The Diego Diaries: dd8 121
=0=Late that night
He walked softly to the office he shared with Optimus, then sat at the desk. Opening a link to the Ops Center, Prowl saw Paragon's face appear. He was Mission Manager for the graveyard shift. "Parri, what's happening?"
Paragon, nearly a twin for Prowl looked grim. "We lost the second team."
Prowl absorbed that, then nodded. "We're on our way." He commed off, then rose to walk to the berth room again, to the side where Optimus lay curled onto his side. He tapped him gently. "Optimus, we have to go."
Optimus glanced up rallying from recharge, then sat up. "Call my ada, Prowl."
"I already did. He'll be here shortly. Let's go," Prowl said quietly.
Prime rose and the two walked out of the berth room, across the vast living room and out the door to the elevator. When they were going down Kestrel would be coming up.
=0=Outside
They walked across the street, transformed, then drove to the Operational Center at The Fortress. It was late and the hoo-haw of the evening frivolities were winding down. The beat cops walking down the street toward the Temple Junction waved and they honked back before arriving at the courtyard of The Fortress. Transforming, they hurried inside to disappear into the massive stone building.
=0=There
They blinked for a moment to clear the mind, then glanced around themselves. Instead of their former location in space, they were in orbit around the pretty planet in circling a nicely large yellow star. It was here that they could really get the signal that was the standard distress call of a stranded Cybertronian. It was then that a message from the ground reached them.
:Identify yourselves, slaggers:
"Hercy. Frag," Ratchet said as Sun opened a channel.
"Hercy, where the frag are ya?" Sun asked.
:Stranded here like you're going to be. Come down: Hercy said. :Follow the beam we send ya:
Sun glanced at the others, then commed his brother and the Seekers. "Everyone, follow me down."
They pinged receipt, then began to descend with Sun's vessel, The City of Repose. In seconds, they were parked on a landing strip that was already half filled with ships both theirs and the locals, whoever they were.
Down a ramp Sun walked with the others as out of the other ship, The Torus States, Jack led his team.
Seekers were landing around them.
Hercy stood nearby with his crews and Seekers. No one from the local city nearby seemed to be present.
Sun drew up, then glanced around. "What the frag is this?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," Hercy said. "We're stuck here. It's a miracle that the message we got ever leaked. Apparently, there's a low level that has possibilities on the bandwidth."
"Where and what is this?" Jack asked.
"This is a colony of high castes, really high ones and its the usual shit show. About 200 mid and lows arrived some time back and find themselves living on the margins. Stop me if you've heard this before. The high tones have lived here since The Fall. The upshot is, no one can leave," Hercy said.
"Oh great. Anyone we know?" Ratchet asked as he grinned at the twins who grinned back.
"Just some once very rich slaggers, nothing special though they'd probably be insulted to hear that," Kup said. "They're so delicate and all."
Everyone snickered at that.
"What's the word on what's keeping us here? We were just getting ready to make a move when we ended up in orbit," Steiner asked.
"We don't know and neither do they," Kup said. "Let's go talk to the slaggers. They haven't been too upfront about telling us anything much. Apparently, our processors can't handle the fine points of it."
"Oh, great," Ratchet said. "Another group of nutcases who've been allowed to marinate themselves into extremism while in isolation."
"I love those kind myself," Jack said as he glanced at the city. "They built pretty compact. The airfield footprint is small as well."
"Who's the boss here and what do you know about him?" Ratchet asked as they began to walk toward the city beyond.
"Some slagger named Reset. Don't know more because they won't talk to us. They also won't let us live in their slagging city except in two segregated areas. One is the home of the 200 slaggers that got pulled in not so long ago and another is one they emptied out for us," Hercy said as they reached the outskirts of the area.
"Emptied out?" Steiner asked.
Hercy nodded. "Its a former waste station that was replaced when they remade the area. It was abandoned and now its home sweet home."
It was a grim faced group that walked into the city. It was a grim faced group that met them.
=0=The Humans: At the garbage dump. Essentially.
They'd made a home out of a crate that was under the eaves of a building that had no roof. Inside, they'd made good use of the gear that was carried on the vessels for humans including emergency stuff like shelters, medical, food and water containers. There was enough food given that it was such a small thing to pack and took up so little space that they'd be able to eat for literally years.
The latrine system, however, was a work in progress.
=0=Ops Center about the same timeline
Rainmaker and Starscream joined the group to troubleshoot the problem. It was a grim group of Autobots that filled the conference room with the big wall screen showing the map of what they knew. Prowl was leading the discussion filling everyone in on what they had.
It wasn't much but they'd won entire battles with less in the past. It would go on for a bit.
=0=There
It was eerie as they walked on the sidewalk toward a five story building that was the center of governance here on world. Individuals watched them but didn't say a word. They watched them walk past with disapproval but no interference. By the time they reached the steps of the administration building a crowd was forming behind them.
At that moment the door opened and the tall mech from the first stranding walked out with half a dozen others. They walked down the steps, then halted to watch the Autobots reach them. It was silent when they did with both sides staring silently at the other.
Then Sun stepped forward. "I'm Ironhide the Elder of Praxus, General of the Army for the Prime of Cybertron. Who are you and the rest of you?" he asked.
The mech stared at him, then glanced at the others. "We rule this colony."
"Oh," Jack said as he considered that he didn't know more now than he did a moment ago. "This is Raptor and Blackjack the Elder of Praxus, my family. Lissie, a General of the Army and Steiner her brother who's also a reserve General … they're part of this group. I could go on but reciprocating would be nice."
The mech started at Jack, then the others. "My name is Reset. Who the others are is not a matter for discussion. Understand, we didn't ask you to come here."
"You did," Ratchet said. "We got your distress call. You called us. We came. What the frag is this place and how did this happen to us?"
Reset stared at Ratchet noting the small details of his various positions. He also noted his class status. Glancing at Jack, he noted his. "We've been here since the Great Exodus. We're not able to tell you more. What keeps us here isn't known."
Jack considered that, glanced at Raptor and Sun, then stepped closer to Reset. "I'm not the one who asked that question."
"I'm uninterested in your offense," Reset said.
"Another slagger with a wrench up his aft," Sunstreaker said. "My orn is looking up."
Reset glanced at him, then Raptor and the others. "You're here. We've provided shelter. Unless you have a way to get off this planet I'd suggest that you keep out of our city and our way."
Raptor glanced at his uncles. "Mech needs optic work. Given you've just gone over everyone's tats just now, how about ours?" he asked.
Reset met his gaze levelly. "I'm not interested in yours."
Raptor walked up the steps to stand nearly chest-to-chest with Reset. "Most of you slaggers aren't but it doesn't change a slagging thing. If you hold to the System then you hold to all of it. You have to respect the tats. How about it?"
Reset never blinked, then he turned his back to walk up the steps followed by the others.
As they disappeared inside the building Jack snickered. "There's some of that fabled charisma again."
Raptor grinned. "Let's see how it plays with them," he said as he turned to face the crowd that was still growing.
None of those mechs, many of them big, fit and young looked very happy to see them.
=0=Elsewhere
It was quiet in the conference room as they sat together troubleshooting all the problems that could be happening. What they would decide depended upon the Seeker group that was flying through the bridge to do a delta run, that is, fly by so fast that it would take specialized equipment to see them, then fly back.
They needed more intel.
Saber, Rainmaker's second eldest son would lead them.
=0=Crowd v Autobots
They stared at each other, two groups of cold opticed slaggers who didn't have an inch of give in them to save anyone's life.
Raptor walked down the steps, pausing before three big young mechs. "Who are you and how did you get stuck here?"
They didn't speak. They stared at him coldly, then the others behind him. The elders were amused. The twins and some of the youngers were feral.
"I don't think they like you, Raptor," Ratchet said as he walked closer to test the group. He knew they saw his tattoos. It would be interesting to see how deep the caste hatred ran here though his lifetime of experience with it told him it was toxic as anything he'd ever seen leveled at him in the crowd before them. It might even lead to a melee. "Maybe you aren't talking sweet enough to them, being high tone and all," he said to deliberately provoke them. Depending on how old they were when they fled, they would get or not the insult of that remark.
They didn't.
Most if not all of them were post-Cybertronian separations. At least those here now.
They stared at Raptor, almost as if testing who'd blink first, then one of them glanced at Ratchet. "You keep bad company," he said to Raptor. "Low company."
"You need to stop saying snide things about yourself, infant. You might get a complex," Raptor said with amusement.
The kid swung on him with skill and speed but he wasn't ever going to be fast or good enough.
Raptor blocked the punch, then lifted him off the ground with an uppercut to the jaw.
He flew up, then landed hard on his back and lay there.
The crowd murmured, then looked at Raptor with real hatred.
Raptor grinned. "Let me tell you something about fighting. Never sucker punch. They call it that for a reason. The puncher is the sucker, by the way. You may get one off but you'll lose in the end because you'll just enrage your opponent. If you were a good fighter, a sucker punch isn't needed. Like this," he said as he punched the second mech doubling him over.
"Now watch this and take notes," he said as he held the mech's jaw in his servo. He jabbed the kid in the face and down he went. "That's how you handle a slagger." He turned toward the third. "Now, after the element of surprise is gone," he began.
The third mech who was staring between the two mechs out cold on the ground and Raptor's instruction stepped back swiftly. He glared at Raptor with fury. "YOU SUCKER PUNCHED THEM!"
"Did I?" Raptor asked. "Or did I serve tactics on cowards? I think I just gave a master's class in staying upright and all you can do is find fault. My, my, my, your manners and sense of gratitude and appreciation are slag. You've been stranded in the boondocks too long."
The rest of the Autobots and Seekers were watching with amusement a 'Master At Work™' as well as the group facing him. All of them had targets outlined and were discussing it off line with the others.
"So, Dad," Ratchet said as he scanned the two mechs who were still out cold. "Nice punches but they're going to live. Do you realize what that does to your reputation and your overall score?"
Raptor guffawed. "I feel merciful."
"What if we decided to slag you to The Pit?" another big youngster said with barely controlled fury.
Raptor grinned, then raised his fists. "Considering what its going to do for my overall score? Bring it," he said.
They did.
=0=TBC 03-23-2021