Chapter 3: Soldier 76
Now, most Autobots don't usually have a lot of field experience when fighting the Decepticons in the front lines. However, the few that do have plenty to show for it. They are often times seen training rookies and doing actually fighting.
One of those Autobots goes by the name of Soldier: 76. No one knew his real name, and they know better not to ask him about it.
As of now though, 76 was driving back to his base in his vehicle mode, which was something akin to that of a police cruiser. As he approached the base, he turned on his sirens, signaling that he was approaching. The Autobots on guard quickly stood attention as the doors to the base opened.
Once he got inside, he turned into his robot form. He slowly walked to the command center, where most Autobots were on consoles or talking with each other. 76 moved onto one of the tables, and looked over some data. The doors behind him opened, and another Autobot entered.
"How've you been, 76?" He asked with a smile.
"Thought you were coming later, Prowl." 76 replied.
"Eh, my meeting was cut short." Prowl joked. "Besides, I can't leave my best friend to rust here."
"Since when were we 'best friends'?" 76 glared back down.
Prowl smirked, and he just raised his hands over his head. 76 sighed as he just looked out to his troops.
"Look at them all, Prowl." He said. "Optimus entrusted me with all of these young bots. Some of them are practically fresh off the assembly line."
"Don't beat yourself up about it." Prowl chuckled. "If anything, they just might be your ticket of getting out of this mess."
76 shot a glare at Prowl. He hated this side of Prowl. Prowl was more of the calculative of the Autobots. While protecting and fighting for justice is his thing, he wants more solid results, instead of just shrugging aside Decepticons in anyway. Disregarding any other opinions of his teammatesn he only does things the way he sees fit. 76 just grunted annoyingly and stormed off, leaving Prowl behind to manage the Autobots.
He quickly entered his hab suite, where he quickly laid down on his recharge slab for a quick rest. Despite his disinterest in how Prowl operated, he wasn't wrong. Back when he was a rookie himself, he had Prowl as his CO. So, it made sense for him to call him his best friend. However, until 76 was assigned a unit of his own, he had to deal with Prowl's often times inhumane tactics. These include, but aren't limited to, abandoning Autobots who are injured beyond repair, or just leaving troops behind. On many occasions, 76 himself would defy orders and go back for stragglers.
He kept on thinking about his complicated relationship with Prowl, until his train of thought was broken when the alarms in his base went off. He quickly got up and reached for his communicator. He quickly contacted one of his sergeants.
"What's going on? Report!" He ordered.
"Sir, we're under attack!" The Autobot sergeant explained.
76 quickly reacted, as he quickly stepped out of his hab suite and transformed into his vehicle mode. He tore down the hallway, until he reached the command center again. Transforming back to robot mode, he asked for a status update.
"What's the situation?" He asked.
"AA Defense are holding for the moment." Prowl replied, pulling up a hologram of the base with its defenses up. "But its only a matter of time before the Cons make it through."
76 stroked his chin to think of something, however something got his attention. He noticed something out the corner of his optic out the window. He quickly rushed over and saw what was going on. Autobots, his troops of Autobots, were outside of the base, shooting their blasters and getting gunned down.
"Why the hell are my troops out there?!" 76 shouted.
"Well, who do you think?" Prowl replied.
76 quickly turned around and quickly stomped over to Prowl. He grabbed his collar and pulled him towards him.
"You commanded my Autobots to their deaths?!" He shouted. "Most of them haven't been in an actual battle yet!"
"What difference does that make?" Prowl replied smugly. "When the Decepticons storm this base, they're all dead. I just decided to give them a chance to fight before that."
"Besides, I already contacted Optimus for reinforcements." Prowl added. "They can hold out a few minutes, right?"
76 growled angrily, but Prowl seemed to be unfazed. However, 76 had better things to worry about. Prowl is the least of his worries right now. He had soldiers to look out for. Throwing Prowl aside, he quickly exited the command center. Prowl straightened himself out and went back to commanding the Autobots still in the command center.
Meanwhile, the Autobots outside were still fighting as hard as they can. However, even with covering fire coming from the base, the Decepticons were responding harshly. Autobots were dropping one by one, with some of them not knowing what to do because of the fear of losing their lives.
"There's too many of them!" An Autobot soldier cried, taking cover.
"We have to keep fighting!" Another soldier shouted back, shooting back.
However, that particular Autobot took a laser bolt to the face, dying upon impact. The Autobot began to quiver in fear, as he tightened the grip on his gun. He shook silently. The Decepticon who had shot the other Autobot slowly walked over.
"Come out Autobot!" He teased. "All I want to do is shoot you!"
The Autobot shook more timidly, afraid to go up against the Decepticon. Then, several blaster shots were heard beside his ear. He looked out to see what happened, and saw the Decepticon dead on the ground.
"Don't worry, kid." Said a gruff voice. "I got your back."
The Autobot soldier turned around and saw 76 walking up to him with his Pulse Rifle smoking. The Autobot perked up as 76 patted his shoulder. Then, contacting the entire round of Autobots, he spoke.
"Alright, rookies listen up!" He shouted. "Optimus's forces are on their way! We have to hold on for as long as possible!"
"We're not just Autobots anymore!" 76 concluded. "We're all soldiers now!"
Then, with that, everyone shouted a 'Hoo-Ah!" rallying cry. Then, with 76 taking the lead, all of the Autobots from outside all charged towards the Decepticons. The Decepticons all began to shoot back, but unlike from before, the Decepticons were getting pushed back. 76 plowed through most of the Decepticons, gunning them down as they approached him from all sides. After firing some more pulse shots, he grabbed an approaching Decepticon by his arm and threw him into the barrel of one of the Decepticon tanks shelling the base. The tank exploded, and the Autobots began to storm the remaining Decepticons. That was the call for the Decepticons to retreat. However, 76 never gave them any of them a chance, as he just fired his Helix Rockets from his arm to critically injure the Decepticon in charge of the attack.
The Decepticon's name was Crowbar, but he wasn't going down without a fight. So, he quickly struck 76's face, making him fall back. Crowbar roared and quickly pounced onto 76. However, a shot from another Autobot quickly launched him away.
"C'mon, leave some for us!" called out a familiar voice.
Then, 76 was given a hand. He took it, and got on eye level with none other than Ironhide. Behind him, a bunch of other Autobots charged in. One of them seemed to be Tracer and Skydive, providing air support for his grounded team. 76 chuckled, and quickly returned to the battle, pushing back what's left of the Decepticons.
By the end of the battle, the Decepticons retreated, with some of them being captured as prisoners. Prowl and Ironhide took Crowbar into custody, while Optimus decided to have a talk for 76.
"So, you're the commanding officer of this base?" He asked.
"Yes, sir." 76 replied. "Thank you for assisting my troops."
"No need." Optimus responded. "I have a special mission for you."
76 looked puzzled. Optimus is never the one to assign a task for him directly.
"I would like to lead a team of Autobots." He explained. "It will be called Overwatch. You will be specializing in rescue ops."
76 was taken back by this.
"But, sir. What about my troops here?" 76 asked.
"They will become a part of Overwatch." Optimus replied.
76 thought about Optimus's proposal. However, he still had one question.
"Why me, Optimus?" He asked. "There are plenty of others you could've chosen. Why not have Ultra Magnus lead them?"
"Ultra Magnus is busy leading the Wreckers." Optimus replied. "And you were recommended this position."
"'Recommended'?" 76 questioned.
"An Autobot by the name of Winston requested that you would be best to lead this team." Optimus said. "And judging by what I saw in battle today, I can say I wholeheartedly agree."
Then, Optimus gave 76 some kind of datapad. It showed a detail explanation of Overwatch's goals and missions, and there was also a list of capable/likely candidates for this team. He wasn't sure about this. After looking over the list a couple of times, he finally decided on an answer."
"I'll do it, Optimus." He said. "I won't let you down."
Optimus, looking like as if he was smiling, then patted 76's shoulder. And on that note, Optimus left to continue to supervise the repair of the base and reinforcement transfer. After he left, Prowl entered.
"Well, would you look at that?" He smirked.
76 turned to face him, but didn't reply anything. He just brushed past him. Prowl sighed, and just followed after him.
"So, what are we looking at?" He asked, catching up 76 down the hallway.
"Well, we're not looking at the Wreckers here." 76 joked.
"We can beat them into shape then." Prowl replied.
76 and Prowl then made it outside, where Optimus's reinforcements were coming in. They began to help the transfer of supplies and troops.