Jazz twisted around and took off for the command center with Prowl right on his heels. All the way up there Jazz was cursing both the Decepticons and Primus. He didn't know who he was angrier at – the Decepticons or himself. Certainly the Decepticons ranked number one for most hated but anger was another issue. They ruined the moment but it wasn't like he was doing too good of a job back there anyways.

With a final burst of speed, the two of them arrived at the command center where Optimus Prime and Blaster were looking atTeletraan-1. "Prime?" Prowl spoke up.

Prime turned to face both of them. "The Decepticons are attacking a remote power plant. The troops are assembling now." As if on cue they heard Sunstreaker snarling how he was going to rip off the Decepticons' head for making him go out in this weather.

"How big is the power plant?" Prowl asked.

Frowning, Prime glanced back to Teletraan-1. "Not that large. Considering the size of their normal targets it might even be thought of as small."

"What about the location? Is there anything around that may be of use to Megatron?"

"Not quite," Prime slowly spoke.

"There isn't anything that could be of use for creating energon or used for military purpose," Blaster jumped in. "However, there are a bunch of broken cliffs around, making the area difficult to maneuver or see around."

"So it's a trap," Jazz stated.

"It appears that way. Blaster is going to stay behind and find anything he can about that area that the Decepticons may use for a trap. Prowl, he'll relay anything he finds to you," Prime said.

Prowl nodded. "Have you found anything yet, Blaster?"

Blaster shook his head. "Pretty much all I can tell you, Prowl, is what I just said. There's a lotta cliffs in that area so the Decepticons could already be hiding something in there. The cliffs are high above the plant so they could be concealing it where most our soldiers can't go, or they're hiding whatever in the crevices where the Aerialbots have no chance of seeing it. I can also tell you the Decepticons are taking the human workers as hostages."

"So it's definitely a trap."

"Truly does appear that way, Jazz." Prime agreed.

"Oh good, because that's exactly how my orn should go," Jazz muttered sarcastically. Prowl shot him a look only few could interpret as surprise and hurt before turning his optics away. Jazz immediately felt guilty hearing it aloud how it might have sounded as to Prowl. He didn't mean to imply that his orn was bad, or that he didn't like what was happening in Prowl's room. Honestly, he was just a bit short-tempered because his orn was interrupted for one slag-tastic thing, so why not another? He wanted to think more about what happened but no, Megatron demanded his attention now. Before he could elaborate Prime spoke.

"We have to move as soon as the troops are ready. There's no telling with Megatron's temper when he'll lose his patience and just start killing the humans."

Both Prowl and Jazz agreed and left to join the assembled troops. Neither one looked at each other.

/-/

"I was beginning to wonder if you'd show up, Optimus!" Megatron welcomed them with a blast aimed right at the narrow group of Autobots. Those in front stopped short, transforming and using their momentum to dodge the blast. Since they were all packed in tight it forced the Autobots behind them to do the same until all the Autobots were scattered. Before they could regroup the rest of the Decepticons descended upon them like vultures.

Prowl kept behind a rock while firing at Soundwave. He struggled since the area was covered in loose mud and rain restricted his view but he managed to hit Soundwave. It didn't do him much good, however, since the cassettes were already out and the injury was minor. He tried again but slipped as he fired his last shot. Falling forward, he turned his head in time to see Ravage leaping for him, claws pointed directly to his doorwings. Instead of stopping his muddy descent down the wall Prowl let go and twisted to catch Ravage. As soon as his hands grasped the cat he continued rolling until Ravage was pinned. As Prowl pulled back to punch Ravage his hip was clipped by a shot to his left. The shot knocked Prowl off balance just enough for Ravage to get free enough to bite Prowl's other hand. With a startled cry, Prowl managed to snap his muddy hand backwards so Ravage slipped off and hit a wall.

"Shouldn't have been focus on him when it's me you should worry about!" Rumble yelled from behind him. Turning around Prowl saw Rumble's pile drivers come out and start hitting the ground. Luckily for Prowl, Rumble learned a valuable lesson that orn about trying to break muddy ground. The ground cracked once before all the nearby mud slid downwards, pulling Rumble's peds out from underneath him. He transformed his pile drivers back but remained stuck in the hole he created. Realizing he was open for Prowl's fire, Rumble started frantically firing as Prowl aimed for his helm. One of his frantic shots hit Prowl's shoulder but Prowl managed to return fire. Once Rumble was offline Prowl turned but Ravage was gone. The cassette's shot managed to cause minor damage to his shoulder. Prowl glimpsed at the clashing forces, slightly wincing as he tested his shoulder.

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Like most of his comrades, Jazz wasn't fairing well with the mud. He certainly wasn't fairing the worst like Bumblebee, who was pretty much encased in mud, but that didn't make his situation any better. Drag Strip hit him on his left shoulder trying to knock him down. 'It's like fighting on a slippery balance beam!' While the ledge the two were on wasn't high, leaning too far to the right meant one of his peds would slip from underneath him, leaving him wide open for Drag Strip. Since Drag Strip kept aiming for his left it was apparent that was exactly what Drag Strip wanted.

As Drag Strip struck again, Jazz ducked and grabbed his opponent's arm, using his momentum to throw him down the embankment and right into a cliff wall. The saboteur's victory was short lived, however, as he turned back towards the battle and saw Prowl take a shot in the shoulder. Jazz leaped down and ran over to Prowl. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Prowl winced as he rotated his shoulder. "It's mostly surface damage. There's hardly any limitation in the joint's range of motion."

Before Jazz could say anything, Ironhide ran up. "Ya alright, Prowl?"

"Yes."

"We've got a couple of problems with the twins. They're practicin' their jet judo again, but it's not goin' so well with the mud. Somehow they got hung up on one of the cliffs and now they're stuck in the mud with several of the Decepticons' givin' them their full attention."

"I see. What's the other problem?"

"There were only two of those stinkin' jets. Starscream's missing."

Prowl frowned. As he formulated plan Jazz received a frantic hail from Bumblebee on the other side of a cliff. "Jazz, help Bumblebee. Ironhide, we'll move towards the twins' direction. I suspect whenever Starscream emerges those two will join him. We can get the two free and I'll keep watch for his inevitable appearance."

Jazz was still concerned about Prowl's shoulder. Prowl's joint's range of motion may not be physically hindered, but that didn't mean his strength wasn't. "Okay. But I'm coming back as soon as I help Bumblebee. It's dangerous facing Starscream alone after he's been scheming – especially if Megatron actually backs him up." Jazz was uncomfortable leaving Prowl in such a potentially dangerous situation, but Bumblebee's hail couldn't be postponed so he had to go. "Seriously Prowler, don't do anything stupid."

Seeing Jazz disappear, Ironhide assisted Prowl made their way towards the twins' location. "I hope we figure out where Screamer's at quick. I hate not knowing where that crazed idiot is hiding."

/-/

Overseeing the battle on top of a hidden cliff stood a very irritated Starscream and Megatron's new toy, ConAir. Starscream thought the mech's name was stupid since he wasn't even a flyer. Perhaps whoever ran the project gave him that name for a purpose but Starscream couldn't see it. Megatron had demanded an explanation for what made ConAir different from normal troops. The mech's answer hadn't been all that interesting, but Starscream suspected he was hiding something.

Whatever he was hiding meant nothing at this particular instance as far as Starscream was concerned. He really wanted to be on the battlefield but Megatron was forcing him to sparkling-sit his new toy until the signal. He was pretty sure it was mostly so Megatron could have one of his power trips over making Starscream's life difficult.

"You better be ready for the battle, because I've got better things to do than give you tips how to fight their little band of Auto-morons," Starscream sneered. Actually, he intended to keep an optic on Toy (as Starscream liked to call him) from afar after they joined the fight. If he saw something exposing Toy on the battlefield than it meant leverage for him. The thought of having leverage on Megatron's new 'fancy' play-thing made Starscream a little giddy. He immediately squashed the feeling, returning his focus to the battle.

"Those two right there? They're twins and they're the closest thing the Autobots have that's similar to you. If you can keep them from jumping on me or my trine mates then you might actually be of some use." Just as he finished the twins jumped for Skywarp but he managed to teleport causing the two to crash into each other and fall. Unfortunately for the two they hit the muddy terrain hard and couldn't pull themselves apart. After a couple breems Ironhide and Prowl crossed his view as they ran to assist the twins. "That piece of rusted junk –" here he indicated Ironhide "– is also yours. But the other one is mine."

"And why's that?" ConAir's low voice rumbled. His entire body suddenly became tense as his gaze landed on Prowl.

"Because he is my Autobot counterpart and I love reminding him who the superior one is," Starscream gloated.

"Well that's too bad because he's mine."

Starscream let out an enraged shriek. "Who do you think you are? He is mine and you will do as I say!" Next thing Starscream knew he was being propelled backwards and his wings landed harshly on a couple of rocks. Bewildered, Starscream looked back at Toy.

"No, he's mine," ConAir stated in a deadpan voice. "You do no not control me and no one is here to stop me from making you an example to show them exactly what I'm capable of." The edge in ConAir's voice made Starscream suddenly feel nervous.

"Fine. There's more amusing Autobots to destroy." Starscream picked himself off the ground, refusing to acknowledge the indignity. "Why do you care? He's just a tactician. I fail to see why he'd be of any particular interest to a frontline warrior."

"Because," ConAir turned his attention back to the tactician before giving a wolfish grin, "I like doorwings."

/-/

Ironhide pulled Sideswipe up off of Sunstreaker and asked if they were okay.

"I'm fine!" snarled Sunstreaker. "Just let me get back at Skywarp so I can properly thank him for letting me get mud all over my paint job."

"Did you happen to catch either of them saying anything about Starscream?" Prowl smoothly inquired.

"Actually, yeah," Sideswipe swiped some mud off his face and tossed it at his brother. "Should've watched where you were jumping. You don't jump at an angle to me!" Pausing only momentarily, he continued on over Sunstreaker's enraged response. "Thundercracker said something to Skywarp about dropping back to assist Starscream. Dunno what about, tho."

"I imagine they'll show up again real soon," Ironhide muttered. Barely after they re-engaged in battle did the three appear, Starscream heading right into Prowl. He transformed and landed literally right on top of Prowl. They fought for a moment as the other two trine mates kept the other Autobots away from Prowl. Starscream managed to hit Prowl back and Prowl landed kneeling. He looked up as Starscream pointed a nullray at him, smirking. "So long, pal."

As Starscream powered up his nullray a green blast caught him in the arm, destroying the end off and forcing the nullray's energy into Starscream's body. Shrieking, he took off towards one of the uninhabited ravines. Prowl followed him but as soon as he could no longer see the battle he stopped, realizing he lost track of Starscream. Frowning, he searched around. Suddenly, he heard a heavy 'whomp' behind him.

"It's been a while since I've played with doorwings."

Whirling around, Prowl stared at the strange opponent before him. His dark magenta optics glowed dangerously.

"I'd say I'll try and play nice, but I prefer not to."

Before Prowl could react he was charged by the large, grey mech. He was knocked over and his doorwings smashed into the ground. He tried fighting him off but the mech was larger and heavier than him. Not only did that put him at a disadvantage but his left shoulder's strength quickly left him. The large mech capitalized on the weakness and ripped out his commlink. A powerful punch into his head sent the tactician reeling, followed by the Decepticon twisting his fingers enough into one of the seams on his torso so he could rip the armor back enough to expose an energon line. Prowl screamed and a warning flashed in his vision as the line was slashed. It wasn't cut through but the gash allowed the energon to steadily leak. In a desperate attempt Prowl flailed his weapon and managed to strike his opponent in the face. As soon as the end of his acid pellet rifle hit his opponent's face he pulled the trigger.

His unnamed opponent howled and pulled back, giving Prowl enough space to pull himself free. He tried to hide but the energon leak forced him to move slowly. Too slowly. The grey mech shook his head and snapped his neck a little. A dark grin appeared across his face. "Guess you do like it rough. Tell you what – why don't we take it somewhere else where we can play as rough as we want without getting interrupted. I have a feeling someone is coming over here after hearing your delicious scream."

Prowl lifted his rifle and shot his opponent, but his opponent continued on his path despite the injury. The mech snatched Prowl and pushed in him into a cliff wall, with one hand pressing against Prowl's neck. Prowl's optics grew wide as the green vein-like outer circuitry on his opponent suddenly flared and a searing-hot pain flooded his systems. Before he could make a sound he was in stasis lock.

/-/

After helping Bumblebee out of his predicament Jazz returned to the main battle. It had dwindled somewhat, with warriors a like looking wearing. Megatron looked more irritated as he scanned for something he couldn't find. Upon seeing a weary Ironhide Jazz gave him a comm, unable to pass through the fight between them. ::Looks like you mechs can't handle losing a little quality time with the Jazz-man.::

::Quite yappin' and help out!::

::Will do! After all, I do aim to please.:: Jazz chuckled as he took a few shots at his opponents. ::Did Starscream ever make an appearance?::

::Yeah, he tried terminating Prowl.:: At the unexpected news Jazz felt his energon run cold. ::Failed, tho'. Something shot him. It looked like a green energy blast. Dunno whose weaponry shoots a green energy blast.::

::So Prowl's okay?:: Jazz asked anxiously, almost distracted from the battle as he waited the reply.

::Was when I last saw him. ::

::Well when was that?:: Jazz was startled by his own response and the sudden panic.

::Chill out! Geez, can't a mech shoot the Decepticon trying to terminate him without you going all postal? He was chasing after Starscream in that direction about a bream ago.:: Jazz looked to see Ironhide indicating which direction Prowl departed in. Not letting another moment waste, Jazz took off, narrowly avoiding a shot. Normally he shot back but his concern over the missing tactician was more important. Especially since Prowl wasn't responding to his calls on the commlink.

Jazz ran blindly into the crevice where Prowl was last seen. A scream echoed through the ravine and Jazz tried running faster. As he turned it occurred to him he should have been more cautions as his ped slipped in the mud. He poured out around the corner. Jazz glared at the mud as he steadied himself. Before he could pick himself up a loud crack echoed off the cliff walls. Snapping his head up, there was a strange mech in front of him holding an offline Prowl around the neck. An offline Prowl with damaged armor and a steady energon leak.

With a cry Jazz started shooting the unknown Decepticon. The Decepticon swiveled around and defiantly glared at Jazz, still holding Prowl's dangling body. The energy blast from Jazz's photon rifle seemed to have little effect. The grey-green mech lifted his arm and a green vein pulsed before his arm-mounted weapon shot at him. Jazz jumped to the side but he didn't completely clear the blast. His right leg was hit and he spiraled head first into a wall. Disorientated, Jazz blearily gazed back at his retreating opponent, Prowl still in his grasp. Somewhere in the back of Jazz's CPU he dully noticed there wasn't much energon flowing out of the gash in Prowl's torso anymore.

Yeah, so next chapter will have 'light' torture. But what do I mean by that? Well I'm not giving it away other than there will be absolutely no sexual abuse, molestation, or rape. I see it in so many fics now that I wanted to remove any doubt.

Thanks to Evil Ratchet for beta-reading both chapters and further reminding me of word mistakes in my past chapters (which I corrected). Also, because I didn't think about this option til now, Evil Ratchet drew a pic from this story some time ago. Link is on my profile page.

Now, the RL news: I have a new temp position that may completely kill all my time with the potential of a 10-12 hr per day, 6 days a week. Or, since I'll be in a city I don't know, this may be my only sanity outlet. So I may or may not update often. I will try!