"Thank you all for being here," Orion said. "Can we get started now?"

Prowl tapped a finger on the desk, waiting impatiently for everyone to quiet down. He missed having Ultra Magnus here to call meetings to order—Orion wasn't nearly forceful enough about it.

"Everyone?" Orion said.

Chromia and Moonracer, who'd been chatting quietly, finally stopped.

"Welcome to our ornly meeting," Orion said. "I hear our numbers have risen drastically since last orn. Chromia, would you give your report?"

Chromia nodded. "We have almost thirty-four thousand mecha who have signed up to be in our army, and that number is still growing. This is great, but it also means we're going to be eating through Mirage's credit pretty quickly now that we need to house and feed a much larger force."

"That's a lot of mecha," Mainspring said.

"We might consider moving somewhere other than central Iacon," Chromia said. "Housing prices here are terrible. One of the outer sectors of Iacon would be better, or even one of the nearby city-states."

Orion nodded. "We will consider that for the future," he said.

"As it is, there's pretty much no way we can keep all of our soldiers together in one place. However, our groundbridge station is almost finished. It should be operational in less than a decaorn, so it'll be feasible—if costly—to keep groups of soldiers in different places and then bridge them wherever we need them to gather."

"Thank you," Orion said. "Elita, have we heard anything from the owner of the groundbridge station who's letting us use his license?"

"I haven't heard anything from him," she said. "But he hasn't rescinded his permission, so we're fine to use the bridges as soon as they're operational."

"Ironhide," Orion said. "How is training going for our soldiers?"

"It's going well," Ironhide said. "Turns out that mech, Kup, had some connections, and he was able to find us more mecha to help train full time."

Prowl nodded, anxious for his turn to speak. Everything was falling perfectly into place. They only had one reasonable course of action at this point. He was surprised no one had brought it up already.

"Also," Ratchet said. "I hired two more medics last orn, so we have ten now, working full time for us. And in the case of a crisis, I have a friend at a nearby hospital who can get us more short-term help if we need."

Orion nodded. "This is all good news. I'm grateful to all of you for keeping everything running so smoothly, even though I can't always be here."

Prowl ran out of patience. "Prime, sir?"

Orion looked at him, then nodded for him to speak.

"If I may… considering that our resources are drastically increasing, I believe it's time to think about taking a more active role in the conflict."

Silence fell.

"Our army may never be as large as Megatron's, but we're going to be close soon, and I'm almost certain we have better organization and an advantage in strategy. As Chromia has said, our monetary resources won't last forever, but if we act quickly, we may be able to end the conflict before that point."

Orion frowned. "Are you suggesting we attack Megatron?"

"Yes," Prowl said. "As soon as our groundbridges are operational."

Silence fell, and Prowl looked around the room. They seemed to be considering it, except for Orion, who shook his helm. "We will not go on the offensive."

"I don't know that we can," Ironhide said. "Haven't you been watching our soldiers train? They're not ready for battle."

"Megatron's soldiers aren't any more experienced," Prowl said. "And his forces are split between Tarn and Kaon. Now would be the best time to move against him, before he consolidates his army to attack another city-state."

"No," Orion said. "We will not attack Megatron and bring unnecessary death and suffering to the mecha of Cybertron."

"I don't think you're seeing the bigger picture here," Prowl said, doorwings twitching in frustration. "This is an opportunity we can't afford to pass up. We could end the war before it even starts. We could take back Kaon and Tarn, capture or kill Megatron, and—"

"No," Orion said again.

"But—"

"The purpose of our army is to protect mecha, not to attack."

"That's not… if we never attack, then how are we going to re-take Kaon or Tarn?"

Orion met his optics with a stubborn expression on his faceplate. "I don't know," he said. "But Kaon and Tarn don't belong to us any more than they belong to Megatron."

"So this isn't our responsibility?" Prowl demanded.

Orion didn't say anything.

"You're the Prime. Isn't the whole planet your responsibility?" Prowl said. "Besides, there are tens of thousands of refugees who had to leave Tarn, and hundreds of thousands of mecha who offlined in Kaon during the take-over, and those city-states are now ruled by a tyrant. I don't think anyone would complain if we take them back."

"You know…" Ironhide said. "I hate to say it, but I think Prowl's got a point. If we have a chance to stop Megatron now instead of letting him gather more power and resources, maybe we should take it.

Orion sighed. "I don't want to discuss this at this point," he said. "Prowl, may I speak with you later this orn about it?"

"You can't just ignore—"

"If Megatron attacks another city-state, we will defend it, but I will not attack him. There has been violence, but so far none of it has been on our end, and until it is absolutely necessary, we will keep it that way. If you have more to say about the matter, you can say it when we speak later."

"I'm not sure if you're stupid, or just cowardly, but—"

"Hey!" Ironhide slammed his fist on the table. "Optimus said to drop it, so we're going to drop the issue."

Prowl glared at him, but forcibly bit back the rest of what he had to say. He would talk to Orion about it privately.

"Thank you, Ironhide," Orion said. "Now, Elita, do you have anything to report?"

The dark-colored mech knelt before Megatron, waiting.

"Get up," Megatron said. Listen carefully, Soundwave. They sent someone so promptly, it's suspicious. It's almost as if they were waiting for us to contact them.

The mech stood.

I could already tell we weren't going to be able to trust him.

"If I'm correct," Megatron said. "You're from Quantum."

"I am Quantum," the mech replied. "My designation is Blackangle."

He came himself. Interesting. He must be serious about this.

"Well, then," Megatron said. "It's good to make your acquaintance."

"Thank you," Blackangle said. "Likewise. I know you only asked for a representative, but I wanted to meet you personally."

He'd brought a whole group of thugs as well, who were standing by the throne room doors, trying to look intimidating.

It was amusing. Compared to ordinary mecha they might be frightening, but they looked pitiful next to the gladiators at the doors, and they knew it.

Megatron nodded. "I presume you have some sort of a deal in mind already?"

A corner of Blackangle's mouth turned up. "I do. Can we talk in private?"

Megatron nodded. "Out!" he said to the guards. Soundwave, you stay.

The guards opened the doors and the thugs followed them out into the hallway. The doors shut behind them.

Blackangle looked at me.

"He can be here," Megatron said. "I trust him completely."

"All right," Blackangle said. I wonder if he's a bodyguard. He's kind of an odd-looking mech.

"As far as I know, you work for the Council," Megatron said.

"I work for the highest bidder," Blackangle said. "But the Council's not doing too well of late."

Megatron nodded.

"And it's more than credit I'm after anyway." If I don't blow this, I've got it made. King of the world. "I'm a mech of ambition," he continued. "I worked my way to where I am, but I see an opportunity to expand my influence if I ally myself with you."

Megatron nodded.

"If you hadn't invited me, I'd probably have shown up in another quartex anyway."

"What exactly do you have to offer me?" Megatron asked.

Straightforward, down to business. Blackangle thought. Good. I can work with this mech. He might be hard to fool, though.

He had no idea.

"I have a network of about fifteen thousand mecha throughout Cybertron, secret ways into every city, plenty of funding, and experience as a leader of a large organization. I also have spies among the ranks of the Autobots, as well as several different Councils. What do you have to offer me?"

"Depending on whether I decide to believe you, and whether I feel like you're going to be useful, you could quickly find yourself in a high position in my army."

"How high?" Let's see what he's willing to offer—how desperate he is…

"First, you have to understand that a lot of the mecha in positions right now are gladiators."

Blackangle raised both optic ridges. "How's that working for you?"

"Not as well as I'd hoped."

Blackangle shook his helm. "Thugs don't often make good administrators, present company excepted."

Megatron nodded. "If your organization is as impressive as you say, then you won't need to worry about rising through the ranks. We have an opening in the command element—one of my closest advisers turned out to be a double agent, working for the Autobots."

"That's unfortunate," Blackangle said.

"It is. I hear you know him, though. His designation is Jazz."

"Yes," Blackangle said, surprised. "I haven't seen him for vorns, though. I presume from your word choice that he's still alive."

"He managed to escape," Megatron said. "So we can't confirm his death. Either way, he has left an opening for you if you're interested."

Huh. Blackangle thought. He was just betrayed, and he's willing to appoint someone he barely knows into the same position? He's more desperate than I thought. Either this will be easy, or there's some sort of catch.

Both. I was the catch.

Megatron kept his gaze on the other mech, studying him suspiciously. I'm sure he's trying to figure out how to make the most of my offer. I hope he doesn't try to weasel his way into more power than I'm already offering him. I have no patience for haggling.

I can do this. I'll just wait until I'm ingrained in the system, then take over. I'll have to be patient, but I've always been patient. This mech has no idea what he's doing. If he was really smart, he'd have kept some of the Tarn Council alive so they could run things for him.

Megatron narrowed his optics. He'll probably try to offline me at some point, but I can get a lot of good use out of him before that, and Soundwave will warn me.

He might try to take my resources and kill me, Blackangle mused. I'll have to make sure he knows my mecha will be loyal to me, not him. "All right. I'll need an orn to think about it, but I'm probably willing to accept that offer. Do you want to write up some sort of contract?"

"You write up a contract," Megatron said. "And I'll look it over, whenever it's ready."

Blackangle nodded. "Very well."

And that was that.

"I'll return in five orns."

"Good," Megatron said. "I'm not a patient mech."

I am, Blackangle thought as he turned and walked to the door. And that's why some orn I'm going to be sitting on that throne of yours. I'll let you do all the work, building your empire. And then I'll slip it right out from beneath you.

Megatron commed the guards to tell them to open the doors just as Blackangle reached them.

Then we were alone again.

"So?" Megatron asked. "I presume we can't trust him."

"Correct."

"But do you think I should accept his help anyway?"

He was really asking me for my opinion. He was fairly certain he could keep ahead of Starscream's schemes, but this mech was different. "I don't like him," I said. "But he wasn't lying about the resources."

Megatron nodded. "We do need resources, and leadership." We'll work with him for now. But I'll be counting on you, Soundwave, to make sure he doesn't double-cross us.

Red Alert sat in his office, optics darting from screen to screen, making sure everyone was where they were supposed to be.

He'd overheard Elita and Chromia talk about the Autobots building their own base.

He hoped they could do that some time soon. The security in this place was sorely lacking, and the places where they kept and trained their soldiers were even worse.

And he knew Mainspring did background checks on everyone they let into the tower, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that the Council or the Decepticons might have some double agents lurking around—even among the commanders. He wasn't sure he trusted Ratchet for one—that mech had been close friends with Soundwave at one point.

Of course, Ratchet was rarely in the tower anymore—he was too busy repairing their soldiers.

He was in an excellent position to sabotage the army if he wanted to.

Red Alert wasn't sure he trusted Mainspring either. He knew Perceptor had vouched for the mech, but just because Perceptor trusted someone didn't make him trustworthy.

And then there was Prowl. Who even knew what went on in that mech's helm? Red Alert still didn't understand why he had abandoned everything to join the Autobots. He certainly didn't seem to like them very much. Furthermore, if he was willing to turn his back on his enforcer colleagues to join the rebellion, he was probably willing to turn his back on Orion.

His argument with the Prime in the meeting earlier that orn was very concerning. Prowl wanted to use the army to attack the Decepticons. That could be disastrous if he was secretly in league with Megatron. It could be disastrous even if he wasn't.

Red Alert would watch him closely for the next several decaorns, just in case he decided to try anything traitorous.

The elevator, which was at the bottom of the tower, started making its way up. Red Alert checked the elevator camera to see that it was just Orion, returning from training. He was early again, just like last orn.

Red Alert checked on Prowl, who was sitting in his office, studying a datapad, then checked to make sure Orion's office was empty, then went looking for Mirage.

Mirage was the absolute worst security threat of all. Red Alert couldn't believe Mainspring had recruited the mech as a spy. It was one of the things that made him think Mainspring might not have their best interests at spark.

As usual, Mirage was nowhere to be found, but that didn't mean he was gone.

Red Alert shuttered his optics for a moment, but just a moment, because he didn't want to miss anything on the screens.

He wished he could clone himself and watch the monitors in shifts.

As it was, there were gaps when he was recharging or in a meeting. He always had someone watching the monitors, of course, but he didn't really trust any of the mecha working under him.

As if in answer to that thought, one of the mecha on duty at the base of the tower commed him.

He immediately switched to the video feed for that room and froze, optics widening.

"Red Alert, sir?" the security guard said. "This…"

"Lock the elevator door and don't let him near it," Red Alert said. "Keep him talking or something, I'll get you some back-up."

"Um… I don't think that's going to be necessary, Sir. He's…"

"Just do what I tell you, frag it!" Red Alert said, spark pounding frantically.

This was very bad.

Prowl looked up when his office door opened.

"Oh," he said. "Orion. You're back from training early."

The former librarian sat across from Prowl's desk.

"So…" he said.

Prowl looked down. "I talked to Yoketron about it a little," he admitted. Yoketron had insisted he should accept Orion's decision. "I won't bring it up again."

"Prowl?"

"What?" Prowl snapped. "You obviously don't think my advice means anything."

"That's not true," Orion said. "I do value your advice. But I don't think going on the offensive will help anyone. There will be consequences beyond the scope of winning or losing. If we attack Megatron, it will just give more ammunition to his supporters."

"Unless we beat him once and for all," Prowl said. "Then it won't matter."

"Not all of his supporters are currently in his army," Orion said. "Our public image is good right now."

"Why do you care so much about our public image?" Prowl demanded. "What really matters is beating Megatron, and taking those cities back."

Orion and Prowl locked gazes, but the depths of the Prime's calm determination were too much and Prowl looked away again.

"Will you please think about the other side of things?" Orion asked. "How many of the world's problems will defeating Megatron solve?"

"Several, actually," Prowl said.

"But it will put us in a position where it will be difficult to solve the others. I still haven't given up on Megatronus's ideals. He wants the same thing we do—he's just going about it the wrong way."

"So we should let him do whatever he wants?"

"No," Orion said. "If he attacks another city-state, we will stop him. But even if I didn't think it was morally wrong, I don't want to attack him. Please try to understand."

Prowl sighed. "You still think he's your friend, don't you? You don't want to hurt him."

"I don't want to hurt anyone," Orion said.

Prowl supposed that defeating Megatron at this point would have some negative consequences for their image, but he was fairly sure the benefits would outweigh any costs. "But Megatron will keep hurting other mecha if he's not stopped."

"I know," Orion said.

Prowl crossed his arms, disappointed in his leader. Maybe the Council really shouldn't have made this pacifistic librarian the Prime. "If we don't do something now… if we let Megatron get a good footing, then it could be disastrous. He plans to actually use his army for something. We have to be willing to do the same. You are not an archivist anymore. Please try to see my side of things."

Orion hesitated, then nodded. "All right. You can come up with a plan, and present it at a meeting when it's ready. But don't expect us to attack Megatron unprovoked. I don't want to be responsible for any more lost lives."

Prowl looked at him. Did he realize what he was saying? "Well you're going to be responsible for many more lost lives if we sit back and do nothing."

"No," Orion said firmly. "That's Megatron's reasoning. Sacrifice lives now for others in the future? Do you really think that will stop the fighting? Even if we wipe Megatron's forces out completely, do you think the conflict will end?"

"Yes," Prowl said.

Orion shook his helm.

"Look, we're going to be fighting him anyway. If we are always on the defensive, then he will always be the one to pick the battlefield. I can try to keep casualties to a minimum, but that will be harder if we're always fighting on his terms." Prowl would not budge on this. He was the strategist here. He knew what he was doing.

Orion sighed. "Perhaps in the future, if Megatron stubbornly insists on attacking his neighbors, we will be forced to take direct action against him, but it's not necessary at this point."

"Fine," Prowl said, crossing his arms. "But I'm warning you the longer we let this war go on, the worse it could get."

Orion nodded. "Thank you for the warning."

"Is there anything else?"

Orion shook his helm, then hesitated.

"What?"

The Prime seemed to be trying to make a decision. After a few astroseconds, he sighed. "This is a completely different subject, but I have a question."

"All right," Prowl said.

"Hypothetically… if I were trying to… win a strategy board game. Except my opponent was much better than me. Like if you were my opponent. How would I win?"

Prowl raised an optic ridge.

"I know it's a strange question."

"I won't argue with that," Prowl said.

"But it's a serious question too." Orion said. "How can I win against someone who has much more skill and experience than I do?"

Interesting. Prowl leaned back in his chair to think for a moment. "You can't… I mean, there might be a few ways. It depends on the circumstances. You could try to learn more about the game—most games have tricks that will help you get ahead. Of course, if your opponent knows all the tricks, that's no good. If you can't win through conventional means, you could always cheat, or have someone who is better than your opponent help you…"

"Cheat?" Orion asked, looking a little surprised.

Prowl flicked his doorwings uncomfortably. "Not what you'd expect to hear from me… but Orion, strategy isn't always about being smarter than your opponent. It's about making a better use of your resources. Does that help?"

Orion hesitated, then shook his helm. "Not really. But thank you."

"I'll keep thinking about it," Prowl said. "It might be impossible, depending on the circumstances."

"Thank you," Orion said, standing. "And thank you for being willing to trust me, even if you don't agree with my decisions."

Prowl nodded, and watched him leave, frowning. That had been an odd question…

Oh well. He had work to do. He turned back to his datapad, which he had absentmindedly shut off during their conversation. He turned it on and drummed his fingers on the desk as he waited for it to power up.

At least Optimus had given him permission to work on a plan for attacking Kaon. That was a step in the right direction.

Or… maybe Orion was right. He didn't want to admit that might be a possibility, but…

"Prowl!"

Prowl winced, and answered the comm. "Yes, Red Alert?"

"We've caught a Decepticon spy!"

Oh no, not again. "Would you notify Mainspring? That's his department not mine, thank you."

"I did, but he wouldn't give me permission to put him in a high security cell."

They had high security cells now? Was he talking about Mirage's vaults?

"He said to wait, but we don't have time to wait! This isn't some ordinary spy, he's dangerous! I thought you would surely understand. Also, Mainspring must be in league with him. I never trusted that mech."

Prowl set his datapad down on the desk. "Red Alert, you know we can trust Mainspring."

"But it's Jazz! Surely you know how dangerous he is!"

Prowl sat up.

"Prowl?"

Jazz? Why was Jazz here? He certainly hadn't told them he was coming back—in fact, they hadn't heard from him at all since shortly after Megatron had taken Tarn. That had only been a few orns ago, though, so Prowl hadn't started to worry yet.

Had his cover been blown?

"Where are you keeping him?" he asked.

"Under guard in one of the waiting rooms at the bottom of the tower. But we need to put him in the vaults…"

Prowl didn't want to argue. "First I want to talk to him."

There was a knock at the door.

"What do you mean you want to talk to him? That's not safe! Do you even know who he is? You of all mecha should—"

"What room is he in?" Prowl got up and went to open the door. He wasn't surprised to see Mainspring out in the hallway.

"Why do you want to talk to him?" Red Alert sounded suspicious.

"I will explain it to you later," Prowl said. "Depending on what Optimus says."

There was a moment of hesitation, and then Red Alert huffed. "Fine. After you talk to him, can I put him in the vaults?"

"We will see." Most certainly not, unless Jazz intended to go back and pretend to be with the Decepticons some more. Most likely his cover had been blown, and he was going to stay. "Where is he?"

Red Alert sent him the location.

"Prowl…" Mainspring said.

"I know," Prowl said. "I just got done talking to Red Alert."

Mainspring nodded and they walked silently out to the main room. Tables had been set up, and an energon dispenser stood in the corner. Mecha around the room chatted and refueled. Prowl saw a couple of mecha from the resources department playing a card game, but he didn't have time to stop and encourage them to get back to work.

They got in the elevator and started going down.

"Do you think he's back for good?" Mainspring wondered.

"Not sure," Prowl replied. "Probably."

"I'm excited to meet him," Mainspring said. "I've found out quite a lot about him and he seems like a very interesting mech."

"You could say that," Prowl said. "I mean, not that I know him very well, but he's definitely got a unique personality."

Mainspring nodded. "I'm also a little worried. If he had decided to come back, why didn't he tell us beforehand?"

"I don't know." That was strange. "Maybe he couldn't for some reason? Or maybe he didn't think it was important."

"If his cover was blown, I'm not sure how he'd be able to get past Soundwave. From what I know, the telepath is very powerful and observant."

"What are you suggesting?"

"I'm not sure," Mainspring said. "And I suppose he'll be able to answer our questions when we talk to him. I'm just… concerned. Something about him showing up here unannounced doesn't seem right."

Prowl nodded.

The elevator hummed as it dropped.

"Also, we don't have anyone in Kaon anymore," Mainspring said. "That's going to make things a little more difficult."

"It'll be hard to send someone, because of Soundwave," Prowl said. "But hopefully Jazz will have some ideas about that, since he avoided detection for so long."

"I still can't imagine how he did it."

"When he approached me about it, he seemed confident he could avoid the telepath's notice," Prowl said. "Though I didn't ask him how."

The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. As they walked through the entry room, Prowl recalled the last conversation he'd had with Jazz. The mech had seemed almost resigned to being caught and killed when he'd made the offer.

Prowl was relieved that he'd made it back.

They went down the hall and stopped outside a small waiting room. The door was guarded by two of the more intimidating members of Red Alert's staff, and Red Alert was standing outside of it, pacing.

"Thank Primus," he said when he saw them. "Now will you please explain to me why you won't let me lock him up?"

"We're going to talk to him first," Mainspring said. "And then we'll explain. We promise."

"I don't think you fully understand the situation here. Have you researched this mech? He's almost as dangerous as Megatron himself!"

"I think we'll be fine," Prowl said.

"If he tries anything, I hope you know I'll lock the two of you in there with him." Red Alert said.

"It's a deal," Prowl said. "The door, please?"

Red Alert sighed and tapped in the code to the door. He stepped back and Prowl and Mainspring walked inside before the door slid shut behind them.

Jazz looked up at them. The former criminal was sitting on the ground, hands stasis-cuffed behind his back, and oh, Primus… he was missing a leg.

"Hey," Jazz said with a grin. "Looks like ya finally got me locked up. Congratulations, Prowler."

Prowl blinked.

"But really, mech," Jazz leaned forward a little. "I know ya probably don't trust me, but I have information I can give ta ya about the Decepticons."

Prowl glanced at Mainspring who was frowning slightly.

Why did he think they wouldn't trust him?

"What are you talking about?" Prowl said, sending an internal comm. to Mainspring, who answered immediately but didn't say anything.

Jazz sighed. "I… I guess I kind of quit Megatron's army, or something? It was confusing. He just up and tried ta offline me, if ya must know the truth. But that doesn't matter. I shouldn't have picked their side in the first place. Guess I'm just as much of an idiot as I've always been. I know Orion probably won't want me back, but I'm willing ta help ya all as much as I can—as much as ya'll let me, that is."

"It's not him, is it?" Mainspring said. "This mech doesn't seem to know Jazz was a double agent."

"I don't know," Prowl replied. "I don't know him well enough to tell if it's really him, but… the accent is right. And the attitude."

"What?" Jazz asked.

"Give us a breem," Prowl said, then spoke over the comm. "Maybe he's just pretending he doesn't know?"

"Why would he do that?"

"I don't know. Maybe he hasn't blown his cover and he came back for some other reason. He might not want to speak openly…"

"Or maybe this is someone else impersonating him. That sort of thing can happen." Mainspring said.

"But if his cover is blown, then the Decepticons would know he's a double agent. And otherwise, why would they send someone back here to impersonate him? It doesn't make sense."

"It's all right if ya don't want me here," Jazz said.

"Don't worry," Prowl told him. "I'm sure Orion will be happy to have you back."

"I don't know if he should let me back," Jazz said, shaking his helm slightly, then glancing curiously at Mainspring.

"This is Mainspring," Prowl said.

"Good ta meet ya mech," Jazz shifted, and Prowl flinched as the stump of Jazz's leg scraped against the ground, but Jazz didn't seem to mind.

"It's good to meet you too," Mainspring said, looking about as confused as Prowl felt. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Huh," Jazz said, with an amused half-smile. "All good things, I'm sure. Look…" He seemed to be staring directly at Prowl, though it was hard to tell behind his visor. "Ya look kinda suspicious, and I get it. I understand if ya don't believe me, but I'm telling the truth. I don't care what ya mechs do with me. I really am just turning myself in unconditionally. I'm sorry I went with Megatron instead of Orion. I wish I knew why, but…" he shook his helm.

"Like I said," Prowl told him. "We're… happy to have you back."

"Are we, though?" Mainspring said over the comm. "Something's not right about this."

"Thanks," Jazz replied, looking down.

Prowl frowned, trying to think of some way to prove whether or not this mech was really Jazz. "You should see a medic about that leg."

"What leg?" Jazz stretched out his energon-stained stump, in mock confusion, as if searching for the missing limb. "I don't see it."

Prowl's tanks churned. "That's disgusting… And I'm sure it's painful."

"It's not," Jazz assured him. "I can't feel it at all."

Well that sounded about right. Prowl remembered this mech's trick with his doorwing when they'd been trapped in Perceptor's house.

"Oh, by the way," Jazz said. "How'd ya find out about Megatron's attack on Tarn so early? Is Soundwave secretly working for you mechs or something? He totally let me escape, so I wouldn't be surprised."

Prowl looked at Mainspring, who shook his helm.

"What?" Jazz asked. "Bad question?"

"I don't think you're cleared for the answer," Mainspring said. "Hold on a breem." He tapped on the door, and it opened. Prowl followed him back into the hall, glancing over his shoulder at the confused-looking mech seated on the floor.

The door shut behind them.

"Are you going to tell me what the frag is going on now?" Red Alert demanded.

"I have no idea what's going on," Mainspring said. "But whoever that is, I don't think it can possibly be Jazz."

"What?" Red Alert said.

"I'm not sure we can explain just yet," Mainspring said. "We'll have to talk to Optimus about it first. But for now… you'd better go ahead and secure him in Mirage's vaults. Be very careful—we don't know how dangerous he is."

Prowl's spark sank, but he couldn't argue.

Until they figured out what was going on, they couldn't trust the mech in that room.

Red Alert opened the door and the guards went in and pulled Jazz—or whoever it was—to his one pede. They had to support him as he hopped out of the room.

Red Alert and the guards went one way to take a different elevator up, and Prowl and Mainspring walked back to the main elevator.

"Well…" Mainspring said. "I'm not sure what to think."

"Let's go talk to Optimus," Prowl said. "We should comm. Ratchet too, and see if he has any insights. The two of them probably know Jazz better than the rest of us."

Maybe they would be able to figure out if that mech was really him.

Notes:

1. Well, I guess that's what happens when you erase your own memories...

2. Thanks for reading!