The Diego Diaries: Post Script (DD6 611)
=0=Military Airfield, Autobot City, Primal Colony of Mars, Cybertron and the Empire
Ships landed, some of them bearing the scars of close combat. Hard bitten mechs stepped down out of them, their weapons slung over their shoulders or arms, gear bags and the odd satchel carried casually. Some of them limped, others ambled along, all of them the epitome of confidence and power.
In the viewing area nearby, the 120+ humans from Earth2 watched them step out of the ships, congregate to compare notes, laugh and slap each other's shoulders or servos like anyone else anywhere else who had prevailed at a difficult thing. They were big, fierce and dangerous looking. They were also all Autobots.
The Good Guys.
That wasn't lost on anyone.
Ships were hustled by ground crews as the whirl went on. Some of them were towed away toward repair hangars for a once over, wash and wax while others were being readied to go to the depot 200 miles away for Roadie to oversee. Some of them were leaking fluids which oddly enough didn't freeze in the blistering cold air and others had ventilation spots where firing had perforated the hulls.
Pilots congregated with the mech identified to them as the Master of the Muster, handing off their flight recorders and other items to be given to Special Operations for study. There were gatherings of pilots and flight crews answering and filling in the blank spots and must dos for the ground crews for their vessel, telling them what they felt happened and was needed to bring them back up to standards.
Small vehicles drove among them working their way to ships to off load munitions and bombs, rockets and missiles, all delicate features that would be towed to the Munitions Hangar nearby, a hardened underground area where the payloads were brought by the train system from dumps, hubs and armories all over the colony, elevated to the deck and stockpiled until crews loaded them for missions.
It would now go in reverse as the inspectors checked them, marked off what would go back into inventory and what wouldn't. When the ships were back on the 'ready-go' flight line, the inventory that was certified would be loaded back on their respective ships again. The rest would be denatured and recycled again.
"This is very well organized," someone said in the quiet group of humans watching from the front window back to the terraced seating provided for them. They'd heard the crews were coming back and decided to stay to see if the senior Autobots were there.
To see if Prime was there as well.
"This is an operation," Pierre Beliveau replied. "The precision you get here is remarkable for this sort of thing. They may look chaotic because their operation is casual but its all very precise."
"They don't waste time and energy on what doesn't matter. All of them call him Optimus. They respect and obey him like the leader he is but its informal and incredibly organized," Hamilton Brown said as a huge battleship landed and began to roll to a halt. The motions around it were normal and familiar by now, then the hatches opened and mechs, the odd femme and a box filled with humans appeared and began to step down.
Prowl was the first famous Autobot they saw, then a number that looked like Ironhide before Ratchet, a number of unknown mechs, then Prime appeared. He walked down to the cheers of those there and disappeared into a mob of his own mechs.
Nearby, ships identified to the humans as battle shuttles began to land and on their skins the intensity of the fighting could be seen. They were scorched, shot up and bore holes caused by who knew what. More mechs walked out including some from Platoon: Autobot City, recognizable from their frames and general behavior.
More ships landed along with Seekers and it was dense and hard to follow anyone through the cacophony of the color and body type. They saw the Seeker Command, then they gathered around Prime and Prowl as well. It was then that they began a haka and songs of victory.
The fierceness of the cries, the harsh movements and tempo of the haka was amazing to watch as they celebrated their victory. Ululations by the civilian Seekers meeting their family member mixed with the shouts and cheering of everyone else. It was a good moment to be them it would seem to the humans.
That was when they began to break up to go, laughing, exulting and happy to be home. Prime and the senior Autobots began to walk toward The Fortress. It would bring them right past the viewing platform.
Trailbreaker put the box down on the airfield, then opened the doors. The four humans walked out, stretched, then walked along with the bots. Laughing, joking and keeping up remarkably well, the group neared the platform.
Glancing up, Niall grinned. :Check it:
Everyone did including the bots who nodded as they walked past without stopping, their guns slung on their backs or over their shoulders as they passed the humans. Some of the humans waved, one rapped on the window gesturing the soldiers to come inside.
:What do you wanna do? Go in there?: Epps asked Lennox.
:Not really. You?: Lennox asked the others.
:Not really: everyone murmured as a N.E.S.T. transport drove up and stopped beside them. Corey McFarlane leaned out of the window. :Need a lift?: he asked.
:Are you going to the senior debrief?: Lennox asked.
He grinned. :Sure:
The four men climbed into the vehicle, then it drove onward beating the bots to the conference room but not by very much.
=0=Inside sitting on chairs unwinding
Ratchet considered his predicament. He would have to clean up and make a better patch. Maybe he'd have someone look at it before he went home. They had a rule now. The kids can see you wounded but they couldn't see the wounds. He would have to spruce up along with Ironhide before they walked through their doors again.
Prime sat heavily. "Have a seat and we can do this swiftly. A full debrief is in two orns after we do due diligence on the ships and data. Where is Pulsar and the leadership now?"
"They're being held in high security medical. Everyone but Pulsar are at the Prison Medical Center. Rabid had a few injuries but when he's released he's going to special confinement with the others at the prison," Gee-Gee said.
"Thank you, Warden. Do you need assistance with the new element, especially on Kellus?" Prime asked.
"No," Gee-Gee said. "We've run this scenario and its under good control. I'll let you know as well as Jetta and Magnus if this requires more."
"Thank you," Prime said, then glanced at Prowl. "What is the status of the beacon and warning system, Prowl?"
"Dev ran sims on it on the way in. Its in good order and is being turned over to Strategic Command, their sensor unit. They will incorporate it into the array and sensor system and monitor it themselves," Prowl replied. "We have a handful of ships from this lot and most of them are common quality and don't appear to be worth salvaging. I'm giving that over to Roadie at the depot."
Prime nodded, then looked at his commanders. "Gentlemen?"
"We don't know what would cause Pulsar's ship to blow up. It appears to bear the markings of sabotage," Sun said as Hardie and Delphi nodded. "It just came apart at the seams and those of us who knew this mech, Pulsar, from the old orns know he's obsessive-compulsive about the precision that he uses around the things he maintains. This wasn't from ship failure, though anything is possible. This feels like straight up sabotage."
Everyone nodded.
"Did we manage to salvage data bases?" Prime asked.
"We did," Elita said. "We have and will go through them but we don't have Pulsar's. That's the one who would tell the tale but it was incinerated when his vessel blew up."
"Understood," Optimus said. "What do we need to know before we call it quits?"
"We need to re-order the order of battle. Our medical ships were shot up and that isn't a good thing," Rainmaker said. "Our air wings acted admirably. We need to have more heavies with us when we stand out to make handling situations faster."
"I will leave that in your expert hands, gentlemen," Prime said to Rainmaker and Starscream. "I found the Seekers to be essential and admirable today."
They nodded together pleased with the remarks.
"We shall," Starscream purred.
"Anything else?" Optimus asked.
:The humans in the viewing building want to speak to you in the worst way, Optimus: Niall Graham said with a grin. :You did notice?:
Optimus grinned slightly. "I did."
"We have three or so days left with them," Ratchet said. "I suppose we should be neighborly and have a chat."
"Right. Its yours," Prowl said as he rose. "Thank you for volunteering."
"And a big frag you, too, Granny," Ratchet said as he stood slowly. "Who's on line for media?"
"I will give a message on IntraCom tomorrow at noon about this," Optimus said as he glanced at Jazz and Blaster. They nodded back. "I sent a message to IntraCom that will suffice for now."
Everyone rose and began to file out, some to detailing, some to fix small medical issues and the rest to the world waiting beyond. The humans would follow along as well.
=0=Family Tower
The entire group sat around the men who were sitting at a table filling their faces. The tales being told were mesmerizing.
"I never saw anything like it. The big frames … they're as bad ass as anything you care to name. Xantium hugging a ship, then rolling into the darkness with it had to be seen to be believed," Will said as he sipped his beer. "Damn. I'm glad we're friends."
"I suppose there's going to be a big grave at the Crater Mausoleum soon," Judy Witwicky said as she lounged in a chair by the kitchen with Ron.
"Nearly 10,000 dead. I can't imagine it but watching it, I'm just surprised there isn't more," Gavin said. "I've never seen anything like it." He glanced at Leonora who was recording their commentary with her phone. "You should make another special, Leonora."
"I'm way ahead of you, Gavin," she said.
Her new husband, Camera Man Jim Webster who was a great guy, here from the beginning, an award winning cinematographer and a hot car aficionado grinned.
Since when was she not?
=0=On the way home
They'd stopped into a clinic down the road from The Pit Stop to get patched, then walked onward to town to get a 'mercy once over' from the sports at The Paint Box. Standing on the little platforms telling the story, they got a shine and finish to pass inspection by their kids.
Ambling out as dusk began to descend, Ratchet slipped his servo into Ironhide's, then squeezed. "I heard you were epic."
"I was wasn't I," Ironhide preened. Then he grinned. "Uncle Sun riding off on his turret gun shooting all the way is something for the ages."
"He's a bit of a handsome daredevil," Ratchet said agreeably as they entered the tower lobby. They chatted their way to the elevator, then entered. Upward they went as Ratchet leaned against the wall. "I hope that's the last time we do that for a while. By the way, after we see them for a bit, maybe get a bite, I have to go to the hospital to unscrew Pulsar."
"Frag, mech, you have a way with words," Ironhide said with a chuckle as they got off on their floor.
Wandering down the corridor, they reached home, then entered. Frozen in surprise and excitement, a passel of kids and elder adults, a cat, a cow and a dog stared at them. Then nearly all as one, they rose up and enveloped both.
Ma and Pa were home. All was well with their world.
=0=Two joors later
Ratchet stood over a battered mech who had been unbent and rebuilt from when a big mechanism had squeezed Pulsar in his gigantic servo. Grinning at the memory, Ratchet tossed the last tool into the cart. "Wheel him into security and plug him in. He's off but it won't matter. Unless he can grow arms and legs, he's not going to cause any problems."
The orderlies nodded, then pushed the gurney out the door. Ratchet watched them go, then glanced at the muted monitor nearby. Unmuting it to watch the latest events at the airfield, he stood with his team to watch the exuberant and triumphant return of the GREAT Xantium, Omega and their sedate but beaming brother, Beta Supreme.
When Ty, Danny and Tennyson returned shortly, then all would be well again. He slapped shoulders, then walked out to the family waiting in the tower next door. It would be a good evening in the Ironhide-Ratchet domicile in the Mare Tranquilitatis on Mars.
=0=3-12-19 edited 3-31-19