Chapter 23 ~ "Let's put this plan in motion…"
The next morning was the briefing of their plans, Megatron was to stay on board once again with the rest of the Yuusha while SideSwipe was up in the control deck, typing away at the large holo-vid with codes, links, and such flashing through the screen. Prime and the others had already left for the market.
VolFogg trotted along with Prime, discreetly looking around for any signs of Mosa. The twins muttered and growled to each other, not liking the female for trying to take their team leader away from them. They were with him the longest; he was theirs. The female made their hackles stand on end.
"I'm in…" Sideswipe voice chimed over the comn system, "I can see you guys right now. I'll keep an optic out for anything at all and will report to you. Sideswipe out. "
Scavenger looked through the crowd of citizens that were currently doing their pleasure or daily shopping, "We should split up..." he said, "We'll be able to cover more ground that way." He pointed towards an area filled with holo-screens surrounding the spot, "That's where the stock marketers meet every day for pay day..." He looked back at the group. "Swipes already has it on camera, so if you guys get close make sure to keep the identities on the down low. We could be spotted by authorities, they don't like non-members entering that area."
"As if they'd see us," GunGlue muttered, rotors twitching. VolFogg nodded his agreement, looking at the screens and the crowd around them with the experienced eye of an intelligence agent.
It was a few hours later before they contacted each other. Though for both parties it seemed there was little luck.
Scavenger comn in on VolFogg, "Ninjabot, find anything yet?" his voice sounded irritated.
VolFogg was perched on a cable stretching between two buildings, watching the streets below. "That would be a negative, Scavenger. Nothing yet." GunGlue and GunDober echoed the negative, moving to find new places to watch from.
Scavenger sneered, "You might wanna check the streets, according to the reports this bounty head femme is a professional at blending in..." He was walking down a narrow street. "Just make sure not to attract attention to yourself ninja boy..."
"I am under full camouflage; only one who knows exactly what to look for and how could see me," was the retort. "As we are complete unknowns here, it is highly unlikely anyone will be able to spot me." VolFogg eased along the cable, leaping off and darting along the side of a building to a new perch. "The twins are also on the lookout. We are mobile."
Scavenger nodded. "All right," he answered. "Be careful though," There was a response on the other end.
VolFogg hopped to a few other buildings before arriving to a town-square where all sorts of market shops circled the area. He looked around, nothing out of the ordinary yet... that was until he spotted a familiar femme by the pottery shop...
The twins grumbled in unison as the purple mech dropped down to perch on the roof of the shop, still camouflaged, and looked down at her. GunGlue flew past overhead, blasting VolFogg with rotor wash before swerving up and away again, disappearing in a moment. VolFogg glared after the heli-mech, then looked back down at Mosa.
Mosa herself was looking over a well-crafted vase that glistened with black pearls in the sunlight. She smiled, picked it up and paid the fee then headed off to the next shop. She hummed a tune or two, walking in red and purple armor-outfit with red-heeled armored feet. Her synthetic hair waved through the air as she walked down the street.
VolFogg followed on the roof, watching the femme before leaping silently to the ground, in an alley, and dropping his camouflage. He walked out of the alley, following Mosa, moving through the crowd so easily that no one really noticed him.
Mosa had stopped by a jewelry shop, looking over the types of necklaces, rings, and such. She had her optics on a certain ruby-red stone-encrusted necklace; "Oh that one should be perfect..." she turned around to talk to the clerk when her optics fell upon the sight of the purple ninja bot. She blinked. "VolFogg...?" she asked.
The ninja mech smiled slightly. "I was passing through when I saw you, and decided to drop by..." He heard a hiss from off to one side, but refrained from looking over at the hisser. "My companions, I do believe, are not happy about it, though."
Mosa blinked. "Oh, that's too bad..." she smiled sadly, "So what brings you here to the market? I don't know if there might be anything here that a ninja mech yourself might like..." She found herself trying on the necklace, looking at herself in a mirror and at the same time looking at VolFogg.
"Curiosity," he replied calmly, not wanting to tell her what he was really doing. "The Ambassador will be here for some time yet, so I took the opportunity to explore a bit. I do in all the places we visit." He stepped forward, looking at her reflection in the mirror.
Mosa smiled, fixing her hair so he could see the necklace better. "What do you think?"
VolFogg blinked. "It looks fine."
"So VolFogg picking up chicks?" Prime's voice snickered over the comnlink.
Two pairs of optics glared at the larger mech over the comn system. "He's ours," GunGlue hissed in response. "Not hers. We know him the best, have known him the longest... he protected us when GGG dragged us in to be shut down."
GunDober's engine growled. "And something doesn't feel right about her," he finished.
Mosa smiled happily. "Thank you..." She looked up at the ninja bot, "You know you should wear that nice little scarf that you were wearing last night more often..." She paid for the necklace and began walking down the street, VolFogg by her side. "It makes you look...handsome."
Both flinched, looking away, and GunGlue's rotors let out a faint whir. "He's our team leader..." GunDober pointed out faintly. "He's ours and we are his... We are one." The bike mech looked uncertain.
VolFogg blinked, a blush crossing his face, there and gone again. "That was a gift from GunGlue... it would have made me stand out too much. Today I would prefer to go unnoticed."
Mosa nodded. "I see, the quiet type..." She smiled once more, walking in her own steps along the street. She hummed a tune again. "VolFogg, I was wondering..." she looked back at the purple ninja, "Would you like to meet me for dinner tonight?"
"Keep an optic out; we are still on a mission you know... " Prime spoke to the twins, noting the venomous tones.
The twins; still more than a little miserable, nodded, flitting out of sight, following their team leader. They still resented the femme's intrusion, but under it their instincts were telling them that she wasn't what she seemed. So they followed, keeping out of sight and watching closely.
"In my line of work, it is better to go unnoticed than to stand out," VolFogg commented, looking over at Mosa
Mosa nodded. "I see..." she sighed, "Well, maybe its best. You have your job and I have mine..." she smiled, "However I wish mine was more eventful..." She trotted along side VolFogg, her bags of goodies swaying this way and that in her hands.
"Eventfulness can be a bad thing," the ninja pointed out. "There are times when I wish for nothing more than a little peace and quiet." He smiled slightly. "A slow day is a blessing in my job."
Mosa chuckled. "Sounds like you work too much..." She checked her internal clock and sighed. "It would seem I have to go attend a little business..." Her voice sounded annoyed, she didn't want to work at this hour; Mosa looked back at VolFogg and smiled softly, "It was nice seeing you again.." She leaned into his face, seemingly about to kiss him when she suddenly poked his nose and waved goodbye, "See you again sometime!"
"I have movement!" Sideswipe's voice was shouting over the link, "Three shots fired!"
VolFogg watched Mosa walk away, not knowing how to respond. Once she was out of sight, he stepped into an alley, camouflaging himself and returning to the high roads to continue his search. What he heard Sideswipe on the comm, he made a beeline for the scene, the twins falling in behind him. He had a moment to note their uncharacteristic silence and glance at them curiously before they reached the scene.
The stock-market area was chaos; people were running, screaming for their lives as they flew from a group of dead bodies lying in a puddle of blood or energon on the floor. Scavenger and Prime had somehow arrived to the scene first, the older mech growled, "She got them..." he muttered, "She got them and stole their tickets, and we had a surveillance around the whole damn block."
"And no one saw anything, am I right?" VolFogg stood atop one of the monitors, checking all entry and exit points for any sign of where the shooter could have been. The twins, still unusually quiet, were searching the high and low points for recent activity.
Scavenger shook his head, "Not one damn witness..." he growled once more, heading back down the street, "Let's go, we can't do anything else more here..."
Prime looked back at Scavenger then back at the bodies that laid dead on the floor, he sighed and followed the older mech back to the ship.