The Diego Diaries: Soundings (6-298)
-0-Far away
"Do you have the signal again, Fermi?" Ophir asked as he looked toward the sensor station on the ship he commanded.
"I do, Ophir," Fermi said. A tall slender mech with a pure white paint scheme, he was handsome and elegant. "We have it again."
Ophir who was bigger in frame but equally as elegant looked relieved. "Good. I want to pulse a message to them. How far away are they by ship's chronometers?"
There was a pause, then Fermi looked up. "Four joors," he said.
Around him on their ship others worked. They were the command shift, those among them who knew how to sail space and had experience. All of them had come out of the hell of The Fall with a need to learn many things beyond their planet bound skill set. The ordeal of The Diaspora had changed a lot of things. Even the high castes among this ship's manifest and all of the others in their armada were toting and fetching like anyone else. It had not been easy anywhere. They weren't welcome in most places and a few times they had to fight their way through.
Now they were heading toward a faint sound that was Cybertronian. It was Prime and Starscream, of all things, working together to gather them. They hadn't understood the meaning until they came across a deep space trading party who had told them of the 'robot civil war' and how it was concluded essentially without a shot. Lions had laid down with lambs. Their beloved and much missed home world had been reclaimed by the Prime of Cybertron who, Blessed be Primus, still lived. They were being called to come. It hadn't taken much persuasion to do that.
On their way toward that small spark of hopefulness, they had found others who had heard as well. Coming to every call, picking up everyone they found including seven Seekers who had been disabled and were at the moment of rescue being vied for at a tech auction. Those big mechs flew beside them, alternating through shifts to be one of their several guns against anyone who would be foolish enough to get in their way.
"We have another message," Fermi said. Sitting nearby, watching anxiously, an older mech fretted with weariness and fear. He was very elegant and handsome, had the wisdom of age and the anxious optics of someone who knew suffering. He rose to walk to Fermi. That bot looked up at him. "You should sit, Ada. You don't need to fall again."
"I would like to help, Fermi. I feel so poorly for those who are calling us. It's a miracle that we heard them," the elder mech said. "Its my constant nightmare that we'll miss someone."
Fermi pulled a chair, then tugged his ada to sit. "You need to rest. When I can, we can go sit with Atar. Its going to be alright. We'll be close enough to call to Prime soon and he will come get us. He's holy."
The elder sat, his optics fixed on the screen. The blinking dot where the emergency was waiting for them seemed too far away. He wrung his servos and sat with his son, trying not to think of the delirium that had enfolded itself around his bond, Ballast. It had been arduous and he, himself was failing, too.
-0-At the other end of the emergency
They had fled their system driven away by Decepticons who had alien allies. They wanted their settlement which was old, beautiful and prosperous. They had argued but the guns shoved in their faces made their point. They had crammed their ships, then lifted off in a whirlwind of turmoil into the dark emptiness of space. They had been harried until they came into the Barren, fleeing across a huge empty toward the faint call of Optimus Prime. They were astonished that he lived, that he had a sanctuary for them and that he would come if they could tell him where they were.
It kept up the morale. They had been forced to leave fast so they were less prepared than they would be otherwise. Their ships were adequate but they were many, crammed like cord wood into them. Children had nearly reached their breaking point, their endurance fraying along with everyone else. Some had fallen into wild despair and had been put into light stasis by their hedge doctor from the colony. Others just sat and stared as the endless expanse of space began to sap their will.
Their captain, his bond and three sons were on the lead ship. He was Skimmer, a big mech who had been a soldier once upon a time. He had organized their fleet and because his bond, Repeat had been a mechanic, they kept things together. However, four ships were coming apart and finally, here in the big cold empty of space, they had slid to a stop to go no further. What they had to do now was put too many individuals into not enough space. There was just no space for anyone else. They were stacked up everywhere. Then an answer to their subspace call for help, one they put as low as possible to not attract unwanted attention, had arrived.
Fellow Cybertronians.
They talked, compared identifiers, then signaled their location. Everyone who could stood at the windows with guns handy as everyone waited tensely. Who knew if the chat was with a friend or foe? Some of them didn't care.
-0-Striker Team heading to Callipe 2, a former Functionalist Enclave near the 'Big Burn'
They flew to the Trigger, then fell into their order of flight. Hercy sat by the window with Kup as Hard Drive sat in the engineer's seat on the battle shuttle that was identical to the one Raptor was commanding. Two others were with them. They were poised to go as the big machine began to power up.
"Miler Navigator to Striker 1 commanding."
"Striker 1, Hard Drive here, Milie."
"Hardie, I'm going to download your plan for transit. All the markers are go. When you get there, the charts are pretty bare but you're going to be close to the Big Burn. Please take care," Milie said.
"We will. Thank you, Milie. We'll be home shortly," Hardie said.
"Please do," Miler said. "Striker 1, you are go on three. Go at three. One … two … three."
The ships jumped forward following a blaze of light down the huge rails of the device. They shot forward into a whirlpool of energy, then disappeared. When they came out, they were near the Rim and the most dangerous, unpredictable area of the Benzuli Expansion called the Big Burn. It was unstable, said to be dimensional rifting, filled with unpredictable flashes of radiation and light, home to stars that would combust into being or die in equally bright flashes. There were quasars around here and gas giant stars who were cannibalizing their partners into nothingness, eventually facing cannibalizing by their victims until an explosion settled both their hashes.
It was bright and one could almost feel the energy crackle on neural nets all around the vessel. Hardie looked at the star chart on the panel before him as the ship began to fill things in. "Take battle stations and be ready for anything. Transmit to the others the same orders, Rem."
"Yes, sir, General," Rem said as he complied.
"Raptor to Hard Drive."
"Hard Drive here."
"The course is set. Should we fly in a level 6 motif or do you fancy something more elegant?"
Hardie grinned at his son's inability to take anything too seriously if there was going to be a good slagging. "I think that would be fine. Follow me," he said as he nodded to Rem. Behind him, all the mechs were sitting at gun emplacements, their barrels pointing outward. If anyone came too close, they would be sorry.
Their ships disappeared almost immediately.
-0-Out there in the other direction
They saw the lights grow larger as their rescuers came closer. When they drew even and slid to a stop, the stranded looked out at the newcomers. They were flying big ships, cargo and former liners, ships that could travel through space. Some of the ships were elegant and high caste, all of them were older and filled with pilgrims looking for safety, too.
"This is Ophir. I wish to speak to the captain. We need to get you moving," he said. "No one is following that we can detect but anything can happen in space.
"This is Skimmer. I'm glad to see you. Four of our ships can't go further and we have too many passengers to carry. We can't leave them. We need assistance."
"You have it," Ophir said. "Let's get this going. How many do you have and what will they bring? We have some space in our storage ship and can put things there. How many do you have to house?"
"150."
Ophir mentally did the math, then turned to Fermi. "Let's get them here, then we can go."
Fermi nodded, then rose to walk out. Between the two of them and their Seekers, they would make the transfer and work out their flying order. When it was time to go, a soldier who was now a civilian had crossed the abandoned ship's circuits. By the time they were well away, they would overload and explode. When all was exchanged and packed away, they moved forward. Standing on the deck of his ship with Skimmer, Ophir watched the vessels fade into the distance. When they blew up, they blossomed in fire and light, then winked out.
It was silent on the deck as everyone mourned their passing. Seafarers everywhere, in space or on water love their ships. They consider them part of their souls, calling them 'she' and 'her. When those ships faded away, it was solemn on the deck. Then the sound of a message, a recurring message was heard once again over ship's communications. "My name is Optimus Prime ..."
-0-Big Burn
They flew together with guns pointing outward toward a growing signal of habitation. The signal was Cybertronian and it was nearby. Hard Drive sat in his seat listening to the on board mechs laughing and talking. They were ready for whatever came ahead. They had little information but because the Functionalists were here, it wasn't likely to be good. He glanced at Rem. "Are we close enough to talk to them?"
"If anyone is there, yes, General," Rem said as he made it so. "You can speak now."
"Thank you, Rem," Hardie said. "To whomever may be listening, this is General Hard Drive of Praxus, a member of the General Staff of Optimus Prime. We are aware that there is a Cybertronian settlement here that shared space with the Functionalists. We have taken them into custody and have come here to render you assistance. We are Autobots serving the Prime of Cybertron. Cybertron has fallen to Autobot servos and we are gathering our people wherever they may be. Please respond."
They flew onward toward the signal that was pulsing toward them, an automated one it would seem. Then someone spoke. "This is Static. Please send your identifiers. We ask for proof. If you come here without permission, we will take up arms against you."
Hard Drive nodded to Rem. "Send them."
He did then it was quiet again. After a moment, the voice was back. "General, please come here. We have to talk. We're sending you our coordinates."
They came, were received and Rem changed course. Picking up speed, they headed as swiftly as they could in such a dangerous area toward a tense voice filled with dread. They rode that way equally dreading what they would find.
-0-At the homestead
They ate cake and watched the infants, all of them eating cake themselves. Orion looked at all of his elders sitting nearby on the couches. "Amma, why you?" he asked as he pointed to the cake nearby.
"This is for Halo. She sits up now and tweets," Ravel said. "We have to celebrate you infants. You're our sweetest treasure."
Everyone grinned at Ravel as he fed a piece of his cake to Cousin and Spot.
Praxus smiled at Ratchet. "Ada, can we have a cow?"
Ratchet grinned. Ironhide grinned. Everyone grinned. "No," Ratchet said.
"Ada, can we have a little horse?" Praxus asked with a giant smile.
"No," Ratchet said.
"Ada, can we have a … a," Praxus looked at Hero and Orion who were smiling brilliantly. He laughed, then looked at Ratchet. "Can we have a CHICKEN!?"
"NO!" Ratchet replied with a grin.
"Ada, can we have … uh ..." Praxus leaned closer to Orion. "What?" he asked softly as Orion whispered into his ear. He smiled, then looked at Ratchet. "Ada, can we have a bozo!"
"NO!" Ratchet said with a smile.
Praxus laughed riotously as Orion and Hero grinned at him, then Ratchet. "Ada, can we have … uh, can we have … uh … A CAN OPENER!?"
"NO!" Ratchet said with a laugh.
And so it would go.
Again.
-0-TBC 3-13-18 edited 3-30-18
Leoness chapter 297 . 17h ago
Given current human society I can see some mass confusion among the newcomers from Earth on hearing "Halo can tweet" lol.
ME: Heh-heh-heh … I agree. :D More human confusion coming shortly. ;)
Leoness chapter 296 . Mar 11
So have the boys run into any non-binary humans yet? Speaking as someone coming to terms with that themselves, I can see it being an interesting discussion.
ME: I hear ya. I'm working out more aliens now. Do you know about budding? Go to tee eff wiki and google it. :O The art is scary.