The Diego Diaries: Vacay 2 (dd6 574)
=0=In a warehouse in the Industrial Park Cities
They ran their plays troubleshooting and discussing the finer points of defending against the Twins and others on the Kaon team, all of which were a well oiled machine of raging octane-powered fury. They, themselves were tough, well seasoned through eons of playing games together starting in childhood and the odds on favorites to take the Martian League cup.
Gathering to discuss a defensive formation against hard charging scoring from mid court, something that they believed the twins would pursue, it would take a couple of joors of practice before they broke into small teams to play against each other for practice and sport. By the time lunch beckoned, they would be well tuned, most of them would have settled half a dozen job related issues and make half a dozen decisions for their districts on Cybertron, paused to allow Prime to take several calls and arrange for his scheduler-legal beagle to handle two new meetings for later in the week, then work out what they would do to ensure that the twins were kept in chains.
Actually, chains were among the suggestions.
Walking out with confidence and laughter, they transformed and jetted to The City and a lunch with the punters who could make it. A bunch of them could. The rest would be going back to date vacation with the infants.
Ironhide would frown cutely, then be given rights to his cow later that afternoon. Right now, Robby would be with abbas, ammas, the children and his peer group, Flipper and Pudding at the pool.
Slaggers.
=0=Out there
They got the message sent and now they would wait for a reply as they journeyed. There would be no direct return reply but merely an arrival, or not, at a place they decided could be reached by bridge if the rumors about the tech level of both sides of this area were true. Ominous and Pleon would be getting the meet up request from Pulsar and his group, detoured though they were around Prime's hegemony. If they had them like it was said some did out this way, they would come easily and he would dispatch the big fragger and take over his operation.
If Ominous didn't reply with his presence it could be that he was a coward or he didn't have bridge capability. Pulsar had included the coordinates in the message and if Ominous showed up he would see that and have more information about his competition. Either way, he would know more than he did now.
Given that he was a phase six mechanism himself, he would also have more incentive to go there and wreak havoc on Ominous and his operation with them. He didn't mind fighting. He liked it a lot. He didn't become a Warrior Elite because he liked Megatron or even much believed in the Cause. He became one because he had designs on the leadership himself. He had a better chance to accomplish his plans if he were invincible like the phase six mechanisms were.
He was also unusual that he was still intact and functional in his mind after having molten armor applied to his body directly. All of the phase sixers that he'd met, and he knew about half of them himself, were changed by that process. Some became more sociopathic but kept their sanity and perspective like Sixshot. Then there were those who became unstable like Overlord, Heretech and Killmaster. They'd gone mad through the process even though it was evident to him that they were probably on their way there before.
Of all of them, the one least changed emotionally and psychologically by the process was himself. He, Pulsar had kept his sanity, his smarts and tactics. He wasn't a raging brute like Overlord. He was strategic. He was well educated as a former high caste engineer and no one's fool.
Sitting in his command chair waiting to receive or not the reply, he would get good intel no matter what happened. The group he led flew onward into the night of space taking the long way around. Razorclaw was out there somewhere and he was going to meet up at some point with the big mech. It would be anyone's guess who would walk away from the encounter. He, Pulsar intended that it would be him.
=0=Diner On The Corner, Autobot City
They walked in and joined the punters in the booths and tables next to them. Possibility lay in Prowl's arms as he sat smirking at the group who found seats, ordered, then grinned. "You look happy," Prowl said as Prime slid his son into his arms.
"We did well," Prime said.
Ironhide smirked at Ratchet. "If anyone asks, tell them I have an injury. I'm not expected to be the picture of perfection that I was last time."
Ratchet hit him with every scanner he had including some for femmes as high volume as he could. Ironhide was actually slammed back into the booth. "Should I give you the run down on your 'injury' or do you want me to show you later at home?" He waggled his optics as Prowl gagged.
"That hurt, slagger," Ironhide said as food began to come.
"You said you were hurt. Ah, tactics," Ratchet said. "I laid off a bet on Iacon, slaggers. You better win. I have a big wrench with your name on it if you don't."
"Fragger," Ironhide said with a grin as he took one of Ratchet's onion rings. "We're going to peel those slaggers like a grape."
"Sounds juicy," Ratchet said with a smirk.
"You're one dirty old mech," Ironhide replied.
"That's right," Ratchet said with a giant smile. "Ask me what I was doing this morning."
No one did.
Fraggers," Ratchet said as the waiters brought everyone's order and topped off their glasses. He leaned forward. "I was called to Unidad because Tawney and Bryce were skinny dipping in the lake and the infant Home Guardsmen at Ops Center didn't know what to do about it."
They stared at Ratchet then frowned-grimaced-smirked-laughed. Ironhide frowned-grimaced at Ratchet. "What the frag are you doing hanging out with naked humans?"
"Well, someone had to save them from themselves. They were sunbathing in the nude when I got there. We had a long chat and swim. They sat on me while I floated in the lake," Ratchet said just to watch them gag.
They did.
"They were naked when they did, correct?" Prowl asked as he smirked at Ironhide. "Perhaps a little Lysol for hygiene is in order?"
"I'm glad you think its funny," Ironhide said.
"I never asked you, Ironhide, the times you've been on the job in pretender gear," Ratchet said. "Given that you were anatomically correct and all … what's the remaining objection?"
Ironhide stared at Ratchet almost too long, then leaned forward. "I have the same objection I would if I were an Insecticon, female human or SpongeBob. I'm a mech. A Cybertronian mech. I don't need anything more than that."
"And what you got, ba-bee, is more than enou-"
A rap on the servo cut that short as Prowl frowned at him.
Ratchet frowned back. "Well, Miss Priss, what a cry baby you are. Let's get drunk in Vegas. I dare your sorry aft."
Prowl stared at him, then smirked. "You think I wouldn't? I know how you think."
"Then explain it to me," Ironhide said to huge laughter, a lot of it from Prime.
"Let me think about it. I'm a responsible individual with childr-"
A hard rap on the servo set a frown on the winged one's face. He slapped Ratchet back and after a flurry of slaps and raps, the deal was done. When they would go and get arrested on another planet was not yet decided but the gauntlet was thrown down and picked up again.
Like Ratchet knew it would.
Prowler, Prowler, Prowler … when would you ever learn?
=0=At the pool
They stood together, three tiny cows on a rubber floaty raft in the middle of a pool for children. Sitting on the side of the pool eating food and drinking beer, Blackjack, Sun, Jack, Steiner, Lissie, Delphi, Hard Drive, Turbine, Alor, Flint, Scout, Trooper and STU-RT relaxed. The children were in the pool as well floating and swimming around in this, the biggest one for just them in the place.
A lot of little kids and their families were here, most of the them playing in this or the other two smaller pools for the infants. All of their own were having a great time jumping in, swimming and pushing the pool raft with the three little cows around in the water.
"Those cows are cute," Scout said as he sipped his beer. "I think I want a koala bear. Do you think they can find me a koala bear?"
Everyone searched, grinned, then shrugged. "I don't know, Atar, but if you really want one we can ask," Alor said.
"Ask for a sloth, too, son," Trooper said. "Did you ever see one? They smile all the time. I think I want a pet that smiles all the time."
"You can't go wrong with a slagging cow, Scout," Blackjack said proudly until you could.
Go wrong, that is.
It was that moment that Robby the Bruce stumbled as the kids pushed the little raft toward the other end of the pool. He leaned down to stabilize his footing, stuck his horn through the raft and with the most surprised expressions on their little cow faces, the three of them sunk immediately to the bottom.
Everyone sitting on the poolside watching froze a moment in place, then stood up to look down. Three little cows were standing on the bottom staring up with shock and astonishment. It would be entertaining to watch Blackjack leap in and dive down to get them. Three little mooing cows would be nearly inconsolable for a bit as they stood on the side of the pool draining water.
=0=Earth2
The preparations for the business conference that the facility was going to hold in three days was going along swimmingly. The conference would include 120 humans from all manner of countries, businesses and financial institutions and structures. They were going to discuss, meet and develop plans for including more business opportunities here for Earth through the good offices of Optimus Prime.
They still didn't have a firm agreement that Prime would come to meet and greet but Ratchet, Warren Roberts, Sam Witwicky, Venture and Caro would attend. They weren't required to speak but it was a given that they would. This would be a big push by corporations on Earth to get a toe hold in the potential here for just about anything they could dream up.
The burden was getting past the bot's reluctance toward poor stewardship of the planet and human curiosity about how far one could take an idea here on another world without leaving scars ten miles wide everywhere. Given what they already knew, it would be a daunting project to get even a fraction of what they were going to plan and ask for.
There would be sightseeing, stops at other habitats and lunch meets and greets with representatives who would speak to them for each group on world. Will Lennox got dragooned into speaking for N.E.S.T. and the military presence, Judy Witwicky and Barbara Morshower for The Resort and the Earth Chamber of Commerce which they jointly headed on world, Michio Yamaha for Sciences, Carly Brooks-Spencer for Unidad, Brandon Clark for Earth 1, Caroline Lee of South Korea, Carly's replacement for the United Nations Consulate along with Leonora Huttle and Bryce Billings for the film making portion of life here. All of them would attend a big function at Earth2 which would be where they would speak.
Some of them were old hands and others … Will Lennox … weren't.
Ratchet on the other hand was ready to rumble no matter what. The possibility of Prime attending wasn't off the table but the deeper the mystery, the better off they all were.
He would attend.
Ratchet stepped out of the diner with Ironhide and the others. They would chat a moment, then break like billiard balls on a pool table. Everyone would head off to do that thing they had to do. Even Ratchet for once.
The afternoon would wear ever onward.
=0=TBC 1-20-19 edited 1-22-19