The Diego Diaries: Noshing (dd8 45)
************leoness chapter 43 . Dec 18 i love when ratchet does this...************
I do, too. He's hopeless this way. Canon Ratchet believes it will only end with diplomacy so he's going to give it all his stuff. HUGS!
=0=Ops Center, Fort Borderlands, Out There
They took a moment to sit and eat donuts as each side took the measure of the other. Things were evident between them that changes had to be made and family had to be rescued.
Jetta finished his donut, then unsubbed his work datapad. "You called?"
"We got a refugee who says there's 20,000,000 refugees out here close by and we have to get them. We need the sit-rep on housing, etc," Prowl said as he sipped his drink.
Jetta stared at him, then everyone else before staring at Prowl again. "Okay." He then knuckled under to crunch the data.
Le and Posse stared at him, then Prowl, then Ratchet.
Ratchet dazzled them with a huge smile, then held out the donut box. They took one more each.
"Well, that was a shocker." Jetta glanced at Prime. "We have two craters in construction, numbers seven and eight. We're trying to keep them close together for an urban landscape feel as you know from the planning commission meetings. We figured that since Dai Atlas is going after the 200,000,000 refugees that are lost out in the Rim, the ones that Sun and Jack surveyed, that we'd better triple our efforts. I don't believe that Cybertron will be able to take refugees ever. We have a good heads up on those there but its going to take too long before things change and we can add them there as well as here. We also have two planets, the mixed savanna and desert planet of Homeland and the garden planet of Sun Base. We surveyed them and of the two, Homeland is the most suitable to put civilians and a base for soldiers if they go there of the two.
"Sun Base is nice but its segregated and the amenities are missing in the majority shanty towns. We could begin to transform them if you say so because they're there and it would eliminate starting from scratch. Homeland is a beautiful world with the urban center built on a desert plain and thus, less chance of interfering with the green and growing than Sun Base, though there's lots of grasslands and plains with growing things.
"We can step it up on Mars. We have housing starts that are inhabitable right now for 10,000,000 families. Its always different when they actually come with the need adjusting to more or less than that. We can get both new crater districts on line in as short a time as possible by applying our emergency plans for just such events as this. If we get both of them up to settlement standards we're looking at 25,000,000 families."
Prime considered that. "How much would it add to our inventory if we utilize Homeland? Then tell me the difference with Sun Base. They're only 8.1 light years away at Sirius."
Jetta did the math, then glanced up. "We could add about five million at Homeland and a couple at Sun Base. I'd suggest that they stay close in contact with us given their distance and we build in structures that don't allow rogue elements to do to them what was done to the original settlers."
"That will be so," Optimus said. "Please, do what you must. I will discuss this with Dai Atlas and perhaps take those in most need or danger until we get the housing situation figured out."
Jetta nodded, then rose with another donut. "Thanks, Ma." He hurried out of the room to do what Jetta did.
The two watched him go, then glanced at Ratchet.
He smiled brilliantly. "He loves me."
The two grinned, then glanced at Optimus with a more serious expression. "What now, Prime? You have our oaths."
"You go to Mars, settle with the help and oversight of the Former Decepticon Association, then we search for the groups out here. When we find your family, we will send for you."
They stared at Optimus, then each other.
Posse leaned forward slightly. "We want them to have a life. We want them safe. Call us. We'll come."
"You have my word as a warrior," Prime said.
They stared at him, then Ratchet who nodded.
Both of them stood to go, then Le turned to Prime. "That thing out there, the flight … what about it?"
"What about it?" Optimus asked.
They stared at each other a moment, then Le nodded. Without another word, the two walked out with Nitro. The group watched them go, then glanced at Ratchet.
"These servos … these amazing servos," he said. "I lay them on and crooked things become straight."
"Loon. You're an incorrigible loon," Prowl said.
"And don't you wish you were me," Ratchet said as he rose to go. Grabbing another donut, he swished out of the door as well.
The two watched him go, then glanced at each other.
Prime grinned. "Do you wish you were him?"
"Only when I'm drunk," Prowl said with a grin.
=0=Elsewhere
"AMMA!"
"What, imp?"
"YOU DOED DIS!?" Orion asked as he held an ornament for their big tree.
"I doed it," Corr said with a chuckle. He took the ornament and put it on the tree.
The children would supply stuff, they would hang it. When it was over, they would sit and eat snacks while discussing all of the sparkling and pretty things in the apartment. There were three big trees now, one for the living room, one for the kid's lounge and one for the hallway. That one was for the imps.
All was well at their place.
=0=The Prison
The sound outside of ships landing and taking off was a dull backdrop to the usual sounds of the prison as everyone either watched or ignored it. The word was on the news. A number of battle groups had been trounced by Prime. Another black optic to the home boys.
It was embarrassing.
Nearby at various intersections were decorated trees with ornaments and lights. They were beautiful at night and the prisoners mostly liked them though they would 'rather lick a razor blade' than admit it. Christmas Surprise was coming in a few orns and that meant even better food, lots of it and small gifts. Most of them were games or such electronics that couldn't be turned into atomic bombs. Games of football and basketball along with amateur golf, rugby and children's football were played end-to-end all orn and there was a lot of music, fake booze and movies on the entertainment system.
It was a break in the routine for some who'd been held here from the very first few years. Most of them who were that long term short of miracles or a processor wipe would stay where they were. It was maddening that they wouldn't budge an inch and couldn't put two and two together. But then, some were not ever going to change and for that, they'd have decent treatment until such time as a bolt from the blue struck them and they had an epiphany.
Nah on the epiphany. 50-50 on the bolt from the blue.
Mechs walked past in energon chains heading for their various new accommodations. Some were hurrahed by their friends and some a little bit less friendly and more abusively by their enemies. All in all, it wasn't that much different than most orns. There was always the sport of hectoring high castes like the family of Larken as they did the menial labor of the prison.
Merry Christmas Surprise.
=0=City Hall on a conference calligraphy
"So does everyone have their assignments?"
"Yes." -everyone
"Does everyone when and where to meet up and who to boss from place to place?"
"Yes." -everyone
"Any questions on logistics, time, etc?"
"No." -everyone
Holi grinned. "Good. Then let's talk about the buffet after the Santa Priming in the Ops Center."
They would. Everyone of the members of the Autobot City Professional Administrative Assistant, Secretarial and Department Head Association of Mars would have their own thing to add and it would be spectacular.
Yum.
=0=The Hourly News: THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS!
"The latest news from the scene of a military interdiction on the Chute portion of the refugee passage from the Bootes Expansion into the outlying edges of the Prime's sovereignty. The Prime asked them to leave the area and to honor the empire as it stood in his dominion. They refused and a short powerful military intervention put four battle groups out of commission…"
"Wow. I wish I'd been there," Will Lennox said as he sat in the Family lounge eating a snack with Sarah and his parents. "Four battle groups. Damn."
"… The groups were led by known Decepticons and include the assassin, Inana of Uraya, Ninlil of Slaughter City and his bond, Sole, both known criminals and killers, Nitrate of Nova Cronum and Corso from Copper. All of them defied the order which led to a very swift and overpowering attack from the battle group with Prime. The ships involved were disabled by EMP pulses and the materialization within their midst of the dreadnought Scattershot of Helex …"
"DAMN! Why the hell wasn't I there?" Lennox said as others nodded.
"Ask next time, Danger Boy. They always say yes," Sarah said with a chuckle. "Take pictures, too."
"Come with me next time as the official photographer," Will said with a snicker.
"You'll be surprised when I say yes," Sarah replied.
"I will and not for the good," Sarah's mom said from a comfortable chair nearby.
"… The entire group was overrun and taken into custody with some involving hand-to-hand combat before surrendering. The captured prisoners are being brought to the city with others taken to a prison built at the site of our new outlying fortress formerly commanded by the Decepticon renegade and pirate, Polity. The number of prisoners is not yet known but its substantial according to our sources.
"The number of wounded on our side of the battle lines is 52 with zero deaths. The attack was sudden, brutally forceful and swiftly ended. The ships involved are being assessed for suitability for addition into the fleet or to be scrapped for parts. All databases, tech and interesting artifacts of varying kinds are being stripped from them before some are flown into a star for destruction or transported to the shipyards at Ceres and Saturn.
"The Prime will be making an announcement about this mission at 1600 joors on the TMC tomorrow. For now, they're cleaning up the scene of the battle and winding down for the battle groups, the Ready-Go Alpha Flight, the Beta and Secondary battle groups and three flights of Seekers to return to their home bases here, the various forward bases and Cybertron. This was a mixed asset mission.
"There will be a battle group guarding that area of space, Fort Borderlands and the Bootes Chute built around the warrior titan, Scattershot. Scattershot was an unassigned titan who was part of the general defense of Cybertron and assisted in such ventures as this as well as serving as a medical ship. He will now find permanent duty at Fort Borderlands which has received its permanent commander, Thundercracker of Vos …"
"TC has a base now. Good for him," Bobby Epps said. "Don't tell him I call him TC."
"We will." -everyone in the room
=0=Ratchet
He walked through the ships checking patients which were being transferred to Mars and Gliese 581g. Most of them were going to be rest and recuperate type situations given that there were no real injuries beyond a few gnarly wounds and no deaths. It was, in short, his kind of mission. Walking out to the corridor, he nearly collided with Lancer, Partition, Lon and Bezel. "What are you infants doing here?"
"We got assigned to guard duty, Ratchet," Bezel said. "We came to help escort wounded 'Cons to the ships for transport."
"Good on you," Ratchet said. "Let's go."
They would for a couple of joors, then it would fall to a trickle. The real show would be transporting prisoners to their holdings. It would be a long night.
=0=TBC 12-20-2020 Happy Yule tomorrow. 01-05-2021
Its the first day of winter and filled with spiritual significance for half the world. I wish you glorious happy days as best you can find in this shit show. I promise you that its not going to last. There's more of us than them and frankly, I'm ready to crack heads. :D (Just kidding, Internet Police)