Author's Note: 74 visitors and only two reviews? :( Many thanks to Nurisiliel and rightcat for reviewing as well as to insert something creative and MitzvahRose for finding the story worthy to be set to their favorites. I really hope the next chapter sees some more feedback, critical or positive.

rightcat: Maybe. I haven't decided yet, but currently, chances are good. :)

On another note, if you have a favorite Autobot (or Decepticon) that usually does not get to see too much action in stories and you'd like to change that, let me know and I'll try including them in the upcoming chapters – with reference to you if you wish.

Now on to the next chapter.

– chapter fourteen –

Stratagems

Smokescreen arrived later that afternoon as well, and Team Prime (minus Optimus) was reunited again. With everyone else now accounted for – with the exception of the two Aerials' –, the Autobots could finally focus on taking the next step: getting their Prime back.

Serious devising began. Autobots met among themselves, but there were also meetings with the military. Agent Fowler was often seen entering the hangar, leaving again hours later with a lot of paperwork in his hands.

Though, neither Jack nor his friends were allowed anywhere near the Autobots. For one, his mother kept all three busy with school work, inventory and helping in the infirmary – thus keeping them away from any mischievous ideas like trying to smuggle into the meetings. But the teens were also blocked by soldiers whenever they tried to enter the hangar housing the Autobots. The bots were busy, they said.

On their third day at the base, Miko no longer accepted the – as she claimed – pretended excuse and loudly demanded to be let in to see Bulkhead.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but entrance is restricted to personnel only," the soldier standing guard said.

"And what are we, decoration?" she shot back angrily.

Both Raf and Jack tried to hold her physically back before she could lunge at the soldier and do something as stupid as trying to throttle him. "Miko, just let it go," Jack tried making her see reason. "They're probably in a meeting again."

The girl broke free from their hold. "That's all they've been doing ever since I woke up: Meetings, meetings, and more meetings. If they're planning to bring back Optimus, they might as well ask for our help. This is our planet after all."

"There are soldiers with them," Raf spoke up. "They'll tell them what they need to know."

She exploded right into the younger boy's face. "Ugh, Raf! You don't wanna get it, do you? They need our help. We're their partners!"

Before Jack could even try to interject something, the hangar door opened halfway and Jazz came out. His visor gleamed brightly, but Jack had the impression it wasn't because of joviality. No, he was deadly serious. And that showed clearly when he said, "Do not doubt that we're not grateful for what ya've done for Team Prime in the past. But now it's over. This is neither yer fight nor yer War. Ye're only younglings, an' younglings don't belong on a battlefield."

Miko's mouth had dropped open at first, but now she was actually growling and glaring at him. "And who are you to make decisions concerning us?" she demanded in a dangerous whisper.

The gleam in the visor intensified and the saboteur's mouth tightened. "Ah'm neither yer progenitor nor ya caretaker. However, as commanding officer ta the Autobots, Ah can and will hinder ya ta interfere." His voice had a steel-hard ring to it, one that let Jack shudder involuntarily; he hoped to never get on the mech's bad side.

"We seriously want to help," Raf quickly pitched in before Miko had another fit. "We helped recover the Iacon database. We can help again."

Jack nodded and added, "Please, Jazz. We've fought the 'cons before."

"And we're grateful for that," the silver bot repeated, his voice slightly softer. "But like Ah said, this is our fight, not yours." He didn't wait for a reply, returning into the hangar and closing its door behind himself. Miko made an attempt to slip in, but the soldiers on guard duty had expected that move and caught her.

"Urgh!" Miko shouted at the closed hangar door before turning around and stomping away, seething with anger. Raf and Jack shared a look, agreeing without a word that she needed alone time to vent. She would come back on her own once she calmed down again.

On their way back to the infirmary, in which they spent most of their time these days, Jack sighed. He could understand Miko and her desire to do something. Optimus wasn't only the leader of the Autobots; he was their friend too. Jack wanted to see him returned to safety as much as everyone else did. But he also knew when to admit defeat. And here he agreed with Jazz: This was truly out of their league. They were only kids after all. What could three kids do when they had an army of seasoned Autobot warriors waiting for Jazz to send them to rescue their Prime?

Raf glanced up at him before throwing a cautious look all around. "You know," he then said quietly, almost whispering, "we could come up with a plan on our own and pitch it to 'Bee, Arcee and Bulkhead. Maybe they'll then accept our help."

In theory, that was a good plan, but: "What do you think we could come up with that they won't? I heard they have a tactician on the team. He must have devised a dozen if not hundreds of battle strategies for the Autobots. Besides, we don't understand warfare."

"I know, and I wasn't referring to attack-defense strategies." He paused a moment. "We were able to fool Megatron and Soundwave before with that virus in Laserbeak."

"True," Jack agreed. He had never told the younger boy, but he had been – and still was! – impressed with that deceit.

"Well, the idea I have is of the same nature: furtive." Raf sounded hopeful albeit pensive. "The only problem is that I'm not yet quite certain how to go about it."

Jack pondered that over. Raf's talents had been invaluable in the past; they could be again. "All right," he eventually began, "it's worth a shot. If it doesn't work out…" He trailed off, leaving the sentence hanging on purpose.

"… then at least we tried," Raf nonetheless finished the thought.

"Yeah." They walked in silence for a moment, then Jack added conspiratorially, "No word to Miko for now."

Raf nodded in agreement.

He knew that distancing Team Prime from the kids wasn't fair to either party. They had overcome many difficulties as partners in the truest sense, forging bonds that should not be ignored. Yet Jazz also knew how important it was for the Autobots – all of them – to focus on the upcoming rescue mission. Their number was limited as it was; they could not afford any more impairment. The kids were a distraction; it was as simple as that. And everybot knew how fatal distractions could be in a fight.

The kids therefore needed to be kept away until at least after Prime's rescue, no matter their personal opinions on the subject.

Jazz's optics swept over his comrades preparing as best as they could. Some recharged to restore their energy levels, others cleaned their weapons or let Ratchet modify them. Ironhide alternated sparring with Bumblebee, Arcee and Smokescreen to assess their combat capabilities. 'Bee had improved quite a lot since Jazz last saw him in a training simulation on the Ark, and Arcee wasn't a bad fighter herself. The newbie, however…

"Slag it, youngling, if you're not concentrating more, the 'cons are going to wipe the floor with you!" Ironhide shouted angrily after slamming his opponent onto the floor – again. "Didn't you listen when I told you before?"

The young mech unsteadily climbed back to his pedes. "I did!" he replied defensively, his tone suggesting he obviously thought himself above his mentor. "I'm just warming up."

Arcee shook her head in exasperation, and Jazz agreed with her. Smokescreen may have been trained by the Elite Guard, but he was still a long way before being a true elite warrior.

Before he could think about whether or not his opinion as current commanding officer would be heard, Major McKinley came over to him. "Sir? General Bryce arrived. We can start the meeting anytime now."

Good! Finally some progress, he thought before saying out loud, "Thanks. Ah'll gather ma officers." The soldier retreated and Jazz opened the command channel. /Time's up, they're here./ He sent the same to Trailbreaker, then turned toward the back of the hangar that could be closed off from the main part. There, the humans had constructed a scaffold with platform onto which Major McKinley was now climbing. Agent Fowler was entering the hangar with a dozen people in tow, all clearly military, heading for the same platform. Jazz was joined by Ironhide, Ratchet and Trailbreaker, then the part got closed off to curious eyes and optics.

"Sirs, if I may introduce: current Autobot commander Jazz, his lieutenant Ironhide, Chief Medical Officer Ratchet and their tactician Trailbreaker," Agent Fowler began, pointing each bot out. "And these are General Bryce, in charge of this operation, and his right-hand man Colonel Greene."

The general nodded in greeting. "I've seen the pictures, but they have nothing on the real thing."

Jazz's visor flashed in humor. "Ah would've said the same if Ah'd gotten pics." Both the colonel's and general's lips twitched, but the severity of the situation kept them from laughing out loud.

Agent Fowler quickly brought them back on topic. "I trust everyone received the intel we could gather." There were nods all around. "It's not much but hopefully enough to devise a plan."

All eyes and optics turned to Trailbreaker who immediately straightened out at the attention. "I've been analyzing the information but there are still huge holes of data without which we would be going in blind."

Jazz's mood darkened. Heading into battle blind always resulted in disaster. "What sort of data?" he inquired.

"Weapon specs of the fortress. The satellite feeds weren't sharp enough to show which kind of weapons they have."

"If I'm not mistaken, these are guns," Colonel Greene spoke up. He ruffled through the papers in front of him until he found what he was looking for, then held it up to show everyone.

Ironhide leaned in to get a close look. "Guns?" he then snorted. "Those are fusion canons." The Autobots shuddered; fusion cannons were bad news, but they could trust Ironhide to be correct with his assessment. He was a weapons specialist after all. "Nasty buggers," the warrior continued, "and they can cut this." With his fist, he bumped against his heavily armored chestplates. From the confused looks on the human faces it was clear they had no idea what Ironhide was talking about, but the Autobots understood. Jazz may not be a tactician, but he knew that even presuming the 'cons had fusion cannons minimized their chances at success exponentially.

Reverting them back to the topic at hand, Jazz asked Trailbreaker, "Do ya or do ya not have a working strategy for us?"

The mech hesitated for a moment, then said, "I have one – but without more intelligence, it's quite risky."

The Autobots didn't comment to that; they had been in too many risky missions to count any longer. The humans, however, shared wary glances with each other. "How risky are we talking?" General Bryce inquired.

Trailbreaker shrugged. "Chance of success: minimal. Chance of many casualties: Guaranteed."

That news wasn't what the soldiers had wanted to hear. "Then we send in more firepower," Colonel Greene said, "to tip the scales in our favor."

Trailbreaker shook his head and replied, "I'm afraid that won't make any difference." He then tapped the side of his helm and activated a hologram showing the area. "The fortress lies in a plain with few places to hide and no chance whatsoever to advance undetected. Add to that the fusion cannons covering 360 degrees and you have a virtually impregnable fortress." His hologram changed into a battle layout, moving dots signaling the human and Autobot attack forces. The fusion cannons fired – and the dots, one after the other, blinked out.

The general was frowning. "What else do you suggest?"

The hologram flickered out for an astrosecond before reappearing with the same set-up, its dots moving as Trailbreaker spoke. "What we need is someone disabling the fusion cannons. Once they're out of commission, it should be relatively easy to attack the fortress and keep the 'cons busy, long enough for a select few to infiltrate the fortress and rescue Optimus Prime."

The humans seemed pensive. Eventually, General Bryce slowly said, "With more intel on the fortress' defenses, your strategy would be more –"

"Elaborated, yes," Trailbreaker confirmed. "The more I know about our enemy's defenses, the better the simulations will be."

Jazz suggested, "Ah can send scouts ta gather the missin' data."

The humans shared brief glances, then the general nodded. "Sounds like the best option as your people will know best what information he –" he pointed at Trailbreaker, "– needs."

There was a brief pause, then Agent Fowler proposed, "What about an alliance with these other bots? The ones that arrived when we left for this base? They have a ship. It could draw the fire of both the fortress and the Nemesis, maybe even destroy the fusion cannons."

The Autobots exchanged horrified glances. "No," Jazz declined resolutely, "absolutely not."

That caused raised eyebrows with the humans. "Why not if we may ask?" the general inquired with narrowed eyes. "They attacked the Decepticons."

"And we have this saying: The enemy of my enemy is my friend," Colonel Greene added. "Ever heard of that?"

Jazz nodded. "We have, but the Star Seekers donna fit that proverb in the slightest."

"They hunt Cybertronians, no matter what faction," Ironhide explained. "They'll never ally with us."

"Isn't it at least worth a try?"

The Autobots as a whole shook their heads in disagreement. Jazz explained, "Throughout our journey through space we had several encounters with them. It was always them that attacked first. Had it been Prime's choice, he would've talked ta them but they never even tried communicating with us."

"They sent more bots into my medbay than I care to count," Ratchet provided, speaking up for the first time since the meeting started.

Not giving the humans a chance to reply, Trailbreaker's hologram changed, no longer showing the Decepticon fortress but a space battle of massive scale. "That happened the last time they found us," Jazz explained. "They didna hesitate an astrosecond before opening fire. We were lucky ta get our planet-bound team back aboard before jumping inta hyperspace. A breem longer an' the Ark would've been scrap metal."

"That ship of yours that's been shot out of the sky by the Decepticons?" Colonel Greene asked.

"The very same," Jazz confirmed.

"Took us a quartex to repair the worst damage," Ironhide added, "and it was never as good again as before."

"Quartex?" General Bryce asked.

"A Cybertronian month," Ratchet provided. "Approximately 20.8 of your human months."

Several of the soldiers whistled. "Quite some damage," Major McKinley noted, "if it took you this long."

"We had to run and hide," Ratchet said. "That doesn't leave a lot of chances for repairs."

"Point taken," General Bryce agreed.

Jazz seized the opportunity. "So ya understand now why we canna ally with the Star Seekers? They're an enemy if Ah ever saw one."

The humans nodded, and Colonel Greene asked, "But how will they react if we attack the Decepticons? Will they join the battle, forming a third party?"

All eyes and optics turned back to Trailbreaker. "They're an unknown parameter. I haven't gotten any data on their current whereabouts so I cannot simulate whether or not they'll join the upcoming battle."

The humans looked surprised. "Not even the satellites have picked them up?" The colonel turned to his staff out of which two were leafing through the papers but came up empty-handed.

Jazz frowned. "That about confirms it: They have invisibility shielding. Frag it," he cursed and balled his servos to fists. The Star Seekers were truly a pain in the tailpipe.

Silence settled over the meeting while humans and Autobots alike thought about how to tip the scales in their favor. Jazz was just starting playing around with the idea of contacting Prowl to ask for the shuttle's involvement, when a voice that shouldn't be present at the meeting spoke up: "Maybe we can help."

The soldiers looked in confusion toward where the words had emanated from, but the Autobots were a step ahead. "Jack? What are you doing?" Ratchet asked.

The boy laughed sheepishly. "Wasn't me." Then a new voice came forward.

"Hey guys."

"Rafael?"

"Sorry."

General Bryce had finally overcome his initial surprise. Stalking to the speaker out of which the kids' voices came, he barked, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

For a moment, none of the boys answered, then the younger one explained, "I was working on an idea to help with your upcoming battle against the Decepticons. That's when… um, somehow my computer's speakers transmitted your meeting."

The humans were flustered and bristling with anger. Ratchet shook his head with an exasperated sigh. Jazz had to hold himself in check to not start laughing; he had apparently underestimated the kids if they were able to hack into a military server and listen to their meeting.

"Anyway," Rafael's voice continued, "I've been thinking: If you cannot locate the Star Seekers with the satellites the conventional way, we need to modify them. If I'm not mistaken, these Star Seekers are built exactly like the Autobots, right? So they have a spark too. And if we modify the satellites to not scan for biological heat radiation but sparks, we should be able to locate them."

Ratchet laughed out loud, surprising the humans. "That's brilliant!" he said.

Before any of the soldiers could demand answers, Jazz turned toward the medic. "Can ya modify the satellites like Rafael suggests?"

The other nodded. "Yes, with his help, I can modify the program to scan for spark signatures."

"And it will scan through invisibility shielding?"

Ratchet pondered that for a moment. "There might be a problem there. However, if I get the specs for our shuttle's shields, I can include them in the satellite modification to enhance the scanning strengths. Then we should be able to scan through invisibility shielding."

On the one hand, that sounded perfect – just what they needed. But Jazz was already thinking ahead. "Will that prove detrimental for our hidden shuttle? Can the data be hacked by 'cons or Seekers? They mustna know our bots are still alive."

Ratchet opened his mouthplates to answer but stopped, pensive. He stared at Jazz for several moments, clearly deep in thought, before slightly turning toward General Bryce. "How secure are the servers onto which the satellite feeds are stored?"

It was Colonel Greene who answered heatedly, "Until now secure enough, but after that kid's stunt hacking into our base server I cannot say for certain our firewalls will hold to any hacking anymore."

Jazz turned to the speakers. "Rafael, is there a way ta store the satellite feeds ta a device that canna be accessed via a server?"

"Um…" There was a moment silence. "It should be possible to cut the server connection as soon as the data is downloaded. But that needs precise timing. And a storage device big enough to hold that much data. I doubt a USB stick is going to cut it."

"We can cover that," Jazz returned. To Ratchet he said, "Take Wheeljack an' craft us that storage device. Then help Rafael modify the satellites ta scan for spark signatures. Ah'll contact Perce about those specs."

"Wait, wait, wait!" General Bryce shouted. "You cannot intend for a boy to fiddle with our satellites!"

Jazz's visor flashed; his patience was running out. They were finally making progress and the humans were still talking. "Ah can and Ah will. Watch meh." Back to the speakers, he ordered, "Rafael, ya heard what was said. Begin the modifications, Ratch'll come assist as soon as he an' 'Jack have created that device."

"Already on it."

"Jack."

The teenager in question was surprised to be addressed. "Yes?" he squeaked.

"Ye're responsible for Rafael's protection."

"What? … erm, 'kay…"

With that being taken care of, Jazz turned to his other two comrades. "'Breaker, as soon as we have the data –"

"I'll be ready to fine-tune the strategy," the tactician confirmed with a determined expression.

Jazz nodded, satisfied. "'Hide, ye go an' prepare the others. Once the strategy stands, we're moving out. We lost enough time as it is."

His optics flashing with excitement, Ironhide flexed his arms and walked away without another word.

Last but not least, the humans. "As for you: Ya should start preparations as well," Jazz suggested. He was about to turn away to start on his personal to do list when General Bryce refound his voice.

"What strategy are we now aiming for exactly?"

The saboteur stopped, looked over his shoulder and replied, "Ah'll be going in ta disable the cannons, then we attack."

"Who's going to go with you?"

He grinned, his visor flashing in excitement. "Ahm a saboteur. Ah'll be going alone of course."

Author's Note: Feedback please? Reviews are love, and love equals a faster writing muse.