The Diego Diaries: (dd8 289)
I almost didn't post this. I took a pain pill for ouchies and its kicking my backside. You're family to me, you readers. We've been at this for nearly 11 years on November 2nd and I love you like my kids. Take care and know that. -Me
=0=Mars
It was getting on toward evening when Owen Harris met his son for dinner. They were at a cafe in Unidad that had opened the year before and served great steaks. Owen arrived first and got a booth in the back. It would be the dinner rush soon and he wanted a place to sit and relax from the shit show of the day.
Rick walked in, found him, then sat in the booth.
The waitress who was the mother-in-law of the owners took their order, brought their beer, then left them alone.
Rick sat back, staring at his father with an appraising expression. "You look grim. What's the rumors say?"
Owen sipped his beer, then sat back to stare at his son. "The rumors say I'm over."
"I don't believe that. You and Prime are in a private dance of doom. He wouldn't kick you out permanently. He wants you where he can see you and I don't blame him all things being equal," Rick replied. He grinned. "You must never underestimate him. He's lived more than ten times longer than we've been a species."
Owen smirked slightly at his son. "I had hoped that you would notice that I don't do that."
"Maybe," Rick replied. "What's going to happen with the mercs? Are they history or what?"
"I don't know," Owen said. "I've grown rather fond of them." He smirked again. "A joke. I find them therapeutic at the moment."
"Cindy is the boss now. I hear she was totally taken by surprise by the appointment. Knowing her, I think she'll ace it," Rick said as the waitress brought their meals. She set them down, asked after their needs, then left them to eat. After a moment of getting organized Rick considered his father. "What will you do if you're expelled?"
"I don't think that far ahead," Owen said. "I like it here and this is my baby no matter what you think about that. We've made lots of breakthroughs. I'm proud of the effort and the facility. Its the most fun I've ever had doing anything. And its good for Rain. Did you know she was given a certificate of merit for her last semester with Prime's signature upon it?"
Rick nodded. "She's doing great. I'll tell you what. If you get expelled she can live with me."
Owen glanced at his son, then grinned in spite of himself. "I'm deeply touched by your support."
Rick snickered. "I think you should be," he said.
They would have a surprisingly delightful dinner.
=0=E2
Mariah Harris-Davis paced in her apartment living room. The news had hit her like a low flying missile. She had no idea of the business side of her husband, Kyle nor had she when she was married to Owen. It was nothing she was interested in. She liked the money but that was their game, not hers.
Mariah Harris-Davis was interested in the high life, flying to fancy places, doing fancy things, everything that was fancy from clothes to prep schools for her children. She had tons of friends and was considered a good one. She liked the social life, something her husbands, both of them were more ambivalent about. They would go and usually have a great time but it wasn't their first choice of pastime.
Now all of her carefully and heavily toil-filled labors here were in the wind because of Kyle's devious behavior. She was part of the Autobot City Auxiliary at last, a member of the Ladies Golf Society, rode horses regularly now that the saddle herd was growing leaps and bounds at Unidad, was active in the arts and did what she could to blend in with the social whirl that was built around The Family Tower.
She was actually starting to be welcome even by the hard cores like the Judys, Linda Graham, Barbara Morshower and Sarah Lennox. She was even having conversations with Olivia Bowers about the philosophies and social groups built around the religions that were so prominent and powerful here. The life with the women who oddly ruled the social scene was amusing, easier than the calcified crap on Earth and fun. She was actually enjoying herself and finding a sense of solidarity with the place, people and some of the local bots.
She led the Ladies Group here at E2 that included but was not limited to Cassie Daniels, Allison Beliveau, Annie Cutter, Sandra Galloway, Mariah Davis and Bridgette Baudin. The wives of the other billionaires including Clare Hilliard-Barnard were also among her circle but not as close as the others. These women were mostly second and third wives, younger and there was less common ground.
She liked her life.
Now? Things were fucked.
She glanced at Kyle who was reading the news feeds from Earth on a handheld. "What are we going to do, Kyle? I love it here. I worked my ass to the bone to get this far into the life here and this happened. What the hell did you do?"
"I made us a fortune, Mariah. I don't remember you asking how before now," Kyle said with a frown. "We're not going to fall apart are we?"
"I'm furious," Mariah replied. "Do they think I had anything to do about it?"
"How should I know? My legal team is working on it on Earth. Maybe we can pay a fine or something."
Mariah glared at him, then folded her arms over her chest. "I tell you now, Kyle Davis … I'm not leaving here. Get that part straight. This is here I draw my line. My daughter is thriving and so am I."
Kyle leaned back. He stared at his wife. "I don't intend to leave here, Mariah. They'll have to drag me out in chains."
"I don't think that's going to be a problem for Optimus Prime," she said smirking in spite of herself.
Kyle on the other hand said nothing.
=0=Out there
They cleared the energy barrier then picked up speed. Heading toward more open space Paladin and his team began to plan what they'd do. It was clear that the pickings were good where Prime was holed up. There was energon free floating in the system. The data that had been handed to him by Cord was partly damaged and some of it had been compromised. The big mech had told Paladin that it was hammered during the fight and flight.
What had been left was deeply intriguing.
Prime was in a solar system reasonably off the beaten path that circled a good sized yellow star. There were nine planets most of which had moons and one of them held Prime's colony. It was according to the data a military base overrun with civilians. It wasn't a large one but it was functional and well run. There was a large force of soldiers, perhaps five thousand and a number of ships that were mostly battle shuttles like he, himself fielded.
Cord had told him that he saw an ark and maybe a couple of battleships that functioned as orbiting platforms ready to deploy against invaders. There were dishes here and there around the system but nothing too big to get information fast to the base.
It was a large enough base built on a dusty planet that held no real atmosphere nor oceans. It was a dead world where they dug in, building habitations for the refugees that came to him because of the calls. It was bursting with them, the flotsam and jetsam of their planetary debacle, something that would be problematic for a mech to defend. If they played their cards right a threat to them might turn the tide of any battle engaged.
Cord had told of energon chunks the size of houses floating in the system, a place that was filled with it for the taking. Samples of the energon that they'd scooped up were tested by his scientists and were found to be an astonishing Class A and A+ in quality. He'd sat a long time pondering that, the biggest motivational factor for him to invade the system and take it from Prime.
He considered his own fleet, a big thing filled with massive ships, seasoned warriors and the ability to bridge here and there with little to no effort. Their science teams had spent a lot of time getting things ready for them to defect. All of their tech had been modified to his specifications. He wanted the ability for his fleet to bridge far enough away from their bases to be out of the reach of anyone following.
It worked.
He sat pondering the ideas in his helm as all around him his crew worked diligently and well. It was a nice thing to be captain of his armada and have a goal in mind. Optimus Prime was going to be his.
They rolled on through the darkness of space closing the gap up the Orion Arm toward a small solar system circling a beautiful star where the last Prime of Cybertron held fast to his kingdom.
=0=Ratchet
They sat in the conference room going over the data that they'd pulled together from Avalone. That mech was deeply interacting with Banner who sat on his command chair plugged into his personality at the deepest level possible. It was private and even intimate but it was the only step they'd taken to get past Avalone's heightened state of despair to the mech underneath that had worked.
"What we have here is a mech who's deeply depleted and traumatized over the longest period of time I've ever discovered in a patient," Jarro said as Rung nodded.
Around the room titans sat or stood, leaning on the wall as they listened. It was a family problem before them and they'd called in two other titans from Cybertron who were experts in processors for their frame, Curry and Barrier.
"The bond was the problem for Avalone and Banner. They were together so long and the parting was so traumatic. I remember when they left on that last run. We were pursued out there and most of us had to flee," Barrier said. He was as old as they were and had developed a deep interest in the personalities of their frame and how to help them. It was evident to him and everyone else that the big frames had led terrible lives. "They were almost inspirational in their happiness."
The titans around the room nodded, something that appealed to Ratchet's own streak of romance. These mechs were close, even more close than normal. Being a titan or dread, having that bond with the Matrix Bearer, being hunted for tech over eons of time, all of it had built into them a sense of unity and respect for each other that only tightly knit families could muster. It was pleasant for Ratchet to be in their energy.
"We feel that with counseling and a full rebuild of his frame back to optimal that he's going to be alright in the long run. Banner will be absolutely key to this. I have him as a patient and share counseling duties with Amity," Rung said. "He's come a long way though the barrier for him was always finding Avalone. He always said he felt him through their bond link but it was muted. Now we know why."
"The data says that he's been in stasis in hiding on a planet since The Fall. Its only been three hundred years, just over three and a half vorns since he crashed while being hunted by pirates. Its a mercy that the mechs having to pillage him were from Upper Tetrahex and worshiped them," Ratchet said. "They were so afraid to hurt or exploit him further."
Rung nodded. "I think that we can start therapy here with Banner and when Avalone's rebuilt and physically himself we can then work out what to do next." He glanced at Metroplex. "Banner is part of the big new titan center, Elevens. What about Avalone? Will he be seated there?"
"That's the plan," Metroplex replied. "Banner asked to be put on the end of the development next to open space. He asked that for Avalone when he came. He never believed he wouldn't."
Rung nodded. "We have two traumatized mechs, one of them deeply. Its going to take time but I think leaving him here at the shipyard until we get a bit into his therapy will be better than seating him and having him open to others. I don't want him unnerved by strangers walking around."
"I agree," Barrier said. "This is going to take time but I hope that he can end up with Banner at his home in Iacon. Pretender gear is a bit down the road unless he surprises us. I don't want to miss any of the steps here."
Everyone agreed as well. It would take a while for Avalone and Banner to have their lives back. They would make their way in the cocoon of their family.
=0=Out there
He stood by a window planning what he would do, considering it as they inched their way forward. Sensors had told them that a huge space station was in the sector, one that was busy with commerce and ship traffic. He didn't know who it belonged to but he marked it on his charts to overtake when he smashed Prime. It would be a good acquisition all in all.
The armada moved onward up the Arm, heading for the Sol System and an encounter with Optimus Prime.
=0=TBC 10-29-2021
ESL
ambivalent: (am-biv-uh-lent) Not sure about. You don't have a strong feeling for, interest in, desire to do. Unsure about things.
