Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Two roads diverged in a wood and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference." - Robert Frost

48,000 vorns (4 million Earth years) ago - Iacon

"Are you sure you want to do this, Prowl?"

A firm nod came from the mech standing in front of Optimus Prime's desk. "I am, sir."

The Autobot leader leaned back in his chair and rubbed at his optics. He would admit it, when he'd put out the list of those who'd been chosen for the mission aboard the Ark, he had expected trouble from certain members of his army. Specifically a few of the frontliners. And he hadn't been disappointed in that respect. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker both, along with Tracks and Huffer, had firmly objected to the idea of going off-planet when there would still be Decepticons here to fight. But when he'd informed them of the energon situation on Cybertron, plus the fact that it had been discovered that the Decepticons were also planning their own excursion off-world, that had silenced their objections.

Ultra Magnus had expressed concern over his own assignment, but when Optimus had pointed out that he needed someone to keep the Wreckers in some semblance of order, the large blue and red mech had conceded the point.

Prowl, on the other hand...Well, Prime would admit he'd never seen this coming.

"I won't say I'm not surprised," he admitted, refocusing on the mech in front of him. "But might I ask why? I could use your help dealing with whatever sentient races we come across. Jazz does a good job with the public face, but when it comes to dealing with the customs and figureheads, I need someone who can handle those matters without causing offense."

Prowl nodded. "I am aware."

"Then why?"

"I believe I stated my reasons at the previous Officers' meeting, where it was announced the Ark was near completion," his Tactical Officer said calmly.

The Autobot leader sighed. "Prowl..."

"Hear me out, Prime," the Praxian black and white cut in, raising a hand. "You are requesting nearly every single member of the Command team accompany you in a search for energon. A search that, while necessary and I do not object to per se, leaves Iacon at risk. Especially since you are sending the Wreckers off-world as well to safeguard Autobot interests in the universe."

He leaned forward and placed his hands on his Commander's desk, looking him straight in the optics. "While Jazz's information does suggest that Megatron is going as well, I find it highly unlikely that he will be taking all his lieutenants with him. Chances are he will leave at least one behind to continue the fight against us. I have spoken further with Jazz and Mirage and they both agree that such a scenario is highly probable. Someone needs to be here to ensure the defenses and see to it that the Decepticons don't gain a foothold while the Ark is off-world.

"There is also the matter of if the Ark should by some chance lose contact with Cybertron. It is imperative a member of the Command Team be here to make sure that the situation here remains as stabilized as possible. Having both Sub-Commanders off-world, as well as the majority of the Command team, leaves the chain of command in doubt."

Optimus Prime frowned as Prowl finished speaking, looking at his Tactician's arguments in a new light. "You seem certain of this," he replied finally.

Prowl nodded. "I have run all possible battle scenarios through my computer. Every result indicates that having all members of the Command Team away from here would end in disaster for Cybertron and the Autobots."

Once more, Optimus Prime rubbed at his optics. "You make compelling arguments," he admitted. "But I will still need someone to deal with the customs side of dealing with sentient races on whatever worlds we find."

Prowl nodded again. "Understandable. I would suggest Ultra Magnus, due to his skills in negotiation. I am aware he has been given command of the Wreckers," Prowl said, raising a hand to cut off any protest the Prime was about to make, "but I truly cannot see them falling into line under him. They are too headstrong to be willing to follow his rules. I would suggest putting Kup in Magnus' place. He has shown excellent ability in handling that team in the past."

Optimus rubbed at his chin in thought. Again, he found he couldn't argue with his Sub-Commander's arguments. "Very well. I will inform Magnus of the change in plans, and Kup of his command. Have you a team in mind to remain here with you?"

"I am going through a list of possibles," Prowl stated. "I will have my final choices on your desk within the next half-orn."

Optimus nodded, and rose from his chair. "In that case, I will not keep you from that task."

The Tactician removed his hands from the desk, standing up straight now. "Thank you, sir," he said firmly. Then without another word, he turned and left the room.

Optimus just shook his head a little ruefully. He would admit it, he'd miss having his best tactician along. Smokescreen was doing a good job under Prowl's tutelage, from what he'd been told, but even the black and white Praxian admitted he hadn't quite reached his level, in great part due to the gray-blue mech's issues with focusing. Prime only hoped that Smokescreen would be able to rise to the task. If not, then perhaps one of the other junior tacticians going along could assist with aiding him.

But that was for the future to determine. For now, Optimus needed to inform Ultra Magnus and Kup of the change in plans.

::Prime to Ultra Magnus...::

In the end, both Kup and Ultra Magnus had accepted the changes with no arguments. Optimus suspected that Magnus was actually secretly relieved that it was Kup who now had to deal with the rowdy unit, judging from the tone of his voice when Optimus had relayed to him the change in plans.

As promised, Prowl did turn in his list of mechs to join him on Cybertron out of those who were not going to be put into stasis: Brawn, Perceptor, Hoist, Red Alert and Inferno, along with a handful of non-Elite frontliners. The femmes also were to remain in Iacon, and their unit commander, Elita-One, would work in tandem with the Sub-Commander.

The cycle that the Ark took off, Prime couldn't help but feel relieved in spite of his earlier misgivings. No matter what happened next, he knew that he was leaving Cybertron in good hands...

As the Ark disappeared from view, Prowl smiled in satisfaction. It had been a gamble, asking to stay behind as he had. But as he saw it, it had also been a necessary one. Especially considering what he'd been told by Jazz just before receiving his orders from Prime...

"Got word from Punch. He says that Megatron's going to be leaving Shockwave behind to hold Darkmount while he's gone."

Once Prowl had learned this, he'd known it was imperative he stay behind. Knowing Optimus would be more likely to be swayed if his other advisors weren't around, he'd requested the private meeting as soon as he'd received his orders.

There had been a twenty-five percent chance his arguments would fail, but the risk needed to be taken. He could not leave the planet as long as Shockwave was here as well. The mech was the most dangerous of any of Megatron's other lieutenants. Starscream, while a fierce fighter and good tactician in his own right, had an ego that could easily be manipulated. Soundwave's weakness were his cassettes, something Prowl had utilized more than once.

Shockwave, though...Prowl frowned. Shockwave had no emotions that could be used against him. No attachments. His loyalty to Megatron was absolute, and he relied only on logic, believing emotions were a weakness to be exploited. He'd also earned the fear of his own troops long ago for some of the experiments he'd done. Some had said to have been done on those who'd displeased Megatron. For all his skill, Jazz had never been able to find out how much truth there was to those rumors, but he'd been able to glean enough to convince Prowl that Shockwave was the greatest threat within the Decepticons.

A threat that needed to be neutralized before the Ark returned to Cybertron.

Which would have the added bonus of regaining the planet for the Autobots.

Of course, this would also be dependent on Megatron's failure to return before Optimus did, but with Jazz and Mirage having joined their Commander on this expedition, Prowl didn't foresee this as being a problem. Even if they failed to end his life, the Praxian had no doubt they would do all in their power to delay the Warlord, should they meet him at some point.

Prowl chuckled coldly and turned away to walk back into the base.

It's time to begin.

Chapter Text

Earth, present day - Unknown location

"They're on their way."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, Astrotrain was in orbit and picked up Optimus Prime and three others heading for the space bridge."

Silence fell for a moment, then: "I trust you remember that bargain we made."

The first speaker shuddered. He remembered all right. Megatron had not been best pleased to find out what exactly had happened on Cybertron in his absence, and had immediately built a space bridge so that he could return to Darkmount and deal with the situation personally.

As soon as it was done, he headed out, stating that he would be back in three solar cycles.

Two solar cycles after the Decepticon leader's departure, there had been a transmission to his personal comm. In that transmission, he'd been told exactly what had happened to Megatron and Shockwave and if the one he was talking to now would agree to the speaker's demands, he'd refrain from doing the same thing to his listener.

He hadn't wanted to at first, but then those images had been sent over...

The mech at the console would admit it, he wasn't scared easily, but to see what exactly had been done to Shockwave, not to mention Megatron...

And he was nothing if not a survivor. He refused to end up as those two had.

So without a second thought, he'd agreed to listen to the mech's demands. There were three of them: First, he was to hand over the list of those Decepticon Seekers and ground soldiers who'd been at Praxus. Second, he was not to attack any Autobots during whatever skirmishes they were involved in.

Finally, he was to allow the Autobots access to the spacebridge when they finally decided to explore Megatron's absence...

He had done the first (thanking Primus he hadn't been there due to being laid up in the medbay after a coup attempt), and the second hadn't been too difficult to follow through with either, considering he'd already found ways to gather energon that didn't involve raids. Quite a few had been disgruntled and confused by the lack of action, but then again, they were also confused by his failure to lord it over them...

Over the past few Earth months, he'd spent a lot of time thinking. At first, he couldn't guess why the other mech would have chosen him, knowing well the other mech's dislike for his frame-type after Praxus. There were other Decepticons, less loyal ones, he could have chosen. But on further reflection, he figured out why.

He wanted the Seeker to know that he held his life in his hands. That he could do to him what he had done to the other commanders just as easily, and it was only his obedience to the "requests" that had kept him from that fate.

He was also certain that said obedience was the reason for the information the other had passed along to him, information he'd taken advantage of...

It had been the final demand that had been the most worrisome. Knowing he'd had no control over when the Autobots would finally decide to investigate the Decepticon leader's absence, he'd given orders to Blitzwing and Astrotrain to let him know the moment they were detected heading for the space bridge.

And now, it seemed the Autobots had finally decided to investigate Megatron's disappearance and were going to Cybertron...

"I do," the Seeker said aloud. "Thundercracker and Skywarp are guarding the space bridge, and they've been given their orders." Not that they'd understood why they'd received those particular orders to allow the Autobots through after giving them a brief fight. He imagined they thought it to be another coup attempt. Or an attempt to undermine Megatron.

If only they knew..., he thought with another shudder. He only hoped they didn't make it look too good. He really didn't want to give this mech any excuse to come after him, no matter if he couldn't control what those two did once they were out of his sight...

"Very good." came the reply from over the intercom. "As you've kept your end of the bargain, I will keep mine."

The shadowy figure leaned back in his seat, letting some of the tension seep out of his frame. Even so, he couldn't help but still feel a little afraid.

As if in response to the Seeker's thoughts, the voice spoke again. "However, I would advise taking your leave from that world and changing your appearance. You and your companion. For when Thundercracker and Skywarp return to your base, I expect that at least Skywarp won't be able to keep from shooting off his mouth."

The Seeker cursed inwardly. Fragger, he wanted to hiss. But he knew the other was right. Soundwave was already suspicious, frag him, and Skywarp's big mouth would give that fragger what he needed to come after him. It wouldn't matter to the mech that he'd been in fear of his life. Thank Primus he'd already started making his preparations to disappear, just in case this mech had decided to double-cross him.

"Understood," he replied.

He could almost see the cold nod the mech on the other end just had to be giving right about now. "Return to Cybertron in five stellar cycles. That should be as long as it takes to bring what is left of the Decepticons to heel and make certain that Prime will grant you amnesty."

"I will do as you request," the Seeker once more said, though he wasn't certain five stellars would be enough time for that promise to be kept...

"Good. You did well, Starscream. Cybertronian Commander Prowl out," the voice on the other end of the comm. replied, before cutting off.

Starscream couldn't help the trembles that went through him again once the other mech finished speaking. Primus. He was a dead mech, a walking dead mech. How glad he was he'd been able to set up his lab on the volcanic island the humans called Krakatau once it was clear there was no room in his quarters on the Victory for it. It had made it easier to pack things up, especially once his old friend had joined him. All that was left was to disconnect this comm. system, delete his Decepticon transponder signal, and run.

He was startled out of his thoughts by a hand being laid on his shoulder. "I take it we need to go?" a calm voice asked.

Starscream relaxed slightly. "I take it you heard then, Skyfire?"

"I heard enough. Primus, you weren't kidding about him," the Valkyrie replied grimly.

"Prowl is one mech I couldn't lie about, believe me," the tri-color answered with a shake of his head. "I would guess we have maybe one of this planet's hours before Soundwave starts looking for me."

Skyfire frowned, then looked over at the console. "Then we may not have enough time to disconnect this completely. I'll melt it to slag with my cannon and then we can go. Anywhere you have in mind?"

Starscream nodded. He'd been thinking hard about possible off-world boltholes since Prowl's first transmission. "Sylision Colony. It's a haven for deserters and Neutrals nowadays. I know of some mechs living there who owe me favors for marking them in the personnel files as dead and not deserted. They may be willing to at least help us disguise ourselves."

"That'll do for now," Skyfire replied tersely, pulling out his cannon from subspace and aiming for the console as Starscream started to delete his tracking signal...

Five kliks later, Starscream was leaning back against the interior of the shuttle as they headed into the depths of space.

Good luck, Autobots, Starscream spared a thought for his erstwhile enemies, a nervous smile appearing on his face.

You're going to need it.

Chapter Text

Iacon, Cybertron: Present Day

Prowl smiled coolly as he ended the "conversation" between he and Starscream. He expected that the Seeker would waste no time in getting himself off-planet and taking that Neutral with him. He understood very well what the others of his faction would do to him if they found out he'd been communicating with an enemy combatant, regardless if he was threatened by said individual. Not to mention that right now, the Autobots still saw him as an enemy, unaware the Decepticons' Command structure was virtually non-existent.

The Chief Tactician leaned back in his chair. It had been a gamble contacting the Seeker, he reflected, as the mech was known to be loyal to the Decepticons. His so-called "treachery" was only against Megatron himself, though many Decepticons chose to see that detail as disloyal to the faction as a whole. But Prowl had learned much from reading all those Spec. Ops reports over the vorns prior to the Ark's departure, and he'd seen very clearly that Starscream's assassination attempts came from a very genuine belief that he could lead the Decepticons far better than Megatron ever could.

Prowl had no doubt that Starscream could in fact prove to be a better leader than Megatron in some respects in spite of his ego. Logic would have normally dictated he have the Seeker killed as a potential threat based on this alone, and in truth, he had considered that option for a time. But when he'd dug a little deeper into the Seeker's background, he'd found that there might be another way to deal with the Seeker, one that could neutralize him far more effectively.

When he'd received the signal about the Ark being online again, he'd had Red Alert trace the signal and hack Teletraan-1's files. The Security Director had passed along everything he'd learned about what had been happening on the world called Earth from the moment of the crash to the present day. While the data learned about Skyfire's revival and whereabouts had been useful (and had been passed along to the Seeker during the first conversation as a reward for his "cooperation"), he hadn't been as pleased with what else he'd learned...

Prowl's features hardened as he'd recalled those reports. He could understand the necessity of coming to terms with the dominant race (as of course it would be illegal to just take the natural resources of a world that a sentient race was known to live on), but to allow them to dictate all the terms...?!

That was unacceptable. And judging from those reports he'd received, Optimus Prime had ignored many of Ultra Magnus' recommendations when he'd made the final treaties. Cybertron needed to be on equal terms with an ally, not the subordinate partner. Prowl might not have been that adept when it came to social skills, and he certainly had a strong dislike for politics, but at least he understood the necessity of not appearing as weak, regardless of what the reality was. It had been of great help when it came to forming the various alliances he had managed to broker over the vorns, not to mention smoothing over things with the Galactic Council.

Prime's actions, however, had indicated to the "humans" that Cybertron and its people could be manipulated. Even if this race did show potential, a good planetary leader would understand that it was often wisest to concede as little as possible, particularly when dealing with an unknown race. Once you learned more about them, it was then you could decide if it was safer to give up more and what could be safely asked in return. Prime knew almost nothing of those humans and their history, and he'd still allowed their people to be marginalized in spite of that. Idealism was one thing, but complete surrender was something else entirely.

Prowl was very certainly going to be having words with his Commander over this, and he suspected that for once he would have Ultra Magnus' support when he did.

And if his fellow Sub-Commander did not, the Cybertronian team certainly would be backing him up. Once Prowl had spread the word, the frontliners who'd remained behind had made it clear they didn't like the notion of aliens having a foothold on their world. Brawn and Inferno had been among the most vocal in their disapproval. Perceptor, as much as he would like to examine an organic world, had seen what Prowl had seen: That allowing an unknown race access to their technology was too dangerous a proposition to be allowed for quite some time to come, if ever. Red Alert had been furious over the security breach created by allowing a smaller race permission by coming to their world, even if they hadn't arrived yet.

The femme and Wrecker units had also expressed disapproval when they learned that Prime had seemingly favored another world over their own. Even Kup had shaken his head over it. As much as he understood the need to make alliances, he knew from experience what disasters giving away too much could bring.

When Optimus Prime finally arrived, he was going to have a lot of explaining to do. The black and white mech's mouth became a very thin line.

After a klik or two of thought, he finally opened a comm. line.

::Prowl to Red Alert.::

::Red Alert here, sir.::

::I've received word from our contact that we will be receiving company shortly. Our commander and a few others will be arriving on Cybertron soon through the Darkmount space bridge sometime within the next few breems.::

::I see::, was the calm reply. ::I take it you would like me to prepare our two other "guests"?::

Prowl smirked. ::Yes, and have Bladestorm, Sheershot, Brawn and Inferno standing at the ready to..."introduce" them when I give the word.::

He could almost see the answering smirk. ::Of course, sir. And should I put out the announcement of our Prime's arrival?::

Prowl turned that question over in his head for a moment. It would make sense, of course, to have them greeting their Commander formally, give even a show of respect, however little they actually felt it...

But on the other hand, they weren't supposed to know he was on his way, and welcoming him would raise questions as to how they knew of the impending visit. And Prowl wasn't going to give up his informant unless and until he needed to. After all, he was a mech of his word, whatever else one might say about him.

::No. Our response must be as natural as possible. Just inform those I've assigned to escort duty that our Commander is returning when you pass along the orders.::

::Will do, sir. And should I alert our "allies" that it would be a good idea to stay low for the time being?::

Prowl smiled coolly. ::That, you can do.:: While a part of him admitted it would be amusing to hear about the reactions at seeing subdued Decepticons later on from Ion Storm, there would be more satisfaction to be found in his first plan, having Prime see who he'd taken prisoner and what had been done to them. The rest of what he'd done could wait for later.

::Understood and done::, Red Alert replied, and Prowl thought he could hear some satisfaction in the voice. The Security Director was quite proud of his reputation for efficiency, and deservedly so, the Praxian would admit.

Still...It wouldn't do to become too proud. Mistakes occurred when that happened.

::Just be careful, Red Alert. It is highly likely that Prime will be bringing either Jazz or Mirage with him to scout ahead, and we both know how...slippery...those two can be.::

He could almost see the grimace on Red's face as he replied, ::Indeed.:: After a brief pause, he continued, ::It would seem the signal for the space bridge has just activated.::

::Then it's time for me to prepare myself. I will see you shortly.::

::Will do, sir. Red Alert out.::

Prowl sent an affirmative and cut the connection. With the same cool smile on his face, he rose from his seat.

Time to finish things.

Darkmount, Polyhex

Optimus frowned as he and the few other Autobots he'd brought with him made their way carefully through the Decepticon base.

The seemingly abandoned Decepticon base, apparently.

About three Earth months ago, Megatron had been witnessed heading for the space bridge, alone. That had raised some concerns about what he was planning, as it was well-known that Megatron would never willingly leave the Decepticons in Starscream's hands due to his past coup attempts, and in fact would normally have the Seeker accompany him in order to prevent him from making further attempts.

Fearing that his return would have him bring more Decepticons or weaponry produced by Shockwave which would endanger the people of Earth, Optimus had ordered Ironhide to run stronger drills with the rest of the Elite, and had Magnus and Smokescreen run possible scenarios and figure out what the best tactics would be to counter them should their fears prove to be true.

There had been complaints about the extra training, particularly as the Decepticons had seemed to become strangely quiet during Megatron's absence, which dragged inexplicably on. Finally, after three Earth months, Jazz sent Mirage over to the Victory, to see if he could to see if he could find out any answers. But his reports upon his return only deepened the mystery: Megatron had said only that he would be away for a few plantetary days after a call he'd made to Darkmount. Those who were present at the time of the call hadn't been exactly forthcoming with their comrades. In fact, they'd seemed disturbed enough by whatever they'd heard to keep their mouths shut. There was also speculation about Starscream's failure to usurp the leadership as he'd been expected to do. Further, Mirage went on to state that the few times he'd spotted the Seeker on base, he'd seemed jumpy about something, and he wasn't certain that the jet hadn't detected his presence at least once.

It had been this information that had caused Optimus and his Command team to make the decision to take a small team to Cybertron, to see if they could determine exactly what had happened to the Decepticon leader, or failing that, determine if those they'd left behind were safe. Optimus had chosen to go personally, and had taken Jazz, Ironhide and Cliffjumper with him. Magnus had been left in charge of the base, along with the remaining members of the Command Team.

After a brief fight with the two members of the Command Trine (and Jazz had pointed out how strange it had seemed that those two had given up so quickly, leading Optimus to wonder briefly if the Decepticon SIC actually was behind whatever had happened to Megatron), they'd chased off the Seekers and activated the space bridge, readying their weapons for a possible firefight if Shockwave refused to let them pass.

But Shockwave was nowhere to be found. Nor his drones.

And any other Decepticons who might have been left behind were nowhere to be seen.

Optimus was beginning to feel very uneasy about this whole situation.

Ironhide spoke up, as if in response to Optimus' thoughts: "I don't like this, Prime. We should have run into some resistance by now."

"Yeah," Jazz agreed grimly. "And not only that, there's no sign that anyone's been here for some time. Consoles are cold, and from what I can tell from scanning some of the ceilings as we went through, so are the internal weapons. And it ain't like Shockwave to abandon his post. Or fail to have traps set up in case he had to leave for some reason."

"You think whatever happened here happened to our guys as well?" Cliffjumper spoke up, his optics darting around the shadows as though he expected whatever had caused these strange events to jump out and attack them.

Optimus stood in thought for a long moment. This was becoming more worrisome by the moment. It was possible that whatever had attacked Darkmount and left no trace behind could come after them as well...

And yet...

And yet he owed it to those he left behind to determine if they were safe as well. And if not, then to deal with whatever had harmed them. He owed them that much, for leaving them here for so long, even as unintentional as that length of time had been.

He turned to his team. "We need to get to Iacon. Hopefully our mechs will be safe."

"You sure, Boss Bot?" Jazz asked cautiously. "We don't know what we're dealing with here."

"I know, Jazz," the Autobot leader said heavily. "But even so, if there is some kind of threat here, I would like to be sure our people here are able to defend against it."

Jazz nodded warily. The other two just looked at each other, then back at Prime before giving nods of their own.

Without another word, they made their way carefully out of the base, transforming the moment they got outside.

Half a klik later, they were on the road to Iacon.

::They've left Darkmount.::

::As expected. I assume they're on the way to Iacon?::

::Yes. Nova spotted them on the main road heading in your direction.::

::Was he spotted?::

::Not from what he could tell.::

::Did you recognize any of the team with Prime?::

::Two of them. Jazz and Ironhide. Didn't recognize the third. Red minibot, had the reinforced armor of a frontliner.::

::I believe I know who you're describing. And thank you for your assistance. I would advise you and your surviving wingmate to head for the rebuilding at the outskirts of Praxus for now. I will inform you when Prime and his team have left.::

::Will do. Ion Storm out.::

::Cybertronian Commander Prowl out.::

Chapter Text

Iacon

"They're two breems out."

Prowl looked up from his datapad detailing the latest rebuild updates as Red Alert's voice came over the comm. "They took a little longer than I expected. After Ion Storm's call, I believed they would be here half a joor ago."

A snort sounded, followed by: "They apparently decided it would be a good idea to keep their Earth alt-modes while traveling from Polyhex to Iacon. It seems to have slowed them down slightly."

Prowl nodded thoughtfully. "Given how the humans use vehicles with what they call 'tires' while we don't normally require those, it would make sense." He should have thought of that, he supposed; but on the other hand, the delay had given him more time to prepare what he was going to say to Prime and the others.

Speaking of preparations..."Are they ready?"

"They are, though our more recent 'guest' was slightly more...fractious," Red Alert replied.

"Not surprising, considering he's not had as much time to become accustomed to his new form as our other 'guest' has," Prowl responded coolly. Though considering that said mech also been mind-wiped prior to that...

"Brawn says he seems to believe that his soldiers will rescue him, Soundwave in particular, and is swearing death on us the moment he's returned to his original frame."

Prowl smirked coldly. He'd broadcast what he'd done to Shockwave to all remaining Decepticon outposts on the planet. Between that and the lightning strike attacks he'd made to round up those Decepticons involved with Praxus, none of them were willing to cross him nowadays. Those who'd remained free decided it would be better for their life-spans to cooperate with him once they'd witnessed their comrades' fates.

Soundwave, he knew, would find no help on Cybertron. And should some images by chance slip to the Earthbound Decepticons, Prowl was certain that Soundwave would have a mutiny on his hands should he order them to make a rescue attempt. Even his own mini-cons would refuse to help. They valued their own safety over that of helping a leader who was no longer in any position to lead them.

"Have him informed, if you would, that his fate has been broadcast to his soldiers on Cybertron as well as sent to his former Second Lieutenant. And tell him also that his previous frame has been smelted down. Show him the vid file of the event if he doesn't believe you," Prowl said simply.

"I'll tell Inferno to pass that along," the Security Director replied, a slightly amused tone to his voice. "And now, they are one breem out. Might be best to get down there." His voice once more took on a serious tone.

Prowl checked his internal chrono, then rose from his chair. "Indeed," he replied blandly. "Please do keep an optic on the situation, Red Alert, if you would." He barely registered Red Alert's affirmative as he made his way towards the door of his office to begin the trek towards the gates of Iacon, as he considered all the possible reactions that could result from his announcement and reprimands.

Considering who Prime was bringing with him, he thought, the situation could certainly become very dangerous indeed.

He knew how well Prime was likely to take the situation on Cybertron once he learned everything, and was well aware of how trigger-happy Ironhide and Cliffjumper could be. Not to mention what Jazz might do if ordered to do so. Those three were fiercely loyal to Prime. However, he knew that Cliffjumper had been friends with Brawn, and once he learned Brawn had assisted in much of what had gone on to deal with Shockwave and Megatron, he would likely be more hesitant to fire, loyalty to Prime or no.

Plus, given what Red Alert had told him of Magnus' objections to the treaty, not to mention what he knew of the other Autobots on Earth, he suspected that most, even with their loyalty to Prime, would have no objections to returning home once they learned the war was, for all intents and purposes, over.

However, there were going to be the fanatics...

Prowl had no problems with the concept of being loyal to one's leader, but he had no great liking of those who who followed so blindly they were oblivious to any faults in the leadership. It would be those he would have the worst problems with, he suspected.

But he'd already thought of some options for those mechs that could be proposed should they be required, so it may not be a serious problem in the end, Prowl decided as he reached the gates of Iacon, just in time to see the shapes of four vehicles coming over the bridge leading to the city.

Prowl crossed his arms over his chest and hiked his doorwings up as the four approached.

As they came to a screeching halt and transformed in front of him, Prowl smiled coolly.

"Greetings, Optimus Prime," he said calmly. "We've been expecting you."

When Prime had spotted Prowl standing just outside the front gates of Iacon, he couldn't help but feel a rush of relief pulsing through his Spark.

Over the course of the trip between Polyhex and Iacon, all he'd been able to think about was how he'd left his mechs behind to face an unknown threat, and if they were dead, he'd never be able to forgive himself.

It didn't matter that the journey on the Ark had been a necessary one in order to get much-needed energon, or even that they'd had no control over the fact that they'd been attacked by the Decepticons and crashed, leaving them unable to return. Anything could have happened during that time. Even under Prowl's leadership, there was still the matter of the energon shortage, not to mention that Shockwave still controlled a large chunk of the Decepticon forces on the planet. Even with most in stasis, there were still enough awake to cause problems, particularly if drones were added to their numbers.

In spite of the worry, he had noticed that there seemed some improvement to the roads, even with the difficulties they were having reaching there, and the landscape didn't seem quite as charred as it had before their departure. From the mutterings heard over internal comms., he knew his small team had noticed it as well. It had lifted his Spark slightly, to see there had been some healing during the time they'd been in stasis.

But that feeling had faded once he realized that the planet's healing may well have come about through the disappearance of his people, a belief that wasn't helped by the awareness that they'd run across no one during their journey here, Autobot or Decepticon alike.

Therefore, the sight of Prowl gave him hope to believe that whatever had caused the disappearances of Megatron and apparently Shockwave, judging by the clearly abandoned Decepticon base.

At first, Prime was so pleased to see that his Tactical Sub-Commander had survived, he didn't note how Prowl had worded his welcome to them.

Jazz, however, had been paying attention.

Stepping forward, he asked, "What did you mean you've 'been expecting' us?" His voice was as calm as Prowl's, with a tone of suspicion in it. Optimus and the rest of the team turned and looked at the visored mech, startled by his words.

"What are you talkiing about, Jazz?" Ironhide replied, puzzled.

Jazz turned his head towards the Weapons Master.

"He said he and his team have been expecting us. But here was no way they could have known we were coming to Cybertron, much less Iacon," was the saboteur's response. He turned his face back towards the Praxian. "Well, Prowl?"

The other black and white smirked, but made no reply.

Jazz stepped forward. "I asked a question, Prowler," he stated coolly, using the nickname he knew the Sub-Commander hated.

Prowl's optics flashed, the only sign that betrayed his anger towards the usage of the nickname.

Jazz smirked now. "Somethin' wrong, Prowler?" His tone was now mocking.

Optimus stepped forward now. "Prowl, what is going on?"

Prowl was by this point standing ramrod straight, his optics glowing brightly, an expression of rage in them. His face, however, was disturbingly calm.

After two kliks, he spoke finally, first to Jazz. "You always were too clever for your own good," he said, very softly. Prowl then turned to Prime and the other members of the team. "I suggest you follow me if you truly want your answers." A very cold smile appeared on his face as he spoke. Then, he turned around and walked back into Iacon.

For a moment, the four hesitated, then followed after the black and white.

Optimus' and his team's optics widened as they took in the sight of the city. Instead of charred out or dark buildings, the metal seemed to be scrubbed clean and some were lit up. Mechs were walking about openly, some of them turning to look at the newcomers arriving.

"You've rebuilt Iacon?!" Cliffjumper yelped.

Prowl turned his head and regarded the minibot, his expression once more schooled into a stoic one.

'Yes," he said blandly.

"But how?" Ironhide asked now. "There was an energon shortage. That was why we had to leave."

Prowl hummed thoughtfully. "Let's just say that I used the Wreckers for a...slightly different purpose than what Prime intended." A thin smile. "Kup is certainly more reasonable than Magnus when it comes to discussing what is necessary for Cybertron."

"What do you mean, Prowl?" Optimus couldn't believe what he was seeing. This didn't seem at all like a city at war. Then his mind flashed back to the apparently clean metal landscape they'd seen. There was no way they could have restored Cybertron like that without a continuous source of energon.

As if in response to his thoughts, Prowl stopped hard and turned around swiftly, forcing the others to come to a hard stop. His optics were ice-cold. "What I mean is that I used the Wreckers to look after not only Autobot interests, but sound out worlds we'd dealt with in the past to see if they'd be willing to maintain their alliances with us. Considering by the time I made that call, the Ark had long ceased to be in contact with Cybertron, most of those worlds, organic and mechanical alike, were truly interested. It helped they hadn't been touched by our war."

He turned back as he continued the walk towards the Command Center. "The Wreckers exchanged protection duties for the necessary metals and fuel sources for rebuild from organic worlds, and the mechanical ones provided us needed parts to create generators."

"I can't see the 'Cons letting you get away with that," Ironhide spoke up.

Prowl chuckled unpleasantly. "Oh, they certainly tried to prevent it. But due to the lack of energon and medics for repairs, Shockwave ended up having to put the majority of his ground and flight units into stasis. He decided it would be more efficient to use his drones until such time as Megatron returned with energon."

"And where is Shockwave now?" Jazz had noticed what the others hadn't yet. A few of the mechs that he could see along the path heading for the base, he'd seen in Darkmount before. No way would Shockwave have just turned them loose. There was a lot more to this than Prowl was telling, he was sure of it.

"Dealt with," Prowl replied, a tone of satisfaction in his voice. "And you haven't said yet why you're here."

"Dealt with?" Prime asked cautiously. Something abouit this situation was making him somewhat uneasy.

Prowl didn't reply immediately, seemingly focused on the route ahead of him. "Yes. Shockwave is not a threat any longer, Prime," he finally answered after a klik had passed in silence. "So that said, I will ask again what has brought you and the others to Cybertron."

Optimus Prime was uncertain of how to reply to Prowl. Given what he'd seen and heard so far, it was clear that the situation on Cybertron had changed very drastically during the time they'd been away. Not to mention his Chief Tactician's demeanor seemed far colder than it had been the orn the Elite Autobots had left in the Ark.

However, he knew it would not be fair to the other mech to leave him without an answer, so he told him. "Approximately four of our decacycles ago, Cosmos saw Megatron heading through a space bridge the Decepticons built on the world we crashed on. A world the natives call 'Earth'. He has not yet returned, and we were concerned what his absence might portend for the Autobots."

The black and white mech's doorwings seemed to flutter slightly. "I see," was all he replied.

The Autobot leader continued, "When we arrived at Darkmount, we found it completely deserted, with no traces of either Shockwave or Megatron. Nor were we attacked by Shockwave's drones. Concerned that whatever had caused their disappearance may also have attacked here, we decided to come to Iacon to see if all was well."

His Sub-Commander glanced back at them, his face blank and his optics every bit as unreadable. "I see," he repeated blandly.

"And what exactly do you see?" Jazz asked now, slightly acidly.

Prowl turned his head away. "I've sent word ahead to Red Alert. He and the others are awaiting our arrival." was all he replied.

The rest of the walk to the Autobot base was made in silence.

"So, what did you see?" hissed Jazz once more as the four Autobots walked into the base, the door closing heavily behind them.

"Still concerned about that, Jazz?" Prowl said wryly as he came to a stop and turned around to face the Spec. Ops. mech. "I'm not surprised. You do tend to be somewhat obsessive in terms of getting to the bottom of things when someone says something you don't like. Perhaps you should speak to Rung about that issue."

Jazz lunged forward, only to be grabbed by both Ironhide and Cliffjumper. ::You need to do something, Optimus::, Ironhide sent, as both mechs gripped as hard as they could to a struggling Jazz. ::He's been on edge ever since we got here and Prowl's baiting isn't doing anything to calm him down.::

::Agreed::, the Autobot leader replied. Aloud, he spoke: "Prowl, while I don't condone Jazz's behavior, I do admit I am also curious about what you meant by your reply to my explanation earlier. Would you mind sharing?"

Prowl's face visibly hardened, and his doorwings tensed. "You wish to know what I mean? Very well," his voice darkened. "I will tell you.

"When the Decepticons built their space bridge, you had no way of knowing what was happening or had happened to those of us here," he began. "For all you knew, we could have been deactivated, or prisoners. Your first concerns should have been gaining control of the space bridge to see if we were alive, and if so, ask for our assistance with the Decepticons on the world known as Earth. But no, you failed to do that. Instead, it takes the disappearance of Megatron to do that. And not only that, you waited four decacycles to follow after him. Any weapon he may have found here could have been turned on us first. You were so concerned about the Autobots based with you," and here his optics narrowed, "but for those of us on Cybertron, we seem to have just been an afterthought."

"That is not true, Prowl...," Optimus began. Jazz by now had stopped struggling, and was now staring at Prowl as though he'd never seen him before. Cliffjumper and Ironhide were also both staring at Prowl, slightly slack-jawed.

Prowl raised a hand. "Isn't it? Megatron at least made an effort to contact Shockwave to learn how things stood at Darkmount. You've all been awake for eight decacycles now, that is more than enough time to at least attempt to establish contact."

"He had his Communications Officer with him!" protested Jazz.

"And you know how to hack into his lines and hijack them for your own purposes. I've watched you do it. So has Red Alert. Give me a better reason than that," Prowl replied coldly.

Jazz didn't reply.

"I thought so," Prowl's voice hardened again. He turned back to Optimus Prime. "You were unconcerned about our fate until Megatron failed to return from his visit to Cybertron. No, the only thing you were concerned with was how dangerous whatever he planned would be to the natives of the world you crash-landed on. And speaking of that...I am well-aware of your treaties with that planet's natives, Prime."

This time the silence dragged on for a klik before Optimus could bring himself to speak. "How...?"

"Red Alert," Prowl stated, knowing full well what the Autobot leader had been about to ask. "He assisted with the creation of Teletraan-1's systems. He knows every inch of its security, up to and including its weaknesses which he used to his advantage once we learned you had awakened. Which we learned when the signal for Teletraan finally went active again, I might add. He found those files and passed them on to me. He felt I might be interested in knowing what you'd been up to." His narrowed optics flashed. "As it happened, I was. You had no business giving away so much of our technological knowledge or promising to assist them with weaponry creation. And not only that, giving unconditional permission to visit our world, without the input or approval of those of us here? You made us look weak. We need to be equal partners with those we deal with, and at least seem like we are acting from a position of strength. A leader should understand that when dealing with a race that one knows nothing about, you concede as little as possible until you know more about them. Then you decide what is safest to do. And you didn't take that time before agreeing to their terms. Even Ultra Magnus saw this, judging by his comments in the meeting recordings I saw."

"Prowl, you need to understand, we brought the war to the humans' home-world. I couldn't allow them to be destroyed. They have much potential...," Optimus Prime tried to protest, only to be cut off once more.

"Even if I agreed with you, which I and the others here don't, in the end your treaties were a waste of time."

If the Earth team had been shocked before, that was nothing compared to the looks they all sported now. Prowl allowed himself a moment to compare their expressions to a human term he'd stumbled across: gob-smacked. It certainly fit, he thought with some amusement.

Ironhide spoke the words that seemed to have escaped the Autobot leader. "What do ya mean, Prowl?"

"I mean the war is effectively over. All the Decepticons on Cybertron surrendered to me following Shockwave's defeat. Most have been integrated into the new society being built here. Those who were involved with Praxus, however, I either imprisoned or executed, depending on the level of their involvement. Megatron, too, is dealt with. And Starscream, when I got in contact with him, proved very reasonable once the correct incentive was applied. He gave me the information regarding the attack at Praxus and was the one to inform me that you were on your way. He's also the reason there hasn't been much Decepticon activity on Earth since Megatron's departure. I suspect he's halfway to his new destination by this time, wherever it is." He smiled now, and Ironhide found himself thinking that the expression would have terrified Unicron himself.

"Oh, and Prime, I did promise him he could return to Cybertron in five stellar cycles, and that he would be pardoned. I considered it a good reward for his acquiescence to my requests," the Praxian finished up.

The silence that fell now was thick enough to cut with a vibro-dagger, Prowl mused, finding a mild measure of amusement at how stunned they all were by his revelations.

It was Optimus who was the first to recover. Almost as if he were afraid of the answer, he asked hesitantly, "Prowl, what happened to Megatron and Shockwave?"

Prowl cocked his head to the side, still sporting that unnerving smile. "You really wish to know?"

"Yes, I do, Prowl," Optimus said, trying to interject a firmness he didn't really feel into his voice.

Prowl nodded. ::Red Alert, it's time.::

A moment later, a door off to the left of the Autobots opened. All of the Earth team turned their heads to look. Prowl, however, just crossed his arms in front of his chest, awaiting their reactions to what they were about to see.

A tall, bulky maroon mech and a dark blue and silver mech stepped through first, a much smaller figure walking between them in energy chains. "Bladestorm and Sheershot reporting as requested with the prisoner, sir," the maroon mech declared.

Prowl nodded. "Very good."

Whatever he would have said next was cut off by two more mechs also walking through the door with a figure in energy chains, a greenish-brown minibot and a taller, more heavily built mech. "Inferno and Brawn reporting as requested with the prisoner, sir," the minibot declared.

"Very good," Prowl said again, then raised a browridge at the sight of the metal band over this particular figure's mouth. "Was that really necessary?"

It was Bladestorm who answered for them. "They didn't really have a choice, sir. He wouldn't shut up with his ranting, even after Inferno passed along your message." The tone of his voice indicated he'd been greatly amused by the sight.

Prowl looked at Brawn, who now sported a sour look on his face as he nodded. The Sub-Commander shook his head. "I see."

He turned his head to gaze at the Earth team. "You wished to see Megatron and Shockwave." He motioned towards the two chained figures with a wave of his hand. "I hereby introduce them to you. I trust you recognize them."

Optimus felt his Spark grow very cold at the sight of his enemies. Shockwave had been a large purple gunformer with a yellow optic. Now, he wore the frame of a very small minicon, still in his purple colors, but his optics were now silver, and there was no life in them. The mini-mech just stared at them blankly, with no signs of intelligence in his optics.

"After he fell back to using mostly drones, I launched an attack on Darkmount. With the energon we had by that time, it was Sparkling's play to wipe out his defenses. I had the remaining Decepticons activated and broadcast to them what I did to him following his capture."

"He doesn't look like he knows who we are," said Cliffjumper.

"That's 'cause he was mind-wiped when he was reformatted." It was Brawn who spoke up. "And we keep him in a stasis pod most of the time. I still say you should have him executed." Those last words were aimed at Prowl.

"I''ll consider it," Prowl said simply. In truth, he likely would have it done after the Earth team left, but he wasn't going to give that order while Optimus was present. He was already pushing his limits enough as it was.

The other mini-mech was silver with bright red optics, burning with rage. There was no doubt of who this being was. His voice was muffled by the metal band he wore, but it wasn't hard to tell that he was cursing them all.

"I went to visit Darkmount four decacycles ago with a team. We were doing a final lookover of Darkmount to see how feasible it would be to convert it to living spaces once Iacon fills up," Prowl stated.

"He called Darkmount while I was there, looking for Shockwave. When he saw my face, he demanded to know what I was doing there."

Sheershot laughed at the memory. "I was there. You know what Prowl said to that? He told Megatron to come and find out!"

"Which he did," Prowl said with a smirk. "Fortunately, the stun field was still usable. I set it to attack his systems when he came through. He was brought back to Iacon and reformatted. I have not yet taken further actions with him."

Optimus just stared at Prowl as though he'd never seen him before. "What have you done?" he whispered.

"I did what was necessary to end the war, Prime," Prowl stated sternly. "I gave sanction to the actions you couldn't and wouldn't condone. All of us...all of your Command Team told you long ago that the best way to end the war was to eliminate the command structure of the Decepticons. But you kept refusing to do that."

A surge of anger broke through the shock. "I can't and won't condone wholesale murder, Prowl!"

"I know. Cybertron does require a viable population to continue our race," Prowl replied. "Which was why I found another way to neutralize Decepticon Command. Now you only have to deal with Soundwave, and I suspect he will give you little trouble once he learns what has passed here after you return to Earth."

None of the other Autobots moved.

Prowl just turned back to the four he'd called out. "Now that we've made our point, please do escort our prisoners back to their cells."

The four mechs nodded, then turned and led the mini-mechs away, the silver one still struggling all the while.

"What do you intend to do with them?" It was Ironhide who asked after the door had closed behind the others. As shocked as he'd been, he had to admit the Tactician had pulled off quite the feat. He kind of wished he'd been there to see Buckethead's face when Prowl had appeared on the screen in the Victory.

Prowl shrugged. "I'm considering my options." was all he replied.

"Prowl...," Optimus began, his optics narrowing.

"I am considering my options, Prime. I will leave Megatron's fate to you, if that is what you wish. I will make no promises about Shockwave."

The Autobot leader just stared at Prowl. He was angry, seeing what had been done to Shockwave and Megatron. What Prowl had done was strip these mechs of their dignity, turned them into defenseless beings, made them little better than drones. He couldn't condone that.

But he'd also ended the war, if his story was to be believed, and judging from how those few Autobots had responded to him, it was clear the Praxian had earned their respect for this. How Prowl kept the Cybertronian-based Decepticons in line, he didn't know, but whatever means he'd employed were apparently enough.

He didn't know what he was going to tell the other Autobots about this once he got back to Earth, much less their human allies, but he would deal with that when he returned, though he could almost hear Magnus say "I told you so."

After a few kliks of thought along those lines, he spoke once more.

"What do you want us to do?"

Prowl just smiled.

Chapter Text

Iacon, Cybertron

"Hey there, Prowl."

The Autobot in question paused and turned around at the sound of the familiar voice.  When he caught sight of the mech approaching him, he smiled slightly and nodded.  "Greetings, Jazz."

The visored mech gave a nod of his own as he caught up to the Praxian.  As he did so, Prowl continued, "Red Alert informed me you were on Cybertron, but I was not aware you were coming here to Iacon.  I expected you would prefer to stay in New Polyhex."

Jazz smiled thinly.  "Yeah, I didn't know I was coming here myself until about a joor ago.  Wasn't sure I wanted to, really."

Prowl cocked his head slightly to the side.  "Oh?  Might I ask why?"

Jazz's head turned sharply towards the other mech.  "You know fragging well why," he replied coolly, his visor glowing a dark blue.  "After what you pulled on Prime during our recon trip here?  Slag it all, Prowl!  If I'd known what you were going to do with that information I gave you about Shockwave, I would've..."

"You would have what?" Prowl hissed, coming to a stop and whirling around so quickly that Jazz was almost knocked over by a doorwing.  "Killed me?  Told Prime?  There was a very good reason I didn't tell you, Jazz, and your Spec. Ops. affiliation had a great deal to do with it.  That and your loyalty to Prime also made you an uncertain ally."  His optics narrowed.  "I couldn't take the risk you wouldn't try to stop me from doing what needed to be done."

Jazz found himself slightly taken aback by the rage that blazed from the normally stoic mech's optics.  "Prime wanted to negotiate with the leaders, Prowl.  You knew that he was hoping to find a peaceful solution."

An unpleasant chuckle escaped the Praxian.  "You forget, I was assigned to Sentinel Prime's entourage as a bodyguard during the riots that led up to the war, Jazz.  He made similar 'offers' for peace talks to Megatron.  'Offers' that were actually attempts to ambush and kill him along with the rest of the Decepticon leadership at the time.  Optimus Prime would never have succeeded in his attempts to make peace."

"Look, Prowl...," Jazz began.

"Jazz, do you know what Megatron was saying prior to that metal band being placed around his mouth?"  Prowl asked.  Without waiting for a response, he continued, "He was swearing he'd kill us all once he got in touch with Soundwave.  That he'd turn Cybertron into a killing field of Autobots the moment he was restored to his body.  Even after he was informed that no Decepticon would help him once they'd learned of his fate, and that his frame was gone, he still continued making his threats."  Prowl shook his head.  "He wasn't going to listen to any reason.  The fact he came to Cybertron alone once he knew I had Darkmount proves that."

The Autobot saboteur looked away.  After a klik or two, he let out a small huff from his intakes and looked back towards the Tactician.  "Hate it when you use logic like that, you know?"  A rueful smile appeared on his face as he shook his head.  "Especially when I know you're right.  Just wish I'd been warned, I guess, though I know chances were you wanted to make sure I had what the humans call plausible deniability."

Prowl raised a browridge.  "Interesting term." 

Jazz nodded.  "Definitely is.  Anyway," he said as they started walking again, "what did you end up doing with them?"

Prowl sent a sidelong glance in the other mech's direction, not answering right away.  It was a klik before he finally replied.  "Shockwave was executed two orns after you returned to Earth with Prime and the others.  I couldn't take the chance he might regain his memories.  Megatron is in stasis in his cell, awaiting Prime's decision on what to do with him.  And if you could, when you return to Earth, do tell Prime that more than a few here are starting to get slightly annoyed by his delay at a decision."

"I will," the saboteur replied.  "I kind of think he's still not really too sure what to feel about someone besides him ending the war."

And that, he thought privately, had been the hardest thing for the Earth team to swallow.  They'd looked up to Prime as their leader, the one who'd lead them to victory over the Decepticons, and to hear it was Prowl of all mechs who'd done it, and not Optimus Prime...

Well, that had resulted in some pretty angry mechs, but none of their shouting had done any good.  And anyway, what was done was done, as far as Jazz was concerned.

And Boss Bot would gradually come around in time, Jazz was sure.  After all, Prowl hadn't demanded he step down as Prime, as he certainly could have done.  In fact, his requests had been simple:  aside from giving Starscream a pardon, he wanted the Earthbound Autobots to renegotiate the treaty with the humans and allow Ultra Magnus more input into its creation.  Also, he wanted to have a more open communication line between the Ark and Cybertron.  And finally, he was to allow those of his mechs who wished to return to Cybertron to do so.  Mechs who weren't interested in fostering ties to the organic race shouldn't be forced to, he said.

All in all, the requests been pretty reasonable and some had indeed returned, the Twins for one, though Sideswipe went back and forth as his trade deals demanded.

Cliffjumper had also stayed behind once the rest of them had gone back to Earth.  Said there was no reason to go back to the Ark if the war really had ended and Cybertron was being rebuilt.  Huffer and Gears had followed soon after.

"Understandable."  Prowl's voice broke into his musings.  "Was I correct that Soundwave would surrender after you returned to Earth?"

The smile that appeared on Jazz's face was an unpleasant one.  "Yeah.  It seems someone sent an image of Megs and Shockwave to the Victory's main computer along with two messages attached.  The first said what had happened to them, and the second was that Cybertron was repairing itself.  As Mirage told me the story, there was a riot on the ship as soon as the news spread, in spite of Soundwave's best efforts to keep the news from spreading.  It took him about three of our decacycles before he gave in and approached Prime to ask for terms."  At the moment, all of them were in cells that had been built inside the volcano caldera, until they could be transported safely to Cybertron.

Prowl gave a small half-smile.  "I must remember to thank that someone."  He had a feeling that Red Alert had taken his words about Soundwave finding out to Spark and decided to speed along the process.  The Security Director was likely feeling very satisfied, if he was watching this conversation.

As if in response to the Sub-Commander's thoughts, his internal comm. pinged.  ::Prowl, this is Red Alert.  I just received a message from a non-sentient shuttle registered as the Silver Star from the old Sylision colony.  A mech calling himself Astrum is requesting permission to land.  He states he is accompanied by two others, his partner Aquila and their Sparkling Solare.::

::Did he say why he wished to land?::

::He did not, but scans of the shuttle detect no explosives or weaponry aboard.::

::Very well, direct it to the landing pad at the shipyard.  I am on my way.  And send a small team to meet me there, just in case.::

::Will do.  Red Alert out.::

"I will see you later, Jazz.  Duty calls."

Jazz smiled a little sadly.  "Gotcha.  Guess we'll have to catch up another orn.  Anyhow, there was one more thing."  The smaller black and white mech pulled out a datapad from his subspace and handed it to Prowl.  "The pardon for Starscream, whenever you finally hear from him.  Optimus finally got around to getting it done."

Prowl nodded.  "I have not yet heard, but..."  He did a calculation in his head.  It actually had been five stellars since his last communication with the Seeker, so he expected that he would be hearing from him soon.  "I will give it to him when I see him next," he said finally, accepting the datapad from the other mech and turning it on.

"Later, Prowler!"  Jazz called out cheekily as he turned and headed back the way he'd come.

Prowl paid no attention to the nickname as he scanned the datapad, to make sure it was what Jazz said.  Sure enough, Prime had come through.  The Sub-Commander would admit he was pleased by this, as he knew that Optimus could well have reneged on this one request of his, even as he'd agreed to the others.

But then, he likely had reflected that his Tactician could have done far worse in his requests, and along with that, wished to show he could listen when faced with hard truths.

In any case, it was a start.

He placed the datapad in his subspace and headed for the shipyard.

It was time to welcome more of his people home.