The Diego Diaries: Onward Ho (dd6 368)
-0-The next morning
"We could've helped, Ada. What happened to Uncle Omega is so terrible." Fireball helped wash servos and faces of tykes lined up at the sink.
"I know, infant, but know he's going to be fine. Omega is a great spark. It takes a lot to off line his type," Ratchet said as he stuffed the last dish in the washer. Nearby down the hallway, the usual getting ready for school hoo-haw was going full blast.
"ATAR! YOU OWED ME! I, ORION, OWED!"
"I'll owie you, slagger. COME HERE!"
"BWAHAHAHAAHA! CATCHEDED ME, ATAR! I TOO FAS-"
Fireball and Ratchet who were looking down the hall grinned. "I think he catcheded him."
Fireball laughed. "He did. These little kids are so cute."
Ratchet grinned. "They are. WHAT DO YOU THINK, LITTLE KIDS!? ARE YOU CUTE!?"
They stared at both with nearly seam bursting excitement, then Hero nodded with a big smile. "I think Halo is cute. What do you think, Prowler?"
Prowler who was smiling brilliantly as he held his sloth dollie nodded. "I like Halo."
"I do, too. She's so cute. She can walk," Praxus said as he stared at his happy siblings.
Ratchet: KABOOM!
-0-Nanoseconds later
A tiny femme held onto the coffee table as she stood by herself, a wholly new thing for everyone but the little kids, the slaggers. She was smiling as she patted the table. "BAI! ADA! ATAR!"
Ironhide and Ratchet: KABOOM!
-0-Less nanoseconds later
Every adult in the family that lived in the building was staring at a tiny femme who was wobbling at the coffee table. Then she turned slightly and set out. Walking almost too fast like all new walkers do, she made it halfway to the couch before falling forward. Catching herself with her tiny hands, she wobbled a moment as she mimicked a camel. With Hero hovering around her, she stood up, wobbled a moment, then headed for the couch. She made it.
Alor, Blackjack, Ravel, Chan, Corr, an ecstatic Appa Ratchet, a rhapsodic Docker, Tru, Saber, Santee, Quasar, Genesis, Quadrus, Fireball, Lumi, and Verilus who had gathered in the room to watch:
KABOOM!
-0-Moments later
They sat around the room eating ice cream and cookies as Halo was passed around for a huggie and kissie. The door opened and the rest of the family, that is, the senior branch entered. "What's the big deal? Some of us have to work, slaggers. Why aren't they in school yet?" Raptor said as he was followed by Turbine, Delphi, Lissie, Flint and his beau, STU-RT or Stu, Hard Drive, and Jetta who had been having a bite with them when the call came.
Ratchet put Halo on the ground. She stood swaying as she smiled at everyone around her, then stepped out. She made it to Jetta who picked her up. Meanwhile … Raptor, Turbine, Delphi, Lissie, Flint and Stu, and Hard Drive: KABOOM!
Jetta who didn't know slag about kids didn't know this wasn't normal. He hugged her and they grinned at each other.
-0-More nanoseconds later
They all sat around the room eating ice cream as Halo and Hero sat on the coffee table. Hero was taking a bite, then Halo was as Hero fed her. They smiled at each other in perfect accord. The adults were watching them as Ironhide went through the five stages of grief in quick succession. He looked at the group. "THAT INFANT ISN'T GOING TO SCHOOL! GET THAT THROUGH YOUR THICK PROCESSORS! SHE STILL HAS THE ORIGINAL STICKERS ON HER AFT!"
"And what a tiny aft it is. She's too small. All in favor of her being too small raise your paw," Ratchet said with a grin. Every servo went up including Hero's.
"Ada? What are we voting for?" Hero asked as she gave her sister a bite.
"Nothing," Ironhide said. "Just play, infants. You're TOO SMALL to concern yourself." He gave a toxic optic to everyone in the room.
"Whiner. How did you get to be such a whiner?" Alor asked Ironhide with a grin.
"Because every perfect thing needs one tiny flaw," Delphi said. He meant it.
Ironhide preened. "Amma is always right. I remember you saying so, Appa."
Hard Drive grinned. "That's true. We have very few rules in this family. Infant is perfect and Amma is always right."
Huge laughter greeted that. Jetta grinned. "That explains a lot of things."
"Then tell me," Ratchet said. "I'm still in the dark here." Jetta and Ratchet grinned at each other. "What are you up to that you should come to have ice cream in the middle of the work week?"
"The Festival of Solus Prime is coming. It was mentioned to Optimus and he wants to re-institutes the ceremonies for their festival orns. I was asking Turbine to tell me what that includes so we can get it right."
"Well, it means those who hold to Her will show up. It could mean huge crowds or not. It depends on which shrine, if any, was your family shrine," Turbine said. "As you know, we have to attend to all of them because of my clan. I personally favor Thirteen."
Hard Drive nodded. "Thirteen is the one most like me and my ideas about service."
"Humble, big, unassuming … does that sound like anyone you know?" Ratchet asked with a slight grin.
They all grinned back. "No, it doesn't." -everyone lied
"Slaggers. Thirteen is our family shrine, though Amma Docker leans toward Vector because that one was closest to Uraya when she was growing up, right?" Ratchet said. Docker nodded. "It's going to be nice. Maybe we can present the kids there."
"I think so. Solus is ours. Praxus, you know. Present them at both," Ironhide said. "Which one was near Vos?"
"I don't remember," Ratchet said.
"Onyx," Turbine replied. "That one can be a stop for Sunspot when His festival orn rolls around. Prime wants to add holidays to the calendar. He approved all the festival orns. He also wants to add an orn that's dedicated to Earth. Earth Day will be a colony-wide holiday for us."
"I like Earth Day. Maybe if they see us celebrating their planet, the slaggers will be nicer to her," Delphi said. "Earth's historical name is Gaia."
"Guy-uh," Ratchet said. "Nice name. What does it mean, if anything?"
"She's a Greek goddess whose name is used for Earth because some science indicates its a living organism, that it has a consciousness. Given that Caminus does and Cybertron, it would be stupid not to extend the same thing to Earth," Turbine said as she wiped Halo's little white face.
Everyone agreed. "Are we all ready for the bonding tomorrow?" Ratchet asked.
"I can't believe we're adding Lucius to the family tree. And Partition," Raptor said with a grin. "My, how the mighty have fallen."
"They're bonding up," Blackjack said with a grin. "That mech changed and so did the family. I guess having a hard aft like you on their case was enough."
"I hope so. Lancer deserves the moon. That leaves how many daughters out of harness now?" Ratchet asked with a smile. It was interesting how many things he dodged from around the room.
-0-Bluestreak and Lancer
"Then the parties will be held here and here," Bluestreak said as he pointed out the two rooms he had arranged. There were zillions of RSVPs returned. Lancer had zillions of friends and Partition had a lot now that he wasn't an ass hat. They were going to have food, drink, dancing, live music, and fun, fun, fun. Bluestreak really knew how to throw a party.
"What about the chivery?" Lancer asked even though she could forgo that portion.
"I'm having a fire truck come to do the honors. We can drag the entire downtown before heading for dinner at the Tower in Terra. Everyone is going to come, then when its time for the parties, we can go do the rounds. This is going to be great, Lancer. Don't worry. Who's going to do the speech?" Blue asked with a grin.
"Lucien," Lancer replied. It was silent for a moment as both digested that, then they got down to the real business of the party. The food and drink.
-0-Twins
The dojo was quiet for a moment between training groups. The usual crowd was there bullshitting and hanging out. Beer from the cooler in Willa's office was passed around and so was the pizza when it came. It was a muy good moment for a bit. Then Hercy glanced at Sideswipe. "What do you think about having Partition as a brother-in-law?"
"Not much before but he's shaped up. Lancer will keep him in trim. He really wants to belong," Sideswipe said.
Sunstreaker nodded. "I don't know what drew them together. He was such a slagger before. But she thinks he's the one, so ..."
"You're going to be hardcore then? To the bitter end?" Kup asked with a slight smirk.
"Until he really proves himself. He frags with Lancer, he gets the boot," Sunstreaker said.
"Count me in," Sideswipe said.
Everyone else nodded.
"I'd hate to bond into your family if you were from Stanix. It's bad enough that you're from Kaon," Lon said with a grin.
"Sometimes you never find the bodies," Sideswipe said with a wink.
Sunstreaker nodded in agreement. He didn't wink.
-0-Laslo
"Then we have two parties afterward. I'm so glad you'll come there. This planning thing is so complex. Having the family involved in the military and police makes scheduling difficult," Laslo was saying as he sat in Full Circle sharing a moment with the Squad.
"This is going to be exciting. We have nothing to bring?" Madura asked.
"Nothing but your good sparks," Laslo said. "Blue is my hero."
"We need another pub crawl after this," Edict said with a grin. "That would be magnificent even if we don't get arrested."
"That's the best part," Joon said with a chuckle. Everyone agreed with her.
-0-Ops Center
Ratchet ambled in, then sat. Prowl glanced up. "Nice job. By the way, you're the official mouthpiece of Mars from now on."
"Why, thanks, Prowler. I think," Ratchet said as he considered the long televised conversation he had made earlier with Earth …
"How is it that the Prime allows two fully armed enemy forces this close to Earth?" a famous conservative commentator and columnist asked. They were from the consortium pool and ended up on these broadcasts through the luck of the draw. The reporters were from all over the world and across the political spectrum.
"We could confront them and have all out war or we can contain them. You slaggers fight each other at the drop of a hat. You fight wars in people's neighborhoods and drop bombs on civilians. We're not that type."
"And what type is that, Mr. Ambassador?" he asked, this man who wrote columns against the bots and having them even in the system.
"Baby killers. Your armies of this world have no problem killing civilians and babies. Children. You fight your wars for whatever reason and then call victory when you stand astride a wasteland." Ratchet was feeling the burn.
"You should hardly be lecturing us about wastelands, Mr. Ambassador. Our world is intact and apparently yours isn't," he shot back.
"That's right. We have some standing on this issue. What about you? What the frag are you fighting for? Resources? We give you slag from space so you can have some decent land spaces left. We're helping you feed half the world with our tech and direct donations. We fought a war of annihilation against a tyrant. It's amusing that you'd challenge that like you know what that means and feels like. Is that what you want for Earth? Who gave anyone permission to do that to seven billion people who want peace?"
"What would you really know about us?" the human said as everyone on the panel began to become uncomfortable.
"More than you can know, slagger. I've seen this story over and over again. You fight rather than cooperate. You don't work for anything but the well being of the few over the many. I'm as old as your species, slagger. You'd lecture me about natural outcomes of aggression? We're holding two big powerful forces at bay. They're big enough that if we attacked them they'd scatter and fly off in all directions including this way. How would you like to see elements of a big force suddenly appearing in your sky because we took them on? That's a stupid thing to do when quarantine works better. They'd slaughter you in your beds for the control of this system. They'd take you off world and make you dig for energon in the dirt with your hands until you died if they could. Don't lecture me about the way things work, sonny. I've seen it all."
It was then that the moderator stepped in and they cut to commercial.
-0-Ops Center
"You were firm. I will hand that to you."
"Thanks, Prowler. I try. Then the slagger said when the commercial was over ..."
-0-Interview
"Picking up from what we just discussed," the commentator said as the show came back. "You say that they'd scatter? What prevents you from going in and destroying them all at once?"
Ratchet smirked. "They have big guns and ships, too. They're not going to sit on their asses and die on the ground. They'll go to the sky, fly in all directions and head for the nearest hostages they can find to ensure they make it out of here alive. That's you, slagger. You have no defenses but us against that from happening. You don't stir up a hornet's nest. But then, you wouldn't know that. I read your bio during the commercial and you have ZERO military experience. You're a Major General in the Chicken Hawk Brigade. You have nothing to add, embellish or say about anything involving war and combat. You're just another blowhard who thinks you know something about being tough. I'M tough. I've been a soldier for 10,000,000 years. EARTH years. Your species only became hominid 9,000,000 years ago. Tell me something I haven't seen, done, experienced, smelled, tasted, suffered, or forgot about this slag. Tell me."
The commentator sat silently, then the moderator stepped in. "Ambassador, perhaps you can tell us something more about Razorclaw and the new player, Ominous."
"Razorclaw is the brains of the greatest combiner ever. He's smart, ruthless, has no feelings for organics, something he shares with the Decepticon creed, could give a rip about you and your stuff, your babies, your land, your wives, and elders. He sees his path, plots it carefully and goes after it. You seldom see him coming. You almost never live through it. He's justifiably feared and even if you hate his spark with all your might, he gets respect.
"Ominous is a criminal and gangster who ran pirating groups for Megatron. He's smart, loves books and music, plans his moves, and takes no chances. If he can't make it happen, he doesn't try. When he comes at you, you better be on your toes. He never makes a move he can't dominate. Both of them have a lot in common and they aren't considered easy foes. They're feared justifiably. We keep them corralled by continuous surveillance, overwhelming force and psychological operations. Prime makes his points directly and they know he means business. Optimus Prime is hated by the 'Cons for obvious reasons but he's also feared by them. He's relentless, brilliant, favored by the Pantheon and the Matrix, and he gives no quarter. He will fight as hard for an alien organic child or elder as he would for his own.
"You're SLAGGING lucky that Prime has a conscience because we could have moved on after Mission City but we didn't. How long do you think you'd have lasted against this group without us? They would've come here because they were following the faint trail of the AllSpark and that was leading directly to Earth. When they reached the solar system and saw the masses of energon found here, you'd be long dead and in your grave. They would NEVER leave here because of the energon. You're welcome," Ratchet said coldly...
-0-Ops Center
"You looked like you could bite that one slagger," Prowl said with a grin as he sat back with his arms folded over his chassis. "It might have been entertaining."
Ratchet grinned, then paused a moment to listen to an internal message. "I know something more entertaining. The Squad wants to tie one on after the bonding. What say you, Miss Priss?"
Prowl smirked. "Bring it."
Ratchet grinned. "I'll alert the jail."
"Good precaution," Prowl replied.
It was.
-0-TBC 5-28-18 (I heart Dorothy on her day) :D edited 6-23-18
ESL and NOTES:
Gaia (guy-uh) The name used to connote the Earth. Here is what the general meaning of the world entails: Gaia is the name of the ancient Greek goddess of the Earth, and as a name it was recently revived to refer to the hypothesis formed by James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis, who postulate that the whole biosphere may be alive in that the Earth's life forms are themselves responsible for regulating the conditions that make life possible. Or not.
I went into the wilderness this weekend and was there with the earth, the river, trees leaning in the breeze, the sunlight, animals, and birds. It's hard for me to believe that Earth or Gaia isn't alive. I love her.
PS There's a video on YouTube that shows Gaia 'breathing'. Search for those words and you should see it. :D You're welcome. ;)