The Diego Diaries: Nova (dd7 193)
=0=Nova Cronum
They were pinned down behind a pile of slag and some parts of their late unlamented battleship. The firing was winding down when the sound of jets screaming in to land heavily on top of a block building nearby could be heard.
Prime who was pinned down with a number of small injuries glanced that way as did nearly everyone on both sides. Standing on the edge of the building, his staff held over his helm, the blazingly furious figure of the Great Elder of Seekerkin could be seen.
Walking to the edge of the roof to stand with him on each side, Silverclaw and the burning figure of Warlord could be seen. With him were his other four brothers. Over the transponders of everyone there, Rainmaker unleashed a barrage of fury to the masses. :I AM RAINMAKER! I AM THE GREAT ELDER OF SEEKERKIN! HEAR ME! SURRENDER AND COME TO ME IN SUPPLICATION OR I WILL DESTROY YOU! DO NOT DISOBEY ME, YOUR LORD AND LIEGE! HEAR ME AND TREMBLE!:
Prime stared at the impossibly heroic figures on the roof which now included a luminously angry Starscream. They gleamed in the flickering light of fires and the explosion of munitions in the hulks of the ships. It was a surreal terrifying image to see.
The sound of burning inside the tortured hulks of ships was loud and echoed everywhere. It was then that Warlord leaped off the building and transformed. He flew overhead with incredible speed, then straight upward. He howled into the dark sky until he nearly stalled, then began to fall back to Earth as a streak of light. Before he could hit the ground he pulled out, barrel rolled over the Seekers here and there in the mess and flew out of sight. He came back almost immediately, then landed on the ground transforming into root mode as he held in his big servo a flaming sword.
He glanced around the area, his visage terrifying, then began to walk toward the biggest group of Seekers. "I AM WARLORD! I AM THE ELDEST SON OF THE GREAT ELDER OF SEEKERKIN! WHO DARES NOT OBEY YOUR LORD AND MASTER WHEN HE ORDERS YOU TO COME TO HIM?! WHO DARES?! COME TO ME AND WE CAN SETTLE THIS RIGHT NOW!"
No one moved, no one spoke in the eerie scene. The howling of the dying ships was hissing and screaming as it echoed everywhere. Then a gun was thrown from behind a box. Another joined it, then another. Slowly, Seekers here and there stood up staring at Warlord with concern. No one moved, then all of them began to walk forward. As they did Rainmaker leaped from the building to landed heavily. The others jumped down as well and followed him to the group. It was a terrifyingly ferocious group that paused beside Warlord. That worthy bowed his helm to his father and the others. Starscream himself looked furious.
The Seekers were uncomfortable, then they went down on one knee lowering their helms as they did. It was intensely quiet, then Rainmaker spoke. "You are mine. All of you are mine. I COMMAND YOU! YOU WILL OBEY! Come with me. NOW!" With that, he walked toward Prime without a glance backward.
The mechs hesitated, then rose to follow with the other elders and Starscream bringing up the rear. Sporadic shooting was happening down the way but not here. The Seekers had been brought to heel and the battle was nearly completed.
Rainmaker paused before Prime who rose to face him. He bowed his helm to Prime. "They will give their oaths now to you and to the new way forward. I will vouch for them personally." He looked at the group of solemn uneasy mechs. "If you break the oath to the Matrix, It will take your spark. If you break your oath to Prime, I will take your spark. Give it. Now."
One by one, they shook Prime's hand sealing the deal. Then without another word Rainmaker and his companions walked back the way he came. The Seeker mechs followed almost meekly.
Warlord watched them go, then shut off his fire feature. "We have this. There's no real resistance to the rear. I took a look just now as well," he said with a grin.
"Thank you," Prime said with relief.
Warlord walked onward to disappear with the others.
Prime stared at the battlefield which was strewn with wounded and dead. It would take a while to gather them up but the landing area was toasted. It would cramp the next phase in a big way. That was when the cruiser's fuel tanks blew up.
=0=Moments later
He lay on his back staring at the black sky as nearby he could hear the sound of firefighting and voices. That was slowly fading as he lay still, stunned into immobility by the intensity of the blast. He raised his helm ignoring the red flags in his processor as the lights came back on inside his head. He'd been blown about 600 feet to land on his back. Scattered around him were the pieces of ships that had flown with him. They had landed on the ground, some missing him by inches. He sat up, staring at several of everything before him before his frame took over and corrected things. Primal frames were made for moments like this.
He glanced at a movement, then stared upward at Prowl who was looking at him with something akin to terror. He noted Prowl kneeling, holding his face as he scanned Prime. He saw him yell for a medic but didn't hear his words. He stood shakily though Prowl didn't want him to move, then rolled his helm to alleviate the tension.
"Optimus, sit down," Prowl said against a back drop of furious fire.
Prime stared around seemingly only aware of his situation as it presented itself now. He glanced down at Prowl's concerned face. "I am alright, Prowl. Where is everyone?" he asked though he didn't hear Prowl's words in response. It would take a moment to compute.
Prowl gripped his arm, then led him to a crate that had been thrown this way. He sat heavily as Ratchet slid to a halt before him. Scans hit him hard, then Prowl and Ratchet were discussing things over the chaos he could see all around him but he couldn't hear their words.
Ratchet turned to Prime then went off line. :Optimus … can you hear me?:
Prime who was slowly reviving glanced at him. "I can hear you."
:But not my words? I'm speaking off line to you: Ratchet said.
"I cannot hear your words," he replied as the flags began to disappear as his internal check list began to compile systems boosts, temporary patches and reroutes. There were dings and things here and there that were being rerouted or patched but overall he was sound.
And deaf as a post.
"I think he can't hear a thing. His audials were destroyed in the blast," Ratchet said as Prowl looked gravely at him. "An easy fix when we have the time. OUR BOYS HAD FRAGGING BETTER LEARN TO DUCK!" Then Ratchet gave Prowl a dazzling smile because he needed it.
Prowl stared at him with a strange sense of gratitude, then Prime. "He should be in the hospital. He's got a concussion. Right?"
"His internal systems are compensating. He's a Primal frame. They have redundancies on their redundancies. They can't afford to go down. Give him a moment, then he'll be up and at 'em, just without a soundtrack. Be glad we can communicate off line."
"Oh-oh," Prowl said as he checked a blaring internal message. He looked at Prime, then the area. "I have to do something. He's in your charge." With that, Prowl ran like the wind back to the command center. "BRING HIM, RATCHET!" he shouted as he disappeared from view.
Ratchet watched him go, then looked at Prime who stood up and stretched a few things. "You can't hear me, right?"
He didn't hear Ratchet as he checked his servos. He looked at Ratchet from the strangeness of a soundless world view. "I cannot hear any thing, Ratchet, except off line. We better get this cleared up. We have ..." He paused a moment as the same message to Prowl came in. "We have to go. SPRINGER!"
They waited until out of the fiery mess jogged a fuel smudged Springer and Drift. They ran to him and slid to a stop.
"What is the situation here?" Prime asked.
"Off line. Prime is deaf from the explosion," Ratchet said.
They both stared at Prime with the kind of surprise that a child gets when they find out their parents just turned 40 and that was 'like OLD! YOU KNOW! LIKE YOU'RE GOING TO DIE TOMORROW! RIGHT!?'
Like that.
:We, uh … we have it under control. We lost a bunch of 'Cons when the cruiser blew up. Our guys got tossed around and a few of them got burned but nothing terrible. We have wounds, some serious but no deaths: Springer said.
"You are in charge here," Prime said. "Help them, Ratchet, then everyone come to me when you get this under control." With that, he ran toward the command center and disappeared almost immediately.
The three stared after him, then glanced at each other.
"Is it just me or is it weird when Optimus gets hurt?" Springer asked.
"No. It's like finding that the Hulk is a wuss sometimes," Ratchet said. He glanced around. "Let's get a scoop shovel and wheelbarrows, boys. Something tells me that the coroner will be one very busy mech tonight."
"What do you suppose Prime's running off to do?" Drift asked as they walked back toward the chaos nearby.
"Something tells me that the ships in space know something," Ratchet said as they disappeared around the burning hulk of the first battleship.
=0=Warlord and the newbies at the same time
They walked toward the shuttle to take a bridge to the detention center for undetermined newbie Seeker military refugees that was built at the City Hall of Aerie Hill. It was in the basement and it was there that newcomers were often stashed until they could be sorted out. It was also the local lock up for the Seeker enclave with its own magistrate and court. It helped move the law along.
Walking through it, they came out in the courtyard of the City Hall of Aerie Hill just as the lights came on everywhere for the evening. As far as the optics could see, the entire area glittered against the velvet darkness of night. It was an astonishingly beautiful sight to see the illumination from towers and ornamental public and commercial buildings that curved along the hills and valleys of the area twinkling in the thin atmosphere. The terraces were lit up with housing lights and the street lights that were spaced every so far along the roads that led through them everywhere.
The streets on the terraced hillsides of the upland area where homes were located with park lands at intervals were matched by the terraced steps of more habitation in the winding riverbeds and crevasses that made up the majority of the now vast territory of the Aerie Hill District. It was created to have flow and the streets were stepped upward along the cliff sides. All of the buildings were tailored to the needs of flying mechanisms and they were made as beautiful in their ornamentation as in their utility.
The city center was build around a nice open space with places to sit and congregate. Elders were there throughout the orn and so were children and families gathering to chat. The business district spread out from there, a broad space anchored by the civic center of City Hall and Courthouse, Aerie Hill Medical Center, The Cultural Center of Seekerkin, several schools and cultural centers for Seeker art and education, the Aerie Hill Campus of the University of Mars, museums, the big Public Library of Aerie Hill, theaters, the main post office, a number of Watch substations, groceries, galleries, department stories, book stores, a local branch of the Autobot City Daily News, sports centers, amusements and other features for the living pleasure of The Flying People.
It was Starscream's dream and magnum opus.
They stared around themselves, then turned to Warlord.
He grinned. "This is Congrete. He's the refugee specialist who will help you settle in. You'll be held in detention tonight and when the Elder gets back then you'll be settled. Do what he asks. He's going to ask questions about your group and where you've been. We're looking for our people everywhere, especially our children who are being made to serve as warriors by the Decepticons. Answer them. Don't leave anything out." He glanced at Congrete and his team. "They're all yours. I have to go back."
"How's it going?" Congrete asked.
"Three down and more to go," Warlord said. Then he transformed and flew swiftly to the space bridge overhead, the Autobot City Space Bridge to return to the battle on Cybertron.
They watched him go, then turned to Congrete.
He grinned. "Come on. Let's get a shower and a meal. Then we can talk." He walked onward across the square toward a big building with glass walls and lots of light with his team. The new Seekers followed him, their optics glancing everywhere as they went. As they walked toward it a number of Night Watch officers rode past on robotic horses, a sight that was something for the newbies to see.
This was an amazing place.
=0=Prime and the others
Prime ran into the operational center that was set up nearby. It was madly busy as he walked to the command table.
Prowl glancing up come from the data map at the command table to see him come.
"What's the situation, Prowl?" Prime asked.
:The slaggers have figured it out: Prowl said as he bent to the huge map to explain.
=0=Moments before
"What the frag," a ship captain whispered. "I think I just saw an Autobrand on that little ship."
Everyone swiveled to him and the forward view port but the ship was gone. He rose and walked to the console. Tapping in a code, he stared at the screen. It was blank. "What is this, Stunt?"
The communications officer turned to his panel, tapped furiously, then glanced at his captain. "We're in a dampening field. The contact points with the outside are being blocked."
"Can I speak to the other ships?" he asked with growing alarm.
The mech worked, then glanced at him. "No."
He was silent a moment, then turned to his pilot and navigator. "Get us out of here." He walked back to the command seat and sat down, gripping the arms of his chair in tension. "TAKE US OUT OF HERE!"
The battleship, one of three others among the remaining group waiting in space began to move.
=0=TBC 1-27-2020 2-6-2020
NOTE: I do believe that in Spanish Nova means death.