Editing Wheeljack (G1)/2005 IDW continuity

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[[File:Wheeljack Infiltration 6.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6]]
Read about '''Wheeljack'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s adventures in the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity]], wherein his inventions don't actually blow up in his face that often.

:*''First Appearance:'' [[Infiltration issue 3|''Transformers: Infiltration'' #3]]

==IDW Generation 1 continuity==
===Joining the Autobots===
[[File:Wheeljack mouths are in Omegas Conundrum.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.0]]
In the time preceding the [[Great War (G1)|war]], Wheeljack worked for security control for [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]]'s government. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 2|Megatron Origin #2}} Wheeljack was a mechanoid as touched by the sacrifice of others as one could expect from this kindly future Autobot. It comes as no surprise then that he was front row at the state funeral of [[Kaon (polity)|Kaon]] Security Service officers [[Fastback (G1)|Fastback]] and [[Bumper (G1)|Bumper]]. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 3|Megatron Origin #3}} Around this time he was friends with his fellow engineer [[Ferak]]. {{storylink|The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Ferak's Squadron X profile}} Wheeljack upgraded [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Orion Pax]] in anticipation of a hostage exchange mission, providing him with a brand new body and warning him not to push it too hard. {{storylink|Omega's Conundrum}} He was working at the [[technoversity]] of [[Ultirex]] when he caught a rallying call from Orion Pax, now transformed into Optimus Prime, asking all Cybertronians to stand with him in opposition of the Decepticons' control of Cybertron. {{storylink|Broadcast}}

After joining Optimus Prime's Autobot army, Wheeljack was made part of [[Jetfire (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Jetfire]]'s science team and sent to investigate the remains of the destroyed [[Toraxxis mega-refinery]] in hopes of locating any [[energon]]. {{storylink|Fallout (issue)|Fallout}} Delving into the caves opened up by the explosion of the refinery, they found ancient writings and depictions of a monster that Wheeljack interpreted as some sort of warning. They also located a large lake of energon that caused [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]] to mentally regress into a mindless beast, but before they could study it they were attacked by vicious predators living in the caves. Fleeing into another cavern, the scientists found what the warning had been about: [[Trypticon (G1)|a gigantic, dormant monster]]. {{storylink|Underworld (IDW)|Underworld}} After safely making it out of the caves, Wheeljack and his comrades returned to Optimus Prime and reported their findings. {{storylink|Prey (issue)|Prey}}

Wheeljack played a role in curing the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dynobots]]' hyper-aggressiveness by purifying their tainted energon and restoring their original vehicle modes. {{storylink|Primacy issue 1|Primacy #1}}

Early in the war, Wheeljack served as a mentor for a young Autobot named [[Ironfist (G1)|Ironfist]], who would go on to become an expert in weapons engineering. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 4|Ironfist's profile}}

500,000 years ago, Wheeljack helped defend [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] during the Titan's last stand, a battle that ended with Metroplex's leaving of Cybertron. {{storylink|Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World|Hello Cruel World}}

===On Earth===
[[File:Escalation2 JazzWheeljack party.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|[[Hollywood]]'s latest spin on the buddy cop drama, Jazz & the 'Jack.]]
In [[2006]], Wheeljack was part of a detachment of Autobots that has operated covertly on Earth for at least four years, attempting to foil a Decepticon insurgency. In his role as technical scientist and gadgeteer for the Autobot detachment, he built a device that could interface the [[SM-40]] palmtop computer with the systems aboard the Autobots' ''[[Ark-19]]'' spacecraft. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 3|Infiltration #3}} Wheeljack, like his fellow Autobots, would come to watch the showdown between [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] and the [[Ore-13]]-powered [[Starscream (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Starscream]]. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 6|Infiltration #6}}

Aboard the Ark, Wheeljack briefed Optimus Prime and the Autobots about suspected Decepticon activity in the country of [[Latveria]]. The Decepticons had set up an array structure that was emitting an aggression wave. The wave was causing higher than normal level of violence amongst nearby [[Avengers|costumed humans]] and was bringing the nations of Latveria and [[Symkaria]] to the brink of war. Optimus ordered 'Jack to guard the Ark while the rest of them [[roll out|rolled out]]. {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part One}} After the Autobots completed their mission and returned, Wheeljack noted that the [[Quinjet|Avengers' jet]] looked like it may have been a Cybertronian design. {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part Four}}

Later, after [[Escalation issue 1|the incident outside Lebanon, Illinois]], he and [[Jazz (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Jazz]] were sent to investigate a [[Springfield]] police impound lot which supposedly held [[Sunstreaker (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Sunstreaker]]'s remains. Unfortunately, members of the [[Machination]] had already arrived with the same purpose in mind, and attacked the bots wielding advanced weaponry eerily similar to their own. Wheeljack escaped mostly unharmed, probably because Jazz took a direct hit from a mortar meant for him. {{storylink|Escalation issue 2|Escalation #2}} {{storylink|Escalation issue 3|Escalation #3}} Wheeljack would get his first taste of real damage in [[Brasnya]] facing down [[Skywarp (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Skywarp]] and [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]], {{storylink|Escalation issue 4|Escalation #4}} {{storylink|Escalation issue 5|Escalation #5}} and eventually the drained form of Megatron. {{storylink|Escalation issue 6|Escalation #6}}

[[File:02 Wheeljack FTUMM Devastation 2.jpg|thumb|left|"Make like one of my inventions and..." |upright=1.0]]
Wheeljack was assigned to work with [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Hot Rod]] in rescuing [[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]], but yet again the Machination decided to interfere—this time in a confrontation with their army of experimental [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmaster]] [[Cloning|clones]]. {{storylink|Devastation issue 1|Devastation #1}} {{storylink|Devastation issue 2|Devastation #2}} Wheeljack's constant tinkering paid off when he was able to escape the Headmasters using a [[gyro-inhibitor shell]]. {{storylink|Devastation issue 3|Devastation #3}} {{storylink|Devastation issue 4|Devastation #4}} The Headmasters eventually caught up with them, however, and incapacitated Wheeljack by knocking a pile of junk cars on him. {{storylink|Devastation issue 5|Devastation #5}} [[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]] arrived to retrieve Hot Rod and the others, blowing up a Headmaster that was attacking Hot Rod. Hot Rod refused to leave Earth though, wanting to see the Headmaster mystery to the end. Hardhead reluctantly let him go and took Wheeljack and Ironhide back with him. {{storylink|Devastation issue 6|Devastation #6}}

[[File:AHM4BumblebeeWheeljack.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Bumblejerk.]]
A year later, Wheeljack had returned to Earth and joined Optimus Prime's forces. After getting lured into a Decepticon trap and defeated, they were all dumped on the abandoned Cybertron to be finished off by the [[Insecticon swarm]]. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 1|All Hail Megatron #1}} {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #7}}

Frustrated at being stranded on Cybertron, he listened to [[Tracks (G1)|Tracks's]] story about how awesome and cool Jazz is to pass the time. {{storylink|Spotlight: Jazz}}

When Wheeljack and [[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee]] were sent to try and find energon, the pair discovered their Earth modes couldn't handle the terrain. Wheeljack came up with an idea for a polymer to solve the problem, but Bumblebee (rather rudely) pointed out he lacked ''any'' equipment. A moment later, Wheeljack spotted someone following them. In a desperate but sure-to-work attempt to call in back-up, Wheeljack signaled their base with a pulse that would last only 1/100th of a second. Confident help was on the way, he cautioned Bumblebee against going after the stranger on their own, but the young bot, lacking faith in Wheeljack's rather brilliant idea, ignored him. The scientist was proven right, however, when Ironhide and [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] arrived! {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 4|All Hail Megatron #4}} It turned out their follower was Hot Rod, who told Wheeljack and the others that he was part of an Autobot team that had recently crash-landed on the planet. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 5|All Hail Megatron #5}}

Wheeljack and Ratchet worked together to repair Optimus Prime, who had been heavily injured by the Decepticons. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 9|All Hail Megatron #9}} When the Autobots were organizing a defense line against the Insecticon swarm, Wheeljack removed a cannon from the other team's [[Trion|crashed spaceship]] and modified it to be used as a mounted turret. However, since the cannon wasn't meant to be used like that, he warned [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]] that its power relay would probably burn out after only a few shots. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 10|All Hail Megatron #10}} After hitching a ride back to Earth on [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]], Wheeljack and the others battled Megatron's forces in [[New York City]]. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 11|All Hail Megatron #11}}

[[File:Wheeljack For All Mankind.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.0]]
Three years after the defeat of the Decepticons, Wheeljack and the other Autobots remained on Earth, just in case the Decepticons returned. [[Skywatch]] had figured out a way to lock Transformers in vehicle mode stasis for capture, but Wheeljack devised a way to counter the inhibitors. {{storylink|...For All Mankind}} When Optimus Prime surrendered to the Skywatch following the death of Ironhide, the Autobots agreed to vote on a new leader, with Wheeljack in charge of tallying the votes. He eventually revealed that the winner was Bumblebee. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 1: "New Arrivals, Old Encounters"|New Arrivals, Old Encounters}} Shortly afterwards, [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ultra Magnus]] arrived on Earth to investigate Optimus Prime's surrender, and Wheeljack and the others lined up to listen to him. {{storylink|Things Fall Apart, Part 2: "A Rude Awakening"|A Rude Awakening}}

[[File:HangingSword-Wheeljack.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Surprise, Wheeljack hates being cautious.]]
While Bumblebee was elected as the new Autobot leader, the little Autobot's moping over their current problems was perceived by Wheeljack to be a weakness, and thus he had little respect for Bumblebee as his leader. After being reprimanded by Ratchet, Wheeljack came across a message from rogue Skywatch Colonel [[Gordon Horiuchi]], who claimed that he wished to work with the Autobots to capture Decepticons. Without consulting Bumblebee, he initiated contact with the colonel, and when Bumblebee and Ratchet found out, he bluntly told his "commander" that if he doesn't do ''something'', more Autobots would leave their group. {{storylink|The Hanging Sword}}

However, Horiuchi was not as trustworthy as he had seemed, outfitting the Autobots with badges to listen in on them and incapacitate them if they didn't follow his orders. When Bumblebee's badge was damaged, freeing him from the watching eyes of Horiuchi, the Autobots made plans to deactivate the rest of the devices as well. To keep their plans secret from Skywatch, Wheeljack cooked up a text-based comm system using a frequency the humans didn't monitor and used it to guide Bumblebee on his mission. {{storylink|The Impossible Knot}}

When Bumblebee located one of the control boards for the badges, Wheeljack told him to take it back to base so that he could alter it and cause it to burn out the devices instead. Bumblebee began protesting, since what he was doing was basically lying to a [[Serena Bharwaney|little girl]] so he could steal from [[Sanjay Bharwaney|her father]], which a frustrated Wheeljack saw as poor thinking for a leader. Ratchet eventually set him straight and convinced him to provide Bumblebee with instructions so that he could tamper with the board on the spot. {{storylink|The Gift Horse}}

As Bumblebee finished and began returning to base, Skywarp suddenly tracked down the control board and attacked the humans. Wheeljack and the other Autobots tried to stop Bumblebee from turning back to save them, but he wouldn't listen. Having no other choice, they all rolled out to help him fight the Decepticon only to reach him just as he activated the control board, burning out his and Skywarp's power sources along with their badges. Even after repairing him and upgrading his body, Wheeljack expected Bumblebee to still be "just that little guy", but he seemed to have grown as a leader from the experience. {{storylink|Wings of Wax}}

[[File:Infestation2-Wheeljack.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|Surprise, Wheeljack has bad news regarding technology.]]
Following the Autobots' second, successful alliance with Skywatch, [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron]] crashed a ship full of [[zombie]]s in [[Las Vegas]]. A team of Autobots and Skywatch units went in, and Wheeljack put up a force dome around the area to contain the outbreak. {{storylink|The Transformers: Infestation issue 1|The Transformers: Infestation #1}} He later reported that it was running low on energy, though it all turned out alright in the end. {{storylink|The Transformers: Infestation issue 2|The Transformers: Infestation #2}}

Later, Wheeljack was among the troops picked for the mission to fight the [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticons]] in [[North Korea]]. He was responsible for mounting giant guns on the other Autobots' vehicle modes, as they were forced to fight in disguise. {{storylink|International Incident Part 2: "Ranks of Bronze"|Ranks of Bronze}} Despite some unexpected trouble in the form of the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacons]], the Autobots were victorious, and Wheeljack listened to a short speech by Optimus Prime. {{storylink|International Incident Part 4: "All My Sins Remembered"|All My Sins Remembered}}

After returning to America, Wheeljack repaired [[Thundercracker (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Thundercracker]], who rather rudely commented that he'd rather have Ratchet. Wheeljack replied that Ratchet was busy tending to the wounded who ''weren't'' Decepticons. He later had a chat with Prowl about how unwise it had been to have both their mechanics on the same away team. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 5: Enemy Mine|Enemy Mine}} Alongside the rest of the Autobots, Wheeljack watched in surprise as Hot Rod (now known as Rodimus) returned from space, bringing news that Cybertron was now habitable once again. All of them volunteered to return to their home planet and liberate it from [[Galvatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Galvatron]]'s army. {{storylink|Space Opera—Final Tableaux: Orphans of the Helix|Orphans of the Helix}}

[[File:Wheeljack exhamines Brawl Only Forward.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3]]
As they traveled on board Omega Supreme's rocket mode, all the Autobots were curious what would happen to the captured Megatron, and Wheeljack lost 50 [[Shanix]] betting with Ratchet that they could listen in on Optimus Prime's private chat with the prisoner. He was also offered a job at [[Kimia Facility]] by [[Xaaron]], but it's unknown if he accepted. Not that it mattered considering [[Chaos Part One: Lamentations|what happened]] to Kimia just afterwards. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1|Chaos Theory #1}} On Earth, Prowl and [[Streetwise (G1)|Streetwise]] required Wheeljack's help when [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]] went into [[stasis lock]] during an interrogation. Appearing via hologram, he figured that someone had placed a failsafe within the Decepticon, so that if he was captured he'd be knocked offline before he revealed any sensitive information. {{storylink|Police Action Part 2: Only Forward|Only Forward}} On Cybertron, the Autobots fought against Galvatron's [[Sweep (G1)|Sweep]]s. {{storylink|Chaos Part Two: Numbers|Numbers}}

===After the war===
[[File:Wheeljack and Ironhide The Autonomy Lesson.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3]]
Upon their victory, Cybertron was left at peace, but the planet itself had been "reset", transformed into a primordial and hostile world—a world to which factionless Transformers from all across the galaxy soon began returning. Bumblebee established a provisional government, and Wheeljack became part of his inner circle of confidants, at first helping to direct the arriving ships to appropriate landing zones. {{storylink|Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime|The Death of Optimus Prime}} Once things settled down a little, Wheeljack outfitted his fellow Autobots with new Cybertronian alternate modes, and began working with Ironhide to explore the extent of the changes to the planet. {{storylink|Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|How to Say Goodbye and Mean It}} {{storylink|The Autonomy Lesson (issue)|The Autonomy Lesson}} He was responsible for "upgrading" Bumblebee's walking stick into a powerful taser and was present for the memorial service dedicated to the crew of the ''[[Lost Light]]'', which had disappeared in an explosion just after launch. {{storylink|The World & Everything in It}}

When mysterious explosions began erupting across the planet, Wheeljack was called upon to investigate, in the process having to save [[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] from a furious [[Silverbolt (G1)|Silverbolt]], who blamed the Decepticons for the blasts. Unconvinced, Wheeljack put his head together with Starscream's and deduced that the explosions were being caused by unanchored energy the primeval planet was supposed to be transmitting to its [[Moonbase One|absent moon]]. Wheeljack hastily constructed a rocket and launched it into low orbit to safely draw the energy off into space, then set to work putting a replacement satellite together. Impressed by Starscream's selfless actions during the crisis, he developed a bit of respect for the Decepticon and convinced Bumblebee to allow him into their government. {{storylink|Stick Together}} He was later given the unenviable task of informing Prowl about the murder of [[Skydive (Predator)|Skydive]] and accompanying him to the crime scene, {{storylink|Devisive}} and was present at the Autobot base for the arrival of [[Sky-Byte (RID)|Sky-Byte]]. {{storylink|A Better Tomorrow}}

[[File:Turmoil wheeljack interference patterns.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
When a Decepticon ship materialized above Cybertron from out of seeming nowhere, Wheeljack's scientific curiosity was piqued, and he volunteered to sneak aboard the craft to learn what kind of secret cloaking technology the craft's curiously beneficent commander [[Turmoil]] was hiding. Upon discovering that the ship did not have a cloaking device, but rather a [[time travel|time machine]] built using slave labor, Wheeljack was attacked and badly wounded by Turmoil. Although he was able to seal the Decepticon in one of his newly created containment fields, Wheeljack was then confronted by his vengeful troops, only to be saved by Metalhawk. Using another containment field to protect himself and his rescuer as they escaped the ship, Wheeljack concluded that despite its dubious origins, the time machine was too valuable to destroy. {{storylink|Interference Patterns}}

[[File:Sideswipe Prowl and Wheeljack vehicle Primus All Good Things.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.7]]
Following a damaged [[Sky Lynx (G1)|Sky Lynx]]'s return from the Cybertronian wilderness, Wheeljack investigated and found that staying out there at night would somehow corrupt your mind. He offered Bumblebee several theories on why Iacon was safe from this influence: either they were lucky, the ruins in Kimia were protecting them, or Cybertron itself wanted everyone to stay together. To get his mind off things, Wheeljack then returned to experimenting with Turmoil's time machine... only for the ship to disappear from right under his nose. {{storylink|Night and the City}} This was followed by the discovery of [[Metrotitan (Zone)|Metrotitan]], a [[Titan (group)|Titan]] stuck in an underground cave containing [[Crystal City]], and so Wheeljack came with Prowl to investigate. He deduced that the titan had warped there via [[space bridge]], but the charged anti-protons released by the teleportation was mixing with the city's regular protons, threatening the collapse of local reality. This left the Autobots with two options: contain the imminent explosion and let the Titan die, or stop the anti-proton flow and risk destroying the entire planet. They went with the former. {{storylink|Primus: All Good Things|All Good Things}}

Once the [[Iacon Communication Service]] got going, Wheeljack and the rest of High Command watched an interview with Starscream, who was gaining popularity after having been recognized as a great Cybertronian by the Titan. {{storylink|The End of the Beginning of the World}} All thoughts on the upcoming election were halted when Megatron returned for the first time since the war ended, however. Wheeljack captured the Decepticon leader in a containment field and had him searched for hidden weaponry, but while he appeared harmless, his mere presence was causing the rest of the Decepticons to riot. Worried that Starscream may have a hand in this, Metalhawk sent Wheeljack to check up on things, which offended Starscream who was in fact trying to calm the other Decepticons down. Wheeljack assured Starscream that he trusted him, but was pulled away by reports that Prowl had gone missing and that his quarters wouldn't show up on security cameras. Wheeljack left to check personally, but unfortunately his presence on the streets aggravated the Decepticon rioters, who attacked and would have killed him if not for the sudden arrival of Prowl. {{storylink|City on Fire}}

Promising that he had everything planned ahead in advance, Prowl brought Wheeljack to his [[Black Room]]... where he revealed that he was on Megatron's side and captured him. {{storylink|The Verge}} When Bumblebee arrived and bore witness to the unbelievable scene, Wheeljack called out to him to "remember what's most important", but before he could finish, the brainwashed Prowl shut him up by shooting him point blank in the head. {{storylink|Before the Dawn}} His lifeless body remained on the floor as Megatron's Decepticon invasion of Iacon began. {{storylink|Plan for Everything}} Bumblebee later realized he'd been referring to what he joked were "the three most important words in the Cybertronian language", which served as his password for his system bypasses—"Wheeljack Wheeljack Wheeljack". When Bumblebee, Ironhide and a restored Prowl uttered this password, it activated a force field belt inside hidden inside Megatron's spark casing by Wheeljack during his examination, incapacitating the Decepticon leader and saving Cybertron. {{storylink|Heavy Is the Head}}

Wheeljack was presumed dead by all involved other than Starscream, who in secrecy spirited him away and placed him in a life-saving [[CR chamber]] in hopes that the scientist would support him in his new position as leader of Iacon. {{storylink|Three Monologues}}

===Reawakening===
Wheeljack finally awoke after months in stasis to find that Cybertron had changed greatly. Starscream told Jackie about everything he had missed: how he had become Cybertron's leader, how Shockwave had almost destroyed everything, how Megatron had became an Autobot, and how Cybertron had made contact with other Transformers from [[Cybertronian colonies|lost colonies]]. Starscream later explained the current situation involving Prowl and the Constructicons on Earth, and the growing number of [[combiner]]s that could potentially pose a threat to his nascent government. Starscream brought Wheeljack to the bowels of Metroplex to show him the comatose Superion. Starscream then gave Wheeljack his task: rebuilding Superion so that Starscream's government could have a combiner of their own. Following a bit of soul-searching, including a talk with [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] and his old pal Ironhide, Wheeljack decided that trusting Starscream and following his plan was the best choice he had, knowing that he had friends to back him up if things got too rough. {{storylink|The World of Tomorrow}}

Wheeljack was also responsible for operating Metroplex's [[space bridge]], which he and Windblade found could reach the long-lost colonies established by other Titans. {{storylink|First Contact (IDW)|First Contact}} As Cybertron was reconnected with [[Caminus (planet)|Caminus]], Wheeljack continued to place his trust in Starscream, rejecting Optimus Prime's suspicions that he had ulterior motives in reaching out to the colony. {{storylink|The Possible Light}} Starscream pressured him to contact other colonies given that they "might be in danger", though Wheeljack made it clear that he could only do so much with the space bridge without Windblade's [[Cityspeaker]] skills. {{storylink|You, Me, and the Universe}} He and Windblade later defended the space bridge from a throng of Decepticons who wanted control of it, and worked to regulate the damaged bridge as it changed destinations repeatedly while several [[combiner]]s fought their way in and out of the portal. {{storylink|All That Remains}} In the immediate aftermath, Wheeljack helped [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] try to save the life of [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]], who had dirt on Starscream but had been severely injured in the battle. They couldn't save him from going brain-dead, however, and hid him away instead. {{storylink|Things We Said We'd Never Do}}

Once the mess was over, they had coordinates to a bunch of other colonies, allowing Wheeljack to send Windblade and her party to [[Velocitron]]. {{storylink|Windblade vol. 2 issue 4|Windblade vol. 2 #4}} While Windblade thought she'd gotten one over on Starscream this way, Wheeljack informed her Starscream had simultaneously visited [[Devisiun (planet)|Devisiun]]. {{storylink|Race Against the Light}} Windblade and Starscream then agreed to stop going behind each others' backs and had Wheeljack send both of them to the next two colonies, [[Eukaris]] and [[Vigilem|Carcer]]. {{storylink|Windblade vol. 2 issue 6|Windblade vol. 2 #6}} {{storylink|The Will of the Few}} When Starscream created [[Chosen One Day]] only to find that nobody cared about celebrating him, Wheeljack came to the rescue, scrounging up some people who were willing to at least ''pretend'' to like Starscream for a day. {{storylink|Choose Me}} He was at the space bridge when it was besieged again by a group of Galvatron-loyal Decepticons who sought to use it to join their leader on Earth. He shut off the bridge, cutting one particularly unfortunate Decepticon in half, then held out with Windblade and Chromia the best he could until Starscream's reinforcements arrived. {{storylink|Conquerors Part 4: Perihelion|Perihelion}}

With the Decepticons on Cybertron neutralized, Wheeljack followed Optimus Prime to Earth to help battle Galvatron's forces, bringing along a device that shielded the Autobots from the [[Earth Defense Command]]'s [[mindbomb]] weapon. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 1: Once Upon a Time on Earth|Once Upon a Time on Earth}} After returning to Cybertron, he watched a disturbing broadcast from multiple crew members of the ''Lost Light'' who were facing death and recording their final messages to the world. {{storylink|The Dying of the Light: (1) How Bright Their Frail Deeds|How Bright Their Frail Deeds}} Later, the [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticons]] found out about Wheeljack's role in Swindle's disappearance and attacked him in his home, forcing him to spill the beans by threatening to kill Chromia. He and Rattrap then had to lead the Combaticons to the brain-dead Swindle, who they combined with in an attempt to access his memories. {{storylink|Things We Said We'd Never Do}} Wheeljack and the others quickly made themselves scarce as the newborn combiner, [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]], started attacking everything in sight. {{storylink|The Line Between Us}}

Wheeljack was walking the streets with Chromia when a returned Sentinel Prime went on a murder spree, {{storylink|The Last Autobot}} and participated in relief efforts afterwards. {{storylink|White Heat}}

Wheeljack eventually hired the [[Velocitron]]ian [[Breakdown (IDW)|Breakdown]] as his new lab assistant. After the city of [[New Prysmos]] had been created, [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] sent the two to examine the [[Talisman (G1)|Talisman]]. Before they could enter the alien city however, a portion of the device's energy disintegrated Breakdown's arm forcing Wheeljack to amputate the limb and take him to a medical bay. As Breakdown convulsed, Wheeljack ran more scans on the Talisman's energy signaure finding that the device itself was tunneling down to [[Vector Sigma]], apparently intent on completing the terraforming process. When [[Kup (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Kup]] and [[Ironhide (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ironhide]] arrived after a failed attempt at negotiating with the [[Prysmosian]]s, Wheeljack informed the two of his findings prompting Ironhide to storm back to New Prysmos. {{storylink|Schismatic}} Once Breakdown had recovered, he and Wheeljack were able to learn more about why [[magic]] induced necrotic symptoms in Transformers but glumly concluded that they lacked sufficient time to come up with countermeasures before the Talisman reached Vector Sigma. As they reported this to Ironhide, the exiled [[Spectral Knight]]s arrived to propose an alliance which the Cybertronians reluctantly agreed to. {{storylink|Cybertron No More}}

As Wheeljack continued to study magic, he found it to be essentially gamma radiation but augmented with inconsistent variances that all seemed to break down molecular structure. After attaching a new arm to Breakdown and explaining his findings to his assistant, Wheeljack neutralized the baseline gamma radiation surrounding Breakdown's severed limb, restoring it to pristine condition. Though the limb soon began decaying again, Wheeljack realized that it was the Transformers' best chance at keeping their planet. {{storylink|Desperate Measures (Transformers vs. Visionaries)|Desperate Measures}} After constructing a bomb powerful enough to neuter the Talisman, the scientists installed it within [[Quickswitch]]. Once it was properly strapped in, Wheeljack joined the drilling team. Quickswitch was soon confronted by the Talisman's energies and expired but not before he managed to overtake the device and reach the outer core of Vector Sigma. As Wheeljack began to prime the bomb, [[Arzon]], now a [[Darkling Lord]] arrived and sliced the explosive in two. {{storylink|Good Men}} After the traitor had been tackled down, Wheeljack found the explosive module was still intact but now needed to be much closer to the Talisman to work. As Ironhide carried the bomb, the Talisman's energies began to rip him apart forcing [[Galadria]] to apply a healing spell to the Autobot. The exotic cocktail of energies somehow mediated the directives of the Talisman and the bomb, preserving Vector Sigma but raising New Prysmos up to the surface of Cybertron. In the aftermath, Wheeljack examined both Waspinator and Ironhide, advising the former to go get drunk and forget about the Prysmosians. {{storylink|The Curtain}}

A few days later, Wheeljack harvested photonic material from Trypticon's former resting point so he could build new bodies for Optimus Prime and [[Bumblebee (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Bumblebee]]. {{storylink|Unstopped and Unstoppable}}

The victory over the Prysmosians would soon prove a hollow one as the magics unleashed within Cybertron had served to summon [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]]. The Chaos Bringer began targeting Cybertronian-affiliated planets, each extinction increasing his power. As he turned his sights on [[Elonia]], Wheeljack joined the crew of the ''[[Ark-Zero]]'', bringing with him a new form of [[space bridge]] that could teleport all the [[Elonian]]s off their homeworld. [[Orbital jump]]ing down to the planet's surface, Wheeljack and Bumblebee set up the master control pylon only for a space bridge counter-signal to prevent teleportation. When the counter-signal ceased, Wheeljack realized a [[Emissary (IDW)|Titan]] had just died before solemnly accepting his fate, warping his friends to safety while he remained behind. As Unicron consumed the planet, Wheeljack noted there were worse ways to go than saving billions of lives. {{storylink|Our Darkest}}

[[Category:IDW Generation 1 Autobots]]
[[Category:Scientists]]