The Diego Diaries: Copycat (dd8 544)
=0=Mars at the Medical Center in the highest tech examination room in the known universe
They mulled over the data. Turquoise waited to do more from the chair in front of the big data driver computer mostly used by code readers like himself. Ratchet and Stealth stared at the monitor with the diagrams and text that Turquoise had pulled up.
"It would appear that someone has gotten technology and/or data from inter-dimensional beings. This would explain their ability to pass through dimensional barriers. We have a theory, Shadow and I, about this but they somehow managed to get their hands on forbidden tech. There is nothing about this arrangement that is considered ethical or even legal," Stealth said. "All of this is forbidden under the Tyrest Treaties and all the agreements that we had before The Fall."
Ratchet nodded. "I can imagine that this is going to be of interest to you and Shadow for your project then."
Stealth nodded. "It would help immensely."
"Then I'll write a brief to Prime and you can plead your case before the Peer Committee that handles and sorts out requests. Because this is top secret it will be a closed hearing. I can speak for you after I read your request. I think I know where this can go for you."
"That would be most helpful. I will present it to you, then file it with the committee. Right now, we have to determine how the technology they carry works, how it can be removed and what kind of individual gave it to them. I believe this is trans-dimensional, perhaps the lowest form of it those who created it would give an alien who wanted it, something rudimentary but functional to their purposes," Stealth speculated. "Something they could afford a beginner to have."
"It makes you wonder what that being could want that Jhiaxus could give to them in trade. Or maybe its just Crader and his party," Ratchet said.
"Its shocking," Stealth replied. He glanced at Ratchet with his enigmatic level gaze. "We can trace backward from the processor to whatever they bear that creates their feature. Or is that impossible?"
Ratchet looked at the charts, then Turquoise. "I can call out data, Turquoise. Match it against normal and the moment we hit an anomaly we have a place to start."
Turquoise nodded, then prepared the data stream to begin. Ratchet holding a datapad with the schematic of both femmes began. It would take a while. It had to be done by hand it was so hard to program for to find any other way with the greatest of accuracy. Stealth would listen, mark down oddities and begin to build the picture that would take them to the modality that was the cause of all their problems.
=0=Tennyson
They appeared out of nowhere, four giant flashes of light that signaled the arrival of titanic ships. Radical Wind was there and with him was Parabolus whose enormous body constituted Earth2 back on Mars. He was going to be the 'sounder', that is the one who would sit at sensors on Radical Wind to listen to the echos that the ships would send and as they struck an object he would with data 'build it' on screen. Eventually they would find the ships. The titans with this feature, peerless sensors combined with implacable will, were relentless in pursuit.
It was how they found and punished pirates and other hunters.
Three other mechs in pretender gear materialized on Tennyson's deck with Radical Wind and Parabolus, then walked to Prime. They bowed. "I am Dancer, this is Sapper and this is Bandy," Dancer said as he introduced a mech he considered his brother. They were created at the same time and were used as science vessels mapping deep space, thus their sensors and communications equipment which was stellar and incredible. "Command us, Prime," he said as they bowed again.
Sapper was taller than them but denser. He looked like a communications oriented mech, some of which like Blaster were easy to peg.
Watching from the 'Gerbil Cage' as most everyone called it now, the humans noted the size and design of the mechs. They were ungodly tall, long limned, powerful in a way that was hard to describe and bore the impression of great age. They were mostly white with red or blue, the usual coloration but all three bore green visors. They were handsome in manner and figure with tall red antennas framing their intelligent faces.
Prime rose from the command chair, greeted them in the warrior way, then all of them, Tennyson and Radical Wind included walked to the door of the conference room again.
"Those are metrotitans, right?" a soldier from Spain asked.
Niall nodded. "All of them are metrotitans but for Parabolus who is dreadnought class."
"How can you tell them apart from the dreadnoughts?" he asked again.
"Their tattoos. Each service and each kind of bot has their own sigil. They wear the military and faction tats boldly. The personal stuff is smaller and sometimes its not readily in sight," Niall explained.
"They have a lot of tattoos," a young soldier from Belarus said.
"Did you see the gold lines that went around their lower arm?" Bobby Epps asked.
Everyone of the newbies nodded.
"Those are kills. A gold kill is a battleship. Silver is a cruiser, red is a battle shuttle. Most of them didn't keep score until The Fall. They were there for everyone through their service to the Prime. Then the warriors among them had to defend their frame from pirates and other criminals including the 'Cons. It got personal. They began to keep score and some of them had competitions," Epps said as Lennox and Graham nodded.
"Who's the winner? Or maybe, whose ahead? I imagine its still going on, right?" the Spanish soldier asked.
"Actually, no. During the last Festival of Primus it was told to us that The One and Primus removed all of them dead or alive to the hiding space they use where no one can get to them but another titan. All of them are safe, all of them," Graham said.
"Dead ones, too?" the Spanish soldier asked.
Will Lennox nodded. "They had to and it was the decent thing to do." He glanced at the newbies. "The way you can find them is through their sparks. Even if they're dead they still use the corpse to track others. Even when they're dead they're dessicrated because they're all bound together by spark. Its hard to express the offense to The People that this is so. No one but for Prime and the Pantheon is considered more holy than the titan class mechs and femmes. I don't think even the priests and priestesses are and they're in a class by themselves."
"As for who's ahead?" Graham asked. He grinned. "Its a tie between Hammer of Primus for the titans and Parabolus for the dreads."
=0=Mars
He held the skull plate of Denita in his hands. Shining a light on the inside surface it reflected oddly back. "Here we go." He walked to the door and left to go to the mass spectrometer to find out what he was holding, though he had an idea. After a scan and the data organized, he walked back inside to place the plate gently on the berth. He looked at the others. "We found the alien tech, the part that amplifies their desires if you will."
"What about the device that powers this?" Stealth asked as he stared at the plate and its oddly shiny inner sanctum.
"That's the weird part. There is no power source. Do you remember what Traachon said to us? The expression that Jhiaxus said?" He glanced at the silent femme, then Stealth and Turquoise. "He said if you can think it you can do it."
They both nodded, then Stealth shifted to look at Ratchet directly. "Are you telling me that they don't have a device that powers them up. All it takes is thinking about it, then you go?"
Ratchet nodded. "What's the most powerful mechanism of any individual's body? Their mind or processor. Humans have no idea how powerful their brains are or how connected beyond their bodies they are. They don't understand that the brain is a computer and amplilier and that the essense of themselves, their 'brain' and all their individuality exists outside and around their bodies in their auric field with their consciousness.
"They believe that it stays in your head inside your brain all stored up. They think its a miracle that they still have memories when they have strokes or other damage. They don't know that the important stuff exists outside the body with their consciousness or they wouldn't have those memories if the brain could be damaged like that. This substance here," he said pointing to the unnatural shine on the head plate, "its key."
They would spend the next two joors working out their theory, what the substance was, partially, then book it to Tennyson to tell Prime.
=0=On the deck of Radical Wind
They gathered from two dimensions, that of Optimus and of Megatronus. They would be using the ships brought forward by Prime and the idea of them was astonishing to the mechs who in another dimension would strike dread as well as dead anything and/or anyone in their way.
Black Shadow trailed by Blue Bacchus walked toward Raptor and Hard Drive who would be running the show with the ships. Hard Drive had overall command of the mission with his counterpart alternative universe Heretech of all mechs. They were gathered by the window going over a map of what was known on a monitor there.
Following Black Shadow and Blue Bacchus came Sixshot, Killmaster and Tarn. The idea that this many mechs were here, albeit friendlies was disconcerting enough but Tarn was downright eerie. Both sides were feeling it, too. The five walked to the command desk where Prowl was standing with his AU counterpart.
"Gentlemen," Prowl said. "Welcome aboard the metrotitan, Radical Wind."
"Thank you, Commander," Black Shadow said to Prowl, then he nodded to his own. That worthy nodded back. "How are we going to differentiate you two? I don't see our counterparts about."
"They're in jail, some of them and the rest high security stasis," Prowl said. "It is slightly out of kilter to see you but we are on the same side." He glanced at his AU counterpart. "Correct?"
That mech glanced at Prowl, then nodded. "It is so."
Prowl glanced back at Black Shadow. "You may call me Prowler."
"Thank you. The least amount of confusion the better."
"Then maybe I need to leave," a voice said behind them.
All of them turned to stare at Ratchet, Stealth and Turquoise who were standing behind the group.
"Trouble has arrived," Prowl aka Prowler said with a slight grin.
"For once I don't think he's speaking of me," another voice said as Springer and Drift along with the usual posse caught up to the entire group.
They all halted, stared at the big mechs who were staring at them, then Drift grinned. "This is going to be interesting, I can see."
Blue Bacchus who was not known for humor grinned back. "I hope so," he said. "Where is my doppelganger?"
"Prison," Springer said. "I have a video of when we all decided to join him in his cell that time."
The mechs with Springer laughed as Blue Bacchus glanced at Black Shadow. "I hope this works out."
"You and me both," Black Shadow said.
"What fresh hell did you bring?" Prowler asked Ratchet.
"Maybe the way the two femmes managed to go between dimensions, albeit the closest ones to them," Ratchet said with a gorgeous smile.
Everyone stared at it a moment, then Prowl glanced at Prime, Radical Wind, Heretech and Megatronus standing nearby. He off lined the information, then the four walked to the group.
"Shall we discuss this in the conference room?" Prime asked.
Everyone would follow him and Megatronus to the room where the door would close behind them.
=0=Not that far away as the cyber crow flies
They flew swiftly into a nebula that was pulsating with relatively new signal emissions that began to meddle with their sensors as they moved further inside. They'd passed a planet inhabited by organic humanoids that looked thrashed. There were Cybertronian signals there, some communication and others beacons warning anyone passing by from coming there. It was evident to Disson that there was a catastrophic battle there that may have included Cybertronians.
They flew into the nebula which was going to be good cover until they could scope out the dimension they occupied, who were the local yokels and what to do about it. If this looked promising they would stay here and build their empire. When they were strong enough they would venture back to their own plane and give Prime a run for his shanix. A run straight to the Pit.
They flew onward until they disappeared from sensors and sight. Disson and his people had found shelter.
=0=TBC 10-25-2022 edited 10-27-2022
The information about titans is canon concerning their sparks dead or alive.
Peg: Spot, see, figure out.
