The Diego Diaries: Incident: Drone (dd8 261)
Its so beautiful here in Alaska during the fall. Its hard to say how clean and clear everything is. We have two fall colors for trees and bushes. Red and yellow. Its not as nice as New England all around but its pretty, clean and brisk. I'm not looking forward to winter one bit. It will be the 44th winter here for me. HUGS to all in the warmer and colder climes. I've lived in both extremes and I hate both extremes. LOL! HERE WE GO!
=0=In a shuttle staring at a drone
It was extremely silent in the shuttle as everyone digested the words from Prime. It was a call for the Decepticons to give themselves up and come over to the winner's circle. Cord was staring at Bardo out of his peripheral vision watching the huge mech to see what he would do given the gauntlet thrown down.
Hercy and the other leadership were watching them silently as well, discerning by the body language of the group before them that Bardo was the one who needed handling.
"Well, Prime was right neighborly to invite you to the ball," Hercy said as Jack and Sun grinned.
Devcon had worked out the scenario of shooting Bardo dead and taking down Cord without killing him. He had his plans in order and his reflexes would probably tip out anyone else. He concentrated on both mechs with heavy emphasis on Bardo.
"It was," Sun said agreeably. "We'd love to have ya. Thanksgiving is coming up and its candy this year for the contest. Also, Christmas Surprise is just that. How about it, boys? You have no future with this slagger, Paladin. How about coming with us? We can hook you up."
"With what?" Bardo replied darkly.
"A home that's high caste in every way, a job that you want to do rather than one you're ordered to carry out … high caste food even on deployments if you want to stay a soldier. A chance to settle and have a family if you want one, real medical treatment in high caste style facilities, good treatment and respect … that sort of thing," 'Jack replied. He grinned. "I'll let you think about it. Its a shock to the system, I know."
They stared at him, Bardo with seething fury and Cord with a lot less. It was praying on his processor what to do evidently to all who watched him.
"If you come with us we can guarantee you a future. You know and I do that Paladin is going to try to overtake Prime but its hopeless. We have 250 plus million mechs and femmes living at our colony world on Mars alone with just about everyone there carrying a weapon. No one did to that degree on Cybertron even when they let us.
"If you think that attacking either Cybertron, the local group, the colony worlds near there or Mars is going to be a walk in the park, then you don't know Prime or our people's resolve to live free and not be slaves again. All you can do is move on to who knows where.
"Prime won't let you live within 400,000 light years of our habitation spaces without taking you out. Where will you go? Who will tolerate your violence and ego? Who the frag are you to think you can take something you didn't earn away from the ones who did and not pay a huge price for the effort?" Sun said.
"There's only one thing that can shoot a drone through a blockage like we have here and that's a titan sending it with the help of a geosynchronous bridge. We have one on Mars and we're almost finished repairing the one on Cybertron. We have so many titans now that I lost count. We have almost all of the dreadnoughts but for six. We have fourteen in the fleet over all before The Fall, right?" Lissie asked.
"Fifteen, my dear Lissie," 'Jack said. "Fifteen dreadnoughts."
Cord and Bardo stared at them, the dread of what they said percolating within. The videos had been supportive of this information though it was still hard to believe.
"Maybe we can send them to Paladin," Sun said. "Maybe he can get a video of the dreads telling what they're going to do to him and his ilk if they try to come across that barrier. Phase sixer or no, we're going to rip them a new debris chute."
"We have Black Shadow and the Decepticon Justice Division in the can. They tried to pick a fight and lost. Badly," Lissie said. "You can come. Even Arachnid and her destruction team is in the can."
Cord shifted uneasily as Bardo glanced at him.
"You're folding, slagger," Bardo said. "You're a coward, Cord."
Cord turned to him with fury on his face. "You dumb fragger. Do you hear what they're saying? We could never win against that might."
"Razorclaw tried with his slaggers. Ominous with his. None of them even were a fly speck on Prime's windscreen," Sun said with amusement. "We took Cybertron without a shot. Picture that for a moment."
Bardo did, then in a flash drew his weapons and began to fire.
=0=Noontime
She sat on her little chair at the round table in the room for lunches and messy activities. Around the table sat the other seven students of The Temple Pre-School at Autobot City. From the kitchen of the Temple itself, a cart was pushed into the room with eight covered trays and a little cooler holding the Cybertronian equivalent of milk bottles.
They were actually of that design because the manufacturer of cartons, boxes and bottles for most of the colony and the empire had seen them in a video and found them not only ergonomically sound for tot's little servos but cute as crap.
Miss Sela was sitting in a chair strumming on a harp-like instrument laying on her lap as she sang a happy song to the children. They were watching enraptured until food arrived, then it was giggles and excited smiles.
Room Nana Mrs. Toni was pushing the cart. She smiled at the babies, then began to carry the little trays to the table. Each tray had a name engraved upon its tiny lid and so did the silverware inside. Her old mech, Mr. Compton who liked to engrave had done so for them.
She laid each tray down as Room Nana and Temple Head Cook Mrs. Mar-C put the little milk bottles down after removing the lids. The two were the ones who provided handmade breakfast, lunch and snacks for the children and Mrs. Mar-C cooked for the priests and stayovers as well. She was RENOWNED for the care of presentation and taste of her food. It was a joke that some of the stayovers were there just for that alone.
When everyone was served including Lady Sela and the five teachers and three aides, she ended her song. Smiling at the children, Sela looked at the two room nanas with appreciation. "Thank you, Nana Mar-C and Nana Toni," she said.
"THANK YOU, NANA MAR-C AND NANA TONI!" the kids repeated.
"Oh, it makes me so happy to take care of you. Right, Toni?" Mar-C asked her partner.
"I love this part of the orn so much. Feeding you babies makes me so happy," Toni replied, this grandmother of four.
"Well then," Sela said. "Thank you, Primus and The One for our food. We love you so."
"THANK YOU/LOU, PRIMUS AND THE ONE! WE LOVE YOU/LOU SO!"
"Then let's eat up," Sela said as she took the lid off her tray.
Mar-C and Toni gathered up the lids, then sat down to watch the children and adults eat their beautifully prepared and plated food. It would be a very happy and pleasant interlude even for a slightly grumpy but coming around swiftly little femme with shiny 'hair'.
=0=Out there
"BLAM! BLAM! BLAMMITY BLAM!" -both sides
=0=Sciences
"The data is encouraging. If we can perfect this process we can find our people in these sorts of places without venturing in ourselves. Its safer and will give them hope that help is coming," Wheeljack said as he watched data form on his screen.
Perceptor nodded. "I agree with you on the concept," he said. "But agreement from those targeted for extraction … maybe not, perhaps, 'Jack. Some of them might be like Meadow Lands and not want to come. I suppose its up to Prime. I know that the Charter allows him to move refugees or colony worlds if there's any danger to their continuation. I wouldn't like to have Prime's decisions."
"Me neither," Wheeljack agreed.
They were sitting back at the Center going over data while their titan, Zeal waited for them in space. If there was going to be more sends and it was highly likely, then they would have the platform already in place.
It was an encouraging few joors as they studied the data, then bridged back to Zeal with Prime and Prowl for send number two.
=0=There
The smell of ozone in close quarters was strong and pungent as the dust began to settle. Holes in the hull and holes in mechs were accounted for with one dead lying in a puddle of his own energon.
Sun rose from the floor, glanced at his arm and leg, then began to shut down the energon flow with his internal corrective medical programming. He flashed the room with scans, then turned to Devcon who was sitting on a bench against the hull nursing a through and through wound of his shoulder.
The youngsters were shoved out of the way as their elders unloaded on the enemy. Joining them was Cord.
Lying 'dead as a cob' as someone's old appa used to say was Bardo. He had so many holes in him that it was impossible to see the fatal one.
"Cord, you alright?" Sun asked as he knelt to touch the shoulder of the big Decepticon who had helped them shoot Bardo when he erupted.
"I think so," He said as he took stock of his knees. Both of them had wounds and so did his neck but nothing looked too dangerous to require more than a field patch for now.
"Sunstreaker," 'Jack called as he noted wounds on everyone in the shuttle. "Come here and fix slag."
:On my way: Sunny said.
It would take a moment and a lot of shifting around before Sunny arrived with Sideswipe to begin triage. "What the frag happened?
And why weren't we here?" Sideswipe asked as he handed things to Sunny. He and a field patched Lissie were doing the honors.
"We had a difference of opinion." Sun stared at Cord a moment. That big mech was leaning against the hull almost as if to 'catch his breath'. "What does this mean to your group here?"
Cord glanced upward, then considered the question. "Not much. Bardo had it coming. As for the group, most of them are my squad and some good mechs I'm working on. I wanted them with me so I could, then Bardo jumped on board. I don't know if he did it because he was a fragger or if Paladin ordered it. 'Cons, don't you know."
'Jack nodded. "Well, how about coming with us when we go. You seem to be wanting something better."
Cord nodded. "Not without all my mechs. My squad are good mechs. They're … I've been trying to help them. I can't go without them."
Sun stared at Cord with appraising optics and an opinion of the 'Con heading upward into the stratisphere. "We understand. No mech should ever neglect his duty to his squad and his mechs. How can we help you? If you go back you're stuck in the armada. How can we get your kids here if that's possible?"
"I don't see how," Cord said. "I've been thinking about this from the moment I heard Prime's call. I've been working on my kids and I think I can get them to come with me somehow. I won't leave them behind."
"Then we have to work out a contact system. If we let you come through then you're on our turf and its our game to call."
Cord stared at him a moment. Then he nodded. "I hope so, Sun. We need a way out. All of us."
=0=TBC 9-27-2021