Prompt: "It's always the quiet ones."
Summary/Notes: A continuation of "Progress", still from Prowl's POV.
I stared at Optimus Prime for a microsecond too long. His optics gentled as he confirmed, "Yes. Jazz's team has been captured by the Deceptions. We received the emergency signal a breem ago."
I pushed the startled reaction of my spark to the back of my processor and focused on implications to the Autobots. Losing Jazz and his team would set us back for a long time, and we could not afford to lose ground to the Decepticons, nor could we afford to lose valuable trained resources such as Jazz, Mirage and Bumblebee.
"We have to rescue them." I stated.
"Yes," the Prime agreed, "we do. Assemble a team, Prowl. This is an 'optics-on-the-metal' mission."
I nodded my acquiescence and left him, running over the best team to rescue the three mechs. Brawn was a given, as was Smokescreen. I wanted to send Ironhide as the third member, but I would have to check with him first. His office was a few steps down the hall, and it would be worthwhile to check before I commed him.
He was in his office looking grumpy. I tapped my fingers against the frame to draw his attention. He looked up at the sound.
"Prowl. Good. You can help." He returned his gaze to the datapad in his hand. I stepped into the room, concerned. Ironhide finished reading and handed the datapad over.
Smokescreen was in the brig on another base, thrown in for gambling and cheating. I groaned.
"I was going to send Smokescreen to rescue Jazz. I was also going to send you, if you're available, Ironhide." I clicked the datapad off and replaced it on Ironhide's desk amid the clutter of weapon parts strewn over the surface.
He picked the datapad up and placed it up on a shelf behind him. "Yeah, I'm up for it. When do we leave?"
"Now." I said.
"You coming?" He asked.
"Yes." I made up my processor quickly. Someone with tactical programming was necessary, and Smokescreen had been the only mech readily available, as Trailbreaker was out on a scouting mission with Hound. I would have to take his place. I pulled up the plans we had created vorns ago for just such a contingency and started modifying them. We had no time to waste dithering. We had a brief window of time where we could rescue the team and after that, it would become a matter of negotiations.
Ironhide stood and we left his office. I commed Brawn and he joined us near one of the small back entrances to our headquarters. As I worked the plans, Ironhide and Brawn gathered the few supplies they thought necessary. Ratchet showed up briefly to hand over emergency medical kits, more complete than the field kits and containing medical grade energon. There were also clips to seal off energon leaks and emergency pumps to keep mechs alive until they could get to his medbay. We each subspaced a kit while Brawn put the finishing touches on his demolitions pouch and hefted it. Ironhide finished the modification he made to his gun and handed me an extra case of acid pellets for my gun.
The Prime saw us off. He was unhappy about having me go, but given how rapidly we needed to implement this mission, he also could see no other mech that could go along at such short notice. We slipped out, moving quietly but quickly along the tunnel until we reached one of the surface access points. Ironhide went first, then me followed by Brawn. We kept in close formation, moving as quickly as possible given the non-linear path we were forced to follow, tracking the three emergency beacons. These beacons were relatively new, an idea of Jazz's that Wheeljack had seized upon and made possible. They were low energy and sent out a neutrino pulse every joor or so. The Decepticons would soon figure out their beacons existed and terminate the pulses, which is why we had to rescue them quickly, but we were able to track them.
We boarded a transport for a lift closer to the source of the pulses and used our time to refine our plan. We would keep comm silence, Ironhide would be point and Brawn would be rear guard. We arrived in the low hills surrounding Kaon and our transport dropped down, taking off as soon as our pedes hit the metal. Delaying departure near the Decepticon stronghold was foolish.
We quickly approached a large structure in Kaon, the Decepticon headquarters. We were deeply in enemy territory, and my processors were working hard, running scenarios and factors and tracking as much as I could. Ironhide was an old hand at this, however. We had all changed our coloration to something dark and non-reflective, taking advantage of the shadows.
Ironhide moved around some buildings, moving to another side of the structure as another pulse came through. Jazz's pulse were first, followed rapidly by Mirage's and a little more slowly by Bumblebee's. The separation of the pulses allowed us to more finely pinpoint their location as long as they were all together.
Brawn was running his programs, seeking out tunnels and access points for him to get into the building. We followed him as he moved away from the large building, running in a straight line toward a cluster of buildings. He paused at a corner, then threw a shock grenade around the corner. As it blew, it sent out an EMP that off-lined any mechs in range. We went around the corner and secured the single sentry lying off-line next to an innocuous subsurface access point. I smiled. Posting a sentry was the same as putting a large flashing sign over the point, telling us that yes, this was a way into their headquarters.
Ironhide ruthlessly severed the comm lines of the sentry and secured him in such a way that even Brawn would be unable to break free. We opened the hatch and entered the tunnel, moving very quietly. Ironhide was again lead, and he was very careful, looking for other sentries. I scanned for recording devices as Brawn watched our backs. I took out a couple of devices with well-placed shots, but each device would give away our location. We had to move quickly.
We were exceptionally lucky. The access point came out right beside the holding cells, and Ironhide was able to take out the sentry with a quick burst of ice from his gun. He moved to secure the sentry as Brawn moved to the fore and set a charge on the door. We all turned our backs and used the entry tunnel for cover as the charge took the door's lock out. Brawn forced the door, and we entered the cell block.
Our team was in three of the four cells, with another sentry in the room. I fired at him as Brawn came in low and took him down at the knee joints, breaking them , then smashing his fist into the sentry's head and knocking him off-line. Brawn moved to blow the cell doors, choosing Jazz's first as he looked to be in the worst condition. As soon as the door blew, I entered.
My beloved was a mess. Energon coated his chestplates and mouth. His visor flickered weakly, and I moved to get a ration down him so he could move. He couldn't drink the ration, and I extended the spike at the bottom of the container and pushed it into the main energon line in his neck. The ration did the necessary work of giving him energy, and he was able to sit up and even stand. His legs were a mess, plating gone and wires askew. I looked up.
Ironhide had taken care of Mirage, and the blue mech was also moving. Brawn had Bumblebee up. We moved out, mostly carrying our charges. Brawn and Bumblebee came last. Bumblebee was the least hurt of the team, and he was able to walk, giving Brawn the freedom to cover our rear.
We moved quickly, uncaring about noise at this point. The Decepticons had to know we were here; it was only a matter of time before they came to try and stop us. As we ran down the tunnel, a clatter of pedes and muffled shouts began to echo after us.
We reached the surface access point and I went up first, taking Jazz and Mirage from Ironhide, covering as Bumblebee and Brawn came out. Ironhide slammed the lid down and froze it, sealing it and buying us a little more time.
We headed for the hills surrounding Kaon, splitting up as we did so. We would meet up again at a check-in point where a team was waiting to transport us back to our headquarters.
Ironhide was carrying Mirage, moving quickly. Mirage was awake enough to have a gun in hand and ready to shoot. Bumblebee was moving on his own, Brawn's assistance barely needed.
Jazz was in terrible shape. He and I would be the slowest team, unable to move as quickly as the others. I began to lay out a meandering path, hoping to throw off our pursuers. Jazz was clinging to me, doing his best to move on his own, but he had been terribly used and all his systems were off-kilter, his engine stuttering and sputtering, his visor flickering and his gyros damaged, so he was unable to stay upright. I was his prop, his aid to escape, and I did my best to support and succor him as we moved.
I headed to a cave which had been part of a series of caves before the war. Monsters dwelt there, and I felt a 92% confidence that the Deceptions avoided the cave system. Without much choice, I could not avoid the caves. I needed time to repair Jazz and get him more fit and able to move. I felt we were far enough away from Kaon to have a little time.
I maneuvered Jazz through the opening of the cave, which was narrow and dark, making our dual motion difficult. It would help protect us, though, since this narrow slit was difficult to find unless you knew it was there or were right on top of it.
We entered the cave, which had been worn in the skin of the planet by the wave action of an acid sea that had retreated millions of vorns ago, leaving behind this weakened remnant in our planet's surface. The sides were rough and the floor of the cave was covered in metallic grains washed from deeper in the surface to fall here as the acid changed momentum and thus, got rid of its load of detritus. It made for a soft flooring, but I worried that the detritus would contaminate some of Jazz's injuries. Without any alternative, I helped him to an edge of the cave and lowered him down, beginning my examination.
His chestplates had been forced open. I coaxed him into opening them and applied lubrication to the hinges and a soothing gel to his protoform, bringing a sigh of relief from Jazz. It did not look as if his torturer had done any damage to his protoform and thus, to his spark, for which I was grateful.
His comm lines were disabled, but easily repaired. His mandible had been dislocated, and although I shied away from repairing it, he asked me to do so. He showed me where to push and I did so, bringing a scream of pain from him as the joint clicked back into place. I dabbed numbing lubricant gel into the joint as best I could.
His legs were the worst. Plating was missing, wires torn, joints out of alignment, struts bent and damage evident all along his legs. My hands moved over his legs, unable to decide which injury had priority and thus, what I should work on first.
Jazz was able to help. The wiring was the biggest problem for him as that interfered with his motor control . Missing plating was really not a problem, but after motor control was restored, the joints were the next problem. One knee was so messed up there was no help for it. I rigged a brace for it with Jazz's help, and we were able to immobilize it. The other knee we were able to push back into place. His ankle joints were alright, stiff, but lubricant helped that. One hip was in bad shape, but it was the same leg as the bad knee joint, so we did our best to immobilize it. Ratchet or another medbot would have to do those repairs, as they were beyond anything I could do.
Once that was done, I helped him reset his gyros. One was damaged beyond repair, but he simply disabled it and that helped his balance considerably. Finally, we had repaired what we could and I offered him another medical ration of energon as I went back over to the entrance.
We were trapped. An acid ice storm had moved in while we'd been secluded in the cave. The landscape was a dim outline through the swirls of acidic ice slamming through the thin atmosphere of the planet. The spatter of acid against the ragged formations of metal sent shudders down my plating. This kind of storm could strip a mech to nothing in very little time. I hope the others had made it to the extraction point or to shelter before this storm had moved in.
I relayed the bad news to Jazz. He took it stoically, but a shudder crawled across his plating before he could control the reaction. These storms were one of the worst hazards of our planet. The best thing about this storm was that it would stop the Decepticons from following us. They wouldn't be out in this weather any more than we would.
I sat down next to Jazz and propped myself against the cave's wall, moving my doors until they were comfortable against the wall. I coaxed him into my arms and held him. Before long, he'd snuggled in, moving his sore chestplates out of the way and nestling in. I matched him, offering the warmth of my protoform against his. I extracted a thin heat-reflective blanket out of the medical kit and wrapped it around Jazz. He was shuddering against me, and I was appalled to feel how cold he was. The pain and the wounds and the lack of energon had led to many of his systems powering down or shutting down altogether, and he was unable to warm himself. The blanket and my heat helped get him warm, and he drifted into an uneasy recharge.
I held him against me and mused as I kept my optics open, watching the flicker of dim light from the entrance against the cave wall. I began to run dual threads through my mind, going over the mission and over my relationship with Jazz.
Jazz had found a comfort zone with me. It had come quickly, with him pushing an intimacy that, had it not been for the instant connection between us, would have had me pulling away from him. As it was, that connection between our sparks had allowed me to let him close to me despite my discomfort. Howver, for all that Jazz appeared free and easy, he would go so far and no further. I had finally become comfortable with our intimate moments and wished for more between us, but Jazz shied away from me during those times. I loved him, but I wanted more from him and he was the one uncomfortable with anything more, a surprising twist to our relationship.
The other thought was that our rescue and escape was too easy. The Decepticons had not put significant barriers in our way, and our fellow mechs were not damaged enough to stop us from getting them out. Finally, I gently moved Jazz away from me, tucking the blanket around his chest and pulling it aside on the injured leg. I began to carefully examine that leg, probing gently in the joints.
Tucked inside Jazz's knee was a tracking device. It was tiny, probably with a limited range, but more than enough to find us if they knew approximately where we were. Having set up the escape, it would be simple for them to follow us as a distance, sometimes being seen and always letting us think we were getting away from them, whereas we could not lose them.
I snarled softly to myself. This was not a good thing for us, and I needed to figure out how to deal with it.
A petrorat came sniffing into the cave from a small crack near the back. I looked at the tracking device, at the rat, and then I threw the device at the rat. It struck and stuck, bringing a high-pitched squeal from the rat as it retreated, a tracking device attached to its skin. One problem solved.
I turned my attention to the other problem. Jazz was huddled under the blanket. He was beginning to shiver, and I covered his leg and drew him up to my chest, moving the blanket aside to hold him securely. The answer came to me.
I would have to seduce Jazz.
To be continued…