The Diego Diaries: Going On (dd7 279) (Check below for two notes)
=0=The Hourly News just shortly after 0900 on the TMC
"… says Commander Ultra Magnus. He stated that the operation of the station is going very well and the schools there will be opening in a week. The system will be utilizing the Autobot City Unified School District Program to afford new experiences for the human children there. The business district in the community has opened and its considered a smooth transition thus far.
"In other news, Sciences has issued a level 3 warning regarding a dust storm that's forming on the equator of Mars and will be coming this way shortly. The technology that they've developed and placed at both poles of Mars works well to prevent the massive storms that previously enveloped the entire planet in dense clouds of dust that often lasted for ten decaorns at a time and could rise into the atmosphere planet-wide up to 250 miles.
"This storm is developing mid planet and will arrive here in about a joor. It's advised that you travel with your sensors extended and stay connected with the Emergency Command Center which is running the colonial grid for your convenience to utilize as a GPS system. All human habitats are on lock down until the worst passes by late tomorrow night. This storm is created by winds generated from rising warm air colliding with cold layers in the upper atmosphere. Winds are expected to reach 200 miles per hour and carry the dust world wide. Once it reaches the north and south poles it will be dissipated by technological response and clearing will be occurring in the evening tomorrow everywhere. Sciences is working on technology to help prevent equatorial sand storms in future but for now, we have acquired a new spring feature.
"Today, the Office of the Primes issued a statement that Optimus Prime would speak to the colony tonight about the bombing that occurred in the Watch Tower offices of the Chief of Empire Security, Commander Springer of Polyhex that included Sub-Commander of Empire Security, Commander Drift of Kaon. It would appear that the individual who's alleged to have committed the crime has been apprehended and is no longer a danger to the community. The Prime wishes to speak to this issue because it involved a Pantheonic intervention. His remarks will be broadcast at noon tomorrow. We will be carrying it live on this network as well as IntraCom Radio. It won't be broadcast on the MCA but a statement will be placed on the MCA's website page.
"We'll be taking a break right now to allow the Community Bulletin Board to scroll numbers and agencies you can call to assist you during the sand storm and to find out the activities upcoming this weekend on the Cybertronian Football League schedule that includes a rescheduled game between the Comets of Mars and the Nova Cronum Brigadiers. That game will be held in the Iacon Municipal Arena in Iacon on Cybertron. More sports and weather will follow. We will be back shortly," Lim-Lee said as the Community Bulletin Board began to scroll.
Earth2
"Oh, great. A sand storm," Kyle Davis said as he muted the news. Everyone on the administrative senior team were sitting in the big conference room going over the business of the habitat.
"When they built this thing you couldn't see your hand in front of your face," Owen said. "We were stuck in Earth 1 for days."
James and Jason Daniels sat together listening to the conversations. They were doing a good job and feeling better about being here. It certainly beat being home. Their homes had been vandalized several times and only now were things calming down. That is, they were until Owen delivered the news that Beau Weaver and his family were coming here to live and work as well …
"I received a notification from Commander Prowl and the Bureau of Immigration that a friend of most of us is coming to work and live here with his wife and children. You all remember Beau Weaver, right?" Owen had said with a slight grin.
Bill Nast, Jason, William and James Daniels stared at Harris like he'd grown horns. None of them said a word but their expressions said it all.
Owen was highly amused, himself. A lot of tense conversation ensued but it was a done deal. Weaver was coming at the end of the week.
=0=A playground a joor later
It was sandy enough that if you weren't next to someone you couldn't see them. They were outside for their morning recess which was going to be cut shorter because of the storm whose full fury had just arrived moments ago. All of the kids were bundled up and they were finding the flying sand somewhat amusing and not.
"Orion!"
Glancing around, Orion walked toward the muffled sound. He came nearly nose-to-nose with a slightly frightened Praxus. "PAX! WHAT LOU!?" he asked with deep concern as he hugged his brother.
Pax hugged him tightly back. "Orion, I don't like this."
Orion looked at Praxus with worry, then hugged him again. He took his little mittened servo. "I, Orion saveded lou. Comed lou wif me, Pax. I good you. You good. You comed to me. I good you." With that, they began to walk toward the double doors of the building to go inside.
It was windy, cold and vision was nearly nonexistent. Walking ahead, leaning into the wind, both of them made their way. Trudge, trudge, trudge, they went battling zero visibility, heading toward where they thought their teachers were as they whistled for recess to end. It was then that they both walked into the building and fell backwards as they booped their noggins.
Laying on the ground, holding hands, they saw bigger ones reach out of the orange haze to grip them. Up they went into the tender care of Mr. Roto. He grinned at them. "You booped your noses."
Orion glanced at Praxus who looked ready to cry, then Roto with his usual ENORMOUS dramatic flare. "TOTO! PAX BOOPED HIM THING! PAX NOT DOIN'!"
Roto would laugh a long time as he helped find everyone and as he did he would have the Tale of Praxus's Thing explained to him by a VERY concerned Orion.
=0=Elsewhere around the colony about the same timeline
They huddled together, Sunspot and half his class. They were outside for their mid morning break and it was tough sledding. Given that every child was inside a huge secured fence with no less than six teachers and aides watching over them, given that every child in the district was on the sensor grid (now) that pegged their location and monitored their life signs, no one was in danger. (But the custodians who would have to shovel sand out when everyone went home that evening.)
"THIS IS GREAT!" -Sunspot
"I LOVE THIS!" -Reflector and Spirit
"WHERE'S EVERYONE!?" -Annabelle Lennox
"I/WE DON'T KNOW!" -everyone
"AWOO!" -Spot
=0=Up there
"You can go home, you know."
"I know. I'm not going home."
Drift grinned. "How was physical therapy?"
"It hurt like frag. But the sooner this heals the better."
[Silence]
"Beau Weaver and his family. That's interesting news."
Springer nodded. "I know. All of them are congregating. I'm not sure if that's good or bad but it appears to be a middle finger to Prime."
"Well, we can always break it off."
[grin] "Is that your Decepticon roots showing?"
[chuckle] "It can be whatever you want it to be, ba-bee."
Two mechs trade smokey expressions, then one who can leans closer to one who can't to kiss him.
"WELL, LOOK AT YOU TWO LOVE BIRDS! YOU READY FOR MORE THERAPY?"
Both look at the open doorway to there room at a cheerful slagger slated to beat them back into shape. "NO!" -both of them
=0=Ops Center
"We have a staff meeting tomorrow. I expect you to be here and sober," Prowl said with a slight smirk. "Try."
"Will Osimosis be running the show or will his twin brother, Osimus do it?" Ratchet asked with a smirk of his own.
Prowl frowned at Ratchet as he sat back and folded his arms across his shapely chassis. "I have no idea who or what you're talking about."
Ratchet grinned. "What's the schedule for me to swoop in and save the world? I have to finish my grocery shopping. Big kids are just black holes of digestion."
"I wouldn't know. My kids actually use their servos, not their feet when they eat," Prowl sniffed. He grinned. "Your turn, slagger."
Ratchet chuckled. "I didn't have feet when I was a kid."
Prowl stared at him for a moment, then laughed aloud. He glanced around, then leaned in closer. "I hate you," he whispered.
"Don't worry. When I was a kid we couldn't afford hate either," Ratchet whispered back. He grinned. "You're the outlier in this game, slagger. Get used to it."
Prowl grinned. "Okay," he said.
Ratchet rose with a guffaw, then sashayed out.
"BE BACK HERE AT 1300, SLAGGER!" Prowl called out.
Ratchet waved, then disappeared from sight.
Prowl lounged a moment feeling pretty slick for having dropped protocol or what Ratchet usually called his corset to make a funny. Yes, Prowl was an uptight prig. He sat forward after glancing around the stations, all of whom were studiously avoiding his gaze, then got back to work.
Life was good.
Unless someone brought up their poverty.
And their homelessness.
That, too.
=0=Prima Station, Midway Array, Flight Path Ten-A
The downtown was busy as the family members of employees took in the sights. The business district was open and given that their system required no money, restaurants and department stores were going great guns. So were spas and the hair dressers that were part of the 'quality of life'. One could get a new pair of shoes, eat fast food or more complex cuisine, get a hair cut and a 'mani/pedi' and buy donuts at the bakery. With that being done, one could run around the track at the high school, go to the library, 'buy' books at the book stores (2) and see a movie.
It was going to be a very excellent adventure for all.
The outdoors habitat that would be open, that held all manner of activities, that stretched away so far that you couldn't see even halfway across, the place you would have to take buses or cars it was so vast and varied was closed for a few days so that the team who managed it could ensure that it was ready to be used.
It would be the place where residents could see the country, play in a couple of large lakes, walk in forests, golf and camp. It would have miles of winding roads that led back to the doors where the large motor pool and a small cafe were located. No one would be off grid in the area and wherever they were, they would be monitored for life signs and dangers. The lighting in the ceiling which rose up several hundred feet was so good that it felt like a sunny day on Earth to those who had been there to see it.
Some of the employees were hired to be part of the amenities department, that is, park rangers. Their word was law and backed up by the Watch Force that secured and protected the population. Nearly everyone in the service side of the station's operation were busy with their appointments at the moment including two bus loads of rangers who were driving out to the lakes to check the camping area and picnic spots. It would be astonishing to them a long time to know they were inside a sphere floating in space and not driving across some beautiful wild spot of Earth.
=0=Cybertron
"Appa?"
"What, Ironhide?"
"When will I get my service done?"
Hard Drive glanced up to look at the miracle child that had enhanced the lives of his entire family to an extent that he might never understand. This was the miracle child, the infant that Alor and Blackjack never thought would be possible. Just before they were to go to the Well, Ironhide bloomed into sight. He was doted upon, adored, gently handled and almost spoiled. Fortunately, The Code of the Praxian Military Elites ensured that he would understand his privilege and all the awesome responsibilities that came with it. "Well, we have five more orns, infant. Prayers, dishes and here."
Ironhide stared at one of the gods of his personal pantheon and wondered for the millionth time how he managed to make it this long without their company. "I was wondering if I could get time off for service this far. I've been good," he said with a slight grin, using the expression that had worked so many times in the past.
Mostly.
With Raptor.
Hard Drive laughed. He gazed at the hulking mech that met the standards of their familial body type. He was a phenom in the army but to Hardie, he would always be the little mech he held in his arms after separation, the one he taught how to fish and love hiking. He was the one that learned his love of animals from Raptor, his delight in reading from his Amma Trooper and Appa Scout. All of his family had some input into the Miracle Child before him all 'growed up'.
It almost worked.
"I can't do that without consent of the court, infant. You know that."
"Uh, I do, Appa, but I was hoping ..." He trailed off lamely. It sounded doubly worse inside his own helm.
Rockwell who was waiting for Jack to come so they could go inspect something somewhere watched both of them without comment. He was still a work in progress.
"Now, infant ..." Hardie said as he sat down on the edge of his desk. "You aren't asking for special favors are you?"
Ironhide considered his position. He was. "No."
Hardie laughed as the door opened and his brothers walked in with Delphi. "Hi."
"Hi, yourself." Sun turned to Ironhide, then hugged him. "You look unsettled. Anything we can do?" he asked with a big smile.
"YEAH! YOU CAN SHOOT ME!" Ironhide replied.
He would never learn.
=0=TBC 5-13-2020
ESL: mani/pedi: manicure and pedicure. A toe and fingernail job. :D:D:D I had a pedi once. OMG. SIGH!
NOTES:
Guest, good comments on the Knights. In the movie, TF: The Last Night, Prime hurries onto Lockdown's ship and approaches a stand of swords. Since Lockdown has them, they have to be not only incredibly special but sentient. He says to them, "Recognize a knight." Only then can he take one. Given that the swords are sentient, something I envisioned for RTR Tools, they will only accept a knight. Therefore, unless its a Prime feature not known until now, he's a knight, too. If they could recognize a Prime as well as a knight, Prime wouldn't have had to say anything, ergo, he's a knight. Given Prowl's martial background, its reasonable to assume he is as well. I would say that his background in personal combat that included outlawed tactics like Metalikato, he would be one as well. He's pretty thorough. I also am insinuating that Chromia is as well. Drift, Chromia, Prowl and Prime. Perhaps others at some point as well.
There's a series of four illustrated novels about Drift and in them he's hunting Decepticons. He takes the blame for something bad to allow Roddy to continue an important mission and gets ostracized for it until Ratchet finds him and its figured out. The stories are four novels and they work together, Drift and Ratchet to end the menace relating to 'stone people' whoever they are. (I only have the first issue.) In the end, they realize they have 'feelings' and become a couple that stays together until Ratchet's peaceful death eons later. It sounds like they were really sweet together. :D AW!
I have to get the other three books. :D:D:D