Jazz was in dire need of a good long shutdown even after recharging aboard the Junkion ship—or perhaps because of recharging aboard the Junkion ship: the Junkions were entertaining but not exactly restful. Once back on Cybertron, he sweet-talked Wreck-Gar into throwing up a makeshift dormitory with a dozen recharge bunks in the Great Dome. As soon as it was complete, he rostered himself for six hours of Do Not Disturb.
Yet when he came back online and considered the to-do list, he was immediately tired again. Peacetime was a lot. He was surprised most of the recharge bunks were still empty, though two had been occupied by Springer and Arcee, so there would be a report on Decepticon activity waiting out there. The pair of them had some minor scrapes and scorching he did not remember them having before they left, but on the other hand, they were not riddled with blast-holes, so he figured the news could not be too bad.
He left the dorm reluctantly and discovered a big new addition to the Great Dome's interior. Two of them in fact: shuttles. "Wreck-Gar," he murmured to himself. "You are a number one super guy." All the more because the shuttles acted as a barricade between the sleeping area and the command hub. Instead of reporting for duty, Jazz practised his stealth manoeuvres and slipped outside.
After half-a-day back in Autobot possession, Iacon was humming. There was a temporary generator next to the dome and Junkion hotspots of activity in all directions, as they set up various other points of infrastructure. Their main ship was gone, most likely back to gathering debris. Unicron's remains had proven rather lucrative in Junkion terms, though Jazz preferred not to think too hard about their main source of hardware right now. This had better be the first and last time he would use graverobbing to cement an alliance.
"Jazz! You're up and at'em, awake, alert and active!"
Busted, Jazz thought as Blurr streaked up to him.
"Appointment notice: Rodimus Prime requests the presence of you, Ultra Magnus, Kup and Spike in the command centre directly. And by directly, I mean ten minutes ago, but he said they could wait for you to reboot, but now you're done rebooting and—"
"Got your gist, Blurr!" Jazz assured him, turning back to the dome with alacrity. Blurr was the one thing more tiring than rebuilding society.
He had to dodge the Dinobots on his way back inside; the group of them were charging goodness knows where with an exo-suited Daniel riding Snarl, but Wheelie was nowhere to be seen. Jazz counted at least three potential issues to chase up there, and he crossed the floor of the Dome to the designated command area, now walled off with mismatched panels for an insecure confidentiality. Fortunately, the discussion within was not at a cosmic level of security.
"I'm just saying it doesn't have to be 'Rodimus Prime'. 'Hot Rod' would be one less change for everybody to worry about…"
"But it was Optimus who called you that!" Ultra Magnus was primly shocked.
Jazz threw an apology into the ring: "Sorry, I'm late… Just got the message from Blurr. Hey, Spike, did you know Daniel's out with the Dino-pack?"
The human grinned ruefully. "Not my favourite tactic, but Carly uses it all the time—even if they're up to no good, at least they'll keep each other occupied. Parenting is mostly about taking gambles."
Spike was seated on the communications console that Jazz had brought back from his foray into orbit. While he had been sleeping, it had been upgraded with a cathode ray tube monitor and, precariously bolted just below it, what must have been the smallest chair available for the human. Junkion designs ran to practicality rather than finesse.
"And did you guys know Wheelie ain't with them?" Jazz turned to Kup and Rodimus Prime.
"Yeah, that didn't last as long as we hoped," Rodimus admitted. "But Perceptor realised that Wheelie must have some useful salvage skills if he'd been living off that planet without getting caught for any length of time."
"He's taken him out for a field assessment," Kup finished, jerking his head in a vague westerly direction.
"Looks like you guys got it in hand." Jazz gave an exaggerated stretch. "Leaves me livin' sweet on Easy Street! So, you gonna catch me up on my downtime?"
Ultra Magnus took up a datapad: "Springer and Arcee have reported in. Obviously, this isn't a thorough evaluation, but they were able to confirm the destruction of all Decepticon operations with Shockwave among the fatalities."
Jazz emitted a whistle, an Earth habit. It should not have been surprising, but the bluntness of events was hard to take. All their planning and then… Deus Ex Machina.
"Blitzwing was witnessed surveying the wreckage, before departing the planet. Polyhex is no longer functional as either shelter or energy source; its salvage value is limited by structural instability." Magnus lowered the pad. "We can presume no living Decepticons remain on Cybertron, but the survivors are likely to regroup elsewhere in the Galaxy."
"Like Earth," Spike finished.
Rodimus frowned. "It's a big galaxy, Spike. We'll always protect Earth from the 'Cons, but…" He spread his hands helplessly. "How do we manage the rest of it?"
"We can't, but you've got contacts from before you joined up with us, Rodimus." Smooth move from Kup there, reminding the new Prime that he did bring stuff to the table. "Why don't you try reaching out to them for assistance?"
Rodimus' face relaxed at this sop of confidence. "Like Devcon, huh? He'd be a good extra set of optics for us."
"But our priority right now has to be Earth." Magnus dragged them back on track, picking up another datapad from a gloomily large pile. "We have placated the EDC, thanks to Spike's efforts, but I need to settle this thing on Mars so we can collect the Aerialbots and remaining Protectobots. We are scheduling a formal introduction of Rodimus Prime to the EDC at the same time."
"Yeah, they're struggling with the fact you've had two changes of leadership within a week, and they're really unhappy that they don't have any record of Rodimus Prime before now," Spike elaborated. "Rodimus, we're gonna figure out how to package you for them, but word of advice: Don't bring up the prophecy. In our experience, thinking you've been chosen to lead by a cosmic power is a huge red flag."
Rodimus snorted. "That's what I've been saying!"
"Well, once we've wrapped things up on Mars, we can return Spike and Daniel to Earth and relieve the Autobots at the Ark," Ultra Magnus brought them back to topic. "We need to establish our priorities for—"
"Agreed, but I've got something to settle first," Rodimus cut him off. Ultra Magnus clearly wanted to protest, but he hesitated and Rodimus ploughed on, stumbling over obviously rehearsed words.
"We all know that… nobody was preparing for me to be in this role. You fought nine million years of war for this; I owe it to you not to screw it up. So I want a council of actual people around me, guiding me as I figure this out. Ultra Magnus has already agreed to lend me his experience…"
No longer protesting, Ultra Magnus inclined his head, grave as ever.
"Spike, Earth is Cybertron's most important ally, and so much of that is down to you. I know with your help we can keep that alliance strong for the good of both our planets."
Spike smiled, and there was a flash of a younger man in his eyes, looking back at the Prime with eager pride. "It would be my honour."
"Kup, you know me inside and out. It's taken awhile, but I've—finally—come to realise that your advice is invaluable to me."
"Couldn't get rid of me if you tried." Kup paraded his satisfaction, but there was an intense loyalty underlying it.
"Jazz…" Here it comes. "You're the friend to all Autobots, a true people person…"
"Hey, don't sell yourself short," Jazz deflected. "You're all the people person you need! There's not a one of us you've not sweet-talked your way around."
Rodimus laughed and abandoned his lines. "Maybe, but I couldn't dream of doing this without you."
The words were disarmingly warm, and Jazz felt himself yielding because he knew he could do it. The skills were ingrained, all those little habits needed to nurture a team, even an entire base, were second nature after decades as a senior officer. Not only that, but he could see the Jazz-shaped hole in Rodimus' council: Kup and Ultra Magnus' standards for him were going to be a pressure cooker situation; Jazz would know exactly when and how to vent the steam. He had the skillset they needed.
But it doesn't have to be me.
Ultra Magnus had the experience, Kup had the weather eye for mood; Springer was just as good at defusing a situation as Jazz and, considering his closeness to both Rodimus and Magnus, was probably better positioned for that role, council or not. There was no prophecy locking Jazz into this. It was OK to say the word…
"No. I appreciate being asked, but no."
Rodimus was clearly surprised, but it was the dismay on his face, making him look every bit as young as he was, that tugged at Jazz' conscience. "I'm sorry, Rod. I just can't start over again. I need some downtime… Especially after talkin' to Blaster, I need to get back to my Ark-crew, be with them for a bit. Man, it's hard to explain…"
"I think I get it," Spike broke in. "Bumblebee and I were talking earlier, between EDC calls, and… I remember when I first met you guys, you'd only been awake a day or two, and you weren't yet worried that you couldn't get in contact with Cybertron. You were so committed and determined to bring help to your friends back home."
Jazz leaned his head back, needing to break eye contact a moment. He had forgotten that early naïveté.
"Dad and I could see the change, as time went on and you couldn't find anybody, even when you looked on Cybertron. Honestly, it impressed us, because even though you lost that hope and started grieving your friends, you were still committed. You weren't letting the Cons get away with what they'd done and you weren't letting them do it to another planet."
"The mission kinda changed," Jazz agreed heavily. "Even when we found some of you guys survived," he nodded to Kup and Ultra Magnus. "The famine had done the damage while we were sleepin', and the army we were supposed to save was gone. What we had left was stoppin' Megatron."
"And now you've completed your mission."
"Dunno that we completed it," Jazz refuted. "But it's over, sure enough." He looked at Rodimus. "I'll level with ya; this is where it matters that you're not Optimus. It's not your fault and it's not about you not bein' good enough, but… You guys are makin' plans for Iacon, and when I look out there, all I can see are the empty spaces."
Spike nodded, sympathy in his face. "Yeah, 'Bee said something similar and apparently Cliffjumper feels the same way. Since I'm on this council of yours, Rodimus, my first advice is to let these guys have the time to grieve. They've been all in on each other for twenty years, and in the past week…." His own voice tightened, and he gave it up.
Rodimus gently filled the silence. "Understood. Jazz," he stepped forward, laying one earnest hand on Jazz' arm. "Thank you so much for all you've done to this point."
"Aww, man…" Jazz could feel his cool cracking in a million places, but he forced out a shaky reply: "Toldya you don't need another people person!"
Rodimus stood back, giving him the space to recover. "We'll be rebuilding Autobot City. Would you at least be willing to take the post of its Commander?"
Jazz shook his head. "I'm not sayin' I'm old, and it's not that I'm retirin'… I just need an easier life for the next age. But if you're lookin' for suggestions, I'll nominate Blaster. He's younger. He's got some fight still in him…"
Spike raised a hand. "Seconded. Carly's giving Blaster all the credit for holding things together down there. I've had more mixed reviews from the EDC, but… let's just say the people who didn't take to him are the people who needed a wake-up call."
Rodimus shrugged at Kup and Ultra Magnus, neither of whom protested. "Guess we'll be talking to Blaster when we get to Earth then. Magnus, you were saying?"
As Ultra Magnus looked down at his notes, trying to remember where he had been interrupted, Jazz leaned towards the young Prime, apologetic. "I know it's a privilege bein' able to say 'no'."
Rodimus Prime met his gaze without bitterness. "You've earned it."
Author's Note:
I don't write Jazz often, but every time I do, I fall in love with him. Jazz is the best.
Mostly, this story exists to give an in-universe explanation for the Ark crew's retirement (by and large) from active duty on Earth rather than Cybertron. (Honestly, a good portion of them could have ended up populating Cybertron for all we know, but mostly they seemed to appear on Earth if they appeared anywhere.) After nine million years of war, they give up on Cybertron as soon as they've won it.
Honestly, all you have to do is look at it from their perspective (which is very similar to that of most kids' once the Movie came out in the 80s). In the end, none of what they did mattered. A third party destroyed the Decepticons and an entirely separate Autobot team were the ones to ultimately save Cybertron. I made a very deliberate choice to have Jazz think of the phrase 'deus ex machina'. With his affinity for Earth Culture, it's not breaking the fourth wall, and it sums up perfectly why the victory doesn't have the right impact for them.
The cartoon wasn't very clear about ranks, but Jazz is almost certainly the most senior Ark officer to survive. It would have been more logical for him to continue in some position of authority, but between his toy retiring and his voice actor dying, he was never again featured in the cartoon. On the other hand, Jazz did get to be a Pretender in the ongoing G1 franchise so there's canon support for his continuing involvement. I've left it open-ended… he needs a break, but if I ever decide to write a post-Rebirth series, Jazz is absolutely getting included.
PS I included a Scatman Crothers Easter Egg in there, when Jazz calls Wreck-Gar a number one super guy. I'm flagging it up here because I'm guessing a lot of readers won't be familiar with this one, and I want to pay tribute to Jazz's original VA. "Number one super-guy was a lyric" from the Hong Kong Phooey theme, sung by the unforgettable Scatman Crothers who also voiced the titular character. I absolutely adored that show as a child. I don't often recall the in-cartoon voices well enough to hear them when I read and write the characters, but Jazz always sounds like Scatman for me. There are few voices that make me smile more.
