[ti]Ep 3[/ti]My Turn. [Closed: Jazz, Bumblebee, Sunstreaker]

[Prowl]

Week 4, Day 6

Control Room Transitioning to Sayan Mountains.

Losses of some kind were always to be expected in war. There were losses in equipment, due to mechanical failure or enemy action. There were losses in supplies, due to consumption or enemy action. There were losses in personnel, either in accidents or...enemy action. Despite the length of this conflict, the numerous bodies piled behind him, the amount of spilled energon on his hands, some losses managed to get a reaction out of Prowl. Especially ones like this...

He had been ready to choke slam Windshield when he found out that they had lost Patch. Not that he personally cared for the young medic, but the fact was that without her they were without an effective Chief Medical Officer. Ratchet was...effectively out of commission, therefore despite being alive he was of no use to them. The loss of both of their medical personnel had left Prowl with a nagging suspicion, perhaps that Megatron had allied his Decepticon army with MECH despite his hatred of non Cybertronian life. It would double his forces on Earth, providing them with local assets who knew the lay of the land. Practically the only thing those humans were good for in Prowl’s mind.

His musings had been interrupted when he’d gotten a report from Agent Fowler. American spy satellites in orbit of the planet had detected some unusual readings and taken some interesting photographs. Fowler had been able to wipe them from the main military database and pass them onto Omega One for analysis.

As Prowl stood at the computer in the control room, studying the images he almost smiled. The Americans had managed to find an energon mine of all things, located in a place the report identified as “Siberia”, a wasteland that could give the Sea of Rust a run for its money. Prowl had to respect the human’s ingenuity, it made sense to put a spy system up where it was damn near impossible to get at for more than three quarters of the population.

Prowl looked down and pressed the button for the intercom. He already had a team in mind for how he was going to approach this. With the foreseeable likelihood of not being able to have qualified medical personnel being able to treat injuries, he needed some of the best soldiers this base had to offer. He also needed them to be on the smaller side, ruling out bigger bots like Avalanche, Jetfire, or Skirmisher. Furthermore, he needed them to be ones he could trust, or at least believe that could follow orders without too many questions.

“Jazz, Bumblebee, Sunstreaker. Report to the control room for an away mission.”

[Sunstreaker]

Just how long had it been since she'd heard those words? Away Mission. However long it had been in reality, to Sunstreaker, the answer was always: not soon enough. There was only so much banter and recreational activity that she could fit into a day before she started to get stir-crazy. For the sake of everyone posted at Omega, it was always a good idea to give their Sunstreaker some fresh air once in a while. Sure, it was Prowl leading the operation most likely, but at this point, she hardly cared. Didn't know where she was going yet, though. Didn't care about that either. It was, however, in moments like these where it began to dawn on Sunstreaker just how simple a creature she was.

That too, she didn't care about.

There was fightin's and shootin's to be had, after all.

The roar of an engine from down one of the connecting hallways would've been Prowl's first indication of who had shown up first, obviously. Didn't matter how far or near she'd been to the control room, Sunny would've approached at (interior-safe) full speed. From out of the hall she came, tires screeching against the stone flooring as she swung out into the room itself, a magnificent little display for perhaps the one bot in Omega who would've cared for it the least. Shifting forms, Sunstreaker ate most of her momentum as she rolled to the side, slowing herself down further. She sprang up to full height a moment later.

Standing up, Sunny locked her digits together and raised them up over her head, bending her body from side to side in a little stretch. The theatrics more or less over for now, Sunstreaker simply parked herself up against the nearest wall, arms folded against her chest. With a small dip of her head toward the mech who'd demoted her back to the stone age, she smiled.

"Prowler."

[Jazz]

     Jazz had been busing himself since Patch had been snatched to do a little insider work. He'd been scowering through his old datafiles and reports he'd been saving all the way from his time in the Elite Guard, sorting and organizing what he didn't need just to keep himself busy. Had Red not upped security to the point where even he may have had issues sneaking out without being detected, he would have been out there on his own going to Windshield's head on his own. The usual light sparked mech had now opted to lock himself in his room to endure mountains of paperwork so he didn't blast a hole in the side of the base large enough for the Nemesis to stroll through just to get out. Instead of just being angry, he just turned it into something more positive. As much as he could, at least.

     He heard the comm and turned his helm slightly in the direction of the audial he'd heard it in, as if expecting Prowl to be standing there in his doorway instead. It took him a klik to realize it'd actually come in through the channel, and, from what he figured by finally realizing the channel it had come in, it was private.

     "Sunstreaker," Jazz said flatly, skipping the casual name shortening as he made his way into the room just in time to hear the nickname he'd given Prowl eons ago. While it was usually his place to liven up the situation, even he knew when it was time to be serious. This was certainly one of those times, especially since they were down both their medics... and he was down two friends. One organization should have been taken down a while ago, and the most recent? If he'd been given time of day to check out Windshield when he wanted to and dealt with Skirmisher beforehand...

"Please respect your ranked officers. I know ya don't need me ta'tell ya that." To be honest, no one really knew where Jazz stood within that fold either, since he'd come in from the Elite Guard who operated as a separate entity under Prime. For what it was worth, he lounged on his bottom of the barrel status and didn't put any thought into it unless he had to, which he felt was in need now. No way to tell if Sunstreaker outranked him, nor would he spill it either.

     Jazz had suspicions that this wasn't exactly cleared with Optimus fully, considering the selected bunch he'd heard called in but he'd wait and see. For now he stood back, waiting for Bee to arrive so they could continue on with this little meeting and he could see just what Prowl was up to.

[Bumblebee]

Down in the lower levels of the Omega Base, Bumblebee punched out at the air with a fierce double jab with his right servo. Immediately he would twist, following through with an equally vicious uppercut with his left.

Patch had been taken - and as much as he wanted to chase down Windshield and demand to know where she was, that would only end in further disaster and would therefore achieve absolutely nothing. They didn’t know where the traitor had taken her, unable to track anything like that - but given the damage to the area around where Windshield had been housed? She hadn’t gone down without a fight.

He could only hope that she was okay. That she was still alive.

Down both their medics now, it was a scary time indeed. Should the Decepticons get the location of Omega from Patch? It’d be game over. The truce long gone now, he’d seen the damage done to Haven. The casualties, the loss of many of the neutrals that’d been at the wrong place at the wrong time... it made him feel sick thinking of what would happen if the Omega Base - their home - ever got found out.

So he trained. Punching at the air, jabbing and twisting - imagining Windshield was the one he was up against, which only made him push harder in his assault in this attempt to distract his thoughts.

When the voice cut through on the intercom, he wasn’t at all surprised - everyone had been on high alert, and he could only wonder if this meant that there had been news on where Patch had been taken.

Easing back after one last punch, he would relax - shaking out his arms before quickly making his way upstairs to the Control Room.

While he was the last one to arrive, he had entered the room only moments after Jazz. Hearing the comment about respect, he could only frown as his attention shifted to those gathered.

--Prowl, Jazz, Sunstreaker.--

Bobbing his helm, he would keep his gaze on the one who had called them all here.

--Is this about Patch?--

[Prowl]

Prowl was about to turn around and give Sunstreaker a patented ‘What the did you just call me?’ lecture on military etiquette when Jazz beat him to the punch.

He had to admit, it was quite odd hearing Jazz come to the defense of proper etiquette and protocol, perhaps if the timing were different he would have said something to the same effect. But now was not the right time. As the final member of his strike team made it into the room, Prowl turned his attention away from the monitor and regarded each of them for a few seconds before speaking.

“No Bumblebee, this isn’t about Patch.”

Well, that wasn’t necessarily true. Part of the reason Prowl had scouted and planned this assault was because Patch had been taken by the Decpticons. While Prowl could not necessarily do the same, i.e. kidnap a Decepticon and beat the location of the Decepticon warship out of them, there were other ways he could put pressure on the Cons.

“Our human liaison, Agent Fowler, has found the possible location of a Decepticon energon mine.”

He said it was possible because there was the slight possibility that this was either a trap by the Decepiticons, a way to either kill or capture even more Autobots, or human ‘intelligence’ was not all it was cracked up to be. Still, even the remote possibility must be examined. Such a discovery could be the one thing that tipped the scales of the war, no matter how unlikely that was. Prowl turned back towards the screen and typed in a few commands, showing a topographical overview of their target.

The overhead satellite view showed a small valley in the mostly forested area, with a small river running through the valley. On one side of the river, Agent Fowler had put a big purple dot at the base of one of the mountains to show where the suspected mine entrance was.

“We’re going to seize the mine, take all the energon we can, and detonate whatever we cannot bring back to base, leaving nothing for the Decepticons.”

[Sunstreaker]

Was Ultra Magnus hiding under a couch, somewhere?

Since when did Jazz start lecturing people on proper etiquette and protocol? She expected it from people like Prowl (and to a lesser extent ones like her), people who'd been put through the wringer of a police or military education. She certainly hadn't seen it coming from a musician of all people. Of all people, she'd expected him to jump in on teasing Prowl a bit. Comedy was broken today, by the sounds of it. Sunstreaker didn't retort, instead merely rolling her optics at Jazz's suggestion, before turning them up to the Prowler himself.

She had to give credit to the mood, however.

Ever since she'd arrived, people's spirits' had been going downhill steadily. A series of kidnappings and attacks would do that to anyone, really. Prowl was still Prowl of course, but it was more visible in Jazz, and even Bee. Least of all she expected to see it in Bee. Seen it plenty on Cybertron.

Sunny listened along to the relatively barebones briefing Prowl provided, optics narrowing as she absorbed the info. They were just supposed to attack some random patch of ground because the humans pointed them toward it? Granted, she hadn't had time to chat up this human liaison and pick his brain yet, but she was still circumspect on the matter.

At seeing the terrain however, Sunstreaker suppressed an audible groan.

No roads.

Grass.

Dirt.

Mud...

If she had a digestive system, it'd be roiling.

Wasn't looking forward to all that.

She did her best to refocus her attention to more tactical matters. Cons she had no problem dealing with, so these things tended to always come down to a matter of logistics. Sunny tilted her head up towards the map on the screen. "How much can we move with just the four of us plus a ground bridge? I imagine we're gonna have to haul some of it back with the Cons' equipment."

[Jazz]

     Everyone's mood was dull, Jazz's included. He'd been itching to get out there and do something about what happened to Patch, but with Ratchet as he was Optimus really needed as many adult hands on board as he could get. With Jazz being among the oldest here and going back as far as he did with Optimus, he felt that there was definitely an obligation to help out his hold friend in any way he could. He'd been doing so many things behind the scenes around base to keep things in order and prevent Red from having an absolutely meltdown that the chance to get out and do something active outside of these walls was more than welcoming. Even if it did come with the hitch that Prowl was leading this little expedition.

     With the arrival of all party members, Jazz stood back against the wall with his arms crossed, just listening to what they were going to be doing. His visor was dim and while he may have had the look that he wasn't quite paying attention from his little spot, he absolutely was. That said, Sunny's groan did not go unnoticed to him, and probably not to Prowl either.

     "Pretty sure it's more like three of us." Jazz chimed in from his place, hoping to redirect focus so that the tactician wouldn't turn to reprimanding Sunstreaker where she stood for the sound. This wasn't the time or place to be dampening spirits. He pushed from the wall and walked past Bee, offering the yellow Camaro a pat on the shoulder as he went along. He went in towards the overhead projection for a closer look, recording every nook and cranny he could.

     Jazz prided himself on knowing who he worked with- who his friends were, who his enemies were, and where each of them had to be placed on the table. In ways, Prowl worked about the same. He knew who he needed for what stages of the game and when to move what pawns. Sunstreaker missed the mark with her assumption, at least that's what Jazz presumed. This wasn't the time to question Prowl's reasons for why he had picked them of all to go in and no way was he going to question it right before any of them were sent out to do some hands on field work.

     They were all built for speed with different sets of skills behind them. Jazz had a sneaky suspicion what he was there for but again... presumptions best left to himself for now.

     "When we headin' out?"

[Bumblebee]

It wasn’t about Patch..?

And just like that, Bumblebee’s mood sank. He’d been expecting some good news, a location or some sort of intel about where their medic was being held, with this being the start of a rescue mission to get her and bring her home.

It didn’t feel right simply doing nothing, yet there wasn’t exactly a whole lot they - or at least he - could do until they found any sort of clue as to her whereabouts.

At least this would keep them busy, with Bumblebee welcoming any and all distractions. Mines meant Vehicons, and while he very much doubted the Decepticon drones would know anything at all about Patch, it sure would feel good to get rid of a few and to hinder the Decepticons mining efforts for a bit.

At least in one location, anyway. Plus the chance to steal Energon? Always a nice bonus.

He wouldn’t respond to Prowl, though would nod at his words. Attentive, he would shift his focus to the screen as the map was displayed, his optics whirring gently as he took in the necessary details. The area seemed secluded, which meant getting in and out should be easy enough. That was the nice thing about mines - they were remote, away from humans.

The movement from Jazz did not pull his attention away from the screen, though when the other mech patted him on the shoulder did he glance briefly away, nodding to Jazz as he passed.

He didn’t have any real questions or comments - wanting to just simply show up, kick some Decepticon aft, get some Energon, and get out again. This wouldn’t be the first mine he’d helped raid, and it sure as heck wouldn’t be the last.

[Prowl]

“Four of us. Arcee will be running ground bridge operations while we deploy.”

Prowl corrected Jazz quickly but did not say anything more on the subject. Perhaps he should have clarified it more to Jazz beforehand, but Prowl knew that they needed all hands on deck. And Prowl wanted to specifically be on the ground for this operation instead of running things back in the command center. Jazz might consider it wasteful and vain, but Prowl wanted to keep an eye on things as the mission was executed. Plus, he too had some frustrations to get out.

“We most likely will. Any refined energon should not be too hard to transport, and we should be able to move all the mined but unprocessed energon Decepticon equipment. Any unmined energon will be used as fuel for the explosion we’ll set once we have everything to bury the mine with any equipment on site.”

It was simple, they would take everything that wasn’t still stuck in the ground, then blow up what they couldn’t take in the mine leaving nothing, not even the equipment for the Decepticons to recover once the smoke cleared. If Prowl had the time and the manpower, he would have preferred to secure the mine and dig out whatever the Decepticons had left in the ground.

But the first rule of asymmetrical warfare was that when confronted with superior enemy numbers, one could not afford to hold every bit of ground they wanted. In order to survive, the smaller force had to be fast and mobile, willing to give up some ground in order to preserve their forces. That led into the second point in Prowl’s plan, how they were going to take the mine with only four of them. Speed, surprise, and violence of action. He motioned back towards the image pulled up on the main monitor.

The image showed that on the side of the river that the mine was, the Decepticon’s had cleared a killing field about two hundred meters wide across that side all the way to the river but had left the treeline on the opposite side of the river undisturbed for the most part. It also appeared that Decepticon’s had left the trees overlooking the mine on the mountain intact as well.

“We’ll groundbridge in here.”

Prowl pointed to a spot on the far end of the valley across the river from the mine, theoretically giving the team a secret point of entry away from any Decepticon sentries or patrols.

“We’ll split into two teams once we’re on the ground. Jazz, you’ll take Bumblebee and move around the long way to the south to get behind the Decepticons as much as possible. Sunstreaker and I will move up the center and wait in the treeline. Once you make your move, we’ll cross the river and smash them between us.”

[Sunstreaker]

That field was gonna be a problem, Sunstreaker thought. She wasn't exactly primed and outfitted for forest operations, having always been a hide-in-plain-sight-so-long-as-it's-a-city kind of gal. Working in the middle of nowhere like this meant she'd be standing out more than usual, but then again, Bee was with them, too. Hopefully that meant Prowl didn't think it'd be too big of an issue, but Sunny still resolved herself to be careful, which was a new feeling.

The thought of having to squad up with Prowl was another new feeling, one far too complex for her to process accurately. On one hand, she knew she'd partnered with (probably) the best of the best the Autobots had to offer. And on the other, it was Prowl. Regardless, this op presented her with the opportunity to showcase some of that positive change she'd been drilling on. She felt ready about it, too, not to mention that it'd been so long since she'd been on an actual mission.

Luckily, rust wasn't a word in Sunny's vocabulary.

Plus, frontal assaults were her specialty. Nothing she loved more than introducing a few Cons to the heavy end of the hammer at full speed. But, now Sunny had to do so tastefully, and without excess. Whatever, just another challenge she'd have to commit to. The golden femme fired off a thumbs-up towards Prowl. "Alright. Sounds good to me."

It was taking an immense amount of will to not just call Prowl her 'squaddie'. She'd definitely do it when Jazz wasn't around, however.

[Jazz]

     Jazz was quiet as he listened to the corrections. Idly he glanced over to Bee, noting the change in body language and presentation. Primus help them, he thought to himself as he held in a vent that was rattling in his throat.

     He and Jazz weren't field operatives- not in the sense that neither of them knew how to handle it because Jazz damn well knew they had both had their fair share of licks. Prowl could handle his own quite well with no questions at all from the saboteur in that regard. It was more on the bases of the pair themselves. It just worked better when they were separate. Both on different missions in way off regions where neither of them got in the other's way of how they worked. No questions on how they could switch it up if something went bottoms up and they needed to get the job done some other way. Jazz worked better with Prowl when he was manning the station and he could just wing it. 

     Prowl did not operate on 'winging it'.

     Having him out in the field if it needed to come to that could prove detrimental. Jazz did not like this at all. Not that he wanted to question the master strategist on his plan of action here or anything while they were standing in front of the two younger blazing yellow kids that reminded him of the very caution signs that were currently waving around infront of his head... but damn did he want to.

     Sunstreaker's acceptance of the job at hand opened his door.

     "Ya got my numbers?"

     They'd worked together long enough that he knew Prowl would know just what numbers he wanted. Percentages, success rates, and the back up plan. He didn't want to go into this without knowing just how high their probabilities were, especially in light of the current situation with two kids missing, one undetermined on wherever the hell he was, and everyone else just wandering around like this was some sort of field day.

     He wasn't in the mood to head out when there were others he had to be aware of in case things turned.

[Bumblebee]

Prowl was going too?

Well, at least with the four of them they’d be able to at least bring home enough Energon to keep the Autobots going for a while. It’d be nice to work with some similar-framed individuals for something like this, too. While he’d done many a scouting mission with Bulk and Optimus before many others arrived on Earth, they weren’t exactly complimentary in size.

He knew Jazz, and had secretly wanted to see him in action since he’d arrived at Omega. While he knew of Prowl and Sunstreaker by name only, he hadn’t really worked with them before, nor did he really know too much about them - and found himself excited to see how everyone would work as a team. If this went well? Maybe they could raid more mines as they were discovered by Fowler’s men.

He remained quiet as Prowl spoke, nodding at the words as the plan was explained a little more. While it felt honestly so wasteful to blow up what they couldn’t take with them, if only because they’d had a period themselves not too long ago where they were seriously hurting for Energon? It was probably for the best - the Decepticons wouldn’t be able to use that mine again, or at least not easily - and it wasn’t like the Autobots had a way to refine the excess.

At the mention that he’d be working with Jazz, he’d spare the other mech a glance - nodding. It made sense that they would be splitting into two groups. Could cover more ground that way, plus if the intel they had was wrong then they would have the benefit of approaching from two locations.

--Sounds good!-- he chirped, nodding in affirmation as he turned his attention back to Prowl. He had no questions, everything seemed rather straightforward, though would look to Prowl as the question from Jazz was asked.

Numbers?

[Prowl]

Prowl turned to look at Jazz for a moment at his question, not saying anything for a long moment. Part of him wondered if he should keep it to himself, but he respected Jazz enough to let him know the facts.

“If we manage to keep the element of secrecy and surprise on our side, there is a eighty eight point zero two seven five percent chance of success.”

There could still be complications even if they manage to stay undetected. There could be an increased force at the mine, making it impossible for them to overwhelm the security detachment there without raising an alarm. Someone like Megatron or Overlord could be on site, in which case Prowl would pull the entire team out and try to collapse the mine entirely on their head. Sure they would lose the energon, but he would not risk a confrontation with someone like them that could get him and his team either killed or captured.

“If we lose the element of surprise, our chances of success drop to about ten point two nine four percent. In that case, we retreat and call for a ground bridge.”

That number was being generous. While Prowl had little doubt as to his strike team’s ability, the fact was that they were outnumbered. Should one of the vehicon drones raise the alarm, the entire facility would be placed on high alert and they would be faced with the entire detachment of enemies as opposed to picking them off in smaller numbers one at a time. Plus there would be an endless amount of reinforcements coming should the enemy be aware of their presence.

“If Megatron or other high priority targets are on site, we scrub the mission. If possible, we try to collapse the mine and take them out, but no direct engagements.”

Prowl turned his attention to both Bumblebee and Sunstreaker at that comment, meaning it more for them than Jazz. Sunstreaker had a history of running off into situations that got people killed for her recklessness, and Bumblebee...well...had a history with the warlord.

[Sunstreaker]

Yawn.

What was it with Prowl and probabilities all the time? More importantly, what algorithm was giving him these numbers? She felt that he was somehow taking the time to perform them himself, then just dumping them on briefings to make himself feel good about how well he could math. Felt like Perceptor was giving a lecture, instead of the resident tactical officer. Sunny'd still fall back if needed, though. Regardless of how Prowl framed it with his funny numbers, she understood the message. No unnecessary heroics. For now.

No direct engagements... she'll show him direct-

Sunny's optics widened as she realized Prowl had been staring straight at her for a moment. Oh, he knew, she thought. And he was exactly right. If given the opportunity to end the war, in an instant, Sunstreaker would've gladly fired a volley of HE shells right into Megatron's stupid face. Hell, if Prowl hadn't been so explicit about the rules of engagement, and Lord Buckethead had actually showed up, that would've been it for the stealth component of the mission. Come on, her optics pleaded. Just lemme shoot him once if he shows; just lemme slash 'em a few times...

Oh, if she'd be the one to finally offline Megajerk... she'd gladly toss out all the progress she'd made. Forget humble-bragging. Her face would be going up on banners, she'd hit up all the stations and broadcast it planetwide. Screw humility, Sunstreaker would be ready to nominate herself for Prime right on the spot.

If only...

Better to keep that crap to personal fantasies, for now. Sunny was ready to follow Prowl's instructions to the letter. She liked this group of idiots for the most part. No way in hell was she about to get any of them killed, again.

[Jazz]

     Jazz didn't like that he was going to be out on the field with Prowl. When it came down to it, of course he trusted with all his spark that Prowl would always have his back should things start going downhill in a hurry and he was well aware that the other was fully capable. It was more that the two just... didn't mesh when it came to how they operated.

     The numbers were typical of their past ones, with one extreme to another depending on how the situation played out. The only problem was that Jazz didn't have the freedoms he usually did to divert the mission to a different direction to make up for anything he needed to adapt to. Prowl knew how he worked out in the field and when to get the hell out of dodge, but there were two kids involved and that right away made him uncomfortable. Was Prowl purposely tying his hands? Making sure he didn't try to switch things up?

     He wasn't an idiot. He knew the history of Bee and Megatron as well as the reports on Sunstreaker and the look Prowl gave her told him that they were pretty much solid. The fact that the tactician didn't give him the same look made him even more suspicious that Prowl counted on the fact that Jazz would be more focused on getting the kids out of trouble than chance their lives. 

     "I guess ya finally managed to pair me up so that I'd be hooked via collar and leash rather than let me go find a mop to match Megabucket's noggin' and shove it so far up his backend that he'll be spittin' metal shards for weeks." The comment was pointed so Prowl would know he didn't like this whole thing one bit. Routine energon snag his ass.

     "One condition. This thing goes bottoms up? Ya get them out and head for the hills and you don't come back for me. I can get that mine down without turnin' it into a nuclear bomb but I don't want anyone in my way."