Chapter 109
-0-Ops Center, Diego Garcia, Earth, seventh day
The word on arrival came from far out beyond the solar well. Tomorrow, they would hit the Oort Field. The four hour trip through the solar system to Mars would be next. The journey had taken longer than planned. They were running at slower speeds with heavier loads and hulls in smaller ships filled with passengers. That they were indicated unusual cargo and it was slower going. Two of the Aerialbots had shifted to their Cybertronian modes to accommodate passengers better.
So they did what they did, the Autobots in Diego Garcia. They slipped away a few at a time, others taking the place of some, many making sure they were seen to make it all seem fine and normal. By the time Prowl and Prime walked out to Cosmos, all was ready and the Aerialbots were three joors out. When Cosmos rose into the sky, the Autobot garrison was down to four mechs.
-0-On the sand at Autobot City, Mars, waiting
They gathered, soldiers and doctors standing on the airfield waiting for incoming. Beyond them watching intently were six silent Seekers. Starscream, a terror from the skies for most of the Autobots and all of the refugees watched as well, unclear what was happening but pulled toward the scene by the silent intensity of the crowd.
Prime waited, shifting from ped to ped as he looked up at the sky watching for the lost to return. Prowl standing beside him watched, too. This was long overdue. This was a miracle. This was happening. He was happy, worried and proud.
They all knew the ships were coming before they showed up in the sky. Their sensors read the approach. Their powerful optics saw them in the upper atmosphere. They watched as the Aerialbots materialized, coming in one after another through the clouds in the skies as they landed softly, taxiing toward the crowd who waited nearby.
Silverbolt stopped then dropped his hold door as Springer jumped out, reaching in to help two younglings step down. Behind him, one after another, more mechs came, one sparked with his bond and a single femme. Then Blurr, Brawn, Cliffjumper and Hot Rod stepped off hugging friends who were shocked and delighted to see them. The Aerialbots taxied together to one side making room for Sky Dive.
Prime walked to the hold of Silverbolt and looked inside not finding who he sought. So he walked to Sky Dive who was opening the small hold that he had in his Cybertronian shuttle mode. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker jumped out with a smile, then waited. The last passenger stepped out and looked around meeting Prime's gaze with a smile. "Hello, Optimus."
Prime smiled as he extended his hand. "Hello, Magnus."
-0-On Diego Garcia
The shifts came and went, the Autobot hangar quiet and still. It was oddly cold at the base, the warmth and color had been drained by their absence and everyone waited for them to come back.
Lennox stared at the doors of the hangar which was still open but missing the life inside. Continuing to walk to the Admin building, he wished they would hurry from wherever they were. It was lonely without them here, he thought.
-0-Inside Ops Center, Mars
They walked in with Ultra Magnus marveling at the facilities all around him. "This is amazing, Optimus. You must tell me everything. I've been out of the loop. Then I'll know better how I can help you."
Optimus slowed, then looked at him with a smile. "Just being here, Magnus, that helps me more than you can know."
Magnus smiled then squeezed Prime's arm. "I missed you, too. Tell me everything and I'll tell you what I know about things out there."
Prime led as they walked to the middle table to sit down together.
Prowl leaned over and squeezed Prime's shoulders. "Don't worry about the refugees. I'll take care of it." Then he grinned at Magnus, walking to the door and out into the facility.
Magnus watched him go. "It's good to see everyone. It's good to see Prowl."
"We are bonded."
"Prowl? You and Prowl?" Magnus asked with a smile.
Prime nodded. "Yes."
"Well, finally," Magnus said leaning back with a grin. "Its only taken you two the lifetime of a small star."
Prime grinned. "Arcee is here."
Magnus' expression schooled to neutral. "She is?"
Prime noting a small tel, the faint ghost of a smile on his friend's face said, "Yes."
"Well," Magnus started noncommittally. "That's … uh, interesting news."
Prime smirked then sat back himself. "A lot of our people are here. We just received fifty refugees shortly ago. And now this."
"There are so many of our people out there. Some of them are running and some are hiding. They've heard about your call and they're waiting. More than you can know are coming this way."
Prime sobered at the news. "That's why we are building this city. I want a place for them to come. I want to send out teams to find them. Here is the place we make our stand. The line is drawn here, Magnus. Here and no further."
Magnus nodded. "Then tell me what you want and I will do it."
With that, they sat and talked, four joors passing before they got up and Prime showed him Autobot City.
-0-Med Bay
The sparked mech, Gear Shift was about halfway through the carry phase and in pretty good condition, Ratchet considered. His bond, a tall brawny mech called Comet stood behind them shifting from ped to ped. "How is he? Is the sparkling as it should be? We've been short on everything including proper care."
"He's in pretty good shape and so is the sparkling. I'd relax," Ratchet said. He smiled. "You're safe now and you can get back on your peds here."
Comet looked terribly relieved. "I can work. I'm strong and I have construction skills. I can earn our way."
"You're welcome here," Ratchet said to nervous the mech. "It's not like we'll throw you out if you take the time to recuperate. Besides, I'm sparked, too, and due to separate in less than a decaorn. My sparkling and yours will be friends. I want your sparkling to be as healthy as mine and so that means the two of you take it easy for a few orns. Besides, this is a cashless society."
Gear Shift smiled with incredible relief. "We didn't expect to get sparked. It happened and then there was so much fear. Do you have a protoform maker here?"
"We have two highly skilled protoform designers, the best Cybertron ever produced" Ratchet said. The relief on Gear Shift's face was startling as Ratchet squeezed his shoulder. "If you go with that mech," he said pointing to Bluestreak who was guiding mechs from Med Bay to their temporary quarters and an interview by Prowl for anything of import. "Bluestreak will help you settle in. I'll make a note for the chief medic of this Med Bay, First Aid, to be in touch with you and keep you on a schedule of check ups to follow the progress of your sparkling."
Gear Shift with incredible relief stepped down nearly sagging to the floor in weariness.
Ratchet caught his arm as Comet took the other one steadying him. "Sorry. I'm just so relieved."
Ratchet grinned. "We know. Can you walk or would you like to lie down here a bit?"
"I think I can make it," he said slipping his arm around Comet. They walked toward the door as Comet spoke his thanks to Ratchet and left with Bluestreak to their new life. He watched them go, then looked at the line. "Next!"
-0-The new Autobots
They walked to the Rec Room to sit at a table to down energon one after another. It had been a while and the idea of plenty was hard to fully grasp.
Blurr sat back and stretching his legs began to tell their tale to the gathering of mechs that were off duty and between directives. It didn't take long and the Autobots looked at each other with a grin. Some knew of Blurr, a phenom in the racing circuits before the war. Some knew of Blurr, a motor mouth of such speed that taping what he said and playing it back slower was often done by mechs who struggled to understand what he said when he was under stress or in a hurry.
They were separate individuals. This was the racing phenom.
Hot Rod disappearing with Springer and Kup was someone well known as well, a hot head with potential according to those who knew him best. Springer and Hot Rod were friends and together had left many a tale and wrecked bar behind them. What they would be here and now was anyone's guess. Springer had proven himself and was Head of Security of Autobot City and of the entire planet. It would take time to know what Hot Rod was made of.
Cliffjumper was well known. A hot headed mini-bot with the habit of sticking his ped in his pie hole before things were made clear was nonetheless welcome. Paranoid, bull headed and brash, he was an acquired taste. Bumblebee, Brawn and Cliffjumper had gone off together getting the private tour.
Brawn, small, tough and nearly as strong as Prime was a do-or-die bot who was ready to go at a moment's notice. He wasn't very accepting of anyone who was less inclined to fight and wasn't shy about saying so. A mini-con with a mouth, he was unafraid.
They were added to the roster and planned into the rotation when they were cleared by Med Bay. They would remain at Autobot City. Ultra Magnus, however, would be coming to Diego Garcia.
-0-Prime and Magnus
They sat together talking about everything, about the Diaspora, the location of Metroplex and Omega Supreme. They discussed bringing them to Mars and setting up a network to organize the retrieval of their people. Then they discussed the alliance with Earth and her numerous governments, the treachery of the humans at Intel-Martin and the surrender and subsequent neutral status of the Seekers.
That part had become a point of contention for a moment until Magnus agreed to abide by Prime's decision. A law and order bot, Magnus would have them up on charges and tried if he had been the one to make the decisions. However, he wasn't. By the time they recessed to make a walk through of the facility and check on the new arrivals they had a clear picture between them of what was, what could be and what they would do next.
-0-The refugees
They were greeted and helped by the Autobots, the newcomers who were waiting in lines for processing and medical attention in the company of many of the first wave refugees. Most of those were recovered and had occupations in the complex. Some of them were fully occupied in jobs that were needed and a few of them were already doing things that were secondary to their present condition such as art, youngling care, education. and data collection.
Some were preserving their historical and cultural record. As small as the hard copies were, they worked to expand them with personal first hand participant interviews and the downloading of ships and personal databases into the computer archives.
Twenty-six civilian mechs and one femme made up the new refugee manifesto. They were rescued by the five Autobot soldiers that were taking them toward safety in a rundown town on the edge of nowhere, fleeing Decepticon expansion near their small colony. Among them were two younglings and one sparked mech. Twenty-five adult mechs and a femme of varying ages as well as two younglings composed the exhausted exhilarated group that stood in lines on both sides of the hallway to Med Bay. The two younglings had both genitors and were older than Prime and Prowl's little mechs.
Prime and Magnus entered, walking to where Ratchet stood examining an older mech.
He looked up and grinned. "Hello, Magnus. Long time no see."
"Hello, Ratchet. I hear you're going to separate a sparkling in a few."
"Yeah. Amazing isn't it? You'd be a fool to count Ironhide out on anything I put my mind to."
They laughed and got the short and sweet. The refugees were in good condition, the sparked mech was doing well and if they were given time to rest and energize they would be fit and ready for anything.
They left Ratchet to his work and walked outside heading toward the Seeker barracks. Pausing short of the door, Prime began to explain the predicament that the trines were in and how they needed to escape the surety of Starscream's death by Megatron or a minion. He explained how they had commandeered Wheeljack's lab foundation and used it to build a barracks for the Seekers.
"I'm sure Wheeljack isn't happy."
"No," Prime said with a grin. "He will have to build another one nearby. I wanted it against the curtain wall so that the stone could absorb the shock of whatever he does next that blows up."
Magnus chuckled. "Still at it, I see?"
"He never quit," Prime replied with a chuckle. "Let us go see the Seekers."
They walked to the barracks pausing at the door as Skywarp arose from the bench out front. He recognized Magnus right away. "Prime, what brings you and Magnus here?"
"Just a courtesy call, Skywarp." Prime smiled. "Your paranoia is noteworthy but unnecessary."
"My paranoia is earned, every scintilla. Magnus," he said with a curt tone. Behind him, Thundercracker emerged followed by Dirge and Ramjet. They looked at Magnus uneasily, then Prime.
"What brings you here, Prime?" Thundercracker asked, his voice tense.
"Magnus has arrived with refugees. I wanted to show him the base. That includes Seeker refugees as well. You do know each other do you not?" Prime asked politely.
Magnus nodded, his gaze affixed upon Thundercracker. "We've met."
"In battle," Thundercracker said. "But those days are over. He's told you that he has our personal and Seeker oaths?"
Magnus nodded. "He did."
Starscream hearing conversation came out of the door, noting everyone as he stared at Magnus. "I know you."
Magnus stared at the Seeker noting his wan and seemingly slighter constitution. "We met, Starscream. I'm Magnus, Ultra Magnus."
"I know that name," Starscream said. "Enemy. No humor. Dogged. I remember that."
Prime grinned slightly. "He remembers you pretty well, I see."
Magnus grinned slightly himself. "That he does."
"I flew today," Starscream said defiantly. He held himself straighter. "It felt good."
Prime felt oddly better to hear that. "It will be easier with time."
"That doctor says so," Starscream said. Then he walked inside with all the others but Thundercracker going with him.
Thundercracker stared at them giving Magnus an especially hard optic. Then he walked inside as well.
"They don't change much," Magnus said quietly.
"They are not against us now," Prime said as he began to walk toward the fortress once more. "That is worth its weight in platinum."
Magnus staring at the building for a moment, then followed Prime into the fortress. Behind them stepping into the doorway, his optics on the building beyond, Thundercracker watched them go. Then he walked back inside again.