The Diego Diaries: Game Changer 20 (dd3 11)
=0=Autobot City, Mars
And that's when the night turned into fire.
Prime felt it through the floor as he leaned forward to spot through the transparent windows of the penthouse a fireball rise into the sky on the other side of town. A rumble and sound of a torrent rather like a massive explosion could be heard. Then sirens went off all over the city.
He was moving before he could intellectually understand that, his instincts honed over millenniums kicking in, making him move toward the danger.
Prowl had arise and looked at his father who was shaken. "Take care of the sparklings. We have to go." He made for the door right behind Optimus.
Venture froze, rooted to the floor as he watched them, then turned to the infants.
They were frozen, fear and surprise on their faces. Miracle burst into tears with his dolly twisted in his servos as the others rushed to cling to their grandatar. He knelt and gathered them into his chassis, his processor finally kicking in. :MILER!WHERE ARE YOU!?:
-0-On the street
They ran out of the lobby and saw it, the flickering light of the fire noticeable in jittery shadows on the walls. Running across the hallway to ask the young couple inside to watch the infants, Flint and Ironhide ran for the elevator. They reached the ground and paused long enough to get a bead on the problem. Drawing their weapons they ran toward the inferno on the other side of Metroplex.
-0-At the same time
:Metroplex to Ops Center:
"Ops Center here:
:I am endangered. The fireball is intensely hot and it is dangerously close to my main energon lines. It is imperative that this area be secured. If they rupture I will have to move and it will endanger everyone in my superstructure. I will be forced to signal an evacuation if this isn't secured:
"Roger, Metroplex. Stand by." The duty officer called out as Prowl ran into the room. "Sir, Metroplex is about to rupture his main energon line. He expects to lift off in any moment now if the fire isn't cut off in his sector."
Prowl calculated a moment moved to Communications to press a button. "Fire Services, this is Prowl."
:Fire Services here:
"We have a code red at Metroplex Control Center. Get there and secure the energon line before it explodes. He'll have to move if it isn't locked down."
:On it: the mech said.
Prowl walked to Teletraan III. The reports were coming in and he began to read them as he began to formulate a defense for the city.
-0-On the street
Ironhide and Flint ran toward the Plaza as other Autobots joined them. The back of the building was ablaze. The majority of the structure was intact but it was evident that some of the things inside had been blown against the wall in the explosion.
The structure itself was not damaged on first glance. The forensic engineers would have to figure out what needed work. Right now that was the last thing on their mind.
The doors to the building had been blown open and they were wrenched outward. Rushing inside followed by Flint, Hot Rod, Blurr and Jolt, Ironhide ran for RTR Tools. There was smoke everywhere so they switched to infrared.
Pausing beside The Energon Basket, Ironhide directed aid for Rampage and his apprentices. Running forward, he reached RTR Tools.
The door was open and the place filled with smoke. Subbing his guns, he ran inside and around the counter. Ducking under the cloud of smoke that was everywhere, Ironhide could see Ratchet. He was kneeling beside his atar, Ravel sitting dazed nearby. "Ratchet!"
"Ironhide, help me!" Ratchet said. "GET MY ADA!"
Ironhide rushed to Ravel and picked him up. He handed the little bot off to Flint. "Take him. I'm going to help Ratchet."
Flint took Ravel and left through the smoke and sirens. Bending down, Ironhide looked at Tie Down. He was awake and dazed. "Is he alright?" Ironhide asked. His voice sounded like someone else.
Ratchet glanced at him. "We have to get him out of here. His arm is injured and he got a blow to the helm from flying tools."
Ironhide slipped his arms under the smaller mech. He groaned and settled into a dazed silence as Ironhide arose. Following Ratchet, Ironhide carried Tie Down out of their shop.
In the mall, Autobots and medics swarmed. Rampage looked bloodied with energon coating his arm. Ironhide would later find out it was an apprentice's. Rampage had acquired it pulling the youngling out from under a heavy piece of equipment.
Prime was standing in the middle of the chaos listening to intel as he gave orders. A family that ran the hardware was being led out of their shop, their limps and dazed expressions comforting even if infuriating. They were at least alive.
Heading outside, Ironhide walked to a stretcher and lay Tie Down on it.
Ratchet moved to stabilize his atar even as Flint reached him holding a rattled Ravel in his arms. "Ratchet?"
Ratchet looked at Ironhide. "Comfort him, Ironhide. I have to help my atar."
Ironhide walked to Ravel. Taking his servo, he leaned in. "Ravie, just relax. You and Tie Down are okay. There was an explosion in the building."
"Oh," Ravie said looking at him with bleary optics. "What about the smelter and the machines in the store? They have to be shut down, Ironhide. I don't want them to blow up and hurt anyone."
"I'll do it, Ravie. You just don't worry. We have it covered," Ironhide said. He caught Inferno's attention. That big bot was supervising a fire team. "Inferno, there's machines running in RTR Tools that should be shut off or they'll explode."
Inferno directed a mech who raced inside the building post haste. At the same time Rampage came limping out beside a stretcher carrying an apprentice. He looked horrible and so did the other two younglings with him, all of them students in the tech program for food services. They passed on, then Prime came out with a grim expression on his face.
"Ironhide, make sure the building is cleared. We have a potential explosion on the lines that lead to Metroplex. If we do not lock it down he'll have to move. I have to evacuate all his districts."
Ironhide watched Prime hurry off. With Flint, the two entered the building and began an exhaustive search. When they were finished everyone had been removed.
-0-The Habitat
They'd sat around the table discussing the day's adventures both here and on the way to far flung places when the sky erupted in flame. Startled and jolted by the rolling convulsion beneath them, they watched as the fireball that had just announced itself rise into the air in a violent malevolent blossom.
"What the fuck?!" Lennox said rising from his chair. "What the hell is going on?"
"I don't know. Come on," Epps said.
Lennox turned to the table of people starting at him with traumatized expressions. "Stay inside and don't go out unless we come for you or an Autobot order comes to leave. Get your gear on and hold your helmets in your hands. It's code yellow as of now. Do not and I repeat do not try to contact Earth until we know what's happening. Do you understand?" Lennox said looking at the twenty scientists that stared at him pale and shaken.
They did.
The three officers headed for the exit and the chaos beyond. The scientists watched them go, then Lauren Taylor, a biologist from Australia said out loud what they all feared. "Do you think we're under attack?"
-0-Around the city
The sirens going off were the signal for everyone in the city to reach for their monitors and stay tuned. An emergency message tuned to the internal call frequencies of every adult in the city was penned and sent by Prowl: "This is an emergency. A pipeline rupture has occurred near the Business Plaza. We're asking that you stay inside as your presence would hold back the emergency teams working to lock down the problem.
"If you're at work, stay there. If you are at home, stay there. If you need to move, an Autobot team will be there to help you. If you're moved go to the Sports Arena and stay there. We'll have teams there to assist you. Keep the lines clear.
"IntraComm will be following and updating the situation. If you haven't reported to work yet stay home. Anyone causing a disturbance will be brigged. Thank you for your cooperation."
-0-Aerie Hill
Starscream, Red Wing, Cloud Burst and Thundercracker lifted off to fly swiftly to the airfield. Transforming as they landed, they walked to the Officer of the Day who'd just come on duty.
"What's the situation and how can we help?" Starscream asked.
"Sir, the situation is FUBAR and Prime is at the site."
Starscream and the four hurried down the highway toward the furiously burning site across town.
-0-Jetta and the boys
They gathered at the edge of the disaster, the heat of the fire this close uncomfortable on their armor. The Disaster Response Team was gathered around.
"We have to kill the flames or Metroplex will have to get up and move. They're evacuating the District right now but we want to prevent a real disaster. Payload, organize a crew to bulldoze the area to kill the tendril fires over that way." He pointed to the rivers of fire that were burning furiously from the continuous feed of energon from the big main that had ruptured. The sound of it burning was astonishing. It was as if ten thousand freight trains were gunning their engines all at once.
Jetta turned to the Fire Control Team. "We need to extinguish the fires. Have you gotten to the shut off valves?"
"They're melted, Jetta. We cut off the flow from the Central Main at the plant and eventually it'll die down when it burns off but not before it causes damage to Metroplex,"
"Frag," Jetta said looking up at Metroplex. "We need to smother the fire. What do we have that kills energon fires?"
"Not much. We have to smother it with everything. Dirt. Suppressant. All of it," Inferno said.
"Do it," Jetta said. "Now. Deliver it with Seekers if you have to. But do it swiftly."
Inferno rushed off into the flickering eerie darkness beyond. Jetta gathered the rest and they began to plan a defense of Metroplex.
-0-Nearby
They came out of the darkness moving around the arena as they ran toward Metroplex. They saw the flow of citizenry heading toward the big stadium as the towers and businesses of Metroplex began to be evacuated.
Jolt and Hot Rod stood in the street watching as hundreds of bots and infants flowed out of buildings. All of the dozens of high rise towers of the Metroplex District were being emptied. Nothing but lives were being evacuated.
They streamed out, some carried, some being helped to walk along. Soldiers were posted at each building, numbers of them going up to help the residents leave.
Light from the fire threw long shadows and the residents showed the strain of terror that they'd thought they'd left behind. The crying of babies, the sobbing of adults regressing to other more terrible times could be heard over the tumult and the amplified commentary of the soldiers who were directing individuals toward the arena.
As each building was inspected and emptied a large red X was drawn on the door and it was locked. The press of bodies in the street, one side of which was kept clear for flatbed trucks evacuating those who were too small or infirm to leave on their own was tremendous. But the crowds moved as orderly as they could.
Overhead, they began to hear ships flying in. The Seekers came in low and dropped suppressant onto the fire coming as close to it as they could. They flew in one after the other barely making a dent.
On the ground, all of the mechs who could manage bulldozer and heavy equipment alt formats were hard at work pushing sand and rock toward the fire. They were building a fire break between the raging inferno and the footprint of Metroplex.
That worthy was in constant contact with Prime who was nearby directing the rescue and the embattled rescuers who were laboring en mass to save their comrade. Hundreds of bots moved through the eerie terrifying shadows and twisting pulsating tendrils of light thrown out by the fires.
Bulkhead and Payload shoveled dozens of yards of dirt and sand into the buckets of mechs who were transformed into dump trucks and haulers. They filled them along with dozens of other enormous heavy duty bots, the endless lines of them waiting for their turn.
Nearby digging in the ground with their bare servos, the Guardian bots loosed soil, crumbling it frantically in their effort to save their brother. They were too big to scoop it into the trucks and the suggestion to drop the dirt directly on the fire was denied because the ground they'd have to cross was compromised. If their weight was laid upon it, more underground infrastructure would break and the fire would escalate.
They worked diligently as they listened to Metroplex and the increasingly strained tone in his voice. The heat was having consequences now and it was problematic how long he'd be able to stay where he was.
The Seekers screamed in dumping fire suppressant upon one of the most combustible liquids yet found, the burning energon.
-0-Nearby
The soldiers stood on their segways nearby watching with shock and fear as the District evacuated. Hundreds of bots hurried by shouting, crying, looking back with intense fear. It was a terrifying sight and for once they understood completely everything they needed to know about these people.
This was The Fall writ large before them. This was what it looked like when your life, your city, your world was dying in front of you. This was what it looked like to lose everything, to run for your life, to have no place to go.
Younglings ran alongside their genitors, some of them barely able to keep up. Elders were helped along by their adult younglings, their grandchildren and soldiers.
Medics helped mechs that looked old and ill. The two old feisty mechs that they saw playing games in the courtyard of The Fortress every day hobbled by holding up a very elderly femme and mech between them.
It was appalling, frightening and organized. Soldiers were everywhere encouraging everyone along, helping those that were in peril.
It brought tears to Will Lennox's eyes. He watched them with fear and horror, aware that he could offer nothing to help them. He was a detriment to the moment. All of them were. So they stayed on their segways and watched with tears in their optics as they watched the flow of suffering pass them by.
-0-At the arena
The priests waited in the gateway as the crowds came into the arena. Hundreds of citizens from the housing projects beyond the affected area were waiting to help them come inside and rest. The injured, old, infirm and mentally distracted were taken to the center field and settled among the medics waiting there.
The priests and their acolytes greeted everyone, comforting them and showing resolute compassion to all. It made a difference and they all helped as best they could.
Alpha Trion evacuated from Vos Tower where he lived as the apartment in the Temple that would be his was being finished joined them in their effort and would stay with them until the end.
-0-Trine
Sunstreaker put the twins in his hold and walked to the living room. Kaon was being wrapped in blankets and stuffed into Sideswipe's hold. Blue himself in tears came from the berth room with more blankets. "Are we all ready to go?"
A grim Sunstreaker took Blue's arm. Glancing at Sideswipe, the three walked for the door. Exiting, they took an elevator down and when they walked out onto the street the last Autobot searching Polyhex Tower would signal to the guards at the door. They would draw a red X and another building would be sealed.
-0-Prime
He took the intel as it came, his comm link with Metroplex constant. The sweeps of the buildings were ongoing and as each one checked in with Prowl it was an inch closer to saving the big bot. He'd already vowed to Prime that he would not lift off his pad until everyone was out. His own sensors were helping to direct the evacuation even though the heat had now begun to burn him in earnest.
The crowd flowed onward as Seekers began to fire suppress Metroplex himself. They screamed in, their cargoes splashing on the ground. Nearby watching with horror on her beautiful face Kappa saw her brother suffer. All of them felt it, all of them watched helplessly as their giant size prevented rather than aided the effort for once.
Prime stoically watched as the last group of residents were moved toward the highway, stepping off Metroplex's pad at last. "Metroplex, are you clear?"
A sensation of agony was felt over their link. "Affirmative. I am lifting up, Prime. Please stand clear," Metroplex told him.
Prowl who was listening in as well sent the message to everyone. "Clear the area of Metroplex District. Clear the area. Expect lift off. Be clear. On the count. Five, four, three, two, one. You are go, Metroplex."
Prowl stared at the monitor, the agony of his bond warring with his own. Then it happened. A gigantic organism began to rise with pylons, lines and other attachments falling away. He rose upward becoming Metroplex, the only bot in all creation that was feared by Megatron and Tryticon alike.
The pacifist, the gentle giant who loved the company of children, the warrior who hated war beyond expression but served his beloved Autobots and Prime anyway staggered into his root mode. He was said to be the one who could end the war on his own by the mere killing of Trypticon. Yet he sought only peace. He rose upward and as he did a deep bellow of pain erupted out of his mouth.
When he rose up fully, the energon lines that were his life support ruptured and burst into flames.
-0-TBC 2012 (9) 4-23-2022