The Diego Diaries: Midnight (dd8 145)
=0=Late that night
The commandos brought in from Mars, all of them wearing dark paint coverings melted into the darkness. The mechs and Seekers who were with Prime itched to go but they stayed, giving ground to the experts at stealth and fast silent raiding. Among those remaining in the colony minus the 20% who'd already left out of the 941 individuals who lived here, about half had decided to go. They'd pinged Prime their consent and would begin to dismantle their lives here in the morning. Totaling both groups together, that left just over 400 who either didn't answer, commit or who had told Prime to take a leap.
Those 400 would now receive the gift of a midnight visit from the commandos.
They were located in three of the buildings after the process of elimination was undertaken on the locator map on the datapad. The five buildings of habitation for the colony, tall and sprawling were located in a quad-like arrangement with a nice open space in the middle. The lights were low at the darkest part of the night given that they were never bothered in their entire existence by any threat, so it would help the commandos go in to find the miscreants.
Prime and the elders sat in a shuttle or two watching the show though the optics of the soldiers who were stealthing into the darkness that lined the quad to make their way to the buildings. It was quiet and sleepy in spite of Prime's presence. It was apparent that the removal of Reset and his colleagues would make a difference in the organization and quality of the resistance.
The night deepened as the mechs reached their first targets, opened the doors, then entered. Keying into the residents internal coding, they used suppressant devices to drop everyone present into a mild stasis. They wouldn't be harmed, they wouldn't be awake, they'd snooze onward and the commandos would continue without them howling into the night to warn others.
The mission continued onward.
=0=Up in a ship in orbit
"This is good," a femme said as she ate a 'sandwich' that had been given to her by the workers from the Bureau of Refugees who were doing their intake here on board the transport vessel. "This is made of energon," she said to another femme sitting beside her. "Its the best thing I've ever eaten."
The other femme nodded. "I know. Maybe this will work out."
"I hope so," the first femme said. "I wish they'd just give up and come. They'll let us bring things from here so its not like we have to start over again." She glanced at her friend. "I love Meadow Lands. I like organic worlds. But there's no future here. Tell me I'm right. I think I'm sort of running out of belief I'm doing the right thing."
"You are," the other femme replied. "I love it, too. It was good to us but Prime says we have to go. Its out of our servos. Don't beat yourself up over it. There's no way he's going to leave us here."
"I know," she said. "I just wish we were on our way. I feel sort of … homesick or something. If we'd go I'd feel better."
Her friend nodded. She knew just what she was saying.
=0=Two joors later
A commando came from the dark woods with Devcon. They walked to the shuttles, then entered Prime's. "We're done, Prime. We have all of them. I gave the codes to Ratchet."
"Thank you, Lan," Prime said. "Was there any resistance?"
"No," he replied. "They never saw us coming. I don't know what's going to happen when the sun comes up. I know about 300 people are going to wonder where the others are."
Prime nodded. "I will call them to come out before that. We are going to bring the unrepentant out of stasis a few at a time. Those who wish trouble will find it. Its my hope that they do not. What about the children?"
"They're sleeping in their little beds. All of them are good," Lan replied.
"When we call them out I want you to ring the plaza with the squad. We are going to be leaving here and I would like you and your troops to stay and let them see the futility of their resistance. The sooner we leave, the better," Prime said.
"I agree," Lan said. "This is a nice mellow place."
"It is," Prime said as he relaxed on the chair. The night would pass by quietly as they waited for the light to break over the forests in the distance.
=0=Morning in an apartment in the colony
He rose from his berth with a slight dull sensation brought about by turmoil and the sensation of having to leave paradise. They'd have to pack up today. They were moving to a colony far away and it was a scary prospect that they were. As his family roused all the adults froze.
He was back again.
:Good morning, Meadow Lands Colony. Please listen up. I am Optimus Prime and I am going to give you directions for this move that will help you and perhaps answer your questions. We have an open space bridge nearby and will transport whatever you require and all of you to our colony in minutes. We will take your people once you have secured your belongings. Those will be transferred to cargo ships in orbit while you will be taken by shuttle to ships that are waiting to take you through the space bridge to Mars.
:Once you are there you will be taken to your new homes where you can settle in. I would like you to come to the plaza now so that officers and technicians from the Port can help you with the immigration process by taking and finalizing your information here. Given that this will be an emotional process and that work will be involved to take what you want with you, it would seem helpful to get this part done now. Please gather in the plaza so this can be done. Prime out:
It would take a few moments but soon 300 people would gather in the plaza. It would take them a moment to register that a large number of their neighbors weren't here, too.
=0=At home
"Atar?"
"What, Hero?"
"When will Ada be home?"
"Pretty soon. The mission is almost over."
"Atar?"
"What, Halo?"
"What, Ada? Why lou?"
Ironhide grinned as he watched his daughters gather their toys for bed time. They were as cute as it got for him. "Atar doin'. Atar good at doin'. Ada comed home a-morrow. Maybe."
She looked at him with an armload of coloring books and crayons. Then she smiled like a baby bird.
Ironhide grinned back. "Are you ready to go to sleepy bed?"
Hero and Halo glanced up at him. "No," they said at the same time.
It would be amusing getting them to bed.
=0=Morning in Meadow Lands far away
They gathered together, a tense slightly unamused group of mostly silent high castes. They stared at Prime and his officers who walked their way from their camp. Again, the colonists were struck by the size, power and intimidation factor of the warrior class mechs who followed Prime. The only one that came close to Prime in size was Maelstrom and Magnus. The group halted before the crowd.
"Good morning," Prime said. "We are here to facilitate your departure. What I would like you to do is tag everything in your homes that has to come. Post the tags given to you on the door of your apartments when you are finished. Those tags will match your belongings to you when they are transported to Mars. We will have professionals come to your homes and pack your belongings, bringing only tagged items so be careful about that. I am unconcerned about what you bring or how much. I would suggest that you discuss any pets or plants that you bring that are organic with the crews helping you. Mars is not conducive to the well being of such things so special measures of protection and habitation must be taken into consideration and they will.
"As you get done, come back to this square and we will transport you to a ship in orbit. Take with you what you need now for the short term and the rest will come in good order," Prime said.
"Where are the others? There's more of us," a mech said as he glanced around warily.
Everyone around him shifted, some whispering fearfully to each other.
"They are coming in the second round. They have not agreed to come peacefully so they will go last. Their homes are sealed with them behind the doors. We will bring them to Mars behind you who have agreed. The technicians and workers from the Bureau will assist you and help you with any problems that come up. Be assured that everyone will be transported. We have made arrangements that your entire group will be housed near each other to help preserve your community. Are there any questions?"
Cold stares and silence greeted that so Prime turned to the workers standing quietly nearby. "They are all yours."
With Ratchet assisting, the intake process began as Prime walked back to the camp site to sit around the fire pit. Others joined him and it was silent a moment.
"Here's hoping we get off of here without incident," Raptor said.
Everyone agreed. Now all they need was for the colonists to do the same thing.
=0=TBC 4-23-2021