The Diego Diaries: Aftermath (dd8 306)

=0=At the midway to Crater District 4

They stood together watching as Seekers dive bombed a stretch of ground ahead of them about half a mile. Workers had crawled out of the conduit hatch that was placed there to reach the terminal controls inside. They worked hard and shut them down manually before they returned to the surface to run to the next one several miles away, one that controlled that section of the pipeline that much closer to Crater District 4.

The ground erupted as the energy blasts landed, churning up the pipes below ground and unleashing a torrent of fire and burning bits of pipe into the night sky. As they watched this section with its relay go up in smoke, further down the same thing was going on. They were building a firewall, a backstop for the fury that was making its way toward them. When the fire was suffocated with foam, they would dump tons of earth onto the site to ensure that the barrier was a formidable one for what was coming down the way.

Further in the distance the lights serving the disaster at the Consulate could be seen as ships and mechs along with ground vehicles labored to settle the situation and rescue the 300+ people in the shelter below the formerly elegant but now destroyed building. The night shimmered with the flames that were burning in the distance as the energon defied the thin atmosphere and burned like napalm.

Optimus watched tensely as the experts did their jobs, those in the air and on the ground all around him. The hole that they suggested was filled with fire until a tanker dropped suppressant, the only kind that worked on energon. It fell into the fire, then it winked out as the sloshing oozing thick liquid smothered it.

Relief flooded him as he considered that the giant long hole had collapsed the tunnel where the pipeline was seated. There was no route for the fire to rush forward. Hopefully, this would be the end zone for that play.

He turned to look at District 4 in the distance, a cityscape with only emergency generated lights showing. The towering highway lights were out but in the distance there were light trucks parked at intervals to keep everyone out tonight on the road going in the right direction. It marveled him for a moment how deeply inky the night of planets like this could be.

:Prowl to Optimus:

:Prime here:

:They found the access tunnels to the shelters and the basements unobstructed so they're taking the people here at the Consulate out now:

Mountains fell off Prime's shoulders as he took that bit of news in for a moment. :That is good. Where are they being taken?:

:To Unidad. Carly said she would house them at the apartment level they use as a hotel for visitors and conventions. So far, there appear to be no injuries. They felt the shudder and heard a muffled boom but it didn't reach them at any level. The shelters are what we intended them to become: Prowl felt Prime's relief, then he felt his gratitude. He felt it filter into him as well. It was welcome. :I'm on my way:

:Hurry and be careful. The area is going up faster and faster. We have a fire break built which we believe will hold. The fires can burn between the Consulate and here without harming anyone else: He glanced around. :I will be here:

:On my way: Prowl said as he glanced at the others. "I'm going to the fire break near the District. Is this in hand?"

Red Alert glanced at him. "It is."

Prowl nodded, transformed, then sped off on the open plain toward the muted lights of Crater District 4 which was 22 miles away in a straight line.

=0=Carly

She hustled a crew of mechs and femmes, all bots who would help settled the 300 or so individuals who lived at the Consulate and the handful of visitors who were staying there for meetings. They would be pulled from the wreckage and brought here though that information was classified, hence bot crews to help.

She drove her vehicle across the Grand Concourse toward the entrance to await them while carrying on a conversation with Sam who was in The Family Tower shelter with everyone else. She didn't tell him what she was doing. She was going to keep Prime's confidence.

Behind her driving their way to the door as well, her crew followed. It would be a short wait before a bus came with a load of individuals from the Consulate. It would take meticulous work and several trips before all of them were safely inside the massive comforting shelter of Unidad Terra 1.

=0=The Family Tower shelter

The shelter where they sat was designed for the humans who lived here. It was separated from the bots but had doors which led into their portion if necessary. The bots were quietly settled, the murmur of conversation and the odd cry of a child was the only real stir. They were capable of recharging for eons if necessary so sitting here for a day or two wasn't hard for them.

It was for the tired kids of the tower and family. They sat together, the older ones chatting or reading on their data pads. School must go on after all.

The adults took care of them, chatted or slept. There wasn't a lot of activity but Will, Bobby and Niall were taking calls all along, moving into a corner to discuss classified information with any number of individuals both colonial and off world human who were updating them as allies for the shit storm to come. The three sat on a bench nearby talking quietly away from the others.

"The Consulate. We're lucky that the people are safe. The buildings are what they said they were. If that happened over us we're going to be as safe," Will said as the others nodded.

"This is going to be a real shit show on Earth," Bobby Epps said. He glanced at the people beyond noting that some were getting ready to get dinner for everyone. "We have to be on it."

They nodded and chatted together until Glenn Morshower called from Virginia for the update. They would tell him about the Consulate.

=0=Virginia

Morshower logged off his call, then sat back in his chair. He was in the office with his officers, all of them trustworthy and mission oriented. Mick Moran was at the MCA giving expert commentary for all of them. He, himself had many a phone call from all over the world including his own N.E.S.T. people and leaders of countries. It was a tense wait and when it was over there would be a lot of problems to go over.

The most infamous one would be the destruction of the Consulate.

=0=The Hu-An Habitat Embassy of the Hu-An Empire

They watched through the dome as the bots worked on the airfield removing a lot of things in short order. It was fascinating to watch them do it. They admired effort and order themselves.

Three waves had attacked them and three waves had failed. The Autobots came for the wounded and dead taking them from their domed home. It was good to see them leave. Conversations with the soldiers had filled in the blanks. There would be a lot of commiseration with the Prime when this was over. Optimus Prime would get it.

Larc and her warriors turned back to their garden home to get their people back to their lives and calm back into their hearts. It was a tough and strange interlude to fight the enemy at their doorstep in ground zero of protection here on Mars.

=0=Consulate some time earlier

Springer and Drift watched as a makeshift walkway was attached to the tunnel, then pulled downward into it to fill the space between the hatch door of the shelter and the bus which was waiting for passengers. They checked and double checked the iron tough clear tube that was pressed against the side of the tunnel to make it easier to trek through. When it was in place, when the seals at the bus and the door met approval, only then did engineers go down the tunnel to open the door.

Springer was on the horn to the people inside. "Lucy, count out 100 people, those who need to really leave. Have them make a line and when the door opens we can come inside and help you leave. Remember, your pets and other things that need atmosphere can come. Do you understand?" he asked the Consulate liaison officer, Lucy Woodbury from Wales in the UK.

:We understand, Springer. We're going to get ready now. We have about ten dogs and three cats. Oh, and we have a bird in a carry case: Lucy replied.

"Bring them. Carry them if you can. Are they on leashes?" Springer asked as the sound of the door being pulled open could be heard.

:They are. The door's open. Do we send them now?: Lucy asked.

"Wait for the mechs there to say so," Springer said as the humans began to emerge and walk through the tunnel up the steps to the bus.

They began to enter, tired and grateful until all 100 of the first group were loaded. The hatch was closed, the tunnel released and the bus drove off with escort through the bumpy country nearby, then onto the road that would take them to Unidad. They would travel through the carnage of war and the blazing fires of destruction. It would be the first time that any of them had ever been this close to such things before. It would be astonishingly education for all of them.

=0=At the Ops Center

Ratchet walked into the Residence of the Primes which was down the corridor off the officer's row in The Fortress. He entered quietly. The light came on and the graceful, achingly clean place greeted him. The walls were still festooned in the same way with pictures painted by Sunstreaker that showed haunting images of Cybertron. At the time they were made no one could guess that they'd win the planet back. It was just a dream then.

He walked through the huge living room to the formal dining room. The kitchen was spic and span so he walked to the berth rooms of the kids, not enough now given the growth of the family. Double bunks were in a couple of children's rooms and should do the trick he thought.

He continued to the big berth room Prowl and Prime shared, noted it was up to specs, then walked back to the rest of the house before heading for the door. He was here to make things nice but someone had beaten him to it. The apartment for Kes and Tagg was also warm and ready for them.

He considered the families who had found their first comfort there to help an ailing loved one recover. It was fitting that Kes and Tagg would be here. He walked to the door and left as the lights went out. All was silent once more.

=0=TBC 11-19-2021

Just a tad short. Its so damned cold outside tonight I think it froze my brain. More tomorrow including notes. HUGS!