark blanket that settled into the room.

The Wrecker stayed low to the floor and held his katana at the ready. He spotted the faint glow of the ground bridge console off to the side and decided to go for it again. He just had to turn it on-

Sharp spider legs latched onto him as he ran forward, pulling him to the ground. The black mech's cackle followed as he was dragged toward his opponent and Wheeljack hissed when one of the limbs cut into his upper arm.

"You really don't get it, do you?!" C.Y.L.A.S. taunted, throwing him into the far wall again, "You've already lost! This ship is almost upon them! With our weapons and technology, our strength in numbers, there's no way you can beat us!"

The deformed mech jumped on him, his optics wide with the hunger of the kill and Wheeljack panted in pain, glaring up at him, "N-numbers? Yeah right. You guys are killing each other off so fast, there won't be a Con army left."

C.Y.L.A.S.'s optics flashed and he flinched back, "W... wha-"

"Didn't anybody tell you?" the Wrecker grunted, "Megs killed Dreadwing. The bot's dead. He killed him. So how many more of you guys are gonna get wasted by your leader before this is all over, huh?"

The black mech clenched his servos tightly. Dreadwing was dead. Megatron... he...

Wheeljack used the distraction to kick C.Y.L.A.S. back. The deformed mech crashed to the floor at a hard angle, buckling one of his spider legs in the wrong direction and while he rolled over in agony the Wrecker saw what was probably his last chance. He slammed his servo into the console, activating the bridge. The fire above them began to burn stronger and now he could hear an alarm blaring. It had probably been on for a while. He didn't care. He wasn't going to stick around much longer.

With a final glare at C.Y.L.A.S.'s conflicted faceplates, Wheeljack ran into the bridge the best he could before a chunk of the ceiling crashed into the console, destroying it.