Chapter 198 – Wake
(JaPOV)
Jazz swooped and swirled above Iacon, thoroughly enjoying himself. No-bot in his right processors thought twice about seeing a banshee-hawk flying above the city, and no-bot in his right processors fired at one.
It was bad luck, after all.
Far below, Ravage was streaking down the alleyways. Jazz could still hear her thoughts somewhat, she was hoping a bit of prey would show up between where she was and where Soundwave had told her to go. The thought processes of the cyber cat explained away any and all strangeness in Soundwave, Jazz decided, and he seriously couldn't blame the mech.
Ravage's thoughts were strange to him, beyond strange, but there were little bits of parallels that made it alright. She was fiercely hunt driven, and fiercely protective of her pride. That she considered Jazz to be a part of her pride now was cause for no end of astonishment on his end. She observed, that wasn't odd, what she observed far more so. Ravage recognized him, recognized her previous animosity against him and dismissed it as past. In fact she thought he was strange for even bothering to bring it up, and she had made that abundantly clear with a single, exasperated gaze.
More, she named bots according to character traits that should have been hidden. She'd named him Saboteur, not Soundwave. She had done so from the moment she had seen him, having never witnessed his actions; which they both knew, because had she witnessed any of the sheer number of times he'd fragged things up for the Decepticons she would have attacked in the very least.
It was less that, and more the fact that the majority of her lifespan was considered in a whole, passed in a whole, and remembered in that manner. There was little consideration of past and future, but an astonishing amount of attention placed on the present. She found the focus of future strange, the dwelling upon the past for longer than a few moments foolish, and Jazz was determined to sit that cat down for a good long spark to spark.
The trick to it would be to get the cyber cat to agree, and that was going to be a feat within itself. Jazz had initially tried to discuss the tactics they should use to get to the compound, Ravage had summarily brought him up short with a low, irritated yowl; bluntly informing him that the pride-mate whom did not know his place and tasks in the hunt was not a pride-mate. The alpha femme of Soundwave's pride knew her place in the hunt, and she knew it well.
Jazz spotted movement, then, zooming in proved it to be a cyber rat... hmm...
Jazz swooped down and played his recording of a banshee-hawk scream, the rodent froze and seemingly out of nowhere Ravage was on it, providing a quick, efficient, almost painless death.
Jazz watched in astonishment then, as a few quick swipes of a clawed forepaw had the rat neatly sliced apart. Ravage lightly picked up the glowing energon chamber of the rodent and offered it to him in delicate teeth. It was a grizzly offering, but an obvious one. Jazz had technically scored the kill, Ravage had simply finished it. It was his right to the best part of the meal.
"Nah, you go ahead," Jazz stated, then watched in amusement as Ravage grinned at him, quickly crunching down her prey before leading him to the massive dome of the wrecker complex.
Jazz watched the cat curiously as she trotted around, paying no attention to the area closest to the 'doorbell' and choosing instead an area several units around the side. A forepaw promptly scratched at the shell, before hooked claws dug into an obviously shielded area, dragging open a door.
"How'd you find that?" Jazz demanded.
Rather than word, the cat looked at him in feline amusement, a sudden vision available to his processors: the world as Ravage saw it, laced with scent trails and the sense of dangerous energies beneath the section of the doorbell. Nothing hid from Ravage, not when she had the scent.
"Tha's cheatin'," Jazz informed the cat in amusement. Ravage sneezed at him, and disappeared.
"Oi! Wha's tha' Cyber cat doin' in here!?" A voice bellowed. Jazz promptly raced after Ravage.
"She's with meh," he announced, quickly stepping in between Ravage and the pair of groggy looking Wreckers glaring at her. "Wha's swingin' Wreckahs?" he asked with a broad grin.
(SsPOV)
Jacobs flew, his tiny, fragile body flew through the air and into one of the massive trees. His body slumped down to the ground and didn't move.
Sideswipe watched in stunned fascination, his brother was on his tires the next second. Berserker mode, an explosion tore Hammerstrike's leg off, the signature that of the human-sized grenades Wheeljack had built. But Sunstreaker didn't seem to notice that, Hammerstrike never got in another blow, a blade was already running through his spark.
Sideswipe pulled himself up somewhat, watching his brother as he made sure of his kill.
::. Sunstreaker to base, we need the emergency ground-bridge NOW!.:: Sunstreaker barked out over the comm, Sideswipe watched, dazed as his brother scooped Jacobs up. He shook his helm numbly.
It was too late, there was no spark-beat, no breath from their human.
"Come on Sideswipe!" Sunstreaker snarled before charging through the portal, hands cradling their fragile brother. Sideswipe looked up at Ironhide the next moment, it felt like a moment, his chronometer marked another breem, but it felt like a moment...
"Come on then, Sides, we'll clean this up, your brother needs you," Ironhide murmured gently, catching his shoulder.
Sideswipe nodded and rose, and under the arm of the Weapons Master, strode through the portal.
"I'm sorry, Sunstreaker," Ratchet was murmuring.
Sideswipe looked numbly at the medic and sagged into himself, none could gainsay the medic.
"Go, get yourselves cleaned up," Optimus murmured gently.
Numbly, Sideswipe led his brother into the Decon, attended to their armour, then led his twin to berth.
They both laid there, staring at the ceiling until the motionlessness and regenerative demand of their bodies called them into recharge.
"Incoming!"
Jacobs flew, the massive, gentle-sparked human that had enacted such a change in his twin flew through the air and into one of the vorns old trees that mocked the short-lived fragility of their human brethren.
His body slumped down to the ground, and didn't move. The air was filled with the miniscule, brightly coloured 'butterfly' insects.
Sideswipe started out of his recharge and rolled off of their berth.
He needed to go make sure Jacobs was alright, his logs had to be wrong, it was just a chargefright.
Two steps into the corridor and Sideswipe froze, staring up at his little sister as she looked back at him from the door to the Prime's quarters.
"It's not true," Sideswipe whispered.
Wordlessly, Kae beckoned to him, and Sideswipe walked numbly toward the femme.
"It's not true," he choked. He brought his holoform online, running through the human's housing area and directly into Jacob's quarters.
They were empty, the bed still perfectly made as Jacobs had always done. Untouched.
"It can't be," Sideswipe whispered.
A gentle hand touched his shoulder, and Sideswipe turned, looking down at the human form of the Lady Prime.
"I'm so sorry, Sides," she murmured, their holoforms winked out, and Sideswipe broke down, sobbing as his sister pulled him close, cradling him against the loss.
(WPOV)
"Sunstreaker?" Will called out quietly, the mech hadn't left his quarters in five days. Sideswipe had, wandering numbly down the corridors for a cube of energon, and hollowly answering anyone who'd greeted him; but not Sunstreaker. That wasn't like him. Ironhide had warned him against visiting, but Will had a mission.
He strode into the quarters that the twins shared, toward the pile of golden armour laying on the berth. He glanced around for a moment then bit down a surprised start. Amidst the clutter of massive art supplies and easels, there was a ladder still leaning against the berth. Calmly, he strode across the bay and scaled that ladder; the knowledge that Jacobs had been the only human to do so in these quarters sitting oppressively in his mind.
"Go away," Sunstreaker growled softly.
"Before you go back to hating all of the disgusting squishies you should know something," Will began quietly, taking two steps onto the berth then settling into parade rest.
"What?"
"His funeral is tomorrow," Will stated quietly. "He's being buried with full honours."
A holoform winked online in front of him. Sunstreaker looked like hell: pale, exhausted and disheveled.
"Why are you telling me this?" Sunstreaker demanded flatly.
"There will be three volleys fired in his honour while he's interred, I wanted to know if you wished to be part of the firing team," Will stated simply.
"What is that?"
"In honour of our fallen, we fire three shots in the air as they're laid to rest."
Sunstreaker stared at him for a long time before he nodded.
"His sisters want to talk to you," Will stated quietly.
Sunstreaker looked at him for another long moment before the holoform strode over to sit on his own armour.
"What do I say to them?" He asked softly. Will looked at the bot for a long moment before he strode over, leaning back against Sunstreaker's shoulder plate.
"The truth," Will shrugged quietly after a long moment. "It's about all you can say, really. If they scream at you, or try to blame you all I can say is to just not say anything but that you're sorry for their loss; and that you're going to miss him too. Even though it's not your fault, sometimes... sometimes it helps the family move on if they can have someone to blame, someone to direct the anger at, if only to get it out. It's closure."
Sunstreaker nodded slightly, staring at his feet.
Will looked down at the mech's holoform for a long moment before he pushed himself upright again and laid a hand on the holoform's shoulder.
"Sunstreaker, with me," he commanded quietly.
Sunstreaker looked dazedly up at him.
"Why?" he demanded hoarsely.
"Because he was my friend, too," Will stated quietly.
Will gauged the holoform carefully as he rose, and gently led him to the mess.
(SsPOV)
"Sunstreaker, with me," Colonel Lennox commanded quietly. Sunstreaker looked up at the human, confused.
"Why?" he demanded.
"Because he was my friend, too," the man informed him quietly.
Sunstreaker looked around, dazed. He wasn't certain why he was in the human's refuelling area, but the Colonel had brought him here. Perhaps the humans wished to beat the slag out of him for letting Jacobs die. But several of the bots' holoforms were there, as well. Will sat him down in one of the chairs, and amidst the silence soldiers took the seats around him, silently leaving the chair on his left vacant; Sunstreaker felt a moment of morbid curiosity at that until Sideswipe's holo was gently led in by Chance. The soldiers and holoforms sat around him for a long moment of silence.
"Thank you," Epps stated quietly. Sunstreaker looked at the man, confused. Epps wasn't stationed here, he stuck around with the Wreckers at NASA, but he was here, and thanking him!?
"What?" Sunstreaker demanded hoarsely.
"You brought him home," Will stated quietly. "We all live, and we all die in the end; we are soldiers, and we honour our fallen by bringing them home and remembering them."
"You remember the first time he saw Optimus transform?" Chance asked with a choked laugh. "Six months of the 'bots staying in their alt-modes around the new recruits and Optimus sneezes-"
"That was the first time I'd ever heard him swear," Optimus rumbled with a small smile.
"We shared a bathroom when I first got to base," Archangel piped up with a low laugh. "I don't think I've ever done so with a more congenial person-"
"That's because you always left him the hot water," Jaques piped up with a snort.
Sunstreaker sat, dazed as the massive group began remembering Jacobs.
"You were the closest, Sunstreaker," Will informed him.
"He died fighting," Sunstreaker husked, staring at the wall. "Hammerstrike interrupted him."
Silence held around him for a moment.
"Sunstreaker?" Will murmured gently, Sunstreaker just stared at the wall, replaying the last moments of Jacobs' life in his processors.
"We never got to hear the end of the story," Sideswipe's holo whimpered beside him. Automatically, Sunstreaker reached out and laid a protective arm around the shoulders of his twin, pulling his brother close. "He said Thom dragged him out of the waterfront dives and asked him a question, Hammerstrike interrupted him, we never got to hear the end of the story..."
"He said 'Is this really where you want to wind up?' and it made me think, hard," Epps piped up quietly. Sunstreaker blinked and looked at the man.
"I looked around at our surroundings, because that was precisely where I was headed if I didn't smarten up." Larson continued softly.
"And then, when I finally managed to answer 'no' he picked me up, brushed me off and took me home," another finished softly.
"How..." Sunstreaker choked.
"Because it's the same story he told me, after he'd dragged my sorry ass out of the grave I'd dug myself into, stuck me back on my feet, cleaned me up, and set me on the right track," Epps stated quietly. "It costs nothing to spread a little hope, but that little bit of hope can help one hell of a lot of people."
"Jacobs ain't dead, Sunstreaker," Larson informed him quietly. "Not really. He ain't dead because of all the good he's done in his lifetime, because of all the lives he's saved; and every last one of us shitheads he's straightened out and turned into worthwhile folk. So long as we live as he would have, he'll never be gone, and since in all likelihood you're gonna live longer than the lot of us combined, Jacobs prob'ly will too."
Sunstreaker stared around at the men mourning his friend and lost control of the holoform. In an instant, he was off of his berth and staring at his canvas. In that moment, all that had been Jacobs emerged in front of his optics. He picked up the first brush and began the masterpiece of a mech, that that tiny human had been.
He didn't rush, but still it took him no time at all. The eyes of Jacob's portrait watched him as he polished his armour to a gleaming shine, remembering his human's lengthy preparations when it came to his own armour. He remembered the way they would mock each other without letup for each other's vanity. But that had never stopped Jacobs from offering assistance with the hard to reach nicks.
The sun shone brightly across the field planted with rows of white crosses, and as the little box that held the body of his tiny, massive brother was lowered into the earth that had borne him; three shots of plasmic energon boomed through the atmosphere above them, honouring the giant laid to rest.