Chapter Ten: Major

"When engaging a Decepticon, take careful aim to their vulnerabilities, otherwise you're just wasting ammo and creating an even angrier bot. Aim for the optics or openings in the chest, that'll hurt them the most."

"Won't it be extremely difficult to hit such sensitive areas in the field, Major?" A younger soldier asked, his hand raised slightly.

I gave a nod. "Well, ideally, you'll be apart of a specific formation designated beforehand that'll allow for shots like that. However, sometimes, yes, there may be unexpected situations where you may be separated from your squad." I glanced at all the cadets before me. "If something like that happens, do not engage the enemy alone. That is a foolish and suicidal move. If you cannot locate your squad, your options are to locate a different one or seek shelter. Am I understood?" A chorus of "yes ma'am" reached my ears. "Great. You are all dismissed for the evening." The cadets all saluted together before shuffling out of the room, excited to have some time to themselves. I turned to face Bumblebee as he knelt behind me to be closer to my level. "Good work today, Bee." He chirped his thanks as he tapped a digit on my shoulder.

The hanger doors began opening suddenly, driving my attention away from the young Autobot. A smile broke out on my face as I saw the Peterbilt semi lead his team inside the building. I jogged over to meet the Prime as he transformed into his bi-pedal mode, the others driving to their respective areas for check-ups and changes that they may possibly need. Optimus crouched, his faceplates lifted in a smile.

"How was the mission?"

"The threat has been sterilized. My Autobots handled it well." He paused to glance over to where Bee was chirping away at Ironhide. "And how was the training?"

"Great! Bee is a great help, and I think it really helps the cadets to have that visual. Makes it easier to understand." There was a moment of silence before Prime turned his head to face me again.

He reached out his hand, brushing my side with his thumb. "It's good to be back."

I blushed slightly, shifting my weight to the side where his hand now rested. "I'm just glad everything went smoothly. Next time I'll be sure to attend the mission with you."

He gave me a curious look. "That isn't necessary. With the Decepticon threat at an all-time low, there is not much to worry about besides your own human threats."

"Well, you know, I worry."

"There is no need, Maria." He said softly. I smiled up at him, and he brushed my side once more before bringing his hand back and standing. I immediately felt the absence of his closeness. "Excuse me a moment, I need to speak with my Autobots."

I gave a slight nod before stepping out of the way. I watched him make his way over to the rest of his team, then made my way over to the door that led outside the hanger and into the "human" part of the base. I walked over to my office, comforted by the quiet of the room. I took a seat behind my desk with a sigh. I shook my head at the mess of files that lay across my desk. Ever since I was promoted to Major I had received a lot more to look over. Every single mission and possible threat was mine to look over before being passed over to Lennox, who was also promoted to Colonel.

I opened the file closest to me and began reading through it, the first step of making the final report. It was a mission from earlier in that month, one that was rather easy to deal with. I couldn't help but wonder how the Autobots felt dealing with what must be insignificant human issues to them. I know Ironhide was itching to shoot at something big, but I always knew that there was a sense of relief among them now that the Decepticons were dealt with.

A knock on my office door broke my attention, and I looked up to see Will step in. He gave a slight smile. "Sorry." He held up another file in his hand. "This is from the most recent mission."

I pointed to the empty corner of my desk. "Just set it there, I'll get to it when I can."

"You know, I can get someone to help you out with all those."

"Oh, no, that's quite all right! It's just hard to find some time to sit down and work through them with the training and all. I'm not complaining though, Colonel, I can manage just fine."

He chuckled. "Right, okay." He sat down in a chair on the other side of the desk, across from me. "I have heard that the training's been going on really well. I overheard the cadets are actually enjoying it. And they're doing well, the information you've been giving them is great. You've been doing a fantastic job, Maria."

"Thanks, Will. Really, you should be telling this to the Autobots as well. If I didn't have their help I don't think the training would be as effective."

"Ya know, I think it's good for the Autobots too. I don't think we would've been able to get Ratchet to talk to them without you" He laughed slightly.

I smiled. "Well, I'm not so sure about that. He does see the importance of his involvement. Plus it gives him an opportunity to boss the cadets around, and we all know he loves that."

Will smiled too, his shoulders shaking as he laughed. "That is very true, I didn't think of it that way."

"I think the same applies to Ironhide. He likes intimidating them."

He looked at me seriously now. "The Autobots really respect you, ya know."

"Well, I mean, we work together every day. I would certainly hope that there's a mutual respect there."

"Of course! But I'm kinda talking about something different."

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "What exactly do you mean?"

He sighed, leaning back in his chair. "It's just something I've noticed. I dunno, they seem really open to working with you..." He smirked slightly. "Maybe it's got to do with how close you've gotten with Prime."

I leaned back. "I really don't think that's got anything to do with it. I respect the Autobots and their leader, and they all respect me."

Will shook his head. "Look, you're happy, I can tell. Optimus is too, and from what I've noticed the Autobots have taken a liking to you, Ratchet included, which is hard to do."

"Well, yeah, he wasn't really open to talking, to begin with." I joked.

He offered a smile. "Alright, I'll leave you to it, I'll see you tomorrow, Major." He stood up and made his way to the door. I offered a small salute as he left my office. Turning back to the file open before me I continued reading through it for another hour or so before heading to my room for the night.

My alarm woke me the next morning, forcing my eyes open. I sat up and swiped my phone off the side table, turning the alarm off. I stood and shuffled my way over to the shower, turning it on as hot as it would allow. After stripping out of my pajamas I hopped in the shower, letting the steam carry me into a sense of relaxation. After washing myself and my hair I turned the water off and stepped into the bathroom, wiping off the steamed up mirror. I wrapped myself up in my towel before brushing my teeth and hair. I then braided my hair back for the day and stepped out of the bathroom, heading towards my dresser and putting on my military wear. After I had slipped on my running shoes I left my room, making sure I had locked it behind me.

Loud crashes could be heard when I entered the Autobot hangar. I made my way onto the landing, giving me a better vantage point, and watched Bumblebee and Sideswipe training with one another. There were a few other soldiers watching as well, the two of them were quite entertaining. I walked across the landing and headed down the stairs. I walked past the sparring Autobots and towards Ironhide's station. Not to my surprise, he was there, working with a rather large cannon. He had built a smaller landing that was connected to his workbench that allowed me to be next to him while he worked. I made my way up there, bringing his attention to me.

I leaned over the railing. "What are we working on today?"

He grunted. "I am working on a more advanced machine gun for Optimus."

"More advanced how?" I asked, looking closely at it.

"Well, I need to see just how much ammunition I can manage to put in this bad boy. Then I'll go from there. It needs to work with Optimus' mode."

"So you can't go too crazy with it then," I teased.

He scoffed, rolling his optics before getting back to the weapon laid out before him. It was always interesting watching him work. He built the majority of the Autobot's weapons from scratch. It was a lot of work, but I knew that it was something Ironhide was passionate about. He is the weapons specialist after all. Knowing that he wouldn't be up for more conversation with his current project at hand, I left him to it, heading down from the landing and towards the rest of the Autobots. Mudflap and Skids stopped their banter to watch me pass by as I headed towards Optimus and Ratchet. The Prime seemed to notice me right away and leaned down to bring his hand flat at my level. Without hesitation, I climbed into his palm, and he stood to his full height, bringing me up to his shoulder, where I carefully climbed onto before sitting down in a safe and comfortable position. Ratchet paid no mind, as this was something that had become quite common. It was easier to talk to Optimus and the other Autobots while I sat here, and being this high up gave me a great view of the base.

"Ironhide's working pretty hard on that machine gun for you, Optimus," I said.

Ratchet chuckled. "What more could he possibly add to your itinerary?"

"I'm sure he would be more than happy to create something for you, Doctor."

"An old bot like me? No. He'd be better off supplying weapons for the others,"

"It isn't a bad idea to make sure your current weapons are upgraded now and then," Optimus added.

The medical officer sighed. "It has been awhile."

"While I wouldn't worry about it for the time being, perhaps that is something you can look into at a later date." The Prime assured.

Ratchet nodded his head once in reply, turning to face the sound of a massive crash. As Optimus turned as well, I could see that Bee had crashed into a large shelving unit that held a lot of the available Autobot weapons. Sideswipe was only laughing for a short minute before Ironhide came charging out of his station towards the two of them.

He looked at the mess before glaring at the two younger bots. "You can bet your ass the two of you will be helping me fix these."

Sideswipe through up his hands. "I'm no weapons specialist." Bee slowly got up, being careful to avoid crushing any other weapons.

"Does it look like I care, punk?" Ironhide scowled. "Get this rack back together and bring the broken weapons to my station. Now." He turned and made his way back to his workbench with heavy footsteps.

Bee didn't hesitate to gather some weapons in his arms. After a moment Sideswipe shrugged his shoulders indifferently before going to help the scout, attempting to seem unbothered by it.

Ratchet scoffed. "Kids."

I felt Optimus chuckle at the comment. After a moment I tapped the Prime's shoulder. "I better head out, I think supper has already started."

He held out his servo for me to climb onto. "Will you be back?"

"If you would like," I replied with a smile, peering up at him from his palm. Optimus carefully lowered me to the ground, and I climbed off, my feet hitting the ground with a slight thud.

"Of course." He said quietly.

My hand lingered on his thumb. "Then I'll be back after supper," He nodded once in response before I turned away to leave the Autobot hangar.

I spotted Will and Robert at a table when I entered the dining hall. After I grabbed my portion of food, I headed over to sit with them.

"Running late today, Major?" Lennox teased.

"Not at all," I replied before taking a sip of water.

"Will here was telling me that the training has been going well," Robert said.

"Yeah, I certainly think so! I'm just glad some of the Autobots can work with them for training. I think that's what's making it so successful." I replied.

"Which was your idea," Will added.

I shrugged. "Sure, but it isn't all me." I saw the two men roll their eyes. "Look, I am proud of the success, and I recognize that it was my idea and everything. I don't see the point in being vain about it when the success of the training isn't all because of me. There are others involved."

Will held up his hands. "We understand, Maria, we do. We're only making fun."

I chuckled. "I know, Colonel."

We all continued to eat our meals, filling the silence with small conversation. Will shared some pictures of his little girl, surprising me with how fast she was growing. Eventually, the two men excused themselves from the table, leaving me to finish by myself. After returning my tray and cutlery I headed to my room to change out of my military wear. I was done my official duties for the day and could switch the official uniform for more casual clothing. For today, it was a pair of leggings and hoodie. I let my hair out of its bun, the curls reaching the middle of my back. After putting on a pair of sneakers I left my room and made my way back to the Autobot hangar. Because it was the evening there weren't as many people there, just the routine officers on the computer systems or those making their rounds of the facility.

Optimus approached me as I stood on the metal landing. "Hello again," I said with a slight smile.

"How was dinner?"

"The usual." I shrugged. "I spoke with Will and Robert for a while." I paused. "Have you seen Will's daughter? She's gotten so big."

"I don't believe I have. I will have to ask the next time I see the Colonel."

"He's very proud; I know he'd love to show you."

There was a lull in the conversation, and Optimus held out his servo to me. Without hesitation, I climbed over the railing and into his palm. He lifted me to his shoulder where I took my place on a flat surface next to his head. He turned away from the landing and made his way to the hangar doors, walking past the rest of the Autobots. We came outside, and immediately I was captivated by the sunset. It wasn't often that I was able to be out at this time. The pinks, oranges, and purples filled the sky and coloured the clouds, creating a giant masterpiece above us. The two of us watched the colours change in silence, both of us in awe.

I don't know how long it was before Optimus spoke. "May I ask you something, Maria?"

My gaze was torn from the sky as I looked at him. "Of course. Always."

"Do you find that you often miss your family?"

I sighed, nodding slightly. "Well, of course, yeah. It's been a long time since I've been able to see them for holidays or birthdays...yeah I miss them a lot." I caught him looking at me from the corner of my eye and I shifted to look directly at him. I offered a smile before adding, "It's okay though, I knew what military life would be like and they understand too."

"That doesn't make it any less difficult to be a part from them, though."

"You're right. But I've also made some really close friends here, I mean, I would consider Will my family."

Optimus smiled gently. "It is important to have a sense of support, no matter where you are."

I leaned into him now, looking back at the sunset and taking in the warmth that his body was giving off. I could feel a sort of humming from him, a comforting sound and feeling, which showed how content Optimus was in this moment.

"I wish more people were like you, Prime," I said, breaking the silence.

I felt his gaze on me for a moment. "What makes you say that?"

"The fact that you're so incredibly wise? If more people were like you we wouldn't have a lot of the problems that we have."

"Wisdom cannot be granted, it must be earned. Sometimes at a cost."

I said nothing in response, instead watching as the last rays of light left the sky, leaving us in darkness and allowing the stars and moon their time.

"It must be late," I whispered.

Optimus hummed in response but made no initial movement to leave. It was warm enough at night during this time of year, so I was in no hurry to leave either. Besides, it wasn't often that the two of us had time like this together. I intended to take advantage of it. So, rather than heading back inside we stayed to watch the night stars for just a little longer.

"I don't think I will ever get used to the different constellations here on Earth," Optimus said quietly.

"I can't even imagine what the stars would look like from Cybertron," I was starting to get increasingly tired, but I refused to let it show.

"They're quite beautiful,"

I leaned closer to the Prime so that I was more so laying down than sitting upright. I could feel a soft warmth from where I was placed on his shoulder, and this only soothed me that much more into relaxation. I didn't even realize that I had fallen asleep until I woke up slightly later in the night. I found myself in Optimus' Peterbilt mode nestled among some blankets on the seats. Upon realizing that I was safe and still with Optimus I made myself comfortable again and fell asleep.