The Diego Diaries: Blows (dd6 558)
=0=Ops Center Big Conference Room, Autobot City
They walked in, big mechs and femmes with grim expressions. Prime sat at the front with a data pad in his servos. Everyone joined him, then he leaned forward. "We just received a message from a migration we have been tracking along the Orion Spur. Their signature seemed to be heading from the Rosette Nebula 5,000 light years away. Given that most of our ships were capable of superluminal or warp speed, that distance though long is not unheard of and they appear to have been traveling a long time. It would appear that our people have gone long distances to flee war. Right now, a group that is very large, as many as a million are coming this way and among them composing perhaps one third of the bulk are Decepticons. They have not spoken nor interacted but to capture the passengers in a shuttle that went ahead to warn us of them, then tried to return."
"What does the message say, Optimus?" Raptor asked.
Optimus handed the device to Hard Drive who sat next to him. He perused it, glanced at Prime, then the data pad once more. "I would like to send a message to the group. There's something here, Prime. We also need to know if any soldiers are with them."
Prime considered that, then nodded. Hardie rose and walked to the comm link station nearby. Composing a short message, he sent it bullet style for transport through a Trigger. It went up to the rooftop devices, towers and dishes then into space for the Midway Stellar Array that floated between Saturn and Mars, was observable from Ceres and facilitated the jump for messages to the rest of the empire. It went from there to the recently completed third Trigger that would be the device to send the nearly finished War World-like space vessel that was in construction around Saturn to its destination station far away on the trading lanes that were being referred to on world as 'The Silk Road'. From there, it was delivered within a parsec of the last known location of the migration with distance travel drift adjusted.
It was innocuous because Hardie knew the 'Cons would read it, too. It was for a specific reason alone. He stood by the comm station to wait for the reply. It was solemnly quiet in the room as everyone sat together.
=0=Out there somewhere on the way to freedom
They received the message, both sides, and read it. One side would only see jibberish. The other would see something they knew perfectly. They would then counter sign and send their message toward the micro bridge that was waiting for it some distance away. It was sent.
=0=At the Ops Center
Delphi stood beside Hardie as he watched the screen for the reply. It came and they both read it as it was opened. Delphi squeezed Hardie's shoulders. He stared at the message, then touched the screen gently with his servo. He glanced at Delphi, then turned to Prime. "I know who is coming, Prime," he said with a soft voice. He then told Prime off line.
0=Moments later
They walked to Kappa and a battle shuttle, one of seven that were loading up with hastily called mechs, the most veteran of soldiers all. Waiting to leave were 500 Seekers, all fighting models. Waiting to be called to come some distance away, gathered from their on station postings and transformed into ship format, Tennyson, Typhoon and Dangerous were ready as well.
Cameras from the news and from the humans who were going this way and that captured the moment as the mechs loaded up, then the ships lifted off. The roar was astonishing and the blow back intense as they rose up swiftly to vanish nearly immediately. No one would know what was happening yet but no one wasn't of the mind that something terrible was heading their way.
=0=On board Kappa
Prime and every one of his team including Ratchet walked onto the command deck and met there in pretender format many of the titan class on world. The rest including the dreads were aboard Tennyson and Typhoon, waiting to come at call. They bowed to Prime and he nodded back. Walking to the command table, Prime paused to stare at the data map laying there. The Trigger created a micro bridge and they had sent out a long distance probe to scan and send back information to build the picture out there. It was small and temporarily shielded enough not to alarm the migration which from the percentage of 'Cons involved made it the most dangerous reclamation with greater potential for disaster than any encountered yet.
"What do we know that is new?" Prime asked as the ships with him lined up for the Trigger jump in orbit of Mars.
"We know, Prime, that the migration is big, over a million or so. The number of Autobot soldiers on board is negligible. The group is pre-Diaspora and has lived in good settlements in the Rosette Nebula a long time. A couple of civilians and several Autobots are in charge and they made the decision to leave when alien traders filled them in on things here and on Cybertron. They've been coming peacefully until the 'Cons joined. Other than taking the three civilians prisoner, there is no record of discord. They just fly along and are silent, which has unnerved the migration. They're very afraid, Prime. Ominous has sent them a message to come," Raptor reported as he turned to look at Prime from Tactical.
"That will not happen," Prime said grimly. "Take us out, General," he said as he glanced at Hardie.
That mech nodded, then walked to the command chair. Giving orders, the bridge flared into life, then they shot through heading for a confrontation that would be coordinated when they got there. The other Trigger was distance sending the three giant Autobots forward toward their rendezvous point several parsecs away from the migration. There, they would gather and begin their plan to liberate a million of their people from the enemy.
=0=Far away closer to Epsilon Eridani
Razorclaw watched the map of the local cluster that had taken a long time to make with short sorties and 'trades' with traders from the local area. Prime was moving away with a very large group, probably to get a migration coming from a new direction. He directed the officer of the deck to send a message to Ominous asking for an update. Given that he had planted listening devices all around Ominous on the sly with his expanding but still limited bridge capacity, he was curious about how deeply the big thug would lie to him about what he was doing.
Ominous was making overtures to the migration which meant that Decepticons were in it. That would align with the size of the forces going out to meet them. Signatures of titans were among them, several. Prime wasn't playing nice any longer it would seem. Something new to file away, he thought. He turned to take a message pad from his field commander, Slasher, then read it.
It would appear that Ominous was upping the ante in The Game: Balance of Power which they were all playing. It was dangerous but intriguing. He was asking the 'Con group to come to him and sent them the coordinates, a move that had risk, though Razorclaw was sure that Prime knew where Ominous was and what he ate for dinner. It would be interesting to watch. If the fragger failed, he would call forward the remnants of his failed domain to come to him. If the mob in the migration had to fall back, he would go to them through his bridge. It would strain his ability to reach them but it was feasible. When they finally got their new and improved giant generators affixed, their reach would be much farther. He would have to do it in a way not to alert Prime. It would take math he didn't have but the mechs who worked for him and had for a long, long time were on it.
All he had to do was sit and watch. So he did.
=0=Out there
They waited in space until another bridge appeared, one in which three massive ships of such size and power slid out that most watching were speechless with awe for a moment. Typhoon followed by Tennyson and Dangerous slipped through the furious massive blossom of the Trigger which then fell to micro singularity size. They were in full battle configuration and inside gazing through the windows of the ships were the full Seeker complements that lived on them doing their duty in the DMZ and beyond. They slid to a slowing halt, lining up in battle configuration, then signaled Prime.
"Dangerous on station. Command me, Prime," a deep masculine voice said over the inter ship communications line.
"Command me, Prime. I am Typhoon and I have spoken," another said.
Then Tennyson checked in. "Here we are, Optimus. Who do you wish us to take apart? I am yours to command."
The mechs on board nodded with great pride at the quality of their comrades, then turned to Prime. He was thinking as he stared out the forward view port at the monsters aligning themselves with the shuttles and Kappa. "Gentlemen, stand by at my command. I am going to attempt to do this without battle."
"Understood," three slightly metallic voices said, a sound that indicated that they were moving to battle readiness and loading their torpedo bays and cannons with live rounds. It was a thrilling thing to know.
"General, see if you can get the leadership on the line. Put it through speakers. Do what you must," Optimus said as he turned toward Hard Drive. His son and grandsons glance at Hardie but said nothing as he walked to the communications station. He typed swiftly, then all waited.
Blaster turned to them from the auxiliary station for Communications. "They're attempted to block the signal."
"Send them a message, Typhoon. Discretion given," Prime said coldly. He turned to stare outward at the big ships as they held nearby, their massive lengths staggering in direct view in space.
"Typhoon to pack. Stand by," a metallic voice said.
Two answered affirmative.
"Torpedo room, slimline in two. Standby for orders," the voice said.
"Affirmative," a metallic voice, one of the non-sentient bots that ran systems onboard replied.
A silent second passed then Ty was back. "Coordinates of acquired target sent and locked in. Load for readiness to launch."
"Affirmative."
After a second, Ty was back. "Discretion given and received. Target acquired. Commence sequence to fire and launch."
There was silence a moment, then the bot was back. "Discretion given and received. Target acquired. Missile launch now. Go. Missile is go," he replied.
A flash of light from Ty signaled a launch as a deadly slimline torpedo, one with nearly infinite range and firepower of a catastrophic kind burst out of a forward launch tube and commenced toward whatever it was that Ty had locked onto.
"Migration and Decepticons alike, this is Optimus Prime," he said as he stood beside a speaker, his voice going out to the migration faster than the missile. "I have arrived with an armada of dreadnoughts and battle shuttles. We are making a point. A slimline torpedo is heading your way and will miss you because I choose it to do so. Please watch for its impact."
It was silent as they gathered around the table. The migration was slowing with some of the Decepticons starting to move out as best they could in the configuration. Heading toward them was a blinking light of death, a missile that was state of the art for The People. It flashed nearby heading for an asteroid that was following the migration some distance away. It hit it with infinite precision and the blasting light of its explosion was enormous. No one in the migration would be unclear about what had happened.
They watched the migration as it stopped, staggering slowly as the traffic of command asked them to halt. Even the 'Cons did so as others began to rise out and move away from the mass itself. Then a voice came over the speakers. "Obsidian to Ebony," it said.
Blackjack glanced at Raptor who looked just as surprised and unclear. Ironhide glanced at both of them, then his great grandfather. Hardie was transfixed to the floor, his servos clenched in fists.
Delphi who looked at Hardie a moment then walked to the comm station. He pressed the call button. "Ebony confirms. Ebony confirmed times three."
Everyone glanced at each other, then Blackjack. "That's your call name, Atar," Ironhide said to Blackjack.
Blackjack shrugged with confusion. "It is. I don't know what's going on."
Raptor turned to his father. "Are you alright? What's happening here?"
Delphi sat at the Comm station. "Obsidian, we are here. What is the need? The sit-rep? Advise."
The voice returned, deep and masculine, one that trended in sound to older and was filled with emotion. "We're in the middle of a shooting situation. Some of them, most of them are trying to leave. We could go either way."
"We are on our way," Prime said. "Tell everyone to sit tight. No moves. No effort to leave if you are with the migration. I would advise the Decepticons in the migration to leave and go back the way you came. We are on our way. Stand by. We are coming to get you." He turned to Blackjack. "Take us there. Titans, follow."
They acknowledged and as Blackjack passed his grandfather who turned to stare at the screen with intensity, he sat on the conn. "Kappa, lead us in. Battle configuration Alpha-Beta-II."
The big ships acknowledged as they flew with astonishing speed toward a danger that was still unfolding before them.
=0=TBC 12-30-18 edited 1-2-19