AN: Thanks for the reviews!

Starfire201: Welcome and thanks for the review!

Igeegeei and Asher Tye: Here's where you get to see what Megatron is going to do about it. The human causalities kind of distracted Arcee and Bulkhead, and being angry at the Decepticon thrashing they were given on the Nemesis only helped fuel their need to beat something up. Also, Bulkhead was the closest to the controlled Bumblebee and he's not the brightest of the bunch so no ground bridge could just mean that the Decepticon wanted to be farther away before gating out, after all you don't want the enemy following you do you?

What happens in this chapter? Megatron gets royally ticked off and decides to do something about it.

{Nemesis}

Megatron was awakened from recharge by a ping from Soundwave. He rose out of his berth and stretched to unkink any wiring that may have bunched up during the night. Recharging in alt mode was more realistic if a mech wanted to avoid wiring bunching up but during this time of war and uncertainly it was safer to recharge in bipedal mode.

On his way to the bridge Megatron ran into Knockout. The medic fell into step with Megatron and they looked briefly at each other before continuing on to the bridge.

"Soundwave pinged you too, my lord?" Knockout asked and Megatron could hear the curiosity in his voice. Soundwave never requested the stuck-up medic's presence and had to be ordered by Megatron to go to the medical bay for the monthly routine diagnostic as the communications/security officer would not go on his own.

"Yes, it appears that your expertise is required as well as mine."

"Indeed, Lord Megatron, but I must confess I have been so busy during the off-time you've provided us with my own," Knockout searched for a word to describe his illegal street racing, "pursuits that I'm afraid I have no idea what project Soundwave is currently working on."

"The mystery of the unknown attacker on a human military base."

"And this concerns us how, my lord?"

Megatron turned to glare at the medic, "The attacker obliterated the base and most of its personnel, all the while appearing to be a Decepticon and escaped the Autotbots who were sent to deal with him."

"Starscream?" Knockout guessed but Megatron shook his head.

"The mech was a grounder and Soundwave reports Starscream is still nursing his wounds from our last bout."

"Hmm, a puzzle then, my lord," Knockout said and they entered the bridge.

Soundwave was at a screen, his tentacles operating the various buttons while information flashed across the system faster than even Megatron or Knockout could keep up. This was why Soundwave was such a valued asset to the Decepticon cause; his ability to process information and keep track of millions of data and communication lines was legendary. Soundwave had only had one real nemesis, and that was the human child, Rafael Esquivel, who the third-in-command would very much like to meet in a non-combative environment. This was a wish that he kept secret even from his drones; they could be such jealous little creatures after all.

"Soundwave, report," Megatron ordered.

Soundwave turned to them to acknowledge the order before looking back at the screen before him. He played the video of the attack on the Army base in Juneau, Alaska, letting Knockout see it for the first time. Knockout had seen devastation many times during his thousand years but the utter execution of the human soldiers by the mech left his spark constricting. Not even the Decepticons had unleashed such destruction on this planet and, the medic admitted privately to himself, seeing the little, fragile forms be incinerated was not a pretty picture.

Soundwave then brought up a map of Northern America, zooming in to highlight two areas. One was the Army base Knockout had just seen destroyed, the other was an air base where the computers had been hacked and a picture of a zooming car breaking through the gate was the only evidence of the intruder. Soundwave drew a line from one base to the other, and then drew a third line to another spot as a possible target.

"I know the picture is primitive technology but can you enhance it to some degree to compare it the Army base's attacker?" Megatron requested.

Soundwave brought the picture up on the screen and worked at it. Megatron and Knockout waited patiently as the pixels were enhanced and sharpened so that the image could be better seen. The medic gasped at the end result while Megatron narrowed his eyes.

Knockout would have known that car mode anywhere, even if it were painted a different color as it was. "Bumblebee."

Megatron looked at Knockout before turning to Soundwave. He did not have to give the order as his TIC(third-in-command) was already bringing up the file on Bumblebee. Measuring the Autobot's scout frame in one screen, Soundwave brought up the base's attacker on another and measured it as well. Pushing both images together all three Decepticons could see the match, even if the fake Decepticon's frame was slightly off due to the alt mode being different.

"Autobot fools," Megatron growled, "none of you will make the connection." The Decepticon leader looked at his communications officer and medic, "What could make a mech turn against his faction and become a ruthless killer?"

Knockout and Soundwave briefly looked at each other before the silent mech hung his head and the medic shook his own viciously. "But it would be impossible for the coding to have been introduced to his system. We eradicated it, you killed the ones who made it and every mech who has joined our ranks has been screened and heavily firewalled against anything remotely like it. He could not have been infected, Lord Megatron."

"Are you certain?" Megatron looked out the port window at the stars, "What other explanation is there? You know the Autobot scout, Knockout, you have had the most run-ins with him. Tell me, is he such a one to turn against Optimus Prime and slaughter the race of one that is his ward?"

Knockout's exhaust system huffed and his fans turned on to cool down his frame. "No, he is every inch an Autobot, blindly loyal because that is how he has been raised. I cannot see him changing his paintjob or alt mode voluntarily, he is more prone to speed than to destruction."

"Then there is no other explanation." Megatron pinged Dreadwing to report to the bridge immediately. "Ready the medical bay, you are on standby until further notice. Soundwave, be ready to activate a ground bridge to that area immediately when he strikes. The Autobots will most likely try to come to us so we must be prepared. I want the shield frequencies on an ever-changing loop so that Prime cannot get on board as he did last time. We are the only ones who know how to deal with a mech under the influence of the slave coding and it can best be dealt with here, the Autobots will only get in the way so as soon as Bumblebee is brought onto the ship move the Nemesis away from Earth."

"Lord Megatron," Knockout piped up. "Who could be responsible for such an act of violation?"

Megatron looked down at Earth, "An enemy that both Prime and I have treated far too lightly. I began to think of them as a threat when we recovered Breakdown but felt it would be better for Optimus to deal with them since he did call them humanity's version of us Decepticons. Obviously, I was mistaken that he could handle the situation, even after those despicable humans tarnished Prime's name with their abomination."

"You mean…" Knockout could not finish his sentence, the violence done to his partner, Breakdown, still a gaping wound in his spark no matter how hard he tried not to show it.

"Yes," Megatron looked at the picture that Soundwave provided, one of an adult human male whose face was adorned with scars. "Silas."

AN: So, is Megatron angry? Or is he angry? Also, for those who requested Knockout did you like his entrance? If you thought he might have been a tad too serious just remember, when it comes to slave coding there is no room for humor.