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Characters: Wheeljack, Hot Shot Location: A Decepticon Energon Mine Content Warnings: Violence + Nondescript death Plot Summary: Wheeljack technically kidnaps invites the young Wrecker Hot Shot along on a mission in hopes of showing him what real Wreckers are like. Hijinks and shenanigans ensue.
How Wheeljack ended up with a bot who looked barely into their final upgrades in the co-pilot seat of The Jackhammer was officially a mystery. Unofficially, however, it was because he saw how pit-slagging bored the poor kid looked while stuck on monitor duty and invited him along to spare him a long and boring death by paperwork.
It all started with Wheeljack swinging by the base to drop off a few cubes of energon from his last round of raids on Decepticon energon mines. This last bout hadn’t been as fruitful as he’d hoped, and so he’d ended up walking away with fewer cubes than usual, which meant he would be hitting up another mine within the next day or so to compensate. Ratchet wasn’t around this time (off visiting Strongarm, his adopted Creatus Endura; Wheeljack still had yet to meet her, and secretly was nervous about it) and Wheeljack didn’t quite want to test his luck and possibly run into his ex-commander, so he had very little reason to stay long past exchanging pleasantries with whoever was manning the ground bridge.
The kid’s name was Hot Shot, and claimed he was a Wrecker under Ultra Magnus’s command. Wheeljack had no idea who he was, meaning he probably had joined up after he’d gone solo, and he wasn’t quite sure about the ‘Wrecker’ part either, as no bot under Ultra Magnus’s command was a true Wrecker. Hot Shot certainly had the hallmark of being one of the Duly Appointed Pain’s soldiers, though, in that he was assigned a dull and boring duty that sapped the joy out of literally everything. Feeling sorry for the poor kid, the Wrecker broke his usual rule of flying solo and told him he could come tag along on his next mission as a gesture of mercy.
Which brought Wheeljack back to the present: The Jackhammer was was en route to an energon mine he’d had scouted out recently and decided was overdue for a visit of the explosive variety. Wheeljack was still a little surprised at himself for willingly allowing someone else to come along on a mission, but decided to chalk it up to Ratchet’s terrible influence. “So, you ever done a mission like this before, or is this your first time doin’ a proper smash-and-grab raid?” he asked, glancing over at Hot Shot. “Can’t imagine Magnus ever did any of these proper Wrecker style, anyway.”
When Hot Shot had managed to claim himself a Wrecker status, he'd expected a bit more than he'd actually got. For starters, he'd heard so many stories of how crazy they could be, of all the dangerous missions they'd taken on.. and there was none of that by the time he joined. Hot Shot got to go on the occasional mission as a rookie, yes, but they were never as exhilarating as the stories made themselves out to be.
Even Kup had a few stories from the past involving them, or from the one that had at least stuck out with him.. involving a Wrecker known as Wheeljack. Apparently it had been something involving Shockwave using an old lab of Wheeljack's for some experiment.. new bodies for some mechs called Rumble and Frenzy? Hell if Hot Shot knew. This was Kup, after all. Who knew if the whole story was true or not. Time made details fuzzy, and even the young Autobot had to admit that there was a fair amount of that story itself that didn't make any sense. One thing that did, however, was that bit about Wheeljack leaving after Ultra Magnus took over the chain of command.
...Primus did he see why, sometimes. Problem was that he was too intimidated by Magnus to actually do something similar.
He'd been stuck on monitor duty now that he was staying at the Autobot base (mostly because of the aforementioned Magnus), and Primus was he bored out of his processor. He just wanted to go out there and do something! He got into a conversation with a mech he didn't know, eventually introducing himself.. only to get the surprise of the stellar cycle when the older mech introduced himself to the young Wrecker.
This was Wheeljack. The one from Kup's story! Ok, maybe the stories of a few others.. but Kup's as well!
So naturally, he decided he wanted to get to know this guy better, and was quick to take up that offer to tag along for a mission to raid a Decepticon controlled energon mine. Hot Shot sat in his seat on the Jackhammer, occasionally glancing out the windows or fiddling with his visor from time to time, but turned to the technically ex-Wrecker-by-Magnus-opinion as he started up the conversation once more. "Me? Uh.. No, actually. I haven't. I mean, I've gone on missions with Kup from time to time, but we've never done anything like that. Though I hafta admit that I've always wanted to."
Proper Wrecker style.. Now he was curious. "So what were the Wreckers like before Ultra Magnus? I've always wondered, but I've really only heard the stories of some of things you guys did.. and you can only rely on 'stories' for so long before word of mouth gets a little outta hand." Hence all the crazy things he'd heard about Rodimus.
Wheeljack was content to let The Jackhammer fly on semi-autopilot for now; when they got a little closer to their intended target he’d switch to manual. With the ship taking care of the flying (though he kept a close optic on the long-range sensors just in case any ‘Cons popped up on the radar) he was able to pay a little bit more attention to his ‘guest’. Hot Shot had seemed a little star-struck at the sight of him at first -- his reputation had apparently preceded him! Whether or not it was the good reputation or the bad one was yet to be seen, not that Wheeljack cared much about what others thought of him.
The older Wrecker perked up at the familiar name. “Kup? Y’don’t mean t’tell me that old rust bucket’s still kickin’?” Kup was, of course, a very old friend (emphasis on old) from his Wrecking days proper. His memories of the crotchety old mech who seemed too stubborn to croak were fond. He really isn’t surprised to hear Kup was still alive, considering the bugger had survived pretty much everything the ‘Cons threw his way. “Woulda thought Kup would’ve taken you on a good n’ proper raid, but then again, those probably went by the wayside.”
Wheeljack wouldn’t deny he was secretly pleased at Hot Shot’s questioning. “Forget everythin’ y’think y’know ‘bout the Wreckers, ‘cause what they are now ain’t what they were like at all. When Magnus showed up, everything changed, an’ not for the better if you ask me.” He asserted immediately, before pausing. “... We were unstoppable. There weren’t any fraggin’ rules or regulations that applied t’us, ‘cause we operated above ‘em. We had to, see, ‘cause if we didn’t then the things we did wouldn’t get done at all. The ‘Cons feared us, ‘cause they knew when we showed up we’d pound ‘em into scrap.”
So Wheeljack did remember Kup. No.. he actually remembered him, which meant that there really was some truth to Kup's stories. Maybe he'd have to give the old geezer some credit if and when he saw him again. "Yeah, apparently. Still old and still telling old war stories. Also smells like unwashed floor mats, but you didn't hear that from me." Hot Shot didn't know how well the mech sitting in the pilot's seat knew Kup, but it seemed either way that he knew him just a little if nothing else. "Well, we did get to fight some Decepticons while we were out there. Had a few battles where Kup just waited for them to run out of ammo before charging straight at 'em. Lemme tell ya. Boring! I had to sit through so many of his stories that way. Though he did tell me this one about you and him going after Shockwave who'd.. taken over a lab of yours? I dunno. So much of that story sounded fishy to me, but if anyone knows it'd probably be you, right? I mean.. you were there. In his story at least."
In a weird sort of way, he wasn't in the least bit surprised as Wheeljack spoke of how the Wreckers used to be before Ultra Magnus came along. In fact, he almost seemed a bit thrilled to hear it. "I knew it! I always heard that the Wreckers used to go on these crazy and dangerous missions all the time, but then when I signed up I.. sorta got the opposite. Well, ok maybe there was some danger in there, but crazy? Oh no, sir. So, yeah. I'll forget the 'Magnus Accord' and.."
Magnus. Oh scrap. "...He is so gonna kill me when we get back." Hot Shot paused, blinking. How was he gonna get himself out of this mess? After a moments silence, he eventually shrugged. "Ah, well. Not gonna let it bother me. I'm gonna enjoy our time together and take this chance to see what could've been for me."
“Unwashed floor mats? Yep, that’s Kup alright.” There was no doubt in Wheeljack’s mind that Hot Shot had definitely known the old coot then. Old bots, after all, had a very distinct old bot smell, and no one had it stronger than Kup. Still, Kup was a seasoned soldier and experienced warrior in his own right, and even though he sometimes seemed to portray the doddering old coot to a tee, it would be stupid to write him off. It was good to hear that he was still at it with his storytelling… even if he still apparently embellished things. “Jeeze, that was a while ago… Well, there was a ‘Con who thought he could help himself t’my old stuff, but dealt with him, and Kup helped me chase him off my turf. How’d he tell it? Talkin’ ‘bout things he wasn’t there for?”
It gave Wheeljack a vindictive little thrill knowing that this kid was smart enough to figure out that things hadn’t been as they were now under Ultra Magnus’s iron managing. Validation burned through his circuits at Hot Shot’s rapt attention and excitement. Hah! “‘Crazy and dangerous’? Kid, those were standard fer us. Did ‘em every day. Figures Magnus gutted everythin’ after I left, it’s his mission t’suck the fun outta everythin’.”
He gave an utterly derisive snort at Hot Shot’s next words. “He can sit on a missile an’ rotate for all I care. Yer a Wrecker, an’ this is a Wrecker mission. Ain’t nothin’ he can say or do about it. ‘Sides, this is gonna be a very educational trip, ‘cause I’m gonna teach you how things are supposed t’be done. You’re gonna learn how to be a true Wrecker today, kid.” Which reminded him -- Wheeljack took a glance at the HUD. “ETA is a few kliks. Gonna put The Jackhammer down a ways away so they don’t see us comin’.”
He would've been right about one thing. Kup had played the role of seasoned warrior quite well, even if he was a bit strange to the young Wrecker. Hot Shot never really knew how to put up with him, and of course that got him yelled at quite frequently, but even he had to admit that they could make a good team when they tried hard enough. And by try, that pretty much just meant Hot Shot. "Yes! That's exactly how he told it. He told me of this conversation that Shockwave had with Soundwave and a couple of Mini-Cons, but there was no way he could have known that they'd said. He wasn't there. I swear, old age is hitting him a bit too hard in the processor."
If only Hot Shot had known how excited he'd gotten Wheeljack, he'd never let the guy live it down. Or perhaps it would've been the other way around. Who could say? He leaned back in his seat, resting his arms behind his helm as he continued his conversation with Wheeljack. He was really starting to like this guy! "Guess he really did then. It really wasn't what I'd expected, not to say that I didn't enjoy doing what I did. Just.. ya know. I would've liked the extra excitement and the thrill. Kinda like the stuff you guys used to do."
After stating what Magnus could do with that imaginary missile, the blue mech couldn't help but laugh. It'd been funny, and what he wouldn't give to see that come into fruition. It would probably never happen, but it was a nice thought to put in his head when he needed a laugh. "You really think I'll be a true Wrecker then, huh? I wouldn't have it any other way. Guess this is the next best thing to time travel, and we all know by this point that that doesn't exist. But to get to work with someone other than Kup that knows the old ways of the Wrecker? Oh, you betcha I'm never gonna forget this." His smirk only grew as the elder Wrecker spoke of how they had been getting close. Soon they'd land, and soon the raid would begin.
"Guess I should prepare myself, huh? I can use this visor of mine to check and see how many 'Cons we're dealing with, but.. I can't exactly tell you where they're at if we're dealing with a cave with many tunnels."
Well, Hot Shot certainly had the enthusiasm and desire, so Wheeljack figured if he had the spark for it (which still remained to be seen, mind, but he was optimistic so far at the kid’s gusto) he could be a true Wrecker… if he were taught by a true Wrecker. Wheeljack, after all, was self-centered and egotistical enough to believe that he could undo whatever ‘damage’ Magnus’s regulations and rules had done to the young warrior.
“Well, if y’got the ball bearings for it, you’ll be a Wrecker, alright. Ain’t something you can sorta be, though. You either are, or you aren’t, if you get what I mean.” But it would help to have an experienced bot along to ‘guide’ him along the way. “We’re gonna do this the way I always did it. None of those stupid protocols an’ slag, you’ll be gettin’ hands on experience. ‘Learnin’ on the job’ and all that. Use your visor if y’want.”
He put the Jackhammer down a good, safe distance away so the ‘Cons wouldn’t see, hear, or otherwise notice them coming until it was too late. The older Wrecker lead the way through the forest to the mine they were about to trash, ducking behind a boulder in order to do a quick recon on the joint. “Two guards at the entrance, same as the other day. This one’s small, only around fifty miners in there, and a few’ll come runnin’ out t’see what we’re doin’ once we start. Plan is t’get in, take ‘em all out, grab all the energon, and then blow the place.” Standard smash-and-grab-and-boom mission, really. Wheeljack glanced over at his eager student. “Any questions, kid?”
Lucky for Wheeljack he wouldn't have to worry too much about undoing all the damage. Hot Shot already had his skepticisms about how the Wreckers were the moment he'd been brought in, especially when it differed vastly from the stories he'd heard. The only real 'damage' he'd have to undo would really just be re-training Hot Shot on how battles were supposed to be. What it was like to actually be there front and center. Wheeljack was going to be showing him the ropes of what being a Wrecker was really like. Maybe in another life, he could've been showing Wheeljack the ropes, but that was just crazy talk.
"So you mean it's one of those 'do or don't, there's no try' things? You betcha I'm gonna give it my all. I mean, that's sorta what I was going for when I signed up and all. Just ended up never having to with how Ultra Magnus ran it. I mean.. not to say I hate the job or anything, cause I like it. Just.. I was hoping for a little more. Ya know what, Wheeljack? I think we're gonna get along just fine."
Once they had landed, the young Wrecker followed after the elder, ducking behind Wheeljack and staying a bit lower to the ground. Primus he was familiar with this setting, already knowing the likely amount of Decepticons inside the mine. Two guards stood outside, watching for anyone who would try to steal their precious energon saved for Megatron. When questioned whether or not he had any further questions, Hot Shot grinned smugly, transforming his arms into his double barrel blasters with one single comeback.
Well, Hot SHot seemed to be quite enthusiastic about things, which was a very good sign. There wasn’t any whining about protocol being broken or rules that needed to be adhered to. Maybe things weren’t so bad as he’d thought. At the words ‘hoping for a little more’, Wheeljack brightened up considerably. “A little more is somethin’ I can definitely do. I think we’re gonna get along juuust fine, too, kid.”
The older Wrecker grinned approvingly at the twin double-barrel blasters, and, without much further fanfare, transformed his own lower arm into an ion cannon of his own. He casually aimed over his shoulder without even bothering to look and fired. Boom! Down went one guard, and another shot took down the other. “Shoot whichever, I don’t usually call dibs.”
And with that, his battle mask snapped into place with a shhk, and Wheeljack threw himself over the boulder and into the fray with a feral battle cry. He switched out his in-built cannons for his swords, and became a whirlwind of blades as he descended upon a gaggle of miners rushing to see what the ruckus was. It didn’t take him long to slice and dice his way through them. ”C’mon, kid, keep up!” he shouted over his shoulder, before he barreled headfirst into the mine with a delighted hoot.
Hot Shot had to resist every single urge to whistle at the sight of Wheeljack's arm cannon. Man that thing looked sweet. One day Hot Shot wanted to upgrade his weapons to something cooler, like a flamethrower, but the elder Wrecker was driving a hard bargain with that sweet cannon. Shoot whichever one he saw fit first? That he could do.
"Just pick one? That'll make it easier then."
But of course, Wheeljack went for both guards. Yep. This soon-to-be-'official' Wrecker was super impressed now.
Out came the horde of the far too curious for their own good Vehicons, Hot Shot grinning and trailing after Wheeljack as he left their hiding spot from behind the boulder. The other mech switched from his canon to his swords, leaving Hot Shot keeping it in mind to get extra weapons for such a situation as this. "Right behind ya!" Shots rung out from the blue mech's blasters, firing at a few of the Vehicons heading his way, following Wheeljack into the cave.
Now they just had to take out the rest of these guys and that sweet, sweet energon-y goodness would be theirs.
It was good that Hot Shot wasn’t the kind to get cranky when most of the targets got taken out within a few kliks of starting, because Wheeljack was in the mood for showing off. His ego especially got some validation in seeing the younger bot’s very impressed look, and his movements became slightly more exaggerated in response as cannons were exchanged for swords. Down went the vehicons, before they even had a chance to realize what was even going on, and Wheeljack let out another whoop. “Make sure you keep up, kid, I ain’t gonna slow down for ya!” he hollered over his shoulder as he barrelled into the mine.
It was a small mine, which meant there were only a handful of tunnels forking out from one main cavern. In one chamber, the Decepticons had stacked processed energon cubes awaiting transport. “Don’t let ‘em call in for backup, ‘else this’ll get messy!” Wheeljack shouted as he incapacitated a shocked miner with a well-placed stab. “Disable their main comms. hub!”
Hot Shot rushed towards the mine, following after Wheeljack. He could only grin as the older mech told him to keep up as he wouldn't be slowing down for him in the slightest. With a hard, singular laugh, the young Wrecker grinned as he shot at a nearby Vehicon.
"At the end of this, I think you might be the one having to keep up with me! But don't worry, I'll wait up for ya at your ship!"
Once he got in, he admired the inside of the mine, but not without getting a good feel of what this place was laid out like. Energon one way, tunnels another.. His distracted self was pulled away by the swordsmech's voice, processing his orders with a nod. Keep the 'Cons from calling for assistance. Yeah, that'd probably be a good idea. "You got it!"
Leaping over a rock formation in the mine, he made a dash towards the communication's hub. Grinning, he spotted a couple of poor Vehicons heading towards the console, but not before firing upon them. As he turned his aim towards the controls, another Vehicon swooped in from the side. Just barely catching him in time, Hot Shot grabbed him by the forearm and tossed him aside, firing away.
"Sorry! You gotta wait your turn!"
Groaning, the younger mech shook his head as he began to make short work of the communications.
Having run many a wrecking operation on the various energon mines on this mudball, Wheeljack was quite pleased to see that this one didn’t differ much in terms of layout, which made his job all that much easier. By the looks of it, though, it was Hot Shot’s first time seeing the inside of a ‘Con mine, but at least had enough sense not to take too long to gawk. ‘Smart kid,’ he thought to himself with a grin as the younger wrecker scrambled to intercept the bots trying to send out a distress call.
Wheeljack plowed through another group of miners that came up from an auxiliary shaft with a hearty shout, alternating between his usual tactics of slice-n-dice and sheer brute force. If the commotion before hadn’t drawn the last of the mining complement out, the noise he was making now surely would. Debris and energon flew through the air, until finally, with a clatter, the last vehicon slumped lifeless to the ground.
“Good job, kid. Now we just gotta haul the goods out n’ plant charges…” Wheeljack praised as he ambled in the direction of the younger wrecker, but stopped once he caught sight of a tiny blinking light on the console Hot Shot guarded.
“... Hey kid, y’sure y’stopped ‘em from sendin’ out that call?”
Starscream could not help but be irked by the patch to his comm unit; after all, he’d been increasingly irritated simply sitting idle, especially after the Decepticons had lost most of the Iacon relics to the hands of sniveling Autobots. Resisting the notion of if he had been in charge then things might have transpired differently is rather unavoidable, especially being that he had indeed been one of the only successful Decepticons to acquire such a relic, one that he would keep to himself until an opportunity would present itself to use it.
With an annoying ping on his hud bringing him back to present, he realizes that no bot his spoken to him yet. Once he traces the call to its source, the jet pings back aggressively: «Commander Starscream to the mining crew, report.»
Nothing but the steady sound of the back-up alarm. He wants to rev in his engine in the equivalence to a groan, why does it always have to be him? Already out on patrol, however, Starscream can hardly shirk a potential threat so near to his location, especially if it is their energon under siege. In the back of his processor, he hopes that its a false trip, but the roiling in his tank is complaining otherwise.
The jet surges upward, proceeding into a delicate but fast barrel roll, and halfway through the next revolution, Starscream arcs to change directions, rocket boosters burning to increase his acceleration as he speeds towards the coordinates marked by the intruder warning. Once he arrives, he transforms quickly, landing with a thud that sends dirt and dust up in a cloud around his legs.
Critical and calculating optics scan the scene before him, viewing the terminated eradicons near the entrance with a disgusted sneer, watching the pools of energon around their chassis pool even wider. Slowly, he passes beneath the arc of rock, electromagnetic field bristling with the edge of sharp caution. He dims the illuminator function of his optics as he approaches the main chamber, lowering his wings parallel to his back struts in order to not give away his position—at least, not at first.
He feels the energon within him boil with his rage at the sight of Autobots, and, more dead troops. Starscream recognizes one of the slaggers immediately. Starscream appears from behind the bulk of a formation of rock and raw energon crystals, his wings flaring out as he brings his servos perpendicular to his cuirass. His mounted rockets are pointed towards their location next to the communication hub.
“Wheeljack,” he seethes, his vocaliser scratchy with burning static and red optics blazing to match, “you ignorant glitch, did you really think you could waltz into the mine without us knowing?”
Aug 13, 2020 16:26:13 GMT
Sept 14, 2019 18:53:42 GMT
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