The Diego Diaries: Mission Again (dd7 93)
=0=Late at night
The lights from towers were throwing strange shadows on the field where the big ships sat. Banner was running on emergency power supplied by ships to conserve what he had and to prevent his functions from working on their own during a period of great disharmony of his overall functioning.
The Dandy was downfield and coming along well. He had a lot of outside wounds and the enemy had boarded but they hadn't disabled his propulsion and steering so he was able to bash them through a set of evasive maneuvers. They were hard to kill, titans and many were the ships that had brutal evasive maneuvers when they were boarded. The enemy hadn't left the ship. They were carted out, two in pieces, to be given a post mortem, then buried in the Crater Mausoleum near Crater District 1.
It would be around this time the next evening when the big ship could lift off and go to his permanent site where more work, both essential and cosmetic would be performed to his everlasting relief and gratitude. His lighted form was sitting a couple of miles away and was as swarmed as Banner was here.
Walking along with Ratchet, Ranger who was a certified doctor for titans being one himself discussed their progress and plans as both headed toward the outside handhold ladder that would take them directly to Banner's bridge. They reached it, then began to climb, stepping out on the top in jig time.
Ratchet paused to look around in the darkness. They could see Autobot City glistening in the velvet night behind them and in all directions the other habitation sites including the human's. There was traffic on the highways leading everywhere, a train was coming overland toward Terra from the Industrial Park Cities and overhead ships came in or took off along with the odd Seeker flight.
It was astonishingly beautiful.
"This is a real sight isn't it," Ranger said.
Ratchet nodded. "When we came here, we were five. Now look at us. Look at Cybertron. All is getting to be well. Your people have finally come in numbers and we're all happy. Its here that matters, here and Cybertron."
Ranger nodded. "I agree," he said as Ratchet walked toward an open doorway nearby. Light poured out of it as they entered, walking onto a bridge being dismantled and re-assembled. There was noise and movement as they walked to Environmental to sit and go over the data once more.
=0=Night
"Atar."
He blinked, then turned his helm. He looked down.
Standing on the floor looking upward at him with little blue peepers, two tiny figures stared upward.
Hero.
Halo.
He rolled over to look closer at them. "You need to be in bed. What are you doing whispering to me this late at night?"
"Ada," Halo said quietly as she looked around to see if anyone else was awake.
"Ada is workin'. Just a workin'," Ironhide said. "How about you going back to bed? Prowler will wonder where you are."
Halo who was holding hands with Hero looked up at her sister. "Pow-Pow not doin'. We goin' dere?" she asked as she pointed a fat baby digit at the door.
"Wait a minute, Halo," Hero said gently. She looked at Ironhide. "Can we recharge here? We miss Ada."
Ironhide leaned downward, then scooped them up. He rolled over, then put them down on the bed where Ratchet slept. He pulled the covers up to tuck them in, then grinned. "Go to sleepin'. No pillow talk."
Two tiny femmes smiled at him. "No pillow talk. That's so funny," Hero said.
"No piddow talk?" Halo asked quizzically. She turned her helm to look at Hero. "No piddow, Ho-Ho?"
"No," Hero whispered with a grin. "Go to sleep, Halo. Whistle if you're first to fall into recharge. Okay?"
Halo smiled at Hero. "Okey dokey." Then she shuttered her tiny optics.
Hero smiled, then did the same thing.
Ironhide who was laughing loudly inside shuttered his as well. Then he whistled softly.
Two little girls sat up, got up, then stood beside his head examining his face to figure out how he did it. It would be an entertaining few moments before they were tucked in again.
No one whistled this time.
=0=Brandon Clark
He stood at the big windows of the habitat entrance watching the lights in the distance beyond. He had powerful binoculars and he could see ships flying in freight, some taking winched pallets of burned and seemingly broken things away, flying all of it in low altitudes around the giants. He watched the workers who he could see clearly though the site was far away from where he was.
Turning slightly, he trained them on four big ships that had settled in city mode nearby, their towers and streets lit up by the vessels as they settled into their new homes. A lot of activity was happening there as well as they prepared them to host and to continue their rehabilitation.
The skyline had changed for the better. The desolate beauty of uninterrupted desert was now broken up by the inclusion of beautiful cities. Seven more would come to occupy the space between their habitat and the Tri-Cities. Soon there would be highways and roadways, a couple more huge roundabouts and all of it would include their habitats more fully into the colonial model.
It astonished him, the skill and resourcefulness of the bots as they made the things they needed efficiently and well. Everything had an element of beauty. This would be no different. It would be three more Metrotitan Districts, Districts Five through Eight. They would host thousands and thousands of refugees at some point and offer work and recreation to many more. There would be the usual amenities and lots of possibilities to those who came.
It was fascinating and pretty wonderful.
Behind him, the habitat was in night mode. The crews that worked at night were busy going about their business. A few of the inhabitants were sitting in the main lounge working on laptops and sipping drinks. The cafe was getting ready to close and all of the other businesses shuttered earlier. They kept a schedule as if this were Earth and they were just another little town on a roadway.
He loved this place. His son was born here. He married here and was going to make this home for all of them. He loved the bots. He loved Mars. He loved Earth. Being here drove that home more than anything else.
Nearby watching him with a sweet expression on her face, an older lady in a knit cap stood by the windows. She noticed the same thing. It was beautiful to see for her as well. It had been a long, long time. As she watched him, she faded slowly from view.
=0=Earth2
It was night at Earth2. The downtown business district had closed but for a bar that would shutter at 0100 AM on the TMC. It was a cafe with a bar designed on a European pub model and thus, it was a favorite gathering place for locals. Street lights illuminated the roadways inside the downtown area as night lighting made it appear to be as late as it was. No one was up but the security officers who walked in pairs all over the facility keeping the peace.
The main lounge was empty of visitors as the habitat rolled ever onward into the nighttime. The hospital had a couple of patients, one for a difficult pregnancy and another nursing a broken leg from falling from a ladder.
It was as quiet as a big facility could be with the most activity in the apartment blocks down the concourse. A few of the locals were sitting in front of their apartments on lawn chairs, chatting together as they shared beer and snacks. Music was coming from a gathering on the top floor, soft and low. It was peaceful and could be any summer evening on Earth.
The night rolled onward …
=0=Unidad Terra 1
Carly walked into the bedroom and climbed in beside Sam. Both of them were working on their laptops when Carly grinned at Sam. "Are you feeling as romantic as I am?" she asked.
"More," Sam said with a grin as he worked on a contract for transmission to Earth in the morning.
They would work side-by-side contentedly.
=0=At a mall in The City
James Brooks-Spencer, Jessie Landon, Niall and Linda Graham along with a couple of bachelors from N.E.S.T. sat together in the McDonalds that was part of the 'Mall of Mars', a space that was created by the bots to allow the local humans to have a place to come and shop, eat, drink, dance and feel more attached to their home world. Corporations had petitioned and after a tremendously exacting vetting process, they were allowed to have 'vanity' stores here at long last. It was a tiny human corporate bastion in the middle of the vast deadly desert that was Mars.
Fifty store fronts, food, bars, clothing and housewares along with a book store, music, electronics outlets and other sundry facilities was among the most popular destinations of humans on world. The kids LOVED it and they could 'buy' things here, the kids, by earning points based on their grades, their care of their rooms and other parentally designated possibilities.
The humans who worked here were some of the family members of locals who lived here full time, lots of them fully experienced in retail and hospitality. They were even finishing up the last bit of remodeling to make a multiplex movie theater for the locals.
"This is good. I never thought I would miss junk food the way I do," Jessie said as she sipped her milk shake. "What do you think of Cinnabon?"
Niall grinned. "Everything."
Linda laughed. "I read that if you want to win a man," she said as everyone smirked at the boys, "all you had to do was make a pumpkin pie or cinnamon buns. Pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon were like aphrodisiacs to men. Its real actual science."
"Well, I must get some strange perfumes then," Jessie said as she winked at James.
He grinned at Jessie. "Pie is good."
They would chat a while until the places began to close, then go to the bar until 0100. They were off duty for a couple of days so there was no rush.
=0=Elsewhere
Kestrel crept into the berthroom after finishing his reading assignment. Given that the infants were being farmed out to everyone for the next orn or so, he was pressed to get it done when he could. He walked to the berth, sat, then leaned back.
"Are you finished, Kes?" Tagg asked as he turned over to hug Kestrel to his body.
"I have," Kes replied as he rubbed Tagg's big arm. "When things get back to normal, that will be good. Having the titans here, getting more skyline, that is so nice."
Tagg nodded. "I know. School opens tomorrow. We will have to get the infants to school. When we go, then all will be well. How about window shopping during the morning? Then we can see what is happening at the Senior Center."
"I think that would be fun, Tagg," Kes said. "Christmas Surprise is coming. Maybe we can find something for the babies."
"We will," Tagg said as he began to nod off into recharge.
Kestrel stroked his arm gently as he stared out the window nearby. Lights streamed in, lights were flying away into space and some were coming in to land. It was always so, though the sound outside was muted by their windows. It was quiet and peaceful here. He would drift off himself in no time.
=0=Elsewhere
Ratchet lay on his back working to loosen a bolt. He did so and when he did, energon gushed downward into his face. He plugged the hole with his digit, then called to an orderly. "MICA!"
A familiar face appeared. "What do you need?"
"Well, Partition, a towel would be nice," Ratchet said with a smile. "Pull me out."
Partition grabbed Ratchet's legs and dragged him out from under the cabinet.
He stood up swiftly, input some numbers and the gusher underneath halted. Glancing below, he turned to Partition. "Well, isn't this just dandy."
Partition grinned. "I think so," he said with a chuckle.
=0=TBC 9-22-19