The Diego Diaries: Fort (dd8 440) This is not edited yet. I hope it isn't messed up. :D:D:D

=0=Out there

They were halted amongst interstellar debris, the slowly floating and spinning detritus of events long past. It was enough to cloud their detection as long as they were fully immersed in the field streams.

Sitting at tactical, Jetta did what he did. He planned their pathway forward in three different directions 'just in case', worked out the sensor system that was deployed, a regular style and type they were expert at defeating and waited as Prime decided their next step. He glanced at Elita. "We're ready when Prime is."

She nodded. "Its my hope that he contacts then, no one over reacts and they walk away."

"It'll be easier to take things apart when there's fewer of them there," Maelstrom said as he watched Chromia idly flip a razor sharp blade through the digits of one servo. It was mesmerizing for him and everyone else. Chromia was a solid piece of work.

Everyone agreed. They watched Chromia as well.

=0=Tennyson

Prime assimilated the data of the individuals who were coming, their transponder numbers and attached a tag that would prevent their detection should someone come looking. He glanced at the others. "I would like to know how you were to call them if this were you or the agent on the base?"

Rattler glanced at the others. "We were going to make an all call of a word, a code word that would tell them to leave. They would follow the plan from there."

"What is the code word?" Prime asked.

"Run," Rattler said solemnly.

Prime stared at him, then turned back to the screen ahead of them, a huge wrap around for the forward view ports. He dialed up the mass of numbers, 3,200 of them, then gathered himself. With the ease of his frame and its specialist options, Optimus Prime sent the code word to those who were planning to leave.

:Run:

=0=On a base far away

He sat at his station on the airfield, a sentinel posting to ensure no one came out of the ether to shoot them. No one ever had but Galvatron. He came, ranted and raved, then lined them up. No one knew about decimations then. They were just lining up to be dressed down, most likely, yelled at by a sorry aft specimen of a big mouth.

When Galvatron finished his rant, he walked down the line, stopped at the tenth person, a femme, then put a round through her helm. He then continued down the lines pausing to shoot every tenth individual. It would astonish them the rest of their lives that they stood there and didn't react. It was so unexpected, so evil that their terror paralyzed them.

By the time he was heading for the last tenth individual that being was fleeing. He would take his fatal shot through the back of his helm. Galvatron would turn on them and say, "Never forget who did this. Never forget I can come back." Then he walked to his ship and left.

No one ever did and no one ever would. The ten who were killed were put onto a ship over a period of orns secreting them there. They wouldn't be left behind either.

He froze, then glanced around. No one was there. He listened and the word came again.

:Run:

He felt fear percolate through him, then he rose stiff with fear. No one at the base had been the same since Galvatron and every noise sent some of them into orbit. He stared at the tower nearby and noted that a number of mechs were leaving it to casually walk to the ships that were parked in rows on the line.

From the buildings all around came the personnel of the base. They came to the ships and boarded out of sight of the buildings beyond where the Operational Center was. He watched them, then found himself heading their way, faster and faster until he reached a ship. Glancing at the buildings, noting nothing amiss, he clambered aboard.

The personnel of the base would come in dribs and drabs as planned, nothing to make anyone nervous. The seven in the administration building and four in the Operational Center would be last, excusing themselves for a moment to never come back. Some of them would come with their families, some of which were soldiers on the base and others kept in hiding. Almost all of them were just bonds with no children. No one dared at this base to aspire to anything more than a partner in their misery.

Sitting on each ship with their slate of passengers, a mech checked everyone off. It was slow going for some but when the last one was checked as present, when everyone went over the manifests together off line, it was time to leave.

The sentry watched as he sat terrified on a bench down ship as the leader of their vessel glanced at the nervous pilot. "Countdown to lift off in ten seconds, Nettle. Are you synced?"

Nettle nodded. "Yes, sarge. We are."

Sarge signaled that they were, then the countdown began. As they reached nearly to lift off mechs were coming out of the buildings to look around. None of them were going. They were die hards, committed to the Cause. When they reached zero all of the engines on all of the ships lit up and they began to rise.

Mechs ran toward them firing weapons but they were too far away to do more than register their anger. Looking out the view port, the sentry watched as the base he loathed fell away into darkness. The ships banked, formed up and fled into the night.

=0=Nearby

"A lot of ships just lifted off," Jetta said. "Jetta to Prime."

:Prime here:

"The message appears to work. We have a lot of ships coming our way," Jetta said.

:Very well. Stand by:

Jetta sat back. "This should be good. Is there any pursuit?" he asked the pilot.

"Not so far, Jetta. Nothing so far," Ilka replied.

"Well, we'll see," Jetta replied.

=0=Tennyson

"They have lifted off. I will contact them now. Blaster, do we have range since the element of surprise does not matter now?"

Blaster checked. "Yes."

"Open a channel," Optimus said. "Stand by, gentlemen," he said to Rattler and the others. He sat back. "Link me in, Blaster."

"You're on," Blaster replied.

"Decepticon fleet leaving base 1431, this is Optimus Prime. Please ping acknowledgment."

For a moment it was silent, then Blaster glanced at Optimus. "We have receipt from all the ships, Optimus."

Optimus considered that. "We are aware of your plight and your desire for a better life. Your commanders, Rattler, Padlock, DC and Barker have come to me asking for asylum. I have granted it to some and seek to grant it to you but it requires an oath to the Matrix. You will have to give your word to the Matrix that you will put down arms and live in our colony world by the laws and rules.

"If you break this oath it will not hurt my feelings but the Matrix will seek balance to the extend that It requires. The last mech who decided that his oath to It meant nothing burnt to death from the inside out. All that was left of him was his charred armor. I will require your oaths now. Make your oath."

"May I, Prime?" Rattler asked.

Prime nodded.

Blaster glanced at him. "You're on. Its open."

Rattler composed himself. "This is Rattler. DC, Barker and Padlock are here with me on the deck of an Autobot dreadnought. Give your oath and lets get out of here. We deserve better than this. The Seekers are already there. Give the oath and keep it. Its going to be better."

"You trusted us this far. Let's do this together now," Payback said.

DC and Barker added their comments and when they did the lights on the screen of all the individuals on all the ships began to change from yellow to green. The started slow, then blitzed the screen as the numbers rolled in. When the last one lit, Rattler slumped slightly. "We would never leave you behind. Trust us now and our leadership. We're going to a better place."

Prime glanced at Blaster. "Get Jetta."

Blaster did.

"Prime to Jetta."

:Jetta here:

"Is there any pursuit yet?" Prime asked.

:Nothing so far:

"We are coming in. Stay there and we will be there shortly. We have to assist the ships fleeing to get to safety," Optimus said. "Take the fleet to Base 1431, the staging coordinates, Rem."

"On it, Prime," he said as he put metal to the pedal. The ship began to fly onward as he directed it to go. Forming up on it were the shuttles with them, Xantium and Omega.

They would reach the fleeing ship in minutes.

=0=On a ship

The now former sentry relaxed as the ship flew away from their base. He'd been assigned here for what seemed forever. Now they were leaving to go to the enemy, the only other direction they could go. They were aware that groups were heading out to make their own fortunes. They also heard that Prime had huge ships, many of them and that he was taking no prisoners. The only path forward was surrender.

He wouldn't mind doing something else. Their bases were cast offs, places where the boredom factor was so high that doing stupid stunts to break it was getting to be common place. Then the decimation happened. It was as cold blooded as he'd ever seen. It had changed everything for almost all of them instantly. Any group that did that to their own soldiers without a good reason was no group to belong to. Leaving was their only salvation.

He glanced around. Everyone was as tense as him. They were risking everything with this. They'd stockpiled their personal effects over the previous decaorn onto the ships including the dead. All it would take was one word: run.

Now they were. Wherever they were going it wasn't going to be as bad as the place they were. Sitting back closer to the bulkhead, he waited to see what would happen next.

=0=Tennyson

They came closer to the lights which they could see ahead of them. Prime opened a channel again. "Incoming ships, this is Optimus Prime. Please stop and hold in place. We are coming and will help you leave this space. Your commanders will be assisting us with that effort. Have all weapons stowed and the locks to those places sealed. You may keep personal items with you but all weapons should and will be stowed. We will be sending soldiers to check out your vessels and to see to your needs. As that happens cooperate and this will happen faster. Prime out."

=0=Out there

They listened to the dreaded voice, the one they'd hated for eons. It was calm and reasoned without bombast or insanity to seed it and sow fear. This voice was soothing. For a moment they listened, then finally a femme stood. She began to shuck her weapons. Then everyone began to do the same.

They would pile them into lockers, then fuse them. Sitting down again in nervous silence, they waited for the ships to meet the object of their nightmares, Optimus Prime.

=0=Tennyson

"They're stopping Prime."

"Thank you, Blaster," Prime said. "We need to send them ahead. They can wait with the others, Beta Fleet at least, while the others come with me."

Prowl rose to make it so.

=0=TBC 5-22-2022

NOTES:

Jackalkat: They are and do. Imagine counting and finding out you're the tenth person in line and they haven't gotten to you. What a terrible thing. I'd hate them, too, forever.