The Diego Diaries: Dreadnought (dd5 21)
-0-At the conference call
"Ten miles... long? How does this work?" the Italian Prime Minister asked.
"The ship in vessel mode is transformed to a running format that measures that distance," Prowl said. "It translates to a being that is 32,000 plus feet tall in robotic form. They are so massive that they have to be carefully guided to settle on ground on specialized pads. They will transform into enormously powerful, enormously armed space stations to be our line of defense in the border regions between them and us. They can cover a great amount of territory and are very fast when they have to move toward other places."
"What kind of crew do they field? Or do they actually have crews? How many, what kind?" the UK Prime Minister asked.
"I asked someone to come here to speak to that," Optimus Prime said as the door opened and a big mech with a bemused expression walked in. "You called?" he asked with a grin. Prime nodded. "Yes, please come in and have a seat."
Typhoon walked into the room and sat down next to Raptor, the two becoming rather friendly over the past couple of orns. They were both the same sort of personality … larger than life and great company.
"Gentlemen and ladies, this is Typhoon, Chieftain of the dreadnoughts that have come at my call, chieftain with Metroplex of the largest class of Cybertronian citizen, the city-formers. Typhoon is one of the oldest known Cybertronians and someone accorded great respect by all of our people everywhere."
Typhoon looked at the screens, noting the humans looking at him with a mixture of emotions that he only vaguely understood. "Greetings," he said with his amused voice. "I am Typhoon but you can call me Ty."
Prowl stifled a smirk as the others grinned openly. Raptor snickered, then glanced at the big mech. "Tell them about your big aft, Ty."
He looked at Raptor and guffawed. "My big aft. I'm a rather big mech over all. The figure before you is a facsimile avatar I made myself. We're able to capture tech that allows our person to enter and interact with the world you occupy. Ordinarily, I have holographic extensions that make that possible, some of them quite remarkable if I say so myself."
"You do," Raptor said with a grin.
Typhoon grinned. "I have the combined firepower of a battle group and then some. We're in original intent supposed to be platforms for trade, exploration and security. Our function here as detailed to me by Lord Optimus is to be a deterrent to the slaggers who are massing on our borders. We'll do the job. I'm here with my bonds, Clipper and Dangerous and three youngling mechs, Genesis, Quasar and Fireball. Between us we can stop any charge made and I expect that they will. They know what and who we are and if they're crazy enough to charge, I'm fast and tough enough to blast them to the Matrix. Just between you and me of course."
It was silent a moment, then Morshower grinned. "Perhaps, Lord Ty, you can explain your set up, the troops you will carry and the like."
Typhoon who had met Morshower and liked him nodded. "We become fortified space stations. Our ability to move even in that format was factored into our design when the process was begun back in the orn. We can fly like the wind in any format and we carry bridges so we can transport ourselves as well that way. I could bridge into their fortified area, slag them to the Pit and bridge back.
"We carry a full complement of soldiers, civilians and Seekers that can number up to twenty thousand in war time. Your aircraft carrier Nimitz is among the largest vessels you feature in your Earth bound armed forces. It's about 1,100 feet long and displaces about 100,000 tons. Even the Queen Elizabeth is formidable at 920 feet and 65,000 tons. Those are big ships. But none of them are even a quarter of a mile long. I'm ten miles long in ship running format and displace so much weight I might raise sea levels on earth if I settled in your ocean.
"A typical aircraft carrier among the largest formats can carry a crew of 5,000 and maybe 40 aircraft. I can carry 20 plus thousand on my station format and include among them hundreds of Seekers. I have 72 decks compared to 7-9 on an aircraft carrier. I can manufacture anything, feed everyone and beat the slag out of anyone who messes with that. I can also walk around in avatar format to inspect the troops if I want to. I'm armored with the toughest armor ever made, carry munitions in great supply for everyone on my format and have guns that can shoot for millions of miles at any target I choose. Multiply that by six and you have what we bring to the table."
"Don't forget to mention in your commercial area you carry a fully stocked bar," Raptor said with a grin.
"How lax of me to forget," Ty said grinning at Raptor.
"Wow," the American Vice President said as the American President nodded. "When will you deploy and what if anything should be said publicly about this new development?" he asked.
"We will deploy the stations in about one and a half of your Earth days, Mr. Vice President. I would suggest discretion for a bit. We will be posing a proposition to them by this move and I want to see what they make of it," Optimus said.
Typhoon nodded. "Give us an orn or two, then we can help tell the story. We're serious about a lot of things and not such much about others. What you should know is that we as a format are spark bound to serve Prime and the interests of our people. Because Prime bound himself to you that includes you in our formulations. We're feared by our enemies justifiably so," Ty said with a serious expression on his face.
The American President nodded. "Thank you, Lord Typhoon. What about the Seekers you mention? How many are there and why haven't they defected?"
"There are a few thousand," Prime replied. "We can assume they might not have heard the call from the Seeker leadership here to defect. If they did and are defiant there are serious repercussions for doing so. The Great Elder will be making recommendations on what to do to bring them into the fold. We need them to defect because Seekers are a really big asset in air support."
Morshower nodded, then looked at a silently fuming Rainmaker. His sons sat around him with the other elders as grimly as their father. "What will you do, Elder, to facilitate this?"
Rainmaker looked at the human who was his colleague and fellow Cybertronian. "I shall call them out. They will come to me and surrender, submitting themselves to me or there will be a fight."
"What? You'll fight them? All of them?" the UK Prime Minister asked.
Rainmaker nodded. "Yes. I have spoken."
It was silent a moment, then the UK Prime Minister leaned forward slightly. "Is it possible for us to watch such an event?"
Rainmaker stared at him a moment, then shrugged. "If you wish," he said with a stern expression. "I shall show no mercy."
The meet up signed off shortly after.
-0-Later that night in a utility structure in the middle of the main electrical system of Genesis
Ratchet crawled out of a conduit, then paused with surprise. He grinned upward at Ironhide. Standing before him were all the infants, some in harness but all of them peering at him with delight. "Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in."
He was enveloped in hugs.
-0-Early morning
They were recharging in their beds when Ratchet finally slipped into the apartment. They would be going to Earth for the wedding in a few hours and he wanted to have breakfast with the family before they went to school. Soon the light would break over the horizon and the city would wake up and burst into life. They wouldn't know that the forces of reaction and strife were gathering in the scatter field of the solar system. No one would know until they had to.
He walked into each room to check the kids, then slid into his berth to relax tiredly. There was a mountain of work but the mechanics, technicians and medical personnel were swarming like ants on a pile of honey even as he took a break in the crush. The ships were emerging renewed with massive upgrades, refits, tweaks and refinishes. The part of their infrastructure that would be the living quarters as well as the commercial arcade was being rebuilt to provide services and diversions for the crews that would be stationed there.
Living quarters were being brought up to speed as ship after ship came through the bridges to off load mountains of energon crystals and gigantic pallets of everything necessary to the vessels. Drones and immaculate quality holographic workers went through their tasks tirelessly arranging, rearranging, stacking, stocking and otherwise placing things in the best order for the most efficient running of the ships.
It would be comfortable and diverting for the newcomers that were being briefed as well as for the big mechanisms who would host and fight if necessary. They would be assisted in the effort by the force commanders who would manage the soldiers and Seekers while working collegially with the dreadnoughts themselves. That was the way this worked. The dreads knew how to manage themselves and left the rest to their counterparts, an officially appointed commander of the overall operation.
Who that was would be settled after the wedding at Diego Garcia. Then they would be ready to check the ships for sign off or hear about what more was needed. Before they stood out the human leadership would come to look and be briefed while the people of Earth watched on the teevee learning not only about the beautiful magnificent ships but the gathering threat beyond.
-0-Later that morning
Ratchet sat at the table eating his first real meal in a bit while the appas and ammas got the kids fed and gathered up. Hugs and kisses were the order of the orn as the cheerful and indispensable elders of the family wrangled 8 infants out the door. Ratchet watched them go, then looked at Ironhide. "You ready to party?"
"Nope." Ironhide grinned. "Are you?"
"Nope. Ironhide?"
"What?"
"Don't tell anyone." Ratchet grinned, then the two turned to the breakfast clutter. When they were finished they walked to the door to take the bridge to Diego Garcia. They would go with the leadership of Autobot Nation and that would include Starscream, Chevron, Neo and Laret as well among others, the Great Elder, Rainmaker.
It would be epic.
-0-TBC 1-21-16 edited 1-26-16