The Diego Diaries: Home Sweet Home (dd6 346)
-0-Lock up
Gee-Gee noted each of the big mechs who would be prisoners here, then turned toward Black Shadow. "Who can't be stored together and who can?"
Black Shadow looked at the group. "They're all compatible, mostly. Their frame type sort of prevents them from killing each other. It was a fail safe provided when they were made, they were so dangerous. Some of them are big but those are really few and they were formatted for city and colony work so they're in stasis right now, those we've located. No one is ready to let them out until they sign on to the new Matrix holder, Megatron."
"All of our type here are spark bound to the Prime and Matrix. It's our strongest function and one we gave when our sparks entered out of gratitude for the honor of service," Metroplex said as he looked at his counterpart with a stern optic.
"That's the idea where we come from but we're finding its not always a sure thing. We're hunting them where we know they are and some of them are giving up," Black Shadow said.
"What's the deal with them being so small?" Xantium said as he glanced at the group, all of whom showed offense.
"Small? Frag you, fragger," Metrotitan said as Sixshot cuffed him again. He was weaving from the beating but still burning hot with fury.
"Small," Metroplex said. "See those lights that way? That's me in city mode. What you see here is pretender gear. It allows me to remain there in service to The People, but walk around in a more normal size. The others," he said nodding to the big mechs with him, "are dreadnoughts and titans like me. Shortie." Metroplex grinned as everyone laughed and slapped him on the back.
Alt Metroplex glared at him. "Frag you. If you say so."
Xantium shook his helm. "Gauntlet anyone?" he asked as the group nodded.
"I'll keep that idea in mind," Gee-Gee said with a grin. She turned to the big mechs. "Make a line. Now."
They stared at her, then reluctantly complied. They were big mechs, some of them a good 35 feet tall. Metroplex turned to Sixshot. "What is their special function? Do they become ships? What do they do?"
"They like to raid. They have very tough armor and no spark to tell of. That's what passes for their special function. They work in teams together and commit raids that are pretty terrible. They can take concentrated fire like no one else. That's why they're so bad. A pack of them is pretty catastrophic," he replied.
"Everything has been stripped from them personally?" Gee-Gee asked as Ratchet hit them with a number of different scans.
"They're clean, Gee-Gee. I know this frame type and even though things are slightly different internally from our frames, I know where everything is and all the places they can hide things. They're clean from my scans."
Gee-Gee nodded. She turned to them and considered things. "You are my prisoners. I'm Gee-Gee and I run this prison. We have a lot of slaggers here and all of those who were captured on your world and brought here. We do this as a gesture of solidarity and goodwill with that Cybertron and that leadership. We could put you into stasis and that's always an option, but we won't until you prove it a better placement than cell blocks.
"If you act up, harm yourself or others, harm anyone who works here or visits to do their job I'll take you apart and store you in a filing cabinet in my office. Anyone who doesn't follow the rules is going to regret it. I don't believe there's anything I haven't seen tried in a prison and you can't fool me. The food and entertainment here is good. Life doesn't have to be hard or stupid. It's up to you. I got all orn, too.
"We're going to put you in three cell blocks. We're going to break you up. Pick your cellie and let me know." Gee-Gee watched as they looked at each other, nodding slightly as they paired off. Then she grinned at Roadie. "I want you to take Metroplex and Metrotitan, Roadie. Cell block 3-D."
He nodded, then looked at the pair. "Move it or I'll shoot you. I'd rather shoot you."
They glared at him as he and two other heavily armed mechs led them away. The other pairs were led away, too, heading down the road to the heavily armed, highly guarded lock up nearby. They watched until they were out of sight, then turned to each other.
Black Shadow looked at Prime. "Thanks for taking them. It's good to have them gone at last."
Prime nodded. "How is it going on world?"
"Well," Black Shadow said. "We're taking mass surrenders and we're rounding up the political and business leadership that helped make this happen. It's a process."
Prime nodded. "One we hope goes well for you."
"How is it here?" Sixshot said.
"We have Cybertron but we also have two large groups camped on our doorstep, an unknown who is hitting and running and our own set of war criminals. We are much alike and much different than each other. But we are united in wishing for a good end to both paths," Prime said.
Black Shadow nodded. "That's very true, Prime," he said holding out his servo. Everyone shook, chatted a moment, then watched the three climb onto their ship and lift off. It was gone in seconds, aided by a bridge jump to the breach and home again. Tennyson who was stationed there waiting for science duty in the Ruins would wink his running lights at them as they flew into the gaping chasm opened between dimensions. They would wink them back and be gone.
Prime turned to Gee-Gee. "Is there anything more you will need, Warden?"
"I would like you big frames on call if they act up. You're evenly matched and we can probably handle them but having a back up team like the lot of you would be a good thing," she said as she smiled at the big mechs standing around Prime.
"We'll come," Xantium said as he pounded his fists together. "No problemo, Gee-Gee."
It was with a humorous tone that they turned back to the world and headed for home. The light of day had faded and the stars were bright in the sky.
-0-Out there
In the Bootes region, they flew together as a cohesive unit. They were a large battle group from the Decepticons and their outlaw friends who had combined in the fall out of a temporary shift of command from Megatron to someone else entirely. This group was old school and new, a mix of criminal element civilians and soldiers from before the revolution. They had been vicious fighters and reliable units for the Decepticons and many were the burned out husks of settlements and battlegrounds where they had proven their willingness to do what it takes. Now they were heading out, leaving the areas where they had prevailed because of the new management.
Whoever was holding things together for Megatron were vicious and vehement about keeping things together. They were also unknown, never showing themselves but making their presence known by fanatical teams of 'Con enforcers who roved around. The idea of anyone but a Cybertronian telling them what to do was anathema so before the net closed completely, which it just had in the vastness still controlled by the Decepticons, they managed to leave. Gathering smaller groups with them in the local area and on the way while also taking their criminal civilian partners, they headed out to find their own kingdom far enough away from new management that it would take a bit of effort to track them.
The Bootes was very sterile, though there were star systems there. It was a vast empty space on most human star charts given the types of telescopes they used. The bots saw more there but it was spread wide apart and hinted that unless you had superluminal drives at the least, you would be alone for a long long time crossing it. They were heading toward a lot of radio traffic, the calls of Prime and Starscream among them. That had been weird. So had all the rest.
The transmissions said that Cybertron was in the hands of the Prime. They were tracing those signals to get a handle on things, hopefully soon, before they fell into Autobot hands by accident. Keeping a military organization and chain of command, having become friends, some of the leadership over the eons, they were a tightly knit and very competent group heading toward a star with several planets that appeared to be inhabited.
"Sir, I have a transmission."
He turned toward the comm officer and nodded. "Put it on the forward screen, Toff."
Toff complied and in seconds a bot appeared that no one on board believed still lived. He stared at the captain and the captain stared at him. "Hello, Ominous. Fancy seeing you out here."
Ominous grinned. "I imagine, Slasher. I thought you were long gone by now."
"I'm a hard kill. Where are you?" Slasher asked as he lounged in the command chair.
"A system where energon floats in the dust disk between planets. Can you lock onto my signal?" Ominous asked. "I'm inviting you to come and talk. I'm looking for new co-conspirators."
Slasher grinned. "Is that so."
"I was heading for Razorclaw who has a big group nearby but the Prime prevented that link up. He has Cybertron and this system. He has titans, dreadnoughts and millions of former Decepticons and Seekers. He's stronger than both of us combined."
"Well, maybe we can help," Slasher said. They would talk a while, then Slasher would receive the coordinates for the redoubt of Ominous. Ominous signed off. Slasher was quiet a moment thinking about the news, then glanced at his second, a big bot named Cardio. "I wonder how big a group Ominous commands?"
"We can find out when we get there. There's always room for a new commander. It's the Decepticon way," Cardio said with a slight grin.
Slasher grinned, then leaned back in his chair. "You read my processor," he said softly.
-0-That night after the circus was put into their beds
"So I'm going to see what I can do for Waldeen. He's sort of splintered on me, Ironhide. He says that the Pantheon killed him and I think he sort of believes it," Ratchet said as he flopped down on the berth.
"I'm sure he feels it," Ironhide said as he finished fussing with Halo. He lay down, then they called the lights off.
"Orion nearly got into it with Han. Han bumped his little sand sculpture and there was nearly war," Ratchet said.
"Slag. Did they get into trouble?" Ironhide asked worriedly.
"Nope," Ratchet said. "I went to hear about it and stayed a while. You better get your two joors in. Can't be a slacker." Ratchet grinned. "You can be a slagger, though. Don't let the grand genitors hear that you take her to Cybertron."
-0-The next morning
"YOU DID WHAT!?" -Alor, what whatting
"You took Praxus and Orion," Ironhide threw back.
"THEY WEREN'T STILL IN THEIR WRAPPER!" -Alor hitting it back with gale force
"Bacon?" Ratchet asked as he slid a plate he was holding into the space between them.
"Don't mind if I do." -both of them
"Slaggers," Ratchet said with a grin. "FRAUDS!"
"ADA!"
Everyone looked down at Orion who was sitting at the table watching with about 900 other big and small kids.
"What?" Ratchet asked.
"WHAT FWAG!?"
"Fraud." -Ratchet
"Fwag." -Orion
Everyone stared at him, then Ratchet. Ratchet grinned. "Close enough."
HUGE laughter and much eating ensued. It would be good they could. A big battle group had just cleared the Bootes Barren and were making their way following a signal to the nondescript solar system on the outer Orion arm of the Milky Way Galaxy.
-0-TBC 5-3-18 edited 6-4-18