The Diego Diaries: Copycat (dd8 543)
=0=Out there
Lennox checked his data. "I think that's Springer and the battle group."
"They're returning?" Bobby Epps asked as he huddled with Niall Graham around the device.
"It looks like it. It also looks like they're not coming alone," Lennox said grimly.
The ship became a burst of energy as bridge crewmen leaned into their screens to try to figure out what was heading right at them.
Prime watched without moving, his affect almost sphinx-like as the lights on the huge forward monitor became clear to see. A series of ships were flying swiftly back toward the battle group with a contingent of Seekers. They were beating the band to the protection of the fleet and as they did a strange malaise followed. It was faint but present even to the humans.
"Lord Optimus, we've accounted for the group we sent. Following them swiftly are a number of smaller ships, shuttle in configuration with a lot of armor and guns. There are three of them and they're in hot pursuit."
"Open a channel, General, broad configuration to the whole group," Prime said.
Hardie nodded to Blaster, then turned to Prime. "You are on."
Prime sat back with a coldness that was interesting to the newer humans who had only seen the warmth of Optimus and his gravitas. This was new.
"This is Optimus, the Prime of Cybertron and the Empire. You will cease to chase my ships and identify yourself. You are entering disputed territory and will require a very good reason to be here."
There was no reply from the ships giving pursuit but there was one from their commander in the seven ship configuration coming along behind.
:Optimus Prime. Explain yourself:
"I do not talk to strangers. Identify yourself, your species and your purpose for being here," Prime replied. As he did the three ships broke off and began to fly back to their fleet. "Last time. Identify yourself."
The silence stretched until the ships were near, then the voice spoke again, a deeply guttural sounding mech voice. :My name is Diston and I am from Cybertron:
"Crader's missing son," Hardie said as he stood beside Prime. "I can only imagine that we have the same thing before us. It would explain the weirdness of his ships."
Prime nodded. "Diston, you are entering protected space. You do not have permission to come here. I am demanding that you turn around and leave this place."
:I am Cybertronian, Prime. I am returning to Cybertron where I wish to find the rest of my family, friends and colleagues. Given that I'm a citizen, you'd be denying me the right of return: the voice said.
"You and your family have warrants against your arrest. If you pursue this then we shall take you into custody. You will not be permitted to return to Cybertron. The planet is not able to receive refugees and if you come to our colonial world which handles all refugees returning, you will be arrested and imprisoned immediately. You may maintain your freedom by leaving this space and not returning. There are no other options."
:Cybertron is destroyed then? Warrants aren't legal going forward then: Diston said. :You have nothing on me, Prime. I am going to go to Cybertron: Diston said.
"I have a funny feeling about this," Blaster said quietly as they watched the screen forward.
"You will be destroyed if you try," Prime said as he glanced at Hardie, held a furious off line, then turned back again.
Hardie hurried to Tactical, then linked into Communications. He bent down to work out what Prime had commanded in the deep silence of the bridge.
:I would love to have this talk continue, Prime, but I'm homesick. See you around: With that, the ships winked several times, then disappeared.
Gasps were heard as Prime rose to stand. "Take us to Cybertron, Tennyson. Everyone goes now."
Tennyson bowed, de-rezzed and with a coordination swifter than most thought possible, the entire group blinked out in a blaze of light.
Springer watched them go, then saw the bridge nearby. Calling for a configuration to leave, they entered it and it winked out as well. It was silent in the space where they were and would be probably forever.
=0=Over the Operational Center, Citadel, Greater Iacon, Cybertron, the Empire of the Primes at the same time
Ships in the local defense group that were standby in space were given orders to take up their stations against the possibility of an invasion. Bases were on standby all over the world as soldiers and airmen hurried to their stations. Everyone waited tensely, more than aware of the attack on Nova Cronum in the past. In space as well, several battleships and two titans took up station to wait.
=0=Moments later
They appeared out of nowhere outside of the orbit of Cybertron's moons. They hung in space, halted as if to look around, to check out the changes that had happened since the hell of war had made Cybertron a hornets nest of ships stinging each other to death.
Almost at the same time around them, poised at strategic points to prevent them from proceeding further toward the planet and its defenses, Prime and his battle group appeared. They flashed into place while nearby a huge space bridge opened to allow a large shuttle battle group and a cloud of Seekers to flash out to join Prime. Everyone gathered together, then it seemed as if time had halted. Everyone stared at everyone else silently over their guns and from their positions in space.
Prowl appeared at Prime's left side seemingly out of thin air as Prime sat watching the battle array on the forward monitor. All of the commanders of the Home Guard had checked in and were waiting for instructions about the intruder of which very little was known.
Prime glanced at a grim faced Prowl. "What is the word from your end?"
"Crader is considered a risk to the good order of this mission according to Rung necessitating either sparing use or none in this problem. He's a psycho who would sell us out in a moment. It was suggested that given Crader's fixation on secrecy and his mental instability, they might have a code the two share. Rung fears that Crader will give a code, Diston will act on it and Cybertron will be blown up. Rung says Crader is as messed up as anyone he's seen in some time and a nihilistic scenario like that one can't be discounted."
"I agree," Prime said. "Open a channel, Blaster."
"Open, Prime."
"Diston, this is Prime. You have transgressed my space and I am telling you to leave or be overtaken. You will not be allowed to be here out of custody."
:You play a hard game, Prime. Give me my family or allow me to look for them, then we'll go:
"You have warrants. You have disobeyed my commands. There is no guarantee that your family still exists. You will not be allowed to dictate your wants," Optimus said. "Either give up now, leave or be prepared to burn." Optimus was furious though it wasn't apparent to those who didn't know the signs.
Prime considered the situation, noting that any destruction from fighting this far out wouldn't impact Cybertron. If Diston came closer they would all be sorry. "I am giving you a quarter of a breem to make your processor up, then I will take you down, Diston. Either comply or die. Those are your options."
The tension ratcheted up on the deck as Ratchet sat down next to the human's carriers. He glanced at Hardie. :Do we take them back?:
Hardie stared at him, then glanced at Prowl. After a second, Hardie glanced at Ratchet with a tiny nod.
Ratchet leaned into the box with Lennox. "I think we're going to be taking you back now."
:We can handle it, Ratchet: Lennox said. :What's the difference between this group and any of the others?:
"Well, the ships are. This configuration is completely new. We can't chance you getting blowed up," Ratchet replied as a couple of young soldiers walked toward them to stop next to the boxes. "We can tell you tales and show the films later. Just remember the Code of the Mech. No one tells about fight club. Understand?" Ratchet asked with a grin.
The soldiers inside nodded, then a blast of light filled the room. The humans staggered from flash blindness, blinking their eyes as they struggled to see again. When they began to do so it was with spots in their field of vision.
Ratchet rose perfectly sighted like nearly everyone there due to the protection their optics had against such things. He turned toward the monitor and the forward view port listening to the conversations by the bridge crew and cross talk over the comm system.
Hardie walked to Prime from Tactical. "They're nowhere to be found, Lord Optimus," he said in his calm voice.
Prowl who was bent over a computer rose, then turned toward the two. "Its as if they slid into the next dimension. I see tachyons here."
"Get Wheeljack and Perceptor here." He glanced at Prowl. "Would your grandgenitors be helpful?"
Prowl considered that, then nodded. "They would. I'll call them to come via the Trigger. Ada is there until the mission concludes." He walked to a corner to make the call.
Nearly before they could catch a breath, the humans watched as mech after mech and two femmes strode out of the elevators to walk toward their position. A few seconds later two mechs who looked like Prowl joined them. The group gathered together along with a number of titans who were science and paradox specialists to get the word.
"We were chasing strange ships, catching them at the exodus point from the Rim where the floes slide into the ruptures in space/time. They somehow managed to bridge here … I favor slipping dimensionally, then slipped out when we stopped them. They're led by the son of Crader of Crader Transport fame, the son, Diston," Prowl said tersely.
"I know of them. Very bad actors. Had a perverse interest in technology especially that which enhanced the body and that which allowed free transport wherever they wanted to go," Shadow said as Stealth nodded. "Very bad family overall."
"We need to find them. If they can come and go trans-dimensionally then Cybertron, Mars and everywhere we are is open to target practice. They've managed to devise ships that are emergent sentient and able to transform. They are near titan size and who knows what they can actually do. Their armor is strange and if they can manufacture it to this size, armor like their own, then they're pretty much invulnerable to conventional defenses," Prowl said.
"I need chapter and verse immediately. The trans-dimensional aspect worries me greatly. Where do they go? We have some experience with several other versions of our own dimension. None of them need to deal with this. I need to find them and take them down. Even if the only option we have is to engage them until they're destroyed, we have to do it. Just putting one of them into custody took two intervention teams, all of us on the deck and me. I shudder to think what is on those ships and what the ships themselves can do. I cannot stress how time is not on our side."
The group glanced at each other, then Perceptor turned to Prime. "We will need the features of this ship and space."
"Demi," Hardie said to a big mech who was Office of the Deck. "Please give them the labs necessary and the rooms off this deck for working. They have priority over other non-vital issues and bring from Mars anything that they require. Please marshal this project yourself."
Demi nodded. "Will do, General," he said as he turned to the group. "Please follow me."
They did, walking to the big conference area down deck, one with its own elevator system and state-of-the-art equipment.
Ratchet watched them go, then noticed that Springer and Drift along with Hercy, Kup and Sideswipe were walking up deck toward them. "What can you tell me? I'm cutting Percy and 'Jack into the conversation."
"It was weird. There was this dread that came over us when we flew toward them, then it dispersed when we fell back. We watched them and recorded, then they sent three ships, smaller battle shuttles after us. They came out of a hangar door that was comparable to a titan. These aren't that class and I don't know how good they are in a fight but they were manned with guns and all was professional. You can see that they have joins that look like ours but aren't. I think these big ships can transform," Springer said. "We beat it out of there when they came after us. I could only remember Crader's body coming after his spark when they were separated."
"That was fragging weird," Ratchet replied. "I don't want to see a metrotitan-sized zombie. Ever."
"I'd like to see the can opener that can make that happen," Sideswipe said with a grim expression. "Or maybe not."
=0=TBC 10-12-2022
ESL
malaise: (may-laze) a feeling of despair and indifference. To have a downturn, to feel defeated before you start, to be depressed, to just want to give up, feeling hopeless.
Nihilist, nihilism: (nye-il-ist/izm) a nihilist is someone who believes nothing good will ever happen. The idea of that is called nihilism. Hitler was a nihilist. When he lost the war he ordered the entire destruction of Germany and Berlin as well as Paris. That is the act of nihilism, doing something like that. He believed that if they couldn't have his company with the loss of the war they needed to die, too. That is nihilism. Also the Cultural Revolution in China back when is a form of nihilism. Pol Pot was a nihilist.