What Makes No Difference Is No Difference (wmndind 29)
=0=Far away
"Prowl to Sciences"
"Car-D here, Prowl."
"What is the status on the space bridge?"
"We've finished calculations to all of the places on your list, Prowl. We've finished all of the fuel calculations as well. What we're finishing now is calibrating the instrumentation to do the job. Everything is in place and we're going for trials tomorrow."
"That's good news, gentlemen. We have pressing needs and this will be invaluable. When will we be able to bridge to Earth?" Prowl asked with a slightly lighter spark.
"After the trials, we're going to send someone to Earth."
"I will be ready," Prowl said.
"On it, Prowl. Car-D out."
Prowl turned to the main screen which held in one of the side boxes a schematic of the areas of interest that they were following through strategically placed sensors and dishes. Cybertronian space was one of them, Earth, the entire solar system where Earth was located and a number of refugee locations where thousands upon thousands of civilians were hiding, being cared for by Dai Atlas and the Knights as well as Autobot soldiers, medics and support were his to puruse.
He would be terribly glad when places could be reached in an easier timely manner. More good could be done for those suffering. It would also be a good thing to go to Cybertron and check out the rumors that millions upon millions of their people were there in deep suffering and oppression.
He put that sobering thought out of his processor, then walked to the command desk to sit and brood. The new Operational Center was magnificent in this location under the mountain. It was a solid stable configuration as per Beachcomber. It was also the safest location on the planet. The old base was still down on the plain and was in use for refugee shelter in the endless barracks and storage warehousing for their support. The old ops center was the data management and shipping command post now.
The sun was bright outside as they slid into the run up to a very hot summer but here under the mountain the temperatures were moderate and stable. Teletraan would like that as she labored for The People.
Outside walking toward a shuttle parked nearby, Impactor and his mechs made ready to go out and hunt for 'Cons. They were mapping space, finding refugees, taking their mettle and conditions, then sending the data back to this place. Walking with them, Devcon the bounty hunter headed for their ship. He was coming along on the mission because there was word that Scorponok was out there doing what he did. If anyone was going to bag that slagger, he was determined to beat Ultra Magnus to it.
They entered the shuttle which lifted off before even the hatch could close. It was gone from view in seconds.
Playing in a small children's park nearby, Cybertronian infants under the watchful optics of their caregiver and the odd genitor saw them lift off. The children discussed it together, pointing at the ship as it headed out. They liked looking at the ships. Ships had come to get them from their various camps and refuges. Living here was interesting to them as they played and attended school. It was also better, safer and their genitors were less scared.
They also ate regularly, a wholly new thing to many of them.
Their genitors worked in the camp, most of them, building the things they needed, creating ships and building more barracks. Food was plentiful, recharge uninterrupted by night raids and they could play with kids just like kids played.
All in all, Autobot Omega 1 Base was home.
For now.
=0=Omega Base, Jasper, Nevada, Earth
Optimus Prime watched as mechs rolled out to hunt signs of Decepticons. He'd just talked to Prowl through their long distance messaging and soon the bridge would be up and running between him and Prowl's base. That would eliminate a plethora of problems and communications would be instantaneous between them.
What concerned him now was the influx of refugees to Prowl's camp and the need to feed them. Given the amount of energon in the system, the space bridge would allow mining. If they could find a site within the system on a planet or moon itself, then they could get what they needed there without drawing as much attention. Right now, it seemed that the ability of both sides to take on the other directly, especially in space was limited.
Megatron had a ship, Trypticon, but that appeared to be the extent of his reach thus far. Why he was here other than the relics was still unknown Where others were was anyone's guess and his ability to summon them unknown as yet. Where that mech was concerned Prime along with the Seeker arm that vessels of that nature carried. As he sat in the operational center going over data and the enigma of the relics, he also concerned himself with the whereabouts of his nemesis.
=0=In the system at last
He sped along accreting and losing debris on his transitional format as he flew swiftly through space. He managed to get out of the vessel where he was prisoner, finding his way onward with a Decepticon escape capsule. It had been fine until it began to attract attention along the way necessitating abandoning it. Decepticons had detected the distress beacon they came with, something he was unable to disarm because of what it was.
He abandoned it, transitioned into the travel format for the first time, then sped off. He wasn't uncomfortable nor was he claustrophobic but the journey was hard as he barreled along with most of his non-essential operations and systems shutting down automatically to make his journey optimal. He was aware of himself, aware of his telemetry and aware of how far he had to go. The Omega Beam was his guide and he raced toward the origin point of it which read pure Autobot in derivation.
It couldn't come too soon.
=0=On a conference call earlier with a thirty second delay
"If we could, that would simplify things. Beachcomber can direct the operation," Prowl had said.
Prime nodded. 'Then the test is tomorrow?"
"It is," Prowl said. "We're going to utilize it to send tomorrow. The time will be, hopefully barring problems, 0400 joors in the early morning."
"0300 AM our time. That is a good time for this. By the way, I just noted that you are one joor ahead of us here on the chronometer," Prime said.
Prowl nodded. "That will make things easier. We have the same circadian cycle."
"The test will bridge into our location?" Prime asked more to drag out the communication than to expand his understanding. He felt homesick for Prowl's company at the moment.
Prowl nodded. He leaned closer to the camera, resting his elbows on the table where he sat. "This will make things a lot nicer all around. No more delayed communications and we can come and go to your base from mine at will. The bridge schematics follow that of the one used in the Citadel for special operations. It's designed to be a hidden signal. No one will be able to track it nor will it show up on sensors."
"We can go to sites where energon is found and bring it back to your base without being seen. That bridge was never captured on anyone's sensor net if memory serves me right," Prime said. "Where did you find that plan?"
"We have refugees coming in every orn. Some of them are highly skilled. Some of them are steeped in the technology when it was first built and were on the teams to improve them. Odd, the kinds of refugees we're getting. They appeared to have left Cybertron in groups related to their specialties." Prowl sat back. "I'll be glad when we can come and go together, you and I. Distance has been a terrible taskmaster."
Prime nodded. No one was in the center at the moment including any humans so the conversation was intimate at last. "I have missed you more than I can say. Having the chance to speak to you in person is a dream I have not dared to dream."
Prowl nodded. "I know," he said. He leaned forward again. "Ironhide and Ratchet are together again. Is that going well or is it not?"
"I cannot say," Optimus said truthfully. "I am clear that the tension is there but what it means in the long run is still unknown territory."
"I will wish for the best then," Prowl said.
They would talk for joors, then sign off, waiting for the night to pass until morning came when the bridge would take its trial run to Earth.
=0=At a camp
They studied the images after making casual inquiries around Jasper about the motorcycle that was unlike any other. It was well known. A kid rode it around. Jack was his name and he was a teenager at the high school and worked at a burger place. He was friends with two kids, one named Raf and the other Miko, a foreign exchange student from Japan.
That was a good start. The image of the two was unquestionably affirmed and well known among all they asked. Their cover story about the bike seemed to work here among people who weren't suspicious of their interest. Sometimes small isolated towns could be hot beds of silence toward outsiders or otherwise.
"We have to identify these mountains around here," Shane said. "Tomorrow, we can drive around and try to find them. This one is big enough," he said pointing to the imagine of the mountain that was an old missile silo in the past, the one where the Autobot HQ was located. Given that was classified information even now, it was just a mountain to the three young men. "We should be able to find it. We can find Jack's house tomorrow as well. If there's aliens around here then they wouldn't be hiding in plain sight. They'd have a base out here in the boondocks and we need to find it."
"In a mountain?" Marc asked.
"I would. Better to hide, my dear," Shane said with a grin. "Are the telescopes set up for tonight?"
"They are," Toby said. "If there's any flying around activity, our cameras will catch it."
That would be prophetic.
=0=In space
He followed the beam heading toward its origin point. Who had put it up was still unknown to him. He hoped it wasn't 'Cons. He'd be in a world of hurt if it was. Smokescreen the Younger of Praxus, formerly a guard at the Iacon Archives of Cybertron, a protege of Alpha Trion, a mech who'd just graduated from the Elite Guards Training School when the war broke out, a mech who was a hot-to-trot Autobot soldier looking for a fight was beating the band toward Jasper, Nevada.
He wouldn't know that every possible dream he had for himself as a soldier was waiting for him. He also didn't know that Arachnid and Megatron were also at the end of the trail. He knew he wanted what he wanted, to fight for Cybertron and maybe do it with OPTIMUS SLAGGING PRIME!
He also didn't know that his amma, the great Autobot bounty hunter and seething hater of all that was Decepticon was also at the end of the trail.
He just flew on through space like a rocket heading for His Destiny™.
=0=TBC I promise
I've had a sick dog who just pulled out of a tail spin that has sucked the life out of me. I had hoped to post these more often but that came up out of the blue. He's going to be fine, the little doodle, but its dragged me down to the Pit. Check the story alert box to find out when these land. I play to post them every 2-3 days. That will help you know when they actually arrive. Thanks for the patience, my darlings. :D:D:D
