The Diego Diaries: (dd8 460)

=0=There

"Hunter-killer groups?"

=0=Here

:I think they'll fit in fine: Lennox concluded.

"More rug rats," Raptor said. "More toy soldiers."

Springer leaned in. "Tell us how this is a good thing, Lennox."

Lennox stared at the big mech smirking at him, then grinned. :No:

Guff squared hit the ceiling. There was nothing like the scorn and derision of mechs/men at arms.

=0=There

They glanced at each other, then Quasar, the oldest looked at the soldier who asked the question. "Some like to hunt us for our tech. We don't like it."

The others nodded silently. It was silent all over the room, then Quasar shifted slightly. "We would go out in groups with one of us the target. When the pirates and others followed the target we would follow, too. If they didn't shoot us, if they were just checking to see if he was alright, we let them go. If they didn't, we would shoot them. We would end them."

"By yourself? You're kids, right?" the soldier asked.

Quasar glanced at the others, then the soldier. "We are but we're spark bound to the Prime. If he requires our help we will give it. We are duty bound to The People and the Prime up to our deaths."

The soldiers stared at them with evident surprise.

Barrett was more successful hiding his.

"It, of course, will never happen," their mentor escort said.

They glanced at him.

"If we are needed we will come," Quasar said. Almost by magic a glistening silver sword appeared in his servo from subspace.

Every human in the room except for Barrett shifted in surprise.

"We are warriors, though its nice to be just kids. We go to school, live in a house and have a family, a big one. Its nice to have friends," Santee said as he glanced at the others with them.

:I agree: Barrett said.

Santee grinned at him, then looked at the humans watching with riveted attention. "We will defend this colony including you. It is our function and our duty. You should come to see us in the DMZ. We're there in ship mode defending the colony from Razorclaw." The sword disappeared.

The awe would stay with the humans forever.

=0=Well into the crack

"Slaggers. All of you are slaggers." Ironhide glared at his elders who grinned fondly back. "When do we go out to the migration and check it out. I could use a change of scenery."

"Not everyone is cut out to be a golfer, Ironhide," Delphi said. "Now Ratchet … he was born to be one."

Everyone glanced at Ratchet who smiled like the sun. Huge laughter greeted that.

"How did you know how to play golf this well?" Drift asked a bot that he loved like a mama.

"We had a game as kids where we put a small mark on a wall then batted rocks and stuff at it from a long distance with a stick or pipe. It helped us break windows without being close enough to get caught. Whoever got the most hits in a game was the winner. I won all the time. At some point no one would play with me so I did it myself to keep in practice."

Everyone stared at him silently.

"RINGER!" -everyone

=0=In the van on the way back

"I think that went well," Sil said.

Everyone nodded.

"You were great, Barrett," Jessine said. "When we go to Earth 1 you'll really be a great help."

Barrett grinned at her with a sense of warmth that he was getting to crave. :I'll help you:

"You have," Coros said as they disappeared into traffic heading toward Youngling Day to drop Barrett, then onward to Intermediate Day and the rest of the school orn.

=0=After the meeting

Everyone gathered to go with the usual snark, promises to this and that and sass.

Optimus watched them go as he relaxed in his chair as CEO of the entire goat rodeo. Things were well in his kingdom. Even Cybertron was accelerating at a pleasing clip with their people getting more and more comforts and opportunities to live well.

"Well, that was enlightening as always," Prowl said sincerely as he checked out his notes from the meeting.

Prime and Ratchet grinned at him as Ironhide glared at his elders, all of whom were still here.

"Why aren't you going to your jobs and make someone else feel like slag?" he asked.

"The migration, infant," Hard Drive said. "If you'd pay attention instead of gaming with Hercy and Kup you'd get it."

"Is that so," Ironhide muttered darkly.

"I love when you do that," Turbine said with delight. "Your pout is adorable."

"I AM IRONHIDE! I DON'T POUT! I JUST FROWN AT SLAGGERS WHO WON'T GO TO THEIR JOBS!"

"Who'd keep you on the straight and narrow if we did?" Raptor asked as he enjoyed the frag out of his grandson.

Everyone glanced at Ratchet who smiled like the sun. "Don't count on me."

"We don't." -everyone there including Prowl and Optimus.

It would go on like that until everyone rose to go to overlook the migration on Xantium.

=0=A bit later at the Dojo

They kicked back waiting for the call to go out to the migration. They would be the muscle in case of trouble as they took a bead on a huge group heading their way. Fortunately, because Jetta was a work-a-holic and Magnus was Magnus, the housing issue wasn't one even with this group and its purported size.

Tell was laying in Springer's arms snoozing like the champion he was. Drift had diverted to get him while everyone went to the 'home ranch' aka the dojo. He was in school now every morning making 'magnificent' progress. He was even starting to talk, mostly familiar sounding but still garbled words and the odd attempt at their names.

"Where are you going to put him when you go?" Hercy asked as he admired the quiet baby.

"We're going to have him stay with Venture. He has a bed in his office for what he calls 'stray babies'. He has a playpen in the closet and a bunch of toys. He loves having his grandkids and he told us he would love to have Tell with him when we have to go," Drift said.

"Venture is a great mech," Hercy replied. "Amazing how many high castes turn out so good once they get here through the Diaspora. It doesn't matter how high you were before. We're all on our face after the Exodus."

Everyone nodded including the young kids here, some of whom were star struck Home Guardsmen who came to 'get the wisdom'.

"Anymore high castes on trial? I could use a laugh," Sandstorm said.

"There's more coming up," Kup replied. "I'll ask. No end to the humor."

It would go on until the call came. Drift would deliver up Tell to a happy Venture, then beat the band to the Military Airfield to leave with Springer on Impactor's Revenge. They would rise up together while in the far distance in a new area being surveyed for housing developments and the first steps to making a base were underway. It would be the home base for the deployment of the Wreckers when finished.

=0=Kale

He walked to his next class with Gravity. Both of them were Level 1's at Intermediate Day #1. Since their bombing accusations, they were keeping a low profile though they also ran with tough company. They were members of the Southies now and had been for some time. They did the usual stuff, hung out together and tagged their flash here and there while getting into fights with other gangs.

They entered the classroom to settle and spend a joor and a half taking in physics, a subject both loved. While there he would be off the streets, kept under lock and key in the uncompromising school. When it was out and he was free to go, all bets were off. He and Gravity would join up with others, their oblivious genitors be damned and the games would begin.

Though they were still the only real suspects in that case, the bombing of the city when they came, there wasn't enough firm evidence to try them in court. Right now, they were watched through a loose network of police who worked where they lived and the odd sighting by Drift and Springer. They knew they hung out with trouble-making kids but no one had put two and two together to spell gangsters.

Yet.

They were on a 'possibles' list that Hauser kept and he knew they got into fights but the gangs had become more elusive and when they came to a call the gangsters were usually long gone.

Kale stared at the problem, then began to work it. At no time did he remember that night when the fight had gone wrong and he had impulsively pulled a gun to shoot someone. Given he wasn't a great shot, the gun had dropped someone nearby, someone walking on the street.

They ran out to look, then melted into the woodwork. No one would do a thing until the heat died down but Kale would be given the respect that killers always got in gangs.

Tempo of Praxus would get a grave.

=0=On the way

Prime sat in the command seat on Xantium bantering with the big mech who was a juvenile delinquent at spark. Rough, highly humorous and ready to rumble at a moment's notice, the big warrior who was only built to be one was a hilarious companion.

"When will we get there, Raptor?" Prime asked as he lounged in the chair.

"We're a joor away," Raptor replied as he lounged himself. Xantium was his kind of mech.

"What say I hit it and we make it in a breem?" Xantium replied.

"What say you do that. I say 'go'," Prime replied.

Xantium lit his afterburners and flashed forward at a surprising speed.

Sitting in battle shuttles flying with Seekers, the others were caught flatfooted.

"Well, doesn't that beat all," Springer said with a chuckle. "Floor it."

Rem did and they all sped up.

"Zee."

:What, slagger?: came the amused reply.

"Fly as fast as you want but we'll always catch up to your big fat ass," Springer said with snicker.

:Frag you, shortie: Zee said as he flipped into high gear. He was gone in seconds.

"Frag. After him," Springer said.

It would be grand chase to the migration which would loom out before them like a golden tide. It would be HUGE.

=0=Magnus

He walked into the control center where all the migrations and other huge events were discussed and parted out. Everyone was there from every department that would be involved. He sat and they did, too. "We just had word that the migration is massive, maybe bigger than we thought. Apparently its an amalgam of many that were harassed together. It would appear that the 'Con plan to bury us alive is still active. Here's the preliminary word from Prime."

=0=The Hourly News: Special Bulletin

"We have a development from the Office of Strategic Communications about a migration that's been followed for some time now. It would appear that its a conglomeration of different ones, big and small, that are being harassed together by Decepticon battle groups to come this way.

"It was considered on the scale used to measure them as a seven out of ten possible placements. However, the Prime and a team has gone out to see for themselves and it would appear that we will need to revise the measurement scale to include this one. It's estimated that there are between five and seven million Cybertronian refugees in this migration with a number of hot spots of Decepticon ships thrown in to complicate things.

"The assessment is going to begin with ships leaving the Military Airfield and depots around the colony. We're asking that no one go downtown in Autobot City for now unless absolutely necessary until the ships leave. The Ready-Go fleet is leaving at the moment but other ships will take their place to be fitted out for this mission.

"I repeat, this is a critical mission with an estimated 5-7 million possible refugees needing rescue."

=0=TBC 6-21-2022 7-23-2022

crack: Irish people call conversation and slag the crack. I love that word. :D