The Diego Diaries: Aftermath (dd8 300)

=0=Paladin

He sat on his throne with an irate blaze in his spark but iron control of his battle group. They were making their way upward to the height that would be needed to bridge away. The order went out and with Seekers and Autobot fighters blasting them without mercy, the group blazed with light, then disappeared.

Flying through the space where they were before leaving, the ships and fighters there flooded the control centers with the information. Coming over the horizon nearby, the fleet with Prime appeared. The fighters flew toward it as the Seekers descended to help on the ground.

=0=As the fleet left

A cruiser careened into the ground exploding upon impact. It had been the first slammed by the titans and had begun to die even as the escape pods burst into sight. The explosion had taken out an energon routing station which burst into a fireball. It would burn even in the atmosphere due to the intensity of the heat and the flow of energon.

Another ship careened down with pieces streaking behind them as it aimed for the gates of the Industrial Park Cities. Escape pods were released as it struck the ground and slid for about a half mile before erupting into a near confetti shower of bits and pieces. Lying in a rut behind it was a demolished communications router system for IntraCom and an electrical plant that furnished the Crater Districts with power.

The grid fluctuated, then a large swath of the colony went dark all at once as the sun began to disappear behind the dome of Olympus Mons. Soon for more than half the colony, the deep inky Martian night would rule.

=0=Overhead

The group flying with dispatch to the colony arrived after passing Ceres at top speed. They fell into orbit training their guns at the colony to being support right away. They arrived in time to see Paladin and his group, nearly all of it flash away in a burst of light.

"Hercy to Prime."

:Prime here:

"Command us, Optimus. We're here," Hercy replied with genuine anger in his voice as the damage to the colony could be clear even from where they were.

:Stand by, Commander: Optimus replied.

Lon and Bezel stared out the window of the ship as they held in space. Darkened places, trails of smoke and damage apparent even from space had muted everyone on board.

Bezel slipped his arm around Lon's shoulders as they stared downward toward home. This had happened and they weren't here to help. It was a deeply somber group on board.

=0=On the Plain

They fought madly, the fighters that were left and who couldn't flee to space. They had nowhere to go because their mother ships were gone. Flying toward the cities spread out all around, they were followed hotly by Autobot fighters and Seekers. They would disappear into the cityscape together.

Escape pods had proliferated as the ships that were mortally wounded began to fall from the sky. They landed, rolled, then stopped. Mechs and the odd femme inside scrambled out with guns pointing up but well placed shots by Seekers cooled their jets swiftly. As they dropped their weapons and gathered together, hordes of Autobots roared toward them with air cover. They'd give up rather easily to the Prime's forces.

=0=At the Autobot City Military Airfield

They fought hand-to-hand in brutal warfare, the remaining Decepticons and Special Operations which included the Dinobots. Roaring through the ships and commercial sector of the area, they shot at, stabbed and burned their way through the resistance. When things were a bad as they could be, when the Decepticons realized they wouldn't be leaving, they began to give up.

Winnie and her combat teams would be busy taking them into custody.

=0=Under the tower

Will Lennox listened to Jazz explain to him what was going on. The 'Cons had left, the remaining forces had just returned, mopping up was going on and it would appear that the damage to the colony was considerable, if not mortal. When Jazz clicked off he sat back on the couch with an intense sense of violation and rage.

"What did Jazz say?" Jonathan Lennox asked his son. "That is … if you can tell us."

Everyone around him paused their conversations and turned toward him. He stared at them, these people who were his neighbors and in the end ultimately as family to him as anyone else. "Jazz just said the tide is turned."

Relief like a wave flowed through and over them as they absorbed the news, then Niall glanced at Will. "There's a lot of destruction. Right? What about deaths? Is anyone hurt?"

"He doesn't know just yet. They wrecked the place pretty well. There's ships shot down, fighters crashed into buildings and they entered to thrash a number of places. They were surprised at the colony so whoever handled their scan data must have screwed up or wanted to leave. Either way, no one knows. The titans thrashed them and they left.

"The worst part is that a ship was shot and careened out of control. It took out the top four floors of Prime's building. He and his genitors, none of them have a home to go to."

"Oh no," Thelma Lennox said as a murmur of surprise and sadness swept the group. "They won't have a home. All of their family things … they're gone. This is so wrong."

"Damn," Bobby Epps said. "My kids liked to go there and play with the train set up. It was huge."

"Poor Optimus," Sheila Conroy murmured. "He's such a good guy."

=0=Prime

He sat on his throne watching the plan roll forward. He was aware of the damage and he knew his house was history. The best home his genitors ever had was destroyed as well. It sat very heavy on his spark, the loss of things that had accumulated over the years of their life here. He had come to love and depend upon his home for the comfort and privacy it gave to him.

He glanced at Prowl who he knew was aware as well. He looked grim but composed, doing his job to the highest degree possible. He turned back to the screen and monitored the situation. It was going to be door-to-door street level fighting to get those who were still loose or had escape podded out of their ship.

It was the thing he didn't want.

=0=Emergency Command Center, Sub Basement Command Center, Fortress Maximus, Autobot City, Mars

Inferno stared at the colonial grid map before him. He was assessing the problem of crashed ships both inside the urban areas and the plain. A good fifth of the colony at the moment was off the grid having lost power due to ships crashing on important equipment.

At the moment Seekers were strafing with fire suppressant the four ships that had crashed, two cruisers, a battle shuttle and a fully loaded fuel ship that was burning like the core of the sun. Around the colony, there were fires from fighters crashing into buildings further shorting out the grids for those areas but also 'Cons were on foot and many weren't surrendering.

He'd sent Gee-Gee a message that 'Cons were surrendering on the plain after landing their escape pods. A number of them managed to fly them to Terra, Pax and Seven Cities West before disappearing into the darkness. She had come with her prison runabouts, heavily armed small ships that could go to a place, pick up prisoners and fly back to the prison's airport.

This group would go to the big prison fifty miles from the city and be placed in a very high security lockup made just for events like this. It would take a lot of flights to clear the plain but those who were still loose in the city were yet to be gathered. Winner and Roadbuster would help with that process even as Gee-Gee sorted the wheat from the chaff.

There would be very little wheat to be had.

=0=Down there

He ran along the street with an armed group, a few soldier-doctors and stretcher bearers. Directed to pickups of wounded, Ratchet and his team did what they did, hustled their fannies to the places where they were needed. Holding overhead now that most of the troubles were over, medical support runabouts waited to be called to the street to pick up, then leave with the wounded.

A fighter had shot it out with ground troops and landed in the second story window of a commercial building here in the downtown of Terra. They were going to see if the single 'Con pilot was alive. They'd just gone through the rubble of the Sparkling School 'just in case', then hustled onward to this scene, one in the neighborhoods of the city.

They saw smoke, then turned a corner noting a fighter crashed in the intersection ahead. It had crashed against an apartment window, was rebuffed from the intensity of the 'glass', then fell to skid along the street. It was still and broken.

Ratchet subbed his gun, then approached. A dazed looking pilot was inside. He glanced at his team. "I'll get him out. Have a gun on him and the rest of you stay back in case he comes up swinging."

Ratchet approached, then tapped the mech with his gun. The mech didn't respond coherently so Ratchet scanned him. It was safe to drag him out so Ratchet did, gently pulling the slagger out, then down to the street. Stepping back, he let his doctors do the work as he stared upward at the darkening sky.

The sound of fighting was still clear in the thin air so he stood over the scene with his gun guarding the effort. In moments, the 'Con would be gone, his busted ass ship markered with a buoy, then they'd be on their way to the next scene. It would last for hours.

=0=Morbius, City Seven of Seven Cities-West

They had a running gun battle through the dark streets in hot pursuit of a small group of Decepticons. Shots had been fired and returned by both sides as they hustled toward the edge of the city. Beyond was the wide opened and now slightly pockmarked highway that led toward the huge roundabout that could go just about any direction from back to Terra to Aerie Hill and the Monastery. That it led to the Resort also wasn't lost on anyone.

The 'Cons would make it to the highway and head toward the Monastery and Resort Road as fast as they could go. Not one of them had the slightest idea where they were going but they went there as fast as they could.

=0=Earth2

They sat in the shelters waiting out the mess overhead. It had been a while since the intruders were taken out of action, to what degree however was still to be determined. It was a series of heavy bodies hitting the floor that led those hiding to feel better about life. The bodies were dragged away, then the sound of things being moved above and shifting was heard.

"What's going on do you believe?" Hamilton Brown asked Andre Beliveau in a soft voice.

"I don't really know but since this their facility it could be that its a mechanism like Unidad which is built on the frames of two titans," he replied. "It could be that the facility is fixing itself."

It was deeply silent a moment, then Hamilton Brown leaned closer to Pierre. "If that's true then we've never had a private moment since we moved in. Right?"

Perry who was feeling a bit queasy himself shrugged slightly. "If its true then yes. If not, then who knows?"

Hamilton Brown wouldn't.

Nearby sitting with a heavy duty gun as he guarded the door, Jim Johnson listened to the battle topside, then the silence after a number of falls. He could imagine what had happened, that the titans had taken out the intruders. He could imagine it even as he was glad he wasn't there to do it himself. It would be debatable if he could walk away from the encounter. He wouldn't be telling anyone anytime soon his thoughts on the matter.

=0=TBC 11-11-2021

ESL:

Separating wheat from chaff-the chaff covers the wheat seeds and most be threshed or beaten to separate them. Its an old expression that means separating the good from the useless or bad.