Chapter Three: Wheeljack
The base for Prime's team is cozy. A little too cozy for the likes of me, but it's still nice. Ratchet was the only one home when I was bridged through. Well, Ratchet and their resident Decepticon prisoner, but she was locked up in her cell.
I explained my predicament to Ratchet, and he was kind enough to only rub it in my face for a minute. "What happened to 'Wreckers don't call for backup?'" he snorted.
I crossed my arms. "This doesn't count. I'm just accepting the teamwork offer from earlier—for this one job."
"And what do you intend to do?"
"Look, that 'Con has got some serious skill, sneaking around my ship like that and holding his own against me in a fight. We can't have that kind of saboteur running around free, especially without knowing all of what he can do."
"So you're suggesting we capture him to analyze the threat?"
"Yeah. Unless you're actually okay with blowing him to bits like I'd normally suggest."
He ex-vented in exasperation. "Fine. We've got two cells here, so one more prisoner won't overcrowd us."
"I've been meaning to ask: why is your captive 'Con scout still around?"
Ratchet actually looked a little embarrassed. "She, uh… hasn't expressed a desire to leave. When we bring it up, she makes an excuse along the lines of her injuries not having healed fully."
"How long are you planning to waste supplies on her before kicking her sorry aft out through a ground bridge?"
His tone became defensive. "It hasn't been a total waste. She's given us some valuable intelligence of late: potential energon deposit locations, the state of internal affairs among Decepticons—"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Why the Pit are you all trusting information from a 'Con?"
"For one thing, she hasn't lied yet. There are things she refuses to tell us, but so far nothing untoward has happened at the locations she suggests. We've built up our stock quite a bit in the last few days. The rest of the team is actually checking out another location now. We don't return to a deposit after the first day of uncovering and transporting energon, in case the strengthened signal of the uncovered deposit is picked up by Decepticon sensors, but we can bring in a lot within that time limit."
"What does she get from telling you that?"
"She says that she likes hanging around us and not having the stress of infighting weighing on her."
"And Prime accepts that?"
The embarrassment returned. "Optimus is… idealistic, yes, but he's working with more than hope here. She's got plenty of even more selfish reasons to not sabotage us. That's why she's been allowed out of the stasis cuffs lately as long as one of us is around to keep an optic on her."
I shook my helm in wonder. "You all've got some bearings to take a risk like that."
"Last I saw, you got along more than well enough with her," Ratchet accused me.
"Getting along's different from trusting. 'Sides, no one else'll join in when I tease you."
His optics glittered with joking malice. "The rest of the team knows the danger."
I shoved him lightly, grinning. "You know I live for danger, Doc."
"Stop calling me 'Doc!'"
Several thrown wrenches later, Prime and the rest of the team trooped back into base through the ground bridge. Apparently the potential deposit was actually the dried-energon-coated remains of a few Vehicons. They hadn't found the cause, but from what Bumblebee told me before dashing off to speak with their informant, it wasn't for lack of trying.
Ratchet and I explained the situation and my plan to Prime, Bulkhead, and Arcee. Bulk was pretty happy to see me in spite of the circumstances. He volunteered right away to help nab the saboteur. I had been hoping for Arcee or Bumblebee, since they'd be better suited to the stealthy nature of the mission, but Prime joined on as well, and we could only take so many 'Bots without knowing what we might walk into. The three of us each subspaced a pair of stasis cuffs. Ratchet bridged us to the Jackhammer, which we managed to push through another bridge to an empty storage area on base, where it would be out of the way until we could fully repair it.
I didn't loathe the idea of staying on base for a lunar cycle as much as I had thought I would.
Our next step was to find places where each of us could conceal ourselves, which was no easy task for Bulkhead and Prime. In the end, we settled for Prime standing in the middle of a cluster of trees with broad trunks and Bulkhead crouching at the foot of a hill. I didn't have the spark to tell them how obvious they were, so I just—carefully—climbed the thickest tree I could find until I was about twice Prime's height off the ground. I imagined the trunk creaking under my weight and winced, but nothing happened.
We lay in wait for almost a joor before my audials picked up a slight snapping sound. I slowly turned my helm in that direction and dimmed my optics so the glow wasn't as obvious.
There.
The saboteur was slowly approaching our area. He stared at the empty clearing spattered with faintly glowing energon where the Jackhammer had been. I thought I heard him quietly say, "Frag," and it tickled me to know that I'd incurred the same response in him that he had earlier. That's right, Decepticreep. We've got more surprises waiting for you, too. Just keep coming closer…
I unsubspaced my set of stasis cuffs and waited, silently pinging Prime and Bulkhead to remind them of their part in the plan. Just as the 'Con walked past my tree, Bulk rolled over to a standing position and pointed a transformed-out gun at him.
The little green punk jumped almost imperceptibly. That infuriating grin spread over his face.
"Looks like I'll be making good use of my time after all," he said, getting into a fighting stance. "Breakdown'll be sorry he missed this!"
He charged at Bulkhead, who, realizing too late that his gun feint wasn't going to deter our target, switched to his wrecking ball just as the 'Con jumped straight up in front of his face and kicked with both pedes. The force managed to push Bulkhead backward so that he had to take a step in order to keep his balance, and his attacker flipped back to land on his pedes before transforming guns out of the backs of his servos and training their laser sights over Bulkhead's spark chamber.
Prime stepped out of hiding with his own gun pointed at the 'Con. "If you shoot, then so do I," he rumbled.
I thought his optics behind his visor glowed a little brighter from fear at the sight of our leader, and he took a step back. In another moment, he'd switched to mocking us again, but now he was standing under my perch.
"So Wheeljack sent his best pal and the Prime instead of coming himself? So much for the Wrecker motto. What's he so afraid of?"
I dropped down to land right behind him and snapped the stasis cuffs over his wrists, forcing his servo guns to retract and his frame to freeze up.
"The better question for you to ask yourself," I growled into his audial, "is 'what should you be afraid of?' Here's your answer: Me."
