The Diego Diaries: Moving On (dd6 45)
-0-On the tarmac of the Military Airfield, Autobot City, Primal Colony of Mars, Cybertron and the Empire
"What's this, Lennox?"
Will Lennox, Robert Epps, Niall Graham, and Owen Harris turned almost as one to look upward. Standing behind them, Roadbuster, Twintwist, Whirlaway, and a mech they didn't know but had the tattoos of Prison Security on his shoulder were staring down at the humans. They were a gnarly, scary-looking bunch to anyone let alone Harris but the soldiers knew and liked all of them.
:These are the new whips: Lennox said with a grin. :We need troop transports and they want us to test these out in harsh terrain:
The soldiers stared at them silently a moment, then Roadbuster picked one of the vehicles up. It looked like a toy in his grip. He turned it this way and that to examine it, then held it for the others to see. It was a six wheel device with a hard shell that enclosed everyone. The back bed was enclosed and had large windows to see outward with benches along both sides for passengers to sit. There were two seats up front and gun racks in the back.
"I think my kids have a toy like this," the unknown mech said with a slight smirk, "But its better made."
The big mechs laughed, then Roadbuster put it back down. There were four of them that were driven off a supply ship and waiting for the soldiers to come collect them.
:Ha-Ha, Roadie: Lennox said with a grin as he looked at he black vehicles with the various N.E.S.T. insignia and other Earth decals on them. :This is state-of-the-art tech where I come from:
"Can't say much for the state of your art then, human," Whirlaway said with a grin. "Good luck with that slag."
The big mechs nodded, then turned to go onward together for shift duty at the prison. Epps grinned. :HEY!: They paused to look back at the humans. :Any good gossip from the slammer?:
The mechs grinned. "The usual fights and stupidity. Motor Master says hi," Twin said with a smirk. "I'll send them your love." The mechs laughed loudly, then continued onward.
Harris glanced at the soldiers. :What do you have to do to visit that place?:
Lennox glanced at him. :Kill someone?: he said. :Let's go. I'll take you to Earth2 and the rest of you get these to the habitat. Maybe someone here can carry one of them so they all get there: He glanced around, then signaled a young kid standing nearby as a ship off loaded. He came to Lennox, then knelt down curiously. :Could you help a brother?: Lennox asked.
He could.
-0-On the way back
They motored along in a vehicle that was only slightly smaller than the vehicles and mechs driving on the highways back to Earth2. It was heavy with truck traffic as the business of business swept along. Harris watched the landscape of towers and cities change to eight lanes of well maintained road leading past the Mausoleum and Basilica. Things gave way to desert and desolation. It had its own beauty but it wasn't as inspiring as mountains with trees and meadows of grass. At least to Harris.
"Tell me about the Mausoleum," he asked Lennox as they sat in the enclosed cab without their masks.
"They bury their dead there. It follows their customs," Lennox said.
"Are we allowed to visit?" Harris asked.
Lennox considered that. "You're allowed to visit the Mausoleum and Basilica. In the past, no one was allowed into the Basilica but Prime opened it up. He wants everyone to derive comfort and a sense of home here."
"There was a funeral in the Basilica a while back, something about a drone Seeker," Harris said.
Lennox nodded. "It was accorded a Primal funeral for services rendered for the good of all. It was responsible for seeding this system with energon, the fuel they use for everything including food."
The majesty of the Basilica came into view and the parking lot was filled with trucks making deliveries and individuals visiting including a yellow bus from the schools.
"Children come here to visit?" he asked.
"They do. They have a program for all the children to visit all the important places. It's part of the school curriculum. Museums, libraries, the Temple and Monastery, businesses, Ops Center … they want their kids to reclaim their identity as Cybertronians so they teach them who they are and what it means," Lennox said.
"Your daughter goes to school here. Is she also eligible for these features?" Harris asked.
Lennox considered the man asking, then doubled down on his sense of protective family responsibility and pride in his daughter. "She is. She's fully part of the school system. She's getting an education that she couldn't get anywhere else. I'm proud of her. Her and all the others."
Harris nodded. "That's a good and remarkable thing. What do you feel about her learning about other gods and other ways of thinking about that?"
"All roads lead to the same door," Lennox said. "The more she needs, the more we're going to give her. We live in two worlds here, my family and me. Before, I never could have them with me. Here, I can. My wife is an owner and operator of the Resort so our family will be here from now onward. It's a good thing for my daughter to learn how to live in two worlds."
"What about Earth? Aren't you worried about her losing that part of her identity?" Harris asked with genuine curiosity.
"No. She knows she's human and she lives around them all the time. She also has Cybertronian citizenship which she and the rest of us take very seriously. She has the best of two worlds. She knows who she is and how she wants to live," Lennox said. "We aren't worried."
It was silent as they drove onward into the desert. The towering antennas of Earth 1 appeared, then disappeared. The Consulate appeared in the distance, the road leading there a turn off from the main highway like Earth 1. By the time they could see the gigantic form of Earth2 rising up in the distance they were nearly at the end of the constructed road. Work was going on several miles away to connect this highway to the big one that would encircle Mars. When that part was finished they would add the miles to it from Earth2's turnoff.
Driving through the boulders piled nearby as decoration, they headed across the newly paved parking lot toward the entrance facility. It had a space for Autobots and big deliveries alongside one for individuals and small vehicles. Lennox drove up and parked near the door. "Put on your gear. The vehicle won't open unless you pass muster."
Harris complied, Lennox scanned, then the go was given by the truck. Harris turned toward Lennox. :Thanks for the opportunity to go to Cybertron:
Lennox stared at him a moment. "Did it change anything or are you still a dick?"
Harris considered the straightforward question. :I'm not the enemy:
"Prove it," Lennox said coldly. He tabbed the door opened and watched as Harris walked out, entered the elevator which closed and began to rise upward through the glass enclosed tower that housed it. When he was at the top, Lennox drove back toward the highway. He felt grim inside. "Prove it, dick." He disappeared down the highway toward home.
-0-Ops Center
Ratchet and Ironhide sat down at the table and put up their peds on spare chairs. "What an orn," Ratchet said. "We found graves at the bottom of bomb craters."
Prowl nodded solemnly. "I got the notice." He sat back and tossed his stylus on the table. "What about Harris?"
"He was a nosy slagger," Ironhide said. "Asked a lot of questions."
"I know. I can't imagine why. After all, he was on another planet surrounded by aliens after going through a space bridge. Why would he ask questions?" Ironhide frowned a tiny frown at Ratchet who snapped a picture. "You're cute when you do that."
"I know someone cuter," Prowl said with a smirk. "My son, Orion."
"Delusional," Ironhide said with a grin.
Prime entered the room from his office, then sat with the three. "What are we talking about?"
"Our son, Orion, and how he sort of looks like that big pouting baby there," Prowl said nodding to Ironhide.
"Oh," Prime said with a grin.
"You really need to get the bond help," Ironhide said. "He's delusional again. I would know. So is Ratchet."
Snickers and rebuttal greeted that, then they got down to business. "What do you think the outcome for this will be with Harris now that he has come to Cybertron?" Optimus asked.
"I don't know. I think he's very set in his ways but sometimes it takes a lot of water to wear down a rock," Ratchet said.
Ironhide nodded. "That's right. Can I drown him now?"
Laughter is a good thing.
-0-At Earth2
"Where were you?" Cynthia Tomas asked as she walked into the office where Owen stood staring out the window.
"I was on Cybertron," Harris replied. "I asked to go and was allowed."
Cynthia stared at him with surprise, then walked to stand next to him. "Cybertron? Their home world?"
Harris glanced at her, then nodded. "Yes. Prime was attending to business and I asked to go. I was surprised he said yes but then he's an alien and I have no idea how to scrutinize him."
She nodded. "What was it like?"
Harris considered the question and its several dozen possible answers. "It's rising from the grave. They've lost a billion or so people in the war. But its rising up. There are towers and cities coming along, towns and villages that are completely restored. Everyone is working. It's perpetual night, however. They're no longer attached to their star, whatever that means. I don't know how they lost that but they have and they're wandering. It's a big source of concern for Prime."
"I can imagine," Cynthia said. "What do they plan to do about that?"
"I don't know but something tells me that its not a big problem for them. We went through an artificial wormhole to get there. A space bridge opened, we went in, then seconds later we were coming up on Cybertron. It took seconds to go thousands of light years. It was astonishing. Their science is astonishing. They have so much on us technologically, we must be like ants to them." He turned to gaze out again. "I would give anything to have some of their tech. We could fix every ill Earth has."
"They have laws against that," Cynthia said. "Their Tyrest Treaties forbid it. That would be a good way to go to their prison forever. We're bound by their laws and penalties because we don't have immunity."
Harris nodded. He grinned at her, a tight grin without much warmth. "A man can dream."
Cynthia considered him, then turned to go. "I'll leave the messages on your desk," she said as she put the slips down and walked out the door.
It was quiet again as he stared at the unchanging view outside. Walking to the desk, he scrutinized his messages. None of them couldn't wait so he walked out to inspect his domain. He would spend a bunch of time in the forest, looking at the pallets of plants waiting for the fields and petting the animals in the farmyard nearby.
-0-In a high security lock up at the Prison
They sat together lounging companionably in their chairs as a group of guards walked past heavily armed. Ironhide and Springer, alternate versions of the local deal were watching them. Ironhide and Springer both knew their counterparts on their own world. Roadbuster, Whirlaway, and Twintwist were a ruthless bunch in their own twisted Autobot Army. Being bored, Springer called out. "HEY, ROADIE! TWIN! COME OVER HERE!"
The group halted on their rounds, glanced at each other, then walked to the pen to stand before the two mechs smirking at them and each other. "Twin, what's up?" Springer asked.
"Well," Twin began because he could slag with the best of them, "I'm out here. I'm going to have a great dinner and get laid tonight. What about you?"
"The only difference between you and me is that I'm in here," Springer said. Ironhide howled with laughter as both sides grinned in spite of themselves. "You know … you three are real slaggers on my side of the divide." He looked at the other mech. "I don't know you or I'd give you the word too." He looked at the three he knew. "You like to kill things, tearing their arms and legs off, then letting them bleed out. Real humanitarians, you are."
"Sounds like me," Roadbuster said conversationally. He glanced at the other three. "Doesn't that sound like me?"
The others pretended to think a moment, then nodded. "It does."
Roadbuster looked at the two, then nodded. Without another word, he began to walk onward. The others joined him laughing loudly as they continued onward.
Ironhide watched them go, then grinned at Springer. "You're losing your touch, hoss."
Springer grinned at his bond, soulmate and partner in all his crimes. "I think you're right. They have to come around again. Let's go for broke next time."
They would wait but the bots would take another path on their rounds. They knew how to play this game too.
-0-TBC 6-23-17 edited 6-26-17
For everyone who saw the movie, I'm glad that Bey said this will be the last one for him. The Bee movie looks promising but who knows? I just hate to see Optimus get hurt. :*{
PM me if any of the bots died that I might know. All of the bots seem to be ones I never heard of. :[ Hugs, Leoness and Guests. :D