The Diego Diaries: Playah (dd6 217)
-0-Out there
They came through the darkness, a large battle group. They had left the Benzuli, the far side that wasn't close to the 'Ghost Zone', or so it was called where Blackjack and Alor had created a legend. Most of the hardened battle group leaders weren't afraid of much, if anything at all. This one was no different. He was a hard, hard mech, but oddly enough, he had a few habits that were out of the norm for someone like him. He liked books. He liked good food and he liked music. He also liked to fight, run his own show and take no slag from anyone. He was someone that even Megatron respected, someone who was 'almost an equal' or so he considered himself.
For Megatron, no one was his actual 'equal'. Not in his mind, not in his reality. This commander was smart enough to know that Megatron was 'manageable'. All he had to do was his job to the greatest ability, keep the loyalty and discipline of his group and someday, he would be strong enough to challenge Megatron for the leadership. His crews were treated with care and rewarded for good performance. They, in turn, gave him a fanatical loyalty and worked hard.
Now, when the news reached him of Prime's recapture of Cybertron and his building a redoubt in an area where energon was apparently plentiful, he was stepping out on his own. They came about the long way around following a message from Prime and Starscream. Then one came from Starscream and Rainmaker. It was a struggle to convince his Seekers to stay with him. He wasn't completely convinced that they were still going to remain anyway. The ordeal and disquiet of being on the outs with the Great Elder was almost genetically hardwired into them. Sixty Seekers were part of his group, the usual flight component for his configuration.
It would be interesting to see the other three and note what they fielded. He, himself, had a large and battle tested fleet behind his leadership. When they met up, the other three and himself, they would decide what to do together, here, and with Razorclaw, somewhere in the mix of Prime's sphere of influence. The word about Prime was disconcerting. It would be incredibly difficult to cross territory he held to reach Razorclaw, the ultimate destination so far agreed among them for their groups.
"Captain."
He turned from his musings to his sub commander, a big smart mech with no noticeable emotional sense of self named Pleon. Pleon stood by sensors with a datapad in servo. He was big, given to cold calculation and completely devoted to his leader. "What did you find?"
"There is no one there yet, Ominous. We will be first."
Ominous nodded, then sat back in his command chair. "Then let us go in and make ourselves at home. Put the group where we agreed."
Pleon nodded, then turned to make it so. They would be close enough should things break down on the surface of the planetoid where they would gather but not so close as to impart any impression than that which he sought. They would see what would happen. He intended ultimately to be the boss, himself.
They continued onward, silent and deadly, into the inky darkness of space.
-0-Elsewhere: Caminus
"How far can we see now?" Spiria asked.
"We can see details up to three hundred fifty light years, Mistress," a femme said as she sat at the sensor array in the ornate Ops Center of their military command.
Outside, the sun was setting in the sky as the warmth of spring caressed the planet, itself moved from its original star far away to this place. At night, there was a light display as debris from space entered their atmosphere and burned up. They had been transported intact. They had a nice atmosphere, a bit less oxygen than humans might require but enough to give them weather, warmth and a beautiful blue sky missing since forever. It was almost unbearably wonderful to have night and day again.
She walked to the windows nearby and looked out at the colony as it gathered itself for evening. Most work was over and now there was relaxation, entertainments and other diversions for the population. It was incredibly wonderful to be in a safe place again.
Then the Decepticons showed up on their sensor screens.
The arrays placed out here by Prime to aid in security for Caminus and Cybertron, hidden and highly functional, had paid for themselves by the early warning. Four big groups were nearby, close enough to feel a threat, though whether they knew about Caminus was unclear. Camp Recluse was the closest outlying fortress to their planet. They had access to the Prime but they were not able to defend themselves, though Recluse would be a good staging area for any actions taken against intruders. Though they had warriors, they couldn't fend off one battle group let alone four. "Please send the orn's data collection on the bullet line to Prime. We must be vigilant."
"As you command, Mistress," the tech replied.
It would be a long quiet night in Ops Center as they tracked the ever closing distance between four groups of Decepticons toward a craggy nondescript planetoid in the outlying areas of the Tau Ceti system.
-0-Night in Ops Center, The Fortress, Primal Colony of Mars, Cybertron and the Empire
Data poured in from everywhere that a camera and/or sensor was pointed, building a picture that would be more complete when the data Seekers returned. Right now, they had a semi-complete picture of one group and only the barest outlines of three others. They gave signatures that indicated they were similar in size and configuration, though what they truly composed was still to be determined. They didn't seem aware of Caminus, though it didn't matter now. Dangerous and Clipper had arrived on scene, remained in ship configuration with weapons on line and ready to use. On board were flights of Seekers and striker teams with their shuttles ready to fly out and engage an enemy immediately.
Home Guards worked at the stations around the operational center on graveyard shift, those who had the highest ratings, and they were led by a regular army officer, a mech named Fortemp. He was a smart and decent commander with eons of experience as an intelligence officer in the Autobots. He was skilled at going in and blowing things up, tapping and hacking for information and leading troops. He sat at the command table watching the datapad changing as information about the configuration of the battle groups arrived and updated it.
They were heading for a planetoid, all four of them, perhaps to talk and battle it out for supremacy. They always did that, he considered. Whereas, talent made you an officer in Prime's army, the ability to kill the current commander and usurp his place was the way of things among the 'Cons. He liked the Autobots.
It would be a very quiet night in Ops Center as they gathered intel to build the big picture. He would be glad when the Seeker teams came home with more data.
-0-Home front
"If we can put the station together near Fort Cybertron, that can be a staging area for defense both for Cybertron and that entire series of sectors. It would protect any aliens using the trade routes and be a boon to them without compromising or diminishing its trade potential. That direction is no longer as safe as it was," Prowl said as he walked out of the wash rack. He walked to the berth and sat.
Optimus was sitting on a couch nearby going through the last few communications sent before recharge. It never ended for him. He glanced up. "What is the status for the construction?"
"We had to redesign the war world plans to make it more useful for our purposes. That slowed things down a bit but we're now fabricating it to be assembled in space. Once its created it can be sent through a bridge to the location we're chosen. Right now, its very preliminary. We're in an oppositional orbit of Trypticon around Saturn. That will be where its constructed. It would be much easier than taking things to the location and putting them together there."
"I was under the impression that it would be operational and we could fly it," Optimus said as he closed the datapad and set it on the dresser next to the couch. He rose and walked to the berth to recline wearily.
"It will be." Prowl lay back, then called off the lights. "I think we can gain a lot of good will by having a depot there that supplies travelers at no cost. It's funny, isn't it. Cybertron was killed by greed. Now we want to redeem our interstellar reputation by providing goods and services for nothing."
Prime grinned. "I think its the right thing to do. And besides … we have not been good neighbors all the time. It might take a bit of time to convince everyone that we are not the enemy so they can have confidence and come to the station. Have they chosen the color scheme yet?"
"We're going with metro-titan white," Prowl said as he glanced at Prime. His profile was beautiful to Prowl as it was highlighted with the light from outside. "No black, nothing menacing, nothing that looks like a weapon."
"I agree," Optimus said. "We need to reclaim our honor."
Prowl looked at him. "You never lost yours. Most of us can say the same thing. Those who have the problem are still out there. I don't look forward to them trying to contact Razorclaw. What do you want to do about this and when? You know they're talking to each other."
Prime nodded. "That is on my list."
They chatted a while, then fell into recharge. Morning would come soon enough.
-0-Elsewhere
He gently toweled Halo off and lay her on a soft blanket. Everyone else was standing below, shining brightly from their own baths as they watched the new baby being cared for by their big old dad. Sitting nearby taking pictures with his camera, Ratchet grinned.
Orion looked at him. "Ada, when we going to doing with the she?"
Ratchet glanced at Hero who smiled. "When is Halo going to school?" she translated.
"Not for a while, infants. She has to bake a bit more," Ratchet said.
They grinned at Ratchet, then their atar. "Atar … you doing this with me?" Orion asked hopefully.
"Not tonight, son. Everyone has to go to bed. Tomorrow is school," Ironhide said as he smoothed out her copper and silver 'hair'. Picking her up, he grinned down at the others. Kneeling, he held her out. Everyone looked at each other.
"She's so cute," Hero said as she lay her cheek against Halo's forehead. Straightening back up, she smiled at Ironhide who smiled back.
Orion who watched moved closer and put his cheek on her head, too. Straightening, he leaned down and kissed her forehead. Grinning, he turned to the others. "Pax, Pot. You doing? You comed to Halo and doing?"
Everyone glanced at Orion with surprise. He glanced at them, then smiled brilliantly. He didn't know what was what but he was glad to oblige. Everyone did. They kissed the baby, then Ironhide handed her to Fireball. Gathering up infants, they walked out for the evening ritual of stuffing them into their beds. After a lot of hoo-haw, the big kids were saluted to their beds. Watching them go with a white cat hopping along behind, Ratchet grinned. "I'm beat."
"Me, too," Ironhide said as he walked toward his own berth room with Ratchet and Halo. Walking in, he tucked her into her bassinet, fussing with her blankets and dollies. Ratchet grinned as he did, amazed that the rough cob of a mech who had done more mayhem and absorbed more slag for the good of others, who was as tough, stoic and unemotional about what he did as a career could be such an amazing caretaker of tiny infants. He was tender, gentle, devoted to a fault, and loving.
Who knew?
Ratchet walked to the berth, then flopped down. Ironhide checked Halo one last time, then walked out to settle infants again including big kids who were gaming behind a blanket to kill the glow of the screen. A lot of good natured hoo-haw later and everyone was in their beds including a white cat purring loudly. He made it back, peered at Halo, then flopped himself. "What an orn. Just as things get easy, it gets hard again."
"I know," Ratchet said as he turned over to spoon with Ironhide.
"Where's Partition?" Ironhide asked. "I didn't see him today."
"He's moved in with Lancer," Ratchet said, then he grinned. "HA-HA, Ironhide. I knew something you didn't know."
"I knew that."
A punch to the gut took care of that oversight.
-0-TBC 12-13-17 edited 1-10-18
NOTES
disquiet (dis-kwi-it) a feeling of unease and discontent
redoubt (ree-dow-t) a place of refuge that was secure and safe. Many are the castles on mountaintops that are redoubts.
disconcerting (diss-con-sert-ing) something that is disconcerting is something that's worrisome. To worry about something is to be disconcerted. Also, put off, put out, worrying, emotional. "To lose the money in a fire was disconcerting."