As the Apple Blooms

by The FraudulentBrit

The Hamlet Mutiny

As the Apple Blooms

Part 74; The Hamlet Mutiny

The Jungles, that night…

The calming sounds of the jungle ambience rang out through the endless forest. Up in the trees, birds let out their evening cries and calls as monkeys foraged for fruits and other edibles. And below them on the jungle floor, the panthers scoured the greenery for prey. Unfortunately, none of this was what sergeant Ironhide was thinking about.

As he scanned the endless green horizon, Ironhide found himself unable to get the sounds of screaming villagers out of his head. Shaking his head, the young sergeant desperately begged himself, “Ugh! Someone make it stop!”

In less than one day, Ironhide’s day had been turned upside down in the worst way possible. No sooner had they begun to inspect one of the nearby villages than his “glorious leader” Sentinel Prime ordered the Wreckers to open fire on the defenseless people. While Ironhide himself had tried to stop the carnage from unfolding, things escalated into a blood bath, culminating in Springer taking his own life.

Sitting down on a nearby rock, Ironhide took a deep breath as he muttered the only thing he could. “Ugh…. Fuck.” Sighing to himself, the young sergeant found himself overcome with anger at his situation as he groaned, “Fuck.” For a moment, he found himself feeling just a little bit calmer.

Unfortunately, the thought of the young girl crawling towards him only to be shot by Roadblock. Feeling his eyes start to sting, all Ironhide could do was collapse to his knees as he screamed, “FUCK!”

From behind him, the young sergeant heard the sound of Wheeljack’s voice ask, “You alright there sarge?” Turning around, Ironhide found his friend approaching him, his normally jovial energy replaced by broken exhaustion. Closing the distance, Wheeljack continued, “Look, I know today has been…. Interesting, but we’ve been through worse stuff before.”

“No, we haven’t.” Ironhide bluntly replied. As Wheeljack stepped back, the young sergeant explained, “Look, what happened today… Was wrong. You don’t just…” Shaking his head, Ironhide continued, “I swear if nothing happens to Sentinel for this, I’m gonna kill him.”

Taken aback by what his sergeant had said, Wheeljack warned, “Look I don’t exactly like the prick, but you can’t just say that kind of thing!” As Ironhide sighed, the maverick man continued, “I mean, if he hears you say that he’ll tear your ass apart.” He then rested a hand on his sergeant’s shoulder as he reassured him, “Besides, for whatever it’s worth, it’s my shift for watch duty. You get some rest sarge, you need it.”

Letting out a defeated chuckle, Ironhide could only reminisce, “If only the others could rest.” All Wheeljack could do was give a small confirming nod as he replied, “I know.” The maverick man then began to scan the darkening horizon as Ironhide left to join the other Wreckers.

Making his way towards a simple clearing, Ironhide found Sentinel Prime, Huffer, Roadblock, Ratchet, and Hound gathered around a decently sized campfire. The sergeant sat down next to Huffer as Roadblock finished his campfire story, happily explaining, “Yup. My ribs are the greatest, and that’s a fact man. Once we get back home, I’m inviting you all over to my family’s restaurant so you can try our cooking.”

Hound shook his head as he sternly replied, “All due respect, but I don’t think I’ll be visiting you and your family anytime soon.” A confused Roadblock asked, “What? Why not?” The bearded green man groaned as he answered, “Because, all due respect, you’re a psychopath.”

Confused, Roadblock asked, “Let me guess, you’re still angry about what happened today?” He then let out an annoyed groan as he continued, “You heard the captain. We were given orders and had to follow them.” The moment those words escaped the puce man’s lips, Optimus immediately stood up as he angrily asked, “If someone ordered you to jump off a bridge would you do it?” Roadblock immediately replied, “Sir, do you really think that little of me?”

Sentinel then stood up as he came to his preferred sergeant’s defense, remarking, “I assure you, sergeant Roadblock performed his duty perfectly.” He then glared at Ironhide as he continued, “As for sergeant Ironhide, I find your performance subpar. You disobeyed my direct orders and challenged my authority.”

Realizing his captain was directly challenging and insulting him, Ironhide replied, “Sir, I do not think massacring civilians for no reason whatsoever constitutes being a good soldier.” Roadblock folded his arms as he angrily retorted, “Hey man. Good soldiers follow orders.” TO Ironhide’s surprise, Hound defended his friend as he replied, “Yeah? Well, the best soldiers know when to disobey them.”

Sentinel Prime walked up to Hound and asked, “What about those pricks who stuffed you in a cage? They were fighting for those stupid villagers!” Hound immediately shot back, “And guess what? They died! These guys here killed all of them!” Ironhide then added, “Exactly! And don’t try to bring up those mooks who tortured me and Mirage! I killed every single one of them!”

Unfortunately, their pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears as Sentinel scoffed, “Please, you guys are a bunch of soft pansies. Why, when I was in the Corps, we’d eat boys like you for breakfast.” Roadblock let out a gentle chuckle as he quipped, “Sounds delicious.” The large-chinned captain smirked as he added, “You bet. Long pork is better than bacon.”

Optimus rolled his eyes as he interrupted, “Out of all problems you have, I never took you for a cannibal.” Sentinel glared at his lieutenant as he replied, “Of course, my beloved Corps operates on the oldest rule in the world. Only the strong survive, while the weak must die.”

Ironhide had grown used to Sentinel Prime rambling on about how only “strong people” deserved to live, but tonight, after everything he’d seen and been through, the young sergeant couldn’t help but lose his patience. Turning to face his captain, Ironhide couldn’t help but blurt out, “Sir, you’d sell your soul to Unicron for an endless blood bath.”

For several moments, everyone found themselves speechless. Most members of the Wreckers had talked back to Sentinel at one point or another, usually nothing too serious. Of course, none of the others had the personal history with him that Ironhide had. It didn’t help that, while Ironhide could maintain a professional relationship with his new captain, it was no secret that the young sergeant could not stand Sentinel’s attitude, manners, temperament, or really, anything about him.

Walking up to his sergeant, Sentinel Prime glared at him as he asked, “You don’t respect me, don’t you?” Accepting what he was likely going to have to say, Ironhide answered, “Sir, I respect that you are my captain and that I must follow your orders.” Now staring Sentinel in the eyes, the young sergeant continued, “But as a person, you’re…. you’re an evil man.”

Ironhide wasn’t surprised when he felt Sentinel’s fist slamming into his face. As he fell to the ground, however, the young sergeant felt his captain kick him in the stomach as the latter angrily asked, “You’re still angry about that weakling Wasp? I should’ve killed him when I had the chance.”

Before he could realize it, Ironhide found himself being held back by Optimus, Hound, and Ratchet. As he struggled to free himself, Sentinel mocked him with a cruel, “Don’t forget sergeant, striking your superior is a capital crime. You lay one finger on me, and I’ll kill you, plain and simple.” All Ironhide could do was sigh as he defeatedly replied, “Sir, yes sir.”

Ratchet then asked, “As long as we’re calming down, I’ve never understood why a marine like you would be in charge of an army unit.” Sentinel smiled as he answered, “Easy. The brass wanted someone who could enforce a little order and discipline after you all went AWOL.” This answer led the medic to ask, “If by that you mean saving our friend.”

Sentinel grabbed Ratchet by the shirt as he suddenly began to scream, “You had orders to stay put, and you disobeyed them! You’re lucky the brass didn’t just put you up against the wall!” Releasing the medic, the temperamental captain continued, “That’s what separates marines from the pathetic little rabble playing soft with these locals.”

While Sentinel argued with the others, Ironhide turned to face Huffer, hoping his friend was doing alright. Instead, the younger blue man was still sitting on his log, staring at nothing in particular. Walking up to his friend, Ironhide asked, “Hey Huffer. You alright?” Huffer didn’t respond to his sergeant’s question, instead just continuing to stare off into nothingness.

Snapping his fingers in his friend’s face, Ironhide repeated himself, “Hey! Earth to Huffer! You alright?” Though he was still in a trance, Huffer did answer with an exhausted, “Alright? Am I alright?”

Ironhide sighed to himself as he realized that Huffer’s shell shock was getting worse. The young sergeant wrapped his arm around his subordinate as he tried to reassure him, “Look, about what happened today, it’s not your fault.” Huffer didn’t show any signs that he heard what was happening, instead simply just continuing to sit on his log. Not knowing what to say, all Ironhide could do was continue to reassure his friend, “It’s not your fault.” It was at this moment that Huffer finally said something.

“I killed them.”

As Ironhide took this in, Huffer looked down to his hands as he continued, “Those villagers. I killed them. I fired into the crowd. My shots took their lives.” Starting to hyperventilate, the young man panicked as he practically screamed, “We killed them sarge! We shouldn’t have gone into that village! Dear Primus, we murdered them! Ironhide! I murdered them!”

Huffer tried to stand up, only to collapse to his knees as he cried out, “We can’t go home sarge! We’re murderers! We….” Slamming his fists into the dirt, the young private broke down into tears as he cried, “I just want to go home. I wanna go home sarge.”

All Ironhide could do was help Huffer up to his feet and wrap him in a gentle hug. Caressing his friend, the sergeant reassured him, “Look. It’s not your fault. We’ll get back to base and then inform the brass what’s happened. Then we’ll get you stateside and…. I dunno, go out for a beer?”

Unfortunately, the tender moment was ruined when Roadblock stomped up to them as he groaned, “Hey, try to focus on the here and now guys. We’ve still got a war to win.” Sentinel Prime then added, “Besides, we can’t allow any form of cowardice in the face of the enemy.” He then grabbed Huffer’s shirt collar as he growled, “So stop acting like a damn coward!”

As Ironhide stood up to protect his friend, Ratchet shot back, “Sir, Huffer is dealing with PTSD from what happened.” Sentinel glared at the team medic’s eyes as he sinisterly warned, “I beg your pardon. There is no such thing as shell shock." Roadblock then added, "Yeah. The captain says it’s just cowardice.”

Ratchet immediately shot back with, “Sir, shell shock is a very real thing. You can’t just keep going around getting into battles without it driving you crazy!” This defiance was met with the medic having Huffer slammed into him, forcing both men to the ground.

Sentinel Prime slammed his foot onto the ground as he bellowed, “I will not be challenged by a mere medic!” He then tried to calm himself down as he continued, “As long as we’re all being honest, I’m tired of you men challenging my authority.” Pointing to Ironhide, the large chinned captain threatened, “You have been a very persistent thorn in my side sergeant, and I’m growing sick of you disrespecting me. As of right now, you will show me the respect I deserve.”

Glaring at his captain, Ironhide defiantly answered, “Sir, I shall show you how I feel about you sir.” He then, to no one’s surprise, spat in Sentinel’s face. Wiping the saliva off of his face, the marine captain replied, “Let me repeat myself. I demand the respect I deserve.”

“I have given you that sir.” Ironhide defiantly answered. “You are without a doubt the evilest man I have ever met. You’re unpleasant, vile, blood thirsty, psychopathic, monstrous, hell you’re everything Ratchet said you are.” As Sentinel’s eyes widened in response to his sergeant’s defiance, the young sergeant continued, “Sir, I apologize for not saying any of this earlier. I apologize for trying to remain professional. I apologize for not saying earlier that you are the single most evil man I’ve ever met….” He then lost his composure as he furiously bellowed, “AND YOU CAN GO TO HELL BEFORE I APOLOGIZE TO YOU NOW OR EVER AGAIN!”

For several moments, everyone stood in silence, nervous what was going to happen next. Everyone was so concerned about what was going to happen next that only Optimus seemed to recognize Wheeljack’s voice asking, “Hey, I heard screaming over here. What’s up?”

The maverick man received his answer when Sentinel turned to Roadblock and hissed, “Sergeant? Kill sergeant Ironhide.”

As the others processed this, Roadblock aimed his weapon at Ironhide as he glumly answered, “Sir yes sir.” He then apologized to his teammate, “Sorry sarge, but an order is an order.”

To Ironhide’s surprise, Huffer charged Roadblock as he bellowed, “You leave him alone you murderer!” The sergeant managed to snap out of his shock induced trance as he processed, “Why you good for nothing two timing….”

It was at this moment that Sentinel Prime grabbed Huffer by the throat and lifted him up. As the young man gasped for air, he begged, “Sir, don’t do this! We just want to go home!” Sentinel applied more pressure to his throat as he bellowed, “I will not tolerate this insubordination!”

Ironhide and Optimus tried to charge Sentinel in a desperate attempt to save their friend, only for the former to be pushed to the ground by Roadblock. Looking up to face his now former teammate, Ironhide growled, “Have you lost your fucking mind? He ordered us to kill villagers and now each other, and you’re still following him?” Roadblock simply shrugged as he replied, “The captain appreciates my talents.”

Before Roadblock could even aim his weapon, Optimus bashed the butt of his rifle into his head, knocking the puce man out cold. The lieutenant then helped Ironhide up to his feet as the latter let out a simple, “Thanks.”

It was at this moment, that Ironhide heard a sound. It was a simple sound, one he’d heard more than a few times in the past, but now would haunt him for the rest of his life.

It was the wet crack that came from someone’s neck snapping.

Turning to face the source of the sound, Ironhide found Sentinel Prime holding Huffer by his neck. The younger man had gone completely limp, his skin had slightly grayed, and his head was bending at an unnatural angle. Dropping the younger man to the ground, Sentinel Prime rolled his eyes as he complained, “Ugh. That boy was just a damn coward.”

Ironhide immediately ran towards his friend as he screamed, “HUFFER!” Kneeling down, the young sergeant tried to wake Huffer up as he desperately begged, “Come on Huffer. You’re ok. Wake up buddy.” He was so busy trying to wake his subordinate up that he didn’t notice Optimus charge Sentinel and slam his fist into the large man’s face.”

While Optimus and Sentinel fought each other, Ratchet, Wheeljack, and Hound gathered around Ironhide as the young sergeant tried to resuscitate Huffer. Starting to tear up, Ironhide continued begging, “Come on buddy! You’re gonna be fine.” Eventually, Ratchet grabbed Ironhide’s shoulder and pulled him away from Huffer as he said something the young sergeant would never forget.

“There’s no point Ironhide. He’s dead.”

Upon hearing this, Ironhide collapsed to his knees and slammed his fist into the ground as he let out an anguished, “FUCK!” For the first time since he’d been deployed in this jungle hell hole, the young sergeant gave into his despair. As tears bled from his eyes, Ironhide cried out, “I promised I’d get him home, and I failed! I let him down!”

All the others could do was try and console their sergeant as he let out a howl of pain that shook everyone to the bone.

Once he’d regained a sliver of his composure, Ironhide turned his attention to Optimus and Sentinel Prime. Both men were punching, kicking, and otherwise trying to strike each other. Any and all formalities or respect for each other had long since evaporated into as Sentinel brandished a large hunting knife as he furiously declared, “You’ve all betrayed me, which leaves me no choice.”

For his part, Optimus shot back, “You ordered us to fire on noncombatants, you ordered Roadblock to fire on my sergeant, and you murdered Huffer! You’re the traitor, not any of us!” All this declaration did was further infuriate Sentinel, who bellowed, “I’ll kill you for that!”

It was at this moment, upon hearing the vile marine utter those words, Ironhide found himself reaching for his shotgun. Once he was holding his trusted weapon, the young sergeant found himself thinking, ‘I have to do this. This ends right here, right now.’

Of course, this train of thought led to Ironhide asking himself, ‘Am I really considering this? If I do this, there will be no going back.’ Pumping his shotgun, the young sergeant continued, ‘Then again, after what that monster did to Huffer, I…” Shaking his head, Ironhide sighed as he took a deep breath and muttered, “I’m gonna do it.”

To his mild surprise (and delight), None of the other Wreckers tried to stop him. Looking around him, Ironhide noticed that both Ratchet and Hound had backed away from him, giving their sergeant confirming nods. Even the normally jovial Wheeljack was stoic as he bluntly asked, “Sir?” before Ironhide could say anything else, the normally maverick man’s eyes widened as he pointed to something behind Ironhide as he called out, “Behind you!” Turning around, Ironhide found yet another sight that would stick with him for the rest of his life.

He found Sentinel kneeling over a downed Optimus, the former prepared to plunge his hunting knife right into the latter as he furiously bellowed, “It’s time you learned your place Optimus!”

It was at this moment that Ironhide knew what he had to do. It wasn’t about avenging Huffer anymore. It wasn’t about satisfying his own hatred at Sentinel Prime anymore. It wasn’t about lashing out against his disgust with the marines. Ironhide’s lieutenant, or rather his real captain, was in mortal danger, and there was only one way Ironhide could save his friend.

With a great “NO!”, Ironhide aimed his shotgun at Sentinel’s hand and pulled the trigger.

As Sentinel fell to the ground, he clutched the bleeding stump that had once been his right hand as he screamed, “ARGH! DAMNIT!” Ironhide walked up to his bloodthirsty captain as the latter angrily barked, “You backstabbing traitor! You know what happens to people who betray their masters?! They end up in the deepest pit of hell!”

For once, Ironhide wasn’t afraid of Sentinel Prime. If anything, he just pitied this cruel creature. Shaking his head, the young sergeant remarked, “I doubt that.” To his surprise, Sentinel let out an unsettling chuckle as he continued, “You think you’re so high and mighty Ironhide? I do what I do because it is my duty! I follow my orders and I do not regret anything! You think you can strike me because you don’t like how I do things?” He then glared as he cruelly asked, “You really think you can do it boy?! You’re too much of a goody two shoes. You don’t have the guts to do what needs to be done. Besides, if you think I’m such a bad guy, then you’d never “stoop to my level.” That’d turn you into a “bad guy” yourself.”

Ironhide hesitated as he took in Sentinel Prime was saying. Could the young sergeant actually do it? Sure, he’d already struck his captain, even obliterating his hand. However, he never really considered actually ending the monster’s life.

At least, until now. Now that he knew Sentinel was willing to murder his own men, Ironhide couldn’t allow this monster to continue running amok. He had proven to be a danger to his men, to civilians, to anyone who happened to meet him. It was as these thoughts raced around his mind that Ironhide steeled himself for what he had to do.

Pumping his shotgun, Ironhide bluntly replied, “I can live with it.” He then aimed his weapon at Sentinel’s face. For the only time he’d ever seen, Sentinel’s façade of a calculating and cruel commander disappeared. Instead, the marine captain’s face betrayed his growing fear for his own life as he reached out with his only remaining hand as he begged, “No Ironhide, please….”

Sentinel was interrupted when Ironhide pulled the trigger, sending thousands of pieces of metal straight into the cruel captain’s chest.

As Sentinel was forced onto his back from the blast, Ironhide closed the distance between them, pumping his shotgun as he aimed it at the monster’s head. Without a second’s thought, the young sergeant pulled the trigger again, turning Sentinel Prime’s head into nothing more than a red paste with chunks of white bone.

But Ironhide wasn’t done. He continued to empty his weapon’s ammo into Sentinel’s body until it was empty. Even then, the young sergeant couldn’t stop himself, collapsing to the ground as he bashed the fresh corpse with his weapon as the tears bled out of his eyes.

After what seemed like an eternity, Ironhide was finally pulled away from the now mutilated remains of Sentinel Prime by Optimus Prime. Resting his hands on the young man’s shoulders, the lieutenant had to bark, “SERGEANT! It’s over!” As Ironhide calmed down, Optimus gently repeated himself, “It’s over.”

Ironhide finally lost all his composure. He wrapped his arms around his friend as he broke down into tears. All Optimus could do was hug his sergeant as he reassured him, “It’s alright. You did the right thing.” The rest of the team simply hung their heads in defeat. After all, they’d never seen their beloved sergeant so broken before.

After a long cry, Ironhide asked, “What next sir?” Optimus hesitated for a moment before he solemnly answered, “We go back to base. We report what’s happened, and after that…” Stopping himself, the former captain thought about what would indeed happen after that. Finally shrugging, he simply finished, “Primus willing, we all go home.” Ironhide simply nodded as he replied, “Sir, yes sir.”

Hound then asked, “What do we do about Roadblock?” Optimus turned to face the unconscious puce man as he sighed and replied, “We take him back. I want him to face a court martial for firing on those villagers.” He then sighed as he added, “He’s the only one who fired left.”

Ironhide knew he was talking about their now dearly departed teammates Springer and Huffer. The young sergeant walked up to Huffer’s body and, rather than remove his dog tags, lifted the young man’s body. Turning to Optimus, Ironhide bluntly informed, “I’m bringing him home, and all due respect, I’m not debating it.”

To his surprise, Optimus nodded as he replied, “I agree.” The lieutenant picked up his rifle as he called out, “Alright boys. Let’s ro….” Stopping himself, he shook his head as he instead said, “Let’s go home.”

And so, the rag tag remnants of the Wreckers departed into the jungle, with Sergeant Ironhide carrying Huffer’s body, angry at himself for failing to keep his promise.

The Chop Shop Living Room, Present Day…

Struggling to keep himself calm, Ironhide wiped the stray tear out of his eye as he finished, “Out of everything that happened over there, that was the worst day in the war. Maybe even of my entire life.”

Still, the former soldier had done it. He told his daughter about the Hamlet Incident. He’d told her how he lost one of his best friends. Most importantly, he told her how he did something almost unthinkable; how he killed Sentinel Prime. Lifting his head, Ironhide let out a gentle chuckle as he remarked, “You know, funny thing is I don’t even…”

Unfortunately, Apple Bloom’s shocked face betrayed the fact that she hadn’t taken this story particularly well. If anything, the former farm girl was something Ironhide had never seen her as before.

Apple Bloom was terrified.

Concerned, Ironhide gently extended his hand as he tried to reassure her, “Hey kid, it’s alright.” Sadly, Apple Bloom impulsively backed away from her uncle, too terrified to think clearly.

It was at this moment that Ironhide’s worst fear had come true. Apple Bloom, the girl he loved as a daughter, the girl he would do anything for, was terrified of him because of what he’d done in the jungle all those years ago. If anything, it was only slightly preferable to how her father reacted when he learned.

Before Ironhide could properly process what had just happened, Apple Bloom ran out of the living room and out the back door into the scrapyard. While Chromia and Wheeljack ran after her, the family patriarch didn’t have the strength to give chase. All he could do was collapse back to his knees and sob as he begged to himself, “Please, don’t let this end the way it did with her father.”

To be Continued…

Author's Note:

Next Time; As Apple Bloom processes what she's just learned, she hears from the others, and learns that she may have more in common with her uncle than she thought.

Author's note; the reason it's called "The Hamlet Incident" is that "Hamlet" is a term for small village.

Comments

[hailcall]

I have nothing to say but

[Theresa]

I'm not sure her dad ever learned the whole story. And I believe he did the right thing. This guy had gone mad with power and would have hurt anyone that crossed him.

[WarriorofFaith18]

I would’ve been more like Good Riddance. I’m sorry, but the wicked will receive their just reward.

Good chapter

[LordOfCringe]

#IronHideDidNothingWrong

[Brian Sheil]

I hate to hear of anybody dying. But, Sentinel Prime asked for it.