Forests of the Night - Part 3
Disclaimer: Transformers is the property of Hasbro et al.
Title: Forests of the Night (Fearful Symmetry, Arc One)
Rating and Warnings: T (brief violence/morbidity and some dark themes, "OC" that isn't really an OC)
Timeframe/Setting: G1 with bits of Beast Wars and a few little things from Prime and movie!verse, very slightly AU; Cybertron, early war
Summary: Jazz wasn't expecting a rescue, and he certainly wasn't expecting a rescue quite like this one.
Also available on FF.net.
Arc One, Part Three
Cade roused him before it was fully light. They drank from the stream before setting out. They followed a meandering game trail until it petered out around midmorning. Cade cast about to get his bearings and then struck out in a southerly direction.
They made good time, according to Cade. The trees were widely spaced and the ground was carpeted with silicagrass. It still wasn't smooth enough to transform and drive, much to Jazz's annoyance, but it was much easier to travel on foot. The two alternated walking and jogging for most of the day. They didn't talk much, but the silence was more companionable than the previous day. Jazz was almost sure he trusted the catbot.
Since Cade was a less than chatty critter, Jazz found himself humming and then singing to himself as they walked. He half expected Cade to shush him, but the catbot didn't object. He never commented, though he swiveled one audio around backwards to listen.
Jazz was glad for the energon stream they had found the day before, because the diluted rations were his only fuel source. Again, Cade refused the fuel. He left Jazz in another lean-to as darkness was falling. Jazz dozed until the catbot returned.
::Nothing,:: Cade grumbled, tucking himself into their little shelter. ::I can't smell any seeps or springs. The only energon around here must be very deep.::
::I've still got half a cube,:: said Jazz.
Cade made a face and Jazz felt the prickle of scans across his plating. ::You still aren't functioning at full capacity,:: said Cade.
::Yes, mother, I noticed.::
Cade gave him a stern, disappointed look that would not have been unusual for a mother. ::It will take at least another day and a half to reach the base. It will likely be even longer until we can count on aid from our factionmates.::
::Well, it's not like I can do anything about it,:: Jazz snapped, nettled by his weakness.
::It may be necessary for you to consider . . . unconventional fuel sources,:: Cade said carefully.
::What sources?:: Jazz said warily.
::The energon in a living mechanism is much more concentrated than that found in pools and streams,:: said Cade, pointedly ignoring Jazz's expression. ::If I cannot find any other source, I can at least catch a petrorabbit or two.::
::Only as a last resort,:: said Jazz.
Cade shrugged. ::It may come to that.::
Jazz recharged fitfully after that. Cade had a point, of course. It had been part of his survival training in bootcamp, and he had certainly done plenty of unsavory things since then, but Jazz still wasn't keen on drinking the fuel from the lines of another living creature. Cade was unsympathetic. He recharged beside Jazz for most of the night, but when Jazz awoke just before dawn he was gone. Jazz was too exhausted to worry about him and went back to sleep again.
When he onlined again, the sun had risen. He automatically extended his sensor net before he opened his optics. The forest was practically deserted compared to the Autobot base Jazz was used to. But there was something unexpected.
Cade hit the ground with a heavy thud. He seemed only mildly annoyed by Jazz pinning him down, but he went very still when he felt the energon bade against his throat cables. ::Easy, brother,:: he growled softly.
Jazz ran over the data in his processor again, but Cade had withdrawn his energy field and was watching the saboteur warily.
::It's just me, Jazz,:: Cade said.
"That so? Your spark signature seems a little . . . off this morning."
There was a flicker of expression on Cade's face that might have been dawning horror. ::It's the same as it's always been,:: he said, expression bland once more.
Jazz analyzed his readings again. "No," he said coldly. "It's definitely different. And it's reading like a Transformer's."
::You've just onlined, Jazz. I think you might be confused. Check again.::
Sure enough, Cade's sparkreadings were far too weak to be a mech's. But they had been much stronger just moments ago. "Nice try," said Jazz. "My scanners ain't confused."
::Jazz -::
"So what, you just woke up this morning and decided you didn't want to be a cassette anymore? Who are you, really?"
::Jazz, I'm serious -::
"So am I! Answer me!" Jazz snarled.
::Just as I told you. My name is Cade. I am an Autobot. My mission is to -::
"Tell me the truth."
::I am.::
"You're not a cassette. You can't be. What are you?"
::I am a catbot.::
"I got that part, thank ya kindly."
Cade clicked his teeth and didn't say anything.
Jazz leaned closer, almost nose to nose with the . . . thing. "Folks got secrets to keep. I get that; I do. But you're gonna have to give me somethin' more than your word that you're an Autobot - or at least that you're not gonna tuck me away somewhere and hack my processor before you offline me."
A growl rumbled in Cade's chest. ::If I'd wanted you hacked or offlined don't you think I could have done that a hundred times over by now?::
"Not if you're someone else's lackey and you can't do it yourself."
Cade's paws gripped his shoulders, but he obviously didn't dare strike with the blade at his throat. ::You were just saying that I wasn't a cassette. Make up your mind before you start accusing me of implausible things.::
Jazz pressed just a little harder on the knife to make Cade squirm. "If you lied about your species, why should I believe what you say about - oh, I dunno - your allegiance, for starters?"
::As I told you, I have no way of proving my allegiance, as you do not have the clearance for the information. And I didn't lie about anything.::
"You're lying now," Jazz growled. A trickle of energon slid down Cade's neck.
::I omitted truths but I told no falsities. You, of all people, should be able to find reason for that.::
He had a very good point, of course, but that didn't make Jazz any more inclined to trust him. "Well, you'd better start fillin' in some of the gaps for me." Jazz could feel talons pricking his shoulders. "And I could slit these lines before you could twitch that tail of yours, so don't try anything, kitty."
Cade snorted. ::I have no doubt that you could, but it would be your own death warrant.::
"I think I'm a bit more resourceful than you give me credit for."
::You think? Are you willing to bet your life on that, Jazz?:: said Cade. ::Maybe you could plot a course out of here, but you'd never have the energy to make it that far.::
Jazz studied bright pink fluid against grey armor. "I'm resourceful."
Cade actually laughed. ::You didn't even want to think about drinking from a common petrorabbit, but now that you believe I'm more than your average catbot you say you'd have no problem scavenging my energon? Doubtful.::
"Aren't you more than your average catbot?" said Jazz.
::I said I wouldn't lie to you, and I didn't. We're going in circles. Either let me up or kill me.::
"I'll let you up when you answer my question."
::You're wasting valuable time,:: Cade growled.
"And you're hedging. What - are - you?!"
Cade was silent.
"Well, you said you didn't lie to me, but now you won't answer me, so that's practically an admission that you lied earlier," said Jazz.
::I didn't -!::
"Fine, fine. You misled. Stop dancing around the issue."
Cade snarled. ::Fine, but you're not going to believe me.::
Jazz smirked. "Try me."
Cade took a deep breath, bared his teeth, and let it out in a low hiss. ::I'm a Maximal.::
Jazz's rolled his optics reflexively. "And I'm Unicron."
::I wouldn't find that surprising,:: Cade muttered.
"The truth, kitty." The knife pressed a little deeper.
::If I were going to lie, I'd at least try something more plausible than a sub-species of Transformer that's supposedly been extinct for generations, don't you think? Give me some credit.::
"Sometimes one big lie is better than a dozen small ones," said Jazz.
::Oh, fine.:: Cade's energy field abruptly shifted. ::You were right. My sparkreadings were different. I use a dampener as part of my disguise, but it's an energy drain. I had turned it off while I was hunting and forgot to turn it back on when I approached you.::
"Rookie mistake."
Cades optics narrowed. ::It won't happen again.::
"How old are you?"
::Fifty-six vorns.::
Jazz raised an optic ridge. That was only slightly more than his own forty-eight vorns, and significantly younger than Ratchet or Ironhide. It was also much, much younger that the last recorded Maximal, who had died before Jazz's grandsire was sparked.
"You're lookin' pretty spry for an extinct sub-species."
::I said supposedly extinct. As you can see, I am quite alive,:: said Cade.
"So . . . what, you just lived the good life as somebody's pet?"
::The reasons my people are in hiding are long, numerous, and above your pay grade.::
"Then why'd you come out of hiding to join the war?"
::Because Megatron is a lunatic who must be stopped. And I am still quite hidden - from most Autobots, at least,:: he said. ::Like I told you, you don't have the clearance for me to tell you much. Suffice it to say that I am useful. My situation is unique. People on both sides underestimate me and I can find out all kinds of things a normal soldier couldn't.::
Jazz thought about how he'd talked to Cade at the energon stream. He had talked about his childhood, his family - shared things he didn't usually share with anyone, much less strangers. But he had trusted Cade. He wanted to trust Cade. Jazz's instincts were rarely wrong, but Cade's story was hard to swallow. Jazz ran a few more scans. This time, Cade didn't resist.
His readings were . . . odd. It was as though someone had mixed Transformer and beastbot features randomly and stuck them in a single frame. Jazz had never encountered anything like it. The only thing Jazz could be sure of was that Cade wasn't a drone; his spark pulsed strong and true beneath his plating.
Cade was watching the shifting expressions on Jazz's face. He sighed again and his chest plating shifted to reveal the crimson autobrand just above his spark. ::I cannot offer you any proof other than this and my own word,:: he said. ::I am on your side, Jazz, and I am trying to help you. You're putting both of us in danger by refusing me.::
Jazz sat back on his heels. "By rights, I shouldn't trust you," he said slowly. "But - Primus frag me for a glitching fool - I do." He returned the knife to his subspace.
Cade didn't move. If anything, his hold on Jazz's shoulders tightened. He narrowed his optics again, as if he could will himself to see straight through Jazz's visor and optics and into his spark. ::You are a very strange individual, Autobot Jazz,:: he said.
"Yeah, well, I guess that makes you lucky. If I was a 'normal' soldier, I'd have taken my chances with killing you, I think," said Jazz.
::Primus bless you for your merciful spark.::
Jazz didn't hear any sarcasm in Cade's voice, but he couldn't help but smirk anyway. "Guess that makes us even."
Cade squirmed free of him and got to his feet. He studied Jazz with his head tilted to one side. ::Yes,:: he said. ::I suppose it does.::
The catbot whirled around without another word. In three strides, he was gone.