The Diego Diaries: Cloudy with a Chance of Xylon (dd7 382)
=0=Ops Center, The Citadel
Prowl stared at the monitor which showed no information as available for a mech named Xylon. It was perplexing. He glanced at Orion who was sitting in his chair with a pensive expression. "He doesn't ring a bell?"
Orion shook his helm. "I do not know him. It could very well be that I have not met him yet."
Prowl nodded. "What about the few things you have firewalled? We discussed it, Orion, that if it was important and you firewalled it, you or I, then it wouldn't be discussed. As it is, I'm sure that it could be a firewalled item in your processor."
Orion scanned his firewalls. There was nothing there about a Xylon. "I am drawing a blank. What then do we do?" Orion asked. He felt definitely out of his league.
"We find out who he is," Prowl said grimly. "I'm going to send messages to the Former Decepticon Association and unit commanders here and on Mars that might know who he was. I also intend to ask our special ops about this."
Orion nodded. "Alright." He watched Prowl make the messages, then return back to their job, that of enlightening Orion about his empire and duties for The People.
Just in case.
=0=Long ago
He crouched behind a huge rock in the darkness of a planet that had been a battleground for some time now. The war was between him and one other mech, a menacing mech that had been tracking him for a while. They'd played hide and seek over a vast ocean of space as he tried to regroup with a number of his fellows. He didn't want to lead the mech to them but he also didn't want to leave him loose in the universe.
Xylon.
Somewhere in the darkness shrouded in torrential rains was a killer seeking his spark. He slipped onward into the darkness.
=0=Cybertron, now
Raptor got the message from Prowl, then glanced at Delphi who was also mulling it. :Do you know him?:
The elders with them slowed to discuss things off line. After a moment of discussion, Raptor replied to Prowl. :Prowl:
:Prowl here:
:We discussed this and no one knows him. What do you think and what do you want to do?: Raptor asked as the others listened.
Ironhide wasn't cut into the loop. He was holding Halo who was smiling at him from the middle of a highly padded bunny-eared onesie.
:We're working on it. Right now we're tracking the signal which appears to be coming from somewhere in the Bootes:
:Let us know what we can do. Raptor out: he said, then glanced at the others. :Someone is tracking Prime. We don't have access to what this might be:
:We have to wait then: Turbine said. "Ironhide."
The big mech turned toward his amma. "What?"
"Give me that child," Turbine said as he held out his servos. "Child abuse," he said as the others laughed.
Ironhide handed her over. "Slaggers."
"There, there, my little baby," Turbine said as he smiled at Halo. "And you, too, my little Halo."
"Ha! Ha!" Ironhide said as they began to move onward down a trail that led back to the shuttle that brought them here.
"I hear a doggie. Do you?" Sun asked. He and a few others had joined them at the airport at Nova Cronum.
"It sounds like its laughing ironically," Hard Drive said with a chuckle. He glanced back. "Keep up, infant." Then he grinned. "You, too, Halo."
Huge laughter greeted that as Ironhide walked along with a big grin. They were as hilarious to him here as they were at home back wherever and whenever that now was.
=0=Ops Center, Mars
Ratchet ambled in, then pulled a chair. "Hi, Parry. What's up? I'm about to go to Cybertron and hang out there."
Paragon glanced up, then grinned. "Not much. Hopefully. Do you know a mech named Xylon?"
Ratchet considered that. "That name has a ring but I don't know where. I think its a Carilon name or some kind of slang from there."
"I've never been there," Paragon said.
"It was hardcore. Lots of mining and refining but few amenities. They had names like that there … I don't think anyone used their own. I think it means silent or quiet. I don't think its a real name but more a nickname. Maybe. I had to go to Carilon to check on the medical set up there. To say it was inadequate is kindness. Galaxy Industries is the cheapest, most disgusting corporation that ever was. They stole my genitors' business."
"I heard," Paragon said. "I'm sorry about that."
Ratchet nodded. "What's the thing with this Xylon?"
"We got a message from a mech with a deep menacing voice asking for Prime."
Ratchet considered that. "Give me a moment." He sat back and began to scan his files. Given that he'd been to Carilon, oversaw it, then turned his molten wrath on the subcommittee that was in charge of medical for all outlying industrial worlds and their workers, Ratchet had been implacable in getting things up to standards. He didn't make any friends among the elite but he was loved and appreciated by workers and their families, some of them living in very tough conditions in very terrible places.
He worked over his files, then turned to some that were indexed and very, very old. He kept immaculate records and often they were the difference in knowing what was what when it was needed and failure. Opening them, he could almost smell the dust as he ran search words all over the place. Then it stopped. He glanced at Paragon. "I keep records of everyone I ever saw or worked on in case, you know?"
Paragon nodded.
"I have really old files from Carilon. There were families there living in appalling conditions. They had a code word that they used whenever anyone came and wanted to know something. They always believed that everyone coming there was bad. The word was Xylon. It means silence … like code of silence. Some actually took the name on. No one actually knew anyone's background there. They didn't get involved with each other and no one pressed the issue.
"I have a Xylon in my indexes. The information is in my shorthand code because I have a lot of files. I can tell you that the one I think of is tall but shorter than Prime, very strong, silent, sneaky and had mental issues. He was serial killer material, I think. I can only vaguely remember him but I have a picture." He transformed a digit, inserted it into a jack and on a screen nearby a mech appeared.
It was a standard medical scan of the mech with some data, old fashioned in its formatting, then an image appeared. The mech was gray, had white embellishments of color here and there with amber optics. They were direct, cold, mean looking and smart. There was also something off about the mech's rather handsome face. His stare was intimidating and you know if he looked at you he wouldn't 'blink'.
"He looks fun," Paragon said casually as he sat back to stare at the mech. "Prowl would probably like to see that."
Ratchet rose, then grinned. "You're a mech of few words. All of them, however, are funny." Ratchet pushed in his chair then turned to go. "See ya. By the way, Prowl says your kids are still his."
Parry watched him go with a chuckle. "He's delusional. I thought you might know that by now." With a grin, he turned back to his work.
=0=Cybertron, The Citadel
Ratchet walked into the building marveling again at the detail of the reconstruction of this, an ancient building of their people. Taking an elevator upward, he stepped off and walked to the Prime's offices, crossed the busy work space outside of it, then entered.
Prowl and Orion were sitting at a table working side-by-side. They glanced upward as Ratchet paused before him.
A couple of clicks later, Ratchet subbed his camera. He smiled a dazzler at the two as Prowl sat back with a smirk. "What brings you here, Loon?"
"Well, if THAT'S the way you're going to be, I won't tell you about Xylon."
"Sit."
Ratchet pulled a chair to join them. "Prowler … you know how I get tingly when you get all domineering and such as." He glanced at Orion. "I suppose you still play that game ..."
Prowl sat up straight, glaring at Ratchet.
Orion looked at Ratchet, then Prowl. "What game, Prowl?" he asked.
"Nothing. Never mind," Prowl said as he glared at Ratchet with daggers. "Loon, here, was hallucinating."
"I'm not but you were when you got liquored up and told me about it," Ratchet said. A ped pressing on his ended that little tale. "Ow, slagger."
"Serves you right. Spill about Xylon."
Ratchet jacked in, then the information appeared along with the image that was part of the work badge Galaxy Industries employees carried.
The three stared at it, then Orion and Prowl glanced at Ratchet. "Well?" Prowl said.
Ratchet relayed the story, then sat back. "You do know that we have the slagger who owned Galaxy Industries on Mars in our prison. Maybe he can tell us more."
Prowl pulled up a data pad, then glanced at him. "This is the guy who stole your family business."
"Shoot him," Ratchet said through a dazzling smile.
Prowl smirked, then looked at the data pad. "We can interview him when we go home. Right now, I want anything you can remember no matter how small. I know you were at Carilon. That's on his data."
Ratchet nodded. "It was a hellhole but I got things sort of straightened out. There were a lot of hardcore mechs there, mechs who would shiv you for a buck and work hard for fifty cents. Criminal elements hobnobbed with prisoners and mechs out for adventure. It was hard to be there and to see children and families trying to get by."
"You came back and exploded. It worked. That time," Prowl said.
Ratchet nodded. "We have a short memory. It was easier to blame the poor for their condition than to fix the system that made their condition inevitable. My genitors worked harder than they should, my ammas and appas, too, but many were the high tones that thought they were lazy because they were poor."
Prowl blanched inside, then glanced at Orion. "Do you recognize this mech?"
Orion who was staring at the image glanced at Prowl. "No."
"Then we keep digging," Ratchet said. "Never fear, Ratchet is here."
Prowl glanced at Orion. "Fear."
=0=Special Operations and Missions, Ops Center, Mars
They gathered, the femmes, Jetta, Ultra Magnus, Jazz and Mirage. The information that Ratchet had given them was passed on and they were studying it. It wasn't much but it was a start.
The door opened and Devcon walked in. Taking a seat, he took the data pad into servo. It was silent a moment as Dev scrutinized it. He handed it to Lancer, then sat back. "This slagger looks familiar. We need to have Ratchet back here. He has a special program that I've been trying to get from him for vorns."
Magnus turned to a console. "Ultra Magnus to Ratchet."
:Ratchet here:
"We need you at Special Operations on Mars STAT."
:On my way. Ratchet out:
They sat back chatting and pondering for a few moments before a big red and white mech appeared in the doorway. He smiled brilliantly. "You rang?"
Lancer patted the spot next to him. "Sit here."
Ratchet parked his carcass, then glanced at Magnus. "What do you need, infants?"
"We need you to use that program you won't give me to work out a profile of this mech as he might be now rather than this," Dev said.
Ratchet considered that, then nodded. "I have a program for finding bad guys who get surgery to change appearances, to identify remains and the like. Its a good template maker for disguises so I don't give it out," he said as he sent it WIFI to Dev who grinned when it appeared in his 'inbox'. Ratchet grinned back, then glanced at Magnus. "You want this Xylon scanned?"
"I do," Magnus said.
Ratchet sat back and began to work out a couple of thousand possibilities. They had to be exact and when the final image appeared, Ratchet frowned. "I have it." He sent it WIFI to the console nearby. It appeared.
Everyone stared at it.
"This looks familiar. I've seen that face but not the name. Maybe it really is a nickname, Ratchet," Jetta said as he worked on a computer in front of him. Everyone watched as the handsome mech began to frown. "I know him. His real name is Rotor. He was a union buster who worked in mining and leg breaking."
"Let me run it in the criminal computers then," Magnus said as he slid Jetta's computer his way. It was silent, then Magnus frowned. He turned the computer around. The face was there in a 'mug shot' taken by the police in Praxus. "He is Rotor, a fragger who went with the Decepticons. A tag here," Magnus said as he enlarged the screen, "shows that he was a part of Megatron's elite guard."
"Well that isn't good," Ratchet said. "The elite guard at that time were almost to the last mech entered into the special programs division's favorite pet project."
"What was that?" Greenlight asked.
"The Warrior Elite. I think our Rotor aka Xylon is a phase sixer," Ratchet said grimly.
=0=TBC 9-17-2020 10-24-2020