Con Job

It had been a week since I came back to the Nemesis. Each day was more or less the same. I'd tell Megatron a story from the war, I'd check in at the command center, and I'd go out for a scenic drive and or flight.

This evening, I was hanging out in the command center with the commander. We were talking about the many different energon mines and possible future actions.

Soundwave walked up to us and played an intercepted Autobot transmission, "Wheeljack? What are you doing all the way out here? Bulkhead? That you? What's with all the security? The rock we're on is crawling with cons. It's good to have you down here to even the odds. I'll likely see you tomorrow. I'll have to put pedal to the metal."

Starscream asked, "A war hero hmm? We haven't much time. Makeshift!"

Soundwave's tentacle reached out and locked into Makeshift's data port. Soundwave downloaded Wheeljack's appearance into Makeshifts hard drive. Makeshift transformed.

Soundwave replayed a part of the message, "This rock's crawling with cons. I'll likely see you tomorrow. I'll have to put pedal to the metal. See you soon buddy. I'll make sure you get a proper welcome."

Starscream said, "I too know how to prepare a proper welcome."

I asked him, "What do you have in mind?"

He turned to me and said, "Tomorrow, vehicons will shoot down the Autobot's ship. Next we will capture Wheeljack and replace him with Makeshift. To make it look convincing, Makeshift should kill some vehicons."

"That's cruel." I said hypocritically.

Starscream didn't care. He just replied, "Vehicons? They're nothing."

I left the command center, in a rage. Vehicons were not nothing. They were as alive as the rest of us. They were only more drone-like. I walked down the long and dark corridors to my room. I changed armor and got into what the humans called a bed. I slept.

...

When I woke up, I got up immediately. I knew I was on a time limit. I couldn't trust the Vehicons to capture Wheeljack. Actually, I was excited. I wanted to face the Wrecker.

I went to the cafeteria and drank a cup of energon. Then, I went to the Med Bay. I sat down next to Megatron.

I spoke, "So, where were we? Let's see... Kaon? No," I tapped my finger against my leg. I tried again, "Hmm. The item? No, I don't' think I told you that one yet. So, we were tracking this group of Autobots, right. We had been on their trail for a few days. Remember why? We just blew their base and they were scattering. We checked out each group, except for one. My comrades had thought if we've searched all except for one, then this one must have it, right? Well, I thought for a moment and considered the possibility we had overlooked something. So, I argued with my group and we decided to go our separate ways. They all died by the way. Sixshot called them wimps when I gave him, Overlord, and Sky Shadow the news. That one group we were tracking was a trap. The Autobots were orchestrating all of it. Anyways, I left and backtracked all the way to the destroyed base. I noticed there was this hidden area that had been reopened. So I followed that trail to this forest like area: Tons of overgrowth and obstructions. This meant that I could not retreat by either of my alternate modes. I ended up following the trail right to a hidden Autobot base. I staked it out for a day to understand the shifts. Then I struck. I crept silently and ended any Autobot that had the misfortune of running into me. I snuck through the base until I found a vault. I lined the door of the vault with some makeshift pyrotechnics. I set them off and hid around a corner. The explosives didn't open the vault, but it looked as if they did. Autobots rushed the area and opened the vault to see if their item had been stolen. As soon as that happened, I sprinted in, grabbed the special object, and ran. I must have extinguished fifteen sparks as I exited. To get away from the Autobots, I climbed one of the tall trees and hopped from branch to branch, until I was safe." Quick story over, I got up and walked to the door. I called out to my friend, "Goodbye Megatron."

I walked to the command center. Starscream and Soundwave were preparing for the Autobot. The ship was about to reach orbit.

Starscream called out to his troops, "Go and shoot down that ship!"

I walked up to Starscream and Soundwave. They were watching everything on this one monitor. The ship crashed. Makeshift joined our watching party. We all watched Wheeljack fight on the monitor. I loved his sword combat style. Personally, after watching him in battle, I felt like applauding or high fiving the mech.

Starscream ordered, "Swiftly, before the Autobots arrive."

Soundwave opened a spacebridge. As Makeshift and I ran through, I activated my facemask and drew my swords. The portal put us right into the action.

Wheeljack was occupied with some vehicons. I ran at him from behind. He saw me coming. I dodged his surprise slash and slid right past him. Dust rose in my wake. I stopped and sprinted towards him. I was able to strike one of his sword arms before he turned around. He slashed again. I ducked under his blade and uppercut his other arm with my sword. With both of his arms hurt, I struck his chest. Wheeljack fell backward. A vehicon fired at the still target. Wheeljack blacked out. I carried him through the portal.

Once back on the Nemesis, two vehicons left to restrain Wheeljack in an interrogation room.

Starscream continued to watch the screen. I put away my swords and retracted my mask. He wanted to make sure Makeshift entered the portal to the Autobot base. Once that was certain, the three of us left to greet Wheeljack in an interrogation room.

Starscream complained as he walked, "The moment Makeshift went through their ground bridge, we lost his tracking signal. The Autobot base is no doubt heavily shielded to prevent us from locating it," Starscream closed his fist. He sighed annoyed, "No matter. I have complete faith in Makeshift."

We reached the doors to the interrogation room.

Starscream celebrated, "Our inside man is already inside."

We walked inside.

Wheeljack looked up. He said, "Tell Megatron he's fragged in the head if he thinks Bulkhead won't sniff out an imposter."

Starscream walked up to Wheeljack and groaned, "Haven't you heard? I lead the Decepticons now!"

I covered my mouth with my servo to conceal my mirth. I found it hilarious whenever Starscream tried to claim he has taken control. Soundwave thinks this bliss is a mask to conceal my anger. But not now, now I wanted to see Screamy pay for his last sentence. Be it from my disrespect or Wheeljack's.

Wheeljack leaned his head forward and questioned, "You? Hah!"

I couldn't agree more.

I couldn't hide it any longer. I was laughing too much to not have it be noticeable. I closed my eyes and cupped one of my servos over my mouth. I bent over and placed my other servo on my leg for support. Maybe it was just my hatred for Starscream, but I truly believed that this Wheeljack was funnier than Agent Fowler. I had the feeling that if this were how would I act at interrogations, the commander would eventually ban me from all of them.

Starscream closed both fists and raised them in anger. He screamed, "Ahhhh!" Starscream swung his arms through the air. Soundwave held back one of them. Starscream agreed, "Yes, he may still be of use. Makeshift is very good at keeping up appearances. He need only fool your friends long enough to open their ground bridge from within. So that I may finally learn the location of the Autobot base and send in my strike team to stain its floor with the spilled energon of Optimus Prime!"

Nope. Only Megatron is allowed to do that.

Starscream and Soundwave turned and left. I looked at Wheeljack for a moment.

Starscream called, "Death's Shadow? Are you coming?"

F*cking disrespectful fool. Just asking to be betrayed.

I followed my comrades. I went to the cafeteria and grabbed another cup of energon. I returned to the interrogation room. A vehicon was guarding Wheeljack.

I ordered him to, "Leave us."

The vehicon complied. The door shut behind him. I took some steps towards Wheeljack.

"What's a pretty gal like you doing with the Decepticons?"

He called me pretty.

I smiled and offered him the energon, "Here," I brought the cup towards his face.

"Why are you doing this?" The Autobot questioned, "Is this a Decepticon trick?"

I shook my head, "No trick. I just thought you might be tired from your ship crash and all that. Besides, I have no Idea what your supplies on ship were or when the last time you had a meal was."

Wheeljack said, "Thank you ma'am. Pretty and kind: the Decepticons don't deserve a gal like you."

He's manipulating me.

I smiled again. I raised the energon to his mouth. Wheeljack drank. When he was done I put the cup on the ground and walked behind him.

Wheeljack turned his head and asked me, "What are you up to?"

I answered happily, "It's rare to see another warrior class who uses swords... Sorry, I was just overly excited earlier. I really wanted to meet you."

"See something you like? If you do you can examine me all day."

I laughed and walked around to the Wrecker's front. Now, serious. I addressed the Wrecker, "Wheeljack," I didn't know what to say.

He replied, "Yes miss?"

"You do realize that I'm a Decepticon, you're an Autobot and we're both in an interrogation room, right?"

"So then, what should I ask you?"

I laughed. "Wheeljack, you're funny. I especially loved your insult to Starscream."

Wheeljack raised an eyebrow and toyed, "That's just one side of me. You should see the rest. You might like it."

I smiled and shook my head, "Wheeljack," I took a breath and calmed down. I said calmly, "Let's get back to business."

Wheeljack squinted his eyes and said, "I'm not selling out my comrades. So you can just forget about furthering your Decepticon agenda."

I looked at Wheeljack, "That wasn't my intent at all. We need to create a plan in which you can get free and stop Starscream's scheme."

Wheeljack was surprised. "Why?" He asked, "Why would you do that?"

"Starscream has been scrap lately. He's done some questionable things recently; among them he wants to claim control of the Decepticons. I just want to stop him."

Wheeljack questioned my strategy, "How will helping me get free stop Starscream?"

I looked at Wheeljack and explained, "If you get free, you can get back to the Autobots and stop this plan with Makeshift. Starscream won't get the location of the base and this will be another failure on Starscream's record."

Wheeljack nodded, "Wait," he questioned, "but, don't you want to know the location of the Autobot base? I mean: you are a Decepticon."

I rubbed the back of my neck and admitted, "Well, I kind of already know the location of their base. I don't plan on doing anything with the Intel, I just don't want Starscream to find out."

Wheeljack looked at me wide eyed and stated, "You might just be the sweetest dang Decepticon gal that I ever met."

I blushed and looked away. I said, "So, back to the plan."

Wheeljack remembered, "Oh right. You have any ideas?"

I looked back at Wheeljack and stated, "I have one. When I leave, a vehicon will come in here to guard you. You can goad him into getting close to you, and then use your legs to grab him. The vehicon will probably fire at you, so you can get him to aim at that box," I pointed at the power box for the restraints, "If the power box gets hit, the restraints will turn off and you are free."

Wheeljack flirted, "If you were closer, I'd kiss that smart mouth of yours."

I picked up the cup of energon and walked toward the door. I turned around and saluted Wheeljack, "Goodbye Wheeljack, and good luck."

Wheeljack replied, "I hope we meet again. By the way I'm serious when I say that Sweetspark."

I walked out of the room. I told the vehicon outside, "I have all the information I need. You can go in and guard him now."

I went to the command center and waited... Starscream stormed angrily in. I knew his plan failed.

To make sure, I asked, "Screamy, where's the base at?"

Starscream yelled, "In some abandoned bunker near I don't know where!"

Jasper Nevada. Are you really so dumb that... Whatever. He's not worth my time.

I left the command center and flew down to the crash site. I transformed and crept stealthily to the ship. I heard movement. In a moment, I felt someone behind me holding a sword to my neck.

How the hell did he do that? Did he take lessons from Ghost?

Wheeljack whispered in my audio receptor, "Hey there, Sweetspark." He put away his swords. "We should probably keep it down, Ratchet is in my ship helping me repair it." Wheeljack put his arms around my waist and asked, "What are you doing here?"

I turned and faced Wheeljack. He put his arms down. I told him, "I came here to make sure you were alright."

Wheeljack leaned in and whispered, "This may just be a spur of a moment thing, but I really like you and..." Wheeljack kissed me. I kissed him in return. Wheeljack asked, "Do you like me back?"

I took a step back and answered, "Yes—" Wheeljack cut me off with an embrace. I pushed away. I said, "Wheeljack, you're an Autobot and I'm a Decepticon. It would never work out between us."

Wheeljack cupped my chin with his servo and lifted my head. He avowed, "Sweetspark, I am leaving tonight. How about when I get back we talk about it. I know how I feel about you Shadow, and I don't want to give up on you just yet."

So, you do know who I am...

"You really shouldn't say things like that."

"But I will anyway."

"Trust me Wheeljack. We wouldn't work out."

"You're you and I'm me. Why couldn't we be?"

"Now you're just wasting time."

"But that's the name of the game, Sweetspark. Wasting time 'till we all rust and fall apart."

"Listen Wheeljack. I'll entertain the possibility of an allyship, but past that—"

"That's good enough for me. Ally one day, friend the next. Scrap, only Primus knows where that could lead."

Wheeljack walked back to his ship. I transformed and flew back to mine. I went straight to my room. I could only think. I was definitely attracted to Wheeljack, past that I felt a connection. But, that's not enough to betray the cons. Okay, I hadn't been the most loyal Decepticon. I disobeyed Starscream, I saved the Autobot's pets by killing a vehicon, I kept information from Starscream, I ruined Starscream's plan, I fraternized with the humans, I kissed and have feelings for an Autobot, and probably other things that I don't remember. Besides all that, there's the stuff I did before the war. No? No. That won't count. They'd never find out. Labels me an Autobot though... But, as for now, I am not the best Decepticon... that is for sure.