The Diego Diaries Part Seven

by arctapus

This is a continuation of the universe started in Diego Diaries and continued through parts two to six. The premise is a joke that led to world building. This is about family, friendship, overcoming adversity and finding the best parts of yourself. This is an adventure, a trek through the world of Transformers and its a comedy/drama. Everyone is here and if you are, too, then YAY!

98. Chapter 98

The Diego Diaries: Apocalypse (dd7 98)

=0=Doom

They were standing in the middle of a burning inferno. He knew he should be a pile of ashes on the ground but nothing was touching either him or the old lady. The light was almost too bright as everything seemed to be on fire but in the middle dominating everything about it was a gigantic, massive, enormous bot. He was walking toward them with a huge sword in his hand. On his chest was the face of a lion.

He didn't know that he was watching Predaking walking through the ruins of Vos destroying everything that caught his fancy. He didn't know that both Polyhex and Vos had been goaded into firing nuclear weapons at each other by Ratbat and his partner. He didn't know that Prime was rushing to Simfur to save the AllSpark from falling into Megatron's hands, thus bringing full circle the end of times.

He glanced around, then caught his gaze on a single figure, one that was half crouched on a pile of debris nearby watching the big mech walking toward him. Barrett knew instinctively that he was Superion, the Aerialbot combiner. How he knew it, he couldn't tell but he did. The expression on that mech's face, the utter despair at the sight would stay with him forever. What he didn't see or know was that Ratchet was nearby with refugees he was helping escape taking the pictures of the encounter.

A solemn-faced Shan turned to him. "What do you think, infant?"

Barrett who was transfixed by the Predacons glanced at her. "They don't see us?"

"No. They don't see nor can they hurt us. Unless you want it," she asked.

"NO!" He looked at the carnage, then watched as Superion fell back, rushing forward to help Ratchet with the terrified refugees. "That's Ratchet."

Shan nodded. "Wherever there's carnage, you can find him. He's wired that way, Our Ratchet." She grinned. "Your people like war. How do you like it?" she asked as she nodded to the scene around them.

He looked from Predaking who was advancing closer than he liked, then the refugees, Ratchet and a slowly retreating Superion who was giving them cover. "I … it sucks. This SUCKS!"

"But … you play this game all the time on Earth. Its a game. You play patriotic songs, you march off to war or at least some of you do. How is it that only about 1 or 2% of your people fight the wars that the rest of you consider necessary? Why don't you go sign up? You support your country's wars, right? Everyone seems to support their country's wars. That is, they do unless they have to fight them, too." She stared at him as Predaking walked past, his giant weight causing tremors in the ground. "Tell me where I'm wrong."

Barrett stared upward at Predaking as he passed, his face a map of terror. Turning slowly, he watched the mechanism leisurely pursue the retreating Autobots. He glanced at her but he had no words. Then the scene changed.

=0=Here

Optimus Prime watched as the mechanism stopped turning. He felt the life inside, a brightly burning love so powerful that it swept his spark upward. He glanced at Obsidian who was beside him gathered up into himself. He was chanting something softly as he swayed gently. He felt it as well.

Prime stared upward, then whispered himself. "Where is the child?" he asked.

=0=There

"You won't remember this place though parts of it are familiar. I will tell you in a past life you were an alien visiting this place with your leader. They were making a treaty with the bots. The Prime was Zeta." She watched him as he stared around.

He glanced at her sharply. "What are you talking about?"

She grinned slightly. "Surely you don't think you live only one life?"

He stared at her. "So you're telling me about reincarnation? About that shit?"

She chuckled. "That shit is real. This place isn't. Or, rather it is but we're not really inside the timeline having the experience. I will tell you that much. If we were we would be in a world of hurt."

"Where is this?" Barrett asked as he walked closer to see over a railing. Down below, there was a battle and there were familiar figures running toward what he knew was a Temple.

"Why this is Simfur. That's the real Temple of Simfur, the holy home of the AllSpark and the relics. Those weapons firing over there," she said pointing to a rise of land and a high rise district to the left of where they were, "are the Decepticons advancing on the Temple to take the relics.

"Those are the Autobots. That's Optimus Prime running for the Temple to take the heart and soul of their existence, the AllSpark and send it away into space so that Megatron won't get it," she said.

"What if he does?" Barrett asked as he saw Prime, Prowl, Ironhide and others take the steps two and three at a time to enter into the building.

"Then the universe is over. The power of the AllSpark is so enormous that there would be no one anywhere who could stand against It. Earth, Mars, everywhere, it would be laid waste by the tyrant."

There was shooting so the two stepped closer as the Autobots began to emerge again. Priests were running with Prime, some of them wailing loudly as a mech Barrett knew was Alpha Trion ran after them. He grabbed the priests, most of whom halted, then ran back inside with him. A ship began to descend from the sky to hover nearby.

Prime had a small cube in his servos and as he waited surrounded by guns, he was staring at it with a devastated expression on his face. The others looked as emotional as before them appeared a burst of energy. Barrett knew it was a space bridge.

For a moment Prime did nothing. He held the cube in his arms as if cradling a baby, then he stepped forward. He gripped the cube tightly, then threw it with all his might into the bright energy vortex. It disappeared immediately and so did the bridge.

Shooting began to come in closer as Prime returned it. They waited long enough for Alpha Trion and the priests to come out again laden with relics, books and images. They loaded the ship, jumped inside, pulled some of the priests in with them who didn't want to go, then began to rise up to fly away. Prime and his men gave them cover and when they were gone only then began to fall back as the Decepticons began to really make headway to the Temple. They were gone in moments falling back into the darkness nearby as the Decepticons came racing in.

They ran up the stairs and went inside.

"What happens now?" Barrett said as he gripped the railing tightly.

"The Decepticons have to tell their master that the relics and the AllSpark got away. Then he in a fit of rage will have the Seekers come in and destroy this sacred space down to the ground." She looked at Barrett. "This is the start of a nine million year quest by Prime and his people to find the AllSpark and save this world. He will spend every day of the next nine million years seeking It. Imagine that, you who can't pay attention five minutes to anyone."

He glanced at her, then the scene below. The Decepticons came out and in their fury turned their guns on the building. It was shot up pretty good when they fled. As they did, Seekers came in from the sky and began to drop their bombs.

She and Barrett were gone before they landed.

=0=Ops Center

They sat together, all of them in various states. The humans were as glum and tense a group as Ratchet had seen in some time. It was agonizing for everyone as they waited for Prime.

Clark Walters glanced at Prowl. :Prime is going to get help, right? That relic thing. He can ask it to help?:

Prowl considered the man sitting next to his wife. If his own son was missing, there would be no stone turned in this or any other universe before he found him again. "Optimus Prime has access to those who may help. He is going to seek it now. I am asking you to have faith. I'm told that humans put a great store in such things."

Clark stood, then he walked over to stand in front of Prowl who was sitting in his usual place in a room filled with bots and humans. :I don't pretend to understand you. Maybe we're too different to do that. But I hope you understand what my son means to me:

Prowl leaned forward on his elbows. "I understand your moment here. I understand how you feel-"

:How can you?: Clark interjected. :How can you possibly understand how I feel?:

Prowl considered that as he noted every optic and eyeball in the room upon him. The humans were getting uncomfortable and two stood to intercept. He glanced at them, then Clark. "Take a look at every bot in this room. Do it for me."

Clark stared at him, then glanced around the room. :And?: he asked.

"That mech is Springer of Polyhex. He had a family, mid caste who were large and close. He has no idea what happened to them. We all look for our missing but really, few of us are as lucky as me.

"That mech is Drift of Kaon. He has no idea where his genitors are nor his brother. They're missing. So is his," Prowl said nodding to Kup and Hercy. "They come from families as well and no one knows where they are. We are all orphans here, most of us. Every mech in this room can tell you about not knowing where everyone you love is and if they're alive or not. Jazz … tell me about your family," Prowl asked. He knew already but what the hell?

Jazz shrugged. "My family came from the slums of Kaon. We had a big family we couldn't feed so I hung out to rob to help them. I ended up on my own but I always knew where they were and if I could I helped. I don't know where they are now. My area of Kaon is a flattened bomb littered waste land."

"I have a big family," Wheeljack said as he sat beside Perceptor. "I have four brothers, all of them as handsome as me," he said with a faint smile.

"No one is as handsome as you, Wheeljack," Perceptor said as he took Wheeljack's servo into his own. "Though I am sure all of them are very handsome anyway."

Wheeljack squeezed Percy's servo. "They are. So were my genitors, my cousins, aunts and uncles. My ammas and appas, they were the ones who liked this frame and most of us have it. Your family, Percy … they will be found. I know it."

Percy squeezed Wheeljack's servo. "It is our great hope, all of us."

"My family is missing," Kup said. "I don't expect to ever find them. It's what war does. It destroyed more than the dead."

Prowl nodded. "I have my parents, one set of grandparents and no one else. Optimus has his parents and no one else though for him and I and all of us, there are many. We know what you feel. We deal with it every day. That's why families like Ratchet and Ironhide are so important. They take in orphans and make them their own. It saves us around the holidays from despair."

"Though we don't look and perhaps act like you, humans, we know what you feel," Raptor said quietly.

Clark stared at them, then walked back to sit heavily on his chair.

"I hope you can hold on and have faith, Mr. and Mrs. Walters. First rule of an Autobot is never leave anyone behind," Prowl said softly.

It was quiet in the room for a long time.

=0=There

"Where are we?" Barrett asked. He looked around at a lush world, one with an ocean, green lands with low trees and bushes as well as a mountain range in the distance.

"We're in a place that was once one of my favorites. This is what Mars looked like a long time ago," she said.

He glanced at her. "This is when?"

"Longer ago than you can imagine," she said with a grin. "There will be a civilization here eventually. This will be done a billion years before Earth can do the same. The civilization will rise, see the end come and flee. They will make it, too, because I did a bad and helped them."

"What's bad about helping them? They were going to die, right? You saved them," Barrett said.

"You have free will. Its a law of the universe that isn't ever allowed to be broken. I helped them get away because it wasn't their fault. A solar storm from the sun was coming that would rip the atmosphere off this entire planet and kill everyone here in literally minutes from its inception.

"I didn't want all the peaceful people here to die. My beautiful world would die but not them. I … sorta helped them," she said with a slight grin.

"What happened? You sound like you got into trouble," Barrett asked.

"Not exactly trouble. I had to go over the rules with Source. I'm not supposed to interfere," she said as she walked to a stone nearby and sat down. "Sometimes even the big kids can get into trouble."

He stared at her, then walked to a nearby stone to sit down. It was quiet a moment. "The people … who were they and what happened to them?" he asked.

She grinned slightly. "Ah, The People. How can I tell you about The People?"

=0=TBC 9-29-19

NOTE: the image I used of Predaking can be found at tf wiki dot net