The Diego Diaries: Aftermath (dd6 140) Sorry I didn't post this. I pooped out last night. NOW! ON WITH THE SHOW!
-0-School, the next day
They gathered in the lobby, families checking into their kids with the intention to take/leave them at school. Ratchet stood in a group of friends in the lobby of the Intermediate School. All nine of the kids were here staying over rather than heading for Iacon and leaving the three dreads behind. All of them had camped in their home room classroom after spending the evening playing in the pool or hanging out together in the lunch room playing games or talking. It had been a real moment for the nine kids who had never had an experience like it before.
Ironhide had gone to Circle Prep with his father, Scout and Prowler. Hard Drive and Delphi had gone to their jobs leaving Turbine with Hero and Raptor with the little kids at Sparkling Day. Ravel and Docker were at Youngling Day to see about Sunspot and the three little mechs who were and always would be their grandsons. Partition stood beside Ratchet glancing around, enjoying the sense of community that things like this engendered in everyone. He had been in the best schools possible and had never felt like he belonged. He had spent his entire life fighting something and everything to settle in and get comfort from those times.
He did now, here in this place with these bots.
The elevators came online with their doors opening wide to allow those who needed to go access upward. Ratchet stood in a long line with Partition, chatting with others, joking and enjoying himself before there was room for both of them. Up they went, then stepped off on the 18th floor where the kids were housed. Walking down a noisy hallway filled with conversation and laughter, they reached the space where nine of the biggest kids in the system were staying over.
"ADA!"
Ratchet walked to the room where Fireball was standing near the door watching the crowds outside. It took a while to hug everyone, then Ratchet grinned. "What's the word? Do you need to go home? Do you need anything from home? Let me know and I'll make it happen."
They glanced at each other, then looked at him. "Ada, we have stuff to do," Lumi said.
"We have our stuff, Ada," Santee said. "I don't need anything from home. Do you?" he asked the others who shook their helms. "Do Ammas and Appa need us?"
"No, infants," Ratchet said. "They're good with your decisions."
Chat, discussions about after school, where everyone was going, did you have a good breakfast? All of it was settled, then a round of hugs began again. Ratchet and Partition walked out heading for the world beyond. It would take a while to swim upstream again.
-0-Turbine
"AMMA!"
Turbine grinned with pleasure as one of the most beautiful words in the world escaped the tiny waif that stood in the hallway holding one end of a long jump rope. Two other kids, a tiny femme and a tiny mech who were also playing jump rope looked at Turbine with curiosity.
Hero dropped her end, then ran to Turbine, hugging him when her Amma picked her up. They hugged, then she looked at her amma with joy. "AMMA! YOU CAME!"
"I will always come, baby," Turbine said as he turned to the other kids. "Who are these lovely infants? Are these your friends, Hero?" Turbine set her down.
She looked up at her Amma. "They are. This is Ferri," she said taking the servo of the only other femme in her room. She introduced everyone else, recited her day and overnight, then smiled. "Are you here to stay, Amma?"
Turbine who was kneeling closer to them grinned. "I can. Do you have to go home? What do you need, Hero? I can help you."
"I think it would be fun for you to stay here with me, Amma. I had a recharge here and we played games. I had breakfast. Do you need some too?" she asked.
"No," Turbine said with a grin. "I already did. Why don't you show me where you recharged?"
"Come with me, Amma. Ferri and I will show you," Hero said as she walked toward the door of her classroom. She would show her Amma everything. Amma would be enchanted while she did.
-0-Ravel and Docker
They stood in the lobby waiting, then rode upward getting off at the floor where Mr. Terradive and Mrs. Lyrica worked. The children were together in the hallway laughing with each other, then charged both when they spotted them. Hugs and pats were shared, then the four little mechs smiled upward to their Ammas. "Amma, we had fun," Sunspot said as the others nodded.
"I'm so glad," Docker said as she hugged Co-D. "Have your families come by to see you?" she asked.
"They're coming," Reflector said. "They're coming when they take Ammas and Appas to their club."
Their 'club' was the Senior Center in Iacon.
"Did you eat?" Docker asked as Ravel unsubbed a little box of treats for their classes. "We brought you all something. If you can help everyone to have these breakfast cookies, I think you will like them, infants."
It would go on like that for a while, then the two would reluctantly leave for the real world.
-0-Raptor
He stood in front of little kids, some his, some others and grinned at them. They were babbling about having to spend the night at 'kool'. He brought treats, too, and would give them to Neo to handle. Right now, he stood in front of a growing group of little kids and basked in their amazing stories and happiness.
-0-Ironhide and Blackjack
They handed off their kids reluctantly, then walked to the door. It was busy outside as the colony began to come alive again. The tension that had been everywhere was gone and the sun shown overhead, though it was very cold and slightly breezy. "Where you going now?" Blackjack asked his son.
"Ops Center. Ratchet is going to tell the humans what happened," Ironhide said as they stepped off to go to the Metro-line. "I thought some ice cream might tide us over on the way back."
Blackjack grinned. "You read my processor," he said as they ambled together down the street to The Confectionaire.
-0-IntraCom
Ratchet sat at the set that would be his broadcast space as Jazz got the show on the road. A short chat with Prime led to his being the news bringer, something that Prime wasn't unhappy to allow. All around him the techs reigned, then Jazz turned to him. "You're on in 3 … 2 … 1 ..."
"Hello, humans. This is Ratchet of Mars. I'm here to tell you about an event that happened yesterday that concerned the human population on world here," he said with a grin. "Last night, two criminals on the run were identified here in the city. They were hidden in the refugee population for a while before being spotted by an officer of the Watch. There was shooting, then the pair fled onward up the highway and down Sports Center Road. They halted by the Sciences Habitat and decided to enter.
"There were ten humans inside along with Major William Lennox, Human Community Commandant on-world and Master Sargent Robert Epps. The two managed to get the other eight down into the shelter and during their search of the floor, they had to duck into a small emergency chamber along the front wall of that floor just as the two fugitives opened the environmental doors. They closed behind them and equalized the atmosphere which was a good thing because the two, after finding they couldn't have hostages with the eight in the shelter, ripped the hatch door off and gathered up Lennox and Epps.
"We negotiated with them for 12 hours until they agreed to leave by ship without any of the hostages. They did and the human group was rescued. Other than being inconvenienced by the event, none of them were harmed. They included Major William Lennox, Master Sargent Robert Epps, Alejandro Lopez, Michio Yamaha, Cindy and Lola Teasdale, Sheila Conroy, Sharry Simpson who is a new member of the team as well as Hildie and Angus Wilkerson. All of them but for Epps and Lennox were never in the line of fire but safely held in the shelter that is below every habitat and building on world.
"We have repaired the habitat and those who live there are back inside. The damage was almost non-existent due to the construction of the building and the safety features that insured that environmental integrity stood up. We have built them to withstand direct assault by ships and even small payload nuclear devices. The humans will be available to talk to the press if they choose later this afternoon. We have made arrangements for this to happen through the MCA. They have the option to talk or not, depending on what they feel. We expect that you'll honor that.
"As for the two miscreants … they were allowed to leave to defuse the situation but ultimately pursued. They were taken into custody by Commander Ultra Magnus who is the manager of our colony and the administrator of Cybertron and the Empire. He is also a noteworthy soldier, someone the Decepticons have said on many occasions that they respect and fear. Now, they're in custody and will stand for their charges at the appropriate time with counsel.
"They are Sherma of Iacon. He was a former Senator for his city-state and a Decepticon sympathizer. The other is Momus of Helex, also a senator. He was an actual Decepticon at the time. Both of them were rumored to be killed so they were not on the list that we utilize to scan refugees when they come for major criminals and other desperadoes. They both took bribes and sold out our people, making them dangerous adversaries. Our forces took actions with the leadership of Optimus Prime and the situation was resolved. I will now take questions."
There was a moment of silence before a voice came onto the line. "This is Mike Hanley of the CBC, Ambassador. What was their intentions about being on Mars? How many more can you deduce might be there? How is Angus and Hildie now?"
"First of all, Angus and Hildie are doing well. It was shocking and scary for Hildie. She's not a soldier but a very fine scientist and a great mother to her baby. It was chilling for all of us that the baby was part of this. Angus is our baby, too. We love and honor him as a fellow Martian. They can tell you more later if they choose, Hildie and Jarrod. As for the other questions … we have access to the mainframe databases of Cybertron and have upgraded our lists of watch suspects. Mars had been an operation started from scratch and we've gotten better at this as time has gone on, as databases are added from migrations and especially after the liberation of Cybertron.
"We catch many. Some show themselves. Some are smarter and disguise who they are but in the end, we catch them. They made it through Immigration early on but now would have been caught. They came in a migration though their families, I am told, are elsewhere, in colonies we have slated for pick up. I am guessing that they got caught up in one and couldn't get free to follow their families. It was fortunate for us that they did because they're very bad individuals who need corralling." -Ratchet
"Ratchet, this is Paadini Rajpour of the India Times. Have the respective countries of those involved been contacted and what does this mean for present and future habitation of Mars by humans?"
"They have. We contacted everyone overnight and filled them in. What it means for future human life on Mars is simple. We protect and defend. You come here to a zero tolerance environment where things can happen. We provide you very expert, very dedicated and thoroughly professional care, protection and support. What we don't supply is perfection. This is a living vibrant place and humans have been here from the start. We will always do our level best but we can't supply absolute guarantees. No one who lives here has ever been harmed. We plan to keep it that way but we can't supply perfection. This is a place where individuals live and things happen. It's also infinitely more safe even with these limitations than almost anywhere else on Earth."
And so it would go for a while.
-0-Late the previous night
They drove into the huge paved parking lot that was part of Earth2. Surrounding it, huge weaponized vehicles and a good fifty mechs heavily armed themselves were arrayed. McFarlane waved to a big mech who was standing near the doors of the facility who waved back. As they waved, the doors of the place were opening. Driving in, he followed the paved road inside as the doors closed behind him. The vehicle stopped, then McFarlane looked at the group. :Take your stuff, wait for the green light in the vehicle there: he said pointing to lights at the front of the vehicle, a set of red, green and yellow ones. :When that turns green, you can get out. Otherwise, no: The light turned green.
They gathered their gear, then stepped out, moving away from the truck toward a door that was opening. Inside it, the device itself a vast elevator, Owen Harris and Perry Beliveau waited. They waved to McFarlane who waved back as he waited for everyone to enter the elevator and the doors to close. When they did, Toby McFarlane turned his truck and began to return to the city. :McFarlane to Fulton:
:Fulton here:
:The package is delivered:
:Good. Return to base. Fulton out: John Fulton turned to Glenn Morshower who was sitting geared up on a table in the Ops Center of Autobot city. :The miscreants are at Earth2:
Morshower nodded. :Good. Now its their turn: he said as the two turned back to the hostage situation underway.
-0-Alor earlier
He walked into the command center of the operation in Las Vegas and picked up the datapad with the news. "So, we have no traffic between the ship and home?"
"No," the officer of the deck said. "No activity here and none between them and the ship or the ship and their home. I don't expect anything to happen with that part of this for a few more decaorns. They take so long to get anywhere."
Alor nodded. "Good thing for us."
"We're watching Ratchet on the monitors. Good thing that ended as well as it did. Sherma was my … and I say this loosely, senator. He should hope I'm not on his jury."
Alor laughed. "He was mine, too."
The banter continued through a quiet shift.
-0-Earth2
They settled in, then walked out after having a short chat with Owen and Perry. He had told them that Perry was his command equal and that what came from him was fine with Owen. A quick look around the main deck was made, then they were shown their quarters, bachelor studio apartments for all of them. For the rest of the day, they would be off duty and thus, encouraged to look around and study the manual of rules and laws governing life here.
"This place is huge," Todd Baseman said. They walked along the grand concourse that wrapped around the entire facility and was bordered with floor to ceiling windows that stretched upward three stories. The buzz of the place was continuous as the business of living here went on all around them. The place was a warren of corridors going this way and that, all of them named. They took the Main Street 'road' into the facility and got to know the place from the ground upward.
It would take a while to do.
-0-School
The special pull out class was going through their paces as the morning crept forward to noon, lunch and recess. The morning had been hectic with visitations from parents who came to assist them with whatever they needed. New clothes were easy given their uniform status and gossip exchanged. There had been a big shootout in town, or so they had heard, so it was a good thing to stay here overnight.
Now, they were nearly at the time to re-enter the classroom with the rest of the kids, leaving behind the teachers who worked with them most of the morning. Every kid from Earth2 was here taking 'catch up school'. Among them were the four kids from Earth2 whose parents had sunk literally billions into the process. Among them, only Jaycee Jameson was fully adapting to the challenges before her. She was scheduled to spend the night with Sandy and Annabelle when weekend rolled around. It was going to be fun.
Right now, they just had to get through math.
-0-TBC 9-27-17 edited 9-28-17