The Diego Diaries: Continue (dd6 119)
-0-On the ground with Dai Atlas
They walked through a bridge, then continued onward toward a huge camp that was teeming with activity. There were thousands upon thousands of civilians and soldiers here, some of whom paused wherever and whatever they were doing/going to watch three nearly identically built, very handsome mechs walk past. One of them was taller and bigger than the other two but none of them were normal sized. Everyone who saw them, though, knew who and what they were. They were city-formers, metro titans of vast size, power and honor. They nodded and grinned at those who looked their way, their size, finials and red optics a dead giveaway to their status as titanic frames. One didn't need to read the numerous tattoos and designations on their armor to understand who they were.
They spotted the central command buildings nearby, then angled there. Pausing here and there to let some who were really, really religious reach out to touch them, they continued onward. There were two figures that reached such veneration for The People. One was the greatest figure among them, whoever was Prime, especially if that Prime was honorable and true. The other group were the titanic frames. They were city and planetary guardians who would give up their lives happily to save The People. Because they were selfless and put everyone first, they were as honored and honorable a group as one would find among their people. By the time they reached the building, a group was following them, chatting happily, asking about Prime and the colony, the rescue of Cybertron, and whether or not they were going to stay. It was a huge deal that a dreadnought was coming to help them. They hugged and patted the group, then walked into the building.
-0-Inside
Dai Atlas gripped Metroplex's servo. "It's a great joy to see you, Metroplex. I'm so glad to see all of you."
"Of course it is," Typhoon said as they all laughed loudly. Around the room, the workers in the big heavily teched out control room laughed as well. Having a titanic frame around was premium in their estimation given the historical connections between the Knights and the big mechs. Having three here was unbelievable even in pretender form. "We have a proposal."
"Have a seat," Dai said as Star Saber pulled up chairs. They sat, then sipped some high grade that was placed before them. "I'm all audials."
Ty grinned. "We're here to deliver up a dreadnought to assist you in this venture. They can guard, transport, manufacture, and anything else you have in mind. My good friend, Siphon is coming. He's very experienced in rescues and fighting. You could use the help out here given the crush of refugees. I heard that there's a problem with pirates too."
Atlas nodded as he sipped his drink. "That's true. We drive them off but it makes things uncertain."
"We can help there, too," Metroplex said with a nod. "Those fraggers need to leave."
Atlas nodded. "What's the situation in the colony? Cybertron? I haven't been to Cybertron for a bit but I'm headed that way for a base touch with the Network who's helping manage the camps there."
"The colony is fantastic. Cybertron is emerging. If we can find the other Omega Keys it will help, but everyone is working hard," Typhoon said. "We have new humans on Mars, 5,000 of them, and to keep an optic on them because some of them are hostile, Paribolus is hosting them as a habitat. The best part of it is that the humans don't know that."
"Smart move. Is that M.E.C.H. and the family? Prime has mentioned them from time to time," Atlas said.
Ty nodded. "Yes," he said. "We just had a dust up with a new player, Cassio Imperialis. They've dug into what's left of three settlements we cleared, then blew up."
Atlas nodded, then glanced at Star Saber who looked solemn at the sound of the name. "We know him. Give us his coordinates. I want to know where he is."
They would, then a tour of the camp would commence. By the time they left, a dreadnought with a twelve mile deck would be their protector, transport, manufacturer, and weapon of mass destruction.
-0-In the art room at Youngling Day School #1, Terra
Sunstreaker entered the room where the kids were working on art for the 'thing'. Silverbow saw him, then jumped up to run to him. Sunstreaker hugged her, then settled her on his arm. "What are you doing?"
"We're doing this thing, Sunstreaker," Silverbow said as she began to explain how a few moments looking around the kid version of YouTube, that is, the carefully monitored content of YouTube that the bots allowed children to watch on world, had led to an idea that had become a brainstorm and finally reached the desk of their leader. Optimus Prime, softie that he was, allowed it and thus, Sunstreaker was here to do his part, drafted by a sweet little femme who believed anything was possible.
Sunstreaker listened with a slowly growing grin. Glancing at the three things that were ready for his deft touch, special things that were designed from Silverbow's sweet sketches and crafted at The Game Place by the mechs who knelt down to listen when Hound and Trailbreaker brought her there to seek their assistance, he began to compose his part in his helm. A moment of conversation was had, a review of the images completed and all was go. She had walked out of the store with her genitors to gather a dozen other things to have created and finished by her classmates, also known as Silverbow's Crew.
Sunstreaker grinned at this little femme who he loved like a daughter and who had cherished (and still did) the yellow cup with her name on it that he had given to her when she first came. She had taken to him, the big mech who had detailed her skinny malnourished body, then painted her Autobrand. He had done all of her other work, too, including the names of her family, a tiny poem she wrote about them and the names of their family's historic cities on Cybertron as well as 'Autobot City' on her arm. He also was the one who maintained her finish regularly. They were simpatico. She finished her explanation, then looked at him hopefully. "Can you do that, Sunstreaker?" she asked.
If she had told him that she needed plasma from the sun, he would have gotten it for her. He nodded. "Sure," he said, then gently put her down. He moved to the three things, walked around them, then looked at the kit laying on the table nearby. Gathering the materials he needed, he looked at the hopeful kids watching including humans. He grinned. "Let's see what we can do," he said, then he turned to the three things and began to fulfill the wishes of the kids.
Terradive who was sitting nearby writing a math test grinned. A world class, world(s) famous artist was helping his kids with their project. It didn't get any better than this.
-0-Earth2
He had come back to the installation exhausted and unsettled. He had seen what space combat was like and he didn't like it. He had seen trouble on a scale that he was clear few humans had ever seen and it was bad. Walking to his home, he noted that his friends, the Beliveaus were here. Entering his apartment, he saw his son and daughter sitting on the couch talking with them. It was a happy greeting on both sides as Pierre 'Perry', Allison and Cameron Frazer-Beliveau greeted him. Mariah and Kyle Davis were already there sipping wine as they chatted. He sat down heavily, then thanked his son for a glass of wine.
Rick Harris sat. "Well? What happened? You were with the armada all day and half the night."
Rick Harris looked at his daughter. "Don't you have homework?" he asked.
"I do but I can get it done later. I want to listen to this," Rain said as she glanced at her mom for support.
"I'm forbidden to discuss what happened. Suffice it to say, we went to a group of settlements, got our soldiers back, got all the refugees, burned the place down, then left," Harris said.
"Wow. Why didn't you ask if I could come?" Rick said.
"I wasn't going to go but I sort of joined the wave. It was spontaneous. I was with the N.E.S.T soldiers the whole time. It was an amazing experience but I'm not allowed to discuss it," Owen said. "How was your trip?" he asked the Beliveaus.
Rain rolled her eyes, then got up. "If that's it, then I'm going to Skype friends on Earth. Good night," she said as she walked from the room to the hallway and her bedroom in the back. At the start of the hallway, she paused, then looked at all of them. "If you can be on the sidewalk by Metro Station #1 downtown in Autobot City tomorrow around noon, you might see something we're working on."
"What is it?" Harris asked.
She smirked at him. "I'm not allowed to discuss it," she said, then continued onward to her bedroom.
When Harris heard her door close, he grinned. "You should have been there. Understand, I'm not allowed to say a word so keep this to yourself.. If it gets out, there will be massive, and I mean, massive repercussions. You should have seen some of the ships they used."
"The big ones?" Perry asked.
Harris nodded. "The big ones, the Supremes, huge battleships … the enemy was a mech called Cassio Imperialis. He's someone from the past that's been a freak show his whole career, someone who pulls the strings behind the levers of power."
"You mean, like you?" Mariah asked with a smirk.
"Ha," Harris said with a slight grin. "I should be so powerful. Sometimes, Mariah, it takes more than money to get power."
"I don't care about that. That's your game. I just want to get in with the local women and see what I can do about publicity. You want good publicity for the habitat, right? I think that's where Allison and I come into the picture. You play the Game of Thrones stuff and we'll work out the social structure and where we can jump in."
Allison grinned at Mariah who she loved like a sister even if she was more tactful and tactical of the two. "We have to get outside first," she said. "A few being slated for restricted outside access doesn't sound promising for the rest of us."
"Then we sort out who we need to cultivate and go from there," Mariah said. "Judy Witwicky, Olivia Bowers … she's gone native. She teaches religion or something here. Odd, that. I know her and her family. I would never have believed it of her."
"We still have to get outside," Allison said with a grin.
"We can bring them here. We can have a luncheon with the movers and shakers in the women's arena and meet and greet everyone. They have a big human social life here. We join it. That way, we can meet some of the influential bots around here, too. Maybe even Prime," Mariah said.
"Prime is no one's fool. He's smart, tactical, advanced, and has the support of a phenomenal collection of specialist mechs. It was a good thing to watch this. It gives me more information about what we're up against here," Owen said.
Rick Harris frowned slightly. "You aren't going to do anything out of hand are you? Our job is to be as honorable as possible. They're millions of years old. You can't put one over on them and expect them to be fooled."
"You sound like you went native too," Cameron said with a grin. "Personally, I'd like to get some paybacks on Ratchet. That fucker ruined my career, him and the twins."
"I wouldn't mess with either of them, Cam. The twins will pinch your head off. They don't play around and they're family with Ratchet. You slap one here, its like you slapped all of them. It can get you kicked off world forever or worse … end you in their jail or dead," Rick said.
"I heard their prison is one scary place," Kyle Davis said as he glanced at Owen.
Owen Harris nodded. "So have I," he said. They would talk for hours, then adjourn to their respective homes. The next day would be the first day for Pierre Beliveau in his job as partner to Owen Harris. It would also be the first day of the effort to make a place for themselves in the local human society here on world. It would begin with a luncheon invitation to the leadership of the Resort and assorted movers and shakers among the human population of Sciences and Earth 1.
-0-At the school
They stood back to look at the three big things. They were AMAZING! … the general consensus opinion of everyone there. That was when Silverbow showed the rest of the plan to Sunstreaker. He studied it, listened to the directions and distribution of labor from the straw boss, Silverbow, as 24 other kids watched him. He grinned, then looked at all of them. "I'll help. I'll get Blue and Sideswipe to help."
BEDLAM!
"Did you clear it with Springer?" Sunstreaker asked.
They nodded. "Uncle Optimus told me it was okay. My genitors went to the meeting," Silverbow said.
"Okay," Sunstreaker said. "Bluestreak can take care of this part," he said pointing to a thing or two on the overall plan Silverbow showed him. "Sideswipe can get this part going and I'll help you here with these," he said nodding to the things they just finished.
"Thank you, Uncle Sunstreaker," Silverbow said as she hugged him. "This is going to be just like I wanted. It's a good thing."
Sunstreaker nodded. "It is." he said with a grin.
-0-TBC 9-6-17 edited 9-11-17