Final Moves

"Shadow, calm down."
"Why? It's not like I've been insulted or anything!"

Both twins looked up as the furious yell preceded the entry of one very ticked off femme. Shadow stalked into the dorm and started picking things up and stuffing them into subspace. Talon jogged in after her and began helping, while Jazz lingered at the doorframe.

Sideswipe edged over to the black and white, not wanting to catch the femme's attention. "What happened?" he asked quietly.
Shadow answered for him. "I'll tell you what happened." She growled, obviously incensed. "Nightwatch just had us transferred to the Medical Corps, Search and Rescue to be exact. We're being shipped out to Halohex right after the memorial service!"
The red twin winced. Even Sunstreaker wasn't that insensitive. "That's harsh."
"You're telling me." The femme snarled, optics dark with rage. She snatched a dagger off a workbench and in one smooth motion flung it at a crude caricature of Shockwave on the rear wall of the dorm, impaling the image though the optic.

Jazz rested one hand on her shoulder as she reached for another knife. "Shades, if you'll calm down I'll 'splain things t' ya." He soothed.
"Fine." Shadow snapped. She switched off her optics, pulled several deep gasps of air through her vents and relaxed her shoulders before switching her optics back on. "Okay, explain."
"Nightwatch is tryin' t' protect you by getting you outta here as soon as possible." Jazz answered. "He doesn't want you t' go Ops happy as well."
"I can take care of myself." Shadow growled. "I'll be fine."
"No you won't." Jazz rebutted. "Trust me on this Shadow, and trust your CO."

Shadow glared at him, yellow optics narrowed. Jazz calmly returned her gaze. Finally Shadow sighed and looked away. "I'll do it. But I don't agree with it." She muttered.
"I don't expect ya to." Jazz replied. "C'mon, we've got a memorial t' go to."

The ceremony was held in a small chapel in the lower levels of the base. The only illumination in the room was a single plasma flame, twisting and bobbing inside a small containment field atop a tall narrow pedestal in the centre of the room. Two brass strips ran along the white walls, one optic level for average sized 'bots and the other for Minibots, both inscribed with passages from the Covenant of Primus. Surrounding the centre pedestal were six octagonal pillars of black metal, the names of the deceased engraved down the sides of the pillars with a small stud next to each name.

Silently, the remainder of the 116's, Jazz, the twins, Ultra Magnus and a few other bots who could be spared from the relocation effort filed into the room. Nightwatch stood beside one of the octagonal pillars, the shifting light from the plasma flame behind him casting his face into shadow. He reached out and touched the stud next to Sharps' name, triggering a hologram of the mech. "We are here to remember Sharps." He began. "A good mech, a brave warrior, and a true friend. The grieving commander turned to the pillar and ran his fingers over the dead mech's name, head bowed. "I'm sorry I failed you Sharps. I should have seen it coming."

One by one, other Autobots offered short tributes to the fallen scout. Necessity meant that the ceremony had to be curtailed until there was an opportunity to have a full memorial. After the tributes a prayer for peace was offered up to Primus, there was a moment of silence and the mourners dispersed.

"What a way t' end a mission." Jazz murmured, shaking his head slightly as he watched Shadow exchange a few words with her team and jog down the hallway, Talon gliding just above her head. The twins remained silent, unsure of what to say in reply.

Ultra Magnus beckoned to the trio. "Your transport back to Earth will arrive at your original drop off point." The large warrior began. "I regret having to send you away like this, but it would be best if you leave as soon as possible."
"Understood Magnus." Jazz replied, glancing over at the twins. "You guys got anything back in th' dorm? No? Okay then, we're outta here."

0o0o0

As the trio of warriors walked out of the ruins of the shattered city, the twins noted a visible change in Jazz's demeanour, as if a great weight had slipped off his back as the grim expression he had developed finally gave way to the old jaunty smile. His legs swung in the familiar swagger, and he started humming again, all things that had slowly vanished the longer that they had been in the base.

The significance was not lost on the twins.

"Jazz must've been under a lot in there." Sunstreaker quietly radioed to his brother.
"Yeah. Good we got out quick then." Sideswipe replied. There was a pause as he considered something. "We're probably going to have to tell Prowl everything that happened in our reports. Y'know, all that other stuff."
"Yeah. But he'd only be interested in the mission-related stuff." Sunstreaker pointed out.
"True. You think we should ask Jazz about some of the things he was talking about before? Like Deck and what he used to do?"
"Later, a lot later. And with plenty of high-grade."
"Agreed."

There was another pause.

"Y'know, there were some cute femmes in that base."Sideswipe said aloud. "Really nice curves on that Vibe one."
Sunstreaker laughed and clapped his twin over the shoulder. "You never change, do ya Siders?"
"Nope. And neither do you, I saw you look." Sideswipe grinned and ducked a playful swat from his brother.

Jazz listened to the exchange with half an audio and smiled as he watched Omega come in for a landing. Everything was back to normal again, which he quite preferred. "C'mon guys, let's jet." He said, waving an arm in Omega's direction. "I've got me a hankering for asphalt and blue skies. It's 'bout time we got home."

Fin