The Diego Diaries: Meet Up (dd6 43)
-0-Conference
"Then the whole thing fell down in a crash. It was pretty funny but the look on his face was priceless," Arcee said with a grin.
Huge laughter greeted that story as the senior and military Autobots relaxed after the long meeting. A message for Prime broke the moment, then he sighed. "Time to go to Cybertron."
Harris watching decided to take a chance. :Lord Optimus … do you have any reservations about letting me go with you?:
Prime glanced at Harris as he worked through the many he did have, the input of others off line around the room and Prowl. "If you obey the rules and come with the proper level of respect, no."
:I would be honored to come to see Cybertron: Harris replied.
Prime glanced at Lennox who rose from his chair. :We got this. When do we have to report?:
"A joor," Prowl said as Lennox nodded. The humans gathered with him, then walked to the end of the table.
Bulkhead helped them down and they buzzed out heading for N.E.S.T. HQ to get ready. Bulk glanced at Prime. "Do you think this is a good idea?"
"I am not sure but the more I know of him the better our security becomes. We shall see what he is made of," Prime said as he stood.
The group gathered their gear, then walked out together to go to their day jobs. Prime and Prowl stayed behind going over the itinerary with Ironhide and Raptor.
-0-N.E.S.T. HQ
They buzzed in and while Harris checked in with Earth2 to let them know he was going to Cybertron, everyone else got their gear together. Harris caught a kevlar jacket as he walked to join them. "Keep that on. There's exploded ordinance everywhere. You never know when it'll go off. Don't go anywhere but where we tell you.
"You might also moderate your remarks. Your tact leaves a lot to be desired. If you remember nothing, remember this. Cybertron is rising from near extinction. It's a graveyard everywhere. Smart off and I will kick your ass when we get back. Bring respect and use it."
Harris nodded. "Very well."
"You might want to know that Cybertron had an earth-type atmosphere once upon a time but now its poisoned. If you think this place is dangerous and unforgiving, you haven't seen anything until you go there. They're working on clearing it up but its going to take time and they have other priorities. You remove your mask its instant death. Whatever you do, don't remove it," Niall said.
"Also, hit the head and grab a bite. Don't drink too much. The ships and the planet have no facilities for humans. If you have to go back or you feel sick, TELL us. You can be back to Earth2 in seconds by bridge. Don't be a dead hero. That you're going at all is a miracle. Don't fuck it up by being a dumbass."
"A dead dumbass," Niall said with a grin. "Take care of business. We have to leave in a few minutes."
The four men walked to the bathroom, then hit the snacks and sandwhiches on the counter nearby. A sip of water completed lunch, then they departed by segway to go to the airfield. They would be there with time to spare.
-0-Inside Impactor's Revenge
Revo and Rem sat together going over the pre-flight and the flight plan. Behind them affixed to the wall, the box where humans sat when on flights waited. The big mechs were coming shortly and with them would come three battle shuttles and two flights of Seekers as escort. Prime didn't travel light anymore. He was bound once again by the rules of travel that all Primes had to obey.
Outside on the tarmac, Owen Harris watched the huge vessels as they passed them, the worker bees who attended to them and the lethal row of warbirds that sat on the flight line in the distance. It was shocking how he felt, the thrill of engagement and the unease about the alienness of it. This was a strange moment for him.
They sped up the ramp of a shuttle he would find was called Impactor's Revenge. Pilots inside would place them inside a clear box with comfortable seats and seat belts. They buckled in, then watched as the big mechs began to enter. They grinned at the humans, then found a place in the ship. Hercy and Kup, Ironhide and Raptor, Springer, Drift and three mechs Harris didn't know entered and sat. He would detect from names other bots called them that they were Devcon, Hot Rod, and Blurr.
Prime entered, then sat in the command seat forward. When he did the door closed and ramp retracted. Rem turned to Prime. "We are go at your discretion, sir."
Prime nodded. "Take us up."
Harris watched the ease by which Prime bore his authority. The mechs around him and the new ones here were comfortable and at ease with him. They were an informal but incredibly organized and capable society. It even extended into the military.
Flight Control at Fort Max gave them the go and they lifted off with their battle group heading into the darkness of space with ridiculous ease and speed. Harris marveled at the sights of Mars below and the massive space bridges before him. They flew past them, entered between two long arms of the closest that stretched far ahead, then waited. A burst of light down the arms signaled launch powering up, then they rushed forward into a swirling vortex of light energy. It was green and bright, then almost instantly they were back into the darkness of space again.
It was dizzying.
"We are here, Optimus," Revo said. "We have Flight Control at Kaon. We have permission to come down."
"Take us there, Commander," Prime said calmly.
Harris looked around at the bots. They were lounging casually, chatting together, some of them from the gun turrets as the ship flashed forward. The huge windows showed debris floating in space as they headed toward what looked like a gigantic detailed and well lighted metal ball. They flashed forward into the light following canyons that seemed to disappear downward forever. When they reached their destination, they carefully landed and the ship powered down. With them were other shuttles and two flights of Seekers who transformed and slammed down to the ground almost as one.
The bots arose, then walked to the door and down the ramp to the outside. As they did, Ratchet walked through the bridge at the back of the ship to join them. Revo and Rem put the humans down and watched as they drove out on their segways before following them to lounge around outside.
There was a local delegation to greet them, naturalists who had protected the area and all of the wildlife that this place was famous for. This was a restricted area, a preserve for animals and plants. They were going to show Prime their efforts and get more support for their regeneration of the area. Ironhide took notes of their requests which would be expedited for them by Slacker back on Mars.
The humans watched the exchange between Prime and his people. The locals were immensely glad to see him and proud of the moment. Beyond them, the undulating Sea of Mercury awaited.
Ratchet who stood near the humans turned to them. "What do you think?" he asked as he nodded toward the sea. "Your scientists would be hard pressed to believe this can exist but it does. But then, they struggle to believe a metallic world could exist let alone spawn a metallic civilization."
:It's beautiful. I love coming here: Lennox said.
"So do I," Ratchet replied. "Ironhide and his family have a home a few hundred miles away, a beach house in a resort town."
:Ironhide came from wealth?: Harris asked with surprise.
"There was no caste higher than his and even Primes had to bend before them. But you won't find a caste with greater respect than his. They are the court of last resort for some, a panel of Praxian warriors." He stared at Harris. "It's a long story."
The party turned to walk to the pier nearby with Prime and his party. Ratchet turned to go with them and the humans buzzed along behind. The liquid mercury lapped against the pylons of the pier as they walked forward. It was a long walk but they reached the end of it. When they did, the locals began to explain what had happened in the war, what they had done to protect the area and what they had in planning stages to regenerate it once more.
The humans parked, then stepped off to stand near the edge of the pier. The sea was beautiful and seemed internally lit. Overhead, the sky was dark and filled with stars, the endless night of Cybertron. The light that existed was that provided by towers brought by the teams who were reclaiming the area. It would be the same story everywhere else as well.
:What do you do here with this sea, Ambassador? Do you fish or is this just a natural feature?: Harris asked.
Ratchet who had come along to answer questions and free the others to do their jobs looked down. "We fish. But not much. It's a place to come and swim, boat, hike, and camp. Lots of towns border it and some keep houses here. It's a beautiful location for fun and games mostly."
The delegation spent half a joor discussing the local area, then they turned to walk back up the pier. The humans followed as Ratchet brought up the rear. But the time they were all up to the ships, the meeting was over. They boarded up and the shuttles lifted off. The items and support the group asked for would arrive half an orn later from Mars.
-0-In a conference room at Sparkling Day School, Terra, Autobot City, Primal Colony of Mars, Cybertron and the Empire
The twinnies stood on the table answering questions and turning this way and that. Both of them had had extensive testing over a couple of orns and now the data was to be given to the family.
Venture, Miler, Kestrel, Tagg, and Docker who was there for Ratchet's mob sat with Sunstreaker, Bluestreak, and Sideswipe to hear the news on the girls and their progress. Tuned in from all over hell and gone, the rest of the family listened as well.
"We have found that there is marked improvement in the healing from last time. The implants have taken marvelously and are delivering excellent sound quality to both femmes," their audiologist said.
Both Uraya and Iacon were standing on the table patiently waiting for whatever they were supposed to do. Both of them held a little dolly and both smiled when someone looked their way. They looked the picture of health.
"They still sign and sometimes we have to really choose our words. They're learning to speak again but they lost a lot of language," Blue said as the twins listened tensely.
"That will come. We're doing pull out and in-class instruction for them and they have a good sense of what's going on even if some of the actual speech goes over their heads yet. We have them speak to us when they want something. We chat. It would be a good thing for them to do with their family out of school. Mind you," he said pointedly at everyone. "Don't curtail signing. We don't want this to feel like punishment. They're still learning but encourage speech. Both are necessary for them at this time and when the speech catches up, then signing will probably fade away."
-0-On a ship flying toward the Manganese Mountains
A ship filled with grandparents who were listening into a meeting held in a conference room on Mars grinned almost as one as the meeting concluded with a good report. Everyone else sitting around had no idea what was so funny but given the tendency for Cybertronians to wait to be invited into private jokes, the moment passed without incident.
Even the humans didn't ask. Owen Harris was following the rules to a tee.
-0-TBC 6-20-17 edited 6-26-17
HAPPY SOLSTICE, EVERYONE!
NOTES:
I had a glitch and lost the entire first draft of this because my save didn't save. It was completely finished too. :*P Here we go again. :D
Pandora: SIGN ME UP! I would vote for them in an instance. LOL! At least Prime is honest and good. Prime 2020 sounds good to me. :D Until all are one.
Leoness: I love it too. I think they are hilarious in the IDW books and nothing makes me happier than to see Prime laugh. I'm a G1 fan myself. :D
Guest: He's still gathering his marbles. Olivia will help him. That part is coming. :D
The funeral is coming about July 3 or so. That will be about a month. :D