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minniethemoocherda · 9 months

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Iridescent: Chapter 13

Summary: When Jazz is promoted to Head of Special Operations, the last thing he expected was to have to work with a face from his past.

A/N: Fair warning that the violence is going to be a bit more graphic from this point onwards sorry! Xxxxxxx

Ao3

Jazz opened up the spec op private comms

"Hound after you've dropped off Mirage, I need you to track Skywarp!" Jazz ordered, having to shout over the sound of Prowl chewing out the twins nearby.

After receiving an affirmative, Jazz marched back over the two remaining commanders, passing by the twins who looks appropriately guilty for once.

"We should retreat! Before more of our people are injured." Optimus suggested, firing out from behind where they had managed to build a makeshift barrier out of the rusted remains of whatever structure had once been built here.

"Why?" Jazz asked, casually throwing a shuriken over the barrier, that judging by the following scream, confirmed that it had found its target, as he ducked down besides his friend. "So that they can eventually break the doors down or simply drop a big ass bomb and kill us all inside instead of out here?"

"I agree with Jazz." Prowl declared.

Even after everything that had happened today, Prowl openly agreeing with him, still managed to surprise Jazz.

"We have to hold them out here. If the other seekers invade the Ark then we will loose the Autobot headquarters and most likely the war." Prowl finished.

Optimus paused, probably consulting with the Matrix, however that worked, as he considered their plan. After a moment he nodded.

"Very well, here is where we shall stand our ground." Optimus said, his voice that of a Prime instead of the awkward data clerk Jazz used to know.

Of course as soon as that plan was decided, Blaster chose that moment to interrupt the three of them with an incoming comm. Except it wasn't the communication expect on the other end of the line.

"This is MacCadam's base calling the Ark, can you hear me?" Elita-One's voice echoed in their ears.

"Ariel." Optimus breathed. Jazz hadn't heard their leader sound so relieved since becoming a Prime. It was shortlived however as worry quickly returned. "Has Bumblebee-"

"Yes he reached us safe and well." Elita was quick to reassure them and despite the distance, Jazz could hear the smile in her voice. "I sent him back with the information I am about to tell you. Our communications had been sabotaged. We are able to contact Teletran-1 but within the last hour we've found our Head of Communications grey in her room with a blaster wound through her mouth."

"Do you think the guilt got to her?" Jazz wondered aloud. It would certainly explain things. Perhaps too cleanly.

"It would appear so. When we lost communication Chromia became adamant that you're base must also have been sabotaged so she straight left for the Ark. I sent Silverstreak to keep an eye on her. Not long after they left, we were attacked by Soundwave."

"If Soundwave's there and Starscream's here then where is Megatron?" Optimus asked.

Jazz caught Prowl's optics. By the way they flashed, he knew that they bad both come to the same conclusion.

"He is planning an attack on our two weapons specialists who are currently out of range, outnumbered and unaware that they're headed straight for a trap." Prowl stated.

Shit

"Our long range individual comms are still dismantled." Elita-One reminded them. "We can only contact Teletra-"

"AHHHHHHH!"

She was interrupted by Blaster's screams before the call cut off entirely. Which could only mean one thing. That Skywarp had infiltrated their communication room.

Jazz didn't need to say out loud what they all already knew. That Ironhide, Chromia and the rest of their team's lives now relied on them kicking Skywarp's ass and fixing whatever mess she had made to their long range comms.

Which was going to be a problem considering the fact that the communications room had access to the camera outside the hanger doors so that they could see anyone heading inside.

Thankfully, Jazz was a spy for a reason.

"I know a secret way inside." Jazz told them. "But as amazing as I am, it would be a lot easier to take her down if I had some help."

"Prowl, accompany Jazz." Optimus ordered. "I will ensure that we hold the Seekers back."

Prowl didn't look particularly pleased at the idea of teaming up. Prowl wouldn't have been Jazz first choice either but with his best agent injured and the other occupied, he didn't have much of a choice left. Regardless Prowl wasn't going to argue with their Prime, so after a few pointed words to the twins reminding them to actually follow orders, he turned to Jazz.

"Lead the way."

Prowl kept his blaster poised as he reluctantly followed Jazz around the outwards of the Ark, keeping watch for any Seekers who might have noticed them under Optimus cover fire.

Prowl was reluctant to leave the front where he believed that his tactical skills would be most valuable. He could have said these concerns aloud. Optimus had always welcomed his troupes to voice their objections which was something that Prowl's previous authority figures during his time as an enforcer had never approved of. But ultimately, Optimus was their Prime who's decision had failed to steer them wrong yet, so Prowl trusted his judgement.

He soon realised that Jazz was leading them towards the end of the Ark's old thrusters. The ship was once capable of interstellar flight but had not been used for such purposes since the golden age of Nova Prime. Now the thrusters were rusted and sealed up due to their misuse.

At least that was what Prowl had been told. However Jazz was currently entering through the centre of the left thrusters' exit port where he was able to unscrew a loose panel, that lead into a gap between the main energon line and the wall.

"This is where Hound secretly feeds his rations to the local turbo-foxes and where I'm pretty sure Bumblebee has been sneaking out at night." Jazz explained before he crawled inside. Prowl made a mental note to inform Red Alert of the security breach when this whole ordeal was over, before following him inside.

It was a tight fit for Jazz and an even tighter one for Prowl. Even with his doorwings pressed flat against his back, it still hurt to drag their edges against the steal walls and without even enough room to turn his head, Prowl was left with no choice but to stare directly at the curves of Jazz's ass as they scraped along the gap. Thankfully, it wasn't long before Jazz shoved open a grate opened into a storage closet.

Although, Prowl almost immediately missed the gap, as here he was pressed chassis to chassis, with his only option to look directly into Jazz's face.

Thankfully the spy, made no comment on their positions when he spoke.

"I ain't getting a response from Hound but Bluestreak said that the last thing he told her was that he heading towards Communications."

Prowl let out a vent that he hadn't realised he'd been holding when he learnt that Bluestreak was alright. He knew that the young sniper was more than capable of protecting herself but as the older sibling he couldn't help worrying whenever she was out of the realm of his protection.

Prowl watched as Jazz slowly opened the storage door to the corridor, sliding his blade between the small slit as he glanced around.

After a moment he gave a thumbs up of an all clear and strolled out of the cupboard. Prowl wasted no time in doing the same. Once outside, they took up the same unspoken positions that they head before, with Jazz leading the way, blade in hand, whilst Prowl protected the rear, blaster ready. Although now that he knew what Jazz's rear looked like, he found it hard to concentrate on protecting it.

Fortunately, they didn't encounter any resistance along the corridors since most able bodied mechs were outside battling against the seekers.

Unfortunately they couldn't hear any signs of a scuffle or regain access to their long range comms which was not a good sign.

Once they made it to Communications, cautiously, Prowl poked his head around the door.

Skywarp was wrecking havoc on Teletran-1, ripping out wires and smashing screens like a rabid animal. At the very least it didn't appear like she knew exactly what damage she was doing but that didn't necessarily mean that it would be any easier to fix.

At her feet lay Hound, Blaster and Red Alert. A short range blaster shot had taken out half of Hound's torso. Miraculously, it hadn't appeared to have hit any vital organs, but by Prowl's calculations, that would matter little as he would soon to bleed out his remaining reserves of energon. Blaster had a large dent on the side of his helm but otherwise appeared unharmed. Red Alert was the only one conscious, however they were powerless to help as Skywarp had hogtied them up in a tangle of cords. Prowl knew that the stress of witnessing Skywarp wreck all of their carefully crafted systems was causing more pain than any injury could have ever done.

"You gotta plan commander?" Jazz whispered.

Before Prowl's battle computer had any time to respond, he heard the sound of footsteps behind them.

Out of the corner of his optic, Prowl caught Jazz wield his knife in the same moment that he raised his blaster.

Thankfully, it wasn't sneak a Deception attack. Instead it was Mirage, leaning heavily against the wall, as he dragged himself long the corridor.

"I... I am unable to reach Hound on internal comms. His... his last message was that he was head to-towards Communications." Mirage stammered, trying to be quiet but Prowl winced as their gasping breathes echoed across the silent corridor. Miraculously, Skywarp must not have heard it over the sound of her own destruction.

"Do not engage except for long range weapons." Prowl ordered, calculating that their chances of success would drastically decrease if Mirage were to witness Hound in his current state. And he hadn't even taken into account yet that whilst the cut across the spy's chest plate had been welded shut, Prowl knew that anything even remotely strenuous easily rip it open again.

Before Mirage could protest Jazz interrupted.

"Your invisibility ain't going to do shit if you start leaking very visible energon everywhere so do as he says." Jazz told him.

Prowl was unbothered as Mirage glared in his direction before biting his tongue and remaining at the end of the corridor. It made sense that the spy would be more likely to listen to a friend then a commander and Prowl did not care who the orders came from as long as Mirage followed them.

"Hey," Jazz hissed to get his attention. "If that big brain if yours hadn't come up with a plan yet, then I've got one." Prowl was not put at ease by the edge of Jazz's grin. "Knight."

It took a moment for Prowl to comprehend what it even was that Jazz was suggesting. It took a further moment for him to run it through his battle computer. After another he nodded.

Prowl lay flat against the corridor floor as Jazz peaked around the edge of the doorway, the side of his visor titled just so that it reflected the light off one of the remaining monitors, catching Skywarp's eye.

In an instant she had materialised in front of their Head of Special Operations. Jazz feigned surprise as Prowl crawled past the now tussling pair into the communications room.

Prowl ignored the flash of guilt as he climbed over Hound's body even though logically he knew that only Ratchet had the power to help him now. Besides, the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few. And Prowl's current goal was saving two of their commanders plus their squads.

Prowl crouched down besides Red Alert, removing the plug gagged into their mouth and untying them as quickly as he could. This close, he could feel the heat radiating from their sensory horns that threatened an impending systems crash.

"Focus on what you can control." Prowl ordered once he had freed them of their restraints. "Can you recommend the wire to establish long range comms?"

Red Alert's eyes were wide and Prowl wasn't entirely convinced that they weren't going to crash. But if anyone was used to handling stress under pressure it was the Ark's security director.

With a jerked nod, Red Alert forced themselves towards Teletran-1.

With the first step of their plan in action, Prowl turned his focus back onto the fight behind him, to find that Skywarp had a writhing Jazz pinned under her armour. Wrestled that closely intertwined, Mirage would be unable to take a clear shot even if his condition hadn't drastically hampered his ability to aim.

Getting to his feet, Prowl grabbed Skywarp from behind, the teleporter too startled to make a jump to avoid being thrown from her victim. She produced a blaster, from where, Prowl did not have the time to figure out. But before she could fire it, he caught her wrist, yanking it upwards so the shot fired into the ceiling instead of his helm. He then turned so his back faced her front, snapping her wrist in the process and shot her with his own blaster. She dodged at the last second so he missed her spark but it still managed to blast a hole in her shoulder. Skywarp keeled over, using the remains of her hand to plug the gaping wound in her shoulder.

Whilst she was down, Prowl turned his attention to Jazz who was staring up at him, that infuriating smile for once wiped clean from his face.

Prowl allowed himself a small sense of satisfaction. He spent so much time behind the scenes of battles that their troupes had forgotten the fighting skills that had earned him the position in the first place.

As he helped Jazz to his feet, Prowl caught a glimpse of Mirage where he was hidden behind the corner of the corridor. Prowl would have to see Ratchet to get his optics checked as he thought that he saw a flash of respect in the spy’s eyes.

"You know I was just pretending to be loosing as a distraction right?" Jazz said as he fought to catch his breath, a cheeky smile now back on his face.

Prowl did have time to dignify that with a response as in an instant Prowl found himself upside down, pedes brushing the Ark ceiling. Skywarp cackled, spitting energon at his face, then disappeared. He did not have time to calculate a plan before the floor suddenly came crashing towards him. A fall from this height might not kill him but it would certainly do processor damage that would negatively impact the outcome of the war.

Suddenly, someone crashed into him, rolling them both in mid-air. The next thing Prowl registered, he was looking up at Jazz, illuminated by the ceiling lights and cradling his helm from where it was currently lying in the spy's lap.

"Smooth moves Commander." Jazz said, his smile saying that words could not. That now they were even.

The moment when ruined when Skywarp, screeching like a rabbit cyberwolf tried to pounce on them.

Thankfully, Mirage was able to shoot her in her already injured shoulder, blasting her arm off in a mess of tangled wires.

"Sorry." Jazz grinned.

Before Prowl could ask about what, Jazz dropped him, leaving Prowl sprawled on the floor.

Prowl pushed himself back to his feet so that he could properly yell at him. He cut himself off at the sight of Jazz biting down on Skywarp's uninjured shoulder. Prowl could only watch in disbelief as Skywarp teleported randomly along the length of the corridor, thrashing around and crashing into walls. But Jazz must have a vampiric set of denta as nothing she did could shake him off.

From this angle, Jazz couldn't reach her spark, so Prowl watched as he stabbed his blade into Skywarp's waist instead.

She reappeared, screaming on the Communications floor.

Prowl wasted no time, grabbing a broken metal pole. Again, unable to reach her spark with Jazz still sprawled on her back, he instead skewered it through her leg. Then stamping on the end, he bent the mental until he had hooked Skywarp's leg into the floor.

Prowl kept his blaster trained on her helm as Jazz finally clambered off her.

"Girl, when was the last time you had a shower?" Jazz asked, wiping his mouth with a grimace.

Prowl knew that Skywarp's injuries would not trap her forever. He had yet to find a prison that could. But for now, her teleportation abilities weren't going to be an advantage in battle when she was in too much pain to fight.

Prowl kept guard over Skywarp as Red Alert, who was muttering expletives under their breathe, re-connected the mess of shredded wires. Mirage had managed to hobble to the room by this point. He dropped to Hound's side, grabbing at the debris surrounding them to try to fill in the injury whilst Jazz hailed Ratchet.

On the one working monitor, Prowl watched as on the screen a single shot severed through both of Starscream's thrusters. He couldn't stop the swell of pride at the knowledge that Bluestreak was the only one talented enough to make that shot.

However, Prowl was going to have to update his folder on Skywarp's abilities to teleport within her line of sight as in the next second, she appeared on the monitor screen, a chunk of her leg missing from where it was still nailed into the communications floor. Prowl watched as outside the Ark, she helping her Trine commander to escape as the seekers called for a retreat.

"I've fixed Teletran-1!" Red Alert cried.

It was unfortunate that the Skywarp had escaped. But their primary goal had been to contact Ironhide by re-establishing long range comms so overall Prowl considered the mission a success.

Prowl marched over to the console, wasting no time in connecting the long range call.

"Ironhide, this is Teletran-1. Do you copy?"

"Huh what?" Ironhide answered, sounding startled by the long range comm. Prowl ignored the incorrectly worded response and continued.

"We believe that you are heading into a trap. Megatron is-"

"Yeah yeah we know." Ironhide interrupted, the usually gruff soldier still sounding frazzled. "Bumblebee must've figured out what he was planning because he found where Megatron was waiting and provoked him into revealing his location and... oh Primus. We... when we saw what was happening we tried to stop him. We tried to fight back but.. but..."

"What happened?" Prowl demanded.

Ironhide took a shuddering breath.

"It's Megatron. He kidnapped Bumblebee."

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