Transformers Prime: Eclipse

Chapter 5: Seeds of Doubt

I briefly started to peek my helm around the side of my ship before Dreadwing sent another volley of blaster bolts that made me reconsider. As the fire died down and my foe had to wait for his canon to cool down, I made my move.

Moving swiftly, I fired off my own barrage of shots. "You got nowhere left to run Con!" The two of us exchanged fire for a moment, but I could tell that I had Dreadwing on the run. The Con was grounded now, meaning I had the advantage. As he retreated, I pressed my attack. You're not getting away this time.

"This is Special Agent Fowler of-" Turning around, I fired a couple bolts into the air. Didn't expect the Cons to send backup already. My blaster fire missed the aircraft, but that turned out to be a good thing.

"WOAH! Stand down hot-head, I'm on your side!" By the time I realized that I was talking to a human and not a Con, it was too late. I screamed as Dreadwing's canon bolts smashed into the back of my frame. The human, Fowler, took the initiative and fired off his own weapons at the Con who began to flee for more cover.

As I shook my helm, a swirling green vortex appeared a fair bit in front of me. "I had a feeling the gang would show." Exiting the groundbridge were the frames of Arcee, Bumblebee, Prime, and my buddy Bulkhead. Each of them had their own blasters drawn and at the ready, which they promptly used against Dreadwing while trying to flank him.

Things were looking pretty good for the team until Dreadwing spotted the human aircraft hovering above us. Not a moment later, the familiar green scanning beam found its way over the jet, and soon enough Dreadwing would be taking to the skies.

Pulling myself from Bulkheads support, I drew out my energon blasters once again. "Oh no you don't!" As I charged up my weapons, I could hear the shouts of Prime and Bulk behind me ordering me to stop, but it was futile.

"Wheeljack!"

"Jackie, no!"

As my bolts hit near Dreadwing's frame, a massive explosion detonated across the landscape, engulfing my sight with flames. We all had to shield our optics for a good bit, long enough for Dreadwing to transform and fly off into the distance. I shot blaster bolts at his retreating form in a last-ditch attempt to ground him again, but even I knew there was no point.

Gritting my dentas together, I reluctantly disabled my guns and brought my servos back out. "Dreadwing rigged the place to blow!" The rest of Team Prime was making their way towards me by now.

"Dreadwing?" Bulk seemed confused, and a bit reserved, something not suited for the green mech. The others just seemed annoyed. It was Arcee who made her annoyance the most pronounced.

"Actually, that was your handwork, sparky."

Bulkhead must have sensed my growing confusion, as he rushed to explain things in more clarity. "It's a gas station, think of it like an energon depot. Doesn't mix well with blaster fire." Damn, that certainly puts things into perspective. I didn't let myself linger on the damage I'd caused for long though, there were more important things to deal with, like a certain Con currently escaping.

"Huh. Well, our Con's getting away!" As I turned to make my way into the Jackhammer, Prime stepped in my path.

"Wheeljack, there are other considerations. While on this world, you would do well to follow my lead." As much as I didn't respect figures of authority, Prime's word was final in the end. And hey, at least he wasn't Ultra Magnus. With great reluctance in my spark, I allowed Team Prime to bring me back to Autobot Outpost Omega-1.

Me and the doc did our usual song and dance, getting on each other's nerves as he patched me up. Meanwhile, I made myself busy regaling the team with my story; searching for other Wreckers, meeting up with Seaspray only to watch him explode from one of Dreadwing's bombs, and me chasing Dreadwing all the way back to this blue marble. "Some coincidence, huh?"