The Diego Diaries: Explanation to the Nation(s) (dd8 323)

(The colony has a population of just under 260,000,000. The United States has a population of 331,000,000 people while the European Union has a population of 447,000,000. Imagine trying to put that many people into a shelter in short order. The bots work at it and they have the fresh memories of war to assist them along. I would love to see this colony made into a three dimensional map. LOL! Hugs!)

=0=UN, NYC, NY, USA, Earth

"The intruders began to attack the colony landing ships on the Military Airfield in the city center of Autobot City. They also began to expand out dropping soldiers to investigate and subdue different areas of the colony. Fighters flew from their mother ships and were engaged nearly immediately by Seeker squadrons and our own fighter ships.

"During this time they recognized the Triggers and rightly deduced that they had to be taken down to prevent Prime and the defense forces from bridging back to Mars. Many made it through and engaged the enemy immediately including Prime and most of the senior staff but the rest were cut off when the last Trigger began to fall to the ground and had to close the aperture. Both of them did blazing flames behind them and crashed into the desert north of Autobot City. No one was hurt as all of them bailed when they were sure that neither would crash on the cities.

"The street fighting was ferocious and a lot of our casualties came from that, though mercifully no one was killed. Some of our soldiers and Seekers won't be fighting anymore but they'll recover from their wounds. The worst of it was in the Autobot City downtown district and that of Terra. There are few buildings directly around the airfield that didn't get some damage from the fighting including the total destruction of the restaurant, The Pit Stop and some of our municipal building taking fire.

"The jail population was underground along with the prisons so that danger, that prisoners might be set free to run amok was unavailable to the invaders. All of our population itself overall, more than 259,000,000 individuals including over 100,000 humans both on world and on the Prima Station. It was a mammoth undertaking to move that many to the shelters that are everywhere but it was done and we're very proud of everyone to do that so swiftly and well. One less worry for us at the time.

"IntraCom was hit and so was our downtown business sector to greater and smaller degree. The Fortress was immediately sieged. Senior Commander Alor of Iacon was running the defense of the colony inside the doors of that building while it was under attack from two directions. They didn't breach the doors. They were designed to prevent that and did their job admirably.

"In the initial fighting a battle shuttle from the enemy armada was mortally wounded over the airfield and swerved out of control. In its dive to cash into the parkland that was part of the Mare Tranquilitatis Housing District, it clipped the top off the building where I live taking the top four floors with it. The housing there included not only The Residence of the Primes where Optimus Prime and his family live but the apartment of his parents who live just below them on the 49th floor. All of us are living elsewhere until the building is sounded and rebuilt. Its hard to tell you what its like to be a lifelong refugee, have a home, accumulate mementos of your new life and lose it all in the blink of an eye.

"While this was happening, Prime was directing the defense of the entire colony from a ship in orbit over the planet. Battle shuttles and fighters were launched to combat in the air while special operations troops, marines and army units under the command of the femme commando squad led by Elita-1 and Jetta of Iacon with the able assistance of Ultra Magnus, our city and empire general manager fought in the cities and neighborhoods.

"A shuttle made its way to Terra and in the fighting was shot down. It hit the main street of the city and slid hard into Sparkling Day School, our public school number one. It destabilized the building which is currently being repaired. Two of my own children attend there. An entire city block was damaged to varying degrees nearby. It destroyed a very beloved commercial business owned by the Circle of Light called Full Circle. It was an educational, art and community center for the city and our colony. Destroyed in the fire were works of art that took decades to make including the tapestries our weavers

spend years creating on looms.

"Antiques on display there were spared by being placed in the vault overnight against just such a thing happening but three looms, one of them dating from the first age, the time of the Quintessan Tyranny was burned and lost. Its hard to calculate the grief that act of vandalism has created among so many of us including our most masterful weaver, Joon of Tyger Pax. We who lost everything give up our heritage and wonderful things with the utmost resistance.

"The Temple District was spared, perhaps due to the speed with which the battle swung our way. At the time I was on the ground with the fighting forces pulling wounded out and helping to defend them as they were evacuated. Overhead, I remember seeing combat I haven't seen since the Fall of our home world. I remember never feeling like I would ever love anyone as much as I loved those involved in it.

"At the Monastery of the Clavus Aurea, Master Cyclonus of Upper Tetrahex and some of his mechs who were Seeker fighters in the war watched the scene and saw the battle coming their way. They stood off several waves of enemy to protect the Monastery, the Resort of Autobot City and Aerie Hill, the Seeker enclave nearby. It was very difficult fighting but two squadrons of the Home Guard Air Wing helped. No one was hurt because of their efforts including over 2,500 human tourists in the shelters of the Resort.

"The habitats weren't as lucky though most of the damage to the biggest ones is cosmetic. The domes and doors of the Science Habitat held. Repairs are just cosmetic. Earth 1 lost its environmental entrance and the interior was vandalized along with the same at Earth2. Both of those habitats were defended by Striker and Victorious whose combination makes Unidad Terra 1 and Paribolus, a dreadnought who lives here. They defended the habitats inside in pretender form protecting both Earth named structures from harm.

"Unidad Terra 1 was breached and there was damage inside. There's a very funny video of a squad of Decepticon soldiers confronting three of the herd animals that live there, a bull bison and two bulls, a Charlois and a Hereford, I'm told. The bulls charged and flung them around to their surprise. They ran, either from that or being recalled because they disappeared right away. Before the bull encounter, they took the time to shoot up the Chapel in the Woods. It will be repaired and restored.

"It was about that time that the enemy commander, a mech named Paladin decided to take possession of the Industrial Park Cities which would have been a disaster for us given its importance in our colony, its functioning and what it provides. However, that was their first really big mistake. It meant that they had to leave the colony itself and cross a broad plain to the industrial parks. Once that happened they had no more leverage and we had free rein to really attack them with the idea of shooting down ships.

"Sitting nearby in several large districts districts, 39 metrotitans serve as habitations for our people and services. Titans can transform as they please and even when sitting in city format they can partially transform their towers back to guns though its tricky given the homes that had to be shaken up by doing so. When the armada was at last away from Terra and the Crater Districts, the titans transformed and let loose a huge barrage against the enemy. It was a complete disaster for the enemy who then began to rise up to space to leave.

"Five ships were shot down, a cruiser and four battle shuttles. They crashed onto the plain and destroyed when they did vital infrastructure necessary to our colony's well being. Our train hub where the system is cared for and where tracks cross to go where they go around the colony and planet was destroyed. A good 25% of our track system overland that carries both passenger and freight trains was destroyed.

"The electrical grid was slammed by the destruction of relay and sub stations that control flow and that included the energon system. All over the colony below ground are pipelines that shuttle energon where it needs to go. Some of the systems are separate and heavily protected including those for the titans. Many are branch substations and when they get slammed sometimes they blow back and take out others. That is what happened to us and its necessitated rotating energon and electrical flow to half our colony until things are repaired.

"Our energon main station was taken out when a cruiser landed on it disabling our ability to control or shut off flow. It imploded, then blew outward sending a roaring fire and pressure down the lines which are all buried underground with room for us to go inside and do what is needed.

"Because this happened the Consulate of the United Nations was destroyed and burned to the ground. Underneath it in the shelters, the humans were safe and when evacuated were completely unharmed. They will live at Unidad Terra 1 in apartments until the building is rebuilt. The pathway that destroyed that building continued onward. We could see the underground shut off and control stations failing as the fire advanced and when it did explosions happened. From the Consulate, the path of the explosions were heading toward Crater District 4, City 4. We had to stop the advancement of the disaster fast.

"Energon doesn't need oxygen to burn and it burns like napalm in the format we use for heating and other industrial purposes. It meant that we had to explode ahead of the advancement a hole to build a fire break against it. It was hard and there was little time but we finally stopped it from reaching the District. It was a huge relief I can tell you.

"All through the night we worked to get things under control, to capture all of the enemy soldiers who were unable to leave and get a bead on the damage. Given that an enemy armada was in the colony itself and this is generally all the damage they created, it was a miracle. It was a miracle of effort by our military and civilian defenders. It was a miracle of effort by our people and the humans to get to shelter and stay there. All of the population stayed underground for at least two days while we collected ordinance and bombs laying around and assessed things.

"Right now, everyone is in their homes and the habitats are repaired. N.E.S.T. Headquarters which was unguarded was thrashed while nearly next door, the Hu-An held off three waves of invaders themselves. We salute them, our Hu-An brothers and sisters for the warriors and friends they are.

"No civilians were harmed. No one outside of those in the battles were injured and no one died, though some are not going to be soldiers again. We were fighting for our homes and families and that was the edge. It always is the edge.

"Prima Station went into lockdown and was heavily defended by Seeker squadrons and Tennyson of Praxus, a dreadnought who's one of our roving warriors who can come and go at a moment's notice. He was late to the battle on Mars but he was prepared to defend Prima Station and Earth. He was the centerpiece of the force assembled between the station and your planet to defend you if the armada decided to go that way. Fortunately they didn't. They bridged away and are in the Epsilon Eridani area. We're tracking them wherever they go.

"Right now we're rebuilding what was damaged including my own home tower in The City. Our people are back in their homes including the humans. Given the few things that are still under repair everyone is living their lives nearly the same as before the attack. There are services available to everyone who needs them and the human community has risen to the occasion as usual to support each other through what must have seemed to them, most of who aren't used to war and battle to be a very dangerous thing.

"I won't deny that there was a lot of danger but the defense that the colony put up not just for itself but for Earth and Prima Station was incredible. At no time in the fighting was I not aware that nearby under the ground was everyone I loved, my parents, grandparents, children and grandchildren. That sharpens the focus and gives you strength you might not have anywhere pr anytime else.

"For me, there was nothing to do but what it took and everyone involved from Prime to the fighters were hard on it. Saying that, I want to address the concerns I know you feel about this and the criticism that is already beginning to be heard from the usual suspects and those who were waiting to know what was happening. Our news blackout was partly due to IntraCom's damage and our desire to understand fully what happened before telling this story.

"So let's consider the situation fully, no holds barred" Ratchet said grimly.

=0=TBC 12-13-2021