The Diego Diaries: Stuff (dd7 195)
=0=Around
"AMMA! THIS IS SO FUN!"
Ravel grinned at Hero as she tucked her baby Yoda dolly into his little floating egg shaped pram. She looked up at Ravel with a bright smile. "I CAN'T WAIT FOR HIM TO COME TO SCHOOL WITH ME! HE CAN FLY IN HIS THING WHEN I WALK!"
"He's such a sweet little thing, Hero. We can make sure he gets there." Tie held out a tiny robotic dog, Mr. Boo who had been a player in a war game back in the orn and was now a family 'pet'.
Hero took it, then placed it in the egg. Both of them looked at Hero, then settled. They would go off line shortly until they were picked up again. They were designed to 'sleep' when placed in a 'bed'.
"Your turn, Hero," Ravel said as he helped her get tucked into her berth. They chatted a moment, then walked out. The others were in bed already including the big kids who had been out with friends 'clubbing' for a bit until dinner. All of them were in bed and the apartment was quiet. Sitting on a chair with several cats, Appa Ratchet grinned. "Who sleeps over first?"
"You and I can, Ratchet," Docker said. "Ravel, why don't you and Tie go home and let us take this. Corr and Chan, you can as well. We can do this in stages."
"We can go see Ironhide," Corr said. "I want to see if he's better."
"Tell us when you do, Corr," Docker said.
They chatted a moment, then the four of them slipped out.
Docker closed the door, then walked back to sit in Ratchet's chair. "This is such a sad few orns. I can only imagine what the refugees in the camps at Nova Cronum feel about things there. What does the news say?"
They switched on the monitor to The Hourly News to listen.
=0=The Hourly News: Latest Breaking News: Battle Over Cybertron
"Then they pulled out who they could find but the fires were pretty intense," Jazz was saying as he perused his data pad with the incoming data that he was tasked to present in the most confident manner possible. He was here and not there because of the number of Nova Cronum residents who were living on Mars. A senior Autobot giving the news was a confidence thing that they strove to impart to others during terrible times. That this was happening at Cybertron put a bitter layer onto what was already a bad thing overall. He read it a moment, then glanced at Aleph. "I have new data.
"The Operational Officer at the location, Nova Cronum, just released information that two battleships and a cruiser which was modified to be heavily armed had landed at the big airfield near the river. They had an exchange of words, none of the captains agreed to surrender as ordered by Prime and a gun battle broke out. It was intense and damaged all three of the ships heavily.
"There were casualties among the Decepticons including fatalities, though the numbers are not known yet. Our side picked up injuries, some requiring evacuation. Among them is included Commander Ironhide of Praxus who sustained a heavy concussion but is expected to fully recover. There are wounds and burns as well among our troops but none of them are considered life threatening.
"The cruiser which was heavily compromised blew up and destroyed all three ships, killed a lot of its own crew and that of the battleships which facilitated the surrender of 200 Seekers to the Great Elder. Right now, that particular part of the problem is in lock down with recovery and clean up underway.
"That leaves several battleships, several cruisers … as many as four and three large fighter carriers in space. There are support vessels as well and four battle shuttles. Right now, they're engaging in battle over Nova Cronum. Some of them were allowed to flee to prevent ships crashing into the ground from space. Those ships are being pursued right now. More information will be released as its received and processed.
"No one from the local area, refugee or civilian, soldier or worker was harmed or in direct harms way during this situation. All of the local area and the base itself was cleared back three Cybertronian miles and heavily guarded by soldiers and Seekers detailed to do so. As it stands, no one saw more than lights in the sky from the camps that surround the area."
"What about the status of the soldiers? Is there anyone identified injured beyond Commander Ironhide?" Aleph asked.
"No. Word has been delivered that Prime himself took several hits and was blown about 600 feet from the force of the cruiser exploding. He's functional and hard at the task of bringing these slaggers to heel."
"We can assume that the airport at Nova Cronum, the big military airport is out of business due to the conflict then?" Aleph asked.
"There was a lot of damage but the Autobot Construction Corps is already there doing the removal, assessing the situation so that they can repair it and get it going again. Nova is a big base, has a large ready-go assault force on line for things like this, receives surrenders from Decepticons on a regular basis and does a lot of cargo receiving and transfer. It'll be going again in no time."
=0=Unidad Terra 1
A large group of men and some women stood or sat near the big monitor that was showing the broadcast with the sound turned up near the recreational area of the Great Concourse. The other down the concourse was muted.
Glenn glanced at some of the men with him. "I would give a lot to see this."
"I called Mirage to ask if they're going to show visuals and he said when the fires are out they will," Bobby Epps said.
"Two battleships and a cruiser. That must have been a bitch. Prime getting tossed 600 feet is a sight I wouldn't want to see. Primal frames must be titanic constructions," Niall Graham said as he nursed a beer.
Everyone nodded silently. The sight of something that big being blown like a leaf was hard to imagine.
"If the ships in space got away, then they're going to be at this a while. Prime wouldn't let them go without penalties," Jessie said as James stood beside her. "If they think they can come and do damage to the planet, then get away, what stops others?"
"Nothing," Glenn Morshower said grimly.
=0=Homeland
They stared at the data pad that showed an ever growing mass of lights just at the edge of their sensors. It would appear that the Vergans were gathering to take advantage of the colonies. What they would think if they arrived to find one already gone and no smoldering debris to show for it, no one could guess though that was Hard Drive's job.
Alor had arrived and sat with Blackjack receiving data straight to his processor as he refined it to build scenarios and make projections based on logic and the input. He was Prowl before Prowl so this was second nature to him. It was silent in the room.
"I'm glad you saw Ironhide before you came, Ali. That infant better learn to duck or be faster," Blackjack said as he sat tensely.
"He takes after you, 'Jack. You never could duck fast enough either," Alor said grimly. "Oh. Merry Christmas Surprise by the way."
Both of them smirked slightly at Alor's tense frame. His expression was slightly preoccupied as he gathered and synthesized information. It would be a long night in the building until it wasn't.
Outside in the desert scape where the beautiful city of Homeland sat empty and silent, the sun was setting on the horizon. It would be dark as the pit shortly.
=0=Up there above Nova Cronum
A fighter carrier blew up and threw a fireball, shrapnel, parts of its great body and visuals of mechs and femmes either flailing or hanging limply as they were propelled outward by the blast. It had rocked the cruiser who managed to bull forward and limp onward in a probably futile attempt to get away. As it flew onward to try an escape in the opposite direction it would disappear over the curve of Cybertron.
It would be there that it would face four titanic frames in ship mode all alone.
At the site itself, four battle shuttles broke free and sped into the night of space. Behind them, flying hot and ready to rumble, five Autobot battle shuttles led by Springer and Drift pursued them fiercely. They all disappeared as the two fighter transports edged forward, one trailing its mechanical entrails behind it in a steady stream of fuel and internal parts.
Of the three, one was burning and drifting dead in the water so to speak. One was highly damaged but moving with gathering speed while the other wasn't harmed at all. As they flew forward they launched their fighters. They swarmed out of their hangar decks and grouped up to attack the cruisers and five battle shuttles led by Kup, Lissie and Hercy who had just arrived. Behind them coming at speed, two flights of heavy gunner Seekers joined them.
It was on.
=0=Mars
They slipped in after checking with the night nurse. Walking as quietly as they could to the berth where Ironhide was in mild stasis, they gathered around him. It was silent a moment, then Ravel squeezed his servo. "What a fine mech you are, Ironhide. You're desperately loved. You're central to all our happiness. Get better and come home. The infants miss you and so do we."
Tie vented a sigh, then squeezed Ironhide's ped which poked out of the thermal blanket. He covered it, then grinned. "He's a big mech isn't he? What a great family he has and that we all are one … it makes my spark so happy. I know Ratchet would be here if it was serious. He just has to rest and then things will be okay."
"Its my desire, too, son," Corr said as he fussed with Ironhide's blankets. "Let's let him rest, then come back in the morning. Maybe we can sneak in a treat for him. He does like buns doesn't he. They make sweet buns with a nice frosting at the bakery. I don't know if he's ever had them. I think he'll like them," Chan said.
They all agreed, then slipped out.
Ironhide recharged onward. He didn't know they were there but he did have a dream about buns.
=0=Prime and the Titans
They rounded the curve of the great Primus and saw it ahead, a cruiser running as swiftly as it could. Tennyson who was linked in and sitting on the command chair glanced at Prime. :I will take care of this, Prime:
Optimus who was sitting nearby with Prowl nodded. "Thank you, Tennyson."
Tennyson linked in with the cruiser which was slowing rapidly. "This is Tennyson of the Dreadnought Battle Group Desolation. I am ordering you to surrender or I will destroy you. You have no other choices. Tell me which way you want to go … do you live or do you die in the next few seconds?"
A deep voice was heard over a crackly connection. Obviously, their communications was damaged. "This is the cruiser Harrier. Give us your terms."
Tennyson sat back. "Lock it all down and jump into space. When you're clear and I'm satisfied, your ship will become molecules once more." With that, the huge guns of the big ship began to swivel to point in the direction of the almost comically smaller vessel.
It was then that the ship came full stop and crew began to abandon the vessel. In moments after his drones did their inspection, pulling out every data node and database in the ship along with anything else that was interesting, Tennyson would blow it up with a slimline missile designed for such things in close quarters. To Prime's great relief, nothing would fall to Cybertron from this vessel.
=0=Mars
"We have an update. The number of Decepticons retrieved from the firefight number about 2600. Of that number only three have survived. Two of them are in critical condition at the Medical Center and one is at Metro Femme. They're expected to recover, though two are in guarded condition and could go either way. The explosion of the cruiser's fuel tanks made short work of the oppositional crews.
"The situation in space has been tempered by several of the vessels of this group being allowed to flee. They're being pursued and are expected to surrender or be destroyed in short order. The dreadnought Tennyson and three metro-titans from Cybertron are making their way to the confrontation site to remove disabled vessels, then pursue those that are fleeing," Aleph said as he read the update given him by Jazz.
=0=Unidad
"Tennyson is about 15 or so miles in running format," Will Lennox said with a trace of awe. "Him and three metrotitans. Prime isn't playing around."
Everyone nodded. He wasn't.
=0=TBC 1-29-2020 2-6-2020