The Diego Diaries: Meeting (dd6 333)

-0-There

"Entertain me, minions," Optimus said as he held Halo in his arms. She was smiling at him from the middle of a Seeker bag, her long shiny 'hair' flowing over his arm.

"That's one cute baby," Caro said. "I think the next one will have long filaments and be a femme."

Payload glanced at him with surprise. "The next one?"

Huge laughter and ribald commentary flowed like water among the heathens as Prime grinned at the baby. He looked at Prowl. "When will we be given leave to allow the Daniels and Nast to come here?"

Prowl shrugged. "That's up to you."

"Then we need to send a reply," Optimus replied.

"Let us help you, Prime," Starscream purred as everyone agreed. Loudly.

"Take a memo, Prowler," Ratchet said. "Dear Shit Heads-" he began before he got cut off by members of the same species, if not temperament.

:Optimus:

Everyone looked at Lennox who was sitting among the humans. He grinned and the others did as well. Given that nothing of note was mentioned in front of them in English including the role of Paribolus in the daily life of Earth2, they were unaware of most of the subtext. :How about letting us in on the hidden stuff for once:

Everyone glanced at each other, then Prime. He grinned and so did Halo. "We are discussing allowing the Daniels and Nast to come here to Earth2 to join the colony."

:I suppose you have a strategic purpose?: Seymour Simmons replied as Charlotte Mearing frowned slightly.

Prime stared at them a moment. "No."

HUGE laughter.

Prowl snickered, then leaned closer to the humans. "Keep your tolerables close but your slaggers closer. I paraphrase."

"That sort of sums up your bond, Optimus," Raptor said with a smile.

Prowl shot him daggers, then sat back smugly. "Our BOND is just fine, thank you VERY much."

"Ooh. Granny has a kink in his man bun," Ratchet said. He grinned. "It rather explains it though. They'll make mistakes. Just watch."

"I'll put the fish bowl back into the prison, Gee-Gee," Jetta said as he grinned at the warden sitting down table from him.

"I rather like humans as prisoners. I feel a bit cheated with Big Jim. That was very selfish of you, Springer, not to give him to me," Gee-Gee said.

Springer grinned. "It was, wasn't it."

Drift grinned. "He's very giving most of the time."

Ribald remarks and much optical ridge waggling commenced at that remark. Drift grinned at Springer, then shrugged.

Springer who was smirking at the crew stared at Drift. "Slagger. I told you not to tell them about my super powers."

BWAHAHAHAHA!

"WHAT MIGHT THOSE BE!? GETTING YOUR AFT KICKED BY MINI-CONS!?"

"What's a super power?" -Neo to Gravitas who shrugged with a grin

Springer smirked at everyone. "I'd tell you but I have to adhere to The Code."

"What's The Code, slagger?" Raptor asked with a feral smirk.

"I can't tell ya," Springer said as the room erupted again. He sat back. "I hope you know that we … all of us in enforcement and public safety are the thin blue line between you and the Nasts of the world." He glanced at Optimus. "I love the idea of having another crack at them. Allow them out as soon as possible. How can I arrest them if they stay home?"

"True, that," Drift said to snickers all around the table.

"That is the point," Optimus said with a grin. "We plan to have them out and about as fast as possible without arousing suspicion."

"Sounds good to me. Tell me, Optimus … if you have settlements on other moons in the system, how will we police them? They're going to be our facilities like these, right? I'd think given how they won't be directly in view of the home world here this might cause things to happen we might not like," Springer asked.

"We will have to work that out. If it comes to that, there will be a lot of conditions of settlement that will not be subject to debate. That includes their purpose and goals," Prime said.

"We could being their moons into orbit here," Wheeljack said with a grin. "What would they be? Enceladus. We have a base there. The others … not so much."

"Why would we do that, Wheeljack?" Perceptor asked as he looked up from his math datapad where he often went on flights of fancy for joors upon joors. Volcanoes could go off around him and in the past, they did. He wouldn't notice.

"I'll tell ya later, Percy," Wheeljack said with a grin.

"When are we moving Cybertron? I want them to have blue skies again," Prowl said.

"We have a plan in mind and all it takes is a few more visits to systems we plan to use for all of our different planetary needs. We have to set up the dust catchers and let them have a bit of time to draw down the debris in the orbital fields. The red dwarf system for Caminus has lost fifty percent of its orbital dust and debris from the gas giants we put there. Hooray for us."

Applause and other forms of exultation were awarded to the nerd squad.

"We'll let you know as soon as possible," Perceptor said.

"Good. I want Gliese and Cybertron moved to safety as soon as we can. The inner planets of the local group will be moved as well. Everyone is drifting and that makes them extremely vulnerable to bombardment or other disasters," Prime said. They chatted onward, then called it. Everyone began to walk out the door reminded as they did to come with Prime to Cybertron that afternoon. They all would.

-0-Virginia

William Daniels, his son James and his grandson, Jason sat in the sitting room of the rambling farmhouse that he had converted to a modern domicile. It was built in 1724 and sat on 119 pristine acres of trees, meadows and well watered land. Horses were kept here along with sheep and it was set back from the road by a long winding drive. It was cold outside but they were warm here. Prison had been torturous and they were falling back into comforts like parched men with drink.

"Harvey just called," William said as he rejoined both. "He sent the letter in about staying at Earth2 and he was told to expect an answer in a couple of days."

"What makes you think Prime will let us? We aren't exactly friends," James said with a trace of bitterness. "He would be a fool to agree."

"I can't read him," Jase said as he sipped his bourbon. It and the rest were almost too much greatness to handle, so horrible had been prison for him. Indulging in these comforts and the privacy of this place were a major part of his general recovery thus far. "What makes you think that the population there will be happy to see us?"

"I've had discussions with Owen. He isn't against us being there but he expects us to do the work. Not me, perhaps, as much as the two of you. I, for one, am tired and would like a rest without paparazzi hanging about. Eventually, we can all come back and it will be better," William said.

They stared at the crackling fire in the fireplace as they chatted, hoping against hope to have an out for a while. Parked on the road nearby with their cameras and microphones, the news media was tracking them like game.

-0-Cybertron later that same afternoon

They landed at the airfield, then halted to look around themselves. Everywhere in every direction were multitudes of individuals. Families, singles, children, the elderly … they were gathered together in total silence. Down the middle of the area a space was cleared to be a walkway through the crowds, one that ended some distance away where an old flag pole had stood flying the flags of Cybertron and the Primes. It had been restored and the flags were there along with one for Mars.

Prime glanced at the others in his group, then began to walk forward. The crowd was expectant and excited but silent, waiting for him to reach the distant raised flag pole platform where a number of individuals were waiting for him and his party. As they walked along, the odd mech or femme dashed out to touch Prime, then bow before slipping back in. Hands reached out for him and he grasped them, touching his people and being touched as they continued onward.

The group with him consisted of the Civilian and Senior Autobot Committee along with Epps, Lennox and Graham riding in a box carried by Mack. They were sitting as they were carried along, as silent as anyone there. The sky was dark overhead but the area was flood lit with lights and beyond, the city could be seen rising again.

When Prime reached the steps, he walked up with his group and when he gripped the servo of the dignitaries waiting, the crowd howled with delight and pleasure. He shook hand with all, then turned to the crowd. A device attached to the flagpole, small but powerful was a speaker system. All he had to do was speak and he would be heard, so he waited until he was introduced along with the others.

The crowd seemed almost alive as they vented their delight and sheer joy. Prime felt it patter against his neural net, their glorious delightful energy. When they settled down a bit, he spoke to them. "Good afternoon. I am Optimus Prime."

It would take a moment for the bedlam to calm down, then he began again. "I am here to honor this city and her people for their achievements. In the distance beyond, the rebuild is rising into the sky and homes will be made for the throngs who live here. For now, we wait patiently for such a happy orn to come. Because of that, we look to our culture for strength and unity. Today, I am here to present to you a symbol of that unity, one that was gained by this city through effort, honor and courage."

HUGE applause.

"Today, it is my honor to award the Primus Cup of the Cybertronian Adult Football League to Nova Cronum!" Prime said as the crowd exploded in delight. There was singing, club songs and pennants in servo. There was dancing and hugging, tears, shouts and jumping in place. It went on and on, then settled. Prime grinned as he waited. Turning to Password, he nodded. "The President of the Cybertronian Adult Football League will present the trophy to the captain of your team but before he does I would like to tell you that next season, the stadiums in Polyhex, Praxus and Iacon will be hosting the Cybertronian Football League."

PANDEMONIUM!

"That league will play each other as well as the Martian Football League in regularly scheduled and televised games. The Primus Cup will be contested by the team in each league with the most wins. The next Primus Cup Championship game will be held here on Cybertron in the stadium in Iacon."

BEDLAM! SINGING! DANCING! SWAYING WITH JOY!

Password pulled the trophy out of the bag he had carried it in to Cybertron and handed it to their team captain. That huge mech hugged it, then walked to the edge of the platform. Smiling with enormous happiness, he raised it over his helm. It gleamed in the light as the crowd cried, sang and exulted. The trophy would go on a tour of Cybertron with the team so that The People could see it. Then it would be placed in a glass case in the center of Nova Cronum where it would remain until the next season's championship.

Nova Cronum's Brigadiers of Cybertron had beaten Kaon's Kavaliers of Mars 8-7.

-0-TBC 4-20-18 edited 4-22-18 HAPPY EARTH DAY!

This would have been finished and posted sooner but Age of Ultron was on. :D:D:D