The Diego Diaries: Bam (dd7 210)
=0=IntraCom
Magnus sat on the chair where he would broadcast his message staring at the cameras as the countdown ran down at IntraCom toward his broadcast. He was using Prime's set. He waited, pensive but resolved. He had cleared the statement with Prime, then hurried here to speak.
Jetta was already at the Power Transfer Station on the Tri-Cities Highway, a site built to prevent power failures like this after the bombing campaign that made the colony go dark the first time. When that was ascertained to be functioning properly, he was going to go to Metroplex. He would break into the regular schedule to speak and when the lights changed and Jazz signaled, his solemn face appeared on screen after the Emblem of the Primes.
"Good evening. Autobot City, Aerie Hill and the greater Colonial Autobot City area. I am Commander Ultra Magnus of Iacon, Mayor and Supervising Administrative Officer of the Mars Colony, Cybertron and the many worlds of the Empire. I am authorized by Optimus Prime to come here to tell you what has happened that caused the black out of a number of metro-titans and what we're doing about it. Optimus Prime can't be here to do this himself due to his participation on an away mission in the Benzuli Expansion. He has authorized this statement and has decided that transparency is important to help everyone understand what has happened and that fear should not be a part of the equation regarding this incident.
"Recently, we retrieved colonies from two worlds that were part of a system in the Benzuli Expansion. There are two areas of the Benzuli that can reasonably sustain colonization though to live there at all is to play Russian roulette with your spark. One is The Ruins where the colonies of General Blackjack and Commander Alor were rescued and the other is The Riots, a deadly area where travel must be carefully planned both in and out. It should be instructive to say that the Decepticons give it a wide berth given the nature of it.
"For those of you who do not know what and where the Benzuli Expansion is I will tell you. It's an area of disrupted space some distance from Cybertron in the area called the Dark Rim. Most of us just call it the Rim but its dark for a very good reason. Eons ago it's speculated that a pair of very small black holes, perhaps no bigger than basketballs passed near enough to the region that it disrupted a very active, very large star nursery. It pulled some of them out to devour and by their actions and proximity ignited the rest. The explosion is theorized to have been so big and powerful that it caused tears and ruptures in the very fabric of space and time across a very wide region.
"That entire area is forbidden on our star maps for travel or occupation for good reason and no one goes there without putting their life in jeopardy. The ruptures feed energy and plasma storms, some as large as the Orion Arm of this galaxy at unpredictable intervals. One could walk outside your door on what would seem a normal sunny orn and be dead in seconds if a plasma stream hit your planet. Because there's no warning and this was so dangerous, we rescued the colonists on two worlds, Sun Base and Homeland.
"When everyone was safe we were stuck with the problem of the disposition of two well developed city colonies with all manner of tech being left behind. Everyone knows that trading our technology with aliens is forbidden by the Tyrest Treaties and other laws that bind us. I, myself am the designated Tyrest Enforcer and I take my job very seriously. Our tech is not safe in the hands of aliens who have no business using it.
The Functionalist Council traded our tech to different alien groups including the one we're dealing with now and were closely allied with them, a multi species collective that lives near there called the Vergo Confederation. They're a very close knit alliance who work together for their mutual benefit. They were also involved in tech trades with Sun Base. This group traded as well with the Functionalist Council.
"This confederation was the same group that wouldn't allow us to retrieve our dead during the Fundamentalist Functionalist conflict recently that left half a million of our citizens murdered in their homes by their practice of recall. The Confederation wanted to pillage the colony and the dead for technology and wouldn't listen to our requests to take our people away. It resulted in us utilizing the only option available to prevent this disgrace, the destruction of the planets themselves. That was a tough decision for Prime but fortunately, there were no other lifeforms on those planets to factor into it.
"The same is not true for Homeland and Sun Base. They're teeming with life forms and vegetation. They couldn't be left and they couldn't be destroyed. The only solution available to us to resolve this was to reach deeply into the past and utilize a technology that the Autobots developed during the Golden age. We moved both planets utilizing the triggers to a star that would be able to sustain them as well as their moons. That star is Sirius A which is eight point six light years from this system and Mars."
=0=Family Tower, Consulate, Earth 1, Earth2, Unidad, !*Sciences*!, The Resort of Autobot City, N.E.S.T. HQ and various and all nooks and crannies of Earth including the realms of pirates, roving Decepticons and Razorclaw who listen in on 'the drip line'
"*WHAT THE FUCK*!?" -everyone here, there and everywhere
=0=Magnus
"With the use of our Triggers, all three of them and the skill and abilities of Sciences, the two planets were moved using Autobot technology and processes retrieved by our scientists and the mainframe computers which were restored on Cybertron. In the past, we moved planets from one place to another at least 30 different times and the procedure worked immaculately. We have greatly refined the tech and know how to use it properly and ethically. Sun Base was moved first and is safely in orbit on its own. Homeland is a different configuration at its planetary core and will take more time and care before being released.
The only problem at the moment is simple. Until the Triggers can release Homeland into its new orbit around Sirius A, the Triggers can't return the fleet to Mars. They have to remain where they are until the bridges are free and able to bring them back. That leads to this, our present situation.
"The Vergo Confederation came to see why Sun Base was no longer communicating with them. They were warned off but refused to go. They shot at us and we defended ourselves, a process with titans and a dreadnought that ensured our safety against their aggression. That drew even more of them who came by bridge technology that they shouldn't have to the scene where they formed a line. It was then with technology we've never seen that they targeted and shot the dreadnought vessel, Clipper with some kind of energy weapon they generated together.
"Not only did that throw Clipper off line and into deep stasis, it shocked the titans who were on board to assist with the mission. They were aboard to assist in pretender format because they defend. Its their great glory that they do. Because of that, they were also hit and injured by the blast. They instantly derezzed, then returned to their city formats. Because they were off line from the attack so, too, are their formats here.
=0=At the DMZ
"What do we do, Amma?" Saber asked as the youngsters turned to look at their amma with distress.
"Appa is field commanding this. Clipper has the best doctor alive taking care of him now. Ratchet told me he's making progress. Don't worry, infants. All will be well. We've faced and had worse done to us than this," Dangerous said soothingly as they sat in the command center with swing shift listening to the broadcast together. "All in the end will be well. Everyone and Prime will take care of this together."
=0=Magnus
"We have the finest large frame doctor alive with Commander Ratchet who is on scene now working to bring Clipper back on line. When that's accomplished, he will do the same with the others. What we need right now is calm, patience and common sense. If you're a resident of one of the affected individuals and need power for health or any other good reason, then call the Ops Center on the emergency lines and we'll come to assist you. If you need help, we will come.
"We have reports of incidents that are not helpful and we're asking you not to compound the work load for everyone here by acting up or expecting immediate personalized service for your non emergency problems. Call us if you require genuine assistance and we will come. Act up and you will be arrested. No one is working harder than the crews that are in the field now.
"Everyone is stressed, I know. No one is helping if you decide to be a problem. We'll make that problem go away to jail if you do. Optimus Prime is handling this matter in a zero mistakes environment with hostiles on the scene. I would expect as your city manager that you can manage yourself without power for a short period of time. Everyone who needs it for medical or other reasons is already on your back up generator which has been installed in your homes as 'priority-generation-medical'. It comes on the moment the grid goes down. Call the Energon Administration emergency number at 113 or 367 if you're concerned about your generator and we'll immediately come to your assistance.
"For those who have problems that have resulted from having lost your power and those problems are serious, not frivolous, call the emergency lines at 971, 972 or 973. If you call because you're inconvenienced, feel a need to jump the line to be restored or want to vent, you will be jailed. Our fleet is in harms way in the most deadly and dangerous area of space on our star charts. Our titans have been injured. The least we can do is manage ourselves properly.
"The emergency numbers again are 971, 972 and 973. We will respond to your need. Until then, consider this a good drill against future events. Check the Community Bulletin Board under Emergency Closures to see if your business or school is closed until the disruption is ended. The Metro System is affected at the localized sites so check to see if you can get to work or school that way and make alternative plans if you can't.
"We're working around the clock to rectify this. Don't interfere with crews. There is nothing you can do yourself to correct this situation. When more information is available you will be alerted through your transponders. Until all are one," Magnus said, then the screen cut to the Emblem of the Primes.
Jetta who was listening inside the main nexus of Metroplex grinned. :You looked dashing:
Magnus who was walking out to go to City Hall grinned faintly. "I know," he said to one of his oldest lifelong friends.
Jetta would snicker a long time.
=0=Landing at the field
Springer, Drift and Perceptor landed at the Military Airfield after coming through the little bridge at last. They ran together to the Ops Center to get the picture. Then Springer and Drift burned rubber heading to Autobot City Stable to mount up and hit the trail. There was fighting in Retriarius on The Strip by drunken youngsters who were unhappy about having to leave the clubs early. Everything in the affected cities that was a public place minus any emergency or medical facilities was ordered to close.
The Strip in Retriarius, 'the Vegas Strip of Mars', ground zero for nightlife, fine dining and sports in the colony was dark. Even the street lights were. Crowds stood around nervous and concerned, watching as the vehicles of Medical and Public Works drove by or stopped here and there to go to terminals built into the walls of buildings to see things and do the odd tweak. Retriarius wasn't going to 'be home' for some time.
=0=Going home
They climbed the stairs heading for their floor in the tower after taking the infants to the Military Daycare Center in The Fortress. Today had been a nightmare when the lights went out. They were on the trunk line to Metroplex and Fort Max which took a hit when the surge flowed into the big bots and fried everything connected to them as well. The word wasn't common knowledge yet but every sitting titan that was hurt had the same problem. Lines leading into and out of them were fried with back ups coming online for the short term. Things would be a problem for a while.
For Ravel and Tie Down it meant that their kilns, smelters and other equipment shut off from security protocols so their finely developed ingredients slipped into slag almost immediately. It had been wearying to dig it all out and set them up for when they could work again. It didn't look like soon so they decided to put the infants into care, then go home and crash. If they weren't able to work, they would take care of the kids starting the following orn. Just climbing 24 flights of stairs in their building while power was rerouted to other places was hard enough.
They did it without complaint.
=0=There
They watched the sensors and the data maps as information flowed in. A big group of large ships were gathered at the spot the bots had determined was the last bridge jump they'd have to attempt to get to the place where they would see the Autobot's armada. As they watched the ships gather, Typhoon and Hardie with Delphi's assistance were repositioning their fleet to deliver another blow to the slaggers.
As they did, Delphi glanced up at Hardie. "Here they come," he said quietly.
They came.
Hard and fast.
=0=Prime
He sat in his silence watching the bridge form, then ships flood out. He'd pulled the fleet back to make targeting them harder. Ships poured out of the bridge at last, all of them big and heavily armed war birds. The designs of some of them were purely Cybertronian, something that made Prime both furious and nauseated as they swept out heading toward them with speed. As they did, the lights of their weapon began to flash between the ships. They were getting ready to fire on them again. "Prime to Typhoon. Do not let them hit a single one of us."
:Understood: Typhoon's voice said. Then a spray of torpedoes sped out followed by more. Omega, Beta and Kappa flew forward targeting the closest ships to their location with heavy fire. Because they did the formation broke even as they understood torpedoes were heading their way. Two ships managed to target two torpedoes and destroy them with impressive fire before others hit them.
:They have our sighting and guidance tech: Prowl said as he watched the lights converge on the line up of enemy ships.
Prime nodded grimly.
The torpedoes hit home and lights flared as ships disintegrated. They blew up even as they fled with a flash of fire, then drifting parts and fluid trails. This time they didn't get a shot of their strange weapon off before they were taken out en mass. The three Supremes arced about and flew swiftly to their positions again.
As they did Prime made up his mind. He glanced at Ratchet. "Can we move Clipper now, Ratchet?"
Ratchet who was working on his back under the main computer console glanced out. He thought a moment. "We can tow him but it'll take a couple of titans to push and one to pull and steer. We can do that now. I have corrective programming running in the main systems for control so we can leave if we have to. It won't wake him up but it'll allow his impulse programming to cooperate with us."
"Prime to armada. Acknowledge."
Pings came in from everyone.
"We are going," Prime said. "I want two titans to push Clipper with tractors and one to steer and pull. He is big but Ratchet said his impulse power systems can function. Typhoon, please organize that part of the retreat. The rest of you form a delta pattern around Clipper. I want the Supremes at the end of the column so they may link sensors and let us know what the enemy is doing and how close they are. Stand by." He glanced at Prowl. "What is happening and how much time do you estimate they will need to come at us again?"
Prowl worked out the math, then glanced at Prime. "We need to leave now. I see two exit points ahead. One leads back the way to Mars through The Narrows. Its the path we would take back without bridges. The other goes through a massive cometary field, one filled with ice, asteroids, planetary fragments and energy left over from the event that created this area. It leads to nowhere which is fine because we can bridge out when its time. I would recommend that one. We can ice break to get through and if they follow us they won't be able to tell its not the way to our home. The Narrows is a straight line to Mars."
Prime nodded. He spoke again to the fleet. "We are going to leave together and we have to leave now. Form up the flight pattern. We are going through a comet and planetary graveyard. I would like one of the titans not doing duty for Clipper to take point and clear a trail for us. It will close behind us which works to our favor. We need to get a distance ahead of at least a couple of their bridge jumps so that they are always trying to catch up. Until we can out of here we have to stay ahead of them. We go in half a joor. If you are ready sooner, ping Prowl. General Typhoon and General Hard Drive, you have field command. Prime out."
He sat back with a slow burn in his processor. Because these aliens were aggressive and determined to upgrade themselves at the Cybertronian's expense, they'd brought calamity down upon themselves. If they left now, perhaps lives would be saved. It would be a game of cat and mouse and for the Vergons, they were dealing with a master.
=0=TBC 2-16-2020 edited 2-16-2020