The Diego Diaries: Cloudy (dd7 385)
=0=Temple
"I do not know what you think we are looking for," Orion said. "I have never been here but for now."
"You're the First Disciple of Primus. Say something." Ironhide gazed at Orion. "Believe."
Orion stared at him, then the Allspark. "Lord, I come to You seeking wisdom. Both of us need Your assistance."
Nothing happened, then it did. Both of them disappeared from the room.
=0=Conference room
They lounged in their chair as the information and duty part of this situation played in Prowl's phenomenal processor. He was managing that as well as getting a strike force ready. The humans asked to come along and he allowed it. They would ride along on the deck with Tennyson, the ship where he was going to be commanding when lift off happened.
"They're taking their time. Knowing Orion Pax, he's probably helping them make it," Ratchet said with a chuckle.
"Are you dissing that mech of mine?" Prowl asked as he lounged in a chair with his peds on another one. His arms were crossed over his rather nice chassis and he was quipping and goofing with Ratchet in spite of the situation.
"Maybe." Ratchet grinned. "If they are, Ironhide is eating it faster than they can make it."
"He is rather large and imposing," Prowl agreed.
"That's my mech," Ratchet said with a giant smile.
=0=Boyz
It was dark where they were. Desert spread out all around them in every direction they looked, desert that had the strange vegetation that was so common on Earth for these types of environments. The sand seemed to glow a silvery color and the rocks here and there were deeply black. It was a beautiful landscape which went to a black velvet horizon filled with stars. They looked all around the place finding nothing but it and themselves.
"What just happened?" Ironhide mused as he turned toward Orion.
Orion was looking around, then at him. "I do not know. I feel like we were somewhere else and this was not it."
"You're the Prime. What do we do now?" Ironhide asked.
Orion turned to look at the big black mech who didn't appear to be much older than him though he was told that Ironhide and Ratchet were much older than him. "I do not know. I told you I am not Prime."
"You're Optimus Prime and I'm Ironhide, Master of the Autobot Army. Maybe if we acted like it we would get a clue."
Orion considered that, then glanced around. "There," he said. "There is a light flashing over there, a small one. I think we need to go there."
Ironhide considered that, then nodded. "Lead on, Prime."
Orion stared at Ironhide a moment, then stepped forward. They walked onward into the night toward a small flashing light some distance away.
=0=There, conferencing
They chatted a moment, then Ratchet glanced at the data pad. "Where are they?"
Prowl glanced at the map, then startled. He sat up nearly capsizing the table. Both of the blinking dots that Auntie's little satellite was tracking were missing on the plan. "WHAT THE FRAG!"
Moments later …
Two sirens cut the usual hubbub of the city as two vehicles flashed past civilians and trucks that pulled over to let them pass by. One was an Earth-style police car and the other a search-and-rescue vehicle with lights flashing. They skid to a stop before the Temple, then transformation and pounding peds commenced. Ratchet and Prowl ran up the path, entered the Temple, then skid to a halt before the railing of the mezzanine before the Allspark startling everyone everywhere.
Prowl pulled his meter, stared at it, then glanced around. "They were last reported down there," he said nodding to the Well. Both of them sprinted downward to halt before the Well. No one, certainly not them were seen anywhere. Prowl stared at Ratchet who stared back at him. "What the frag. Where are they?"
Ratchet glanced at the Well remembering when Prime dived in to get Orion. He considered doing it himself, then remembered where he was. Gripping Prowl's arm, he squeezed. "They were here. They're safe. They might be getting help from the Pantheon. They came here and disappeared here. We have to wait to see."
"Call Turbine. Get him here," Prowl said as he glanced around for a priest. "I'm calling Chevron or someone."
Ratchet complied and watched tensely as Prowl waited for a priest to come. Several did including Sela and Chevron. They hurried to Prowl.
"What do you need, Commander? We are here to help you," Chevron said as the pounding feet of Turbine could be heard taking the steps three at a time. He joined them.
"Optimus and Ironhide were getting lunch but detoured here. They came to this spot, then disappeared," Prowl said with his voice tight with concern.
Everyone glanced at each other, then looked at Prowl again.
"They came here and disappeared. It would seem that the Pantheon have them," Chevron said. "If They do then all is well. They cannot be anywhere more secure and safe."
Turbine nodded. "We don't know what their plan is here. Perhaps its supposed to be that way. The plan felt small and personal, Prowl. It could be that they're getting assistance from the Pantheon or this is part of what they contracted."
"I don't like it," Prowl said. "This is hard enough that he's a young inexperienced kid who barely knows all of us. Ironhide has the advantage."
"And Orion is with Ironhide," Ratchet replied. "We have to wait."
Prowl stared at them, then the Well. The Well was as inscrutable as ever.
=0=There
They walked across the dark land strewn with shadows from a large moon overhead. This wasn't Cybertron and it wasn't Earth. The moon was too large in the sky to be that place. It was warm, the air was fresh and the sound of their peds was soft from the sandy ground. Birds could be heard, night birds calling to each other but nothing else was about.
The light grew larger and when they crested a rocky ridge, they stared down into a depression in which the light was located. It was bright and diamond shaped but appeared to just float in the air without a fixed base. It didn't appear threatening nor was it seemingly created by anything sentient.
Orion stepped down as Ironhide followed. They reached the light becoming bathed in its soft radiance. It didn't move nor did it pulse. The thin atmosphere made it seem to flicker in the distance but the light here was steady and bright. It appeared to be crystalline in its form.
"What do you suppose this is?" Ironhide asked softly.
Orion glanced at him. "I do not know."
"Its just sitting here," Ironhide said as he walked around it, pausing by Orion once more. "I wonder what it does?"
"I AM."
They stared at the light in surprise a moment. It had spoken but the words didn't come from the source, the illumination, but from the thin air. It didn't change anything when it did but was the same.
"I … what now? You're the Prime," Ironhide said.
Orion glanced at him. "Thanks."
"You're welcome," Ironhide said.
Orion stepped a bit closer. "Who are you and what is your function?"
"I AM. I await your input."
They glanced at each other, then the light.
"You are a computer?" Orion asked.
"I AM."
"You're a computer or you're just … am?" Ironhide asked with a note of confusion.
"I AM."
Ironhide vented a sigh. "Its a comedian."
Orion grinned in spite of himself. "Did you bring us here?"
"No."
"You are here for us to receive messages?" he asked next.
"Perhaps."
"Twenty questions." Ironhide looked around, then back to the light. "How long have you been here?"
"Always."
Orion considered that. "Where is here?"
"Here."
Ironhide smirked. "We have a fragger here. Light, what's my name and where do I come from?"
"Ironhide of the House of Hard Drive. You are from Praxus, the city in the city-state where you were separated on the planet called Cybertron. You have just graduated from the Autobot Military Academy in Praxus and received good marks. Your family are Praxian Elites and they have a Code by which they draw the rules of their clan. Your great grandfathers Hard Drive and Delphi were Immortals and among the oldest living Cybertronians along with his brothers, one of whom you were named after. They were slaves during the Quintessan Oppression and led the rebellion along with the mech who would become Guardian Prime to overthrow them. They are your inspiration and greatest loves at this point."
"At this point?" Ironhide asked as he reeled a bit from the unexpected information dump.
"You are bonded with Ratchet of Iacon who is the son of Tie Down and Ravel of Iacon, the artisans who operate RTR Tools. He is one of the 'R's' in RTR. You have numerous children both your own and adopted and that grouping is the current greatest love of your life."
Ironhide stared at the light, then glanced at Orion. "I'm surprised it doesn't tell me my favorite things, the nosy slagger."
"Your favorite things at your current age are Celebration cake, eating, sleeping late, chasing mechs, swaggering, hanging out with your elders, fast vehicles, shooting, getting into fights, drinking beer and telling tales, mostly about your exaggerated prowess with mechs, guns and fast vehicles."
Ironhide stared at the light a moment. "Your turn."
=0=Temple
He paced before the Well, his intensity as bright as the light flashing on occasion across the Allspark.
Ratchet watched him as did the group they had gathered. Prowl was one uptight fragger. "Prowl, relax. You're going to throw a rod."
Prowl glanced at him. "You should have gone with them. They wouldn't be wherever they are if you'd done what I asked."
"First of all, they're with the Pantheon. I would've gone with them if I'd known that would have happened. Secondly, they're out of short pants so they get to be off leash for a while." He glanced at Mraz. "What about the Matrix Flame? Still out?"
Mraz looked startled. "Yes. So far."
"See? Prime is with the elves. He'll be back shortly," Ratchet said with a huge smile.
"You're impossible. Ironhide is missing, too," Prowl said as he folded his arms over his shapely chassis in aggravation.
"Good. Maybe they'll spank him for his impertinence. It's about time," Ratchet said. "Consider this excursion character building."
Prowl stared at him blankly a moment. "Yes. Right." Then he continued to pace, Ratchet's laughter not withstanding.
=0=There
"I am not going to ask anything," Orion said as he grinned at Ironhide.
"Okay. I will," Ironhide said. "What's the chapter and verse on this guy?" he asked as he glanced at Orion.
"Orion Pax of Iacon. He is the son of Tagg and Kestrel of Iacon, both of whom find favor in the Pantheon."
Ironhide blinked as he glanced at Orion who was blinking with surprise as well.
"Why?" Orion asked.
"Orion Pax is the name of the most recent incarnation of the individual known first and foremost as Thirteen Prime and they have been given charge to raise him to be a pivotal point for Cybertron."
The two young mechs stared at the light a moment. Then they glanced at each other, then the light.
"I'm sorry I asked," Ironhide said.
Orion nodded. "So am I."
Moments later …
They sat on rocks near the light conversing as quietly as they could. Neither of them wanted the light to say another world.
"So … what do you think that was about? Thirteen? He's my family's favorite Prime, though my Amma Turbine is partial to Solomus. He's the Prime associated with his clan. The Elder Clan."
"I think this light has been alone too long," Orion said. He was studying the light with all the possibilities his rather nice optics could supply. It was a light hanging in the air in a gully on a world that probably didn't exist. "I think I want to leave here."
"Why?"
They glanced at the light.
"Uh," Ironhide began. "Because you scare the frag out of both of us."
"Why?"
"Um, because you say things that are nuts and we … we're sort of … unnerved," Ironhide said as Orion nodded.
"Why?"
It was silent a moment, then Ironhide looked at Orion who was studying the light. "I think I had this conversation last night with about fourteen of my kids."
Orion nodded. "Me, too."
=0=TBC 9-21-2020 10-24-2020