Hey everyone. sorry it's taken so long to update, school has been stressful, as i mentioned before, my uncle had a heart attack, and now i found out my dog of 13 years has cancer. But just to let people know i'm still here i made this shorter chapter just to get things moving again. A longer one will come sooner now that it's summer:D I know everyone is waiting patiently for Opal to meet Optimus and don't worry i have all my chapter plots sorted out and i have big things planned:D so please stick around and thank you everyone for all your wonderful comments and support^^
All Transformers belong to Hasbro but i own Opal:P
Flashback
"We are a breed born to kill. And depending on how skilled you are with a weapon will determine how effective you are on the battlefield. Out there is a cruel, cold world, and you're facing an enemy who doesn't give a shit about you. If you fail to kill the cons first, they won't hesitate to give you the most excruciating death possible." Sergeant paced across the semi-circle of wide-eyed cadets.
Some bots murmured excitedly while others clutched their newly issued rifles nervously. Opal sat with her arms resting on her bent legs. Her chin was nestled on top as she gave the sergeant her full attention. As he continued his lesson, she slowly smiled, watching her instructor cock his weapon and point to the different safeties that the gun had.
"This particular weapon has too safeties," he said. "This little lever here under the barrel, and then this red button."
Bumblebee leant over closer to Opal to whisper in her audios, "It's always a red button isn't it?" Opal kept her head resting over her knees and gave him an amused smile.
"I guess so. But we'll remember it right?"
"Yeah red means dead." Bumblebee softly chuckled and turned his head back to where the Sergeant was facing.
"Now since this is your first target practice, I'm hoping some of you are capable of using a firearm, but if not that's why we're out here. Now get to your designated areas and I'll be around to examine each of you."
The mass of sitting cadets eyed him with unsure optics. He glanced along the rows of young bots and pinched his lips tight.
"Well? What are you pieces of scrap waiting for? GET MOVIN'!" His barks immediately sent a rush of alert through the cadets and they all quickly scrambled to their stations.
Opal picked out a rifle from the available racks that caught her optic. It had a shorter barrel than the others, but she figured that would only mean she could handle it better. Bumblebee claimed his own weapon of choice and followed her to their positions.
"You know Op I still feel awful about your face injury." He motioned towards Opal's still slightly bruised cheek. "And you even came to help me clean the washracks."
"Bee," Opal turned to face him, now walking backwards, "That was almost two joors ago, it's ok, and why are you still upset it wasn't even your fault." Bumblebee shrugged and looked to the ground.
"I just feel like an awful friend."
"Bee you're the closest friend I've ever had, you're nowhere near awful." Opal stopped and gently placed her hand on his shoulder. "Please stop feeling guilty."
"Yes and please Bee stop being such a weak piece of tin." The black and orange mech, whom Opal had found out to be named Dracus, aggressively shoved into Bee's shoulder. He snickered and strutted as he met up with a group of equally annoying mechs.
Bee rubbed his shoulder and scoffed in Dracus' direction. "One of these orns, he's gonna get it."
"Oh Bee you're not going to do anything, you know the consequences especially after the last little incident," Opal circled her eye.
Bee huffed knowing Opal was right, and continued with her to their posts.
Present
"Hey any bot in there? Don't make me blast the scrap out of this tiny fence you got!" Ironhide aggressively pounded the Academy's metal gates.
The stars began to glisten as the sky grew darker. It took Ironhide the entire orn to reach the Academy from the base. Normally the ground bridge would have made his travels much easier and faster, but as luck would have it, Ratchet shut it down for repairs.
As the last remnants of day faded into black, Ironhide became more impatient, and his knocks reflected his growing temper.
"Hey now is this how ya'll treat a war veteran sent by Prime himself?" He paused and listened when he thought he heard a faint creaking of the facility's doors. But his hate of waiting spurred him to keep yelling.
"Hey out he-"
"I'm coming! Hold on!" A voice suddenly hollered in reply. Ironhide flinced in annoyance when a bright flash of light shown right into his optics.
"Who's there?"
"Aggh ya mind getting that damn thing outta my face?" Ironhide reached through the gate and grabbed the flashlight from the bot's small hand. When his greeter gasped in shock from the contact, Ironhide strained his optics to survey the bot closer.
"Oh geez kid sorry bout that, I can get a little moody when I'm tired." The young private nervously nodded his head, and scrambled to find the card to unlock the gate. His hands shook as he slid the card through the access port.
Ironhide sighed in relief as he pushed his way through the metal entrance. The little bot mumbled awkwardly and followed behind him.
"Uh sir, may I ask where you're going?"
"Kid I know yer new to this whole war thing, but when there's a doorway that leads inside, I'm pretty sure that's where I'm headin'." The private moved alittle quicker to catch up.
"Oh well my superiors would like to meet with you regarding your visit."
"How about after I get in the building, you show me where I'm stayin', and then we can talk."
The young mech remained silent for the rest of the trip to the facility.
When Ironhide barged into the Sergeants' office, he was greeted by over ten officers and nurse Kayleigh.
"Alright so I hear you have a vermin problem? I'm here to take care of it." The officers exchanged awestruck looks and stared up at him with wide, surprised optics.
"Well we're extremely grateful you agreed to protect the cadets. Optimus sent you then?"
"Yes sir he said it was crucial to make sure the newest additions to his army makes it out of basic training alive." Ironhide remarked rolling his massive shoulders back and exhaling heavily.
"Would you like us to show you to your room then we can debrief you in the morning?"
"The showing me to my room part is a definite yes, but you don't need to debrief me about anything. I'm a soldier; I kill cons for fun that's my job. When I see yer little bug he's as good as scrap trust me." Ironhide playfully chuckled and rotated his arm cannons. The officers nodded slowly and in order to prevent an awkward silence immediately led him to the hall with the Sergeants' quarters.
The hunt would begin first thing in the morning.
Flashback
It was Opal's turn to shoot her rifle for the first time. Bumblebee had an almost perfect score. He only missed one shot, and that was only because one bot dropped his magazine with made Bee jump slightly.
Opal rested her elbows on the ground to steady herself. She wanted to try the most stable position first before she tried to shoot kneeling or standing. The butt plate of her gun dug firmly against her shoulder. She began to breathe slowly and deliberately as she examined her target without her scope.
"Hmmm there's some dirt on my site." Opal licked her thumb and cleaned off the small metal point on the tip of her barrel. "There."
She rested her cheek on the comb of the stock and brought it up to her eyes. She took a second to look through her scope.
"Wow this is so cool, it's like I'm right at the target."
Bee chuckled, "Haha yeah that's kind of the point of a scope."
Opal smiled and rolled her optics, "Bee if I wasn't concentrating, I'd be hitting you right now."
"Shhh stop getting distracted." Bee teased.
With her target in sight, Opal exhaled her intakes and pulled the trigger.
BAM!
The recoil took Opal slightly by surprise but she kept firm control of the gun, bringing the barrel back down to its resting position. A red flag suddenly rose from the far end with the targets which signaled a direct hit in the center.
"Bee I did it! Wow what a rush! Let's do that again!" Opal sat up excitedly and reloaded her weapon. The Sergeant took notice and came over to observe her.
"Well, well, well what do we have here? Opal the sharp shooter, let's see you do that again, then maybe I'll be impressed."
"Yes sir." Opal repositioned herself and licked her thumb to clean her sight. She didn't know why she felt prompted to wipe it again, but she just wanted to make sure everything was right. After going through the proper steps, her finger slowly closed around the metal trigger.
BAM!
There was a silence as they waited in suspense for the colored flag to rise to indicate a hit or miss.
Another red flag flowed up in the wind, and Opal chuckled softly in glee.
"Excellent Blue, keep this up and you might be looking at a sniper position." Sergeant nodded in approval and proceeded down the line of the shooting bots.
Bee's gaze followed Sergeant as he left to examine the other cadets, then he nudged Opal.
"Hey awesome job there little miss sniper." Opal just smiled and cocked her gun to prepare to shoot once more.
"Bee I think I've found something I'm good at."
"What do you mean Op? You're awesome at a lot of things."
Opal shrugged and twirled her thumbs along the oily surface on her gun.
"Well I mean something that makes me stand out…different."
"Oh Op you're the only femme here. I don't think you have a problem standing out."
"You know what I mean Bee."
Bee stopped and nodded. He softly rubbed her shoulder, "Yeah I do. You are talented in so many things. You kick my aft in the obstacle course, and now you're a dead eye with a weapon. There's no reason for you to feel lesser than anyone else."
"Yeah I guess I'm just used to feeling inferior."
Bee brought Opal a new magazine as she continued to hit every target. She never stopped for the entire orn that they were out there. She enjoyed every moment of using her rifle, licking her thumb to clean the site every time.
Again sorry it's so short, but i needed to update:D It's summer! So the next chapter is coming very soon!