The Diego Diaries: Visitin' (dd8 154)
{Sorry about last night. I had a family thing pop up. :D:D:D ON WITH THE SHOW!} Please not by the brackets that I said that in NeoCybex.
:D:D:D
=0=On the floor of the fifteenth level of the Esco Tower in City 4, Crater District 7
Ratchet lay on his back staring at the ceiling, noting the ordinance flying overhead. It was a good thing he thought as he hugged the floor with all the others that they didn't shoot lower. Then they did.
The bullets began to hit around and among as the slaggers in the apartments began to shoot toward the floor of the corridor outside. Bullets hit everywhere as everyone began to frantically crawl away from the field of fire as one. It was crowded and then they were clear. The entire posse sat, lay or leaned back as trails of energon began to seep out of the odd hole here and there.
Ratchet with three new holes sat up slowly, muted his pain, then turned to the others. There were hits and rim shots, glancing strikes that either embedded in the walls or hit someone else. It would be interesting for forensics to determine how many of them were shot by the same bullet. Hissing with pain, they began to receive treatment from Ratchet as best he could give. "What do you think? Call in the cavalry?"
"No. They have children," Optimus said as he flexed his servo which had a hole in it. At least it was still attached.
Springer who had taken not only a direct hit to the servo but a ricochet as well had a likely case of replacement in his not so faraway here and now. "Frag."
"Frag," Ratchet said as he called up a special kind of flexible bandage and began to wrap it up. It would hold everything together until the orthopedic and transplant specialists could work on the big mech later.
Hopefully.
Springer stared at his fragged hand, then glanced at Drift who had a crease across the helm which took off the tip of a finial. It probably hurt a lot.
It did.
"Damn," he whispered softly as Ratchet shot pain relief to all of them.
They relaxed as Ratchet wrapped Drift's finial, then turned to Magnus.
He had a through-and-through in a shoulder and lower arm. That got patched, then Ratchet leaned back against the wall. "So … do I offer them a deal or do we limp in guns blazing?"
"Talk to them, Ratchet," Optimus said as he slowly straightened where he sat.
"Tune me in," Ratchet said as Prime and Magnus consulted his datapad. That was when the elevator began to rise toward them. Staring up at it, he glanced at Magnus. "Check that against the datapad. Just in case."
It was a good thing that they did.
=0=Below ground and advancing
They came at the call of their endangered comrades carrying guns as they moved swiftly. Across the street nearby, this group meandered without flash, then headed for the basement and the elevators there post haste. Hot wiring the one they needed, they slide inside. With the bank now off line but for the one that the authorities were keeping for themselves held in stop mode, they rose upward to the fifteenth floor where their comrades were pinned down by Prime and his cronies. They were grim faced, amazingly good at shooting given the dearth of pass times at Meadow Lands and determined to rescue those trapped in their apartments. It would surprise the Autobots how good they would be at this, stealthing and making their way to a shoot out.
=0=Outside on the ground
Jack, Blackjack, Ironhide and Sun stood with the mission controller, Hercy as senior Watchman present and listened to the sit-rep along with everyone else including Inferno and a large group of rubberneckers who had come to see what was going on. The street was cordoned off and there were rescue and policing vehicles waiting. Behind a barricade was the press, a few camera crews from Galaxy and IntraCom and a lot of locals, visitors and club kids.
The usual.
A rescue runabout was parked in the street in case of dire need. The Autobots didn't play around.
"What we have so far is a shoot out with a few hits. Ratchet got plugged and so did the others. Its under control now and Prime says to wait. He's got Ratchet on as negotiator. We have to be careful because they have kids, babies and elderly in the group that's in question," Hercy was saying. When he was, the elevator was halfway to the fifteenth floor.
=0=Talkin'
"Hello in the apartments. My name is Ratchet and I'm the negotiator for the Prim-"
BLAM! BLAMMA! BLAMMA! BLAM!
The noise was great, the holes in the walls and floors increasing in number but no one was hurt.
"You may not know it but some very big guns are coming here shortly if you fail to talk to me. You have kids and elderly. You will get them killed if you keep this u-"
BLAM! BLAMMA! BLAMMA! BLAM!
The silence when the fusillade ended felt painful a moment, then Ratchet continued. "We have everything bolted down. No one will leave here. You have no hold-"
The elevator dinged as it reached their floor.
=0=Down below about the same time
"The elevator … one of them is operating," Red Alert said as he held a schematic blueprint datapad that detailed every building in the colony. He made it himself in his spare time and there would be billionaires on Earth who would kill entire continents of people to get hold of it. They wouldn't. They would have to pry it out of Red's cold dead servos first.
"Which one and from where?" Inferno asked as he moved to stare at the datapad over Red's shoulder.
"The basement. Number six," Red said as he grew even more grim. He glanced at the group. "It's stopped on their floor … the fifteenth."
"Hercy to Prime. I'm cutting you in on the group chat," Hercy said.
Then they heard it.
"BLAM! BLAMMA! BLAMMA! BLAM!"
"Oh frag," Sun whispered.
=0=Up there
Prime staggered up quashing his pain receptors and vowing not to look at his arm which was seeping through the patch Ratchet made. He slammed his fist into the elevator key pad before ducking back as three big guns were shoved through the now only partial opening and began to shoot.
Everyone was back on the floor once again.
=0=Inside the lobby
Hercy led them into the lobby where a tech was scanning the data port for the elevators nearby on the wall. He turned to the group. "It made it to the fifteenth floor, Commander, but its been disabled."
"Then they can't open the doors?" Hercy asked.
The tech turned back to the panel, keyed a few things, then glanced at them again. "Its partially opened but it can't let them into the corridor."
"Can they kick their way through?" Jack asked.
"Maybe someone like Lord Optimus or if there's enough of them. These doors are meant to preserve life if something happens or they fall. No one is allowed to get hurt from them in design or operation," he said.
Hercy considered that. "Thank you, infant. Disable them permanently for now. I want you and the twins as well as you, Lon and Bezel to go down to the basement and figure out what they did. Disable that, too, then come back here and wait for back up if necessary. Meanwhile, the rest of us are using the stairs. Let's go. No one is to pass me. I will use my scanning tech to try and figure out where everyone is. If we go in hard and fast someone may die and it better not be us or some kids." With that, they ran for the stairs and a climb up to the fifteenth floor above.
=0=There
The shooting was joined by those already in the apartments. Prime had sent an alert to everyone in their apartments on this floor to stay inside and go to the farthest room away from the hallway that they had in their homes before he knocked on the first door. So far everyone was still inside and hopefully safe. The bullets were ricocheting off the steel walls, some of them grazing them as they huddled. The lights had been shot out and it was incredibly dark without the back up lighting coming on. It was blasted, too.
It worked to their favor because there would be nowhere to go if they ever coordinated their shots. As it was, the sheer volume of fire was enough to reek hell down on them. After a moment, the firing ceased but not the ringing in their audials.
A voice in the elevator rang out. "SHEZRA! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?"
A muffled voice replied. "WE'RE OKAY! WATCH OUT! PRIME AND SOME NOBS ARE IN THE CORRIDOR!"
"Nobs?" Drift whispered as he glanced at a grim faced Springer pressed against the wall.
"PRIME!" the voice from the elevator called out. "GIVE IT UP OR WE'RE GOING TO SHOOT YOU! THROW OUT YOUR WEAPONS AND LET US SEE YOUR SERVOS!"
"Which one?" Ratchet asked quietly as he grinned faintly at Prime. "The one with a hole in it or the other one?"
Prime glanced at him with a growing fury. "Neither."
=0=Down below
A squad car drove up at an ungodly speed, then flipped in the air to land on the ground in the hero pose as Prowl. He was lit as he cut through the crowed to enter the lobby. Collaring Inferno, he got the sit-rep, then pulled his big gun and ran for the stairs. He was gone in seconds.
=0=There
"This is Optimus Prime. You need to give it up before someone gets killed."
"FRAG YOU, PRIME! GIVE UP OR WE'RE GOING TO SPRAY THIS HALLWAY!" the voice in the elevator cried. "I'M GOING TO COUNT TO THREE!"
"Please don't count," Drift said with a slight sigh. He shifted to be ready to move. Glancing at everyone, they deciphered the safest unsafe place to go when the shooting began.
"ONE!"
Shift, shuffle, slide.
"TWO!"
Scrunch, muffled moan, press.
"THREE!"
Then all hell broke out.
=0=Stairs
They ran and ran turning into lobbies, sprinting to the next stairs, then upward again. It went on and on forever. Below them gaining fast was Prowl.
=0=There
They huddled against the wall that held the elevator banks. They were as low as they could be as the bullets and shrapnel flew. Splintered pieces of steel sprayed everywhere like daggers, some of it embedding in the mechs as they lay flat or pressed themselves into the wall with the lowest profile possible. Covering their faces and optics, they were helpless to the rain of fire, slag and ozone that filled the hallway. It was as impressive show of uncoordinated fire they'd seen in a while.
=0=The Hourly News: LATEST BREAKING NEWS!
"I have just received an update on the active shooting situation ongoing at the Esco Tower in City 4 of Crater District 7. Apparently, several apartments were being approached by the Prime, Colonial Manager and Empire Controller Ultra Magnus of Iacon, Commander Drift of Kaon, sub-commander of of the Colonial Watch and Empire Security, Commander Springer of Polyhex, Commander of the Colonial Watch, Empire Security and Chieftain of the Wreckers as well as Commander Ratchet of Iacon who is Chief Medical Officer of the Armed Forces and the Empire, the Secretary of State and Ambassador Plenipotentiary of the Primes over a disturbance when gunfire broke out ..."
=0=Earth2
They sat in the lounge watching the news feed, the entire managing group of the habitat. It was on just about every channel including the MCA feed to Earth for whatever reason.
Kyle Davis glanced at Owen. "How insane is it to have the ruling board of this planet and the Empire taking care of a local shit show like this? What the hell do you think they were thinking?"
Owen glanced at him. "I think it means Prime's either the most fearless individual you ever met or he runs a hands-on operation."
"He's clinically insane to risk himself like that," Kyle said as they watched the feed that showed Prowl's arrival, transformation and sprint into the building. "Look. They're all there. What the fuck."
Rick Harris who was watching from a couch nearby grinned slightly. "Yeah. Imagine a leadership that cared that much for everyone no matter whether they were important to him or not and had balls big enough to do the hard stuff without hiding behind minions. Imagine a government that actually gave a damn about everyone."
It would be silent in the room for a while.
=0=TBC 05-04-2021
Happy Star Wars Day to those who celebrate. Google Disney real light saber. They truly created one that can operate a few seconds like the movies. By the way, they're also working on tiny light sabers of varying sizes for the Mandalorian. :D:D:D HUGS!