Instinct
There was something wrong, Prowl could feel it. He stood at the entrance of the Ark, leaning against one of the orange metal walls and staring out into the thick gray curtain of rain that was steadily soaking the area. Dark storm clouds hung low in the night sky, emitting the occasional peal of thunder.
There was a light step behind him. "Hey Prowl, what's shakin'?" Jazz asked as he sauntered down the wide corridor.
"I'm not sure." Prowl frowned.
"What is it?" Jazz asked. Seeing the tactician unsettled by something usually meant that he had found an illogical concept of some sort. Most of the time it triggered a good deal of joking amongst the warriors as they watched the 2IC try and reason it out, but tonight Jazz realised that it was something bigger.
"Something is just, I don't know, wrong." Prowl replied as his frown deepened, annoyed at his inability to express himself. "I can sense it, but it isn't logical."
"It's called instinct my man." Jazz answered as he leaned against the other wall. "It ain't usually logical, but most of the time it's a pretty good thing to listen to."
Prowl was silent for a while, continuing to stare out into the dreary night. Finally Jazz decided to break the silence.
"Can you describe it." He asked, wiping a few stray droplets of water from his visor.
"It feels like a warning, a suspicion." Prowl replied slowly. "Like there is something out of place or out of order somewhere…" his voice trailed off. "This is illogical." He growled in frustration as he pushed off the wall to head back inside. Jazz however, caught his arm and stopped him.
"Wait, I think you may be onto something there Prowl." He said as he steered the slightly shorter Autobot back towards the entrance. He gestured out at the rain-cloaked landscape. "Do you feel it when you look out there?"
"No…" Prowl shook his head slightly as he studied the area. "It feels like it's inside. That's why I came out here, to get away from it."
"Hmm." Jazz rubbed his chin in thought. "Ever since that last battle…." But whatever observation Jazz had to make didn't leave his vocal processor, as at that moment a violet ray lanced out and struck his chest, silencing him. Two others followed quickly in its wake, drilling through the Autobot before he had a chance to hit the ground.
"JAZZ!" Prowl immediately ducked and lunged to catch the toppling Autobot, only to stare in shock as
the charred form slipped through his fingers.
It was his own screaming that woke him up. Prowl sat up on his recharge berth, in the small room that had been assigned to him on Moonbase One. He rubbed at his faceplate wearily, still seeing the vivid image of Jazz's death replayed in his imagination in gory technicolour.
He swung his legs over the side of the berth and quickly left, deliberately ignoring the faint flutter of instinct's warning. He was on the Moonbase, what could happen? Besides, it was illogical to trust in something like instinct.