Transformers Short Story

Black Sheep

Rose stilled. She could hear the approaching cars from around the bend and all her senses were screaming at her to remain hidden. She signaled to the soldiers behind her and they all faded swiftly into the shadows or lower to the ground since cover was scarce. The dim lightly was providing sketchy visuals but their Transformer counterparts weren't having any issues navigating the darkening playing field. Optimus echoed something over his bond and the Autobot simultaneously crouched to maintain height with the buildings around them. Rose strained her ears to hear any more movement up ahead but the sound of tires rolling over sand was still steadily moving closer. Ironhide, on her right, pitched forward slightly as if to release his cannons but instead moved towards Rose, most likely to protect her flank. Rose acknowledged him with a terse nod before refocusing her attention back on the road. They'd planned this stake-out for months. Constant surveillance of the area and communication tabs had been running over the top of video feeds and guards stationed within each building, which provided almost insider information on all routes taken through this uninhabited town. The standard procedure to outfit a perfect raid, especially one as important as this. Rose tightened the hand grip of her M22 before sending a short snap of static over their comms to assess the distance of the approaching party. Ratchet answered her static with one short click, signaling the one-mile marker, the party having just entered Ratchet's sensors. Optimus raised slightly over the building he was pressed against and refocused his optics over the approaching vehicles. His optics stilled and then reconstricted to take in the surrounding area nearest him. He tapped his personal link with Rose before motioning to the party with an incline of his head. Rose let out a brief sigh before tapping her comm link in an agitated manner, "Maintain coverage, this isn't our target...they've been tipped and this could be enemy respondents." Rose threw a look at Ironhide who huffed instantly at her look, steam of hot air releasing from his joints with a hiss, "You'd think covert meant something to those fraggers up top." Rose nodded mutely and added, "For some reason, it's very hard for the U.S. to keep a lot of secrets." She disengaged her loaded bolt action and relocked it as the cars entered her view. Ironhide watched her practiced motion before releasing his cannons with a whirl, "You won't need those." Rose glanced over his weaponry with a smile, and lowered her rifle, "You want to handle this if it turns into a bloodbath? How nice of you." Ironhide wrinkled his olfactory system, "Only if their Decepticon...humans aren't as pleasant to kill." Rose leaned back on her feet, "They should be all human, Ratchet sensors would alert him differently if they were something else." Ironhide's cannons powered down with a whine and he rubbed at the plating, "They don't stand a chance against us." Rose hummed before re-aiming her rifle as the first car appeared toward the entrance of the town. She followed the tires as the car rolled slowly into the town. She refocused her front sight on the tinted window of the black SUV and waited with bated breath for any signs of hostile movement. The passenger door was flung open and Rose heard the soft click of multiple guns in the first trigger stage aimed toward the door. A lean figure climbed out of the car and turned fully to study the road up ahead. His stance remained relaxed but Rose could tell he was armed heavily and wouldn't hesitate to pull his weapons. The man leaned back into the car to tell its occupants something before he straightened and barked, in German, "I know you are out there Black Sheep. There's no use hiding...I know who you work for now...such a drastic change from your original duties...and the bloodiest of them all now a medic? Quite the irony." Rose clenched her teeth and waited for the man to start firing off his gun instead of his mouth but he continued airly, "They say people fear you above the rest of your old team...a real cold-blooded killer they called you. You have quite the reputation...almost 2,000 kills in a year? Trying to set a record, are we?" He trailed off with a cold laugh, "You'll want to talk before I start trading your secrets to your government. Come and find me." He nodded to his driver and hopped back into the SUV as the party escorted them down a side alley and out into the desert once more. Rose waited till the party was completely out of sight before signaling for position release. At once her soldiers surrounded her with confused and curious looks. Rose waved them off before motioning to Optimus, "We've got to get back to the base...as fast as you can get us there." Optimus blinked before transforming in front of her, his tires spinning with exertion. All around them the rest of the Autobots transformed into her vehicle modes and the group of soldiers were piled into respective cars. Rose glanced at the waiting vehicles before deciding to ride with Ironhide, who was practically beckoning her over. Ironhide slung his driver-side door open, his voice washing over her as she hastily jumped in, "Black Sheep." Rose squinted down at his screen watching Ironhide's miniature face mull over whatever he'd dug up on the topic; which Rose suspected was nothing. Ironhide's face told her as much as his blue optics turned to lock on her, "Nothing in here about Black Sheep...and I don't think that slagger was talking about the animal." Rose nodded along, silently wishing his trends to fly faster through the sand toward the designated space bridge location. Ironhide remained silent for a couple of klicks before adding, "You don't have to talk about but...you ain't considering going to him, are you?" Rose shrugged before completely shutting down her EM field, knowing she'd get questioning looks from the Autobots at the loss. Ironhide's form gave a slight shiver, "What'd you do that for!? I said you didn't have to talk about it, didn't I? Now you're giving me the complete silent treatment?" Rose sighed, "I'm not in the mood Ironhide. No questions until we get to the base, okay?" Ironhide grumbled and his screen went completely black, alerting Rose that she had majorly pissed him off. Rose gritted her teeth, good at least he'll be quiet now. The ride to the space bridge remained deadly quiet and for good measure Rose had squshed herself into the window, trying her best to keep space from Ironhide (or well his monitor). The air around the space portal location vibrated slightly as they neared and suddenly burst into a bright green hole, allowing travel from their location back to the base or vice versa. Optimus lead the way first, followed swiftly by the rest of the Autobots and N.E.S.T soldiers. Ironhide fell quickly into the back of the line, which was either a coincidence or a pull at Rose's earlier stunt. Rose ignored it either way and focused her energy on the travel through the space bridge and back into their base. As soon as the familiar walls of the main deck appeared she undid her seatbelt, at the slight protest by Ironhide, and popped his door open before making her way quickly to the Medical Bay. She felt the optics of the Autobots and her soldiers following her as she practically ran to the ward. She turned the corner sharply and barged through the door, not bothering to knock as her very presence and loud entrance were enough. Mitsy, on the other hand, didn't, and looked up sharply from her work, "Rose! What's going on? Did someone get hurt?" Rose paused to stifle her pounding heart, begrudgingly meeting Misty's eyes, "A man knows about the Black Sheep Squad. I don't know how or from whom he got his information but he's dangerous with what he has...He knows about me and he knows about you. From there I can only imagine what else he knows about the team." Misty stared at Rose perplexed for a few moments, allowing the information to sink in before her stunned lips turned into a tight frown, "Then we're not safe. The rest of the team is gone...if he singled us out he must know this...or he will when he starts digging further. What exactly did he say?" Rose repeated the earlier conversation with a slight edge to her voice, finishing her sentence off stonily, "What happens now Mitsy? We tell the team, we put them at risk. If I talk to this man I may be getting a worse deal than him trading secrets....the government already knows about Black Sheep." Mitsy corrected her softly, "The Military Government knows, the main branches weren't informed for a reason. They would use us. If he were to tell them now I can't say how they would react." Rose gritted her teeth, "They'd pull us back in...maybe even the whole team." Mitsy pursed her lips and turned away to look around her office, "We have to tell the team. Lying to them put us in this situation in the first place...and...I don't want to do that again. Before you interrupt..they're already at risk being around us." Rose narrowed her eyes, "I know that...but this information is power. We hand the team some and every single person becomes a liability...even if you don't want to see that." Mitsy rebuked, "You're treating them like they're your enemies. This isn't the Squad... you can trust them to keep this tucked away." Rose laughed coldly, "You misunderstood me...I'm not worried about them telling anyone...I'm worried about what he will do to make them talk." Mitsy breathed a heavy sigh, "Then what do you want to do Rose? He's placed his bets and if you're not going to meet him...then...we have no choice but to pull back and tell them before he gets there first." Rose rubbed at her face, "Fine. I'll alert the General." Mitsy nodded, sending Rose a sympathetic look, "And the team?" Rose sniffed, "Tell them for all I care Mits." Mitsy's gaze turned hard, "Don't snap at me just because you're not pleased with the outcome. It's your past too." Rose sighed, squeezing Misty's shoulder, "Right...Fine then, ready to face the masses?" Mitsy gently threw off Rose's hand, "I've dealt with worse." Rose sighed, "Unfortunately, I know." Both women accompanied each other out of the med bay and back into the main deck, greeting each curious face with a collective neutral look. Lennox crossed his arms and studied the pair, Ironhide at his back, "You done trading secrets yet?" One green, one blue drowned the two brown in an icy look, "You've known me long enough to know I don't like the bs, Lennox." Lennox deflated slightly and tried again, "That was a major standoff today...I think we'd all like to know what happened...besides not all of us speak German." Rose studied him, "I don't know who that man was...but the information he held I am very familiar with, we both are." She motioned to Mitsy before continuing, "First, what I talk about doesn't leave this room...is that clear?" She turned to watch every single bot and soldier nod their head in agreement, "Second, the Black Sheep Squad is...was a notorious assassination tool employed by the Military Government to destroy enemy targets in or outside the U.S. It was a modern take on a group such as ours but...to a much smaller degree. The Black Sheep Squad was made by Brigadier General Bryan Henderson and all of its members were hand-picked by him. These soldiers were ruthless and unstoppable...monsters in every single right.......they all were cold-blooded killers selected based on skills they excelled at to earn those titles. The team was made up of five people: A leader, a combat medic, an expert gunner, a sporter tracker, and an advanced hacker." She paused to survey the group, "Any questions so far?" The group remained stoic so Rose continued, "These five were not teammates, friends, or family...they were strictly lumped together to accomplish their objectives. With this in mind, none of them trusted each other even after years of working for a shared goal." Optimus slightly tilted his head and Rose stilled to let him ask, "What was this goal?" Rose scrunched her nose, not at him, but in gathering the correct words to answer his question, "Truthly no one knew. They were told some bs about making the world safer by taking out killers, blackmailers...that sort of crowd." Optimus bowed his head in understanding and Rose fell back into her story with a sigh, "The Squad was extremely successful in taking out their targets though were not used for the public interest, strictly political advancements." She paused to think over her next words, "Today, the entire team but two are dead...the government closed down the program after the leader went clean, and from there no protection was given to those in the Squad...so they were picked off." Lennox ground his teeth together, "You're saying the government hired a Suicide Squad?" Rose nodded mutely and he retorted, "What shit did this group do if it was so bad he's holding it over your head? Did they threaten to take out you as a target and now you're being tracked or something? Was he in on it and is finishing a job...?" Mitsy answered him quietly, "He's not on a job...nor was he a part of the Squad. No one knows about the Black Sheep Squad. That's why none of you could find it. Its been scrubbed clean of any historical records or injury files. The Squad was left to fend for themselves and were completely cut off from external sources." Epps piped up, "If it's such a secret why are you telling us now?" Rose met his eyes but Ironhide quickly intercepted her, "She's telling us to save our afts. She's the leader and Mitsy's the medic and this man is gonna trade this information to the government to get a rise out of them." The soldiers broke out into uneasy looks and whispers, while the Autobots sent Rose and Mitsy narrowed optics. Lennox looked like he was taking the news the worst, "You can't be...I've known you long enough to know what you're describing isn't true." Epps side-eyed him, and stated hesitantly, "It kinda is mate...no offense Rose...but we've all seen her fight. We've seen her scars...and sometimes she's not herself when she's angry...." Lennox sent Rose a ruffled look, "Epps, she said cold-blooded killer among other things...she's not that." Epps shook his head, "Maybe not cold-blooded but a killer...we all are." His sentence hung in the air before Lennox turned to face Rose again, hurt in his eyes, "And so what, all of a sudden you're a good guy?" Rose thought over his question, "I'm not a good guy, even now." Lennox shook his head, "That's bullshit and you know it. You can't just drop a bomb like this and expect us to what...take it nicely?" Epps put a sturdy hand on his shoulder but Lennox brushed it off, "Rose is one thing but Mitsy? She's not in on that crowd?" Mitsy rubbed at her face, "You don't know what I've done." Lennox gaped at her, "Know what you've done!? You're a fucking medic!" Rose pursed her lips, "With combat training the same level as mine. We were all used as tools on that team and we can't take back what we did...don't make me regret telling you this." Lennox snapped his mouth shut before looking around at other soldiers for support. Epps stood up to his side and whispered something into his ear, holding him at bay for now. Rose shifted her attention to the Autobots, "You all have been quiet." Ironhide snorted, "We just learned the famous sparkling of two saints themselves is a flea-bitten murder...what did you expect?" Rose nodded at his response looking to the others for their reactions and opinions. Acree stiffly glared in her direction, "You betrayed our trust by not telling us this." Rose narrowed her eyes, "What I choose to tell and don't tell is my decision. You've probably kept a lot of things hidden from me." Acree narrowed her optics in response but was interrupted by Drift, "Need I remind you that the Autobots are forgiving?" Acree sent him a look, "Yes, and maybe now I'm reconsidering it." Drift placed a steady hand on his blades, "You excepted me and you can do the same for her. How is this much different? Rose has not shown these..."murderous" tendencies during our time here, so why doubt her now?" Acree huffed and turned away, "What about you Ultra Magnus?" Ultra Magnus considered the two bots to his side and the human in front of him before sighing heavily, "I do not condone her actions. But what she lives with now is punishment enough...what do you expect me to say, Acree?" Acree refocused her optics before shaking her helm. Optimus entered into the conversation with a warning look at Acree, "I agree with Drift and Ultra Magnus's assessments. Rose hasn't proved anything less than an excellent leader here and...I see no reason to change that now." Rose excepted his words in kind, sending a quiet, thank you, over their shared bond. Ironhide scrunched his nasal ridge, "You're just saying that because she's your sparkling...but she did what she had to do and I can't find fault in that." He blinked down at Rose, silently forgiving her for the earlier treatment. The rest of the Autobots remained silent, though Rose could tell that their feelings on the matter were mostly similar to Drift, Ultra Magnus, Optimus, and Ironhide. Ratchet cleared his throat softly, "What happens now?" Rose glanced at Misty for a confirming nod before stating firmly, "I tell the rest of the world."