Basketball, Robots, and, Police Chases Chap. 14

Lunarbolt let out a yelp as she was tossed into the brig by a large Insecticon who simply hissed at the femme and slammed the cage shut. The silver femme whirled around and glared darkly at the Insecticon. "Now that is no way to treat a guest! Especially a femme with such high standing like myself, you twit!" The British Autobot called out but the Insecticon paid no heed.

Megatron stood behind the Insecticon, smirking at the captive who currently sat in his brig. He strode forward, pushing the Insecticon aside. "Perhaps, if that were the case, however.. you are not an ordinary femme. Am I right, Lunarbolt?"

Hearing this, the silver lieutenant glowered at the Decepticon war-lord and then winced when she pressed a servo to her dislocated shoulder. Megatron saw the femme's cringe and then motioned for the Insecticon to leave the two alone. Bowing its head, the Insecticon sent Lunarbolt one last hiss, making her glare at the creature before stalking off.

Megatron examined the Autobot's form as his ruby optics trailed up her body. He remembered a time when femmes were not so scarce. For eons, Cybertronians alike did everything they could do to keep their femmes safe. Unfortunately, once the war started, the Decepticons nearly wiped out the femmes and very few survived.

He folded his arms over his chest. "I am very surprised that no one has claimed you as theirs, Lunarbolt. I will say that you are very attractive... for an Autobot."

"Oh, so sorry Megatron, but I'm not selling today, maybe some other time, perhaps?" The silver femme spat with a glare. "And tell your Decepti-creeps that they better keep their grimy servos off or you'll end up missing a couple of drones."

The grey mech chuckled at the Autobot's reply. "Just as aggressive and volatile as you were back on Cybertron, but if I recall correctly you were much harsher and merciless in the ring, were you not?"

Lunarbolt let out a laugh. "Tell that to your second in command and see how he likes it. I doubt he'll agree with you. Especially with that handsome new scar of his. I really hope he enjoys staring at it in the mirror."

Megatron stood stoic and folded his arms over his massive chest. Lunarbolt shifted her weight to where she was facing the Decepticon war-lord and smirked at him. "I will pass that along to Dreadwing."

She still had a smug look on her face. "You go on and do that, Megatron. Meanwhile, I'll just sit here and think about my place in the universe..."

Megatron's lips curled into a cruel smirk. "I am curious though. How is it that a cynical, arrogant and yet very conspicuous femme, like yourself, is able to crawl her way from the depths of Kaon, lure her victims to their graves and end up ranked as Prime's first lieutenant?"

At the words spoken, the British femme snapped her head around and looked harshly at the war-lord. Lunarbolt's optics flashed as her lips curled into a snarl. "That's none of your damn business, you egotistical, pompous, git!" She barked angrily.

"Oh, on the contrary..." The Decepticon warlord chuckled. He knelt down next to Lunarbolt's cell, placing a claw on the bars. "It has been my business the moment you walked onto this ship, Nightraider." Megatron snarled. His ruby optics met her cold blue optics.

Scrap. Lunarbolt thought but she easily tipped the scales to be in her favor. "Walked? No, no, I don't think so." The femme spat, laughing bitterly. "I think of it more as 'being dragged against my will and thrown into a pit worse than Kaon' than walking Megatron." She lazily looked at her fingers.

With a growl, he snatched the femme by the throat and pulled her up to face him through the bars. Their optics locked onto one another. "If I remember correctly, you were born from the Kaon pits. And your life will end just the same. You will never live to see the light of day and your Autobot friends will never find your body. I can assure you that."

"Then I'll die." She defiantly looked at him. "I am not afraid of you, Megatronus. I am not that weak youngling that I once was."

Megatron pulled the femme closer to the bars, a gasp of pain escaped Lunarbolt's lips as his claws tightened around her throat. Her servos reached up to grab onto the warlord's arm but it was no use. "You should be afraid, Nightraider. I made you what you are and I can easily take it from you. And in the end, you will be nothing but an empty, wretched shell."

She jerked her head back out of his grasp and glared at him. "You're wrong. I pulled myself out of those pits and changed myself to be an Autobot." The femme shook her head. "It was never you."

The grey mech snatched onto the femme's throat again and then squeezed. All of that pent up rage from eons ago had rose to the surface and Megatron was determined to have the last laugh. His optics burned in fury as he stared down at Lunarbolt's struggling form. "YOU. ARE. NOTHING. WITHOUT. ME." He growled, his claws sinking into her throat. Energon began to stain on his claws as Lunarbolt scratched at his huge servo, trying to break free but the odds were not in her favor this time. He was just too strong and she slowly felt her life fading as he gripped tighter.

Megatron waited a few moments before dropping the silver femme to the ground. The Autobot hit the floor with a 'thud' and then lifted her head to see the grey mech staring at her. The Decepticon opened the cell and strode in, closing the door behind him. Lunarbolt let out another gasp in pain as she was lifted into the air by her throat again and slammed into the wall.

"You may not survive your time aboard the Nemesis, Nightraider. Now, if you answer my question in regards of your base's location, I may consider keeping you as a pet. But if you refuse, I will personally have the honor of terminating Prime's favorite and I shall send you back to the Autobots as a warning. And I can assure you that your death will be slow and painful."

Lunarbolt struggled for breath and spat out, "Go ahead. Kill me. Because I am not saying a word to you; I will not betray my friends."

But she was surprised when Megatron released her from his grip and she once again fell to the floor. The femme watched as the warlord turned his heel and strode out of the cell. Lunarbolt growled as Megatron looked back towards her with a sadistic smirk on his lips. She could see his fangs as they gleamed in the dim light of the brig.

"I see that the long years of being an Autobot haven't tamed you, Nightraider." Megatron remarked. He narrowed his optics with a cackle, before sighing with a shake of his large helm. "Why hide what you really are? You are a cold-blooded killer and yet you degrade yourself with those soft Autobots."

The silver femme glared at the Decepticon. "I am not like you, nor will I ever be. I suggest you get that through your thick processor."

Megatron closed the cell's door with a shrug of his broad shoulders. "You lie to yourself, but if you're too blind to notice what you are truly capable of then I won't waste my time standing around here all day."

The Autobot felt a pang in her spark as she crawled towards the front of the cell. She laid a servo on the bars and gripped onto the metal tightly pulling herself up to a wobbly standing position. "What makes you think that I'm lying to myself? I'm actually vaguely interested in what you have to say."

The warlord ignored his prisoner, turning his attention to the Vehicon on guard. "Make sure she does not escape. Do not underestimate her. She has gotten herself out of worse situations."

Lunarbolt appeared to be offended. She shook her head and grinned. "Come on Megatronus! You say that you know me better than anyone!" The silver femme called, frowning afterwards when she gained no response from the Decepticon war lord. Knowing what she must do, Lunarbolt leaned up against the bars of the cell and called out, "Of course, you always preferred one-night stands, correct? That way you never got close!"

Megatron paused in his stride. Lunarbolt smirked. Oh, looks like I nicked a nerve there, didn't I? The femme thought.

He slowly turned to look at the defeated-looking Autobot femme and glared daggers at her, ruby optics bearing into her blue ones. He strode towards cell and knelt down in front of the bars where the femme was sitting, his gaze piercing hers. "If you dare say a word about what happened on Cybertron, I will personally rip out your spark and feed it to the Insecticons. They do enjoy energon but they have a liking for Autobot sparks as well."

Lunarbolt's facial expression remained unchanged. The war-lord leaned forward and smirked, his fangs peeking out from behind his grin. The silence was thick between the Autobot and Decepticon. After a few moments of their intense glaring match, the former gladiator stood up, turned his back on her, and finally stalked away. He shot the Vehicon a dark look, swiping out his blade and pointing it at the drone's exposed neck with a growl. "Do as I command or you will pay the price!"

The silver femme coughed as the sliding doors closed behind the taller mech and his drone. Lunarbolt hacked again and sprayed some energon on the floor. She wiped away the blue energon from her mouth and glanced at her surroundings. It wasn't special. The only things in there were a few shackles hanging on the walls and a couple of spots of dried energon on the floor. So much for any sort of company. Lunarbolt shifted her weight to where she pressed her back against the wall.

Brilliant... Just brilliant. Dislocated shoulder, a broken ankle plate, a couple of torn cables in my arms and legs, claw marks on my throat... Ratchet is going to have a bloody field day when he sees me next. Lunarbolt thought sarcastically with a roll of her optics. The femme leaned back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling. She tilted her head back and shuttered her optics, slipping into a light recharge.

But it wasn't long before she was dragged out of her cell by Dreadwing who seemed all too happy at the chance of roughly hauling the femme from her cell. As she fought back, Dreadwing only held on tighter to the struggling Autobot. Within moments of arriving to his destination, the Decepticon flier sneered at the femme and tossed her into another room on the war-ship. Before she could whirl her helm around, something connected and knocked her unconscious. It was not long before the silver femme woke up again and found herself shackled tightly to the wall, slowly regaining consciousness.

"Primus that is going to hurt in the morning..." the silver femme muttered at the dull ache in her processor. She let out a moan and shuttered her optics, trying to survey her surroundings. Lunarbolt could not see very well due the lack of light. The only light she saw was a dull red glowing across the room, akin to an optic. If that's who I think it is…

Sure enough a large mech rivaling Megatron in size appeared in the low light. The newly arrived Shockwave just stood there slowly at a table running his servos over the various devices spread out neatly on the table surface. He contemplated on which one to use first on the femme. His glowing red optic scanned over an electric shocker and his lips curled up into a cruel smirk. He glanced over to the chained femme and instead picked up a large energon dagger that was laced with the smallest amount of poison on the tip of the blade.

He looked up at the femme before going back to scrutinize the dagger. "Have you ever experienced extreme pain, Autobot?"

Confused, Lunarbolt brought her helm up to look at him. "What's it to you, Cyclopes?" She succeeded at a small grin. The silver femme fought back the pain in her wrists and continued to speak. "Unless you forgot, I use to fight in the Pits. Pain just happens to be my best friend. It's the one thing that proves to me that I am still alive."

The sociopathic scientist chuckled. His laugh sent a shudder down Lunarbolt's spinal strut as he stepped out of the shadows, fully revealing his dark color scheme. "Not for long, femme. Lord Megatron has given me instructions that I should bring you to the brink of death. I am not to be trifled with." Shockwave countered as he strode up to the chained Autobot. He raised the dagger and gently pressed it close to Lunarbolt's neck, grinning maliciously like a child with a new toy.

"Megatron can throw himself off the Nemesis for all I care." She snapped with her blue optics meeting Shockwave's red optic.

"Is that so? In that case, instead of Megatron, we may have to settle with you. I believe your Autobot friends would be in for a real treat..." Shockwave chuckled and then pulled the dagger away before driving it into the femme's shoulder.

Lunarbolt let out a gasp of pain but then bit her lip to stop from screaming out in agony as she tightened both of her bound hands. Shockwave simply laughed, watching the femme struggle to fight back her screams. The darkly colored mech enjoyed hearing his victims screech. It was like music to his audio receptors.

Shockwave leaned close and whispered. "It's alright, you can scream... Unfortunately, no one can hear you." He plunged the dagger deeper into Lunarbolt's shoulder, sinking it into an energon line.

"I... do... not... scream." She gritted her dental plates painfully while trembling.

The Decepticon frowned and then slowly pulled out the dagger. Lunarbolt slumped forward, panting and grunting in pain. His optic was trained on the femme. He tossed the poisoned dagger to the ground and then grabbed another dagger from his table, this one almost ten times more powerful than the one before. Without even saying a word to Lunarbolt, Shockwave sunk the dagger into the silver femme's other shoulder, cutting through energon lines and remained stoic.

At that moment, Lunarbolt had never experienced pain like this. Maybe that's what Shockwave was saying about true pain. As the poison seeped its way into her system, she couldn't handle it anymore and she finally did scream in pain. Like a shot in the dark, Lunarbolt's screams could be heard throughout the war ship, echoing off the walls and seeping through the air vents. Shockwave's lips widened gleefully at hearing the femme screech to the point where her voice became hoarse.

The mad doctor wrenched out the dagger of the femme's shoulder and tossed it behind him. There was no use for it now. He had the femme right where he wanted her. Shockwave leaned forward and tapped the femme on the side of her head. "Now, that wasn't too hard, was it?"

Gritting her dental plates, Lunarbolt spat at the Decepticon scientist, spraying him with a good amount of energon. Shockwave stepped back and wiped the blue energon off his plating, now slightly offended if not angry. He continued to stare at the femme, his single optic blazing angrily at her.

With her lips quivering, Lunarbolt muttered gruffly, "G-go f-frag y-yourself."

The Decepticon chuckled and then picked up another dagger. But this one wasn't laced with poison. It was just a normal Cybertronian dagger. Shockwave examined the femme's state and then tapped the dagger on her helm. "Where is the location of the Autobot base?"

"Mind your own damn business, Cyclopes!"

Time to open up, Lunarbolt. The mech thought as his lips curled into a cruel grin that would make most mechs cower in fear. Shockwave tapped the femme's helm again with the dagger's hilt. "Such a quick answer." The Decepticon flicked the dagger away from the femme's helm and then traced it around the side of her jaw. "This is a safe place; why not share what is going on in that pretty processor of yours?"

Lunarbolt brought her helm up and seethed at the menacing Decepticon. She stayed quiet however, hardly reacting to the now bleeding wound. Energon dripped down her jaw and landed on her silver frame, sliding its way down her body. And still no words came out of her mouth.

Shockwave sighed and shook his head. The dagger trailed away from Lunarbolt's jaw and then swept down to her chest. It now rested over her spark chamber. Shockwave's grin grew mad. "Such a shame. A pathetic and lowly lieutenant falls in love with her best friend but then he so tragically dies. Such a sad tale. He was a great warrior too..." Shockwave mocked, curling the dagger in his servo.

Lunarbolt felt the energon running through her veins become cold with fear as her processor flashed a memory of a large mech with blue optics and a red and grey paint job to match. What the bloody hell is he playing at? The femme thought as the scientist continued to fiddle with the dagger like it was some toy.

The sociopath tapped the blade again on Lunarbolt's already bleeding shoulder. "And yet, here you are and in love once again. And what's this? Your commander nonetheless!"

The silver Autobot flinched but was quick to answer.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Cyclopes." She ground out, her optics flashing with anger. "But you're just too dim-witted to realize that, so you know what? I'll level with you." Lunarbolt paused. "I'll never tell you where they are. You will have to kill me first."

Shockwave leaned back and then began to laugh. His laughter became maniacal and border-line psychotic. He continued to let out a stream of laughter, letting the chuckles echo off the chamber walls.

"What's your problem, glitch head?"

Just as fast as he started, Shockwave stopped even faster. He grinned as his optic glowed brightly. "Your precious leader will never love you. No one can love a destructive, weak, filthy slut like you, Lunarbolt. Even in the Pits, no one loved you. You were born an orphan and abandoned because your creators did not love you."

Lunarbolt looked as if she got slapped as she stared at him now speechless. Her helm lowered slowly, flinching at the next set of words that came from Shockwave's mouth.

"Tell me if I'm wrong, Lunarbolt! Please, enlighten me! But I have seen the way you fought in battle. There is no sense of compassion or remorse. You've killed mechs with your bare servos and walked away, leaving the energon stains on your frame to stay. I wonder if even your own commander knows about your past life." Shockwave snickered.

"What the bloody hell do you know about my life?!" She snarled.

Shockwave took the dagger that was placed over Lunarbolt's chest and stabbed it into her side and twisted the blade, hearing the femme gasp in pain. He leaned close and then began to chuckle into Lunarbolt's audio receptor. "I know everything about you Nightraider."

She slumped forward, her vision now flickering. "My name is Lunarbolt." She groggily said. The femme let out a cough and energon dribbled down her wounded jaw. "I abandoned that life as soon as I joined the Autobots."

"I am afraid that the past you tried so hard to run away from has finally caught up with you." Shockwave whispered. He pulled out the dagger and then looked at the femme's bleeding form. The mech smirked at his work and then tilted Lunarbolt's head up to where they were inches apart from each other. "Our session will have to be cut short, but I cannot wait to see you again. Until then."

She moaned lowly in pain but she still managed out a few words before falling into the black pit of unconsciousness, "I... Would hate to be late..."

On the outside of the scientist's lab, Knock Out stood against the wall, his arms folded over his newly finished chest. The Decepticon medic knew at first hand that Shockwave's methods were... unorthodox. He waited as the doors slid open, revealing the crazed-scientist with a look of pride on his face. The Decepticon scientist turned to the smaller mech and smirked at the gleaming red mech.

"I need you to patch her up for me. I am not finished with her yet for Megatron requires a report of my findings so far. I'm ensured you will not disappoint me, yes?" Shockwave muttered with a single glare towards the lower ranking doctor. With a turn of his heel, the sociopath strode away from his lab and left the smaller mech to deal with the aftermath. Knock Out shuddered at the thought of what Shockwave may have in store for the Autobot femme but pushed it aside as he entered the lab with his equipment.

His optics trained on Lunarbolt's chained form. And quite frankly, it wasn't a pretty sight. Blue energon was seeping from stab wounds as they had already begun to heal on their own. There was a massive amount of visible claw marks on her neck from Megatron's earlier encounter with her and several torn cables. He could see some broken plating on her shoulder and ankles, making his tank churn at the sight of her damaged frame.

The medic knew it would be a lot of work but Knock Out was pretty good at his job.

Over the past few hours, the base had been abnormally quiet. Most of Team Prime had gone back to their rooms without a single word since they discovered that one of their own was missing. Many of them feared that she had been taken by Decepticons or even MECH for that matter. But so far, there was no evidence that would suggest either party had done it. All the team could do was wait and pray that Lunarbolt would come back safe... and alive for that matter.

After hearing the grim news of their missing lieutenant, most of the other Autobots had dispersed. The only four that remained in the main foyer were the two newest Bots, Bluestreak, and Mirage. "So, now what..?" Sideswipe asked, his optics glancing between Mirage and Bluestreak.

The sniper shrugged his large shoulders and said, "We could give you a tour. Not much to see but Ratch probably would never forgive us if we didn't give you guys a proper tour... right, Raj?" The grey mech turned to his partner who had his arms folded over his chest.

He nodded smiling faintly. "It's good to have a couple of familiar faces on the team for once." The spy nudged his silver comrade fondly. "Should be like old times, eh Sides?"

"Other than Bluestreak's face of course." Sideswipe chuckled. "And of course, someone has to keep the ol' Ratch on his toes."

Sunstreaker snorted from his spot against the wall. "Yeah, but Bluestreak's got a face only a femme could love, right Blue?" The yellow front-liner teased with a grin.

The sniper scowled at his friend. "Very funny, Sunshine."

"It's prettier than your ugly mug, Sunny." Mirage chuckled as Sideswipe got cuffed in the head by his scowling brother. "Don't call me that."

Bluestreak placed a servo on his chest and grinned innocently at the twins, patting his spark chamber. "I can feel the love." The sniper dropped his hand and then motioned for the two brothers to follow him.

Sunstreaker strode up to Bluestreak and the two walked beside each other. The yellow mech glanced over at the sniper and asked, "So, what's this lieutenant, Lunarbolt, like?"

"She's... hard to describe." He admitted after a long pause.

Sideswipe was the next to speak. "She can't be that bad."

"Get on her bad side and she can slug you a pretty good one..." He jerked his head backwards indicating Mirage. "Just ask him."

Sunstreaker was instantly curious. He quirked an optic ridge at the spy and grinned. "Alright, I gotta hear this story. How did that happen?" The yellow mech asked as the four entered a larger room with two make-shift cots for the twins.

Mirage looked darkly at the front-liner. "I'd rather not talk about it." He murmured. Sideswipe pushed the spy on the arm, trying to convince the mech to tell his story. Even Bluestreak, who was standing in the doorway, was curious. Sure, he had already heard the story over a hundred times but it never seemed to get old. Hell, it just seemed to get funnier every time it was told.

"Oh c'mon Raj, tell them how you decided to go up to her and ask her out... only to be on the ground, face-down with your arm behind your back within 30 seconds, " Bluestreak commented with a chuckle.

"You and I remember that very differently." He moodily muttered as the three other mechs started to crack up laughing.

Bluestreak shook his head and tried to stop himself from laughing. "Nope, I remember it very well Raj, and I'll just say it now; you got your aft handed to you on a silver platter." He shot back, grinning brightly.

"Primus, she must be quite a handful then..." Sunstreaker said with a whistle. Sideswipe glared at his brother and slugged him on the shoulder, trying to keep him from blurting out too many comments. Hearing this, Bluestreak was the first to look at Mirage for any signs of an unnecessary reaction. The energon in his veins froze when he saw the red spy's servo twitch.

Mirage shook his helm putting a servo to it. "She is... Though I doubt she'll go for the likes of you Sunstreaker."

"What makes you say that? I'm a pretty good-looking mech." The yellow mech stated arrogantly as if it was a proven fact. Sideswipe sent Bluestreak a worried glance which the sniper easily caught.

"Ehh... Well you seem to be too attached to your paintjob." Mirage pointed out.

Sunstreaker continued to push at the assassin. "You said you made a pass at this femme and she rejected you. Was it because she knew you were a coward or that you have the tendency to leave mechs behind?" The yellow mech questioned with a smirk.

Bluestreak cringed at the words the front-liner had used. This would clearly not end well. He could only hope that Mirage wouldn't attack the other mech...

Sideswipe grabbed his brother's arm and squeezed. "Lay off, Sunny." He ground out in a warning tone.

Mirage's normally blue optics narrowed dangerously, a tinge of red creeping into view. All three mechs in the room could see it, but no one said anything. The spy's lips curled into a snarl as he growled out, "I was rejected because of my own fault and arrogance Sunstreaker and you should do well to remember that. I am not the coward you say I am to be."

"That's not what I remember..." Sunstreaker taunted. "What about your old mentor, Jazz, huh? He died... and it was your fault."

"Sunstreaker, you need to stop..." Bluestreak pleaded but he was cut off by a low growl from Mirage. The sniper quickly looked at his partner and saw gleaming red optics staring not at him, but at Sunstreaker. The intimidating red mech stepped forward fists clenched. "What did you say?"

"C'mon Sunny this isn't funny!" Sideswipe reached out to grab his brother by the shoulder but was shoved away by the angry yellow mech. Sunstreaker took one step toward Mirage and smirked at him.

The yellow front-liner pointed an accusing finger at the spy, pushing hard into his chest. "You killed Jazz. And you know it."

And that's when all Hell broke loose.

It was unbelievable at how fast the spy could move. One moment he was glaring down the front-liner the next he had punched the mech before slamming him against the wall one arm pinning him by the throat. "I DID NOT KILL JAZZ!" He roared into his face.

Jumping into action, Bluestreak snatched the assassin by the middle and attempted to pull him back but the mech was clearly stronger than him. Sideswipe had also joined in, trying to pry Mirage's arm from his brother's throat. Sunstreaker's optics were wide in not just excitement but fear as well. Mirage began clawing and fighting his way to reach towards the front-liner but Bluestreak wasn't going to let his partner go just yet.

However, little did the mechs know, their own commander, Optimus Prime himself was walking down the same corridor and had heard the commotion. He made his way to the room and was shocked to see a red-eyed Autobot had taken the place of his spy. Knowing he had to intervene before someone could be killed, the Prime strode into the room, yanked Mirage from Bluestreak and threw him to the floor.

"ENOUGH!" He bellowed.

All four Autobots looked shocked in their own way. "Optimus sir...!" Sideswipe scrambled to stand from where he had fallen. "I'm sorry, really sir, it - it was my brother..." He stammered but then withered under the steely glare of his Commander.

Mirage on the other hand couldn't even meet his optics. He knew without a doubt he had fragged up. Again.

The Prime simply held up a servo, his optics staring down at the fallen assassin. "Mirage." A visible flinch came from the red mech. "Come with me. NOW." Another flinch, but this time it was from Bluestreak. He had only heard that tone from Optimus once before... and he sure as hell didn't want to hear it ever again. Without saying another word, the largest mech of the vicinity walked out of the room but paused in the hallway.

"Do not make me tell you twice, Mirage." It was a quiet but still obvious threat.

The red mech wordlessly followed behind his leader, not meeting his fellow Bots' optics, especially Bluestreak's.

The Prime led Mirage into another room, much darker and further away from the main room of the base. He unlocked the door and motioned with a stiff servo for the red mech to walk in. With his helm still bowed in shame, Mirage trudged into the dark room and heard the door close behind his commander.

Optimus still kept his door on the handle but then slowly turned towards the assassin, his tone full of disappointment.

"I hope you have a good reason for assaulting one of the members on this team, Mirage." The red and blue mech stated simply.

"I want to say I did it for a femme's honor..." He stated flatly before averting his optics. "But unfortunately that's not the truth." Mirage sought to find the right words to explain but in the end he still struggled. "Sunstreaker... believed I was the reason Jazz died."

Optimus nodded and said, "I see."

He looked over at the assassin and frowned. The Prime noticed that mech was not looking at him. "Mirage, look at me." He commanded gruffly.

The red mech hesitantly looked up at his Commander in response.

Blue optics narrowed. "If you dare threaten another member of this team, regardless of what they have said or done, I will not hesitate to forcibly remove you from this base and you will no longer be a part of the Autobots. Is that understood?"

He nodded briskly and replied with a promise in mind. "Yes... sir. It won't happen again..."

The Prime gave his spy one final nod before murmuring, "I will hold you to that."