[ti]Ep 3[/ti]Puzzles [Javelin]

[Prowl]

Control Room transitioning to Europe

Week 2 Day 2

Late Morning, Early Afternoon…

The soft footfalls echoed through the halls of Omega Outpost as Prowl made his way from his quarters into the control room of the base. The strategist had a datapad in his hand as he was reviewing recent reports related to the organization known as MECH.

Possibility that they were being funded by rouge human governments on Earth? Entirely likely, but he did not have enough evidence to verify that conclusion with one hundred percent accuracy. Also, there existed the possibility that the peaceful governments were backdoor funding them. Again, no evidence to give a conclusive statement.

Still, there existed the possibility for either situation to be proven true. The Decepticon known as Breakdown had been abducted in the former Soviet Union and partially dissected by the humans. According to the report filed by Bulkhead, they had kept him in an old train tunnel while working.

And according to a report filed by Arcee when she was attacked by Arachnid and also captured by MECH, they had operated inside Jasper, Nevada for a short time. Though that could just be accounted for the American government’s ignorance.

Leaving him back at square one for now…though…what did that bastard used to say?

“When stumped, always examine from a new angle or perspective.”

One of the only good things that he had taught Prowl, but it did give him an idea. As he came into the control room he set tabbed his reports and pulled up the files on all the Autobots that were currently on the roster. Two scouts, Bumblebee and…Javelin.

Bumblebee seemed to be occupied currently in Africa, so Javelin would be the logical choice for this mission. A quick key up on the main monitor for Javelin’s frequency, and he keyed it into his personal comm.

“Javelin, this is Prowl. Report to the Control Room immediately.”

[Javelin]

Javelin had been engrossed in her favourite pastime, when she was interrupted.

The datapad she had been given had access to the “Internet”, and they were pretty much allowed to roam wherever they wanted, taking in all things Earth, to keep themselves abreast of all the different human cultures, languages, and the like.

Back on Cybertron, Javelin had always had a taste for different cultures, different things. People, places. When she had accidentally stumbled onto the old ruins beneath Cybertron, and under the Sea of Rust, she had thrown herself in with a vengeance. Trying to find out who had lived there was a bust – all the files she could find had very limited information, and anything that even smelled like accurate information was locked away, on a Need to Know basis. And not being any sort of hacker, Javelin found herself at a wall.

So she did the only other thing she could do, which was go down there physically and start crawling the ruins. She became adept at dodging physical traps and the like, and managed to accrue a nice little collection of...things containing glyphs she could not read. It irked her.

So when she came to Earth, she dived head first into the internet. Here all things were exposed; past people, past civilizations. Ancient languages.

She had been resting back on her berth, still lazily recharging, watching a documentary on the Aztec civilization, when an unknown voice cracked into her personal com.

It almost felt like lightning.

She didn’t know the voice, but it reeked of authority and military. The “immediately” tacked on at the end didn’t help at all either. Worries flashed through her mind...who was it? Why was she being summoned? All the past shit she had been involved in....she had caused....churned through her processor, and for a split second, she experienced a savage need to bolt.

Strangling it down, she slowly rose, forcing herself to lay the datapad down on her berth, forcing herself to think. If her past had caught up to her now, it was unlikely a newcomer would be summoning her....it would be Optimus, as leader of the Autobots. He was, after all, the ultimate authority. So this was probably something else.

Opening the door to her personal quarters, she slipped outside, closing it and re-locking it behind her.

Soft pedfalls marked her way towards the main control room, a faint limp in her step. Just before rounding the corner, she paused for a moment, taking a deep, silent invent, and slowly letting it seep out through her vents, trying to calm herself and tone down.

There.

Better.

She stepped around the corner.

Oh.

Well...ok, it wasn’t great. The stranger was obviously enforcement. He looked enforcement....he stood like some sort of enforcer. The air around him practically glowed neon blue with the words “POLICE” over his head, flashing on and off.

Shit.

Shit.

Attempting to put on a friendly smile, she started forward again, nodding politely to him.

“I’m Javelin, sir. You summoned me?”

[Prowl]

She was afraid. He could hear it in the short pause of her footsteps before approaching again.

Usually this either meant that they had heard of him before, or they had something in their past that made them afraid of Enforcement. Prowl had learned though over the course of the war and years before that though that this didn’t necessarily mean they were criminals, they could just have had a horrible experience at the hands of corrupt Enforcement officers like Lockstep.

However in his experience it usually meant they had previous criminal history, disclosed or undisclosed. The war had forced certain...concessions, and this had meant traditional recruiting criteria had been stretched, bent or just thrown out the airlock for the sake of survival.

Well, if Optimus Prime and Red Alert had signed off on her, that was a decent vote of confidence.

Prowl turned from the computer console as she spoke up, identifying herself as the bot he had requested. Polite and respectful, though a question of if he summoned her caused his eyebrow to raise behind his visor. Would she have come if he hadn’t?

“I did.”

He motioned back towards the monitor, displaying coordinates in Russia. An old abandoned town. The site of the Breakdown’s abduction and partial dissection.

“How familiar are you with the abduction of the Decepticon known as ‘Breakdown’ and his partial dissection by the rouge human terrorist organization known as MECH?”

He didn’t expect her to know too much about it, but there was always that off chance Javelin had learned something since then. A conversation here or there. A thing said in private that wasn’t on the official report.

While he said it, Prowl began pulling up the coordinates onto the ground bridge computer, but did not activate it.

[Javelin]

Javelin watched Prowl a little warily, wondering what he was going to ask of her.

She was actually a little startled when he brought up the kidnapping of Breakdown by MECH.

Her optics turned to the console and roamed it a little, as if she could get more information from it than from the mech standing before her. Javelin was able to identify it as someplace in Russia. She hadn’t been told where it happened, only that it had happened. In truth, the fact it hadn’t happened here on this continent was more than a little disturbing to the femme. If they had run-ins with the human run terrorist group, she had assumed it was because they were probably set up somewhere nearby. Perhaps on the other side of the state, or several cities away.

But if they had access to other continents, did that mean MECH could move about as easily as they themselves could? Or were they a much larger organization, with offshoots in different countries? Both were worrisome, because it meant that they were getting very good at locating and tracking them, right down to the exact location, and therefore being able to interact with them. If that was the case, would they soon be sniffing around Omega?

“About as much as the next person,” she admitted openly, “I can give you some specifics, but I’m afraid if you wanted more details, you should probably talk to Red Alert or Optimus, or even Ratchet. I know he was probably surprised in an attack, probably under estimated them, given the fact they’re organic and not all that technically advanced as a species. I know that he was...as you say...partially dissected.”

She remained in an “at ease” posture, falling back upon years of being in the Autobot army.

[Prowl]

“I am well aware of their conclusions regarding the matter.”

The Kamchatka Peninsula in Eastern Russia had been nearly abandoned for about twenty years since the volcano erupted, making the place uninhabitable. While previous examinations of the site had revealed a clean forensic sweep, that wasn’t what Prowl was going for. Investigations should never rely solely on physical evidence when there were other tools at an investigator’s disposal.

Sometimes a perpetrator was so good they didn’t leave behind physical evidence. In that case, investigator’s needed to get inside their psyche, understand how they think. If you could understand that, you can anticipate, predict, and counter any moves made, negating paths of travel before they themselves knew about it.

“According to base records, your role is a scout correct?”

Prowl finished loading in the coordinates into the ground bridge, then turned to look at Javelin. MECH was fighting a game of irregular warfare, never engaging in combat unless they had superiority, be that either numerical or tactical. And who better to understand that then a scout, someone whose primary job wasn’t to man the frontlines.

What he needed was someone who had a different perspective, to take another look so he could wrap his processor around how MECH operated. Then, logically, he’d be able to predict their moves before they made them and either keep Autobots out of harm's way...

Or track them down and terminate them. With extreme prejudice.

[Javelin]

Javelin continued to watch Prowl as he worked at the monitor. She was still hesitant, but was slowly starting to relax. A vague idea of what was wanted here was starting to form in her mind, and it set her at ease somewhat.

When he turned to look back at her, her optics moved from the monitor to his face again, almost subconsciously straightening a little.

“Yes sir, I am. Terrestrial Recon, to be precise. Majority of my work on various planets involves moving in forest or jungle environments as scout, although I’m just as good in urban areas. I’ve had upgrades to help me with that work.”

She paused for a moment, considering her next words carefully.

“You’re thinking MECH has actual quarters in Russia, then? And not just here?”

Javelin wasn’t sure if she was about to be broached for asking questions from an officer – not entirely sure how Prowl was likely to respond. Some were fine with it as long as you didn’t challenge their ideas or plans, others didn’t want any more out of you than “Yes Sir” or “No Sir”. From the way the mech before her held himself, she would bet on the latter....but some people had good poker faces.

She shifted slightly, realizing he had entered coordinates into the Ground Bridge.

Looks like a field trip was in the works.

[Prowl]

So outpost records were up to date and accurate in this case. Good to know.

As he gazed at her from behind his visor, Prowl noticed that Javelin seemed to stand up straighter, almost subconsciously. So despite a possible criminal background, she seemed to have a root grasp on military protocol and procedure. Possibly one of the first recruits to the Autobots?

As she listed off her specifications, Prowl moved his servo over to the groundbridge control but paused when he heard her question. It took him by surprise, not because it was a question but that it was a type of question he had not heard in a long time. An honest to Primus intelligent question by a subordinate who wasn’t questioning his orders. After a moment though, he recovered.

“Not necessarily. My working hypothesis is that they have multiple cells operating around the planet, with key leadership and personal shuttling between cells when needed. High leadership would also be mobile, no permanent headquarters.”

He appreciated questions as long as they were legitimate attempts to gain information or understanding. It was when bots merely questioned for the sake of questioning, or those who couldn’t take orders without nitpicking every detail that drove him to question the recruiting methods previously used.

Prowl again reached for the groundbridge lever and pulled it down, activating the green swirling vortex set in a small tunnel next to the control room that could hurtle beings across the planet. He stepped away from the console and towards the beckoning swirl of energy before shooting a glance to Javelin.

“Let’s roll out.”

With that, he activated his T-cog and shifted into his police car alternate mode before hitting the accelerator and heading through vortex. As he came out the other side, he came to a stop but remained in vehicle mode, waiting for Javelin.

[Javelin]

Javelin continued to watch Prowl a little cautiously as he spoke. Old habits die hard, and police were still generally untrustworthy. The fact he answered her question openly eased her suspicion somewhat - at least he didn’t seem the “Shut up and do as I tell you, Scout” type.

Oh, that would be bad. That would be very bad.

She stepped forward as he activated the Ground Bridge, and turned her attention to the green blue swirling vortex as it blossomed into life. A faint squint as she attempted to see through it, to see where they were headed. She knew it would be Russia, of course, but just where...

Nothing.

His order to move out spoke, Javelin started moving forward, to follow behind him.

“Yes, sir.”

Her own transformation was quieter than his, as she folded herself down into her alt mode. There was a brief, odd twisting motion as the vehicle formed, as her left leg shifted to transform. The injury she had sustained in Haven still not seemingly fully healed, despite having been repaired. Once she was settled, however, she rolled forward with a soft rev of her engine.

Travelling through the Ground Bridge was always a strange sensation for her. One of the few that seemed to have a slight disagreement with her senses as she moved from one location to another, Javelin always felt a strange inner lurch when she was at the halfway point within the Bridge. As if her spark couldn’t quite decide just where it was, and shifted from one spot to another with a jerk. As far as she was always able to understand, most had zero issues with such travel, not feeling anything. To the blue scout, however, it always had a weird sensation, not unlike how some humans felt a strange lurch in their middle when using an elevator.

Rolling out the other side of the Ground Bridge, Javelin pulled up alongside Prowl, casting her scanner out to check the local area for a brief second to ensure it was safe.

::Ready to move, sir.::

Softly spoken, to let the mech know she was ready for orders.

[Prowl]

When the groundbridge portal closed behind them, Prowl took a moment to take a look around. It seemed as though nobody had witnessed their arrival, which was to be expected given the current situation.

After a moment, the tactician reverted to his root form, the police car seeming to split apart to reveal the bot beneath it all. He knelt down in the dirt and took a closer look at his surroundings. The sky was dark, with what the humans identified as a volcano spewing dark ash clouds into the atmosphere. The place was eerily quiet, with husks of buildings covering the area.

It reminded him of the last days of the war, after the Ark had left Cybertron. Most of the fighting seemed to have died down then, leaving hollow echos behind across the planet.

Shaking himself from his musings, he turned his attention to the task at hand.

“Javelin, any thoughts so far?”

It was why he had brought her along after all. While he was a tactical mastermind and able to exploit terrain to his advantage when needed, that tended to mean he would be what the humans identified as a “jack of all trades” in all forms of combat. And as the human saying continued, that meant he was a “master of none”.

[Javelin]

Javelin followed Prowl out from the Ground Bridge, likewise checking the immediate area. Once Prowl began to transform, however, she followed suit. If he felt comfortable enough going back to his true mode, that was good enough for her.

While the mech knelt, the femme remained upright, turning in a slow circle, taking in her surroundings. The dark sky, with black clouds lit underneath by the crimson glow of the volcano, and faint rumblings, made for an unpleasant area. The nearby ruins of buildings only added to the miserable setting. She found herself wondering what had happened here; had the humans set up a settlement, only to have it abandoned when the volcano erupted, or had they attempted to live here regardless of the volcano, and fail?

She was taken back to a planet she had worked on, so long ago, She couldn’t even remember the name anymore, but it was like this. Ugly. Dark. Reeked of lost hope. Javelin had hated being there, from the moment she set foot until the moment she left. It was shortly after that planet that she had quietly vanished from the Autobot army for a while, desperately needing a break from everything. Had she not had a good friend a little higher up in the ranks, she most likely would have been reported as AWOL. He had filed paperwork, though, stating she was on certain assignments that kept her from being called for other duties. It had allowed her to vanish, for a while.

She found herself wondering where he was now, how he had made out. If he was still alive.

Prowl’s voice suddenly broke through her thoughts, and she turned towards him, almost a little startled, as she was brought back to the here and now so swiftly.

For a second she had been about to protest. There was no way she could possibly have anything to say this soon after just arriving....

....and yet.....

This was, after all, what she had done for many, many years.

Javelin remained standing casually, as she spoke.

“Well....the most obvious thing is the volcano. No idea how long it’s been going, but the abandoned buildings over there tells a possible story. Either the humans were living here when it went up and had to leave, or they tried living here with it, and failed. Either way they had to go. Organics are very susceptible to the toxins that those things put out, so I can’t see them living even this far away. Not to mention there’s always the risk it’s going to just go sky-high some day.”

Shifting her weight slightly from her left leg to her right, she turned towards the husks of buildings.

“The condition of those buildings tells me whatever happened here, whether a dash for safety or a quieter surrendering, it happened quite a while ago. And it doesn’t look like anyone’s been here for a while. No reason to. Not going to risk growing anything here, or livestock. No commerce is going to take place, so everyone left quite a while ago.

There might be some scientists here, set up a distance away, studying the volcano, but it’s more likely they’d have equipment set up around it to monitor. Meaning humans aren’t likely to be here at all.”

She turned back, looking at Prowl, “So if that’s the case, any human evidence found here is likely to belong to MECH. It would be a good place for an illegal group to set up – no humans to see their activities, they don’t have to hide. If they are seen by someone, easy enough to pass their equipment off as for studying the volcano or it’s effects on the land.

But it also says that MECH might be a little desperate, to set up anywhere near that volcano. It’s as dangerous to them as to the original owners of those buildings over there.”

She fell silent, watching him.

[Prowl]

Time to get to work.

Prowl waited and listened as Javelin went through her full analysis, mentally checking things off as she went through them in a well thought out, concise yet precise manner. The first analysis regarding the volcano was in line with what he had previously already known. The second regarding the state of the buildings matched up as well with what was in the files.

This established a good baseline for future reference. It meant that he could trust her future analysis as being based on logic, and therefore, truthful as far as an opinion could be. He stood up from the dirt and turned to look over at her. What she said next caught him a bit by surprise. But it was completely based on what he had come to understand of the scientific community. They were always chasing answers despite the physical risks it seems. Admirable at times, though the answers they sought were sometimes in his opinion completely pointless and a waste of time.

Her analysis continued to follow his train of thought down to the T, except for the final part. That part was again, not expected but falling in line with logic. Even an organization being back door funded by rogue nations would have to be desperate, as the rogue nations on Earth tended to be on the poorer side. This also weakened the idea that they were being funded by a nation such as the United States, but it could just imply that they were just being rushed by a benefactor.

“Good point.”

He turned and began walking towards where Breakdown had been abducted, as mentioned in the report filed by Bulkhead. According to the report Breakdown had gotten the drop on the Wrecker and was about to give the killing blow when MECH intervened and ran off with Breakdown.

“Despite being technologically advanced compared to groups such as the United States military, they seem to be limited in resources and could only transport one Cybertronian, hence they took only Breakdown and not Bulkhead along with them. But why Breakdown and not Bulkhead?”

He turned and looked to her as he asked the question.

[Javelin]

She watched as Prowl walked about, speaking his thoughts aloud.

Another cautious cast about, looking towards the volcano. It was in her nature to be cautious when out where a Decepticon could get the drop on her. Even with Prowl there. And Volcanoes really couldn’t ever be trusted.

When he turned to her and spoke, she paused, reining in her thoughts for a moment.

Remaining where she was, she spoke her own thoughts aloud.

“Well...if memory serves me...wasn’t Breakdown already injured? I may have this wrong, but if Bulkhead was in better shape – more able to defend himself, and more able to put up a fight, it would make sense for MECH to take the one less likely.”

There was another pause.

“There is also the possibility that they may understand our factions. Know that an Autobot may be more likely to have backup and support than a Decepticon.”

To Javelin’s way of thinking, it was unlikely for any Decepticon to come to the aid of another ‘Con.

“They might have thought it would simply be quicker and faster to grab the ‘Con and run.”

Javelin cautiously picked her way over towards Prowl, coming to stand just slightly before him.

“If they know that much about us, it’s not good.”

[Prowl]

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

Prowl turned his head and listened as Javelin began to speak. This was one thing he had missed during the war, working a case with a partner. The mental exercises, trying to get inside a criminal’s processor, decipher what was going to happen next based on the clues available. And it was even better with a partner because they could bounce theories off each other. Javelin might not have been Enforcement, but she had the traits it seemed.

This was what he had been built for. And he loved it. He shook his head in the negative at her first statement though.

“Negative. Bulkhead’s report indicated that Breakdown had won the fight and was about to finish him off when MECH intervened. Perhaps because MECH had stunned Breakdown themselves they could be more assured that he would stay immobile and thus allow them more time to secure him?”

More pieces coming to light if one asked the right questions. Prowl nodded in the affirmative as Javelin continued her thought. That did line up with statements during the first attempted rescue of Breakdown by Optimus, Ratchet, Arcee and Bumblebee. Apparently audio and video communication had been enabled via Breakdown’s extracted eye between Optimus and MECH’s leader, Silas. Silas had mentioned something to the effect of expecting Megatron instead of Optimus.

“That seems to be, though how they acquired this information...MECH did not strike a deal with Arachnid until after this incident. But somehow they know how to play the field if they can or want.”

Prowl frowned. MECH was relatively well informed about the war than one fresh faced observer who just arrived on the scene would be. Could Breakdown had talked during the time they had him? Or did MECH have another source? Apparently the Decepticons had been rather late in attempting a rescue. While this was not surprising, could there have also been other motives? Prowl shook his head before motioning continuing towards the first site.

“And this just raises the question, are the Decepticon’s using MECH as a patsy and Breakdown was a sacrificial turbofox?”

[Javelin]

Javelin moved forward, turning her back on the volcano, listening to Prowl as he spoke, explaining that in fact it had been Bulkhead who had been injured. Javelin felt somewhat foolish getting that backwards, but it certainly did raise questions.

After the mech stopped speaking, and motioned for Javelin to follow him towards, she fell into step alongside him, running his words through her head.

Back on Cybertron, Javelin had been a simple Energon scout. Not that different from her basic roll in the Autobot army, the large mines couldn’t set up operations without having some idea of where to start drilling. Javelin’s class enabled her to move about on Cybertron and other planets, locate possible energon sites, and call it in. Then the bigwigs would come in and drill, see if it was worth setting up a mine.

It had been easy enough to change her basic coding for the war.

But she had other skills that were, in a sense, innate to her herself. Skills that helped her with her illegal activities, and skills that might have.

Javelin had an ability to see patterns in what appeared as random images. It only applied to visual or audio, even if the visual images were moving. She usually had to dedicate her entire processor to it, however, and it could leave her exposed. As a result, she didn’t use it very often. But here, now, in a way, she was looking for some sort of pattern, and she was starting to find it interesting.

Having fallen silent when Prowl stopped talking, she mused for a while, running things through her mind, before she spoke again.

“Tackling Breakdown when Bulkhead was down makes no sense. Why go after the uninjured one? Bulkhead’s the one that wouldn’t put up a fight.”

She glanced to Prowl.

“Assuming that because they hit Breakdown he was more controllable than Bulkhead is a terrible assumption. If I’m not mistaken, by this point MECH still didn’t have as much knowledge about us as they do now – they had no way of knowing how much damage Breakdown could do to Bulkhead.

Unless....as you’re implying...Breakdown was sacrificed to MECH in a.... gift from Megatron?”

Javelin looked at the ground as she walked, her processor churning over the information.

She shook her head, “I can’t see it. I can’t see Megatron teaming up with humans...any organic species...in any manner. He despises them. Even to use them....he still had to give them knowledge of us, of how we work, how we function.”

Javelin was quiet again for a moment, “I went to some of the early talks. The ones Megatron had on Cybertron. His entire basis of thinking was on ‘Might makes Right’. Organic creatures like humans would be little more than vermin to him. Giving them info on us, just to strike at the Autobots....”

Suddenly feeling out of place, as if speaking too much on something she really didn’t know all that much about, she shook her head, “I don’t know. In all honesty, there’s nothing Megatron could do that would really surprise me. He traded sanity for power long ago.”

[Prowl]

A decent sized courtyard, but there was nothing special about it. Plus, any forensic evidence would be long gone.

Prowl knelt down as they came into the space, maybe twice to four times the size of Omega One’s control room. His gaze lingered across the open space, taking in every detail. After a moment, he shook his head in the negative. This place was not giving him anything. He turned towards Javelin as she spoke, processing what was said in his processor before replying.

“Apparently Breakdown was about to deliver the finishing blow to Bulkhead via a hammer blow to the head. Perhaps they were attempting to prevent damage to a potential prize...”

Prowl scratched his chin as he spoke, still deep in thought. Javelin seemed quite intelligent, she knew what she was talking about. In all honesty, Prowl was finding it nice to bounce ideas off of someone every now and then. But still, criminal investigation was obviously not her original programming or occupation. A key feature of investigating was identifying all logical possibilities, then removing the implausible until the plausible remained. It was a process that tended to work.

“Unfortunately, we do not have a psychiatric profile on this...Silas who seems to be calling the shots. That would give us an even better idea of how he operates...something to speak with Fowler about...”

That last portion spoken by the scout gave Prowl a momentary pause in his deliberations. The whole planet seemed to have traded sanity eons ago. Was the caste system imperfect? Yes. Did it make sense? In some respects, yes. If someone had a drill bit or a piledriver with a robust frame designed to haul material, they would logically make for a good laborer. Free will had its place, but beings tended to let their emotions instead of common sense and logic dictate their actions. Prowl just shook his head before returning himself to the present.

“Picking up anything here?”