Introduction: This happens some time between chapter 21 and 24, shortly after Jazz rejoins the Autobots.
Mainspring had suggested inviting everyone into the tower, but Jazz had opted to meet them out in the city instead. He didn't like being cooped up in Mirage's home. There was nothing new to explore there, and he wanted to be outside where there were more mecha and places to go anyway.
He drove through Iacon Central sector and transformed back to root mode outside the towering apartment building. His systems were still working on integrating the his newly rebuilt leg so he felt a little unbalanced, but it was a lot better than the temporary replacement had been.
He walked in the front doors and down the hall, counting cameras as he went. They were meeting in a small common area. Red Alert had assured him that it was as secure as possible, and that he'd try to make sure no one else barged in on them.
A lot of the mecha in his department lived here, in this building, though some of them were allowed in the tower on a regular basis.
Jazz had been apprehensive at first, but he was almost excited to see what they had to work with now. Mainspring had said the department didn't have a lot of mecha with the kind of experience that Jazz had, but he didn't see that as a bad thing. It was going to be an interesting challenge, but he wouldn't want to work with mecha who had backgrounds like his own anyway.
He was a little bit late, so the room was full when he entered. A quick helm count determined there were only fourteen of them. Of course, Mainspring had said about half of his mecha were out surveying cities. Jazz would have to meet those ones later.
"Good orn," he said, and took the one empty chair in the room. Conversations died out, and Jazz found himself at the center of attention. The expressions of the other mecha ranged from curious to mildly hostile. Mirage, who was standing by the side of the room, nodded in acknowledgment.
"So," Jazz said. "I guess let's start by introducing ourselves. I want ya ta tell me designations, what ya did before joining the Autobots, and what skills ya have. Don't feel like ya gotta tell me your whole life story, though. And I'm a firm believer in secrets, so if there's anything ya think I should know that ya don't wanna say in front of the group, ya can come talk ta me later. I'll start. I'm Jazz. Before I joined Autobot, I was a criminal…"
There were only a few stifled laughs.
It wasn't really that funny, after all.
"I'm good at a lot of things," Jazz said. "So far, I don't know if leadership is one of them, but I wouldn't count on it, so I need ya all ta be patient with me. I'll probably be deferring ta Mainspring a lot for the first little while, but I need ya ta listen ta me too. That all right?"
There was scattered nodding.
"Ok," Jazz said. "That's me. Moving on—"
"Wait," a mech said. "You're a criminal? How—"
"Long story," Jazz said. "Ask me later. If any of ya are wondering why I'm gonna be in charge anyway, I was on a mission for the Autobots up until this point, but my cover got blown so I had ta come back. They probably would have put me in charge from the beginning if I'd been here."
Silence fell.
"Okay," Jazz said, then nodded to the femme sitting to his left. "Your turn."
She crossed her arms. "I'm Glyph," she said. "I still do the same thing I did before I joined the Autobots. I'm a technology specialist and a data analyst. I'm definitely staying on Mainspring's side of the department, though. I don't do field work."
"Okay," Jazz said. "So ya're a hacker."
"I guess you could call it that," she frowned. "You know, there's something familiar about you. And not in a good way."
"Um… well, as I said, I was a criminal. Ya might have seen my faceplate on wanted posters or something."
"I don't think that's it," Glyph said. "Sorry, it's not important. I'll figure it out later."
Jazz nodded and looked to the next mech.
"I'm Makeshift," the mech said. "I was a circus performer before this. I used to do acrobatics, and I'm pretty good at sneaking, and I know how to fight. That's about all."
The next mech spoke, and the next, until they'd gone around the entire room. There were former enforcers, a handful of noblemecha, and a wide variety of other former careers including a primary school teacher and a couple of factory workers.
When they'd all introduced themselves, Jazz spoke again.
"So," he said. "I'm sure ya have questions for me. I've got questions too, for each of ya, and I'm looking forward ta working with ya. In fact, I'd like ta spend some time with all of ya individually over the next few decaorns, see what ya can do. Like I said, I'm kinda new ta this leadership thing, but it's always good ta try new things. I think it'll be fun."
"Fun?" a grumpy old mech who was a former enforcer glared at Jazz.
"Yeah," Jazz said forcefully. "Autoceptor, right? Look, I know this whole war's gonna be pit, but since we can't do nothin' about that we might as well try ta get along with each other and enjoy ourselves a little."
The mech didn't seem to like that idea, but Jazz decided not to press the issue. He was pretty sure Mainspring had mentioned this mech losing friends in the Tarn take-over.
Jazz should probably try to be sensitive to that.
That was going to be difficult. He had a hard time taking anything too seriously. Maybe he wasn't the right mech for this job.
But then again, this was what Orion wanted him to do. So he'd try it out and hope for the best.