Planning the Op
Several hours later, there was a summons from Ultra Magnus and the trio re-entered the command center. The commander was again at the map table, waiting for them. "Jazz, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe." The giant Autobot said in greeting, nodding to each mech in turn. "Our agent has secured all the pass codes required, along with a map of the facility, geological scans and the duty roster."
"Sweet. That'll make this job easier." Jazz grinned.
"Hopefully so." Ultra Magnus keyed up the exterior view of the factory, then overlaid the schematics, scanner radii and patrol routes. "What do you see, Jazz?" He asked
Jazz scrutinised the diagram for a few minutes, one hand rubbing his chin in thought. "There's a gap here an' here." He murmured, thinking out loud. "Looks like a hole in th' route over here…nah, not that one. Maybe…" Jazz walked to the other side of the table and re-assumed his 'thinking' pose. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker watched the black and white with great interest. Though they had been called in to help Jazz with the occasional mission, they had never actually sat in on the planning of one.
"So far, looks as if a lil' distraction over here oughta draw enough attention t' get me in though th' gate an' inta this here vent shaft t' the power core." Jazz finally said. He pointed to the eastern wall. "Sides, there's a fault line running under this wall, if you can shake it up with th' 'drivers, then you an' Sunny draw a bunch a' folks through a gauntlet we'll set up over here," he pointed to a narrow canyon in the torn up landscape, "I can slip in th' west gate an' cause a lil' havoc with th' reactor, make it look like an industrial accident an' discredit this Mainhaul dude at the same time we tear up his factory."
Sideswipe and Sunstreaker exchanged a glance. "Sounds good to us." Sunstreaker replied.
Jazz turned to the commander "Magnus?"
"It looks risky. Are you sure you can pull it off?" The commander asked.
"Dude, these two are just about th' deadliest 'bots ever built. They'll be fine." Jazz replied.
"And what about you?" Magnus queried.
Jazz shrugged. "Eh, it's nothin' new." He replied. "Anythin' else we need t' know about?"
"Not at this moment."
"Cool. Just gimme a minute t' copy th' map and we'll kit up for the op, be at the exit in 'bout an hour."
Their first stop was the armoury; the twins taking the opportunity to clean their weapons while Jazz browsed through the shelves of ordinance, picking out what he deemed as the appropriate missiles and ammunition for the job.
"So Jazz," Sideswipe said as he finished scrubbing off some carbon residue, "Why'd you get out of this gig anyway? No offence, but Special Ops seems to be a bit of a step down on the food chain around here."
"Just wanted out." Jazz shrugged. Sideswipe opened his mouth to ask another question, but Sunstreaker quietly nudged him.
"Leave it." He muttered. Sideswipe looked as if he were about to protest, but a warning look from his brother quickly silenced him.
After the armoury, the trio's next stop was the explosives lockers, where the Porsche proceeded to collect a fair sized case of demolitions equipment, along with standard issue bandoliers of grenades for both him and the twins.
However, there was a surprise waiting for them at the entrance. Nightwatch and his full team were waiting for them there, along with Skywatch and Updraft. Deck, however, was noticeably absent.
"Nightwatch, here t' see us off?" Jazz asked.
"Sort of. We're headed south like you, got a supply depot to raid, and Skywatch and Updraft will be scouting near the Kailcon Arch. Because we'll all be headed in the same direction for a while, Magnus thought it would be good for us to travel together. Cybertron's changed a great deal since you were here last." Nightwatch explained.
"Any chance of a few introductions?" Sideswipe asked, winking at a dark orange femme standing in the group. She giggled in response, and a tall black mech stepped closer to her, wrapped one arm protectively around her shoulder and giving the red twin a warning glare that could have burned through steel plate. Nightwatch tactfully ignored the exchange.
"This is my team, the 116th Black Ops Squad." Nightwatch began, sweeping his arm towards his team. "Myself, Shadow and Talon you already know. Over here is Vibe, our comm-tech." He indicated the orange femme. "Next to her is Scope, sharpshooter. Over there is Caps, demolitions," A dusty green truck-type mech waved at them, "and finally there's Sharps, scout." A lean motorcycle-type mech raised one hand in acknowledgment.
"Well then, howsabout we get this show on the road?" Jazz suggested.
"I thought you'd never ask." Nightwatch replied as he keyed open the security lock.