The Diego Diaries: Home (dd7 219)
=0=Big Frame Shipyard #2
They came over the colony, a giant shadow alerting those watching everywhere that a force of nature comprising a size that was impossible to describe had come back to the fold once again. Clipper was ordinarily stationed near Caminus to show the flag to Ominous and now two other pirate groups that had settled in that direction. It helped the Camians who were prospering now more than ever in the past to live comfortably in the midst of slaggers. Right now, he had work to be done and would be here several orns before stationing once again near the Camian home world.
Tennyson would take Clipper's position until he was cleared to come back into service, then resume his own at the dimensional rift where he kept watch over that breach.
The lights of the area where they were going to set down were glowing in readiness, spaced out as they were along a long tract of land. They were there to signal and guide him to his landing. It had been smoothed, paved with an especially hard surface which was used with ships of this nature and marked with directions for Clipper's touchdown. Ordinarily, he would be cared for in space but there was a lot of things that needed done for him so it was easier to work in gravity, such as it was here.
Prime sat on the box Prowl had found for him watching the show beyond. He'd turned down his pain receptors and Ratchet had helped with a script. Soon he would be under the knife so to speak and then hospitalized according to Ratchet. It was impossible to be off duty given his position but he felt it when he walked. Something inside was grating and though the pain that would accompany the jarring sensation and feel was missing, his discomfort at knowing this was so was huge.
Prowl stood beside him listening as Rem flew them in, assisting Clipper himself as he began to fine tune his landing. Down, down they went as they moved over the tarmac until they reached optimal. Then slowly with a control that was astonishing in a vessel that was nearly 15 miles long in flight mode and weighted millions of billions of hundreds of millions of tons he set. The bots and the humans on board could barely feel it as they stood in their box which a young Home Guardian held.
Epps glanced at Lennox, then caught Raptor's optic. :Are we down? Is it that gentle?:
Raptor grinned. "If a ship had colony duties, yes. They get really good at landing if they can practice a bit. Some of them don't land easily because they never touch the ground. Landing a dreadnought class ship is fraught. Titans are bad enough but dreads? Some never see land duty, ever. This is new and I would think a bit welcomed, but what would I know?"
"Yeah, infant. What would you know?" Sun asked with a chuckle.
"I know I'm hungry," Raptor said. "I know the little mech is going to be hot when he finds out he missed the show when he could've come. I'm going to be there when Ratchet tells him." He glanced at Ratchet who was sitting on a box across from Prime. "You are telling him, right?"
Ratchet flashed him a dazzling smile. "Yep."
Huge laughter greeted that as the mighty engines of the colossal vessel shut down. Clipper messaged over the intercom system to everyone. "We're down. Everyone can go safely. I can bridge you to The City if you want." There was a pause, then Clipper was back. "I see a runabout nearby, Prime."
"Thank you, Clipper," Prowl said as he reached over to help Prime stand.
Prime did so slowly and stiffly, pausing a moment to get his bearings. Then he began to limp toward the slowly lowering ramp nearby as the others walked to stand by a ship bridge which came to life nearby. Raptor got Prime's other arm to help him along. His balance was sprung it would seem.
They waited for a moment as a silent Machlis, Fuller and Faber were taken through the deck bridge to the prison under guard, then everyone but Raptor, Ratchet, Prowl and Prime took the bridge themselves. Most of them stepped through it to the street in front of the Medical Center.
Raptor, Ratchet and Prowl helped Prime down the ramp to wait for the runabout to come closer to where he stood leaning slightly as he favored his sore hip and leg. It would take a moment for all to board, then the little ship would fly swiftly to The City beyond.
=0=Street in front of the Medical Center
Raptor glanced at a youngster who was carrying The Gerbil Cage. He grinned. "We can take them now." He took the carrier, then watched as the youngster walked off released from duty. Everyone looked at the humans, then began to walk to the door of the Medical Center.
:Hey, Raptor. You can put us down now. We can call N.E.S.T. to come with transport: Epps said.
Raptor winked at the others as he walked into the Center pretending like he couldn't hear the humans. The others followed with a grin as they made their way to the elevators and a fast ride upward to the 49th floor where the emergency rooms were. While they were doing that, the fleet was continuing to land on the Ready-Go flight line. It would be chaos there, controlled and efficient as the ships set down and their crews ran up to help them. It would play on The Hourly News nonstop until it was over and interviews would be sought from the major players.
=0=Rooftop of the Autobot City Medical Center
They landed the medical runabout on the roof and when the ramp in the back fell open, everyone began to climb out. Prime stood slowly, waited a moment to get his balance, then limped down with assistance. It was as if all his steam was gone and he felt slow and heavy. His limbs felt like they were tree trunks, almost too weighty to move. A gurney was waiting and even though he protested he was placed on it.
Prowl walked beside him as everyone followed Ratchet inside. They went past the examination rooms, some of which were busy with this and that patient to go to the full exam and imaging room where the equipment there would be able to scan every nook and cranny of him down to his CNA. They entered, Prime was placed under a huge square machine supported from the ceiling, then everyone stepped behind a barrier. The machines began to scan.
"This machine doesn't need our energy signatures right now so everyone step back further," Ratchet said as a pair of technicians worked the console to find out where every place Prime hurt was located.
Standing nearby, an audial doctor/surgeon and two orthopedic surgeons waited to get information to discuss with Ratchet for the plan to put Prime back together. It was silent but for the hum of machines.
Ratchet turned to a grim Prowl and an uneasy group who were waiting with him. "We're going to get a measure of the problem, then plan fixes. The audials will take longer and he will have to stay here at least a couple of orns. Depending on how much it takes to work out his arm and leg problem, that can change. I think I detect hip damage as well."
Prowl nodded, his face dark with emotion. "Merry Christmas Surprise. Again."
Ratchet grinned. "That feels like a month ago."
"It might be," Alor said as he joined them with Blackjack.
"Hi, Alie," Sun said. "How have things gone while we were?"
"Christmas Surprise was fun. The kids are great. Everyone's glad you're back," Alie said. "Kes and Tagg are coming over and so are Miler and Venture. The kids are in school and care. Don't worry about a thing."
Prowl looked relieved. "Thank you."
The techs walked out to gather with Ratchet and the three other doctors off to one side. They explained the data which no one listening in from the punter group really understood as they made a plan for Prime's reconstruction. It would take a while to go over.
=0=Nearby in consternation
Ironhide steamed in his chair with Lissie. A technician had come in, gone over her wound, measured the quality of the protoform on her wrist, then told her that she would be getting a new hand today. After a few questions, he walked out and it was quiet again except the show on the teevee. It was a soap opera. Apparently it was a thing all Cybertronians seemed to like, their 'stories'.
"You look peeved, infant. Settle down," Lissie said with a gentle tone and a grin.
"Old Mech better let me out of here," Ironhide said darkly.
Lissie glanced at him as thoughts of his pouty rages as a toddler came to mind. "Who will keep me company, infant? How will I get along?" she asked.
He glanced at her sharply. "I'll take care of you, Auntie."
"Not if you leave me," she said as she shifted slightly on the berth.
It was silent a moment, then Ironhide leaned closer to her. "I will always take care of you, Auntie."
She grinned, then took his servo. "I never doubted it, little mech."
=0=In an examination room
Ratchet made a thorough survey, then began to tell the plan. "You fractured a number of struts, one in your arm and two in your leg. We can fix those with replacements. Your hip is banged up. We're going to look. It could just be sore but I think there might be micro fractures that require attention. Your four wounds will be cleaned out and properly fixed.
"You'll need to beautify yourself when you feel better because your scheme looks like slag," Ratchet said with a big grin. "Your audials need replacement. That's scheduled for tomorrow. Today, we'll open them up, take out the broken stuff, measure both of them for fit and check the protoform there, packing it with stimulant soaked pads. If its damaged, too, then we have to wait for the replacements for a few orns. It'll take packing the spaces with different treatments and salves to make it ready for transplant."
"What about complications? What about going home and having Healthcare come by?" Miler asked with a slight sense of nervousness as he stood beside Kes, Tagg and Venture.
"It all depends on what we find when we look," Ratchet said. "Sending them home is a priority with us and our outpatient programs are stellar. But we don't release them until they're ready."
"Like Ironhide?" Turbine asked with a grin.
Ratchet flashed him a brilliant smile.
=0=Ironhide, Lissie, Hercy and The Boys
"And that's pretty much what happened. That'll teach you, infant, to get taken out of the dance early," Hercy said as he sat in a chair near the window.
The room was filled with mechs and the odd femme, all of them keeping Ironhide and Lissie company.
"It sounds like things are in order. Thank you, boys, for making it so," Lissie said with a grin.
"For you, the moon, Lissie," Kup said.
No one teased either of them. They were revered elders who could lay them out with even one servo gone. Such were the Ways of the Warriors™.
=0=Prep room on the 49th floor, Autobot City Medical Center
They chatted together off line as Prowl explained the plan and the caveats to the plan to Prime. He was feeling no pain nor was he filled with pep. He felt like slag and the sense of a 'full feeling' in each audial had finally caught up and was driving him crazy. It would be good to hear again.
Ratchet walked in with orderlies and technicians. "Time to go," Ratchet said. He glanced at a tense group watching him, the elders of two families and some of the younger members. "I'll let you know," he said as he gestured to the orderlies to move the gurney.
Out it went and Prime with it. Everyone disappeared, then those left glanced at each other.
"I do not like this, Tagg. It reminds me too much of the run up to Orion becoming leader of the movement." He glanced at Miler and Venture. "They used to beat him up a lot."
"Those were evil times, Kestrel," Venture said. "Right now, he's going to be fine. Why don't we go into the lounge and wait there?"
They gathered with Venture to walk to the lounge to sit together. While they were doing that, Prime was in medical stasis and Ratchet was probing the first of several wounds on his chassis.
Sitting on a bench in the corridor, a box of humans was placed. They were waving and calling out but no one heard their voices … the sound had been turned down by Raptor and the nurse station nearby had been told to ignore them until he came back. It would be a while before he would come back.
Semper fi, slaggers.
=0=TBC 2-26-2020 :D. 2-28-202]