Chapter Text
Once everything was settled down Jazz was long since ready for his energon and some recharge. Red Alert and Optimus escorted them to their temporary rooms and he'd been dismissed. He had hardly noticed how low his levels were with all the excitement of the mission. Or moreso the result of said mission.
Mirage and Hound, new mechs with rare alt modes and outliers. It couldn't get much more exciting than that. He's had his processor reeling over it ever since.
What the two of them had done in that hall... The Autobots were admittedly a little lacking in their knowledge of outliers. Most of them had gone with the Decepticons when the war started. Mechs could always get power rectifier chips to give them boosts, mock outliers, like his own light show "ability". Hound and Mirage were actual outliers, whatever they'd done to turn that hall into a maze was a part of them. Not a mod or attachment, it was as integrated with their systems as their own spark.
"Hello Jazz." A voice greeted.
"Heya Prowler" he smiled back. Prowl moved to Jazz's side, joining his trek to the mess hall with a quaint nod.
"How did your mission go?" He asked, typing away at a datapad. He was probably trying to get ahead on his work considering the two he brought back would throw a wrench in his schedule.
"Same as usual. Y'know, aside from the whole 'finding two mechanimals who turn out to be mechs' thing."
The strategist let out a snort and flashed him a smile. "You sure that isn't your 'usual'? Sounds pretty standard to me based on your record."
Jazz gave him a lighthearted shove. "Ah you know what I mean!"
"Unfortunately I do." He replied, rolling his optics before shoving all his focus back into his datapad. Jazz occasionally grabbed him to steer him out of the way of passersby.
They continued like this until they reached the rec room. Jazz steering Prowl to one of the tables and grabbing some energon for the two of them. Jazz's with some silver dust and Prowl's plain because he doesn't have taste. He set the plain cube down in the center of the table and started drinking his own.
He was halfway through his cube when Prowl blindly started slapping the table trying to find his own. Jazz just guided his servo to it while taking a long sip of his own.
"Hey Prowl, you know some about the Towers yeah?" He finally asked after most of his energon had been emptied. The only indication that the Praxian had heard him was a quick flick of his doorwings.
"If you're asking about the turbo-fox I don't know much." He answered. "Tower Praxus wasn't really that connected with Tower Crystallus."
"Damn." He hissed.
"But, I had heard rumors." He added.
"There was word of a special noble in Crystallus, one that no one had ever seen and never left the tower."
"Really? Never?" Jazz gawked. The towers were big but they weren't that big. At least from what he'd seen of them from the outside, and the pile of rubble they'd been turned into. He can't even imagine staying in just one place his entire functioning.
"Yes. Officially he didn't exist. But according to the rumors the real reason no one ever saw him was because there was something wrong with him. That the mech's frame was... disfigured."
"And you think that Mirage may be that mech."
Prowl shrugged noncommittally. "Personally I didn't believe he existed. Towers mechs loved to run around and spew falsehoods to fuel their drama. However... having a cyber-fauna based alt mode would certainly be reason for a Tower to hide one of its members away. Especially one as prestigious and clandestine as Tower Crystallus."
"Mm." He hummed and took another long sip from his energon cube.
Beside him Prowl let out a long sigh and finally set down his datapad with a sharp click. "Jazz... what are you planning?"
He shot the Praxian one of his coy "I'm about to lie to you smiles".
"And don't give me any of that "it's a secret" scrap." Prowl cut him off before he could even push a word through his vocalizer. "I can hear the gears turning in your processor." He jabbed him sharply in the helm. "You're plotting something, and... I may not be entirely opposed if it's what I'm thinking it is."
Jazz's grin just grew wider and he turned back to watching the other crew members scattered about the room. "Those really are some neat abilities aren't they?" He smiled cryptically.
"JAZZ! I need your help!" Red Alert wailed, grabbing his gauntlet and dragging him down the hall the second he emerged from his stall.
"Wha- what's happenin' Red? Where's 'Ferno?" The second in command mumbled tiredly. While it wasn't the first time, he didn't really appreciate his recharge being interrupted mid-cycle.
"One of the prisoners has escaped." He replied urgently. "Inferno is searching for the escapee now. I need you to make sure the other one is still contained while I secure the area."
It took Jazz a nanosec to fully boot up so he could process just what their security officer was talking about.
"Now hold up Red." He hit the brakes and yanked the smaller bot to a stop. "First off, they ain't prisoners, they're guests."
"Debatable." Red Alert grumbled.
"And second, what do you mean escaped?"
"I was monitoring their rooms and around four thousand two hundred and seventy seven astro seconds ago one of the doors opened and closed moments later. No one came out and no one went in but when I went to investigate the Towers mech was gone!"
So Mirage left his room... The question was, why? The Ark was big and he wouldn't be able to navigate it very well, and they'd been given energon prior to their recharge. Jazz hummed quietly as he thought and then it dawned on him.
"Red, you said rooms? Plural?" He'd broken off from the group for some energon before they'd gotten to their quarters.
"Yes." He hissed. "I'm no idiot, I'm not just going to allow two dangerous outsiders to conspire in close quarters."
Jazz heaved a sigh. "C'mon." He said exasperated, turning around and grabbing Red Alert's servo.
"What?! Where are we going?! I need to secure the data centers!"
"I gotta hunch. Plus, don't you wanna come with to make sure our other "prisoner" is still in place?" He asked, sardonically.
The security officer gave him a withering look before thinking it over and taking the lead, marching to the room he had designated as Hound's.
As quietly as he could he prompted the door to open and took a peek inside.
On the charging station the large green mech was sprawled out awkwardly on his back. His limbs contorted in a way that could not be comfortable, intake open and loud rumbling droning from his engine.
And right below his arm, curled up in a tiny ball, was their missing mech. Sound asleep pressed against the larger mech's side.
Jazz smiled smugly at Red Alert, but the security mech didn't look amused. "He needs to go back to his quarters" the red mech hissed, starting forward.
"Nope!" Jazz said cheerily, snatching him back and shutting the door.
"I don't like this Jazz." He said firmly. "How was he able to get past my cameras? I see everything on the Ark."
"I know, trust me there's a perfectly good reason. We can get this all explained when we have our meetin' in a few joors."
"Jazz-"
"Look mech, try to be a little sympathetic." He begged. "They've spent the last who knows how many vorns cooped up in a containment unit with each other."
He recalled the tiny space and the look of shock on both mech's faces when they realized they could finally leave. There'd barely been enough room for the two in their mechanimal forms.
"And I'm no big gambling mech," he said, crouching down and lowering his voice to a whisper, "but if I had to bet, I'd say those two, are junxies."
Red Alert frowned and looked at the door before letting out a huff and turning to Jazz. "Fine. But if anything happens you're responsible."
"'Course!" Jazz cheered delighted, spinning the smaller mech around and pushing him away from the room.
The feeling of victory for having talked Red Alert out of waking the two was short-lived. Only a few hundred astro-seconds later a request from Optimus came in to bring the two mechs to the bridge. Red Alert gave him a sharp look before announcing "I'm gonna go find Inferno and get to the security office." And scurrying away. He sighed and made his way back to the shared stall.
This time upon approaching he knocked loudly on the metal door. He shook off his annoyance at being awake and slapped a serene smile back onto his faceplate before it could open.
It took a moment, the droning of Hound's engine sputtered to a stop, followed by murmuring and finally heavy steps before the door shuffled away.
"Hey mechs!" He greeted brightly. "Sorry to wake ya so soon but the big boss bot wants us in for a debrief."
"Hello Jazz." Hound smiled back before sniffing at the air and stiffening. "I hope you didn't need anything before, didn't realize you'd stopped by earlier."
"Ah you're all good mech!" He waved, shoving down his initial reaction of "How did you know that? How could you tell? Just how good are your sensors?"
"I just had to stop by since M'rage here gave out security director a bit of a spark attack s'all." He grinned as the mech in question rippled back into view at being caught.
"Hello Jazz." Mirage greeted warily.
"Hello to you too." He smiled back. "Now that we got allat settled and done what say we head on down to meet with the big guy? Don't worry, you'll have plenty a' other chances to wake up with each other another cycle."
Hound laughed lightly and Mirage huffed but the two joined him in the hall regardless. "Just follow after me, I'll give you a whole rundown of the place." He waved them along.
"So this here's the stall hall, there's more rooms on other parts of the ark but all the new recruits and such stay round here." He explained, finding anything to fill the silence. "And the terror twins but that's mostly jus' to keep em away from the higher ups."
Their little tour had been going well, Mirage and Hound shuffled along the halls occasionally asking questions. The two hung closely at each other's side. Hound seemed much more at ease than his smaller companion. Mirage didn't have an ounce of trust in his optics.
"So Jazz, what's your role on the ship?" Hound asked after he wrapped up talking about the communications department.
"Oh lil' ol' me? I'm the Second in Command." He smiled at the surprised looks he received from the two.
"You're the second? ...you must know the Prime quite well." Mirage spoke quietly.
"Mhm, me and OP go way back." He said proudly. Even if those initials had meant something else back then.
"What was the second in command doing infiltrating the Nemesis?" Mirage spoke up. They finally seemed to how found a topic that intrigued the smaller beastformer.
Jazz grinned. So Mirage was observant and quick witted, interesting. "Well when I'm lucky I get to go on sabotage runs." He replied.
"Lucky?" Hound repeated.
"Mhm! Way better than some stuffy old paperwork. Plus! Sometimes I get to find a few new friends" he smiled, nudging the green mech lightly.
"What's he like?"
"Mm?"
"What's he like? The Prime." The small blue mech asked seriously.
"OP? You met him last cycle" Jazz pointed out.
"Yes but you said you went "way back" did you not?"
"I 'spose that's true. Ah well, if you ask me he's nothin' but a big softie. He's still a librarian down in his spark. Don't let all the stories trick ya."
"Stories? What stories?" Those gold optics latched onto him fiercely.
Jazz stalled for a moment. "Well... I dunno? All the war stories? That big reputation didn't build itself."
"What kind of reputation?" Mirage asked again, plating fluffing out slightly.
"I- what?" He stopped to look at the other for a moment.
"Ah! Sorry- shoulda explained." Hound stepped in. "See- it's been a fair amount of time since either of us were out. The fact there was a new Prime was still just a rumor when I got brought in."
"I had heard nothing of the sort." Mirage added.
"Just a rumor- how long have you two been cooped up on that ship?" Jazz asked, a bit stunned.
"How long has the Nemesis had a cloaking system?" Mirage replied instantly.
Oh that- that was- as long as he can remember. These two hadn't been a part of this war in a long time.
"Well... You'll get to see what you think of the Prime today." He said with a smile.
For a good few astro-seconds their trip went well again. Back to question and answer routine they'd started with. Mirage had slowly been coming out of his shell, even taking a couple lighthearted jabs at the SIC.
Then it all took a sharp detour when Hound apparently caught a whiff of the common room. The larger mech went rigid and his olfactory whirled to life. "What- no. There's no way-"
Without any further warning the mech turned tail and ran for the rec room.
"Wha- Hound! What's going on?" Mirage yelled, chasing after him. Jazz followed closely behind. Primus, please strike him down so he won't have to face Red Alert who was definitely watching this go down on the camera system.
The green mech skidded to a halt before the entrance to commons area and took another deep vent. His optics flashed around the room before locking onto one mech.
"Breaker?" He called quietly.
From across the commons area the large black mech suddenly froze. He dropped game piece he'd been about to play. All attention suddenly shooting away from the minibot he'd been playing against and straight over to the mech at the entrance.
"Hound?" He gaped.
"Trailbreaker!" The green mech shouted and ran forward, the tall black bot met him halfway, pulling him into a hug.
"Hound you old dog! Where have you been?! We all thought you died back in the raid!"
"Ha! Kinda... Did... But it's so good to see a face I recognize after all these vorns!"
"Huh. Well how bout that." Jazz smiled. "You got anybody you know that joined up?" He asked Mirage.
"How should I know?" He asked guardedly.
"Ah this is great! You here to join up with the Autobots? Gotta say kinda surprised you didn't before." The large mech smiled, clapping the smaller on the backplates.
"Ah well- uh maybe? I don't-"
"We are undecided at the moment." Mirage interjected, stepped forward.
"Ah! Trailbreaker, this is Mirage." He introduced. "Mirage, this is Trailbreaker. We used to work with each other in the exploration corps back in Helex."
"I assumed." Mirage replied curtly, holding out a servo in greeting.
"Well you're a fancy lookin' one" Trailbreaker remarked, taking the offered servo.
"Mm." Mirage replied curtly with a grunt before quickly retracting.
"So did anybody else make it out of the raid?" Hound asked, optics wide.
"Oof, not too many of us, and we got pretty scattered after the fact. Brawn's somewhere around here though! And now you!"
"Well this is just great!" Jazz said happily. "Y'all already got a friend here! Trails, I'm real happy you've got your buddy back but we got an important meetin' with the Big Bot so Imma have to cut this reunion short."
"Ah- right. Sorry Jazz." Hound apologized.
"Nah you're all good mech! We'll make sure y'all can get caught up a bit later. Sound good?"
"You got it commander! But wow, meeting with the Bossbot? You've been making rounds huh?" Trailbreaker grinned.
"You... Could say that." Hound replied, waving as the left the rec room. "See you around Trails! Talk to ya later!"
"Well that was excitin'" Jazz smiled as they fell back into step. "Raj, you got any bots waiting for ya out there?"
"Hm? Me?" The turbo-fox startled, antennae popping up from his shoulders in surprise.
"Yeah mech! Any friends on the outside who might still be online?"
"Mm. No. I don't know anybody." He replied swiftly, looking away.
Interesting. Really interesting.
After a few moments they arrived at the door to the bridge and Jazz stopped just before it.
"I'm gonna warn ya, the mechs yer gonna be talking too are lookin' for some answers. Questions might get a little personal. If ya ever need to take a sec just lemme know. I outrank most of em anyway."
Hound looked a bit nervous, puffing up and preparing himself for the audience. Mirage looked... Distant. It seemed to be his neutral expression but his golden optics didn't flash with intensity like they did before. Like he'd already logged out before they even started.
"Alright then. Let's get it!" He declared before sending the ping for the doors to swish open.
Gathered in the bridge was their high command, few in numbers due to the still new state of their faction. Red Alert for security and communications, Ironhide as their military commander, Wheeljack representing both the Science and medical department usually filling in for Ratchet, Prowl as their tactician and strategist, and of course the Prime himself. There was an empty spot next to their leader for him as well.
He walked with the two to the center of the room and gave the Prime a big smile and a thumbs up to begin.
"Mirage of Crystal City and Hound of Helex, I pray that your recharge has been restoring?" Optimus asked the two, voice booming from his console podium.
"Yes." Mirage replied with a light bow, Hound nodded his head vigorously.
"I am glad." He stated "this is Prowl, my tactician. He will be recording the events discussed today." Optimus gestured to the bot standing opposite of him. Prowl stepped forward holding his datapad and gave the two a nod.
"We will be beginning this hearing with Jazz's mission report. Commander, if you would?"
"Can do Prowler!" Jazz sauntered forward. "The mission was a success. One full cycle ago I infiltrated the Nemesis through the duct system with a set evacuation time of two joors. I found the lab with no issue and infiltrated accordingly. After searching for a few nanoseconds I found the power source.
"And that's where things went wrong." Prowl stated more than asked.
"Well I wouldn't say wrong mech, jus' a little out o' the usual." He shrugged. "Instead of the power source Jackie promised I found two mechanimals."
"Except they weren't mechanimals." Prowl interrupted.
Jazz shrugged again. "Well I didn't know that at th' time."
"Yes." Prowl's attention flickered to the two beastformers. "Commander please continue with your report for the time being."
"Well, after I recalibrated my optics a few times and checked in with y'all I went ahead and planted the bomb anyway. I took out the containment field and that's when this one went boundin' out." He said jabbing a digit at Mirage. "Big guy here wasn't too keen to move though so I set it up and we made our way out after."
"And it was at that point your cover was blown?" Prowl asked seriously, not meaning to call the other out so blatantly but doing so regardless.
"Mhm. Don't know what went wrong, but that field went out the second we got out."
The two beastformers exchanged a glance. One that neither the tactician or the security director missed.
"After that we made a mad dash for my escape pod. These two even took out a couple cons." He smiled proudly.
"And what of the video feed you sent us?" Optimus asked.
"Ooh OP you shoulda seen it!" Jazz cried excitedly. "Trust me my visor ain't doin' it justice! It was amazin'! One second we've got cons on our hot on our- forgive the expression- tails, and the next the whole hallway is rearranging itself like one of them puzzle cubes! Walls were op'nin an closin' we got clones swarming the place, it was nuts!" He reset his vocalizer to a more neutral tone with a cough. "We got in my pod and got away while the place went up in smoke. After that we got back here, these two transformed and then y'all came in."
"I see. Thank you for your testimony Jazz." Optimus said with a nod. "Now, Mirage and Hound, I must apologize for our initial suspicions, and those that still remain, but I must inquire. What were you doing on the Decepticon warship?"
The two mechs shuffled closer to each other nervously.
"Yes," Prowl stated, optics growing sharp predatory, "a cycle ago our Second in Command was sent to destroy a cloaking device ingrained in the ship the Nemesis. Instead of a power source he discovered you. Why?"
"Especially since you seemed to know exactly why that alarm got tripped." Red Alert added, glaring down at the two.
Mirage's drone-like expression had cracked if only slightly. Optics scanning for any possible escape route.
"Well, we kinda are the power source for that machine. Or- were I suppose." The larger mech replied awkwardly.
"Hound!" Mirage hissed and scratched the other's arm lightly.
"Ow! Hey!"
"Can you elaborate?" Prowl asked immediately.
"No!" Mirage snapped back, jumping to try and cover the turbo-hound's intake before he could speak again.
"Mira c'mon, I trust them. I really don't think they're gonna try anything." Hound whispered.
"I thought that too! Look where that got me!" He hissed back.
"My friends I assure you, whatever fears you may hold are unwarranted. The Autobots strive to be a safe place for all mechs. Especially those who have been afflicted by this war." Optimus soothed, or at least tried to.
The gentle reassurances of the Prime only seemed to rattle the smaller even more. Mirage's plating shuddered as he quaked on his stabilizers.
"Ey," Jazz whispered, stealing the pair's attention. "Don't worry 'bout Prowler, he's just got one of those faceplates. We just wanna know what's goin' on."
"You trust Jazz right?" Hound smiled and asked the smaller.
He was a bit stunned to hear his name, especially followed by those sharp golden optics locking onto him.
"...yes." he replied quietly. And Jazz had to wonder what he'd done to earn that. Especially because what he and Mirage had didn't exactly feel like trust.
"You trust me?" Hound smiled and asked again, taking Mirage's hands down and holding one of his servos.
Mirage let out a whine and let his helm thunk against the larger's shoulder with another grumbled "yes."
The turbo-hound smiled with satisfaction before turning back to their assembly.
"Me and Mirage are outliers with illusionary capabilities. I can create holograms." Hound stated, holding up his unoccupied servo. A small crystal flickered to life in the center of it while High Command watched with rapt attention.
"And I can turn invisible." Mirage said quietly, a box formed around him for a moment and them he was gone.
Red Alert tensed from his position. The only indication that Mirage was still there was the way Hound's servo wrapped around the air. A moment later he reappeared.
"Fascinating." Wheeljack murmured and Mirage's entire frame went rigid.
"So that's how you made that light show!" Jazz exclaimed, shoving Hound on the pauldron lightly. "Mech that was cool! They hardlight too?"
"They can be, though that's a little harder to maintain." Hound replied with a smile.
"THAT'S HOW YOU SNUCK OUT OF YOUR ROOM!" Red Alert burst. "I knew my sensors weren't faulty! Take that Inferno!" He shouted up at a corner of the room that Jazz could only assume housed a camera.
Mirage looked a little scandalized, if not embarrassed, by being called out in front of the other mechs.
"Wait- I don't understand. Why would the cloaking device-"
"There is no cloaking device." Mirage interrupted coldly. "There never was a cloaking device."
"Elaborate." Prowl urged.
"Shockwave never created a cloaking device for the ship. He created a machine that could drain and harness outliers. That "cloaking device" was a power siphon."
"Really?!" Wheeljack exclaimed. "That kind of tech would be revolutionary! Ooo imagine the capabilities..."
The two beastformers suddenly looked uneasy. Hound was tucking Mirage behind him and both had started to back up slowly.
"Ay Jackie" Jazz called, "Shut up."
"Shutting up!" He said with a salute.
"Mirage, you appear to know a fair amount about this... Device. Could you elaborate?" Optimus asked.
"I- yes." He stumbled. "If that is what you wish. It-"
Light flickered in front of them and High Command gaped at the now-on-display model of the machine.
"Thank you dear." Mirage said, reaching up to give the larger mech a light peck on the cheek before striding forward. Jazz had to fight back a snicker when the hologram flickered for a moment.
"This section of the machine is the containment unit. That is where you store the outlier, or outliers in our case." Mirage explained, pacing around the hologram.
"The upper rings you see here are a type of power siphon. They drain the abilities of those contained from their spark energy rather than their energon seeing as that is where an outlier ability is connected."
Wheeljack clumsily rolled down from the console podium and ran around the hologram excitedly.
"So that's why it shut down the moment Jazz exited it. It lost its connection to its power source." Red Alert pointed out.
"We still need a lot of energon to- stop that- maintain our abilities though." Hound interjected, pausing to scold Wheeljack who was standing in the center of the hologram waving his arms. "So getting drained repeatedly can leave our fuel levels low."
"Yes. That is why Hound was so weak when you first arrived. ...Sorry for biting you by the way." Mirage cringed, and apologized to Jazz.
"Hey you bit me too" Wheeljack mumbled.
"And you deserved it!" Mirage snapped back.
"I see. We will ensure that you meet with our chief medical officer for a thorough evaluation immediately preceding this hearing." Optimus stated.
"So to clarify," Prowl said, "Shockwave has managed to develop technology capable of utilizing outliers and has thus far only used it to cloak the Nemesis?"
"That is correct." Mirage answered.
"Not that he has it anymore, y'know, after you kinda blew up that whole chunk of the ship." Hound added.
"And I seriously doubt he could recreate it." Mirage scoffed.
"Why is that?" Optimus asked.
"Because it took him vorns to do it the first time, and he needed help." Mirage said matter-of-factly.
"Help from whom?"
"What was the name of that one seeker? Screechy? No- Screamer?" Hound babbled.
"Starscream?" Red Alert realized with horror.
"Yes. Him." Mirage waved a servo. "Hound wasn't around when they were still working on the machine but Shockwave needed the seeker's more advanced knowledge of outliers in order to perfect it and those two did not work well together."
"I don't doubt that" Jazz snickered. "Can you imagine? Mr. "I'll do anything for you Lord Megatron" trying to work with the SIC of backstabbing?"
"The resources and time required would also be significant and taxing for both roles. It is unlikely they would attempt to replicate the machine." Prowl pointed out.
Optimus seemed to think it over for a moment before his attention shifted.
"Mirage, you say that Hound was not with you until after the device's completion. For how long have you been in the captivity of the Decepticons?"
"Eighty-three vorns."
...slag
Eighty-three vorns? Mirage had been trapped in that box for eighty-three vorns? That was nearly a megavorn.
"Since the Towers fell then." Red Alert spoke.
"Yes. My survival of the Towers Massacre was not some divine miracle or an act of Primus. It was deliberate. Planned by Shockwave." Mirage shot the security director a glare. "He knew of me and my abilities before the war began. I presume he had plans to utilize them from the beginning."
"Understood." Prowl nodded sympathetically.
"What about you then?" Ironhide gestured to Hound. "No 'ffense er nothin' but ya ain't look like some fancy Towers mech."
"No," Hound shook his head. "I was working class. Exploration and expansion corps. Honestly I don't know how they found out about me. Not even my supervisors knew I was an outlier. But when Helex got bombed they snatched me right up. They separated me from my squadron and I got shipped straight to the Nemesis."
"Fifty-two vorns for you then." Prowl murmured, typing away at his datapad.
"I didn't really like keepin' track" Hound said sheepishly, Mirage leaned further into his side.
"Wait- so did you two even know each other before getting snapped up by the Cons?" Jazz asked suddenly.
"No," Mirage shook his helm. "In fact we had never even seen each other outside of alt mode until we arrived here."
"Really?!" Jazz burst. The two nodded.
"Mhm. I waited a long time to finally get to see this faceplate." The large green mech grinned, prodding the smaller. A deep blue flushed across Mirage's face and he turned away with an embarrassed huff.
"D'aww, that's beautiful mech" Jazz cooed, a small goofy smile grew across his faceplate as he thought back to the moment the two shared in the hangar.
Prowl coughed awkwardly, recapturing the crew's attention. "Why exactly have you not transformed previously to this? Did the siphoning machine affect your ability to do that as well?"
"Couldn't." Mirage answered quickly. Any hint of his embarrassment or relaxed demeanor was washed away in an instant.
"He weaponized limited space so we'd refrain from transforming to root mode. And... Hound was again not around for a majority of the testing, but Shockwave enjoyed developing... transfixtion devices." The word came out in a whisper. One clawed servo slowly reached up and hovered mindlessly around his neck.
Jazz's focus narrowed in on the action. Hound's attention flickered to it as well, nervousness passing over the large green mech.
"Why would he want to do that?" Prowl muttered to himself.
"I suppose it is easier to keep a pet than a prisoner." Mirage stated, voice gaining a dark edge to it.
Hound silently reached over to gently coax the servo away from Mirage's throat tubing.
The turbo-fox shuddered before letting his servos drop to his sides. "I believe that is the majority of what we can answer for you. Is this satisfactory?"
"Yes. It seems as though the Autobots are in no immediate danger. This is more than enough." Optimus replied. "Thank you for being so compliant in speaking about such a difficult topic. If you would like I am sure Jazz and Wheeljack would be willing to lead you to our medical wing."
"Yeah for sure- oh okay Jackie already left." Jazz realized, the sound of steps echoed in the distance as the door slid shut.
"Well you know you can count on me OP. C'mon boys" Jazz waved and the two followed along behind. "Time to meet the Docbot!"