Tarn planning - the next step

Transformers 2K5 - Prowl - jeudi, septembre 18, 2014, 6:20 ---

Meeting Room - Decagon

The Decagon's meeting room is large and spacious enough to comfortably house the biggest of Autobots. This room is commonly used as a briefing room and the southern section of the room is filled with several rows of seats for Autobot personnel to sit in. The nothern section of the room is reserved for Autobot military commanders such as Rodimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Fortress Maximus, Sky Lynx, and Jazz.

At the center of the room is a holographic projector capable of displaying data from the Autobots' military networks all over the galaxy.

Contents: Arcee Rodimus Prime

Rodimus Prime folds his hands together as he nods to Arcee's arrival. "Arcee. Good to see you again. I keep getting reports from you and Prowl." He manages a sincere smile for a moment, "Keeping me on my toes, you two've really got your sights set on Tarn. Do you have a battle plan set up yet?"

"Yes and no," Arcee says as she strolls in, and has a seat at the meeting table with Rodimus. "Intel's cleaned up house, the Bots have held a goodwill concert...what's left? Lightsinger, and an entire platoon of really, really itching-for-a-hard-throwdown fighting mechs. Please tell me how all of this fits together in the grand scheme of things we want to accomplish in Tarn, without having Buzzsaw spin it into news he can use."

Rodimus Prime nods once. "And Buzzsaw is constantly issueing propoganda about how we're such hypocrites." He looks aside for a moment, "It took me a long while to undersatnd the Tarn situation. I kept wracking my processor about why we were really there...aside from the war standpoint. Tarn's the beacon of hope for Cybertron. If we can win them over there, we can win over the entire Con ideaology. It's our entire war boiled down to one city."

Prowl walks into the meeting room with a datapad, jaw set, cross on his face. Thank Primus he's in a good mood. "Rodimus, Arcee." he says nodding to both before grabbing a chair. He tries not to just collapse in the chair. He looks at both of them..."Made alot of progress today which will set things up for trying to stabilize the whole situation. After that we can focus on going after the Tarn Rebels."

Rodimus Prime gives Prowl a recognizing nod, "Indeed. Tarn's police force getting cleared up has got to help matters. I imagine being the security there was a difficult job, but it doesn't excuse the actions of those who forget the reason behind it all."

"Well, things are better there, now. What's going to make it worse? Martial law or anything resembling it; getting any sort of military presence IN there in good numbers...I mean, I don't want to do anything that's going to spoil the momentum." Arcee grins slightly as Prowl arrives. "There's the guy who deserves the lion's share of the credit for the improvements in Tarn."

Prowl waves off Arcee's compliment "Thank you Arcee but I owe it all to my division along with a few loan from your own Arcee. We have good news and we have bad news and we have a few decisions to make."

Rodimus Prime nods again, "Well let's hear them. I'm a bit hesitant to believe that simply providing entertainment for Tarn is going to solve the issues there, I'm concerned the residents will feel we're making light of their concerns." He leans forwards into his seat, "My kneejerk reaction to the problems there is somehow convey how horrible life'd be like under the Decepticon rule. The energon rationing, forced labor, the curfews. They've actually got it good in Tarn, comparatively. It's simply the culture there that leads them down this path."

"The street party actually went pretty well, with zero problems," Arcee admits to Rodimus with a shrug. "Leave it to Blaster and Jazz to pull off something like THAT, but they did it." She peers at Prowl. "...Bad news, you say? What kind of bad news?"

Prowl checks at his datapad and pulls up the first point. The good news is that Arcee and Swoop managed to bag Sterling, THE problem cop in the Tarn PD. He confessed to having only one direct accomplice which was Trefoil. Trefoil got extracted by Swoop and Punch ealier this month and this is what gave us the evidence we needed against Sterling coupled with her testimony. Further good news, I managed to get Stockade to spill it...all of it. He is willing to testify too." His expression changes a bit "The bad news is that according to Stockade more than half the sergeants in the TPD have been taking bribes. One even manage to buy Mirage's old palace. Then there is the Chief of police. The chief sees the officers as his protos. The type that know something might be wrong but does not want to look or acknowledge there is a problem. And here are the decisions. Stockade attached conditions to his testimony. Do we go with it or not? Do we hold a trial for Sterling or no? What do we do about the chief? If we take Stockade's testimony he wants us to spare the Chief. Also what do we do about the sergeants on the take? Repriment? Loss of rank? Dismissal?" Prowl catches his 'breath'. "Yeah that sums it up."

Rodimus Prime leans back in his seat, exhausting as well, "It's a difficult decision. I'll back your play on this. However there's far more to it than just the policing. Heck, if the Tarnians really want Decepticon control, they may as well encourage such things. Police brutality, corruption, and dominance through firepower. But, what you have done is helped weed out issues, ones that prevent us from being called hypocrites."

Rodimus hits a few buttons on the viewscreen, showing Tarn itself in a hologram. "I can't help but think that this all comes down to the fact that Tarn doesn't know the Cons as well as they used to. Let's say we delivered a big batch of refugees from Nova Cronum to Tarn. Imagine the stories they'd have to tell, perhaps even the rude awakening. Yet would that pacify them or start a factional war between Nova Cronum and the Tarn citizens?"

Rodimus Prime adds, "There's a deep-seeded pride to Tarn. Can we enlighten that spirit? Let's say Governer Iacon is removed from power, and the city can decide their own way without any leadership...they could go straight over to the Cons, and THEY won't be so easy to let go of a city."

"Now that's an interesting idea," Arcee admits. "...It's worth a try, honestly. Because otherwise, we're going to be spinning our wheels endlessly trying to untangle the full extent of the police corruption. And there's no guarantee that we would ever get to the bottom of the corruption there."

Prowl makes a note he has 'carte blanche' to deal with the TPD. He nods at the suggestion of refugees in Tarn. "Interesting idea indeed. Word of mouth is a powerful tool. That could help sway the population at the very least to a neutral stance." He checks some more notes on his datapad "There is also the problem of the Tarn underground. I currently have Zipline and Chromia keeping a close optic on Governor Lightbringer as Shiflock reported that Flaxjax mentionned plans of assassinating the governor. We do not know when or how or by whom. So right now we are even checking his own security. And there is also the case of Turnaphrase. An anti-Autobot propagandist that deep down still believes in the possibility of a peaceful solution. Flaxjax wants Shiftlock to kill her and bring proof. I want to send Jazz to extract Turnaphrase. Have Wheeljack whip up some damaged duplicate parts for Shiftlock to bring back and secure her entrance into the inner circle of the Tarn underground."

Rodimus Prime supinates his wrist, holding his hand up, "Holograms. If you want to fake Lightsinger..." He chides himself softly, "Not 'Govenor Iacon'. Holograms could be used easily to subvert the attempt. Hound or another can do the job, I'm sure. So you feel Flaxjax is a big part of the Megatron Masks?"

"Removing these individuals is fine, but it's an Intel job...I think I'll send a few of my own guys on a mission to find these supply tunnels and secure them," Arcee muses. "That should cause zero problems above-ground, but really annoy the Cons to no end. And that's part of how they shut us out of Nova Cronum, besides." Operational Goal: Find the Supply Tunnels and remove them.

Prowl tilts his head "Possibly. He has been seen at Ignition's bar along with Decepticons. He is involved in the smuggling of weapons and explosives. I mean we have not caught him with a Megatron mask but I do not think it is a stretch to think he has some link to them."

"I'll bet you shanix that it isn't just Megatron masks coming in on these transports. Hmmm, wonder how many corrupt cops know a thing or two about the Decepticon shipments," Arcee ponders.

Prowl feels like slamming his head on the table "I know...Which is what makes me question as to how I want to proceed with the TPD. We can have a seperate meeting for that. If we demote the cops on the take, they might be willing to take more bribes to stay even. IF we pull all of them out we end up with trained people with a chip on their shoulder. There is no easy way out of this."

Rodimus Prime poses the question, "What if they were reassigned to Retoris without knowing we know they're bad? Tt'd be so much easier to keep tabs on them. Keep tabs on them, maybe learn about a few infiltrators in Iacon or Retoris, you can push the Prowlers into place in their stead?"

Arcee smiles slightly. "Maybe the corrupt cops...when being watched, might rethink the value of remaining a corrupt cop. Just because they've had bad behavior doesn't mean they can't change their minds at some point. It sounds like a decent way to get them to shape up."

Rodimus Prime raises his hands, "That's still your judgment call, if you feel any of those cops can be 'saved', but it seems clear that getting them out of Tarn is essential."

Prowl cracks a small smile at Rodimus "I did have a plan to involve the Prowlers if we had to take down the TPD by force which thankfully it did not happen. We could make an 'officer exchange program' or something. Nothing too obvious but grab a couple of problem cops and send them to Retoris. Send a couple of Prowlers to replace them in Tarn. To cover our tracks we could also involve the Sonic Canyons PD. Jigsaw made a very public declaration of support for us. We could send a few Tarn officers where while fully warning him of what he is getting and have him send a few of his own in Tarn. Makes the whole thing more...cooperative than just switch cops with ours."

Rodimus Prime fades into the background, in thought for a bit.

"Prowl, do you want to borrow Halligan for a while? I can have him work closely with you if officers are going to be shifted to Retoris," Arcee notes.

Rodimus Prime says, "maybe...lure the Masks into a trap or something? I still think the overall goal would be awesome if you could bait the Cons into revealing their true nature to Tarn."

Prowl nods "I think I will. Maybe keep him in Retoris to keep an optic on the 'problem cops' we send there. Same with you if you need to borrow Steeljaw to track the Decepticons in the tunnels feel free to do so."

"Got it. I might need him to assist with sniffing out the location of the railroad. It's simple enough to assign the Wreckers to deal with the railroad once it's located, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Arcee jots down a few notes in her tablet, then mentions, "I think we have enough of a direction to begin 'Phase Two' of this project."

You say, "Indeed. Need to get the wheels rolling that officer exchange program and all the rest of that. No ret"

You say, "No rest for the wicked as the terrans say."

Arcee can't help but grin at that. "Nope, there never is. I'll check in with you to see how things are proceeding in the next few cycles, okay?"

Prowl gets up and grabs his datapad slowly heading back to his office. Maybe a trip on the recharge slab would help bring a fresh perspective to all of this. "Sure thing Arcee. Catch you later."

"Have a good one. We're so close to having Tarn 'fixed' now, it's practically a done deal," Arcee insists.

You put your hand on the authentification device. ACCESS GRANTED appears on a small screen above your hand. The door unlocks and you step inside. Prowl's Office  The room is filled with monitors. At the center is a rather large desk with datachips, keyboard, holo-projector. There is a locked file cabinet in the back and locker next to a small workbench alonmg the back wall.

Type +Commands to see the room's commands.

Prowl's Office > Prowl's Office intercom>Hey there Trailbreaker. Give me a sec

Trailbreaker enters Prowl's Office.

Prowl is finishing cleaning up the place after the explosion from last week's booby trap. The desk is new, all the shrapnel holes have been patched, scorch marks on the wall have been cleaned and painted. It is starting to look like the office it was. Hearing the Star Trek-like chime Prowl pushes the intercom button. "Come on in."

Stepping in through the doorway, Trailbreaker is dressed in his usual upbeat manner and trademarked smile. "That is one fancy door you got Prowl, does all upper CoC have those.. or just the best?" he asks, walking over.

Prowl chuckles "Just those who live in their office." He motions to one of the empty chairs infront of the desk should Trailbreaker want to sit. He finishes putting some stuff away and fully turns his attention to his old friend. "What brings you here tonight?"

Taking the seat, Trailbreaker reclines back and puts his hands behind his head. "Wow, state of the art furniture as well.. man, you are the bee's knees!!" the Autobot jokes once again, smile ever present.

"To cut through the pleasantries and other nonsense, Tarn. What's our play, Prowl? I've been coming up with a couple of defensive measures to make, but you're a lot better at this than me." Trailbreaker admits, continuing. "That's not me stroking your ego either, that's just the truth."

Prowl punches a few keys on the computer and deactivates the external camera.

Prowl leans back in his chair "I just had a meeting with Rodimus and Arcee about that. Military will take a bigger role by working on finding out how the rebels are getting their stuff and closing the supply line. Intel keeps a close watch on the Governor as we know he is a target for assassnation." He raises a finger to bring attention to this particular point. "This is something you could check on with Chromia. Evaluate the defensive status and procedures for the governor. Check if he has public appearances to make and such."

"Right, I'll get in touch with Chromia at my nearest opportunity about that." Trailbreaker replies, a bit taken aback. Evaluations are fine, but he had a sneaking suspicion Prowl wasn't settling for evaluations and expeditions.

Trailbreaker thought there was more to this, than meets the eye.

"You were talking earlier about a mole you had in Tarn, he hasn't found out where the supply line comes in from?" he asks, leaning forward in the comfy chair now. "Surely you could pressure Sterling to tell you where the other half of the munitions are coming from?"

Prowl shakes his head "My mole has not yet uncovered that detail. We have a plan on the side to cement her cover by faking an assassination of an anti-Autobot propagandist. After that we will get more intel. I tried with Sterling but he is not talking so far and there is NO way I will offer him amnesty for his cooperation."

"Maybe we don't have to offer him amnesty." Trailbreaker muses, standing up from the desk.

"Maybe we have to offer a fate worse than jail. Worse than trial by peers, worse than working away on a slave-moon for the rest of his lasercore's duration." he continues his train of thought, walking around the chair. "What if we were to put him in general population with all the officers indicted because of his doings? We keep an optic on him, of course.. don't want a jailyard revenge story."

Placing hands on the back of the seat, Trailbreaker leans in. "You think that would be enough to break him?"

Prowl ponders it "I do not think he is scared of the others. He pretty much kept the whole PD scared of him. I did consider fates such as having his core put into a service drone. Leave only the sensory input on. He cannot move, talk or do anything except be concious of the menial task he will perform for the next thousands of years. Plan B would to be to let Repugnus get the answers..." There are some things even Prowl is hesitant to do. Unleashing Repugnus is one of them.

"Good point, I hadn't considered that." Trailbreaker admits, dropping the idea altogether. "I guess that's why they've got you up here in the big-wig seat, eh? Is it true you can calculate eight hundred different moving objects and their trajectories? Swerve and I had a bet, wanted to know if you could settle it for us."

Prowl facepalms at the mention of Swerve "Yes it is true. I use that talent to keep track of things on the battlefield but also for crime scene resconstitution."

"I knew it!!" Trailbreaker celebrates, already counting the credits in his head.

Making for the exit, he gives Prowl a proper salute. "I'll be on my way then sir, gotta check in with the medibot crew downstairs. Chromia is my next stop, don't worry yourself.. we'll get Tarn sorted out sooner rather than later." he smiles.

"It doesn't hurt to have a bonafide legend leading the case, either." Trailbreaker shoots Prowl a thumbs up.

Prowl waves at Trailbreaker on his way out "Thanks for the vote of confidence. Take care my friend."

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