Chapter Text
Jazz was extracting the storage drive from the base’s mainframe when he felt the muzzle of a blaster against the back of his head. He had a klik to be impressed, because he hadn’t even heard the other mech’s footsteps, but then he heard the whine that said it was powering up for a blast strong enough to take his head off and slag it completely while it flew across the room.
“Huh. They really did send the new ops head out. Guess they think we’re that important or you’re just that good.” The Decepticon behind him laughed once. “But I have a feeling it’s not the second one.”
“I dunno mech.” Jazz lifted his hands, drive still clutched firmly in his left, hoping it looked like he was surrendering. “I been here for five groons and you’re the first Con who’s seen me. Must be doing something right.”
“What?” The mech pulled back the blaster just slightly, as surprise made him unsure for a klik. “How?!”
Jazz whirled, fast enough to strain the cables in his knees, and bashed the Decepticon in the face with the storage drive. “Ain’t the ops head for nothin’.”
The Decepticon went down with a clatter and Jazz bolted for the door. If he was very, very lucky, the Con had been arrogant enough not to have reported him yet and he’d have time to get away.
And if not, well. He really had been here for a couple groons and had planted an awful lot of explosives on his way to the mainframe.
The alarm started blaring as he slid into the hall, left knee giving out for a moment and pitching him onto the ground. “Frag!”
A moment later, he heard his comm crackle to life. ”Jazz, sitrep. The whole base just went on alert.”
He wanted to give Mirage a reassuring answer, but he didn’t have one. “One of the Cons caught me with my hand in the goodie jar. I’m probably slagged, but give me five joors to get to the door before you remote detonate the explosives.”
”Jazz, if you were in the mainframe room, you won’t make it out in five joors.”
He knew that, especially with his shiny new knee injuries. “Yeah, but five joors lets me get close enough to the door that you can retrieve the storage drive.”
And his body, but he really didn’t want to think about that. And he doubted his friend wanted to hear it.
“All right. Five joors.” Jazz pretended he couldn’t hear how upset Mirage sounded.
As he staggered to his feet, though, jazz noticed something that hadn’t been on the base’s schematics. “Hold up, Raj. They’ve got a garbage chute over here. Can you remote disable the incinerator if there is one?”
”...Yes. but how does that help?”
“They’re blast shielded, just in case some dumb aft tosses something volatile. Became standard after a couple deaths in Polyhex when I was a youngling.”
”That might actually work, then.” Mirage sounded hopeful, and Jazz had to admit he felt it, too. ”I’ve got the incinerator shut down, get going!”
“On my way!” He hobbled to the chute as quickly as he could, tucking the storage drive into his subspace as he went. It opened easily at his touch, just as footsteps started echoing down the hallway. A klik later, blasterfire peppered the wall next to his head.
Jazz turned to the Decepticons for a moment and gave them a jaunty wave. Then he jumped into the chute.
He felt the some of the pressure from the blast wave as he landed at the bottom a few joors later, landing cushioned by hot ash and half-melted trash.