Games of Cloaks and Daggers

[Deleted]

Characters: Jazz, Barricade
Location: The Harbinger
Content Warnings: TBD
Plot Summary: Jazz intrudes on Barricade on a bit of business

[Deleted]

To say that things were heating up for Jazz would be an understatement. He hadn’t counted on that intelligence officer, Hypnos, being present. Or the rest of the DJD. Or some of the ‘Con’s heavy hitters who’d showed up recently. In short, this infiltration mission was not going according to plan in the least. Not that he’d really expected it to. For all he knew, this was his last dance, one that could end at any time. Just getting aboard the Nemisis had been a success. Getting out with what intel he had undetected? A surprising feat. He only hoped he’d actually gotten away clean, otherwise he’d be walking right to his death when he returned.

That he’d been permitted to go ‘scouting’ was a surprise, too, but, he’d take it. He needed a working system over which to send Prime an encrypted file. A system that the ‘Cons likely weren’t monitoring.

Sorry, ‘bout this, ‘Cade.

The Harbinger presented the perfect platform for his message, and after disabling the traps in the manner his oddly fragmented memories had recorded Barricade showing him. At least he knew that much. Now, his skilled digits flew over the keys of the downed ship’s controls, beaming a bit of data over a secure frequency.

[Barricade]

He'd been working on clearing out another area of the ship, just enough to have some proper storage as he needed it, when the alarm went off. The ship hadn't gone to alert mode, so he figured it had to be Jazz. It had been some time since the little mech had visited him, and he vented loudly before setting aside his current project to see what the mech was up to.

Only to find him at one of the consoles doing Primus only knew what. "What exactly do you think you're doing?" He drawled it out, crossing his arms across his chassis and leaning against the now open doorframe. He didn't doubt Jazz had already gotten through his various firewalls and was actively using the system, but he'd trusted the other wouldn't do so without at least the courtesy of saying something first.

They were not exactly friends, but they did have mutual respect for one another. And he had invited the other to return when he needed to, though he was never quite sure why that was.

[Deleted]

Jazz was aware when he wasn't alone. He tossed a smile back at Barricade, not pausing in his increasingly complex covering of his signal. Even if someone managed to get a lock on that stream of data, it would look like it was coming from a source down in South America. And, he was confident enough that no one would even notice it riding the airwaves in the first place.

"Sorry, 'Cade. Ah was hurryin' and didn' bother to say 'hi'. Rude, ah know."

He put on a few finishing touches before backtracking and returning everything to normal. Then, he leaned against the console, facing the former 'Con.

"Jus' takin' care of some business. Ya know I wouldn' drop in like this if it wasn' bad. Things are heatin' up. Even I'm feelin' a little warm under mah platin'," the easy tone and body posture he spoke the words with were at odds with what he said.

The purple Decepticon emblem hung like a weight on his chassis, betraying the nature of his mission. If Barricade put together just what Jazz had been up to, and Jazz had no doubt he would, the mech was likely about to be pissed. Hopefully, he liked him well enough not to decide to slag him himself. He'd needed to send that message to Optimus, to let him know what, exactly, was going on.

[Barricade]

"You only ever come here trying to escape something or the other. I have gotten used to it." He stayed as he was, looking the over mech over and frowning. He was aware that Jazz had defected, and although it was only a guess before now he now had confirmation that the entire thing had been a ruse. He wasn't sure if he should be relieved or perturbed. He was neutral, so Jazz not being a Decepticon sent to destroy him was a good thing. But it meant he trusted the other mech much less. "I meant what I said when I offered to let you come here whenever you needed it. I do not go back on my word."

He also wasn't as clueless as this mech seemed to believe him to be. He'd been living in this wreck for ages now and knew the systems as well as possible for someone without the proper training. He'd gotten nearly all the consoles working through trial and error, so he knew that the other was at the comms, meaning he'd probably just contacted the Autobots. If the spy felt threatened back with the Decepticons, and he suspected he did, then he had either just called for help or reported in. Either way, it displeased the hunter very much.

"You seem to have forgotten what little civil manners you had towards me during your time with the Decepticons. Do you know what will happen if they retake this ship?" Jazz might be able to get out of any punishment, but Barricade had defected and was in hiding from Megatron's forces. He pushed off the doorway, standing taller than the other mech and distinctly displeased even as he handled the anger that was starting to build up in him. He as here alone most of the time, and the few times Jazz did come to visit he always brought trouble. "The DJD are on this planet now. If they find me they will destroy me. So I hope whatever transmission you just sent was worth that risk."