Transformers Short Story

Never Forgive

Swerve surveyed the N.E.S.T Base, his optic ridges quirked at the amount of human soldiers and Cybertronain's working together. Being used to M.E.C.H's treatment of his fellow bots had made him wary of the presence of Earth's natives for a long time, but seeing Rose's team work alongside each other helped to lessen that hate. Epps hurried by his pedes, waving at the eccentric mech as he passed, his arms loaded full with boxes of what looked like shipping orders. Smith ran alongside him, barking out orders to the other soldiers as they scurried to accommodate the large order of shipment they'd received from Command. The S-4 Officer paused to add another clipboard to Johnson's list, his features pressed into a hard frown, "Who ordered this shipment? Fucking hell, put those other there! No-the-dammit, just set them down. JAZZ!" The silver and blue mech snapped wearily to his companion's side, side-eyeing the imaginary steam that seemed to be rising off Smith as more shipments pushed through, "Easy mate, got the lot here." Smith's skin colored red and he turned onto the nearest soldier, who'd just spilled one of the boxes, "Out! Leave it...go get the rest." The soldier backtracked rapidly into the side hanger, leaving Epps to pick up the rest of what looked like new Assault Packs. Epps tossed them lazily back in the box, ignoring the noticeable twitching of Smith's eye at the sight. The senior soldier shook his head with a deep sigh, rounding on Jazz, an edge to his voice, "Did you get a total count?" Jazz hummed, tapping his chin plate, "200 boxes total. Crew said that was it for the week so far...you look like you're going to blow a cricut." Smith waved away his concern, "Bloody great...this shipment wasn't supposed to arrive for another two weeks, where are we going to put all of this?" Epps patted his large stack dully, "The storage unit." Smith shook his head and Epps rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath, "Why'd you ask then." Smith trailed his gaze around the base before brightening, "Alright, load them in the side hanger, Container Echo is open." Epps closed his eyes briefly before hefting the large boxes into his arms, staggering towards the side hanger. Dino intercepted him before he could go any further, picking up the top box and flipped it around with a chuckle at his companion, "Mio Amico, you're almost a goner." Epps chuckled as the red mech flipped the box again, spinning it on the tip of his digit like a basketball. Smith balked at the sight, opening his mouth to retort but Jazz caught the box, placing it forcefully in the mech's servos as he hissed, "He's already at the end of his rope, Dino." Dino only shrugged, opening the larger door for Epps and following him inside with a darkened curse in Italian, prompting another laugh from the soldier. Jazz shook his helm warily and stared hard at the other pairs; his optics flickering from human to bot moodily. Smith pulled the checklist out of Johnson's pile and read down the list, stopping at the bottom as he mentally tailed how much they'd have to find storage for outside of Container Echo, "Bronx." The S-2 Officer leaned off of the wall, flickering his cigar to the side and approached his S-4, Crosshairs leering over him, "Whatcha need Cap." Smith pinched the bridge of his nose, "A fucking vaction, can you and Crosshairs bring out the rest of the boxes into this hanger? I'll get the rest of the boys to sort them out." Bronx dipped his head, jerking it to motion forward to Crosshairs, who only rolled his eyes and walked towards the loading dock, complaining loudly, "We do more work in this infernal base than I ever did in the Engineering Core." Bronx ruffled his dark hair, "Questo perché non hai lavorato affatto." Crosshairs glared at his companion, pushing a green digit into his chest, "I 'eard that." Bronx pushed his digit aside, leading them both back into the hanger, "Eh, what'd I say?" Crosshairs wrinkled his olfactory system and shook his helm, "Humans." Bronx mimicked his tone, "Autobots." Their bickering echoed throughout the loading dock. Smith wasted no time in turning his attention to the remaining pairs, "West, Frazier you send them in to Epps and Dino." He turned on his heel with the clipboard and threw it to Johnson who fumbled with it before straightening awkwardly. Smith paused before he reached his office door, "Hound don't loot through my stuff." Hound puffed on his cigar, blowing sparks over West, who only blinked them out of his face, "Roger." Frazier swiped the air in front of him with a huff, "Keep that stuff to yourself man." Hound pulled his cigar from his derma and tilted it over Frazier's head who flinched and ducked behind Sideswipe's ped; both of them backing away in protest, "Hey, keep that away from my paintjob." Smith shook his head and disappeared into his office, leaving Jazz to oversee the work while the S-4 ragged on the shipping company. Jazz crossed his arms across his chest plates with the quirk of his optics ridges, his blue optics hidden behind his black visor. The normally laid-back mech often sobered up for his partner's sanity but even the music-loving mech had his moments of authority that came entirely from being Optimus's second in command, "Well?" Hound repacked his cigar into his derma and hefted one of the boxes towards the other hanger, "Movin'." Sideswipe and Frazier shared a look but helped organize the boxes without any other complaints. Jazz nodded with satisfaction, catching Swerve's optic as he watched the scene, amusement in his field, "You better scatter before you're volunteered." Swerve blinked before backing away from the group sheepishly, deciding to tour a different part of the base. It was one of his first full visits to the base and so far he was impressed. He turned the corner and almost bumped into another bot, dodging out of the way at the last second, "Oph, sorry I wasn't-" Swerve stiffened as he saw the familiar paint job of the mech before him. Drift met his optics with equal surprise, his voice passive, "Swerve." Swerve pushed past him roughly, his voice cold, "Deadlock." Drift flinched slightly at the name, his optics following the brightly colored mech down the hall as he hurried past him. Swerve rounded the corner and glanced over his shoulder plating, relieved to see Drift had moved into the main hanger. He shook out the shock from his frame at seeing the bot. They had been friends once, a long, long time ago. Swerve refused for certain memories to surface in his processor at the thought of him; he was done with the mech and he'd made that very clear the last time they'd seen each other. Swerve let out a deep exhale and continued down the hallway, his optic ridges furrowing at the sudden change in light. This hallway was dark, illuminated only by small lights under picture frames littering the wall. Swerve glanced back the way he'd come, but that also meant seeing Drift again. He shook himself and studied the wall. A memorial wall? Swerve dragged his servo along the closest pictures, reading some of the names and descriptions as he passed. He kept walking, surprised to see the wall continued down the rest of the dimly lit hall. The sound of footsteps made Swerve pause and he cycled his optics, looking down the hall for any signs of movement. The plating on his spinal struts flared slightly as he heard the steps again, "Hello?" A shadow started towards him and he stepped back into a defensive posture, slowly relaxing as the holo-form of Optimus appeared out of the darkness, "Swerve. My apologies, I did not mean to startle you." Swerve dipped his helm in greeting, eyeing the Prime curiously, "Do you walk around like that often?" Optimus glanced down at his form with a deep hum, "On the rare occasion...when I need too." Swerve nodded, glancing to the wall again, "What is this place?" Optimus followed his gaze, his deep baritone calming, "A memorial hall for the fallen soldiers." Swerve thumbed over another portrait, "Just from this company?" Optimus shook his head before stopping, looking over the wall thoughtfully, "I'm not sure...some I recognize, but I believe this was here when we took over this base." Swerve hummed in acknowledgement, his words soft, "Which ones do you know?" Optimus blinked, stepping up to the wall before pointing to his left, where the newest portraits were placed, "That is Sergeant Major Price." Swerve stepped closer, "I heard about him, he was Ultra Magnus's charge right?" Optimus's face was shrouded dark as Swerve covered the light fixture, "Yes." Swerve stepped back with a slight shiver, "It's kind of-" "Eerie?" Optimus smiled at him kindly, "It does have that effect." Swerve settled his plating neatly against his frame and agreed, "Yes, I was going to say creepy." Optimus chuckled, "That would be another word to describe it." The two sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before a ring went through the hall and Optimus apologetically disappeared the way Swerve had come from. Swerve blinked and turned, following the curve of the hall until he was in another open hanger. He paused and tried to find his bearings in the maze-like base. "You good?" Swerve whipped around as a female voice hit his audio fins, staring down at the famous CO, "Rose! Primus, it's easy to get turned around in here." Rose chuckled, motioning to a door on her right, "That door will take you back to the main hangar if you want." Swerve tilted his helm in thanks before adding, his tone on edge, "I didn't think you'd keep Deadlock around." Rose raised her eyebrows, "Deadlock, you mean Drift?" Swerve sent her a hard look, to which the CO ignored, "What about it?" Swerve balked and his voice dipped lower, "You know very well why." Rose blinked before humming thoughtfully, "I might not agree with what he's done in his past but...hard as it is to believe it, he's changed." Swerve looked at her with a mixture of surprise and hurt, "You'd just forgive him?" Rose shook her head, her tone hard, "No...I never said that. He knows I can't forgive him for anything, but I'm also giving him a second chance, Swerve." "A second chance." Swerve's voice was raised, "He doesn't deserve a second chance after he kill-after everything he's done." Rose didn't flinch at his tone, "Swerve." Swerve took a step back from her, his face filled with disgust and pain, "I thought you would understand more than anyone." Rose sighed deeply, rubbing at her face as the mech waited for an answer, "I do but...he's on our side, he's fighting our war and he's trying to make up for everything." Swerve growled lowly, "Then you don't understand."