The Diego Diaries: (dd8 290)
NOTE: Sorry about last night. I got my medications backwards and couldn't figure out why I was teetering around. LOL! I hate my life sometimes. ;) HERE WE GO! HAPPY HALLOWEEN BY THE WAY! ITS MY UNCLE'S BIRTHDAY! IF HE WERE STILL WITH US HE'D BE 111 YEARS OLD! I LOVE YOU, UNCLE BARNEY! :D:D:D:D:D
=0=Mars, later on
Prime walked to the conference room with some of his officers. The others were expected along with a few chosen civilians. It was time to take stock and he needed to relax. When he wasn't clear on his domain, it was an impossibility. He entered, walked to his place at the head of the table, then sat. Those with him and others filtered in, hurrying to take their places until everyone was there but Ratchet. He leaned back, then glanced at Prowl. "Is there an update on Avalone?"
Prowl nodded. "Avalone has been contacted, his consciousness has been and he's in connection with Banner. They were able to assess his core processor and take readings of his energy. Avalone is intact psychologically but he's deeply and highly traumatized. He's been alone since The Fall and the attack by the pirates came at a very low time in his emotional stability.
"Ratchet and Jarro are going to be purging some of it, they can somehow. They explained it and it has to do with some very strange and powerful firewalls, rather like Sunspot's treatment. The rest of it will have to do with counseling.
"His physical redemption is going to take time. There's a lot of his frame that needs repair because he dove into the planet at a 45 degree angle and bent it rather strangely, sort of fracturing it up his main frame microscopically. The majority of it can be repaired but there's going to be some of his structure removed. That's not a hard thing for us small mechs.
"It is when the individual is this big but Ratchet can do it now he says because the shipyard is so good and he has other big frame doctors he's trained that he's going to bond with Avalone mechanically. They can access his systems but not his 'soul' as Ratchet put it. Only Banner and Ratchet are linked into that part of him.
"Its going to take a long while to put him together and during that time they're going to do heavy duty counseling with Banner at hand. Ratchet said Banner is in therapy now with the big frame counselors at the Central Labor Hall office and him doing this with Avalone will help him as well. All in all, a 'doable thing' he says."
It was almost oppressively silent in the room as the fear everyone held fled along with the sort of undefinable dread that such things brought with it.
Optimus sat back with relief. "That is marvelous news. I thought we would have our first titan casualty." He glanced at Magnus. "I have not been able to catch up with you, Magnus. What is the story?"
"All is well, Optimus, overall," Ultra Magnus said. "We had a toxic site on Cybertron collapse through three levels of the planet before landing in a dry energon river bed. It was evaluated and found to be caused by detonations set long ago which went off but didn't conclude with the destruction of the causeways at Kyron Canyons in the Manganese Mountains.
"If you've never been there it was the site of one of the biggest free running energon rivers on Cybertron. The Decepticons placed a lot of manufacturing there using our people as slave labor. When they saw that the war was going to shift off world they mined all the factories and set them off before leaving.
"There was a lot of casualties among the local population but the levels held until recently when they finally collapsed. They fell down to the substrata layer some 5,000 meters below and filled in a dry river bed that was once a subterranean aquifer for raw energon from the core."
"What is the plan to reclaim this or is there one?" Prime asked. "How many dead have been located to be reclaimed as well?"
"Most of the dead were carried off by their friends and family some time ago so there isn't much so far that we've found, some few dozens of individuals who were sent to the identification center nearby. The priests have them and will officiate their funerals at the monument that was built there after the initial destruction by locals.
"Beachcomber is going through the site to evaluate the substructure and see what needs to be done to rebuild it. He's of the opinion that is has to be restored so that when Cybertron heals and energon flows again this aquifer will be useful. Its the main one in that region and would be a disaster if not rebuilt. It feeds many of the others. He said that the subterranean energon systems through the aquifers and the rivers run together in a closed circuit. Disrupt one and it affects everything."
"Give him whatever he needs, Magnus. Will the Civil Engineers do the work and make the plans?" Prime asked.
"They're there with Beachcomber," Magnus said. "Its going to take time and effort but their initial opinion is good."
Optimus looked relieved, then glanced at Raptor. "What is the situation with the Decepticon group heading through the Ruins."
"I had a chance to sit down with Hercy and do a post mission debrief for Elita. He has information on the team that leads the group and its general size." Raptor pulled a data pad free. "Sorry it took so much time."
"We've been busy and they're still stuck in the mess out there," Prowl said. "I would love to have a decaorn where the biggest problem we have is what to do with Loon."
Snickers and agreement met that as Raptor grinned at Prowl. "I can't say I don't agree. As for the team leading the battle group, do you know of a couple of phase sixers named Paladin and Serial? They have a science officer who was a protege of Jhiaxus of all individuals who is rumored to be involved with Paladin."
"Paladin," Prime mused. "That name is familiar. Do you have an image?"
"Not with me, no," Raptor said as he watched Prowl furiously search Teletraan for information. "Maybe Prowl can find something."
It took a moment, then Prowl glanced at Optimus. "I found a mech named Paladin and oddly enough, he worked two docks down from you at the shipping yards in Iacon."
"That is why its familiar. Does he match this one?" Prime asked. "What did he do after the revolution resolved into war?"
Prowl dug deeper. "It says that he was part of the insurrection as it was called then that led to the strike on the docks. There's little information until the war began when it appears that he became a member of Megatron's body guard which as we all know led to the creation of the Warrior Elites."
"Put his picture up, Prowl," Prime asked.
The image of a very big mech with a cold expression greeted them as he appeared on the screen. He was white with red accents and looked as tough as they came. His gaze was direct and challenging. His bio was the usual, low caste, working status as longshoreman due to his frame and family history, hard drinker, liked fights but also loved to read, was good at mathematics and leadership. He was smart, talented and as thwarted as anyone who ever lived in an unjust world that didn't value what he had to offer and he had a lot.
"I remember him now," Optimus said quietly. "He worked two docks down and when things backed up we would work side-by-side to help clear things for the next shipments. He was tough and smart, appraising and a thinker. He could fight, too. When the strike came he didn't hesitate to shut down his dock and join. We did not have much to say but I remember him being formidable."
"If this is the same one then we have an opponent ahead of us," Raptor said. "What about the other one, Serial?"
Prowl searched then sat back. "There are fifteen mechs named Serial that had prominent roles in the Decepticons, some of which are now noted as deceased. It could be anyone of them or someone else entirely."
"Then tell me what we can about this Lancer? It would appear that Paladin is involved with him," Prime said.
"He appears in the record as the son of a Senator who had an aptitude for science. He was a standout student at the University of Iacon and at the Sciences Academy in Praxus," Prowl said as he read the citation of Lancer in the database. "He was chosen to work with Jhiaxus when the latter heard about his genius. No one knows what they were working on but space bridges and the physics of them were his passion. Or so its noted here."
"That explains the innovations on the bridges they used," Wheeljack said. "Understand, we're developing them ourselves and should have that technology as an add-on shortly."
"That will help us keep ahead of them then," Prowl said. "They can come and go with speed. They can also bridge as a group, though how big a group that is … who knows?"
Perceptor nodded. "I agree. It could be that they have a power source on their ships that assists the bridging capability. I'm leaning toward that as a possibility. When the ships energized for bridging, then they can theoretically bridge entire groups at a time with speed and accuracy."
It was silent a moment as they digested that potentiality, then Prowl glanced at Prime. "I'll contact all of our bases and Deep Space Command to watch for anything out of the ordinary."
Prime nodded. "I would like to believe that this is speculation and not reality."
"You and me as well," Hardie said as he sat in his chair pondering the awful possibilities as well.
"Put the system and Cybertron on a Level III alert status. Just 'need to know' for civil and military commands. No one should be made insecure because we do not have this sorted out to the last possibility," Prime said as Prowl sent the message. "I want the command team to go to the sub center and work out a plan should they come to cover as many contingencies as can be conjectured."
Prowl kept writing madly.
=0=Saturn Shipyard
Ratchet walked to Banner, then rested his servo on his broad shoulder. He glanced up. "Banner, we have all we need to know. We're going to get on the rebuild. What's his state? What's he showing you?"
"He's calm. He understands he's here and safe but he wants me with him. I'm going to stay here until this is done," Banner said. "I can't leave him alone."
"We couldn't imagine you doing so. We're going to bring food to you. When you need to stretch or move to do something then he won't be aware that you do because of this," Ratchet said as he held up a small plug-in that he then slotted into Banner's neck port on the right side. "You can retrieve your cords."
Banner relaxed then pulled the plugs. He was silent a moment then glanced at Ratchet. "He didn't notice the changeover. Thank you, Doctor. I need to move a little." He rose, stretched, then walked to the windows to stare at the work going on outside.
Ratchet walked to him, then paused beside him. "He's still calm?"
"He is. He's recharging normally," Banner said. "He was in stasis a long time. This is the first recharge he's had in ages." Banner turned slightly to stare at Ratchet. "He will be okay won't he? He's awfully fun. He's such a good mech."
"Isn't that the nature state of your frame? I know you were never thanked for getting millions of our people away. You saved our species with your selflessness. You're good and kind. There's nothing about you and your kind that's base or unworthy.
"Avalone was being who you all are, a good mech with a great spark." Ratchet squeezed Banner's servo. "I do believe he's going to be fine when we finish putting him together. It's my hope then that he can adopt pretender gear and be able to live with you in Iacon. He can attend counseling with you at the Big Frame Center."
"That's my hope. I want to show him everything. We never got to see life at the street level. Its so amazing, Ratchet, to be able to walk around and see the people's happiness, it means everything to me. I know that Avi will love it, too. To go to restaurants and games … to book stores and the library … it will be so wonderful to watch his joy."
Ratchet hugged Banner around the waist. "All of us will feel it, too."
=0=Fort Borderlands
Thundercracker walked into the Operational Center in the big and wonderfully appointed base that was his kingdom. Carrying a big covered 'playpen' which held his little brown dog, Buster and his toys, he sat at the command table placing Buster's environmental home away from home on the surface. He grinned at his dog then picked up the situation status report data pad that outlined his domain. He began to read through it with contentment.
It was good to be king.
Until it wasn't.
=0=TBC 10-29-2021
Finally added the Prime-Paladin connection but heavily edited. It pays to put the little bits in at the right place. LOL! HUGS!
