The Diego Diaries: Moving On (dd6 191)
-0-Dojo, Tyger Pax
"Well, we have a problem with the mercs," Springer said with a grin as he stood from the couch where he was lounging at the Dai Atlas Dojo.
"What's up?" Drift said as he stood up as well.
"Mercs stretched a rule and it might blow back on a 'normal'," he said. "They changed vehicles and are heading to Aerie Hill. Wanna go with?" he asked.
"Did you have to ask?" Drift said with a grin as they walked toward the door.
'Normal' for the uninitiated was the term used by the Watch to discuss anyone who was on the right side of the law, of history and the way things went among those who had a clue, ie, the law abiding citizenry. It could mean bot or human. Apparently, Corey was a normal, a fact that if he knew would make him deliriously happy.
The others who were watching rose as one and followed.
-0-Ops Center, The Fortress at the same time
"Commander! We have something … someone is downloading the database! TELETRAAN IS UNDER ATTACK!"
Prowl nearly upended the table as he stood, then hurried to the nearby console. Someone was running data, downloading it to who knew where. "SHUT THE SYSTEM DOWN! INITIATE BACK UP SYSTEMS!"
A mech at environmental worked furiously, then the entire Ops Center went down.
-0-Around the colony
The lights flickered, then everything went down. After a puzzled and startled minute, they came back up in the essential places and in homes that were flagged as emergency services back ups. Terradive who was standing in the middle of a demonstration of states of matter glanced around. Behind him, the massive monitor had gone down but now came back up. Obviously, the backup systems of the colony were coming on line for those most in need.
-0-Hospital
The security system in the 'high security-no admittance without authorization of the Prime or CMO' of Metro Femme, Elder, Youngling and Sparkling Hospital went down. A light began to flash and a siren went off. The stasis modalities of the various prisoners were shutting down and somewhere in their psyches, they began to reboot. Rushing in with weapons drawn, the emergency security team of Metro Femme worked manually on opening the doors. Inside, Black Shadow, two enhanced femmes, Arachnid, a number of phase sixers who were the DJD, and other hard afts were gathering their mentalities once more. The head of security for the hospital, Nolo of Nova Cronum, hit the emergency comm link to Ops Center. "THIS IS NOLO AT METRO FEMME! GIVE US SOME JUICE! THE INMATES ARE REBOOTING!"
Prowl who heard the message as he began to unwind the attack from their ability to bring the emergency systems back on line worked feverishly. Somehow, 'they' had managed to short circuit the two functions. Someone had familiarity with the system and the system had just revealed a major flaw because of it.
-0-Metro Femme
"Steady, boys. The doctors are coming with manual stasis devices. If the prisoners move, shoot them," Nolo said as the mechs with him, heavily armed and shielded stood in the vault room where everyone was located in their high security stasis containments. Red lights on each were beeping signaling a breach was imminent, then they began to turn green. In seconds, the vaults would open and the trays inside slide out. Those who were on them would be free once again.
-0-Spring and Company
They got the word and sped as fast as they could to Metro Femme. At the prison, all of the emergency teams for the colony including the standby crews at the airport who were always on duty in case of emergency lift off were heading there. Emergency systems built independent of Teletraan were kicking in for the habitats and the prison proper though the lag time, if any, was not yet known All of the human habitations were made independent for just such a thing. None of them were in any danger including the Resort due to stand alone generator plants.
They blasted in, transformed in air, then landed, and ran for the hospital. It was being evacuated, those that could move, while the others were being locked into their rooms and wards. Running through the hallway, they reached the security wing, then slid to a stop. "What's the sit-rep?"
"They're emerging," Nolo said. "Arachnid is coming out now," he said as the tray slid out. Moving to stand next to the prone figure who was awake and glanced around, he put his gun to her helm. "Don't move, Arachnid." A doctor rushed forward, slapped a stasis device on her helm and she fell immediately into it. Sliding the door back, he manually locked it. As he did, the tray with Black Shadow began to slide out.
-0-Around the colony
The steel buckets overhead wobbled, then slowed to a stop. On the ground, the big mechs watched as the lights went out. They were out a second, then came back on. Glancing at each other, Scar who was doing his rounds as director of the whole operation, turned to the comm link nearby. Keying in Ops Center, he made his call. "What's going on? We're having power problems at the Park City."
"Hold, Scar," someone's voice said. "We're experiencing technical difficulties."
Scar nodded. "No doubt," he said, then he looked at his datapad, the one that held information on every facet of the operation system wide for all the five huge Industrial Park Cities. There were dozens and dozens of red flashing flags. "Oh slag," he said quietly. It was now the worst part of being boss of the Parks.
-0-Outside of Aerie Hill
They saw the lights flicker, then heard through the thin atmosphere the distorted sound of sirens going off as they followed the traffic into Aerie Hill, the 'City of the Seekers'. Traffic was slowing in the center of the great district as the traffic lights began to blink yellow, then flashed to off. The district was built along rock ribbed ridges that rose to the original mound where Starscream and the others had first surrendered long ago. Now it had grown enormously and spilled into several large steep gullies that ran off from the main one. The gullies with their sloping steep sides were lined with houses that were built into the terrain, a dazzlingly beautiful city of steel, stone and glass.
They were built in long rows along the curve of the deep reddish colored washes, terraced up the slopes to line the top with long attached housing. Roads ran along each terrace, roads allowing access that way, though most of those who lived here landed and took off from their balconies. Children played in the streets and it was a place to hang out to chat and watch them. The majority of the city, where the businesses and public buildings were located was on the giant mound. It was a tall spire affair, Aerie Hill, with overhead links for roads and walkways among the dazzling towers. It sparkled in the sunlight, this poetically beautiful place designed by Starscream, his trine and the architects that had been graduated from the University. It was his all encompassing pride and joy, this glorious city that threaded out from the mound into the gullies that ran from it, the product of waterfalls and runoffs in some long distant past.
Around their vehicle as they drove through the highway that led upward and then around, redirecting traffic back to Autobot City, there were Seeker and grounder mechs standing together, talking, watching the skies, then some of the Seekers transformed and blasted off. It was an astonishing sight to see. Jim Johnson peered through the window, attempting to look up into the sky. :We must be under attack: he said tensely.
Their driver, a civilian who had no experience with war looked panicked. :We're getting out of here. We're going to the habitat:
A light on their dash beeped. Then a voice came over the radio. :All civilians of Earth2, Earth 1, Sciences, The Resort, and the Consulate are asked to return to their home bases. All of those who live in those habitats, return immediately to your home base. The colony is experiencing a power fluctuation and wish to have the roads clear for repair crews. Return to base immediately. No exceptions:
:That's good enough for me: the driver said as he inched into a left hand turn. It would be a long, tense drive back to Earth2.
-0-Ops Center, The Fortress at the same time
Optimus Prime transformed in midair, then landed hard. He ran into the Fortress, across the Rec Room and through the crowd around the door of Ops Center. Striding in, he paused at the command table. "Prowl. What's the situation?"
Prowl was plugged in and typing furiously. "A moment please," he said as he continued. Then the lights went out again. Almost immediately, they came on again. "I'm rebooting. I shut down Teletraan and now its rebooting."
As it did, the tactical officer called out. "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"
With a roar of frustration, Prowl turned to an overhead panel, opened it and hit the big red button inside. The system went down. They were functionally blind.
-0-At the Autobot City Medical Center, Ambassadorial wing of the building, 33rd floor
He sat at his desk in a brightly sunny office with wall to ceiling windows and luxurious furnishings. He had commented on them and Ratchet had grinned. "Thank Prowl. He believes if we live where we work it should be as nice as home." This big beautiful space with lots of equipment showing the world beyond as well as linking him all over the colony would be his ground zero. Here he would do the work of a political liaison and assistant to the Ambassador of State.
Ratchet.
Through the door heavily laden, Ratchet entered with piles of datapads and folders of the business of state thus far. He had learned how to read it quickly but it was going to be nice having another pair of optics and point of view to add to the job. He was going to figure out how Lucien thought to utilize him to best effect and find out his level of threat. He put them on the desk, then went out two more times. Dumping the third big pile and a rack that held a good dozen large datapads, he grinned. "Some of this is background for you to read before you get to this group," he said putting his servo on the stack of current affairs. "We have relations with more aliens than the humans and thus, we have a lot of stuff to do. You know what to do. It's all yours."
Looking at it, Lucien considered a decaorn would do 99% of it up. He would be hard at it for some time with a lot of it ongoing and thus, unending. He would never have a moment where his desktop would be cleared. Then the siren ran, the lights went off and every computer in the building shut down. Lucien stood with concern. "What's happening? Are we under attack?"
Ratchet who had just internally receipted his call to come to the Ops Center shook his helm. "No. Something else."
"WHAT ABOUT LASLO!? MY SONS!?" Lucien said with gathering fear.
"Suck it up, Lucien," Ratchet said sharply. "Go find Laslo and stay with him. Don't worry about your boys. They're Home Guard and they have their duties. Go. Now."
He hesitated, then ran for the door. It would take a while to find Laslo but he would be found in a teacher lounge at the University. They would stay there with the others riveted to the Latest Breaking News! On The Hourly News broadcast.
-0-Heading from the Medical Center to Ops Center
Partition, Lancer, Inweld, and Morius nearly collided with Ratchet in the door of the big building as he hurried out to the Ops Center. "What's up, Ratchet? What do we do?"
"Come with me," Ratchet said as he sprinted out and ran down the sidewalk. The kids turned to give chase. It would be a hip and hop through traffic to the Ops Center, then a push and shove through the punters watching in the doorway and just inside. Partition, Lancer, Inweld, and Morius followed Ratchet to stand nearby others at the table where the senior Autobots were gathered. Prowl was running data again and everyone looked grim. It was sobering to all in the room. It was tensely silent.
Then Prowl turned to Prime. "Someone punched into our systems and gathered information." A murmur in the group was heard. Standing on the table with them, Fulton, Morshower, Lennox, Epps, Graham, and General Bowers listened. Also with them was Charlotte Mearing and Seymour Simmons. "I don't know how they did it, that's for Wheeljack and Perceptor to figure out. Just know they did."
"What did they hit?" Springer said with a grim expression on his handsome face.
"That's the interesting part. They hit personnel, technology, the armed services blueprints sector for ships and weapons, medical, and the theoretical sciences sectors," Prowl said grimly. "They skipped over a lot of other things, some more reasonable to troll. Personnel records. Why?"
"Maybe they want to know who is here, who is in charge … maybe they know us from other times," Ratchet said.
"Prime to Wheeljack and Perceptor." There was a pause, then their voices were heard over the intercom. "What have you found out?" They were down below in the situation center where the main access nodes to Teletraan could be found.
"We have a strange situation, Optimus. This came from literally no where. I would speculate, and its just that," Perceptor said. "We have someone who can phase shift apparently, and therefore, reach into places that no one can ordinarily. They leave no trace. We followed their signal back to a point that ended in nothingness. I am quite literally disquieted."
It would have been funny, the elegance of the big red microscope's mystification if things weren't so weird. Prime turned to Paragon. "Please contact Cybertron and the forward bases. Find out if they have the same problem. We might be able to triangulate on them if we understand where they strike."
Paragon nodded, then hurried to Communications to make the calls. Prime looked at Prowl. "We need to have the colony on a system that allows them to continue. We cannot have the entire place shut down if we have to terminate Teletraan. We also need an automatic shutdown when the intruders attack. We do not have one now do we?"
"No," Prowl said as he furiously thought through a dozen scenarios. "It requires commands or pushing the emergency switch in the overhead cabinet."
"Prime to Wheeljack and Perceptor. Please come up when you're finished."
"Understood," Wheeljack said.
"We have an invisible enemy but it is my experience with that sort of thing that if there is a screen, there is someone behind it. We have to be able to detect them," Prime said. "Prime to Metroplex, Fort Max and Typhoon. Report to Ops Center immediately."
A shimmer of lights appeared almost immediately as three enormous mechs materialized out of thin air. They turned to Prime. "Optimus Prime, how may we serve you?" Metroplex asked solemnly. Then a call interrupted Prime.
"Springer to Prime. We have a situation at Metro Femme Security."
"Oh frag," Prowl said suddenly remembering the calls from Metro Femme. "THE VAULTS! THEY MUST BE COMING OUT OF STASIS!"
Three major frames derezzed immediately before Prime could even move. It was amazing how fast he could run and behind him came everyone else but Prowl and the two scientists who stepped out of the way for everyone to leave. Watching them go, Perceptor and Wheeljack walked into the room. "What's going on, dare I ask."
"Black Shadow is waking up at Metro Femme," Prowl said with dread.
"Oh, frag," Wheeljack and Perceptor said almost together.
:Oh fuck: Seymour Simmons said in agreement.
-0-TBC 11-15-17 edited 1-7-18