What Makes No Difference Is No Difference (WMNDIND 10)

-0-In the base near the smelter

Wheeljack stood by the smelter, a contained device that generated enormous amounts of heat, all of it needed to change crystalline energon to liquid. Light flickered on the walls as he opened the door of the device. He lifted a big metallic container filled with crystals with heavy duty tongs. Turning toward the shimmering heat source, he carefully set the crystals inside. Closing the door, he had nothing to do but wait for ten minutes before the crystals would be permanently rendered to liquid.

Sitting on a box, he leaned against the wall.

Sideswipe who was passing by paused, then entered. "It's warm in here. Feels good," he said sitting on a metallic drum next to Wheeljack.

"It does," Wheeljack said glancing at Sideswipe. "Where were you when the Ark left Cybertron? I didn't see you but I saw Sunstreaker and Blue."

"I was stuck in Tyger Pax. Our unit had to retrieve some soldiers who were pinned down. By the time I got to the airport Prime and the ship were gone. Prowl was there and told me to go with him. It was chaos."

Wheeljack nodded. "It seems so long ago."

"It was," Sideswipe said with a grin. It was quiet a moment, then he looked at Wheeljack. "Prowl is pulling forces together. Our people are coming his way. They got the messages out there. We're going to have a huge problem soon enough if they come in numbers."

Wheeljack nodded. "It might be a priority to look for energon in this system. I could survey it."

"Megatron is here with a ship. I would imagine he's already done that," Sideswipe said.

"Old Bucket Head isn't smart enough to do that. He's too focused on Prime. He wants to kill Optimus in the worst way," Wheeljack said.

Sideswipe nodded. "Fragger can try."

"Hey! It's hot!"

They both glanced at the doorway. "Stay out, Miko. It's too hot for you in here," Wheeljack said. She waved then walked onward. "Little femme is going to get burned if she doesn't watch out."

"She's snooping. She wanted to know what the deal was with Sunstreaker and Blue," Sideswipe said with a grin.

"What is the deal?" Wheeljack asked.

"They're together," Sideswipe said with a shrug.

"And you?" Wheeljack asked.

Sideswipe stared at the floor without answering. "

Trines are acceptable among our kind, Sideswipe."

"I know but its a Decepticon thing," Sideswipe replied.

"Frag that. Since when?" Wheeljack asked as he stood. He walked to the smelter peering in through the window. The energon had melted, pooling in the metal container beautifully. "Get that cube, Sideswipe," he said as he opened the door.

Intense heat drifted out, a heat that they could adjust to but would vaporize a human. The tongs helped him remove the melted liquid which he poured into the cube that Sideswipe held in his servos. It filled the cube and part of another one.

"Nice work," Sideswipe said as he carried the cube to a stack nearby. He set it down, then watched as Wheeljack made another load for the smelter. They would work together creating nutrition and medicine out of the light blue crystals, a process that would take several days to accomplish from the mountain of raw materials they had excavated. It would last them for quite some time.

Thankfully.

-0-Elsewhere, faraway

They walked into the bar pausing to look around. Everyone there watched them, their affect betraying nothing of the foreboding that their type spread among the locals. They stepped forward heading to the table in the back where a number of aliens sat playing a game which required knives and very fast reflexes.

He towered over them, the leader of the trio and his expression led them to believe that the creative forces of the universe had a great sense of humor. It was, however, in short supply in this big mechanism, it was clear to see. He was utterly brutal looking and hard bitten.

Sitting back, the one he sought spoke. "What brings you here? We've been good."

"That's an impossibility, Hadro. I'm here tracking Decepticons. I want to know what you know. I would hate to tear this fine establishment down and bury you under the debris," the big metallic figure said in his no nonsense voice.

"You wound me. What would I know?" Hadro said. He was bio-mechanical as were his people but not anywhere in this bot's league. Hadro knew he wouldn't last ten minutes against him. "I'd require more information, Magnus. Tell me exactly you want."

Ultra Magnus, friend of Optimus Prime in the days they were Orion and Deion, former longshoreman and relentless pursuer of fraggers considered the fragger before him. Going down the list of options and discarding 'snap his neck', 'rip his face in two' and 'smelt his aft', he decided to make nice. Reaching down, Magnus gripped Hadro around the neck lifting him off the floor.

Guns appeared all around the room.

Hadro smirked. "You want to put me down now?"

"No. I would rather squeeze your neck until your head flies off. You can do this my way … or the hard way. Choose," Magnus said squeezing for a moment.

Hadro's optics bulged, then he squirmed. "OKAY!" he croaked.

Magnus dropped him and he stumbled. "You didn't have to do that."

"I'll do it again if you don't tell me," Magnus said as the two bots with him leaned on the counter nearby grinning slightly.

"Who do you want to know about?" Hadro asked as he rubbed his neck.

"Shockwave and Scorponok," Magnus replied.

Hadro told him.

Magnus turned and with Leadfoot and Pinpoint in tow walked out of the bar. When they were gone Hadro rose and walked to the back room. He composed a message and sent it onward, more than aware that if Magnus found out the big Autobot would hunt him to the corners of the universe forever until he got his big servos around Hadro's neck for real.

It was who and what Magnus was.

Sitting back, considering his options, Hadro put his shanix on Megatron.

-0-Inside a fortress

"LET ME OUT OF HERE! DO YOU HEAR ME! LET ME OUT!"

Knockout listened to the echoes of his own voice with a frustration born of imminent need. He needed his fragging buffer. That slagger, Sideswipe had roughed his finish and it ate at his sense of self like acid. They'd put him here and he'd seen no one since except for once an orn when the door would open and a small cube of energon would be shoved inside. That was it. No talk, no moment to break the boredom, nothing.

"LET ME OUT OF HERE! SLAGGERS! THIS IS INHUMANE! DO YOU HEAR ME! I'M *RUSTING* IN HERE!"

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe stood nearby listening to the bitching wailing out of the jail. Sunstreaker shook his helm. "What a dumb fragger. Conceited buffoon."

"And you aren't?" Sideswipe asked with a grin.

"I'm not a buffoon," Sunstreaker said with a faint grin of his own. The two began to walk back to the common rooms. They would shortly be going on patrols of their own.

-0-Out there, faraway

Prowl stood on the landing field watching more ships set down. There were refugees coming amid the soldiers. They'd be cared for here and have a respite. It was concerning. He began to walk into the Ops Center crossing the open space with his usual elegant elan before pausing by the communications station. There was no word from anyone he'd sent out to find energon, refugees and the like. There was no word yet from Ironhide. He wasn't concerned that he or Springer would be waylaid. They were experts at passage through hard territory.

He just wanted to know where Shockwave was. That freak of nature was a personal nemesis and no one to take lightly. They had soundings of him here and there but nothing hard and fast. It couldn't be a good thing that he was out roaming. Primus only knew who and what was with him.

It couldn't be good. It never was.

Prowl turned to the center table, then sat. He would study the star maps on the datapad before him seeking to divine in the endless layers of possibility what the next move was. He had echoes of something terrible out there and it required vigilance.

He was the perfect mech for the job.

-0-On the road

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe drove in tandem with Sideswipe leading. They were heading toward an anomaly which had shown up just before they'd made ready to leave. It was a moving anomaly, one in the sky and it was in a rural area. It could be Seekers or a small ship. It could be anything. They had to find out.

When the space bridge opened, they entered, driving out in the middle of flat Kansas back country. Dodge City was the closest town, the epic terminus of the cattle drives from other states from the western American past. They came out on US 400, a long highway that cut across the flat landscape into what appeared to be infinity. Scattered farm houses dotted the mostly brown earthy landscape sitting on a flatness that had to be seen to be believed.

They sped toward the signal that was leisurely, seemingly unconcerned and nearby. The sky overhead was enormous, blue with wisps of cloud and an unmercifully hot sun. They bombed along with sensors scanning wide and deep for their prey. As they did they streaked past a state trooper hiding behind a bill board along the highway. He pulled out flashing his lights and siren.

"Frag. Just what we need," Sideswipe said as he adjusted his mirror to watch the human vehicle following.

"Put the metal down. Let's lose this fragger," Sunstreaker said as he burst ahead, his speed reaching 150 miles per hour in a second or two. Sideswipe did the same and the two were lost to view almost immediately.

The officer following sped up though he knew it was a lost cause. As he did he put out the call that two Lambos, one red, the other yellow were traveling at ridiculous speeds west down US 400. Every trooper in response distance would be alerted and ready to intercept.

-0-Down the road a piece

They crossed the Santa Fe train tracks heading further west. They were searching for the turn off that would take them to the area where the anomaly was, one which was gathering shape as they got closer.

"Sideswipe to Ratchet."

"Ratchet here."

"Ratchet, we have a ship and we're closing in on its location. It appears to be searching for something. Its scanning the ground and not taking measures to conceal," Sideswipe said as they turned off the highway, making their way toward the Arkansas River and a crossing.

"Don't engage. We need intel more than we need another dead Autobot," Ratchet's voice said.

"Sideswipe, this is Prime. Do not engage. We need to know who this is and what they are doing. We do not need them to know any more about us than necessary."

"Affirmative," Sideswipe said as he slowed crossing the river. When they were both on the other side, they pulled over and transformed. They stood together, both kitted in skates, both with swords in servo. "What do you think we can do. There isn't exactly much cover here."

"There isn't any," Sunstreaker said sourly. "Come on," he said as he skated forward.

They moved into the brown sun scorched field of dead grass that seemed to go from their peds to the distant horizon without a break. Up in the sky visible to their optics a ship moved slowly. A beam was scanning the earth looking for something about which they could only guess. It was seemingly unaware of or unconcerned with their presence.

:What do you suppose that is? Besides a Decepticon vessel?: Sideswipe asked as they stood together staring at the long lethal shape of the ship.

:'Cons are looking for something, the fraggers. Energon?: Sunstreaker asked.

:What else?: Sideswipe asked.

The ship paused, then a beam of light shot out at both of them. They broke apart, then turned back with guns drawn. The ship didn't appear to be concerned as it hovered a moment. Then with alien light speed, it went straight up into the sky until it disappeared.

"Sideswipe to Ratchet."

"Ratchet here."

"Did you get that? It just took off," Sideswipe said.

"We did. What were they doing?" Prime asked.

"Scanning the ground. I don't know what they were looking for," Sunstreaker replied as he skated forward to stare at the unassuming dirt landscape before him.

"Check it out," Ratchet said. "The more we know, the better."

Sideswipe rolled forward to join Sunstreaker as he looked around. They probed the earth, then felt an echo return to them. Moving closer, they knelt down to dig. Moving handfuls of earth only a steam shovel could match, they dug down until they felt something hard bump their digits. Together, they scraped the dirt back, hard dirt that hadn't been disturbed for ages until something shiny appeared before them. They looked at it, then Sideswipe stood up. "Optimus, you should come and see this."

For a moment there was nothing but the soft wind across the desiccated landscape. Then a space bridge burst into sight, the sound of energy echoing in the stillness. Prime walked out with a calm measured step to where the two waited. "What did you find?" he asked.

"Look," Sideswipe said nodding into the hole.

Prime did.

-0-TBC May 9, 2014 edited 2-13-16 01-23-2021