The Diego Diaries: Meet Up (dd8 11)
=0=At the Ops Center
They gathered, those that were integral to planning defenses and offenses. They came in and sat, talking quietly together and hazing Ironhide as they waited for Prowl to arrive with the latest intel.
Magnus who was sitting beside Prime looked amazingly Primal himself as they chatted. "How do you see the world now, Optimus? Now that things are back to normal."
"I think that interlude was a wonderful moment. I enjoyed being a kid again and being with my genitors as one. It was enlightening to see them as the guides and mentors that they were as I remember them," Optimus replied. They continued going over old times as down table Ironhide was getting the needle from the mechs.
"That was some sad attempt to prank everyone," Drift said as he grinned at his dear old dad. "You have a blind spot reading the room."
Ironhide frowned at him. "You don't think I can prank?"
Drift glanced at a smirking Springer. "You wanna answer?"
Springer nodded. "No."
"Is that so? Who pranked Old Mech about adopting your sorry back side?" Ironhide said.
Drift grinned, then glanced at Springer who was staring at Ironhide with a cool expression of supreme satisfaction. "You want to answer that?"
"You're supposed to back me to the wall no matter what," Springer said as he glanced at the very center of his universe.
"Where does it say that?" Drift asked.
"In the fine print," Springer said.
"We never did the formal route," Drift said. "There's no fine print to read."
"Then you're living in sin?" Ironhide said with a touch of malicious glee. "You're not street legal? Color me surprised."
"Actually, we filed the paperwork with the City Hall, just so you know," Springer said as he sat back with a smug expression. "Me and the ball-and-chain here are as legal as you can find on any street." He glanced at Drift. "See what I did there?"
"I'm trying not to," Drift said to huge guffaws around the room and a cute expression of betrayal by Springer.
Prowl breezed in, then walked to the front to sit. "Shall we begin?" he asked as he turned on the monitor nearby. Everyone in the room shifted toward him as he began to organize data. "We have indications that there are five individual Decepticon groups leaving the Empire at the same time." He flipped up a star map that showed different lights heading basically in the same direction, though two hadn't joined the other three yet. "They're a veteran group according to intel so far, all of them, and are being escorted by Seekers who are probably taking a chance to flee given the arsenal around them."
"We're going to gather intel, Prowl, by sending sensor teams to fly near and scan using the signature of several alien groups we utilize for this as cover, then bring back more accurate data," Rainmaker said. "We believe they're stuck out there and heading for us intermingled with the 'Cons for safety."
"We concur," Prowl said. "There may be many groups hiding in the reaches of their space waiting for the possibility to leave. It would perhaps be a good idea to find them, then bridge them here to avoid crossing territory, rather than wait for them to escape. They have children and elderly with them in all cases I would suppose."
"I'm heavily in favor of that," Starscream said as the other Seekers nodded. "We have to save them."
"We are going to save everyone," Optimus said with feeling. He glanced at Prowl. "Continue."
"We're not entirely clear what the force make up is but there's a good possibility that they're constituted border guard groups and have a lot of subgroups included that could be ship boarding teams, search and destroy, special operations and that sort." Prowl checked his datapad, then glanced at Prime. "Mostly."
"We do not know their intended path yet or do we?" Prime asked.
Prowl flipped a forward monitor on and placed the intel known upon it. "They'll be coming through the Barrage Field and onward into the Bootes Chute in the manner of a small migration we had some years ago. They'll pass through the same lane that some refugees who live in that part of the Empire use to come to us. It runs down the middle of the divide that separates Ominous and Razorclaw. He will be heavily invested in having them come by."
"That will not happen," Metroplex said as the giants with him nodded in agreement.
"Hold that thought," Ratchet said as he subbed his camera. "And that pose, too." He took the picture, subbed his camera, then turned back to a slightly frowning Prowl. "Continue, Granny."
Snickers rounded the room as Prowl made exaggerated gestures of affronted efficiency with his data pads to move onward. He got more snickers for that. Glancing around with a gimlet optic, he continued. "We have no idea of the leadership of this group, nor its intentions. I believe it'll be the desire of the Seekers to break ranks at the first possible moment to come to us. The broadcast of your messages gets only stronger the closer you come to us."
"Then we better make a set of plans to meet this threat and to assist those who are coming toward freedom as refugees a safe way to arrive without shooting," Prime said.
They would spend three joors working out Plans 1-4 before calling it a meeting.
=0=Out there
They were gathered in a cargo ship that they'd stolen that held their most precious cargo, their families, friends and relics/possessions that mattered to all. Three Clan chieftains were those who led them, making the treaties with the battle groups to provide deep space intel, assistance in fighting and access to their doctors available to the whole fleet. They were a tightly knit professional air wing who were adding even more fleeing Seekers into their group as they came within range of where they hid. All of the Seekers in hiding everywhere were interlocked and communicated through the Network, the Seeker frequency through the unintelligible language of Breezy's clan.
"We have to get word to Rainmaker that we're in this group but intend to come to the colony," Hazard said. He was clan chieftain of the Northern Seeker Clans, several of which were expert in fighting in snow and ice conditions, literally space itself.
The other two nodded, then one glanced at a pair of big Seekers who were standing behind their ada. "I would like both of you to take off with the forward sensor group, then drop off the radar with your special function. Send a message to Rainmaker about us and tell him we want assistance to come in. We have much need of rescue. Then return to us by sliding in without detection."
The two glanced at the other elders who nodded to them, then bowed slightly before leaving. It was quiet in the crowded circle of mechs, femmes and elder Seekers. The second mech who was named Populus considered the next few orns. "We're going to have to be fast and ready to go if they have a plan. It must be immediate. We can't leave anyone behind. Get everyone off the ships they're flying and tell them that Rainmaker brooks no one staying. It must be done."
Everyone there agreed. It had to.
=0=At Earth 1
They walked among the long tables that held the plantings of lots of experimental strains of plants that were being scientifically studied under all manner of conditions for future cultivation at Unidad Terra 1. They would be part of the agricultural effort of the habitats to supply all the food needed on world by the human community. Light poured in and the air was warm as they walked in the humid greenhouse that stood alongside the original habitat on Mars.
"This is looking good," Brandon said as he walked through the facility with the scientists to get an update for the convention that would be held here soon. A large number of scientists would be arriving and partaking in a week long conference on agricultural topics relating to growing food in harsh conditions. A lot of the research was going to benefit the Earth. "Its going to be a long conference and a lot of individuals will be here to quiz all of you with their usual intensity."
"That's alright. As long as they go back home when they're finished," a botanist said with a chuckle.
Brandon grinned, then glanced down the row. "I have dibs on that little pineapple when its fully grown." There was a perfectly formed fruit sitting on top of a mass of spiky leaves from which it grew. It was also only about three inches tall.
"You'll have to fight my wife for it," the botanist said as they continued down the row.
He probably would.
=0=School
Barrett Clark sat in his math class working on the problems and concepts of the day. He was making his way after his strange experience with the lady spirit of Mars. He hadn't gotten into trouble and he was actually improving his manner. It was a good thing. What no one knew was that on occasion he would see her in the mirror in the morning when he washed up. She was still dressed in simple, worn, old fashioned clothes, wore a knit cap and sandals. She would watch him until he noticed her, then smile at him before disappearing. He would stare at the mirror considering whether he was seeing her or not, then feel a tiny bit of loss that she was gone. It didn't happen much but often enough to prompt his best efforts. Given where he was coming up from, it was indeed his best.
He wouldn't tell anyone about her.
=0=Elsewhere
He walked into the office of his second-in-command, then paused by his desk before the big mech glanced upward. "The shuttle awaits you."
Prowl of the 'shattered glass' dimensional continuity stared at Megatronus. "Very well," he said as he rose, then gathered his things to tidy his desk. He paused to nod at Megatronus, then left.
Megatronus watched him go, then felt the same tension come over him. "You need to find a way to grieve, Prowl. You need to find a way to go forward." He glanced around for personal effects in the blazingly neat office and found none. With a sigh, Megatronus Prime walked out of the office and back toward his own.
=0=On the tarmac near The Fortress, an out of the way tie down and ship parking place inside the footprint of the Autobot City Municipal and Interplanetary Airport
He watched the shuttle land, then the ramp extend. A tall handsome mech stepped down, glanced around, then walked toward Prowl when he saw him.
It was a strange thing to watch himself come forward as Prowl waited to escort this alternative Prowl into The Fortress to brief both of he and Optimus on the protocols of the Festival of Primus as enacted in the realm of Megatronus Prime.
Alt Prowl paused before his doppelganger meeting him for the first time since they came together on the steps during the thwarting of the alternative Optimus Prime who was in storage here. He stared at his alter ego without showing emotion. "I am Prowl of Praxus. I am here to instruct protocols for the Festival coming up in two orns."
Prowl nodded. "I am sub commander for the Prime, Commander Prowl of Praxus. Please follow me," he said.
Both of them walked without comment to The Fortress nearby. It would be a tense journey for both.
=0=TBC 11-12-2020 11-21-2020
ESL An expression, 'read the room', that means the ability to look at everyone present in a situation and act accordingly. If you can't, then you make social mistakes or stupid remarks that everyone winces when they hear and see. Sometimes when you flaunt your wealth in a crowd of people who don't have any is an error of this kind. Being blind to your surroundings with your behavior and commentary.