The Diego Diaries: Parsing (dd6 619)
=0=Meeting at Ops Center after the humans left
Prime grinned. "I think we should go over the information that we have now regarding a lot of the current problems. I would be very glad to hear anything that was new about the murders that have happened to the mercenaries. Is there anything at all that points to anyone?"
Hauser glanced at Drift, then Springer. "We have a number of ideas but the evidence supporting that is a bit thin on the ground. It's evident to all of us that this is someone using our tech. They come and go without leaving a sign of their presence. That kind of tech the humans won't have for a few zillion vorns yet."
"Then we have to make an effort to see the two ringer's quarters. They have to have something there that will show up on sensors if we get a chance to toss their rooms. It's the only thing we haven't gone through yet," Drift said. "Then again … if this is our tech as yet unknown, they could be wearing it. It could go wherever they go. I don't have any clue whether they have anything to alert them to our being there if we search."
It was silent a moment, then Prime stirred slightly. "Then maybe we can put part of the human garrison to include them on Charon or some place far away. It will give us time to sort this out and maybe force their hand. If they're stuck somewhere and need to come here, they'll have to do it using their tech and then we'll know." He glanced at Jazz. "Have they been tagged?"
"One of them. I'm going to tag the other tonight. I don't want them comparing notes and come to any conclusion about the tiny sting they'll feel from it," Jazz said.
"What about dampening fields for their signature?" Ratchet asked. "They have the ability to drop off our own sensor grids? Would it mask the tags from being able to send information to us?"
"The frequency that we're using for these locator tags is very low, almost ambient radiation low. We're counting on it being so low that it isn't compensated for when they use the tech they have. It would be like wearing perfume. It would leave a slight trail behind of star-like quality noise. Given that we're talking about ground level scrutiny, it would be enough for us to sort out from the usual background stuff. It would be like the scent trail what an ant follows to get back to their hole in the ground. We can't see or smell it but they can. Like that," Jazz said as he glanced at Percy and Wheeljack. "Right?"
"Theoretically," Wheeljack said. "I'm unclear if they can know about this given the advancement of the tech. Shockwave and Jhiaxus were above the mundane so it could possibly work. They were secretive but this might have slipped past them. It would be worth a try."
Prime glanced at Prowl. "Make a plan for the two to spend time at the forward base at Charon. I want them far enough away that they cannot use their advantages in any manner." He looked at Drift. "I want you and Wheeljack to go to their quarters and look for anything and everything you can that might give us a lead on this. They keep company with the mercenaries so they are first on the list of possible suspects."
"I'll do that," Drift said. "We can bring Sky along for the chain of custody if we find anything and to bag it legally and properly."
"Good idea," Prowl said as he glanced at the monitor bearing Springer's face. It was a surreptitious glance but bore good dividends. Springer was hating his home confinement.
HA-HA, FIRST MRS. OPTIMUS PRIME!
"We have today and three more for the human guests before we have to send them back or not," Prowl said. "We also have to do more interviews with Earth2 locals. We can do that together, Drift."
Drift nodded.
Prowl peeked.
Springer was frowning.
Prowl was grinning.
Prime noticed and laughed internally for the first time in two orns. He leaned forward on his elbows. "What is the status on the Dobbs family, Barron?"
"They've filed suit in federal court in America and will be taking a case to the World Court. They want to sue us for wrongful death and for breach of our agreement that he would be safe here. I haven't broken it down completely. There's more to it than my paraphrase but they want to take this to court. The issues here will be jurisdiction … where it will happen and also IF it will. It could be that there's no standing here or there due to the interplanetary aspects of this situation. It's all going to be worked out by us with our legal team in London and the wrongful death specialist firm in Boston.
"As for this … I expect the same thing from Lombardi's family. They're going to be as distressed as Dobb's own and we're an easy target. Owen Harris and Earth2 Corporation are also being sued for the same reasons. I'll be running interference for any conversations that he and his people have regarding this."
"Thank you, Barron." Prime sat back. "This is a hard side bar after the battle with Pulsar. We need to debrief on that matter and this does not help. Are there quick impressions or overviews I need to know? What about Pulsar and his condition, Ratchet?"
"Well, I removed his limbs," he said as everyone in the room groaned. "Little babies. He's disabled enough that no matter how secured and fulsome his recovery is from the squeezing that Xantium gave him, he can't regrow them. He's not in a good mood. In fact, he was rude as slag to me." Ratchet glanced at Ironhide who shrugged. "slagger." He looked at Prime. "He's going through the stages of grief and homicidal rage right now about his situation. How much we can get from him is anyone's guess. I never got to ask him why his ship came apart at the seams. I gather that he's completely surprised that things didn't shake out the way he figured. But thems the breaks as humans sometimes say."
Prime nodded. "I want him interviewed. What about his senior staff and the crews?"
"Rabid is in the prison. He's rather interesting. He cares about his crews and gave things up to save them. Right now, he and the others are Gee-Gee's problem. I can speak to him and see what I can get," Hard Drive said. "He's different from the rest and from most 'Cons I've met. He's smart, has some values and cares about his crews."
"I would appreciate that." Prime glanced at Chrome and Lauren who were sitting with a pensive Alpha Trion. "Gentlemen, we have nearly 10,000 dead. I would appreciate your help in doing things for them that are decent and proper. They are Cybertronian and deserve that much at least. I would have preferred them to surrender but they had other plans."
"We have already taken on that project, Lord Optimus. They will be interred into a mass grave at the Crater Mausoleum as soon as they are cleared. Transponder numbers and other information is being gathered before this happens. Also, any personal effects are being collected, tagged and stored against the orn some day that family might inquire about them," Chrome said.
"Thank you. That lifts a great deal off my mind," Prime said as he sat back. "I would like impressions, general impressions about the conflict. We can debrief on this when we have a moment. I want to know what you have to say right now. I am personally incredibly impressed and grateful for you and what you managed to do in desperate circumstances."
"That was a mess in the nebula but we did a good job fumbling around. We got most of them to surrender, lost four shuttles and had 17 wounded. That's a slagging miracle in itself," Sun said as the others nodded.
"I think having the big frames handle interventions where there's visibility problems is a good idea. It gives the other side less opportunity to shoot them. They were able to link sensors and get a faster bead on the whereabouts of the enemy ships than we did as single vessels," Raptor said. "They were the ones who took this group down, Omega and Xantium."
Everyone murmured agreement.
"We need to put the vulnerable non-combat ships farther back in the train. Our order of battle needs revising to make sure that ships like Phobos don't get strafed again," Ty said as the other big frames nodded. "Maybe taking a dread or titan along each time to do heavy duty scanning is a good idea. Maybe even more than two. Linking up our sensors to look deep is much more powerful than any of you singly or in a group," Acutus said.
Prime nodded. "Good point."
Prowl noted it, then glanced around the table. "I want your reports on my desk as soon as possible. We need to trouble shoot what happened and break it down for future operations. I also want this available for Lissie and the other instructors to use for their classes."
Everyone groaned, then Prime sat forward again. "I want your oaths that what I tell you stays in this room."
Everyone glanced at each other, then Prime. They nodded almost as one.
"The apparition at Unidad, the one from the chapel appeared to me on the bridge of Salton Sea," Prime said.
"Frag. What did she want?" Ironhide asked. "I hate ghosts."
Prime grinned faintly. "She said a couple of things that do not make sense, then disappeared."
It was silent, then Perceptor sat back in thought. "That's very strange. I would think that apparition would stay home … here. Most of them are territorial. What did she say?"
"She said 'good', 'right arm' and 'evolution', then disappeared," Prime said. "I have never had a vision where these comments were made."
It was silent a moment. Then Turbine shifted. "Maybe we need to have a seer come back, Optimus. There's symbolism here and we might need someone to figure this out and maybe make contact with this being."
Prime glanced at Prowl. "Do we have that seer's location and name?"
"We do," Prowl said, then glanced at Chrome. "Would you do the honors of contacting him to discuss this or perhaps to come try to make contact with the being, please?"
Chrome nodded. "I will."
Prime considered that, then rose. "We will await more information. As of now, anything discussed in this room is of the utmost in secrecy. If we can get on to our part of this puzzle then we might figure this out. If you could meet again in two orns with what you can find out, then we can go from there. A decision regarding the human visitors must be had."
Everyone stood and began to file out.
Drift waited until they did, then turned to Prime. "We can toss and examine their spaces and stuff when you say so, Optimus. Just let me know when they leave."
Prime glanced at Ratchet. "Could you tell Lennox that we are going to include strikers on forward bases for experience. Start with the two of them and two others. That way we can clear them out and get this going."
Ratchet rose. "Your command is my wish. Or something like that."
Everyone walked out to their jobs both here and off world. Ratchet ambled over to the N.E.S.T. garrison, then rapped on the window. He grinned as a line was opened.
:What's up, Ratchet?: Corey McFarlane's voice said over the common line.
"I need to talk to Lennox. Is he here?" Ratchet asked.
:I'll get him: Corey said as he disappeared from view. He returned swiftly with Lennox who stared upward as he stood at the huge windows of the garrison building.
:What's up?: Lennox asked.
Ratchet smiled. "I need to talk to you about a training expansion possibility for you tiny little slaggers. Can you come out to play?" He smiled a dazzler.
Lennox could.
=0=TBC 3-24-19 edited 4-6-19
ESL: surreptitious (syrup-tish-us) to do something with stealth, without informing others, being sneaky.
Paraphrase: (pair-uh-fraze) to make something verbally long into something verbally short.
Just a cute side note: In medieval times, the support groups and supply lines was called 'the luggage'. I just find that fabulous. :D