WHO: G1 Wheeljack, IDW Wing, OPEN
WHAT: The missing Autobot engineer finally resurfaces and Wing is able to put his borrowed device to work
WHERE: Some forgotten back alley in Zone 6
WHEN: Tonight
WARNINGS: None
NOTES: Antepathy...LJ started working (seemingly??...assuming this posts) not ten minutes after I let you go, so imma go ahead and post this. Cool to PM me if there's any issue! Everyone else - PLEASE WAIT till Wing has posted at least once. Wheeljack's comm was busted by Malcolm or Shockwave - one of the reasons he's not been able to contact anyone - so it'll be up to Wing to alert people once he reads Jack's signature on the tracking device. She's going to just do the "video post" here rather than spam the comms, so look for that, then feel free to jump in or whatever. =3
Wheeljack cut the rockets in his forearms and dropped down to the roof of the building, stumbling sideways until he was under relative shelter of the roof of the stairwell shed in the corner, cramming himself down between it and some AC machinery. The ride out of Megatron's hideout - which had been his prison for the past few weeks - had been rocky at best. But then, what more would he have expected from that ridiculous, Decepticon-purple monstrosity?
A monstrosity he'd helped build. And had failed to disable. Primus . . .
He ran a shaky hand over his faceplates, remembering Megatron's triumphant bark when the last of the tests had all proven successful. Why was it when the Autobot engineer actually wanted something to fail, it didn't!? He remembered Sparkplug used to always talk about something called "Murphy's Law" - did it really work in reverse as well? He huffed at himself. Only you, 'Jack. Only you... Megatron had wasted no time hopping on the Primus-damned...griffin...thing... and speeding right out of the hanger they'd been working in. With the first real opening he'd seen in weeks, and neither Megatron nor Shockwave - nor anyone else - close enough to stop him, Wheeljack had seized the opportunity - the griffin's tail - and let it haul him to freedom.
He had no clue where he was now, just that he was in a level lower than he was comfortable with. He was without a comm - the one he'd been issued when he arrived here had been confiscated, and his onboard comm had been destroyed. He was underfueled and over-tired, given only enough energon to survive and function on and not having recharged well at all since this entire ordeal had started. He wanted nothing more than to find a hidden crevice somewhere to stuff himself into and let himself drop into stasis for a good half-vorn . . . but he couldn't. Optimus Prime - both of them (he was unaware yet that there was a third now) - needed to be warned. All of the Autobots did. Frag, probably the whole slagging city. Bizarre as the Fortress was in appearance, it was no pushover in capability and posed a real threat!
With a soft growl, the engineer forced himself to his feet once more, aiming to get down off the building, figure out where in the Pit he was, and start heading upward until he found something he recognized. From there, maybe he could get to his jobsite or his workshop and get his hands on a comm link.
He prayed to whatever higher deities were out there that he wasn't too late.