Shattered

Chapter Three

Megatron calmly waited for the last few of his officers to enter the meeting room. As they were seated, he spoke.

"Greetings, and thank you for coming on such short notice."

"What is this about, Megatron?" inquired Starscream from beside him. "It must be urgent since you called us all to gather as soon as possible."

"Indeed, Starscream," rumbled the Decepticon leader with a frown.

"As some of you may have heard, there was an Autobot attack on one our mines earlier this solarcycle."

"All miners and guards were killed except for Breakdown," Knockout added quietly, staring down at the table, servos crossed.

The rest of the mecha present bent their helms in solemn silence for a few kliks.

Soundwave was the first to break the silence. "That's just not cool, mechs. What did they do that for?"

Nodding, Megatron spoke again. "Yes, it was needless. Though I am grateful for Breakdown being spared, this has been a grave loss."

"How many?" Iron Blade asked from his seat next to the Air Commander.

Megatron glanced towards the young scientist. "Ten."

Iron Blade frowned and nodded silently.

"Is Breakdown alright?" asked Starscream, directing his question across the table to Knockout.

The medic replied quickly, "Yes, he will be back on his pedes within a week. He was lucky."

"Thank the Allspark," muttered Shockwave under his breath. Then louder, he continued. "I recommend finding out how the Autobots were able to find the mine, and then take precautions so that this does not happen again."

"With your say-so, boss, I'll get right on it," Soundwave said, looking expectantly towards their leader. "I'll make sure those Autocreeps can't pick up any more signals in no time flat."

"Very good, Soundwave," Megatron said with a nod. "If you need any assistance, take Shockwave or Iron Blade with you."

Knockout spoke again. "Do you wish for me to take a team of troopers and prepare the offline for burial?"

"Yes, Knockout."

The medic sighed. "This is going to be a long offcycle. And if I may say, not to speak ill of the offline, gruesome."

Starscream, Iron Blade, and Soundwave exchanged glances.

"How- How bad was the fight?" the Air Commander asked hesitantly.

"From what Breakdown told me, the pair tore them to pieces. He escaped with only injuries because it took time to get down from the cliff where he was. And then the kid was simply playing with him after he'd done his share of the damage I suppose. Or distraction while the other one grabbed any data from the computer system."

The medic paused, lowering his helm. "He could have joined the rest if he hadn't been on the cliff."

"Wait, hold up," the visored communication specialist said, raising his hands in gesture. "You said the pair. As in two?"

Knockout and Megatron nodded.

"That is also why I called you all together," the leader said. "From Breakdown's report, it seemed that the only Autobots present in this attack were the seeker called Blurr, and the spy called Steeldust."

"Great, the Speed Demon is back," grumbled Iron Blade, crossing his servos. "I haven't seen that guy for awhile and I was liking it."

"Isn't Blurr also an intel officer?" Soundwave asked. "So, the two bros were out spying and then decided to go in for the kill?"