The Diego Diaries: Cybertron (dd6 646)
(Had to go to Anchorage. Saw bald eagles and snow in the mountains. I have to cross wilderness to get there. :D )
=0=After the Hoo-Haw
They walked out heading for this and that destination. Walking across the courtyard, Ratchet paused at the gate where there were humans in a truck waiting for him. Ironhide was going to Cybertron with the elders and he was at loose ends. Today was his day off. Staring downward, he grinned. "Did someone let the gerbils out?:
Huge laughter greeted that, then Morshower asked, :What was the thing you didn't want us to hear? Your faces said it all:
Ratchet considered that then made an executive decision. "Whatever do you mean?" He also batted his optical ridges.
:You can get as cute as you want, Ratchet but something big was just disclosed: Niall said with a grin. :We're sort of hurt that you don't seem to trust our discretion:
It was Ratchet's turn to laugh. Loudly. He grinned at them. "Give me a moment." He tuned into someone then grinned again. Looking at them a moment he considered how much trust the bots gave to humans who were so untrustworthy. At least some were. Not these. "Give me a Matrix oath as Cybertronians and I'll tell you. This is the most important secret you'll ever keep. From everyone, mind you, including your gods."
:You got it, Ratchet, as always: Morshower said as Lennox, Epps, Graham, Pritchard, Jessie Landon and Ron Witwicky nodded in earnest.
Ratchet laughed again then knelt. "That was great, Morshower. I think your chin even quivered a little."
He grinned. :Does that help?:
"No," Ratchet said as they all laughed loudly. He grinned at them. "I'm going off line. Remember the nature of your oath, countrymen and women." He did. :Do you remember the Caminus venture?:
They nodded.
:Well, we're going to do it again. We're going to put Cybertron in orbit around the giant red dwarf star, Arcturus: He waited for them to react which they didn't do at first as they digested the greatness that they had just heard.
Then they all began to talk at once.
=0=Moments later in the environmental habitat entrance of N.E.S.T.
They came here to talk. The doors entering the building itself were still closed as they gathered around a sitting Ratchet without the divider of their helmets. Morshower stared at Ratchet who stared back at him with uncertainty. What if the general was against it? Ratchet had never thought that anyone of 'their guys' would be. Now? Not so much.
"This is pretty incredible, Ratchet," Morshower said. "When is this going to happen?"
"Shortly. Any time now. Cybertron is not tethered to a star so its roving is going to get it into trouble sooner rather than later. We want her safe and we have tech that can do it. We just have to make a few calls, do a few adjustments and we're go. Arcturus has no planets, is a good fit and we need to do this sooner rather than later as I just said. I'm repeating myself," he said, then gave them a dazzling smile.
"I think I would, too, if I were moving a planet. How far away is Arcturus?" Epps asked.
"Just under 37 light years," Ratchet said.
"That close?" Jessie asked with a great smile of her own.
"We want her well within the perimeter of our defenses. We're going to move Cybertron, all three moons, the local group and the local cache. Its going to take time and some of them won't be with Arcturus but all of them are coming. About 20 planets in all," Ratchet said as if he were talking about taking the family out for a spin.
They stared at him in silence a moment then Jessie Landon stepped closer. "That's fucking awesome. Can I watch?"
It sort of broke the ice.
Ratchet laughed. "I'll ask. However, this is so mums the word. We have no timeline yet. Prime has to do some things but hopefully we can explain to Earth how they have a few new planets where they weren't before."
"Oh joy," Niall Graham said with a grin.
"Speaking of joy, is this going to hang up the basketball games in two days?" Bobby Epps asked.
"I don't know. I doubt it. Kaon plays someone … I forgot who and Iacon plays Polyhex," Ratchet said. "I better get my trousseau together."
"OH MY GOD! I LOVE YOUR OUTFITS, RATCHET!" Jessie Landon said with a laugh. "What's next?"
"Its a secret. Prowl can never know and he finds out things, the slagger. I think he does it by Osimosis," Ratchet replied with a wink.
"Isn't that one of Prowl's drunk names for Prime?" Glenn Morshower asked with a big grin.
Ratchet winked again. "No."
Huge laughter was heard.
=0=Earth2 Infirmary
He walked out of the hospital after being held overnight to monitor for symptoms of concussion. He had been laid out on the deck and had taken his sweet time coming back to himself. Right now, Big Jim Johnson had a big black welt and bruise on his jaw, the start of a black eye and a sour temper. Walking out to the community commissary, he got a meal, a hot drink, then walked to the table by the window where several of the other mercs sat by themselves. They appeared to be even more persona no grata than before. He sat.
"You look like shit," Todd Baseman said with a chuckle. "You should've let him go. Even in pretender form they're stronger."
"Shut up, Baseman," Johnson said as he sipped his coffee. It hurt to eat but he wouldn't let them see him grimace. He began to eat slowly but steadily as the pain slightly numbed by painkillers reminded him of a poor life choice.
=0=Far Away
Cassio Imperialis sat at his desk going over the data that told of a war world-like station in the boonies near Prime's territory. They'd heard about it from some of the traders they wanted to cultivate that used the trade route there to go from one place to another. Most of the aliens in that vicinity were peaceful but carried big guns. They were used to Decepticon harassment and thus, they armed large and shot almost without provocation.
Prime had a station, a big one and it served the traders and their ships all along the upper Orion Arm as the humans called it. He'd sent a scout to check it out using a ship that was stripped of markings but crewed by Cybertronians. They'd landed, then entered a huge facility that was on station there, one that could fly if necessary and supplied anything asked for without payment required. It was just another example of Prime's vast wealth and power.
It had taken the local aliens and those that traveled through a while to grasp the concept of 'free' but now it was building clientele as fast as the word could travel.
Obviously, Prime was being tactical Cassio thought. Why else would he have a cash cow and not milk it? Though he considered Prime a hopeless case he knew he wasn't a fool and he had massive firepower to back up his points. That was why he wanted intel. He hoped that his crew and ship would return soon enough and tell him what he wanted to know. Their bridges, though not as far ranging as Prime's due to energon deficiencies on his end could send ships close and retrieve them the same way.
Soon he would have the information he needed and see what he could do about perhaps acquiring the station for himself. It would be a great coup against the big Autobot to steal it for himself. It might even go some distance in evening the score that they had between them.
A sound at the door drew his attention as his brother, Ebio entered then sat. "What are you thinking about?"
Cassio grinned slightly. "Revenge. What else?"
Ebio nodded with a cold expression. "Never truer words spoken."
=0=At District 6, Cybertron
They occupied a pen, three little cows who were dozing as they stood on their feet. They were in the office of Delphi who drew 'ramrodding the beeves' duty. Apparently, it wasn't good form to crawl into sewers with infant cows in the carry hold.
"They might get dirty, Amma," his golden little mech had said with the same sweet tone and cute expression Ironhide always had about keeping everything he ever found including other people's pets that were wandering around.
"I have a pen. See those things over there? I had them made just for this. Put the little cows inside and I'll watch them," Delphi had said as he sat behind his desk.
It was amusing to watch his bond, his son, his grandson and his great grand little mech work out how to put the pen to rights according to the design plan, then do it. It was almost an IKEA demonstration video of how not to put a dresser together. They finally got it done then emptied out their carry holds of tiny cows with big optics and placid natures.
Staring down at them with great satisfaction in the pen at last, three little cows stared back at the big mechs. Hard Drive turned to Delphi. He grinned. "We'll be back so infant can walk them. They might need to drop a few things here and there."
"Not on my office floor. You'll get the detail, infants," Delphi said as he stared pointedly at his son, grandson and great little (big) mech.
They nodded. "We will," all three said then followed Hardie out the door with grins to inspect run off culverts, sewer and septic systems and the machinery that ran them.
It would be the shit.
Literally.
Delphi on the other hand would spoil three little cows and have the time of his life listening to them low at each other just like the big ones.
=0=At a shrine next to the Basilica, Autobot City, Mars
"WHO THE SHE?!"
Everyone in the place stopped what they were doing and turned around to look down near the floor. A tiny black mech glanced around, then smiled a huge smile.
Chuckles disturbed the silence a moment then Neo knelt. "The 'She' is Solus Prime. Remember? We talked about Her before we came here. Lady Sela talks about Her in class at the Temple."
Orion and the other kids stared at Neo, then each other. Orion looked up at her again. "SO-SO?!" he asked.
Neo grinned. "Inside voice, infant."
"So-So?" he asked again. "Otis has she. She So-So. Her is she?"
"You mean Solus Prime?" Neo said just to be ornery.
Orion nodded. "So-So and So-So." He looked at his tiny fat digits and counted two. Looking up at Neo, he seemed confused. "So-So and So-So. This shes," he said holding up his two little digits.
"That's right. Solus Prime is named for Solus Prime," Neo said with a grin.
Orion stared at her, then the others, then Neo again. "Quack," he said in self defense.
It would be a very amusing stopover at the Shrine for Solus Prime."
=0=N.E.S.T. HQ, Lennox's office after Morshower and the others took a bridge to Earth
"What do you think about having Cybertron that close?" Niall asked as he lounged on Lennox's office couch.
"I don't know. What's to keep a bot from coming to Earth? I don't know how many problems Prime wants but I'm glad they're going to save Cybertron from wandering," Will replied.
"He's going to have to talk to Primus to help them do this," Jessie said as she sat nearby working on a computer inputting data. "I asked Ratchet just before he went. I wanted to know what Primus would think being transferred from a place He's been that long."
"What did he say? Ratchet?" Bobby Epps asked as he read through reports in a chair by the door.
"Boo-yah," Jessie said with a smile.
=0=TBC 4-26-19
ESL:
lowing: the soft sound a cow makes when they're content or they need/want something. I love it. Usually cows don't make much noise and when they low, they can also be bummed out. I love cows. It can sound like a moo as well.
Note: A guy comes into McDonalds where I often eat breakfast and write with his five year old boy. They have a rollicking board game, discussing strategy, the guy makes his son think about stuff, then builds up the baby and teaches him that path they should have taken while being ultra positive the whole time. It's glorious. Some of the new dads these days are amazing.