The Diego Diaries: Invisible (dd6 156)
-0-District Eight, somewhere at a disaster in the wasteland of the Kaon area
They stood on the cracked surface of Cybertron staring down into a sea of bubbling death. A chemical plant had been here once holding together through damage and neglect before finally giving out. It had leaked into the ground and filled up a large area coupled with other leaks and solvents from rusting barrels in the warehouses all around. It was a steaming disaster. The fumes weren't effective against them. They could live in poisoned atmospheres or vacuum but this was dangerous for the fire aspects and its effect on Primus and the water table down below.
Hardie listened to the local experts and those in the Autobot version of the SeeBees, a construction group that had the brief for toxic sites which were everywhere. Cargo stood next to him staring into the dank and dangerous eyesore before them. They had arrived early at the HQ in Kaon...
The ship descended and the hatch opened before the gear fully developed. Hard Drive who was calmly going over the information dump from the previous two orns and all of the reports for his district, got up, handed his cup to Cargo to dump, then began to walk to the hatch to leave. Cargo stared at the cup, then dropped it in the recycler. He followed, walking down the ramp to stand on the home world of his people. It was more than he expected but still jarring in its controlled chaos.
There was a smell of ozone in the air, a not unwelcome odor but he knew it was from destruction and deterioration. The square of Kaon, a place he had never been, was massive, filled with runabouts and bigger ships like the one they had come in on coming and going. The enormous square was lit up with lights because it was either night time on world or there was no sun. He thought he had heard they were untethered now but the sight of it was shocking and a bit frightening. Beyond them was the Autobot HQ for the district, the former Decepticon HQ on world. It was busy with bots coming and going from it, a huge building with welcoming lights and life force.
Hard Drive walked toward it, passing mechs and a femme or two who nodded or called to him. He nodded and called back. Cargo watched him as he followed. The General was well liked and respected, it would appear. He had resolved to be silent and see what this would entail. He was stuck and he knew that there was no other out. It was a risk he had taken when he fought his brother. The High Castes didn't like fighting. It was too common but now and again, there would be one. The penalty for doing it was HUGE so most never took it. He always thought that the Praxian Elites who made and held The Code did it to discourage fighting because it irritated them that someone might choose that as a pathway to resolution. They took fighting deeply seriously and he felt that they didn't like amateurs treading on their turf, hence the depth of risk along this path.
He might be right.
They reached the big ornate building. It was clearly very, very old as were the buildings that towered around the Great Square. He climbed the stairs, then followed Hard Drive in. He walked through a big rec room, standard Autobot Army design, then entered a big and highly technical operational center to the middle 'war table'. Hardie stopped, caught the update and latest from his team of officers, then picked up a number of datapads. He turned, then handed them to Cargo. "Get the rest, then come to my office." Hardie turned to the right and walked toward a door.
Cargo watched a second, then scrambled for the rest of the datapads. He hurried after Hardie, then disappeared in the doorway to the long winding corridor beyond.
Several of the mechs watched, then Jerze and Feral, two surrendered former Decepticons, a femme and mech grinned. They were attached to the HQ and served Hard Drive throughout District Eight with Jerze supervising every battle group surrender that came to Cybertron. "Looks like the General has a project," Feral said with a grin.
"You noticed that, too? Who wants to bet he doesn't makes it happen?" Jerze asked.
No one took her bet.
Down the hallway, Cargo jogged to catch up, then walked into a huge office with state of the art tech and lots of space. Hardie turned to him. "That's your desk," he said pointing to the corner. "This was Megatron's office. It's mine now. I want you to sort the datapads by their contents and write a short summary of each part on them. You do know how to write succinct summaries, right? I'm told you're a business lawyer of some type."
Cargo nodded. "I am."
"Aren't you all," Hardie said dryly. He turned to his desk with its oversized top and huge ornate chair. "This is my throne. I rule one eighth of Cybertron from it. Step up and we'll get the job done. We're going into the field shortly. Be ready to go at a moment's notice." He sat, opened his computer and began to check in with the field commanders all over the giant area in which he covered. Given that Cybertron was four times bigger than Earth, one eighth of it was a colossal area to command.
Cargo stared at him, then the mass of datapads. He walked to the desk and put them down. Sitting, he reviewed them, sorting them into piles. Turning on his computer, he found a writing screen, put the proper headings and date/times on them, then looked at the first datapad. It was a report concerning the dead they were finding in the field. There was a colossal number in the totals. He blinked at it, then scanned back to see how many civilians, mechs, femmes, children, elders, those who couldn't run due to disability, those with no luck, no hope, and now no life there were to make such a figure. It was shocking. He stared at it, then the blank screen. What he had to write sort of formed in his disquieted processor so he turned to it and began to type.
As he did, Hardie watched him out of the corner of his optic. He thought about the expression on his face, then considered he probably was summarizing a casualty list. Good, he thought. Good.
-0-At a toxic waste site
"What's the general plan?" Hardie asked.
"Well, we've ground scanned it and its pretty spread out. We have to suck the chemicals out without igniting them, then all of the area has to be ripped out. That stuff is a pretty powerful acid mixed with what atmosphere we have, General. We expect to have the chemicals extracted, binned up, then taken to a transfer center on Fiko 2. They put it together in drone ships to be sent into stars. We have one close enough to utilize. We were told a bridge would be built there to expedite container shipments closer in so that we don't have to keep dealing with drones. In four decaorns, its supposed to be operational. We'll then take the containers, put simple flight motors and guidance systems on them, hook them up in large groups, then send them onward. The heat and radiation at some point will take care of them. We don't want to bury or contain anything like that here or anywhere else. It has to go."
Hardie nodded. "Good. You have it in servo?"
"We do, sir," the big mech said as the others nodded. They were huge mechs, the kind who could transform into just about any sort of big equipment or war machine needed and they were well regarded, the construction crews. Few of them were small, though they kept a brigade of mini-cons to do work that required smaller hands.
"If there is anything I can do to assist, drop a line to the HQ in Kaon. We'll get it here. What's the area looking like? This district? What about the other four found in this location?" Hardie asked.
"Two of them are almost to the point where we can turn them over to construction crews. One of them has munitions, all unexploded in the bottom," he said. "We've drained the oil that filled the hole and found a huge cache of unexploded rockets and mortar shells. The sappers are working on moving them out. They appear to be in good condition thanks to soaking in oil for eons. When that's done, we'll explore the site, repair it and turn it over to the locals. They have a lot of skill there. The other two are going to be addressed as soon as this one is finished. They don't have solvents. They're mostly polluted water and oil."
Hardie nodded. "Give everyone my regards. This is stellar work as usual."
The mechs grinned, then nodded. "We will."
Hardie shook hands, then walked to his runabout with Cargo in tow. They climbed in, then it lifted off with armed soldiers inside and one sitting in the doorway dangling his legs outside. The darkness engulfed them as they flew onward, heading northward to visit pending disasters and meet with locals over concerns. There were islands of light in the darkness but most of Cybertron was still dark. In the distance, lights glowed.
"What's that?" Cargo asked.
"That's The Dire Wolf and Legatus. They're metroformers who are supplying the camps and area around Polyhex with support. We have 1,567 titans on world supporting everything. Hundreds of millions of lives depend upon them and we have more coming. There will never be enough to serve the need. We're going to a place where the camps haven't reached yet. You're going to see things that may be hard to look at. It's not what we want but we have a billion and a half people to support and we haven't extended everywhere. Our people are magnificent," Hardie said as the ship began to lower. They had flown a great distance and had reached a place where a small circle of light was the only illumination for miles. They set down and stepped out.
Standing nearby, a group of mechs and two elder femmes waited for them. Hardie walked over and shook hands. "Bilow, how are you doing?"
"We're good with the increase in food. What's the word on tents, General?" a tired looking older mech asked. He looked like the salt of the earth, like someone who had worked hard all his life and had never expected anything. He had character and courage in his aura and so did the others. He was now the leader of the area which encompassed 2,500 individuals.
"The Dire Wolf is having them loaded now," Hardie said to their very great relief. "I came here to tell you myself. We have them coming and crews to help you set up. We're also assigning a medic team to this area, a group of locals who passed the training in Iacon. They will service this entire area so let the others know. We're nearly finished building the repeater station on the hillside and the broadcast range of the system will reach you here."
The years fell off Bilow as he gripped Hardie's servo. "That's going to be a better help than the small sets. Will it give us the regular broadcasts, too?"
"All of it, Bilow," Hardie said with a grin. "What's the word on food and other things. We can bring in diversions, too. Do you have the list?"
Bilow unsubbed a data wafer and handed it to Hardie who gave it to Cargo. "We hope you don't mind what we asked for. It's been a long time. The children like books and candy."
"So do I," Hardie said with a grin. "I'm going to read the list and if I see something that might help that you didn't check, I'll add it. We want to help with quality of life until we get everyone into decent shelter. As for your village, its on the list for the sappers. When we remove all the unexploded ordinance, then we can go in and start rebuilding."
"We can help," an elder said. "You know we know how to work, General."
Hardie looked at him, then nodded respectfully. "That's never in doubt, Abba." He looked at the dark path that led through mountains of churned up dirt, broken and destroyed buildings and other things that were dragged out and piled up by the locals since liberation. At intervals, light towers threw down illumination. "What about a tour? I'll know what you need and get it here faster."
Bilow nodded. "This way, Hardie," he said, then led the way. Hardie followed with Cargo and the others brought up the rear.
They walked through a weird shadowed landscape of carefully sorted piles of debris that towered over them. Twisting and turning, followed by the group and the armed soldiers, Hardie and Bilow discussed the situation. Doing as instructed, Cargo took notes directed to him. They reached an open space that was pockmarked here and there with craters. Shacks made from scrap and sheet metal were everywhere. They stretched out of sight into the distance. They would tour them, meet the locals who greeted them with gratitude and even offered something to eat from among their stores. Hardie took it, listened to everyone, asked questions, encouraged, comforted, and noted everything. By the time they had walked back and took their leave, everyone of them was solemn faced and silent.
They climbed back on board, then the ship lifted off. It was silent a moment, then Hardie glanced at Cargo. "No one you will ever meet will be more worthy and honorable than them. They are the backbone of our people and we labor every orn for their comforts and rescue. Most of our people still live like that. They never deserved nor did they earn it. They deserve everything good and decent that we can provide." he said, then fell to silence.
Cargo stared at the datapad with the notations and didn't say a word.
-0-At Sciences, East Fortress Road, Autobot City, Primal Colony of Mars, Cybertron and the Empire
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Wheeljack and Perceptor glanced up, then grinned. "Ratchet."
Ratchet sauntered in, then pulled a chair to sit. He checked his internal telemetry against Ironhide lurking, then grinned. "I'm here to make a protoform but you have to give me your solemn oaths that Ironhide will never see it until I make that decision. If I had my way, he'd never see it."
"I heard," Wheeljack said with a chuckle. "Poor dumb slagger." Wheeljack pulled up a screen, opened the file called 'Ratchet and Ironhide', then a stock protoform appeared with Ironhide's face on it.
Ratchet snickered. "Slaggers. Handsome infant, though." He sat back, then spotted something lying nearby. Rising, he walked to it, picking it up to look at it with admiration and curiosity. "What's this? New?"
Perceptor nodded. "Yes. It's incredibly durable and strikingly beautiful."
Ratchet nodded, then grinned. He walked back, then sat again. "Here's what I want."
They began to make the baby's first prototorm, the one that would be the template for the four stages of growth that would take them to adulthood. It would be spectacular, unusual and still, same. It would bear, indeed, Ironhide's face. When it was constructed, when it was troubleshot, when it was examined from every angle, Wheeljack glanced at Ratchet. "That's one beautiful protoform, Ratchet. Femme or mech?"
"I haven't decided. "I'll see you just before construction. Beep me."
"We shall," Perceptor said as he studied the figure. "Most attractive infant."
"How can it be other with that face?" Ratchet asked. All three of them laughed loudly.
-0-TBC 10-24-17 edited 12-09-17
NOTES! NOTES!NOTES!NOTES! :D:D:D:D
Silverhornd chapter 155 . Oct 11
Hi, question where did Whirl come from? How and when did he come to Mars? Are Axe and Wing who are Dai Altas aides going to show up?
ME: Whirl came a while back. I go back to the long form downloads to make sure that a mech I talk about shows up in the story before I do. :D:D:D Axe and Wing aren't in yet. Wing was killed in the Drift spotlight so that might be hard. I do love him, though. He was a great, great character. As we get the refugees through bridges, we're going to see Dai and his operation including aides more. I will think about the problem of Wing being dead. (Optimus has died 18 times in all universes so sometimes you can't say never in some fandoms) LOL! HUGS!
Leoness chapter 155 . Oct 11
Nicely done. That's a fascinating idea right there regarding the name etc!
ME: I sort of saw it through the idea of the Praxians discouraging fighting that might end in death by making it very restrictive, thus, discouraging it. I like their alien ideas. Since they believe in shunning (and so do some humans groups like Scientologists and Amish) I like it for this story too. HUGS!
Lackwit chapter 153 . Oct 10
And Prowl was named after grandfather or great-grandfather.
ME: He was. I am not done with Prowl and his family. ;) HUGS!
Lackwit chapter 153 . Oct 10
Both of Optimus's gradfathers on Kestrel's (?) side were named during the spirit walks , along with the good friend of one of them. Argh, can't recall which Visit to the Matrix.
ME: I am going to go back to that. I remember Optimus meeting his grandpa and how much he loved him. I will dig that up and maybe they can reminisce a little. More to come on the elders of the families even if some of then will be flashbacks. ;D HUGS!
Ragemoose chapter 153 . Oct 10
Raptor and Turbine, Trooper and Scout are listed as Great Grandfathers, but then Hard Drive and Delphi are listed as great grandfathers, as well. Is that a boo-boo or am i not adding things up in my head right?
ME: BOO-BOO! I hope I fixed it. When this progresses and things like family trees might help, I will add them. HUGS, MISSY RAGEMOOSE!
Leoness chapter 154 . Oct 10
Oh, you dumb kid...
ME: Heh-heh-heh … the invincibility of youth … ;) HUGS!
Leoness chapter 153 . Oct 10
Nice! This was most useful. I love the absurdity of the every growing list of ratchet and ironhide's kids!
ME: There are about a handful of 'conceits' about this story … that is, ideas that are there to drive the fun. One of them is the kids having Ironhide's face, Ratchet's absolute belief that Ironhide is a babe, Ironhide being a hulking doofus who would help his kids with anything no matter how absurd and the family's size. When this story started to write itself, some of these things stuck. Their family makes me laugh. Loudly. :D HUGS!