[Fic] Story of a Lifetime, part 16.6
Part 16: Turning of the tide
Chapter 6 of 6
"What're we going to do?" Hound whispered.
Jazz ignored the question for now, still deciding. Time was of the essence, but running in to this without some kind of plan would be suicidal.
Barely a breem earlier he had sent Mirage back with good news: the Decepticons were ready to leave. A few of the fliers had gone on one last atmospheric flight while everyone else settled inside the ugly but serviceable ship they had cobbled together, and in small groups they had returned after a short period. He and Hound had kept watching but it was more a formality now.
Then Starscream had reappeared outside, peering up at the sky. Megatron had emerged, cuffing at him and complaining loudly about how Starscream was now delaying them after being so keen to leave. Starscream's response had been too quiet to hear from this distance but he had pointed and Jazz had twisted around to see a Seeker trine approaching with an Autobot captive.
How or why Hauler had been captured was irrelevant; the damage was done. Even before the Seekers landed with their prize, Soundwave was scanning the area and his cassettes were searching. For now he and Hound had remained undetected but their earlier security was gone and it was only a matter of time until they were discovered.
The Seekers were fast approaching. Once Soundwave was within reach of Hauler, their numbers and current situation would be quickly revealed. The question was what he should do about it.
He could shoot Hauler. The Seekers were going to fly almost directly overhead and there would be a good chance for a fatal shot. But that would give away his presence and location, and the Seekers would be close enough to be a problem. He was a much bigger prize for the enemy.
If he was going to risk himself, it would be better to shoot at Megatron. The mech was standing in the open. It was one of the best opportunities he had ever seen, but the distances made him wary. Neither he nor Hound were proper snipers. If Bluestreak or Prowl or even Mirage were here he might have considered it. As it was, it was too risky they would miss.
"I need a diversion." he said finally. "Gimme half a breem t'move, then put a hologram up where one o'the cassettes'll see it. Catch their attention. Keep it movin' an' whatever ya do, don't get caught. When ya get the chance, go back to the Ark an' tell'em what's happened."
"What are you going to do?"
Jazz eyed up his target, watching the Seekers land, then flashed a bright smile at his subordinate.
"The impossible, o'course."
"They came out of nowhere!" Cliffjumper insisted, a small puddle of water forming around where he stood.
Everyone had gathered to hear what had happened, and the minibot's words were almost lost under the sounds of their agitation.
"It was hard to see or hear anything with all that rain, and then I looked back and there were these Seekers surrounding him."
"You had gone ahead?" Prowl checked.
"Typical." Sideswipe muttered.
"We were inside the perimeter!" Cliffjumper protested. "It should've been okay."
"Well it wasn't, was it?" Sideswipe snarled back.
"Enough." Optimus intoned firmly. "We are not here to lay blame. If Cliffjumper had been with him, it's possible both would have been taken by surprise and neither would have made it back. The time for hiding is over: they know we're here, so we'll have to take the fight to them."
"If we can reach them, Prime." Mirage spoke up from the back of the crowd, others giving way to let him through. "I was on my way here to tell you that the Decepticons are ready to launch when I saw a Seeker trine carrying Hauler away. It seems you already know that much, but by now it's possible they have left the planet's surface."
"Having a prisoner and information about Prime might make them reconsider leaving so soon." Trailbreaker pointed out.
"Autobots, we have no time to waste." Optimus intoned, looking around. "Everyone gather a jetpack and assemble outside. We have Decepticons to stop!"
Hound's diversion worked well. The Decepticons bubbled angrily out of their ship into the rain, searching, and the ambient confusion allowed a sorcelled Meister to slip closer. Soundwave was the biggest threat to him, but the host was preoccupied with his cassettes. Thankfully that also meant that Hauler was temporarily safe from interrogation, if still in a dire situation.
Off to one side, Starscream and Megatron were arguing loudly, ignoring everything else. Megatron apparently considered it Starscream's fault that Autobots had survived and was not listening to reason. It was tempting to shoot at them now that he was so close, but he stuck to his mission, hurrying inside the ship. Killing Megatron would be good; taking out him and his command team would be a move that could potentially end the war. Meister had no explosives but he had been a saboteur too long to let little details like that stop him.
Irritatingly, not everyone had gone outside - some were milling about, complaining about the rain, and several times he had to hide or backtrack. It was frustrating. Generally speaking he could move within an enemy base with little concern; most of the time no-one paid any attention to you if you walked with a purpose and looked confident, but these were strange circumstances. With less than forty mechs living and working in close proximity for several orns he knew better than to think they would not question a stranger. Particularly during a commotion when an Autobot prisoner had just been taken.
Peering into every room he passed, he finally found what he was looking for: an empty room with a lockable door. Ideally it would also have a computer terminal, but he could make do if it did not. This room needed no sign to tell him what it was: he was in Megatron's audience chamber, complete with throne on a raised platform. Sad, really, he mused as he skipped up to the oversized chair. Megatron wanted so badly to have control of the Matrix, ignoring the fact that the thing itself would probably reject him. There was more to being Prime than just ordering bots about.
Settling in the chair he found a dataport and plugged in. As expected, three things immediately became obvious: firstly, this gave him access to everything he needed; secondly, there were protections to prevent anyone other than Megatron from using it; and finally, that Megatron really needed a better programmer if he expected to keep Meister out.
Grinning, he made some adjustments. A change here, a rearrangement of code there, a nasty surprise put in place on that switch...
Too soon, he was interrupted by a pounding on the door. Pulling out of the programs as quickly as he could, he disconnected. Surely no-one had been able to track what he had been doing? No-one here with the skill should have had the time.
Coiling his cable again he cast about, grimacing as he found the room empty of furnishings except for the throne itself. Grunting in annoyance he moved behind the chair and sorcelled again, settling against it in the faint hope that he would not be seen. A few clicks later, the doors opened and several mechs moved inside.
"So? Where's this stranger you say you saw?" a gruff voice demanded.
"He was here! I know he was here, I saw him!"
"Well this is the only exit and he's not here now. Glitchy Seeker. If you've made me miss out on beating up Autobots I'll take it out on you later!"
The first mech stomped away, but the second lingered and was apparently not alone as he started up another conversation.
"If he's not here, how did the door get locked?"
"I don't know. Come on, we're in enough trouble."
"No, wait, I want to look properly first."
"At what? There's nothing here but that chair."
"Wait, what's this? A drone?"
Three Seekers came into view, though Meister gave no indication he could see them.
"Maybe that's what you saw, then."
"Okay, but where'd it come from? I haven't seen any drones around."
"Maybe we should tell Starscream." the third offered, speaking for the first time, staring intently.
"Like he'd do anything, he's gone crazy." the first spat. "He won't care. Come on, lets go. I don't want to be caught in here."
The first two Seekers headed out, but the third kept staring at him.
"Skimmer's right, it's weird." the Seeker muttered to himself. "There weren't any drones, that's why we all had to help build. And even if he did see you come in, drones don't lock doors. Or hide behind chairs. And now we know there are Autobots about, so maybe..."
He got no further as Meister surged forward, plunging an energy dagger straight into his spark.
Messy, Meister cursed himself as he heard the Seeker's trinemates scream. He would have to leave straight away, which meant no chance to finish the job and no chance to rescue Hauler. Pushing himself rapidly through yet another sorcelling change - aware that he was going to pay for all this self-abuse later - he pulled out a Decepticon blaster and hovered over the greying form until the first Seeker appeared.
"Find the Autobot!" he barked.
As he expected they ignored his order, heading for their fallen mate. He moved past them, yelling about Autobot intruders, and managed to divert several others before escaping the ship. Back outside he found that the rain was now even heavier, but he was not safe: Soundwave was dangerously close, and Megatron and Starscream's argument had apparently ended.
He looked about for Hauler, but the minibot was offline and being carried by a triplechanger - just the attempt would destroy his own chance of escape. Cursing in frustration, he turned away.
Dodging groups and backtracking several times, he managed to find his way up into the hills where he and his team had been observing the Decepticons for the past few orns. Swearing, he pushed himself through one final sorcel and transformed into his most newly acquired alt mode before taking off down the other side. Speed was of the essence. The changes he had made to the Decepticon ship might be enough or they might not, but either way they would only help once the ship took off. If the Decepticons chose to stay and fight instead of leaving, Prowl's plans would be needed, and for Prowl to be around he had to stay alive.
This alt mode was fast and the rain helped conceal him in the colours he had chosen, but he would not consider himself safe until he was back within the Ark. He expected to be chased and fired upon, but for nearly a breem nothing happened, then a loud roaring noise behind him made him skid to a stop and stare in surprise. The Decepticons were launching? Now? Why?
It made no sense but he would not question such a piece of good fortune. He pinged his partner, watching as the ship's nose rose above the hills behind him.
~Babe you just ain't gonna believe this: I think we got'em!~
Prowl tensed as Jazz brought him up to date. The Decepticons had launched in a ship that was rigged to explode as it left the atmosphere. With luck, Jazz said, the enemy would all be killed.
Prowl did not rely on luck, and he knew that Optimus would not have approved the move when Hauler was at risk, yet it was too late to change any of it.
"The Decepticons are launching." he announced as they drove at the head of the Autobot convoy.
"Why now?" Ironhide demanded. "Aren't they going to fight?"
"We will keep going until we know for sure." Optimus said firmly. "This could be a ruse. Autobots: transform and use your jetpacks!"
Prowl followed the order, also unsubspacing his acid pellet rifle. All Autobot soldiers were trained in the use of jetpack combat, but he hated using them in his plans. Ground model mechs were always clumsy in the air, himself most definitely included, and it was never a good idea to put yourself at a disadvantage. Still, the trajectory of the ship's launch should take it out over the ocean and they could not drive on that.
"Conserve your fuel as much as possible!" he reminded them. "The jets will keep you buoyant in the water if necessary, but that will strain them and without them you will have a tedious journey home across the seabed. Try to stay in the air."
On Prime's command they took off and began to head towards the shoreline. Prowl saw Jazz driving back towards the Ark but stayed focused on getting above the cloud cover. Once he did, he could see the Decepticon ship rising in the distance.
~We'll never catch them!~ Smokescreen cried on an open channel.
~At least they'll be gone.~ Tracks pointed out.
~But taking Hauler with them!~ Cliffjumper cried, engine revving.
~Your recommendation?~ Optimus asked.
Prowl considered the situation in light of what Jazz had told him. There was little point trying to catch the ship themselves, but they needed to see how this played out.
~We should continue to follow until we see them leave the atmosphere.~ he said after a few clicks. ~At this stage they could theoretically level out and choose to make landfall in another location in order to ambush us in an upcoming attack. If they do not change their trajectory by that time it's unlikely they intend to return immediately, which would give us time to...~
He broke off, seeing a plume of smoke burst from the Decepticon ship. The ship's flight path wavered as it lurched and stalled. It shuddered as something inside exploded, and then the engine sputtered out and it began to fall. Plotting the new angles he saw that it would fall into the ocean a short distance from a fixed human structure. Considering the options, he recommended that they observe without interference, but Optimus did not agree.
~I will not have humans harmed if we are in a position to prevent it.~
~Our very appearance could well frighten them into preferring to endanger themselves further rather than allow us to help them.~ he warned.
~We must try.~
Prowl let it go but pinged Bumblebee to move forward in the group and to be one of the first to land even as he reached out to the others.
~The initial danger to the humans will come from the impact wave. It may well be large enough to completely engulf the structure and take the humans with it. If they are to survive, they must be kept out of the water. Once in it, the temperature alone can do them fatal damage in little more than a breem.~
~Protecting them is our first priority.~ Optimus agreed. ~Autobots: prepare for battle!~
Epilogue
Jazz met the returning troops at the entrance to the Ark, picking up the mood long before any of them drove into sight. They had had a victory. Not the total annihilation of their hated enemy that would have been the best case scenario, but a positive experience. It was good, and they were all clearly ready to celebrate, so he shifted a speaker system outside and had local music playing and energon close at hand and was lounging strategically on a boulder when the first mechs came into view.
To his mild surprise, Prowl was not among them. His mate was not far away, he was sure, but why was Bumblebee at Prime's side? The answer came quickly as Bumblebee's doors opened and two humans emerged. They were much smaller than he had expected, or perhaps these two were simply small for their race. The shorter and slimmer of the two was babbling away constantly at Bumblebee, much like Bluestreak could with his friends, while the taller and bulkier one had wandered over to talk to Optimus.
Prowl finally arrived at the back of the convoy, remaining very quiet and notably not rushing straight inside to do his battle analysis. Jazz worked his way casually through the crowd, pausing with some, adding to the conversation with others, and finally made it to his partner's side.
"You okay?" he asked softly.
Prowl cocked his head slightly, giving him a peculiar look, then smiled brightly.
"The Decepticons are stuck at the bottom of the ocean and we made some new friends!"
Jazz began to reach for him, alarmed at the peculiar mood he was in and wondering if it was a glitch caused by some kind of damage, then saw Prowl's doorwings twitch in irritation.
~Don't you dare. I'm acting. There are humans present.~
Jazz settled back, giving his mate a dubious look.
~I'm gonna have t'give you some actin' lessons then, mech, cause this is just way too creepy.~
Prowl's smile turned faintly smug, but then took on a touch of concern.
~You're very tired.~
Jazz shrugged, responding verbally to question from Blaster about the current tune.
~Sorcellin'll do that to a mech. Too many changes in too short a time. Nothin' a bit o'rest won't cure. So what happened? An' how'd we end up wit'the humans?~
Prowl was distracted momentarily by Bluestreak bringing him a cube of energon and shooing the other mech back into the crowd, but eventually answered.
~Whatever you did was insufficient. The ship fell into the ocean and our scans indicate that it's still mostly intact and many of the Decepticons survived, although they are currently stuck on the ocean floor. Sadly, Hauler was not so fortunate - he was badly damaged in one of the explosions and Ratchet was unable to stabilise him in the field.~
~Poor mech.~ Jazz shook his head, then set the regret aside. Mecha died in war, that was how it went. "So where'd the humans come in?~
~There was a small skirmish with some of the Seekers and a few Casetticons on the surface near a human-built structure for extracting a liquefied energy source and the structure was destroyed. We managed to rescue all of the humans, but one was temporarily taken hostage by Laserbeak. He and his creator were much more accepting of our assistance than the others and begged to stay with us once we returned them to land while the others left.~
~So we've got our native guides, then?~
~So it would seem.~ Prowl sighed. ~They are not quite what I had planned but I suppose there will be opportunities for contact with others of higher social standing at other times. For now, they are a good test for Bumblebee's diplomatic skills with very little risk of damage to us or our reputation should it go wrong.~
~Very pragmatic of ya. What're they called?~
Prowl shifted a little uneasily.
~The younger is named Samuel Witwicky. His creator is Earl Witwicky. However both have preferred designations which they insist we should use. The elder wishes to be known as Sparkplug.~
~Sounds almost Cybertronian.~ Jazz put in when Prowl paused. ~He come up with it after hearin' some of ours?~
~No, it appears he has had that appellation for quite some time. His colleagues were using it as we approached.~
~Okay, so what's the younger one called, then?~
Prowl looked at him for a long moment.
~You understand you must not make a mockery of this.~ he warned. ~It is highly important that we do nothing to alarm or confuse them.~
~Yeah, yeah, I've read your report. So?~
Prowl sighed.
~He wishes to be called Spike.~
~You're kiddin'.~
~I wish I were. I have already had to threaten half the crew with dire consequences for anything that would make the humans curious as to why we find the name so humorous. I expect all the officers to set a good example.~
Jazz nodded seriously, pretending to consider it, then glanced sidelong at his partner.
~Well, I'd better go see if Bee's Spike needs some attention.~
~You say that out loud and you will be charging in the corridor.~ Prowl warned him.
Jazz just laughed and moved back into the crowd. Time to meet the newcomers. One thing was for certain: life on this planet was not going to be boring.
End of Part 16.