Iacon is bustling with activity as both civilians, refugees, and some Autobots (identifiable by their brands) move about. The amount of sensory information that Prowl's doorwings are picking up is enough to make even him feel like he's in a little over his head; even the busiest hubs of Praxus aren't quite this bad. Since Jazz is bringing up the rear though Prowl can focus less on getting jumped without warning and more on where he's going. Mirage and Speedeagle lead the way, and any time someone strays too close she just glares at them until they make themselves scarce. Prowl glances at Speedeagle and turns on the comm.

:: I presume you are used to this? ::

:: It took a while to adjust and it can be overwhelming when you're not expecting it. Try spending all your time either cooped up in a lab, cell, or a shuttle before getting thrown into this chaos. I nearly lost it the first time I went for a joy flight around here it was so bad. ::

:: Yes, your flight patterns are quite erratic when you're barely hanging on to sanity. ::

:: Aw come on 'Raj even ya have ta admit it was pretty fun tryin' ta talk Red Alert out of shootin' 'Eagle out of th' sky. ::

:: Sort of, if you consider having a Red Alert on the fritz yelling at you Fun. ::

:: May I ask who Red Alert is? ::

:: Our security director who's as paranoid as I am insane when I'm having a fit. ::

:: That bad? ::

:: He has more cameras around the base than is healthy. We have a hard time convincing him not to install any in the ventilation system. ::

:: Ya know Prime agrees it's necessary an' it has kept th' 'Cons out. ::

:: Even so, I'd rather not be considered a Decepticon because I sneak out to do my job. ::

Prowl raises on optic ridge at that, surely even a Security Director could understand the need for a spy to move about undetected when they leave base? Then again, being as paranoid as Speedeagle is insane is certainly saying something. By this point they're getting close to the Autobot Headquarters and there's a little less foot traffic. The guards wave them past without asking after Prowl, but he figures that anyone who shows up in the company of three Spec Ops agents not in stasis cuffs isn't worth asking after. Either that, they were expecting him (the most likely explanation), or it has something to do with Speedeagle and Jazz doing something or other where Prowl couldn't see it.

"Hey guys, you're back!" A yellow mech runs up after they enter the base proper.

"Hey 'Bee" Jazz greets the mech "Ya know where Drift is?"

"A meeting, but he sent me to tell you to go wait in his office; he'll head there once it's over."

"Thanks mech" Jazz says and takes the lead, leaving Prowl to follow with Mirage and Speedeagle bringing up the rear. They wander through the halls and eventually stop in front of a door. Jazz frowns at the lock "He switched th' codes again."

"We probably shouldn't hack the door this time" Mirage comments.

Prowl frowns "Are you seriously considering breaking into an office?"

"'Eagle, up top" Jazz tilts his helm a little. Prowl watches as Speedeagle jumps up to the rafters and disappears. Jazz glances at Prowl and grins "We do this all th' time. Drift likes ta challenge us." A crash comes from inside the room and a few moments later the door opens up revealing a rather pleased looking Speedeagle. They all pile into the room and Prowl pauses when he notices a few games sitting on a shelf in the corner. Jazz catches his gaze and grins "Wanna play?"

"That probably is not wise."

"Why not? Ain't a bot tha' uses it" Jazz lopes over, picks a game, and starts to set it up. Prowl hesitates a moment before wandering over and helping Jazz set the game up when he places the pieces in the wrong spots before they both settle down to play.

After attending a long security meeting Drift heads back to his office. Halfway through Red Alert had gotten wind of the tactician that Drift had asked to be brought in and started ranting about security clearance, Decepticons spies, and blah blah blah. Drift had tuned the mech out very quickly and waited until the meeting was over. Now at least, he could look forward to what would hopefully be a good report about another mission pulled off near flawlessly. He keys in his code and steps into his office, prepared to start reprimanding them for stuff they shouldn't be doing, but stops himself short. Speedeagle is casually sprawled out on the floor by the visitor chair that Mirage is occupying while Jazz and, Drift guesses, Prowl are playing one of his strategy games.

"Ah swear mech, ya gotta be cheatin'" Jazz huffs.

"I can assure you that my battle computer is focused elsewhere, Jazz. Besides, it would seem we're done for now." The Praxian nods in Drifts direction. Satisfied that everyone is actually being civil for once (instead of hiding in the rafters, being invisible, or getting into stuff they aren't supposed to) Drift walks over and takes a seat behind his desk. Jazz pulls another chair over while Prowl takes the one next to Mirage.

Drift's optics narrow as he takes in his team; clearly they hadn't been to the med bay since they arrived, Ratchet will not be pleased that they didn't report to him first. "I trust that the Decepticon spy has been dealt with?" Drift asks. No one says a word for several moments and Drift notices the typical signs that signal they're talking on their comm. link. That doesn't bother him too much since they tend to do that all the time. However, it seems that the Praxian is also in on their conversation because his optics are dimmed just a little and it doesn't appear to be conscious. Odd, since they use a private comm. line that even Drift didn't find out about until they'd been using it for stellar cycles already.

He waits patiently for an answer while trying to puzzle out this new bit of information about his team. "Th' mech, Barricade, got away" Jazz grits out after a few moments. "He had a bomb planted in th' Praxus precinct an' took off after attemptin' ta shoot Prowl when we tried ta bust 'im. Prowl an' meh stayed behind an' deactivated th' bomb."

Mirage takes over, albeit stiffly "Speedeagle and I chased him across the city with a couple of the Enforcers in tow. The mech knew the city well, but with optics in the sky we were able to keep up. We cut him off at a road block and that's when Barricade pulled out the detonator. He threatened to blow up nine square blocks of the city if we didn't servo Speedeagle over immediately."

Drift raises an optic ridge "Why?"

To his surprise, Prowl is the one who answers. "Five solar cycles beforehand, the Decepticons showed up at my home and captured myself and Speedeagle. We were being shipped to a" he shoots a glance at Speedeagle "lab so that some previous plan could be completed. Though she was not sane at the time, it was only thanks to Speedeagle that we managed to escape and meet up with Jazz and Mirage just joors later."

"I only busted us out of the cell; you took out most of the 'Cons" Speedeagle huffs.

Drift decides to cut them off there "Why did you not arrest the Decepticon agent before going to retrieve Prowl and Speedeagle? Madness aside" that earns him a growl "They could have waited a while more and it sounds like they didn't even need to be rescued."

Again, silence falls before Prowl starts talking again "They were not sure of their target before I looked over the suspect list and gave my input. After deactivating the bomb Jazz and I arrived after Barricade revealed his intentions. I was moving in to arrest him while Jazz and Mirage kept his attention, but he had grabbed Speedeagle and put us both out of commission."

"After that, he bashed through the road block and without Prowl and Speedeagle's help there was no possible way for us to keep up with Barricade, let alone catch him." Mirage finishes, posture more stiff than usual.

Drift allows his gaze to go from Jazz to Mirage and down to the floor where he can barely see one of Speedeagle's optics. Something is not adding up; when these three get sent out the report he normally gets is uneventful with little mishaps. He pulls up the reports he'd gotten from Praxus earlier to find that the space he'd given them to is blown to smithereens. For them to come back looking this beat up, the enemy escaped, their cover blown, and their charge captured, nearly lost to the Decepticons at that... "So let me get this straight" Drift says very slowly. He jabs a digit at Speedeagle "You got discovered and captured" he turns to Mirage "You nearly got blown up by a bomb that you should have noticed." Drift settles for just glaring at Jazz "And you allowed this mess to go public as well as nearly get a sector of the city blown up!?"

They don't flinch or bat an optic shutter and Drift finally realizes something as he glances at them. They had expected him to yell at them, to be reprimanded, and they are relieved because he hasn't done whatever it is that's making them antsy. Drift turns his gaze on Prowl "What the slag did you do to my team?" Someone growls, Drift isn't even sure who but…it doesn't sound like Speedeagle. Apparently that one thing they didn't want him to do was take it out on Prowl, but that doesn't make any sense.

"Enough" Prowl snaps at no one in particular and the growling ceases. He turns to Drift, narrowing his optics "I have done nothing to your team and while their mission was not a complete success, I can tell you that given their circumstances there is nothing that they could have done to change the outcome, there were too many variables out of their control." Drift opens his mouth to give the former Enforcer a piece of his processor when Prowl Cuts. Him. Off. "I ran the scenarios thousands of times on the way here, there was no other way. It won't do a single bot in this room any good for you to lecture them."

Drift jumps to his pedes, placing his servos on the desk, is this mech really that stupid? "They're Ops agents, it's their job for them to get all the facts, remain undetected, complete their objective, and then leave without a trace. This is unacceptable and I will NOT have an ignorant Enforcer in my office telling me that the onetime this team does not execute a very well done mission it Isn't. Their. Fault. Actually, I think you're right, it isn't their fault. Its Yours."

All of the sudden Speedeagle is standing on his desk, her beak very close to his face, too close. He falls back into his chair and she snarls at him, wings expanded in a very threatening gesture that blocks his view of the others. Drift glares at her "I can get you thrown in the brig."

Despite the madness in her bright, light blue optics, she answers him "I didn't touch you."

Drift gapes at her before Mirage's voice splits the air "Speedeagle, come on. We should probably go see Ratchet." She glares at Drift a moment longer before furling her wings, turning around, and nimbly jumping off the desk. Drift watches her leave with Mirage before turning his optics on Jazz and Prowl. Jazz stiffens a little but Prowl returns the stare with a cold one of his own.

"If you don't need anything else, we should probably be on our way as well, sir." Prowl says after a few moments. Drift merely nods and the other two mechs leave. He leans back in his chair with a frown. The best team I have on call, compromised because of one damn Praxian that started a chain reaction. He'd threatened Mirage and Speedeagle into complying last time they showed signs of attachment, but it probably won't work a second time and nothing would work on Jazz.

As they catch up to Mirage and Speedeagle to go find Ratchet, the base's medic no doubt, Prowl makes a note to himself not to leave any of the Spec Ops agents alone with their commander in the near future. Speedeagle's actions had actually been the lesser of two evils because Jazz had leapt to his pedes and only stopped because his teammate was in the way. Mirage had been fine, right up until Drift mentioned throwing Speedeagle in the brig. Then again Prowl's battle computer helpfully points out that Prowl himself probably shouldn't be alone with the Head of Special Ops either, there's over a 50% chance that Prowl will end up either strangling or shooting him. However, no one died this time around and that's enough for now.