Jazz looked around at the other Autobots in the ship. They had been called on an emergency mission to Praxus after reports of mass destruction had reached them. Nobody knew what to expect, but all of them had been told to prepare for the worst. The orders were clear. Look for survivors and save as many bots as possible, regardless of factions. On the ship was Ratchet, Ironhide, Bumblebee, Mirage, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, Jolt and Prime himself. Mirage was piloting the ship. Ratchet's grim look met Jazz's optics. Jazz and Ratchet had been Autobots since the beginning of the war along with Ironhide. The four of them had seen enough destruction to last the next eon, but the decepticons apparently had not.
||We'll be landing soon.|| Mirage told them over the commlink. || I can see the city from here and …. There's almost nothing left Prime. ||
|| Understood. || Prime replied. Jazz winced internally and Ratchet turned to Prime.
"How many medical berths do we have?"
"3."Was Primes short answer. Ratchet cursed and Jazz echoed it. The ship was the fastest one they had, and as a result it was small. Which meant the medbay was also tiny.
"It sounds like Jolt and I will need all the help we can get. Use the berths for the most critical only." The Autobots nodded and murmured in agreement.
|| Prepare for landing. || Mirage said again. Jazz felt the ship jolt as it landed, and he and the other bots rushed for the doors. Sideswipe looked at the open button for a second, hesitating slightly before pressing it, and the full scale of the destruction was revealed. Jazz rushed out, straight into smoke and screams and wails. The smell of energon and smoke was heavy in the air. He turned to Prime.
"Send Bee back in. He can help Ratch' in the medbay." Bumblebee waited for an affirmative from Prime, who gave him a nod. Jazz didn't want Bumblebee to see this kind of mass destruction. He was the youngest of them all and the sight would haunt his processor for orns if he stayed out.
Sunstreaker's curse made them all jump.
"Fragging Deceptiscum! When I find them, I'll rip them all apart!" Not one bot argued with this statement. Not even Prime.
"Spread out. Look for survivors." Was Prime's order. Jazz signalled Mirage who followed him. Together they went over to the nearest pile of rubble and searched. Jazz had downloaded a map of the streets of Praxus, but such a thing was useless now. The city was ruined. Nothing was standing as far as the optic could see, and the frames of the dead were scattered everywhere. Jazz placed his hand on Mirage's shoulder.
"Ya okay Raj?" The younger bot shuddered and nodded.
"Why Jazz?" The question sounded like it was coming from a sparkling, and not a special ops mech.
"Ah honestly don't know Raj." He knelt down beside the frame of a sparkling, retracted his visor and bowed his head as a sign of respect for the dead. "May Primus watch over ya, younglin'." Mirage did the same, adding a short prayer in cybertronian, before following Jazz over to the next pile of rubble.
The map told Jazz that this had been the law enforcers building of Praxus. He searched it, digging. There were a lot of deactivated frames, and not one live one. Until he reached the place where the courtyard would have been. There was a life signal!
"Mirage! Here!" Mirage sprinted over, and together they dug, moving the metal sheets and beams. They uncovered the frame of a black and white mech, obviously a law enforcer. He was dying, his spark signal was weak, but he was alive!
|| Jazz to anyone! We have a heavily injured casualty and need back up immediately! ||
|| Affirmative, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe en-route. ||
Jazz and Mirage gently lifted the mech from the rubble. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker appeared, and together, the four of them took the mech back to the ship. Ratchet was waiting in the medbay.
"Set him down. Jolt I'll need energon, immediately. Bumblebee, fetch the field-patch kit and Jazz, get me the spare wires. The rest of you, out!" Everyone followed his orders without questions, knowing this mechs life hang in the balance.
Jazz stayed in the medbay as Ratchet worked, fetching him supplies when needed and watching the mech. Twice, his spark offlined, and twice Ratchet onlined him again. During this time, others were brought in, including a sparkling whom Jolt kept online by the power of sheer stubbornness.
Finally, after 7 orns, the mech was stabilised. Ratchet turned to work on the sparkling with Jolt without even refuelling.
"Watch him. Alert me of any change." Was his parting order to Jazz. Jazz sat by the mech and waited, eventually falling into a much needed recharge.
Prowl's POV
Prowl onlined to a strange smell. He groaned, wondering what in the pit had happened to him and where he was. He attempted to sit up, but was stopped by a silver arm belonging to a small silver mech.
"Hey there, take it easy mech, ya just went through pit." Prowl groaned and rubbed his faceplate, wondering what this mech was on about. Then he remembered. The bombs, the building, the screaming as it collapsed on his head. He was buried alive and he was going to offline ….. "Calm down!" The mech told him. Prowl realised he was in the middle of a nervous breakdown, which wasn't at all logical.
" I am sorry."
"Hey, there ain't nothin' to be sorry 'bout mech. If anyone should be sorry, it's them pit-fraggin' decepticons." Prowl groaned again and resisted the urge to bury his faceplate in his hands and cry.
"What is your designation?" he asked the mech.
"Ah'm Jazz, Head of Special Ops for the Autobots. Ah pulled ya from the rubble What is ya designation?"
" Then I owe you my life Jazz, I am in your debt. I am Prowl, Head law enforcer of Praxus. " Or, he supposed, the previous law enforcer of Praxus. There wasn't even a Praxus anymore. His home was gone…..
"Ya owe me nothin' mech, nothin' at all. It's the decepticons that owe me their fraggin' heads. Do ya want me to stay with ya?" Prowl focused on Jazz. He had a heavy accent that was obviously from Polyhex. He shifted uncomfortably, not wanting to be an inconvenience to this mech.
"If you wouldn't mind."
"Course ah wouldn'"
They sat there in silence for a bit, before Prowl felt energon leaking from his optics. Ashamed at doing such an illogical thing, he turned his faceplate away.
"Hey ssh,. C'mere." He wrapped Prowl in an embrace. It was awkward and Prowl was horrified at himself for causing such a scene, yet he still couldn't stop the tears. His home was gone. Praxus was destroyed, all his friends probably dead. He buried his faceplate in Jazz's shoulder and cried for his lost city. Jazz sat and grieved with him, and when Prowl was done crying, Jazz found himself promising the mech that he would help him bring the decepticons to justice. It was rare for Jazz to make a promise like this, but Jazz felt obligated to help this mech. He would help him, whatever it took.