Orion stepped into the crystal garden. He let out a slow deep vent, relaxing as the comfortable, familiar space sapped away the tension of the past few orns.

"Good orn, Orion," Yoketron said. "Please be seated."

Orion sat across from him.

"How is your shoulder?"

His shoulder?

Oh, yes, he'd been kidnapped right before Vos… "Much better," he said. "Back to normal."

"Good. How is Prowl?"

"Probably in his office, doing paperwork. I… I don't know, to be honest. I haven't spoken to him much."

"Hmm," Yoketron said. "I wonder if anyone's spoken to him since the tragedy in Vos. I can imagine him blaming himself for it. It might be good for you to reassure him that he has not, in fact, failed you as an adviser."

Orion looked down.

"Whether or not you agree with his decision there," Yoketron added.

"I don't know," Orion said.

Master Yoketron was silent.

"That's… that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm… I don't think I'm really strong enough to be the Prime. I've thought about it and… what Prowl did in Vos—I don't even know whether it was the right choice, but I couldn't have done it. I couldn't have chosen either way. I would have… I don't know what I would have done, but I'm afraid my decision in the end would not have been based on reason, or even morals. I'm not strong enough to lead an army. When push really comes to shove. I'm not strong enough to make hard decisions. I'm not saying it to belittle myself, it's just a fact."

Yoketron was silent.

"And on top of that, I'm ashamed that I let Prowl go in my place because he was injured worse than I was and I didn't even think about that. But at the same time, I'm glad because he kept a cool helm and got more mecha out alive than I probably would have, but then I'm ashamed that I'm glad, and I'm also conflicted because a part of me wonders whether Prowl made the right choice and if it had been me—If I would have been able to talk my way out of it somehow and maybe Vos wouldn't have fallen… And of course, that possibility just makes me feel worse for sending Prowl."

Yoketron was still silent, but Orion was done talking, so he let the quiet stretch out until the Circuit-Su master finally spoke.

"It is normal to feel inadequate, especially in a position such as yours. But remember that Primus doesn't need you to excel at everything. In this conflict you must be better than your best, but you cannot expect perfection from yourself or from anyone around you. You are not perfect. Prowl is not perfect. I don't even know if perfection is possible. I've been alive a very long time, and have spent centivorns trying to overcome my own character flaws, but I don't think I've even cured myself of a quarter of them. The bottom line is that you will make mistakes—Horrible mistakes with disastrous consequences. And you will need to accept that and keep moving forward. Perhaps you are not strong enough now. But some orn, Optimus Prime, you will be strong enough. The Matrix of Leadership is more than mere wisdom. If you are worthy and prepared, it will strengthen you."

Orion looked down. He'd never thought of it quite that way before. He had always dreaded receiving the Matrix. But if it could make him strong enough to lead his army… "It will change me," he said. "How can I be sure it will change me into what Cybertron needs?"

"Complete the trials," Yoketron said. "You must trust that your preparation will be enough."

Orion nodded.

"Now. Are you ready to begin your training for this orn, Orion?"

"Yes, Master Yoketron."

"The prisoners are escaping! We need back-up!"

I looked up at Megatron as we listened to the mech on the comm. Megatron scowled. Soundwave, look into this and find out what happened. I'll mobilize the seekers.

I nodded and started pulling up video feed from the route the prisoners were on as he got up and left the room. We didn't have very many cameras out in the city, but I managed to find them. They were heading down to the lower levels, which was smart, because seekers didn't like to go underground.

Not smart enough, though. They'd never make it out of the city with such a large group. They shouldn't have tried to escape. We'd probably have to kill a lot of them trying to get them back, but that wasn't the end of the world. If we offlined them, we'd have to find other mecha for Shockwave's experiments, but at least we wouldn't be wasting energon on so many prisoners.

I sent their current location to Megatron and anyone else who I thought might need to know, and tried to find some more cameras on the lower levels.

Then I saw who was leading the prisoners. Jazz. Jazz was here. I hesitated, then commed Megatron. "Jazz is with the escaping prisoners,"

It took him a moment to respond. "Come meet me and the seekers. We need to capture him. I don't care if the rest of them escape, we must capture Jazz, and you have the best chance of that."

"Acknowledged." I left my computer and hurried out of the building so I could transform and fly across the city-state.

It took a while to reach the prisoners, because there were places in the third level down where you couldn't quite fly, but I got there eventually. Seekers might not be as agile in tunnels as they were in open atmosphere, but they were still at an advantage. I watched as they fired mercilessly on the group of prisoners. The Autobots were unarmed and helpless and I started to wonder if any of them would survive this.

Megatron probably didn't care either way.

I looked for Jazz and saw him standing by a narrow side passage, directing the other mecha down it. Again, a clever move, because the seekers wouldn't want to go in there, but once again it wouldn't be enough.

A seeker near me fell, probably hit by a shot that had ricocheted. This wasn't the best place for a battle, even a one-sided battle. I watched as the last of the Autobots entered the side passage, then waited for them to stop firing so I could swoop down to land among the offline prisoners on the ground. The seekers I flew past were starting to panic. More of them kept coming, making the cavern feel close and crowded, and they really didn't like being underground. I listened to the radio chatter, keeping my range close, but ready to stretch it out if I saw Jazz again.

"Soundwave, check a map and see where that tunnel opens up. We'll ambush them there." Megatron said.

I checked a map. "It's a dead end."

Megatron transformed and landed in the clear space in front of the passageway, and I picked my way through the corpses to stand by him. I couldn't see anyone down there. Just darkness.

Megatron raised his arm cannon and fired down the passage. The shot illuminated the narrow tunnel and then disappeared into the distance.

"It's empty," Megatron said. "Are you sure it's a dead end?"

I nodded.

"Go down there and see." If it's some sort of trap, you'll know before you get there.

I studied the narrow opening, then transformed and flew down it. I could only go so far before it narrowed further and I was forced to continue on pede.

I walked until I was halfway down the passage and then stretched out my range until I could hear Megatron and the seekers.

Where had the prisoners gone? How had they all gotten so far away, so quickly? They were out of my range.

"They aren't here." I commed.

"What?"

I walked down toward the dead end, stretching out my range farther, but they were gone. Something strange was happening here. I got all the way to the dead end and found no one.

It was kind of creepy, actually.

I stretched my range out so far that I could hear the seekers, and then pulled it back in again and started walking the way I'd come, out of the tunnel. When I could, I transformed and flew back out of the side passage and landed in front of Megatron.

"Well?" he growled.

"There's no one anywhere ne-ear the tunnel."

I needed to get back to my computer where I had access to the video feeds. There was only so much I could do from here. I shrugged.

"Spread out!" Megatron said. "Find them! They can't have just disappeared!"

The seekers weren't too happy about that idea—they all wanted to go back to the surface. But they'd sworn loyalty to the Decepticons, and they did like the idea of slaughtering some more Autobot prisoners. So they transformed and broke off into groups. I watched them go, then glanced back the way we'd come. Something about this was wrong. Something seemed wrong about the empty cavern too, but I couldn't quite place it.

"Are you sure that passage is a dead end?" Megatron demanded.

I nodded.

"They're over here!" A seeker said over the open comm. and sent his coordinates. Megatron and I glanced at each other, then he transformed and I followed and flew behind him toward where the seekers were chasing the Autobots. They were ridiculously far away. How had they gotten so far so fast? I could imagine one mech managing that, if they had a fast alt mode, but even with depleted numbers there were more than a hundred of them, and some were probably injured. I could see they were headed for another narrow side passage. The seekers in front started shooting, but they didn't seem to hit much. I sped up and tried to fly through the crowd, but someone bumped into me and sent me spinning into the wall. I transformed before I hit, so I was just dented and a little shaken, but this wasn't going to work.

"I can't get close enough. They're going to pull that trick again." I commed Megatron, and he told the seekers to stop so I could fly past them.

The Autobots were disappearing into the side passage, but this time Jazz stayed behind. I flew toward him as quickly as I could and stretched out my range until it reached him.

But it didn't reach him, even as I got closer. I threw my engines in reverse and slowed until I could transform, just paces away from him. I couldn't hear him.

I couldn't hear him. What was going on?

I couldn't hear the other Autobots either. Had I suddenly lost my abilities? No, I could still hear the seekers. They must have had a way to block… but that didn't make any sense. There was no way that all of these prisoners could suddenly block my abilities.

Jazz smirked.

"What's going on?" Megatron demanded. "You're just standing there! Capture him!"

I shifted my hand to a gun and fired, but he dodged. I felt blind. I didn't know if I could beat him in a fight when I couldn't hear his thoughts. But I could probably keep him busy until Megatron reached us.

I charged forward, and Jazz ran away from me. It wasn't until I'd almost caught up with him that I realized.

Not only was his processor silent, I also couldn't hear him with my audios.

His pedes made no sound on the metallic floor.

Jazz was quiet, but not that quiet.

He ducked into the passage the others had gone down, but by the time I got there, he had already disappeared into thin atmosphere.

Megatron transformed and landed behind me. "What?" he said. "They're gone again?"

"They were never here," I said.

"What?"

"Where are the dead?"

Megatron frowned at me.

There had been offline frames on the floor of that first cavern—Prisoners who had fallen to the seekers' shots.

But then once we'd moved on, the place had been empty. No frames, no energon on the ground. They weren't real.

"What are you talking about?" Megatron demanded.

"A hologram."

Megatron stared at me. A hologram… like in Tarn.

That would have to be some hologram. I nodded, though. I couldn't think of any other explanation. For a moment, I'd thought I'd lost the ability to hear Jazz's processor. That had been frightening.

"There's a mech with a hologram mod," Megatron growled. "An Autobot. He must be here. Find him!" I'll get the seekers out of here so you can expand your range.

As much as I would like to do that, I'd just realized something else. I spoke over the comm. "They lured us away from base by including Jazz in the hologram."

Megatron considered that, thought process mirroring my own. He's right. We've wasted so much time and the prisoners could be anywhere by now. Furthermore, with both Soundwave and myself away from base, anyone could sneak in. "Never mind. The hologram mech doesn't matter. We'll find him if we can, but you should go back to base. Quickly."

Jazz dragged the unconscious guard into the landing at the top of a set of stairs and accessed his subspace, looking for keys. He'd needed to wait until they'd confirmed that Soundwave was elsewhere, so he didn't have much time.

He found the keys and hurried down the stairs to where the high security prisoners were kept. The door at the bottom of the stairs opened for him, and he paused, staring at the tall mech with high shoulders in the cell across the room.

Jazz recognized him, though they'd never met before. He frowned. "Ultra Magnus?"

The other mech narrowed his optics. "Who are you?"

"Everyone thinks ya're dead, mech," Jazz said and walked past him to look in the other cells until he found Mirage. Then he went through the keys, trying to match them to the door.

"I don't know who you are," Ultra Magnus said. "Or how you know my designation, but…"

"Shhh," Jazz said, and slipped a key into the lock of Mirage's cell. The door slid open and he ducked inside, taking the keys with him. The noblemech was curled up, apparently unconscious. He had dried energon on his faceplate from a painful-looking crack that ran all the way from the corner of his optic to his lip plates, but other than that there were just dents and scratches.

Jazz put a hand on his shoulder and Mirage came out of recharge with a gasp.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, 'Raj," Jazz said.

Mirage turned his helm to look up, optics unfocused. "Jazz?"

"Yep," Jazz said. "We're gonna get ya home, okay?" He helped Mirage sit up. "Can ya walk?"

Mirage hesitated, then nodded, "But I'll probably slow you down," he whispered, wincing. "And my mod's not working."

That wasn't good. Jazz had been counting on Mirage being able to turn invisible, not just to get out, but also to prove he wasn't Makeshift.

"Okay," Jazz said. "The other option is I could let Ultra Magnus out of his cell and he can carry you."

Mirage swayed and half shuttered his optics.

"Hey, 'Raj, focus, come on, mech."

"Sorry," Mirage muttered. "I…what did you say…"

Jazz shook his helm. "I'll take that as a yes, we're gonna have ta carry ya. Next question. Ya want me ta knock ya out until we get outta here, cuz I don't know how fun getting carried around is gonna be in your condition."

Mirage took in a deep vent.

"Mirage?"

"Okay," the noblemech said.

"Okay, knock ya out?"

He nodded.

Jazz pulled a gun from subspace and set it to stun. "I ain't a medic, so I gotta do it the uncivilized way. Brace yourself."

Mirage stiffened. Jazz triple checked that it was set to stun, then put the gun to Mirage's helm and pulled the trigger. Mirage gasped again, then relaxed into unconsciousness. Jazz caught him as he slumped forward and set him on the ground gently.

He was worried. While Mirage didn't have many external injuries, he was definitely not all right. Jazz was willing to bet, considering how lethargic the noblemech had been, that there'd been some heavy use of an energon prod. That wouldn't leave many marks, but it could do damage to your internals.

He should have come sooner. He'd hoped that 'Raj wouldn't be that badly hurt—they had Soundwave, what the frag did they need to torture anyone for?

Part of him wanted to go find Megatron, or whoever had done this and make them pay. But he knew that getting out of here was the priority right now. He needed to focus.

He went over to Magnus's cell. "Okay," he said. "I know ya don't know me, and we don't trust each other, but I need ta get this mech out of here, and you can come too, if ya carry him for me."

Ultra Magnus nodded. "Thank you."

"But don't even think about ditching us and running for it."

"You have my word. I will help you."

"Good enough." Of course Ultra Magnus could be Makeshift, but first they'd have had to get ahold of Magnus's frame, and Jazz honestly didn't think they'd go to that trouble. He unlocked Magnus and the larger mech went to pick Mirage up.

"Right," Jazz said. "You stay close behind me and we'll try ta get out of here as quick as possible. If we run inta anyone, let me handle it, okay?"

Ultra Magnus nodded.

This could go well, or it could go very badly. But Jazz wasn't leaving without Mirage. He took a deep vent, then opened the door and ducked out into the empty hallway, with Magnus following him.

They only ran into a few guards on the way, fortunately. Most of the Decepticons were probably out hunting for the escaped prisoners or moving things to the new base. As soon as they were off of the base, which was shielded from most communications, Jazz got word that the other prisoners had all escaped and were almost to the city limits. They'd be out of Kaon's groundbridge shielding, and ready for pick-up in ten breems or less. Jazz was relieved that that part of the plan had worked, but he wouldn't let his guard down until everyone was home free. He led Magnus through the lower levels of the city and out through a mining tunnel. He didn't stop, even after they'd left Kaon completely.

When they were far enough away from the city that he felt safe, he called a halt.

"Put him down," he said. "Sit him against the wall."

Ultra Magnus did so, and Jazz knelt next to Mirage and stasis-cuffed his wrists. He really, really, really didn't want to do this, but they had to be careful.

"What are you doing?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"Umm…" Jazz said. "I guess this ain't really sensitive info, so I can tell ya. The 'Cons have a mechformer, so 'Raj is gonna need ta prove who he really is. I should make ya prove yourself too, except I don't know what questions ta ask, and ya didn't betray us yet. I figure I just won't let ya on base until we know who ya really are."

Jazz started checking Mirage over for severe injuries, or any sort of tracker or listening device. He was pretty sure they weren't tracking him because no one had shown up to try and take him back. Hopefully, they hadn't been expecting him to be rescued.

It had been long enough that he could regain consciousness at any time. Jazz could wait until then. In the meantime, he commed Mainspring.

"Hey, mech, did they all make it home?"

"They did."

"Even Hound?"

"Yes. They're all safe, back in Iacon," Mainspring said. "Were you successful?"

"Yep," Jazz said. "I mean, unless he's Makeshift, but I'm pretty sure he's not. I want ya ta be ready, though, cuz soon as I'm all the way sure he's himself, I'll be asking for a bridge for him."

"How is he?"

"He's seen better orns, but he'll live."

"All right," Mainspring said. "We'll be ready."

"I'll want ya ta bridge him in through his private bridge," Jazz said. "So we don't have ta go through the station or waste energon in a two way one."

"Will do."

"Thanks." Jazz cut the comm. He'd been worried about Hound. The former primary school teacher had the most dangerous part in the plan.

Jazz heard Mirage's systems booting up, and turned to watch carefully. Mirage's optics lit up after a moment, and his helm, which had been tilted to the side a little, straightened. Then he looked down at his stasis-cuffed hands and back up at Jazz, optics questioning.

"I'm sorry," Jazz said, and reached into subspace. "We gotta be careful. I'll need ya ta answer some questions for me ta make sure ya're you, then we'll lose the cuffs and send ya home, okay?"

He could see Mirage thinking through that.

The mech's optics were too dim—he probably needed fuel. Jazz pulled out a cube of energon. "Here." He lifted it up toward Mirage's faceplate, but Mirage gave him an offended, reproachful look and turned his helm away. That look said clearly that he wasn't about to put up with any more indignity, even if it meant refueling.

Well, this was definitely Mirage. It'd be hard to know him well enough to fake that look. Jazz held the other mech's reproachful gaze for a moment, then set the cube down. "Okay," he said, and got the key to the stasis cuffs. "Fine." He certainly wasn't going to force-feed the mech, but Mirage needed energon.

He took the stasis cuffs off and handed Mirage the cube. The noblemech took it and downed about half of it, then lifted his free hand up to finger the crack in his faceplate.

"Ya okay, mech?"

"Fine," Mirage said stiffly, and drank the rest of the energon before setting the cube down on the ground.

"Can I put these back on? It's the easiest way ta block communications." Jazz held up the stasis-cuffs.

"Well, I'm not going to stop you," Mirage said. "As if I could."

"Nice ta see ya still got your attitude."

"Shut up."

Jazz stasis-cuffed him. "Okay, ready?" he said. "I got a good one. Five orns ago, we were sitting in the main room at your tower, talking."

Mirage nodded slightly.

"And Blurr was at the table two tables down. Who was he talking to?"

"Ah…" Mirage said, then got a thoughtful look on his faceplate like he was checking his memory files. It was a good question because it was random, specific, and didn't have anything confidential in the answer. The 'Cons probably wouldn't have asked him anything like that, so if this was Makeshift, there was almost no way he'd know. "It was… that femme from the communications department, Harmony."

Jazz suddenly remembered she was offline now.

"What?" Mirage said, seeming to notice the change in Jazz's expression. "Did I get it wrong? I'm certain it was her."

"It's not that," Jazz said. "Ya got it right. Just a lotta stuff happened while ya were gone."

Mirage stared at him.

"Your turn," Jazz took the stasis cuffs off of Mirage, and handed them to him. "Put these on me and ask me a question." Jazz wasn't really comfortable with that, but it was only fair.

"What… happened while I was gone?"

"It's a long story," Jazz said. "We need ta get ya home. Ya trust that I'm not Makeshift, or ya want me ta prove it somehow?"

Mirage frowned down at the stasis cuffs he was holding. "Just…" he looked around the cavern. "See that big spot of rust on the wall over there?"

Jazz followed his gaze. "Yeah?"

"Put a knife in it from here. Makeshift could never throw very well."

Jazz stood and unsubspaced a knife. He judged the distance carefully and tossed it.

It hit the center of the rust spot and stuck deep in the wall. "Good enough?"

Mirage nodded.

"Okay, we can send ya home now if ya want…"

"Wait," Mirage said, and put a trembling hand to his injured faceplate again. "Jazz…" he glanced at Magnus, and sent Jazz an internal comm. "Did the Decepticons come for Blaster?"

Jazz subspaced the stasis cuffs as he answered. "Blaster's fine, don't worry. I tried ta account for everything ya knew and move stuff around. Soundwave sent me a couple of fake little messages with fake info in them, but as soon as I found out Megatron was in Vos, not Tesarus, I figured it out. Ya're all good, mech, whatever they found out, it's fine."

"There's more I should tell you. Shockwave is on the next stage of his experiments. He can harvest spark energy without killing mecha."

More bad news.

"I couldn't do anything about the prisoners, though."

"Don't worry about that either. We used an escape attempt as a distraction so I could go in and get you out. And the escape attempt was real successful. They're all free."

Mirage looked relieved for a moment, and then upset again. "There are… other things I told them…"

"Yeah, I got a question about that. Why the pit didn't they just have Soundwave interrogate ya? Who did this anyway?" It was the wrong time for that question, especially since Jazz couldn't keep the anger out of his simulated voice.

Mirage looked down. "Some mech. I don't know. I… It was just Soundwave at first, and I did my best to keep as much important information from him as I could, but then he left…"

"Hey," Jazz said out loud. "Actually, let's just get ya home and talk about this later." He commed Mainspring. "We're ready for that bridge, mech," he said.

"It's coming," Mainspring replied.

Mirage scowled. "I suppose there'll be a welcoming committee," he said, then winced.

"Probably," Jazz said. "And Ratchet'll have a fit when he sees ya, but there's no getting around that."

Mirage took in a shaky vent, optics shuttered.

"Mech?"

The bridge opened.

Mirage put his faceplate in his hands, trembling.

"Hey," Jazz reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay." He said quietly. "It's over, and ya're gonna be fine. Everything's fine."

It took Mirage another couple of astroseconds, but, with what looked like a lot of effort, he mastered himself and put his hands down. A bead of fresh energon had leaked from the crack in his faceplate and was working its way down toward his chin.

"Ya good?"

Mirage nodded.

Jazz got up and reached down to help him to his pedes, but the noblemech ignored that and just braced himself against the wall as he stood. He walked to the groundbridge and through it without looking back.

Mainspring spoke over the comm. "He's here. Should I send you through the groundbridge station, or do you want a two-way bridge to the tower?"

"Just send me the normal way," Jazz said, jogging over to where his knife was embedded in the wall. "That'd be fine. Oh, also, tell the boss that I've got Ultra Magnus with me. He's not dead. The 'Cons had him—I'm sure there's a story ta that. I need a way ta prove it's him for sure, though, before I bring him ta base. I'll just take him somewhere in the city for now. Mirage checks out—he's not Makeshift. I already made sure, so don't worry about him."

"Good," Mainspring said. "I'll let Optimus know about Ultra Magnus. He'll probably want to speak with him."

"Also…" Jazz gripped the knife handle and pulled, scowling as the blade refused to come free. "Uh, maybe after Ratchet's done with him, ya could talk ta Mirage. I don't know how well he's coping, emotionally."

"I can talk to him, yes," Mainspring said.

"Thanks." Jazz finally worked the knife free and subspaced it before jogging over to where Ultra Magnus was waiting.

"All right, I'm having a bridge sent to you." Mainspring sighed. "You know, sometimes I think I'm also head of the transportation department."

"Hey, we should get one of those."

"Yes, we should." Mainspring said. "I'll look into that since I'm also the head of recruitment."

A groundbridge opened.

"Hey," Jazz said to Ultra Magnus. "You aren't hurt, are ya?"

"I am unharmed," Magnus said. "Though… I am glad to be out of that prison cell."

"Bet ya are," Jazz said. "Well, here's our portal. Go ahead."

Jazz followed closely behind the other mech. They walked out the other side into the crowded Autobot groundbridge station.

"Okay," Jazz said. "Come on, we'll talk as we head back toward the tower."

"I doubt I will be welcome there."

"Mech, I think it'll be fine. They let me come back after all. Besides, we ain't going there yet, and—"

"You may address me as Ultra Magnus," Magnus said. "And while I appreciate Optimus's honor and generosity, I made a vow of loyalty to the Iacon Council. Does the Council still operate?"

"…Yes." Jazz said hesitantly. He was starting to wonder if bringing this mech back was a good idea. He'd forgotten about the whole Council thing. He should probably not mention the fact that the new Elite Guard leader had all but renounced the Council and sworn loyalty to Optimus instead. "So ya wanna go ta the Council Hall?"

Ultra Magnus frowned.

"Didn't they try ta get rid of you?"

"Regardless, I have a duty to fulfill. I must return to them."

Jazz pulled his stasis cuffs out of subspace. "Guess I'll just have ta arrest ya and we'll keep ya in Autobot custody until we can sort this all out."

He could see the battle going on in the other mech's processor, so he took advantage of the distraction and put the stasis cuffs on him. Magnus pulled away for a moment, then gave in.

"Follow me." Jazz led the way out the door and toward a nearby building that belonged to the Autobots.

It had been a long orn and it wasn't over yet. Jazz had to go talk to everymech and get reports, and check on Mirage...

Lots to do. They'd been successful, though—they'd gotten all of the prisoners free, and that definitely called for a celebration—maybe even an army-wide celebration.

The Autobots needed something to cheer them up. It had been a pretty bleak decaorn, what with the seekers joining the 'Cons and all. A good party might help.

He started planning for that too, as he led the way into a small room and waited for Orion to comm. him.

Orion walked among his returned mecha. Many of them were soldiers who had been captured in the battle for Tesarus. Some were civilians from Megatron's raid on Iacon. They were being reunited now with friends, sparkmates, and freedom. They had not had an easy time of it, and many had not come back. There were still mecha of his who were working in the mines, and some had reportedly been taken away—probably to Shockwave's lab—and had never returned.

Orion tried not to dwell on that—tried to focus on how successful the rescue had been instead. He'd heard from Mainspring just a breem ago, that Jazz had managed to rescue Mirage, which was another huge relief.

Mainspring commed him and he answered immediately. "Yes?"

"Prime, Sir, Mirage is back on base and with Ratchet. He ought to be up for visitors in a few joors, or at least by next orn."

Orion made a mental note to stop by and see him sometime.

"Another thing," Mainspring said. "Jazz is bringing back another prisoner… though we didn't know the Decepticons had him. In fact, we thought he was dead."

"Who?"

"Ultra Magnus."

Orion stopped, shocked. Ultra Magnus was alive? And he'd been a Decepticon prisoner? "Are you sure?" he asked.

"I'm only relaying information," Mainspring said. "Jazz will be through a bridge and back in Iacon in a few breems, maybe sooner, and you can talk to him directly."

"Thank you. I will do that." This was wonderful news—he almost couldn't believe it. He had been devastated when he found out the mech was offline, and worried that he had made the wrong choice sending him back to the Council. He hoped this was real, and not just some trick or misunderstanding.

He spent another ten breems or so among the mecha who had returned from Kaon, talking to them, and then he commed Jazz. "Have you returned yet?"

"Yep." Jazz said. "Did Mainspring tell ya about Magnus?"

"Mainspring told me he was alive," Orion said.

"Good. I'm assuming ya wanna talk ta him? I'm in the recruitment office just east of our groundbridge station in a side room."

Orion nodded, though he knew Jazz couldn't see him. "All right," he said. "I will be there shortly."

He left the crowd and headed toward the recruitment office. Ironhide jogged up beside him.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Orion hesitated. He wanted to make sure this mech Jazz had brought back was really Ultra Magnus before telling anyone he was online.

"What?" Ironhide asked.

"Jazz brought back another prisoner from Kaon," Orion said. "I want to speak with him."

"Jazz or the prisoner?" Ironhide asked. "Who is it?"

"Both," Orion said. "And… Jazz believes it is Ultra Magnus."

Ironhide stared at him. "How the pit would he have ended up in Kaon?"

"I don't know," Orion said, and led the way into the recruitment office.

"Well, it's a relief that he's not offline," Ironhide said as they approached the desk that was set up off to the side of the room. "Primus…"

"Did Commander Jazz come in here?" Orion asked the mech behind the desk.

He nodded. "Yes, Sir. He's over there." He pointed to a slightly open door off to the side.

"Ironhide, can you stay out here?" Orion asked.

"I could help prove it's him," Ironhide said.

"I want to talk to him privately."

"Fine," Ironhide said, and took up a post outside the door while Orion slid it open the rest of the way and entered, closing it behind him.

"Hey, mech," Jazz said brightly.

"Why is he stasis-cuffed?" Orion asked, frowning at Ultra Magnus, who met his gaze with an unreadable expression.

"Cuz he wants ta go get himself offlined by the Council again," Jazz said. "So I thought we might want ta arrest him instead. I guess it was probably a little unnecessary, but ya know…" he pulled something out of subspace. "Here's the key. I'll stay outta your plating and let ya talk." He tossed the key to Orion, who caught it. Jazz sat off to the side and pulled out a datapad.

Ultra Magnus stood as Orion approached, and Orion took the stasis cuffs off of him. "It's so good to see you. Are you all right?"

Ultra Magnus looked a little surprised.

Orion set the stasis cuffs and the key off to the side. "What happened? How did you end up with the Decepticons?"

"I believe the Council may be listening to this conversation," Ultra Magnus said.

"Nope," Jazz cut in. "I found the feed that thing's sending ta the Council and intercepted it while we were waiting for the Prime ta show up. We'll have ta have a medic find where the device is and get rid of it, but for now, ya can talk freely."

"Thank you," Orion said, and turned his attention back to Ultra Magnus. "Now, what happened?"

"The Council was displeased with my failure to stay undercover as a spy. They sentenced me to lifelong imprisonment. But that was a lie. I... woke up in the Institute."

Orion stared at him, and even Jazz looked up from his datapad.

"I was only there for a decaorn, I believe," Ultra Magnus said. "And then the Decepticons showed up and took over. I do not know what happened to anyone else, but I was imprisoned. Megatron would talk to me once in a while, offer me positions in his army, threaten me, but always just put me back in my cell. Occasionally, there were others in the cells around me who I presume they were keeping for questioning. Those were almost never there for more than a few decaorns and I can only assume they were killed."

Orion looked down and nodded. "I presume Mirage was one of them, and Jazz found you when he rescued Mirage."

"Yes," Ultra Magnus said.

"Well," Orion said. "Welcome back, Ultra Magnus. You've had quite the ordeal, for which I am truly sorry, but we could certainly use your help if you're willing to offer it. If we can arrange for it, I would like to reinstate you to your previous position."

"Thank you," Ultra Magnus said. "But I have an obligation to the Council. If it weren't for that, I would be honored to swear loyalty to you instead, Prime."

Orion had been expecting that. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you turn yourself in to the Council. I know I don't have a right to interfere with that decision, but if you return to them, they may kill you."

"But I—"

"Not only are you a valuable resource to the Autobots, you are my friend. I can't let that happen."

Ultra Magnus met his gaze. "You are different than you were before. More confident."

"Thank you," Orion said. "But I still have a lot to learn. And I really could use your help and your leadership experience."

The other mech looked conflicted.

"Is there a way for you to officially retire from the Elite Guard?"

"Only if I have a serious, long-term injury, if I have served for a hundred vorns, or if the Council agrees to release me from my oath."

Three options. Only one was a reasonable solution. "Then I will speak with the Council and convince them to release you."

Ultra Magnus looked surprised again. "They won't agree to release me… at least not without something in return."

"I am aware."

"I'm not worth that," Ultra Magnus said. "You cannot give them more power. If you… kept me in custody, I could advise you. Though I…"

"I don't want you to feel obligated to work toward the Council's interests," Orion said. "And the Elite Guard… things have happened in your absence."

"Have they abandoned the Council?" Ultra Magnus looked suddenly stern and disapproving.

"Not exactly," Orion said. "Your successor came and offered me his help and his loyalty. I asked them to continue to guard the Council for the time being."

Ultra Magnus looked surprised yet again. "I… thank you."

"I suppose if they reinstate you…"

Ultra Magnus shook his helm. "I doubt that will happen. However, I cannot advise you to negotiate with the Council in my behalf. They will certainly demand more than I am worth."

"I think I'll be the judge of that," Orion said. "And I will be careful. I won't agree to anything that will undermine the Autobots or that will give the Council more power to harm innocent mecha." He might even be willing to make a few threats, if necessary.

Ultra Magnus seemed to study the ground, and didn't speak for nearly a breem. Eventually, though, he looked up again. "Thank you. If you can convince them to release me from my oath, I will be forever indebted to you."

"All I can ask for in return is your help and only if you are willing to offer it." Orion said. "For now… is there somewhere to keep him, Jazz?"

"Well, the tower's the safest," Jazz said. "We can keep him in 'Raj's vaults for now. But if ya want him off-base, I can probably find somewhere ta put him." At the same time, Jazz sent him a private comm. "Are ya sure this is Ultra Magnus and not Makeshift?"

Orion nodded. "Yes. And I believe Mirage's tower will be all right. You may escort him there."

"Sure thing," Jazz said. "Uh, Prime?"

"Yes."

"Ya wouldn't mind if I organized some sort of a celebration, ya know, in honor of everyone getting back from Kaon all right."

"That would be fine…" Orion said.

"Good, cuz I already started getting the word out," Jazz said.

"…so long as it wasn't too big."

Jazz smiled in a way that wasn't really very reassuring. "It won't be too big," he said.

"Very well," Orion said. "Again, Ultra Magnus, it is good to have you back. Is there anything you need? Energon? Medical care?"

"I am fine," Ultra Magnus said. "How is…was it Mirage?"

Orion looked to Jazz for an answer.

"I think he'll be all right," Jazz said more solemnly than normal. "He was coherent and could walk all right, and I doubt there's anything wrong with him physically that Ratchet won't have fixed by the end of the orn..."

"Thank you for bringing him back," Orion said.

"Eh," Jazz said. "I had a bit of an opportunity last orn, and I should have taken it, but I decided ta play it safe for once."

"I'm glad you didn't take an unnecessary risk," Orion said. "Everything worked out."

Jazz nodded.

"Well, I need to go," Orion said. "Ultra Magnus, I will come speak to you some time next orn."

The mech nodded, and Orion left.

"So, is he really back?" Ironhide asked.

"Yes," Orion said. "And we should get back to Mirage's tower."

Ironhide nodded and led the way out of the building.

Elita was waiting for him in his office.

He hadn't really expected that, though he'd been pretty sure she wasn't taking part in the festivities Jazz had organized. He smiled at her. "Elita, I'm glad you're here. I was wondering if you could get in contact with some mecha. I need an audience with the Iacon Council in the next few orns and I want to start visiting city-states again, now that things have calmed down a little here."

"Orion," Elita said.

He knew. "I still have work to do."

"Orion."

Mirage's tower was practically empty. Everyone had the rest of the orn off and many of them had gone to join the Autobot soldiers celebrating in the city. They were vulnerable right now, to an attack. Orion wished he could let his guard down, but someone had to stay alert. "I…"

"No," Elita said, and she was upset now. "I haven't really had time to talk to you since Vos…I need this, I need you, and I don't know when we'll have a better opportunity to spend some time together."

Some of her friends had offlined, just orns before, and she was still grieving. Orion looked down, and Elita approached him until she was standing close enough he could hear her engine thrumming.

He raised his helm slightly and smiled at her, and she closed the distance. They put their arms around each other and Orion rested his faceplate on the top of her helm and gave in. Emotions washed over him. Relief, worry, exhaustion, sorrow, anxiety, relief. Elita's emotions mirrored his, but after a breem or so he felt better, and he knew she did too. She tilted her helm up and he looked down into her sky blue optics.

"Can your work wait a joor?" she asked.

He couldn't say no.