The Diego Diaries: Cat and Mouse (dd6 628)
=0=Around at the same time in a conference room at the Courthouse
"I have all of your petitions and pleas," Barron said as he chaired the meeting. "I've taken them up with the Prime's legal adviser and we shall hear them in the trial. What we have to determine now is scheduling. As you know, events and other things often disrupt scheduling with Prime and the senior Autobots. Therefore, please be aware that these time lines can change." He glanced at a big intense appearing mech. "Tell me, Remy … when are you ready?"
"Now, Barron. The sooner, the better. My clients have been detained a long time."
"We're aware of that and we're all aware of the latitude that modified martial law gives Prime. If this were Cybertron during the orn, he'd get a firing squad in the back alley," Coln-2 remarked dryly.
"He would've walked free," an aide for Coln said as he smirked slightly at The Boss.
That being what it may," Barron said with a smirk of his own, "I do believe given a choice between saving us from invaders and hearing about Cousin's problems, its a no brainer for Prime."
They would continue onward and schedule the Wheelus Faction into the court docket for federal crimes against The People.
=0=About thirty Cybertronian miles from Autobot City
Jetta and Huffer stood on the dusty plain that was just ten miles, Cybertronian, from Crater District #2. This was the new site of another massive build. It would be connected by eight lanes of highway with the other one, be a part of the Inter-Colonial Highway System that connected everyone to everywhere and would host over 20,000,000 individuals when completed. They were doubling their effort given the numbers of refugees that were being found every orn so that there would be no more Little Iacons for anyone coming to safety. This place was within view of some of the human habitats and Centurion of the Tri-Cities and be twice as big as any other city scape.
"This is going to be massive, Jetta," Huffer was explaining. As he did, Fortress Maximus materialized nearby holding an architectural data pad in his servos. He walked over to join them.
"I made the additions to the plan approved by the Commission last night," Max said as the three of them gathered to look. "We're going to have more interconnected upper highways between buildings and the arena that was here," he said pointing to the big football stadium this build would contain, "is being modified to contain more space for basketball and other games. Someone mentioned something about racket ball."
They paused to search it out, then grinned. "I like that," Jetta said as he chuckled. "Especially when the player got hit in the face with his own ball on the rebound."
"That was rather nice," Max said with a grin, the delinquent. "Most of the rest is fine including the bigger Sports Center. Right now, we're go."
Jetta glanced around. "I'll get with Scar. It's going to take a bit of time to build in the infrastructure before going upward. Good thing that Crater District #2 is finally finished. We're good for a while. I'm thinking I'm going to bring up the next project as well with Prime. We have more than enough workers and the chain of supply is on point. We should never put our eggs in one basket."
They would discuss the situation, then Jetta would chat with Prime. When they were finished and things were agreed, there would be a third major construction site ongoing within three Cybertronian miles of the human habitats. Both of them would be built at the same time and would house between them the potential for 50,000,000 Cybertronians.
It would be mind blowing for the humans on a cosmic scale.
=0=Sam and Warren at the office in the Family Tower
"Then we're in agreement," Sam asked as he glanced up at Warren.
Mikaela sat with them along with Carly, Brandon and Owen Harris. All of them were gathered to begin the building of a 'common cause' group Warren was calling the Mars Tech Consortium which would work through the Foundation to help Earth in a more direct manner by training scientists, funding projects, offering scholarships to those who could change the world with their genius and providing stipends and housing for inventors, scientists, talented individuals and young people to come to the colony to learn, live and work on their ideas with those who could help fulfill them.
"I am," Warren said of his pet project. "I want this to be a continuous flow of talent and opportunity with the possibility of us helping develop tech for the Earth that we're in dire need to have. This isn't going to be a project where the point is profit. This stays under the sway and control of the Primal Foundation. It's going to be a platform for talent to save us from ourselves."
"I think its wonderful. I like the idea that the visitors will be spread out through the human habitats. I like the idea of having good ideas on the table. We're developing things at Earth 1 that we didn't have in mind when we came here. We were thinking too small. Count Earth 1 in all the way, Warren," Brandon said.
"Good," Warren replied as he looked at Carly and Owen.
"I like this, Warren. We have space and opportunity. We only utilize 33% of our labs thus far and thus, we can have a larger number of guests than Earth 1 and 2." She looked at their directors. "No offense."
Brandon smirked. "Are you insinuating that I have habitat envy?"
Carly smiled. "No. Where would you get that idea? By the way, everyone seems to be falling in well. No troubles so far."
"I'm relieved to hear that," Warren said as Mikaela nodded. "When this is over, then we need to discuss how this kind of thing can happen." He glanced at Mikaela. "We're handling the fall out on Earth thus far. Its not going to be pleasant for a while."
They continued their conversations as the clock ticked onward toward noon.
=0=Unidad Terra 1
They sat in the modified conference rooms working on their class work as teachers circulated. There were a couple of aides from Unidad who were delegated to help here, making things and helping to assist. It was going smoothly though there was little privacy between groups.
Amber Nast sat with her class in a corner of the conference room. She and her brother, Tim had hated to leave Earth2 and their father who was in the administration there. They would have preferred to stay with him but they were part of the 'bug out' and thus, found themselves living in a small studio apartment in the 10th floor of the main building.
She and Tim were quiet, decent and focused on their father who carried a lot of guilt and shame for his dealings and the effect it had on their family. He was responsible for the death of their mother because of what he did. They were not willing to concede that he was, preferring to blame Starscream and others.
They came with him and attended the school at Earth2, went on trips for school both on Mars and at Trypticon in orbit of Saturn. They liked it here. It was easier to melt into the background and not be 'his kids', the 'traitor'. Coming here had been frightening at first, to live in the midst of the enemy or so they felt the Cybertronians to be in their agonized new life. But it had been a good thing and they felt better here, unwinding in the quiet of the facility as they took care of their dad.
Amber Nast glanced at her brother nearby who was having a science discussion with his group and some of the others from here who were part of the discussion for some reason. Maybe when school was out they could go out into the country and find the lake. Someone told them there were kayaks there. It might be fun to do that a while. They had with their mom who liked water sports. Maybe it would be fun again. She looked at her math, then bent herself to the task. She and Tim would be kayaking in three hours and for the first time since they left Earth2, they would have something to smile about.
=0=Sky and the team
"We found this button and its a military grade design. It fits the type of buttons that the soldiers here wear," Sky said to Wheeljack and Springer. "Can we attach it to anyone specific? Not yet. It might be nice to see if Mueller or Anderson are missing a button."
"I'll get Lennox on it," Springer said as they went over the details thus far. They would be minimal but for the still evolving reverse engineering of the tech that the pair were using. It would be slower than usual. They would have to do it with pictures and scans.
=0=Charon
They lined up to leave the forward base, Trevor Smith, Jack Paxton, Horst Mueller and Colin Anderson. They joked together as they waited for the mechs to carry them outside to board the shuttle back. It would be a short jump through the small bridge that hung in space beside the Triggers, then a short drop to the planet itself.
When the two walked back into their quarters at N.E.S.T. HQ, they would have no idea that anyone bothered their stuff. They would hear a great story about an EMP burst, a gaggle of hilarious mini-cons come to trace it down and all that ensued. They wouldn't know a thing was out of line.
=0=At the Autobot City Interplanetary and Municipal Airport, Autobot City, Primal Colony of Mars, Cybertron and the Empire, Postal District 2-C
The vehicle from Medical came into the service entrance of the facility, then pulled up beside a dock. A number of individuals were there to pick up the coffin and carry it inside. They put it in a storage chamber for such things as perishable organic materials, then Tirage, a priest gave a blessing.
Silvio Lombardi, aged 34, born and raised in Florence, Italy, former Foreign Legion, mercenary for hire and all around adventurer, speaker of four languages, cultured, mannerly, intelligent and enamored of art and the finer things would be returned to his family the next day when the group of 100 individuals visiting Earth2 would be going home. Before they did, those individuals, they would know the fate of their requests.
=0=Jazz
He sat at his desk studying the intel thus far for a number of things including the mercs. He glanced up at Mirage who had just entered. "Are they back from Charon?"
"They are," Mirage said as he sat back to stare at his partner and all around frag buddy. "So far, so good."
"I think that would sound better with an Italian accent," Jazz said with a wicked smile.
"Frag you," Mirage said good naturedly. "Frag Bay as well."
Jazz snickered. "Touchy little thing, aren't you."
"Given the magnificence that is me without a goofy accent? … yes," Mirage said.
They both laughed loudly.
"What's going on? Anything new?" Mirage asked.
"Casio and Ebio are making noises," Jazz said. "We may have to go take a peek."
Mirage grinned slightly as he thought of the two, both of whom he knew and loathed on a personal level. "Count me in," he said.
=0=Later that afternoons
Anna and Cora Cutter, Gina and Tinsley Walters as well as Temple Richardson, the daughter of Louis sat by the window looking out at the parking lot as they talked together. Nearby eating ice cream, Rain Harris, Lilly Brown, Jaycee Jameson and Camilla Brown chatted together. They had just gotten out of their school, Youngling Day in Centurion and were taking a break.
"This place is nicer than our habitat," Cora said. "Too bad we can't stay here all the time."
"I wish we could," Temple said. "I'm going to get a car and go out into the farm. You coming?" she asked as she stood up to go.
The others rose, then walked with her to a small pickup truck in the motor pool. They climbed in, then drove off heading for the farmlands and fields beyond.
Camilla and the others watched them go. "What say we take a drive?" she asked.
The others nodded, finished their ice cream swiftly, then disposed of the dishes. Hurrying to the motor pool, they took a small convertible car and lit out for the farm. They would disappear into the afternoon traffic in seconds.
=0=TBC 4-3-19 edited 4-7-19