A fist connects with a pad.
"Again!"
A kick lands on another.
"Don't hold back!"
A foot sweep.
"Good! Very good! Now repeat!"
Megatron is standing in the center of the room on a large thin mattress while Sonar tries to bring him down.
"Mix it! Surprise me!" The former gladiator goads to his smaller foe.
When it comes to the rehabilitation of his staff after violent confrontations with the clients, the director knows that his approach is unorthodox. But from his own experience, being physical and getting the frustrations out of the systems work better than any talk.
Level -14 is their training facility and is only accessible to the staff.
It is here they train and perfect their combat techniques.
The former gladiatorial slaves are trained killers, and the guards need to learn how to take them down without causing unnecessary damage and protect themselves while doing so. All of the guards are specialized in Krav Maga Survival on the Master level and have a comprehensive knowledge of different martial art techniques.
"Enough," Megatron says after a few more sessions and lowers his pad-covered hands. "How are you feeling?"
Sonar leaves the mattress to sit down on a bench to catch his breath, clearly avoiding the question.
"I have seen the footage," Megatron says when he joins the helo-former at the bench. "You did everything by the book. And from what I could see, there was no forewarning. You did what you could, and it saved his life."
"I still feel like I failed him." Sonar sighs in frustration. "I should have been there with him and not in the main room. Maybe I could have saved his left wing if I hadn't-"
"-spent time hailing the others." Megatron finishes the sentence for him. "And you would be worse of, and he would most likely have died from loss of energon. Safety first. You can't help him if he manages to take you out."
The director pulls a datapad from subspace and hands it to the helo-former.
"Watch it and tell me if you could have done anything differently."
The footage is grainy, but Sonar can see Skywarp clearly from the camera's angle above the window. There is nothing unusual about the way the black and purple seeker behaves. Then Skywarp suddenly reaches for his right wing, the seeker's grip visibly crushing the metal as the wing is almost methodically torn from the frame, followed by a rapid flow of energon. There is no sound on the recording, but Sonar can still hear the tearing sound that had alerted him.
He sees himself entering the doorway and assessing the situation, taking a few seconds to hail the others on duty, and then he doesn't hesitate to fling himself at Skywarp, bringing the seeker to the floor.
Sky-High and Blastwave arrive 30 seconds later, and while Blastwave pulls Skywarp away from him, Sky-High injects a dose of succinylcholine into the seeker's back. The blocking agent takes effect and Skywarp slumps paralyzed to the ground.
"By. The. Book." Megatron states calmly. "You both survived and that is what matters."
After seeing the footage from the incident, Sonar accepts that he couldn't have done more, and a burden lifts from his shoulders.
"My door is always open if you need to talk," The director offers, placing a firm, encouraging hand on the helo-former's shoulder. "I'm proud of you."
"Thank you," Sonar says, his demeanor visibly changed.
Megatron leans back in his chair as he silently observes the discussion on the screen in front of him. He participates in a vid-conference between the Joint Investigation Unit and several representatives from other rehabilitation facilities.
The discussion is heated, and he understands why.
The attack on A-63 and the rehabilitation facility connected to the psychiatric hospital is an eye-opener but not really a surprise. It was only a matter of time before the fight between the law enforcement authorities and the criminals running the slave market would escalate, and the rehabilitation facilities would become collateral damage.
It was why he had chosen SD-394 as the location for D-14 and why he had warned against placing rehabilitation facilities in highly populated areas. But they hadn't listened. If the criminals are stupid enough to attack D-14, they will face several squadrons of fighter jets before they can even get within range of the rehabilitation facility. In contrast to this, anyone who wants to can just walk into the rehabilitation facilities located within the city-states' city borders.
And if they heighten the security, they mark the buildings as high-priority targets to the enemy.
Next time it might be a bomb or a missile and not a simple strike force.
-How is he doing?- Megatron looks up at the private message, meeting Prowl's optics on the screen.
-Which one?- He messages back, his lips curving in a small smile.
-Both of them, I guess.- Prowl answers, a faint nod of understanding on the screen.
-Skywarp is slowly recovering after a violent seizure. The psychiatric team at the hospital failed at identifying a possible PTSD diagnosis.- Megatron explains. -As for Thundercracker, he is still fighting. It still surprises me that he has managed to keep it all buried for so long without any of us realizing the severity of it.-
-But improving?- Prowl asks while he answers a question from one of the representatives on the screen.
-Definitely. Skywarp's arrival has forced Thundercracker to face his fears, and he is finally actively working with them.- Megatron answers, his optics brightening slightly.
-It is good to know.- Prowl acknowledges with another nod. -Any suggestions for the situation at hand?-
-A few.- And Megatron joins the discussion.