Chapter 93
-0-Autobot City, 2100 hours plus change if it were Earth, but since Martian days are 24 hours, 37 minutes and 22 seconds long it isn't quite
^..^ Springer
Springer walked through the hub after making his rounds. It was his habit to go to every spot in The Fortress and its outlying areas to determine for himself the situation at hand. The refugees, those who weren't in the work schedule at this hour were relaxing in lounges, in their makeshift quarters or sitting together in the hallway talking softly.
The garrison had just swung shift with the night crew coming aboard. The energon plant was working smoothly as were the smelter and refinery. They were going to be shoring up more underground tunnels with the idea of building rooms and corridors off the main shafts. These would be storerooms and housing for refugees. Once they could ascertain the long term threat to their city, they could begin to build above ground again. For now, The Fortress was the only above ground building at Autobot City. He continued onward making his way to Ops Center where he would finish his shift and turn it over to Kup when the sun rose in the sky once more.
When it was Christmas Day on Earth.
-0-Sunstreaker
He stood on the flight line the others with him as crates and other freight got priority in Cosmos' hold. He was going back to the garrison on Earth and would remain there pending a new assignment. Apparently, there was something brewing and he was glad to be included. The line shifted as they moved forward hauling their gear and weapons on their backs and shoulders.
Sunstreaker entered the vessel, then walked to the front to sit and relax. Soon he would be home again. None too soon, he considered, as he off lined his optics for the ride.
-0-Hound and Trailbreaker
They walked around the airfield, Silverbow in Trailbreaker's arms. Hound with his sensors scanning the area found no cameras or intruders. So they continued to walk around the Air Force planes explaining them to Silverbow as she chirped and whispered questions. That she was still using sparkling speech was a concern to the two of them. That she was speaking at all was a miracle.
The clock edged toward eleven at night as they took a stroll, a new family on a new planet moving toward a new day.
-0-Bluestreak
He sat on the beach leaning into Sideswipe as they watched the stars overhead. Somewhere far away was Cybertron. Somewhere far away lay the unburied bodies of most of his city's inhabitants covered with dust as they slowly became the same thing. He tried not to dwell on it during the day because then it would come during recharge. Keeping the light in his life was hard enough as it was sometimes.
He'd be bonded soon to Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. The walls would fall and he would have no defenses to them knowing things about him that he couldn't even look at himself half the time. They would know about his loss, about the intense abiding care Prowl gave to him, about his dreams about peace some day and a family.
The war couldn't go on forever. Some day, they would live at Autobot City and do other things. Sunstreaker could be an artist again. He and Sideswipe would find out what their talents truly were besides fighting and shooting. That would be a great day. They would have sparklings of their own, a family they could protect and raise just like Prowl did for him.
It could have been so different. He could have been left by Prowl at an orphan station. But he wasn't. Now he was here, a full-grown mech on the edge of something wonderful and he felt a lightness in his spark that was a rarity. Looking up at Sideswipe who was looking at the moon above them, Bluestreak had that talk with him at last.
-0-Ironhide and Ratchet
They lay in recharge spooned together, their arms around each other. All the years of war and the endless emotional traumas they shared were washed away in their repose. Their sparkling, himself falling into whatever recharge a sparkling had was still and restful.
The clock moved toward 11:15 pm. Earth time. Home time.
-0-Prowl
He gathered the toys that lay scattered on the floor putting them into the little box that sat in a corner of the room. The little mechs were sleeping on their shared bed in a room that was annexed to their own quarters. It was small, the doorway new and the bed wide enough for three. Tucked under a blanket, they were sound asleep dreaming whatever little mechs dreamed about when they recharged.
Prime stood over them watching and memorizing their little faces. He loved and wanted them, almost feeling fate behind the having of them. As he watched their safe repose, he was thinking ahead, planning and rededicating himself to the effort of providing them a safe long-term home. There were others, too, who were lost, faraway and coming to his call. He saw them every time he laid his eyes on the little mechs. They would need his best effort, too.
Prowl came behind him slipping his arms around Optimus. "They're wonderful," he whispered.
"They are," Optimus said. "We have to get them all, Prowl. No one must be lost anymore. None of them."
Prowl nodded, then tugged at Prime pulling him into his arms as they stood together watching the future of their people sleeping on the berth.
It was close to 11:30 pm
-0-At the N.E.S.T. HQ
The femme soldiers and their Air Force accomplice stood in the office, the crate they had worked for sitting outside on the pavement. They were sending off acknowledgments to everyone who had assisted them thanking them for helping to change a moment that was memorable into something entrancing.
After processing it, they walked outside with a crowbar to pry open the lid. Staring inside, crying in delight, they began to pull things out.
-0-At the flight line at Autobot HQ, Diego Garcia
Cosmos set down disgorging his manifest before transforming to walk to the site where all the Aerialbots were recharging. He walked past the femmes all of whom called out and waved. Pausing to chat for a moment, he continued onward after wishing Merry Christmas back. He would have to find out what that meant when he was less tired, he thought. Right now, recharge and the company of his fellow aerialists called him on.
-0-Rec Room
They sat here and there, some of them talking, some playing games. The night was late and they were either coming off a shift or waiting until the last moment to go on one. They sat and drank energon, whiling away the night. The Rec Room had dimmed lights and the effect was intriguing to all the groups who watched from the outside, their curiosity not dampened by the fall of night.
Around the base, Autobot soldiers were patrolling, doing their part to keep things safe. They would roll or walk past the different areas, through the little town, past some places with ships and others with buildings, a terrifying sight to some and a godsend to others. They would make several rounds per shift including showing themselves to the barracks where the mercs and their master lived.
-0-Sunstreaker
He entered the hangar rolling to his quarters to find them empty. Seeking his brother he rolled out again to head for the beach. Jumping the fence easily, he continued down the beach stopping before the pair as they sat together. Sunstreaker giving his brother a disgusted look knelt to pull Bluestreak in for a kiss.
Blue kissed him back then sat back against Sideswipe once more. Patting the sand he smiled. "Sit down, Sunny. We have a few things to consider."
Sunstreaker who glanced from Sideswipe's smirking face to Blue's beautiful smile sat.
Hesitantly.
-0-Lennox
He stood on the deck of his house with beer in hand and his eyes on the sky. Behind him, light spilled out of his house as his family came together to open presents on Christmas Eve here on the farm in California, an old cherished family tradition. The sky was velvety black and the stars twinkled. Somewhere among them was a forlorn world, a world that destroyed by its own people. He couldn't imagine the life they'd led, the suffering and deprivation, the loss and the hopes dashed. He loved them, all of them and was glad in a way his family would never know even a small part of their life.
The Autobots would have a home, he thought. The children coming and the ones here, they would have a place that was theirs, that they belonged to in a real way. His daughter had this place. Their young and babies, elders and other civilians would have it, too. Will raised his bottle and sighed. "Merry Christmas, Optimus. Merry Christmas, Autobot garrison." He took a sip, then walked back into the house once more.
In the distance the sound of fireworks could be heard as someone somewhere lit up the night telling in their own way to anyone who heard Merry Christmas to all.
It was midnight in California. It was Christmas Day.
-0-London, England
Niall Graham and his wife walked from the theater after a long anticipated play down to a pub in the Theater District. Walking inside, the noise and people almost overwhelming after the quiet of Diego Garcia, they found seats in a snug and ordered. All around them people celebrated, singing and laughing, making the world alive with their enthusiasm. He sat back clicking his beer glass with his wife's and took a long sip. As he did he wondered how the Autobots were doing and if they had holidays themselves. He would have to ask when he got back in January. Until then, he turned to his wife and enjoyed himself.
-0-Epps
The children were in bed and he was helping wash the dishes. Chatting with his wife, he felt at peace. Of course, the others could never know that he did dishes. His mother and grandmother taught him to respect work no matter what it was so he had few sexist ideas around his house. His wife was a stand up woman. She made sure he didn't either.
The dogs were roaming around their feet, the evening was quiet and they were catching up. It was perfect and it was home. Even as he felt the comfort of it, the rightness of it he couldn't help but wonder what the Autobots were doing.
The next day, they would drive down to the Lennox place to share a day of barbecue and relaxation. Maybe they could call and check in he thought as he took glasses out of the rinse water. That might be the thing to do.
-0-Nast and Company
They sat in their cells, blankets and food provided. They didn't speak to each other, the anger and hatred between them enough to power a small town if it could be converted to energy. They had no idea when they'd be let out or if they'd be dumped into the ocean, turned into the feds or ripped limb from limb. They just knew they were stuck. They'd forgotten even the day in their self centered angst.
The Autobots in charge of the brig seemed chosen for their smart ass stubbornness, Nast thought as he glared at Inferno sitting at his post talking in their weird language with the other one, Red Alert. There was a robot that looked like he was going to throw a spring. He stared at them, then continued his pacing once more. Christmas arrived but he wouldn't know. And in light of things, he wouldn't care.
-0-Starscream
He looked at the emails, the two that he'd sent that were replied by Nast and one from him stating that he was going to spend four days out of contact due to Christmas. Starscream pondered that, the idea of Christmas. He hated sentimentality and the idea of a god that could come to save you. You saved yourself because no one else came out of the ether to help you. Given their experiences and the lack of intervention by the Pantheon, he was in an ill mood about his people's spirituality at the moment. Then he paused to consider that. Maybe there were gods. After all, Megatron had disappeared.
Primus must exist.
He smiled a humorless smile, then sat on the hillock to stare at the stars overhead unaware that on Earth it was Christmas. Equally oblivious but watching with concern, Thundercracker, Skywarp followed by Dirge and Thrust watched their leader as he brooded.