Galvatron was not easily impressed. Close to nothing impressed him. But as he surveyed the scene before him, he couldn't help just the tiniest sliver of awe. The Autobot known as Wheeljack was holding his own against all six of his Seekers. Thundercracker, Bitstream, and Acidstorm were already down, lying unconscious in pools of their own energon. The sliver of awe quickly disintegrated into nothing when he realized that this Autobot was holding his own against all six of his Seekers. All he felt now was disgust, and anger of course, for Starscream and his continuous failures. Couldn't he defeat one Autobot?
0o0o0o0
Wheeljack vented hard as he dodged Sunstorm's flaming arms, Skywarp's punches, and Starscream's shots, all the while executing a double backflip.
"Jazz would be proud.." He murmured to himself.
:Ah am proud. Yer winglets ain't even touchin' th' ground: The saboteur's voice fizzled over the comm.
Wheeljack slipped on the sand and almost fell over from utter surprise. : Did I leave my comm open? :
:Nah. Ah opened it just now. Figured ya'd wanna know what progress we're makin'.:
:Shoot: Wheeljack slid under and between Sunstorm's legs, narrowly avoiding the deadly flames.
:We're plantin' th' bomb now. Soon we'll give th'signal. Ya-: The comm line dissolved into a steady stream of static.
:Jazz! Jazz!: "Fraggit!" Wheeljack jumped to his pedes only to slip again, pain ripping through his spark like a blade.
"Is the wittle engineer getting tired?" Skywarp teleported himself right in front of Wheeljack, punching him in the nasal ridge and cracking his mask. Another punch to the midsection brought the engineer to his knees.
"That's enough, Skywarp!" Starscream snapped.
"But I was just getting warmed up.." The Seeker whined.
"Let Sunstorm have him." Starscream smiled and stalked over, dragging Wheeljack up and holding him firmly in place. Skywarp returned Starscream's smile and stepped aside, making way for the flaming Seeker.
Sunstorm took his time walking over, each step melting the sand beneath him into little puddles of molten glass.
"Primus has decreed that you lose this battle." He whispered smugly to Wheeljack, servos inches away from his helm. The heat was nearly enough to put Wheeljack in stasis lock.
"Stop!"
Sunstorm withdrew his servos sharply, taking a step back to stare at Galvatron with confusion as the warlord stalked up the beach, paying no heed to the waves that lapped hungrily at his pedes.
Starscream released Wheeljack, and stomped towards Galvatron, sneering, "Has the might Galvatron gone soft and taken pity on an Autobot?"
"As usual, Starscream, you seem to be failing to see the grand scheme of things." The purple mech leered, then turned to Skywarp, "Knock the Autobot out, then Starscream shall be the one to carry him back to our base."
Skywarp nodded and made his way towards Wheeljack, who was slumped over where Starscream had left him.
"But- but what about the others?" Starscream asked.
Galvatron didn't even spare the unconscious Seekers a single glance. "Leave them where they lay. They can find their own way back."
0o0o0o0
Wheeljack woke up to the feeling of being dragged. He groaned softly and winced as damage reports flicked over his vision.
Nasal ridge cracked.
Chassis temperature at dangerous levels.
That, and the faint rivulets of pain transmitting through his bond with Bluestreak. He attempted to stream a reassuring wave through, but he couldn't penetrate.
"Wherr.. Am I.." He slurred, figuring that if he was being dragged then there was someone dragging him. That someone could potentially answer the question.
"Welcome to the Decepticon base, Autobot." Three voices said in unison. One copy of the camera bot pulled Wheeljack by a set of stasis cuffs, the other two walked on either side, brandishing guns.
A scream echoed throughout the base.
"We pity the bot under Soundblaster's scalpel, Autobot or no." Reflector said, multiple voices corresponding with eerie accuracy.
Wheeljack was too occupied writhing from the sudden surge of raw emotion to answer. He arched his back in agony.
Reflector noticed and stopped, the clone on his left delivering a swift kick to Wheeljack's side, "What's the matter with you, Autobot?"
"Hnng.." Was all the engineer could muster as a response.
Reflector looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders simultaneously. The head clone continued dragging Wheeljack down the corridor.
Soon they reached a cell. Reflector pawed in the code and deactivated the cuffs, jerking Wheeljack into the cell as he did so. The engineer hauled himself up quickly, slamming into the door right as it closed, shouting, "Where's Blue!?"
He was preparing to ram the door again when a pair of servos grabbed his shoulder struts and hauled him back. He struggled.
"'Jack! Wheeljack! It's only meh and Mirage!" Jazz exclaimed, releasing his friend.
Wheeljack glanced around, optics narrowing, "I don't see Mirage."
"Over here." Mirage fizzled into view. The blue Towers mech was sitting against the wall with his knee struts drawn up to his chestplates. He had a large dent where his Autobot insignia was. "You know, we really should've thought this through a little more. I mean, barging into the Decepticon base, just the three of us?"
"Ya did send ah distress signal, right Mirage?" Jazz asked.
"Of course I did. Fat lot of good it'll do us. You, me, Wheeljack, even Bluestreak. We're obsolete. Rodimus doesn't need us anymore. I'll be surprised if he bothers to rescue us."
"Stop that talk!" Jazz snapped, his visor flaring a bright blue in the dim light of the cell, "Yer negativity ain't gonna help us, 'Raj. Either we'ah gonna get rescued, or we'a gonna break outta here ahselves, with Blue. I refuse ta believe we ain't gonna get outta here."
Suddenly, the cell door slid open, causing all three mechs to jump.
"How sweet." The side of Galvatron's mouth quirked up in a taunting smirk. "But ultimately, useless."
He stepped aside, revealing another bot.
"Blue!" Jazz cried, surging forward. Wheeljack grabbed the saboteur's arm and stopped his attack, "No. Don't. He's not himself."
What Wheeljack said was true. Bluestreak's helm plating was stripped away, revealing bare circuitry that was soaked with oil and other fluids. The tepid liquid dripped down his faceplates and neck cabling, staining the armour it touched pink and black. His doorwings sagged, straining on their cables, but the gunner himself stood erect, like a saluting soldier. His optics were dull and terrified.
"I introduce you to the perfect soldier." Galvatron said, as if he were introducing them to a friend, he stepped back, out of the cell. "Slave, kill them."