My first published fic on this site, reviews are welcome and answered on some occasions, flames will be ignored.
Drift makes sure his feet make no sound as he heads down the hall that contains all the quarters of Spec Ops agents, when they're not out. The action itself is second nature, easy; most days he has to consciously make an effort in order to make a sound as he walks. Today though, he doesn't want to, not when going to meet this particular trio. They weren't all originally under his command but their commanding officers couldn't deal with them anymore so they ended up in his division because he was supposedly "more tolerant of insolence". At first he hadn't been sure if Optimus's idea to throw all of them in the same room would work but somehow they balanced each other out.
When Drift reaches their room he calmly hacks the lock and barges in unannounced, which is his standard method to approaching these three to see how much they're paying attention. This time none of them even twitch or look at him, which confirms his most likely suspicion on why his three best agents usually jumped when he barged into their room; they'd simply been acting. Not very surprising really, no one else in the division jumps when startled, they attack. Though, considering these three it's probably better they jump when Drift barges in, rather than attack him and get penalized for assaulting a superior officer. Of course, he could always stop barging in but where's the fun in that?
A slight smile forms on his face as he allows his gaze to wander over the room. Jazz is sitting at the workbench going over a few of his weapons; no surprise there really, even though he doesn't always have a weapon in hand during on mission, the mech likes to be prepared. Drift has always respected that particular aspect of Jazz to such a degree that Jazz is on the list of candidates to take over Spec Ops. The next thing to catch Drift's gaze is Mirage, tinkering with something or other that looks eerily similar to some of those hologram projectors the trackers use. For a moment Drift wonders where Mirage got it, but quickly dismisses the thought to avoid the inevitable processor ache. He scours the room for the last member of the trio and eventually his gaze returns to where he started. There, stretched across the top shelf of the work bench, is Speedeagle. Her optics are shuttered and her perch is obviously precarious despite the fact that she's a bit taller than Ravage, it's a wonder she hasn't fallen off yet.
"Normally when one barges into another's room, they have some important business to state," Mirage comments "Unless of course the intruder simply wants to be rude or bothersome."
Drift narrows his optics at Mirage; why the mech insisted on being so proper and formal on occasion is beyond him. How Jazz and Speedeagle tolerate it and hadn't yet strangled Mirage or offlined him is beyond him. Today isn't the day to get those questions answered though, if Drift will ever get answers. "I'm sending you three out for an undercover mission in Praxus."
Though no outward change takes places, Drift can feel all three of them focus their attention on him and him alone. That's natural to him though, being TIC of the Autobots will do that to a mech. Though honestly, he wasn't sure why he was TIC some days because it didn't always feel like he was doing his job. For the sake of everyone involved though, he wasn't about to complain. It makes sense in several ways to have the Head of Special Operations be the TIC of the Autobots, for security reasons as well to solve any trust issues within the ranks; though it didn't stop the numerous questions on the division's purpose and integrity.
Speedeagle jumps off the workbench to the floor, stretching like a catbot, she is partially built like one after all. "Have a seat then and tell us more. Unless you are teasing us?" Drift remains standing, but leans against a wall; Speedeagle isn't necessarily a slave to her animal instincts, but no sane bot plays dominance games quite like she does, either. No bot except for maybe a Praxian.
"Though Praxus is Neutral we do get several recruits out of there. However, the past two times our transport shuttle picked up another batch over half of them didn't show and were never heard from again. We believe there is a leak somewhere and right now our best lead is it's one of the local Enforcers." Drift pauses momentarily to study their reactions. Mirage looks skeptical and Speedeagle sputters, but Jazz has his back to Drift so he can't see Jazz's faceplates.
"It seems far-fetched but it's the best we have. Now I can't send you guys in there to directly look into the incidents because it would attract far too much attention. Luckily, the Enforcers are currently hung up on a case involving some missing weaponry and stolen intelligence about the city that would benefit the Decepticons. If there is a mech on the inside-"
Mirage cuts Drift off "He'll do what he can to warp evidence and slow the case until his coworkers are long gone." Drift nods, deciding to ignore being interrupted for now as Mirage continues. "We can go in under the guise of helping with the current case while monitoring for anyone who might be working for the Decepticons."
Jazz sets down what he was working on and turns around "If we can grab th' mech we can stop any further mass murderin' of recruits an' hopefully help th' Enforcers solve th' current case an' keep any more goods from Megatron." He mulls it over "Yeah we'll manage, get ready ya two."
"Aht" Drift holds his hand up, making them pause. "The tactical division put in a request for whoever I gave this assignment to: while you're working with the Enforcers they want you to scout one of their younger members, designation Prowl. Apparently he's real good, good enough to be worth enlisting while on this assignment."
All three of them exchange a glance, but Jazz is the one who voices the thought "That's good enough to put him on th' 'Con's radar."
"I know so keep an optic on him. That's the main reason I need all three of you on this mission; it'll take at least two of you to go through and investigate all the enforcers and keep up appearances plus another to keep an eye on Prowl. Now then, your transport shuttle leaves in a few joors. Your designations I have set up for this mission are as follows: Speedeagle, you're using Stormclaw, Mirage you're Dino, and Jazz…I think Meister would be best for you this go-round." Drift watches for a nanoklik or two as the three of them turn to get ready before he turns and walks out of the room.
Jazz starts to reconfigure his looks to turn himself into Meister for the time being. Part of his job entailed that he could use sorcelling to blend in after all. Mirage can do something similar when he has to play the role of "Dino" for a while, but Speedeagle…she can't do anything similar to this. It isn't really necessary though, "Stormclaw" has a broken t-cog that can't be fixed or replaced so she only has her root form. The only problem is Speedeagle can't remain in root form for more than hour or two at a time. Jazz and 'Raj will need to keep her out of the spotlight so as not to push her control, which even on a good day isn't very good, especially when 'Cons are involved.
They finish and head to the transport shuttle that's already waiting for them. Jazz settles himself down on a chair and glances at the other two. Mirage is eyeing Jazz from the seat across from him, waiting for the plan while Speedeagle stares out the window in between the two seat rows. However, one of her audios is turned to hear what Jazz has to say. He suppresses a smile, though several bots had asked him how they worked together he'd never come up with a decent short answer. The three of them could talk without speaking, without even using a comm. link. They trust each other to watch their backs whenever they can't do it themselves and coming from a Spec Ops agent that's saying a lot.
On top of all that, they managed to establish a hierarchy that they all agreed upon, one that put Jazz in charge "Alright then. Mirage you and Ah will be takin' point on this an' do most of the work with th' Enforcers. Speedeagle, after you get our rooms set up I want ya to tail th' patrols, discreetly mind ya, to see if you catch a whiff of a 'con. It's a long shot if this one hasn't had much interaction with his cohorts lately but it's always worth a try. Ah only want ya tailing patrols when this Prowl is on duty. When he isn't on duty Ah need ya to do two things; one, figure out where his loyalties might lie; two, keep him safe from any 'Con attacks."
Her audio turns back to its normal position and she nods, still not looking at Jazz, far more interested in looking out the window. He shrugs it off and turns his full attention on Mirage. "Now, this 'con must certainly have a good setup so here's how Ah think we should do this…"