The Diego Diaries: Sun Dance (dd7 161)
=0=Later in Ops Center, Sun Base
Ratchet stood at the table going over things in his mind about the day. He had gotten the temperature of this group with his little exercise and it appeared they were a conglomeration of high castes who were associated with politics, government, business and/or owned massive corporations.
They were in a bubble, a deep deep psychological bubble which even light didn't seem to penetrate. It seemed that they had distilled themselves in their isolation, becoming even more deeply fixed in their group delusions. It happened with groups under stress who don't have outlets to learn the truth or how things really could and perhaps should be.
They were being rounded up and after inviting an airstrike or two to underscore the Prime's resolve, the slaggers were giving it up when teams arrived at their houses. It was a good thing. There were children and elders who didn't need to suffer from the deluded bravado and entitlement of their family members. Even this group had vulnerable individuals in it.
He walked to the office nearby that had been that of their leader, Machlis who seemed to be the one everyone listened to even though Faber seemed the nominal leader of this faction. Entering, he glanced around. It was neat, luxurious and filled with images of his family, large ones of Cybertron and other familiar things. His family sigil was engraved on the door.
He walked to the desk then sat. Dialing up the house back on Mars, he put in a long distance array call to home. Sitting back, he looked at the data pad he held that had all the operation data feeding directly into it as it was gathered in real time.
Five thousand of the probable ten thousand high castes were in custody and the others were barricaded into their district so they couldn't run. There was no more more violence from the prison and everything seemed to be moving smoothly.
The medical teams were hard at it with those who were treated being organized to leave. Huge cargo ships were landing to carry tagged and bagged items. Most of the worker bees were bringing very little but then they had little. What they did have was being cared for like the precious cargo it was for them. The number of individuals still to be treated for the implants was falling swiftly. He wouldn't feel better until it was at zero.
The screen opened to their homepage indicating their names and numbers, then Ironhide appeared on it from the living room. "What are you doing home, Ironhide?" Ratchet asked.
"I came home to pull my weight. I, Ironhide am leading the peewees forward."
"I thought the elders were, slagger," Ratchet said with a slight frown.
He glanced around then leaned closer. "I'm switching to the office. Hang on." The screen went back to their homepage, then Ironhide appeared again. He was in the office. "I'm here to get the team going. Prime and the rest of us are going into the desert and practice."
"So," Ratchet said as he crossed his arms. "I get to sit here and spin while you play footie? Is that it?"
Ironhide stared at Ratchet for a moment. "There's no way I can answer that that won't hurt is there?"
Ratchet smirked. "What do you think?"
"I think … uh, what do I think?" he mused, secure and glad he was out of throwing range. Ratchet couldn't get him at this distance. "The kids are good," he said, then he gave a big cheese eating grin like Orion. It usually worked.
It didn't.
Ratchet stared at him. "I sent three slaggers to the prison. They're hard core. They were going to shoot me."
"What?" Ironhide asked. "YOU WERE SHOT FOUR TIMES! WHAT THE FRAG!? MORE SHOTS!?"
A door opened as several kids walked into the office. "Who got shot, Atar?" Hero asked with a shocked expression. Everyone behind her looked the same.
"Not our old Ada. See?" Ironhide said pointing to the screen. "There he is."
Everyone looked at the screen, then their faces smiled as one. "ADA!"
Ratchet shifted so his bullet hole patches wouldn't be seen. "Hi. What are you doing?"
"I'm playing, Ada. Orion and everyone is playing with me and Halo," Hero said. "When are you coming home?"
Ratchet glanced at Ironhide then the kids. "Soon. Pretty soon. I'm just a workin'."
They smiled at him over the old joke that Orion started, then looked at Ironhide.
"Atar, when Ada comed?" Orion asked. "Ada comed to the shes?"
"Ada comed pretty soon. You need to go to bed. School is tomorrow," Ironhide said. He looked at Ratchet. "Gotta motor. You okay?"
Ratchet stared at him, then shrugged. He looked at the kids. "Be good and let your ammas and appas help you. Help them by being good. Okay?"
"We will, Ada. Come home soon," Praxus said with a smile.
"You go to the berth rooms and clean them up. I'll be there in a moment," Ironhide said as they all waved then ran out. He looked at the screen. "What happened? Who tried to shoot you?"
"I played The Game with three slaggers to get a bead on things here. Its pretty tremendously fragged here to tell you the truth. Ask Prime and Prowl," Ratchet said, then his comm channel beeped. "I have to go. Tuck everyone in for me." With that, the channel was cut.
Ironhide stared at the screen then sat back. "Well, that went well," he said. Then he stood and walked out to tuck in infants right and left.
=0=There
Ratchet stared at the screen then grinned faintly. "I hope you feel like slag, slagger. You deserve it." He rose, then walked to the ops center to take care of another problem. He would do so all night long.
=0=Autobot City Port Authority Immigration and Refugee Repatriation Center, Tri-Cities Highway
They came in a steady stream, battered and bruised first and the rest afterward. Amenities were being delivered at the other end, good food, medical attention and detailers. It was hoped that looking better would translate to feeling better. It was astonishing to everyone on the scene both here and there how compliant and patient the newcomers were.
Mental health was here in force evaluating the behavior and affect of everyone standing in long lines. Buses waited nearby once they were cleared, restored to citizenship and logged into the database for transport to a new life. They had been given access to the videos that were used for refugees through their internal comm tech and even though this seemed like an impossibility despite the visual aids, it helped with their adjustment once they arrived here.
Crater District 3 would be their home and in that massive development the services available to them were there in large numbers. Watch mechs and femmes, community resource individuals, the tower supervisors and other members of their association were there to help. Restaurants and some businesses like groceries and entertainments, bars and lounges were open and would remain so day and night until everyone who was coming was here. They would be able to wander around, partake in the possibilities and enjoy themselves.
This district like the others was also a place of recreation. Another water park was opened in two of the cities such was the demand and so were sports centers where they could swim and play games with and without children. Parks were everywhere and so were galleries, libraries and government offices. The Museum had annexes in each and there were smaller copies of the larger shrines, ones used for contemplation rather than anything more formal placed here.
Lights were blazing in the coming night and towers were beginning to show lights in the cities, an indication that residents had finally arrived to live here. Traffic was pretty heavy both on the streets and sidewalks as the newcomers wandered to see the sights, agog that this was their reality now.
It would be a long few orns for the newcomers in the Colony of the Autobots.
=0=Prison
They arrived by bridge, special delivery with special instructions for Gee-Gee. Future, Lateral and Dual were awake and aware, sore and aggrieved. Their aggravation was obvious but they were silent, following their guard through the bridge at the Control Center at the Prison. Then they were led outside to the tarmac where the prison ships usually were parked.
They paused on the line before the small femme who was looking them over as they came toward her. It was silent a moment, then she nodded to the guards. "Thanks, boys. You can go back now."
"Got ya, Warden," Roadie said as he and Topspin left her with the three. There would be no guards with her when they left.
It was silent again, then Gee-Gee stepped closer. "Welcome to the Autobot City Civilian and Military Prison here at Autobot City, the Primal Colony of Mars. I'm Warden Gee-Gee and this is my prison. Right now, I have a number of your cohorts cooling their heels inside until I move them to their permanent lodgings here. I was informed about your little game with Commander Ratchet and I want to talk to you about that."
They stared at her without comment.
"Speak up," Gee-Gee said. "I want to hear what you have to say. I'm Guiding Hand by the way."
"That doesn't matter, apparently," Dual said bitterly. "That fragger shot all of us."
"I heard that you would have killed him if he hadn't had a bio-metric signature on his gun," she replied. "I want to hear your side of it."
"No you don't," Lateral said bitterly.
"Two sides. Tell me yours," Gee-Gee said.
It was silent, then Dual spoke. "We were dragged from our homes and sat down in a room with him and a number of fraggers who watched him abuse us. He goaded us with a gun." It was silent as she listened. "He shot us. All three of us."
"That's it?" Gee-Gee asked. "You didn't do anything to promote it?"
"You don't have to do anything around low castes to get a violent reaction from them. Sometimes just being in their proximity is enough," Future said. "We have a lot of experience with this sort of thing."
"What do you do about it?" Gee-Gee asked.
"Don't answer that question," Dual said. The other two glanced at him, then went silent.
Gee-Gee waited a moment, then stepped closer. "You're mine now and you're going to find caste means nothing here nor anywhere else in the Empire. You're just another number here and if you act up there's punishment that follows. I don't want acting up." She glanced down the road. "Get moving that way. We're going to your new home."
"And if we refuse?" Future asked defiantly.
"Then I beat you to a pulp." She grinned. "I'm a combat instructor as well as warden. Your choice. My way or yours. We have a hospital here for the prison, just so you know."
They stared at her with hatred then began to walk down the road to a pen which would be their new home for whoever knew how long. It would go on like that for a while as the wheat got sorted from the chaff.
=0=Prime
He slipped into the apartment late having spent all evening working long distance with Ratchet. It was dark inside though the light from the office was still on. Prime walked to it and saw Prowl working there. He sat on the couch heavily. "Time to go to recharge."
"I know," he said sitting back tiredly. "What do you think about this? Special circumstances?"
Prime nodded. "I think so," he replied. "We should keep a presence there until we figure out what to do with these planets. If the alien confederation finds out we are pulling out they will come."
"I'm working out their communications so that we can keep them going. If we go silent we can attract unwanted attention," Prowl replied.
Prime nodded. "How is your family?"
"Much better. They know Shadow and Zenith are here. There's bad feelings between them. I don't plan any dinner parties for everyone for now. Ada said that there's an apartment coming open in the Vos Tower and he's asked for it. The Housing Authority is giving it a look-see."
"That would be wonderful. Have they decided what they want to do or is that something they are not interested in yet, if ever?" Prime asked as Prowl stood and stretched.
"I think they want to write. Maybe work in broadcasting. They were excited to know that Trooper and Scout are here and created the Performing Arts Center. Apparently, they're friends from way back. Who knew?"
Prime grinned. "A bit of a silver lining then."
Prowl googled it then grinned. "I hope so," he said as they both walked out. The light shut off behind them.
=0=TBC 12-18-19 :D