The Diego Diaries: Aftermath (dd6 364)
-0-At a conference confab
They sat around the table, those that were still there, and around the edges of the room eating food that had been called in by Ratchet. It was 'Chinese' today and it was being devoured by mechs and femmes that hadn't eaten during the mission. Standing on the table in front of stacked boxes of electronic datapads, eating from a small box perched on top, Flipper and Pudding joined them. The box was full of 'hay', ie, energon designed to look like alfalfa shaped Wetabixes and they were stuffing their faces.
Ratchet leaned back somewhat satiated, then grinned at Raptor. "Flipper is one slagging fine cow, Raptor."
He grinned. "That cow is and more. He's all that as they say. Somewhere." He grinned at Turbine, then winked at Ratchet. "If there was a disaster, I don't know which I'd grab first … Turbine or Puddin'."
A rap on the noggin signaled Turbine's wrath as he grinned at Pudding. "Who's a good boy?" Turbine then asked the little steer.
Pudding paused a moment with a mouthful of food, then lowed softly. He turned back to the important stuff, eating hay with his bestie, Flipper.
"Did you know they overnight together sometimes?" Alor asked with a snicker. "Big Baby over there," he said nodding to Raptor, "and Bigger Baby over here have them do sleepovers." Alor grinned. Blackjack frowned slightly.
"I'll have you know, Ali, I'm bigger than him," Raptor said with a grin at his son. "Besides, the cows are friends. Why not have sleepovers?"
"Well, for one … it's easier to recharge with one cow on the berth than two," Alor said with a smirk at Blackjack.
"I thought you had a little berth bed on the floor by the window for them," Ironhide asked with surprise.
"We do." -Turbine and Alor
"Sometimes, Kitty will sit on my chassis and bat at my optics to wake us up," Optimus said with a grin. "I like cats." He looked at Blackjack and Raptor. "I like your cows, too."
"Get one. You won't regret it," Raptor said. "We can have a big herd and drive our beeves around the place like the cowboys do."
"Beeves?" Springer asked with a grin.
"That's what the cowboys call cows. Beeves." Raptor grinned. He liked cowboys and their insane vocabulary.
"Maybe you can have Bumblebee help you. He's about that size," Drift said before he got a hard smack on the leg for his impertinence. "Are you going to see Cliffjumper and Buzz Saw's infant?"
"I am," Bee said with a grin. "I love babies." Then he froze and glanced at Ratchet who was grinning at him. "FRAG OFF!"
Huge laughter and much ridicule greeted that. Prime grinned. "Everyone is off until they are called or something comes up. We can debrief tomorrow. Right now, the clean up crew is going over the battlefield in case something was not retrieved or find something that might transpire trouble that we missed."
"Good," Ratchet said. "I have to see the family, then hit the grocery store. I'm sure we're cleaned out."
"If you ever learned to say no, that wouldn't be a problem," Prowl said with a slight smirk.
HUGE laughter and smirks were exchanged, the cows wandered over to their 'daddies', then lay down together to chew their cud.
Yes. Even metallic cows have cuds.
"I suppose I should go with you, Ratchet. We were coming up short before this started," Alor said. He rose and with Ratchet walked to the door. Delphi and Turbine joined them, though they were headed for the office to get a jump on the reports.
Outside, the group gathered watched as they came up. Partition and Lancer smiled. "What's the word, Ada?" Lancer asked.
"1100 hours here in front of The Fortress day after tomorrow. Come to our house a joor early or earlier. I'll let Blue know that everything is go for then unless something happens," Ratchet said.
Both of them smiled happily. "This is so great. We need to tell your family," Lancer said as she glanced at Partition. He nodded, then with happy faces both of them hurried out to let the world know things were on.
Ratchet grinned. "Par-tay." He glanced at the others who were smiling. "Better alert the Squad."
Huge laughter and agreement met that as they ambled onward, two of them heading for the grocery store and two toward their offices nearby. The sun was bright overhead as the airfield was still a whirlwind of activity.
-0-Around the area shortly afterward where Armageddon came early
Prime stood in the rubble that was piled up as engineers and heavy equipment worked to break up the mess that was once the highly manicured plaza entrance to the former museum and now Courthouse of Autobot City. The former Cultural Center had been swallowed up by additions, expansions and other new constructions until it was barely recognizable. The courthouse was made of gleaming white marble found in the mountains to the south. It was a beautiful building with windows and light streaming into the seven stories that now lay scattered all over the place.
There were hordes of individuals inside pulling things back from the facade which had been slammed and had collapsed. Offices had been exposed, things inside had been whirled in the impact and glass was everywhere ankle deep. It would take a while to clear it all away to get the fullest picture. As it was happening, engineers both structural and design were sounding the building to see how safe it was. It was going to take a while. Oddly enough, the computer center in the basement and the jail area was untouched. Relatively.
Things crunched under Prime's peds as he looked around. Memories of other times flooded him as he remembered how solitary this building setting had once been when it was the only thing here, their museum, cultural center for artists and in the end, half of it their legal center. It had been massive, terrifically beautiful and was now crunching under his feet. It was disconcerting.
Jetta explained things, then they moved onward to the Museum itself where the greatness of their people's genius was scattered around. Flags marked where things lay as teams of restorers worked to remove them from their landing places. He watched as a portrait of Guardian Prime was gently removed from a sudsy indentation in the sand. It dripped fuel, solvents and who knew what as it was held up by two students of the art department with tongs. Jade was looking at it with a device, then nodded to a colleague. He held a spray device and began to gently spray off the contaminants. When it was clean, they carried it to a box and carefully lay it on a white absorbent cloth. Placing the lid on top, it sealed and the piece was now saved from further degradation.
They carried it to a cart and laid it gently down, returning to Jade to help with a fragmented icon of Zeta Prime. It was very famous, had disappeared from a museum before recovery here and had been put in the gallery for the light to enhance its construction. It was covered in the most amazing jewels, none of which could be found in this solar system. It had been in the personal collection of a group of financiers who had arranged for its 'liberation' from a public gallery and who exchanged it amongst themselves, this highly venerated icon of a good Prime. When The Fall came, the magnate who held it ran with his stash of things before getting killed by someone at an outpost. It had landed in the care of a number of individuals who gave it to the Museum when they arrived along with many other priceless treasures that had been 'stolen' or came up 'missing' during the Golden Age.
Now it was endangered. Its frame had shattered and the gems were laying in the bottom of watery puddles, shimmering anyway as they waited to be collected. Pictures were taken, samples of the contamination, then long padded tongs were used to pick them up out of the mess. Prime watched as the entire collection of jewels, priceless antiques from the time of empire when they were bringing beautiful and strange things back to Cybertron with nearly every ship's return were saved. Placing them in containers with clear liquid, they were gathered swiftly. The hard part would be to retrieve the handmade frame.
Glancing into the distance, Prime noted the business tower and IntraComm. With a calm facade and a grieving interior, he followed Jetta and the crew with them toward the next island of disaster to hear the plan for its restoration from the Master Builder of Mars, Jetta of Iacon.
-0-Grocery
Alor and Ratchet moved along loading their carts with things to fill the bottomless pits of their families. The crowds were light but many were the individuals who stopped them to quiz about the mission. Giving them what they could and many assurances, they continued onward. "We have a wedding orn after tomorrow. Partition is going to be a son-in-law. Imagine that."
"No one could. Who could have? That was the dumbest youngster I've seen in ages," Alor said as he got a number of soft cheeses for Blackjack. Mech liked his cheese. "He's a good kid now but who could have known?"
"He had a lot of possibilities but he had to re-write his hard drive. Most of them have come around. I have to go visit Traachon today." Ratchet tossed two big balls of mozzarella into the cart. Hopefully, Ironhide wouldn't toss them directly into his mouth, then empty a chips box next.
"How's he doing?" Alor asked as they picked out dinner for the next several orns. It would be packed in the cupboards and fridge at Ratchet's house in the order he would reach in and use it. Alor would be a bit more sophisticated.
"He's stiff and stuck. Its going to take a while. Millow will be the one to watch. That mech is going to throw a rod here any orn soon. Don't be around when he does," Ratchet said. He looked at Alor. "Two daughters in stasis, their son an inmate at the Processor Hospital and a bond, too. Yet, nothing is changing in him but his pressure level. He's going to blow. Mark my words."
"We're a sad and pathetic people, Ratchet. Just so you know," Alor said as they turned the corner. Ahead of them was a very, very long aisle filled with colorful bottles. "We got here just in time," he said as he picked out bottles of flavored vinegar 'rose' and beer. Ratchet would join him.
-0-At home later that night
"You have to go to sleepy-bed, you little slaggers," Ironhide said as he tried to catch his kids. The big ones had gone to their end of the house with a hug and a grin. The little ones were playing hard to get. Ratchet sat in his chair with Halo watching the show. "Show 'em who's boss, Only One."
"I, ORION BOSS! I, ORION BRING POW-POW!" Orion paused running in shrieking circles with Praxus and Hero, then planted himself.
Prowler who had been caught already because he was mellow and didn't run was sitting on Ironhide's servo. He looked down. "Orion, what you do?" he asked.
Orion smiled like the sun, then took his stance again. "I, ORION POW-POW ATAR!" With that, he burst into lightning moves, blows struck to a big black ped and fancy pageant dancing aka his kata.
Ironhide who was staring downward grinned. "Ow."
Three little kids looked startled, then attacked him. Sunspot who was sitting on the couch watching with Spot grinned. "They're so cute."
"They are. Help me get them moving, infant," Ironhide said.
Sunspot grinned, then slid off the couch. He walked to the little group, took Orion and Praxus by the servo, then turned to Hero. "You wait here, Hero. I'll come get you." He looked at a smiling Orion and Praxus. "Come on, sparklings. You have to go to bed." With that, the three walked happily down the hallway to their rooms.
Ironhide watched them go, then glanced at Ratchet who was laughing. He looked down at Hero. "You, too?"
She smiled at him melting his spark once more. "I have to wait here for Sunspot. He will help me."
Ratchet and Ironhide stared at Hero with grins, then watched as Sunspot came back. "Come on, Hero. Time for bed."
She took Sunspot's servo and walked with him and Spot before turning to wave at everyone. "CALL ME IF HALO NEEDS ME! I'LL COME!" Then she followed him down the corridor to her room.
The two stared at the corridor, then each other, the corridor, Prowler who smiled at them, then each other. Ironhide grinned. "It's good to be home again."
Ratchet nodded. "It is. You're going back to Earth tomorrow? To continue the search?"
"I am. They went to ground. We'll get them. We have the area on deep sub tracking with robotic sonars," Ironhide said. "Slaggers are going to get caught." Ironhide gathered Halo, then with Prowler in servo walked down the corridor to put them both to bed.
-0-2000 hours on the TMC, broadcasting over the MCA to the Empire, Earth, Ominous, and Razorclaw
He sat in the set that was his and watched as the red light changed to green. Mirage sat nearby watching as Jazz personally directed the broadcast as usual. It was still in the room, then Prime spoke. "Good evening, Earth, Mars, Cybertron, the forward bases, the local planetary system of Cybertron, and all places where Cybertronians exist who may receive this message. I am Optimus Prime ..."
-0-TBC 5-23-18 edited 6-2-18
ESL
lowing: a soft low moan that cows make. Sometimes it can be loud if they're upset but mostly its low.
And sweet.
confab: meet up to chat
For the city slickers out there … a cud is what a cow chews when they barf up grass and feed that they just ate and re-chew it. YUM! When you see a cow lounging around doing that, that's what they're doing. Cows have four stomachs and food progresses to the exit point through them as it gets re-chewed and digested.