The Diego Diaries: Storm Clouds (dd7 288) NOTE AT THE END! :D:D:D
=0=Moving onward
Ratchet walked into Ops Center and crossed the floor to the table where Prowl sat watching him approach as he went through mountains of data. He pulled a chair, then sat. "I got the word that the dreads will be coming in early, around midnight here."
"You're correct," Prowl said. "The titans are coming slower. They staggered arrival so it would be faster and easier."
Ratchet nodded. "I called out the teams to go to the Saturn Shipyard about 2300 joors to get ready to receive them. We have bridges lined up at the airfield to send things and personnel as needed. Right now, I'm going to take a spin around the forward bases before dinner. Just so ya know." He stood and with a giant smile swished out headed for the Bridge Room with his freak flag flying.
Prowl watched him go with a grin. "Go, Granny, go," he said. He chuckled, feeling sort of rebellious, then he gathered himself together to complete work. Tonight, Jetta's Ada Corsair and Atar Imaldo would come to dinner with Jetta and Mack. Elita would come and so would Mack's bond. It would be a dinner with Magnus, Arcee, Kestrel and Tagg. Also joining them would be Appa Styre and Amma Stealth.
It would be epic.
=0=Fort Apache
He ambled out of the bridge, then walked upward to the Ops Center. Crossing the floor, he paused before the command table, spread his arms wide, then smiled. "MAMA IS IN THE HOUSE!"
Flint who glanced up chuckled with the others. "Sit before you hurt yourself."
Ratchet pulled up a chair, then sat. "What's up, Flint? How's the romance coming?"
"Do you really think I'd tell you?" he asked with a smirk.
"Yes," Ratchet said with a dazzling smile.
He laughed, then smirked at Ratchet. "What's on your agenda?"
"I thought I'd check out the bases. Some of the mechs I haven't seen in ages and others I have. I want to see if anyone needs healing, yea … verily, these healing servos," he said holding up his big red hands. "Anyone? Anyone at all?" he asked as he glanced around the room.
Good natured guff greeted that along with a decided lack of interest.
Ratchet grinned. "Slaggers. Anything you need, want, desire? I can have it delivered."
"Donuts would be nice," someone said at the communications console.
"Got it," Ratchet said as he stood up to go. "See ya. Wouldn't want to be ya." With that, he would head out for the next base.
Everyone watched him go with amusement. A half joor later several boxes of donuts would arrive just as the doctor ordered.
=0=Forward Base #1, Enceladus
He stepped out, hiked it up the stairs, then entered the Ops Center. A huge card game was going with a massive pile of Oreos on the table. Someone was playing for high stakes. He walked around the slaggers who sparred with him, then halted behind Sideswipe. He leaned in. "Frag. What a great hand."
The room was silent, then groaning rounded the group. Everyone folded as Sideswipe laughed, raking in mounds of Oreos as he did.
Topspin who was sitting next to him grabbed Sideswipe's cards, then frowned. "This hand is slag."
Sideswipe grinned at him. "You snooze, you lose."
Everyone stared at Ratchet who was standing behind Sideswipe with a dazzling smile.
Seconds later …
They rounded the corner carrying Ratchet upside down, entered the Bridge Room, then dumped him head first on the bridge deck. Stepping off, then turned to the operator. "Met, send him onward to Europa."
Ratchet sat up then the bridge swallowed him. He stood, then walked forward into the Bridge Room of Europa, Forward Base #3. He walked out and upward heading for the Ops Center. Entering, he walked to the table to sit.
Hound grinned at him. "You were a slagger at Enceladus or so I've heard."
"Good news travels fast," Ratchet said with a big grin. "What's the word?"
"Not much. Lots of slag floating around out there. The Resort ships come and go. All is well," Hound said. They chatted a while about Silverbow and Rebel who was now attending Circle Prep and growing like a cute little weed.
Then Ratchet stood. "I have to go. Duty calls and all that. Need anything?"
Hound considered that. "Pizza. Beer."
"Got it," Ratchet said as he hoofed it to the door. A joor later, pizzas and beer showed up to the everlasting happiness of the bored crew.
=0=Charon, Forward Base #2
He stepped out and went upstairs, pausing in the rec room of the facility where everyone was hanging out to play cards, arm wrestle and bitch. He sat next to Sunstreaker who was winning at cards with half a dozen other slaggers. "What's the word?"
"Not much. Am I going with you to the refit?" Sunny asked as he dealt the cards again.
"Not yet," Ratchet said. "I have young doctors who need to practice."
"Frag and frag them," Sunny said as everyone got new cards and antied up.
"Sideswipe cleared the decks. I helped him. They dumped me upside down on the bridge and sent me to Europa. I bumped my helm," Ratchet said as he studied Sunny's cards.
He grinned. "Sounds like fun."
"Sounds like elder abuse," Ratchet replied. They chatted and bet, lost and won, then Ratchet stood. "I must away. More bases to go."
"How about something to eat before you go?" Sunny asked.
"You want me to order it?" Ratchet asked.
"I don't want you to cook it," he replied before Ratchet rapped his helm.
"Slagger. I'll run right home and cook you all my latest potion," Ratchet said as he walked to the door to disappear.
"Is he an awful cook?" a youngster asked.
"I'm not going to answer that," Sunstreaker said with a chuckle.
The game went on, he would win and a plethora of strange food would arrive in three big boxes with a note 'From Mom' on it. All would be well on Charon.
=0=Fort Recluse
Ratchet walked in and went topside on this, the farthest base from the center that was maintained by crews. It was a Seeker run base as was Fort Cybertron. The crews were Seekers and the command was as well. It was a great way to give command experience to youngling Seekers and get Home Guard practice in for the Home Guard Airwing. He pulled a chair, then sat. Smiling, he glanced around. "How's the show going?"
Gullwing grinned at Ratchet. "Very well. What's the word elsewhere?"
"We're going to harry and possibly upend Ominous and his yokels but you didn't hear it from me," Ratchet said with a dazzling smile.
Huge laughter greeted that.
"We have four titans and two dreads coming to make the magic happen," Ratchet said. "I want to see how things are around the bases before I have to go take a look at them. Do you need anything?"
A youngling Seeker mech who was holding a data pad for Gullwing grinned at Ratchet. "I could use a hug."
Ratchet laughed, stood and hugged the kid off his peds. Setting him down, he grinned at the smaller slighter mech. "You're Home Guard. First duty?"
He nodded. "It's weird being this far away from home but I want to do my duty."
Everyone there grinned at the kid with pride and amusement.
Ratchet grinned, too. "I think you're doing an outstanding job myself. I'll probably have to tell Starscream and the Elder what great Home Guardians we have at this base."
The kid looked surprised, then tremendously pleased. He grinned at Ratchet. "Thank you, Commander. I want to do my duty."
"And you are," Ratchet said. "Can I get you anything before I go?" He glanced around the room. Several orders were given for food and beer, then Ratchet hugged the kid again. "Ta," he said as he walked out of the room.
They stared at him as he left, then the kid turned to Gullwing. "He's awfully good looking isn't he."
Everyone there agreed. They also agreed that the beer and pizza when it came was outstanding as well.
=0=Fort Cybertron
He came through the bridge, then went topside. The swing shift crew was on duty as was Cloudburst, then base commander and Wren, his sub commander and now bond. They saw him enter, then grinned. He paused before them. "I, Ratchet, am here to heal the sick and mend the broken. Say what you need and I shall make it happen with these." He smiled at them brilliantly as he held up his big old red servos.
"I could use a beer," Wren said. He LOVED Ratchet, someone who had fixed his appa's long term disabilities, making house calls to ensure they mended and making his old appa laugh.
"Done," Ratchet said though his smile.
Huge laughter and more orders were given. He took them, then turned to Wren. "How's the Appa? Still as handsome as ever?"
Wren grinned. "He is. He's still offering to include you in the trine if you're up to it."
"I am but Ironhide would collapse the berth," Ratchet said. Huge laughter greeted that, then he glanced around. Checking his orders on a data wafer, he grinned. "My work here is done. Ta." He then headed for the door, disappearing into the rec room beyond.
"Is your appa serious?" a mech asked Wren.
Wren nodded. "He is."
In a joor, the orders would arrive and the swing shift at Fort Cybertron would be a mellow happy affair.
=0=Cybertron
Ironhide worked in the ditch with his Appa Raptor. They were pulling heavy slabs of concrete out to clear it for water flow. The water on Cybertron was plentiful, both deep down and surface included. Though some of the oceans were other types of liquid besides it, water was ubiquitous here.
Nearby working on a stack of boulders, a grimy Rockwell slagged along as well. He was stoic but slowly reviving from the depths of depression and resignation that had followed him for a couple of orns. Singing in the Temple had actually been a help, having that moment of connection to the Pantheon was soothing. He'd been part of an 'abomination' all his life and now that he knew what they thought of it, he was beat down and sad.
He was also living with Sun and Jack, two mechs who took him everywhere they went, talked to him, took care of him and helped him find the first footholds back to the light. How that would translate with Periodic and his family was still unknown. He would begin family and marital therapy with Vinn the following orn. That and time would tell.
"Appa."
"What, Ironhide?"
"I have three more orns before I'm ready for court discharge. Is there any way I can get out of jail earlier. I HAVE TO BE FREE!"
Raptor who was hoisting out the most impossibly huge block of concrete like it was a football grinned at him. "Are you asking for leniency or special favors, little mech?"
Ironhide considered that, then grinned. "Which works best?"
Raptor laughed, remembering the cute little manipulator who Ironhide once was. "HA!" he said, then lobbed the concrete at Ironhide.
Ironhide caught by surprise gripped it, then flew backward to land in a deep mud hole nearby.
Everyone stopped to look, then Rockwell threw back his helm and laughed. He laughed and laughed, then bent to it, helping with the task with renewed vigor.
Ironhide would help his grandfather warily, caked in layers of black mud. It would be an amusing afternoon for two of the three of them.
=0=N.E.S.T. HQ, United Nations, Autobot City
They lounged around the Ops Center. The morning had been spent on training the new meat, a beta team coming for a three month course. Now they were hanging out waiting for a weekly debrief with Morshower and Fulton. Both of those two men handled the briefings and debriefings from the Mars base to keep things on the straight and narrow. Fulton would write the briefing paper that would be sent to the relevant individuals and departments.
"What do you think about the possibility of another build up out there?" Epps asked.
Graham shrugged. "It was bound to happen."
Lennox walked into the room, then pulled a chair to sit. He grinned. "I got front row tickets at Saturn Depot. Two dreads are coming in for tune ups and repairs."
Things were looking up for three die hards back on Mars.
=0=TBC 5-27-2020
Yesterday, I finished a full edit of Part One and decided to put it on the site. It meant going through a last minute spellcheck, etc, too. Then I had to remove each part from the master sheet, paste them on a single page for each, load them to Fanfiction, then replace each part on the link. There were 159 parts and by the time I had them all on, I was crawling on my hands and knees.
Diego Diaries part one is completely edited, two out of order parts completely rewritten, many parts expanded and added to so that it makes more sense and helps introduce later on things … all of it is better and brand new in format. I also don't plan to read it ever again because editing required reading every one of the 363,063 words more than once.
:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D *MOMMY!* I am not 120 parts into Diego Diaries Part Two. I will let you know when its up. Part three is the last of the seven that's that intense an edit. The others I edited as I went along which means I will reread and then get them up as fast as I can. I am over 3000 parts into this and I just put 159 up edited. This may take a while. :D:D