Dawn arrived at the quarry, the pink light illuminating all of the steel beams, pumps, lifts, et cetera. A whistle blew and the sound of a lift creaked through the air. Night shift was ending. Up above the mining outfit, a small home was nestled into the cliffside. Inside, Dogleg was already up and about. This morning was going to be special, it would be the first day that his daughters would be joining him for the morning report. They had finally finished their formalized schooling in the city and were old enough to be safe around the mines. A smile was clear on his faceplate as he thought about it.
"Morning Father." A deep voice came from the hall. Brakecheck was also up and ready to go, though he had, of course, been working in the mines alongside his father for a while. "Would you like me to go wake up the femmes?" The orange and white mech asked. Dogleg nodded.
"We don't have much time before the morning shift comes in and I know my day-foreman doesn't like me stepping on his stabilizing servos." He chuckled.
"You know I don't mind you stopping by Father." He rolled his optics as he receded back down the hall to find his younger sisters. Their room was still dark, which didn't surprise him. They had only just come home from schooling and those that lived in the city did not rise near as early as this. As he entered the room, the light turned on. Laying out on their stasis stands were the twins, all grown up. Their antlers had grown a bit, though not to the extent of either their father or brother.
"Time for the Dawn Report." Brakecheck cheered. His exuberant 'good morning' was met by two begrudging green stares. "Aw come on, it's the family business."
"We knoooowwww." His lime green sister, Hornet, groaned. She sat up and rubbed her optics. "But why does the family business have to start so early?" Her dark green twin, Huntress, slumped up to a sitting position on the edge of the stand.
"Stop moping and get a move on." Brakecheck rolled his optics and left the room. Had he been that whiney when he'd come back from school?
A few clicks later and the family was progressing down the cliffside. Dogleg and Huntress were in the lead, while Brakecheck escorted Hornet close behind. The two mechs had agreed earlier that each femme would have to be specifically protected. Ever since the mines had run dry in the South, many Con miners had relocated and with the tense atmosphere of limited resources, the bots did not trust them. Dogleg had even called his cousin in from the city to help out around the mines and keep a watchful optic out. Down at the main lift into the mines, Dogleg's cousin was waiting. He was transformed into his vehicle form, a large front-end loader.
"Good morning, Thunderhoof!" Dogleg called down, waving his servo high. Thunderhoof transformed back into bot-mode and waved back.
"Youse are a little late." He noted, glancing over his extended family with his red optics. His antlers stretched wider than Dogleg's though they only jutted straight out in a very geometric fashion. Dogleg's were much more curved and arched forward, optimal for bearing weight. The two blue mechs came from a long line of 'beast-bots', or bots who possessed the ability to scan organic life forms. Of course, Cybertronians haven't had to venture off Cybertron for millenia so the only organic scans available are the ones passed down through the generations. This left many families with organic traits like antlers or tails.
"Sorry, the scholars over here aren't used to the early wake-up." Brakecheck teased, nudging Hornet with his shoulder. Both femmes narrowed their optics at him.
"Yeah well I came from the city to help youse guys, not do the heavy liftin'." Thunderhoof gruffed.
"You're just tired, don't be so grumpy." Dogleg warned, extending his servo to his cousin as he approached. The two blue mechs clutched each other's fore-arms in standard masculine greeting. Thunderhoof's optics narrowed but a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.
"Yeah, guess yore right. Bein' night foreman is startin' to wear on me." Thunderhoof lied. He could come clean and say he resented having to get his servos dirty. In the city his outfit was massive, so there was no shortage of bots or cons willing to do the dirty work for him. He had been tempted not to respond when his cousin had reached out to him, but family is family. Blood always comes first, just because Dogleg didn't engage in the darker family business didn't mean he didn't deserve a hand. "I'll leave you to your morning rounds, there's a stasis pod callin' my number."
"Caliper should be still resting, she just came in from Parliament late last night." Thunderhoof just nodded at his cousin, optics already droopy in anticipation.
Once the extended family had left, Dogleg swept his arm, directing his children's attentions to the main lift. The family boarded and began their descent. The deeper they went, the darker it became. Brakecheck flipped a switch and interior lights flickered on. After about a minute, the lift came to a stop at the first level. Brakecheck walked out first, directly up to a massive computer.
"This is where we record all of our data; how much energon is extracted in a shift, where it's sent off to, how much is sent, you get the idea." He explained. Everyone crowded around the computer while Brakecheck pulled some records up as an example. Dogleg double checked the surrounding area and quickly walked over beside his son.
"Can you pull up the file? We've got a few moments to fill them in." He murmured, still wary that the next shift would be starting very shortly. Huntress and Hornet looked at each other with concern. As far as they knew, they had only been brought to the mine for a tour.
"What's going on Father?" Hornet asked quietly, following her father's example. Different screens were popping up and going away on the computer screen; Brakecheck's digits were flying across the controls.
"We are on the verge of a crisis." Dogleg explained. As he spoke a file appeared on the screens. "Our energon mines are very nearly dry. Only Brakecheck, Thunderhoof, and I have access to this information. I've told your mother, but she has only just gotten back from Parliament, it will take a few cycles to bring the council members back together." The numbers on the screen corroborated the information he was explaining.
"Father, the loss of energon is destroying the cities in the south." Huntress whispered, her processor whirring with the nightmarish possibilities. "There has already been a lot of talk about war over the little that remains. Parliament must hear about this now."
"We are trying. That is why I wanted to bring you two into this. You are freshly educated and know the culture of the city. But you also have experience growing up here. You two are to go travel with your mother tomorrow."
The two fembots looked at each other. Yes, they were grown physically, but respect on Cybertron was based on experience and position more than age. Two fems from the mines would not immediately garner support. A warm tingling revved up the sister's sparks. Subconsciously they were lending energy to each other through their bond as twins.
The bots startled when the lift activated. The day crew had arrived. Brakecheck quickly backed out of the classified files and erased his history so no one would find out through being overly curious.
"Go home, talk to your mother. Brakecheck will get you the information you will need for a presentation after his shift tonight." As Dogleg spoke he placed a servo on each of his daughter's shoulders and squeezed softly. He knew that things would escalate very quickly. There was already a mech in the south that had taken the name of Megatron, after Megatronus Prime. Clearly he took himself seriously enough to be dangerous to the cities in the north. The first target for more energon would be the mines and that meant that his family would be in danger. "Above all, be safe always. Keep this to yourselves and your mother." Both fems nodded.