Red Bishop looked like any other MECH agent, besides the bright red insignia on her shoulderpads and of course, the fact that she was a female. There weren't many of those around Silas's base.
But the thing that set her apart from the others, the thing that made every other soldier in the building step away as she passed was the girl's stance. Cold, hard, and bleeding emptiness.
As she stepped into the conference room and pulled off her mask, the people in the room tensed.
"Red." Silas stated, barely glancing at his protégé. "Welcome to the meeting. What was the hold up?"
"The subject in sector five managed to activate his blaster." She replied emotionlessly. "It was dealt with."
"Good." Silas nodded and looked at a man expectantly.
The man cleared his throat and stood up, grabbing a tablet and projecting an image onto the wall. Red crossed her arms and watched closely.
The entirety of Team Prime, the robotic aliens on Earth, were in the photo. "So, since the Decepticons are on their spaceship, the easiest targets are the Autobots. We've identified their weaknesses, the most useful being..."
He changed the image, now showing three kids, who were posing for a photo happily. "These three. Jack Darby, Miko Nakadai, and Rafael Esquivel."
At this, the man glanced at Red briefly, as if he expected her to respond to his announcement in some way. Red on the other hand, saw no logical reason to do so.
His next sentence would change that.
"They currently live in a small town in Nevada, called Jasper." The man told them and Red's chin lifted ever so slightly in interest.
Jasper Nevada was her birthplace.
"We would kidnap the children and demand the information, but the U.S. military is involved. If they have been equipped with tracking devices for their projection, then our agents could be captured. So instead, we're going to inject a member into their fonds." He explained before sitting down.
Silas looked at Red. "I'm sending you on this mission, Red, under the guise of Victoria Raider. You'll be able to most efficiently connect with the Autobots, considering your physical age. Once they trust you, we will send in an electric missile and then take them captive."
He flipped the screen. "It will not be easy to get them to trust you with their secrets without time, a commodity that I don't have the patience for. Instead, we've devised a way to force you into their protection."
The newest image now showed both a picture of a red Decepticon, Knockout, and his alternative mode, which was an Aston Marton sports car.
"We've acquired an exact replica of the Decepticon medic's vehicle mode and equipped it with the beacon signal of his partner Breakdown, who is currently in sector five." Silas told her. "Once you follow through with the first step of integration; school, then we'll activate the signal. This will attract both groups of cybertronians."
Silas smirked. "And then within hours, I have no doubt you'll have infiltrated their base."
▪️◾◼⬛◼◾▪️
Day 1.
Victoria stepped up to the door of a large house and knocked on the door.
After a moment of waiting, it swung open to reveal an woman in a white suit, her eyes hard with distrust.
"What are you doing here?" She demanded.
Victoria tilted her head. "No welcome home party for your only daughter?"
"I have a son." The woman spat. "That's enough for me. Why don't you go running back to your father?"
Victoria's eyes narrowed slightly. "I will be staying the night here, unless that's a problem?"
Victoria's mom snarled. "I told you and your father to leave us alone!"
Victoria stepped forward, her level of calm almost making the mahogany-haired girl seem even more intimidating.
"I'm not asking for permission."
The woman opened her mouth to protest, but then paused. She stared at Victoria for a moment before opening the door wider.
Victoria stepped into the house, her black combat boots clashing with the white carpeted floor.
"Where is Vince?"
The woman glared. "He's sleeping. It's 5 in the morning."
Victoria nodded and looked around the house.
The mother suddenly pulled a gun out from a cabinet and pointed it at the distracted girl.
"What are you doing here!?" She demanded. "I won't let you take my son!"
Victoria turned around and looked at her calmly. "We have no interests in you or your child, Ms. Raider. I also suggest that you put the gun down before I am forced to do this the hard way."
Victoria pulled out a stack of money and tossed it between them. "You will tell Vince that his sister is back from boarding school and that she is here to stay. If you do exactly as I say, by sundown tomorrow, I will have vanished from your life entirely."
Ms. Raider put the gun back and snatched up the money. "How do I know you'll do what you say?"
"I have no reason to lie. Your life is worthless to me, other than a background story." Victoria stated.
Ms. Raider scowled. "I don't even know how you could possibly be my daughter. It's like you're not even human."
Victoria looked away and went back to exploring the house. "Then it's a good thing I was born 7 seconds before your other brat."
Both of them paused when there was a loud thud upstairs, followed by the sound of a shower turning on.
"He's awake." Ms. Raider told her.
"Clearly."
Victoria made her way upstairs and went into her brother's bedroom. Behind her, her mother closely followed. Victoria looked around, her mouth twitching downward slightly at the sight of paper plates and unwashed clothes.
Victoria waited, standing motionlessly in the center of the room for the next fifteen minutes before Vince came walking back into his room. Immediately, the boy took a step back in surprise before glancing at his mother.
"Mom... Uh, why is there a girl in my room?"
Ms. Raider smiled weakly, not even able to convince the clueless teenager of her fake joy. "Vince, this is your twin sister, Victoria. She just got back from boarding school!"
His eyes widened comically. "Victoria!? Mom, I thought you were joking when you said I had a sister!"
Victoria stepped forward and held out her hand, a dazzling smile lighting up her face. "I'm so glad to meet you!"
Vince didn't know how to comprehend the situation at first, but then he slowly shook her hand. Then he took a step back and examined Victoria.
"Oh my gosh, my friends are going to freak." He told her. "You are coming to school with me right?"
"Of course!" Victoria grinned. "I'm so excited!"
Vince grabbed his phone. "I'm going to tell the whole school! Just you wait, they'll role out the red carpet for you!"
Victoria's smile fell once Vince turned around, typing on his phone rapidly. But her voice remained cheerful.
"Perfect. I love red."
She waved Ms. Raider out of the room and the woman reluctantly stepped back and moved away from them.
Victoria donned her joyful smile and turned back to the other redhead just in time for him to turn around.
"Come on, let's get to school." He said, racing out of the room excitedly. "I'll drive."
Victoria followed after him quickly. "No need. Why don't we take my car?"
Vince froze when he opened the door, his eyes widening. "Is that an Aston Marton!? It's gorgeous!"
Victoria smiled warmly. "I'll let you drive if you promise not to scratch it."
Vince was in the driver's seat in seconds. "I would never hurt a beauty like this!"
Victoria got into the passenger seat and soon enough, they were on their way to school. She smiled and laughed the whole way there, listening to Vince's rambling attentively.
He parked and immediately, they were swarmed by Vince's immense fan group.
Someone whistled. "Vince, your sister is hot!"
"OMG, cheerleader material there!" Someone else squealed.
Victoria ducked behind Vince bashfully. "There are a lot of people."
Vince laughed, stepping forward. "Hey guys, don't freak. Vic here has plenty of time to meet all you, but you don't want her to be late for her first day of school, do you?"
The crowd whined and backed off. Save for a few of Vince's close friends.
Vince pulled Victoria away, toward a tree by the front of the school. Standing there nervously, was one of her targets.
Rafael Esquivel.
"Hey, Charles, mind bringing my sister to class?" Vince asked, sending a glance toward Rafael. "I gotta go get my geometry homework."
The side of Victoria's mouth lifted into an almost nonexistent smirk. The perfect plan for phase one of integration came into being. It would lose her the unlimited supply of information chips, aka, students, but Victoria decided it worth it.
As long as it got the youngest member of Team Prime on her side.
"Come on, beautiful." Charles grabbed her hand. "Who is your first hour teacher?"
Victoria sent one last glance to Rafael before smiling and following after the quarterback.
Comment like your life depends on it. That's an order.