The Diego Diaries: (dd8 128) 03-30-2021
=0=There
Raptor listened, then relaxed slightly. When the message was finished he glanced at the others. "Percy just phoned in."
"What kind of jail do they run here?" Lissie asked.
"I think its just a secured cell for things that they don't want people to mess with rather than a jail. Something tells me that they don't have crime here most of the time," Raptor said.
"What did he say, Raptor?" Steiner asked.
"He said that they were picked up and in the jail. Momentum is with him along with the femmes, Elita, Chromia and Arcee. Maelstrom is with them," Raptor said with a grin. "Good thing. Percy is working to undermine the bars so that when the moment came Maelstrom will rip it off its hinges. He's also data mapping the colony from where they are and he's going to send it."
"I can't believe they haven't dampened the area against this," Hot Rod said. "Its stupid."
"Not if you've lived in a cage all this time without intrusions. You don't build what you don't need," Lissie said.
"All the better for us," Raptor said. "After Percy gets the intel, we make our plans."
=0=Shortly later
They walked along the trail made to bypass too much disruption of the terrain, something that all of them oddly felt was a thing to do. Even the dirt road to the town followed a dry wash, bypassing lush vegetation on both sides. Reaching the space where they met the other 'locals' earlier, two groups on both sides of the divide stared at each other.
Hercy set down Will Lennox while the others did the same. They wanted to see the other group and their own colony though it wasn't visible over the rise where they stood.
Another mech, Two-lo greeted them. He stared at the humans, then Hercy and the mechs. "Who are they? Pets?"
Rough laughter greeted that before Hercy lent the mechs his human language file. They assimilated it, then stared at the humans. "Odd pets."
"That's what I said," Kup replied with a grin as the humans on the ground smirked upward at the mechs. "More nuisance than useful."
"Remember that when something falls under a couch and you need it," Corey McFarlane said. "What's this with a barrier?" he asked as he walked forward with an arm extended to feel for it. That's when he walked past the barrier that the bots could see into the domain of the others.
=0=Moments later
They all gathered at the barrier, humans and bots alike. Corey who was still on the other side stared back at them.
"Lennox," Raptor said, "Go through that barrier."
Will glanced at the barrier. "What makes you think I can get back?"
"McFarlane, come back through," Raptor ordered.
Corey McFarlane walked toward the barrier, then through it. He glanced up at Raptor. "How's that, Dad?"
"Passable fair, slagger," Raptor said with a chuckle. "So you can come and go through the barrier. Apparently, whatever runs them isn't used to you."
"Or maybe its so that the life that lives here can have their freedom and no one else," Niall Graham said.
"Could be, Graham," Raptor replied.
"Now how does this help us?" Jack mused aloud.
How indeed.
Raptor glanced at Jack as he took a message. "The slaggers want us to come to a parlay."
"Is that so," Jack said with an edge to his voice.
"We're going, the elders," Raptor said. "You infants stay here. Kup … why don't you stay as well in case something happens, though I don't expect it. If slag happens you have command. Blow them to the Pit."
"Glad to do it," Kup said with a nod.
The elders began to walk down the road, then Raptor called the twins, Whirlaway and Sandstorm to join him. There was an intense internal chat, then the mechs hustled into the woods to disappear right away.
"Warlord!" Raptor called.
The big mech hustled up, listened, then nodded. He glanced at the others, then they ran for the woods to disappear.
At that point, Raptor and the others continued onward until they disappeared out of sight.
Kup glanced around. "Let's get this place in order. I want all you humans inside the building in case this goes south. We will defend you to the bitter end. As for the rest of you, here's what I want you to do."
With that, they began to organize a defensive position for their camp.
=0=Mars
They sat in the Center waiting for messages. Perceptor had taken a lot of equipment with them and they were waiting for receipt of their arrival. It was quiet as the group chatted, ran data that was still coming in, mostly of the greater area in the approach to the stars as the clock ticked by.
It was relatively quiet and tense in the vast room.
=0=At the edge of the colony
They reached the end of the road where a number of heavily armed mechs waited for them. They halted some distance apart, though they could hear and see each other easily.
"We're here," Raptor said.
Reset stepped closer, pausing ten feet from the group with a handful of heavily armed mechs with him. "Another group came. They're now guests of the nation."
"Bit of an ingrate aren't ya, Reset," Raptor said. "What now?"
"You have two choices. Either surrender your arms and take your place with the others or we shoot you," Reset said.
"With what? You do know that there's about four generals of the army in our group and between us we can find a way to take you down hard," Raptor replied. "We don't have to. We came here to offer assistance and rescue, you savage ingrate."
"What makes you think we want rescued? What makes you think we'd live in a world without our rights being honored?" Reset replied.
"What rights? The right to first servings of everything even if you didn't make or earn it? Keeping people in shackles? What gives you the right to enslave others?" Raptor replied.
"I won't argue the System with you, Raptor. Your group is fully understood about this issue. We want your surrender and a return of the peace. We have your fellows and we aren't shy about exacting from them what you won't give us," Hier, another elder of the colony said hotly. "You have no right to come here and demand."
"We came here to rescue you, you idiot," Steiner replied equally hotly. "We're the Autobots. Its what we do."
"Not here," Reset said. "Make up your mind. Perceptor will be interested in your answer."
"Percy already has the answer and ten moves ahead, or do you forget who he is?" Lissie asked.
"We haven't. He's a caste traitor helping destroy everything that makes Cybertron great," Hier said.
"Too bad Primus and The One don't agree with you," Steiner replied. "They made it a matter of Their own personal honor to disagree on this issue. They want it buried forever."
"You obviously have no low in lies," Reset said.
"If Lauren came here to explain it, would you understand and believe?" Lissie asked. "Chevron? Sela?"
"They were lost in the war," Reset said. "The Temple was bombed to dust particles by that barbarian. We heard a trader tell the story at a way station on our way here."
"The Temple was. The priests weren't. Really, Reset," Raptor said with a grin. "You're not keeping up."
"Make up your mind. Capitulate to inevitability or someone gets hurt," Reset said. "No leave."
Raptor grinned at Reset. "You're in over your helm but for now, fine. When we bring it to you, you will be least expecting it. Remember that." With that, Raptor of Praxus began to leave. The others joined him one-by-one.
=0=Earth2
She stood in the doorway watching him a moment, then walked in to stop before the desk. "Have you heard from Rick?" Mariah asked her former husband.
Owen glanced up from his work, then sat back in his chair. "He's working with N.E.S.T. to develop a training program for survival on the moons of the system. He's going to be gone for a while." He watched her face as she absorbed the lie.
"With N.E.S.T.?" she asked with surprise. "I know he's made friends with a lot of them but this is good for his business, Owen. And it doesn't hurt to stay on the good side of Lennox."
"I agree," Owen said around a tight grin.
"No dateline when he returns?" she asked as she walked back to the door.
"Not at the moment," Owen says. "I imagine he's going to have stories to tell."
"Good. I want to hear them," Mariah said. "If you hear from him tell him I love him and he should come to see me when he gets back. I miss him."
"I will," Owen said as she walked out again. He stared at the door. "You and me both." He stared at the desktop work before him then wearily leaned back into it.
=0=The Resort of Autobot City
They lay on the rug near the door, half a dozen dogs that were staying over with family until their owners returned. Two of them belonged to Olivia and would go home with Joe when he could get them, one was the Lennox doberman, Pagan and three were small dogs that belonged to Jessie and Clarice.
Louise Morshower-Howell got up from her desk, then walked to the dogs. "Time for walkies, babies," she said as she hooked them up with leashes. Out the door they went to walk along the trail closest to the Resort before coming back for another group snooze in the warm light streaming into the office. It would be like that for a while.
The two cats would remain in The Family Tower among the endless family who were always there.
=0=Ops Center about the same time
"We have a message from Ratchet," Prowl said as he glanced up from the big map that was being put together on the table where everyone sat adding their piece of the data to the image.
"What does it say?" Ironhide asked as he walked over from tactical.
Prowl touched the computer console for communications and on the huge monitor behind them the face of Ratchet could be seen. He was sitting at a small communications device in the middle of what looked like a broken building surrounded by trees and bushes that appeared to be overgrowing it. Tents in the distance could be seen along with faces of nearly everyone there including the humans.
"Hi. Ratchet here. Again. Percy and the group have arrived but were taken into custody by Reset and his cadre. They're being held in a pen that isn't set up to be a jail so there's no dampening for communication. So we can talk and have. Percy is sabotaging the bars so when we decide what we're going to do we can go after them. We need them with us to figure this place out and it might mean invading the colony and taking them out by force. I think we can do it pretty easily because of air support and all.
"The humans are good. Reassure everyone. Funny thing is, they can walk through the barriers at least for now, the little slaggers. It could be that whatever divides us up is calibrated for metal and not organic. There's organic things flying around and they don't bump their helms when they do. What that might mean for us plan-wise is still unclear.
"We found the other group and they're as stuck as us. They were pulled out of their initial meeting with Reset's group when it began to breakdown into a fight and segregated elsewhere, nearby where we are. They didn't do that to us and I think its because whatever causes this must think our natural greetings are brawls. We're going to try to figure this out but for now we're stuck, everyone is okay and we're going to send data and our plan. Will check in soon," he said, then the message ended.
=0=TBC 04-01-2021