The Diego Diaries: Onward (dd7 82)
=0=Morning in the Ops Center
Prowl sat at the command table going through intel and communications. The team was gone and would come back when they were ready. There was a panic button program built into all of them and their ship that would emit a signal to Trigger Command to spring a bridge and send for them in a newly formulated non-consent retrieval process.
He personally hoped it wasn't going to be used because they hadn't tested it in real world circumstances yet. It was possible that they could retrieve a lot more than just their people if they used it. As he considered that, he gazed for a moment on a message that had just come through. Rising, he walked to the corridor that led to the senior Autobot's offices.
Down he walked passing aides to the seniors, then entered Prime's open door. He was hip assemblies deep in work himself but he glanced up. "I just got this," Prowl said as he handed a data pad to Prime.
He looked at it, then glanced up at Prowl. "Does Metroplex know?"
"I don't know. I'll check," he said as he commed the big mech who had taken like a duck to water to his pretender gear. Prowl listened a moment, then turned to Optimus. "No. He didn't get the message. It rides the Seeker network and they aren't hooked in to it."
Optimus nodded. "We must fix that so he can get them as well." He commed Jetta, they had a chat, then he rose when they cut off. "I think we need to gather up for this. Will you call their council?"
"Already done. We're going to the conference room in the City Hall," Prowl said as he followed Optimus out the door. In seconds, they were gone.
=0=Elsewhere
They flew into the stream of ships that were heading for Broken Hole. It was a symptom of the disturbed energy and malignant auras of the area that this big operation was going on and no one knew about it but those unfortunate enough to be stationed far enough out here.
Elita flew toward a signal that was growing stronger with each inch they came closer. "This is a lot of ships for a place like this. I wonder who runs this?"
"We'll find out. I don't know if its a Cybertronian but it should be. Some of these ships are filled with fraggers and none of them look friendly," Mirage said as he stared out the window.
"Well, I don't intend to smile myself," Chromia said with a grin.
The mechs grinned back. None of them intended to do so either.
=0=RTR Tools
"We're going to school, Ravie," Corr said as he gathered his backpack which he carried in his hold. All of his precious educational stuff was inside along with a small bun that he always kept there in his 'just in case'.
Ravel glanced at Corr, then grinned. "I hope you don't overdue. We need you to dance and it won't help that if you get sick."
Corr chuckled, then took Chan's servo into his own. "I think that's a good idea, Ravel. Don't worry."
Appa Ratchet and Amma Docker followed both out as they walked to a cab stand nearby. They would take a one to the University out by Roundabout #4 and the Mausoleum. They would be there for a few joors, then come back with snacks for everyone so they could chat and study together with their children around them happy and safe.
For them, there were very few moments more sublime than that.
=0=Elsewhere
They walked along the lake taking images of the plants and the fish which were thriving in the clear clean water. They were parents of some of the scientists on staff who were here to help with their grandchildren. Two of them were in school and one was a toddler. He was ambling along with them pointing at things and checking out the rocks.
"Come, Michael," his Nana Anna said. "Don't fall in."
"This is all he knows, Annie," her husband, Herb said. "Imagine growing up in a terrarium and never knowing any differently."
"This is a nice terrarium, Herb," Annie said with a grin. "Why don't we take him to the dairy to look at the animals? Then we can get a lunch from The Cafe and eat out in one of the fallow pastures. He can run and play all he wants. I hear that there are butterflies now."
"Sounds like a plan. What about you, Sport? Is that a plan?" Herb asked his grandson.
The baby stared at his Papa with a smile.
"I think he agrees," Herb said as he picked up the baby.
The three walked to their little car and hopped in. They would drive the little convertible around the main road that would lead to the farm eventually. As they did, the sun shown brightly inside from the voodoo tech built into the dome. What made the light brighter than it would be and generate more heat than it should was proprietary tech.
None of the three cared. They were having fun inside the bowl.
They drove onward and disappeared around a bend, honking their horn at the workers who were fixing a culvert for the irrigation system. Everyone waved like they would anywhere else and all was well.
Life marches on.
=0=City Hall, big conference room
They sat together, Optimus, Prowl, Ratchet, Ironhide, Metroplex, Typhoon, Fortress Maximus and Acroplex.
Prime glanced at Metroplex. "Do you have the communication now?"
"Prowl sent it to me. We've been discussing what we should do since," Metroplex said as the others nodded. "We would need to figure out where they would live. All of them indicate they want a peaceful life here."
"Why aren't they in Soft Space as you call it?" Prowl asked.
"They came because Optimus called them to come. Not everyone can find their way there, though we sense them and send help. This group just wants to come and find a place of peace and refuge," Metroplex said. "They want to live a peaceful life of service to The People."
Optimus glanced at Jetta. "What are you organizing, Jetta, to meet this need?"
"We're working out the locations and logistics now. Mack is on it for me for the duration of this meeting, then I'll help refine things." He glanced at Magnus. "We're going to take up '8B-87-Titans' on the Master Expansion Plan, right?"
Magnus nodded. "We will." He looked at Prime. "The locations would be the space south of Tyger Pax. It will come to a conclusion five miles before the Consulate. I'm not especially keen to have the humans living that close to Cybertronian urban areas but its the best logical location to allow all of the big frames to be close together."
"Very well," Prime said. "Gentlemen, can you please convey the situation and ask them to wait at the system's edge for instructions on how to come here and what we will do to make it smooth and easy. It would also be a good thing for them to send their needs to Ratchet so he can coordinate their refit and upgrades."
"I will do that," Fort Max said. "I can help plan their locations as well, Prime." He glanced at Jetta. "We can talk after this."
Jetta nodded. "Alright."
Optimus sat back thinking about the situation, then glanced at Ratchet. "Are you ready to receive and care for eleven metroformers, Ratchet?"
Ratchet smirked. "Given that we've just added the potential for housing about 5,000,000+ individuals, yes."
"We can work out the arrangements for their civilian housing schemes when they get here. This is going to be a dense appearing project with them sitting in the same area. It won't be, though. There will be lots of space between them and all will be connected by roadways, undergrounds and through extending the overland trains their way," Jetta said. "It takes a lot of pressure of the new construction concerning the steady stream of refugees coming through from Omega Camp. What's the latest count on the population with all the newbies, Magnus?"
Magnus turned to a computer, checked the data, then turned back to the group. "We are at this moment housing 71,857,412 citizens with the added refugees. We're holding well with amenities and security. There are lots of skilled workers arriving and many of them have skills needed right away. There are a lot of soldiers, law enforcement and teachers in this group. We are due to open another school tower in the Crater Districts to prepare to continue to receive new students."
"We need a staff meeting to go over this. We need the plat books, anyone who can make the big picture and the time to see and digest it," Prowl said as the group nodded.
"We can meet the newcomers at the system edge, then assess them with you, Ratchet. That way we can handle this with more ease than otherwise," Max said.
"Alright," Ratchet said. "I can bring along some of the diagnostic teams I've been creating against such an eventuality. Eleven 'formers … what type and size, do you know?"
"There are no dreadnoughts," Typhoon said, "but there are a lot of colony ships and transports which means extremely large vessels. None of them have children unfortunately. I would so love to see a femme child in our frame."
The big mechs nodded.
Acroplex said, "I would love it as well. It would be a wonderful thing for my son to have a sister. Hope will be our guide."
Ratchet watched them, the biggest members of their race and the gentlest. They were FEROCIOUS in battle and everyone on the other side feared them enormously. But in their everyday activities and manner, they were the kindest and best among them. There was nothing, absolutely nothing they wouldn't do for The People and for Prime? They would lay down and die if he needed it from them.
"When do you need us to go, Prowl?" Ratchet asked.
"They said they would be arriving about 2200 hours our time. That gives you six joors to organize," Prowl said.
"Well then, I'll get it going," Ratchet said.
They discussed things a bit longer, then broke up to get their parts going. Eleven of the biggest frames in their class were making their way here to find a peaceful life among their own and there was literally millions of things to get ready.
Ironhide and Halo who as sleeping in her old pa's hold with a hairy cow went with Ratchet.
=0=The Hourly News at 1400 TMC
"Good afternoon. This is Aleph with the mid afternoon news. We have just received a message from the Office of the Primes that eleven Metroplex Class metrotitans have signaled their presence on the Orion arm with the intention of making their homes here on world.
"Ops Center received a message early this afternoon stating that eleven titanic ships lead by the warrior class mech named Riot were on their way and would hope to be received for permanent habitation here on world. Optimus Prime confirmed their intentions and has begun to arrange a fleet to greet them and facilitate their landings here.
"It is unknown as of yet what their condition is and what they might need in light of their long exile in space. It is a common practice for these frames to be hunted by pirates and Decepticons both for their tech. To get the tech, they have to kill the titan. There are no titanic frames that are in service to anyone but a Prime so an encounter usually means a fight to the death.
"We are gathering reports from Colonial Engineer Jetta of Iacon and City Manager Ultra Magnus of Iacon. There may be some road closures as Public Works and Special Operations Colonial Projects begin to make pads to accommodate that many big individuals. There will also possibly be delays when they arrive and begin to descend into our atmosphere. Word will be given when they do if there are special circumstances required to help make that possible.
"The siren systems utilized when big frames come down to the surface will be sounded and we expect that you will heed them. Security at the sites will be high and if you come to watch the sight, you must obey the five Cybertronian mile safety zone or you will be jailed.
"We are going to show the proposed sites for the new mechs and possible road closures when they come. This information could change as the circumstances become more clear. You are asked to heed the sirens for the Military Airport if they sound and make way for vehicles that are assisting in the project if they signal you with lights and sirens on the roadways.
"We will be back in a moment," Aleph said as the screen switched to the Community Bulletin Board and the list of information that would signal inconveniences, or not, for the next few orns.
=0=RTR
"Well, that means the babies will be farmed out again unless Ironhide stays here," Tie said as he tapped on a small blade to make it straight.
"I know. This is complex, Tie Down. Very complex," Ravel said as he worked to etch a poem into a sword blade.
Tie glanced at him, then grinned. "Indeed it is, Ravie. Indeed it is."
=0=TBC 9-9-19
NOTE I am considering that given these are enormous colony and convoy vessels that they can house up to 500,000 individuals each. Given that there are eleven, that's a buncha individuals. :D
NOTE replies tomorrow. :D:D:D