CHAPTER FOUR
"Okay, guys, you can quit it with the stares," Seaspray said as he and the other Wrecker recruits sat down at a small table in the Enforcer's lobby room. "It's not like I'm the Chief Justice or anything."
"It's not that," Scattorshot said. "It's just, well... you're a hovercraft."
"And?"
"And there's not many water worlds out there, and if we were going to one, then I, Flareup, and the others wouldn't be here, and instead it would be... I don't know, Deep Dive and the Hydrobots."
Seaspray sighed. "Look, I didn't ask to be here. Kup just came to me, asked if I wanted to join the Wreckers, and I said 'Sure, why not?' Nowhere did the alt mode discussion crop up."
"Hey, it's way okay!" Scattorshot said, putting up his hands defensively. "I was just, y'know, curious."
Stepping into the room with Ultra Magnus without warning, Kup cleared his vocal processor to get the others' attention. Once all six pairs of optics were on him, he smiled.
"Welcome to the Wreckers," he said. "Now, before you get comfy, I would like to give you a heads up: we Wreckers have a low survival rate, so the chances of all of us returning home without a scratch are, well, pretty low."
After he took a moment to let that sink in, he then said, "Anyway, our mission is pretty straight forward: we are to go to the volcanic moon of Styx, infiltrate the Decepitcon base there, and rescue one of our own."
"Sounds simple," Flareup said. "Why not send a normal team of Autobots to do it?"
Kup frowned. "Because the 'Con in charge of the base is far from normal. You may know him as Thunderwing."
All six Wreckers stared at him in disbelief.
"Thunderwing?!" Flareup and Brainstorm exclaimed in unison.
"Oh man, oh man," Scattorshot murmured.
"This is not happening," Bulkhead and Seaspray whispered together.
"We're scrapped," Crosshairs muttered.
Kup nodded grimly. Thunderwing held a reputation of fear among Autobots and Decepticons alike. Carrying a mix of calm and manic that only the craziest of serial killers possessed, some feared the Decepticon Air General more than Megatron himself.
"That is more than likely, Crosshairs," the veteran said. "But this is what we're made for. All six of you have proven yourselves on the battlefield and have what it takes to be Wreckers. I couldn't just pick any random bot."
There was silence as the rookies dwell on this prospect. Then, Seaspray said, "Who is it we're freeing?"
"An Autobot inventor named Mindset," Kup replied. "He went missing around the time the war started, but it turns out he's been in the 'Cons custody all this time. Now it's up to us to free him."
"Sounds good, I guess," Crosshairs said, toying with a pair of blaster pistols he carried. "I will admit, I have been itching for some danger."
Kup grinned. "Then this should be the time of your life."
* * *
"Your fingers are twitching again, Treadshot."
The large, black armored Decepticon looked down at his convulsing right hand and placed his left one over it, cursing to himself.
"You know me, Nightracer," he muttered. "I can't stand being away from a gun for more than thirty seconds."
The smaller, similarly colored Decepticon sitting next to him merely rolled her eyes and fell silent. Though she would not admit it, she was clearly irked by the fact that she had competition in the "Best Gunslinger" category.
Well, I can't help it if I'm that darn good, Treadshot thought.
Sitting on the other side of him, toting a large rifle, was a burly Decepticon in brown, tan, and green whom he did not recognize. Figuring that they would all be waiting in this secluded room for another half-hour (and that he needed to take his mind off his lack of weapon), Treadshot decided to strike up conversation.
"Say, I can't say I recognize you. My name's Treadshot, the best- er, one of the best gunslingers you'll ever find. You?"
The larger mech grunted. "Dropshot. Usually the muscle, 'cept when he's around." He nodded to the hunched-over Lugnut sitting across from him. "By the way, Treadshot, if ya don't call off your cyber-cat, I'm-a have ta crush him."
Treadshot glanced down and yelped as he saw his companion/weapon Catgut poised to lubricate on Dropshot's foot. He quickly scooped up the metal-feline and placed him on his lap.
"Er, sorry about that. He tends to overenergize after he's recharged."
"Is that one of those new Targetmasters?" asked a green-armored Decepticon sitting straight across from Treadshot. "I hear a lot of Mini-Cons are going through the conversion process."
"Yeah, he's a Targetmaster," Treadshot replied. "He can also act as a chainsaw too. Say, do I know you?"
The green Decepticon, who was shorter than him but almost as bulky as Dropshot, smirked. "I am Bombshock, commander of the 363rd Combaticon Division. Dropshot here is one of my teammates."
"Combaticons, huh? Wish we had more at hand, especially since it's the Wreckers we're going up against."
"I assure you, Treadshot," a sinister voice suddenly said, "that you and your new comrades will be more than enough to handle these specific Wreckers."
The five Decepticons turned as General Thunderwing entered the room, followed by a tall, lanky mech with an olive green and black color scheme. Treadshot did not recognize the latter, but the fact that his head was in a jar filled with a strange green liquid had to be a distinguishable characteristic.
"Welcome one and all to the Mayhem Attack Squad," the winged general said, a wicked grin plastered on his golden face. "Since you've all had plenty of time to introduce yourselves to each other, I shall cut to the chase.
"In a few hours, we are going to be paid a visit by a team of Wreckers. I'll have you know that these Wreckers are... less experienced than the likes of Impactor or Springer... but I'm sure they'll be excellent target practice."
"So that's it then?" Nightracer asked. "We just wait outside the base and shoot at newbies?"
Thunderwing continued to grin, but his eyes portrayed a more mirthless attitude. "Would you have preferred to have your spark ripped out and crushed by a blade-wielding Triple Changer?"
Nightracer blinked but said nothing. When none of the other Decepticons spoke, Thunderwing chuckled.
"Then shall we get started?"
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