The Diego Diaries: All Around the Watch Tower (dd7 267)
=0=Medical Center
They lay in a double private room, each plugged in, each recovering from their respective rebuilds. The lights were low and the soft sound of machines working, their beeping and other indicators kept the two company. Nurses walked in and out checking things and checking them. This shit show had hit the news media and reporters from everywhere were here to find out what had happened.
Down below …
"We had two injured individuals whose names are being held pending notification of families," Ratchet said. "We've retrieved them, put them back together and we're monitoring their progress. They'll be held here for several orns given the severity of their injuries. We have severely injured mechs here."
"What kind of explosive was it, Doctor?" a pool reporter from IntraCom asked.
Ratchet considered that after a great deal of tactical discussion with Prime about how they were going to present this situation. Capturing Cog was paramount and gas lighting the slagger felt like justice. "We're not releasing any information about the device. Suffice it to say that it was a deadly anti personnel-type bomb designed to kill. Those are very difficult to survive."
"Is there any motive yet this far?" an Autobot City Daily News reporter asked.
"I'm not aware of it," Ratchet said.
"Any other injured?" someone in the back said.
"No," Ratchet lied. The office crew and Maxi were shaken by the blast but more so because Springer and The Boss got hurt. "I have no more information. Check with Commander Jazz at the Office of Strategic Information for what's left to say publicly. Remember … this is an ongoing investigation so we aren't releasing everything. See ya," Ratchet said as he walked from the conference room to the elevator down the hallway. He was going to spend the night with both Springer and Drift. He disappeared right away.
=0=The Hourly News: LATEST BREAKING NEWS
"That was the interview conducted three joors ago with Commander Ratchet of Iacon, Chief Medical Officer for the Empire and a member of the Prime's Senior staff. The information indicates that the two unidentified victims are suffering severe injuries and all information about that and their identities are being held pending notification of next of kin.
"Jacx is back in the studio," Aleph said as he turned to the handsome mech sitting next to him on the set. "What have you learned about this situation, Jacx?"
"It was a bomb designed to kill as a fragmentation device. How it arrived in the Watch Tower in Metrotitan is unclear. It would appear that it was delivered to the office it was addressed to go to and when it was opened it exploded. There were only two victims in the office at the time, both of them unidentified as for now and they were the only ones directly hurt by the blast.
"Forensics is working the scene but hasn't released any information. The teams there, fire and policing haven't said anything as well. This is being held tightly to the vest," Jacx said. "Commander Ratchet was the doctor on the scene. Optimus Prime, Commander Prowl of Praxus, Commander Ultra Magnus of Iacon and several other senior officers were there as well as Commander Ironhide of Praxus and several of his fabled family. All of them are working on the case to ensure that the security of the colony is well in hand.
"The victims were medevaced to the hospital here in The City. Surgeries were immediately performed and the two victims are in intensive care for recovery. No more is known."
=0=Up there
Ratchet watched the news internally as he sat on the comfy chair between both berths. He and the others had settled on this story to find out what kind of mettle Cog possessed. He had intended to take out Drift but it might not have occurred to him that could include Springer. They concocted a dire story and now they'd wait to see what he did. Settling in, Ratchet prepared to stay here until the next morning when they'd bring Springer out of medical status. Drift would take a bit longer.
=0=N.E.S.T. HQ, Autobot City
They watched the news reports about the bombing in Metrotitan. It didn't look good. Lennox had pulled out his phone to talk to Ironhide who was almost as gabby as Ratchet. "What the hell's going on, Ironhide?"
Ironhide who had taken the call internally considered the answer. He was watching infants run around the room getting ready for an early dinner. Alor and Blackjack were helping him as they waited for Ratchet's genitors to come back from the take out places. Even though Ratchet's groceries were delivered, they were mostly cleaning supplies and other non-edibles. He'd been called away before he could lay in food. :Someone sent a bomb to the Watch:
"What the hell? Who got hurt? Anyone I know?" Lennox asked.
:Yeah, but I can't say at the moment: Ironhide said. :No one died. Yet:
"Shit," Lennox said. "You can't tell me?"
:I'd have to kill ya, Lennox: Ironhide said with a grin as he caught Prowler running past with a loud chuckle. :Come by the hospital tomorrow. Maybe you can find out then:
"Alright. Tell everyone we're with ya. Semper fi, Ironhide," Lennox said.
:Semper fi, Lennox: Ironhide said as they signed off. "Come here, you little slagger. Get your paws washed." He chased them around until they complied.
=0=Cog
He watched the news voraciously. The bomb was supposed to be for Drift. That it might have harmed Springer was driving him over the edge. Springer wasn't supposed to get hurt. He now had one more reason to hate Drift.
It would be a long day and night for Cog.
=0=At the scene
Sky and his team combed the scene, working out the blast and its zone of death, marking and photographing every single item in the room and all of the hundreds of nails, screws and shards of metal that were embedded in everything, both in situ and when withdrawn from their holes.
Flash who was the photographer took images with several high tech cameras. He glanced at Sky who was brooding at the big hole in Springer's desk where the bomb having been set had gone off. "What do you think?"
"I think it was mailed and set down there," Sky said. "I came in one morning to leave something for Springer and Maxi told me to set it right there because she put the mail in that spot every day. I think we need to check the cameras in the mail room and maybe the computers. Every piece of mail is scanned as received before sorted and taken to its destination."
"It might have been delivered by the usual mechs from the post officer, our regular guy," Flash said as he took different images of the blast hole.
"Probably but the place of origin will be listed and we can check their cameras, too," Sky said. "Roarie?"
A youngling mech with an intense air about him walked to Sky. "Yes?"
"I want you to check the mail logs and then backtrack to where this box was sent from. If its a courier delivery, I want to know who and where it came from. If it came by the postal truck, then we need to know its point of origin. Collect the data forensically. I want this nailed down."
Roarie nodded, then walked toward the door to leave.
Sky watched him go, then turned back to the desk. This was weird. This was personal.
=0=Later that night
Springer shifted on his berth, moving slightly as he groaned.
Ratchet stood, then adjusted his sedatives. They were going in on a slow drip to help him get through the night. He'd have timed released scripts in the morning but going light now was a good thing. He had a good sized concussion so it wouldn't do to overdo it. Ratchet stared at the big youngling mech, one with a good sense of the absurd, a lot of guts and smarts. It was a good thing they'd given him a home and family. Springer was a great kid.
"You need to duck better, slagger. I know you'll be hard to manage when you wake up. But know that Drift will be fine. He's going to be off duty for a while. Both of you will. Might be time to reassess your priorities and make me a granny." Ratchet grinned. "Nah." With a lighter tread, he checked Drift, then retired to his chair again.
Meanwhile …
They watched the news, then retired to the kid version of zoom. Fifty kids were conversing together on their berth room monitors or those in the family den or office. They'd heard the news and tried to find out what had happened. No one could reach Commander Springer or The Boss. Coros had decided to call in all bets. They gathered on screen as they hunkered down in their bunkers aka berth rooms. They watched as Coros came on with breathless intensity.
"Well?" Sil asked anxiously.
Coros glanced behind himself, then leaned closer to his screen. "I heard that a bomb was sent to the Watch Tower and it ended up with Commander Springer and The Boss."
They stared at him, all fifty of the kids with ENORMOUS angst and fearfulness.
"Are they alright?" Pulley asked.
"They're in the hospital. No one will say how hurt they are," Coros said. He thought a moment, this mech who started it all and was therefore the unofficial official 'leader' of the band. "I think we have to do something. Here's what I think we need to do."
Then he told them.
He got 49 kinds of buy-in.
=0=Up there next door to Over There
"We need to see them tomorrow, son, if they're ready to see family," Ravel fretted.
Corr who looked equally anxious nodded as both looked upward at Ironhide. They were holding babies, assisting Ironhide with the children's bed time. "I would hate to have them think that they aren't loved, especially now that they need it so much. They're so terribly loved, our boys."
Ironhide stared down at the two little mechs who looked at him with anxious optics. They were so cute he almost hugged them off the floor. "We can see about it tomorrow. I think they know they're loved, Ammas."
"Maybe so, but when you don't feel good its always comforting to have someone around who can hold your servo," Corr said.
Ironhide grinned as he exchanged an infant for the one Corr held. "I'll check with Ratchet and get his opinion. I agree with you both."
"Good, son," Ravel said as he hugged Orion. "We must let our infants know they're loved."
It would go like that for a while.
=0=Nearby in the dark of an alleyway
Cog stood against the wall staring at the Medical Center in the heart of Autobot City. Inside somewhere was Springer. He had been caught in the blast. It was maddening to be this close and yet so far away. The darkness of the night was offset by the lights of The City. He couldn't walk in right now. The evenings in hospitals were too sparse crowd wise for him to mingle and not be noticed. He would wait until morning, check the news, then decide what to do next.
Cog was nothing if not patient.
For a stalker.
=0=TBC 4-29-2020. 4-30-2020 5-8-2020